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Williamsport, MD May 16 1882
Mr. V. Cushwa
To: WILLIAM DeFREHN, Dr.
MANUFACTURER of
Wood Seat Chairs and Chair Turnings, of all Descriptions
TERMS:
Constantly on hand or made to order.
Dunnings, Lackawana Co., Pa is crossed out. Presumably that was a previous location of the DeFrehn company.
The DeFrehn Chair Factory made multiple wooden chair styles and was located on the berm side of the canal above the Conococheague Aqueduct in Williamsport. The factory paid the canal for water rents in order to power the machines used to create the chairs. In 1889, a flood destroyed the factory along with a good portion of the canal. The cost to rebuild and recover from the flood was too expensive and the owners decided to move the operation to Johnstown, PA then Hornerstown, PA. The company closed in the 1970’s.