Bios: HENRY S. BLATT: Lawrence County, Pennsylvania

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  Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Lawrence Co transcribers.
  Coordinated by Ed McClelland

  Copyright 2004.  All rights reserved.
  http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
 
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  Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
  Lawrence County Pennsylvania
  Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
  
  An html version with search engine may be found at 
  
  http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/lawrence/1897/
  
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    HENRY S. BLATT.
    
    Henry Blatt[p. 255] Business men, representing every line of trade and many
  manufacturing interests have been drawn by the superior advantages offered and
  the bright prospects of Ellwood City to locate within its limits, and to
  invest heavily in its many and varied legitimate channels of trade and
  industry. It is seldom that an eastern city is founded and developed in the
  space of a decade, while cities of mushroom growth are frequently found in
  the West where they seem to spring up during the night. Ellwood City, thanks
  to its projectors and to the solid substantial type of its leading citizens,
  has a permanent foundation in its commercial interests. It is not a city that
  has seen its best days, but is one of the most thriving of all the cities of
  Western Pennsylvania. Among its foremost business men, who regard its future
  as undimmed by any chance or likelihood of retrogression, is Henry S. Blatt,
  the subject of this biography, whose portrait appears opposite.
    
    Mr. Blatt is now in the very prime of middle life, as he was born Aug. 26,
  1845, in French Creek township, Mercer Co., Pa. Jonas Blatt, his father, was
  a son of Peter Blatt, who lived in Snyder Co., Pa., for a number of years,
  and then removed to Mercer County. Like many of the early settlers, our
  subject's grandfather worked at a trade, besides doing farm work, being a
  wagon-maker. After rearing his family, Peter Blatt died at sixty-seven years
  of age, his wife passing away to join those gone before at the age of
  seventy-two. Mrs. Blatt's maiden name was Rachel Beidler. The children born
  to them wereEdwin, Daniel, Absalom, Catherine, Peter, and Jonas.
    
    Jonas Platt was born in Snyder County, where he learned the wagon-maker's
  trade, and after the family removed to Mercer County, carried on an extensive
  business in Sandy Lake. His life was passed in uneventful toil on the
  homestead, as he always found his duty close at hand. He was an able,
  intelligent man, thoroughly respected by his neighbors, and he might have
  filled more official positions than he did, had he been willing to accept
  them; as it was, he was content with being a school director and burgess of
  Sandy Lake borough. He married Anna Grove, daughter of Abraham Grove, and
  four children were born to themRachel, Henry S., Catherine and Isabel. Mrs.
  Blatt was taken to her well-earned rest at the age of sixty-eight, and four
  years later she was followed by her husband. Mr. Blatt was a person of quiet
  tastes, and did not care for convivial gatherings, being a member of only one
  fraternal society, the I. O. O. F. The family, as might be imagined from the
  seclusion and retirement of the home, was governed by strict observance of
  the rules of right living, the young people being surrounded by strong
  religious influences. Youth is the time to mold plastic minds, and the seed
  in this case fell on good ground, resulting in continued adherence to the
  Lutheran Church.
    
    In regard to one member of the family, Henry S. Blatt, his story begins
  with his boyhood days that were spent in the district school; the training
  received there was followed up with a course of instruction at the New
  Lebanon Academy. His business career opens with the manufacture of carriages
  and wagons at Sandy Lake in 1863. Mr. Blatt continued in business in that
  place until 1871, when he started a store, with the firm name of H. S. Blatt
  & Co., the company with a few changes being known now as J. J. Blatt & Co.
  The business having proven profitable and yielding of good returns, in 1889
  he added to it a hardware business, having bought the stock of the Parker
  Hardware Co.
    
    In 1891, Mr. Blatt came to Ellwood City, and, associating himself with
  Capt. Abraham C. Grove, built a handsome brick block and opened a large
  hardware store. The size of the stock necessitated building a warehouse, and
  this was not only done, but the firm made further arrangements to handle
  lumber. In October, 1891, they suffered a severe loss by fire, and they
  dissolved partnership. Mr. Blatt, with his natural enterprise and good
  management, put up a temporary building, and was ready to transact his
  customary business inside of thirty days. The next year he built a large
  brick block, 160x144 feet, three stories high; the ground floor is used for
  his hardware business and a drug store, the second floor for offices, and the
  third floor makes an excellent hall for large gatherings.
    
    Mr. Blatt deals in hardware, but his store also includes a stock of paints
  and oils of all grades. The lumber business is still carried on with
  reasonable success by Mr. Blatt. He is one of the chief promoters of Elwood
  City's growth, and this fact is fully attested by his having bought and sold
  some 200 houses. He is still interested to a large extent in real estate, as
  he owns a number of houses and lots. He owns stock in the First National Bank
  of Ellwood, being its vice-president, and one of its directors. Our subject
  has other lucrative investments in the Weldless Tube Mfg. Co., the Gas Co.,
  and in the Iron Foundry. Varied as these ventures are, they are controlled
  with ease by the forceful, executive mind of Mr. Blatt. His home is on the
  corner of Seventh Street and Crescent Avenue, and it fully accords with its
  owner's prosperity and good taste.
    
    Mr. Blatt chose for his life-companion Hannah McClure, whose parents were
  James and Hannah McClure of Lake township, Mercer Co., Pa. Mrs. Blatt is a
  lady of much refinement, and is fitted in every respect to preside over the
  home. James J., the second son, is general manager of the J. J. Blatt Co.'s
  hardware store at Sandy Lake, Mercer County. Charles H. is interested in
  Ellwood City and Sandy Lake, Pa. William R. is a popular dry goods clerk of
  Ellwood City. Catherine alone remains at home with the parents, for Frank was
  called by death at the age of seventeen, just when a bright future was opening
  out before him.
    
    Henry S. Blatt has had little time to devote to office-holding, but he made
  an excellent school director, for he thoroughly appreciated the work of that
  position, and was alive to the importance of educational advantages. As
  justice of the peace, he was a man of charitable judgment and correct
  decisions. During 1875-76, Mr. Blatt was in the State Legislature, fulfilling
  his obligations satisfactorily and returning at the expiration of his term to
  private life and to the demands of his busness. In view of his public spirit,
  Mr. Blatt was eminently well chosen to be burgess and councilman of Ellwood
  City. His social acquaintances are numbered by the score, and he is sure to
  find congenial company in the circles where he holds a membership. He is a
  brother in Ellwood Lodge, No. 559, F. & A. M. He was a charter member and
  past master of Mt. Royal Chapter, R. A. M., and is also a member of Mt.
  Calvary Lodge, Knight Templars, and of Zemzem Temple of Erie, Pa. He is a
  member of the A. O. U. W. of Sandy Lake, and also of the Roval Templars of
  Temperance and K. of H. of the same place. He had held offices in all these
  organizations, which shows the esteem in which he is held. Wherever Mr. Blatt
  goes, he is welcomed as a royal good fellow.