BIO: William Long KREIDER, Lebanon County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Abby Bowman Copyright 2005. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/lebanon/ _______________________________________________ Biographical Annals of Lebanon County Pennsylvania. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1904 _______________________________________________ Page 43 - 45 WILLIAM LONG KREIDER, one of the leading citizens of Palmyra, Lebanon county, comes from a long line of honorable ancestry. Going as far back as Jacob Kreider, the great-grandfather of William L., we find that he was born in Lancaster county, and was a descendant of one of four brothers of the name who had emigrated either from German or Switzerland. Jacob married in this neighborhood and settled on Snitz Creek, below Lebanon, in what is now North Cornwall township, but at that time was Lebanon township, in Lancaster county. Henry Kreider, son of Jacob, was born on the old homestead on Snitz Creek, September 25, 1774, and died April 9, 1835. He married Christiana Wittemeyer, daughter of Ludwig Wittemeyer, born August 3, 1777, and died August 3, 1864. Jacob Kreider, son of Henry, was born in 1812, in South Lebanon township, and died in 1874. He married Mary Long, born in 1819, on the old Long homestead in South Annville township, daughter of Joseph Long, and died in 1889. The maternal grandfather, Joseph Long, was a son of Christian (3), son of Christian (2), a son of the Christian Long who took up 400 acres of land from the Penns, which was then located in the boundaries of Lancaster county, but which is now included in Lebanon county, and a part of which is now owned by Joseph L. Kreider. The children of Jacob and Mary (Long) Kreider were: Joseph L., of North Cornwall township; Henry L., of Clona, Pa.; W. L., of Palmyra; Abraham L., of the State of Washington; Benjamin, of Cleona; and Sarah, the wife of Adam Moyer, of Palmyra. William Long Kreider was born September 26, 1838, on the farm now owned by Andrew Kreider, on the Berks and Dauphin turnpike, in South Annville township, Lebanon county. He was reared on the farm, attending the common schools and the old Annville Academy. His young manhood was spent mainly on the farm, although he was also occupied in other ways, spending two years as a clerk with Christian Hoverter and one year with Killinger & Kinports, at Annville. He operated a fulling mill on his father's land for two years. In 1864 he married, and in the next year removed to the farm of his father-in-law, David Wilhelm, at Palmyra, and in the succeeding fall built a store building and dwelling house at Palmyra. Here Mr. Kreider engaged in a mercantile business with his brother, Abraham. Both were men of business ability, and they soon realized the convenience of their location as to transportation, and in 1866 they bought the grain warehouse, coal siding, etc., from Martin Early, and combined all their lines of business. In the spring of 1867 they sold the mercantile line to Jerome and Michael Deininger, but continued in the coal and grain business for a number of years. Later Abraham withdrew in order to enter upon grain brokerage in Chicago, and was succeeded by his brother Henry, although he retained his half interest in the property. When he returned to Palmyra, he, with Henry, took charge of this business, William retiring from active participation, but still retaining his half-interest in the property. For a few years he then engaged in farming, but later bought out the warehouse business and resumed operations in grain and coal, subsequently taking his son, David A., into partnership, under the firm name of W. L. Kreider & Son. About four years later they went out of the business, renting the warehouse to Jacob Landis & Son. For the succeeding two or three years, Mr. Kreider engaged in no active business, but in 1888, when the first shoe factory was organized in Palmyra, he became a director, and later served the company for two years as president. Later he withdrew from this company and in 1891 built a shoe factory near the railroad station, with dimensions of 32 x 50 feet, which were doubled in 1893. In 1895 it was found necessary, on account of the great growth of the business, to build the two additions of 34 x 50 feet, three stories high, and in 1897, they added a three- story building of 30 x 65 feet. The combined floor space is more than 24,000 feet, and the factory turns out infants', children's and misses' turned shoes, moccasins and soft soles, employing from 175 to 200 skilled hands. The territory covered by sales is mainly the Middle West, although purchasers come from California and Utah. Mr. Kreider is a man of so much business ability that he is able to operate many lines, and all successfully. In 1897 he added a flouring mill of 125 barrels capacity a day to the grain warehouse, which is now operated by John S. Bomberger & Son. Other enterprises in which he is interested are: the Londonderry Water Company, of which he has been president since its organization; and the Lebanon & Annville Electric Railway Company, of which he was one of the first directors. For a time he was a director in the Palmyra Bank. Mr. Kreider also owned a lumber yard, and erected a planing-mill which he sold to W. H. Erb some two years ago. Much of the desirable residence portion of East Palmyra has been his property, and he laid it out into town lots, and erected about twenty-five of the comfortable and attractive residences. He has always dealt extensively in real estate and in 1890, in company with Henry H. Long, bought a tract of forty acres from Michael Kreider. They platted the same, and started the town of Cleona, on the Pennsylvania & Reading Railroad, building a large warehouse, where they handled coal and lumber; the town now has a population of some 200 people. In 1864, Mr. Kreider married Catherine Wilhelm, who was born March 9, 1846, on the Gravel Hill road, Palmyra, daughter of David and Fanny (Deininger) Wilhelm, the former of whom was born near the old New Market forge and the latter on the same farm as her daughter, which is the old Benjamin Deininger farm. Children as follows blessed this union: David A., born July 15, 1866; William H., December 22, 1869; Mary A., February 3, 1873 (died October 21, 1881); Harry Clayton, September 1, 1875; Katie M., April 17, 1878 (married Eugene Bowman, cashier of the Palmyra Bank); and Edwin Franklin and Fanny Violet, twins, September 16, 1883, of whom Fanny died January 2, 1887, and Edwin, January 11, 1888. The three sons, David A., William H. and Harry Clayton, are all interested with their father in the shoe manufacturing business, under the firm name of W. L. Kreider's Sons. Mr. and Mrs. Kreider are valued members of the River Brethren Church. In politics he is a Republican.