Elmer E. Kreiger, proprietor of a well-known restaurant in Prattsville, and a citizen prominently identified with the public affairs of this town, was born in Ashland, N. Y., March 7, 1861, son of Edward and Mahala (Benjamin) Kreiger.
His father, who is a native of Germany, was engaged in a revolutionary movement there which resulted in his being obliged in 1847 to seek refuge in the United States. Locating in Prattsville, he was in the employ of Smith & Ofler for five years, at the end of which time he moved to Ashland, where for the succeeding nine years he was engaged in farming. Next coming to Huntersfield, he continued to carry on general farming until 1888, when he retired from active labor. He is now seventy-five years old, and is residing in the village of Prattsville. His first wife, Mahala, who was a daughter of Joseph Benjamin, of Prattsville, became the mother of four children, all of whom grew to maturity. One son was accidentally killed while gunning in 1893, at the age of thirty-four years. The living are: Frank, who is residing on the farm in Huntersfield; Kate, who married Merritt Alberti; and Elmer E., the special subject of this sketch. Mrs. Mahala Kreiger died in 1863, aged thirty-six years. Edward Kreiger married for his second wife Mary Ham, by whom he has one child, a son, who is residing in this town.
Elmer E. Kreiger was educated in the public schools. He remained at home until twenty-two years old, when he became an assistant on the Stanley Hall farm, and at the end of one year was given the entire charge of that property, which contains five hundred acres. During his fourteen years as manager of this establishment he met with good financial results. After leaving Stanley Hall he bought a farm of two hundred acres in the town of Gilboa, which he sold to good advantage a year later, and, coming to Prattsville in 1894, he engaged in the restaurant business. He was also quite an extensive speculator in cattle prior to relinquishing agricultural pursuits, and in that business he became widely known throughout this section of the State. As a prominent Democrat he takes a lively interest in political affairs, and is very popular with his fellow-townsmen. He was elected to the Board of Supervisors for the years 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, and 1897 by a large majority, and during those years he frequently acted as temporary chairman of that body.
Mr. Kreiger is unmarried. He was made a Mason at the age of twenty-two, and is now Junior Warden and a trustee of the Blue Lodge in this town. He is a director, and superintendent of grounds, of the Prattsville Agricultural and Horticultural Association, and is always ready to assist in forwarding public improvements. While not a chutrch member, he contributes toward the support of the various denominations, and is in close sympathy with the different moral and religious societies of the village.