Hunt, Herbert and Floyd C. Kaylor. Washington: West of the Cascades. Vol. III. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1917. p.439. BRECHT, ALFRED S. Alfred S. Brecht, local manager at Aberdeen for the Singer Sewing Machine Company, became a resident of that city in 1888. He first visited Washington in 1886, going to Tacoma and Seattle, but he felt that he did not like the country and returned to his old home in Pennsylvania. The lure of the west, however, was upon him and again he made his way to this state, since which time he has for more than a quarter of a century been identified with the progress and development of Aberdeen. He is a native of western Pennsylvania, a son of Godfrey and Mariah Brecht. His father was born in Holland and at the age of thirteen years came to the United States, after which e engaged in logging and lumbering in Pennsylvania, in which state his wife was born and reared. He died when their son, Alfred S., was but nine years of age and the mother five years later. Alfred S. Brecht pursued his education in the schools of his native state and when his textbooks were put aside began work in sawmills. He won advancement and in time became foreman of a lumberyard, so that he was well acquainted with the various phases of the lumber industry ere his removal to the west. As stated, the year 1886 saw him in Tacoma and Seattle, but those cities, then in embryo, seemed to offer no attraction for his permanent abode and, returning to Pennsylvania, he there continued until 1888, when he went to Aberdeen. Following his arrival there Mr. Brecht secured a position in the Weatherwax sawmill, where he remained for a year and after his work at the mill was over for the day he engaged in selling sewing machines. He afterward turned his attention to contracting and in that connection did most of the slashing in clearing the town site of Aberdeen. He next accepted the superintendancy of a planing mill, of which he had charge for eleven years, and in 1902 he became local agent for the Singer Sewing Machine Company, in which connection he has built up a business of large and substantial proportions. In 1893 he filed ona homestead at North Beach, Washington, but afterward sold that property. In 1887 Mr. Brecht was married to Miss Alice Platt, of Pennsylvania, and to them have been born three sons and three daughters: Mrs. Erdie Sherer, of Mukilteo, Washington; Mrs. Dora Rasor, of Portland, Oregon; Alfred, who is in business with his father; Ira, who is employed at the Union depot in Aberdeen; Mrs. Bethana McNeeley, of Hoquiam, Washington; and Bryan, who is in the employ of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company and resides in Aberdeen. Mrs. Brecht has ever been a most devoted wife and mother and her entire life has been characterized by a most generous and helpful spirit and by unfailing kindness. She is continually aiding others who need assistance and she is now rearing an infant daughter, Beatrice, whom she has adopted, and also another child, Arthur Appleton. Submitted by: Jenny Tenlen * * * * Notice: These biographies were transcribed for the Washington Biographies Project. Unless otherwise stated, no further information is available on the individual featured in the biographies.