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Archives provinciales du Nouveau-Brunswick

Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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NAPKE, JOSEPH J. (1880-1947)

NAPKE, JOSEPH J., dry-goods and hardware merchant, and horseman; b. Zahle, Lebanon, 1880, s/o Dimitrius Napke and Ann Turk; m. Mabel Haujjar, a native of the same place; d. Newcastle, 15 Apr 1947.

Joseph J. Napke was one of several brothers and sisters who immigrated to New Brunswick in the earlier years of the 20th century. It has been stated that he was a teacher and scholar, but it was as a merchant that he established himself at Red Bank around 1910. He peddled door-to-door at first and then conducted a dry-goods store for about ten years, with evident success. When D. William Stothart closed his hardware store on the Town Square in Newcastle in 1921 and left for St Catharine's, Ont., Napke bought it and made it into a combination hardware and clothing store. He operated this business, in which his wife was also employed, for the remainder of his life.

Napke's financial prosperity was reflected in the fact that, from the 1920s onward, he bought, raised, and sold some of the most valuable race horses of the Miramichi. His renowned trotter "Aubrey Wilkes" took first place honors at the Chatham Speedway in 1923. He was also a curling devotee and a member of the Knights of Columbus.

The Union Advocate of 12 February 1924 reported Napke's arrest in connection with a domestic incident, but the paper was not fully informative about either the event or its aftermath. He was survived in 1947 by his wife, Mabel Haujjar, a son, and a daughter.

Sources

[b] tombstone [d] Leader 18 Apr 1947 / Advocate 12 Feb 1924; Leader 12 Jul 1973; News 16 Jan 1985


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