W. BION FRITCHMAN, prominent as a business man and leading citizen of Freemansburg, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, is a representative of a family which through several generations has contributed to the growth and development of the town, helping in large measure to make it the brisk manufacturing suburb of Bethlehem that it is.
The great-grandfather of Mr. Fritchman was a native of Germany and a pioneer in Pennsylvania, coming to America just prior to the Revolutionary war. He had a son William who was instrumental in the construction of the Lehigh canal, then the principal means of transportation in that region. William Fritchman not only took an active part in the building of the canal, but he was made superintendent after its completion. He married Christina Ehrhart, and had a son Peter, who upheld the name his father had made for himself in that section.
Peter was educated in the public schools, continuing through the high school course. He taught school for a short time, but when he was sixteen he became a clerk in a mercantile establishment. After a few years he gave up this line of business and became a contractor. In this vocation he was highly successful, superintending the construction of some of the most important structures in the county, among them being the county prison and two bridges for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. During his residence in Freemansburg, where he was held in high regard, he was elected to many of the local offices. He was auditor for four years, school director for nine years, and for twenty-one years served as secretary of the town council. He was also justice of the peace for twenty years, was a lifelong Democrat, and popular among fraternal orders. He was a member of the Lutheran church, and belonged to the Knights of Pythias, the United Order of American Mechanics, the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, and the Knights of the Golden Eagle. He was a strong believer in the principle of fraternal societies, and an earnest worker in the affairs of his church. He married Hannah A. Apple, a daughter of former Judge Apple, of Bucks county, and two children were born, of whom only one, W. Bion, is living. Peter Fritchman died in April, 1899.
W. Bion Fritchman was born in Freemansburg, and attended the public schools of the town, afterward studying in private schools of Freemansburg and Bethlehem. At the age of sixteen he went into the employ of the Lehigh Valley Railroad as clerk. He remained with the company for eighteen years, being promoted in the interval through various departments and proving himself in any capacity a trustworthy and highly valuable employee. At the time of his resignation he was station master and ticket agent at South Bethlehem. He returned to Freemansburg in 1892 and associated himself with his father, who was then engaged in real estate, insurance, and general conveyancing business. The partnership was continued up to the time of his father’s death in 1899, and since then he has conducted the business along the same lines for himself. He has a large clientage, being a man widely trusted for his keen insight and sound judgment. He is connected with the Lutheran church, and his political sympathies are with the Democratic party. He holds membership in many fraternal societies, and is a member of the town council. The organizations to which he belongs are as follows: Amethyst Lodge No. 846, Royal Arcanum; Huldah Lodge, No. 364, Knights of Pythias; Washington Camp, No. 429, Patriotic Order of Sons of America; Freemansburg Camp, No. 6988, Modern Workmen of America.
Mr. Fritchman has been married twice, the first wife being Belle F., daughter of William and Anna M. Snyder. The children of this marriage were Calanthe L., Paul A., and W. Bion, Jr. Four children have been born of his marriage with Millie N. A. Ochs, daughter of Tilghman Ochs, of Allentown. These children are Miriam L., Emily Margaret, Leon A., and Harold D.
Source: Under the Editorial Supervision of John W. Jordan, LL.D. of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and Edgar Moore Green, A.M., M.D. of Easton, Pa. and George T. Ettinger, PH.D. of Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., Historic Homes and Institutions and Genealogical and Personal Memoirs of The Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, Illustrated, Vol II, The Lewis Publishing Company, New York; Chicago, 1905. (Pages 520 and 521)