Bios: Philip B Crider and Fountain W Crider: Centre County, PA

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Biography of
Philip Burns Crider and Fountain Wilson Crider featured in The Commemorative
Biographical Record of Central Pennsylvania, Including the counties of Centre,
Clearfield, Jefferson and Clarion by J.H. Beers & Co. 1898 pp72-75

PHILLIP B. CRIDER.  The Lumbering interests of central Pennsylvania is one of the
great industries which have been an important factor in the development of that
section, and one of the chief sources of its great wealth.  For nearly fifty years
few men have played a more conspicuous part in this development than the
venerable gentleman of Bellefonte, Centre county, whose name introduces this sketch,
and who, though nearing four score years, is yet "in harness," hale and hearty,
bidding fair for an unusual vigorous old age.
     For probably more than one hundred and fifty years the Crider family have
resided in the Commonwealth.  Upward of one hundred years ago, the ancestors of our
subject came from Lancaster county, and located on Chatham run, some five miles
below the present borough of Lock Haven, then in Northumberland county, where
William Crider(1) and William Crider(2) the grandfather and father respectively of
Philip B., figured as wood-workers and millwrights and where now reside a number of
their descendants.  William Crider (2) was married to Mary Walker, and among
their children were: Gabrial, Elizabeth, William, Catherine, Philip B. (our
subject), Mary Ann, Susan, Jacob, Washington, Joseph, Emily, Ruth and Enoch. 
William the father of these children, and his wife were plain everyday people,
industrious, good citizens, and kind neighbors whose remains now rest, as do some of
the older generations, in the old Plum Creek graveyard in the Crider neighborhood
above located.  William died May 15, 1880, at the home of his son, Philip B., at
Snow Shoe, Penn., aged ninety-four years, and his wife died at the old homestead in
Gallagher township, Clinton Co., Pennsylvania.
     D.S. Maynard, in his "Historical Views of Clinton County," thus alludes to Mr.
Crider under the head of Gallagher township:

	In 1845, Mr. William Crider moved from Pine Creek and settled near the Irish
settlement, not far from one of the branches of Queens run.  He is still living
there at the advanced age of eighty-seven years, having raised to manhood and
womanhood a large number of children, among them being P.B. Crider, of Lock Haven. 
Though having lived some years beyond the time allotted man, Mr. Crider is still in
good health, with faculties unimpaired, and takes pleasure in talking of his pioneer
experience in Gallagher township.  As was the case with most of the early
settlers, he was a good marksman, and delighted in the chase.  The first year he
lived in the township he killed five bears, and the next year six, to say nothing of
the deer, and the other smaller game.

	Philip B. Crider was born at the mouth of Young Woman's creek, January 9, 1822,
then in Lycoming county, now in Clinton county, Penn.  That country being then new,
and his parents poor, he had very meager school privileges, and early in life
started to be self-supporting.  He learned the business of manufacturing woollen
goods in the employ of John Rich and John Hillard, at their factory in the western
part of the town of Pine Creek, Clinton county, and remained with these gentleman
some thirteen years.  He then purchased the old homestead where he farmed for
several years, when he became identified with the lumbering interests of Centre
county, operating first between the Moshannon creeks, where he was engaged with
Samuel Crist, of Lock Haven, then the most extensive lumber operator in the county,
owning upward of fourteen thousand acres of good pine timber lands.  He was so
occupied for several years, when he began manufacturing lumber for the Snow Shoe
Railroad company.  Following this Mr. Crist and himself, purchased the plant and
stock of the firm of Holmes & Wigton, and the new firm carried on extensive
operations in the same line for a period of years.  Mr. Crider was then associated
with Gen. Beaver, Edward Humes and others of Bellefonte, who had formed a company
and controlled several thousand acres of timber land in Clearfield county, where he
met with a severe accident, receiving a bad cut in one of his limbs by an
awkward workman, from which he was disabled for two or three years.  This led him to
make a change in his business affairs, resulting in an exchange of business interests
between him and Mr. Crist, which subsequently took him to Snow Shoe, where for many
years himself and son, F.W. Crider, were extensive lumber operators, also having
mills and yards in other localities.  Some seventeen years ago they made the borough
of Bellefonte their headquarters and principal point of operations.  Their plant,
which is located at the corner of Race and Lamb streets, together with mills in the
woods, is one of the largest and best equipped in this section of Pennsylvania.  The
planing mills, lumber shedding, and other necessary buildings in all cover an area of
five acres, while in various departments of the business from fifty to one hundred
hands are employed, and the proprietors have with characteristic enterprise
availed themselves of every late and meritorious device in the way of machinery and
appliances calculated to insure rapid and perfect production.  The firm manufacture
and deal largely in white pine, yellow pine, hard wood and hemlock lumber, lath,
pailing and shingles, window and door frames, sash, doors, blinds, mouldings, stair
work, and every description of mill work and building material as well as butchers'
skewers.  As foreshadowed above, the firm of P.B. Crider & Son operate mills and
have large lumber interests in a number of the neighboring counties, which places
them in the front rank of the manufacturers of lumber in this section, contributing
to the commercial importance of these various places.  Owing to the extent of their
operations, the large capital invested, and many hands employed, they distribute
large sums of money, and they are leading factors in the success of those communities.
	Our subject has been a most successful businessman.  Possessed of good common
sense, accompanied with the business tact, and that energy which is characteristic
of his German lineage, he has overcome obstacles and gradually forged steadily to
the front until he occupies an envious position in business circles.  His entire
business career has been one of uprightness.  Fair in all of his dealings with his
fellow men, and of the strictest integrity, he now enjoys that satisfaction which
such a life gives.  He is an esteemed citizen of Bellefonte, and a man of
considerable means, and of retiring disposition, modest and unassuming.
	In 1844, our subject was married to Catherine Miller, a daughter of John Miller, of
Clinton county, Penn., a lady of uncompromising integrity, from the Crider
neighborhood on Chatham run.  To this union were born three children, namely: 
Fountain W., a sketch of whom follows; Isaac S., born August 31, 1847, who was a
successful farmer on Beech creek, Clinton county, where his death occurred November
17, 187, as the result of an accident while out hunting; and Josephine H., who
was born August 22, 1850, and died May 4, 1870.  The mother of these was born at
Milton, Penn., August 15, 1829, and died September 26, 1885.  Their remains rest in
the beautiful Cedar Hill Cemetery at Lock Haven.

			
FOUNTAIN W. CRIDER.  Foremost among the business men of Bellefonte of today, whose
enterprising handiwork in the city's progress and beauty, is conspicuously noticed
in several imposing business blocks- the pride of its citizens and the admiration of
strangers-which stands as monuments to his enterprise, taste and thrift, is our
fellow townsman-Fountain W. Crider.  though yet a young man, Mr. Crider occupies a
prominent position in the business circles of the Commonwealth, and is an example of
what may be accomplished in a few years, comparatively speaking, by industry, economy
and a fixed purpose with a determination to succeed.
	Our subject is a native of Clinton county, this State, born near Lock Haven,
September 7, 1845.  His ancestors and the family are noticed in the sketch of
his father, Philip B. Crider, which precedes this, as is also there given, in main,
the history of the large manufacturing plant of P.B. Crider & Son.  His early
boyhood  up to the age of fourteen years was passed on the farm, not unlike that of
general farmer lads, receiving the benefit of the neighboring schools at the Plum
Creek School House.  In 1859, then a boy of fourteen years, he entered the employ of
John F. Rich & So, then operating a woollen mill on Chatham run below Lock Haven.  He
had, in object, the learning the business of manufacturing woollen goods, and
accomplished his purpose, remaining in the mill some three years, excepting a period
of three months each year, which were reserved for attending school at Lock Haven. 
At eighteen he turned his attention to the business portion of his education, and
began clerking in the store of J.J. Bisel & Co., of Lock Haven, and after serving
for a period as salesman he became  book-keeper, and remained with them
two years, during which time he made his first venture in the line of
speculation, investing his savings in oil, which he lost.  At the age of twenty
years he entered the Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and was
graduate there-from in 1865.  While young Crider was deprived of much of his boyhood,
he was practically schooled in business, and before reaching his of majority was well
equipped for the battle of life, and entered the business world not without some
knowledge of the road he was about to travel.  But fully prepared and eager for
the fray he launched out, and though he has by no means ever sailed under a
cloudless sky, he has nobly stood at the helm, and so wisely directed the barque
that he has weathered the storms encountered, and to-day sails under a triumphant
banner upon a smooth sea.
	On January 1, 1866, young Crider joined his father at Snow Shoe in the manufacture
of lumber, and formed the firm of P.B. Crider & Son, which still exists, and is one
of the great manufacturing industries in central Pennsylvania.  Their business has
constantly grown until it has extended into the neighboring counties of Warren,
Jefferson, Huntington, Clinton and Mifflin, having mills at various points in this
territory with general headquarters in Bellefonte.  The new life given to the
business in the addition of young Crider, who took hold with the energy that youth
possesses, and which is so characteristic of his make-up, was marked, and it was not
long until the extent ions referred to were made, and the firm was in possession of
large tracts of timber land, which were so judiciously handled as to result in great
profits to the firm- some of the tracts involving upward of one hundred thousand
dollars.  These men became engaged in great interest outside of their lumber deals
and the special business of manufacturing; they were large manufacturers of charcoal
also.  In the sale of timber lands, they reserved the oil, gas, and mining rights,
and are now possessed of these privileges in Jefferson county; merchandising and
farming have been no small part of the business of P.B. Crider & Son, and they are
now cultivating in the neighborhood of 1500 acres.  The annual output of lumber
at their several mills amounts to millions of feet.  In their varied extensive
interests they have for years given employment to many men, and kept in circulation
great sums of money, which have been of great benefit to this section of the state.
	Our subject is a most capable and broad minded business man, enterprising   , and
progressive.  In 1888, after the great fire which destroyed some of the best
buildings in Bellefonte, he purchased the site of the present "Crider's Exchange,"
and erected that most imposing business block which would be a credit and an
ornament to a much more pretentious city.  It is the finest business block in
Bellefonte, and is a structure of modern scientific architectural beauty; built of
brick and stone and occupying one of the most conspicuous corners of the borough. 
His palatial residence, which crowns one of the hills of the mountain town- one
of elegance and grace- is but another evidence of his enterprising spirit and love
to see the place of his adoption the ideal "Home of the Governors."
	Mr. Crider's life has been one of great activity- a busy one; and like most men
whose lives are absorbed in great business interests he has given little time to
politics, and has evinced no desire for public office.  He is in no sense a
politician, though he takes an interest in all public questions affecting the good
of mankind and the elevation of the race.  Since early boyhood he has been
identified with the M.E. Church giving liberally of his means of support.  He has
served in the borough council, and made a most efficient record.  As may be
inferred, Mr. Crider is a man of wealth, and of influence, which extends throughout
the State where his connections with great business interests have given him a wide
acquaintance.  Mr. Crider, too, is a self-made man- a man that has risen from the
poor country boy to the head of a great industry, and to the presidency of the
great banking company of Jackson, Crider& Hastings; a man of wealth and influence,
which, however, has in no way affected his manhood- his feelings and sympathy for
mankind- these are the same as when he himself walked the paths of doubt amid the
early struggled, and he is easily approached, greeting one with a smile and
extending one that hearty welcome which makes the timid one feel at ease. 
Commanding in appearance, fine looking with an intelligent face, his personality is
striking, and but to know him is to account for his popularity.  He is a great home
man, and outside of business hours may be found with his family.  Individually, he
owns considerable property in Bellefonte and Centre county, other than the block
referred to.  In politics he is a Republican.
	On July 21, 1868, Mr. Crider was married to Miss Mary Adeline Sullivan, a daughter
of William and Ann (Henderson) Sullivan, of White Deer Mills, Union Co., Penn.  Her
parents died when she was young, and she was reared by her grandparents, Samuel
and----(Barber) Henderson, of Union county, the grandfather being a substantial
farmed and citizen of some prominence there.  The wedding occurred at Elmwood, Ill.,
where Miss Sullivan was visiting an aunt, Mrs. Rynearson.  Mrs. Crider was a woman of
education and refinement, and a very interesting lady, possessed of virtues that won
her a host of friends.  Her birth occurred in Union county, Penn., May 25, 1845, and
her death at Bellefonte, April 6, 1879.  "She was a very earnest Christian lady and
died in the full hope of  a glorious immortality."  The children born to this
marriage were: (1) Burns H., born August 2, 1869, now a photographer at Easton,
Penn., of the firm of Kreidler & Crider (2) Carroll Low, born August 20, 1872, died
August 2, 1891, Carroll had entered the freshman class, Dickinson College, at
Carlisle, Penn., with many bright hopes and a promising future, but his young
life was cut short and the hopes of his father blasted, for in less than a year
he was summoned  higher, having contracted a fatal disease at college.  His life had
been one of purity and simpleness, and in his last breath he exclaimed; "I am the
child of a King; I am not dying but am only going home to see Jesus."  (3) May S.,
born August 28, 1877, is now in school at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
	On December 14, 1882, our subject was again married, this time to Rebecca Jane
North, and thy have two children, Hugh North, born September 27, 1883, and Mary
Isabell, born March 28, 1886, both attending the Bellefonte Academy.  The mother of
these is a native of Juniata county, Penn., born June 9, 1850, daughter of Hon.
James and Susanna Mathilda (Strouse) North, of Juniata county.  She is a lady of
refinement and culture, and presides with dignity and grace at their elegant home,
which is often the scene of social gatherings.
	Hon. James North, father of Mrs Crider, though now nearly four-score years of
age, is quite active in the business affairs of Juniata county, where he has long
been a resident of prominence in public affairs and in business circles.  He has
represented that county in the General Assembly of the State, and has been
conspicuously connected with the railroad interests of the Commonwealth; prominent,
too, as a merchant and banker.  His wife died on November 21, 1896.  Their children
were six in number, namely; Nathaniel died in infancy; Caleb is in the Columbian
National Bank at Washington, D.C.; Washington is in the employ of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, a ticket and freight agent (also a dealer in coal and lumber) at
Mifflin, Penn.; Rebecca Jane(Mrs Crider); Hon. Herman H., a lawyer at Bradford,
Penn., who has served three times in the General Assembly of the State; and Mrs.
W.M.. Jacobs, widow of George Jacobs, formerly a lawyer at Mifflin, Pennsylvania.