| Biography |
- From Floyd's History of Northumberland County, 1911: FREDERIC ANTES GODCHARLES, president and general manager of the F. A. Godcharles Company, of Milton, manufacturers of iron and steel nails, hinges, washers and puddled iron, is at the head of an industry which has done much for the borough's prosperity for over a third of a century. This company is the successor of the C. A. Godcharles Company, which was established in 1875 by the late Charles A. Godcharles, father of Frederic A. Godcharles. Employment is given at present to about four hundred, a fact which conveys some idea of the importance of the Godcharles plant in its relation to the local industrial situation. Mr. Godcharles is one of the young business men foremost in his section of Pennsylvania, and he has not only extensive business interests but also numerous social connections. Moreover, he has been conscientious in the discharge of his civic responsibilities, having served faithfully in public office, for which his ability and experience make him peculiarly competent.
Mr. Godcharles was born June 3, 1872, oldest son of Charles A. and Elizabeth (Burkenbine) Godcharles. His father was one of the constituent members of the firm of C. A. Godcharles & Co., organized in 1875. His mother was the daughter of the late Samuel A. Burkenbine, one of the most prominent newspaper men of his day; she was also the granddaughter of Alexander Hughes, another member of the newspaper profession and at one time State printer, and the great-granddaughter of Col. Philip Frederic Antes, a colonel in the Revolution, a most prominent early citizen, one of the first president judges and for many years treasurer of Northumberland county. The subject of this sketch was named for this illustrious ancestor.
Frederic A. Godcharles received his preparatory education in Milton, graduating from the high school in May, 1888, after which he took a course in electrical engineering at Lafayette College, Easton, Pa., graduating in 1893. Since that time be has been associated in business as above stated. His principal interest is in the F. A. Godcharles Company, of which he is the title member, but he has also formed other important connections, local and otherwise. He is a director of the Garrett County Coal and Mining Company. He is also interested in other corporations, either because of the advantages they offer, the locality or because they appear attractive propositions for the investment of capital. In short, he is a typical modern progressive business man. In 1910 he bought The Miltonian, the only weekly newspaper of Milton, the first newspaper of the place and the oldest in the county, it having been established by Henry Frick in 1816 and published without interruption since. This paper has grown wonderfully in the past year and ranks with the largest and best in this section of the State.
Mr. Godcharles served throughout the Spanish American war with the 12th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and he has been a captain and inspector of rifle practice in the 12th Regiment, Pennsylvania National Guard. He was a member of the lower house of the Pennsylvania State Legislature, session of 1901, and in Nov., 1904, was elected to the State Senate; he served on the Inaugural committee, Appropriations, Public Roads and Highways, Military, and as chairman of the committee on Game and Fish.
On June 15, 1904, Mr. Godcharles was married, in Washington, D. C., to Mary Walls Barber, of St. Mary's county, Maryland.
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1872 - 1944 (72 years)
