During the past twenty-seven years John Kreisel has been engaged in the coal business in partnership with his brothers, George and Fritz, under the firm name of Kreisel Brothers, developing one of the most extensive enterprises of the kind in Amsterdam. He was born in Germany, on the 16th of July, 1865, a son of George and Barbara Kreisel, and acquired his education in the public schools of his native country. In 1882, when seventeen years of age, he emigrated to the United States, having decided to avail himself of the opportunities for business advancement offered on this side of the Atlantic. He made his way direct to Montgomery county, New York, and began work on a farm in the town of Florida, now a part of Amsterdam, at a wage of ten dollars per month. In the year 1883 his two brothers, George and Fritz Kreisel, left Germany and joined him here. During the succeeding fourteen years the three brothers worked in broom factories in Amsterdam and carefully saved their earnings. In 1897, when they had acquired sufficient capital, they embarked in the coal business under the firm style of Kreisel Brothers and through the intervening years to the present have developed the enterprise until it is now one of the largest of its kind in Amsterdam. The success which has crowned the efforts of John Kreisel is indeed well deserved, for it has come as the result of untiring industry, perseverance and thrift, and he has long been numbered among the substantial and respected citizens of his community.
Mr. Kreisel has been twice married. On the 2d of February, 1887, he wedded Miss Carrie Sturm, daughter of Gottlieb Sturm of Amsterdam. She departed this life in 1889. On the 30th of May, 1895, Mr. Kreisel was again married, his second union being with Bertha Oestereich, daughter of Frederick and Minnie Oestereich, natives of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Kreisel are the parents of two daughters: Hilda Bertha, who was born on the 28th of June, 1900; and Eleanore Minnie, whose natal day was September 17, 1913. The elder daughter, who resides on a farm in Glen, is the wife of Arthur Wropel and the mother of one child, Donald John, born on the 28th of August, 1923.
The religious faith of Mr. Kreisel is indicated by his membership in Trinity German Evangelical Lutheran church, of which he is a trustee. He is also a member of the board of trade and is widely recognized as a public-spirited and progressive citizen whose influence is ever found on the side of improvement and advancement. He occupies a praiseworthy position as a type of the foreign-born citizen fully imbued with the spirit of American institutions and thoroughly devoted to the best interests of his adopted country.