My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE RAESLY, the popular and efficient Postmaster of Mt. Bethel, and a prominent business man of that place, is a native of Northampton County, and was born July 3, 1859. His parents, Benjamin F. and Matilda (Loehr) Raesly, were natives of the same place. The Raesly family were early settlers of Mt. Bethel Township, where the father of our subject occupied the position of County Superintendent of Schools for nine years. He is a graduate of the State Normal School, and is an old educator in the county, and well known throughout the state having been interested in educational work for a number of years.

George Raesly, the subject of this sketch, was reared to man’s estate in Mt. Bethel, and was educated in the public schools here. He also attended Lafayette College at Easton, Pa., for a short time. After leaving school he taught one term in Williams Township, but came to the conclusion that teaching was not to be his avocation, so set about looking for something more congenial. In the spring of 1877 he engaged as clerk in the dry-goods store of R. J. Gruver, and for four years he continued to wait upon the customers that thronged the store, winning the esteem and confidence of his employer and making a host of friends by his courteous manner and genial disposition. In 1881 he was admitted as a partner in the business, and the firm is now known as Gruver & Raesly, and he is considered one of the leading business men of the town.

January 23, 1883, Mr. Raesly was united in marriage with Ella, a daughter of Calvin and Sarah E. Heller, of Upper Mt. Bethel Township, Northampton County. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Raesly, Mary and Tillie. Politically our subject is aDemocrat, and was appointed Postmaster of Mt. Bethel by President Cleveland in 1892. He was elected School Director, and has served as Secretary of the board for a number of years. Socially he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. A wide-awake, thorough-going business man, he takes an intelligent interest in everything pertaining to the advancement of his community, and is deserving of the high regard in which he is held by all who know him, and is entitled to more than passing notice in an enumeration of the successful men of Northampton County.