Biography

06/03/1872 - 12/30/1944

Captain Fredric Antes Godcharles (R27) Northumberland, Snyder and Union Counties 1905-1908

Early Life:

Captain Fredric Antes Godcharles, born, June 3, 1872, Northumberland, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania; son of Charles Aiken and Elizabeth Burkenbine Godcharles; Milton High School, 1888; Lafayette College, electrical engineering, 1893; corporal, 12th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, Spanish-American War, 1898; captain, Pennsylvania National Guard, World War I; clerk, Milton Nail Works, 1893-1896; president, general manager, F.A. Godcharles Company; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1901-1902; not a candidate for reelection, 1902; unsuccessful campaign, United States Congress, 1902; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1905-1908; elected, delegate, Republican National Convention, 1908; proprietor, The Miltonian, 1910-1926; director, Garrett County Coal and Mining Company; gubernatorial appointee, Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1915-1923; unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania Secretary of Internal Affairs, 1926; gubernatorial appointee, Pennsylvania State Librarian and Director of the Pennsylvania State Museum, 1927-1931; married, Mary Walls Barbour, 1904, no children; died, December 30, 1944, Leonardtown, Saint Mary’s County, Maryland; interment, Harmony Cemetery, Milton, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania.

Authored:

Godcharles, Frederic Antes; Freemasonry in Northumberland and Snyder Counties (1911).  A history of all Lodges in these Pennsylvania counties dating from the Constitution of Lodge No. 22, 1779. Includes Capitular, Cryptic and Templar Masonry. 2 volumes., illustrated.

Godcharles, Frederic Antes; (1924). Daily Stories of Pennsylvania: Prepared for Publication in the Leading Daily Newspapers of the State. Milton, Pennsylvania: self-published

Godcharles, Frederic Antes; (1933). Pennsylvania: Political, Governmental, Military and Civil 5 Volumes, Government (I), Political (II), Military (III), Physical (IV), and Biographical history (V). New York: American Historical Society.

Godcharles, Frederic Antes; Stock, Walter D.; (1944) Index to the Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania Biography, Volumes I-XXXII. Compiled by Frederic Antes Godcharles. Clearfield, Pennsylvania: Clearfield.

Godcharles, Frederic Antes (1944). Chronicles of Central Pennsylvania. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company.

Chronicles of central Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania’s Past History Collection - Penn State University Libraries' Digital Collections (psu.edu)

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania House of Representatives, 1901-1902; not a candidate for reelection, 1902.

Unsuccessful campaign, United States Congress, 1902. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 27th District, Northumberland, Snyder and Union Counties, 1905-1908; committee assignments, Appropriations, Canals and Inland Navigation, Forestry, Game and Fisheries (Chairman), Judiciary Special, Legislative Apportionment, Military Affairs, Public Roads and Highways.

Elected, delegate, Republican National Convention, 1908.

Gubernatorial appointee, Governors Martin Grove Brumbaugh, 1915-1919; William Cameron Sproul, 1919-1923, Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth, 1915-1923. 

Unsuccessful campaign, Pennsylvania Secretary of Internal Affairs, 1926. 

Gubernatorial appointee, Governor John Stuchell Fisher, Pennsylvania State Librarian, Director, Pennsylvania State Museum, 1927-1931. Had numerous duties outside the state library and museum, presided, dedication, new museum, birthplace of Henry Clay Frick, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, 1928; official representative, featured speaker, Pennsylvania Governor John S. Fisher, Flag Day parade and ceremony, New York City, 1929; founding member, "Society for Pennsylvania Archeology" (SPA), elected, executive board, 1930.

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Official Website - PA House Archives Official Website (state.pa.us)

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members "G"". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, (1908). Cochran, T.B., (Editor) Miller, H.P. (Assistant Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 908, 915-917, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 887.

Archival Collections: Godcharles Collection (MG 520), The Historical Society of Dauphin County, Harrisburg.

Frederic Antes Godcharles (1872-1944) - Find a Grave Memorial