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Herman Bernhard Agsten, Sr.
Herman Bernhardt Agsten came to the United States in 1882. He was born 31 Dec 1869 in Frankenberg, Saxony, Germany. He and his family settled in Bethlehem Pennsylvania. At age 13 Herman went to work for the Bethlehem Steel Works as a water boy. He worked 60 hours a week and was paid $1.95.. The owners said since he was such a good worker they would make his pay $2.00 a week. He never attended school in the United States. At first he learned to develop patterns for the steel company. We moved to Pittsburg and worked there until 1913. In 1913 he moved to Charleston, West Virginia. At this time he started his own construction company which became known as "Agsten and Sons Construction Company". This company built the major portion of Downtown Charleston, West Virginia. Herman became a millionaire. He served at least two terms as the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce for Charleston. Not bad for a young lad who was able to speak no English and had no more than a 7th grade education. He was my great uncle and the true incarnation of the American dream.
Submitted by Lorenzo L. Allen (larrylallen@netzero.net) on Wed Feb 9 18:08:51 2000
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