BIO: Henry SEPP, Beaver County, PA
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BOOK OF BIOGRAPHIES. This Volume Contains Biographical Sketches
of Leading Citizens of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Buffalo, N.Y.,
Chicago, Ill.: Biographical Publishing Company, 1899, pp. 173-175.
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HENRY SEPP, whose wholesale liquor establishment is the largest and best in
Western Pennsylvania, is located in Beaver Falls where he is numbered among
the foremost business men. He is a son of Bernard and Martha (Hahn) Sepp, and
was born in Hessen, Germany, May 27, 1849. Mr. Sepp's portrait accompanies
this sketch.
The grandfather of Henry Sepp was Henry C. Sepp, a prosperous farmer living
in Germany, whose father was a man of education and a surveyor by profession.
The instru-
174 BOOK OF BlOGRAPHIES
ments by which the latter earned a livelihood are treasured heirlooms of the
family. Bernard Sepp, the father of the gentleman whose name heads these
lines, followed an agricultural life, owning and working a fine farm of
sixty-six acres, and making a specialty of cattle raising and dairying. He
married Martha Hahn, who was born and schooled in Germany, and they had five
children: Conrad, a baker of Braddock; Anna M., who died in infancy; Henry,
the subject of this personal history; Lizzie A. (Eppel), whose husband is a
butcher at Braddock; Mary (Marx) of Chippewa township; and Adam C., deceased.
Henry Sepp received his schooling in Hessen, Germany, spending his youth on
the farm. When sixteen years of age, in 1865, he came to America, locating in
Allegheny, Pa., where he learned the trade of an axe polisher, accepting a
position with Joseph Graff, doing work by contract. The fact that this is the
only firm for which he worked in this country, - continuing with him for
twenty-six years, - speaks volumes for the steadiness and perseverance of Mr.
Sepp. When the concern was removed to Beaver Falls, in 1871, he accompanied it
and continued in its employ until he went into the liquor business at the
corner of Fifteenth street and Fourth avenue, renting a building for that
purpose. He remained in that store for four years, when he erected his
present building, which he has since occupied. He has one of the most
complete stores and bottling plants in Western Pennsylvania, it being large
and roomy, and equipped with the most approved machinery. The bottling and
washing are done by machinery, which is driven by a gas engine, and the
capacity is 200 dozen bottles per day. Next to these rooms is the large
cooling room, for keeping the liquor in condition for use at all times, the
plans for this room being devised by our subject. It is double-walled, and
filled with paper. Next to this is the sale room, in which he has a large
line of expensive liquors, including rare old wines of ancient vintage, both
domestic and imported. Across the yard is another store room, a wagon shed,
and stables. In fact his facilities for this line of business are unexcelled,
and the business has grown to such proportions that he finds it necessary to
keep three delivery wagons going at all times. Three men are employed in the
bottling department, and the cooler has a capacity of two carloads. He has an
extensive line of goods for medicinal purposes, in which his trade is very
large. Although a man of the greatest enterprise, his honesty and
conscientiousness are unquestioned, and he has refused to give credit in all
cases in which he thinks it will encourage debt and shiftlessness.
Mr. Sepp was joined in the bonds of wedlock with Elizabeth Theis, who was
born in Hessen, Germany, and they reared nine children: Henry, Jr.;
Elizabeth, who died at the age of five years; Mary (Roy); William, who is
assisting his father; Bertha; Lena; Katie, an accomplished musician; Eddie,
who died at the age of five years; and Edna. The four youngest children are
students, and contemplate entering college. In political affilia-
BEAVER COUNTY 175
tions, Mr. Sepp is a strong Republican, whilst in religious faith and
fellowship, he is a member of the German Lutheran church. Fraternally, he is
a member and past master of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, past
chancellor of the Knights of Pythias, and a member of the German Druids.
Henry Sepp, Jr., the oldest child born to his parents, was born in Beaver
county, June 22, 1871, and received his mental instruction in the public
schools. He then learned the trade of a glass maker and followed that until
his twenty-first year, when, after completing a course in Rand's Business
College, he engaged as bookkeeper for his father. He has continued in that
capacity up to the present time, and is a man of tried business qualities.
When he was but thirteen years old, he began studying music, taking lessons
on the violin; he is now an accomplished musician and the leader of Sepp's
orchestra, one of the most favorably known musical organizations in this
section of Pennsylvania. Mr. Sepp was united in marriage with Clara Stauffer,
who was born in Canada and moved with her parents to "Brownstone," Michigan,
where she attended school. She later moved to Beaver Falls, Pa., where she
was married to the son of Henry Sepp. Henry Sepp, Jr., is an aggressive
Republican, and although he has often been urged to accept office in the
borough, he has uniformly declined. Religiously, he is a Lutheran. He is a
member of the Knights of Pythias; Nonpareil, A. C.; and the Beaver Falls
Turnverein. The residence he now occupies is a two-story frame building,
adjoining his father's home, which he bought in February, 1897.