"^" r. " ' *' ' *■> 



■ ' .-Y- 



Fkbbuary 12, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



37 



OBITUARY 



[See also pagre 39] 



William Berger. 



After a gallant struggle for life, 

 William Berger died at his home, 238 

 Queen street, Germantown, Philadel- 

 phia, at 5 o'clock on the morning of 

 February 5. He was in his seventy- 

 third year. Mr. Berger went to the 

 Samaritan hospital for an operation just 

 before Christmas. He rallied splendidly 

 from the shock. His general health 

 was so good that his physicians and 

 family entertained bright hopes of his 

 recovery, but later he lost ground, de- 

 spite everything that devotion and medi- 

 cal skill could do. His loss is keenly 

 felt by all who knew him. 



William Berger was born in Germany 

 July 28, 1847. When a lad of 16 years 

 he entered the Royal Gardens to study 

 botany. Three years later, in 1866, he 

 came to this country, making his home 

 at 238 Queen street, then called Indian 

 Queen lane, in Germantown. He started 

 in business selling fruit, with plants 

 and flowers as a side line. The side line 

 soon developed. He put up greenhouses 

 on land in the rear of his home and 

 gradually built up a thriving florists' 

 business. He was a good grower, fre- 

 quently exhibiting his plants and flowers 

 at the local shows. About 1888 he 

 opened a small store on Chelten avenue, 

 placing his son, Fred, in charge and 

 supplying it with stock from his own 

 range and from those of other growers. 

 This move proved so successful that 

 Mr. Berger soon moved to larger quar- 

 ters on Germantown avenue, just around 

 the corner. A few years later he be- 

 came the recognized leading florist of 

 Germantown, being consulted on all 

 important occasions by the leading peo- 

 ple of the large suburb. This was a 

 great step forward from the old days, 

 when the business came through the 

 caterer. Mr. Berger then purchased a 

 fine property at 5522 Germantown 

 avenue, in what is admitted to be the 

 best business block in Germantown. 

 He moved his Queen street greenhouses 

 to the rear of his handsome store and 

 five years ago retired from the business, 

 turning it over to his sons. He was too 

 active a man to be idle and kept up his 

 interest in the greenhouse crops and in 

 all that pertained to the business. 



William Berger was of a genial dis- 

 position, happy and cheerful, friendly 

 with all, a man of the highest integrity, 

 upright in all his dealings. 



Mr. Berger is survived by a widow, 

 three daughters, Anna, Clara and Ida, 

 all married, and seven sons, William, 

 •Tr., Fred, Harry, Louis, John, Charles 

 and Edward. The first four are married. 

 Six of the seven are florists. 



Funeral services wore hold Monday 

 morning, February 9, whon ho was laid 

 to rest amid many beautiful flowers. 



Phil. 

 Mrs. Mary Jane Glass. 



Mrs. Mary .Tano Glass, wife of .Tames 

 Glass, died at her homo on Erdman ave- 

 nue, Baltimore, Md., Sunday, Febru- 

 ary 8. 



Mrs. Glass was born in tlio north part 

 of Ireland and canio to this country 

 with her husband about forty years ago. 

 They engaged in the florists' )>usiness 



William Berger, St. 



and by hard work and earnestness it 

 grew to be one of the best in Baltimore. 

 Mr. Glass attributed the success of the 

 business to the untiring efforts of his 

 wife. She was well known by everyone 

 connected with the trade. 



Besides her husband, there are three 

 children who survive her, Mary, Ella 

 and James, Jr. The funeral was held 

 Wednesday, February 11, and she was 

 buried at the Baltimore cemetery. 



Ohio C. Barber. 



Ohio C. Barber, best known as the 

 millionaire match king, of Barberton, 

 0., died at the age of 79 at his Anna 

 Dean farm, at Barberton, Wednesday, 

 February 4. Mr. Barber was the owner 

 of one of the largest greenhouse ranges 

 in the country, having many acres under 

 glass. 



Mr. Barber was born at Middleburg, 

 0., April 20, 1841. In 1856, after a 

 common school education in Akron, O., 

 he entered his father's match factory, 

 at Middleburg, and was taken into 

 partnership in 1861. 



His genius for organization, foresight 

 and indefatigable labor asserted itself 

 immediately and in 1881 he formed the 

 Diamond Match Co., which absorbed a 

 number of firms engaged in the same 

 business. Ten years later he laid out 

 the town of Barberton, named after him- 

 self, and gave employment to thousands 

 of persons in the surrounding territory. 

 The town now has a population of 22,- 

 000. 



Mr. Barber interested himself in scien- 

 tific farming. He took over a tract of 

 1,300 acres near Barberton and turned 



it into what was known as the "model" 

 farm or the Anna Dean farm. On it he 

 erected a palatial home and spent most 

 of his time there. In 1919 he erected 

 his greenhouses according to ideas 

 obtained from several visits to the 

 Guernsey islands, where there is a great 

 growing industry under glass. The 

 Western Reserve University, of Cleve- 

 land, will have the place for experimen- 

 tal purposes under the provisions of his 

 will. The farm is valued at $4,000,000. 

 Mr. Barber was married twice, the 

 first time in 1866. His first wife died 

 some years later. He married his pri- 

 vate secretary three years ago and she 

 has virtually managed his interests since 

 that time. 



Joseph Sylvester. 



Josepli Sylvester, proprietor of the 

 Oconto Greenhouse, at Oconto, Wis., for 

 over twenty-five years, died Sunday 

 morning, Fobruarv 1, at Oconto county 

 hospital, where ho had boon receiving 

 treatment for about a week. He had 

 reached the .ago of 68 years, having been 

 liorn in Longshiro, England, in 18.12. 



Ho is survived by his widow, Susanna; 

 three daughters, Mrs. George Temple, 

 of Oconto Falls; Grace and Olive Syl- 

 vester, at home, and two sons, James 

 and Roland, at home. 



Mrs. Anna Taylor Stokes. 



Mrs. .\nna Taylor Stokes, widow of 

 Walter P. Stokes, of Moorestown, N. J., 

 died suddenly Friday, February 6. 



Since the death of her husband, Mrs. 

 Stokes had boon conducting his Flora- 

 croft greenhouses, with the assistance 

 of Edward Ross and Thomas Potts. 



