By John Tredrea, Special Writer
A proclamation honoring the Niederer family on their centennial in Hopewell Township was issued by the Township Committee on Monday night.
The proclamation, dated July 4 and signed by Mayor Harvey Lester, noted Otto Niederer emigrated from Switzerland to Union City in 1910. A skilled embroiderer, his dream was to own a farm.
He married Katherine Behnke, a German immigrant, in 1915 after a two-year courtship. The couple then moved to a 75-acre farm he purchased in Titusville.
They raised eight children on that farm, producing vegetables and poultry for two decades.
Noting the Niederers “endured financial adversity during the Great Depression,” the proclamation goes on to say Mr. Niederer responded to that adversity by developing “patentable inventions, including prototype machines for improving the candling and weight grading of poultry eggs.”
In 1939 and 1940, the family established Egomatic Inc., which produced egg-handling equipment.
During World War II, another Niederer company, Rivomatic Inc., built operating and sorting equipment for rivets used in the defense industry.
The proclamation goes on to say that hundreds of jobs in the Hopewell Valley area were provided over a 47-year period by businesses operated by the Niederers. Their farm became part of Washington Crossing State Park in 1939.
The park’s Open Air Theatre is on land that was part of the Niederer farm.
At Committeewoman Vanessa Sandom’s suggestion Monday, the committee is contacting David Blackwell, chairman of the township’s Historic Sites Preservation Commission and an acknowledged expert on Valley history, for recommendations on what other longtime Valley families can be honored.
