BIO: Henry E. GINTER, Clearfield County, PA
 
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From Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania,
and Representative Citizens, by Roland D. Swoope, Jr.,
Chicago: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, 1911, pages 443 - 445.
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  HENRY E. GINTER, president of the Keystone Mercantile Company, at DuBois, 
Pa., has been a resident of Clearfield County since 1851 and is prominently 
identified with many of the most important business interests of the county.  
He was born at Harrisburg, Pa., September 17, 1844, and is a son of George and 
Elizabeth (Miller) Ginter.
  George Ginter was born and reared in Bavaria, Germany, where he learned the 
shoemaking trade, one that he followed all his life.  After coming to America 
he located in the city of Philadelphia and there was soon married to Elizabeth 
Miller.  In 1835 they moved to Harrisburg and sixteen years later, in 1851, to 
Clearfield, making a part of the trip in a farm wagon.  Mr. Ginter had come to 
what was then a very wild region with the intention of securing land for his 
children and to provide for old age.  He purchased 120 acres in the woods, in 
Brady Township and lived as renter until a cabin could be built.  Fortunately 
it was the spring of that year, May, and as soon as the other settlers in that 
region heard of his need of a house, they gathered, as was the friendly custom 
among pioneers at that time, and soon had a comfortable round log house ready 
for occupancy, constructing it all in one day.  Later a barn was added and 
before his death, Mr. Ginter had cleared twenty acres of his land.  He did not 
live long enough to be able to really enjoy the results of his enterprise and 
industry, his death occurring in 1857, when he was fifty-five years of age.  
His widow survived until 1880, passing away at the age of sixty-seven years.  
They had six children born to them, three of whom died young.  The three who 
reached maturity were:  George, Joel A. and Henry Edward.  George Ginter was 
killed in the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864, during the Civil War, 
while serving as a soldier in Co. A, 105th Pa. Vol. Inf.  Joel A. Ginter was a 
member of the same regiments as his older brother but lived to return to 
peaceful pursuits and now resides in Indiana County, Pa.
  Henry Edward Ginter was seven years old when his parents came to Clearfield 
County and he had little chance to go to school as at that time Brady 
Township's school system was practically unorganized and also, on the pioneer 
farm there was work for every pair of hands.  When thirteen years old, after 
the death of his father, he was hired by a neighboring farmer to drive the 
horses on the old-time horse-power threshing machine and for this work he was 
paid twenty-five cents a day.  It was in this way that the present capitalist, 
manufacturer, man of affairs in which the handling of thousands of dollars is a 
daily occurrence, earned the money with which to buy his first pair of boots, 
for which he paid six dollars.  Mr. Ginter relates as an indication of the 
caution which probably has had considerable to do with his successful 
management of important concerns in later life, that for years he would never 
enter into any business contract with an employer except on a basis of one 
day's labor, and by this arrangement was able to terminate any connection which 
he found undesirable.
  When Mr. Ginter was seventeen years of age he began rafting, a dangerous and 
difficult branch of the lumber industry, and from then until he was twenty-one 
years old his work was taking lumber rafts down Mahoning Creek and the 
Allegheny River to Pittsburg and frequently as far as Cincinnati, O.  In the 
year that he reached his majority he purchased his first raft, which he safely 
guided down the river to Pittsburg, selling it there and on this, his first 
venture, clearing $200.  Finding that his undertakings in this line would 
probably be successful on account of his natural good judgment, Mr. Ginter 
continued his interest in the lumber business, broadening his operations until 
he found himself the owner of immense timber tracts, operating saw-mills and 
manufacturing lumber, shingles and square timber, at times having partners in 
his enterprises and at others being engaged alone.  At the present date of 
writing (1910), he is developing a tract of second growth timber in Brady 
Township.  In 1869, Mr. Ginter, in partnership with Samuel Yohe, bought 218 
acres of timber land from George Pentz in Brady Township, this being Mr. 
Ginter's first venture in this field.  As before he found that his judgment had 
been correct and in a very short time this tract became so valuable that he was 
able to sell out his interest at a profit of $3300.
  In 1873 Mr. Ginter found time to turn his attention to merchandising and in 
partnership with S. G. Koontz, embarked in a general mercantile business at 
Troutville, Pa., engaging also in a lumbering business and this firm continued 
for nine years, when Mr. Ginter sold out his interest in the partnership and 
again devoted himself more particularly to his lumbering enterprises.  He has 
by no means confined his attention, however, to this industry although, as 
previously mentioned, his interests are large and important in it.  In 1894 he 
moved to DuBois and here has identified himself in many ways with leading 
business interests.  Among these may be mentioned his presidency of the 
Keystone Mercantile Company, dealers in wholesale groceries both staple and 
fancy.  He is a stockholder in the DuBois National Bank and is also a 
stockholder in the Punxsutawney National Bank, at Punxsutawney, Pa.  He was one 
of the organizers and is vice president of the United Traction Street Railroad 
Company, and in all these and other enterprises his sound business sense and 
evenly balanced judgment have proved invaluable, contributing largely to the 
success which has signally marked them.  He owns farming as well as timber 
lands in both Clearfield and Jefferson Counties.
  Mr. Ginter was married in August, 1868, to Miss Louisa Kuntz, who was born in 
Germany, a daughter of Philip Kuntz.  Mrs. Ginter came to America in 1853.  To 
Mr. and Mrs. Ginter six children have been born, namely:  Harry I., who is a 
resident of DuBois, married Arlene Waterhouse; Elizabeth, who married A. S. 
Moulthrop, and they have one son, Henry S.; Nora E., who married J. W. Schoch, 
and they have one son, Donald; Sallie A., who is the wife of Dr. J. G. 
Hilleary; James E., who is a practicing physician at Tylor, Pa., married Adria 
Miles; and Mordacai E., who married Catherine Blakesley, and they have one 
daughter, Louisa.  Mr. and Mrs. Ginter are active members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church at DuBois and they are liberal in the support they give to the 
various benevolent organizations conducted and authorized by this religious 
body.  Nevertheless they are quiet, home loving people whose bulk of charities 
are never known by the world.  They enjoy a pleasant and comfortable home which 
is situated at No. 223 E. Long Avenue, DuBois.  Since 1869, Mr. Ginter has been 
a member of the Odd Fellows, identified with the lodge at Punxsutawney, and he 
belongs also to the Knights of Pythias.  His political sentiments have made him 
a Republican but he has never been a candidate for any public office.