Three distinct periods mark the career of James F. Hunsicker - a-time of preparation in the beautiful country region of Lehigh county, a time of struggle in various sections, and a rime of success in the thriving city of Allentown, Pa. He spent his early life in his native rural community, where hard toil and frugal ways of living toughened his physical fibre and engendered life-long habits of industry and thrift. He became deeply imbued with high moral ideals in the religious atmosphere that pervaded the humble home, and through the nurture of the church.

He acquired an elementary education in the public schools at Pleasant Corner, and at Schnecksvifle. His scholastic career was cut short by the exigencies of life, but he took with him from school into the struggle of existence a mind, naturally alert, that had become imbued with a thirst of knowledge and with a love of books. In after years these traits of character proved a means of supplying that educational equipment which a lack of opportunity had denied him in his youth. At the age of thirteen, the first period of 'his life ended. Christian parents, a humble home, and rural life, with all its physical and moral benefits, had been the formative elements during these plastic years of preparation. Then came the period of struggle, which figures so prominently in the lives of American men of affairs who have achieved success. For a few years the young country had, intrepid but inexperienced, drifted on the broad ocean of life without having a definite goal. He was testing his powers and finding his natural bent. During this interval various transient occupations held his interest, in Catasauqua, Philadelphia, and Lehigh county, among others the survey of the Ironton and Steinsville Railroad, under the direction of Colonel S. D. Lehr, C. E. Afterwards he continued to accumulate valuable experience, and to develop his native business sagacity in diverse subordinate positions, as an employee in the general store of his uncle, Joseph Kressley, in Allentown; in the company store of the Allentown Iron Company; and, finally, in the dry-goods establishment of A. A. Huber. Thus, within the brief space of five years, at the age of eighteen, the subject of this sketch had found himself.

From field and farm, and from desultory occupations, he had followed the bent of his natural endowments, which led him into the commercial arena as his proper sphere. And then began the third period of his career which bears the superscription "Success" written there, not by the hand of capricious fortune, but by dint of unremitting toil and untarnished integrity. That final period dates from the year 1870, when James F. Hunsicker formed a partnership with his brother, Henry W, and founded a general store under the firm-name of Hunsicker Brothers, at Seventh and Chew streets, Allentown, Pa. Two years later, when their uncle, Elias Bittner, joined the partnership, that name was changed to Bittner and Hunsicker Bros. Another change occurred in 1880, when Frank D. Bittner, a son of Elias Bittner, also became one of the partners. The firm traded under the name of Bittner, Hunsicker, and Company, until 1886, when their growing volume of business necessitated a radical change. In that year the original partnership was dissolved. Henry W. Hunsicker took the retail dry-goods department, while James F. Hunsicker, together with Elias and Frank O. Bittner, decided to devote themselves exclusively to the wholesale branch of the business.

This new venture, trading under the name of Bittner, Hunicker & Co., was a success from the very beginning. Soon it outgrew its modest cradle, on Hamilton Street, and became domiciled in a three-story building, on North Seventh Street. In December, 1902, fire destroyed this structure completely, with all its contents. But even that disaster did not cripple, much less destroy, this flourishing enterprise. A new budding, larger, and better than its predecessor, rose out of the ashes of the old. That handsome five-story structure, stands today as one of the solid pillars of the commercial prestige of the city of Allentown. It harbors a volume of merchandise second to none outside of metropolitan centers of trade, and it employs a large force of resident and traveling salesmen, whose loyalty and efficiency are matched by their employers' fairness and generosity.

Thus Mr. Hunsicker has risen step by step, from the humble station allotted to him by the accident of birth, to a commanding position in the economic life of his city and state. And, under Providence, his steady advancement and solid achievements were the result of his own initiative, energy, sagacity, and integrity. In the best sense of the word, he is a self-made man. But his commercial and financial success, commanding though it is, is only the minor part of his attainments. Greater, even, than the successful wholesale merchant is the citizen, the churchman, and the husband and father. Through all the years of his busy life, Mr. Hunsicker never suffered the four walls of his
business to bound his horizon. His interest and cooperation went forth in many directions, and he became an important constructive force in the higher life of his community. The bestowal upon him of numerous honors and offices marks the appreciation of his townsmen, and their public recognition of his sterling worth as a man of character and ability. He has served, at various times, as a director of the Allentown National Bank, and as a member and director of the Board of Control of the public schools of Allentown, Pa. He is a member of the board of directors of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Allentown; a charter member of the chamber of commerce, of Allentown, serving as vice-president and as a member of the executive committee since its organization; and a charter member of the National Wholesale Dry Goods Association of the United States. He is also a charter member of the Allentown Hospital Association, to the promotion of whose interests he has given lavishly of his time and substance. He was a member of the building committee which planned and erected the magnificent hospital that has healed and helped thousands of sufferers since its completion. He held the position of vice-president of the hospital association for many years, until, recently, at the death of the Hon. Edward Harvey, he succeeded that accomplished gentleman in the office of president Besides holding these numerous honorary offices, he also became identified with the Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Royal Arcanum, and the Golden Eagles. But, outside of his business interests, Mr. Hunsicker is seen at his best in the sphere of the Church and in the domestic circle. He is the spiritual heir, as well as the lineal descendant of God-fearing Swiss and Dutch ancestors, who came to this country to find freedom for their faith. He has inherited from them his sane and sincere faith in the Christian religion and his unwavering loyalty to the Reformed Church. Salem Reformed church in Allentown, the largest congregation of the Reformed Church in the United States, regards Mr. Hunsicker affectionately, as its leading member, and the whole religious community looks upon him as a typical and representative layman of the modem church, in whom creed and deed are happily blended in a full-orbed Christian manhood. He is a charter member of Salem Reformed church. At various times he has served this congregation as deacon, elder, and trustee. He has represented it, as lay delegate, at the higher judicatories of the Reformed denomination, and he has been its president for the last twenty-five years. But his most efficient religious service has been rendered in his connection with the Sunday school of Salem Reformed church, whose superintendent he has been for more than twenty years. This remarkable organization, numbering over 2,000 active members, both adults and children, owes its vigorous life and its continuous prosperity largely to the personal leadership of its devoted superintendent Through it Mr. Hunsicker has been one of the influential factors in the moulding of the moral and religious life of multitudes of men and women in all the walks of life. The Reformed Church has recognized his talents and his devotion to the cause of religion, and it has honored him by electing him a member of the board of trustees of Bethany Orphans' Home, at Womeisdorl, Pa., and also of the board of trustees of the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church, at Lancaster, Pa.

In his domestic relations Mr. Hunsicker has been singularly happy. He was married to Mary Hannah Schrader on the 26th of December, 1872, and his wife became his true helpmate. She is a daughter of Charles S. Schrader and Judith, nee Fritch.

The union of James F. Hunsicker and Mary Hannah Schrader has been blessed with three sons, who are an honor to their parents and a credit to their native city. All of them have enjoyed the advantages of a higher education, and they are duplicating the enviable and honorable record of their father in their various vocations.