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BIOGRAPHICAL AND PORTRAIT 
 
 CYCLOPEDIA 
 
 OF 
 
 MONTGOMERY COUNTY, 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA, 
 
 CONTAINING BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND 
 REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF THE COUNTY, 
 
 TOGETHER WITH AN 
 
 INTRODUCTORY HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 SAMUEL T. WILEY, 
 
 Author of Histories of Niagara and Washington Counties, New York; Presto?, md Mongalia 
 Counties, West Virginia; Fayette, Westmoreland, Blair, Indiana, Armstrori 
 Schuylkill, Chester and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 BIOGRAPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
 
 1895. 
 
 
60573 
 
 The Press of 
 
 West-Johnson Company, 
 
 Printers, 
 
 Easton, Penna. 
 
 
 
 
 
a\l> 
 
 qo 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY— the life of the nation and the story of the 
 individual — are inseparably connected, for history is the synthesis of 
 biography and biography is the analysis of history ; and that depart- 
 ment of history most valuable for the intelligent study of national life is 
 biography, as it affords one great means of historical generalization. 
 
 Biographical history is now popular because important. It secured 
 national recognition in the Centennial year of the American Republic, 
 when Congress recommended to every city, town and county of the 
 United States the necessity and duty of securing for preservation and future 
 use their local history and the biographies of their prominent and worthy citizens. Biog- 
 raphy teaching the highest good by presenting worthy examples, has become an indispensa- 
 ble element of all branches of history, and aids largely in the study of the philosophy of his- 
 tory. In its earlier stages of growth, biography was only the story of the lives of heroes 
 and great men often but partly and partially told, but in its later development it is the more 
 impartial and satisfactory record of the great, the deserving and the useful in every walk 
 of life. Biography also preserves the names of thousands remarkable for wisdom, virtue, 
 intelligence, energy and ability, and who only lacked opportunity to have won fame and 
 distinction. 
 
 History and biography have ceased to be ponderous and pompous; have ceased to be 
 the story of monarchy and the record of kings, and are now the life of the nation and the 
 chronicles of individual effort. We have in local biographical history a most potent and 
 entertaining method of instructing by precedent, of inciting to emulation, and of preserv- 
 ing the names of those who contributed to the transformation of the counties of this 
 State from a primitive condition to their present wonderful state of development. No 
 less important is a just and fitting memorial to those men and women who have im- 
 pressed themselves upon their respective communities, whether through industrial, polit- 
 ical, professional or civic relations. The history of the past is the history of the few ; the 
 history of the present is the history of the many "who by head or hand, force of character 
 
4 Preface. 
 
 or high attainment have made themselves centers or sources of influence in their respec- 
 tive communities." These biographies taken together make a complete history of a 
 county, political, social, commercial and industrial. 
 
 Montgomery county occupies an important and honorable position in the "Keystone 
 State" of this great republic, and demands the best work upon the part of historian, bi- 
 ographer and publisher. Neither time, labor or expense has been spared in the prepara- 
 tion of this volume, and it is placed before the public with the belief that it will be found 
 equal to any work of similar character published in this country. The development and 
 progress of Montgomery county is not due to any particular race, but is the combined re- 
 sult of the brain and brawn of all the nationalities whose home has been within her bor- 
 ders, since the days of Quaker settlement and English colonization on the banks of the 
 Delaware. 
 
 The geology given is mainly taken from the volumes of the Second Geological Sur- 
 vey of Pennsylvania ; the mineralogy has been compiled from Prof. O. C. S. Carter's de- 
 scription of the minerals of the county ; while the notice of vegetable and animal life is 
 condensed from the articles on each by Dr. P. Y. Eisenberg- and William J. Puck, the 
 historian. 
 
 The concise account given of political, judicial, medical, military, journalistic, finan- 
 cial, educational and religious matters, has been carefully compiled from all sources of 
 reliable and accurate information available. 
 
 A new and special feature that has been introduced is that of the appendix devoted 
 to the prominent dead of the county, whose worthy careers entitle them to ample space 
 and distinguished mention. 
 
 Produced by a vast amount of careful ami diligent labor, this cyclopedia supplies a 
 general and permanent want, and contains no information that will become obsolete 
 through the advance of knowledge. It seeks to preserve all of value in the past, and yet 
 includes the men and women who are performing- the work, and moulding- the present 
 thought of the county in its every line of progress and development. 
 
 The Publishers. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
 OF 
 
 MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. BOUNDARIES AND AREA — TOPOGRAPHY 
 
 — TERRITORIAL CHANGES — GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION — GEOLOGICAL 
 
 STRUCTURE — MINERALOGY — ZOOLOGY. 
 
 HILE it is not within the scope 
 of a work of this character to 
 give a complete or extended 
 history of Montgomery coun- 
 ty, yet the publishers have 
 deemed it most essential to 
 make a brief presentation of 
 the most important events of 
 the history and development 
 of the county before proceeding to record 
 the biographical sketches of its useful and 
 leading citizens. 
 
 Boundaries and Area. — M< >.vn;< imi.kv 
 County, Pennsylvania, is the ninth in 
 order of age of the sixty-seven counties of 
 the Keystone State, is in the southeastern 
 or garden part of the Commonwealth, and 
 lies between the fortieth and forty-first de- 
 grees of north latitude, and the seventy-fifth 
 and seventy-sixth degrees of west longitude 
 from Greenwich, England, or the first and 
 second degrees of east longitude from Wash- 
 ington city. As a political division of the 
 State, Montgomery county is bounded on 
 the north-east by Lehigh and bucks coun- 
 ties ; on the south-east by Philadelphia 
 county; on the south-west by Delaware and 
 Chester counties; and on the north-west 
 by Berks count}-. According to "Smull's 
 Legislative Hand Book," the county con- 
 tains four hundred and eighty-four (484) 
 
 square miles, or three hundred and nine thou- 
 sand seven hundred and sixty (309,760) acres. 
 The territory of the comity was organized 
 as a part of Philadelphia, one of three 
 original counties established by Penn in 
 16S2, and continued as such until Sep- 
 tember 10, 1784, when it was organized 
 under the name of Montgomery county. 
 
 There arc three theories for the origin of 
 the name of the county; first, that it was 
 named for Montgomeryshire, Wales ; second, 
 that it was to commemorate the name of 
 the lamented General Montgomery, who 
 fell at Quebec ; and third, that it was in 
 the honor of Joseph and William Mont- 
 gomery, who were then members of the 
 Pennsylvania legislature and worked hard 
 for the passage of the bill creating the 
 county. "It is possible that the Montgom- 
 erys' of the assembly anticipated the natural 
 wishes of the Welsh, and utilized the name of 
 Genera] Montgomery with that of their own." 
 
 In geographical position, Montgomery 
 county is one of the south-eastern counties 
 of Pennsylvania, while its geographical 
 center and center of population are not a 
 great distance apart, and both are said to be 
 in the neighborhood of Centre Point, in 
 Worcester township. 
 
 The county is in the Seventh Congres- 
 sional district, composed of the counties of 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 Bucks and Montgomery ; while within it- 
 self it constitutes the Twelfth Senatorial 
 and Thirty-eighth Judicial districts, and is 
 entitled to five members in the Pennsylva- 
 nia House of Representatives. 
 
 Topography. — The surface of Montgom- 
 ery county is undulating and hilly, while 
 its soil is good and very productive. It is 
 well watered, and in the past was well 
 wooded with oak, hickory and chestnut, 
 which have been largely cut away for 
 fuel, charcoal, lime-burning and to sup- 
 ply the Philadelphia markets. Well de- 
 fined ranges of hills run from north-east 
 to south-west. In the south-eastern por- 
 tion of the county are the Gulf, Barren 
 and Chelten hills ; and in the central part 
 are the Providence and Skippack hills ; and 
 in the northern part are the prominent, 
 rugged and somewhat mountainous Stone 
 Hills. The Schuykill, Plymouth and 
 Perkiomeu valleys are very fertile, while 
 the large areas of rolling lands drained 
 by the Wissahickon creek, Indian Swamp 
 and Manatawny creeks, are highly produc- 
 tive. The entire county is a rolling 
 country of hill and dale, with rich farms, 
 good roads, comfortable dwellings and fine 
 residences. 
 
 The general drainage of the county is to 
 the southeast by the Schuylkill river and its 
 tributaries, of which latter the principal ones 
 in Montgomery are, Perkiomen, Stony and 
 Wissahickon creeks. Skillful engineers 
 who have examined the Upper Perkiomen 
 valley, state that its elevation and volume 
 of water are sufficient to make a great 
 reservoir that could supply the city of 
 Philadelphia with pure water for a century 
 to come. 
 
 Geology. — The geological structure of 
 Pennsylvania is complicated in form and 
 various of quality and age. The great sub- 
 
 terranean floor of Pennsylvania formed of 
 granite, gneiss, mica, slate and marble, lies 
 from one to twenty thousand feet beneath 
 the present surface, and contains vast de- 
 posits of iron. These great floor rocks were 
 originally sandstone and limestone, but 
 were changed into granite and gneiss, mica, 
 slate, and marble, by pressure, heat and 
 chemical action. 
 
 Prof. J. P. Lesley gives the following 
 characteristic sketch of Montgomery county 
 in the Second Geological Survey of Penn- 
 sylvania : " The geology of this county is 
 the same as that of Bucks county, between 
 which and the Schuylkill it lies, with a 
 length of thirty-eight (38) miles (along its 
 northeast line) and an average breadth of 
 sixteen (16) miles (along its northwest line). 
 Two of its townships, Upper and Lower 
 Merion, lie on the west side of the river. 
 Philadelphia city (once county) is cut out 
 of its southern corner. Four-fifths of the 
 county has a surface of Mesozoic (New Red 
 Trias) soft red shale and Sandstone dipping 
 gently northward. A ridge of greenstone 
 trap in Marlboro township is gapped at Sum- 
 neytown by a branch of the Perkiomen, the 
 main creek flowing (south) past the west 
 end of the dyke at Green Lane. Another 
 small hill of trap rises one mile north of 
 Pottstown. The North Penn railroad tun- 
 nel at Gwynedd cuts trap in the hill. The 
 villages of Morgan Hill, Sorrel Horse, 
 Dreshertown, Fort Washington, Hickory- 
 town and Plymouth mark the line of the 
 south edge of the New Red, where the Pots- 
 dam quartzite No. 1 (North Valley Hill 
 rock of Chester county) comes out from 
 under it, in a series of diagonal (anticlinal) 
 ridges, with basins of Chester count)- lime- 
 stone No. 11 between them. The Chester 
 county valley heads up eastward through 
 Upper Merion and Whitemarsh township. 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 The southern edge of the limestone No. n 
 crosses the Schuylkill at Conshohocken, and 
 runs past the marble quarries, Marble Hall, 
 and the north corner of Cheltenham town- 
 ship to a point two miles east of Pinetown. 
 The narrow southern outcrop of No. i rnns 
 alongside of the limestone from Consho- 
 hocken eastward to within a mile of Sorrel 
 Horse. A narrow belt of the South Valley 
 Hill slate rnns from Conshohocken west- 
 ward as a continuation of the belt of No. i. 
 South of this slate and south of the ontcrop 
 of No. i, all across the comity, rnns a belt 
 of the older gneiss, bordered on the south 
 by the Chestnut Hill and Edge Hill line of 
 garnetiferons and serpentine-bearing schists. 
 Three lines of serpentine ontcrop cross 
 Merion, one of them at Merion Square, the 
 two a mile and two miles north of it. From 
 Jenkintown eastward Edge Hill carries the 
 famous eurile or itacolumite ontcrop, which 
 has been assigned to the Potsdam formation 
 No. i." 
 
 The following formations and deposits 
 exist within the county : River mud, Trenton 
 gravel, red and yellow clay and gravel, 
 Bryu Mawr gravel, trap, mesozoic, serpen- 
 tine, Chestnut Hill and garnetiferons schists, 
 Philadelphia and Manayunk schists, South 
 Valley hill slate, Potsdam sandstone or Edge- 
 Hill rock, and syenite and granites supposed 
 to be laurentian. 
 
 Mineralogy. — The precious minerals 
 have been found in Montgomery count}-, 
 but not in sufficient quantities to pay 
 for working. Traces of gold are found 
 in the azoic rocks and in the Delaware 
 river sands. In one reported case a hun- 
 dred pounds of gravel yielded nearly 
 twenty-seven cents worth of gold. Traces 
 of silver associated with argentiferous sale- 
 nite was found some years ago at the Ecton 
 mine at Shannonville. Copper veins exist 
 
 near Shannonville, and in Upper Salford 
 township, and are also found about one and 
 a half miles below Norristown. Near Shan- 
 nonville, Stephen Girard sunk a shaft on the 
 copper vein, but did not obtain ore in pay- 
 ing quantities. Others sunk shafts with no 
 better results, and the Ecton and Perkiomen 
 mines were worked at different times from 
 1829 to 1S58, but never more than paid ex- 
 penses. In one year there were taken from 
 the last named mines five hundred and 
 twenty-four (524) tons of copper, worth 
 nearly thirty-one thousand dollars ($31,000), 
 and it is claimed that under a more economi- 
 cal management the returns would have 
 yielded a profit. Eead ores are found in 
 slight quantities associated with the copper 
 ores. Slight traces of tin are found in Fran- 
 conia township, where it exists in its native 
 state in a gold-bearing gravel. Thin veins 
 of coal from one to two inches in thickness 
 and limited to very small areas are found in 
 different localities of the county, but no 
 larger or heavier veins have ever been dis- 
 covered. Graphite exists near Henderson's 
 Station. 
 
 The more common and more useful min- 
 erals of the county are clay, kaolin, glass 
 sand, limestone, marble, iron ore, and build- 
 ing rock. 
 
 The clay beds are in the limestone belt, 
 and are principally found in Springfield, 
 Whitemarsh, Plymouth and Upper Merion 
 townships. The most important kaolin bed 
 is about two and a half miles from Con- 
 shohocken, and in Plymouth township. It 
 was opened in 1877, and yields a white pot- 
 tery clay, a red terra cotta clay, and a blue 
 fire brick clay much used at the Albertson 
 .Star glass works, at Norristown. Fine white 
 glass sand is found near many of the kaolin 
 deposits. The Montgomery limestone val- 
 ley commences in Abiugton township and 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 widening out passes through Cheltenham, 
 Whitemarsh, Springfield, Upper Dublin, 
 Plymouth and Upper Merion townships into 
 
 ster county, where it is known as Ches- 
 ter valley. Most oi the limestones in the 
 Montgomery valley are highly magi. 
 Immense quantities of lime have been burned 
 in this valley for building and agricultural 
 purposes, and tor shipment to Philadelphia 
 and other cities. As early as 1840 the value 
 oi the lime burned in the county was over 
 a quarter of a million dollars. The earliest 
 mention of lime burning in the comity was 
 in 16S6, when Madam Farmer, of White- 
 marsh township, offered to sell ten thousand 
 (10,000) bushels at six pence per bushel. The 
 lime used in the building of the old State 
 house at Philadelphia was hauled from the 
 Ryner Tyson kilns, in Abington township. 
 The limestone area is between fifteen (15) 
 and twent square miles, and its main 
 
 shipping points are Norristown, Port Ken- 
 nedy, and Swedesburg. At Ambler Station, 
 
 m salts and various other magnesia 
 compounds are manufactured from these 
 limestones. Marble, which is but limestone 
 crystallized by extreme heat, exists in large 
 quantities in the Montgomery valley. Nearly 
 all the quarries are open on the southern 
 edge of the limestone belt. The Marble 
 Hall quarries, the largest in the county, were 
 opened over a hundred years ago, and fur- 
 nished the white marble used in building 
 the Washington monument, at the national 
 capitol. Marble Hall quarries contain the 
 only vein of statuary marble found in the 
 county. Other leading and important quar- 
 ries are, Spring Mill, Hitner's, Hender- 
 son's, Graver's, Corson's, Williams', Smith's, 
 Phipps', Coxe's, Ramsey's, Marple's, Lee- 
 dom's, O'Brien's, Derr's, and the different 
 Rambo quarries near Swedesburg. The Den- 
 quarries furnished the marble for the Xorris- 
 
 town court-house, and the William Rambo 
 marble quarries at Swedesburg, have large 
 lime-kilns connected with them. 
 
 The princial iron-ores oi the county are : 
 Magnetic, red hematite, brown hematite, 
 spathic or siderite, titanic, and chromic. 
 There are no large beds <A~ magnetic iron- 
 ore in the county. The brown hematite is 
 a common ore in the limestone belt, occur- 
 ring in clay deposits, from which thousands 
 oi tons have been mined. The Edge Hill 
 blast furnace used this ore extensively. The 
 red hematite is found in several parts of the 
 iron-ore belt, and is sometimes discovered 
 in connection with the brown hematite. 
 Traces of spathic and titanic iron-ores ha\ e 
 been reported as found in some of the town- 
 ships, but the brown hematite is the abun- 
 dant and representative iron-ore of Mont- 
 gomery county. The main building rocks 
 oi the county are marble, red sandstone, 
 syenite and granitic. Marble, the most im- 
 portant rock, is largely used in public and 
 private buildings and weathers better in the 
 country than in a city. The new red sand- 
 stone, quarries oi which are worked in 
 nearly every township, is coming into gen- 
 eral use, as it weathers far better than Pots- 
 dam sandstone, that was once quite popular. 
 There are extensive beds of syenite and 
 granitic rocks in the county, that in time 
 will furnish large quantities oi a good, 
 strong, medium grade building stone. 
 
 Botany. — The first description and cata- 
 logue of the plants of Montgomery county 
 was made by Dr. P. Y. Eisenberg, and is 
 given in Bean's history of the county. Dr. 
 Eisenberg classifies over seven hundred 
 species of phaenogamous or flowering plants; 
 and thirty-three species of the cryptogamous 
 or flowerless plants. Dr. Eisenberg was un- 
 able to make his catalogue full and com- 
 plete, but it is a work of great value and 
 
Historical Ski 
 
 will make highly interesting the study of 
 the plant-lif county. 
 
 Zoology. — The zoology or animal life 
 of Montgomery county so far has received 
 its fullest treatmentat the hands of William 
 J. Buck, whose- catalogue of quadrupeds 
 contains thirty-five species, embracing eight 
 kinds of bats, three of shrews, five of squir- 
 rels and seven of rats. The other spei 
 are the wild cat, red fox, weasel, mink, otter, 
 skunk, raccoon, and opossum. 
 
 Mr. Buck's ornithological catalogue in- 
 cludes two hundred and thirty-two species 
 of birds and embraces thirteen kinds of 
 hawks, two of eagles, eight of owls, two of 
 cuckoos, eight of woodpeckers, six of swal- 
 lows, nine of fly-catchers, four of thrushes, 
 twenty-one of warblers, eight of wrens, ten 
 of sparrows, seven of herons, three of plover, 
 five of snipe, five of sandpipers, four of rails, 
 fifteen of ducks, three of geese, three of 
 stills, three of grebes, two of black bin 
 two of crows, two of orioles, two of robins. 
 It also includes the turkey buzzard, hum- 
 ming bird, whip-poor-will, king-fisher, pe- 
 wee, blue bird, great shrike or butcher bird, 
 
 gray creeper, nuthatch, red bird, yellow 
 bird, linnet, finch, indigo bird, cow bird, 
 meadow lark, wild pigeon, turtle dove, 
 pheasant, partridge, snake driver, kill-deer, 
 turn Stone, swan, COOt, loon and pelican. 
 
 The reptile by .Mr. Buck's catalogue num- 
 ber thirty-th cies, of which the rattle- 
 snake and copperhead, fast disappearing, 
 the most dangerous. He gives a dozen 
 kinds of snakes, eight of turtles, eight of 
 frogs, two of lizards, and six of salaman- 
 ders. 
 
 Twenty-five species constitute Mr. Bu 
 catalogue of fishes, among which are sun- 
 fish, bass, perch, trout, chub, roach, sucker, 
 catfish, car]), eel and lamprey. 
 
 With the geography of the county all arc- 
 well acquainted, and the First and Second 
 Geological Surveys of Pennsylvania have 
 done- much toward giving the history of its 
 
 ology and mineralogy, yet there is much 
 to be learned about its geological struc- 
 ture and the extent of its minerals, while 
 its botany and zoology are fields in which 
 many future discoveries await the ardent 
 and painstaking student. 
 
CHAPTER IT. 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENTS AND PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT. PRE-HISTORIC INHABITATION 
 
 — MOUND BUILDERS — INDIAN TRIBES — INDIAN PURCHASES — 
 
 DEVELOPMENT PERIODS. 
 
 |0 GRANDER page in the his- 
 tory of the new world will ever 
 be written than that of Swedish 
 settlement and Quaker coloni- 
 zation on the Delaware, for 
 each was projected in the in- 
 terests of religions freedom, 
 and the latter was also the 
 exponent of universal peace in 
 a time when Europe was ruled by might 
 and war was the arbitrament of all national 
 controversies. 
 
 The history of the founding of the Key- 
 stone State is a long and interesting one 
 from the discovery of the Delaware by the 
 Dutch, to the planting of New Sweden and 
 its absorption in the colony of Penn. Two 
 hundred sixty-two years ago the mighty 
 Gustavus Adolphus, wearied with war and 
 religious strife, sought to found in the new 
 world, a great empire where political and 
 religious freedom should prevail. But his 
 death at Lutzen, left to other hands a half 
 century later, the founding of this grand 
 ideal State, and upon the weak and feeble 
 New Sweden of the warrior monarch was 
 planted the strong, prosperous and peaceful 
 Quaker province of William Penn, which 
 developed into the present powerful and 
 populous " Keystone State " of the Ameri- 
 can Union. 
 
 William Penn, the " Quaker King," in 
 founding the province of Pennsylvania, not 
 only provided an asylum for the persecuted 
 of his day, but laid broad and deep the 
 
 foundations of popular power, free govern- 
 ment and a lofty civilization, and contribu- 
 ted in a large degree, to the birth of a nation 
 whose magnificent progress has been the 
 wonder of the world, and whose future 
 career will largely control the destinies of 
 the human race. 
 
 Xo more truthful epitaph is recorded of 
 any benefactor of the human race than that 
 which is inscribed to William Penn on a 
 tablet in the old State House at Phila- 
 delphia, and reads : " William Penn, born 
 in Loudon, October 14th, 1644, laid the 
 foundations of universal liberty, a. d. 1682, 
 in the privileges he then accorded the emi- 
 grants to Pennsylvania and thus enabled 
 their descendants to make the colony the 
 Keystone State of the Federal Union in 
 1789." 
 
 Pre-Historic Inhabitation. — Before 
 proceeding to treat of the early settle- 
 ment of the county by the whites, it 
 will be necessary to make brief mention of 
 the pre-historic inhabiting races, the Mound- 
 bnilders and the Indians. For the rude 
 objects of ancient art are mute witnesses of 
 a period of human existence back of the 
 scope of written records, and supply the long- 
 sought means of tracing man from almost 
 his first appearance in the world down 
 through his conquests over nature to the 
 time when history takes up the thread of 
 his career. The pre-historic is separated in 
 the United States from the historic by the 
 discover}' of America by Columbus, so that 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 it 
 
 whatever here is ante-Columbian is also 
 pre-historic. 
 
 Mound Builders.— The Mound-build- 
 ers, so named on account of the earth- 
 mounds which they erected all over the 
 Mississippi valley, are claimed to have pene- 
 trated as far east as the Delaware river, but 
 there are no written accounts of any temple, 
 altar, effigy, or tomb mound ruins existing 
 in Montgomery county at the time of its set- 
 tlement by the whites. Of the Mound- 
 builders' fate we have nothing but Indian 
 traditions which are unreliable. The Indians 
 claimed to have driven them out of the 
 country, which is hardly probable, as a num- 
 erous semi-civilized race would hardly be 
 vanquished by an inferior race of no greater 
 numbers. Whether famine, fever or war 
 wasted the Mound-builders, or they were at- 
 tracted by sunnier skies to Mexico or Peru- 
 vian lauds, none can tell. 
 
 Indian Tribes.— The successor of the 
 
 Mound-builder was the Indian, of whose or- 
 igin nothing certain is known. Two of the 
 eight great Indian families of the United 
 vStates were the Algonquins stretching from 
 Virginia to New England, and the Huron- 
 Iriquois, whose most powerful confederation 
 was the Iriquois or famous Six Nations of 
 Central New York. The Six Nations were 
 the most intelligent, advanced and ferocious 
 of all the Indian nations, and were bound to- 
 gether in a confederacy that in some re- 
 spects resembled our federal union. In each 
 nation were eight tribes arranged in two 
 divisions, as follows: 
 
 Wolf, Bear, Beaver, Turtle, 
 Deer, Snipe, Heron, Hawk. 
 
 In this manner was constructed the Tribal 
 League of the Hodenosaunee or Six Nations, 
 which forms "an enduring monument to 
 that proud and progressive race, who reared j 
 
 under its protection, a wide spread Indian 
 Sovereignty." 
 
 The. Algonquin family was divided into 
 several nations, one of which was the Lenni 
 Lenape or Delaware nation, whose tribes 
 inhabited the larger part of the territory of 
 Pennsylvania. The Delaware nation was 
 divided into three branches, the Turtle, 
 Turkey and Monsey or Wolf tribes. 
 
 The territory of Montgomery county was 
 occupied by several of the Monsey or Wolf 
 tribes, whose names if ever known by the 
 first settlers were allowed to perish by the 
 earlier historians. No account can be found 
 at this late day of their trails and war 
 paths which were in daily use when the 
 early settlers came into the county. These 
 Wolf tribes were tenuants at will of the 
 Six Nations and had numerous camping 
 places and villages, especially along the 
 streams, of which there is neither record nor 
 tradition, except that a village was near the 
 junction of Elliot's run and the Schuylkill 
 river. Indian axes, arrow-heads, toma- 
 hawks, pipes, knives, spear-heads, pestles 
 and other stone weapons and implements, 
 have been found in large quantities in dif- 
 ferent townships. On the Webster farm 
 in Horsham township, is the " Indian 
 Spring," near which tradition asserts that 
 the Indians had a camping place. The 
 history of the Indian tribes of the county 
 would have made an interesting chapter if 
 it had been secured and preserved in Mont- 
 gomery as it has been in some other 
 counties of the .State. 
 
 Indian Purchases.— The territory of 
 Montgomery county was purchased b\ Penn 
 and his agents from the Indians at the fol- 
 lowing dates : On June 25, 1683, of Winge- 
 bone, for his lands on the west side of the 
 Schuylkill up from the lower falls; July 14, 
 i6S3,ofSecaneand Idquoquehan and others, 
 
12 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 for lands between the Schuykill and Chester 
 rivers up as far as Conshohocken Hill ; also 
 July 14, 1683, of Neneshickan, Malebore, 
 Neshanocke and Oscreneon, for lands be- 
 tween the Schuylkill and Pennepack as far 
 northwest as Edge Hill ; June 3, 1684, of 
 Maughongsink, for lands along the Perkio- 
 nieii creek ; on June 7, 1684, of Mettamicnot, 
 to lands along the Pennepack ; on July 30, 
 1685, of Shakhoppa, Secane, Malebore and 
 Tangoras, to lands between Chester and Pen- 
 nepack creeks to the northwest for two full 
 days journey ; and July 5, 1697, Tanamy, 
 Weheeland, Wehequeekhon, < iaqueekhon 
 and Ouenamockquid, sold their lands be- 
 tween the Pennepack and Neshaminy 
 creeks, and thus was extinguished 
 the Indian title to the entire county. 
 Of the sixteen Indian chieftains, or 
 men of note, who made these land sales 
 to Penn, we do not know how many of 
 them resided on the territory of the county 
 or to what tribes they belonged. The 
 Indians retired from Montgomery county 
 as the white settlers came into its territory, 
 but at what time the last of them left or 
 where they went, past history and tradition 
 are alike — silent. 
 
 Pioneer Races. — The pioneer races in 
 the settlement of the territory of Montgom- 
 ery county in order of age, were the Welsh, 
 English, German, Swede and Scotch-Irish. 
 Although the territory of the county was 
 pretty fully explored and parts of it 
 regularly traveled from 1640 to 1680 by the 
 vSwedes, Dutch and English, successively in 
 the prosecution of the beaver trade, yet their 
 journeys were by means of canoe, and the 
 reports of these traders caused no emigra- 
 tion up the Schuylkill beyond the site of 
 Philadelphia. Penn's purchase probably 
 led to the settlement of the county twenty- 
 five years earlier than it would have been 
 
 accomplished by the slow northward ex- 
 tension of the Upland colony, at the present 
 city of Chester, in Delaware county. 
 
 The Welsh were the first to become per- 
 manent residents, and Edward Jones, "chir- 
 urgeon," is entitled to the honor of being 
 the first settler of Montgomery county, his 
 settlement being made near the site of Dib- 
 ertyville, in Dower Merion township, Au- 
 gust 18, 1682. The Welsh had purchased 
 forty thousand acres of land of Penn before 
 he left England. These Welsh purchasers 
 were from Haverfordshire, Shropshire, and 
 Cheshire, Wales, and a part of their tract, 
 which they intended to become a munici- 
 pality, was in Dower and I'pper Merion 
 townships. In Lower Merion Dr. Thomas 
 Wynne, father-in-law of Edward Jones, set- 
 tled in 1682, and the next year came John 
 Roberts, who erected the third mill in the 
 province. Following Roberts came John 
 Thomas, Hugh Roberts, Rowland Ellis, 
 Robert Jones, John Cadwallader, Benjamin 
 Humphreys, Robert and Thomas ( (wen, and 
 others. The Welsh settled rapidly in Up- 
 per Merion, where they numbered two-thirds 
 of the thirty-two taxables returned in 1734. 
 They also were numerous among the early 
 settlers of Gwynedd, Montgomery and Ply- 
 mouth, but the Merion townships seemed 
 to have been the centre of their settlement. 
 They were principally Friends, and in 
 Lower Merion, in 1695, built the first church 
 in the county. In 1 734 there were one hun- 
 dred and eighty-one (181) Welsh in the sev- 
 en hundred and sixty (760) taxables of the 
 county, but the tide of emigration from 
 Wales declined rapidly from the time reli- 
 gious persecution ceased in that country. 
 The Welsh were an intelligent, energetic 
 and enterprising people, who made the 
 best of citizens, and their descendants to- 
 daj are among the most substantial and 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 13 
 
 progressive men and women of the county. 
 The second race element in order of set- 
 tlement was the English. The pioneer 
 
 English settler seems to have been Toby 
 Leech, from Cheltenham, in ( rloucestershire, 
 England, who in the latter part of [682, 
 settled on Tacony creek, in what is now 
 Cheltenham township, and built a grist mill 
 and tannery. Following Leech into Chel- 
 tenham township, came Richard Wall, 
 Patrick Robinson, John West, John Day, 
 Nehemiah Mitchell, William Brown, Ever- 
 ard Bolton, John Ashmead, John Russell, 
 Mary Jefferson, Thomas Phillips, and Wil- 
 liam Frampton. In 1684, Dr. Nicholas 
 More, from London, settled on the manor 
 of More-land, and the next year Mary Far- 
 mer and her family made the first settle- 
 ment in White-marsh. About [685, John 
 Barnes settled in Abington, and some time- 
 later Thomas Palmer and Thomas Eredell 
 settled in Horsham. About 1685, James 
 Fox, Richard Grove, Francis Rawle, and 
 John Chelson, all from Plymouth, England, 
 settled in Plymouth township. Edward 
 Lane and Joseph Richardson, in 170 1, located 
 in Providence. In 1734 there were twenty- 
 four English taxables in Abington ; fortv- 
 seven in Moreland ; twenty-three in White- 
 marsh ; fifteen in Upper Dublin ; and nine 
 in Springfield ; while the total number in 
 the county was one hundred and sixtv- 
 three. Mrs. Mary Farmar burnt the first 
 lime from limestone in Pennsylvania, and 
 the English built their first church, Abing- 
 ton Friends' meeting house, in 1607. The 
 English element, principally Friends, were 
 a peaceable, thrifty and law-abiding people, 
 of intelligence, will and fair education. 
 
 .Succeeding the English came the third 
 inhabiting and most populous pioneer race, 
 the German, which still holds its own'in 
 numerical strength in the count}'. The 
 
 founding of the Germantown colony opened 
 
 up the way for German emigration into the 
 territory of Montgomery count}. In [69] 
 naturalization papers were granted to thirty- 
 three Germans, of whom nearly three- 
 fourths became pioneer settlers in the 
 count}-. In 1702, Matthias Van Bebber 
 purchased a tract of six thousand one hun- 
 dred and sixty-six acres of land on Skip- 
 pack creek, and constituting over one-half 
 of the southern part of Perkiomen town- 
 ship, lie divided this land into lots, and 
 sold them to actual settlers. Between 1702 
 and 1701), he made sales to Heinrich Panne- 
 backer, Johannes Kuster, Johannes Um- 
 stadt, Clans Jansen, Jan Frey, John Jacobs, 
 Edward Beer, Gerhard and Herman Inde- 
 hoffen, Dirck Renberg, William Renberg, 
 William and Cornelius Dewes, Herman 
 Custer, Christopher Zimmerman, Johannes 
 Scholl, Daniel Desmond, Jacob Johannes, 
 Martin Kolb, and John Strayer. The- Ger- 
 mans were- the pioneer settlers of Perkio- 
 men, Towamencin, Upper and Lower Sal- 
 ford, Hatfield, Franconia, Frederick, Marl- 
 borough, New and Upper Hanover, and 
 Douglass townships, and a few of their 
 number were Hollanders. By 1734, the 
 German element of population had in- 
 creased so rapidly that three hundred and 
 ninety-five of the seven hundred and sixty 
 taxables of the count} were Germans. The 
 first protest against negro slavery was by 
 German Friends at Germantown, and had 
 such an effect on their race that Germans 
 held but few slaves in Montgomery or any 
 other count}- of the state. The Germans 
 founded the Mennonite, Lutheran, Reformed, 
 Dunkard and Schwenkenfelder churches 
 in the county. The Germans were honest, 
 industrious and frugal, and soon became 
 prosperous and influential. 
 
 The Swedish element of population dates 
 
H 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 back to about 1712, and in 1734 was con- 
 fined to Upper Merion township, where in 
 the last named year the names of Mats Hol- 
 stein, Peter Yocum, and Mounce, John, 
 Gabriel and Elias Rambo appear on the list 
 of taxables. The earliest settled race on 
 the Delaware, they were nearly the last to 
 come into Montgomery county. Peter Cox 
 seems to have been the first Swedish settler 
 and purchasing his land as early as 1702. 
 The Swedes were a pious, industrious and 
 thrift}- people. 
 
 The fifth pioneer race was the hardy, con- 
 scientious and aggressive Scotch-Irish, who 
 came into the eastern part of the county 
 some time after 1715 and in 1734 numbered 
 some sixteen or seventeen taxables only. 
 
 After the Scotch-Irish came it is said that 
 a small number of French and also of Irish 
 came into the county between 1734 and 
 1742. 
 
 The Germans, including a small number 
 of Hollanders, had settled in the northern 
 and western parts of Montgomery county, 
 the Welsh and English occupied the south- 
 ern and central parts, while the Swedes had 
 located in the southern part, and the Scotch- 
 Irish and French were scattered in the east- 
 ern part from the Delaware westward to the 
 center. 
 
 Development Periods. — The record of 
 Montgomery county's progress and develop- 
 ment, from its pioneer days to its present 
 moment of existence, is one of worth and 
 honor and of substantial prosperity. While 
 this progress has not been phenomenal in 
 character, yet it has been solid and substantial 
 and the county ranks favorably to-day with 
 the old and progressive counties of the middle 
 Atlantic States. 
 
 Montgomery county has passed several 
 consecutive periods of development that 
 have been differently named by different 
 
 authors. The history of the county may be 
 divided into the following eleven periods, of 
 which the two war periods are not properly 
 development periods and will be treated of 
 in the military chapter: 
 
 1. Pioneer Period — 1682 to 1742. 
 
 2. Backwoods Period — 1742 to 1775. 
 
 3. Revolutionary Period — 1775 to 1783. 
 
 4. Pike Period — 1783 to 1812. 
 
 5. War of 1812 Period — 1812 to 1814. 
 
 6. Canal Period— 1814 to 1826. 
 
 7. Early Manufacturing Period — 1S26 to 1834. 
 S. Early Railroad Period — 1834 to 1861. 
 
 9. Civil War Period — 1861 to 1S65. 
 
 10. Improvement Period — 1S65 to 1876. 
 
 1 1. Progressive Period — 1876 to 
 
 The Pioneer Period, sixty years in dura- 
 tion, was one of privation and much suffer- 
 ing. There were no grist mills for nearly 
 twenty (20) years, and then only four seemed 
 to have been built during the remaining 
 forty (411) years of the period. The log 
 cabin and the small clearing were prominent 
 landmarks from 16S2 to 1742, yet frame 
 houses were being built, small farms cleared 
 out, and twenty-five (25) townships had been 
 organized, while four (4) grist mills had been 
 built and fifteen (15) churches were erected. 
 The matter of most public interest during 
 this period was the fish dam war on the 
 Schuylkill river between the shoremen and 
 the farmers who carried their grain to Phila- 
 delphia in canoes. These canoes often up- 
 set in being forced over or through the dams 
 and their cargoes were lost. Victory finally 
 declared for the farmers in 1738, when the 
 sheriffs of Chester and Philadelphia counties 
 caused the fish dam to be removed from the 
 river. One of the most important events of 
 this period w r as the erection of Green Lane 
 forge in 1733, twenty miles north of the site 
 of Norristown and on the waters of Perkio- 
 men creek. This forge was built by Thomas 
 Mayburry, and the pig-iron for its use was 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 15 
 
 broueht from Durham furnace. The for<je 
 was chiefly worked by negroes for several 
 years. 
 
 The second or Backwoods Period extend- 
 ed from the year 1742 to the opening of the 
 Revolutionary war thirty years later. Farms 
 were increasing in number and in size, but 
 the larger part of the laud was still in woods. 
 Frame and stone houses were rapidly suc- 
 ceeding the log cabins, and every community 
 was being connected by dirt roads. Over 
 twenty (20) grist mills were built, eighteen 
 churches erected and old Mount Joy or Val- 
 ley Forge was built ( 1751 ) on the waters of 
 Valley creek. The three main events of 
 this period were the commencement of town 
 growth in 1753 when John Potts laid out 
 Pottstown ; the introduction of stage coach 
 travel in September, 1763, by George Klein, 
 on the " King's Highway" or the old Beth- 
 lehem road between Philadelphia and Beth- 
 lehem ; the observation of the transit of 
 Venus in 1769, at the Norristown observatory 
 by the celebrated David Rittenhouse. 
 
 The Revolutionary war came in 1 775, and 
 interrupted the development of the territory 
 of the county. At its close commenced the 
 Pike Period, which continued till the com- 
 mencement of the war of 1S12. The earliest 
 notable events in this period were the coun- 
 ty formation and the laying out of its seat 
 of justice by the name of Norristown. 
 About the same time, if not really earlier, 
 Isaac and David Potts built the second Val- 
 ley Forge. Better houses and churches 
 were being built, subscription schools were 
 opened and farms increased in size. But 
 improved highways were the demand of the 
 day. An attempted canal had failed, and 
 the people needed good roads for travel and 
 to transport their farm products to market. 
 The old dirt roads were not fit, and the Lan- 
 caster turnpike, the first macademized road 
 
 in America, was commenced in 1792, and 
 completed in 1794 from Philadelphia to 
 Lancaster at a cost of seven thousand, five 
 hundred dollars ($7500) per mile. Four and 
 one-half miles of this pike were in Mont- 
 gomery county. The Lancaster turnpike 
 was followed by the Germantown and Per- 
 kiomen turnpike, built between 1S01 and 
 1804, on the Reading road for twenty-five 
 (25) miles at a cost of over eleven thousand 
 dollars (#11,000) per mile. The Cheltenham 
 and Willow Grove turnpike was next in or- 
 der of age, being built in 1803 and 1804, 
 and had a length of eleven miles, costing 
 eighty-eight thousand dollars ($88,000). 
 The third pike was the Chestnut Hill and 
 Spring House, on the Bethlehem road, and 
 whose length of eight miles cost over seventy- 
 five thousand dollars ($75,000). The last 
 pikes commenced in this period were the 
 Perkiomen and Reading and the Ridge ; the 
 one twenty-nine miles and the other twenty- 
 four miles in length. In the latter part 
 of this period several lines of stages were 
 running through the county, and substan- 
 tial stone bridges were taking the places of 
 old wooden ones. The Perkiomen stone 
 bridge built in 1798 cost sixty thousand 
 dollars ($60,000,) and the Pottstown stone 
 bridge was completed in 1805 at a cost of 
 thirty-five thousand dollars ($35,000). Dur- 
 ing the Pike Period two post-offices were 
 established in the county, the first one at 
 Pottstown in 1793, and the second one at 
 Norristown about 1798 or 1799. The first 
 newspaper, The Norristown Gazette, made- 
 its appearance in 1799. The close of the 
 period found Montgomery county pretty 
 well recovered from the effect of the Rev- 
 olutionary struggle, and the war of 18 12 
 that followed checked but did not materially 
 retard the development of the county. 
 
 The Canal Period that followed the war 
 
i6 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 of [812 and extending from 1814 to 1826, 
 was a period during which turnpikes were 
 still built and heavy substantial bridges 
 thrown over many streams, but the main 
 theme of public interest was the construc- 
 tion of canals as cheaper routes to market 
 than the turnpikes were. In 1792 a 
 company was incorporated to construct a 
 canal from Norristown to Philadelphia, and 
 two companies commenced the work but 
 failed in 1794, after spending nearly half a 
 million dollars. In 181 1 the companies 
 were united as the Union Canal company, 
 and in 1821 commenced work on the aban- 
 doned canal whose line was re-located and 
 finished in 1N26. The canal was carried to 
 the Susquehanna river, leaving the Schuyl- 
 kill four miles below Reading:, in Berks 
 countv, while the Schuylkill Navigation 
 Company carried the north branch of the 
 canal from up the Schuylkill and to Port 
 Carbon on Mill Creek in Schuylkill county. 
 Packet boats were put 011 the canal in 1825, 
 carrying passengers as far south as Pawling's 
 bridge in this county; but in the succeed- 
 in- year the packet boat " Planet" com- 
 menced making regular trips from Reading 
 to Philadelphia. In the commencement of 
 this period the first banking institution was 
 opened at Norristown in 1S14 under the 
 name of the bank of Montgomery County. 
 And at Norristown, toward the close of the 
 period, the first secret society was organized 
 in 1823. This organization was Charity 
 Masonic Lodge, No. 190. 
 
 The opening of the Canal wassucceeded by 
 the Early Manufacturing Period, which was 
 short, being of only eight years duration, 
 commencing in 1S26 and closing in 1834. 
 During this period all the material interests 
 ot the county were progressive, and to 
 manufactures public attention was directed 
 as much, if not more than any other indus- 
 
 try. In 1S20 there were two cotton fac- 
 tories and four fulling mills, whose date of 
 establishment cannot be obtained. During 
 this period, ten batteries, two forges, two 
 trip-hammers, seven naileries, two gun 
 manufactories, thirty tanneries, twenty-four 
 flax-seed oil mills, sixty-three distilleries, 
 one carriage factory, fifteen paper mills, 
 five gun powder mills, ninety-seven grist 
 mills, thirty-three lime-kilns, four brick- 
 kilns and four marble yards were in opera- 
 tion. Toward the close of the period, the 
 Corliss iron works were established at Cou- 
 shohocken. 
 
 The next development period was the 
 Early Railroad Period commencing in 1834 
 and terminating in 1861, with the opening 
 of the late Civil war. Progress in every 
 line moved forward during this period and 
 several large furnaces and iron-works were 
 erected, while the first agricultural and the 
 present count)- medical societies were 
 formed. Put a new factor in material pro- 
 gress now appeared in the railroad and 
 gave name to the period in which it took 
 travel and freight alike from pike and 
 canal, and inaugurated the great change 
 which it wrought later in State and nation- 
 al development. The Philadelphia, Ger- 
 mantown and Norristown railroad was for- 
 mally opened to Norristown on Friday, 
 August 14, 1835, amid great rejoicings. 
 The second railroad to pass through the 
 count)' was the Philadelphia and Reading, 
 which was opened from Reading to Potts- 
 town about 1840 and completed to Phila- 
 delphia in 1842. The North Pennsylvania 
 railroad, the last road built in this period, 
 was opened July 7, 1857, from Philadelphia 
 to Bethlehem. Further railroad building 
 was interrupted by the commencement of 
 the late Civil war. 
 
 Succeeding the Civil war came the tenth 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 17 
 
 historical or eighth development period 
 which may be fitly termed the Improve- 
 ment Period, extending from the close of 
 the war to the time of the Centennial year. 
 In those eleven years the county fully re- 
 covered from the effects of the war. New 
 furnaces and rolling mills were built, six 
 railways were constructed, and farm ma- 
 chinerv was largely introduced throughout 
 the county. Invention and machinery 
 were adding to the products and the com- 
 forts of the people, and improvement was 
 everywhere discernible, from the farm, mine 
 and factory, to the shop, counting-room 
 and school house. The use of the telegraph 
 and telephone, the introduction of labor- 
 saving machinery and the invention of the 
 phonograph distinguished the closing years 
 of this period and were prophetic of a won- 
 derful future. 
 
 The Centennial year of the nation was 
 likewise the initial year of a Progressive 
 Period in Montgomery county, whose ter- 
 
 minal boundary line lies hid in the future. 
 The Centennial exhibition had something 
 to do with hastening this period by some 
 years. The hundreds from the county who 
 visited that great exhibition and witnessed 
 the wonderful exhibits in every department 
 of industry, came back with new ideas of 
 progress whose consummation, aided by 
 improved labor-saving machinery, has 
 placed Montgomery in the front rank of the 
 progressive counties of the state. 
 
 Tasteful residences and beautiful farms, 
 fine school buildings and splendid church 
 edifices, good roads, first-class railways and 
 electric street cars are distinguishing fea- 
 tures of the progressive present ; while 
 the full development and the ultimate 
 supremacy of its greatest inventions will 
 only be attained in the twentieth Cen- 
 tury, when the present railways may be 
 succeeded by air ship lines that have suc- 
 cessfully solved the problem of aerial nav- 
 igation. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 LEADING INDUSTRIES. 
 
 IRON MANUFACTURE — TEXTILE FABRICS — PAPER- 
 MINOR INDUSTRIES. 
 
 IGRICULTURE is the earliest 
 and main occupation of a 
 people during a pioneer period, 
 and the first developed in- 
 dustry of the mineral counties 
 of Pennsylvania was the man- 
 ufacture of Iron. 
 Iron Manufacture. — In Montgomery 
 county iron-works were established at Valley 
 Forge as early as 1750. These works were 
 burned by the British in 1777, and new 
 works were afterward built by the Potts 
 family. Other iron works were erected in 
 the county, but in 1820 there were only two 
 forges, two trip hammers and seven naileries 
 in Montgomery county. Sixty-four years 
 later there were a large number of furnaces, 
 rolling mills and steel works. The blast fur- 
 naces were: Plymouth, built in 1843; Merion 
 and Elizabeth furnaces, erected at West Con- 
 shohocken, in 1847; Swede, 1850; William 
 Penn, 1854 ; Montgomery, at Port Kennedy, 
 1854 ; Anvil, Pottstowu, 1867 ; Kdgehill, 
 1869 ; Norristown, 1869 ; Warwick, Potts- 
 town, 1875, and Lucinda, at Norristown. 
 The rolling mills and steel works were : 
 Conshohocken iron works, commenced in 
 1832 ; Norristown iron works, 1846 ; Potts- 
 towu iron works, 1846 ; Stony Creek 
 rolling mill, 1849; Pen Coyd iron works, 
 1852 ; Pottstowu Iron Company's works, 
 1863 ; Glasgow iron works, 1874 ; Plymouth 
 rolling mill, 1881 : Longmead iron works, 
 1882, and Ellis and Lessig's rolling mill, at 
 Pottstown, in 1884. The Schuylkill iron 
 works at Conshohocken were built in 1858, 
 
 and the Standard Iron Company's works at 
 Norristown were erected during the pre- 
 vious year. The value of the products of 
 the nineteen iron and steel establishments 
 in 1880 was over seven million dollars. 
 
 Textile Fabrics — The manufacture of 
 textile fabrics was commenced at an early 
 day, and in 1810, besides ten thousand 
 looms and three hundred caiding ma- 
 chines in operation, there were two cot- 
 ton manufacturing establishments in the 
 county, and the value of all kinds of cloth 
 woven in 1810 was nearly one hundred 
 thousand dollars Seventy years later, 
 Montgomery county had seven cotton goods, 
 nine mixed textile and fourteen woolen 
 goods establishments, the combined value 
 of whose products was nearly six million 
 dollars. One of the oldest cotton mills in 
 the State is Simpson's, of Norristown, 
 built in 1826 by Bernard Mc Creedy. 
 Among other cotton mills in the county- 
 are Hunter's, at Norristown, built in 1836 ; 
 Merion mills, 1836 ; Washington or Watts', 
 built in 1849, as Moy Craig mill ; Consho- 
 hocken mills, 1856 ; Ford Street mills, 
 Norristown, 1856 ; Albion Print works, 
 1865, and Jones mill, which was opened be- 
 fore 1880. The Fairview cotton mills 
 were started in 1825 an< ^ burned in 1884. 
 Many cotton mills were partly turned into 
 woolen mills The Valley Forge woolen 
 mills, now idle, were started in 1810 as a 
 cotton mill by James Rogers. Of woolen 
 and yarn mills, Worrall and Ratclift's 
 woolen mills were started about 1861, when 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 19 
 
 the Rose Glen mill also went into operation ; 
 Bullocks, 1863; Lee's carpet mills, 1864; 
 New Union, 1870, and Smith's 1883. 
 
 Paper. — The earliest authentic mention 
 that we have of a paper mill was of the 
 Langstroth paper mill, built on the Penny- 
 pack in Moreland township. This mill was 
 built in 1794, by Thomas Langstroth, and 
 burned in 1809. Some claim the old Dave 
 paper mill of Lower Merion township was 
 older than the Langstroth mill. The Rock- 
 hill or old Scheetz mill was built in 1798 in 
 Lower Merion, producing hand made paper 
 for many years. The Riverside paper mill in 
 YVhitemarsh township was started in 1856, 
 and produces fine book, card and envelope 
 paper. In i860, the Rudolph or Ashland dye- 
 wood mills were changed into a paper mill, 
 whose product is newspaper material. Ten 
 years later the Rebecca manilla paper mills 
 of Bridgeport were started, and in 1884 Cox 
 and Dagers built the present Norristown 
 manilla paper mill. The manufactured 
 products of the six paper mills in the county 
 in 1880 was over half a million dollars. 
 
 Minor Industries. — One of the most 
 important and largest of the minor in- 
 dustries of Montgomery county is that 
 of the manufacture of agricultural im- 
 plements. David S. Heebner commenced 
 the manufacture of farm machinery upon 
 a very small scale in 1840, and since 
 then the business has grown into large pro- 
 portions at several places in the county. 
 The Heebner Agricultural works of Lans- 
 dale were started in 1862, and fourteen 
 years later the Ellis Keystone Agricultural 
 works of Pottstowu were established. About 
 184S Harper's Hoe and Rake works were 
 started, and two years later the Rittenhouse 
 foundry and machine works made a specialty 
 of heavy farm machinery work. The 
 latest improved farm and agricultural ma- 
 
 chinery of all kinds is made in Montgomery 
 county, and shipped to all parts of the civil- 
 ized world. In 18S0, the thirteen agri- 
 cultural implement establishments of the 
 county had an output worth nearly a quar- 
 ter of a million dollars. 
 
 Another industry worthy of notice is the 
 manufacture of glass, which was never un- 
 dertaken upon a large scale until 1868. In 
 that year a glass works was started at Nor- 
 ristown, that became the commencement 
 of the present Star Glass plant of that 
 place. In 1884, the Penn glass works were 
 started at Rover's Ford. 
 
 The terra cotta industry was introduced 
 in 1856 in Whitemarsh township by the 
 erection of the Scharff Terra Cotta works. 
 Ten years later the Moorhead Terra Cotta 
 works were started in the same township. 
 Among other industries in the county may 
 be mentioned those of lumber, brick and 
 tile, leather, fertilizers, marble, lime and 
 building stone. Each of these make re- 
 spectable showing, while some give indica- 
 tions of future prominence. 
 
 One of the later industries of the county 
 is that of dairying, and its products from 
 numerous creameries in different sections 
 find ready sale in the Philadelphia market. 
 
 Montgomery exceeds all of its adjoining 
 counties except Philadelphia in the value 
 of its products, which were worth over 
 twenty million dollars in 1880. 
 
 Montgomery county will cross the thres- 
 hold of the twentieth century as one of the 
 leading manufacturing counties of the great 
 manufacturing belt of the United States 
 that stretches on the Atlantic seaboard 
 from Maine to Virginia, and gives promise 
 of leading every other county in the " Key- 
 stone State" except Allegheny and Phila- 
 delphia, whose great cities alone place them 
 foremost in Pennsylvania manufactures. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS. SUBSCRIPTION SCHOOLS — PUBLIC SCHOOLS — COUNTY INSTI- 
 TUTE — ACADEMIC SCIK ioI.S — BUSINESS SCHOOLS — PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS — 
 PENNSYLVANIA FEMALE COLLEGE — URSIN-US COLLEGE. 
 
 HE CITIZRNS of Montgom- 
 ery county may be justly- 
 proud of their public schools, 
 and the excellence of their 
 higher institutions of learn- 
 ing. Of the pioneer schools of 
 the county, considerable in- 
 formation is given by Prof. 
 Abel Rambo, in his centen- 
 nial historical school sketch. The early 
 school houses were rude round log struc- 
 tures, daubed with clay mortar, where one 
 log was left out for a window which had 
 oiled paper for panes of glass. After the 
 war of 1812 there was an increase in the 
 number of elementary or subscription 
 schools and a steady improvement in school 
 buildings, until the passage of the free 
 school law in 1834. 
 
 Public Schools. — Although the law 
 for free schools was passed in 1834, yet it 
 was nineteen years before the last district 
 in Montgomery county accepted the pro- 
 visions of that law. Since then the growth 
 of the public schools has been steady, alike 
 in the mixed schools of the rural districts 
 and the graded schools of the larger towns. 
 
 County Institutes. — A teachers' coun- 
 ty association was formed in 1845, and num- 
 erous county and local institutes were held 
 up to the passage of the act for county 
 
 institutes in 1S67. The county institutes 
 for the last fifteen years have been made 
 interesting and useful to the public school 
 
 teachers and all others in attendance during 
 their sessions. 
 
 Academic Schools. — The earliest regu- 
 lar academic school in the county, of which 
 there is record, is Washington Hall Colle- 
 giate Institute, founded by Henry Prizer, at 
 Trappe, in 1S30. In 1S49 Prof. Abel Rambo 
 became its principal, and under his adminis- 
 tration the institution became very popular. 
 Many of his students now occupy high and 
 honorable positions in life. 
 
 The second academic school was Tre- 
 mount seminary, established in 1844, at 
 Norristown, by the celebrated Rev. Samuel 
 Aaron, A. M., one of the most efficient edu- 
 cators of his day. In 1858, Rev. Aaron left 
 Norristown, and three years later Prof. John 
 W. Loch transferred the De Kalb Street in- 
 stitute to the Tremouut seminary buildings, 
 where he conducted an excellent school 
 for over twenty years. 
 
 Succeeding Tremouut seminar)' in order 
 of age came Oakland Female institute, 
 founded by Rev. J. Grier Ralston, in 1845, 
 at Norristown. Rev. Ralston was an ex- 
 cellent educator, and the institution was 
 closed in 1881 by the death of its founder, 
 which had occurred in the preceding year. 
 
 The fourth academic school was Freeland 
 seminary, established in 1848, by Abraham 
 Hunsicker, and his son, Rev. Henry A. 
 Hunsicker. The seminary continued in 
 active operation from 1848 to 1869 when it 
 was merged into Ursinus college. 
 
 Fifth of the academic schools, was Cot- 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 21 
 
 tage seminary, of Pottstown, founded in 
 1850, by Rev. William R. Work. It was 
 established for the education of young 
 ladies, and closed its doors in 1881. 
 
 The next institution for the education of 
 women was the Montgomery Female insti- 
 tute, of Collegeville. It was organized by 
 Abraham Hunsicker and Prof. J. Warrene 
 Sunderland, in 1851, and two years later 
 was merged into Pennsylvania Female col- 
 lege. 
 
 Business Schools. — The Hill school 
 was founded in 1851, by Rev. Matthew 
 Meigs, ex-president of Delaware college, 
 who was succeeded as principal by his son, 
 John Meigs, Ph. D., in 1S76. The school 
 property adjoins the borough limits of Potts- 
 town, and its graduates, who sought a col- 
 legiate course were always able to enter any 
 college in full standing. 
 
 The North Wales academy and School 
 of business was started by Prof. S. U. 
 Brunrier, in 1867, at Kulpsville, but four 
 years later was removed to North Wales. 
 Separate academic and commercial depart- 
 ments were established and the institution 
 scion became prosperous. 
 
 Parochial Schools — Before the public 
 school system went into general operation, 
 the Lutherans, Mennonites and other re- 
 ligious denominations had separate or pa- 
 rochial schools, whose existence in many 
 instances dated back to the organization 
 of tlie particular church to which they were 
 attached. There are now in the county two 
 parochial schools; one, St. Patrick's Cath- 
 olic parochial school at Norristown, and 
 the other, a Catholic parochial school at 
 Coushohocken. 
 
 Pennsylvania Female College. — In 
 1853 this pioneer college for women was 
 organized through the efforts of Prof. 
 J. W. Sutherland, Abraham Hunsicker, 
 
 and Luannie Sutherland, and has been ever 
 since a potent factor for the intellectual 
 and moral advancement of women. The 
 object of its founders was to aid in starting 
 a work that would go on until " woman 
 would be fully accorded her true position in 
 all the avenues of usefulness, influence and 
 honor consistent with her possibilities in a 
 continental republic resting upon a liberal, 
 intelligent and Christian civilization." 
 
 Ursinus College. — Ursinus college 
 was chartered in 1869, and "owes its es- 
 tablishment to the lively interest felt 
 by its founders in the advancement 
 of education in the higher branches of 
 education upon the basis of Christianity, 
 and with chief regard l<> religious ends." 
 The college bears the name of one of the 
 great reformers of the sixteenth century. 
 Ursinus was the renowed theologian of the 
 Palatinate, Germany, and wrote the larger 
 part of the Heidelberg catechism. Ursinus 
 college, though not under synodical con- 
 trol, yet has the approval of the general 
 synod of the Reformed church of the 
 United States, and endeavors to meet the 
 wants of the age in its educational system 
 by adopting a medium between the abstract 
 ideal and materialistic utilitarian theories. 
 
 Rev. J. H. A. Bomberger, the founder of 
 the college, served as its president from 
 1870 until his death in 1890. During 1891- 
 92, Rev. George W. Williard was acting 
 president, and in 1892 Rev. Henry YV. 
 Super was elected president. The Free- 
 laud seminar}' buildings were first used for 
 the college, and in 1S72 an east wing was 
 added. In 1892 the Bomberger .Memorial 
 hall was completed at a cost of sixty-two 
 thousand dollars (#62,000), and Ursinus col- 
 lege has now ample buildings at College- 
 ville, to prosecute her future work success- 
 fullv. In concluding this brief mention of 
 
22 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 Ursinus college, whose splendid and useful 
 work has won high commendation, we give 
 an extract from the address of President 
 Super at the dedication of Bomberger 
 Memorial hall, which throws additional 
 light upon the early college history : 
 
 "Ursinus College originated in a desire to furnish 
 men for the Christian ministry. Harvard, Yale, 
 Princeton and other colleges were established for the 
 same purpose. To prepare men properly for the 
 ministry, institutions of learning must be established 
 where thev can obtain an education in general knowl- 
 edge and fit themselves for the further and special 
 work of their calling. Hence colleges were ap- 
 pointed for a general purpose. They carry forward 
 and extend the course acquired in the public and 
 high school and prepare the way for the special 
 courses of the university, the medical, law, theologi- 
 cal and other departments. The work of the college, 
 of this general character, commends itself to those 
 who do not propose to continue it in one of the pro- 
 fessions. All ranks and classes, so far as able, should 
 avail themselves of the college course for the train- 
 ing of the mind and the cultivation of the intellectual 
 powers. This lifts the intelligence and culture of the 
 community and enables men to fulfill the duties of 
 life with greater fidelity and acceptance. All should 
 seek its halls and as few as possible come short of its 
 advantages and benefits. This college may be said to 
 have had its start in a convention of its friends at 
 Myerstown, Pennsylvania, in 1S67, aided by the es- 
 tablishment of the Church Monthly, under the editor- 
 
 ship of Rev. Dr. Bomberger, in 1868, and the gather- 
 ing and consultation of a number of clergymen and 
 laymen who then resolved to go forward in the estab- 
 lishment of an iustitutiou for the Reformed Church in 
 Eastern Pennsylvania, devoted to the doctrines of the 
 Reformation of the sixteenth century and true to the 
 creed of the noble men who effected that great move • 
 ment in the progress of religious and civil liberty and 
 in the return to the purity and simplicity of the 
 apostolic times. In 1S69 funds were contributed for 
 the purchase of Freeland seminary and for the en- 
 dowment of at least one chair, that of the presidency. 
 A charter was obtained. A board of directors was 
 chosen. The faculty was selected and the institution 
 fully inaugurated. It opened its doors in the fall of 
 1S70, and immediately met with encouragement. A 
 check was given to its progress, however, by the 
 financial crisis of 1S73, which crippled its resources. 
 Nevertheless its friends gathered around it, its 
 students increased in number, the faculty was self- 
 denying and devoted and the work went forward. 
 Each year found an advance on the year previous. 
 The building was found to be insufficient for the ac- 
 commodation of the increasing number of students. 
 A general desire was felt for a new aud larger build- 
 ing. The board of directors, prompted by the gener- 
 ous gift of Robert Patterson, one of its number, of 
 twenty-five thousand dollars, resolved to build. The 
 death of Dr. Bomberger, about the same time, led the 
 Board to call the building "Bomberger Memorial 
 Hall." The corner stone was laid June 25th, 1891. 
 We are here to-day (June 23, 1892,) to pronounce the 
 building finished." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 JUDICIARY AND BAR. FIRST COURT — JUDICIAL DISTRICTS — PRESIDENT JUDGES- 
 ADDITIONAL LAW JUDGES — ROLL OF THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY BAR. 
 
 |HE FIRST court held for 
 Montgomery county, was on 
 December 28, 17S4, and it 
 convened in the barn of the 
 Barley Sheaf Hotel, a short 
 distance northwest of the site 
 of Hartranft Station, in Nor- 
 riton township. The follow- 
 ing justices of the peace were 
 present : Frederick A. Muhlenberg, James 
 Morris, John Richards, Henry Sheetz and 
 William Dean. Justice Muhlenberg, by 
 priority of commission, became presiding 
 judge, and in 1785, was succeeded by 
 Justice Morris who served until 1789, when 
 a judge learned in the law was appointed 
 by Governor Mifflin. 
 
 Judicial Districts — In 1791 Montgom- 
 ery county was placed in the First district 
 with Bucks, Delaware and Philadelphia 
 counties. In 1806, Montgomery, Bucks, 
 Chester and Delaware counties were consti- 
 tuted the Seventh district, and in 1821, 
 Delaware and Chester counties were taken 
 from the district. From 1806 up to 1874, 
 Montgomery county remained in the Sev- 
 enth district, but in the latter year, Mont- 
 gomery county was constituted the Thirty- 
 eighth Judicial district of the State of Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 President Judges. — From 1784 up to 
 the present time, the following president 
 judges have been appointed and elected : 
 
 1784, Frederick A. Muhlenberg ; 1785, 
 James Morris; 1791, James Biddle ; 1797, 
 John D. Cox ; 1805, William Tilghman ; 
 
 1806, Burd Wilson ; 1818, John Ross ; 1830, 
 John Fox ; 1841, Thomas Burnside ; 1845, 
 David Krause ; 1851, Daniel M. Smyser ; 
 1862, Henry Chapman ; 1872, Henry P. 
 Ross ; 1882, Charles H. Stinson ; 1882, B. 
 Markley Boyer; 1888, Aaron S. Swartz. 
 
 Additional Law fudges. — 1869, H. P. 
 Ross ; 1871, Arthur G. Olmstead ; 1872, L. 
 Stokes Roberts; 1873, Richard Watson; 
 1889, Henry K. Weand. 
 
 Associate Judges. — 1784, John Rich- 
 ards, James Morris, Thomas Craig, Henry 
 Scheetz and Peter Evans; 1785, James Mor- 
 ris; 1786, Christian Weber; 1787, Charles 
 I iaird, Jonathan Shoemaker and John Jones; 
 1789, Henry Pauling, Anthony Crothcv> 
 and Robert Loller ; 1791, Samuel Potts, 
 Benj. Rittenhouse, Robert Loller and Benj. 
 Markley; 1793, John Jones ; 1822, Richard 
 
 B. Jones ; 1824, Thomas Lowry ; 1837, 
 Joseph Rover; 1841, Morris Longstreth ; 
 1S43, Josiah W. Kvans ; 1848, Ephraim 
 Fenton and Josiah W. Evans ; 1849, Joseph 
 Hunsicker ; 1851, Henry Longaker and 
 Josiah W. Evans; 1855, Nathaniel Jacoby ; 
 1856, Henry Longaker ; i860, Nathaniel 
 Jacob)' ; 1861, John Dismant ; 1865, Hiram 
 
 C. Hoover ; 1866, John Dismant ; 1870, 
 Hiram C. Hoover ; 1871, Isaac F. Yost. 
 
 Roll of the Montgomery County Bar. 
 
 NAME 
 
 Acker, Ephraim L. 
 Boyd, James 
 Bush, George W. 
 
 DATE OF ADMISSION. 
 February S, 1888, 
 August 16, 1842. 
 August iy, 1861. 
 
 Browuback, Harry M. December 14, 1S82. 
 
 Brunner, Heury U. 
 Bickel, Johu W. 
 
 September 26, 1866 
 October 18, 1S71 
 
24 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 Boyer, Henry C. 
 Brown, Henry R. 
 Baker, Frank H. 
 Childs, Louis M. 
 Chain, B. Percy 
 Corsou, George N. 
 Chism, Isaac 
 Clift, William M. 
 Day, T. Jefferson 
 Dickinson, Henry B. 
 Davis, Charles 
 Dannehower, \Vm. F. 
 Detlra, John M. 
 Dickinson, Wairen M. 
 Evans, Montgomery 
 Evans, Miller D. 
 Evans, Rowland 
 Egbert, Eugene D. 
 Fornance, Joseph 
 Freedlev, Henry Jr. 
 Fox, Gilbert R. 
 Fox, Henry I. 
 Gibson, Muscoe M. 
 Gotwalts, Jacob V. 
 Garber, Henry B. 
 Hunsicker, Charles 
 Hallman, Edwood L. 
 Hoover, George C. 
 Hobson, Freeland G. 
 Holland, James B. 
 Hendricks, Abr'm H. 
 Hamniersley, E. G. 
 Hillegass, Jacob B. 
 Jenkins. J. P. H. 
 
 April 6, ib;s 
 November 13, 1S66 
 January 15, 1881 
 March 14, 1876 
 May 7, 1S83 
 August 2r, 1856 
 September 14, 1881. 
 June 1, 1882 
 August 21, 1871 
 November 16, 1863 
 November 13, 1S65 
 June 7, 1SS0 
 December 14, [886 
 October 5, 1887 
 December 2, 187S 
 November 15. 1S64 
 August 20, 1873 
 February 7, lSS 1 
 April 12, 1S66 
 November 5, 1S7S 
 May 23, 1S85 
 April 4, 1S95 
 June 7, 1SS3 
 August 20, 1867 
 August 7 1S&2 
 August 19, 1837 
 January 15, 1S81 
 June IS, 1877 
 March 1, 1880 
 March 1, 1886 
 June 2, 1890 
 December 1, 1890 
 June 5, 1S93 
 May 2, 1874 
 
 Jennings, Waller S. 
 Kratz, C. Tyson 
 Knipe, Irvin P. 
 Kane, Edward F. 
 Lougaker, Abraham B. 
 Larzelere, N. H. 
 Lougaker, A. Edwin 
 Long, Edward E. 
 Larzelere, J. B. Jr. 
 March, Franklin 
 Mooney, Samuel, Jr. 
 Miller, John F. 
 Place, Albert R. 
 Ross, David H. 
 Rogers, George W. 
 Reuuvson, William 
 Stinsou, Charles H. 
 Swartz, Aaron S. 
 Schrack, James W. 
 Strausburger, J. A. 
 Sutton, William H. 
 Slough, E. F. 
 Solly, W. F. 
 Savior, Henry D. 
 Stinson, C. Henry 
 Stevens, Henry A. 
 Styer, Freas 
 Shaw, Walter M. 
 Sheive, Conrad S. 
 Tracy, Henry M. 
 Tyson, Neville D. 
 Weand. Henry K. 
 Wanger, Irving P. 
 Yeakle, J. Morris 
 
 February 7, [831 
 June 4, 1876 
 June 4. iS89 
 March 3, 1890 
 September 28, 1873 
 September 29, 1877 
 March 4, 1889 
 December 5, 1SS7 
 December 5, 1S92 
 August 31, t85o 
 December 16, 1S70 
 March 7, 1892 
 October, 5, 1S87 
 March 5, iS83 
 January 23, 1S54 
 May 3, 1SS6 
 May 22, 1849 
 May 10, 1S75 
 November 15. 1S73 
 June 6, 1S7S 
 May 17, 1S75 
 March it, [88 1 
 September, 1, 1S79 
 February 5. 1SS3 
 June 7, 1886 
 October 23, 1848 
 October 5, 18S7 
 December 3. iSSS 
 March 4, 1889 
 September 13, 1S82. 
 August 17, 1869 
 April 21, i860 
 December [8, 1875 
 June 5, 1S93 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE MEDICAL PROFESSION. EARLY PHYSICIANS— MONTGOMERY COUNTY MEDICAL 
 SOCIETY — WOMEN PRACTITIONERS — REGISTERED PHYSICIANS SINCE [88l. 
 
 I 
 
 a 
 
 
 RADITION asserts that Dr. 
 Griffith < )wens was the first 
 regular physician that ever 
 visited the territory of this 
 county. Dr. Thomas Graeme, 
 was the first resident physi- 
 cian, and was succeeded by 
 Dr. Christian Frederick Mar- 
 tin. Dr. Jonathan Potts com- 
 menced practicing in 1771, and Dr. Wil- 
 liam Potts Dewees located in Abington 
 township in 1789, but both of them soon 
 removed from the county. In 1793 Dr. 
 Isaac Huddleson settled at Norristown and 
 contemporaneous with him were Drs. 
 George and George W. Thomas. In 1802 
 Dr. John Jones located in Horsham town- 
 ship, Dr. Gove Mitchell at Hatboro, and 
 Dr. Joseph Meredith near New Wales. Dr. 
 Samuel Gartley was another early physician 
 and located at Norristown in 1803. 
 
 Montgomery County Medical Society. 
 — In 1847 Drs. George W. Thomas, Hiram 
 Corson, William Corson, and W. G. Nugent 
 urged and secured the organization of the 
 present Montgomery County Medical socie- 
 ty, whose membership now includes some 
 of the ablest physicians of south-eastern 
 Pennsylvania. The society holds its meet- 
 ings at Norristown and sends delegates to 
 the Pennsylvania State Medical society and 
 the American Medical association. 
 
 Women Practitioners. — The first wo- 
 man to practice medicine in Montgomery 
 county was Dr. Margaret (Phillips) Rich- 
 ardson, who was "raduated from the 
 
 Pennsylvania Female college in the 
 class of 1853, which was the second 
 class of that medical institution. Dr. 
 Mary H. Stinson, a native of this county, 
 was the first woman in the United States to 
 be elected as a physician in an asylum for 
 the insane. Dr. Stinson was elected in 
 1880, as resident physician for the women's 
 department of the State hospital for the in- 
 sane at Norristown, but declined to accept, 
 and Dr. Alice Bennett, of Massachusetts, 
 the present incumbent, was then chosen. 
 Since 1880, several women practiced in the 
 county. 
 
 Registered Physicians Since 1881. 
 No. Name. Residence. 
 
 1. N. H. Longabough, Norristown. 
 
 2. H. H. Whitcomh, Norristown. 
 
 3. II. M. Bunting, Norristown. 
 
 4. W. C. Roney, Pottsgrove. 
 
 5. H. II. Drake, Norristown. 
 
 6. Margaret Richardson, Norristown. 
 
 7. J. II. Harner, Collegeville. 
 
 8. John Davis, Pottstown. 
 
 9. Horace Still, Norristown. 
 
 10. Helena M. Davis, Pottstown. 
 
 11. J. S. Schrawiler, Upper Dublin. 
 
 12. A. D. Markley, Hatboro. 
 
 13. J. Paxson, Jenkintown, 
 
 14. Robert Coltman, Jenkintown. 
 
 15. M. W. Gilmer, North Wales. 
 Hi. \V. B. Hill, Hatboro. 
 
 17. H. P. Slennner, Norristown. 
 
 18. J. N. Fanst, Frederick tp. 
 
 19. G. H. Rantlle, Jenkintown. 
 
 20. Franklin Powell, Norristown. 
 
 21. O. H. Fisher, Graters Ford. 
 
 22. A. R. Tyson, Norristown, 
 
 2j. II. U. Umstead, Upper Pottsgrove. 
 
 24. C. N. Houpt, Norristown. 
 
 25. M. A. Withers, Pottstown. 
 
26 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 26. J. K. Weaver, Norristown. 
 
 27. E. M. Corson, Norristown. 
 2S. Thomas Davis, Evansburg. 
 
 29. B. K. Johnson, North Wales. 
 
 30. H. S. Jacoby, Sumneytown. 
 
 31. L. W. Read, Norristown. 
 
 32. J. VV. Winter. L. Merion. 
 
 33. J. R. Umstad, Norristown. 
 
 34. S. C. Seiple, Centre Square. 
 
 35. Hiram Corson, Whitemarsh tp. 
 
 36. G. B. R. Umstad, Upper Providence. 
 37 E. B. Rossitor, I'ottstown. 
 
 38. S. N Wiley, Norristown. 
 
 39. P. Y. Eisenberg, Norristown. 
 
 40. E. C. Leedom, Plymouth Meeting. 
 
 41. Henry Boff, E. Greenville. 
 
 42. H. M. Bellows, Huntington Valley. 
 
 43. Joseph W. Anderson, L. Merion. 
 
 44. Harry Pawling, Norristown. 
 
 45. Cornelius Bartholomew, New Hanover tp. 
 
 46. F. M. Knipe, Frederick tp. 
 
 47. David Shrack, Norritou tp. 
 4S. R. L. Cooper. 
 
 49. G. A. Blauk, Green Lane. 
 
 50. G. N. Highley, Jeffersonville. 
 
 51. W. McKensie, W. Conshohockeu. 
 
 52. W. A. Gerhart, Lausdale. 
 
 53. Milton Newberry, Ft. Washington 
 
 54. John G. Hillegrass, Pennsburg. 
 
 55. William Corson, Norristown. 
 
 56. M. F. Acker, Tylersport. 
 
 57. J. H. Scheetz, Pottstown. 
 
 58. F. S. Wilson, Jarrettown. 
 
 59. C. T. Waage, Peunsburg. 
 
 60. A. R. Benner, Norristown. 
 
 61. 0. Leedom, Plymouth tp. 
 
 62. G. K. Meschter, Worcester tp. 
 
 63. J. Y. Hoffman, Gilbertsville. 
 
 64. J. L. Tyson, Gwynedd tp. 
 
 65. H. F. Slifer, North Wales. 
 
 66. J. K. Reid, Conshohockeu. 
 
 67. G. N. Stiles, Conshohockeu. 
 6S. John Todd, Pottstown. 
 
 69. F. B. Keller, I'ottstown. 
 
 70. R. H. Andrews, Lansdale. 
 
 71. R. H. Chase, Norristown. 
 
 72. O. C. Robinson, Huntingdon Val. 
 
 73. R. K. Keeler, Salford tp. 
 
 74. S. M. Rauibo, Oaks Station. 
 
 75. C. W. Gumbs, Oaks Station. 
 
 76. E. K. Blank, Hatfield. 
 
 77. John Shrack, Lower Pottsgrove tp. 
 
 78. J. Y. Bechtel, Schwenksville. 
 
 79. J. W. Rover, Trappe. 
 
 So. 
 
 81. 
 S2. 
 
 S3- 
 84. 
 
 «5- 
 86. 
 
 87. 
 88. 
 89. 
 90. 
 
 91- 
 
 92. 
 
 93- 
 94- 
 95- 
 96. 
 
 97- 
 98. 
 
 99- 
 00. 
 or. 
 02. 
 03- 
 
 OL. 
 
 05- 
 I 16. 
 
 07. 
 
 oS. 
 09. 
 10. 
 11. 
 
 12. 
 
 13- 
 14. 
 
 IS- 
 16. 
 
 17- 
 18. 
 
 19- 
 20. 
 21. 
 22. 
 
 S. C. Mover, Lansdale. 
 
 H. D. Rosenberger, Hatfield tp. 
 
 H. G. Groff, Salford tp. 
 
 V. C. Keelor, Harleysville. 
 
 Samuel Wolf, Jr. Skippackville. 
 
 W. H. Eck, Pottstown. 
 
 J. O. Knipe, Norristown. 
 
 John B. Carrel, Hatboro. 
 
 H. D. Pawling, King of Prussia. 
 
 I. N. Evans, Hatboro. 
 
 Mar}- Alice Bennett, Norristown. 
 
 Anna Kugler, (removed) Norristown. 
 
 J. G. Mensch, Pennsburg. 
 
 C. H. Mann, Bridgeport. 
 
 M. Y. Weber, Evansburg. 
 
 C. B. Hough, Three 
 
 J. E. Bauman, Telford. 
 Dwing Jordan, Norristown. 
 
 D. R. Beaver, Conshohocken. 
 
 D. K. Bechtel, Kulpsville. 
 S. A. Knipe, New Hanover. 
 
 A. G. Coleman, Lintrop. 
 M. K. Knapp, Gwynedd tp. 
 Edward Reading, Hatboro. 
 L. W. Reading, Hatboro. 
 
 W. J. Ashen felter, Pottstown. 
 H. A. Arnold, Merwinville. 
 Carrol Corson, Plymouth meet — 
 
 B. Y. Shelly, Palm. 
 
 J. S. Morey, Providence tsp. 
 G. P. Sargent, Bryn Mawr. 
 M. B. Fretz, Soudertowu. 
 W. C. Powell, Jr., Bryn Mawr. 
 Mahlon Preston, Norristown. 
 Wm. Saveuy, Bryn Mawr. 
 G. S. Gerhard, Ardmore. 
 
 C. Vau Artsaalem. Cheltou Hills. 
 M. A. Long, Pottstown. 
 
 J. E. Ritter, Pottstown. 
 J. E. Peters, Jenkintowu. 
 Charles Bradley, Norristown. 
 
 B. F. Lismant, Limerick tp. 
 J. S. Hill, Ardmore. 
 
 1882. 
 A. H. Mellersh, Merion. 
 John A. C. Tenuey, Collegeville. 
 T. L. Pratt, Norristown. 
 T. U. W. Gardiner, Pottstown. 
 G. W. Rouey, Pottstown. 
 P. H. Markley, Hatboro. 
 
 E. M. Clifford, Valley Forge. 
 
 C. Z. Weber, Norristown. 
 O. H. Fretz, Salfordvile. 
 
 J. K. Gerhard, Worcester Twp. 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 27 
 
 133. Abauus Styer, Ambler. 
 
 134. H. R. Loux. Soudertou. 
 
 '35- J- W. Lodge, Lower Meriou Twp. 
 
 136. S. B. Swavely, Pottstown. 
 
 137. R. W. Saylor, Pottsgrove Twp. 
 
 138. D. W. Shelly, Ambler. 
 
 139. J. K. Blanck, Hatfield Twp. 
 
 140. H. P. Lormaii, Philadelphia. 
 
 141. G. S. Kirby, Pottstown. 
 
 142. Annetta Krarz, Lansdale. 
 
 1883. 
 
 143. C. M. Robinson, Ambler. 
 
 144. E. J. Longshore, Reading. 
 
 145. N. J. Reiff, Pottstown. 
 
 146. E. M. Furey, Norristown. 
 
 147. S. C. Heysham, Port Kennedy. 
 
 148. W. M. Hall, Conshohoeken. 
 
 149. James Dotterer, Pennsburg. 
 
 150. Mary P. Hallowell, Horsham Twp. 
 
 151. L. J. Lantenbaeh, Philadelphia. 
 
 152. Alex Kirkpatrick, Philadelphia. 
 
 153. R. S. Hill, Weldon. 
 
 154. W. L. Shoemaker, Geitzwatertown. 
 
 1884. 
 
 155. J. K Bowers, Reading. 
 
 156. E. F. Gerhard, Norristown. 
 
 157. A. L- Miller, Tylersport. 
 
 158. G. A. Cross, Jenkintown. 
 
 159. D. H. Bergy, North Wales. 
 
 160. F. G Bigouy, Line Lexington. 
 
 161. S. E. Ayers, Philadelphia. 
 
 162. B. H. Nice, Norristown. 
 
 163. P. O. Wickeit, Salfordville. 
 
 164. R, H. Alison, Ardiuore. 
 
 165. E. M. Johnson, Norristown. 
 
 1885. 
 
 166. S. P. Seese, Lansdale. 
 
 167. A. S. Ashmead, Jr., Jefferson ville. 
 
 168. C. A. Vokum, Pottstown. 
 
 169. H. Y. Neiman, Pottsgrove Twp. 
 
 170. O. C. Heffner, Douglas Twp. 
 
 171. J. D. Weaver, Norristown. 
 
 172. A. C. Heritage, Jenkintown. 
 
 173. Titus Albright, Hatfield Twp. 
 
 174. H. M. Freas, Conshohoeken. 
 
 175. John Hoffner, Lancaster. 
 
 1886. 
 
 176. G. F. Hartman, Port Kennedy. 
 
 177. J. I. Brockbank, Conshohoeken. 
 17S. E. H Egolf. Pottstown. 
 
 179. Edwin Kirkpatrick, North Wales. 
 
 180. J. M. Allebach, Skippackville. 
 
 1 8 1. 
 
 1S2. 
 183. 
 184. 
 185. 
 1S6. 
 187. 
 
 ISS. 
 
 189. 
 
 190. 
 
 191. 
 
 >9-- 
 '93- 
 
 194. 
 
 195- 
 
 196. 
 197- 
 198. 
 199. 
 200. 
 roi. 
 202. 
 203. 
 204. 
 205. 
 206. 
 2o7. 
 208. 
 209. 
 210. 
 211. 
 212. 
 
 213- 
 
 214. 
 
 «5- 
 
 216. 
 217. 
 218. 
 219. 
 220. 
 221. 
 222. 
 
 223. 
 224. 
 225. 
 226. 
 227. 
 22S. 
 229. 
 230. 
 231- 
 
 Sarah A. .Spare, Philadelphia. 
 C S. Horning, Shannonville. 
 
 E. S. Johnson, Skippaek. 
 J. R. Clare, Worcester, twp. 
 Emma Richards, Norristown. 
 G. M. Wells, Norristown. 
 
 J. E. Blanck, Sumneytown. 
 
 L- T. Trumbower, Norristown. 
 
 J. M. Peebles, Royersford. 
 
 L. H. Thompson, Reading, Pa. 
 
 A. J. Reading, Hatboro. 
 
 C. F. Teigmeier, Conshohoeken. 
 
 J. P. Hillegrass, Pennsburg. 
 
 G. W Seip, Reading, Pa. 
 
 1887. 
 L. C. B. Yorgey, Pottstown. 
 S. G. Ginuer, Philadelphia. 
 J. J. Fulmer, Philadelphia. 
 J. E. Porter, Pottstown. 
 Silas Burns. Rover's Ford. 
 W. J. Thoruley, Norristown. 
 E L. Anderson, Haverford College. 
 M. S Mengel, Limerick Square. 
 Thomas Theel, Ambler. 
 
 F. G. Theel, Ambler. 
 
 G. W. Everhart, Graters Ford. 
 W. B. Shaner, Pottstown. 
 
 E. A. Krusen, Ardmore. 
 
 S. M. Lane, Limerick. 
 
 Harry Jarrett, Norristown. 
 
 E. T. Bruen, Bryu Mawr. 
 
 E. T. Brady, Norristown. 
 
 Harriet N. Lewis, Norristown. 
 
 Ida Virginia Reel, Norristown. 
 
 L. L. Cope, Hatfield. 
 
 T. E. Cooper, Hatfield. 
 
 J. G. Hersh, East Greenville. 
 
 Eliza A. Shetter, Reading, Pa. 
 
 Thomas Anderson, Norristown. 
 
 W. H. Reed, Norristown. 
 
 J. C. McWhinny, Spring City, Pa. 
 
 T. D. Koonz, Norristown. 
 
 J. D. Thoruley, Pottstown. 
 
 1888. 
 Andrew Lindsay, Bryn Mawr. 
 A.J. Marston, Philadelphia. 
 A. B. Sherman, Norristown. 
 J. B. Powell, Reading, Pa. 
 E. E. Johnson, Norristown. 
 S. G. Godshall, Edge Hill. 
 C. W. Saalfrauk, Cheltenham twp. 
 J. D. Graber, Trappe. 
 I. L. Peters, Lehigh county. 
 
28 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 232. J. W. Gioff, Harleysville. 
 
 233. Cyrus Trego, Chester county. 
 
 234. John Henry, Norristown. 
 
 235. T. F. Conover, Fort Washington. 
 
 236. M. F. McTaggart, Reading. Pa. 
 
 237. James Tyson, Philadelphia. 
 
 23S. 
 
 239- 
 240. 
 241. 
 
 242. 
 
 243' 
 
 244. 
 
 245- 
 246. 
 247. 
 2 ( s - 
 249- 
 250. 
 
 251- 
 252. 
 253- 
 254. 
 
 255- 
 256. 
 
 2 57- 
 258. 
 
 259- 
 260. 
 261. 
 262. 
 263. 
 264. 
 265 
 266. 
 267. 
 26S. 
 269. 
 270. 
 
 271. 
 272. 
 273- 
 274 
 275- 
 276. 
 
 277- 
 278. 
 
 279- 
 
 2^. 
 
 281. 
 
 282. 
 283. 
 
 2S4. 
 285. 
 2S6. 
 287. 
 288. 
 2S9. 
 290. 
 
 1889. 
 
 John W. Good, Chester county. 
 
 G. E. Abbot, Bryn Mawr. 
 
 G. A. Weida, Frederick. 
 
 W. I-:. Donough, Edge Hill. 
 
 J. A. Hatzpield, Pottstown. 
 
 W. C. Widmayer, Ambler. 
 
 Mabel W. Moore, Norristown. 
 
 W. J. Davia, Pottstown. 
 
 H. D. Stichter, Lansdale. 
 
 A. A. Bancroft, Pottstown. 
 
 A. C. S. Herman, Lansdale. 
 
 W. I{ Ely, North Wales. 
 
 O. 1'. Blank, Rover's Ford. 
 
 J. N. Hunsberger, Skippaek. 
 
 Thomas Reading, Haihoro. 
 
 Susan J. Tabor, Norristown. 
 
 F. Q. McQuade, Norristown. 
 
 Mary Morey, Norristown. 
 
 Henry Svkes. Norristown. 
 
 Henry L. Lindoliottom, Norristown. 
 
 1). S. Shade, Royer's Ford. 
 
 1S90. 
 
 E. B. 
 A. L. 
 I>. A. 
 
 S. I'.. 
 W. F 
 
 G. S. 
 
 J. c. 
 
 G. It. 
 
 D. G. 
 
 G. E 
 
 P. c. 
 
 John 
 
 Manger, Slowe. 
 Gillars, Pottstown. 
 Wilson. Norristown. 
 Horning, Evansburg. 
 . Lee, Ardmore. 
 Cressman, Conshohocken. 
 ECnipe, N< irristown. 
 Trillige, Conshohocken. 
 Hersh, East Greenville. 
 . Gramru, Ardmore. 
 Mensch, Pennsburg. 
 W. Brauin, Ambler. 
 
 1891. 
 A L Wilson. 
 
 B. H. Markley, Reading, Pa. 
 
 E. C. Town, Merion tsp. 
 
 F. 1. Bicker, Providence. 
 W. B. Stewart, Bryn Mawr. 
 
 E. G. Whinna, Norristown. 
 
 C. I). Smedley, Delaware county 
 K. H. Breckland, Brvn Mawr. 
 
 1'. W. Buskirk, Pottstown. 
 
 G. W. Stein, Rynipton, Pa. 
 A. J. Bevau, Hryn Mawr. 
 
 R M. Clork, Center Square. 
 Robert Whinna, Norrist wn. 
 Walter Crystic, Bryn Mawr. 
 J. H. Seiple, Centre Square. 
 Ella M. Boyd, Cheltenham tsp. 
 Robert Coltman, Jr., Jenkintown. 
 
 F. R. Pierson, Royer's Ford. 
 E. M. Graniin, Norristown. 
 J. B. Mintzer, Philadelphia. 
 
 291. H. P. Boyer, Barren Hill, Pa. 
 
 292. H. Y. Evans, Bryn Mawr. 
 
 293. J. S. Patterson, Hatfield Station. 
 
 294. J. J. McGuigar, Philadelphia. 
 
 295. S. D. Barr, Philadelphia. 
 
 1892 and 1893. 
 
 296. 
 
 297. 
 
 2L|8. 
 
 299. 
 300. 
 301. 
 302. 
 
 3°3- 
 301. 
 305 
 306. 
 307. 
 v iS 
 
 3°9- 
 310. 
 
 3"- 
 
 3 '2. 
 3'3- 
 3M. 
 315- 
 3>6- 
 3'7- 
 3>8. 
 3'9- 
 320. 
 321. 
 322. 
 323- 
 324- 
 325- 
 326 
 
 3-'7. 
 32S 
 3-9- 
 33°- 
 
 331 
 33 2 - 
 
 333- 
 334. 
 
 335' 
 336. 
 337. 
 33*- 
 
 339 
 
 .V|o. 
 34i 
 342. 
 
 : 13 
 344. 
 3 4.S. 
 34b 
 347. 
 
 Pa. 
 
 W. E. Reifsnvder, Reading 
 W. E. Rotzell, Narberth. 
 F. A. McGrath, Norristown. 
 J. J. Kauer, Norristown. 
 M. K. Neifler, Jenkintown. 
 W. N Leedom, North Wales. 
 T. P. Tyson, Jenkintown. 
 
 C. E. Laudis, Limerick Square. 
 W. O. Smith, Philadelphia. 
 
 R. G. Gramble, Naiberth. 
 J. W. Warren, Bryn Mawr. 
 L. B. Evans, Philadelphia. 
 W. S. McGadgen, Manayunk. 
 A. o. Gery, Palm. 
 A. W. Hendrick, Schenksville. 
 H. F. Scholl, Green Lane. 
 W. A. B. Knapp, Pottstown. 
 
 E. L. Acker, Norristown. 
 J. W. Reber, Norristown. 
 J. R. Baer, Sansanville. 
 Albert Ellershaw, Bridgeport. 
 
 F. L. Hamilton, Lafayette Station. 
 
 D. H. Bradley, Meadow Brooke. 
 
 E. C. Suke, Royer's Ford. 
 
 J. R. Hobensack, Norristown 
 Edward Humphreys, Philadelphia. 
 Bernard Schoettler, Philadelphia, 
 J. H. Bradley, Conshohocken. 
 
 E. M. Vaughan, Rover's Ford. 
 L. L. Hand, North Wales. 
 
 J. C. Spear, Jr., Norristown. 
 W. H. Hunsberger, Pennsburg. 
 
 G. W. Kehl, Rexburg, Pa. 
 I. O. Drain, Ardmore. 
 
 C. B. Williams, Abington. 
 
 1894. 
 
 W. II. Long, Jr., Philadelphia. 
 G. H. Crabtree, Royer's Ford. 
 A. A. Hoopman, Hatfield, Pa. 
 A J. Britt, Norristown. 
 T. F. Branson, Philadelphia. 
 L. S. Walter, Jenkintown. 
 Hiram Ritter, Soudertou. 
 
 D. It. Richardson, Norristown. 
 
 G. W. MeCaffery, W. Norristown. 
 
 W. G McKinuey, Pottstown. 
 
 W. H. Knipe, Pottstown. 
 
 J. D. Lippincott, Norristown. 
 
 A. C. Mills, Norristown. 
 
 J R Knapp, Montgomery tup 
 
 F. E. Yerkes, Hatboro. 
 H. S. Neff, Berth Avres. 
 
 E. T. Miller, Limerick. 
 
 1895. 
 
 348. P. II. Corson, Plymouth Meeting 
 
 349. E. G. Kriebel, Worcester. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 RELIGIOUS DENOMINATIONS. 
 
 I R ST in order of age of the reli- 
 gious denominations of Mont- 
 gomery county is the Society 
 of Friends. The Friends' 
 Welsh Meeting house at Me- 
 rion was built in 1695 ; Ab- 
 ington, in 1697 ; Gwynedd, in 
 1700; Plymouth, 1712 ; Hors- 
 ham, 1724 ; Upper Provi- 
 dence, 1743 ; Pottstown, 1753; Upper Dub- 
 lin, 1814 ; and Norristown, 1852. 
 
 Almost contemporaneous with the 
 Friends came the Mennonists or Menno- 
 uites. The history of this denomination is 
 very scant. Their first meeting house is 
 supposed to have been built in Perkiomen 
 township about 1725. Five years later Fra- 
 conia and Sal ford meeting houses were 
 built. In 1742, Providence was built ; in 
 1 75' 1, Kulpsville was erected ; and before 
 1812, Methacton and Towamencin churches 
 were added to the list. There are now 
 over a dozen churches in the county. 
 
 The German Baptist or Dunkards, seem 
 to be third in order of age of the religious 
 denominations in the county. The Dunk- 
 ard churches are mainly in the Perkiomen 
 valley and number about ten or twelve. 
 But little can be secured of their early his- 
 tory. Salford church was established about 
 1 72 1 ; Towamencin before the Revolution- 
 ary war, and Worcester about 1809. 
 
 The Protestant Episcopal church dates 
 
 its existence back to 17 10, when St. 
 Thomas' congregation, of Whiteinarsh, 
 was founded. St. James church of Lower 
 Providence, was organized in 1730; .St. 
 John's, of Norristown, 181 2 ; Christ's, of 
 Pottstown, 1828; Church of the Redeemer, 
 of Lower Merion, 1848 ; St. Paul's Memo- 
 rial, about 1850 ; Calvary, of Conshohocken, 
 1858; Church of Our Saviour, of Jenkin- 
 town, 1858 ; St. Paul's, of Cheltenham, 
 t86o ; Church of the Messiah, of Gwynedd, 
 1870; St Peters, of Weldon, 1883; and the 
 church at Lansdale, in 1885. 
 
 The Baptist church was founded in the 
 county in 17 19, by the organization of 
 
 1 Montgomery church, which was its sole 
 representative for nearly a century. Lower 
 Providence and Lower Merion churches 
 were organized in 1809; Norristown, 1832 ; 
 Mt. Pleasant, in Whitpain, 1834 ; Hatboro, 
 1835; Cold Point, in Whiteinarsh, 1842; 
 Bridgeport, 1850; Pottstown, 1859; North 
 
 I Wales, 1862 ; Conshohocken, 1870 ; Rover's 
 Ford, 1879 ; Jenkintown, 1880; and Lans- 
 dale, 18S4. 
 
 The first Presbyterian church was Ab- 
 ington. It was organized about 1 719. 
 Norristown Presbyterian church was organ- 
 ized in 1735 ; Providence, 1738 ; First Nor- 
 ristown, 1819; Pottstown, 1848; Second 
 Norristown, 1849; Central, of Norristown, 
 1855 ; Grace, 1870 ; and Ashbourne, 1878. 
 The Lutheran church, strongest in mini- 
 

 : I I' II 
 
 l|| .,1 III' 
 
 , win) . , .1 i,.,. I to (/ jo, v.li. ii 
 
 1 1.,,,. i || •,>/• d, 7Aon 
 
 • i in i , jq i « >M ■ q 
 i,. uboppi ii, i Qosb uboppi i», 
 
 ,i 'i rappi , i; I ppi i 
 Dublin i; 8i I ■ ■ ■ fern 
 
 ,i, in, 171 fobn '/-•/ . Potl 1 
 
 1 ,,,,. rid 11, 'i rinll , forrl 
 1 ,., mrl ; The 
 
 . . ,1. .., rj 1 h ii 1, hi 1 
 
 church in 1 npi 1 1 1 ftboul 1 , 6 
 
 ii,. |ii 1., 1 m. ri church va ■ ' ibll hi d In 
 
 1 n u 1 1 In uin 
 
 iin 1 ni 1 hurch Tin fii 1 Refm iin d 
 
 liurcli ■ 1 1 1 movi 1 " 1 1 In 
 
 iin " • ni church ■ ' foi 1 In 
 
 Palknci mip 1; > H • 
 
 I 11 In uhnppi hi ,i U01 Inn hi fun 
 1 ( |., '.I l nl 1 ,1 1 1 ippi 1 1 1 ... 
 
 In nhopi .1 1 1 1 urtl 1 1 
 
 1 rusa I Pi h 1 1 6g 1 inn 1 
 
 |p] 1 1 pension, N ■■ 11 > 1 
 
 th VhIi [861 1 1 1 lull . ••hi 
 
 ,, , 6 
 
 1 II. 1 lln I. .1111. 1, 11 ..I I In 
 
 I nl In 1 HI -nil I.. I . Inn, In • inn I In 
 
 1 .Mi I of till icll I nl I. Itl 1 Tll( 
 
 ; , ialfurcl ich eukfelter church wm 
 
 I .III ■ .1 III . I lln 1 , 1 Il 
 
 in 1 /',•, 1 if 1 Wqti ■ '• church b< fori th* 
 
 'I In ,1. I In-! .1 < Ii in < 1 
 
 ■ ,| 111 , |. , ii 1 ;- .,nn | COUUl "' '//".'' 
 
 1 in foi iijfll Ion "i ill' I' 1 tin 1 ''i Supplei 
 
 , Inn, Ii 'I'll. I nn.n .1. tliodll I Kpl COpal 
 
 .Inn.: ed i 11 18141 l I foi 
 
 < In II. nil. nil, 1 j • I I, mm I 
 
 Hill, )•' . - 1 latboro i- jj Potl to 
 
 1 .. . 1 1. m, I, 1. |.. 1 ,n burg 
 1. 1 1 1 quan 'i ' onsho- 
 
 In,, I . 1, ,. j 1 / ,1 ' ,li. ■ I ...i 1 1 1 
 
 , 1 1 ni,, iii. 1 1. ■ 1 .1 1. 11.. n 1 ■ -, . 
 
 I . ,n .1 ||. .!■'./. . I I . ■ ' UN. ...I I I tO ' 
 
 , M In! I 1 n '.Ii • 1 1876I '"' 
 
 I'., .1 I-, 1. 1 [879 
 
 iin 1 ,1 in. in church 1 founded in I hi 
 
 13 I. 1 1 ml 1 ' ol ' -I 
 
 Patricl church at Norristown, St. Aloj 
 
 111 I ftl liolil I Inn. Ii - 1 I I .1 .11 PottD 
 
 to 11 bi i"" 1 16 81 Iflttln of I on 
 
 1 1. .in,. 1 ' n 1 .'.■,. . 1 hurch ol Mm 1 in n 
 
 l.i ' ..in potion, I' nl nil 1 1 1 6a 
 
 nid Si ' .inn 1 ni , .,1 1 ,11 iii. iboul [8715 
 
 Till I in . In il ... Ill • I III III 
 
 A|. I In "1 1 I Q • 'I 1 1 Inn. Ii il I i I 
 
 1 .1. . 11 ill. ill I In 11 |.i. . nl . Inn. In in 
 
 I I mil ,'. • 11 1 foi in. .1 in 1 
 
 '..l.iii ..I Potl I IB, ni'' I ni ,1 il. 
 
 1 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PRESS AND POLITICS. RARU NEWSPAPERS PRRSEN1 COUNTS PRE! PROMINENT EI)] 
 
 HOB it i SIDENTIAL VOTES BIN( i 183a STATE SENATORS AND Ml HB1 B 
 
 OF THE HOUSH 01 REPRESENTATIVES UISTS OF SOJ 
 
 Till; IT IDING < "I VI \ 1 HI U I M.S. 
 
 EARLY NEWSPAPERS 
 
 f 
 
 HE INITIAL newspapei ol 
 Montgomerj count} was The 
 \ 01 1 istown (>ii 1 tie, wlih h 
 in. nil ii . 1 1 1 •■ .11.1111 1 on funi 
 13, i, wi, and gave waj .1 
 \. .11 I. itci to the Herald, It 
 w as .1 foui pag< three column 
 sheet 8 ' [xio inches It w as 
 pi in ted bj David Sower, at 
 one dollai pei annum in the first j eai < >> 
 1 In present c< atui y, Mi Sow< 1 stai ted 1 he 
 Herald, which has Qontiuued up to tin 
 present time, ad> ocat ing incci ivelj tin- 
 in 1 mi 1 ties "i the Pederal, W h ig and Re 
 publican part ies. The in st issue 1 it 1 he 
 ll,i ,1/1/ was "ii ( Ictobei 1 1 , [800, and it 
 editoi a ha\ e bei n 1 David Sowei , Chai li 
 Sower, Jr., I >. « \ i < I Sower, Ji , John Hodg 
 son, Robert Iredell, Morgan R. Wills, 
 Robert Iredell, Jr., Howard M feukinsand 
 Morgan R. Wills. < in 1 lecembei 11 1, 1861 1 
 M 1 . Wills issued 1 he first numbei oi the 
 Daily Herald, the first dailj in the county, 
 and its columns was in tde highl) 1 nt< rtain 
 in" li\ 1 In- product ions ofjohn 11 W illiams, 
 
 whose reputation as a humorist 1 bi 
 
 came rial ii ma I 
 
 Tin rival "i t In Herald made its ap 
 
 pearance some 1 inn in 181 » i, and its otr nei 
 
 was a Mi Wilson. The Registet has been 
 
 upportei sin cessivel; ol thi Nat ional 
 
 1 - ■ 1 ■ 1 1 . 1 .mil Democrati) parties 1 1 
 
 proprietoi havi been : - — Wilson, 
 
 |.nm . Winnard, Samuel D. Patten , 
 
 Powell, Adam Slemmer, John B 
 Stei igere, I >i . E, I,. Vcker, Isaiah B. 
 
 I [oupt .nnl I'.. K. K in -ult -. 
 
 The Herald and Register foi b hall a 
 century, were the <'itl\ permanent papei 
 in the count} A inong the othei earl) 
 
 papers started in 1 1n- count j maj be na 1 
 
 The Pot tstov n Times, t8ig 1831 . Wont 
 •:<■/ v I edgei , 1 83 1 1 895 Fret Press, 
 i.s.'w [83; ( Hive Branch, [84 • 1 ,, , N01 
 ristowu Republican, [857-1865 ; Bauer n 
 Freund, [837-1895 ; Montgomery Democrat, 
 Montgomery Watchman, 1849-1858, and 
 the National Oefendet , [856 t8g 
 
 Present County Pre**. 
 
 Papei s. /'/•/■ . Politii 1 
 
 1. , Amblei , Independi nl 
 
 1 1 11. I.', Aiilnh.il , Republii hi 
 
 Newt it 1 11 1 1 1. 11 in- Niw'., Hi \ 11 Mawr, I int. 1 It III 
 
 run nl. n. 1 1 11.I1 |kii.I. ni , 1 ..1 1 Ille, ludepi ii.tt hi 
 
 1 eci rder, I om bohoi ken, i ndependi nl 
 r, 1 1 lomi n 1 . .1 - 1 1 tat Greenville, Local 
 Hnrleyvllle, 1 ,01 il 
 
 I'ni.ii. Spirit, 11 itl 1 Indi 1 Ii nl 
 
 Mirror, 1 Eatfleld, 1 r oi al 
 t .111.1. , |. 11U Intow ii, 1 iO< at 
 
 I l.iiiii N. !• |nl IntOV, 11. I.i.i .il 
 
 Reobachl in), 1 insdale, Local 
 
 i.t, i,, iii-.il. ti. , Independent 
 Republican, I, an dali , Ri publii an 
 
 in i .m ',.,iii itoM n. B ' publii ,ni 
 
32 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 Montgomery County Post (G. ). Norristown, Democrat. 
 
 National Defender, Norristown, Democrat. 
 
 Register, Norristown, Democrat. 
 
 Register and Montgomery Co , Norristown, Democrat. 
 
 Democrat, Norristown, Democrat. 
 
 Review, Norristown, link-pendent. 
 
 Schuylkill Valley Sentinel, Norristown, Independent. 
 
 Times, Norristown, Republican. 
 
 Record, North Wales, Independent. 
 
 Bauern Freund (German), Pennsburg, Democrat. 
 
 Ledger, Pottstown, Neutral. 
 
 Montgomery Ledger, Pottstown, Neutral. 
 
 News, Pottstown, Independent. 
 
 Tribune, Rover's Ford, Independent. 
 
 Item, Schwenksville, Independent. 
 
 Montgomery Transcript. Skippack, Republican. 
 
 Neutralist I German), Skippack, Republican. 
 
 Independent, S ludertou, Independent. 
 
 Prominent Editors. — Of the early edi- 
 tors we have but little account. Robert 
 Iredell did much to advance journalism in 
 the county and made his paper a success. 
 Adam Slemmer was an early editor of 
 force and influence, and his successor, 
 Albrecht Kneule, has won prominence 
 and success as a journalist. Another edi- 
 tor of prominence and usefulness is Wil- 
 liam J. Binder. Morgan R. Wills, while 
 active and prominent in journalism, is also 
 the author of the able historical sketch of 
 Montgomery county in Dr Egle's History 
 of Pennsylvania. Mr. Wills' former asso- 
 ciate, Howard M. Jenkins, is the principal 
 writer on the " Memorial History of the 
 City of Philadelphia," the first volume of 
 which has just come from the press. We 
 give the following extract from Mr. Jen- 
 kins' work in that history, which explains 
 how and why the Quakers in 1756 gave up 
 the control of the general assembly of 
 Pennsylvania : 
 
 "In the midst of the war excitement the time 
 came lor taking the assembly out of the hands of the 
 Quakers. It was not an easy matter. With their 
 own strength in the three older counties, and that of 
 the Germans still firmly adhering to them in these 
 and the newer ones, a majority of voters could not be 
 
 procured against their candidates. Even under the 
 alarm and excitement of Braddock's defeat, the 
 election in October, 1755, resulted as usual. But 
 earnest efforts were on foot to loosen their hold on 
 Pennsylvania. They were to be deposed in the as- 
 seuiblv, as they had been in the governorship, and in 
 the city corporation. Late in 1755 a petition against 
 them, strongly signed in Philadelphia, was sent to 
 the king. It declared that there could be no effectual 
 way of preventing the people from electing the 
 Quakers to the assembly but to disqualify the latter 
 from sitting in that body. The provost of the college, 
 Dr. William Smith, then in Loudon, wrote letters to 
 the newspapers there, some of which were reprinted 
 here in pamphlets, to the like effect. He proposed to 
 disqualify the Quakers for seats in the assembly, to 
 disfranchise the Germans till they acquired a "suffi- 
 cient knowledge" of English, and to suppress the 
 periodicals issued in the German language. The 
 royal government had yielded to the pressure so far 
 as to propose an act of parliament making a test oath 
 — such as the Friends could not take — necessary for 
 membership in the assembly, when the Friends in 
 London brought about a compromise. They under- 
 took to see that enough of their members who had 
 seats in the assembly should resign or decline re- 
 election to give the majority and responsibility to 
 those not scrupulous on the war question. The 
 1 Meeting for Sufferings,' a standing and executive 
 committee of Loudon yearly meeting, sent over a 
 strong letter, urging the Friends here to yield their 
 difficult and practically untenable position, and sent 
 also two prominent Friends, John Hunt, of London, 
 and Christopher Wilson, of Cumberland, to use per- 
 sonal persuasion if necessary. In the summer of 
 1756, six of the Quaker members of the assembly re- 
 signed, three of them being from Philadelphia — 
 James Pembertoii, Joshua Morris, and William Cal- 
 leuder — two from Chester, and one from Berks. At 
 the election in October that year, others of the 
 Quaker members declined to be candidates, and wdieu 
 the assembly met a fortnight later, four more with- 
 drew, stating their understanding that 'the ministry 
 have requested it.' The assembly thus passed out of 
 the hands of the Friends." 
 
 Popular Vote of riontgomery County at 
 Presidential Elections Since 1832. 
 
 1S32 Democratic, Andrew Jackson, 3,315. 
 
 Anti-Mason, William Wirt, 2,507. 
 1S36 Whig. William H. Harrison, 2,409. 
 
 Democratic, Martiu VanBuren, 3,446. 
 1S40 Whig, William H. Harrisou, 4,068. 
 
 Democratic, Martin VanBuren, 4,869. 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 33 
 
 1844 
 1S4S 
 1852 
 1856 
 i860 
 
 1864 
 1868 
 1S72 
 
 1876 
 
 1880 
 
 1884 
 
 [888 
 
 IS92 
 
 Whig. Henry Clay. 4.491. 
 Democratic, James K. I'olk, 5.596. 
 Liberty, James G. Birney, 49. 
 Whig, Zacbary Taylor, 5.040. 
 Democratic, Lewis Cass. 5,627. 
 Free Soil, Martin Y.mBureu, 251. 
 Whig, Winfield Scott, 4.791. 
 Democratic, Franklin Pierce, 5.767. 
 Free Dem., John I'. Hale, 160. 
 Republican, John C. Fremont, 2,845. 
 Democratic, James Buchanan, 7,134 
 American, Millard Fillmore, 2,265. 
 Republican, Abraham Lincoln, 5,826. 
 Democratic, John C. Breckinridge, 5,590. 
 Cons't Union, John Bell, 690. 
 Ind. Dem., Stephen A. Douglas, 509. 
 Republican, Abraham Lincoln, 6,872. 
 Democratic, George B. McClellan, 7,943 
 Republican, Ulysses S. Grant, 8,083. 
 Democratic, Horatio Seymour, 8 803. 
 Republican, Ulysses S. Grant, 8,080. 
 Dem. and Lib., Horace Greeley, 5, 113. 
 Democratic, Charles O'Connor, o. 
 Temperance, James Black, o. 
 Republican, Rutherford B. Hayes. 9,386. 
 Democratic, Samuel J. Tilden, 9,654. 
 Greenback, Peter Cooper, 58. 
 Prohibition, Green C. Smith, 40. 
 Republican, James A. Garfield, 1 1,026. 
 Democratic, Winfield S. Hancock, 11,025. 
 Greenback, James B. Weaver, 75. 
 Prohibition, Neal Dow, o. 
 Republican, James G. Blaine, 11,617. 
 Democratic, Grover Cleveland, 11,088. 
 Greenback, Benjamin F. Butler. 66. 
 Prohibition, John P. St. John, ^15. 
 Republican, Benjamin Harrison, 13,445. 
 Democratic, Grover Cleveland, 12,582. 
 Greenback, Alson J. Streeter, it. 
 Prohibition, Clinton B. Fisk, 379. 
 Democratic, Grover Cleveland, 13,611. 
 Republican, Benjamin Harrison, 13,591. 
 Prohibition, John Bidwell, 447. 
 Socialistic Labor, Simon Wing, 11. 
 Peoples', James B. Weaver, 22. 
 Indust. Rcf., Alfred E. Redstone, o. 
 American, James L- Curtis, o. 
 United Labor, Robert H. Cowdrev, o. 
 
 STATE SENATORS. 
 
 1796, Zebulon Potts. 
 
 1796-97, William Chapman, of Bucks county. 
 
 1797-98, Joseph McClellan. 
 
 179S-99, Dennis Wheeler. 
 
 1 799- 1 801, Zebulon Potts. 
 
 1801-7, John Richards. 
 
 1807-I t, Jonathan Roberts. Jr. 
 
 [811-15, Samuel Gross. 
 
 [815-19, George Weaver. 
 
 1 Si .,-24, Philip S. Markley. 
 
 1824-29, Joel K. Mann. 
 
 1829-31, Benjamin Reiflf. 
 
 [832-35, John Matthews. 
 
 1836-40, Henry Myers, of Chester county. 
 
 1840-41, John B. Sterigere. 
 
 [841-43, Abraham Bower. 
 
 1843-46, John B. Sterigere. 
 
 [846-49, George Richards. 
 
 1S49-52, Joshua Y. Jones. 
 
 1S52-55, Benjamin Frick. 
 
 1S55-5S, Thomas P. Knox. 
 
 1S5S-61, John Thompsou. 
 
 1861-64. John C. Smith. 
 
 1S64 67, Horace Rover and Wilmer Worthington, 
 
 of Delaware county. 
 1868-70, Charles Stinson. 
 1871-73, Henry S. Evans, of Chester county. 
 1873-76, William A. Yeakle. 
 1S76-7S, Jones Detwiler. 
 1879-S1, Lewis Rover. 
 1882, William Henry Sutton. 
 1886, Henry R. Brown. 
 1890, A. D. Markley. 
 
 MEHBERS OF ASSEMBLY. 
 
 1784, Peter Richards, Robert Loller, George Smith, 
 Benjamin Rittenhouse. 
 
 17S5, Benjamin Rittenhouse, Robert Loller, Peter 
 Richards, Thomas Rees. 
 
 1786, Charles Moore, Samuel Wheeler, James Hock- 
 ley, Jacob Reiff. 
 
 17S7, Jacob Reiff, Robert Loller, Benjamin Ritleu- 
 house, Peter Richards. 
 
 1788, Robert Loller, Jacob Reiff, Peter Richards, 
 John Roberts. 
 
 1789, Jacob Reiff, John Roberts, Benjamin Markley, 
 James Yaux. 
 
 1790, Benjamin Markley, John Roberts, James Yaux, 
 Cadwatder Evans. 
 
 1791, Cadwalder Evans, Joseph Tyson, James Yaux, 
 Isaiah Davis. 
 
 1792, Isaiah Davis, Joseph Tyson, Cadwalder Evans, 
 John Shoemaker. 
 
 1793-95, Cadwalder Evans, Joseph Tyson, John Shoe- 
 maker, Isaiah Davis. 
 
 1796, Cadwalder Evans, Abram Schultz, Joseph Ty- 
 son, John Shoemaker. 
 
34 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 t 797, Cadwalder Evans, Benjamin Brooke, Peter 
 Muhlenberg, Nathaniel Boileau. 
 
 1798, Benjamin Brooke, Nathaniel Boileau, Fred- 
 erick Conrad, Cadwalder Evans. 
 
 1799, Frederick Conrad, Nathaniel Boileau, Jona- 
 than Roberts, Isaiah Davis. 
 
 1800-1, Nathaniel Boileau, Isaiah Davis, Frederick 
 Conrad, Jonathan Roberts, Jr. 
 
 1802, Samuel Henderson, William Hagy, Cadwal- 
 der Evans, Isaiah Davis. 
 
 1803-4. Nathaniel Boileau, Henry Scheetz, Samuel 
 Gross, John Mann. 
 
 1805, Cadwalder Evans, Samuel Miles, Samuel Rtes, 
 William Hallman. 
 
 1807-S, Nathaniel Boileau, Samuel Groflf, Isaiah 
 Davis, John Weber. 
 
 1809-10, Richard Leech, John Weber, Matthew 
 Brooke, George Weaver. 
 
 181 1, Jesse Bean, Benjamin Reiff, George Weaver, 
 Matthew Brooke. 
 
 1S12, Jesse Bean, Benjamin Reiff, George Weaver, 
 Philip Reed. 
 
 1813, Jesse Bean, Benjamin Reiff, Philip Reed, 
 William Powell. 
 
 1814, William Powell, Benjamin Reiff, Samuel Baird, 
 John Hughes. 
 
 1815-16, William Powell, William M. White, Dr. 
 Tobias Sellers, Dr. James Anderson. 
 
 1S17, Joel K. Maun, William M. White, Jacob 
 Drinkhouse, Tobias Sellers. 
 
 iSiS, Joel K. Mann, William M. White, Jacob 
 Drinkhouse, Isaiah Wells. 
 
 1819-20, Joel K. Mann, Peter Miller, Jacob Drink- 
 house, Isaiah Wells. 
 
 1821-23, Joseph Royer, Peter Miller, John B. Steri- 
 gere. William Powell. 
 
 1824, Jonathan Roberts, Robert Hobart, John B. 
 Sterigere, Michael Cope. 
 
 1825, Jonathan Roberts, Michael Cope, Robert Ho- 
 bart, John Stevens. 
 
 1826, John Matheys, Michael Cope, James Evans, 
 John Stevens. 
 
 1S27-28. John Matheys, James Evans, Adam Slem- 
 mer, John Stevens. 
 
 1829, John Matheys, James Evans, Adam Sleminer. 
 
 1S30, John Shearer, Philip Hoover, Adam Sleminer. 
 
 1831-32, John Shearer, Philip Hoover, John E. 
 Gross. 
 
 1S33-34, Joseph Fornance, Johu M. Jones, Henry 
 Schneider. 
 
 1S35, William Schall, Wright A. Bringhurst, Robert 
 Stiuson. 
 
 1S36-3S, Jacob S. Yost, Henry Longaker, Samuel 
 Leech. 
 
 iS39, Jacob S. Yost, Henry Longaker, Charles D. 
 Jones. 
 
 1840, Charles D. Jones, Enos Benner, George Sny- 
 der. 
 
 1841, Ephraim Fenton, William B. Hahn, William 
 Beau. 
 
 1S42-43, Charles Kugler, William B. Hahn, William 
 Bean. 
 
 1S44, Charles Kugler, Henry Dotts, Jesse Weber. 
 
 1S45-46, Henry Dotts, Benjamin Hills, Benjamin F. 
 Hallowell. 
 
 1847, John S. Weiler, George Wertsner, John 
 Thompson. 
 
 [848, Benjamin Hill, Benjamin Hallowell, David 
 Evans. 
 
 1849-50, David Evans, William T. Morrison, Wil- 
 liam Henry. 
 
 1851, William Henry, Curtis W. Gabe, Oliver P. 
 Fretz. 
 
 1852-53, Curtis W. Gabe, Oliver P. Fretz, Henry 
 Beyer. 
 
 1854, Henry Beyer, Charles H. Palmer, Jacob Fry, Jr. 
 
 '855, Jacob Fry, Jr., Henry N. Wickersham, James 
 Rittenhonse. 
 
 1856-58, Josiah Hillegas, Goorge Hamel, A. Brower 
 Longaker. 
 
 1859-61, David Stoneback, Johu Dismant, Charles 
 Hill. 
 
 1862-64, Joseph Rex, Hiram C. Hoover, George W. 
 Wimley. 
 
 1865-67, A. D. Markle, Edwin Satterthwait. 
 
 1S68-69, James Esbach, Henry McMiller. 
 
 1S70, John J. C. Harvey, James Esbach. 
 
 1871-72, Oliver G. Morris, John J. C. Harvey. 
 
 1873, Oliver G. Morris, Samuel Nyce. 
 
 1S74, Thomas G. Rutter, Joseph B. Yerkes. 
 
 lS 75-76, Thomas G. Rutter, Joseph B Yerkes, Fran- 
 cis M. Knipe, John C. Richardson, James B. Law. 
 
 1S77-78, John C. Richardson, James B. Law, Fran- 
 cis M. Knipe, Edwin Hallowell, Montgomery Long- 
 aker. 
 
 1879, PMwin Hallowell, John C. Dannehower, Mah- 
 lon Sellers, William B. Roberts, Isaac Hoyer. 
 
 1881, William B. Roberts, Isaac Hoyer, Josiah S. 
 Pearce, D. H. Gehman, Harry R. Brown. 
 
 1883, Theodore Harrar, Lewis H. Davis, Johu Luu- 
 derman, John C. Dannehower, Stephen Yerkes. 
 
 1885, John M. Cunningham, Samuel Faust, William 
 D. Heebner, William A. Redding, Thomas J. Stewart. 
 
 1S87, John M. Cunningham, William D. Heebner, 
 Joseph A. Shoemaker, Austin L. Taggart, Samuel 
 Faust. 
 
 1889, Theodore W. Bean, Joseph Shoemaker, Austin 
 L. Taggart, Charles Moore, Samuel Fausi. 
 
Historical .Sketch. 
 
 35 
 
 1891, Charles I. Baker, John Burton, Austin L Tag- 
 gart, Milton H. VVatters, Frank A. Wile. 
 
 1893, J. Beans Grentner, Franklin A. Conilv, George 
 C. Hollenbach, B. Witman Dambly, Austin L. Taggart. 
 
 COUNTY OFFICIALS. 
 RECORDERS. 
 
 1784, Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg. 
 
 1789, Robert Loller. 
 
 1790, Robert Loller. 
 
 1791, James Morris. 
 1795, Thomas Craig. 
 
 1799, William R. Atlee. 
 
 1800, Thomas Potts. 
 1809, Archibald Darrah. 
 1 818, George Wack, 
 
 1821, Jesse Roberts. 
 
 1822, Jacob Hubley. 
 1824, John Markley. 
 1826, John Markley. 
 1830, William Powell. 
 
 1833, S. D. Patterson. 
 
 1834, James Wells. 
 1836, Robert Iredell. 
 1839, Tobias Sellers. 
 1842, Daniel Fry. 
 1845, Henry Drake. 
 1848, H. G. Hart. 
 1851, R. B. Longaker. 
 1854, George Lower. 
 1857, William H. Hill. 
 i860, Thomas G. Rutter. 
 1863, Henry Unger. 
 
 1866, Christopher Wycoff. 
 1869, Henry Bernard Nase. 
 1872, George W. Neiman. 
 1S75, John W. Schall. 
 1878, John W. Schall. 
 1881, Henry W. Kratz. 
 1884, Aaron Weikel. 
 1887, Benjamin Thomas. 
 1890, George W. Pawling. 
 1893, George W. Keys. 
 
 REGISTERS. 
 
 17S4, Thomas Ewing. 
 1789, Robert Loller. 
 1791, James Morris. 
 
 1799, William Richardson Atlee. 
 
 1800, Thomas Potts. 
 1809, Archibald Darrah. 
 1818, George Wack. 
 
 1 82 1, Jesse Roberts. 
 
 1822, 
 1824, 
 1830, 
 1836, 
 
 1839. 
 1842, 
 1845, 
 1848, 
 
 185'. 
 ■854. 
 1857, 
 i860, 
 1863, 
 1866, 
 1869, 
 1872, 
 
 1875, 
 1S78, 
 1SS1, 
 1887, 
 1890, 
 1893. 
 
 Jacob Hubley. 
 John Markley. 
 William Powell. 
 Nathaniel B. Boileau. 
 John Shearer. 
 William Earnest. 
 B. F. Yost. 
 William Front-field. 
 John M. Jones. 
 Isaac Schneider. 
 PhilipS. Gerhard. 
 Charles Hurst. 
 Isaiah B. Houpt. 
 Christopher Lower. 
 John J. Nocton. 
 Septimus Roberts. 
 Solomon Snyder. 
 Warren B. Barnes. 
 J. Roberts Rambo. 
 Joseph W. Hunter. 
 Albert Helffenstein. 
 Joseph C. Crawford. 
 
 PROTHONOTARIES. 
 
 1784, Thomas Craig. 
 
 1799, William R. Atlee. 
 
 1800, Francis Swain. 
 1809, Philip Hahu. 
 1S1S, William Powell. 
 1S21, Frederick Conrad. 
 1826, Thomas Lowry. 
 1830, Jacob Fry. 
 
 1833, Adam Slemmer. 
 1836, John Bean. 
 '839, Josiah W. Evans. 
 1842, Jones Davis. 
 1845, Mehelm McGlathcrv. 
 1848, J. B. Evans. 
 1851, N. Jacoby. 
 1854, Bowyer Brooke. 
 1857, Florence Sullivan. 
 i860, Jared Evans. 
 1S63, John R. Griggs. 
 1 866, Jesse H. Gery. 
 1S69, John B. Yerkes. 
 1S72, William F. Reed. 
 1875, Philip Ouillman. 
 1878, A. Franklin Hart. 
 1SS1, John McLean. 
 1884, William 1!. Woodward. 
 1887, George Scheetz. 
 1893, Samuel E. Nyce. 
 The present deputy prothonotary and clerk are 
 Abram D. Hallmau and W. II. H. McCrea. 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 SHERIFFS. 
 
 1784, Zebulon Potts. 
 1 787, Francis Swain. 
 1790, Henry Kooken. 
 1793. Nathan Pawling. 
 ] 795, Isaiah Wells. 
 1795. John Pugh. 
 1798, John Markley. 
 ism, Isaiah Wells. 
 1804, William Henderson. 
 1807, David Pewees. 
 [810, Isaiah Wells. 
 1813, Thomas Lowrv. 
 1S16, Justice Sheetz. 
 1 S 1 9, Philip Sellers. 
 1S22, Philip Boyer. 
 1825, Christian Snyder. 
 1828, Jones Davis. 
 1831, Henry Longaker. 
 1834, John Todd. 
 1837, Ardemus Stewart. 
 1840, Jacob Spong. 
 1843, James Wells. 
 1846, John Boyer. 
 1849, Philip Harm. 
 1852, M. C. Boyer. 
 1855, Samuel D. Rudy. 
 
 1858, John M. Stauffer. 
 1S61, Francis Kile. 
 1864, E. N. Beysher. 
 1867, Philip Gerhart. 
 1S6S, William J. Bolton, 
 1S6S, John W. Hunsicket. 
 1S71, Jeremiah B. Lazelere. 
 1S74, John Lindertnan. 
 1877, Jacob Tyson. 
 
 [880, Joseph Frankenfield. 
 1883, Edwin S. Stahlnecker. 
 1S86, Henry C. Kline. 
 
 1859, Clinton Rorer. 
 1892, Albert D. Simpson. 
 
 The present deputy sheriffs are Win. W. Owen and 
 Charles Johnson. 
 
 COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 1790, Christian Scheid. 
 1790, Nathan Potts. 
 
 1790, John Maun. 
 
 1791, Conrad Boyer. 
 
 1792, John Wentz. 
 
 1793, John Jarrett. 
 
 1794, Morris Hobson. 
 '795. Frederick Conrad. 
 
 1796, Samuel Maulsby. 
 
 1797, Conrad Boyer. 
 
 1798, James Bean. — 
 
 1799, Henry Sheetz. 
 
 1800, Philip Boyer. 
 ryoi, Christian Weber. 
 1S02, Richard T. Leach. 
 
 1803, Philip Hahn, Jr. 
 
 1804, Thomas Humphries. 
 
 1805, John Markley. 
 1806 George Bucher. 
 1S07, John Lower}'. 
 
 1808, Mahlon N. Bo skirk. 
 
 1809, Isaac Markley. 
 1S10, George Heist. 
 
 181 1, Samuel Mann. 
 
 1812, Owen Evans; Samuel Patterson, ap- 
 
 pointed. 
 
 181 3, Jacob Yost. 
 
 1814, Samuel Patterson; Scblater. 
 
 1S15, J. McFatland; Cope. 
 
 1816, Dr. Hough. 
 
 1817, Andrew Gilkeson. 
 
 1818, Henry Kerr. 
 
 1810, Christian Mattis. 
 
 1820, William Ayers. 
 
 1821, George Kline. 
 
 1522, Wm. McGlathery. 
 
 1523, Henry Doub. 
 
 1824, Peter Bastras. Jr. 
 
 1825, David C. Kulp. 
 
 1826, George Piper. 
 1S27, Henry Schneider. 
 
 1828, John Todd. 
 
 1829, Christian Keisel. 
 
 1830, John Geyer. 
 
 1831, William Hamill. 
 
 1832, Amos Addis. 
 
 1833, Samuel E. Leach: Benjamin B. Yost. 
 
 1834, F. C. Burnside. 
 
 1835, Jacob Fritz. 
 
 1836, John Scheffer. 
 
 1837, Abel Thomas. 
 [838, William Stevens. 
 
 1839, John Bichtel; Silas Y'erkes. 
 
 1840, Mehelm McGlathery. 
 
 1841, Joseph Nettles. 
 1S42, Isaac Burk. 
 [843, Daniel Yost. 
 
 1844, Samuel Shoemaker. 
 
 1845, Samuel H. Graff; John Smith. 
 
 1846, Charles Greger. 
 
 1847, Johu Katz. 
 
 1848, Daniel Quillmau. 
 
1 1 istoricai. Sketch. 
 
 37 
 
 iS49, Daniel Harp. 
 1S50, William \V. Dunn. 
 
 1851, Michael Hartzell. 
 
 1852, Archibald Bains. 
 
 1853, John Cowden. 
 1S54, Isaac F. Yost. 
 
 1855, John Hoffman. 
 
 1856, Benjamin Fleck. 
 '^57, Jacob Brandt. 
 1858, John B. Adams. 
 
 1559, Daniel Carr. 
 
 1560, Isaac Huber. 
 
 1 86 1. George Pen nick. 
 1S62, Jacob Slifer. 
 
 1863, Abraham C. Cole. 
 
 1864, Tobias G. Hauge. 
 1S65. William G. Smith. 
 1S6), Henry H. Hartman. 
 1867, Benjamin Tyson. 
 1828, Francis Kehr. 
 
 1869, John Y. Fritz. 
 
 1870, Dennis Dunne. 
 1IS71, John Stever. 
 
 1872, John T. Comly. 
 
 1873, Edward Johnson. 
 
 1874, Charles M. Soliday. 
 
 iS;i, George B. Erb; Amos D. Moser; Charles 
 M. Soliday. 
 
 1S7.S, Jesse B. Davis; Noah D. Frank; Amos 
 
 D. Moser. 
 1881, James Burnett; Hiram Burdan; William 
 
 L. Rittenhonsc. 
 1884, James Burnett; Hiram Burdan; Thomas 
 
 McCully. 
 1887, Samuel K. Anders; Daniel Yeakel; 
 
 John S. Rahn. 
 1890, Samuel K. Anders; Daniel Yeakel; 
 
 Charles D. Loch. 
 1893, Samuel K Anders; Charles M. Reed; 
 
 Milton G. Erbe. 
 
 The present efficient and courteous clerk of the 
 board is Edward Elsenhans. 
 
 1813, 
 1814. 
 1815, 
 1 S 1 6, 
 1817. 
 
 IS |N, 
 iSly, 
 l820, 
 1822, 
 I823, 
 1824, 
 I825, 
 1826, 
 
 TREASURERS. 
 
 Isaac Markley. 
 George Heist. 
 Samuel Mann. 
 Owen Evans. 
 John McFarland. 
 Casper Schlater. 
 Michael Cope. 
 Samuel Went/.. 
 Henry Kerr. 
 Chris" Maltis. 
 William Avers. 
 ( George Kline. 
 William McGlathey. 
 
 lS27, Henry Doub. 
 
 1829, David C. Kulp. 
 
 1830, George Piper. 
 
 1831, Henry Schneider. 
 1S32, Johu Todd. 
 
 1833, Christian Keisel. 
 
 1834, John Geiger. 
 
 1835, Ardemus Stewart. 
 1S36, Jacob Heighley. 
 
 1 8^7. Fred. Dallecker. 
 1S38, William Hanull. 
 iSj9, Samuel K. Leech. 
 
 1840, Benjamin B. Yost. 
 
 1841, F. C. Burnside; Jones Smith. 
 
 1842, Jones Smith. 
 1*43, David Beard. 
 1845, Moore Stevens. 
 18+7, J. H. Steiuer. 
 1849, John Hines. 
 1851, Jesse Gable. 
 1S53, P. M. Hunter. 
 1855, John M. Fenten. 
 1857, Fred. Brendlinger. 
 1859, Aaron Drake. 
 186), George Sechler. 
 1863, R. B. Longaker. 
 1865, Joseph Beerer, 
 1867, G. W. Jacoby. 
 1869, Nath Wagonhurst. 
 
 1871, George C. Reiff. 
 
 1872, Samuel F. Jarrett. 
 1877, Evan G. Jones. 
 1880, J. R. Yost. 
 
 [P83, Henry A. Cole. 
 
 1887, William H. Young and Isaac Fegeley. 
 
 1S90, Edwin S. Stahluecker. 
 
 1S93. Samuel Effrig. 
 
 William H. Voting died and his term was filled out 
 by Isaac Fegeley. The present deputy treasurer is 
 Benjamin F. Leister. 
 
 CLERK OF COURTS. 
 
 1784=1895. 
 
 1830, John H. Scheetz. 
 
 1S39, Benjamin Johnson. 
 
 1839, George H. Pawling. 
 
 1842, William Rossiter. 
 
 1845, John McNair. 
 
 1848, Andrew H. Tippiu. 
 
 1S51, Washington Richards. 
 
 1854, Jesse B. Davis. 
 
 1857, E. B. Moore. 
 
 i860, James Burusides. 
 
 1863, Daniel Fisher. 
 
 1866, Jacob F. Quillman. 
 
 1869, Samuel B. Helffenstein. 
 
 1872, Merrit M. Missimer. 
 
 1875, Krankliu T. Beerer. 
 
 1S78, Henry S. Smith. 
 
 1878, O. N. Truer, appointed. 
 
 iNNi, Edward Schall. 
 
 i!>84, Edward Schall and Alex. Maulsberger. 
 
 1887, Alex Maulsberger. 
 
 1890, Abner II. Gehman. 
 
 1S93, Daniel A. Shiffert. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 .MILITARY HISTORY. INTER-COLONIAL WARS — REVOLUTIONARY WAR — WAR OF l8l2- 
 
 PHILADKLPHIA RIOTS — MILITIA — THE CIVIL WAR — REGIMENTAL 
 
 ORGANIZATIONS — NATIONAL GUARD. 
 
 Several times during the 
 
 four inter-colonial wars the 
 citizens of what is now Mont- 
 gomery count}- were alarmed 
 bv threatened Indian inva- 
 sions, yet no raid was eYer 
 made in any section of the 
 county, and no record is 
 available of those who served 
 in the Colonial troops in the frontier strug- 
 gles from Queen Ann's war in 1702 to the 
 close of the French and Indian war of 1763. 
 Revolutionary War — The peace spirit 
 and religious principles of most of the 
 inhabitants of the county, prevented them 
 from taking up arms in the Revolution- 
 ary war, yet there were many others 
 who went forth to battle in the cause 
 of the Colonies. In 1777 Philadelphia 
 county was divided into seven militia bat- 
 talion districts, but we have no account 
 of those who served from the territory of 
 Montgomery, except the following officers : 
 Colonels, Daniel Heister, Jr., Benjamin Mc- 
 Veigh, William Dean, Robert Curry, and 
 Frederick Antis; Lieutenant-colonels, Jacob 
 Reid, David Schneider, Robert Loller, Ar- 
 chibald Thompson, Frederick Weis, and 
 Isaac Warner ; Majors, Jacob Markley, John 
 Holmes, George Right, John Edwards, 
 Jacob Bush, and Matthew Jones. In 1782, 
 under the legislative act calling for an ap- 
 praisement of damages inflicted by the 
 British forces in 1777, but fourteen town- 
 ships reported their losses, which amounted 
 
 to over seventeen thousand pounds or eigh- 
 ty-five thousand dollars. 
 
 Speaking of the Revolutionary war in 
 Montgomery county, William J. Buck says, 
 " The Scotch-Irish and Irish materially 
 contributed to the strength of the army 
 during the Revolution. Andrew Porter's 
 company of artillery was largely made up 
 of the former, and Colonel Stephen Moy- 
 lan's cavalry regiment of the latter. Con- 
 cerned from the very beginning, we had 
 such men as General Peter Muhlenberg, 
 Colonel Samuel Miles, Colonel Robert 
 Loller, Colonel John Bull, Colonel Andrew 
 Porter, Colonel Christopher Stuart, Colonel 
 Archibald Thompson, Charles Thompson, 
 David Rittenhouse, Frederick Antes, and 
 the patriotic Heister family of Upper Sal- 
 ford, as well as many more, who did much 
 to aid the cause. The events of White- 
 marsh, Barren Hill, Valley Forge, and the 
 Crooked Billet transpired on our soil, and 
 all that precedes and follows the battle of 
 Germantown. Within these limits, during 
 the memorable struggle, Washington and 
 his army remained nine months, lacking 
 five days, very probably a longer time than 
 was spent in any other county during this 
 period. The several houses used as his 
 headquarters are still standing, and the re- 
 mains of entrenchments, thrown up on our 
 hillsides, can be traced to this day." 
 
 War of 1S12. — The second great war 
 in which the citizens of Montgomery 
 county were called to take a part was 
 
Historical .Sketch. 
 
 39 
 
 that of the War of 1812. During the 
 early part of the struggle there was no 
 call made upon the militia of the county, 
 but in 1814, when Philadelphia was 
 threatened, the entire militia of south- 
 eastern Pennsylvania was summoned to be 
 in readiness for marching orders. A large 
 camp was established at Marcus Hook, on 
 the Delaware river, and in Delaware county. 
 To this camp the following Montgomery 
 county militia companies were ordered : 
 Captain Jacob Fryer, John Grosscup, Wil- 
 liam Holgate, John Hurst, William Mc- 
 Glathery, Joseph Sands, William McGill, 
 
 McLean, James Robinson, George 
 
 Sensenderfer, and Jacob Wentz. Major- 
 General Henry Scheetz, of Montgomery 
 county, commanded the Second division ol 
 the Pennsylvania militia, and Brigadier- 
 General Isaiah Wells commanded the First 
 brigade of the Second division while it was 
 encamped at Macus Hook. 
 
 Philadelphia Riots.— When the Phila- 
 delphia riots broke out in 1844, about four 
 hundred Montgomery county militia were 
 ordered out and helped materially in quell, 
 ing the rioters and restoring quiet. The 
 following companies from this county 
 served in quelling those riots : First 
 and Second troops of cavalry, Union 
 Grey, New Hanover, Washington Gray, 
 and Sumneytown artillerists, First National 
 Dragoons, Union Rifle company, Pennsyl- 
 vania Defenders, Lafayette Blues, Mont- 
 gomery Guards, and Goshenhoppen Grays. 
 
 Mexican War.— While no company from 
 Montgomery county enlisted for the Mexi- 
 can war, yet there were several of her citi- 
 zens who were soldiers in Pennsylvania 
 regiments that served in Mexico under 
 Scott. Lieutenant (afterwards colonel) An- 
 drew H. Tippen and Benjamin Ehler were 
 in the Eleventh United States infantry. 
 
 Albert Arthur and George and Henry Low- 
 ther were in another regiment, and the last 
 named died in Mexico, of brain fever. Jo- 
 seph Cleaver and Michael Dougherty were 
 members of the Mountain Howitzer bat- 
 tery, and Louis Monsert served in the Sec- 
 ond Pennsylvania. 
 
 Militia. — There seems to be no battalion 
 or regimental rosters or history preserved 
 of the militia of Montgomery county which 
 was included in one of the militia districts 
 of the state. The militia system was quite 
 prominent from 181 2 to 1S61, and after the 
 close of the late Civil war was succeeded 
 by the National Guard, whose services were 
 so effective in the Homestead riots and coke 
 strikes. 
 
 The Civil War.— On that dark day in 
 April, 1861, when the storm of civil war 
 burst upon the nation and the Union was 
 apparently rent in twain, there was no 
 county in Pennsylvania whose devotion to 
 the government was more pronounced than 
 Montgomery county. Throughout the 
 mighty struggle it gave a generous sup- 
 port to the Federal government and sent 
 forth its sons by hundreds to battle for a re- 
 united country and the preservation of the 
 government founded by the Revolutionary 
 forefathers. 
 
 Regimental Organizations. — The 
 Fourth Pennsylvania infantry originated in 
 the First Pennsylvania militia. Companies 
 A, B, C, D, E, I and K were recruited in 
 Montgomery county, and the regiment 
 commanded by Colonel John F. Hartranft 
 left Harrisburg, for the seat of the war, on 
 April 21, 1865. It served in Maryland and 
 under General McDowell until July 20th, 
 and the most of its members shortly after- 
 ward joined other regiments. 
 
 Company B, of the Forty-fourth regiment 
 or First Pennsylvania cavalry, was recruited 
 
4° 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 in Montgomery count}- by Captain (after- 
 wards Colonel) Owen Jones. This com- 
 pany served with bravery from Gaines- 
 ville to Appomattox court-house. Of its 
 members, Lieutenant William Buzby, Rob- 
 ert Maxwell, and Theodore Shaffer, died of 
 disease ; Philip A. Mower, died of wounds; 
 and Sergeant George L. Lytle, Corporal 
 John B. Styer, Samuel A. Haws, Howard 
 McAfee, John Smith and John Yocum, 
 killed in battle. 
 
 The Fifty-first Pennsylvania infantry was 
 recruited by Col. John P. Hartranft, in 
 November, 1861, and served gallantly in 
 North Carolina, under Pope and McClellan, 
 at Vicksburg and Knoxville, and under 
 Grant from the Rapidan to Appomattox 
 court-house. Of this regiment Companies 
 A, C, D, F, and I were recruited in this 
 county. Those of these companies who 
 died and were killed were as follows : Lieu- 
 tenant John S. Moore, Sergeant Jacob H. 
 Mover, Sergeant Robert Supplee, Corporal 
 Frank H. Mills, Corporal George Yebele, 
 Corporal Joseph White, Corporal John 
 C. Brannon, George Bodey, Henry Boyer, 
 John Bare, George W. Berks, William 
 Backer, George Bond, Gotlieb Bellman, 
 William Carney, James Coulston, Jacob H. 
 Derr, Simon Dobson, Jesse Frease, Charles 
 Fix, Jeremiah Gray, William Horf, William 
 Heard, Charles Keyser, William Kilpatrick, 
 Lewis Mattis, Nelson Y. Mattis, Lewis 
 Myers, James McGuire, Henry McLane, 
 Washington McDade, Harvey Pinch, Ed- 
 ward Ouinlan, George Smith, Henry Smith, 
 David Shrack, William Somerlot, Adam 
 W. Yeager. Lieutenant Davis Hunsicker, 
 Lieutenant Thomas J. Lynch, Sergeant 
 Patrick Kevin, Corporal Andrew J. Grim, 
 Corporal William Hooker, Corporal Joseph 
 Cornog, Corporal David Kane, Jacob Brun- 
 ner, Samuel Dean, Michael Dougherty, 
 
 Reuben DeHaven, Henry Erhard, Simon 
 P. Emery, Henry H. Fry, Henry Gunter, 
 Eli Garner, Franklin Hendricks, John Hal- 
 lowell, Yal Hartenstein, J. A. Kevin, James 
 Murphy, John McFaul, Michael McMullin. 
 Morris Robinson, Hilary Sloop, Philip Stof- 
 let, George Sweeney, John Upright, Lieu- 
 tenants Samuel Fair and Isaac Fizone, Ser- 
 geant William Diguan, Corporal George W. 
 Bowman, W T illiam H. Bodey, Charles Blak- 
 eney, Jere. Cassedy, James Conway, Walter 
 Easton, John B. Godley, George Hayberry, 
 Samuel Kay, Richard Lewis, John W. Lons- 
 dale, W. S. Laubaeh, John Magee, James 
 McKenna, James McQuerness, Barnard 
 O'Donnel, George Olewine, John Roshon, 
 John Richards, P. L. Sounvine, W. H. 
 Showalter, George Shaffer, W. H. Weidner, 
 Josiah Weidner, David H. Yerkis, Lieu- 
 tenant Allan H. Fileman, Corporals Robert 
 B. Lindsay, Edwin R. Worth, Josiah Wood, 
 and William L. Jones, H. H. Addleman, 
 Thomas G. Ashton, Charles Elwood, John 
 Camden, William Coiner, Jere Dunlap, S. 
 H. Daub, William Dresher, Samuel Gilles- 
 pie, J. M. Holmes, Henry S. Leutz, Reuben 
 McKeever, William Mclntire, Henry 
 Shaeffer, Henry Shultz, Henry White, 
 Charles Wagoner, William Wise and John 
 M. Young. 
 
 The Fifty-third Pennsylvania Infantry 
 was raised and commanded by Col. John R. 
 Brooke, of Pottstown. This regiment was 
 recruited in 1861 and served with distinc- 
 tion in most of the hard-fought battles of the 
 Potomac. Company A. was recruited at 
 Pottstown and Company B. was raised in 
 Montgomery and Chester counties. Those 
 who lost their lives in these companies were: 
 Sergeants George W. Shingle and William 
 H. Graham, Corporals, John H. Fryer, 
 James McFarland and Josiah Godshall, G. 
 W. Bechtel, George W. Beard, Franklin 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 4i 
 
 Bell, Milton Brant, Samuel II. Campbell, 
 George Comfort, Meyers Dailey, Gotlieb 
 Deagle, H. F. Fryer, John H. Fryer, Eli 
 Graham, G. O. Hendricks, George W. Holt, 
 W. P. Johnson, E. I). Longaker, Price 
 Maurice, Sergeant Jacob Bower, Corporals 
 C. M. Supple, G. W. Mills, Augustus Wert, 
 Jacob Boyer, A. Bowerman, William Car- 
 well, John Dressier, John Fogle, Samuel 
 Freed, W. H. Hutton, George Heasteley, 
 Daniel Heller, G. B. Kupp, Daniel Kesliug- 
 er, Peter Lohr, J. F. Logue, I. M. Millard, 
 I. X. Milliard, Andrew Swineheart, J. \Y. 
 Sonnett, Jesse Tyson, Amos Walters and 
 Henry Yeagle. 
 
 The Sixty-eight Pennsylvania infantry 
 that fought so gallently at Chancellorsville 
 and Gettysburg, under command of Colonel 
 A. H. Tippin, contained one company (H,) 
 that was recruited in Montgomery county. 
 Of Company H, those who were killed and 
 died were : Corporals J. B. Herbst, Thomas 
 Derolf, George W. Geiger, Henry F. Guss, 
 Edward Kocher, David G. Leffet, Solomon 
 Miller, Benjamin Reifsnyder and Abraham 
 Souder. 
 
 Company G, of the Ninety-third, and 
 Company E, of the Ninety-fifth Pennsyl- 
 vania infantry contained both officers and 
 men who were from this county. 
 
 Company G, of the One Hundred-sixth 
 Pennsylvania infantry was recruited in 
 Montgomery county, and participated in 
 all the battles of the regiment from Fair 
 Oaks to Cold Harbor. The mortuary list 
 of Company G, was as follows : William 
 Allen, John Bobb, Thomas Bitler, William 
 Caruthers, Thomas Fagan, John Flick, 
 George Krupp, John O'Kearney, Walter 
 Leggett, Wilson Ritter, George W. Rob- 
 bins, Henry Smith, John Schwenk, Abra- 
 ham Stoltz, Anthony .Starr, W. S. Town- 
 send and Torrence Tobin. 
 
 The One hundred twenty-ninth Pennsyl- 
 vania infantry was recruited in 1862, took 
 a prominent part in the battles of Fred- 
 ricksburg and Chancellorsville and was 
 discharged in 1863. Company I, of this 
 regiment was recruited in Montgomery 
 county, and its mortuary list was as follows : 
 Corporal M. S. Kelly, James W. Essig, 
 Benjamin Fudge, Jesse K. Gordon and Jos. 
 D. Keyser. 
 
 The One hundred thirty-eighth Pennsyl- 
 vania infantry was raised in 1862, served 
 with the army of the Potomac and under 
 Sheridan until the close of the war, and 
 bore itself handsomely in some of the 
 hardest battles of the war. Companies A, 
 C, I and K, of this regiment came from 
 Montgomery county, and their mortuary 
 list was as follows : Lieutenant John E. 
 Essick, Sergeant D. W. Roberts, Corporals 
 John H. SlinglufF, P. A. Smith and M. E. 
 Hinkle, Henry Colter, P. S. Eddleman, 
 Abraham Gotwaltz, Samuel Grubb, J. S. 
 Hollowell, J. D. Jackson, Edward H. Linck, 
 William Magee, George W. Ross, William 
 Rodenbaugh, Archibald Stewart, Sylvesk-r 
 Stahley, Lieutenant Samuel W. Cloward, 
 Leidy Cook, I. P. Freese, Jesse A. Myers, 
 Joseph R. Skean, A. VauFossen, Jr., Lieu- 
 tenant John H. Fisher, Corporals George 
 H. Klopp and Christian Kasler, William 
 Batman, William Eppright, S. R. Ireton, 
 Joseph Michener, J. J. Roberts, Joseph 
 Rohr, Christian Stogner, Henry Swartley, 
 Eli Thomas, James Wilson, Sergeants, C. 
 B. Thompson and S. C. Bodder, Corporal 
 W. P. Iredell, George H. Burke, Benjamin 
 Brayman, Peter L. Fluck, David Kling- 
 kiner, Amos Mullen, Patrick Monaghan, J. 
 F. Miller, R. P. March, Aaron Mattis, 
 Sylvester Merrick and Stephen McCul- 
 lough. 
 
 Several men from this county were in the 
 
42 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 One hundred sixtieth regiment or Fifteenth 
 Pennsylvania cavalry. 
 
 Company L of the One hundred sixty- 
 second regiment or Seventeenth cavalry, 
 was recruited in Montgomery and Chester 
 counties, and participated in five campaigns 
 and over sixty engagements. The mor- 
 tuary list of Company L was as follows : 
 Corporal John G. Tyson, Ellis B. Davis, 
 Beneville Eck and Henry March. 
 
 The One Hundred seventy-fifth Pennsyl- 
 vania infantry that served for nine months 
 in North Carolina and the Virginias, con- 
 tained two compnaies (A and H) that were 
 recruited in Montgomery county. Corporal 
 Nathan Comley, of Company A, died in 
 North Carolina. 
 
 In the One hundred seventy-ninth Penn- 
 sylvania infantry that served for nine months 
 were three companies (A, B and G) from 
 this county. This regiment, when its time 
 was about expiring in 1863, patriotically 
 offered its services to Governor Curtin to 
 aid in repelling Lee. Of the three com- 
 panies (A, B and G) one soldier, Joseph Hol- 
 bert, died at Yorktown, Virginia. 
 
 During Lee's first invasion in 1862, the 
 following companies from this county served 
 in the Pennsylvania militia : 
 
 Eleventh regiment, Companies C, D, G 
 and H. Seventeenth regiment, Compan- 
 ies B and G. Nineteenth regiment, Com- 
 pany E. Captain S. W. Comly's cavalry 
 company. Captain D. H. Mulvany's 
 cavalry company. 
 
 Company A, First New Jersey cavalry, 
 was recruited in the county in 1863, and in 
 that year to meet Lee's second invasion, 
 the following; companies from Montgomery 
 served in the Pennsylvania militia : 
 
 Twenty-sixth regiment, Company F. 
 
 Thirty-fourth regiment, Companies B, C, E, 
 H, I. Forty-first regiment, Company B. 
 Forty-third regiment, Company I. One 
 hundred ninety-seventh regiment, ( one 
 hundred day's men) Companies F and G. 
 Independent cavalry batallion, Company 
 B. Captain S. W. Comly's cavalry 
 company. 
 
 The names of those marked missing in 
 the company rosters were not inserted in 
 the mortuary lists given in this chapter. 
 A large number of soldiers from Montgom- 
 ery county served in companies recruited 
 in other counties in this and adjoining 
 states. 
 
 National Guard of Pennsylvania. — 
 The Sixth regiment of the National Guard 
 of Pennsylvania was organized, and has its 
 headquarters located at Norristown. The 
 following companies of this regiment were 
 recruited in the county : 
 
 Company A, Pottstown. Company C, 
 Conshohocken. Company F, Norristown. 
 
 In speaking of the soldiers of Moutgomery 
 county, Dr. C. Z. Weizer in his centennial 
 address said : " General Peter Muhlenberg, 
 of Independence days, whose statue now 
 graces the rotunda at Washington, was 
 born within our borders. General Andrew 
 Porter, who fought in the Revolutionary 
 army so gallantly at Trenton, at Princeton, 
 at Brandywine, and wherever courage was 
 needed, was a native of this county. Nor 
 dare we forget our grand citizen soldiers, 
 whose records shine so brilliantly since the 
 late period of contention and strife — 
 Major Generals John Frederic Hartranft and 
 Winfield Scott Hancock. These are real 
 genuine Montgomery-couutians. And do 
 not the names of Brooke and Zook stand in 
 red letters? " 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. AGRICULTURE — COUNTY BUILDINGS — EARLY BANKS — POPULATION — 
 SLAVER? — UNDERGROUND RAILROAD — INSURANCE — BUILDING AND LOAN ASSOCIA- 
 TE >NS — CEM ETERY — TAYLOR C< »LLE( '.E — SECRET SOCIETIES — STATE H( (SPITAL 
 FOS THE INSANE — COUNTY CENTENNIAL — EARLY TELEGRAPHS AND 
 TELEPHONES — AUTHORS — HISTORIANS — COUNTY PROGRESS. 
 
 OOD FARMING has been de- 
 fined as the process of taking 
 large crops from the soil and 
 leaving it at the same time- 
 better than it was found. 
 Agriculture, the most essen- 
 tial of productive industries, 
 as an art antedates history, 
 but as a science is of modern 
 birth. A rude beginning, fort}' centuries 
 of lethargic existence and then a high de- 
 velopment and rapid progress, such is the 
 history of agriculture. American agricul- 
 ture in regard to grain productions has 
 been divided into four eras or epochs : the 
 first or experiment period, embracing col- 
 onial days ; the second or awakening period, 
 from the Declaration of Independence to 
 the introduction into general use of the 
 iron plow ; the third or development pe- 
 riod, from the introduction of the threshing- 
 machine to the time of the Centennial ex- 
 hibition in 1876 ; and the fourth or pro- 
 gressive period, now characterized by labor- 
 saving machinery, elevator improvement, 
 perfected systems of land and ocean trans- 
 portation of grain by steam power, and 
 specialization of productions. 
 
 The farmers of Montgomery county since 
 its early settlement have kept abreast of 
 the agricultural advance of the country in 
 each of its agricultural periods. In 1880 
 the county contained six thousand, one 
 
 hundred and fourteen farms averaging forty- 
 nine acres each, of which nearly five thou- 
 sand were cultivated by their owners. Of 
 these farms, whose estimated value was over 
 six million dollars ($6,000,000,) three hun- 
 dred thousand, three hundred and eighty- 
 one acres were improved and thirty thou- 
 sand, three hundred and twenty seven acres 
 were unimproved. 
 
 The acreage and cereal production of 
 Montgomery county in 1879 were as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 Cereals. Acres. Bushels. 
 Buckwheat, 153 2,234 
 
 Indian Corn, 38,175 1,521,097 
 
 Oats, 25,671 840,085 
 
 Rve, i3> 8 54 I94, 6 3 6 
 
 Wheat, 25,875 486,763 
 
 In 1879 the county produced five hun- 
 dred and sixty-four thousand six hundred 
 and forty-three bushels of Irish potatoes 
 from five thousand two hundred and sev- 
 enty acres, and one thousand six hundred 
 and eighty-four bushels sweet potatoes from 
 twenty-two acres. The spring clip of wool, 
 in 1880, was fifteen thousand four hundred 
 and twenty-eight pounds, while sixteen 
 acres of tobacco yielded a crop of twenty 
 thousand nine hundred and thirty pounds. 
 In dairy products Montgomery counts- 
 ranks as the second county in the state. In 
 1880 the county contained thirty-four thou- 
 sand nine hundred and eighteen cows, 
 
44 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 whose dairy products were: Five million 
 five hundred and thirty-four thousand and 
 thirty-two gallons of milk, four million one 
 hundred and sixty-six thousand four 
 hundred and seventy-nine pounds of butter, 
 and three hundred and forty-two thousand 
 and four pounds of cheese. In 1880 there 
 were also in the count}- fourteen thousand 
 eight hundred and five horses, and twenty- 
 one thousand one hundred and sixty swine. 
 
 At this writing the United States cen- 
 sus statistics of 1890 cannot be obtained in 
 full of agricultural productions, and often 
 some parts of one census are not published 
 much before the taking of the next census. 
 
 The first agricultural society in the 
 county was the Jefferson Agricultural asso- 
 ciation, which was organized February 23, 
 1846. This association held its first annual 
 exhibition at Jeffersonville, October 19-20, 
 1848, and on February 4, 1850, changed 
 its name to that of the Montgomery County 
 Agricultural society. The society's grounds 
 were located at Springtown, and some dis- 
 satisfaction with the location led a part of 
 the members to organize the East Pennsyl- 
 vania Agricultural and Mechanical society, 
 which purchased twenty acres of ground at 
 Norristown and held annual exhibitions 
 from 1 86 1 to 1867. 
 
 Comity Building. — The original court 
 house stood near the site of the present 
 one, was a two-story stone building and in 
 connection with the first jail was finished 
 in 1787, at a cost of twenty-one thousand 
 dollars. Four years later a small stone 
 building was erected for those having the 
 county records in charge. The present 
 stone jail was built in i85i,ata cost of six- 
 ty-eight thousand dollars, and the next year 
 the erection of the present court house was 
 commenced. The present court house, built 
 of brick and faced with Monttromerv countv 
 
 marble, was completed at a cost of one hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand dollars, is a fine 
 structure and was the finest building of its 
 kind in the State at the time of its erection. 
 The present court house officials, without 
 a single exception, are courteous and effi- 
 cient and their various records are kept in 
 the best of order, while the janitor, Daniel 
 H. Charles, looks well to the care and ap- 
 pearance of the building and grounds. 
 
 The count\ r home establishment con- 
 sisted originally of several buildings which 
 in 1878 were remodeled and enlarged. 
 The county home was secured in 1806 by 
 H011. N. B. Boileau, and the farm, which 
 consists of two hundred and sixty-five 
 acres, is situated on the Schuylkill river 
 and in Upper Providence township. 
 
 Early Banks.— The first bank in the 
 countv was the " Bank of Monteomerv 
 County," chartered March 21, 1814, and in 
 1865 changed to a national bank under its 
 present title of Montgomery National bank. 
 The second bank at Norristown, was Al- 
 bertson's Banking house, established in 
 1857, and it, in order of age at Norristown, 
 was succeeded by the First National, or- 
 ganized in 1864, and the People's National 
 established in 1881. The third bank in the 
 county was the Bank of Pottstown, organ- 
 ized in 1857, at Pottstown, where Cassle- 
 berry & Co.'s private banking house was 
 established in 1868. The First National 
 bank of Lansdale was organized in 1864, 
 and seventh in order of age came in 1873, 
 the First National bank of Conshohocken, 
 where the Tradesmen's National bank was 
 organized in 1882. In 1874 the National 
 bank of Schwenksville was organized, and 
 in the succeeding year the Jenkintown 
 National and the Perkiomen National (East 
 Greenville) banks were established, while 
 the Centennial vear ushered into existence 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 45 
 
 the Farmer's National and the Union Na- 
 tional banks, the former at Pennsburg and 
 the latter at Sonderton. 
 
 Population — The population of Mont- 
 gomery county has increased at every cen- 
 sus taken by the Federal government and 
 has been as follows : 
 
 1790—22,929. 1850—58,291. 
 
 1800 — 24,150. i860 — 70,500. 
 
 1810 — 29,703. 1870 — 81,612. 
 
 1820—35,793. 1X80—96,494. 
 
 1.S30 — -39,406. 1890 
 
 1840—47,241. 
 Shivery. — When Montgomery county 
 was organized in 1788, it had one hundred 
 and eight slaves. In 1790 there were one 
 Inn lied and fourteen slaves and four hun- 
 dred and forty free negroes, but in ten years 
 those in servitude had decreased to thirty- 
 three in number, and in 1830, not a single 
 slave was in the county. 
 
 Vnderground Railroad. — That branch 
 of the Underground railroad or route by 
 which slaves escaped from the south to 
 Canada, that passed through Montgomery 
 county, was known by the name of the 
 Northern route. Phoenixville, Norristown 
 and (juakertown were stations on the line, 
 and escaping slaves were constantly passed 
 over it from 1787 until the commencement 
 of the late Civil war. Rev. Samuel Aaron, 
 Dr. William Corson and quite a number of 
 others were prominent and active in for- 
 warding fugitive slaves on their way to 
 Canada. 
 
 Insurance. — The leading life and acci- 
 dent Insurance Companies of the United 
 .Suites and England do a large business in 
 the county, while home mutual fire and 
 storm insurance companies have insured 
 over seventy millions dollars worth of prop- 
 erty. The Mutual Fire Insurance of Mont- 
 gomery county, chartered in 1841, and the 
 
 Union Mutual Fire and Storm insurance 
 organized in 1866, are the oldest of the 
 home insurance companies. 
 
 Building and Loan Associations. — 
 The first building and loan association was 
 organized at Conshohocken in 1851, and 
 since then they have came into existence 
 in every important place and center of pop- 
 ulation in the county and have been the 
 means of securing hundreds of homes to 
 the laboring class. 
 
 Cemeteries. — The West Laurel Hill 
 Cemetery company was incorporated in 
 1869, and purchased one hundred and ten 
 acres in Lower Merion Township and but 
 a short distance from the Philadelphia city 
 line. The cemetery is beautifully situated 
 and tastefully laid out with winding walks. 
 Riverside Cemetery near Norristown is 
 another tasteful cemetery of Montgomery 
 county, and has been modeled partly after 
 one of the great and most beautiful ceme- 
 teries of the United States. 
 
 Taylor College. — This institution for 
 the education of women was planned by 
 Dr. Joseph W. Taylor, who died in 1880. 
 Taylor and Merion Halls were built by 1885, 
 and the tract of land on which they were 
 erected at Bryn Mawr contains thirty seven 
 acres. Dr. Taylor gave eight hundred 
 thousand dollars to found the college. 
 But the name has since been changed to 
 that of Bryn Mawr College. It is now one 
 of the leading colleges for the higher edu- 
 cation of women in this country. 
 
 Secret Societies. — The oldest secret or- 
 ganization in the county is the Masonic 
 Fraternity. Tradition says a military lodge 
 of Free Masons was organized at Valley 
 Forge and that Washington presided over 
 its meeting. Charity Lodge No 190, Free 
 and Accepted Masons, was instituted at Nor- 
 ristown in 1823 ; Norristown Royal Arch 
 
4 6 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 Chapter No 190, in 1858 ; and Hutchinson 
 Commandery No. 32, Knights Templar, in 
 1868. 
 
 The Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
 was introduced into the comity in 1837, by 
 the organization of Montgomery Lodge, 
 No. 57. Norristown Encampment No. 37, 
 was organized in 1846, and Lanah Degree 
 Lodge No. 133, of the Daughters of Rebec- 
 ca was instituted in 1883 
 
 The Improved Order of Red Men was 
 introduced into Pennsylvania by the or- 
 ganization of Tecumseh Tribe, No. 1, at 
 Norristown in 1846. 
 
 The following secret organizations have 
 been introduced into Montgomery county in 
 the year placed opposite their names : 
 
 Organization. Year. 
 
 Patriotic Order Sons of America, 1847 
 
 Order of United American Mechanics, 1847 
 
 American Protestant Association, 1853 
 
 Grand Army of the Republic, ]S68 
 
 Knights of Pythias, 186S 
 
 Knights of Friendship, 186S 
 
 Ancient Order of Good Fellows, 1S69 
 
 Patrons of Husbandry, 1873 
 
 Knights of the Golden Eagle, 1S73 
 
 Temple of Honor and Temperance, 1S73 
 
 Brotherhood of the Union, 1874 
 
 Ancient Order of United Workmen, 1879 
 
 Junior American Protestant Association, 1SS2 
 
 Ancient Order Knights of the Mystic Chain, 1882 
 
 American Legion of Honor, 1S82 
 
 Sons of Veterans, 18S2 
 
 Knights of the Revolution, 1SS4 
 
 Black Knights of Malta, 1S84 
 
 We have no information at this writing 
 to give the years in which the Good Tem- 
 plars, Sons of Temperance, Royal Arcanum, 
 Mystic Druids and Junior Order of Amer- 
 ican Mechanics were introduced into the 
 county. 
 
 The Grand United Order of Odd Fellows 
 was introduced into the county in 1851, by 
 five colored men at Norristown, and in 
 1868 the Independent Order of Good Sa- 
 
 maritans and Daughters of Samaria, com- 
 posed of colored men and women, were 
 established. 
 
 In addition to the Daughters of Rebecca, 
 women are members of the following or- 
 ders in the county : Lady Masons, Pythian 
 Temple, Dames of the Knights of Pythias 
 and Daughters of the Forest. 
 
 State Hospital for the Insane. — The 
 state hospital for the insane of the south- 
 eastern district of Pennsylvania was located 
 in 1878 at Norristown, where a farm of two 
 hundred acres was purchased and the erec- 
 tion of hospital building commenced. 
 There are twelve separate buildings on the 
 cottage plan and the women's department 
 was placed under charge of Dr. Alice Ben- 
 net. The methods of treatment are ad- 
 vanced and progressive and have been since 
 adopted in many other asylums for the in- 
 sane. 
 
 County Centennial. — The centennial 
 celebration of Montgomery county, Penn- 
 sylvania, which took place at Norristown 
 and lasted from the 9th to the 12th of Sep- 
 tember, 1884, was brought about through 
 the efforts of the Montgomery County His- 
 torical society. Over six thousand dollars 
 were raised in the county to defray the ex- 
 penses of the occasion and great numbers 
 of people assembled to witness the exercises 
 of the three days. Dr. Bomberger opened 
 the first day's exercises by prayer, and J. P. 
 Hale Jenkins made the address of welcome, 
 after which the Rittenhouse meridian stone 
 was dedicated and an address delivered by 
 Judge B. Markley Boyer. During the sec- 
 ond clay the historical oration was delivered 
 by William J. Buck, the poem read by- 
 George N. Corson, and an oration delivered 
 by Dr. C. Z. Weizer. On the third day the 
 grand parade occurred and Theodore W. 
 Bean delivered a short address to the In- 
 
Historical Sketch. 
 
 47 
 
 dian children present from the Lincoln in- 
 stitute of Philadelphia. The antiquarian 
 exposition was the only feature of the fourth 
 and last day, and about fifteen thousand 
 people viewed the hundreds of articles on 
 exhibition in the twenty-nine classes or de- 
 partments into which they were arranged. 
 Joseph Fornance was president of the Cen- 
 tennial association, and F. G. Hobson and 
 M. M. Gibson were the secretaries. 
 
 Early Telegraphs and Telephones. 
 The introduction of the telegraph into the 
 county was some time prior to 1855, when 
 the Philadelphia and Norristown Telegraph 
 company was organized and purchased the 
 House line of printing telegraph between 
 those places. 
 
 The Norristown Telephone exchange 
 was established in 1883, and within a year 
 had one hundred and seventy-two stations 
 in the county. 
 
 Authors. — William J. Buck in his bib- 
 liography of Montgomery county, describes 
 the following authors : J. M. Anders, Wil- 
 mer Atkinson, John James Audubon, Moses 
 Auge, Elijah W. Bean, Theodore W. Bean, 
 Enos Benner, E. M. Benner, John Philip 
 Boehm, J. H. A. Bomberger, J. H. Borne- 
 man, W. L. Breton, W. L. Boyd, William 
 J. Buck, Belle Bush, Abraham H. Cassel, 
 J. C. Clay, Charles Collins, William Collum, 
 George N. Corson, L. H. Davis, P. S. Davis, 
 W. P. Dewees, Christopher Dock, H. S. 
 Dotterer, Rowland Ellis, David Evans, 
 Elizabeth Ferguson, J. F. Fisher, Edward 
 Foulke, Joseph Foulke, E. T. Freedley, 
 Andreas Frey, Christian Funk, Henry Funk, 
 C. H. Garber, F. W. Geisenhainer, Abra- 
 ham Grater, J. C. Guldin, John Gummere, 
 S. R. Gummere, Benjamin Hallowell, B. 
 F. Hancock, J. K. Harley, J. V. Heckler, 
 Samuel Helfenstein, Mrs. Lydia W. Hilles, 
 Frank G. Hobson, Balthasar Hoffman, John 
 
 Holme, Mrs. Anna M. Holstein, Geo. W. 
 Holstein, S. M. K. Huber, Nimrod Haghs, 
 Abraham Hunsicker, Howard M. Jenkins, 
 D. K. Kassel, Sir William Kieth, C. P. 
 Krauth, Reuben Kreibel, Abraham Krupp, 
 Benjamin Lay, Peter LeGaux, David Lloyd, 
 Joseph Lloyd, Mrs. Susan Lukens, Edward 
 Matthews, Jacob Medtart, Lucretia Mott, 
 Henry Earnest Muhlenberg, Henry Mel- 
 chior Muhlenberg, Francis Murphy, Sam'l 
 Mussleman, David Newport, Samuel E. 
 \ T yce, John Parke, Ellis Pugh, Jas. G. Ral- 
 ston, Francis Rawle, Jas. Rees, J. W. Rich- 
 ards, David Rittenhouse, Jacob Ritter, Job 
 Roberts, Christopher Shultz, Joshua Shultz, 
 B. M. Schmucker, Mrs. Anna Young Smith, 
 W. M. Smith, W. R. Smith, David Sower, 
 Senior ; David Sower, Jr.; Jacob Taylor, 
 A. K. Thomas, Charles Thompson, George 
 Wack, Albigence Waldo, M. H. Walters, 
 Daniel Weiser, C. Z. Weiser, Joseph Wert- 
 ner, William Whitehead, Bird Wilson, 
 James Winnard, Henry Woodman, W. A. 
 Yeakel and John Young. 
 
 Historians — William J. Buck made 
 many valuable contributions to the history 
 of Montgomery county and southeastern 
 Pennsylvania, and was a painstaking writer 
 in every field of knowledge in which he 
 labored. We quote the opening sentences of 
 his historical oration at the county Centen- 
 nial, to show his style of writing and breadth 
 of thought. "It is well in the flight of 
 time to have occasion to pause and review 
 the events that have transpired around us ; 
 to know whether, on the whole, we have 
 advanced or retrograded, as concerns the 
 general welfare ; in what respect, if any, 
 we have really progressed ; and that the 
 changes going on be pointed out, that com- 
 parisons may be instituted and deductions 
 drawn as to the results. This is the philo- 
 sophical aim of history, and, if justly car- 
 
4 8 
 
 Historical Sketch. 
 
 ried out, when made known to a thinking 
 people, cannot fail to exert a beneficial 
 influence." 
 
 Theodore W. Bean, the editor of " The 
 History of Montgomery County," issued in 
 1SS4, by Everts and Peck, was a man 
 of ability, education and culture, and 
 like William J. Buck, was a careful 
 writer. He preserved much of the his- 
 tory of the comity from oblivion. In the 
 history of the county that he edited is con- 
 tained a vast amount of information that 
 only could have been obtained by diligent 
 and painstaking research. His style was 
 clear and exact, but in his historical work 
 a multitude of facts and limited time and 
 space allowed no opportunity for finished 
 writing or beautiful language. From his 
 address to the Indian children at the county 
 Centennial, we take the following extract 
 as illustrative alike of his style, thought 
 and language " Two hundred years and 
 more have elapsed since Christian civili- 
 zation confronted your forefathers in the 
 Schuvlkill vallev. Your hunting grounds 
 have been turned into wide areas of agri- 
 cultural wealth and commercial splendor, 
 and the rude implements of their simple 
 mode of living are now here on exhibition 
 as antique curiosities. Back to the Alle- 
 ghenies, across the " Father of Waters," 
 over and beyond the Rocky mountains 
 your race has receded, and from the plains 
 and forests of the Pacific slope, you have 
 been gathered as the children of lost tribes, 
 in the hope of saving the remnant of a peo- 
 ple whose origin is still an ethnological 
 mystery, and whose honor is vouched for 
 by Acrelius, Penn, Logan, Heckwelder, | 
 Gordon and Weiser." 
 
 As a writer of biographical history, 
 Moses Auge was exceedingly successful, 
 and his biographical volume relating to , 
 
 Montgomery county is a valuable and well 
 written work. 
 
 Howard M. Jenkins' history of Philadel- 
 phia is recognized as a standard work, and 
 his earlier historical efforts were made in 
 this county. 
 
 Morgan R. Wills wrote the historical 
 sketch of Montgomery county that is given 
 in Dr. Egle's history of Pennsylvania, and 
 of those who assisted Theodore W. Bean 
 on the history of Montgomery county, 
 Frank G. Hobson was one who did valuable 
 work. 
 
 County Progress. — Montgomery county, 
 while characterized by neither wonderful 
 growth nor phenomenal development, yet 
 has always been in the front rank of the 
 progressive counties of the state. With 
 good soil and considerable water power, 
 traversed by two important railways, and al- 
 most included within the suburbs of one of 
 the greatest cities of the North American 
 continent, the county should be noted for 
 the prosperity of its present industries and 
 most excellent facilities for future enter- 
 prises. 
 
 Montgomery county, rich within her own 
 agricultural resources, her manufacturing 
 interests and her commercial facilities, need 
 never occupy any but a prominent and 
 useful position in the wealth and develop- 
 ment of the mighty and populous State 
 which is the keystone of the arch of the 
 Union. 
 
 Such is the spirit of change, and such is 
 the march of progress, that prophecy sel- 
 dom becomes history ; yet if material de- 
 velopment has meaning, if mental culture 
 and moral growth stand for life and prog- 
 ress, then will the future career of Montgom- 
 ery county be as worthy as her past record 
 is honorable. 
 
 Samuel T. Wiley. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL 
 SKETCHES 
 
BIOGRAPHIES 
 
 HON. HENRY K. WEAND, additional 
 law judge of the thirty-eighth judicial 
 district of Pennsylvania, is a son of Barned 
 and Sarah (Krepps) Weand, and a native of 
 Pottstown, this county, where he was born 
 March 29, 1838. The Weands are of Ger- 
 man extraction, and the family takes rank 
 with the early settlers of the Keystone 
 State. Wendell Weand, paternal grand- 
 father of Judge Weand, was a prosperous 
 farmer of Montgomery county, an old 
 line Whig in politics and a Lutheran in re- 
 ligious faith. He died in New Hanover 
 township, this county, and his remains 
 sleep in the Swamp church cemetery, in 
 that township. He married Catharine Dot- 
 terer and had a family of eleven children, 
 one of his sons being Barned Weand (father), 
 who was born at the old homestead in New 
 Hanover township, December 10, 1805. He 
 was reared on the farm, educated in the 
 common schools, and afterward engaged suc- 
 cessively in butchering, shoemaking and 
 hotel keeping. His death occurred at Potts- 
 town, September 15, 1S62, at the age of 
 fifty-seven. He was a Whig and Republi- 
 can in politics, took an active part in public 
 affairs, served as a member of the town 
 council of Pottstown, and was at one time 
 a prominent candidate for county treasurer. 
 In 1832 he married Sarah Krepps, a native 
 of this county, and a daughter of Henry 
 Krepps, also descended from an old Penn- 
 sylvania family of German ancestry. By 
 this marriage he had a family of six chil- 
 dren, four of whom still survive : Hiram 
 B., now a resident of Harrisburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania ; Sarah, married F. H. Auchy, of 
 
 Pottstown ; James, residing at Pottstown, 
 this county ; and Hon. Henry K. 
 
 The boyhood of Judge Weand was spent 
 in Pottstown and Philadelphia, and his edu- 
 cation was obtained at institutions of learn- 
 ing located in those places and at Norris- 
 town. He studied law in 1S59 with Hon. 
 B. M. Boyer, afterward president judge of 
 this district, and was admitted to the bar in 
 April, i860. Immediately after this he 
 opened an office in Norristown and began 
 practice, but when Fort Sumter was fired 
 on and the whole North electrified by the 
 opening thunders of the Civil war, the 
 young attorney locked his office and sought 
 the tented field, enlisting in April, 1861, as 
 a member of Company K, 4th Pennsylvania 
 infantry. Upon the organization of the 
 company, Mr. Weand was commissioned 
 first lieutenant, and served as such until 
 the muster out of the regiment. In August, 
 1862, he re-enlisted in the 15th Pennsylva- 
 nia cavalry, commanded by Colonel W. J. 
 Palmer, as a private, and was promoted 
 through all the grades to captain. He- 
 served with the army of the Potomac and 
 Cumberland, taking part in the battles of 
 Antietam, Stone River, Chickamauga, Moss 
 Creek, Dandridge, and many other less 
 noted engagements and skirmishes, and 
 only returned to civil life when the Federal 
 authority was everywhere acknowledged. 
 For some weeks he was in the hospital at 
 Knoxville, Tennessee, but during nearly all 
 his long term of enlistment was able for 
 official duty and always at his post. He was 
 honorably discharged in June, 1865, and at 
 once returned to Norristown and resumed 
 
52 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 the practice of law, which he continued 
 until his elevation to the bench in 18S7. In 
 that \ear lie was appointed additional law 
 judge by Governor James A. Beaver, to fill 
 a vacancy, and took his seat as such on the 
 first Monday in December. The appoint- 
 ment expiring in 1889, Judge Weaud was, 
 in November, 1888, elected to the position 
 for a full term of ten years, and is now dis- 
 charging the delicate duties of that high 
 office with ability and satisfaction alike to 
 bar and public. 
 
 In his political affiliations Judge Weand 
 has always been a Republican, and previous 
 to ascending the bench took an active in- 
 terest in politics. He has frequently repre- 
 sented this countv in State conventions of 
 his party, and was twice a candidate for 
 district attorney, but the district being 
 largely Democratic at the time, he was de- 
 feated with the rest of his ticket. Judge 
 Weand has also been twice a candidate for 
 congress from the Seventh Pennsylvania 
 district, being defeated for nomination in 
 1876 by I. N. Evans by only two votes. He 
 was a notary public for twenty-two years, 
 served as solicitor for the board of commis- 
 sioners, sheriff, clerk of the courts and town 
 council, and was president of the Norris- 
 town school board for six or eight years, 
 and a director of the Norristown Gas com- 
 pany. In 1S73 Judge Weand was appointed 
 judge advocate general on the staff of Gov- 
 ernor Hartranft, with the rank of brigadier 
 general, and served as such until the close 
 of General Hartranft's administration. He 
 is a member of the Masonic order ; of Zook 
 Post No. 11, Grand Army of the Republic ; 
 and of the Loyal Legion of Pennsylvania. 
 
 On April 23, 1868, Judge Weand was 
 married to Mary Lydia Boyer, a daughter 
 of John and Harriet Boyer, of Norristown. 
 To the judge and Mrs. Weand have been 
 
 born three children, one son and two daugl 
 ters: Harriet B., now the wife of Hug 
 Jones Brooke, of Media, Pennsylvania 
 Sarah E., and Ralph H., the last tw 
 named living at home with their parents i 
 their handsome residence at Norristown. 
 
 As a lawyer Judge Weaud was able, fail 
 industrious, always calm in the consider; 
 tion of a case and extremely energetic in it 
 prosecution. With a profound knowled" 
 of the law, and familiar with the rules c 
 practice, he was very successful in buildin 
 up and maintaining a large legal busines: 
 and was distinguished for his interest in th 
 vounger members of the bar. As a judge 
 he is upright, able and erudite in his dec 
 sions, and has a quick perception of th 
 equities and law points involved in a case 
 He is a logical reasoner, an eloquent speake: 
 and a man of esthetic tastes. Generous i 
 disposition, he has seldom or never refuse 
 an appeal for assistance, and although quic 
 of temper, has perfect control of himsel 
 and is of a forgiving nature which is hm 
 rather than angered by injury done bin 
 He is affable and pleasant in manner, but i 
 fullv known bv onlv a few intimate friend; 
 
 GENERAL JOHN W. SCHALL, wh 
 served with distinction in the Civ 
 war, and now holds the rank of brig; 
 dier general in the National Guard of Pent 
 sylvania, is a son of Hon. David and Catlu 
 rine (Andy) Schall, and a native of Berk 
 county, Pennsylvania, where he was bor 
 June 22, 1834. The Schalls are descende 
 from a prominent French Hugunot famih 
 which was driven from France by the re 
 ligious persecutions following the revoc; 
 tion of the edict of Nantes. Members c 
 this family finally made their way to th 
 
M,~y-tv^4 c l^t (_ 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 53 
 
 new world and settled in Pennsylvania about 
 1848, where their descendants have become 
 somewhat numerous. Hon. George Schall, 
 paternal grandfather of General Schall, was 
 a resident of Berks county, this State, dur- 
 ing the greater part of his life, where he 
 was largely engaged in the manufacture of 
 iron. He was a Jacksonian Democrat, be- 
 came prominent in politics, served in vari- 
 ous official positions, and was a member of 
 the State senate at the time of his death in 
 1831. 
 
 He married Miss Catharine Oyster and 
 reared a family of eight children, one of 
 whom was Hon. David Schall (father), who 
 was born at Oley, Berks county, this State, 
 May 25, 1801. The latter received a supe- 
 rior education, and succeeding to his father's 
 interests, became a wealthy iron manufac- 
 turer, and maintained his connection with 
 that important industry all his life. Like 
 his father, he espoused the cause of Demo- 
 cracy, being a firm friend of popular gov- 
 ernment, and was honored by his party with 
 election to the office of associate judge of 
 Berks county, which position he held for 
 full two terms. He also served as a Demo- 
 cratic elector in the National campaign of 
 i860, and occupied main- other places of 
 honor and trust. 
 
 He was connected with the local militia, 
 serving as major of his battalion. In reli- 
 gion he was a member of the Reformed 
 church, with which he was officially con- 
 nected for many years. He died at Dale, 
 Berks county, January 22, 1877, at the age 
 of seventy-six years, and his remains rest in 
 the cemetery connected with his church at 
 that place. He married Catharine Andy, a 
 native of Berks county, and a daughter of 
 Jacob Andy. To that union was born a 
 family of nine children, five sons and four 
 daughters, all of whom grew to maturity 
 
 and became active and useful citizens of 
 the Keystone State. 
 
 General John W. Schall was reared prin- 
 cipally in Berks county, and educated in 
 private schools at Trappe and Norristown, 
 after which he pursued an extended course 
 of advanced study in the Military academy 
 at Norwich, Vermont. After graduating 
 from the latter institution, he was connected 
 for several years with an engineering corps 
 under John C. Trautwiue, and later em- 
 barked in the dry goods business at York, 
 Pennsylvania, where he subsequentlv be- 
 came a member and first lieutenant of the 
 York rifles, a local military organization. 
 Immediately upon the opening of the Civil 
 war and the call of President Lincoln for 
 volunteers, the York rifles proffered their 
 services in a body, and was one of the first 
 companies to enter the service fully armed 
 and equipped. For this promptness in time 
 of danger they were afterward awarded 
 medals by the State. They were com- 
 manded by Captain George Hay, and were 
 duly mustered into service April 19, 1861, 
 as Company K, 2nd Pennsylvania infantry, 
 only four days after the President's procla- 
 mation had been signed, and just one week 
 after the first gun had thundered against 
 Fort Sumter, and precipitated the greatest 
 armed conflict of modern times. 
 
 At the expiration of their term of enlist- 
 ment — three months — Lieutenant Schall re- 
 turned and organized a company for three 
 years' service, but just then received au- 
 thority from the secretary of war, Simon 
 Cameron, to organize a regiment at York, 
 Pennsylvania. Upon the formation of this 
 regiment, the 87th Pennsylvania infantry, 
 he was appointed colonel, but declining to 
 accept that rank, was made lieutenant colo- 
 nel, and served as such until May 9, 1862, 
 when a vacancy occurring, he was promoted 
 
54 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 to the colonelcy of his regiment. The early 
 service of Colonel Schall was mostly in the 
 mountains of West Virginia, and during 
 Lee's advance on Gettysburg he was en- 
 eraered in a hotly contested fight at Win- 
 Chester, under General Milroy, where he 
 lost nearly his entire command in killed, 
 wounded and prisoners, and got into Har- 
 per's Ferry, after four days of fighting, with 
 only sixtv men and riding another colonel's 
 horse, his own having been shot from under 
 him while leading a charge. Colonel Schall 
 was subsequently transferred to the army of 
 the Potomac — 3rd brigade, 3rd division, 6th 
 army corps, and served in that command 
 until the expiration of his term of enlist- 
 ment. At the battle of Cold Harbor, Vir- 
 ginia, he was shot through the right arm 
 while commanding the brigade, but re- 
 mained on the field until the fight termi- 
 nated, and only then sought medical atten- 
 tion for his injury. Colonel Schall was 
 honorably discharged from military service 
 October 14, 1S64, and upon that occasion 
 was the recipient of the following letter of 
 commendation from his superior officer, 
 General James B. Ricketts, commandant of 
 his division : 
 
 Headquarters 3RD Division, 6th Corps, *> 
 Office Assistant Adjutant General. / 
 
 Colonel John W. Schall, 
 
 87TH Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers. 
 
 Colonel : — Your time of service having expired with 
 that of your gallant regiment, I cannot part with you 
 without some expression of my high appreciation of 
 your faithful services. 
 
 Always zealous and reliable, you have shown the 
 best quality of a soldier, which would bring certain 
 promotion, had you determined to remain in the 
 corps, which you have ornamented by your distin- 
 guished conduct throughout the arduous summer 
 campaign, since crossing the Rapidau in May last. 
 
 I particularly recall your gallautry at Cold Harbor, 
 where commanding a brigade, and wounded, you 
 nobly refused to leave the field, and in the Valley 
 
 where you shared in our glorious victories at Opequou 
 and Fisher's Hill. 
 
 I part with regret from so good a soldier, and wish 
 you every success in your future life. 
 
 Very sincerely your friend, 
 
 JAMES B. RICKETTS, 
 Brigadier General Volunteers and Major 1st United 
 Slates Artillery, commanding 3rd Division, 6th 
 Army Corps. 
 
 Soon after returning to civil life, Colonel 
 Schall located at Norristown, Montgomery 
 county, and embarked in the iron trade. In 
 April, 1875, he was appointed recorder of 
 deeds for this county, to fill a vacancy, and 
 was subsequently elected twice to that posi- 
 tion, serving in all for a period of seven 
 years. In 1890 he was appointed postmas- 
 ter at Norristown by President Harrison, 
 and served as such until 1894. 
 
 General Schall's connection with the Na- 
 tional guard of Pennsylvania began shortly 
 after the war. He served as inspector of 
 the National guard under General John F. 
 Hartranft, and after the latter's election to 
 the governorship, was appointed an aid on 
 the Governor's staff, with the rank of lieu- 
 tenant colonel. While General Hartranft 
 was still in command of the division, in 
 September, 1879, General Schall was elected 
 colonel of the 6th regiment, and was re- 
 elected several times. In July, 1894, he 
 was appointed brigadier general of the first 
 brigade by Governor Pattison, and is the 
 present commandant of that brigade. 
 
 On September 3, 1873, General Schall 
 was united in marriage with Mary A. 
 Hooven, a daughter of James Hooven (now 
 deceased), of Norristown. Politically the 
 General is an ardent Republican, and has 
 always taken an active and intelligent in- 
 terest in civic and governmental affairs, at 
 the same time keeping himself thoroughly 
 posted on everything pertaining to military 
 matters. His life has been active and many- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 55 
 
 sided, its history comprising high records as 
 
 a soldier, official, business man and citizen. 
 General Schall is connected with the 
 Grand Army of the Republic, and is also a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity and the 
 Loyal Legion. 
 
 REV. THOMAS R. BEEBER, D. D., an 
 able divine and the present pastor of 
 the First Presbyterian church of Norris- 
 town, is a son of Peter D. and Mary J. 
 (Artley) Beeber, and was born at Mnncy, 
 Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, June 18, 
 1848. The Beeber (originally written Bie- 
 ber) family trace their ancestry back to the 
 Palatinate, Germany, and were residents of 
 Berks county from 1764 to 1790, when sev- 
 eral of its members removed to Lycoming 
 county. Several of the Beebers served 
 under Washington in the Revolutionary 
 
 war. Beeber or Bieber, came from 
 
 Germany in the ship Jencffer, commanded 
 by Captain George Kerr, and lauded at 
 Philadelphia November 6, 1764. His son, 
 John Beeber, born near Wurtemberg, Ger- 
 many, in 1762, was reared in Berks county, 
 and served as a non-commissioned officer 
 in the Revolutionary war. He enlisted in 
 the 3rd Pennsylvania battalion, commanded 
 by Colonel John Shee, was captured by the 
 British, at Harlem Heights, November 16, 
 1776, but escaped six days later. He served 
 under Colonel Daniel Undree, and in the 
 2nd battalion of Berks county militia at 
 the battle of Brandywine, and was in active 
 service until the close of the war. He was 
 a fanner by occupation and wedded Julia 
 Dimner, a daughter of George and Julia 
 Dimner, of Lycoming county, Pennsylvania. 
 John Beeber's sou, Colonel Jacob Beeber, 
 was born in Muncy valley, Lycoming 
 
 county, September 10, 1786, and became a 
 prominent and useful man. He served in 
 the Pennsylvania militia, commanding a 
 regiment, and was a devoted member of the 
 Evangelical Lutheran church. He was a 
 farmer and a strong Democrat, and married 
 Mary and Elizabeth Dimner, by whom he 
 had several children. His eldest son, Petri 
 D. Beeber, was the father of Dr. Beeber. 
 Peter D. Beeber was first engaged in farm- 
 ing, and afterwards became a mechanic and 
 a retail coal dealer. He was an early oppo- 
 nent of slavery and often declared that " If 
 slavery were not wrong,nothing was wrong." 
 He became a Republican against the oppo- 
 sition of his family, and at the time when it 
 required courage to do so. He took his 
 three brothers with him into the Republi- 
 can party, and in 1861 was elected as com- 
 missioner of Lycoming county, being the 
 only Republican candidate that year in the 
 county who was successful. Mr. Beeber 
 was one of the founders of the Muncy Luth- 
 eran church, which was organized Novem- 
 ber 7, 1852, and with three others was its 
 chief financial support for many years. He 
 filled every office of his church but that of 
 pastor. He also took interest in the muni- 
 cipal affairs of his borough, serving for 
 many years as a councilman and school 
 director. He was a man of integrity and great 
 kindness of heart, and died May 6, 1876, 
 in the sixty-first year of his age. On 
 March 25, 1841, Mr. Beeber wedded Mary 
 J. Artley, and to their union were born three 
 sons: J. A., a lawyer, of Williamsport, this 
 State; Dimner, an attornev-at-law, in Phila- 
 delphia ; and Rev. Thomas R. Mrs. Bee- 
 ber, who died December 2, 1869, aged fifty- 
 two years, was of Holland descent, and a 
 daughter of John and Christina (Duck) 
 Artley. The Artley family was resident in 
 Berks county until 1785, and Solomon Art- 
 
56 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ley enlisted in a military company during 
 the war of 1S12, but was never called into 
 the field. 
 
 Thomas R. Beeber was reared at Muncy, 
 and prepared for college at Selinsgrove, 
 this State. He entered Pennsylvania col- 
 lege, at Gettysburg, Adams county, in 1865, 
 and was graduated from that institution of 
 learning in 1869, with the second honors of 
 his class. In the autumn of 1869, he en- 
 tered the Andover theological seminary, at 
 Andover, Massachusetts, and was graduated 
 in the class of 1872, after which he took the 
 post graduate course of that institution. In 
 January, 1873, he became associate pastor 
 with Rev. Charles Beecher, a brother of 
 Henry Ward Beecher, of the First Congre- 
 gational church, of Georgetown, Massachu- 
 setts. He remained there for two years and 
 then resigned to accept a call made June 8, 
 1875, from the Mahoning Presbyterian 
 church, of Danville, Pennsylvania, which 
 he served until March 8, 1880, when he ac- 
 cepted a call from the Second Presbyterian 
 church, of Scranton. He remained there 
 seven years, and during his pastorate a 
 handsome stone church structure was 
 erected at a cost of eighty thousand 
 dollars by his congregation. On March 21, 
 1881, he received a call from the First 
 Presbyterian church of Norristown, which 
 he has served ever since. 
 
 On August 17, 1874, Reverend Beeber was 
 united in marriage by Rev. Charles Beecher, 
 to Mrs. Mary F. Haley, of Georgetown, 
 Massachusetts, a daughter of J. K. 
 Harriman. To Rev. and Mrs. Beeber have 
 been born two children : John Artley, born 
 August 22, 1875, and died January 11, 1889; 
 and Whitman Boynton, born May 26, 1877, 
 and died June 27, 1885. Rev. Beeber 
 has one adopted son, K. H. Beeber, who is 
 a child bv Mrs. Beeber's first marriage. 
 
 Rev. Thomas R. Beeber spent three 
 months in 1878 on a European tour and 
 visited many noted and sacred places of the 
 world. He received the degree of Doctor of 
 Divinity from Lafayette college in 1891. 
 He is a logical reasoner and an able speaker. 
 Dr. Beeber has always taken an interest in 
 church and general history. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Montgomery county and the 
 Philadelphia Presbyterian historical socie- 
 ties. While at Scranton he was elected as 
 a director of the oral school for the deaf, and 
 was one of the most energetic workers in 
 its behalf. Dr. Beeber is the author of 
 several historical works of value and in- 
 terest. He wrote and published histories of 
 the First Congregational church of George- 
 town, Massachusetts, and the Second Pres- 
 byterian church of Scranton, Pennsylvania. 
 He also wrote a pamphlet on the " History 
 of the Presbyterian Church in the United 
 States," that has been highly commended. 
 Dr. Beeber is conservative, but progressive 
 in his religious views, has always been ap- 
 preciated by his different charges, and is 
 deeply interested in the home and foreign 
 missions of the church. 
 
 HON. IRVING PRICE WANGER, 
 present member of the United States 
 congress from the Seventh Pennsylvania 
 district, is descended from early settlers of 
 Montgomery county, of the religious sects 
 known as Mennonites and Brethren or 
 Dunkers. He was born March 5, 1852, in 
 North Coventry township, Chester county, 
 Pennsylvania, and is a son of George and 
 Rebecca (Price) Wanger. All his ancestors 
 in America — and the line extends over a 
 period of nearly two centuries — were 
 farmers. His father, the late George 
 
f, iUIUUSiT CO., tHVLA. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 57 
 
 Wanger, was a prominent citizen of the 
 northern end of Chester county, and was 
 known throughout that and Montgomery 
 counties as a man of force of character, and 
 an advocate of the improvement of the 
 public school system. He became identi- 
 fied with the movement for the abolition of 
 slavery while yet a young man, and was 
 active in the formation of the Republican 
 party in Pennsylvania and in its early 
 triumphs in this State. In 1850 he married 
 Rebecca, a daughter of Rev. John Price, 
 and reared a family of four sons. His 
 death occured December 30th, 1876, in the 
 fifty-seventh year of his age. 
 
 Irving P. Wanger was reared on the old 
 Wanger homestead in Chester county, and 
 educated in the Public schools of his dis- 
 trict and at the Pottstown high and Hill 
 schools. He then taught for one year, and 
 in 1870, became a clerk in the prothono- 
 tary's office in Chester county. In 1871 he 
 was appointed deputy prothonotary of that 
 county, and resigned the position at tbe end 
 of the year to engage in the study of law at 
 Norristown. 
 
 In January, 1872, he began his legal 
 studies with Franklin March, a disting- 
 uished member of the Montgomery county 
 bar, and on December 1st of that year was 
 appointed deputy under Win. F. Reed, the 
 first Republican prothonotary ever elected 
 in Montgomery county. Meanwhile he 
 continued the stud}- of law, and having 
 completed his preparation, was admitted to 
 the bar in December, 1875. He soon rose 
 in his profession, and secured and has main- 
 tained a large practice, being regarded as 
 an eloquent and logical pleader. In 1889 
 he formed a partnership with Irvin P. 
 Knipe, under the firm name of Wanger and 
 Knipe, which is now among the most pros- 
 perous legal firms in the countrv. 
 
 From his earliest manhood Mr. Wanger 
 has battled for Republican supremacy. He 
 was elected burgess of Norristown at the 
 age of twenty-six, and was solicitor of 
 the school board for several years. In 1 88< >, 
 he was elected district attorney for Mont- 
 gomery county, being the first Republican 
 ever chosen to that office in this county. 
 As district attorney he instituted a reform 
 in the practice of subpoenaing witnesses 
 who had heretofore been required to attend 
 court on the first day of the session. Mr. 
 Wanger divided the cases among several 
 days, requiring attendance only when the 
 cases were set for trial, thereby effecting 
 considerable saving in fees of witnesses, and 
 greatly lessening the inconvenience of their 
 attendance. The practice inaugurated by 
 him has been uniformly followed by his 
 successors. 
 
 In 1880 Mr. Wanger was a delegate to 
 the National convention, and voted con- 
 tinuously against the unit rule, supporting 
 Mr. Blaine in the convention until re- 
 quested by friends of the latter to vote for 
 General Garfield. In 1886 Mr. Wanger 
 was again nominated for district attorney 
 and was elected by a majority of one thous- 
 and one hundred and seventy-eight votes, 
 running several hundred ahead of his ticket, 
 notwithstanding the fact that his opponent 
 was one of the most popular candidates the 
 Democracy ever nominated. In 1889 Mr. 
 Wanger was made chairman of the Repub- 
 lican county committee, and held that 
 position until the end of the year, when he 
 declined re-election. In the campaign of 
 1890 he was unamimously nominated for 
 congress by the Republicans of the Seventh 
 district and made a vigorous canvass, be- 
 ing defeated by only one hundred and 
 eighty-seven votes, although so popular a 
 candidate as Colonel Thomas J. Stewart 
 
58 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 lost the district by nine hundred and two, 
 and Mr. Delarnater by two thousand two 
 hundred and fourteen. In 1892 Mr. Wang- 
 er was again nominated for congress by his 
 party, and was elected by a majority of 
 one hundred and eighty votes. After 
 serving with distinction in the Fifty-third 
 congress, where he held positions on the 
 committees on public lands and on rail- 
 ways and canals, he was re-nominated in 
 1894 and re-elected by a majority of four 
 thousand eight hundred and twenty-six, as 
 a member of the Fifty-fourth congress. In 
 congress he has taken an active part in all 
 important National legislation, particularly 
 interesting himself in the silver bill, the 
 tariff acts and the Indian appropriation 
 bill. On every question he has ably and 
 carefully represented the interests of his 
 constituency, and for his re-election to the 
 next congress has already received the 
 most emphatic testimonial of regard and 
 confidence which it is in the power of his 
 fellow citizens of the Seventh congressional 
 district to bestow. 
 
 On June 25th, 1884, Mr. Wanger was 
 united in marriage to Emma C. Titlow, 
 daughter of the late John Titlow, of North 
 Coventry, Chester county, Pennsylvania. 
 To them have been born five children, three 
 of whom survive : George, Ruth and Mar- 
 ion. The other two, Lincoln and Rebecca, 
 died in infancy. Mr. Wanger lives at the 
 old Chain homestead, No. 723 Main street, 
 Norristown, which he has modernized, mak- 
 ing it a very unique type of architecture. 
 His mother from whom he inherits many 
 of his characteristics, also makes her home 
 with him. She is a sister of the late Rev. 
 Isaac Price, a noted and eloquent preacher 
 of the Brethren (Dunker's) church, and the 
 descendant of a long line of preachers of 
 that faith. In his own religious affiliations, 
 
 Mr. Wanger is an Episcopalian, being a 
 member of St. John's Episcopal church of 
 Norristown. He is also a member of the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Im- 
 proved Order of Red Men, and of nearly 
 all of the Masonic bodies of this State, lately 
 being grand commander of the Knights 
 Templar of Pennsylvania. 
 
 JOHN SLINGLUFF, a leading business 
 <J man of Montgomery county, and presi- 
 dent of the Montgomery National bank, at 
 Norristown, is a son of William H. and 
 Mary (Knorr) Slingluff, and was born at 
 Norristown, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, August 3, 1839. The European an- 
 cestor of the American Slingluff was Heiu- 
 rich Schlengeluff, who went from Waldich 
 to England and thence to America, landing 
 in Philadelphia August 19, 1729, with his 
 wife, whose maiden name was Anna Chris- 
 tianna, which indicates her Swedish de- 
 scent. He purchased a tract of land in Sal- 
 ford township. Their son, John Slingluff, 
 (1st in America), was the father of John 
 Slingluff (2nd), who married Mary Hall- 
 man, a very beautiful woman, and a daugh- 
 ter of Anthony and Mary (Streeper) Hall- 
 man, and a great-granddaughter of William 
 Strieper, who once owned five thousand 
 acres of land in the northern part of Phila- 
 delphia county. John Slingluff (2nd) had 
 eight children by this marriage, and his 
 youngest child was William H. Slingluff, 
 the father of the subject of this sketch. 
 William H. Slingluff was born in Whitpain 
 township March 19, 1805, and became 
 prominently identified with the banking in- 
 terests of the county. He entered the old 
 Montgomery county bank (chartered in 
 1814, and until 1856 the only bank in the 
 

 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 59 
 
 county) in 1825, as junior clerk and watch- 
 man, was made cashier four years later, and 
 in 1868 was elected president, which latter 
 office he resigned November 20, 1875, in 
 favor of his son. The same day he accepted 
 the office of vice-president and served as 
 such until his death, which occurred April 
 14, 1880. In 1861 he was instrumental in 
 having the bank loan Governor Curtin 
 (the war Governor of Pennsylvania) fifty 
 thousand dollars in gold for the purpose of 
 paying the volunteers in the field. He also 
 designed and built the present fine bank 
 building in 1854. He was one of the origi- 
 nators and the first treasurer of the Norris- 
 town water company and a director of the 
 gas company, was connected with the three 
 first building and loan associations of this 
 borough, and in various wavs aided different 
 worthy enterprises and commendable indus- 
 tries. He was a Whig up to i860, and after 
 that year joined the Democratic party. He 
 was the candidate for congress on the Whig 
 ticket in 1844, but was defeated. He 
 served for many years as a member of the 
 town council and the school board, of which 
 he was treasurer. He was a public spirited 
 man, and besides his business affairs, was a 
 warm supporter of every movement looking 
 to the public good. Thus when the Phila- 
 delphia, Germantown and Norristown rail- 
 road, the first in the State and county, was 
 projected, he took stock and became a direc- 
 tor of the company in 1844, continuing as 
 such until his death in 1880. This project 
 was looked upon by many business men as 
 an unpaying enterprise, whose stock once 
 fell in price from $50 to $1 per share, but 
 later advanced to $240, and is now rated at 
 $126. Mr. Slingluff was quick in perception, 
 accurate in judgment and firm in carrying 
 out his convictions. One well acquainted 
 with him wrote of him " In business life he 
 
 was an example of the highest integrity of 
 character, and demanded the same qualities 
 in others." He was generous, charitable 
 and kind hearted, and assisted all in distress 
 who came to him. William H. Slingluff, 
 in 1833, wedded Mary Knorr, and to their 
 union were burn five children : Sarah S., 
 wife of Jacob L. Rex ; Clara S., married 
 Dr. Henry Pawling, and after his death 
 wedded Hiram H. Fisher, who is now dead ; 
 Mary M., wife of Hon. A. B. Longaker ; 
 John, (4th) (subject) ; and William F., a 
 steam pipe manufacturer of Norristown. 
 Mrs. W. H. Slingluff, who died November 
 17, 1891, was a daughter of Mathias Knorr, 
 and a great-granddaughter of John Genge 
 and Hannah Knorr, who came from Ger- 
 main- prior to 1698. Mathias Knorr wedded 
 Man - Keyser, a direct descendant of Dirck 
 or Derick Keyser, who came from Amster- 
 dam, Holland, in 16S8, and was one of the 
 original settlers of Germantown, a suburb 
 of Philadelphia. 
 
 John Slingluff was reared at Norristown, 
 received his education in the public schools 
 and Elmwood institute, at that time under 
 charge of Rev. George Dering Wolf. Leav- 
 ing school at the age of sixteen, in 1855, 
 he commenced surveying and conveyanc- 
 ing under J. Morton Albertson. Eighteen 
 months later, in December, 1856, he quit 
 sun-eying and became note clerk in the old 
 Bank of Montgomery count}-, where he was 
 promoted to cashier November 7, 1868, and 
 elected president November 20, 1875. He 
 has sen-ed continuously as president since 
 1875. Mr. Slingluff inherited his father's 
 remarkable business ability, and is promi- 
 nently connected with nearly every leading 
 business enterprise of the county. He is 
 president of the Norristown Water compar- 
 and treasurer of the Norristown ('.as and 
 Cemetery companies. He is also treasurer 
 
6o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of the Montgomery Lead and Zinc Mining 
 company and the Second Savings Fund and 
 Loan association. He is president of the 
 Norristown Junction Railroad company, 
 and until January, 1895, of the Citizen's 
 Passenger Railroad company, and a direc- 
 tor of the Plymouth, Perkiomen, Stony 
 Creek, Philadelphia Germantown and Nor- 
 ristown, and the Philadelphia, Newtown 
 and New York Railroad companies. He 
 was a trustee for three years of the Norris- 
 town asylum for the insane, succeeding 
 General Hartranft in that position in 1889; 
 has been for eighteen years an inspector of 
 the Montgomery county prison and for fif- 
 teen years president of the board. Mr. 
 Slingluff was a Democrat in politics up to 
 1884, since which year he has supported 
 the Republican party. He was nominated 
 in 1880 for congress but was defeated, 
 although running ahead of his ticket. He 
 is a director of the Norristown Woolen 
 company, the Times printing company and 
 president of the Economy Insurance com- 
 pany. He has served as president of the 
 Montgomery Fire company, and is now chief 
 engineer. He is also treasurer of the Firemen's 
 Association of Pennsylvania, and is an ex- 
 president of the school board of Norristown. 
 During the late Civil war in 1863, when 
 Lee invaded Pennsylvania, he dropped all 
 his business affairs and enlisted in Company 
 E, 34th regiment, " Emergency Men," and 
 served until the regiment was mustered out 
 in August, 1863, after the Gettysburg battle. 
 Mr. Slingluff is a prominent and active 
 Mason, being a member and past officer of 
 Charity Lodge No. 190, Free and Accepted 
 Masons, Norristown ; Chapter 190, Royal 
 Arch Masons ; Hutchinson Commandery 
 No. 32, Knights Templar, is a life mem- 
 ber of Gourgas Consistory, 33d Degree 
 A. & A. Rite, of Pittsburg, this State, and 
 
 Palestine Council No. 8, Royal and Select 
 Masters. Besides being a member of the 
 Grand Lodge, Chapter, Council and Com- 
 mandery of the State, he served for several 
 years as district deputy grand high priest, 
 and is the oldest consecutive member of 
 the nuance committee of the Grand Lodge. 
 He is treasurer and a trustee of his lodge, 
 has been the representative of the Grand 
 Lodges of Georgia and West Virginia, in 
 addition to his own lodge in the Grand 
 Lodge of Pennsylvania. 
 
 John Slingluff is a man of positive and 
 practical business ability, and has won his 
 way to position side by side with the fore- 
 most business men of his section of the State. 
 In religious opinion he is a supporter of the 
 Protestant Episcopal church, of which Mrs. 
 Slingluff is an active and useful member. 
 
 On September 3, 1862, Mr. Slingluff 
 married Wilhelmina Gilbert, a daughter of 
 Frederick and Mary Gilbert, of Norristown. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Slingluff have three children : 
 Mary S., wife of Howard Boyd, of Norris- 
 town ; William Hermann, cashier of the 
 Montgomery National bank ; and Helen 
 Gilbert Slingluff. They have but one grand 
 child, James S. Boyd. 
 
 GENERAL WILLIAM M. MINTZER 
 is a veteran of the Civil war whose 
 record is unique in several particulars. He 
 enlisted as a private and won his way step 
 by step to the rank of brevet brigadier gen- 
 eral. General Mintzer is a native of Ches- 
 ter county Pennsylvania, where he was 
 born June 7, 1837. He is the oldest son of 
 Henry and Rebecca (Bechtel) Mintzer, and 
 his education was obtained principally in 
 the public schools of Pottstown, to which 
 
fi^J/J& 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 61 
 
 place his father had removed from Chester 
 county, and where General Mintzer has re- 
 sided ever since the war. When twenty 
 years v of age he began learning the trade of 
 machinist. As his apprenticeship of four 
 years was expiring, the opening thunders 
 of the Civil war electrified the land, and 
 young Mintzer dropped his tools, like Put- 
 nam left his plow, and hastened to enlist 
 in defense of his country. It is said he was 
 the first man from Pottstown to respond to 
 the call for volunteers. He first enlisted 
 for three months as a private in Company 
 C, 4th Pennsylvania infantry, and was short- 
 ly afterward made quartermaster sergeant 
 of his regiment. In August, 1861, he re- 
 enlisted as first lieutenant of Company A, 
 53rd Pennsylvania infantry, and from that 
 position was promoted in regular order 
 through all the grades until he reached the 
 rank of brevet-brigadier general. With his 
 various commands, General Mintzer par- 
 ticipated in the following engagements: 
 Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Gaines' Mills, Peach 
 Orchard, Savage Station, White Oak 
 Swamp, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Fred- 
 ericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, 
 Bristo Station, Mine Run, the Wilderness, 
 Spottsylvauia, North Anna, Tatopotomy, 
 Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Strawberry 
 Plains, Deep Bottom, Ream's Station, 
 Hatcher's Run (south side railroad,) Farm- 
 ville and Appomattox. This record shows 
 that General Mintzer was something of a 
 fighter when fighting was to be done. Dur- 
 ing all this time he was never captured by 
 the enemy, and was wounded only twice — 
 first at Fair Oaks and again at Fredericks- 
 burg. Neither injury proved serious, and 
 soon after the battle of Fredericksburg he 
 was detailed as provost marshal of the 
 First Division, Second Army Corps, then 
 Commanded by General Hancock. When 
 
 ( reiieral Hancock took command of the Sec- 
 ond Corps, Captain Mintzer with Com- 
 panies A, B and K of his regiment, accom- 
 panied him, and remained on duty at head- 
 cpiarters of Second Army Corps until April, 
 [864, when at his own request, he rejoined 
 his regiment and served with it until mus- 
 tered out June 30th, 1S65, by reason of the 
 close of the war, having commanded the 
 regiment from July, 1864. His war rec- 
 ord covers the entire period from the first 
 call for troops to the close of that gigantic 
 struggle which has taken its place in his- 
 tory as the greatest armed conflict of mod- 
 ern times. 
 
 After the war closed General Mintzer re- 
 turned to Pottstown and engaged in the 
 confectionery business. In 1869 he was 
 appointed postmaster of this city, by Pres- 
 ident Grant, and served as such during 
 both administrations of Grant. He was 
 appointed for the third term, but declined 
 the office in order to engage in the coal 
 business here, which he has ever since suc- 
 cessfully conducted. 
 
 On the 5th of February, 1863, General 
 Mintzer was united in marriage to Amelia 
 Weand, eldest daughter of David and Ma- 
 tilda Weand, of Pottstown. To General 
 and Mrs. Mintzer were born four children 
 — three sons and a daughter — George M, 
 Helen, deceased, August 21st, 1894, at the 
 age of twenty-six, John H. and Charles F. 
 General Mintzer is a member of the Luth- 
 eran church, and is also connected with the 
 Masonic fraternity, the Grand Army of the 
 Republic, the Union Veteran Legion and 
 Military order of the Loyal Legion. 
 
 The family of which General Mintzer is 
 descended is among the oldest in Pennsyl- 
 vania. His paternal grandfather, William 
 Mintzer,.was a stage line owner prior to the 
 construction of the Reading railroad, and 
 
62 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 afterward engaged in merchandising at 
 Pottstown. Henry Mintzer, father of Gen- 
 eral William Mintzer, was a farmer and 
 merchant, and a Republican. For several 
 years he resided in Chester county, but 
 subseqnently removed to Pottstown, this 
 county. He was a very ardent Union man, 
 and in 1861 was appointed postmaster of 
 Pottstown by President Lincoln. He held 
 that office until removed by Andrew John- 
 son. 
 
 JACOB FEGELY, president of the Na- 
 tional Iron bank, and a prominent 
 business man of Pottstown, is a son of 
 Jacob Sr. and Susan (Miller) Fegely and 
 was born in Washington township, Berks 
 county, Pennsylvania, September 23rd, 
 1831. 
 
 Jacob Fegely, Sr., was born in Douglas 
 township, Montgomery county, January 5, 
 1795, and died January 17, 1878, aged 83 
 years. He was a farmer by occupation, and 
 a member of the Evangelical Lutheran 
 church in which he was an officer and 
 zealous worker. He was a Democrat politi- 
 cally, and wedded Susan Miller, who was a 
 daughter of Peter Miller, of Douglass town- 
 ship, and passed away February 14, 1876, 
 aged 79 years. Their children were : 
 Maria, who married Reuben Fryer, and is 
 deceased ; Solomon, now dead ; William, is 
 living; Isaac, now dead ; Jacob ; Catherine, 
 who married William Swineheart and is 
 now dead ; Lucinda, wife of Milton Slon- 
 aker, and one son who died in infancy. 
 
 Jacob Fegely was brought at twelve 
 vears of age by his parents to Pottsgrove 
 township, where he grew to manhood on 
 his father's farm. He attended the schools 
 of his neighborhood and then learned the 
 
 trade of millwright which he followed steadi- 
 ly for five and one half years. At the end 
 of that time, on February 1, 1853, he em- 
 barked in the retail coal and iron business, 
 and in 1856 he added the lumber busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Five years later he helped to organize the 
 railroad car building firm of Evans, Fegely 
 and Co. In 1862 Mr. Evans withdrew and 
 the firm became Fegely and Co., which 
 continued up to 1864, when they disposed 
 of their car works, and Mr. Fegely, who 
 was still in the retail coal and lumber busi- 
 ness, engaged in the manufacture of lumber 
 upon an extended scale. He purchased in 
 Columbia county, large tracts of timber 
 land which he cut, sawed and worked up 
 into lumber for the eastern markets. After 
 being actively engaged in the lumbering 
 business for twelve years, he turned his at- 
 tention to the mining of iron-ore, and in 
 July, 1872, became a partner in the firm of 
 Gable, Fegely and Jones, of which he was 
 elected treasurer. Their mines were in 
 Berks county, and in 1873 they sold to the 
 Warwick Iron company, in which Mr. 
 Fegely became interested and was elected 
 to his present position of treasurer. Dur- 
 ing all this time he still dealt in coal, lum- 
 ber and iron, and continued on in that line 
 until 1866, when he disposed of his mills 
 and lumber yard. He then more directly 
 interested himself in business operations at 
 Pottstown which he has continued up to 
 the present time. In 1886 he associated 
 with him his son, Calvin, under the firm 
 name of J. Fegely & Son, and opened a 
 large wholesale and retail hardware and 
 mill supply establishment and extensive 
 coal yard. In 1886 he was elected to his 
 present position as president of the National 
 Iron bank of Pottstown, and in the succeed- 
 ing year, 1887, became president of the 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 63 
 
 Pottstown Security company, while two 
 
 years later, in 1SS9, he was elected president 
 of the South Bethlehem National bank. 
 He helped to organize these three financial 
 institutions of which he is president, and 
 the immense amount of work which their 
 management placed upon him did not take 
 up all his time. 
 
 He then became interested in other en- 
 terprises. He is president of the Bramcote 
 Land company and the Pottstown Ceme- 
 tery company ; a director in the Potts- 
 town Market, and the Pottstown Light, 
 Heat and Power companies ; also treasurer 
 of the Bannockburn mills and a large stock- 
 h^lder in the Warwick Iron, and the Potts- 
 town Water companies, and on January 1, 
 1893, was appointed receiver in connection 
 with William M. Gordon, of the Pottstown 
 Iron company. He is one of the largest 
 real estate owners at Pottstown, and has a 
 valuable farm in Chester county, which he 
 personally supervises. 
 
 Jacob Fegely is an independent Demo- 
 crat in politics. He is a member of Em- 
 manuel's Lutheran church, of which he 
 has been treasurer for twenty-five years. He 
 is a member of the board of trustees of 
 Muhlenberg college, and Mt. Airy Theo- 
 logical seminary, and a director of the 
 Pottstown hospital. Mr. Fegely is one of 
 that class of practical, energetic and meth- 
 odical business men, who give life and 
 prosperity to all financial and industrial en- 
 terprises with which they are engaged, and 
 whose success in every field is the assured 
 result of good management and careful fore- 
 sight. 
 
 On Christmas, 1853, Mr. Fegely married 
 Alary A. Hunsberger, a daughter of John 
 Hunsberger, of Chester county. To their 
 union have been born seven children, of 
 whom four are dead : Jacob Edgar, George 
 
 B. McC, Annie and Clara. The three that 
 are living are : Calvin, a partner in business 
 with his father; Mary R., wife of George 
 W. Gilbert ; and Susan B., wife of Dr. 
 Charles Vanderslice, of Phoenixville, Ches- 
 ter eountv. 
 
 HON. HIRAM CONRAD HOOVER, 
 ex-member of the Pennsylvania legis- 
 lature and the last associate judge of the 
 courts of Montgomery county, is a son of 
 Hon. Philip and May Mary (Conrad) Hoo- 
 ver, and was born in Gwynedd township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, October 
 23, 1822. Between 1727 and 1776, several 
 immigrants by the name of Huber came 
 from the Palatine, Switzerland, and landed at 
 Philadelphia. Of this number were four 
 brothers, Christian, John, Martin and Jacob, 
 who came in the ship Pink Plesance, com- 
 manded by John Paret. These brothers 
 landed on September 21, 1732, and at that 
 time Jacob was under sixteen years of age. 
 These four brothers were the only ones of 
 all immigrant Hubers that changed their 
 name from Huber to Hoover. One brother 
 went to western Pennsylvania, another to 
 Lancaster county, the third to one of the 
 southern states, and Jacob, the youngest, 
 seems to have been the Jacob Hoover, who 
 bought a farm in Plumstead township, 
 Bucks county, in 1748. While family 
 records cannot be found, yet there is suffi- 
 cient evidence to establish the fact that 
 Jacob Hoover was the father of Henry 
 Hoover and the great grandfather of Judge 
 Hoover. Henry Hoover was born in 1751, 
 in Bucks county, wdiere he married Mar- 
 garet Kern. He moved in 1797 from Hill- 
 town township, Bucks county, to Gwynedd 
 township, Montgomery county, wdiere he 
 
6 4 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 purchased a farm of two hundred acres. He 
 was a Jeffersonian Democrat and a member 
 of the Reformed church, and a man of 
 great will power. When troops were or- 
 dered out to suppress the Fries Rebellion in 
 eastern Pennsylvania, one regiment of in- 
 fantry sought to take his buildings as tem- 
 porary quarters, but he refused with such de- 
 termination that the}- went to an adjoining 
 farm. Henry Hoover died April 9, 1809, 
 aged fifty-seven years, and his widow passed 
 away November 27, 1813, at sixty-two years 
 of age. They had five children : Christian, 
 Jacob, Hon. Philip, Elizabeth, who married 
 John Rile, and Mary, wife of William 
 Kneedler. Hon. Philip Hoover became 
 the owner of one-half of the home farm, 
 and his life is well described by his son, 
 Judge Hiram C. Hoover, in a paper read at 
 a reunion of the children of Frederick W. 
 Hoover, on New Year's day, 1S95, at Hoo- 
 verton, and from it we quote : " While I do 
 not propose to write my father's biography 
 at this time, I will note some things in his 
 life that may not be known to many of his 
 descendants. First I will mention the fact 
 that what education he received in his 
 youth was in the German language, and 
 after his marriage, was taught to read and 
 write English by my mother, who had re- 
 ceived a good education in both languages. 
 He became a member of a volunteer organi- 
 zation when but eighteen years old, thus 
 manifesting a military spirit, and rose from 
 the ranks to be captain, and during the War 
 of 1812-14, he served as lieutenant of an- 
 other company for three months (as the or- 
 ganization to which he formerly belonged 
 disbanded). He really had command of 
 this company, for the captain returned 
 home soon after being mustered into ser- 
 vice. He also furnished a team to convey 
 military stores and ammunition from Phila- 
 
 delphia to Marcus Hook. He was after- 
 wards elected colonel of a regiment of 
 militia. He filled many offices in the 
 township, such as assessor, collector of 
 taxes, etc., and in i83i-'32-'33 was elected 
 a member of the State legislature, where he 
 served on several important committees, 
 and discharged his duty with credit and 
 satisfaction to his constituents — all the po- 
 sitions having sought him, as he did not 
 aspire to them. He also settled many es- 
 tates as executor, administrator and guar- 
 dian, in all of which he rendered satisfac- 
 tory accounts. He was regularly cate- 
 chised and received into Boehm's Reformed 
 church by the Rev. George Wack, pastor, 
 and in the year 1810 was elected a deacon, 
 and served in that office until 1823, when 
 he was elected an elder, and continued in 
 that office (except three years) until his 
 death in the year 1865 — a period of over 
 forty years. He held the office of president 
 and treasurer of the consistory during sev- 
 eral years ; was also frequently a delegate 
 of the classis and the synod. He was born 
 July 20th, 1782, and was married to Mary 
 Conrad November 13th, 1804. They were 
 the parents of thirteen children, but only 
 six reached the age of maturity. Mary 
 Conrad Hoover, daughter of Hon. Freder- 
 ick Conrad (who was a member of congress 
 for four years) was born August 23rd, 1785 ; 
 died October 17th, 1868, aged eighty-three 
 years, one month and twenty-four days." 
 
 Their children were : Frederick W., Ju- 
 lian, Susanna, Maria, Henry C, Ann Cath- 
 arine, Judge Hiram C, Albert C, Ann 
 Elizabeth, Andrew J., and two sons and 
 one daughter that died in infancy. 
 
 Judge Hiram C. Hoover received his edu- 
 cation in common and select schools, and 
 then studied surveying. Possessing fine 
 musical talent, he began to teach music and 
 
] ! k m i raphical Sketches. 
 
 65 
 
 organize church choirs at an early age. 
 After leaving school and while teaching 
 music, he engaged in fanning, which he 
 followed until 1S72. In 1849 he bought a 
 part of the St. Clair estate in Norriton 
 township, and when the Stony Creek rail- 
 road, in 1872, was built through a part of 
 his land, his neighbors insisted upon his 
 building grain and mercantile stores where 
 the railroad crossed Germantown turnpike. 
 He did so and then founded Hooverton, 
 which has absorbed Penn Square and gives 
 promise of future importance. He soon re- 
 tired from these lines of business, and the 
 feed, coal and lumber business is now in 
 the hands of his sou William A., where the 
 general mercantile establishment is con- 
 ducted by his son-in-law, Albertus Hallmau. 
 Judge Hoover now lives a retired life, ex- 
 cept what time he gives to his interests as a 
 stockholder in several industrial enter- 
 prises. He has served as guardian for the 
 heirs of eighteen estates, and not a single 
 exception has ever been filed to any estate 
 account he ever presented. He is now serv- 
 ing his twentieth year as treasurer of the 
 Philadelphia classis, whose financial matters 
 include seven different accounts, which have 
 been found correct by the finance committee 
 each year. In early life Judge Hoover took 
 interest in military affairs. He was a mem- 
 ber of the First Troop of Montgomery 
 cavalry sixteen years, and in 1861 sought to 
 reorganize the troop for active service in the 
 war, but was prevented by circumstances 
 beyond his control. He has been active 
 and useful in civil, educational and religious 
 affairs, and has done much toward the de- 
 velopment and upbuilding of his section of 
 the county. He is a Democrat in politics 
 and has filled many of the most impor- 
 tant political offices of his county. He- 
 served as a member of the Pennsylvania 
 
 5 
 
 house of representatives in 1861, 1862 and 
 in 1863, and during his three consecutive 
 terms served on many leading committees, 
 having been chairman of the committee on 
 agriculture in 1863. In 1865 he was elected 
 associate judge of Montgomery county, and 
 in 1870 was elected for a second term which 
 ended in 187 s. when the office was abol- 
 ished by the state constitution of 1874. In 
 his township he served as a justice of 
 the peace for fifteen years and as a school 
 director for seventeen years, while in his 
 party he was made chairman of the county 
 committee for three successive years. Judge 
 Hoover has served as a trustee of Ursinus, 
 and Franklin and Marshall colleges, and 
 has been president of the Norristown and 
 Central Square Turnpike company from its 
 organization in 1868. In 1844, when the 
 Philadelphia riots occurred, he served as 
 an officer in the First Troop of Montgomery 
 count}', one of the companies that sup- 
 pressed them. He is an old and prominent 
 Mason, being a member of Charity Lodge 
 No. 190, Free and Accepted Masons ; a life 
 member of Chapter No. 190, Royal Arch 
 Masons ; also a charter member of No. 32, 
 Knights Templar. Judge Hoover has been 
 an elder in Boehm's Reformed church 
 since 1856, has been president of the con- 
 sistory during all the time except two 
 years, and frequently served as a delegate 
 to various church bodies. But among his 
 most important religious work must be 
 named the instruction of different Bible 
 classes and the efficient supervision of sev- 
 eral Sunday-schools in which noble labors 
 he has spent many arduous but happy 
 hours, during a period of forty-five years of 
 continuous service. 
 
 ( >n March 4, 1847, Judge Hoover wedded 
 Margaret Dull, youngest daughter of Fred- 
 erick and Sarah Dull, of YYhiteniarsh town- 
 
66 
 
 Bn (Graphical Sketches. 
 
 ship. To Judge and Mrs. Hoover were born 
 four children : Win. A., Irvin W., now dead ; 
 Sarah D., married Jas. W. Hercus, of Wash- 
 ington city, and died March 18, 1894 ; and 
 Mary M., who married Alebrtus Hallman, 
 a leading business man of Hooverton. 
 
 He is also a member of the Historical 
 Society of Montgomery county and has 
 been president for the last six years, was 
 president of the Agricultural society of 
 Montgomery county for three years and an 
 active member during its existence, and 
 has taken active part in various literary 
 societies that have been organized in the 
 neighborhood. 
 
 HARRY H. WHITCOMB, M. D., Ph. D., 
 of Norristown, was born in the city 
 of Philadelphia on the third of October, 
 1855, and is a son of John and Harriet 
 H. (Huston) Whitcomb. His paternal 
 ancestors have been resident of Eastern 
 Pennsylvania for four generations, com- 
 ing originally from Swampscott, near Bos- 
 ton, Massachusetts, at which place the 
 American branch of the family was found- 
 ed by emigrants from England. John Whit- 
 comb, sr., (grandfather) was born in Mont- 
 gomery county. He was a farmer, blacksmith 
 and tradesman, and wedded Elizabeth Jen- 
 kins, a daughter of John Jenkins, from whom 
 Jenkintown derives its name. He was retired 
 during the latter years of his life and died 
 at Centre Square in 1870. 
 
 John Whitcomb, junior, was born at 
 Dresherstown, Pennsylvania, in 18 17. He 
 followed farming for a few years and then 
 became a veterinary surgeon, being among 
 the oldest of that class of professional men in 
 Montgomery county. He is a Democrat 
 and has resided for manv vears at Centre 
 
 Square. He wedded Harriet H. Huston, 
 and of the seven children born to them, 
 Albanus S., Dr. Harry H., Laura V., Anna 
 D. and H. Belle grew to maturity and are 
 still living. Mrs. John Whitcomb is of 
 Scotch-Welsh ancestry and her father, Cap- 
 tain John Huston, served as a commissioned 
 officer in the war of 181 2. The Hustons 
 have been resident in the county for nearly 
 two centuries and are of the same stock as 
 General Samuel Houston of Texas. 
 
 Dr. Harry Huston Whitcomb, although 
 born in Philadelphia, was reared at Blue Bell 
 and Centre Square and received his educa- 
 tion in the public schools and the Millers- 
 ville State Normal School. At the age of 
 fifteen years he began his career and leav- 
 ing school taught for three years ; he then 
 followed merchandising for a year but 
 neither of these pursuits being congenial, 
 he resolved upon the profession of Medicine 
 as a life vocation. He read under Dr. Win. 
 Pepper, ex-Provost of the University of Pa., 
 and in 1877 entered the medical department 
 of that university, from which he was grad- 
 uated in the year 1880, with the degrees of 
 M. D. and Ph. D. In September of his 
 graduating year he located at Norristown 
 where he has since continued to practice. 
 He was Health Officer from 1888 to 1893 
 and then became President of the Board of 
 Health. He has been a member of the 
 Committee of County Visitors for the State 
 Board of Charities for thirteen years and 
 visiting physician to the St. Joseph's Pro- 
 tectory for six years. He is an ex-officer 
 of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, 
 having served as second vice president in 
 1892. He was president for one year of the 
 Montgomery County Medical Society and 
 secretary for six years, which latter office 
 he still retains. He is a member of the 
 New Jersey State Medical Society and of 
 
Biographical Skktciies. 
 
 67 
 
 the American Medical Association. He 
 has been a member of the United States 
 Board of Pension Examiners for Montgom- 
 ery county for ten years, during three of 
 which he has served as its president. In 
 all of these various and responsible offices 
 Dr. Whitcomb has served efficiently. 
 
 Dr. Whitcomb, who is popular as a phy- 
 sycian, has a large and lucrative practice. 
 Politically he is a Democrat, but on local 
 matters he has been Independent, support- 
 ing men and measures for borough progress 
 without reference to party. He is a mem- 
 ber of the First Presbyterian Church of 
 Norristown, and holds membership in the 
 American Legion of Honor. 
 
 JAMES B. HOLLAND, district attorney 
 of the Thirty-eighth judicial district of 
 Pennsylvania, and senior member of the 
 well know law firm of Holland and Dettra, 
 of Norristown, is a native of Montgomery 
 county, and was born in Gwynedd township, 
 November 14, 1858. His parents were 
 James and Sarah (Miller) Holland, the for- 
 mer a native of England and the latter 
 born in Marlboro township, this county, of 
 Dutch ancestry. The subject of this sketch 
 was reared in Gwynedd township and at 
 Spring Hill. His preliminary education 
 was obtained in the public schools of his 
 native township, and in 1874 he entered 
 the High school at Conshohocken, from 
 which institution he was graduated in the 
 spring of 1877, under R. F. Hoffecker, then 
 principal of that school but now superin- 
 tendent of instruction for Montgomery 
 county. Immediately after graduating, Mr. 
 Holland began teaching, and was thus em- 
 ployed for a period of three years in the 
 State of Virginia and afterward for a time 
 
 at Lafayette, this county. In 1SS1 the 
 Republicans carried Montgomery county, 
 and on February 1, 1882, Mr. Holland was 
 appointed clerk of the board of commission- 
 ers by James Burnett, which position he 
 filled acceptably until May 1, 1887. While 
 in the commissioner's office he applied his 
 spare time to the study of law, under the 
 direction of Hon. Aaron S. Swartz, and 
 having passed the usual examination, was 
 duly admitted to the bar of Montgomery 
 county in December, 1886. In May fol- 
 lowing, he resigned his clerkship in the 
 commissioner's office and was appointed so- 
 licitor for the county commissioners, which 
 position he held until January, 1893. At 
 the former time, 1887, he opened a law 
 office at Conshohocken, and has been con- 
 tinuously engaged ever since in the active 
 practice of his profession. As a lawyer he 
 has been connected with a number of im- 
 portant civil and criminal cases, and his 
 management and pleading have given him 
 recognition as one of the rising young 
 lawyers of the bar of this county. In 1891 
 he formed a law partnership with Mr. John 
 M. Dettra, under the firm name of Holland 
 and Dettra, and they have a large general 
 and lucrative practice. 
 
 Mr. Holland is a Republican in politics. 
 He has always taken an active interest in 
 political matters, and served as chairman 
 of the Republican county committee in 
 1890. For several years previous he had 
 been one of its secretaries, and has frequent- 
 ly borne a prominent part in the conven- 
 tions of his party and has advocated its 
 principles as a public speaker since [886. 
 In 1892 Mr. Holland was nominated and 
 elected district attorney of Montgomery 
 county — the Thirty-eight judicial district 
 of the State — and is now discharging the 
 duties of that important office. He served 
 
6S 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 for three years as a school director of Con- 
 shohocken, and is a director of the Norris- 
 town Title Trust and Safe Deposit company, 
 and of the Conshohocken Tube works. In 
 religious belief he is an Episcopalian, and 
 is a regular attendant of the Calvary Epis- 
 copal church of Conshohocken, of which 
 his wife is a member. He is a member of 
 the Masonic fraternity — lodge, chapter and 
 commandery — and is also connected with a 
 number of political and social organizations, 
 in all of which he is popular. 
 
 On November 14, 1883, Mr. Holland was 
 united in marriage to Lydia Sheard, a 
 daughter of Luke Sheard, of Norristown, 
 Pennsylvania. To Mr. and Mrs. Holland 
 have been born two children, both sons : 
 Winfield S. and J. Burnett. 
 
 James Holland, the father of the subject 
 of the foregoing sketch, was born in Eng- 
 land about 1820, the son of a Lincolnshire 
 farmer, who lived and died in that country. 
 When about four years of age he was 
 brought bv relatives to the United States, 
 and was reared and educated in Pennsyl- 
 vania. He was connected as an employee 
 with the iron works of eastern Pennsyl- 
 vania during most of his life, though his 
 first employment was farming. Originally 
 a Democrat, he became a Republican at the 
 time of the Civil war, and ever afterward 
 supported that party. He was an indus- 
 trious man of good habits, though not a 
 member of any church, and died at Cons- 
 hohocken, this county, in 1884. In 18 — 
 he married Sarah Miller, a daughter of 
 Henry Miller, of Marlboro township, and 
 by that union had a family of fourteen 
 children, of whom James B. Holland was 
 the eighth. Mrs. Holland was a mem- 
 ber of the Lutheran church, and died 
 in 1880, aged fifty-nine years. Of their 
 fourteen children, only eight now survive. 
 
 WILLIAM McDERMOTT, for twenty, 
 one years the cashier of the First 
 National bank of Conshohocken, is the 
 second son and only surviving child of 
 William and Mary (McCorkell) McDermott, 
 and was born September 1, 1825, in Upper 
 Merion township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania. The family is of direct 
 Irish descent, both parties having been 
 born and reared on the Emerald Isle. 
 They emigrated to America early in the 
 present century and settled in this country. 
 The father was a weaver by occupation, an 
 old school Presbyterian in religious faith, 
 and took an active interest in church and 
 temperance work. He died May 4, 1838, 
 and his wife passed from earth February, 
 1852. They reared a family of six children, 
 of whom only the subject of this sketch 
 now survives. Mary, married Samuel Grif- 
 fith, of Norristown ; James, married Nannie 
 Irwin, of New Lisbon, Ohio ; Martha, Mar- 
 garet, Alexander and William. 
 
 William McDermott was reared at Nor- 
 ristown, this county, where he obtained a 
 good common school education, and in 
 1839, at the age of fourteen, entered the 
 employ of James Hagan, -a merchant of 
 Norristown, as clerk and salesman. He 
 remained with Mr. Hagan until the latter 
 quit business in 1841, and in September of 
 the following year became an apprentice in 
 the office of the Norristown Herald, where 
 he worked at the case beside Judge Butler, 
 late of the United States District court, 
 who was then one of the editors of the 
 paper, the other being Robert Iredell. 
 After a service of six years on the Herald, 
 as a compositor and local reporter, Mr. 
 McDermott became an employee on the 
 Montgomery Watchman, and remained two 
 years with the latter journal. In May, 
 1850, he entered the bank of Montgomery 
 
Bi< (Graphical Sketches. 
 
 69 
 
 counts- as book-keeper, but was soon pro- 
 moted to the position of teller, which post 
 he held uninterruptedly until 1873, when he 
 resigned to accept the office of cashier in 
 the First National bank of Conshohocken, 
 then just organized. Mr. McDermott was 
 largely instrumental in the organization of 
 this bank, which began business March 13, 
 1S73, and its success has been due in no 
 small degree to his ability, energy and 
 sound financial management. He continued 
 to discharge the duties of cashier until Oc- 
 tober, 1894, when failing health compelled 
 his resignation, and he has since practically 
 retired from active business. His career 
 has been one of unusual activity, and in ad- 
 dition to its main features as outlined 
 above, he has been connected with man)' 
 other business enterprises, and has em- 
 ployed his talents in literary, religious and 
 temperance work. While residing in Nor- 
 ristown he was treasurer of several build- 
 ing associations, secretary of the Norris- 
 town Water company, and secretary of the 
 Norristown Library company, which posi- 
 tion he has held continuously since 1859. 
 At Conshohocken he was treasurer of the 
 Conshohocken Gas company, a member of 
 the town council and a member of the 
 school board for a number of years. 
 
 In religion Mr. McDermott adheres to 
 the faith of his father, and is a strict Pres- 
 byterian. He connected himself with that 
 church in 1843, was made a ruling elder of 
 the Central Presbyterian church of Norris- 
 town in 1855, and served as superintendent 
 of the Sunday-school connected with the 
 Central Presbyterian church here for a 
 period of twenty years. For three years 
 he was treasurer of the State Sunday-school 
 association of Pennsylvania, and became 
 widely known as an earnest and successful 
 Sunday-school worker. To him belongs 
 
 the honor of having been the first news 
 reporter in the count}'. He began writing 
 for the press when eighteen years of age, 
 and has continued to do more or less jour- 
 nalistic work all his lite. During the Civil 
 war he edited the National Defender of 
 Norristown, while its owner was serving in 
 the army, and later was editor of the Inde- 
 pendent for a number of years. He has 
 been a correspondent of the Herald, over 
 the nom de plume of " Vidi," since 1848, 
 and for seventeen years contributed regu- 
 larly to the Montgomery Ledger, besides 
 many contributions to other local and na- 
 tional journals. In addition to his news- 
 paper work he wrote an historical sketch on 
 the subject of banking for the Montgomery 
 Historical society, and prepared a paper on 
 " Currency " for the National Bankers' as- 
 sociation, in which he proposed a system 
 of " low rate bonds as a basis for circula- 
 tion," which system was afterward recom- 
 mended by the comptroller of the cur- 
 rency. 
 
 On November 23, 1854, Mr. McDermott 
 was married to Elizabeth Campbell, a 
 daughter of Alexander and Martha Camp- 
 bell, a descendant of the famous Campbells 
 of Scotland. By this union he had two 
 daughters : Ida and Bertha, both now de- 
 ceased. Mrs. Elizabeth McDermott died 
 October 7, 1874, from the effects of injuries 
 received by her dress catching fire, and six 
 years later, June 23, 1880, Mr. McDermott 
 was again married, wedding for his second 
 wife Ellen Davis, a daughter of Benjamin 
 and Hannah Davis, of Chester county. 
 
 In politics Mr. McDermott was an old 
 line Whig until the formation of the Re- 
 publican party in Pennsylvania, since which 
 time he has been a staunch adherent of that 
 political organization. He was secretary 
 of a Henry Clay club in Norristown before 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 he had reached his majority, and has always 
 taken an active and intelligent interest in 
 political affairs. For half a century he has 
 discussed party questions in the public prints 
 and been recognized as one of the best 
 posted men in Montgomery county. At 
 one time his name was mentioned as a can- 
 didate for the State senate from this dis- 
 trict. 
 
 FRANK M. HOBSON, president of the 
 Perkiomen and Reading Turnpike 
 company, is a son of Francis and Mary M. 
 (Bringhurst) Hobsou, and was born near 
 Royer's Ford, in Limerick township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, January 22, 
 1830. His first American ancestor was 
 Francis Hobson, Sr. , who was an English 
 Quaker or member of the Society of 
 Friends, and came from England either 
 with Penn or shortly afterwards. Francis 
 Hobson, Sr., first settled in Chester county, 
 and, in 1743, came to Limerick township, 
 where he purchased the valuable farm of 
 two hundred and sixty-eight acres of land 
 that has been in the possession of his de- 
 scendants until 1852. Francis Hobson died 
 in 1748, and the farm came in possession of 
 his son, Francis Hobson, Jr., who died in 
 1 791, and left to his sons, Moses and John 
 Hobson, the latter being the father of 
 Francis Hobson, who died in 1831. Fran- 
 cis Hobson, who inherited the farm, was 
 born October 10th, 1803, and like his father, 
 grandfather and great-grandfather before 
 him, followed farming. He served as a 
 Union soldier in the late civil war, and died 
 August 24, 1874, when in the seventy-first 
 year of his age. He married Mary A. 
 Bringhurst, a daughter of Israel Bring- 
 hurst, and to their union were born two 
 children : Frank M. (sketch) ; and Sarah 
 
 H., who married D. D. Detwiler, M. D., 
 and after his death married Rev. Henry W. 
 Super, D. D., LL. D. 
 
 Frank M. Hobson was reared on the old 
 homestead, received his education at Wash- 
 ington Hall school, Trappe, and at eighteen 
 years of age removed to the Trappe, where 
 he taught school and followed farming for 
 eight years. He then, in 1856, came to 
 Collegeville, where he was engaged in the 
 mercantile business until 1880, since which 
 time he has lived partly a retired life. 
 During his active business life at College- 
 ville, he did a large amount of surveying 
 and conveyancing, besides settling sixteen 
 estates, one of which was that of his uncle, 
 Wright A. Bringhurst, who left one hun- 
 dred and ten thousand dollars for the bene- 
 fit of the worthy poor of Norristown and 
 Pottstown boroughs and the township of 
 Upper Providence. Mr. Hobson also served 
 during that time as postmaster and treas- 
 urer of the Building and Loan association 
 of Collegeville ; as auditor and school 
 director of his township ; and as director 
 of the First National bank of Norristown, 
 and the Iron bank of Phoenixville, Chester 
 county. With retirement from steady busi- 
 ness, Mr. Hobson has not sought withdrawal 
 from business entirely, and is still depended 
 upon by his fellow citizens to fill several 
 positions of trust and responsibility. He 
 has been a tnistee of the Bringhurst trust 
 since its establishment ; secretary and treas- 
 urer of Ursinus college, and a director of 
 the Perkiomen and Reading Turnpike com- 
 pany, and the First National bank of Nor- 
 ristown for nearly twenty years. 
 
 On October 8, 1856, Mr. Hobson was 
 united in marriage with Lizzie Got- 
 waltz, a daughter of Jacob and Hester 
 (Vanderslice) Gotwaltz, of this county. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hobson have two children, a son 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 and a daughter : Freeland G. and Mary M. 
 Freeland G. Hobson, a graduate of Ursinus 
 college, and a lawyer of Norristown, mar- 
 ried Ella M. Hendricks, and has three 
 children: Frank H., Anna M. and Catha- 
 rine. Mary M. Hobson married Rev. O. P. 
 Smith, D. D. , who is now pastor of the 
 Lutheran church of the Transfiguration of 
 Pottstown, and was pastor of the old his- 
 toric Trappe Lutheran church for fifteen 
 years. 
 
 In politics Frank M. Hobson is an Inde- 
 pendent Republican. He was originally a 
 Democrat, but left the Democratic party in 
 1855, on account of its seeking to force 
 slavery into the free territories. Since 
 1855 he has been an Independent Republi- 
 can, and was opposed to the Republican 
 party granting the right of suffrage to the 
 negro until he was qualified by nature and 
 education to exercise it. To-day Mr. Hob- 
 son thinks that past developments show 
 that his position on negro suffrage was the 
 correct one. Mr. Hobson is a deacon of 
 Trinity Reformed church of Collegeville, 
 of which Mrs. Hobson is a member. He 
 has been secretary of the consistory for 
 over thirty-two years, and has served as a 
 Sunday-school teacher for nearly half a 
 century. 
 
 REV. JAMES D. HUNTER, pastor 
 of the Central Presbyterian church of 
 Norrristown, is a son of George and Ros- 
 anna (Harkless) Hunter, and is a native of 
 Ohio, the sons of which State are found 
 among the prominent citizens of every 
 State in the Union. His parents were 
 natives of Western Pennsylvania, and his 
 grandparents emigrated to this country 
 from the historic north of Ireland, whose 
 sturdy and intellectual people have been 
 
 such an important factor in the settlement 
 of the United States. 
 
 Rev. James D. Hunter was reared in 
 eastern Indiana and central Ohio, attended 
 Savannah Academy, in Ashland county, 
 Ohio, and in 1874, entered Lafayette col- 
 lege, Easton, Pa., from which well known 
 educational institution he was graduated in 
 the class of 1878. Immediately after 
 graduation he entered Union Theological 
 seminary, of New York city, and after 
 spending two years in that institution he 
 received a call from the Presbyterian 
 church of Dearfield, New Jersey, and was 
 ordained to the ministry and installed as 
 its pastor on November 30, 1880. With 
 that church he labored until the fall of 
 1883, when he accepted a call from the 
 Presbyterian church at Greencastle, Frank- 
 lin county, Pennsylvania. In his second 
 field of pastoral labor he worked for nearly 
 nine years, and then came to Norristown, 
 where he had been called to take charge of 
 the Central Presbyterian church of that 
 place. He entered upon his pastoral labors 
 at Norristown on May 15, 1892, and has 
 broken the bread of life for his people there 
 ever since. 
 
 On December 25, 1879, Rev. James D. 
 Hunter was united in marriage with Anna 
 M. Hess, a daughter of Mrs. Jane and the 
 late Jacob Hess, of Phillipsburg, New 
 Jersey. 
 
 Rev. Hunter is clear and logical in his 
 discourses, and always commands close 
 and respectful attention. While at Green- 
 castle he delivered an address, at the cen- 
 tennial celebration of the formation of 
 Franklin county, that was so highly appre- 
 ciated that it was published in pamphlet 
 form. The address was entitled the " Re- 
 ligious Denominations of Franklin County." 
 A number of his sermons have also been 
 

 72 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 published by request. The Philadelphia 
 Ledger recently publishing one on the 
 Trinity, accompanied by an excellent por- 
 trait. Mr. Hunter takes quite an interest 
 in civil and municipal affairs, and believes 
 that the social condition of the people can 
 be elevated by an intelligent use of the 
 right of citizenship. In church matters he 
 has been especially interested in the 
 Christian Endeavor society, and as chair- 
 man of the Standing committee on Young 
 people's societies in the Presbytery of Phila- 
 delphia North has labored zealously and 
 effectively for the Endeavor cause and the 
 promotion of its worthy aims. In 1889 
 he served as commissioner from the Presby- 
 tery of Carlisle to the General Assembly 
 that met that year in Dr. Howard Crosby's 
 church in New York city. In his religious 
 views Rev. Hunter is conservative, with 
 liberal and progressive tendencies. He is 
 an interested student of the theological 
 and social questions of the day, and is a 
 firm believer in the largest liberty to 
 scholarly investigation. His present pas- 
 toral relations with his people are pleasant 
 and helpful, and his congregation is one of 
 strength and intelligence. 
 
 WILLIAM H. ECK, M. D., chief bur- 
 gess of Pottstown, was born in 1854, 
 in the eastern part of Berks county, Penn- 
 sylvania. He is descended in a direct 
 line from that historic John Eck, who took 
 a prominent part in the wars attending the 
 great Reformation started by Martin Luth- 
 er in 1517. John Eck, paternal great- 
 grandfather of Dr. Eck, and a lineal de- 
 scendant of the John Eck above referred 
 to, was born and reared in Manheim, Ger- 
 many, from whence he came to America 
 
 and settled in Berks county, Pennsylvania. 
 The grandfather and father of Dr. Eck 
 were both natives of Berks county, and 
 both were extensive farmers. The grand- 
 father, John Eck, lived to a ripe old age, 
 but the father, Benneville Eck, enlisted in 
 the Federal army early in 1863, and was 
 soon afterward taken prisoner by the Con- 
 federates. It is presumed that he died in 
 prison and was buried with the unknown, 
 as he never returned and no record of him 
 could be found. 
 
 William H. Eck attended Mount Pleas- 
 ant seminary at Boyertown, and subse- 
 quently entered Jefferson Medical college, 
 Philadelphia, from which institution he 
 was graduated in 1875. He then entered 
 the medical department of the university 
 of New York, and after being graduated 
 from that department in 1879, sailed for 
 Germany and spent one year in the medical 
 department of the university of Berlin, 
 where he completed the regular course in 
 1881. Returning to America, Dr. Eck 
 began practice the same year at Pottstown. 
 Being an extremely hard worker, and con- 
 scientious in the discharge of his profes- 
 sional duties, he soon won the confidence 
 of the public, and rapidly built up a gen- 
 eral practice which for several years has 
 been second to none in Montgomery county. 
 It is said that in the thirteen years of his 
 practice Dr. Eck has taken but six weeks 
 rest from active work. 
 
 In 1 891 Dr. Eck was elected a member of 
 the town council of Pottstown, on the 
 Democratic ticket, from the west ward, and 
 served as such until 1894. During this time 
 he was honored with the chairmanship of 
 several of the most responsible and im- 
 portant committees. In the spring of 1894 
 Dr. Eck was elected chief burgess of the 
 borough, a position for which his active 
 
u^/j^c^e^ &t^j&i 
 
Bi< icrapiiicai. Sketches. 
 
 73 
 
 work in the councils had eminently fitted 
 him. 
 
 Ever since he became a citizen of Potts- 
 town, Dr. Eck has taken an active part in 
 public affairs, and has been eminently iden- 
 tified with every movement for the develop- 
 ment and upbuilding of the town. By his 
 energy and judicious business methods he 
 has placed himself in the front rank of the 
 substantial citizens of Pottstown. By his 
 course as chief burgess he has shown signal 
 executive ability, and demonstrated by his 
 vetoes that he has the nerve to stand by his 
 convictions of right, even when opposed 
 by powerful corporations and men of great 
 political influence. 
 
 To the foresight and good business judg- 
 ment of Dr. Eck, Pottstown is indebted 
 for one of her finest and most popular resi- 
 dence sections, known as the East End. 
 He first conceived the idea of buying land 
 and laying it out into town lots, and subse- 
 quently interested others with himself in 
 the enterprise. The scheme was pushed 
 forward to complete success, and the East 
 End stands now and will stand as a monu- 
 ment to the practical wisdom and business 
 sagacity of Dr. Eck. It has become one of 
 the most popular residence portions of the 
 city. 
 
 Dr. Eck served as a member of the board 
 of managers for the Bringhurst trust fund, 
 has served as president of the Pottstown 
 Medical society, and is a director in the 
 Reading Coal Storage company. He is 
 also identified with several business insti- 
 tutions of Pottstown. 
 
 In 1876 the Doctor was married to Annie 
 R. Fox, a daughter of John and Rachel 
 Fox, of Royersford, this county. Mrs. 
 Eck died in 1877, aged twenty years, and 
 since that time Dr. Eck has remained a 
 widower. 
 
 HON. WILLIAM D. HEEBNER, an 
 ex-member of the Pennsylvania legis- 
 lature, and the leading manufacturer of 
 Lansdale. is a son of David S. and Anna 
 (Derstein) Heebner, and was born at Norri- 
 touville, Montgomery county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, September 27, 1848. The Heebner 
 family is of German descent, and was one 
 among the number of families that were 
 driven from Germany on account of being 
 Schwenkfelders, in religious belief. David 
 Huebner or Heebner and his wife Maria, 
 came to Pennsylvania in 1734. Their son, 
 George Heebner, born in 1744, married 
 Susanna Heydrick, and their only child, 
 Rev. Baltzer, was born June 12, 1770. Rev. 
 Baltzer Heebner was a farmer in Worcester 
 township, and a minister in the Schwenk- 
 felder Society. He died April 29, 1848, 
 having lived a peaceable and useful life. 
 He married Susanna Schultz, who was a 
 daughter of Christopher Schultz, and passed 
 away March 22, 1848, when in the seventy- 
 third year of her age. Their children were : 
 George, Anthony S., Anna, Maria, Catha- 
 rine, David S., and Lydia. David S. Heeb- 
 ner (father), was born in Worcester town- 
 ship, June 25, 1810, and followed farming 
 until 1840, when he commenced the manu- 
 facture of agricultural machines at Norri- 
 tonville. He became successful in this line 
 of business, and in 1872 became a partner 
 with his sons Isaac and William D., who 
 were then agricultural machine manufac- 
 turers at Lansdale. He continued in this 
 partnership of Heebner & Sons until Octo- 
 ber, 18S7, when William D. purchased the 
 extensive plant that had grown from a 
 small shop. David S. Heebner is a mem- 
 ber of the Schwenkfelder Society, and in 
 politics has been an old line Whig and Re- 
 publican. He was postmaster at Lansdale 
 for four years, having been commissioned 
 
74 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 by President Harrison in 1891. For his 
 first wife he married Anna Derstein, who 
 was a daughter of Henry Derstein, and died 
 
 June 8, 1853, aged years. By his first 
 
 marriage he had eight children : Joseph, 
 James, Mary Ann, Isaac D., Addison, 
 Josiah, Jacob, and Hon. William D. Those 
 living of the children are : Isaac D., of 
 Lansdale ; Josiah and Jacob, in Worcester 
 township; and Hon. William D., of Lans- 
 dale. 
 
 William D. Heebner spent his early days 
 on the farm and attended the public school 
 up to his fourteenth year, when he went in 
 his father's machine shop and learned the 
 trade of machinist in all its branches, which 
 required seven years. Upon the completion 
 of his trade in 1870, he came to Lansdale 
 and became a partner with his brother, 
 Isaac D., under the firm name of Heebner 
 Brothers, and Isaac's small shop was suc- 
 ceeded by a large and well arranged factory, 
 to which the railroad company laid a side 
 track. Two years later the firm became 
 Heebner & Sons, and continued as such 
 until October, 1887, when Mr. Heebner 
 purchased the entire extensive plant, which 
 he has operated actively ever since. He 
 manufactures horse powers, threshing ma- 
 chines, feed cutters, wood sawing machines, 
 steam heaters, and all kinds of farm and 
 agricultural machinery and implements, 
 which he sells all through the United 
 States and Canada, and sends to ever}- quar- 
 ter of the civilized globe. The value of 
 the plant business is estimated at one hun- 
 dred thousand dollars. The main buildings 
 are the brick ware-house, three stories in 
 height, with a front of one hundred and 
 fifty-six feet, and two wings eighty and 
 one hundred feet in length ; and the fac- 
 tory. 
 
 In addition to owning and operating this 
 
 immense plant, Mr. Heebner has a half in- 
 terest in the Babcock Shoe Company, Lim- 
 ited, of which he is secretary and treasurer ; 
 is a stockholder in the Lansdale Water and 
 Electric Light companies, of which he is 
 president ; and owns a large amount of 
 valuable real estate. He also has valuable 
 interests in the South, where he has a 
 winter home in the State of Florida, and 
 owns orange groves and pineapple planta- 
 tions. 
 
 On November 7, 1872, Mr. Heebner mar- 
 ried Emma Frantz, a daughter of Jesse 
 Frantz, of Center Square. Mrs. Heebner 
 died August 22, 1881, and on November 29, 
 1883, Mr. Heebner wedded Lizzie Shearer, 
 a daughter of John Shearer, of Lansdale. 
 By his first marriage he has three children : 
 Clarella, Blanche, and Estelle. To his 
 second union have been born two sons and 
 one daughter: Robert S., J. Donald, and 
 Grace W. 
 
 William D. Heebner is a member of the 
 Lansdale Methodist Episcopal church, of 
 which he is a trustee and the treasurer. He 
 is an enthusiastic church worker, and for 
 the last seventeen years has served as leader 
 of the choir. Mr. Heebner is a member of 
 Lansdale Castle No. 244, Knights of the 
 Golden Eagle ; and Lamthe Lodge No. 977, 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which 
 he helped to -organize at Lansdale. He 
 is a Knight Templar Mason, being a mem- 
 ber of Norristown Lodge, Free and Ac- 
 cepted Masons ; Norristown Chapter No. 
 190, Royal Arch Masons ; and Hutchinson 
 Commandery No. 32, Knights Templar, 
 and Washington Camp No. 120, P. O. S. 
 of A. 
 
 William D. Heebner is a staunch Repub- 
 lican in politics, and has always been an 
 active worker for the success of his party. 
 He was chief burgess of Lansdale for four 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 75 
 
 terms, and was a member of the Pennsyl- 
 vania house of representatives in 1885 and 
 in 1889. He was a candidate for the State 
 senate in 1890, but was defeated, and since 
 his party has hopes of carrying the district 
 in the future, his name has been again men- 
 tioned in connection with the State senator- 
 ship. 
 
 NEVILLE D. TYSON, a prominent 
 and leading member of the Montgom- 
 ery county bar, is a son of Dr. James L. 
 and Caroline (Drinker) Tyson, and was 
 born in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, 
 October 11, 1846. The Tyson family is 
 one of the old and honorable families of 
 Pennsylvania. Of the founding of the 
 Tyson family in America, we quote the 
 following interesting and reliable account : 
 
 " The emigrating ancestor of the Tyson 
 family to this country was Renier Tyson, 
 an Englishman of ancient and honorable 
 descent. He met Penn and Barclay in 
 Holland, whither he had fled for the pur- 
 pose of enjoying his religious faith un- 
 molested. As a convert to the faith of Fox, 
 by the writings of Barclay and the preach- 
 ing of Penn, he ultimately sought religious 
 freedom in America. On the recommend- 
 ation of the latter who had there founded 
 a colony, he arrived in Pennsylvania from 
 Bristol, England, in 1683, the year after the 
 landing of Penn, and settled in German- 
 town, near Philadelphia. During his 
 residence there, he was twice chosen chief 
 burgess of the Village of Germantown. 
 Some years after he removed to the vicinity 
 of Abington, which he helped to found. 
 
 " Renier Tyson was a man of great vigor 
 of mind, possessed considerable property, 
 and he filled the most prominent appoint- 
 
 ment in the meeting at Abington at a time 
 when superior intelligence no less than 
 rigid principle was sought as a qualification 
 in the Society of Friends. He acted upon 
 the most important committees, was suc- 
 cessively promoted from the station of 
 overseer to that of elder, and filled with 
 great satisfaction to his colleagues the 
 various responsible duties which the estab- 
 lishment of a religious sect in a new and 
 flourishing colony necessarily imposed. 
 The spiritual and philanthropic labors of 
 this excellent and respected Friend in 
 common with those of his compeers are re- 
 corded in an ancient manuscript volume in 
 possession of the Abington Meeting. 
 
 " We find among the first ancestors of 
 Renier Tyson, Dr. Edward Tyson, of 
 London, whose works in Latin were pub- 
 lished by the Royal Society of England, 
 and whose fame as a nationalist and learned 
 writer are well attested by the highest ap- 
 preciation of scholars. 
 
 " The books of heraldry assign him an 
 escutcheon which is appreciated by some 
 of his lineal descendants in this country 
 and used as a device upon their seals. 
 The descending line of Renier Tyson con- 
 stitutes the American branch of the Tyson 
 family." 
 
 A son of Renier Tyson was Henry Tyson, 
 who was born March 4, 1702, at German- 
 town, and who was the father of James 
 Tyson, born April 4, 1738 and wedded a 
 Miss Harper. James Tyson was born at 
 Springfield, Montgomery county, and was 
 a fanner by occupation. His son Joseph 
 Tyson, was born in Philadelphia, June 29, 
 1775, and married Ann Van Trump, by 
 whom he had nine children. He was a 
 Friend or Quaker in religion and a Whig 
 in politics. His son, Dr. James L. Tyson, 
 the father of the subject of this sketch, was 
 
76 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 born in Philadelphia, November 19, 1813. 
 He received his education in Philadelphia, 
 and was graduated in medicine from the 
 University of Pennsylvania, after which he 
 practiced for some years in that city. He 
 was one of the originators of the Wills Eye 
 hospital, and served as Professor of materia 
 medica in the Philadelphia college of 
 medicine. During the California gold ex- 
 citement he had a general hospital in the 
 mountains of that State, and about 1859 
 came to Penllyn, Montgomery county, 
 where he has resided ever since. Dr. 
 Tyson retired from active practice a few 
 years ago, and ranks to-day as one of the 
 most skillful and successful physicians that 
 eastern Pennsylvania has ever produced. 
 He is a Democrat, and was a warm personal 
 friend of James Buchanan. He was a 
 member of the Society of Friends, which 
 dropped him from membership upon his 
 marriage with a lady who did not belong 
 to and declined to unite with that religious 
 organization. He was an able and fluent 
 medical and political lecturer, and at the 
 present time still contributes to medical 
 and scientific journals, in whose columns 
 in the past he wielded an intelligent and 
 trenchant pen. He wedded Caroline Drink- 
 er, a daughter of Drinker, of 
 
 . To their union were born six child- 
 
 ren of whom five are living : Carroll S., 
 a member of the Philadelphia city bar; Her- 
 bert B., a retired naval officer; Neville D. 
 (subject); Eleanor C, wife of Professor 
 Henry Drisler, Dean of the school of arts, 
 of Columbia college, New York, and J. 
 Roberts, who is employed in the bank of 
 North America, at Philadelphia. The 
 child who died was Mary Louise, who 
 passed away at two years of age. Lieuten- 
 ant, Herbert B., entered the United States 
 navy at the age of fourteen years, at the 
 
 Annapolis naval academy, and at the out- 
 break of the late Civil war — he then a mid- 
 shipman — was ordered to the sloop of war 
 Jamestown, then returning with a prize to 
 Philadelphia. He was next ordered to the 
 war-ship Hartford, on which he served as 
 acting master under Farragut in the battle 
 of New Orleans. He was then passed over the 
 grades of ensign and master, and commis- 
 sioned as lieutenant, which rank he held on 
 board the Hartford throughout the war. He 
 and lieutenant (now captain) J. Critendon 
 Watson were the only two line officers who 
 sailed with Farragut from Philadelphia, 
 and served with him on his flag-ship 
 throughout his brilliant and trying cam- 
 paigns. He went through many naval en- 
 gagements and battles, receiving only a 
 slight scratch at the battle of New Orleans, 
 and at the close of the war was executive 
 officer of the Connecticut. He afterwards 
 took charge of the old Constitution, and 
 when ordered to the Dacotah, sent in his 
 resignation, but it was not accepted until 
 the Dacotah arrived at Valparaiso, Chili. 
 Returning to the United States, he was 
 variously employed for several years and 
 is now engaged in banking and is connected 
 with the custom house in Philadelphia. 
 
 Neville D. Tyson was reared in Phila- 
 delphia, and after receiving his education 
 under private tutors and in select schools, 
 entered the naval service in the spring of 
 1863, as captain's clerk, on the steam fri- 
 gate, Minnesota, commanded by Captain 
 N. B. Harrison, then the flag-ship of Rear 
 Admiral S. P. Lee, in command of the 
 North Atlantic blockading squadron. He 
 was soon detailed as a member of Admiral 
 Lee's staff, and served thereon for several 
 months, and in the autumn of 1864, was 
 ordered to the sloop of war Canandaigua, 
 in the South Atlantic blockading squadron. 
 
Biographical Skktciiks. 
 
 77 
 
 He took part in all the battles in which 
 the two vessels named were engaged whilst 
 he served on board of them, and in various 
 expeditions in boats. He served until 
 May 1X65, when the term of his second 
 appointment expired, after which he did 
 not again enter the service of the govern- 
 ment. Returning home he was variously 
 engaged for two years, and then in 1867, 
 came to Norristown where he became a law 
 student in the office of his brother, Carroll 
 S. Tyson. After completing the required 
 course of reading he was admitted to the 
 Montgomery county bar, August 17, 1869. 
 After admission he en'ered upon the prac- 
 tice and has remained ever since at Norris- 
 town. He is a leading attorney; has a 
 large bank and corporation practice, and 
 handles cases with ability in the different 
 departments of civil and criminal law. He 
 is a Democrat in politic-; but no politician, 
 although he allowed his name to be used 
 in early life in connection with the office of 
 district attorney, and some years ago by so- 
 licitation of friends, was placed in uomina- 
 tian for president judge on the Democratic 
 ticket, which was then greatly in the 
 minority in the district. 
 
 Mr. Tyson has always taken an active 
 part in the local arrangements about the 
 court-house in use for the facilitation of the 
 public business. He suggested and after- 
 wards by solicitation of the judge and the 
 other members of the bar, designed the 
 present arrangement of the court-room. 
 As chairman of the committee to arrange 
 and index the court records of Montgomery 
 county, he was instrumental in securing 
 the present admirable system which is used 
 throughout the court-house. Mr. Tyson is 
 a member of the Montgomery county law 
 association, and the Philadelphia Lawyer's 
 club. 
 
 REV. WILLIAM S. ANDERS, pastor of 
 the Worcester Schwenk feller church, 
 is a son of Abraham and Rebecca (Schultz) 
 Anders, and was born in Worcester town- 
 ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 August 30, 1840. Abraham Anders was of 
 German ancestry, and a farmer by occupa- 
 tion ; he served as a school director, was a 
 director of the Montgomery count)' bank ; 
 and held other important offices in several 
 industrial companies. He was aettve in 
 business affairs, and never aspired to any 
 public office, although he was frequently 
 offered political positions, which he always 
 declined. He was a Republican in politics, 
 and in religious belief was a Schwenkfelter, 
 having been a member of that church for 
 over fifty years prior to his death. Abraham 
 Anders was a useful man and a good citizen, 
 and died December 28, 1887, at the ad- 
 vanced age of eighty-one years. He mar- 
 ried Rebecca Schultz, who was a daughter 
 of George Schultz, and passed away Octo- 
 ber 29th, 1 85 1, aged seventy years. To 
 their union were born seven children, five 
 sons and two daughters : Rev. William S., 
 (subject) ; Joseph S., Susan, wife of Josiah 
 D. Heebner, of this county ; Charles S., 
 Abraham S., now deceased ; Mary S., who 
 wedded Jeremiah K. Anders ; and Amos S. 
 Rev. William S. Anders received his edu- 
 cation in the common schools, and two 
 years at the Mount Kirk seminary, and 
 engaged in teaching, which he followed 
 for one year in Towamencin, and three 
 years in Worcester and four years in Norri- 
 ton township. At the end of this time he 
 removed to his farm in Worcester township 
 and was steidily employed in farming up to 
 1X71. On June 3rd of that year he was 
 called as a probationer to the ministry of 
 the Schwenkfelter church, and in October, 
 1873, was installed as one of the pastors of 
 
78 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Worcester, Towamenein and Lower Sal ford 
 churches, which he has served ably and 
 zealously ever since. His church has a 
 membership of three hundred souls and is 
 in a flourishing condition. 
 
 On February i, 1868, Rev. Anders was 
 united in marriage with Susan H. Krause, 
 who is a daughter of Aaron and Lydia 
 (Heebner) Krause, of Worcester township. 
 
 In political opinion, Rev. William S. An- 
 ders is a Republican. He served for several 
 years as a school director of his township, 
 and since 1889 has been a director of Ur- 
 sinus college. He is also a director of the 
 Montgomery County National bank and of 
 several industrial companies. From 1871 
 to 1893 he farmed extensively, but since 
 the latter year has given his time entirely 
 to his pastoral labors, and although serving 
 in an official capacity in several business 
 enterprises, yet allows nothing in connection 
 with them to interfere with his church 
 work. Rev. William S. Anders is a devoted 
 worker in his Divine Master's vineyard. He 
 is an able and fluent speaker, and has the 
 reputation of being a sound theologian. 
 
 OTHNIEL S. SPANG, a well-known 
 painter of Norristown, is a native of 
 the Oley valley, Berks county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, where he was born April 14, 182 1. His 
 parents were Jacob and Mary (Sands) Spang, 
 both natives of Philadelphia. Henry Spang 
 (paternal grandfather) was also a resident 
 of that city, and owned large iron furnaces 
 in the Oley valley of Berks county, where 
 he was engaged in the manufacture of iron 
 for many years. One of his brothers served 
 as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. 
 Henry Spang was a member of the Re- 
 formed church, and married Hannah Hill. 
 
 One of their sons was Jacob Spang (father), 
 who was born in Philadelphia in 1787. He 
 was reared and educated in his native city, 
 and after attaining manhood became super- 
 intendent and general manager of his father's 
 iron works in Berks county. In 1831 he re- 
 moved to Norristown, Montgomery county, 
 where he embarked in the hotel business, 
 being proprietor of the Farmer's hotel until 
 1834. In the latter year he entered politics 
 and was elected sheriff of this county, which 
 position he acceptably filled for three years. 
 He was a man of public spirit and continued 
 active in local politics until his death at 
 Norristown in 1864, when in the seventy- 
 seventh year of his age. In the closing 
 year of the last century he married Mary 
 Sands, a daughter of Othniel Sands, of 
 Amity township, Berks county, and by that 
 marriage had a family of ten children : 
 Catharine, Hannah, Sarah, Othniel S., the 
 subject of this sketch ; Amos, James, Mary, 
 Emma, Frederick, William, and one who 
 died in infancy. Mrs. Mary Spang died at 
 Norristown in 1854, aged sixty-one years. 
 
 Othniel S. Spang came to Norristown 
 with his parents when less than ten years of 
 age, and was principally reared in this bor- 
 ough. His education was obtained in pri- 
 vate schools, under the instruction of George 
 Lewis and others. When seventeen he be- 
 gan learning the trade of stone cutter, at 
 which he worked until attaining his majority 
 in 1842. In the latter year he went into the 
 foundry business with his brother-in-law, 
 Thomas M. Saurman, at Norristown. From 
 his earliest years, young Spang had evinced 
 an unusual fondness for drawing and paint- 
 ing, and his work in stone and iron was not 
 congenial to his tastes. He began the regu- 
 lar study of art without the assistance of 
 teachers, and his genius was such that he 
 soon succeeded in attaining a remarkable 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 79 
 
 degree of proficiency in that line. Encour- 
 aged by his success, and enthusiastic on the 
 subject of art, he abandoned all other work 
 in 1854, opened a studio at Norristown, and 
 devoted himself to the profession. The only 
 instruction he ever received was a course of 
 instruction under Professor Mason, of the 
 Franklin institute, Philadelphia, and some 
 technical instruction from his friend Paul 
 Weber, the celebrated painter. In 1855 lie 
 began teaching his art in the public schools 
 of Norristown, and with the exception of 
 the war period, has taught drawing and 
 painting in these schools nearly ever since, 
 having devoted more than thirty-three years 
 to that duty, during all of which time he 
 has not missed a dozen lessons. He also 
 was an instructor for a number of years in 
 Oakland Female institute and Treemount 
 seminary (for boys), both prosperous insti- 
 tutions of learning before the war of the 
 Rebellion. Mr. Spang has also painted a 
 number of pictures which have won praise 
 from connoisseurs and lovers of art, and has 
 made his name familiar in the art circles. 
 
 When the opening thunders of the Civil 
 war electrified the North, Mr. Spang laid 
 down his palette and brush, and enlisting in 
 Company E, 15th Pennsylvania cavalry, 
 marched forth to the defense of his country. 
 He participated in the hard fought battles 
 of Antietam and Chickamauga, and took 
 part in a number of minor engagements 
 and skirmishes. In 1862 he was attacked 
 with typhoid fever and sent to the hospital. 
 After recovering he again joined his regi- 
 ment at Nashville, Tennessee, and marched 
 from there to Murfreesboro, and later fol- 
 lowed General Bragg through Tennessee to 
 Chattanooga, where he was engaged with 
 his regiment in the memorable battle of 
 November 23-25, 1863. At the end of his 
 three years' service, Mr. Spang returned to 
 
 Norristown and resumed his profession, to 
 which he has ever since devoted his atten- 
 tion. 
 
 On March 28th, 1871, Mr. Spang was 
 united in marriage to Sarah B. Sutton, a 
 daughter of William Sutton, of the city of 
 Philadelphia. She died December iSth, 
 1891, at the age of sixty-six years, without 
 issue. In his political affiliations, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch is a Republican, and has 
 always taken an interest in local politics. 
 He is a member of Cavalry Post No. 35, 
 Grand Army of the Republic, of Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 DR. CHARLES MOORE, a retired den- 
 tal surgeon of Pottstown, was born in 
 the city of Philadelphia, September 26, 
 1817. He is a son of Asher and Mary 
 (Hill) Moore, both natives of Trenton, New 
 Jersey, who removed to Philadelphia while 
 young. Asher Moore died from the effects 
 of an accident, April 28, 1822, at the age of 
 thirty-one years, leaving a wife and four 
 children — William, James, Charles and 
 Mary Ann — of whom Dr. Charles Moore is 
 the only survivor. In 1838 the widow mar- 
 ried Joel Finch, who died in 1846. She de- 
 parted this life April 19, 1887, in her ninety- 
 fourth year. Her parents both died of yel- 
 low fever in 1793, while she was an infant. 
 At the age of fourteen Charles Moore was 
 apprenticed to Henry Schively, of Philadel- 
 phia, to learn the art of making surgical in- 
 struments. He served with him seven years 
 and afterward worked at the business four 
 years. He then studied dental surgery with 
 Dr. J. DeHaven White, one of the most 
 eminent practitioners of his da}', who is 
 still living in Philadelphia. As there were 
 then no dental college in Pennsylvania, Dr. 
 Moore entered the Jefferson Medical college 
 
8o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of Philadelphia, from which he was gradu- 
 ated in 1844. He then practiced dental 
 surgery in his native city until 1846, when 
 he removed to Pottstown and established an 
 office on High street. In September of 
 that year he purchased from W. H. Smith 
 his present property on Hanover street, 
 where he has ever since resided. He re- 
 mained in active practice until 1894, a 
 period of more than half a century, and 
 during that time extracted fifty thousand 
 teeth without a single accident. 
 
 On November 30, 1838, Dr. Moore was 
 married in Philadelphia to Mary Berrill, a 
 daughter of Major Henry Berrill, and a de- 
 scendant of an old Montgomery county 
 family. Mrs. Moore died August 3, 1842, 
 aged twenty-six. She left two sons, Henry 
 B., who for many years has been engaged in 
 business in the city of Philadelphia, and 
 Charles Clifford, who died soon after his 
 mother. On January 28, 1845, Dr. Moore 
 was again married, wedding Mary F. Evans, 
 a daughter of Mark and Susanna Evans, of 
 East Coventry, Chester county. She had 
 received a liberal education, and was one of 
 the first two teachers of the Pottstown 
 schools after the adoption of the " free " or 
 public school system in this borough in 
 1838. To the Doctor and Mary Evans 
 Moore was born a family of three children : 
 Wallace Clifton, Rebecca, who married 
 Francis H. Savior ; and Charles E., all now 
 residents of Pottstown. They also have five 
 grandchildren living. On January 28, 1895, 
 the Doctor and Mrs. Moore celebrated their 
 golden wedding, on which occasion a large 
 concourse of friends were assembled from 
 Pottstown, Philadelphia, Xorristown, West 
 Chester, and other points, to offer congratu- 
 lations and participate in the festivities. 
 
 Dr. Moore has been a most industrious 
 and useful citizen. In addition to his busv 
 
 practice, he has taken an active part in 
 social and public affairs. He was a member 
 of the borough council for two terms, dur- 
 ing which he was always active for the 
 public welfare and in behalf of the best in- 
 terests of the town. He served six years 
 as school director and was secretarv of the 
 school board for five years. At the election 
 in 1888 his Republican friends in Mont- 
 gomery county elected him a member of the 
 State assembly, where he served on a num- 
 ber of leading committees and assisted in 
 formulating some important legislation. He 
 was a useful and popular member, and com- 
 manded the respect of even his political op- 
 ponents. 
 
 The subject of this sketch has also been 
 prominent in secret society circles for many 
 years. He became an Odd Fellow in 1843, 
 and a Free Mason in 1S52. On January 5, 
 1847, he aided in instituting Manatawny 
 Lodge No. 214, Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows of Pottstown, and is now the only 
 surviving charter member. He passed all 
 the chairs, becoming secretary in 1850, and 
 held that position for forty-three years 
 without missing a meeting night, but re- 
 signed in 1893. He served as representative 
 to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania for 
 nearly half a century, and to the Grand 
 Lodge of the United States in 1856 and 
 1857. He was a charter member of Ex- 
 celsior Encampment No. 85, and served 
 as scribe from 1850 until his resignation a 
 few months ago. Dr. Moore has kept a 
 meteorological register or weather record 
 since 1850, reporting to the signal office at 
 Washington, and the State signal service 
 office in Philadelphia. He recalls many in- 
 teresting incidents of the olden times, and 
 distinctively remembers seeing General La- 
 fayette as he rode through the streets of 
 Philadelphia in 1824. ^ n z ^33 he saw the 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 81 
 
 distinguished Indian war chief Black Hawk, 
 as he passed along Chestnut street, in that 
 city, seated in a carriage by the side of " ( )ld 
 Hickory " Jackson, then president of the 
 United .States. 
 
 ALBERT D. SIMPSON, the present effi- 
 cient sheriff of Montgomery county, is 
 a son of Edward and Catharine (Winder- 
 slice) Simpson, and was born in East Vin- 
 cent township, Chester county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, March 2, 1829. His paternal grand- 
 father, Captain Edward Simpson, was a 
 native of Wales, and settled in Philadelphia. 
 He was a sea captain and was drowned in 
 the shipwreck of his vessel when on a voy- 
 age to a distant port. His son, Edward 
 Simpson, was born, reared and educated in 
 Philadelphia. He was a tobacconist, gen- 
 eral merchant and farmer during the early 
 part of his life, but in later years retired 
 from active business and lived rather a re- 
 tired life at Phoenixville, Chester county, 
 where he died May 24th, 1870, when in the 
 seventy-sixth year of his age. He was a 
 Democrat in politics, and served for several 
 years as a school director in Chester county. 
 He was a member for many years of the 
 Lutheran church, but finally withdrew from 
 that body and united with the Reformed 
 church, in which he worshipped until his 
 death. Mr. Simpson married Catharine 
 Yanderslice, who is a daughter of John and 
 Deborah Yanderslice, and whose family has 
 been resident of Chester county for over one 
 hundred years. To Mr. and Mrs. Simpson 
 were born five children : Genevieve C, 
 who died in her sixth year ; William E., 
 deceased at forty-five years of age ; Francis 
 H., who died in his fifty-eighth year; Em- 
 ma C, wife of Harry Miller, of Cartersville, 
 
 6 
 
 Georgia; and Albert D., whose name ap- 
 pears at the head of this sketch. 
 
 Albert D. Simpson grew to manhood in 
 his native township, where he attended the 
 common schools. He also attended a select 
 school at New London Crossroads, in Ches- 
 ter county, and then learned the trade of 
 carpenter, which he followed from 1S4S to 
 1853. In the latter year he engaged in 
 farming, which he quit eleven years later, 
 to remove to New Bloomfield, Perry county, 
 where he conducted a steam tannery for two 
 years. At the end of that time, in 1S66, 
 Mr. Simpson went to Shiloh, Ohio, and 
 purchased a steam flouring and saw mill, 
 which he operated up to 1S71. In that year 
 he purchased a farm in Limerick township 
 and resided there until 1888, when he pur- 
 chased his present property at Trappe, of 
 which place he has been a resident ever 
 since. Mr. Simpson has always been a 
 staunch and active Republican, and has 
 held various local offices. In 1892 he was 
 elected sheriff of Montgomery county for a 
 term of three years, and has been serving 
 efficiently as such from January 1, 1S93. 
 He is a member and an elder of St. Luke's 
 Reformed church, Trappe, and at the pres- 
 ent time is a delegate to the Philadelphia 
 classis, the Eastern synod, and the General 
 synod of the Reformed church of the United 
 States. He is also a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity, holding membership in Warren 
 Lodge No. 310, Free and Accepted Masons, 
 of Trappe, Norristown Chapter No. 190, 
 and Hutchinson Commandery No. 32. 
 
 On December 28, 1852, Mr. Simpson was 
 united in marriage with Lavina R. Bucher, 
 and to their union were born eight children : 
 Genevieve C, wife of George C. W. Shenkle, 
 of Millersville, this State; Sal lie K., mar- 
 ried Michael R. Shenkle, of Phoenixville, 
 Chester county ; Edward D., who wedded 
 
82 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Emma C. Gamble ; Francis H., deceased ; 
 Harry M., married Irene Booz ; Howard A.; 
 Lettie M., of Norristown ; and Ada L., de- 
 ceased. Mrs. Simpson was a daughter of 
 Daniel Bucher, of East Vincent township, 
 Chester county, and a first cousin to General 
 Hartranft. She died February 23, 1892, 
 aeed sixtv-two vears, and her remains were 
 interred in Morris cemetery, Phoenixville. 
 
 ALOYSIUS J. SCHISSLER, M. A., 
 President and founder of the Schissler 
 Colleges of Business and Shorthand, of both 
 Manaynnk and Norristown, Penna., is a 
 native of Philadelphia county, Pa., where 
 he was born the 23rd day of November, 
 1864, and is the second youngest son of 
 John M. and Mary (Schall) Schissler. His 
 father, John M. Schissler, was a native of 
 Baden-Baden, Germany, who emigrated 
 to the United States while yet a young man 
 and in 1844 came to Philadelphia where he 
 engaged for a short time in the grocery 
 business and then embarked in the baking 
 business. In politics he was a Democrat, 
 and in religion, a member of the Evangelical 
 Lutheran church. He died at Manaynnk, 
 Pa., March 2, 1887, in the 70th year of age, 
 having been born February 2, 1818. He 
 married Mary Schall, a daughter of Anth- 
 ony S. and Margaretta (Nienmer) Schall, of 
 Manaynnk, Phila., and by that union had 
 a family of eight children, Annie Josephine, 
 married Nicholas Barthelemy, and now re- 
 sides in California ; Christina, Clement B. 
 married Sarah Corman, of Montgomery 
 county, Penna., Edward F., M. Stanislaus, 
 Margaretta, Rudolph and Aloysius J., the 
 subject of this sketch. 
 
 A. J. Schissler was reared in his native 
 county, Philadelphia, and was educated 
 
 principally in the public schools of Mana- 
 ynnk. Later he entered a business college 
 in the city of Philadelphia, where he had a 
 full course of instruction in every depart- 
 ment and from which he was duly graduated 
 in 1887. He then became book-keeper for 
 McClain & Vautier, of that city, but shortly 
 afterwards resigned to accept the position 
 of book-keeper, salesman and general man- 
 ager of the firm of J. Ripka & Co., cotton 
 and woolen manufacturers, at Manaynnk. 
 With the latter firm he remained for a 
 period of over three years when they re- 
 tired from business, and Mr. Schissler be- 
 came the owner of the factory. In 1887 he 
 had established the Schissler College of 
 Business and Shorthand at Manaynnk, of 
 which he since has disposed and which was 
 under his personal supervision until June 
 29, 1894. On Sept. 14, 1891, he founded a 
 like institution at Norristown, under the 
 name of the Schissler College of Business 
 and Shorthand, which he has since given 
 close personal attention. 
 
 The first session opened with only 10 
 students, which increased to 25 at the end 
 of the year ; in 1892 the number had grown 
 to 76, and in 1894 the enrollment reached 510. 
 This growth speaks eloquently of the facili- 
 ties for first-class business training which 
 are offered by this college. The Schissler 
 College of Norristown, is one of the best 
 equipped institutions of its kind in the 
 State of Pennsylvania. Its corps of teachers 
 has been continually increased to meet 
 the demands of its growing patronage, and 
 every facility for practical business oper- 
 ations provided in liberal abundance. The 
 specialties of this business school are book- 
 keeping, shorthand and type-writing, and it 
 has two city offices which call the atten- 
 tion of hundreds of young men and women 
 to this institution where they can prepare 
 
t^&i/CJ^czrfr 
 
rvc 
 
 f 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 83 
 
 themselves for the duties of modern busi- 
 ness. 
 
 The Schissler College of Norristown, has 
 just become an incorporated institution, 
 and has among its directors some of the 
 most prominent bankers, professional and 
 business men of the State. Its sole aim is 
 to become an institution of national repute. 
 
 On Sept. 18, 1890, Mr. Schissler was uni- 
 ted in marriage to Louisa Cecila Wunsch, 
 a daughter of Anselma and Margaretta 
 Wunsch, of Manayunk, Philadelphia. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Schissler has been born one 
 child, a daughter named Marie Frances. 
 Politically Mr. Schissler is a liberal Repub- 
 lican, supporting the general policy of that 
 party, but inclined to independence in local 
 politics. He has ability and talent for 
 general management, has made his name 
 known in various parts of the United 
 States, and built up a business that entitles 
 him to rank with the enterprising and pro- 
 gressive citizens of Montgomery county. 
 
 JOHN PHIUP REED, (better known as 
 Philip Reed) the great, great-grand- 
 father of Dr. W. H. Reed, emigrated from 
 Manheim, Palatinate, on the Rhine, Ger- 
 main-. He landed with his family in Phila- 
 delphia, in the ship " Friendship" from 
 Rotterdam, October 17, 1727. He located 
 in *Salford township, Philadelphia count), 
 there secured land and followed farming. 
 Previous to 1734 he paid quit rent in Sal- 
 ford township for more than one hundred 
 acres ; in 1734 he was assessed for fifty 
 
 *Sometime subsequent to 1741, Marlborough was 
 /created from Salford township, and Philip Reed's 
 farm fell in the detached portion or the township 
 ,of Marlborough. This farm remained in the Reed 
 family for over one aud a quarter centuries. 
 
 acres, but later on he became an extensive 
 land owner near the present Hoppenville. 
 
 Philip Reed was a worshipper in the New 
 Goshenhoppen Reformed church, Upper 
 Hanover township, and he was one of the 
 original enrolled members of said congrega- 
 tion. 
 
 His wife's family fled from Switzerland 
 on account of persecution, and he for the 
 same cause from Germany. 
 
 Philip Reed was born January 26, 1698, 
 and died September 8, 1783, in his eighty- 
 sixth year. His remains were buried be- 
 side those of his wife in the New Goshen- 
 hoppen Reformed church burial ground. 
 His wife's name was Feronica, and they had 
 three sons and five daughters : Jacob, Mich- 
 ael, Andrew, Catharine, Frances, Margre- 
 tha, Elizabeth, and Eve. 
 
 Jacob Reed, the eldest in the line of de- 
 scent, was born in Salford township, (after- 
 ward Marlborough), June 28, 1730. He 
 early received a liberal education and was 
 reared a farmer. About 1755 he married 
 Magdalene Leidy, to whom nine children 
 were born : Philip, Jacob, John, Andrew, 
 Margaret, Magdalene, Catharine, Elizabeth, 
 and Eve. John was killed by lightning in 
 his twenty-third year. The others all lived 
 to an advanced age. 
 
 Jacob Reed early located with his family 
 in Hatfield township, and later on pur- 
 chased a farm near the present Hatfield sta- 
 tion, on the North Pennsylvania railroad, 
 the title for which, dated the 23rd day of 
 February, 1770, he received from Thomas 
 and Richard Penn, who were proprietors and 
 governors-in-chief in aud over the Province 
 of Pennsylvania. 
 
 In 1793 Jacob Reed sold his farm in Hat- 
 field and purchased one in New Britain 
 township, Bucks county, on the county line 
 road dividing Montgomery and Bucks 
 
84 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 counties. On this farm he resided, and 
 here his wife died August 5, 1804, aged 
 sixty-five years, six months and twelve 
 days. The remaining days of his life were 
 spent with his sou Andrew on his farm, 
 where he died November 2, 1820, aged 
 ninety vears, four months and four days. 
 His remains lie buried in the Leidy bury- 
 ing ground, Franeonia township, beside his 
 wife and other members of the family. 
 
 Jacob Reed was a man of much promi- 
 nence in his day. He was active and influ- 
 ential as a citizen, filling several positions 
 of public trust in the vicinity. In the 
 church he also took a deep interest, wor- 
 shipping at the Indian Field Reformed 
 church, not far distint, in which he served 
 as an elder for a number of years. He was 
 also prominent and active as a defender of 
 his country during the Revolutionary war. 
 
 In 1777, after the reorganization of the 
 militia by the State, Jacob Reed w r as 
 elected lieutenant colonel of the first battal- 
 ion of Philadelphia count}' militia, recruited 
 from the townships of Upper and Lower 
 Salford, Towamencin, Hatfield, Perkiomen 
 and Skippack. During Washington's cam- 
 paign of active operations in this vicinity 
 of the State in 1777 and 1778, Col. Reed 
 rendered the General invaluable service by 
 his knowledge of this territory and people. 
 He participated in the battles of Trenton, 
 Germantown and Brandywine. 
 
 Colonel Jacob Reed escaped unhurt on 
 the field of battle, but on one occasion, 
 when at home visiting his family, he was 
 waylaid by Tories, who first shot him 
 through the leg, then tied him to a tree, 
 tarred and feathered him and commenced 
 digging his grave in which they proposed 
 burying him. Before completing this last 
 act they were discovered and fled, when he 
 was released from his perilous situation. 
 
 The parties engaged in this transaction 
 escaped from the country and their property 
 was subsequently confiscated. On another 
 occasion, while passing along the highway, 
 he was shot at by a Hessian, who lay con- 
 cealed in a fence corner, the bullet grazing 
 his head. Again, on another occasion while 
 the British were laying in Philadelphia, 
 they engaged in a marauding expedition to 
 his house while he was on a furlough, and 
 took him prisoner. They were about firing 
 the gun already pointed at him, when the 
 British officer's wife interfered and saved 
 His life. They, however, took his best 
 horse and despoiled him of much other 
 valuable property, for which the State al- 
 lowed him in 1783 forty-five pounds. At 
 the battle of Germantown he had his horse 
 shot and killed from under him. 
 
 Andrew Reed, the subject's grandfather, 
 being the youngest of Colonel Jacob Reed's 
 children, remained with him and aided in 
 the cultivation of his farm. About 1807 he 
 married Mary Hartman, to whom five chil- 
 dren were born, named Jacob, Michael, Ju- 
 lian, Abigail, and Sarah, all natives of 
 New Britain township. Jacob, Julian and 
 Abigail are deceased ; the others still sur- 
 vive. 
 
 The year following the death of his father 
 Andrew Reed removed to his farm in Hill- 
 town township, Bucks county, which ad- 
 joined New Britain, which he cultivated 
 until his children grew to mature years and 
 left him. About the year 1846 he sold his 
 farm and purchased a home near the Hill- 
 town church, where, on June 1, 1856, his 
 daughter Abigail died, in the forty-sixth 
 year of her age, and on June 3, 1861, his 
 wife died, aged seventy-four years. The re- 
 maining days were spent with his youngest 
 daughter, Sarah. The last eight years were 
 spent in total blindness. His death occurred 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 85 
 
 June 10, 1869, aged eighty-eight years and 
 seventeen days. During his life he was 
 strictly honest in all his dealings, devoted 
 to his family and beloved by his neighbors. 
 Both Mr. Reed and his wife were consistent 
 Christians and worshipped at the church of 
 the Evangelical Association at Hilltown, 
 where their remains lie buried beside those 
 of their daughter Abigail. 
 
 Michael Hartman Reed was born October 
 24, 1809. He early attended Mennonite 
 day school, and when his parents removed 
 to Hilltown, attended pay school there until 
 he was sixteen years of age. Then he was 
 indentured with Henry Shellenberger, of 
 Line Lexington, to learn the trade of hat- 
 ting. After completing his apprenticeship, 
 he worked as journeyman for Shellen- 
 berger ; then accepted a position in Schaf- 
 fer's hat factory, Germantown, Pa. In 1832 
 he opened a hat and fur store and manufac- 
 tured hats in Skippackville, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania. While here he was 
 appointed postmaster under President Jack- 
 son. He remained in business at that place 
 for two years, when he disposed of his place 
 and stock to George Ruth, and removed to 
 Philadelphia and opened a hat and fur store 
 on Fourth street, below Vine. After sev- 
 eral years of successful business at this 
 stand, he disposed of the same, afterwards 
 forming a partnership with Jesse Shellen- 
 berger, the}' together opened a hat and fur 
 store on Second street, below Noble. On 
 account of failing health, he retired from 
 business in 1847, and removed to Bucks 
 county, when, on February 15, 1852, he 
 married Mary A. Rockafellow, to whom 
 three children were born : Franklin, Wil- 
 loughby H. and Mary K. 
 
 In 1855 he removed with his family to 
 Norristown. Two years later he moved to 
 Jeffersonville, at which place he still resides. 
 
 Franklin P. is engaged in the hardware 
 business at National City, Southern Cali- 
 fornia, where he married and is now living. 
 Mary E. resides at the home of her parents 
 and is engaged in teaching. 
 
 Willoughby H. Reed, M. D., Ph. G., a 
 well read physician and skillful druggist of 
 Norristown, was born at Norristown, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, January 20, 
 1856. Willoughby Reed was reared prin- 
 cipally at Jeffersonville, and received his 
 education in the public schools of Norriton 
 township. In his seventeenth year he dis- 
 continued going to school and accepted a po- 
 sition in the village grocery store. Subse- 
 quentlv he entered the True Witness office, 
 a temperance paper, owned and edited by 
 Moses Auge, to learn the science and art of 
 printing. He followed the trade of a printer 
 for eighteen months, then he became a clerk 
 in the drug store of I. M. Buckwalter, of 
 Phcenixville, where he remained four years. 
 He matriculated in the fall of 1877 in the 
 Philadelphia college of pharmacy, of Phila- 
 delphia, and was graduated from that insti- 
 tution in the class of 1879. The ensuing 
 year he spent as a clerk in a Philadelphia 
 drug store and in reading medicine, and 
 then entered Jefferson Medical college in 
 the fall of 1880, from which time-honored 
 institution he was graduated in the spring 
 of 1882. After graduation he practiced for 
 some time at Cape May Point, at which 
 place he remained two seasons, having a 
 good practice and conducting a large drug 
 store, then located and practiced medicine 
 at Jeffersonville. At the end of that time, 
 in 1884, he removed to Norristown, where 
 he is actively engaged in the drug business 
 at the present time. 
 
 A short period previous to the outbreak 
 of the Pittsburg riots in 1877, Dr. Reed en- 
 listed as a private in Company D., 1 < >t 1 1 
 
86 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 regiment, Pennsylvania militia, of Phcenix- 
 ville. When the call was made by the 
 State for troops, he was one of the boys to 
 first report with muskets for duty. The 
 troop were in the field for eighteen days 
 and experienced some rough and trying 
 times while at Pittsburg. 
 
 On November 5, 1884, Dr. Reed was 
 united in marriage with Annie R. Jarrett, 
 daughter of Samuel F. Jarrett, of Jefferson- 
 ville. 
 
 Dr. Reed, besides filling a number of po- 
 sitions of honor and trust, is a member and 
 recently president of the Pennsylvania Phar- 
 maceutical association ; he is a member of 
 the Alumni Association of the Philadelphia 
 College of Pharmacy, and also of the 
 Philadelphia Botanical club, the Mont- 
 gomery County Historical society, and the 
 Knights of Friendship. Dr. Reed is a Re- 
 publican politically, and has served for sev- 
 eral terms as a school director. He is at 
 the present time treasurer of the board. He 
 is a congregational member and trustee of 
 the Jeffersouville Presbyterian church. He 
 is a member of the American Pharmaceu- 
 tical association, and is a frequent and valu- 
 able contributor to general, medical and 
 pharmaceutical literature. He is at present 
 at work on a history and genealogy of the 
 " Reed " family. 
 
 HOWARD K. REGAR, junior member 
 of the firm of Rambo & Regar, manu- 
 facturers of hosier)-, Norristown, this count}-, 
 is a son of George K. and Mary J. (Kafroth) 
 Regar, and was born in the city of Phila- 
 delphia, December 16, 1861. The Regars 
 are of German extraction, and for several 
 generations have resided in Lancaster coun- 
 ty, this State. After attaining manhood, Mr. 
 
 Regar's father was engaged in the mercantile 
 business and various industrial pursuits in 
 different parts of Pennsylvania, but about 
 1852 he removed to the city of Philadelphia 
 and embarked in the wholesale notion trade. 
 He continued the mercantile business in 
 Philadelphia for a dozen years, and died in 
 that city June 20th, 1865, in the thirty- 
 ninth year of his age. His remains rest in 
 the cemetery at Adamstown, Lancaster 
 county. He was a Republican in politics 
 and in religion a member of the Evangeli- 
 cal church. He married Man- J. Kafroth, 
 of Earlville, Lancaster county, and had a 
 family of five children, all of whom are 
 still living : Horace, now a practicing phy- 
 sician of the city of Philadelphia ; George; 
 Ida, wife of John D. Glass, of Philadelphia; 
 Howard K., the subject of this sketch ; and 
 Newton. Mrs. Regar resides in Philadel- 
 phia, being now in her sixtieth year. 
 
 Howard K. Regar was reared in his na- 
 tive city of Philadelphia, and received an 
 English education in the public schools of 
 the metropolis. After leaving school he 
 spent one year as law clerk, and then es- 
 tablished himself as clerk in the wholesale 
 notion business in Philadelphia. Afterward 
 he became connected with the jewelry manu- 
 facturing business as a clerk and salesman, 
 in which position he remained for a period 
 of one and a half years. In 1886 he became 
 a member of the firm of Rambo & Regar, 
 hosiery manufacturers of Norristown, Mont- 
 gomery county, and removed to this bor- 
 ough in 1889, assuming control of the 
 financial management of the business. His 
 partner is Mr. Joseph S. Rambo, a sketch of 
 whom appears elsewhere in this volume. 
 Their factor}', known as the Globe Knitting 
 mills, is a large and commodious structure, 
 located at the corner of Moore and Walnut 
 streets, and is fully equipped with all 
 
-e^f^O 
 
^ 
 
 Y- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 modern machinery for the manufacture of 
 every description of seamless hosiery. In 
 addition to this business, Mr. Regar is also 
 treasurer of the Norristown Shoe Manufac- 
 turing company, treasurer of the Excelsior 
 Automatic Knitting Machine company, a 
 director of the Penn Tack company, and a 
 stockholder in several other business enter- 
 prises. 
 
 On the 12th of April, 1888, Mr. Regar 
 was united in marriage with Eugenia Sev- 
 ern, a daughter of Mrs. Anna Severn, of the 
 city of Philadelphia. Their union has been 
 blessed by the birth of one child, a son, 
 Howard Severn, now in his sixth year. 
 
 Politically Mr. Regar is an uncompromis- 
 ing Republican and protectionist, though 
 he has never taken any active part in politi- 
 cal matters, a strict devotion to business be- 
 ing more congenial to his tastes. In reli- 
 gion he is an Episcopalian, being connected 
 with St. John's Episcopal church of Norris- 
 town, and is also a director of the Young 
 Men's Christian association. He is a man 
 of musical talent, and is now serving as 
 chorister of the Episcopal Sunday-school, 
 and president of the Norristown Choral so- 
 ciety. Mr. Regar is also a member of the 
 Order of Sparta. He and his wife are very 
 popular socially, and as a business man his 
 record is one of honorable success. 
 
 GILBERT RODMAN FOX, Esq., a 
 gifted lawyer of the Norristown bar, 
 is a son of Gilbert R. and Catharine (Cru- 
 ger) Fox, and was born at Oscawana, on 
 the Hudson, Westchester county, New 
 York, July 26, 1861. The Fox family is 
 of English ancestry and was founded in 
 the new world by General Edward Fox, 
 who came to Philadelphia during the latter 
 
 part of the eighteenth century and engaged 
 in the mercantile business, in which he was 
 very successful for many years. He served 
 as auditor general of Pennsylvania under 
 Joseph Reed, when the latter was president 
 of that State. He was the friend of Robert 
 Morris, and lost heavily by endorsing for 
 him. Gen. Fox was born at Dublin, Ireland, 
 but of English parents, and married Eliza- 
 beth Sergeant, sister of Jonathan Dickinson 
 Sergeant, and aunt to Thomas Sergeant, 
 a judge of the supreme court of Pennsyl- 
 vania. His son, Judge John Fox, was born 
 at Philadelphia April 26, 1787, was gradu- 
 ated from the University of Pennsylvania 
 and read law under Alexander J. Dallis, 
 with George M. Dallis, the sou of the latter, 
 and afterwards vice-president of the United 
 States. Soon after admission to the bar 
 Mr. Fox was recommended by his physician 
 to settle in the country, and was succes- 
 sively a resident of Bristol, Newtown and 
 Doylestowu, the three successive seats of 
 justice for Bucks county during the first 
 half of the present century. He was a 
 Democrat, and served as deputy attorney 
 general of Bucks county for several years. 
 In 1830 he was appointed president judge 
 of the Seventh Judicial district, then com- 
 posed of the counties of Bucks and Mont- 
 gomery, and would have held that position 
 for life, had he not, with all other judges, 
 been legislated out of office by the adoption 
 of the constitution of 1838, which made 
 the judical office elective. He left his law 
 cases when prosecuting attorney to serve on 
 General Worrall's staff in the War of 1S12. 
 He served with the rank of major and 
 afterwards was appointed major general of 
 the Seventh division of the Pennsylvania 
 militia, which command he held until he 
 went on the bench. Judge Fox died at 
 Doylestowu, Bucks county, April 15, 1849. 
 
88 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 He was an intimate friend of John C. Cal- 
 houn, and an admirer of Daniel Webster, 
 with whom he never agreed politically ex- 
 cept on the interpretation of the United 
 States constitution. He was the intimate 
 friend and private adviser of Samuel D. 
 Ingham, when the latter was secretary of 
 the treasury under President Jackson in the 
 days when the " Kitchen Cabinet " was a 
 prominent factor in politics at Washington 
 city. An unselfish man of good judgment 
 and tender heart, yet Judge Fox had great 
 courage, both physical and moral, and 
 never knew fear or timidity. His opinion 
 on the negro suffrage question in a case he 
 argued was published by direction of the 
 Pennsylvania legislature and gave him 
 reputation not only throughout the United 
 States, but also in the leading countries of 
 Europe. On June 6, 1816, he married 
 Margery Rodman, and left five children, 
 three sons and two daughters. Mrs. Fox 
 was a daughter of Gilbert Rodman, a re- 
 tired Philadelphia merchant and a member 
 of the old Colonial Rodman family. 
 
 One of these sons, Gilbert R. Fox, 
 (father), was born at Doylestown, Bucks 
 county, March 27, 1S17. He was graduated 
 from Princeton college in 1835, and two 
 years later received his degree of A. M. 
 from that old historic institution of learn- 
 ing. He read law, was admitted to the bar 
 of Bucks county in September, 1838, and 
 removed the same year to Norristown, 
 where he was immediately admitted to the 
 bar November 19, 1838. 
 
 The next year he was appointed deputy 
 attorney general of Montgomery county 
 and held that office up to 1845. He was 
 then engaged in the practice of his profes- 
 sion until January, i860, when he was ap- 
 pointed clerk of the district court of the 
 United States for the eastern district of 
 
 Pennsylvania, which position he resigned 
 fifteen years later, on April 19, 1875. He 
 died at Norristown, December 4, 1892, 
 when in the seventy-sixth year of his age. 
 Mr. Fox ranked as one of the best equity 
 lawyers of the State, and in politics sup- 
 ported the Democratic party, but was no 
 politician. He was a Presbyterian and 
 served for many years as an elder of his 
 church, in which he was a leading and in- 
 fluential member. He wedded Catharine 
 Cruger, a daughter of Nicholas Cruger, of 
 New York, who was born December 13, 
 1829, an d died January 8, 1S94. To their 
 union were born five children : Kate Mar- 
 gery, Francis M., Martha R., Gilbert Rod- 
 man, Governeur C. Of these children three 
 are living, Gilbert Rodman, Francis M., and 
 Martha R., wife of Albert R. Genet, an 
 attorney-at-law, of New York City. 
 
 Gilbert Rodman Fox was brought up in 
 Norristown, receiving his academical edu- 
 cation in the Classical institute of Philadel- 
 phia, and the Hill school of Pottstown. 
 He entered Princeton college in 1880, being 
 admitted to the Sophomore class, and was 
 a member of the class of 1884, but left col- 
 lege in 1883, at the end of the Junior 
 year, to commence the study of law. 
 He was admitted to the Montgomery coun- 
 ty bar May 23, 1885, and on January 30, 
 1888, was admitted to practice before the 
 supreme court of Pennsylvania. He is 
 also a member of the bar of Philadelphia 
 county, and was admitted to the supreme 
 court of the United States on March 11, 
 1895, upon motion of the Hon. George F. 
 Edmunds, of Vermont. Since his admis- 
 sion to the bar, Mr. Fox has practiced con- 
 tinuously in Montgomery and adjoining 
 counties and before the supreme court of 
 the State. He is a Democrat in politics, 
 like his father and grandfather before him, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 89 
 
 and while not neglectful of any political 
 duty, yet is devoted to the practice of his 
 profession in which he has been successful. 
 On May n, 1886, Mr. Fox was united in 
 marriage with Rebekah Coleman, daughter 
 of George F. Coleman, senior, member of 
 the well known firm of Coleman & Brother, 
 commission merchants, of Philadelphia, 
 since retired from the firm. They have 
 had five children : Gilbert Rodman, now 
 deceased; George Coleman, Josephine, Mil- 
 dred, and John Wister. 
 
 HON. HENRY K. BOYER, ex-speaker 
 of the house of representatives of Penn- 
 sylvania, lawyer, scholar and politician, 
 is a son of Ephraim D. and Rebecca (Kline) 
 Boyer, and was born at Evansburg, in Lower 
 Providence township, Montgomery eountv, 
 Pennsylvania, February 19, 1850. The Boyer 
 and Kline families are two old German 
 families which have been resident in Mont- 
 gomery county for over one hundred and 
 fifty years. 
 
 Henry K. Boyer received his elementary 
 education in the public schools of his native 
 township and then took a classical course at 
 Freeland seminarv, now Ursinus college, of 
 Collegeville. At sixteen years of age he 
 commenced life for himself as a teacher. He 
 taught a district school in his own neigh- 
 borhood for two years, and then went to 
 Philadelphia, where he became teacher 
 of the English branches in a classical acade- 
 my, in which ever}- leading nationality was 
 represented by the students in attendance. 
 One year later he was elected a teacher in a 
 classified school in the twenty-third ward, 
 which was an old Quaker settlement, and 
 while teaching there he received and ac- 
 cepted the offer of the principalship of the 
 
 Kaign's Point Grammar school in Camden, 
 New Jersey. In this new and advanced 
 field of educational labor he did such thor- 
 ough, practical and satisfactory work as to 
 make him popular with his patrons and win 
 the reputation of an able and progressive 
 educator. He served as principal of this 
 school for three years, although offered in 
 the meantime the principalship of a Phila- 
 delphia Grammar school at an increased 
 salary. In 1871 he became a law student in 
 the office of ex-Attorney General Benjamin 
 Harris Brewster, of Philadelphia, and in 1872 
 resigned the principalship of the Kaign's 
 Point Grammar school in order to devote 
 his entire time to his legal studies. Two 
 years later on, 1874, at the early age of 
 twenty-four years, he was admitted to the 
 bar of Philadelphia, and has engaged in the 
 practice of his profession ever since in the 
 civil courts of the State. His present law 
 offices are at 608 Chestnut street, Philadel- 
 phia, and he has met with flattering success 
 in his profession. 
 
 With a reputation for scholarship and 
 legal ability, it was but natural that his 
 party called upon him for leadership, and 
 his distinguished political career com- 
 menced in 1882, when the Republicans 
 elected him as a member of the Pennsylva- 
 nia house of representatives from Philadel- 
 phia. He was re-elected in 1884, 1886,' and 
 1888, and again in 1892. In 1887, at the 
 earl}' age of thirty-seven years, he was 
 elected speaker of the house, and re- 
 elected in 1889, receiving each time the 
 unanimous support of his party, and in 
 1889 was complimented by receiving the 
 unanimous vote of the house. Except- 
 ing Mr. Boyer, but three or four persons of 
 any age in the history of the State, have 
 enjoyed the distinction of having served 
 two consecutive terms as speaker of the 
 
9 o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 house. During the time he served as a 
 member of the house he was active in com- 
 mittee work and prominent and able in de- 
 bate, and helped to add some valuable laws 
 to the statute book of the State. He advo- 
 cated the Bullitt bill, the Medical Exam- 
 iners' bill, the Board of Health bill, and the 
 bill regulating fraternal societies, and as- 
 sisted in framing the revenue act of 
 1885. While speaker he won an enviable 
 reputation for fair and just rulings in a 
 time when partisanship was rife and party 
 feeling ran high. 
 
 His services as speaker gave Mr. Boyer 
 such a degree of popularity that his party 
 in 1889 unanimously nominated him for 
 State treasurer, the only elective office that 
 year on the State ticket, and he was elected 
 by the handsome majority of sixty thousand 
 nine hundred and twenty-six votes. He 
 served as State treasurer from May, 1890, 
 to May, 1892. While serving as treasurer, 
 in 1891, the famous Taggart (Granger) 
 State revenue bill was passed by the house 
 and sent to the State senate for concurrence, 
 and to oppose it Mr. Boyer had a bill (since 
 known as the Boyer revenue act) passed in 
 the house and also sent to the senate for 
 concurrence. A sharp contest there ensued 
 over the bills, and on a test vote on a minor 
 matter connected with these bills, the Tag- 
 gart following fell into the minority by one 
 vote. The influence of this vote was such 
 that the final passage of the Boyer revenue 
 act was secured by a good majority, and be- 
 came the present revenue law of the State. 
 After completing his term as State treasurer, 
 he was nominated by the Republicans of 
 the Seventh District of Philadelphia and 
 elected as a member of the legislature of 
 1893 by a majority of two thousand six 
 hundred and seventy-seven votes, serving 
 during; that session as chairman of the com- 
 
 mittee on ways and means. He declined a 
 renomination in 1894, and announced his 
 retirement from politics. 
 
 Henry K. Boyer has the reputation of a 
 man of fine literary attainments and as be- 
 ing an excellent mathematician. In 1887 he 
 delivered the address at the commencement 
 of Ursinus college, and his effort was so 
 able and showed such deep and accurate 
 scholarship, that the faculty of that institu- 
 tion of learning conferred upon him the de- 
 gree of A. M. Subsequently he became a 
 member of the board of directors of Ursi- 
 nus college and one of the executive com- 
 mittee. Able as a lawyer, popular as a man, 
 and distinguished as a legislator, Mr. Boyer 
 has discharged every duty that has devolved 
 upon him with credit and honor. 
 
 DANIEL PRICE, president of the First 
 National bank at Pottstown, is a son 
 of Hon. William and Lydia (Urner) Price, 
 and was born in North Coventry township, 
 Chester county, Pennsylvania, on March 9, 
 1827. 
 
 The ancestors of Mr. Price, both paternal 
 and maternal for several generations back, 
 were natives and residents of Chester and 
 Montgomery counties. Indeed they were 
 among the very earliest settlers of these 
 counties and were uniformly noted for their 
 thrift and prosperity as farmers. His great- 
 grandfather's name was George Price, and 
 his grandfather was Daniel Price, both of 
 whom died in Chester county. 
 
 Hon. William Price, our subject's father, 
 was bom in North Coventry township, coun- 
 ty of Chester, in 1801. He was reared 
 on the farm, educated in the schools of 
 his native township, and followed the oc- 
 cupation of farming for a number of 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 9 1 
 
 years, in connection with which he operated 
 a large saw-mill. In politics he was a 
 Whig and took an active and commendable 
 interest in all political and civil matters af- 
 fecting his comity. By reason of his fidel- 
 itv to the public interest, he was elected to 
 the State legislature and during his term of 
 service was the author of a number of bills 
 which always reflected a wise and cautions 
 judgment. He was united in marriage 
 to Miss Lydia Urner, and to this union 
 were born six children, of which the 
 subject of this sketch is the only one now 
 surviving. Those deceased are : Sarah A., 
 wife of George Crull, of Montgomery 
 county; Elizabeth, wife of Franklin Baugh, 
 a practicing lawyer of the Philadelphia bar; 
 Caroline, wife of Thomas Sprague, of Cali- 
 fornia ; Jonas Urner, and Hon. Nathan 
 Urner. The former of the two last mention- 
 ed was a graduate of Union college, Schen- 
 ectady, New York, and at the outbreak of the 
 Civil war enlisted in the Union army. He 
 was killed in the first engagement at Green 
 Briar Valley, West Virginia, and now lies 
 buried at Cheat Mountain summit. Nathan, 
 the youngest brother, after enjoying a liber- 
 al education, read law and began his 
 professional career in the State of Kansas. 
 He rapidly rose in his profession to a 
 position of honor and usefulness. He be- 
 came a member of both houses of the legis- 
 lature of his adopted .State and subsequently 
 was elevated to the office of judge of the 
 district court. At the expiration of his 
 term of service, he resumed the practice of 
 law which he followed until his death. He 
 also enlisted in the service of his country 
 during the late Civil war where he was 
 soon given a captain's commission on ac- 
 count of valorous conduct. As an evidence 
 of the respect and high esteem in which he 
 was held, one of the Grand Army posts of 
 
 the State of Kansas was christened in his 
 honor. 
 
 Daniel Price, our subject, received his 
 early education in the local schools, later 
 entering Pottstown Academy and afterwards 
 the academy of Joshua Hoopes at West 
 Chester. After finishing his academical 
 course, he was attracted to Philadelphia 
 where he accepted a position as book-keeper. 
 He followed this vocation for a period of 
 nine years, at the expiration of which time 
 he was induced to leave his position in 
 Philadelphia to accept that of clerk in the 
 Pottstown bank. This was on September 
 14, 1857, the date of the organization of that 
 institution. Mr. Price continued in this 
 capacity until the year 1S61, at which date 
 his integrity and financial ability brought 
 him the position of cashier. On November 
 22, 1864, the bank was re-organized and be- 
 came a National bank, and in January, 1867, 
 Mr. Price was made its president. His 
 former services and well recognized probity 
 received through this promotion only an 
 additional recognition of his worth, and 
 Mr. Price has deservedly continued to merit 
 the confidence of both stockholders and 
 patrons of the bank. Besides his connection 
 with the National bank, Mr. Price is one of 
 the managers of the Cold Storage and Ice 
 company of Pottstown, formerly a manager 
 of the Schuylkill bridge and is at present a 
 member of the town council. In politics he 
 was originally a Whig, but after the birth 
 of the Republican party, affiliated with it. 
 He is in no sense a politician, but accepts 
 the citizen's responsibility, and contributes 
 his best efforts toward the moral, intellectual 
 and industrial improvement of his communi- 
 ty. In these latter respects he has been an 
 indefatigable and faithful worker. 
 
 Daniel Price has been twice married. 
 His first marriage was in July, 1852, with 
 
9 2 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Malvina Wiley, a daughter of Ur. Penrose 
 Wiley, of Penrose, Berks county, by whom 
 he had five children, two of whom died in 
 infancy, and three are yet living : Mary, 
 wife of W. Stewart, a chemist ; Walter, 
 (deceased) married to Florence Harburger 
 of Pottstown, by whom he had three 
 children — William, Daniel and Walter ; 
 and William, a gradnate of Yale University 
 and former tntor in that institution. Mr. 
 Price's second marriage took place in 1868 
 to Mrs. Katharine C. Shewell, who subse- 
 quently died without issue. She was the 
 daughter of Fred. R. Backus, and a grand- 
 daughter of Peter Keyser, a prominent of- 
 ficial of the Dunkard church. 
 
 Mr. Price is a man of good business 
 qualities, excellent social standing and 
 leads a very active and useful life. He is 
 a man of intellectual force, unassuming in 
 manner and has contributed not a little to 
 the up-building and advancement of the 
 community in which he lives. 
 
 WILLIAM W. POTTS, who served in 
 the Civil war and is now a leading 
 fanner of Swedeland, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, is the representative of an 
 old and honored Pennsylvania family that 
 dates back to the time of William Penn. 
 He was born December 1, 1838, at Swede- 
 land, this county, and is the youngest son 
 of Robert T. and Eliza M. (Hiltner) Potts. 
 The founder of the American branch of 
 the family, David Potts, great-great-grand- 
 father of the subject of this sketch, came to 
 this country from Bristol, England, with 
 Markain, when a young man, and settled at 
 Bristol, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He 
 was a Quaker in religion, a farmer by occu- 
 pation, and in 1693 married Alice Crosdale, 
 
 who came over in the ship Welcome from 
 England with William Penu. One of their 
 sons was Nathan Potts, (great-grandfather), 
 who was born and reared at Bristol, and 
 later settled near Plymouth meeting house 
 in Montgomery county. He was a fanner 
 and blacksmith, and in religion a member 
 of the Society of Friends. In 1736 he 
 married Esther Rhodes, and reared a family 
 of six children : Daniel, Stephen, Nathan, 
 Alice, Zebulon, and Isaiah. Hon. Zebulon 
 Potts, (grandfather), was born and grew to 
 manhood on the old homestead near Ply- 
 mouth meeting house, and afterward en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits in Plymouth 
 township. He became a prominent politi- 
 cian, served as the first sheriff of Mont- 
 gomery county, and was afterward elected 
 to the State senate of Pennsylvania, in 
 which he died while serving his second 
 term. In religion he adhered to the faith 
 in which he was reared, being a strict 
 member of the Society of Friends until ex- 
 pelled for enlisting in the American army 
 during the war of the Revolution. In that 
 contest he served with distinction, taking 
 part in the battle of Brandywine, and other 
 historic struggles. He was also a member 
 of the committee of safety with Robert 
 Morris and others, and was honored by 
 having a price set on his head by the 
 British government, for the active interest 
 he took in behalf of the struggling colonies. 
 After the war he served as justice of a 
 court in Philadelphia, and occupied other 
 positions of trust and emolument. In 1771 
 he married Martha Trotter, of Philadelphia, 
 and they had a family of ten children : 
 Ann, Joseph, Esther, Hannah, Alice, Es- 
 ter, Martha, William, Robert T. and Daniel. 
 Robert T. Potts, (father), was born at 
 Plymouth township, in 1790, and after se- 
 curing: a good common school education 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 93 
 
 became a clerk for Harmon Yerkes, at 
 Harmonville, where he remained until 
 twenty-one years of age. He then went to 
 Philadelphia and embarked in the whole- 
 sale dry goods trade, which he conducted 
 successfully until 1838. In the latter year 
 he purchased property at Swedeland and 
 removed to Montgomery count)'. He was 
 an ardent Whig in politics, and was a can- 
 didate for congress in the Henry Clay 
 campaign. The county being largely- 
 Democratic, he was defeated, but was ac- 
 tive in both local and general politics for 
 many years. In 1828 he married Eliza M. 
 Hitner, a native of Whitemarsh, and a 
 daughter of Daniel Hitner, of Marble Hall, 
 and granddaughter of Daniel, who was a 
 soldier of the Revolution and was killed at 
 the battle of Germantown. To their union 
 was born a family of five children, three 
 sons and two daughters: Henry C, Ellen 
 E., widow of R. L. Rutter, of Philadelphia ; 
 Ellery C, Martha T., and William W. 
 Robert T. Potts died December 13th, 1873, 
 at Swedeland, this county, aged eighty- 
 four. His wife had preceded him in 1851, 
 at the age of fifty-nine. 
 
 William W. Potts was reared at Swede- 
 land, where he obtained his elementary edu- 
 cation in the public schools. In 1851 he 
 entered Haverford college, where he re- 
 mained until 1854. He then studied for 
 one year at the Pennsylvania State college 
 at Bellefonte. After leaving college in 
 April, 1861, he enlisted in Company K, 
 4th Pennsylvania infantry, under Captain 
 Cook and Colonel John F. Hartranft. At 
 the end of his term of service, Mr. Potts re- 
 enlisted in Company F, 124th Pennsylvania 
 infantry. He was seriously wounded at the 
 battle of Antietain, which incapacitated 
 him for further service, and he was dis- 
 charged on account of disability. Return- 
 
 ing to Montgomery county, he soon after- 
 ward engaged in farming at Swedeland, 
 and has been connected with agricultural 
 pursuits ever since, in which he has been 
 successful and is regarded as among the 
 most progressive farmers of his community. 
 
 Politically Mr. Potts has always been a 
 Republican. His first vote was cast for 
 Abraham Lincoln and A. G. Curtiii in i860. 
 He has always been active in support of 
 his party, but never entertained any politi- 
 cal ambitious for himself. He served as 
 school director for a number of years and 
 was treasurer of the school board for some 
 time. Since 1865 he has been a member of 
 Charity Lodge No. 190, Free and Accepted 
 Masons ; and is also connected with Zook 
 Post No. 11, Grand Army of the Republic, 
 Norristown ; also vice-president of the His- 
 torical society of Montgomery county. 
 
 On November 9th, 1870, Mr. Potts was 
 united in marriage to Ella Holstein, a 
 daughter of Dr. G. W. Holstein, of Bridge- 
 port. To Mr. and Mrs. Potts have been 
 born five children : Brita H., Helen R., 
 Carrie, Abbie, (deceased) ; and Ella. 
 
 WILLIAM AUCHENBACH, founder 
 and senior member of the wholesale 
 grocery firm of William Auchenbach & 
 Sons, of Pottstown, is a native of Pottsville, 
 Schuylkill county, where he was born Feb- 
 ruary 22, 1832. His parents were Henry 
 and Mary (Shultz) Auchenbach, both na- 
 tives of Berks county, this State. Henry 
 Auchenbach, (father), was a carpenter by- 
 trade, and shortly after marriage moved to 
 Pottsville, from whence he removed to 
 Reading, Berks county, when the subject of 
 this sketch was an infant. Politically he 
 was a Democrat, and in religion a member 
 
94 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of the Methodist church. He died in 1852, 
 aged fifty-one years, and his wife passed 
 away in 1888, in the eighty-seventh year of 
 her age. They were buried in the Charles 
 Evans cemetery in Reading. 
 
 William Auchenbach was a pupil in the 
 public schools at Reading until he reached 
 the age of nine years, when he went to 
 work in a tobacco shop, and had no further 
 opportunity to attend school. His addi- 
 tional education was acquired in the uni- 
 versity of practical life, and that he was an 
 apt student of the world is attested by the 
 success he won. From the tobacco works 
 he went into a store in Reading as clerk 
 and salesman, and after six years in that 
 position he went to work for the Reading 
 Railroad company in the foundry depart- 
 ment in that city. There he remained two 
 years, after which he came to Pottstown, in 
 1850, and engaged as clerk in the general 
 store of Daniel H. Beecher, with whom he 
 remained in that capacity for four years. 
 In 1854 Mr. Auchenbach was admitted to 
 a partnership in the business, but one year 
 later disposed of his interest and embarked 
 in the dry goods and grocery business. 
 
 This enterprise he conducted successfully 
 for a year and a half, when on account of 
 failing health he sold out and purchased a 
 farm so as to live more in the open air. At 
 the end of four years the pure air and out- 
 door exercise had completely restored his 
 health and Mr. Auchenbach sold his farm 
 and once more engaged in merchandis- 
 ing. When the Civil war occurred, 
 he again sold his store and enlisted 
 in the Federal army. Upon its organiza- 
 tion, Mr. Auchenbach was elected captain 
 of Company H, 68th Pennsylvania infantry, 
 and served with his command in the Army 
 of the Potomac for one year. He then re- 
 signed, and returning to Pennsylvania, 
 
 again embarked in the grocery business at 
 Pottstown Here he continued the retail 
 grocery trade until 1890, when in partner- 
 ship with his sons, Harry and Frank Auch- 
 enbach, he enlarged the sphere of his ope- 
 rations and began the wholesale grocery 
 business, under the firm name of William 
 Auchenbach &; Sons. Their business has 
 rapidly assumed large proportions and now 
 extends over a wide reach of territory. 
 
 Besides his wholesale grocery business, 
 Mr. Auchenbach is closely identified with 
 a number of other important enterprises of 
 Pottstown. He has been stockholder and 
 director in the Pottstown Gas and Water 
 company ever since its organization, and is 
 now the only original director. He is a 
 stockholder and president of the Pottstown 
 Textile mills, and a stockholder in the 
 Pottstown Market company, and in a num- 
 ber of other business and industrial enter- 
 prises in this city. He has served as a 
 councilman and school director, and is a 
 director of the First Building and Loan as- 
 sociation, of Pottstown. 
 
 In 1854 Mr. Auchenbach was married to 
 Anna Wambach, a daughter of Bartholo- 
 mew Wambach, of Montgomery county, and 
 by that union had three children, one of 
 whom died in infancy. The other two are 
 Harry and Frank, both now partners with 
 their father in the wholesale business. On 
 January 8, 1867, Mrs. Auchenbach died, 
 aged thirty-eight years, and on the 17th of 
 June, 1868, Mr. Auchenbach married Effie 
 Bachtel, a daughter of Joshua Bachtel, of 
 Pottstown. Mr. Auchenbach is a member of 
 Stitcher Lodge No. 254, Free and Accepted 
 Masons, of which he is past master, and is 
 also a Knight Templar. His career shows 
 what may be accomplished by energy, 
 ability and continued application to a wise- 
 ly chosen and honorable vocation. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 95 
 
 SAMUEL F. JARRKTT, who served 
 for three consecutive terms as treasurer 
 of Montgomery county, is a son of David 
 and Rebecca (Farra) Jarrett, and was born 
 in Upper Providence township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, Nov. 19, 1825. The 
 Jarretts are of Scotch origin, and the Farras 
 of Welsh and English extraction. 
 
 The Jarrett family was in the county as 
 early as the Rittenhouse family, and its 
 founder in America was from the far famed 
 Highlands of Scotland. One of his decend- 
 ants, John Jarrett, was born in 1719, and 
 married Alice Conrad. Their children 
 were : John, Mary, Elizabeth, Hannah, 
 Rachel, William, Alice, Jonathan, David, 
 Jesse, Tracy and Joseph. Jesse Jarrett was 
 a farmer and life long resident of this 
 county. He wedded Elizabeth Palmer, 
 and to them were born six children : Mary, 
 married Isaac Shoemaker, a farmer, now 
 dead ; David, a farmer, who lived to see 
 his ninety-third birthday; Alice ; Joseph, 
 a farmer ; Tracy, wedded James Kirk, a 
 farmer, and John, who became a merchant 
 in Philadelpha. David Jarrett (father) was 
 born in Whiteinarsh township, October 24, 
 1797, and became a farmer in Upper Provi- 
 dence township, which he left in 1836, to 
 settle in Plymouth township. He died Oc- 
 tober 20, 1890, aged ninety-three years, and 
 his remains rest in Plymouth cemetery. He 
 was a Friend and served for several years as a 
 school director. He married Rebecca Farra, 
 who was a daughter of Atkinson Farra, of 
 Norristown, and died Feb. 11, 1876, aged 
 seventy-nine years. They were parents of 
 eight children : Jesse, a farmer and builder 
 of Lower Providence township ; Samuel F. 
 (subject) ; Charles P., a mechanic, who was 
 killed while serving as a soldier in the late 
 Civil war; Atkinson F., of Norristown, Pa.; 
 Elizabeth Jarrett ; John, now deceased ; 
 
 Lucretia, who married Joseph Umstead, a 
 farmer, and C. Halkley, a mechanic. 
 
 Samuel F. Jarrett was reared in Upper 
 Providence and Plymouth townships, re- 
 ceived his education in the early common 
 schools of Montgomery county, and re- 
 mained with his father on the farm until he 
 .was twenty-four years of age. He then en- 
 gaged in farming for himself in Lower 
 Providence township, where he remained up 
 to 1853. In that year he purchased and re- 
 moved to his present farm which is in Nor- 
 ritou township and only two and a half 
 miles from Norristown. He has been very 
 successful as a farmer, and has done well in 
 dairying, which he made a specialty nearly 
 twenty years ago. 
 
 On June 3, 1849, Mr. Jarrett married 
 Amanda Crawford, whose parents, Joseph 
 and Rebecca (Francis) Crawford were resi- 
 dents of Lower Providence township. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Jarrett were born two chil- 
 dren : Emma, who died in infancy, and 
 Anna R., wife of Dr. W. H. Reed, of Norris- 
 town. 
 
 Mr. Jarrett was among the first to enlist 
 in the Norris Cavalry when Lee threatened 
 Pennsylvania, and did two months of effi- 
 cient " emergency service " in Maryland. 
 He is a member of the Society of Friends, 
 and has always been a pronounced Republi- 
 can. In 1872 he was nominated by his 
 party for county treasurer, and, although 
 in a strong Democratic locality, was elected 
 by a majority of twelve votes. He was 
 re-nominated the next year by acclamation 
 and secured his election by a lair majority. 
 At the end of his second term he was 
 again nominated and for a term of three 
 years. He was elected by an increased ma- 
 jority and upon the expiration of his third 
 term retired from political life and turned 
 entire attention to his business affairs. The 
 
9 6 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 capable manner in which he handled the 
 county finances brought him into public 
 notice, and his services were frequently 
 sought in affairs where a considerable 
 amount of capital is involved. From farm- 
 ing and dairying he branched out into 
 other lines of business in which he has 
 been successful. Mr. Jarrett is a director in 
 the People's National bank of Norristown, 
 and a stockholder in the First National 
 bank of Coushohockeu, the Farmers' and 
 Mechanics' bank of Phcenixville, Chester 
 county, the First National bank of Jenkin- 
 town, and all the National banks of Norris- 
 town. He is a stockholder in the Ridge 
 Avenue and Spring Garden Farmers' Mar- 
 ket of Philadelphia ; and a director and 
 manager of the Norristown Farmers' Mar- 
 ket. Mr. Jarrett has given some attention 
 to railways, and at present is a stockholder 
 of the Lehigh Valley, and the Philadelphia, 
 Germantown and Norristown Railroad com- 
 panies. 
 
 SAMUEL VERNON RUBY, A.M., Ph.D. 
 professor of the English Language and 
 Literature, Aesthetics and Social Science in 
 Ursinus college, was born at Carlisle, Penn- 
 sylvania, May 22, 1832. He was fitted for 
 college in the Preparatory school at Mer- 
 cersburg, and, at the same place, was a 
 student in Marshall college from Septem- 
 ber, 1849, to March, 1853, when Marshall 
 college was transferred to Lancaster and 
 united with Franklin college. After a so- 
 journ at Lancaster for eleven weeks he was 
 graduated from Franklin and Marshall col- 
 lege in August, 1853. At Lancaster he 
 read law in the office of Hon. Thaddeus 
 Stevens, and completed his studies at Car- 
 lisle, where he was admitted to practice in 
 1858. He was immediately successful in 
 
 his profession, and continued busily en- 
 gaged in it until the breaking out of the 
 great rebellion. 
 
 On the 21st day of April, 1861, he en- 
 listed as a volunteer in defence of the 
 nation. The company whose roll bears his 
 name became Company A, 7th regiment in- 
 fantry, P. R. V. C, and in this he served as 
 private, sergeant, 1st sergeant, 2nd lieuten- 
 ant, and 1st lieutenant. He participated as 
 commander of his company in the battle 
 of second Bull Run, August 27, 28, 29, 
 1862 ; as 2nd lieutenant in the battle of 
 South Mountain, September 14, 1S62 ; Au- 
 tietam, September 16, 17, 1862 ; First Fred- 
 ericksburg, December 13, 1862 ; and com- 
 manded the first division of his regiment, 
 consisting of Companies A and E, in the 
 battle of the Wilderness, Virginia, May 5, 
 
 1864. On this day his regiment was cap- 
 tured, and he suffered imprisonment for the 
 space often months. After his return from 
 imprisonment he was appointed, April, 
 
 1865, by the secretary of war as 1st lieuten- 
 ant in Hancock's Corps of Veteran Volun- 
 teers, and in August of the same year was 
 promoted to captain, and was placed in com- 
 mand of Company D, 3rd regiment of that 
 corps. In April, 1866, he was honorably 
 discharged. 
 
 Lieutenant Ruby was judge advocate of 
 the military district of Alexandria, Vir- 
 ginia, from June, 1863, to April, 1864 ; 
 also, when a captain was judge advocate 
 and assistant inspector general at Camp 
 Butler, Illinois, during a part of the years 
 1865 and 1866. 
 
 Having decided not to return to the 
 practice of law, he obtained the position of 
 principal of the third district grammar 
 school, Dayton, Ohio. In this position he 
 served one year. In August, 1868, he be- 
 came professor of ancient languages, and 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 97 
 
 belles lettres, in Palatinate college, at My- 
 erstown, Pennsylvania. In this position 
 he labored faithfully and successfully for 
 the space of four years, doing much good 
 and winning many friends. In the sum- 
 mer of 1872 Prof. Ruby received a call to 
 the chair of English, etc., in Ursinus college. 
 
 Here his line of work was considerably 
 changed. He ceased teaching Latin and 
 Greek, and instead taught logic, English 
 literature, and political economy. Soon 
 after receiving this appointment he began 
 to restudy psychology and ethics, which, 
 however, led him to new thought concern- 
 ing teaching. As a result he undertook a 
 rebuilding of the study of English in the 
 collegiate curriculum. He started with a 
 thorough drill in the elementary sounds of 
 the English language and the principles of 
 pronunciation ; held that punctuation is 
 necessary to sentence construction ; taught 
 that the paragraph is not only the unit of 
 discourse, but also the key to its interpre- 
 tation ; and made the study of grammar, 
 rhetoric, and logic, in their order, and as 
 illustrated in English master pieces, the 
 prerequisites of good writing. 
 
 During the earlier years of his connec- 
 tion with the faculty of Ursinus he taught 
 natural history. Botany became one of his 
 favorite branches. He also gave attention 
 to chemistry, zoology, and mineralogy. 
 The ideas which Professor Ruby has em- 
 phasized in his teaching are elaborated in 
 addresses delivered by him before the fac- 
 ulty and students of Ursinus college. The 
 addresses are ten in number. The first is 
 on the studies requisite to a proper under- 
 standing of English letters ; the second, 
 on the literary critics and literary criti- 
 cism ; the third, on the education of the 
 American citizen ; the fourth, on the 
 genius and value of the government of 
 
 7 
 
 the United States ; the fifth, on the theory 
 and practice of logic ; the sixth, on the 
 contents and application of aesthetics ; 
 the seventh, on the activities of the reason ; 
 the eighth, on two questions of vital im- 
 portance to our nation ; the ninth, on hu- 
 man culture ; the tenth, on the national 
 language in the collegiate curriculum. 
 
 Poetry has also had its charms for him. 
 He began at an early age to read English 
 verse, and while at college wrote many 
 pretty lines. His best collegiate effort was 
 a poem of some twenty minutes in length, 
 'Napoleon's retreat from Moscow,' delivered 
 at Mercersburg, on the occasion of the anni- 
 versary of the Goethean Literary society, 
 held in March, 1853. Other poems follow- 
 ed, and a few found their way into periodi- 
 cals. His last poem is on "Spring, a Pennsyl- 
 vania idyl." From it we quote the Prelude : 
 
 To picture with its throbs and throes ; 
 To picture as it comes and goes 
 With mellow voice and silver ring, 
 The yearly Pennsylvania Spring — 
 Is now my task. We need no more 
 Of British taste, or British lore ; 
 Of Oxford cap, or Cambridge gown, 
 Or Britain's Thomson of renowu, 
 To paint our seasons as they fly, 
 With changing scene and fitful sky. 
 Within our hearts are penciled fair 
 The very currents of our air, 
 The trilling of each gentle rill, 
 The light and shade on every hill, 
 The clouds that sink or rise to view 
 Upon our mountain's ridge of blue, 
 Or sailing far in cloud laud by, 
 With beauty decorate the sky. 
 In every forest, every grove, 
 We hear some tender lay of love ; 
 And by the barn, or orchard near, 
 The simplest songs to household dear. 
 River and wood, and valley green, 
 And all that marks the landscape scene, 
 Are ours : the bird, the brook, the flower, 
 Rain and sunshine, and April shower. 
 Have filled our hearts, until their glow- 
 Gives Spring tide in its flush and flow. 
 
98 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 EDGAR S. COOK, president of the 
 Warwick Iron company, is a son of 
 Jesse M. and Sarah (Scndder) Cook, and 
 was born in the city of Philadelphia, Aug. 
 25, 1851. His paternal grandfather, Daniel 
 Cook, was of English descent, and passed 
 his life in New Jersey, of which State he 
 was a native. He was a large land holder 
 in his day, and died in 1837. He was a 
 justice of the peace and an active member 
 of the Presbyterian church. His father, 
 Samuel Cook, was a descendant of one of 
 six Cook brothers, who came from England 
 to Rhode Island about 1660. Jesse M. 
 Cook, the father of Edgar S. Cook, was 
 born and reared in New Jersey and received 
 his education at Lafayettee college. At 
 nineteen years of age he came to Philadel- 
 phia, and shortly afterwards, in connection 
 with a Mr. Moore, established and operated 
 a line of omnibusses. Later he withdrew 
 from the omnibus business to become a 
 member of the firm of Cain, Hackei & 
 Cook, which dealt extensively in the mining 
 •and selling of Schuylkill county anthracite 
 coal, until President Cowan, of the Phila- 
 delphia and Reading Railroad companv, 
 absorbed nearly all of the coal interests in 
 the Schuylkill county anthracite region. 
 When Mr. Gowan came in control of the 
 coal trade, Mr. Cook removed to the eastern 
 shore of Maryland and engaged in the 
 small fruit business there on a farm which 
 he had purchased about the close of the late 
 Civil war. After ten years spent actively 
 and successfully as a small fruit raiser and 
 dealer, he retired from active business and 
 still resides in Maryland. While a coal 
 operator in Schuylkill county, Mr. Cook 
 was also a manufacturer of pig iron at 
 Monocacy, Berks county. He has been suc- 
 cessively a Whig and Republican in poli- 
 tics, and is a Chapter and Commandery 
 
 Mason, and a consistent member of the Pres- 
 byterian church, having been an elder for 
 many years of the Tenth and Arch Street 
 church of Philadelphia. Mr. Cook was 
 born September 23, 1821, and has been not 
 only a successful, but also a useful business 
 man. He married Sarah Scndder, whose 
 father, John Scndder, was a native and 
 farmer of New Jersey. To their union 
 were born six children, of whom four are 
 living : Henry C, of Philadelphia ; Kate 
 S., wife of George H. Potts; Sallie A., 
 who married Dr. John Dale, of Princess 
 Ann county, Maryland ; and Edgar S., 
 whose name appears at the head of this 
 sketch. The two children who died were : 
 Carrie B., aged sixteen, and May E., who 
 was twenty years of age. 
 
 Edgar S. Cook was reared in his native 
 city, and received his education in the 
 Philadelphia Central High school, from 
 which he was graduated at the head of the 
 class of July, 1869, whose average was the 
 highest of all the class averages up to that 
 date. After graduation he became a clerk 
 in the office of Cain, Hacker &: Cook, and 
 in 187 1 went to Monocacy, Berks county, 
 where he was bookkeeper for two years and 
 manager for three years of the blast furnace 
 of that place. In 1877 he came to Potts- 
 town as manager of the Warwick furnace, 
 and in 1891, upon the death of Isaac Fege- 
 ley, was elected president of the Warwick 
 Iron company, which important aud re- 
 sponsible position he still holds. He is 
 also president of the Pottstown Light, Heat 
 and Power company, and is a member of 
 the board of health and in many other ways 
 has served to promote the interests of the 
 borough. 
 
 On January 2, 1S79, Mr. Cook was united 
 in marriage with Josephine Bailey, of 
 Pottstown. To their union have been born 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 99 
 
 five children, four sons and one daughter : 
 Edwaid B., Joseph W., Richard B., Harry, 
 and Jessie M., who passed away January' 18, 
 1891. 
 
 Edgar S. Cook is a capable and efficient 
 business man and handles well the exten- 
 sive and varied operations of the large com- 
 pany, at whose head he has been serving 
 for the last five years. He is a Republican 
 in politics, and a member of the First Pres- 
 byterian church, of whose board of trustees 
 he has served as president for several years. 
 
 JOHN CRAWFORD SPEAR, Medical 
 Inspector U. S. N., now a resident of 
 Norristown, is a son of Hon. John C. and 
 Mary F. (Hanson) Spear, and was born 
 near Middletown, New Castle county, Dela- 
 ware. The Spears are of English descent, 
 while the Hansons are of Swedish extrac- 
 tion, and both families were among the 
 pioneer settlers of Delaware and Pennsyl- 
 vania. Dr. Spear's grandfather was An- 
 drew Spear, and his father, Hon. John C. 
 Spear, was born in New Castle county, 
 Delaware, July 10, 1807. He was an excel- 
 lent fanner, and a progressive man, and 
 died in June, 1867. He was a Whig, and 
 an Episcopalian, and served as a member 
 of the Delaware legislature. In 1836 he 
 married Mary F. Hanson, a daughter of 
 Isaac Hanson, and to their union were born 
 six children. John Crawford Spear was 
 graduated as a doctor of medicine from the 
 University of Pennsylvania in 1861, and 
 directly after receiving his degree he was 
 examined by the Naval Medical Examin- 
 ing board for assistant surgeon in the U. S. 
 navy and was commissioned as such May 9, 
 1861. His first orders were to the steam fri- 
 gate Roanoke, on the blockade off Charleston 
 
 and Wilmington. In the autumn of the 
 same year his vessel had a short engage- 
 ment with the rebel ports at Hattrass Inlet, 
 and March 8th and 9th, 1S62, she was in 
 the memorable naval battle between the 
 United States vessels of war and the rebel 
 iron clad Merrimac in Hampton Roads. 
 The Roanoke was under a heavy fire from 
 the ports at Sewell's Point for several hours 
 on the first day of the fight, and she also 
 received occasional shots from the Merri- 
 mac on the same afternoon. Having a 
 broken shaft, she was towed into action by 
 a river steamboat, Commodore Marston 
 acting as commander-in-chief. In this en- 
 gagement, on learning by signal that lieu- 
 tenant commanding John L. Warden, the 
 captain of the Monitor was badly wounded, 
 the commodore sent Dr. Spear on board to 
 aid the medical officer of the Monitor in 
 operating upon Captain Worden's eyes, 
 which were filled with powder from the ex- 
 plosion of a shell over the peep-hole in the 
 pilot house. In the spring of 1862, Assist- 
 ant Surgeon Spear joined the United States 
 steamer Mahaska, and saw much arduous 
 and perilous service on the York and James 
 rivers, being many times under heavy fire 
 from earth work and field artillery and 
 sharp shooting on the river bank. At the 
 battle of Malvern Hill many wounded sol- 
 diers of the Union army came under his 
 care, both on board his vessel and on shore. 
 In the same year he served as surgeon and 
 adjutant of a land expedition to Matthews 
 Court House,Virginia, commanded by Com- 
 mander Foxhall A. Parker, in which there 
 were several skirmishes with the enemy. 
 Later in the year on the same vessel he was 
 under a heavy fire for several hours from 
 shore batteries at the mouth of Cape Fear 
 river. 
 
 On the application of Fleet Surgeon 
 
 I 
 
 ®f O- 
 
IOO 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 William Maxwell Wood, Dr. Spear was 
 detached from the Mahaska and ordered as 
 surgeon of the flagship Minnesota, though 
 very young in rank and years. His turn 
 for examination for promotion came in the 
 summer of 1863, and he was ordered to 
 Philadelphia, where he passed successfully. 
 For several months he was stationed at the 
 Philadelphia navy yard, and on receiving 
 his promotion to full surgeon in June, 1864, 
 was ordered to the West Gulf Blockading 
 squadron, under Admiral Farragut, and as- 
 signed to the Seminole. He was present 
 at the bombardment and surrender of Fort 
 Morgan, Mobile Bay, and later saw service 
 on the blockade on the coast of Texas, 
 serving there both on the Seminole and 
 Monongahcla. He saw many cases of yel- 
 low fever during his tour of duty in the 
 gulf of Mexico. At the close of the war in 
 the Monongahela, he returned home and 
 was shortly assigned as attending surgeon 
 in the city of Washington, and at the same 
 time did duty as assistant chief of the bu- 
 reau of medicine and surgery in the naval 
 department. 
 
 His first foreign service was seen on the 
 Swatara, Commander William N. Jeffers. 
 She visited all the principal ports in the 
 West Indies and on the Spanish Main, then 
 cruised in Europe, and finally on the west 
 coast of Africa. The cruise was unusually 
 extended and interesting. Many of the 
 ship company on the coast of Africa, off 
 the mouth of the Congo river, were stricken 
 with a severe form of congestice malarial 
 fever, but happily no one succumbed. He 
 was transferred to the flagship Franklin, 
 Admiral Farragut, at Gibraltar, and re- 
 turned to New York in the autumn of 
 1868 He was elected a member of the 
 academy of natural sciences, Philadelphia, 
 in 1869. Surgeon General William Wood 
 
 selected him as geologist of the United 
 States Tehuantepec surveying expedition 
 under Admiral Shufeldt in 1870-1. He 
 wrote a report on the geology and general 
 resources of the isthmus of Tehuantepec, 
 with reference to the proposed construction 
 of a ship canal there. The work done on 
 the isthmus by Dr. Spear was officially 
 commended by Admiral Shufeldt, and 
 highly spoken of by Prof. Fuertes, of Cor- 
 nell university. After a short tour of duty 
 at the naval hospital in Philadelphia, he 
 joined the steamer Omaha, and made a long 
 cruise, visiting Brazil, the straits of Magel- 
 len, Chili, Peru, Ecuador, Panama and 
 some of the Pacific islands. He made an 
 examination of the extensive coal deposits 
 in the interior north of the strait of Ma- 
 gellen, and wrote an official report about 
 them. He also in the same region ob- 
 served natives washing gold in the bed of 
 a small river and learned of the probable 
 existence of gold there in quantity. A 
 company was formed later in Chili to 
 thoroughly explore this region for gold, 
 and Dr. Spear was to have had charge of the 
 party, but the death of the principal sub- 
 scriber to the funds for the expedition put 
 an end to the undertaking at that time. 
 During their cruise one day off the east 
 coast of Patagonia, Surgeon Spear went as 
 one of a boat's crew of volunteers to pick 
 up an officer and man over board, a heavy 
 sea running at the time, the volunteer crew 
 was in great peril, both in leaving and 
 boarding the Omaha. On several occasions 
 while in Peru, Dr. Spear obtained leave 
 and visited the interior, abounding in 
 interesting ruins, and wrote popular ac- 
 counts of his explorations for the newspa- 
 pers at home. He served in 1875-6 on the 
 Monitor Dictator, North Atlantic squadron. 
 A large fleet of Monitors and other war 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ioi 
 
 vessels were assembled in Port Royal 
 waters on account of the probability of 
 war with Spain, when an epidemic of yel- 
 low fever broke out in the vicinity. Sur- 
 geon Spear devised and executed necessa- 
 ry quarantine measures to protect the fleet 
 under the orders of the commander-in-chief 
 of the station, who on the 4th of October, 
 1876, wrote to the secretary of the navy : 
 "Surgeon Spear rendered efficient service, 
 especially in recommending measures to 
 prevent the introduction of yellow fever 
 with which we have been threatened. 
 It is in my opinion due largely to his energy 
 and judgment in this direction that I have 
 been able to report that among the vessels 
 here there has been no sickness of any de- 
 scription. He deserved the favorable con- 
 sideration of the navy department." The 
 doctor was also instrumental in discovering 
 a source of potable water in quantity suffi- 
 cient for the fleet near Port Royal, where 
 till then either distilled water or water 
 brought in a boat from Charleston had to 
 be obtained from the station at great ex- 
 pense. He further kept such health data 
 of Port Royal waters as to furnish proof in 
 a congressional debate of the healthfulness 
 of the place and its suitableness for a naval 
 station or salubrious rendezvouing for a 
 fleet. 
 
 After serving on various examining 
 boards in the navy department, he was in 
 October promoted to medical inspector 
 with the relative rank of Commander in 
 the navy. The following year he was as- 
 signed as fleet surgeon of the Euro- 
 pean station, under Rear Admiral Howell, 
 flagship Trenton. This cruise was about 
 two years, and most of the principal sea- 
 ports and countries in Europe were visited. 
 During this cruise he wrote many interest- 
 ing letters of travel, which were published 
 
 in the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph. 
 Returning from sea, he was again employed 
 on the examining board in Washington 
 and Philadelphia. He has served much on 
 this duty. Indeed a large number of the 
 younger medical officers of the navy have 
 been professionally examined by Dr. Spear, 
 either for admission to the naval service or 
 for promotion. In the summer of 1883 he 
 joined the New York naval station as chief 
 surgeon of the navy yard and filled this po- 
 sition for three years, when he was assigned 
 as director of the United States naval 
 laboratory at the same station. He served 
 one year here when he was granted leave 
 of absence on account of ill health. He 
 was placed on the retired list in September, 
 1888, and has since resided at Norristown. 
 He is a companion of the Loyal Legion. 
 Dr. Spear was president of the Montgomery 
 County Medical society in 1892. 
 
 In 1865 Dr. Spear married Emma 
 L. Mulvany, daughter of Hon. Daniel 
 H. Mulvany, of Norristown. To this union 
 have been born five children : Roscoe, born 
 at Norristown, January 9, 1872 ; Raymond, 
 at Nice, France, March 18, 1873 ; John Van 
 Couwenhoven, born at Washington city, 
 Christmas, 1877, and died April 10, 1893 ; 
 Bertha, November 16, 1879; and Reginald, 
 May 16, 1881. Mrs. Spear is a member of 
 the Society of the Daughters of the Ameri- 
 can Revolution, as she is a direct descen- 
 dant of the old Couwenhoven and Fonnan 
 Revolutionary families. 
 
 Roscoe Spear, eldest son of Dr. Spear, 
 though born in Norristown, received the 
 major part of his early education in France. 
 Later he attended the Brooklyn Polytech- 
 nic institute, and was finally prepared for 
 entrance to the United States Naval Acade- 
 my at Annapolis, Maryland, by private in- 
 struction. He was graduated from the lat- 
 
102 
 
 Biographical Sketches 
 
 ter institution in 1894, having " passed 
 with credit." After graduation he was as- 
 signed to service in the United States navy, 
 and is now serving as a cadet on the flag- 
 ship Sa/i Francisco, European squadron. 
 
 BENJAMIN F. WHITBY, a leading 
 business man of Norristown, is a son of 
 Anthony and Mary (Supplee) Whitby, and 
 was born at Norristown, Pennsylvania, 
 October 7, 1843. The family is of Scotch 
 descent, its first representative in America, 
 so far as known, being John Whitby, pater- 
 nal great grandfather of the subject of this 
 sketch, who came over from Scotland in the 
 latter part of the eighteenth century and 
 settled in Montgomery County. Among 
 his sons was John Dunlap Whitby (grand- 
 father,) who was a farmer by occupation, 
 served as a soldier in the war of 1812, and 
 resided in Norriton township during the 
 latter years of his life. His son, Anthony 
 Whitby (father) was born in Norriton town- 
 ship, this county, February 13th, 1803, and 
 in earlier life learned the weaver's trade, at 
 which he became very expert. After fol- 
 lowing that occupation for a number of 
 years, his attention was turned to farming, 
 which business he successfully conducted 
 on the farm now occupied by the Mont- 
 gomery cemetery and the homestead of Jos- 
 eph E. Rapp, for a period of eighteen years. 
 He then removed to Lower Providence town- 
 ship, this county, and purchased the farm 
 now occupied by his son, James M. Whitby. 
 There he passed the remainder of his life, 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits, dying 
 November 2nd, 1870, at the age of sixty- 
 seven years. Politically, he was a staunch 
 Democrat, and for many years an active 
 trustee of the Lower Providence Presbyter- 
 
 ian church. In 1S30 he married Mary Sup- 
 plee, a daughter of Edward Supplee, of 
 Merion township, and by that union had a 
 family of ten children, five sons and five 
 daughters : Geo. W. and Mary Ann, now 
 deceased ; John D. ; Elizabeth J., married 
 Henry S. Kulp, secretary of the Mutual 
 Fire Insurance company, of Montgomery 
 county ; William M. ; James M., now re- 
 siding on the old homestead in Lower Prov- 
 idence township ; Benjamin F., whose name 
 heads this sketch ; Isabella K. ; Sallie R., 
 wife of W. A. Shearer, of Eagleville, this 
 county ; and Emma J., who married James 
 R. Weikel, of Trappe. Mrs. Whitby, mother 
 of this family, died in 1850, in the forty-sec- 
 ond year of her age, and her remains lie beside 
 those of her husband in the cemetery at 
 Lower Providence Presbyterian church. 
 
 Benjamin F. Whitby spent his early years 
 on the farm near Norristown, and removed 
 with his father's family, when five years old, 
 to Lower Providence township. He re- 
 mained on the farm until sixteen years of 
 age, receiving his education in the public 
 schools and at Washington Hall, Trappe. 
 Soon after leaving school, he began teach- 
 ing, and was thus employed for a period of 
 five years. In 1868 he embarked in agri- 
 cultural pursuits in Lower Providence town- 
 ship, to which he applied himself for a 
 dozen years very successfully, and at the 
 expiration of that time removed to Eagles- 
 ville, in that township, where he began the 
 business of a conveyancer and real estate 
 dealer, in addition to performing his duties 
 as a justice of the peace, to which office he 
 had been elected in 1878, while still on the 
 farm. This combined business he con- 
 ducted on an extensive scale for a period of 
 fourteen years. In 1894 he removed to Nor- 
 ristown, where he has since resided, being 
 still engaged in the general real estate busi- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 J °3 
 
 ness, and June 17th, 1895, was appointed 
 treasurer of Montgomery count}'. 
 
 On January 31st, 1868, Mr. Whitby was 
 married to Annie G. Custer, only daughter 
 of Jacob G. Custer, a prosperous farmer of 
 Lower Providence township, this count}-. 
 Their only child, a daughter, Cora C, re- 
 cently graduated from the Broad Street Con- 
 servatory of music, in Philadelphia, with 
 the highest honors of the class. Mrs. Whit- 
 by died October 23, 1893, at the age of fifty- 
 one years, and her remains rest in the cem- 
 etery of the Lower Providence Presbyterian 
 church, in which church she was a faithful 
 member and an active worker for a period 
 of twenty-seven years. 
 
 In politics Mr. Whitby is - a Democrat and 
 has frequently served as a member of the 
 county executive committee of his party. 
 He served as a justice of the peace for five 
 years, and also as a school director in Lower 
 Providence township for some time. His 
 name has been mentioned as a candidate of 
 his part}' for assemblyman and other offices 
 of importance, but he has always declined 
 the candidacy. He is a director and sec- 
 retary of the board of directors of the Spring 
 Garden Market company, and was one of 
 the originators of that enterprise. For 
 twenty years he served as secretary of a 
 beneficial society at Eagleville, of which he 
 is still a member, and for nearly a quarter of 
 a century was an elder in the Lower Prov- 
 idence Presbyterian church, only resigning 
 that position upon his removal to Norris- 
 town. He was always active in every good 
 work undertaken by his church, and for a 
 number of years served as superintendent of 
 its large Sabbath school. For many years 
 he has been a member of the Masonic fra" 
 ternity, being now connected with Warren 
 Lodge No. 310, of Trappe. He has been a 
 director in the Montgomery National bank 
 
 of Norristown for many years. His fine 
 residence at the corner of Haas avenue and 
 Main street is built upon what was the hand- 
 some lawn of the late Governor of Pennsyl- 
 vania, John F. Hartranft, deceased. 
 
 GEORGE C. MORGAN, proprietor of 
 the well known Morgan flouring 
 mills of Norristown, is a son of Antrim 
 F. and Martha (Harris) Morgan, and was 
 born at Chester Springs, Chester county, 
 Pennsylvania, June 10, 1856. He is of 
 Welsh descent on the paternal side, and 
 the immigrant ancester of the Morgan 
 family was Morgan Morgan, sr., who came 
 from Wales to Montgomery county over a 
 hundred years ago. He was a farmer In- 
 occupation, and his son, Morgan Morgan, 
 (grandfather), was reared on the farm, but 
 left farming to engage in blacksmithing 
 and gunsmithing, which he followed dur- 
 ing the active years of his life. He served 
 for many years as a justice of the peace at 
 Montgomeryville, where he died at an ad- 
 vanced age. He married and reared a 
 family, and his son, Antrim F. Morgan, is 
 the father of the subject of this sketch. 
 Antrim F. Morgan was born March 8, 1818, 
 at Montgomeryville, where he received his 
 education. Some years after attaining his 
 majority he removed to Chester Springs, 
 Chester County, where he was engaged in 
 the milling business for a number of years, 
 where the subject was born. He then re- 
 moved to Quakertown, Bucks count}', 
 where he has followed farming ever since. 
 He was a Whig, then a Republican in early 
 and middle life, but of late years has affili- 
 ated with the Prohibition party, whose 
 principles meet his approval and receive 
 his support. He is a member of the Society 
 
io4 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of Friends, as were all his family, and was 
 connected for several years with the Oua- 
 kertown Friends school. He takes an ac- 
 tive interest in the temperance cause ; was 
 nominated for State senator on the Prohi- 
 bition ticket of Bucks county, and was a 
 member and worker in the order of Good 
 Templars, while that organization was in 
 its prime and active in the wide field of 
 usefulness that lay around and beyond it. 
 
 He married Martha Harris, whose father 
 
 was Harris, of . To Mr. and 
 
 Mrs. Morgan were born five children, three 
 sons and two daughters : Thomas H; 
 Hannah, widow of S. F. Penrose, and now 
 a resident of Quakertown, Bucks county ; 
 Kate, who wedded C. E. Smulling, of Qua- 
 kertown, and is now deceased; George C, 
 and Joseph A. 
 
 George C. Morgan, although born in 
 Chester county, yet was reared at Quaker- 
 town, Bucks county, and received his edu- 
 cation in the excellent Friends school at 
 the latter place. Leaving school he made 
 choice of an industrial pursuit for a life 
 vocation and came to Conshohockeu, where 
 he spent two years with John J. Brooke in 
 learning the trade of miller. At the close 
 of his apprenticeship he went to Green 
 Lane, where he was engaged in milling for 
 two years. At the end of that time, in the 
 spring of 1878, he came to Norristown and 
 took charge of the Old Stony Creek mill at 
 the bridge near Main street. After running 
 this mill for one year he purchased it and 
 the water power by which it was operated. 
 He then tore the old mill down and erected 
 his present large and well equipped flour- 
 ing mill, which has a capacity of forty 
 barrels of flour per day. His leading 
 brands are the "Spray," "Lily White," 
 and " Golden Light. " In addition to ope- 
 rating his mill, he is a wholesale and retail 
 
 dealer in grain and feed. Mr. Morgan is 
 a Prohibitionist in political opinion. He 
 takes an active interest in the Prohibition 
 movement ; has been for some time the 
 managing editor of the Montgomery County 
 Prohibitionist, and was a candidate for the 
 legislature in 1894, receiving the largest 
 vote cast on the Prohibition ticket in the 
 county. Mr. Morgan is a director in the 
 West Norristown Loan and Building asso- 
 ciation. He is a member of the Oak Street 
 Methodist Episcopal church, of whose board 
 of trustees he is serving as president. He 
 is active and energetic, and has been suc- 
 cessful in business. 
 
 On , 1880, Mr. Morgan married 
 
 Inez Brooke, a daughter of John J. Brooke, 
 of Conshohocken. To their union have 
 been born eight children, three sons and 
 five daughters: Warren B., Lottie, Elsie, 
 died, fifteen months old ; George R., John 
 J., Inez, Blanche, and Janet. 
 
 HB. DICKINSON, a well known mem- 
 • ber of the Montgomery county bar, 
 who has been in successful practice at Norris- 
 town since 1863, is a native of this county, 
 having been born in Whitemarsh township, 
 April 14, 1836. His parents were Henry 
 and Maria (Bigler) Dickinson, both de- 
 scendants of early pioneers who settled in 
 this country during the colonial period. 
 The Dickinsons are of English Quaker ori- 
 gin, and trace their American ancestry 
 back to John Dickinson, a member of the 
 Constitutional congress, who on May 5, 
 1779, signed the Articles of Confederation 
 and Perpetual Union between the State of 
 Delaware. Prior to the Revolution mem- 
 bers of the family had removed to Penn- 
 sylvania, and for a number of generations 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 105 
 
 their descendants have been residents of 
 Montgomery county. Israel Dickinson, 
 (grandfather), was a native of this county 
 and a fanner by occupation. One of his 
 sons, Joseph Dickinson, served as a captain 
 in the war of 181 2. Another son was 
 Henry Dickinson, (father), who was born 
 on the old homestead in Whitemarsh town- 
 ship, this county, June 12, 1799. He was 
 a farmer by vocation, a Jacksonian Demo- 
 crat in politics, and a strict member of the 
 Society of Friends. During the more ac- 
 tive part of his life he held a number of 
 local offices and gave considerable attention 
 to public affairs. He died in Whitemarsh 
 township, in 1876, aged seventy-nine years, 
 and his remains rest in the cemetery at 
 Union church. In 1821 he married Maria 
 Bigder, a daughter of George Bigder, who 
 served with distinction in the Revolution- 
 ary war, and by that union had a family of 
 twelve children, five of whom still survive. 
 H. B. Dickinson, the son and subject of 
 this sketch, was reared on the farm in 
 Whitemarsh township, and was educated 
 in the public schools and at Treemont 
 seminary, from which institution he was 
 graduated in 1856, at the age of twenty. 
 He then engaged in teaching, which occu- 
 pation he followed successfully for a period 
 of four years. At the end of that time, 
 having determined to devote himself to the 
 legal profession, he entered the office of 
 Gilbert R. Fox, of Norristown, and began 
 the study of law. On November 16. 1863, 
 he was admitted to the bar of Montgomery 
 county, and has ever since been in continu- 
 ous practice. He was a candidate for dis- 
 trict attorney soon after his admittance to 
 the bar, and has acted in turn as solicitor 
 for incumbents of every office in the county. 
 For many years he has enjoyed a good 
 general practice and is widely known 
 
 throughout this part of the Keystone State. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Dickinson 
 has always been a Democrat, and until the 
 last few years has taken an active interest 
 in all civic and political affairs. He has 
 served frequently as a delegate to the 
 Democratic State and county conventions, 
 and during a number of years was regarded 
 as an active local leader of his party. He 
 is a Friend in religious belief, and for a 
 quarter of a century has been a member of 
 the Masonic fraternity of Norristown. 
 
 On February 17, 1858, Mr. Dickinson 
 was united in marriage with Sarah J. Mar- 
 tin, a daughter of John and Sarah Martin, 
 of Gwynedd, this county. To them was 
 born a family of nine children, only one of 
 whom now survives. Their surviving son, 
 Warren M. Dickinson, was born July 31, 
 i860, pursued his preparatory studies in 
 the public schools of Norristown, and en- 
 tered Princeton college in 1879. He was 
 graduated from that institution of learning 
 in 1883, after which he studied law with 
 his father, and on October term, 1887, was 
 admitted to practice before the courts of 
 Montgomery county, and is now actively 
 engaged in his profession. In 1893 he was 
 married to Mary H. Hamill, a daughter of 
 S. Porter Hamill, of Norristown, and has 
 one child, a son named Lawrence B. Both 
 wife and child died in the spring of 1895. 
 
 JOHN JAMES BECKER, agent of the 
 Philadelphia and Reading Railroad 
 company, at West Conshohocken, is a son 
 of James and Susanna (Glasser) Becker, and 
 was born at Lehigh Church, near Alburtis, 
 Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, December i, 
 1861. He grew to manhood in his native 
 State, received his education in the public 
 
io6 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 schools and Kutztown State Normal school, 
 and then to fit himself thoroughly for com- 
 mercial and industrial pursuits, took a course 
 at Peirce's Business college of Philadelphia. 
 Leaving the business college he was en- 
 gaged in teaching in the public schools of 
 Lehigh county for two years, and then 
 learned telegraphy, which he followed at 
 different places for the Perkiomeu Railroad 
 company, Philadelphia, Newtown and New 
 York Railroad company, and Philadelphia, 
 Reading and Pottsville Telegraph company 
 for three and one-half years. At the end of 
 that time he entered the employ of the 
 Philadelphia and Reading Railroad com- 
 pany, and was variously employed in sta- 
 tion service for the next twelve months. 
 He was then, in 1889, appointed station 
 agent at West Conshohocken, where he has 
 discharged the many duties of that position 
 satisfactorily up to the present time. Mr. 
 Becker is a Republican in political opinion, 
 and is a member of the Evangelical Luth- 
 eran church. He is well acquainted with 
 station work in all of its branches and de- 
 tails, and conducts everything upon safe 
 business principles. 
 
 On December n, 1888, Mr. Becker was 
 united in marriage with Mary Alice Lesher, 
 a daughter of Dr. Lesher, of Kutztown, 
 Pennsylvania. Their union has been blessed 
 with one child, a daughter, named Alma. 
 
 As the name would indicate, the Beckers 
 are of German descent. They have been 
 resident for six generations in this country, 
 and James Becker, sr., the paternal grand- 
 father of the subject of this sketch, was a 
 native of Lynnville, Lehigh county. He 
 was a large land owner, and a Democrat in 
 politics. He wedded Hannah Sechler, of 
 Lynnville, Pa., and their children, five in 
 number, were Lewis, James, jr., Levi, and 
 Amanda. James Becker, sr., died July 25, 
 
 1853, a g e d fifty years, and his wife passed 
 away January 9, 1836, when in the thirty- 
 first year of her age. Their son, James 
 Becker (father), was born in Greenwich 
 township, Berks county, and followed the 
 occupation of farming at different places in 
 Berks and Lehigh counties. He was a 
 Democrat and Lutheran, like his father be- 
 fore him, and died October 11, 1866, when 
 in the thirty-ninth year of his age. He 
 married Susanna Glasser, who is still living 
 at Kutztown, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Becker 
 reared a family of three children, one son 
 and two daughters : Louisa A., who mar- 
 ried Charles W. Miller ; John James, whose 
 name heads this sketch ; and Hannah V., 
 who wedded Morris Gehret. 
 
 The Becker family has been noted dur- 
 ing the several generations of its American 
 residence for the many sterling qualities of 
 the Pennsylvania German race. 
 
 ALBERTUS HALLMAN, now engaged 
 in the general mercantile business at 
 Hartranft Station, is a son of Lewis and 
 Sarah A. (Harner) Hallman and was born 
 at Penn Square, Norriton Township, Mont- 
 gomery County, Pennsylvania, August 18, 
 1853. Lewis Hallman was born in this 
 county, January 29, 1816, and about 1848, 
 removed to Penn Square, where he died 
 March 19, 1894. He was a wheelwright 
 and coach maker by trade, and followed 
 that line of business for over forty-three 
 years. He was a Democrat in politics, and 
 served three terms as supervisor of roads in 
 his township. He was a member of 
 Boehm's church, and wedded Sarah A. 
 Harner, a native of Montgomery county 
 and a daughter of Samuel Harner. To 
 their union was born four children, two 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 107 
 
 sons and two daughters : Dallas H., of Penu 
 Square ; Annie, now deceased ; Albertus, 
 whose name appears at the head of this 
 sketch ; and Mary Ida, wife of George W. 
 Hoover, of Whitemarsh township. 
 
 Albertus Hallman was reared at Penn 
 Square, and received his education in the 
 common schools of his native township. 
 Leaving school, he learned the trade of 
 blacksmith, which he followed from 1877 
 to 1880, when he became a clerk in the store 
 of Judge Hiram Hoover, of Hooverton. 
 He soon became manager of the store, and 
 in April, 1885, purchased the stock of goods 
 from Judge Hoover. Mr. Hallman has 
 kept up with the rapid advances made in 
 the mercantile business during the last 
 decade. He has a large and well selected 
 stock of general merchandise and has built 
 up a fine trade at Hooverton and in the 
 surrounding country. 
 
 Well qualified for his special line of busi- 
 ness, he has made it a success. He also 
 does an extensive farming business in con- 
 nection with the management of his gen- 
 eral mercantile establishment. Mr. Hall- 
 man has always supported the principles of 
 the Democratic party, and is a member of 
 Boehm's Reformed Church, of Blue Bell, 
 while he has acted as Treasurer for several 
 years of the Penn Square Sunday school. 
 He is a member of Curtis Lodge, No. 239, 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Nor- 
 ristown, and has passed all of the chairs in 
 Washington Camp, No. 322, Patriotic Order 
 Sons of America, of Penn Square, in which 
 he is now serving as a trustee. 
 
 On December 2, 1880, Mr. Hallman was 
 united in marriage with Mary M. Hoover, 
 and their union has been blessed with three 
 children : Naomi H. ; Margaret D. ; and 
 Nancy Iona. Mrs. Hallman is a daughter 
 of Judge Hiram C. and Margaret (Dull) 
 
 Hoover, of Hooverton. Judge Hoover is 
 a member of the old Hoover family of 
 eastern Pennsylvania, and has held many 
 important offices. He was a member of the 
 Pennsylvania house of representatives for 
 two terms, and served as associate judge of 
 Montgomery county from 1865 to 1875. 
 
 WILLIAM A. FINLEY, proprietor of 
 the Hotel Finley, at Norristown, is a 
 son of John S. and Phoebe (Rhodes) Finley, 
 and was born the 13th day of May, 1853, at 
 Norristown, Pennsylvania. He was reared 
 in his native borough and educated in the 
 public schools. When about twelve years 
 of age he began work in Schall's rolling 
 mill, and later learned the trade of ma- 
 chinist, but not feeling satisfied with the 
 monotony of machine life, and possessing 
 an inclination for the stage, he soon after- 
 ward adopted the theatrical profession. For 
 nearly sixteen years he followed that voca- 
 tion, with varying degrees of success, and 
 abandoned it in 1889, to embark in the 
 hotel business at Bridgeport, Pennsylvania. 
 He conducted that enterprise successfully 
 until 1892, when he sold out and purchased 
 his present hotel property, the Hotel Finley, 
 at Nos. 16 and 18 West Main street, to which 
 he has ever since given his careful attention. 
 He now enjoys a large patronage from the 
 travelling public, and the reputation of be- 
 ing one of the successful and solid business 
 men of the prosperous and rapidly growing 
 borough of Norristown. 
 
 On April the 10th, 1880, Mr. Finley was 
 married to Bella Capstick, of Norristown, 
 and to them has been born one child, a 
 daughter, named for her mother. In poli- 
 tics Mr. Finley is a Republican, but has 
 never taken any active part in political 
 
I,,S 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 affairs. For several years he has been con- 
 nected with a number of secret societies, 
 being now a member of Montgomery 
 Lodge No. 57, Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows ; Washington Camp No. 51, Patri- 
 otic Order Sons of America ; Philadelphia 
 Lodge No. 2, Benevolent and Protective 
 Order of Elks ; Kensington Lodge No. 55, 
 Knights of Pythias, of Philadelphia ; Mont- 
 gomery Castle No. 34, Knights of the Golden 
 Eagle, of Norristown ; Beaver Tribe No. 62, 
 Independent Order of Red Men ; Iroquois 
 Degree Council No. 10, I. O. R. M. ; Gen- 
 eral Zook Post No. 11, Grand Army of the 
 Republic, and was also for sixteen years 
 connected with the Montgomery Hose and 
 Steam Fire Engine company of Norristown. 
 The Finleys are of Scotch and German 
 descent, and the family formerly resided in 
 New Jersey. David Finley, paternal grand- 
 father of the subject of this sketch, was 
 long a resident of Pennsneck, this State, 
 and there his son, John S. Finley, (father), 
 was born in 1813. When quite young he 
 went to Delaware county, Pa., but soon after 
 came to Norristown, Montgomery county, 
 where he entered the McCreedy mills. At 
 that time Norristown was a small village. 
 Later Mr. Finley learned the machinist's 
 trade, and for a time had charge of Schall's 
 rolling mill. He was also employed with 
 Moore & Hooven. Politically he was a Demo- 
 crat, and a Baptist in religion. He married 
 Phoebe Rhodes in 1838, and to them was 
 born a family of eight children : David, 
 Ruth, Charles, John E., (a sketch of whom 
 appears elsewhere in this volume), Samuel, 
 William A., subject of the foregoing sketch ; 
 James, and Albert. The father, John S. Fin- 
 ley, died in 1891, at the age of seventy-eight, 
 and his wife preceded him in 1879, aged 
 sixty-two. Their remains rest side by side in 
 the Treemont cemeterv at Norristown. 
 
 WILLIAM O'BRIEN, proprietor of the 
 Montgomery hotel, of Pottstown, is 
 a native of County Limerick, Ireland, where 
 he was born January 6, 1848. His parents 
 were Michael and Alice O'Brien, both na- 
 tives of the Emerald Isle, and the father a 
 carpenter by trade. 
 
 Their youngest son, William O'Brien, was 
 reared in his native land, and educated in 
 the public schools of Ireland. After leav- 
 ing school he followed fanning until June, 
 1865, when he emigrated to America, com- 
 ing direct to Pottstown, Pennsylvania. 
 Here Mr. O'Brien began to work as a 
 laborer for the Reading Railroad company, 
 but after two years left the road and secured 
 employment at the Black Bear hotel for 
 three years. For six years he remained at 
 this hotel and then accepted a position at 
 the Black Bear hotel in Douglasville, where 
 he remained three years. From Douglas- 
 ville Mr. O'Brien went to the Murphy hotel 
 Pottstown, where he became connected with 
 the saloon trade for a period of eleven years. 
 In 1888 he returned to Pottstown and em- 
 barked in the coal, plaster and cement 
 business, which he successfully conducted 
 for two years. At the end of that time he 
 sold out, and in 1891 purchased the Mont- 
 gomery hotel property on Nos. 226 & 228 
 High street, Pottstown, which he now owns 
 and manages. This hotel is conducted on 
 the European plan, and is finely equipped 
 and supplied with ever convenience for the 
 comfort of guests. 
 
 Politically, Mr. O'Brien is an ardent 
 Republican, and what may be termed a 
 standing delegate, always ready to serve 
 his party in any capacity. He organized 
 the young Men's Republican club of Potts- 
 town and never allowed it to want for 
 money, but supported it financially from 
 the beginning. It was principally through 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 109 
 
 his efforts that the club became a success, 
 and it may justly be said that he wields a 
 potent influence in local politics. Mr. 
 O'Brien served as a delegate to the Re- 
 publican State Convention of 189 1, and 
 took an active part in its deliberations. He 
 also served one term in the town council of 
 Pottstown. 
 
 In 1878 Mr. O'Brien was married to 
 Theresa Kelly, a daughter of John Kelly, 
 of Pottstown. Mrs. O'Brien died in June, 
 1889, aged 35 years. In religion Mr. O'Brien 
 is a Roman Catholic and is chancellor of 
 the Catholic Benevolent League of Potts- 
 town. 
 
 He served two years as president of the 
 Irish Catholic Benevolent Union, and for a 
 like period presided over the Emerald Cath- 
 olic Beneficial association of this citv. 
 
 NOAH S. BORNEMAN, D. D. S., a 
 popular practicing dentist of Norris- 
 town is the oldest son of Dr. Joseph H. and 
 Esther (Stauffer) Borneman, and was born 
 January 7, 1857, at Boyertown, Berks coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania. The Bornemau's trace 
 their transatlantic origin to Switzerland, 
 where Daniel Borneman, the founder of 
 the American branch of the family and 
 great-great-grandfather of Noah Borneman, 
 was born in 1699. He was reared and edu- 
 cated in his native land, but in 1721 he 
 emigrated to America and settled on a farm 
 in what was then Hanover township, Phila- 
 delphia county. He died in 1768 and was 
 buried in the family graveyard on the old 
 homestead. 
 
 Daniel Borneman left several children, 
 one of whom was Christian, the great- 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
 Christian died in 1809 and left surviving 
 
 him, among others, a son John (grand- 
 father). 
 
 John Borneman was a weaver by trade 
 and settled in Limerick township, Mont- 
 gomery county, where Joseph H. Borne- 
 man, the father of Noah, was born in 1832. 
 Joseph H. was a watchmaker by trade bnt 
 subsequently he entered the Philadelphia 
 college of Dentistry from which he was 
 graduated in 1865 with the degree of Doc- 
 tor of Dental Surgery. For a number of 
 years, he was engaged in the practice of 
 dentistry, but subsequently became pro- 
 prietor of a pharmacy in Allentown, Penn- 
 sylvania, and afterwards of the Boyertown 
 Pharmacy, which he is still successfully 
 conducting. Politically he is a Republican 
 and in religion, a Mennonite. 
 
 Joseph H. Borneman married Esther 
 Stauffer, a daughter of John Stauffer of 
 Clayton, Berks county. They have five 
 children: Amanda, wife of Joseph Y. Moyer, 
 residing on a farm at Clayton, Pennsylvania; 
 Noah, the subject of this sketch ; Sidney 
 and Harris, both of whom are engaged in 
 the practice of dentistry at Norristown ; 
 and Henry, an attorney-at-law practicing at 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Noah S. Borneman resided with his 
 father in his native village until he was 
 about twelve years of age when he removed 
 to Allentown, Pennsylvania. Here he ac- 
 quired a good common school education. 
 In 1873 he went to Clayton, Pennsylvania, 
 where he worked on a farm for his father, 
 till 1882 when he removed to Boyertown. 
 He then entered the Philadelphia Dental 
 college, from which he was duly gradu- 
 ated with the degree of Doctor of Dental 
 Surgery. 
 
 After graduation he located in Boyer- 
 town, and after several years of professional 
 experience, he removed to Norristown. 
 
no 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Since that time he has been continuously 
 engaged in the practice of dentistry and 
 has been very successful in building up a 
 large and valuable business in his chosen 
 profession. 
 
 In 1883 Dr. Borneinan was united in 
 marriage to Emma Stauffer, a daughter of 
 John C. Stauffer, of Bechtelsville, Penn- 
 sylvania. They have one child, a son 
 named Walter. Like his father, Dr. Borne- 
 man is a Republican in politics and in re- 
 ligion a Mennonite. 
 
 MILTON G. ERB, one of the present 
 commissioners of Montgomery county, 
 is a son of Jonas and Elizabeth (Geist) Erb, 
 and was born in Frederick township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, April 6, 1850. 
 Jonas Erb is of German descent, and was 
 born in this county April 16, 1816. The 
 active years of his life were passed in fann- 
 ing, and he is now a resident of Pottstown. 
 He is a Democrat in politics, and has been 
 a member of the Evangelical Lutheran 
 church for many years. He married Eliza- 
 beth Geist, who was a daughter of John 
 Geist, of Berks county. Mr. and Mrs. Erb 
 reared a family of seven children, five sons 
 and two daughters. 
 
 Milton G. Erb was reared on his father's 
 farm and attended the public schools until 
 he was nineteen years of age. He then 
 learned the trade of cabinet maker and the 
 undertaking business, which he followed 
 for about eight years. At the end of that 
 time he went to Bechtelsville, Berks county, 
 where he was engaged in keeping a hotel 
 up to 18S3. In that year he became a resi- 
 dent of Pottstown, and embarked at that 
 place in the bottling business, which he has 
 followed ever since. His bottling estab- 
 
 lishment is on High street, Pottstown, and 
 he bottles large quantities of ale, beer, por» 
 ter, and other drinks. In 1892 he engaged 
 in the wholesale malt liquor business, which 
 he has followed in connection with his 
 bottling business up to the present time. 
 Mr. Erb is a Democrat in politics. In 1893 
 he was elected as a county commissioner 
 for a term of three years, and has served in 
 that office since January 1, 1894. 
 
 He is a member of the Evangelical Luth- 
 eran church, and the Independent Order of 
 Red Men. He is a Knight Templar Mason, 
 being a member of Stichter Lodge No. 
 254, Free and Accepted Masons ; Pottstown 
 Chapter No. 271, Royal Arch Masons ; and 
 Nativity Commandery No. 71, Knights 
 Templar. 
 
 On November 16, 1876, Milton G. Erb 
 was united in marriage with Catharine 
 Rhue, a daughter of Nathan Rhue, of Pleas- 
 antville, Berks county. Mr. and Mrs. Erb 
 have six children living, two sons and four 
 daughters : J. Lawrence, Maty E., Annie 
 R., Howard N., Ella May, and M. Katie. 
 
 The oldest son, J. Lawrence Erb, is the 
 youneest graduate in the historv of the 
 Pottstown High school. He was graduated 
 there in the class of 1892, with first honors, 
 and is now a student in the Metropolitan 
 College of Music, in New York. 
 
 FG. STRITZINGER, a fine representa- 
 • tive of the sturdy German race, which 
 has furnished Pennsylvania with so many of 
 her leading citizens, is a son of Gotleib and 
 Christena (Minchinger) Stritzinger, and was 
 born November 4, 1832, at Oetiesheim, 
 Wurtemburg, Germany. He was reared 
 and educated in his native village, where 
 he afterward learned the trade of baker at 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 iii 
 
 Maulberoun, with a large bakery and flour 
 mill combined. At the age of twenty-one, 
 in 1854, he left the Fatherland, to find a 
 new home in America, and first settled at 
 Newport, Rhode Island. From there he 
 came to Norristown, Pennsylvania, in 1854, 
 and entered the employ of R. B. Stiles as a 
 confectioner. After a few months he went 
 to Williamsport, where he worked at his 
 trade for a time, but returning to Norris- 
 town, in 1859, he embarked in the bakery- 
 business on his own account at Washington 
 street and Strawberry alley. This enter- 
 prise he continued until 1870, when he sold 
 out and engaged in the building business, 
 putting up cottages and residences and sell- 
 ing them. In 1872 he purchased a lot at 
 Main and Cherry streets, and erected a 
 large bakery, which he conducted until 
 1889. He then purchased the Norristown 
 Roller mill and began the manufacture of 
 flour and ground feed, to which he has ever 
 since devoted his attention with success. 
 
 On December 4, 1861, Mr. Stitzinger was 
 married to Christiana Durrowackter, a na- 
 tive of the same village, and a daughter of 
 
 Durrowwackter. To them was born 
 
 a family of eight children : Ludwig G., 
 Frederick G., (1) deceased ; Benjamin F., 
 Elizabeth L,., who married Dr. William 
 Drecker ; Frederick G. jr., a graduate of 
 West Point Military academy, now serving 
 in the United States army, Texas (2); Wil- 
 liam; Anna M., deceased ; and George, also 
 dead. Mrs. Stretzinger passed from earth 
 on January 8th, 1895, aged fifty-four years. 
 
 In politics Mr. Stretzinger is a Republi- 
 can and protectionist, though he has never 
 taken any active part in political affairs. 
 He is an active member of the Evangelical 
 church, in which he has served as steward 
 and class leader for a number of years, and 
 has always taken a part in all church work, 
 
 and is regarded as a good business man and 
 citizen. 
 
 The Stretzingers are descended from an 
 old German family at Oetiesheim, where 
 Gotleib Stretzinger, (father), was born and 
 passed most of his life. He served six- 
 years in the German army, and afterward 
 engaged in the bakery business at his na- 
 tive place. In religion he was a Lutheran, 
 and married Christena Minchinger, a daugh- 
 ter of Minchinger. They had a 
 
 family of eight children, five of whom died 
 in early childhood. Those who reached 
 maturity were : F. G., the subject of this 
 sketch ; Louisa, widow of Ernst Windis, of 
 Norristown ; and Elizabeth, who wedded 
 N. Eiser, of Bridgeport. Gotleib Stretzing- 
 er died at Norristown, this county, in 1861, 
 aged fifty-nine, and his wife passed awav in 
 1884, after an active life extending over a 
 period of three-quarters of a century. 
 
 MINARD L. CHRISTMAN, one of the 
 Mechanical Engineers in the emplov 
 of the Phoenix Iron company, is a son of 
 Charles and Mary T. (Miller) Christman, 
 and was born at Norristown, Montgomery 
 county, June 26, 1848. Charles Christman, 
 was a native of Limerick township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, and learned 
 the trade of carpenter which he followed 
 during his lifetime. He died at Norristown, 
 August 22, 1881, at sixty-seven years of 
 age. He was a member and deacon of the 
 Central Presbyterian church, in which he 
 was a zealous and active worker. He mar- 
 ried Mary T. Miller, who was a daughter 
 of John T. Miller, of Limerick township, 
 and passed away February 2, 1891, when 
 in the seventy-ninth year of her age. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Christman reared a family of 
 
112 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 four children, three sons and one daughter. 
 Minard L. Christman was reared at Nor- 
 ristown, received his literary education in 
 the public schools and Tremount seminary 
 at that time conducted by Prof John W. 
 Loch, and then entered the Philadelphia 
 Polytechnic college, from which latter in- 
 stitution he was graduated in the class of 
 1867. Returning home, he learned the 
 trade of carpenter, and was engaged in con- 
 tracting and building up to 1880. In that 
 year he entered the service of the Phila- 
 delphia and Reading Railroad company, 
 and was assigned to the department of en- 
 gineering as assistant and chief draughts- 
 man to the master carpenter and superin- 
 tendant of Buildings and Bridges at Potts- 
 town, Pa., his duties being chiefly to design 
 and superintend the construction of and 
 repairs to buildings and bridges, and re- 
 mained with the company until 1887, when 
 he resigned to accept the position of 
 draughtsman in the new Steel Depart- 
 ment of the Phoenix Iron company, at 
 Phoenixville, Chester county. The Phoe- 
 nix Iron company is one of the largest of 
 its kind in the United States, and Mr. 
 Christman in connection with the general 
 management of the great plant, has especial 
 and personal supervision over the shop and 
 mill building and tracks ; also improve- 
 ments in the Steel Plant. In connection 
 with his important and responsible work 
 at the Phoenix iron works, he has designed 
 many fine public buildings and handsome 
 residences. He designed the DeKalb street 
 and Noble street public school buildings of 
 Norristown, and the Jeffersonville and 
 Bridgeport Presbyterian churches, and 
 made the drawings for remodeling the 
 Lower Providence Presbyterian church. 
 In 1881, Mr. Christman removed from Nor- 
 ristown to Pottstown, where he remained 
 
 until 1891, when he returned to Norristown 
 and resides in his present handsome resi- 
 dence on DeKalb street. 
 
 ( )n December 1, 1870, Mr. Christman was 
 united in marriage with Kate Briggs, a 
 daughter of Alfred D. Briggs, who was en- 
 gaged in the coal business at Norristown. 
 To their union have been been born two 
 children : Charles Alfred, who died at 
 eleven years of age ; and Emma Gertrude. 
 
 In political affairs Mr. Christman has al- 
 ways been a supporter of the Republican 
 party. He is recognized as a fine draughts- 
 man and an excellent architect and en- 
 gineer. 
 
 M AUGUSTUS WITHERS, M.D., who 
 • practiced his profession at Pottstown 
 for man}- years, and is now proprietor of a 
 leading drug store of that borough, is the 
 only son of Michael and Mary (Smith) 
 Withers, and a native of Pequa township, 
 Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he 
 was born November 6, 1829. The Withers 
 are of German extraction and were among 
 the first settlers of Lancaster county. George 
 Withers, paternal grandfather of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, was born and lived all 
 his life in that count}-. He had one brother, 
 Michael Withers, and they were both large 
 land owners, men of independent means 
 and prominently identified with the iron 
 and flour milling industries of Lancaster. 
 They owned and operated the Mount Eden 
 (1808) and Conowingo (1809) iron furnaces, 
 two of the first ever erected in Penn- 
 sylvania. They both took an active part 
 in public affairs and held a number of 
 offices. George Withers served as a soldier 
 in the Revolutionary war, and died in 1820, 
 at an advanced age. His wife, Anna (Ken- 
 drick) Withers, died in 1850, and their re- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 "3 
 
 mains sleep in Pequa township, Lancaster 
 county. Their son, Michael Withers (father) 
 was a miller up to 1S40, when he engaged 
 in the lumber and coal business. He fol- 
 lowed that successfully until he was sixty- 
 five years of age, when he retired from 
 business. He was a member of the Lutheran 
 church and died in 187 1 in his eightieth 
 year. In 1720 he married Mary Smith, a 
 native of Lancaster county, and a daughter 
 of Chester Chapin Smith. They had nine 
 children : Mary, Louisa, Annie, all of whom 
 died quite young ; Clara, married Colonel 
 Emlen Franklin, of Lancaster ; Josephine, 
 became the wife of John H. B. Wagner, an 
 attorney-at-law in Lancaster ; Louisa, wed- 
 ded Dr. A. J. Carpenter, of the same city ; 
 Mary, deceased at the age of twelve ; Annie, 
 married Bernard Wolf, of Pittsburg ; and 
 Dr. M. Augustus. 
 
 M. Augustus Withers secured his prepa- 
 ratory education in the Lancaster academy, 
 and subsequently entered Yale college, from 
 which famous institution he was graduated 
 in 1848. He began the study of medicine 
 in 1849, with Dr. F. A. Miihlenberg, of Lan- 
 caster, and later entered the University of 
 Pennsylvania, from which he was gradu- 
 ated with the degree of M. D. in 1852. In 
 the same year Dr. Withers began practice 
 at Lancaster, Pa., where he remained two 
 years. He then removed to Millersville, 
 where he practiced until 1859, when he 
 came to Pottstown. Here he practiced his 
 profession until 1862, when he entered the 
 Federal army as assistant surgeon of the 
 76th Pennsylvania infantry. After one 
 year he was promoted to be surgeon of the 
 regiment, but in 1864 resigned the position 
 and returned to Pottstown to resume his 
 former practice in this city. In 1885 Dr. 
 Withers retired from active practice. He 
 had purchased a drug store in Pottstown 
 
 s 
 
 soon after returning from the army, and 
 this business he has continued to the pre- 
 sent time. 
 
 On January 23, 1856, Dr. Withers was 
 married to Mary Louise Musselman, daugh- 
 ter of Henry and Anna Musselman, of Stras- 
 burg, Lancaster county. They had one 
 child, a daughter named Anna Mary, who 
 married Horace Evans, cashier of the Potts- 
 town National Bank, and who has two 
 sons, Louis W. and George W. Evans, both 
 of whom are pupils in the Hill school. 
 
 Dr. Withers is a member of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, and Past Master of 
 Strichler Lodge, No. 254, Free and Accep- 
 ted Masons. He and Mrs. Withers are also 
 members of the Episcopal church. 
 
 SOLOMON GILBERT, a prosperous bu- 
 siness man of Norristown, Pa., is a son 
 of John and Mary Gilbert, and was born in 
 Pottsgrove township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, February 14, 182 1. His pa- 
 ternal grandfather, Henry Gilbert, lived 
 near Summertown, New Hanover township, 
 Montgomery county, where he followed 
 agricultural pursuits. The father of Solo- 
 mon Gilbert was born in New Hanover 
 township where he was engaged in various 
 industrial pursuits. 
 
 In politics he was a Democrat and served 
 in the War of 1812. He was a consistent 
 member of the Lutheran church, and be- 
 came a resident of Pottsgrove township, 
 where he remained until his death. He 
 was married and reared a family of eight 
 children : Anna Filman, Sarah Engle 
 Broner, Kate Thomas, Rachael Sabold, 
 Charlotte Steltz, William, Samuel and Sol- 
 omon. 
 
 Solomon Gilbert was born and reared in 
 
ii 4 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Pottsgrove township, where he lived until 
 the age of seventeen, when he removed to 
 Norristown ; there he became interested in 
 the marble business, first as an employee 
 for David H. Decker, and afterwards as 
 the partner of a man named Potts, under 
 the firm name of Potts & Gilbert, locating 
 at Cedar Grove, Whitemarsh township. He 
 there continued in the marble business for 
 a term of five years and furnished all kinds 
 of marble for building purposes. With Mr. 
 Potts he owned a farm of one hundred acres 
 upon which were marble quarries, a saw 
 mill, sand works, fire-clay beds and iron ore 
 mines. At the end of five years that the 
 firm was engaged, Solomon Gilbert sold his 
 interest to his partner; Mr. Gilbert remained 
 in Norristown where he continued in the 
 marble business for fifteen years. In 1884 
 he built a handsome boarding stable ninety- 
 seven feet long and fifty feet wide, at 40 
 east Penn street. For ten years he was a 
 director of the Montgomery National bank. 
 
 He was also a director of the Norristown 
 Gas company, the Music Hall association 
 and the Electric Light and Power company. 
 In political sentiment Mr. Gilbert is a Re- 
 publican, and in religion, is a member of 
 the Lutheran church. During the Civil 
 war he served in an Emergency company. 
 
 In 1849 he was united in marriage with 
 Annie Lukens, a daughter of Benjamin 
 Lukens, and to this union have been born 
 five children : Clara ; Mary, who married 
 Prof. Jerry March, a music teacher, of Nor- 
 ristown ; Alice, who married William F. 
 Solly, who is one of the active members of 
 the Montgomery county bar and was chair- 
 man of the Republican county committee 
 during the campaign of General Hastings ; 
 Annie, married Dr. Charles E. Weber, a 
 practicing physician in Norristown ; and 
 Elizabeth is at home. 
 
 THOMAS DAVIS, M. D., an active and 
 successful physician of Montgomery 
 county for over half a century, was a son 
 of Dr. Roger Davis, and was born in Ches- 
 ter county, Pa., March 6, 1806. The Davis 
 family came from Wales, and are among 
 the oldest and most worthy families of 
 Chester and Montgomery counties. Their 
 early home was in Chester county, from 
 which members of the family came into 
 Montgomery county and other counties of 
 southeastern Pennsylvania. The father of 
 Dr. Thomas Davis was a well known phy- 
 sician in his day. 
 
 By the death of his parents Dr. Thomas 
 Davis was left an orphan when but a mere 
 child. He was taken and reared by his 
 elder brother Dr. Jones Davis. He read 
 medicine with Professor Horner of Phila- 
 delphia (of the University of Pennsylvania). 
 When he had completed the required course 
 of office reading and study, he entered the 
 medical department of the University of 
 Pennsylvania, from which institution he 
 was graduated with honors in 1824. After 
 graduation he came to Lower Providence 
 township where he remained for several 
 years. He then removed to Trappe, and 
 after practicing there for seven years went to 
 Whitemarsh township, and lived there four 
 years. In 1850 he returned to Jeffersonville, 
 where he continued to practice two and a 
 half years. In the latter named year (1S52) 
 he came to Evansburg, where he had a wide 
 field of practice until his retirement from 
 active professional life. Seven years later 
 his final summons came and he passed 
 away January 22, 1891, at the advanced age 
 of eighty-two years. His remains were in- 
 terred in the Upper Dublin cemetery, and 
 many mourned the loss of a true friend, and 
 a skillful physician. His life was one of 
 activity and usefulness and he did honor 
 
*27/ZCr71 Z^<2-</ Jiy&Sl&t/ 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 "5 
 
 by his ability and skill to the profession 
 of which he was an honored member. 
 
 On December 5, 1839, Dr. Thomas Davis 
 was united in marriage with Sarah L. 
 Rieff, who was a daughter of Joseph and 
 Ann L Rief, of Ambler, Pennsylvania. 
 She died November 2, 1869. Their union 
 was blessed with one child, Mary Ann, who 
 is now the only surviving member of her 
 branch of the old Davis family. Mary Ann 
 Davis, who has never married, is a woman 
 of good business ability, and has added to 
 the handsome estate left her by her mother 
 through several profitable investments. 
 She resides in a comfortable and well pro- 
 vided home at Evansburg, and is a member 
 of the Evangelical Lutheran church at the 
 Trappe. 
 
 GEORGE W. KEYS, the efficientCoun- 
 ty Recorder of Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, is a son of James and Mary 
 A. (Cam) Keys, and was born August 15, 
 1843, on * ne Ridge turnpike in the village 
 of Harmanville, Plymouth township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Major Keys, grandfather, was a native of 
 Londonderry, Ireland, whence he emigrated 
 to the United States. James Keys, father, 
 was born near Londonderry in the year 
 1815. He remained in his native land until 
 eighteen years of age, when because of the 
 crowded economic conditions existing in 
 his own country, he broke away from the 
 associations of his youth and embarked for 
 the new world. He located in Plymouth 
 township and became a foreman in Potts 
 & Dagers' marble quarries. He espoused 
 the cause of the old line Whig party upon 
 coming to this country and steadfastly ad- 
 hered to that party until supplanted by the 
 Republican party, when he became an ar- 
 
 dent Republican. He married Mary A. 
 Cam and they were the parents of six 
 children : Sarah, wife of PlummerGourlev; 
 George W., subject ; Mary, wife of E. 
 Channing Wolfe, a resident of Plymouth 
 township ; Emma, wife of Samuel Groff, of 
 Norristown ; Maggie, wife of J. Hecklev 
 Hand, of Philadelphia ; Harry A., deceased. 
 Of the children, the girls were all teachers 
 prior to their marriage. 
 
 George W. Keys received his scholastic 
 training in the public schools of Plymouth 
 township and Tremont seminary at Nor- 
 ristown, under the direction of Prof. John 
 W. Loch. At the age of seventeen years 
 he took a clerkship in the store of David 
 H. Yerkes of Harmanville, Pa. 
 
 He followed clerking with William Davis, 
 jr., of West Conshohocken, until he entered 
 the service of his country as a soldier in 
 the late Civil war. On August 15, 1862, 
 he enlisted in Company A, 138th regiment, 
 Pennsylvania volunteer infantry, but on ac- 
 count of physical disability, was rejected 
 by the government examining physician at 
 Harrisburg. He then entered a free mili- 
 tary school at Philadelphia and after an 
 attendance there for a short time, appeared 
 before an examining board at Washington, 
 D. C. He passed the requirements of that 
 board and received a commission as second 
 lieutenant, Class A, and was put in charge 
 of Company A, of the 41st regiment, U. S. 
 colored troops at Camp William Penn, and 
 early in 1864, was attached to the Army of 
 the James. Among the more important 
 conflicts and affair in which his regiment 
 figured were the following : Charles City 
 Cross Roads, Chapin's Farm, &c. ; his di- 
 vision, tmder General E. O. C. Ord, joined 
 the Army of the Potomac under Grant ; was 
 in the assault upon Petersburg and was 
 present at the surrender of Lee at Appo- 
 
n6 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 inattox. After the conflict of the Civil war 
 was ended, the division to which Mr. Keys' 
 regiment belonged was sent to Texas nnder 
 Gen. P. H. Sheridan; and at Edinburg, 
 Texas, lieutenant Keys was promoted to 
 first lieutenant and adjutant of his regiment. 
 They remained in that country doing duty 
 from the island of Brazos to Ringgold 
 Barracks until December, 1865, when the 
 regiment was ordered home and was mus- 
 tered out at Camp Cad walader, Philadelphia. 
 After returning from the service, he took 
 a position as clerk and superintendent for 
 Potts and Gilbert, marble merchants at 
 Cedar Grove, in Whitemarsh township, this 
 county. That position he filled for three 
 years when he formed a partnership with 
 Nathaniel W. Yerkes and engaged in farm- 
 ing, merchandising and the mining, ex- 
 tensively, of iron ore. He continued this 
 line of business for a period of three years 
 when he sold out again and assumed the 
 roll of superintendent of a marble quarry 
 for Mr. E. Charming Potts, which position 
 he held up to 1881, when he embarked in 
 the mining of fire clay, kaolin and foundry 
 gravel in connection with a general con- 
 tracting business which he carries on to the 
 present time. He has been a successful 
 business man and has accumulated a hand- 
 some property. He is a Republican in pol- 
 itics and has always manifested a strong 
 interest in the success of his party. In 
 1890 he was the candidate of his party for 
 the office of recorder and was defeated by 
 only two votes. In 1893 ne was renominated 
 for the same office and elected by the hand- 
 same majority of six hundred and seventy- 
 five votes. Fraternally, Mr. Keys is a mem- 
 ber of George Smith Post, No. 79, G. A. R. 
 The marriage of Mr. Keys and Emma, 
 a daughter of Jesse Kirk, of Whitemarsh 
 township, this county, was on August 15, 
 
 1872, and resulted in the birth of three sons : 
 James, a student in the civil engineering 
 department of Lehigh University, a mem- 
 ber of the class 1896 ; Jesse, a skilled brick- 
 layer, graduated from Williamson Manual 
 Training school in the class of 1894; and 
 Harry, a student of mechanical arts in the 
 Drexel Institute, Philadelphia. The ma- 
 ternal grandfather of Mr. Keys was Joseph 
 Cam, who was of French extraction and 
 his maternal grandmother was of German 
 lineage. 
 
 ALBERT G. SAYLOR, a retired busi- 
 ness man of Pottstown, is the eldest 
 son of Henry and Mary A. (Groves) Savior, 
 and was born November 16, 1826, on the 
 old Savior homestead in Limerick township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. This 
 farm was purchased by the paternal grand- 
 father of the subject of this sketch, Henry 
 Savior, sr., 1708, and has remained in pos- 
 session of the family ever since. It is now 
 owned by Azariah Saylor, a brother of Al- 
 bert G. Saylor. Henry Saylor (grandfather) 
 had two children, a son named for himself 
 and a daughter, Susanna. The son, Henry 
 Saylor (father) was born July 20, 1800, and 
 resided all his life on the home farm near 
 Limerick Square. He engaged for a time 
 in huckstering and farming, but later aban- 
 doned the former and gave his entire atten- 
 tion to agricultural pursuits. He was a 
 Democrat in politics and served at one time 
 as assessor of the township. In religion he 
 was a member of the Lutheran church, and 
 died on April 21, 1877, aged seventy-six 
 years, niue months and one day. In 1821 
 he married Mary A. Groves, a native of 
 Montgomery county and a daughter of John 
 Groves. By this marriage he had a family 
 of five children : Albert G; Azariah; Dr. 
 
-4/3 <.~**-£ 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 117 
 
 Henry A. (see sketch of A. R. Saylor, on 
 another page of this book) ; Susanna and 
 Ada Eliza. Mrs. Mary A. Saylor died in 
 1880, at the advanced age of eighty years, 
 four months and eighteen days. 
 
 Albert G. Saylor attended the pay schools 
 of his township and remained on the farm 
 until seventeen years of age. He then en- 
 tered the general store of Henry McKenty, 
 at Douglasville, Berks county, as a clerk 
 and salesman, and after a short time came 
 to Pottstown, Montgomery county, as a 
 clerk in the general mercantile establish- 
 ment of Daniel H. Beecher. . For three 
 years he remained with Mr. Beecher and 
 then became clerk for Frederick A. Bickel, 
 another merchant of Pottstown. With Mr. 
 Bickel he remained until the latter sold out 
 to Amstead Wells, when he entered Mr. 
 Wells' employ and continued in the posi- 
 tion of clerk for three years longer. In 1851 
 Mr. Saylor embarked in the notion and 
 trimming business on his own account, at 
 Pottstown, and in i860 added dry goods and 
 millinery business successfully until 1884, 
 when he sold out to Landis & Snell. Thus 
 for more than the third of a century, Mr. 
 Saylor was an active and successful mer- 
 chant of Pottstown, devoting all his time to 
 business and never aspiring to any sort of 
 official distinction. In 1884 he retired from 
 business, and has since been enjoying the 
 well earned repose that fittingly crowns a 
 long and active career of well directed ef- 
 fort. 
 
 In December, 1848, Mr. Saylor inar r 
 ried Mary Ann Overholtzer, a daughter of 
 Henry and Mary Overholtzer, of Lancaster 
 county, this State. To them were born two 
 children, the eldest of whom, Hon. H. D. Say- 
 lor, is now State senator from Montgomery 
 county. Their other child was a daughter, 
 Mary Ann, who was an efficient church and 
 
 Sunday school worker for a number of years 
 and died April 11, 1883, at the age of twenty- 
 one years, six months. Mrs. Mary A. Say- 
 lor died in 1869, aged forty-four years, 
 twenty six days; and on November 6, 1888, 
 Mr. Saylor was again married, wedding for 
 his second wife, Mary Ann Sassaman, a 
 daughter ot Jacob and Salome (Stauffer) 
 Sassaman, of Berks county, Pa. 
 
 For forty-six years Mr. Saylor has been a 
 member of the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, having passed through all the 
 chairs of his lodge and also all of the chairs 
 of the old encampment. In 1840 he was 
 confirmed a member of the Lutheran church 
 at St. Augustine's Lutheran church, Trappe, 
 this county, on the one hundredth anniver- 
 sary of that church. That was the first 
 Lutheran church ever organized in Mont- 
 gomery county and was founded in 1740. 
 Mr. Saylor has been a member of the church 
 council and trustee of his church for many 
 years, and also represented his church on 
 the Pottstown cemetery board, of which he 
 served as secretary since 1873. For nearly 
 a quarter of a century he served as super- 
 intendent of the Sunday school connected 
 with his church, and was always active in 
 support of the religious and charitable 
 movements originated and carried forward 
 by his denomination. 
 
 SAMUEL B. LATSHAW, an enterpris- 
 ing and successful business man, of 
 Royersford, is a native of Spring City, 
 Chester county, Pennsylvania, where he 
 was born January 17, 1852. He is the 
 eldest son of Daniel and Angeline (Bean) 
 Latshaw. The Latshaws are one of the early 
 settled families of Chester county, where Ja- 
 cob Latshaw, paternal grandfather of the 
 
n8 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 subject of this sketch, was born and reared. 
 He was an extensive farmer and large land 
 owner, and a prominent minister of the 
 Mennonite church, to which he gave his 
 sen-ices for many years without a thought 
 of compensation. He married Mary Hiest- 
 and and reared a family of seven children, 
 three sons and four daughters : John, still 
 living in Chester count}- ; David, deceased ; 
 Daniel, also dead ; Betsey, who married 
 Abraham Bechtel, and is now deceased ; 
 Catharine, wedded William Buckwalter, 
 and is also dead ; Mary became the wife of 
 Joel Ebert, and is now deceased, and Annie, 
 who married Rudolph Stauffer and now re- 
 sides in East Pikeland, Chester county. 
 Daniel Latshaw (father) was born in Chest- 
 er county, this State, in 1820, and after at- 
 taining manhood, engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits, which he followed all his life in 
 Chester and Montgomery counties. He 
 owned large tracts of land in the vicinity of 
 Royersford, Montgomery county. Where 
 the town now stands he had four fine farms, 
 including almost the entire site of the 
 borough, and was the founder of Royers- 
 ford. He laid out and sold lots, opened 
 streets, and industriously labored to secure 
 the location here of industrial enterprises 
 calculated to build up the place and attract 
 settlers. He was instrumental in getting 
 the first stove foundry to locate here, and 
 donated lots for school and church purposes. 
 He was a man of great public spirit and un- 
 bounded energy, and was ever ready to do 
 all in his power for the interest of the town 
 and its people. His death occured Oct. 31, 
 1886, in his sixty-seventh year, and his re- 
 mains lie entombed in the Femwood ceme- 
 tery at Royersford. In 1850 he married 
 Angeline Bean, a daughter of Samuel Bean, 
 and by that union had a family of nine 
 children, all sons : Samuel B., whose name 
 
 heads this sketch ; Milton, a hardware mer- 
 chant, of Spring City ; Jesse Newton, 
 deceased ; Jacob, also dead ; Daniel, like- 
 wise deceased ; B. Irvin, residing at Royers- 
 ford ; John H, William L. and Ira D. 
 
 Samuel B. Latshaw, the eldest son, 
 obtained his elementary education in the 
 public schools of Limerick township, this 
 county, and subsequently entered the 
 academy at Phoenixville. After complet- 
 ing his academic studies he clerked in a 
 store at Royersford for four years, and then 
 took a course of training in Bryant & 
 Stratton's Business College, Philadelphia, 
 from which institution he was graduated in 
 187 1. Soon after graduation he accepted a 
 position as clerk in the Reading ticket and 
 freight office at Royersford, and one year 
 later entered the employ of the American 
 Wood Paper company, of Spring City, as 
 chief book-keeper and clerk. Mr. Latshaw 
 remained with the paper company for 
 fifteen years, but in 1887 resigned his posi- 
 tion and embarked in the insurance and 
 real estate business at Royersford. His ex- 
 perience and knowledge of values, combined 
 with his sound judgment and indomitable 
 energy, have commended him to a wide 
 circle of customers, and he has built up 
 one of the most important enterprises of its 
 kind in the county. Owning large real 
 estate himself, he is prepared to meet the 
 wants of all classes, whether for a home or 
 for investments. He represents the leading 
 insurance companies of the United States 
 in fire, life and accident insurance, and also 
 takes entire charge of real estate, securing 
 desirable tenants, effecting repairs of pro- 
 perty, and in every way consulting the 
 best interests of the owners he represents. 
 
 In 1887 Mr. Latshaw erected a large and 
 beautiful four story brick building, the first 
 floors of which are occupied by stores, the 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 119 
 
 second contains commodious rooms for the 
 Young Men's Christian association and 
 Women's Christian Temperance Union, 
 while the third is a large public hall, con- 
 taining a stage and scenery, and sufficient 
 room to seat more than four hundred peo- 
 ple. The fourth story is fitted up for lodge 
 rooms. This building reflects great credit 
 on its founder and is an architectural orna- 
 ment to the borough. In addition to his 
 real estate business, Mr. Latshaw is a 
 director of the National Bank of Royersford, 
 Fernwood Cemetery Co., Royersford Build- 
 ing and Loan Association and American 
 Tire and Wheel Co. He is also Treasurer 
 of the Home Water Co. and Royersford 
 Machine Co. and interested as a stockholder 
 in many other corporations. 
 
 On October 4, 1876, Mr. Latshaw was 
 married to Alice Rogers, daughter of Jones 
 Rogers, of Royersford. To them was born 
 one child, a son named Clarence R., now in 
 his 1 8th year. Mr. and Mrs. Latshaw have 
 also adopted Ella M. R. Latshaw. Mr. 
 Latshaw is a member and treasurer of the 
 Board of Trustees of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church, and librarian of the Methodist 
 Sunday school. He is also a member of 
 Royersford Lodge, No. 585, Free and Ac- 
 cepted Masons, and vice president of the 
 Young Men's Christian Association, of 
 Royersford. Politically he is a strict Pro- 
 hibitionist. As a business man and citizen 
 he is valuable, and his efforts to build up 
 the borough have been very successful. 
 
 GEORGE H. CRABTREE, a promis- 
 ing young physician and surgeon of 
 Royersford, was graduated from the Medico- 
 Chirurgical College of Philadelphia in the 
 spring of 1893. He was then elected to serve 
 
 a term as resident physician of the Samari- 
 tan hospital of Philadelphia, and early in 
 1894 located at Royersford, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, for the general prac- 
 tice of his profession. Although a young 
 man, he soon built up a good practice. 
 
 Dr. Crabtree is a native of Maine, having 
 been born at Topsfield, that State, February 
 4, 1866. His parents are Lorenzo R. and 
 Mary (Small) Crabtree, the former of 
 Scotch and the latter of English extrac- 
 tion. The father, who still resides on the 
 old homestead in Maine, is a farmer by oc- 
 cupation, and the boyhood of Dr. Crabtree 
 was spent on the farm and in attendance at 
 the public schools of his neighborhood. 
 Later he entered the Lee Normal academy, 
 at Lee, Maine, from which he was graduated 
 in 1885 with highest honors. He then en- 
 gaged in the mercantile business for two 
 years in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, 
 and while there took an extended course of 
 study in science and languages in a private 
 night school of that city. After complet- 
 ing this course, Dr. Crabtree began the 
 study of medicine under Dr. George F. 
 Keene, the eminent physician of Howard, 
 Rhode Island. He subsequently matri- 
 culated at the Medico-Chirurgical College of 
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from which he 
 was duly graduated as already stated. 
 
 He is a member of the Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows, and of the Knights of the 
 Golden Eagle. Possessing many of the 
 attributes of the ideal physician, and earn- 
 estly devoted to his profession, his career 
 promises to be alike useful and honorable. 
 He is a careful reader of the best literature 
 of his school in medicine, and has been 
 successful in his practice. He is unmar- 
 ried. He has recently been elected a mem- 
 ber of the surgical staff of the Phcenixville 
 hospital, of Phcenixville, Pa. 
 
120 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 WILLIAM RITTENHOUSE, a de- 
 scendant of the old and well known 
 Rittenhonse family, of Norriton township, 
 is a son of William, Sr. and Susanna 
 (Highley) Rittenhouse, and was born in 
 Norriton township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, May 24, 1843. The Ritten- 
 house family is of German descent and is 
 related to the Rittenhouse family of which 
 David Rittenhouse, the celebrated astron- 
 omer, was a member. William Ritten- 
 house, Sr., was a grandson of Henry 
 Rittenhouse, who married Sophia Ernhart, 
 and was an early resident of Norriton 
 township, where he followed farming and 
 owned the farm that has come down 
 through four generations of his descendants. 
 His children were : Christopher, William, 
 Wilhelmina, David, Joseph and Henry. 
 David Rittenhouse married Rachel Zim- 
 merman, and the children born to them 
 were : Charlotte, Susan, William, Sr., 
 Christopher, Sophia, Henry and David. 
 
 William Rittenhouse, Sr. , was born on 
 the home farm, August 3, 1803. He was 
 reared to habits of industry and economy, 
 and received the limited education of his 
 day. When he came to do for himself he 
 chose farming for a life occupation. He 
 tilled the home farm for sixteen years and 
 then purchased the shares of the other 
 heirs. He was a successful farmer and 
 died December 22, 1891, aged eighty-nine 
 years. He married, in 1831, Susanna 
 Highley, who was a daughter of John 
 Highley, of Lower Providence township, 
 and died January 5, 1848. To their union 
 were born seven children : George W., 
 Rachel, Mary, Charlotte, David, William 
 (subject) and Susan. Of these children, 
 Charlotte, David and Susan are deceased. 
 
 William Rittenhouse grew to manhood 
 on the farm, received his education in the 
 
 common schools and Loch's select school, 
 of Norristown, and then turned his attention 
 to farming which he has followed ever since. 
 He resided on the old homestead until 
 1893, when he removed to his present com- 
 fortable home at White Hall, adjoining the 
 homestead. In the period of thirty years, 
 during which he has done for himself, he 
 has never left the farm except for two 
 years that he spent in acquiring the trade 
 of blacksmith, which he has never followed 
 as a regular business. 
 
 On March 19, 1874, Mr. Rittenhouse 
 married Rebecca Shannon, a daughter of 
 Joseph Shannon, of Norriton township. 
 Their union has been blessed with one 
 child, a daughter, named Charlotte. 
 
 In politics Mr. Rittenhouse is a Republi- 
 can. He is a member of Curtis Lodge, No. 
 239, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
 He was one of the incorporators, and is a 
 present stock holder, of the Spring Garden 
 market company of Philadelphia. When 
 the company was organized he was made a 
 director, and has served in that position 
 by re-election ever since. Mr. Rittenhouse 
 has been successful in business-life through 
 his own efforts, and has acquired a com- 
 petency and a comfortable home. 
 
 EPHRAIM B. BICKEL, a retired mer- 
 chant of Norristown, is the son of 
 Daniel and Elizabeth Bickel, and was born 
 near Gilbertsville, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, January 30, 1829. The 
 Bickel family of this county traces its an- 
 cestry back to the grandfather of Ephraim 
 B. Bickel, who came from Germany to 
 Pennsylvania, where he located upon a 
 farm near Falkner's Swamp, Montgomery 
 countv. He was an adherent to the Demo- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 121 
 
 cratic party and was a member of the 
 Lutheran church. 
 
 He married, and to their union were 
 born five children : Henry, Jacob, Lewis, 
 Daniel and Mrs. Isaac Fether. 
 
 Daniel Bickle (father) was born in Mont- 
 gomery county and was educated in the 
 common schools of his native district. He 
 turned his early aitention to farming, which 
 occupation he followed during life. He 
 owned a fine farm of one hundred acres 
 near Gilbertville where he took great in- 
 terest in agriculture. In politics he was a 
 Democrat and was a faithful attendant of 
 the Lutheran church. He married Eliza- 
 beth Brower who died at the age of sixty-two 
 years. They had five sons and three daugh- 
 ters : Maria, deceased, who was the wife of 
 Jacob Bucher ; Elizabeth, who married 
 Samuel Bower ; Mary, deceased ; Jacob, 
 deceased ; Ephraim ; Isaac, deceased ; Wil- 
 liam, deceased, and Daniel, deceased. 
 Father Daniel died at the age of forty-three 
 years. 
 
 Ephraim B. Bickel first attended the 
 common schools near Boyertown, Berks 
 county, where the family removed after the 
 death of his father. Afterwards he became 
 a student at the Academy at New Stone- 
 ville, Berks county, which was conducted 
 by Nathaniel Bertolet. Leaving school he 
 was engaged as clerk, first at Boyertown 
 then at Norristown, and as such, served for 
 some years. In 1850 he engaged in the 
 mercantile business for himself and located 
 first on Main street in Norristown and after- 
 wards at No. 419 west Marshall street, where 
 he continued in the business until he sold 
 out to his son Harry, who still conducts the 
 business at that place. 
 
 Mr. Bickel is a Democrat and takes an 
 active interest in the success of his party. 
 He is also a member of the Knights of 
 
 Pythias, the Star Loan association and the 
 West Norristown Building and Loan asso- 
 ciation. He adheres to the Lutheran church 
 of which he is a member. On January 27, 
 1859, he was united in marriage with Louisa 
 Hartranft, a daughter of David Hartranft, 
 who was engaged in the milling business 
 near Falkner's Swamp. This union has been 
 blessed with two children: Harry N., who 
 succeeded his father in the mercantile busi- 
 ness and in 1894, induced by his friends, be- 
 came a candidate for assembly but was de- 
 feated with the rest of the Democratic ticket; 
 and Emma, who married Dr. Elmer E. John- 
 ston, a practicing physician of Pottstown, 
 this county. 
 
 CAPTAIN ROBERT McCOY, proprie- 
 tor of extensive lime works at Swede- 
 land, Montgomery county, is a son of Alick 
 and Catharine (Rogers) McCoy, and was 
 born in February-, 1831, in county Antrim, 
 Ireland. His paternal grandfather, John 
 McCoy, passed the early part of his life in 
 the highlands of Scotland, emigrating when 
 a young man to Ireland, where he married 
 Sallie MacMullin. He was a fanner and 
 died in county Antrim, Ireland, at the age 
 of sixty-seven. His wife lived to be seventy- 
 nine. Their son, Alick McCoy (father) was 
 reared in the same county, obtaining an 
 ordinary common school education, and be- 
 came a farmer and stockman. He shipped 
 live stock to all parts of Scotland and ac- 
 cumulated considerable property. He was 
 a Protestant in religion and became popular 
 and influential in his community. About 
 1830 he married Catharine Rogers, a native 
 of county Entrain and of Scotch-Irish pa- 
 rentage. They had a family of four chil- 
 dren, of whom the subject of this sketch was 
 
122 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 the eldest and is the only son now living. 
 The others were John and Alick, both de- 
 ceased, and Margaret, who became the wife 
 of John McCann, of Bridgeport, Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 Robert McCoy remained on the Emerald 
 Isle until he had reached his sixteenth year, 
 when he emigrated to America and soon 
 afterward settled in Chester county, Penna. 
 He at first worked on a farm for a short 
 time and then entered the employ of John 
 Kennedy, at Port Kennedy, this county, 
 with whom he remained for two years. 
 After that he began boating on the river 
 for Mr. Kennedy, carrying lime to Mary- 
 land, Virginia and other places, and was 
 thus employed for two years more. At the 
 end of that time Mr. Kennedy assisted him 
 starting the boating business on his own ac- 
 count, and Mr. McCoy remained on the water 
 for a period of fifteen years, transporting all 
 kinds of heavy merchandise. Later he be- 
 gan boating lime for Rarnbo & Co., and 
 afterward purchased the steam tug General 
 Meade, where he remained for four years. 
 He then purchased the steam tug Cynthia, 
 plying on the Delaware river, until 1876, 
 and he then sold the tug Cynthia. While 
 acting as captain of the schooners Liza Ann 
 and Daniel Fraley, he carried supplies to 
 the seat of war, during the great rebellion, 
 and was thus exposed to many dangers and 
 hardships. In 1880 he embarked in the 
 grocery and liquor business at Bridgeport, 
 Montgomery county. After two years he 
 sold the business to Robert Griffith and pur- 
 chased a large limestone quarry at Swede- 
 land, where he erected lime-kilns and other 
 necessary buildings and began the manu- 
 facture of lime on a large scale. This en- 
 terprise he has ever since successfully con- 
 ducted, and has succeeded in building up a 
 large and valuable trade, extending to all 
 
 parts of eastern Pennsylvania and sections 
 of adjoining States. 
 
 Politically, Mr. McCoy is a staunch Repub- 
 lican, and has served two terms in the town 
 council of Bridgeport. He is an Episco- 
 palian in religion, and always takes an active 
 part in supporting the various interests of 
 his church, and is an earnest advocate of 
 every measure calculated to advance the 
 welfare of the community in which he re- 
 sides. He is a member of the Protestant 
 association, No. 59, Philadelphia, Pa., and 
 for many years he was connected with 
 Montgomery Lodge, No. 59, Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows. 
 
 In July, 1854, Captain McCoy was united 
 in marriage with Catharine McMullen, a 
 native of Ireland and a daughter of John 
 McMullen. To them was born a family of 
 ten children : Catharine, married Alexander 
 Niel ; John; Mary, became the wife of Rich- 
 ard Walker; Ellen, wedded William Mayers; 
 Julia, wife of J. Eastborn ; Robert; Jane, 
 who married Frederick Whitman ; Sarah 
 and Alick. Mrs. Catherine McCoy died on 
 November 8, 1887, aged fifty-six. Mr. 
 McCoy is purely a self-made man, having 
 worked his way up, without adventitious 
 aid of any kind, until he occupies an ex- 
 cellent position among the citizens of his 
 adopted count} - of Montgomery. 
 
 HORACE F. REIFSNYDER, resident 
 at Norristown since 1884, is a son of 
 John H. and Mary K. Reifsnyder, and a 
 native of Chester county, this State, where 
 he was born January 8th, 1852. He was 
 reared and educated in his native county, 
 and after leaving school occupied various 
 clerical positions for the space of four 
 years, after which he was appointed a rail- 
 
fmu7^CM<T: 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 123 
 
 road agent and served continuously in that 
 position and finally settled at Norristown 
 in 1S84, and has resided here ever since, 
 engaged in the business as railroad agent. 
 
 Politically Mr. Reifsnyder has always 
 been a stanch Republican. He has served 
 for some time as school director for the 
 Seventh ward, in which he resides, and is a 
 firm friend of popular education. He is a 
 member and an official of the Second Bap- 
 tist church of Norristown, and is always 
 active in support of the various religious 
 and charitable interests of his denomination. 
 
 On May 6th, 1874, Mr. Reifsnyder was 
 united in marriage with Allie Alexander, 
 a daughter of George Alexander, of Chester 
 county. To Mr. and Mrs. Reifsnyder have 
 been born five children, three sons and 
 two daughters : Carolyn, George, Edgar, 
 Herbert, and Emma. 
 
 The Reifsnyders are of German extrac- 
 tion, but have resided in Pennsylvania 
 since early times. John Reifsnyder, pater- 
 nal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, 
 was a country merchant of Chester county, 
 where he resided all his life. His store 
 was across the river from Pottstown, and 
 he was well and favorably known to most 
 of the older people of Montgomery county. 
 He married Anna Harley, by whom he had 
 a family of four children, one of his sons 
 being John H. Reifsnyder, who was born in 
 Chester county in 1819, and died there in 
 1893, at the advanced age of seventy-four 
 years. After obtaining a good education, 
 he engaged for a time in teaching and then 
 embarked in mercantile pursuits. For sev- 
 eral years he followed merchandising very 
 successfully and then retired. He was a 
 staunch Republican in politics, and also 
 adhered to the religious faith of his ances- 
 tors, being for many years a member of the 
 Lutheran church. In 1848 he married 
 
 Mary Klink, a daughter of Frederick 
 Klink. To them was born a family of four 
 children, of whom three still survive : Ir- 
 win, Horace F., Catharine, (deceased); and 
 Charles. 
 
 JR. UMSTAD, M. D., a general prac- 
 • titiouer of medicine and a specialist on 
 diseases of the eye, is a son Samuel and 
 Lydia (Rieff) Utnstad, and was born near 
 Shannonville, Lower Providence township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, July 6, 
 1856. The Umstads are of Holland-Dutch 
 descent, and have been resident of the 
 county for several generations. Samuel 
 Umstad was born and reared in Lower 
 Providence township, where his life was 
 passed as a farmer. He was born July 7, 
 1826, and died July 12, 1857, wnen i n the 
 early years of matured manhood. He was 
 a Republican politically and a consistent 
 member of the Dunkard or Reformed Ger- 
 man Baptist church, in whose faith he had 
 been reared and taught. He wedded Lydia 
 Rieff, whose father was George Rieff, of Nor- 
 ristown, Pa. To their union was born four 
 children : Henry Alpha and Mary, who are 
 deceased ; and Dr. J. R. and Catharine, 
 wife of Charles Jarrett, who are living. 
 
 At twelve years of age Dr. J. R. Umstad 
 was taken from Lower Providence town- 
 ship to Norristown, where he grew to man- 
 hood. He received his education in the 
 public schools of Norristown, and com- 
 menced the study of medicine with his 
 uncle, Dr. H. U. Umstad, of Black Rock, 
 Montgomery county, Pa. After two years 
 spent in office reading, he attended lec- 
 tures at Jefferson Medical college from 
 which he was graduated in the "Centennial 
 Class" (1876). In a short time after grad- 
 uation he opened an office for the practice 
 
124 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of his profession at Kulpsville, where he 
 remained for three years. He then pur- 
 chased Dr. Detwiler's office at Evansburg, 
 and remained there ten years. At the end 
 of that time in the spring of 1890, Dr. 
 Umstad removed to Norristowu, where he 
 has been engaged in active practice up to 
 the present time. While having a large 
 practice as a general practitioner, he makes 
 a specialty of the diseases of the eye, for 
 which he prepared himself by taking a 
 special post-graduate course on eye diseases 
 in connection with other advanced clinical 
 work at Philadelphia Polyclinic Hospital, 
 in 1889. 
 
 In politics Mr. Umstad has always been 
 a Republican, and at the present time is a 
 physician to the coroner, a position he has 
 filled for over two years. He is also phy- 
 sician to the Norristown Charity Hos- 
 pital. 
 
 He is a member of the First Presbyterian 
 church of Norristown ; Economy Lodge 
 No. 397, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; 
 Shannonville Castle No. 211, Knights of 
 the Golden Eagle ; and Norris City Lodge 
 No. n, Shield of Honor. He is practical, 
 skillful and successful as a physician. Dr. 
 Umstad is a close student in the line of his 
 profession. He is one of the special con- 
 tributors to the Codex Medicus of Phila- 
 delphia, which is a high standard medical 
 journal, containing select contributions 
 from experienced physicians, concerning 
 successful treatment of complicated and dif- 
 ficult cases arising in practice. Dr. Umstad 
 is president of the Montgomery County 
 Medical Society, and has been for some time 
 a member of the Pennsylvania State Med- 
 ical society. 
 
 On November 16, 1S80, Dr. J. R. Umstad 
 was united in marriage with Emma J. 
 Swartley, a daughter of Henry D. Swart- 
 
 ley, of Skippackville. To Dr. and Mrs. 
 Umstad have been born three children : 
 Harry Guy, who died in infancy ; W. 
 LeRoy, born July 15, 1883 ; and Kathrine 
 Helen, born December 10, 1894. 
 
 HON. AARON S. SWARTZ, President 
 Judge of the Thirty-eighth Judicial 
 district of Pennsylvania, is a native of To- 
 wameucin township, Montgomery county, 
 where he was born February 24, 1849. He 
 is a son of Jacob H. and Susanna (Snyder) 
 Swartz. During his boyhood, Judge Swartz 
 remained on the farm until ten years of age 
 when his father removed to Kulpsville, this 
 county. Here the subject of this sketch re- 
 ceived his primary education in private 
 schools. Later he concluded his academic 
 studies at Freeland seminary (now Ursinus 
 college), after which he taught for several 
 years. In September, 1867, he entered La- 
 fayette college at Easton, Pennsylvania, from 
 which institution he was graduated in the 
 year 1871 with the first honors of his class. 
 Immediately subsequent to his graduation 
 he was elected principal of the public schools 
 at Phoenixville, this State, and served for 
 a term of one year. In the autumn of 
 1872, he came to Norristown, and began 
 the study of law in the office of Gilbert 
 Rodman Fox, Esq. While yet engaged in 
 his legal studies he was appointed deputy 
 clerk of the United States District Court at 
 Philadelphia, and removed to that city. 
 Having completed his preparation for the 
 bar he was admitted to practice in May, 
 1875, but retained his position of deputy 
 clerk until 1877. In the year last mentioned 
 he was put forward as the Republican 
 nominee for district attorney of Montgomery 
 county, but was defeated by a small ma- 
 
(Za 
 
 -taw? i 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 125 
 
 jority, though he ran largely ahead of his 
 ticket. In 1881 Mr. Swartz was nominated 
 for associate judge of this county against 
 Hon. H. P. Ross, then the incumbent of 
 that office, but was again defeated. In the 
 same year he was appointed solicitor for the 
 county commissioners and continued to act 
 in that capacity until 18S7. In the latter 
 year a bill was passed by the legislature 
 giving Montgomery county an additional 
 law judge, and Mr. Swartz was appointed 
 by Governor Beaver to fill the new position, 
 ascending the bench as the associate of 
 Judge Boyer in 1887. In August, 1887, 
 Judge Boyer died and Judge Swartz was 
 commissioned President judge, having re- 
 ceived three judicial commissions in one 
 year — as Law judge, President judge, and 
 Judge by election. In 1887 he was nomi- 
 nated and elected to the position of Presi- 
 dent judge of the Thirty-eighth Judicial 
 district of Pennsylvania for a full term of 
 ten years, beginning January 1, 1888, and 
 is now discharging the duties of his high 
 office in a manner that has caused him to 
 be honored and respected. 
 
 In his religious affiliation Judge Swartz 
 is a Presbyterian and has served as a ruling 
 elder in the First Presbyterian church 
 of Norristown for a number of years. 
 He has also served continuously as su- 
 perintendent of the Sunday-school for 
 a period of over six years. He is a 
 liberal minded man of broad views, chari- 
 table in disposition, and kind and generous 
 in his intercourse with others. 
 
 On April 20, 1876, Judge Swartz was 
 united in marriage to A. Louisa Keller, of 
 Bucks county, Pennsylvania. The result 
 of this union has been five children : Gert- 
 rude, Edna, Aaron S. jr., Anna and Helen, 
 the last named now deceased. 
 
 The family from which Judge Swartz 
 
 was descended is of German extraction but 
 its members have been native of Pennsyl- 
 vania ever since the Collonial period. Chris- 
 tian Swartz, paternal great grandfather of 
 Judge Swartz, was a life-long resident of 
 Montgomery county and a well known 
 preacher of the religious sect known as 
 Mennonites. His son, Emanuel Swartz 
 (grandfather) was also a native of this coun- 
 ty, a sturdy and well to do farmer, and in 
 political faith a Jacksonian Democrat. He 
 adhered to the religion of his father, was 
 married to Ann Hendricks and had a family 
 of two sons and four daughters, one of whom 
 was Jacob H. Swartz, father of Aaron S. 
 Jacob Swartz was born at the old homestead 
 in Towamencin township in the year 1819, 
 and after attaining to the years of manhood 
 learned the carpenter trade, at which he 
 worked for a number of years. He then 
 purchased a farm and engaged in agricul- 
 tural pursuits and stock raising. He also 
 kept a hotel for a number of years, was 
 widely known throughout the county, but 
 retired from active business about 1886. He 
 enjoyed the evening of his life in quiet and 
 comfort at Lansdale, Pa., and died in Feb- 
 ruary, 1S95. In 1844 he espoused in mar- 
 riage Susanna Schneider, a daughter of 
 Isaac Schneider of this county, and by that 
 union had a family of five children : Mary, 
 Ellen, Charles, Horace and Aaron S., the 
 subject of this sketch. 
 
 Anterior to his ascending the bench Judge 
 Schwartz acquired and maintained an ex- 
 tremely large general law practice and was 
 noted for his vigor and success as an advo- 
 cate. In his judicial capacity his success 
 has been equally marked. He is a careful 
 student of the law, judicious in his admin- 
 istration and possesses the entire confidence 
 of the legal fraternity both by reason of his 
 fairness and his judicial erudition. 
 
126 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 JOSEPH S. RAM BO, one of the ener- 
 getic and successful business men and 
 manufacturers of Norristown, is the second 
 son of Lewis and Margaret A. (Miller) 
 Rambo, and was born April 12, 1856, at 
 Halford, near Morgan's Corner, (now 
 Moore's), Delaware county, Pennsylvania. 
 The family is of Swedish descent, but 
 have been native Pennsylvanians for sev- 
 eral generations, its first American ancestor 
 having emigrated to the new world and 
 settled in this commonwealth at an early 
 day. Lewis Rambo (father) was a native 
 of this county, where he was born January 
 8, 1828, and grew to manhood. In early 
 life he learned the trade of shoemaker, at 
 which he worked for a short time, but did 
 not make it a permanent occupation. On 
 August 16, 1862, he enlisted in Company 
 F, 13th Pennsylvania cavalry volunteers 
 and served until July 14, 1865, at which 
 time he was honorably discharged, first as 
 a private and later as a non-commissioned 
 officer. Politically he was a Democrat 
 until the breaking out of the Civil war, at 
 which time he took up the Republican 
 cause, and ever afterward voted with and 
 supported that party. In religion he was a 
 member of the Episcopal church, and died 
 at Norristown, this county, November 8th, 
 1877, aged forty-nine years and nine months. 
 In 1853 he married Margaret A. Miller, a 
 daughter of William and Mary A. Miller, 
 of this county, and by that marriage had a 
 family of twelve children, only six of 
 whom lived to reach maturity : Charles M., 
 Joseph S., the subject of this sketch ; 
 Samuel L., George W., Mary L., who is 
 now deceased ; and Lewis, jr. The other 
 six died in infancy. Mrs. Margaret A. 
 Rambo was born December 12, 1837, and 
 she is living and well. 
 Joseph S. Rambo was reared principally 
 
 at Norristown, this county, to which place 
 the family removed from Lower Merion, 
 this county, in 1862, and obtained a good 
 practical education in the public schools of 
 this borough. He has resided here ever 
 since, with the exception of six months 
 spent in Philadelphia and four years 
 and four months residence in Pittsburg. 
 He began life on his own account at an 
 early age as an employee in a cotton and 
 woolen factory, and after working at that 
 business in various factories for some time, 
 he entered a tack factory and learned the 
 trade of tack tinning. At the latter 
 business he worked in Philadelphia and 
 Pittsburg, and in 1883 embarked in the 
 business for himself as a member of the 
 firm of S. P. Hollis & Co. After continu- 
 ing the manufacture of tacks for something 
 over a year, the firm sold out to the Central 
 Tack association, in December, 1884, and 
 Mr. Rambo returned to Norristown. He 
 then purchased a small textile manufactur- 
 ing business in the city of Philadelphia, 
 but soon afterward sold out and embarked 
 in the manufacture of hosiery at Norris- 
 town, under the firm name of Rambo & 
 Lee. During the first year Mr. Lee re- 
 tired from the business and Mr. Rambo 
 conducted it alone for a time. In 
 September, 1886, Mr. H. K. Regar 
 (see his sketch) was admitted to a part- 
 nership in the business, and the firm 
 name has ever since been Rambo and Re- 
 gar. Their factory is known as the Globe 
 Knitting Mills, and is located at the corner 
 of Moore and Walnut streets, Norristown. 
 Here they manufacture seamless hosiery of 
 every kind and size, and their goods find 
 a ready sale in the markets, their registered 
 trade mark being a guarantee of superiority 
 wherever it is known. In addition to his 
 connection with the Globe Knitting Mills, 
 

Biographical Sketches. 
 
 127 
 
 Mr. Rambo is largely interested in a number 
 of other industrial enterprises about Norris- 
 towu. He is president of the PennTack com- 
 pany and of the Excelsior Automatic Knit- 
 ting Machine company ; a director of the 
 Norristown Woolen company and the Nor- 
 ristown shoe company, and is a stockholder 
 in various other companies engaged in 
 different lines of manufacture in the bor- 
 ough and vicinity. 
 
 On September 25, 1879, Mr. Rambo was 
 married to Annie E. Dalton, a daughter of 
 Michael and Annie Dalton, of Norristown. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Rambo have been born 
 five children, two sons and three daughters: 
 Willie C, Annie, Bessie, Joseph, jr. and 
 Florence. 
 
 In Politics Mr. Rambo is a staunch Re- 
 publican, believing implicitly in the policy 
 of protection to American industries. His 
 business career has been one of activity and 
 success, and he stands to-day among the 
 substantial enterprising and useful citizens 
 of Norristown. 
 
 ANDREW SUPPLEE, Treasurer of the 
 Union Mutual Fire and Storm Insur- 
 ance Company, of Norristown, is a son of 
 Alexander H. and Jane M. (Rambo) Supplee, 
 and was born December 5, 1834, at Swedes- 
 ford hotel, now the location of the borough 
 of Bridgeport, this county. The family 
 for several generations back, have been of 
 American birth although of French origin. 
 Zimmerman Supplee, paternal great-grand- 
 father, lived during the earlier part of his 
 life, in Upper Merion township, this county, 
 where he ranked among the prominent and 
 intelligent citizens, holding local political 
 offices and taking an active interest in the 
 welfare of the community at large. He 
 
 married Hannah Henderson, of Upper 
 Merion township, and they became the 
 parents of the following children : Jane 
 C, Alexander H., Andrew J., Henderson, 
 Mary Ann. 
 
 Zimmerman Supplee and his wife both 
 lived to the advanced age of eighty years. 
 
 Alexander Supplee was born in Upper 
 Merion township, January 1, 1803, was 
 reared upon a farm, became a tiller of the 
 soil himself which worthy craft he followed 
 all his days. He was a man of thorough 
 going spirit and did not confine his activi- 
 ties to the pursuits of farming but lent his 
 services to whatever move that seemed to 
 him for its object the welfare of the com- 
 munity. He was a director of the old 
 Montgomery Mutual Fire Insurance com- 
 pany and president of the Union Mutual 
 Fire and Storm Insurance company. He 
 married Jane M., a daughter of Jonathan 
 Rambo, and four children blessed their 
 union : Jonathan R., Andrew, Mark R. 
 and Hannah, who became the wife of 
 Austin L. Taggart. 
 
 Andrew Supplee is indebted to the com- 
 mon schools for his educational training. 
 He remained with his father upon the farm 
 until a short time prior to the latter's 
 death, which occurred in September 1, 1882, 
 when he purchased the farm and success- 
 fully plied the avocation of an agriculturist 
 until the Spring of 1886, when he disposed 
 of his landed interests and removed to Nor- 
 ristown. He lived a retired life one year, 
 when he was elected treasurer of the Union 
 Mutual Fire and Storm Insurance company, 
 the duties of which office have since en- 
 grossed his attention. 
 
 The Union Mutual Fire and Storm In- 
 surance company was organized in 1866, 
 and is regarded as one of the most stable 
 and business institutions of the county. 
 
128 
 
 - Biographical Sketches 
 
 The present officers of the company are : 
 David Trucksess, president ; H. S. Kulp, 
 secretary ; and Andrew Supplee, treasurer. 
 On February 9, 1875, Amanda, daughter 
 of Benjamin H. Cassel, became the wife of 
 Andrew Supplee, and three children, Lizzie 
 C, J. May, and Idora, bless this marital 
 union. 
 
 OLIVER N. URNER, a popular and 
 competent magistrate of Norristown, 
 Pennsylvania, is by birth a Chester coun- 
 tian, having been born at French Creek 
 Falls, on April 29, 1843. His fathar was 
 Eli Urner, and his mother's maiden name 
 was Sarah Richards. Mr. Urner's ances- 
 tors on both sides are able to trace back 
 their line of descent to the pioneer period 
 of Chester county. On the maternal side 
 he is of Welsh lineage and on the paternal 
 side his ancestry belongs to the Pennsylva- 
 nia German. Jacob Urner, grandfather, 
 was a farmer by occupation, and is buried 
 in the county of his birth. His father was 
 a native of North Coventry township, and 
 was born May 22, 1820, and died December 
 10, 1893. He is buried at the Coventry 
 village burying ground. His life was that 
 of a farmer, and he also became warmly in- 
 terested in politics and public issues of his 
 county. He held various local offices, and 
 at one time was a candidate for nomination 
 to the State legislature, but was defeated 
 by a very small majority. He was a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and 
 ardent in support of all its interests. He 
 was also a member of the Independent Or- 
 der of Odd Fellows and of the Masonic 
 order. His family consisted of nine chil- 
 dren, five of whom are still living : Oliver 
 N., Hannah E., wife of Lewis Burgoyne, of 
 Buckstown, Chester county; Allen W., 
 
 Jacob F., and Webster Clay. Those de- 
 ceased are : Franklin P., Elizabeth, John 
 W , and Mary Alice. 
 
 Oliver N. Urner was brought up in Ches- 
 ter county, received his education in the 
 public schools and after the completion of 
 his preliminary education, taught school 
 for a period of eight years. In 1872 he re- 
 moved to Pottstown, this county, where he 
 followed auctioneering and other business 
 pursuits until the election of Col. M. M. 
 Missimer as clerk of courts. Mr. Missimer 
 recognized his executive ability and at that 
 time selected him as his deputy, which pos- 
 ition he held until the end of the term. 
 During his stay in the office of clerk of 
 courts he was appointed the successor of H. 
 S. Smith, and held that position for seven 
 months, having been commissioned by Gov- 
 ernor Hoyt to fill the unexpired term oc- 
 casioned by Mr. Smith's death. After the 
 expiration of this term of service he again 
 followed auctioneering and conveyancing 
 until the year of 1889, at which time he was 
 elected justice of the peace. He has held 
 that office continuously down to the pres- 
 ent time, and during his incumbency has 
 handled more business than any other jus- 
 tice of the peace in the county. Mr. Urner 
 is a Republican in politics and has always 
 been prominently identified with that party. 
 In 1881 he was the nominee of his party for 
 clerk of courts but was defeated. He is a 
 member of the Improved Order Heptasophs. 
 
 Mr. Urner was married on November 14, 
 1863, to Sarah Murphy, of French Creek 
 Falls, Chester county. This marriage re- 
 sulted in the birth of seven children, five 
 of whom are living. Those deceased are 
 John W. and Alanetta. The names of 
 those living are Daniel W., Annie S., Min- 
 nie M., Bessie and Nellie H. 
 
 Mr. Urner is one of the best known mag- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 129 
 
 istrates in the county. He is thoroughly 
 familiar with every function of the mag- 
 istrate's office. His long connection with 
 the various county offices has rendered him 
 competent in all matters of legal form and 
 procedure. In addition to these qualifica- 
 tions, he is a man of affable and agreeable 
 manner and of acknowledged integrity. 
 
 WILLIAM K. GRESH, manufacturer, 
 of Norristown, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, is a son of Daniel and Susan 
 (Kuser) Gresh, and was born January 23, 
 1834, in Pottsgrove township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania. The family of which 
 Mr. Gresh is a member is of German origin 
 and was transplanted from the old to the 
 new world by Nicholas Gresh, who settled 
 in Berks county, Pennsylvania, after serving 
 a period as a soldier in the Revolutionary 
 war. His children were as follows : Chris- 
 tian, Charles, Nicholas, Daniel, and Eliza- 
 beth Wentzel. 
 
 Daniel Gresh (father) was born in Berks 
 county, was reared upon his father's farm 
 and then indentured himself to learn the 
 trade of a weaver. He married Susanna 
 Kruser, a Berks county lady of French 
 lineage, and they became the parents of the 
 following children : Augustus, Edwin, John, 
 William K., subject ; Rachel, wife of Har- 
 mon Custer ; Leah, who married Alexander 
 Hummel ; Emaline, wife of George Hesch ; 
 Elizabeth, wife of William Glase ; Henry, 
 Abel, Kate A., and Milton. 
 
 William K. Gresh received his education 
 in the common schools of Berks and Mont- 
 gomery counties, but by far the most essen- 
 tial elements of his education have been ob- 
 tained in the business world and through a 
 study of men and economic questions as he 
 
 9 
 
 meets them in the everyd-ay walks of life 
 rather than from books. At the age of sev- 
 enteen he assumed the responsibilities of 
 life on his own account, and at the age of 
 eighteen started a brick yard at Center 
 Point, in Worcester township, this countv, 
 and in connection with this enterprise he 
 also did some work as a contractor and 
 builder. In the meantime his enterprising 
 spirit led him to begin the manufacture of 
 cigars on a small scale in his own house. In 
 1867 he removed to Perkiomen township, 
 where he purchased land. He remained in 
 that township five years, carefully looking 
 after every detail of the newly founded en- 
 terprise and had the satisfaction of seeing it 
 expand and prosper until 1872, when he re- 
 moved to Norristown. Here he purchased 
 land upon which to erect a factory, the size 
 of which soon proved too small for his con- 
 stantly increasing business, compelling him 
 to enlarge it. In 1891 he built the factory 
 which he now occupies. It is located on 
 the corner of Marshall and Corson streets, 
 and is fifty by ninety feet, and four stories 
 high, a handsome brick structure of rare ar- 
 chitectural beauty and utility, perhaps the 
 finest cigar factory in the countv. The en- 
 terprise is ranked among the most substan- 
 tial industries of Norristown, and gives 
 employment to over three hundred hands. 
 At the age of twenty-one, Mr. Gresh mar- 
 ried Leah, a daughter of Peter Hendricks, 
 of Worcester township, this county, and 
 their marital union has been blessed in the 
 birth of the following children : Edwin 
 Pierce, Hervey Clinton, William Parry, 
 Kate, wife of John Geller ; and Earl, de- 
 ceased. Mr. Gresh is a Democrat politically, 
 but was elected a member of the borough 
 council from a strongly Republican ward, a 
 fact attesting in a marked degree to his 
 standing and popularity in the community. 
 
13° 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 For many years he has been an elder of 
 Trinity Reformed church, and is strongly 
 in sympathy and prominently identified 
 with all forms of church work. 
 
 Mr. Gresh owes his success in life to in- 
 domitable will power, coupled with good 
 judgment and an honesty of purpose and 
 probity of character that inspires confidence 
 in all those with whom he has had business 
 or social relations. 
 
 TAMES APPLEBY HURST, an enter- 
 <J prising contractor and builder of Nor- 
 ristown, is a son of Thomas and Elizabeth 
 Hurst, and was born February 18, 1852, 
 at Norristown, this county. Thomas Hurst, 
 father, was born in England, in February, 
 1818, and died in Norristown, July 12, 
 1885. He was reared in his native country 
 and obtained a rudimentary education in 
 the national schools of that country. He 
 learned the trade of stocking maker, 
 married in his native land and in the year 
 1845, with his wife and one child, Mary, 
 emigrated to the United States, locating at 
 Norristown, where he followed his trade up 
 to the time of his death. Coming to this 
 country at a time marked by stormy politi- 
 cal revolutions and the disintegration of 
 old parties, he allied himself with that party, 
 one of whose avowed principles was against 
 the extension of slavery. His marriage resul- 
 ted in the birth of four children : Mary, wife 
 of Sylvester Slough, of Norriton ; George 
 W., Elizabeth, wife of John D. Weber, of 
 Norristown, and James Appleby. 
 
 James Appleby Hurst, did not have many 
 advantages for securing an education. He 
 attended the public schools of Norristown 
 two terms and also for a short time the 
 same grade of schools in Lower Providence 
 
 township, during the winter months very 
 irregularly. He was a boy of spirit and in- 
 dustry, and at the age of thirteen left home 
 and secured work on a farm, working at 
 first for his board. At the age of seventeen 
 years, he came to Norristown, with forty 
 dollars in his pocket, to learn the trade of 
 a carpenter. He served faithfully an ap- 
 prenticeship of four years, devoting his 
 spare moments diligently to study and the 
 acquisition of a better education than he 
 posessed. After mastering the trade, he 
 followed journeywork at various places 
 over the country from 1873 to 1875. 
 
 In 1878 he embarked in the contracting 
 and building business on his own account 
 at Norristown, where he has since remained 
 engaged in the same line of business. It 
 is only necessary to look at the determin- 
 ation, shown in the boyhood of James A. 
 Hurst, to divine what elements he would 
 display as a man. Determination, persev- 
 erance, and stick-to-itiveness, have been 
 his ruling characteristics, and have brought 
 him a full measure of success. He soon 
 became known as an industrious and trust- 
 worthy workman and consequently his 
 business expanded and prospered so that at 
 times he has had under his employ as many 
 as fifty skilled workmen. Since 1883 he 
 has done considerable in the line of build- 
 ing houses for himself and now owns con- 
 siderable real estate in the borough includ- 
 ing a partnership in forty valuable building 
 lots. He was one of the organizers of the 
 West Norristown Building and Loan Asso- 
 ciation of which he is treasurer and is 
 connected with a number of other business 
 enterprises of the borough. Shortly after 
 becoming a member of the First Baptist 
 church in 1876, he was made a trustee, a 
 relation he sustained to that church until 
 1887, when he became one of the organizers 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 131 
 
 of the Second Baptist church, of which 
 organization he was made deacon and 
 treasurer, positions he has since held. He 
 is a no less ardent, devoted and consistent 
 member of the church, than thorough 
 going and enterprising business man. He 
 is a Republican in politics and has served 
 one term as a member of the borough 
 council from the 7th ward. 
 
 On May 30, 1878, Mr. Hurst married 
 Wilhelmina, a daughter of William White, 
 a lime burner of Norristown. She was 
 born January 23, 1853, and died October 7, 
 1894. Three children were born to their 
 marriage union, all of whom died quite 
 young. 
 
 JOSEPH WARREN ROYER, M. D., 
 one of the oldest and best known phy- 
 sicians of the count}-, a son of Judge 
 Joseph and Elizabeth (Dewees) Rover, was 
 born at the Trappe, Upper Providence 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, July 21, 1820. While reputed of 
 German origin, tradition claims that the 
 Royer family is French and was driven into 
 Germany by religious persecution during 
 the fifteenth century. Sebastian Royer, or 
 Reier, with his four sons came from Germany 
 about 1725 and settled in Pennsylvania. 
 One of the grandsons, John Royer, a son of 
 Karl Reier, was the grandfather of Dr. 
 Royer, and married Anna C. Apfel, by 
 whom he had nine children. Their only 
 son was Judge Joseph Royer, who was born 
 February 6, 1784, two miles west of Trappe, 
 in Providence township, then Philadelphia 
 county, now Upper Providence township, 
 Montgomery county. Judge Rover, though 
 possessing a limited school education, was a 
 man of general information and a pleasing 
 conversationalist. He was a man of in- 
 
 tellect, character and will, and possessed 
 social endowments of a high order. His 
 ability, standing and worth won him hon- 
 ored positions. In 1821 and in 1822 he 
 served as a member of the Pennsylvania 
 house of representatives. He was offered a 
 third term but declined, and in 1837, with- 
 out solicitation upon his part, was appointed 
 by Governor Ritner, an associate judge of 
 the courts of Montgomery county, a po- 
 sition he held with credit and honor until 
 1851, when the office become elective by 
 the State constitution of 1850. Judge Royer 
 was engaged in the general mercantile busi- 
 ness at Trappe, Pa., for over thirty-five 
 years. He died November 9, 1863, when 
 in the eightieth year of his age. Judge 
 Royer, in 1818, wedded Elizabeth Dewees, 
 who was a daughter of David and Mary- 
 Catharine Dewees, nee Seltzer. She was 
 born December 19, 1797, and lived to be 
 almost ninety years of age, dying September 
 22, 1887. Her remains were buried beside 
 her husband's in the Lutheran cemetery at 
 Trappe. The children of Judge and Mrs. 
 Royer are : Francis, J. Warren, Lewis, J. 
 Dewees, C. John, Horace, Henry and Jose- 
 phine, wife of M. L. Kohler, Esq., of Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 Joseph Warren Royer, after attending the 
 common schools and being under the in- 
 structions of a private tutor, took a four 
 years' course at Lafayette college, at Easton, 
 Pa., and then entered Princeton college, of 
 Princeton, New Jersey, where he became a 
 member of the senior class and was grad- 
 uated from that old and famous institution 
 of learning in 1842. After graduation he 
 commenced the study of medicine and in 
 1843 entered the medical department of the 
 University of Pennsylvania, from which he 
 was graduated in the class of 1845. Soon 
 after receiving his diploma he commenced 
 
132 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 the practice of his profession at Trappe, 
 where he has remained up to the present 
 time. In 1876 he formed a partnership with 
 Dr. W. J- Ashenfelter, which lasted until 
 1880. 
 
 Dr. Rover has been in active practice 
 for over fifty years at Trappe and the field 
 of his professional labors has been very 
 extensive, and extending beyond his own 
 and into Chester county. Dr. Rover is a 
 member of the different medical societies of 
 Montgomery count}-, was physician and sur- 
 geon for the County Home from 1881 to 
 1892, and in 1894 and 1895 was one of the 
 two present physicians appointed for that 
 institution. He is an able and interesting 
 medical writer, and wields a ready pen on 
 political, civil and religious topics of public 
 import or general interest. He is a Repub- 
 lican politically, and has been identified for 
 a number of years with the Trappe Re- 
 formed church, with which congregation he 
 worships. He is a member and the treas- 
 urer of Warren Lodge No. 310, Free and 
 Accepted Masons, of Trappe, which Masonic 
 body was named in honor of him for his 
 zealous labors in securing its organiza- 
 tion. 
 
 On September 29, 1863, Dr. Joseph W. 
 Rover married Anna Herbert, daughter of 
 Henry Herbert, Esq., of Frankford, Phila- 
 delphia. To Dr. and Mrs. Rover were born 
 six sons and three daughters : Stella and 
 Walter, who are deceased; May, wife of Rev. 
 O. H. E. Ranch, pastor of the Reformed 
 church, of Rover's Ford ; Ralph, a profes- 
 sional singer ; Carl, now employed in the 
 eeneral office of the Fidelitv Insurance com- 
 pany of Philadelphia ; Joseph W., a ma- 
 chinist, also residing in Philadelphia ; Jes- 
 sie, who is an elocutionist; Henry H., 
 drowned at nine years of age ; and Paul, 
 who died in infancy. 
 
 DR. CHARLES T. WAAGE, a physi- 
 cian of nearly a half century's expe- 
 rience of Pennsburg, this county, is a son 
 of Frederick and Angeline (Garber) Waage, 
 and was born October 22, 1827, at Milton, 
 Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Frederick Waage (father) was born in the 
 Dukedom of Holstein, Denmark, on August 
 17, 1797, where he profited by attendance 
 upon the excellent schools for which that 
 country is noted, and completed a course of 
 study in the University at Kiel. At the age 
 of twenty-two years he came alone to the 
 United States and located in Chester county. 
 Young Waage had a strong desire to enter 
 the profession of the ministry. He accord- 
 ingly took up the study of theology and 
 kindred subjects under the tutelage of Rev. 
 Geisenheimer, a Lutheran minister of Ches- 
 ter county. After making a thorough pre- 
 paration for his chosen work, he was or- 
 dained as a minister of the Lutheran church, 
 and for sixty years zealously labored in the 
 cause of the Divine Master. For a number 
 of vears he was stationed at Milton, Nor- 
 thumberland count} - , and in 1829 took 
 charge of St. Luke's church at Pennsburg, 
 where he remained forty years, supplying 
 at the same time five other churches of the 
 neighborhood, being assisted by his younger 
 son. His marriage relation resulted in the 
 birth of three sons and seven daughters : 
 Hannah, deceased ; Charles T., subject ; 
 Angeline, deceased, was the wife of Dr. Ed- 
 win Bieber ; Fannie, who wedded Isaac 
 Crouse, of Crousedale, Lehigh county, Penn- 
 sylvania ; Andora, became the spouse of 
 Charles Gaston, an attorney of St. Paul, 
 Minnesota ; Emma, deceased, was the wife 
 of Charles Gilfillan, also of St. Paul, Min- 
 nesota ; Fannie, who married Charles Gil- 
 fillan, the widower of her sister ; Rev. O. 
 F., who was born February 4, 1845, at the 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 J 33 
 
 old Lutheran parsonage near Pennsburg, 
 was educated in the Bucks County Normal 
 and Classical schools under the direction of 
 Rev. Dr. Horn, of Quakertown ; graduated 
 from the Gettysburg Lutheran seminary, 
 and at once entered upon the work of the 
 ministry, taking his father's entire charge 
 and has ever since been actively and zeal- 
 ously engaged in the work of his profession ; 
 Edwin, died at the age of five years. 
 
 Rev. Frederick Waage died on August 
 23, 1884, at the age of eighty-seven years. 
 His widow still survives. 
 
 Dr. Charles Waage received his prelimi- 
 nary education in Washington Hall semi- 
 nar}-, at the Trappe, this count} - , and in a 
 private school at Easton under the tuition 
 of Prof. Vandeveer. Having resolved upon 
 the study of medicine, he entered Jefferson 
 Medical college of Philadelphia, from 
 which well known and popular institution 
 he was graduated in March, 1849. He at 
 once entered upon the practice of his chosen 
 profession, locating at East Rock Hill, in 
 Bucks count}-, where he remained six 
 years, when he came to Pennsburg and has 
 remained there ever since. Dr. Waage's 
 experience as a practitioner of medicine 
 spans an epoch in the history of the profes- 
 sion marked by great progress and with 
 which progress he has ever since kept pace. 
 He has been a useful man in the community 
 in which he has lived for most a half cen- 
 tury in other ways than as a skilled practi- 
 tioner of medicine. He has always had at 
 heart the political, social, educational and 
 material interests of the community. He 
 is a devout member of the Lutheran church, 
 a Democrat in political texture, and has 
 served twenty-three years continuously as a 
 member of the school board of his borough, 
 always taking an active and intelligent in- 
 terest in the cause of popular education. 
 
 Fraternally he is a member of Pennsburg 
 Lodge No. 449, I. O. O. F. ; Barger Lodge 
 of F. and A. M., and Greenville Lodge 
 Knights of Pythias. He has been a di- 
 rector of the Farmers' and Mechanics' 
 bank at Pennsburg, and for ten years a 
 director of the Perkiomen Valley railroad. 
 
 On September 15, 1853, he married Man- 
 Anna Heisler, who died December 8, 1874, 
 at the age of forty years. To this marriage 
 were born four children : Ida, deceased, 
 born August 28, 1854 ; Emma, deceased, 
 born February 29, 1856 ; Eugene, who was 
 born October 30, i860, resides in Philadel- 
 phia, and Charles Frederick, born Septem- 
 ber 11, 1862, died in infancy. Dr. Waage 
 married for his second wife, on August 29, 
 1876, Lydia Eshbach ; and one child, Mary 
 Catharine, born October 27, 1877, blesses 
 this union. 
 
 WILLIAM M. SULLIVAN, a prom- 
 inent marble dealer and business man 
 of Norristown, is a son of Florence and 
 Ann E. (Main) Sullivan, and was born 
 October 7, 1861, at Norristown, this county. 
 His grandfather, on the paternal side of the 
 family was Phillip Sullivan, who was a 
 native of County Kerry, Ireland, whence, 
 to escape the crowed economic conditions 
 of his own country, he emigrated to this 
 country in 1823. He first located with his 
 wife and family at Philadelphia, where he 
 was engaged as a merchant in the white 
 lead business. His children were three in 
 number : Florence, Margaret and Mary. 
 Florence Sullivan, father, was born on the 
 "Emerald Island," in county Kerry, March 
 20, 1S16. He was brought to this country 
 when but six years of age by his parents, 
 who settled in Philadelphia. Before at- 
 taining to his majority he learned the trade 
 
J 34 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of hatter, and at the age of twenty-two, 
 came to Norristown and entered the employ 
 of Moses Ange, a hat manufacturer of that 
 place. He soon embarked in the business 
 on his own account at West Chester, Penn- 
 sylvania, remaining there, however, but a 
 short time, when he came back to Norris- 
 town and was taken into partnership with 
 his former employer. After a few years he 
 went into the business on his own account 
 and continued it until 1878, when he re- 
 tired. He was a republican politically, 
 and took a prominent part in the politics 
 of his borough and county. He served a 
 number of terms as borough councilman, 
 five consecutive years as borough treasurer, 
 and from 1857 to i860, as prothonotary of 
 Montgomery county, was Prison inspector 
 three terms, serving in that position of 
 trust at the time of his death, and was a di- 
 rector in the Norristown Water company. 
 
 When that crisis arose threatening the 
 invasion of the grand old " Keystone 
 State," he twice responded to the call for 
 troops in the emergency service. Upon 
 the first response he was made first lieu- 
 tenant, and upon the second was made 
 captain of a company. He was a charter 
 member of the Montgomery Fire company, 
 and a past officer of Montgomery Lodge, ! 
 I. O. O. F., and a member of Charity 
 Lodge, No. 90, F. and A. M. 
 
 His married life extends over a period of 
 fifty-four years, and resulted in the birth 
 of the following children : Hannah; Ellen, 
 wife of Henry A. Derr, of Norristown ; 
 Harry L, Sophia, wife of David Kerbaugh, 
 of New York City ; Florence, who became 
 the wife of Isaac C. Weber, and William 
 M. Mr. Sullivan was an exemplary citi- 
 zen, uniformly kind and genial in his in- 
 tercourse with his fellow men. He was a 
 model husband and father, happily com- 
 
 bining the qualities that make a person 
 loved and esteemed in all relations of life; 
 a man of strictest integrity and an excellent 
 business man, even up to the day of his 
 death. He died June 16, 1894, in his seventy- 
 ninth year. 
 
 William M. Sullivan, subject of sketch, 
 was educated in the public schools of Nor- 
 ristown, and in the Tremont seminary, at 
 the same place. He learned the trade of a 
 marble cutter with Henry A. Derr, who 
 then owned and operated the yard now 
 operated by Mr. Sullivan. He remained 
 with Mr. Derr until 1884, when he pur- 
 chased the plant and has since operated it 
 on his own account He does a large busi- 
 ness in his line, giving employment at times 
 to a force of twenty-five men, doing much 
 of the finest marble work in Norristown. 
 As samples of his work we would suggest 
 the following : The marble work on the 
 Wernersville State Insane Asylum, a con- 
 tract amounting to twenty-seven thousand 
 dollars ; the same line of work on the 
 building of the Norristown Trust, Title 
 and Safe Deposit company ; St. Patrick's 
 Parochial school, on the corner of Green 
 and Chestnut streets, Norristown ; Chain 
 Street Public school building; the building 
 of the Adam Scheidt Brewing Company; 
 Boinberger Memorial Hall at Collegeville ; 
 Ambler Opera House, and the Ambler 
 Baptist and Presbyterian churches at 
 Ambler, this county. In 1894 he erected 
 a granite monument on the battle field 
 of Antietam, to commemorate the valor 
 of those members of the Thirty-fifth 
 Massachusetts regiment who fell in that 
 conflict. For the efficient manner in which 
 this work was done, he received a letter of 
 high recommendation from the Committee 
 having the work in charge. He cut the 
 stone for the Pennsylvania State building 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 i35 
 
 at the World's Fair. Mr. Sullivan is a 
 Republican and a member of Curtis Lodge, 
 No. 139, I. O. O. F. 
 
 On September 16, 1885, Mr. Sullivan 
 married Margaret S., a daughter of James 
 Long ; and four children, Florence, Helen, 
 Ralph and Stanley, bless this union. 
 
 DR. JESSE ZIEGLER HILLEGAS, a 
 veterinary surgeon and an extensive 
 breeder of fine horses, is a son of Dr. John 
 G. and Catharine (Ziegler) Hillegas, and 
 was born March 24, 1868, on Perkiomen 
 Creek, in Upper Hanover township, this 
 county. 
 
 The ancestral history of Dr. Jesse Z. 
 Hillegas appears under the sketch of his 
 father. He received his education in the 
 public schools of his native township 
 and in Perkiomen seminary at Penns- 
 bnrg, under the direction of Professor C. 
 S. Weand. He then took a commercial 
 course in a business college at Allentown, 
 Lehigh county, this State. In 1888 he 
 entered the Ontario Veterinary college 
 at Toronto, Canada, from which he was 
 graduated in 1890, with the degree of 
 V. S. He at once located at his home in 
 Upper Hanover township and entered upon 
 the practice of his profession and remained 
 there until 1892, when he came to Penns- 
 burg. In connection with his professional 
 work, he has since that time been engaged 
 largely in buying and selling horses, hand- 
 ling more than any other dealer in this 
 part of the county. Dr. Hillegas takes a 
 special delight in the breeding and training 
 of fine horses, and possesses a number of 
 thorough breds with good speed records. 
 Among them are the celebrated stallion 
 "John F," who has a record of 2.39^ on a 
 
 one-third mile track ; " Charley West," a 
 promising young horse now in training ; 
 "Dozer" 16149, by "Blue Bull" 4893, dam 
 "Duchess," by "Duke of Brunswick" 14266 ; 
 and "Jesse Z.," his favorite driving horse, 
 with a record of 2.38^. He also deals ex- 
 tensively in cattle, buying and shipping to 
 the New York and Philadelphia markets. 
 
 Politically he is a Democrat, and was a 
 delegate to the State convention that nomi- 
 nated William M. Singerly for governor in 
 1894. Fraternally he is a member of Per- 
 kiomen Lodge No. 595, F. & A. M., and of 
 the Ontario Medical society. 
 
 On September 15, 1892, he married Katie 
 S., a daughter of Henry Walford, of Har- 
 leysville, this county. 
 
 WILLIAM A. HOOVER, a prominent 
 business man of Hooverton, is a son 
 of Judge Hiram C. and Margaret (Dull) 
 Hoover, and was born in Gwynedd town- 
 ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 November 10, 1847. William A. was reared 
 in Gwynedd and Norritou townships, and 
 received his education in the common 
 schools and Prof. John W. Loch's Tremont 
 seminary, Norristown, where he took the 
 full three year course, and was graduated in 
 the class of 1868. Returning home, he as- 
 sisted his father in farming for three years, 
 and then conducted the home farm until 
 1879, when he became a partner with his 
 father in the coal and feed business at Hoo- 
 verton, once known as Penn Square. 
 Six years later he purchased his father's 
 interest and has conducted the feed and 
 coal business there successfully ever since. 
 On February 21, 1871, Mr. Hoover mar- 
 ried Annie S. Kerper, who was born April 
 14, 1849, and is a daughter of Charles and 
 
136 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Margaret (Henk) Kerper, of Whitemarsh 
 township. Mr. and Mrs. Hoover have four 
 children, two sons and two daughters : 
 Irving C, Charles O., Clara M. and Mamie 
 K. Mr. and Mrs. Hoover are members of 
 the Reformed church at Blue Bell. 
 
 In politics Mr. Hoover has always been a 
 Republican. He has served his township 
 as auditor, and as a school director, and at 
 various times has been judge, inspector and 
 clerk of the election board at his voting 
 place. He is a member of Curtis Lodge 
 No. 239, Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
 lows, and Washington Camp No. 322, Patri- 
 otic Order Sons of America. 
 
 I ACOB TYSON, ex-sheriff of Norristown, 
 <J was born near the Trappe, this county, 
 on June 10, 1818, and is a son of Jacob and 
 Elizabeth (Bergey) Tyson. His ancestors 
 were residents of the county for about five 
 generations and are of Dutch descent. 
 John Tyson, his grandfather, was a weaver 
 by trade and a very well educated man in 
 those days. He took an interest in public 
 affairs, frequently served on election boards 
 and was a general factotem in his neighbor- 
 hood. 
 
 On the maternal side, sheriff Tyson's 
 ancestors sprang from an old Revolutionary 
 family. His father was born near Skippack- 
 ville, this county, January 6, 1786. He 
 was a farmer by occupation, considered a 
 good business man, a hard worker, and was 
 esteemed as a man of the strictest integrity. 
 In his religious affiliations he was a mem- 
 ber of the German Reformed church. Jacob 
 Tyson had nine children, three of whom 
 are still living. Those deceased are : Susan, 
 Charles, Man-, Abram, John, and Margaret. 
 Those living are : Jacob, Elizabeth and 
 
 
 Harriet. Abram and John emigrated to 
 Canada in 1845, were married in the Pro- 
 vinces and brought up large families. Ab- 
 ram located permanently in Berlin, Waterloo 
 county, and John in the city of Guelph, 
 both places being in Canada West. 
 
 During his boyhood Jacob alternated his 
 time working on his father's farm and 
 going to school as was the custom for a boy 
 reared on a farm. He has continued to live 
 on the same homestead for a period of sixty 
 years. 
 
 During this time, in addition to the con- 
 ducting of large farming interests, he was 
 engaged in the butchering business for 
 twenty years, part of which time he drove 
 a wagon throughout a portion of the coun- 
 ty. He continued the quiet routine of a 
 farmer's life until 1877, when he was pre- 
 vailed upon to offer himself as a can- 
 didate for the position of high sheriff of 
 Montgomery county. 
 
 He was elected to this office and during 
 his incumbency made a very efficient officer. 
 For a number of years subsequent he was 
 actively identified with the political and 
 public interests of the county, but during 
 the past dozen of years he has been engaged 
 in the coal business, although he lives 
 semi-retired. 
 
 Politically, Sheriff Tyson is a Democrat 
 and has always been a staunch supporter of 
 the policy of that part} - . He was president 
 of the live stock company of his township 
 for many years and has filled various local 
 and political places of trust. He is a mem- 
 ber of the German Reformed church. 
 
 Mr. Tyson was married on March, 12, 
 1846, to Sarah Y. Lindeman, daughter of 
 Isaac Lindeman, Esq., of Limerick Square, 
 this county. This marriage resulted in the 
 birth of seven children, all of whom are 
 living : Wilmina, (wife of Joseph R. Hun- 
 
W< C Cr-O <U^/^0~^J 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 i37 
 
 sicker) ; Joanna, wife of H. H. Hunsicker ; 
 John H., Mary, Sallie L., widow of Amos 
 Forker ; Harriet, and Elizabeth, wife of C. 
 R. Free. 
 
 HARVEY SCHAFFER BRANDT, one 
 of the editors and proprietors of the 
 Norristown Review, is a son of Joseph R. 
 and Samaria (Sehaffer) Brandt, and was born 
 February 9, 1858, in Limerick township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. The 
 family was among- the first settlers of the 
 northern part of Montgomery county, hav- 
 ing emigrated thither, from the Fatherland, 
 prior to the Revolutionary war. Samuel 
 Brandt (grandfather) was born in the north- 
 ern part of this county, and in his latter 
 days followed the avocation of a farmer. 
 He was a Democrat of the Jeffersonian 
 school and a member of the German Re- 
 formed church. 
 
 He married a Miss Rahn and they were 
 the parents of nine children : Joseph R. 
 (father), Elizabeth, Susanna R., Washing- 
 ton, Catharine, Frederick, Hannah, Samuel 
 and Emma. Joseph R. Brandt (father) was 
 born in Frederick township, this county, 
 in the year 1830. His education was ob- 
 tained in the common schools. Leaving 
 school he learned the trade of a plasterer, 
 which trade he followed but a short time 
 and then engaged in mercantile pursuits, 
 but at the time of his death was en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits in Limerick 
 township, this county. He subscribed to 
 the dogmas of the German Reformed church 
 and for a number of years prior and up to 
 his death, held the office of elder. He mar- 
 ried Samaria Shaffer and they became the 
 parents of six children, four sons and two 
 daughters: Clara S., deceased, unmarried ; 
 Harvey S , subject; Maurice, a hotel-keeper 
 
 at Elko, Nevada ; Joseph Henry, whose 
 sketch follows ; Norma L., deceased, was 
 the wife of Joseph E. Boucot ; Oscar S , an 
 engraver in the employ of the Tiffany 
 jewelry house, of New York city. Joseph 
 Brandt died in 1S72, at the age of forty- 
 two years. His widow is still living. 
 
 Harvey Sehaffer Brandt was educated in 
 the public school of Limerick township, 
 this county, and at Washington Hall Col- 
 legiate Institute, at the Trappe, this county. 
 His father dying while he was at school 
 and he being the eldest son, he was com- 
 pelled to relinquish all ideas of further 
 scholastic training and take charge of the 
 farm, remaining in this charge until the 
 farm was sold. In 1876 he came to 
 Pottstown, and for two years was em- 
 ployed with Captain VVilliam Auchen- 
 bach, in the wholesale and retail grocery 
 business. In 1878 he took a clerkship in 
 the employ of H. G. Kulp and Company, 
 hardware merchants of that borough, re- 
 maining there ten years. In 1889 he re- 
 moved to Norristown and became a business 
 partner with his brother under the firm 
 name of J. H. Brandt and Brother. In po- 
 litical texture he has always been a staunch 
 Democrat, in the success of which party he 
 takes a lively interest. He was one of the 
 founders of the Young Men's Democratic 
 Club of Pottstown, one of the strongest 
 political clubs in the Schuylkill valley, and 
 was its secretary until he left that borough. 
 He is a member of Reynolds Castle No. 
 44, Knights of the Golden Eagle, at Potts- 
 town, and a member of Montgomery Lodge, 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Nor- 
 ristown. He was a devoted member of 
 Trinity Reformed church at Pottstown, in 
 which church organization he served as 
 deacon three terms up to the time of his 
 leaving the town, and for four years prior 
 
138 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 to leaving the borough was superintendent 
 of the Sabbath school. He helped organize 
 the Church Extension Society in connec- 
 tion with Trinity church, of which he 
 was elected first president. It was through 
 the efforts of this society that the handsome 
 stone chapel, in connection with the church 
 was built, Mr. Brandt being chairman of 
 the building committee. Since his re- 
 moval to Norristown he has associated his 
 family with the Reformed Church of the 
 Ascension and is actively engaged in their 
 Mission in the West End, a few squares 
 from his comfortable home. 
 
 May 10, i88r he married Ella M , a 
 daughter of Mahlon Rimby, the oldest 
 undertaker of Pottstown, and two children 
 bless their union: Miriam L-, who died 
 in infancy, and Florence Ella, born August 
 26, 1890. 
 
 PERRY FRANKUN HUNTER, assist- 
 ant treasurer of the Pennsylvania rail- 
 road company, was born at Gulf Mills, 
 Lower Merion township, Montgomery coun- 
 ty, August 27, 1855. His ancestors on his 
 father's side came from the north of Eng- 
 land, and his maternal ancestors came from 
 France. At the old Episcopal church in 
 Durham, England, are the graves of General 
 Anthony Hunter, Sir John and Sir Thomas 
 Hunter and many others of the family 
 name, the records of whom extend back to 
 the year 1605. John Hunter resided at the 
 close of the seventeenth century in Medoms- 
 ley Hall, Medomsley, Gateshead, Durham, 
 England. He was a strong church man, 
 and on account of religious persecution re- 
 moved to Ireland, and later entered the 
 Protestant army as a trooper, participating 
 in the battle of Boyne in 1690, in which en- 
 gagement he was wounded in the hip by a 
 
 musket ball. The holster and pistols used 
 by him in the battle are still in possession 
 of his descendants. John Hunter came to 
 America in 1722, and located near Down- 
 ingtown, Pennsylvania, but in as much as 
 the country thereabouts was so unsettled he 
 shortly purchased a large tract in Newtown 
 township, Chester county, (now Delaware 
 county), where he passed the remainder of 
 his life. His body is interred in the church 
 yard connected with St. David's Episcopal 
 church at Radnor, this State, of which 
 church he was a member and one of its 
 most active founders. James Hunter, the 
 youngest son of John Hunter, and George 
 Hunter, the fourth son of James, resided on 
 the homestead property in Newtown town- 
 ship. 
 
 Perry MacDonough Hunter (father of 
 P. Frank Hunter) was the youngest 
 son of George Hunter, and was born in 
 1814. He was well educated, and at the 
 age of sixteen became an apprentice in a 
 general store. In 1837 he started in a gen- 
 eral mercantile business at Gulf Mills, 
 Montgomery county, and in 1843 ne P llr " 
 chased the Bird-in-Hand hotel property at 
 Gulf Mills, which included the store prop- 
 erty, converting the hotel into a residence, 
 which he occupied until the fall of 1855. 
 Perry M. Hunter married Rebecca Ann 
 Pechin, second daughter of George and 
 Mary Pechin, of Lower Merion township, 
 on March 23, 1848. 
 
 The Pechin family is of French origin, 
 Christopher Pechin having come to America 
 from France in 1750. He became a rich 
 shipping merchant of Philadelphia, owned 
 vessels and imported wine from France, and 
 was also engaged in the business of insur- 
 ing vessels and their cargoes. His place of 
 business was on Water street, above Arch, 
 Philadelphia, and he resided in a large 
 
'{jAAIMn, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 139 
 
 mansion on Front street, which was invaded 
 by the English soldiers during the Revolu- 
 tionary war and valuable property destroyed. 
 Christopher Pechin's body is interred in 
 St. Paul's cemetery, at the rear of St. Paul's 
 Episcopal church, on Third street, below 
 Walnut, Philadelphia, and his tombstone 
 bears the following inscription : 
 
 " Death lias conquered life, 
 but Christ hath conquered death, 
 and I shall live again." 
 
 Peter Pechin, youngest son of Christo- 
 pher Pechin, carried on the business of a 
 tanner, currier and farmer. He had the 
 vivacity of the French, was very energetic 
 and successful in business, owning several 
 tanneries. In his will he bequeathed one or 
 more farms to each of his children besides 
 considerable personal property. George 
 Pechin, eldest son of Peter Pechin, learned 
 the trade of tanner and currier with his 
 father. He owned several farms in 
 Lower Merion township, and after his re- 
 tirement from active business in 1851, he 
 removed to Bridgeport, this county. His 
 second daughter, Rebecca Ann Pechin, 
 married Perry M. Hunter, as above stated. 
 
 Perry M. Hunter, while having the gen- 
 eral store at Gulf Mills, also engaged in the 
 woolen manufacturing business at that 
 place. His mill property there was de- 
 stroyed by fire and in the spring of 1S59 he 
 purchased the property now known as Watts' 
 mill in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and con- 
 tinued the manufacture of woolen goods. 
 This property he sold in 1864 and about the 
 same time disposed of his interest in the 
 general store at Gulf Mills. In March, 1865, 
 he purchased the mill property on Main 
 street, below Arch, Norristown, (now owned 
 by the Norristown Woolen Company) and 
 in 1868 the mill property at Barbadoes and 
 Airy street, Norristown, at both of which 
 
 places he carried on the business of manu- 
 facturing woolen goods until his death in 
 November, 1868. 
 
 Mr. Hunter with his family removed from 
 Gulf Mills to Bridgeport in 1855 and to 
 Norristown in 1866. He was a Democrat 
 in politics, took an active interest in the 
 welfare of his county and was prominent in 
 the councils of the party. He was twice 
 elected treasurer of Montgomery county, in 
 1853 and 1854. He was at one time direc- 
 tor of the bank of Montgomery county (now 
 Montgomery National Bank) at Norristown, 
 Pennsylvania, and also one of the organizers 
 of the bank of Pottstown, being one of the 
 first directors. For several years lie was 
 one of the board of inspectors of the Mont- 
 gomery county prison, and at the time o f 
 his death was president of the town council, 
 having previously served in the council as 
 a member from the Third ward of Norris- 
 town. He regularly attended services at 
 St. John's Episcopal church at Norristown, 
 and was a member of the vestry and treas- 
 urer of the church during the latter years of 
 his life. 
 
 Rebecca A. Hunter, wife of Perry M. 
 Hunter, was a woman of uncommon force 
 of character, exceptionally faithful and 
 conscientious in the performance of all the 
 duties of her life. She was kind of heart, 
 benevolent in disposition, and took an ac- 
 tive interest in the affairs of St. John's 
 Episcopal church, of which she was a de- 
 voted member, ministering among the poor 
 and lowly and giving freely of her substance, 
 her time and her strength. She died De- 
 cember 22, 1891, aged sixty-five years, and 
 a short time after her death, in honor of her 
 merits as a woman, a Christian and a 
 mother, her three sons placed a beautiful 
 memorial window in the church she loved. 
 The children of Perry M. and Rebecca A. 
 
140 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Hunter were Silanus Pearson, Ashley Pechin 
 and Perry Franklin. 
 
 P. Frank Hunter, the subject of this 
 article, was educated in the public schools 
 of Bridgeport and Norristown, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and also at Tremont seminary, 
 located at the same place. In 1870, shortly 
 before reaching the age of fifteen years, he 
 entered into business as a clerk with a 
 Norristown merchant, where he remained 
 for two years. He then took a course of 
 instruction at Bryant and Stratton's Busi- 
 ness college, Philadelphia, and in December, 
 1872, became a book-keeper in a wholesale 
 house on Market street, Philadelphia, which 
 position he relinquished in 1874, and on 
 July 1 of that year entered the service of 
 the Pennsylvania Railroad company as a 
 clerk in the ticket assorting room of the 
 auditor of passenger receipts. He re- 
 mained in this department for nine years, 
 during which time he took an active 
 part in introducing certain changes in the 
 methods of handling conductor's accounts, 
 and in the instruction and examination of 
 conductors with a view to improving the 
 service. He was also one of the travelling 
 examiners of station agents' accounts. On 
 June 1, 1883, he was promoted to the posi- 
 tion of chief book-keeper in the comptrol- 
 ler's office, in which position he had charge 
 of the general books of the company and of 
 the preparation of statistical information 
 for the use of offices of the company and for 
 the annual reports. He was also called 
 iipon as an expert accountant to ascertain 
 and report on the financial condition of cor- 
 porations in which the Pennsylvania rail- 
 road company became interested. On April 
 1, 1893, he was transferred from the account- 
 ing department to the treasury department, 
 having been appointed by the board of 
 directors assistant to the treasurer. He was 
 
 appointed assistant treasurer of the Penn- 
 sylvania Rairoad company, on January 1, 
 1895. In addition to this latter position he 
 is also assistant treasurer of the Philadel- 
 phia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad 
 company, West Jersey Railroad company, 
 and the Camden and Atlantic Railroad com- 
 pany. 
 
 Mr. Hunter, who is yet a young man, 
 has by sheer merit risen from one of the 
 lowest clerkships in the Pennsylvania Rail- 
 road company's service to the position of as- 
 sistant treasurer of that great corporation 
 owning or controlling about nine thousand 
 miles of railway and canal, with an invested 
 capital of over eight hundred millions of 
 dollars. 
 
 Mr. Hunter was married June 26, 1878, to 
 Mary Albertson, eldest daughter of J. Mor- 
 ton Albertson, a prominent banker and 
 manufacturer of Norristown, Pennsylvania. 
 Their children are : Sarah Albertson, Re- 
 becca Anna, Morton Albertson (deceased), 
 and Perry Franklin. 
 
 Mr. Hunter, in politics, is a staunch Re- 
 publican, although the requirements of his 
 business have prevented him from taking an 
 active interest in the affairs of his party. 
 In religion he holds to the faith of his an- 
 cestors, being a member of St. John's Epis- 
 copal church of Norristown, in the work of 
 which he takes an active interest. He is a 
 member of the vestry, was one of the build- 
 ing; committee which erected All Saints 
 Chapel in the western part of Norristown, 
 and is now one of the committee in charge 
 of the work at that chapel. He is also a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity, a director 
 of the Albertson Trust and Safe Deposit 
 company of Norristown, and of the Norris- 
 town Woolen company. 
 
 In business circles Mr. Hunter is recog- 
 nized as a skilled accountant and as possess- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 141 
 
 ing financial ability of a high order. He is 
 energetic, thorough and careful, and dis- 
 charges with strict fidelity and integrity the 
 duties of his offices. He resides in Norris- 
 town, Pennsylvania. 
 
 SAMUEL DREvSHER, the only surviv- 
 ing member of the original Dresher 
 family of Montgomery county, is a son of 
 Oliver and Annie (Anders) Dresher, and 
 was born at Dreshertown, Upper Dublin 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, March 17, 1830. The Dresher and 
 Ander families are among the oldest families 
 in the county, and Samuel Dresher traces 
 his ancestral line on the paternal side to 
 George and Maria Dresher, natives of Sile- 
 sia, German)', who came to Towamencin 
 townshipin 1734. Their grandson, George 
 Dresher, came into Upper Dublin township 
 about 17S1, and served as a supervisor in 
 1788, and again in 1792. Christopher 
 Dresher, son of George Dresher, was born 
 in 1 771, and became the founder of Dresher- 
 town. 
 
 Oliver Dresher (father) was a son of 
 George Dresher, and a grandson of Christo- 
 pher Dresher, who built the old Dresher 
 mill that remained in the possession of the 
 old Dresher family for over a hundred years. 
 Oliver Dresher was born in 1804, and passed 
 from time to eternity March 17, 1880, when 
 in the seventy-sixth year of his age. He 
 was a farmer by occupation and a miller by 
 trade. In connection with his farm he ran 
 the old Dresher mill for several years. He 
 was a Whig in politics and had been a 
 conscientious and consistent member of the 
 Schwenkfelter church from his boyhood. 
 He had served repeatedly as supervisor of 
 roads and as a member of the board of 
 
 school directors in Upper Dublin township. 
 He owned a valuable farm and married 
 Annie Anders, who was a daughter of Abra- 
 ham Anders, of Worcester township, and 
 died July 21, 1894, aged eighty-four years, 
 eight months and twenty-one days. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Dresher were the parents of 
 two children, a son and a daughter : Samuel, 
 the subject of this sketch ; and Tracy Ann, 
 who died March 29, 1853. 
 
 Samuel Dresher was reared on the farm, 
 and after attending the public schools en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits, which he 
 followed ever since. His farm of over one 
 hundred acres of good productive land, is 
 situated in Norriton township, about a mile 
 distant from Hartranft station on the Stony- 
 Creek railroad. While carefully managing 
 his farm operations, he has been successfully 
 engaged in other lines of business, and 
 ranks with the most progressive business 
 men of his township. On November 9, 
 1854, Mr. Dresher was united in marriage 
 with Susanna Seipt, daughter of George 
 Seipt, of Worcester township. 
 
 Mr. Dresher is a director of the Stony 
 Creek Railroad company, the Montgomery 
 National bank, and the Mutual Fire Insur- 
 ance company. He is also a director of the 
 Montgomery Trust, Insurance and Safe De- 
 posit company and a trustee of the Perkio- 
 men seminary, located at Pennsburg, this 
 county. Besides these places of business, 
 trust and responsibility, Mr. Dresher has 
 filled various places of political and local 
 significance. He is a Democrat politically, 
 and for a number of years was a member of 
 the school board of his township. He is a 
 member of the Schwenkfelter church, with 
 which he has been connected over half 
 a century, and has served the congregation 
 in the capacity of trustee for the last twenty 
 years. 
 
142 
 
 Biographical Sketches 
 
 JACOB L. REX, now resident of Nor- 
 ristown, is a son of John and Sarah 
 (Lentz) Rex, and was born in Whitpain 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, August 31, 1829. The R ex family 
 is of German descent and has been resident 
 for nearly two centuries, in southeastern 
 Pennsylvania, where Mr. Rex's paternal 
 grandfather, Levi Rex, was born. Levi 
 Rex was a native of Philadelphia county. 
 He was a wheelright by trade, and a fanner 
 and hotel keeper by occupation. He owned 
 real estate at Chestnut Hill, where he died, 
 while his remains were interred at German- 
 town. He wedded Catharine Riter and 
 reared a family. One of his sons was John 
 Rex, the father of the subject of this sketch. 
 John Rex was born in 1800, in Philadelphia 
 county, where he was reared and received 
 his education in the public and private 
 schools of his neighborhood. He was a 
 farmer by occupation, and in 1828 came to 
 Whitpain which he left in 1851 to settle at 
 Norristown. He lived but one year after 
 coming to Norristown, and passed away 
 in April, 1852. He was an old line Whig 
 and took an active part in political and civil 
 affairs. In his younger days he was inter- 
 ested in military affairs, serving in the First 
 City troop of cavalry of Philadelphia. He 
 was a member of the Lutheran church and 
 married Sarah Lentz, whose uncle, General 
 Sheetz, was a very prominent man and a 
 member of the well known Sheetz family 
 of Mongtomery County. To their union 
 were born nine children : Catharine A., wife 
 of Dr. George H. Burgin, deceased, of Ger- 
 mantown ; Jacob L., subject ; Elizabeth S., 
 wife of Charles Carroll Reeves, of Camden, 
 New Jersey ; Mary L., who wedded Dr. 
 George T. Harvey, a native of Doylestown ; 
 John S., of Norristown ; Emma M., wife of 
 John L. Dubois, a lawyer, of Doylestown ; 
 
 Frederick A., a lawyer of Camden, New Jer- 
 sey ; and Antrim F., who died in infancy. 
 
 Jacob L. Rex was reared in Whitpain 
 township and received his education in the 
 district schools and Nazareth Hall school of 
 Nazareth, this State. Quitting school he 
 engaged in fanning, which he steadily pur- 
 sued until 1887. In that year he removed 
 to Norristown and has now retired from all 
 active business pursuits. In politics Mr. 
 Rex is Independent, supporting men or 
 measures independent of party consid- 
 erations. He served for five years as a jus- 
 tice of the peace. He is a member of the 
 Patrons of Husbandry to which he has be- 
 longed for a number of years, and in which 
 organization he has served as master of 
 Wissahickon Grange No. 760, for several 
 terms. 
 
 On April 1, 1855, Mr. Rex married Sarah 
 Slingluff, daughter of the late William 
 H. Slingluff. They have three children : 
 Mary S., William S. and John. The sons 
 are both graduates of Pierce's Business col- 
 lege of Philadelphia. 
 
 Mrs. Rex was born at Norristown, Octo- 
 ber io, 1834, and received her education in 
 Oakland Female seminary near her native 
 town. She was graduated from the semi- 
 nary on September 29, 1852, and shortly 
 afterwards assumed editorial charge of the 
 floral department of the Farmers Friend 
 and Grange Advocate. She has been a fre- 
 quent contributor to various other papers 
 interested in agricultural affairs. She was 
 president of the East Pennsylvania Agricul- 
 tural society, organized at Norristown, and 
 of the Ambler Park society at Ambler. 
 Mrs. Rex was treasurer for two years and is 
 a present director of Charity Hospital asso- 
 ciation. She was largely instrumental in 
 the erection of the hospital, serving as pres- 
 ident of the Women's Auxiliary of the. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 143 
 
 hospital, and as treasurer of the Hospital 
 Association until the hospital was finished, 
 when she resigned the position. She is 
 librarian of the Montgomery County His- 
 torical society. Mrs. Rex has always been 
 prominent and active in the Grange cause. 
 She served for several years as Flora in the 
 State Grange of Pennsylvania, and was a 
 member of its finance committee. 
 
 Jacob L. Rex is a great-great-great-grand- 
 son, on his mother's side, of Dr. John Jacob 
 Scheetz, a minister of Cregfeldt, on the 
 Rhine, who was a member of the Frankfort 
 company, organized in 1683 to promote and 
 encourage settlement from Germany. His 
 son Henry (great-great-grandfather of Jacob 
 L. Rex) was thus induced to come to Penn- 
 sylvania and first settled at Germantown, 
 afterwards removing to a purchase in White- 
 marsh township, in Montgomery county, 
 where he spent the remainder of his days. 
 This property was inherited by his son 
 Henry Scheetz, great-grandfather of the 
 said Jacob Lentz Rex, who, in the assess- 
 ment of 1780, is called a paper-maker and 
 rated for owning a paper mill and eighty 
 acres of land. This mill he built in 1769 
 on Sandy Run, to which he added after- 
 wards a grist mill which is still standing. 
 He was appointed by the county a justice 
 of the peace before the Revolution, and on 
 the formation of Montgomery county, was 
 commissioned one of the justices of the 
 courts of quarter-sessions and common pleas, 
 which position he resigned March 31, 1784. 
 
 THOMAS ROBINSON, superintendent 
 of the Sheet and Plate mills of the 
 great iron works and rolling mill of Alan 
 Wood and Co., of Conshohocken, was born 
 in Derbyshire, England, November 8, 1839, 
 
 and is a son of James and Anna (Hollings- 
 worth) Robinson, natives of England. 
 James Robinson was a stocking weaver by 
 trade, and in 1846 came to the United 
 vStates, where he was successively a resi- 
 dent of Chelsea and Portsmouth, Massachu- 
 setts ; and Norristown and Conshohocken, 
 this county. He was a resident of Consho- 
 hocken from 1859 until his death, which 
 occurred October 7, 1881, when he was 
 seventy-two years of age. He was a Re- 
 publican and Methodist. He married Anna 
 Hollingsworth, who lived to be seventy-five 
 years of age, dying in the Fall of 1886. 
 Their children, twelve in number and all 
 of whom were born in England, were : 
 Catharine, Joseph, John, Tirza, Amy, Al- 
 fred, Mary Ann, dead ; next child born 
 named Mary Ann, living ; George, Thomas, 
 subject ; James and Sarah. 
 
 Thomas Robinson obtained but a limited 
 education in boyhood, and after attaining 
 his majority, attended a public school for 
 some time in order to better qualify him- 
 self for common business pursuits. At 
 eleven years of age he was placed on a farm 
 at Blue Bell, where he received his board 
 and clothes for his work for a period of five 
 years. He then entered James Hooven's 
 rolling mills at Norristown and worked 
 there for three or four years. Leaving 
 there in 1857, he worked in a wire mill 
 owned by Peter Cooper, in New Jersey, but 
 at the close of six months service returned 
 to Norristown. The next year he entered 
 the employ of Alan Wood and Co., of Con- 
 shohocken, with whom he has remained 
 ever since. During this long period of 
 nearly forty years, he has served in every 
 department of the great iron works and 
 rolling mills, and is so conversant with all 
 the details of each man's work, that he 
 could take his place upon a moments notice. 
 
144 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 He has held various positions about the 
 plant, and since Christmas, 1890, he had 
 charge of the sheet and plate and bar de- 
 partments, in which three hundred men 
 are constantly employed. He has general 
 control of these departments in which he 
 does the hiring and discharging of the 
 men. In addition to department manage- 
 ment in the iron works, Mr. Robinson 
 has found time to engage, to some 
 extent, in various business enterprises. 
 From 1872 up to 1874, he was a member of 
 the firm of Moore and Robinson, which 
 dealt largely in coal and wood. Two years 
 later he and John H. Griffith formed a 
 partnership under the firm name of Robin- 
 son and Griffith, and were engaged for 
 three years in the produce and butchering 
 business. Mr. Robinson is a Republican, 
 casting his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, 
 and has served for fifteen years as a council- 
 man and school director of Conshohocken. 
 He is an Encampment Odd Fellow, and 
 has been a member since i860, of Gratitude 
 Lodge, No. 216, Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, in which he has served continu- 
 ously as treasurer forsixteen years. During 
 Lee's second invasion of the north, he was 
 among the number who volunteered in de- 
 fence of the State, being a member of Co. 
 F, forty-third regiment, and was stationed 
 for six weeks at Clear Springs, Maryland, 
 and near the Potomac river. Mr. Robinson 
 is positive and energetic in character, pro- 
 gressive in his special line of work, and is 
 recognized as a man of good business quali- 
 fications. 
 
 On December 28, 1861, Thomas Robinson 
 was united in marriage with Isabella Smith, 
 a daughter of James Smith, of Conshohock- 
 en. To their union have been born three 
 sons and four daughters : William, Anna, 
 Thomas, Maggie, Lydia, Lena and Howard. 
 
 Of these children, William, Maggie and 
 Lydia are deceased ; while Thomas is a 
 machinist, Lena, a graduate of Pierce's 
 Business college, and Howard is attending 
 school. 
 
 R WILSON PERRY, a prosperous busi- 
 • ness man of Norristown, is the young- 
 est son of Samuel and Isabella (Wilson) 
 Perry, and was born at Bridgeport, this 
 county, May 22, 1842. He was brought up 
 in Norristown, where he obtained his ele- 
 mentary education in the public schools. 
 He afterward attended Tremont seminary, 
 under the instructorship of Rev. Samuel 
 Aaron, for one year, and then entered 
 Dickinson seminary at Williamsport. After 
 graduation from the latter institution, he 
 engaged in the book and stationery busi- 
 ness with his brother, W. G. Perry, in the 
 city of Philadelphia. About June, 1858, 
 he gave up the stationery business and em- 
 barked in the milling business at Dresher- 
 town, Montgomery county. This con- 
 tinued to be his occupation until the out- 
 break of the Civil war. On September 12, 
 1861, Mr. Perry entered the service as a 
 private of Company C, 104th Regiment, 
 Pennsylvania volunteers. He was promoted 
 to corporal January 1, 1862, commissioned 
 second lieutenant of Company H, 34th U. 
 S. C. T, and promoted to first lieutenant 
 and adjutant of the same regiment June 20, 
 1864. From August 15, 1863, to Novem- 
 ber, 1863, he served as assistant aide-de- 
 camp on the staff of Colonel James Mont- 
 gomery, commanding the fourth brigade, 
 Terry's division, tenth corps, department of 
 the south. From March, 1865, he was 
 commissioned post adjutant at Jacksonville, 
 Florida, but resigned that post on May 1 
 of the same year. During his service he 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 i45 
 
 served in the provisional brigade defence of 
 Washington, D. C, until March, 1862; in 
 the first brigade, third division, fourth 
 corps, Army of the Potomac, until Decem- 
 ber, 1862 ; second brigade, second division, 
 eighteenth corps, department of North 
 Carolina, until August, 1863 ; fourth bri- 
 gade, Terry's division, tenth corps, depart- 
 ment of the South, until November, 1863 ; 
 third brigade, Terry's division, tenth corps, 
 department of the South, until February, 
 1864 ; third brigade, second division, dis- 
 trict of Florida, department of the South, 
 until April, 1864; fourth separate brigade, 
 district of Florida, tenth corps, department 
 of the South, until May, 1865. During 
 this period of service, Mr. Perry partici- 
 pated in the siege of Yorktown. battle of 
 Williamsburg, Virginia, Bottomsbridge, 
 Savage station, Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, 
 Fort Wagner, Morris' Island, siege of 
 Charleston, Devaux' Neck, South Caro- 
 lina, Honey Hill, and a number of others 
 of minor importance. Upon the expiration 
 of his commission, on May 1, 1865, he re- 
 turned to Philadelphia, where for a short 
 time he resumed the book business. Some- 
 time subsequent to this he removed to Sa- 
 vannah, Georgia, where he embarked in 
 the general stationery trade and remained 
 until 1867. At the latter date he returned 
 to Norristown and engaged in the wall 
 paper and painting business. This enter- 
 prise prospered in his hands, and to it he 
 has given the greater part of his attention 
 from that to the present time. 
 
 In politics Mr. Perry is an active Repub- 
 lican, and has served three years as coun- 
 cilman from the eighth ward. He is vice 
 president and one of the directors of Charity 
 hospital, Norristown, and was one of the 
 incorporators, and now vice president and 
 director of the Consumers Ice company of 
 
 10 
 
 the same place. In religion Mr. Perry is a 
 Presbyterian, and in addition to this is 
 connected with a number of well known 
 fraternal organizations, among which are 
 Curtis Lodge No. 239, Independent ( >rder 
 of Odd Fellows ; Charity Lodge No. 190, 
 Free and Accepted Masons ; Norristown 
 Chapter No. 190, Royal Arch Masons; and 
 Hutchinson Commandery No. 32, Knights 
 Templar. He is also connected with the 
 Improved Order of Heptasophs, and with 
 Zook Post No, 11, Grand Army of the Re- 
 public. 
 
 On August 22, 1867, Mr. Perry was 
 united in marriage with Caroline C. Ouar- 
 terman, a native of Georgia, and a daugh- 
 ter of Thomas Quarterman. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Perry have been born four children, 
 of whom three died in infancy. The only 
 one who arrived at the age of maturity is 
 Dr. Charles F. Perry, a practicing physi- 
 cian, located at Scranton, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Samuel Perry, father of the subject of 
 this sketch, was a nail cutter by trade, and 
 spent the early part of his life at Bridgeton, 
 New Jersey, and in Philadelphia. About 
 1835 he removed to Norristown and passed 
 the remainder of his life in Montgomery 
 county, dying in 1847, at the age of forty- 
 seven years. He was a man of ordinary 
 education and quiet reserved manner. In 
 politics a Republican, and in religion he 
 was a member of the Methodist church, 
 which latter he served as trustee for many 
 years. He was also a member of the In- 
 dependent Order of Odd Fellows of Phila- 
 delphia. In 1822 he married Isabella 
 Wilson, a daughter of Robert and Naomi 
 Wilson, of West Creek, Cape May county, 
 New Jersey. To them was born a family 
 of eight children, four sons and four daugh- 
 ters : John R., Charles, William, Kliza ()., 
 wife of George H. Jones, of Weatherly, 
 
146 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Pennsylvania ; Mary Ann, Sarah C, wife 
 of Jesse H. Bringhnrst, of Philadelphia ; 
 Margaret S., and R. Wilson. 
 
 Mrs. Isabella Perry died in June, 18S2, in 
 her eighty-fifth year. 
 
 AMOS L ALBERTSON, a prominent 
 business man and the president of the 
 Norristown Glass company, is a son of 
 Jacob Morton and Sarah Pirn (Lee) Albert- 
 son, and was born at Norristown, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, October 14, 
 1854. The Albertson family traces its 
 trans-atlantic ancestry back to Amsterdam, 
 Holland, from which the first American 
 member of the family came over in the 
 ship Fox, arriving at New York, September, 
 1640. From this Holland ancestor was de- 
 scended Jacob Albertson, senior, whose 
 wife was a descendant of Cadwallader 
 Roberts, of Wales, who came to Gwynedd in 
 1693. About the year 1800 Jacob Albert- 
 son purchased from Joseph Potts the farm 
 in Plymouth township, which has been 
 known ever since as the old Albertson 
 homestead. His son, Jacob Albertson, was 
 born on this farm, passed his life as a 
 farmer, and his remains were interred at 
 Plymouth Meeting graveyard. He was an 
 old line Whig in politics, and married 
 Martha Livezey, by whom he had ten 
 children. His fifth child, Jacob Morton Al- 
 bertson, was born May 5, 1826, and received 
 his education in a day school and at the 
 Westtown boarding school. At twenty-two 
 years of age he became interested in con- 
 veyancing, and afterwards studied with his 
 uncle, Lewis Jones, an expert surveyor and 
 conveyancer. In 1850 he removed to Nor- 
 ristown, and the following year was elected 
 surveyor of the borough. From that 
 
 time forward Mr. Albertson was successful 
 in all his business undertakings, and in 
 1857 established a private banking business 
 into which, in 1875, he admitted his sons, 
 William E. and Amos L., under the firm 
 name of J. M. Albertson & Sons. In 1889 
 the Albertson Banking company was 
 changed into an incorporated organization, 
 under the name of the Albertson Trust and 
 Safe Deposit company. In addition to bank- 
 ing, he purchased in 1870, the Star Gla^s 
 works, whose capacity at a later date he 
 increased by the erection of a second fac- 
 tory. He was also largely interested in 
 real estate, and aided in many business en- 
 terprises by which his borough was bene- 
 fitted. He was an active Republican, and 
 served for several years as a member of the 
 board of prison inspectors. He was a 
 member of the Society of Friends, and 
 died June 19, 1889, aged sixty-three years. 
 His remains are interred in Plymouth 
 Meeting cemetery. In 1852 Mr. Albertson 
 wedded Sarah P. Lee, of Exeter, Berks 
 county, whose English ancestor, Anthony 
 Lee, took up and settled on a tract of six 
 hundred acres of land in that county by 
 survey of October 10, 1716. Mrs. Albert- 
 son died October 11, 1889. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Albertson were born five children : 
 William E-, treasurer of the Albertson 
 Trust and the Star Glass companies ; Amos 
 L., subject ; Mary A., wife of P. Frank 
 Hunter, assistant treasurer of the Pennsyl- 
 vania Railroad company ; Martha A., wife 
 of Abner U. Howard, of Pittsburg, Penn- 
 sylvania, who is vice president of the Al- 
 bertson Trust company, and secretary of 
 the Pittsburg Plate Glass company ; and 
 Lizzie P., wife of Edward S. Perott, of 
 Yonkers, New York. 
 
 Amos L. Albertson was reared at Norris- 
 town, received his education in the West- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 HI 
 
 town boarding school and Tremont semi- 
 nary, and then engaged in his present busi- 
 ness, the manufacture of glass. He is now 
 president of the Norristown Glass company 
 and a director of the Albertson Trust and 
 Deposit company. He is also a large real 
 estate owner. Mr. Albertson is a Republi- 
 can in politics, and has always given his 
 party a hearty support. He is active, 
 prompt and energetic, and gives careful 
 and intelligent management to all his vari- 
 ous business enterprises. 
 
 On September 25, 1890, Amos L. Albert- 
 son wedded Kate Longaker, a daughter of 
 George W. Longaker, of Norristown. 
 
 JESSE S. CRESSMAN, a prosperous 
 <-f merchant at Sumneytown, this county, 
 is a son of Jesse and Lena (Triesback) 
 Cressman, and was born March 4, 1853, at 
 Zieglersville, this county. Jesse Cressman 
 was one of a family of the following chil- 
 dren : Mrs. Frances Dannehower ; Mrs. 
 Nace ; and Jesse, father, who learned the 
 trade of a shoemaker, and during the early 
 part of his life followed that trade at Tylers- 
 port, but for thirty years followed it at 
 Zieglersville. For thirty years he was 
 gate keeper at Zieglersville for the Green 
 Lane and Sumneytown turnpike. He was 
 a Democrat and an official member of the 
 Lutheran church. His marriage to Lena 
 Triesback resulted in the birth of five sons 
 and four daughters : Henry, Mahlon, Kate 
 Burke, Sarah, deceased ; William, Mary, 
 Jacob, John, and Jesse. 
 
 Jesse S. Cressman attended the public 
 schools at Zieglersville and Ursinus col- 
 lege. Leaving school and entering upon a 
 course of independent action on his own 
 account, he taught school three terms, and 
 
 after this for six months was engaged in 
 the bakery business at Boyertown. In 1S76 
 he came to Sumneytown and entered the 
 store of Harvey Barndt, as clerk, and re- 
 mained in his employ until March 13, 1884, 
 when he became a partner in the business, 
 under the firm name of Barndt & Cress- 
 man. They conduct a first-class general 
 store, occupying two floors, fifty by twenty- 
 five feet, heavily stocked. He is a Demo- 
 crat, and a member of Green Lane Castle 
 No. 202, Knights of the Golden Eagle; 
 Perkiomen Lodge No. 267, I. O. O. F ; 
 and Pinta Lodge, Knights of Pythias, 
 and of the Lutheran church at Sumney- 
 town, of which he has been deacon eight 
 years, and superintendent of the Sunday- 
 school for eighteen years. He is interested 
 in the following Building and Loan asso- 
 ciations : E. C. Tyson B. & L- A., of Phila- 
 delphia ; the Excelsior, of Norristown ; and 
 the National, of Washington, D. C. 
 
 He wedded Fannie Hoffman, a daughter 
 of Rev. Andrew Hoffman, and two chil- 
 dren, Forest J., and Annie S. bless their 
 marriage relation. 
 
 GEORGE F. COLEMAN, one of the 
 prominent and leading business men 
 of Norristown, is a son of Nicholas and Re- 
 becca (Wiseman) Coleman, and was born in 
 the city of Philadelphia in the year 1839. 
 In the early settlement of Pennsylvania, the 
 pioneer ancestors of the Coleman family 
 in this country, came from Wales. And 
 among the earliest descendants was Nich- 
 olas Coleman, the paternal grandfather of 
 George F. Coleman, of Norristown. Nich- 
 olas Coleman, who is mentioned in West- 
 cott's history of Philadelphia, a com- 
 missioned officer in Proctor's Artillery and 
 
148 
 
 Biographical Sketches, 
 
 served under Washington throughout the 
 Revolutionary war. He passed through 
 all the sufferings of Valley Forge and par- 
 ticipated in all the hard battles of his reg- 
 iment. He received wounds in the battles 
 of Brandywine and Gennantown, and died 
 from the effects of one of them in 1801. 
 Nicholas Coleman was born in 1745, and 
 spent his entire life in Philadelphia. He 
 was actively engaged for many years as a 
 manufacturer, and his son Nicholas Cole- 
 man (father) was born in Philadelphia in 
 1801, where he resided until his death in 
 January, 1858. He was largely a self-edu- 
 cated man, whose business ability won for 
 him position and success. He was one of 
 the first wagon manufacturers in his native 
 city and conducted a business on Front 
 street below Girard avenue. He controlled 
 an extensive business and made the first 
 carts that were shipped from this country to 
 South America, where they were used for 
 local transportation in the coffee fields He 
 was successively a Whig and Republican, 
 but never held any official position, although 
 once offered the nomination for the city 
 treasurership, which he was prompt to de- 
 cline. He was a Friend although he mar- 
 ried outside the Society, and contributed 
 financially towards the organization of Col- 
 onel Small's regiment during the war with 
 Mexico. He wedded Rebecca Wiseman, a 
 daughter of the late Samuel Wiseman, and 
 to this union were born fourteen children, 
 six of whom still survive. 
 
 George F. Coleman received his elemen- 
 tary education in the grammar school of 
 Philadelphia, from which he was withdrawn 
 at thirteen years of age on account of deli- 
 cate health. Afterward he attended Roach's 
 academy where he graduated in surveying 
 and civil engineering. Subsequently he 
 took the full course in Crittendon's Com- 
 
 mercial college. Leaving college he en- 
 tered the office of N. Coleman and Son, 
 which firm then consisted of his father and 
 eldest son Robert. His father retiring in 
 1856, he became the junior partner, under 
 the firm name of Simons, Coleman and 
 Company, founders of the large wagon 
 works on Front street and at Second and 
 Lehigh avenues. In i860 he and his brother 
 sold out their interests to Mr. Simons, and 
 George F. turned his attention to dealing in 
 stocks. After some years of experience in 
 the stock markets, he engaged in the worsted 
 yarn commission business, then an industry 
 in its infancr. In this new enterprise he 
 associated with him his younger brother 
 Joseph Coleman, who was well acquainted 
 with the woolen business, and they operated 
 under the name of Coleman and Brother. 
 They first located at No. no and afterwards 
 removed to 212 Chestnut street, where the 
 old house of Coleman and Brother still re- 
 mains. Mr. Coleman's experience in the 
 stock markets of the country and especially 
 in Wall street, New York, was verv valuable 
 to him in the prosecution of his commission 
 enterprise, which enterprise he successful lv 
 continued for twenty years. At the end of 
 that time in 1893, on account of impaired 
 hearing he retired from the firm and became 
 interested in the manufacture of woolen 
 goods, in which line of business he made 
 large investments at Norristown and else- 
 where. He was soon made president of the 
 Norristown Woolen company, which posi- 
 tion he still holds in addition to being a 
 director in the Conshohocken Woolen com- 
 pany. 
 
 On May 14, 1S60, Mr. Coleman was united 
 in marriage with Josephine Aitkin, a daugh- 
 ter of Joseph Aitkin, and a great-grand- 
 daughter of Robert Aitkin, who published 
 the first Bible in the English language in 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 149 
 
 America, and the first magazine issued in 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Coleman were blessed with 
 three children, two sons and a daughter : 
 Joseph Aitkin Coleman, who is married to 
 Margaret Noble, a daughter of Rev. William 
 Noble, and is a member of the firm of Cole- 
 man and Brother at 212 Chestnut street, 
 Philadelphia ; Rebecca Coleman, wedded 
 Gilbert R. Fox, Esq., of Norristown ; and 
 William S. 
 
 George F. Coleman came to Norristown 
 about the year 1878, and resides at "Fir- 
 mere" on north Powell street, one of the 
 finest residences in the city. The grounds 
 are tasteful and beautiful, consisting of a 
 large and well kept lawn ornamented with 
 choice trees and rare shrubbery through 
 which inviting paths and graceful drives 
 have been laid out with care and due regard 
 to pleasing effect. 
 
 Mr. Coleman is not only an enterprising 
 representative but is also a very pros- 
 perous business man. His firm was the first 
 to introduce to the manufacturers of the 
 United States the French system of spun 
 worsted yarn. The yarn in this country was 
 first spun at the Conshohocken Woolen mills 
 and rapidly came into general favor. In ad- 
 dition to this, Coleman and Brother estab- 
 lished the first commission house in the 
 United States for the sale of worsted yarns 
 and in ten years their sales increased one 
 thousand per cent. 
 
 Mr. Coleman is a Republican in politics 
 but gives his time chiefly to his various busi- 
 ness enterprises and has always subjected 
 himself to rigorous and exacting business 
 principles. He is a member of the Manu- 
 facturers' club of Philadelphia and a number 
 of other organizations of Philadelphia, but 
 his impaired hearing prevents him from 
 active participation. 
 
 ALBERT R. PLACE, a promising law- 
 yer of the Montgomery county bar 
 and a member of the legal firm of Hall- 
 man & Place, is a son of Israel and Han- 
 nah (Rosenberger) Place, and was born 
 June 1, 1857, in Upper Providence town- 
 ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. 
 His parents were of German ancestry, and 
 both descended from old families well 
 known in eastern Pennsylvania, having re- 
 sided for several generations in the United 
 States. 
 
 Henry G. Place, paternal grandfather of 
 the subject of this sketch, was a prominent 
 citizen of this county and a personal ac- 
 quaintance of Governor Francis R. Shunk, 
 who occupied the executive chair of Penn- 
 sylvania from 1845 to his death in 1848. 
 One of the sons of Henry G. Place was Is- 
 rael Place (father), the latter of whom was 
 born July 5, 1819, at the old homestead in 
 Upper Providence township. After receiv- 
 ing a common school education, he learned 
 the carpenter trade, which occupation he 
 followed successfully for many years. He 
 now resides in Hatfield township with his 
 oldest daughter, Sarah A. Gotwals, retired 
 from all active affairs and in feeble health. 
 He was a Whig in early life, but became a 
 Republican upon the organization of that 
 party, and always took an interest in politi- 
 cal matters, though he never aspired to or 
 held any important political office. In re- 
 ligion he is a member of the Reformed 
 church, and in 1843 married Hannah Ro- 
 senberger, a daughter of Abraham Rosen- 
 berger, also of the township of Upper 
 Providence, by which union he had a 
 family of seven children, two of whom are 
 deceased. Those living are Sarah A., wite 
 of Jacob C. Gotwals ; Hannah, married to 
 Anthony B. Schultz ; Mary, the wife of 
 Wilson Schultz ; J. Warren and Albert R. 
 
I 5 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Mis. Hannah Place is now deceased, having 
 died in 1885, aged sixty-five years. 
 
 Albert R. Place was reared in Upper 
 Providence township until his seventeenth 
 year, receiving his education in the acade- 
 mic department o( Ursinus college at Col- 
 legeville, Pa., and at Washington Hall Col- 
 legiate institute, Trappe, Pa. After com- 
 pleting his studies, he engaged in teaching, 
 which he followed continuously until July, 
 1885, at which time he commenced reading 
 law in the office of Judge Aaron S. Swart/. 
 at Norristown. During the time he de- 
 voted to teaching, Mr. Place was principal 
 oi the schools at I.ansdalc for a period o( 
 four years, and held a like position in the 
 Hatboro schools for three years, and re- 
 ceived at the hands oi K. K. Higbee, State 
 superintendent, a permanent teacher's cer- 
 tificate for this State. He was admitted to 
 the bar in October, 1SS7, and during the 
 winter following taught commercial law at 
 Pence College oi Business in the city of 
 Philadelphia. He then began the practice 
 o( law in Montgomery county, having his 
 office at I.ansdalc, and has remained in the 
 practice o( his profession to the present 
 time. In April, [889, he formed a law 
 partnership with Ellwood I.. Halhuan, of 
 Royersford, and these gentlemen have 
 practiced together up to this time. They 
 have conducted and still enjoy a prosperous 
 general law business, and practice in all 
 the courts o( Montgomery and Chester 
 counties, and also in the supreme court of 
 the State of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Politically Mr. Place is a staunch Repub- 
 lican, but has refrained from participation 
 in politics, preferring to devote himself 
 strictly to business in the line of his pro- 
 fession. He has served as a member of the 
 school board oi I.ansdalc for a number of 
 years, is counsel for the boroughs of I.ans- 
 
 dalc and Souderton, and also is solicitor of 
 the North Wales National bank of North 
 Wales, of which he was one of the founders 
 ami first directors. He was also one of the 
 organizers of the North Penn Building and 
 Loan association of Lansdale, and was its 
 first president. Possessed of ability and 
 judgment, his management of these enter- 
 prises has proved successful. He is also vice 
 president and one of the founders o( the 
 " Schissler College of Business," located at 
 Norristown, Pa. 
 
 In religion Mr. Place was for a number 
 of years connected with the Ahington Pres- 
 byterian church, but later became a mem- 
 ber of St. John's Reformed church at Lans- 
 dale. He is also a member of the Masonic 
 order, with which he has been connected 
 since [893. His business ami professional 
 career has been successful, and being 
 founded on the corner-stones of honesty, 
 integrity, ability, and a determination to 
 do thoroughly whatever he undertook, 
 his career furnishes an example for the 
 emulation of young men. 
 
 On April n, 1883, Mr. Place was mar- 
 ried to M. Alice Frederick, of Lansdale, 
 Pa. Their union has been blessed by the 
 birth of one child, a daughter named 
 Kate Helen, who was born February 7, 
 1SS0. 
 
 A A RON FOX is the leading contractor 
 and builder of Pennsburg and vicinity. 
 The father oi Aaron Fox was Israel Fox, 
 and his mother's maiden name was Catha- 
 rine Xace. He was born October 31, 1844, 
 in Upper Hanover township, this county. 
 His grandfather on the paternal side of the 
 family was John Fox. His father was born 
 in Upper Hanover township and was 
 one of a large family of children. He 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 i. 5 i 
 
 learned the trade of a carpenter and fol- 
 lowed that craft all his life. He found his 
 political affinity in his support of the 
 Democratic party, whilst in religious mat- 
 ters he worshipped at the shrine of St. 
 Luke's Lutheran church. His marriage to 
 Catharine Nace, a daughter of Peter Nace, 
 of Sum ney town, resulted in the birth of 
 eleven children : Jacob, John, Samuel, 
 Aaron, Kate, Mary, Elizabeth, Leah, Ange- 
 line, Sarah, Matilda. 
 
 Aaron Pox learned the trade and became 
 a carpenter under the direction of Joseph 
 Hallaway, with whom he remained until 
 1872, when he took up the work as a con- 
 tractor and builder on his own account. 
 He employs a large force of men and has 
 done considerable work in his line of a 
 highly creditable character, among which 
 he prefers to mention the large railroad 
 hotel for Preston Moore, of Moore's Wind- 
 sor hotel, in Philadelphia. 
 
 Mr. Fox is a Democrat politically, and is 
 strongly of the opinion that a Jacksonian 
 enforcement of Jeffersonian principles would 
 bring prosperity to the land and greatly 
 ameliorate the condition of the working 
 classes. 
 
 He takes a lively interest in the cause 
 of education and the common schools 
 of Montgomery count)' can count few more 
 ardent friends than he. He has served as 
 a school director in the borough of Penns- 
 burg for six years. He is n member of the 
 Lutheran church at Niantic, and is inter- 
 ested as a stockholder in the Goshen- 
 hoppen Fire Insurance company at Penns- 
 burg. 
 
 His marriage in 1871 to Rebecca Hess 
 resulted in the following issue : Horace, 
 Oscar, Rosa, Andora, Elmer C, Alice, 
 Robert, Morris, Adeline, and Lottie, and 
 three that died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. Pox is a master of his trade and as 
 an artisan is trustworthy and reliable. He 
 has won his success by close attention to 
 his business and the exercise of an indom- 
 itable courage. 
 
 ISAAC W. SMITH, proprietor of the 
 I well known Woolen mills of Bridgeport, 
 that bear his name, is the second son and 
 only surviving child of Aaron and Mary 
 (Watkin) Smith, and was born in Lower 
 Merion township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, July 29, 1839. The Smith 
 family is of Welsh descent, and Aaron Smith, 
 the father of the subject of this sketch, was 
 a shoemaker, of Lower Merion township. 
 He also owned and tilled a small farm until 
 his death, which occurred in 1847, at fifty 
 years of age. He was a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, and a Whig 
 and Republican in politics. Mr. Smith 
 wedded Sarah Free, who died, and some 
 time after her death married Mary Watkin, 
 who was a daughter of Enoch Watkin, of 
 Delaware county, and passed away in 1871, 
 when in the sixty-ninth year of her age. 
 
 By his first marriage Mr. .Smith had four 
 children : William P., John Albin, Sarah 
 A., widow of Joseph Shaw, and one that 
 died in infancy. To the second union were 
 born four children, three sons and a daugh- 
 ter : George and Mary E., who both died 
 in infancy; Isaac W., (subject); and Aaron 
 W., who died in his twenty-sixth year. 
 
 Isaac W. Smith was reared in Lower 
 Merion township and received his education 
 in the common schools. At the age of 
 twelve years he entered the carpet yarn 
 factory of his brother-in-law, Joseph Shaw, 
 which was then on Mill Creek. 
 
 After completing his apprenticeship he 
 
T 5 : 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 removed with Mr. Shaw to Valley Forge, 
 where he served as manager of the factory 
 
 started there until Shaw's death in 1S63. 
 He then managed the business for Mr. 
 Shaw's widow for nine years, at the end of 
 which time he leased the mill. When his 
 lease expired he purchased the machinery 
 and operated the factory up to 1SS2. In 
 that year he disposed of his property at 
 Valley Forge and became a resident of Nor- 
 ristown. In the early part of the succeed- 
 ing year, 1SS3, he purchased ground on 
 Third street above Dekalb at Bridgeport 
 and near the Philadelphia aud Reading 
 railroad tract, where he erected his present 
 Woolen mills and removed his family to 
 Bridgeport. His main mill, two stories 
 high, is fifty-six by one hundred and twenty 
 feet in dimensions on the inside, and an ad- 
 dition three stories in height with inside 
 dimensions of forty-five by seventy-five feet 
 has been added in conection with numerous 
 out-buildings. The chief products of his 
 mills are cotton aud wool mixed and all 
 wool cassimers, for men's wear and ladies' 
 cloakiugs. 
 
 In 1865, Mr. Smith wedded Mary L. 
 Grow, a daughter of George Grow, of 
 Lower Merion township. To their union 
 have been born seven children : Jo- 
 seph, who died in 1S91 ; Isaac A., chief 
 book keeper and assistant manager of 
 Smith's Woolen mills ; Man W., Emma 
 L,., Louis V., J. Futhey, and Leslie, who 
 died in infancy. 
 
 In polities Mr. Smith is a Republican 
 and has served as a school director and 
 member of the town council. He is a 
 member of the First Presbyterian church, 
 Norristown, of which he has been a trustee 
 for twelve years. He is a member of the 
 Masonic bodies of Norristown. While 
 active and prominent in his own especial 
 
 line of manufacturing, he is also interested 
 in other local matters, and gives much time 
 and attention to all measures for municipal 
 growth and improvement at Norristown 
 and Bridgeport. 
 
 He is a stockholder in a cotton mill at 
 Piedmont, Alabama ; and a stockholder and 
 director in the Bridgeport Water Company, 
 and the Norristown Gas, Steel and Electric 
 Light companies. He is a director of the 
 Norristown Title, Trust and Safe Deposit 
 Co., and a member of the Prison board. 
 Mr. Smith was the chief promoter of the 
 Bridgeport division of the Norristown Pas- 
 senger street railway. He was treasurer of 
 the company up to the time of its substi- 
 tution of electricity for horses as a motive 
 power. 
 
 REV. THOMAS F. SHANNON, the 
 present pastor of St. Patrick's Catho- 
 lic church of Norristown, Pennsylvania, is 
 a son of Thomas and Harriet (Coghlan) 
 Shannon, and was born in County Clare, 
 Ireland, March 27, 1S44. When he was 
 three years of age his father died, and five 
 years later the family came to Philadelphia. 
 There Thomas F. Shannon attended the 
 city and Parochial schools for some time and 
 later entered St. Charles college, Ellicott 
 City, Maryland, where he remained for one 
 year. At the end of that time he entered 
 St. Charles seminary at Glen Riddle, in 
 Delaware county, this State, and in Sep- 
 tember, 1S6S, was admitted to St. Charles 
 Theological seminar} - , at Eighteenth and 
 Race streets, Philadelphia. Here he pur- 
 sued his philosophical and theological 
 studies, finishing the prescribed course at 
 the new Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo, 
 located at Overbrook, this county. On Oc- 
 tober 18, 1S72, he was ordained to the 
 
/hjhLCLj 7* 5^L, 
 
 ^i^-^W^* — < 
 

 ^K-60c\ 
 
Bi< >c, r.\ phical Sketch es. 
 
 *53 
 
 priesthood at Overbrook by the late Areh- 
 bishop Wood, of Philadelphia. After his 
 ordination he was appointed successively 
 assistant at the Church of the Annuncia- 
 tion, Philadelphia ; St. Ann's church, Port 
 Richmond ; Church of the Sacred Heart, 
 Philadelphia ; and St. Michael's church, of 
 the same city. In May, 1879, he was trans- 
 ferred to the Philadelphia Cathedral, filling 
 the position of assistant for seven and one- 
 half years, or up to October 14, 1886. Dur- 
 ing the latter year he was appointed pastor 
 of St. Patrick's church, Norristown, suc- 
 ceeding Rev. Father John Monahan. Dur- 
 ing his pastorate in connection with St. 
 Patrick's church, Rev. T. F. Shannon has 
 labored faithfully and uninterruptedly for 
 the intellectual advancement and spiritual 
 good of his people. Soon after he assumed 
 charge of St. Patrick's parish the member- 
 ship of the church increased to such an ex- 
 tent that the congregation was divided in 
 1892, and the result was the establishment 
 of St. Augustine's church in the southern 
 part of Bridgeport, with Rev. Michael J. 
 Gately as pastor. During Father Shannon's 
 administration a suit entered by his prede- 
 cessor against the Pennsylvania Railroad 
 company for damages in depreciating the 
 value of the church property at Norris- 
 town was decided in favor of the church. 
 Father Shannon has done much for the 
 betterment of his people in the way of 
 church and educational facilities. In March, 
 1894, he purchased ground at the corner of 
 DeKalb and Chestnut streets, as a site for a 
 new church, a parochial school, pastoral 
 residence and convent. The first parochial 
 school at Norristown was opened in Sep- 
 tember, 1875, in the basement of the 
 present church building, but in a short 
 time it will be removed to the new paro- 
 chial school building erected under the 
 
 supervision of Father Shannon at the cor- 
 ner of Chestnut and Green streets. This 
 school structure is a beautiful stone and 
 brick building, three stories in height and 
 furnished in modern style. The success of 
 the enterprise has been brought about by 
 the incessant efforts of Father Shannon, 
 who has been remarkably active as well as 
 successful in promoting the educational in- 
 terests of his parish. 
 
 Rev. Father Shannon in his personal re- 
 lations and address is a man who commands 
 the highest admiration. He possesses a 
 pleasing personality, is a man of refined 
 and educated tastes and in his every effort 
 to promote the public good has seemingly 
 met with a deserved success. 
 
 JACOB C. SOTTER is one of the six 
 <J brothers — Henry, John (deceased), Fred- 
 erick, Ferdinand, Jacob, and Philip — whose 
 father, Frederick Sotter, emigrated to this 
 country from Coblentz, on the Rhine, Ger- 
 many, and settedat Moselem, Berks county, 
 Pennsylvania. There Frederick Sotter 
 planted a vineyard and industriously car- 
 ried on the manufacture of wine for a num- 
 ber of years. While thus engaged he mar- 
 ried Philobena Muschbach. Later he sold 
 out and 'removed to Reading, this State, 
 where he secured employment at his trade 
 of machinist in the Union Boiler works of 
 that city. He was a good mechanic and 
 was held in high esteem by his employers. 
 Later he was smitten by typhoid fever 
 which resulted in his death. 
 
 Jacob C. Sotter, the fifth son, was born 
 December 17. 1856, at Reading, Pennsylva- 
 nia. He attended the public schools of 
 that city for a time, but on account of his 
 father's death was compelled to leave school 
 
i54 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 and seek employment. He became an ap- 
 prentice in the Union Boiler works of 
 Reading, where he spent four years in 
 learning the trade in all its branches, and 
 afterward worked in that establishment for 
 a period of five years. He then worked 
 several years in the boiler works of Pawling 
 & Gahall, Lewistown, this State, and after- 
 wards entered the extensive boiler and en- 
 gine manufacturing works of Frick & 
 Company, at Waynesboro, Franklin county. 
 There he married Lydia Krause, the daugh- 
 ter of a well known and thrilty farmer of 
 Waynesboro, Franklin county, who died 
 three months after her marriage. By this 
 time the skill and dexterity of Mr. Sotter 
 had become widely known and he was re- 
 called to the Union Boiler works at Read- 
 ing. 
 
 In the spring of 1879 Mr. Sotter formed 
 a partnership with his three brothers, 
 Henry, Frederick and Ferdinand, and they 
 leased a small building at Pottstown and 
 founded the Mechanics' Boiler works of 
 that city. The brothers were all expert 
 boiler makers, and with four hands besides 
 themselves, they began a business which 
 has rapidly grown until it has assumed 
 very creditable proportions. The most 
 careful attention was given to every detail 
 and they were compelled from time to 
 enlarge their quarters, until, in 1886, it be- 
 came necessary to remove the plant to a 
 more favorable location. They purchased 
 six acres of land in the western part of 
 Pottstown and erected a large and commo- 
 dious brick boiler shop with the necessary 
 stock and storage houses. The plant 
 is situated between the Reading and 
 Pennsylvania railroads, and has direct com- 
 munication with both. Their growing 
 business has made it necessary to enlarge 
 these buildings, and the boiler shop is now 
 
 eighty by two hundred and sixty feet in 
 dimensions, with a large machine shop, 
 flanging shop, storage and warehouse build- 
 ings, all substantially built. The works 
 are equipped with the latest and most im- 
 proved machinery and labor-saving devices, 
 many of which have been constructed 
 under Mr. Sotter's personal care and su- 
 pervision. The plant is said to be second 
 to none in the State, and the products here 
 manufactured enjoy a well earned reputa- 
 tion in all parts of the United States. 
 From eighty-five to one hundred men are 
 employed in the establishment, which is 
 now owned by Jacob C. Sotter and his 
 brothers, Henry and Philip. 
 
 Jacob C. Sotter is also an inventor of 
 note. In 1885 he secured a patent for an 
 automatic steam house heating boiler, 
 which is now in use in a large number of 
 homes, churches, schools and railway 
 buildings. In 1887 he was granted a 
 patent on an adjustable radiator carpet foot 
 which filled a long felt want and was ex- 
 tensively adopted. In 1895 he obtained a 
 patent on a feed water heater and purifier, 
 which although just put on the market, 
 promises to be one of the most successful 
 devices of its kind. Numerous sales have 
 already been made and Mr. Sotter avers 
 that the aparatus has exceeded his most 
 sanguine expectations. 
 
 For a number of years Mr. Sotter has 
 identified himself with such projects as 
 were calculated to further the best interests 
 of Pottstown. He has erected five sub- 
 stantial and commodious dwellings, and is 
 one of the originators and a director in a 
 number of enterprises. Among which are 
 the Pottstown Light Heat and Power com- 
 pany ; the Pottstown Street Passenger Rail- 
 way company ; the Bramcote Land com- 
 pany, of Pottstown ; and the Columbian 
 
(O^JU^^r^r-^^ C-V^^e^/ 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 155 
 
 Paper company, of Buena Vista, Virginia. 
 He is also a director in the National Iron 
 bank of Pottstown. 
 
 In 1879 Mr. Sotter was married to Emma 
 Kirmse, a daughter of August Kirmse, a 
 well known shoe merchant of the city of 
 Reading. In his religious faith Mr. Sotter 
 is a consistent Lutheran and holds mem- 
 bership in Emanuel Lutheran church of 
 Pottstown. 
 
 ELLWOOD ROBERTS, born at Wil- 
 mington, Delaware, first month, 1846, 
 twenty second day, is descended from Welsh 
 Friends. His ancestor, Edward Roberts, 
 who married in 17 14, Mary Bolton, (born 
 in Cheltenham, eleventh month, fourth day, 
 1687) was one of the early settlers in Rich- 
 land, Bucks county, now Ouakertown. In 
 1 7 16, he left Byberry, Philadelphia, on 
 horseback with his wife and little daughter, 
 and proceeded through the woods with all 
 his worldly goods to Richland. Here he 
 erected a temporary dwelling in which they 
 lived until 1728. Edward and Mary Rob- 
 erts had seven children, one of whom was 
 David. The wife's parents were Everard 
 and Elizabeth Bolton, who emigrated from 
 England and settled in Cheltenham in 1682. 
 The ancestry of the Boltons is traced back 
 to the Lord of Bolton, the lineal descend- 
 ant of the Saxon Earls of Murcia. In 1753 
 David Roberts married Phoebe Lancaster. 
 Among their children were : Amos, David, 
 Nathan and Evan. The first named mar- 
 ried Margaret Thomas, also of Welsh- 
 Quaker descent, in and under the care of 
 Richland monthly meeting, eleventh month, 
 thirtieth day, 1775. The original certifi- 
 cate, signed by forty-six persons, is now in 
 the possession of Ellwood Roberts. 
 
 This document is all the more valuable 
 
 from the circumstance that Amos Roberts 
 kept the family record on the back. Here 
 are entered in regular order, the names of 
 nine children and the date of their birth. 
 They were : Mordecai, Hugh, Andrew, 
 Mary, Alice, Phoebe, Margaret, Deborah 
 and George, all of whom grew to manhood 
 or womanhood, except George, the young- 
 est. Of these children, Hugh, the grand- 
 father of Ellwood Roberts, was born second 
 month, sixteenth day, 1782. The parents 
 had left Richland soon after their marriage 
 and their children were born and reared at 
 Branchtown, near Philadelphia. 
 
 Hugh married Sarah Spencer, daughter 
 of Nathan and Rachel Pirn Spencer, who 
 lived on a large neighboring farm. The 
 Spencers were descendants of Samuel 
 Spencer, who came from Baradoes to Phila- 
 delphia, late in the seventeenth century. 
 He left two sons, Samuel and William. 
 The former, who was Sarah's great grand- 
 father, settled in Upper Dublin, the brother 
 in Bucks count}'. Each left numerous de- 
 scendants. 
 
 Sarah Spencer Roberts was a woman of 
 marked intelligence, and was possessed of 
 a retentive memory and excellent conver- 
 sational powers. Her husband died in 
 1821, but she lived until 1874, to the age 
 of eighty-six years. Among their offspring 
 was Hugh Roberts, born eighth month, 
 fifth day, 1821. He grew to manhood an 
 excellent type of his race, of fine presence, 
 honorable instincts, superior intelligence 
 and the highest integrity. An earnest and 
 sincere Friend, he trusted in the Inner 
 Light, as an infallible guide to all who 
 listened to its revealings. His life, spent in 
 honest industry and crowned by the suc- 
 cess which his faithfulness to duty deserved, 
 ended at Norristown, eighth month, twenty- 
 third day, 1894. He learned the trade of a 
 
i56 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 miller, with his elder brother, Spencer 
 Roberts, at the old homestead, the mill, 
 long since torn down, being among the 
 oldest in Pennsylvania. In 1839 he went to 
 Wilmington, Del., and was employed for a 
 dozen years at Brandywine mills. Here, in 
 1842, he married Alice A. Gallagher, of a 
 well known family of Scotch-Irish descent 
 in that city. 
 
 Their children were : Charles H., an at- 
 torney at Kansas City, Missouri ; Ellwood, 
 and Mar}* R., wife of Samuel Livezey, all 
 of Norristown. Their mother, a woman of 
 energy and industry, whose principal care 
 was to bring up her children properly, still 
 survives. The family left the vicinity of 
 Wilmington in 1861, locating, after two or 
 three years, in Gwynedd, on a farm which 
 was subsequently divided into several 
 smaller tracts and sold, new buildings be- 
 ing erected on each. They came to Nor- 
 ristown in 1882. 
 
 Ellwood Roberts grew up in the midst of 
 farm duties, having few advantages as to 
 attendance at school and never entered any 
 of the higher institutions of learning. His 
 education is largely the result of home cul- 
 ture and that gained in fourteen years spent 
 in teaching, mostly in Friend's and public 
 schools in or near Philadelphia. In 1878 he 
 married Mary L. Carter, of Mickleton, New 
 Jersey. They have four children : Howard, 
 Alice R., William H, and Mary C. Roberts. 
 
 Having manifested a decided literarv taste 
 from early life, and having written from 
 time to time many poems and prose articles 
 for various periodicals, including the Nor- 
 ristown Herald, he became attached to the 
 latter as a member of its editorial staff in 
 1883. It is almost superfluous to dwell at 
 length upon his labors in this position, so 
 well are they known to the community in 
 which he lives. In conjunction with his 
 
 father, he engaged in building enterprises 
 in Norristown, and is still extensively in- 
 terested in real estate. An ardent Republi- 
 can, he has never sought official distinction 
 and regards office seeking as one of the 
 worst features of popular government. 
 Deeply attached to the principles of Friends, 
 although not regarding a strict adherence 
 to antiquated forms of the Society as abso- 
 lutely essential, he is a liberal and progres- 
 sive thinker, a vigorous writer and an in- 
 dustrious worker. He is an active member 
 of the Montgomery County Historical so- 
 ciety and thoroughly devoted to the ad- 
 vancement of its interests. 
 
 A volume of his poems, " Lyrics of Qua- 
 kerism," has just been issued from the 
 press. It is a satisfaction to him to reflect 
 that his half century of life has made an 
 impress upon those around him. He bears 
 a faithful testimony, as Friends phrase it, 
 against intemperance, and looks forward 
 with hope to the day when the liquor traffic 
 shall be so restricted as to be incapable of 
 mischief. He is also interested in obtain- 
 ing equal rights for women and other needed 
 reforms. 
 
 HENRY A. KNEULE, editor and busi- 
 ness manager of the Bauern Frcttnd 
 and Democrat, of Pennsburg, is a son of 
 Albrecht and Louise Elanora (Kraft) 
 Kueule, and was born September 29, 1S64, 
 in Pennsburg, this county. 
 
 Henry A. Kneule attended the public 
 schools of Pennsburg and East Greenville, 
 and still further profited by attendance 
 upon the Perkiomen seminary. Leaving 
 school, he entered his father's newspaper 
 office, where he learned the trade of a 
 printer and remained with his father as a 
 journeyman until the latter went to Norris- 
 
B» igraphical Sketches. 
 
 r 57 
 
 town in May, 18S1, since which time he has 
 been associated with him as editor and 
 business manager of the Bauem Freund 
 and Democrat. This paper was established 
 in 1827, an d is the oldest German paper in 
 Montgomery county. It is a wide awake 
 and aggressive sheet, fearlessly and ably 
 edited and is devoted to the local news, in- 
 terests of the community at large and to 
 the exposition of the principles and the 
 promotion of the success of the Democratic 
 party. In connection with the publication 
 of the Bauern Freund and Democrat, they 
 carry on a large and flourishing business as 
 job and book printers. Mr. Kneule, as will be 
 inferred, is a staunch Democrat, active and 
 popular. He has shaped the policy of his pa- 
 per after the same aggressive spirit, having 
 the widest circulation in the county, and is 
 deservedly popular. He served three years 
 as a member of the county committee, and in 
 18S5, under Cleveland's first administration, 
 served as postmaster at Pennsburg, in 
 which position he showed a high order of 
 business talent, and administered the affairs 
 of the office with efficiency and dispatch. 
 He is a member of Pennsburg Lodge No. 
 334, I. O. O. F. ; Pennsburg Encampment, 
 I. O. O. F. ; Castle No. 298, Knights of the 
 Golden Eagle, and Lodge No. 231, Knights 
 of Pythias. 
 
 On Juh- 18, 1885, he wedded Mary Jane 
 Kulp, a daughter of Henry Kulp, and four 
 children bless their marriage : Elanora Lou- 
 isa, HarryAlbrecht, Eva Gertrude, and Mabel 
 Alverta. 
 
 DR. ALLEN K. DAVIDHEISER, one 
 of the youngest and most successful 
 veterinary surgeons of Pottstown and Mont- 
 gomery county, is a son of Reuben R. and 
 Sarah (Kepner) Davidheiser, and was born in 
 
 Pottsgrove township, Montgomery county, 
 
 Pennsylvania, November 5, 1871. Reuben 
 R. Davidheiser is of German descent, and 
 was born in Montgomery county, Septem- 
 ber 21, 1841. Mr. Davidheiser was vari- 
 ously employed until 1887, when he estab- 
 lished his present brick yards at Pottstown 
 and West Pottstown. As a brick manufac- 
 turer he does quite an extensive and remu- 
 nerative business. 
 
 In addition to brick manufacturing, he 
 with his son, Dr. Allen K., opened an ex- 
 tensive livery, boarding and exchange stable 
 in Pottstown in 1894, under the firm name 
 of R. Davidheiser & Son. This stable is 
 well supplied with teams and saddle horses 
 to accommodate the public, and is liberally 
 patronized. Part of this stable is also used 
 as an infirmary by the junior member of the 
 firm, Dr. Allen K., where he has constantly 
 a number of sick and lame animals under 
 his care and treatment. 
 
 Mr. Davidheiser is a good business man 
 and an active supporter of the Democratic 
 party. In 1865 he married Sarah Kepner, 
 who was a daughter of Abraham Kepner, 
 and a native of Montgomery county. To 
 this union have been born four sons and 
 eight daughters : Wilson, Sallie, Katie, Dr. 
 Allen K., Mary, Olivia, Anna, Agnes, 
 Howard, Mazie, Bertha, and Frederick. Of 
 these children, Sallie, Katie, and Mazie are 
 deceased. 
 
 Dr. Allen K. Davidheiser was reared in 
 Pottsgrove township, and attended the pub- 
 lic schools and Professor John W. Ann's 
 academy at Pottstown. After completing 
 his three year academic course he engaged 
 as clerk in his brother Wilson's butchering 
 establishment in Pottstown. He remained 
 with his brother for one year and then com- 
 menced a course of veterinary studies, which 
 he pursued for some time under the instruc- 
 
153 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ticm of Dr. E. G. Gilbert. He then entered 
 the New York College of Veterinary Sur- 
 geons and school of comparative medicine, 
 from which he was graduated March 18, 
 1892. After graduation he immediately re- 
 turned to Pottstowu, where he has been en- 
 gaged in the active practice of his profes- 
 sion ever since. 
 
 Although a young man, he has been re- 
 markably successful, and has built up a 
 large and lucrative practice in Montgomery 
 and parts of the adjoining counties of Ches- 
 ter, Berks, and Bucks. He is a member of 
 the Alumni association of the New York 
 college of veterinary surgeons, and is a close 
 and careful student in the line of his work. 
 Dr. Davidheiser is a Democrat in politics, 
 and has been a member of the Emaunel 
 Lutheran church since 1888. He is a mem- 
 ber of U. S. Grant Council No. 352, Junior 
 Order of United American Mechanics, of 
 Pottstowu, Pennsylvania. 
 
 GEORGE J. HUMBERT, vice presi- 
 dent and general superintendent of 
 the Norristown Steel company, is the eldest 
 son of George W. and Rachel F. (Jackson) 
 Humbert, and was born in the city of 
 Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, on September 17, 
 1858. 
 
 The Humberts are of German extraction 
 and rank with the early families of Western 
 Pennsylvania, where various members have 
 resided for several generations. They are 
 connected with many leading families of the 
 State. Andrew Humbert, paternal great- 
 grandfather, came from Alsace-Loraiue, was 
 a soldier in the Revolutionary war, settled 
 in Berks county in 1775, and removed 
 thence to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and 
 finally to Pittsburg some time prior to the 
 
 year 1800. He was by trade a tin and cop- 
 persmith, and married Margaret Long, of 
 Cumberland county. Their family at his 
 decease consisted of two sons and three- 
 daughters. 
 
 About 1822 Andrew Humbert visited 
 Beaver, and on his return trip the stage, 
 which was his conveyance at that time, was 
 upset on Beaver Hill, and he was so seri- 
 ously hurt by accident that his death took 
 place within a few succeeding weeks. His 
 son George, paternal grandfather of the 
 subject, was eight years old at the time of 
 the death of his father, and during his boy- 
 hood was apprenticed to learn the trade of 
 blacksinithing and engine building. He 
 succeeded in becoming a skilled and effi- 
 cient mechanic, and until his death in 
 1877, was actively connected with the iron 
 and steel industry in Pittsburg, Pennsylva- 
 nia. He acquired a very considerable com- 
 petency and was actively identified with 
 local, political and industrial affairs. 
 
 Politically he was successively a Whig 
 and Republican. Notwithstanding the fact 
 that his opportunities of acquiring an edu- 
 cation were very limited, he was a man of 
 marked business ability and possessed a rare 
 good judgment. 
 
 In March, 1835, he was married to Jane 
 Martin, a daughter of Mary Hemphill and 
 Robert Martin, of Lisbon, Pennsylvania. 
 By this marriage they had four sons and 
 six daughters, of which three sons and two 
 daughters still survive. Mary E. died of 
 fever in the year 1865, contracted while in 
 the Christian commission service of the 
 Federal army. The Union soldiers have 
 since erected a monument over her grave in 
 Uniondale cemetery, Allegheny City, and 
 the ladies organized and christened a G. A. 
 R. Post in her honor. 
 
 Mary Hemphill, maternal great-grand- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 r 59 
 
 mother of George J. Humbert, wife of 
 Robert Martin, had two sons and two 
 daughters, and after the decease of her first 
 husband, Robert Martin, she brought her 
 family to Pittsburg, and later married John 
 Oberly, of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 
 by whom she had two sons and one daugh- 
 ter. The eldest son, Hon. John H. Oberly, 
 became a resident of Cairo, Illinois, where 
 he established and published a Democratic 
 paper, and was for several years railroad 
 commissioner of that State. During Presi- 
 dent Cleveland's first term he was appointed 
 Indian commissioner, and subsequently 
 served as a member of the United States 
 Civil Service Commission, holding his ap- 
 pointment under both the Democratic and 
 Republican administrations. 
 
 Before the war of the Rebellion, the 
 Oberlys settled on a plantation in the State 
 of Arkansas, but Grandmother Oberly, 
 being an ardent Unionist, was compelled to 
 seek a. section more in sympathy with her 
 political and social ideas. Accordingly 
 they packed their effects in wagons and 
 with her refuge children started for Cairo, 
 Illinois. She herself rode on horseback a 
 distance of more than two hundred and 
 fifty miles, which was a very remarkable 
 feat for a woman at the age of sixty. She 
 became blind in 1870 and died in 1885, in 
 her ninety-fourth year, possessing her facul- 
 ties in a wonderful degree to the last. 
 
 The eldest son of George Humbert was 
 George W. Humbert, father of our subject. 
 He was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 
 May 19, 1836, secured a good English edu- 
 cation in the public schools, and afterwards 
 took a course of business instruction. In 
 1856 he entered the employ of the Pitts- 
 burg, Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad 
 company in Pittsburg, where he remained 
 until November, 1864, as assistant general 
 
 freight agent. He was also agent for the 
 recovery of lost freight and general baggage 
 agent. Subsequent to 1864 he embarked in 
 the oil business in Pittsburg and the West 
 Indies for a number of years, and then went 
 into the livestock business as a member of 
 the firm of Donnelly, McNabb & Co., of 
 East Liberty. Still later he organized sev- 
 eral coal companies in Fayette county, this 
 vState, which are now in successful opera- 
 tion. 
 
 He was a firm supporter of the public 
 schools, and at the first election held in the 
 Sixteenth ward, Pittsburg, was elected a 
 member of the school board, and by that 
 body appointed a member of the central 
 board of education. He had the honor of 
 being one of the projectors and builders of 
 the Pittsburg High school. For a period 
 of three years prior to 1893 ne resided in 
 Montgomery county. He retired from ac- 
 tive business in 1885, and now resides in 
 Pittsburg. He was an ardent Republican, 
 and in 1856 helped to organize that great 
 party. He was a man of marked ability, a 
 natural leader in his community, and was 
 highly esteemed by all who knew him. In 
 1861, at the call of the President for men 
 and money to carry on the war of the Re- 
 bellion, the government required his ser- 
 vices on the railroad, and he was permitted 
 to give a large share of his time during this 
 exigency in raising troops and money. 
 During September of the succeeding year 
 he organized a company of the Fifteenth 
 regiment, Pennsylvania volunteers, of which 
 he was elected second lieutenant, and within 
 three days after the company was recmited, 
 marched to Antietain. His company was 
 mustered in for two years and served until 
 the close of the war. In June, 1857, he 
 married Rachel F. Jackson, a daughter of 
 Sarah Stanford and John Jackson, who was 
 
i6o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 born on July 8, 1836, in Lancaster county, 
 this State. Her parents were born in Eng- 
 land, belonged to a good family and came 
 to the' United States in 1826, shortly after 
 which they settled in Lancaster county. 
 Their family consisted of four sons and 
 eight daughters, three sons and one daugh- 
 ter born in England, and the others in Lan- 
 caster county. John Jackson, maternal 
 grandfather, was a good farmer and busi- 
 ness man and highly regarded by his neigh- 
 bors ; he was a staunch Whig, firm in his 
 political convictions, but had many friends 
 and supporters in the opposition party. 
 After the death of his wife he removed 
 with his family to Milton, Pennsylvania, 
 but in 1852 removed to a farm in Burrell 
 township, Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, where he died in the same year at the 
 age of sixty-three years. 
 
 George W. Humbert had the following 
 named children : George J., Frank J., who 
 died in young manhood ; Homer J., Thomas 
 J., William J., died in infancy ; Jennie J., 
 who died in Pottstown February 1, 1889 ; 
 and Emma J. 
 
 George J. Humbert, the eldest son, was 
 reared in his native city of Pittsburg, where 
 he attended the public and high schools 
 until his fifteenth year. He then entered 
 the stock yards as assistant to his father and 
 was engaged in the live stock business until 
 1878. In 1880 he entered the employ of the 
 Bessimer Steel company of Pittsburg, as 
 time keeper, and six months later became 
 assistant general manager of their works at 
 Homestead, now known as the Carnegie 
 Steel company. He resigned that position 
 in 1882, to assume charge of the steel de- 
 partment of the Colorado Coal and Iron 
 company, at Pueblo, Colorado, where he re- 
 mained until the summer of 1885. In 1886 
 he connected himself with Schoenberger & 
 
 Company, of Pittsburg, as steel blower, and 
 one year later became superintendent of the 
 steel department of the Glascow Iron works 
 at Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He afterwards 
 occupied a similar position at the Bessimer 
 steel department of the Chester Rolling 
 mills, (now Wellman Steel company) at 
 Thurlow, Pennsylvania. He held this po- 
 sition for a period of one year, and in May, 
 1890, came to Norristown, Pennsylvania, 
 where he assisted in the organization of the 
 Norristown Steel company and erected the 
 works of that company. He was made 
 vice president and general manager, and 
 has ably and successfully conducted this im- 
 portant enterprise until it was merged into 
 the American Steel Casting company, which 
 latter concern he was mainly interested in 
 organizing, being one of the charter mem- 
 bers and director. Mr. Humbert is regarded 
 as one of the best iron and steel operators in 
 this section of the State. 
 
 During all his life, George J. Humbert 
 has been an active and enthusiastic Repub- 
 lican, and while a resident of Colorado was 
 nominated for a seat in the legislature of 
 that State, and failed of election only by 
 reason of his ineligibility under constitu- 
 tional requirements. 
 
 In 1892 he was elected a school director 
 of Plymouth township, which office he re- 
 tained until his removal from the township. 
 He is a member of Curtis Lodge No. 231, 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and also 
 of the Encampment I. O. O. F. He is 
 likewise connected with Linwood Lodge No. 
 154, Ancient Order of United Workmen, 
 and Washington Camp No. 114, Patriotic 
 Order Sons of America. 
 
 On July 1, 18S6, Mr. Humbert was mar- 
 ried to Clara Yoigt, a native of Pittsburg, 
 and a daughter of William Yoigt. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Humbert have been born two 
 
i/OC-i^s 
 
 ? 
 
 ^o-«--*_ 
 
 ^ UZ 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 161 
 
 children, one son and one daughter : G. 
 Vernon, born at Pottstown, Pennsylvania, 
 July 14, 1888 ; and Elsie M., born at Nor- 
 ristown, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1892. 
 
 THE WILLS FAMILY have lived in 
 Eastern Pennsylvania for nearly two 
 centuries, the first of the name in this 
 country being Michael Wills, who settled 
 in Lower Meriou township, Montgomery 
 county. He came from the Emerald Isle, 
 but the family were of English origin, as 
 the name indicates, an ancestor having 
 become a colonist in that island, it is sup- 
 posed, in Cromwell's time. Oneot Michael 
 Wills' sons, also named Michael, had, 
 among other children, a son Michael 
 Wills, Jr., who married Ann, daughter of 
 Andrew and Elizabeth Keyser Wood, well 
 known residents of Roxborough, Pa. 
 
 They had fourteen children, nine of whom 
 grew to manhood or womanhood, the father 
 dying January 15, 1829, and the mother 
 April 29, 1832. 
 
 One of the sons, Andrew Wills, born 
 June 18, 1798, was the father of Morgan R. 
 Wills, the latter also one of fourteen chil- 
 dren, nine of whom survive. Andrew 
 Wills studied medicine, graduating at the 
 University of Pennsylvania in 1825. 
 
 He married Sarah Hannum, November 
 12, 1826, and practiced medicine in Chester 
 county for forty-six years. He died July 
 7, 1871, at Lionville, Pa. 
 
 Morgan Reese Wills was born in West 
 Whiteland township,Chester county, Oct. 21, 
 1831. In 1847, having received a common 
 school training, he entered the office of the 
 West Chester feffersonian to learn the trade 
 of a printer. Later he came to Norristown, 
 where he has since resided with the exeep- 
 
 tion of a few months spent in Springfield, 
 Illinois. He worked at his trade in Nor- 
 ristown, first on the Register, then owned 
 by Samuel D. Patterson. In 1S59, he 
 opened a book-store on Main street, com- 
 bining job printing with his other busi- 
 ness. 
 
 It is through his successful management 
 of the Norristown Herald, one of the oldest 
 and most influential newspapers in Penn- 
 sylvania, that Mr. Wills is most widely 
 known. In 1864 he purchased a half interest 
 in the paper from Robert Iredell. Several 
 changes occurred in the firm, leaving him 
 in 1869 sole proprietor of the establishment. 
 He erected the building in which the 
 Herald 'is now published, enlarging it from 
 time to time in the rear, the plant being ex- 
 tended until it comprises not only a com- 
 plete outfit for the publication of a daily 
 newspaper, but an extensive job department 
 and book bindery as well. 
 
 Recognizing the necessity for a daily issue 
 to keep up with the progress of the times, 
 Mr. Wills, on December 20, 1869, began the 
 enterprise. The daily edition was a success 
 from the beginning, and soon took a high 
 rank among the newspapers of the State, 
 which it has ever since maintained. It is 
 everywhere recognized as one of the leading 
 exponents and moulders of public opinion 
 on the various topics of the day. 
 
 Mr. Wills is an enterprising and eminently 
 successful newspaper manager. He has the 
 good judgment required to cater to the 
 public taste in regard to news and general 
 information, and he takes care that the 
 Herald shall be in the front rank of progres- 
 sive modern journalism. The paper is a 
 model of perfection as regards literary and 
 mechanical execution ; it has opinions on 
 every party and public question that pre- 
 sents itself, and its editor believes in giving 
 
l62 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 utterance to them in vigorous and expres- 
 sive English. Few papers in the country 
 are more widely quoted. 
 
 Mr. Wills is one of the most progressive 
 and public spirited citizens of Norristown. 
 Liberal in his views, he has aimed con- 
 stantly, in the management of his paper, 
 and in every other way, to advance the in- 
 terests of Norristown, and of Montgomery 
 county. 
 
 An active Republican, he has rendered 
 the most efficient support to the principles 
 of that party, the Herald having been a 
 potent factor in the political revolution 
 which redeemed the town and county from 
 Democratic rule. In the discussion of even' 
 public topic of importance, national, state 
 and local, Mr. Wills takes an active part, 
 which the columns of his paper, local 
 and editorial, reflect from day to day. It is 
 his aim to make the paper, as far as it is 
 possible, an accurate history of the time. 
 
 He believes it to be the province of a daily 
 newspaper to serve the interests of the com- 
 munity in which it is published, and he 
 has faithfully adhered to that idea through- 
 out the whole of his journalistic career. 
 
 In his domestic relations, Mr. Wills was 
 equally fortunate. September 6, i860, he 
 married Mary H., daughter of Daniel H. and 
 Mary W. Dager, of Whitemarsh township. 
 They had two children, Mary D., wife of 
 Harrington Fitzgerald, of the Philadelphia 
 Item, and Helen W., wife of J. Leedom 
 Jones, of Norristown. The family mansion, 
 at the corner of DeKalb and Jacoby streets, 
 has long been one of the centers of social 
 enjoyment and kindly hospitality in Nor- 
 ristown. 
 
 Mrs. Wills was a woman of rare literary 
 ability, who found time, in the intervals of 
 devotion to household interests, which al- 
 ways claimed her attention, to be of much 
 
 assistance to her husband in his profession 
 of journalist. A charming and versatile 
 writer, her many contributions to the Her- 
 ald, as well as her two published volumes, 
 " A Summer in Europe," and " A Winter 
 in California," bear ample testimony to her 
 industry and her fondness for literary pur- 
 suits. 
 
 She was well educated. A ready and bril- 
 liant talker, as well as an incisive writer, she 
 was at home in the social as fully as in the 
 literary world. She was an excellent judge 
 of books and in her capacity as reviewer ac- 
 cumulated a large and valuable library. 
 Possessed of a vivid imagination and a cul- 
 tivated mind, she wrote with equal facility 
 letters of travel, book notices, social and de- 
 scriptive articles, short stories and editor- 
 ials. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Wills have traveled much 
 in this country and abroad, a number of 
 trips, including a second tour of Europe in 
 1892 (the first had been taken in 1875), be- 
 ing undertaken for the purpose of benefiting 
 her impaired health. She died June 7, 
 1895. 
 
 THOMAS J. RAM BO, retired, who for 
 several years was an extensive lime- 
 stone operator, is a native of Swedesburg, 
 this county, where he was born July 24, 
 1849. His parents were Nathan and Ann 
 (Broades) Rambo, both descended from old 
 Pennsylvania families. The subject of this 
 sketch, their youngest son, was reared prin- 
 cipally at Swedesburg, where he attended 
 the public schools until fifteen years of age. 
 He then entered William F. Wyer's Mili- 
 tary school at West Chester, this State, 
 where he took a full course of training, and 
 after being graduated he went into the 
 limestone business at Swedesburg. Inher- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 163 
 
 iting considerable property, lie operated on 
 an extensive scale, and having executive 
 ability, he rapidly accumulated wealth and 
 added to his holdings in various directions. 
 He followed the business energetically until 
 [890, when he disposed of his limestone 
 property to the Pennsylvania Railroad com- 
 pany and retired from all active business. 
 At that time he removed to Bridgeport, Pa., 
 where he has ever since resided. 
 
 Politically he is a staunch Republican, 
 and in religion a member and vestryman of 
 the Swedes Episcopal church, at Swedes- 
 burg. He is also a member of Bridgeport 
 Lodge No. 51, Patriotic Order Sons of 
 America. 
 
 On the 30th of October, 1890, Mr. Ratnbo 
 was united in marriage to Ida M., a daughter 
 of John and Charlotte Bickings, of Nor- 
 ristown. The Ranibo family is of Swedish 
 descent, but have resided in eastern Penn- 
 sylvania for many generations. Jonas Ram- 
 bo (paternal grandfather) was a life long 
 resident of Upper Merion township, this 
 county, and owned large tracts of valuable 
 land underlaid with fine veins of superior 
 limestone. This property passed into the 
 hands of the descendant's children, who 
 operated limestone quarries at Swedesburg 
 for many years. These operations were 
 carried on largely by Nathan Ratnbo, father 
 of Thomas J. The former, in addition to 
 being a wealthy and influential citizen, was 
 a man who took a deep interest in political 
 and public affairs. He was an old line 
 Whig in politics and a member of Swedes 
 Episcopal church, in which latter he served 
 as vestryman and trustee for many years. 
 He died in 1858, at the age of forty-seven, 
 having been born on June 27, 1810. He 
 married Ann Broades, by whom he had a 
 family of seven children, five of whom still 
 survive. The two eldest were daughters, 
 
 Eliza and Mary Jane, both now deceased. 
 Those living are Rebecca, widow of J. P. H. 
 Jones; Emma P., wife of P. P. Merritt ; 
 William B., engaged in the lime business ; 
 Nathan, retired, a sketch of whom will be 
 found on another page of this work ; and 
 Thomas J., the subject of the foregoing 
 sketch. Mrs. Ann Rambo was born August 
 12, 1809, and died July 23, [889, having 
 survived her husband for more than thirty 
 years. Their remains sleep side by side in 
 the cemeterv at old Swedes church. 
 
 J FRANK BOYER, an enterprising and 
 • progressive business man of Xorris- 
 town, is a son of Michael C. and Mary A. 
 (Ziegler) Boyer, and was born March 2, 
 1867, at Norristown, this county. Philip 
 Boyer, paternal grandfather, was born in 
 Frederick township, Montgomery count}'. 
 Schooled to the arts of agriculture, he 
 took up and pursued that vocation all his 
 life, most of which was spent near Salford- 
 ville, this county. He was a pious Chris- 
 tian gentleman and a member of the Re- 
 formed church. He died at the age of sev- 
 enty-six years and his remains now peace- 
 fully repose in the old Goshenhoppen church 
 yard. 
 
 Michael C. Boyer, father, was born in 
 Upper Salford township, this county, on 
 May 28, 1821. He attended Washington 
 Hall Collegiate Institute, obtaining a good 
 education and then for a time followed the 
 profession of teaching. He was a Democrat 
 politically and after leaving the profession 
 of teaching, was elected sheriff of Mont- 
 gomery county, a position he filled with 
 credit and entire satisfaction to his con- 
 stituents for one full term of three years. 
 After his term of office had expired, Sheriff 
 
164 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Boyer and William Schall formed a partner- 
 ship and engaged in the manufacture of 
 nails and afterward became intererested in 
 the Norris Works at Norristown, an enter- 
 prise that employed one hundred and fifty 
 hands. He was a man of remarkable in- 
 ventive genius, being the author of not less 
 than fifty patents, among them and of the 
 most important, being Boyer's Hoof Lini- 
 ment. For the manufacture of this lini- 
 ment, which had a wide reputation and 
 possessed many virtues, the Boyer Hoof 
 Liniment company was organized, with 
 which he remained prominently identified 
 until death closed his career, on October 10, 
 1 89 1, at the age of seventy-two years. He 
 was married but once and his children were 
 as follows : Jesse, Katie, Wallace, Horace 
 G., Wilson, Howard C, Michael Allen, 
 Harry Z., Mary L., J. Frank, and Charles, 
 deceased. 
 
 J. Frank Boyer attended the public 
 schools of Norristown, and at the age of 
 sixteen years he took a position to learn the 
 tin and hardware business, with Frank W. 
 Wilson of Norristown, and at the age of 
 eighteen years he began business on his own 
 account. In 1889 he located where he is 
 now, on the corner of Main and Green 
 streets, where he owns a good business stand 
 ^sixteen feet wide and one hundred and thirty 
 feet deep and three stories high, with an 
 annex of thirty-four by fifty feet and two 
 stories high. He does a large and prosperous 
 plumbing, steam heating and tinning busi- 
 ness. He is a progressive and enterprising 
 business man and takes a lively interest in 
 all matters pertaining to the welfare of his 
 borough. He is a director of the Star Build- 
 ing and Loan Association and of the Nor- 
 ristown Shoe Company, and holds stock in 
 a number of other business enterprises of 
 the borough. Like his father, he is a Dem- 
 
 ocrat and served for three years a council- 
 man from the Fourth ward. November 14, 
 1888, he married Annie G., a daughter of 
 Patrick Curron, a wholesale liquor dealer of 
 Norristown. 
 
 JACOB R. STEINMETZ, retired, is the 
 ^J eldest son of Jacob and Christiana 
 ( Bobbins) Steinmetz, and was born at Nor- 
 ristown, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1842. 
 His paternal great-grandfather, Jacob 
 Steinmetz, born 1734, was a resident of 
 Philadelphia, where William Steinmetz, 
 (grandfather) was born and reared. He 
 afterward settled at Montgomery Square, 
 this county. For a number of years he 
 was engaged in the manufacture of bricks, 
 but in later life devoted himself to agricul- 
 tural pursuits Politically he was an old 
 line Whig, and in religion an Episcopalian. 
 He married Mary Billmeyer, of German- 
 town, by whom he had four children. He 
 wasa self made man of considerable means, 
 and died July 8, 1851, at the advanced age 
 of seventy years. His son, Jacob Stein- 
 metz, (father) was born in 181 1, and grew 
 up at Montgomery Square, this county. 
 About 1837 he removed to Norristown and 
 engaged in the lumber business, which he 
 followed for some twelve years, at the mills 
 now operated by Body and Livingstone. 
 He then settled on a farm adjoining the 
 borough of Norristown, at the end of Arch 
 street, where he died in 1 881, at the age of 
 seventy years. He was a Whig and Re- 
 publican in politics, and vestryman of St. 
 John's Episcopal church, of Norristown. 
 In 1841 he married Christiana Robbins, a 
 daughter of Benjamin Robbins, of Phila- 
 delphia, and by that union had a family of 
 five children : Jacob R., the subject of this 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 165 
 
 sketch ; Susan, married Samuel A. Bailey, 
 and is now deceased ; John B. and George 
 H., twins, and Mary Ellen, who died in 
 girlhood. 
 
 Mrs. Christiana Steinmetz died in 1888, 
 at the age of seventy-one years. 
 
 Jacoh R. Steinmetz has passed his entire 
 life in Norristown. He was educated at 
 private schools and Elmwood seminary, 
 of Norristown, and after leaving school, en- 
 gaged in farming with his father. At the 
 beginning of the Civil war in 1862, he en- 
 listed in Company L, 15th Pennsylvania 
 cavalry, and served under General Rosen- 
 crans, during his term of enlistment. Mr. 
 Steinmetz took part in the Maryland cam- 
 paign, prior to the battle of Antietam, and 
 then, moving to Louisville, Kentucky, on 
 November 9, 1862, reported to the division 
 commanded by General Rosencrans, at 
 Nashville, Tennessee, December 24, 1862. 
 He was engaged in the battles of Stone 
 river, Chickamauga, the campaigns of the 
 armies of the Cumberland, General Stone- 
 man's raids into Virginia and North Caro- 
 lina, and also in the pursuit of Jeff. Davis in 
 the spring of 1863. He was mustered out 
 at Nashville, Tennessee, June 1, 1865. 
 
 Returning to Pennsylvania after the 
 close of the war, Mr. Steinmetz became 
 collector for Howell Bros., of Philadelphia, 
 with whom he remained a number of years. 
 He then returned to the farm for some 
 little time, and later formed a partnership 
 with James Daniels, under the firm name 
 of Daniels and Steinmetz, and engaged in 
 the construction of freight cars. This en- 
 terprise was conducted until 1878, when 
 Mr. Steinmetz sold out his interest and re- 
 tired from business. 
 
 In politics Mr. Steinmetz has always 
 been a Republican, his first vote was cast 
 for Abraham Lincoln and Andrew G. Cur- 
 
 tin, in 1864. He is a member of St. John's 
 Episcopal church, of Norristown, and of 
 Zook Post, No. 11, G. A. R. 
 
 On March 22, 1893, Mr. Steinmetz was 
 married to Martha Jane Bickings, daughter 
 of John Bickings, of Norristown. Mrs. 
 Steinmetz is a member of Christ's (Swedes) 
 church, Upper Merion township. 
 
 JRAMBO DeHAVEN, proprietor of 
 • the well known DeKalb nurseries, is a 
 son of Mark and Hannah DeHaven, and 
 was born in Upper Merion township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, June 2, 
 1839. The DeHavens are of French line- 
 age, and in the early part of the last century, 
 February 19, 1745, Andrew DeHaven, one 
 of the first of the American line, was born. 
 He was a son of William DeHaven, who 
 had five children : Margaret, born August 
 J 3> J 739; Peter, born January 31, 1741 ; 
 Sarah, born September 21, 1743; and An- 
 drew, the great-grandfather of the subject 
 of this sketch. Andrew DeHaven was a 
 native of Whitpain township, this county, 
 and was united in marriage with Elizabeth 
 McGlathery, by whom he had seven chil- 
 dren : Deborah, Elizabeth, Mordecai, 
 Peter, Sarah, Nathan and Henry. Mordecai 
 (grandfather) resided in Plymouth town- 
 ship, was born in the year 1786, and died 
 April 5, 1852, at the age of sixty-six years. 
 He was a farmer by occupation, and in ad- 
 dition to this, was an extensive lime 
 dealer. 
 
 He held membership in the old Swedes 
 church of Upper Merion township, in 
 which he was an active and influential 
 member. He married Abigail Rambo, a 
 daughter of Nathan Rambo, who was born 
 July 8, 1790, and died December 15, 1N74. 
 
1 66 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Both husband and wi.e are buried near the 
 old Swedes church. 
 
 His son, Mark DeHaven, was born De- 
 cember 10, 1 813. He was brought up on 
 a farm and engaged from time to time in 
 various pursuits, chief among which were 
 those of a lime manufacturer and cattle 
 dealer. For many years, beginning in the 
 forties, he was a large mine operator in 
 Upper Merion township. He also was a 
 member of the old Swedes church, and 
 with his father, was a member of the second 
 troop of Montgomery county cavalry. Dur- 
 ing the Philadelphia riots of 1844, ^ ie saw 
 considerable active service. He also served 
 for many years as township supervisor. 
 His death occurred on September 9, 1889, 
 when in his seventy-eighth year. In the 
 year 1838, Mark DeHaven was married to 
 Hannah Rambo, daughter of John and 
 Elizabeth Rambo, by Rev. N. Diehl, D. D. 
 Elizabeth Rambo, mother of Hannah 
 Rambo, was born May 11, 1771, and died 
 December 18, 1850. Mrs. DeHaven was 
 born September 22, 181 1, and died March 
 16, 1890. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs DeHaven were the parents 
 of two children : J. Rambo and Rachel. 
 The latter was born December 19, 1841, 
 and died January 27, 1857. 
 
 J. Rambo DeHaven was reared on the 
 farm, attended the common schools, and 
 when about twenty-three years of age, em- 
 barked in the nursery business, which he 
 has followed successfully ever since. He 
 made a speciality of fruit, shade and orna- 
 mental trees, most of which were grown on 
 the farm where his father now resides. He 
 is also extensively engaged in farming and 
 is a very skillful taxidermist. Mr. De- 
 Haven also possesses the natural gifts of an 
 artist, and is very skillful in many forms 
 of illustrative art, although he never made 
 
 a technical study of art subjects. He has 
 filled a number of township and local of- 
 fices, and has repeatedly served as judge 
 and inspector of elections. He was brought 
 up in the faith of the old Swedish church, 
 and still adheres to the dogmas of that 
 denomination. On account of the donation 
 of the present site of the old Swedes church 
 by a former member of Mr. DeHaven's 
 family, he now possesses as a birthright, a 
 portion of the burial ground connected 
 with that church. 
 
 The line of descent on Mr. Mr. Dehaven's 
 maternal side is Swedish, as the name 
 would indicate. The family is one of the 
 oldest and best known in Montgomery 
 county- 
 
 EDWARD EVERETT LONG, Esq., a 
 competent and energetic member of the 
 Montgomery county bar, is a son of Solomon 
 and Rebecca S. (Sassaman) Long, and was 
 born in Upper Providence township, Mont- 
 gomery county, on September 11, 1861. 
 Mr. Long's ancestors on his father's side are 
 of German Lutheran stock and have been 
 residents of the county for upward of a hun- 
 dred years. On his mother's side he is con- 
 nected with the Markley family, a very old 
 and prominent family. He is a direct de- 
 scendant of Judge Benjamin Markley, who 
 was prominent in the history of this county 
 in the early part of the present century, and 
 whose grandson was the Hon. Benjamin 
 Markley Boyer, a member of Congress from 
 this district for two terms, 1865 to 1869, and 
 a leader at the Montgomery county bar and 
 president judge of the Montgomery courts 
 from 18S2 till his death in 1886. Henry 
 Long, the grandfather of the subject of this 
 sketch, was a native of Marlborough town- 
 ship, where he passed his life following the 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 167 
 
 pursuits of a farmer. Solomon Long was 
 born in the same township on January 24, 
 1816, and during his early life learned the 
 carpenter trade. Later he removed to Up- 
 per Providence township and became in- 
 terested in farming and droving, and in 
 1868 removed to Norristown, where he en- 
 gaged in the livery business. He died here 
 on November 14, 1870. He was twice mar- 
 ried and by his second marriage had four 
 children, one daughter and three sons, the 
 only one surviving being Edward E. Those 
 deceased are Davis R., (died November 19, 
 1870, at the age of five years); Ellen B., 
 wife of Herbert D. Yocum, (died September 
 9, 1886, aged twenty-seven years); and Jacob 
 S., (died July 18, 1894,) at the age of thirty 
 years. At the time of his death, Jacob S. 
 was connected with the International Navi- 
 gation company of Philadelphia and New 
 York, and was considered a business man 
 of excellent promise. He had also acquired 
 a reputation as a newspaper writer and dis- 
 played marked literary ability. 
 
 Edward E. Long was six years old when 
 his father removed to Norristown and but 
 nine years old when his father died. He was 
 educated in the public schools of Norristown, 
 at Ursinus college and at Millersville State 
 Normal school. But his opportunities for 
 acquiring an education were limited, as at 
 the early age of twelve years he was put to 
 work and from that time supported himself 
 and aided in the support of the rest of the 
 family. During his boyhood he was in the 
 employ of the Philadelphia and Reading 
 railroad company and worked on a farm. 
 He, however, had the opportunity of attend- 
 ing school during the winter months and as 
 he saw the advantages of a good education, 
 he lost no opportunity to improve his mind 
 by reading and study. After a short term in 
 the academical department of Ursinus col- 
 
 lege and a year spent in the Norristown 
 High school, he began teaching in the public 
 schools at the age of eighteen years, and con- 
 tinued in that vocation for four years. For 
 the first three years he taught a seven 
 month's term which gave him the oppor- 
 tunity to spend three months of the first 
 year at the Millersville Normal school, and 
 during the two following years to spend the 
 same time at Ursinus college, enabling him 
 to become a junior in the latter institution. 
 In 1883 he resolved to enter the profession 
 of law and began his reading under the pre- 
 ceptorship of Franklin March, Esq., of the 
 Norristown 'bar. During the period of his 
 studentship he was also a transcriber in the 
 office of the recorder of deeds. This alter- 
 nation of work and study was combined 
 until his admission to the bar on December 
 5, 1887. Shortly after his admission he 
 opened an office in Norristown and has 
 steadily gained a very creditable practice. 
 Mr. Long is a Republican in his political 
 affiliations and has always taken an active 
 part in the political movements of the coun- 
 ty and borough. In 1888 he was elected a 
 member of town council from the first ward 
 but only served in that capacity for one 
 year, moving out of the ward at the end of 
 that time. While a member of council he 
 was ever alert for the best interests of the 
 borough and was instrumental in the estab- 
 lishment of the first independent board of 
 health in the borough, the town council 
 prior to this time having constituted the 
 only board of health. In 1891 he was elect- 
 ed a member of the school board from the 
 Tenth ward and served as school director 
 for three years, and on January 1, 1894, he 
 received the appointment of solicitor and 
 clerk for the directors of the poor of Mont- 
 gomery county and is still in office. Aside 
 from his professional duties Mr. Long has 
 
1 68 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 always found time for business activity. 
 He has been president of the West Norris- 
 town Building and Loan association since 
 its organization in 1886, and has been in- 
 terested in various business ventures. He 
 is a member and was formerly vice-president 
 of the Republican Invinciblesof Norristown. 
 
 On April 26, 1887, Mr. Long was united 
 in marriage with Mira C. Earnest, daughter 
 of Charles and Isabella Crawford Earnest. 
 To this union two children have been born : 
 Isabella Crawford and Edward Everett. 
 Mr. Long's career from the beginning has 
 been marked by a patient and untiring ef- 
 fort. He is largely a self-made man and has 
 won his present enviable standing among 
 the citizens of Montgomery county entirely 
 through his personal force and energy. He 
 has always been known as a careful and 
 studious lawyer, ever ready to do all that 
 can be clone for a client, fearlessly defending 
 his interests, or maintaing all rights given 
 to a suitor under the law. In recognition 
 of his qualities as a lawyer, he has been ap- 
 pointed by the presiding judges a member 
 of the board of examiners of the Mont- 
 gomery county bar, who pass upon the quali- 
 fications of all persons seeking admission to 
 the bar. He has been prominently men- 
 tioned for the office of District Attorney, 
 but has decided not to be a candidate at the 
 present time. Should Mr. Long make a 
 canvass for the office there is little doubt 
 that he would be most favorably received. 
 
 On March 4, 1S95, Mr. Long entered into 
 a business co-partnership with George W. 
 Rogers, Esq., one of the oldest and most 
 prominent members of the Montgomery 
 county bar, the firm being known as Rogers 
 & Long. Mr. Rogers is an ex-District Attor- 
 ney and during a period of over forty years 
 has enjoyed a large and lucrative practice. 
 Probablv the most celebrated of Mr. Rogers' 
 
 cases was his defense of Blasius Pistorius, 
 the Catholic priest who on July 24, 1875, 
 shot and killed Isaac Jaquette, a farmer re- 
 siding near Norristown. The priest and his 
 brother John Pistorius were indicted for 
 murder. John was acquitted but Blasius 
 was convicted in the first degree and sen- 
 tenced to be hanged. The German govern- 
 ment became interested in his case, he being 
 a German subject although a resident of 
 Pennsylvania. The case was taken to the 
 Supreme Court and a new trial was granted. 
 Mr. Rogers, who had now associated with 
 him Colonel James Boyd and Stephen S. 
 Remak, Esq., of Philadelphia, obtained a 
 change of venue to Philadelphia, where 
 Blasius Pistorius was again tried, convicted 
 and sentenced to be hanged. The con- 
 demned man's counsel aided by the inter- 
 cession of the German Consul, succeeded in 
 having his sentence commuted to imprison- 
 ment for life, and he died in the Eastern 
 Penitentiary a few years ago. 
 
 It is the intention of Mr. Rogers to lighten 
 his labors toward the evening of his career, 
 and he together with his wife and daughter 
 have started on a tour of Europe and the 
 old world to last for at least a year. Mean- 
 while Mr. Long assumes sole charge of the 
 firm's business. With the careful attention 
 he has always given to matters placed in his 
 hands and the success he has already met 
 with in his profession, there can be no doubt 
 but that a bright and promising future is 
 before him. 
 
 JACOB MOLL KNETZ, a retired mer- 
 kJ chant of East Greenville, this county, 
 is a son of John and Abigail (Moll) Knetz, 
 and was born August 6, 1851, at Clayton, 
 Berks county, Pennsylvania. 
 
'-"< 
 
 /*ft7}. d&^ZrrT 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 169 
 
 The founder of the Knetz family in this 
 country was Henry Knetz, grandfather, who 
 near the end of the eighteenth century emi- 
 grated from Germany to the new world and 
 located near Clayton, in Berks county. He 
 was a fanner, a Whig, and a member of the 
 Lutheran church. He married a Miss 
 Boyer, and three children, David, Sally and 
 John, were born to them. 
 
 John Knetz, father, was born near Clay- 
 ton, where he was reared. He became a 
 farmer and drover and cattle dealer. He 
 was an ardent Republican, and a consistent, 
 devoted and active worker of the Lutheran 
 church. His children were as follows: 
 Maria, who married Martin Landis ; Jacob 
 Moll, subject ; Elizabeth, who wedded An- 
 drew Stauffer ; and Sarah, wife of Reuben 
 Beidler. John Knetz died November 4, 
 1880, at the age of sixty-four years. His 
 widow is yet living. 
 
 Jacob Moll Knetz obtained only a com- 
 mon school education. Leaving school, he 
 remained with his father on the farm until 
 thirty years of age, when he took a position 
 as clerk in a general store at Clayton, but 
 was soon called home to assume the man- 
 agement of his father's farms, and remained 
 in that capacity for one year after the lat- 
 ter's death. In the autumn of 1882 he 
 moved on a property he had purchased at 
 Last Greenville, this county, where for two 
 years he was engaged in the general store 
 business. Since closing out these interests 
 he has lived a retired merchant. Mr. Knetz 
 is a Republican, and for four years, from 
 1882 to 1885, inclusive, served as burgess of 
 East Greenville, and also served two terms 
 as auditor, and as a member of the borough 
 council one term. In 1891 he was appointed 
 a notary public by Governor Robert E. 
 Pattison. Religiously he is a deacon in the 
 Pennsburg St. Mark's Lutheran church, 
 
 and takes an active interest in all forms of 
 church work. He is a member in high 
 standing of the following secret societies : 
 Knights of the Golden Eagle, Knights of 
 Pythias, Junior Order United American 
 Mechanics, and Independent Order of ( )dd 
 Fellows. 
 
 On January 13, 1881, Mr. Knetz wedded 
 Emma S., a daughter of Joseph Shultz, a 
 veterinary surgeon, of Zionsville, Lehigh 
 county, this State. John, Jacob, Clarence, 
 deceased ; and William Henry Harrison are 
 the children born to their union. 
 
 AR. SAYLOR, postmaster at Royers- 
 • ford, is a native of Lenhartsville, 
 Berks county, where he was born July 3, 
 1857. His parents were Dr. Henry A. and 
 Lucinda (Reeser) Saylor, the former born 
 on the old Saylor homestead in Limerick 
 township, this count)', and the latter a na- 
 tive o f Berks county. The Saviors are of 
 German extraction, and have been residents 
 of Montgomery county since 1708, when 
 Henry Saylor, paternal great-grandfather of 
 the subject of this sketch, purchased land 
 in what is now Limerick township, and en- 
 gaged in farming. He had two children, 
 Henry and Susanna. His son Henry Say- 
 lor (grandfather), inherited the farm, and 
 passed his whole life there, engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits. He married Mary A. 
 Groves, and was the father of five children : 
 Albert G., a sketch of whom appears else- 
 where in this volume ; Azariah, who owns 
 and resides on the old homestead near Lim- 
 erick Square, this county ; Dr. Henry A., 
 father of A. R. Saylor ; Susanna, and Ada 
 Eliza. He was a Lutheran in religion, a 
 Democrat in politics, and died in 1S76, aged 
 seventy-six years. Dr. Henry A. Saylor 
 
172 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 stated, the Levvin homestead is now the 
 site of no small portion of the nourishing 
 borough of Royersford. 
 
 William Lewin was married to Rebecca 
 Custer, a daughter of Samuel Custer, Feb- 
 ruary 8, 1851. To them were born the 
 following sons and daughters : Elizabeth, 
 who died in infancy ; J. Milton, the subject 
 of this sketch ; Sarah, Samuel, Willis, 
 George, Mary, Emma, and Abraham. As 
 a youth, J. M. Lewin had a cherished de- 
 sire to attend college ; but, as his father 
 thought a common school education suffi- 
 cient, the boy had to content himself with 
 such advantages as could be furnished at 
 the old Hobson school house. The greater 
 part of his boyhood was spent on his 
 father's farm. 
 
 April 1, 1873, he entered as an appren- 
 tice in the shoemaker shop of John U. 
 Bean, Upper Providence township. Hav- 
 ing served two years, he opened a shop of 
 his own in Royersford, April 1, 1875. There 
 being no other shoe store in town at that 
 time, Mr. Lewin carried a small line of boots 
 and shoes in connection with his trade on 
 the bench. Having accumulated a small 
 capital in this business, he bought a half 
 interest in the general store of Rogers & 
 Son. In that business he continued from 
 May 27, 1879, to August 1, 1881, when he 
 sold out his share of the business to Jones 
 Rogers. Mr. Lewin was employed in the 
 shipping department of the Buckwalter 
 Stove company until September 13, 1883, 
 when he again embarked in the shoe busi- 
 ness. Having built a new store along the 
 main street of the borough, he conducted 
 a very successful business until September 
 1, 1892, when he disposed of his entire j 
 business to F. S. Brown. He then entered 
 the firm of the Grander Stove Company, 
 purchasing the interest of the late Benja- | 
 
 min Carver. Mr. Lewin was elected treas- 
 urer of the above company, a position 
 which he still very creditably fills. Mr. 
 Lewin's usual energy and activity are 
 demonstrated in this business as well as in 
 all other positions which he has had the 
 honor of filling. The above mentioned 
 traits of his character have enabled him to 
 contribute largely to the general prosperity 
 of Royersford. 
 
 He has been identified with many of the 
 leading industries of his town. Among 
 these may be mentioned the Royersford 
 Iron foundry. He was president of this 
 company at the time of the sale of their 
 plant to its present owners, Floyd, Wells 
 & Company. He helped to organize the 
 Penn Glass company, and was one of its 
 directors until its purchase by the Diamond 
 Glass company. When the Keystone Meter 
 company was organized, Mr. Lewin was 
 among the founders, and continued as a 
 director until the property was transferred 
 to the present company of the same name. 
 He is still one of the trustees of the old 
 company. 
 
 Mr. Lewin was treasurer of the original 
 Enterprise Hosiery company, of which he 
 was one of the promoters. He, with five 
 other gentlemen, organized the Fernwood 
 Cemetery company. Of this company he 
 is still a director. He is also a director of 
 the Industrial Savings bank, chartered 
 March 21, 1892. Not only did he help in 
 the organization of this bank, but was also 
 very active in the founding of the two 
 National banks, that is, the " Home " and 
 the "National Bank of Royersford." Hav- 
 ing helped to organize the Home Water 
 company, he was elected one of the direc- 
 tors, a position which he resigned at the 
 end of the first year. He is an active mem- 
 ber of the Humane Fire company, of which 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 l 73 
 
 he is one of the founders, and was for two 
 years their financial secretary. 
 
 He has held the office of secretary in the 
 Royersford Building and Loan association 
 since organization, May i, 1890. In 1894 
 he organized the Liufield Cold Storage 
 company, of which he became treasurer. 
 Mr. Lewin has held and honorably filled sev- 
 eral offices in the borough of Royersford, 
 which he helped to incorporate in 1879, 
 Judge Ross having confirmed the report of 
 the jury to grant the charter, June 14, of 
 that year. It was during his administration 
 as school director, (a position which he 
 filled for nine years), that he strongly advo- 
 cated free books and the Smead heating 
 and ventilating system. The schools of 
 Royersford now have the benefit of both 
 these systems. 
 
 In 1885 he was elected assistant assessor. 
 February 16, 1892, he was elected burgess 
 by an overwhelming majority. He served 
 in this capacity one year. It was during 
 his administration in the last named office 
 that Mr. Lewin did something for which 
 the business people of Royersford can feel 
 grateful. The Pennsylvania Railroad com- 
 pany having asked permission to lay tracks 
 on First Avenue, Mr. Lewin called council 
 together on the evening of June 14, 1892. 
 Ordinance No. 65 was passed, granting the 
 railroad company the franchise, and the 
 same night he, with about three hundred 
 workmen, went to the lower end of the 
 borough. When morning dawned the peo- 
 ple beheld twenty-three hundred feet of 
 track stretching from the lower end of the 
 avenue to the Schuylkill bridge. 
 
 Mr. Lewin is quite prominent and very 
 active in Masonic circles. He is connected 
 with different lodges as follows : Charter 
 member of Royersford Lodge, F. & A. M., 
 No. 585 ; member of Pgttstown Chapter 
 
 No. 271 ; charter member of Nativity Com- 
 mandery No. 71, Pottstown ; member of 
 Bloomsburg Consistory ; member of Pales- 
 tine Council No. 8, Phoenixville ; and a 
 Noble of Rajah Mystic Shrine, Reading. 
 He is also connected with the Improved 
 Order of Red Men, Towamencin Tribe No. 
 99, Royersford. 
 
 In politice Mr. Lewin is an Independent 
 voter. He was appointed notary public by 
 Governor Pattison on April 8, 1886. This 
 position he still fills. Mr. Lewin is an ac- 
 tive and consistent member of the Lutheran 
 church. As executor of the estate of Wil- 
 liam Lewin, he donated the ground upon 
 which was erected Grace Evangelical 
 Lutheran chapel. He is one of the trus- 
 tees of the Lutheran congregation of Roy- 
 ersford. 
 
 Mr. Lewin was married to Lizzie Bean, 
 daughter of Isaac Bean, Upper Providence, 
 February 18, 1875. With her he lived 
 happily until her death, July 1, 1894. To 
 them were born three sons: William A., 
 Isaac E , deceased ; and Lawrence B. Mr. 
 Lewin's family life marks one of the 
 pleasant features of his career. His eldest 
 son, William A., graduated with high 
 honors at Fairfield Military academy, June, 
 1895. 
 
 His life has been active and useful. 
 None stand higher at Royersford than J. 
 Milton Lewin, whose career is briefly and 
 imperfectly outlined in this sketch. 
 
 CHARLES Z. WEBER, M. D., a lead- 
 ing young physician of Norristown, is a 
 son of John C. and Anna M. (Casselberry) 
 Weber, and a native of Downington, Ches- 
 ter county, Pennsylvania, where he was 
 born February 2, 1856. The Webers are 
 
i74 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of German extraction, and the family was 
 founded in America by Christian and Ap- 
 plonia Weber, who shortly after their mar- 
 riage in the fatherland came to this country 
 with some four hundred Protestant Ger- 
 mans, in the sailing- ship Good Will, and 
 landed at Philadelphia, September 27, 1727. 
 The following year Christian Weber pur- 
 chased fifty acres of land from Jacob Hill, 
 in what is now Towameucin township, 
 Montgomery county, and erected thereon 
 a house which is still standing. He died in 
 1778, aged eighty-two years, his wife having 
 passed away five years earlier in the seven- 
 tieth year of her age. Among other child- 
 ren they had a son Christian Weber, who 
 was born in 1743, married Elizabeth 
 Weidner in 1765, and died in 1815 in Le- 
 high county. He served as a captain in 
 the Revoultionary war, and held a number 
 of civil offices. Of his sons, John Weber, 
 great-grandfather of the subject of this 
 sketch, was born October 8, 1768, and be- 
 came a distinguished politician and states- 
 man. In 1807 he was elected a member of 
 the State assembly, and three times re- 
 elected, serving through the last two 
 sessions as speaker. He married Elizabeth 
 Reiff, by whom he had a family of five 
 children : George, Christian, Mary, John 
 and Joseph. The second son, Christian 
 Weber, (grandfather) was born August 16, 
 1793, and after attaining manhood, married 
 Charlotte Casselberry, daughter of William 
 and Catharine Casselberry, of Evansburg. 
 To their union were born eight children : 
 Ann Eliza, Catharine, Rebecca, Elmina, 
 William C, John C, Mary and Emma. 
 John C. Weber (father) was born January 
 11, 1829, grew to manhood on the farm, 
 and after reaching his majority, engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits on his own account. 
 He followed that occupation successfully 
 
 for many years, but since 1880 has been 
 engaged in the general produce business 
 at Norristown. Politically he is a Republi- 
 can, and in church membership a Presby- 
 terian, having served as ruling elder in the 
 Centennial Presbyterian church, of Jeffer- 
 sonville, for more than a quarter of a 
 century. He has always taken an active 
 part in church work, and for a number of 
 years has been superintendent of the Sunday 
 school connected with his church. 
 
 In 1853 he married Anna M. Casselberry, 
 a daughter of Isaac and Margaret Cassel- 
 berry, and by that union had a family of 
 four children : Mary Ellen, married George 
 W. Carr, now connected officially with the 
 Post Office department at Washington, D. 
 C; Charles Z., the subject of this sketch; 
 Isaac C, married Florence Sullivan, of 
 Norristown, where he is now engaged in 
 the retail coal trade; and Anna C, residing 
 with her father. Mrs. Anna M. Weber died 
 in i860, and Mr. Weber afterward married 
 Sarah B. Heebner, of Lower Providence, 
 this county. 
 
 Dr. Charles Z. Weber, fifth in line of 
 descent from the original emigrant, was 
 reared principally on his father's farm in 
 this county, receiving his primary education 
 in the public schools of Norristown, and 
 completing his academic studies at Tre- 
 mont seminary, which he attended for 
 three years. He then engaged in teaching 
 in Montgomery county, being thus employed 
 for one year at Tylersport and for four 
 years at Centre Square. During the last 
 three years of this time he was also en- 
 gaged in reading medicine, under the 
 direction of Joseph K. Weaver, of Norris- 
 town. In 1880 he matriculated at the 
 Jefferson Medical college, of Philadelphia, 
 from which institution he was graduated 
 March 30, 1882, with the degree of M. D. 
 
j^^^L^^^^&, 
 
Biographical Sketch ks. 
 
 i75 
 
 His devotion as a student while in college 
 attracted the attention of his fellow students 
 and the faculty, and he was honored with 
 the position of quiz-master on physiology 
 during the year preceding his graduation, 
 and on the latter occasion was awarded the 
 Henry C. Chapman prize for the hest thesis 
 on a subject pertaining to physiology. Im- 
 mediately after receiving his degree, Dr. 
 Weber formed a partnership with his former 
 precepter, Dr. Joseph K. Weaver, and began 
 the practice of medicine at Norristown. 
 One year later Dr. Weber opened an office 
 on Airy street, near DeKalb, and has 
 practiced his profession continuously from 
 that to the present time. In 1884 he re- 
 moved to his present home and office, Nos. 
 15 and 17 Airy street, where he has built 
 up an extensive and lucrative general 
 practice. 
 
 His residence and office are both hand- 
 some brick structures, finished on the 
 interior with walnut and beautifully deco- 
 rated. With the new brick stable and 
 carriage house on the rear of the lots, they 
 form a valuable property and a most com- 
 modious home. 
 
 Dr. Weber has been a member of the 
 Montgomery County Medical society since 
 1882, serving as its secretary for six years 
 and as its president in 1892. He is also a 
 member of the Pennsylvania State Medical 
 Society, and of the American Medical 
 Association. Being yet an earnest student 
 of his profession, he is a constant reader 
 and an occasional contributer to leading 
 medical journals, and is also the author of 
 the article on medicine in the late history of 
 Montgomery county. He is a member of 
 the staff of visiting physicians to Charity 
 hospital, and one of the lecturers to the 
 school of nurses, which graduates annually 
 from this institution, and has lectured 
 
 elsewhere upon subjects pertaining to his 
 profession. He has also occupied the po- 
 sition of prison physician by appointment 
 for the past six years. 
 
 On October 28, 1884, Dr. Weber was 
 united in marriage to Anna Y. Gilbert, a 
 daughter of Solomon Gilbert, of Norristown, 
 and a graduate from the Norristown High 
 school and of the Millersville State Normal 
 school. To Dr. and Mrs. Weber have been 
 born three children : Charles Gilbert, 
 born October 5, 1886, and died January 4, 
 1888 ; Jean, born August 3, 1888 ; and John 
 Malcolm, born October 22, 1890. In his 
 political affiliations, Dr. Weber is a Repub- 
 lican, and was a warm admirer of James 
 G. Blaine. In religious faith and church 
 membership he is a Presbyterian, and is 
 also a member of the American Legion of 
 Honor. 
 
 He finds diversion from the onerous 
 duties of his extensive practice, in the 
 management of a large farm adjacent to the 
 town. The possession of this tract imparts 
 additional interest, from the fact that for 
 a period covered by two generations, 
 " Kinwood Farm " was the fond home of 
 his paternal ancestors. 
 
 REV. JOSEPH H. HENDRICKS, A.M. 
 There are a goodly number of persons 
 to be found bearing the name of Hendricks 
 in many of the States of the American 
 Union, possibly the most prominent being 
 that of the late Hon. Thomas A. Hen- 
 dricks, a United States senator, governor of 
 Indiana, and vice president of the United 
 States, with bright prospects of becoming 
 president of the United States, had his life 
 been spared a few years longer. The family 
 name was originally Hendricksen, and the 
 
i 7 6 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 first settlers in this country of this name, 
 came from Holland, and are characterized 
 in the often-recited history of the settle- 
 ment of Germantown, Pa., as a liberty- 
 loving people. The name is also quite con- 
 spicuous in the extended German histories 
 of the countless martyrdoms of the non- 
 resistant Christians in the continent of Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 The subject of this sketch is a son of the 
 late Abraham H. and Mary Hendricks, and 
 was born in Upper Providence, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, December 21, A. D. 
 1834, his maternal grandfather being the 
 Rev. John Huusicker, and his maternal 
 great-grandfather the Rev. Henry (Hein- 
 rich) Huusicker, both verv prominent and 
 influential Mennonite bishops in their day 
 and generation in Eastern Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. Hendricks was reared on his father's 
 farm, and in the spring of 1851 entered 
 Freeland seminary (now Ursinus college), 
 and in the fall of 1852 he took charge of a 
 public school at Milford Square, Bucks 
 comity. During the four consecutive win- 
 ters he figured in the role of public school 
 teacher, attending boarding school in the 
 summer months. In February, 1856, he 
 was offered and accepted the position of as- 
 sistant teacher in Freeland seminary, then 
 a very popular boarding school at which 
 there were many young men in attendance 
 qualifying themselves to become public 
 school teachers, there being but one Nor- 
 mal school in the State at that time. From 
 the position of assistant teacher in the com- 
 mon English branches, in two years he was 
 promoted to teach the higher mathematics 
 and was also made vice-principal of the in- 
 stitution. In the fall of 1858, he married 
 Kate, the youngest daughter of the late Rev. 
 Abraham Hunsicker, the founder of Free- 
 land seminary, and a sister of the Rev- 
 
 Henry A. Hunsicker, the proprietor and 
 principal of the Institution. 
 
 It was while the subject of this sketch 
 was successfully engaged in the pleasant 
 and profitable duties of teacher and vice- 
 principal, that, at a meeting of the Chris- 
 tian Society, at Freeland, now Collegeville, 
 held in A. D. i860, he was, according to 
 the usages of the Mennonite church, elected 
 on trial to the office of the Gospel Minister. 
 As was expected, he at once began to at- 
 tend to some of the duties of the gospel 
 ministry as best he could along with his 
 school work, although under very serious 
 disadvantages, but having succeeded fairly 
 well, by the direction of the said Christian 
 Society, he was on June 25, 1861, ordained 
 to the office of a Minister of the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ, invested with all the powers 
 usually belonging to that office, by the lay- 
 ing on of hands, the Revs. Abraham Hun- 
 sicker, Israel Beidler, Abraham Grater and 
 Henry A. Hunsicker, officiating. 
 
 The Christian Society materialized and 
 was incorporated in the Spring A. D. 1855, 
 and was composed of the above named 
 ministers and about forty adherents who 
 had been disowned and disfellowshipped by 
 a branch of the Mennonite church of which 
 they had all been members, because of their 
 so charged too liberal views of Christian 
 doctrine, church fellowship, education, and 
 kindred subjects. The society built for 
 itself in Freeland (now Collegeville), in 
 1854 and 1855, what is styled the "Christian 
 Meeting House," and the same was opened 
 in the Spring of the latter year for public 
 worship. The Christian Society, through 
 the stated preachings of the Gospel, during 
 the first half dozen years of its existence, 
 made substantial progress and seemed clear- 
 ly to indicate that it had an honorable place 
 and an important mission to fill in the com- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 '77 
 
 munity. It was, therefore, wisely determined 
 to arrange for a more perfect church or- 
 ganization, by the preparation of a disci- 
 pline, election of a church council, pastor, etc. 
 In February, 1862, the subject of this 
 sketch was elected pastor of the Christian 
 Society, the other ministerial brethren for 
 good and sufficient reasons, declining to ac- 
 cept the pastorate, and on the first Sunday 
 in April, 1862, he was installed as pastor, 
 Rev. Israel Beidler preaching the sermon and 
 delivering the charge to the congregation, 
 and Rev. Henry A. Huusicker delivering 
 the charge to the pastor. Prior to 1862, 
 the brethren who had so faithfully preached 
 in the " Christian Meeting House" received 
 no pecuniary compensation for their ser- 
 vices. During the first two years of Mr. 
 Hendricks' pastorate, he continued his re- 
 lation with Freeland seminary as teacher 
 and vice-principal, but in entering upon the 
 third year, he wholly severed his relations 
 with it, A. H. Fetterolf, now president of 
 Girard college, becoming his successor. 
 During the next three years of the pastorate, 
 Mr. Hendricks cultivated his father-in-law's 
 farm adjoining the church property, the con- 
 gregation in the meantime being educated 
 in the way of contributing with commenda- 
 ble liberality, towards the support of the 
 gospel. In February, 1867, he bought his 
 father's property near the church and at 
 once moved thereon, where he has lived 
 ever since. 
 
 To give a sketch of Mr. Hendricks' life 
 work, is to give a history of what is now 
 Trinity Reformed church, Collegeville, Pa., 
 the two being closely and indissolubly inter- 
 related. He is now in the thirty-fourth year 
 of the pastorate. He has been actively con- 
 nected with and engaged in the Sunday 
 school during all its past history, com- 
 mencing in the spring of 1856. For twenty- 
 
 eight consecutive years he was superin- 
 tendent. During the thirty-nine years of its 
 existence he has been teaching and leading 
 the singing. During the pastorate, the 
 church has been continually "enlarging the 
 place of her tent, lengthening her cords and 
 strengthening her stakes." The church 
 building has been very materially enlarged, 
 improved and beautified; the church yard 
 and cemetery grounds also extended to 
 twice their original size. A very creditable 
 church has also during the pastorate been 
 founded, well organized and built up at 
 Skippackville. The Collegeville church 
 owns and controls a fine chapel at Iron- 
 bridge, used for Sunday school and church 
 purposes. 
 
 The original Christian society, subsequent- 
 ly Trinity Christian church, remained in- 
 dependent of Ecclesiastical connection with 
 other churches, until 1888, when, after all 
 necessary and proper steps in the premises 
 had been taken, it became connected with 
 the Reformed (German) church of the 
 United States. In 1892 the Skippackville 
 church was also formally made a part of the 
 same denomination. The Collegeville 
 charge, as it is made up of Trinity church, 
 Collegeville ; Trinity church, Skippack- 
 ville ; and Ironbridge chapel, Rahn's Sta- 
 tion ; and with its three Christian Endeavor 
 societies, its three Sunday schools, and its 
 other auxiliary church societies, is a very 
 influential charge, and has grown to its 
 present proportions and prominence from a 
 very small beginning, under the pastorate 
 of the subject of this sketch. In its earlier 
 history, the Collegeville church took ad- 
 vanced views on the subjects of African 
 slavery, intemperance and the education of 
 the masses. The pastor was fortunate in 
 having a constituency of generous and large- 
 hearted people who seemed equal to any 
 
i 7 8 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 reasonable demand made upon them. The 
 present consistory of the church is composed 
 of the following, viz ; Prof. J. S. Wein- 
 berger, A. M., LL. D., Frank M. Hobson, 
 Isaiah H. Detwiler, R.J. Casselberry, 'Sqnire 
 John S. Hnnsicker, A. D. Bechtel, Captain 
 H. H. Fetterolf, F. G. Hobson, Esq., and 
 M. T. Hnnsicker. 
 
 Ursinus college is located right in the. 
 heart of the parish of the Collegeville 
 church, and its professors and a large num- 
 ber of its students are regular attendants at 
 public worship, thus giving an intellectual 
 tone to the congregation. A number of the 
 members of the chnrch are either directors 
 or graduates of the college. 
 
 The subject of this sketch while lacking 
 the substantial advantages to be gained from 
 a college and seminary education, which 
 lack he always greatly deplored, has always 
 been a liberal supporter and patron of Ur- 
 simis college, being for many years one of 
 its directors and a member of three of its 
 leading committees. His personal interest 
 in higher education is further shown by the 
 fact of his having three children and two 
 sons-in-law as graduates of the institution. 
 
 Mr. Hendricks enjoys the distinction of 
 having served the same charge longer than 
 any other living pastor in Montgomery 
 county, and ont of over eight hundred and 
 fifty funerals at which he was asked to offi- 
 ciate, he has never missed any on account 
 of sickness, and has only missed in a third 
 of a century three church services on ac- 
 count of any preventing bodily sickness ; 
 and in all these years, has had but one brief 
 "pastor's vacation," as the church's location 
 and constituency make it specially unde- 
 sirable not to have it open every Sabbath 
 for public worship. 
 
 The late Moses Auge wrote for the gen- 
 eral public of Mr. Hendricks eight years 
 
 
 ago, that he is "greatly beloved by his own 
 congregation, and is much in demand out- 
 side of his own churches, especially to of- 
 ficiate at funerals. He is a fluent and for- 
 cible preacher, speaking entirely ex tempore, 
 in a rapid, earnest and convincing manner, 
 impressing every one with the absolute con- 
 viction of the truth of what he is saying." 
 Mr. Hendricks has delivered numerous ad- 
 dresses at Sunday school picnics, public 
 school commencements, national Thanks- 
 giving and Decoration days, and to the G. 
 A. R. Posts, for which he has received 
 words and testimonials of high appreciation. 
 
 Mr. Hendricks and his wife are both in 
 the enjovment of good physical health, and 
 have four children living, viz : Ella M., 
 married to F. G. Hobson, Esq., of College- 
 ville, a lawyer at the Norristown bar, and 
 treasurer and trust officer of the Norristown 
 Title, Trust and Safe Deposit company ; 
 Bertha, married to the Rev. Charles E. 
 Wehler, pastor of St. Paul's Reformed 
 church, Manheim, Lancaster county, Pa.; 
 Abraham H., whose wife is the daughter of 
 Addison T. Miller, of Limerick, residing at 
 Pottstown, is a lawyer, holding the office of 
 borough solicitor of Pottstown, and is a 
 prominent candidate for district attorney of 
 the county ; Sara C., unmarried and resid- 
 ing with her parents, a cultured singer, the 
 leading soprano singer in the Sunday school, 
 church, etc., of her native village, and has 
 been elected teacher of voice culture at Ur- 
 sinus college. 
 
 Mrs. Hendricks' mother, the relict of the 
 late Rev. Abraham Hunsicker, is still living, 
 enjoys good health, and has the use of her 
 bodily and mental powers to a high degree, 
 although born November 16, 1798, and now 
 almost ninety-seven years of age. 
 
 Although Mr. Hendricks did not go 
 through the curriculum of a college course, 
 
JJmr i^rfpiwfe 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 i/9 
 
 yet, June 22, 1S81, the board of directors of 
 Ursinus college, upon the recommendation 
 of its faculty, conferred on him "the honor- 
 ary degree of Master of Arts, for his personal 
 worth and merits as a scholar." 
 
 HON. HENRY W. KRATZ, a member 
 of the house of representatives of 
 Pennsylvania, is a son of Valentine and 
 Mar)- (Weikel) Kratz, and was born in Per- 
 kiomen township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, July 31, 1834. The name of 
 Kratz would indicate its German origin 
 and its frequent occurrence on the records 
 of the county for over a century is evidence 
 of the early settlement of the emigrant 
 Kratz, and the respectability and individual 
 worth of his numerous descendants through 
 successive generations down to the present 
 time. Valentine Kratz came from Ger- 
 many and settled at an early day in what 
 is now Montgomery county, where his son 
 Valentine was born, reared and died. Val- 
 entine, the younger, was the son of Isaac 
 Kratz, the grandfather of the subject of 
 this sketch. Isaac Kratz was a farmer, and 
 removed from Perkiomen to Upper Provi- 
 dence township, where he died, aged eighty- 
 one years. He was a Mennonite and a Re- 
 publican, and wedded Catharine Hunsicker, 
 by whom he had eight children : Valentine, 
 William, Isaac, Rebecca Godshall, Catha- 
 rine Rittenhouse and Mary Bean, Elizabeth 
 Young and Ann Cassel. Valentine Kratz, 
 f father) was born October 10, 18 10, in Per- 
 kiomen township, and died at Trappe in 
 1891. He was a shoemaker by trade, con- 
 ducting a shop at the Trappe for many 
 years and later on became a fanner. He 
 was a Republican in politics, and a mem- 
 ber of the Reformed church, and wedded 
 
 Mary Weikel, who is a daughter of Henry 
 Weikel, and still survives her husband, 
 being now (1895) in the eighty-sixth year 
 of her age. 
 
 To Valentine and Mary Kratz were born 
 five children : Hon. Henry W., Catharine, 
 bom March 6, 1837, died September 7, 
 1841 ; Sarah, born May 3, 1840, died Au- 
 gust 24, 1 84 1 ; Dora, born September 27, 
 died March 16, 1845 ; and Elizabeth, born 
 April 2, 1846, and died February 8, 1859. 
 
 Henry W. Kratz, at six years of age, was 
 taken by his parents to the Trappe, in Up- 
 per Providence township, where he resided 
 up to 1889, in which year he removed to 
 his present residence at Norristown. He 
 attended the common schools and then en- 
 tered Washington Hall Collegiate institute, 
 where he received a thorough English and 
 partial classical education. His first em- 
 ployment was teaching, which he followed 
 continuously for eighteen years in his own 
 and adjoining townships. During the 
 earlier years of his teaching, Mr. Kratz 
 took up surveying and conveyancing, which 
 he followed largely from 1862 to 1882, and 
 since his removal to Norristown he has 
 been engaged in conveyancing and in the 
 real estate and insurance business. His 
 political career dates back to the same year 
 (1862), when he turned from professional 
 to business life. He served from 1862 to 
 1882, as justice of the peace, was trans- 
 scribing and message clerk of the State 
 senate during the session of 1866-7, held 
 the office of recorder of deeds from 1882 to 
 1885, and in 1894 was elected as a member 
 of the house of representatives of Penn- 
 sylvania. In business he became as promi- 
 nent as he was in political affairs, and in 
 1874 helped organize the National bank of 
 Schwenksville, of which he was a director 
 until 1891, when he was elected to the 
 
i8o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 office of president, which position he still 
 holds. He has served as a manager in 
 different insurance, bridge and turnpike 
 companies, is treasurer of the Times Pub- 
 lishing company at Norristown, and was a 
 member of the State Board of Agriculture 
 from 1887 to 1893. 
 
 When he retired from teaching he did 
 not lose his interest in educational matters, 
 and since 1868 has been officially con- 
 nected with the board of trustees of Ursi- 
 nus college, of which he has served as 
 president since 1873. 
 
 On May 26, 1857, Mr. Kratz married 
 Myra Bean, a daughter of William Bean, 
 and their children are: Mary T. , wife of 
 Augustus Bomberger ; Kate B., wife of 
 Horace T. Royer ; Harry E., who married 
 Mary Royer, and now holds a position in 
 the office of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
 company at Philadelphia ; and Irwin B. 
 and Jane, who are both deceased. 
 
 Mrs. Kratz died October 17, 1888, aged 
 sixty years, and on February 17, 1892, Mr. 
 Kratz wedded Emily Todd, of Philadel- 
 phia, who was born October 20, 1835. She 
 is a daughter of Hon. John Todd, who was 
 a native and resident of Montgomery 
 county. Hon. John Todd was of Scotch 
 descent. He was born in Upper Provi- 
 dence township, May 25, 1779, and died 
 July 2, 1862. He was a farmer and Presby- 
 terian, and served as sheriff for two terms 
 and member of the legislature for one 
 term. His children were : Dr. John, of 
 Pottstown ; Dr. Samuel, of Boyertown ; 
 Brooke, a resident of Pottstown ; William, 
 a resident of Norristown. Mrs. Emily 
 Kratz and Christiana Royer, whose hus- 
 band, the late Horace Royer, was a State 
 senator in 1866 and 1867, are both deceased. 
 
 Henry W. Kratz is a member of St. 
 Luke's Reformed church, of which he has 
 
 been a trustee for fifteen years, and of 
 whose choir he has been the leader for 
 twenty-five years. He is a member of 
 Warren Lodge No. 310, Free and Accepted 
 Masons ; Norristown Chapter No. 190, 
 Royal Arch Masons ; and Hutchinson 
 Commandery No. 32, Knights Templar. 
 He is also a member of the Montgomery 
 County Historical society. In politics Mr. 
 Kratz has always been a Republican He 
 served for two terms as chairman of the 
 Republican county committee, as a mem- 
 ber of the house of representatives of Penn- 
 sylvania, and he has always carefully 
 guarded the interes's of his constituents. 
 During the house session of 1895, he was 
 a member of the committee on banks, in- 
 surance, education and library, and served 
 efficientlv. 
 
 THOMAS B. EVANS, ex-burgess of 
 Norristown, and editor and proprietor 
 of the National Defender, of the same 
 place, is a son of Francis B. and the late 
 Martha (Pluck) Evans, and was born Febru- 
 ary 12, 1 85 1, near Fairview, Lower Provi- 
 dence township, Montgomery county, Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 His great-grandfather was a native of 
 the principality of Wales, whence he emi- 
 grated to this country and settled in 
 Montgomery county. George Evans, 
 grandfather, was born in that county, and 
 followed the avocations of a farmer in 
 Lower Providence township, where he 
 died. His children were : George, Andrew, 
 Thomas and Francis B. Francis B. Evans, 
 father, was born in Lower Providence 
 township, this county, in the year 1828. 
 He has followed, during his career, a 
 number of industrial pursuits in the county 
 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 iSi 
 
 and now resides at Centre Square, in Whit-- 
 pain township. He is a member of the Re- 
 formed church, and of Blooming Rose Cas- 
 tle, No. 44, Knights of the Mystic Chain. 
 
 His marriage to Martha Pluck, daughter 
 of Jesse Pluck, of Whitpain, was blessed in 
 the birth of the following children : 
 Thomas B., Anna Rebecca, Sarah Jane, 
 George W., Mary Elizabeth, deceased ; 
 Margaret McCann, deceased ; and Harriet. 
 
 Thomas B. Evans received his scholastic 
 training and education in the township and 
 Norristown public schools. He worked 
 upon the farm until fifteen years of age, 
 when he entered upon an apprenticeship to 
 the trade of a printer, in the composing 
 rooms of the National Defender, at Norris- 
 town. After serving three years and 
 thoroughly mastering the details of the 
 " Art preservative of all arts ", he followed 
 it as a journeyman for a time in some of 
 the leading offices of Philadelphia, and 
 then for six months ran a job printing 
 business on his own account, on the corner 
 of Tenth and Ridge Avenue, in Philadel- 
 phia. He then sold out and came to Nor- 
 ristown as foreman for S. B. Helffenstein, 
 at that time proprietor and publisher of 
 the Defender. Mr. Evans remained in 
 that capacity until January, 1893, when, 
 upon the death of Mr. Helffenstein, he 
 became half owner of the paper, which he 
 has since published, the widow of the late 
 S. B. Helffenstein retaining half interest. 
 The National Defender is Democratic in 
 political policy, has a wide circulation in 
 the county, is newsy and spicy, and wields 
 a potent influence in the political affairs of 
 the county. Mr. Evans is a Democrat in 
 politics and is prominent and influential in 
 the councils of his party. In 1890 he was 
 the nominee of his party for the office of 
 burgess of Norristown, and, although his 
 
 party is eight hundred in the minority in 
 that borough, yet he was elected by one 
 hundred and thirty majority, a fact attesting 
 in an eminent degree, to his popularity 
 with those who know him best. In the 
 fraternal world he stands high and is de- 
 servedly popular ; he is a member of Nor- 
 ristown Lodge No. 32, Knights of Pythias; 
 Consonance Chamber No. 3, Knights of 
 Friendship ; Blooming Rose Castle No. 
 44, Knights of the Mystic Chain ; Lynwood 
 Lodge No. 154, A. O, U. W.; Norris Circle 
 No. 3, of the B. U. H.; and Norristown 
 Conclave, No. 125, I. O. H. He is an of- 
 ficer in the church organization of the 
 Trinity Lutheran church, and is a director 
 of the Second Building and Loan associa- 
 tion at Norristown. 
 
 On December 17, 1873, he married Anna 
 C, a daughter of Jonathan Helffenstein, 
 and two children bless their union : Addie 
 B., and Lavinia M. 
 
 WILLIAM A. SCHULTZ, who owns 
 the old Schultz homestead in Wor- 
 cester township, is a son of Samuel and 
 Susanna (Anders) Schultz, and was born in 
 Lower Providence township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, February 14, 1838. 
 Samuel Schultz was of German descent, 
 and his parents were residents of Mont- 
 gomery county. He was born in Upper 
 Hanover township, Montgomery county, 
 and died October 21, 1883. In early life he 
 learned the trade of cigar maker, which he 
 never followed regularly. Being more in- 
 clined toward agricultural pursuits, he gave 
 his time principally to the management 
 and tilling of his farm. He was a zealous 
 member of the Schwenkfelter church of 
 Lower District, in which he had held the 
 
182 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 office of deacon for many years. He was 
 prosperous as a fanner and in his business 
 affairs, and married Susanna Anders. To 
 their union were born five children, two 
 sons and three daughters : William A., 
 Sarah, now dead ; Susanna, wife of David 
 Kriebel , Amanda, who married William 
 H. Seipt ; and Samuel A., now deceased. 
 Mrs. Schultz was a daughter of Abraham 
 Anders. She was born October 2, 1815, in 
 Worcester township, and passed away in 
 the sixty-ninth year of her age. 
 
 William A. Schultz passed his youthful 
 days on the home where he has resided ever 
 since. He was married. Reared to habits 
 of industry and proper economy, and in- 
 heriting his father's taste for agricultural 
 pursuits, it was but natural that when he 
 left the common schools he should turn his 
 attention to farming. He has met with 
 good success as a farmer. His farm of 
 ninety-five acres is good fanning and graz- 
 ing land, and lies in a neighborhood where 
 school and church and market are con- 
 venient. Within the last few years Mr. 
 Schultz has made investments outside of 
 land and beyond farming, and which have 
 yielded fair returns. At the present time 
 he is serving as a director of the First 
 National bank of Lansdale, of which he 
 has been a stockholder for several years. 
 He is a Republican in politics, and has 
 served several times as assistant assessor in 
 the important triennial assessments of 
 Worcester township. He has also served 
 several times as an election inspector at his 
 voting polls. 
 
 On October 18, 1859, Mr. Schultz mar- 
 ried Maria Heebner, a member of the old 
 Heebner family of this county, and a 
 daughter of Anthony S. and Lidia (Krauss) 
 Heebner, of Worcester township. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Schultz have been born seven 
 
 children : Mary Ann, who married Abra- 
 ham K. Drisher ; Harrison, now dead ; 
 Emma, wife of George Kriebel ; Amanda, 
 married Isaiah S. Anders ; Amos, who 
 married Lizzie Reiner ; Katie, and Samuel. 
 Mr. Schultz and his wife and children are 
 members of the Schwenkfelter church, in 
 which he is a deacon. Mr. Schultz is 
 president of the Schwenckfelter church 
 committee, and has always taken a special 
 interest in all kinds of church work. Maria, 
 wife of William A. Schultz, died February 
 1, 1889. 
 
 MT. CRESSMAN, now engaged in the 
 • wholesale and retail cigar mauufac- 
 ing business, was born at Zieglersville, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, No- 
 vember 6, 1839, and is a son of Jesse and 
 LaAnna Cressman. The Cressman family 
 is of German descent. Grandfather Cress- 
 man resided near Tylersport, this county, 
 where he died at an advanced age. Their 
 children were Mrs. Reiter, Mrs. Nace, Mrs. 
 Donnehaver, and Jesse (father), who died 
 at the age of seventy-three years. Jesse 
 Cressman was a shoemaker and learned 
 his trade in Philadelphia, but afterwards 
 removed to Zieglersville, where he re- 
 mained until his death. He was a Demo- 
 crat in politics, and a member of the Luth- 
 eran church. He reared a family of eleven 
 children: Henry, deceased ; William, Jacob, 
 John, Jesse, Hannah, Paul, Kate, Mary, 
 deceased ; Elizabeth, deceased ; and Sarah, 
 now deceased. 
 
 M. T. Cressman, after receiving his edu- 
 cation in the common schools, became an 
 apprentice to the cigar manufacturing busi- 
 ness, which occupation he has followed 
 since 1854. In i860, he removed to Nor- 
 ristown and in 1875 he became engaged in 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 183 
 
 both a wholesale and retail business. On 
 December 24, 1863, he married a daughter 
 of Aaron Erb, who resided at Norristown 
 at the time of his death. This union has 
 been blessed with four children : Mary L., 
 who is the wife of George T. Bult, a resi- 
 dent of Norristown ; Lizzie B., who mar- 
 ried Henry Park, a stenographer, of Phila- 
 delphia ; Carrie ; Ella B., who married W. 
 M. King, a draughtsman, who resides in 
 Norristown. 
 
 Mr. Cressman is a strong Democrat and 
 takes an active part in the interests of the 
 Evangelical church, of which he is a mem- 
 ber and trustee. He is also a member of 
 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
 Curtis Lodge No. 239 ; a member of the 
 Junior Order of American Mechanics, Royal 
 Council No. 37 ; and a member of the 
 Knights of the Golden Eagle, Montgomery 
 Castle No. 34. 
 
 DR. JOHN R. BAER, a rising and pop- 
 ular physician of Montgomery county, 
 now located at Sassamanville, is a son of 
 Benjamin and Catharine (Bucherj Baer, and 
 was born May 3, 1868, at Topton, Berks 
 county, Pennsylvania. The old world home 
 of the ancesters of Dr. Baer was among the 
 Rhineland provinces of Germany, whence 
 they came several generations ago to the 
 United States, settling in eastern Penn- 
 sylvania. His paternal grandfather, 
 Charles Baer, was a distinguished citizen of 
 Berks county, living at the time of his 
 death in 1895, in retirement at Fleetwood, 
 Berks county. His children were : George, 
 Jonathan, William, Benjamin, Henry, Eliza- 
 beth, Hettie and Amanda. 
 
 Benjamin C. Baer (father), was born July 
 13, 1837, in Long Swamp township, Berks 
 
 county. He was reared upon the paternal 
 acres, attended the public schools and then 
 for a time was engaged as a teacher in the 
 same. He then took a position as clerk in 
 a mercantile establishment, was station 
 agent at Topton for a time and then went 
 into mercantile pursuits on his own account 
 along the lines of coal, grain and lumber. 
 Later he engaged in the mining and ship- 
 ping of iron-ore and as a wholesale dealer 
 and shipper of coal. He was a Democrat 
 politically and took a very active part for 
 the success of his party, serving ten years as 
 a member of the election board, a number 
 of years as a member of the town council of 
 Topton, school director at various times, 
 and in 1880 was elected justice of the peace 
 of that borough, which office he filled with 
 efficiency and credit until he resigned in 
 1884. In every position in which he was 
 placed he displayed good judgment, un- 
 usual business ability and a conscientious 
 disposition to serve the people. Hence in 
 1884 he was elected a member of the Penn- 
 sylvania house of representatives, a posi- 
 tion his business experience rendered him 
 eminently competent to fill. His marriage 
 with Catharine Bucher resulted in the birth 
 of five sons and two daughters : Charles C, 
 deceased; B. Frank, George H., John R., 
 Katie L. , Carrie C. and N. Fred. 
 
 Dr. Baer received his preliminary educa- 
 tion in the Topton public schools, Kutz- 
 town State Normal school and under pri- 
 vate tutors in Philadelphia. Having re- 
 solved to study medicine, he entered Jeffer- 
 son Medical college, from which he gradu- 
 ated in the class of 1893. The year prior to 
 his graduation, he was assistant demon- 
 strator of chemistry in his Alma Mater, 
 and also during the year prior to his gradua- 
 tion was assistant medical clinician at the 
 German hospital of that city. In 1893 he 
 
1 84 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 came to Sassamanville and entered vigor- 
 ously on the practice of the profession for 
 which he had made such ample preparation 
 and although in the practice but two years, 
 has built up a large clientele. His educa- 
 tion has not stopped with his common and 
 normal school training and technical prep- 
 aration for his profession but has been kept 
 up by general reading and study, especially 
 in the languages, so that he now ranks as 
 one of the finest linguists of the county, 
 speaking with ease and fluency five differ- 
 ent languages and has contributed articles 
 of literary merit to various journals of the 
 profession. He is a member of Washington 
 Camp No. 474, P. O. S. of A., and of the 
 Reformed church. On October 14, 1893, 
 he married Elizabeth D., a daughter of H. 
 H. Remminger, proprietor of the Congo 
 hotel at Congo, this county. One child, 
 Evelyn May, blesses this union. 
 
 BENJAMIN F. LEIDY, cashier of the 
 Farmers' National Bank, at Penns- 
 burg, is a son of Josiah W. and Caroline 
 (Cope) Leidy, and was born August 30, 
 1852, in Hilltown township, Bucks county, 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 He is of German lineage, his great-grand- 
 father was Henry Leidy, and his grand- 
 father was George Leidy, who lived near 
 Line Lexington, in Hilltown township, 
 Bucks county, where he was a farmer by 
 avocation. He married a lady by the name 
 of Wambold, and lived in the township of 
 his nativity all his life. 
 
 Josiah W. Leidy was born in Hilltown 
 township, on the old Leidy homestead, 
 in 1816, and died in the same township on 
 September 12, 1892, in the seventy-seventh 
 year of his age. He was reared upon his 
 
 father's farm, where he remained until the 
 death of the latter in 1832. After receiving 
 such education as the schools of his town- 
 ship afforded, he commenced teaching and 
 followed it several years — this and farming 
 were the pursuits of his life. 
 
 He was an active Democrat all his life, 
 and upon two occasions his party showed 
 its confidence in him by electing him to 
 office, first as a member of the board of 
 county commissioners, in 1862, and second 
 as clerk of the Orphans' Court, in 1881, 
 serving three years in each office to the 
 entire satisfaction of the public. He was 
 a man of good judgment and many strong 
 qualities of character, that made him an 
 exceptionably desirable public servant. He 
 was an active official of the Reformed 
 church, holding the office of deacon, elder, 
 etc., and always took a commendable inter- 
 est in every phase of church work. He 
 was not only prominent in the political 
 and religious circles, but in the industrial 
 world as well. He was president of the 
 Telford and County Line Turnpike coin- 
 pan) - , treasurer of the Hilltown and Sellers- 
 ville Turnpike company, and Manager of 
 the Line Lexington Fire Insurance com- 
 pany. 
 
 In 1843 he married Caroline, a daughter 
 of George Cope, and they became the par- 
 ents of the following children : Mary, who 
 wedded Samuel W. Leidy, both are now 
 deceased ; Edwin C, a teacher and justice 
 of the peace at Telford, Bucks county ; 
 Benjamin F., subject ; and Lydia, the wife 
 of H. S. Beidler, a member of the large 
 flouring mill firm of Swartley Bros. & Co., 
 at Doylestown, Bucks county. 
 
 Benjamin F. Leidy received his education 
 in the township schools and in the Carvers- 
 ville academy. He then took up the pro- 
 fession of teaching, and followed it for a 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 185 
 
 term of seventeen years, holding at the 
 time he gave up the profession, the State's 
 commission to teach in any of the public 
 schools of the commonwealth — a State cer- 
 tificate. In 1S85 he was elected cashier of 
 the Fanners' National bank of Peunsburg, 
 a position he has held to the present time. 
 Mr. Leidy is a Democrat, politically, a 
 member of Pennsburg Lodge No. 449, I. 
 O. O. F., and of the Reformed church, be- 
 ing an ardent and active member, serving 
 as deacon, and in connection with his 
 church work, he has served ten years as 
 superintendent of the Sabbath schools. 
 
 On February 20, 1875, he married Miss 
 Annie E. Strassburger, a daughter of 
 Reuben Y. Strassburger, a lumber dealer of 
 Schwenksville, this county. One child, 
 Robert Clement, blesses this marital union. 
 
 WILLIAM A. WELKER, a prosperous 
 merchant and highly respected citi- 
 zen of Red Hill, this county, is a son of 
 John and Maria (Roth) Welker, and was 
 born in Marlborough township, this county, 
 in 1840. The Welkers, of German extrac- 
 tion, were among the early pioneer settlers 
 of what is now Upper Montgomery county, 
 their settling there was co-existent with 
 the possession of that region by the Indians. 
 The paternal grandfather of William A. 
 Welker was John Welker, who was a farmer 
 and lived near what is known as Red Hill, 
 in Upper Hanover township, this count}-, 
 all his life. He lived in an age when Jef- 
 ferson and Jackson were the idols of their 
 party, and among their worshippers and ad- 
 mirers — because of the principles they rep- 
 resented — was John Welker. He was one of 
 the early supporters of the Goshenhoppen 
 Reformed church near East Greenville. 
 
 He married Rebecca Reiter, and their chil- 
 dren were as follows : John, father ; George, 
 Lovina, and one that died in infancy. 
 
 John Welker (father), was born in Upper 
 Hanover township, in 1815, and died Au- 
 gust 24, i860. He learned the trade of a 
 blacksmith when a young man, and during 
 his earh- life followed it for a number of 
 years, when he purchased a farm and de- 
 voted his attention essentially to the pursuits 
 of agriculture. He resided at the time of 
 his death in Upper Hanover township upon 
 the farm now owned by William A. Welker. 
 He was an active man in business, political 
 and religious circles, an ardent Democrat 
 and devout member of the Reformed church. 
 His children were but two in number : Wil- 
 liam A., and Henry J. 
 
 Henry J. Welker, son of John and Maria 
 Welker, was born November 29, 1850, in 
 Upper Hanover township, Montgomery 
 county, Pa. He began to teach public 
 school at the age of sixteen and taught six 
 years in Marlborough township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pa., and at Telford, Pa. 
 He prepared for college at Mt. Pleasant semi- 
 nary-, Boyertown, Pa., and entered Ursinus 
 college, graduating in 1876. He pursued 
 a theological course in the Ursinus school of 
 theology, was licensed to preach the gospel 
 by Goshenhoppen classis, and ordained to 
 the holy ministry by Tohickon classis as a 
 regular minister of the Reformed church. 
 He served the Springfield charge, Bucks 
 county, Pa., for seven years with satis- 
 factory results. In 1884 he was called 
 to the Tulpehocken charge, partly in 
 Lebanon and Berks counties. This charge 
 was at first composed of five congregations, 
 but he succeeded in- having it divided in 
 1891. He is now serving two of the oldest 
 congregations in the Reformed church in 
 this county, Tulpehocken and Kemerting's. 
 
1 86 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 He has also lately been instrumental in or- 
 ganizing a congregation and building a 
 church at Avon, Pa., which he is supplying 
 in connection with his regular charge. 
 
 William A. Welker received his mental 
 training and education in the public schools 
 of Upper Hanover township and in a nor- 
 mal and classical school at Quakertown, 
 Bucks county, where he won first prize — 
 Webster's Unabridged Dictionary — for meri- 
 torious work accomplished. Leaving school, 
 he was engaged for thirteen years in teach- 
 ing during the winter months and farming 
 during the summer. Owning since the old 
 homestead farm of fifty-eight acres, at what 
 has been known as Welker's station, on the 
 Perkiomen railroad. In 1874 he purchased 
 the farm upon which he now resides at Red 
 Hill, containing fifty acres and comprising 
 a residence and good store property. Since 
 occupying this property he has con- 
 ducted a general mercantile business, the 
 first five years in partnership with M. K. 
 Gilbert, but since then on his own account, 
 and does a large and successful business. In 
 addition to his mercantile business, Mr. 
 Welker is prominently identified with a 
 number of other industrial enterprises. He 
 has been a director of the Goshenhoppen 
 and Green Lane Turnpike company for 
 twenty-six years and secretary for three 
 years ; manager of the Perkiomen and Sum- 
 neytown Turnpike company for twenty-one 
 years, and has been the agent for twenty 
 years of the Perkiomen Mutual Fire and 
 Storm Insurance company for the district of 
 Upper Hanover township. He also was 
 acting assistant postmaster at Red Hill, 
 Montgomery county, Pa., for over seventeen 
 years, and on February 1, 1893, by Hon. 
 John Wanamaker, postmaster general, was 
 appointed to that office, which he still holds. 
 
 Mr. Welker is a Democrat politically, 
 
 but believing the use of intoxicating drinks 
 is an evil threatening not only the pros- 
 perity, but the very perpetuity of the nation, 
 he is heartily in sympathy with every move 
 which has for its object the regulating of 
 this curse. In 1868 Mr. Welker was com- 
 missioned a justice of the peace of this place 
 by Governor Gear) 7 , and recommissioned by 
 Governor Hartranft, serving two terms or 
 ten years in all. Mr. Welker is a member 
 of the Reformed church, and has served as 
 secretary of the church organization at 
 Pennsburg, Pa., for twenty-five years, and 
 as deacon for twelve years, always taking 
 an active part in every form of church 
 work and in ever}' move or measure which 
 in his judgment had as its object the good 
 of the community, either spiritual or mate- 
 rial. On February 2, 1861, he married 
 Angeline, a daughter of John Heebner, and 
 five children bless this marriage relation : 
 John Allen, deceased ; George M., who is 
 in the mercantile business with his father. 
 He married Anna Pfleiger (formerly written 
 Pfluger), and two children, Melvin G., and 
 Grover L., were born to them ; Alice 
 L., the third child, is a teacher by profes- 
 sion, a graduate of the class of 1888, of the 
 Kutztown State normal school ; Harvey 
 A., graduated from Ursinus college at Col- 
 legeville, this county, in the class of 1893, 
 taught school one term and then entered 
 the New York Theological seminary, and 
 is assistant at a mission station of that city. 
 His wife's maiden name was Anna Stauffer ; 
 William H. is at home, engaged in the 
 store. 
 
 Mr. Welker has always been an active 
 Sunday-school worker, serving for nearly 
 thirty years as superintendent of the Sab- 
 bath school at Pennsburg. He possesses 
 the confidence of the community in which 
 he lives, who regard him not onlv as a man 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 187 
 
 of strict integrity and probity, but as a man 
 of rare good judgment and business ability, 
 and he is frequently called upon to act in 
 the confidence relations of assignee, execu- 
 tor, and guardian. He is a useful and hon- 
 ored man of the community. 
 
 JOSEPH M. HILLES. A good represen- 
 tative of the younger business men of 
 Norristown, is the subject of this sketch, Jo- 
 seph M. Hilles, a merchant and leading car- 
 riage dealer of the firm of Hilles & Taggart, 
 at ii5DeKalb street. He is a son of Ben- 
 jamin L. and Elizabeth (Foulke) Hilles, and 
 was born June 13, 1870, at Ambler, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania. 
 
 The Hilles family comes from a long; line 
 of Welsh Quaker lineancy, the emigrant of 
 whom transplanted the name with the same 
 motives that were at the foundations of the 
 founding of the Society on our soil ; tradi- 
 tion or history reveals little authentic of the 
 earlier history of the family in this country. 
 David Hilles, grandfather, was for many years 
 a business man of Norristown, a Republi- 
 can in his political allegiance, and a mem- 
 ber of the Society of Friends. He married 
 Sarah Lee Lightfoot, and had four chil- 
 dren : Benjamin L., father ; William, Susan, 
 and Phoebe. 
 
 Benjamin L. Hilles (father), was born at 
 Maiden Creek, Berks county, Pennsylvania; 
 afterwards he removed with his parents to 
 Montgomery county, where he received his 
 education in the public and select schools 
 of Norristown, and was reared to manhood. 
 He has resided here ever since, and is 
 at present associated with the firm of Cas- 
 well & Moore, extensive merchants, at 
 Phcenixville, Chester county, Pennsylvania. 
 He is a staunch Republican, but never 
 
 sought political favor, taking only such part 
 in politics as every good citizen is expected 
 to take. Mr. Hilles kept up his religious 
 tradition of the family in his adherence to 
 the Society of Friends. 
 
 His marriage to Elizabeth Foulke Moore, 
 February 23, 1869, was blessed with one 
 child, Joseph M., the subject of this sketch. 
 Samuel Moore, maternal grandfather of Jo- 
 seph M. Hilles, was a farmer of near Valley 
 Forge, Upper Merion township, this county. 
 He married Ann, daughter of Joseph 
 Foulke, of Gwynedd, this county, who for 
 a number of years conducted a popular 
 boarding school for boys at his home. 
 
 Samuel Moore latterly retired from the 
 farm and active business pursuits and re- 
 moved thence to Philadelphia, where he re- 
 sided up to his death. Elizabeth Foulke, 
 mother of the subject of this sketch, was 
 one of a family of four children, two boys 
 and two girls : Richard, deceased ; Henry 
 Clay, deceased ; Hannah, who became the 
 wife of Edward Hollingsworth, and resides 
 in Maryland ; Elizabeth, mother of subject, 
 attended the public schools of her native 
 township and afterwards furthered her 
 studies at Hilborn Boarding school at Ab- 
 bingtou, Montgomery county. She is a zeal- 
 ous and devout member of the Society of 
 Friends, and a regular attendant at the 
 meeting at Norristown. 
 
 We will now come back to the subject 
 proper of this biographical notice, Joseph 
 M. Hilles, who received his preliminary 
 training in the Valley Friends' school, Ches- 
 ter county, Pennsylvania, and subsequently 
 attended the Friends' Central High school, 
 Philadelphia, where he completed his edu- 
 cational training. Upon leaving school he 
 launched into the produce business in the 
 Farmers' market at Norristown. Here he 
 conducted a successful business up to 1891, 
 
1 88 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 at which time he associated with him Mr. 
 Joseph Taggart, operating under the trad- 
 ing name of Hilles & Taggart, and estab- 
 lished what is now the leading carriage em- 
 porium in Norristown. They located at 
 115 DeKalb street, where they have erected 
 a large salesroom with increased facilities 
 for accommodating their large and con- 
 stantly growing trade. Mr. Hilles is a birth- 
 right member and advocate of the Society 
 of Friends and a regular attendant at its 
 meetings at Norristown. 
 
 GEORGE R. ROEBUCK, superinten- 
 dent of the Metropolitan Life Insur- 
 ance company at Norristown, is a son of 
 Joseph and Martha (Bates) Roebuck and 
 was born in 1846 at Ellard, near Hudders- 
 fields, Yorkshire, England. The parents 
 of Mr. Roebuck, dying when he was quite 
 young, he was early thrown upon his own 
 resources and did not have many advan- 
 tages for securing educational training, 
 most of it being such as he was able to get 
 by attendance upon the night schools. 
 When but a mere boy he was employed in 
 and about the mines of his native country 
 until seventeen years of age, when he 
 learned the trade of a weaver which he fol- 
 lowed in his native country until 1871. 
 Upon the latter date he came to the United 
 States with a friend and soon secured em- 
 ployment as a weaver in the Woolen Mills 
 of Schofield, at Manayunk, which position 
 he held five years, and then engaged in the 
 green grocery business at Manayunk for 
 three years. He then took the initiation 
 step that led him into the business in 
 which he is now so very successfully en- 
 gaged. 
 
 He began soliciting for a life insurance 
 
 company. He followed this line of busi- 
 ness six months when he was promoted to 
 assistant superintendent at Manayunk, 
 which position he filled up to March, 1881, 
 when he was made assistant superintendent 
 of the Prudential Life Insurance company, 
 at Norristown, remaining with that com- 
 pany but a short time. He took a similar 
 position with the Metropolitan Company, 
 at Norristown, carefully guarding the in- 
 terests of that firm in that capacity until 
 1887. Upon the latter date, because of the 
 fidelity and efficiency he had displayed in 
 every detail of the business, he was pro- 
 moted to the position he now holds. His 
 position is a most important one, his ter- 
 ritory comprising the following counties : 
 Berks, Bucks, Montgomery and Chester. 
 These are populous and wealthy counties, 
 and contain a population that does a vast 
 amount of insuring, and to supervise the 
 work of which requires the display of more 
 than ordinary execution, ability and force. 
 
 He has in his employ and under his 
 direct supervision, an army of sixty-five 
 agents. 
 
 Mr. Roebuck is a Republican in political 
 principles, and a member of the Oak street 
 Methodist Episcopal church ; he has served 
 the church organization as trustee and 
 steward and at the present time is superin- 
 tendent of the Sabbath school, and has 
 always taken an active and commendable 
 interest in every phase of church work. 
 He is also a member of the Order of Sons 
 of St. George (was the first president of 
 the order held in Manayunk), and the Ex- 
 celsior Building and Loan Association. 
 
 July 29, 1873, he married Anna Kinder, 
 and four children bless their union: Joseph, 
 Edward, George and William Arthur, de- 
 ceased. The life of Mr. Roebuck is a 
 striking illustration of what a man can 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 i8g 
 
 accomplish by perseverance and indomit- 
 able will. His record is an exemplification 
 of that aphorism : " There is always room 
 at the top." 
 
 YK7 ILLIAM F. SMITH, a present jus- 
 ™ * tice of the peace of Conshohocken, 
 is a son of Aaron and Sarah W. (Wilkinson) 
 Smith, and was born at Eldrige Hill, 
 Gloucester county, New Jersey, July 27, 
 1840. Aaron Smith was a native of Med- 
 ford, New Jersey, in which State he resided 
 until his death, at eighty-three years of 
 age. He married Sarah W. Wilkinson, 
 and their children were : Mary G., of 
 Germantown ; James, dead; Es her A., 
 William F. , (subject) and Norris W., who 
 is employed in the Northern Central rail- 
 road station, in the city of Baltimore, 
 Maryland. Mrs. Smith, who died Jnly 17, 
 1892, aged eighty-three years, was a daugh- 
 ter of Josiah Wilkinson, who was a native 
 and lifelong resident of Willistown and 
 Goshen township, Chester county. Mr. 
 Wilkinson served in the United States 
 navy under Commodore Decatur, and was 
 on the Constitution when it fought some 
 of its hardest battles. He was a Whig and 
 Friend, and his remains lie in the Goshen 
 Friends burying ground. He was six feet 
 two inches in height, of fine personal ap- 
 pearance, and made a fine naval record for 
 efficiency and bravery. Mr. Wilkinson 
 married for his first wife, Annie Wayne, a 
 half sister of General Anthony Wayne, and 
 after her death wedded Mary Scullion, 
 by whom he had thirteen children, the 
 second of whom was Mrs. Sarah W. Smith. 
 William F. Smith was so situated in 
 boyhood that he received but eighteen 
 months schooling in all, and at twelve 
 
 years of age went to work on a farm in 
 East Goshen township, Chester county, 
 where he worked for some time. He then 
 learned the trade of house painter, at West 
 Chester, this State, and found steady em- 
 ployment at that trade up to 1880, except- 
 ing the time he served in the Union Army. 
 Mr. Smith has resided since 1867 at Con- 
 shohocken, where he has served continu- 
 ously as justice of the peace since July i, 
 1880, and as burgess, 1879, 1890 and 1892. 
 He was one of the first when the late Civil 
 war commenced, to offer his services to the 
 government. He enlisted on April 19, 
 1861, in company G, Second Pennsylvania 
 Infantry, but in the same year was dis- 
 charged at Chambersburg, this State, on 
 account of sickness. After recovering his 
 health to some extent, he re-enlisted on 
 September 20, 1861, joining Co. H, Ninety- 
 Seventh Pennsylvania Infantry, and served 
 until November 15, 1862, when he was dis- 
 charged on the regimental surgeon's 
 certificate for physical disability, and de- 
 barred from any future re-enlistment. 
 
 William F. Smith has always been a 
 Republican in political affairs, and believes 
 in the faith and practice of the Society of 
 Friends. 
 
 He is a member of Fritz Lodge, No. 
 420, Free and Accepted Masons ; Consho- 
 hocken Conclave No 233, Heptasophs ; 
 Washita Tribe No. 53, Improved Order of 
 Red Men; Montgomery Lodge No. 17, 
 Knights of Birmingham ; Washington 
 Camp No. 221, Patriotic Order Sons of 
 America ; and George Smith Post No. 79, 
 Grand Army of the Republic, of which he 
 is senior vice commander. 
 
 The Smith family is of English, Irish 
 and Scotch descent. Burgess Smith's 
 grandfather, John Smith, lived near Mt. 
 Holly, New Jersey, and served as a quarter- 
 
190 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 master in Washington's arm}-. He was a 
 man of means and furnished supplies to 
 the American army when it lay near Mon- 
 mouth. He married a Miss Crawford, 
 who lived to be ninety-two years of age. 
 
 JOHN D. WEBER, general merchant at 
 Centre Point, and postmaster of Wor- 
 cester, is a son of George M. and Matilda 
 (Davis) Weber, and was born in Worcester 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, December 12, 1S59. George M. Weber 
 is of German descent, and was born and 
 reared in Worcester township, where he has 
 always resided. He is a farmer by occupa- 
 tion, and a school teacher by profession, 
 having taught several years. He has also 
 served for some years as a member of the 
 township school board. He is a Democrat 
 in politics, and married Matilda Davis, 
 whose father, Henry Davis, was a resident 
 of Worcester. Mr. and Mrs. Weber have 
 four children : Annie, wife of Theodore 
 Bassett; Frank P., John D., subject; and 
 Mahlon B. 
 
 John D. Weber attended the common 
 schools of his native township until he was 
 sixteen years of age, and then commenced 
 life for himself as a clerk in the general 
 mercantile store of H. M. Zeigler, of Cen- 
 ter Point. He spent four years with Mr. 
 Zeigler, and then went to West Point sta- 
 tion, where he served as a clerk for two 
 years. At the end of that time he returned 
 to Center Point, and accepted a position in 
 the store of W. H. Baker, which he soon re- 
 signed to enter the general mercantile es- 
 tablishment of S. W. Hendricks. In a few 
 months after entering Mr. Hendricks' em- 
 ploy he was admitted as a partner in the 
 business under the firm name of Hendricks 
 
 & Weber. The partnership continued up 
 to the spring of 1894, when he purchased 
 Mr. Hendricks' interest in the store, and 
 since then has conducted the business for 
 himself. He keeps a full assortment of all 
 kinds of general merchandise, and makes a 
 specialty of any line of goods for which 
 there is a particular or general demand in 
 his community. He has met with success 
 in his line of business and has a good pa- 
 tronage. 
 
 On April 10, 1883, Mr. Weber married 
 Ida J. Beaver, who was a daughter of Dr. 
 William Beaver, of Centre Point, and died 
 February 14, 1891. After her death Mr. 
 Weber again married on August 16, 1892, 
 wedding Emma K. Brecht, daughter of 
 John E. and Sarah K. (Kriebel) Brecht, of 
 Worcester township. By his first marriage 
 Mr. Weber had two children : George Se- 
 bing, and Samuel, who died, and one child 
 by his second marriage, Sarah B. 
 
 In politics John D. Weber is a Democrat. 
 He is a good business man, but no politi- 
 cian. He and his wife both are members 
 of the Reformed church. 
 
 JOHN DAVIS, M. D, who has been "in 
 continuous practice at Pottstown for 
 a third of a century, is a son of Aaron 
 and Hannah (Woodward) Davis, and was 
 born January 19, 1833, near West Chester, 
 Chester county, Pennsylvania. The Davis 
 family is of English origin and rank among 
 the oldest settlers of Chester county, while 
 on the maternal side Dr. Davis' ancestors 
 were of Welsh extraction. Aaron Davis 
 (father), was a prominent Chester county 
 farmer, a Republican in politics, and a non- 
 sectarian in religious belief and church 
 membership. He died in 1867, aged sixty- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 191 
 
 three years. In 1832 he married Hannah 
 Woodward, a daughter of Jacob Woodward, 
 of Chester county, and to them was born a 
 family of five children, four sons and one 
 daughter, only three of whom now survive. 
 Mrs. Davis is still living, being now well 
 advanced in the 88th year of her age. 
 
 Dr. John Davis spent his early years on 
 the farm, and acquired a good English edu- 
 cation in the public schools and by private 
 study. He engaged in teaching for several 
 years, and was also connected with the 
 mercantile business in Chester county until 
 about 1858, at which time he began the 
 study of medicine. After careful prepara- 
 tion he matriculated at the Electic Medical 
 college, of Philadelphia, where he remained 
 until 1S62, when he was graduated with the 
 degree of M. D. Dr. Davis soon afterward 
 began the practice of his profession at Potts- 
 town, Pennsylvania, and has ever since de- 
 voted his time and attention to the healing 
 art in that city. He has now been in the 
 professional harness for more than thirty- 
 three years, and in length of service out- 
 ranks every other physician of the place. 
 His practice extends over much of Mont- 
 gomery and Chester counties. 
 
 On August 26, 1858, Dr. Davis was wed- 
 ded to Sarah A. Hoopes, a daughter of 
 Enos Hoopes, of Chester county, and they 
 had three children : Helen M., a graduate 
 of the Women's Medical college, of Phila- 
 delphia, who married Dr. Alfred Mullhaupt, 
 of Elk county, this State, and is practicing 
 medicine with her husband ; Mary, and 
 Anna, both of whom died in infancy. Mrs. 
 Sarah Davis died September 26, 1864, aged 
 thirty years. On March 15, 1866, Dr. Davis 
 was married again, his second wife being 
 Elizabeth Messimer, a daughter of James 
 Messimer, of Pottstown. To this union 
 was born six children, five of whom died in 
 
 childhood. The only one who reached 
 maturity is Dr. William J. Davis, a young 
 practicing physician of Pottstown, who 
 graduated from the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania in 1889. 
 
 Dr. John Davis is a Prohibitionist in poli- 
 tics, and a member of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, which he has served as trus- 
 tee for several years and as steward for 
 nearly the third of a century. His profes- 
 sional career has been one of merited success, 
 and he is a cultured Christian gentleman. 
 
 JOHN FRY, the well known hat mer- 
 chant and secret society man of Norris- 
 town, is the only son of John and Mary 
 (Gibbs) Fry, and was born in this borough 
 in 1855. The family is of German extrac- 
 tion, and have resided in Norristown for 
 more than a century. The paternal grand- 
 father of the subject of this sketch bore the 
 same name, John Fry, and lived here all his 
 life. One of his sons, named for himself, 
 was John Pry (father), who was also born 
 and reared in the borough of Norristown. 
 He was long identified with secret societies, 
 and for many years had charge of the hall 
 belonging to the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows in Norristown. He was the first 
 organizer of the Red Men in this part of 
 Pennsylvania, and was the first grand 
 sachem of the first lodge of that order es- 
 tablished here. He was also a member of 
 the Masonic order, and much of his time 
 was devoted to secret society work, in which 
 he bore an active part for many years. He 
 married Mary Gibbs, to which union was 
 born a family of four children, one son and 
 three daughters : Mariah G., Sarah E., John 
 and Maggie J. The father died in 1869, 
 aged sixty-five, and the mother passed from 
 earth in 1882, at the age of sixty-three. 
 
192 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 John Fry, their only son, was reared in 
 his native borough of Norristown, and ob- 
 tained his education in the public schools. 
 After leaving school he engaged in house 
 painting and followed that occupation for a 
 dozen years. He then embarked in the hat 
 business at Norristown, which he conducted 
 until 1887, when he accepted the position 
 of tax collector for Montgomery county. 
 After one term in this office he returned to 
 the hat trade and has successfully con- 
 ducted the latter business to the present 
 time. His store is located on Main street, 
 and he has built up a fine trade, which ex- 
 tends to all parts of the surrounding country. 
 
 Politically Mr. Fry has always adhered to 
 the Democratic party, but has been liberal 
 and broad minded in his views, and inclined 
 to independence in local politics. In church 
 relations he is a Baptist, and has served as 
 librarian of the Sunday-school connected 
 with his church. He is a member of Mont- 
 gomery Lodge No. 57, Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows ; Charity Lodge No. 190, 
 Free and Accepted Masons ; and of the Im- 
 proved Order of Red Men, of Norristown, 
 and is also past grand sachem of the latter 
 order in Pennsylvania. He has always 
 taken an active interest in secret society or- 
 ganizations, and is widely known in con- 
 nection with the various orders in which he 
 holds membership. 
 
 Mr. Fry was united in marriage with Mag- 
 gie F. Ashurrs, to whom have been born two 
 children, both sons: John and James A. 
 
 ISAAC M. SCHELLINGER, president 
 1 of the Diamond Glass company of 
 Royersford, is a native of the city of Phila- 
 delphia, where he was born December 9, 
 1863. The family from which he is de- 
 
 scended is one of the oldest in New Jersey 
 and Pennsylvania, their settlements here 
 antedating by many years the arrival of 
 William Penn in the new world. 
 
 Cornelius Schellinger, paternal great- 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch, 
 was a resident of New Jersey, who settled 
 in Philadelphia and acquired title to landed 
 property there by a grant from King 
 Charles II, through Lord Lovelace, then 
 governor of the province, which is now the 
 state of Pennsylvania, in 1682. He was 
 one of the founders of the old Swedes 
 church located at the corner of Front and 
 Christian streets, that city, which is now 
 owned and used by the Episcopalians. 
 His son of the same name (great-grand- 
 father) was one of the seventy-eight repre- 
 sentatives of the people of New Jersey who 
 voted to ratify the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence in 1776. One of the sons of the 
 latter, Aaron Schellinger (grandfather) 
 served as a soldier in the war of the revolu- 
 tion, and also took part as a drill master 
 and recruiting officer in the war of 1812. 
 Aaron Schellinger married Emily Bennett, 
 and had a family of nine children, one of 
 whom was Jeremiah B. Shellinger (father), 
 who was born at Cape May city, New Jer- 
 sey, in 1830. After attaining manhood he 
 engaged in the lumber business, and mar- 
 ried Louisa B Merritt, also a native of Cape 
 May, and a daughter of Captain Isaac P. 
 Merritt. They reared a family of three 
 children, of whom two still survive. 
 
 Isaac M. Schellinger spent his boyhood 
 in Philadelphia, where he was prepared for 
 college, and in 1877 entered the academy of 
 Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, from which insti- 
 tution he was graduated in June, 1882. In 
 the fall of 1886, he associated himself with 
 A. A. Murray, Charles Raiser, William 
 Ralston and John Hill, and purchased the 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 »93 
 
 Penn Glass works at Royersford, which 
 then consisted of one furnace. They or- 
 ganized under the name of the Diamond 
 Glass company, Mr. Schellinger being 
 elected president, which office he has ever 
 since occupied. They enlarged the works 
 by constructing three additional glass fur- 
 naces and erected several brick buildings, 
 and now employ nearly three hundred work- 
 men. Thus from a comparatively small 
 beginning, these gentlemen have built up 
 one of the most important industrial enter- 
 prises in Montgomery county, and much of 
 the success is due to the ability, energy and 
 sound business judgment of its president. 
 In addition to his interests in the Diamond 
 Glass company, Mr. Shellinger is a director 
 of the Home National bank of Royersford, 
 president of the Arctic Refrigerator com- 
 pany of Linfield, president of the Royers- 
 ford Building and Loan association, and 
 director of the Industrial Savings bank of 
 Royersford. 
 
 On May 7, 1888, Mr. Schellinger was 
 married to Jennie L. Farrow, a daughter of 
 William and Ada Farrow, of Cape May, 
 New Jersey. In politics he is a Republican 
 and protectionist, and in religious belief 
 adheres to the Presbyterian church. He is 
 a Free and Accepted Mason, and has ser- 
 ved as master of his lodge. He is likewise 
 a Knight of the Golden Eagle and a mem- 
 ber of the Improved Order of Red Men. 
 
 SAMUEL J. HARTZELL, a baker at 
 Green Lane, this county, is a son of 
 David W. and Mary Ann (Snyder) Hartzell, 
 and was born December 5, 1868, at Anise, 
 New Hanover township, this county. He 
 attended the common schools of the town- 
 ship and obtained an elementary education. 
 
 Leaving school he learned the trade of a 
 blacksmith and followed it as a means of 
 securing a livelihood three years at Here- 
 fordville and Geryville, in Berks county, 
 Pennsylvania. He then learned the baker's 
 trade at Schwenksville, where he followed 
 it for two years, and at Collegeville, this 
 county, for an equal length of time. He 
 came to Green Lane in 1892, and founded 
 his present business, purchasing building, 
 residence and bakery combined. 
 
 Mr. Hartzell has paid strict attention to 
 business, and his desire has been to please 
 his customers, and as a result of this he has 
 built up a good business. Politically he is 
 a believer in the principles of the Demo- 
 cratic party, with which he has always 
 voted, and is a devoted member of the Re- 
 formed church at Sumneytown. 
 
 On February 27, 1891, he married Louisa 
 Kohl, and one child, Isaac Henry, blesses 
 this marriage union. 
 
 WILLIAM McKINZIE, A. M., M. D., 
 a well established physician of West 
 Conshohocken, is a son of Hugh and Rose 
 (Todd) McKinzie, and was born in county 
 Antrim, Ireland, November 14, 1841. Hugh 
 McKinsie, his father, came to America in 
 1843. He was a farmer by occupation and 
 resided successively at Port Kennedy, Cedar 
 Grove, Spring Mill and Philadelphia. 
 He was a Whig and subseqently a Repub- 
 lican. He reared a family of two children : 
 Dr. William and John T., a business man 
 of West Conshohocken. He died at Phila- 
 delphia, Pa., October 4, 1887, in the eighty- 
 ninth year of his age. Mrs. McKinzie died 
 March 17, 1866, in the forty-ninth year of 
 her age. 
 Dr- William McKinzie was reared in Penn- 
 
 13 
 
i 9 4 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 sylvania, and received his elementary 
 education in the common schools. He 
 was prepared for college under a private 
 tutor, and then entered Lafayette college, 
 of Easton, Pennsylvania, from which well 
 known educational institution he was 
 graduated in the class of 1866, with the 
 degree of A. B. Leaving college he taught 
 in the collegiate institution of Newton, 
 New Jersey, during 1866-67, anc ^ tne next 
 year became principal of West Jersey 
 Academy, at Bridgeton, N. J. , which posi- 
 tion he resigned in 1869, on account of ill 
 health. In the last named year he received 
 his degree of A. M. from Lafayette college, 
 and entered the Medical department of the 
 University of Pennsylvania, from which he 
 was graduated in 1871. Immediately after 
 graduation he located at Conshohocken. 
 He has built up a good practice and has 
 made a success of his chosen profession. 
 
 Dr. McKinzie is a Republican politically. 
 He has served as a member of council, was 
 the first Republican burgess of West Con- 
 shohocken, and served for eight years as 
 postmaster of that place, under President 
 Arthur and Harrison. He is a member of 
 the American Academy of Medicine, which 
 only admits members having the degree of 
 A. M. He is a member and past master of 
 Fritz Lodge No 420, Free and Accepted 
 Masons, of Conshohocken. He is a Pres- 
 byterian in religious belief, and has been a 
 member for thirty-four years of the First 
 Presbyterian church, of Conshohocken. 
 He is the present treasurer of Conshohocken 
 Presbyterian church. 
 
 On June 21, 1881, Dr. McKinzie married 
 Alice R. Durling, whose father, Jonathan 
 Durliug, was a dry goods merchant of 
 Easton, Pennsylvania. Their union has 
 been blessed with one child, a daughter, 
 named Maud. 
 
 BENJAMIN GERY, a merchant of East 
 Greenville, is a son of John and Catha- 
 rine (Graber) Gery, and was born August 
 20, 1826, in Herford township, Berks county, 
 Pennsylvania. His paternal grandfather 
 was a native of Switzerland, and came to 
 the United States and located, it is thought, 
 in Upper Hanover township, this county, 
 where he followed farming. 
 
 Jacob Gery, grandfather, was born in 
 Upper Hanover township, this county, grew 
 to manhood in his native township and for 
 a time followed farming, but later engaged 
 in the manufacture of tiles for roofing pur- 
 poses. He was a disciple of the Jacksonian 
 Democracy, and a believer in the sectarian 
 principles of Reformed Luther, and was an 
 active church worker, and was a member of 
 the old State militia. He was twice mar- 
 ried. To his first wife were born eight 
 children. 
 
 John Gery (father), was born in Upper 
 Hanover township, passed his early life in 
 the avocation of farming and later operated 
 a linseed oil mill, and still later kept a hotel 
 at Milford township, in Bucks county, at a 
 place known as Geryville, a village named 
 for Jesse Gery, brother of the subject of this 
 sketch. He was a Democrat, and a mem- 
 ber also of the Reformed church, in which 
 he held the offices of elder, deacon, etc. To 
 his marriage relation with Catharine Graber 
 were born twelve children : Reuben, Jesse, 
 Elizabeth, Julia Rader, Sallie, Maria, 
 Gideon, Benjamin, subject ; Anna, Kate, 
 Lydia, and Susanna. 
 
 Benjamin Gen's intellectual scholastic 
 training was obtained in the Washington 
 Hall seminary at Trappe, in this county. 
 His first work on an individual line of ac- 
 tion was as a huckster, buying agricultural 
 products throughout the country and dis- 
 posing of the same in the Philadelphia 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 *95 
 
 markets. This line of commerce he car- 
 ried on for about a quarter of a century, when 
 in [883, he took up farming and pursued it 
 until 1888, when he came to East Green- 
 ville, and became a member of the firm of 
 N. K. Gery & Company, lumber, coal, flour, 
 feed and grain dealers. Mr. Gery, as were 
 his ancestors, is of the Democratic faith, 
 and has held the offices of councilman and 
 of school director in the borough of East 
 Greenville. The precepts of the Reformed 
 church are in harmony with his ideas of 
 orthodox dogma, and he is an active worker 
 and church official in the church organiza- 
 tion of that sect at the New Goshenhoppen. 
 He married on February 15, 1853, Lavina 
 Krauss, a daughter of Anthony Krauss, a 
 machinist at Kraussdale, Lehigh county, 
 Pennsylvania, and the following named 
 children bless their union : James, deceased ; 
 Nevin, Sarah, deceased ; Hannah, John, 
 Howard B., deceased ; Frank, Clement, La- 
 vinnia, Charles, and Ella. 
 
 WILLIAM SLEMMER, of Norristown, 
 who extensively engaged in the oil 
 business, is a son of Adam and Margaretta 
 Slemmer, and was born in New Hanover 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, on January 15, 1820. He received 
 his education in the old academy and in the 
 High schools of Norristown. He remained 
 with his father, in the printing office of the 
 Norristoivn Register, until the latter sold 
 the establishment, when William became 
 editor and general manager of the Norris- 
 town Register. In 1851 he received the 
 appointment as a clerk in the post-office 
 department, in which capacity he served 
 until the breaking out of the Civil war. 
 At this time he became interested in the 
 
 oil business, in which he has been engaged 
 ever since. In partnership with his brothers 
 he purchased some oil territory near Titus- 
 ville, this State, and also on the Tarr farm, 
 Venango county, on which they put down 
 several wells and afterwards removed to 
 where he now resides. Mr. Slemmer is a 
 member of St. John's Episcopal church, 
 and also a member of the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows, Montgomery Lodge 
 No. 57. 
 
 On January 15, 1845, Mr. Slemmer 
 married Hannah Craft, who died in 1890, 
 at the age of seventy-one years. To their 
 union were born three children : William 
 H., who is engaged in commercial business 
 in Philadelphia ; Margaret, who died in in- 
 fancy ; and Mary B., widow of the late 
 Frank Miller, a merchant of Norristown. 
 
 DAVID S. KERN, a merchant of Penns- 
 burg, Montgomery county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, is a son of Thomas and Sarah (Schuler) 
 Kern, and was born December 16, 1846, 
 near Shimersville, Upper Milford township, 
 Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. He was 
 educated in the common schools and in 
 Fort Washington academy. Leaving school, 
 he took a clerkship in a general store at 
 Shimersville, where he remained several 
 years and four years at Macungie, and then 
 went upon the road for two years as a sales- 
 man for Dr. Henry Geigerand Company, of 
 Philadelphia. In 1871 he embarked in the 
 mercantile business at Pennsburg, continu- 
 ing in that line for a period of six years. 
 At the end of that time he closed out his 
 general mercantile business and confined 
 himself to the sewing machine and carpet 
 trade, to which he added, in 1883, a piano 
 and organ agency, which lines with the 
 
196 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 exception of carpets, he carries to the 
 present time. 
 
 Mr. Kern is a Republican, and served 
 one term under Harrison's administration as 
 postmaster of Pennsburg. He is a director 
 in the Fanner's National bank, and thor- 
 oughly identified with the material and so- 
 cial interests of the borough in which he 
 lives. He is a member of St. Mark's Luth- 
 eran chnrch, and has served it fonr years as 
 deacon, and ten years as treasurer. 
 
 The marriage of Mr. Kern and Sallie J. 
 Danner, a daughter of David Danner, of 
 Lehigh county, has resulted in the birth of 
 one child, a daughter, Minnie Jane, wife of 
 Dr. J. P. Hillegass, now a practicing physi- 
 cian at No. 1617 West Dauphin street, Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 ISAAC LANDIS, a leading contractor and 
 business man of Norristown, was born in 
 Harleysville, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, December 13, 1843. He is a son of 
 Isaac and Hettie (Haldeman) Landis. The 
 ancestors of Mr. Landis on both the mater- 
 nal and paternal side have been residents of 
 the State of Pennsylvania for more than 
 two hundred years. The original settle- 
 ment was made near Germantown, and re- 
 sulted from the emigration of two brothers, 
 who came from the Kingdom of Prussia, 
 Germany. From these two emigrating an- 
 cestors the Landis family in Pennsylvania 
 sprang. Grandfather George Landis was a 
 native of Bucks county, this State ; was a 
 farmer by occupation, and is buried in the 
 county of his birth. His son, Isaac Landis, 
 sr., father of this subject, is still living at an 
 advanced age. In early life he was inden- 
 tured to learn the trade of stone mason, but 
 later in life gave up his trade and pursued 
 the occupation of farming. 
 
 Isaac Landis, jr., was brought up in this 
 county and lived here until he attained the 
 age of twenty-one years, at which time he 
 removed to the State of Ohio, where he re- 
 mained for a period of three years. At the 
 expiration of this time he returned to Nor- 
 ristown and carried on the trade of stone 
 mason, which he had at an earlier period 
 learned with his father. After a period of 
 ten years he started in the stone business, 
 furnishing and contracting for rough and 
 prepared building stone. This naturally 
 led to the business of a contractor, which 
 Mr. Landis from this time forward adopted. 
 He rapidly extended his business in various 
 directions and soon became a leading and 
 enterprising business man. 
 
 Mr. Landis is a Republican in politics, 
 and was formerly actively identified with 
 all the interests of that party. He has 
 served as a member of the borough council, 
 takes a lively interest in all matters pertain- 
 ing to municipal improvement, and is an 
 ardent member of the Evangelical church. 
 During the late Civil war he was a member 
 of Company I, 43rd Pennsylvania militia, 
 and was present at the battle of Gettysburg. 
 His enlistment lasted three months, after 
 which he returned to civic life. 
 
 Mr. Landis was married on October 17, 
 1872, to Matilda Heyberry, of Norristown. 
 To this union has been born five children : 
 Win. G., John, James G-, Carrie, and Man*. 
 
 In the summer of 1895 Mr. Landis made 
 a trip to Europe, visiting not only the prin- 
 cipal countries and capitals of the continent, 
 but also extending his visit to the Holy 
 Land. He kept a faithful journal of his 
 travels, from which has been gleaned many 
 facts of interest, showing that he made a 
 thorough tour of that part of the globe, 
 which forms the principal topics of the Old 
 and New Testament. 
 
£/>c^£^£ 
 
 c~ 
 
 <s^Ls 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 197 
 
 Mr. Landis was accompanied by Messrs. 
 M. Geiger, S. B. Fisher and G. W. March 
 on his tour. He sailed from New York on 
 January 29, 1895, on the steamer Fursl Bis- 
 marck, of the Hamburg-American line, 
 bound for the Mediterranean Sea and Egypt. 
 Safely passing through a severe storm, they 
 touched at the Azore Islands, the Madeira 
 Islands, and Gibralter, the great English 
 military station, all of which they thor- 
 oughly inspected. On Sunday, February 
 10th, they arrived at Algiers, a beautiful 
 and picturesque city, and remained one day. 
 On the nth they sailed for Genoa, and 
 among other interesting points, visited the 
 home of Columbus, which is still standing. 
 Five days later they left for Nice, France, 
 and then visited Monte Carlo, the world 
 notorious gambling resort. The next stop 
 was at the Island of Malta, the island where 
 Paul, the Apostle, is alleged to have been 
 shipwrecked while on his way to Rome. 
 On February 21st they arrived at Alexan- 
 dria, Egypt, where they bid a final farewell 
 to the steamer Furst Bismarck, on which 
 they had lived twenty-four days. In this 
 historic city they remained one day, and 
 among other man}- strange scenes and cus- 
 toms, witnessed a Mohammedan funeral. 
 That night they went to Cairo, and spent 
 the next day in viewing the points of in- 
 terest, such as a Mohammedan Temple, Jo- 
 seph's prison and Joseph's Well, the tombs 
 of the Egyptian kings, and the place where 
 Jesus was supposed to have been kept in 
 hiding when escaping from Herod's wrath. 
 All these historic places are in old Cairo. 
 The island where Pharoah's Palace was sup- 
 posed to be located, was next visited, and 
 the place where Moses was found in the bull- 
 rushes was also viewed. While here the 
 tourists saw the Khedive taking a carriage 
 ride. One of the novel attractions visited 
 
 was an ostrich farm, where 1300 birds are 
 kept. The second day was spent at the 
 Egyptian museum and the pyramids and 
 sphinx. The destroyed city of Memphis 
 was visited on the 26th. Here were seen 
 pyramids made by the children of Israel 
 out of clay and straw, the tombs of the 
 sacred bulls and other historic objects. 
 
 Palestine was the next place to be visited, 
 and the little party of Americans started on 
 the 27th, and the next day at noon arrived 
 at Joppa. The tour of Palestine was very 
 thorough and not a single historic spot or 
 point of ancient interest was omitted in the 
 itinerary. At Joppa they saw the house of 
 Simon, the Tanner, and went on the roof 
 where Peter had the vision of the sheet let 
 down from Heaven. The tomb of Darcas, 
 who was raised from the dead by Peter, and 
 other places were viewed, and on March 1st 
 they left for Jerusalem, passing through the 
 countries of Dan, Judah and Benjamin, and 
 crossing the plains of Sharon, which are 
 twenty miles wide and very beautiful. At 
 Ramah they ascended the tower, from the 
 top of which Mount Carmel was seen. The 
 valley of Ajalon, where Joshua commanded 
 the moon to stand still, was crossed, and 
 then was reached the town of Kirjath 
 Jearim, where the arc of God remained for 
 twenty years. On the way, Ain Kaaim, 
 the birthplace of John, the Baptist ; the 
 valley where David killed Goliath and Am- 
 maus, where Christ met two of his disciples 
 after the resurrection, were passed in turn 
 and duly inspected. Jerusalem was readied 
 that evening, and the next day a trip was 
 made to the Dead Sea and the river Jordan. 
 They left the city by the Damascus Gate 
 and crossed the brook Kidron, and on the 
 route passed the Garden of Gethsemane, 
 around the Mount of Olives and Bethany, 
 the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. 
 
198 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 At the Dead Sea the sites of Sodom and 
 Gomorrah were viewed, as was also the 
 mount where Moses viewed the promised 
 land. They stopped at that place on the 
 hanks of the Jordan where John is said to 
 have baptised Jesus. Gilgal, where Joshua's 
 soldiers encamped, was also visited. Dur- 
 ing the stay in Jerusalem tours were made 
 to Jericho, or its site, and the famous spring, 
 the site where Herod's palace stood, Mt. 
 Nebo, the castle of Macharus, where John 
 was beheaded, the place where Elijah was 
 fed by the raven, the tomb of Lazarus, and 
 the home of Man- and Martha and Simon, 
 the Leper, at Bethany. The Mt. of Olives 
 was also visited, and furnished plenty of 
 food for thought. The tomb of the Virgin 
 Man- ; David's Tower ; the Armenian 
 Convent ; the Chapel of St. James ; the 
 Palace of Caiaphas, and the place where 
 Jesus was imprisoned ; the room where the 
 Last Supper was eaten ; the Temple Area ; 
 Robinson's Arch, the wailing place of the 
 Jews, where they weep and pray for deliver- 
 ance ; the Mosque of Omah ; the site of 
 Solomon's Temple on Mt. Mariah ; the 
 Pools of Bethesda ; the Church of St. Anne 
 and the Latin school for boys ; the Ameri- 
 can House ; the Ecce Homo Arch are among 
 some of the attractive points visited by this 
 band of American pilgrims. The Church 
 of the Holy Sepulchre, on the site of the 
 crucifixion, was one of the most interesting- 
 places viewed. Here is seen the stone of 
 unction on which Jesus was laid after being 
 taken from the cross, while in the centre of 
 the church is the Holy Sepulchre and the 
 stone that closed it. The cleft rock, in 
 which the cross was planted on Mount 
 Calvary, is also here, and everything is 
 sacredly preserved for the edification of 
 Christian travelers. Solomon's stone quar- 
 ries ; the Hill of Evil Counsel ; the tomb 
 
 of Rachel ; Solomon's Pools are seen near 
 Bethlehem. 
 
 In the city of the Nativity of Christ, 
 there are many places of Biblical interest, 
 and all were visited by the travelers. 
 Among these are the Church of the Nativity, 
 which marks the birthplace of Christ ; the 
 Church of St. Catharine, and the Chapel of 
 St. Helena, and all contain numerous relics 
 and historic objects. The Well of Bethle- 
 hem, and the place where the angels ap- 
 peared to the shepherds were seen, and then 
 the dangerous and rough road to Damascus 
 was safely passed. This road is two hun- 
 dred miles long, and they felt well paid for 
 the risk they ran in taking that route, for 
 they passed many points of interest, such 
 as the King's tomb over Mount Noab ; the 
 Greek Convent in Romalah ; Bethel, Jo- 
 seph's Well ; Joseph's Tomb ; Nablons and 
 the Samaritan Synagogue ; the site of the 
 City of Samaria and the Plains of Dothon, 
 where Joseph was put in the pit by his 
 brothers. On the way to Nazareth, the city 
 of Nain, where Christ raised the widow's 
 son, and other towns and points of Bible 
 history were inspected. They remained at 
 Nazareth over Sunday and visited the sites 
 of the Annunciation and Joseph's work- 
 shop, and other places, and left on Monday 
 for the lake of Galilee, on the way passing 
 through the city of Canaan and the city of 
 Gath-Hepher, Jonah's home. The Mount 
 of Beautitude, where Christ preached the 
 Sermon of the Mount, was next visited, and 
 then the city of Tiberias, on the banks of 
 the lake of Galilee. The next day they 
 went by boat to the destroyed city of Caper- 
 naum, where Christ performed many mira- 
 cles, and then to Bethsaida, the home of 
 Andrew and Peter, still famous as a fishing 
 town. From here the home of Mar)- Mag- 
 dalene, Magdala, was seen. After seeing 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 199 
 
 all that was worthy of note, the tourists re- 
 sumed their way to Damascus, where they 
 arrived on March 15. Here was seen the 
 place where Paul was let clown in the 
 basket, and the homes of Ananias and No- 
 main, the leper. On leaving Damascus, the 
 route led to Beyroot, on the Mediterranean, 
 which was reached on March 17th, amid a 
 heavy snow storm. From here the Ameri- 
 cans turned their faces toward home, on the 
 way visiting Athens, Patras, Phrineas, Italy, 
 Naples, Pompeii, Rome, Florence, Venice, 
 Vienna, Berlin, Frankford, Menis, Cologne, 
 Brussels, Paris, and London. On Saturday, 
 April 20th, the party set sail from South- 
 ampton, and arrived at home exactly one 
 week later, Saturday, April 27th, having 
 made a grand tour in four months. 
 
 ALBRECHT KNEULE, the editor and 
 proprietor of the Norristown daily and 
 weekly Register, the Perkiomen J 'alley 
 Press and the Pennsburg Baiiern Frcund, 
 was born in Esslingen, Kingdom of Wuert- 
 temberg, Germany, on March 1, 1832, his 
 parents being Adam and Fredericke Kneule. 
 After a good school education he entered, 
 in 1845, an apprenticeship of four years in 
 the printing establishment of the Esslingcr 
 Zeilung, after which he worked as com- 
 positor in Gotha's large printing house in 
 Stuttgart and later on a French newspaper 
 at Berne, Switzerland. 
 
 In the fall of the year 1851 Mr. Kneule 
 emigrated to America, and on February 13, 
 1852, secured a position in the Neutralist 
 office, Skippackville, Montgomery county, 
 where he worked as compositor and press- 
 man until the spring of 1857. In April, 
 1857, he established a new German paper at 
 Pennsburg, in the upper part of Mont- 
 
 gomery county, under the title of Pennsburg 
 Democrat, and in July, 1858, accepted an 
 offer from the proprietors of the Bauern 
 Freund, published then at Sumueytown, to 
 combine the papers, and published them 
 under the name of Bauern Freund and 
 Democrat until 1865, when he bought out 
 the interest of the former proprietors of the 
 Bauern Freund, and carried on the business 
 on his own account up to the present time. 
 The Bauern Freund, after the consolidation 
 of the two papers in 1858, had a circulation 
 of about nine hundred, which was brought 
 up by Mr. Kneule in a few years to three 
 thousand and has been kept at that figure 
 up to the present time. 
 
 Mr. Kneule also founded the Perkiomen 
 Valley Press, a weekly English paper, the 
 initial number of which was issued January 
 10, 1874, at Pennsburg, which paper has yet 
 a fair circulation in the upper part of the 
 county. In September of 1878, he bought 
 out the Norristown Register establishment 
 at Norristown, and on March 1, 1880, at the 
 beginning of the Hancock campaign, under 
 the firm name of A. Kneule & Son, com- 
 menced the publication of the Daily Reg- 
 ister, an undertaking which was considered 
 by many a very doubtful experiment, and 
 which it proved to be for several years, but 
 by endurance, industry and careful atten- 
 tion was finally made a success. The 
 Daily Register is considered to-day one of 
 the most popular newspapers in Norristown 
 and Montgomery county. 
 
 Mr. Kneule has been not only the mana- 
 ger of the leading Democratic papers in 
 Montgomery county for the past thirty- 
 eight years, but he has also always taken a 
 personal active part in politics and made 
 public speeches for all the Democratic can- 
 didates for president from Breckinbridge in 
 i860 to Grover Cleveland in 1892. 
 
200 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 In May, 1881, Mr. Kneule moved from 
 Pennsburg to Norristown, where he has re- 
 sided ever since. On July 25, 1894, he was 
 appointed, by President Cleveland, as post- 
 master at Norristown. He is a member of 
 the Norristown German Evangelical Luth- 
 eran church, Pennsburg Lodge No. 449, and 
 Pennsburg Encampment No. 234, Indepen- 
 dent Order of Odd Fellows ; of Greenville 
 Lodge No. 232, Knights of Pythias ; of 
 Lynwood Lodge No. 154, Ancient Order of 
 United Workmen ; and has been president 
 of the Norristown Maennerchor from 1891 
 to 1894. He has served as a member of the 
 Democratic State and county committees, 
 and was a school director at Pennsburg for 
 nine years. He never had any desire for 
 political office, preferring his line of journal- 
 istic labor. 
 
 In November, 1855, Mr. Kneule married 
 Louise Kraft, daughter of Michael Kraft of 
 this county. They have five children, all 
 married : Edwin K., a member of the firm of 
 A. Kneule & Son, publishers of the Daily 
 Register, who is married to Lillian Nason 
 Harding ; Henry, manager of his father's 
 papers at Pennsburg, married to Mary Kolb, 
 and have one son and three daughters ; 
 Albert K., foreman in the Register office, 
 married to Matilda Wagner, and have one 
 daughter; George W. , holding a position 
 in the Register office, married to Anna 
 Eckert, and have one son and one daughter ; 
 and Man-, married Harry Dreshman, has 
 one son and two daughters. 
 
 Albrecht Kneule has been the architect 
 of his own good fortune in his adopted land, 
 and a just and very truthful compliment 
 was paid to him some years ago by a former 
 biographer who said : " The life of this 
 German emigrant, who has been taught in 
 German schools and printing offices, to 
 aspire to something more than a plodding 
 
 soldier, shows the possibilities of free Ameri- 
 can citizenship. From the humble printer 
 of 1852, by strict attention to a chosen pur- 
 suit, he has become the principal proprietor 
 of three widely circulated newspapers, the 
 Register, the Perkiomen I'alley Press and 
 the Bauern Frewta"." 
 
 SAMUEL COATS, the inventor of some 
 important and valuable steam machin- 
 ery, is a son of Lindsay and Priscilla 
 (Fisher) Coats, and was born just beyond 
 the Bridgeport, borough line, in Upper 
 Merion township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, June 1, 1841. He received 
 his education at Tremont seminary when 
 under the charge of Rev. Samuel Aaron 
 and Prof. John W. Loch. He completed 
 the seminary course at eighteen years of 
 age, and then entered the employ of Sup- 
 plee & Co., of Columbia, Pennsylvania, 
 with whom he learned engineering. His 
 first service as an engineer was at a rolling 
 mill, and afterwards had charge of the 
 general machinery of John Beard's exten- 
 sive marble yard at Philadelphia, where he 
 operated the first steam hoisting machine 
 used in this country. Leaving Mr. Beard's 
 employ, he became superintendent of 
 machinery for the Knickerbocker Ice 
 company of Philadelphia and Norristown, 
 and after a continuous service of ten years, 
 he returned to the home farm of eightv- 
 three acres just beyond the borough limits 
 of Bridgeport. At the end of three years, 
 in 1887, he quit fanning and removed to 
 Bridgeport, where, in December, 1891, he 
 established his present machine shops on 
 Fourth street. He does a general machine, 
 plumbing, gas and steam fitting business, 
 and builds and repairs bicycles. Mr. Coats 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 201 
 
 has devoted considerable time to the study 
 of steam machinery with beneficial re- 
 sults. He invented the improved electric 
 moterwith long stroke, which he neglected 
 to patent until a Boston manufacturing 
 company took up his idea and patented it. 
 He is the inventor and patentee of an auto- 
 matic fire escape for horses and cattle, which 
 unhalters all stock and opens the doors of 
 a stable in case of fire. This fire escape 
 is now in use in Philadelphia, where 
 Henderson & Bro. have their large stables 
 provided with it. He is the inventor and 
 patentee of a double thrashing machine, 
 and Coats' variable pressure steam damper 
 regulator, which regulates the pressure of 
 steam in fifteen seconds. The object of 
 the regulator is to use less coal and give 
 more steam, while it gives a more regular 
 heat in a building. It was used during the 
 last winter in different places and gave 
 good satisfaction. He has served as super- 
 intendent of the Bridgeport water works 
 since their erection in 1892. 
 
 On February 27, 1868, Mr. Coats married 
 El izabethKean,a daughter of Alexander and 
 Rebecca (Supplee) Kean, of Upper Merion. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Coats had eleven children, of 
 whom the following named are still living: 
 Alexander K., Priscilla, Melcenea S., Bessie, 
 Rebecca K. and Florence. 
 
 In politics Samuel Coats is a Democrat. 
 He was appointed justice of the peace at 
 Bridgeport, by Governor Pattison in 1892, to 
 fill out the time of George Thomas, and at 
 the ensuing election, was elected for a full 
 term. He served as treasurer and super- 
 visor of Upper Merion township, and after 
 serving two successive terms as mayor of 
 Bridgeport, declined a third term of the 
 mayoralty, which was tendered him there 
 by the citizens of the place. Mr. Coats, 
 during the late Civil war, enlisted in Co. 
 
 I, Thirty-fourth Pennsylvania infantry, on 
 June 29, 1863, and served nine months, 
 being promoted after enlistment to fife- 
 major of the regiment. He is a member of 
 the Swede Episcopal church of Bridgeport, 
 and a past commander of Smith Post, No. 
 79, Grand Army of the Republic. 
 
 EDWARD F. BRITT, a prominent citi- 
 zen of West Conshohocken, and the 
 proprietor of a large dyeing establishment 
 in Philadelphia, is a son of Benjamin and 
 Leonora (Nooman) Britt, and was born at 
 Guelph, Wellington county, province of 
 Ontario, Dominion of Canada. The 
 Britt family is of English lineage, and 
 Edward Britt, paternal grandfather of 
 Edward F. Britt, was born in County Tip- 
 perary, Ireland, where he carried on linen 
 weaving for many years. He married 
 Mary Wright, and to their union was born 
 a family of twelve children. Benjamin 
 Britt, the youngest child, became a shoe 
 manufacturer, and, in 1835, emigrated with 
 his wife and one child to Guelph, Canada. 
 There he followed the shoe business up to 
 the time of his death in 1856. He was a 
 man of fair education, good judgment and 
 business ability. He married Leonora Noo- 
 man, and to their union were born two 
 sons and three daughters : Catharine, who 
 wedded John Shea, and is now deceased; 
 Dennis, deceased; Sarah, wife of Michael 
 Kelly, of Carthage, Missouri ; Edward F., 
 (subject); and Mary, wife of James B. Hal- 
 lohan, an electrician of Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 Edward F. Britt received a good English 
 education at his native place, and learned 
 the trade of a dyer, which he followed in 
 the States of Illinois, Ohio, and Pennsyl- 
 vania, for several years. He then, in 1871, 
 
202 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 came to West Conshohocken, where he 
 served as overseer of the dye department of 
 George Bullock & Company's woolen mills 
 for twelve years. At the end of that time, 
 in 1883, he formed a partnership with 
 James M. Kennedy, under the firm name of 
 Kennedy and Britt, and they embarked in 
 the dyeing business at the corner of Nassau 
 and Jefferson streets, Philadelphia. In 
 1889 Mr. Kennedy died, and Mr. Britt pur- 
 chased his interest in the dye works from 
 the heirs. Mr. Britt has conducted the 
 business successfully ever since. His dye- 
 ing-room is thirty-five by ninety feet, his 
 finishing-room sixty-five by one hundred 
 and sixty-five feet, and an ell building, 
 used for various purposes, is forty-five by 
 fifty feet in dimensions. When running 
 full he employs forty men. He does a 
 general dyeing and finishing business, tak- 
 ing the goods direct from the factories and 
 mills, and, after dyeing and finishing them, 
 shipping according to directions. 
 
 On March 5, 1867, at Fitchburg, Massa- 
 chusetts, Mr. Britt married Mary A. Kelly, 
 a daughter of James Kelly, of Pittsfield, 
 Massachusetts. To their union have been 
 born eight children : Edward D., Benja- 
 man F., Dr. Albert J., George (deceased), 
 Charles C, William K., Rosa A., and 
 Walter F. Dr. Albert J., a graduate of 
 Jefferson Medical college, was resident 
 physician of Charity hospital, at Noris- 
 town, for a short time, and is now located at 
 No. 1232 North Fifth street, Philadelphia. 
 
 Mr. Britt has served as burgess of his 
 borough for four terms Active in every- 
 thing of local interest that will benefit 
 West Conshohocken, he has probably given 
 most attention to educational affairs. He 
 has served for twenty-one years as a 
 member of the school board, being president 
 for several terms, and at the last election 
 
 was unanimously elected, having been 
 made the nominee of both parties. Mr. 
 Britt is a member of the Roman Catholic 
 church, and the Workmen's Building and 
 Loan association, of which latter he is now 
 president. 
 
 ISAAC ROBERTS, the efficient cashier 
 1 of the Tradesmen's National bank, of 
 Conshohocken, is a son of Isaac, sr., and 
 Ruth (Conrad) Roberts, and was born at 
 Norristown, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, February 1, 1854. The Roberts fam- 
 ily is of Welsh origin and ranks as one of 
 the oldest and most highly respected families 
 of Montgomery county. We quote the fol- 
 lowing ancestral record of Mr. Roberts which 
 is full of interest. 
 
 " Isaac Roberts, born second month, first 
 day, 1854, is a son of Isaac Roberts, born 
 sixth month, twenty-sixth day, 1814, and 
 Ruth Conrad Roberts, married 1837. His 
 father was the son of John Roberts, born 
 ninth month, eighth day, 1769, and Rachel 
 Shoemaker Roberts, married 1801. This 
 John Roberts was the son of Joseph Roberts, 
 born ninth month, eleventh day, 1729, and 
 Hannah Reese Roberts, married 1727. This 
 Joseph Roberts was the sou of Aaron Roberts, 
 born in Wales about 1682, and Sarah Long- 
 worthy Roberts, married 1727. This Aaron 
 Roberts was the son of Ellis Roberts (or 
 Robert Ellis), who came to Pennsylvania 
 from Wales in 1690, with his wife Ellen and 
 seven children and settled near Radnor, 
 Lower Merion township, Montgomery coun- 
 ty." 
 
 Isaac Roberts, sr., was born at Norristown, 
 June 26, 1814, and received his education in 
 private schools. He served as a clerk for 
 some time in a store near Phoenixville, 
 Chester county, owned by Charles Adamson, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 203 
 
 and then engaged in the general mercantile 
 business at Norristown, where he also in- 
 terested himself in real estate. The great 
 financial panic of 1857 overtook him with 
 large holdings of real estate in different parts 
 of the county and he suffered heavy losses 
 during that period of business depression. 
 After that panic he confined his efforts to 
 conducting a real estate agency at Norris- 
 town, which he operated up to the time of 
 his death, which occurred on the seventh 
 month, thirteenth day, 1866. He was an 
 old line Whig and a radical Abolitionist, 
 being a delegate to the first national con- 
 vention of the Republican party, which met 
 at Pittsburg in 1856, and nominated John 
 C. Fremont for the presidency. He was 
 also connected with the Underground rail- 
 road. He was a member of the Society of 
 Friends, and married Ruth Conrad, who was 
 a daughter of Samuel Conrad, of Upper 
 Dublin, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 and died on the eleventh month, thirteenth 
 da}', 1889, at the age of seventy-five years. 
 Of the nine children born to them, but two 
 are living: Isaac, subject ; and Lucretia M., 
 wife of Robert D. Smith, of Philadelphia. 
 Isaac Roberts received his education in 
 the Norristown High school and at fifteen 
 years of age became a clerk for Evan D. 
 Jones & Co., of Conshohocken, and after- 
 wards served as clerk and book-keeper for 
 two years for John J. Lytle, of Seventh and 
 Spring Garden streets, Philadelphia ; and 
 as a clerk for ten years in the private bank- 
 ing house of J. Morton Albertson, of Nor- 
 ristown. Leaving Mr. Albertson's employ 
 he served for eight years as teller in the 
 First National bank of Conshohocken, and 
 was holding that position when the Trades- 
 mens' National bank of the same place was 
 plundered by the cashier, in 1889. This 
 robbery was of such size as to necessitate 
 
 the re-organization of the bank, and in No- 
 vember, 1889, Mr. Roberts was elected 
 cashier, a position which he has held with 
 credit ever since. 
 
 On June 12, 1894, Mr. Roberts was united 
 in marriao-e with Ruth K. Thomas, a dauffh- 
 ter of Joseph W. and Mary P. Thomas, of 
 Chester county, where Mr. Thomas is en- 
 gaged extensively in the fruit tree nursery 
 business. 
 
 In politics, Isaac Roberts is an ardent and 
 active Prohibitionist, and during the Amend- 
 ment campaign, served as secretary of the 
 Prohibition county committee. He is an 
 able public speaker and has sustained him- 
 self in political discussion and debates 
 against some of the best speakers in the 
 State. He is a member of the Society of 
 Friends, and assisted to organize the Young 
 Friends Association, of Philadelphia. Mr. 
 Roberts is courteous, affable and accomo- 
 dating to all with whom he comes in con- 
 tact, and ranks as a true gentleman and use- 
 fid citizen in whose life record can be found 
 no trace of dishonor, and no instance of a 
 mean or discreditable action. 
 
 REV. WILLIAM B. FOX, a popular 
 minister of Sumneytown, in charge 
 of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church 
 of that place, is a son of Jones and Susan 
 (Beidman) Fox, was born October 20, 1837, 
 in what is now the village of Congo, in 
 Douglas township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania. The grandfather of Rev. 
 Fox, on the paternal side of the family, 
 was Anthony Fox, who, in all probability, 
 was a native of Chester county, this State, 
 whence he emigrated to Douglas township, 
 this county. He was a Democrat and 
 devout member of the Lutheran church. 
 
204 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 His children were as follows : Rebecca, 
 Susan, Jones (father), Lydia, Jacob, who 
 served in the War of 1812, through which 
 service he contracted a disease that led to 
 his death ; James, Judith, who married 
 James Bardman, and Reuben. Anthony 
 Fox was born in 1763 and died in 1843. 
 Jones Fox (father) was born on the home- 
 stead in the village of Congo, Douglas 
 township, on April 10, 1800. He took up 
 the pursuits of agriculture as a means of 
 securing a livelihood, was a Democrat in 
 political principle and a strict member of 
 the Lutheran church in religious faith, 
 holding office in the same during most of 
 his life. His marriage with Susan Beidman 
 resulted in the birth of four sons and one 
 daughter ; the daughter died in infancy. 
 The sons were : Franklin, Reuben, Josiah 
 and William B., subject. 
 
 Rev. William B. Fox obtained his pre- 
 paratory education in Freeland seminary, 
 now Ursinus college, and afterward at- 
 tended Frederick institute, completing his 
 professional education in the Lutheran 
 seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 
 from which institution he graduated in 
 
 1862. He was ordained to the ministry in 
 
 1863, and received his first charge at 
 Berwick, Columbia county, this State, 
 where he remained six years, and in Sep- 
 tember, 1868, came to Sumneytown, this 
 County, where he has ever since been in 
 charge of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran 
 church. His pastoral duties, however, 
 have not been confined to that church, but 
 he has served his Divine Master as pastor 
 of St. Mark's church at Pennsburg, Sassa- 
 mauville church at Sassamanville, and 
 Keeler's church at Frederick, in Frederick 
 township. Zealously has he labored in all 
 these charges since 1868, and has had the 
 supreme pleasure of seeing them grow and 
 
 prosper and the cause of the Master 
 flourish. 
 
 On June 6, 1864, Rev. Fox and Lizzie, 
 daughter of Win. Mack, were united in 
 marriage, and five children have blessed 
 this union : Forest M., deceased ; Alverta 
 May, Anna Susan, wife of Ezra Allabach, 
 who is a resident of Lansdale ; Sallie E., 
 wife of John Rahn, a merchant of Sassa- 
 manville ; and William B., at home. 
 
 Rev. Fox has been a constant and devoted 
 worker in his chosen field, and he can now 
 look upon a long professional career with 
 the sweet pleasure that comes only to a life 
 well spent. He is eminently popular in 
 the community in which he lives, and 
 highly respected by all who know him. 
 He is affable in manner, kind in his dis- 
 position, and is possessed of that charity 
 and nobility of character that makes for 
 God and Righteousness. 
 
 EMPSON K. HAINES, a man of fine 
 mechanical ability and a prosperous 
 farmer of Plymouth township, is a son of 
 Empson and Rachel (Buzby) Haines, and 
 was born in Salem county, New Jersey, 
 May 10, 1829. His paternal grandfather, 
 Benjamin Haines, was a native of Burling- 
 ton county, New Jersey, and followed farm- 
 ing as an occupation. He was a Friend, 
 and his son, Empson Haines, was the father 
 of the subject of this sketch. Empson 
 Haines was reared on a farm, and received 
 his education in the ordinary schools of the 
 neighborhood. He learned the trade of 
 carpenter, and followed carpentering, con- 
 tracting and building up to 1870, when he 
 engaged in farming in Burlington county, 
 that State, where he died September 27, 
 1878, when in the eighty-second year of his 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 205 
 
 age. He was a member of the Society of 
 Friends, and had served his township as a 
 member of its school board, and also had 
 held the office of assessor continuously for 
 over twenty years. He married Rachel 
 Buzby, a daughter of Joseph Buzby, and to 
 them were born six sons and six daughters. 
 
 Empson K. Haines was reared ou his 
 father's New Jersey farm, and received his 
 education in the common schools of Bur- 
 lington county, New Jersey, and Norristown 
 academy, when under the management of 
 the celebrated Rev. Samuel Aaron. Leav- 
 ing school, he was employed in agricultural 
 pursuits in New Jersey until 1867, in which 
 year he rented a farm at Chestnut Hill, this 
 State, on which he remained three years. 
 He then bought his present farm in Ply- 
 mouth township, where he has been enga- 
 ged ever since in farming and stock raising. 
 
 Mr. Haines is a natural mechanic, and al- 
 though he never served a day's apprentice- 
 ship to any mechanical trade, yet can do all 
 kinds of carpentering and wheelwright 
 work. He is a Republican in politics, and 
 Friend in religion, being a member of Ply- 
 mouth meeting, of which his wife and 
 children are members. He cares nothing 
 for political offices or public positions, and 
 when offered local office has always declined 
 to accept. His farm of seventy acres of 
 good farming and grazing land lies within 
 one and a half miles of Norristown, and 
 under his skillful management has been 
 made very productive. 
 
 On May 12, 1864, Empson K. Haines was 
 united in marriage with Elizabeth Ivins, 
 daughter of Joseph Ivins, of near Burling- 
 ton, New Jersey. Mr. and Mrs. Haines 
 have two children, a son and a daughter : 
 Roland I., a practicing physician, of Cam- 
 den, New Jersey ; and Louella, now attend- 
 ing school in Philadelphia, this State. 
 
 JRUFUS BARR, an experienced and 
 • leading druggist of West Consho- 
 hocken, is a son of Charles and Mary Ann 
 (Fulton) Barr, and was born in Newtown 
 township, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, 
 January 1, 1854. In early Colonial days, 
 seven brothers by the name of Barr, came 
 from Germany to this country, and one of 
 them is the immigrant ancestor of the Barr 
 family of Delaware county. Charles Barr, 
 the father of the subject of this sketch, was 
 born in 1805, in Newtown township, Dela- 
 ware county, received a good common Eng- 
 lish education, and owned a farm of two 
 hundred acres, which he cultivated until 
 1866. It that year he removed to Chester 
 city, in his native county, where he was ex- 
 tensively engaged in the flour and feed 
 business until 1873, when his mill was 
 burned. He then retired from active busi- 
 ness, and resided at Chester city up to the 
 time of his death, February 23, 1873. He 
 was a Democrat, and a member of Maple 
 Presbyterian church. He was very popular 
 in his township, where he served as super- 
 visor and school director, and was always 
 elected, although the opposition party had 
 a large majority at his voting polls. He 
 married Mary Ann Fulton, a daughter of 
 Robert Fulton, a native of Ireland, and a 
 near relative of Robert Fulton, the cele- 
 brated inventor. The family consisted of 
 nine children, four sons and five daughters : 
 Lewis G., deceased ; Hannah Mather, Eliza 
 E. Rhoads, Margaret M. Yerkes, C. Rush, 
 Susannah, deceased ; Mary K. Yerkes, J. 
 Rufus, subject ; and Lewis Casper, who 
 died at eighteen years of age. 
 
 J. Rufus Barr received his education in 
 the public schools of Chester, and when he 
 left school, at seventeen years of age, he was 
 the recipient of a certificate of proficiency. 
 Leaving school, he served as a clerk in 
 
2o6 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 drug stores in Chester city, Lynwood, and 
 Rockdale, Delaware county, up to 1880. 
 During this period, in 1871, he entered the 
 Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, from 
 which he was graduated in 1876. In 1880 
 he removed to Conshohocken and served as 
 a clerk in Reddington & MacKinzie's drug 
 store for five years, excepting one year spent 
 in a Philadelphia drug store. He thor- 
 oughly understands his business, and has a 
 good trade. Mr. Barr is a Democrat in 
 politics, held the post-office during Cleve- 
 land's first term, and is again postmaster 
 by President Cleveland's appointment. He 
 is a member of the First Presbyterian 
 church at Norristown, and has always been 
 one of the most active and enthusiastic of 
 church workers. In addition to the amount 
 of church work that he does, he is a faith- 
 ful and untiring laborer in the Sunday- 
 school cause. As assistant superintendent 
 of Mount Pleasant Union Sunday-school for 
 the last ten years, Mr. Barr has not missed 
 over one Sunday on an average each year, 
 and then only when it was an impossibility 
 to attend. He is a member of the Indepen- 
 dent Order of Odd Fellows, and Washing- 
 ton Camp, Patriotic Order Sons of America. 
 In June, 1877, Mr. Barr married Maria B. 
 Williams, a daughter of John B. Williams, 
 of Chester city, this State. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Barr have been born the following 
 children : Louetta K., Florence F., Ger- 
 trude B., Lizzie, Mar)', Charles, deceased ; 
 C. Rush, Ellen Jane, Samuel F., deceased ; 
 and Ruth. 
 
 CHARLES A. KNEULE, postmaster at 
 Pennsburg, this county, is a son of 
 Theodore and Mary A. (Brenninger) Kneule, 
 and was born April 6, 1862, near Reading, 
 in Muhlenberg township, Berks county, 
 
 Pennsylvania. His father was born in 
 Wurtemburg, Germany, in 1834, but came 
 in 1854, when a young man, to the United 
 States. He first took up his residence in 
 Salfordville, this county, but remained there 
 only a short time, when he removed to 
 Berks county, where he married and lived 
 for a time. Then after a short stay in Le- 
 high county, came in 1869, to Pennsburg, 
 where he has ever since resided. He learned 
 the tailor trade in the Fatherland, and has 
 pursued it as a life vocation. For a time he 
 ran a mercantile clothing business in Penns- 
 burg, and for the last sixteen years has been 
 engaged in the manufacture of clothes, at 
 times on a rather extended scale, manufac- 
 turing as many as three thousand pieces a 
 week. He is a Democrat in political affinity, 
 and a member of the Lutheran church, 
 whilst fraternally he belongs to Pennsburg 
 Lodge No. 449, I. O. O. F.; Pennsburg En- 
 campment No. 234, of the I. O. O. F. He 
 has been twice married ; first time to Mary 
 E. Brenninger, a daughter of Trichler Bren- 
 ninger, and three children were born to 
 their union, as follows : Tusnelda, wife of 
 John Kimes, a resident of Philadelphia ; 
 Annie Keinert, a resident of Philadelphia ; 
 and Charles A. Mrs. Mary A. Kneule died 
 in September, 1875, at the age of forty- 
 three years, and Mr. Kneule married as his 
 second wife Caroline Hindennach, of Phila- 
 delphia. Four children were born to this 
 union. They were : Carrie, Eugene, Fred- 
 die and Theodore, who died young. 
 
 Charles A. Kneule had the advantage of 
 but a limited education. His elementary 
 education was obtained in the common 
 schools of Pennsburg, after which he at- 
 tended for a time Perkiomen academy. 
 Leaving school, he learned the trade of a 
 barber, and plied it in Pennsburg and Phila- 
 delphia as a journeyman until 1879, when 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 207 
 
 he purchased a shop in Peunsburg, which 
 he has conducted ever since. In matters 
 political Mr. Kneule has always been an 
 active, influential, unswerving Democrat. 
 He has served as a member of the De- 
 mocratic standing committee for several 
 years, and on July 8, 1893, was appointed 
 postmaster of Pennsburg, the position he is 
 now filling with credit to himself and with 
 satisfaction to all concerned. In 1892 he 
 was a delegate to the State convention that 
 met at Harrisburg, and was selected as 
 chairman of the Montgomery county dele- 
 gation. In the fraternal world he stands 
 deservedly high, belonging to a number of 
 lodges well known for their missions of wis- 
 dom, benevolence and charity. Among 
 them are Pennsburg Lodge No. 449, I. O. 
 O. F. ; Pennsburg Encampment No. 234, 
 of the I. O. O. F., of which he is a past 
 patriarch and the present treasurer ; Perkio- 
 men Lodge No. 595, F. and A. M., of which 
 he, with nine others, were the organizers, 
 and of which he was the first representative to 
 the Grand Lodge ; Nativity Commaudery 
 No. 71, Knight Templars ; Pottstown Chap- 
 ter No. 271, R. A. M. ; East Greenville 
 Lodge No. 32, Knights of Pythias, of which 
 he is past chancellor. 
 
 On April 3, 1883, he married Lucy M., a 
 daughter of Charles and Angeline Roeder, 
 and four children have been born to their 
 union : Twins, that died in infancy ; Her- 
 bert Theodore, and Charles Roeder. 
 
 HON. HENRY RIEHLE BROWN 
 was born in the city of Philadelphia, 
 December 15, 1844; was educated in public 
 and private schools ; and removed with his 
 parents to Plymouth township, Montgom- 
 ery county, September8, 1859. 
 
 In September, 1862, when the rebels 
 made their first raid into Pennsylvania, 
 Mr. Brown went to Harrisburg with a 
 number of others from Norristown, and 
 there assisted in organizing a company of 
 infantry, which afterwards became Co. D. 
 of the nth regiment of Pennsylvania 
 militia, of which company he was elected 
 a sergeant. On September 16, when 
 less than eighteen years old, he was elected 
 and commissioned 1st lieutenant of this 
 company, and served with it during the 
 emergency, in the Cumberland valley of 
 Pennsylvania, and in the vicinity of Ha- 
 gerstown, Maryland ; the command being, 
 on the afternoon of the 16th and the 17th 
 of September, within hearing of the battle 
 of Antietam, but was not engaged. 
 
 When the rebels'again invaded Pennsyl- 
 vania, in June, 1863, Mr. Brown left 
 Norristown for Harrisburg, June 16th, 
 and on the 19th was elected 1st lieutenant 
 of a company of infantry ; but there being 
 not a sufficient number of recruits to 
 muster as a company, the organization 
 was disbanded, and on June 29th, Mr. 
 Brown, with others of the company, en- 
 listed in Capt. Samuel W. Comly's Wis- 
 sahickon cavalry company, which was 
 mustered into the United States service in 
 the department of the Susquehanna, to 
 serve during the emergency, and was 
 attached to the 20th regiment of Penn- 
 sylvania cavalry. On June, 17, Mr. Brown 
 was promoted to corporal ; on the 20th to 
 sergeant ; and a few days later to sergeant 
 major of the regiment. The 20th regi- 
 ment was composed of seven companies 
 recruited for six months service, and five 
 companies of emergency militia. They 
 were at first employed in scouting and 
 picket duty along the fords of the Susque- 
 hanna, in the vicinity of Harrisburg, and 
 
2o8 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 the various roads leading towards Carlisle, 
 York and Morrisville. On the 7th of July, 
 the regiment left Camp Couch, near Har- 
 risburg, and marched by the Cumberland 
 valley to Greencastle, whence it was sent 
 upon scouting duty into Maryland, and in 
 conjunction with three companies of the 
 first New York cavalry, followed upon 
 the footsteps of Lee's army to Hagerstown, 
 near which place, a portion of the com- 
 mand engaged the rebels' rear guard, and 
 captured a few prisoners and horses. - 
 From Greencastle the regiment marched 
 to Falling Waters, where it picketed the 
 fords of the Potomac, then much swollen 
 by recent rains. The emergency com- 
 panies returned to Harrisburg, and were 
 discharged in Camp Curtin, July 30, 1863. 
 On November 3, 1863, Mr. Brown began 
 to read law in the office of ex-Judge Hon. 
 Daniel M. Smyser, in Norristown, and 
 while pursuing his studies, lived with his 
 parents in Plymouth township. He was 
 admitted to the bar of Montgomery county 
 November 13, 1866 ; moved to Philadelphia 
 December 19 ; was admitted to the bar of 
 Philadelphia, December 22, and began the 
 practice of his profession there January 1, 
 1867. He returned to Norristown to live 
 in April following, but continued to 
 practice in Philadelphia until June, 1871, 
 when he left the bar. Becoming inter- 
 ested in several patents, he devoted 
 much time and attention to their develop- 
 ment and introduction. Desiring to dis- 
 pose of a patent right on the Pacific Coast, 
 he sailed from New York for San Fran- 
 cisco, via the Isthmus of Panama, on 
 November 7, 1874, and remained in Cali- 
 fornia nearly two years. In March, 1876, 
 he became connected with the office of the 
 comptroller of the currency, as special 
 bank examiner, his first assignment being 
 
 to make a special examination of the 
 National Gold Bank and Trust Co., of San 
 Francisco. Subsequently he was ordered to 
 report at Washington, where he arrived 
 in September of the same year. On 
 September 28th, he was sent to Wichita, 
 Kansas, to take charge, as receiver, of a 
 National bank there. Some months later 
 he resigned, and in March 1877, resumed 
 the practice of his profession in Norristown, 
 and has since been so employed. On April 
 19, 1877, he was appointed notary public, and 
 served until February 18, 1881, when, hav- 
 ing been elected a member of the house of 
 representatives, he resigned as notary 
 public. In the autumn of 1877, he first 
 became active in politics, on the Republi- 
 can side, and in the campaign of the fol- 
 lowing year, first appeared on the stump. 
 On January 2, 1880, he was elected secre- 
 tary of the Union Republican club, of 
 Montgomery count)-, and served until 
 January 24, 1884, when the club was dis- 
 banded. At a special election, held Febru- 
 ary 15, 1881, to fill a vacancy caused by the 
 death of Wallace J. Boyd, Mr. Brown was 
 elected a member of the Pennsylvania 
 house of representatives, for Montgomery 
 county, by a majority of 531 over Mahlon 
 S. Sellers; was sworn in February 18th, 
 and served on the following named com- 
 mittees of that body, viz: constitutional re- 
 form, ways and means, judiciary general, 
 library, and federal relations. He was 
 nominated by acclamation in 1882 for the 
 same office, but was defeated, as were all 
 Republicans on the ticket that year. He 
 was elected secretary of the Republican 
 county committee of Montgomery county, 
 December 4, 1882, and served until Sep- 
 tember 16, 1885, when he declined a re- 
 election. 
 
 At the organization of the Montgomery 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 2ni) 
 
 county bar association, April 6, 1885, he 
 was elected treasurer, and is still serving 
 in that capacity. At the general election, 
 November 2, 1886, he was elected senator 
 for the 1 2th senatorial district, composed 
 of Montgomery county, by a majority of 
 724 over Philip Super, Esq., and served 
 during the session of 1887 on the following 
 committees of that body, viz : constitution- 
 al reform, chairman ; centennial affairs, 
 chairman ; canals and inland navigation ; 
 and vice and immorality. And in the 
 session of 1889 on the following committees, 
 viz : constitutional reform, chairman ; 
 centennial affairs, secretary ; judiciary, 
 local secretary ; judiciary, special ; con- 
 gressional appropriation ; insurance, and 
 new counties and county seats. 
 
 On August 23, 1887, he was elected 
 treasurer of the Republican county com- 
 mittee, and is still serving as such. On 
 March 15, 1893, he was appointed solicitor 
 to the county commissioners of Montgom- 
 ery county, and is still serving. On May 
 14, 1894, he was elected a member of the 
 Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revo- 
 lution, in right of his grandfather, Cap- 
 tain William Brown of the Pennsylvania 
 navy. 
 
 He has been a member of St. John's 
 Episcopal Church in Norristown since 
 1865, and served as vestryman of said 
 church from January 8, 1878 to October 
 24, 1890 ; and as warden from March 18, 
 
 1879, to October 24, 1890, and as treasurer 
 from May 3, 1886 to October 24, 1890, re- 
 signing on the last named day. He was 
 married in said church on February 10, 
 
 1880, to Alice, fourth and youngest daugh- 
 ter of Alfred and Wilhelmine E. Hurst, of 
 Norristown. They have two children, viz : 
 Grace Bradford Brown, and Rawle Hurst 
 Brown. 
 
 On August 5, 1895, he became associated 
 with Hon. Charles Hunsicker, in the prac- 
 tice of the law. 
 
 EDWARD THOMAS, a prominent busi- 
 ness man of Norristown, was born Feb- 
 ruary 2, 1814, in Flintshire, Wales, and is a 
 son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Steiventer) 
 Thomas. He was educated in the public 
 schools of Philadelphia, and learned the 
 trade of a carpenter and followed it as a 
 journeyman in Frankford a number of years 
 before going into business on his own ac- 
 count. He then began a contracting and 
 building business in Frankford, where he 
 was actively and successfully engaged in that 
 line up to the time of his comparative re- 
 tirement, a period of about thirty-three 
 years. The life of Edward Thomas has 
 truly been an active and industrious one. 
 His motto has been, " Whatever is worth 
 doing at all is worth doing well," which 
 coupled with energy, enterprise, persever- 
 ance and economy, has enabled him to ac- 
 cumulate a very handsome fortune, owning 
 much valuable real estate in the borough. 
 The fortune which he has made has been 
 the result solely of his own unaided efforts. 
 In addition to his individual real estate in- 
 terests, he is interested in the Norristown 
 Land company and at one time owned a 
 part of the land upon which is now located 
 Riverside cemetery. Politically, he is a 
 Prohibitionist, and whilst he is no sense 
 radical, yet he firmly believes that the liquor 
 evil can most effectually be regulated 
 bv judicious legislation. He has been a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopol church 
 for the long period of sixty-four years, serv- 
 ing as class leader, exhorter, trustee and 
 steward and always evincing a commendable 
 
2IO 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 interest in whatever form of church work 
 he might be engaged. 
 
 On March 30, 1837, Mr. Thomas married 
 Ann Hall, a daughter of David Hall, and 
 they were the parents of four children : 
 Lydia, Enoch, Emma and William. All 
 died in early childhood but William, who 
 is a book-keeper and a resident of Norris- 
 town. Mrs. Thomas was born in England 
 on September 21, 1813, and died October 
 8, 1892. 
 
 Edward Tbomas stands deservedly high 
 in the community in which he lives. As a 
 business man, as an active church worker 
 and as a citizen his record is above re- 
 proach. 
 
 JOHN E. FINLEY, senior member of the 
 grocery firm of J. E. & S. Finley, of 
 Norristown, is a native of this borough, 
 where he was born October 21, 1846. He is 
 the third son and fourth child of John S. 
 and Phoebe (Rhodes) Finley, and has re- 
 sided in Norristown all his life. After ob- 
 taining a good education, at the age of six- 
 teen, he assumed charge of a stationary 
 engine connected with Schall's Iron works, 
 at Norristown, Pa., and ran it successfully 
 for a period of eight years. He then learned 
 the trade of machinist, and worked at that 
 business for two years. In 1876 he became 
 connected with the Alan Wood Company's 
 rolling mill, in the capacity of stationary 
 engineer, and remained in that position for 
 some ten years. He then embarked in the 
 grocery business, in partnership with his 
 brother, Samuel Finley, under the firm 
 name of Finley Brothers, and has continued 
 in the prosecution of that enterprise to the 
 present time. They have built up a very 
 nice trade. 
 
 Politicallv, Mr. Finlev is an adherent of 
 
 the Republican party, and a firm believer in 
 the policy of protection to American indus- 
 try. In religion he is a member and elder 
 of the Central Presbyterian church of Nor- 
 ristown. He is also a member of Gratitude 
 Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
 of Conshohocken, and of the Patriotic Order 
 Sons of America, at Norristown. 
 
 On October 16, 1883, Mr. Finley was mar- 
 ried to Eliza Graham, a daughter of James 
 and Eliza Graham, of County Tyrone. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Finley have been born two 
 children, both sons : Elwood and Mark. 
 
 John S. Finley (father) was born at Penns- 
 neck, New Jersey, in 1813. When quite 
 young he went to Delaware county, Penn- 
 sylvania, and soon afterwards came to Nor- 
 ristown. Here he entered the McCrudy 
 mills, when Norristown was only a small 
 village, and continued to reside here until 
 his death in 1891, when in the seventy- 
 eighth year of his age. He was a machinist 
 by trade and worked with Moore S: Hooven, 
 the latter had charge of Schall's rolling 
 mill for a number of years. Politically he 
 was a Jacksonian Democrat. In religion he 
 was a devoted member of the Baptist church. 
 He married Phoebe Rhodes, in 1838, and by 
 that union had a family of eight children : 
 David, Ruth, Charles, John E., the subject 
 of this sketch ; Samuel, a member of the 
 firm of Finley Brothers ; William A., whose 
 sketch appears elsewhere in this work ; 
 James, and Albert. Mrs. Phoebe Finley 
 died in 1879, aged sixty-two years. 
 
 CYRUS Q. GULDIN, president of the 
 Ringing Rocks Electric Railway com- 
 pany, is a son of Horace N. and Elizabeth 
 M. (Eshbach) Guldin, and was born at New 
 Berlinville, Berks county, Pennsylvania, 
 
«</ . /~ChAst/dL*sv>^_j 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 211 
 
 May 25, i860. He secured a good English 
 education in the public schools of his na- 
 tive count\', and afterward learned the trade 
 of wheelwright. About 1879 he came to 
 Pottstown, Montgomery county, where he 
 followed his trade for a time and sub- 
 sequently entered the employ of the Key- 
 stone Agricultural works. Still later on he 
 worked in the pattern shops of the Potts- 
 town Iron company and the bridge works 
 of Cofrode & Saylor. During this time his 
 attention was turned toward real estate in- 
 vestments, which proved very profitable. 
 In partnership with his father, Horace N. 
 Ouldin, he purchased a tract of land in the 
 western part of Pottstown, which is now 
 known as " Guldin's Addition," and pro- 
 ceeded to lay it out into town lots. This 
 venture was a fortunate one, and the enter- 
 prising owners soon reaped a golden harvest 
 by their business foresight and sound judg- 
 ment, demonstrating anew that " nothing 
 succeeds like success." 
 
 In 1887 Mr. C. Q. Guldin opened a real 
 estate, insurance and conveyancing office in 
 Pottstown, and continued the business for 
 some time. In 1888 he was chosen a mem- 
 ber of the town council for three years, 
 being elected in a Democratic ward, although 
 he had always been a Republican. At the 
 close of his term in the council, he was 
 elected, in 1891, to the office of chief bur- 
 gess of Pottstown, by a majority of one hun- 
 dred and seventy, receiving the largest vote 
 ever polled for a Republican candidate in 
 this city, which usually gives a Democratic 
 majority of more than four hundred. In the 
 discharge of his duties as burgess, Mr. 
 Guldin proved himself an efficient and 
 painstaking official. He is president of the 
 board of trade in Pottstown, and as such has 
 been actively identified with every move- 
 ment to establish new industries here and 
 
 advance the interests of the town generally. 
 In doing this he has contributed freely of 
 his own means, and devoted much time and 
 labor to interesting others in such enter- 
 prises as would benefit the town and give 
 employment to her citizens, and in whatever 
 undertaking he embarked, is always an un- 
 tiring worker. In 1894 he was a prominent 
 candidate for the Republican nomination 
 for State senator from this district. 
 
 On March 2, 1881, Mr. Guldin was mar- 
 ried to Lillie Butz, a daughter of George 
 W. Butz, of Pottstown. They have one 
 child, a daughter named Lizzie. Both are 
 members of the Lutheran church, and Mr. 
 Guldin is also a member of the church 
 council. He is a Knight Templar Mason, 
 a member of the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, and of the Junior Order of Amer- 
 ican Mechanics. 
 
 ANDREW S. LEEDOM, a merchant of 
 West Conshohocken, is a son of John 
 and Susanna M (Steel) Leedom, and was 
 born in Radnor township, Delaware county, 
 Pennsylvania, September 13, 1840. Of 
 Scotch origin, his immigrant ancestor to 
 the new world came from Scotland and 
 settled in Pennsylvania, and his paternal 
 grandfather, Isaac Leedom, was a farmer 
 of Radnor township, in Delaware county, 
 where he was twice married, and reared in 
 all a family of thirteen children. One of 
 these children was John Leedom (father), 
 who was born in 1799, and died January 
 12, i860, aged sixty-one years. He was a 
 fanner, a Friend and a Whig. He wed- 
 ded Susannah M. Steel, whose father was 
 Andrew Steel, of West-town. Susannah 
 M. Leedom died February 20, 1882, when 
 in the seventy-sixth year of her age. Mr. 
 
212 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 and Mrs. Leedom had a family of seven 
 children : Silas J., Mary, wife of John 
 Jones, of Norristown ; Isaac, John, jr., Ann 
 Eliza, now dead ; Andrew S., subject ; and 
 Sallie K., wife of John Pugh. 
 
 Andrew S. Leedom was reared on the 
 home farm, received his education in the 
 common schools of his native township, 
 and the Gulf school, and then entered 
 Crittenden's Commercial college, of Phila- 
 delphia, from which he was graduated at 
 the close of his course. Returning home 
 he followed farming until 1861, when he en- 
 listed for three months in Company D, 
 Fourth Pennsylvania infantry. At the 
 close of his term he enlisted in 
 Company I, Fifty-first Pennsylvania in- 
 fantry, and participated in the following 
 battles : Roanoke Island, New Berne, 
 Second Bull Run, Chantilly, South Moun- 
 tain, Antietam and Fredricksburg, where a 
 minnie ball dislocated his left wrist. This 
 wound proved so serious that he was sent 
 to a Philadelphia hospital, from which he 
 was discharged on May 9, 1863, as disabled 
 for military service. He had served eigh- 
 teen months on his second term of en- 
 listment. When he returned home he 
 took a second commercial course. He 
 then became a clerk in the general mer- 
 cantile store of William Davis, jr., at 
 West Conshohocken station, whom he 
 bought out in 1864. He continued at the 
 station for three years and then purchased 
 ground, and built his present general 
 merchantile establishment on Front street. 
 He has a large patronage, and besides 
 merchandising is engaged in a number of 
 other business enterprises. 
 
 On February 26, 1874, Mr. Leedom mar- 
 ried Sarah E. Saylor, a daughter of Richard 
 A. Saylor, a former teacher and merchant 
 of West Conshohocken. 
 
 In politics Mr. Leedom has always sup- 
 ported the principles and measures of the 
 Republican party. He is also a member of 
 the Hicksite branch of the Society of 
 Friends, and belongs to the Plymouth meet- 
 ing of that division. He is a charter mem- 
 ber and one of the chief organizers of Fritz 
 Lodge No. 420, Free and Accepted Masons, 
 of Conshohocken. 
 
 PATRICK CURREN, a prominent bu- 
 siness man of Norristown, is a son 
 of Patrick and Bridget (Kell) Curren, and 
 was born November 19, 1833, at Girardville, 
 Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Patrick Curren, father, was born in 
 County Caven, Ireland, but emigrated to 
 this country about February 3, 1827. F° r 
 a time he lived in New York city, but 
 later went into Schuylkill county, and was 
 engaged in public works in that and Berks 
 county and Montgomery county. His 
 children were four in number : three sons 
 and one daughter. 
 
 Patrick Curren had the advantages of 
 but a common school education, and at the 
 early age of ten years, secured work in a 
 cotton mill where he remained seven years, 
 then for a short time worked in a brick 
 yard. He then for nineteen years followed 
 boating on the Schuylkill canal, between 
 Pottsville, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, 
 and the cities of the Atlantic seaboard. 
 Shortly after relinquishing the boating 
 business, he was engaged for a time in the 
 distilling business in Philadelphia. Soon 
 after the close of the late Civil war, he em- 
 barked in the wholesale liquor business in 
 Norristown, where he has remained ever 
 since. He does not confine his operations 
 however to the liquor business, but is in- 
 
• 
 
 » 
 
 fpa^t'e/^ %^^t^^ 
 
Biographic al Skkt< hes. 
 
 
 terested in a number of othei enterprise* of 
 Norristown thai are the measur< of the 
 towns progress and prosperity. Among 
 them are the following: The Norristown 
 
 Woolen mill, the Norristown Water com* 
 
 pany, the- Norristown Gas company, Adam 
 Scheidt Brewing company, Albertson Trust 
 and Safe Di posit company, Citizens' Street 
 Railway company, American Steel Plant 
 at Norristown, the Montgomery hotel, the 
 Bunting Liquor house of Philadelphia, a 
 distillery at Louisville, Kentucky, and owns 
 a line stock farm of fifty-six acres just out- 
 side- the borough limits of Norristown, and 
 takes a special delight in the breeding and 
 raising of fancy stock. 
 
 Politically Mr. Currcn is a Democrat, 
 and is a councilman from the fifth ward of 
 the borough of Norristown. In 1866 lie 
 married Rose, a daughter of James Sheri- 
 dan, a native of Ireland, who lived to be 
 ninety-six years of age. The children that 
 bless this marital alliance are as follows: 
 Mary, deceased; Annie, wife of J. Prank 
 Rover, of Norristown; Julia, at home; 
 Francis, Edward P., Sarah, deceased ; Jane 
 
 and Joseph. 
 
 Edward P. Curren, son of Patrick Curren, 
 was born January 28, 1870, at Norristown. 
 He was educated and graduated in 1886, 
 in the parochial schools of Norristown, and 
 Turnout Seminary. Leaving school he- 
 was engaged with his father until 1893, 
 when lie was made secretary of the Adam 
 Scheidt Brewing company, the position lie- 
 now holds. He is interested in the Schuyl- 
 kill Valley Traction company, and also 
 the Consumers' Ice company, of Norris- 
 town, 
 
 Mr. Curren is largely a self-mark- man, 
 practical in his views, and lias contributed 
 not a little to the business enterprise and 
 impetus of Norristown. He is proverbial 
 
 for his honesty, fail dealing, and absolute 
 reliability, while as a citizen I dfa I 
 
 to the demands of good ( itizenship. 
 
 On November 28, 1893, he married 
 Louisa Emers, a daughter of Robert 
 Emers, of Philadelphia, and one child, 
 
 Pauline, b 1 heir union. 
 
 FRANCIS II. LUBBE, oneof the old. i 
 business men of Conshohoeken, is the 
 
 I child of Herman and Catharine 
 (Klinman) Lubbe, and was born at the vil- 
 lage of Steinbeck, in the province of West- 
 phalia, Prussia, April 9, 1820. Herman 
 Lubbe was a farmer b\ occupation, served 
 
 lot a certain length of time in the Prussian 
 
 heavy cavalry, and died at his native village 
 
 in 1847, at forty-eight years of age. He 
 
 member of the Evangelical Lutheran 
 
 church, and married Catharine Klinman, 
 who died at Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1869, 
 aged seventy-three years, They had < 
 children: Francis H., Henry, Herman, 
 Catharine, Anna, Christina, Casper, Eliza- 
 beth and three who died young. Of these 
 children, Francis H., Herman and Anna 
 came to this country with their niotl, 
 Francis II. Lubbe received his education 
 
 in the excellent schools of Prussia, and at 
 twenty-eight years of age came to this 
 country in quest of further knowledge in 
 regard to Republican government He lo- 
 cated at Bridgeport, and, in 1853, rem 
 to Conshohoeken, where he has resided ever 
 since. He followed contracting and build- 
 ing up to 1878, when he engaged in the 
 real estate and conveyancing business. He 
 has been ted for man; ears with 
 
 most of the different building and loan 
 eiations of this borough and is interested in 
 lectric Light, th< Gas and the V. 
 
214 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 companies, of Conshohocken. He is a Re- 
 publican in politics, served as notary public 
 for fifteen years, was borough treasurer from 
 1874 to 1878, and is now serving on his 
 fifth consecutive term as treasurer. He is a 
 charter member and the oldest deacon in 
 years of service in the Conshohocken Baptist 
 church, and the treasurer from its organi- 
 zation in 1870, and has always been an 
 active, energetic and enthusiastic advocate 
 of the cause of temperance. He traveled 
 for a period of seven years over the greater 
 part of Europe for the purpose of acquiring 
 knowledge. 
 
 On March 10, 1853, Mr. Lubbe was united 
 in marriage with Anna L- Custer, a daughter 
 of John Custer, of Perry county. They had 
 five children, of whom the two eldest died in 
 infancy, while the three younger that grew 
 to maturity were : Charles C, and Wil- 
 mer F., who are both dead, and Ella E., 
 wife of David H. Ross, an attorney-at-law. 
 
 Charles C. Lubbe was graduated from the 
 University of Pennsylvania, and then en- 
 tered the United States Naval academy at 
 Annapolis, Maryland, from which he was 
 graduated as No. 4 in a large class in June, 
 1879. He was a young officer of bright 
 promise and lost his life on August 4, 1879, 
 in attempting to rescue a drowning man at 
 Atlantic City, where he was awaiting or- 
 ders for active duty. 
 
 Wilmer F. Lubbe was graduated in civil 
 engineering from the University of Penn- 
 sylvania, took a post graduate course in 
 electrical engineering, and in 1886, was em- 
 ployed by the Westiughouse company as a 
 construction engineer. He erected the Con- 
 shohocken Electric Light plant and died 
 February 6, 1889, while erecting, at Bristol, 
 this State, his tenth electrical light plant, 
 and was also superintendent of the Con- 
 shohocken Electric Light company. 
 
 DR. C. Q. HILLEGAS, D. D. S., a 
 skilled and popular dentist of Penns- 
 burg, this county, is a sou of John G. and 
 Catharine (Zeigler) Hillegas, and was born 
 June 29, 1870, in Upper Hanover township, 
 this county. 
 
 The genealogical record of Dr. C. O. Hille- 
 gas, appears in full in the sketch of his father, 
 which appears elsewhere He was edu- 
 cated in the public schools of Upper Hano- 
 ver township and in Perkiomen seminary at 
 Pennsburg, under the tutilage of Professor 
 C. S. Weand. At the early age of sixteen 
 he entered the Philadelphia Dental college, 
 from which he graduated in 1889, at the age 
 of eighteen years, receiving the degree of 
 Doctor of Dental Surgery. During the last 
 year at the dental college he took the 
 course of the Medico-Chirurgical cpllege, 
 with the exception of the last year, being 
 then in the Senior class, it being his inten- 
 tion at that time to complete the coiirse, 
 but he abandoned the idea and located at 
 his home in Upper Hanover township, and 
 began the practice of dentistry. After one 
 year he removed to Pennsburg, where he 
 has since practiced, and has built up an 
 enviable repiitation as a skilled workman, 
 and counts among his clientele many of the 
 most representative families of this section 
 of the county. 
 
 Mr. Hillegas is a Democrat and a 
 member of the New Goshenhoppen Re- 
 formed church, and is a teacher in the Sab- 
 bath school. 
 
 On September 8, 1891, he married Ella, 
 a daughter of William Siegfried, deceased, 
 of Monterey, Berks county, this State. One 
 child blesses this union. 
 
 Both in his professional and social rela- 
 tions Dr. Hillegas is uniformly liked. He 
 is a young man of promise, steadfast pur- 
 pose and strict fidelity, and in his bearing 
 
.(*■_ .t- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 215 
 
 manifests the instincts and training of a 
 cultured mind. He is eminently deserving 
 of the position he occupies among the citi- 
 zens of Pennsburg. 
 
 WILLIAM H. BUCK, justice of the 
 peace and a large farmer of Marlbor- 
 ough township, this county, is a son of 
 Charles and Christiana (Royer) Buck, and 
 was born December 31, 1847, m Upp er Han- 
 over township, Montgomery county, Penns- 
 ylvania. The family is of German origin, 
 (the earlier name being written Bock, after 
 the German), but they have been residents of 
 Montgomery county for several generations. 
 Hispaternal great-grandfather was Peter 
 Buck, a blacksmith by trade, and at one time 
 lived at Green Lane, this county ; latterly 
 at Long Swamp, Berks county, where he 
 died. 
 
 Jacob Buck, grandfather, was born in this 
 county June 3, 1794, but spent the early 
 part of his life at Long Swamp, Berks 
 county, Pa., where he married. In 1822 he 
 moved to Hereford township, in said county, 
 and thence, in 1823, to Sumneytown, 
 where he died on August 18, 1856. 
 His avocation was that of a blacksmith, his 
 political principles were Democratic, and 
 his religious faith was that of the German 
 Reformed church. He married Anna 
 Schmeck, and eight children were born to 
 their union : Charles, father, Daniel, Henry, 
 Jacob, James, Carmilla, now deceased, was 
 the wife of Reuben Geyer ; Maria, and 
 Caroline, who died when qtiite young. 
 
 Charles Buck (father), was born August 
 3, 1820, in Long Swamp township, Berks 
 county, learned the trade of blacksmithing 
 with his father, and followed it from 1835 
 to 1862, from 1S39 to 1842 at Reading and 
 
 Exeter. In 1842 he went to Hillegasville, 
 (now Red Hill), Montgomery county, where 
 he also served as State and count}' tax col- 
 lector for Upper Hanover township for sev- 
 eral years. In 1862 he purchased the farm 
 upon which he now lives, near Green Lane, 
 (where for nine years he followed farming), 
 and has resided there ever since. He is a 
 staunch believer in the principles of the 
 Democratic party, to which he has always 
 given his hearty support, and has served his 
 district as school director for one term. 
 
 On January 28, 1844, he wedded Christiana 
 Royer, a daughter of Henry Royer, and his 
 wife Elizabeth, (born Fryer), and they be- 
 came the parents of three children : Wil- 
 liam Henry, Charles, a miller and huckster 
 at Boyertown, Berks county, Pa. ; and Ellen, 
 the wife of Herman S. Hillegas, of Penns- 
 burg, this county. 
 
 William H. Buck, by hard and persistent 
 study, obtained a good common school edu- 
 cation, and being desirous of further broad- 
 ening his mental culture, when seventeen 
 years of age he entered Washington Hall 
 boarding school at Trappe, this county. 
 Leaving school he was for a number of years 
 engaged in the profession of teaching. Hav- 
 ing learned the trade of a miller, he for one 
 year successfully operated the Macoby 
 Valley mill, in Upper Hanover township, 
 fromApril, 1867, to April, 1868. Having 
 married in 1870, in April, 1871, he took 
 his father's farm, near Green Lane station, 
 where he now resides. The farm consists 
 of nearly one hundred acres, is nicely and 
 conveniently located, well watered, and in 
 fertility is among the best in that fertile val- 
 ley. Since 1871 he has, with some 
 effect, followed the pursuits of an agricul- 
 turist, of late making a specialty in the line 
 of poultry, potatoes and garden fruits. 
 
 Mr. Buck is a staunch Democrat, and is 
 
2l6 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 prominent and influential in the councils of 
 the Democratic party. In 1876 he was 
 elected a justice of the peace of Marlbor- 
 ough township, and has served continuously 
 in that office to the present time, by re-elect- 
 ion fromitime to time. Being strongly in fav- 
 or of popular education, he was elected a 
 member of the Marlborough school board 
 at the spring election of 1881. Upon the or- 
 ganization of the board of directors in the 
 following June, he was elected its secretary, 
 and has held both offices continuously to 
 this time. In 1884 Mr. Buck was one of 
 the nominees of the Democratic party for 
 the State legislature, receiving ii,oii votes, 
 but went down with the rest of the legisla- 
 tive ticket, due to the Blaine tide sweeping 
 over the county. 
 
 Fraternally he is a member of Penns- 
 burg Lodge No. 449, I. O. O. F., and passed 
 through all the chairs, having been its sec- 
 retary for a number of years ; also being on 
 important committees when that lodge 
 built their magnificent hall. He was also a 
 charter member of Adams Grange No. 64, 
 Patrons of Husbandry, and took an active 
 part during the yo's in breaking down the 
 monopolizing tendencies of farming ma- 
 chinery and implement manufacturers, and 
 the excessive fees paid their agents, also 
 against the sewing machine monopoly, 
 which Jiad itself then ramified in every part 
 of our country. 
 
 Religiously he is a member of the New 
 Goshenhoppen Reformed church, of which 
 he is one of the elders, was a delegate of 
 Goshenhoppen classis, to the Eastern synod 
 at Harrisburg in 1894, and again is a dele- 
 gate elder of said classis to said synod to 
 meet at Shamokin, Pa., next October. He 
 has always taken an active part in church 
 work, and is highly respected and esteemed 
 by everybody. 
 
 On December 24, 1870, he married Amelia 
 Brey, second daughter of Jonas Brey, a 
 farmer and shoemaker at Klinesville, this 
 county, and ten children have been born to 
 this union. They are as follows : Cora La- 
 viuia, wife of Henry T. Grubb ; Horace M., 
 a teacher by profession ; William C, Jacob 
 N., John C, deceased ; Richard M., Katie, 
 and Frank ; Amelia C. and Wallace, (twin 
 born), died in infancy. Mrs. Buck died on 
 December 21, 1882, and on February 28, 
 1885, Mr. Buck married as his second wife, 
 Mrs. Jennie G. King, widow of Mil- 
 ton King, third child and only daughter of 
 Henry D. Wile and Catharine Ann, his 
 wite, (born Godschall), of Franconia town- 
 ship, this county. Five children bless this 
 union : Warren, Minerva, Thurman, Anna, 
 and Lillian. 
 
 Mr. Buck is rather corpulent, as his en- 
 graving shows, but hale and hearty. He 
 always enjoys the presence of all of his in- 
 teresting family and his host of friends. 
 With him and his good wife the latch string 
 is always out for all decent people, and 
 nobody is expected to leave the portals of 
 the old homestead hungry or thirsty as long 
 as wheat grows and the clouds bring- rain. 
 
 JESSE WORTH EVANS, one of the 
 enterprising and successful business 
 men of Pottstown, is a son of Captain 
 Jesse B. and Mary Ann (Senders) Evans, 
 and was born December 31, 1S50, in Lim- 
 erick township, this county. His father 
 was also a native of Montgomery count} - , 
 who for many years was engaged in the 
 manufacture of pumps in Limerick town- 
 ship. He served as captain in the State 
 militia and took an active part in public 
 affairs. In 1827 ^ ie married Mary Ann Sou- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 217 
 
 ders, a native of Philadelphia. By that 
 union he had a family of eleven children, 
 of whom the subject of this sketch is the 
 youngest. Jesse B. Evans died in 1858, at 
 the age of sixty-one years, and his wife 
 passed away in 1878, in the seventy-third 
 year of her age. 
 
 Jesse Worth Evans was reared in his na- 
 tive county, obtaining his education in the 
 public schools. At the age of fourteen he 
 came to Pottstown as clerk in the gen- 
 eral store of M. B. Casselberry, and re- 
 mained in that capacity for four years. In 
 1869 he purchased the butchering business 
 of Mr. Casselberry, and successfully con- 
 ducted that enterprise until 1871, when he 
 sold out and engaged in the livery business 
 at Pottstown. For eleven years he owned 
 and operated a general livery business here, 
 and was the first man to run cabs to the 
 Reading depot. In 18S1 Mr. Evans em- 
 barked in the retail tobacco trade, and soon 
 afterward added the manufacture of cigars, 
 and began a general jobbing business in 
 tobacco. Like his previous ventures, this 
 enterprise prospered in his hands, and in 
 1890 he commenced dealing largely in leaf 
 tobacco as well as in the manufactured ar- 
 ticle. His trade now covers from eight to 
 ten States, and in the aggregate is exten- 
 sive and lucrative. In 1893 ne erected the 
 large and commodious brick warehouse now 
 in use. It is forty-five by one hundred and 
 fifty feet in dimensions, three stories high 
 and supplied with all modern improvements. 
 This structure is a valuable addition to the 
 growing city of Pottstown, and is justly re- 
 garded as one of the best and most com- 
 plete warehouses in Eastern Pennsylva- 
 nia. 
 
 In addition to his success in private busi- 
 ness, Mr. Evans has shown great public 
 spirit and done much to advance the mate- 
 
 rial interests and prosperity of Pottstown. 
 He is a member of the board of trade, and 
 has been instrumental in inducing several 
 of the substantial industries of the town to 
 locate here. At all times he has taken an 
 active part in every enterprise which had 
 for its object the improvement and develop- 
 ment of the city. For three years he served 
 as trustee of the Bringhurst Trust fund, 
 and was a member of the original commit- 
 tee which was instrumental in having the 
 sanitary law of 1893 passed at Harris- 
 burg. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Evans has 
 always been a Democrat. In 1887 he was 
 elected a member of the city council, his 
 majority being the largest ever given to any 
 man from the west ward. After serving one 
 full term he was re-elected to the council in 
 1890, and in 1892 was nominated and elected 
 burgess of Pottstown. He at once resigned 
 his seat in the council to accept the latter 
 office, which he administered with such ac- 
 ceptability, that in 1893 he was re-elected 
 to the same office, thus serving two fidl 
 terms. While acting as mayor, Mr. Evans 
 appointed the first board of health for Potts- 
 town, and was the last burgess to preside 
 over the borough council, as under the 
 present law the council elects its presiding 
 officer. 
 
 Mr. Evans is a Free and Accepted Mason, 
 a Knight Templar, and a member of Wash- 
 ington Camp No. 92, Patriotic Order Sons 
 of America. He is also connected with the 
 Junior Order of United American Mechanics. 
 
 On August 13, 1870, the subject of this 
 sketch was united in marriage to Ella J. 
 Reifsnyder, a daughter of John and Caro- 
 line Reifsnyder, of Pottstown, Pa. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Evans have been born seven chil- 
 dren : Charles, died in infancy ; John 
 Brooke, L. Gertrude, Man- E., Jesse R., 
 
2l8 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Ralph H., and Carrie F. Mr. Evans is a 
 member of the Reformed church of Potts- 
 town, as is his wife. They are both very 
 popular in social circles. 
 
 EDWARD J. CAINE, manager and sup- 
 erintendent of brick work in the con- 
 struction and repair department of the Alan 
 Wood & Co. iron works and rolling mills 
 of Coushohocken, is a son of Thomas and 
 Angelina (Marier) Caine. He was born at 
 Swanton Falls, in the State of Vermont, 
 June i, 1838. The Caines were originally 
 from England and their first home in the 
 new world was in New York, from which 
 colony and afterward State, they went into 
 different sections of the union. John Caine 
 (grandfather) was born in Detroit, Michigan, 
 and coming east, resided successively at 
 Swanton Falls, Vermont ; Troy, New York ; 
 and Reading, Pennsylvania. He served in 
 one or more of the Indian wars, was a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
 died at Reading, Pennsylvania. He mar- 
 ried Jane Newton, and to their union was 
 born fourteen children : John, Jane, Mar- 
 garet, Thomas, Melinda, Caroline, M. Hath- 
 away, Elizabeth, Richard, William, George, 
 Emma and Robert. Mr. Caine died in Jul}', 
 1850, at eighty-three years of age, while 
 his widow lived to reach her ninety-second 
 year, dying October, 1856. Thomas Caine, 
 one of their elder sons, was born at St. Al- 
 bans, Vermont, about the year 1803, and 
 followed bricklaying as a trade. He was 
 also a contractor and builder, and built 
 several rolling mills and gas works. He 
 came to Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1849, an< ^ 
 six years later went to Ludiugton, Michi- 
 gan, where he died about 1878. He was a 
 Democrat, served in the latter part of the 
 
 war of 1821, and after going to Michigan, 
 held the offices of justice of the peace and 
 county commissioner. He was an active 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and wedded Angelina Marier, a native of 
 France, a daughter of Madey Marier. Mrs. 
 Caine died in August, 1877, aged seventy- 
 four years. Mr. and Mrs. Caine had three 
 children, a son and two daughters : Rachel 
 Glassmyer, Edward (subject), and Louise 
 Caswell. 
 
 Edward Caine received his education in 
 the Reading Public schools and at Farnham 
 school, of Beverly, New Jersey. He learned 
 the trade of bricklaying with his father, and 
 in order to be a skilled workman, he went 
 to Philadelphia as an apprentice for two and 
 one half years, under a noted bricklayer and 
 contractor. Fully completing and master- 
 ing all kinds of brick work, he engaged in 
 business for himself, and in 1869, entered 
 the employ of Alan Wood & Co., 01 Cou- 
 shohocken. He built the present rolling 
 mill for the company in 1873, and since 
 then has had charge of all the bricklaying 
 in connection with their great works. 
 
 On January 1, 1863, Mr. Caine married 
 Ellen Gourick, of Easton. To their union 
 have been born five children : Stella, Ed- 
 ward, with the Lippincott shoe firm, of Phila- 
 delphia, who married Ellen Graver, by 
 whom he had one child, Helen ; Alan C, 
 with a paper house of Philadelphia ; Aron- 
 ettaA., deceased; and Bertram. 
 
 Mr. Caine is a Republican politically. 
 He is now a member of the town council 
 from the Fifth ward, having served pre- 
 viously one term from the Second ward. 
 He is a member of the Republican League 
 of Conshohocken, and Fritz Lodge No. 420, 
 Free and Accepted Masons of Conshohocken. 
 He served as a Union soldier in the late 
 Civil war, enlisting in Company F, nine- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 219 
 
 teenth Pennsylvania infantry on April 12, 
 1861. His company was stationed succes- 
 sively at Hampton Roads, Fortress Monroe, 
 Annapolis and Baltimore, and he was dis- 
 charged on August 20, i86i,at the expira- 
 tion of the regiment's term of service. 
 
 AMBROSE DETTRE, a man of educa- 
 tion and business ability, and one of 
 the largest real estate dealers of Norris- 
 town and Montgomery county, is a son of 
 John H. and Mary (Boyer) Dettre, and was 
 born at Norritonville, Norritou township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, May 
 27, 1847. He is of German descent, and 
 was reared at . Norristown. He received 
 his education in Ursinus college, at Col- 
 legeville, and Lafayette college, at Easton, 
 Northampton county, and then taught 
 school, which profession he soon aban- 
 doned, to engage in business pursuits. 
 After being variously employed, he opened, 
 in 1882, his present real estate office, at 55 
 East Main street, Norristown. He also 
 embarked in the general insurance business 
 and in conveyancing. Success has attended 
 his efforts in every line of his business 
 operations. He transacts a large amount 
 of real estate business, represents several 
 of the leading life, fire and accidental in- 
 surance companies, and does quite a large 
 conveyancing business. He makes a spec- 
 ialty of real estate transactions, and handles 
 houses, lots, farms, and other valuable 
 pieces of property at Norristown and other 
 places in the county. Mr. Dettre is a 
 pleasant gentleman, of standing, character, 
 and education, who discharges the duties 
 of life earnestly and faithfully. He is a 
 Republican politically. 
 
 On July 12, 1S71, Ambrose Dettre was 
 
 united in marriage with Linda W. Loeser, 
 a daughter of James Loeser, of Philadel- 
 phia. Their union has been blessed with 
 three children, two sons and a daughter : 
 Alice May, wife of E. Styer, who is engaged 
 in the real estate business at Norristown ; 
 R. Ronald, and Linn A. 
 
 The Dettre family is noted for longevity 
 as well as for the substantial qualities of the 
 honest and honorable German race of which 
 they are members. Christian Dettre (grand- 
 father), lived near the celebrated " Barley 
 Sheaf" hotel, in Norriton township, where 
 he followed farming. He was a Democrat, 
 and a German Baptist, and lacked but two 
 mile stones of reaching the century point 
 on the pathway of life. He was born 1778, 
 and died 1874. He married Mary Hallman, 
 whose life journey was but little over half 
 of his, she dying September 22, 1822, when 
 in the fifty-fourth year of her age. They 
 reared a family of three sons and two 
 daughters : John H., (father) ; Christian, of 
 Philadelphia, who is living a retired life ; 
 Mar}-, Ambrose, Thompson, of Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 John H. Dettre was born August 10, 1810, 
 in Norriton township, where he grew to 
 manhood on the farm, and received the or- 
 dinary education that farmer's sons ob- 
 tained in that day. His life was devoted 
 principally to farming. Late in life he 
 came to Norristown, where he died Feb- 
 ruary 8, 1892, at eighty-two years of age. 
 He was a Republican, and an active mem- 
 ber of the Lutheran church. He was an 
 Odd Fellow, and in early life was a member 
 of one of the old time militia companies 
 then so numerous in Pennsylvania. 
 
 John H. Dettre married Mary Boyer, who 
 was born September 20, 1816, and is a 
 daughter of George Boyer, of Norristown. 
 To them were born six sons and four 
 
220 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 daughters : Augustus, born 1834, and serv- 
 ing in the auditor's department of the 
 Pennsylvania Railroad company ; Hen- 
 rietta, born November 21, 1836, and wife 
 of Jacob Custer, a farmer of Worcester 
 township; Catharine, born November 21, 
 1838, and is the widow of Henry Miller ; 
 Boyer, born February 14, 1840, and died in 
 Macon, Georgia ; John, born March 30, 
 1842, and now owns one of the largest dry 
 goods and grocery houses of Phcenixville, 
 Chester county ; Mary D., born April 1, 
 1844, who married George W. Neimon, ex- 
 recorder of deeds of this county, and now 
 a resident of Philadelphia ; Ambrose, the 
 subject of this sketch ; Lewis, born Au- 
 gust 18, 1850, and now a resident purchas- 
 ing agent in Clarion county of the Standard 
 Oil company ; Ella, born January 22, 1853, 
 and died at eleven years of age , and Amos, 
 born April 4, 1856, who now holds a posi- 
 tion in the office of the Union Electric 
 Street Railway company, of Philadelphia. 
 
 SAMUEL GORDON SMYTH, a remark- 
 ably active business man and resident 
 of West Conshohocken, is a son of Jonathan 
 and Elizabeth (Ritchie) Smyth, and was 
 born at Penn's Manor, Bucks county, Penn- 
 sylvania, July 24, 1859. The name of 
 Smyth and the family is of Scotch-English 
 origin. 
 
 About the year 1650, the Smyths, who 
 were Protestants, where compelled by re- 
 ligious persecution, to flee from Cumber- 
 land, England, into Scotland, where they 
 remained for a time, but subsequently com- 
 ing over into Ireland during the " planta- 
 tion " of Ulster by King James. They 
 settled at Annoy, County Antrim, while 
 the branch that remained in England es- 
 
 poused the dominant religion and in times 
 past became distinguished in the military 
 and naval affairs of Great Britain. The 
 Puritan stock that came to Ireland became 
 principally farmers, and among them sprang 
 some ardent church men. 
 
 Rev. Richard Smyth, D. D., M. P., a 
 cousin of the subject of this sketch, was a 
 distinguished divine of the Presbyterian 
 church of Ireland, and has served with 
 honor as a member of the parliament of 
 Great Britain, representing the city of Lon- 
 donderry, where he was professor of Hebrew 
 and of theology in Magee college. An- 
 other cousin is Rev. Jackson Wray Smyth, 
 who was, until his recent decease, the 
 " Protestant Primate " of Ireland. Both of 
 these cousins were Moderators of the Gen- 
 eral Assembly. 
 
 James Smith (grandfather), residing at 
 the Cathedral of Armagh, was a farmer 
 and a Presbyterian elder, and married Mar- 
 tha Gray, a sister of Robert Gray, whose 
 son, coming to Philadelphia as a boy, be- 
 came the celebrated Philadelphia brewer of 
 that name. I. Smyth died in 1861, at Bal- 
 lymoney, aged sixty-eight years, and his 
 widow passed away in 1868, when seventy- 
 six years of age. They reared a family of 
 six sons and one daughter : Jonathan, Han- 
 nah, William, James, Samuel, Hugh, and 
 Alexander. 
 
 Jonathan Smyth (father), was born at 
 Finvoy, County Antrim, Ireland, in 1813, 
 and came to the United States about 1840. 
 He engaged in the grocery business in 
 Philadelphia, and in 1859 removed to Falls 
 township, Bucks county, where he followed 
 farming for a few years, and then began the 
 grocery business, which he conducted at 
 Newtown up to the time of his death, 
 which occurred January 3, 1S73. He was 
 a strong Republican in politics. A lame 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 221 
 
 leg prevented him from serving the Union 
 army during the Civil war. 
 
 He was a strict Presbyterian, and an Odd 
 Fellow. He married Elizabeth Ritchie, 
 who is a daughter of the late John Ritchie, 
 of Bridgeport, Montgomery county, and 
 was born in Philadelphia, in 1831. They 
 reared three sons and five daughters : Wil- 
 liam, James, Martha, Samuel Gordon, 
 Anna E., Margaret J., Mary J., and Susan ; 
 the three first named and the last, Susan, 
 all dying in infantcy. 
 
 S. Gordon Smyth received his education 
 in the common schools of Bucks county 
 and at Newtown academy for a term. At 
 sixteen years of age he went to sea on a 
 vessel bound for Savannah, Georgia, in 
 which city he resided for a time. While 
 in the steamship service of the Reading 
 Coal and Iron company, he contracted 
 small-pox from nursing a man with that 
 disease, and through General Sickels' in- 
 tercession, was admitted into a Philadel- 
 phia hospital. Recovering, he went to 
 Cape May, New Jersey, in 1877, where he 
 learned the tin-working and heater busi- 
 ness, which he followed for three years. 
 In 1881 he entered the employ of Moro 
 Phillips, a large chemical manufacturer of 
 Philadelphia, with whom he remained until 
 that gentleman's death, but was retained 
 and advanced by the trustees of the estate. 
 He is now a teller in the Merchants' Ex- 
 change bank, at Third and Dock streets, 
 and has resided at West Conshohocken 
 since 1891. 
 
 On July 24, 1879, Mr. Smyth wedded 
 Mary E. Duke, whose father is Francis K. 
 Duke, the present coroner of Cape May, 
 New Jersey. They have three children : 
 Francis A., Marion M., and S. Gordon, jr. 
 
 In politics Mr. Smyth is a Republican. 
 He has served as a member of the board of 
 
 health, and is president of the town council. 
 He is a member, trustee, and a ruling elder 
 of the Presbyterian church of Consho- 
 hocken, and clerk of the session. He is 
 also an Encampment Odd Fellow, and a 
 member of the Montgomery County His- 
 torical society, to which he has contributed 
 some valuable articles that have been pub- 
 lished, notably one relating to Charles 
 Thompson, secretary of the Continental 
 Congress, whose old home is adjacent to 
 " Ryhnout," the residence of the subject of 
 this sketch. 
 
 JOHN FEARNSIDE, a merchant of West 
 *J Conshohocken, is a son of Benjamin 
 and Anna Belle (Leith) Fearnside, and was 
 born at Aberdeen, Scotland, March 18, 
 1859. His grandfather, John Fearnside, 
 was born, reared and educated at Yorkshire, 
 England, where he was engaged for some 
 years as a woolen manufacturer. In mid- 
 dle life he removed to Aberdeen, Scotland, 
 where he followed woolen manufacturing 
 up to the time of his death. His family 
 consisted of three sons and two daughters. 
 One of these sons, Benjamin Fearnside 
 (father), was born at Aberdeen, and came 
 to this country in 1890, but soon returned 
 to his native city, where he died. He was 
 a woolen manufacturer, and a Presbyterian 
 dissenter, and was twice married. His 
 second wife was Anna Belle Leith. By his 
 second marriage Benjamin Fearnside had 
 eight children : Caroline, Jane, Wilhilmina, 
 Benjamin, deceased ; John, subject ; Isa- 
 bella, Carrie Belle ; and one child which 
 died in infancy. 
 
 John Fearnside grew to manhood in his 
 native city, received an ordinary English 
 education, and assisted his father in the 
 
222 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 woolen manufacturing business until 1880. 
 In that year he came to this country and 
 spent one year in Wisconsin. He then 
 came to Conshohocken and was employed 
 for six years in the spinning department of 
 George Bullock & Co.'s woolen mill. 
 During that time he was made secretary of 
 a co-operative store at West Conshohocken, 
 and soon became manager, which position 
 he held until 1890, when he purchased the 
 building and entire stock of goods. He 
 does a general mercantile business, and has 
 a good patronage. He gives his time 
 chiefly to the management of his store, yet 
 takes an interest in local affairs. He has 
 been a Republican since coming to the 
 United States, and supports the ticket of 
 that party at State and National elections. 
 He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal 
 church. 
 
 On June 6, 188 1, John Fearnside was 
 united in marriage with Maggie Gordon, 
 who is a daughter of James Gordon. Their 
 union has been blessed with three children, 
 two sons and a daughter : Anne Belle, Gor- 
 don D , and Albert Russell. 
 
 THADDEUS S. ADLE, one of the lead- 
 ing jewelers of Norristown, is a son of 
 Jacob and Sarah Koplin Adle, and was 
 born in Norristown, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, on August 24, 1848. After 
 spending some time in the public schools of 
 his native town, he attended the Quaker 
 City Business college of Philadelphia, for 
 several terms. Leaving school, he entered 
 the employ of W. T. Koplin, of Norristown, 
 with whom he remained for several years. 
 In 187 1 he went into business for himself 
 and has conducted an independent enterprise 
 ever since. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Adle has always been a 
 staunch supporter of the Republican party, 
 and has served as school director in Norris- 
 town for three successive terms. He has 
 also been treasurer of the board for two out 
 of the three terms. In his fraternal re- 
 lations he is a member of Charity Lodge 
 No. 190, Free and Accepted Masons, and 
 filled the position of district deputy grand 
 master for thirteen years. For a period of 
 eleven years he has acted in the capacity of 
 deputy high priest and at present is grand 
 standard bearer of the grand commandery 
 of the Knights Templar, within the juris- 
 diction of Pennsylvania. Mr. Adle is also 
 a communicant of St. John's Episcopal 
 church, of Norristown, in which he has been 
 honored with the position of vestryman. 
 
 In 1880, Mr. Adle espoused in marriage 
 Annie E. Croll, which marriage has resulted 
 in the birth of a daughter, named Helen. 
 
 Jacob* Adle, father of the subject of this 
 sketch, was a native of Germany, from 
 which country he emigrated to America in 
 1805. Soon after landing he located at Ger- 
 mautown, Pennsylvania, where he resided 
 for some time and finally removed to Nor- 
 ristown. Here he remained until his death, 
 which occurred in 1866. He at first was 
 engaged in making chairs and later em- 
 barked in the grocery business. After a 
 few years he exchanged merchandising for 
 the furniture business, in which latter he 
 remained until 1865. He was a Republican 
 in politics and served as a member of the 
 school board and also as a member of the 
 town council. His marriage with Sarah 
 Koplin was fruitful in the issue of eight 
 children : Theodore, William, Thaddeus S., 
 Anna, Matilda, Markley, deceased ; and one 
 dying in infancy. Mrs. Adle departed this 
 life on January 15, 1884, at the age of sev- 
 enty-nine years. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 223 
 
 GEORGE N. HIGHLEY, M. D., who 
 ranks as one of the most skillful and 
 successful physicians and surgeons in Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, is a son of 
 Felix and Susan R. (Corson) Highley, and 
 was born in Schuylkill township, Chester 
 county, Pennsylvania, August 13, 1859. 
 
 The name is of German origin, and was 
 originally spelled Heilich, but has since 
 been changed and anglicized until it is 
 now Highley. The original emigrant 
 
 Heilich (Highley) came from Germany in 
 about 1740, settled in Lower Providence 
 township, Montgomery county, this state, and 
 from him the family which is so numerous 
 and prosperous in eastern Pennsylvania is 
 descended. One of his sons John Highley, 
 who was the great-great grandfather of Dr. 
 Highley, was a prosperous farmer and jus- 
 tice of the peace of Lower Providence town- 
 ship. He lived there during the Revolu- 
 tionary war, and saw, as a civilian, many of 
 the hardships and struggles incident to that 
 great Revolutionary struggle; his remains 
 now lie buried in his native township. 
 Henry Highley, great grandfather, was born 
 in Lower Providence township, but finally 
 removed to Schuylkill township, Chester 
 count}', where he resided the remainder of 
 his life, dying in the same house in which 
 Dr. Highley was born. He was a thrifty 
 and well to do farmer, a Whig in politics, a 
 member of the Mennonite church ; his re- 
 mains were interred in the Phcenixville 
 Mennonite cemetery. He wedded Hannah 
 Savior (daughter of Valentine Saylor, who 
 was brought over from Germany by his 
 father, Peter Savior, at the age of three 
 years), who was born in Phcenixville in 1765, 
 and who died in 1831. They had a large 
 family among whom was George Highley, 
 grandfather, who was born in Schuylkill 
 township in 1800, and who died in 1874, in 
 
 Lower Providence township, having resided 
 there the greater part of his life, engaged in 
 the peaceful and tranquil pursuits of hus- 
 bandry. He was a man of few words but 
 possessed extraordinary firmness and shrewd- 
 ness and was held in high esteem in the 
 community in which he lived. Politically, 
 he was a Whig, but upon the disintegration 
 of that party and the organization of the 
 Republican party in 1856, he became a Re- 
 publican. His wife was Ann Francis, 
 daughter of John Francis, and a lineal 
 descendant (through her mother, Elizabeth 
 Pennypacker) of Pieter Dirck Keyser, one of 
 the first settlers of Germantown. She was 
 a woman of marked intelligence, who had 
 limited opportunities for culture but pos- 
 sessed a remarkable memory that seemed to 
 retain all that came within its grasp, and 
 which made her a most interesting con- 
 versationalist. The children of George and 
 Anna (Francis) Highley were : Henry and 
 Hannah (twins), Thomas, Eliza, Felix 
 Francis, Man - and Deborah — seven in all. 
 
 Of these, Felix Francis, father of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, was born in Lower Provi- 
 dence township, on August i, 1832, but on 
 attaining his majority, removed to the old 
 homestead in Schuylkill township, Chester 
 count}-. He cultivated this farm success- 
 fully until 1873, when he removed to a farm 
 near Jeffersonville ; a few years later he pur- 
 chased a home in Norristown, where he has 
 since lived, having given up active business 
 pursuits. He is a staunch Republican and 
 at present is a member of borough council of 
 Norristown. On the first of January, 1857, 
 he married Susan R. daughter of Charles 
 and Sarah Egbert Corson, of Lower Provi- 
 dence township, and six children have been 
 born to them, viz : Albert C, who died at 
 the age of twelve years ; Dr. George Nor- 
 man, subject ; Ionia, wife of Henry L. 
 
224 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Everitt, editor of The. Miller's Review of 
 Philadelphia ; Charles Corson, the efficient 
 cashier of the Malvern National bank ; 
 Sarah Corson, wife of George M. Holstein, 
 manager of the extensive zinc works at 
 Pulaski, Virginia ; and Nancy, unmarried, 
 who lives at home with her parents. 
 
 Dr. George N. Highley acquired his ele- 
 mentary education in the public schools of 
 his native township, Ivy institute, a semi- 
 nary at Phcenixville, and in Tremont semi- 
 nary, at Norristown. Subsequently he en- 
 tered the medical department of the Uni- 
 versity of Pennsylvania, and graduated with 
 high honor in the class of 1881. He then 
 located at Roxborough, Phila, where he 
 practiced for a short time, going from there 
 to his present residence and field of practice 
 in Conshohocken. Dr. Highley is a close 
 student of the leading medical literature 
 of the day, keeps himself fully abreast of 
 the advancement and progress made in his 
 profession. He has contributed a number 
 articles to the leading medical journals of 
 the country — articles which show that he 
 possesses fine literary attainments, as well 
 as superior knowledge of the subjects upon 
 which he wrote. He is a prominent and 
 an active member of the Montgomery 
 County Medical society, of the Pennsyl- 
 vania Medical association, and the Obstet- 
 rical society, of Philadelphia. For three 
 years he was an assistant surgeon in the 
 Pennsylvania National guard, and has 
 served two terms as burgess of Consho- 
 hocken. He is also a director of the 
 Tradesmen's National bank, of Consho- 
 hocken. On June 1, 1887, he wedded Mary 
 W., a daughter of William and Annie H. 
 Wilson, of Conshohocken, and they are the 
 parents of three children : Albert (deceased), 
 Annie Wilson, and Charles Corson High- 
 ley, J r - 
 
 JOHN H. CRANKSHAW, of Norris- 
 <J town, one of the unusually successful 
 insurance men of the United States, and the 
 present chief supervisor of the Metropolitan 
 Life Insurance company of New York, is a 
 son of James and Ellen (Smalley) Crank- 
 shaw, and was born in Chorley, Lancashire, 
 England, February 23, 1845. His paternal 
 grandfather, John Crankshaw, was a native 
 of Chorley, and died at Belmont, England, 
 September 4, 1S72, aged eighty-one years. 
 He was a calico printer by trade, a Liberal 
 in English politics, and a devoted Methodist 
 in religion. He married Margaret Weir, of 
 Rathfriland, County Armagh, Ireland, whose 
 family was of Scotch-Irish descent, and pro- 
 duced two leading and prominent clergy- 
 men of the Methodist church. Mrs. Crank- 
 shaw died in 1881, at eighty-seven years of 
 age. Their children, six in number, were : 
 Nancy, James, Hamilton, Rev. John Weir, 
 Margaret, and Horatio. Nancy Crankshaw, 
 the only white woman that remained in 
 Atlanta, Georgia, when it was besieged 
 during the late Civil war, married Judge 
 Thomas Spencer, who was in the machine 
 business at Philadelphia and Atlanta, Geor- 
 gia, from 1842 until his death in 1888. He 
 was a native of Lancashire, England, and 
 his son-in-law, P. J. Moran, is now associate 
 editor of the Allan/a Constitution, and was 
 the coadjutor of Henry Grady. James 
 Crankshaw, the second child, is the father 
 of the subject of this sketch. Hamilton 
 Crankshaw, a machinist by trade, came 
 with Judge Spencer in 1842 to Philadelphia, 
 and afterwards removed to Atlanta, Georgia, 
 where he is in the lumber business, and 
 where his son Charles is one of the leading 
 jewelers of that city. 
 
 Rev. John Weir, a distinguished Metho- 
 dist clergyman, died in England, at the age 
 of forty-five years. Margaret Crankshaw 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 225 
 
 married John Ormrod, who was a calico 
 machine printer by trade, and is now a 
 retired capitalist of Blackpool, England. 
 Horatio Crankshaw, the youngest child, 
 who served as an office boy with the firm of 
 Ten nan t & Son, cotton brokers, of Liver- 
 pool, of which he afterwards became a 
 member, is now a general broker in London, 
 England. James Crankshaw (father), was 
 born in the town of Over Darwin, Lan- 
 cashire, England, in 1818, and learned the 
 trade of calico printer, which he followed 
 until 1882, when he came to Norristown, 
 where he died May 29, 1891, aged seventy- 
 three years. He married Ellen Smalley, 
 who was a daughter of Thomas Smalley, of 
 Chorley, England. She died in 1867, at the 
 age of forty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Crank- 
 shaw had a family of six children : John H., 
 (subject) ; Nancy Ellen, who died at six- 
 teen years of age ; Elizabeth Ann, wife of 
 James Warbrick, of Bolton, England ; 
 Thomas H., now engaged in business at 
 Norristown; Margaret Alice, wife of Thomas 
 Wiggins, a resident of Leyland, England ; 
 and Joseph Weir, engaged in the insurance 
 business at Over Darwin, England. 
 
 John H. Crankshaw was reared in his 
 native shire and received in boyhood but a 
 meagre education. At the age of seven 
 and one-half years he found employment as 
 a helper to his father at calico printing, and 
 when but fourteen years of age he entered 
 the bleaching and finishing department of 
 Mortfield works at Bolton, where he made 
 sixteen hours a day for several years in a 
 room at an average temperature of from one 
 hundred and thirty to one hundred and 
 sixty degrees. At the early age of twenty- 
 two years he was made foreman of the de- 
 partment of bleaching and finishing with a 
 force of fifty men and women under his 
 prders, and so well discharged the duties of 
 
 '5 
 
 his responsible position, that three years 
 later he was offered the management of tin- 
 entire works at Birkacre, Chorley, England. 
 The business was conducted under eight 
 separate branches, and employed two hun- 
 dred and fifty people. He quit on account 
 of some unwarranted and hurtful interfer- 
 ence with his religious principles by the 
 proprietor, but having by this time estab- 
 lished his reputation as a man of unusual 
 business ability, he was not long out of 
 permanent employment. Of several advan- 
 tageous offers made him, Mr. Crankshaw in 
 1873 accepted the position of assistant su- 
 perintendent of the Prudential Life Insur- 
 ance company, of London, England, and 
 for seven years had special charge of the 
 English towns of St. Ellens, Widness, War- 
 rington, and Bolton. In his new field he 
 met with unusual success, and, in 1880, left 
 the Prudential company, upon the personal 
 solicitation of Brice Collard, of New York 
 City, who had just solved the problem of 
 industrial insurance in the United States, 
 in the formation of the Metropolitan Insur- 
 ance company. At Mr. Collard's urgent re- 
 quest, he came, in 1880, to this country, and 
 assumed charge of the Metropolitan's busi- 
 ness in North Philadelphia. When he as- 
 sumed charge he had a force of seven men. 
 After fifteen years of effectual work, he has 
 organized and built up a business in his 
 original district that now requires a con- 
 stant force of six hundred men, and has in- 
 creased from nothing to four hundred thou- 
 sand policy holders, with an annual pre- 
 mium of over one million dollars. The 
 Middle Philadelphia District offices are at 
 the northeast corner of Sixth street and 
 Girard avenue, and have desk room for two 
 hundred and fifty employees, and an entire 
 floor space of forty-eight hundred square 
 feet, and in his original district there are 
 
226 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 now seven hundred and fifty men employed 
 by the company. The healthy growth and 
 remarkable increase of the business under 
 his charge since 1880, has been phenomenal 
 and has never been equalled in any other 
 division of his own or in any division of 
 any other insurance company in the world. 
 Mr. Crankshaw resided in Philadelphia up 
 to 1883, in which year he removed to his 
 present handsome residence at 1202 DeKalb 
 street, Norristown, where he has a beautiful 
 and luxurious home. 
 
 On June 17, 1870, Mr. Crankshaw mar- 
 ried Sarah Southworth, who was a daughter 
 of William Wilson, of Leyland, and died Jan- 
 uary 22, 1883, aged forty-two years, leaving 
 three children, who are still living : Fred- 
 erick Weir, editor of the Industrial Herald, 
 and a graduate of the University of Penn- 
 sylvania, who is now an attorney-at-law and 
 a member of the present legal firm of 
 Smyth, Carlisle & Crankshaw, of Nos. 136- 
 138 South Fourth street, Philadelphia ; 
 Florence and Arthur H., attending school. 
 On Christmas day, 1883, Mr. Crankshaw 
 wedded for his second wife Mary A. Crank- 
 shaw, a daughter of Joseph Crankshaw, of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 In England, Mr. Crankshaw was a Lib- 
 eral in politics, and since becoming a resi- 
 dent of the United States, he has supported 
 the Republican part} - . He has never re- 
 fused to serve in any position when called 
 upon to do so, and hence has been a mem- 
 ber of town council since 1891, now serv- 
 ing his second term. He is an active 
 member of Oak Street Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, in which he has served for 
 ten years as leader of the choir and other 
 offices. While residing in England he 
 served for some time as a local minister in 
 the Primitive Methodist church, with which 
 he had united in 1867. John H. Crankshaw 
 
 
 is one of the highest degree Masons in the 
 United States, being a Scottish Rite or 
 Thirty-second Degree Mason, and holding 
 present membership in Montgomery Lodge 
 No. 19, Free and Accepted Masons ; Colum- 
 bia Chapter No. 91, Royal Arch Masons ; 
 and Corinthian Commandery No. 53, 
 Knights Templar, and Philadelphia Con- 
 sistory, A. & A. Rite. He is a past master, 
 past high priest, and past commander in the 
 Masonic fraternity. He is also a member 
 of Hepana Tribe, Improved Order of Red 
 Men ; Lu Lu Temple, A. A. O. N., of the 
 Majestic Shrine ; Alfred the Great Lodge of 
 the Order of the Sons of St. George ; and 
 Appollo Senate, Order of Sparta. 
 
 In such a career as Mr. Crankshaw's, of 
 which we have given the meagre outline, 
 there is much of interest and much of useful 
 value to those who are dependent upon their 
 own efforts in life. The influences and les- 
 sons of such a life cannot be summed up in 
 a few brief paragraphs. His continued suc- 
 cess testifies as words cannot to his business 
 ability, power of organization, and force of 
 will. ' 
 
 WILLIAM AMOS EVANS, a leading 
 Republican and successful business 
 man of Norristown, is a son of Elisha and 
 Eliza W. (Hansel) Evans, and was born in 
 Upper Merion township, Montgomery coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1856. The Evans 
 family has had honorable record in Mont- 
 gomery county since its early settlement, 
 and is from Wales, where the name oc- 
 curs in local and public records for over 
 three centuries. The family has always 
 possessed those solid and substantial quali- 
 ties upon which the public welfare and all 
 private prosperity rest. Over a century ago 
 Elisha Evans resided at the site of College- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 227 
 
 ville, where he was a prominent and 
 influential man. He was active in all 
 matters of county interest, as well as those 
 of local importance. He was instrumental 
 in securing the erection of the Perkiomen 
 bridge, the finest structure of its kind in 
 the county, and hardly has its superior in 
 south-eastern Pennsylvania. His son, 
 Edward Evans, was a man of common 
 education, but possessed of excellent busi- 
 ness ability and succeeded well in all of the 
 enterprises in which he was engaged. He 
 was a Friend, and died February 1, 1856, 
 when nearing the close of his eighty-fourth 
 year. His wife passed away in 1848. 
 
 Elisha Evans, the father of William A. 
 Evans, was born in Richland township, 
 Chester county, in 1812. He was a farmer 
 by occupation, but had in early life learned 
 the trade of plasterer, which he never 
 followed to any great extent. He owned 
 teams that ran on the old Lancaster pike 
 and also hauled freight from Philadelphia 
 to Pittsburg in anti-railroad days. He 
 resided successively at Swedeland, and in 
 Upper Merion township, this count}-, 
 where he owned a farm. In March, 1862, 
 be became a resident of Lower Providence 
 township, in which he passed the last 
 eighteen years of his life. He died De- 
 cember 12, 1880, aged sixty-eight years. 
 He was a Quaker and Radical Republican, 
 and married Eliza W. Hansel, who was 
 born in 1825, an< ^ ' s a daughter of Charles 
 W. Hansel, who resided in Upper Merion 
 township. Their children were : Mary E. 
 Barry; Jonathan Cleaver ; Henry Pawling, 
 deceased ; Charles Edward ; John Wentz, 
 deceased ; John Henderson, deceased ; 
 Benjamin Franklin, deceased ; William 
 Amos, subject ; Catharine Supplee and 
 Rebecca Ellen, now dead. 
 
 William A. Evans, was reared on a farm, 
 
 received his education in the common 
 schools and Ursinus college which he at- 
 tended for a number of years. He after- 
 wards taught mathematics in the same 
 institution, and, in 1877, accepted a place 
 in Gregory's Business College, of New 
 York City. He afterwards taught in the 
 public schools, and was principal from 1882 
 until 1887, of the West Manayunk public 
 schools. In the last named year he retired 
 from teaching, and has given his time 
 principally to his present successful real 
 estate, conveyancing and insurance busi- 
 ness, at Norristown, which he had estab- 
 lished in 1885. Mr. Evans has always 
 been a Republican in politics, and is now 
 serving his second term as president of 
 the Republican Invincibles, a political 
 club, of Norristown. He was elected a 
 justice of the peace in the First ward in 
 1885, and re-elected in 1890, and served 
 three years as a member of the school 
 board, and four successive terms as presi- 
 dent of the board of health, which last 
 position he resigned. He is a Mason, being 
 a member of Phoenix Lodge No. 75, Free 
 and Accepted Masons ; Mountain Chapter 
 No. 190, Royal Arch Masons, and Hutchin- 
 son Commandery No. 32, Knights Templar. 
 On October 14, 1880, Mr. Evans married 
 Emma J. Davis, a daughter of Jefferson 
 Davis, a farmer and butcher of Lower 
 Providence township. To their union 
 have been born six children : Mabel L , 
 Anson B, Charles C, Brita S., Franklin 
 Buchanan, deceased ; and William Amos, jr. 
 
 NELSON FREDERICK SCHMIDT, 
 D. D., the efficient pastor of the Je- 
 rusalem Lutheran church of Schwenksville, 
 and the St. James Lutheran church of Lim- 
 
228 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 erick, is a son of Rev. John Henry Schmidt 
 and Louisa Ann (Newman) Schmidt, and 
 was born at Treverton, Northumberland 
 county, Pennsylvania, on December u, 
 1866. 
 
 Rev. John Henry Schmidt was born 
 August 9, 1827, at Euger, in the province 
 of Westphalia, Prussia. He was the son of 
 J. H. Schmidt and his wife, Anna Catharine, 
 nee Dustman. His mother died when he 
 was between sixteen and seventeen years of 
 age, and his father just as he had reached 
 his nineteenth year. His early education 
 was received in the German Normal school 
 with the view of preparing for the office of 
 teaching. He came to this country in 1852, 
 reaching Baltimore October 27. After spend- 
 ing two years in teaching and other employ- 
 ments, he went to Pennsylvania college, at 
 Gettysburg, to complete his education. 
 Later he entered the Theological seminary 
 at the same place and prepared for the Gos- 
 pel ministry. He was licensed by the Alle- 
 gheny synod in 1861, and afterward ordained 
 by the same synod in 1863. His first field 
 of labor was at Altoona, Blair county, 
 where he remained a little over four years, 
 organizing the St. James Lutheran congre- 
 gation, now one of the prominent congre- 
 gations of the city. Leaving Altoona, he 
 served the Treverton charge in Northumber- 
 land county four years, the White Haven 
 charge in Luzerne county for seven years 
 and finally the Freeland charge, which had 
 been part of the White Haven charge, but 
 was taken from it in 1876, until the 25th of 
 October, 1891, when he retired from the 
 active ministry on account of impaired 
 health. His labors were mostly of a mis- 
 sionary and pioneer character, and in Ger- 
 man localities, where he was very successful. 
 He still resides at Freeland, Luzerne county, 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 He married Louisa Ann Newman, a 
 daughter of Charles and Christina Newman, 
 of Hanover, York county, Pennsylvania, on 
 October 27, 1862. They have five children 
 living : Bertha, wife of Adolph Weisz, of 
 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania ; Rev. Nelson 
 F. ; Lulu, a teacher ; William J., a gradu- 
 ate of Muhlenberg college ; and Edgar H., 
 a leading jeweler of Freeland, Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 Rev. Nelson F. Schmidt received his 
 literary education at Muhlenberg college, at 
 Allentown, Pennsylvania, from which hon- 
 ored institutien of learning he was gradu- 
 ated in the class of 1886. Leaving college, 
 he entered the Lutheran Theological semi- 
 nary of Philadelphia, then on Franklin 
 street, and was graduated in 1889. During 
 the summer of 1888 he spent upwards of 
 three months missionating among the ne- 
 glected Lutherans of south-western Virginia. 
 The esteem in which his labors were held 
 can best be shown by the fact that in the 
 fall of the same year he received a call from 
 south-western Virginia synod to become its 
 traveling missionary, a position which was 
 declined simply on account of its great re- 
 sponsibility and his fear that he would not 
 be able to meet its requirements because of 
 his limited experience. After his gradua- 
 tion, he was ordained to the Lutheran min- 
 istry on June 17, 1889, and immediately took 
 charge of the Schwenksville-Limerick 
 charge, from which he had previously re- 
 ceived a call. He has labored faithfully 
 and successfully in this charge, and his 
 labors have been duly appreciated by his con- 
 gregations, while he has gained and holds 
 the respect of the public and the members 
 of other religious denominations. 
 
 On June 19, 1890, Rev. Schmidt was 
 united in marriage with Eva A. Sweitzer, 
 a daughter of Benjamin K. and Amelia 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 229 
 
 Sweitzer, of Allentown, this state. Their 
 union has been blessed with one child, a 
 son, named Nelson S., who was born Janu- 
 ary 2, 1892. 
 
 JOHN BISSON FISHER, who is en- 
 ^-J gaged in the meat and grocery business 
 at Bridgeport, is a son of Henry and Mary 
 Ann (Bisson) Fisher, and was born August 
 19, 1849, at Barren Hill, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania. His paternal grand- 
 father emigrated from Germany to Ameri- 
 ca, and located at Barren Hill, where he 
 was engaged in agricultural pursuits. He 
 was a supporter of the Democratic party, 
 and married Margaret Katz. To them 
 were born five children : Samuel, Henry, 
 Louisa, Harriet McGinn, and Margaret 
 Hallman. Henry Fisher (father) was born 
 at Barren Hill, and passed his early life 
 with his father upon the farm. Arriving 
 at manhood, he learned the trades of 
 cabinet-:maker and mill-wright, but soon 
 afterward became engaged in the carpenter- 
 ing business, which he followed during the 
 greater part of his life. From 1858 until 
 his death, he resided at Chestnut Hill. He 
 was a Republican and was enthusiastic in 
 political matters, but neither sought for 
 nor ever held any office. At the time of 
 Lincoln's assassination, Mr. Fisher was in- 
 strumental in causing the whole village of 
 Chestnut Hill to be draped in mourning. 
 He was three times married. He first 
 married Mary Ann Bisson, and this union 
 was blessed with three children : John B., 
 Anna Zimmerman and Margaret Louisa. 
 By his second marriage he had one child : 
 Clara Hutzler. After the death of the 
 second Mrs. Fisher, he wedded Barbara 
 Maust, and to this third union were born 
 
 six children : Harry, Charles, Samuel, 
 Thomas, Ella and Laura. Mr. Fisher 
 died in November, 1875, in the fifty-sixth 
 year of his age. 
 
 At eleven years of age John B. Fisher 
 became engaged as a chore boy for a fanner 
 in White Marsh township, with whom he 
 remained five years. He then resided 
 with his uncle for a short time and after- 
 wards learned the trade of plumber. For 
 a time he was engaged at Chestnut Hill, 
 and in 1874 he removed to Norristown. 
 Always having had a liking for farming, 
 he became manager of a farm belonging to 
 Daniel Longaker. Remaining there for 
 five years, he then went to Atchison 
 county, Kansas, and later returned to Nor- 
 ristown, where he again devoted his time 
 to agricultural pursuits for three years. 
 Owing to ill health, Mr. Fisher was obliged 
 to retire for a time from active business, 
 but after recovering his health somewhat, 
 his energy caused him to start in business 
 once more. This was in 1886, and he es- 
 tablished a meat market on DeKalb street, 
 Bridgeport, where he remained two years. 
 At the end of that time he removed to 
 Fourth and DeKalb streets, and in addition 
 to a meat market there, he has also a 
 grocery store. One year after coming to 
 the place where he now resides, he tore 
 down the old dwelling and erected a hand- 
 some residence adjoining his business 
 rooms. He takes an active part in the 
 Pioneer Lawn Mower Company, which 
 manufactures the Pioneer Lawn Mower, 
 patented by Rowley R. Ortt. This com- 
 pany organized with the following officers : 
 Daniel D. Dreslin, president ; Mathias A. 
 March, secretary ; John B. ■ Fisher, treas- 
 urer, and R. R. Ortt, superintendent. 
 The company has just completed their 
 factory, a fine two-story brick building, 
 
'■3° 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 thirty by sixty feet, with an additional 
 building twenty feet square. The pros- 
 pects are encourageing for the erection of 
 another building of the same size. Already 
 many orders from the country have been 
 sent in, and the success of the business is 
 largely due to the efforts of Mr. Fisher. 
 
 He votes the Republican ticket, and is a 
 member of the Knights of the Golden 
 Eagle and of the Sons of Temperance. He 
 is also a member of the First Baptist 
 Church, of Bridgeport, in which he serves 
 as a trustee and deacon. 
 
 On January 28, 1877, Mr. Fisher was 
 united in marriage with Ella Andrews, a 
 dauehter of Andrew Andrews, of Lanca- 
 shire, England, who came to this country 
 in 1866. Mr. Andrews located at Norris- 
 town where he now resides at No. 330 East 
 Marshall street. He married Eliza New- 
 ton, and they have the following children : 
 Elizabeth, Ella, Anis, Newton, Mary Tav- 
 erner, widow ; Anna Bardsley and Eunice 
 Freed. 
 
 MATHIAS HARLEY, one of the oldest 
 citizens of Norristown, is a son of 
 Jacob and Susan (Johnson) Harley, and was 
 born near Sumneytown, Francouia town- 
 ship, this county, on December 2, 1826. 
 The nationality of the Harleys has been a 
 disputed question, some claiming them to 
 be English, others German, but researches 
 have been made and the family has been 
 traced back to the fifteenth century and it 
 is found for certain that it is of German 
 origin. In those days it was a very promi- 
 nent family and there were several authors 
 and doctors am'ong the members of the fam- 
 ily at that time. In 1685, when the Prot- 
 estants were persecuted and compelled to 
 become Catholics or leave the country, the 
 
 ancestors of the Harley family, with many 
 thousands of others, departed from Germany 
 and fled to England. They soon became 
 prominent in their new country and some 
 of their descendants obtained positions of 
 high honor and trust in England. One 
 member of the family by the name of 
 Rudolph Harley, who emigrated from Ger- 
 many to America in 17 19, was the great- 
 great-grandfather of the subject of this 
 sketch. His great-grandfather, Rudolph, jr., 
 was born on board ship on the voyage 
 across the Atlantic. 
 
 Mathias Harley received his education in 
 the common schools of his native township. 
 Leaving school at an early age, he learned 
 the trade of milling, but in which he was 
 not engaged for any extended time. Upon 
 the death of his father, which occurred in 
 the year 1846, he assumed control of the 
 mercantile business of the latter and also 
 took charge of the home farm in Worcester 
 township. Soon after, he purchased a part 
 of the farm and occupied it. Here he re- 
 mained until the year 1857, when he came 
 to Fairview and re-engaged in the mercan- 
 tile business. He maintained his connec- 
 tion with the mercantile business for a 
 period of thirty-four years and still owns the 
 original property. He served as postmaster 
 at Fairview for a period of thirty-one years 
 and at the termination of this long period 
 of service he resigned. In addition to his 
 mercantile interests, he is a part owner of 
 the Fairview Village creamery, established 
 in 1881, and of which company he still 
 serves as treasurer. Since the year 1891, he 
 has resided in Norristown, where he has 
 contented himself by living a rather retired 
 life. He has been an active propagator of 
 the interests of the Western market. 
 
 Mr. Harley has always been an active 
 and aggressive Democrat and for a number 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 231 
 
 of years was the recognized leader of his 
 party in his district. During his later years 
 he has practically withdrawn from partici- 
 pation in political and public affairs. In 
 his religious affiliations he is a member of 
 the Brethren (Dunker) church. 
 
 On December 21, 1847, Mr. Harley was 
 united in marriage to Isabella Hendricks, 
 who died November 15, 1848. This union 
 was blessed with one son, Aaron H., who is 
 the present proprietor of the Ridge Avenue 
 hotel in Philadelphia, and largely interested 
 in real estate. After the death of his first 
 wife, Mr. Harley married Sarah Mattern, on 
 November 27, 1851, and to this union were 
 born five children : Milton, now engaged in 
 the wholesale carpet business, at Eleventh 
 and Market streets, Philadelphia ; Clara, 
 wife of Jacob Brendlinger, of Norristown ; 
 Elizabeth, wife of Remandus Scheetz, of Nor- 
 ristown ; Adalaide, wife of John Oiler, of 
 Brooklyn, New York ; and Sarah Harley, 
 of Norristown. 
 
 Abraham Harley, paternal grandfather of 
 Matthias Harley, was a resident of Fran- 
 conia township, where he owned a large 
 farm and for many years was engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits. He died September 
 20, 1833. His children were ten in number 
 and named as follows : Jacob, Abram, 
 Rudolph, Samuel, Benjamin, Henry, Wil- 
 liam, John, Elizabeth and Mary Price. 
 
 Jacob Harley, father, was also a native of 
 Franconia township. He was educated in 
 the common schools and after attaining the 
 age of maturity, became interested in the 
 mercantile business. Later in life he re- 
 moved to Worcester township, where he 
 turned his attention to farming, in which he 
 was engaged during the remaining period of 
 his life. He was a member of the Federal- 
 ist party and was an attendant and com- 
 municant of the Brethren church. He mar- 
 
 ried Elizabeth Krupp, by whom he had 
 four children. He was married twice, his 
 second wife being. Susan Johnson, who died 
 in the year 1856, in the seventy-third year 
 of her age. To this second union was born 
 one child, Matthias, who is the subject of 
 this sketch. 
 
 MAHLON HILLEGAS, a retired mer- 
 chant and highly respected citizen of 
 East Greenville, this county, is a son of 
 Charles and Christiana (Graber) Hillegas, 
 and was born July 19, 1829, in Milford town- 
 ship, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. A full 
 and authentic account of the Hillegas 
 family in this country has been very care- 
 fully prepared and contributed by Michael 
 Reed Minnick, of Philadelphia, and will be 
 found eslewhere in this volume. Our sub- 
 ject received the limited education, such as 
 the district school provided in his day. He 
 learned the mercantile business by clerking 
 in his father's store, and after sufficiently 
 mastering the details of the business, he 
 launched a mercantile venture on his own 
 account on a modest scale at East Green- 
 ville, where he soon built up one of the 
 largest general mercantile trades in that 
 part of the county, and continued in profita- 
 ble business until, by impaired hearing, 
 he was rendered incapable, when he retired 
 and has since lived on a handsome compe- 
 tency at East Greenville. Mr. Hillegas' 
 father was one of the projectors and chief 
 promoters of the Green Lane and Goshen- 
 hoppen Turnpike Road company, organized 
 1851, and served for many years as presi- 
 dent. Our subject has succeeded him in 
 acting as treasurer ever since 1863. Mr. 
 Hillegas is a Democrat and an elder and 
 consistent member of the New Goshenhop- 
 
2 3 2 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 pen Reformed church. On October i, 1859, 
 he was united in marriage with Sallie W., 
 daughter of Daniel Eberhard, a farmer of 
 Lower Milford township, Lehigh county, 
 Pa. This union was blessed with one 
 child, a son, Cyrus Ellsworth, who died in 
 infancy. 
 
 WM. FRANKLIN DANNEHOWER, 
 a well known and popular member 
 of the Montgomery county bar, is the 
 youngest son of John G. and Susanna 
 (Cressman) Dannehower, and was born De- 
 cember 17, 1854, at Zeiglersville, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania. Like so 
 main - prominent citizens of the Keystone 
 State, Mr. Dannehower is descended from 
 German ancestors, resolute pioneers who 
 left the Rhenish provinces of the Fatherland 
 at an early da) - to find a new home in the 
 western world. There were three brothers 
 of the name who came over together and 
 settled in different parts of Pennsylvania, 
 from whom have descended all of the Dan- 
 nehowers of America, as far as known. 
 For several generations a branch of the 
 family has been resident in the county of 
 Montgomery, in the northern part of which 
 John Dannehower, paternal grandfather of 
 the subject of this sketch, was born and 
 reared. He was a miller by occupation, and 
 owned and operated a grist mill, flaxseed 
 mill and other enterprises in Marlborough 
 township. He also owned a tannery in 
 Bucks county, and was likewise engaged in 
 saw-milling and farming, being- one of the 
 largest real estate owners of his section. 
 Politically he was a Jacksonian Democrat, 
 and in religion a member of the Lutheran 
 church. He was twice married, first to 
 Elizabeth Groff, by whom he had eight 
 children : Elizabeth, married Benjamin 
 
 Johnson ; Sarah, married John Bealer ; 
 Hannah, wedded Jesse Roller ; Jacob, Jesse, 
 John G., father; Henry G., and Philip. 
 After his first wife's death, who was born 
 October 1, 1791, and died January 9, 1824, 
 John Dannehower married Elizabeth Zink. 
 He died June 11, 1846, aged sixty-three years, 
 having been born September 5, 1783. His 
 son, John G. Dannehower, (father), was 
 born in Marlborough township, this county, 
 December 6, 1816, and became a clerk, after 
 which he followed huckstering for a time, 
 and then purchased a farm near Zeiglers- 
 ville and engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 In 1856 he purchased and removed to a 
 hotel in Tylersport, which he successfully 
 conducted until about 1883, when he leased 
 the hotel to his son, Jacob P. Dannehower, 
 and retired from active business. He died 
 June 14, 1884, and was buried at Indian 
 Field Lutheran church, of which he was a 
 prominent member, in Franconia township. 
 He was a Democrat in politics and held a 
 number of local offices. In business affairs 
 he was always successful, being a self-made 
 man of rare good judgment, and at the 
 time of his death, and for many years pre- 
 vious, was treasurer of the Tylersport Mu- 
 tual Live Stock Insurance company. On 
 March 4, 1838, he married Susanna Cress- 
 man, a daughter of Jacob B. Cressman. She 
 died at Trumbauersville, Pa., January 23, 
 1895. They had a family of eight children : 
 Matilda, wife of Roller R. Cressman, born 
 May 9, 1839, died December 19, 1865 ; 
 Catharine A., second wife of R. R. Cress- 
 man, now deceased, born December 28, 
 1S41, and now the wife of David T. Breisch, 
 of Trumbauersville, Pa. ; Benjamin, born 
 February 2, 1843, died January 2, 1846; 
 Hon. John C, born February 8, 1845, who 
 was a wholesale manufacturer of cigars 
 with R. R. Cressman, served for a number 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 233 
 
 of years as a justice of the peace, was 
 twice elected to the State Assembly, and 
 died December 20, 1884 ; Jacob P., born 
 February 2, 1847, and died March 7, 1892 ; 
 Henry, born October 1, 1849; a daughter 
 born April 4, 1852, who died in infancy ; 
 and William Franklin, the subject of this 
 sketch. 
 
 William Franklin Danuehower was reared 
 at Tylersport, this county, and obtained his 
 elementary education in the public schools. 
 He afterwards attended the Kutztown State 
 Normal School one year, and in 1871-72 
 was a member of the Excelsior Normal In- 
 stitute at Carversville, Bucks county. In 
 the spring of 1872 he entered Lafayette 
 college, and was graduated from that insti- 
 tution in the class of 1876, with the degree 
 of A. B., being selected as one of the com- 
 mencement orators. In the autumn of 1877 
 he became a law student in the office of G. 
 R. Fox at Norristown, and while studying 
 law acted as editor of the Weekly Register, 
 and was special correspondent of several 
 leading New York and Philadelphia jour- 
 nals, besides acting as clerk in the prothono- 
 tary's office at Norristown. Having com- 
 pleted his preparation for the bar, Mr. Dan- 
 uehower was admitted to practice June 7, 
 1880, and since that time has been continu- 
 ously engaged in the duties of his profes- 
 sion. He has figured prominently in a 
 number of important cases before the courts 
 here, among which may be mentioned the 
 appeal from the assessments of the mercan- 
 tile appraisers, assessing butchers with mer- 
 cantile taxes, in which Mr. Danuehower 
 acted as attorney for the Butchers' associa- 
 tion, and secured a decision exempting its 
 members from the payment of these taxes. 
 He has also been connected with several 
 trials for capital offenses, in all of which he 
 has shown legal ability and acquaintance 
 
 with historical jurisprudence. For some 
 years he has enjoyed an extensive practice 
 in the Orphans' Court, but is a good, gen- 
 eral practitioner and very successful in that 
 line. In 1890 he acted as solicitor for the 
 coroner, sheriff and treasurer. He is solici- 
 tor of the Lansdale Trust and Safe Deposit 
 company, and of the borough of Green 
 Lane, and was for seven years solicitor of 
 the borough of Pennsburg. 
 
 In politics Mr. Danuehower is an ardent 
 Democrat, and served for two years, 1886-8, 
 as chairman of the standing committee of 
 his party in this county. He was a candi- 
 date for the office of district attorney in 
 1889, but was defeated by only one hundred 
 and twenty-eight votes in a county largely 
 Republican, and when the Prohibitionists 
 (mostly Republicans), had a full county 
 ticket, except a nominee for district attor- 
 ney. 
 
 He was one of the organizers of the 
 Montgomery County Bar association of 
 Norristown, and has been its secretary since 
 its formation in 1885. He is also a member 
 of the law library committee, and of the 
 committee to revise the rules of court. In 
 religious faith Mr. Danuehower is a Luth- 
 eran, and has been secretary of the church 
 council of Trinity Lutheran church for a 
 number of years. He is also a member and 
 trustee of the Jefferson club of Norristown, 
 and served as its president and also as secre- 
 tary for several years. 
 
 On November 30, 1886, Mr. Danuehower 
 was united in marriage to Bessie B. Mc- 
 Carter, a daughter of the late Colonel 
 Samuel McCarter, of Norristown. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Danuehower have been born two 
 sons and one daughter : Frances B., born 
 November 23, 1887 ; William Franklin, jr., 
 born January 18, 1889 ; and Gilbert Lane, 
 bom July 28, 1891. 
 
234 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 LEWIS A. LUKENS, a prominent re- 
 tired manufacturer and business man 
 of Conshohocken, this county, is a son of 
 David and Mary (Shepherd) Lukens, and 
 was born April 8, 1807, in Plymouth town- 
 ship, near what is now the borough of Con- 
 shohocken. The family, of which Mr. 
 Lukens is a worthy scion, is of Holland an- 
 cestry, his great-great-grandfather, John 
 Lukens, having emigrated from Holland 
 to this country in 1683, and became one of 
 the founders of the city of Philadelphia. 
 Among his sons was one, Abraham, father 
 of John Lukens, the grandfather of the sub- 
 ject of this memoir. John Lukens was a 
 man of more than ordinary education for 
 the day in which he lived, especially along 
 the line of mathematics. He was a skilled 
 surveyor, and being a man of close observa- 
 tion, good judgment and retentive memory, 
 became the possessor of many facts of prac- 
 tical scientific value. He wedded Rachel 
 Robinson, and among the children born to 
 this union was David, the father of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. David Lukens was born 
 October 18, 1761, in Towamencing town- 
 ship, this county, and died in the locality of 
 the present borough of Conshohocken, 
 where he owned a farm, upon which much 
 of that thriving town now stands. He 
 wedded Mary Shepherd, and the following 
 children were born to their marital union : 
 Charles William, born 1790 ; Elizabeth, 
 born 1795; Aaron, born 1798; Maria, who 
 was born in 1S01, and wedded Robert B. 
 Fowler ; Rachel, who became the wife of 
 Dr. Samuel Tyson ; Lewis A., Edward, 
 born in 181 2 ; and Mark A. 
 
 Lewis A. Lukens, after profiting by a 
 common school education, learned the trade 
 of cabinet-maker in Philadelphia, but did 
 not follow that business. He soon returned 
 to his native town and in partnership with 
 
 his brother, Aaron Lukens, under the firm 
 name of Aaron and L. Lukens, engaged 
 for two years in the lumbering business. At 
 the end of that period Mr. Lukens rented a 
 forge on the Quitipahilla creek in Annville 
 township, Lebanon county, this State, and 
 for ten years engaged in the manufacture of 
 malleable iron. In 1845 ne disposed of his 
 interests in Lebanon county and opened an 
 iron store in Philadelphia, which he dis- 
 posed of to his brother-in-law, William W. 
 Wood. At the end of one year he removed 
 to Bridgeport, this county, and remained 
 there four years in the lumber business. In 
 1850 Mr. Lukens purchased a farm of one 
 hundred and fifty-six acres in Whitemarsh 
 township, upon which he resided seven 
 years, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and 
 in 1858 entered a partnership with his 
 brother-in-law, Alan Wood, under the firm 
 name of Alan Wood & Co., and built the 
 mill now owned and operated by the Alan 
 Wood company, sheet iron manufacturers 
 of Conshohocken and 519 Arch street, 
 Philadelphia. Mr. Lukens remained a part- 
 ner in this business until 1877, when he 
 sold his interests to his sons and withdrew, 
 retiring from active business, since which 
 time he has resided in Conshohocken. Mr. 
 Lukens is a Republican politically, and for 
 three years served efficiently as burgess of 
 Conshohocken. In addition to leading a 
 very active business life, he was a member 
 of a number of business enterprises, requir- 
 ing the exercise of a high order of genius, 
 and he has been prominently connected 
 with the fortunes of the Conshohocken 
 National bank as a director for seventeen 
 years, and as president for four years. 
 
 On September 16, 1834, he married Mary 
 T., a daughter of James Wood, an iron 
 worker of Conshohocken, and seven chil- 
 dren have been born to this union : Alan 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 235 
 
 W., who died at the age of about fifty 
 years ; Charles, Lewis, deceased ; Jawood, 
 president of the Long Mead Iron works at 
 Conshohocken ; Frank, deceased ; Mary S., 
 wife of Charles F. Corson, of Philadelphia ; 
 Clara, wife of Charles Heber Clark, editor 
 of the Manufacturer, and secretary of the 
 Manufacturers' club of Philadelphia. Lewis 
 A. Lukens possesses in an eminent degree 
 a combination of mental qualities that in- 
 sure success in any line of business, towards 
 which he chose to direct his attention. He 
 has not only achieved an enviable success as 
 a business man, but what is more, a warm 
 place in the hearts of his fellow citizens. 
 In his dealings with his fellow man he has 
 been uniformly humane and courteous and 
 his every act has been in strict comport 
 with the highest type of Christian man- 
 hood. 
 
 BENJAMIN D. ABRAHAM, an active 
 and successful farmer of near Merion 
 or Abrams, is a son of Joseph and Ann 
 (Davis) Abraham, and was born on the old 
 homestead in Upper Merion township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, Febru- 
 ary 6, 1826. Reared on the farm and trained 
 to agricultural pursuits, he engaged, upon 
 attaining his majority, in farming, which 
 has been his life occupation ever since. He 
 attended the common schools and has added 
 largely since to the brief education he ob- 
 tained there, by reading and study. He is 
 thoroughly acquainted with farm manage- 
 ment and all kinds of farm work. In poli- 
 tics Mr. Abraham is a Democrat, who be- 
 lieves in the principles of Democracy as 
 enunciated by Jefferson and enforced by 
 Jackson. 
 
 On February 6, 1S51, Benjamin D. Abra- 
 ham was united in marriage with Jane 
 
 Eastburn, whose father, Samuel Eastburn, 
 is a resident of Upper Merion, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania. To their union has 
 been born eight children, three sons and 
 five daughters : Anna Mary, died in infancy; 
 Margaret J., wife of William B. Thomas, 
 j now a resident of Upper Merion township; 
 Josephine, married Alfred Taylor, of New 
 York city ; George, who died in infancy : 
 Emma J., wife of Owen L. Evans, of Phila- 
 delphia; Edwin M., Owen E., and Alice, 
 who are still at home. 
 
 The founder of the Abraham family in 
 Pennsylvania was an Abraham whose Chris- 
 tian name is supposed to have been Isaac. 
 He and his wife Sarah came from England 
 to Pennsylvania in the same year that Penn 
 came over in the Welcome. Mr. Abraham 
 made a choice of a home in Chester county, 
 where he and his wife passed their remain- 
 ing days. Their son, James Abraham, sr., 
 was sufficiently impresssed with the country 
 in Upper Merion township, this county, to 
 become a settler within its boundaries when 
 its white residents were few in number. He 
 purchased near the site of Merion station, 
 a tract of land on which he built, and there 
 he passed his life. He married and his son, 
 Isaac Abraham, succeeded as owner of the 
 home farm. Isaac Abraham wedded Dinah 
 Harvard, and their son, James Abraham, jr., 
 wedded Hannah George, and was the father 
 of Joseph Abraham, the third owner of the 
 homestead farm, which has come down 
 from father to son, for about two hundred 
 years. Joseph Abraham was a fanner, a 
 Democrat and a Baptist and in every relation 
 of life, was active, successful and respected. 
 Born December 31, 1788, he lived to reach 
 his sixty-second year and died March 25, 
 1850. His remains sleep in Tremont ceme- 
 tery. He married Ann Davis, a daughter 
 of Benjamin Davis, and to them were born 
 
236 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 five sons and six daughters. The sons were: 
 James, Benjamin D. (subject), Isaac G., 
 Thomas D., and Joseph, who died in in- 
 fancy. The daughters were : Mrs. Hannah 
 Shannon, Mrs. Sarah Philips, Mrs. Eliza 
 Supplee, Mrs. Ann Evans, and Matilda and 
 Emma, who both died in infancy. 
 
 When James Abraham, the elder, pur- 
 chased and settled on the old homestead 
 farm in the dawn of the last century, he 
 was, in a manner, upon the western con- 
 fines of civilization and had to encounter a 
 part of the privations of frontier life. Many 
 of his sterling qualities have descended in 
 a large measure to some of his descendants, 
 in every one of the six generations that 
 have him as their common ancestor. His 
 farm has been held in succession by those 
 of his descendants who have lived honorable 
 lives, and did credit to an honored ancestry. 
 
 FREDERICK LIGHT, a remarkably ac- 
 tive business man of Conshohocken, is 
 a son of Charles and Christina (Souders) 
 Light, and was born in one of the states of 
 the present German empire, January 1, 
 1822. His father, Charles Light, came 
 from Gatherim, in Baden Baden. He 
 learned the trade of blacksmithing, went to 
 France, served under Napoleon in his fate- 
 ful Moscow campaign, and came about 
 1824, to New York. He afterwards re- 
 moved to Beechwood, New Jersey, next to 
 Easton, this State, and finally settled in the 
 city of Philadelphia, where he remained 
 until his death, at the age of eighty years. 
 He was a Democrat, and a member of the 
 Reformed church, and married Christina 
 Souders, who was a native of Germany, 
 and lived to be fifty-eight years of age. Of 
 their children, five lived to maturity : En- 
 
 glehart, killed in the Mexican war ; Fred- 
 erick, the subject of this sketch ; Henry, 
 Charles, who died some years ago from the 
 effects of wounds received at the battle of 
 Gettysburg ; and Christina. 
 
 Frederick Light received a limited edu- 
 cation in the early public schools of Phila- 
 delphia, and at an early age commenced 
 working on a farm in Plymouth township 
 for his board and clothes. He afterward 
 hired as a farm laborer for three years, then 
 followed huckstering for two years and 
 butchering for five years, and at the end of 
 that time purchased eleven acres of land 
 and a house in the northern part of Con- 
 shohocken, in order to give his children 
 the advantage of a good school. In 1862 
 he divided his land into lots and sold it, 
 and then removed to his present residence. 
 While educating his children he was en- 
 gaged largely in iron ore digging, and often 
 employed as many as fifteen men. From 
 1862 to 1866 he owned a number of teams 
 and did a large amount of general hauling. 
 Since then he has been engaged in various 
 enterprises. He constructed the gas plant, 
 superintended the laying of the mains, and 
 served as president of the gas company for 
 many years. He was the projector of the 
 Washita hall, supervised the construction 
 of the First National bank building, and 
 was chiefly instrumental in securing the 
 erection of the new Gulf Christian church 
 of Gulf Mills. Mr. Light has always been 
 active in the various building and loan as- 
 sociations of Conshohocken. He is a 
 director of the First National bank, treas- 
 urer of the school board, and a charter 
 member of Gratitude Lodge No. 216, Inde- 
 pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He is 
 president of the Home, Welcome, Reliance, 
 Fidelity, Progress, and Conshohocken Build- 
 ins; and Loan associations of Conshohocken. 
 
Biographical .Sketches. 
 
 237 
 
 On November 7, 1844, Mr. Light wedded 
 Sarah Knight, who is a daughter of John 
 Knight, of Chester county. To their union 
 have been born seven children : Christina, 
 deceased ; Charles, now in Texas ; Lydia 
 Jane, deceased ; Frederick, a traveling 
 salesman for a belting house ; Mary, now- 
 deceased ; John, superintendent of the Con- 
 shohocken Gas works ; and Sallie Moulds, 
 of Phcenixville, Chester county. 
 
 In politics Mr. Light is Democratic, but 
 in local matters is not governed by political 
 considerations. He served two terms as 
 burgess of Conshohocken, was a member of 
 the town council for several terms, and 
 acted as census enumerator in 1880. He is 
 a member of the Christian church at Gulf 
 Mills, of whose Sunday-school he has been 
 superintendent for forty years. He solicited 
 nearly all the funds to erect the new church 
 edifice and superintended its erection. 
 
 ALEXANDER F. GRIFFITH, the 
 present postmaster of Bridgeport, is a 
 son of James and Mary Griffith, who emi- 
 grated to America in 1846. He is the 
 youngest of seven children, and was born 
 in Boston, Massachusetts, June 22, 1847. 
 His father was a tanner by occupation, and 
 was so engaged in business until his death, 
 which occurred about eighteen months 
 after the birth of his son Alexander. 
 
 At the age of two years, Alexander was 
 brought to Norristown, Pa., by his mother, 
 where he received his education in the 
 public schools of that and the adjoining 
 borough of Bridgeport. He is a barber by 
 trade, in which occupation he was engaged 
 in Norristown for about fifteen years. He 
 is the owner of considerable property in 
 Norristown and Bridgeport, having built a 
 
 number of fine dwelling houses and several 
 stores in those boroughs. 
 
 Mr. Griffith was appointed justice of the 
 peace of Bridgeport by Governor Pattison, 
 which office he held for two years. On 
 August 10, 1893, he received his commis- 
 sion as postmaster of Bridgeport, in which 
 capacity he is still serving. He was mar- 
 ried January 1, 1877, to Miss Marie Lawler, 
 who died May 4, 1892. He was again mar- 
 ried January 16, 1894, to Miss Annie M. 
 Farrell, of Edgewood, Upper Merion. By 
 his second marriage he has one child, a 
 daughter, named Caroline. 
 
 DR. WILLIAM M. HALL. Among 
 Conshohocken's leading and success- 
 ful physicians is Dr. William M. Hall. He 
 is a son of Hibbard and Joanna (Pugh) 
 Hall, and was born April 27, i860, at Rad- 
 nor, Delaware county, Pennsylvania. He 
 received his education in the Philadelphia 
 schools and the State Normal school at 
 West Chester, Pa. Leaving school, he en- 
 tered Jefferson Medical college, from which 
 he was graduated April 2, 1883. After his 
 graduation he located at Conshohocken, 
 and in 1888 he purchased the property then 
 owned by J. K. Reid, at the corner of 
 Fayette and Third avenue. He has an ex- 
 tensive practice in Conshohocken, and has 
 been very successful in his work. Dr. Hall 
 is a member of the Montgomery County 
 Medical society. 
 
 On June 15, 1892, Dr. Hall was united in 
 marriage with Ida E. Gilbert, daughter of 
 Daniel Gilbert, of Conshohocken. Their 
 union has been blessed with one child, 
 Edna Maris. 
 
 The Hall family is of English extraction, 
 and Maris Hall, the paternal grandfather 
 
2 3 8 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of Dr. Hall, was born at Willistown, Ches- 
 ter county, where he was engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits until his death. He was 
 a member of the Society of Friends, and a 
 supporter of the Republican party. He 
 married Sarah Dutton, by whom he had the 
 following children : Hibbard, Jesse, Bar- 
 clay, Clarkson, Hannah and Susan, who 
 died very young. Hibbard Hall was born 
 and reared upon a farm near Willistown, 
 where he grew to manhood, surrounded by 
 the beauties of rural scenery, of which he 
 was a daily admirer. He afterward became 
 engaged in the mercantile business in Con- 
 shohocken, where he continued a few years 
 and then removed to Radnor township, 
 Delaware county. There for five years he 
 followed merchandising, and then removed 
 to Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery county, 
 where in October, 1865, he died of typhoid 
 fever, at the age of thirty-six years. He 
 taught a school for a time at Radnor, where 
 he met his then future wife. He reared a 
 family of three children : Sallie, who mar- 
 ried Lafayette Ross, of Norristown ; Dr. 
 William M , subject ; and J. Barclay, a 
 druggist, of Norristown. Mr. Hall was a 
 staunch Republican, and made many strong 
 and stirring speeches in the interests of his 
 party. He was a member of the Society of 
 Friends, and won the esteem and respect of 
 all who knew him by living an honest, con- 
 sistent life. Mrs. Hall was a daughter of 
 William Pugh, and a member of the old 
 Pugh family of Delaware county. 
 
 CHARLES LUKENS, a prominent 
 manufacturer of Conshohocken, is a 
 son of Lewis A. and Mary (Wood) Lukens, 
 and was born September 30, 1837, at New 
 Market Forge, Lebanon county, Pennsyl- 
 
 vania. (For the ancestral history of Mr. 
 Lukens, see sketch of his father, Lewis A. 
 Lukens, in another part of this work). Mr. 
 Lukens obtained his elementary education 
 in the private schools of Philadelphia, 
 chiefly under the tutelage of Professor 
 Alfred L. Kennedy, afterwards president of 
 the Polytechnic Institute, of Philadelphia. 
 After his father removed to Bridgeport, 
 this county, in 1846, he attended Tre- 
 mont Seminary, in Norristown, where he 
 received most of his education. After re- 
 maining for seven years on the farm in 
 White Marsh township, whither his father 
 had removed from Bridgeport, Mr. Lukens 
 entered the iron mill at Conshohocken, of 
 Alan Wood & Co., where he received that 
 drill which led him into the business of an 
 iron manufacturer, which has been his 
 vocation up to the present time. From 
 1858 to 1886 he was actively connected with 
 the business as assistant manager, but on 
 the latter date, because of failing health 
 gave up his position, and has since been 
 only nominally connected with the same. 
 In addition to the above, he is a director in 
 the J. E. Lee company, of Conshohocken, 
 engaged in the manufacture of surgical 
 instruments and appliances. Politically 
 Mr. Lukens is a staunch Republican and 
 has served his municipality in the capa- 
 cities of town councilman, school director, 
 etc. He is a devout and consistent member 
 of Calvary Episcopal Church, at Consho- 
 hocken, in the official management of 
 which he has served as warden and vestry- 
 man. 
 
 On June 5, 1867, he married Miss Annie 
 McFarland, daughter of the late James B. 
 McFarland, a dry goods merchant of 
 Philadelphia, and five children have blessed 
 their marital union : Margaret McFarland, 
 i Charles F., deceased ; William W., in the 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 239 
 
 employ of the Alan Wood company, of 
 Conshohocken ; George T., attending the 
 Arts Department of the University of 
 Pennsylvania, and Mary S. 
 
 Charles Lukens is one of the most popu- 
 lar men of Conshohocken and southern 
 Montgomery county. Of charitable and 
 humane instincts, the worthy poor never 
 appeal to him in vain, and he is well known 
 as a staunch supporter and an enthusiastic ad- 
 vocate of all organized charities and every 
 move which has for its object the amelior- 
 ation of the miseries of mankind, and the 
 betterment of the mental, moral and physi- 
 cal conditions of the race. This phase of 
 his nature was clearly shown during the 
 financial stringency and general industrial 
 paralysis of 1893, when many families of 
 his borough were unable to secure work, 
 and were reduced to the verge of starvation. 
 In that crisis no one sympathized with 
 them more kindly, nor gave of their sub- 
 stance more cheerfully than did Mr. 
 Lukens. We would say of Mr. Lukens, as 
 his most distinguishing characteristics, 
 that he is kind-hearted, charitable and 
 humane, and is possessed of that sympathy 
 which makes all the world akin. 
 
 SAMUEL SLEMMER, who for many 
 years was engaged in active business, 
 but is now living a retired life in Norris- 
 town, Pennsylvania, was born in Philadel- 
 phia, March 8, 1818. When only two years 
 of age, he moved with his father, Adam 
 Skinnier, to New Hanover township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, and in 1833 
 to Norristown, and there he finished his 
 education at the old academy, under the 
 supervision of Eliphalet Roberts. In March, 
 1834, he and his brother William entered 
 
 the office of his father and assisted him in 
 publishing The Norristotvn Register for 
 nine successive years. At this time he en- 
 gaged in the mercantile business, which he 
 followed for two years. In 1846 he was ap- 
 pointed clerk in the surveyor general's 
 office at Harrisburg tinder Governor Shunk 
 and served in that capacity until i860. A 
 portion of that time he had charge of the 
 department which was formerly the land 
 office. One year later he became interested 
 in the oil business and purchased a tract of 
 land near Titusville, Pennsylvania, where 
 he put down several wells. At the end of 
 two years more he removed to Conneaut, 
 Ohio, and retired from active business, and 
 in 1864 he went to Minnesota. 
 
 On May 2, 1855, Mr. Slemmer married 
 Sarah Fifield, who was a daughter of Col. 
 Edward and Sally Fifield, of Conneaut, 
 Ohio, and while preparing to locate perma- 
 nently in Osborn, Missouri, in 1871, his 
 wife was taken ill and died there. Mr. 
 Slemmer then removed to Norristown, 
 where he has resided ever since. 
 
 Samuel Slemmer is a member of the 
 Masonic fraternity, and was also a member 
 of Dauphin Lodge No. 160, I. O. O. F., and 
 chief patriarch of Olive Encampment No. 
 56, at Harrisburg. 
 
 His ancestors were of the nobility of 
 Hungary, but the immediate branch of the 
 family, from which he is descended, emi- 
 grated from Basle, Switzerland, about 1740, 
 and settled in Philadelphia. His father, 
 Adam Slemmer, was a very enterprising 
 man in the early history of Norristown. 
 He was a member of the legislature of 
 Pennsylvania for four terms, and was also 
 justice of the peace and prothonotary of the 
 courts of Montgomery county. He was in- 
 spector of the prison, and founder of Mont- 
 gomery cemetery. He was president of the 
 
240 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 town council and took great pride in shap- 
 ing the various industries of the town. He 
 was a man of advanced ideas and served as 
 one of the first directors of the public 
 schools of his town. He never voted any- 
 thing but the Democratic ticket, and was a 
 member of the old Tammany organization 
 in Philadelphia in 1820 and 1821. Samuel 
 Slemmer, like his father, has always been 
 an ardent Democrat. 
 
 MARK HILTEBEITEL, a prosperous 
 farmer and a leading citizen of the bor- 
 ough of Green Lane, is a son of Adam and 
 Sarah (Hoffman) Hiltebeitel, and was born 
 April 31, 1S36, in Upper Salford township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. The 
 paternal ancestry of the family are of dis- 
 tinctively Montgomery county nativity, 
 and they have ranked among the more 
 sturdy and successful agricultural people 
 of the county. Adam Hiltebeitel, the 
 great-grandfather of Mark Hiltebeitel, was 
 born in 1733 and died in 1823, bringing 
 his age to ninety years. His wife, Salome, 
 died at the age sixty-four years. 
 
 Grandfather Daniel Hiltebeitel, was a 
 farmer in Upper Salford all his life, and 
 owned a portion of the original tract taken 
 up by his father, Adam Hiltebeitel. He 
 was a Democrat and a very zealous and de- 
 voted member of the Reformed church. 
 His wife was Elizabeth Rider, who bore 
 them seven children, four sons and three 
 daughters : Jonas, Adam, Daniel, Jesse, 
 Hannah (Geisinger), Mary Smith, and Cath- 
 arine. Grandfather Hiltebeitel died at the 
 age of seventy-eight years. 
 
 Adam Hiltebeitel (father) was born in 
 Upper Salford township, Montgomery coun- 
 ty, and was a farmer of Upper Salford 
 
 formally, but latterly and up to his death 
 resided in New Hanover township, for a 
 period of forty years. He owned a large 
 farm, and was one of the most successful 
 farmers of the township and became pos- 
 sessed of considerable means. He was a 
 Democrat and a consistent member of the 
 Reformed church at the Swamp. He mar- 
 ried Sarah Hoffman, which union resulted 
 in the birth of ten children, the eldest of 
 whom was Mark, the subject of this bio- 
 graphical notice. The other children were: 
 Josiah, Jacob, John, Augustus, Angeline 
 Hoof, Sarah Knouse, Mary Stettler, Irwin 
 and Adeline. The father died May 22, 
 1882, at the age of seventy-one years. The 
 mother of the subject died at the age of 
 seventy-two years. 
 
 Mark Hiltebeitel, the subject proper of 
 our sketch, received the limited education 
 such as the crude rural schools at that day 
 provided. After abandoning the employ- 
 ments of school, he remained with his 
 father until the age of nineteen years when 
 he apprenticed himself to learn the milling 
 trade, which he pursued with profit for ten 
 years at various places. Subsequently, in 
 1865, he purchased the farm where he re- 
 sides and where he now owns in all about 
 one hundred and twenty-five acres of fertile 
 land in a high state of cultivation. He 
 does a general farming business. 
 
 Mr. Hiltebeitel is interested in the Per- 
 kiomeu and Sumneytown Turnpike com- 
 pany, and is one of the board of managers. 
 He is also interested in the Perkiomen 
 National bank at East Greenville. He is 
 a Democrat in political affiliation, and re- 
 ligiously, is a member of the- Reformed 
 church at Sumneytown, and is a member 
 of the board of trustees, having served 
 , many years as elder, and previously served 
 a number of vears as deacon. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 24 r 
 
 On November 23, i860, he married Catha- 
 rine, a daughter of Michael Miller, a farmer 
 of Marlboro township, this county. This 
 Union lias been fruited with four children : 
 Jonas, married Mary Frederick ; they have 
 one child. He assists his father on the 
 farm. Adam, who was educated at Ursinus 
 college and Kutztown State Normal school, 
 graduating from the latter in 1892, and, 
 until recently, a professor in the Womels- 
 dorf Orphans' Home, Berks county, is now 
 completing his course at college. Morris, 
 the youngest, was educated at Ursinus col- 
 lege and Stroudsburg Normal school ; he 
 is a teacher by profession. 
 
 ALBERT SHOEMAKER, a successful 
 contractor and builder of Norriton 
 township, is a son of Charles K. and Sarah 
 C. (Childs) Shoemaker, and was born on 
 the old homestead, in Whitpaiu township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, Sep- 
 tember 6, 1851. He was reared on the 
 farm, received his education in the common 
 schools and Loch's select school at Nor- 
 ristown, and then to fit himself for business, 
 entered Pierce's Business college, of Phila- 
 delphia, from which he was graduated in 
 1870. Returning home he learned the 
 trade of carpenter which he followed for 
 seven years, working a part of that time in 
 Philadelphia and for one year in the west. 
 He turned from carpentering in 1879, to 
 farming, which he followed in Norriton 
 township up to 1889. In the last named 
 year he resumed carpentering, and in con- 
 nection with it, commenced contracting 
 and building, in which he has been quite 
 successful. He has erected several of the 
 most important buildings in Norriton and 
 adjacent townships, among which was a 
 
 16 
 
 fine twelve roomed house on the Path 
 farm, the remodeling of the William Ritten- 
 house mansion, and the erection of his own 
 three story brick residence at Jefferson- 
 ville. 
 
 On November 4, 1875, Mr. Shoemaker 
 married Ray R. DeHaven, a daughter of 
 David DeHaven, of this county. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Shoemaker have been born four 
 children : Irene D., Lida G., Charles 
 Leslie, who died in infancy, and Uarda A. 
 
 In politics Mr. Shoemaker is a staunch 
 Republican. He served as a supervisor of 
 roads in 1893. He is a member of the 
 Presbyterian church, in which he is an 
 elder and trustee, and served as Sunday 
 school superintendent. He has always 
 been regarded as a good mechanic and a 
 reliable citizen. 
 
 The Shoemaker families were founded 
 in eastern Pennsylvania by Jacob Shoe- 
 maker, whose sons were : Mathias, Jona- 
 than, Isaac and David. 
 
 Mathias Shoemaker was born in 1736, 
 and died in 1816. In 1777 he removed to 
 Whitpain township, where in 1777 and in 
 1796 he purchased the lands constituting 
 the Shoemaker homestead. He had an 
 only son, Thomas Shoemaker, who in- 
 herited the farm. Thomas Shoemaker 
 married Jane Supplee, and their children 
 were : Enoch, Job, David, Alan, Mathias, 
 Hannah, Jesse, and Charles K , who came 
 into possession of the home farm. Charles 
 K. Shoemaker, father, was born June 4, 18 19 
 and commenced life with that best capital 
 that man can have, good health, strong 
 arms and a determination to succeed. By 
 hard toil, honest industry and good man- 
 agement, he secured means sufficient to 
 purchase the home farm, on which he re- 
 resided until his death which occurred Janu- 
 ary 11, 1892. In 1 84 1 he married Sarah C. 
 
242 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Childs, a daughter of Peter and Sarah 
 Childs, residents of Whitemarsh township. 
 Mrs. Shoemaker was born December 2, 
 1818, and still survives. To Charles K. 
 and Sarah C. Shoemaker were born ten 
 children : Phoebe G., who married Charles 
 C. McCann ; Mathias, who enlisted as a 
 soldier in the late Civil war, was promoted 
 to second lieutenant, and died from exposure 
 and starvation at Anderson ville prison pen; 
 George; Emma Jane, infant daughter; 
 Albert, whose name heads this sketch ; 
 Jessie ; Sallie C, wife of Harry C Hoover ; 
 Charles T., who died in 1876, and Anna C. 
 
 EDWARD WILLIAM FRANCE, a resi- 
 dent of West Conshohocken, and a 
 director of the textile department of the 
 Pennsylvania Museum and School of Indus- 
 trial Art, of Philadelphia, is a son of John 
 and Ellen (Ward) France, and was born at 
 Lawrence, Massachusetts, August 6, 1859. 
 His paternal grandfather, Matthew France, 
 was a native and life-long resident of Lan- 
 cashire, England, where his son, John 
 France, was born. John France was well 
 reared and educated, and soon became dis- 
 tinguished in mathematics. He came to 
 the United States in 1854, bringing with 
 him his mother and a niece, and locating at 
 Syracuse, New York. He was a cotton 
 spinner by trade, and soon removed to Law- 
 rence, Massachusetts, where he married and 
 followed cotton spinning for some time. He 
 then became manager of a large cotton mill, 
 which position he still holds. He is an en- 
 thusiastic Republican, served as alderman 
 and as a justice of the peace of Lawrence, 
 and was also a member of the board of 
 health of that place. He is a member of 
 the Episcopal church, and has been for 
 
 many years a prominent Odd Fellow and 
 Free Mason. Mr. France married Ellen 
 Ward, who was a daughter of William 
 Ward, and died March 2, 1862, aged thirty- 
 three years, leaving one child, Edward 
 William, the subject of this sketch. Mr. 
 France married for his second wife Harriet 
 Maria Goodwin, by whom he had three 
 children : John W., Harriet, and Edwin, 
 now deceased. His second wife dying, 
 Mr. France married Mrs. Alice Marcroft, 
 who had one daughter named Alice, and is 
 now deceased. 
 
 Edward William France was reared at 
 Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he re- 
 ceived his education in the public schools 
 of that place. His father being engaged in 
 the manufacturing business, as before men- 
 tioned, he naturally entered the factory with 
 the object of learning the business, devoting 
 several years to the various branches. He 
 finally took up the subject of textile design- 
 ing, which he followed from 1876 to 1881. 
 In the last named year he came to Con- 
 shohocken, where he accepted a position in 
 the weaving department of George Bullock's 
 mills, which he resigned in 1884, to become 
 assistant director of the Philadelphia textile 
 school, which was organized in the last 
 named year. Three years later he went to 
 Europe and spent five months in visiting 
 the industrial countries of the continent. 
 He visited forty large textile institutions 
 and establishments, and saw all the most 
 noted places of Continental Europe. Re- 
 turning from his extended old world tour, 
 he was soon made a director of the textile 
 department of the before mentioned insti- 
 tution, comprising the schools of carding, 
 spinning, weaving, finishing, and chemistry 
 and dyeing. The institution has an enroll- 
 ment of over six hundred pupils. Mr. 
 France is recognized as an authoritv in his 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 243 
 
 special line of industry, where he has won 
 prominence by merit. He is an active, dili- 
 gent and energetic man. Like his father, 
 he is a Republican and an Episcopalian. 
 He has served as a councilman, and is now 
 president of the school board of West Con- 
 shohocken. He is a member of Grecian 
 Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Law- 
 rence, Massachusetts. 
 
 On August 2, 18S8, Mr. France was 
 united in marriage with Amanda Burhouse, 
 a daughter of James Burhouse, of West 
 Conshohocken. To their union have been 
 born two children : Emma B., deceased ; 
 and John Edward, who was born Ma}- 24, 
 1892. 
 
 GEORGE R. KITE, teller and assistant 
 cashier of the First National bank, of 
 Norristown, is a son of Edmund A. and 
 Elizabeth (Jackson) Kite, and was born at 
 Norristown, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, March 3, 1852. The Kite family is 
 of Scotch descent, and the first member 
 that settled in America was a descendant 
 of M. Paschall, an officer who came to 
 America with Lafayette and served on his 
 staff during the Revolutionary war. A 
 descendant of this officer was Isaac Kite, 
 the paternal grandfather of the subject of 
 this sketch. 
 
 Isaac Kite was a life-long resident of 
 Philadelphia, and a member of the Society 
 of Friends. He had three children : Ed- 
 mund A., Mary Ann, and Rachel H. Ed- 
 mund A. Kite was born in Philadelphia, 
 June 2, 1813. He was a tailor by trade, 
 but removed in early life to Norristown and 
 served as station agent for the Philadelphia, 
 Germantown and Norristown railroad for 
 forty years. He is a Democrat in politics, 
 and was elected burgess and a member of 
 
 the town council for two terms in each 
 office. Mr. Kite married Elizabeth Jack- 
 sou, and to their union were born seven 
 sons and one daughter : William, Isaac 
 (deceased), Charles (dead), Eliza J., Edmund 
 A., George R. (subject), Harry (deceased), 
 and John P., now a resident of Norristown. 
 Mrs. Kite was a daughter of William Jack- 
 son, of Philadelphia, and died July 1, 1882, 
 when in the sixty-second year of her age. 
 
 George R. Kite was reared in his native 
 town, received his education in the Norris- 
 town public schools, and at sixteen years 
 of age left school to learn the art of tele- 
 graphy in the office of the Western Union 
 Telegraph company. He was a telegraph 
 operator for several years, during which 
 period of time he served for three years as 
 clerk to the superintendent of canals, at 
 Norristown. At the end of that time he 
 became assistant ticket agent at the Mill 
 street station of the Philadelphia and Read- 
 ing railroad, which position he left to serve 
 as a transcriber for one year in the Re- 
 corder's office. He then served for one 
 year as a clerk and the telegraph operator 
 in the office of George and James L. Bul- 
 lock, woolen manufacturers of Consho- 
 hocken, and then became book-keeper for 
 S. Fulton & Co., iron manufacturers, of 
 Norristown, with whom he remained up to 
 1873. In that year he was elected discount 
 clerk in the First National bank of Norris- 
 town, and in 1882 became teller, which 
 position he still holds. In two years after 
 becoming teller, he was made assistant 
 cashier, and discharges the duties of both 
 positions at the present time. 
 
 On October 16, 1877, Mr. Kite married 
 Emma M. Moir, a daughter of James Moir, 
 president of the Conshohocken Woolen 
 company. To their union were born five 
 children : Bessie M. (deceased), Mary E., 
 
244 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 
 James M., Karl K. and George E. Mrs. 
 Kite died April 29, 1885, when in the 
 thirty-fourth year of her age. 
 
 In political matters, George R. Kite has 
 always been a Republican. He has served 
 for five years as a member of the borough 
 school board, being its present secretary. 
 He is connected with various Norristown 
 enterprises, being treasurer of the Fame 
 Building and Loan association, secretary of 
 the Citizens' Passenger Railway company, 
 and was vice president of the Electric 
 Light company of Norristown, of which he 
 was one of the original members. He 
 served for two years as president of the 
 board of trade, and is secretary of Charity 
 Lodge No. 190, Free and Accepted Masons. 
 
 DR. JOHN G. HILLEGASS. A profes- 
 sion whose mission it is to inquire into 
 the nature of the structure and physiologi- 
 cal functions of the human body, that they 
 may be assisted in their natural duties to 
 the end that human suffering may be al- 
 leviated, certainly deserves to rank as one 
 of the noblest of callings ; and one who, for 
 almost half a century has stood in the front 
 rank of the profession of medicine, is the 
 gentleman whose name heads this sketch. 
 He is a son of Peter and Maria (Gery) 
 Hillegass, and was born October 26, 1828, 
 in Upper Hanover township, near Penns- 
 burg, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. 
 The Hillegass family is of German origin, 
 and was among the early colonial families 
 of the city of Philadelphia. During the 
 yellow fever epidemic in that city in 1826, 
 Frederick Hillegass, becoming alarmed, 
 gathered his effects together and with a 
 team started for the country. He came 
 into what is now Upper Hanover township, 
 
 this county, then a wooded wilderness, and 
 took up a large tract of land and began the 
 foundations of a home. In this pioneer 
 home, John Hillegass, grandfather of the 
 subject of this biographical sketch, was 
 born. Of necessity, his avocation was agri- 
 cultural pursuits, as it was only through the 
 tilling of the soil that he was able to obtain 
 the primary necessities of life. He also 
 built a saw mill upon his farm and built the 
 first frame house in this locality. Afterwards 
 he built a hemp mill, and still later the 
 first linseed oil mill that was built in the 
 country. This mill has been rebuilt and is 
 now operated by the subject of this sketch. 
 
 Peter Hillegass (father), was born near 
 Pennsburg, on a part of the original home- 
 stead, where he lived most of his life. He 
 was a man of limited education, so far as 
 books go, but possessed a good judgment 
 and a good practical knowledge of human 
 nature. He took to stock dealing and drov- 
 ing, and became one of the most extensive 
 and successful dealers in the county and ac- 
 cumulated a handsome fortune. In con- 
 nection with his agricultural pursuits and 
 the collateral one of stock dealing, he con- 
 tinued the manufacture of linseed oil, that 
 was begun by his father. Several years 
 prior to his death he retired from active 
 business and devoted his time in looking: 
 after his investments and such other matters 
 in connection with his estate that could not 
 be overlooked. He was a member of the 
 Reformed church, and a Democrat in politi- 
 cal faith and practice. His children were 
 as follows : John G., subject ; Jacob, who 
 died young ; Matilda, wife of Dr. Mensch, 
 of Pennsburg ; and Maria, wife of Dr. 
 Henry Bobb, a physician and druggist at 
 East Greenville, this county. 
 
 Dr. Hillegass received his preliminary 
 education at Washington Hall Boarding 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 245 
 
 school at the Trappe, this county, under the 
 direction at different times of Prof. Hudson 
 and Prof. Rambo. Having- a strong pen- 
 chant for the study of medicine, lie entered 
 that time-honored institution of learning, 
 the University of Pennsylvania, from the 
 portals of which he came forth in 
 1849, a full-fledged graduate from the 
 medical department. He afterward still 
 further broadened his professional training 
 by practice in the hospitals of the city. 
 Shortly after graduating he located at 
 Pennsbnrg, and entered at once with earn- 
 estness and enthusiasm upon the practice of 
 that profession for which he had made such 
 ample preparation. He soon built up a 
 good practice, and now, after almost a half 
 century of arduous work, would gladly 
 withdraw from its exacting duties, but 
 finds it impossible to do so when impor- 
 tuned for medical advice by those whose 
 ailments he has known and whose pains 
 and aches he has allayed during the whole 
 course of his professional career. After 
 his father's death, he succeeded to the 
 homestead farm, and still continues the lin- 
 seed oil industry, established by his grand- 
 father. In 1872, he, in connection with his 
 brother-in-law, Dr. Meusch, founded a lum- 
 ber, feed, flour and coal establishment, and 
 built the large and handsome business block 
 occupied by Dr. Mensch, in Peuusburg. 
 Dr. Hillegass was one of the projectors and 
 organizers of the Perkiomen National bank 
 at East Greenville, this county. Politically 
 he is a Democrat upon all National issues, 
 and upon the monetary question believes 
 that gold and silver should be so coined as 
 to maintain them at a parity and make one 
 dollar the equal of the other. 
 
 On October 26, 1852, he married Catha- 
 rine A., a daughter of Jesse Ziegler, of Sal- 
 ford station, this county, and ten children 
 
 bless their union : Dr. Eugene Z., who 
 graduated from Jefferson Medical college in 
 1880, and is now practicing the profession 
 at Montana, New Jersey ; Ida, wife of Dr. 
 John G. Hersh, a physician and the present 
 burgess of East Greenville, this county ; 
 Ella M., Katie, wife of Dr. William H. 
 Hnnsbnrger, of Pennsbnrg ; Jesse, a gradu- 
 ate of the Ontario Veterinary college, at 
 Ontario, Canada, and now engaged in the 
 practice of his profession, and largely en- 
 gaged in the dealing of horses ; Charles Q., 
 a dentist of Pennsburg, and whose sketch 
 follows; Howard C, a graduate of Franklin 
 and Marshall college in the class of 1894, 
 who is at present editor of the Bloomsburg 
 Daily, at Bloomsburg, this State ; Calvin 
 M., is at home associated with his father in 
 business ; Mary L,., wife of Jacob B. Esser, 
 editor of the Kutztozvn Courier and Patriot, 
 of Kutztown, Berks county ; Dr. John P., 
 a practicing physician at No. 161 7 Dauphin 
 street, Philadelphia. The latterisa general 
 practitioner of medicine, and also makes a 
 specialty of the eye and is assistant in the 
 Medico-Chirurgical college. 
 
 GUSTAVUS EGOLF, the leading fur- 
 niture dealer in Norristown, and at 
 one time the most extensive dealer in an- 
 tique goods in the United States, is a son of 
 George and Catharine (Sinister) Egolf, and 
 was born May 19, 1849, m the grand duchy 
 of Baden, Germany. George Egolf (father), 
 was a blacksmith by trade, and in 1850 came 
 from Germany with his wife and four chil- 
 dren and settled in Philadelphia. After 
 pursuing his trade for three years on Poplar 
 street, he removed to the corner of Broad 
 and Cumberland streets, where he was pro- 
 fitably engaged in trucking and dairy busi- 
 
246 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ness on a small farm of seventeen acres, and 
 continued up to 18S4. In that year he re- 
 tired from active business pursuits, and has 
 since resided at the corner of Broad and 
 Huntington streets, being in the eighty- 
 fifth year of his age. He is a Republican, 
 and a member of the Reformed church, and 
 has been twice married. By his first wife, 
 who died in Germany, he had no children. 
 For his second wife, he wedded Catharine 
 Sinister, who is a daughter of Charles 
 Sinister, and was born in 1719. To this 
 union were born six children : George, an 
 extensive flour and feed dealer, at the cor- 
 ner of Broad and Cumberland streets, Phila- 
 delphia ; Charles, a sergeant on the Phila- 
 delphia police force ; Elizabeth Gross, a 
 resident of Philadelphia ; William and 
 Louisa, who both died in infancy ; Gus- 
 tavus, subject. 
 
 Gustavus Egolf, although born in Ger- 
 many, was reared in Philadelphia and re- 
 ceived his meager educational training by 
 very irregular attendance in the Oakdale 
 school, Eleventh and Huntington streets, 
 until fourteen years of age. After leaving 1 
 school he drove teams for nine years, during 
 which time, by very carefully husbanding 
 his modest earnings, succeeded in saving 
 sufficient margin to enable him to launch a 
 contracting business in hauling on his own 
 account, employing eight teams. He con- 
 tinued in this business for three years, at 
 the expiration of which time he made a 
 visit to his birth place, and after three 
 mouths spent in Baden, he made a tour 
 through Germany, France, Ireland and 
 England. Returning from the Old World, 
 Mr. Egolf established an extenstve antique, 
 china and furniture business at the corner 
 of Eleventh and Oxford streets, Philadel- 
 phia, where he remained up to July 9, 1879, 
 when he came to Norristown and opened a 
 
 similar business at the corner of Main and 
 Walnut streets. After seven years he re- 
 moved to the site of his present residence 
 and branch store, at 363 East Main street. 
 
 In 1893 M r - Egolf 's business had grown 
 to such dimensions as to demand increased 
 facilities to accommodate his constantly 
 growing trade. He accordingly purchased 
 a site at 113 East Main street, and erected 
 the handsome four-story brick structure, 
 twenty-five by seventy feet, with iron front, 
 known as the Egolf building. This build- 
 ing Mr. Egolf contemplates extending to a 
 depth of one hundred and fifty feet, and 
 when thus enlarged it will be one of the 
 largest and handsomest business places in 
 Norristown. He is the agent for the popu- 
 lar Walsbach patent gas burner. He is a 
 staunch Republican in politics and always 
 contributes his share to the success of the 
 party at the polls. Mr. Egolf is a member 
 of the Montgomery County Historical so- 
 ciety and the Humane Fire company. On 
 February 23, 1873, Mr. Egolf married Eliza 
 Egolf, a daughter of Charles Egolf, of 
 Baden, Germany, but latterly and at death 
 resided in Philadelphia. To their union 
 have been born ten children : George, de- 
 ceased ; Charles, Caroline, Clara, Gustavus, 
 deceased ; Edward, Edith, Eliza, Sadie and 
 Howard. 
 
 HENRY F. SCATCHARD, one of the 
 foremost manufacturers of south- 
 eastern Pennsylvania, is a son of Joseph B. 
 and Betty (Heap) Scatchard, and was born 
 in Yorkshire, England, January 13, 1842. 
 His parents came to this country when he 
 was an infant, and after residing for some 
 time near Downingtown, in Chester county, 
 removed in 1850 to East Coventry town- 
 ship, that county. There Joseph B. Scat- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 247 
 
 chard bought a farm and woolen factory, 
 which lie conducted quite actively for a 
 number of years. 
 
 Henry F. Scatchard was reared in 
 Chester county, where he received his edu- 
 cation in the public schools, and spent his 
 boyhood years on the farm and in the 
 factory. At seventeen years of age he ac- 
 cepted regular employment in the factory 
 and remained with his father for three 
 years. At the end of that time he entered 
 a woolen factory at Germantown and 
 worked at five dollars a week for several 
 months. Leaving that place he went to 
 Fairmount, in Philadelphia, and engaged 
 in the woolen manufacturing business, 
 which he followed there for fifteen years. 
 He then came to Norristown and bought 
 the Angoria woolen mills, which he has 
 operated ever since. These mills are on 
 the site of the old Blue mills, built in 1847, 
 and run by Bodey and Jacobs as a cotton 
 lap factory. It was burned and rebuilt, 
 and operated successfully by Blout, Shaw 
 & Co., and J. and J. Shaw & Co. In 1871 
 a large addition was made to the mills and 
 improved machinery added, and since then 
 various improvements have been made. 
 The mills are in the north-eastern part of 
 Norristown, and form three sides of a hol- 
 low square. Mr. Scatchard has equipped 
 the mills thoroughly with every conveni- 
 ence and all needed machinery for the 
 manufacture of first-class cotton and woolen 
 goods. He employs from one hundred and 
 forty to one hundred and eighty men, and 
 the output of the Angoria mills find ready 
 sale in all sections of the United States. 
 Practical, experienced and progressive, 
 Henry F. Scatchard has become prominent 
 as one of the successful manufacturers of 
 cotton and woolen goods in the south-east- 
 ern part of the State. 
 
 In politics Mr. Scatchard has always 
 been a Republican. He is a member and 
 a deacon of the First Baptist church, in 
 whose affairs he takes a deep interest and 
 an active part. He is also the superinten- 
 dent of the East End Baptist mission 
 Sunday school, and a manager of the 
 George Nugent Home, at Germantown, 
 this State, for aged ministers of the Baptist 
 church. He is a member of Philomeathen 
 Lodge No. 10, Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, with which extensive organization 
 he has been connected for several years. 
 
 On June 16, 1865, Mr. Scatchard was 
 united in marriage with Lucy Bonsor, 
 daughter of William Bonsor, of German- 
 town, this State. To their union have been 
 born four children, three sons and one 
 daughter : Laura B., wife of Robert Dorris, 
 of Philadelphia ; Barton H., now engaged 
 in the manufacturing business with his 
 father; Warren R., who married Bessie 
 Richards, and is engaged in business with 
 his father ; and Henry F., now attending 
 school. 
 
 ABNER McMICHAEL, the second son 
 of William and Margaret (Dillin) Mc- 
 Michael, and now senior member of the 
 manufacturing firm of McMichael & Wild- 
 man, of Norristown, was born May 7, 1846, 
 in the city of Philadelphia. He spent his 
 early life in that city, obtaining a fair edu- 
 cation by his own efforts, and when ten 
 years of age, became an errand boy. At the 
 age of sixteen he began learning the trade 
 of machinist with J. G. and G. L. Chapman 
 of Philadelphia, with whom he remained 
 until they failed in business. He then 
 went to the Port Richmond Iron works, 
 owned by I. P. Morris & Co., where he 
 worked as a machinist for some time, and 
 
248" 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 later removed to Bristol, Bucks county, 
 where he entered the employ of Thomas 
 Hughes & Co., in their hosiery and under- 
 wear mill, where he remained in various 
 capacities for a period of eight years. From 
 Bristol, he removed to Philadelphia, thence 
 to Norristown, and forming a partnership 
 with Frank B. Wildman (see his sketch), 
 under the firm name of McMichael & Wild- 
 man, embarked in the manufacture of knit- 
 ing machinery for the production of all 
 kinds of hosier}- and underwear, at the corner 
 of Oak and Corson streets. This enterprise 
 they have ever since successfully conducted, 
 and now own and operate one of the best 
 equipped plants of the kind in eastern Penn- 
 sylvania, employing about sixty men. 
 
 In politics, Mr. McMichael is a Democrat 
 and a Protestant in religion. He is a mem- 
 ber of Amity Lodge No. 19, Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows, of Philadelphia, and 
 of Integrity Lodge No. 139, Ancient Order 
 of United Workmen, of Pennsylvania. 
 
 On September 26, 1879, Mr - McMichael 
 was united in marriage with Anna Calvin, 
 a daughter of William Calvin, of the city of 
 Philadelphia. To Mr. and Mrs. McMichael 
 have been born two children : Nellie and 
 Elizabeth. 
 
 The family from which Mr. McMichael is 
 descended is of ancient Irish lineage. His 
 father, William McMichael, was born on 
 the Emerald Isle, but when six years of age 
 was brought to America by relatives, and 
 grew to manhood at Marietta, Lancaster 
 county, Pennsylvania. While yet a young 
 man he learned the shoemaker trade and 
 worked at that occupation during the greater 
 part of his life. Some years prior to his 
 death he removed to Gloucester, New Jer- 
 sey, and died there in 1855, at the age of 
 thirty-three years. He was a member of 
 the Morning Star Lodge, Independent Order 
 
 of Odd Fellows, of Philadelphia, and a 
 Protestant in religion. In 1842 he married 
 Margaret Dillin, a daughter of Joseph Dillin, 
 of Philadelphia, Pa., and to them were born 
 five children, three sons and two daughters: 
 Joseph (now dead) ; Abner, the subject of 
 this sketch ; Katie, who married Thomas 
 Hall, of Philadelphia ; William and Jose- 
 phine, now the widow of William Kensil, 
 of Philadelphia. Mrs. Margaret McMichael 
 survived her husband for more than a quar- 
 ter of a century, dying in 1891, at the age 
 of sixtv-eight vears. 
 
 DANIEL LOUGHIN, the proprietor of 
 the Port Kennedy hotel, is a son of 
 John and Isabella (Lamon) Loughin, and 
 was born in County Antrim, Ireland, 
 February S, 1819. His paternal father, 
 Henry Loughin, was a native and life-long 
 resident of County Antrim, in which he 
 followed farming and was engaged in a 
 fishery. He was a man of considerable 
 property, and wielded an influence in his 
 immediate neighborhood. He married, 
 and his son, John Loughin, was born in 
 1772, and resided in his native county 
 until his death, which occurred in 1837, at 
 sixty-five years of age. John Loughin was 
 a stone mason by trade, and as a contractor 
 erected many dwellings and some buildings 
 of considerable importance. He was a 
 Protestant and a Free Mason, and married 
 Isabella Lamon, a resident of his native 
 country. Mr. and Mrs. Loughin reared a 
 family of four children : John, Dennis, 
 Daniel, sons ; and Katie, daughter. 
 
 Daniel Loughin was reared in County 
 Antrim, and received a very ordinary edu- 
 cation in the primary schools of Ireland. 
 Leaving school he was employed for a 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 249 
 
 short time in various kinds of business, 
 and then, at the early age of eighteen, 
 sought in Pennsylvania to find a wider 
 field for effort than was afforded him 
 in Ireland. Landing at Philadelphia, he 
 resided successively at Valley Forge and 
 Norristown, and in 1841, crossed the moun- 
 tains to Pittsburg, where he was engaged 
 for three years in the hotel business. At 
 the end of that time, in 1844, he removed 
 to Westmoreland county, where he spent 
 three years in the mercantile business, 
 which he quit there to come to Port Ken- 
 nedy. Here he built and opened a store 
 which he sold to James Meenely, in 1852, 
 to engage in the lime business. Ten years 
 later he disposed of his quarries and bought 
 the Port Kennedy hotel, which he has con- 
 ducted up to the present time. 
 
 On March 16, 1841, Mr. Loughin married 
 Jane McKay, a daughter of John McKay, 
 of County Antrim, Ireland. To their 
 union have been born seven children : 
 Isabella, John, Alexander, Daniel Jr., Ann 
 Jane, Henry D., Katie and one child that 
 died in infancy. Mrs. Loughin died 
 August 1, 1891, aged seventy-six years, 
 and her remains were interred in Port 
 Kennedy cemetery. 
 
 Daniel Loughin has always been a Demo- 
 crat in politics since coming to this 
 country. He is a member of Port Kennedy 
 Presbyterian church, and ranks among the 
 older business men of Port Kennedy. 
 
 CHRISTIAN F. TEGTMEIER, M. D., 
 a physician in active practice at Con- 
 shohocken, is the eldest son of Dr. August 
 and Caroline (Cook) Tegtmeier, and was 
 born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
 vania, March 24, 1862. Dr. August Tegt- 
 
 meier was born and reared in Germany, 
 of German parentage, and graduated from 
 the famous Aldorf Veterinary college, of 
 his native country, and in 1850 came to 
 Philadelphia, where he still resides at No. 
 729 South Sixteenth street. He is a 
 Homoeopathic veterinary surgeon, and dur- 
 ing the late Civil war was employed 
 actively in the service of the Government. 
 Since the war he has practiced continuously 
 at his present place of residence. He is a 
 Republican and a Lutheran, and in i860 
 wedded Caroline Cook, a daughter of 
 Christian Cook, of Bridgeton, N. J. 
 
 Dr. Christian F. Tegtmeier, received his 
 education at the Philadelphia Central High 
 school, and then entered Hahnnemann 
 Medical college, from which noted Homoeo- 
 pathic institution he was graduated in the 
 class of 1885. After graduation he served 
 for one year as a member of the dispensarv 
 staff of the college, and then located at 729 
 South Sixteenth street, Philadelphia 
 where he remained but six months. At 
 the end of that time, in November, 1886, 
 he came to Conshohocken, where he has 
 practiced continuously and successfully up 
 to the present time. He is a member of the 
 Homoepathic Medical Society, the Philadel- 
 phia County Medical Society, the Philadel- 
 phia Organon and Materia-Medica Society 
 and the Homoeopathic Council. In addition 
 to his practice, he is a contributor to the 
 numerous medical journals of the United 
 States. He is a Republican politically, 
 and in religious faith and church member- 
 ship, a Presbyterian. 
 
 On July 1, 1885, Dr. Tegtmeier was 
 united in marriage with Eleanor G. McGirr, 
 a daughter of John McGirr, of Philadel- 
 phia. Their union has been blessed with 
 four children: Ralph, Christine, William 
 C. and August. 
 
25° 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 HENRY LITZENBERG, a resident of 
 Ardmore, is a son of Horatio Gates and 
 Hannah (Johnson) Litzenberg, and was 
 born at Ardmore, Lower Merion township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, Feb- 
 ruary 15, 1845. The Litzenbergs are of 
 Welsh origin, and members of the family 
 have been prominently identified with 
 the business interests of Ardmore for the 
 last three generations. John Litzenberg, 
 who was born in 1790, became a resident of 
 Ardmore, when it was known as Athens- 
 ville, and purchased the famous " Red 
 Lion " hotel from John Taylor. This 
 hotel has a history that stretches three de- 
 cades back of the initial year of the fast 
 waning nineteenth century, and always 
 ranked as a first-class hostelry with accom- 
 modating and courteous bonifaces. Mr. 
 Litzenberg proved to be no exception to the 
 rule in his management of the house, which 
 he conducted up to his death, which oc- 
 curred August 7, 1854. He was a Jacksonian 
 Democrat, and married Christina Stanley, 
 by whom he had three children : Horatio 
 Gates, Elizabeth and Martha. Horatio 
 Gates Litzenberg was born October 26, 
 1814, at Ardmore, where he died March 28, 
 1880. Receiving a fair education, he was 
 engaged in the general mercantile business 
 successively at Liberty ville, Humphrey ville 
 (now Bryn Mawr), and Ardmore. About 
 1854 he purchased the Red Lion hotel from 
 his father, and in 1868 quit merchandising 
 and continued in the lumber, coal and feed 
 business, which he conducted in connection 
 with the hotel until his death. A Democrat 
 in political principle, and a Baptist in reli- 
 gious views, he passed through life without 
 seeking for prominence in civil or church 
 affairs. He married Hannah Johnson, a 
 daughter of Aaron Johnson, who died 
 March 13, 1845, a g e( l twenty-seven years. 
 
 They had a family of three children, two 
 sons and one daughter : Mary, dead ; Wal- 
 ter S., deceased ; and Henry, the subject of 
 this sketch. 
 
 Henry Litzenberg, at four weeks of age, 
 lost his mother, and was sent to live with 
 his maternal grandfather, Aaron Johnson, 
 of Delaware county, with whom he re- 
 mained for fourteen years. He attended 
 the Cooperstown public schools, S. Gayley's 
 select school at Media, and the Upland 
 Normal High school at Chester, Pa., and 
 then returned to Ardmore, where he as- 
 sisted his father in his farming and in his 
 business affairs up to the year 1869. He 
 then removed to Chester county, but only 
 remained there on a farm for six years, and 
 shortly afterwards came back to Ardmore, 
 where he managed his father's farm until 
 the death of the latter, where he has re- 
 sided up to the present time. 
 
 On January 9, 1867, Mr. Litzenberg wed- 
 ded Kate E. Butler, a daughter of George 
 Butler, a resident of Torrsdale, Pa., and 
 granddaughter of the late Captain Enoch, 
 of Torrsdale, Pa. To their union have 
 been born five children : Mary E., Sarah 
 B.; George Yocum, deceased; Leroy and 
 Louise G., deceased. 
 
 JOSEPH LEES, a well known and 
 <J highly esteemed business man of Bridge- 
 port, was born in Yorkshire, England, 1830. 
 He was a son of James and Betty (Savill) 
 Lees, both of whom died about eight years 
 previous to the death of their son. When 
 Joseph Lees was twelve years of age his 
 parents came to this country. Upon reach- 
 ing manhood he was associated in the 
 woolen business with his father and another 
 partner. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 25 1 
 
 In the year 1864 the firm of James Lees 
 & Sons was established, of which the father 
 of Joseph and John Lees was the senior 
 partner. The business was established at 
 Bridgeport, Pa., at that time, and expanded 
 until it became one of the largest plants of 
 its kind in the country. The rapid growth 
 of the great plant was dne to the energy 
 and enterprise of Joseph Lees. For some 
 years previous to his death, the father, 
 owing to advancing years, was not active in 
 the business. This threw the full responsi- 
 bility of the management of the plant upon 
 his son Joseph, who, through the successful 
 direction of the firm's affairs, demonstrated 
 his great business qualities. Upon his death 
 it was found necessary, in order that the 
 plant might be properly managed, to trans- 
 fer the business of James Lees & Sons to a 
 corporation known as James Lees & Sons 
 Company. The family of Joseph Lees still 
 control this corporation. 
 
 Joseph Lees was very active in the politi- 
 cal affairs of Montgomery county. He was 
 an ardent Republican, and ever sought the 
 highest and best interests of his party. For 
 many years he was chairman of the county 
 committee, and it was through his political 
 sagacity that the county was changed from 
 a Democratic to a Republican district. He 
 had been offered by his party the nomina- 
 tion for Congress, but declined this and all 
 other solicitations to enter official political 
 life. 
 
 Mr. Lees was a vestryman of the Episco- 
 pal church of Bridgeport for several years 
 previous to his death, and sought in every 
 way the advancement of the interests of his 
 church. 
 
 Early in life Mr. Lees was married to 
 Maria S. Hinkle, of Roxborough, Philadel- 
 phia. There were born to this union seven 
 children, two of whom died in infancy. At 
 
 his death, Mr. Lees left, besides his widow, 
 George S., a manufacturer of Germantown, 
 Pa. ; Sue B., Mary A., wife of Charles F. 
 Williams, director of the firm of James 
 Lees & Sons Co. ; Lizzie S., and Alice T, 
 who married Abram T. Eastwick, also a 
 director of the firm of James Lees & Sons 
 Company. Mr. Lees died March 27, 1894, 
 and was laid to rest in Montgomery ceme- 
 tery at Norristown. 
 
 THOMAS M. S AURMAN, the proprietor 
 and operator of the " Acme" copying 
 and enlarging photographic house at Nor- 
 ristown, is a son of Thomas and Catharine 
 (Spang) Saurman, and was born at Norris- 
 town, Montgomery count} - , Pennsylvania, 
 August 9, 1846. The name of Saurman 
 would indicate its German origin, and 
 Thomas M. Saurman's paternal grandfather, 
 whose name was John Martin Saurman, 
 resided near Sixth and Commerce streets, 
 Philadelphia. He owned a farm, married 
 and reared a family. His son, Thomas 
 Saurman, was born October 19, 1804, and 
 received an ordinary education in the schools 
 of Philadelphia. Thomas Saurman, in 
 1839, came to Norristown, where he built 
 the Eagle Iron works, which he operated in 
 the manufacture of mill machinery until 
 his death, May n, i860. He was an in- 
 dustrious energetic man, and served for sev- 
 eral years as a councilman. He was a Whig 
 in political opinion, and married Catharine 
 Spang, a daughter of Jacob Spang, and a 
 member of the old Spang family of eastern 
 Pennsylvania. She was born May 14, 1814, 
 and passed away May 28, 1881. To their 
 union were born four children : Mary Y., 
 widow of Samuel D. Delp ; Thomas M., 
 subject ; James S., a photographer at St. 
 
2.S2 
 
 Biographical Skktches. 
 
 Joseph, Missouri, and Othniel S., who died 
 January 26, 1889, when in the thirty-sixth 
 year of his age. 
 
 Thomas M. Sannnan was reared at Xor- 
 ristown, and received his education in the 
 borough public schools and Treemonnt semi- 
 nary, when under the charge of Prof. John 
 W. Loch. At sixteen years of age he en- 
 tered the employ of the Norris Iron com- 
 pany, and worked in their mills at Norris- 
 town for twenty months. He then took a 
 course in book-keeping at Bryant and Strat- 
 ton's Business College, of Philadelphia, and 
 after graduation in 1S65, purchased the 
 branch photograph gallery of E. Hippie, at 
 Main and Green streets, that city, which he 
 operated until 188 r. In that year he sold 
 out to his brother, Othniel S., and during 
 January of the succeeding year, purchased 
 a "copying" house at Pottstown, which he 
 conducted for one year. He then, on March 
 1, 1883, removed his business to the corner of 
 Cherry and Main streets, Xorristown, and 
 two and a half years later, on August 29, 
 1885, opened his present Acme Copying 
 and Enlarging House at No. 508 Green 
 street. 
 
 On October 30, 1867, Mr. Saurman mar- 
 ried Eliza Davis, a daughter of Evan and 
 Rebecca Davis, of Norristown. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Saurman have been born five sons and 
 six daughters: Catharine, died at nine 
 weeks of age ; Mary Y., Thomas E., died 
 at ten years of age ; Edith R., Jonathan D., 
 born August 8, 1874, died July 12, 1894 ; 
 Louis R., James S., Herbert H. and Ralph 
 L-, twins, the former dying at one year and 
 the latter at sixteen months of age ; Norma, 
 C. and Mabel L. 
 
 Thomas M. Saurman is a Republican in 
 political matters. He is a member of Mont- 
 gomery Fire and Hose company. Mr. 
 Saurman, by natural aptitude and years of 
 
 experience, is well qualified for his special 
 line of work. The Acme Copying and 
 Enlarging House is a three-story brick 
 structure, forty by sixty feet in dimensions 
 and thoroughly equipped for the successful 
 prosecution of every department of the busi- 
 ness including the artist studios. Mr. 
 Saurman has his own dynamo and engine, 
 and employs as high as twenty men. His 
 patronage has steadily increased year bv 
 year, and his work is now to be found over 
 a wide area of territory in this and adjoining 
 States. 
 
 GEORGE W. POLEV, one of the pros- 
 perous citizens of Xorristown, is a 
 native of Montgomery county, born near 
 Perkiomenville, April 23, 1848. His parents 
 were Jeremiah and Mary Ann (Bigouv) 
 Poley, both born and reared in the country. 
 The family is of German and French de- 
 scent, and for many years have resided in 
 the Keystone State. The paternal grand- 
 father, George Poley, was a resident of 
 Chester county during the early part of his 
 life, but afterward removed to Perkiomen- 
 ville, this county, where he was engaged in 
 conducting a woolen mill for many years, 
 located on Perkiomen creek, and said to be 
 the first woolen mill on that stream outside 
 of Norristown. He had a large trade and 
 became a man of local prominence. He 
 was a Democrat politically, and a man of 
 unassuming manners — kind, generous and 
 very trustworthy. His son, Jeremiah Poley 
 (father), was principally reared at Perkio- 
 menville, where he spent the early part of 
 his life. He was a man of common school 
 education, supplemented by a term at the 
 Trappe seminary. He assisted his father in 
 the woolen mill, spinning, dyeing and weav- 
 ing woolen cloth for a number of years, and 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 253 
 
 later removed to Norristown and engaged 
 Itl mercantile pursuits, which he followed 
 until his retirement in 1S64. He was a Re- 
 publican in politics and a Lutheran in reli- 
 gion. He married Mary Ann Blgony in 
 1843, anc f by that union had a family of 
 four children : Clara, wife of J. O. Knipe ; 
 Irvin, who served as a soldier in the Civil 
 war and died of wounds received in the 
 battle of Spottsylvania ; George W., the 
 subject of this sketch ; and Warren H, 
 now a resident of Germantown, Philadel- 
 phia. Mrs. Poley died in March, 1893, at 
 the age of seventy-three years. 
 
 George W. Poley remained in Marlbor- 
 ough township until the age of ten, when 
 he came with his parents to Norristown. 
 He attended the public schools until six- 
 teen years of age, and then began learning 
 the trade of machinist in the Norristown 
 Iron works. He remained with the firm 
 for a period of five years, and then for a 
 short time was in the employ of Grice and 
 Long, engine builders, Philadelphia. Subse- 
 quently he entered the employ of the Phce- 
 nixville Iron company at Phcenixville, this 
 State, with which he remained in various 
 capacities for twenty-three years. At the 
 end of that time he removed to Philadel- 
 phia, where he engaged in the engineering 
 and contracting iron business. 
 
 Politically Mr. Poley is a staunch Repub- 
 lican, though he has never taken a very 
 active interest in politics. He is a member 
 of the Central Presbyterian church of Nor- 
 ristown, which he has served as a trustee 
 since 1876. He is also a member of Curtis 
 Lodge No. 231, Independent Order of ( )dd 
 Fellows, having passed through all the 
 chairs, and is likewise connected with the 
 Encampment, and with Li 11 wood Lodge No. 
 154, Ancient Order of United Workmen, in 
 which he has also held every official position. 
 
 In 1871 Mr. Poley was married to Annie 
 M. Titlow, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Reuben Titlow, of Norristown, Pa., and 
 they have had three children : Irene L., 
 died in childhood ; G. Milton and Catharine 
 C, both living at home with their parents. 
 
 FRANK B. WILDMAN, junior member 
 of the firm of McMichael & Wildman, 
 manufacturers of circular rib knitting ma- 
 chinery, is the eldest son of Barclay and 
 Maggie (Black) Wildman, and was born 
 February 5, 1856, at Langhorn, Bucks 
 county, this State. His paternal grand- 
 father, Jonathan Wildman, was born near 
 the close of the last century in that county, 
 and was a fanner by occupation. He passed 
 all his life in his native county, and died 
 about i860, at the age of sixty-five years. 
 Politically he was a Whig and Republican. 
 He was the father of four children, two 
 sons and two daughters. One of his sons 
 was Barclay Wildman (father), who was 
 born and reared in Bucks county, where he 
 secured a good common school education, 
 and afterward learned the trade of carpen- 
 ter. He worked at his trade to some extent 
 and also engaged in agricultural pursuits, in 
 which he is still employed. He is a Repub- 
 lican in politics, and a member of the In- 
 dependent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1854 
 he married Maggie Black, a daughter of 
 John and Rachel Black, of Bucks county, 
 and to them were born eight children : Frank 
 B., subject of this sketch ; Elmer, George, 
 Gillam and John, deceased ; William, Han- 
 nah, wife of Frank Flower; and Lizzie, 
 who married William Priestly. Barclay 
 and Mrs. Maggie Wildman are still living. 
 Frank B. Wildman spent the first fourteen 
 years of his life on his father's farm, obtain- 
 
'54 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ing an ordinary education in the public 
 schools of his neighborhood. He then went 
 to Northampton township and worked on a 
 farm for two years, after which he went to 
 Langhorn and began learning the trade of 
 blacksmithing with his uncle, John Black. 
 Having completed his apprenticeship, he 
 worked at the trade for eleven years in the 
 shop where he had learned it, and then be- 
 came a machinist, working at Langhorn 
 one year longer, and then removing to 
 Bristol, where he worked as machinist in 
 the hosien- mill of Thomas Houghes &: Co. 
 
 In 1887 he removed to Xorristown, and 
 entered the employ of the Keystone Hosiery 
 company, where he had charge of the ma- 
 chinery for three years. At the end of that 
 time he formed a partnership with Abner 
 McMichael, (see his sketch), under the firm 
 name of McMichael 6c Wildman, and in a 
 small way began the manufacture of knit- 
 ting machinery for hosiery mills. Their 
 business rapidly increased, and the firm now 
 employs about sixty men the year round. 
 They make circular rib knitting machinery 
 for the manufacture of all kinds of hosiery 
 and underwear, and in addition do mill re- 
 pairing of every description. Their estab- 
 lishment is located at the corner of Oak and 
 Astor streets, Xorristown, and their plant is 
 regarded as one of the best equipped insti- 
 tutions of the kind in this part of the State. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Wildman 
 is an uncompromising Republican, believing 
 in the policy of protection to American in- 
 dustry, and supporting his party on all gen- 
 aral questions. He is a member of Oriental 
 Lodge Xo. 163, Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, of Langhorn ; of the Improved 
 Order of Red Men, and of the Knights of 
 the Mystic Chain, of Bristol. 
 
 On February 20, 1SS4, Mr. Wildman was 
 married to Mattie Brown, a daughter of Ed- 
 
 ward L. and Sarah A. (Saxton) Brown. To 
 them have been born two children : Flor- 
 ence, who died May 22, 1888, aged three and 
 one-half years ; and Marion, now in her 
 ninth Year. 
 
 WILLIAM LITTLE, a leading and 
 prominent business man at Spring 
 Mills, is a son of James and Martha (Sem- 
 ple) Little, and was born at Spring Mills, 
 Whitemarsh township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, Decembers, 1856. His father 
 was reared and educated anions the hieh- 
 lands of Scotland, where nature abounds in 
 delightful scenery, that has been so beauti- 
 fully portrayed in poetry and song. Arriv- 
 ing at the age of manhood, James Little 
 became a drover and farmer by occupation. 
 Leaving his family in his native country, 
 he emigrated to America, and soon after 
 located at Roxborough, and about one year 
 thereafter he brought his family to his new 
 place of residence. There he became mana- 
 ger of a large farm, and later he was em- 
 ployed by the Schuylkill Xavigation com- 
 pany as lock-keeper on the canal. He re- 
 mained in the employ of this company for 
 thirty-three years, living the greater part of 
 the time at Spring Mills, Whitemarsh town- 
 ship. The last four years of his life was 
 passed in retirement, and he died August 
 20, 1877, at the age of seventy-five years. 
 He was a staunch Republican, and for 
 twenty-three years was a member of the In- 
 dependent Order of Odd Fellow. He mar- 
 ried Martha Semple, who died December 8, 
 1893, at the advanced age of seventy -nine 
 years. Their family consisted of five sons 
 and two daughters : Robert, a resident of 
 New York ; John, a resident of Consho- 
 hocken ; William, James, deceased ; Martin, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 255 
 
 a resident of Whitemarsh township ; Susan, 
 widow of William Sheridan, of New York ; 
 and Mary, who married Albert H. Clauser, 
 a blacksmith, in Philadelphia. 
 
 William Little received his education in 
 the public schools of Conshohocken, and at 
 the age of fifteen years he found employ- 
 ment in a brick yard. Subsequently he was 
 employed on the Schuylkill canal between 
 Schuylkill Haven and New York City, and 
 afterwards he became interested in the 
 crushed slag and stone business at Spring 
 Mills, in which he employs one hundred and 
 twenty-five men. In 1891 he began the 
 coal, flour and feed business, and has suc- 
 ceeded in establishing an extensive whole- 
 sale and retail trade. On September 12, 
 1889, Mr. Little was united in marriage 
 with Clara R. Hitner, daughter of D. O. 
 and Catharine Hitner, of Spring Mill. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Little have two children : Wil- 
 liam, deceased ; and Ludwig Filbert. 
 
 Mr. Little is an active Republican, but 
 has never sought for or held office. He 
 has served as delegate to the Republican 
 county convention, and takes due interest in 
 all local political affairs. 
 
 MR. JAWOOD LUKENS, a prominent 
 manufacturer and business man of 
 Conshohocken, is a son of Lewis A. an 
 Mary Thomas (Wood) Lukens, and was 
 born March 8, 1843, m Lebanon county, 
 Pennsylvania. He received his education 
 in private schools and Treemount seminary, 
 Norristown, and graduated from the Poly- 
 technic College of Pennsylvania, at Phila- 
 delphia, in 1864, as civil engineer, having 
 served in the Pennsylvania militia in the 
 emergency calls of 1862 and 1863 — first in 
 the nth regiment and second in the Grey 
 
 Reserve regiment, of Philadelphia. After 
 his graduation he was for a time engaged 
 with an engineer corps, engaged in survey- 
 ing a route for the Pan Handle railroad in 
 West Virginia and Ohio, and later was en- 
 gaged in surveying in the oil fields of Penn- 
 sylvania. In 1867 he took a position in the 
 employ of Alan Wood & Co., remaining 
 with this company in that capacity until 
 1873, when he was taken into the firm. He 
 remained a member of that firm until 1881. 
 Upon the latter date he withdrew from the 
 business and built, in 1882, the Long Mead 
 Iron works, for the manufacture of muck bar 
 iron, and operated these works until 1894, giv- 
 ing employment to ninety men. In 1894 a 
 stock company was formed with Jawood 
 Lukens president and treasurer and A. L- 
 Murphy, secretary, and the works were en- 
 larged by the addition of a finishing mill for 
 the manufacture of Skelp iron. This en- 
 terprise gave employment to one hundred 
 and twenty hands. In 1883 he was one of 
 the prime movers in building and equipping 
 the Conshohocken Tube works and has 
 been president of the company ever since. 
 These works give employment to a force of 
 one hundred and twenty-five hands. He is 
 president of the Conshohocken Gas and 
 Water company, and vice president of the 
 Tradesmen's National bank of Consho- 
 hocken 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Lukens married Susan, a 
 daughter of Dr. Hiram Corson, whose sketch 
 appears elsewhere in this volume. Jawood 
 Lukens is a man of many excellent and 
 useful traits of character. Energetic, prompt 
 and pains-taking in the discharge of every 
 duty, he leaves nothing to chance or good 
 fortune, and believes that good luck is but 
 the result of good management. Persever- 
 ance and patience are among his most strik- 
 ing characteristics, and he makes himself 
 
256 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 thoroughly acquainted with the minutest 
 details of the business he may have in hand. 
 His power of analysis and combination, and 
 his fine executive ability enable him to se- 
 cure the skillful and successful execution 
 of his work in any business or financial en- 
 terprise, in which he may be engaged. As 
 a citizen, Mr. Lukens is highly esteemed by 
 all who have business or social intercourse 
 with him, while his integrity and honor are 
 unquestioned. He is a member of the 
 American Institute of Mining Engineers; 
 the Engineers' Club of Philadelphia ; the 
 Franklin Institute, and the Union League 
 and other clubs. 
 
 JACOB H. GABLE, a retired citizen of 
 Pottstown, Pennsylvania, is a son of 
 Jacob and Catharine (High) Gable, and was 
 born September 29, 1820, in Colebrookdale 
 township, Berks county, Pa. He received 
 his scholastic training by attendance at 
 various private schools at Boyertown, that 
 county. After leaving school he worked 
 on a farm a few years, and during the same 
 time had learned the milling trade, which 
 he pursued for six years at Colebrookdale, 
 Berks county, Pa. In 1856 he came to 
 Pottstown, this county, and in partnership 
 with his brother, Henry, operating under 
 the trading name of H. &: J. Gable, pur- 
 chased the Pottstown Roller mills, which 
 they operated up to 1867, when the name 
 was changed to Gable, Bertolette & Co., who 
 continued to conduct the business up to 
 1883. In 1878, Mr. Gable, in the firm of 
 Gable, Jones &. Gable, became engaged in 
 ore mining at Boyertown, Berks county, 
 and at the same time leased a furnace at 
 Bechtelsville, that county, which they 
 operated up to 1890, Mr. Jones, of the firm, 
 
 having died in 1880. Partially due to the 
 flooding of the mines of the Warwick Iron 
 company, they blew out the furnace, since 
 which time, Mr. Gable and his brother 
 Henry, who were associates in business, 
 have retired from active pursuits, and are 
 devoting their time to looking after their 
 varied and valuable investments, With his 
 brother Henry, he is extensively interested 
 in real estate in Pottstown. They own a 
 handsome farm of two hundred and forty 
 acres at Pottstown, upon which is held the 
 annual fairs of the Tri-County Agricultural 
 society, comprising adjacent portions of 
 Chester and Berks counties and the 
 whole of Montgomery county. Here is 
 found one of the best one-mile race courses 
 in the state. Mr. Gable is a strong advo- 
 cate of the principles of protection as held 
 by the Republican party, but never sought 
 political preferment. Mr. Gable resides 
 with his brother Henry at Pottstown. 
 
 Henry H. Gable, the third child and 
 eldest son of Jacob and Catharine (High) 
 Gable, was born March 5, 1808, in Cole- 
 brookdale township, Berks county, Pa. He 
 received his education in the pay schools of 
 his native township, and after leaving 
 school, worked on a farm and finally 
 operated the homestead farm and also 
 operated the Colebrookdale grist mill, now 
 called Boyertown Roller mills. Mr. Henry. 
 H. Gable, of this notice, owns individually, 
 three valuable farms in York and James 
 counties, Virginia. He is a member of 
 the Mennonite church. On the 25th 
 of September, 1835, Mr. Gable mar- 
 ried Fredericka Kurtz, a daughter of 
 Mathias Kurtz, which union has been 
 blessed with six children: Angelina Gilbert, 
 Emma, Sarah, wife of Charles K. Himmel- 
 wright, who is manager of his father-in- 
 law's Virginia farms ; Amanda (dead), El- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 257 
 
 tnira Baldwin and Barbara Fitzsimmons. 
 Mr. Gable comes from a sturdy German 
 ancestry, the emigrant ancestor was the 
 great-grandfather of the subject of this 
 sketch, who sailed for this country from 
 Alsace, Germany, about 1736, with a wife 
 and family. Tradition reveals little au- 
 thentic of the fate of this American pro- 
 genitor, but it is thought that he either 
 died on the passage or shortly after landing 
 at Philadelphia. The family, however, 
 located in west Jersey for a time and thence 
 came to Hereford township, Berks county, 
 Pa , where the widow, with a family of 
 two small children, had found a situation 
 as housekeeper with a Mr. Latshaw, whom 
 she afterwards married, and by whom she 
 had six children. Henry Gable, grandfather, 
 at two years of age, came with his parents to 
 this country and remained with his mother 
 and contributed, as he grew older, what he 
 could to the support of the family. While 
 a boy he learned the carpenter trade which 
 he followed for several years. He after- 
 wards purchased a farm containing six hun- 
 dred acres, now constituted in four farms in 
 Colebrookdale township, that county, upon 
 which he operated a grist mill and saw 
 mill, and became possessed of considerable 
 means for that day. He was a Whig and 
 a member of the Mennonite church. He 
 married and had six children, all of whom 
 are deceased. Their names were as follows: 
 Jacob (father), John, Hannah Sehantz, Mrs. 
 Bechtel and Mrs. Brower. Grandfather 
 Gable died in 1828, at ninety-three years of 
 age. The father, Jacob Gable, was born in 
 Colebrookdale township, Berks county, Pa. 
 He owned and operated the homestead farm 
 and was a member of the Mennonite church 
 and a Whig in political affiliations. He 
 had eleven children as follows: Elizabeth 
 Gable, Magdalina Ehst, Henry, John, Susan 
 
 ■7 
 
 Landis, Catharine (deceased), Mary Gable, 
 Hannah Hauck, Jacob (our subject), Bar- 
 bara and Leah, the last two of whom were 
 twins, but Leah died when quite young and 
 Barbara lived to be 69 years old. His father 
 died September 29, 1823, at fifty years of 
 age. The mother of our subject died May 
 24, 1886, at the very remarkable age of one 
 hundred and one years, five months and 
 five days. 
 
 SAMUEL R. FISHER, a successful and 
 well known photographer of Norris- 
 town, is a son of Jacob and Ann (Ritter) 
 Fisher. He was born at Bull's Corner, 
 Chester county, Pennsylvania, February 9, 
 1834. After a short preparation in the 
 public schools, he entered a select school in 
 Norristown, conducted by the Rev. Samuel 
 Aaron. When he reached his majority, he 
 left school and turned his attention to pho- 
 tography, which art he studied under the 
 direction of Thomas Taylor, of West Ches- 
 ter, Pennsylvania. In 1863 he removed to 
 Norristown, where he opened up a photo- 
 graph gallery, which he has conducted for 
 more than fifteen years. He has made a 
 specialty of landscape photography and in 
 this line of photographic art has reached a 
 very creditable degree of proficiency. 
 
 Having been inspired with a desire to 
 travel, and become acquainted with the 
 countries and civilizations of the old world, 
 in company with A. W. Geiger, G. W. 
 March and Isaac Landis, of Norristown, he 
 made an extended tour through Europe and 
 part of the continents of Asia and Africa. 
 The central point of the pilgrimage was the 
 land of Palestine and the Upper Nile coun- 
 try, returning by way of Germany, Italy and 
 France. The period of travel extended 
 over the whole of one summer, and during 
 
258 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 the journey Mr. Fisher, with the aid of his 
 camera, made valuable views of the ancient 
 and historic points of interest in the cities 
 and countries which he visited. These 
 views are to be utilized in a series of descrip- 
 tive lectures now in preparation by Mr. 
 Fisher, and relating to the ruins, archi- 
 tecture, customs, manners, archaeology and 
 general characteristics of eastern civiliza- 
 tion. The most prominent title in this 
 series of lectures will be the " Holy Land as 
 it is To-day." 
 
 Aside from literary and illustrative work 
 Mr. Fisher takes a prominent part in church 
 affairs. He is a member of the Trinity 
 Lutheran church of Norristown, in which 
 he has been an elder for eight years. He 
 has been connected in an official capacitv 
 with the above named denomination for a 
 period of fifteen years and is at present as- 
 sistant librarian of the Sunday school and 
 financial secretary of the Lutheran Union. 
 In his fraternal relations he is a member of 
 the Brotherhood of the Union ; Knights of 
 the Mystic Chain, No. 44 ; Knights of 
 Pythias ; and the Knights of Malta. Po- 
 litically, he is a Democrat. 
 
 During the closing years of the late Civil 
 war, Mr. Fisher served in the Emergency 
 corps as a member of Company F., 9th regi- 
 ment, Pennsylvania militia, stationed at 
 Hagerstown, Maryland. 
 
 On March 16, 1866, the subject of this 
 sketch was united in marriage to Sarah A. 
 Neiman, a daughter of John Neiman, a 
 farmer residing near Norristown. Mrs. 
 Fisher died in April, 1890, at the age of 
 sixty-one years. 
 
 The Fisher family is of German extrac- 
 tion, the grandfather of our subject having 
 emigrated from Germany and located in 
 Philadelphia about the year 1800. He was 
 engaged in the manufacture of brick, in 
 
 which business he continued until the time 
 of his death. He was a member of the 
 Lutheran church and married Margaret 
 Wellinger, by whom he had seven children: 
 Benjamin, Jacob, Margaret, intermarried 
 with Lawrence Ramey, Hannah, Mary, 
 Catharine and Elizabeth, intermarried with 
 James Cooper. The elder Mrs. Fisher died 
 at the age of fifty-four years, and her hus- 
 band was afterwards united in marriage with 
 Man- Casho. To this second union were 
 born three children : Susan, wife of Henry 
 Clymer ; Jane, and Priscilla, inter-married 
 with Lindsay Coats. 
 
 Jacob Fisher (father) was born in the 
 Quaker city on May 1, 1807, and when he 
 arrived at the period of manhood, removed 
 to the southern part of Lancaster countv. 
 Here he was apprenticed with the view of 
 learning the blacksmith trade in connection 
 with which he learned the business of manu- 
 facturing edged tools. Some years subse- 
 quent he came to Norristown, where he re- 
 sided until the time of his death on January 
 28, 1877. His marriage to Ann Ritter, a 
 daughter of Samuel Ritter, resulted in a 
 family of three children: Samuel, Hannah, 
 deceased ; and Susan. Mrs. Fisher died at 
 the advanced age of eighty-five years. In 
 his political proclivities, Jacob Fisher was a 
 Democrat, and fraternally he was a mem- 
 ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows 
 at Norristown. 
 
 DR. RICHARD V. MATTISON, presi- 
 dent of the large chemical manufac- 
 turing concern, the Keasbey and Mattison 
 Company, of Ambler, is a son of Joseph J. 
 and Mahala(Van Selous) Mattison, and was 
 born in Solebury township, Bucks county, 
 Pennsylvania, November 17, 1852. Joseph 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 259 
 
 J. Mattison was of feudal Scotch descent, 
 and followed farming as an occupation. 
 He was a Friend and a Republican, and 
 married Mahala Van Selous, by whom he 
 he had two children : Asher G. and Rich- 
 ard V. Mr. Mattison was active and 
 industrious, and lived to be eighty-one 
 years of age, dying April 9, 1893. 
 
 Richard V. Mattison was reared in his 
 native township, where he attended the 
 public schools until he was seventeen years 
 of age, and then entered the drug business 
 with John Wyeth and Brother, of Phila- 
 delphia. While employed by that firm he 
 attended the Philadelphia College of 
 Pharmacy, from which he was graduated 
 in 1S73, and in that year founded the firm 
 Keasbey and Mattison, for the manufacture 
 of chemical specialties. They commenced 
 business on a small scale at the corner of 
 Juniper and Arch streets, and continued 
 there for a year, during which time they 
 had but one employee. The next year 
 they removed to Filbert above Twelfth 
 street, where they remained for two years, 
 and then found their enlarged plant and 
 increased force of employees not sufficient 
 to meet the demands for their products. 
 To remedy this they again removed, this 
 time to Front street, where more suitable 
 quarters and additional facilities were 
 found. With each year their trade in- 
 creased, and in 1879 they established a 
 branch establishment at Ambler. Four 
 years later they removed their entire works 
 to Ambler, retaining their main office in 
 Philadelphia, which they placed at Fifth 
 and Market streets, where it remained 
 until 1886. In that year the main office 
 was transferred to Ambler and their entire 
 business in all of its branches has been con- 
 ducted there ever since. The company 
 was incorporated November 29, 1892, under 
 
 the style and title of Keasbey and Mattison 
 company. Pure water was one inducement 
 that caused the company to locate at 
 Ambler. The company has its large plant 
 at the junction of Wissahickon avenue and 
 Maple street, which is operated by several 
 steam boilers of 1500 horse power capacity, 
 and affords regular employment for a force 
 of two hundred and fifty hands. The pro- 
 ducts of the works, including carbonate of 
 Magnesia and many other specialities of 
 different manufacture, are of such purity 
 that they are in demand in all the leading 
 cities of the country. The company have 
 erected a splendid business block on Butler 
 avenue, and have made Ambler what it is 
 to-day, a place of some size and business 
 prosperity. Dr. Mattison is president of 
 the company, and under his skillful and 
 judicious management the business has 
 grown from a very humble and limited 
 beginning to its present large proportions 
 and remarkable prosperity. Under his 
 management also, the Ambler Spring 
 Water company has erected water-works 
 and the Electric Light company an elec- 
 tric light, heat and moter plant for the use 
 of the works and the benefit of the borough. 
 He is president of the Ambler Spring 
 W T ater, Ambler Electric Light, and the 
 Real Estate Improvement, National Lathe 
 and Tool, and other companies, and in ad- 
 dition to supervising these industrial 
 enterprises in connection with the manage- 
 ment of his great chemical works, he has 
 been president and one of the directors of 
 the Philadelphia Drug Exchange, director 
 of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, 
 and also president of its Alumni associa- 
 tion. In order to fully qualify himself in 
 his line of business, Dr. Mattison entered 
 the medical department of the University 
 of Philadelphia, and was graduated from it 
 
26o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 in 1879, with the degree of M. D. Active, 
 energetic, and progressive in business, he 
 has always taken an interest in the local 
 affairs of his borough, as well as in his large 
 manufacturing industry. He is a thorough 
 American and an active Republican, but 
 has always refused to accept any office. 
 Dr. Mattison has won success in business 
 life by his energy, prudence, and good 
 judgment, and has an enviable standing 
 in the community in which he lives. He 
 is a member of Apollo Lodge No. 386, 
 (Philadelphia) Free and Accepted Masons, 
 the Manufacturers' Club, and kindred or- 
 ganizations of Philadelphia. 
 
 On November 4, 1873, ^ r - Mattison 
 wedded Esther Dafter, daughter of James 
 Dafter, of Cranberry, N. J. Their union 
 has been blessed with three children : 
 Richard V. jr., Royal, and Esther Y., the 
 latter having died of typhoid fever at the 
 early age of four years. 
 
 /WlAHLON 
 i V 1 leading 
 
 PRESTON, M. D., the 
 homoeopathic physician of 
 Norristown and Montgomery county, is a 
 son of Isaac C. and Mary (Price) Preston, and 
 was born at Cain, Chester county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, January 22, 1839. His paternal 
 grandfather, Mahlon Preston, was a native 
 of London, Grove township, Chester 
 county, where he followed farming for an 
 occupation. He was a Friend or Quaker, 
 and supported the Whig party in all of its 
 principal measures except its course on the 
 slavery question. He was a pronounced 
 and active anti-slavery man, and did much 
 as an agent of the Underground Railroad 
 to assist fugitive slaves in their northward 
 journey across Chester county. He wedded 
 Amy Coates, who passed away in 1853, at 
 
 the age of sixty-eight years, three months 
 and twenty-nine days. Their children 
 were as follows : Isaac C, Zillah, William, 
 Hannah, Barclay, Coates, Israel, Beulah, 
 Seymour. 
 
 Isaac C. Preston, the father of Dr. Preston, 
 was born October 15, 1807, in West Grove, 
 (the west end of London Grove) and re- 
 ceived a good common English education, 
 after which he engaged in the general 
 mercantile business at Cain, in his native 
 county, where he handled large quantities 
 of grain which he shipped on his own 
 cars by railroad to Philadelphia. He was 
 one of the leading business men of Chester 
 county. He was a Henry Clay Whig, and 
 a member of the Society of Friends, and 
 served as postmaster at Cain for several 
 years before his death, which occurred 
 November 28, 1S50. He married Man- 
 Price on February 9, 1837, and to their 
 union were born three children, two sons 
 and one daughter : Elizabeth, who died in 
 infancy ; Dr. Mahlon, whose name appears 
 at the head of this sketch; and Ei. Fred- 
 erick, a practicing physician of Chester, 
 Pennsylvania. Mrs. Preston is a daughter 
 of Issachar Price, and resides at Blooming- 
 ton, Illinois, being now in the seventy- 
 eighth year of her age. 
 
 Dr. Mahlon Preston received his educa- 
 tion at the boarding school of the celebrated 
 Jonathan Gauze, near West Chester, 
 Chester county. Leaving school he com- 
 menced the study of medicine, and after a 
 preparatory course of reading, entered the 
 Homoeopathic Medical college, of Philadel- 
 phia, from which he was graduated in the 
 class of 1861. In the same year that he 
 was graduated he came to Norristown, 
 where he has continued ever since in the 
 J practice of his profession. He has a large 
 I and lucrative practice, ranks with the lead- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 261 
 
 ing homoeopathic physicians of the State, 
 and is an able writer on medical subjects, 
 being a frequent contributor to various 
 progressive medical journals. He is a 
 member of the Delaware, Chester and 
 Montgomery County Medical Council, and 
 the American Institute of Homoeopathy. 
 
 On October 11, 1867, Dr. Preston mar- 
 ried Mary Krause, a daughter of Hon. 
 David Krause, then president judge of the 
 judicial district composed of the counties of 
 Montgomery and Bucks. Dr. and Mrs. 
 Preston have three children : Frederick 
 H., {Catherine and Emily. 
 
 The name of Preston is one of the old 
 and honorable names of Chester county, 
 and the family is contemporary with that 
 of the Coates family, whose early American 
 members founded Coatesville, Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 S POWELL CHILDS is a descendant in 
 • the sixth generation of Henry Child, 
 who resided in Coldshill, in the parish of 
 Rindersham, Hertford county, England. 
 The family were of the Society of Friends. 
 He was eminent as a writer and speaker 
 among them, and was on close and intimate 
 terms with William Penn. He had several 
 children. From William Penn, Henry 
 Child made a purchase of five hundred 
 acres of land, for which he paid ten pounds 
 sterling, on the 20th of January, 1687. 
 Henry Child accompanied his young son, 
 Cephas, to America in 1693. The purchased 
 land was then located in Plumstead, Bucks 
 county, Pa., and the son was placed with a 
 family in Philadelphia, where he learned 
 the carpenter trade. The father, after re- 
 turning from England, came back and 
 finally settled in Ann Arundel count}-, 
 Maryland. In 1715 Henry Child gave the 
 
 above mentioned land to his son Cephas, 
 who, having in 17 16 married Mary Atkin- 
 son, of Philadelphia, settled on the land 
 in Bucks county. The}- had nine children, 
 the sixth of whom, named Henry, was born 
 on the homestead in Bucks count}-, January 
 1, 1725. He married Mary Shoemaker, of 
 Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, August 3, 1750. 
 Their children were : Sarah, John, Isaac, 
 George and Thomas. Of these, John, the 
 grandfather of S. Powell, was born April 3, 
 1755, in Plumstead, Bucks county, from 
 which place his father removed with his 
 family, in 1776, to Cheltenham, Montgom- 
 ery county. John was married June 5, 
 1777, to Mar}-, daughter of Peter Phipps, of 
 Abingtou. The}- had twelve children, eight 
 of whom lived to be men and women, and 
 were named Mary, Peter, Sarah, James, 
 Tacy, Elizabeth, John and Margaret. Of 
 these, Peter, the father of the subject of 
 this sketch, was born in 1780, in Chelten- 
 ham township, Montgomery county, Pa. 
 He married Sarah Rogers, by whom he 
 had several children, only two of whom, 
 James and Sarah, survived infancy and 
 youth, and are still living at the age re- 
 spectively of eighty-four and seventy-eight 
 years. Sarah married Charles Shoemaker, 
 of Whitpain township, in 1840. He is now 
 deceased. The second wife of Peter Childs 
 was Rosanna Lee, daughter of James and 
 Elizabeth Lee, nee Krickbaum, of Lower 
 Meriou. 
 
 Their only child, S. Powell Childs, the 
 subject of this sketch, was born June 7, 
 1832, in Plymouth township, Montgomery 
 county, Pa., on the farm upon which he 
 now lives, and which has been his residence 
 from the time of his birth. This farm was 
 then owned by Samuel Powell, his mother's 
 uncle. It was then rented and occupied by 
 Peter Childs, who afterwards purchased it. 
 
262 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Samuel Powell, the uncle, who was a wid- 
 ower without children, lived with the 
 Childs family, being cared for by his niece 
 until his death, in April, 1844. The boy, 
 S. Powell, was named in honor of this uncle, 
 and when old enough became his almost 
 constant companion. The uncle remem- 
 bered his young namesake in his will with 
 a handsome legacy. S. Powell Childs at- 
 tended school steadily from his sixth until 
 his eleventh year, after which, until his 
 fifteenth year, he worked on the farm in sum- 
 mer and went to school in winter, after 
 which a term at the private academy of 
 Samuel Aaron, at Norristown, closed his 
 school education. At this time he was an 
 active reader, and his thirst for knowledge 
 was supplied by books from the Whitpain 
 library and other sources. 
 
 His father having died in 1844, the time 
 and effort of the son was now needed to as- 
 sist his mother in the management of the 
 farm and in marketing the products in 
 Philadelphia. Upon attaining his majority 
 in 1853, he bought of his father's estate the 
 homestead farm, containing sixty acres, to 
 which a few years later twenty-five acres 
 were added. This farm has been greatly 
 improved by the erection of new and com- 
 modious buildings, and by a skillful sys- 
 tem of husbandry. His mother continued 
 to live here with her son and his family 
 until her death, February 20, 1888, aged 
 ninety-two years. Mr. Childs was on Feb- 
 ruary 9, 1854, married to Mary A., daughter 
 of William and Sarah Schlater, of Ply- 
 mouth township, who died January 21, 1855. 
 On February 24, 1859, he was married to 
 Malinda, daughter of George and Margaret 
 Freas, of Plymouth township, who was 
 born September 17, 1837. The children of 
 S. Powell and Malinda Childs are : Horace 
 G., born June 7, i860, and who was killed 
 
 by lightning June 6, 1883 ; Mary, born June 
 13, 1862 ; Sherman, born August 1, 1864, 
 died August 7, 1866; Sallie S., born Septem- 
 ber 20, 1868; George F., born August 6, 1870; 
 Ella F., born June 17, 1872, and died No- 
 vember 19, 1880; and Lizzie H, born 
 January 27, 1875. The living children re- 
 main with their parents. Sallie S. is an ac- 
 complished and successful teacher in a pub- 
 lic school of this district. Mr. Childs' 
 father, and all his father's ancestors, male 
 and female, for five generations, were mem- 
 bers of the Society of Friends. His mother, 
 not being a Friend, he failed to be a mem- 
 ber by birthright, but he was reared under 
 the influence of the Quaker faith, and for 
 the most part believes in it. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Childs is a Republican. 
 He was one of the local founders of that 
 party and an active and influential member, 
 but he has never desired or sought office. 
 He held for a term the office of assisant in- 
 ternal revenue assessor. In 1876 he was 
 tendered and accepted the nomination for 
 the office of State senator, when, although 
 he received more than his party's vote, that 
 party being in the minority, he was not 
 elected. He has taken great interest in 
 educational matters, and has endeavored to 
 improve the public schools. He was elected 
 a director in 1856, and during the greater 
 part of the time since then, has been a 
 member of the board. He has been the 
 secretary thereof almost continuously since 
 1873. His nomination for director has al- 
 ways been made by the party in the minority 
 and yet his election has generally been by a 
 large majority. He early advocated a town- 
 ship high school, and five years ago had the 
 satisfaction of helping to organize one. The 
 school has fully justified his expecta- 
 tions. 
 
 His skill as a farmer and his devotion to 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 263 
 
 his profession as such, has frequently been 
 recognized. He has for a long time been 
 reporter of statistics for the State Hoard of 
 Agriculture of Pennsylvania, and chief re- 
 porter in Montgomery county of the same 
 for the United States Department of Agri- 
 culture. He was a member and for some 
 years a manager and vice president of the 
 Montgomery County Agricultural society, 
 and he actively assisted in organizing Cold 
 Point Grange No. 606, Patrons of Hus- 
 bandry, October, 1875, and was elected its 
 first master, a position to which he was re- 
 elected many times. During this time No. 
 606 became the banner Grange of the 
 State. He is at present treasurer of this 
 Grange. 
 
 He has also held for several terms the po- 
 sition of master of the Montgomery County 
 Pomona Grange, and is at this time the 
 treasurer thereof. In the Pennsylvania State 
 Grange, of which he is a member, he has 
 held the position of member of the execu- 
 tive committee, a position of great trust and 
 responsibility. 
 
 Mr. Childs has always taken an active 
 part in matters of local interest, progress 
 and improvement, and several years ago, 
 while in the board of managers of the 
 Montgomery County Mutual Fire Insurance 
 company, he aided largely in having that 
 staunch company extend the principles of 
 insurance to damage done by storm, as well 
 as that done by fire. He contributed liber- 
 ally of his time and money to aid the estab- 
 lishing of the corporation and the factory 
 known as the Plymouth Valley Creamery 
 company. He has for many years been an 
 advocate of good roads, and he now enjoys 
 the satisfaction of seeing the principal high- 
 ways of Plymouth township macadamized, 
 and also the electric trolley cars of two 
 companies running on the principal roads 
 
 of said township, giving facilities at inter- 
 val! of a few minutes to reach Norristown, 
 Philadelphia and other places, and practi- 
 cally annihilating time and distance. 
 
 WILLIAM R. PECHIN, of Norristown, 
 is a member of a family noted for 
 longevity and the piety and faithfulness in 
 religion for its members. He is a son of Wil- 
 liam and Elizabeth Pechin, and was born in 
 Philadelphia, November 25, 1825. The 
 Pechins are descendants of the early French 
 Huguenots, many of whom were pioneers 
 in the Mississippi valley. John Pechin, pa- 
 ternal grandfather, was a native of Phila- 
 delphia, where he was a carpenter for some 
 years, and then retired from active business 
 life at an early age. He was a Whig, and 
 served one term as tax collector in his na- 
 tive city, and was a member of St. Paul's 
 Episcopal church, in the welfare of which 
 he was greatly interested. He married Ann 
 Wallace, to whom were born seven chil- 
 dren : William, Thomas W., who died quite 
 young ; John C, now deceased, who resided 
 in Philadelphia and devoted much of his 
 time to the interests of the church of which 
 he was a member, and of whose Sabbath- 
 school he served as superintendent for 
 twenty years ; Mary, Ann, Robert W., who 
 died at the advanced age of seventy-three 
 years ; and Elmira, who lived to be eighty- 
 three years of age. Mr. Pechin passed 
 away November 1, i860, after arriving at 
 the age of ninety-two years. 
 
 William Pechin was born and reared in 
 the same city as his father, where he be- 
 came engaged in the tanning business. On 
 Schuylkill Front and Cherry streets, he 
 opened a tannery and carried on an exten- 
 sive business. In his day he stood in the 
 
264 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 I 
 
 front rank of business men, and did much 
 to shape the different industries of his im- 
 mediate neighborhood in the Quaker city. 
 He also owned a fine farm in Chester county. 
 In politics, Mr. Pechin was at first a 
 Democrat, but afterwards became a Repub- 
 lican. He was a member of the Episcopal 
 church. He married Eliza Adams, and 
 this union was blessed with one child : John 
 A., who is a resident of Exton, Chester 
 county, Pa., his mother dying while he was 
 very young. He afterwards married Eliza 
 Bewley, and they had six children : Wil- 
 liam R., Robert W , who resides in Chester 
 county ; Edward T., who died in 1866 ; 
 George J., a resident of Philadelphia , 
 Charles, who died in 1878 ; and Anna C. 
 Laird, who died in 1866. Mr. Pechin died 
 in 1877, at the age of eighty-two years, and 
 Mrs. Pechin passed away in 1841, when in 
 the forty-fifth year of her age. 
 
 William R. Pechin received his education 
 in the common schools, and was engaged in 
 the tanning business with his father until 
 he became twenty-three years of age. At 
 that time he opened up a tannery at Straf- 
 ford, Chester county, where he remained 
 five years. In 1857 he removed to King of 
 Prussia, Montgomery county, where he 
 purchased a farm of seventy-two acres, 
 and upon which was located a tannery. 
 There he resided for twenty-seven years, and 
 then, in 1883, removed to Norristown, where 
 he now lives a retired life. For seven years 
 he served as vice president of the Norris- 
 town Passenger Railway company, on 
 which railway they first ran horse cars ; 
 it has since been changed to a trolley line. 
 He was one of the chief promoters of the 
 enterprise. He is a Republican, and a 
 member of the Junior Artillerists of Phila- 
 delphia, and took part in suppressing the 
 riots in Philadelphia in 1844. 
 
 On March 1, 1849, Mr. Pechin married 
 Sidney M. Walton, a daughter of Isaac 
 Walton, a farmer and saddler of Horseham 
 township. The Walton family are of Eng- 
 lish descent, and trace their trans-Atlantic 
 ancestry back to four brothers, who came to 
 America before the arrival of Penn. They 
 afterwards located in Philadelphia and 
 Bucks county. The Waltons are of Quaker 
 belief and are pious and peaceable citizens. 
 Jesse W. Walton, paternal grandfather, was 
 a resident of Bucks county, where he owned 
 a fine farm and was engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits. He had but one brother, Joshua, 
 also a farmer, who had two children. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Pechin are the parents of 
 seven children : Anna Eliza, who married 
 Nathan Anderson, and resides at King of 
 Prussia, Montgomery county ; John W., of 
 Philadelphia, who is a manufacturer of 
 leather belting and factory supplies, and 
 who married Anna, daughter of George and 
 Matilda McDowell, of Paoli, Chester count)' ; 
 Mary L., who married Charles H. Murray, 
 and resides at King of Prussia ; Edward T., 
 a resident of Philadelphia, who married 
 Matilda, a daughter of George and Matilda 
 McDowell ; Margaret W., who married W. 
 K. St. Clair, of Parksburg, Chester county ; 
 Jesse W., a druggist, at Thirteenth and Co- 
 lumbia Avenue, Philadelphia ; and Mason 
 Jones Pechin, who is a commercial traveler. 
 
 ' HESTON TODD, a prominent citizen 
 1 • and business man of Port Kennedy, is 
 a son of John and Martha (Heston) Todd, 
 and was born at Chester Valley, Chester 
 county, Pennsylvania, in 1839. His pater- 
 nal grandfather, David Todd, was a native 
 and life-long resident of Chester Valley, 
 where he was a man of considerable means 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 265 
 
 and owned a large tract of land. He was a 
 Democrat and Presbyterian, and a man of 
 prominence and influence in the community 
 where he lived. His son, John Todd, was 
 born in 1809, and resided on the home farm 
 until 1885, when he removed to West Ches- 
 ter, the county seat of Chester county, where 
 he died in 1893. Like his father before him, 
 he was a Democrat and Presbyterian, and 
 always took an active interest in local 
 affairs. John Todd wedded Martha Heston, 
 a daughter of Isaiah Heston, of Chester 
 county, Pa., whose father, Isaiah Heston, 
 was a Revolutionary soldier, who was 
 wounded at the battle of Monmouth, and 
 remained a cripple until his death. Mrs. 
 Martha Heston Todd was born in Chester 
 count}-, Pa., in 1810, and is still living. 
 They reared a family of six children : David, 
 I. Heston, Gilbert H., Margaret, Mary and 
 Charlotte. Mary, the fifth in order of age 
 of these children, married Joseph Menkin. 
 I. Heston Todd was reared in Chester 
 Valley, in his native county, received his 
 edcation in the common schools and Tre- 
 mont seminary, and was engaged in farm- 
 ing with his father until after he was of 
 age. He then went into the banking busi- 
 ness at Downington, Chester count}-, and 
 two years later went to Philadelphia, where 
 he accepted a position in the Fourth Na- 
 tional bank, which he afterwards resigned 
 to engage in the retail coal trade, in which 
 he remained until 1873. In that year he 
 came to Port Kennedy and engaged in his 
 present lime and limestone business. His 
 quarries are located on the old Valley Forge 
 camp grounds, one mile from Port Kennedy, 
 and besides selling limestone, he also ope- 
 rates lime-kilns, the product of which he 
 disposes of in the surrounding cities. He 
 is also interested in a large wood pulp mill 
 at Buena Vista, Virginia, and has been a 
 
 stockholder for several years in the Iron 
 National bank of Pottstown. Mr. Todd 
 has been identified for over twenty years 
 with the movement to establish a National 
 Park at Valley Forge, being a member of 
 every committee appointed towards securing 
 that commendable object. He was ap- 
 pointed Valley Forge Park Commissioner 
 by Governor Pattison, and removed by 
 Governor Hastings for political reasons. 
 He is a strong Democrat, and served as a 
 delegate from the Seventh Congressional 
 District to the Democratic National Con- 
 vention, at Chicago, in 1892, that nominated 
 Grover Cleveland for President of the 
 United States. He is a member of Thomp- 
 son Lodge No. 340, Free and Accepted Ma- 
 sons, of Green Tree, Chester county, Pa. 
 
 On February 21, 1865, Mr. Todd married 
 Jennie A. Robb, who was a daughter of 
 Archimedes Robb, of Chester Valley, Ches- 
 ter county. She died in 1880, and left four 
 children : Charles M., Helen W., John 
 Robb and Joseph Heston. Five years after 
 the death of his first wife, Mr. Todd, on Oc- 
 tober 6, 1885, was united in marriage with 
 Anna Pawling, a daughter of Dr. Henry 
 DeWitt Pawling, and a granddaughter of 
 Hon. Levi Pawling, who was a distin- 
 guished lawyer, and served as a member of 
 Congress. 
 
 WILLIAM BROMER, a wide-awake 
 business man, and the proprietor of 
 the Bromer tailoring manufacturing estab- 
 lishment at Schwenksville, is a son of 
 Albert and Catharine (Shepherd) Bromer, 
 and was born at Schwenksville, Montgom- 
 ery county, Pen nsylvania, November 6, 1864. 
 He attended the public schools until he 
 was fifteen years of age, and then took a 
 full six months course at Brvant and Strat- 
 
266 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ton's Business College, of Philadelphia. 
 Returning from there he worked in various 
 departments of his father's tailoring manu- 
 facturing establishment until 1889, when 
 he succeeded to the proprietorship of the 
 entire business. Mr. Bromer employs 
 seven hundred hands, and has a regular 
 output of eight thousand garments per 
 week, which are delivered to the leading 
 wholesale clothing houses of Philadelphia, 
 while during the busy trade season of the 
 year he manufactures about ten thousand 
 garments per week. His establishment is 
 a three-story structure containing two ware 
 and packing rooms thirty-five by sixty feet, 
 a button-hole factory thirty by forty, and 
 two finishing and shipping rooms twelve 
 by sixteen feet. Mr. Bromer is a Repub- 
 lican and a member of the Reformed 
 church, in which he has served for some 
 time as a trustee. 
 
 On October 16, 1888, William Bromer 
 married Katie Mary Willard, a daughter of 
 Peter Willard, of Trappe. Their union has 
 been blessed with two children, a son and a 
 daughter : Ruth, aged four years. The son 
 died an infant. 
 
 The Bromer family is one of the old and 
 respectable families of the city of Kehl, in 
 the grand duchy of Baden, Germany. Fred- 
 erick Bromer, of that city, owned an exten- 
 sive bakery and wine cafe, which was 
 destroyed three times in as many different 
 wars, when Kehl was subjected to bom- 
 bardment. These losses reduced him 
 from affluent circumstances to a state of 
 limited means at the time of his death. 
 He reared a family of two sons and one 
 daughter. The eldest son served as a sol- 
 dier under Napoleon Bonaparte, and was 
 killed during the invasion of Russia. The 
 younger son, Jacob Bromer, learned the 
 trade of tailor and became a merchant tailor 
 
 in Kehl. He came to Philadelphia in 1869, 
 but not finding the facilities for business 
 that he was led to believe existed there, he 
 returned to his native city, where he died a 
 few years later. He married and had eight 
 children: Sophia, widow of Richard Krug, 
 of Philadelphia, now living at Sehweuks- 
 ville ; Jacob, a soldier in the German army, 
 who took part in the revolution of 1848, in 
 Germany, and came to Philadelphia, where 
 he followed merchant tailoring until his 
 death in 1854; Frederick and Minnie, both 
 died in early life ; Louise, wife of Chris- 
 tian Mayer, of this county ; and Albert, 
 father of our subject. 
 
 Albert Bromer was born September 2, 
 1837, received a fair education and at fifteen 
 years of age came to Philadelphia, where he 
 learned the trade of tailor with his brother 
 Jacob. After the death of the latter in 1854, 
 he became a journeyman tailor and worked 
 for ten years in various places. At the end 
 of that time, in 1864, he came to Schwenks- 
 ville and started a small merchant tailoring 
 manufacturing establishment and disposed 
 of his products to the leading clothing 
 houses of Philadelphia. From thence for- 
 ward his business career was one of abun- 
 dant success until he disposed of his estab- 
 lishment to his son William, on January 1, 
 1889. Since then Mr. Bromer has not been 
 engaged in active business. He is a Re- 
 publican and a member of the Reformed 
 church, and on April 9, i860, wedded Catha- 
 rine Shepherd, a daughter of William Shep- 
 herd, of Philadelphia. They have eleven 
 children living: Elizabeth, wife of Irwin 
 Schwenk, teller of the First National bank; 
 Susan, married Samuel Weller, a salesman 
 of Philadelphia ; Rev. Albert, a graduate of 
 Yale college, and pastor of Grace Reformed 
 church, of Philadelphia ; William, whose 
 name heads this sketch ; Rev. Edward, a 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 267 
 
 graduate of Yale college, and pastor of the 
 Orwigsburg Reformed church, in Schuylkill 
 county ; Frank, now in his senior year at 
 Lehigh college ; Jacob, engaged in business 
 with his brother William ; Katie, a graduate 
 of the Philadelphia High school ; Minnie, a 
 student at Ursinus college ; and Courtney 
 and Ralph, who are at home with their 
 parents. 
 
 HON. JOHN WOOD, ex-member of Con- 
 gress and the oldest active business 
 man in Conshohocken, if not in Mont- 
 gomery count}', has for many years enjoyed 
 the distinction of being one of the most 
 prominent and important figures in the 
 business and political circles of his native 
 county. Four score years of activity in the 
 business world have failed to dim a fertile 
 mind, that is still capable of good counsel 
 in the workings of a big corporation, nor 
 have they destroyed the activity of body 
 that would compel him to retire and in the 
 sunset of a brilliant career step aside and 
 live again in the past. In everything the 
 word implies, John Wood is a remarkable 
 man. From earl}- youth he took kindly to 
 mechanical pursuits, and with a brain filled 
 with inventive genius, he scored successes 
 that were important to home and foreign 
 manufacture. Though never aspiring after 
 office, he did take up politics when he 
 thought he could serve his country, and 
 when he did enter that field he took with 
 him the same courage, the same clear 
 thought, and the same shrewd way of going 
 in for success that made him victorious in 
 the commercial sphere. His wonderful 
 political success and his careful, conserva- 
 tive and timely action in congress at a 
 period when the social centre of the country 
 was being shaken with the distant rum- 
 
 blings that foretold of National disruption, 
 won for him a distinguished name among 
 his colleagues, and when full}' understood, 
 brought to him the hearty commendation 
 of his constituents, who, if permitted, 
 would have testified their confidence by a 
 re-election, that would have been practi- 
 cally unanimous. Such a man is John 
 Wood, the subject of this sketch. 
 
 The sound and peaceful policy of William 
 Penn has given to the people of Pennsylva- 
 nia what no other State can boast — a true, 
 honest title to their land. No man, honest 
 in himself, need fear the inspection of the 
 title papers of the land he owns in Mont- 
 gomery county, for it was secured from the 
 original owners in a legitimate business 
 transaction. Having secured this property, 
 first by grant from England, that did not 
 own it, and later from the native and right- 
 ful proprietors, Penn's next object was to 
 have the land settled and made use of for 
 farming and other purposes. To this end 
 numerous colonizing expeditions were fitted 
 out in England, and with one of these, in 
 1690 or 1700, James Wood, a single man of 
 means, and a member of the Society of 
 Friends, cast his lot and came to Pennsyl- 
 vania. Arriving here, he turned his face 
 toward Montgomery county, and settled 
 and purchased a very large tract of land in 
 Plymouth township, and settled down for 
 life at what is now known as Blue Bell. 
 This property remained in the family up to 
 1832, though it had been divided among 
 the children. He lived on this big farm 
 until he died, and his remains were laid to 
 rest in the Friends burying ground at Ply- 
 mouth Meeting. The original ancestry of 
 the emigrant, James Wood, was a mixture 
 of English and Welsh. He was the father 
 of these children : Margaret, Mar} - , Eliza- 
 beth, Catharine, John, Da wees, Catharine 2d. 
 
268 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 John Wood was the grandfather of ex-Con- 
 gressman Wood. He was born at Bine 
 Bell, Plymouth township, at the old home- 
 stead, in 1 747. He was a farmer by occu- 
 pation, tilling the soil of the original Wood 
 farm, and died there in 1832, at the age of 
 eighty-five years. He married Catharine 
 Davis, and their union was blessed by the 
 following children : James, father of the 
 subject of this sketch ; Jane, Samuel, John 
 and David, who became a literary man of 
 considerable note. 
 
 James Wood began life in the humble 
 sphere of a village blacksmith, but he was i 
 a born mechanic, and long before he died 
 was counted among the most celebrated 
 manufacturers in his district. From the 
 anvil and forge in a small village, he soon 
 worked his way to prosperity and promi- 
 nence in the iron industry, and the works 
 he founded still exist as a monument to a 
 self-made man. He secured good schooling 
 in the schools of his day, and then learned 
 the trade of blacksmith. He opened 
 a smithy at "The Gulf." He soon began 
 to manufacture sickles, and later other agri- 
 cultural implements, first opening a factory 
 at Valley Forge, then at Fox Chase, and 
 finally at Conshohocken, where the business 
 grew to large proportions, including the 
 manufacture of shovels, spades, saws, and 
 other implements, and the industry gained 
 a wide reputation. He also founded the 
 Delaware Iron works near Wilmington, and 
 having his sons in partnership with him, 
 conducted both establishments. Later he 
 sold the Delaware works to his son Alan, 
 and confined his entire energy to the Con- 
 shohocken works with his sons, under the 
 firm name of James Wood & Sons. Later 
 his son Alan also disposed of the Delaware 
 plant and came to Conshohocken. Here 
 with his two sons, Alan and Howard, he es- 
 
 tablished a small mill of one pair of rolls. 
 This mill now covers fifteen acres, with a 
 capacity of 20,000 tons a year and employing 
 six hundred hands. James Wood was no 
 seeker after office, and only held one public 
 position, that of school director of Ply- 
 mouth township. He was president of the 
 board from 1S34 to 1839, and during that 
 time when free schools were being intro- 
 duced against bitter opposition, the mem- 
 bers of the board had no easy task to main- 
 tain the stand they took for the new school 
 law. He lived a peaceful, busy, honored 
 life, and died in January, 1851, at the ad- 
 vanced age of eighty-one years. His second 
 wife, Ann, survived him until January, 1882, 
 when she had reached her ninety-second 
 year. Mr. Wood was married twice. His 
 first wife, Mary Thomas, of Plymouth, bore 
 him nine children : James, Alan, Catharine, 
 Mark, Mary, who died in infancy ; Thomas, 
 Man- and Sarah. His second wife was Ann 
 W. Warner, of Philadelphia, and this union 
 was productive of eleven children : Lydia, 
 Charles, John, William W., David L., 
 Thomas C, George F., Anna J., Martha 
 A., Caroline T. and Benedict D. Of these 
 children there are living at the present 
 time: John, Charles, Anna J., Martha and 
 Benedict D. 
 
 Hon. John Wood, the subject of this 
 sketch, was born in Philadelphia, on the 
 6th of September, 1816, and is a son of 
 James and Anne W. (Warner) Wood. He 
 was brought up in the pure and wholesome 
 atmosphere of the Friends Society of that 
 citv, and received his education in their 
 schools on New street. At the age of six- 
 teen years he entered the counting house of 
 his father's large agricultural and tool 
 manufactory in Philadelphia, and remained 
 associated with him in business until his 
 death. In 1832, their business having in- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 269 
 
 creased so greatly, a large factory was 
 opened at Conshohocken, and this estab- 
 lishment had connected with it a mill for 
 the manufacture of sheet and boiler iron, 
 then a new industry in the United States. 
 At this time Mr. Wood had not yet reached 
 his majority, but his training had been su- 
 perior, and he showed such energy and en- 
 terprise, that he not only doubled his 
 father's business, but became associated 
 with Lewis A. Lukens at New Market 
 Forge, Ouitopohill Creek, Lebanon county, 
 where they manufactured blooms to their 
 great profit, but sold out his interest to his 
 partner in 1840. A year later he and his 
 brother, William W., started a rolling mill 
 on Red Clay creek, near Wilmington, Dela- 
 ware, for the manufacture of sheet iron, and 
 remained there four years. In 1844 he sold 
 out this plant to his brother Alan, and came 
 back to Conshohocken and associated him- 
 self with James Wood & Sons, and superin- 
 tended the erection of a new and large mill. 
 Under his direction this mill was quickly 
 completed and the capacity of the works 
 again doubled. This establishment came 
 to be known as one of the most important 
 sheet iron concerns in the country, and in 
 a short time later its reputation became 
 even greater and more wide-spread, for Mr. 
 Wood began to turn his attention to making 
 an imitation of the celebrated and costly 
 " Russia sheet-iron," that was used to cover 
 high-priced heating stoves and other ma- 
 chinery. After much experimenting, he 
 was successful and his mill began turning 
 out an article equal in ever)- way to the im- 
 ported article, and of course at a much more 
 reasonable figure. This patent is known as 
 " Wood's Process," and is the only one that 
 has ever displaced the product from the 
 Czar's dominions. It came to its perfection 
 just at the time of tV Crimean war, and 
 
 the J. Wood & Bros, mills were kept very 
 busy supplying the demand, the Russia iron 
 not being exported during the war. Mr. 
 Wood became senior member of the firm in 
 185 1, when his father died, and he then 
 built steam mills at Conshohocken, which 
 turned out five thousand tons a year. He is 
 a man of wide, practical experience, and 
 was thoroughly competent to cake hold and 
 work with his men in any part of his big 
 establishment. The mills ran on, con- 
 stantly growing in importance and increas- 
 ing in business under the old firm name of 
 J. Wood & Brothers, until 1886, when it 
 was incorporated into a company under the 
 title of the J. Wood Brothers Company, of 
 which Mr. Wood is president, George W. 
 Wood, his son, vice-president and general 
 manager, and William M. Wood, his nephew, 
 treasurer. The mills have a present capa- 
 city of 22,000 tons of sheet and plate iron a 
 a year, and over five hundred hands are em- 
 ployed. 
 
 Mr. Wood has not taken more than ordi- 
 nary interest in party politics, though he 
 was a patriot of the most sincere quality 
 and was known to be for the preservation of 
 the union. In the latter fifties politics 
 reached fever heat. The Democratic party 
 had lost the confidence of the people, and 
 the Republican party, just coming into 
 prominent notice, was not looked upon 
 with that favor, which later on enabled it to 
 sweep the country from end to end. The 
 territory then known as the Fifth Congres- 
 sional District comprised Montgomery coun- 
 ty and several conservative wards in Phila- 
 delphia. In this latter city were many who 
 were afraid of the strong abolition senti- 
 ment and did not want to lose the trade of 
 the South, and they held back from coming 
 out distinctively against slavery. For these 
 reasons a Republican candidate in Congress 
 would not suit them, and they were desirous 
 
2 TO 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of retiring the then Democratic incumbent. 
 Snch was the condition of affairs in 1858, 
 when these people, under the title of " The 
 People's Party," nominated and persuaded 
 John Wood to be their candidate for Con- 
 gress. After deep and earnest reflection, he 
 consented, and that was one of the most ex- 
 citing congressional contests in the annals 
 of our State history. The Democratic can- 
 didate, who was then in office, Hon. Owen 
 Jones, had been elected two years previous 
 by a majority of over two thousand ; this 
 year he was defeated by Mr. Wood by a 
 majority of two thousand five hundred and 
 sixty-four votes, the latter carrying the 
 county by nine hundred and thirty-eight 
 votes. During this campaign Mr. Wood 
 conducted a fight that was upright and 
 honorable in every way, but he was a man 
 of magnetic qualities, and he made and 
 kept friends. 
 
 His course in Congress was in every way 
 in keeping with his personal character and 
 high sense of duty and honor. There was 
 a bitter fight for speaker, and as neither the 
 Republicans or Democrats had enough votes 
 to win, the contest was long, lasting for 
 fifty-eight days. John Sherman, of Ohio, 
 was the candidate of the Republican cau- 
 cus, and the Democrats had taken up Bo- 
 cock, of Virginia. This dead-lock was not 
 broken until Mr. Wood, with Messrs. Morris, 
 Junkin and Scranton, of Pennsylvania, and 
 Nixon, of New Jersey, agreed to vote for 
 Smith, an American party man, from North 
 Carolina. The Democrats, seeing no chance 
 to win, turned against Bocock and would 
 have elected Smith if Mr. Wood and others 
 had not changed their votes at the last mo- 
 ment, having learned of enough to make 
 them fear Smith's sentiments on the tariff. 
 The Republicans then took up Pennington, 
 of New Jersey, a Republican of conserva- 
 tive ideas, and he was elected. Mr. Wood's 
 
 action at this crisis was at first questioned, 
 but its value was appreciated later and he 
 was offered an unanimous re-nomination. 
 This he would not accept, as he had no 
 liking for the wranglings and profitless 
 party fights that then created such a scan- 
 dal in congressional affairs. Mr. Wood had 
 other good reasons for not remaining in 
 politics, as about this time his mills needed 
 his close attention. His successor was W. 
 Morris Davis, also a Republican, who de- 
 feated the Democratic candidate, Harry In- 
 gersoll. 
 
 Mr. Wood has been married twice. In 
 1840 he married Miss Elizabeth K. Wells, 
 the cultured daughter of James Wells, at 
 one time high sheriff of this county. This 
 estimable and highly respected lady died in 
 1864. Two years later, in January, 1866, 
 Mr. Wood was joined in marriage to Miss 
 Hettie Peterman, daughter of Benjamin 
 Peterman, a prominent paper manufacturer 
 of Elkton, Maryland. The children of the 
 first marriage, who are living, are as fol- 
 lows : Helen, wife of Major Mauch, U. S. 
 A. ; James W., who married Miss Josie 
 Hoffman, of Allentown ; Clara, who inter- 
 married with D. H. Merriman, a prominent 
 lumber manufacturer of Williamsport ; Wil- 
 liam W., John, jr., who married Ida Sling- 
 luff, of Norristown ; George W., who mar- 
 ried Laura H. Wilson ; Lizzie W., who is 
 the wife of William H. Cresson, of Con- 
 shohocken ; Rachel, died April 11, 1871 ; 
 and E.J. Morris, died July 21, 1861. The 
 second marriage was blessed with three 
 children : Man- P., Walter D. and Edith M. 
 
 Besides his own immediate business en- 
 terprises, Mr. Wood is interested in many 
 public institutions of a financial character, 
 among them being the Tradesman's bank of 
 Conshohocken, of which he was president 
 for five years, when he resigned ; the Guar- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 271 
 
 antee Building and Loan association, and 
 the Fidelity Building- and Loan association, 
 both of Conshohocken. He has always 
 been recognized as a man of great financial 
 tact, and to-day commends the hearty re- 
 spect of all who know him. 
 
 COLONEL DANIEL M. YOST, who 
 is largely identified with the business 
 interests of Norristown, is a son of Judge 
 Isaac F. and Rosina (Miller) Yost, and was 
 born in Pottsgrove township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, August 27, 1839. 
 The Yosts, who are of Dutch descent and 
 came originally from the Netherlands, have 
 been residents of Montgomery county for 
 five generations. Colonel Yost's great- 
 grandfather, Philip Yost, was a Whig and 
 served throughout the Revolutionary war 
 as a soldier in the Pennsylvania line. He 
 was but nineteen years of age when he en- 
 listed and saw the hardest of service, being 
 at Long Island and Paoli and enduring 
 the sufferings of Valley Forge during the 
 winter of 1777. He was also at the bat- 
 tles of Trenton and Monmouth. His pa- 
 rents were Philip and Veronica (Dotterer) 
 Yost, and his father, who was born in 17 18, 
 in Nassau, west Germany, came to America 
 prior to 1738. Philip Yost, the younger, 
 was born in Limerick township, August 24, 
 1757. He married Rosina Berringer, and 
 his son, Benjamin B. Yost (grandfather,) 
 was born December 31, 1787, and reared in 
 Montgomery county. He was a surveyor 
 by profession, but a carriage manufacturer 
 by trade and occupation. He served as 
 fife-major of an American regiment during 
 the war of 1812 or the second war for In- 
 dependence from Great Britian. He was a 
 Democrat in politics, and a member and 
 
 official of the German Reformed church. 
 He was elected to the office of county com- 
 misioner in 1833, and twelve years later he 
 was nominated and elected as register of 
 wills, which latter office he filled for a term 
 of three years. He married Sarah Weaver 
 on November 13, 1813. His son, Hon. Isaac 
 F. Yost (father), was born March 2, 1815, in 
 Pottsgrove township, and when he grew to 
 manhood became a farmer. He is a resi- 
 dent now of Boyertown, Berks county. He 
 served as county auditor and commissioner, 
 and was the last associate judge of Mont- 
 gomery county. He is a Democrat, and in 
 his early life was an able advocate of the 
 free school system, which then encountered 
 a bitter opposition in part of the State. He 
 not only advocated free schools, but aided 
 practically in their establishment and sup- 
 port by teaching in them for a short time and 
 then serving for many years as director in 
 his township. Judge Yost took an active 
 part in early life in military matters and 
 commanded a militia company. As a 
 fanner he was progressive, and when the 
 Patrons of Husbandry was organized in 
 Pennsylvania, he became a member and 
 worker of that organization. He is a mem- 
 ber of the German Reformed church. He 
 married Rosina Miller, a daughter of Dan- 
 iel Miller, of Pottsgrove township. To 
 their union were born fourteen children, of 
 whom ten are living. 
 
 Daniel M. Yost received his education in 
 the public schools of his native township, 
 and before he had attained his sixteenth 
 year came (March 18, 1854) to Norristown 
 to engage as a clerk in a dry goods estab- 
 lishment, where he remained until 1861. 
 In the following year he formed a partner- 
 ship with I. H. Brendlinger, which lasted 
 about ten years, when the firm changed 
 to D. M. Yost & Bro. In 1878 the firm 
 
272 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 changed to its present title of D. M. Yost 
 & Co , of which Colonel Yost is the senior 
 member. The firm does a large wholesale 
 and retail dry goods business. Colonel 
 Yost is also connected with the hosiery busi- 
 ness, being the senior partner of the Norris- 
 town Hosiery company. 
 
 Colonel Yost's military record com- 
 mences back in the dark April days of 1861, 
 when on the 19th day of that month, he en- 
 listed in Company K, 4th Pennsylvania in- 
 fantry. He was successively promoted to 
 corporal and to orderly sergeant, and with 
 his captain (W. H. Cooke) and two others 
 of his company, volunteered to go into the 
 first battle of Bull Run. At the expiration 
 of his term of service he returned, but in 
 September, 1862, he raised, a company of 
 Emergency men, with the assistance of his 
 father, in forty-eight hours, and joined the 
 nth Pennsylvania regiment, which, by his 
 instrumentality, was the first regiment to 
 cross the State line and re-inforce General 
 Reynolds at Hagerstown. At the forma- 
 tion of the regiment, he was promoted from 
 captain to lieutenant colonel by Governor 
 Curtin, and held the latter rank at A11- 
 tietam. On his second return from the 
 army, he accepted, at the request of Gov- 
 ernor Curtin, the lieutenant-colonelcy of 
 the 179th Pennsylvania infantry (of which 
 the late Judge William Yerkes, of Phila- 
 delphia, was major), which he commanded 
 during the greater part of its term of ser- 
 vice. He commanded the regiment at the 
 battle of White Oak Cross-roads, July 1, 
 1S63, and was wounded there in the leg, 
 and at Baltimore Cross-roads, July 2, 1S63, 
 received another wound in the hip so se- 
 verely as to render him unfit for further 
 active duty. He was discharged on ac- 
 count of disability and expiration of term 
 of service, on July 27, 1863. 
 
 On December 29, 1863, Colonel Yost was 
 united in marriage with Hannah C. Feather, 
 daughter of Solomon Feather, of Reading, 
 this State. They have five children : Marie 
 Rosina, Daniel F., Harry L., Ella and 
 Walter. 
 
 In political opinion Colonel Yost is a 
 Democrat, while in religious faith and 
 church membership he is a Lutheran. He 
 is connected with the Odd Fellows, Knights 
 of Pythias, and the military order of the 
 Loyal Legion of the United States. He is 
 a high degree Mason, being a member of 
 Charity Lodge No. 190, Free and Accepted 
 Masons ; Norristown Chapter No. 190, 
 Royal Arch Masons ; and Hutchinson Com- 
 mander)- No. 32, Knights Templar. 
 
 HENRY W. REIFF is at present the 
 most prominent merchant and business 
 man at Lederachville. He is interested in 
 a general store and a number of other im- 
 portant enterprises, and holds an enviable 
 place in the business and social life of his 
 community. Mr. Reiff conies from a race 
 of industrious and prosperous farmers. His 
 grandfather was born in Skippack town- 
 ship. He went to the district schools, and 
 during the rest of his long life worked a 
 farm of eighty-five acres. He was a very 
 active Republican. Mr. Reiff's father at- 
 tended school until he was sixteen years old, 
 and then went on the parental farm. He 
 was a farmer and huckster all his life. Like 
 his father, he was a Republican. He was a 
 very prominent member of the Mennonite 
 church, and was an honest, consistent Chris- 
 tian. He was the father of the following 
 children ; George, Mary, who died young ; 
 Samuel, Jacob, Abraham and the subject of 
 this sketch. He is still living and is aged 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 273 
 
 seventy-three years. His estimable wife 
 was born June 26, 1830, and is still enjoying 
 good health. 
 
 Henry W. Reiff is the son of Jacob S. 
 and Susan (Weiss) Reiff, and was born in 
 Skippack township, September 17, 1865. 
 Until the age of fifteen he attended the 
 district schools. He then engaged as a 
 clerk in his father's store at Lederachville, 
 and remained there in that capacity until 
 he was twenty years old. His father then 
 admitted him to partnership. When he 
 was twenty-two years old he bought out his 
 father and continued the general store busi- 
 ness until 1890, when, failing in health, he 
 sold out to Reiser &: Allebach. Two years 
 later, having regained his health, he bought 
 back the business and has been running it 
 ever since. He is also head of a thriving 
 tailoring business and does custom work. 
 Besides this he has a very prosperous cigar 
 factor}- that employs twelve hands. 
 
 Mr. Reiff is a Republican, and has held 
 many offices. At present he is commis- 
 sioner of the district, judge of election and 
 justice of the peace. He is a member of 
 the Reformed church, and has been super- 
 intendent of the Union Sunday-school at 
 Lederachville for six years, and is organist 
 of the church and leader of the choir. 
 
 On December 24, 1888, he was married 
 and is the father of two children : Jacob, 
 born November 22, 1889 ; and Lizzie, born 
 January 1, 1892. Mr. Reiff is very promi- 
 nent in all public movements, and is looked 
 up to and respected by everybody. 
 
 CHARLES C. KNOX, an influential 
 citizen and successful farmer, located 
 near Wynnewood, is a son of Josiah and 
 Sabiua (Bishop) Knox, and was born on the 
 
 18 
 
 old homestead farm in Lower Merion town- 
 ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 March 9, 1X49. He was reared in the old 
 farm house in which he was born, and re- 
 ceived his education in the common schools 
 of Lower Merion township, and Concord- 
 ville seminary in Delaware county. After 
 leaving school he took the full commercial 
 course at Crittenden's Business college of 
 Philadelphia, from which he was graduated 
 in 1868. Thus ecjuipped for business pur- 
 suits by his commercial training, he re- 
 turned home and assisted his father in farm- 
 ing until the death of the latter during the 
 next year. He then managed the farm 
 until he attained his majority, when he 
 came into possession of it. His farm con- 
 tains one hundred and twenty acres of s^ood 
 grain and grazing land, and lies within one- 
 half mile of Wynnewood. For nearlv 
 twenty years Mr. Knox was personal lv 
 active in its cultivation and improvement, 
 but since 1891 he has only busied himself 
 with its management and giving the neces- 
 sary attention to his other business affairs. 
 Mr. Knox has always preferred the quiet 
 and steady pursuits of an agricultural life 
 to the worriment and strain of any occupa- 
 tion or line of work in the active business 
 world. While he has not reaped the im- 
 mense gains of some fortunate speculation, 
 yet neither has he lost in one rash venture 
 the accumulations of years, ami to-day pos- 
 sesses a competency acquired by honorable 
 labor and judicious management. He is a 
 Democrat, and has held the offices of school 
 director, assessor and auditor of his town- 
 ship. Mr. Knox is identified with the 
 Lutheran church, in whose faith and teach- 
 ings he was reared. He is unmarried. 
 
 The American Knox family, of which 
 Charles C. Knox is a member, is a branch 
 of the old Scotch-Irish Knox family, and 
 
274 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 was founded by Hugh Knox, who was one 
 of the earliest settlers of Lower Merion 
 township. He purchased a farm, which at 
 his death, passed into the possession of his 
 son, Louis Knox, who married Margaret 
 Miller, and was a leading member of the 
 Lutheran church in his community. Louis 
 and Margaret Knox were liberal Christians, 
 who evinced a living friendship for all 
 other religious denominations by their con- 
 tributions to even- church erected in their 
 neighborhood. They had four children : 
 Josiah, James and Susan, who are dead ; and 
 Jane, who is now in the eighty-second year 
 of her age. 
 
 Josiah Knox (father), was born on the 
 home farm, which he afterwards inherited, 
 and on which he always resided. From 
 time to time he purchased adjoining pro- 
 perty until he had become the owner of a 
 tract of fertile land of two hundred and 
 forty acres, which, at his death, was divided 
 into two tracts, one of which was given to 
 Charles C. Knox, and the other to his 
 daughter, Margaret C. Knox, who married 
 Edmund Green. Mr. and Mrs. Green have 
 one child, a daughter, Sabina Knox 
 Green. 
 
 Josiah Knox was a successful farmer, an 
 earnest Lutheran, and a strong Democrat. 
 He held numerous local offices in his town- 
 ship, was a member for several years of an 
 old militia cavalry company, and alwavs 
 led in any public enterprise for the benefit 
 of the community in which he resided. He 
 lived to be sixtv-five vears of a°:e, dvine in 
 September, 1869. He wedded Sabina Sheaff 
 Bishop, a daughter of George Bishop. To 
 their union were born six children, four sons 
 and two daughters : Louis and Jackson, who 
 died ; Margaret C, wife of Edmund Green ; 
 J. Bishop, deceased ; Charles C, the subject 
 of this sketch ; and Sabina, now deceased. 
 
 The Knox family, through its six genera- 
 tions in America, has made for itself an 
 honorable record. 
 
 PROFESSOR JOHN K. HARLEY, a 
 prominent educator of Moutgomerv 
 county, is the youngest son of the late 
 Henry and Anna (Kulp) Harley. He was 
 born on his father's farm, at Trappe, this 
 county, February 17, 1855. His grand- 
 father, John Harley, was a resident of 
 Germantown, where, upon his death, which 
 was by accident, he left a family of six 
 children, among whom was Henry, father 
 of Professor Harley. After his father's 
 death, Henry, then a mere boy, went to 
 live with a farmer by the name of Frick, in 
 Worcester township, this county. After 
 several years of farm life, Henry apprenticed 
 himself to John Hendricks, of Skippack, to 
 learn the trade of a shoemaker. Soon 
 after completing his apprenticeship, and 
 upon his marriage in 1834, he removed to 
 a farm at Trappe, then belonging to the 
 Rev. Abraham Hunsicker. On this farm 
 Henrv lived the rest of his life, following 
 his trade along with farming until his 
 death on June 27, 1882, at the age of sixty- 
 nine years. 
 
 Henry Harley was married to Anna 
 Kulp, a daughter of Isaac Kulp, who lived 
 upon a farm about two miles west of 
 Trappe, where he died when Anna was but 
 thirteen years old. After her father's 
 death she lived with Dillman Godshall, 
 of Lower Salford township, until her mar- 
 riage. She died March 1, 1878, at the age 
 of sixty-seven years. Henry Harley was 
 quite active in local public affairs, and for 
 several years was a supervisor in Upper 
 Providence township. In politics he was 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 275 
 
 a Republican. In religion he was an ad- 
 herent of the Mennonite church, in which 
 he always took an active part and felt a 
 deep interest. 
 
 The family of Henry Harley consisted of 
 seven children, the oldest of whom was 
 Catharine, who died at the age of fourteen ; 
 Isaac, who now resides on a large farm 
 near Manassas, Prince William county, 
 Virginia ; Abraham, residing now at what 
 was for many years the " Cross Keys " 
 hotel, in Lower Providence township, and 
 carries on butchering along with farming; 
 Mary, wife of Josiah H. Custer, who lives 
 on a farm a mile west of Trappe ; Henry, 
 deceased January, 1878, at the age of thirty- 
 one years; Elizabeth, wife of Gabriel G. 
 King, residing near Trappe, and John K., 
 (subject) who at present resides at Consho- 
 hocken. 
 
 Professor John K. Harley worked on his 
 father's farm until nineteen years of age, 
 attending the public schools of the neigh- 
 borhood during the winter months. He 
 also attended the Washington Hall Col- 
 legiate Institute, for a few winter terms, at 
 Trappe, which at that time was conducted 
 by Abel Rambo, A. M. In October, 1874, 
 he began teaching public schools. He 
 taught continuously for five years in Lower 
 Salford, Upper and Lower Providence 
 townships, during which time he also took 
 a course of study, in 1877, at the Bryant 
 and Stratton Business College, in Philadel- 
 phia. In 1879 he entered the State Normal 
 School, at Millersville, Pennsylvania, from 
 which institution he graduated in the year 
 1880. 
 
 Professor Harley then resumed his pro- 
 fession and taught school in Lower Provi- 
 dence township for three years. Always 
 being ambitious to push his studies further 
 and thus more fully equip himself for the 
 
 profession of teaching, he was in the spring 
 of 1882, admitted to the junior class at 
 Ursinus College, Collegeville, but owing to 
 the death of his father at that time, he was 
 obliged to leave that institution before 
 graduation. He however subsequently 
 pursued at the college an advanced course 
 in mathematics for which he has a great 
 liking. 
 
 While teaching with great success in 
 Lower Providence, Professor Harley origi- 
 nated and worked out a system for a graded 
 course of study for country schools. The 
 system was adopted in that township in 
 June, 1882, and the first class in the county 
 was graduated from the public schools 
 under the system in May, 18S3. This 
 graded system of study has since become 
 widespread in the country, and is exerting 
 a powerful influence in the efficiency of 
 the country schools. 
 
 In 1882 Professor Harley edited and pub- 
 lished a small work on the " History, 
 Geography and Government of Montgom- 
 ery County," designed as a text book for 
 the public schools of the county. The 
 work has now passed through three editions. 
 In 1S83 Professor Harley, by competitive 
 examinations, became a member of the 
 faculty of the Boys' High school of Read- 
 ing, Pa., as teacher chiefly of mathematics, 
 book-keeping and drawing. He continued 
 very successfully in this position until his 
 election in 188S to the principalship of the 
 High school of Pottstown. Here he con- 
 tinued for one year with splendid success, 
 when soon after his re-election, he was 
 elected in August, 1889, to the principal- 
 ship of the public schools of Consho- 
 hocken. 
 
 He maintained his connection with the 
 Conshohocken school until 1892, filling his 
 position very ably. In March of that year 
 
276 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 he was appointed to the Department of 
 Graphics in Girard College, Philadelphia, 
 entering; upon his duties there May 2nd, 
 and has been connected with that institution 
 down to the present time 
 
 In 1S86 Professor Harley issued a hand- 
 book for teachers and students of history. 
 entitled "Topical Outlines of the History 
 and the Constitution of the United States." 
 which has since passed through many 
 editions. 
 
 He has also been a frequent contribu- 
 tor to leading educational journals and 
 to the Montgomery County Historical 
 society, of which he is a member. He is 
 now pursuing, ad interim, a course of study 
 in the Department of Philosophy, at the 
 University of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Politically Mr. Harley is a Republican 
 and is at present a member of the school 
 board of Conshohocken, where he lives, 
 having been elected a director soon after 
 his retirement as principal of the schools 
 of that borough. He is also a member of 
 Washington Camp Xo. 121, P. O. S. oi A. 
 In matters on religion, he is a member of 
 St. Luke's German Reformed church at 
 Trappe, and for a time was leader of the 
 choir of that church. 
 
 On June 10, 1886, Professor Harley was 
 married to Miss Ida M. Gotwals, of Lower 
 Providence, a daughter of John Z. Gotwals, 
 now of Highlands, X. C. Mrs. Harley was 
 also a teacher in the public schools of the 
 county for several years. To this union 
 have been born three children, two of whom 
 are living : Edith G., born December n, 
 1S90, and Allen G., born October 27. 
 Professor Harley, upon the death of his 
 father, came into posses-ion ot the old 
 homestead at Trappe, where he along with 
 his other duties, engaged in farming until 
 September, 1SS9. 
 
 TOHX A. RIGHTKR, an old and 
 *J respected citizen of near Win. Penn 
 Post Office, is a son of John and Elizabeth 
 LeGaux) Righter. and was born at Spring 
 Mill, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 September 16, 182 1. He received his edu- 
 cation in pay schools at various places in 
 the county, for a time attending at Consho- 
 hocken, and afterwards at William Kerr's 
 school. At seventeen years of age his 
 school life closed, and he then remained 
 with his father until 1847. Having 
 married in 1845, he moved into the 
 dwelling that was built by his father, and 
 in which the latter still lives. He was 
 there engaged in the mercantile business 
 until the breaking out of the Civil war. 
 In the meantime he had engaged in the 
 soap stone business in Lower Merion town- 
 ship, where he purchased a farm and 
 worked soap stone quarries for twelve 
 years. He then sold his farm to Howard 
 Wood and Clement Griscom, and since 
 1S76 has lived a retired life. He owns one 
 hundred and eleven and one-half acres of 
 land near Phoenixville, Chester county, 
 and is well and favorably known through- 
 out his community. 
 
 Mr Righter was formerly an old line 
 Whig, but is now an ardent Republican. 
 He is a director and one of the promoters 
 of the Tradesmen's Bank of Conshohocken. 
 He has served as director of the poor of 
 Montgomery county for three years, and 
 for many years was a school director of his 
 district. In educational affairs he takes an 
 active part and is always interested in the 
 progress of the schools. He is a member 
 of Charity Lodge, Free and Accepted Ma- 
 sons, at Xorristown. 
 
 Mr. Righter was married on December 
 11, 1845, to Rebecca Kirkuer, a daughter 
 of Joseph and Elizabeth Kirkuer, of Barren 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 2/7 
 
 Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Righter have four 
 children : Daniel, Horace B., Joseph K and 
 Kate, who married Michael K. Wood, of 
 Conshohocken, and has a family of children, 
 Frank A., and John R., the latter of whom 
 is paying teller in the Tradesmen's Nation- 
 al Bank, of Conshohocken. 
 
 The Righter family is of German ex- 
 traction, and trace their American ancestry 
 back to one of three Righter brothers, who 
 with two sisters, came to America. One 
 brother located in Lower Merion township, 
 and John, the great-grandfather of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, settled on Mill Creek, 
 in Lower Merion township, where he- 
 owned a grist mill. The sisters were 
 Quaker preachers. John Righter (grand- 
 father) reared a family of children, one of 
 whom was Anthony Righter, who was 
 born in Lower Merion township. He was 
 a mill-wright by trade, and resided during 
 the latter part of his life in White Marsh 
 township, on the property purchased by 
 his son John. He married Catharine Tay- 
 lor, by whom he had nine children : John, 
 Morris T., Isaac, Joseph, Anthony, Richard, 
 Mary Pontzler, Catharine and Elizabeth 
 Xuss. Mr. Righter died at the age of eighty- 
 nine years. John Righter (father) was also 
 a native of Lower Merion township, and in 
 early life was dependent upon his own re- 
 sources. He first worked upon a farm and 
 afterwards became engaged in burning and 
 hauling lime to the Philadelphia markets. 
 He afterwards shipped a great amount of 
 lime by canal and burnt as high as three 
 hundred thousand bushels in one year. He 
 employed many men and has shipped to 
 Philadelphia annually for many years. 
 Later in life he abandoned the lime busi- 
 ness and devoted his attention to farming 
 at Spring Mill, where he was very success- 
 ful. John Righter, sr., was formerly a 
 
 Democrat, but later a Republican, and was 
 ever active in the interests of his party. 
 He took an active part in the Underground 
 Railroad, and was a birthright member of 
 the Society of Friends. He died in 1869, 
 aged eighty-three years. His remains were 
 interred in the Barren Hill cemetery. He 
 married Elizabeth LeGaux, and reared a 
 family of the following children : Peter L., 
 who resided in Bucks county, now deceased; 
 Isaac, (died young); Joseph and Anthony 
 P., who are deceased ; John, Charles C, a 
 fanner in White Marsh township ; Lindley 
 V., a retired farmer at Lafayette, Mont- 
 gomery county ; George W., of Upper 
 Merion, and Lucressa R. Mrs. Richter 
 died in 1867, when in the seventieth year 
 of her age. Peter LeGaux, maternal grand- 
 father, was a native of the Province of 
 Lorraine, France, from which he came to 
 America in 1785. He was an attorney-at- 
 law in his native country, and was also a 
 member of the National Academy of 
 Sciences, and after coming to this countrv 
 was engaged in the practice of medicine. 
 He was admitted counsellor at the parlia- 
 ment at Metz and at the Supreme Tribunal, 
 Nancy, in 1768. He was a member and 
 correspondent of several academies of 
 science and arts in Europe and America, 
 and was also a contributor to the Columbia 
 Magazine, chiefly on meteorological ob- 
 servations. He died at Spring Mill, on 
 September 27, 1827. 
 
 FRANCIS HOUPT, the postmaster at 
 Dreshertown, is a son of Henry, jr., and 
 Sarah (Leightkep) Houpt, and was born in 
 Upper Dublin township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, October 19, 1839. 
 The Houpt family in Montgomery county 
 
278 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 is of German descent, and lias pro- 
 duced many very successful business men 
 The name was originally spelled Haupt, 
 and the earliest progenitor of the family, 
 Samuel Houpt, came to this country long 
 before the Revolutionary war, and in 177(1 
 he owned a farm of ninety-six acres near 
 Jarrettown Henry Houpt, sr. , was the 
 grandfather of Francis Houpt, and he also 
 was a fanner and resided near Jarret- 
 town. His son, Henry Houpt, the younger, 
 was a life-long resident of Upper Dublin 
 township, in which he was born June II, 
 1 Si 17, and died November 1, 1885. He re- 
 ceived his education in the old subscription 
 schools and learned the trade of stone- 
 mason, which he followed for several years. 
 He worked on bridges and other county 
 work and the hotel at Jarrettown, which 
 he built and conducted for several years. 
 He was a Lutheran, and a Democrat in 
 politics, and a member of Upper Dublin 
 Lodge Xo. 45S, Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows. He married Sarah Leightkep, 
 and their family consisted of nine children, 
 six sous and three daughters : Anna, 
 George, Devi, Hannah, Charles, Francis, 
 Sarah, Henry and Samuel. The children 
 Anna and Sarah both died in childhood, 
 and Hannah is the widow of John Shay. 
 
 Francis Houpt was reared in his native 
 township, received his education in the 
 schools, and then learned the trade ot 
 mason, which he followed continuously for 
 ten years in different parts of the county. 
 In 1S67 he quit his trade to purchase 
 property at Dreshertown, where he opened 
 his present general store. In polities he 
 was formerly a Democrat, and while sup- 
 porting that part>' he served as township 
 auditor and school director. He is now a 
 Prohibitionist, and advocates the principles 
 of that part\- as necessary for good govern- 
 
 ing nt and national prosperitv. He was ap- 
 pointed by President Cleveland, on Febru- 
 ary 6, 1885, as the first postmaster at 
 Dreshertown, and has continued in that 
 position ever since, under Harrison and 
 Cleveland's administrations. Mr. Houpt 
 was president for some years of the Jarret- 
 town Building and Loan Association, and 
 is a member of Jarrettown Lodge No. 
 458, Independent ( >rder of Odd Fellows. 
 He has been a member for thirty years of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church, in which 
 he is now serving as steward and trustee. 
 
 On October 10, 1867, Francis Houpt 
 married Anna DePrefontaine, of Jarrettown. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Houpt have been born 
 thirteen children : John, Harry (deceased), 
 Irvin, Jennie, Mary, William (deceased), 
 Albert, Edward, Carrie, Francis, jr., Oliver, 
 Anna, and one child that died in early 
 infancy. 
 
 JOHN ELLWOOD LEE, founder, secre- 
 kJ tary and treasurer and general manager 
 of the J. Ellwood Lee Company, of Con- 
 shohocken, is the oldest son of Bradford A. 
 Lee and Sarah (Raser) Lee. He was born 
 at Conshohocken, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, on November 9, i860. He 
 attended the public schools at Conshohocken 
 until he reached the age of sixteen years. 
 He then left school and made an effort to 
 maintain himself at several different em- 
 ployments; Becoming dissatisfied, how- 
 ever, with the insufficiency of his education, 
 he re-entered school, and at the end of three 
 years completed his studies and graduated. 
 He then obtained a position with William 
 Snowdeu, a maker of surgical instruments 
 and dealer in surgical appliances in Phila- 
 delphia. Remaining in this service for four 
 and a half vears, he obtained a masterv of 
 
Biographical Skrtchks. 
 
 279 
 
 the business, which encouraged the be- 
 lief that lie could establish and conduct 
 upon a more extended scale a business of his 
 own. 
 
 Returning to Conshohocken, he embarked 
 in the manufacture, in a small way, with 
 less than one hundred dollars capital, of 
 surgical appliances, which appeared to him 
 to be in such demand as to warrant his un- 
 dertaking. His operations were conducted 
 in a single room, which was factor}', sales- 
 room and office. His success was immedi- 
 ate. This was due largely to the fact that 
 Mr. Lee possesses a rather remarkable in- 
 ventive faculty, which enabled him to pre- 
 pare various novel appliances of such merit 
 that they found popularity among surgeons 
 in all parts of the country. One of his in- 
 ventions was a perforated metallic splint, 
 nicely shaped to the part of the body to 
 which it was to be applied, light, flexible 
 and wonderfully superior to the clumsy and 
 inflexible wooden splint so long used and 
 now still to a considerable extent employed. 
 These splints were favorably received at 
 once, and the demand for them and for his 
 other wares compelled Mr. Lee to construct 
 a two-story shop, which was equipped with 
 a steam engine. 
 
 The business, swiftly expanding, another 
 building was soon added, and in 1887 a 
 third was erected in the shape of a three- 
 story stone mill of much larger dimensions 
 than those of the two earlier buildings. As 
 the demand for his products increased, Mr. 
 Lee felt the want of much larger capital, 
 and, in 1888, some of his friends in Con- 
 shohocken joined him in forming the cor- 
 poration known as the J. Ellwood Lee Com- 
 pany, with a capital of $75,000. In 1890 
 this capital was increased to $150,000, and 
 again increased in 1894 to $500,000. The 
 members of the company are Charles Heber 
 
 Clark, president ; Charles Lukens, vice 
 president ; J. Ellwood Lee, secretary, treas- 
 urer and general manager ; Alan Wood, Jr., 
 Howard Wood and Conrad B. Lee. 
 
 Since the organization of the company 
 the business has been much enlarged and 
 extended, and the buildings have been 
 added to until now they offer floor space 
 probably five or six time that possessed la- 
 the corporation when the charter was 
 granted. The added buildings include a 
 three-story stone mill, devoted to the manu- 
 facture of catheters and the production of 
 other articles ; a large bleach house, drying 
 room, card room and finishing room for the 
 manufacture of absorbent cotton, of which 
 his company is one of the largest producers 
 in the world, making cotton of the finest 
 quality ; and a four-story stone mill, devoted 
 to the manufacture of plasters of every 
 variety, antiseptic preparations, many of 
 them patented, oiled silk, etc., etc. The 
 general products of the mills may be classi- 
 fied under the single head of surgical sup- 
 plies, for individual and hospital use, many 
 of which are patented, no less than twenty- 
 four patents having been granted to Mr. 
 Lee since 1887. The company sells its 
 wares in ever}- part of the world, having 
 agencies in London, Berlin, Paris, Mel- 
 bourne, Sidney, Toronto, and in all large 
 cities in the United States. 
 
 Its remarkable success is due chiefly to 
 the uniform excellence of its products, the 
 eff >rt being to attain to the highest degree of 
 serviceability and to give to each buyer ex- 
 actly what he pays for. The patents owned 
 by the company have also done much to 
 promote its interests, Mr. Lee having dis- 
 played somewhat extraordinary success in 
 exerting his inventive power in directions 
 which were indicated by the needs of sur- 
 geons. From eminent surgeons in this and 
 
28o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 other countries he has had warm letters of 
 congratulation upon his skill in supplying 
 them with facilities for the safe practice of 
 their profession. 
 
 To inventive talent of no ordinary kind, 
 Mr. Lee adds executive ability as a business 
 man, which is not so rare a gift, but is still 
 of vital importance in conducting the ope- 
 rations of a concern so large as this. Ably 
 assisted, he is after all the principal super- 
 visor of the manufacturing processes, that 
 go on in the great mills ; and his also is the 
 mind that directs the business of placing 
 the goods in the hands of customers. Mr. 
 Lee is a quiet, modest, unassuming gentle- 
 man in his manners. He is a member of 
 the Episcopal church, and a vestryman in 
 that organization. 
 
 On April 12, 1882, Mr. Lee was united in 
 marriage with Jennie W. Cleaver, a daugh- 
 ter of Mrs. A. J. Cleaver, and a sister to 
 Hon. John Wood. To their union have 
 been born three children : Mary, deceased ; 
 Elsie, and J. Ellwood, Jr. 
 
 JACOB A. STRASSBURGER, who for 
 *-J nearly twenty years has been promi- 
 nently connected with the Norristown bar, 
 is a son of Reuben Y. and Elizabeth Z. 
 (Schwenk) Strassburger, and was born Oc- 
 tober 15, 1849, in Hilltowu township, Bucks 
 county, Pennsylvania. As the name would 
 indicate, the family is of German origin, and 
 traces its American ancestry back to an edu- 
 cated German pioneer who came to Penn- 
 sylvania about 1765, and settled in Bucks 
 county, where he taught school for many 
 years, and is buried at Tohickon graveyard. 
 He left one son, who must have come over 
 with him from Germany and who settled in 
 Lehigh county, where he became very 
 
 wealthy and was regarded at one time as the 
 richest man in that county. He was a tan- 
 ner by trade and carried on that business 
 with other enterprises for many years. One 
 of his sons, John Andrew Strassburger, pa- 
 ternal grandfather of the subject of this 
 sketch, a native of Lehigh county, removed 
 to Bucks county, this State, about 1S1S. 
 He was a minister of the Reformed church, 
 and was actively engaged in ministerial 
 labors in Bucks county from 1818 to 1854, 
 at which time he retired. To the genera- 
 tion now rapidly passing away his name 
 was a household word. He died in May, 
 i860, at an advanced age, and is buried in 
 Franconia township, Montgomery county. 
 He married Catharine Stout, by whom he 
 had a large family, one of his sons being 
 Reuben Y. Strassburger (father), who was 
 born in Rockhill township, Bucks county, 
 October 1, 1823. After attaining manhood 
 he engaged in the general mercantile busi- 
 ness, which he followed successfully until 
 1869, when he removed to Schwenksville, 
 Montgomery count)-, and embarked in the 
 lumber and coal business. 
 
 He was accidentally killed on August 14, 
 1872, by falling from the top of a car which 
 was being backed up to his warerooms. In 
 politics he was a Whig and Republican, 
 and in religion a member of the Reformed 
 church. He took a prominent part in the 
 work of his church with which he was 
 officially connected for many years. A man 
 of fine education, he was public spirited, 
 and possessed of excellent business qualifica- 
 tions; he was successful in his undertakings, 
 and by industry and enterprise accumulated 
 considerable wealth. January 21, 1847, ne 
 married Elizabeth Z. Schwenk, daughter of 
 Jacob Schwenk, and to them was born a 
 family of seven children, four of whom 
 still survive : Annie, became the wife of 
 
r #. X&-v^k^*-*^L«A^^ 
 
<e-o 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 281 
 
 Benjamin F. Leidy, cashier of the Farmers' 
 National bank of Pennsburg ; Kate A., 
 married Charles M. Spare, of Haverford, 
 this county, agent of the Philadelphia and 
 Reading- railroad at Belmont ; Magdalena, 
 wife of Wilfred L. Stauffer, general mana- 
 ger of James Lees & Sons' Manufacturing 
 company at Bridgeport ; and Jacob A., the 
 subject of this sketch. Mrs. Elizabeth Z. 
 Strassburger, widow, is still living at 
 Schwenksville. 
 
 Jacob A. Strassburger was reared princi- 
 pally in Hilltown township, Bucks county, 
 receiving his education in the public schools, 
 Ouakertown and Treemount seminaries and 
 Ursinus college, from which latter institu- 
 tion he was graduated in 1873. He then 
 studied law under General B. F. Fisher and 
 was admitted to the bar in Philadelphia in 
 1875. For some time he practiced in Phila- 
 delphia, but in September, 1878, removed 
 to Norristown and was admitted to the bar 
 of Montgomery county, where he has been 
 continuously engaged in the duties of his 
 profession to the present time. In addition 
 to conducting a large general practice, Mr. 
 Strassburger has acted as solicitor for the 
 directors of the poor and the clerk of the 
 courts, and is a member of the law library 
 committee and the committee on revising 
 and indexing the records of Montgomery 
 county. This law library is considered one 
 of the best in Pennsylvania, and the method 
 of indexing adopted in the records of Mont- 
 gomery county is complete and exhaustive 
 as used in connection with public records. 
 
 On December 15, 1880, Mr. Strassburger 
 was united in marriage with Mary Beaver, 
 only daughter of Dr. Ephraim K. Beaver, 
 of Albertus, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Strassburger have been 
 born two sons and one daughter : Elizabeth 
 B., Ralph B. and Perry B. 
 
 In politics Mr. Strassburger is an ardent 
 Republican, always taking an active and 
 intelligent interest in political and civic 
 affairs. In 1883 he was a candidate for dis- 
 trict attorney, but was defeated. In 1892 
 he served as a delegate from the Seventh 
 Congressional District of Pennsylvania to 
 the National Republican convention at 
 Minneapolis, and has been very active in 
 local politics. He is a director in the Nor- 
 ristown Title, Trust and Safe Deposit com- 
 pany, and in the Riverside Cemetery com- 
 pany, both of which he assisted in organiz- 
 ing, and is also a director in the Perkiomen 
 and Sum ney town Turnpike company. For 
 a number of years he has served as a trustee 
 of Ursinus college, his alma ma/er, and 
 from which he received his master's degree 
 in 1876. He is also connected with the 
 faculty of that institution as lecturer on the 
 constitution of Pennsylvania. In religion 
 Mr. Strassburger is a member of the Heidel- 
 berg Reformed church at Schwenksville. 
 He is also a past master of Warren Lodge 
 No. 310, Free and Accepted Masons, at 
 Trappe, Pa. His professional and business 
 career has been successful, and as a citizen 
 and lawyer he takes high rank among the 
 people of his adopted county. 
 
 JOSEPH FORNANCE, Esq., a member 
 <J of the Montgomery county bar, who has 
 been in active, successful practice here for 
 nearly thirty years, is the eldest son of Hon. 
 Joseph and Anne B. (McKnight) Fornance, 
 and was born in Washington, District of 
 Columbia, April 24, 1S41, while his father 
 represented this district in the Congress of 
 the United States. Anthony Fornance, pa- 
 ternal great-grandfather of the subject of 
 this sketch, lived at New Castle, Delaware, 
 
282 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 where he died in 1768. One of his sons, 
 John Fornance, was born at New Castle, 
 1766, removed to Philadelphia, afterwards 
 to Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and 
 married, in 1791, Elizabeth Roberts, daugh- 
 ter of Thomas Roberts, of Blockley town- 
 ship, Philadelphia county, whose ancestors, 
 Welsh Quakers, came about 16S4 from 
 Wales, and were among the earliest mem- 
 bers of the Friends' Meeting at Merion. 
 John Fornance died at Norristown in 1845, 
 and is buried in Montgomery cemetery at 
 Norristown, together with his wife and his 
 three children. 
 
 His youngest child, Hon. Joseph For- 
 nance, was born in Lower Merion township, 
 Montgomery county, October 18, 1804, and 
 received his education at the old academy 
 in Lower Merion. A certificate of Noah 
 Leeds, principal of the Lower Merion 
 Boarding school, dated 7th month, nth, 
 1820, states that "Joseph Fornance has at- 
 tended the school for about two years, 
 mostlv studying the mathematics, such 
 branches as algebra, surveying, navigation, 
 and the most useful problems of nautical 
 astronomy, calculated for a sea-faring life, 
 to wdiich his attention seems to have been 
 drawn." 
 
 After leaving school, he taught for some 
 vears in the schools of this county. About 
 1829 he abandoned teaching and began the 
 study of law in the office of Hon. Philip S. 
 Markley, at Norristown. He was admitted 
 to the bar August 21, 1832, and in 1834 was 
 elected by the Democrats to represent Mont- 
 gomery county in the State assembly. 
 While there he took an active part in secur- 
 ing the abolition of public executions, and 
 advocated a compulsory public school sys- 
 tem. After serving one term he was de- 
 feated in 1836, through the Muhlenberg 
 division of his party. In 1838 he became 
 
 the Democratic nominee and was elected to 
 represent what is now the Seventh Penn- 
 sylvania District in the congress of the 
 United States. His duties as a member of 
 the T went\ -sixth congress were discharged 
 with such ability that he was re-nominated 
 by his party in 1840, and notwithstanding 
 the excitement attending the " log cabin and 
 hard cider campaign " that carried the Whig 
 candidates — Harrison and Tyler — to the 
 White House, Mr. Fornance was triumph- 
 antly re-elected, and took an active and 
 prominent part in the proceedings of the 
 Twenty-seventh congress. Speaking of his 
 congressional career, a writer has said : 
 " Mr. Fornauce's two terms in congress were 
 distinguished by the bitter controversies 
 about the safe-keeping of the public funds 
 and the institution of the Independent 
 Treasury by Van Buren's administration. 
 That famous measure had been rejected at 
 the extra session in 1837, but passed both 
 houses in the session of 1840. It was re- 
 earded as the great achievement of that 
 presidential term. During all this exciting 
 period, Mr. Fornance steadily sustained the 
 principles of his party, and doubtless truly 
 represented his constituents. His manner 
 was ever mild, consistent and firm. On re- 
 tiring from congress he held, as he always 
 had, a character above reproach for ability 
 and integrity." 
 
 After serving two terms in congress, Mr. 
 Fornance resumed the practice of law, and 
 devoted the remainder of his life to that 
 profession, acquiring a large and responsi- 
 ble practice. In 1851 he was nominated by 
 the Democracy of Montgomery county as a 
 candidate for president judge of the Seventh 
 Judicial District. Bucks county, then part 
 of the district, also presented a Democratic 
 candidate, Henry Chapman. The party 
 strength in the district being thus divided, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 283 
 
 both Democratic candidates were defeated 
 by the Whig candidate, Hon. I). M. Smyser, 
 of Gettysburg. For a number of years Mr. 
 Fornance served as a member and president 
 of the town council of Norristown, holding 
 that position at his death. He was active 
 in promoting the welfare of the town, and 
 procured the passage of several important 
 laws to lay out and improve the streets. In 
 recognition of his services, one of the streets 
 was named for him after his death. 
 
 During his first congressional term he 
 formed the acquaintance of Miss Anne B. 
 McKnight, a daughter of Captain John Mc- 
 Knight, of Alexandria, Virginia, to whom 
 he was married in Washington City in 1840. 
 Her ancestors were all Pennsylvanians. 
 Her great-grandfather, John McKnight, 
 was one of the Scotch-Irish pioneers, who 
 settled in the Cumberland valley, near 
 Chambersburg, Pa., in 1735. Her mother 
 was a daughter of Christian Piercy, a 
 prominent citizen of Philadelphia, and a 
 captain in the Revolutionary war. To their 
 union was born a family of seven children, 
 four sons and three daughters : Joseph, 
 whose name heads this sketch. John, a 
 pupil at Treemount seminary, Norristown, 
 afterwards graduated as a civil engineer at 
 the Polytechnic institute of Philadelphia in 
 1861, at the age of eighteen, and immedi- 
 ately entered the United States navy as an 
 engineer. He was in active service during 
 the entire Civil war, in the Gulf of Mexico 
 and on the Atlantic coast, taking part in 
 several engagements, and was on the United 
 States steamer Nyack at the capture of Fort 
 Fisher in January, 1865. He continued in 
 the navy after the war, and was two years 
 in the South Atlantic squadron. In 1867 
 he was assigned to duty on the United 
 States steamer Oneida, of the Asiatic squad- 
 ron, and after a cruise of three years met a 
 
 heroic death on that vessel, when with her 
 crew of one hundred and twelve officers and 
 men, she was sunk by collision with the 
 British iron steamship Bombay, near Yoko- 
 hama, Japan, on January 24, 1870. At this 
 time he was in the twenty-seventh year of 
 his age. James, graduated from West Point 
 Military academy in 1871, served as a lieu- 
 tenant in the 13th United States infantry, 
 in the Indian troubles on the western plains, 
 and afterwards as instructor in the United 
 States military school at Fort Leaven- 
 worth. 
 
 He is now captain in the 13th infantry, 
 United States army, stationed at Governor's 
 Island, New York harbor. Thomas, one 
 time sheriff of Wood county, Wisconsin, 
 and afterwards a resident of Tacoma, Wash- 
 ington. Elizabeth, widow of Edward Price 
 Jones, of Lower Merion, this county, now 
 resides at Norristown. Catharine, wife of 
 Captain Frank H. Edmunds, of the 1st 
 United States infantry, whose father, Hon. 
 Newton Edmunds, was at one time gover- 
 nor of Dakota Territory. Captain Ed- 
 munds is now stationed at David's Island, 
 New York. Mar}', unmarried, now residing 
 in Philadelphia. Hon. Joseph Fornance 
 died at his home in Norristown, November 
 24, 1S52, in the forty-eighth year of his age. 
 In person he was tall and well formed, with 
 dark, ruddy complexion, dark hair and eyes, 
 regular features, and an habitual expression 
 of gravity and dignity. His widow sur- 
 vived him nearly forty years, and died on 
 May 27, 1892, and was buried in Mont- 
 gomery cemeterv. 
 
 Joseph Fornrnce, the eldest son, who was 
 named for his father, was reared in Norris- 
 town, Montgomery county, and received 
 his primary education in the public schools. 
 He afterward entered Treemount seminary, 
 and later pursued special studies there 
 
284 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 under the care of Rev. Samuel Aaron. 
 After completing his education, he engaged 
 in teaching, and followed that occupation 
 for several years. He was afterwards, for a 
 short time, employed as a clerk in the office 
 of the clerk of the United States District 
 court in Philadelphia. He then determined 
 to devote himself to the profession of his 
 father, and began the study of law with 
 Gilbert R. Fox, Esq., of Norristown. Pass- 
 ing the usual examination, he was duly ad- 
 mitted to the bar of this couuty April 12, 
 1866, and began the practice of law. In 
 1877 he removed to St. Louis, Mo., with a 
 view of locating there. After a year's trial, 
 however, he returned to Norristown, where 
 he has ever since resided, practicing in his 
 profession. 
 
 He has met with very gratifying suc- 
 cess and acquired an honorable standing 
 at the bar. In politics he adheres to the 
 traditions of his family and is a Democrat, 
 though he has never taken an active part 
 in political affairs. He was president of the 
 Montgomery County Centennial association, 
 which celebrated, in 1884, the centennial of 
 the foundation of Montgomery couuty. His 
 labors in that cause materially promoted its 
 great success. He is now vice president 
 and an active member of the Historical so- 
 ciety of Montgomery couuty, in which he 
 takes great interest. 
 
 On February 22, 1881, Joseph Fornance 
 was married to Ellen, daughter of Colonel 
 Thomas P. Knox, of Norristown, Pennsyl- 
 vania, ex-State senator from Montgomery 
 county. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Fornance have been 
 born three children, only two of whom 
 survive : Joseph Knox, born September 16, 
 1882 ; Eleanor, born November 15, 1883, 
 and died July 10, 1893 ; and Lois, born Oc- 
 tober 28, 1885. 
 
 TAMES P. FAMOUS, contractor and 
 *J inventor, a son of John R. and Re- 
 becca (Peters) Famous, was born August 31, 
 1859, in Lower Merion township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania. His pater- 
 nal grandfather, Jacob Famous, was a far- 
 mer by occupation and lived nearly all his 
 life in Lower Merion township. He was a 
 Republican in politics. He was the father 
 of a family of five children. One of his sons 
 was John R. Famous (father), who was born 
 on the old homestead in Lower Merion, 
 where he grew to manhood and was edu- 
 cated in the common schools. He engaged 
 in farming and followed that occupation for 
 a number of years, but finally entered the 
 employ of the Philadelphia and Reading 
 Railroad company. He was a Republican 
 politically and a Baptist in religious belief. 
 His death occurred in 1863, when he was in 
 the thirty-seventh year of his age. In 1854 
 he married Rebecca Peters, a daughter of 
 James Peters, of Lower Providence, and by 
 that union had a family of three children, 
 two of whom are still living : Jacob A, 
 James P., and Man - Emma, who became 
 the wife of William C. Benner, is now de- 
 ceased. 
 
 James P. Famous lived in Lower Provi- 
 dence township until he was ten years of 
 age, attending the public schools. In 1869 
 he entered Girard College in Philadelphia, 
 from which institution he was graduated in 
 1877. He was then apprenticed to his step- 
 father, William Hallowell, to learn the trade 
 of bricklayer. After serving an apprentice- 
 ship of four years, he worked at the trade 
 for his step-father for seven years, and then 
 embarked in business for himself as a gen- 
 eral contractor and builder. He has fol- 
 lowed this business ever since and has been 
 successful. In 1894 he erected the large 
 Hartranft school house in Norristown, and 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 285 
 
 is now (1895) engaged in constructing the 
 new brick market house in the same bor- 
 ough. He has executed contracts for brick- 
 work for many of the leading builders of 
 Norristown, and also erected the Norristown 
 Steel works in 1S91. His work has always 
 given satisfaction, and he is winning repu- 
 tation as a contractor and builder. 
 
 In politics Mr. Famous is a staunch Re- 
 publican and has served three years as a 
 member of the Norristown council, in which 
 he was chairman of the fire committee. He 
 is an active and influential member of the 
 Lutheran church, and is also a member of 
 Curtis Lodge No 239, Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows, in which he has passed all the 
 chairs, and is likewise connected with the 
 Patriotic Order Sons of America. 
 
 In connection with his contracting and 
 building business, Mr. Famous is something 
 of an inventor, and claims the honor of in- 
 venting the spirit level and inclinometer 
 for builders' use. He is a member of the 
 Pennsylvania Steel Casting company, of 
 Norristown, and of the association of Ameri- 
 can inventors. 
 
 On February 27, 1884, Mr. Famous was 
 united in marriage to Ella E. Henninger, 
 a daughter of David J. and Rachel A. Hen- 
 ninger, of Norristown. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Famous have been born four children, one 
 son and three daughters The eldest, a son, 
 and the youngest daughter are living : 
 George H. and Marian A. The others were 
 twin daughters : Evelyn E. and Rachel A., 
 and both died in infancy. 
 
 HORACE AUGUSTUS K. THOMAS, 
 a good business man, of Norristown, 
 Pennsylvania, is the only son of the late 
 Augustus and Elizabeth (Koons) Thomas, 
 
 and was born July 18, 1863, at Tylersport, 
 Montgomery county, Pa. The family is of 
 Welsh descent and has been resident in 
 eastern Pennsylvania since early times. 
 William Thomas, paternal grandfather of 
 the subject of this sketch, was born at 
 Swamp, this county, in 1807, and died at 
 Tylersport in 1876, aged sixty-nine years. 
 He was reared in his native place, but 
 latterly removed to Tylersport and retired. 
 He was a popular hotel man and conducted 
 numerous hostleries throughout this section 
 of the Keystone State, becoming well and 
 favorably known in the greater part of east- 
 ern Pennsylvania. A man of character and 
 purpose, he was a devoted member of the 
 Reformed church and early identified him- 
 self with the Jacksonian wing of the Demo- 
 cratic party, which he supported all his life. 
 He married Rebecca Fritz and reared a fam- 
 ily of four sons : Lucian, now deceased ; 
 Augustus (father), also dead ; Henry and 
 Frank. Augustus Thomas (father) was born 
 at Swamp, this county. He secured a good 
 common school education, and then engaged 
 in mercantile pursuits, which, together with 
 auctioneering, he followed during nearly all 
 his active life. The last twelve years of his 
 life was passed at Norristown, where he died 
 September 21, 1892, at the age of sixty-two 
 years. For fifteen years he was a director 
 in the Souderton National bank. He was 
 a Democrat in politics and for thirty years 
 served as postmaster at Tylersport, being 
 exempt from military duty during the war 
 on account of holding this office. In relig- 
 ion he was a strict member and for many 
 years a trustee of the Reformed church. He 
 was also for man}- years a member of the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He 
 married Elizabeth Koons, a native of this 
 county and a daughter of James Koons. By 
 that union he had a family of three child- 
 
286 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ren, one son and two daughters : Horace A. 
 K., the subject of this sketch; Annie and 
 Naoma. 
 
 Horace Augustus K. Thomas, was reared 
 at Tylersport, this county, and in the pub- 
 lic schools there received his elementary 
 education, which was afterward supple- 
 mented by two terms in Ursinus college. 
 He first came to Norristown about 1882, re- 
 maining here until 1S88, when he formed a 
 partnership with Frank Thomas, an uncle, 
 under the firm name of F. & H. Thomas, 
 and embarked in the general mercantile 
 business at Argus, Bucks county, Pa. In 
 1S90 he returned to Xorristown, where he 
 became a partner in the mercantile firm of 
 Geiger & Thomas, and has ever since been 
 engaged in general merchandising in this 
 borough. Their place of business is at Xo. 
 523 Main street, where by careful attention 
 to business and energy, these gentlemen 
 have succeeded in building up a valuable 
 trade which is even - year becoming larger 
 and more profitable. 
 
 On November 28, 1S94, Mr. Thomas was 
 married to Anna Morrison, a daughter of 
 George Morrison, of Philadelphia. In poli- 
 tics Mr. Thomas is a Democrat, and in re- 
 ligious faith also adheres to the traditions of 
 his ancestors, being an active member and 
 deacon of the Trinity Reformed church, of 
 Xorristown. He is also a member of Mont- 
 gomery Lodge Xo. 57, Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows, of Xorristown. 
 
 THOMAS J. BUTCHER, manager of the 
 sheet-iron department of Alan Wood 
 company's large rolling mill at Consho- 
 hocken, is a son of Benajah and Sarah 
 ( Jones) Butcher, and was born at Fee Fee, 
 near St. Louis, Missouri, July 4, i860. The 
 
 Butcher family is of English origin and the 
 founder of the American branch was a mem- 
 ber of the Quaker colony that settled in 
 Burlington, X. J., about 1677. His grand- 
 son, whose Christian name was Benajah, sr., 
 was the father of Benajah Butcher, jr., who 
 was a quiet and steady farmer and died in 
 1850, at sixty-five years of age. He mar- 
 ried Abigail Roberts, of Marlton, X. J., and 
 of the twelve children born unto them in 
 their Xew Jersey home, one was Benajah 
 3rd, the father of the subject of this sketch. 
 Benajah Butcher was born February 2, 1836, 
 received a good English education, and in 
 1859, removed to Fee Fee, St. Louis county, 
 Missouri, where he purchased a farm. He 
 was a Friend and a Republican, and died 
 May 31, 1864, at the early age of twenty- 
 eight years. He married Sarah Jones, and 
 to their union were born two children, a son 
 and a daughter : Thomas J. and Caroline 
 L., who is the wife of William L. Reynolds, 
 a merchant of Gwynedd, this county. Mrs. 
 Butcher afterward married Elwood Holbert 
 of Abington, this county, and went with 
 him to Xeodesha, Kansas, where she died 
 September 12, 1871, in the thirty fifth year 
 of her age. She was the daughter of John 
 and Phoebe (Buckman) Jones, of Gwynedd, 
 this county. 
 
 Thomas J. Butcher, after the death of his 
 mother, when but eleven years of age, came 
 alone to Pennsylvania and made his home 
 principally on the farm of Chalkley Styer, 
 his uncle, in Whitpain township. After 
 being graduated from the Xorristown public 
 schools in 1S79, he took a course in mathe- 
 matics at Treemount seminary under Prof. 
 John W. Loch. Leaving school at the age 
 of twenty-one, he began teaching in the 
 upper end of this county. In 1882 he was 
 elected principal of the public schools of 
 Rahu Station but resigned that position to 
 
/C. d^M. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 287 
 
 take charge of the sheet-iron department of 
 Alan Wood company's rolling mill at Con- 
 shohocken, and has continued in that po- 
 sition ever since. 
 
 On November 15, 1883, Mr. Butcher mar- 
 ried Mary L. Blakey, who was a daughter 
 of Paxson Blakey and Letitia (Smith) 
 Blakey, of Quakertown, Pa., and died May 
 8, 1892, at thirty-five years of age, leaving 
 three children, two sons and a daughter : 
 Chalkley S., Anna S. and T. Herman. Mr. 
 Butcher has since wedded Anna E. Moore, 
 a daughter of William M. and the late Jane 
 ( Wakefield) Moore, of Philadelphia. 
 
 Thomas J. Butcher is a very careful and 
 reliable manager, intelligent, studious and 
 industrious. Pleasant, energetic and ac- 
 commodating, he is popular in social and 
 business circles. He is a Republican in 
 politics, and has been for main' years a 
 member of Plymouth meeting of the So- 
 ciety of Friends. 
 
 HENRY BOBB, M. D., a successful prac- 
 titioner of medicine and a prominent 
 business man of East Greenville, Mont- 
 gomery county, is a son of Henry and 
 Elizabeth (Hillegas) Bobb, and was born 
 at the old Hillegas homestead, in Upper 
 Hanover township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, on December 9, 1846. 
 
 In the early part of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, a company of German emigrants, led 
 by the Reverend George Michael Weiss, a 
 Reformed minister, and a graduate of the 
 University of Heidelberg, seeking to better 
 their fortunes, set sail for America. Sailing 
 from Rotterdam in the ship William and 
 Sarah, they landed at Philadelphia, Sep- 
 tember 18, 1727. Three days later they 
 took the oath of allegiance to the Province 
 
 and immediately thereafter settled in 
 what is now Upper Hanover township, 
 Montgomery county, in a region named by 
 the Indians "Goshenhoppen." 
 
 Among this band of pioneers and fore- 
 runners of civilization, were John Frederick 
 Hillegas, his wife Elizabeth, his sister Bar- 
 bara, and his brother Michael, whose son, 
 Michael, in 1775, was appointed one of the 
 Continental treasurers. Continuing in this 
 position for two years, he was appointed 
 treasurer of the United States, in which ca- 
 pacity he served until 1789, thus being the 
 first treasurer of the United States. John 
 Frederick Hillegas took up a large tract of 
 land along the Perkiomen creek, in the re- 
 gion known as Goshenhoppen, which is 
 near the present borough of East Green- 
 ville. Among his children were George 
 Peter, who was the maternal great-grand- 
 father of Dr. Bobb ; Leopold, who came to 
 this country in 1730, was a soldier in the 
 Revolutionary war. He afterwards settled 
 in the State of New York ; John Adam, 
 who emigrated to the United States in 
 1732, settled in Goshenhoppen, and holds 
 the honor of having built the first grist-mill 
 in at least the upper end of Montgomery 
 county ; and Conrad, who was born at sea. 
 George Peter Hillegas was born February 
 2, 1735, and died September 24, 1810. For 
 many years he was a prosperous farmer of 
 Upper Hanover township, and a prominent 
 member of the New Goshenhoppen German 
 Reformed church. His marriage with Anna 
 Barbara Hornecker resulted in the birth of 
 the following children : Eve, John, Jacob, 
 Frederick, Catharine, Elizabeth, Magdalina 
 and Maria Margrath, who married John 
 ! George Hillegas, the maternal grandfather, 
 ! being a grandson of John Adam. He was 
 J born in Lower Milford township, Lehigh 
 j county, Pennsylvania, on the twenty-eighth 
 
288 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 day of February, 1771. In early manhood 
 he moved to Upper Hanover township, 
 Montgomery county, where he engaged in 
 agriculture and a general mercantile busi- 
 ness. He was possessed of rare business 
 tact and ability, and amassed a considerable 
 fortune. He was one of the most influen- 
 tial men in the upper part of the county, 
 a Democrat in politics, and an official mem- 
 ber of the New Goshenhoppen German Re- 
 formed church. He died May 8, 185 1, and 
 bequeathed his estate to his six children : 
 Charles, George, Jacob, Maria, Elizabeth 
 and Catharine. 
 
 Dr. Bobb traces his paternal ancestry to 
 John Conrad Bobb, who came from Ger- 
 many prior to 1744, for in this year he 
 bought from Christian Beidler one hundred 
 acres of land, including a grist and oil mill, 
 in what is now known as Forgedale, Wash- 
 ington township, Berks county, Pennsylva- 
 nia. He died in 1760, intestate, but the 
 mill continued to be operated by his 
 youngest son, Daniel, great-grandfather, 
 (who was only in his fourteenth year), until 
 1774, when he bought it, continuing its 
 operation until 1827, when he sold it to his 
 son Daniel, (grandfather), born July 26, 
 1781. The mill placing him in comforta- 
 ble circumstances, he retired in 1857. He 
 died February 27, 1866. His oldest son, 
 Henry Bobb (father), was born in Washing- 
 ton township, Berks county, October 10, 
 1809, and died August 13, 1891, at East 
 Greenville. In early life he learned the 
 saddler trade, which he followed until about 
 1840, when he engaged in farming on the 
 old Hillegas homestead, following this oc- 
 cupation successfully until 1868, when he 
 retired. He was a staunch Democrat, and 
 an official member of the Lutheran church. 
 His marriage with Elizabeth Hillegas re- 
 sulted in the birth of five children : James 
 
 Daniel, John, who died in infancy ; John 
 II, who died at the age of ten ; George, who 
 died at the age of twenty-nine ; and Henry 
 Bobb. James Daniel died in his fifty-third 
 year, leaving three children, the eldest of 
 whom, Dr. W. G. Bobb, is now a prominent 
 practitioner in Philadelphia. 
 
 Henry Bobb obtained a good elementary 
 education at East Greenville, Ouakertown, 
 and Washington Hall, Trappe. He taught 
 in the public schools of Upper Hanover 
 township for two years, after which he was 
 for several years a clerk in a general store. 
 Resigning his clerkship, he began to read 
 medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. 
 John G. Hillegas, of Pennsburg, Pa., and 
 was graduated from the University of Penn- 
 sylvania at Philadelphia in 1868. The seven 
 succeeding years he practiced successfully 
 at Herfordville, Berks county, besides 
 yielding a strong influence in building up 
 the town. In the spring of 1875 he moved 
 to East Greenville, where he opened a drug 
 store, conducting it with his practice. He 
 was the preceptor of quite a number of 
 medical students, who are now successfully 
 practicing in various parts of the State. He 
 is also treasurer of the borough, which po- 
 sition he held for fifteen years, of the East 
 Greenville Factory Company (Ltd.), and of 
 the East Greenville Water works. Politi- 
 cally, he affiliates with the Democratic 
 party ; religiously, he is prominently iden- 
 tified with the New Goshenhoppen Re- 
 formed church, and is president of St. 
 John's Reformed chapel at East Greenville. 
 The doctor possesses one of the most beau- 
 tiful homes in the borough, to which he has 
 attached a valuable conservatory, containing, 
 among others, many rare and beautiful 
 tropical plants. On the fourteenth of May, 
 1868, he was married co Maria Catharine, a 
 daughter of Peter Hillegas, a linseed oil 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 289 
 
 manufacturer, residing in Upper Hanover 
 township. To them were born five chil- 
 dren : Vincent Peter, Nevin and Henry 
 Hillegas, all dying in infancy ; Eugene 
 Hillegas, born July 6, 1875, graduated 
 from Franklin and Marshall college in 
 1895, and now studying medicine at the 
 University of Pennsylvania; and Mary 
 Mabel, born August 5, 1882, who is now at- 
 tending school at Perkiomen seminary. 
 
 MARK R. SUPPLEE, a veteran 
 wounded Union soldier of Upper 
 Merion township, and superintendent of 
 Ridge Avenue market of Philadelphia, is 
 a son of Alexander N. and Jane M. (Rambo) 
 Supplee, and was born at Swedes Ford, in 
 Upper Merion township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, April 11, 1836. 
 Zimmerman Supplee, the paternal grand- 
 father of Mark R. Supplee, was a resident 
 of near Matsunk, in the lower part of Up- 
 per Merion township. He was a farmer by 
 occupation, and a Democrat when the 
 Democratic party was in its infancy. His 
 son, Alexander H. Supplee, was born and 
 reared in Upper Merion township, where he 
 passed his life as a farmer, and where he 
 died September 1, 1882, aged seventy nine 
 years. He was a member of the Christian 
 church, and a prominent and active man in 
 township affairs. In 1830 Mr. Supplee 
 married Jane Rambo, who was a daughter 
 of Jonathan Rambo, of Upper Merion 
 township, and died in May, 1881, at seventy- 
 four years of age. They reared a family of 
 four children, three sons and a daughter: 
 Jonathan R., Andrew, Mark R. and Han- 
 nah, wife of Hon. Austin L,. Taggart. 
 
 Mark R. Supplee was reared on a farm, 
 received his education in the common 
 
 19 
 
 schools and was engaged in farming until 
 1861, when he enlisted in Company I, Fifty- 
 first Pennsylvania infantry, as lieutenant, 
 commanded by Colonel John F. Hartranft, 
 major general and afterwards governor of 
 this State. The Fifty-first, under its dis- 
 tinguished commander, made a brilliant 
 record, and Mr. Supplee took part in all of 
 its long exhausting marches and severe and 
 hard fought battles until November 15, 
 1864, when he was discharged from the 
 Federal service on account of wounds. He 
 participated in the battles of Roanoke 
 Island, Newbern, Second I Hill Run, Chan- 
 tilly, South Mountain, Antietam and Fred- 
 ericksburg, where he was wounded and 
 sent to a hospital at Alexandria. Recover- 
 ing from his wound, he re-joined his regi- 
 ment at Paris, Kentucky, and was with it 
 in the siege of Vicksburg, and in the expe- 
 dition that drove Johnson from Jackson, 
 Mississippi. The fatigue of this campaign 
 rendered him unable for a time for active 
 field service, and he was placed in the in- 
 valid corps, where he remained until his 
 first term of enlistment expired. He then 
 re-enlisted and joined the regiment at Nor- 
 ristown, Pa., under Hartranft, took part in 
 the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylva- 
 nia, Cold Harbor, North Anna, South 
 Anna and Petersburg, and then had charge 
 of the brigade ambulance until his old 
 wound became so troublesome that he was 
 discharged for disability on that account. 
 
 Returning home from the army, he was 
 engaged in farming until 1865, when he 
 was appointed assistant revenue collector 
 for the township of Upper and Lower 
 Merion and the borough of Bridgeport. 
 Three years later he retired from that office 
 and resumed farming at the place where he 
 now resides, near the village "t Abrams, 
 and two miles from Bridgeport. His farm- 
 
290 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ing operations brought hirn in contact with 
 many of those interested in the Farmers' 
 market of Philadelphia, and in 1887 he was 
 elected to his present position as superin- 
 tendent of the Ridge Avenue Farmers' 
 market of that city. Mr. Supplee is a 
 Democrat, has held various offices, and has 
 been for thirty years a member of Charity 
 Lodge Xo. 190, Free and Accepted Masons, 
 in which he has passed all the chairs. 
 
 On February 17, 1869, Mr. Supplee mar- 
 ried Hannah Baker, a daughter of Benjamin 
 Baker, of Xorriton township, Montgomery 
 county, Pa. To their union have been born 
 eight children : Florence, deceased ; Benja- 
 min Baker, Linford R., Frank A., Bertha 
 K., Warren E., Man - C. and H. Ethel Sup- 
 plee. 
 
 EDWARD ELSEXHAXS, clerk of the 
 board of supervisors of Montgomery 
 county, is a native of Xorristown, where he 
 was born December 12, 1858. He is a son 
 of Gotlieb and Susanna (Laufer) Elsen- 
 hans, the former born at Wurtemberg, 
 Germany, and the latter a native of Switzer- 
 land. Mr. Elsenhans has resided in 
 Xorristown all his life, being educated in 
 the public schools here. After leaving 
 school he learned the trade of baker, in- 
 cluding all kinds of fancy cakes, and 
 carried on that business for a period of six 
 years. He then became a transcriber in 
 the commissioners' office at Xorristown, 
 and in 1887 was appointed to the position 
 of clerk to the county commissioners, 
 which place he has acceptably occupied 
 ever since. He is now serving his third 
 term in that position, and for six years was 
 assessor in the Second ward, of Xorristown. 
 For a number of years Mr. Elsenhans 
 has been identified with several secret 
 
 societies, being a member of Charity 
 Lodge Xo. 190, Free and Accepted Masons; 
 Montgomery Lodge Xo. 57, Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows ; Beaver Tribe Xo. 
 62, Improved Order of Red Men ; and also 
 of the Ancient Order of Good Fellows, 
 Brotherhood of the Union, and Knights of 
 Friendship. He is a Republican in politics, 
 and takes an active interest in everything 
 connected with political or public affairs. 
 
 On June 6, 18S1, Mr. Elsenhans was mar- 
 ried to Dianna Schlotter, a daughter of 
 George and Mary Schlotter, of Xorristown, 
 and to them were born three children : 
 Wallace, now deceased ; George and Edith. 
 Mrs. Elsenhans died in 1885, and on Janu- 
 ary 23, 1890, Mr. Elsenhans was again 
 married, wedding for his second wife Ella 
 Hunsicker, a daughter of George Z. Hun- 
 sicker, of Franconia township, this county. 
 To this union have been born two children: 
 Edward, deceased : and William R , now 
 in the third year of his age. 
 
 The Elsenhans' are descended from an 
 old German family, residing in Wurtem- 
 berg, where John Elsenhans, paternal 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch, 
 lived and died. His son, Gotlieb Elsen- 
 hans (father), was reared and educated in 
 the fatherland, but while yet a young man, 
 in 1854, crossed the ocean and settled with 
 his young wife at Xorristown, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania. He was a black- 
 smith by trade and followed that occupation 
 all his life. In politics he was a Republi- 
 can, and in religion an active member and 
 trustee of the Evangelical church. In 
 1852 he married Susanna Laufer, a native 
 of Switzerland, and by that tinion had a 
 family of seven children, four of whom 
 died in infancy. Those who lived to reach 
 maturity are . Edward, whose name intro- 
 duces this sketch ; Emma, now the wife of 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 291 
 
 William Hendricks, and Mary who married 
 Charles Robeson. Gotlieb Elsenhans died 
 in [87 5, at the age of forty-six, and his 
 wife still survives, being now in the sixty- 
 second year of her age. 
 
 DR. AMBROSE C. HERMAN, who for 
 the past seven years has been in the 
 active practice of medicine at Lansdale, 
 Montgomery county, Pa., was born at Maxa- 
 tawny, Berks county, on May 24, 1858. He 
 comes from a family that has been dis- 
 tinguished in Pennsylvania historv for over 
 a century. This family is noted for 
 having given to this and their original 
 native country a minister of the gospel or 
 a teacher in each generation for the last two 
 hundred years, and the subject of this 
 sketch is the first of the family to go out to 
 another profession in taking that of medi- 
 cine. The Herman family has for the last 
 one hundred years and over, done a great 
 deal for the spiritual welfare of Mont- 
 gomery and other nearby counties. The 
 first member of this family to emigrate to 
 America was Rev. Lebrecht Frederick Her- 
 man, who was a Doctor of Divinity in the 
 Reformed church. He was the great-grand- 
 father of Dr. A. C. Herman, and was 
 sent to this country in 1786. He was born 
 in Guesten, principality of Anhalt-Cothen, 
 October 9, 1761, and was a son of Frederick 
 Gottlieb and Dorothea (Wartman) Herman. 
 Having finished his studies in 1782, he was 
 called to Bremen as an assistant preacher. 
 Three years later the deputies of the synods 
 of Holland, who had charge of the Re- 
 formed church in America, called on him 
 to go to Pennsylvania, to assist in minister- 
 ing to the people of the German Reformed 
 church in that State. In February, 1786, 
 
 he was ordained for the foreign service at 
 the Hague, and landed in America in 
 August of the same year. This earnest 
 worker in the cause of Christ immediately 
 began the service of his life, and from that 
 time until January, 1848, he was indefatiga- 
 ble and tireless in his religious labors. 
 Commencing with the congregations at 
 Easton, Plainfield, Dryland and Greenwich, 
 he worked year after year spreading the 
 gospel and making many converts. For 
 twelve years, dating from 1790, he served 
 the congregations of Germantown and 
 Fraukford, preaching both in English and 
 German. He then went to Swamp, Potts- 
 town and St. Vincent, where he preached 
 to those three congregations in the German 
 language. In the meantime, as the educa- 
 tional facilities were of so mediocre and un- 
 satisfactory character, Dr. Herman prepared 
 many young men for the ministry. Among 
 these were five of his own sons, and many 
 divines, who became noted in the Reformed 
 church . The year after he came to America 
 he was joined in wedlock with Mary Johanna, 
 daughter of Daniel and Mary Fiedt, and 
 they had several children. He died on Janu- 
 ary 30, 1848, aged eighty-six years, three 
 months and twenty-two days. For sixty 
 years he labored in the vineyard, and during 
 that time he baptised 8,555, confirmed 4,600, 
 married 2,600 couples, buried 2,280, and 
 preached 10,080 times. 
 
 Rev. Charles Gebler Herman was the 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
 He was born October 24, 1792, in German- 
 town. He studied under his father and 
 was ordained at Swamp church, May 1810. 
 His first chaiges were the Kutztown and 
 DeLong's congregations in Berks county. 
 More congregations were soon added until 
 he was attending to ten with the help 
 of his son, Rev. J. S. Herman. The 
 
292 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 charges that he filled from 1810 to 1861, 
 when ill-health compelled him to retire, 
 were as follows: DeLong's, Kutztown, 
 Hnft's, Oley, Windor, Gernaut's, St. Peter's, 
 Drinkers, Weiss' Zion, Fogel's, Mertztown 
 and Lehigh. He was present at twelve 
 corner-stone layings, twenty chnrch dedica- 
 tions, and organized five new congregations. 
 He married Esther, daughter of Jacob and 
 Maria Sassaman, on January 14, 1815. They 
 had six children, three sons and three 
 daughters. His wife died in 1851, and he 
 ended a busy and beautiful career on Au- 
 gust 4, 1863, aged seventy years, nine 
 months and eleven days. His death oc- 
 curred on the homestead at Maxatawny. 
 
 Rev. Alfred Jasper Herman, a son of 
 Rev. Charles Gebler Herman, and the fa- 
 ther of the subject of this sketch, was born 
 at Maxatawny, Berks county, and resides 
 there at the present time. He attended the 
 common schools of his day, and then took 
 a several year's course at a New York col- 
 lege. He was ordained to the Reformed 
 ministry, and has been an able successor of 
 his father and grandfather in the great 
 work. He is known as the Reformed min- 
 ister of the Fogelsville, Seiberlingsville, 
 Weisenberg and Wessnerville churches. 
 This is only half of the churches that were 
 in his charge a few years ago. He was 
 married to Isabella Grim, and three chil- 
 dren were born to bless this union. These 
 are Anna, wife of Dr. Richard H. Beck, of 
 Hecktown, Pa. ; Dr. Ambrose C, our sub- 
 ject ; and George C, who is a resident of 
 Berks county. 
 
 Dr. A. C. Herman was also born on the 
 old homestead, and passed his early life at- 
 tending the common schools of the district. 
 He then took a two years classical course at 
 the Keystone State Normal school, prepara- 
 tory for college, leaving there when he was 
 
 fourteen years old, he entered the sophomore 
 class of Franklin and Marshall college, 
 Lancaster City, Pa., and graduated from 
 that institution in 1S77. He decided on 
 medicine as a profession, and read for it 
 under Dr. A. L. Hottenstine, of Kutztown, 
 Pa. He then entered the medical depart- 
 ment of the University of Pennsylvania, 
 graduating in March, i88r. He immedi- 
 ately began the practice of his profession at 
 Topton, Berks county, and remained there 
 nine years, when he came to Montgomery 
 county, and located at Lansdale. Here he 
 soon built up a large practice, and to-day is 
 one of the most successful men of his pro- 
 fession in the county. He is a physician of 
 superior ability and commands the respect 
 and esteem of everyone in his vicinage. 
 
 ( hi the first of August, 1882, Dr. Herman 
 and Alice Breinig, daughter of Thomas C. 
 Breinig, of Breinigsville, Lehigh county, 
 Pa., were joined in wedlock. Three chil- 
 dren have been born to them as follows : 
 Alfred J., Thomas B. and Marion. 
 
 CHARLES O. F. TREICHLER, one 
 of the founders, editors and proprie- 
 tors of the Perkiomen Ledger, at East 
 Greenville, this county, is a son of Joseph 
 M. and Matilda (Gery) Treichler, and was 
 born June 17, 1864, at Palm, this county. 
 The family is of German origin, and his 
 grandfather on the paternal side of the 
 family, Samuel Treichler, was one of the 
 earlier settlers in the vicinity of the present 
 village of Treichlersville, Berks county, 
 which village was named after the family. 
 He was a man of enterprise, and possessed 
 a thorough going spirit. He was a mer- 
 chant and farmer, and owned the greater 
 portion of the land upon which the village 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 293 
 
 now stands. There he spent an active and 
 industrious life, and there also he died. 
 He was a Republican and a member of the 
 Reformed church. In the villiage which 
 bears the family name, Joseph M. Treichler 
 (father) was born, April 25, 1825. When 
 a young man just starting on the rugged 
 road of life, he assisted in the store and 
 huckstered for a number of years. He 
 was married to Matilda Gery in 1855, 
 daughter of John W., and Kate (Glauser) 
 Gery. They were blessed with eight 
 children: Sarah J., who died in 1S61 ; 
 Catharine, who died in 1858 ; the third 
 was born dead; Laura O, who died in 
 1861 ; John S. , who is a member of the 
 firm of J. S. Treichler & Bro., publishers 
 and proprietors of the Perhiomen Ledger, 
 but is employed as a printer on the Even- 
 ing Bulletin, in Philadelphia ; Charles 
 O. F , subject ; Rosa R., and Phoebe H. 
 In 1855 he went into the hotel business at 
 Emaus, Lehigh county, and a few years 
 later moved on a small farm near Palm, 
 this county. In 1864 he went into the 
 store business at Palm, where he continued 
 until 1874 In 1873 he opened the Palm 
 hotel, and conducted the same several 
 years, when he retired to private life. He 
 is a Republican, and served as postmaster 
 at Palm from 1864 to 1874, and is a member 
 of the Reformed church. 
 
 Charles O. F. Treichler in his early years 
 obtained a common school education, and 
 when fifteen years of age he started to learn 
 the printing trade in the office of the Bauer n 
 Freund, Pennsburg, and later worked on 
 the Daily Times and Norristown Herald, 
 at Norristown. Afterward for two and 
 one-half years he was foreman on the 
 Weekly Times, at Springtown, Bucks 
 county. In November, 1890, he became 
 one of the principal founders of the Perkio- 
 
 tnen Ledger, a paper of Republican princi- 
 ples, and devoted to the local interests of 
 the community and the surrounding 
 counties. In connection with the publi- 
 cation of the Ledger, he does a prosperous 
 business as a job printer. He is an active 
 worker in the Republican party, and is 
 secretary of the Perkiomen Valley Republi- 
 can Club, of which he was one of the chief 
 organizers. He is a member of Washing- 
 ton Camp No. 649, P. O. S. of A.; Green- 
 ville Lodge No. 232, Knights of Pythias, 
 and a member of the New Goshenhoppeu 
 Reformed Church. 
 
 TRVIN B. SPATZ, superintendent and 
 I electrician of the Citizens' Passenger 
 railway company, of Norrisiown, is a son 
 of Cyrus K. and Catharine (Bernhardt) 
 Spatz, and was born March 14, 1S69, near 
 Reading, Berks county, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Grandfather, on the paternal side of the 
 family, William Valentine Spatz, was born 
 in Bern township, Berks county, this State. 
 He was a farmer by avocation, owning two 
 hundred and ten acres near Reading, upon 
 which he lived most of his life and where 
 he died. He was a Democrat politically, 
 and religiously he subscribed to the dogmas 
 of the Reformed church, in which he was 
 prominent as a member and as an official, 
 holding the offices of deacon and elder. 
 He married Elizabeth Kauffman, and seven 
 children were born to this union : Cyrus 
 K., Levi, William, Jonathan, Lavina, 
 Helen and Amelia. The father of Irvin 
 Spatz, Cyrus K. Spatz, was born on the old 
 Spatz homestead, in Bern township, upon 
 which he resided until marriage, and after- 
 ward moved upon his own farm, in Muhl- 
 enberg township, upon which he still 
 
294 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 resides, an industrious and intelligent 
 fanner. He is also a member of the Re- 
 formed church, and like his father, has 
 always manifested an enthusiastic spirit in 
 all forms of church work. He is a member 
 of Muhlenberg Castle, Knights of the 
 Golden Eagle ; a member of the Muhlen- 
 berg school board, and has been treasurer 
 of that body for the past six years, which 
 office he is still holding. His marriage to 
 Catharine Bernhardt, daughter of John 
 Bernhardt, of Muhlenberg township, re- 
 sulted in the birth of two sons and three 
 daughters : Irvin (subject), Wilson, Katie, 
 Ella and Florence. 
 
 Irvin Spatz was educated in the public 
 schools of his native township, the Reading 
 business college, at Reading, Pennsylvania, 
 and the West Chester State Normal school, 
 at West Chester, Pennsylvania. After 
 leaving the Normal school he taught two 
 terms of school, and then for a short time 
 was engaged by Shepp brothers, publishers, 
 of Philadelphia. Then after a short ex- 
 perience of about one year as a meat mer- 
 chant, at Reading, he took a position for a 
 similar time in the machine department of 
 the Philadelphia and Reading railroad 
 company, at Reading. Leaving this em- 
 ployment he was next engaged for three 
 years in the service of the Reading and 
 Southwestern electric railway company, of 
 the same city, and on August 14, 1893, 
 became superintendent and electrician for 
 the Citizen's Passenger railway company, 
 of Norristown, a position he has held ever 
 since. In addition to the above, Mr. Spatz 
 is a director of the Conshohocken railway 
 company, and the Alfred Slocum Printing 
 company, of Philadelphia. He is a Demo- 
 crat in political texture, and a member of 
 the Reformed church, and of Lexington 
 Commandery No. 2, P. O. S. of A. 
 
 To the marriage, on May 14, 1889, of Mr. 
 vSpatz and Mary Shepp, daughter of John 
 Shepp, of Reading, have been born three 
 children : Mabel I, Charles I, and Laura M. 
 
 IRVIN H. BARDMAN, editor and pro- 
 1 prietor of the Schwenksville Item, is a 
 son of John S. and Matilda S. (Hauck) 
 Bardmau, and was born in Frederick town- 
 ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 August 22, 1858. The Bardmans can claim 
 and point with pride to their old world 
 home in a province of the present great 
 German Empire, whose unification was 
 achieved by William I. and Prince Bis- 
 marck. The paternal great-great-grand- 
 father of the subject of this sketch, was a 
 native of Germany, and became one of the 
 earlv settlers of the northern part of Mont- 
 gomery county, where his grandson, James 
 Bardmau, was born September 11, 1809, 
 and died December 3, 1887. James Bard- 
 man was a farmer and blacksmith in New 
 Hanover township, where he was a member 
 of the Swamp Lutheran church. He was 
 married four times, and reared in all a 
 family of nine children. By his first wife, 
 Polly Shoenly, he had one son, John S. 
 Bardmau, who was born in Douglas town- 
 ship, February 2, 1834. John S. Bardmau 
 is a blacksmith by trade, and since attain- 
 ing his majority, has resided in Frederick 
 township, where he owns and cultivates a 
 small, but productive farm. He is a mem- 
 ber of Keelor's Lutheran church ; Zieglers- 
 ville Lodge No. 247, Knights of Pythias ; 
 and Perkiomenville Lodge No. 367, Inde- 
 pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a 
 Democrat, and served two terms as school 
 director, while he is now serving his fifth 
 vear as constable and tax collector of his 
 
J 
 
 V <r^ l < wo / // r I 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 295 
 
 township. Mr. Bardman married Matilda 
 Samsel Hauck, whose father, Simon Boyer 
 Hanek, is a comfortably situated farmer of 
 Frederick township. Mr. and Mrs. Bard- 
 man have reared a family of four children, 
 one son and three daughters. 
 
 Irvin H. Bardman was reared on the 
 small farm, received his education in the 
 public schools of Frederick township, Potts- 
 town, and Washington Hall Collegiate in- 
 stitute, of Trappe, and taught in the public 
 schools from 1876 up to 1883. In the last 
 named year he succeeded Rev. N. B. Grubb 
 as editor and publisher of the Schwenks- 
 ville Item, which was founded in 1877. The 
 Hem was started a four-column folio, 15x22, 
 but now, under Mr. Bardman's manage- 
 ment, it has been increased to eight columns 
 to the page, 26x40 inches. The former 
 circulation of the paper was about one 
 thousand copies, but the energy and enter- 
 prise displayed by its present proprietor, has 
 increased the subscription list to over twen- 
 ty-two hundred. The Item is an indepen- 
 dent weekly paper, and presents fully the 
 general news of the day and local happen- 
 ings of the country, while it does not fear 
 to attack an}' evil, and advocates all needed 
 reforms. In connection with his newspaper, 
 he conducts a large and well-equipped job 
 printing office. Mr. Bardman is a Republi- 
 can in politics, but he never held any 
 political office, except a local one in the 
 township, but he was a delegate to the Re- 
 publican State convention in 1S92. He is 
 a member of the Schweuksville Lutheran 
 church, of whose Sunday-school he has 
 been superintendent since its organization 
 in 1889. He is a member of Perkiomenville 
 Lodge No. 367, Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows ; Washington Camp No. 387, Pa- 
 triotic Order Sons of America ; Zieglerville 
 Lodge No. 247, Knights of Pythias ; Iron 
 
 Bridge Castle No. 104, Knights of the 
 Golden Eagle ; and Schweuksville Circle 
 No. 117, B. U. (H. F.)of Pa. 
 
 On October 18, 1881, Irvin H. Bardman 
 married Mahala Hummel, a daughter of the 
 late Samuel Hummel, of Nescopeck, Lu- 
 zerne county, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Bardman 
 have one child, a sou, named Jay Stanley, 
 who was born December 29, 1883. 
 
 JAMES Ml )IR, president of the Consho- 
 hockeu Woolen company, and one of 
 the leading woolen manufacturers of Penn- 
 sylvania, was born in Aberdeenshire, Scot- 
 land, July 18, 1820. He received a limited 
 education, which he afterwards supple- 
 mented by reading and self-study. In 1841, 
 he came to this country, where he first lo- 
 cated at Watertown, Jefferson county, New- 
 York. He resided in New York State four- 
 teen years and was engaged in manufac- 
 turing. In 1856 he went to Philadelphia, 
 and in 1859, removed to Conshohocken, as 
 superintendent for Thomas Hershaw, who, 
 in 1861, sold out to Bullock's Sons. Until 
 1873 he was manager of this firm, when he 
 entered into partnership with George and 
 James Bullock, under the firm name of 
 George Bullock & Company. The partner- 
 ship continued under that heading until 
 1881, when the partners organized a joint 
 stock company under the name and title of 
 the Coushocken Worsted mills. This new 
 company operated the Conshohocken 
 Woolen mills, the Norristown Woolen mills 
 and the Conshohocken Worsted mills. In 
 the interest of the last named mills, Mr. Moir 
 went to France to examine and study French 
 worsted machinery, which was afterward in- 
 troduced into the worsted mills at Consho- 
 hocken. Mr. Moir acted as superintendent 
 
296 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 and general manager of all the mills up to 
 
 1888, when he withdrew from the company. 
 The next vear George Bullock died, and 
 Mr. Moir was appointed assignee of the 
 company and took charge of its affairs 
 and closed up its business, which he did 
 in a satisfactory manner. 
 
 In iSqi Mr. Moir organized the Con- 
 shohocken Woolen company, of which he 
 is president. Their plant is thoroughly 
 equipped, has thirteen sets of machines with 
 a capacity of seven thousand yards of goods 
 per week. They employ a force of two 
 hundred and seventy men, and manufacture 
 diagonals, tweeds and government blue 
 cloth. In addition to conducting the ex- 
 tensive business of this large plant, he is 
 interested in cotton manufacturing at Pied- 
 mont, Alabama. 
 
 Aside from manufacturing, he has en- 
 gaged in other lines of business. He is 
 interested in the prosperity of his borough 
 and county, and has been for some years a 
 stockholder in the Montgomery County 
 Trust company, the First National bank of 
 Conshohocken, and the First National bank 
 of Norristowu. 
 
 Mr. Moir is a member of the Con- 
 shohocken Gas and Longmead Iron com- 
 panies, and owns a stock farm of six hun- 
 dred acres of land in Goochland county, 
 Virginia, upon which he raises a large num- 
 ber of horses, mules and cattle. He is a 
 Republican in politics, but not a politician. 
 In educational affairs he takes a deep in. 
 terest, and has served for eighteen years as 
 a member of the West Conshohocken school 
 board, of which he was president for sev- 
 eral terms. Mr. Moir lias been for many 
 years a prominent Free Mason, having 
 passed through lodge, chapter, commandery 
 and consistory, and is now a thirty-second 
 degree or Scottish Rite Mason. 
 
 James Moir has been the architect of his 
 own fortune in the busy and important 
 sphere of business life in which lie moves 
 and lias been so useful. In every position 
 which he has occupied, both in the old and 
 the new world, he has made an enviable 
 record for ability, judgment and untiring 
 industry. 
 
 HOWARD WOOD, the president of the 
 Alan Wood company of Conshohocken, 
 is a resident of the town, in which the 
 sheet and plate iron mills of which he is the 
 manager, are situated. To Mr. Wood's re- 
 cent ancestors and to members of his family 
 of the present generation, Conshohocken 
 owes much, if not nearly all, of its develop- 
 ment and prosperity, and of whatever at- 
 tractive qualities it may possess. 
 
 Mr. Wood was born in Philadelphia, the 
 son of Alan Wood, sr., and Ann (Hunter) 
 Wood, on February 8, 1846. He was edu- 
 cated in the University of Pennsylvcnia, 
 graduating from that institution at the age 
 of eighteen years, with the highest honors, 
 in 1864. He then visited Europe, and upon 
 his return entered the iron mills of Alan 
 Wood &: Co., to prepare himself for par- 
 ticipation in the business. Mr. Wood is 
 fifth in descent from James Wood, who 
 came from Dublin and settled in Mont- 
 gomery county about 1720. His mother 
 was a grand-daughter of Colonel William 
 Dewees, who owned Valley Forge and lived 
 there when Washington made his winter 
 quarters there during the Revolution. Col. 
 Dewees distinguished himself in that war 
 in many ways, and interesting stories are 
 told of the valor displayed by his wife in 
 defending and protecting her personal pro- 
 perty during the British occupation of Val- 
 ley Forge. The first ancestor of Mr. Dewees 
 
Biographic a i. Sketches. 
 
 297 
 
 in this country was Cornelius, who came 
 from Holland about 1700 and settled in 
 Gennantown. Another of Mr. Wood's an- 
 cestors was Jasper Fanner, who purchased 
 from William Penn, by a patent, dated 
 January 31, 16S3, a tract of land containing 
 5,000 acres, now Whitemarsh township, Pa. 
 Alan Wood, sr., father of Howard Wood, 
 was born on Christmas day of the year 
 1800, near Blue Bell, Montgomery county. 
 In 1823 he went to Philadelphia- and en- 
 gaged in the iron business with his father, 
 under the firm name of James Wood & 
 Son. Afterwards he purchased the Dela- 
 ware Iron works, on Red Clay creek, near 
 Wilmington, Delaware. In 1856 the firm 
 of Alan Wood & Co. was formed, and a 
 small rolling mill was built, which has 
 been steadily enlarged until the works now 
 have a capacity of 20,000 tons of sheet and 
 plate iron, and employ about six hundred 
 hands. The establishment occupies fifteen 
 acres, and it is fitted throughout with the 
 latest improved machinery. The first regu- 
 lar position taken by Howard Wood under 
 his father was that of shipping clerk, and 
 he then came in for regular promotion until 
 1886, when the firm of Alan Wood & Co. 
 was incorporated under the name of the Alan 
 Wood Company, with Mr. Wood as presi- 
 dent. The other directors of the eompanv 
 were and still are Alan Wood, jr., Charles 
 Lukens, Thomas Wilkinson, and Jonathan 
 R. Jones. 
 
 In politics Mr. Wood is a staunch Repub- 
 lican, and has always taken an active in- 
 terest in the affairs of his party. He is a 
 member of the following societies : Ameri- 
 can Society of Mining Engineers, Engi- 
 neers' Club, Pennsylvania Genealogical So- 
 ciety, Pennsylvania Historical Society, 
 Franklin Institute, Union League of Phila- 
 delphia, Art Club, the University Club, 
 
 Manufacturers' Club, the Sons of the Revo- 
 lution, and others. 
 
 On January 28, 1869, ^ Ir - Wood married 
 Mary, daughter of William Canby Piddle, 
 a hardware merchant of Philadelphia. 
 They have had nine children : Piddle, 
 Helen B., Alan 3d, Howard, jr., Clement 
 B., Owen B., died in infancy ; Rachel P., 
 Marion 15., and Dorothy, died in infancv. 
 
 Mr. Wood devotes himself closely to the 
 large and successful operations conducted 
 by his company. He is active, industrious, 
 energetic, possessing in a marked degree 
 the qualities which enable him to direct in 
 an effective manner considerable bodies of 
 workmen, and to manage not only the 
 wider movements, but the details of a diffi- 
 cult and complicated business. The rather 
 remarkable success of the mills in his 
 charge has been owing to the merits of 
 their products, and the fact that they have 
 never been allowed to decline. 
 
 ANTHONY H. SEIPT, of Skippack, is 
 without question one of the best known 
 and most widely respected business men in 
 Montgomery county. He was engaged in 
 the general merchandise business for mam- 
 years, having been very successful, and 
 held a high place in the mercantile 
 world. He came from good old German 
 ancestry — his paternal grandfather was a 
 Schwenkfelder, who emigrated from .Silesia 
 to America, and was named David (Seibb) 
 Seipt, who with his wife Judith, landed at 
 Philadelphia, September 22, 1734, with a 
 number of other Schwenkfelders. The 
 following is a genealogical record, giving 
 the names of his paternal forefathers : 
 David (Seibb) Seipt, Caspar Seipt, Abra- 
 ham Seipt and George Seipt. Anthony 
 
298 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 H. Seipt, son of George Seipt, was born 
 October 2, 1825 ; married Lydia, daughter 
 of Abraham Detweiler, March 6, 1852. 
 Children : Mary Ann, born October 29, 
 1853, died June 17, 1854; Emma Jane, 
 born February 10, 1855, married to Dr. 
 Samuel Wolfe, of Philadelphia ; Mauilius 
 D., born May 31, i860, unmarried. His 
 wife Lydia died in Jacksonville, Fla., 
 March 1, 1883. On November 20, 1888, he 
 married Mrs. Mary Heckler. 
 
 Mr. Seipt was engaged in farming until 
 1847, when he removed to Elroy and took 
 charge of a store he purchased. After re- 
 maining at Elroy three years, he purchased 
 a store at Providence Square, and remained 
 in business there four years, subsequently 
 he bought a store at Skippack, where he 
 conducted business for twenty nine years, 
 up to 1884, when he retired to private life. 
 Mr. Seipt was president of the Perkiomen 
 R. R. for twenty-one years, and also served 
 as a director in several other roads. He 
 has served as a director for a number of 
 years in several of the largest banking in- 
 stitutions of the county. Since 1884 he 
 has lived in Skippack, in retired life. 
 
 ABRAHAM HARLEY CASSEL, the 
 founder of the Cassel Library and one 
 of the most noted of the American antiquar- 
 ians and collectors of rare and priceless books, 
 pamphlets and documents, has a life history 
 that is full of pathos and romantic incident. 
 ( )n the 2 1st of last September he celebrated 
 the seventy-fifth anniversary of his life, and 
 no doubt on that day he looked back over 
 the three-quarters of a century that he has 
 spent so busily on this sphere and to such 
 good advantage, and could say, " What I 
 have been enabled to accomplish in my 
 
 chosen work is due solely to my own ex- 
 ertions, blessed by a divine providence that 
 gave me strength and energy." There is 
 not in history a more striking example of 
 the self-made man than is found in this man. 
 Many have come from lowliness and reaped 
 garlands of fame on the battle-field and in 
 the forum, both popular places that play on 
 the patriotism and enthusiasm of the people, 
 but there is little sympathy for the man 
 who devotes his life to books and only when 
 his life work has been accomplished and 
 crowned with success, is he at last recog- 
 nized as a great man and a hero, for it is 
 only by the results that his stupendous and 
 glorious work can be appreciated. The 
 general on the field of battle is constantly 
 encouraged by the huzzas of his soldiers and 
 his fellow-countrymen as he gains victory 
 after victory and climbs the ladder of fame; 
 the statesman scores triumph after triumph 
 with every new speech on every new topic, 
 but the "book worm," the man of letters, 
 the bibliophile, stands alone against the 
 many. He is tolerated by the accounted 
 wise, looked on with suspicion by the igno- 
 rant, and the daily, monthly, yearly 
 triumphs he scores go by unnoticed until all 
 at once it is discovered that without sword 
 or tongue, a man has scored a great point 
 in the world of letters and at once the honor 
 and credit that have been denied when it 
 might have been an encouragement to fresh 
 exertions, is showered upon him ; the peo- 
 ple have at last come to realize that there is 
 something beyond the beat of the drum and 
 the bombast of the political platform. And 
 so it was with Abraham Harley Cassel. 
 Forbidden even to read a book by his stern 
 parents, who exerted themselves to keep 
 him from getting an}- education whatever, 
 he showed a determination when still a 
 child, that would have seemed wonderful 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 299 
 
 in one of much older years. There was an 
 inward longing for knowledge that no pa- 
 rental reproof, no hardship imposed, was 
 severe enough to quench, and under the 
 most discouraging difficulties his studies 
 were prosecuted and his love of books was 
 nourished and he prepared for the great 
 work of his life. And now at the sunset 
 time of a long and industrious career, 
 Abraham Cassel lives in peace and quie- 
 tude, away from the tumult of business 
 strife, happy in the love and respect of the 
 literary world of his native country and the 
 esteem of all who have had the good fortune 
 to know him and call him friend. 
 
 Mr. Cassel is a descendant of Johannes 
 Cassel, one of the original German Menno- 
 nite emigrants, who, in 1684, accepted the 
 personal invitation of William Penn and 
 came to this country and located in Penn- 
 sylvania, where they settled first at German- 
 town. Hubert Cassel, a nephew of Johan- 
 nes, is the direct ancestor of Abraham. It 
 is perfectly clear that our subject inherited 
 his love of knowledge and literature from 
 his maternal ancestry, for he is the great- 
 great-grandson of Christopher Saur or Sower, 
 who was a noted scholar and the first Ger- 
 man printer of that name in Germantowu, 
 or so far as known of the Province. Peter 
 Becker, also a prominent man and the first 
 elder of the German Baptist church in 
 America, was also his great-great-grandsire. 
 His own parents were of that sturdy German 
 yeomanry, who at that early time looked 
 with suspicion and fear on anything of an 
 educational character as something that was 
 closely allied with the enemy of religion and 
 Christianity. When Abraham Cassel was 
 born, September 21, 1820, this feeling was 
 deeply rooted in the bosoms of his parents 
 and as he early showed an inclination for 
 study and the pursuit of knowledge, ever}' 
 
 effort was made to crush that spirit out of 
 him. In the process, his father came very 
 near the verge of unnatural cruelty. The 
 little lad was frail at birth and they feared 
 that they would never rear him. At eight 
 years of age he was taught to read by his 
 sister, and when his father saw him take- 
 eagerly to books, he put him to work on 
 the farm and caused him to perform such 
 labor as was ill-fitted even for a strong boy, 
 let alone one who was in delicate health. 
 The parent was only doing his duty, as he 
 saw if, and his severity was only the out- 
 come of a natural desire to benefit his son, 
 but his rigor in no small degree helped to 
 make the student an invalid for life, while 
 it stimulated rather than warped his am- 
 bition to obtain a good education. Long 
 after the mistakes were seen and when the 
 zealous youth had made way for the savant 
 and literateur, those who first dreaded his 
 desire for knowledge, showed him greatest 
 homage for his triumphs. He became and 
 is still the head man of his neighborhood, 
 whose counsels in the Dunker church are 
 always listened to and followed by his 
 brethren, and who is looked upon as an 
 authority on all business and worldly mat- 
 ters by his neighbors. 
 
 Mr. Cassel first saw the light of day at his 
 father's farmhouse in Towamencin town- 
 ship, near Kulpsville, Montgomery county, 
 and here he spent the first fourteen years of 
 his life. His father, in 1835, bought the 
 farm on the banks of Indian Creek, where 
 our subject is now living in happy content- 
 ment, surrounded by main- of the books and 
 pamphlets he loves so well and which cost 
 him so many years of labor. Six miles 
 from the din and rattle of railroad traffic, in 
 fact in a section of virgin husbandry, no one 
 not acquainted would ever dream of look- 
 ing there for one of the most complete and 
 
3oo 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 rare collections of old English and German 
 works of a theological, historical and scien- 
 tific character. Yet here he lived and here 
 he remained and prosecuted his life work, 
 only leaving the farm long enough to travel 
 in search of some rare book, newspaper, 
 pamphlet or document of which he had 
 heard and he often traveled man} - thousands 
 of miles to secure the work he wanted. 
 With the exception of the training in read- 
 ing that he had received at the side of his 
 elder sister's spinning wheel, the only edu- 
 cational advantage Mr. Cassel enjoyed was 
 an attendance of six weeks at a pay school, 
 and this was secured through the help of 
 strangers. It appears that a Philadelphia 
 gentleman, Isaac Wampole by name, Dr. 
 Fronefield and others, hearing of his strug- 
 gles for knowledge, ventured to talk with 
 the boy's father and told him how wrong he 
 was doing in not letting him go to school. 
 He made excuses that he could not spare 
 him and that he could not afford it. Then 
 Mr. Wampole said, " Only give your con- 
 sent and I will pay what it costs," but the 
 father would not do so. Others also remon- 
 strated with him until he got out of humor 
 and said he meant to raise his children ac- 
 cording to the dictates of his own conscience, 
 but since it appeared to be everybody's busi- 
 ness how lie raised one, he guessed he would 
 have to go to school, but he, the father, 
 would, like Pilate, wash his hands of the 
 whole matter and that he would be innocent 
 if the education would prove the lad's ruin. 
 Abraham had his first taste of knowledge 
 and he worked hard on the farm in order to 
 gain time to study. He tells many 
 . interesting anecdotes of his early struggles. 
 He learned to write with a pen made from 
 a chicken feather-quill, and as books were 
 very scarce and costly he had great trouble 
 to get fresh ones, and often he was obliged 
 
 to keep them away from his father. He 
 was denied a corner at the fire-place to read 
 and when he stole off to his bed room and it 
 was later learned that he was engaged in 
 study there instead of being in bed he was 
 bereft of light. In this dilemma he saved 
 twenty-five cents, enough money to buy a 
 box of matches, and a kind-hearted store- 
 keeper for whom he did chores gave him a 
 pound of candles, and then he was able to 
 prosecute his studies. But soon other diffi- 
 culties arose. But in this way he became a 
 fine English and German scholar and was 
 familiar with Greek and Latin. He never 
 had any instruction of any account (cer- 
 tainly none outside of English), but he had 
 the happy faculty of working out the diffi- 
 cult problems for himself, and his education, 
 though obtained under such great diffi- 
 culties, was thorough. 
 
 He worked on the farm with his father and 
 at the tender age of fourteen years was placed 
 in charge of the market wagon and every 
 two weeks made a three days trip to Phila- 
 delphia with a one and sometimes a two- 
 horse load of produce. At the age of 
 eighteen years he was selected as the district 
 school teacher. Before his time the schools 
 in the farming district were kept open only 
 a couple of months during the winter and 
 the teachers were for the most part illiterate 
 and incompetent. Abraham took charge of 
 his school and immediately there was a 
 change. He became known as a thorough 
 instructor, and pupils came far and near to 
 learn from him and his school was kept 
 open six to eleven months out of every 
 year. He continued as a teacher until 1848, 
 when he went to work on his father's farm 
 and continued there ever since. He made 
 a good farmer and by his work on the old 
 homestead amassed a competency. In 1843 
 Mr. Cassel married Elizabeth Rhoades, an 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 301 
 
 English member of the Society of Friends. 
 They had eight children, one son and five 
 daughters are still living, all married bnt 
 one daughter. 
 
 Mr. Cassel's great life work is his rare 
 library, and on this he began before he was 
 ten years old, though, of course it is not to 
 be supposed that he had, at that tender age, 
 any idea of collecting a big library. Still 
 his great thirst for knowledge and inherent 
 love for books showed itself even then, for 
 he worked at all sorts of odd chores for 
 people who paid him, and he saved his 
 small earnings and bought books. It was 
 not until he began to teach school, however, 
 that he really began to realize what an op- 
 portunity he had for making a collection of 
 rare books. He was particularly interested 
 in the history of his church and the people 
 who settled his district and the German 
 language. As it was customary in those 
 days, and even up to very recent years, the 
 country school teachers " boarded around" 
 among the families of their pupils. That 
 is, they would spend one night at one house 
 and the next night at another and so on 
 until the whole school term was finished. 
 This custom gave Abraham a splendid op- 
 portunity to search the houses, and especially 
 the garrets for old books and he secured 
 many, especially rare Bibles and books that 
 had been brought from Germany, and many 
 of these books were very valuable and are 
 not to be found in duplicate at any price. 
 In this way he also learned where many 
 other books were to be found and he secured 
 them afterwards, often encountering much 
 difficulty and expense. From this time on 
 he gave all the time he could possibly spare 
 to the collection of books and documents and 
 often sacrificed the comfort of himself and 
 family and deprived them of necessaries of 
 life in order to gain his object. In this 
 
 search for books he has traveled in 
 all parts of the country. Many times he 
 went on foot and covered every part of Penn- 
 sylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and 
 went west even beyond the Mississippi river. 
 On one occasion he set out to trace certain 
 works of which he had heard and was de- 
 sirous of possessing, and when he returned 
 home he had covered six thousand miles. 
 Mr. Cassel had but one idea in getting to- 
 gether the works that formed his library 
 and that was the desire to study. He gave 
 the literary world a surprise when it be- 
 came known that he had a collection of fifty 
 thousand books, pamphlets and documents. 
 Among this vast collection are to be found 
 the most complete collection of the publi- 
 cations of Schwenkfeld, Ephrata, Saner and 
 Franklin, With the help of his library he 
 aided his early friends, I. D. Rupp, the his- 
 torian, and Watson, the annalist, greatly in 
 getting together data for their works. 
 
 As stated before, Mr. Cassel's library, in 
 its entirety, contains fifty thousand volumes. 
 This includes bound books, pamphlets, docu- 
 ments, besides over one thousand specimens 
 comprising complete sets of the principal 
 American almanacs from 1714 to the pres- 
 ent day. There were also many ancient 
 magazines and early periodicals of Penn- 
 sylvania and American newspapers of the 
 earliest days. The collection contained 
 over sixty rare Bibles. One of these is a 
 copy of King James' Bible, printed in 1611; 
 another printed in the German language 
 from wooden blocks at Zurich, Switzerland, 
 is dated 1470. There is also a copy of the 
 autograph edition of Luther's German 
 Bible, which was printed in parts at Basel, 
 dated 1523, 1524, 1526. The "Rival Bible," 
 ordered by the Pope to counteract the effects 
 of the Luther work, printed in 1537, the 
 "Purgatory Bible" printed in 1670, the 
 
3° 2 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 "Curse Me God Bible," a very rare edition 
 printed in 1604, are also in the collection. 
 Two books that are bound in human skin, 
 dated 1650, and a Gothic manuscript four- 
 teen hundred years old are also found in the 
 library. This, of course, only gives an idea 
 of the way in which the earnest antiquarian 
 went to work to accomplish his purpose. 
 Having finished this collection, Mr. Cassel 
 thought to dispose of it in a manner that 
 would make it valuable to many genera- 
 tions. So he, in part, donated to the Breth- 
 ren's Collegiate Institute, at Mount Morris, 
 Illinois, about twenty-seven thousand books 
 and documents, and to the Historical Society 
 of Pennsylvania about three thousand valu- 
 able books and papers relating to the early 
 history of this State. He also made very 
 large donations to Ashland college, Ohio, 
 and Bridgewater college, Virginia, and yet 
 he has over eight thousand bound volumes 
 and about sixteen thousand pamphlets and 
 documents of diverse character at the old 
 homestead. 
 
 One of the biographers said of him : " He 
 is universally recognized as the historian of 
 his church, which is that of the German 
 Baptist or Duuker. For half a century he 
 has been a wise counsellor in his church, 
 and his decisions on important questions 
 are accepted as final. He is the personifica- 
 tion of benevolence, and has a gentleness of 
 manner and kindliness of heart, which 
 wins for him recognition among all classes 
 of people, who find in him a worthy friend 
 and charming companion. Crowning all 
 his noble qualities, is the spirit of humility 
 in all his daily acts. He has a certain, 
 simple eloquence of speech, which is made 
 impressive by his earnestness, and to which 
 is lent a united charm by a slight German 
 accent. He dresses in the plain habit of 
 his brethren, and possesses a clean-cut face, 
 
 which is lit up with intelligence and kindled 
 with enthusiasm when he discourses on his 
 favorite themes. It is one of the best evi- 
 dences of the complete development of Mr. 
 Cassel's mind and character, that he is held 
 in the highest esteem by his prosaic neigh- 
 bors, who care little for books but every- 
 thing for the crops and for thrift and 
 economy. This is partly due to the fact 
 that he has thrived by ' holding the plow 
 himself,' and has accumulated a competency, 
 but the universal respect in which he is 
 held by a large circle of acquaintances in 
 all classes of society, is mainly due to his 
 sincere and noble character. The atmos- 
 phere of piety pervading his home, the 
 beautiful simplicity of his manners, the 
 endurance of his friendship, and the story 
 of his remarkable career have kindled a 
 love for him which is not bounded by the 
 county or the State, but which even ex- 
 tends to foreign lands." 
 
 JAMES ABRAHAM is among those who 
 have turned their attention entirely and 
 successfully to agricultural pursuits in the 
 beautiful, wealthy and historic Schuylkill 
 valley, where he owns and resides upon the 
 old Abraham homestead, that has been in 
 continuous possession of the family for the 
 last two centuries. James Abraham, who 
 bears the Christian name of his grandfather 
 and also of his great-grandfather, is a son of 
 Joseph and Ann (Davis) Abraham, and was 
 born at what is now Merion or Abrams, in 
 Upper Merion township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1824. 
 The founder and original ancestor of the 
 Abraham family in this county was the 
 husband of Sarah Abraham, whose Chris- 
 tian name is supposed to have been Isaac — a 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 303 
 
 fact that is left in doubt by the want of 
 some early family records. This Sarah 
 Abraham and her husband came from 
 Wales in 1682, and settled in Bucks county, 
 where they were among the earliest pioneer 
 settlers of Eastern Pennsylvania. Their 
 sou, James Abraham, senior, came to the 
 site of Merion, in all probability as early as 
 the beginning of the eighteenth century 
 and built the old mansion house, still stand- 
 ing, whose roof has since sheltered seven 
 generations of his descendants. His son, 
 Isaac Abraham, married Dinah Harvard, 
 and their son, James Abraham, junior, was 
 born in 1751. He married Hannah George 
 and succeeded his father in the ownership 
 of the family mansion and homestead. He 
 was an industrious farmer, and is beyond 
 doubt, the James Abraham who was as- 
 sessed in 1780 with one hundred and ninety 
 acres of land and three horses and eight 
 cows. He reared a family of sons and 
 daughters, and his son, Joseph Abraham, 
 was the father of the subject of this sketch. 
 Joseph Abraham was born December 31, 
 1788, and died March 25, 1850, aged sixty- 
 two years. He succeeded his father as the 
 owner of the homestead, and following the 
 example of his ancestors, was a farmer by 
 occupation. He was an active Democrat in 
 the early days of the existence of that 
 present great political party. He was reared 
 a Baptist and died in the faith and teach- 
 ings of that religious denomination. Jo- 
 seph Abraham married Ann Davis, of Welsh 
 descent, whose father, Benjamin Davis, was 
 a member of the early settled and highly re- 
 spected Davis family of Montgomery count}-. 
 Mrs. Abraham was an amiable and indus- 
 trious woman, and passed away from earth 
 on March 30, 1S73, when in the seventy- 
 fourth year of her age. To Joseph and Ann 
 Abraham was born a family of five sons 
 
 and six daughters : Hannah, wife of James 
 Shannon, of Norristown, Pa. ; Sarah, who 
 married Jonathan Phillips, of Upper Me- 
 rion ; James, whose name appears at the 
 head of this brief sketch ; Benjamin D., a 
 farmer of Upper Merion township ; Isaac 
 G., who married Mary Wager, and went to 
 Wayne county, Pa., in 1854; Thomas D., a 
 paper manufacturer ; Eliza, wife of Jona- 
 than Supplee, of Upper Merion ; Anna, 
 married Owen Evans, a resident of Phila- 
 delphia ; Matilda, who died in infancy ; 
 Emma, passed away when young ; and Jo- 
 seph, who died in infancy. 
 
 James Abraham grew to manhood on his 
 father's farm, and received his education in 
 the early common schools of his neighbor- 
 hood. He assisted his father in the man- 
 agement and cultivation of the home farm 
 until the death of the latter, and then suc- 
 ceeded him as owner of the ancestral home. 
 His farm consists of eighty-seven acres of 
 land in the most fertile part of the town- 
 ship. It lies adjoining Merion station, on 
 the Philadelphia and Reading railroad, and 
 two miles from Bridgeport. Here he has 
 lived a long and quiet life, devoting his 
 time to the prosecution of agricultural pur- 
 suits and the discharge of the duties of good 
 citizenship. 
 
 On January 9, 1851, James Abraham mar- 
 ried Susan Eastburn, who was a daughter 
 of Benjamin Eastburn. She died August 10, 
 1876. Ten years later on December 17, 1885, 
 he wedded Elizabeth Rambo, whose ances- 
 tors were among the pioneer settlers of the 
 county. By his first marriage he had five 
 children, of whom two died in infancy. The 
 three that lived to maturity were two sous 
 and a daughter: Martha, wifeof Dr. James 
 B. Walker; Joseph, and Benjamin Eastburn, 
 who was named forCapt. Benjamin Eastburn 
 of Revolutionary fame, and died in 1879. 
 
3°4 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 In politics Mr. Abraham is a Democrat 
 like his father and grandfather before him. 
 He has served his township as school direc- 
 tor for several years. He is a member of 
 Merion Grange Xo. 112, Patrons of Husban- 
 dry. He takes delight in farming, has his 
 work done well, and is honest, hospitable 
 and industrious. 
 
 WILLIAM K. HIMMELWRIGHT, 
 miller and farmer of Xiantic, this 
 county, is a son of John R. and Maria 
 (Kile) Himmelwright, and was born June 
 22, i860, near Xiantic, in Douglas town- 
 ship, this county. The paternal great- 
 grandfather of William Himmelwright was 
 Philip Himmelwright, of German parents 
 He was born about the year 1725, on a 
 vessel coming up the Delaware river, on 
 the vovage from the fatherland to the 
 United States. His parents settled in what 
 is now Germantowu, and there Philip grew 
 to manhood. He learned the trade of a 
 shoemaker, and plied that trade there all 
 his life. His death came of drowning in 
 the Wissahickon, in 1798. He lived at 
 Germantown during the Revolutionary 
 war, and assisted in burying the. fallen 
 patriots, victims of the battle of German- 
 town. He married Hannah Dickerson, of 
 Welsh nativity, and of the Society of 
 Friends Their children were as follows : 
 Joseph (grandfather), born in 1751, and 
 died in 1823; David, born in 1754, and 
 went to England when nineteen years of 
 age; William, born in 1759, went West. 
 One of his sons now lives near Pittsburg, 
 Pennsylvania; Sarah, born in 1763, and 
 died in 1854 ; John, born about 1765, lived 
 and died at Germantown ; Samuel, born in 
 1769, died in 1816 ; Charles, born in 1774, 
 
 lived and died at Germantown ; Mary, 
 born in 1780, Isaac and Philip died young. 
 
 His paternal grandfather, Joseph Him- 
 melwright, was a native of Bucks county, 
 and passed all his life at Milford Square, 
 where he owned a farm and a mill. 
 
 John R. Himmelwright, father, was born 
 at Milford Square, in 1816, and died on 
 June 12, 1894. During his earlier life he 
 was engaged in the milling business at 
 Milford Square, but later came to near 
 Xiantic and purchased a mill, the one now 
 owned and operated by the subject of 
 this sketch. The mill site and property 
 purchased included a farm, upon which he 
 resided the remainder of his life. He was 
 a Republican, and a devout member of the 
 Lutheran church, at Xiantic, holding at 
 different times the offices of trustee and 
 elder. To his marriage with Maria Kile 
 were born eight children : Elizabeth 
 Bechtel, deceased ; Charles, Isaac, James, 
 John, Joseph, Harrison and William K. 
 
 William K. Himmelwright received such 
 education as was afforded in the country 
 schools of his district and Perkiouien semi- 
 nary, was reared upon his father's farm and 
 assisted upon the farm and in the mill 
 until the latter's death, when he and his 
 brother Joseph purchased in partnership, 
 the homestead farm and mill, and he now 
 lives upon it, engaged with his brother in 
 operating the farm, saw and grist mill. 
 
 Mr. Himmelwright is a Republican, but 
 has never been in any sense a seeker after 
 office. He is a member of the Lutheran 
 church, and for a number of years was a 
 deacon and was tendered the office of trustee 
 but refused to accept the proffered office. 
 
 He married, on Xovember 20. 1S80, 
 Mary Hoffman, and six children bless their 
 union: Olivia, James, Henry, John, 
 I Daniel, Elizabeth and Charles. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 305 
 
 HON. I. ERR STEINER, justice of the 
 peace of Rudy post office, is a young 
 man who is rapidly winning his way to 
 prominence in his neighborhood. His 
 family are of the old Montgomery county 
 stock, and have resided there for many gen- 
 erations. Squire Steiner is very popular in 
 his neighborhood, and displays great earn- 
 estness for enterprise and progression in all 
 public movements. His grandfather, George 
 Steiner, was born in Berks county, Pa., in 
 1766. He owned and worked a very large 
 farm all his life and was greatly revered in 
 the community. He was an earnest mem- 
 ber of the Lutheran church, and was a good 
 Christian worker. In politics he was a 
 Democrat. He died in 1S22. Squire Stei- 
 ner's father was Henry H. Steiner. He was 
 educated in the public schools, learned 
 the trade of a miller and followed it for two 
 years. Then he went to farming in Limer- 
 ick township. He removed to Upper Sal- 
 ford township in 1865. Like his paternal 
 parent, he believed in the doctrines of 
 the Democracy. He has always been a 
 member of the Lutheran church and an ac- 
 tive worker, having been deacon, elder, and 
 holding other church offices and encouraged 
 Sunday-schools. He was the father of six 
 children, as follows : John, Henry, Samuel, 
 Elizabeth, now Mrs. William Walford ; 
 Levina and I. Erb. He died April 10, 1890. 
 Squire Steiner is the son of Henry and 
 Levina (nee Erb) Steiner, and was born in 
 Frederick township on May 23, 1862. He 
 went through the public schools and then 
 spent two terms in Ursinus college. He 
 was a close student, and, on leaving college, 
 became a teacher. He has been a teacher 
 now for fifteen years and is still presiding 
 over a large school and holding the confi- 
 dence of the school directors and the people. 
 Mr. Steiner resides in a beautiful home of 
 
 his own at Salford station, Rudy P. ()., and 
 is the central figure in a beautiful home 
 circle. 
 
 He has always been a hard worker in the 
 ranks of the Democratic party and was 
 elected justice of the peace in 1891. He is a 
 member of the Lutheran church and is sec- 
 retary of the board of the trustees, and has 
 been superintendent of the Sunday-school 
 for nine years. 
 
 On May 7, 1885, he married Annie R., 
 daughter of Jesse Zepp, of Sumneytown. 
 Four children have blessed their union : 
 Henry, aged nine ; Francis, aged six ; Alice, 
 aged four ; and John, aged two. 
 
 HIRAM W. RITTER, M. D., of Souder- 
 ton, has been practicing medicine 
 
 since 1877, and for the last four years has 
 been located at his present home, where he 
 has become very popular and successful in 
 his professional career. He is a native of 
 Berks county and is a descendant of Ger- 
 man ancestors, some of whom emigrated to 
 America prior to the Revolution. He was 
 born at Boyertown, on the twenty-second of 
 December, 1853, and is the eldest child of 
 Louis and Levina (Worman) Ritter. His 
 grandfather Ritter was the owner of a very 
 large farm. He was a Democrat and an 
 active member of the Lutheran church. 
 He was the father of nine children : Joseph, 
 deceased ; Daniel, Henry, deceased ; John, 
 deceased ; George, Sal lie, wife of Daniel 
 Mover ; Rebecca, Louis and Esther. He 
 was married twice, and the last two children 
 are by his second wife. 
 
 Louis Ritter was born at Boyertown on 
 the twenty-second of February, [824. He 
 was given a good common school education 
 and then adopted farming. He owned a 
 
3 o6 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 very large farm in Berks county and worked 
 it all his life. In polities he was a Demo- 
 crat, and in religion a member and elder of 
 the Lutheran church. He was the father of 
 four children : Dr. Hiram W., Rosey, who 
 married Levi Lefever ; Calvin and Thomas, 
 who died young. Mr. Ritter died on Feb- 
 ruary 22, 1866, at the exact age of forty- 
 two years. 
 
 Dr. Ritter was brought up in Berks 
 county on his father's farm, and secured the 
 rudiments of his education in the common 
 schools of his township in which he lived. 
 He then attended the Boyertown seminar) 
 for several years, and, on leaving that insti- 
 tution of learning, took up the study of 
 medicine under Dr. T. Z. B. Rhoads, of 
 Bovertown. He attended the lectures at 
 Jefferson college, and graduated with honor 
 from that institution in 1S77. For one 
 year after graduating he practiced medicine 
 with Dr. Rhoads, and then located in Perka- 
 sie, Bucks county, where he remained thir- 
 teen years and built up a large practice. 
 He then came to Souderton, where he has 
 remained ever since, and where he is re- 
 garded with the greatest respect by every- 
 body, and where he has found a large and 
 splendid field for the practice of his profes- 
 sion. 
 
 Dr. Ritter is an active member of the Re- 
 formed church, and takes a deep interest in 
 church woi'k. He is a Democrat in politics, 
 but does not take more interest than the 
 average citizen, satisfied simply to vote for 
 the best interests of local, State and na- 
 tional government, according to the princi- 
 ples in which he believes. 
 
 On September 1, 1881, Dr. Ritter and Ida 
 N., daughter of Jacob Kehm, were married. 
 Six children have come to bless this union : 
 Miriam, the eldest, was burn July 4, 1882 ; 
 Jacob C, born November 13, 1883 ; Blanche, 
 
 born September n, 1885, and died February 
 12, 1887 ; Florence L., born September 3, 
 1887; Elura May, born June 17, 1889; and 
 Paul R., born August 21, 1891. 
 
 PROF. JOSEPH KULP GOTWALS, 
 A. M., the popular and efficient super- 
 intendent of the Norristown public schools, 
 is a son of Joseph and Anna (Kulp) Got- 
 wals, and was born in Lower Providence 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, October 15, 1S32. The family of 
 which Prof. Gotwals is a worthy scion, is of 
 German lineage, and the name was origi- 
 nally spelled Gotwalds, but it is thought 
 was changed by the grandfather to the 
 present form, Gotwals. The paternal grand- 
 father of our subject was Henry Gotwals, 
 who was a prosperous farmer of Upper 
 Providence township, this county, and an 
 active worker in the Menuouite church. 
 His marriage with Elizabeth Funk resulted 
 in an issue of six children : Adam, John, 
 Christian, Henry, Elizabeth, and Catha- 
 rine. 
 
 Joseph Gotwals (father), was a native of 
 Montgomery county, born in Upper Provi- 
 dence township, April 10, 1789, and died in 
 Lower Providence township on April 14, 
 1S71. He, following in the footsteps of his 
 ancestors, was a tiller of the soil, a member 
 the Mennonite church and a Democrat in 
 politics. He married Anna Kulp, who be- 
 came the mother of twelve children : 
 Henry, died in infancy ; Martin, Margaret, 
 deceased, was the wife of Lewis Rhodes ; 
 Esther, died in 1894 ; Sarah, deceased, was 
 the consort of Jonah L. Fudge ; Anna, 
 Elizabeth, was the wife of John B. Horn, 
 and is now dead ; Joseph K., subject ; 
 Isaac, Charlotte, deceased, was the wife of 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 307 
 
 John Shearer; Roger D. and Jane, who 
 was married to Jesse Z. Reimer. 
 
 Professor Gotwals attended the public 
 schools of Lower Providence township 
 until fifteen years of age. At the expira- 
 tion of this time, he entered the private 
 school of Rev. H. S. Rodenbach, under 
 whose tutilage he studied four consecutive 
 winter terms. He was a diligent student 
 and an apt pupil, and at the early age of 
 nineteen years, he had made such rapid 
 progress that he passed a creditable teacher's 
 examination, and was elected as a teacher 
 in the public schools of Schuylkill county, 
 this State. He taught this term success- 
 fully and then entered the Millersville 
 State Normal school. Here, however, he 
 remained but a short time until he again 
 engaged in teaching. He taught five years 
 in Lower Providence township, this county, 
 and in 1859, went to Orwigsburg, Schuyl- 
 kill county, this State, where he reviewed 
 the higher branches under the direction of 
 Professor Schneider, who was conducting a 
 private school, and at the same time as- 
 sisted the professor, instructing in the in- 
 termediate grades. There he remained 
 about one and a half years. In i860 he- 
 went to Norristown and was elected princi- 
 pal of the Cherry street school. In 1865 
 he was elected principal of the boys' high 
 school. He held this position until 1 s - 2 , 
 when he was made superintendent of the 
 entire borough schools, which responsible 
 position he has since ably and efficiently 
 filled. 
 
 Under the wise supervision of Prof. Got- 
 wals, tlie schools have been thoroughly or- 
 ganized, employing a corps of sixty-six 
 competent teachers. The most modern 
 methods of instruction have been intro- 
 duced, and to-day the work done in these 
 schools will compare favorably with the 
 
 schools of any similar borough or city in 
 the State. In recognition of Prof. Gotwals' 
 long service as a teacher and his superior 
 educational attainments, Franklin and Mar- 
 shall college conferred upon him the honor- 
 ary degree of Master of Arts in 1872. Since 
 that time he has been an elder in the First 
 Presbyterian church of Norristown. 
 
 Prof. Gotwals and Jennie, a daughter of 
 Dr. James Galbraith, of Perry county, were 
 happily married. The progeny of this mar- 
 riage was two daughters : Jennie, who died 
 in infancy ; and Anna, the wife of Rev. R. 
 H. Taylor, a prominent Presbyterian minis- 
 ter. 
 
 GEORGE D. ALDERFER, member of 
 the Harleysville school board, and 
 manager of the Line Lexington Insurance 
 company, is well known throughout Mont- 
 gomery county as a progressive citizen and 
 a man of broad gauge principles and sound 
 intellectual attainments. He is a native of 
 this county, and was born on a farm in 
 Lower Salford township, on the 18th of 
 January, 1836. He is a son of Isaac O. and 
 Mary (I)elp) Alderfer, and is of American 
 parentage and German ancestry. His grand- 
 father was Isaac Alderfer, who was raised 
 on a farm and tilled the soil with profit all 
 his life. He was a member and an earnest 
 Christian worker in the Menuonite church, 
 and was highly respected by all who knew 
 him. He married Elizabeth Oberholtzer, 
 of the same county, and they had six chil- 
 dren : Abraham, Henry, Elizabeth, Isaac, 
 Mary and Annie. Mr. Alderfer's father was 
 born in December, 1808, and was sent to 
 the public schools to secure the rudiments 
 of an education. He then went to work on 
 his father's farm and later farmed on his 
 own account, continuing in this avocation 
 
3 o8 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 all his life. He was a Republican in politi- 
 cal belief, was a strong party leader in his 
 district, and for many years held the posi- 
 tion of assessor. He was married to Mary 
 Delp in 1832, and their union was produc- 
 tive of a family of four children : George 
 D., Snsan, who married George R. Landis, 
 now deceased ; and Mary, who was the 
 wife of M. A. Overhalt, also deceased ; and 
 Isaac, who died in November, 1868. 
 
 George D. Alderfer, of whom this sketch 
 principally treats, was given every possible 
 advantage for gaining a sound education, 
 and he made the best of his opportunities. 
 He first attended the common schools of his 
 district and then spent three terms at Kulps- 
 ville academy. He then attended the Potts- 
 town seminary for one term and graduated 
 at the age of twenty-one years. On finishing 
 his scholastic course, he determined on be- 
 ing a teacher, and had no difficulty in se- 
 curing the principalship of a school at 
 Lower Sal ford. He taught for nineteen 
 years and combined the pedagogic career 
 with farming. He is at present a director 
 of the Schwenksville National bank, hold- 
 ing that position since 1880, and is also 
 manager of the Line Lexington Insurance 
 company. In politics Mr. Alderfer followed 
 in the footsteps of his father and became 
 one of the most influential Republican 
 leaders in his district. He is a member of 
 the Republican county committee, has been 
 school director of the Harleysville public 
 schools for twenty years, and has been a jus- 
 tice of the peace since 1872. In educational 
 matters he has always taken a leading part, 
 and his opinions are always treated with the 
 greatest respect. 
 
 On March 13, 1862, Mr. Alderfer was 
 united in marriage to Mary, daughter of 
 Garrett Clements, of Lower Salford, and to 
 this couple were born six children : Alvin, 
 
 born November 9, 1869 ; Garrett, born 
 September 4, 1871, now dead ; Lizzie, born 
 June 24, 1873, who became the wife of Ro- 
 manus H. Allebach ; Anna Marie, deceased ; 
 George, born March 8, 1877 ; and Harry, 
 born April 23, 1881. 
 
 AUGUSTUS H. SMITH, the oldest and 
 most prominent resident and mer- 
 chant of Salfordville, Pa., was born on 
 August 26, 1S36, and is a son of Fred- 
 erick K. and Mary (Hiltebeitel) Smith. He 
 can boast of a long line of honored Ameri- 
 can ancestry, his forefathers having been 
 among the early settlers of the county, and 
 having taken prominent parts in all its 
 public affairs. Mr. Smith himself has made 
 his own way in the world, and from an er- 
 rand boy in a store he rose to become a 
 proprietor, and for many years past he has 
 been prosperous His paternal grandfather 
 was Jacob Smith, who was a farmer, and 
 owned a very large and fertile tract of land. 
 In politics Jacob was a Democrat, and was 
 a zealous worker in the party ranks. He re- 
 sided in Upper Salford, and was a consistent, 
 upright Christian, and a constant attendant 
 at the Reformed church of that place. He 
 was married to Kate, daughter of Jacob 
 Kline, of Upper Salford, and they had 
 seven children : Frederick, Jacob, John, 
 Valentine, deceased ; Samuel K., George 
 and Seth H. He died in 1823. 
 
 Frederick, the oldest son and father of 
 Augustus, was born on March 1, 1801. He 
 was a shoemaker by trade, and was a highly 
 respected member of the community. He 
 was a staunch defender of the principles of 
 the Democratic party, and worked hard in 
 the interest of his party ticket. He was 
 very popular in political circles, and was 
 
Biographic a i. Sketches. 
 
 3o 
 
 elected justice of the peace, a position he 
 held for over forty years. Like the rest of 
 the family, he was a member of the Re- 
 formed church. He married Mary Hilte- 
 beitel, and their union bore fruit in twelve 
 children : Frederick, deceased ; William H., 
 Jacob, deceased ; Hannah, Daniel, Augustus, 
 Valentine, Anna, George, John, Benjamin 
 F. and Mary F. He died April 28, 1S73. 
 
 Augustus H. Smith was sent to the com- 
 mon schools of the vicinity, but at the 
 tender age of eleven years was put to work 
 in a store. He soon became clerk and 
 remained there for nine years, giving en- 
 tire satisfaction to his employer, and get- 
 ting a perfect knowledge of the business. 
 In 1856 he and his brother started a general 
 store at Salfordville, under the firm name 
 of Smith and Brothers. This afterwards 
 became Smith and Shoemaker, and then 
 Smith and Gable, his partner being his 
 brother-in-law, Henry R. Gable. He has 
 a large store and carries a general line, 
 and the business has always been very 
 profitable. Politically Mr. Smith is a 
 Republican, and he has been the post- 
 master at Salfordville continuously ever 
 since 1863. He is a member of the Re- 
 formed church, and a very active worker, 
 having been secretary and treasurer for 
 twenty-five years. 
 
 He was married to Elizabeth, daughter 
 of Jonas Shoemaker, on August 2, 1862, 
 and they have reared three children : Addie, 
 Mahlon and Flora. Mahlon died when 
 twelve years of age. 
 
 CAPTAIN HENRY H. FETTEROLF, 
 the subject of this brief sketch, widely 
 and favorably known as an upright citizen, 
 and ranking high as a successful agricul- 
 
 turist, owns and manages the farm in Col. 
 legeville, Montgomery county from which 
 was taken the land on which Trinity 
 Reformed Church, Ursinus College, the 
 president's house, and a number of fine 
 private residences of the village, are now 
 located. 
 
 Mr. Fetterolf is the eldest son of the late- 
 Gideon and Elizabeth Fetterolf, and mater- 
 nal grandson of the late Mennonite bishop, 
 John Hunsicker, and was born in Perkio- 
 nien township, September 24, 1839, and 
 spent the earlier years of his life on his 
 father's farm, near Graters Ford, doing what 
 is still generally clone in similar circum- 
 stances, that is, worked on the farm in 
 summer and attended public schools in the 
 winter. As he was growing up towards 
 manhood, and desiring a better education 
 than the public schools afforded, he became 
 a student of Freeland Seminary, now 
 Ursinus College, and attended the same 
 until fully qualified to be a teacher in the 
 public schools of the count}-. He followed 
 the calling of teacher during four consecu- 
 terms till the breaking out of the late Civil 
 war. 
 
 When the country called for firm and 
 brave men to preserve her greatly imperiled 
 life -and the honor of " the dear old flag," 
 Mr. Fetterolf 's patriotism at once con- 
 strained him to become a soldier in the 
 Union army, and, therefore he enlisted 
 August 13, 1862, in Co. I, 129th Pennsylvania 
 volunteers, and for soldierly bearing in the 
 service, he was successively promoted 
 orderly sergeant and first lieutenant, and it 
 was while lieutenant of Co. I, he actively 
 participated in the battles of Fredericks- 
 burg and Chancellorsville. At the expira- 
 tion of the time for which he enlisted, he 
 was honorably discharged May 18, 1863, at 
 Harrisburg, from the Federal service. 
 
3io 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 After being home some time, and the war 
 for the Union not yet ended, he again of- 
 fered his services to his country, and 
 recruited Co. C, 34th regiment Pennsyl- 
 vania militia, of which he became the 
 commissioned captain. 
 
 The war being over, he and his brother, 
 Adam H. Fetterolf, now president of Girard 
 College, became the lessees of the popular 
 and flourishing boarding school, Freeland 
 Seminar}-, which they successfully con- 
 ducted for a term of years, until it was 
 sold to representatives of the Reformed 
 (German) Church. 
 
 January 1st, 1865, Mr. Fetterolf married 
 Elizabeth, daughter of farmer Charles 
 Garber, of Black Rock, this county, and 
 unto them were born three children, two 
 daughters and one son, viz : Adah, widow 
 of Horace F. Miller; Harriet and Roscoe 
 Conkling. 
 
 In politics Mr. Fetterolf has been a 
 staunch life-long Republican, and has the 
 high honor of being the youngest man in 
 the history of the county nominated for 
 the office of prothonotary, being only 
 twenty-five years of age when made the 
 nominee of his partv. 
 
 In church affiliations Mr. Fetterolf is a 
 member of Trinity Reformed Church, 
 Collegeville, the Rev. J. H. Hendricks, 
 pastor, since 1858, of which he has been a 
 trustee and deacon for a number of years. 
 He was also a superintendent of the widely 
 known Garwood Sunday school for ten 
 years, while residing near Black Rock. 
 
 Mr. Fetterolf holds office in a number of 
 organizations in the community. He is a 
 school director of the Trappe independent 
 district; a director of the Schwenksville 
 National bank; a member of the board of 
 managers of the Perkiomen and Sumney- 
 town Turnpike company ; a member of the , 
 
 George B. McClellau Post, G. A. R., No. 
 515 ; a member of Washington Camp No. 
 267, Patriotic Order Sons of America ; and 
 at present, Master Keystone Grange, No. 2, 
 Patrons of Husbandry. 
 
 The Fetterolf family is of German de- 
 scent. Gideon, the father of the subject of 
 this sketch, was one of a large family born 
 in Berks county, but early in life came to 
 Montgomery county, where he spent the 
 balance of his life, dying at his home in 
 Collegeville, April 22, 1894, aged eighty- 
 seven years, seven months, twenty days. 
 Gideon Fetterolf was twice married, his 
 second wife, Esther, being the daughter of 
 the late Rev. Abraham Hunsicker ; by his 
 first marriage he was the father of Susan, 
 wife of Abraham R. Tyson, Rovers Ford; 
 Sarah, wife of Abraham K. Grimley, Nor- 
 ristown ; John, deceased ; Henry H., of 
 Collegeville ; Adam H, President of 
 Girard College, Philadelphia. By his 
 second marriage he was the father of Abra- 
 ham D., Collegeville, chief clerk of the 
 House of Representatives; Gideon, deceased; 
 Andrew Curtin, shipper in New York City; 
 Horace G., with J. B. Lippincott Co., 
 Philadelphia. Father Fetterolf, as he was 
 familarly called in the later years of his 
 life, was originally a member of the Men- 
 nonite Church, but subsequently became 
 one of the incorporators of what is now 
 known as Trinity Reformed Church, at 
 Collegeville, Pa., in whose full fellowship 
 and communion he died, having served in 
 it many years as trustee and elder. 
 
 ALFRED WILKINSON, an active busi- 
 ness man and a well known engineer 
 and inventor of Norristown, is a son of Jo- 
 seph and Margaret (Lintott) Wilkinson, and 
 
**c. yfrxU 
 
 Av. <^? 
 
Bl< KtRAPHICAL Sketc 1 1 ES. 
 
 3" 
 
 was born at Stockport, Cheshire, England, 
 
 May 17, 1845. His paternal grandfather, 
 Dr. William Wilkinson, was a minister and 
 colporteur in the Baptist church at Stock- 
 port, England, where he was president of 
 the Baptist Union society, composed of 
 clergymen. He was a man of high and 
 honorable standing, and served as high 
 mayor of his native city of Stockport, and 
 was a magistrate for over half a century. 
 He was a Free Mason and a man of educa- 
 tion, culture and ability. He died in 1884, 
 at the ripe old age of ninety-six years. He 
 married Elizabeth Wilkinson, who passed 
 away at eighty-four years, in 1872. Dr. 
 and Mrs. Wilkinson had a family of twelve 
 children : Joseph, (father) ; James, John, 
 Daniel, Reuben, Sarah, deceased; Ann, 
 Lizzie, Mary, and three who died in early 
 infancy. Joseph Wilkinson was born in 
 1806, and received his education with a 
 view of fitting for the ministry of the Bap- 
 tist church, but before reaching his majority 
 he abandoned the idea of becoming a cler- 
 gyman and turned his attention to mechani- 
 cal pursuits, in which he soon became an 
 expert. In 1856 he came to South New 
 Market, New Hampshire, where he patented 
 the " America " cook stove, which he had 
 invented in England. Three years later he 
 made a visit to England and brought back 
 with him his wife and two children. He 
 was a fine engineer and mechanic, and a meri- 
 torious inventor. He invented and patented 
 an automatic oil cup for steam engines, 
 which was of such value and utility that it 
 soon went into use in every civilized coun- 
 try and on all steam sailing vessels. He 
 died at Boston, Massachusetts, where he 
 was engaged in the manufacture of his oil 
 cup. His death occurred in the fall of 
 1888, when in the eighty-second year of his 
 age. He was a Republican in politics, 
 
 served as a private messenger to President 
 
 Lincoln during the late war, and afterwards 
 wrote and published a work entitled 
 " Views on the War by a Soldier," which 
 had a large sale. He took an active part 
 in forming Grand Army Posts in the East 
 after the close of the war. He was a Bap- 
 tist, contributed articles to religious and 
 other journals, and in many and various 
 ways was a useful man. He married Mar- 
 garet Wilkinson, who was a daughter of 
 Richard Lintott, of England, and lived to 
 reach her seventy-eighth year, dying in 
 August, 1S88. They had two children : 
 Alfred and Edwin. 
 
 Alfred Wilkinson received his education 
 at Stockport, England, and in Philadelphia, 
 and after coining to this country, in 1859, 
 completed learning the trade of engineer. 
 In [861 he went on the United States gun- 
 boat Octorora, as a yeoman or engineer's 
 clerk. He served at New < hrleans under 
 Farragut, was made third assistant engi- 
 neer and ordered to the Chickasaw, where, 
 in 1864, he was promoted to second assistant 
 engineer for meritorious service. He re- 
 signed at New Orleans on December 9, 
 1886, and returning home, became mechani- 
 cal engineer at the Port Richmond shops of 
 the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad 
 company. Two years later he opened an 
 office at Philadelphia for steam engineering 
 which he conducted up to 1891, when he 
 came to Norristown and organized a stock 
 company for the manufacture of the Wil- 
 kinson automatic stoker, which he had in- 
 vented and patented some time previously. 
 The company built a plant sixty by one 
 hundred and twenty feet in dimensions at 
 Bridgeport, which has a present capacity of 
 one automatic stoker machine per day. 
 They employ forty men, and are shipping 
 these machines to every part of the conn- 
 
312 
 
 P.iocraphical Sketches. 
 
 try. They shipped two of them to ex- 
 President Harrison, at Terre Haute, Indiana. 
 The automatic stoker is a machine that 
 feeds furnaces and cleans them of their 
 ashes. The Baldwin Locomotive works use 
 seventeen of them, which feed and clean 
 seventeen furnaces, and only require the at- 
 tention and time of one hand. A wide 
 field lies before this company in the future, 
 and already the capacity of its plant is 
 taxed to fill the orders now sent in for 
 stokers. Mr. Wilkinson is general manager 
 of the works and treasurer of the company. 
 He has also been active in making inven- 
 tions in steam machinery. In 1879 he in- 
 vented a flexible metallic stuffing box to 
 take the place of packing piston rods ; in 
 1862 he patented the " Land Engine Ejector 
 Condensor" for steam engines ; in 1886 he 
 patented a gas consuming •bridge-wall for 
 boiler furnaces, and in 1889 invented a bal- 
 ance slide valve for steam engines. Mr. 
 Wilkinson has had but little time to con- 
 tribute articles to the press or mechanical 
 journals upon his special field of work, yet 
 in 1862 he issued a work entitled "Steam 
 Economy," which was a series of tests made 
 by him as consulting engineer. It was a 
 work of one hundred and fifty-four pages, 
 eight by ten inches each, and had a rapid 
 sale until the edition was exhausted. He 
 is a member of the Franklin Institute, 
 American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 
 and the Manufacturers' Club of Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 On April 22, 1866, Mr. Wilkinson was 
 united in marriage with Mary J. Sykes, a 
 daughter of William Sykes, of Chester City, 
 Delaware county. To their union have 
 been born two children : Emma S., born 
 April 4, 1869 ; and Margaret Ellen, born 
 March 16, 1871, and died in March, 1874. 
 
 In political opinion Mr. Wilkinson is a 
 
 Republican. In 1866 he was a candidate 
 for chief engineer of the city water works, 
 but was defeated bv a combine. He is a 
 member of the Baptist church of Philadel- 
 phia, has served two years as a Sunday- 
 school superintendent, and is a member of 
 the Christian Endeavor Society of Phila- 
 delphia He is a Templar Mason, being a 
 member of Roxboro Lodge No. 135, Free 
 and Accepted Masons ; Jerusalem Chapter 
 No. 3, Royal Arch Masons ; and Corinthian 
 Coininandery No. 32, Knights Templar. 
 
 WILLIAM STAHLER, proprietor of 
 the leading drug store in Norristown, 
 and a well known business man of eastern 
 Pennsylvania, was born in Milford town- 
 ship, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, Feb- 
 ruary 5, 1826, and is a son of Elias and 
 Catharine Stabler, both born in Lehigh 
 county. As indicated by the name, the 
 Stahlers are of German extraction, the emi- 
 grant ancestor being one of the earliest set- 
 tlers in Lehigh county. Mr. Stabler re- 
 ceived a good common school education, 
 and at the age of sixteen entered a drug 
 store in the city of Philadelphia and began 
 learning the business with which his name 
 has ever since been so prominently identi- 
 fied. In 1856 he came to Norristown and 
 purchased an apothecary shop which had 
 been established on Main street by Dr. M. 
 G. Kerr and Amos W. Bertolet. This es- 
 tablishment he conducted until 1876, build- 
 ing up meanwhile a large drug trade. In 
 the latter year he removed to the large 
 building, now known as "The Central 
 Drug Store," at the corner of Main and 
 Swede streets, which he had purchased 
 during the previous year. This building 
 had been erected in 1840 by David E. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 3 r 3 
 
 Wood & Co., for a dry goods house, and 
 after its purchase by Mr. Stahler, he pro- 
 ceeded to add a fourth story with mansard 
 roof, placed in the first story a new and ex- 
 pensive iron front, and paved the two side- 
 walks with heavy flagstones. The ground 
 floor is laid in white marble and the room is 
 furnished with two counters, supporting six 
 plate glass show cases, between each of 
 which the counter is laid with polished 
 Italian marble. The rear is divided into 
 prescription room, office and packing de- 
 partment, while the second story is fitted 
 up as a complete laboratory for compound- 
 ing drugs and medicine. 
 
 The total cost of the building and im- 
 provements aggregated twenty-five thou- 
 sand dollars, and it is now one of the finest 
 and best appointed drug houses in the Key- 
 stone State, and stands as a monument to 
 the ability- and energy of its proprietor. In 
 addition to his immense drug trade, which 
 is conducted wholesale and retail, and is 
 probably one of the largest in eastern Penn- 
 sylvania outside of Philadelphia, Mr. Stahler 
 has been for twenty-five years the agent in 
 Norristowu for E. T. Dupont de Nemours 
 & Co., powder dealers, of Wilmington, 
 Delaware, and is also agent for the Repauno 
 Chemical Company, of the same city. 
 
 In 1869 Mr. Stahler erected his present 
 residence, on a lot previously purchased, on 
 DeKalb street, below Airy. It is a large 
 and handsome brick structure, with bay- 
 windows and beautiful grounds, and with 
 its fine appointments and numerous appur- 
 tenances, constitutes one of the most de- 
 sirable homes in Norristown. On the rear 
 of the lot, facing Green street, he has also 
 built a convenient and ornamental carriage 
 house, with stables attached, the whole 
 building faced with hewn sandstone. 
 
 Politically Mr. Stabler adheres to the 
 
 I temocratic party, but has never taken an 
 active part in public affairs, preferring to 
 devote his attention strictly to the business 
 in which he has been so successful. In 
 i860 he was made a member of the town 
 council of Norristown and served in that 
 capacity for six years, since which he has 
 ! declined to have his name used as a candi- 
 date for any official position. He is a 
 member of Trinity Lutheran church, and 
 has served his denomination in various 
 places of trust and responsibility for many 
 years, having been treasurer for nearly a 
 quarter of a century. For twenty years he 
 has been a director of the Montgomery bank, 
 and occupies the same relation to the Mont- 
 gomery Trust company. He is a member 
 of Charity Lodge No. 190, Free and Ac- 
 cepted Masons ; Norristown Chapter No. 
 190, Royal Arch Masons ; Hutchinson Com- 
 mandery No. 32, Knights Templar ; and of 
 Montgomery Lodge No. 57, Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows. 
 
 On June 3, 1856, Mr. Stahler was mar- 
 ried to Savilla Eschbach, of Norristown, 
 and to this union were born three sons : Eu~ 
 gene A., born in 1857, married Ella Filbert, 
 of the city of Philadelphia, and is now en- 
 gaged in the drug business at Bridgeport, 
 this county ; William E., born in 1858, 
 educated in Pennsylvania college and Get- 
 tysburg seminary, married Florence Allen, 
 of Virginia, and is now a minister of the 
 Lutheran church, located at Lebanon, Penn- 
 sylvania ; and Harry Lincoln, whose natal 
 day was the same as President Lincoln's 
 first election, and who was graduated from 
 the Pennsylvania college in 1882, and is 
 now associated with his father in the whole- 
 sale and retail drug business at Norristown. 
 
 During the summer of 1895, Mr. Stahler, 
 in conjunction with his son, Rev. William 
 E. Stahler, made an extended tour of 
 
3i4 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Europe and the Holy Land, from which he 
 derived both profit and pleasure. The itin- 
 erary included all the important countries 
 and capitals of the continent, places of his- 
 torical, religious and archaeological interest 
 on the Mediterranean Sea and the modern 
 scenes of unparalleled interest centering 
 about Palestine and the Nile. Besides be- 
 ing an excellent business man and a good 
 citizen, Mr. Stabler proved himself an 
 equally good tourist and traveler, keen and 
 observant of every significant detail affect- 
 ing present European life. He is to be 
 congratulated that toward the evening of a 
 busy life, he has been enabled to calmly 
 view the field of a past activity out of 
 whose throes all that is germinal in to-day's 
 civilization, religion, literature civic and 
 social life, was born. 
 
 DR. V. Z. KEEEER, one of the widest 
 known and most prominent physicians 
 of Montgomery county, comes from one of 
 the oldest families in this part of the 
 State. His paternal grandfather was born 
 at Salford Station, in the year 1806, was 
 a farmer throughout his career, and died at 
 the age of seventy-eight years. He had two 
 farms, one of one hundred and twenty 
 acres, and the other one hundred acres. He 
 also ran a large grist mill at Salford Station, 
 for over fifty years. He was an active Re- 
 publican, and also a member of the Old 
 Goshenhoppen Church, serving in the latter 
 as a deacon, and an elder for many years. 
 Six children were born to him. They are: 
 Mrs. Boyer, Mrs. Hillegas, Henry, Sally, 
 John and Caroline. The latter was drowned 
 in the mill race at the age of five years. 
 Dr. Keeler's father was born December 6, 
 1830. 
 
 He was sent to the public schools, 
 and afterward to Washington Hall and 
 Freeland Seminary (now Ursinus College), 
 for a period of five years 
 
 At the age of eighteen he began to read 
 medicine with Dr. Geiger, and afterwards 
 attended Jefferson Medical college, from 
 which he was graduated in 1852. He 
 opened an office in Harleysville, and has 
 been practicing there ever since. He is a 
 very well known physician and has been 
 the preceptor of no less than twenty-one 
 young physicians. In politics he is a 
 Democrat, and in religious belief is an 
 active member of the Reformed church. 
 He married Sallie Ziegler, who is descend- 
 ed from one of the old county families. 
 Eight children have been born to this 
 couple. They are: Drs. V. Z., and J. R., 
 Mrs. Kate Souder, Richard, Allen, Mrs. 
 Sarah Leidy, Harry and Harvey. 
 
 Such is the stock from which Dr. V. Z. 
 Keeler springs. He was born at Harleys- 
 ville, January 30, 1858. He was educated 
 in the the public schools, and for two years 
 attended Brunner's Academy. For three 
 years he attended Washington Hall, and 
 then read medicine with his father. Grad- 
 uating from Jefferson college in 1S80 he 
 went back to Harleysville and began the 
 practice of his profession with Dr. Groff. 
 At the end of three years he left Dr. Groff, 
 and in 1888 formed a partnership with Dr. 
 J. W. Groff, son of his former partner. 
 This latter partnership has existed ever 
 since, and they have built up a very large 
 and lucrative practice. 
 
 Dr. Keeler is a Democrat, like his an- 
 cestors, and takes a very active interest in 
 local politics. He is a member of the Re- 
 formed church, and is an earnest worker in 
 the congregation, being superintendent of 
 the Union Sunday school for over six 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 315 
 
 years. He is also president of the Benefi- 
 cial Society. 
 
 On May 10, 1881, Dr. Keeler married 
 Alice G. Raudenbnsh, daughter of Charles 
 S Raudenbush. They have an interesting- 
 family of three children, though four 
 were born to them : Howard was born 
 February 24, 1882 ; Charles R. was bom 
 March 21, 1884 and died March 27, 1885; 
 Russel was born May 12, 1889, and Harold 
 was born February 27, 1894. 
 
 JOHN P. HILLEGAS, M. D., of 1617 
 J West Dauphin street, Philadelphia, is a 
 descendant of the old Montgomery family of 
 that name, and is at present a rising general 
 practitioner and eye and ear specialist. He 
 is a native of Montgomery county, and is 
 the second son of Dr. John G. and Cathar- 
 ine (Ziegler) Hillegas, and was born at the 
 old homestead in Upper Hanover township, 
 near Pennsburg, on the second of March, 
 1866. The ancestral history of Dr. Hille- 
 gas is given more fully in the sketch of 
 his father, that appears elsewhere in this 
 volume. 
 
 Dr. John P. Hillegas secured his early 
 education at the Perkiomen Seminary, and 
 afterward attended the Washington Hall 
 Collegiate Institute at Trappe, Pa. Like 
 his brothers he showed a decided preference 
 for his father's profession and the latter be- 
 came his preceptor while he read for col- 
 lege. In the fall of 1883, he entered the 
 University of Pennsylvania, and graduated 
 with high honor from that institution in 
 1886, after taking a three years' full course. 
 Having received his diploma, Pr. Hillegas 
 immediately returned to Pennsburg and 
 entered upon the active practice of his pro- 
 fession. His skill and high attainments 
 
 met with ready recognition, and he was 
 soon in the enjoyment of a large and well 
 established practice. Being of an ambitious 
 and progressive temperament, however, this 
 field did not seem to offer the opportunities 
 he desired, and he looked for a location that 
 would give him a wider scope. This he 
 found in Philadelphia, where he removed 
 in the fall of 1893, and located at 161 7 
 West Dauphin street. On locating in 
 Philadelphia, Dr. Hillegas took up the 
 special practice on the eye and ear, and be- 
 came the assistant of that eminent eye 
 specialist, Prof. L. Webster Fox, of 1304 
 Walnut street, and was afterwards appoint- 
 ed as one of the Dispensary Staff in the 
 Opthalmological Department of the Medieo- 
 Chirurgical Hospital. 
 
 Dr. Hillegas was married to Minnie, only 
 daughter of I). S. Kern, of Pennsburg, and 
 this union has been blessed by three 
 children . Leroy Agnew, Alda and Glenna 
 Marie. He is a member of Meridian Sun 
 Lodge No. 158, Free and Accepted Masons, 
 of Philadelphia, and of the Reformed 
 church. He is also a member of the 
 Knights of the Golden F^agle No. 298, of 
 East Greenville, and of Victory Lodge No. 
 294, I. O O F., of Philadelphia. 
 
 J EWIS G. STRITZINGER, a well 
 L< known citizen and leading confectioner 
 and caterer of Norristown, was born on 
 September 7, 1863, and is a son of F. G. 
 and Anna C. (Derwichter) Stritzinger. He 
 was brought up in his native town, and 
 after a preliminary preparation in the pub- 
 lic schools, attended the Allentowu Busi- 
 ness college, at which institution he 
 completed the regular course of business 
 and commercial training. Shortly after 
 
316 
 
 Biographical vSketches. 
 
 leaving school he learned the trade of baker, 
 and continued to assist his father in that 
 business for several years. For a period of 
 two years subsequent to this, he was en- 
 gaged in the retail confectionery and bak- 
 ing business at Wayne, Pennsylvania, 
 where he was well and favorably known. 
 At the expiration of this time he returned 
 to Norristown, and since 1889 has had full 
 charge of the present confectionery and 
 catering establishment, located at the 
 corner of Main and Cherry streets, Norris- 
 town. 
 
 Mr. Stritzinger is a young man of 
 marked activity and promise. He votes 
 the Republican ticket, takes a commend- 
 able interest in the municipal affairs of 
 Norristown, and is prominent in fraternal 
 circles. He is a member of Charity Lodge, 
 Free and Accepted Masons ; Norristown 
 Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; Hutchinson 
 Commandery, Knights Templar, and Inde- 
 pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Curtis 
 Lodge, of Norristown. 
 
 On May 14, 1885, Mr. Stritzinger was 
 joined in the bonds of matrimony with S. 
 Ella Kneas, a daughter of John Kneas, a 
 grocer of Norristown. Their family con- 
 sists of three children: Raymond K. and 
 Mary Lewanna and F. G. the third. In his 
 religious views Mr. Stritzinger adheres to 
 the Evangelical church of Norristown. 
 
 TAMES WOOD HARRY, a thoroughly 
 <J qualified and leading druggist of Con- 
 shohocken, is a son of Benjamin and Lydia 
 (Wood) Harry, and was born at Cousho- 
 hocken, Montgomery count)-, Pennsylvania, 
 January 26, 1844. His paternal grand- 
 father, David Harry, was of Welsh descent, 
 and owned a farm of one hundred acres, on 
 
 which the heart of Conshohocken was after- 
 wards laid out. His possessions lay along 
 what is now Fayette street. He also owned 
 a grist mill on the site of the Albion Print 
 works, and was among the first settlers on 
 the site of Conshohocken. He was a Fed- 
 eralist in politics and a Friend in religion. 
 He was a man of means for his day and 
 married Ann Davis. He died in 1851, aged 
 eighty years, and his wife passed away 
 some years subsequent. Their children, 
 three in number, were : Benjamin, Reese 
 and Mary Yerkes. Benjamin Harry was 
 born in May, 1809, and died in 18S9. He 
 received an ordinary English education and 
 was connected with his father in operating 
 the mill until the death of the latter. After 
 the death of his father he was engaged in 
 brick-making and in the flour and feed 
 business in the old Temperance Hall until 
 1850. He was a Whig, served as one of the 
 first burgesses of the borough, and was 
 elected several times a justice of the peace, 
 but would never lift his commission. He 
 was a member of Plymouth Friends' Meet- 
 ing, and helped to operate the " under- 
 ground railroad" during the days of 
 slavery. He always took an interest in the 
 building and loan associations of his bor- 
 ough, or in any other enterprise calculated 
 to benefit Conshohocken. He married Ly- 
 dia Wood, whose father was James Wood, 
 of Conshohocken. Mrs. Harry lived to be 
 seventy-seven years of age, dying in 1891. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Harry reared a family of five 
 sons and two daughters: David, William, 
 deceased ; James W., Winfield Scott, John 
 W., Anna and Mary. 
 
 James Wood Harry received his elemen- 
 tary education in the public and private 
 schools of his native town, and then took a 
 full academic course at Prof. John W. 
 Loch's school on Air)- street, at Norristown. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 317 
 
 At the close of his school clays he entered 
 the Philadelphia college of pharmacy, from 
 which he was graduated in the class of 
 1865. Returning to Philadelphia, he pur- 
 chased his brother David's drug store on 
 Fayette street, where he did a good busi- 
 ness until 1889, when he disposed of his 
 store and stock. He was variously engaged 
 up to 1894, in which year he opened' his 
 present drug house at First avenue and 
 Fayette street. He does a general drug and 
 prescription business, and handles paints, 
 oils, glass, paper and other articles. He has 
 a good trade and aims to meet the wants of 
 his patrons. In addition to the drug busi- 
 ness he has been interested in several home 
 enterprises. He helped organize the Con- 
 shohocken Tube company, of which he 
 was secretary until 1895, when he parted 
 with all of his stock in that organization. 
 He has been manager of the telephone sta- 
 tion and its branches at Conshohocken ever 
 since its establishment. 
 
 On April 2, 1S73, Mr. Harry wedded 
 Elizabeth Maxwell, whose father, Hamilton 
 Maxwell, was a former cotton manufacturer 
 of Conshohocken. Mr. and Mrs. Harrv 
 have two children : Howard and Maxwell. 
 
 Mr. Harry is a charter member and the 
 second oldest living past master of Fritz 
 Lodge No. 420, Free and Accepted Masons. 
 He is a Republican in politics, was burgess 
 for one term, and served as postmaster of 
 Conshohocken from 1S65 to 1873, under 
 commissions issued by Presidents Lincoln 
 and Grant. 
 
 REV. WILLIAM B. WERNER, pastor 
 of the Reformed churches of Schwenks- 
 ville and Limerick Square, is a son of Jonas 
 and Abigail (Bauscher) Werner, and was 
 born in Albany township, Berks county, 
 
 Pennsylvania, December 7, 1862. His pa- 
 ternal grandfather, John Werner, was of 
 German origin, and resided in Schuylkill 
 count}-, where he married and reared a 
 family. His son, Jonas Werner, was born 
 October 21, 1824, learned the trade of tailor 
 with Isaac Woomer, of Sternsville, Lehigh 
 county, and removed to Albany township, 
 Berks county, in which he followed tailor- 
 ing and farming. He owned a farm of one 
 hundred and sixty acres of good land, and 
 died February 23, 1893. He was an Odd 
 Fellow, a Democrat, and a member of the 
 Reformed church, in which he had served 
 as a deacon and as an elder for many years 
 before his death. He married Malinda 
 Woomer, who was a sister to Isaac Woomer, 
 and passed away April 14, 1857, leaving 
 three children : Mary A., wife of Benjamin 
 Hamm, of Allentown, Lehigh county ; 
 Jaenette, who married John Miller, of 
 Schuylkill county ; and James A., a gradu- 
 ate of Kutztown State Normal school, and 
 now a fanner of Carbon county. After his 
 first wife's death, Mr. Werner wedded Abi- 
 gail Bauscher, who is now in the seventieth 
 year of her age, and whose father was 
 Christian Bauscher, who was an extensive 
 farmer of Albany township, Berks county. 
 By his second marriage Mr. Werner had 
 four children, two sons and two daughters : 
 Rosa A., Rev. William B. , Emma J. and 
 Jonathan. The widow and Jonathan and 
 the two daughters reside on the home farm. 
 Rev. William B. Werner was reared on 
 the farm, and after attending the public 
 schools, entered the Kutztown State Nor- 
 mal school, from which he was graduated 
 in the class of 1883. He then taught six 
 terms in the public schools and took the 
 four years course of Franklin and Marshall 
 college, of Lancaster, this State, from 
 which institution of learning he was 
 
3i8 
 
 BlOGRA PHICA L SKETCHES. 
 
 graduated in 1889. Shortly after gradu- 
 ation he was so unfortunate as to break his 
 left leg, and was thus prevented from taking 
 a further collegiate course, which he had 
 contemplated. The next year he became a 
 student in the Reformed Theological semi- 
 nary, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was 
 «raduated from that religious institution 
 May 11, 1893. After leaving the seminary, 
 he was employed in supply work of the 
 church until the following September, when 
 he was called to the pastorate of his present 
 charge, consisting of the Heidelberg Re- 
 formed church, of Schwenksville, and the 
 St. James Reformed church, of Limerick. 
 On the 17th of September, 1893, he was 
 solemnly set apart by the act of ordination, 
 as a minister of the Reformed church and 
 installed pastor of the Schwenksville charge 
 by the venerable Dr. C. Z. Weiser, Dr. L. 
 D. Leberman and Rev. S. M. K. Huber. 
 
 On March 27, 1894, Rev. Werner was 
 united in marriage with Sallie I. Fahren- 
 bach, a daughter of George Fahrenbach, 
 the present sheriff of Berks county. Their 
 union was blessed with one child, a daugh- 
 ter, named Helen Margaret, who was born 
 January 20, 1895. 
 
 In political opinion Rev. William B 
 Werner is a Democrat. He has been earnest 
 and active in his pastoral labors for the up- 
 building of his important charge. 
 
 WILLIAM POTTS JONES, a prosper- 
 ous lumber manufacturer and coal 
 dealer of Conshohocken, is a son of Evan 
 D. and Anna (Potts) Jones, and was born at 
 Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, September 
 15, 1S61. Evan D. Jones was born in Ply- 
 mouth township, Montgomery county, this 
 State, on February 9, 1828, and died at 
 
 Conshohocken February 8, 1890. He ac- 
 quired his scholastic training in Reverend 
 Samuel Aaron's select school and Tree- 
 mount seminar}' at Norristown. This, 
 however, constituted but a mere beginning 
 of his education, which was essentially ac- 
 quired by self-study and attrition with the 
 world. He was a close student of men and 
 events all his life, and thus acquired a supe- 
 rior practical education. About 1850 he or- 
 ganized the firm of Jonathan Jones & Son, 
 lumber manufacturers and large wholesale 
 and retail dealers in the same. In 1858 he 
 and his brother started in the same busi- 
 ness in Conshohocken under the firm name 
 of E. D. & E. Jones, and continued until 
 1871, when Joseph C. Jones was taken into 
 the firm, and the name changed to Evan D. 
 Jones S: Co. This business was operated 
 successfully under his personal supervision 
 until death ended his labors. He was a 
 thorough-going, careful and conscientious 
 business man, and for many years was presi- 
 dent of all the building and loan associa- 
 tions of the town ; also president of the 
 First National bank of Conshohocken for 
 several years. He was a strict member of 
 the Society of Friends, a staunch Republi- 
 can, and bore the distinction of being the 
 first burgess of Conshohocken. 
 
 On October 15, 1857, he and Anna, a 
 daughter of William Potts, of Plymouth, 
 were united in marriage, the progeny of 
 which union are five children, two sons and 
 three daughters : Eliza, who died at the 
 age of three years ; William P., subject ; 
 Evan, deceased at the age of eighteen ; 
 Martha, the wife of Herman P. Miller, who 
 was librarian for many years of the Penn- 
 sylvania State senate, still holding that 
 office ; and Lillian, who resides at home. 
 
 William Potts Jones obtained a good edu- 
 cation in the public schools of his native 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 3 r 9 
 
 city and in Swarthmore college. Leaving 
 college in 1880, he became associated with 
 his father in business and continued with 
 him until the latter died, when he suc- 
 ceeded to the business. Subsequently the 
 business was conducted under the firm 
 style of E. D. Jones & Co, until January 1, 
 1891, when the firm was amicably dis- 
 solved, Mr. Jones taking charge of the 
 planing mill and coal yards, and Air. Jo- 
 seph C. Jones the lumber department. He 
 is a director in the Progress and Enterprise 
 Building and Loan associations, a Republi- 
 can in politics and a member of the Society 
 of Friends. 
 
 On March 28, 1888, Mr. Jones and Miss 
 Elizabeth Coulston, a daughter of James 
 Coulston, a prosperous farmer of White- 
 marsh township, this county, were happily 
 married, and to them have been born two 
 children : Evan D. and Frances C. 
 
 AW. ROSENBERGER, of Skippack, is 
 • one of the most successful and best 
 known merchants of inland Montgomery 
 county. He has been actively engaged in 
 the store business ever since he was a boy 
 and now is at the head of a large and thriv- 
 ing general store. He is descended from 
 old German ancestry and is the son of David 
 D. and Kate (Clemmer) Rosenberger. He 
 was born September 2, 1S62, at Green 
 Square, this county. 
 
 Mr. Rosenberger can well feel proud of 
 his ancestry for they have always taken a 
 high place in the society of the county. 
 His paternal grandfather was John Rosen- 
 berger, a successful farmer owning a large 
 property. He was actively identified with 
 the Republican party and was one of the 
 leaders in his section. He was also an active 
 
 christian worker, being an adherent of the 
 Menuonite faith. He died at an advanced 
 age. 
 
 Mr. Rosenberger's father received the ad- 
 vantage of the common schools of his dav, 
 but was obliged to take up the active work 
 of life when still quite young. Later on he 
 became engaged in mercantile pursuits and 
 for fifteen years successful)- conducted a 
 large store, which he abandoned to take up 
 farming. He was an active Republican and 
 a member of the Reformed church. He was 
 a good citizen and always commanded the 
 respect and esteem of the people of his sec- 
 tion. Mr. Rosenberger was married three 
 times and was the father of six children. 
 These are : John, and Mrs. Mary Hagy by 
 the first marriage; and Mrs. Kate Keck and 
 Mrs. Mary Hardeufelter, Samuel C. and the 
 subject of this sketch by his second wife. 
 The mother of A. W. Rosenberger died in 
 1867, and David D. Rosenberger in 1876. 
 
 The gentleman whose biography is re- 
 corded here, was given a few years schooling 
 in the public institutions of his section, but 
 was forced at an early age to start out in 
 life and carve out his own career. This he 
 has been eminently successful in doing. He 
 was first employed as a clerk for W. O. 
 Crouthamel, of Bucks county, who kept a 
 general store. After three years he accepts 1 
 a clerkship in the store of Isaac Fritz, of 
 Philadelphia. Later he returned to Skip- 
 pack and became a clerk in W. F. Hall- 
 man's store. He then clerked for R. 
 Scheetz, of Norristown, leaving there to 
 go to Centre Square, where he was en- 
 gaged as a store clerk for four years. 
 For three years after that Mr. Rosenberger' 
 was a clerk for J. C. Kulp, at Skip- 
 pack, and only left that gentleman's employ 
 to engage in the general store business for 
 himself as the partner of Mr. Keeler, the 
 
3 20 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 firm name being Rosenberger & Keeler. 
 During the last three years this store has 
 rapidly grown in prominence and pros- 
 perity and to-day is one of the most com- 
 plete mercantile stores in this region. Mr 
 Rosenberger holds a prominent place in his 
 community as an enterprising citizen and 
 the firm advocate of progress. He is a Re- 
 publican in politics and is earnest in his 
 advocacy of the principles of the party. He 
 is a prominent member of the Reformed 
 church and is an active worker in the 
 church. He was married to Anna Kulp, 
 daughter of S. Kulp, who is a well known 
 and respected citizen of this county. 
 
 HORACE C. JONES, a prominent manu- 
 facturer of Conshohocken, this county, 
 is a son of Ell wood and Rachel C. (Conrad) 
 Jones, and was born June 16, 1857. To the 
 principality of Wales man}' of the sub- 
 stantial, thrifty and prosperous citizens of 
 the United States trace their ancestry. An 
 early emigrant from that country to this was 
 Isaac Jones, the great-grandfather of the 
 subject of this sketch. He located on a 
 farm in the vicinity of Conshohocken, then 
 Whitemarsh township and upon this farm 
 he operated extensive limestone quarries, 
 doing a large and prosperous business and 
 lived there the remainder of his days. One 
 of his sons, Jonathan Jones, grandfather, 
 was born on this Whitemarsh township 
 farm, took up the pursuits of farming and 
 lumbering in that vicinity with his sous, 
 under the firm name of Jonathan Jones and 
 Sons. In his latter days he removed to 
 Plymouth township, where he died. He- 
 was a man of good business capacity, and 
 was successful in amassing a very handsome 
 competency. He was a great admirer of 
 
 Clay and- the political principles he repre- 
 sented, hence was an ardent Whig, whilst 
 religiously, he was a member of the Society 
 of Friends, belonging to the Hicksite di- 
 vision of the Meeting. He married Eliza 
 Davis, daughter of John Davis, and had six 
 children, three sons and three daughters : 
 Elizabeth, Anne, Evan D., Ellwood, Esther 
 and Davis. 
 
 Ellwood Jones, father, profited by a com- 
 mon school education and then learned the 
 lumber business with his father and pursued 
 it as the major part of his life work in 
 Plymouth township, where he owned and 
 operated a saw mill. Latterly the business 
 was carried on in Conshohocken under the 
 firm name of Jonathan Jones and Sons, and 
 later, upon the death of Jonathan Jones, by 
 Ellwood and Evan D. Jones. The father 
 died in Conshohocken in June 1869, at the 
 age of forty-two years. His children were 
 as follows : Horace C, subject ; Abbie, wife 
 of Henry D. Cranor, a resident of Con- 
 shohocken ; Hettie, died in childhood ; A. 
 Conrad, in the employ of I. P. Thomas & 
 Company ; and Elwood C, a resident of 
 Conshohocken, a clerk in the employ of his 
 brother Horace C. 
 
 Horace C. Jones received his mental train- 
 ing in the public schools of Conshohocken 
 and in the University of Pennsylvania, in 
 which latter institution he spent one year 
 as a member of the class of 1877. Leaving 
 college he entered the employ of E. D. & 
 E. Jones, lumbermen of Conshohocken. He 
 remained with that firm until 1880, when 
 he entered into a business partnership with 
 Stanley Lees, under the firm name of Horace 
 C. Jones iS: Company. Mr. Lees went out 
 of the firm in 1885, when H. C. Jones gave 
 Mr. Booth an interest in the business under 
 the same firm name. Later they purchased 
 the Whitton Cotton and Woolen mills at 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 321 
 
 Conshohocken, which they have operated 
 ever since. They manufacture a high grade 
 of cotton and woolen goods, the capacity of 
 their mills being one half million yards per 
 year, which affords employment for one 
 hundred hands. In addition to his manu- 
 facturing interests, Mr. Jones is prominently 
 identified with a number of other financial 
 and industrial enterprises of his town. He 
 is a director in the First National bank of 
 Conshohocken, director in the Norristown 
 Title, Trust and Safe Deposit company, 
 secretary and treasurer of the Conshohocken 
 Electric Light and Power company, director 
 of the Conshohocken Gas company and 
 Conshohocken Woolen company and treas- 
 urer of the West Manayunk Gas light com- 
 pany, and is largely interested in real estate 
 in and around Conshohocken. He is a Re- 
 publican politically, but has never had time 
 nor inclination to enter actively the arena 
 of politics. Like his ancestors, he is a 
 member of the Society of Friends. 
 
 On February 5, 1889, Mr. Jones married 
 Miss Linda, a daughter of John W. Loch, 
 president of the Norristown Title and Trust 
 company. One child, Spencer, has been 
 horn to this marriage union. 
 
 Mr. Jones, by sheer force of a strong in- 
 dividuality and a will power that recognizes 
 no lion in the way, coupled with a natural 
 aptitude for business and industrial develop- 
 ment, has won an enviable business success. 
 He is popular as a business man and highly 
 respected as a citizen and is frequently called 
 upon to act in the capacity of executor, ad- 
 ministrator and guardian. 
 
 HARVEY F. SCHOLL, M. I)., who 
 is a graduate of the Jefferson Medi- 
 cal college and who is now actively 
 
 21 
 
 engaged in the practice of his profes- 
 sion at Green Lane, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, is a son of Henry N. and 
 Hannah (Frederick) Scholl, and was born 
 in Upper Salford township, Montgomery 
 county, this State, April 3, 1871. The fam- 
 ily of which Dr. Scholl is a worthy repre- 
 sentative is of German lineage, and was 
 founded in Eastern Pennsylvania, during 
 early colonial times. They were a hardy, 
 industrious and frugal family and con- 
 tributed largely to the early development 
 of the State. 
 
 Philip Scholl, the paternal great-grand- 
 father of Dr. Scholl, was a blacksmith and 
 farmer of Franconia township, this count)-, 
 and one of his sons Jonathan Scholl, was 
 for many years a prosperous farmer of 
 Marlborough township. He married Sallie 
 Nice, who bore him seven children : Jessie, 
 Jacob (deceased), Henry N., Lena, Mary, 
 Sarah and Kate. Henry N. Scholl, father, 
 was born in Upper Salford township, Penn- 
 sylvania, on March 7, 1842. 
 
 Dr. Scholl attended Ursinus college and 
 Sumneytown academy and after acquiring 
 a good academic education, took a com- 
 mercial course in Pierce's Business college, 
 at Philadelphia, graduating in the class of 
 '86. Subsequently, he decided on a pro- 
 fessional career and accordingly entered the 
 office of Dr. J. K. Planck, of Green Lane, with 
 whom he read three years, when he matricu- 
 lated in the Jefferson Medical college, Phila- 
 delphia, from which renowned institution 
 he was graduated in 1893. Immediately 
 after his graduation, he located at Green 
 Lane, where he has since been successfully 
 engaged in the practice of his chosen pro- 
 fession. Dr. Scholl is a close student of 
 the leading medical literature of the day, a 
 careful practitioner, and from the energy 
 and skill already displayed, bids fair to be- 
 
322 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 come one of the leading physicians of east- 
 ern Pennsylvania. He is a member of the 
 Sumneytown Reformed church. On May 
 2, 1895, Dr. Scholl and Laura, a daughter 
 of Jacob and Sallie (Markley) Allebach, 
 were happily united in marriage. 
 
 EPHRAIM FRITZ, of Pottstown, is 
 known as one of the most progressive 
 and enterprising men of Montgomery county 
 as well as a man whose philanthropy and 
 liberality have made him beloved and es- 
 teemed by everybody in his neighborhood. 
 He is a native of Douglass township, Berks 
 county, and was born January 15, 1828, his 
 parents beingjohn and Catharine (Sassaman ) 
 Fritz. The name is of German origin, but 
 for many years the Fritz family have been 
 residents of this section of the State, having 
 emigrated to this countrv early in the eio-h- 
 teenth century. The family settled in Doug- 
 lass township, Berks count}', and here grand- 
 father John Fritz was born and lived all 
 his life. He was a farmer and tilled a prop- 
 erty of one hundred rich acres. He was 
 not active in politics but always voted the 
 Democratic ticket. He was a very active 
 churchman, however, and was a member of 
 the Lutheran denomination. He married 
 Sarah Sands, who bore him six children : 
 Samuel, Joseph, David, Catharine Hollman, 
 Sarah Reiser and John. He died at the age 
 of eighty years. John, father of the subject, 
 was born on the homestead, in Douglass 
 township, Berks county, in 1S02, and was 
 brought up as a farmer, the occupation he 
 followed all his life. He was, like his 
 father, a supporter of Democratic principles 
 and a member of the Lutheran church of 
 Pottstown. He married Catharine Sassa- 
 man, of Douglass township, on September 
 
 4, 1820, and the fruits of their union con- 
 sisted of six children : Ephraim, John S., 
 Nathaniel, deceased ; Almira, Amelia, de- 
 ceased ; and Sarah. He died at the age of 
 forty-two years. 
 
 Ephraim, the oldest, was unfortunate in 
 being unable to get more than the scantiest 
 of school-room practice and as his father 
 died when he was fifteen years old, he early 
 went to work on the farm and remained 
 with his mother until he was twenty-three 
 years of age. He then married and worked 
 at various industrial pursuits for a number 
 of years. When still a young man he be- 
 gan to take a great interest in politics and 
 soon became a very popular leader in the 
 Democratic party. His first office was that 
 of tax collector of Douglass township, Berks 
 county, and he was afterward appointed 
 mercantile appraiser. In 1857 he was taken 
 up by the partv and elected clerk of the 
 courts, receiving the highest majority of any 
 of the successful candidates that year. In 
 his own township he got every vote but one, 
 a sure test as to his popularity and the re- 
 spect with which his neighbors considered 
 him. 
 
 Sometime after serving his term of office, 
 Mr. Fritz came to Pottstown, where he has 
 since made his home. He engaged in the 
 lumber and coal business as one of the firm 
 of Fritz, Egolf & Company, and was active 
 in the business for twenty-two years. Be- 
 sides his interest in the lumber and coal 
 business, Mr. Fritz became very active in 
 enterprises and has been a director of the 
 Glasgow Iron company for eight years, a 
 director of the Old National bank of Potts- 
 town for fifteen years and was treasurer of 
 the Union Savings and Building and Loan 
 association for many years. His great busi- 
 ness ability and tact aided in making all of 
 these enterprises highly successful and his 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 323 
 
 uprightness of character secured for him the 
 respect and confidence of the whole com- 
 munity, and he is now serving his twenty- 
 second consecutive year as treasurer of the 
 town. Mr. Fritz is a member of the Trans- 
 figuration Lutheran church of Pottstown. 
 He loves his church above all else and has 
 ever been a zealous worker in the vineyard. 
 He has held all the official positions in it, 
 such as deacon, trustee and elder and has 
 been a most liberal subscriber to all its 
 various funds. He contributed three thou- 
 sand dollars toward the parsonage and 
 eleven hundred dollars toward wiping out 
 the church indebtedness and is a very lib- 
 eral and regular weekly contributor to the 
 general fund. In his private life he is a 
 man of great philanthropy. 
 
 On the 1st of September, 1857, Mr. Fritz 
 and Elizabeth, daughter of Peter Egolf, of 
 Pottsgrove township, were joined in wed- 
 lock. This marriage was productive of only 
 one child, a son, John, who died aged three 
 years. This bereavment was a sad blow to 
 both of these amiable people. Mr. Fritz 
 was, however, called upon to bear a more 
 crushing blow in later life, when the com- 
 panion of his married life died on January 
 2, 1894. Mrs. Fritz had lived to be sixty- 
 four years and hers was truly a beautiful 
 Christian career. 
 
 SQUIRE I. H. JOHNSON, justice of the 
 peace at Creamery P. O., has had a 
 very busy and active life, especially in the 
 political world. He is a descendant of fine 
 old Pennsylvania stock and was born at 
 Creamery P. ()., November 7, 1834. His 
 parents were Henry G. and Sallie (Hun- 
 sicker) Johnson. His grandfather, William 
 Johnson, was born June 7, 1752. He was 
 
 educated in the common schools and spent 
 his life in active work on his farm, and was 
 also a deacon of the Mennonite church. He 
 was the father of ten children : Jacob, John, 
 William, Henry, Ann, Catharine, Mary, 
 Sarah, Elizabeth and Susanna. He died in 
 Upper Providence and has always lived and 
 practiced in the faith of the Mennonite 
 church. Henry G. Johnson, the father of 
 the subject of this sketch, was born in Up- 
 per Providence township on March 13, 1806. 
 He was sent to the public schools and then 
 became a teacher. He taught school thirty- 
 three years and also during that time worked 
 his farm. He was a preacher and member 
 of the Mennonite church, and an active 
 Sunday-school worker. In politics he was 
 a Republican. He was the father of two 
 children, the subject of this sketch and 
 Henry. He died July 25, 1879. 
 
 Squire I. H. Johnson is the personification 
 of a self-made man. He was educated in 
 the public schools and then, like his father, 
 became a teacher. He taught several terms 
 and also farmed while teaching. Mr. John- 
 son has always been very prominent in pub- 
 lic enterprises. He was one of the board of 
 directors of the shirt factory at Skippack- 
 ville and a member of the board of mana- 
 gers of the hat factory at Iron Bridge. He 
 is also a director in the Schwenksville bank 
 from its organization some twenty years 
 ago. In politics Mr. Johnson has always 
 been a very prominent Republican and has 
 held numerous offices in the gift of the 
 people. He was an auditor for thirteen 
 years and a school director for twenty-four 
 years. He has held the post of judge of 
 elections for many years and was for four 
 years a notary public. At present he is a 
 justice of the peace, enjoying a large and 
 lucrative practice. 
 
 Squire Johnson has always been an ener- 
 
324 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 getic worker in the Mennonite church and 
 has for years led the singing in the congre- 
 gation. On February 5, 1852, he married 
 Sarah Ziegler, daughter of Abraham Ziegler 
 and they have two children. 
 
 Besides the other enterprises already 
 enumerated, Mr. Johnson is one of the 
 managers of the Perkiomen Valley Insur- 
 ance company and was one of the founders 
 of the creamery and had been treasurer 
 since its organization fifteen years ago at 
 his place of residence, all of which things 
 tell how he has spent an active life and has 
 gained the respect of the people of the 
 district. 
 
 ALBERT HELFFENSTEIN, a resident 
 of Norristown, and ex-register of wills 
 of Montgomery comity, is a son of Jonathan 
 and Emeline (Bush) Helffenstien, and was 
 born near North Wales, Montgomery coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, February 10, 1840. He 
 was reared at his birthplace until he was 
 fourteen years of age, and then came to 
 Norristown, where he served as a clerk 
 until he reached his eighteenth year. He 
 learned the trade of printer in the office of 
 the National Defender, then a native Ameri- 
 can paper and at that time under the con- 
 trol of Colonel William P. Seymour. He 
 remained on the paper until 1864, when he 
 and his eldest brother, Samuel B., purchased 
 it from General Schall, then its owner, and 
 soon ran its circulation from six hundred 
 up to sixteen hundred copies. In 1872 he 
 sold his interest in the paper to his brother 
 Samuel B., and then acted as foreman on the 
 Norristown Times up to 1890, in which year 
 he was nominated for register of wills by the 
 Democratic part}-. He was elected and 
 served from 1891 to 1894, and then at the 
 expiration of his term engaged in his pres- 
 
 ent business (job printing) on Main street. 
 He is an active Democrat, a member of the 
 Humane Fire company, and served for eight 
 weeks as an emergency soldier in Company 
 H, 34th Pennsylvania militia, being sta- 
 tioned successively at Harrisburg, Reading 
 and Philadelphia. 
 
 In 1861 Mr. Helffenstein married Matilda 
 Earl, a daughter of Lawson Earl, of Norris- 
 town. They have three children : Emily, 
 wife of Charles Howe, of Camden, New Jer- 
 sey ; Mary, who wedded Thomas J. Stiles, 
 of Norristown ; and Katie, wife of Thomas 
 M. Williams, of Philadelphia. 
 
 The Helffenstein family is noted and 
 prominent in the history of the German 
 Reformed church of Pennsylvania, as the 
 Muhlenberg family was distinguished and 
 active in connection with the Evangelical 
 Lutheran church in the Keystone State. 
 Rev. John Conrad Helffenstein was born 
 February 16, 1748, in the Palatinate, Ger- 
 main', and in 1772 came to Germantown, 
 where he was settled over the German Re- 
 formed church of that place and where he 
 died May 17, 1790, when in the prime of 
 manhood. Three of this patriarch's sons, 
 Samuel, Charles and Jonathan, were distin- 
 guished ministers of the Reformed church, 
 while in the succeeding generation, Samuel, 
 Albert and Jacob, sons of Rev. Samuel, 
 became noted ministers of their father's and 
 grandfather's church. Rev. Samuel Helf- 
 fenstein, the elder, married a Miss Kircher, 
 of Philadelphia, and was the father of Rev. 
 Samuel Helffenstein, D. D., who, when a 
 sickly child, was dedicated to the Lord, by 
 his mother, like Hannah of old. She gave 
 him in charge of the synod to be educated 
 and he was ordained in 1797. He was pas- 
 tor of the Race street church from 1798 to 
 1832 and then removed to near North Wales, 
 where he died October 17, 1866, aged ninety- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 325 
 
 one years. He published a volume on di- 
 dactic theology, had twenty-seven young 
 
 men under his charge, who were preparing 
 for the ministry, and retained his full men- 
 tal force until the last. At twenty-two 
 vears of age he married Anna Christina 
 Steitle, who died in i860, aged eighty-one 
 years. Their sou, Jonathan Helffenstein, 
 was born in Philadelphia, in 1814, and died 
 in March, 1847. He married Emeline Bush, 
 a daughter of Henry Bush, and reared a 
 family of five children : Samuel B., editor 
 of the Norristown Defender ; Albert, the 
 subject of this sketch ; Annie, who married 
 Thomas B. Evans, of Norristown ; Emanuel 
 and Emily. 
 
 OLIVER M. EVANS, the efficient teller 
 of the First National bank of Lans- 
 dale, is one of the foremost and most highly 
 respected citizens of that town. He is a 
 native of Hatfield township, Montgomery 
 count} - , and is a descendant of Welsh an- 
 cestors, the original emigrant of whom was 
 John Evans, who emigrated from Wales and 
 settled in this country in 1696. He landed 
 at Philadelphia and afterwards located in 
 Chester county. The first of the family 
 born in this country was John Evans, a son 
 of the emigrant, who was born April 14, 
 1700, and died April 14, 1738. He married 
 Jane Howell, daughter of Robert Howell, 
 and among their children was a son, Peter 
 Evans, who was born September 28, 1722, 
 and was a doctor by profession. During 
 the Revolution he was a commissioner of 
 supplies for the Continental army, the depot 
 for which was located at the old meeting- 
 house below South Wales, Montgomery 
 county. During this time he served as jus- 
 tice of the peace and tried some of the 
 
 members of the Hill Town Baptist church 
 for refusing to carry anus in the Revolu- 
 tion, but it is alleged that he discharged 
 them. He married Rachel Evans, of 
 Gwyuedd township, Montgomery countv, 
 who is thought to have been a daughter of 
 David Evans. John Evans, the grand- 
 father of our subject, was one of the off- 
 spring of this marriage. He was born 
 February 13, 1767, and was a farmer by oc- 
 cupation. He married Elizabeth Evans, a 
 relative of Hon. Henry S. Evans, State 
 senator of Chester county. Grandfather 
 Evans died ( )ctober 15, 1824. 
 
 Jonathan Evans, M. D., (father), was born 
 January 28, 1793, on his father's farm. He 
 was sent to the pay schools of the district 
 and then took a course in the medical de- 
 partment of the University of Pennsylva- 
 nia. After graduating, he practiced in Hat- 
 field township for a number of years, and 
 then went to Philadelphia, where he resided 
 until his death, on July 7, 1851. He was a 
 very active Whig in politics, and was a man 
 of broad views and sterling qualities. He 
 was married twice. His first wife was 
 Sarah, daughter of the Rev. Joseph Mathias, 
 of Bucks county, and they had one child, 
 Julia, now deceased. His second wife was 
 Jane Jenkins, daughter of Owen Jenkins. 
 Two children bless this union : Oliver M., 
 our subject ; and Sally J., who is the wife 
 of Dr. John S. Jenkins. 
 
 Oliver M. Evans was born on April 28, 
 1831, and is therefore in the sixty-fifth year 
 of his age. He received a common school 
 education, and then went to Philadelphia, 
 where he became engaged in the mercantile 
 business. He remained here fifteen years 
 and then went to Eansdale and accepted the 
 post of teller in the First National bank, a 
 position that he has held for thirty-one years. 
 In politics Mr. Evans is a Republican, and 
 
326 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 has been very active for the interest oi his 
 party. He has held even- local office in the 
 gift of the people, and is at present treasurer 
 of the borough. He is also president of the 
 board of health, and is greatly respected in 
 the community for his progressive ideas, 
 straightforward business methods and thor- 
 ongh honesty 
 
 Mr. Evans was married January 31, 1871, 
 to Ella, daughter of Charles Todd Jenkins, 
 of this county, and they have three chil- 
 dren : Jennie, born January 25, 1872 ; Eve- 
 lyn, born January 8, 1874 ; and O. Morris, 
 born March 17, 1882. The Evans family 
 have always been consistent and active 
 members of the Baptist church. 
 
 HENRY G. GROFF, M. D., of Harleys- 
 ville, for the past forty years has been 
 one of the foremost and most widely known 
 physicians of his native count}', and to-dav 
 is enjoying good health and an abundance of 
 important practice. He was born near Sal- 
 ford station, in Upper Salford township, a 
 district that has known his ancestors for 
 three generations. His parents were John 
 and Sarah (Gable) Groff. His grandsire on 
 the paternal side was Jacob Groff, who was 
 born in Upper Salford township in 1751. 
 By occupation the elder Groff was a fuller 
 and dyer, and he carried on this business all 
 his life in connection with working a very 
 productive farm of one hundred and eighty 
 acres He was an active Democrat politi- 
 cally, and was an earnest and energetic 
 member of the Lutheran church. He was 
 married in December, 1773, to Elizabeth 
 Huebner, and this union resulted in the 
 following family of children : Jacob, Joseph, 
 Henry, John, Abraham, Elizabeth, who be- 
 came the wife of George Daub ; and Mary, 
 
 who wedded John Leidy. He died in 1824. 
 
 John Groff, the father of Dr. Groff, was 
 born in Upper Salford township in Decem- 
 ber, 1796. He was educated in the public 
 schools, and became a fuller, dyer and far- 
 mer, which he followed all his life. He 
 was married twice, his first wife being Sarah 
 Gable, and his second, Kate Frederick. By 
 his first marriage there were four children : 
 Philip, Augustus, Henry and Jesse ; and 
 three children were the result of the second 
 marriage : John, Angeline, who was married 
 to Joseph Huber ; and Franklin, who died 
 young. Three children by the first wife 
 are living, Augustus is dead, while all but 
 one by the second are dead. Mr. Groff was 
 a Democrat. He was also a member of the 
 Lutheran church, and always held a promi- 
 nent place in the affairs of the congregation, 
 having been an elder, a trustee and a dea- 
 con. He died in 1875, aged seventy-nine 
 years, four months and twenty days. 
 
 Dr. Groff, the subject of this sketch, com- 
 menced his education in the common 
 schools of his native town, and afterwards 
 attended Freeland seminary. He then en- 
 tered the office of Dr. H. Geiger for the 
 purpose of studying medicine, and gradu- 
 ated from the Philadelphia Medical college 
 in 1852. He then began the active prac- 
 tice of his profession with Dr. Reinhart K. 
 Keeler, with whom he has been in partner- 
 ship ever since. He has been in the profes- 
 sion forty-three years, and during that time 
 has gained a reputation that is confined to 
 neither town, township nor county. He is a 
 man of ripe experience in all of the branches 
 of his profession, and he has always enjoyed 
 the highest esteem of his neighbors. In 
 politics he is a Republican, and in his earlier 
 years devoted some time and energy in aid- 
 ing the success of his party, He has been 
 a life long member of the Lutheran church, 
 
/£ 
 
 >6v7^y 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 327 
 
 and has ever worked faithfully for it. He 
 has been treasurer of the church for a num- 
 ber of years, and also an elder. It was 
 through his influence that the beautiful 
 union chapel was erected at Harleysville, 
 and there are many other things to show 
 that he was prominent in church and pub- 
 lic affairs. He owns a farm in this place- 
 that he has successfully operated for years. 
 In October, 1S56, Dr. Groff married Han- 
 nah, the only child of Rev. Isaac Clements. 
 This marriage, which has been marked by 
 the greatest happiness and felicity, resulted 
 in the birth of seven children. They are : 
 Mary, who intermarried with Garret Lan- 
 dis ; Olivia, who became the wife of John 
 Moyer ; Dr. John Groff, Ida, now the wife 
 of Sheridan Metz ; Hannah, who espoused 
 Wilson Alderfer ; Kate, who was married to 
 I. Stover; and Henry Groff. His son John 
 studied medicine and graduated from Jef- 
 ferson Medical college in 1890. He then 
 took his father's place, and is maintaining 
 the high standard of the paternal profes- 
 sional name. 
 
 JOSEPH J. McGINLEY, secretary and 
 business manager of the Times Pub- 
 lishing Company, of Norristown, is a son 
 of Francis and Mary (Walters) McGinley, 
 and was born on the old McGinley home- 
 stead at Norristown, Pennsylvania, August 
 20, 1868. His paternal grandfather, Bern- 
 ard McGinley, was a native and life long 
 resident of Count}' Donegal, Ireland, where 
 Francis McGinley (father), was also born 
 and lived until fourteen years of age. The 
 latter then came to America with relatives, 
 and lived at Frankford, Philadelphia county, 
 this State, until he had attained his fifteenth 
 year. He improved such opportunities as 
 
 came in his way for obtaining an education, 
 but they were meagre, as he had to make 
 his own way in the world and could only 
 Study during evenings and at odd times. At 
 the age of fifteen he came to Norristown, 
 Montgomery county, and began learning 
 the trade of shoemaker. After completing 
 his apprenticeship, in 1852, he worked as a 
 journeyman for several years. He then em- 
 barked in business as a shoemaker on his 
 own account, at 270 East Main street, 
 where he still carries on the business, 
 though now in the sixtieth year of his age. 
 He is a Democrat in politics and a Catholic 
 in religion. In 1854 he married Mary 
 Walters, a daughter of Daniel Walters, of 
 Norristown, and to them were born ten chil- 
 dren : Daniel, now engaged in the printing 
 business in New York City ; John, died at 
 the age of seventeen ; Frank, deceased in 
 1892, aged thirty ; James, died in infancy ; 
 Clara, married Charles Dale, of Norristown ; 
 Joseph J., subject of this sketch ; Annie, 
 died in childhood ; Bernard, died in infancy ; 
 Edward, a paper roller by trade ; and Mary, 
 a stenographer. Mrs. McGinley is a native 
 of Ireland, and is now in the sixty-second 
 year of her age. 
 
 Joseph J. McGinley was reared in his na- 
 tive borough of Norristown, where he at- 
 tended the public school one year, and after- 
 wards studied in the parochial schools until 
 thirteen years of age. He then went into 
 a woolen mill and worked for three years, 
 after which he again entered the parochial 
 school for one year, and, on leaving school, 
 began learuing the carpenter trade with 
 Michael Murdy at Norristown. He com- 
 pleted his trade in the planing mill of Guest, 
 Grater & Co. During this time he was at- 
 tending night schools, endeavoring to secure 
 a better education, and among other things 
 took up book-keeping at Schissler's College 
 
328 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of Business. He also solicited orders and 
 advertising for newspapers and periodicals, 
 and in every way tried to advance himseli 
 
 in the world. In -March, 1S92, he was 
 offered and accepted a position as book- 
 keeper with the Times Publishing Com- 
 pany of Xorristown, and at once entered on 
 his duties with enthusiasm and a determi- 
 nation to make himself indispensable to his 
 employers. He strictly adhered to his pur- 
 pose, and by industry and careful attention 
 to business, gradually advanced himself to 
 his present position as secretary and business 
 manager of the company. He is recognized 
 as one of the young business men of his 
 borough, and is everywhere credited with 
 having fought a good fight with opposing 
 circumstances. 
 
 In politics Mr. McGinley is a Republican, 
 and in religion a member of the Catholic 
 church. He is also a member and vice- 
 president of the Catholic F. A. B. society of 
 Xorristown, and takes an active interest in 
 matters pertaining to the public welfare. 
 Mr. McGinley is unmarried. 
 
 WILLIAM H. SHOFFXER, a promi- 
 nent builder and contractor of Xor- 
 ristown, Pennsylvania, was born August 9, 
 1853. He is a son of Abraham and Sarah 
 A. Shoffner, and is a native of Xorristown. 
 His paternal grandfather, Alexander Shof- 
 fner, came from Germany to this country 
 and located on a farm near Lionville, 
 Chester county, this State, where he con- 
 tinued to reside uninterruptedly until his 
 death. Among his children was Abraham 
 Shoffner, the father of William H. He 
 was reared in Chester county, was educated 
 in the common schools near Lionville, and 
 when he became of sufficient age to learn 
 
 a trade was apprenticed to a carpenter and 
 learned the craft of carpentering and join- 
 ing. He was engaged in the pursuits of 
 his trade the greater part of his life, and did 
 considerable contract work, but subsequent- 
 ly removed to Xorristown, of which place 
 he was a resident up to the time of his 
 death. He was firmly attached to the 
 Lutheran church in which he held member- 
 ship, and was equally strong supporter of 
 the Democratic party. By his marriage a 
 family of nine children resulted. 
 
 William H. Shoffner, whose name ap- 
 I pears at the head of this sketch, was ed- 
 ucated in the common schools, and at the 
 time of the last illness of his father, suc- 
 ceeded to the management of the contract- 
 ing business, which he undertook in 
 partnership with his brother, James K., 
 under the firm name of Shoffner and Brother. 
 This firm has built a large number of 
 handsome residences and public buildings, 
 largely in the borough of Xorristown. 
 Among those worthy of mention are the 
 residences of Wallace Boyer, George W. 
 Rogers, Charles Paist, H. K. Reagar, Theo. 
 White. In addition to these they con- 
 structed the buildings of the Xorristown 
 Steel company and the Star Glass works of 
 Xorristown. 
 
 On July 1, 1894, the firm of Shoffner & 
 Bro. broke ground for the City market 
 house, situated between Airy and Marshall 
 streets, Xorristown. This building, when 
 Completed, will be one of the best structures 
 of its kind in the State, and contains the 
 offices and council rooms for the borough 
 government, a public hall ninety-six by 
 forty-six feet, a military armory and an 
 annexed club room, besides a variety of com- 
 mission and market stalls. The building 
 is to be furnished with all the modern and 
 best improved equipments necessary to 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 329 
 
 each department. The total cost of the 
 erection is in the neighborhood of sixty 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 In June, 1880, Mr. Shoffner married Ida 
 Krepps, a daughter of Henry Krepps, of 
 Norristowu. They have two children : 
 Wallace B. deceased ; and Helen May. 
 
 At seventeen years of age Mr. Shoffner 
 enlisted in Company H, Sixteenth regi- 
 ment, national guard of Pennsylvania, and 
 served for a period of twelve years. He 
 was discharged as a first lieutenant. Dur- 
 ing the great railroad strike of 1877, the 
 militia was called into service at Pittsburg, 
 Pennsylvania, where Mr. Shoffner experi- 
 enced the practical and arduous routine of 
 the soldier's life until the termination of 
 the strike. In politics he is a Democrat, 
 but in local affairs aims to support the man 
 rather than the party. He is a member of 
 the Shield of Honor ; Improved Order of 
 Red Men ; Knights of the Golden Eagle ; 
 and Curtis Lodge, I. O. O. F. He is also 
 a member of the Excelsior Saving, Trust, 
 Building and Loan association, and served 
 a number of years as a member of the 
 board of trade. He is a member of the 
 Protestant Episcopal church. 
 
 HENRY W. GRAUL, an ex-teacher, 
 justice of the peace, and a civil engi- 
 neer and conveyancer, of Green Lane, this 
 county, is a son of Levi and Lydia 
 (Blanck) Graul, and was born at Hop- 
 penville, Montgomery count)', Penn- 
 sylvania, November 8, 1839. Mr. Graul 
 is of German descent on his father's 
 side and British on his grandmothers side. 
 His paternal grandfather, Jacob Graul, was 
 a life-long resident of Lehigh count} - , this 
 State, where he was engaged in agricultural 
 
 pursuits. He married Miss Wetzel who 
 bore him three children : Levi, father ; 
 Jacob, and a daughter, who was kidnapped 
 in her childhood. 
 
 Levi Graul, father, the eldest of a family 
 of three children, was born in Weisenburg 
 township, Lehigh county, Penna. His 
 father dying when he was a small boy, he- 
 was indentured to his uncle who gave him 
 a good education. After passing through 
 the public schools of his native township, 
 he attended various academies and finally 
 entered Lafayette college Here, however, 
 he remained but a short time. Leaving 
 college he apprenticed himself to learn the 
 merchant-tailoring trade for four full years. 
 Thorough and reliable in his workmanship, 
 artistic in his tastes, and understanding 
 well the philosophy of dress, he made this 
 his life-work. He was a Democrat in poli- 
 tical opinion, and a member of St. Luke's 
 Lutheran church, at Pennsburg. He was 
 an earnest and zealous worker in the church 
 and a liberal contributor to all benevolent 
 and charitable institutions. His marriage 
 in 1838, resulted in the birth of one son, 
 Henry W., the subject of this sketch. Mr. 
 Graul died at Green Lane, Montgomery 
 county, this State, on December 7, 1881, aged 
 sixty-nine years, five months, twenty days, 
 and his wife Lydia passed away February 
 28, 1867, aged fifty years. 
 
 Henry YV. Graul was educated in the 
 public schools of Upper Hanover township, 
 this county ; select schools at Allentown, 
 this State ; Washington Hall, at " The 
 Trappe," this count}', and the Bucks 
 count)' Normal and Classical School, at 
 Ouakertown, in the latter of which lie pre- 
 pared himself for the Sophomore year at 
 college. Subsequently, in 1861, he en- 
 gaged in teaching, and continued success- 
 fully until 1883, when he abandoned his 
 
33° 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 profession. During this time he taught in 
 Upper Hanover, East Greenville and Sum- 
 nevtown, and was assistant principal of the 
 Bucks county Normal and Classical Insti- 
 tute, and from 1875 to 1883 inclusive, was 
 principal of the Green Lane school. 
 
 Politically he is a Democrat, and in 
 1879, he was elected justice of the peace, 
 in which office he has since been continued. 
 In conjunction with this he is engaged in 
 surveying and conveyancing. He is pos- 
 sessed of rare musical talent and has made a 
 specialty of both vocal and instrumental 
 music. He is a prominent member of the 
 Sumneytown Lutheran church and is or- 
 ganist for the Sumneytown Union churches, 
 Lutheran and Reformed. He takes an in- 
 terest in secret and fraternal societies ; is 
 a member of Green Lane Castle No. 202, 
 K. G. E., and of Charity Lodge No. 190, 
 Free and Accepted Masons, at Norristown, 
 Pa. 
 
 On March 21, 1861, he wedded Esther 
 A., a daughter of Colonel Henry Dotts, a 
 prominent farmer of Pennsburg, and to 
 them have been born four children : Esther 
 Janett, who is the wife of Jacob Allebach, 
 a merchant of Green Lane ; Olive C, de- 
 ceased in 1863 ; Lydia Margaret, deceased, 
 and Philip Malancthon, who graduated at 
 East Stroudsburg State normal school iii 
 the class of "95. The latter was elected 
 teacher of Lehighton " A " Grammar 
 school soon after graduation. 
 
 JOHN F. BE AN, who is the proprietor of 
 a large general store at Creamery, post- 
 master, and is also interested in several large 
 business enterprises, is a son of Garret and 
 Kate (Fryer) Bean. He was born on his 
 father's farm in Skippack township, on De- 
 
 cember 2, 1844. He is descended from 
 German stock, but his ancestors have been 
 in this country for at least five generations. 
 His paternal great-grandfather, John Bean, 
 was born in Philadelphia county in the year 
 1 761. He was a farmer by occupation, and 
 served in the War of 1812, dying in 1846. 
 The paternal grandfather was born in Wor- 
 cester township in 1788, and was a farmer 
 all his life, operating a splendid tract of land 
 containing one hundred and thirty acres. 
 In politics he was first a Whig and later a 
 Republican. The Bean family were all 
 members of the Mennonite church, and 
 Grandfather Bean was a preacher for a num- 
 ber of years. He was married to Susan 
 Ziegler, and they had only one child, the 
 father of the subject of this sketch. Grand- 
 father Bean died in August, 1854, aged 
 sixty-six years Garret Bean was born on 
 the old homestead in Skippack township on 
 October 14, 181 1. He attended school until 
 he was twenty years old, spending his vaca- 
 tions in assisting his father on the farm. 
 After leaving school, he devoted all of his 
 time to farming, and at the death of his 
 father, he came into possession of all the 
 property. He was a Republican in politics 
 and quite active in the local councils of his 
 party. He served as bank director for thirty 
 years in the old Montgomery and First Na- 
 tional banks of Norristown, and for some 
 years he served as a school director, and 
 always took a deep interest in educational 
 matters. Like his father, he was a member 
 of the Mennonite church. Garret Bean was 
 married twice. His first wife was Esther 
 Hunsicker, and she bore him four children : 
 Susan, who married John A. Drake ; Sarah, 
 the wife of Henry Fryer ; Magdalina, the 
 wife of Jonathan Wousetler ; and another 
 who died in infancy. The mother died at 
 the same time, and they were laid to rest 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 33i 
 
 together. His second wife is Kate Fryer, 
 
 and this union resulted in the birth of three 
 sons : Henry, John and Garret, jr. Garret, 
 sr., died May 31, 1892. 
 
 John F. Bean was reared on the farm, but 
 was given a good education. He attended 
 the common schools, and then spent one 
 year at Freeland seminary, now Ursinus 
 college. After leaving this institution, Mr. 
 Bean taught school in Skippack township 
 for two years, leaving that position to be- 
 come a clerk for William F. Hallman, with 
 whom he remained two years. The follow- 
 ing two years he clerked in H. M. Alder- 
 fer's store, and three years for F. F. Hen- 
 dricks ec Co., Schwenksville. Three years 
 he was the proprietor of the store at Leder- 
 achville, and in 1879 he came to Creamery 
 and started in the general store business at 
 this place, and two years later established 
 the first post-office at this place, of which 
 he has since been the incumbent. He has 
 a very large store and .carries a large stock 
 of goods of every line that are saleable in a 
 store of that character. At this writing it 
 will make his twenty-eighth year in mer- 
 cantile life. 
 
 Mr. Bean prospered from the very start, 
 and is now one of the foremost busi- 
 ness men of that section. He is not only 
 interested in his general store, but he is 
 also a heavy stockholder of the Royersford 
 banks and Water company, and a member 
 of other public enterprises. As a Republi- 
 can in politics, he is a firm believer in the 
 principles of the party platform and never 
 misses an election. 
 
 On January 23, 1869, Mr. Bean and Sarah 
 H. Hallman were happily wedded, and 
 they have had six children : Annie Laura, 
 born August 28, 1870, and now wife of C. 
 R. Hunsicker ; Katie May, born May 22, 
 1876, deceased ; Clement H., born August 
 
 16, 1877 ; John Wallace, born March 6, 
 1881, deceased; Perry H., born May 21, 
 1884 ; Sallie Pearl, born January 6, 1886. 
 
 WILLIAM Z. KRFIBLE, one of the 
 leading bakers of Norristown, Penn- 
 sylvania, is a son of William and Marv 
 (Zilling) Kreible, and was born in Worces- 
 ter township, this county, September 19, 
 1 85 1. The Kreible family are of German 
 lineage, and trace back their ancestry to a 
 member of the family who came to this 
 country at an early period, and located in 
 Worcester township. Samuel Kreible, pa- 
 ternal great-grandfather, owned a large mill 
 and farm in the township above mentioned, 
 to which he devoted the major part of his 
 life. He was a member of the religious 
 sect called Schwenkfelters, and was twice 
 married. By his first wife he had five chil- 
 dren : Lydia Krause, Elizabeth Schultz, 
 Sallie, Susanna Anders and William. After 
 the death of Mrs. Kreible, he again was 
 united in marriage, and by this union one 
 child was born : Sophia Schultz. 
 
 William Kreible (father), was born and 
 reared on the old homestead farm, where he 
 resides at present. He has recently sold a 
 part of his landed property to his sons, 
 Amos, Michael and Elmer, but has retained 
 one of his farms. Politically, he is a Re- 
 publican, and in religion has adopted the 
 faith of his forefathers, that of the Schwenk- 
 felders. He reared a family of twelve chil- 
 dren : Samuel, Amos, Michael, Susannah, 
 Francis, William, Elizabeth, Mary, Chester, 
 Edwin, Elmer and Emma. 
 
 William Z. Kreible received an elemen- 
 tary education in the district schools and 
 learned the trade of miller, in which busi- 
 ness he was engaged for twenty-three years. 
 
332 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 In 1887 lie came to Norristown and started a 
 bakery at 606 and 608 West Marshall street, 
 where he is now located. Adjoining his 
 business room he has erected a commodious 
 three-story brick dwelling, forty by one 
 hundred and forty feet, with all the con- 
 veniences of a comfortable home. He has 
 succeeded in building up a large trade, and 
 has extended his business beyond the pre- 
 cincts of Norristown itself, to the adjoining 
 country districts. For this purpose he em- 
 ploys three wagons. 
 
 Mr. Kreible is an active Republican, and 
 a member of the Reformed church of Nor- 
 ristown. On September 13, 1873, he was 
 united in marriage with Kate H. Swartley, 
 whose paternal grandfather, Joseph Swart- 
 lev-, was a large farmer, located in Skip- 
 packville. Mr. Swartley was prominent in 
 local politics. He was married to Catha- 
 rine Reiff, by whom he had two children : 
 Kate and Elias, father of Kate H. Swartley. 
 Elias Swartley was reared in the vicinity of 
 Skippackville, but later in life he removed 
 to Pottstown, Pennsylvania, where he re- 
 mained two years. Mr. Swartley has been 
 twice married. In 1890 he removed to 
 Orange county, Florida, where he resided 
 until shortly before his death, September 
 12, 1895. He married Eliza Striner, and 
 they are the parents of five daughters : 
 Emma J. Kratz; Kate H., Anna E. Mc- 
 Cracken, Mary Kreible and Lillie Roshon. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kreible have had two chil- 
 dren : Elmer and Mary L., both of whom 
 are deceased. 
 
 GEORGE ADAM AUTENRIETH, a 
 veteran soldier of the late Civil war, 
 and a resident of Norristown, is a son of 
 Philip J. and Louisa (Buck) Autenrieth, 
 
 and was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, 
 October 7, 1829. His father was a member 
 of the Lutheran church, and married Louisa 
 Buck, who died January 21, 1850, at the age 
 of forty-five years. Philip J. died Septem- 
 ber 18, 1836. They had four children : 
 William, Philip J., Adam and Margaret. 
 
 Adam Autenrieth learned the trade of 
 shoemaker in his native country, which vo- 
 cation he pursued during his life. In 1858 
 he bid adieu to his native shores and came 
 to this country and located in New York 
 City. Remaining there two years, he then 
 removed to Norristown, where he has re- 
 sided ever since. During the late Civil war 
 he was in active service from September 24, 
 1S63, until the close of the war. He en- 
 listed in Company G, Ninetieth Pennsylva- 
 nia infantry, and was captured on the 
 Weldon railroad August 19th of the next 
 year, and taken to Libby prison. Later he 
 was removed to Belle Island, Virginia, and 
 then to Salisbury, North Carolina. On No- 
 vember 26, 1864, while yet a prisoner, he 
 was transferred to Company H, of the 
 Eleventh Pennsylvania veteran infantry, 
 but was not exchanged until February, 
 1865, and did not join the regiment until 
 April 13, 1865. He was discharged June 10, 
 of the same year. He served in quite a 
 number of engagements, among the most 
 important of which were the following : 
 Battles of the Wilderness and Chancellors- 
 ville ; the attack against Agna Landing ; 
 in the expedition against Early ; battles of 
 Bridge and Mitchell's Station ; campaign 
 around Petersburg ; and the engagements at 
 Rappahannock Station, Sulphur Springs, 
 Thoroughfare Gap, Groveton, Second Bull 
 Run and Chantilly. During General Lee's 
 first invasion to the North, he witnessed 
 the battles of South Mountain, Turner's 
 Gap and Antietam. He was also on duty 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 333 
 
 at Poatts Point, in the Mud March, Chan- 
 cellorsville, and during Lee's second inva- 
 sion he helped to win one of the great 
 decisive battles of the world. In the Wil- 
 derness campaign he took an active part in 
 the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, 
 Laurel Hill, Guinea Station, North Anna, 
 Cold Harbor, and was at the siege of Peters- 
 burg. He was in the assault on Norfolk, 
 Ya., and in the engagements on the Weldon 
 Railroad. Later he was in areconnoitering 
 expedition to the Poplar Springs Church, 
 and then was on garrison duty at Fort 
 Dushaue until November 26, 1864. 
 
 In all Mr. Autenreith spent about two 
 years of military life, and became ac- 
 quainted with its pomp and glory as well 
 as its horrible butchery. For six months 
 he was retained as a prisoner of war and 
 suffered much insolent and abusive treat- 
 ment at the hands of the enemy. 
 
 Mr. Autenreith married Mary Bauer, a 
 daughter of Frederick Bauer, and to this 
 union have been born two sons and three 
 daughters : Charles F., deceased ; George, 
 Man-, deceased ; Matilda, Isabella and Anna 
 Barbara. 
 
 JOHN H. LATSHAW, treasurer of the 
 Royersford Glass company, is a son of 
 Daniel and Angeline (Bean) Latshaw, and 
 was born in the village of Royersford, 
 Montgomerv county, Pennsylvania, on 
 Christmas day, 1875. The family is of 
 French descent, but have resided in eastern 
 Pennsylvania for several generations. Dan- 
 iel Latshaw, father, was born and reared in 
 Chester count)', this State, where he fol- 
 lowed farming for a number of years. In 
 later life he became a real estate dealer and 
 conducted that business extensively at Roy- 
 ersford, Montgomery county, where he 
 
 owned large tracts of valuable land. To 
 his energy and enterprise is largely due the 
 growth and development of the village, 
 much of which stands on land formerly 
 owned by him. His death occurred in 1886, 
 when in the sixty-seventh year of his age, 
 and his remains sleep in the Fernwood 
 cemetery at Royersford. Although a strict 
 member of the Mennonite church, he was 
 broad and liberal in his views, and this 
 spirit was finally illustrated by his donation 
 of a town lot in Royersford for the erection 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church. His 
 energy and determination were proverbial, 
 and were never more clearly show than in 
 the effort to establish the first stove foundry 
 at Royersford, which was organized under 
 the name of Francis & Companv, but is now 
 known as Buekwalter 6c Company. His 
 estate still owns much valuable land in and 
 around the village. In 1850 he married 
 Angeline Bean, a daughter of Samuel Bean 
 of Montgomery county. By that union he 
 had a family of nine children. 
 
 John H. Latshaw was reared in his native 
 place and acquired a good English educa- 
 tion in the public schools of Royersford. 
 He subsequently entered Treemount semi- 
 nary at Norristown, from which he was 
 graduated in 1884. He then took a course 
 of training in Bryant and Stratton's Business 
 college in the city of Philadelphia, being 
 graduated from the latter institution in 1885. 
 Returning to Royersford he entered the 
 Spring City National bank in a clerical 
 capacity and remained there five years. He 
 then served for one year as vice-president of 
 the Grandee Stove company, and afterward 
 purchased an interest in the Royersford 
 Glass company. Mr. Latshaw at once be- 
 came the treasurer of this company, and has 
 ever since occupied that position with great 
 acceptability. Their plant is located on 
 
334 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Second avenue, and employs, when running 
 at its full capacity, about three hundred 
 hands. They manufacture bottles of every 
 size and kind. The company was chartered 
 in 1886 and began business in a small way 
 the same year. It has gradually increased 
 until it now ranks with the most important 
 industries of Montgomery county. 
 
 In addition to his interest in the Rovers- 
 ford Glass company, Mr. Latshaw is also a 
 stockholder in the Grandee Stove company 
 of Roversford, and the Keystone Light and 
 Heat company of Philadelphia. In politics 
 he is a Republican, and in religious faith a 
 Methodist. He is a member of the Patriotic 
 Order Sons of America, and has served as 
 treasurer of the order. He is unmarried. 
 
 SIGNOR ENRICO BARILI, a nephew 
 of Adelina Patti, and choir master of 
 St. Patrick's Catholic church of Norristown, 
 is a son of Signor Ettore and Antoinette 
 (Camps) Barili, and was born at Caracas, 
 Venezuela, South America, January 2, 1857. 
 He traces his ancestry back to the family 
 of Cardinal Barili, who lived in the sixteenth 
 century, and was the great-great-great-uncle 
 of Signor Ettore Barili, whose paternal an- 
 cestors for three centuries back, were musi- 
 cians of note and distinction and served as or- 
 ganists of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome. We 
 quote the following account of Signor Ettore 
 Barili which was recently written. "Signor 
 Ettore Barili was born in Rome, Italy, No- 
 vember 5, 1828, and when ten years of age 
 his father started to teach him music. By 
 the time he was twelve years old he was 
 playing the organ in St. Spirito church, 
 over which his father presided. In 1843, 
 the year his half sister, Adelina Patti, was 
 1) irn, he went to Milan, where he studied 
 
 under Maestro Mulze. In 1846 he ran away 
 from home and went on the stage at Monza, 
 Italy, in Due Foscon. From there he went 
 to the Grand Theatre, Barcelona, and ap- 
 peared in Rigolelto. In 1849, while in Spain, 
 he married Antoinette Camps, and in 1850 
 opened the theatre Rydiano in Florence, 
 where he remained until 1854, and then 
 came to America, landing in Boston in 
 August, 1855. He appeared in Rigolctto at 
 the Academy of Music in New York city, 
 and then took his half sister, Adelina Patti, 
 under his instruction. He taught her for 
 four years and then put her on the stage in 
 the opera of Martha^ in Philadelphia, at 
 sixteen years of age. 
 
 He then traveled in the United States 
 until 1864, when he joined his brother An- 
 tonio, who was a music teacher in New 
 York city. The following year he went to 
 Montgomery, Alabama, and remained there 
 until 1868, teaching music. From there he 
 went to Philadelphia, where he remained 
 until his death November 12, 1884, at fifty- 
 seven years of age. His voice was of re- 
 markable power from upper B flat to lower 
 E, and the scores he used to sing in Gettta 
 Macbeth and other compositions lie idle to- 
 day, because no one is capable of mastering 
 them." 
 
 Catharine Barili, the mother of Ettore 
 Barili and Adelina Patti, was the only 
 woman who was ever permitted to sing in 
 St. Peter's cathedral at Rome. She was 
 also a celebrated artist and several operas 
 were composed in her honor, one being that 
 of A r oruia. 
 
 Signor Enrico Barili was born on board 
 a vessel that was leaving the port of Caracas 
 fi >r Xew York city, and as it was an Ameri- 
 can ship and sailing under the flag of the 
 United States, he is a citizen of this country 
 bv birthright. At five vears of a°;e he was 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 335 
 
 placed under the musical instruction of Al- 
 fred Pease, who brought him out at ten 
 years of age at Chiekering Hall, New York 
 city, at the concert of Signor Brignolia, 
 where he played a duet with Mr. S. B. 
 Mills, now one of the celebrated pianists of 
 the United States. Leaving New York 
 city, he studied for four years under his 
 father at Montgomery, Alabama, and then 
 pursued the study of vocal music for some 
 time at Philadelphia, where he assisted his 
 father as organist at St. John's church. At 
 the close of his studies in Philadelphia, in 
 1878, he went on the operatic stage and was 
 with the McCall, and Bennett and Moulton 
 opera companies up to 1886, in which year 
 he abandoned the opera and became organ- 
 ist of St. Peter's cathedral in Wilmington, 
 Delaware, where he remained for three 
 years. He then came to Norristown and 
 accepted his present position as choir mas- 
 ter of St. Patrick's Catholic church. In 
 connection with his choir duties, he gives 
 lessons in vocal music to main- of the lead- 
 ing society people of Norristown. He is a 
 Democrat and a Catholic and is one of the 
 only three American members of the St. 
 Cecelia Pilharmonic society of Rome. He 
 is also a member of the Verdi Musical asso- 
 ciation of Philadelphia. 
 
 On October 2, 1891, Signor Barili mar- 
 ried Margaret McMannus, a sister of Rev. 
 O. P. McMannus. 
 
 J WATSON CRAFT, who is engaged in 
 . the coal, lumber and feed business at 
 Ambler, is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth 
 (Detweiler) Craft, and was born in Gwynedd 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, December 1, 1847. He ^ s °f English 
 lineage, and John Craft, his paternal grand- 
 
 father, lived in Whitemarsh township, where 
 he followed farming and did a large amount 
 of wood chopping and land clearing. He 
 married, and his son, Jacob, who was a mill- 
 wright by trade, went in early life to 
 Gwynedd township, where he was engaged 
 principally in farming. He was an old line 
 Whig and an early Republican, and during 
 the late Civil war served as an internal 
 revenue assessor. He was active in local 
 affairs and held several township offices 
 during his life time. He was born in 1812, 
 was a believer in the faith and practice of 
 the Society of Friends, and died July 27, 
 1894. Mr. Craft married Elizabeth Det- 
 weiler, whose father, Abraham Detweiler, 
 was a resident of Horsham township. Their 
 children were : Mary, wife of Albert G. 
 Rile, of Gwynedd ; Angeline, married Wil- 
 liam S. Funk, a resident of Whitpain 
 township ; Alfred, now residing in Norris- 
 town ; Watson, the subject of this sketch ; 
 Annie, wife of Horace G. Van Court, of 
 Philadelphia ; and Evan, who died in 1881. 
 J. Watson Craft was reared on the home 
 farm, and received his education in the dis- 
 trict schools, Prof. John W. Loch's academy 
 at Norristown, and the Millersville State 
 normal school. Leaving Millersville, he 
 became a clerk in the Norristown iron 
 works, where he was successfully promoted 
 to time-keeper and foreman, and where he 
 remained for a period of eighteen years. 
 At the end of that time he came to Ambler 
 and bought out the lumber, coal and feed 
 business of Mr. J. B. Staekhouse. His 
 father, Jacob, buying the real estate of Mr. 
 Staekhouse at the same time, which he pur- 
 chased of the latter in 1889. Since then he 
 has been enlarging his yards and feed estab- 
 lishment, and has built up a good and pro- 
 fitable trade. Mr. Craft has always been a 
 pronounced Republican and a whole-hearted 
 
33 6 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 supporter of his party. He served as the 
 first burgess of Ambler, has been a member 
 of the school board for six years and is 
 serving his third year as treasurer of the 
 borougfh. He believes in the faith and 
 teachings of the Society of Friends. Iden- 
 tified with the business interests of Ambler, 
 Mr. Craft has always sought to help in its 
 advancement and progress. He is a stock- 
 holder and a director of the First National 
 bank of Ambler, which was founded in 
 1882, and is recognized as a safe and pros- 
 perous financial institution, that has bene- 
 fitted a large section of the county as well 
 as being conducive to the prosperity of the 
 borough. 
 
 On May 8, 1872, J. Watson Craft was 
 united in marriage with Mary Griggs, a 
 daughter of T. B. Griggs, a resident of Nor- 
 ristown, Pa. Their union has been blessed 
 with three children : Adele E., E. Frank 
 and J. Watson, jr. 
 
 The father of G. S. Nice was a farmer 
 and huckster for forty years. He was 
 ^iven a common school education, and 
 then devoted his time to farming. He was 
 a Republican like his father. Eight chil- 
 dren were born to him. They were : 
 William, G. S., John, Edwin, Frank, 
 David, Emma and Amelia. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was sent to 
 the public schools until he was fifteen 
 years old. He left school and entered a 
 general store, where he rapidly rose and 
 soon owned a business for himself. This 
 young gentleman is a thorough business 
 man and carries a very large and varied 
 stock. He is of the same political faith as 
 his father and grandfather, and is also a 
 member of the Mennonite church. On 
 November 17, 1888, Mr. Nice married Miss 
 i Jennie F. Delp, a daughter of Henry C. 
 Delp. 
 
 GS. NICE, of Harleysville, is well 
 • known in this county as a general 
 store merchant, who has won prosperity by 
 his uniting zeal and constant attention to 
 business. He is a son of John and Kate 
 (Shoemaker) Nice, and is of strictly Ameri- 
 can aneestrv. He was born on September 
 15, 1864. His paternal grandfather was 
 William Nice, who was born in Upper Sal- 
 ford township. He was a farmer through- 
 out his life, and was a member of the Men- 
 nonite church and was an active Christian. 
 I [e was a Republican in politics, and always 
 took a lively interest in the workings of 
 his party. He was the father of six 
 children as follows : J. M., A. M., William 
 Mary, Betsy and Sophia. He died at the 
 advanced age of eightv-one vears. 
 
 ADAM SCHEIDT, a well known busi- 
 ness man, president and general mana- 
 ger of the Adam Scheidt brewing company 
 of Norristown, Pennsylvania, is a son of 
 Adam and Kathrina (Pflueger) Scheidt, and 
 was born in Bavaria, Germany, on February 
 14, 1854. His father was a miller and grain 
 dealer in the early part of his life, but lat- 
 terly engaged in the lime business, which 
 he continued until his death, on April 9, 
 1894. At the time of his death he was in 
 his eighty-sixth year. He was a man of 
 considerable means, and was a member of 
 the Lutheran church, in which he held the 
 office of elder. His marriage resulted in 
 the birth of ten children, seven sons and 
 three daughters. 
 
 Adam Scheidt received his education in 
 the public schools of Bavaria, and learned 
 the trade of cooper and brewer. This trade 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 337 
 
 he followed until he reached the age of 
 twenty-one years. At this time he entered 
 the military service of the German army 
 and served three years. In April, 1S7N, he 
 left his native country and emigrated to the 
 United States. Shortly after his arrival he 
 located in Norristown, and became asso- 
 ciated with his brother Charles in the brew- 
 ing business. As soon as he familiarized 
 himself with the language of his adopted 
 country, he became a partner and half 
 owner in the brewing business, which was 
 operated under the title of C. S: A. Scheidt. 
 This partnership continued until October 7, 
 1884, at which date his brother died. Dur- 
 ing the following year Mr. Scheidt con- 
 tinued the sole conductor of the business, 
 and when the interest of his brother in the 
 enterprise was sold, it was purchased by 
 Mr. Scheidt, and continued under his con- 
 trol down to October 7, 1890. At this latter 
 date the business was changed to a stock 
 company, under the name of the Adam 
 Scheidt Brewing company, of which Mr. 
 Scheidt became president and general 
 manager, Michael G. McGrath treasurer, 
 and Edward F. Curren, secretary. A board 
 of directors was organized, consisting of 
 William Little, Patrick Curren, P. McGrath, 
 J. U. Cassel and Amos M. Schultz. 
 
 The brewery of the Adam Scheidt Brew- 
 ing company is a very commodious structure, 
 and has a capacity of sixty thousand bar- 
 rels. In 1891 the brewery and bottling es- 
 tablishment of A. R. Cox, at the corner of 
 Main and Markley streets, Norristown, was 
 purchased and made an auxiliary business. 
 The facilities of the Adam Scheidt Brewing 
 company are greater than any other in the 
 county, and all kinds of beer, porter, ale, 
 stout and carbonated beverages are mar- 
 keted. 
 
 Aside from the brewing business, Mr. 
 
 22 
 
 Scheidt is a stockholder in the Albertson 
 
 Trust company, the Norristown Title, Trust 
 and Safe Deposit company, the First Na- 
 tional bank, the Norristown Steel works, 
 the Citizens' Passenger Street Rail\va\ 
 company, and various other business indus- 
 tries. Mr. Scheidt is a Republican in poli- 
 tics and a member of several fraternal 
 orders. 
 
 ( )n January 28, 1881, Mr. Scheidt was 
 united in marriage with Rosa I. Hindenach, 
 a daughter of Jacob Hindenach, of Norris- 
 town, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Scheidt 
 have six children : Adam, jr., Harry, Anna, 
 Nina, Helen and Catharine. 
 
 Mr. Scheidt is a man of very active and 
 courageous business propensities, and has 
 succeeded in establishing a large and grow- 
 ing business. He is a man of good execu- 
 tive ability and persistent efforts, and ranks 
 with the most enterprising citizens of the 
 county. 
 
 JOSEPH E. GRIFFITH, a prosperous 
 <J farmer of Lower Merion township, is a 
 son of Joseph and Sarah (Noblit) Griffith, 
 and was born in Mechanicsville, Upper 
 Merion township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, July 26, 1842. His paternal 
 grandfather was of German descent, and re- 
 sided in the lower part of Upper Merion 
 township, where he married and reared a 
 family of two children : Joseph and Mary 
 Boyer. 
 
 Joseph Griffith received the limited edu- 
 cation that was only within the reach of 
 fanners' sons of his day, and turned his at- 
 tention to farming, then the main pursuit 
 of those residing beyond the limits of a 
 city. He owned and tilled a farm of one 
 hundred and fifty acres in Lower Merion 
 township, where the subject of this sketch 
 
338 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 now resides. Joseph Griffith was an old 
 line Whig, and after the dissolution of the 
 Whig party he became a Republican. He 
 
 was industrious and frugal, and married 
 Sarah Noblit, who at her death left tour 
 children : John II., of East Conshohocken ; 
 William Henry, who died when young ; 
 Joseph Edward, the subject of this sketch, 
 and Sarah Ann Ferrier, who are twins. 
 After his wife's death, Mr. Griffith wedded 
 Mar) Noblit, who soon passed away, and 
 then for his third wife he married Araminta 
 Ellis, by whom he had one child, Ida, who 
 is now attending school. 
 
 Joseph Edward Griffith was reared on the 
 home farm and trained to agricultural pur- 
 suits. He attended the common schools of 
 [yOwer Merion township, and upon attain- 
 ing his majority, engaged with his father, 
 whom he assisted in farming for several 
 years, lie now owns fifty-six acres of the 
 home farm, ami in connection with farming 
 runs a large dairy. He disposes oi his dairy 
 products largely in the Philadelphia mar- 
 kets, hi political opinion Mr. Griffith is a 
 staunch Republican, and has always sup- 
 ported the men and measures of his party. 
 IK is active and industrious, a prudent and 
 trustworthy man. 
 
 (hi September 20, [869, Mr. Griffith mar- 
 ried Mary Emily Griffith. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Griffith have one child, a sou, named 
 Isaac, who is now assisting his father in 
 [arminer and dairying^. 
 
 HENRY SNYDER, a successful retired 
 business man and a representative citi- 
 zen ot Green Lane, is a son oi Captain 
 Jacob and Mary (Grobb) Snyder, and was 
 horn in Frederick township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, February 10, 1820. 
 
 His paternal grandfather, Valentine Snyder, 
 was a native of Germany, hut when a young 
 man emigrated to the United States and 
 finally settled in Frederick township, where 
 lie passed the remainder of his days. He 
 was a blacksmith by trade, ami followed 
 that in conjunction with farming all his 
 life. He was a member of the German Re- 
 formed church, and married Mary Wagoner, 
 who bore him one son, Jacob Snyder, who 
 was the father of the subject oi this sketch. 
 He was horn in 17SS upon his father's farm, 
 and resided there for many years, engaged 
 in farming. Subsequently he moved to 
 Spring Mount, where he followed farming 
 for a time, when he removed to Marlbor- 
 ough township. Here he owned and ope- 
 rated the Perkiomen flouring mill the re- 
 in. under of his active life, dying in July, 
 1870. Politically he was a Democrat, and 
 religiously he was identified with the Ger- 
 man Reformed church. He was an active 
 and zealous worker. For main years he 
 was .1 deacon in the church, and in fact, 
 filled all the offices in the church organiza- 
 tion. He was a brave and valiant soldier oi 
 the War of 1812, and served through the 
 earlier war with the rank of captain. Cap- 
 tain Snyder and Mary Grobb were married, 
 and to them were born eight children : Es- 
 ther Morgan, deceased ; Charles, Elizabeth, 
 Stanley Samuel, deceased ; Henry, Benja- 
 min, deceased ; Isaac and John, deceased. 
 
 Henry Snyder obtained such education as 
 the district schools of his day afforded, and 
 remained with his father, employed upon 
 the farm, until twenty-one years of age. 
 After attaining his majority, he learned the 
 millwright trade with Ephraim Haney, of 
 .Sal ford township, this county. Mastering 
 the trade in every detail, and becoming a 
 skilled and proficient artisan, he followed 
 hi-- trade successfully for a period of twenty 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 339 
 
 years. Subsequently he operated the Per- 
 kiomen mills, then owned by his father, for 
 five years. He afterwards purchased a valu- 
 able farm of eighty acres in Perkiometiville, 
 and devoted his time and attention to the 
 cultivation of his farm until iSjS, when he 
 practically retired from a long, active and 
 successful business career. Since his retire- 
 ment he has resided at (irc-en Lane, where 
 he occupies a pleasant and commodious 
 home. Like his ancestors, he is a Demo- 
 crat, and a member of the German Re- 
 formed church, in which he takes an active 
 interest. The marital union of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Snyder has been blessed with six chil- 
 dren : Milton, a carpenter of PottstOWH, 
 this counts- ; Frank, Elizabeth Kramer, 
 Clara, Charles and Jacob. 
 
 Mr. Snyder is a public spirited and pro- 
 gressive citizen, and is interested in many 
 of the most substantial financial institutions 
 of his count)', among which are : Penns- 
 burg National bank, Montgomery National 
 bank at Xorristowu, Royersford National 
 bank, and Montgomery Trust company at 
 Xorristowu. He has been a director in the 
 Perkiomen and Sumneytown turnpike since 
 [875, and is reputed to be one of the 
 wealthiest citizens of his community. 
 
 JONATHAN CLEAVER, of Consho- 
 ^J hocken, is prominently known through- 
 out the county as an enterprising plumber, 
 gas and steam fitter and jobbing machinist, 
 with commodious shops on Hector street. 
 He is clearly a self-made man and has 
 worked himself up from a poor boy to a 
 position of honor and trust in the business 
 circles of his town. He was born at King- 
 of-Prussia, this county, on the twenty-fourth 
 of February, 1X54, and is a son of Jonathan 
 
 and Anna Jane (Wood; Cleaver. His peo- 
 ple on both sides are Quakers, and are all 
 old residents of Montgomery county, and 
 have contributed not a little to th< pi 
 perity of the localities in which they lived. 
 
 In the public schools of Chester Valley, 
 Xorristown and Conshohocken, Mr. Cleaver 
 secured all the education his parents could 
 afford to give him. He left school to take 
 a position in the rolling mill of J. Wood & 
 Brothers, where he remained several years. 
 Subsequently he learned the plumbing 
 trade at Manayunk, and prior to going into 
 business on his own account, was employed 
 as plumber and gas-fitter for the Albion 
 Print works at Conshohocken. In April, 
 1886, Mr. Cleaver started in business for 
 himself and has been eminently successful 
 ever since. He has employed as high as 
 twelve journeymen, and his business in- 
 cludes plumbing, gas and steam fitting, 
 house heating and the like, and he has p 
 eminently the cream of the trade of Con- 
 shohocken. Besides this, he has attached 
 to his plumbing shop, a very complete job- 
 bing machine shop, which is also kept busy 
 all the time, and forms no inconsiderable 
 part of his business enterprise. 
 
 Mr. Cleaver is a thorough-going Republi- 
 can, and takes a prominent part in the 
 local councils of his party and the manage- 
 ment of its business. He is a member of 
 Washington Camp No. 121, P. * >. S. of A. ; 
 Brotherhood No. ro, and Fritz Lodge No. 
 420, F. & A. M., in all of which he is a 
 leading spirit. 
 
 < >n the twenty-fifth of ( tatober, 1883, Mr. 
 Cleaver was married to Kate Shepherd, 
 daughter of Linford and Emily Shepherd, 
 of Gwynedd township. Mr. Shepherd was 
 a farmer and cattle dealer, and was very 
 well off in this world's goods. He was a 
 Republican in politics and held numerous 
 
34o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 local offices. He was a member of the I. 0. 
 O. F. and K. of P. He was the father of 
 ten children, four of whom are dead. These 
 latter were : Marion, Evelyn, Herbert and 
 Cora. Those living are : Lizzie, Kate, 
 Hester, Eugene, Eulalie and Linford. Four 
 children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver : 
 Francis and Emily are dead, and William 
 and Jonathan, jr., are still living. Mrs. 
 Cleaver's father died March 15, 1894, at the 
 advanced age of seventy-three years, and 
 her mother still lives. 
 
 NICHOLAS HENRY LARZELERE, a 
 prominent lawyer of Norristown, is a 
 son of Benjamin and Mary (Maxwell) Larze- 
 lere, and was born in Warminister township, 
 Bucks county, Pennsylvania, March 7, 1851. 
 His trans atlantic paternal ancestry is traced 
 back to the days of Louis XIV, the " Grand 
 Monarque," who shone in a light reflected 
 from his great ministers, without whose 
 councils and labors he could not have stood 
 a single month. For apparent political rea- 
 sons of import, Louis XIV, on October 22, 
 1685, revoked the Edict of Nantes, and 
 thereby lost France half a million of Hugue- 
 nots, who were among the kingdom's best 
 citizens. Among the emigrant Huguenots 
 was Nicholas Larzelere, sr., and his brother 
 John, who made their first home in the new 
 world on Long Island. Nicholas afterward 
 became a resident of Staten Island, and 
 Nicholas, jr., the eldest of his four children, 
 removed, in 1741, to Lower Makefield town- 
 ship, Bucks county, where he died at 
 eighty-four years of age. His family con- 
 sisted of eight children, and the eldest son, 
 named Nicholas, was born on Staten 
 Island, in 1734, and died in 1814. He was 
 a soldier in the Revolutionarv war, married 
 
 Hannah Britton, of Bristol, and removed 
 into Bensalem township, Bucks county, 
 where he purchased a large tract of land 
 and reared a family of ten children. His 
 youngest son, Britton, born in 1782, fought 
 in the War of 1812, and died in 1878, at 
 ninety-six years of age, while his eldest 
 son, Benjamin, married Sarah Brown, of 
 Bristol township, and died at eighty-four 
 years of age, on the farm he purchased in 
 that township, and on which the present 
 borough of Bristol is partly built. Benja- 
 min had eight children, and his eldest son, 
 Nicholas, in 1825, came to Abington town- 
 ship, this county, where he died at sixty- 
 seven years of age. He married Esther 
 Berrell, a daughter of Colonel Jeremiah 
 Berrell, and reared a family of twelve chil- 
 dren. Of his twelve children, the second 
 son was Benjamin, the father of the subject 
 of this sketch. Benjamin Larzelere was 
 born in 1826, and is still living. He mar- 
 ried Mary Maxwell, eldest daughter of 
 Henry and Ann (Buskirk) Maxwell, of 
 Moreland township. Mrs. Maxwell was a 
 daughter of Jacob Buskirk, whose father 
 came from Holland and married Elizabeth 
 Lawrence, eldest daughter of Jonathan 
 Lawrence, who was the eldest son of John 
 and Mary Lawrence, who came from Eng- 
 land to the colony of Massachusetts in 17 13. 
 Mary Lawrence was a daughter of Charles 
 Townley, of Lancashire, England, the 
 genealogy of whose family ran back to the 
 days of Henry VIII. 
 
 Nicholas Henry Larzelere was reared on 
 his father's farm, received his elementary 
 education in the common schools, and was 
 prepared for college at Doylestown English 
 and Classical seminary. He entered the 
 freshman class of Lafayette college in 187 1, 
 and was graduated from that well known 
 institution in 1875. During his junior year 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 34i 
 
 he won first honor in the oratorical contest 
 between Franklin and Washington Halls, 
 and in the senior year was the representa- 
 tive of Lafayette college to the inter-colle- 
 giate oratorical contest of Amherst, Prince- 
 ton, Williams, Cornell, New York, Colum- 
 bia and Lafayette colleges, which took 
 place in the Academy of Music, New York 
 City, January 13, 1875. Leaving college, 
 he read law with Hon. George Ross, of 
 Bucks county, and afterward with Hon. B. 
 Markley Boyer, of Norristown. He was 
 admitted to the bar of Montgomery county 
 on September 28, 1877, and soon gained a 
 foremost place in the ranks of his profes- 
 sion. Among the earlier cases in which he 
 won distinction were : Bradfield et al., vs. 
 Insurance company ; Commonwealth vs. 
 Gaffey, manslaughter ; and in the matter of 
 freeing the DeKalb street bridge at Norris- 
 town, after one of the most stubborn con- 
 tests ever waged in the courts of the county. 
 In politics Mr. Larzelere is a Democrat, 
 but having early made choice of the legal 
 profession, he has given his entire atten- 
 tion to it with the fidelity that belongs to 
 his nature. He is an able lawyer and well 
 versed in his profession, in which he has 
 gained prominence and distinction. 
 
 GEORGE W. ROGERS, Esq., who for 
 many years has practiced at the Nor- 
 ristown bar, and has twice been the candi- 
 date of his party for the office of law judge 
 of his district, is the eldest son of David 
 and Cynthia (Watson) Rogers, and a native 
 of Warrington, Bucks county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, where he was born June 15, 1829. The 
 family is descended from English Puritan 
 stock, and removed to Pennsylvania from 
 Connecticut, where Dr. David Rogers, pa- 
 
 ternal great-grandfather of the subject of 
 this sketch, was born and resided all his 
 life. One of his sons was General William 
 Charles Rogers (grandfather), who was born 
 in Connecticut May 28, 1776, and when a 
 young man removed to Philadelphia, where 
 at the age of twenty he married Mary 
 Hiltzheimer, a daughter of Hon. Jacob 
 Hiltzheimer, at one time a member of Con- 
 gress from Pennsylvania. She was born 
 March. 16, 1771, in the house where Jeffer- 
 son wrote the Declaration of Independence, 
 corner of Seventh and Market streets, Phila- 
 delphia, then owned by her father and in 
 possession of his descendants until 1874. In 
 early life William Charles Rogers followed 
 the sea, sailing from Philadelphia to China 
 in the merchant marine service. He served 
 with distinction in the War of 1812, hold- 
 ing the rank of brigadier general, and cam- 
 manding the volunteer militia stationed at 
 Marcus Hook as a protection to Philadel- 
 phia and ports on the Delaware against 
 British invasion. In later life he devoted 
 himself to agricultural pursuits, and served 
 for many years as a justice of the peace in 
 Bucks county, this State. 
 
 By his marriage to Mary Hiltzheimer he 
 had a family of nine children, five of whom 
 grew to maturity and among whom were : 
 Jacob H., who served for a quarter 
 of a century as justice of the peace in 
 Bucks county ; Gen. William F., a resi- 
 dent of Doylestown, who served two terms 
 as a member of the senate of Pennsvl- 
 vania, during part of which time he oc- 
 cupied the speaker's chair ; David Rogers, 
 who was the father of the subject of this 
 sketch. David Rogers was born in War- 
 rington township, Bucks county, this State, 
 in 1800, and after securing a good practical 
 education, engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
 first at Warrington, then at Pleasantville, 
 
342 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 on the county line between Bucks and 
 Monts-omerv counties. Here he followed 
 fanning until 1858, when he removed to 
 Xorristown, where he died. He was a 
 Jacksonian Democrat in politics, and held a 
 number of local offices, while in religion he 
 was a strict Presbyterian. He married 
 Cynthia Watson, a daughter of Benjamin 
 and Hannah 'Watson, of Bucks county, and 
 bv that union had a family of three chil- 
 dren : George YV.. whose name introduces 
 this sketch ; William C, who became a 
 physician and surgeon, and afterwards 
 served for a time as surgeon on the steam- 
 ship Illinois between Philadelphia and Liv- 
 erpool ; and Mary, who married Henry 
 Hibbs, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mrs. Rogers' father, Benjamin Watson, 
 was a member of General Morgan's rifle- 
 men during the Revolutionary war, and 
 participated in the battles of Brandywine, 
 Gennantown, Trenton, Stony Point, Cow- 
 pens, and other historic struggles. He was 
 discharged at Charleston, South Carolina, 
 when the Revolution closed, and on account 
 of not being paid, was compelled to walk 
 all the way from there to Philadelphia. At 
 Gennantown he was one of those detailed 
 by General Washington to apprehend and 
 execute the Tories, who were betraying 
 American soldiers to the British, and as- 
 sisted in hanging one such near Mont- 
 gomery Square. He died at the age of 
 seventy-seven, and was interred at Xesh- 
 aminy Presbyterian church, Bucks county. 
 
 George W. Rogers was reared principally 
 in Montgomery county, receiving his 
 elementary education in the public schools, 
 and afterward attending a private classical 
 school in Bucks county. He then began 
 teaching and was thus employed for a period 
 of three years, when, in 1852, he turned his 
 attention to the law, and began his prepara- 
 
 tion for the bar under the instmctiou of 
 Hon. Joseph Foruance. The latter died, 
 however, before the course was finished, 
 and Mr. Rogers completed his reading with 
 Hon. David Krause, at one time president 
 judge of Montgomery county. He was ad- 
 mitted to the bar Febmary 24, 1854, and 
 immediately began practice at Xorristown. 
 During the same year he was elected bur- 
 gess of Xorristown, and in the fall of 1856 
 was elected to the position of district attor- 
 ney, the duties of which office he ably dis- 
 charged for a period of three years. As at- 
 torney for the Commonwealth and in his 
 private practice, he evinced an energy in 
 the prosecution of law cases, and an aptness 
 for handling witnesses on the stand, which 
 brought him into prominence and gave him 
 standing as a leading practitioner. In 1S74 
 he was made a candidate of his party for 
 additional law judge of his judicial district, 
 composed of Bucks and Montgomery coun- 
 ties, but was defeated by Judge Watson, of 
 Bucks county, in a very close contest. In 
 188S he was a candidate for the same posi- 
 tion in the district comprising Montgomery 
 county alone, but was again defeated, owing 
 to his party being largely in the minority. 
 He is a member of the American Bar as- 
 >< tciation, and of the Lawyer's club of Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 During the course of his long prac- 
 tice, now extending over a period of 
 more than forty vears, he has been con- 
 nected with many noted trials, among which 
 may be mentioned the cause of Alfred 
 Hopkins, indicted for manslaughter as con- 
 ductor of the wrecked excursion train on the 
 Xorth Pennsylvania railroad ; Kilby Bay- 
 letts, arraigned for the murder of his wife ; 
 and Blasius and John Pistorius, jointly in- 
 dicted for the murder of James Jacquett, 
 the latter of whom was acquitted, while the 
 
'/a^^^^P^X^Ij 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 343 
 
 former was twice sentenced to be hanged, 
 but the sentence was finally commuted to 
 imprisonment for life. In conducting these 
 and other important cases, which were local 
 sensations of the day, Mr. Rogers displayed 
 the ability that makes the superior lawyer, 
 and won a lasting reputation. 
 
 Four years after his admission to the bar, 
 on July i, 1858, Mr. Rogers was united in 
 marriage to Cara C. Bean, only daughter of 
 Jesse and Mary Bean, of Norristown, Penn- 
 sylvania. To them was born a family of 
 four children, three sous and a daughter : 
 Cara, married Clarence L. Blakeley, of Ver- 
 plank, New York ; D. Ogden, who was 
 educated at Dr. Loch's Treemount semi- 
 nary and Lafayette college, being graduated 
 from the latter in the class of 1882, after 
 which he studied law with his father, was 
 admitted to the bar in 1883, and died De- 
 cember 25, 1894 ; G. Austin, died February 
 1, 1877 ; and Jesse B., who was graduated 
 in June, 1895, from Elmira college, Elmira, 
 New York. 
 
 George W. Rogers has always been a 
 Democrat, believing implicitly in popular 
 government and opposed to centralization 
 or usurpation in governmental affairs. 
 While taking an intelligent interest in pub- 
 lic questions, and in all civil matters, he has 
 nevertheless preferred to devote his atten- 
 tion mainly to his profession rather than to 
 modern politics. He is president of the Al- 
 bertson Trust and Safe Deposit company of 
 Norristown, and a member of the Masonic 
 fraternity, being connected with Hutchin- 
 son Commandery, Knights Templar, of 
 Norristown. He and Mrs. Rogers have for 
 many years been members of the First 
 Presbyterian church of Norristown, in which 
 she is an active worker and he a liberal sup- 
 porter of its various religious and charitable 
 interests. 
 
 REY. JOSEPH A. STRAHAN, rector of 
 the Church of the Immaculate Concep- 
 tion of Jenkintowu, was born in Philadel- 
 phia on June 2, 1849, anc ^ ls ason of William 
 H. and Mary ( Martin) Strahan. For the past 
 three years he has been stationed at Jenkin- 
 town, where he is beloved by his parish- 
 oners and esteemed by the whole commu- 
 nity. He has had a very active and a very 
 remarkable career in the priestoood, and 
 has been a most successful worker in build- 
 ing up large congregations. His original 
 paternal ancestor was a native of Arcadia, 
 Nova Scotia, and his grandfather was Jo- 
 seph Strahan, who lived in Philadelphia 
 and carried on the business of carpenter 
 and builder many years. Prior to the late 
 war, back in the thirties, he was a colonel 
 in the Pennsylvania militia, and was a very 
 active worker. He was celebrated as a 
 tenor singer, and was not only a trustee of 
 St. Mary's church, of Philadelphia, but was 
 also the leading tenor of the choir in his 
 day. He married Catharine Potter, and 
 they had four children. 
 
 William Henry Strahan, father of our 
 subject, resided in Philadelphia all his life. 
 After leaving school, he learned the trade of 
 machinist and has carried on that work 
 ever since, working in Southwork foundry 
 much of the time. He is a thorough Catho- 
 lic and prominent in church work. In 1845 
 he married Mary Martin, and eight children 
 were born to them. ( >f these five died in 
 extreme infancy. Those now living are : 
 Mary, Regina, and our subject. The parents 
 are still living. 
 
 Rev. Joseph A. Stratum's life was early 
 devoted to the cause of Christ, and his edu- 
 cation was mapped out in a way to thor- 
 oughly equip him for the noble work. He 
 was sent to the parochial schools of St. 
 Phillips parish in Philadelphia, and then to 
 
344 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 the school of the Christian Brothers of St. 
 Michael. On leaving here he entered St. 
 Charles preparatory seminary at Glen Rid- 
 dle, Delaware county, and then to the semi- 
 nary of St. Charles Borromeo at Overbrook, 
 where he became an earnest student for 
 priestly orders. He was ordained as a 
 priest in 1872, and was immediately ap- 
 pointed cnrate at St. James' church, West 
 Philadelphia, remaining there eleven 
 months. He then went to South Bethle- 
 hem, Church of the Holy Infancy, where 
 he remained as assistant about two years. 
 He was next transferred to the Church of 
 the Visitation in Philadelphia as curate, and 
 after one year was sent to St. Domi nick's, 
 at Holmesburg. Here he remained only a 
 short time, when he was called back to the 
 Church of the Visitation, where he was 
 located eight years. At the end of that 
 time Father Strahan was appointed pastor 
 of St. Leo's parish, Tacony, and was com- 
 missioned to erect a church. This was 
 really opening a new parish, and his work 
 was crowned with magnificent success. He 
 remained as pastor of St. Leo's for eight 
 years, when the archbishop deemed his 
 services and experience needful in Jenkin- 
 town. He was accordingly appointed rec- 
 tor of the Church of the Immaculate Con- 
 ception, where he remained ever since, the 
 spiritual guardian of a large and very pros- 
 perous congregation. 
 
 JACOB H. FAUST, fanner and butter 
 <J manufacturer of Sumueytown, this 
 county, was born January 31, 1838, in 
 Frederick township, this county, and is a 
 son of Jacob and Sarah (Hauck) Faust. 
 His grandfather, John Nicholas Faust, was 
 a native of Germany, whence he emigrated 
 
 to the United States and settled in Frederick 
 township, Montgomery county, where he 
 spent the remainder of his clays pursuing 
 agriculture as a means of securing a liveli- 
 hood. He was a Democrat in political 
 principle, and a consistent member of the 
 German Reformed church. His marriage 
 resulted in the birth of the following chil- 
 dren : Jacob, John, Peter, Kate and Polly. 
 
 Jacob Faust (father), was born in Fred- 
 erick township, in 1798, and died in the 
 same locality on June 12, i860. He was 
 reared on his father's farm and followed 
 farming all his life. He married Sarah 
 Hauck, and they have four sons and five 
 daughters. 
 
 Jacob H. Faust had very limited educa- 
 tional advantages. The subscription school 
 system was the system in existence during 
 his school boy days, and as the schools 
 were usually poorly taught by incompetent 
 teachers, a knowledge of the primary 
 branches was about all he obtained. He 
 remained with his father until about twenty 
 years of age and then learned the tin- 
 smithing trade, and followed it at Perkio- 
 menville for a term of five years. He then 
 purchased a farm consisting of seventy-six 
 acres, where he now lives, and for fifteen 
 years, in connection with farming, engaged 
 rather extensively in dealing in horses and 
 cattle. In 1885 he established a creamery 
 at Perkiomenville, which he operated for a 
 short time, and later founded a like enter- 
 prise at Sigmond Furnace, Lehigh county, 
 which he has operated to the present time, 
 and, in 1894, still further expanded his in- 
 terests in this line by building a creamery 
 at Butztown, Northampton county. In 
 connection with his agricultural pursuits, 
 lie operates a dairying business, keeping 
 about twenty cows. He is an elder in the 
 German Reformed church at Sumneytown, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 345 
 
 and a Democrat politically. He is a staunch 
 supporter and friend of the common schools 
 and has served as a member and secretary 
 of the school board at Sumneytown since 
 1883. He is prominent and popular in 
 fraternal circles, being a member in good 
 standing of the following orders : Perkio- 
 menville Lodge No. 367, I. O. O. F. ; Zieg- 
 lersville Lodge, Knights of Pythias ; and 
 the Order of Pento, at Sumneytown. 
 
 On August 20, 1886, he married Sarah 
 Underkoppler, a daughter of Henry and 
 Rachel (Jones) Underkoppler, a farmer of 
 Frederick township, this county. The 
 children born of this marital union are : 
 Elias, who is engaged in the creamery 
 business with his father in Lehigh county ; 
 Lizzie R., who was formerly a teacher, and 
 is now the wife of John Null, of North- 
 ampton county ; William, deceased ; Jacob 
 N., a teacher by profession, now attending 
 a business college ; Henry, deceased ; Catha- 
 rine H., at home, a teacher; Ida, Carrie, 
 Sarah, deceased ; and one that died in in- 
 fancy. 
 
 HON. SAMUEL FAUST, ex-member of 
 the Pennsylvania legislature, is a son 
 of Peter and Margaret (Nece) Faust, and 
 was born October 9, 1828, in Frederick 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsylva- 
 nia. That period in the educational history 
 of the State extending from the adoption of 
 the free school system to the consummation 
 of the Civil war, is one of great importance, 
 and one who witnessed the transitions of 
 this period from the old subscription school 
 system to the present magnificent system of 
 free schools, is he whose name heads this 
 sketch. He obtained an elementary edu- 
 cation in the subscription schools, and then 
 further broadened and perfected his mental 
 
 training by attending Freeland seminary, 
 now Ursinus college, of Collegeville, this 
 county. He was one of the first pupils of that 
 famous institution, and assisted in suspend- 
 ing the bell in the belfry. Freeland semi- 
 nary in that day was one of the most popu- 
 lar institutions of learning in this section 
 of Pennsylvania, and many men who after- 
 ward became prominent in the professional, 
 political and industrial history of the count}', 
 as men of culture, power and influence, re- 
 ceived their mental training within its 
 walls. 
 
 Mr. Faust attended this institution three 
 terms, and being apt in his studies and pos- 
 sessing a wonderfully retentive memory, ac- 
 quired a vast fund of information and laid 
 broad and deep the foundations for his fu- 
 ture success. Leaving school, he was well 
 prepared for the profession of teaching, and 
 taught three years under the curriculum of 
 the old subscription schools prior to the 
 adoption of the present free school system, 
 and twelve years under the latter system, 
 making in all fifteen years. He soon made 
 a reputation as an instructor and a fine dis- 
 ciplinarian, and was much sought after to 
 take charge of schools, the teaching of 
 which required the highest order of execu- 
 tive ability and the display of the greatest 
 professional skill. His consent to teach the 
 last few years, was given only after being 
 earnestly importuned by those who knew 
 his rare genius, and who desired that their 
 children might profit by his training. He 
 holds a certificate, granted by E. L. Acker, 
 the first county superintendent of Mont- 
 gomery county. In all matters that tended 
 to increase the efficiency of the teachers and 
 to elevate teaching to the dignity of a pro- 
 fession and to present in a more favorable 
 light the free school system, towards which 
 there then existed a prejudice in the minds 
 
346 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of many of our most substantial citizens, 
 he was ever active and enthusiastic. 
 
 Since he quit teaching, he has devoted 
 his attention to the arts of husbandry, in 
 which noble calling he has shown a no less 
 progressive spirit than as a teacher. He 
 owns one hundred and thirty acres of good 
 arable land, well improved and productive, 
 and was one of the first in the township to 
 introduce labor saving machinery as a farm 
 adjunct, bringing the first mowing machine 
 into the township. Politically Mr. Faust 
 has always been a Republican, in the cau- 
 cuses and councils of which party he is ac- 
 tive and influential. He is a reader and a 
 thinker, and keeps well posted on the cur- 
 rent political measures of the day, as well as 
 on the political principles of those who fig- 
 ure most conspicuously in them. In 1884 
 he was elected a member of the Pennsylva- 
 nia assembly, and at the end of his first 
 term was endorsed by a re-election. His 
 course in that body was such as commended 
 him to all interested. He was ever active 
 to the interests of his constituents, and 
 guarded faithfully the general welfare of 
 the Commonwealth at large. Among the 
 bills passed while in that body, and to the 
 passage of which he gave the weight of his 
 influence were : The high license law and 
 the bill requiring physiology and hygiene 
 to be taught in the public schools as a part 
 of the regular common school curri- 
 culum. 
 
 On November 12, 1856, Mr. Faust mar- 
 ried Mary Sweisford, a daughter of Henry 
 Sweisford, and the following children bless 
 their union : Alfred, Esther, died young ; 
 James, Sarah, the wife of Noah Krause ; 
 Catharine, Alice, who wedded George Erb ; 
 Clara, Samuel, died young ; Margaret, Ten- 
 
 nyson, 
 beth. 
 
 died young; Samuel and Eliza- 
 
 WILLIAM CLEAVER, of Consho- 
 hocken, is a direct descendant of old 
 line Friend or Quaker stock, and comes 
 from one of the oldest of the count}- fami- 
 lies. He is at present a superintendent in 
 the Alan Wood company's works, and 
 holds a responsible position. He is also a 
 man of considerable public repute, and is 
 respected and esteemed by all of his con- 
 stituents. He is a son of Jonathan and 
 Anna Jane (Wood) Cleaver, and was born 
 in Plymouth township, this county, on the 
 first of July, 1852. He is the namesake of 
 his paternal grandfather, who was a resident 
 of Chester county. He was the owner of a 
 large farm, which he worked with profit for 
 many years. At the time of his death he 
 was a resident of King of Prussia, this 
 county. He was a member of the Society 
 of Friends, and a stern Whig in political 
 faith. He married Jane Thauar, of Lower 
 Merion, and this union was blessed by the 
 following offspring : Mary, Jonathan, fa- 
 ther of the subject of this sketch ; William, 
 Rebecca and Charles. 
 
 Jonathan Cleaver, father of William, was 
 born in Chester county September 21, 1825. 
 He received a common school education, 
 and attended the West Chester academy. 
 He eng-ag-ed in farming; in his native couutv 
 after leaving school, and afterwards pur- 
 chased a farm in Plymouth township, Mont- 
 gomery county. This farm contained one 
 hundred acres, and was located near Con- 
 shohocken. He sold the farm and returned 
 to Chester Valley, where he remained until 
 1857, when he removed to Centreville, 
 Chester county, and retired from active pur- 
 suits. Still, not satisfied with his residence, 
 he again removed, this time to the historic 
 Valley Forge, where he settled on a farm 
 and occupied for his home the house that 
 had been the headquarters during that 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 347 
 
 memorable severe winter of the Revolution 
 of a prominent general. Here he lived 
 until 1S62, when he died. His remains 
 were interred in the Friends' burying ground 
 in Chester Valley. He was a Whig, and 
 afterwards a Republican in polities. His 
 marriage was productive of six children, 
 three sons and three daughters : Anna \V., 
 the wife of Jonas Everhardt ; William, the 
 subject of this sketch ; Jonathan, married to 
 Kate Sheppard ; Mary, who married John 
 DeHaven, and is dead ; B. Harry, who died 
 at the age of eight years ; and Jennie, who 
 intermarried with J. Ellwood Lee, of Con- 
 shohockeu. 
 
 William Cleaver was sent to the public 
 schools until he was thirteen years old, and 
 then was placed in the rolling mill of J. 
 Wood 6c Brothers, at Conshohocken, where 
 he remained until 1876 and mastered the 
 details of that business. He then entered 
 the employ of the North Penn railroad and 
 continued with that company for three 
 years, resigning his position at the end of 
 that time to return to Conshohocken and 
 embark in the flour and feed business. In 
 1881 he again returned to his early occupa- 
 tion, and associated himself with the Alan 
 Wood company as shipping clerk. He 
 worked his way upward and was made 
 assistant manager of the West Flue mill. 
 
 A Republican in politics, Mr. Cleaver is 
 one of the hard workers of his party in his 
 town, and his services have been recognized, 
 for he was elected to serve a three year term 
 in the school board by a large majority. 
 
 He was married January 16, 1889, to 
 Emma L. DeHaven, daughter of John ami 
 Mary DeHaven, who live at " The Old Gulf 
 Mills," this county. They have two chil- 
 dren : Fannie E. and Mary L. The family 
 attend the Episcopalian church of Consho- 
 hocken. 
 
 NATHANIEL BEIDEMAN KEELV, 
 the popular and enterprising proprie- 
 tor of the " Keely House," at East Green- 
 ville, this county, is the eldest son of 
 Charles and Caroline (Beideman) Keely, 
 and was born October 21, 1852, at Boyer- 
 town, Berks county, Pennsylvania. Mr. 
 Keely comes of a substantial and sturdy 
 German ancestry. William Keely, great- 
 grandfather, lived in Perkiomen township, 
 near Schwenksville, this county, where he 
 followed for a livelihood the tailoring 
 trade. Here he reared his family, one of 
 whom, grandfather, Isaac Keely, was born 
 and grew to manhood, subsequently re- 
 moved to Boyertown, Berks county, and 
 thence removed to East Greenville and re- 
 sided latterly and at his death with our 
 subject. He was a Democrat, and a mem- 
 ber of the New Goshenho'ppen Reformed 
 church. He married Sarah Prutzman, and 
 their children were : Charles, father ; Jo- 
 seph, Frederick, John, Harriet, Jacob, 
 dead; Nathaniel B., dead; two others died 
 in infancy without name. Grandfather 
 Keely died at the age of eighty years. 
 
 Charles Keely (father), was a man of 
 limited education, such as the crude educa- 
 tional system provided for that day. For a 
 short duration in early life, lie followed the 
 bricklaying trade, and subsequently for 
 several years followed huckstering to Phila- 
 delphia, prior to the advent of railroads, to 
 that part of the county. In 1865 he leased 
 the hotel our subject now owns, which lie 
 conducted up to his death, February 7, 
 1S74. He was a staunch Democrat in his 
 political faith, and always took an active 
 interest generally in local political matters, 
 and held numerous minor local offices. In 
 his society affiliations he was a member of 
 Pennsburg Lodge No. 449, I. O. O. F. ; 
 Greenville Lodge No. 232, Knights of Py- 
 
348 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 thias ; and Jr. O. U. A. M., at Quakertown. 
 
 Religiously, he was a member of the New 
 Goshenhoppeu Reformed church. 
 
 He married Caroline Beideman, a daugh- 
 ter of George and Catharine Beideman, 
 and had four children, the eldest of whom 
 was our subject, Nathaniel B., Henry B., 
 who is a huckster, residing at East Green- 
 yille, this county ; Horace B., a hotel- 
 keeper in Philadelphia ; and a daughter, 
 still-born. The father died February 7, 
 1874, at forty-three years of age, and the 
 mother of the subject died at sixty-three 
 years of age. 
 
 Nathaniel B. Keely receiyed his educa- 
 tional training in various public and pay 
 schools and the celebrated Washington hall 
 academy at the Trappe, this county. After 
 leaving school, he taught in the public 
 schools of East Greenville and Pennsburg 
 for seven terms, and as a teacher was con- 
 sidered efficient and deservedly popular. 
 In 1876 he was induced by his friends to 
 accept the office of justice of the peace of 
 East Greenville, but after serving a short 
 time he removed from the borough and 
 was obliged to resign his position. He 
 subsequently leased and ran the Salford- 
 ville hotel for one and one-half years. In 
 1S79 he purchased his present hotel, the 
 Keely house, formerly conducted by his 
 father. Since purchasing the hotel. Mr. 
 Keely has made valuable improvements 
 upon the property, which in its various ap- 
 pointments and conveniences, its general 
 architecture and plumbing, give it a place 
 among the foremost country hotels of the 
 county. It is fitted up with all the most 
 improved methods of heating and lighting, 
 and possesses all of those appurtenent con- 
 veniences so highly appreciated by hotel 
 patrons. Mr. Keely is a Democrat in his 
 political allegiance. Recognizing his fit- 
 
 ness for the duties of the office, he was 
 twice elected a member of the school board 
 of East Greenville. He has taken an ac- 
 tive part in the interest and success of the 
 party, and has served as a delegate to both 
 county and State conventions. He is a 
 member of Perkiomen Lodge No. 595, F. 
 & A. M. ; Pottstown Chapter No. 271 ; Na- 
 tivity Commandery No. 71, at Pottstown ; 
 Greenville Lodge No. 232, Knights of Py- 
 thias ; Pennsburg Lodge No. 449, I. O. O. 
 F. ; Pennsburg Encampment No. 234, I. 
 O. O. F. ; and East Greenville Castle No. 
 298, K. of G. E. He is also a member of 
 St. Luke's Lutheran church, at Pennsburg, 
 and served as deacon for four years. Mr. 
 Keely has been twice married. On Novem- 
 ber 17, 1876, lie wedded Sallie K., a daugh- 
 ter of David Stoneback, a powder manu- 
 facturer and ex-meinber of the assembly, 
 residing at Zeiglersville, this county. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Keely have been born four 
 children : Bertha Geneva, Charles Win- 
 field, Wallace Montgomery, and Sallie S., 
 who died in infancy. 
 
 His first wife died April 19, 1885, at the 
 age of twenty-seven years, ten months and 
 twenty-four days. On May 31, 1887, he 
 was united with Mary E., a daughter of 
 John B. Trumbauer, a farmer of Quaker- 
 town, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. This 
 union has been blessed with three children : 
 Allen Thurman, Henry Nathaniel and Au- 
 
 ■ eusta Tane. H. Nathaniel died in infancy. 
 Mr. Keely, as a host is affable and con- 
 genial, always striving to have his guests 
 feel at home. He possesses a rare adapta- 
 bility that eminently fits him for the very 
 efficient discharge of his hotel business. 
 Enterprising, ambitious, and thoroughly 
 alive to the interests of the borough, he is 
 always found in the front rank in support 
 
 i of the various movements of enterprise. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 349 
 
 HON. HENRY D. SAYLOR, a member 
 of the Pennsylvania .State senate, from 
 the Twelfth senatorial district, is a son of 
 AlbertG. and Mary A. (Oberholtzer) Saylor, 
 and was born at Pottstown, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1857. 
 The Saviors are of German descent and 
 were among the early settlers of the Per- 
 kiomen valley. Henry Saylor, the paternal 
 grandfather of Senator Saylor, was a farmer, 
 who attended the Philadelphia markets for 
 many years, and lived to a ripe old age. 
 His remains sleep beside those of his father, 
 Henry Saylor, in the Trappe cemetery. 
 Henry Saylor was an active Democrat of 
 the Andrew Jackson type and had been a 
 member, for many years, of the Evangelical 
 Lutheran church, in which he held differ- 
 ent official positions. He married Mary 
 Grove and his son, AlbertG. Saylor (father), 
 was born on the home farm in Limerick 
 township, November 16, 1826. After ob- j 
 taining a fair education for that day, Al- [ 
 bert G. Saylor left the farm and became a \ 
 clerk successively in a store at Douglass- 
 ville, Berks county, Pa., with Henry Mc- 
 Kenty, and with Daniel H. Beecher, of 
 Pottstown, Pa. In 1848 he left Mr. Beeeh- 
 er's employ and afterwards, after clerking 
 for Frederick Bickel and his successor, 
 Umstead Wells, embarked in the dry goods 
 business at Pottstown, Pa., in March, 1850, 
 which he continued up to 1884, when he 
 retired from active life. He has dealt large- 
 ly in real estate, being reputed for years as 
 one of the best judges of land in his part of 
 the county. He has always taken an active 
 interest in the industrial enterprises of his 
 borough, and ever favored progressive meas- 
 ures for improvement. He is a member 
 and official of the Lutheran church, of 
 whose Sunday school he was superinten- 
 dent for a number of years. 
 
 Mr. Saylor is a Democrat of independent 
 proclivities and has generally supported 
 the presidential candidates of his party ex- 
 cept in i860 and 1864, when he cast his 
 ballot for Abraham Lincoln, and afterward 
 for Grant and Garfield. He is one of the 
 oldest living members of Manatawny Lodge 
 No. 214, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
 and to-day is one of the few survivors of 
 those who organized the lodge. Mr. Say- 
 lor married Mary A. Oberholtzer, and to 
 their union were born two children : Mary 
 A., who died when young, and Hon. Henry 
 D. Mrs. Saylor, who died April 17, 1869, 
 aged forty-three years, was a daughter of 
 Henry D. Oberholtzer, who came from Ohio 
 and one time served as a State senator in 
 the Ohio legislature. 
 
 Henry D. Saylor was reared in his native 
 town, received his education in the Potts- 
 town public and high schools, and assisted 
 his father in the dry goods business for a 
 couple of years He then resolved upon 
 the profession of law as a life vocation, and 
 entered the law department of the Uni- 
 versity of Pennsylvania from which he was 
 graduated in June, 1882. While attending 
 the university he read law with Thomas J. 
 Ashton and E. Coppee Mitchell, commenc- 
 ing with Thomas J. Ashton, and after his 
 death, completing his course with said E. 
 Coppee Mitchell. Upon the completion of 
 his office studies, in 1882, he was admitted 
 to the Philadelphia bar, and went to New 
 York city, where he was assistant to John 
 O. Byrne, Esq., assistant district attorney, 
 until the death of his sister called him 
 home. He then opened an office at Potts- 
 o wn, where he has continued in active prac- 
 tice ever since. He was a law partner for 
 a short time with Hon. Irving P. Wanger, 
 present member of congress from the Sev- 
 enth district ; and served for a few months 
 
35' > 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 as assistant district attorney. He also 
 served, from 1891 to 1893, as borough solici- 
 tor for Pottstown, and during his term of 
 office he had an act of assembly passed 
 providing for the condemnation of turnpike 
 roads in boroughs, under which he had the 
 Perkioinen and Reading turnpike road con- 
 demned within the limits of Pottstown, and 
 under other court proceedings had it sub- 
 sequently widened. Mr. Savior is solicitor 
 for the Security company, the National 
 Iron bank of Pottstown, and a number of 
 other corporations both in and out of Mont- 
 gomery county. He is a member of the 
 Lutheran church of the Transfiguration ; 
 Stiehter Lodge No. 254, Free and Accepted 
 Masons; and Manatawny Lodge No. 214, 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
 
 On October 15, 1885, Mr. Savior united 
 in marriage with Dora B. Gerhard, daugh- 
 ter of G. Wilmore and Kate H. Gerhard, of 
 Norristown. Senator and Mrs. Savior have 
 two children : Albert G , and Harold D. 
 
 In politics Senator Savior has always 
 been a staunch, enthusiastic and hard 
 working Republican. He became interested 
 in political affairs before he was a voter, 
 and has followed closely the trend of politi- 
 cal parties ever since. He was elected a 
 member of the borough council of Potts- 
 town in 1885 and re-elected in 1888, serving 
 six years in all. When his time was out 
 in 1891 he was made borough solicitor, 
 which position he held until 1894. In the 
 meantime, in September, 1893, he became 
 a candidate for the Republican nomination 
 for State senator. The contest for the 
 nomination was one of the most markedly 
 significant struggles that ever occurred in 
 the county, and lasted for a year. Winn 
 the convention assembled in September, 
 1894, Mr. Savior was nominated, and in 
 the ensuing November election, he was 
 
 elected by a majority of two thousand two 
 hundred and ninety-nine votes, the largest 
 ever given a senatorial candidate in the 
 district. In the session of the Pennsyl- 
 vania legislature of 1S95, Senator Savior 
 served as a member of the senatorial com- 
 mittees on accounts, appropriations, edu- 
 cation, insurance, game and fisheries, ju- 
 dicial general, judicial local, judicial appor- 
 tionment, railroads, vice and immorality. 
 
 WILLIAM C. WEBER, who was one 
 of the prosperous farmers and highly 
 respected citizens of Norriton township, 
 was a son of Christian and Charlotte (Cas- 
 selberry) Weber, and was born in Lower 
 Providence township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, November 30, 1826. The 
 Weber and Casselberry families were set- 
 tled in eastern Pennsylvania at an early 
 day and their pioneer members were sub- 
 jected to many of the privations incident 
 to new r world settlement on the provincial 
 frontier. 
 
 William C. Weber received his elementary 
 education in the last of the old subscription 
 and the earliest of the common schools, and 
 then took a two year's course at the Nor- 
 ristown seminary, in order to fit himself for 
 the arduous duties of teaching. He taught 
 his first school in Montgomery county, and 
 then went to Columbus, Ohio, where he 
 was engaged in teaching for two years. At 
 the end of that time he returned to his na- 
 tive county, and as teaching was not so re- 
 munerative an employment as farming, he 
 embarked in the latter occupation and 
 farmed on the place of his uncle John 
 Weber, in Norriton township. He then 
 purchased from James Smith a farm of 
 forty acres in Lower Providence township, 
 
Biographical Skktches. 
 
 351 
 
 which he tilled successfully for four years. 
 At the end of that time, in 1865, his father 
 died, and he sold his farm in order to as- 
 sume the management of the homestead on 
 which he resided for seven years ; he then 
 removed to Chester county, where he con- 
 ducted the farm of his father-in-law, Isaac 
 Walker, from 1873 to 1888. In the latter 
 year he returned to the homestead farm in 
 Xorriton township, three miles west of Nor- 
 ristown, and resided there until the time 
 of his death, which occurred January 24, 
 [894. His remains were entombed in the 
 Centennial Presbyterian church cemetery, 
 and his familiar face and form are sadly 
 missed in the circle of his wide acquain- 
 tance. He was a Republican in politics, 
 and had served two years as treasurer of 
 the school board and two terms as township 
 assessor and collector in Chester county. 
 He united with the Presbyterian church at 
 twelve years of age and for over half a centurv 
 had been a zealous and consistent member. 
 Two years before his death he was elected 
 to the eldership, whose every duty he faith- 
 fully performed until he was called from 
 time to eternity. He had also served effi- 
 ciently as a Sunday school superintendent 
 and was active in every field of chnrch 
 work. 
 
 On February 22, 1855, William C. Weber 
 married Hannah Walker, a daughter of 
 Isaac and Elizabeth (Beidler) Walker, who 
 were natives of this county. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Weber were born eight sons and seven 
 daughters : Laura F., and Elizabeth W., 
 who are deceased ; William H., senior mem- 
 ber of the firm of Weber Bros., engaged in 
 the wall paper and painting business at Nor- 
 ristown ; Charlotte A., wife of Prof. Wil- 
 liam H. Walker, of Chester county ; John 
 C. , connected in business with the Phila- 
 delphia Traction company ; Winfield S., 
 
 junior member of the firm of Weber Bros., 
 of Norristown; Isaac W., deceased ; Elmina 
 S., wife of Clayton B. Lamb, of Mount 
 Holly ; Joseph, deceased ; Mar)- F., now 
 teaching at Iron Bridge, this count}- ; Ella 
 C, Charles, now residing at the homestead 
 with his mother ; G. Norwood, now in busi- 
 ness in Philadelphia ; Emma W. a success- 
 ful teacher in the public schools ; and James 
 Wells. 
 
 HORATIO L. VOCUM, a descendant of 
 one of the oldest families of the State, 
 is a sou of Lieutenant George P. and 
 Mary (Litzenberg) Yocum, and was born at 
 Ardmore, Montgomery county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, July 31, 1S70. The Yocum family is 
 of Swedish descent, and was founded near 
 the site of Philadelphia, when the country 
 along the Delaware was known as New 
 Sweden, and several years before Penn's 
 purchase of Pennsylvania. Peter Yocum 
 came from Sweden and settled first at 
 Wiaco, near the site of Philadelphia, but 
 after Penn laid out his capitol city, he re- 
 moved to Swedes Ford, where he was an 
 active and prominent man. He was super- 
 visor of highways from Karker's Mills to 
 the Falls of the Schuylkill, and was un- 
 doubtedly the Peter Yocum whose name 
 appears in the assessment list of 1734. This 
 Peter Yocum, the younger, was the father 
 of Andrew Yocum, born in 1739, and whose 
 son, John Yocum, born in 1766, resided on 
 the Phillips farm, near West Conshohocken. 
 John Yocum married a Miss Brook, and 
 their son, Benjamin Brook Yocum, was 
 born in 1801, and died in 1868. He was a 
 farmer and cattle dealer, and held numer- 
 ous township offices. He was an old line 
 Whig and a staunch Republican, and mar- 
 ried Harriet Hagy, who was horn in 1801. 
 
35 2 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 They had eight children : Hannah, J. 
 Hagy, John, Emily, Crawford, George P., 
 Dr. Benjamin and Isaac D. 
 
 Lieutenant George P. Yoeum was born 
 in Lower Merion township, attended the 
 schools of his neighborhood, and was a law 
 student at Xorristown, when the late Civil 
 war commenced. That great struggle 
 called men from every walk and profes- 
 sion of life into military service, and he 
 was one that took up arms in defense of 
 the Union. He enlisted in the Pennsylva- 
 nia cavalry, and served until the close of 
 the war, being promoted to lieutenant. 
 He was in numerous battles, fell into the 
 hands of the enemy, and was confined in 
 Andersouville prison for nine months be- 
 fore being paroled. After the close of the 
 war he returned to Xorristown, where he 
 was in the general mercantile business for 
 several years. He then removed to Ard- 
 more and assumed charge of the Red Lion 
 hotel, which he conducted from 1S74 up to 
 his death, on April 3, 1879, aged thirty-six 
 vears. He was a large property owner in 
 Montgomery and Chester counties, had ex- 
 tensive coal and lumber yards, and was 
 active and energetic in all of the numerous 
 enterprises in which he was interested. He 
 was a Republican in politics, had served 
 as a member and president of the Lower 
 Merion school board, and was a member of 
 Cassia Lodge Xo. 273 Free and Accepted 
 Masons of Ardmore. He was liberal and 
 generous, and on October 9, 1867, wedded 
 Mary Litzenberg, a daughter of Horatio 
 Litzenberg, of Ardmore. They had three 
 children : Frederick, who died in child- 
 hood ; Horatio L. and Charles C. 
 
 Horatio L. Yocmn was reared at Ard- 
 more, received his education in the public 
 schools and the Friends' high school of 
 Philadelphia, and then entered Pierce's 
 
 Business college, from which he was gradu- 
 ated in 1892. Leaving college, he served 
 as book-keeper for one year, and then came 
 back to Ardmore, where he has resided 
 ever since. Mr. Yocum is a staunch Re- 
 publican, and an active member of the 
 Lower Merion Baptist church. 
 
 On March 20, 1894, Mr. Yocum was 
 united in marriage with Emily Clark, a 
 daughter of William J. Clark, of Ardmore. 
 Their union has been blessed with one 
 child, a son named Horace Clark. 
 
 DR. JOXATHAX FAUST, a popular 
 general practitioner of medicine and 
 a skilled eye specialist of Zeiglersville, this 
 county, is a son of Peter and Margaret 
 (Xece) Faust, and was born May 18, 1842, 
 in Xew Hanover township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania. The paternal great- 
 grandfather of Dr. Jonathan Faust was 
 Peter Faust, a native of Germany, who, 
 seeking to escape the crowded economic 
 conditions of his native country, came to 
 the United States in the year 1747. He 
 located in Frederick township, this county, 
 being one of the earlier settlers of the 
 county. One of his sons was John Xicho- 
 las Faust, the grandfather of the subject of 
 this biographical sketch. 
 
 John Xicholas Faust was born in Frede- 
 rick township in 1765, and settled in the 
 township of his nativity, where he pur- 
 sued farming with success and profit until 
 his death, in the year 1837. Like his 
 father, he was a member of the German Re- 
 formed church, in the work of which he 
 always took a commendable interest. He 
 wedded Elizabeth YValwent, and they be- 
 came the parents of the following children : 
 Elizabeth, who became the wife of George 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 353 
 
 Gruber ; Peter, Jacob, John, Catharine, who 
 
 wedded Thomas Yost; and Mary, who 
 married Jaeoh Levis. 
 
 Peter Faust (father), was born about one 
 mile west of Perkiomenville, in Frederick 
 township, on October 8, 1794, and died 
 January 29, 1875. His school boy days 
 marked a period in the educational history 
 of the vState many years before the adoption 
 of the present common school system, when 
 a very crude system of subscription schools 
 existed, taught by incompetent teachers in 
 the primitive log school houses of that day. 
 Hence his scholastic training was limited. 
 He was a man of considerable mechanical 
 skill, and during his life-time followed a 
 number of avocations, showing his versatile 
 genius. He first learned the trade of a reed- 
 maker, later followed stone masoning for a 
 time, and still later took up farming in 
 what is now New Hanover township, this 
 county. He was a devout and consistent 
 member of the Reformed church, in 
 which he held the office of elder, and took a 
 deep and enthusiastic interest in every 
 move which had for its object the better- 
 ment of the conditions of the community 
 and the promotion of the welfare of society 
 at large. Every reform movement found in 
 him a warm friend and a devoted advocate. 
 He was a very strong believer in the Sunday- 
 school as a potent adjunct and nursery to 
 the church, was one of its founders in his 
 community, and uniformly molded his life 
 in accord with the belief, well grounded in 
 his mind, that intemperance was an appall- 
 ing evil. He served three months in the 
 War of 1 81 2, our second struggle for 
 national freedom, being stationed at Wil- 
 mington, Delaware. He married Margaret, 
 a daughter of Abraham Xece, who was 
 formerly a resident of Tinicum, Bucks 
 county, but who later located in New Han- 
 
 23 
 
 over township, this county. Their children 
 were as follows : Samuel, whose sketch fol- 
 lows ; Jesse, born October 13, 1830, now de- 
 ceased ; Margaret, wife of Jacob Gerhart, of 
 Xorristown ; Peter, born March 24, 1835, a 
 general business man of Lehigh county, 
 this State, being engaged in farming and 
 the manufacture of powder and the 
 creamery business ; Catharine, born Au- 
 gust 12, 1837, died in infancy ; Reuben, 
 born January 2, 1840, also died in infancy ; 
 Jonathan, subject ; Mary, born December 
 30, 1844, died at the age of four years ; and 
 Sarah, born February 10, 1847, is the wife 
 of John K. Freed, of Xorristown. 
 
 Dr. Jonathan Faust received his prelimi- 
 nary scholastic training in Frederick insti- 
 tute, then an English and classical educa- 
 tional institution of high standing, under 
 the supervision at different times of skilled 
 teachers. Afterward he taught school for 
 four years. Having at length resolved upon 
 studying medicine, he registered under the 
 preceptorship of Dr. H. Straessley, a promi- 
 nent physician of Millville, Clarion county, 
 Pennsylvania, from whose office he entered 
 Jefferson Medical college of Philadelphia, 
 from which time honored institution of 
 learning he graduated in 1S67, and at once 
 located at Zeiglersville, where he remained 
 ever since, and through a strict adherence to 
 the duties of his profession, has built up an 
 extensive practice. Dr. Faust is a general 
 practitioner of medicine, but his especial 
 fondness for the study of the eye has led 
 him to specialize in that line. He is a 
 member of the Reformed church, and a Re- 
 publican in matters political, and on No- 
 vember 28, 1868, he married Amanda 
 Schwenk, a daughter of Aaron Schwenk, 
 of Zeiglersville. Aaron Schwenk in his 
 day was rightfully regarded as one of the 
 most prominent and enterprising men of 
 
354 
 
 Biooraphical Sketches. 
 
 Montgomery county. He did more to de- 
 velop and build up Zeiglersville than any 
 other man. He was prominently identi- 
 fied with the Perkiomen Valley railroad 
 and the Perkiomen and Sumneytown turn- 
 pike, and for a number of years in partner- 
 ship with Samuel Hartranft, father of the 
 late Governor Hartranft, ran a line of 
 stages from Zeiglersville to Norristown. 
 He was not only prominent in the indus- 
 trial history and development of the county, 
 but influential in political circles as well. 
 He was a staunch Republican, and in 1868 
 was the nominee of his party for sheriff of 
 Montgomery county, but his party being in 
 the minority, he was defeated. The chil- 
 dren born to Dr. Jonathan and Amanda 
 (Schwenk) Faust were as follows: Lizzie, 
 widow of the late Dr. George Dieterich, of 
 Philadelphia ; and John Nelson, at home. 
 
 Dr. Faust rightfully deserves the success 
 and prominence which he achieved. He 
 makes a close diagnosis of his cases, is well 
 read in medicine, keeping fully abreast its 
 progress, and manifests that humane sym- 
 pathy with suffering humanity that endears 
 him to all who have occasion to seek his 
 professional ministrations. 
 
 A J. DIMMIG, a prosperous cigar manu- 
 • facturer of East Greenville, this 
 county, is a son of John and Sophia 
 (Roeder) Dinnnig, and was born May 1, 
 1847, in Milford township, Bucks county, 
 Pennsylvania. Little definite knowledge is 
 known of the early ancestry. John Diffi- 
 mig, grandfather, lived in Milford town- 
 ship, Bucks county, where he was engaged 
 in the then popular avocation of farming all 
 his life. He was a Democrat and a mem- 
 ber of the German Reformed church, a 
 
 faith to which the entire family have held. 
 John Dimmig married Susanna Weyand, 
 who bore them five children : Charles, Jesse, 
 George, John, and Sallie, wife of Jonathan 
 Gerhard. The grandfather of our subject 
 died in 1S55, at the age of eighty-seven 
 years. His wife Susanna survived him 
 until 1S65, when she passed away at the re- 
 markable age of ninety-four years. 
 
 John (father), was born in Milford town- 
 ship, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and re- 
 ceived the very modest instruction that the 
 rude district schools of his native township 
 provided at that day. He chose to be a 
 carpenter, which he followed all his life in 
 that township and East Greenville. His 
 chief pride was in church affiliations, serv- 
 ing officially as elder and deacon in the 
 New < loshenhoppen Reformed church for 
 many years. 
 
 He married Sophia, a daughter of Daniel 
 Roeder, and had seven children, four sons 
 and three daughters : Evalina Gerhard, 
 Daniel, Edwin, dead ; Susanna, dead ; A. 
 J., our subject ; Amanda Steltz, dead ; and 
 Allen. 
 
 A. J. Dimmig received a good common 
 school education in the public schools of 
 Bucks county and Fast Greenville, this 
 county. After leaving school, he inden- 
 tured himself to learn the tinsmith trade, 
 which he pursued for ten years. Subse- 
 quently he conducted a general mercantile 
 business at Sellersville for two years, and 
 afterwards three years at East Greenville, 
 where also up to 1S85 he engaged in an ex- 
 tensive coal and feed business. At the ex- 
 piration of this time he established his 
 present prosperous cigar manufacturing in- 
 dustry, employing thirty hands. He is a 
 Democrat, has served in political office in 
 the borough of East Greenville ever since 
 its organization, as school director, member 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 355 
 
 of its council and in various other capaci- 
 ties. He is at present assessor, and has 
 always interested himself in the success of 
 his party. He served as deacon for four 
 years and trustee for five years in the New 
 Goshenhoppen Reformed church, and as 
 treasurer of the Sunday-school for twenty 
 years. He is a member of the K. of P., 
 Greenville Castle No. 232 ; East Greenville 
 Camp No. 298, K. G. E. ; and Jr. O. U. A. 
 M., at Quakertown. 
 
 He married Marietta, a daughter of Jo- 
 seph and Mary Ann (Artman) Cressman, on 
 September 23, 1874. 
 
 HON. HERMAN HAMBURGER, a 
 man of wide and varied business ex- 
 perience and president of the Montgomerv 
 Web company of North Wales, is the only 
 son and child of Aaron and Henrietta 
 (Furst) Hamburger, and was born in the 
 city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, De- 
 cember 21, 1837. Aaron Hamburger was 
 born and reared in Bavaria, Germany, 
 where he resided until he became twenty- 
 five years of age. He then, in 1835, came 
 to Philadelphia and three years later went 
 to Carbon county, Pennsylvania, where he 
 was a pioneer in the coal business with 
 Pardee and Packer. He operated the 
 Beaver Meadow mines for many years, and 
 then was engaged in supplying five of the 
 largest coal companies with dressed beef 
 for several years. Aaron Hamburger was 
 a Whig in politics, served for fifteen years 
 as a justice of the peace and in various 
 ways was active in political affairs. He 
 was born in 1810, and passed away August, 
 1863. In 1836 he married Henrietta Fnrst, 
 whose father, Samuel Furst, was a resident 
 of Philadelphia, Their union was blessed 
 
 with but one child, Hon. Herman, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. 
 
 Herman Hamburger was taken in infancy 
 by his parents to the coal regions of Carbon 
 county, where he grew to manhood. He 
 attended the Beaver Meadow public schools 
 and Yandervere's preparatory school at Eas- 
 ton, Pennsylvania, and then in 1852, en- 
 tered Lafayette college, from which well 
 known educational institution he was grad- 
 uated in 1856, with the degree of A. M. 
 After graduation he went to Davenport, 
 Iowa, where he remained one year and 
 taught a private school. He then returned 
 home and after reading law in the office of 
 Furman Sheppard, Esq., of Philadelphia, 
 was admitted in 1861 to the bar of that city. 
 The next year he left practice at the Phila- 
 delphia bar to enlist in Company L, 18th 
 Pennsylvania cavalry, of which he was 
 commissioned first lieutenant. He was 
 soon promoted to assistant adjutant general 
 of the first brigade, third division of the 
 cavalry corps of the Army of the Potomac. 
 He took part in six engagements including 
 the two days desperate fighting at Gettys- 
 burg, where his brigade commander, Gen- 
 eral Farnsworth, fell dead by his side. 
 Some time after the battle of Gettysburg, 
 he was taken sick and sent to the hospital 
 at Georgetown and before he was fully con- 
 valescent, received the news of his father's 
 death. This necessitated his resignation as 
 he was then needed to take immediate 
 charge of his father's affairs. Returning 
 home to Carbon county, he was elected jus- 
 tice of the peace to succeed his father in 
 that office, and in October, 1866, before the 
 expiration of his term, was elected associate 
 judge of Carbon county for a term of five 
 years, which expired in 1871. In 1868, in 
 connection with A. L. Mumper, George H. 
 Meyers and Thomas John, Judge Ham- 
 
356 
 
 Biographical Sk etc i i es. 
 
 burger became a member of the coal mining 
 and shipping company of A. L. Mumper 
 ec Co., of Spring Brook, while their col- 
 lieries were located at Yorktown, Carbon 
 county. In 1S69 they established offices at 
 Philadelphia, of which Judge Hamburger 
 had charge until the dissolution of the 
 company in 1884. In that year he came to 
 North Wales, this county, where he or- 
 ganized the Montgomery Web company 
 and erected their present works. In this 
 special line of elastic web manufacturing 
 he has been very successful. Since coming 
 to North Wales. Judge Hamburger has been 
 prominently identified with its various busi- 
 ness interests and is now serving as presi- 
 dent of its board of health, and as director 
 of its board of trade and improvement com- 
 pany. He is a Democrat in politics and 
 has been active for many years in the coun- 
 cils of his party. 
 
 On June 15, 1870, Judge Hamburger was 
 united in marriage with Madge Blias, of 
 Charlotte, North Carolina. They have 
 five children : Jennie, wife of E. B. Coop- 
 man ; Aaron, David E., May] in and 
 Eleanor. 
 
 Judge Hamburger was the first president 
 of the Hebrew Charity Ball association of 
 Philadelphia, and served for eleven years 
 as president of the Mercantile club of that 
 city. He is a member of Merchants Coun- 
 cil No. 7' 7, Legion of Honor, Oriental 
 Lodge No. 185, Ancient Order of United 
 Workmen, and Tamaqua Lodge, Free and 
 Accepted Masons ot Tamaqua. 
 
 SAMUEL HAUCK, one of the foremost 
 business men of Harleysville, is an ex- 
 ample of the self-made man. He is at 
 present at the head of a thriving manufac- 
 
 turing business, which he has successfully 
 conducted for many years. He was born at 
 Zeiglersville on September 5, 1858, and is a 
 son of Joshua W. Hauck and Sophia Weand. 
 He conies from good old Pennsylvania Ger- 
 man and his wife from German ancestry. 
 His paternal grandfather was born in Fred- 
 erick township, on November 12, 1787. He 
 was a prominent man in his community, 
 and was a leading Democrat in the politics 
 of the county. He was a staunch member 
 of the Reformed church, and was the father 
 of eleven children, as follows : Malinda, 
 wife of George Adleman ; Peter, married 
 Sallie Ereyer ; Charles, married Susanna 
 Zimmerman; Hetty, married Isaac Bowman; 
 George, married Hannah Koch ; Betsy, 
 married Aaron Zern ; Kate, married Philip 
 Sell ; Gusta, died at the age of one year and 
 eight months ; Hannah, died in infancy ; 
 and Daniel, single, died at the age of twenty- 
 two years. 
 
 Mr. Hauck's father was born in Frederick 
 township on July 7, 1S27, and died February 
 20, 1883. He was educated in the public 
 schools and then learned the trade of tailor 
 at the Swamp. When the Civil war broke 
 out in 1S61, he enlisted and served three 
 full years with distinction. He was in the 
 heat of the fight in numerous battles, 
 among them being that of Gettysburg. After 
 returning from the war he resumed his 
 business as a tailor, first at Zeiglersville and 
 later at Perkiomenville. He was a Demo- 
 crat in politics, and a member of the Re- 
 formed church. He was also a prominent 
 member of the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. Mr. 
 Hauck, senior, is the father of eleven chil- 
 dren, as follows : William, Hannah, George, 
 Samuel, the subject of this sketch ; Sally, 
 Joshua, who is dead ; Harry, Francis, Anna, 
 Lessa and Emma. 
 
Bk ^graphical Sketches. 
 
 357 
 
 Mr. Samuel Hauck secured a liberal edu- 
 cation in the public schools, graduating at 
 the age of seventeen, and learned the tailor- 
 ing business under his father at Perkiomen- 
 ville. He remained with his father three 
 years and then started in business for 
 himself at Harleysville in 1886. He 
 commenced business in a small way, but, 
 backed by a strong perseverance and plenty 
 of ambition, he rapidly worked up to the 
 head of a very important business, until at 
 present his trade amouts to over $25,000 a 
 year. He manufactures for the city trade, 
 and employs a large force of hands. 
 
 In politics Mr. Hauck follows in the foot- 
 steps of his grandfather and father, being a 
 staunch Democrat. He is a member of the 
 Reformed church, and takes great interest 
 in the affairs of the church. He is also a 
 prominent member of Lodge No. 558, F. 
 and A. M., of Lansdale ; Perkiomenville 
 Lodge No. 367, I. O. O. F. ; and the Junior 
 Order United American Mechanics, No 18. 
 
 Mr. Hauck married Mary, the daughter of 
 Henry and Mary Sehuler, and they have 
 had two children : Andora, who died young, 
 and Mamie, who was born on June n, 
 1883. Mr. Hauck is very happy in his 
 family life, and is also highly respected in 
 the community as a business man and a 
 citizen. 
 
 HON. J. H. LONOEXECKER, the sub- 
 ject of this notice, has proved himself 
 to be a brave defender of his country amid 
 the trying scenes of war; and, in civil 
 capacities, a lawyer of recognized merit and 
 superior talents, as well as an able and 
 popular legislator. Such a career is full of 
 interest and worthy of detailed mention. 
 
 Hon. J. H. Longenecker was born near 
 Martinsburg, Blair county, Pennsylvania, 
 
 September 17, 1839. When he was four 
 years of age, his parents, John and Eliza- 
 beth ( Holsinger) Longenecker, removed to 
 a farm near Woodberry, Bedford county, 
 where he lived until he reached the age of 
 sixteen. He then entered the Allegheny 
 seminary, at Rainsburg, where he pursued 
 an academic course. While acquiring his 
 education, young Longenecker engaged in 
 teaching in the winter for several years, 
 during which time he was principal of the 
 Woodberry school for two sessions, and 
 taught other schools in the neighborhood. 
 His apt scholarship attracted the attention 
 of his instructors, and during the latter 
 part of his course at the seminary he held 
 the position of assistant teacher, thereby 
 defraying a portion of his expenses and 
 those of his sister, who attended the school 
 at the same time. Until the breaking out 
 of the Civil war, Mr. Longenecker led a 
 a pleasant and profitable, though busy life, 
 combining the occupations of student and 
 teacher. 
 
 In September, 1861, he enlisted as a pri- 
 vate in Co. D, 101st regiment, Pennsylvania 
 volunteers, and on the 20th of the following 
 January he was promoted to sergeant-major 
 of the regiment. May 1, 1863, he was com- 
 missioned second lieutenant of Co. D. On 
 the 26th of the following July he was pro- 
 moted to the rank of adjutant of the 101st 
 regiment. While the army was lying on 
 the Chickahominy, he contracted a fever 
 and was sent to the Bellevue hospital, New 
 York. A month sufficed for his recovery, 
 and he then rejoined the regiment. He- 
 served with the regiment until it was cap- 
 tured at Plymouth, North Carolina, on 
 April 20, 1864. Adjutant Longenecker and 
 the other officers of the regiment were then 
 removed to the military prison at Macon, 
 Georgia, and thence, in July, to Savannah. 
 
35§ 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 About a month later they were removed to 
 Charleston, South Carolina, where for nearly 
 a month they were imprisoned in the jail- 
 vard. Next the prisoners were taken to 
 "Camp Sorghum," south of the city of Co- 
 lumbia, South Carolina. During- the win- 
 ter months they were incarcerated in the 
 asylum prison at Columbia. Early in Feb- 
 ruary, 1865, when Sherman was approach- 
 ing the city, they were removed to Char- 
 lotte, North Carolina, and on the evening of 
 their arrival, Adjutant Longenecker made 
 his escape. Two weeks later he was re- 
 captured near the mountains of Western 
 North Carolina, and carried back to Char- 
 lotte, and thence to Salisbury, North Caro- 
 lina. March 2, 1865, he received his liberty 
 in an exchange of prisoners, which took 
 place at Wilmington, North Carolina. On 
 March 14 he was discharged from the ser- 
 vice by reason of the great numerical re- 
 duction of the command. 
 
 In April, 1865, Mr. Longenecker became 
 a law student in the office of Hon. S. S. 
 Blair, of Hollidaysburg, and in September 
 of the same year entered the law depart- 
 ment of Albany (New York) University. 
 He graduated from this institution May 25, 
 1866, receiving the degree of bachelor of 
 laws. On May 5, 1866, he was admitted to 
 practice in the supreme court of the State 
 of New York. The following month he 
 entered the office of Hon. S. L. Russell, of 
 Bedford, to prepare further for entering 
 upon the profession by the study of Penn- 
 sylvania statutes and practice. September 3, 
 
 1866, he was admitted to practice in the 
 several courts of Bedford county. April 1, 
 
 1867, ^ r - Longenecker was taken into part- 
 nership with Hon. S. L. Russell ; thence- 
 forth sharing the large practice of the latter, 
 he quickly arose to prominence in his pro- 
 fession. 
 
 At the annual election of October, 1868, 
 he was chosen a member of the Pennsylva- 
 nia house of representatives. The follow- 
 ing year he was re-elected, and served dur- 
 ing a second term. Thenceforth he confined 
 his attention almost wholly to the exten- 
 sive law business of the firm of Russell & 
 Longenecker, until 1882, when, at the earn- 
 est request of his party, he accepted the Re- 
 publican nomination for the office of State 
 senator. The selection of Mr. Longenecker 
 for this important position was a high 
 tribute to his popularity and political 
 standing. Though nominated bv the regu- 
 lar or "stalwart" Republicans, and him- 
 self supporting the Beaver ticket in the 
 memorable campaign of the year 1882, at 
 the polls he received nearly the unanimous 
 support of the independents, in his own 
 county and Fulton, and was elected, though 
 leading politicians agree that no other Re- 
 publican in the district could have achieved 
 this result. During the legislative session 
 that succeeded he had positions on several 
 important committees, and throughout this 
 and the stormy extra session following, his 
 conduct was characterized by such prudence 
 and sagacity as won for him well-deserved 
 prominence in the senate and the hearty ap- 
 probation of the Republican party. During 
 the regular session, Mr. Longenecker was a 
 member of the judiciary general, constitu- 
 tional reform, and the congressional and 
 legislative apportionment committees, and 
 chairman of the committee on banks. He 
 also served on the conference committee of 
 the two houses, on senatorial and represen- 
 tative apportionment. In the extra session 
 he was made chairman of the committee on 
 senatorial apportionment, and prepared the 
 bill supported by the Republican senators. 
 
 Mr. Longenecker has always been a firm 
 supporter of the principles of the Republi- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 359 
 
 can party. He cast his first vote for Lin- 
 coln, in i860, and made his first stump 
 speech during the exciting campaign of 
 that year. In 1S66 he took an active part 
 in the county canvass, and in every impor- 
 tant campaign since that time he has made 
 public speeches in support of the party 
 nominations. In his political and forensic 
 career he has sustained the reputation of an 
 earnest, able and forcible speaker. 
 
 Mr. Longenecker was married December 
 21, 1869, to Miss Rebecca V. Russell, eldest 
 daughter of Hon. S. L. Russell, of Bedford, 
 and is the father of three children : Samuel 
 Russell, Ralph and Charles. 
 
 In 1886 he was presented by the Republi- 
 can party of Bedford count}- for the con- 
 gressional nomination in the Twentieth 
 district, but a protracted conference resulted 
 in the nomination of Hon. Edward Scull, 
 of Somerset. 
 
 When Governor Beaver came to make up 
 his cabinet in January, 1887, he requested 
 him to accept the position of deputy secre- 
 tary of the Commonwealth, which he did, 
 and served in that position until December 
 1, 1890, when he became secretary of the 
 Commonwealth, and acted as such until 
 the expiration of Governor Beaver's term. 
 In November, 1891, he was elected presi- 
 dent judge of the Sixteenth Judicial dis- 
 trict, composed of the counties of Somerset 
 and Bedford, and since January, 1892, has 
 occupied that position. 
 
 WILLIAM J. CLARK, assistant secre- 
 tary of the Globe Tack works of 
 Norristown, is a son of William and Jane 
 (Cuthbertson) Clark, and was born Decem- 
 ber 23, 1861, in Norristown, this county. 
 His paternal grandfather, David Clark, was 
 
 a native of County Doron, Ireland, whence 
 he came to the United States and located 
 in Norristown. He had learned, in his 
 native country, the art of cotton weaving, 
 and hence had little difficulty in securing 
 a position in the line of his trade in this 
 country. He took a position of this kind 
 in Norristown and soon became a foreman. 
 He voted with the Whig party and was a 
 member of the Episcopal church. 
 
 He married and became the parent of 
 six children : Mary, Sarah, William J., 
 Fannie, Enos and Letitia, deceased. 
 
 William J. Clark learned the trade of a 
 moulder, which trade he followed until he 
 entered the Civil war, when through a 
 wound he received he was unable to follow 
 the trade. He entered the 106th regiment 
 Pennsylvania volunteer infantry as a ser- 
 geant, and at the end of his first term 
 re-enlisted and was made a lieutenant in a 
 colored regiment. He was, as his father 
 before him was, a member of the Episcopal 
 church. He married Jane Cuthbertson, 
 and three children blessed this marriage 
 union: William J., Mrs. Spooner, and Har- 
 rison B. The father of Mr. Clark died 
 January 2, 1869. At the age of twelve 
 years, our subject entered the tack factory of 
 Captain C. P. Weaver, remaining six years 
 under his employ, and then entered the 
 employ of a similar company in Pittsburg, 
 Pennsylvania, where he remained nine 
 years. At the end of that time, he re- 
 turned to Norristown and embarked in 
 mercantile pursuits on Cherry street for 
 four years, doing a very successful business. 
 In 1893 he sold his mercantile interests 
 and became one of the organizers of the 
 Globe Tack company. The officers of this 
 company are : Joseph S. Rambo, president ; 
 
 j W. N. Easton, secretary ; and William J. 
 
 I Clark, assistant secretary. They purchased 
 
3<5° 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 the Globe Tack factory, located in Norris- 
 town township, near Riverside cemetery, 
 on the Pennsylvania railroad. The factory 
 is a substantial brick building, 135 feet by 
 45 feet, two stories high ; and the plant 
 includes three acres of land upon which 
 they have opened two stone quarries and 
 furnish a good quality of building stone to 
 the trade in Norristown and surrounding 
 towns. 
 
 Mr. Clark has always voted the Repub- 
 lican ticket and has held minor local offices 
 in the municipal government of Norris- 
 town. He is a member of the following 
 social and fraternal organizations : Iron 
 City council, No. 171 ; Jr. O. U. A. M.; the 
 Republican Invincible club ; and Norris- 
 town Choral club. 
 
 On May 21, 1885, he wedded Isabella, a 
 daughter of Henry and Martha Brown, 
 and three children, Lovinia Belle, Helen 
 Brown, and Jennie Cuthbertson, are the 
 issue of this union. 
 
 REV. AUGUSTINE H. RUFE, pastor 
 pro tern of St. Anthony's Catholic 
 church, at Ambler, is a native American 
 citizen and one of the best educated and 
 most thoroughly equipped clergymen of 
 his faith in the arch-diocese of Philadel- 
 phia. At present he is not only filling the 
 duties of pastor at Ambler, but is also dili- 
 gently at work on the project of building 
 a new church in the twenty-second ward 
 of Philadelphia. Few young men have 
 taken such a thorough course in prepara- 
 tion for his noble calling- and few have in 
 so short a time reached the prominence in 
 the divine profession. Father Rufe is of 
 German and Irish descent. His father, 
 Jacob Rufe, was born in Reutlingen, Ger- 
 
 many, and came to America when a young 
 man. He had a good education in the 
 schools of his native home and when he 
 emigrated he settled in Doylestown, where 
 he became connected with the North Penn 
 railroad in the construction department, 
 which business he followed all his life. 
 An American by adoption Mr. Rufe was 
 thoroughly patriotic. In 1853 he married 
 Ellen McGrath, of Doylestown, and their 
 union was blessed by seven children : 
 John, James, deceased ; Catherine, wife of 
 Charles Schulte; Rev. Augustine; Michael; 
 Annie and Ellen, deceased. Mr. Rufe died 
 in 1870, aged forty-five years. 
 
 Father Rufe was born at Doylestown on 
 the nth of November, i860. Until he 
 reached the age of twelve years he resided 
 at Doylestown and attended the public 
 schools. He then went to Washington, 
 I). C. , where he became a pupil in the 
 public schools and afterward entered Gem- 
 zaga college, an annex to the Georgetown 
 university. Here he remained three years 
 when he returned to Doylestown. After 
 three years spent at home, he entered St. 
 Charles Borromeo seminary at Overbrook, 
 Philadelphia, as a student for the priest- 
 hood. Five years were passed in this 
 noted college and after that he spent one 
 year in St. Mary's university, at Baltimore. 
 At the expiration of that time, September, 
 1884, Father Rufe embarked for Belgium, 
 where he entered the University of Lou- 
 rain. Here he studied four years, and on 
 June 29, 1888, was ordained a priest. 
 Almost immediately he sailed for home, 
 and in Jul}- was appointed assistant priest 
 at St. Mary's church, Doylestown, and at 
 the same time acted as rector of St. 
 Anthony's church, Ambler, this county. 
 He was appointed pastor of St. Anthony's 
 church in February, 1889, and remained 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 36i 
 
 until October 6, 1892. He then accepted 
 the vice-rectorship of the American college 
 and the chair of ecclesiastical history in 
 the same institution, at Lourain, Belgium, 
 which was certainly a very high honor to 
 be conferred on a young man. Crossing 
 the broad expanse of the Atlantic once 
 more, he entered upon his duties at Lou- 
 rain and continued in that position until 
 October 1st, 1894, when he returned to 
 America and was stationed as assistant 
 rector of St. James' church, West Phila- 
 delphia. Five months later he was given 
 his present appointment and also assigned 
 the very laborious task of erecting a new 
 church in the Twenty-second ward of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Father Rufe has been an earnest student 
 all his life and he is also a most enterpris- 
 ing and enenjetic worker in the church. 
 He is a pulpit orator of excellent voice 
 and fluency of language, and is deservedly 
 popular among all the congregations he 
 has served. In politics he is a Republican, 
 thoroughly believing in the principles of 
 that party and yet voting only for those 
 men whom he believes will best serve the 
 people. A learned man and thoroughly 
 imbued with his work, Father Rufe cer- 
 tainly has a very bright future before him 
 and will, no doubt, continue to strengthen 
 his arm as the work of his church demands. 
 
 THE HILLEGAS FAMILY. There is 
 a generally accepted tradition in the 
 several branches of the Hillegas family that 
 it is of French extraction. But this is 
 doubtless owing to the fact that the family, 
 prior to removal to the Palatinate of Ger- 
 many, were residents of the disputed Franco- 
 German province of Alsace. This was 
 
 originally German territory and embraced 
 many German, as well as French inhabi- 
 tants. A careful inquiry into the subject 
 based upon the earliest authentic spelling 
 of the name that has as yet been found, 
 Hilde-gras, leads to the conclusion that the 
 name is of old Gothic German origin and 
 of great antiquity. The blazonry of the 
 coat of arms as found on an old piece of 
 silver now in the possession of Captain H. 
 H. Bellas, of Germautown, one of the de- 
 scendants of Michael Hillegas, appears to 
 sustain this theory, notably from the fact 
 that the helmet in the insignia is sur- 
 mounted by a German earl's coronet. 
 
 Hilde-gras means a grassy battle-field, 
 that is, presumably, a peaceful battle-field. 
 It will be observed from the blazonry, that 
 a " fesse" or broad band, which rests across 
 the middle of the shield has on it three 
 musical staves. This is a principal mark 
 of the escutcheon and indicates an honor 
 conferred for musical ability. Now it is 
 asked, " May it not have been conferred 
 upon the victor in a musical contest, the 
 victor of a peaceful battle-field, far back at 
 the time when he who was crowned gave its 
 present name to the family?" 
 
 The religious persecution of the Hugue- 
 nots and Germans of Alsace and Lorraine 
 drove the Hillegas family with others into 
 the Palatinate of Germany, whence the 
 brothers George Peter, sr., John Frederick 
 and Michael, sr. , emigrated to America — 
 George Peter, sr., and Michael sr. , prior to 
 1724. The former located in the Northern 
 Liberties, in the county of Philadelphia, 
 where he died in 1745, leaving the follow- 
 ing issue : Peter Hillegas, Margaret, wife 
 of George Passager ; Catharine, wife of 
 Philip Tull ; Elizabeth and Susanna. 
 
 Michael sr., was born im696, and located 
 in the city of Philadelphia, where he became 
 
362 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 a leading merchant and prominent citizen. 
 He owned a large amount of real estate in 
 the city, considerable in the adjoining vi- 
 cinity, and several acres in Upper Hanover 
 township. He died intestate October 30, 
 1749, leaving a widow, Margaret; one son, 
 Michael (born April 22, 1728-9; died Sep- 
 tember 29, 1804 ; married Henrietta Bonde), 
 who became celebrated as the first treasurer 
 of the United States from 1775 to 1789; 
 and two daughters, Susanna, wife of Fred- 
 erick Knhl ; and Mary, wife of John Jen- 
 nings. 
 
 John Frederick Hillegas, the progenitor 
 of the Montgomery comity branch of the 
 family, and probably of all who bear the 
 name at this writing, was born in Alsace, 
 November 24, 1685, and with his wife, 
 Elizabeth Barbara, and younger children, 
 sailed for America in the ship William and 
 Sarah, from Rotterdam, with the company 
 led by the Rev. George Michael Weiss, a 
 Reformed minister. They arrived at Phila- 
 delphia September 18, and took the oath 
 of allegiance September 21, 1727. Soon 
 thereafter, they settled in the region known 
 as "Goshenhoppen," now Montgomery 
 county. Here John Frederick Hillegas, 
 prior to 1734, took up a tract of one hun- 
 dred and fifty acres of land and by right of 
 purchase, within the years closely follow- 
 ing, became the possessor of a large landed 
 estate. Among these early purchases was 
 a tract of one hundred and sixty-five acres, 
 containing thereon a grist-mill, from George 
 Gowen, February 6, 1738, and which is 
 still in the possession of one of his descen- 
 dants ; and a tract of three hundred and 
 sixty-three acres, bought of William Par- 
 sons, 1749. He died, leaving a valuble es- 
 tate to his children, January 6, 1765. His 
 wife, Elizabeth Barbara, died March 4, 
 1759. Their remains repose in the new 
 
 Goshenhoppen Reformed burial ground, 
 nearly opposite the front of the present 
 church building. The following is a fac 
 simile of the inscriptions on their tomb- 
 stones, now nearly obliterated and in- 
 terpreted only after the most diligent ef- 
 forts : 
 
 HIER HiER LIEGT 
 
 LIEGEN BEGRABEN BEGRABEN FRIKD 
 
 1759 RICH HILLEGAS 
 
 G ESTO R B E N D N A I.T E R WAR — 
 
 4 MER ELISA BA UND 1ST GEBOHKKX 
 
 RBARA HILLIGESEN DEN 24 NOFMR 1685 
 
 UND WORDEN DER GESTORREX DEN 
 
 AUFERSTF.tNG 6 JANWARY 1 765 
 IRES KR LOSERS 
 IKSL CHRISTI 
 
 They were good church people. 
 
 The following is the genealogical record 
 (if this branch of the Hillegas family, as 
 nearly complete as obtainable at present, 
 but entirely reliable as far as it goes. 
 
 John Frederick Hillegas, b. 16S5, Nov. 24 ; d. 
 
 1765, Jan. 6 ; in. about 1713. 
 Elizabeth Barbara, b. ; d. 1759, March 4. 
 
 1. Leopold, b. about 1714; d. . Came to Amer- 
 
 ica 1730, September 5. Said to have served three 
 years in the war for Independence ; took part in 
 the battle of Brandyvvine ; settled in F'sophus, 
 Duchess county, New York. 
 
 2. John Adam, b. 1717, Jan. 5; d 1779, March 13. 
 
 Came to this couutry 1732, Aug. 11; in. Anna 
 Catharine Bitting, b. 1728 ; d. 1810. They had 
 issue: Michael, John, b. 1743, June 6 ; d. 1801, 
 March 4; tn. 1767, March 5 ; Anna Maria Hille- 
 gas, b. 1746, Oct. 25; d. 1795, March 28; George; 
 Adam ; Frederick ; Peter, bapt. 1759, Nov. 28 ; 
 one of the seven months men, Col. Daniel Heister, 
 jr., battalion of Phila. county militia. He was 
 killed by a falling tree in the presence of two of 
 his sons ; Jacob, b. April 26, 1772 ; Eva, b. 1745, 
 July 16; d. 1S21, Nov. 23; m. George Harlacker, 
 b. 1738, Dec. 6; d. 1S13, Nov. 22 ; Catharine, m. 
 fohu Greisemer, a member of the Committee of 
 Safety of Northampton county ; Ann Margaret, 
 bapt. 1758, May 15; in. Carl Schellenberger ; 
 Elizabeth ; Ann Mary, b. 1775, Aug. 18 ; Anna 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 363 
 
 Christina, bapt. 1760, 1>ut who died before the ex- 
 ecution of her father's will, as she is not men- 
 tioned in this document; and a daughter who died 
 1777, May 6; aged nine days. 
 
 3. Frederick, b. about 1720, and thought to have ac- 
 
 companied his brother Leopold to Esophus, 
 Duchess county, New York. 
 
 4. Eva Elizabeth, b. about 1723 ; tn. Yeager(?). 
 
 5. Ann Margaret, b. 1726, Aug. 15 : d. 1773, Jan. 6 ; 
 
 tn. about 174S, Matthias Richards, b. 17 19, Jan. 
 9 ; d. 1775, March 28. He was one of the execu- 
 tors of his father-in-law's will 
 
 6. Ann Regina, b. about 1729. 
 
 7. Elizabeth Barbara, b. 1732, April 16 ; d. 1S17, 
 
 Aug. 15; m. John Erey, b. 1731, Oct. 10; d. 
 1820, Dec. 10. 
 
 8. George Peter, b. 1735, Feb. 2 ; d. 1S10, Sept. 24 ; 
 
 111. about 1750, Anna Barbara Hornecker, b. 1737; 
 (1. 1S12, March 14. They had issue: Eve, in. 
 Abraham Levy; John Peter, b. 1756; m. 1779, 
 March 16, Ann Maria Maurer (d. of Andrew) ; 
 Jacob, Frederick, bapt. 1759, April 26 ; Catharine, 
 bapt. 1760, Jan. 29 ; m. John Maurer ; Elizabeth 
 Barbara, b. 1763, Oct. 17; d. 1S42 ; m. John 
 Schell (of Johns, of Michael 1 ), who emigrated to 
 Bedford county, Pa., in 1800, and located and 
 laid out Schellsburg, donating land for church 
 and school purposes ; Maria, m. George Hillegas; 
 Magdalina, m. George Ewault. George Peter 
 was one of the executors of his father's will. He 
 left a valuable estate to his children. 
 
 9. Conrad, b. 1738, Nov. 2; d. 1824. December 24; 
 
 m. Margaretta Schellenberger, b. 1742, July 2 ; 
 d. 1820, Nov. 5. They had issue : Frederick, 
 Elizabeth, d. before 1822; m. Adam Schneider ; 
 Eve, m. Peter Yost ; Barbara, m. Daniel Yost, 
 Esq. ; Margaret, b. 1769, Aug. 3 ; d. 1837, Feb. 
 25; m. 1790, Aug. 10, Michael Dotterer, b. 1766, 
 Jan. 30 ; d. 1824, Nov. 28 ; Susanna, m. Adam 
 Yost; Anna Mary, tn. Jacob Ache. Conrad left 
 the farm and improvements bequeathed him by 
 his father, to his son Frederick, upon the con- 
 dition that he pay ^,"1000, Pa. money, to be di- 
 vided equally among the other six children. 
 
 THOMAS H. SEAL, a general merchant 
 and the present postmaster of Jarret- 
 town, is a son of William and Jane (Hall) 
 Seal, and was born in Philadelphia, Penn- 
 sylvania, December 9, 1857. William Seal 
 
 was tlu- fourth of nine children born to 
 James and Snsan (Gawthorp) Seal, who 
 were members of the Society of Friends, 
 and resided on their farm in Chester county. 
 William Seal was of English descent, and 
 after receiving a good English education, 
 was employed in teaching until he was 
 twenty-two years of age. He then removed 
 to Philadelphia; and after spending thirteen 
 years there as a general merchant, he went 
 to West Chester, in Chester county, where 
 he was engaged in the machinery business 
 for two years. At the end of that time, in 
 1870, he returned to Philadelphia, where he 
 has been engaged in the flour and feed 
 business ever since. He is a Republican 
 and Friend, and in 1857, wedded Jane Hall, 
 who is a daughter of Mahlon Hall, of Rucks 
 county. Mr. and Mrs. Seal have two chil- 
 dren, a son and a daughter : Thomas H. and 
 Sarah, wife of Henry F. Carpenter. 
 
 Thomas H. Seal was reared in his native 
 city, received his education in the public 
 schools, and commenced life for himself by 
 obtaining a position with the Biddle Hard- 
 ware company, with whom he remained for 
 three years. He then assisted his father for 
 several years, and, in 1887, came to Jarret- 
 town, as a favorable place tor the general 
 mercantile business. He immediately 
 opened a general mercantile establishment, 
 which he has conducted successfully ever 
 since. Mr. Seal studies closely the wants of 
 his numerous patrons and endeavors to ac- 
 commodate them. He carries full lines of 
 dry goods, hardware, groceries, provisions, 
 notions, and evervthiug- to be usually found 
 in any first-class mercantile establishment 
 outside of a city. 
 
 On March 15, 1887, Mr. Seal married 
 Fannie Wilson, a daughter of Joseph F. 
 Wilson, of Philadelphia. In politics Thomas 
 H. Seal is a Republican, and served as a 
 
3 6 4 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 member of the school board of Upper 
 Dublin township for a term of one year. 
 Although a Republican, he was appointed 
 postmaster at Jarrettown by President Cleve- 
 land in 1887, and re-appointed by President 
 Harrison, and again by President Cleveland. 
 Mr. Seal is a member of Abingtou Meeting 
 Society of Friends ; Clover Castle No. 386, 
 Knights of the Golden Eagle, of Pennsyl- 
 vania ; and Delphi No. 5, Order of Sparta, 
 of Philadelphia. 
 
 LOUIS KITTSON, the owner and mana- 
 ger of the celebrated Erdenheim stock 
 farm, is a son of Hon. Norman W. and 
 Elsie (Marion) Kittson, and was born in the 
 city of St. Paul, Minnesota, April 2, 1855. 
 Hon. Norman W. Kittson was born May 
 14, 1814, at Sorel, Province of Quebec, Do- 
 minion of Canada. At an early age he be- 
 came interested in the American Fur com- 
 pany, whose founder and active head was 
 John Jacob Astor, whose operations were 
 on a scale altogether beyond anything ever 
 before attempted by individual enterprise, 
 and abounded in such wild romance as to 
 enlist the pen of Irving in a pleasing nar- 
 rative, constituting two volumes. The com- 
 pany operated in the northwestern part of 
 the United States, with headquarters at 
 Chicago, and Mr. Kittson was actively en- 
 gaged in the management until 1863, when 
 he withdrew and became connected with 
 the Hudson Bay Fur company, the oldest 
 fur company in the world, and whose char- 
 ter dates back to 1670. He continued with 
 the last named company for twenty years, 
 and acted as their general agent at St. Paul, 
 Minnesota, from 1864 to 1874. In the last 
 named year he became one of the founders 
 of the Manitoba, now Great Northern rail- 
 
 way, and shortly afterwards was one of a 
 syndicate of five members who purchased 
 the entire railway and operated it until 1878, 
 when they sold nearly all of its bonds. 
 Shortly after this he engaged in raising fast 
 trotting horses, and in 1882 he purchased 
 the Welsh property in Whitemarsh town- 
 ship, known as Erdenheim. Here he em- 
 barked in the raising and training of thor- 
 ough-bred running horses, and was very 
 successful until his death. Erdenheim is 
 the home of " Iroquois," the only American 
 horse that ever won the English Derby, 
 and " Flora Temple " and " Leamington," 
 who were famous in their day, and lie 
 buried in one part of the lawn. Other 
 horses of national reputation have been 
 raised there, and still keep up the name of 
 the great stock. Norman W. Kittson was 
 active and influential in enterprises of vast 
 scope and affecting the material progress 
 and wealth of both the United States and 
 Canada. He served one term as a member 
 of the legislature of Minnesota, and passed 
 away at the end of a long and useful life, 
 on May 10, 1888, aged seventy-four years. 
 Mr. Kittson married Elsie Marion, who was 
 a native of Winnipeg, Canada. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Kittson reared a family of eight chil- 
 dren, six sons and two daughters. 
 
 Louis Kittson, at four years of age, was 
 taken from St. Paul, Minnesota, to Winni- 
 peg, where he received his education in the 
 French Jesuit college of St. Boniface. At 
 seventeen years of age he entered the ser- 
 vice of the Hudson Bay Fur company as a 
 clerk, and remained with them for eleven 
 years, and during that period he received 
 several promotions. He traveled among 
 the Indians of the northwestern States and 
 territories, received his mail but twice a 
 year, and one winter walked eleven hundred 
 miles on snow shoes. He was exposed to 
 
U**Xs&*-i^_^ 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 365 
 
 much danger and hardship, never saw a 
 white man for six years, and in 1883 left 
 the service of the company to assist his 
 father in the management of the Erdenheim 
 stock farm, referred to previously in this 
 sketch. After the death of his father, in 
 1888, he and his brother James E., operated 
 the farm until 1893, when he purchased his 
 brother's interest, and since then has con- 
 tinued in the raising of thorough-bred horses 
 for trotting and running. The Erdenheim 
 stock farm cannot be surpassed for situa- 
 tion or excelled for splendid and beautiful 
 horses in the United States, while it is 
 known from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
 ocean, and horses from its stables have suc- 
 cessfully competed with the swiftest steeds 
 of Europe and Arabia. Louis Kittson is 
 doing much to improve the fine blooded 
 horses of the United States, and his efforts, 
 while now receiving recognition, yet will be 
 most fully appreciated in the future, when 
 their benefits will be more fully perceived. 
 He is a Democrat in political opinion, but 
 no extremist or politician, for his life-work 
 lies in the business world, and there all his 
 energies and efforts are directed. 
 
 In 1889 Mr. Kittson wedded Caroline D. 
 Gordon, a daughter of Robert Gordon, of 
 Springfield. To their union have been 
 born two children : Louis G., who died in 
 infancy ; and Frederick Stevens, now in the 
 fifth year of his age, being born March 3, 
 1890. 
 
 NATHAN RAMBO, who for many years 
 was a prominent limestone operator at 
 Swedesburg, this county, is a son of Nathan 
 and Ann (Brodes) Rambo, and was born in 
 the year 1847, in Upper Merion, Montgom- 
 ery county, Pennsylvania. The Rambos 
 are of Swedish extraction, but have been 
 
 settled in Pennsylvania since colonial times. 
 Jonas Rambo, paternal grandfather of the 
 subject of this sketch, was a life-long resi- 
 dent of Upper Merion township, where he 
 owned large tracts of land. He was a 
 farmer and stockman by occupation, an 
 old line Whig in politics, and by his mar- 
 riage the father of a family of several chil- 
 dren. His remains rest in the cemetery 
 connected with the old Swedes' Episcopa- 
 lian church at Swedesburg, of which he- 
 was a member. One of his sons was 
 Nathan Rambo (father), who was born and 
 reared at Swedesburg, where after attaining 
 manhood he engaged in the limestone busi- 
 ness and accumulated considerable wealth. 
 He owned extensive limestone quarries, 
 which he operated for many years, besides 
 engaging in various other lines of industry, 
 chief of which was the hotel business. For 
 a number of years he was proprietor of a 
 hostlery known as the Rambo house, and 
 became quite prominent in the community. 
 In religion he was an Episcopalian, and 
 served for many years as vestryman of his 
 church at Swedesburg. Politically he was 
 a Whig until 1856, when he became a 
 Republican. He was also a member of the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He 
 married Ann Brodes, and they had a family 
 of seven children : Eliza, deceased ; Mary 
 Jane, also dead ; Rebecca, widow of J. P. 
 H. Jones ; Emma P., wife of T. P. Merritt ; 
 William B., engaged in the lime business 
 at Swedesburg ; Nathan, the subject of this 
 sketch ; and Thomas J., a sketch of whom 
 appears elsewhere in this volume. The 
 father died in 1858, aged forty-seven years, 
 and the mother passed away in 1889, aged 
 eighty-two. 
 
 Nathan Rambo was reared in his native 
 village of Swedesburg, and obtained his 
 elementary education in the public schools. 
 
3 66 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 He afterwards took a course of training in 
 a military academy at West Chester, Penn- 
 sylvania, and then embarked in the lime- 
 stone business. He owned and operated 
 large quarries in Swedesburg, and success- 
 fully conducted the enterprise until 1890, 
 when he sold out to Robert McCoy and 
 retired from business. Since that time he 
 has been living quietly in his beautiful 
 home at Bridgeport, surrounded by all the 
 well-earned comforts and luxuries which 
 go to make up an enjoyable life. 
 
 In both religion and politics Mr. Rambo 
 adheres to the traditions of his family and 
 is an ardent Republican and an active 
 member of the Swedes' Episcopal church 
 at Swedesburg. In 1873 he married Clara 
 V. Walker. To Mr. and Mrs. Rambo were 
 born two children : Harry and Merritt, who 
 died in infancy. 
 
 LOUIS W. READ, M. D., surgeon gen- 
 eral of Pennsylvania, and president of 
 the association of military surgeons of the 
 United States, has rendered conspicuous 
 and valuable service in two of the world's 
 great wars, and stands at the head of his 
 profession in this country. He is the eldest 
 son of Thomas and Sarah (Corson) Read, 
 and was born at Plymouth, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, July 5, 1828. His 
 parents were natives of Delaware county, as 
 were his grandparents, William and Susan 
 Read, and his mother was a daughter of Jo- 
 seph Corson, and a sister to Drs. Hiram and 
 William Corson. His brothers and sisters, 
 five in number, are: Joseph C, Dr. Alan 
 W., Sarah, widow of Charles Jones ; Han- 
 nah, and Mary, widow of John Roberts. 
 
 Louis W. Read spent his boyhood days 
 at Road's mill, in Upper Merion township, 
 
 and received his education in the early 
 common schools and Treemount academy, 
 when it was under the charge of the cele- 
 brated Rev. Samuel Aaron. Leaving 
 school, he read medicine with his maternal 
 uncle, Dr. William Corson, and then en- 
 tered the medical department of the Uni- 
 versity of Pennsylvania, from which he was 
 graduated in the class of 1849. After 
 graduation he devoted himself assiduously 
 to obtaining the widest knowledge possible 
 of his important profession, and while thus 
 commendably engaged, came the Crimean 
 war cloud in southern continental Europe, 
 which opened before him an extended and 
 highly valuable field for scientific observa- 
 tion and practical work. He offered his 
 services to the Russian government, and 
 being accepted, he served as a surgeon 
 throughout the Crimean war, and was at 
 Sebastapol during its long and terrible 
 siege by the allied forces. During this ser- 
 vice under the Czar, he effected important 
 improvements in the manner of treating 
 gun-shot wounds, which were afterwards 
 generally adopted, both in Europe and the 
 United States. Leaving Russia at the close 
 of the war, he spent six months in the hos- 
 pitals of Paris, where he had a new and 
 valuable field for the stud}- of serious 
 wounds and complicated diseases. Return- 
 ing home in the autumn of 1857, he came 
 to Norristown, where he has been success- 
 fully engaged ever since in the practice of 
 medicine and surgery. While ranking 
 with the foremost of his profession as a 
 general practitioner, yet as a surgeon he has 
 won highest position and widest fame. 
 
 When the late Civil war commenced, Dr. 
 Read was enjoying a fine practice, but 
 patriotism with him was superior to home 
 comforts and personal gain, and he ten- 
 dered his services to the government in the 
 
% ^^ 
 
(2j-lhju\) <ffuAAKT— 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 367 
 
 hour of peril. In May, 1S61, lie was ap- 
 pointed surgeon of the First Pennsylvania 
 reserves, and in June was promoted to sur- 
 geon of United States volunteers, with the 
 rank of major, and assigned to the Thir- 
 teenth Pennsylvania infantry. He resigned 
 this position in 1863, to accept the medical 
 directorship of the Pennsylvania reserve 
 corps, and in November, 1864, was placed 
 in charge of McKim United States hos- 
 pital at Baltimore, and remained there until 
 March, 1866, when the hospital was closed 
 and he was mustered out of the Federal ser- 
 vice with the rank of brevet lieutenant 
 colonel of the United States volunteers, 
 which had been bestowed on January 12, 
 [866, for meritorious service. Returning 
 home, he resumed his practice, and for 
 nearly twenty years has been constantly in 
 attendance upon the sick and caring for 
 those needing surgical aid. 
 
 On June 3, 185S, Dr. Read was united in 
 marriage with Georgine Hurst, a daughter 
 of Alfred Hurst, who died August 5, 1885, 
 leaving two children : NinaB. and Alfred H. 
 
 Dr. Read is a Republican in politics, and 
 while interested in public affairs, yet has 
 made the duties of his profession paramount 
 to all other claims upon his time and atten- 
 tion. His successful removal in December, 
 1863, of the ball which General Hancock 
 received at Gettysburg, July 3, 1S63, when 
 all other physicians failed, stamped his 
 skill as a surgeon, and was the means of 
 preserving a life of inestimable value to the 
 Army of the Potomac and the American 
 Union. He was an intimate friend of Gen- 
 eral Hancock, and his recent offer to repair, 
 at his own expense, the tomb of that great 
 military chieftain, has been matter of favor- 
 able comment in all parts of the countrv. 
 He was appointed surgeon-general of Penn- 
 sylvania by Governor Hartranft, with the 
 
 rank of brigadier-general, May 15, 1874, 
 and re-appointed by Governors Hoyt, Patti- 
 son and Beaver, and again by Governor 
 Pattison in 1891, holding the position at 
 this time, under appointment of Governor 
 Hastings. Dr. Read is a prominent mem- 
 ber of the Loyal Legion, the Historical So- 
 ciety of Pennsylvania, the Union League, 
 and the Association of the Sons of the 
 Revolution. He was a member of the com- 
 mission to select a site for the Xorristown 
 hospital for the insane, and took an ac- 
 tive part in the choice of plans, the con- 
 struction of the building and other duties. 
 
 In May, 1895, Dr. Read was elected presi- 
 dent of the Military Surgeons, and the 
 Herald says of the election : " Surgeon 
 ( 'reneral Louis W. Read has just been highly 
 honored in his election to the position of 
 president of the association of Military 
 Surgeons, in session the past three days at 
 Buffalo. The present session is the fifth 
 annual meeting of the organization, which 
 includes surgeons of the United States 
 army, the navy, the marine corps, and the 
 National Guard of various States. The 
 honor was entirely unexpected and un- 
 solicited, and is all the more acceptable, 
 since it was conferred in the absence of the 
 recipient." 
 
 Dr. Read is a man of kindness and sym- 
 pathy, of proverbial humanity as a physi- 
 cian, and of the highest standing in every 
 walk of life. He is universally esteemed 
 and has sought and successfully obtained 
 the highest qualifications in his profession. 
 
 ASHLEY PECHIN HUNTER, a prom- 
 inent manufacturer of Norristown, is 
 a son of Perry M. and Rebecca A. (Pechin) 
 Hunter, and was born February 12, 185 1, 
 
3 68 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 at>Bird-in-Hand, now known as Gulf Mills, 
 in Upper Merion township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania. Mr. Hunter re- 
 ceived his educational training in the pub- 
 lic schools of Bridgeport, this county, 
 where his father resided from 1855 to 1865. 
 Upon the latter date, his father removed to 
 Norristown, and Ashley P. profited by at- 
 tending the common schools of that place 
 and Treemount seminary, an institution of 
 high educational standard under the direc- 
 tion of Prof. John W. Loch. In the latter in- 
 stitution he prepared for entrance to college, 
 but instead of pursuing a college course, 
 took a clerkship in the mill of his father, 
 situated on Barbadoes street, in Norristown, 
 and remained there in various capacities 
 until the death of his father. In the latter 
 part of 1889 he organized the Norristown 
 Woolen company, which was incorporated 
 January 3, 1890, with the following officers : 
 George F. Coleman, president, and Ashley 
 P. Hunter, secretary, treasurer and mana- 
 ger. In addition to the above, he is a di- 
 rector in the Norristown Title, Trust and 
 Safe Deposit company, the Norristown 
 Land and Improvement company, a charter 
 member and a director in the R. S. New- 
 bold & Sons Manufacturing company, a 
 company largely engaged in the manufac- 
 ture of boilers, and was at one time a di- 
 rector of the Norristown Gas company. 
 
 Politically Mr. Hunter must be classed as 
 an independent Republican, but has never 
 had the time nor the inclination to enter 
 the arena of politics. He is an attendant 
 of St. John's Episcopal church. 
 
 On October 20, 18S6, Mr. Hunter and 
 Mary Frances Peirce, a daughter of Dr. 
 Thomas A. Peirce, of Winona, Minnesota, 
 were united in marriage and three children, 
 Morgan Pechin, Thomas Peirce and Perry 
 Ashbridge, bless their marriage union. 
 
 Ashley Pechin Hunter not only possesses 
 those qualities of head that are so necessary 
 to a successful business career but combines 
 with these mental qualifications, qualities 
 of the heart that make him universally 
 loved and respected. He is one of those 
 employing labor, who believes in giving 
 his employes the greatest benefits possible, 
 consistent with a wholesome prosperity of 
 the employer. By those under his employ 
 he is respected, because of his genial dis- 
 position, his sympathetic nature and his ex- 
 treme humanity ; and he eminently de- 
 serves the high esteem in which he is held 
 by all who have business or social relations 
 with him. 
 
 John Hunter, the elder, came to America 
 in the year 1722. All the various accounts 
 regarding his ancestors agree that he was 
 of a good family from the north of England, 
 whose ancestral seat is still in existence and 
 is called "Medomsley Hall," at Medomsley, 
 Gateshead, Durham, England, and was a 
 few years ago occupied by a descendant of 
 the family name. At the old Episcopal 
 church at Durham, where they are buried, 
 are the graves of General Anthony Hunter, 
 Sir John and Sir Thomas Hunter, and 
 many other family names of prominence, 
 the records extending back to the year 
 1605. Among the most interesting records 
 of the earliest Durham knights recorded at 
 Medomsley, extending back to 1183, was 
 one concerning William the Hunter, who 
 married a lady of respectable family of 
 Darruinnas, of Whittenstall. There can 
 be little doubt that this local Nimrod origi- 
 nated the numerous Hunter families of 
 Medomsley, whose ancestors appear in the 
 earliest court rolls of the Manor, and whose 
 relationship to each other is now difficult 
 or impossible to define. 
 
 John Hunter was a strong churchman, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 3 6 9 
 
 and made himself very obnoxious to the 
 Catholics. On the accession to the throne 
 of England of James II, a son of Charles I, 
 fearing retaliation from the Catholics, he 
 removed to Ireland, and settled at Rath- 
 drum, Wicklow county. A short time 
 thereafter, when William and Mary were 
 called to the throne of England, and Wil- 
 liam followed the fugitive forces of James 
 into Ireland, John Hunter entered the Protes- 
 tant army as a trooper, accompanied by his 
 friend, Anthony Wayne, and with him, par- 
 ticipated as a captain of a Troop of Horse, 
 in the battle of Boyne, July i, 1690, old 
 style, at the defeat of James' army. In this 
 battle he was wounded in the left hip by a 
 musket ball, which caused a little lameness 
 during the remainder of his life. He be- 
 came an extensive grazer in Ireland, and 
 in 1693 married Margaret Albin. His wed- 
 ding ring with the following inscription, 
 " Keep this in remembrance of me, 1693," 
 and the holster and pistols which he used 
 at the battle of Boyne, are still in the pos- 
 session of his descendants. 
 
 William Hill, who married Mary, the 
 eldest daughter of John Hunter, in Ireland, 
 came with his wife to Pennsylvania, and 
 settled in Middleton township, Chester 
 county (now Delaware county), Pa. John 
 Hunter, with his family, followed his son- 
 in-law to America in the year 1722. He 
 bought a large part of the Daniel William- 
 son one thousand acre tract in Newtown 
 township, Chester county (now Delaware 
 county), Pa., about twelve miles west of 
 Philadelphia, taking title March 16, 1723, 
 whereon he settled and passed the remain- 
 der of his life. John Hunter died in 1734, 
 aged seventy years, and is interred in the 
 church-yard connected with St. David's 
 Episcopal church, Radnor, Delaware coun- 
 ty, Pa., of which he was a member. He 
 
 24 
 
 was chosen a member of the first vestry of 
 St. David's church, elected April 1. 1725. 
 His oldest son John was elected a vestry- 
 man October 6, 1747, and James Hunter, 
 voungest son of John, the elder, was elected 
 a vestryman of the same church in 1773. 
 John Hunter brought with him to America 
 several families of "Redemptionists." The 
 "Redemptionists" were bound to him until 
 they had earned their freedom by certain 
 years of personal labor in his service. The 
 children of John and Margaret Hunter 
 were : John, William, Mary, Margaret, 
 George, Peter, Martha, Ann, Elizabeth and 
 James. John, the eldest son of John Hun- 
 ter, settled near Steamboat, in Chester 
 Valley, Chester county, Pa. William, the 
 second son of John Hunter, settled in New- 
 town, Delaware county, Pa., on part of the 
 tract of land bought of the Williamson 
 estate. This tract of land was divided be- 
 tween him and his brother James. Wil- 
 liam married Hannah, daughter of Edward 
 Woodward, in 1775. William had two 
 sons, William and Edward. William, the 
 eldest son, settled in Eastown township, 
 Chester county, Pa. Edward, the second 
 son of William, the elder, resided in New- 
 town, Delaware county, Pa., on the tract of 
 land that belonged to his father. He was 
 well known as 'Squire Hunter. He was 
 appointed by the governor of the State, and 
 held the office of justice of the peace for 
 about forty years. 'Squire Edward Hunter 
 married Hannah, daughter of Jesse and 
 Rebecca Maris, of Springfield township. 
 The children of 'Squire Edward and Han- 
 nah Hunter were : William, Rebecca, Alice, 
 Hannah, Margaret, Elizabeth and Edward. 
 Rebecca, the daughter of 'Squire Hunter, 
 married Peter Pechin, of Philadelphia, Pa., 
 February 26, 1795. James, the youngest 
 son of John, the elder, resided in Newtown, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Chester county, in the. old family mansion 
 on part of the Williamson estate, originally 
 purchased and divided. During the war 
 between England and France, in which the 
 colonies joined, James Hunter participated 
 as captain of the Associators of Chester 
 county, 1747-1748, (Pennsylvania Archives, 
 Vol. 2, page 506). In colonial records, Vol. 
 9, page 205, it is recorded that James Hun- 
 ter was a justice of the peace and of the ses- 
 sions. He married Hannah Morgan, daugh- 
 ter of John Morgan, of Radnor, Chester 
 countv (now Delaware county), Pa. James 
 Hunter died in March, 17S3, and his wife, 
 Hannah Hunter, in November, 1803, and 
 both are interred in the gravevard of St 
 David's Episcopal church, Radnor, Dela- 
 ware county, Pa. The children of James 
 and Hannah Hunter were: James, John, 
 Peter, George, Sarah, Mary and Ann. 
 
 James, the elder, by his will, divided his 
 three hundred and fifty acre tract of land 
 between his sons, John and George, giving 
 two hundred and fifty acres to John, and 
 one hundred acres with the homestead to 
 his youngest son George. James, the eldest 
 son, lived in Radnor, Delaware county, on 
 the estate inherited from the Morgans. 
 His mother, in her will, gave him the prop- 
 erty. Peter, the third son, died in early 
 manhood. The youngest daughter, Ann, 
 also died early in life. Both being interred 
 in the churh-yard of St. David's Episcopal 
 church. Sarah, the eldest daughter, married 
 Evan Lewis, of Newtown township; Mary, 
 the second daughter, married Hugh Jones 
 George, the youngest son of James Hunter, 
 the elder, was in Wilmington, Delaware, 
 learning the miller's trade when his father 
 died. At his mother's request he discon- 
 tinued this, and took charge of the home- 
 stead property willed to him by his father. 
 In the summer of 1797 he married Elizabeth 
 
 Pearson, daughter of Joseph Pearson, of 
 Ridley, Delaware county. 
 
 James Hunter, the father of George, was 
 the owner of slaves, and George was raised 
 by a slave, and had slaves to wait upon him 
 from his infancy to manhood. Both George 
 Hunter, and Joseph Pearson, the father of 
 Elizabeth Pearson, owned slaves until they 
 were made free by the legislature of the 
 State in 1828. George Hunter's body- 
 servant remained with him until his death. 
 George Hunter followed the occupation of 
 a farmer on the homestead property during 
 the remainder of his life, dying October 19, 
 1834, aged seventy-one years. His wife, 
 Elizabeth Hunter, did not long survive her 
 husband but died in the following year, 
 July 26, 1835, aged sixty-nine years. They 
 are both buried at Newtown Friends' 
 Meeting. The children of George and 
 Elizabeth Hunter were George Morgan, 
 Martha Emily, Albert Gallatin. Joseph 
 Pearson, Charles Franklin, Stephen Deca- 
 tur, Jonas Preston and Perry Macdonough. 
 
 Perry M. Hunter was born on October 
 10, 1814, and when young went as an ap- 
 prentice to Azariah Williamson, who con- 
 ducted a general mercantile business at 
 Goshen, in Chester county. In 1837 he re- 
 moved to Gulf Mills, in Upper Merion 
 township, this county, and with his brother 
 Stephen, founded a general mercantile 
 business at that place ; the post-office was 
 likewise located in the store building, and 
 he also engaged in the manufacture of 
 woolen goods. This business alliance con- 
 tinued two years when it was concluded by 
 Mr. Hunter's purchasing his brother's in- 
 terest. On April 1, 1843, Perry M. Hunter 
 purchased from Alexander Brook the Bird- 
 in-Hand hotel property, converting the lat- 
 ter into a residence which he occupied from 
 the time of his marriage until the autumn 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 37' 
 
 of 1855. He first engaged in the manu- 
 facture of woolen goods at Gulf Mills, form- 
 ing a partnership for that purpose with 
 Samuel DeHaven, under the firm name of 
 Hunter & DeHaven. They leased a mill 
 property on Gulf Creek, just below Bird-in 
 Hand store. This property being destroyed 
 by fire in the winter of 1S58-1859, they pur- 
 chased of David McConkey, of West Ches- 
 ter, on March 31, 1859, the woolen mill 
 property in Norristown, now known a-; 
 " Watts Mill," where they continued the 
 manufacture of woolen goods until Novem- 
 ber 5, 1864, when they sold the plant to 
 John B. Bishop. They then, on March 4, 
 1865, purchased of George Guest, a mill 
 property on Main street below Arch street, 
 Norristown, erected new buildings and 
 changed those already thereon to a woolen 
 mill and resumed the manufacture of wool- 
 en goods together until February, 1866, 
 when Mr. DeHaven disposed of his interest 
 to Robert Kershaw, and the business was 
 continued under the caption of P. M. Hun- 
 ter & Company. On March 11, 1868, Mr. 
 Hunter purchased a mill property situated 
 on the corner of Barbadoes and Airy streets, 
 in Norristown, and operated it as a woolen 
 mill in connection with his other woolen 
 industry until his death, November 12, 
 1868, in Norristown. He took a prominent 
 part in the political and financial affairs of 
 the county. He was a staunch Democrat 
 and was always interested in the success of 
 his party and the welfare of the people at 
 large. He was elected treasurer of Mont- 
 gomery county in the autumn of 1853 and 
 again in the autumn of 1854, serving with 
 efficiency in this responsible position. He 
 was one of the organizers and for several 
 years was a director of the Bank of Potts- 
 town, as well as a director of the Bank of 
 Montgomery county (now Montgomery Na- 
 
 tional bank of Norristown). Religiously 
 he was a strict Episcopalian, being an at- 
 tendant of St. John's Episcopal church of 
 Norristown from his marriage until his 
 death, latterly holding the position of ves- 
 tryman and treasurer of the church organi- 
 zation. At the time of his death he was 
 president of the borough council of Norris- 
 town and president of the Manufacturers 
 Mutual Fire Insurance company of Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 Rebecca A. Hunter, wife of Perry M. 
 Hunter, was a woman of uncommon force 
 of character. Kind in heart, benevolent in 
 disposition, she was exceptionally faithful 
 and conscientious in the performance of all 
 the duties of her life. Early in life she be- 
 came a member of St. John's Episcopal 
 church at Norristown, and ever took an 
 active interest in religious affairs. Es- 
 pecially did she interest herself in the be- 
 nevolent and charitable work of the church, 
 giving freely of her time, her substance and 
 her strength, wherever and whenever she 
 thought her ministrations might lighten 
 the burden and cheer the hearts of the 
 worthy poor. For several years prior to 
 her death, she was on the committee of dis- 
 tributing members of the Bringhurst fund 
 for the relief of the deserving poor of Nor- 
 ristown, having been appointed by the trus- 
 tees of that fund. She died in Norristown, 
 December 22, 1891, at the age of sixty-five 
 years, and a short time afterwards, her 
 three sons, in honor of her merits and worth 
 as a woman, a Christian and a mother, 
 placed in St. John's Episcopal church, a 
 beautiful stained glass memorial window. 
 The children born to the marriage of Perry 
 M. and Rebecca A. (Pechin) Hunter were: 
 Silanus Pearson, Ashley Pechin and Perry 
 Franklin. 
 
 Perry M. Hunter and his wife, Rebecca 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 A. Hunter, are both interred in the family 
 lot in Montgomery cemetery, Norristown, 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 The Peehin family is of French origin, 
 and the first one of the family to come to 
 America of whose history we have any defi- 
 nite knowledge, was Christopher Peehin. 
 He was born in 1737, and in 1750 was 
 brought to this county by his parents, his 
 mother dying on the voyage. He was one 
 of a family of five children, two girls and 
 three boys. Christopher Peehin became a 
 prominent shipping merchant and business 
 man of Philadelphia. He was a member of 
 the firm of Peehin & Bright, who owned a 
 line of vessels and were largely engaged in 
 importing wines from France. In addition 
 to this the firm carried on a marine insur- 
 ance and commission business. After his 
 marriage he lived in a large mansion on 
 Front street, in Philadelphia. He was a 
 man of means, and his home was tastefulh 
 and elegantly furnished, but during the 
 Revolutionary war it was invaded by the 
 English soldiers who destroyed much of its 
 costly furnishings. During the Revolu- 
 tionarv war he assisted the cause of the col- 
 onies by granting congress a large loan. 
 This was repaid in Continental money 
 which became worthless and he thus lost 
 the entire loan. He died in Philadelphia, 
 on October 26, 1779, at the age of forty-two 
 years, and his remains peacefully rest in the 
 church yard of St. Paul's Episcopal church 
 in Philadelphia, and upon the tombstone 
 which marks his last resting place is the fol- 
 lowing inscription : 
 
 " Death has conquered life 
 But Christ has conquered death 
 And I shall live again." 
 
 His marriage was with Christiana Bright, 
 of Reading, Pennsylvania, a sister of his 
 business partner. The children born to this 
 
 union were : John, William, George, Mary 
 and Peter, all born in Philadelphia and all 
 received a liberal education. 
 
 Peter Peehin, the youngest, learned the 
 trade of a tanner at Newton township, 
 Chester county, Pennsylvania, and remained 
 there for a time pursuing his trade. On 
 February 26, 1795, he married Rebecca 
 Hunter, a great-granddaughter of John 
 Hunter, the elder, and shortly afterward re- 
 moved to a farm which he had purchased 
 in 1794 in Lower Merion township, this 
 county. Upon this farm was located a tan- 
 nerv, and he remained there eusfagred as a 
 tanner, currier and farmer until 1S25, 
 when he retired from active business 
 and removed to Radnor, Delaware county, 
 this State. He was a man of good business 
 qualifications possessing the native mental 
 vivacity of the French and accumulated a 
 very handsome competency. In his infancy 
 he had been baptized in the Episcopal 
 church, but upon removing to Lower 
 Merion township he affiliated with the Bap- 
 tist church, as there was no Episcopal 
 church in the neighborhood, and was active 
 in the erection of the Lower Merion Bap- 
 tist church edifice in 1S10. He was presi- 
 dent of the board of trustees for twentv- 
 three years, until 1848, when he resigned. 
 He died at Radnor on July 19, 1858, his 
 wife having died November 25, 1852. The 
 children born to Peter and Rebecca Hunter 
 Peehin were as follows : George, Edward 
 Hunter, Christopher, Emily, John and Re- 
 becca. 
 
 George Peehin, the eldest of the family, 
 was born in Lower Merion township in 
 1796 and died in Bridgeport, this count}-, 
 October 16, 1852. He learned the trade of 
 a currier and tanner with his father and 
 assisted him in his tannery and upon the 
 farm until after his marriage, Februarv 7, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 373 
 
 1822, when he took up farming pursuits 
 
 exclusively. As a fanner he was eminently 
 successful and became the owner of a num- 
 ber of valuable farms in Lower Merion 
 township. 
 
 In the spring of 185 1 he retired from an 
 active, successful and honorable business 
 career and purchased from Louis Lukens 
 the double front brick residence on the cor- 
 ner of Fourth and DeKalb streets, Bridge- 
 port, this county, where he spent the re- 
 mainder of his days. He was a man of 
 spirit and enterprise, combining in a 
 marked degree many admirable quali- 
 ties of head and heart. For several years 
 prior to his death he was a director of the 
 bank of Montgomery county, (now the 
 Montgomery National bank of Xorristown). 
 
 Upon the resignation of his father, in 
 1848, as trustee of the Lower Merion Bap- 
 tist church, he was chosen to take his place 
 and served in that relation until his death. 
 He married Mary Broades, a daughter of 
 William and Ann Broades, of Lower Merion 
 township, and the following children came 
 to this union : Margaret Broades, Rebecca 
 Ann, George and Mary Emily. Rebecca 
 Ann Pechin became the wife of Perry M. 
 Hnnter, of Gulf Mills, this county, on March 
 23, 1848. 
 
 REV. DAVID W. MOORE, the present 
 pastor of the Second Presbyterian 
 church of Norristown, was born October 
 5, 1830, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, 
 near the old Brandywine Manor Presby- 
 terian church. His ancestors were the 
 Mnores of an English descent and who 
 came to the province of Pennsylvania in 
 colonial times. His grandfather, William 
 Moore, was born in Coleraine, Lancaster 
 county, Pennsylvania, in 1757, and died in 
 
 1842. He served as a soldier in the Revo- 
 lutionary war. He married into the Elliott 
 family (Andrew and Margaret's daughter, 
 Rachel) and they had ten children, of 
 whom William Moore, jr., was the young- 
 est. He married Lydia Michenor, and they 
 had eight children, David W. Moore being 
 their second born child. The Michenor 
 family connection was that which first 
 settled at Plumstead, Bucks county, Penn- 
 sylvania, about 1700. 
 
 The early life of Rev. David W. Moore 
 was spent on his father's farm in Brandy- 
 wine township, Chester county, Pennsyl- 
 vania. He received the ordinary common 
 school education and some academical 
 training in a Quaker school at Strodes' 
 Mills and at Howard Academy, Rockville, 
 Chester county, Pennsylvania. He was 
 prepared for college by Professor James 
 McClure, A.M., and entered Princeton, N. 
 J., in 1855 and graduated in 185S ; entered 
 the Theological Seminary of Princeton in 
 1858 and graduated in 1861. His first 
 pastorate was that of Lower Brandywine 
 Presbyterian Church, New Castle county, 
 Delaware, where he was ordained and in- 
 stalled May 5, 1861. Here he continued 
 to serve this church till October, 1872, 
 with the exception of an interval during 
 the Civil war, when he filled the position of 
 chaplain of the 97th regiment, Pennsyl- 
 vania volunteers. After leaving Delaware 
 he served the church south in the bounds 
 of the presbytery of Xew Orleans, doing- 
 missionary work in southern Mississippi at 
 McComb City. In 1873 he was called and 
 settled in McVeytown, Mifflin county, Pa., 
 where he continued as pastor till October, 
 [883. Was then called and settled at 
 Kennett Square, Chester county, Pa., till 
 ( >etober, 1S87, and after doing missionary 
 work and supplying a church in Philadel- 
 
374 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 phia for two years, was called and settled 
 over the Second church of Norristown in 
 1889, where he continues as pastor. 
 
 The Rev. David W. Moore was first mar- 
 ried to Miss Elizabeth Hoagland, of Pen- 
 nington, N. J., December 26, 1S60. Of 
 this marriage he had one son, William 
 Ellsworth Moore, now of Philadelphia. 
 He was married the second time to Miss 
 Bertha Longaker, November 13, 1S79, of 
 Norristown, Pa. 
 
 THE SECOND CHURCH (Presbyte- 
 rian), of Norristown, was organized Sep- 
 tember 27, 1850, by the Second Presby- 
 tery of Philadelphia. The original mem- 
 bers of this church enterprise were old 
 school Presbyterians, Ceceders and Cove- 
 nanters. 
 
 The earliest appearance of a union 
 among these diversified elements was in 
 1848, when the}- began to worship with the 
 Trinity Reformed congregation on Airy 
 street, Norristown, then under the pastoral 
 care of Rev. John Kooken. But the Nevin 
 theological controvery caused a separation 
 from the Reformed congregation. After 
 this the Second church progenitors wor- 
 shipped in each other's houses till the advent 
 of a Rev. Samuel Paul, of the Associate 
 Presbytery of New York city, who had 
 been sent into Eastern Pennsylvania as a 
 missionary, in the interest of what was 
 known as the Psalm Singing church. 
 Under Mr. Paul's leadership, the new con- 
 gregation was invited to worship with the 
 Reformed people, they being at this time 
 without a pastor. This arrangement was 
 very satisfactory while it continued, but it 
 being impossible to organize a church of 
 Psalm Singers, which was Mr. Paul's mis- 
 sion, the project was given up, and after 
 
 considerable opposition, an old school 
 church was organized by the Second Pres- 
 bytery of Philadelphia, September 27, 1850. 
 And Mr. Paid, having been received as a 
 member of the presbytery, was installed 
 October 31st, 1850, as the first pastor of the 
 Second Presbyterian church of Norristown ; 
 and the first ruling elders were : John Pat- 
 terson and Henry King, ordained and in- 
 stalled at the same time. Rev. Samuel 
 Paul only remained pastor two years, after 
 which he gave up the ministry. Rev. 
 Joseph Nesbitt then became pastor and 
 continued to February, i860. During this 
 time the congregation worshiped in the old 
 primitive Methodist church edifice, north- 
 east corner of Airy and Green streets, which 
 had been purchased for a place of worship, 
 and which was occupied till 1871, when 
 the property was sold and the congrega- 
 tion moved to Mogeetown and worshipped 
 in a building furnished bv William Mogee. 
 Rev. Samuel Horriston succeeded Mr. 
 Nesbitt in the pastorate, but only remained 
 with the congregation till the breaking out 
 of the Civil war in 1861. Thus, for an 
 interval of ten years, the church had no 
 regular pastor, but was supplied, the Rev. 
 Samuel Martin closing up this regime. 
 Then Rev. Bellville Roberts became pastor 
 May 3, 1872, and continued till 1S79. In 
 the meantime the congregation had moved 
 to Bridgeport, where a fine church edifice 
 was erected in 1874 at a cost of about 
 $20,000, under the supervision of Mr. Rob- 
 erts. Rev. Henry F. Mason succeeded 
 Rev. B. Roberts as pastor and was installed 
 October 14, 1880, and continued to serve 
 the church till 1883. The congregation 
 then had supplies till 1887, when Rev. S. 
 R. Queen was called and installed January 
 7, 1887, and remained with the congrega- 
 tion about two years. Rev. David W. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 375 
 
 Moore succeeded Mr. Queen and was in- 
 stalled May, 1889. During this last pas- 
 torate the church was cleared of a very 
 troublesome deht. 
 
 The Second church of Norristown has 
 had great difficulties to overcome and 
 peculiar trials to endure : First, its too 
 close proximity to the old Brown church, 
 corner of Airy and DeKalb streets ; second, 
 its loss of Rev. Joseph Nesbitt, a most pop- 
 ular preacher and successful pastor ; then 
 its unsettled church home, and finally its 
 location in Bridgeport where the popula- 
 tion is a " movable quantity " and the en- 
 vironments are unfavorable to Presbyter- 
 ianism. 
 
 ROBERT J. DODD, M. D., one of the 
 older and most prominent physicians 
 of Montgomery county, is one of a long 
 line of distinguished physicians and sur- 
 geons. He is a son of Dr. Robert J. and 
 Ann (Sweeney) Dodd, and was born in the 
 city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Decem- 
 ber 28, 1826. His paternal grandfather, 
 Dr. Robert J. Dodd, was an educated and 
 able physician of England, who came at 
 thirty years of age to Philadelphia, where 
 he practiced with success in the " Northern 
 Liberties" and became prominent in his 
 profession. His sou, Dr. Robert J. Dodd, 
 Jr., was born April 5, 1807, and studied 
 medicine and surgery with Dr. George 
 McClellan (father of General McClellan) 
 with such proficiency that he passed suc- 
 cessfully at nineteen years of age the 
 examination for assistant surgeon in the 
 United States navy, and was commissioned 
 as such May 29, 1826. He served on the 
 Shark in a cruise along the South Ameri- 
 can coast for pirates, was graduated from 
 Jefferson Medical college in March, 183 1, 
 
 and passed a successful examination for the 
 full grade of surgeon in the navy, his com- 
 mission dating from April 4, 1831, and 
 being signed by President Andrew Jack- 
 son. He was then on active service until 
 1S47, and during that period was nearly 
 thirteen years afloat. He circumnavigated 
 the globe four times, was in China when 
 the British opened certain ports there, and 
 had several attacks of yellow fever, besides 
 passing through a siege of African fever 
 from whose effects he never fullv recov- 
 ered. His last service afloat was in the 
 Mexican war, when he was one of a force 
 of five hundred naval volunteers wdio pro- 
 tected the rear of Taylor's army when he 
 left Corpus Christi to advance into north- 
 ern Mexico. In 1N47 Dr. Dodd was put in 
 charge of the naval asylum at Philadelphia, 
 and on March 3, 1S71, was made medical 
 director in the navy on the retired list, his 
 commission being signed by President 
 Grant, and he having risen by promotion 
 to the relative rank of commodore. In 
 1850 he purchased a fine estate in Lower 
 Merion and built on it a handsome man- 
 sion in which he died February 4, 1876, 
 aged sixty-nine years, after a shore and sea 
 duty in the navy of fourty-four years and 
 seven months. He was considered an 
 authority on yellow fever. He w r as a 
 Republican and a Presbyterian, and during 
 the late Civil war gave generously of his 
 means to support the families of Union 
 soldiers wdio were in the field. On January 
 28, 1825, Dr. Dodd married Ann Sweeney-, 
 who was a daughter of Morgan Sweeney, 
 of Philadelphia, and died January 29, 1828, 
 leaving one child, Robert J. In 1848, Dr. 
 Dodd married for his second wife Hannah 
 M. Bradlee, daughter of Josiah Bradlee, of 
 Boston, Massachusetts. By his second 
 union Dr. Dodd had no children. 
 
376 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Dr. Robert J. Dodd was reared in Phila- 
 delphia, received his education in private 
 schools of his native city and the State of 
 Massachusetts, and studied medicine and 
 surgery with Dr. John McClellan, a brother 
 of General George B. McClellan. He en- 
 tered Jefferson Medical college in 1844, was 
 graduated in 1848, and went West, where 
 he practiced in Kentucky and Illinois up 
 to 1 86 1. He then came East and practiced 
 in the State of Delaware until 1876, when 
 the death of his father called him to Dower 
 Merion to settle the estate of the latter. 
 He has resided there ever since, and of 
 late years has not been actively engaged in 
 the practice of his profession. He is a 
 Democrat in politics. 
 
 On April 18, 1848, Dr. Dodd was united 
 in marriage with Mary Markley Ghriskey, 
 a descendant of Jacob Markley, who settled 
 in 1722 in Montgomery county. 
 
 MATHIAS GEIST, a prominent con- 
 tractor and builder, of Pottstown, is a 
 son of Richard and Harriet (Skean) Geist, 
 and was born June 4, 1845, in Chester 
 county, Pennsylvania. His father, Richard 
 Geist, was also a native of Chester county, a 
 carpenter by trade, and died December 30, 
 1889, aged seventy-seven years. In 1833 he 
 married Harriet Skean, who was born in 
 Montgomery county and had a family of six 
 children : Amelia, Clementine, Samuel, all 
 of whom died in infancy ; Daniel W., a resi- 
 dent of Burlington county, New Jersey ; 
 Susan, deceased, and Mathias, the subject of 
 this sketch. Mrs. Harriet Geist died March 
 22, 1886, and is buried beside her husband 
 in the Pottstown cemetery. 
 
 Mathias Geist obtained his education in 
 the public schools of his native county and j 
 
 followed farming while a young man. 
 Later he learned the trade of carpenter, and 
 after working at that business for a short 
 time in Chester county came to Pottstown 
 and engaged in the same occupation in this 
 city. He subsequently entered the employ 
 of the Philadelphia & Reading raiload com- 
 pany as superintendent and foreman in the 
 carpenter department of the company. Mr. 
 Geist remained with that company for a 
 period of twenty years, during which he 
 manifested skill and ability in all branches 
 of his trade and won a fine reputation as an 
 expert workman. In 1885 he resigned his 
 position as foreman and engaged in con- 
 tracting and building on his own account at 
 Pottstown. A knowledge of his exceptional 
 fitness soon led to a large demand for his 
 services, especially where beauty of design 
 and excellence of construction were de- 
 manded. Among his first contracts was one 
 from the Philadelphia & Reading railroad 
 company, his fcu.ner employers, for the 
 building of their passenger station at Potts- 
 ville. Among the many prominent build- 
 ings constructed under his personal super- 
 vision since may be named the Presbyterian 
 church, the Fifth street Methodist church, 
 the Reformed church, the T. J. March busi- 
 ness block, and the residences of William S. 
 Ellis, James A. Healy, H. Wells, H. G. 
 Kulp, Livingston Savior, Mrs. Streeper, P. 
 L. Egolf and W. H. Eck, all of Pottstown ; 
 the magnificent country house of W. D. 
 Windsor, of the Boston Steamship line, at 
 Ardmore, Pennsylvania ; the First Presby- 
 terian church of Shamokin, another at 
 Bloomsburg and the freight house of the 
 Allentown Terminal railroad at Allentown. 
 If further testimony were needed to estab- 
 lish the superiority of his workmanship 
 it may be found in the Textile works at 
 Pottstown ; the paint shops of the Reading 
 
J0* 
 
 ^^/ 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 377 
 
 railroad at Reading, the March-Brown- 
 back stove foundry at Pottstown, the Slniler 
 hotel at Pottstown, the United Krethern 
 church of Pottstown, and the fine residen- 
 ces of James B. McCamant, Augustus Dot- 
 terer, John Landis and many others. 
 It may truthfully be stated that most of the 
 prominent buildings erected in Pottstown 
 since Mr. Geist began business here have 
 been constructed under his supervision. 
 
 Politically Mr. Geist is a Democrat, but 
 has always preferred to devote his time to 
 business rather than to politics. He served 
 one term as a member of the city council. 
 He is a Knight Templar Mason and has 
 passed through all the chairs of his lodge 
 and chapter. He is also a member of the 
 Royal Arcanum of Pottstown. 
 
 On December 7, 187 1 Mr. Geist was mar- 
 ried to Hannah E. Lougaker, a daughter of 
 the late Rufus B. and Elizabeth (Smith) 
 Longaker. (See sketch of Hon. Montgom- 
 ery S. Longaker on another page of this 
 book for ancestral history of the Longaker 
 family). 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Geist have been born 
 two children, Elizabeth L. and Harry C. 
 Mr. Geist and his wife are members of the 
 Reformed church. 
 
 WILLIAM J. BINDER, editor and pro- 
 prietor of the weekly and daily Mont- 
 gomery Ledger, of Pottstown, is a sou of 
 John and Mary Ann (Steltz) Binder, and 
 was born in East Nantmeal township, Ches- 
 ter county, Pennsylvania, September 30, 
 1843. His paternal great-grandfather came 
 from Germany, and his son, Jacob Binder, 
 was the father of John Binder, who was 
 born at Yellow Springs, Chester county. 
 John Binder was reared principally in 
 
 Montgomery county, and in 1835 returned 
 to his native county where he remained un- 
 til 1856. In that year he came to Pottstown 
 where he resided until his death which 
 occurred in February 1866, when in the 
 fifty-eighth year of his age. He followed 
 carpentering and fanning to some extent in 
 early life, but being a man of good educa- 
 tion he devoted the larger part of his active 
 life to teaching. He taught in the common 
 schools of both Chester and Montgomery 
 counties, and after coming to Pottstown 
 conducted a private school there until his 
 health failed. He was a Democrat prior to 
 the late Civil war, but during that great 
 struggle for national existence he became a 
 supporter of the Republican party and re- 
 mained in its ranks until his death. He was 
 active in local, civil and political affairs but 
 never sought or wanted any office. He was 
 a member and official of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, and married Mary Ann Steltz, 
 a daughter of Valentine Steltz, of New 
 Hanover. They had four children : Aaron, 
 of Company A, 2d Minnesota veteran in- 
 fantry, now deceased ; Elizabeth, wife of 
 David Herst, of Easton, Pennsylvania ; 
 Tamsen, widow of Jeremiah H. Binder, of 
 Pottstown, and William J., (subject). 
 
 William J. Binder at thirteen years of age 
 came with his parents to Pottstown where 
 he has resided ever since. He received his 
 education in the public schools and the Hill 
 school, then conducted by its founder, Pro- 
 fessor Matthew Meigs, LL. D. At an early 
 age he entered the printing office of the 
 weekly Montgomery Ledger, founded Octo- 
 ber 1, 1843, and learned the "art preserva- 
 tive of all arts." 
 
 In the year 1866 he purchased from 
 the late William L- Williamson a half-in- 
 terest in the paper, and thirteen years later, 
 in September, 1879, became the sole pro- 
 
378 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 prietor of the Ledger. Mr. Binder made his 
 weekly paper neutral in politics and has 
 made main improvements on it since. It is 
 a nine column folio, thirty by forty-four 
 inches. 
 
 While still but part owner of the 
 weekly, in 1873 Mr. Binder saw the oppor- 
 tunity for a daily, and during that year 
 started the Daily Ledger with his partner, 
 Lewis H. Davis, which has grown and pros- 
 pered until it is now one of the leading 
 dailies of the county. The daily is inde- 
 pendent in politics. It is a four page, eight 
 column sheet, twenty-six by thirty-six in- 
 ches in dimensions. It is the oldest daily 
 paper of Pottstowu and has a large circu- 
 lation. 
 
 On December 26, 1867, Mr. Binder mar- 
 ried Mary H. Hilton, a daughter of James 
 and Margaret Hilton, natives of England 
 but residents of Glasgow, this county. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Binder have been born nine 
 children : Hilton S., local and assistant 
 editor on the Ledger; Mary E., wife of C. 
 G. Bockus; Ella M.; Bessie A.; Edith H.; 
 Laura D., deceased ; John K., Florence B. 
 and Chester M. 
 
 Although neutral and independent as an 
 editor, yet William J. Binder is an ardent 
 Republican but no politician. He is a dea- 
 con of the Methodist Episcopal church in 
 which he is an active worker. During the 
 late Civil war Mr. Binder left his case to 
 take up arms in his country's defense. He 
 served in the 26th Penna. Emergency Regi- 
 ment in the Gettysburg campaign, and 
 afterward was a private in Co. E, 105th 
 Pennsylvania veteran infantry, from which 
 he was honorably discharged June, 1865. 
 He saw the last sun of Confederacy set at 
 Appomattox court-house. He is a member 
 of M. E. Richards Post, 595, Grand Army 
 of the Republic. 
 
 /"^HARLES H. MILLER, justice of the 
 ^^> peace and one of the most successful 
 insurance men in Lansdale, is an American 
 by birth and ancestry and his forefathers 
 were among the early settlers of Montgom- 
 ery couut\'. He is a son of Henry S. and 
 Hannah ^Heebner) Miller, and was born at 
 Norristown, on the 7th of April, 1859. 
 Henry Miller, his grandfather, was a car- 
 penter by occupation and was well-known 
 as a staunch Democrat. He was born in 
 Marlboro township, where he lived all his 
 life. 
 
 Henry S. Miller, father of our subject, was 
 born in Marlboro township, on November 
 20, 1820, He was sent to the pay schools 
 of the district and was then apprenticed to 
 learn the trade of millwright. This he fol- 
 lowed for some years but finally made a de- 
 cided change and came to Norristown where 
 he opened a well equipped jewelry store, 
 having also mastered that trade. Mr. Mil- 
 ler was a thoroughly self-made man. He 
 had had very little schooling, but he was a 
 constant reader and became very well in- 
 formed in many topics. He was very quick 
 to master the details of anything in the 
 mechanical line and could turn his hand to 
 almost any kind of work in this line. He 
 was a Democrat and a very enthusiastic 
 political worker. The family are all mem- 
 bers of the Reformed church. Mr. Miller 
 was united in marriage to Hannah Heebner 
 and four children were born to this esti- 
 mable couple : Levina, who was born Oc- 
 tober 4, 1 85 1, married George W. Cathorn 
 and died April 11, 1889; Amanda M., born 
 September 22, 1852, died July 10, 1890 ; 
 Harry H., born September 15, 1854, at Nor- 
 ristown, and Charles H. our subject. Mrs. 
 Miller died on February 13, 1871, and 
 four years later on April 5, 1875, Mr. Miller 
 passed away. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 379 
 
 Charles H. Miller, the youngest of the 
 children, was left an orphan at the early age 
 of ten years, and this cut short his school 
 days. He is a self-made man in every sense 
 of the word. At twelve years of age he 
 went to work on a farm and followed this 
 occupation until he had attained his majori- 
 ty. For several years he found em- 
 ployment with Doctors Groff and Keeler, 
 and then with Heebner ec Sons of Lansdale. 
 Sometime later he engaged in the insurance 
 business which he has followed ever since 
 with great success. 
 
 Mr. Miller has been prominent in the 
 affairs of the Republican party in this 
 county and has always been an active work- 
 er. He was appointed tax-collector in 1894 
 to serve three years, and was also assessor of 
 taxes for several years. In the spring of 
 1893 ' ie was elected justice of the peace and 
 is still exercising the functions of that office. 
 
 Mr. Miller was married on the 2 2d of No- 
 vember, 1879, to Amanda Schissler, of 
 Lower Salford township, Montgomerv coun- 
 ty, Pa. One child has been born to bless 
 this union: Harry S., who was born at 
 Harleysville, on February 27, 1883. 
 
 MATHIAS WEBER, M. D., who has 
 been engaged in the active practice of 
 his profession at Evansburg for nearly fif- 
 teen years, is a son of Rev. Jesse S. and 
 Mary (Yost) Weber, and was born at Evans- 
 burg, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 July 8, 1858. He received his elementary 
 education in the common schools and then 
 attended Ursinus College for two years. 
 Leaving college he taught school for two 
 years and then in 1878 entered the medical 
 department of the University of Pennsylva- 
 nia, from which he was graduated in the 
 
 class of 1881. After graduation he returned 
 to Evansburg, where he has practiced his 
 profession continously and successfully up 
 to the present time. Dr. Weber is a mem- 
 ber of the Montgomerv County Medical 
 society, and has served for some time as 
 physician to the county home. He is a 
 member of the Junior Order of United 
 American Mechanics, and the Independent 
 ( hrder of Odd Fellows. 
 
 In 1882 Dr. Weber married Anna R. Cas- 
 selberry, daughter of D. Morgan Cassel- 
 berry, of Evansburg. To their union have 
 been born six children : Jesse S., Morgan 
 C, Alice R., Harry deceased, Mary E. and 
 John M. 
 
 Dr. Weber is a member of St. James' 
 Episcopal church, with which he has been 
 offieiallv connected for some time. 
 
 HAGY YOCUM, the owner of "Nor- 
 *J • wood," near Bryn Mawr, and the pro- 
 prietor of one of the largest dairies in the 
 southeastern part of the State, is a son of 
 Benjamin B. and Harriet (Hagy) Yocum, 
 and was born on the old Yocum homestead 
 in Lower Merion township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, January 8, 1831. He 
 was reared on the farm, received his educa- 
 tion in the common schools of his township 
 and then was engaged in farming with his 
 father until 1854, in which year he bought 
 and occupied property at Conshohocken. 
 In 1856 he purchased the " Norwood " 
 country seat in Lower Merion township, 
 and near Bryn Mawr, on which he has re- 
 sided ever since. Soon after removing to 
 " Norwood," he started a dairy, which has 
 steadily increased in size until it is now one 
 of the largest of its kind in southeastern 
 Pennsylvania. He supplies butter regularly 
 
3 8o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 to one of the largest and leading markets of 
 Philadelphia, and is recognized as one of 
 the progressive fanners and dairymen of the 
 county. 
 
 On September 15, 1864, Mr. Yocuni 
 wedded Hannah Emily Crawford, who was 
 a daughter of Joseph and Hannah Crawford, 
 and died March 14, 1889, aged fifty-eight 
 years. To Mr. and Mrs. Yocum was born 
 one child, Annie C. Y., who married Wil- 
 liam M. Brownback, a son of James and 
 Ellen (March) Brownback, of Linfield, and 
 a member of the firm of the March-Brown- 
 back Stove company, stove manufacturers 
 of Pottstown. 
 
 J. Hagy Yocum is a Republican, and at- 
 tends Calvary Episcopal church of Consho- 
 hocken, Pa. He is a director and the presi- 
 dent of the Spring Garden market of Phila- 
 delphia, and vice-president of the Gladywin 
 Electric Street Railway company. Mr. Yo- 
 cum has been identified for many years with 
 every movement for good roads in his part 
 of the county, and has been largely instru- 
 mental in the surveying and making of the 
 excellent public highways for which his 
 community is so widely known. 
 
 Peter Yocum, the original ancestor of the 
 American branch of the Yocum family, 
 came from Sweden and helped to found the 
 Wiaco settlement, near the site of Philadel- 
 phia, several years before the coming of 
 Penn. He was a juryman in the Upland 
 court in 1681, and with other Swedes set- 
 tled at Swedes Ford, this county, the next 
 year. He was appointed supervisor of 
 highways from Karker's mills to the Falls 
 of Schuykill, and in 1693, his family con- 
 sisted of nine persons. He resided near 
 William Rambo, and while no record is in 
 existence of his sons names, yet there is no 
 doubt that one of them was named Peter, 
 and figures in the assessment list of 1734. | 
 
 This Peter Yocum, the younger, married 
 and his third son, Andrew, born in 1739, 
 was the father of John Yocum, born in 
 1766. 
 
 This John Yocum lived on what is 
 now the Frederick Phillips farm, which is 
 near West Conshohocken, and was the pa- 
 ternal grandfather of the subject of this 
 sketch. John Yocum was a shoemaker, 
 and spent his life in Lower Merion town- 
 ship, where he married Martha Thomas. 
 Their son, Benjamin Brook Yocum (father), 
 was born November 26, 1801, and died 
 March 8, 1868, in the room in which he was 
 born. 
 
 He was a machinist by trade, but 
 in early life engaged in farming and deal- 
 ing in cattle, which he followed up to the 
 time of his death. He was a Whig and Re- 
 publican, served in the State militia, was a 
 justice of the peace for several terms, and 
 served as a school director for many 
 years. 
 
 In 1828 he married Harriet Hagy, who 
 was born March 8, 1808, and died June 21, 
 1895. Mr. and Mrs. Yocum had nine chil- 
 dren : Hannah J., Hagy, John, died in the 
 Union army ; Emily, Joseph C, Crawford, 
 George, who died from the effects of expos- 
 ure in the Union army ; Dr. Benjamin B., 
 of Philadelphia, now dead; and Isaac DeH., 
 a resident and member of the bar of Phila- 
 delphia, Pa. 
 
 DANIEL ROBERTS BROWER, M. D., 
 was born in Manayunk, Pennsylvania, 
 October 13, 1839. His father was Daniel 
 Rife Brower, a descendent of the Brower 
 family who very early settled on the Schuyl- 
 kill river in Montgomery county. His 
 mother was Ann Billop Farmer. Her 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 381 
 
 father was a Major in the English army, 
 who, while on duty with his regiment met 
 her mother, Ann Pawling, a daughter of 
 Major Pawling, a Tory, during the Revo- 
 lutionary war. They were inarried, and 
 after the close of the war he resigned his 
 commission and made his home in Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 Shortly after Daniel Roberts Brower was 
 born, the family moved to Phoenixville and 
 there his education began under a very 
 clever teacher. When he was thirteen 
 years of age the family moved to Norris- 
 town, Pennsylvania, and he entered Tree- 
 mount Seminary, then an excellent school, 
 under the charge of Rev. Samuel Aaron. 
 There he was prepared for entrance into the 
 Polytechnic college of Philadelphia, from 
 which he graduated with honors as a mas- 
 ter of mining engineering His inaugural 
 address on the ventilation and drainage of 
 mines was complimented by being published 
 in full, with favorable editorial comment, 
 in 77/i? Loudon (England) Mining Engin- 
 eer, the then leading publication of the 
 world. He followed the profession of mine 
 engineering about one year in western Vir- 
 ginia; he then in response to that which had 
 been the ardent desire of his life for main 
 years, began the study of medicine, and in 
 February, 1864, graduated from the medical 
 department of Georgetown University. 
 
 Shortly before graduation he passed the 
 army medical board of examiners then 
 sitting in Washington, D. C, and was com- 
 missioned assistant surgeon United States 
 Volunteers. He was assigned to duty at 
 the United States General Hospital, Ports- 
 mouth, Va. After a short service there he 
 was ordered to the general hospital at For- 
 tress Monroe, Va., then the largest hospital 
 in the United States, and here his surgical 
 service was very active and extensive, ami 
 
 continued until he was ordered to Norfolk, 
 Va. as chief medical officer of the military 
 district of eastern Virginia. He continued 
 in this capacity until 1866 when he organ- 
 ized under the Freedman's bureau at Rich- 
 mond, Va., the first hospital for the care of 
 insane freedmen. In 1868 he was elected 
 medical superintendent of the Eastern Lu- 
 natic asylum of Virginia at Williamsburg, 
 and served in this capacity until the autumn 
 of 1875. While in this position he quite 
 generally remodeled the buildings and in- 
 troduced many reforms in the care and treat- 
 ment of the insane. Among other things 
 he established schools, shops for various in- 
 dustries, systematic exercises, and a constant 
 succession of varied amusements, and pur- 
 chased a farm for the occupation of the 
 patients, and a supply of various farm pro- 
 ducts. 
 
 In 1875 he removed to Chicago, Illinois, 
 with his family, consisting of a wife, the 
 daughter of Col. A. W. Shearer and Eunice 
 Norris Schrack Shearer, whom he married 
 May 15th, 1868, and two children, a daugh- 
 ter and a son. In Chicago he began at once 
 the practice of his profession, devoting him- 
 self specially to the treatment of mental and 
 nervous diseases. 
 
 He is now the Professor of mental dis- 
 eases, materia medica and therapeutics in 
 Rush medical college, the oldest and larg- 
 est medical college in the northwest ; Pro- 
 fessor of mental and nervous diseases in the 
 Woman's school of the Northwestern uni- 
 versity, and Professor of mental and ner- 
 vous diseases in the Post Graduate Medical 
 school of Chicago. He is the neurologist 
 to the St. Joseph's hospital, Wesley hospit- 
 al, and Cook county hospital, all of Chicago. 
 He is consulting physician to the Presby- 
 terian hospital, Woman's hospital, State of 
 Illinois Woman's and Children's hospital 
 
38a 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 and the Washingtonian home, all of Chi- 
 cago. 
 
 He has been president of the State Medi- 
 cal society of Illinois, of the Chicago Medi- 
 cal society and of the Medico-Legal society 
 of Chicago. He was for a number of years 
 the editor of the ( hicago Medical Journal. 
 
 He has been a frequent contributor to 
 various medical journals, selecting his topics 
 usually from mental and nervous diseases. 
 
 He has devoted considerable time to the 
 study of geology, mineralogy, botany and 
 anthropology, especially criminal anthro- 
 pology. He is regarded as an excellent 
 lecturer, and in addition to the lectures 
 given by him, both clinical and didactic, at 
 the several medical colleges, he frequently 
 addresses non professional audiences on 
 various topics, especially anthropological. 
 
 H 
 
 ON. CHARGES HUNSICKER*, one 
 of the leading members of the Mont- 
 gomery county bar, is a son of Hon. Joseph 
 and Elizabeth (Metfer) Hunsicker, and was 
 born in Upper Providence township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, ( >ctober 26, 
 1835. The Hunsickers are of Swiss lin- 
 eage, ami they first settled in this county 
 on the waters of the Perkiomen creek, 
 where Rev. John Ilnnsicker, the grand- 
 father of Charles Hnnsieker, was born and 
 reared. He was a large landholder and ex- 
 tensive farmer in Upper Providence town- 
 ship, and served for many years as a min- 
 ister of the Menuonite church. He married 
 and reared a family of six children, three- 
 sons and three daughters. The sous were : 
 Joseph, Henry D. and Garrett. Hon. 
 Joseph Hunsicker was born May 29, [798, 
 received a thorough English education, and 
 upon attaining his majority turned his at- 
 
 tention to dealing in lumber as well as to 
 the management and cultivation of his 
 farm. His business operations were such 
 as to bring him in contact with quite a 
 number of people, and the Democratic 
 party nominated him in 184S for Associate 
 Judge, to which position he was elected. 
 He served from 1849 to 1854, was a man of 
 high standing and great influence, and 
 died December 1, 1S70, when well advanced 
 in the seventy-third year of his age. He 
 married Elizabeth Meyer, who was a daugh- 
 ter of Jacob Meyer, of this county, and 
 passed away December 10, 1888, at eighty- 
 six years of age. Their children were: 
 John M., Samuel, Joseph \\\, Mrs Anna 
 E. Henkels, Davis and Charles, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. 
 
 Charles Hunsicker was reared in his 
 native township, attended the common 
 schools and pursued his academic studies 
 at Washington Hall institute and Freeland 
 >ciniuary, the latter of which institutions 
 was afterwards merged into Ursinus col- 
 lege. Upon completing his academic course 
 he was so well fitted for college that 
 although but fifteen years of age he was 
 enabled to enter the Sophomore class of 
 Union college, Schenectady, New York, 
 from which institution of learning he was 
 graduated in the class of 1855. Leaving 
 college when but in his nineteenth year he 
 chose law for his profession, and after two 
 years of reading with Hon. James Boyd, 
 of Norristown, was admitted to the Mont- 
 gomery county bar in August, 1857, at the 
 early age of twenty-one years. His legal 
 ability and natural aptitude for his chosen 
 profession soon won for him position, 
 prestige and practice. As a matter of 
 preference Mr. Hunsicker has chiefly prac- 
 ticed in the courts of his native county, 
 although inducements have been offered 
 
sfoff^LvL #* x^ 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 383 
 
 him to practice in other, counties and before 
 the higher courts of the State, where he 
 often appears in Montgomery county cases. 
 
 ( >n June 13, 1865, Mr. Huusicker was 
 united in marriage with Margaret Scliall, a 
 daughter of General William Schall, of 
 Norristown. To their union were horn 
 two sons, Edwin S., who was graduated 
 from Union college in the class of 1895, 
 and James Rittenhouse, now studying 
 medicine in the Jefferson Medical college, 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Charles Huusicker served during the late- 
 civil war as adjutant of the Fourth Penn- 
 sylvania volunteers for some time and twice 
 afterwards acted for a short period as lieu- 
 tenant of a Pennsylvania company. In 
 politics Mr. Huusicker is a Democrat. In 
 [865 he was elected district attorney of 
 Montgomery county, and after the close of 
 his three years' term was chosen a dele- 
 gate to the State constitutional convention 
 of 1872, in which he took an active and 
 useful part. While serving as a member of 
 that important body he introduced a section 
 that provided for a review of count}- crim- 
 inal trials by the Supreme court of the 
 vState, which met with defeat in the consti- 
 tution, but was of such value and practical 
 utility that it was afterwards made a law 
 1)\- the legislature. In 1884 ' ie was a dele- 
 gate to the Chicago Democratic National 
 convention which nominated Grover Cleve- 
 land for president of the United States. 
 Mr. Huusicker is a member of the Norris- 
 town Reformed church, in which he served 
 as trustee for many years. He has served 
 as trustee of the Pennsylvania Hospital for 
 the insane for the eastern district of this 
 State and has held numerous other official 
 positions. 
 
 Charles Hunsieker brings to his legal 
 practice a large amount of experience ac- 
 
 quired through nearly forty years of suc- 
 cessful practice at the bar. This, together 
 with his extensive knowledge of men and 
 things, and his thorough knowledge of law 
 renders him well able to cope with all the 
 difficulties that any intricate case may 
 present. 
 
 HOWARD HENRY DRAKE, M. I)., a 
 successful medical practitioner of Nor- 
 ristown, Pennsylvania, and a collateral de- 
 scendant of vSir Francis Drake, one of the 
 early and most distinguished explorers of 
 the American coast, is a son of Henry and 
 Elizabeth Ann (Dance) Drake, and was born 
 in Norristown, March 6, 1857. His father, 
 Henry Drake, was born in Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1813, and 
 died at Norristown, Pa., in August, 1866. 
 His first business was that of merchandising, 
 in which he attained more than an ordinary 
 degree of success, but he finally drifted into 
 politics. Possessed of strong personal mag- 
 netism and good organizing powers, he was 
 a potent factor in the Democratic politics of 
 his county and State for many years, and 
 served as recorder of deeds and deputj 
 county treasurer. Mr. Drake was twice 
 married. His first marital union was with 
 Elizabeth Ann Dance, who passed to the 
 spirit world on March 13, [857, at the age 
 of twenty-seven years, soon after the 
 birth of their son, the subject of this 
 biographical sketch His second and last 
 marriage was witli Caroline Dotterer, 
 daughter of the late Philip Dotterer. 
 
 H. H. Drake obtained his elementary 
 education in the public schools of Norris- 
 town, at Ursinusand Franklin and Marshall 
 colleges. Leaving college in 1875, he en- 
 tered upon the study of medicine under the 
 preceptorship of Dr. George A. King, of 
 
3»4 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Lancaster, Pa., and was graduated from the 
 Jefferson Medical college at Philadelphia in 
 the class of 187S. Immediately after gradu- 
 ation he located in his native town, where 
 he has since been engaged in active and 
 successful practice, and where by profes- 
 sional skill and close application, he has 
 built up a large and remunerative practice. 
 Dr. Drake is thoroughly equipped for his 
 professional work, keeps in touch with 
 the leaders of his profession, and is alive to 
 every new thought or improved method 
 discovered or suggested for the treatment of 
 disease by the experienced medical men of 
 the world. He is a member of the Ameri- 
 can Medical association, of the State Medi- 
 cal association and Montgomery County 
 Medical society, the former of which he 
 ably served as president in 1888. For eight 
 years he officiated as prison physician of the 
 Montgomery county prison, and for three 
 years was coroner's physician during the 
 term of Henry B. Long, and is now physi- 
 cian and surgeon to the charity hospital. 
 Politically he affiliates with the Democratic 
 party, and is prominently identified with 
 Masonic fraternity as a member of Charity 
 Lodge No. 190, F. & A. M. ; Chapter No. 
 
 and Hutchinson Comman- 
 
 T. 
 
 1879, Dr. Drake and Miss 
 Mazie L. Youngman, a daughter of the 
 late James L. Youngman, of Lancaster, 
 were happily married, and unto their mari- 
 tal union have been born three children : 
 Mary E., Mabel B. and H. Stanley. 
 
 190, R. A. M., 
 
 dery No. 32, K 
 
 On Mav 20, 
 
 BELLETT LAWSON, Jr., superinten- 
 dent of Riverside cemetery, at Norris- 
 town, is a son of Bellett and Theresa (Stott) 
 Lawson, and was born in Liverpool, Eng- 
 
 land, April 16, 1870. Bellett Lawson, sr., 
 was born and reared at Liverpool, England, 
 where he was engaged in landscape garden- 
 ing from boyhood until 1879. In that year 
 he came with his family to Buffalo, New 
 York, where remained but a short time. 
 He next removed to Atlanta, Georgia, and 
 was there successfully engaged in landscape 
 gardening for upwards of twelve years. At 
 the end of that time, in 1892, he went to 
 Chicago, Illinois, and became superintend- 
 ent of Oakwood cemetery of that great city, 
 which important position he still holds. 
 Mr. Lawson is an expert in his occupation 
 and ranks as one of the best landscape 
 gardeners of America. His excellent work 
 at Buffalo and Savannah made him favor- 
 ably known in the east and south, while 
 the taste and tact and fine judgment that he 
 has displayed in addition to professional 
 skill and artistic workmanship in remodel- 
 ing, improving and beautifying Oakwood 
 cemetery at Chicago, has given him high 
 and wide reputation throughout the coun- 
 try. Mr. Lawson married Theresa Stott, 
 a native of Liverpool, England. 
 
 Bellett Lawson, Jr., was but nine years of 
 age when his parents came to the United 
 States and was principally reared at Savan- 
 nah, Georgia, where he attended the city 
 schools, and subsequently entered the busi- 
 ness college from which he was graduated 
 in 1890. The ensuing year he went with 
 his father to Chicago, where he assisted the 
 latter in the management of Oakwood 
 cemetery until April, 1894. In that month 
 he came to Norristown and accepted the 
 superintendency of Riverside cemetery, 
 which he planned and laid out at the west- 
 ern limit of the borough and fronting the 
 Schuylkill river. Riverside cemetery con- 
 tains thirty acres of level land and is one of 
 the best designed and handsomest ceme- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 385 
 
 teries in the State. Mr. Lawson designed 
 it to some extent after Spring Grove ceme- 
 tery of Cincinnati, which is generally con- 
 ceded to be the finest cemetery in America. 
 ( >ver fifty thousand dollars have been ex- 
 pended upon Riverside cemetery under the 
 direction of its superintendent, and it is 
 growing in beauty every day, while it well 
 may be an object of pride to Norristown. 
 Many larger cities have more extensive and 
 more costly cemeteries that can in no wise 
 compare with Riverside cemetery. 
 
 Skilled and proficient, Mr. Eawson has 
 given his best thought and most earnest 
 efforts to the designing and completion of a 
 model city cemetery in Riverside, whose 
 beauty has a charm for every visitor. 
 
 TAMES K. CLEMMER, who owns the 
 <J m large grist and saw mills at Spring 
 Mount, is a business man of note in Mont- 
 gomery county. He is the son of J. S. and 
 Sallie (Culp) Clemmer, and was born in 
 Frauconia township on the first of Sep- 
 tember, 1861. He is descended from Mont- 
 gomery count} - ancestry and his forefathers 
 have been well known and highly respected 
 in the section mentioned for many genera- 
 tions. John Clemmer, his grandfather, was 
 born in Franconia township, and was a 
 prosperous farmer. He pinned his politi- 
 cal faith to the principles of the Republi- 
 can party and was one of its staunchest 
 adherents. He was a life-long member of 
 the Mennonite church and was a consistent 
 Christian. In 1861 he died at the advanced 
 age of seventy-two years. J. S. Clemmer, 
 father of J. K. Clemmer, was also a native 
 of Franconia township. He was sent to 
 the schools of his township until he was 
 fifteen vears old. He was then put to work 
 
 25 
 
 on the farm and when he came to man's 
 estate was the owner of a large farm, which 
 he managed all his life. He is a preacher 
 in the Mennonite church and is beloved by 
 all who know him. Politically he followed 
 in the views of his father and is nominally 
 a Republican. He is still living at fifty- 
 eight years of age. 
 
 J. K. Clemmer, the subject of this sketch, 
 attended the public schools until he was 
 sixteen years old and then worked on his 
 father's farm until he was twenty-one. He 
 then moved on a farm in Upper Sal ford 
 township in 1884. This farm contained 
 one hundred and three acres and was good 
 productive land. In 1893 Mr. Clemmer 
 bought the grist mill and saw mill at 
 Spring Mount. He does a very large busi- 
 ness, and is prominent in the mercantile 
 life of his section. He resides at his mill 
 in a large and historic house. His property 
 is valued at eight thousand dollars, and he 
 does a business of $30,000 a year. In con- 
 nection with his mill he handles all kinds 
 of feed, and is without doubt the most 
 prosperous man in this line of business in 
 the township. In politics he is a Republi- 
 can and is in religion an active Christian 
 worker in the Mennonite church. 
 
 Mr. Clemmer was married, on April 15, 
 1882, to Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and 
 Elizabeth Freed. They have had two 
 children : Elmer, born April 2, 1883, and 
 
 Jacob Howard, born March 20, i£ 
 
 The 
 
 latter, however, died at the tender age of 
 five months. 
 
 ANDREW J. PENNINGTON, a well- 
 known citizen and prominent business 
 man, is a son of John C. and Sally A. 
 (Hill) Pennington, and was born at Mt. 
 
3«6 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Hope, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, August 
 20, 1865. The Pennington family is of 
 English extraction, and traces its ancestry 
 back to William Pennstock, but the name 
 was finally changed to Pennington. Three 
 brothers of this family emigrated from 
 their native country to America, one of 
 whom located at what is now Pennington, 
 Xew Jersey ; another settled at Wilming- 
 ton, Delaware ; and the third, from which 
 the subject of this sketch is descended, 
 located at West Grove, Chester county. 
 Great-grandfather Pennington was a resi- 
 dent of West Grove, where he lived all his 
 life. Mr. Pennington's grandfather resided 
 at the same place as his father, where he 
 was engaged in the milling business. He 
 was a member of the Society of Friends, in 
 the interests of which he took an active 
 part. He united in marriage and had eight 
 children : Lewis, Xehemiah, Job, Thomas, 
 Sophia Thompson, Maria Frye, John C, 
 and Amanda Baker. John C. Pennington 
 ( father) was reared at West Grove, where at 
 sixteen vears of age he became engaged in 
 the milling business with his father. After 
 the death of his father, he operated the mill 
 for a few years, and then associated himself 
 with J. B. Moorehead in railroad contract- 
 ing. They took a large contract on the 
 Erie railroad and built the first street rail- 
 way in Washington city. For a time Mr. 
 Pennington served as superintendent of the 
 Delaware division of the Lehigh Naviga- 
 tion company's canal, and showed great 
 efficiency in his management of affairs 
 there. In 1873 he engaged in the iron 
 business at Sterling, Xew York, and at the 
 end of two years became general manager 
 of the iron business operated by the Meriou 
 Iron company at Conshohocken. He served 
 in this capacity until 1880, and six vears 
 afterward was employed by the Lehigh 
 
 Navigation company to build a dam across 
 the Lehigh river near Mauch Chunk. 
 Some time afterward he was appointed 
 superintendent of water power of the War- 
 ren Water company, at their works at 
 Wiggles and at Warren, Xew Jersey. Re- 
 maining in this capacity for a time he then 
 returned to West Conshohocken, where he 
 resumed his former position with the 
 Meriou company. While serving in this 
 last position he had as many as fifteen 
 hundred men at a time under his employ. 
 He always showed zeal and ability wher- 
 ever he was engaged. Politically he was a 
 Republican and a close adherent of the 
 Society of Friends. He was also a mem- 
 ber of the Masonic Fraternity. He married 
 Sallie A. Hill, and to this union were born 
 five children : William J., Alfred H., An- 
 drew J., Harry P., and Mrs. Sue Horn. 
 
 Andrew J. Pennington was educated in 
 the high school at Conshohocken, where *he 
 was graduated at the age of fourteen. 
 Leaving school, he engaged with Ely & 
 Williams, iron and steel merchants, of 
 Philadelphia, with whom he remained six 
 years. He then joined the J. Ellwood Lee 
 company, at Conshohocken, large surgical 
 instrument manufacturers, and served as 
 manager of their large tubing department 
 for six years. After this he was success- 
 ively in charge of various departments of 
 their business and travelled through the 
 different parts of the county, being superin- 
 tendent of the company's salesmen. Later 
 he became manager of the American Surgi- 
 cal company, organized January 1, 1S95, 
 with Daniel Steward, jr., president ; George 
 E. Steese, vice president ; Jno. B. Finney, 
 secretary ; and Jno. S. Bate, treasurer. 
 This company has erected a fine two story 
 brick building forty feet by one hundred 
 and forty feet in dimensions. Their plant 
 
*3As?w^4 /j&^£<£e> 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 387 
 
 will furnish employment for sixty men.' 
 
 The company will also employ throe- west- 
 ern and two eastern salesmen, whose busi- 
 ness it will be to make sales for all kinds 
 of surgical goods. Mr. Pennington is a 
 Republican, member of the council and also 
 auditor of West Conshohoeken, where he east 
 his first vote on becoming of age. He is 
 a member of Washington Camp, Patriotic 
 ( )rder Sons of America. 
 
 ( )n October 1, 1 889, Andrew Pennington 
 was united in marriage with Alice E. Bate, 
 who died July 20, 1890. This union was 
 blessed with one child, Alice M. On April 
 14, 1892, Mr. Pennington again wedded, 
 which union has resulted in an issue of 
 two children : John C, jr. ; and Clara ('.. 
 
 HON. JAMES BOYD. The ancients 
 held that each person was born under 
 the influence of a particular star, which 
 ruled his or her destiny. So we moderns 
 more accurately and philosophically affirm 
 that each inherits mental and moral char- 
 acteristics which, within certain limits, 
 give the keynote of his or her future with 
 nearly as much certainty as the decrees of 
 Fate. For convenience also, mankind may 
 be divided into two classes, the positive 
 and negative, bearing strict relation to 
 their mental and moral force or their lack 
 of those qualities. Strong characters are 
 irrepressible, while the opposite are content 
 to mix and gravitate with the undistin- 
 guished mass. 
 
 Mental force and will power give the 
 clue to the success of the gentleman whose 
 name stands at the head of this sketch, as 
 will appear by what is briefly stated here- 
 after. 
 
 Colonel James Boyd, as he is usually 
 
 called, of the Norristown bar, is of Irish or 
 English lineage, his parents coming from 
 Virginia to Fayette county, Pennsylvania, 
 
 where he was born on the 29th of March, 
 1821. During his minority his father, 
 Jeremiah Boyd, removed to a place near 
 Norristown, and engaged in business. 
 While so continuing James was receiving 
 his education, first at an academy in Phila- 
 delphia and afterwards at Haddington col- 
 lege, Germantown. For a brief period 
 just before his majority, he engaged in the 
 apothecary business, but not finding it in 
 accordance with his tastes, very soon aban- 
 doned it, and entered the office of the late 
 Daniel H. Mulvany, Esq., as a student of 
 law. He was admitted August 16, [842, 
 and almost at once entered upon a success- 
 ful practice. From the start his will force 
 and bold energy brought him into nearly 
 every criminal prosecution on one side or 
 another, and it was early observed and 
 commented by disinterested parties that 
 " Boyd worked just as hard with a weak 
 cause as a strong one, or for a poor client 
 as a rich one." This natural result of his 
 amazing positivcuess and professional en- 
 ergy of course made his fortune. Hut his 
 belligerent and dogmatic style of practice 
 brought its author into many a forensic tilt 
 with his brethren, testing judicial firmness 
 and courtesy to the utmost. 
 
 W'ith ripened experience, however, and a 
 growing commercial and corporation prac- 
 tice, he has gradually swung out of the 
 line of petty criminal trials. With the 
 jury of average will, intelligence, and force 
 of character, Mr. Boyd is nearly omnipo- 
 tent, as he rarely fails to carry their minds 
 by the impetuosity of his mental charge. 
 But with men of opposite character he 
 often fails by his mere boldness and invec- 
 tive in the ability to sustain the weak 
 
3 88 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 points of a case on which reliance is some- 
 times placed. 
 
 For a long time Mr. Boyd has been a 
 considerable stockholder in banks and other 
 corporations of the locality, and a director 
 in many of them, thus accumulating money 
 rapidly in addition to his legal business. 
 Since 1852 he has been retained as counsel 
 for the Reading Railroad company, attend- 
 ing to all its interests in the county, for 
 which service he receives a large salary. 
 It is understood that he was in 1870 largely 
 instrumental in leasing the Norristown 
 railroad to the Philadelphia and Reading 
 corporation. 
 
 Mr. Boyd entered public life as a Whig, 
 and so continued up to 1856. But that 
 year, like many other of our leading citi- 
 zens who could not accept the necessity of 
 anti-slavery issues, he refused to enter the 
 Republican party, and voted for James 
 Buchanan. He has remained in the Demo- 
 cratic party ever since ; yet during the war 
 that ensued he gave the government active- 
 support, being appointed commissioner to 
 conduct the draft for troops. In 187 1 he 
 was nominated on the Democratic ticket 
 and elected a member of the State Consti- 
 tutional convention, and took an active 
 part in its proceedings. At the conclusion 
 ot the sittings, however, he refused to ap- 
 pend his name to the instrument, this 
 decision arising from his disagreement with 
 some of its provisions. To his lasting 
 credit, also, he refused to accept the extra 
 pay that its members had voted themselves, 
 as he thought it contrary to law. 
 
 His refusal or singularity in these mat- 
 ters, as in man} - others, arises from his bold 
 independence of character ; and this, with 
 his well known badinage and dry humor, 
 may be set down as marked peculiarities, or 
 eccentricities, as some prefer to call them. 
 
 His humor always takes the shape of irony 
 or ridicule, hitting off the absurdities or 
 pretences of others with a face as grave as 
 a tomb-stone. 
 
 His invective, power of sarcasm, and 
 ridicule, while making him a terrible oppo- 
 nent in court or on the rostrum, disqualify 
 him for a political leader, for no party 
 trammels would hold him, and his blunt, 
 outspoken frankness would get him enemies 
 where he sought friends. Hence Mr. Boyd 
 is in no true sense a politician. 
 
 In 1848 Mr. Boyd was married to Sarah, 
 youngest daughter of Samuel Jamison, sr., 
 the owner of large cotton mills in Norris- 
 town. Their eldest son, Robert, died when 
 seven or eight years old. Wallace J. is 
 also deceased. The only child surviving is 
 Howard, treasurer of the Perkiomen and 
 and Stony Creek railroads and several other 
 well known corporations. The former was 
 a member of the Montgomery county bar, 
 had served as burgess of Norristown, and 
 in 1881 was elected to the State legislature. 
 He died in December of the same year. 
 Mrs. Boyd died suddenly of heart disease in 
 1876, and is buried in a handsomely orna- 
 mented tomb in Montgomery cemeterv. 
 
 Having had a very lucrative law practice 
 for more than fifty years, a large and profit- 
 able interest in a stone quarry at Cousho- 
 hockeu, a number of farms, and being a 
 stockholder in numerous business and other 
 corporations, Colonel Boyd is reputed among 
 the wealthy men of Norristown. Per- 
 sonally, he is considered rather unapproach- 
 able, grave in manner, even to the point of 
 austerity, but withal a man of genuine 
 kindliness of heart and broad human sym- 
 pathy. 
 
 His varied and cumulated experience, 
 and his attainments as a lawyer, advocate, 
 and publicist, together with his wide ac- 
 
BlOG K A PHICA I. SKETC 1 1 ES. 
 
 389 
 
 quaintance with men and modern vagaries, 
 make Colonel Boyd an interesting and 
 
 unique personality. 
 
 T P. HALE JENKINS, a prominent 
 <J . member of the Norristown bar, is a 
 son of Charles Todd and Sarah L. (Lukens) 
 Jenkins, and is a native of Hatfield town- 
 ship, this county, where he was born Janu- 
 ary 13, 1851. The family from which he 
 descended was of Welsh origin, and was 
 transplanted to America as early as 1729, 
 by Jenkin Jenkins, who came over from 
 Wales in that year and settled in what is 
 now Montgomery county. They are dis- 
 tinguished for longevity, many of the 
 Jenkins having attained a ripe old age. 
 One of the sons of Jenkin Jenkins was John 
 Jenkins, paternal great-great-grandfather of 
 the subject of this sketch, whose son John 
 served as a first lieutenant in the American 
 army during the Revolutionary war, and 
 personally underwent the trials and priva- 
 tions which marked those portentious days 
 of mingled pathos and patriotism. When 
 the war cloud had lifted and the light of 
 independence shone in its stead, John 
 Jenkins resumed the employments of peace, 
 and reared a large family, among whom 
 was a son named for himself. After attain- 
 ing manhood, this John Jenkins (grand- 
 father) married Ann Todd, a daughter of 
 John Todd and a grand-neice of General 
 Porter, of Revolutionary fame. He engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits and became some- 
 what prominent in local affairs. Politically 
 lie was a Jacksonian Democrat, and at one- 
 time or other held all the official positions 
 in his township. From his long tenure of 
 that office he was familiarly known among 
 the people as " assessor John," and in his 
 
 old age was almost universally addressed as 
 
 "uncle John." He died at North Wales, 
 this county, in iss<>, in the ninety-seventh 
 year of his age. By his marriage to Ann 
 Todd, he had a family of eight children, 
 the eldest of whom was Charles Todd 
 Jenkins (father), who was born in Gwynedd 
 township, this county, April 3, 1812. 
 There he grew to manhood, receiving a 
 good common school education, and later 
 engaged in fanning, which occupation he 
 followed for many years. He now resides 
 in Hatfield township, at the age of eighty- 
 three, and practically retired from all busi- 
 ness pursuits. In politics he is a Repub- 
 lican, and before the Civil war was an ar- 
 dent abolitionist. During his more active 
 years he took a prominent part in local 
 politics, and was twice a candidate for 
 count> T treasurer, but failed of election be- 
 cause the county was then strongly Demo- 
 cratic. Always public spirited, he has 
 taken a lively interest in civic affairs and 
 been a firm friend of popular education, 
 serving as school director for a number of 
 vears. In his religious affiliations he is a 
 member of the Society of Friends. For 
 some years he has been president of the 
 Lexington Fire Insurance company, and 
 treasurer of the Spring House and Hilltown 
 Turnpike Road company. In 1840 he mar- 
 ried Sarah Lukens, a daughter of George 
 Lukens, of Towameucin township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Penna. Her ancestors 
 were of Dutch descent, coming originally 
 from Amsterdam, Holland, and settling 
 here at the time of William Penn's second 
 voyage to Pennsylvania. To their union 
 was born a family of eight children : 
 George L., now a member of the firm of 
 Burgen & Co., manufacturers of glass bot- 
 tles, Philadelphia ; Comly, formerly promi- 
 nent in Montgomery county politics and a 
 
39o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 candidate for the office of prothonotary, but 
 now a resident of Philadelphia ; Parker, 
 the freight agent for the Philadelphia and 
 Reading- railroad at Colmar, this county ; 
 J. P. Hale, the subject of this sketch ; Ella, 
 married Oliver M. Evans, teller of the First 
 National bank of Lansdale, this county ; 
 Learie, wedded George \V. Chapin, a mem- 
 ber of the firm of Fleming & Chapin, com- 
 mission merchants of Philadelphia and re- 
 siding at Wayne, Delaware county ; and 
 two who died in infancy. Mrs. Sarah L. 
 Jenkins is still living, being now in the 
 eightieth year of her age. 
 
 J. P. Hale Jenkins was reared on the old 
 Jenkins homestead near Colmar, Hatfield 
 township, this county, and educated in the 
 public schools and at Pierce's Business col- 
 lege, in the city of Philadelphia. He then 
 studied law with Hon. George N. Corson, 
 of Norristown, and was admitted to the bar 
 April 30, 1874, at the age of twenty-three. 
 Soon afterward he opened an office in Nor- 
 ristown and began the practice of his pro- 
 fession, in which he has been ever since con- 
 tinuously engaged. He has won standing 
 at the bar and is known for his legal attain- 
 ments. For six consecutive years he has 
 been the solicitor of the town council of 
 Norristown, and has acted in the same ca- 
 pacity for the board of directors of the poor 
 for a period of ten years. In addition to 
 his law practice, Mr. Jenkins has been 
 prominently identified with a number of 
 large business enterprises in this county 
 and elsewhere. For fourteen years he has 
 been a director in the Fidelity Mutual Life 
 association of Philadelphia, and is also a 
 director of the Stony Creek Railroad com- 
 pany, the Perkiomen Railroad company, 
 the Philadelphia, Newtown and New York 
 Railroad company, and the Norristown 
 Title, Trust and Safe Deposit company. 
 
 Since 1877 he has been secretary of the 
 Excelsior Saving Fund and Loan associa- 
 tion, of Norristown, and for ten years was 
 president of the Humane Fire company. 
 In 1886 he served as president of the State 
 Firemen's association of Pennsylvania, and 
 was actively interested in the movement 
 which culminated in the centennial cele- 
 bration of the evacuation of Valley Forge, 
 in 1878, and subsequently took an active 
 part in the movement leading to the pas- 
 sage of the bill creating Valley Forge park. 
 Incidental to these movements, he edited a 
 book entitled " Valley Forge," containing 
 the anniversary, centennial and dedicatory 
 exercises used upon various occasions. He 
 was identified with the effort which re- 
 sulted in the erection of the Charity hos- 
 pital in Norristown, and served as chairman 
 of the committee on building during its 
 construction. These facts, from a number 
 of others that might be presented, serve to 
 show the public spirit of Mr. Jenkins. He 
 has also shown an interest in educational 
 matters and has served for a number of 
 years as a school director. Since 1882 he 
 has been a member of the Masonic frater- 
 nity, and is also connected with Norris 
 Lodge No. 430, Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, which he has represented in the 
 Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania since 1877. 
 For twelve years he has been chairman of 
 the committee of appeals on charges for the 
 Grand Lodge of the State, and served as 
 district deputy of this district for six years. 
 On December 30, 1875, Mr. Jenkins was 
 wedded to Ella C. Slight, a daughter of 
 Augustus Slight, of Ouakertown, Bucks 
 county, this State. To Mr. and Mrs. Jen- 
 kins have been born three daughters : Lelia, 
 born July 28, 1877, who was recently gradu- 
 ated from the Norristown high school ; 
 Helen, born August 24, 1881 ; and Olive, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 39i 
 
 born February 24, 1887, both now attend- 
 ing the public schools of Norristown. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Jenkins 
 has always been an ardent Republican, and 
 carrying the same energy into politics that 
 characterizes his business and professional 
 life, it was not long until he was recog- 
 nized as one of the leaders of his party in 
 Montgomery county. He was sent as a 
 delegate from Pennsylvania to the national 
 convention which nominated Rlaine for 
 the presidency in 1884, has been a delegate 
 to a number of State conventions, and has 
 presided over four congressional conven- 
 tions in this (the Seventh) congressional 
 district. For many years he has taken a 
 lively interest in all county conventions of 
 his party, and in 1894 was a candidate for 
 the nomination for State senator from this 
 senatorial district. 
 
 JOSEPH SLINGLUFF, who is now 
 
 >J serving as justice of the peace and asses- 
 sor in Norristown, is a son of Samuel and 
 Mary (Harvey) Slingluff, and was born 
 March 22, 1815, in Whitemarsh township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. The 
 Slingluffs are of direct German descent, the 
 family being transplanted to America bv 
 John Slingluff (grandfather), who left the 
 fatherland while yet a young man, and 
 crossing the Atlantic settled in Montgom- 
 ery county about the middle of the eigh- 
 teenth century. He was a farmer by occu- 
 pation, and was distinguished by all the 
 sturdy virtues of his race. His death oc- 
 curred at his home in Cheltenham town- 
 ship. He reared a family of several chil- 
 dren, one of whom was Samuel Slingluff 
 (father), who was born on the old homestead 
 in that township, and in early manhood 
 
 learned the trade of tailor, at which he 
 worked for a number of years. In later life 
 he turned his attention to agricultural pur- 
 suits and became quite prosperous as a far- 
 mer and stockman. Politically he was an 
 old line Whig. He married Mary Harvey, 
 of this county, and by that marriage had a 
 family of seven children, only two of whom 
 now survive : Mary, now in the ninetieth 
 year of her age, and Joseph, the subject of 
 this sketch. The deceased were : Hannah, 
 Elizabeth, John, Charles and Catharine. 
 
 Joseph Slingluff was reared on the farm 
 in Whitpain township, this county, and re- 
 ceived his education in the subscription 
 schools of his neighborhood. After work- 
 ing on the farm for some time he learned 
 the trade of stonemason, and followed that 
 occupation for six or eight years. At the 
 end of that time he embarked in the general 
 merchandise business at Norristown, which 
 he continued successfully for a period of 
 eight years, and subsequent! v engaged in 
 the hotel business at Fremont, Schuylkill 
 county, this State. Later he removed to 
 Phcenixville, Chester county, where he con- 
 ducted the hotel business for some time, and 
 then returned to Montgomery, locating at 
 Conshohocken. He removed to Norris- 
 town, where he has since resided. For 
 twelve years Mr. Slingluff occupied the po- 
 sition of notary public in Norristown, and 
 for twenty years was largely engaged in 
 dealing in real estate. In 1892 he was ap- 
 pointed a justice of the peace to fill the 
 vacancy, and was regularly elected to that 
 office in 1893, the duties of which position 
 he is still discharging with acceptability. 
 Politically, Squire Slingluff is a staunch Re- 
 publican. He has served a^ school director 
 and was elected assessor in [892, of which 
 office he is the present incumbent. 
 
 On August 15, 1838, Mr. Slingluff was 
 
392 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 married to Sarah H inkle, a daughter of 
 John and Mary Hinkle, of Whitpain town- 
 ship, this county. To them were born nine 
 children, three sons and six daughters : 
 Charles, now a resident of Norristown ; 
 Ella, married Daniel A. Reiff, connected 
 with the treasury department at Washing- 
 ton, D. C; Ida, wedded John Wood, jr., of 
 Conshohocken ; Laura, wife of John W. 
 Ham-, of Norristown ; Mary E., deceased ; 
 Joseph and Sarah (twins), also deceased ; 
 John H., who was killed at the battle of the 
 Wilderness, May 6, 1864, and Kate, de- 
 ceased. 
 
 HIRAM CORSON, M. D., who for a 
 period of sixty years enjoyed a large 
 and lucrative practice in medicine in a wide 
 district, whose centre was Plymouth Meet- 
 ing, and who is known and revered as one 
 of the broad minded and thoroughly 
 progressive physicians of his day, is now, at 
 the ripe age of eighty-five years, living re- 
 tired amid the scenes of his early profes- 
 sional triumphs. His has been, certainly, 
 a varied career, not always without its trials, 
 but nevertheless uniformly brilliant, and 
 one that made him respected and esteemed 
 not only by the laity but also by his pro- 
 fessional compatriots in this and other 
 countries. 
 
 He is a descendant of the Huguenots, 
 who sought relief from religious oppression 
 by flight from their native France to South 
 Carolina. One of the two vessels that set 
 out with these pilgrims from France ar- 
 rived at Staten Island, and on this bark 
 came Cornelius Corson and Maritie, his 
 wife, the original immigrant ancestors of 
 the family. They, with several other 
 families, came to Northampton township, 
 Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where they 
 
 bought land and soon became successful 
 farmers. Benjamin Corson, a son of Cor- 
 nelius, was of this party, and his son, Benja- 
 min 2nd, married Maria Sedan. Their 
 son, Benjamin 3rd, married Sarah Dungan, 
 grand-daughter of Rev. Thomas Dungan, 
 who was a son of William and Lady 
 Weston Dungan. The Dungans were refu- 
 gees from England on account of the perse- 
 cution of the Baptists. 
 
 Joseph Corson, father of Dr. Hiram Cor- 
 son, was a sou of Benjamin and Sarah 
 (Dungan) Corson. He married Hannah 
 Dickinson, a daughter of Joseph Dickinson, 
 and a descendant of the first Dickinson, of 
 Pennsylvania, whose ancestry is traced back 
 to Charles Dickinson, a merchant of Lon- 
 don. The three sons of Charles Dickinson 
 were followers of George Fox's teachings 
 and the}" immigrated to Virginia. His sou, 
 John, came to Maryland, and his son, Wil- 
 liam, settled at Plymouth Meeting, Mont- 
 gomery count}-. After reaching in the 
 backward view Charles Dickinson, of Lon- 
 don, we can trace his ancestry back to the 
 seventeenth century and Dr. Corson's ma- 
 ternal ancestry to the eleventh century 
 through the noble family of Dudley. Han- 
 nah Dickinson Corson, Dr. Corson's mother, 
 was a daughter of Hannah Wright (wife of 
 Joseph Dickinson), daughter of John 
 Wright, a Friend, of Upper Gwynedd, in 
 this county, who had come from Wales 
 where Friends were not kindly regarded by 
 church people. 
 
 Dr. Hiram Corson therefore traces his 
 line of ancestry through three lines of re- 
 formers, viz.: Quakers, Baptists and Hugue- 
 nots. He was born in Plymouth township 
 October 10, 1810, and began school at the 
 earl}- age of six years in the Friends' school 
 at the Plymouth Meeting house, and con- 
 tinued to attend Friends' school there for 
 
/^ht^^ C^t^T^Z^- /t^tfjO-Z^— </£*?*> 4/.- 
 
 N/V 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 393 
 
 many years. When older he aided his 
 father in the store and on the farm until he- 
 was eighteen years of age. Then he went 
 to a Friends' select school in Philadelphia, 
 after which, when nearly twenty years of 
 age, he began the study of medicine with 
 his cousin, Dr. Richard I). Corson, at New 
 Hope, Bucks county. He graduated from 
 the University of Pennsylvania after two 
 years of close study, and at this date, 1895, 
 is the only member of his large class of 
 graduates that is living. 
 
 Dr. Corson began to practice his profes- 
 sion in the immediate vicinity of his early 
 home, nearby Friends' Meeting house, and 
 he soon enjoyed a large practice and in time 
 succeeded to the practice of Dr. Joseph Lee- 
 dom, who was far advanced in years. In 
 1833 Dr. Corson married Ann Jones Foulke, 
 but as he loved her best under the old 
 familiar name, " Nancy," he has always re- 
 tained it. She was the eldest daughter of 
 Edward and Tacy (Jones) Foulke. In the 
 summer of 1833 Dr. Corson built a home 
 not far from the Friends' Meeting house 
 and here, for sixty years, he had a large- 
 practice, yielding him an abundant income 
 for all the family needs. During the years 
 from 1830 to 1861, when the slaveholders 
 brought war upon the country, he was an 
 uncompromising opponent of slavery, and 
 in 183- he, with a few friends, formed an 
 anti-slavery society. This little band of 
 abolitionists held many meetings to stir up 
 the people against slavery, but for years 
 they met most bitter opposition and it was 
 often difficult to secure a place for meeting, 
 and these meetings were often disturbed by 
 the rowdy class, urged on secretlv by those 
 holding a high moral place in the commu- 
 nity. Dr. Corson then just having begun 
 to practice medicine was, because of his ad- | 
 vocacy of the abolition movement, boy- 
 
 cotted by the pro-slavery advocates, but re- 
 gardless of that, he boldly held to his pur- 
 pose, and during the many years that the 
 strife went on made seventy public speeches 
 on abolition and temperance. The boy- 
 cott did not harm him except for a very short 
 time, as he had aroused the people to think 
 of the subject, and brought them one by 
 one to stand by his side in advocacy of the 
 unconditional abolition of slavery. 
 
 Dr. Corson retired from the active prac- 
 tice of medicine in 1888. Soon after he 
 started in practice he inaugurated a great 
 and at that time startling reform in the 
 treatment of all febrile diseases, and above 
 all in the treatment of measles and other 
 eruptive diseases. Hot teas and hot drinks 
 only were allowed then for these patients, 
 and cold water was considered strangely 
 fatal. Dr. Corson caused consternation 
 among fond mothers and nurses by direct- 
 ing the plentiful use of cold water as a bev- 
 erage in such cases. Even his colleagues 
 in his profession, far and near, were amazed 
 at this radical reform, but, as was soon 
 learned, their disastrous prophesies came to 
 naught. From that time forward, during 
 sixty years, in which 3,041 children were 
 born under his supervision, hundreds and 
 hundreds of them when suffering from at- 
 tacks ol measles were treated with very lit- 
 tle medicine, but were not only allowed to 
 drink cold water to allay thirst, but it was 
 urged upon them as the proper remedy to 
 allay their fever. Xot a single child was 
 lost by death. Fortified and justified by 
 his success from the very beginning in this 
 reformed treatment in measles, he carried it 
 into the treatment of all other affections 
 where fever was present. The reform was 
 soon caught up by others and the hot drinks 
 have been discarded by progressive phy- 
 sicians in all febrile affections. 
 
394 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Dr. Corson soon became an acknowledged 
 authority on the treatment of all fever affec- 
 tions and many papers were prepared and 
 read by him, and have since found place in 
 reference books and reports of medical 
 meetings. More than sixty of these papers 
 were prepared by Dr. Corson, and yet, great 
 as has been his labor in his practice, he 
 does not regard it as the work of his life. 
 In his own opinion his great achievement 
 was his championship of the female physi- 
 cian and his great success after years of 
 hard struggle and bitter opposition. The 
 Woman's Medical college, of Philadelphia, 
 was opened for students in 1850. For ten 
 vears the college created little comment. 
 Every two years a class was graduated, but 
 when the eighth class received their 
 diplomas, the male doctors seemed to 
 awaken to the fact that their hitherto sacred 
 domain had been invaded. They began an 
 active opposition to the recognition of the 
 female physician and carried the war into 
 their city and county societies and even into 
 the State and national associations. Reso- 
 lutions were passed by the Philadelphia 
 physicians and sent to the several county 
 societies. Dr. Corson was corresponding 
 secretary of the Montgomery county society 
 and he laid the resolution before his col- 
 leagues, and through his influence the fol- 
 lowing substitute was adopted by them : 
 
 " Resolved, that it is with regret that we 
 feel ourselves, after a full and free discus- 
 sion, compelled to dissent from the action 
 of the Philadelphia County Medical society, 
 as we believe the time has fully come when 
 women should not be excluded from the 
 medical profession ; but if properly edu- 
 cated and observant of the code of medical 
 ethics, should receive the same treatment 
 from the male members of the profession as 
 is accorded to the male members thereof." 
 
 At this meeting held May 26, i860, there j 
 
 were only nine members present, viz.: Doc- 
 tors B. F. Poley, Wm. Corson, Hiram Cor- 
 son, Louis (Corson) Read, Frank Yanartz- 
 dalen, Jonathan Comfort, YVm. P. Robin- 
 son, John Schrack and Milton Newberry. 
 ( )n this resolution the vote was seven in 
 favor. The names are given because on the 
 vote of the first seven hung an important 
 issue. Dr. Corson was then delegated to lay 
 this before the State Medical societv at its 
 next meeting. The resolution copied here 
 was but one of several expressing the 
 strongest opposition to this and any other 
 action taken against women physicians. 
 When Dr. Corson at the next meeting of 
 the State society in Philadelphia, presented 
 them, instant opposition was shown, and 
 he was strongly rebuked even by some of 
 his warmest friends. Some threatened him, 
 some appealed to him not to bring into the 
 society subjects likely to create bad feeling 
 among the members — but all in vain. He 
 stood bravely for the resolution. This was 
 in June, i860, and year after year, from that 
 time until June 14, 1871, he maintained his 
 position, when finally a resolution to re- 
 scind the resolution presented by the Phila- 
 delphia County Medical society, was finally 
 adopted and women recognized as full and 
 worthy members of the profession. 
 
 During these many years of strife, Dr. 
 Corson was the target against which the op- 
 position hurled its arrows of abuse. This 
 work being done, harmony began to prevail, 
 and in 1893 female physicians were admitted 
 to the Philadelphia Medical society as well 
 as to other county societies. Dr. Corson 
 was appointed by Gov. Hartranft, trustee of 
 the Lunatic hospital at Harrisburg, and was 
 continued there, by reappointment by him 
 and Gov. Hoyt, through a busy period of 
 seven years. There he saw the great need 
 of having educated women physicians to 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 395 
 
 take entire medical charge of the insane of 
 their sex, and the great impropriety of hav- 
 ing male physicians perform that duty. So, 
 in June, 1877, he asked the .State Medical 
 society for the appointment of a committee 
 of three persons to report on the propriety of 
 haying our female insane under the exclu- 
 sive care of female doctors. This commit- 
 tee was appointed. As chairman, he made 
 the report, quite an exhaustive one, which 
 was read at Pittsburg the next year and 
 s*ave irreat satisfaction, but was strenuously 
 opposed by all the superintendents of the 
 State hospitals, and during the next session 
 of the legislature a '" bill," drawn by Dr. 
 Corson, was enacted into a law despite the 
 most persistent opposition of the superin- 
 tendents and their friends against Dr. Cor- 
 son, whom they denounced in unmeasured 
 terms. It so happened that the great hos- 
 pital for the insane, at Norristown, was just 
 ready to receive patients, and the thirteen 
 trustees were a unit in organizing it as Dr. 
 Corson suggested by dispensing with a 
 superintendent and taking the management 
 into their own hands, whereas in the organ- 
 ization under a superintendent, the trustees 
 were utterly ignored, and regarded as a use- 
 less body. See now that great hospital, be- 
 yond any in the whole country, with its 
 nearly 2,000 patients, at times, with female 
 physicians to care for the female insane, and 
 with imployment for them — a great neces- 
 sity as Dr. Corson perceived in his walks 
 through the wards in the hospitals at Har- 
 risburg. And what else ? Nearly a thou- 
 sand female patients at one time in the hos- 
 pital, and yet, all torturing restraints, so 
 long used by superintendents, entirely 
 abandoned and the patients governed by 
 kindness and the soothing, consoling treat- 
 ment of Dr. Alice Bennett. 
 
 From the verv besfinine of the new move- 
 
 ment until the present time the employ- 
 ment of female physicians in insane hospit- 
 als has been a wonderful success, and both 
 in the management and in the results in the 
 way of cured patients, it shows to have been 
 the one great reform needed. To Dr. Cor- 
 son is due honor for taking the initative 
 and working constantly for this achieve- 
 ment. At present there are 40 women phy- 
 sicians employed in thirty-four hospitals in 
 thirteen States. He was just entering on 
 the seventieth year of his life when he- 
 saw the fulfillment of this work, and has 
 just reason to be proud of his victor)'. 
 But a few months had passed after the 
 recognition of the female physician when 
 the faculty of the Woman's college, togeth- 
 gether with twelve eminent male and as 
 many female physicians, gave a public re- 
 ception to Dr. Corson at the Bellevue hotel, 
 Philadelphia, and as the State Medical 
 society was then in session in that city, the 
 reception was a grand and especially enjoy- 
 able one to the large number who availed 
 themselves of the opportunity to express 
 their regards for the unselfish and valuable 
 work done by him. 
 
 In addition to these many evidences of 
 his efforts in their behalf, the following cer- 
 tificate was presented to Dr. Corson : 
 
 "The Faculty of the Women's college, of 
 Pennsylvania, believing that the present use- 
 ful and honorable position of women physi- 
 cians is mainly due to the disinterested, per- 
 sistent and energetic efforts of Dr. Hiram Cor- 
 son, of Plymouth Meeting, desire to convey 
 to Dr. Corson with mutual congratulations 
 their hearty thanks and expressions of the 
 highest esteem. Francis Emily White, 
 Chairman of the committee." 
 
 " This report was unanimously adopted 
 and the dean instructed to send a copy of 
 the same to Dr. Corson. Respectfully, 
 Rachel Bodley, 
 Dean of the Woman's Medical College." 
 
396 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 During the ten years prior to 1894, Dr. 
 Corson wrote many articles for publication 
 in the Philadelphia Medical and Surgical 
 Reporter, denouncing the then fatal treat- 
 ment of pneumonia, and was invited by the 
 Philadelphia County Medical society to ad- 
 dress them on that subject. He was too ill 
 to do this, but a paper prepared by him was 
 read by his grand-nephew, Dr. George W. 
 Highly. Resolutions were passed by the 
 society thanking Dr. Corson and commend- 
 ing his views. 
 
 Dr. Hiram Corson and Ann Jones Foulke 
 had nine children, all of whom grew 
 up. They were as follows : Edward 
 Foulke, graduate of medicine, who entered 
 the United States navy in 1859, died June 
 22, 1864, unmarried ; Joseph, a graduate of 
 medicine, Surgeon in United States army, 
 married 1874 Ada, daughter of W. A. Car- 
 ter, of Fort Bridge, Wyoming ; Caroline, 
 died 1865, unmarried ; Tacy Foulke, wife of 
 W. L. Cresson ; Charles Follen, married 
 1876, Mary Lukens, and in 1889 Margaret 
 Slemmer, died 1889 ; Susan Foulke, wife 
 of Jawood Lukens, of Conshohocken ; Ber- 
 tha, wife of James Yocum, of Philadelphia; 
 Frances Stockton, wife of Richard H. Day, 
 of Philadelphia; Mary Adamson, unmarried. 
 
 HENRY M. TRACY, Esq., a resident 
 of Conshohocken, and an active lawyer 
 of southeastern Pennsylvania, is a son of 
 James and Margaret (O'Brien) Tracy, and 
 was born in Conshohocken, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, August 29, 1861. 
 He received his education in the Consho- 
 hocken high school and Broad street acad- 
 emy of Philadelphia, from both of which 
 educational institutions he graduated with 
 good rank and standing. Leaving school 
 
 he entered the law department of the Uni- 
 versity of Pennsylvania, from which he 
 graduated in 1882. After graduation he was 
 addmitted to practice in the courts of Phila- 
 delphia and Montgomery counties, and since 
 then has made a specialty of civil and 
 orphans court business. His special lines 
 of practice has brought him constantlv in 
 contact with the industrial enterprises of 
 southeastern Pennsylvania, in whose welfare 
 he takes a deep interest. He has been ac- 
 tive in the formation and promotion of many 
 business enterprises in Conshohocken and 
 the vicinity, and is a director in the follow- 
 ing corporations : The Conshohocken Gas 
 Light company, the Conshohocken Electric 
 Light and Power company, the, Consho- 
 hocken Galvanizing and Tinning company, 
 the Lougmead Iron company, the Recorder 
 Publishing company, the Norristown Title, 
 Trust and Safe Deposit company. He is sec- 
 retary and treasurer of the Conshohocken 
 Gas company, and secretary of and solicitor 
 for the Reliance, Guarantee, Fidelity, Con- 
 shohocken and Progress Building and Loan 
 associations, of Conshohocken. Mr. Tracy 
 is a member of the Philadelphia Lawyers 
 club, and Montgomery County Bar associa- 
 tion, and of the Merion Cricket club of 
 Haverford college. He is a Democrat in 
 politics, was solicitor for his borough for 
 two years, and secretary of the Democratic 
 county committee for two terms. Mr. 
 Tracy is a man of wide observation and 
 travel, and has made several voyages to 
 the old world, visiting the most noted and 
 important places in England, Ireland, 
 France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, 
 Belgium and Morocco. He is capable and 
 energetic and has been successful in his pro- 
 fession. 
 
 James Tracy, the father of the subject of 
 this sketch, is of Irish descent, and has 
 
2^-^* 
 
 «^ 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 397 
 
 always lx.cn a man of prominence and influ- 
 ence in the communities in which he lias 
 resided. He was born at Port Carbon, in 
 Schuylkill county, in 1832, .but reared in 
 Plymouth township, this county, where he 
 received a good English education in the 
 common schools. After attaining his ma- 
 jority, he remained with his father for a 
 number of years and assisted in the manage- 
 ment of the farms and a large iron ore mine. 
 In these agricultural and mining pursuits 
 he acquired valuable experience and a splen- 
 did business education, and in later years 
 when he resolved upon embarking ill his 
 present large and profitable flour, feed and 
 coal enterprises, he was fully qualified to 
 to win the ample success and patronage 
 which he enjoys to-day. Mr. Tracy is one 
 of the most substantial and reliable business 
 men of his borough. He is a director of the 
 First National bank and the Water com- 
 pany of Conshohocken, also of the Consho- 
 hockeu Woolen Mills company, and the 
 Union Mutual Fire and Storm Insurance 
 company. Reliable, accurate, prompt and 
 energetic he gives force and direction to 
 whatever enterprise he undertakes. I [e has 
 served as burgess and member of town 
 council of Conshohocken, but beyond hold- 
 ing that office has never sought for nor 
 accepted public place or position, although 
 offered such frequently. 
 
 HON. HENRY LONGAKER was bom 
 February 4, 1792, at Parker Ford, 
 Chester county, Pennsylvania, and died 
 November 2, 1872. He was a son of Jacob 
 and Catharine Longaker, he and his twin 
 brother Isaac being the seventh by birth 
 in a family of eleven children. His mother 
 was a daughter of John Detwilcr, of the 
 
 townships of Skippack and Perkiomen. 
 
 She was the tenth child of a family of 
 thirteen: three sous, Abraham, Jacob, and 
 John ; and nine daughters, Susanna, wife 
 of Henry Kolb ; Barbara, of Isaac Cassel ; 
 Mary, of John Landes ; Elizabeth, of Nich- 
 olas Haldterman ; Hester, of Henry Hun- 
 sicker; Sarah, of John Mover; Catharine, 
 of Jacob Longaker; Hannah, of Jacob 
 Benner ; Magdalena, of Abraham ( rotwals ; 
 Salome, of John Connor. All these had 
 children except Susanna Kolb, and their 
 ndaiits at this time are numerous, 
 many of whom are living in Montgomery 
 and adjoining counties. The father of 
 Henry removed from Chester count} about 
 1797 to his farm on the .Schuylkill river 
 near Pawling's Bridge, where he died about 
 .December, 1806. His mother survived his 
 father, and at the time of his father's 
 death he could speak the English and 
 German languages, although the latter was 
 the usual speech of tin- family. Growing 
 up, and remaining in a neighborhood 
 where the English was generally spoken, 
 he lost his knowledge of the German, but 
 regained it while he was sheriff and asso- 
 ciate judge by intercourse with the people 
 living in the German districts of the 
 county. His education was limited to a 
 few months during each year and to such 
 branches as were then taught in the local 
 schools of that neighborhood. His mother 
 died about March, 1S17. He was a car- 
 penter by trade, and his twin brother, 
 Isaac, a shoemaker. He was a soldier in 
 the service of the United States in the War 
 of [812, a private in the company of which 
 John Hall was captain, in the 65th regi- 
 ment, commanded by Colonel John P. 
 Pearson, and in the brigade commanded 
 
 by brigadier General Samuel Smith. He 
 entered the service under date of Octobei 
 
59 8 
 
 Bn (Graphical Sketches. 
 
 is. 1N14. (See Vol. XII, Penna Archives, 
 Second Series, page 171). 
 
 He was married to Catharine Brower, 
 the tenth child of Henry and Barbara 
 Brower, in January, 1816. In August, 
 ! s; 7, he purchased from H. Savior two 
 tracts of land containing seventy-nine acres, 
 located in Upper Providence township, 
 about one-half mile from the Perkiomen 
 Bridge, fronting on a road leading from 
 the turnpike to Phoenixville. and lying 
 partlv on the Perkiomen Creek. Here he 
 and his wife commenced farming. In 
 182 1 this farm was sold to John Burke, 
 and soon thereafter he purchased a farm of 
 about ninety acres in Lower Providence 
 township, lying along the Skippack creek, 
 about one-half mile from its confluence 
 with the Perkiomen creek, and near a 
 point called " The Level," on the road 
 leading from Evansburg to Tyson's Mill. 
 Here the fanning was continued and the 
 rearing and education of his children as 
 well, until the spring of 1841, when he 
 purchased and removed to the property 
 known as The Bridge, on the Perkiomen 
 and Reading turnpike in Upper Providence 
 township. At this place his death occurred 
 in 1X72. His wife died in December, i860, 
 and soon thereafter he made his home 
 with his youngest son. In 1854 he pur- 
 chased in Xorriton township, adjacent to 
 the borough of Xorristown, a farm of 
 ninet\ -eight acres from John Markley, and 
 in the following April sold it to Elijah 
 Lewis, with the exception of ten acres; and 
 from the date of that sale, in real estate 
 transactions this property has been known 
 generally as the Lewis farm. By the ex- 
 tension of the boundaries of the borough it 
 became part of the municipal corporation, 
 and the greater part of it is now held in 
 town lots whereon many handsome build- 
 
 ings on DeKalb and Powell streets have 
 been erected. He also purchased from 
 John Markley, about the time of the pur- 
 chase of this, farm, several town lots on 
 Penn street, then called Court House alley. 
 Before his marriage he and his brother 
 Isaac, as tenants in common, purchased 
 from Daniel Kolb in 1S14 a farm of 106 '_■ 
 acres near Shanuonville, adjoining lands of 
 Peter Skeen, Joseph Crawford and others, 
 and in the same year sold So-^ acres of it 
 to William Logan. Isaac married Cathar- 
 ine Diehl, of Plymouth township, and 
 Henry lived with them for awhile. The 
 twin brothers from infancy to manhood 
 were inseparable as companions and play- 
 mates, and in their first purchase of real es- 
 tate they were jointly interested. Their re- 
 
 , semblance was so exact that their father 
 could not tell one from the other, and their 
 mother was the only one of the family who 
 could distinguish them. They were dressed 
 alike, alike in growth, in manner and tastes, 
 and when one committed an ofnenee and 
 chastisement was apprehended, he would 
 run quickly to the other, and the offender's 
 identity would be lost ; their father not 
 knowing which to correct would sometimes 
 punish both, and in addressing either one 
 of them he would usually say Henry or 
 Isaac. In their manhood, and while they 
 lived together, their neighbors would often 
 ask Isaac about carpenter work and Henry 
 about the mending and making of boots 
 and shoes. It is related that Isaac's wife 
 could not distinguish them except by a 
 slight difference in their walk. Francis 
 Longaker, the second son of Isaac, bears a 
 stronger resemblance to his Uncle Henry 
 than does any of Henry's children bear to 
 their own father, and Daniel Longaker, the 
 first son of Isaac, and A Brower Longaker, 
 
 I the seventh child of Henry, resembled each 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 399 
 
 other more strongly than they did any one 
 
 of their own brothers. A. Brower resembles 
 his father in features more nearly than does 
 ony of the other children. 
 
 In 1825 Henry Longaker was appointed 
 and commissioned by Governor Andrew 
 Shultz, during good behavior, justice of the 
 peace for district Xo. 2, composed of the 
 townships of Lower and Upper Providence, 
 Limerick and Skippack, and Perkiomen. 
 In October, 1831, he was elected sheriff and 
 commissioned for a term of three years. In 
 1836 he was elected a member of the House 
 of Representatives of the commonwealth of 
 Pennsylvania, and re-elected in 1837. In 
 [851 he was elected one of the associate 
 judges and commissioned for a term of five 
 years, and was re-elected in 1855 and com- 
 missioned for another term of five years. In 
 [834 and 1835 he was colonel of the militia. 
 Besides these public offices he was promi- 
 nent and active in all matters that con- 
 cerned the general welfare of the people of 
 his neighborhood, and his opinion was often 
 sought and much respected as well as gen- 
 erally accepted as final. He was an incor- 
 porator of the Perkiomen and Sumneytown 
 Turnpike company, whose road was con- 
 structed in 1846, and later one of the origin- 
 ators of the Perkiomen Railroad company, 
 the construction of which was commenced 
 in 1867 and completed in 1876. For main 
 years he was a member of the board of 
 directors of each corporation. 
 
 His official duties were discharged with 
 the utmost integrity; possessed of great com- 
 mon sense, read} - to perceive motives and 
 acts, reading character as if it were by in- 
 tuition, having an excellent judgment as 
 regards facts as well as law, he rarely erred, 
 and generally arrived at correct equitable 
 and legal conclusions. 
 
 As a justice of the peace he discounten- 
 
 anced hasty action in minor offences, where 
 passion seemed to be the ruling motive 
 rather than a subserving of the public good. 
 He would often send away the complain- 
 ant without granting a warrant, saying that 
 "he would consider the law, and if in the 
 meantime you do not change your mind 
 and you come again, I will advise you what 
 it will be best to do." In most instances 
 the case thus ended. In civil actions he 
 would advise the would-be suitor that an 
 amicable settlement of the claim, or of ac- 
 counts, was usually better than a compul- 
 sory suit, and thus he prevented many 
 frivolous prosecutions and actions from 
 occurring amongst his neighbors. 
 
 As a legislator he was apt, active and in- 
 fluential. Although not a learned and pol- 
 ished speaker, he could present his views 
 briefly, freely and intelligently on all occa- 
 sions which required him so to do. Although 
 in some parts of the county many of his 
 constituents were opposed to a system of 
 public schools, both in and out of the legis- 
 lature, he was a firm, active and influential 
 supporter of the schools, and he voted for 
 the act of 1837, whereby the system was 
 enlarged and its privileges extended. < m 
 his return home he co-operated with his 
 neighbors in building the school house in 
 1837 at a point known as " The Level." At 
 this school his eldest children received their 
 principal education and his youngest chil- 
 dren were taught their earliest lessons. 
 
 As an associate judge he was industrious 
 and attentive, listening patiently to the ar- 
 gument of counsel involving questions of 
 fact blended with the legal principles ap- 
 plicable, and was often consulted by the 
 presiding law judge as to the views which 
 he entertained, and especially when matters 
 had been discussed which were largely in 
 the discretionary power of the court. Illus- 
 
400 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 trative of his habit in going to correct con- 
 clusions as regards questions involving the 
 facts and law, may be produced the suit of 
 Buckinan, as complainant, against Phipps, 
 et al., as defendants, in equity in the com- 
 mon pleas of Montgomery county, No. 3, 
 August term, A. D., 1856, and revised by 
 the supreme court, and reported in 30 Penn- 
 svlvania, page 401. The complainant and 
 defendant had entered into a written con- 
 tract for the exchange of certain lands and 
 tenements, one of which was a grist and 
 flouring mill ; there had been part perform- 
 ance by executing deeds for most of the 
 tenements involved. The bill was for full 
 performance, and the defendants resisted 
 the prayer of the bill upon the allegation 
 that fraudulent representations as to the 
 condition of the machinery and its capacity 
 of production had been made. Upon this 
 issue much testimony was taken, and the 
 contention of the complainants was that it 
 was insufficient to establish a fraud, and ac- 
 cording to the law applicable to the case, 
 the defendants had failed to interpose a 
 good defence. The presiding law judge 
 held that the law and facts were with the 
 defendants, but Judges Longaker and Mc- 
 Glathery, the lay associates, decided that 
 the defense both in fact and law had failed 
 to establish fraud by misrepresentation, and 
 a decree was accordingly entered by them 
 as a majority of the court, that the com- 
 plainant have judgment for specific perform- 
 ance, and that the defendants be made to 
 account for profits. The president judge 
 in announcing the decision of the associate- 
 judges said, " This case has received as at- 
 tentive consideration as it was in my power 
 to bestow upon it, and I have now to an- 
 nounce the result of our deliberations upon 
 it. My associates are of the opinion that 
 the contract set forth in the complainant's 
 
 bill ought to be enforced and specific per- 
 formance thereof be decreed, and other re- 
 lief granted according to the prayer of the 
 bill. My own opinion is that the testimony 
 leaves the equity of the bill involved in so 
 much doubt, that without pronouncing 
 upon it, one way or the other, I would leave 
 the parties respectively to their remedies at 
 law, which for aught I can perceive, 
 will afford adequate redress. The opinion 
 of the majority of the court being otherwise, 
 must prevail." The decree was then or- 
 dered to be entered to which the president 
 judge filed his dissent. 
 
 An appeal was taken to the supreme 
 court, and the decree ordered by the associ- 
 ates, and entered as the judgment of the 
 court, was affirmed. This case is repro- 
 duced, somewhat, in extenso, because of an 
 erroneous opinion often entertained, that 
 the associate judges, unlearned in the law, 
 could not exercise power co-extensive with 
 the law judge when it required at least the 
 presence of one of them to sit with the law 
 judge to constitute a quorum of the court, 
 and when the question to be decided re- 
 quired a majority of the court to concur. 
 Not only in this case, but on all occasions 
 the law judge regarded this right of his as- 
 sociates with proper deference, and invited 
 them to exercise it without apprehending 
 any friction upon his part. 
 
 A few years later, another notable case is 
 presented in the Orphan's court in the 
 estate of Doctor James Anderson. Mary 
 \Y. Anderson, the widow of the decedent, 
 about one year after the death of her hus- 
 band, was cited to determine " whether or 
 not " she would elect to take under the pro- 
 visions of the will, or her dower according 
 to the intestate laws. In answer to the 
 citation she appeared in open court and de- 
 clined and refused to accept the bequests 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 r " 
 
 and devise of the will and elected to take 
 her dower according to the statutory law. 
 
 Against her election to take dower, a pro- 
 test was hied by the guardian of some of the 
 minor children, alleging that she had pre- 
 viously in fact and in law, elected to take 
 the devise and bequest tinder the will. To 
 determine this contention, the question was 
 referred to an auditor who decided that by 
 acts in pais, but not by express agreement, 
 she must be held to have elected to take 
 under the will. Exceptions were filed to 
 this report, and the president judge in an 
 elaborate opinion, covering almost eleven 
 pages of the reported case, affirmed the au- 
 ditor's finding. Associate Judge Longaker 
 dissented from this opinion, and the other 
 associate agreed with the president judge. 
 On appeal taken and heard in the supreme 
 court, the case was reversed, thus showing 
 that Judge Longaker had formed a correct 
 opinion as to the law and the facts of the 
 case. 
 
 Politically a Democrat, he was an influ- 
 ential leader, and generally popular with 
 his party. He was very companionable, 
 largely acquainted in every portion of the 
 county, abounding in general information 
 and in reminiscences ; and apt in anedotes, 
 he often became the central figure, and 
 always was a welcome companion amongst 
 his acquaintances. 
 
 His was more than an ordinary person- 
 ality and commanded attention in every 
 sphere in which he moved. In his physical 
 structure he was shapely and well formed; 
 in height, about five feet ten inches; in 
 weight, about one hundred and eighty 
 pounds ; slightly corpulent, but very mus- 
 cular, strong and wiry, with great vitality 
 and endurance typical of longevity ; large 
 chest and square shoulders; well poised 
 head, a little larger than medium ; high 
 
 ?6 
 
 forehead ; very prominent and strongly 
 marked Roman nose, with bridge ; mild blue 
 eyes; well cut mouth with firmly set thin 
 lips; a complacent, good natured counten- 
 ance; slightly blonde complexion; chestnut 
 brown hair, slightly curling, with top of the 
 head bald; face always smoothly shaven; 
 sanguine nervous temperament ; possessed 
 of great self control, self reliant, readily 
 adapting himself to circumstances; enjoying 
 life without ostentation, resignedly accept- 
 ing misfortune or even adversity not brood- 
 ing over it, but bearing it heroically with a 
 determined effort to regain in the future 
 that which had been lost to the present ; 
 always charitable, and in his dealings often 
 doing better to his neighbor than he did to 
 himself; considerate of the comforts of all 
 who came under his roof; dispensing liber- 
 ally of his substance to relieve the distress 
 of others; the way-farer or even the tramp 
 (who were then few), who asked for food 
 never went from his door hungry. Of quiet 
 domestic habits, he lavishly provided for his 
 family ; a kind and loving husband, a fond 
 and indulgent father, he was loved and re- 
 spected by his children for wdiose welfare 
 he manifested the greatest anxiety and for 
 whose education, start in business or profes- 
 sional life he gave timely and financial 
 aid. 
 
 In private transactions he regarded "his 
 word as good as his bond," and his rule was 
 inflexible to meet all appointments and en- 
 gagements with strict punctuality or to give 
 timely notice and reasons for his inability to 
 do so. His religious sentiments were those 
 of his forefathers as taught and promulga- 
 ted by the Mennonites, and the Dunkards 
 burial ground of the Green Meeting near 
 Port Providence, was selected as the place 
 of burial of himself, his wife and the un- 
 married children wdio died before him, be- 
 

 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 cause of his wife's wishes to be buried where 
 several of sisters, who held to the faith of 
 the Dunkards, are interred. 
 
 FRANCIS S. WILSON, M. D., a very 
 successful physician, of Janettown, is 
 a son of Charles and Man- (Bickham) 
 Wilson, and was born in the city of Phila- 
 delphia, Pennsylvania, January 19, 1844. 
 The Wilsons are of Scotch-Irish descent, 
 and have been residents for several gener- 
 ations in the north of Ireland and around 
 the city of Belfast, the region from which 
 Francis Wilson, the paternal grandfather 
 of Dr. Wilson, came to Abingtown town- 
 ship, this county. Francis Wilson was a 
 Presbyterian, and wdiile in Ireland married 
 Miss Hart, by whom he had eight chil- 
 dren : Jane, Eliza, Margaret, John, Samuel, 
 Francis, Jr., Captain Charles and Henry. 
 Captain Charles Wilson was a carpenter 
 and builder in Philadelphia, wdiich latter 
 place he left to remove to Cairo, Illinois, 
 where he now resides. He served as a 
 soldier and was captain of the old Monroe 
 guards, of Philadelphia, which helped to 
 put down the Philadelphia riots of 1844. 
 He wedded Man - Bickham, a daughter of 
 George Bickham. They reared a family of 
 six children : Charles L., who commanded 
 Company D, Third New Jersey infantry, 
 was wounded three times and passed sev- 
 eral months as a prisoner in Libby prison ; 
 George W., adjutant of the Sixty-first Penn- 
 sylvania volunteers, was killed at the battle 
 of Spottsylvania court-house ; Dr. Francis 
 S., Mary E., Jackson and Henry. Jackson 
 died at Millersville State normal school at 
 the age of seventeen ; Mary E. and Henrv 
 died in infancy. 
 
 Dr. F. S. Wilson was taken at six vears of 
 
 age from Philadelphia to Swedesboro, N. J., 
 and afterwards was a resident successively 
 of Chestnut Hill and Horsham township, in 
 which he attended the common schools. 
 He was then a student at Tennent select 
 school at Hartville, Bucks county, and 
 West Jersey academy, Bridgeton, New Jer- 
 sey, and afterwards taught school for two 
 years in Upper Dublin township. At the 
 end of that time he commenced the study 
 of medicine with Dr. A. J. Hiues, of Doyles- 
 town, Pennsylvania, and after reading the 
 required length of time entered Jefferson 
 Medical college, from which he was gradu- 
 ated in the class of 1870. After graduation 
 he came to Jarrettown and succeeded his 
 former preceptor in the latter's practice 
 there. Dr. Wilson has remained ever since, 
 and to-day has a large and remunerative 
 practice. 
 
 On February 28, 1872, Dr. Wilson mar- 
 ried Isabella F. Kessler, who died May 21, 
 1S75, aged thirty years, and left two chil- 
 dren, Stella J. and Mary G. After his 
 wife's death, Dr. Wilson on February 19, 
 1879, wedded Hannah E. Jones, a daughter 
 of Dr. Joshua Y. Jones, of Three Tuns, who 
 served as lazaretto physician under Gov- 
 ernor Shunk, and afterwards was a member 
 of the State senate from Montgomery 
 county. In politics Dr. Wilson has always 
 been a Democrat. He has served as school 
 director for two terms and is a member of 
 Fort Washington Lodge, No. 308, Free and 
 Accepted Masons. He was appointed and 
 served under Governor Pattison's first ad- 
 ministration as lazeretto physician of Phila- 
 delphia. Dr. Wilson has attained rank and 
 high standing in his profession. He is ex- 
 president of the Montgomery county medi- 
 cal society and a member of the Pennsyl- 
 vania State Medical society, which latter he 
 represented at the medical assembly at New 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 403 
 
 Orleans in 1886. He isalso a member of the 
 American Medical association. During the 
 year 1894 he was appointed a delegate by 
 the Montgomery County Medical associa- 
 tion to the International Medical congress 
 which met in Washington, D. C. 
 
 JOSEPH HENRY BRANDT, founder 
 J and first editor and proprietor of the 
 Norristown Review, is a son of Joseph R. 
 and Samaria (Schaffer) Brandt, and was 
 born January 27, 1863, in Limerick town- 
 ship, this county. He received a rudimen- 
 tary education in the public schools of Lim- 
 erick township, and at the age of sixteen 
 years entered the office of D. F. Graham, 
 at Pottstown, to learn the printer's trade. 
 During his apprenticeship at the trade he 
 worked at different times on the following 
 publications: The Pottstown Daily Ledger, 
 Pottstown Daily NewsaxiA the Norristown 
 National Defender. As a journeyman he 
 was one of the first compositors on the Nor- 
 ristown Daily Times, and later was general 
 news editor of the Norristown Daily Reg- 
 ister. In 1883, having made sufficient ad- 
 vancement in the art of printing and ob- 
 tained a good knowledge of the business 
 phase of the same, he embarked in the job 
 printing business on his own account. 
 Soon afterward he began the publication of 
 the Advertiser and in 1887 issued the first 
 edition of the Review, the publication of 
 which he has continued to the present time; 
 since 1890 in partnership with his brother, 
 Harvey S. Brandt. The paper is indepen- 
 dent in matters political and is devoted to 
 the chronicling of local and general news 
 and is an organ of potential influence in 
 the community. In connection with the 
 publication of the Review, they do a large 
 
 business in the job printing line and are the 
 printers of the Montgomei r County Pro- 
 hibitionist, the organ of the Prohibition 
 party in the county, and Boehni's Review, 
 the church paper of Boehni's Reformed 
 church of Blue Bell, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania Since 1891 they have done 
 a thriving trade as bicycle dealers. Mr. 
 Brandt is a Democrat politically and was 
 the founder of the Jefferson club, the lead- 
 ing Democratic club of the county, founded 
 in 1SS2. He became its first president and 
 officiated in that capacity for three succes- 
 sive terms. Joseph Rawn Brandt, the 
 father, died in 1S72, at the age of forty-two 
 years. Mrs. Samaria (Schaffer) Brandt, the 
 mother, is still living, at the age of sixty- 
 three years. Religiously he is a member of 
 the Reformed church and fraternally a past 
 officer of the Knights of the Golden Eagle. 
 On June 27, 1894, he married Mrs. Lola M. 
 Brooke, a daughter of Rev. A. J. Coffman, 
 a minister of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church of Virginia, and an ardent advocate 
 of anti-slavery. 
 
 JOHN B. YOST, of Green Lane, is a 
 <J member of the well known firm of 
 Yost Brothers, carriage builders. He is also 
 one of the foremost public spirited men of 
 the locality and is at present serving his 
 fellow citizens as a niemder of town coun- 
 cil. Though a Democrat in party affilia- 
 tion, Mr. Yost was not elected solely on ac- 
 count of his adherence to the principles of 
 the Democracy, but because he was recog- 
 nized as a man who had the ability and the 
 independence to serve them well. He is 
 still a young man, having been born in 
 Frederick township on Septembor 27, 1863. 
 He is a Pennsylvania German by birth and 
 
4°4 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ancestry, being a son of Henry H. and Hen- 
 rietta (Bucher) Yost. His paternal grand- 
 father, John Yost, was a well-to-do fanner 
 in Frederick township, where he resided 
 all his life. He was a staunch Democrat 
 and a man of strong influence in his locality. 
 He was married to Sallie Hallowbush, and 
 they had four children : Henry H., Sophia, 
 Maria S and one who died young. 
 
 Henry H. Yost, father of the subject of 
 this sketch, was born in Frederick town- 
 ship.- He was a farmer and followed that 
 business exclusively and to good profit. 
 Like his father he too was a Democrat and 
 took great interest in local politics. The 
 family attend the Reformed church, of 
 which all are members. He married Hen- 
 rietta Bucher, and their union was blessed 
 by eight children : Mary, Franklin, Lizzie, 
 Jonas, Amanda, Hinby, John B., Henry and 
 Savilla. The parents of this interesting 
 family are still living. 
 
 John B. Yost learned the trade of carriage 
 building with J. K. Weldman, at Green 
 Lane, and followed it as a journeyman un- 
 til 1886, when he engaged in the business 
 on his own account. He had as his part- 
 ner his brother, Henry B. Yost, and the 
 firm still continues. Their business is very 
 prosperous and they turn out many fine 
 carriages and wagons in the course of a 
 year. They employ five men besides them- 
 selves, and are kept busy all the time. Mr. 
 Yost is a Democrat and a member of coun- 
 cil. He has been in the latter body four 
 years. He is an earnest, active politician 
 and one of the leaders of the party in his 
 district. Mr. Yost belongs to but one 
 secret organization and that the Knights of 
 the Golden Eagle. He was married on the 
 2ist day of January, 1888, to Sevilla, 
 daughter of Henry Sweisford, a well known 
 farmer of Frederick township. This mar- 
 
 riage has resulted in a family of three chil- 
 dren : Sallie Lowrey, who died in infancy, 
 Eva May and Harrv Elmer. 
 
 LEWIS H. DAVIS, farmer, of King-of- 
 Prussia, is a son of Joseph W. and 
 Ruthanna (Hansell) Davis, and was born 
 near Gulf Mills, in Lower Merion town- 
 ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 November 25, 1838. Joseph W. Davis was 
 a son of Mishael Davis, a Whig and stone- 
 mason, who resided in Montgomery county. 
 Joseph W. Davis, who was born March 7, 
 1807, resided successively in Montgomery, 
 Delaware, and Chester counties. He re- 
 ceived an ordinary education, learned the 
 trade of cabinet-maker, but followed fann- 
 ing during the greater part of his life. He 
 was a Whig politically, and a member and 
 deacon of Gidf Christian church ; and died 
 October 28, 1865, aged fifty-eight years. In 
 1835 Mr. Davis wedded Ruthanna Hansell, 
 whose father, Isaac Hansell, was a resident 
 of Delaware county, Pennsylvania. They 
 have three children : Lorenzo F., Lewis 
 H , and Rebecca J., wife of William H. 
 Davis. 
 
 Lewis H. Davis was reared in Lower and 
 Upper Merion townships and Delaware 
 county, and after attending the common 
 schools came to Bridgeport, where he 
 spent three years in learning the trade of 
 carpenter, which he did not follow. After 
 completing his apprenticeship he returned 
 to Lower Merion township, where he was 
 engaged in farming for his father from 
 1861 to 1867. In the last named year he 
 went to Roxborough, where he farmed 
 Charles Magargee's land for five years, and 
 then rented a farm in Lower Merion town- 
 ship which he tilled for five years. At the 
 
/ 
 
 <-> c 
 
 i 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 405 
 
 end of that time he removed to the neigh- 
 borhood of King-of-Prussia, and after till- 
 ing a farm there for thirteen years, came in 
 1890, to his present farm in Upper Merion 
 township. 
 
 On November 22, 1866, Mr. Davis mar- 
 ried Elizabeth R Dull, a daughter of 
 Henry Dull. Mr. and Mrs. Davis have 
 five children, four sons and one daughter : 
 Charles J., Wallace H., Hattie A., Marvin 
 R., and Howard M. 
 
 Lewis H. Davis is a Republican in poli- 
 tics, and a member of Bridgeport Baptist 
 church. He is also a member of Pacific 
 Lodge No. 82, Ancient Order of United 
 Workmen, and Merion Grange No. 112, 
 Patrons of Husbandry. He has been as- 
 sessor of Upper Merion township for fifteen 
 years. 
 
 PKKCIYAL K. GABLE, proprietor of 
 the Rambo House, Norristown, is one 
 of the most prominent hotel men in the 
 county. He was born in Skippaekville, 
 February 27, i860, and comes from a long 
 line of German-American ancestors, all of 
 whom were famous as hotel men in their 
 day. He is a son of Jesse and Mary (Kem- 
 merer) Gable, both of whom are natives of 
 Montgomery county. His ancestors on his 
 father's side came from Rhenish Bavaria 
 in 1732 and fixed their home in Montgom- 
 ery county and immediately engaged in 
 the hotel business and mercantile pursuits. 
 They were of a very industrious nature, as 
 Germans generally are, and being frugal, 
 they prospered. Mr. Gable has in his pos- 
 session at present a license that was granted 
 to his grandfather, John Philip Gable, and 
 bears the date of September 24, 1788, which 
 was just three years after Montgomer) was 
 incorporated as a county. The Gable 
 
 family has been identified with the In. til 
 business for one hundred and eight years 
 in this one county. Jesse Cable, latin 1 of 
 Percival, was born in Upper Salford town- 
 ship, and was a hotel-keeper all his life, so 
 it is only natural to believe that his son is 
 by instinct and nature a hotel man, and 
 that no doubt in a large measure accounts 
 for his success since he has been in charge 
 of the Rambo house. It is often said that 
 men must be born to certain professions, 
 and certainly this can be true of no one 
 business more than that of hotel-keeping; 
 and the subject of this sketch is certainly 
 born to the occupation. His grandfather 
 died in 1834, and his father succeeded to 
 the hotel business in Skippack and con- 
 tinued in it up to the time of his death in 
 September, 1874, at which time he was 
 proprietor of the Farmer's hotel in Norris- 
 town. 
 
 Percival K. Gable commenced his career 
 as a hotel-keeper at Skippaekville at the 
 age of eighteen years, being proprietor of 
 the Valley house for three years. He then 
 came to Norristown and was owner and 
 proprietor of the Hartranft house in t886, 
 and remained there two years. He left 
 Norristown at the expiration and took the 
 Hotel Appledare, Atlantic City, for one 
 season, going to Lansdale then and taking 
 charge of the Central house. Two years 
 later he again made a change, this time 
 going to Quakertown, where he was pro- 
 prietor of the Red Lion hotel for five years. 
 On May 13, 1895, he returned to Norris- 
 town as proprietor of the Rambo house, 
 which he conducts as a first-class hostelry. 
 In all of his ventures Mr. Cable has been 
 verj successful, and since he has been in 
 charge of the Rambo house he has made 
 some very important improvements and 
 changes and is making it one of the best 
 
406 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 hotels in the county. The Rambo house 
 is a fine four-story building with the offices 
 on the lower floor. It contains sixty-four 
 rooms, nicely furnished, and has the 
 largest dining-room in the county. 
 
 Mr. Gable is a Democrat and has always 
 been very prominent in politics. While 
 residing at Ouakertown he was elected to 
 the borough council and was made presi- 
 dent of that body. In 1887 he was chosen 
 a delegate to the Democratic State conven- 
 tion from Montgomery county, and in 
 1893 was a delegate to the State conven- 
 tion from Bucks county. While he was 
 president of the Quakertown council he 
 was instrumental in introducing street 
 electric lighting, besides numerous other 
 improvements. He is a very prominent 
 supporter of fraternal societies, and is a 
 member of Warren Lodge No. 310, F. and 
 A. M. of Trappe ; Chapter No. 190, Royal 
 Arch Masons, of Norristown ; and Hutch- 
 inson Commandery No. 132, Knights Tem- 
 plar, of Norristown. He is also a member 
 of Lansdale Lodge No. 977, Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows, of Lansdale; Mil- 
 ford Castle No. 165, Knights of the Golden 
 Eagle, of Truinbauersville, Bucks county ; 
 and Camp No. 596, Patriotic Order Sons of 
 America, of Truinbauersville. 
 
 On May 1st, 1880 Mr. Gable and M. 
 Levina, daughter of John and Levina Kohl, 
 of Norristown, were joined in wedlock. 
 They had one child, who died in infancy. 
 Mrs. Gable died on the 16th of April, 1882. 
 On April 23, 1885, Mr. Gable married 
 again, his second wife being Ella J., 
 daughter of Prof. Henry D. Kulp, of Skip- 
 packville. This union has been blessed 
 with three children : Rosa L., E. Irene, 
 and Mary. The family are members of the 
 Reformed church, and are highly respected 
 in the community in which thev live. 
 
 GEORGE W. RIGHTER, one of Upper 
 Merion township's successful farmers, 
 is a son of John and Elizabeth (Legeaux) 
 Righter. John Righter was a son of An- 
 thony Righter, a millwright by trade and a 
 resident of Spring Mill. John Righter was 
 a farmer and limeburner, and had lime quar- 
 ries near Spring Mill, which he operated 
 with commendable success. He was a man 
 of importance in his community, and in 
 early life supported the Democratic party 
 which he afterwards left to become a Re- 
 publican. He was a member of the Society 
 of Friends, and died in 1870. Mr. Righter 
 married Elizabeth Legeaux, a daughter of 
 Peter Legeaux, a Frenchman. The family 
 consisted of eight children, seven sons and 
 one daughter : Peter, Anthony, Joseph, 
 John, jr., Charles, Lucressa, George W., and 
 Lindley. Of these children three are dead. 
 George W. Righter was reared at Spring 
 Mill, where he resided until he was twenty- 
 eight years of age. He attended the early 
 common schools of his township, and after 
 taking a course at Tremount seminary at 
 Norristown, under the Rev. Samuel Aaron, 
 he engaged in teaching which he followed 
 for five years. He then abandoned that pro- 
 fession and embarked in agricultural pur- 
 suits which has claimed his time and atten- 
 tion principally ever since. The farm he 
 first bought he sold in 1863 to purchase his 
 present farm, which lies one-half mile from 
 Merion station, P. &. R. R., convenient to 
 school, church, store and market. Some 
 years ago Mr. Righter became a member of 
 the Independent Ordor of Odd Fellows, and 
 the Patrons of Husbandry. In politics he 
 has stood for some years as an Independent, 
 men and measures being everything, and 
 nominees and party figuring very slightly 
 with him. Believing in the greatest good 
 to the greatest number, and in an economi- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 407 
 
 cal administration of local and public affairs 
 he votes for those whom he thinks will work 
 most and best in those directions. 
 
 In 1859, George W. Righter was united 
 in marriage with Caroline Hart, a daughter 
 of John Hart, a resident of Plymouth. To 
 their union have been born four children : 
 Harry S., Carrie E., George W. and Mary 
 Romania, who all passed away in childhood. 
 
 HON. JOSEPH A. SHOEMAKER, ex- 
 member of the Pennsylvania State 
 legislature and a prominent business man 
 and politician of Montgomery county, has 
 since 1885, been living a retired life on a 
 small farm of eleven acres within the cor- 
 porate limits of the borough of Jenkiutown, 
 being one of the most progressive and high- 
 ly respected citizens of that town. He may 
 truly be said to be of strictly American an- 
 cestry, for the families from which he is de- 
 scended were of the Society of Friends, and 
 his paternal ancestors came to Pennsylvania 
 with William Penn, in 1682. They settled 
 on a farm in Horsham township, this coun- 
 ty. His grandfather was Joseph Shoema- 
 ker, who became a prosperous farmer in 
 ( rwynedd township. His marriage with 
 Tacy Ambler, who was of Welsh descent, re- 
 sulted in a family of seven children: Ezekiel, 
 John, Joseph, Jessie, Ann, Ellen and Hannah. 
 John Shoemaker, father of our subject, was 
 born in Gwynedd township, in 1790, learned 
 the trade of harness maker, and followed 
 that business all his life in Jenkiutown. 
 His union with Elizabeth, daughter of 
 Joseph and Mary Logan, of Aldington town- 
 ship, was blessed by the following children: 
 Hannah, wife of John Jones ; Maria, marri- 
 ed William Steel, now deceased ; Jane, de- 
 ceased, wdio was the wife of George Logan ; 
 
 Martha ; Joseph A. our subject ; Elizabeth 
 and John deceased. Mr. Shoemaker retired 
 from business and removed to Horsham 
 township, where he died in 1863. 
 
 Hon. Joseph A. Shoemaker, our subject, 
 was born at Gwynedd on the old homestead 
 on May 13, 1826. Being a birthright mem- 
 ber of the Society of Friends, he received 
 his education in the Friends school of his 
 native township, and remained there until 
 he was thirteen years old, when he went to 
 Philadelphia county. At the age of sixteen 
 he was apprenticed to learn the trade of 
 blacksmith at Bridesburg, Philadelphia, and 
 afterwards at Upper Dublin. At the ex- 
 piration of four years he went to Broad Axe, 
 where he remained until he was twenty-two 
 years old, and then started for the west. 
 He worked at his trade in Illinois for awhile 
 and then returned to the east and became 
 engaged in buying and selling horses, and 
 for a year was the tenant of a farm in Hors- 
 ham township. For three years after this 
 he was engaged at work in a sawmill in this 
 township, and in 1853 he returned to Jenk- 
 iutown, where, with his brother-in-law, 
 George Logan, as a partner, he embarked in 
 the butchering business. In this business 
 he prospered and retired in 1885, contenting 
 himself with looking after his small farm at 
 his residence and in looking after his invest- 
 ments and other enterprises. 
 
 Mr. Shoemaker has been a very active 
 business man all his life, and is at present a 
 director in the Jenkiutown National bank ; 
 treasurer of the Philadelphia Droveyard ; 
 director of the Masonic Hall building asso- 
 ciation, and president of the Cedar Hill 
 Cemetery company of Frankford. ( In Janu- 
 ary 1, i-^.S7, Mr. .Shoemaker was married to 
 Esther Ann, daughter of William Harper, 
 of Abington, and their union was blessed 
 with five children : Clara F., wife of Dr. 
 
408 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Henry Waas; William H., Harry, who 
 died in infancy ; Lizzie, and Jennie, wife of 
 Harry C. Millar. The family are nearly all 
 consistent members of the Friends Society 
 and attend Abington meeting. 
 
 Politically Mr. Shoemaker is a very ac- 
 tive Republican. He was a member of the 
 town council and for several terms filled the 
 president's chair with credit. He has been 
 assistant assessor and assessor of the bor- 
 ough, and has served as an election officer. 
 In party work he was always very promi- 
 nent, and has often been a delegate to 
 county and State conventions. In 1887 he 
 was elected a member of the State legisla- 
 ture by a handsome majority and served two 
 successive terms with honor to himself and 
 credit to his constituency. In the halls of 
 legislation he became a prominent figure. 
 During the session of 1887 he was a mem- 
 ber of the committee that was instrumental 
 in printing 19,000 copies of that magnifi- 
 cent work, Birds oj Pennsylvania. He was 
 in 1889 chairman of the Geological Survey 
 committee and a member of the printing 
 committee. He was also on the corporation 
 committee, the committee on congressional 
 appointment, bank and banking, and the 
 committee to compare bills. 
 
 Socially Mr. Shoemaker is very popular. 
 Fraternally he is also prominent. He is a 
 member of Free Masons, Odd Fellows, 
 Knights of Golden Eagle and Junior ( >rder 
 American Mechanics. 
 
 HORACE LANDIS, A. M., the effi- 
 <J • cient principal of the Conshohocken 
 public schools, is a son of John and Anna 
 ( Hnnsicker) Landis, and was born at Grate's 
 Ford, near Collegeville, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, October 20, 1854. 
 
 The Landis family traces its trans-Atlantic 
 ancestry back to Holland, but Abram Lan- 
 dis (grandfather) was born in Chester 
 county in 1765 and came to Upper Provi- 
 dence township, where he purchased a large 
 farm and where he died in 1830. He was a 
 Whig and a member of the Reformed 
 church, and wedded Mary Beitler, by whom 
 he had four children : Abraham, John, 
 Jacob and Hannah, wife of Daniel Long- 
 aker. 
 
 John Landis (father) was born in the year 
 1813 in Upper Providence township, and 
 after receiving a common English educa- 
 tion learned the trade of plasterer, which he 
 followed for several years at Trappe, Nor- 
 ristown, and other places in the county. 
 He afterwards quit his trade to engage in 
 farming at Grater's Ford, where he now 
 owns a good farm of 140 acres. During the 
 last few years Mr. Landis has employed his 
 time principally in the management and 
 supervision of his farm and his huckstering 
 teams, which he still runs. He is a con- 
 stant reader and well informed on all the 
 current issues of the day. He is a radical 
 Republican and an active member of 
 Trinity Reformed church at Collegeville, 
 and in past years was one of the most untir- 
 ing workers in the interest of his party and 
 church. 
 
 He married Miss Anna Hnnsicker, who 
 was born in 1817, and is a daughter of 
 Abraham and Anna Hnnsicker, the latter 
 of which is now in her ninety-sixth year, 
 and hale and hearty. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Landis were born six sons and seven daugh- 
 ters : Elizabeth Bechtel (deceased), Mary 
 Markley, Anna (deceased), Hattie, Hannah 
 Hnnsicker (deceased), Abraham, Katie Har- 
 ley, Benjamin, J .Horace (subject), Henry, 
 Josephine, Fritz, A. Lincoln and Elias,who 
 died in infancy. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 409 
 
 J. Horace Laudis was reared on the farm 
 and received his elementary education in 
 the public schools of Perkiomen township. 
 He then attended Ursinus college and then 
 entered the Millersville State Normal 
 school, from which he was graduated in the 
 elementary course in 1S77. In a short time 
 afterwards he took the post graduate course 
 in the sciences at the last named educa- 
 tional institution, and then entered the 
 University of Pennsylvania. In 1895 
 Ursinus college conferred upon him the 
 degree of A. M. While attending college 
 he employed his vacations in teaching in 
 the public schools. He served as principal 
 of the Mauch Chunk public schools, of 
 Carbon county, and of the Schweukville 
 and Lansdale schools. In 1892 he was 
 elected principal of the Conshohocken 
 schools, and was re-elected in 1893, 1894 
 and 1895. He now has under his charge 
 sixteen schools and nineteen teachers. 
 
 On Christmas, 1895, Professor Landiswas 
 united in marriage with Lizzie K. Kratz, a 
 daughter of Michael Kratz, a business man 
 of Green Lane. Their union has been 
 blessed with one child, Vesta K. 
 
 In politics Professor Laudis is a Republi- 
 can. He is a member of Trinity Reformed 
 church. Since assuming charge of the 
 Conshohocken schools his policy has been 
 to widen out the course of study and secure 
 the best of scoool buildings and furniture. 
 His efforts have been appreciated in both 
 directions. He introduced vocal music and 
 manual training in the schools, and $2,500 
 has been spent on improving the school 
 buildings and for the purchase of modern 
 improved furniture. Professor Laudis has 
 widened the course of study and raised the 
 standard of the schools, and has given repu- 
 tation to Conshohocken in its educational 
 work. 
 
 DAVID F. REINERT, a prominent 
 real estate dealer and business man of 
 Pottstown, was born October 12, 1833, in 
 Exeter township, Berks county, Pennsyl- 
 vania. He is a son of Jonas and Hannah 
 (Feather) Reinert, both natives of Berks 
 county and both descended from old German 
 stock. Jonas Reinert was a tanner by 
 trade, a Democrat in politics and a Luth- 
 eran in religious belief. He served as sup- 
 ervisor of his township and took an active 
 part in all public matters. His death oc- 
 curred June 27, 1883, and his wife survived 
 him only about two months, dying Septem- 
 ber 19, 1883. Their ages were respectively 
 seventy-nine and eighty-one years. They 
 were buried at the Amityville cemetery, in 
 Berks county. 
 
 David F. Reinert received his elementary 
 instruction in the public schools, and then 
 entered Prof. Hunsicker's select school at 
 Collegeville, Montgomery county, where 
 he remained three years. After completing 
 his studies, Mr. Reinert began teaching, 
 and devoted himself to that laudable occu- 
 pation for a quarter of a century. He was 
 successful beyond the usual measure, and 
 won repute as an expert in the school-room. 
 He taught in various parts of Berks and 
 Montgomery counties and also in the city 
 of Philadelphia. In 1873 Mr. Reinert en- 
 gaged in the real estate and insurance busi- 
 ness at Pottstown, and has successfully con- 
 ducted that enterprise to the present time. 
 In 1X72 he was elected justice of the peace 
 and has served, continuously ever since, 
 having been elected to that office five times 
 in succession. 
 
 In politics 'Scpiire Reinert is a Democrat, 
 but has never had any political ambition. 
 He served as city engineer of Pottstown for 
 twelve years, is a director of the Mutual 
 Fire Insurance company of Reading, and 
 
410 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 has also served as director in other insur- 
 ance companies. He is regarded as a fine 
 business man, has been successful in his 
 various enterprises and stands high in his 
 community. 
 
 On the 3rd of February, i860, Mr. Reinert 
 was married to Hannah B. Feather, a 
 daughter of Jacob Feather, of New Han- 
 over township, Montgomery county. Mrs. 
 Reinert died December 5, 1894, aged fifty- 
 five years, and was buried at Mount Zion 
 cemetery, Chester county, this State. 
 'Squire Reinert is a member of Warren 
 Lodge No. 310, Free and Accepted Masons, 
 and is also a Knight Templar. He is a 
 member of the Reformed church of Potts- 
 town, and has served for a number of years 
 as superintendent of the Sunday school. 
 
 MARK R. HAGNER, a resident of 
 Upper Merion, and operator of ex- 
 tensive lime quarries in Upper Merion 
 township, is a son of Henry L. and Catha- 
 rine (Rubincam) Hagner, and was born at 
 Shawmont, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, October 25, 1842. Henry L. Hagner 
 was a first cousin to Charles V. Hagner, 
 who, in September, 1820, purchased from 
 the Schuylkill Navigation company the 
 second water power used along the Schuyl- 
 kill. This power was used at the latter's 
 mill which he built for making oils and 
 grinding drugs, shortly after adding a full- 
 ing mill and power looms for weaving 
 satinets made by Alfred Jenks of Holmes- 
 burg. These latter were the first power 
 looms used in Pennsylvania for weaving 
 woolen goods, and this humble establish- 
 ment became the birth-place of the exten- 
 sive mills now along the old canal and 
 above Manayunk. He was reared at Rox- 
 
 borough, where he learned the trades of 
 carpenter and builder, which he followed 
 for a life pursuit. He lived successively at 
 Roxborough, the Falls of Schuylkill, and 
 in the city of Philadelphia, and in 1870 
 retired from active life, returning after a 
 number of years to Roxborough, where he 
 died, November, 1892, aged seventy-four 
 years. He was an old-time Democrat, 
 served as tax collector at Roxborough, and 
 was a school director for several years in 
 Philadelphia, where he was a candidate for 
 the legislature from the twenty-fourth 
 ward. 
 
 He was an Episcopalian, and in the year 
 1830 married Catherine Rubincam, whose 
 father was a resident of Roxborough. Their 
 family consisted of three sons and three 
 daughters: Clara F. , widow of Lewis 
 Shrunk ; Charles B., a resident of Phila- 
 delphia ; Eleanor, wife of T F. Ross, of 
 Philadelphia ; John, of Philadelphia ; Mary 
 W., wife of Rev. Isaac Wilson ; and Mark 
 R., whose name appears at the head of this 
 sketch. 
 
 Mark R. Hagner was reared at Roxbor- 
 ough and in Philadelphia where he re- 
 ceived his education in the public schools 
 of that city. Leaving school, he assisted 
 his father on a farm until the commence- 
 ment of the late Civil war, when on 
 August 5, 1861, he was mustered in as a 
 member of Company B, 1st Pennsylvania 
 reserve cavalry, and served as corporal 
 until September, 9, 1864, when he was 
 mustered out with his company at Phila- 
 delphia. His company was first com- 
 manded by Captain Owen Jones, who after- 
 ward became colonel. He participated in 
 the following engagements: Drainesville, 
 Woodstock, Mt. Jackson, Harrisouburg,Cross 
 Keys, Rappahannock, Thoroughfare Gap, 
 Bull Run No. 2, Aldie, Warrington, Fred- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 411 
 
 ericksburg, Brandy Station, Gettysburg, 
 Fairfield, Shepardstown, Culpepper C. H., 
 Rapidan Station, Auburn, Bristol, New 
 Hope cliurcb, and thirteen others, from 
 November 27, 1863, to Weldon railroad, 
 August 21, 1864. He was remarkably for- 
 tunate in never being wounded or taken 
 prisoner, and returning from the army he 
 engaged in farming- on his father's farm at 
 the Falls of Schuylkill, in which occupa- 
 tion he remained for four years. He then 
 engaged in the lime business with his 
 father-in-law, Lewis Shronk, who had ex- 
 tensive lime quarries just below Norris- 
 town. 
 
 The Philadelphia yard and Fairmount 
 avenue yard was attended to by him for 
 thirteen or fourteen years, at the end of 
 which time he bought the coal business of 
 William P. Spooner and connected with it 
 the lime business at the corner of Ninth 
 street and Columbia avenue, Philadelphia. 
 He disposed of his interests two years later 
 and purchased a large farm near Quaker- 
 town that he tilled for three years. He 
 then removed to Upper Merion township 
 and worked Hugh Mclnnes' lime quarries 
 up to March 1, 1894, when he rented the 
 quarries and bought the tools and stock 
 used in operating them. He has success- 
 fully operated these quarries since, and his 
 lime finds ready sale at home and in the 
 city. He works a considerable force of 
 hands and has his kilns in constant opera- 
 tion. He has been a resident of Norris- 
 town and Upper Merion since 1880. 
 
 Mark R. Hagner was a Democrat up to 
 1894, but since then has supported the Re- 
 publican party. He is a member of Penn- 
 sylvania Council No. 342, Royal Arcanum; 
 Cassia Lodge No. 273, Free and Accepted 
 Masons; and Pennsylvania Reserves, Post 
 No. 173, Grand Army of the Republic. 
 
 FAMES BICKHART, clay manager of 
 <J the puddling department of the Alan 
 Wood Co.'s rolling mills, of Conshohooken, 
 is a son of Christian and Mary Bickhart, 
 and was born in Chester county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, February 38, 1845. His father, 
 Christian Bickhart, was a native and life 
 long resident of East Vincent township in 
 Chester county, where he died at eighty- 
 two years of age. Christian Bickert was a 
 Democrat and a member of the German 
 Reformed church. Their union was blessed 
 with eight children, six sons and two 
 daughters : Jacob Christian, Anne Bowers, 
 Ralph, Mary Brownback, Jonas, James (sub- 
 ject), and Hiram. 
 
 James Bickhart acquired his education in 
 the usual channels of the township schools. 
 He was reared on the farm, and during the 
 spring and summer months labored in the 
 fields, while his attendance at the public 
 schools was limited to the winter season. 
 He progressed in the common branches as 
 far as they were then taught in the public 
 schools, and at seventeen years of age left 
 both the school and the farm to try life for 
 himself. 
 
 His first employment after leaving the 
 paternal roof was as a helper to a pud- 
 dler in a rolling mill of Pottstown. In 
 1868 he left Pottstown and settled at Cons- 
 hohocken, where he entered the rolling mill 
 of the Alan Wood Co. He served as helper 
 and next as puddler, and then became 
 night boss of the puddling department, 
 over which he was appointed day boss or 
 manager in 1881. By experience and 
 natural endowments Mr. Bickhart is well 
 qualified for his present position. 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Bickhart wedded Elizabeth 
 Staley, and to their union have been born 
 six children, three sons and three (laugh- 
 ters. The sons are Ira, Vincent and Frank- 
 
412 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 lin, and the daughters are Zella May, 
 Bertha and Flora. 
 
 In politics James Biekhart is a decided 
 Republican, although not a politician in 
 the sense of office holding or office seeking. 
 He is a member of Washita Tribe, Im- 
 proved Order of Red Men, and the Schuyl- 
 kill Relief association. He is interested in 
 the Guarantee Building and Loan Associa- 
 tion and in some other business enterprises 
 of the busy borough of Conshohocken. 
 
 CHARLES S. JENKINS, cashier of 
 the First National bank of Lansdale, 
 and a citizen of prominence, was born in 
 Gwynedd township, on April 14, 1822, and 
 is a son of Edward and Margaret (Sorver) 
 Jenkins. This family is descended from 
 ancestors who came from Wales in the 
 early part of the eighteenth century. His 
 paternal grandfather was John Jenkins, who 
 came into the possession of a large tract of 
 land in the vicinity of Lansdale, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and was a prosperous tiller of the 
 soil. He took very little interest in party 
 politics, but left his plow to defend his 
 country when his services were needed. 
 He was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Lukeus, 
 whose maiden name was Walker. They 
 had the following children : John, Owen, 
 Edward, Jesse, Sarah and Elizabeth. 
 
 Edward Jenkins, father of the subject, 
 was accorded a common school education 
 and became a prosperous farmer. In poli- 
 tics he was a Whig and afterwards a Re- 
 publican, and while he did not aspire to 
 office himself, he took an active part in 
 electing others. He married Margaret 
 Sorver, and four children were born to them. 
 These were : Philip, Mary Ann, who mar- 
 ried Charles Matthews; Charles, and Lydia, 
 
 who died in infancy. He died in the 
 eighty-sixth year of his age. 
 
 Charles S. Jenkins went to the county 
 schools of his period and then attended 
 boarding school at Line- Lexington for some 
 time. After finishidg his education he de- 
 cided to follow teaching as a profession, 
 and for eleven years he acted as an instruc- 
 tor, part of his time being under the old 
 pay school system. By reason of failing 
 health, Mr. Jenkins resigned his position as 
 teacher and became engaged in farming. 
 In 1864 he was elected cashier of the First 
 National bank and has held that position 
 ever since, with honor and credit, over 
 thirty-one years. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins is a remarkable man in many 
 ways. He is not only a business man, and 
 a good executive, but he is also a careful 
 financier and a real, natural born, mechanic. 
 He has genius of an inventive kind that 
 has brought him prominence and a goodly 
 income. He invented a revolving map 
 roller that is becoming extensively used and 
 he is now supplying a large number to the 
 government, to railroads and other large 
 corporations. He is also the inventor of a 
 steel plow, apparently of unusual merit, 
 but which has never been put upon the mar- 
 ket. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins married Tacy, daughter of 
 Stephen Styes, a farmer of Whitpain town- 
 ship. Only three children have been born 
 to this couple : Charles S., and Mary, both 
 of whom are very popular ; and Annie, who 
 died in 1880, aged twenty-four years. Mr. 
 Jenkins is a man of very studious habits, 
 extraordinary common-sense and has a com- 
 mendable thirst for knowledge leaning 
 strongly toward mechanics. In the bank 
 his long term of service speaks for his effi- 
 ciency, and in social life he commands the 
 highest esteem. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 4i3 
 
 WILLIAM BROMER, a wide-awake 
 business man, and the proprietor of 
 the Bromer merchant tailoring establish- 
 ment at Schwenksville, is a sou of Alfred 
 and Catharine (Shepherd) Bromer, and was 
 born at Schwenksville, Montgomery coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, November 6, 1864. He 
 attended the public schools until he was fif- 
 teen years of age, and then took a full six 
 mouths course at Bryant and Stratton's 
 Business college, of Philadelphia. Return- 
 ing he worked in various departments of his 
 father's merchant tailoring establishment 
 until 1889, when he succeeded to the pro- 
 prietorship of the entire business. Mr. Bro- 
 mer employs seven hundred hands, and has 
 a regular output of eight thousand gar- 
 ments per week which are taken by the 
 leading wholesale clothing houses of Phila- 
 delphia; while during the busy trade sea- 
 son of the year he manufactures about ten 
 thousand garments per week. His estab- 
 lishment is a two story structure containing 
 two ware and packing rooms 35x60, a but- 
 ton hole factory 30x40, and two finishing 
 and shaping rooms 12x16 feet. Mr. Bromer 
 is a Republican and a member of the Re- 
 formed church, in which he has served for 
 some time as a trustee. 
 
 On October 16, 1888, William Bromer 
 married Katie Mary Willard, a daughter of 
 Peter Willard, of Trappe. Their union has 
 been blessed with two children, a son and a 
 daughter. 
 
 The Bromer family is one of the old and 
 respectable families of the city of Kiehl, in 
 the grand duchy of Baden, Germany. 
 Frederick Bromer of that city owned an ex- 
 tensive bakery and wine cafe, which were 
 destroyed three times in as many different 
 wars, when Kiehl was subjected to bombard- 
 ment. These losses reduced him from 
 affluent circumstances to a state of limited 
 
 means at the time of his death. He reared 
 a family of two sons and one daughter. 
 The eldest son served as a soldier under 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, and was killed during 
 the invasion of Russia. The younger son, 
 Jacob Bromer, learned the trade of tailor and 
 became a merchant tailor in Kiehl. He 
 came to Philadelphia in 1869, but not find- 
 ing the facilities for business that he was led 
 to believe existed there, he returned to his 
 native city, where he died a few years later. 
 He married and had eight children : Sophia, 
 widow of Richard King, of Schwenksville ; 
 Jacob, a soldier in the German army, who 
 took part in the revolution of 1848, in Ger- 
 many, and came to Philadelphia where he 
 followed merchant tailoring until his death 
 in 1854 ; Frederick and Minnie who both 
 died in early life ; Louise, wife of Christian 
 Maver, of this county ; Alfred ; and two 
 others deceased in infancy. 
 
 Alfred Bromer was born September 2, 
 1837, received a fair education, and at fif- 
 teen years of age came to Philadelphia, 
 where he learned the trade of tailor with his 
 brother Jacob. After the death of the latter 
 in 1854, he became a journeyman tailor and 
 worked for ten years in various places. At 
 the end of that time, in 1864, he came to 
 Schwenksville and started a small merchant 
 tailor manufacturing establishment, and dis- 
 posed of his products to the leading cloth- 
 ing houses of Philadelphia. From thence- 
 forward his business career was one of 
 abundant success until he disposed of his 
 establishment to his son William, on Janu- 
 ary 1, 1889. Since then Mr. Bromer has 
 not been engaged in active business. He is 
 a Republican and a member of the Re- 
 formed church, and on April 9, i860, wed- 
 ded Catharine Shepherd, a daughter of 
 William Shepherd, of Philadelphia. They 
 have eleven living children : Elizabeth, 
 
414 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 wife of Irvin Schwentz, teller of the First 
 National bank ; Susan, married Samuel 
 Weller, a salesman of Philadelphia ; Rev. 
 Albert, a graduate of Yale college and pas- 
 tor of a Reformed church in Philadelphia ; 
 William, whose name heads this sketch ; 
 Rev. Edward, a graduate of Yale college 
 and a pastor of the Orwigsburg Reformed 
 church, in Schuylkill county ; Frank, now 
 in his senior year at Lehigh university ; 
 Jacob, engaged in business with his brother 
 William ; Katie, a graduate of the Phila- 
 delphia High school ; Minnie, a student at 
 Ursinus college; Cartney and Ralph, who 
 are at home with their parents. 
 
 RICHARD T. S. HALLOWELL, is a 
 son of Charles and Mary (Stewart) Hal- 
 lowell, and was born near Swedesburg, in 
 Upper Merion township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, September 5, 1849. 
 The Hallowell family is of English Quaker 
 ancestry and came from England to south- 
 eastern Pennsylvania prior to the year 1700. 
 Nathan Hallowell, the grandfather of 
 Richard T. S. Hallowell, was reared in the 
 religious faith of his American ancestors 
 and was a consistent member of the Society 
 of Friends. He was a Whig and Repub- 
 lican in politics, and resided in close prox- 
 imity to the Old Swedes church near 
 Swedesburg. His son, Charles Hallowell, 
 was born in Upper Merion township, where 
 he obtained a good common English edu- 
 cation. He then learned the trade of wheel- 
 wright, which he followed for a life vo- 
 cation. He worked at different places 
 throughout the county and was employed 
 for some time at Swedes furnace. He was 
 a Whig and Republican politically, and 
 died February 12, 1886, aged seventy-one 
 
 years. He served as an officer in the old 
 militia organization of the State, and was 
 first lieutenant of the 2nd Montgomery 
 troop of cavalry that helped to quell the 
 Kensington riot at Philadelphia in 1847. 
 He married, in 1844, Mary Stewart, whose 
 father, James Stewart, was a resident of 
 Upper Merion. To their union were born 
 four sons and three daughters : Eugene, 
 Richard, Nathan, Annie, Stewart, Mrs. 
 Eliza Templin, and Mary. 
 
 Richard T. S. Hallowell was reared and 
 lived in Upper Merion excepting one year 
 (1851), when his parents resided in Ply- 
 mouth township. He attended school at 
 Swedeland, and then learned the trade of 
 carpenter, which he has followed ever since 
 in connection with contracting and build- 
 ing. He has served as foreman on the 
 erection of several large buildings, super- 
 intended the restoration of Washington's 
 headquarters at Valley Forge in 1887, and 
 was superintendent in 1894, of the construc- 
 tion of the Pennsylvania Soldiers' Orphan 
 Industrial School building in Franklin 
 county. Mr. Hallowell is a staunch Re- 
 publican, has been a member of the county 
 committee, and is serving on his third term 
 as auditor of his township. He is an active 
 member and vestryman of the Old Swedes 
 Episcopal church, and has been a member, 
 for twenty-five years, of Washington Camp 
 No. 121, Patriotic Sons of America, in 
 iwhich organization he served as State presi- 
 dent in 18S7-88. He is also a member of 
 the board of directors and secretary of the 
 Centennial and Memorial association of 
 Valley Forge. Mr. Hallowell is a skilled 
 workman, a competent builder and is active, 
 energetic and patriotic. 
 
 On September 5, 1877, Mr. Hallowell 
 wedded Jennie Eakins, a daughter of Au- 
 gustus Eakins, of Philadelphia. Their 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 4i5 
 
 union lias been blessed with one child, a 
 son, named Frank Thomas Stewart, who 
 was born September 5, 1888. 
 
 WILLIAM MOWLDS, the proprietor 
 of a large butchering establishment 
 and meat market at Conshohocken, is a son 
 of Jacob and Ann (Davis) Mowlds, and was 
 born in Plymouth township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, September 24, 1845. 
 His paternal great-grandfather Mowlds 
 came from Ireland, and his father, Jacob 
 Mowlds, was born and passed the greater 
 part of his life at Conshohocken. He after- 
 wards removed to West Conshohocken, and 
 finally removed to Phoenixville, in Chester 
 county, where he died. He was a Republi- 
 can politically and wedded Ann Davis. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Mowlds reared a family of nine 
 children : George, Mary Jane, who died in 
 infancy ; Sallie, wife of Rev. Scott, a mis- 
 sionary to Burmah at the time of their mar- 
 riage ; Cordelia, William, subject ; Thomas 
 D., Mary Emma Moore, John H. and 
 Jerry K. 
 
 William Mowlds was reared on a farm 
 and received his education in the Mt. 
 Pleasant public schools. At eleven years 
 of age he found employment with his uncle, 
 William Davis, and four years later went 
 to assist William Davis, sr., with whom he 
 remained for four years. He then drove a 
 butcher wagon for his brother-in-law for 
 two years, and next worked for a short time 
 in a stone quarry, which he left to spend 
 two years as a workman in the Alan Wood 
 Company rolling mill. At the end of that 
 time he became a clerk in the grocery store 
 of A. S. Leedom, with whom he remained 
 for two years. He then, in July, 1869, 
 established his present butchering yards 
 
 and meat market at West Conshohocken, 
 where he does a very profitable business. 
 IK- owns the property where he resides, 
 which is one and three-quarter miles from 
 the borough. Killing and dressing all of 
 his own meat he furnishes to his patrons a 
 fresh and wholesome article of food. Mr. 
 Mowlds is a supporter of the Republican 
 party, has served as a councilman and is a 
 member of the present board of school di- 
 rectors of West Conshohocken. He is a 
 member of the Baptist church and inter- 
 ested in the Rising Sun Building and Loan 
 association. Mr. Mowlds also takes inter- 
 est in fraternal and beneficial societies, 
 being a member of Fritz lodge, Free and 
 Accepted Masons, and Gratitude lodge, In- 
 dependent Order of Odd Fellows. 
 
 On March 31, 1870, William Mowlds 
 wedded Sallie Wilde, whose parents are 
 Charles and Elizabeth Wilde. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Mowlds have been born two children : 
 Eugene and Ethel, the latter now deceased. 
 Eugene Mowlds entered the department of 
 civil engineering of Lehigh university, 
 from which institution he was graduated in 
 the class of 1895. He is now engaged as a 
 civil engineer with Barnes ec Davis, a large 
 engineer and contracting firm of Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 GEORGE W. DAVIS, one of the fore- 
 most and most substantial business 
 men of West Conshohocken, is a son of 
 William and Phebe (Supplee) Davis, and 
 was born at West Conshohocken, Montgom- 
 ery county, Pennsylvania, July 13, 1832. 
 The earliest members of the Davis family in 
 this country, settled in Plymouth township, 
 where it is said that the father of Jefferson 
 Davis, the president of the Southern Con- 
 
416 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 federacy, was born and resided for some 
 years. 
 
 Reese Davis, the paternal grandfather of 
 George W. Davis, was born in Plymouth 
 township, where he died at an advanced 
 age. He was a farmer and a Friend, and by 
 his marriage had four children : Thomas, 
 Daniel, William and Rebecca Green. Wil- 
 liam was born in Plymouth township. By 
 a series of misfortunes his father became re- 
 duced in means, and he was placed at a ten- 
 der age with a farmer by the name of Peter- 
 man, to be reared to manhood. After at- 
 taining his majority he left the Peterman 
 place and rented a farm in Upper Merion 
 township near the Christ's Swede church, 
 and in the vicinity of Bridgeport. In 1826 
 he removed to West Conshohocken, where 
 he purchased a farm and was engaged until 
 his death in various lines of business. He 
 followed farming, operated a marble mill, 
 handled lime, and for several years ran a 
 line of teams to transfer freight and baggage 
 for the Philadelphia,. Germantown and Nor- 
 ristown railroad company. He owned five 
 good farms besides town property, and was 
 the wealthiest man in his section of the 
 county. He was a Democrat and a Friend, 
 and lived an honest, upright and useful life. 
 He served for a number of years as a mem- 
 ber of the school board, but declined all offi- 
 ces of a civil or political character. He was 
 twice married. 
 
 George W. Davis received a common 
 school education, and after serving as a 
 clerk for four years in a store in which his 
 father was interested, he was sent at nine- 
 teen years of age to superintend the cutting 
 of timber on a two thousand acre tract of 
 land owned by his father, in Wayne county. 
 After some seven or eight years spent there 
 he returned home to become a partner with 
 his brother in a store which they conducted 
 
 up to 1875. He then sold out his interest 
 to his brother, and has been engaged since 
 in various business enterprises. Mr. Davis 
 bought forty-nine acres of his father's estate 
 at West Conshohocken, owns seven houses 
 and lots and has an interest in a store at the 
 latter place, besides owning, in connection 
 with his brothers, a farm of seventy-seven 
 acres in Lower Merion township. He is a 
 stockholder in the Montgomery National 
 and the First National banks of Consho- 
 hocken, the bank of North America of 
 Philadelphia, and Title, Trust and Safe De- 
 posit company. 
 
 Mr. Davis married Margaret C. Cress. 
 To their union have been born five chil- 
 dren, two sons and three daughters : Mary 
 Jacobus, Emma, Annie, Lydia, George I. 
 (deceased), and Reese M. 
 
 Mr. Davis is a Republican, although his 
 father was a Democrat. He has served as a 
 member of the town council and was bor- 
 ough treasurer for several years. He is a 
 man of good judg ment and practical busi- 
 ness experience, who has been very success- 
 ful in the various enterprises in whicn he 
 has been engaged. He is a member of 
 Fritz lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. 
 
 DR. CHARLES W. EVERHART,who 
 since 1887 has been a very successful 
 and highly respected practicing physician 
 of Grater's Ford, is a descendant of German 
 ancestry and was born in Sellersville, 
 Bucks county, January 26, i860. He is a 
 man of wide experience in his profession 
 and deservedly popular. Dr. Everhart's 
 grandfather on his paternal side was born 
 in Philadelphia in $74. He was a mer- 
 chant by occupation and was highly re- 
 spected. He was a Democrat in politics 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 4i7 
 
 and a member of the Reformed church. 
 Dr. Everhart's father was born in 1X09 at 
 Philadelphia. He secured a common school 
 education and then went to Jefferson Medi- 
 cal college, Philadelphia, where he made 
 rapid progress and graduated with honor. 
 He immediately entered on the practice of 
 medicine and soon won a high name in his 
 profession at Sellersville, Pennsylvania. He 
 was a Republican in politics and was prom- 
 inent in the affairs of his party in Bucks 
 comity. 
 
 He was the father of the following 
 children : Josephine Ella, now the wife 
 of Alfred Crist, Esq.; Mary Catharine, 
 who died young ; Kate, wife of Dr. C. D. 
 Fretz ; Maggie, wife of Rev. S. A. Lein- 
 bach, and who died at the age of twenty- 
 three ; Man - , wife of Pierson Mickley ; 
 Clara, wife of L. S. Shrimer ; Lizzie, Annie 
 and the subject of this sketch. He died at 
 the age of seventy-nine. 
 
 Dr. C. W. Everhart is the son of C. W. 
 and Elizabeth Everhart. He was educated 
 in the public schools and studied medicine 
 with Dr. C. D. Fretz as his preceptor. He 
 graduated from Jefferson Medical college 
 and then began the practice of his profes- 
 sion at Sellersville, Bucks county, but four 
 years later removed to Grater's Ford, where 
 he has since prospered. He has a very 
 large practice and has earned a prominent 
 place in the community and vicinity. He 
 was married to Lizzie L. Ashenfelter in 
 1889. 
 
 Mrs. Everhart is the daughter of H. 
 J. Ashenfelter and an accomplished woman. 
 Dr. Everhart is a member of the Reformed 
 church, and among his neighbors is known 
 to be a man of enterprise and always ready 
 to take an interest in anything that will 
 result in the good of the town in which he 
 lives. 
 
 27 
 
 JOSEPH M. WILSON, who has been 
 <J established in the carpet weaving busi- 
 ness at Lansdale since the 1st of February, 
 1895, was born in Philadelphia, on June 28, 
 1857, his parents being John and Mary 
 (Morris) Wilson. He is descended from a 
 family of carpet weavers, his paternal grand- 
 father, William Wilson, having followed 
 that trade all his life in Scotland. He was 
 born at Glasgow about 1750, and was early- 
 put to the trade. When he became a jour- 
 neyman he engaged in business for himself 
 and soon built up a large trade. He was a 
 Whig and afterward a Republican ; was a 
 consistent and upright member of the Pres- 
 byterian church and also a life long mem- 
 ber of the Masonic order. In 1775, he mar- 
 ried Jennie Brown, and they had a family 
 of three children : John, Fanny and Kate. 
 He died in 1840, aged ninety years. John 
 Wilson, the father, was born 1798, at Glas- 
 gow, and was given a common school edu- 
 cation. He was a deep student and in his 
 mature years was a very well informed man. 
 After finishing his school life he learned 
 weaving from his father and followed that 
 vocation with profit all his life. In politics 
 he was a Republican and in religion was an 
 active worker in the Presbyterian church. 
 On April 24, 1853, he married Mary Morris, 
 of Philadelphia, and their wedded life was 
 blessed with onlv three children : Fanny, 
 William and Joseph, our subject. He was 
 a man of high literary attainments and was 
 a writer of much force, and contributed 
 often to the press. He died April 9, 1879. 
 
 Joseph M. Wilson was sent to the district 
 schools where he mastered the common 
 branches. He was forced to turn out to do 
 battle with the stern side of life at an early 
 age, and he went to his father's shop and 
 learned the trade of carpet weaver. After 
 mastering the trade he engaged in business 
 
418 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 on his own account at Oxford, Chester 
 county, Pa., where he remained twenty-four 
 years and prospered. He then removed to 
 Germantowii, where he remained three 
 years, and from there went to Newtown, 
 Berks county. At the expiration of two 
 years he again made a change, this time 
 going to Doylestown, where he did very 
 well for four years. On the ist of last Feb- 
 ruary he made his final change and located 
 in Lansdale, where he is enjoying a very 
 fine trade. Mr. Wilson is a true example 
 of the self-made man. He started in life at 
 a tender age and with no backing save the 
 trade his father had taught him. But he 
 was full of ambition and enterprise and that 
 soon made itself felt and he made a success 
 of his calling where he located. 
 
 On December 22, 1881, Mr. Wilson mar- 
 ried Ida E., daughter of J. C. McDonald, of 
 Oxford. This union was productive of 
 seven children : Richard, who died August 
 28, 1883 ; Mary A., William C, J. Harri- 
 son, Bruce, Maud and Florence. He is a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and is a Republican in political belief. Ht 
 belongs to but one fraternal organization, 
 Tribe No. 176, Improved Order of Red Men, 
 of Doylestown. 
 
 GEORGE W. PAWLING, ex-recorder 
 of deeds and an active and popular 
 Democrat of Montgomery county, is a son 
 of Dr. H. D. W. and Anna (Bull) Paw- 
 ling, and was born at King of Prussia, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, Janu- 
 ary 21, 1848. He was reared at King 
 of Prussia, where he received a good Eng- 
 lish education, and after leaving school en- 
 gaged in the drug business with Dr. Wil 
 Ham Wetherill, of Philadelphia. He re- 
 
 mained in the drug business until 1869, 
 when he returned home and assisted his 
 father until the death of the latter in 1893. 
 In the meantime he had taken considerable 
 interest in political affairs, and in 1890 the 
 Democrats made him their nominee for re- 
 corder of deeds of Montgomery county, to 
 which office he was elected at the succeed- 
 ing election. He served as recorder from 
 1 891 to 1894, and is now interested in the 
 stone business with Frank Patterson at 
 Valley Forge, where the first tracts on 
 which they opened quarries were merged in- 
 to the Valley Forge National park, laid out 
 in 1895. Mr. Pawling is an active Demo- 
 crat in political affairs, and while promi- 
 nent in the county council of his party, 
 always gives close attention to the township 
 organization. He has served for nine years 
 as a member of the school board at King of 
 Prussia, and is a member of the Protestant 
 Episcopal church. Of an honored and re- 
 spected family, George W. Pawling has 
 been active and useful alike in village, 
 township and county affairs. 
 
 The Pawlings are descendants of that 
 Henry Pawling who, with his son and 
 grandson Henry, are thus described in an 
 old document : " Henry Pawling came from 
 Maine to New York in 1684, was sheriff 
 there, married Nattee Roosa, daughter of 
 Albert Heyman Roosa, of New York State. 
 His son, Henry Pawling, born 1689, mar- 
 ried Jacomyte Hegt, who was the daughter 
 of Cornelius Barnes Hegt, born in South 
 Holland. This Henry Pawling and his 
 brother John came to Upper Providence in 
 1720, Henry taking up land on the south 
 side of the Perkiomen, John on the north. 
 Henry's remains are buried at Evans- 
 burg. The son of this Henry and Jacomyte 
 Hegt was also called Henry, who was born 
 in 1714 and died 1792. He and his wife 
 
Biographical Sketch es. 
 
 419 
 
 Eleanor died some time apart and their re- 
 mains lie in Evansburg graveyard. Their 
 son, Henry Pawling, who was born in 1746, 
 and married Rebecca Bull, and was the 
 Henry Pawling who was appointed associ- 
 ated judge by Henry Ross on January 20, 
 1789, and was the Henry Pawling, jr., who, 
 as one of the commissioners, located and 
 purchased ground for the present court- 
 house and jail. Judge Pawling had three 
 sons and a daughter. William married 
 Rebecca Butler and had three sons : Henry, 
 Albert, Thomas, now dead. Henry died 
 unmarried ; Hon Levi, the grandfather of 
 the subject of this sketch, and Eleanor, who 
 married the Rev. Dr. James Milnor, rector 
 of St. George's Episcopal church, New 
 York city." 
 
 Hon. Levi Pawling was born in 1772, and 
 at twenty-three years of age was admitted 
 to the Norristown bar, where he practiced 
 for many years and ranked with such emi- 
 nent lawyers as William Moore Smith and 
 Thomas Ross, the elder. He held many 
 offices of trust and responsibility, but in 
 political faith being a Federalist and in a 
 county strongly Democratic, no legislative 
 office was within his reach or the gift of his 
 party. In 1816 his county was in a Fed- 
 eral district and he was elected to Congress, 
 in which body he served from 181 7 to 1819. 
 On October 17, 1804, Mr. Pawling was 
 married by Rev. Henry A. Muhlenberg to 
 Elizabeth Hiester, a daughter of General 
 Joseph Hiester, afterwards Governor of 
 Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Pawling had 
 seven children : Elizabeth, wife of Hon. 
 Thomas Ross, of Doylestown, Pennsyl- 
 vania; Ellen, who married Henry Friedley, 
 of Norristown, and died ; Rebecca, the first 
 wife of Henry Friedley, of Norristown ; 
 Mary, who married Sylvester Rich, of 
 Philadelphia ; Joseph H., who died in 1849; 
 
 James M., a promising lawyer, died in C838, 
 
 and Dr. Henry Dewitt, who was born at 
 Norristown, October 38, 1.S10, and died No- 
 vember 26, 1893. 
 
 Dr. Henry DeWitt Pawling was gradu- 
 ated from the University of Pennsylvania, 
 served as assistant surgeon on the United 
 States frigate Potomctc in a three years 
 cruise around the world, and in 1836 located 
 at King of Prussia, where he had an exten- 
 sive practice over parts of three counties. 
 He was a Democrat and an Episcopalian, 
 and was a very prominent at>d active man. 
 In 1837 Dr. Pawling married Anna Bull, 
 who was a daughter Levi Bull, of Chester 
 county, and died July 4, 1862, age forty- 
 five years. Their children were : Nathan, 
 Eva and Levi, who all died in infancy ; Dr. 
 Nathan 2nd, accidentally killed in 1872 ; 
 Dr. Henry, now dead ; George W., whose 
 name appears at the head of this sketch ; 
 Anna, wife of I. Hestou Todd, of Port Ken- 
 nedy, and who has taken considerable time 
 to trace the early history of the Pawling 
 family in this country ; Ellen, who married 
 George Schall, of Norristown ; Rosa N., 
 Eva 2nd and Mary. 
 
 JOSEPH K. MOORE, the present post- 
 master of Conshohocken, is a son of 
 William and Elizabeth (McKnight) Moore, 
 and was born in Newtown township, Dela- 
 ware county, Pennsylvania, May 12, 1839. 
 His paternal grandfrther, Samuel Moore, 
 came with his wife from Ireland to Phila- 
 delphia and removed to Leacock township, 
 Lancaster county, which he soon left to lo- 
 cate on the site of Allegheny city, where he- 
 owned a farm and died. He was of Scotch- 
 Irish descent, a Presbyterian, and died at 
 forty-two years of age, while his widow 
 
420 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 lived to see her fiftieth year. He wedded 
 Hannah McAllister, and their children, six 
 in number, were : William, Samuel, James, 
 Alexander, Hannah Reed, and Jane, who 
 died in childhood. William, the eldest 
 child, was born near McKeesport, this State, 
 October 14, 1799, and became a textile 
 manufacturer. Sometime after his father's 
 death, he and his brothers, Samuel, James 
 and Alexander, removed to Newtown town- 
 ship, Delaware county, where they were 
 prominent and leading woolen manufac- 
 turers up to 1857. He was a Whig and Re- 
 publican, and a member and deacon of the 
 Newtown Baptist church, and died March 
 1 6, 1 89 1, at ninety-two years of age. He 
 married Elizabeth McKnight, who died 
 February 19, 1886, aged seventy-four years. 
 Their children were : Sarah J. Schofield, 
 Hannah T. Wilfang, Joseph K., subject ; 
 Samuel, Mary A. Williams, and Anna E. 
 Martin. Mrs. Moore was a daughter of 
 Kenneth McKnight, who served at Marcus 
 Hook, in the War of 1812, and was a rela- 
 tive of General Hancock. Mr. McKnight 
 wedded Sarah Haxworth, and their child- 
 ren were : Amy Lewis, Jennie Rowland, 
 John, Joseph, Owen, Mary A. Scattergood 
 and Mrs. Moore. 
 
 Joseph K. Moore received his education 
 in the common schools of Delaware county, 
 and learned the trade of carpenter, which 
 he followed up to 1862. On August 14, of 
 that year, he enlisted in Company A, 138th 
 Pennsylvania infantry. He saw hard and 
 active service in the Army of the Potomac, 
 and participated in the battles of Brandy 
 Station, Mine Run, The Wilderness, Spott- 
 svlvania, Cold Harbor, Fisher's Hill, Cedar 
 Creek, Petersburg and Sailor's Creek, be- 
 sides numerous skirmishes and minor en- 
 gagements. He received three wounds, but 
 neither of them was serious. He was hon- 
 
 orably discharged near Washington city, 
 June 28, 1865. Returning from the army, 
 he followed carpentering for two years, and 
 then became a trimmer in the Alan W T ood 
 company's mill, at Conshohockcn, in which 
 he remained for fifteen years. At the end 
 of that time he opened a grocery store on 
 Elm street, and two years later, removed to 
 Hector street, where he continued up to 
 1885. In that year he disposed of his stock 
 of groceries to embark in the wholesale 
 smoked meat business. In the latter line 
 he operated extensively and had a large 
 trade but sold out his establishment and 
 routes in 1892, when he was appointed to 
 his present position as postmaster of Con- 
 shohocken. 
 
 Mr. Moore is a Democrat in political af- 
 fairs, and some years ago was very active in 
 the interest of his party. He also takes 
 interest in educational matters, having 
 served for twelve years as a member of the 
 school board, from which he recently re- 
 signed and refused to accept a re-election. 
 He is a member of Gratitude Lodge, In- 
 dependent Order of Odd Fellows ; Fritz 
 Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; and 
 George Smith Post No. 79, Grand Army of 
 the Republic, of which latter he was the 
 first commander. Mr. Moore has been 
 identified with the various building and 
 loan associations of his borough. He and 
 his family are attendants of the services of 
 the Baptist church, in whose faith and 
 practice he believes. He is active and 
 energetic in whatever enterprise he em- 
 barks. 
 
 On March 28, 1866, Joseph K. Moore 
 married Anna Holt, and to their union have 
 been born two sons and two daughters : 
 William, Walter, Elizabeth, attending the 
 West Chester State Normal school ; and 
 Rachel, now deceased. 
 
B IOGR A PH ICA L vS K ETC 1 1 ES. 
 
 421 
 
 TAMES B. SMITH, ex-chief burgess, and 
 
 «J at present one of the most popular men 
 in Jenkintown, was born in Bucks county, 
 on the 14th of July, 1836, and is a son of 
 Robert and Rosanna (Barron) Smith. He 
 is of American ancestry, his paternal grand- 
 father having been James Smith, a pros- 
 perous farmer of Bucks county. His 
 father, Robert Smith, was born in Bucks 
 county and lived there all his life as a 
 farmer. He was prominent in the military 
 organization of the State, and was a mem- 
 ber of the State militia. His brother, Hon. 
 Samuel A. Smith, was a member of con- 
 gress from Bucks count) - and was also asso- 
 ciate judge of the county. Both men were 
 prominent and active in Democratic poli- 
 tics. The marriage of Robert Smith with 
 Rosanna Barron resulted in the birth of 
 two children : Sarah, and our subject. He 
 died when still an active young man at the 
 age of thirty-eight years. 
 
 James B. Smith was educated in the 
 schools of the district and later in New 
 Jersey. He also went to a private school 
 at New Hope. He learned the trade of car 
 builder at Lambertville, New Jersey, and 
 afterwards that of carpenter, finishing his 
 elementary mechanical education by a 
 thorough course in pattern making. He 
 worked for some years at Lambertville and 
 then went to Trenton, New Jersey, where 
 he had charge of the car shops of the 
 Belvidere railroad. He is a Democrat, and 
 while in New Jersey was very active in 
 politics and served as president of the town 
 council of Lambertville. 
 
 In 1879 Mr. Smith removed to Jenkin- 
 town and has ever since been the popular 
 proprietor of the Jenkintown house. He 
 has been very successful as a landlord and 
 has made his hostelry famous all over the 
 district. Mr. Smith became very promi- 
 
 nent in local politics and, being recognized 
 by his fellow townsmen as a man of great 
 executive ability, was elected chief bur- 
 gess in 1886 and served four years. He was 
 also a member of council and showed him- 
 self fully abreast of the times and reach 
 and willing to work for the advancement of 
 his town. Fraternally he is connected 
 with the Knights of Pythias and the Inde- 
 pendent order of Odd Fellows, in both of 
 which he is verv active. 
 
 GEORGE SMITH MILLER, cigar 
 manufacturer, of Sumneytown, this 
 county, is a son of George and Barbara 
 (Smith) Miller, and was born December 21, 
 1841, at Sumneytown, this county. Pri- 
 marily, the family was from Germain', 
 whence members of it, becoming dissatis- 
 fied with their condition and longing for a 
 greater freedom than was accorded them 
 in their native land, emigrated to the 
 United States. They located in eastern 
 Pennsylvania, perhaps within the limits of 
 what is now Montgomery county. In this 
 county, in the township of Gwynedd, was 
 born George Miller, the father of the sub- 
 ject of this biographical record. He was of 
 a mechanical turn of mind and learned the 
 carpenter trade, which he followed for a 
 time, and then turned his attention to 
 merchandizing, but latterly owned a farm. 
 Politically, he always affiliated with the 
 Republican party, through the suffrages of 
 which party he was elected to the office of 
 justice of the peace. In this office his 
 judgments were characterized by their im- 
 partiality, and manifest rendition in ac- 
 cordance with the facts and the law. His 
 marriage with Barbara Smith resulted in 
 the birth often children : Frank, Angeline, 
 
422 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Eliza, Henry, Daniel, Lydia, Sarah, George 
 S., subject, Matilda and James. George 
 Smith died at the age of sixty-three 
 years. 
 
 Mr. Miller received but a limited educa- 
 tion in the public schools of Sumney- 
 town, this county, learned the trade of a 
 tobacconist and followed it for a time, when 
 he in partnership with his brother, Frank 
 Miller, under the firm name of Miller & 
 Brother, engaged in the manufacture of 
 powder near the village of Suinneytown. 
 This partnership was dissolved, but the 
 business was continued by Mr. Miller, 
 making in all about eight years' experience 
 in this line of manufacturing. Retiring 
 for a time from the powder business, he 
 purchased a hotel and farm at Hillegas 
 Station, which he operated for a period of 
 two years, when he retired to Suinneytown 
 and again resumed for a short time the 
 manufacture of powder. Subsequently he 
 began the quarrying of Belgian block for 
 street paving purposes, at Sellersville, Bucks 
 county, doing a large and prosperous busi- 
 ness in this line, employing at times as 
 high as two hundred hands. In 1893 he, 
 in partnership with C. F. Shively, under 
 the firm name of Shively, Miller & Co., 
 embarked in the manufacture of cigars at 
 Suinneytown. They have been extensive 
 manufacturers in this line, employing as 
 many as one hundred hands. In addition 
 to these interests, Mr. Miller is interested 
 in real estate in the village and owns a 
 farm of forty-eight acres near it. Politi- 
 cally, he is a Republican, and formerly 
 took an active part and still evinces a com- 
 mendable interest in his party. 
 
 Mr. Miller married Ella, a daughter of 
 Peter Truxall, a farmer and ore miner of 
 Lehigh county, and two children have 
 been born to this union : Anna, wife of 
 
 Morris Kratz, an ice dealer at Kratz Sta- 
 tion, this county, and Lucretia. 
 
 George S. Miller has demonstrated his 
 ability to win success in various lines of 
 business. He possesses rare good judg- 
 ment, unusual executive ability, and that 
 comprehensive insight into the details of a 
 business that can but insure success. 
 
 WINFIELD WHITE, justice of the 
 ^-J • peace of Lansdale since 1891, and a 
 man of superior business qualifications and 
 intelligence, is a native of Montgomery 
 county and comes from a family belonging 
 to the Society of Friends, that for genera- 
 tions has been identified with the early his- 
 tory of this section of the State. He is a 
 son of Thomas J. and Hannah (Conrad) 
 White, and was born in Philadelphia, on 
 the 9th of May, 1851 James White was 
 his paternal grandfather and he was born in 
 Montgomery county, in 1755. He was a 
 tailor by trade and followed that business 
 for a number of years. He then became a 
 hotel keeper at Union Square, and also con- 
 ducted a general store for some years. 
 With his other business he coupled that of 
 farming and owned four fine farms in Mont- 
 gomery county. In 1840 he retired from 
 active business and lived on one of his farms 
 until his death in 1859, at the remarkable age 
 of one hundred and four years. He was a 
 Whig and an active politician in his section. 
 He was a consistent member of Friends 
 meeting and universally respected. In 1790 
 he married Elizabeth Jones and they had 
 the following children : Humphrey, Thom- 
 as J., John, Jesse, James, Charles, Mary and 
 Margaret. Two of the sons, Humphrey and 
 James were physicians. 
 
 Thomas J. White (father) was a promi- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 423 
 
 nent school teacher for twenty years. He was 
 born in the township of Gwynedd, on De- 
 cember 6, 1793, and was given the best edu- 
 cation that could be secured in the schools 
 of his district. He then began teaching 
 school. He taught at one place, Towa- 
 mencin, for fifteen years. In 1840 he gave up 
 this profession and engaged in the general 
 store business near Lansdale which he con- 
 ducted with great profit until i860, when he 
 bought a large farm near Lansdale and re- 
 moved to it. Mr. White was a man of great 
 intelligence, and was looked up to and re- 
 spected by the community. He was ac- 
 tive in his district in the affairs of the Whig 
 and afterward the Republican party, but 
 was never an office seeker. In 1847 he 
 married Hannah Conrad, and their union 
 was blessed with one child : J. Winfield. 
 
 J. Winfield White, our subject, was given 
 a common school education and then attend- 
 ed Line Lexington academy for two years, 
 finishing his scholastic career with a two 
 years course in Norristown high school. 
 He then secured a position as clerk in a 
 store at Lansdale, where he remained two 
 years, and left there to go to Philadelphia 
 to accept a position in a large wholesale 
 dry goods house. He remained in that city 
 until 1878 when he came back and located 
 on a farm. Mr. White is interested in the 
 stone business and was in the excursion 
 business from 1885 to 1891. He has been 
 a very active man in business, and a suc- 
 cessful farmer. In politics he is a staunch 
 Republican and has always been a willing 
 and energetic worker. In the spring of 
 1892 he was elected justice of the peace and 
 has held that position ever since. 
 
 On July 4, 1876, Mr. White was joined 
 in marriage with Lizzie L., daughter of 
 William R. Rittenhouse, of Eagleville. 
 Four children have come as the fruit of this 
 
 union : William Raymond, born Septem- 
 ber 3, 1878; Leon R., born October 12, 
 1880; Stella R., born July 26, 1883, and 
 Harry Willard, born April 8, 1889. 
 
 GEORGE W. HOLSTEIN, M. D., a 
 prominent citizen of Bridgeport, and 
 a grand-nephew of General Wayne of Revo- 
 lutionary fame, is a son of Col. George W. 
 and Elizabeth Wayne (Hayman) Holstein, 
 and was born October 30, 1820. His 
 mother was a niece of General Anthony 
 Wayne, her mother being his sister, and 
 during boyhood, Dr. Holstein frequently 
 drove his mother to the old homestead of 
 General Wayne near Paoli, Chester county, 
 to visit her cousin, Colonel Isaac Wayne 
 and family, where they found the library 
 room of the general just as he left it. 
 
 Dr. Holstein received his elementary edu- 
 cation in the old academy in Norristown, 
 under the direction of Mr. Eliphalet Rob- 
 erts, as a classmate of Gen. W. S. Hancock 
 and Gen. Samuel K. Zook. Afterwards he 
 attended the University of Pennsylvania, 
 from which institution he was graduated in 
 the medical department in the class of 1843. 
 Shortly after his graduation he located at 
 Bridgeport, where he was engaged in active 
 practice for fifteen years, but owing to ill 
 health at the end of that time, he abandoned 
 medical practice and embarked in the drug 
 business, which he conducted until 1869. 
 In that year his son, Charles Elliott, was 
 graduated from the Philadelphia College of 
 Pharmacy, and succeeded him. Later Dr. 
 Holstein was employed by the Philadelphia 
 and Reading Railroad company, to assist J. 
 Lowrie Bell, the general freight agent of 
 the road and who, during General Har- 
 rison's administration, was second assistant 
 
424 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 postmaster general. Dr. Holstein is still 
 assisting the company and has an office at 
 Fourth and Chestnut streets, Philadelphia. 
 He is a Republican in politics, and an ener- 
 getic party worker. Under Col. John H. 
 Taggart, he served for seven years, during 
 the administrations of Lincoln and Grant, 
 as deputy revenue collector of the ' First 
 district of Pennsylvania. He was once a 
 candidate for the legislature, but being a 
 member of the minority party, was defeated 
 with the remainder of his ticket. For three 
 years he served as a member of the town 
 council of Bridgeport, as burgess one year, 
 and for thirty years was secretary of the 
 school board of his district. In educational 
 affairs he has taken great interest, and as- 
 sisted in the organization of the first graded 
 schools of Bridgeport. He is a prominent 
 member of Montgomery Lodge No. 57, 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in 
 which he has served as secretary for thirty- 
 seven years. He is also secretary of Norris- 
 town Lodge No. 32, Knights of Pythias ; 
 and is a member of Christ (Swedes') church, 
 Upper Merion, of which he has been vestry- 
 man for fifty years. He served in Company 
 B, 17th regiment, Pennsylvania militia, at 
 the Battle of Autietam, and was afterwards 
 called upon to act as surgeon at the time of 
 the Battle of Gettysburg. In 1886 Mr. B. 
 Thomas, recorder of deeds for Montgomery 
 county, invited him to act as his deputy, 
 which position he filled to the great satis- 
 faction of the legal fraternity, during the 
 term of Mr. Thomas. 
 
 On October 19, 1847, ne was united in 
 marriage with Abby Turner Brower, a 
 daughter of Daniel R. Brower, of Phoenix- 
 ville. 
 
 Matthias Holstein, the ancestor of a Ions* 
 line, was born in Philadelphia in 1644. 
 His parents came from Sweden with Gov- 
 
 ernor Peter Minuit, in the good ship Key of 
 Kalmar. The Holsteins are numerous in 
 Sweden, Germany and the United States, 
 but this family is the only one of the Swed- 
 ish branch in the county, and tradition 
 states that the name has descended through 
 a noble line in Sweden. Matthias Holstein 
 died April 9, 1708, at the age of six- 
 ty four years, and Matthias Holstein, 
 jr., his second son, removed with his wife, 
 Brita (Rambo) Holstein, to Amasland, now 
 Upper Merion township, Montgomery 
 county, and shortly afterward purchased 
 one thousand acres of land which com- 
 prises what is now the borough of Bridge- 
 port and extended back to Red Hill. The 
 oldest date for this tract is 1708. For a 
 time he resided at Swedesford, and in 17 14 
 built a stone house upon his farm one and 
 a half miles from the Schuylkill river, on 
 Spring creek, it being the custom of the 
 old Swedish settlers to locate near streams 
 of water. In that old stone dwelling house 
 four generations of the Holstein family 
 were born and reared and the house still 
 remains in good condition. A large barn 
 was built at the time the dwelling was 
 erected and was standing until just re- 
 cently. 
 
 Colonel George Washington Holstein, 
 father, was born April 10, 1778, the year 
 that Washington with his army were at 
 Valley Forge, and when but eighteen years 
 of age he was one who responded to Wash- 
 ington's call for fifteen thousand men to 
 suppress the Whiskey insurrection. By oc- 
 cupation he was a farmer, and on Novem- 
 ber 5, 1801, he married Elizabeth Wayne 
 Hayman, of Chester county. The marriage 
 ceremony was performed at the residence of 
 the bride's uncle, Major General Anthony 
 Wayne. 
 
 Colonel Holstein was a public spirited 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 425 
 
 man and was the chief promoter of the 
 Schuylkill Navigation company, in which 
 he served as director. Later he became the 
 chief promoter, and also a director of the 
 company constructing the Norristown 
 bridge across the Schuylkill. He was an 
 active director of the Bank of Montgomery 
 county, and was known to be a good coun- 
 sellor and adviser in business affairs. He 
 died in 1841. For forty years he served in 
 the capacity of vestryman of the Old Swedes 
 (Christ) church of Upper Merion township, 
 and his congeniality, pleasantness and en- 
 tertaining conversation won him friends 
 wherever he was known. 
 
 Dr. Holstein and wife have three chil- 
 dren : Charles E., druggist, Bridgeport ; 
 Ella, intermarried with William W. Potts, 
 Swedelaud ; George Meade, intermarried 
 with Sarah Corson Highley, in charge of 
 the extensive zinc works of R. T. Wilson 
 & Co., Pulaski, Virginia. 
 
 TRVIN S. WEBER, the present post- 
 1 master at North Wales, is the eldest and 
 only surviving son of Jacob and Eliza 
 (Shearer) Weber, and was born at North 
 Wales, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 June 12, 1861. His paternal grandfather 
 was a farmer and a well respected citizen 
 of Worcester township, where he was 
 active in local politics. He was a Jackson- 
 ian Democrat, and married Elizabeth 
 Markley, by whom he had four children, 
 three sons and a daughter : George, Jacob, 
 John and Etneline. Jacob Weber followed 
 farming in Worcester township until past 
 middle age, and then engaged in butcher- 
 ing in North Wales, which he conducted 
 up to the time of his death, February 8, 
 1883, when in the fifty-eighth year of his 
 
 age. He was influential in political affairs 
 like his father, and served as a delegate to 
 Congressional and other conventions and 
 did his share towards changing the county 
 politically in i860. He was a member of 
 the Masonic Lodge at Fort Washington, 
 and also held membership in I. O. O. F. 
 and the Knights of Pythias. 
 
 Irvin S. Weber was reared at his native 
 place, received his education in the public 
 schools and Brunner's academy at North 
 Wales, and then entered the printing office 
 of the North Wales Record, where he 
 learned the trade of printing. Alter com- 
 pleting his trade he worked for ten years 
 as a compositor, spending part of that time 
 on the Record and several months in the 
 office of the Philadelphia Item. At the 
 end of that time he went to Ambler where 
 he started and ran the Gazette for one 
 year. He then returned to Philadelphia 
 where he was engaged in the trade until 
 1892. In that year he accepted a position 
 on the Record, which he held until the 
 succeeding year when he was appointed by 
 President Cleveland, postmaster of North 
 Wales, which he has held up to the pres- 
 ent time. 
 
 On October 30, 1889, Mr. Weber married 
 Lizzie Kriebel, of West Point, Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 Mr. Weber has always faithfully dis- 
 charged the duties of every position in 
 which he has served. He is an active 
 Democrat, has been a county committee- 
 man for several years, and was elected 
 several times as an election inspector in 
 his polling precinct as well as a delegate 
 to the Democratic State convention. He 
 is a member of St. Peter's Lutheran church, 
 a member of North Wales Lodge No. 610, 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Gilt 
 Edge Castle No. 138, Knights of the 
 
426 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Golden Eagle ; and has been representative 
 for the latter to the Grand Castle for two 
 terms. 
 
 CYRUS H. CALEY, a prosperous farmer 
 of near Abrams, is the eldest son of 
 Samuel and Lucy C. (Hickman) Caley, and 
 was born at Radnor, Delaware county, 
 Pennsylvania, February 11, 1842. He was 
 reared in Delaware and Chester counties, 
 received his education in the public schools 
 and the Millersville State Normal school, 
 and then was engaged in farming for his 
 father until his marriage. After his mar- 
 riage he rented a farm near White House, 
 in Chester county, which he left three years 
 later to purchase a farm in Delaware 
 county, on which he resided up to 1882. 
 He then spent one year in Plymouth town- 
 ship, and afterwards became interested in 
 the Jacob Beidler place, where he remained 
 until 1887, when he purchased his present 
 farm of fifteen acres of land near Abrams 
 and in Upper Merion township. Mr. Caley 
 is a careful and prosperous farmer and a 
 safe and reliable business man. He is a 
 Republican and a member of Valley Meet- 
 ing of the Society of Friends. He is a 
 school director and was also a supervisor of 
 highways for two years while residing in 
 Delaware county. When Lee's invading 
 legions were sweeping northward in 1863, 
 Mr. Caley enlisted for ninety days in Com- 
 pany E, Forty-seventh Pennsylvania volun- 
 teer militia and served near Gettysburg and 
 along the Potomac river. 
 
 On March 16, 1865, Mr. Caley married 
 Annie L. Beidler, whose parents are Abra- 
 ham and Sarah Beidler, of Upper Merion. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Caley have been born 
 eight children : Harry (deceased), Sarah 
 L., Ella B. (Mrs. William Frederick), Laura 
 
 M., J. Oswald, Jonathan R., D. Ashmore 
 and Hannah M. 
 
 The Caley family is of English descent 
 and locate their first new world home at 
 Newtown Square, in Delaware county, 
 where in the third generation from the im- 
 migrant ancestor was born Samuel Caley, 
 the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
 Samuel Caley was a farmer and Whig, and 
 first united with the Baptists, but after- 
 wards joined the Friends or Quakers. His 
 son, Samuel Caley, was born March 14, 
 1815, and passed his life at Newtown 
 Square in Delaware county, except six 
 years, during which he resieed at Radnor, 
 Delaware county. He was a well-to-do 
 farmer and a consistent Friend or Quaker. 
 He was a Whig, and after that great politi- 
 cal party went down he became one of the 
 early Republicans. He was active and in- 
 dustrious and died November 31, 1886, 
 aged seventy-one years. In 1841 Samuel 
 Caley was united in marriage with Lucy 
 C. Hickman, a daughter of Cyrus Hick- 
 man. They reared a family of six chil- 
 dren : Cyrus H., Samuel, jr., William, 
 Elizabeth, Hannah (Mrs. E. Garwood), and 
 Margaret. 
 
 WILMER H. JOHNSON, the editor 
 and proprietor of the North Wales 
 Record, is a son of Richard A. and Elizabeth 
 Hampton Johnson, and was born near Pine- 
 ville, in Buckingham township, Bucks 
 county, Pennsylvania, March 16, 1849. The 
 Johnsons are Hollanders in lineage, and 
 their original immigrant ancestor, Dick 
 Johnson, came to America about 1614. He 
 was an early settler at Germantown, and 
 one of his descendants, John L. Johnson, 
 lived in Bucks county, owning for some 
 time there, Henricks' Island, near Centre 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 427 
 
 Bridge, in the Delaware river. John L. 
 Johnson learned the trade of miller with the 
 celebrated Livsey's, on Wissahiekon Creek, 
 at Roxborongh, and then became a resident 
 of Bucks county, in which he purchased a 
 large tract of land from the Paxson family, 
 from which Judge Paxson was decended. He 
 was a Quaker, and an earnest advocate of 
 free schools, and married Sarah Ridgeway, 
 of Mount Holly, New Jersey, by whom he 
 had ten children. Their son, Richard A. 
 Johnson, was reared and educated in his 
 native country. 
 
 Wilmer H., son Richard A., attended 
 Excelsior Normal institute, at Carversville, 
 one of the instructors in which was L. New- 
 lin Fell, who afterwards became a Supreme 
 Court Judge of Penna. Wilmer afterwards 
 went to Doylestown, where he learned the 
 printing trade in the office of the Bucks 
 County Intelligencer. Leaving Doylestown, 
 October, 1869, he secured his first situation 
 on the New York Anti-Slavery Standard, 
 which he soon left to become editor of the 
 Brooklyn Advocate. At the death of this 
 paper he became assistant foreman on the 
 Brooklyn Daily Times, but was soon placed 
 on the reportorial staff to look up and write 
 whatever of historic interest he was able to 
 gather in connection with the growing City 
 of Churches, and his work was so compe- 
 tently done that he was engaged in a similar 
 capacity by the Argus and also the Eagle, 
 two leading afternoon papers of Brooklyn. 
 His health, became impaired by the strain 
 and the enervating labor of his important 
 position, and at the close of the famous 
 Beecher-Tilton trial, which concluded his 
 newspaper work in Brooklyn, in 1875, he 
 returned home to recuperate. In the spring 
 of the ensuing year he went to Philadelphia 
 and acted there as the Centennial corres- 
 pondent of the Saturday Evening Post. 
 
 With the termination of this engagement 
 his service as a correspondent ended, as he 
 determined to enter upon journalism for 
 himself, and accordingly purchased a half 
 interest in the North Wales Record. Nine 
 months later he secured the other half in- 
 terest, and since then has been actively en- 
 gaged in improving it and in increasing the 
 circulation. The Record is an independent 
 Republican paper, and has been an active 
 and forcible factor in. the advancement of 
 the interests of that section of the county. 
 While local matters have prominence, yet 
 general news and everything of importance 
 has faithful and intelligent record. Mr. 
 Johnson is a clear and entertaining writer, 
 and has always been in the van of every 
 improvement made at North Wales. He is 
 a Republican, and has served as a school 
 director and a councilman. He is an En- 
 campment member of Odd Fellows and a 
 member of the Odd Fellow Dodge, No. 610, 
 and Othello Lodge, No. 50, and Knights of 
 Pythias. 
 
 On March 23, 1872, Mr. Johnson married 
 Bella Geary Bleiler, of Doylestown, who 
 died October 14, 1886, leaving four children : 
 George, Roydon, Russell and Byron. On 
 November 1, 1888, Mr. Johnson wedded 
 Alice Hoffman, of Norristown, and their 
 wedding trip extended through the north- 
 west to the Rocky mountains. To his sec- 
 ond union have been born three children : 
 Inna Alice, David Lawrence and Miriam 
 Hoffman. 
 
 EZRA H. BROWN, real estate dealer, 
 insurance agent and tax collector for 
 the borough of Norristown, is a son of 
 Clayton L. and Emma (Haines) Brown, and 
 was born April 27, 1848, in Burlington 
 county, New Jersey. He is a descendant 
 
428 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of William Brown, an English Quaker, 
 who was among- the pioneer settlers of the 
 State of New Jersey. Isaac Brown, grand- 
 father, was born in New Jersey, where he 
 pursued the avocations of a lumberman and 
 a farmer. He adhered all his life to the 
 tenets of the Quaker church and was a 
 Whig in political belief and practice. He 
 married Sarah Lippincott, and their chil- 
 dren were: William L., Clayton L., father; 
 George and Beulah. Isaac Brown died in 
 1877, at the age of eighty-eight years. 
 
 Clayton L. Brown, father, was born in 
 Burlington county, New Jersey, 1820, and 
 died in the same county June 11, 1876. He 
 obtained a good educatiou and for a time 
 was engaged in the profession of teaching ; 
 later he added to this the pursuits of hus- 
 bandry. In his early manhood he was a 
 Whig, but upon the dissolution of that 
 party in 1856, became a Republican and 
 held many local offices in the community 
 in which he lived. 
 
 On March 19, 1846, he wedded Emma, a 
 daughter of Ezra Haines, of Burlington 
 county, New Jersey, and three children 
 blessed their union : Sarah L., the wife of 
 J. B. Joyce, of New Jersey ; Ezra H., sub- 
 ject ; and Rachel H. 
 
 Ezra H. Brown was educated in the 
 Westtown Boarding school, a Quaker in- 
 stitution of Chester county, this State. Ob- 
 taining a liberal education, Mr. Brown en- 
 tered upon the profession of teaching for 
 six years in Burlington county, New Jersey. 
 Subsequently he accepted a position as 
 book-keeper in Philadelphia, in which ca- 
 pacity he was employed for a period of nine 
 years. In 1882 he removed to Norristown, 
 and in 1888 was elected receiver of taxes 
 for that borough, a position he has held 
 ever since. In 1888 he associated himself 
 with Charles F. Cloud and Charles Johnson 
 
 for the purpose of conducting a real estate, 
 insurance and money brokerage business, 
 under the firm name of Brown, Cloud & 
 Johnson. Since 1891 Mr. Brown has been 
 secretary and treasurer of the Consumer's 
 Ice company. A Republican, he has al- 
 ways taken a deep interest in the success 
 of his party, and when a young man, served 
 as clerk of the township in which he re- 
 sided. 
 
 On November 12, 1872, he married Emma 
 M. Sheppard, a daughter of Charles Shep- 
 pard, and three children have blessed their 
 married union : Elizabeth S., Clayton L., 
 and Mary S. Elizabeth married George 
 Lane, of Poughkeepsie, New York, April 
 11, 1895; Clayton L. is taking a course of 
 five years at Westtown school, Chester 
 county, Pa. ; and Mary S. died aged four 
 months. 
 
 B BROOK ADAMS, a retired business 
 • man and quarry operator, is the only 
 surviving son and child of David and 
 Elizabeth Adams, and was born at King-of- 
 Prussia, in Upper Merion township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, January 14, 
 1838. David Adams was a son of David 
 Adams, sr., who was a stone mason by 
 occupation, a Democrat politically, and 
 resided near Bridgeport. David Adams 
 was a life-long resident of Upper Merion 
 township, in which he died September 19, 
 1885, when in the seventy-fifth year of his 
 age. He learned the trade of pump-mak- 
 ing and carried on the business up to 1843, 
 in which year he retired from the occupa- 
 tion, which had, by that time, lost some of 
 its profitable and remunerative features. In 
 the same year that he closed up his pump- 
 making establishment, he purchased the 
 Reeseville lime quarry, which he operated 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 429 
 
 quite successfully for the long period of 
 thirty-four years. A few weeks later, on 
 February 10, 1877, he sold his plant, com- 
 prising; quarries, kilns, and buildings, to 
 Franklin Derr, and lived in a manner re- 
 tired during the rest of his life. He was a 
 Democrat and loyally supported his party 
 in its days of adversity as well as in the 
 hours of victory and seasons of triumph. 
 Mr. Adams wedded Elizabeth Brook. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Adams were born four chil- 
 dren : Jehu, Samuel B., Brook, and Francis, 
 all of whom are dead except B. Brook, whose 
 name heads this sketch. 
 
 B. Brook Adams was reared in his native 
 township, trained to habits of industry, 
 and received his education in the common 
 schools. At fifteen years of age he com- 
 menced working at his father's marble 
 quarries, and in a few years became mana- 
 ger and then secured an interest in the 
 business. He remained in the marble 
 business for twenty-four years, but since 
 the sale of the plant in 1877 to Francis 
 Derr, he has not been actively engaged in 
 any particular enterprise, and gives his 
 time principally to the supervision of his 
 personal affairs. 
 
 In political matters Mr. Adams takes a 
 proper and due interest, and has served one 
 term as township auditor. He is an Inde- 
 pendent Democrat. Some years ago Mr. 
 Adams joined the Odd Fellows, Knights of 
 Pythias, and Knights of Friendship. He 
 is a careful and safe business man. 
 
 JOHN F. WEYAND, a man of extended 
 business experience, of Pennsburg, this 
 county, is a son of Charles and Sarah 
 (Fagley) Weyand, and was born July 14, 
 1866, in New Hanover township, this 
 
 county. Charles Weyand, father, son of 
 John Weyand, was one of two sons, Wil- 
 liam being the other, and was born in 
 Berks county, this State, in the year 1820, 
 and died in New Hanover township, this 
 county, in 1888. He was reared on his 
 father's farm in Berks county, until eigh- 
 teen years of age, when he migrated to 
 Montgomery county and settled in the 
 woods. With characteristic German in- 
 dustry and frugality, he began to clear up 
 a farm and establish a home. In this 
 worthy object he was successful and in ad- 
 dition to becoming a well-to-do fanner and 
 cattle dealer, was engaged for a number of 
 years in the mercantile business in New 
 Hanover township. He was a follower of 
 the Jeffersonian Democracy and a member 
 of the Reformed church. His marriage 
 with Sarah Fagley resulted in the birth of 
 two children : John F., subject ; and 
 Charles, deceased. 
 
 John F. is indebted to the common schools 
 of the township and Perkiomen seminary 
 for his educational training. At the age of 
 sixteen, he was engaged by a drover, with 
 whom he remained a few weeks, making 
 but one trip. Having thus gained some 
 knowledge of the business and being of an 
 ambitious spirit, he resolved to enter upon 
 the same line of operations on his own ac- 
 count, which he later did, and continued 
 up to the year 1884. Upon the latter date 
 he took up merchandizing at Pleasant Run, 
 this county, which he continued until No- 
 vember, 1888, the date upon which he sold 
 out. He then came to Pennsburg and went 
 into the carriage and harness dealing trade, 
 adding to this line the next year, the livery 
 business. He built in 1892, the large livery 
 stable which he now occupies. Mr. 
 Weyand is a Democrat and is serving his 
 fourth term as burgess of Pennsburg, being 
 
43° 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 the second man to hold that office. As one 
 of the first burgesses of the borough, many 
 matters of importance pertaining to the in- 
 auguration of the municipal government 
 have been disposed of, and Mr. Weyand's 
 policy on all these matters has been com- 
 mended by all the progressive citizens of 
 the town. Fraternally he is a member of 
 the Pennsburg Lodge No. 449, I. O. O. F., 
 and of Pennsburg Encampment No. 234, 
 I. O. O. F. 
 
 In November, 18S9, Mr. Weyand wedded 
 Martha C. a daughter of Levi and Caroline 
 Bitting, and two children are the issue of 
 this union : Huldah S., and Charles. 
 
 Mr. Weyand is a director of the Farmers' 
 National bank and takes a lively and in- 
 telligent interest in the welfare and material 
 advancement of his borough. 
 
 WILLIAM H. SHOEMAKER, who for 
 a number of years has been extensive- 
 ly engaged in mercantile pursuits at Ogontz, 
 is one of the most successful business men 
 of that section of Montgomery county. He 
 was born in Jeukintown on June 29, 1859, 
 and is a son of Joseph A. and Esther (Har- 
 per) Shoemaker. He is descended from 
 the Huguenots, who immigrated to this 
 country in the seventeenth century. A full 
 detailed account of his ancestry will be 
 found in the sketch of his father on another 
 page of this work. 
 
 Mr. Shoemaker was sent to the Friends' 
 school in Abington township and after- 
 ward attended the Friends' Central high 
 school at Sixteenth and Race streets, Phila- 
 delphia. He then took a course in the 
 Pierce Business college. In i88ohegradu- 
 ated from this school and engaged in the 
 butchering business with his father. At 
 
 the expiration of two years he went to Col- 
 orado, where for another year he was en- 
 gaged as a horse buyer, shipping large 
 quantities of horses to the east. He then 
 returned to Jeukintown and became en- 
 gaged in the meat business once more. For 
 six years he remained here and then pur- 
 chased the ice business of James Satterth- 
 waite at Ogontz, where he has continued 
 ever since. 
 
 Mr. Shoemaker is of a very progressive 
 and enterprising disposition, and in addi- 
 tion to his ice business engaged in quarrying 
 stone and selling coal. Three years ago he 
 put in an ice making plant with a capacity 
 of forty tons per day, and he now supplies 
 a wide territory in his immediate neighbor- 
 hood with manufactured ice. Though hav- 
 ing large business interest in Ogontz Mr. 
 Shoemaker resides in Jenkintown, where 
 he is very influential as a Republican poli- 
 tician. He was elected a member of the 
 town council in 1893 and has served ever 
 since. In 188S he married Madge H. 
 Wentz, daughter of A. D. Wentz. They 
 have no children. Mr. Shoemaker is an 
 earnest advocate of improvement in his 
 town and is respected and esteemed by his 
 fellow citizens. 
 
 CHARLES IRA CHRISTMAN, book- 
 keeper for the Whiting Paper com- 
 pany of Philadelphia, is a son of Charles 
 and Mary T (Miller) Christman, and was 
 born June 8, 1852, at Norristown, this 
 county. His paternal grandfather was 
 Charles Christman, of German extraction, 
 a farmer near Limerick Station in Linfield 
 township, this county. 
 
 Charles Ira Christman was educated in 
 the public schools of Norristown and at 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 43i 
 
 Treeinount seminary under the direction 
 and tutelage of Prof. John W. Loch. He 
 took the regular course in that institution 
 and served an apprenticeship of four years 
 to learn the trade of a carpenter. Becom- 
 ing dissatisfied with this line of work, he- 
 attended Bryant S: Stratton's Business col- 
 lege at Philadelphia, from which institu- 
 tion he graduated. He then accepted a 
 position as book-keeper for E. J. Spangler, 
 an envelope manufacturer of Philadelphia, 
 where he remained three years, when he 
 went west and for some time held a posi- 
 tion of responsibility and trust in the 
 general store of John M. Kilton & Co. in 
 Michigan. He returned to Norristown 
 and took a position as book-keeper in the 
 employ of the Whiting Paper company of 
 Philadelphia, a position he has held to the 
 present time. Mr. Christman is a Republi- 
 can politically, and a member of the Cen- 
 tral Presbyterian church, whilst fraternally 
 he belongs to the Royal Arcanum and the 
 National Union. 
 
 On June 10, 1880, Mr. Christman and 
 Sarah S., a daughter of Dr. William M. 
 McEwen, were united in marriage, and 
 two children, William H. and Mabel 
 McEwen, bless their marital relation. 
 
 Dr. William M. McEwen was a promi- 
 nent physician of Norristown and Mont- 
 gomery county. He was born in 1809 and 
 died in Norristown in 1872. He was edu- 
 cated in that renowned institution of learn- 
 ing, the Jefferson Medical college, of Phila- 
 delphia. He then took up the practice of 
 his profession in Montgomery county, prac- 
 ticing in various points in the county, and 
 at one time was engaged in the drug busi- 
 ness at the corner of Third and Race 
 streets, Philadelphia. During his latter 
 days he lived in Norristown. At one time 
 he held a position as member of the pen- 
 
 sion examining board of Montgomery 
 county. His wife's maiden name was 
 Sarah Snyder, and their children were : 
 Emma L. ; Mary E. ; Rachel C. ; Ellen H., 
 deceased ; Sarah S. ; Rebecca S. ; Frank 
 and Oscar, both deceased. 
 
 WILLIAM H. KRIDER, a prominent 
 carriage merchant of Norristown, son 
 of Solomon and Sarah (Haines) Krider, was 
 born August 30, 1838, in Upper Macungie 
 township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. 
 His paternal grandfather, John Krider, of 
 German parentage, settled sometime prior 
 to the Revolutionary war in what is now 
 Lehigh county, where as a pioneer settler 
 he followed agricultural pursuits. He was 
 a member of the Lutheran church and an 
 ardent Whig politically. He was twice 
 married and had a large family. A num- 
 ber of his sons fought for freedom's cause in 
 the Revolutionary war, in which conflict 
 one of them lost his life at the battle of 
 Long Island, where his remains now lie 
 buried. Solomon Krider was born in what 
 was then Northampton but now Lehigh 
 county. The schools that marked his boy- 
 hood days in Northampton county were 
 very inefficient, but by dint of close appli- 
 cation as a student coupled with good 
 natural ability, he obtained a good educa- 
 tion for the times, then taught school for a 
 period of ten years. After he gave up teach- 
 ing, he was engaged in the manufacture of 
 household goods at Trexlertown, Lehigh 
 county, where with the exception of two 
 years, he lived all his life. He was a chem- 
 ist of considerable practical ability for the 
 time, and was the author and publisher of 
 a treatise on " Practical Family Dyeing," 
 that possessed considerable merit, and had 
 
432 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 a large sale for that day. A Whig prior to 
 the organization of the Republican party 
 and an ardent Republican from the incep- 
 tion of that party in 1856, he took a com- 
 mendable interest in the political measures 
 that were brought before the people and 
 was always well posted on the current affairs 
 of the day. He was a reader and a thinker, 
 a man of good judgment and possessed the 
 confidence of all who had dealings with him 
 and was frequently sought for his advice on 
 business, legal and social matters. His 
 marriage resulted in the birth of six chil- 
 dren : Sarah S., Joseph, William H., 
 Franklin H., Jane S. , and Anna M. Solo- 
 mon Krider died at the age of seventy-nine 
 years. 
 
 William H. Krider received but the ele- 
 ments of an education through his attend- 
 ance at the public schools of his township. 
 Leaving school he served an apprenticeship 
 to learn the trade of a carriage builder, and 
 followed that trade as a journeyman for two 
 years. He then entered upon the study of 
 the art and science of dentistry in the office 
 and under the preceptorship of Dr. Joseph 
 Miller. After completing the course he 
 practiced the profession four years, when 
 disliking the confinement incident to the 
 work, he gave it up and again took up his 
 trade at which he worked for a time, and 
 then for five years was engaged as a sales- 
 man. In 1891 he embarked in the carriage 
 selling business on his own account in Nor- 
 ristown, and has continued in that line to 
 the present time. He is a Republican 
 politically and has served as a member of 
 the school board of Norristown borough, 
 always showing a deep interest in the cause 
 of popular education. He is a devoted 
 member and deacon of the Lutheran church 
 and a respected member of Lehigh Lodge, 
 No. 526, Free and Accepted Masons. 
 
 In i860 he wedded a daughter of John 
 Lutz, of Bucks county, and seven children 
 have blessed their union : Robert C, a 
 salesman, and resident of West Philadel- 
 phia ; Emma, a teacher; Annie L-, wife of 
 Henry L. Field, a salesman, of Allentown, 
 Pennsylvania ; Sarah, deceased ; Margaret 
 E., a stenographer and typewriter ; Mary J., 
 deceased, and William S. 
 
 JACOB H. BEIDLER, an industrious 
 <J farmer and pork butcher, living near 
 Abrams, is a son of Abraham and Sarah 
 (Stevens) Beidler, and was born in Upper 
 Meriou township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, March 21, 1859. He was 
 reared in his native township until he was 
 fourteen years of age and then went to 
 Chester county, where he remained until 
 he had attained his majority. He received 
 his education in the public schools of Upper 
 Merion township and Chester county, and 
 at twenty-one years of age commenced life 
 for himself as a farmer in Norriton town- 
 ship, the following year coming to where 
 he now resides. His farm, which is within 
 one mile of Abrams, contains no acres of 
 land, which is well adapted to agricultural 
 purposes in general. To its cultivation and 
 improvement he gives his time principally. 
 
 On March 31, 1887, Mr. Beidler was united 
 in marriage with K. Jennie Shainline, a 
 daughter of Jonathan Shainline, a resident 
 of Upper Merion. Their union has been 
 blessed with four children, one son and 
 three daughters : Helen, Warren, Ethel 
 and Anna. 
 
 Jacob H. Beidler is a Republican in politi- 
 cal opinion and has served as tax collector 
 of his township for one term. He is a 
 member of Valley Meeting of the Society 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 433 
 
 of Friends. The Beidler family is of Ger- 
 man descent, and has resided for over a 
 century in Chester county, where Jacob 
 Beidler, the grandfather of Jacob H. Beid- 
 ler, was born and reared and lived to be 
 ninety years of age, dying in 1865. He was 
 a fanner and a Whig, and his son, Abra- 
 ham Beidler, was reared and educated in 
 Tredyffrin township, Chester county, and 
 became a school teacher, but not liking that 
 profession turned his attention to farming 
 and dealing in wood lands. He purchased 
 wood options on large tracts of land and 
 cut the timber, which he sold to the large 
 wood yards in Philadelphia and elsewhere. 
 He afterwards purchased a farm containing 
 fifty acres of woodland near Port Kennedy 
 and in Upper Merion township, which he 
 cleared and upon which he erected build- 
 ings, consisting of a barn and two houses. 
 This he tilled until he died, May 9, 1872, 
 aged sixty-two years. He was a Republi- 
 can and Quaker and held the offices of 
 school director and road supervisor in his 
 township. • In 1841 he married Sarah 
 Stevens, a daughter of Stephen Stevens. 
 Their living children were : Hannah M., 
 wife of M. Davis ; Anna L., married Cyrus 
 Caley ; Maggie C, wife of Abraham Metz ; 
 Stephen L., Ella P., wife of J. Klliott ; 
 Fannie E., married M. Thomas; Louisa, 
 wife of J. J. Roberts, and Jacob H, whose 
 name heads this sketch. 
 
 DANIEL S. ALTHOUSE, carriage 
 manufacturer, of Pennsburg, Mont- 
 gomery county, is a son of Daniel S. and 
 Sarah (Stahl) Althouse, and was born May 
 1, 1848, near East Greenville, Upper Han- 
 over township, this county. 
 
 Henry Althouse, paternal grandfather, 
 
 3 S 
 
 lived in the latter part of his life in Here- 
 ford township, Berks county, where he 
 owned a small farm and followed the pur- 
 suits of agriculture. His wife's maiden 
 name was Julia Shultz, and their marriage 
 resulted in the birth of two sons and three 
 daughters : Daniel, Lydia, Henry, Han- 
 nah and Sarah. 
 
 Daniel S. Althouse, father, was born in 
 Hereford township, Berks county, on April 
 13, 1812, and died August 11, 1891. When 
 a young man he learned the trade of a shoe- 
 maker, which he followed exclusively for a 
 number of years, but latterly followed farm- 
 ing in Upper Hanover township in connec- 
 tion with his trade. He was a devout and 
 consistent member of the Reformed church, 
 in which he held various official positions, 
 and always took an active part in all mat- 
 ters pertaining to the welfare and the evan- 
 gelization of the race. He was philanthro- 
 pise and generous and one of the provisions 
 of his will stipulated that twenty per cent. 
 of his estate should be bequeathed to the 
 church and missionary work. Five chil- 
 dren blessed his marriage union with Sarah 
 Stahl. They are as follows : Henry, Daniel 
 S., Elizabeth, Harrison and Samuel. 
 
 Daniel S. Althouse learned the coach 
 building trade with Horace Miller, in Up- 
 per Hanover township, this county, serving 
 an apprenticeship of three years, and one 
 year more to still further perfect his trade. 
 He then worked at journey work six years 
 at various places, and in 1S71 went into the 
 business on his own account at Milford 
 Square, Bucks county, where he remained 
 two years, after which he came to Penns- 
 burg and established his present business. 
 He built a factory 80x23 f eet > two stories 
 high, and since then has built a warehouse 
 v »\24 feet, three stories high, a blacksmith 
 shop 24x30 feet, and a lumber shed 32x26 
 
434 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 feet. Recently lie built the fine residence 
 in which he now lives. It is a pressed 
 brick structure of fine architectural appear- 
 ance, 32x40 feet, and two and one-half 
 stories high, handsomely, substantially and 
 tastefully finished inside and outside, and 
 combines in an eminent degree the ele- 
 ments of beauty and utility. Mr. Althouse 
 is a Republican and a consistent member 
 of the Reformed church. On December 
 24, 1870, he married Elizabeth Nase, a 
 dauehter of Elias Nase, and two children 
 bless their union : Frank and Howard. 
 Mrs. Elizabeth (Nase) Althouse died in 
 1882 at the age of thirty-eight years, and 
 Mr. Althouse married as his second wife 
 Mary Ann Erb, a daughter of George Erb, 
 ex-countv commissioner. Three daughters, 
 Annie Irene, Ella May and Eva Leona bless 
 this marital alliance. 
 
 JOSEPH C. JONES, retail lumber dealer 
 *-J of Conshohocken, is a son of Charles 
 and Sarah (Reed) Jones, and was born De- 
 cember 5, 1841, in Conshohocken, then in 
 Whitemarsh township, this county. He is 
 of Welsh-Quaker stock, but his great-great- 
 grandfather, Jonathan Jones, transferred his 
 residence from the old world to the new in 
 1747. He settled in the vicinity of the 
 present borough of Conshohocken where he 
 took up a tract of land containing two hun- 
 dred acres on a part of which Conshohocken 
 now stands. He was one of the pioneer 
 settlers and passed through the customary 
 trials. One of his sons was John Jones who 
 had a son Isaac Jones, who was the grand- 
 father of the subject of this record. Isaac 
 Jones was born on the homestead founded 
 by his grandfather, and lived in that vicini- 
 ty all his life mainly engaged in agricultural 
 
 pursuits, but was also extensively engaged 
 in lime burning, shipping the product via 
 the Schuylkill canal and river to Maryland 
 and New Jersey. Politically he was a Whig 
 and regliously a minister of the Hicksite 
 branch of the Quaker church, belonging to 
 Plymouth Meeting. 
 
 Charles Jones, father, was born in 181 1, in 
 Whitemarsh township, Montgomery county, 
 was reared upon the paternal acres, and fol- 
 lowed farming as a life vocation, owning a 
 farm now included in the limits of the bor- 
 ough of Conshohocken. He was a member 
 of the Society of Friends, and a Republican 
 in political principle, taking an active part 
 in the local government of his borough and 
 all matters pertaining to the welfare of the 
 community at large. His marriage with 
 Sarah Reed, was blessed in the birth of 
 seven children : Ellen C, wife of David R. 
 Jones, of Norristown ; Joseph C, subject ; 
 Martha, Jonathan R., Sallie, Charles and 
 James Cresson, deceased. 
 
 Joseph C. Jones received a good academic 
 education in Treemount seminary at Nor- 
 ristown, under such competent and skilled 
 educators as Professors Samuel Aaron and 
 John W. Loch. Leaving school, he en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits with his 
 father, and continued in this line until the 
 outbreak of the Civil war when he enlisted 
 in the 4th regiment, Pennsylvania militia, 
 under Colonel Knowerder, of Allentown 
 and Captain Henry Bonsall of Norristown. 
 The regiment was taken to Hagerstown, 
 Maryland, where it was held for a time and 
 was then mustered out. He then enlisted 
 in the 17th Pennsylvania cavalry, in the 
 army of the Potomac, and served in all the 
 battles of his regiment from the battle of 
 Chancellorsville to the close of the conflict. 
 The most important are the following : 
 Cold Harbor, Seven Days battle, Gettys- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 435 
 
 burg, and the surrender of Lee at Appomat- 
 tox. Although he took part in some of the 
 most hotly contested battles of the war, yet 
 he was never seriously wounded. He was 
 captured while on a reconnoitering party 
 near Lynchburg, Virginia, but soon made 
 his escape. Having served his country 
 faithfully in its hour of greatest peril and 
 discharged with fidelity his every duty as a 
 soldier, he returned home and once more 
 resumed the peaceful pursuits of a farmer. 
 His father having died in 1863, he succeed- 
 ed to the management of the farm in White- 
 marsh township, where he remained three 
 years and then removed to Conshohocken 
 aad became a member of the firm of E. D. 
 &. J. C. Jones, and engaged in the lumber- 
 ing business. This business relation con- 
 tinued until 1880 when the caption of the 
 firm became Evan D. Jones & Company, and 
 has remained the same to the present 
 time. 
 
 Mr. Jones is recognized as a careful, 
 methodical and successful business man, and 
 in addition to giving a careful supervision 
 to the interests of the business with which 
 he is connected, finds time to take part in 
 other matters of a financial and industrial 
 nature that stand as the mutual measure of 
 the thrift and progress of his town. He is 
 president of the Guarantee Building and 
 Loan association, and a director of the Home 
 Building and Loan association. Politically 
 he is a Republican, has served a number of 
 years as a member of the school board of 
 his borough and as councilman two terms. 
 He is member in high standing of George 
 Smith Post No 79, G. A. R., at Consho- 
 hocken. 
 
 On December 5, 1867, Mr. Jones married 
 Emma, a daughter of Charles Wood, for- 
 merly of Conshohocken, and to this union 
 have been born five children : Nellie, who 
 
 died at the age of twenty-four years; Charles 
 W.; J. C. Frank, a clerk with his father; 
 Florence and Alan. 
 
 JOHN T. DYER, a prominent and an 
 extensive railroad contractor of Norris- 
 town, Pennsylvania, is a son of Richard H. 
 and Caroline (Huff) Dyer, and was born in 
 Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, April 19, 
 1848. Mr. Dver's maternal and paternal 
 progenitors were of English-Quaker origin, 
 and figured prominently among the pioneer 
 settlers of eastern Pennsylvania. Both fami- 
 lies settled in the same vicinity, and the 
 Dyers founded the village in Bucks county, 
 which was christened Dyerstown in their 
 honor. 
 
 Jesse Dyer, grandfather, a prosperous and 
 well-to-do farmer, was born at Dyertown 
 and died near Doylestown, the county seat 
 of Bucks county, in 1855, aged eighty-two 
 years. He was an orthodox Quaker and 
 married Lucinda Huff, who bore him the 
 following sons: Thomas P., Richard H., 
 and John S. 
 
 Richard H. Dyer, father, was born at 
 Warrington, Bucks county, in 1S17, and 
 after obtaining a good education, he en- 
 gaged in teaching in the public schools of 
 Lehigh county. After pursuing this line 
 of work a short period of time, he engaged 
 in contracting and building, and finally 
 drifted into the lumber business in Lehigh 
 county. He was also engaged in general 
 merchandising, shipping produce, etc, to 
 Philadelphia, New York and other eastern 
 cities. He was a careful, conscientious and 
 methodical business man, and was uni- 
 formly successful in the various business 
 enterprises with which he was connected. 
 Aggressive, enterprising and public spirited, 
 
436 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 all useful enterprises found in him a hearty 
 and earnest support; humane, philanthropic 
 and charitable, no worthy poor or eleemosy- 
 nary institution ever sought his aid in vain; 
 and a thorough, consistent and zealous 
 Christian, he contributed liberally to the 
 churches of all denominations. In 1854 he 
 located at Slatington, his home at the time 
 of his death, which occurred in 1876. In 
 1845 tne nuptials were celebrated which 
 made Mr. Dyer and Caroline Huff, husband 
 and wife. Their marriage was productive 
 of six children : William P., John T., 
 Eugene, Elizabeth, Emily and Laura. 
 
 John T. Dyer was educated in the public 
 schools, and after leaving school, was en- 
 gaged for a time in the capacity of a clerk 
 in the quarries at Slatington. Sub- 
 sequently he was employed for a period of 
 years superintending the construction of 
 railroads. In 1880, he launched extensively 
 into railroad contracting on his own ac- 
 count, and was first employed on the New 
 York, Ontario and Western and the Schuyl- 
 kill Valley railroads. Afterwards he built 
 the Bay Ridge and Annapolis railroad ; 
 fourteen miles of the Ohio River railroad, 
 from Parkersburg, West Virginia, south ; 
 fourteen miles on the Chicago, Milwaukee 
 and St.' Paul railroad. He also built the 
 terminal at Waterbury, Connecticut, and 
 seven sections of the Trenton Cut-Off rail- 
 road. 
 
 Mr. Dyer is a member of the German 
 Reformed church. On December n, 1876, 
 he was united in marriage with Man- P., 
 a daughter of the late Dr. Cornelius S. 
 Baker, who was a prominent physician of 
 Norristown. To the marriage of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Dyer were born six children : Elsie, 
 Caroline, Frederick, John L., William 
 Gordon and Marion. 
 
 Mr. Dyer is an energetic, enterprising 
 
 and careful business man and preeminently 
 the architect of his own fortune. Thrown 
 upon his own resources in early life, he has 
 by persevering toil and indefatigable effort 
 won success and position, and to-day he 
 ranks as one of the most reliable and suc- 
 cessful railroad contractors of eastern Penn- 
 svlvania. 
 
 HENRY M. BROWXBACK, a rising 
 young lawyer of the Norristown bar, 
 who has served three years as district attor- 
 ney, is the youngest son of James and Ellen 
 (March) Brownback, and a native of West 
 Vincent township, Chester county, Penna., 
 where he was born, December 17, i860. The 
 Brownback family, now numerous and in- 
 fluential in Eastern Pennsylvania, traces 
 its origin back to Germany, and was 
 planted in America by Garrett Brownback 
 (originally written Gerhard Brumbach),who 
 came over from Amsterdam in the sailing 
 ship Concord in 1683, and settled first at 
 Gennantown, near Philadelphia, and later 
 removed to Chester county. There he be- 
 came a large land holder, kept the first hotel 
 in his section, and was the founder of 
 Brownback's German Reformed church. 
 He died in 1757, at an advanced age. One 
 of his descendants, in the third generation, 
 was William Brownback, paternal grand- 
 father of the subject of this sketch, who was 
 a prominent farmer of Chester county, 
 where he died July 29, 1890, aged eighty- 
 four years. He was a lifelong member of 
 the Reformed church, in the upbuilding 
 and success of which he took a lively inter- 
 est, and was a well known and esteemed 
 citizen of his county. 
 
 He married Eliza Wilson, by whom he 
 had a family of four children, one of his 
 sons being James Brownback (father), who 
 
j^?(|^*W 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 437 
 
 was born March 4, 1833, in Chester county, 
 
 Pennsylvania. After obtaining a common 
 school education James Brownback em- 
 barked in agricultural pursuits, which he 
 followed successfully for a number of years. 
 In 1865 he disposed of his other interests 
 and engaged in the foundry business. He is 
 president of the March-Brownback stow 
 company, of Pottstown, this county, though 
 he still resides at Linfield. He is also 
 financially interested in a number of other 
 industrial enterprises. Politically he is an 
 ardent Republican, and has always taken 
 an active part in local politics and public 
 affairs, though he has never cherished any 
 ambition for political preferment himself, 
 being better pleased to devote his energy en- 
 tirely to business. He is a member of the 
 Reformed church and of the Masonic frater- 
 nity, and served for some time as trustee of 
 Ursinus college at Collegeville. In 1857 
 he married Ellen March, of Lawreneeville, 
 Chester county, and to them was born a 
 family of three children : Ada E., now the 
 wife of Henry G. Kulp, of Pottstown ; Wil- 
 liam M., married Annie Yocum, of Bryn 
 Mawr, and Henry M., subject of sketch. 
 
 Henry M. Brownback was brought by 
 his parents when only seven years old to 
 Linfield, this county, where he grew to 
 manhood and obtained his primary educa- 
 tion in private and select schools and at 
 Ursinus college, Collegeville, Pennsyl- 
 vania. Subsequent to his college career he 
 began reading law in the autumn of 1878 
 with Franklin March, of the Montgomery 
 county bar. Having completed the course 
 of study and passed the usual examination, 
 he was duly admitted to the bar of this 
 county December 6, 1882, and at once be- 
 gan the practice of his profession. He sub- 
 sequently formed a law partnership with 
 his former preceptor, Franklin March, un- 
 
 der the firm name of March X: Brownback, 
 which continued in force until January 1, 
 1893, at which time the partnership was 
 dissolved by mutual consent, and Mr. 
 Brownback has since conducted his law 
 practice alone. Being earnestly devoted to 
 his profession, Mr. Brownback early at- 
 tracted public attention, and in November, 
 18S9, was elected to the position of district 
 attorney for a term of three years. His 
 official duties were carefully and consci- 
 entiously discharged. He is now solicitor 
 for the sheriff and register of Montgomery 
 county, and has a large general practice. 
 
 On July 2, 1890, Mr. Brownback was 
 united by marriage to Augustine Margue- 
 rite, a daughter of Prof. T. S. C. Lowe, 
 late of Norristown, but now a resident of 
 Southern California. Prof. Lowe has been 
 largely interested in railway construction 
 and is a progressive man of wealth. To 
 Mr. and Mrs. Brownback have been born 
 two sons : Henry Lowe and Russel James. 
 
 In political faith Mr. Brownback is an 
 enthusiastic Republican and a firm believer 
 in the policy of protection to American in- 
 dustries. Ever since his admittance to 
 the bar he has taken an active interest 
 in local politics and is regarded among the 
 best posted leaders of political thought. In 
 addition to his law practice at Norristown, 
 where he has resided since 1890, he is also 
 financially interested in the March-Brown- 
 back stove company, of Pottstown, and is a 
 director of the Montgomery Insurance 
 Trust and Safe Deposit company, of Norris- 
 town, Pennsylvania. 
 
 FREELAND G. HOBSON is an attor- 
 ney in active practice at the Montgom- 
 ery county bar ; the treasurer and trust 
 
438 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 officer of the Norristown Title, Trust and 
 Safe Deposit company ; and an active and 
 enterprising business man. He has a State 
 wide reputation as a member of the Pa- 
 triotic Order Sons of America, having 
 been for years very prominent in its coun- 
 cils, and having served as State president 
 in 1S94. He was born at Collegeville, 
 Montgomery county, on October 13, 1857. 
 He is a son of Frank M. and Lizzie (Got- 
 walts) Hobson. A complete sketch of his 
 father, who is still living, appears on page 
 seventy of this work. 
 
 Mr. Hobson is of English ancestry on his 
 paternal side, the immigrant ancestor 
 being Francis Hobson, who came from 
 England in 1720, and located in New Gar- 
 den township, Chester county, with his 
 wife and family. They were of the Society 
 of Friends and were among the earliest 
 settlers of that county. Mr. Hobson was a 
 farmer. His sou Francis came to Limerick 
 township, Montgomery county, in 1743, and 
 bought a farm of two hundred and sixty acres, 
 near Royersford, which is still known as the 
 Hobson farm. This ancestor had a family, 
 one of whom, Francis Hobson, inherited 
 the Limerick farm in 1748 and resided 
 there all his life. He was a country jus- 
 tice of the peace and a surveyor, and many 
 of the old surveys of the county were made 
 by him. One of his sons, John Hobson, 
 was the great-grandfather of our subject. 
 He in his turn inherited and worked the 
 Limerick farm, making three generations 
 on this property. A brother, Moses by 
 name, succeeded his father as county sur- 
 veyor and justice of the peace. John Hob- 
 son was the father of four children : Moses; 
 Mary ; Charlotte, wife of Homer Kimberly, 
 of Batavia, New York ; and Francis, grand- 
 father of our subject, who was born October 
 10, 1803, and died August 4, 1874. He 
 
 inherited the farm in Limerick township 
 and lived there many years, subsequently 
 removing to Reading, where his widow and 
 several children still reside. He was a 
 soldier in the war of the Rebellion. He 
 married Matilda Bringhurst, and they had 
 two children : Frank M., father of our sub- 
 ject, born January 22, 1830 ; and Sarah H, 
 who married Rev. Henry W. Super, D. D., 
 ex-president of Ursinus college. 
 
 William Bringhurst, father of our sub- 
 ject's grandmother, married Mary Morris, 
 on June 4, 1769, and had two children: 
 Elizabeth, wife of Adam Harkness ; and 
 Israel, who was born February 28, 1770, 
 and died February, 1807. Israel Bringhurst 
 had a family of eight children, among 
 whom was Wright A. Bringhurst, who was 
 a member of the State legislature and be- 
 came a man of considerable note. At his 
 death he bequeathed $200,000 for the sup- 
 port of the destitute poor of Norristown, 
 Pottstown, and Upper Providence town- 
 ship. The bequest was apportioned accord- 
 ing to the population of each district. He 
 died in 1876. His sister Matilda married 
 Francis Hobson as above stated. Through 
 the mother of Israel Bringhurst our subject 
 is a descendant of Jenkin Jenkins, who was 
 born in Wales, in 1659, and came to this 
 country in 1729 and located in Gwynedd. 
 
 Through the maternal line Mr. Hobson 
 is descended from the Vanderslice, Got- 
 walts, Hunsieker and Peunypacker fami- 
 lies. His mother was Lizzie Gotwalts, a 
 daughter of Jacob and Esther Gotwalts and 
 a sister of Jacob V. Gotwalts, a prominent 
 Norristown lawyer. Esther Gotwalts, ma- 
 ternal grandmother of our subject, is still 
 living at the advanced age of eighty-five. 
 She was a daughter of Anthony Vander- 
 slice. The Yanderslices at a very early 
 age came from Germanv to Pennsvlva- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 439 
 
 nia and settled in Providence township. 
 Through the same line our subject is also 
 a direct descendant of the Pennvpaekers, 
 the Hunsickers, and the Kolbs, three old 
 and prominent colonial families. 
 
 Freeland G. Hobsou, the subject of this 
 sketch, was educated in the public schools 
 of Upper Providence township, and subse- 
 quently took a full course in and graduated 
 from Ursinus college in 1876. He then 
 entered the law office of Jacob V. Gotwalts, 
 at that time district attorney of Montgom- 
 ery county, and was admitted to the bar on 
 October 1, 1880. He immediately opened 
 an office in Norristown, where he soon 
 began to build up a lucrative practice and 
 where he has remained ever since. He is 
 an eloquent pleader, and has been uniformly 
 successful in the trial of cases. He de- 
 fended Antonio Frederieko, an Italian, who 
 was tried in 1890 for the murder of a 
 fellow countryman. The murder oc- 
 curred at Conshohocken, and Frederieko 
 was captured at San Francisco. The trial 
 was a most thrilling one, and resulted in 
 the absolute acquittal of the accused. Mr. 
 Hobson received the congratulations of his 
 colleagues for the manner in which he had 
 conducted the defense. 
 
 In September, 1888, Mr. Hobson put on 
 foot the movement to organize the Norris- 
 town Title, Trust and Safe Deposit com- 
 pany, and solicited most of the stock. He 
 was made its secretary, treasurer, and trust 
 officer. These positions he has held since 
 that time. This institution has rapidly 
 grown in popular favor, and now ranks as 
 one of the most flourishing financial insti- 
 tutions of the county. He is also the 
 founder and publisher of the Montgomei r 
 County Law Reporter^ which is now in its 
 eleventh volume. He is a member of the 
 Montgomery County Historical society, and 
 
 is the author of the History of Providence 
 Township, and one of the contributors to 
 Colonel Bean's History of Montgomery 
 
 County, writing much of the township 
 work. He has always taken great interest 
 in public movements, and in 1884 when the 
 Centennial celebration of Montgomery 
 county was celebrated he was chairman of 
 the Executive committee. It was in no 
 small degree owing to his energy that this 
 celebration was such a success. He was 
 editor-in-chief of a beautiful memorial vol- 
 ume commemorating this event. 
 
 Mr. Hobson is a leader in the Patriotic 
 Order Sons of America and is a member of 
 Camp 267, at Ironbridge. In August, 1893, 
 he was elected State president at the State 
 convention, held at Chester, Pa. At the 
 conclusion of his term, at Erie, Pa., he was 
 made the happy recipient of a handsome 
 cane made from a piece of the hull of the 
 old flagship Lawrence. The presentation 
 was made by Hon. J. F. Dowling, mayor 
 of Erie. He is a prominent member of the 
 Valley Forge Memorial association and is 
 at present treasurer and chairman of its ex- 
 ecutive committee. He is filling the post 
 of secretary of Riverside cemetery, which 
 was recently organized. He is one of the 
 directors of Ursinus college, Collegeville, 
 Pa., in which he has taken a very active 
 interest. 
 
 Mr. Hobson is a Republican but has 
 never sought political office. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Trinity Reformed church of 
 Collegeville, and has been an elder for five 
 years. He takes an active part in church 
 work, having served as secretary and treas- 
 urer of the Montgomery County Sunday- 
 school association, and as president of the 
 Schuylkill Valley Union of Christian En- 
 deavor. He has been upon the program at 
 two international Christian Endeavor con- 
 
44o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ventions; one at Cleveland, Ohio, in 1894, 
 and again at Boston, in 1895. He has been 
 a delegate to the classes, synods and general 
 synod of the Reformed church in the United 
 States. In all of these bodies he has taken 
 a very active part. He has on several oc- 
 casions argued some most important ap- 
 peals in these ecclesiastical judicatories. 
 
 On September 15, 1881, Mr. Hobson mar- 
 ried Ella M. Hendricks, daughter of Rev. 
 Joseph H. Hendricks, now pastor of Trinity 
 Reformed church at Collegeville. This 
 union has been blessed with three children: 
 Frank H., aged twelve years ; Anna Mabel, 
 aged ten years ; and Catharine, aged six 
 vears. 
 
 JACOB V. GOTYVALTS, a prominent 
 lawyer and ex-district attorney of Mont- 
 gomery county, is a son of Jacob and Esther 
 (Yanderslice) Gotwalts, and was born in 
 Lower Providence township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, May 13, 1840. The 
 Gotwalts family is of German descent, and 
 can be traced back in the county to the days 
 of early settlement in the latter part of the 
 seventeenth century. One member of this 
 family was Christian Gotwalts, the paternal 
 grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
 Christian Gotwalts was a farmer by occu- 
 pation, and lived and died in this county, 
 where he married and reared an industrious 
 family. His son Jacob Gotwalts (father), 
 followed farming, the chief occupation of 
 his day, and died June 29, 1851, aged forty- 
 eight years. He was a Mennonite in relig- 
 ion and church membership, and a Henry 
 Clay Whig, in politics. Mr. Gotwalts wed- 
 wed Esther Yanderslice, who is a daughter 
 oi Anthony Yanderslice, and is living, being 
 now in the eighty-fifth year of his age. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Gotwalts had a family of four chil- 
 
 dren of whom two are living: Jacob Y., 
 and Elizabeth, wife of Frank M. Hobson, a 
 resident of Collegeville and a trustee and the 
 secretary of Ursinus college. 
 
 Jacob Y. Gotwalts, was reared on the 
 home farm until he was ten years of age, 
 at which time his father's death occurred. 
 He was then sent to Freeland seminary 
 where he fitted for college. Five years later 
 he entered Dickinson college, Carlisle, 
 Pennsylvania, from which well known in- 
 stitution of learning he was graduated in 
 the class of i860. Leaving college he be- 
 came principal of the Cape May high 
 school, of New Jersey, which position he 
 held for some time. He afterwards was a 
 member of the faculty of Treemount semi- 
 nary for a year or more, and then declined 
 all further offers of educational positions in 
 order to commence the study of law with 
 Hon. George N. Corson, of Norristown. 
 He was admitted to the Montgomery county 
 bar in August, 1867, and immediately com- 
 menced practice at Norristown, where he re- 
 mained until 1895, when he became a mem- 
 ber of the law firm of Gotwalts & Savior, 
 and removed to Pottstown. Mr. Gotwalts 
 does a general law practice, but makes a 
 specialty of criminal law in which he has 
 been very successful. He is a strong Demo- 
 crat in politics, and for a quarter of a cen- 
 tury has been both active and prominent in 
 the political affairs of the county. He served 
 as a councilman and school director of Nor- 
 ristown, of which borough he was also 
 solicitor. He served as district attorney of 
 Montgomery county from 1875 to 1878 ; was 
 a candidate for the nomination for State 
 senator some time later and has been fre- 
 quently mentioned as an exceedingly strong 
 and available candidate for congress on the 
 Democratic ticket in his congressional dis- 
 trict. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 441 
 
 On December 3, 1873, Mr. Gotwalts was 
 united in marriage with Henrietta Royer, 
 whose father, the late Dr. Lewis Royer, 
 served with credit and ability in the State 
 senate of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Air. Gotwalts is a man of fine personal 
 appearance, and occupies a front rank in the 
 practice of his profession. He is now a law 
 partner of Hon. Henry D. Saylor, of Potts- 
 town. Mr. Gotwalts is a prominent Mason, 
 being a member of Phoenix Lodge, No. 75, 
 Free and Accepted Masons. 
 
 JOSEPH Y. BECHTEL, M. D., who has 
 
 <J been in active practice at Schwenks- 
 ville for thirty-nine years, is a son of John 
 and Catharine (Yost) Bechtel, and was born 
 in a part of Pottstown, then in Pottsgrove 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, March 25, 1832. The lineage of his 
 family is traced back authentically to John 
 George Bechtel of Germany, who left his 
 native land in 1728, as one of a colony of 
 emigrants of the Reformed church faith. 
 He came on the ship M or tollhouse, John 
 Coultas, master, which weighed anchor at 
 Diehl, June 15, 1728, and arrived at Phila- 
 delphia, August 24, the same year. Mr. 
 Bechtel settled near the site of Pottstown, 
 where he bought a farm. Some years after- 
 wards, upon the death of his father, he re- 
 turned to Germany in order to obtain his 
 share of the paternal estate, and died on his 
 return voyage, while the vessel was along 
 the coast of one of the Carolinas. His 
 widow, whose maiden name was Anna 
 Mary Clingman, remained on the farm and 
 reared their two children, George and Catha- 
 rine, the latter of whom wedded Samuel 
 Landis. 
 
 George Bechtel was born and always re- 
 
 sided on the home farm, on which he died 
 April 29, 1S1S, at seventy-three years of 
 aoe. He was a farmer and a member of 
 the Reformed church, and married Hannah 
 Schwinhart, by whom he had seven sons 
 and four daughters. The sons were: David, 
 George, William, Jacob, Peter, Colonel 
 John and Samuel. The daughters were : 
 Mary, wife of Conrad Carver; Elizabeth, 
 who wedded Jacob Harner ; Hannah, wife 
 of Matthias Gilbert ; and Catharine, who 
 married John Yocum. Colonel John Bechtel, 
 third in descent from John George Bechtel, 
 was born November 4, 1793, and died July 
 3, 1S77. He followed milling for a few 
 years and then rented a hotel below Potts- 
 town, which he ran for some time. He 
 then owned and tilled a farm of seventy 
 acres near Sanatoga station, afterwards re- 
 moved to Allentown, and shortly before his 
 death, came to his son, the subject of this 
 sketch, to be treated for dropsy, which proved 
 fatal in his case. He served at sixteen 
 years of age in the War of 18 12, was a colo- 
 onel of a militia regiment afterwards, and 
 served from 1838 to 1841, as county com- 
 missioner. He was a life long Democrat, 
 and a consistent member of the Reformed 
 church. He married Catharine Yost, and 
 to their union were born five sons and two 
 daughters : Jeremiah, John, Mary, Loomis, 
 Washington, Jacob, Lovinia Haas and Dr. 
 Joseph Y. Mrs. Bechtel was a daughter of 
 John Yost, an extensive farmer of near 
 Pottstown. She died May 14, 1863, aged 
 sixty-nine years. 
 
 Dr. Joseph Y. Bechtel was reared on the 
 farm, received his education in the common 
 schools and Pottstown academy, and taught 
 for three years, being one of the first free 
 school teachers in Pottsgrove township. 
 He quit teaching in 1854, to read medicine 
 with Dr. G. W. Wimley, of Limerick, and 
 
442 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 afterwards entered the Pennsylvania Medi- 
 cal college, from which he was graduated 
 in March, 1856. He immediately opened 
 an office at Birdsboro, Berks county, but on 
 October 20, 1856, came to Schweuksville, 
 then but a small village. He soon acquired 
 a large practice, which he held for thirty- 
 five years, but for the last four years, owing 
 to failing health, has been obliged to cur- 
 tail his professional business. In the zenith 
 of his professional career he was frequently 
 called to treat patients ten to twelve miles 
 away. Dr. Bechtel is a Democrat, and 
 served as postmaster of Schwenksville from 
 1885 to 1889, his oldest son, Allen K. 
 Bechtel, officiating as assistant postmaster. 
 He is a member of the Reformed church, 
 served one term in 1892 as physician to the 
 Montgomery County Home, but declined a 
 re-appointment. He was appointed as an 
 assistant surgeon during the late Civil war, 
 but resigned. 
 
 On October 21, 1858, Dr. Bechtel wedded 
 Margaret Koons, a daughter of James 
 Koons, a farmer of Perkiomen township, 
 and a zealous member of Trappe Reformed 
 church. To Dr. and Mrs. Bechtel have 
 been born four children : Allen K., a gradu- 
 ate of the National Institute of Pharmacy, 
 Chicago, who died July 10, 1893, aged 
 thirty years ; Laura, wife of the Rev. Silas 
 L. Messinger, pastor of Pleasantville Re- 
 formed church, at Eureka, Bucks county ; 
 John, a clerk in his father's drug store ; 
 and M. Evelyn, a graduate of Ursinus col- 
 lege, class of 1895. 
 
 B PERCY CHAIN, a lawyer of the 
 • Norristown bar, is the only son of 
 Benjamin E. and Louisa B. Chain, and 
 was born at Norristown, Pennsylvania, De- 
 
 cember 22, 185S. The family was estab- 
 lished in America by John Chain, the elder, 
 who during the eighteenth century crossed 
 the Atlantic, and finally settled on the west 
 bank of .Stony creek, in what is now West 
 Norristown, Montgomery county. Here on 
 September 5, 1770, he purchased of Mary 
 Norris a farm of one hundred and seventy- 
 six acres, including the ground on which 
 the greater part of West Norristown is now 
 located. A part of this property is still in 
 possession of his descendants. His son, 
 Matthew Chain, paternal great-grandfather 
 of the subject of this sketch, succeeded his 
 father by last will in the ownership of the 
 farm. He married, and reared two chil- 
 dren, one of whom was John Chain (grand- 
 father), who was born December 16, 1781, 
 grew to manhood, and lived on the old 
 homestead during all of his life. Like his 
 progenitors, John Chain devoted his life to 
 agricultural pursuits, and died in Norris- 
 town, April 9, 1829. He married, October 
 24, 1808, Ann Evans, a sister of Benjamin 
 Evans, one of the early and eminent law- 
 yers of this county, and a descendant of the 
 founders of Evansburg, in Lower Provi- 
 dence township. They had a family of five 
 children : Eleanor, who died unmarried ; 
 Hannah, who married Jno. S. McEarland, 
 Esq., of the Montgomery county bar, both 
 of whom are long since dead, leaving no 
 children ; James ; Mark ; and Benjamin E. 
 James and Mark had no children. Benja- 
 min E. Chain (father) was born at Norris- 
 town, Pennsylvania, October 15, 1823, and 
 educated at the Norristown academy, Law- 
 renceville (New Jersey) seminary, and 
 Washington and Jefferson college, Cannons- 
 burg, Pennsylvania, from which latter in- 
 stitution he was graduated in 1842. After 
 graduation he read law one year with the 
 late Gilbert Rodman Fox, Esq., of Norris- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 443 
 
 town, and completed his preparation for 
 
 the bar under Hon. James M. Porter, of 
 Easton. He was admitted to the bar in 
 November, 1844, and began practice at 
 Norristown. In 1850 he was elected dis- 
 trict attorney, being the first to fill that 
 office by a vote of the people. He was 
 connected as counsel with a number of 
 noted cases, had a large practice in the 
 Orphans' court, and continued the active 
 duties of his profession until his death, 
 March 28, 1893, when in the seventieth 
 year of his age. In politics, he was a Jack- 
 sonian Democrat, and during the early part 
 of his career took an active part in political 
 affairs, though in later life he devoted his 
 attention to business. He was one of the 
 originators and a director in the First 
 National bank of Norristown, and served 
 as vice-president and solicitor of the Mont- 
 gomery Insurance Trust and Safe Deposit 
 company. He also served as the first 
 president of the Norristown Gas company, 
 and was interested in a number of other 
 enterprises. During Lee's invasion of 
 Pennsylvania he served as a member of the 
 emergency corps. He was a life-long 
 friend and the legal adviser of General W. 
 S. Hancock, who was frequently his guest 
 at his home, and did considerable campaign 
 work for the Democracy during the gene- 
 ral's candidacy for president in 1880. At 
 his death in 1886 Mr. Chain attended to 
 the details of his final sepulture. In re- 
 ligion he was a member of the Protestant 
 Episcopal church, and for a period of 
 twenty years occupied the position of ves- 
 tryman and senior warden in St. John's 
 church at Norristown. In 1845 he married 
 Louisa Bean, a daughter of John Bean, of 
 Norristown, then recently deceased, and by 
 that union had four children. Two died 
 in infancy and two survive : one, a daugh- 
 
 ter named Mary C, married Francis D. 
 Farnum, now deceased, who was a promi- 
 nent cotton manufacturer of Norristown ; 
 and the other, B. Percy, the subject of this 
 sketch, is the last of the male descendants 
 of this branch of the Chain family. 
 
 B. Percy Chain grew to manhood in his 
 native borough of Norristown and received 
 a liberal education at Treemount seminary 
 and Lafayette college. He studied law 
 with his father, and was admitted to the 
 bar of Montgomery county in 1884. He 
 at once began the practice of his profession, 
 in which he has been continuously engaged 
 to the present time. In addition to his law 
 practice Mr. Chain is interested in business 
 and other enterprises in and around Norris- 
 town. He is a director in the Montgomery 
 Insurance Trust and Safe Deposit com- 
 pany. 
 
 On August 30, 1893, Mr. Chain was 
 wedded to Bessie Brooke, youngest daugh- 
 ter of Lewis T. Brooke, of the firm of 
 Lewis T. Brooke & Son, real estate dealers, 
 of the city of Philadelphia. Politically 
 Mr. Chain is an advocate of Democracy, 
 though he takes little active part in poli- 
 ties. He is a member and vestryman of 
 St. John's Episcopal church, Norristown, 
 and is also connected with a number of 
 social and musical organizations in the 
 borough, among them being the Ersine 
 Tennis club, of which he was one of the 
 incorporators and a director. He and Mrs. 
 Chain are both very popular socially, and 
 their home is at the south corner of Jacoby 
 and Arch streets. 
 
 EUGENE DAMBLV, business manager 
 of the Skippack Transcript and the Ger- 
 man Der Neutralist, is a man of practical 
 
444 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 knowledge of his business. He is one of 
 the youngest newspaper men in the interior 
 of the State, and his success is rather due to 
 hard work and ambition than to educational 
 advantages. His may be said to be a news- 
 paper family, for his father was the editor 
 and publisher of a newspaper, and three of 
 his brothers are or were engaged in the 
 same business. 
 
 Mr. Dambly comes of an ancient family. 
 His ancestors were residents of France and 
 traces of the family are found as far back as 
 the year 1 1 12. In those days and up to the 
 time of the French Revolution they were a 
 powerful family, but at that time they, with 
 many others, were driven into exile and 
 their estates confiscated. They subsequent- 
 ly found a refuge in Germany. 
 
 Mr. Dambly's paternal grandfather was 
 Dr. August Ernst Dambly, a veterinary sur- 
 geon, who was born and lived at Ludwigs- 
 burg, Germany. He was connected with 
 the German army in his professional capaci- 
 itv. He was married to Hannah Snyder, 
 and they had six children : Bertha, now 
 Mrs. E. V. Sowville, of Chicago, 111.; Louisa, 
 now Mrs. George Kessler, of Philadelphia, 
 Pa.; Marie Dambly, of Philadelphia, Pa.; 
 August Ernst, Alexander and Harry. 
 
 August Ernst Dambly was the father of 
 the subject of this sketch. He was born at 
 Ludwigsburg, Wurtemberg, Germany, No- 
 vember 11, 1839, and came to this country 
 with his widowed mother when he was but 
 ten years of age. His mother died shortly 
 after their arrival in this country, and being 
 without friends or relatives in America, he 
 was thrown upon his own resources. When 
 he was less than fifteen years of age he ap- 
 prenticed himself to a publisher of a Ger- 
 man paper at Doylestown, Pa., where he 
 learned his trade. After serving his appren- 
 ticeship he connected himself with the Ger- 
 
 man Neutralist, published at Skippack, Pa., 
 and by dint of hard work and close applica- 
 tion became manager and finally, in 1862, 
 became proprietor. He continued in the 
 business up to the time of his death, De- 
 cember 19, 1885. He was editor of the only 
 German Republican paper in his county and 
 was widely known as an able German writer, 
 and a warm exponent of the Republican 
 principles. Few politicians in the county 
 enjoyed a wider and more favorable acquain- 
 tance among his own and other parties. 
 He was a member of the Skippack church 
 and a trustee, also secretary of the Sunday 
 school. He was a member of Warren 
 Lodge, No 310, F. and A. M.; Providence 
 Lodge, No. 345, I. O O. F., of Kulpsville ; 
 Knights of Pythias, at Zieglerville, and of 
 the Knights of the Mystic Chain, at Centre 
 Square. He was married to Rosa Witman, 
 of Reading, Pa., on August 17, 1862, and 
 they had eight children : John A., B. 
 Witman, Eugene ; Grace, now Mrs. J. B. 
 Frank, of Norristown ; Harry, Rosa, Han- 
 nah and Clara. 
 
 Mr. Dambly, the subject of this sketch, 
 was born at Skippack, on August 15, 1868. 
 When he arrived at a proper age he was sent 
 to public school and remained until he was 
 fifteen years of age. He then entered his 
 father's printing establishment and learned 
 the trade. Two years later his father died, 
 when his brother and he took charge of the 
 business and conducted it for their mother. 
 In 1888 they established the English Mont- 
 gomery Transcript, which has since become 
 one of the widely read and influential Re- 
 publican weeklies in the county. In 1890 
 the Damblys purchased the weekly Har- 
 leysville News, and the subject of this sketch 
 successfully managed that paper for about 
 two years, when it was sold out to I. R. 
 Haldeman. He returned to Skippack again 
 
C 7 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 445 
 
 and has since been devoting his time to the 
 newspaper business. He is a Republican in 
 politics. Mr. Dambly is a member of 
 Trinity Reformed church of Skippack and 
 a trustee of the church. He is a member of 
 Providence Lodge, No. 345, I. O. O. F., of 
 Kulpsville ; Harmony Grange, No. 891, 
 Patrons of Husbandry, of Creamery ; Har- 
 leysville Beneficial Association and other 
 organizations. 
 
 Mr. Dambly is a married man. On 
 February 21, 1894, he was united to Mat- 
 tie, daughter of the Rev. S. M. K. Huber, 
 of Skippack. 
 
 DR. THOMAS READING was born at 
 Hatboro, Montgomery county, Penn- 
 sylvania, November 3, 1864. He is a de- 
 scendant of a long line of American ances- 
 try. He is the son of Dr. Edward and Jane 
 Bonsai Willard Reading. His grandpar- 
 ents on the paternal side were Thomas and 
 Maria Reading. The former was born at 
 Paper Mill village, near Hatboro, was an 
 earnest member of the Methodist church 
 and a successful farmer and merchant ; the 
 latter a native of Bucks county. His great- 
 grandparents on the paternal side were 
 William and Ruth Reading, both natives 
 of New Jersey, who came to this State and 
 settled in this county. Maria Reading, his 
 grandmother, was a descendant of the old 
 and well known family of Vandykes, for- 
 merly of Bucks county. 
 
 His grandparents on the maternal side 
 were Lewis R. and Ellen Willard. Lewis 
 R. Willard was born near Hulmeville, 
 Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and belongs 
 to the large, prominent and much respected 
 family of that name, scattered over the two 
 counties. His brother Thomas is residing 
 
 on the old homestead, "Millbrook." Ellen 
 Willard was born in Philadelphia, and after 
 marriage resided there for a number of 
 years, but subsequently moved to Moreland 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania. She was a descendant of the Twad- 
 dle and Bonsai families, who were promi- 
 nent in the early history of Philadelphia, 
 and continue to enjoy a distinguished posi- 
 tion. 
 
 Dr. Edward Reading was born in Somer- 
 ton, Philadelphia January 3, 1829. After 
 a liberal academic education he commenced 
 his medical studies in Hahnemann Medical 
 college, Philadelphia, and graduated in the 
 year 1853. He located in Hatboro, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, as a pioneer 
 of homoeopathy, , and succeeded at once to 
 build up a large and lucrative practice, 
 which he retained until his death. He had 
 brilliant attainments, highest conception of 
 public and private purity and integrity and 
 a mind well stored with useful knowledge, 
 gained by research and experience. He was 
 a member of several medical societies and 
 was very prominent in the Masonic order. 
 He was one of the charter members of the 
 W. K. Bray Lodge, No. 410, F. and A. M., 
 located at Hatboro, Pennsylvania, and its 
 first worshipful master. He was an earnest, 
 active and devout member of the Metho- 
 dist church and very prominent in all the 
 affairs concerning the advancement of the 
 borough. 
 
 On February 14, [856, he was married to 
 Jane Bonsai Willard. She' was born in 
 Philadelphia and spent her early life in that 
 city, but a few years previous to this her 
 father moved to Montgomery county, near 
 Hatboro, and at this place, " Pennell Plan- 
 tation," she was married. The following 
 children blessed this union : Estelle, born 
 March 19, 1857, now tne w '' c °f Thomas 
 
446 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 E. Paxson, of Hatboro ; Dr. Lewis Wil- 
 lard, born January 9, 1859, who graduated 
 from the Hahnemann Medical college 
 March, 1880, and practiced his profession 
 for seven years in Hatboro, but moved to 
 Philadelphia in 1887, where he is now 
 located, and Dr. Thomas Reading, the sub- 
 ject of our sketch. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Reading commenced his 
 early education in the borough schools and 
 subsequently attended the Millersville 
 State Normal school, from which he gradu- 
 ated with distinction. After a few months 
 rest from his studies he started forth in life 
 by entering a large mercantile house in 
 Philadelphia. Although he was success- 
 ful, the confinement was not agreeable 
 and healthful and competition was so great 
 that through his own judgment and the 
 persuasion of his father and brother he en- 
 tered the Hahnemann Medical college, Oc- 
 tober, 1885, and graduated in March, 1888. 
 Immediately after leaving college he, by 
 his high average, was successful in becom- 
 ing the resident physican and surgeon of 
 the Homeopathic hospital, Pittsburgh, 
 Penna. After remaining here a year he 
 was suddenly called home by the death of 
 his father, and immediately entered upon 
 the duties of his profession by becoming 
 his father's successor ; but by doing this he 
 was obliged to relinquish his fond hopes 
 and plans of finishing his medical educa- 
 tion abroad in the large hospitals and col- 
 leges of Vienna, Berlin, Heidelberg, etc. 
 
 His hospital practice while at Pittsburgh 
 was of vast importance to him in his early 
 practice. It gave him experience that it 
 would have taken years to acquire in pri- 
 vate practice, and it is due to this that his 
 success has been so phenomenal. 
 
 He has by his ability, skill, energy, 
 genial qualities and personal magnetism 
 
 drawn unto himself a large patronage, con- 
 sisting of the most intelligent and best 
 families of this and surrounding counties. 
 There are not many physicians of the same 
 period in practice who enjoy such a large 
 and lucrative practice. 
 
 But with such demands upon his time, 
 such a rich harvest to reap and glean, yet 
 he is very active in several medical socie- 
 ties, being a member of the Allegheny 
 County Medical society, Pennsylvania State 
 Medical society, Germantown Homeo- 
 pathic Medical society and the American 
 Institute of Homeopathy. 
 
 He is a member of the W. K. Bray 
 Lodge, No. 410, Free and Accepted Ancient 
 York Masons, and its present worshiptul 
 master, also belonging to the T. B. Freeman 
 Chapter, No. 243, of Philadelphia. 
 
 On November 17, 1893, Dr. Reading 
 married Ellen, daughter of C. S. and Ellen 
 Ahl Stayman, of Carlisle, Pa., grand- 
 daughter of Cary W. and Catharine Ahl, 
 of Cumberland Valley, Pa. 
 
 HENRY R. GABLE, member of the large 
 general store firm of Smith & Gabld 
 at Salfordville, is a native of Montgomery 
 county, and is descended from many gen- 
 erations of Montgomery county residents. 
 The family gets its origin in German}-, but 
 back so many generations that it is right to 
 say he is of strictly American ancestry. He 
 is a business man of recognized ability and 
 the firm has been very successful during all 
 its long career. Mr. Gable was born and 
 reared in Salfordville. He is a sou of 
 Charles and Mary (Ratzel) Gable, and was 
 bom October 13, 1837. Philip Gable, his 
 grandfather, was a well known farmer and 
 hotel keeper in Upper Salford township. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 447 
 
 He also kept a large general store and was 
 an important business man in that vicinity. 
 He was an adherent to the principles of the 
 Democratic party, and was an active mem- 
 ber of the Lutheran church. He married 
 Mary Snyder and seven children came to 
 bless their wedded life : Charles, Philip, 
 Jessie, Esther, Sallie, Elizabeth and Catha- 
 rine. He died in 1835. 
 
 Charles Gable, father of the gentleman 
 whose name heads this sketch, was born on 
 his father's farm in Upper Salford township, 
 on the nth of April, 1799. He had a com- 
 mon school education, and followed farm- 
 ing all his life and made money. He 
 worked for and voted the Democratic ticket, 
 and was a very active member of the Luth- 
 eran church. In fact, he was one of the 
 most prominent members of the congrega- 
 tion, and at one time or other held all of 
 the offices in the church. He married Mary, 
 daughter of Jacob Ratzel, on February 15, 
 1824, and eight children were born to them: 
 Philip, deceased ; Mary, intermarried with 
 Henry Snyder ; Kate, wife of Henry Barnes; 
 Levinia, wife of William Smith ; Sarah, 
 married to John Gerhart; Henry R., Charles, 
 who is dead, and Jessie. He died March 
 29, 1863. 
 
 After attending the common schools of 
 Salfordville until he was sixteen years old, 
 Henry R. Gable secured a position as clerk 
 in the grocery store of Thomas H. Ham- 
 burger, Philadelphia, where he remained 
 for ten years. He then returned to Mont- 
 gomery county and took to farming, which 
 occupation he followed until 1882. In that 
 year he became associated with his brother- 
 in-law, Augustus H. Smith, as a partner in 
 a large general store, and the firm still con- 
 tinues increasing their business every year 
 and making money. Both men are of the 
 strictest honesty and of broad gauge in busi- 
 
 ness methods and the firm has always been 
 very popular. Mr. Gable is a Democrat 
 
 but takes very little interest in politics and 
 never aspired to be an office holder. 
 
 On March 6, 1S64, Mr. Gable and Kate 
 A., daughter of Frederick Smith, and sister 
 of his partner^were married and they have 
 had a very happy wedded life. Only two 
 children have been born to them : Jacob, 
 who is still living, keeps the Salfordville 
 hotel ; and Harry, who died at the age of 
 two years. The family belongs to the 
 Lutheran church, and Mr. Gable is an 
 earnest worker, having been a deacon, 
 trustee and an elder respectively, and hold- 
 ing each position a number of years. 
 
 BENJAMIX THOMAS, a prominent 
 citizen and business man of Bridge- 
 port, this county, is a son of Thomas and 
 Susannah (Fryer) Thomas, and was born 
 February 28, 1838, in Upper Merion town- 
 ship, this county. 
 
 The Thomas family, as the name indi- 
 cates, is of Welsh origin, the original Amer- 
 ican progenitor being William Thomas, 
 who came from Wales to this country in 
 the early part of the eighteenth century 
 and located at Philadelphia. The later 
 generations of his descent, however, have 
 settled chief!}' in Chester county. 
 
 Thomas Thomas, father of Benjamin 
 Thomas, formerly an old-time teacher, 
 surveyor and conveyancer, and latterly and 
 at the time of his death engaged in the 
 wdiolesale coal business at Bridgeport, was 
 a son of Benjamin and Abigail (Powell) 
 Thomas, and was born December 24, 1805, 
 in Charlestown township, Chester county, 
 Pennsylvania. He received such educa- 
 tional training in the then ordinary schools 
 
44 8 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 of his native township, as fitted him to 
 teacli successfully in the old subscription 
 and the common schools of that day. In 
 connection with his teaching he followed 
 surveying and conveyancing for many 
 years. 1 11 1830, he came to Norristown, 
 where he taught in the public schools of 
 of that borough and vicinity for a number 
 of vears While here engaged in teaching 
 he married, and soon after located in the 
 wholesale coal business at Bridgeport, in 
 which he continued successfully up to his 
 death, March 30, 1S86, at the age of eighty- 
 one vears. In 1S36 he married Susannah 
 Fryer, a daughter of William and Cathe- 
 rine Fryer, who was born July 15, 1813, 
 and is still living, and in the enjoyment of 
 health. Mr. Thomas' marital union was 
 blessed with five sons and one daughter : 
 Benjamin; William F. ; Charles S.; George 
 W. H., deceased ; John W. ; and Mary E. 
 A. ; all of whom are still living except 
 George W. H., who died November 22, 
 1891, and who was at the time of his death 
 extensively engaged in the real estate, con- 
 veyancing and insurance business at Bridge- 
 port. 
 
 Benjamin Thomas was born and reared 
 to manhood in Upper Merion township, 
 Montgomery county, and received a limited 
 scholastic training in the district schools of 
 his native township by irregular attend- 
 ance up to fourteen years of age, when he 
 gave up the employment of school to take 
 up more practical pursuits, and accordingly 
 accepted a clerkship in the book and sta- 
 tionery store of Franklin D. Sower, at 
 Norristown. After remaining here for 
 some time, he engaged himself with the 
 firm of Ezekiel Potts & Co., at Bridge- 
 port, and learned the trade of machinist, 
 which he followed for a period of twelve 
 years in various localities, and at the ex- 
 
 piration of which time he associated him- 
 self with his father in the wholesale coal 
 business at Bridgeport, and continued in 
 this business relation up to his father's 
 death. Upon the death of his father in 
 1886, he succeeded to the sole proprietor- 
 ship of the business and has so continued 
 ever since. By industry, vigilance and 
 fair dealing he has established an extensive 
 and profitable trade, extending over a radius 
 of about twenty miles. 
 
 In November of 1891, upon the death of 
 his brother, George W. H., he succeeded 
 him in the discharge of his extensive real 
 estate, conveyancing, and insurance busi- 
 ness, which he has carried on ever since. 
 Besides these varied and absorbing busi- 
 ness interests, he has been prominently 
 identified with most of the local industrial 
 enterprises of Bridgeport for twenty-five 
 years. He was one of the projectors and 
 chief promoters of the Fame Building and 
 Loan association of Bridgeport, organized 
 187 1, and has served as its secretary ever 
 since its organization. He has also been a 
 director for the past five years in the Mont- 
 gomer\ r National bank of Norristown. 
 While Mr. Thomas has been thus active 
 and potent in civil and industrial enter- 
 prise, he has likewise manifested the same 
 interest in secret and benevolent organiza- 
 tions. He is a member of Charity Lodge 
 No. 190, Free and Accepted Masons; Nor- 
 ristown Chapter No. 190, H. R. A. M. ; 
 Hutchinson Commaudery, No. 32, Knights 
 Templar; Norris Lodge, No. 130, Inde- 
 pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and numer- 
 ous other similar societies and organiza- 
 tions. Mr. Thomas has kept up the relig- 
 ious traditions of the family in their strict 
 adherence to the Episcopal church in re- 
 ligious faith, having served as a vestryman 
 of Christ (Swedes') church, Upper Merion, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 449 
 
 for eighteen years, and is also at present 
 serving as one of its wardens and treasurer. 
 Politically, Mr. Thomas is a staunch Re- 
 publican and always takes a lively interest 
 in the snecess of the party in all mat- 
 ters politic, local, State, and national. 
 He has always stood prominent in the 
 councils of the local politics of the party, 
 having served successfully as school direc- 
 tor, councilman, and for a number of terms 
 treasurer of the borough of Bridgeport ; 
 and in 1887 was elected recorder of deeds 
 of Montgomery county, in which capacity 
 lie served with credit to himself and to the 
 entire satisfaction of his eonstitnencv np 
 to January 1, 1S91. 
 
 On October 18, 187 1, Mr. Thomas mar- 
 ried Mary Elizabeth, a daughter of Thomas 
 and Catherine Van Horn, of Bucks county, 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. Thomas has always been in the front 
 rank in support of the various movements 
 of enterprise inaugurated for the benefit of 
 his town and vicinity, and has probably 
 contributed as much toward the enterprise 
 of the borough as any other one man. 
 While thus active and valuable in civil 
 and industrial movements he has been 
 equally conspicuous fraternally and relig- 
 iously, being always found in support of 
 all worthy charitable and philanthropic 
 movements brought forward by the church 
 and other organizations of which he is a 
 member. 
 
 JOHN J. HOUGHTON, an organizer and 
 J the cashier of the First National bank 
 of Ambler since its establishment, in 1884, 
 is the eldest son and second child of Dr. 
 Jesse N. and Emily (Janney) Houghton, 
 and was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
 September 7, 1862. The Houghtons are of 
 
 29 
 
 English Puritan stock, and their first 
 American ancestors came to Massachusetts 
 Bay colony some twenty years after its 
 founding in 1630. The Rev. Jesse Hough- 
 ton was a prominent man in his New Eng- 
 land community a century later, and served 
 as chaplain in the Revolutionary war. His 
 son, Rev. Jesse Houghton, jr., was a Bap- 
 tist clergyman at Dedhatn, Massachusetts, 
 where he operated a cabinent making shop 
 and married Mary Chase, by whom he had 
 seven children : Dr. Jesse H., Dr. John S., 
 Edwin H., Stanley, Martha, Mary, and 
 Susan. Mr. Houghton died about 1850, at 
 sixty-five years of age. His eldest son, Dr. 
 Jesse H. Houghton, was born September 
 1828, and died October 1877. He was 
 reared at Dedham, and Boston, Massachu- 
 setts, and after attending Harvard college 
 entered Andover Theological seminarv, 
 from which he was graduated at the close of 
 his course. Having changed his mind in 
 regard to a professional life shortly after 
 graduating, he came to Philadelphia, where 
 he took a full course in both the Allopathic 
 and the Homeopathic schools of medicine, 
 and was graduated from the Jefferson and 
 Hahnneman medical colleges. After com- 
 pleting his medical courses he formed a 
 partnership with his brother, Dr. John S. 
 Houghton, of Philadelphia. They made a 
 specialty of nervous diseases, were the 
 founders of the Howard hospital, and or- 
 ganized numerous field hospitals during the 
 Civil war. In 1874, Dr. Jesse H. Houghton 
 removed from Philadelphia to Norristown, 
 where he lived in retirement for the three 
 remaining years of his life. Dr. Houghton 
 was a Republican and a Congregationalist 
 and always took an active part in all reform 
 movements. In October i860, he married 
 Emily Janney, a native of Philadelphia, and 
 a daughter Israel Janney. To their union 
 
45° 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 were born five children: Elizabeth, John 
 J.; Henrj J. (deceased), Emily J., and Anna 
 M., who died in 1870, in infancy. 
 
 John J. Houghton was reared in Phila- 
 delphia and Norristown, received his educa- 
 tion from private instruction by his father, 
 and in the Norristown public schools, and 
 then in 1877 he entered the employ of F. 
 D. Sower, a book seller of Norristown, with 
 whom he remained up to 1881. In that 
 year he became teller and book-keeper in 
 the banking house of J. M. Albertson & 
 Sons, and three years later helped to organ- 
 ize tin First National hank of Ambler, of 
 which he was elected and has served as 
 cashier ever since. After coming; to Am- 
 bler Mr. Houghton became interested in its 
 improvement and progress, was one 
 of the organizers of its improvement 
 company, and has done much indi- 
 vidually to build up the eastern part of 
 the borough in which he now owns consid- 
 erable valuable property. He has been very 
 successful in financial and business life. 
 He is a Repnbliean in politics, and has 
 served as a member of Fort Washington 
 Lodge, Xo. 308, Free and Accepted Ma- 
 sons, and Hutchinson Commandery, Knights 
 Templar of Norristown. 
 
 ( >n October 20, 1891, John J. Houghton, 
 married Mary P. Thomas, a daughter of 
 Elliott Thomas, and their union has been 
 blessed with one child, a daughter named 
 Dorothy. 
 
 HON. A. 15ROWKR LONGAKER was 
 horn in Lower Providence township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, on 
 the 28th day of April, A. D. 1828. 
 He and his twin sister Elizabeth 
 were the seventh by birth in a family 
 of eleven children, seven sons and four 
 
 daughters. Elizabeth died when sixteen 
 days old. His father and mother were 
 Henry and Catharine (Brower) Longaker, 
 
 a sketch of whom and their ancestry are 
 found in another part of this volume. He 
 was named after his maternal uncle, the 
 Hon. Abraham Brower. His early school- 
 ing was had at the public school near his 
 birthplace, known as "The Level " school- 
 house. In 1841, by the change of resi- 
 dence of his parents, he became a day pupil 
 of the Washington Hall academy at the 
 Trappe, where he prosecuted his studies 
 until the autumn of 1847, at which time he 
 entered the Sophomore class of Franklin 
 and Marshall college, then located at Mer- 
 cersburg, Franklin county, but now located 
 at Lancaster. At the conclusion of the 
 Sophomore year he entered the Junior class 
 of Union college, Schenectady, N. Y., and 
 graduated from that institution in the class 
 of 1850. His scholarship was maximum in 
 all studies. He was one of the ten class 
 orators selected out of a class of about 
 eighty-, and was one of about one-third of 
 the class who were entitled to admission in 
 the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity. While 
 prosecuting his studies in the academy he 
 taught in the public schools during the 
 winters of 1845 and 1846, and after gradua- 
 tion he taught during the school terms of 
 1850 to 1851 and 1851 to 1852 in 
 the public schools of Philadelphia. 
 As a teacher he was energetic and 
 progressive, apt in imparting what he 
 knew, devoted to the advancement of his 
 pupils, a great lover of children, a mild but 
 stern disciplinarian, ruling by merit and 
 punishing the laggard and disobedient by 
 marks of demerit. Yery early he discarded 
 the rod, and was ever afterwards an inex- 
 orable foe to corporal punishment in the 
 schools. In his own household, where the 
 
-f r 
 
 3-z^?p&-&£ 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 45i 
 
 rod was sparingly used, he would say the 
 infliction of the punishment hurt his feel- 
 ings more than it did the body of the 
 child. 
 
 In college, besides the regular classical 
 course, he took the special courses of medi- 
 cine and law, and while teaching at Brides- 
 burg in Philadelphia he devoted his leisure 
 hours to the reading of medicine with Dr. 
 Wile}-, and the compounding of medicines 
 and preparation of prescriptions in the 
 Doctor's drug store. In the meantime, 
 while spending his vacations at home, he 
 studiously read Blackstoue, Kent, and 
 works on international law. In the autumn 
 of 1852 he was fully prepared to enter the 
 medical department of the Pennsylvania 
 University, and at the opening of the term 
 his brother Henry D. and he entered that 
 institution. After the expiration of the 
 third week it became necessary for the 
 students to matriculate, and vacillating be- 
 tween adopting the profession of medicine 
 and law, and, in order to gratify the wishes 
 of his father he changed from medicine to 
 law. He therefore went directly from the 
 University to Balston Spa, N. Y., and en- 
 tered the State and National Law school, 
 which occupied the San So/tci, a building 
 which was famous when the Spa was a 
 favorite summer health resort. This insti- 
 tution contained about eighty students 
 coming from New York State, and main 
 of the different States of the Union. In 
 January, 1853, the law school was located 
 at Poughkeepsie, abandoning the San Souct, 
 because of the severity of the cold of 
 winter, the buildings having been erected 
 only as a summer resort. In July, 1853, he 
 graduated, receiving the degree of Bachelor 
 of Law, and having studied the code of 
 New York State, was entitled to admission 
 to the courts of that State. He was desir- 
 
 ous, however, of obtaining early admission 
 to practice in his own Slate, and conse- 
 quently entered at Easton, Pa., the law 
 school of the Hon Washington McCartney, 
 president judge of the courts of Lehigh and 
 Northampton counties, and on the 19th day 
 of August, A. D. 1853, was admitted to 
 practice in the several courts of North- 
 ampton county. He soon thereafter located 
 at Xorristown and was admitted to practice 
 in the courts of his native county. About 
 the time of his admission he purchased 
 from Israel Thomas, Esq., who retired on 
 account of ill health, his law library and 
 good will in practice, and thus obtained a 
 clientage by which he was introduced at 
 once prominently to a varied and lucrative 
 practice. In 1855 he represented Mont- 
 gomery county as a delegate in the Demo- 
 cratic State convention. In the same year he 
 was elected a member of the Pennsylvania 
 house of representatives and re-elected in 
 the years 1856 and 1857, serving during the 
 sessions of 1856, 1857 and 1858. In 1858 
 he was elected speaker of the house, and in 
 October of the same year was appointed 
 notary public for a term of three years. In 
 1861 he was elected secretary of the Penn- 
 sylvania State Agricultural society, and 
 was re-elected annually thereafter until 
 January, i860, when he declined by reason 
 of his incumbency as president judge of the 
 third judicial district. 
 
 He was also elected a director of the 
 bank of Montgomery county, and was re- 
 elected annually until 1869, when he re- 
 moved from Norristown to Allentown to 
 enter upon his judicial term. 
 
 In March, 1867, he was appointed and 
 confirmed collector in the fifth congres- 
 sional revenue district, which office he re- 
 signed on account of the judgeship, to take 
 effect December 1, 1868. 
 
452 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 He was one of the sergeants in the inde- 
 pendent cavalry company of State militia, 
 
 organized September 13, 1862, for the 
 emergency service, and a private in Com- 
 pany H, Captain B. Markley Boyer, mus- 
 tered in July 1, 1863. Upon the organiza- 
 tion of the Forty-first regiment of emer- 
 gency militia he was elected regimental 
 quartermaster, and mustered into the ser- 
 vice of the United States to "serve during 
 the pleasure of the president or the continu- 
 ance of the war." This regiment marched 
 forthwith to the Cumberland valley and 
 became one of the five lying beyond 
 Chambersburg which formed the brigade 
 under command of Colonel James Nagle, 
 acting brigadier. While Colonel James 
 Nagle was acting as brigade commander 
 Mr. Longaker became the acting commis- 
 sary of the brigade, division of General 
 Couch, department of the Susquehanna. 
 This position he held until the brigade was 
 dissolved and the emergency men dis- 
 charged. 
 
 In October, 1868, he was elected presi- 
 dent judge of the third judicial dis- 
 trict, composed of the counties of Lehigh 
 and Northampton, for a term of ten 
 years. After his vacation of the bench 
 in 1878, he resumed the practice of 
 law in Allentown, where he had resided as 
 judge ; from 1S84 to 1888 he spent the win- 
 ter months in Florida, and in 1889 located 
 at Easton, and in May, 1893, returned to 
 his native county, where he resumed prac- 
 tice at Norristown. 
 
 In his boyhood Judge Longaker very 
 early manifested a disposition to be a 
 leader amongst his companions in their 
 neighborhood sports and school diversions, 
 and was dubbed " captain " because he 
 would frequently form his playmates into 
 a company for " playing soldier." He was 
 
 an apt scholar, and at the age of thirteen 
 had learned most of what was taught in 
 the public schools. He then became a 
 pupil at the Washington Hall academy, 
 where he studied Latin, Greek, and some 
 of the higher mathematics, and in the au- 
 tumn of 1847 was fully prepared to enter 
 the Sophomore class in college. 
 
 At Union college he was a member of 
 the Philomathean literary society and a 
 member of the A. O. (Oitdin Adalori) fra- 
 ternity, which has since been merged into 
 Delta Upsilon. In the performing of all 
 literary exercises he was punctual, and as a 
 member of the moot senate and house of 
 representatives, which met weekly for the 
 discussion of political questions, and whose 
 proceedings were conducted, as far as prac- 
 ticable, according to the rules of parlia- 
 mentary bodies, he exhibited an interest that 
 the future worked into actuality. While a 
 pupil at the academy he was a ready writer 
 of compositions and a fluent debater, not 
 only with the pupils but with the members 
 of the local societies which met for debate 
 in the neighboring school houses, and al- 
 though a mere youthful stripling, he was 
 often pitted against the older and more ex- 
 perienced in these contests. This fondness 
 for debate and composition enabled him to 
 hold first rank amongst his college mates 
 in all literary contests, and in after life this 
 served him well in his profession, in his 
 political campaigns and in the discharge of 
 legislative duties. After his admission to 
 the bar his forensic efforts soon placed him 
 in the front amongst the younger members, 
 and his varied practice to which he suc- 
 ceeded from the clientage of Mr. Thomas, 
 gave him opportunity to appear in court 
 and to be recognized as apt and well read 
 in the law. From the inception of his prac- 
 tice to his elevation to the bench he en- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 453 
 
 joyed a reputation and obtained a clientage 
 attained only by the few. 
 
 During the legislative session in 1856, as 
 a member of the judiciary, and in 1857, 
 chairman of the committee on corporations, 
 as well a member of the judiciary, he was 
 one of the active and leading members of 
 the House. Ardent and able as a debater, 
 well versed in parliamentary rules and an 
 expert tactician, he maintained a well de- 
 served prominence amongst the members. 
 
 At the special session of October 5, 
 1857, convened to legalize the suspension 
 of specie payments of State banks, he was 
 appointed a member of the special com- 
 mittee of thirteen, to whom was referred 
 the Governor's message, and all bills rela- 
 tive to "suspension with instructions to re- 
 port upon the same by bill or otherwise." 
 He was subsequently appointed chairman 
 of the committee of conference upon the 
 differences between the two houses upon 
 Senate bill No. 1, providing for the re- 
 sumption of specie payments, etc., and made 
 report to the house, of the bill agreed to by 
 the committees of conference, which bill 
 was adopted, and signed by the governor, 
 legalizing the suspension of the banks. 
 
 During the session of 1857, pending the 
 consideration of the bill proposing to sell 
 the main line of the public improvements, 
 he labored earnestly to secure a fair bill 
 open alike to all bidders, and to secure 
 a greater minimum price than the one fixed 
 by the bill. He was not opposed to the 
 policy of a sale, but was opposed to many 
 of the provisions of the bill. The bill, 
 among other things, provided in the third 
 section that " if the Pennsylvania company 
 shall become the purchasers, they shall pay, 
 in addition to the purchase money at which 
 it may be struck down, the sum of $1,500, 
 in consideration whereof, the said railroad 
 
 company, and the Harrisburg railroad com- 
 pany, shall be discharged forever from the 
 payment of all tonnage taxes, and all other 
 taxes whatever, except for school, city, bor- 
 ough and township purposes." It was ar- 
 gued and contended that the legislature 
 could not alienate an}' of the rights of sov- 
 ereignty so as to bind future legislatures 
 not to lay taxes. To admit the right to ex- 
 ercise such power by contract would intro- 
 duce a policy by which the life of the State 
 might be endangered, because, if carried to 
 its full extent, all revenues by the power of 
 taxation might be bartered away, and the 
 State rendered powerless to meet its ordi- 
 nary expenditures. Besides, the constitu- 
 tional mandate is equality of taxation on 
 all classes of subjects as nearly as may be 
 practicable, and therefore, the proviso was 
 contrary to public policy, as well as un- 
 constitutional. The bill passed under pro- 
 viso. The canal commissioners, by the ad- 
 vice and at the suggestion of those who had 
 opposed this section of the bill, Messrs. 
 Buckalew, Heist, Walton and Meredith, ap- 
 pearing as their attorneys, filed three bills 
 in equity, to restrain the sale, etc , reported 
 in 30 Pa., page 9, wherein the Supreme 
 court says that any contract to effect an 
 exemption from taxation would be void, 
 and that the rights of sovereignty are a 
 trust to be exercised for the benefit of the 
 people, as occasion may require, not to be 
 abandoned or bargained away at the dis- 
 cretion of their agents. The court then de- 
 creed that so much of the bill as above re- 
 cited was void, and enjoined the parties 
 who were to execute the provisions of the 
 act from entering into any contract con- 
 taining such exemption. 
 
 In 1858 he was nominated for and elected 
 speaker, and in a caucus of sixty members, 
 had a majority of forty. Although one 01 
 
454 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 the youngest speakers who had presided for 
 late years, he was calm, dignified, courteous, 
 impartial and prompt, displaying rare ex- 
 ecutive ability and great dispatch of busi- 
 ness. His rulings were generally accepted 
 without appeal, and in the very few in- 
 stances in which appeals were taken, they 
 stood as the judgment of the house. No 
 one of his decisions were reversed by the 
 house. Pending the consideration of an 
 important bill, two members called the 
 yeas and nays (the bar of the house having 
 been closed previously) and the clerk re- 
 corded fifty members voting. It appeared, 
 however,that the two calling the yeas and 
 nays had not voted. At this time the house 
 was composed of one hundred members. 
 The speaker decided that by the record 
 there was a quorum present, and that it 
 was the duty of the two members who 
 called the yeas and nays, to vote. From 
 this decision an appeal was entered, and a 
 vote being taken, the decision stood as the 
 judgment of the house. On the call of the 
 names of the two members, the} - still re- 
 fused to vote. The speaker held that a 
 quorum was present on the question pend- 
 ing, whether or not the non-voting mem- 
 bers were in contempt, and ruled that their 
 conduct was decorous to the speaker, but, 
 that their act was in contempt with the 
 rights of the other members of the house. 
 On a submission of this question to a vote 
 of the house, it was decided in the affirma- 
 tive ; this was followed by a motion put and 
 carried, that the non-voting members be 
 ordered under arrest by the speaker, for 
 contempt. Before executing this order, 
 however, the speaker directed that their 
 names again be called, whereupon one of 
 them voted, nay. The clerk then reported 
 that fifty-one members had voted, and the 
 speaker declared that a quorum had voted. 
 
 The other member still refusing to vote, 
 upon motion made and carried, he was ex- 
 cused from voting. The house then pro- 
 ceeded with the further consideration of the 
 bill. 
 
 This incident is produced somewhat 
 in detail because it is probably the first de- 
 cision on this much vexed question made 
 by a legislative body, and it represents one 
 of the many different phases which it has 
 assumed, when it had been resorted to, not 
 only to obstruct, but at times, to defeat the 
 passage of a bill by the obnoxious conduct 
 of an otherwise impotent minoritv. It also 
 shows how nearly earlier decisions had pre- 
 ceded, trenched upon, and opened the way 
 for the decision of speaker Reed in the na- 
 tional congress, to count non-voting mem- 
 bers, known to be present, so as to record a 
 quorum voting. It seems, however, to be 
 the later and better practice for the speaker 
 to designate the member, and order the 
 clerk to enter the name, so that it may ap- 
 pear by the record, who constitute in fact 
 the quorum, rather than to determine by 
 the arbitrary dictum of the speaker, that 
 the voting and non-voting members pres- 
 ent, constitute a quorum. 
 
 Judge Longaker had a great fondness for 
 agricultural fairs, and during his secretary- 
 ship, he organized, with the aid and advice 
 of his estimable wife, the Household De- 
 partment, which provided a first and second 
 premium for almost even - article produced 
 by the handicraft of the industrious and 
 progressive housewife, and had the com- 
 mittees so enlarged, that ladies, with a 
 gentleman as chairman, were appointed 
 judges to pass upon the entries made in 
 these classes. There was also a Ladies' 
 managing committee, which had charge of 
 this department. This system largely in- 
 terested the women in the localitv in which 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 455 
 
 the fairs were held annually, resulting in 
 increased attendance, and producing one of 
 the pleasing and useful features of the ex- 
 hibition. Some of the largest and best fairs 
 occurred during his official term, and in 
 1869, when he declined a re-election, the 
 society, which was in debt, and insolvent 
 when he assumed control, had in its treas- 
 ury a substantial surplus and was in a very 
 prosperous condition. The six weeks to 
 two mouths' time annually devoted to the 
 affairs of each exhibition afforded a very 
 opportune and agreeable outing from pro- 
 fessional engagements and gave further op- 
 portunity to make many agreeable acquain- 
 tances in the different localities in which 
 the fair was held, as well as to refresh those 
 which had been formed during his legis- 
 lative term. 
 
 His duties as president of the bank were 
 to preside at the meetings of the board of 
 directors, keep its minutes, sign the notes 
 issued, etc., but, he was far from devoting 
 his entire time to the bank during banking 
 hours. 
 
 On the bench, Judge L,ougaker was 
 keenly analytical, a good example of whose 
 method is found in Kemmerer vs. Tool, 
 78 Pennsylvania, 149 : The question try- 
 ing was that of an alleged insolvency under 
 the bankrupt act. He said : " Insolvency 
 under this act is not a total inability of one 
 to pay his liabilities for want of assets, but 
 it is that condition financially when he be- 
 comes unable to pay his promissory notes and 
 other liabilities generally as they fall due. 
 A failure to meet a note or two, or other in- 
 debtedness when due and demanded, is not 
 enough if payment be made within a rea- 
 sonable time thereafter, but if there be a 
 general failure to pay then the condition of 
 the law is satisfied, and insolvency has 
 occurred, or the debtor mav be said to be 
 
 ; acting in contemplation of insolvency. A 
 man being a trader may have property suf- 
 ficient to pay all his debts, and yet if there 
 should be a general failure to pay when due 
 he will by the provisions of the bankrupt 
 act, be insolvent, or acting in contemplation 
 ot insolvency. Insolvency is a question of 
 fact, and is not founded upon actual knowl- 
 edge of the debtor and creditor — a reasonable 
 cause to induce belief is all that is required. 
 * * Reasonable cause to be- 
 lieve, is that condition of mind produced 
 from facts and circumstances which would 
 put a prudent and careful man upon inquiry 
 as to solvency or insolvency ; it is a well 
 founded suspicion based upon facts from 
 which such suspicion will naturally flow ; 
 it is a state of mind produced from facts less 
 than actual knowledge, or less than a full 
 conviction of the actual fact." 
 
 The cases of Mover et al. vs. the Penn- 
 sylvania Slate company, 71 Pa., 294, afford 
 a very forcible type of the analytical com- 
 parative and explanatory charge and opin- 
 ion. The question pending was the alleged 
 individual liability of the stockholders of 
 the defendant corporation, and arose under 
 the clause, " for debts due mechanics, work- 
 men and laborers employed by the com- 
 pany, and for materials furnished.'''' One 
 claimant presented a demand for payment 
 of a bill for hauling slate to the railroad 
 station with his own team ; another for re- 
 pairs of the wagon of the corporation done 
 at his shops and used in transporting the 
 slate; another for lumber furnished to erect 
 a derrick and also claims for oats, hay and 
 straw for the horses and mules of the cor- 
 poration ; for powder, fuse, horse shoes, 
 nails, grease, files, shovels and other quarry- 
 ing tools, etc. 
 
 Commenting upon the words " material 
 furnished," he said : " Material in its ordi- 
 
456 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 nary acceptation is the substance out of 
 which anything is made, and this is the 
 only definition given to the noun by Web- 
 ster. 'Material,' as an adjective, has a much 
 larger signification, but it is of its use as a 
 noun that we seek its import. The ingre- 
 dients which form a chemical compound are 
 called chemical materials ; the substances 
 which enter into the erection of a building 
 are called building materials ; cotton and 
 wool used by the manufacturer are materials 
 of which cloth is made. And thus the com- 
 parison might be pursued throughout every 
 description of manufactures. * * 
 The stockholders of a cotton or woolen 
 manufactory would be liable for cotton or 
 wool, but certainly not for pig-iron, or pow- 
 der, nor for provender, furnished the mules 
 used in and about the business. 
 Hay in its ordinary acceptation is not a ma- 
 terial, but provender, farm produce ; if the 
 legislative intent were to protect the farmer 
 for food furnished the horses or mules, the 
 term used would be 'provender' or 'farm pro- 
 duce' and not 'material.' If it were to pro- 
 tect the merchant for wares, goods and com- 
 modities (nails, grease, files, shovels and 
 orher tools) in the concrete, the term used 
 would be 'merchandise.' The general manu- 
 facturing law of 1854, creating individual 
 liability, uses the phrase ' for machinery, 
 merchandise, country produce, provisions 
 and materials furnished.' * * * * It 
 is sufficient to know that nothing can be 
 manufactured without material, and there- 
 fore the legal signification of the phrase 
 'material furnished' is to be applied to 
 those substances which are used in the 
 manufacture of articles produced, and is 
 not to be enlarged so as to include 
 everything that may fall within the gen- 
 eral definition of matter." The Su- 
 preme Court directed the opinion to be re- 
 
 ported and affirmed the cases on that opin- 
 ion. 
 
 In City of Allentown vs. Henry, 73 Pa., 
 404, he held that while the act of 1868 
 might be unconstitutional in that provis- 
 ion, wherein it was permitted to lay assess- 
 ments in nature of water rents upon owners 
 of dwelling houses situated on streets along 
 which the water pipes were laid, yet the 
 subsequent act of 1870 allowing the city to 
 purchase the works and to exercise all the 
 rights, privileges, powers, and franchises of 
 the former corporation, was equivalent to a 
 re-enactment in the new bill, and was, 
 therefore, not unconstitutional when these 
 powers were transferred to a municipal cor- 
 poration. The vice of this provision in the 
 former enactment was that it is unconstitu- 
 tional to attempt to confer on a private cor- 
 poration the right to lay taxes or assess- 
 ments in the nature of taxes ; while munici- 
 pal corporations may be so empowered, 
 where the local tax is substantially for a 
 local benefit. The act, however, authorized 
 the levy to be made upon every dwelling 
 house located on streets along which pipes 
 had been laid ; the ordinance imposed it 
 upon such dwelling houses only as are not 
 supplied with hydrants; it did not follow 
 the statute, and, therefore, it was declared 
 invalid. 
 
 The case of Weber vs. Reinhard, 73 Pa., 
 370, raised the constitutionality of the act 
 of April 14, 1868, which allowed the town- 
 ship of Upper Saucon to collect an addi- 
 tional road tax on ore beds of one and one- 
 half cent from the owners of ore beds for 
 every ton mined and carried away by teams 
 over the roads of said township. It was 
 contended that taxes could not be 
 collected by actions for debt with previous 
 assessment, etc., and that the act was un- 
 constitutional because it was levied upon a 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 457 
 
 few as a local tax for the benefit of the 
 many. It was ruled by the lower court that 
 the tax could be legally collected and that 
 the act was constitutional ; this ruling was 
 affirmed by the Supreme Court. (The late 
 Chief Justice Woodward, counsel for the 
 appellant, argued against its constitution- 
 ality and denied the power of the courts to 
 collect taxes by actions for debt). 
 
 A few years later in the Lehigh Iron 
 Company vs. Lower Macungie Iron Com- 
 pany, Si Pa., 482, the act of 1868, having 
 been extended to Macungie township, by 
 the act of February 25, 1870, it came before 
 the court upon the allegation that the con- 
 stitution of 1873 abrogated and annulled 
 these acts. The specific contention was that 
 the new constitution, by implication, re- 
 pealed per se all local and special laws, be- 
 cause of the expression in article 9, section 
 1, that "all taxes shall be levied and collec- 
 ted under general laws." To parry this 
 implication the judge interposed article 3, 
 section 7, which says : "But laws repeal- 
 ing special or local acts may be passed." 
 He further said, "to hold that, there had re- 
 sulted a repeal of all local and special laws 
 would introduce confusion into the sys- 
 tem of tax laws, and many counties and 
 other municipalities, whose laws are special, 
 would find no statute by which taxes could 
 be levied and collected." This ruling was 
 affirmed by the Supreme Court, which 
 further extended the ruling, by declaring 
 it was the duty of the legislature to repeal 
 local and special laws, and to supply them 
 by general laws adequate to meet the exi- 
 gencies occurring by their repeal. 
 
 /// re, Lehigh street, Borough of Easton's 
 appeal, 81 Pa., 89, the question arose, 
 whether or not the grantees of lots described 
 as abutting on a street not opened at the 
 time of the grant, but opened thereafter, had 
 
 the right of damages occasioned by the 
 opening, or did the right remain in the 
 grantor. The opinion proceeded in part : 
 " If (as contended), the Union Burial 
 ('.round vs. Robinson be taken to be au- 
 thority still in force, its only value is to cre- 
 ate a possibility of reversion in the grantor, 
 which became extinguished the very instant 
 Lehigh street was dedicated to public use. 
 Prior to this dedication no cause of action 
 for damages had arisen ; and eo ins tan te 
 with the cause of action happened the con- 
 tingency which vested the fee in the gran- 
 tees. The incontrovertible fact is that the 
 opening of the street for public use, the 
 right of action for damages, and the vesting 
 of a fee in the grantees to the centre of the 
 street, are simultaneous acts." The peti- 
 tioners, therefore, are entitled to damages. 
 In affirming this case, Thompson, Chief 
 Justice, says : " This case is fully and 
 properly decided, and for the reasons so well 
 assigned, the decree of the court of quarter 
 sessions is affirmed and the appeal is dis- 
 missed." 
 
 Boucher's case, in the common pleas of 
 Lehigh county, ruled that the United States 
 revenue act which rendered void and inad- 
 missible in evidence in the State courts in- 
 struments of writing not specifically 
 stamped, was inoperative and contrary to 
 public policy as well as unconstitutional, 
 because, if the right to tax the legal writs, 
 in legal procedure and to nullify unstamped 
 written instruments as evidence, be admit- 
 ted, then the State courts might be de- 
 stroyed by the National Congress. When 
 this case was before the supreme court it 
 was reversed because of insufficiency of tes- 
 timony on part of the plaintiff, but no 
 ruling was made as to the admission of the 
 unstamped check in testimony. 
 
 In Ueberroth vs. Riegel, 71 Pa., 282, tried 
 
458 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 in the court of common pleas of Lehigh 
 county, the plaintiffs claim arose on a writ- 
 ing as follows : 
 
 "Friedensville, Dec. 18, 1865. 
 Sirs : — Please give the bearer, Henry 
 Fink, the goods which he will select, not 
 exceeding over five hundred and fifty dollars 
 on my account. 
 
 J. J. Ueberroth." 
 
 The judge in the lower court admitted the 
 writing, saying there was no specific tax in 
 the schedule on such a written paper. 
 
 The Supreme court said on appeal: " The 
 order is not a complete contract in itself, 
 and was not offered in evidence as such. 
 It is only a link in the chain of evidence to 
 establish a contract * * * and with- 
 out oral testimony showing an acceptance 
 of the order by the delivery of the goods, 
 no obligation would be established between 
 the parties. * * * The order in ques- 
 tion is wanting in these essential elements, 
 and does not require a stamp to make it 
 admissible in evidence under the statute 
 even if its provisions are obligatory, as a 
 rule of evidence, on the State courts." 
 This decision was rendered in October, 
 1872, and soon thereafter the Stamp Act 
 was repealed. So that the emphatic ruling 
 in Boucher's case made about 1869 was 
 never qualified or over-ruled by the Su- 
 preme court, but the ruling in Ueberroth's 
 case seems to imply that Congress is vested 
 with no power to render inadmissible as 
 evidence a contract in writing not stamped. 
 
 In Lower Macungie vs. Merkhoffer, 71 
 Pa., 276, Merkhoffer's team of four mules 
 were hauling iron ore over a public road 
 alongside of which there was dug an ore 
 pit, and, being without guard, one of the 
 mules on the lead shied towards the pit, 
 scaring at some object, and went so far as 
 to throw the wagon into it, drawing also 
 some of the mules with it, causing dam- 
 
 ages, etc. Among other thing in the charge 
 it continued as follows : " The plaintiff had 
 a right to drive a shying mule, but know- 
 ing that vice he must exercise greater care 
 than would be required if no such vice 
 existed. It would be folly to declare the 
 law to be that roads need not be kept in 
 repair so as to avoid accident from the 
 ordinary shying of horses. It is a matter 
 of common information that horses will 
 shy at different objects, and it therefore 
 becomes the duty of the supervisors so to 
 keep the roads that teams will not be over- 
 set by this vice in horses, and if any dam- 
 age be sustained from this source, the 
 result of unavoidable accident upon the 
 part of the plaintiff and caused by the 
 negligence of the defendant, the defendant 
 will be liable to respond in damages. If, 
 therefore, you find negligence upon the 
 part of the defendant, and no negligence 
 upon the part of the plaintiff, or his team- 
 ster, your verdict will be for the plaintiff; 
 otherwise, for the defendant." The jury 
 found for the plaintiff. The case was re- 
 moved to the Supreme court and affirmed 
 by a short per curiam opinion for the rea- 
 sons given by the judge in the lower court. 
 TheGlendon Iron Co. ^.Uhler&Fulmer, 
 75 Pa., 467, in equity : The Glendon Iron 
 company was a manufacturer of iron and 
 branded it with the trademark, "Glendon." 
 The place where the furnaces were located 
 was afterwards incorporated as a borough 
 under the name of Glendon, and Uhler & 
 Fulmer located another furnace there and 
 branded their iron " Glendon." It was 
 conceded as a general rule of law, that the 
 name of a city or town can not be so appro- 
 priated as the exclusive property of any 
 one, but it was contended that this case 
 was taken out of the general rule because 
 the Glendon Iron works were so named 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 459 
 
 many years before this locality and adjoin- 
 ing territory was incorporated as a borough. 
 The court ruled that this fact presented no 
 legaj reason for a distinction ; that as soon 
 as the town was incorporated it became 
 Glendon to the whole world, and the pre- 
 vious appropriation of its name by a manu- 
 facturer will not preclude all others in the 
 same line of business from using Glendon 
 also as a trade brand denoting their place 
 of business as well as the product manu- 
 factured. This ruling was affirmed in the 
 higher court. 
 
 The Fry Election case, 71 Pa., 302, pre- 
 sented the question of the right of students 
 at college to vote. It was decided in 1872, 
 and has since that time been cited as a 
 leading case, not only in this State, but 
 in contested cases in Congress. It arose 
 out of the municipal election of the city of 
 Allentown, and involved the election of a 
 member of common council. It was ad- 
 mitted that eleven of the voters of the 
 second ward are students of Muhlenberg 
 college ; that they are citizens of the State 
 of Pennsylvania, and they claimed that 
 their residence was said college, where 
 they have lived from one to three years ; 
 that they were assessed and paid taxes ; 
 that they came to college for no other pur- 
 pose than to receive a collegiate education, 
 but intended to leave after graduating. 
 These students are admitted to be of two 
 classes : those who support themselves, or 
 are assisted pecuniarily by persons other 
 than their parents, are emancipated from 
 their father's families, have left the homes 
 of their parents, and never intend to return 
 and make it a permanent abode ; second, 
 those who are supported by their parents, 
 visit their parents' home during vacation, 
 and may or may not return there after 
 graduating. * * * All of said votes, 
 
 which in the opinion of the court are ille- 
 gal, are to be cast out, and then the court 
 to decree in favor of the parties having the 
 highest vote. In this issue Judge Longaker 
 decided that they were not legal voters, 
 and rejected in the count both classes. 
 Among other things, saying : "The char- 
 ter of the city of Allentown requires that 
 electors who are otherwise qualified under 
 the general laws of this commonwealth, 
 be citizens ; all other requisites being 
 admitted, we are brought at once to the 
 first section of the third article of the State 
 constitution, which provides : ' In elections 
 by citizens, every white freeman of the age 
 of twenty-one years, having resided in this 
 State one year, and in the election district 
 where he offers to vote ten days immediately 
 preceding such election, shall enjoy the 
 rights of an elector.' The important in- 
 quiry is the import of the word 'resided,' 
 which appears not to have had a definite 
 judicial interpretation in this State. As the 
 word ' inhabitant ' occurs in other parts of 
 the constitution, prescribing that the gov- 
 ernor and the representatives shall be in- 
 habitants of the State, and that the judges 
 of Supreme court shall reside within the 
 commonwealth, and other judges while in 
 office within the district or county for 
 which they were elected, it is obvious that 
 inhabitant or resident refers to a person 
 who has a permanent abode. Inhabitant 
 is, says Webster, 'a dweller, one wdio 
 dwells or resides permanently in a place.' 
 It therefore follows that ' resided, resident 
 and inhabitant' as applied to the elector 
 are of the same signification and import ; 
 that the elector must vote at home, the 
 place of his domicil. * * The domi- 
 
 cil of origin is not abandoned until a new 
 one has been intentionally and actually 
 acquired. * * * Those of the first 
 
460 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 class came for no other purposes than to 
 receive a collegiate education, and, intend- 
 ing to leave after graduating, cannot have 
 lost the domicil of origin because they did 
 not enter college to make the place of its 
 location their permanent home, and with- 
 out such specific intention no new home 
 can be gained ; and until a new home be 
 gained, the old cannot be lost. The phrase, 
 ' intending to leave after graduating,' forci- 
 blv and clearly overthrows any intent to 
 obtain a permanent abode, and introduces 
 so clearly the fact that their purpose was 
 indefinite and temporary, that its only 
 value as an admitted fact is to show the 
 fugitive character of the college abode, and 
 wholly inconsistent with a fixed purpose to 
 gain a new permanent home, or residence, 
 within the meaning of the constitution. 
 Those of the second class have no tenable 
 grounds to support a purpose to gain a new 
 and permanent home. Holding 
 
 these views, both classes must be excluded 
 from the count of legal voters." On appeal 
 taken, Justice Agnew in an elaborate opin- 
 ion affirmed the decree of the lower court. 
 In Mclntyre vs. The Lehigh Valley rail- 
 road in the common pleas of Lehigh 
 county, the plaintiff purchased a ticket at 
 the Hazleton Junction when visibly under 
 the influence of liquor, and entered the 
 cars, and while going to his destination 
 he became unruly, noisy, and even indecent. 
 The conductor warned him that, if he per- 
 sisted in this conduct, he would put him 
 off the train at Mauch Chunk. He was 
 permitted to remain when the train arrived 
 there, and some six miles below it he again 
 became very noisy and offensive, and the 
 conductor stopped the train and ejected 
 him from the cars at a point where there 
 was no station nor a road leading from or 
 along the railroad, but the track on both 
 
 sides had embankments of a few feet high. 
 The night was dark and no lights to be 
 seen indicating any one living near by. 
 In his confused state of intoxication he 
 wandered about the track, keeping out of 
 the way of passing trains. Tired out and 
 bewildered, he lay down beside the track 
 on a heap of stones, fell asleep, and while 
 thus sleeping he got his leg upon the 
 track, and a passing train crushed it so 
 that amputation became necessarv. In a 
 suit for damages, the judge charged, " that 
 a railroad company had the right to refuse 
 to sell a ticket to a man visibly drunk, or 
 if getting drunk after the purchase, to pre- 
 vent him from entering the car ; but, if in 
 that condition he is accepted as a passen- 
 ger, and while proceeding on his journey 
 his conduct becomes indecent, abusive, 
 etc., so as to molest the other passengers 
 unreasonably, he may be ejected at a sta- 
 tion ; but that he can not be ejected at a 
 place where he is not able to protect him- 
 self from danger arising from his state of 
 intoxication, or find his way off the track ; 
 and knowing that it was dangerous by 
 reason of passing trains, and having ac- 
 cepted him, they are bound to treat him as 
 a prudent man under like circumstances 
 would treat a drunken man." The case 
 referred to the jury under this instruction 
 resulted in a verdict for the plaintiff, and 
 on removal to the Supreme court it was 
 affirmed. 
 
 JEREMIAH B. LARZELERE, farmer 
 <J and school teacher, bank director 
 and stock dealer, has for many years been 
 one of the central figures of Moreland 
 township, and especially Jeukintown, Mont- 
 gomery county, and is one of the most 
 highly esteemed residents of that section. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 461 
 
 He is a descendant from the Huguenots, 
 who, forced by the revocation of the edict 
 of Nantes by Louis XV, October 22, 1685, 
 were obliged to seek happiness in religious 
 liberty in Germany, Scotland, England and 
 Ireland, and later founded the colony that 
 made South Carolina famous for men of in- 
 telligence and great statesmanship. Nicho- 
 las and John Larzelere were among the 
 Huguenots who fled from France in the 
 latter days of the seventeenth century, and 
 they came almost directly to Long Island, 
 this country. Nicholas afterwards settled 
 on Staten Island. He married and had four 
 children, two sons and two daughters. The 
 sons were named Nicholas and John, and 
 the former of these two settled in Lower 
 Makefield township, in Bucks county, in 
 1741. He is the great-great-grandfather of 
 the subject of this sketch. He died at the 
 advanced age of eighty-four years, and was 
 the father of eight children, the oldest of 
 whom was also christened Nicholas and 
 was born on Staten Island in 1724. He 
 was a veteran of the war of the Revolution, 
 and, like his father, lived to reach the age 
 of eighty-four years. He was a farmer in 
 Bensalem township, Bucks county, and was 
 married to Hannah Britton, of Bristol. 
 They had ten children, the eldest of whom 
 was Benjamin, the grandfather of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. Benjamin married 
 Sarah Brown, of Bristol, and they lived at 
 that place on a large farm. Eight children 
 were born to them. The father lived to be 
 eighty-four years of age. Nicholas was the 
 second son of Benjamin and the father of 
 our subject. He married Esther, daughter 
 of Colonel Jeremiah Berrell, of Abington, 
 Montgomery county. He moved to this 
 township in 1825, and here Jeremiah Berrell 
 Larzelere, our subject and the third son, was 
 born on August 22, 1829. ^ ne family in all 
 
 consisted of twelve children, and the father 
 died at the age of sixty-seven years in 185S, 
 at his home in Moreland township. 
 
 Jeremiah Berrell Larzelere was educated 
 in the common schools of his day and 
 finished his education in an academy at 
 Newark, Delaware. At the age of eighteen 
 years he began to teach school, and fol- 
 lowed this occupation for two years in Hor- 
 sham township. He then combined farm- 
 ing with teaching with great success and 
 was also very successful as an extensive 
 dealer in horses and cattle, shipping princi- 
 pally from the West. 
 
 In 1870 the Northeast Pennsylvania Rail- 
 road was opened. Mr. Larzelere was one 
 of the projectors and original directors of 
 the company and held his position until the 
 railroad passed under the control of the 
 Philadelphia and Reading railroad corn- 
 pan y by lease. He has also for many years 
 been a director of the Jenkintown National 
 bank. It will be seen that Mr. Larzelere 
 has passed a life full of energy and activity 
 in the business world, but notwithstanding 
 this fact he has been able to find time to 
 take an active and honorable part in poli- 
 tics. He is a Democrat of the Jefferson 
 school, and his course has always been 
 marked by the strictest honesty and pro- 
 bity. In 1872 he was elected sheriff of the 
 county and filled a full term of three years. 
 He has also served as a school director for 
 nine years, and is one of the foremost edu- 
 cational champions in his district. Frater- 
 nal lv he is a member of the Free and Ac- 
 cepted Masons, Jenkintown Lodge, No. 
 400, of Jenkintown. In religious belief and 
 practice Mr. Larzelere is a member of the 
 Presbyterian church, and most of the fam- 
 ily are communicants of the same faith. 
 
 Mr. Larzelere has been married twice. 
 Tlie first wife was Elmina, daughter of 
 
462 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 James Lovett, of Doylestown, Bucks county, 
 by whom he was father of seven chil- 
 dren. These children were : Frank E., 
 Henry, deceased ; Jeremiah B., jr., Bert- 
 man, Samuel, Esther E. and Flor- 
 ence E. After the death of his first 
 wife Mr. Larzelere married Caroline E. 
 Wentz, daughter of Dilworth Wentz, of 
 Philadelphia. No children have been born 
 to this union. With the exception of a 
 short time, during which he lived in Ohio, 
 Mr. Larzelere has spent his whole life in 
 Montgomery county. He was not only 
 a successful business man, but he has been 
 a good citizen, progressive in his ideas and 
 ready to support and help along all worthy 
 enterprises calculated to aid the welfare of 
 his community, and being of a benevolent 
 and kindly disposition is surrounded by 
 neighbors who esteem and love him. 
 
 LEWIS R. HARLEY, M. A., Ph. D., 
 was born in Chester county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, August 16, 1866. His ancestors 
 came to America from Germany, early in 
 the eighteenth century, to escape religious 
 persecution. Mr. Harley is a son of Har- 
 rison Harley, a prosperous farmer residing 
 in North Coventry, Chester county. He 
 was educated at the West Chester, Pa., 
 Normal school, the Hill Collegiate institute, 
 Pottstown, Pa., and finished the normal 
 school course at the Lock Haven, Pa., Nor- 
 mal school. Mr. Harley finished the course 
 for the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, 
 with the Illinois Wesleyan university, in 
 1891, and after two years of post-graduate 
 study, with this university, in philosophy, 
 psychology and political science, he took 
 the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor 
 of Philosophy. In 1892 Mr. Harley became 
 
 a post-graduate student in the University 01 
 Pennsylvania, taking work in history and 
 politics under the eminent specialists, Dr. 
 John Bach McMaster, Dr. Edmund J. James, 
 Dr. Simon N. Patton, and Dr. Francis N. 
 Thorpe. He was made an honorary fellow 
 in history by the university in 1894, and in 
 1895, graduated with the degree of Doctor 
 of Philosophy. Mr. Harley is at present, 
 principal of the public schools of North 
 Wales, Pa. He has also done considerable 
 work in journalism, contributing historical 
 and scientific articles to the Philadelphia 
 Press, Times and Inquirer, and to the 
 Popular Science Monthly, American Maga- 
 zine of Civics, American Historical Reg- 
 ister and Education. For work in journal- 
 ism, Dickinson college has conferred on 
 Mr. Harley the honorary degree of Master 
 of Arts, and the Western University of 
 Pennsylvania has granted him the honorary 
 degree of Master of Philosophy. Mr. Har- 
 ley married Miss Ravilla Yarnall, of Dela- 
 ware county, and they have three children: 
 Lola, Martha and Francis Lieber. 
 
 NEWTON MARSHALL, ticket and 
 >J • freight agent of the Pennsylvania 
 railroad at Bryn Mawr, was born on his 
 father's farm in Lancaster county on Aug- 
 ust 3, 1843, and is a son of James P. and 
 Mary (Clark) Marshall. The Marshall 
 family is of English descent and of Quaker 
 stock. Abraham Marshall, the original 
 ancestor in this country, was a companion 
 of William Penn and was a native of Grat- 
 tan, Derbyshire, England, having been born 
 in 1669. In 1697 he came to this country 
 with Penn and settled near Darby. He 
 married Mary Hunt, also a native of Eng- 
 land. In 1707 he moved to the forks of 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 463 
 
 the Brandywine and lived there on land 
 purchased from the Indians until his death, 
 which occurred in 1767, at the advanced 
 age of ninety-eight years. His wife sur- 
 vived him until 1769. when she died at the 
 age of eighty-seven. They had nine chil- 
 dren, the youngest of whom was Hum- 
 phrey Marshall, a great-granduncle of our 
 subject. 
 
 Humphrey Marshall was born October 
 10, 1722, in West Bradford township, in 
 Chester count}'. He learned the trade of 
 stone mason and followed it a few years. 
 With his own hands he built his resi- 
 dence at Marshal Iton. He married 
 Sarah Pennock on September 16, 1748, and 
 then took charge of his father's farm. He 
 was zealous for knowledge and paid special 
 attention to astronomy and natural history, 
 and was the first botanist of America and 
 the ablest of his day. From 1762 he served 
 four years as county treasurer, having re- 
 ceived the position by appointment. In 
 1764 he enlarged his father's residence, 
 manufacturing the brick and making the 
 whole improvement himself. He fell heir 
 to his father's estate and immediately begaii 
 to improve it by the erection of a large 
 grist and merchant mill, He was a distin- 
 guished farmer of his day and was an hon- 
 orary member of the Philadelphia Society 
 for Promoting Agriculture. His brother 
 James was our subject's great-grandfather 
 and was a farmer by occupation. Moses 
 Marshall, grandfather, had a family of sev- 
 eral children, of whom James P. was the 
 father of J. Newton Marshall. He was 
 born in Chester county and attended the 
 Quaker schools. After finishing his educa- 
 tion he went to farming, and later kept a 
 store at West Grove. He conducted this 
 business for ten years and then sold out 
 and located on a farm near Lancaster city, 
 
 where he had a large store. Again he made 
 a change and took a farm in Lancaster 
 county, but finally settled down on a farm 
 in Chester county, near Rochville, where 
 he died. In politics Mr. Marshall was a 
 Republican and served as school director. 
 He married Sarah Pennock, of Chester 
 county, and they had four children : Harry, 
 Louise, Philena and Lizzie. His first wife 
 died and he subsequently married Man- 
 Clark, by whom he had thirteen children : 
 Juliet, J. Newton and Frankin, twins, the 
 latter bein^ dead ; Lineas, Alice M., Mag- 
 gie, Annie, Junius, Willis, Walter, dead ; 
 Roberta, Chester and Emma. He died in 
 1872, aged sixty-three years. 
 
 J. Newton Marshall was educated in the 
 schools of Lancaster county and Lancaster 
 city and then went to work on his father's 
 farm. In 1859 he studied telegraphy at 
 Elizabethtown and was appointed extra 
 operator on the Philadelphia division of the 
 Pennsylvania railroad. He remained at 
 this post a year and then became telegraph 
 operator for the P. R. R. Co., president's 
 office, in Philadelphia. He resigned this 
 position to go back to help work on his 
 father's farm, but was later appointed tele- 
 graph operator and clerk on the Junction 
 railway at West Philadelphia. He left 
 there to become night operator at Eliza- 
 bethtown. In 1S65 he was appointed 
 ticket and freight agent at White Hall, 
 Delaware county, which is just across the 
 line from Bryn Mawr. When the main 
 line of the Pennsylvania road was moved 
 over to the present track and the Bryn 
 Mawr station established, he became ticket 
 and freight agent and has held that post 
 ever since. 
 
 In politics Mr. Marshall is a Republican 
 and has been very active in party work. 
 He has been postmaster of Bryn Mawr 
 
462 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 James Lovett, of Doylestown, Bucks county, 
 by whom he was father of seven chil- 
 dren. These children were: Frank K., 
 Henry, deceased ; Jeremiah B., jr., Bert- 
 man, Samuel, Esther E. and Flor- 
 ence E. After the death of his first 
 wife Mr. Larzelere married Caroline E. 
 Wentz, daughter of Dilworth Wentz, of 
 Philadelphia. No children have been born 
 to this union. With the exception of a 
 short time, during which he lived in Ohio, 
 Mr. Larzelere has spent his whole life in 
 Montgomery county. He was not only 
 a successful business man, but he has been 
 a good citizen, progressive in his ideas and 
 ready to support and help along all worthy 
 enterprises calculated to aid the welfare of 
 his community, and being of a benevolent 
 and kindly disposition is surrounded by 
 neighbors who esteem and love him. 
 
 LEWIS R. HARLEV, M. A., Ph. D., 
 was born in Chester county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, August 16, 1866. His ancestors 
 came to America from Germany, early in 
 the eighteenth century, to escape religious 
 persecution. Mr. Harley is a son of Har- 
 rison Harley, a prosperous farmer residing 
 in North Coventry, Chester county. He 
 was educated at the West Chester, Pa., 
 Normal school, the Hill Collegiate institute-, 
 Pottstown, Pa., and finished the normal 
 school course at the Lock Haven, Pa., Nor- 
 mal school. Mr. Harley finished the course 
 for the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy, 
 with the Illinois Wesleyan university, in 
 1 89 1, and after two years of post-graduate 
 study, with this university, in philosophy, 
 psychology and political science, he took 
 the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor 
 of Philosophy. In 1892 Mr. Harley became 
 
 a post-graduate student in the University 01 
 Pennsylvania, taking work in history and 
 politics under the eminent specialists, Dr. 
 John Bach McMaster, Dr. Edmund J. James, 
 Dr. Simon N. Patton, and Dr. Francis N. 
 Thorpe. He was made an honorary fellow 
 in history by the university in 1894, and in 
 1895, graduated with the degree of Doctor 
 of Philosophy. Mr. Harley is at present, 
 principal of the public schools of North 
 Wales, Pa. He has also done considerable 
 work in journalism, contributing historical 
 and scientific articles to the Philadelphia 
 Press, Times and Inquirer, and to the 
 Popular Science Monthly, American Maga- 
 zine of Civics, American Historical Reg- 
 ister and Education. For work in journal- 
 ism, Dickinson college has conferred on 
 Mr. Harley the honorary degree of Master 
 of Arts, and the Western University of 
 Pennsylvania has granted him the honorary 
 degree of Master of Philosophy. Mr. Har- 
 ley married Miss Ravilla Yarnall, of Dela- 
 ware county, and they have three children: 
 Lola, Martha and Francis Lieber. 
 
 T NEWTON MARSHALL, ticket and 
 <J • freight agent of the Pennsylvania 
 railroad at Bryn Mawr. was born on his 
 father's farm in Lancaster county on Aug- 
 ust 3, 1*43, and is a son of James P. and 
 Mary 1 Clark i Marshall. The Marshall 
 family is of English descent and of Quaker 
 stock. Abraham Marshall, the original 
 ancestor in this country, was a companion 
 of William Penn and was a native of Grat- 
 tan, Derbyshire, England, having been born 
 in 1669. In 1697 he came to this country 
 with Penn and settled near Darby. He 
 married Mary Hunt, also a native of Eng- 
 land. In 1707 he moved to the forks of 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 463 
 
 the Brandywine and lived there on land 
 
 purchased from the Indians until his death, 
 which occurred in 1767, at the advanced 
 age of ninety-eight years. His wife sur- 
 vived him until 1769. when she died at the 
 age of eighty-seven. The}- had nine chil- 
 dren, the youngest of whom was Hum- 
 phrey Marshall, a great-granduncle of our 
 subject. 
 
 Humphrey Marshall was born October 
 10, 1722, in West Bradford township, in 
 Chester county. He learned the trade of 
 stone mason and followed it a few years. 
 With his own hands he built his resi- 
 dence at Marshallton. He married 
 Sarah Pennock on September 16, 174S, and 
 then took charge of his father's farm. He 
 was zealous for knowledge and paid special 
 attention to astronomy and natural history, 
 and was the first botanist of America and 
 the ablest of his day. From 1762 he served 
 four years as county treasurer, having re- 
 ceived the position by appointment. In 
 1764 he enlarged his father's residence, 
 manufacturing the brick and making the 
 whole improvement himself. He fell heir 
 to his father's estate and immediately began 
 to improve it by the erection of a large 
 grist and merchant mill, He was a distin- 
 guished farmer of his day and was an hon- 
 orary member of the Philadelphia Society 
 for Promoting Agriculture. His brother 
 James was our subject's great-grandfather 
 and was a farmer by occupation. Moses 
 Marshall, grandfather, had a family of sev- 
 eral children, of whom James I', was the 
 father of J. Newton Marshall. He was 
 born in Chester county and attended the 
 Quaker schools. After finishing his educa- 
 tion he went to farming, and later kept a 
 store at West Grove. He conducted this 
 business for ten years and then sold out 
 and located on a farm near Lancaster city, 
 
 where he had a large stoic Again he made 
 a change and took a farm in Lancaster 
 county, but finally settled down on a farm 
 in Chester county, near Rochville, where 
 lie died. In politics Mr. Marshall was a 
 Republican and served as school director. 
 He married Sarah Pennock, of Chester 
 county, and they had four children : Harry, 
 Louise, Philena and Lizzie. His first wife 
 died and he subsequently married Man- 
 Clark, by whom he had thirteen children : 
 Juliet, J. Newton and Krankin, twins, the 
 latter being dead ; Lineas, Alice M., Mag- 
 gie, Annie, Junius, Willis, Walter, dead ; 
 Roberta, Chester and Emma. He died in 
 1872, aged sixty-three years. 
 
 J. Newton Marshall was educated in the 
 schools of Lancaster county and Lancaster 
 city and then went to work on his father's 
 farm. In 1859 he studied telegraphy at 
 Klizabethtown and was appointed extra 
 operator on the Philadelphia division of the 
 Pennsylvania railroad. He remained at 
 this post a year and then became telegraph 
 operator for the P. R. R. Co., president's 
 office, in Philadelphia. He resigned this 
 position to go back to help work on his 
 father's farm, but was later appointed tele- 
 graph operator and clerk on the Junction 
 railway at West Philadelphia. He left 
 there to become night operator at Eliza- 
 bethtown. In 1S65 he was appointed 
 ticket and freight agent at White Hall, 
 Delaware county, which is just across the 
 line from Bryn Mawr. When the main 
 line of the Pennsylvania road was moved 
 over to the present track and the Bryn 
 Mawr station established, he became ticket 
 and freight agent and has held that post 
 ever since. 
 
 In politics Mr. Marshall is a Republican 
 and has been very active in party work. 
 He has been postmaster of Bryn Mawr 
 
4 66 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 honor. He held the office of school direc- 
 tor and also served in other local positions. 
 He built a large grist mill in Washington 
 township, Berks county, and operated it in 
 connection with his farm up to the time of 
 his retirement from active life ten years 
 prior to his death. Amos Schultz was a 
 man of intelligence and great business 
 ability. He was a very prominent worker 
 in the Schweukfelder church and was presi- 
 dent and treasurer of the Charity fund for 
 thirty years. He was an original stock- 
 holder of the National bank of Boyertown 
 and was elected to the office of director but 
 declined to serve. He was a very success- 
 ful man in all of his undertakings and was 
 highly respected in this community. He 
 married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel 
 Kriebel, of Worcester, April 16, 1833, and 
 their union resulted in a family of eight 
 children : Sarah Schultz ; Susanna John- 
 son ; Joseph K., who is a miller by occupa- 
 tion in Washington township, Berks county; 
 Anna, who died November 4, 1862 ; Eueina 
 K.; Edwin K.; Owen K., and Elizabeth K. 
 Gerhard. 
 
 Edwin K. Schultz was the sixth child of 
 Amos and Elizabeth Schultz, and was born 
 in Douglass township, Montgomery county, 
 August 1, 1848. Up to the age of fifteen 
 years, Edwin attended the public schools of 
 his district and then went to work on a 
 farm. Eater he learned the trade of miller 
 under his father and followed that business 
 for ten years in his native township. In the 
 meantime he married Amanda, daughter of 
 Andrew K. Schultz, of Clayton, Berks 
 county, October 19, 1872, and engaged in 
 farming on a large tract of land of one hun- 
 dred and twenty-five acres, which he still 
 continues to cultivate. He gives his atten- 
 tention to general farming, the dairy and 
 produce of all kinds, and has been success- 
 
 ful. He is a man of enterprise and progress 
 and always ready to invest in and aid any- 
 thing that will be of profit or importance to 
 his district. He is a prominent member of 
 tlie Xiantic Dairyman's association, and is 
 the president and manager of the Xiantic 
 creamery which was organized in April, 
 1888. He is also a trustee of the Perkio- 
 men seminary, and has been the treasurer of 
 that institution since the new organization 
 went into effect in 1892. He is also inter- 
 ested in the Boyertown National bank and 
 other financial institutions. He is a Re- 
 publican in politics, and like his fore-fathers, 
 is a member of the Schwenkfelder church, in 
 which he has held various offices of honor 
 and trust. 
 
 A family of six children blessed his union 
 with Amanda Schultz These are : Alice 
 Ida, Minnie, Stella, Mattie and Andrew, S., 
 all livine at home. 
 
 [ON AS S. MOYER, editor of the Hatfield 
 J Invincible, and grammar school teacher, 
 is one of the brightest and most popular 
 young men of his section of Montgomery 
 county. He comes from Pennsylvania-Ger- 
 man ancestry and his forefathers for many 
 generations back were prominent residents 
 of Franconia township, Montgomery coun- 
 ty. His paternal grandfather was Jacob 
 Mover and he was born in Franconia town- 
 ship, on May 17, 1781. He learned the 
 trade of tailor and followed this in connec- 
 tion with farming all his life. In political 
 matters he sided with the Whig and later 
 the Republican party. In religious belief 
 he was a strict adherent to the doctrines of 
 the Mennonite church and was a very active 
 church worker. He was married to Mag- 
 dalena Eandis, and their union was blessed 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 467 
 
 with six children : William L. , Jonas L., 
 Molly, who intermarried with Jacob Moyer; 
 Esther, Elizabeth and Hannah. Jonas L. 
 Mover, father of the subject of this sketch, 
 was born in Franconia, February 20, 1828. 
 He was a farmer all of his life and owned 
 a splendid property of seventy-five acres. 
 He was a member of the Mennonite church 
 of Franconia, and was a Republican. He 
 married Fanny Swartley, of Franconia, 
 in September 1853, and their union was 
 productive of a family of eleven children, 
 nine of whom are still living. The chil- 
 dren are : Philip, deceased ; Magdalena, 
 wife of Enos Detwiler ; Lizzie ; Anna, mar- 
 ried to Edward Moyer ; Fanny, who is the 
 wife of Isaiah H. Keller ; Jacob, William, 
 Jonas S., Nathaniel, Katie and John. 
 
 Jonas S. Mover's birth place is Franconia, 
 and he was born on the 25th of May, 1865. 
 He was sent to the public schools and after- 
 wards attended Sumueytown academy. He 
 taught school for a year near Tylersport, 
 Salford township. He then went to West 
 Chester and entered the West Chester State 
 normal school for one term. Thereafter he 
 taught three terms and again went to West 
 Chester and finished the junior course. He 
 taught school for twelve terms, one term 
 in Salford township; fourterms in Franconia 
 township ; one in Lower Salford township 
 and six terms at Hatfield. In the mean- 
 time he took up the trade of printing at 
 home and bought a printing office at Hat- 
 field, on July 7, 1894. During the first year 
 he taught the grammar school and conduc- 
 ted the printing business and is the pub- 
 lisher of the Hatfield Invincible, a prosper- 
 ous and influential newspaper with a large 
 and wide circulation. Mr. Moyer is a man 
 of fine literary tastes and his paper is noted 
 for its sound editorial utterances. 
 
 pn September 3, 1892, Mr. Moyer was 
 
 married to Miss Mattie, youngest daughter 
 of Godshall Dalp, of Mainland, Montgom- 
 ery county, and they occupy their own fine 
 residence in Hatfield. He is a member of 
 the Brethern church, of Philadelphia, and 
 is superintendent of the Union Sunday 
 school at Hatfield. He is a strict temper- 
 ance man and is always actively identified 
 with Republican politics. 
 
 JOHN MILLER, who with his brother, 
 Francis Miller, operates one of the 
 largest brick manufactories in Montgomery 
 count} - , is a business man of wide acquaint- 
 ance and commands the general esteem of 
 the business community. He is a son of 
 Andrew and Mary (Crocker) Miller, and was 
 born on the 12th day of November, 1847, 
 at Bridgeport. He is from good Montgom- 
 ery county ancestry. He was the father of 
 four children : Sarah, who was married to 
 James Wilcox ; Mary, Elizabeth, wife of 
 John Wilson, and Andrew. He died July, 
 
 1873- 
 
 Andrew Miller was born at Philadelphia 
 
 in 1800. He attended the public schools 
 and then engaged to earn his livelihood as 
 a laborer. He always voted the Democratic 
 ticket. His union with Mary Crocker re- 
 sulted in a family of ten children : Charles, 
 Mary, Henry, Joseph, Richard, Pasco, 
 Sarah, James, John and Francis. He died 
 at seventy-three years of age. 
 
 John Miller was sent to the common 
 schools and secured all the education that 
 could be given to a boy of those times, and 
 left at the age of thirteen years to work in 
 the brickyard of Joel Anders, at Bridgeport, 
 where he remained three years. He then 
 worked five years for John Smith, at Nor- 
 ristown. Leaving here he went to Phila- 
 
468 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 delphia and worked for the Melker brick 
 works. His next position was with Sehaf- 
 fer Brothers, at Norristown, where he re- 
 mained eight years. 
 
 In 1879 Mr. Miller and his brother Fran- 
 cis decided to engage in business on their 
 own account, and the}- accordingly started 
 a brickyard at Delphi P. O., near Zieglers- 
 ville, which they have conducted for seven- 
 teen years. The)- started on a small scale, but 
 at the present time, such has been their uni- 
 ted work, that they do a very large business 
 and ship great cargoes of brick to all parts 
 of the State. Their business grew steadily 
 and rapidly and was long ago on a very 
 firm basis, and their name is greatly es- 
 teemed in the business world. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Miller takes to Demo- 
 cratic principles, and always gives close at- 
 tention to the party's working in his county 
 and vicinity. He was married to Mary 
 Renard on November 31, 1870, and they 
 have been blessed with a family of five 
 children: Andrew, aged twenty-three years, 
 Anna, aged twenty-one years ; Lulu, aged 
 eighteen years ; Lee and Ella, died in in- 
 fancy. 
 
 I SAIAH R. HALDEMAN is a job printer 
 1 and publisher of the Harleysville News, 
 and conducts a large and profitable busi- 
 ness. He is a native of Montgomery 
 county, having been born in Hatfield town- 
 ship, February 4, 1868. He is primarily of 
 German ancestors, though his family has 
 long resided in this county. His grand- 
 father, on his paternal side, was Elias 
 Haldemau, who was born in Perkiomen 
 township in 1792. He was a farmer and a 
 Democrat. Grandfather Haldeman reared 
 a family of five children. These were : 
 Elias, now deceased ; Samuel, Enos, de- 
 
 ceased ; Caroline, Charles, and Henry, also 
 dead. 
 
 Charles Haldeman, the father of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, was born 1832, and like 
 his father devoted his life to farming and 
 owned a large and fertile farm. He was 
 married to Miss Leah Rosenberger, and they 
 had two children : Harvey, born October 
 5, 1857, and Isaiah, born February 4, 1868. 
 He and his estimable wife are still living 
 and are active members of the Towamencin 
 Mennonite church. 
 
 Isaiah R. Haldeman attended the public 
 schools of his district until he was fourteen 
 years old and was then entered in the print- 
 ing office of the Lansdale Reporter. Later 
 he secured employment on the Philadelphia 
 Press, where he remained two years. He 
 then went to Harleysville and purchased 
 the plant of the News printing office of the 
 A. E. Dambly estate He has continued in 
 this business ever since and has been emi- 
 nently successful and prosperous. He has 
 a fine office and turns out a great variety of 
 excellent work. Mr. Haldeman is a self- 
 made man in every sense that term implies. 
 He started in life with nothing but good 
 health and plenty of ambition and he 
 worked himself up by careful attention to 
 every detail of business both as an employee 
 and an employer. He saved his money 
 until he possessed three hundred dollars, 
 which he invested in a building and loan 
 association. This formed the nucleus of 
 his capital which he has constantly added 
 to since he has been in business. 
 
 Mr. Haldeman, like his father, is a Re- 
 publican and has always taken a prominent 
 part in local politics. The Harleysville 
 Nezcs, of which he is the editor, was the 
 only paper in the county with one exception 
 that came out for Quay in his memorable 
 fight for control of the State Republican 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 469 
 
 organization at a time when the Senator's 
 fight was a seemingly hopeless one. 
 
 On October 5, 1887, he married Kate, 
 daughter of Rev. John Rosenberger, of 
 Hatfield, a well known preacher of the 
 Mennonite denomination. This union has 
 been made happy by the birth of two chil- 
 dren : Ella, born August 8, 1892, and Eve, 
 born July 26, 1895. His wife died Septem- 
 ber 23, 1895. 
 
 WILLIAM H. CLEVENGER, is a 
 retired business man of Ardmore, a 
 son of Enoch W. and Margaret (Fisher) 
 Clevenger, and was born in Lower Merion 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, January 24, 1858. Enoch W. Clev- 
 enger was of German descent and his father 
 was a resident of New Jersey. He removed 
 in early life to a farm on the Haverford 
 road in Lower Merion township, where he 
 carried on an extensive dairy and supplied 
 a large quantity of milk daily to one part 
 of Philadelphia. He was a prominent far- 
 mer, owned a good farm and served as a 
 director of an insurance company. He was 
 a Republican in politics and died in 1871, 
 aged sixty-three years. He married Marga- 
 ret Fisher in 1853, and their children were : 
 Emma L. (deceased), Kate and William H., 
 whose name appears at the head of this 
 sketch. 
 
 William H. Clevenger was reared on his 
 father's Lower Merion farm until he at- 
 tained his thirteenth year, and then was 
 sent to Philadelphia, where he received his 
 education in Ritteuhouse academy. Leav- 
 ing school he turned his attention to com- 
 mercial pursuits and engaged in the gro- 
 cery business at Ardmore as a member of 
 the firm of Lesher & Clevenger. This 
 
 firm continued very successfully for sixteen 
 years, and then Mr. Clevenger withdrew as 
 a partner. Having disposed of his interest 
 in the grocery business he concluded to see 
 something of Florida, in which he had be- 
 come somewhat interested from favorable 
 reports which he had received concerning 
 that country, and accordingly made a tour 
 through the " Peninsular State " and parts 
 of Alabama and Mississippi. Not finding 
 that country such as he expected he re- 
 turned home, again embarked in the gro- 
 cery business, and opened an establishment 
 on the Lancaster road, where the present 
 post office is now located. His second in- 
 vestment was such as the section of the 
 country demanded, but in two months he 
 disposed of his place of business and stock 
 of goods to P. Lukens, who has continued 
 there ever since. Mr. Clevenger was vari- 
 ously engaged for a short time after leaving 
 the grocery business, and since 1892 has 
 chiefly given his attention to his own per- 
 sonal affairs. He is a member of the Jeffer- 
 son club, of Ardmore. In politics Mr. 
 Clevenger is a strong Democrat, and has 
 been a delegate frequently to county and 
 district conventions of his party. 
 
 DANIEL KINZIE, a civil engineer of 
 high reputation and for the past 
 twenty years justice of the peace at Gulf 
 Mills, Upper Merion township, Montgom- 
 ery county, is one of the most prominent 
 men of that section of the county. He is 
 of Scotch-American ancestry. His grand- 
 father, Daniel Kinzie, emigrated from 
 Scotland and lived at Radnor, on the estate 
 now owned by Mrs. George W. Childs. He 
 was born in Shire of Inverness, Scotland, 
 on May 28, 1763, and came to America in 
 
4;o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 1772, when only nine years old. The 
 family located at Kingsess, near Phila- 
 delphia. He served in the War of the 
 Revolution on a privateer and was wounded 
 bv having one thumb shot off in an engage- 
 ment. After the war he established him- 
 self as a farmer and became wealthy. He 
 was prominent in local affairs and was 
 highly respected in his section. He was 
 married twice. His first wife was Miss 
 McVail, and they had two children : John 
 and Ann. May Hansel was his second 
 wife, and four children were born to them. 
 He died in 1S43 at the age of eighty-five 
 years. 
 
 John Kinzie, father of our subject, lived 
 in boyhood on his father's farm near Bryn 
 Mawr and attended the schools of his dis- 
 trict. He then became a teacher and 
 taught school in Brvn Mawr and through- 
 out Montgomery and Chester counties. He 
 then bought a flour mill near Yellow 
 Springs, Chester county, and worked it all 
 his life. When the War of 1812 broke out 
 he enlisted in the Montgomery Rifles under 
 Colonel Scott, later under General Scott, 
 as a private and served throughout the war. 
 He was pensioned later and his name was 
 mentioned for meritorious conduct. 
 
 In politics he was a Democrat and in 
 religious belief adhered to the doctrines of 
 the Baptist church. In 181 1 he married 
 Marv Sheaff, and their union was blessed 
 by ten children : Emily and Sabina, de- 
 ceased ; our subject ; William ; Susan ; 
 Rebecca, deceased; John; Isabella; Charles; 
 and Horatio Gates. He died in 1857, aged 
 seventy years. 
 
 Daniel Kinzie was born at Bryn Mawr, 
 April 7, 1818, and spent his boyhood days 
 in Lower Merion township, where he at- 
 tended school. He then clerked for two 
 years in a store at Manayunk. In 1841 he 
 
 came to Upper Merion township where he 
 kept a store. In 1865 he took up the pro- 
 fession of surveyor and has ever since fol- 
 lowed it with success. He has always been 
 a very active Democrat. In 1875 he was 
 elected justice of the peace and has been 
 re-elected four terms of five years each 
 Though this is a strong Republican dis- 
 trict he has held every local office in the 
 township except that of constable. During 
 the war he was postmaster at Gulf Mills 
 and was therefore exempt from service in 
 the arm v. Mr. Kinzie is unmarried. 
 
 R 
 
 ALPH M. WARNER, Jr., who is 
 engaged successfully in the insurance 
 and real estate business at Ardmore, is a 
 son of Ralph M. and Keziah (Jones) Warner, 
 and was born in the city of Philadelphia, 
 Pennsylvania, August 2, 1853. His grand- 
 father, William Warner, was born in the 
 initial year of the present centurv, and lived 
 to be eighty-one years of age. He was 
 wealthy, and a large manufacturer in Phila- 
 delphia, and made his home during the lat- 
 ter part of his life in Jenkintown. Mr. 
 Warner was a Democrat and an Episco- 
 palian, and was twice married. His first 
 wife was Alice, by whom he had six chil- 
 dren, and his second wife, Isabella, bore him 
 two children. His son, Ralph M. Warner, 
 was born at Jenkintown, where he was 
 reared and educated. He learned the trade 
 of engraver with his brother, and worked 
 steadily until 1850, when he became a mes- 
 senger in the office of the recorder of deeds 
 in Philadelphia. He was dulv promoted 
 until he is now chief search clerk in the 
 office. He is a staunch Republican, has 
 served frequently as a committeeman from 
 the fourteenth ward, and has been a dele- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 17' 
 
 gate to both Slate and national conventions 
 of his party. Mr. Warren is an active < >dd 
 Fellow, and in 1852, married Keziah Jones, 
 a daughter of David Jones, a prominent 
 citizen of Lower Merion township. Their 
 children were : Ralph M., jr., Elizabeth, 
 David, C. Pierce, Elwood, Edwin and Ella, 
 Of these children but two are living, Ralph 
 M., jr., and C. Pierce. 
 
 Ralph M. Warner received his education 
 in the public schools of Philadelphia, and 
 then became a traveling salesman for H. P. 
 Mauley, of Potsdam, New York, in whose 
 employ he remained for ten years. At the 
 end of that time he came to White Hall, 
 now P.ryn Mawr, where he was engaged for 
 the next six years in the general mercantile 
 business under the firm name of Arthur & 
 Warner. 
 
 Withdrawing from the above partner- 
 ship, he was with the Union News com- 
 pany for five years at Haverford, and then 
 in 1890, was appointed by President Har- 
 rison, post-master of that place. He served 
 as post-master for four years, and then was 
 appointed by Governor Hastings, justice of 
 the peace at Ardmore, to fill the unexpired 
 term of Frank P. Ashbrook. Since be- 
 coming a resident of Ardmore, Mr. Warner 
 has engaged in the real estate and insurance 
 business, and is successful in both lines. 
 He represents the Mutual North American 
 Fire Insurance company, of Philadelphia. 
 He is a staunch and working Republican, 
 and an active member of the Presbyterian 
 church. He is also a member of Star Coun- 
 cil No. 3, Senior Order of United American 
 Mechanics, of Bryn Mawr. 
 
 On October 24, 1876, Mr. Warner mar- 
 ried Mary M. Dreeby, of Philadelphia, and to 
 their union have been born four children : 
 George, David, deceased ; Pierre, and 
 Frank. 
 
 WILLIAM I'. FENTON, a general 
 merchant of Collegeville, the only 
 
 surviving child of Captain Herbert M. and 
 Hannah (Homan) Fenton, was horn atBris- 
 tol, Lucks county, Pennsylvania, January 
 2 9i I 853- Captain Herbert M. Fenton was 
 born in Bucks county, in ICS25. In early 
 life he became a sailor and was soon placed 
 in command of a vessel. He served as a sea 
 captain from 1S45 to 1881. In the latter 
 vear he retired from the sea and enffaered in 
 his present general mercantile business at 
 Wissahickon, this .State. Captain Fenton 
 married Hannah Homan, a daughter of 
 Alfred Homan, of Camden, N. J. To Cap- 
 tain and Mrs. Fenton were born four chil- 
 dren, three sons and one daughter: Cur- 
 tis, Edwin, Jennie and William P., all of 
 whom are deceased except William P. the 
 subject of this sketch. 
 
 William P. Fenton attended the common 
 schools of Bucks county, and took the full 
 commercial course at Bryant and Stratton's 
 business college, of Philadelphia, from 
 which he was graduated in 1873. Leaving 
 the business college he became book-keeper 
 for Heston & Sous, a large manufacturing 
 firm of Frankford, Philadelphia, and with 
 whom he remained for a period of nearly 
 ten years. In 1S81, Mr. Fenton came to 
 Collegeville, this county, and purchased 
 Frank M. Hobson's store and large stock of 
 general merchandise. He held the exten- 
 sive patronage that Mr. Hobson had built 
 up during a epiarter of a century, and has 
 kept up in his line of business with the de- 
 velopment of Collegeville during the last 
 two decades. 
 
 His business ability and experience has 
 been fully equal to the requirements of the 
 situation, and in consequence he has a first 
 class patronage that extends over a consid- 
 erable area of territory. Mr. Fenton keeps 
 
4J2 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 a large and well assorted stock of merchan- 
 dise carefully purchased for the general 
 wants and particular needs of his patrons. 
 Mr. Fenton is a Republican politically, and 
 has served for some time as a member of the 
 school board of Collegeville. He is a mem- 
 ber and vestryman of St. James Protestant 
 Episcopal church, of Evansburg, and a 
 member and the junior warden of Warren 
 Lodge, No. 310, Free and Accepted Masons. 
 
 On December 11, 1884. William P. Fen- 
 ton was united in marriage with Ida L. 
 Bowman, a daughter of Jonas Bowman, of 
 Collegeville. Their union has been blessed 
 with one child, a son, named Willie B., who 
 was born October 12, 1885. 
 
 The Fenton's are of English descent, and 
 have been re?idents of Pennsylvania for 
 three generations, while the Homans are of 
 Swedish extraction and have been in the 
 State for several vears. 
 
 ERNEST M. VAUGHAN, M. D., a 
 practicing physician of Royer's Ford, 
 is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Hamilton) 
 Vaughan, and was born in Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, February 5, 1863. 
 His father was also a native of this countv, 
 and his mother was born in the city of 
 Baltimore Maryland. 
 
 The elder Yaughan was a farmer by occu- 
 pation, and the boyhood of Dr. Vaughan 
 pent on the farm. He attended the 
 public schools, where he acquired a super- 
 ior English education, and at an early age 
 began to evince a fondness for the medical 
 profession. While still on the farm he be- 
 gan the study of medicine, devoting to this 
 subject all his leisure time. He subse- 
 quently matriculated at the Hahnemann 
 Medical college, of Philadelphia, from 
 
 which institution he was graduateed with 
 the degree of M. D. in June, 1893. Dr. 
 Vaughan remained in Philadelphia one 
 year after his graduation, practicing in the 
 Hahnemann homeopathic hospital of that 
 city, and making a special study of diseases 
 of the nose and throat. In 1894 he located 
 at Rover's Ford and began a successful 
 practice, which has become extensive and 
 lucrative. He soon became known as a 
 skillful physician and a cultured gentle- 
 man. He continues to give special atten- 
 tion to diseases of the nose and throat, and 
 for a young physician has won an excep- 
 tional reputation in that line. 
 
 In July, 1892, Dr. Vaughan was united 
 in marriage to Anna McClintock, a daugh- 
 ter of Robert and Penella McClintock, of 
 the city of Philadelphia. To the Doctor 
 and Mrs. Yaughan have been born two 
 children, both sons : Jacob N. and Richard 
 H. Dr. Yaughan is a member of the 
 Hahnemann college Alumni society, of 
 Philadelphia, and an earnest student of the 
 literature of his profession. Professionally 
 he has already won success, and his career 
 promises to be one of usefulness. 
 
 DH. STREEPER, a self-made business 
 • man of Norristown, is a son of 
 Leonard and Hannah (Ball) Streeper, and 
 was born in Lower Providence township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, August 
 2 5> x ^55- The Streepers are of Russian 
 descent, and one of its members emigrated 
 from Russia to America as early as 17 14 
 and located in Philadelphia near what is now 
 Logan Station, but soon afterward returned 
 to his native country. The paternal grand- 
 father of D. H. Streeper was a resident of 
 Whitemarsh township, this county, where 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 473 
 
 he was engaged in tanning. He was a 
 regular attendant of the Lutheran church, 
 in which he took an active part, and mar- 
 ried Sarah Kant/., by whom he had six 
 children: Charles, Henry, David, Peter, all 
 of whom are deceased; and Catharine Freas. 
 Mr. Streeper died at an advanced age, and 
 was survived by Mrs. Streeper, who had 
 she lived four more years, would have be- 
 come a centenarian. Leonard Streeper was 
 a native of Springfield township, Mont- 
 gomery county, and received his education 
 in the common schools, after which he re- 
 moved to Lower Providence township, 
 where he was engaged in farming until his 
 death. He was a supporter of the Demo- 
 cratic party and filled several local offices. 
 He adhered to the Lutheran church, mar- 
 ried Hannah Ball, and reared a family of 
 seven children: Joshua; James; Daniel ; 
 Seth, deceased; Caroline; Sarah Reigle. 
 
 D. H. Streeper received his early educa- 
 tion in the common schools of Lower Prov- 
 idence township. Leaving school, he re- 
 mained with his father on the farm until 
 1873, when he learned the trade of plumber. 
 At the end of four years he became en- 
 gaged in joinery work under the firm 
 of Streeper & Hutchinson. In 1880 he 
 went into the business for himself, and in 
 1881 purchased property at No. 150 West 
 Main street, Norristown, where he now 
 resides. He does a large business in steam, 
 gas and electrical work, and has a number 
 of men in his employ. 
 
 On January 20, 1880, he was united in 
 marriage with a daughter of Peter Thomas, 
 a saddler of Montgomery county. In relig- 
 ious matters he is a member of the Re- 
 formed church, of which he has served as 
 deacon and is now serving as elder. Polit- 
 ically he is a Republican and has served 
 for one term as member of the town coun- 
 
 cil. He is a member of the Independent 
 ! Order of Odd Fellows, Montgomery Lodge 
 No. 57. He is also a member of Beaver 
 Tribe No. 62, Improved Order of Red Men, 
 the Knights <>f Friendship, and Washing- 
 ton Camp No, 114, Patriotic Order .Sons of 
 America. 
 
 AV. FINLKY, the senior member of the 
 • business firm of A. V. Finley & Co., 
 of Norristown, is a son of John Simms and 
 Phoebe (Rhoades) Finley, and was born at 
 Norristown, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, February 8, i860. The original 
 American ancestry of the Finley family is 
 traced to Salem, county, New Jersey, where 
 David Finley's paternal grandfather was 
 born and educated. Later he removed to 
 Christiana Creek, New Castle county, Dela- 
 ware, where he resided until 1826, when he 
 came to Norristown. He died just one 
 year after the close of the Civil war, at the 
 ripe old age of eighty-five years. He mar- 
 ried Ruth Mills and reared a family of eight 
 children : John Simms, Richard, David, 
 Job, Mackenzie, Mary A., Sarah A. Ander- 
 son and Susan Knox. John Simms Finley 
 (father), remained at home until he arrived 
 at the age of eighteen years. He then came 
 to Norristown of which place he was a resi- 
 dent until his death in 1891, being seventy- 
 eight years of age. He was a machinist 
 and iron worker by trade, and by thrift and 
 industry became well and favorably known 
 in his immediate neighborhood. He mar- 
 ried Phoebe Rhoades, who died in 1875, at 
 the advanced age of sixty years. Their 
 union was blessed with seven children : 
 Charles, A. V., Samuel, James, William D. 
 MacKenzie and Rebecca. 
 
 At twelve years of age A. V. Finley left 
 the common schools and spent seven years 
 
474 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 with his father upon a farm Dear Norris- 
 town. At this time he became engaged 
 
 in the market business at No. (i( Bast 
 Main street, Norristown, and subsequently 
 removed to No. 366 on the same street 
 where he soon succeeded in establishing a 
 good trade. In [890 he entered into part- 
 nership with his nephew under the firm 
 name of A. Y. Finlev & Co., ami located at 
 tlie corner of Mill and Main streets. They 
 doa jobbing and retail produce and market 
 business in which they employ six men. 
 The building occupied is a three storj 
 brick structure 24 by 78 feet. '1 "hey carr) 
 a tine stoek of well seleeted goods; and are 
 likewise interested in the Farmers' Market oi 
 their borough, in whicn thej own and con- 
 duet stalls. Politically Mi. Finley is a Re- 
 publican who believes in a full support oi 
 the principles oi his party. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
 lows, Curtis Lodge, No. 236; the Ancient 
 Order oi Forresters, and the Knights of the 
 Golden Eagle, Montgomery Castle. 
 
 On March, 1886, Mr. Finley married 
 Margaret Scanlan, who is now dee, 
 They had one child, Maggie, who is also 
 de.nl. On June, 1891, Mr. Finley married 
 for bis second wife I.ydia Reany, a daughter 
 of William Reany, oi Birmingham, Eng- 
 land. To this second union have been born 
 two sons : William and George. 
 
 Mr. Finley residesat No. 505 Green street, 
 where he is surrounded with everything 
 itial to a pleasant home. 
 
 HERMAN R. STADELMAN the 
 proprietor of the largest drug- house 
 at Ardmore, is the oldest sou oi Samuel F. 
 and Ida E. (Merritt) Stadelman, and was 
 born in Ardmore, Montgomery county, 
 
 Pennsylvania, March 21, 1871. His grand- 
 father, Jacob 1.. Stadelman, kept the Black 
 Horse hotel, at Overbrook, for quite a num- 
 ber of years. He was prominent, active 
 and useful in his community. He com- 
 manded a Pennsylvania militia regiment. 
 He was a Democrat, a Lutheran and a 
 member of the Masonic fraternity, and died 
 in 1881, aged seventy-three years. Colonel 
 Stadelman married Hannah Latch, and 
 their children were: Lizzie, Mary, Jean- 
 nette, Jacob, William and Samuel F. The 
 latter, father of the subject of this sketch, 
 was born and reared at the Black Horse 
 hotel and attended the Pennsylvania col- 
 lege at Gettysburg, which he left during 
 the war to assume his brother Jacob's coal 
 and lumber business at Ardmore, then 
 Athensville, while the latter entered the 
 the Union army. After the war he 
 took the regular course at the Phila- 
 delphia College of Pharmacy, from which 
 he was graduated in 1S70. He then opened 
 a drtig store in Ardmore, which he con- 
 ducted up to the time of his death, which 
 occurred April 24, 1892, aged forty-nine 
 years. He was active and prominent in 
 everything effecting his community. He 
 is .a Democrat and served two terms as 
 justice of the peace. He was a very active 
 member of St. Paul's Lutheran church, 
 whose edifice he was largely instrumental 
 in building. He was a director of the 
 Merion Title and Trust company and the 
 Bryn Mawr Building and Loan association. 
 He was prominent and useful as a citizen 
 as well as a business man, and being a 
 clear and interesting talker was frequently 
 called upon for public addresses. In 1S-. ■ 
 he married Ida E. Merritt, and they had 
 seven children : Herman R., Alice (de- 
 ceased), Edith, Mabel, Leigh, Grace and 
 Zoa. now dead. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 475 
 
 Herman R. Stadelinan was reared at 
 Ardmore and received his education in 
 Pennsylvania college, at Gettysburg, from 
 
 which he was graduated in 1S92, and then 
 entered the Philadelphia College of Phar- 
 macy, where he took special courses and 
 was graduated with the degree of Ph. G. 
 At the death of his father he succeeded 
 to the large drug business of the latter, 
 which he has conducted most successfully 
 ever since. He lias the largest drug house 
 at Ardmore and does an extensive and 
 profitable business. Mr. Stadelman has 
 served for three years as manager of the 
 Ardmore district of the Delaware and At- 
 lantic Telephone and Telegraph company, 
 and in various ways is active in the best in- 
 terests of his town and community. 
 
 SOLOMON SNYDER, ex-register of 
 wills of Montgomery county, ex-justice 
 of the peace of Mainland and a retired 
 school teacher of reputation, is one of the 
 oldest residents of the county and is still re- 
 membered as one of the most active politi- 
 cians of former years in this section of the 
 State. He is a man of superior education, 
 and long years of experience made him a 
 man who is looked up to for advice and 
 wise council in public affairs. He is 
 now in his seventy-ninth year and at this 
 ripe age is still hale and hearty and capa- 
 ble of taking an interest in those 
 things that are of advantage to the 
 community in which he lives. His an- 
 cestors are of German origin and have been 
 residents of Montgomery county for many 
 generations following divers vocations, but 
 generally combining farming with other 
 business enterprises. It was a thrifty fam- 
 ily and all prospered and became more or 
 
 less influential in the neighborhood in which 
 they lived. His paternal grandfather, Jacob 
 Snyder, was a tanner by trade and he fol- 
 lowed this business in conjunction with 
 farming. In politics he was a working 
 Democrat and served as justice of the peace. 
 He was a consistent Christian and a mem- 
 ber of the Reformed church He married 
 and had three children. 
 
 The subject of thissketch is a son of [saa< 
 and Elizabeth Snyder, and was born in 
 New Hanover township, on July 19, 1N17. 
 His father was also born in New Hanover 
 township. The tormer secured a common 
 school education and learned the trade of 
 tanner under his father. He followed this 
 business all his life and also worked a fine 
 farm. He was an active Democrat and was 
 elected register of wills of Montgomery 
 county and served a full term. In religious 
 belief he was a member of the Reformed 
 church and served as a deacon, elder and 
 trustee of the church at New Hanover. His 
 wife's name was Elizabeth and they were 
 the parents of ten children as follows : Solo- 
 mon, Louis; Sophia, wife of Jacob Hen- 
 dricks ; Jacob and John, deceased ; Susanna, 
 wife of Jacob Swartz ; Mary, wife of 
 Henry Cassel, both of whom are dead ; 
 Harmina; Augustus and Isaac, who died 
 young. 
 
 Solomon Snyder was given the best edu- 
 cation his parents could afford. After pass- 
 ing through the common schools he attend- 
 ed Washington Hall for three sessions and 
 then spent two sessions at Lexington acad- 
 emy, leaving here at the age of twenty-one 
 years. He learned the profession of civil 
 engineer, but followed the, to him, a more 
 congenial calling of school teacher for over 
 twenty years. He also owned a small farm 
 which he operated with considerable profit. 
 He early felt an inclination for politics and 
 
476 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 soon became an active leader in the Demo- 
 cratic ranks of his district. In fact he be- 
 came so well known that he was taken up 
 as a candidate for register of wills and was 
 elected, receiving a large majority over his 
 opponent. He also served as justice of the 
 peace for fifteen years and was a notary 
 public. Being a man of the strictest pro- 
 bitv of character and of good ability he 
 served in all these offices with credit to him- 
 self and the people who supported him. 
 Mr. Snyder's public career was one of which 
 he and his offspring may well be proud. 
 He was not only a public official, but was 
 always ready to take active part in anything 
 that would be of benefit to the community 
 in which he lived. 
 
 Mr. Snyder married Dorothea, daughter 
 of Emanuel Swartz, on December 26, 1841, 
 and two children have been born to them. 
 They are : Franklin, born October 29, 
 1842, and Isaiah, born May 16, 1846. The 
 family all attend the Reformed church in 
 which Mr. Snyder has been deacon, elder 
 and trustee. For a number of years he was 
 secretary 7 of the congregation. 
 
 JOHN KEYSER, a retired business man 
 of Norristown, is a son of John and 
 Catharine (Spare) Keyser, and was born in 
 Skippack township, Montgomery count)', 
 Pennsylvania, September 16, 1824 He i s 
 of German extraction, and his paternal 
 great-grandfather emigrated from Germany 
 to America. His son, Peter Keyser (grand- 
 father), one of the early pioneers of this 
 county, was the only survivor of a large 
 family of children, the remainder of 
 whom were killed by the Indians during 
 the early settlement of the State. Peter 
 Kevser was a wheelwright and worked at 
 
 his trade during the active years of his 
 life near Hustletown, now Evansburg. He 
 owned a small farm, which he kept in a 
 good state of cultivation, and was a sup- 
 porter of the old line Whig party. He 
 married Esther Stern, by whom he had six 
 children : John, sr., Jacob, George, Christ- 
 ian, Samuel and Elizabeth Poley. Mrs. 
 Keyser died at the age of sixty years. Mr. 
 Keyser died at the advanced age of seventy- 
 six years. John Keyser, sr. (father) was 
 also a native of Skippack township, where 
 he was engaged in the same trade as his 
 father ; later he removed to the old home- 
 stead farm and devoted the remainder of 
 his life to agricultural pursuits. He was 
 also a member of the Whig party and mar- 
 ried Catharine Spare, who died in the 
 eighty-fifth year of her age. This union 
 was blessed with five children : John, 
 Henry, Peter, Catharine Tyson and Han- 
 nah Bergey. 
 
 John Keyser was born and reared in 
 Skippack township, and at the proper age 
 he learned the trade of wheelwright, at 
 which he worked for about twenty years. 
 He then quit the trade of wheelwright and 
 purchased a flouring mill on Perkiomen 
 creek, in Lower Merion township, whither 
 he removed in 1864. Remaining there for 
 five years, he then employed his son, Wil- 
 liam, to operate the mill until 1890. In 
 that year he came to Norristown, where he 
 has ever since lived a retired life. Mr. 
 Keyser votes the Republican ticket, and 
 has been a faithful member of the Lower 
 Providence Presbyterian church for forty- 
 one years. For fourteen years he served as 
 trustee of his church, and since that time 
 has acted as an elder. Being ever earnest 
 and faithful in the performance of all his 
 duties in life, he has won many friends. 
 In 1855 Mr. Keyser married Rebecca Plush, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 477 
 
 who is an aunt of Dr. S. M. Plush. They have 
 reared a family of five children : William, 
 who is a miller ; Grant Irwin, Ida (de- 
 ceased), and Belle, who wedded Adolph 
 Meyer, a lawyer of the Philadelphia bar. 
 
 CHRISTIAN G. BAIR, a justice of the 
 peace at Pottstown, is a native of 
 Berks county, this State, where he was 
 born, March 4, 1842. He is descended 
 from one of the old German families that 
 settled in Pennsylvania during early times, 
 his grandfather, Henry Bair, having emi- 
 grated from the fatherland and found a 
 new home in Berks comity in the last quar- 
 ter of the eighteenth century. In that 
 county his son, Henry L. Bair (father), 
 was born and reared, and there he resided 
 nearly all his life. He was a stonemason 
 by trade, and died in 1884 at the age of 
 seventy-three. He married Sarah Geiger, 
 also of German descent, and a native of 
 Montgomery county. To them was born 
 a family of twelve children, of whom only 
 six now survive : Thomas S., Ruth, Eliza- 
 beth, wife of Frederick Liveugood, a car- 
 penter, of Pottstown ; Christiana, wife of 
 Henry R. Wentzel, also a carpenter, of the 
 same city ; Christian G., the subject of this 
 sketch, and Samuel G , a resident of Potts- 
 town. Mrs. Sarah Bair died in 1883, aged 
 seventy-four years. She and her husband 
 had been married and kept house for fifty- 
 six years, and their remains sleep side by 
 side in the Pottstown cemetery. 
 
 Christian G. Bair was reared principally 
 in Berks county, this State, and obtained 
 his education in the public schools. In 
 1863, when twenty-one years of age, he en- 
 tered the Union army as a private in Com- 
 pany F, Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania In- 
 
 fantry, and served one year. Upon receiv- 
 ing his discharge in 1864 he returned home 
 and became head blacksmith in the Potts- 
 town car factory, having learned the trade 
 before joining the army. For ten years he 
 was foreman in the iron department of the 
 car works, and then engaged in business 
 for himself. For four years he did general 
 jobbing in the line of his trade at Potts- 
 town, and during 1883 and 1884 was in 
 business at Atlantic City, New Jersey. 
 
 In February, 1885, Mr. Bair was elected 
 receiver of taxes for Pottstown on the Dem- 
 ocratic ticket by a majority of 142. 
 He was four times re-elected by ever in- 
 creasing majorities, until at the last elec- 
 tion it reached eight hundred and eighty- 
 seven. In February, 1891, he was elected 
 to the office of justice of the peace, and has 
 ever since occupied that important and re- 
 sponsible position. He served on the Potts- 
 town school board for six years, and re- 
 ceived the unanimous vote of the conven- 
 tion for another term, but declined the 
 nomination and refused to be a candidate. 
 He has always taken an active part in 
 local politics and public affairs. 
 
 On August 6, 1865, Mr. Bair was mar- 
 ried to Elizabeth Hartenstine, a daughter 
 of Aaron Hartenstine, of Pottstown, and 
 they had five children : Emma, married 
 Howard Trout, of Philadelphia ; Minnie, 
 deceased; Harry R, Anna B., deceased; 
 and Lulu Irene. Mrs. Elizabeth Bair died 
 very suddenly of heart disease on July 4, 
 1890. On October 9, 1893, Mr. Bair was 
 again married, wedding for his second wife 
 Phoebe Sheets, a daughter of George Sheets, 
 of Montgomery county. 
 
 At the present time, 'Squire Bair is en- 
 gaged extensively in the real estate busi- 
 ness at Pottstown, and also represents a 
 number of leading fire and life insurance 
 
47 8 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 companies. He is a member of the Inde- 
 pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and has 
 served as treasurer of his lodge for nearly a 
 quarter of a century. He is also a member 
 of the Royal Arcanum, the Improved Order 
 of Red Men and the Grand Army of the 
 Republic. In religious faith and church 
 membership he is a Lutheran, and is highly 
 regarded as an intelligent and public spirited 
 citizen. 
 
 DR. J. NEWTON HUNSBERGER, 
 of Skippack, is one of the most promi- 
 nent young physicians in and a native of 
 the county of Montgomery, where his an- 
 cestors have long lived. He was born 
 March S, 1867, and is the son of M. B. and 
 Anna (Johnston) Hunsberger. His grand- 
 father on his paternal side was born in 1790, 
 was a farmer by occupation and spent his 
 life in that work. He was a strong: Whis 
 in politics and was highly respected in the 
 community. Dr. Hunsberger's father at- 
 tended the common schools of his day until 
 he was twelve years of age. He then went 
 on the farm. Later in life he engaged in 
 the live-stock business at Skippack and 
 continued in that until 1882, when he went 
 back to farming. He was very successful, 
 and has a farm of eighty-five acres. Mr. 
 M. B. Hunsburger has been a Republican 
 since 1858, is a member of the Reformed 
 church and has been for many years a 
 deacon and trustee and is at present treas- 
 urer of the Sunday school. He has only 
 two children : Josephine, who is married 
 and living in New Jersey ; and the subject 
 of this sketch. 
 
 Dr. Hunsberger attended the public 
 schools and then graduated from the West 
 Chester State normal school. Leaving 
 this school he began to read medicine, and 
 
 in 1889, graduated from the University of 
 Pennsylvania, at the age of twenty-two 
 years. He first began the practice of his 
 profession at Atlantic City. From that 
 place he removed to Skippack, where he 
 has remained ever since, and enjoys a very 
 large practice. Dr. Hunsberger is a mem- 
 ber of the Reformed church, a Republican 
 in politics and a member of but one secret 
 organization, Lodge No. 310, Free and Ac- 
 cepted Masons. He has been secretary of 
 the Montgomery branch of the Pennsyl- 
 vania Forestry association for many vears 
 and has always taken an active interest in 
 the work of Forestry. While in college 
 Dr. Hunsburger was prominent in athletics 
 and one of the most skillful in the school 
 at the oar, having been a member of the 
 crew in eight races. He has contributed a 
 number of articles to medical journals on 
 professional subjects, and although young 
 in practice, is a thorough student and an 
 industrious and conscientious practitioner. 
 Dr. Hunsberger married Susan Fry 
 Daily, a daughter of Joshua G. Daily, of 
 Norristown. This union has been blessed 
 with two children, the elder of whom died 
 in infancy ; Anna, who is still living, was 
 born in June, 1894. 
 
 CHARLES II. MURRAY, a good 
 tradesman and careful farmer, of 
 Upper Merion township, is a son of George 
 and Elizabeth (Supplee) Murray, and was 
 born in Tredyffrin township, Chester county, 
 Pennsylvania, June 19, 1848. He was 
 reared and educated in his native township 
 and learned the trade of carpenter, which 
 he followed at different places in Chester 
 county for fifteen years. At the end of that 
 time he came to Upper Merion township, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 479 
 
 this county, where he was engaged in work- 
 ing at li is trade and in contracting and 
 building for several years. He then pur- 
 chased his present farm, and lias been en- 
 gaged ever since in farming and stock- 
 raising. He has always been an active 
 supporter of the Democratic party, and is a 
 member of the Baptist church. Turning 
 his entire attention to farming and stock- 
 raising some years ago, he has been very 
 active and progressive in the interests of 
 agriculture. He is a member of Meriou 
 Grange No. 112, Patrons of Husbandry. 
 
 The Murray family is of Scotch descent 
 and came originally from Scotland, in the 
 history of which country the name is con- 
 spicuous among the titled nobility and for 
 bravery in numerous wars. George Murray, 
 the paternal grandfather of the subject of 
 this sketch lived in Delaware county, and 
 was one of the number, who in days when 
 " it tried men's souls," fought in the great 
 Revolutionary struggle that won our na- 
 tional independence. 
 
 George Murray, father, was reared in 
 Delaware county, and learned the trade of 
 carpenter, which he followed in his own 
 and Chester counties. He was a Democrat 
 and Baptist, and died in 1886, at the age of 
 sixty-eight years. He was a member of a 
 Philadelphia Masonic lodge, and married 
 Elizabeth Supplee, a daughter of John 
 Supplee. To their union were born five 
 children : John S., Mary J., Charles II., 
 William A., and Annie, who is now de- 
 ceased. 
 
 H 
 
 ON. ALAN WOOD, jr., ex-meinbei 
 of Congress and a retired member of 
 
 the famous iron manufacturing firm of the 
 Alan Wood company, is one of the most 
 prominent residents of Montgomery count)-, 
 
 and when active in business and politics, 
 was inie of the foremost men of the State. 
 He is at present living quietly on a large 
 estate and in a handsome mansion in Lower 
 Merion township, near Conshohocken. Mr. 
 Wood is the second son of Alan and Ann 
 Hunter (Dewees) Wood, and comes from 
 that good old line of Friends and French 
 emigrants who took such a prominent part 
 in the settlement of the county and the 
 War of the Revolution. He is also one of the 
 descendants of the original iron masters of 
 that name who founded the gigantic in- 
 dustries that have brought so much wealth 
 to the family and such prosperity to the 
 town in which they are established. A 
 full detailed account of his ancestry will be 
 found in the sketches of his brother, How- 
 ard, and his uncle, Hon. John Wood. 
 
 Alan Wood, jr., was born in Philadel- 
 phia, on the 6th of July, 1834. He attended 
 the Friends' schools and other high class 
 educational institutions. Like all of his 
 brothers he entered the business of his 
 father and mastered all of its details and 
 later became one of the most active mem- 
 bers of the firm. He amassed a large for- 
 tune and when he reached the meridian of 
 life retired from active business. He has 
 since been enjoying the fruits of his labor 
 and the pleasure of making those around 
 him happy. On the 10th of October, 1861, 
 Mr. Wood married Miss Mary H. Yerkes, 
 daughter of Joseph and Mary (Harry) 
 Yerkes, of Conshohocken ; they have had 
 no children. 
 
 Mr. Wood was always a strong Republi- 
 can and took a great interest in politics. 
 In 1876 he was nominated for Congress by 
 the Republican convention to represent the 
 district composed of Montgomery and 
 Bucks counties. This was a very strong 
 Democratic stronghold, but such was Mr. 
 
480 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Wood's popularity and so well was his 
 ability appreciated that he defeated his 
 opponent by a large majority. He served 
 this term in Congress with credit and was 
 tendered a second term, but emphatically 
 refused to consider such a proposition. He 
 is a man of literary taste and marked refine- 
 ment, and is highly respected in the county 
 where he is well known. 
 
 HERBERT ALONZO ARNOLD, M. D. 
 a physician of prominence and ability 
 now resident at Ardmore, is a son of Thom- 
 as Griffith and Sophia Fitzwater Lutz 
 Arnold, and was born at Norristown, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, August 4, 
 1857. His paternal grandfather, Thomas 
 Arnold, was a resident of Norristown, where 
 he was connected with the old Philadelphia 
 and Norristown railroad, when steam was 
 being introduced on it to supercede horses 
 as motive power. He was an Episcopalian 
 and married Elizabeth Tippen, by whom he 
 had nine children : John, a prominent poli- 
 tician who held several township and county 
 offices ; George, one of the superintendents 
 of the Cambria Iron company, whose death 
 resulted from exposure in the Johnstown 
 flood ; Samuel, of Philadelphia ; Henry, 
 formerly a member of the firm of McVaugh 
 & Arnold, of Norristown ; William, de- 
 ceased ; Thomas Griffith ; Mary, widow of 
 William White, of Norristown ; Elizabeth, 
 widow of Jacob Albright, of Philadelphia, 
 and Martha. 
 
 Thomas Griffith Arnold, in his early boy- 
 hood days was intimately associated with 
 General Hancock, whose father was a near 
 neighbor. He was born in Whitpain town- 
 ship, and moved to Norristown, with his 
 father, when eight years of age. He had 
 
 charge successively of James Hooven's Nail 
 work and rolling mills, and J. B. Moore- 
 head's rolling mills. He afterwards built 
 the Bristol Iron works and James Rowland's 
 large nail mill in Philadelphia, which he 
 managed many years. He then returned 
 to Norristown where he is still active in 
 political and municipal affairs, having 
 served in the borough council several suc- 
 cessive terms, and still represents his ward 
 in that body. He is a staunch Republican 
 and one of the oldest lodge and encamp- 
 ment Odd Fellows in the county. Mr. Ar- 
 nold married Sophia F. Lutz, who is still 
 living. They have two children : John 
 Howard and Dr. Herbert A. 
 
 Dr. Herbert Alonzo Arnold received his 
 education in the public and private schools 
 of Norristown, and graduated from the Nor- 
 ristown high school, June 16, 1873, and 
 took a post-graduate course of one year 
 in the same institution. He began 
 the study of medicine in 1875, at 
 Norristown, under Joseph K. Weaver, 
 M. D., surgeon major, first brigade, 
 National Guard of Pennsylvania, at Nor- 
 ristown. Subsequent to his studentship 
 under Dr. Weaver, he attended three courses 
 of lectures at Jefferson Medical college, 
 Philadelphia, and was graduated from that 
 institution March 12, 1878. He then re- 
 ceived the appointment of resident physi- 
 cian at the Philadelphia Hospital, but close 
 application to study having broken his 
 health, he was obliged to relinquish the 
 appointment and seek a location in the 
 country for practice. Dr. Arnold practised 
 medicine at Evansburg from April 1878 to 
 November 1879; at Academy from 1879 to 
 May 1882 ; at Merion Square, from May 
 1882 to April 1890, and since the latter date, 
 at Ardmore, these last three places are in 
 the same township, and the changes were 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 481 
 
 made by liim simply as a matter of conven- 
 ience. 
 
 Dr. Arnold is a member of the Alumni 
 Association of Jefferson Medical college, of 
 the Philadelphia Chapter of the same asso- 
 ciation, and of the Montgomery County 
 Medical association, having served the later 
 as president in 1887. He is also a member 
 of the Medical society of the State of Penn- 
 sylvania ; the American Medical associa- 
 tion, and Association of Military Surgeons 
 of the United States. He is a member of 
 the board of Censors of the Medico-Chirur- 
 gical college of Philadelphia ; surgeon of 
 battery A, National Guard of Pennsylvania. 
 Fraternally, Dr. Arnold is past master of 
 Cassia Masonic Lodge ; past high priest of 
 Montgomery Chapter, Royal Arch Mrsons, 
 and past grand of Merion Lodge Indi- 
 pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He is 
 medical examiner for several life insurance 
 companies ; a member of the board of direc- 
 tors of the Merion Title and Trust company 
 of Ardmore ; a director of Lower Merion 
 Building and Loan association ; a trustee of 
 Lower Merion Hall association ; a trustee 
 of the First Baptist church of Ardmore ; and 
 superintendent of Ardmore Baptist Sunday 
 school. 
 
 In 1890 Dr. Arnold instituted an investi- 
 gation of cotton and woolen factories and of 
 school slate works, to secure data for an 
 address on " Sanitary defects in Manufac- 
 turing Establishments" which he delivered 
 at the Sanitary convention held at Norris- 
 town. May 9, 1890, and which was pub- 
 lished in the reports of the State board of 
 health of that year. He has also written 
 upon " Fever nursing and the nursing of 
 contagious diseases," published in full in the 
 daily papers in 1890; '" Dangers of the In- 
 ter Regnum," an address delivered at Wil- 
 liamsport, before the Pennsylvania State 
 
 3 1 
 
 funeral directors association, in 1891 ; 
 " Cholera, how shall we (physicians, nurses 
 and undertakers) escape it ? " delivered at 
 Scranton, Pa , in 1893. By resolution of 
 the association two thousand copies of this 
 last address were published and distributed 
 in Pennsylvania. He has also contributed 
 to the valuable publications of the Pennsyl- 
 vania State Medical society. 
 
 Dr. Arnold married April 22, 1880, Miss 
 A. Louise Harley, only daughter of Henry 
 C. Harley, Esq., of Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, and their children are: So- 
 phia Elizabeth, Thomas, Herbert, Henry 
 Harley, Clifford Hood, Joseph Price and 
 Weaver Arnold. 
 
 Dr. Arnold is a descendant of John Ar- 
 nold who emigrated from England into 
 France in the company of a regiment of 
 soldiers, where he settled for a time. He sub- 
 sequently went to Holland where he mar- 
 ried a Holland lady and died. One of his 
 sons, Peter Arnold, by name, and the origi- 
 nal progenitor of this branch of the Arnold 
 family, in this country, emigrated to 
 America about 1774 or 1775, locating at 
 Germantown, where he married Mary Gil- 
 bert. He later bought a tract of several 
 acres of land in Plymouth township, Mont- 
 gomery county, where he resided the re- 
 mainder of his life. His children were : 
 John, Daniel, Henry, George, Thomas, 
 Mary, Margaret R. and Ann. 
 
 ABRAHAM S. ROSEN BERGER, who 
 is one of the most prosperous farmers 
 of Hatfield township, is also one of the 
 prominent, enterprising and progressive 
 citizens of his district. He is a native of 
 this county, a lineal decendent of John 
 Rosenberger one of the original settlers of 
 
482 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Hatfield township. He comes from one of 
 those sturdy Pennsylvania German families 
 that have almost exclusively given their 
 attention to farming and helped to insure 
 the prosperity and stability of their county. 
 He is a son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Swart- 
 lev) Rosenberger and was born on his 
 father's farm in Franconia township near 
 Souderton on the 19th of August 1843. 
 
 Daniel Rosenberger, his grandfather, was 
 also a native of Montgomery county, and 
 was born at Hatfield about the year 1865. 
 He was a fanner all his life and owned his 
 own estate. In politics he was a stern, 
 earnest, uncompromising Whig and in re- 
 ligion a member of the Mennonite church. 
 He was married to Sophia Wireman, be- 
 came the father of seven children : Henry, 
 John, Benjamin, Catharine married Abra- 
 ham Allebach ; Daniel, Martin and Abra- 
 ham. He died in 1S65, aged sixty-five years. 
 
 Jacob Rosenberger was born December, 
 1809, and received a common school educa- 
 tion. He followed the avocation of his 
 father most of his years and tilled the soil 
 of a large farm. Besides this he was en- 
 gaged in the manufacturing of various arti- 
 cles of utility and ornament, such as sieves, 
 brooms, brackets and general bric-a-brac. 
 Mr. Rosenberger was full of energy and 
 enterprise, and his business undertakings 
 flourished. Politically he was a Republican 
 and like his father was a believer and a con- 
 scientious follower of the Mennonite faith. 
 He was married to Elizabeth Swartley, and 
 they had nine children : Anna ; Emma, 
 died young; Mary became the wife Michael 
 Swartley ; Abraham S., the subject of this 
 sketch ; Daniel, Jacob ; Elizabeth, wife of 
 Jonas Hunsberger ; Catharine, wife of Aaron 
 L. Gehman ; and Sarah Ann, deceased. He 
 He died January 6th, 1894, aged eighty-four 
 vears. 
 
 Abraham S. Rosenberger was given a 
 good education. On leaving the township 
 schools at the age of fifteen years, he took 
 a course at Kulpsville seminary for tw 7 o 
 winters. He then took one term at the 
 Carversville normal institute, and a short 
 teacher's preparatory course at Pottstown 
 under Robert Cruikshank. He then went 
 out into the world to make his own way and 
 for ten successive terms taught school in 
 different districts. In 1869 he settled in 
 Hatfield township, and since 1872 has been 
 conducting a large farm. Mr. Rosenber- 
 ger has always been a very active Republi- 
 can and has held office of a local nature for 
 many years. He was a school director for 
 one term, and in 1890 was a delegate to the 
 Republican State convention at Harrisburg. 
 A few years after settling in Hatfield town- 
 ship he was elected assessor and filled that 
 post for eighteen consecutive years. In 
 1889, after serving twelve years as assessor, 
 he was re-elected to this office for three 
 years and received every vote that was 
 polled at that election. His long term of 
 service as assessor, has made Mr. Rosenber- 
 ger acquainted with every man, woman and 
 child in the district and familiar with every 
 lot of ground, its dimensions and owner- 
 ship. 
 
 Mr. Rosenberger was married to Cath- 
 arine Allebach, in October 3, 1868, and 
 their union was made happy by the advent of 
 eight children. They are : David, deceased; 
 Mary Ellen, wife of Frederick Hunsberger ; 
 Harvey ; Jacob, deceased ; Allen ; Edwin, 
 deceased ; Erwin and Lizzie Martha. The 
 family, like their ancestors, are strict mem- 
 bers of the Mennonite church. 
 
 Mr. Rosenberger has been a very consid- 
 erable collector of books on a wide range of 
 subjects, and possesses a good working 
 library. He is a constant reader and one of 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 483 
 
 the intelligent and well informed men of 
 his community. He is a close student of 
 public questions, as well, and familiar with 
 county, State and national issues. 
 Although he never served an apprentice- 
 ship in the mechanical arts, yet he evinces 
 marked inventive genius as an artisan. 
 He has invented, draughted and construc- 
 ted many devices and machines of merit 
 which have not been patented. 
 
 THOMAS D. ABRAHAM, a paper 
 manufacturer of Abrams, is a son of 
 Joseph and Ann (Davis) Abraham, and was 
 born January 12, 1839, on the old honestead 
 in Upper Merion township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania. He was reared on 
 the farm, attended the township common 
 schools until fourteen, then completed his 
 studies at Rev Samuel Aaron's seminary, 
 Norristown, Pennsylvania 
 
 In 1850 he became the owner of the saw 
 and grist mill, which he operated in con- 
 nection with his farm until 1878. In 1880 
 he enlarged and remodeled his mill and 
 changed it into a paper mill, with a capa- 
 city of 4,000 pounds of binders and box 
 board paper per day. He manufactured a 
 good article in his special line of paper, 
 which he ships to market over the Phila- 
 delphia and Reading railroad. His farm, 
 consisting of -thirty-three acres, at Abrams, 
 this county, is two miles above Bridgeport, 
 at Merion station, on the Reading rail- 
 road. 
 
 He secured the establishment of the post- 
 office there by the name of Merion, but it 
 was changed to its present name of Abrams 
 a few years later. He has served continu- 
 pusly as postmaster ever since. Mr. Abra- 
 
 ham is a staunch Republican and an active 
 member of the First Baptist church, of 
 Norristown since [851. 
 
 On November 24, 1859, Mr. Abraham was 
 united in marriage with Emily R. Scott, a 
 daughter of George Scott, of Norristown, 
 Pennsylvania, who died April 19, 1880, in 
 her forty-seventh year. Pour years after 
 her death, on January 18, 1884, he married 
 Mary M. Rambo Pechin, a daughter of 
 Daniel and Hannah Kastburu Rambo, of 
 Upper Merion township. By his first mar- 
 riage Mr. Abraham had seven children, five 
 sons and two daughters : Elizabeth (de- 
 ceased), aged seven years; George S., Wil- 
 liam L , Elwood P , Walter S., Howard and 
 Ethel, who died in infancy, like her elder 
 sister. 
 
 The Abraham family is among the old- 
 est families in the State. Isaac and Sarah 
 Abraham came from Wales in 16S2 and 
 settled in Bucks county, from which their 
 son, James Abraham, sr., came to the site 
 of Merion about the year 1700. Near there 
 he purchased the old homestead that 
 has always been in the possession of his 
 descendants, and is now owned by James 
 Abraham. 
 
 His son Isaac Abraham wedded Dinah 
 Harvard, and their son, James Abra- 
 ham, jr., married Hannah George, and was 
 the father of Joseph Abraham, who was 
 born on and inherited the old homestead. 
 Joseph Abraham was born December 31, 
 1788, and died March 25, 1850. He was a 
 farmer by occupation, a Democrat in poli- 
 tics and a Baptist in religious faith and 
 church membership. He was industrious 
 and respected and married Ann Davis, who 
 was a daughter of Benjamin Davis, and 
 died March 30, 1873, aged seventy-four 
 years. Their children were Mrs. Hannah 
 Shannon, Mrs. Sarah Phillips, James, Ben- 
 
4»4 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 jamin D., Isaac G., Thomas D. (subject), 
 Mrs. Eliza Supplee, Mrs. Anna Evans, 
 Emma Matilda and Joseph, who died in 
 infancy. 
 
 JOSEPH E. GILUNGHAM, a leading 
 J business man of Pennsylvania, whose 
 country seat, " Clairemont," in Lower 
 Merion township, Montgomery county, is 
 one of the handsomest in the southeastern 
 part of the State, is a son of Samuel H. and 
 Lucy (Eddy) Gillingham, and was born in 
 Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, July 6, 
 1830. The original progenitor of the Gil- 
 lingfhams in America was YeamansGilling- 
 ham, who came over about the time of 
 Penn's first voyage to his province. Yea- 
 mans Gillingham settled first at Frankford, 
 near Philadelphia, and afterwards removed 
 to Bucks county, where he died. A lineal 
 descendant of his was Joseph Gillingham, 
 the paternal grandfather of the subject of 
 this sketch, Joseph Gillingham was a resi- 
 dent of Philadelphia, where he was en- 
 gaged in the wholesale mercantile business. 
 He also managed a large farm " Belle- 
 vue," which he owned, near Holmesburg, 
 this city. He was the first president of the 
 Lehigh Navigation company, and with two 
 others formed the company which brought 
 the first coal by water to Philadelphia. He 
 was prominent and active as a Whig and 
 Friend, and died May 3, 1867, aged eighty- 
 seven years. He married Rebecca Harrold, 
 a native of Bucks county, and of the ten 
 children born to them in their Philadelphia 
 home, one was Samuel H. Gillingham, who 
 became one of the early extensive lumber 
 dealers of Pennsylvania. He resided in 
 Philadelphia, was a man of good education 
 and organized the lumber firm of Wain- 
 Wright & Gillingham, of which he was the 
 
 active and managing member. He was 
 active in other lines of business besides 
 lumber dealing, and served as president of 
 the Kensington Gas company. He was a 
 Whig and Republican and served as a mem- 
 ber and as president of the Philadelphia 
 school board. His life was one of activity 
 in various useful fields, and he passed away 
 February 15, 1854, when he had but 
 reached the half century mark. In 1827 
 he married Lucy Lewis Eddy, who was a 
 daughter of George Eddy, of Philadelphia, 
 and died September 1, 1836, aged thirty- 
 three years. Her earliest American an- 
 cestor was Ellis Lewis, a Welsh Quaker, 
 who came over in the neighborhood of 1685 
 to 1690. Of the eight children born to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Gillingham, five died in infancy. 
 The three who grew to maturity and are 
 still living are: Joseph E-, Louis H. and 
 Fanny, wife of Dr. Jarrett Kibbey, of 
 Michigan, and by his second marriage, 
 Frank C. Gillingham. 
 
 Joseph E. Gillingham was reared in his 
 native city and received his education in 
 the Friends' grammar and high schools 
 of Philadelphia. Leaving school he spent 
 five years at Carrollton, Carrollton county, 
 Ohio, where he had charge of a large gen- 
 eral mercantile establishment. The death 
 of his father then caused him to return to 
 Philadelphia, where he has been in the 
 lumber and other lines of business ever 
 since. He was one of the founders and is 
 now president of the veterinary department 
 of the University of Pennsylvania. He is 
 a member and the president of the Gilling- 
 ham & Garrison lumber company, which 
 has its plant, consisting of mills and yards, 
 in Kensington, and at Brockport, Elk 
 county, Penna. This company does a very 
 large and extensive business. About 1875 
 Mr. Gillingham purchased his present hand- 
 
BioCxRaphicat. Sketches. 
 
 485 
 
 some country seat of " Claireniunt," in 
 Lower Mcrioii township, where lie resides 
 during a portion of each year. 
 
 August 23, 1S64, Joseph K. Gillingham 
 married Clara Donaldson, a daughter of 
 Jacob and Maria Donaldson of Philadelphia. 
 
 Mr. Gillingham is an Independent Re- 
 publican in politics, and while a Friend or 
 Quaker by birth and education, yet is an at- 
 tendant of the services of the Episcopal 
 church. His life has been one of constant, 
 earnest business effort, and his labors in one 
 of the important business enterprises of his 
 city have been both marked and successful, 
 while his clear perception and good judg- 
 ment have made him serviceable in various 
 commercial undertakings of large scope 
 and general importance. He is president 
 of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal 
 company, vice-president of the Philadel- 
 phia Investment company, chairman of the 
 finance committee of the Mortgage Trust 
 company, of Pennsylvania, and a director 
 of the American Fire Insurance company, 
 of Philadelphia. He is also a manager of 
 the Pennsylvania hospital, and was a com- 
 missioner to the Vienna Exposition from 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 HOWARD BOYD, of Norristown, is a 
 son of Col. James and Sarah (Jamison) 
 Boyd, and was born at Norristown, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, January 1, 
 1855. James Boyd, a lawyer of ability and 
 standing, married Sarah Jamison, whose 
 father, Samuel Jamison, was an extensive 
 manufacturer of Norristown. They had 
 three children : Robert, Hon. Wallace J., 
 and Howard, the subject of this sketch. 
 
 Howard Boyd was reared at Norristown, 
 and upon the completion of his education 
 
 entered his father's law office and assisted 
 him until he retired from active practice. 
 He then continued with his father in num- 
 erous business interests of the latter, who 
 was president of three railways and several 
 industrial and business companies. His 
 careful attention, diligence, and business 
 ability recommended him at an early age 
 to the leading men of various railwa\ and 
 industrial companies and he was offered 
 several responsible positions. In June, 
 1876, he was elected secretary and treasu- 
 rer of the Swede's Ford Bridge company, 
 and on May 14, r.879, treasurer and secre- 
 tary of the Norristown Junction railroad 
 company. Mr. Boyd is also chief clerk to 
 his father, and has been for some years a 
 director in the Norristown Insurance com- 
 pany, Norristown Water company, Gas com- 
 pany, and other local enterprises. He is a 
 Republican in politics, but no politician, 
 and devotes his time chiefly to his business 
 duties and his personal affairs. 
 
 On September 20, 1882, Howard Boyd 
 was united in marriage with Mary Sling- 
 luff', a daughter of John Slingluff, president 
 of the Montgomery National Bank of Nor- 
 ristown. To Mr. and Mrs. Boyd have 
 been born two children : James S. and 
 John H. 
 
 Mr. Boyd is secretary and treasurer of 
 the Philadelphia, Newtown and New York, 
 the Perkiomen, and the Stony Creek rail- 
 way companies. 
 
 HENRY C. BIDDLE, one of the active 
 business men of Ambler, is a son of 
 Joseph C. and Elizabeth (Cook) Biddle, and 
 was born in Gwyuedd township, Montgom- 
 ery county, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1841. 
 The Biddies are of Welsh nationality, and 
 
486 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 William Biddle, the paternal grandfather 
 of the subject of this sketch, was a native 
 and resident of Bucks county, where he 
 married and reared a family. His son, 
 Joseph C. Biddle, the father of Henry C, 
 was born in February, 1802, and became 
 one of the foremost farmers in his section 
 of the State, taking prizes at several county 
 and State fairs as a plowman. He resided 
 successively in Horsham, Whitpain and 
 Gwynedd townships, and then purchased a 
 farm in Whitemarsh which he left fourteen 
 years later to become a resident of Ambler. 
 He purchased a residence there, and died 
 at that place in December, 1884, aged 
 eighty-two years. He was a prominent Re- 
 publican and active member of the Re- 
 formed church, and held numerous respon- 
 sible township offices, and was an official 
 in his church, as well, for many years. He 
 wedded Elizabeth Cook, who is still living, 
 and whose father, Henry Cook, was a resi- 
 dent of Whitemarsh township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania. To their union 
 were born ten children : Mary, wife of 
 Charles L. Hoove, and Amanda, wife of 
 Edward B. Renear, both deceased ; Henry 
 C. ; Ross, deceased ; William ; Charles ; 
 Davis, deceased ; Sanders L. ; George; and 
 Frank. 
 
 Henry C. Biddle was reared in Gwynedd, 
 Whitpain and Whitemarsh townships, and 
 after attending the public schools, took a 
 course at Prof. John W. Loch's academy at 
 Norristown. Leaving the academy he was 
 engaged in teaching for two years near 
 Lansdale, now Upper Gwynedd township, 
 and then married and leased in Whitpain 
 township, two farms aggregating two hun- 
 dred and twenty-five acres, belongrnsr to 
 Saunders Lewis, of Philadelphia, which he 
 cultivated continuously and successfully 
 for twentv-seven vears. At the end of that 
 
 time, in 1893, ne purchased property at 
 Ambler and became a member of the pres- 
 ent real estate firm of Buchanan <S: Biddle. 
 This firm does a large and profitable busi- 
 ness in their borough and the surrounding 
 count)'. Mr. Biddle has been interested for 
 quite a number of years in the material 
 progress of Ambler. He was one of the 
 founders of the First National bank of 
 Ambler, of which he served as a director 
 for eight years. He was one of the incor- 
 porators of the Ambler Building and Loan 
 Association, in which he has served con- 
 tinuously as a director since its organiza- 
 tion in 1873. His interest in agriculture 
 did not cease with his embarking in differ- 
 ent lines of work, and at the present time 
 he is a member of Cold Point Grange No. 
 606, and the Pennsylvania State Grange of 
 the Patrons of Husbandry. He is a Repub- 
 lican in politics, has been an ardent worker 
 for the party since the period he attained 
 his majority, and frequently served as a 
 delegate to county and State conventions. 
 
 On October 16, 1867, Henry C. Biddle 
 married Amanda K. Brownholtz, a daugh- 
 ter of Henry Brownholtz, of Upper Dublin 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania. To their union have been born five 
 children : Lewis, Clark, Laura D., Warren 
 G., and Minnie G. All are living except 
 Minnie and Laura. 
 
 Henry C. Biddle is an active member of 
 the Reformed church at Blue Bell and has 
 officiated as a deacon in that church for a 
 number of years. He has been a success- 
 ful farmer as well as a good financier, and 
 was the third subscriber, in order of suc- 
 cession, to countenance the project of or- 
 ganizing the First National bank of Am- 
 bler, Pennsylvania, of which he is now one 
 of the largest stockholders. In 1894, Air. 
 Biddle purchased a farm in Whitemarsh 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 4X7 
 
 township known as the Brownholtz home- 
 stead (one of the oldest in that section), 
 which he lias since let by lease. He was 
 also one of the organizers of tlie Cold Point 
 Grange in Plymouth township, Montgom- 
 ery county, in 1875, and has been an in- 
 cumbent of nearly all its offices. 
 
 DANIEL S. SCHULTZ, Esq., who has 
 been a justice of the peace at Lans- 
 dale since 1893, and who is one of the most 
 successful insurance men of that section of 
 Montgomery county, is a native of this 
 county and is descended from German- 
 American ancestry. He is the youngest 
 son of Michael and Rachel (Snyder) Schultz, 
 and was born on his father's farm in Tow- 
 amencin township on the 6th of September, 
 1856. George Schultz, his grandfather, 
 was born in Upper Hanover township, De- 
 cember 20, 1 781, and was a prosperous 
 farmer all his life. In politics he favored 
 the Whig party and afterwards the Repub- 
 licans, and in religious belief he clung 
 closely to the Schwenkfelder church, the 
 faith that is followed by the family to this 
 clay. He married Hannah, daughter of 
 Melchior Schubert, and this marriage was 
 made happy by the birth of seven children : 
 Michael, Anthony, Rebecca, Solomon, Na- 
 than, Mary, wife of Samuel Kriebel, and 
 William. Grandfather Schultz died Octo- 
 ber 29, 1851, at the age of seventy years. 
 
 Michael Schultz, father of Daniel, was born 
 on July 13, 1814. He attended the public 
 schools of his vicinity and worked on his 
 father's farm. He learned the trade of 
 shoemaker, and followed this in connection 
 with farming. In politics he was a Repub- 
 lican. He married Rachel, daughter of 
 
 Abraham Snyder, April 20, [841, and they 
 had seven children : Mary, born February 
 5, 1842; Hiram, born October 3, 1843 ; 
 Abram, born October 27, [845; Hannah, 
 born September 21, 1847 ; Franklin, born 
 November 9, 1890; Addison, born Febru- 
 ary 5, 1S53, and Daniel S, our subject. 
 
 'Squire Schultz went to the schools of 
 the neighborhood and then had the advant- 
 age of two terms in the North Wales 
 academy. After leaving school he followed 
 teaching for one term, and for five years fol- 
 lowing was employed in the creamery in 
 Upper Gwynedd township. He has always 
 been an active politician of the Republican 
 party, and has held the office of justice of 
 the peace since 1893. He was elected as- 
 sessor three times in Upper Gwynedd town- 
 ship and has been auditor of the borough 
 of Lansdale six years. Besides being justice 
 of the peace Mr. Schultz represents the 
 Royal Insurance company, of Liverpool, 
 England ; the Home, of New York, and 
 the Spring Garden, of Philadelphia, and 
 does a very large business in this line. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. .Schultz is a member of 
 Council No. 934, Junior Order United 
 American Mechanics, and also of the Order 
 of the Mystic Chain. He is also a member 
 and the secretary of the Lansdale fire com- 
 pany and is secretary of the North Penn 
 Building and Loan Association and clerk of 
 the borough council. 
 
 ( )n the 23d of April, 1881, Mr. Schultz 
 was married to Matilda, daughter of Joseph 
 Halhneyer, of Towamencin township. Mrs. 
 Schultz was born in Alleutowu, Penusyl- 
 vaniania, on May 4, 1862. Four children 
 have come to bless this union : Irvin, born 
 August 19, 1883; Minnie, born September 
 27, 1887 ; Mary, born December 23, 1890, 
 and Harry, born February 19, 1894. The 
 family are members of the .Schwenkfelder 
 
488 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 church, and 'Squire Schultz commands the 
 respect and esteem of the people of the com- 
 munity in which lie lives. 
 
 JOHN J. HUGHES, farmer and live 
 stock dealer, is one of the best known 
 men in Montgomery county, popular as a 
 companion and respected and esteemed in 
 the business world. Mr. Hughes was born 
 at Gulf Mills, Upper Merion township, on 
 January 12, 1830, and has resided at that 
 place all his life. He is a son of Benjamin 
 B. and Mary ( Rambo) Hughes. 
 
 John Hughes, grandfather, a son of Colo- 
 nel Isaac Hughes, was born at Walnut 
 Grove farm, Upper Merion township, March 
 28, 1772. Here he grew to manhood amid 
 the customary surroundings of a farm lad, 
 and when he reached his majority, suc- 
 ceeded to his father's estate. He success- 
 fully pursued farming and lime-burning for 
 many years. Walnut Grove forms a part 
 of the original tract of nine hundred acres 
 taken up through a land patent by one of 
 the original progenitors of the Hughes 
 family. When toward the meridian of 
 life, John Hughes acquired an interest in 
 certain coal lands located in Schuvlkill 
 county, this State, and removed his family 
 to that county, retaining a residence for 
 several years. Subsequently he gravitated 
 to Philadelphia, where he lived in retire- 
 ment up to the time of his death, December 
 31, 1837. At the time of his demise he 
 was sixty-six years old. 
 
 Mr. Hughes was a man of manv sterling 
 qualities, pleasing in manner, affable and 
 congenial as a companion. He was a man 
 of business sagacity, good judgment, and 
 always a substantial friend and promoter of 
 the cause of popular education. He served 
 
 as a member of the Pennsylvania house of 
 representatives from his district in 181.1, and 
 gave the fullest consideration to the will of 
 his constituency. His religious predilec- 
 tions were in favor of the Episcopal church, 
 of which body he was a member. He mar- 
 ried Hannah, a daughter of Captain Ben- 
 jamin Bartholomew, of Chester county. 
 Pennsylvania, by whom he had the follow- 
 ing named children: Rachel B., Isaac 
 Wayne, and Benjamin B. 
 
 The father of our subject Benjamin B. 
 Hughes, was born at Walnut Grove, and 
 resided in Upper Merion township until he 
 was forty years of age. He received an or- 
 dinary common school education and then 
 learned the tanning trade, which however, 
 he never followed. He, instead, engaged 
 in quarrying stone for a year, and then 
 went to farming and lime-burning on a por- 
 tion of his father's estate at Walnut Grove, 
 having purchased his brother's interest. 
 He was very successful and for some years 
 attended the markets. It was well known 
 that the farm covered a rich bed of iron ore 
 and Mr. Hughes leased the property to 
 James Hooven, who mined the ore. Mr. 
 Hughes retired from active business and 
 went to Bridgeport, which he made his 
 place of residence. He had amassed con- 
 siderable wealth and invested it in num- 
 erous enterprises, among which were valu- 
 able coal mines near Pottsville. He was 
 also a director of the Montgomery bank for 
 a number of years, and was a director of the 
 First National bank until his death. He 
 was a man of prominence in his community 
 and being a true philanthropist, was loved 
 and respected by all. In politics he was 
 first a Whig and then a Republican. He 
 was active in politics and was one of the 
 county auditors during Governor Hartranft's 
 term of office. He also served as school 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 489 
 
 director for a number of years and took a 
 great interest in educational matters An 
 Episcopalian in religious belief, Mr. Hughes 
 
 was an earnest church worker. For a 
 period of fifty-two years he was senior war- 
 den of Christ's (Swede's) Church, in Upper 
 
 Merion township. In 1S29 he married 
 Mary Rambo and they were the parents of 
 ten children : John J., our subject ; Dr. 
 Isaac W., of West Philadelphia; Nathan 
 Rambo, deceased ; Mary A., wife of Hubert 
 O. Blackford ; C. Collin, deceased ; Henry 
 C, a veteran of the late war, who served as 
 first lieutenant of company P>, 4th Penn- 
 sylvania volunteer infantry ; Hannah 15., 
 deceased ; Katheriue D., wife of E. W. 
 Evans ; William Corson, and Francis Wade, 
 who is dead. Mrs. Hughes died August 
 20, 1856, aged forty-seven years. On Au- 
 gust 17, 1858, he again married, his second 
 wife being Miss Mary J. Brooke. There 
 was no issue to this marriage. Mr. Hughes 
 died March n, 1892, aged eighty-four 
 years. 
 
 Joh.i J. Hughes was given a common 
 school education in Upper Merion town- 
 ship, and then attended Rev. Samuel 
 Aaron's private school. On leaving school 
 he assisted his father for one year in burn- 
 ing lime. He then took up farming and 
 began to deal in cattle, a business he has 
 followed with great profit ever since. He 
 is interested in several other business en- 
 terprises and has been vice-president and 
 director of the People's National bank of 
 Norristown, ever since its organization. 
 Though an earnest Republican, Mr. Hughes 
 has never held office. He is a consistent 
 member of Christ's (Swede's) church, of 
 which he is vestryman. Socially Mr. 
 Hughes is very popular. He has been 
 a noted fox hunter and his large estate has 
 been the scene of some exciting " meets." 
 
 He was considered the leader in this sport 
 in the county, and always kept a large and 
 well trained pack of hounds. Some of the 
 "meets" held at his home have been at- 
 tended by over one hundred and fifty 
 riders. 
 
 In [857 Mr Hughes and Miss Hannah 
 Brooke were joined in wedlock, and the 
 following children came to bless this union: 
 J. Hunter, Mary, wife of Winfield L. 
 Stacker; Nathan B, Benjamin B., Frances 
 H., wife of J. Cloud Smith, of Norristown ; 
 and Charles C. 
 
 GEORGE W. SMITH who owns and 
 operates a large marble cutting estab- 
 lishment at Norristown, is a son of Peter 
 and Hannah (Wanderlick) Smith, and was 
 born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 December 6, 1837. Five generations back 
 the immigrant ancestor of the family came 
 from Germany to Perkiomen township, 
 where his son, John, was born and died. 
 John Smith was a farmer and a man of con- 
 siderable means for his day. He was a 
 zealous Lutheran and a strong Democrat, 
 and was twice married. By his first wife 
 he had six children : Peter (father), Mary 
 Rankin, Barbara Miller, Elizabeth Miller, 
 Daniel and John. By his second marriage 
 with Margaret Hillegas he had four sons 
 and four daughters: Henry, Uriah, Samuel, 
 Philip, Susanna, Sarah, Catharine and 
 Louisa. 
 
 Peter Smith (father) followed farming for 
 many years in Perkiomen township, while 
 he also did a considerable amount of team- 
 ing before the advent of the railroad. Near 
 the close of his life he removed to Philadel- 
 phia, where he died at forty-three years of 
 age. Like his father before him, he was a 
 
49° 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Democrat and a Lutheran. He wedded 
 Hannah Wanderlick. Their children were : 
 John, George W. (subject), Amelia Wander- 
 lick, Kate Erdtnan, Maggie Knipe, and 
 Henry, deceased. 
 
 George W. Smith was principally reared 
 in Philadelphia, where he attended the city 
 public schools and several subscription 
 schools, but at an early age was taken from 
 school. After leaving school and working 
 at various places in the city, he became an 
 apprentice to a marble cutter with whom he 
 served five years and three months. Com- 
 pleting his trade he worked as a journey- 
 man until 1859, was then in the marble 
 business for himself for a short time, and 
 afterwards resumed journey work which he 
 followed up to 1867. In that year he be- 
 came foreman in James Mover's marble 
 shop, which position he held for several 
 years. He then purchased Mr. Mover's 
 shop and engaged in business for himself, 
 enlarging the shop and yards with his in- 
 creasing patronage until he has now a large 
 and well equipped marble cutting plant. 
 His yards are on DeKalb street, and he fre- 
 quently employs as high as twenty-five cut- 
 ters and hands in order to fill his orders for 
 work. He does all kinds of monumental 
 and ornamental stone work which is to be 
 seen in numerous cemeteries and on many 
 well appointed and tasteful lawns. He is a 
 skillful workman, and has a large trade. 
 
 In July, 1859, Mr. Smith married Anna 
 Shipman, whose father is Jacob Shipman. 
 To their union have been born four chil- 
 dren, one son and three daughters: Amy 
 W., Annie E., Matilda, deceased, and 
 George S. 
 
 Mr. Smith is a member of Aurora Lodge, 
 No. 465, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; 
 and a charter member of Buena Vista 
 Lodge, No. 16, Ancient Order of Good Fel- 
 
 lows, in which he has served as treasurer 
 for nineteen years. Mr. Smith is a stock- 
 holder and director in the Norristown Elec- 
 tric Light company, and has been interes- 
 ted in other home enterprises. 
 
 CHRISTIAN SPEAKER, foreman of 
 the carpenter department of a leading 
 rolling mill of Conshohocken, is a son of 
 Yerkes and Catharine Speaker, and was 
 born August 30, 1837, in that section of 
 Denmark that is now part of the present 
 territory of Prussia. His paternal grand- 
 father was a sea-faring man, and his father. 
 Yerkes Speaker, lived and died in his 
 native country of Denmark, where he wis 
 a bricklayer by trade. He was a member 
 of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and 
 died ao-ed seventv-nine years. He married 
 and reared a family of six children, four 
 sons and two daughters : Yerkes, Fans, 
 Christian (subject), Nelson, Wilhelmina and 
 Ann Maria. 
 
 Christian Speaker was reared in iiis na- 
 tive country and learned with his father the 
 trade of bricklayer, which he soon aban- 
 doned to take up ship building. A: twenty- 
 one years of age he came as ship carpenter 
 on a vessel that stopped at Philadelphia, 
 with which city he was so favorably im- 
 pressed that he made it his residence. Soon 
 after making Philadelphia his home he be- 
 came ship carpenter on the emigrant packet 
 ship Tonazcanda, which plied between the 
 "Quaker City" and Liverpool, England, 
 and was on board wdien that vessel was 
 captured by the celebrated Confederate 
 cruiser, Alabama. After being released by 
 the Confederate commander of the Ala- 
 bama he returned to Phdadelphia and 
 abandoned a seafaring life Turning his 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 491 
 
 attention to carpentering lie was employed 
 at various places until 1869, when he re- 
 moved to Coushohoeken, where he has re- 
 sided ever since. His first employment at 
 the last named place was at day carpenter- 
 ing with J. W. Wood ec Brother, who were 
 contractors. He was soon promoted, and 
 held various positions up to 1883, when he 
 was appointed to his present position. Mr. 
 Speaker is a Republican in political affairs, 
 and lias been serving for some time as a 
 member of the borough council from the 
 Fifth ward. He is a stockholder and a di- 
 rector of the Guarantee Building and Loan 
 Association, of Conshohockeu, in which he 
 has been interested for several years. 
 
 In 1S64 Christian Speaker was united in 
 marriage with Maggie Hovelow. Their 
 union has been blessed with eight children, 
 five sons and three daughters : Kate Krei- 
 der, Harry, Anna Bates, William, Ida, 
 George, Horace and Theodore. 
 
 EDMUND B. NUSS, a leading con- 
 tractor and builder of Coushohoeken, 
 is a son of Captain Frederick and Sarah 
 (Slater) Nuss, and was born near Broad 
 Axe, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 December 8, 1827. His paternal grand- 
 father was a resident at the site of Lafay- 
 ette Station, on the Schuylkill river, where 
 he was engaged as a shoemaker. He was 
 a member of the Lutheran church, of which 
 he was a regular attendant. He married, 
 and reared a family of two sons: Captain 
 Frederick and Michael. Captain Frederick 
 Nuss was born in 1790, in Whitemarsh 
 township, and learned the trade of shoe- 
 maker with his father, Afterwards he 
 became a carpenter and wheelwright and 
 erected many large mills and dwellings. 
 
 He was a staunch Republican and a regu- 
 lar attendant of the Lutheran church in 
 which he served as leader of the choir. 
 He was a member of the Township Benevo- 
 lent association at Broad Axe and served in 
 a militia regiment in the second war with 
 Great Britain, for which services he after- 
 wards received a pension. He also served 
 as captain of a military company for seve- 
 ral years. In 18 18 he married Sarah Slater, 
 a daughter of John Slater, who owned a fine 
 farm of one hundred and thirty acres near 
 Broad Axe Captain Nuss died after reaching 
 the ripe old age of eighty-four years. He 
 reared a family of eight children: George, 
 John, Henry, Edmund B., William, Sam- 
 uel, Elizabeth and Ann. Mrs. Nuss passed 
 away February 7, 1867. 
 
 Edmund B. Nuss, after receiving a good 
 common school education, engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits until he became eighteen 
 years of age, when he learned the trade of 
 carpenter, which he followed at Consho- 
 hocken, where one of his contracts was the 
 repairing of a large rolling mill. He was 
 a large contractor and at times had as high 
 as eighty men in his employ. The many 
 mills that he has erected are well con- 
 structed and display good mechanical skill. 
 Mr. Nuss is a supporter of the Republican 
 party, in the success of which he has always 
 been deeply interested. In 1888 he was 
 elected burgess of Conshohockeu, in which 
 capacity he served one year, and for thir- 
 teen years he was successively elected as 
 judge of the election. He is a member of 
 Lodge No. 120, Free and Accepted Masons, 
 and Lodge No. 216, Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows. He is also a charter mem- 
 ber of Iron Castle No. 62, Knights of the 
 Golden Eagle, and at one time was a mem- 
 ber of the Improved ( )rder of Red Men. 
 He is a member of the Lutheran church. 
 
492 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 On January 24, 1S53, Mr. Nuss married 
 Anna M. Ulrick. To their union have 
 been born six children : Willard, deceased ; 
 Milton, an engineer; Edmund B., a tinner ; 
 George, an engineer ; William ; and Laura 
 Stemple. All the sons except William are 
 married and he resides in New Jersey, 
 where he pursues the trade of joiner. 
 
 WILLIAM H. HUNSBURGER, M. D., 
 a rising young physician of Penns- 
 burg, Montgomery county, is a son of Win. 
 E. and Amelia (Guldin) Hnnsburger, and 
 was born June 16, 1869, in Berks counts-, 
 Pennsylvania. The paternal grandfather of 
 Dr. Hnnsburger, was Samuel Hnnsburger, 
 a member of the Society of Friends and a 
 native and life long resident of Chester 
 county, Pennsylvania. He married a lady 
 whose maiden name was Eckert, and five 
 children were born to their union : Jesse, 
 John, Sarah, Samuel and Mary. 
 
 William E. Hunsburger, father, was born 
 in Chester county, and was educated in the 
 schools of Pottstown, this county, of which 
 schools he afterward became principal. 
 Having determined to enter upon the study 
 of medicine he registered as a student in 
 the office of Dr. Buskirk, of Pottstown, and 
 after a thorough preliminary drill and study, 
 entered the Jefferson Medical college, Phila- 
 delphia, from which he graduated in 1867. 
 He located at Maiden's Creek, in Bucks 
 county, where he has remained ever since, 
 actively and successfully pursuing the work 
 of his profession, and has built up a large 
 and appreciative practice. He is a thorough 
 student of medicine and keeps well abreast 
 the medical progress of the age. He is a 
 member of the Berks county medical society 
 and takes an active and intelligent part in 
 
 all its deliberations and is a valuable mem- 
 ber of the fraternity. Politically a Repub- 
 lican and religiously a member of the Re- 
 formed church, he takes a normal interest 
 in the body politic and the work of evan- 
 
 gelization and has been the 
 
 organist of 
 
 the church to which he belongs ever since 
 becoming a member. His marriage witli 
 Amelia Guldin has resulted in the birth of 
 several children. 
 
 Dr. Hunsburger received his primary 
 education in the schools of his native town- 
 ship and still further broadened his mental 
 training by study in the Kutztown State 
 normal school at Kutztown, this State. 
 He then took up the study of medicine 
 under the preceptorship of his father and 
 graduated from the Jefferson Medical col- 
 lege in 1893. He then practiced for three 
 months with his father and at the end of 
 that time came to Pennsburg where he has 
 since remained and built up a large and 
 constantly increasing practice. He is care- 
 ful and painstaking in his diagnosis, is a 
 hard student and well versed in the modern 
 methods of treating diseases, qualities that 
 have combined to make him one of the ris- 
 ing young physicians of Montgomery 
 county. 
 
 On April 25, 1895, he married Katie 
 O'Mull, a daughter of Dr. John G. Hillegas 
 whose sketch appears elsewhere in this vol- 
 ume. 
 
 JOHN H. GRIFFITH, of Conshohocken, 
 who endured the terrible privations and 
 sufferings of Andersonville for six months, 
 is a sou of James and Elizabeth (Davis) 
 Griffith, and was born in Upper Merion 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, April 8, 1844. His paternal grand- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 493 
 
 father, John Griffith, was of Welsh origin 
 and a native of Radnor township, in Dela- 
 ware county. He married Phoebe Pugh, 
 whose grandfather, Peter Dusey, had feet so 
 frozen at Valley Forge, under Washington, 
 that they had to be amputated. John 
 Griffith, after his marriage, came to near 
 Gulf Mills, in Upper Merion township, 
 where he afterwards died. He was a Whig, 
 followed various employments, and reared 
 a family of fifteen children, among whom 
 were : Evan, Jonathan, James, John, Wil- 
 liam, Jacob, Joseph, Henry, Anna Austin, 
 Eliza Thompson, Hannah Lacy, Sarah 
 Hand, and Mary McNeil. Of these chil- 
 dren, but four are living : James, and three 
 of the daughters. James Griffith was born 
 in Tredyffrin township, Chester county. 
 He received no advantages of the subscrip- 
 tion or common schools of his day, being 
 compelled at twelve years of age to com- 
 mence to do for himself. He went on a 
 farm to work and after attaining his ma- 
 jority, came to Gulf Mills, where he has 
 been engaged in various industrial pursuits 
 ever since. He was formerly a Whig, and 
 now a Republican in politics. He wedded 
 Elizabeth Davis, and to their union have 
 been born seven children, two sons and five 
 daughters: Margaret Beggey, John H., 
 Alice Berry, Maria Richter, Phoebe De- 
 Haven, Frank, deceased; and Clara Fickler. 
 John H. Griffith received his education 
 in the public schools of Upper Merion town- 
 ship, and at twelve years of age commenced 
 working on a farm, which employment he 
 followed for four years. He then learned 
 t'ne trade of butcher, at which he worked 
 from i860 to 1862. In 1862 he entered the 
 Union service, and after returning from the 
 army in 1865, he became an employee in 
 Wood <\: Company's rolling mill, where he 
 remained five years. After leaving the 
 
 rolling mill he was successively engaged in 
 butchering, running a meat and provision 
 store, and in the natural ice business. In 
 1892 he became a member of the Gulf Brew- 
 ing company. In politics Mr. Griffith is a 
 Republican. He has served as burgess, and 
 as president of the town council of Con- 
 shohocken. He is a member of the Inde- 
 pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and Washita 
 Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men. Mr. 
 Griffith is a self-made man, whose success 
 in life has all been of his own winning. 
 
 On May 21, 1866, Mr. Griffith wedded 
 Miss VanDyke. They have seven children: 
 James H., a clerk in the recorder's office; 
 Robert, who holds a position in a railroad 
 office, at Roanoke, Virginia ; Roxanna, 
 wife of Robert Elliot ; Thomas, Elizabeth, 
 Clara, and Frank. 
 
 John H. Griffiths' war record is one of 
 which he may lie justly proud. He enlisted 
 in Company B, 8th Pennsylvania reserves, 
 011 August 15, 1862, and participated in the 
 engagements at Williamsport, Brandy Sta- 
 tion and Locust Grove, and in the battle of 
 the Wilderness. He was captured in 1864, 
 and was successively confined at Orange 
 Court House, Gordonville, Danville, Ander- 
 sonville, Florence, Wilmington and Golds- 
 boro, at which latter place he was paroled 
 on March 27, 1865. Returning home after 
 eleven months of prison life, he so far re- 
 cruited his health as to join his regiment in 
 a few weeks, and was honorably discharged 
 from the Federal service at Harrisburg, this 
 State, in June, 1865. His terrible prison 
 experience was at Andersonville, where, 
 unprotected under the burning southern 
 sun and with hardly anything to eat. he en- 
 dured untold suffering for six months. < >f 
 the thirty thousand prisoners at Anderson- 
 ville during his stay, fourteen thousand 
 seven hundred died of privation and star- 
 
494 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 vation, and he was one of the fortunate num- 
 ber that survived the horrors of that death- 
 pen, whose history is one of the darkest 
 chapters of the late Civil war. 
 
 HORACE G. J. HALLOWELL, a 
 druggist of Conshohoeken, and a 
 scion of an old and highly respected 
 family of Montgomery county, is a son 
 of William and Matilda (Preston) Hallo- 
 well, and was born January 20, 1851, in 
 Conshohoeken, this county. He is of 
 English Quaker origin and his paternal 
 grandfather, Nathan Hallowell, lived for 
 many years at Swedesburg, this county, 
 where he died. He was a man of enter- 
 prise and for many years was an officer in 
 the Schuylkill Navigation company. His 
 children were : Charles, deceased ; Nathan, 
 a son that died young ; Martha ; Ann, de- 
 ceased ; and Elizabeth. 
 
 William Hallowell, father, was born in 
 Conshohoeken, spent his boyhood days in 
 the town of his nativity, where he obtained 
 a fair common school education. He 
 learned the trade of a carpenter and devel- 
 oped more than ordinary constructive skill 
 as a contractor and builder, following this 
 line of work in connection with undertak- 
 ing in Conshohoeken until 1893, when he- 
 retired from active business pursuits. He 
 is a Republican politically, and for six 
 terms served as burgess of his native bor- 
 ough, and in addition to this held other 
 local offices in the municipality. In his 
 earlier life he was a member of the Societv 
 of Friends, but after marriage became a 
 Baptist, the church with which his wife 
 affiiliated. He has been twice married. 
 His first union was with Miss Thomas, and 
 resulted in the birth of one child, Charles 
 
 T., who is a clergyman of the Baptist de- 
 nomination He wedded as his second 
 wife Matilda Preston, and five children, 
 two sons and three daughters, blessed this 
 marriage union. The oldest died in in- 
 fancy, and the others are : Horace G., sub- 
 ject ; Hannah ; Ella ; and Matilda. 
 
 Horace G. J. Hallowell attended the 
 common schools of Conshohoeken and 
 Treemount seminary at Norristown, and 
 then, having in view a business career, 
 entered Bryant and Stratton's business col- 
 lege of Philadelphia, from which he grad- 
 uated in 1868, and five years later graduated 
 from the Philadelphia College of Phar- 
 macy, and the following year took a clerk- 
 ship in the store of James T. Shinier, a 
 druggist of Philadelphia, where he re- 
 mained four years. In 1874, having thor- 
 oughly mastered the prescription feature of 
 the drug business, and gained a good prac- 
 tical education in this line, he established 
 a drug business in Conshohoeken on the 
 corner of Fayette street and Fourth avenue, 
 where he has remained ever since, and 
 through close application and courteous 
 attention to his customers, has built up an 
 enviable trade. 
 
 He has been twice married ; on October 
 2, 1873, to Ella Miller, and after her death 
 to Anna O'Brien, daughter of Michael 
 O'Brien. The latter union has been blessed 
 in the birth of four children : Maurice B. ; 
 Madeline ; Helen, deceased ; and Walter. 
 
 LEWIS AUCHY is a son of John and 
 Catharine (Groff ) Auchy, and was born 
 in 1837 in Upper Salford township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania. There he 
 grew to manhood, receiving a good com- 
 mon school education. He worked on the 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 495 
 
 farm until seventeen years of age, after 
 which he learned the trade of shoemaker. 
 Removing to Norristown about 1858, he 
 followed his trade for a time, and later en- 
 gaged in the mercantile business In the 
 latter pursuit he was successful and con- 
 tinued it for some fourteen years, after 
 which he went into the poultry business, 
 and has continued the latter down to the 
 present time. 
 
 In 1861 Mr. Auchy was united by mar- 
 riage to Susanna Van Winkle, and to them 
 was born a family of three children, two sons 
 and a daughter : Mary K., Harry, de- 
 ceased in infancy, Harry 2d. Politically 
 Lewis Auchy is a Republican, and in re- 
 ligion a member of the Baptist church. He 
 served two weeks in the emergency corps 
 in 1863, when Lee invaded Pennsylvania, 
 but never participated in a battle. For 
 years he has been connected with a number 
 of secret societies, including the Senior 
 Order of American Mechanics, in which he 
 has passed all the chairs, and is now a 
 member of the State council and a trustee; 
 and Montgomery Lodge, Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows. 
 
 The family from which Mr. Auchy is 
 descended have resided in this county 
 for several generations. His paternal grand- 
 father, John Auchy, was a well known 
 farmer of Upper Salford township, a Demo- 
 crat in politics and a member of the Ger- 
 man Reformed church. His son, John 
 Auchy (father), was born on the old home- 
 stead in that township, and in early life 
 learned the trade of tailor. He worked at 
 his trade until his marriage, and then 
 abandoned it to devote himself to agricul- 
 tural pursuits in his native township. Ad- 
 hering to the religious and political tradi- 
 ditions of his ancestors, he was a Democrat 
 and a member of the German Reformed 
 
 church. By his marriage to Catharine 
 GrofT he had a family of four children, 
 three of whom were sons: Abram, Sophia, 
 who married Abram Rice ; Lewis and 
 Joseph. John Auchy died in 1846, and his 
 wife survived him some years. 
 
 EPHRIAM K. LEIDY, merchant, miller 
 and fanner, of Zieglersville, is a native 
 of Montgomery county, and comes from 
 Revolutionary stock. He was born on a 
 farm in Frederick township, on November 
 19, 1841, and is a son of Philip and Eliza- 
 beth (Krause) Leidy. His great-great 
 grandfather emigrated from Germany and 
 located near Frederick post office. He was 
 one of the first settlers of Frederick town- 
 ship, and was the first Reformed preacher 
 in this country. One of his sons, Philip 
 Leidy was a farmer and lived on the old 
 homestead. He was one of the first patri- 
 ots to take up arms for the new country 
 and served with distinction through the 
 dire and bitter war of the Revolution. 
 His father combined farming with preach- 
 ing and was a man of superior intellec- 
 tual ability and attainments. He estab- 
 lished the Reformed church at Swamp and 
 filled that pulpit for many years. 
 
 Ephraiin's grandfather was Samuel 
 Leidy. He was a farmer and lived at Fred- 
 erick post office all his life. He was a 
 member of the Reformed church of that 
 place. In politics he was a Democrat. His 
 marriage to Marrius Hannah Schwenck was 
 blessed with nine children : Sophia, the 
 wife of Peter Harburger, is deceased, and 
 her daughter is wife of Major I). B. Hart- 
 ranft; Captain Henry Leidy, resides at 
 Boyertown, Berks county, at eighty years of 
 age. He was a merchant and huckster and 
 
496 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 was the captain of a company of cavalay 
 prior to the war. His son-in-law is Dr. 
 Rhoades, president of the Boyertown bank, 
 whose son, Dr Thomas, is a practicing 
 phvsician at that place ; Philip, the third 
 child is the father of Ephraim ; Daniel 
 is dead ; Hannah ; Peter, is a retired 
 farmer and resides at " The Swamp ;" 
 Jesse, is in the marble business at Hatboro, 
 Pennsylvania ; Sarah, now deceased, was 
 the wife of Mr. Reifsnyder, who resides in 
 the West ; Samuel was killed while serving 
 his country in the late war of the rebellion. 
 
 Philip Leidy, father of Ephraim Leidy, 
 was born on the old homestead farm and at 
 the proper age was sent to gain a common 
 school education. After spending some 
 time on the farm he engaged in the huck- 
 ster business, but afterward became the pro- 
 prietor of a hotel at Cross Keys, and later at 
 Roxboro. Subsequently he operated the 
 farm of Philip Krause, his father-in-law. 
 He exchanged his farm for the Zieglersville 
 flour mills, and at the time of his death re- 
 sided with his son, the subject of this sketch. 
 He was a Democrat and a deacon and elder 
 in the Reformed church. Fraternally he 
 was a member of the I. O. O. F., and O. U. 
 A. M., and remained very active to the 
 time of his death. He was the father of six 
 children as follows: Philip; Valeria, who 
 died young; Lavinia, wife of Emanuel 
 Brendlinger, a hotel keeper at Roxboro. He 
 died July 15, 1895, aged seventy-nine years 
 and eighteen days, his wife had preceded 
 him to the grave in 1891, at the age of 
 seventy-five years. 
 
 Ephraim Leidy received a thorough edu- 
 cation in the common schools of the day at 
 Roxboro, and then spent some time at 
 several academies. He then learned the 
 trade of miller and was employed as a jour- 
 neyman at Zieglersville until 1871, when he 
 
 commenced the operation of the Grubb's 
 mills on Swamp Creek. Later he removed 
 to Chester county, thence to Royersford. 
 In 1879 he returned to Zieglersville mill, 
 which he successfully operated until 1886, 
 when it was destroyed by fire. The follow- 
 ing year he rebuilt the mill and has con- 
 tinued its operation ever since. In connec- 
 tion with the mill, Mr. Leidy continues the 
 business of flour and feed merchant and 
 baling hay for the trade. He also works a 
 farm of thirty acres near Zieglersville. In 
 politics he is a Democrat, but is not active 
 in the work of the party at present. 
 
 Mr. Leidy was married November 19, 
 1869, to Anna, daughter of Lewis Beaver, 
 and their union was blessed with four chil- 
 dren, only one of whom is living : Alvin, 
 who married Ellen Swissford, and who 
 assists his father in the milling business; 
 Willard, Anna, and Lillian are all dead. 
 
 Mr. Leidy is a widower, having lost his 
 wife on October 29, 1886, in her 35th year. 
 The family were all members of the Re- 
 formed church. 
 
 ELLIS C. CRIPPS, proprietor of one of 
 the largest grocery houses in Consho- 
 hocken, this county, is a son of William B. 
 and Amelia (Murray) Cripps, and was born 
 at Cherry Hill, Cecil county, Maryland, 
 March 19, 1856. The Cripps family is .of 
 German origin, and its immigrant ancestor 
 in America became a resident of the State 
 of Delaware, in whose early history some of 
 his immediate ancestors figured conspicu- 
 ously. Benjamin Cripps, the paternal grand- 
 father of Ellis C. Cripps, was born at Shell- 
 pot, New Castle county, Delaware. He was 
 a miller by trade, and removed to a farm in 
 Cecil county, Maryland, which he after- 
 
( ?^~^.t&£>fC~^0 t ^. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 W7 
 
 wards left to become a resident of Wilming- 
 ton, Delaware, where he died. He married 
 and they reared a family of children, one 
 of whom, William B. Cripps, was the father 
 of the subject of this sketch. William B. 
 Cripps was born at Shellpot, Delaware, 
 and died at Conshohocken, aged seventy- 
 five years, He was a carpenter by trade, 
 but after his marriage purchased a farm in 
 Cecil county, Maryland, and built a paper 
 mill. He afterwards resided at Wilming- 
 ton, Delaware, and later came to Consho- 
 hocken, where he lost his sight two weeks 
 before his death. He was an energetic and 
 active business man, a Democrat in politics 
 and a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. 
 
 Mr. Cripps was twice married. His first 
 wife's name was Amelia Murray. By his 
 first marriage Mr. Cripps had eleven chil- 
 dren, four sons and seven daughters. 
 
 Ellis C Cripps received his early educa- 
 tion in the public schools of Wilmington, 
 Delaware, and at twelve years of age en- 
 tered a grocery store in that city, which he 
 soon left. He was variously employed for 
 a short time, and then became an appren- 
 tice in the printing office of the Every 
 Evening, where he remained for four years. 
 Completing his apprenticeship he worked 
 for a short time on the Evening Herald, 
 and then in November, 1880, came from 
 Wilmington to Conshohocken. His first' 
 employment there was as a clerk in Samuel 
 Yerkes' grocery, where he remained for 
 eighteen months. In 1882 he started in 
 the grocery business for himself on West 
 Hector street, and soon purchased the gro- 
 cery store of Thomas Robinson, on Second 
 street, where he did business until 1883. 
 On June 6, of that year, Mr. Cripps pur- 
 chased his present place of business. His 
 grocery house is a three story structure, 
 
 32 
 
 26x30 feet in dimensions, and he carries 
 one of the heaviest and best selected stocks 
 of groceries in the county. He employs 
 five salesmen and runs two delivery wagons 
 in order to meet the wants of his patrons. 
 Mr. Cripps eleven years ago commenced 
 the manufacture of " Cripps' Home-made 
 Mince Meat," an article so popular and in 
 such demand that the factory for its manu- 
 facture has been enlarged and is now oper- 
 ated by a steam engine. 
 
 Ellis C. Cripps is a Prohibitionist in poli- 
 tics and a supporter of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church. He is a member of Wash- 
 ington camp, No. 121, Patriotic Order Sous 
 of America, and the Brotherhood of the 
 Union. He takes an interest in whatever 
 pertains to the growth of his borough. He 
 is a member of the Progress Building and 
 Loan association and a director of the Fidel- 
 itv Building and Loan association. 
 
 ALBERT A. HOOPMAN, M. 1)., is a 
 young physician of Hatfield, this 
 county, who in a very few years has built up 
 a large practice in that vicinity and who has 
 deservedly gained an enviable reputation in 
 his profession by reason of the fact that he 
 has been a hard student and very thorough 
 in securing that knowledge and experience 
 which is likely to place him in the front 
 rank of practitioners in this county. 
 
 Dr. Hoopman is descended from old 
 Revolutionary ancestry and was born in 
 Maryland, on November 4, 1864, being the 
 son of Jacob W. and Susan E. (Gordon) 
 Hoopman. His grandfather, Jacob Hoop- 
 man, was a farmer by occupation. He 
 owned and successfully operated a farm of 
 one thousand acres, and was one of the most 
 prominent planters of his time. He was a 
 
49 8 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Whig in politics and changed to the Repub- 
 lican party when his favorite ceased to ex- 
 ist. He was a Methodist in religious belief 
 and was a zealous worker in the cause. He 
 was married twice and the father of six 
 children : G. C; Wesley ; Rachel ; Lizzie ; 
 Kate and Jacob W. He died in May 1856. 
 
 Jacob W. Hoopman, father of Dr. Hoop- 
 man was given a common school education. 
 He then learned farming and followed this 
 business all his life. He is a Democrat in 
 politics and a hard worker in his party. A 
 member of the Methodist church, he is an 
 active and zealous supporter of its institu- 
 tions and especially takes great interest in 
 the Sunday school. He belongs to but one 
 secret organization, being a member of 
 Aberdeen Lodge, I. O. O. F. 
 
 He was married and is the father of only 
 two children: S. V., who is a physi- 
 cian; and the subject of this sketch. He is 
 still living and is sixty-five years old. 
 
 Dr. Arthur Hoopman was given the op- 
 portunity of securing a first class educa- 
 tion and he did not neglect to take advant- 
 age of it. After leaving the public schools 
 he took a course at the Baltimore Business 
 college. He then entered the Baltimore 
 Medical college and graduated in medicine 
 at the age of twenty-three years. He after- 
 wards had his diploma endorsed at the 
 Philadelphia Medical college. For a period 
 covering four years Dr. Hoopman was em- 
 ployed in the Baltimore hospital and then 
 on June 18, 1889, located in Chester, where 
 he began the active general practive of his 
 profession. He was successful there, but 
 four years later found a wide and more 
 congenial field at Hatfield, Montgomery 
 county. Dr. Hoopman is extremely thor- 
 ough in every branch of his profession, and 
 he has successfully passed examinations be- 
 fore the boards of medical examiners of four 
 
 States, and also studied pharmacy during 
 the time he was active in his practice. 
 
 Dr. Hoopman has become very popular 
 in his locality and has an extensive and 
 lucrative practice. He is a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church and also a 
 member of the I. O. O. F. He is unmar- 
 ried. 
 
 R. ALLEBACH, merchant of Green 
 >J • Lane, this county, was born in Lower 
 Salford township, this county, October 27, 
 1846, and is a son of Christian G. and Sarah 
 (Reiff) Allebach. 
 
 Of German ancestry, grandfather David 
 Allebach was one of the substantial and 
 thrifty farmers of Skippack township, 
 Montgomery county. David Allebach was 
 an early supporter of Whigism and an ar- 
 dent believer in the dogmas of the Menon- 
 ite church. He wedded Helena Gottshalk, 
 and four children were born to their union : 
 Jacob, David, Christian and Henry. 
 
 Christian Allebach, father, was born in 
 Skippack township, March 20, 1806, was 
 reared upon the paternal acres, where he 
 remained engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 until 1832, when he removed to Lower 
 Salford township, in the same county, 
 where he spent the remainder of his days, 
 dying in September, 1887, at Kulpsville. 
 Politically he was a Whig, but upon the 
 disruption of that party became a Republi- 
 can. He was a man who believed it the 
 duty of every citizen to exercise the duties 
 of the elective franchise, but aside from 
 holding local offices was in no sense a poli- 
 tician or an officeholder. From 1827 to 
 1867 he missed but one election. He was 
 a good citizen, one who gave the weight of 
 his influence to every move which had for 
 its object the promotion of the public weal, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 499 
 
 was active in building a private school in 
 his neighborhood and was a trustee and 
 elder in the German Reformed church or- 
 ganization at Kulpsville. 
 
 He married Sarah ReifF, and they became 
 the parents of three sons and three daugh- 
 ters : Anna, David, died in infancy; So- 
 phia, deceased ; Helen, Benjamin, J. R., 
 subject. 
 
 J. R. Allebach attended the common 
 schools and received a rudimentary educa- 
 tion. He was schooled in the arts of hus- 
 bandry, but when a young man learned the 
 trade of a miller at Swenksville, and for 
 four years operated on his own account the 
 Hunsburger mill at that place. On Febru- 
 ary i, 1874, he removed to Green Lane and 
 purchased the mercantile establishment of 
 J. H. Steltz, and has since enlarged and ex- 
 panded it to meet the demands of a con- 
 stantly increasing trade, until he now has 
 one of the largest and most complete gen- 
 eral stores in this section of the county. 
 Mr. Allebach is a Republican politically, 
 and is at present serving as a member and 
 as treasurer of the school board of the bor- 
 ough of Green Lane, is treasurer of the bor- 
 ough, and from 1874 to 1893, a period of 
 nineteen years, served as postmaster of his 
 town. He has been actively and promi- 
 nently identified in a number of financial 
 institutions of the county. In 1S73 he 
 helped to organize the Green Lane National 
 bank, of which institution he became a di- 
 rector, remaining in that capacity until it 
 was removed to East Greenville. He is 
 still a heavy stockholder in the same. He 
 was one of the organizers and one of the 
 first directors of the Rover's Ford National 
 band, but resigned. He is also interested 
 as a stockholder in the Tradesmen's Na- 
 tional bank at Conshohocken, People's Na- 
 tional bank at Norristown, Spring City 
 
 National bank, Perkiomen National bank 
 at East Greenville, Norristown Title and 
 Trust company, and owns much valuable- 
 real estate in Green Lane and vicinity. 
 
 ( )n February 1, 1868, Mr. Allebach mar- 
 ried Lizzie Gosholp, of Schwenksville, and 
 two children, Harvey and Ezra, blessed this 
 marriage. Mrs. Lizzie (Gosholp 1 Allebach 
 died on December 30, 1871, at the age of 
 twenty-seven years, and Mr. Allebach took 
 as his second wife Mrs. Sarah Gable, and to 
 this marital union were born four children : 
 Anna, Laura, wife of Dr. H. H. Scholl ; 
 Markley, deceased, and Curwen. By his 
 third marriage one child was born. 
 
 The maternal grandfather of Mr. Alle- 
 bach was Benjamin Reiff, who was born in 
 Lower Salford township, this county, in 
 1777. He was a thrifty farmer of the 
 township of his nativity, farming four hun- 
 dred acres of land, and was prominent in 
 the political, religious and industrial his- 
 tory of the community. Politically he was 
 a Democrat and served as a member of the 
 Pennsylvania legislature in 1833 and as a 
 justice of the peace a number of years. He 
 was a member of the German Reformed 
 church, to the support of which he gave 
 liberally of his time and money. He was 
 a man of recognized judgment and strict 
 integrity, qualities of head and heart that 
 caused him to be frequently sought after as 
 guardian, administrator and executor, and 
 many other positions of honor and trust, and 
 in every case showed himself worthy of the 
 confidence reposed in him. He married in 
 1796 Anna Crall, of Upper Salford town- 
 ship, and the following were among the 
 children born to their union : John, Mich- 
 ael, William, Jacob, Sophia, Sarah and 
 Elizabeth. This family is noted for its 
 longevity, most of its members living to be 
 eighty years of age. 
 
5oo 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 JONAS U. CASSEL the proprietor of the 
 Cassel livery stable of Norristown, is a 
 son of Joseph H. and Lueetta (Undercuff- 
 ler) Cassel, and was born in Worcester town- 
 ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 January 16, 1846. He received his educa- 
 tion in the common schools of his native 
 township, and remained with his father on 
 the farm until he was twenty-two years of 
 age. He then went to Norristown, where 
 he was engaged for four vears in the livery 
 business with his father-in-law, Solomon 
 Long, whose interest he purchased at the 
 end of that time. Enlarging his stables 
 and purchasing an adjoining lot, his livery, 
 sales and boarding stables have now a front 
 of eighty feet and a depth of one hundred 
 and sixtv feet. He keeps eleven head of 
 driving and riding horses, and has built up 
 a good patronage. In addition to his livery 
 business, Mr. Cassel has engaged in other 
 enterprises very profitably, and holds stock 
 in the People's bank, the Excelsior Building 
 and Loan Association, and the Adam 
 Scheidt Brewing company. He owns a 
 good residence on Astor street, and a store 
 property and four acres of land at Norriton- 
 ville, besides two small farms one at West 
 Point and the other in Lower Merion town- 
 ship. Aside from business life in which he 
 has been successful, he takes considerable 
 interest in political affairs. He is a Demo- 
 crat, and has served as a member of the 
 town council from the Second ward for 
 three years. He has frequently been a 
 member of the election board at his ward 
 voting polls. 
 
 ( >n New Year's day, 1867, Mr. Cassel 
 wedded Maggie S. Long, a daughter of 
 Solomon Long, then a resident of Culps- 
 ville, this county. Mr. and Mrs. Cassel 
 have one child. 
 Jonas U. Cassel is of German descent. 
 
 His paternal grandfather, Benjamin Cassel, 
 was born and reared in Worcester township 
 where he lived during the greater part of 
 his life. He was a farmer by occupation, 
 and the large tract of land which he owned 
 is now divided into four farms. He was an 
 old line Whig politically, and resided near 
 Boyer's Corner, now Norritonville. He was 
 twice married, and by his first wife he had 
 eight children. Joseph H. Cassel was born 
 in Worcester township, where he was reared 
 on the home farm and attended the schools 
 of his neighborhood. He followed farming 
 for some years in his native township and 
 removed to Whitpain township where he 
 still pursued farming until late years. He 
 then retired from all active pursuits of life, 
 and has since resided on his farm. Mr. 
 Cassel has been twice married. His first 
 wife was Lucetta Undereuffler. By his 
 first marriage Mr. Cassel had seven chil- 
 dren, five sons and two daughters : Isaac, 
 Jonas, U. (subject), David, Daniel, Anna 
 Detwiler, Amanda Seifert, and Jeremiah, 
 who died at three vears of age. 
 
 The Cassel family is one of the early fami- 
 lies of Montgomery county. In 1734 Yellis 
 and Hupert Cassel were landholders in Per- 
 kiomen township, and Abraham H. Cassel, 
 the antiquarian, is a member of the family 
 whose descendants are now to be found in 
 several of the townships of the county, 
 where their ancestors were prosperous far- 
 mers and reliable citizens. 
 
 EDWIN METCALF, the well known 
 florist of Norristown, is a son of Ed- 
 ward and Sarah (Chapman) Metcalf, and 
 was born in 184S, at Howgate, Yorkshire, 
 England. The authentic ancestral history 
 of the Metcalf family runs back to 1026, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 501 
 
 and is traced in later generations through 
 William Metcalf, great-great-grandfather of 
 
 the subject of this sketch, Richard Metcalf, 
 (great-grandfather), and Sir Edward Metcalf 
 (grandfather), to Edward Metcalf (father), 
 who was a florist and fancy frnit grower by 
 occnpation, and resided on the old home- 
 stead in England all his life. He was a 
 conservative in politics, and married Sarah 
 Chapman, by whom he had seven children: 
 William, Elizabeth (died in childhood), 
 Martha (also deceased at an early age), 
 Richard, now a resident of Brooklyn, New 
 York ; Ann, Edwin, and Alfred, a barrister 
 in England. The father died in 1880, at 
 the age of eighty-fonr, and the mother 
 passed away during the same year, aged 
 eighty-two. 
 
 Edwin Metcalf remained in his native 
 land until he had reached the age of twenty 
 years, being graduated meanwhile from the 
 college of Nasboro, Whitby and Eaton. He 
 then entered the Academy of Fine Arts in 
 London, where he was graduated in free- 
 hand drawing, after which he took a two 
 year's course in civil engineering at Oxford 
 University. He then began the business of 
 a civil engineer, and was employed for a 
 time in that capacity on the Great North- 
 western railway. Eater he took a trip 
 through the Holy Land and penetrated 
 Africa, after which he came to America, and 
 in 1868, located at Norristown, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania. Here he formed a 
 partnership with his brother in the business 
 of a florist, but two years later removed to 
 Philadelphia, and entered the employ of the 
 North Pennsylvania Railroad company, 
 with which he remained for another two 
 years. At the end of that time he became 
 manager of the lithographing establishment 
 of Potts, Damen & Co , of Philadelphia, and 
 later entered the employ of the National 
 
 Bureau of Engraving, as a steel plate en- 
 graver for the government. He was thus 
 employed for a period of fourteen years, 
 when he was compelled to resign on account 
 of failing eye-sight. In 1888 he returned 
 to Norristown, and resumed the business of 
 a florist, which he has ever since success- 
 fully conducted. 
 
 In 18S4 Mr. Metcalf was married to 
 Mattie Davis. To them were born three 
 children, all daughters: Elizabeth Y., Edna 
 (t. (now deceased), and Elsie G. 
 
 In politics Mr. Metcalf is an ardent Re- 
 publican, taking an active interest in pub- 
 lic affairs, and at the last election was a 
 candidate for councilman from the Fourth 
 ward, and was elected. He is a member of 
 Curtis Lodge, Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows ; of the Hephtasophs of Linwood, 
 and of the First Presbyterian church, of Nor- 
 ristown. The property owned by the 
 Metcalf family in England was granted to 
 them by the great Commoner, Oliver 
 Cromwell, at the time he bore sway over 
 the British Isles, and has ever since 
 descended in an unbroken line of inheri- 
 ance. 
 
 MILTON R. KURTZ, ex-burgess and 
 the present coroner of Montgomery 
 county, is a son of Solomon and Louisa 
 (Reed) Kurtz, and was born January 25, 
 1854, in Norristown, this county. Like 
 most of the earlier families to settle in 
 Montgomery county, his ancestors were of 
 German origin. His paternal grandfather, 
 Michael Kurtz, lived near Boyertown, Berks 
 county, and was a huckster by avocation. 
 He possessed that thrift and frugality that 
 are characteristic of the German race and 
 was financially successful. He married a 
 Miss Brendlinger and they became the par- 
 
502 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ents of the following children : Solomon, 
 John, Michael, Augustus, Isaac, and Char- 
 lotta. Of these but three are living, Augus- 
 tus and the two girls. Michael Kurtz died 
 at the age of seventy-five years. 
 
 Solomon Kurtz, father, was born, reared 
 and educated in the northern part of this 
 county. He learned the trade of cabinet 
 maker which he followed during the earlier 
 part of his life ; later he took up carpenter- 
 ing and stair building. In 1873 he came to 
 Xorristown, where he resided the remain- 
 der of his life. He always voted with the 
 Democratic party on all questions of national 
 moment, but was inclined to be independ- 
 ent on local political issues. In religious 
 matters he subscribed to the doctrines of 
 the Lutheran creed. He was twice married, 
 his first union was with Sarah Shaner, and 
 after her death he wedded Louisa Reed. 
 Two children, Milton R., and Mary M., 
 blessed this marriage. 
 
 Mr. Kurtz first began the battle of life on 
 his own account as a clerk in a tobacco 
 store at Xorristown. He filled a clerical 
 position three years and then embarked in 
 a tobacco business on his own account on 
 the corner of Marshall and Barbadoes street, 
 remaining there until 1892, when he trans- 
 ferred his place to Main street, but soon re- 
 turned to his former stand where he is at 
 present located. 
 
 He is a staunch Democrat, is active and 
 influential in the work of his party. Dur- 
 ing the years 1890, 1891 and 1892 he served 
 as burgess of the borough of Norristown, 
 and was rightly estimated as a careful, 
 judicious and efficient executive officer, 
 carefully guarding every interest of the bor- 
 ough and lending his efforts to every meas- 
 ure which had for its object the progress 
 and prosperity of the town. During the latter 
 part of his second term he was nominated 
 
 and elected to the office of county coroner 
 of Montgomery county for a term of three 
 years. In addition to the above offices he 
 served seven years as assessor of the First 
 ward of Xorristown. 
 
 In fraternal circles he stands high. He 
 is a member of Montgomery Lodge, I. O. O. 
 P., Tecumseh Tribe I. O. R. M., Washing- 
 ton Camp P. O. S. of A., and the Fair- 
 mount Hook and Ladder company of the 
 Xorristown fire department. 
 
 His marriage on May 5, 1879, to Clarissa 
 A., a daughter of Jesse and Susan Xestor, 
 has resulted in the birth of the following 
 children : Edwin G , Solomon, Mattie, 
 Katie and Lulu. 
 
 WILLIAM VAUGHAN, a retired 
 business man of Xorristown, is the 
 eldest child and only son of David and 
 Margaret (Hallowell) Yaughan, and was 
 born at Xorristown, October 27, 1833. 
 David Yaughan, father, was born and reared 
 in Wales, where he learned the coal mining 
 business. When a young man he left his 
 native country and emigrated to America, 
 landing at Philadelphia about 1825. From 
 Philadelphia he walked to Pottsville, but 
 being unable to find work there, started to 
 return to Philadelphia. When he reached 
 Xorristown he stopped at the house of a 
 farmer named Cowden, and after telling his 
 story, was offered employment and went to 
 work threshing for Mr. Cowden. From 
 that he began digging weils, and soon found 
 all the work he could do. He accordingly 
 settled in Xorristown, where all the re- 
 mainder of his life was passed, and where 
 he died in 1876, at the advanced age of 
 sixty-seven years. He followed the business 
 of putting down wells nearly all his life, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 503 
 
 and most of the old wells in this section are 
 bis work. He was a Whig and Republican 
 in politics, and in religion a primitive 
 Methodist. In connection with John Sup- 
 plee, he built the old Methodist church, 
 Main and Arch streets, which was the first 
 erected in this section of the State. It is 
 now used as a factory by the Norristown 
 Woolen company. Mr. Vaughan was also 
 a temperance worker. In 1832 he married 
 Margaret Hallowell, and they reared a fam- 
 ily of five children : William, Sarah, Inez, 
 Martha and Elizabeth. Mrs. Margaret 
 Vaughan died in 1870, aged sixty-seven 
 years, the exact age attained by her husband. 
 Their remains are interred at Norristown. 
 
 William Vaughan grew to manhood in 
 his native borough and has resided in Nor- 
 ristown all his life. He was educated in 
 the public schools, and has improved his 
 acquirements by a course of general read- 
 ing. When ten years of age, he began 
 working on a farm at Eagleville, and later 
 entered the woolen mill then owned by Mr. 
 McCurdy, but now known as the Simpson 
 mill. When nineteen years of age he 
 then learned the trade of painter and paper 
 hanger with Louis McAfee, and worked at 
 that business until 1872. He then began 
 contracting and building, and during the 
 next three years erected some fifty build- 
 ings in and around Norristown. In 1875 
 he embarked in the ice trade, purchasing 
 the business of the Enterprise Ice company, 
 which had been organized in 1869, by 
 George Zennel. This enterprise he con- 
 ducted until 1887, when he retired in favor 
 of his only son, David Vaughan, who has 
 since operated the business under the old 
 name, Enterprise Ice company. 
 
 Politically William Vaughan is a Repub- 
 lican and has been active in local politics. 
 He represented the Tenth ward in the bor- 
 
 ough council for two terms, serving as 
 chairman of the committee on streets and 
 roads tor three years, and as chairman of 
 the committee on regulations for two years. 
 He was also a member of the committee 
 on ways and means, and of several other 
 committes. He is a member of Linwood 
 Lodge No. 154, Ancient Order United 
 Workmen, and served for a time on the 
 emergency corps during Lee's invasion of 
 Pennsylvania in 1863. 
 
 On January 6, 1856, Mr. Vaughan was 
 married to Margaret Long. To this 
 union was born two children : David, now 
 proprietor of the Enterprise Ice company, 
 of Norristown; and Clara, who died Au- 
 gust 9, 1894. 
 
 JS. NICE is one of the most successful 
 . merchants of Harleyville. He is a 
 brother of G. S. Nice, whose sketch appears 
 elsewhere, and is the son of J. M. and Kate 
 (Shoemaker) Nice. He is a native of 
 Harleysville and was born there March 10, 
 1866. He received a common school edu- 
 cation and afterward attended the Sumney- 
 tovvn academy for one session. He left 
 school at the age of eighteen years and went 
 to Philadelphia, where he became a clerk 
 for John Jamison. Leaving here he re- 
 turned to the country and worked at farm- 
 ing for three years. At the end of this 
 time Mr. Nice left the farm and engaged in 
 the general store business at Harleysville, 
 and was in partnership with his brother for 
 five years. He then made another change, 
 selling his interest in the general store and 
 opened a bakery and ice cream parlor. He 
 also manufactures ice cream for the whole- 
 sale trade, and as a wholesale confectioner 
 has been very prosperous, doing about 
 
5°4 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 $13,000 worth of business every year. This 
 is certainly a splendid showing for so young 
 a man, and his energy, probity of char- 
 acter and enterprise have placed him in the 
 front rank of the prominent business men 
 of his county. 
 
 Mr. Nice, like his father and other rela- 
 tives, is a Republican and takes a leading 
 part in the party work of that section. He 
 is an active Christian and is a member of 
 the Mennonite church. He is also very 
 prominent in Sunday school work and is 
 one of the most active members. Mr. Nice 
 has been married twice. His first wife was 
 Miss Mary Godshall, only child of Isaac 
 Godshall. They had one sou Howard, who 
 was born on December 6, 1889, and who 
 died February 20, 1890. Mr. Nice's second 
 wife is Miss SalHe Landis, daughter of 
 Samuel R. Landis. One child has come to 
 bless this union, a daughter named Katie, 
 who was born March 3, 1893. 
 
 The Nice family is one of the oldest in 
 this section of the county and has always 
 been prominent in local affairs. The pres- 
 ent representatives of the family, including 
 the subject of this sketch, are well calcu- 
 lated to perpetuate the fair fame of the 
 family. 
 
 DR. CHARLES H. DETWILER, the 
 proprietor of the Central hotel, Roy- 
 ersford, Pennsylvania, is a native of Mont- 
 gomery count}-, and was born May 2, 1865. 
 His parents, Enos H. and Mary J. (Heyser) 
 Detwiler, are also natives of this county, 
 the father having been born on the old 
 Detwiler homestead in 1835. He secured 
 a good common school education and then 
 engaged in farming, which he has success- 
 fullv conducted all his life. He owns the 
 
 old homestead, and is widely knows as 
 among the most prominent agriculturists 
 and business men of the county. His 
 mother was born in 1802, and is still liv- 
 ing, now lacking only seven years of being 
 a centenarian. Enos H. Detwiler has 
 served as school director for a number of 
 years. He was one of the originators and 
 a member of the building committee of 
 Spring Garden market in the city of Phila- 
 delphia, and has served as treasurer of the 
 Market company ever since its organiza- 
 tion. He is also a director of the National 
 bank of Royersford, and has been a life- 
 long member of the Lutheran church, of 
 which he has served as treasurer and dea- 
 con for nearly a quarter of a century. He 
 married Mary J. Heyser. 
 
 Dr. Charles H. Detwiler was reared on 
 the farm and secured his elementary educa- 
 tion in the public schools. He subsequently 
 entered the State Normal school at West 
 Chester, and afterwards took a course of 
 training at Pierce's Business college in the 
 city of Philadelphia. In 1887, he entered 
 the Toronto Veterinary college at Toronto, 
 Ontario, Canada, from which institution he 
 was graduated in 1889 with the degree 
 of V. S. 
 
 For the space of five years Dr. Detwiler 
 practiced his profession, principally in 
 Montgomery and Chester counties, Penn- 
 sylvania. In 1890 he purchased the Cen- 
 tral hotel property at Royersford, this 
 county, and embarked in the hotel busi- 
 ness. This hotel is a large three-story struc- 
 ture, containing twenty spacious rooms 
 and it has been remodeled and many archi- 
 tectural improvements have been added by 
 Dr. Detwiler. It is now heated by steam, 
 lighted by electricity, abundantly supplied 
 with hot and cold water, and is in every re- 
 spect a model hotel. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 5« »S 
 
 On February 17, iSgi, Dr. Detwiler was 
 married to Alice Stan Her, a daughter of 
 Frank Stauffer, of Berks county, Pennsyl- 
 vania. To the Doctor and Mrs. Detwiler 
 have been born two children, both sons : 
 Marion S. and Russell S. 
 
 Politically, Dr. Detwiler is not a parti- 
 san and has never taken any active interest 
 in public issues. He is a member of the 
 Lutheran church, as is also Mrs. Detwiler, 
 and has been an active and earnest Sunday 
 school worker all his life, first as a scholar, 
 and later as a successful teacher. 
 
 RICHARD H. BATE, junior member 
 of the firm of William T. Bate & 
 Son, proprietors of the extensive Mont- 
 gomery Boiler and Machine works at Con- 
 shohocken, and one of the most prominent 
 citizens of that place and Montgomery 
 county, is a son of William T. and Eliza- 
 beth George Bate, and was born Ma}- 23, 
 1845, in England. 
 
 In 1847 n ^ s parents emigrated to this 
 country and settled at Liberty, Maryland, 
 where he received his first nurturing in 
 school. Subsequently his parents removed 
 to Norristown and there furthered his edu- 
 cation in the public schools of that place- 
 up to 1859, when he gave up the employ- 
 ments of school to pursue a more practical 
 vocation, and accordingly indentured him- 
 self to learn the blacksmith and boiler- 
 making trades in the Norris Iron works at 
 Norristown ; his father at that time being 
 superintendent of the works. He remained 
 employed at his trades in this establish- 
 ment up to 1865, at which time having 
 thoroughly mastered his trade and at the 
 same time become familiar with every 
 detail of the boiler and machine-making 
 
 branch of mechanics, he then became 
 associated in business with his father under 
 the firm name of William T. Bate & Co. 
 This firm first consisted of William T. and 
 Richard H. Bate and John Wood, jr., and 
 was established for the manufacture of 
 boilers and general machinery and located at 
 Conshohocken. In 1868 this partnership 
 was dissolved, Mr. Wood retiring, and the 
 firm was re-organized under the title of 
 William T. Bate & Son, and the present 
 extensive Montgomery Boiler and Machine 
 works were built for the manufacture of 
 boilers, gas apparatus, iron and brass cast- 
 ings, gasometers, gore barrels, castings, and 
 all kinds of blacksmithing and machine 
 work. The firm had made a small begin- 
 ning in 1865, but the business tact and 
 energy of the several members, coupled 
 with their practical knowledge, soon won 
 for the firm prestige and a wide and 
 well-deserved reputation, with a consequent 
 increase of trade extending to all parts of 
 the country, employing a large force of 
 men. In the manufacture of boiler and 
 steam generators, and the same may be 
 said of most of their products of manufac- 
 ture, they have been using their own 
 patents. As their business has developed 
 and extended, they have increased their 
 facilities by the erection of new buildings 
 as the rapid growth of their business re- 
 quired, until now the establishment has a 
 capacity, when running full, of 100 men. 
 Some of their patents have been of a very 
 important character and have received very 
 creditable mention in the various scientific 
 journals of the country, and have proved 
 in their application and actual use to be 
 of high merit and valuable contributions 
 to mechanical inventions. 
 
 Since the re-organization of the firm in 
 1868, Richard H. Bate has taken a very 
 
5o6 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 active part in all matters pertaining to 
 the business, assisting in the general man- 
 agement of the manufacturing department 
 as well as the trade. By strictly con- 
 scientious and fair methods of dealing with 
 the trade and all who come in contact with 
 him, Mr. Bate has been a potent factor in 
 the establishment of their extensive and 
 permanent business and has won for him- 
 self a prominent place in the manufactur- 
 ing and commercial world. As a citizen, 
 he has always been progressive and public- 
 spirited, and has therefore been influential 
 in the public enterprises of Conshohocken. 
 Politically, Mr. Bate has always been a 
 firm advocate of the principles of the Re- 
 publican party, and has always taken an 
 intelligent interest and active part in the 
 advancement and success of that party. 
 Though he has never aspired to public or 
 remunerative office, he is at the present 
 time ably representing the third ward of 
 his borough in council. Mr. Bate has been 
 chiefly active and useful in the direction of 
 industrial enterprise, being prominently 
 identified with most of the business enter- 
 prises of the borough brought forward for 
 its development and general prosperity. 
 Besides his extensive manufacturing in- 
 terests, he is a director of the First Na- 
 tional bank of Conshohocken ; director in 
 the Conshohocken Electric Light company; 
 a director and managing superintendent of 
 the Conshohocken Gas company, and a 
 heavy stockholder in both of the above 
 enterprises ; he is also a stockholder in the 
 Conshohocken Water company, in addition 
 to holding interests in various other busi- 
 ness ventures of lesser importance. His 
 aid and influence have been lent to every 
 movement almost, which has for its end 
 and object the promotion of the general wel- 
 fare of the people of his town and county. 
 
 On the 30th of August, 1867, Mr. Bate 
 was united in marriage to Mary M. Murray, 
 a daughter of Jacob Murray, a prominent 
 citizen of Norristown. To this marital re- 
 lation have been born seven children, 
 four sons and three daughters : Tillie ; 
 Alice, deceased; Howard M.; Richard; 
 Anna ; Wilrner M. ; and John, deceased, 
 who died April 12, 1887, at the age of six 
 years. On October 24, 1889, Alice Bate 
 was married to Mr. A. J. Pennington, a 
 manufacturer of surgical supplies, located 
 at Bridgeport, Pa. Within a year after her 
 marriage she suddenly died. Mrs. Pen- 
 nington had been the assistant librarian of 
 the Methodist Sunday school of Consho- 
 hocken, and was an ardent Sunday school 
 worker and a zealous Christian woman. 
 Her Sabbath school attended her funeral 
 in a body and assisted in the last sad serv- 
 ices of laying to rest one who had been 
 beloved by all who knew her. 
 
 Mrs. Bate is a descendant of one of 
 Montgomery county's oldest and most re- 
 spectable families. She is the grand- 
 daughter of Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, 
 who had the distinction of celebrating her 
 one hundredth birth-day anniversray, No- 
 vember 14, 1877. Mrs. Thompson was the 
 mother of eleven children, and at the age 
 of one hundred years was in the possession 
 of all her faculties with the exception of a 
 somewhat impaired hearing. She took 
 great delight in relating to her descendants 
 at this notable gathering her recollection 
 of General Washington. On one occasion 
 during his term as president, General 
 Washington en route through Plymouth 
 township stopped at the Black Horse 
 hotel, on which occasion Mrs. Thompson, 
 then a young girl, had the honor of hand- 
 ing him a drink of water and shaking 
 hands with the " Father of his Country." 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 507 
 
 Of her eleven children only three were 
 living at the time Mrs. Thompson cele- 
 brate her one hundredth anniversary : Mrs. 
 Earl, Mrs. Murray, mother of Mrs. Bate, 
 and Mrs. Wightman, all of whom were 
 widowed. 
 
 JOHN BOOTH, a member of the cotton 
 manufacturing firm of H. C. Jones & 
 Co., of Conshohocken, was born near Ches- 
 ter city, in Delaware county, Pennsylvania, 
 February 4, 1856, and is a son of 
 James and Agnes Booth. While the 
 Booth family is of English origin, yet 
 the American branch was founded by John 
 Booth, who came from Scotland to New 
 York city, where he resided continuously 
 up to his death. He married and had two 
 sons. One of these sons was James Booth, 
 the father of the subject of this sketch. 
 James Booth was born at Paisley, Scotland. 
 He learned the trade of weaver in his native 
 country, and at twelve years of age came 
 with his parents to this country. They re- 
 mained in New York city, but he soon re- 
 moved to Delaware count}-, this State, 
 where he entered the Bancroft cotton mills, 
 in which he worked for several years. He 
 afterwards resided at Manayunk, this State. 
 He was a Republican in political senti- 
 ment, and wedded Agnes Colquehourer. To 
 them were born four sons and six daugh- 
 ters : John (subject), Isabella, Jeannette 
 (dead), James, Jasper, Maggie Scott, Mat- 
 tie, Louisa and Emma (both deceased), 
 and Robert. 
 
 John Booth was reared in Delaware 
 county and received his education in the 
 schools of Darby and Chester city, and a 
 night school at Manayunk, this State. At 
 fourteen years of age he became an appren- 
 tice in the weaving department of a cotton 
 
 mill at West Manayunk, and after com- 
 pleting his apprenticeship worked steadily 
 at weaving until 1883. In that year he be- 
 came a member of the firm of H. B. Hill & 
 Co., of Philadelphia, and was engaged in 
 the manufacture of Turkish towels in that 
 city for six months. He then sold his in- 
 terest in the business, and on April 1, 1885, 
 became a partner in the firm of H. C. 
 Jones & Co., of Conshohocken. Mr. Booth 
 acts as general manager and superin- 
 tendent of their mills. Their plant com- 
 prises all the necessary buildings for suc- 
 cessful manufacturing in their special lines 
 of business. They employ a force of one 
 hundred hands, have a yearly output of 
 over one hundred thousand dollars worth 
 of goods, and sell their products readily in 
 the general markets of the country. Mr. 
 Booth supports the cardinal principles of 
 the Republican party, and of late years has 
 been particularly active in political affairs. 
 He is a member of the Union Republican 
 league, and represents the Third ward in 
 the town council. He is a member of 
 Fritz lodge, Free and Accepted Masons. 
 Active and diligent in his business affairs 
 he has won success, and is now prominent 
 in his special line of manufacture. 
 
 On January 18, 1884, John Booth was 
 united in marriage with Jane H. Taylor, 
 whose parents, Thomas and Sarah Taylor, 
 are residents of Frankford, Philadelphia. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Booth have been born 
 three children : Mabel (deceased) Marion 
 and Olive. 
 
 EBER HESTON LOBB, a successful 
 business man who is engaged with the 
 Alan Wood company, of Conshohocken, is 
 a son of Benjamin and Eliza (Hastings) 
 Lobb, and was born in Brandywine Hun- 
 
5 o8 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 dred, near Wilmington, Delaware, March 
 22, ICS55. He is of English extraction and 
 obtained his education in the Tremonnt 
 seminary. He afterwards attended Bryant 
 and Statton's Business college, in Philadel- 
 delphia. Leaving school he engaged with 
 Alan Wood & Co., on September 2, 1872,3s 
 a shipping clerk, in which capacity he has 
 remained ever since. 
 
 In politics Mr. Lobb is a staunch Repub- 
 lican. He belongs to the Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows, being a member of Gratitude 
 Lodge, No. 216. He is a member of Wash- 
 ington Camp, No. 121, Patriotic Order Sons 
 of America ; Montgomery Circle, No. 10, 
 Brotherhood of the Union, and Welcome 
 Home, at Norristown. 
 
 On Christmas day, 1878, Mr. Lobb was 
 united in marriage with Maggie Righter, a 
 daughter of Michael Righter, of King-of- 
 Prussia, Chester county. To their union 
 have been born eight children : Benjamin, 
 Frederick, Winfield T., William Cleaver, 
 Howard, (dead), Marion, Eva and Emma. 
 
 Mr. Lobb is also engaged in settling up 
 estates of which he has quite a large number 
 to settle at the present time. He stands well 
 as a business man and is known to be an 
 honest citizen in his community. 
 
 Benjamin Lobb (father) was a native of 
 Delaware, where early in life his property 
 was burned. Afterward he was employed 
 by Alan Wood & Co., of the same State, 
 but in 1857 he came with this firm to Con- 
 shohocken, where he remained until his 
 death 1889. Here he became foreman in 
 the mill and was one of the most skilled 
 mechanics that were in the employ of the 
 company. He was a Republican in politics 
 and adphered to the Society of Friends. 
 He was a member of the Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows, and for many years a mem- 
 ber of the Red Men at Conshohocken. 
 
 He married Eliza Jane Hastings, and 
 their family consisted of five sons and one 
 daughter: Eber H ; Benjamin F., (dead) ; 
 John ; Alan Wood, (dead) ; Matthew, and 
 Jennie. 
 
 Benjamin Lobb commenced life as a stable 
 boy and pushed forward with enthusiasm and 
 perserverance — two sure characteristics of 
 success — and at the time of his death he had 
 acquired about forty thousand dollars worth 
 of property. 
 
 HOWARD Y. NEIMAN, M. D., a 
 practicing physician of Pottstown, is a 
 son of Frederick and Charlotte (Yargey) 
 Neiman, and was born in Berks county, 
 Pennsylvania, June 3, 1858. The Neimans 
 are of German ancestry, the family being 
 planted in America by the great-grand- 
 father of Dr. Neiman, who was born and 
 reared at Muhlenburg, Germany. In 1778 
 he emigrated to America and settled in 
 what is now Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania. When the Revolutionary war oc- 
 curred, in 1776, he joined the American 
 army and followed the standard of Wash- 
 ington until independence had been se- 
 cured. He then returned to Pennsylvania, 
 and resumed farming, and continued to re- 
 side on the old homestead until his death 
 in 1820, at an advanced age. 
 
 Frederick Neiman, father, was a miller 
 by trade, and followed that occupation all 
 his life, in Berks county, this State. For 
 man}- years he was a member of the State 
 militia. He married Charlotte Yargey, a 
 native of Berks county, and they reared a 
 family of children. He was an ardent 
 Democrat in politics and a member of the 
 Reformed church, which he served for 
 many years as deacon and elder. His death 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 5°9 
 
 occurred in Berks county, in 1883, at the 
 
 age of seventv years, but his wife is still 
 . . . . 
 
 living, being now in the seventy-fifth year 
 
 of her age. 
 
 Howard Y. Xeiniau was principally 
 reared in Berks count}-, where he attended ! 
 the public schools. He then entered Mount 
 Pleasant seminary at Boyertown, and later 
 became a student in the State Normal 
 school at Kutztown. In 1876 he began the 
 study of medicine with Dr. L. K. Francis, 
 of Boyertown, and subsequently studied 
 under Dr. John V. Shoemaker, of Phila- 
 delphia. Later he entered the Jefferson 
 Medical college of Philadelphia, and after 
 a three years' course, was duly graduated 
 from that well known institution March 12, 
 1879, with the degree of M. D. In the 
 same year Dr. Neiman began practice at 
 Norristown, but eighteen months later re- 
 moved to the west end of Montgomery 
 county, where he remained until 18S6. In 
 the latter year he came to Pottstown and 
 began the successful practice which he now 
 enjoys. In addition to his large general 
 practice, Dr. Neiman is one of the surgeons 
 of the Pottstown hospital, and is highly re- 
 garded by all who know him. Dr. Neiman 
 is a member of the Montgomery County 
 Medical society, and of the Pennsylvania 
 State Medical society. He is an earnest 
 student of his profession and a careful 
 reader of its best literature. He is a mem- 
 ber and medical examiner of the Ancient 
 Order of Foresters, and is also medical ex- 
 aminer for the Mutual Continental Life 
 Insurance company, and physician by ap- 
 pointment, to the poor of the city. In the 
 fall of 1894 he was also appointed on the 
 board of officers of the Medico-Chirurgical 
 college of Philadelphia. Dr. Neiman is a 
 member of the Patriotic Order Sons of 
 America, and of Conclave No. 153, Junior 
 
 ( trder of Hibernians, of which latter he has 
 been secretary for several years. 
 
 < >n the 7th of September, 1878, Dr. 
 Neiman was wedded to Mary Bickel, a 
 daughter of Samuel B. and Sophia Bickel, 
 of Norristown. To them has been born one 
 child, a son named Frederick B. The 
 Doctor and Mrs. Neiman are members of 
 the Reformed church. 
 
 RICHARD SOMIESKY, president of 
 the Bramcote Manufacturing com- 
 pany, of Pottstown, is a son of Austin and 
 Amelia Somiesky, and was born March 31, 
 1858, in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
 vania. The family is of Russian extrac- 
 tion, but have lived in this State for sev- 
 eral generations. Austin Somiesky, father, 
 was a tailor by trade, and worked at that 
 occupation many years in Philadelphia. 
 He died in 1877. His wife, who was of 
 German ancestry, had preceded him in 1875, 
 and they are buried in the Glenwood ceme- 
 tery, Philadelphia. 
 
 Richard Somiesky received a good Eng- 
 lish education in the public schools of his 
 native city, and afterwards took a special 
 course in German. Later he began study- 
 ing the art of photography under compe- 
 tent instruction, and devoted three years to 
 a mastery of the principles of art as applied 
 to the work of the camera After complet- 
 ing his artistic studies and becoming 
 familiar with the possibilities and limita- 
 tions of photographic processes, Mr. So- 
 miesky engaged in the business of photo- 
 graphy in Philadelphia for one year, and 
 subsequently carried on the same enterprise 
 at various towns in this State. In 1883 he 
 came to Pottstown and opened a gallery 
 and studio, where he continued the busi- 
 
5io 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ness until January 2, 1895, when he sold 
 out. In January, 1894, he was appointed 
 by Commissioner Erb to the position of 
 transcribing clerk in the office of the county 
 commissioners, and was reappointed in Janu- 
 ary, 1895, without any solicitation on his 
 part. His duties have been carefully and 
 conscientiously performed. 
 
 Mr. Somiesky has been president of the 
 Bramcote Manufacturing company of Potts- 
 town, for some time past. In May, 1888, 
 he became a member of company A, sixth 
 regiment, National Guard of Pennsyl- 
 vania, and in 1890 was made first lieu- 
 tenant of the company, which rank he 
 still holds. He has been somewhat promi- 
 nent in local politics, having held the posi- 
 tion of Democratic committeeman from 
 Pottstown district for more than three 
 years. He is a member of the Mystic 
 Chain, the Sons of America and Knights of 
 the Golden Eagle, of Pottstown, of which 
 latter organization he has been treasurer 
 since 1885. He also served for two years 
 as treasurer of the Sons of America, and 
 was their district president for some time. 
 In 1882 Mr. Somiesky was married to Mary 
 E. Yocum, of Germantown, Pennsylvania. 
 Their union has been blessed by the birth 
 of two children : Albert C. and Florence 
 C , both now attending the public schools 
 of Pottstown. 
 
 WARREN S. BURGESS, a respectable 
 and well known citizen of Norris- 
 town, is a son of G. W. and Sophia E. 
 (Saurman) Burgess, and was born in Phila- 
 delphia, Pennsylvania, July 28, 1828. The 
 Burgess family is of English extraction, 
 and the paternal grandfather of Warren 
 E. Burgess was a native of Boston, Massa- 
 
 chusetts. He reared a family of children, 
 among whom were: William; Joseph; 
 Caleb, who resides in San Francisco ; 
 George W.; Lucy; Sarah; and Catharine. 
 
 George W. Burgess was a native of the 
 same city as his father, and became en- 
 gaged in manufacturing whips and canes. 
 Later he removed to Philadelphia, where 
 he followed his trade for some time, and 
 afterwards came to Norristown, at which 
 place he resided until his death. He was a 
 staunch Republican, and served as a mem- 
 ber of an emergency company in the late 
 Civil war. He married Sophia E. Saur- 
 man, and to this union was born one child, 
 Warren S. Mr. and Mrs. Burgess both 
 died at the advanced age of seventy-eight 
 years. 
 
 Warren S. Burgess learned the trade of 
 machinist while residing in the Quaker 
 city, and at twenty-eight years of age re- 
 moved to Norristown, where he now re- 
 sides. After coming to Norristown, he 
 worked at joinery work until 1880, and 
 since then he has been engaged as a general 
 machinist and electrical worker. He is 
 superintendent of the borough electric 
 plant, which he has been largely instru- 
 mental in building up. Mr. Burgess is a 
 Republican in politics, and has always been 
 interested in the affairs of his part}'. 
 
 He was united in marriage with Emma 
 Wallace, and their union has been blessed 
 with three children, two sons and a daugh- 
 ter : George, Sophia, and Lillian. 
 
 WILLIAM S. ELLIS, a member and 
 treasurer of the Ellis & Lessig Steel 
 and Iron company, limited, of Pottstown, is 
 a son of Robert and Mary (Dunn) Ellis, 
 and was born near Lewistown, Mifflin 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 5" 
 
 county, Pennsylvania, June 3, 1841. His 
 paternal grandfather was of Scotch descent, 
 while his wife was of Welsh extraction. 
 Robert Ellis was born and reared in Ireland, 
 and in 183S, came to Miffln county, where 
 he followed fanning. He died October 24, 
 1863. He was a Presbyterian and married 
 Mary Dunn, who was a native of Ireland. 
 Their children, nine in number, were : 
 Thomas, Robert, James, John, William 
 S., Jane, wife of James Neshood, ol 
 Minnesota; George, a soldier, killed at 
 Sailor's Creek during the late Civil war ; 
 Catharine, married James Johnson, of Kan- 
 sas City, Missouri, and now dead ; and one 
 child that died in infancy. 
 
 William S. Ellis was reared on his father's 
 Miffln county farm, received his education 
 in the common schools, and in 1862, en- 
 listed in company M, 16th Pennsylvania 
 cavalry, commanded by Colonel John Irwin 
 Gregg. He participated in all the battles 
 of the army of the Potomac from Chan- 
 cellorsville to Appomattox Court House, 
 and was honorably mustered out of the 
 Federal service in 1865. He went out as a 
 private but was promoted to corporal for 
 meritorious duty. After the war he was 
 engaged in farming until 1872, in which 
 year he came to Pottstown and embarked 
 in the foundry business. He had a small 
 machine shop attached to his foundry, 
 which he operated until 1882. He then 
 sold out, and in the following year organized 
 the present Ellis & Lessig Steel and Iron 
 company, limited, and commenced to erect 
 the buildings of their present extensive 
 plant. This company manufactures nails, 
 plate-iron and puddle bars. They do a 
 large and prosperous business, having a 
 patronage that extends beyond the boun- 
 daries of the State. Mr. Ellis is a large 
 stockholder of the company, and has served 
 
 as treasurer ever since its organization. 
 Besides manufacturing, Mr. Ellis takes an 
 interest in industrial and other enterprises 
 of Pottstown. He is a director of the Potts- 
 town Passenger Railway company, and 
 served for some time as president of the 
 Pottstown Electric Eight company, which 
 he helped to organize. 
 
 On April 29, 1889, William S. Ellis was 
 united in marriage with Mary Reed, a 
 daughter of Alexander Reed, of Mifflin 
 county. 
 
 Office seeking and office holding for 
 emolument or for prominent position before 
 the public has never had any attractions 
 for Mr. Ellis, who however, believes in an 
 honest and hearty support of his party. He 
 is a staunch Republican and was one of 
 President Harrison's electors from Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 JOHN G. SMYTH, an industrious and 
 competent business man of Norristown, 
 is a son of John G. and Martha (McClure) 
 Smyth, and was born at Bridgeport, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, in 1835. 
 His father was a native of county Tyrone, 
 Ireland, where he was engaged in farming, 
 until about 1842. He then came to this 
 country and located on Chestnut street, 
 Philadelphia. He was engaged in various 
 industrial pursuits until 1844, when he re- 
 moved to Norristown, where he was em- 
 ployed in a green-house, and afterwards be- 
 came a brick worker. For some time he 
 was engaged in manufacturing brick at 
 Block House, Montgomery county, and in 
 1868 established a brick-yard at Norristown, 
 where he was the first manufacturer to use 
 a steam brick machine. In 1874 he retired 
 from active business and purchased six 
 
512 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 acres in what is now the Seventh ward. In 
 politics he is a Democrat and has been an at- 
 tendant of the Presbyterian church for years. 
 He married Martha McClure and reared a 
 family of four children: David N., Alex- 
 ander J., John G., and Margaret J., de- 
 ceased. 
 
 John G. Smyth received his education in 
 the public schools ot Bridgeport and also at- 
 tended a seminary, where he took a thor- 
 ough business course. He learned the 
 trade of bricklayer with his father, and for 
 twenty years was engaged as contractor and 
 builder. He has employed as many as 
 sixteen men at one time in his building 
 contracts. He is a practical worker and 
 thorough in the details of his business. 
 Much of his work was done in the city of 
 Philadelphia. Mr. Smyth is a member of 
 the Presbyterian church and is a supporter 
 of the Democratic party. 
 
 ELMER E. JOHNSON, M. D., a young 
 practicing physician of Pottstown, was 
 born December 4, 1863, at Applebachville, 
 Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and is a son 
 Dr. Benjamin K. and Rosa L. (Gotschalk) 
 Johnson. Benjamin K. Johnson, M. D., 
 father, is a native of Montgomery eountv, 
 who has practiced medicine for many years 
 at North Wales and Norristown, and has 
 won considerable reputation in his profes- 
 sion. For a fuller account of him and his 
 ancestors see his sketch elsewhere in this 
 volume. 
 
 Elmer E. Johnson obtained his early edu- 
 cation in the public schools of North 
 Wales, this county, and then entered the 
 State Normal school at Millersville. He 
 afterwards spent oue year at Home's Pre- 
 
 paratory school, Allentown, Pennsylvania, 
 and then took a four years' classical course 
 in Muhlenburg college, of that place, from 
 which he was graduated in 1885. In the 
 autumn of that year he matriculated in the 
 medical department of the University of 
 Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, and after 
 three years of diligent application was 
 graduated from that institution in 1888 
 with the degree of M. D. He immediately 
 began practice with his father at Norris- 
 town, this county, and remained there un- 
 til 1889. 
 
 In the month of September of that year 
 Dr. Elmer E. Johnson removed to Potts- 
 town and began the practice of medicine 
 and surgery in this city. He has become 
 well known and popular and has built up a 
 nice general practice, which is constantly 
 growing. 
 
 In addition to his private practice Dr. 
 Johnson is a member of the surgical staff of 
 the Pottstown hospital and a lecturer in the 
 Pottstown training school, his special sub- 
 jects being physiology and anatomy. He 
 is a careful reader and occasional contribu- 
 tor to some of the best medical journals of 
 this country, and endeavors at all times to 
 keep abreast of the progress constantly 
 being made in the science of medicine. 
 
 In September, 1888, Dr. Johnson was 
 united in marriage with Emma C. Bickel, 
 a daughter of E. B. and Louisa Bickel, of 
 Norristown, Pennsylvania. He and Mrs. 
 Johnson are members of the Lutheran 
 church, and for three years the Doctor has 
 been president of the Luther League, a re- 
 ligious society composed principally of 
 young people. Politically Dr. Johnson has 
 never been active, preferring to devote his 
 energies exclusively to his profession. He 
 is a member of the Independent Order of 
 , Odd Fellows and of the Shield of Honor. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 .si 3 
 
 SAMUEL K. ANDERS, president of 
 the People's National bank of Norris- 
 town, was born October 10, 1838, in Norri- 
 toti township, Montgomery county, Penn- 
 sylvania, and is a son of George and 
 Susanna (Kriebel) Anders. He grew to 
 manhood on the old Anders homestead 
 near Norristown, and was educated in the 
 public schools of this county. After at- 
 taining his majority he engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits on his own account, and 
 successfully followed that occupation dur- 
 ing a period of twenty years. He gradually 
 interested himself in other enterprises, and 
 in 1S88 became president of the People's 
 National bank of Norristown, a position he 
 has continuously held to the present time. 
 As a financier his course has been marked 
 by sound judgment and conservative man- 
 agement, and to his ability and watchful- 
 ness is due in a large degree the success 
 which has attended the business of this 
 bank. Its affairs have been ably and intel- 
 ligently conducted, and it has always en- 
 joyed the confidence of depositors and the 
 general public, being regarded as among 
 the soundest financial institutions of east- 
 ern Pennsylvania. Several years since, 
 Mr. Anders was elected on the Republican 
 ticket, to which party he has always ad- 
 hered, as a member of the board of county 
 commissioners, and has been twice re- 
 elected to the same position. Bringing to 
 the discharge of his official duties the same 
 judgment and thoroughness that character- 
 ize his management of private business, la- 
 has promoted the public welfare and justi- 
 fied the public confidence reposed in his 
 integrity and ability. At all times he has 
 manifested an intelligent interest in politi- 
 cal and civic affairs, has served as school 
 director of his township, and by his public 
 spirit and practical benevolence has con- 
 
 33 
 
 tributed in many ways to the prosperity 
 and well-being of his fellow-citizens. In 
 religion he adheres to the faith of his 
 ancestors and is a member of the Schwenk- 
 felder denomination, with which body he 
 was formerly connected in an official ca- 
 pacity. 
 
 In 1S60, Mr. Anders was married to 
 Mary A. Heebner, a daughter of David S. 
 Heebuer, now postmaster at Lansdale, 
 Pennsylvania. To that union was born a 
 family of four children, two of whom died 
 in infancy. A daughter, Laura H., died at 
 the age of sixteen, and the only one now 
 living is George H., who is engaged in 
 farming, near Norristown. Mrs. Mary A. 
 Anders died September 16, 1881. 
 
 The family from which Mr. Anders is 
 descended is of German extraction, but its 
 history in the new world dates back to the 
 colonial period, its American progenitor 
 having emigrated to this country and set- 
 tled in what is now Montgomery county as 
 early as 1734. He and nearly all his de- 
 scendants were members of the religious 
 body known as Schwenkfelders. Benja- 
 min Anders, paternal grandfather of Sam- 
 uel K. Anders, was a native of Montgom- 
 ery county, a farmer and shoemaker by 
 occupation, and died in Worcester town- 
 ship. He was an old-time Whig in poli- 
 tics, and in religion a strict member of the 
 Schwenkfelder denomination. He reared a 
 family of several children, one of his sons 
 being George Anders (father), who was 
 born on the old Anders homestead in 
 Worcester township, this county. After 
 attaining manhood, George Anders also en- 
 gaged in fanning and followed that occupa- 
 tion all his life. His last years were spent 
 in Anders township, where he died. His 
 remains were interred at his former home 
 in Worcester township, beside others of 
 
5H 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 the family connection. He was a man of 
 great public spirit and excellent business 
 habits, and accumulated considerable prop- 
 erty, being regarded as one of the most 
 substantial citizens of his section. He 
 married Susanna Kriebel, also of German 
 descent. To them were born eight chil- 
 dren, only five of whom grew to maturity: 
 Abram K., now deceased; Elizabeth, wife 
 of A. H. Seipt, of Philadelphia; William 
 K , deceased; Daniel K., now a resident of 
 Denver, Colorado ; and Samuel K., subject 
 of the foregoing sketch. The other three 
 died in infancy. 
 
 WILLIAM A. SHAFFER, the senior 
 member of the large brick manufac- 
 turing firm of Shaffer Brothers, of Norris- 
 town, was born in the city of Philadelphia, 
 Pennsylvania, September 12, 1836, and is a 
 son of George and Elizabeth (Whiteman) 
 Shaffer. His paternal grandfather was 
 born and reared in one of the States of the 
 present German empire, and after attaining 
 his majority came to Berks county, Penn- 
 sylvania, which he subsequently left to be- 
 come a resident of Philadelphia. In that 
 city he died well advanced in years. Their 
 children were five in number. 
 
 George Shaffer was born near Reading, 
 in Berks county, learned the trade of brick- 
 maker with his father in Philadelphia, and 
 subsequently became a resident of Norris- 
 town, where he worked in a brick yard up 
 to the breaking out of the late Civil war. 
 In the early part of that great contest he 
 sought to enter the Unior service, but hav- 
 ing served in the War of 1812 and being 
 somewhat advanced in years he could not 
 stand active service, and became a teamster 
 in Peter Whiteman's wagon train. He 
 
 served but one year and then died of brain 
 fever at Hatteras, North Carolina. He had 
 been ordered to North Carolina during 
 Burnside's expedition into the tidewater 
 region of that State. George Shaffer mar- 
 ried Elizabeth Whiteman. 
 
 William A. Shaffer was reared principally 
 at Norristown, where he received his educa- 
 tion in the public schools, which he at- 
 tended very irregularly on account of his 
 services being needed at home to aid in the 
 support of the family. He learned brick- 
 making with his father, who was an expert 
 in that line of work, and followed his trade 
 up to 1869. In that year he commenced 
 brick manufacturing on a small scale on a 
 lot between Powell and DeKalb streets, and 
 some years later he and his brother, Levi 
 R., opened a brick yard in West Norris- 
 town, which they operated for five years. 
 They then removed to their present plant 
 of twelve acres, which is just beyond tlie 
 borough limits and in Norriton town- 
 ship. Mr. Shaffer and his brother, Levi R., 
 do business under the name of Shaffer 
 Brothers, and employ a force of forty-five 
 men during their working season of the 
 year. Their plant is thoroughly equipped 
 with everything necessary for successful 
 brick manufacturing, and their season out- 
 put yearly is three million brick. Mr. 
 Shaffer wedded Mary Carroll, a daughter of 
 William Carroll, a native of England. To 
 their union have been born three children : 
 Cora J., wife of Walter H. Griffith, of Nor- 
 ristown ; Edith M., and George W., de- 
 ceased. 
 
 In addition to his interest in the brick 
 plant Mr Shaffer owns a good residence at 
 Norristown and fifty building lots at that 
 place on DeKalb, Powell and Willow streets. 
 He is the first man who learned the full 
 trade of brick maker at Norristown. He is 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 515 
 
 a reliable and energetic business man, and 
 in politics takes but a nominal part. 
 
 William A. Shaffer is a descendant of 
 that Shaffer family in Germany that fur- 
 nished many emigrants to the early settle- 
 ment of Eastern Pennsylvania. He is a 
 relative of Dr. Nathan C. Shaffer, the State 
 superintendent of public instruction of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
 [SSACHAR JOHNSTON, a thrifty and 
 * enterprising business man of Norristown, 
 was born July 25, 1825, and is a son of 
 Samuel and Deborah (VanWinkle) Johns- 
 ton. His paternal grandfather was a pio- 
 neer hotel keeper in Plymouth township, 
 near Hickorytown, being proprietor of what 
 was known in that day as the " North Star 
 Hotel." His children were : Samuel, born 
 February 9, 1795; James, born July 10, 
 1797 ; Joseph, born October 1, 1800; Eliza- 
 beth, born November 7, 1802 ; Charles, born 
 June 30, 1804 ; Isaac, born November 6, 
 1806 ; and Maria, born July 6, 1808. 
 
 Samuel Johnston was born in Plymouth 
 township, obtained a fair common school 
 education and then pursued for a time the 
 avocations of a farmer, and later, other in- 
 dustrial pursuits, among them the mercan- 
 tile business for a time at Springtown, this 
 county. He was a great reader, keeping 
 himself well posted on the current events 
 of the day. A man of good judgment, he 
 was elected to the office of justice of the 
 peace, and for a term of five years dealt out 
 equity, as between man and man, in a way 
 that met the approval of all fair-minded 
 men. He was a Republican politically, 
 and religiously a member of the Society of 
 Friends. During the latter part of his life 
 he resided in Norristown, where he died on 
 
 May 21, 1879, at the age of eighty-four years. 
 He was twice married ; he first wedded De- 
 borah Van Winkle, of Holland Dutch ex- 
 traction, and to them were born four child- 
 ren, of whom two grew to maturity : Joseph, 
 who was a fanner of the county up to the 
 time of his death on May 5, 1885 ; and 
 Issachar, subject. 
 
 The education of Mr. Johnston was ob- 
 tained in the subscription schools of Mont- 
 gomery count)'. Following various pur- 
 suits in his earlier days, he finally purchased 
 a small farm in Norriton township contain- 
 ing twenty-two acres, and engaged in gar- 
 dening and small fruit raising. This he 
 pursued with profit for a period of thirty- 
 eight years. In 1889 he disposed of his 
 farm and farming interests, through sale, 
 to his sons, Isaac and Ambrose, and re- 
 moved to Norristown, since which time his 
 attention has been given to his real estate 
 investments and other financial interests. 
 He is largely interested in real estate in 
 Kansas, where he owns sixteen hundred 
 acres of land near Mead Center. His realty 
 in Norristown is extensive and valuable 
 and includes two fine brick houses and a 
 square in West Norristown, in addition to 
 a number of building lots. He is a director 
 of the Montgomery Trust company, a heavy 
 stockholder in the Philadelphia ec Reading 
 railroad company, the Albertson Trust com- 
 pany, and the Lehigh Valley railroad com- 
 pany. 
 
 On July 27, 1850, Mr. Johnston and 
 Hannah, a daughter of George Arp, of this 
 county, were made husband and wife, and 
 four children bless this relation : Clarris- 
 siana, who died December 14, 1880, was the 
 wife of Allen Davis ; Samuel, married 
 Hannah Charles, and is now engaged in 
 merchandising in Philadelphia ; Isaac, mar- 
 ried Harriet Wertzner, and is an agricul- 
 
5i6 
 
 Biographical .Sketches. 
 
 turist of Norriton township ; Ambrose, 
 wedded Sarah Mielmer, and is also a farmer 
 in Norriton township. President Andrew 
 Johnson was a known cousin of Samuel 
 Johnston, the father of the subject of this 
 record, a difference existing in the spelling 
 of the name. 
 
 BF. MOORE, of Culpsville, present 
 • justice of the peace, is a young man 
 who has already gained for himself an en- 
 viable reputation in the neighborhood in 
 which he lives, and such is his energy and 
 ambition that it is safe to predict that his 
 public career is not to be confined to a 
 small area. He is a son of Eli and Amanda 
 (Schuyler) Moore, and was born on the 
 13th of August, 1S66. His paternal grand- 
 father was a farmer by occupation and fol- 
 lowed his plow to good purpose for many 
 years. In politics he was a Democrat, 
 though he did not take a very active part 
 in political work. He was a life-long com- 
 municant of the Lutheran church, and a 
 thorough Christian. He was the father of 
 eight children. 
 
 Eli Moore, father of B. F. Moore, was 
 given a common school education. He 
 was a laborer by occupation, and was 
 known and respected as an honest, upright 
 man and a good citizen. He voted the 
 Republican ticket, and was a member of 
 the Lutheran church. He was also a mem- 
 ber of Lansdale Lodge, I. O. O. F., and 
 was twice married. The children of the 
 first wife were Edward and James. The 
 second wife gave him the subject of this 
 sketch and Mary Ann Mr. Moore is now 
 dead, but his second wife still survives in 
 good health. 
 
 'Squire Moore was given a very limited 
 
 education, leaving the common schools 
 when he was only fifteen years old. But 
 he was ambitious for a better position in 
 the world, and resolved to win an educa- 
 tion for himself. This sturdy young lad 
 of fifteen, therefore, went to work to earn 
 money. He labored on a farm for two 
 years and saved his money. With this 
 little horde of savings he was enabled to 
 attend the high school during five terms, 
 and in that way qualified himself to be- 
 come a school teacher. He secured a 
 school, and has been teaching ten years, 
 up to the present time. He is popular, an 1 
 recognized as a man of ability and in- 
 dustry. 
 
 In political faith and practice Mr. Moore 
 supports with energy the Republican party 
 His worth was soon recognized, and he was 
 promptly elected justice of the peace, an 
 office he now filli to the entire satisfaction 
 of the general public. 'Squire Moore mar- 
 ried Miss Amanda Detwiller, daughter of 
 Amos Detwiller. They have one child, an 
 infant boy, Amos, who was born on Feb- 
 ruary 10, 1895. 
 
 PROF. HENRY E. HARTZELL, the 
 principal of the Sumneytown public 
 schools and a popular educator of Mont- 
 gomery county, is a son of Michael and 
 Catharine (Miller) Hartzell, and was born 
 April 15, 1840, in the township of Freder- 
 ick, this county. He is of German ancestry, 
 but his great great-grandfather left the 
 fatherland early in the eighteenth century 
 and came to the new world, settling in 
 Montgomery county. In Frederick town- 
 ship, this county, was born George Hartzell, 
 the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. 
 He was a man of good education for that 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 5i7 
 
 time and did effective service as a teacher 
 in the early educational history of Mont- 
 gomery county. He was a great admirer 
 of Andrew Jackson as a political leader, 
 and helieved in a Jacksonian enforcement 
 of the principles of the Jefferson school of 
 political economists, and served the people 
 of his township conscientiously and with 
 marked ability in the judicial relation of a 
 justice of the peace for a number of years. 
 He was a very active church member, be- 
 longing to the old Goshenhoppen Reformed 
 church in Upper Salford township. He 
 married Katie Croll, and to their marital 
 alliance were born eight children. 
 
 Michael Hartzell, father, was born in 
 Frederick township in 1797, and died in 
 Branchville on February 1, 1S59. He at- 
 tended the subscription schools and ob- 
 tained a good mental training, and then for 
 twenty-four years was engaged in the pro- 
 fession of teaching in the old subscription 
 or " pay " schools of the county. While 
 teaching, and for a time afterwards, em- 
 bracing in all a period of about twenty-four 
 years, he was assessor of Frederick town- 
 ship. During the greater part of this time 
 he resided upon a farm in Frederick town- 
 ship, where he owned one hundred and 
 eighteen acres of land, upon which most 
 of his family was reared. In 1852 he re- 
 moved to a farm in Upper Salford township, 
 and was elected one of the county commis- 
 sioners of Montgomery county for a term 
 of three years. Afterwards he removed to 
 Branchville, and the remainder of his life 
 was engaged in the hotel business. He was 
 a Democrat of pronounced views, and in 
 addition to the political offices already 
 mentioned served as school director a num- 
 ber of years, and always took an active in- 
 terest in the cause of popular education. 
 He was a devoted and consistent member 
 
 of the Reformed church, and was a man of 
 recognized integrity and probity of charac- 
 ter and of moral weight and influence in 
 the community. His marriage union with 
 Catharine Miller resulted in the birth of 
 eleven children : Nathan, Jesse, George, 
 Catherine, Michael, Elizabeth, Sarah, died 
 in infancy ; Jonas, Sophia, Henry. Edwin 
 and Annie. 
 
 Professor Henry Edwin Hartzell received 
 his educational training in the common 
 schools of Frederick township and in 
 Washington Hall college at the Trappe, 
 then a popular institution of learning, and 
 from the portals of which have gone forth 
 many young men who afterwards distin- 
 guished themselves in the professions and 
 in the business world. Having obtained a 
 liberal education Mr. Hartzell, in 1859, 
 took a position as teacher in the public 
 schools of the count}-, and has remained in 
 the profession ever since, teaching in vari- 
 ous townships and boroughs of the count}-, 
 and in 1867 came to Sumueytown as 
 principal of the schools of that borough, 
 and has remained there ever since. During 
 the winter season he is engaged in the 
 teaching of the public school and during 
 the summer as principal of the Sumuey- 
 town academy. Professor Hartzell is a 
 prominent and effective worker in the edu- 
 cational field, and keeps fully abreast the 
 educational progress of the day. He is an 
 active member of the Montgomery county 
 Reading society, of which body he was one 
 of the organizers, and has been a member 
 ever since. In the intervals since he has 
 been connected with the Sumueytown pub- 
 lic schools he has taught vocal music and 
 has been leader of the Sumueytown cornet 
 band since its organization. Politically he 
 is a staunch believer in the principles of 
 the Democratic part}-, with which party he 
 
5iS 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 has always voted. He served one term as 
 justice of the peace of Marlborough town- 
 ship, and has held various offices in the 
 organization of the election board. He is a 
 member of the Reformed church and an 
 active worker in the Sunday school. Fra- 
 ternallv he is a member of a number of 
 well known orders, among which are the 
 I. O. O. F., Scioto tribe, Improved Order of 
 Red Men, and Green Lane Castle, Knights 
 of the Golden Eagle. 
 
 In January, 1S68, Professor Hartzell and 
 Amanda, a daughter of Christian and Mary 
 (Fry) Stitler, were united in marriage, and 
 the following children bless this union : 
 James B., a teacher by profession, but now 
 employed as a clerk in Philadelphia ; Katie, 
 a teacher by avocation ; Byron, died in in- 
 fancy ; Ada, a teacher in the Sumneytown 
 schools ; Perry, died in infancy ; Wayne, 
 died in childhood ; Howard, Helen, Bessie, 
 Grover, died in infancy ; Clifford and Ed- 
 ward, died in infancy. 
 
 DW. STETTLER, of Delphi P. O., 
 • near Zieglersville, is one of the 
 largest merchants in that section of the 
 State, being engaged in the coal, lumber, 
 flour and feed business. He is of American 
 ancestry, and his family have been for 
 generations residents of Montgomery 
 county. He is the son of Christian and 
 Kate Stettler and was born in Frederick 
 township, April 30, 1856. A. D. Stettler 
 was his paternal grandfather and resided 
 in Frederick township all his life. He was 
 a farmer on a very large scale, and his 
 finely cultivated farm covered many acre^. 
 In politics he was an active Republican, 
 and a firm supporter of the principles of 
 protection. He was a life-long member of 
 
 the Lutheran church, and for many years 
 was a deacon in the congregation. He 
 married a Miss Schwenk. 
 
 The father of the subject of this sketch 
 was a prominent merchant and huckster of 
 Frederick township. He was educated in 
 the common schools and also attended col- 
 lege. Later he owned and worked a large 
 and profitable farm in the township, and 
 was prosperous in all of his business under- 
 takings Mr. Stettler was an earnest Chris- 
 tian and a member of the Lutheran church, 
 of which he was a trustee and elder for 
 many years. He was the father of eight 
 children, among whom are : Irvin, Sarah, 
 Hiram, subject, Morris, Howard, and Lily, 
 now wife of Doctor Neda. 
 
 D. W. Stettler was given a public school 
 education, and when he had finished there- 
 went to Frederick institute, where he took 
 a front place in his class. He left school 
 at the age of twenty-three years and was 
 engaged as a clerk for some time. He 
 then went into the flour, feed, coal and 
 lumber business at Delphi P. O., where he 
 has since held a high place in business 
 circles. His business is very extensive for 
 such a region, amounting to over $40,000 
 yearly. He is a Republican in politics and 
 is very active. Mr. Stettler early identified 
 himself with the Lutheran church and has 
 always been an earnest Christian worker 
 in the church of which he was a deacon. 
 On January, 26, 1884, he married, and is 
 the parent of one child, a son. 
 
 Mr. Stettler is not only a prosperous 
 merchant, but also owns a farm of one 
 hundred and four acres, which he works 
 with profit. In this and all his enterprises 
 his conduct has been such as to bring him 
 success and at the same time give him 
 the high esteem of all with whom he comes 
 in contact. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 5i9 
 
 JACOB H. LEISTER, who has been 
 ^J actively in business at North Wales 
 for over a quarter of a century, is a son of 
 Franklin and Mary Ann (Heavner) Leister, 
 and was born in Marlborough township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, No- 
 vember 8, 1838. His grandfather, Jacob 
 Leister, was of German descent, and fol- 
 lowed farming and powder-making in Marl- 
 borough township, where he died in 1850, 
 at sixty-two years of age. He was a Demo- 
 crat and Lutheran and married a Miss 
 Weidemyer, by whom he had the follow- 
 ing children : Franklin Willoughby, Jacob, 
 Hannah, and Mrs. John W. Loch. Frank- 
 lin Leister was reared on the farm, and after 
 his father's death, succeeded to the owner- 
 ship of the home lands and the powder 
 mill, the latter of which he had previously 
 operated and which he had finally disposed 
 of to the Du Pouts. After disposing of his 
 powder works, he retired from active busi- 
 ness, and died in 1892, aged eighty-four 
 years. He was an old time Democrat, and 
 a member of the Lutheran church, in which 
 he served for a long period of time as a 
 deacon. Mr. Leister wedded Mary Ann 
 Heavner, who was born in 1808, and is 
 still living. They had three children : 
 Hannah, widow of G. Henderson ; Jacob 
 H., and Mary, who died in childhood. 
 
 Jacob H. Leister was reared in his own 
 township, and left school at eighteen years 
 of age, to remove to Norristown, where he 
 learned the trade of tinner, which he fol- 
 lowed in Philadelphia and Norristown and 
 Doylestown, Bucks county, until 1867. In 
 that year he came to North Wales, and 
 started in the tin, stove and hardware busi- 
 ness, which he followed most successfully 
 for twenty years. He then was out of busi- 
 ness for three years, at the end of which 
 time, in 1890, he opened his present agri- 
 
 cultural establishment and extensive coal 
 yards, associating with him his son, under 
 the firm name of J. H. Leister & Son. 
 
 In 1863 Mr. Leister married Mary Reed, 
 and to their union have been born seven 
 children : Catharine and Amelia, dead ; 
 Frank; Jacob and Milton, dead; Emma and 
 Addie. 
 
 Mr. Leister is a Democrat in politics, 
 and a member and trustee of the Reformed 
 church. He served as school director and 
 as a councilman for twelve years, but when 
 elected justice of the peace, refused to take- 
 out his commission. He has been presi- 
 dent of the North Wales board of trade for 
 years. He has been a director for years of 
 its improvement and water companies, and 
 of its building and loan association. Jacob 
 H. Leister is one of the pioneers of the 
 early improvement and the later growth of 
 North Wales. 
 
 TAMES A. STEEN, of Conshohocken, a 
 J prominent druggist, is the eldest son 
 of John and Margaret (Armstrong) Steen, 
 and was born in the city of Philadelphia, 
 Pennsylvania, April 21, 1837. The name 
 of Steen is of Scotch origin, and means a 
 stone. John Steen was born at Euniskillen, 
 in Ireland, and died aged fifty-two years. 
 He was a man of good education, and at an 
 early age came to Philadelphia, where he 
 became a successful china and queens ware 
 merchant, on Second street below South 
 street. He became an old line Whig after 
 coming to Philadelphia, where he united 
 with the Wharton street Methodist Episco- 
 pal church. He married Margaret Ann- 
 strong. Of the nine children born unto 
 them but four lived to reach man- 
 hood and womanhood : James A., subject ; 
 
52o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Mary L., wife of Isaac T. Sharp ; Jose- 
 phine, who died at eighteen years of age, 
 and John F., whose death occurred at 
 twenty-five years of age. 
 
 James A. Steen received his early educa- 
 tion in the public schools and the Episco- 
 pal academy, of Philadelphia, and at six- 
 teen years of age left school to learn the 
 druggist business. He was employed in 
 various drug stores and finally became an 
 assistant in Dr. W. F. Patterson's drug 
 establishment. While serving with Dr. 
 Patterson he took the full course at the 
 Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, from 
 which institution he was graduated in the 
 class of 1857. Immediately after gradua- 
 tion he secured a position at Columbia, 
 South Carolina, which he held for two 
 years, and then after a visit home went to 
 Raleigh, North Carolina, where he re- 
 mained two years. He then, in i860, went 
 to Pine Bluff City, Jefferson county, Arkan- 
 sas, at which place he resided until he- 
 secured the position of surgeon, steward 
 and apothecary at the Philadelphia naval 
 asylum. Two and one-half years later he 
 went to Norfolk, Virginia, in the same 
 capacity, and eighteen months later ac- 
 cepted a similar position at the United 
 States naval academy at Annapolis, Mary- 
 land, where he remained for a year and a 
 half. Leaving Annapolis he removed to 
 Philadelphia, and in 1871 came to Consho- 
 hocken, where he was a partner for nine 
 years in the drug business with James W. 
 Harry. At the end of that time he pur- 
 chased the drug house of R. M. Service, at 
 No. 241 Hector street, and has enlarged 
 and remodeled the building until he now 
 has a commodious and well appointed drug 
 establishment. Mr. Steen gives careful 
 attention to the filling of physicians' pre- 
 scriptions, for which he is specially quali- 
 
 fied, aud has secured a large and remuner- 
 ative patronage in the general drug and pre- 
 scription business. He is a Republican in 
 politics, and has served for two terms as a 
 member of the school board. He is a mem- 
 ber of Fritz lodge, Free and Accepted 
 Masons, Knights of the Golden Eagle, and 
 the Protestant Episcopal church, in which 
 he is a vestryman. 
 
 On June 2, 1875 Mr. Steen married Eliza 
 Ann Baxter, a daughter of James Baxter, 
 of Conshohocken. Mr. and Mrs. Steen 
 have three children : H. Baxter, who gradu- 
 ated [in the mechanic arts from Drexel In- 
 stitute in the class of 1895 ; Margaret Jose- 
 phine, stenographer and assistant office 
 manager for the Chester L. Smith Manu- 
 facturing company, of Norristown, and 
 Helen Armstrong, now attending school. 
 
 HON. JOHN S. HUNSICKER, who 
 was born in Perkioinen township, on 
 November 19, 1837, is descended from Ger- 
 man ancestry that has performed an impor- 
 tant part in the making of history in cen- 
 tral and eastern Pennsylvania. He is now 
 fifty-eight years old, and during the whole 
 of the time since reaching his majority 
 he has been a prominent figure in the 
 affairs of the locality in which he lived. 
 In this he again strongly resembles the 
 men from whom he is descended. His 
 grandfather was born in Skippack town- 
 ship, and passed his life in a dual capacity 
 and with equal success. He tilled the soil 
 of a large farm and also preached the gos- 
 pel according to the tenets of the Reformed 
 church. He was a godly man and went 
 down to his grave in November, 1847, full 
 of years and honor. He was a Whig in 
 political faith, and for his time was a well- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 521 
 
 informed man. He was survived by six 
 children ; Joseph, Henry, Mary, Elizabeth, 
 Garret I), and Sarah. 
 
 Henry Hnnsieker, father of John, was 
 born in March, 1802. He received the 
 advantage of the schools of his day and 
 became a farmer. He owned a farm of 
 one hundred and seventy-five acres, rich in 
 soil and very profitable. He voted and 
 worked with the Republican party and his 
 zeal was rewarded by election to the posi- 
 tion of justice of the peace, which he held 
 about eight years, and assessor. He was a 
 devout Christian and active church worker. 
 He was one of the first trustees of the 
 Collegeville church, and was always de- 
 voted in the cause. He married Kate 
 Shoemaker, and this union was blessed 
 with nine children : Elizabeth, died at the 
 age of fifteen ; Erias ; Francis ; Mary, who 
 became the wife of Rev. Mailley ; Barbara, 
 who died young; John S., the subject of 
 this sketch ; Sarah, wife of D. D. Halde- 
 man ; Isaac, who died young ; and Kate, 
 who is the wife of John Umstad. Mr. 
 Hnnsieker died in May, 1S65. 
 
 Hon. John S. Hnnsieker, of whom this 
 sketch especially treats, started his school 
 life at a tender age in the common schools 
 of the district. He afterwards finished his 
 education with five winter terms at Free- 
 land seminary, now Ursinus college. Fol- 
 lowing this he went on a farm and has 
 been following that occupation ever since. 
 He owns a large and fertile farm and is 
 successful in its management. He always 
 affiliated with the Republican party, was a 
 hard worker in the ranks, and held several 
 more or less responsible positions, among 
 them being assessor for five years and jus- 
 tice of the peace for eight. Throughout 
 his political career he has been noted for 
 his honesty of purpose and square dealing 
 
 with both friend and foe. Mr. Hnnsieker 
 is a member of the Reformed church at 
 Collegeville and has always taken a leading 
 part in the affairs of the church. He was 
 a deacon and a trustee of this congrega- 
 tion for a number of years, a teacher of the 
 Sunday school for fifteen years, and finally 
 superintendent. 
 
 < )n February 2, 1862, Mr. Hnnsieker 
 married Louise F., daughter of Abraham 
 E. Cole, who was a well-to-do farmer. Five 
 children were born to this couple : Anna, 
 born December 18, 1862, the wife of H. T. 
 Hnnsieker; Mary, born July 30, 1864, and 
 married to I. F. Savior; Elmer E., died 
 young ; Wi lmer C, born October 17, 1868 ; 
 and Henry C, born December 29, 1871. 
 
 MAHLON J. GERHART, the head of 
 the East Greenville Marble works, is 
 a business man well known throughout the 
 county. He has been in business in East 
 Greenville since 1870, and has been very 
 successful in all of his enterprises. Born 
 and raised on a farm, still he was given the 
 advantage of a good education, and has 
 combined the marble business with agri- 
 cultural pursuits to good advantage. He 
 is a son of John F. and Leah (Kemmerer) 
 Gerhart, and was born May 18, 1840, near 
 New Goshenhoppen church in Upper 
 Hanover township, Montgomery county, 
 and is a descendant of German ancestry, 
 his forefathers having been among the early 
 settlers of this part of the State. 
 
 Mr. Gerhart received his education at 
 Freeland seminary, now Ursinus college, 
 under Prof. H. A. Hnnsieker. He also 
 took a course in music under Prof. Her- 
 mann, as a private scholar and received ex- 
 cellent instruction. After graduation he 
 
522 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 returned to the farm and assisted his father 
 in working his fertile fields. About this 
 time he married Man- Ann, daughter of 
 George Gery, who was a prosperous farmer 
 and a prominent member of the Goshen- 
 hoppen church, in which he served as 
 deacon, elder and trustee. Mr. Gerhart re- 
 mained with his father on the farm at New 
 Goshenhoppeu church until April i, 1895, 
 when he removed to East Greenville and 
 purchased a fine residence. He is still sole 
 owner and manager of the East Greenville 
 Marble works and employs five hands, who 
 are kept busy all the year. The business 
 of these works embraces all of the several 
 kinds of ornamental stone work, and many 
 fine granite monuments have been turned 
 out by the establishment. His trade ex- 
 tends over a wide district of the county, 
 and he may be said to be one of the solid 
 men of the region. Mr. Gerhart is at pres- 
 ent organist of Pennsburg Reformed church, 
 and is a musician of merit. For over forty 
 years he was the organist at New Goshen- 
 hoppen Reformed church, but resigned in 
 1894. At one time he was also organist 
 for the Swamp Trinity Reformed church 
 and filled that post for fifteen years. He 
 has always been very active in church af- 
 fairs and Sunday school work. In politi- 
 cal tendencies, Mr. Gerhart early cast his 
 lot with the Republican party, but he never 
 held or aspired to public office. He is a 
 public spirited man, however, and always 
 takes an interest in anything that is calcu- 
 lated to subserve the welfare of his com- 
 munity and the people among whom he 
 lives. 
 
 Mr. Gerhart's union with Mary Ann 
 Gery was blessed with five children : Cora, 
 is the wife of F. M. Mall, a well-to-do mer- 
 chant ; Sallie L., was married to Dr. O. F. 
 Gery, a prominent young physician, who 
 
 is now located at Chapel, Berks county ; 
 George Clement; one dead; Paul A., is a 
 book-keeper at Philadelphia and is a gradu- 
 ate of Pierce's Business college ; Katie R., 
 is still unmarried and resides with her 
 parents. 
 
 FG. BIGONY, M. D., of Lansdale, is a 
 • young practitioner who, in a few 
 years, has gained a large clientele and 
 has won the respect and confidence of the 
 people of his neighborhood. He is of 
 French extraction, though his ancestors 
 have resided in this country for a number 
 of generations. His grandfather was Joseph 
 Bigony, a farmer by occupation, which he 
 followed all his life. He was a Democrat 
 in political belief and took a great interest 
 in party work. As a farmer he was very 
 successful and gave his children the benefit 
 of good educational advantages. 
 
 Dr. F. W. Bigony, his son, and the father 
 of the subject of this sketch, finished the 
 public school course, studied medicine and 
 graduated from Jefferson Medical college. 
 He opened an office in Skippackville and 
 practiced his profession there until he re- 
 moved to Doylestown. From there he went 
 to Line Lexington, and finally settled at 
 Montgomeryville, where he is enjoying a 
 large and lucrative practice. He is a Dem- 
 ocrat and an active politician, being a 
 leader in his district. He is also a very 
 prominent member of the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows. His marriage union 
 was blessed with seven offspring. 
 
 Dr. F. G. Bigony attended the public 
 schools, aftei wards took a nine months' 
 course at Doylestown seminary, and then 
 began to read medicine under his father. 
 He attended Jefferson college and gradu- 
 ated with honor March 29, 1884. He first 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 523 
 
 located at Line Lexington and remained 
 there until 1887, when he came to Lansdale 
 and made it his home. Here he found a 
 large field and has been prosperous. He is 
 very popular, and being full of the spirit of 
 progress and enterprise, is a prominent and 
 valued citizen. He is a Democrat and a 
 member of the Independent Order of ( kid 
 Fellows. He married Ida, daughter of 
 Rufus Yerkes, on June 7, 1888, and they 
 have had four children : Marie O., born 
 January 27, 1891 ; Rufus G., born June 24, 
 1892, now dead ; Carl R, born June 2, 1893, 
 ami Margaret, born in 1894. 
 
 [ SHELLY WEINBERGER. A few 
 kJ • miles northwest of Quakertown, in 
 the township of Milford and the county of 
 Bucks, stand three Mennonite meeting- 
 houses, within a radius of less than a mile, 
 and no others within a range of several 
 miles. The country is a fine open level, 
 and is still known as " the Swamp." Sixty 
 years ago the citizens of the place almost 
 exclusively held the religious faith of the 
 Mennonites, and on the presidential elec- 
 tion cast their ballots for the Whig candi- 
 date. The school house was attached to 
 the meeting house, and the most advanced 
 in scholarship was generally called on to 
 become the schoolmaster. The true genius 
 of the Pennsylvania Germans was well dis- 
 played in this locality. The inhabitants 
 were farmers, with the exception of a few 
 mechanics and store-keepers, and were early 
 noted for sobriety, industry, non-resistance 
 and shunning of debt. Not to pay one's debts 
 was considered a marked disgrace, and to 
 sue, unrighteous. The dictates of con- 
 science were regarded far more binding 
 than statute law. Their over- cautious 
 
 habits, however, prevented them from tak- 
 ing the initiative in any new enterprise, 
 and the fact that a thing was new was 
 thought sufficient ground for its rejection. 
 Hence their slow progress in their early 
 history. 
 
 Amidst surroundings and associations of 
 this kind lived the Weinberger family in 
 humble style, having the Bible, hymn-book, 
 prayer-book, and a few printed sermons for 
 a library. Joseph Weinberger's grand- 
 parents emigrated from the borders of the 
 Rhine, in Germany, to this country. He 
 was married to Mary Shelly, and to them 
 were born four daughters, and one son, 
 John Shelly Weinberger, named after his 
 maternal grandfather, John Shelly. Joseph 
 Weinberger could read and write German, 
 and was esteemed for his correct habits and 
 resoluteness, and died in the eighty-first 
 year of his age, while his mother had be- 
 come almost a centenarian. Young Wein- 
 berger was educated in the common schools 
 as they were conducted fifty-five years ago. 
 
 When seventeen years of age he joined 
 the church of his parents. In addition to 
 subscribing to the creed he promised to 
 obey the regulations of the church and to 
 preach if the lot would fall on him. 
 Bishop John H. Oberholtzer was the dis- 
 trict school teacher. His increasing parish 
 labors divided his time unfavorably for 
 discharging the duties of either office. 
 When young Weinberger was nineteen 
 years of age the bishop asked him to suc- 
 ceed him as teacher. The local director 
 proposed to make it easy by requiring but 
 a partial examination and allowing the 
 novice to attend a term at boarding school 
 before the district school would commence. 
 Meanwhile his brother-in-law, Rev. Henry 
 A. Huusicker, principal of Freeland semi- 
 nary, was paying the family a social visit, 
 
524 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 and was urging the young man by all 
 means to accept the proposition. That 
 was the turning point of his future career. 
 The attendance of one term at a seminary 
 gave no little weight to the young teacher's 
 standing in the estimation of the com- 
 munity, and he succeeded far above his 
 own expectations, especially in discipline. 
 Having completed the winter session, he 
 drew his pay and went to Freeland semi- 
 nary for two terms during the summer, the 
 directors not requiring him to come home 
 to attend examination, as he had given 
 satisfaction the previous winter. When 
 twenty-one years of age he resolved to take 
 a collegiate course and make teaching his 
 profession. The resolution was strong, 
 but the funds were wanting. Rev. Daniel 
 Weiser offered to provide the means if 
 young Weinberger would become a Re- 
 formed clergyman. His brother-in-law 
 proposed to loan him all the money to 
 insure an independent course. After the 
 father became fully acquainted with the 
 strong resolution of his son, he resolved to 
 furnish half the sum required and take 
 notes for the other half. The way now 
 was clear, and he concluded to prepare for 
 Yale college, where his classical teachers, 
 Wayne MaeVeagh and William L. Wil- 
 liamson, had lately graduated. Two years' 
 study, besides teaching and acting as pre- 
 fect in Freeland seminary for board, amidst 
 many discouragements, regrets and morti- 
 fications, was regarded sufficient prepara- 
 tion for entering an eastern college. 
 
 In the second week of September, 1855, 
 John Hunter Worrall, a senior, Joseph 
 Alonzo Christinau, a junior, Henry Royer, 
 a sophomore, and J. Shelly Weinberger, 
 an applicant for admission, all of Mont- 
 gomery county, started for Yale college. 
 In the evening they found lodging at the 
 
 Florence hotel, in the great metropolis, 
 and on the following noon arrived at the 
 City of Elms. Weinberger became Mr. 
 Worrall's protege in all the preliminary 
 arrangements for appearing to the best 
 advantage in Alumni hall for examination. 
 The applicant became a member of the 
 Freshman class of '59, numbering one hun- 
 dred and fifty-three. He spent four profit- 
 able years at college, towards the close 
 changed places with some whose early 
 training had been far more favorable, and 
 at the age of twenty-seven graduated with 
 respectable honors. On the Monday fol- 
 lowing the commencement of his alma 
 mater he took his place in Freeland semi- 
 nary as teacher of ancient and modern 
 languages. He saved all of his salary he 
 could for two years to pay his note, when 
 he considered himself financially free, and 
 had but a meagre balance to his credit. 
 He entered into a new covenant by marry- 
 ing a young lady of fine intellectual en- 
 dowments and good taste, Miss Emma 
 Kratz, daughter of Jacob S. Kratz, of 
 i Plumstead, Bucks county. In 1863 he pur- 
 chased a small farm, stock and all, moved 
 on the farm, and managed it successfully 
 without interfering with his teaching. 
 
 After having taught for Mr. Hunsicker 
 for six years, the school was leased for five 
 years to Mr. Adam H. Fetterolf, now Dr. 
 Fetterolf, president of Girard college. The 
 services of Mr. Weinberger had previously 
 been secured, and he became Mr. Fetterolf 's 
 right-hand man in governing unruly boys 
 and teaching refractory classes. Before 
 Mr. Fetterolf's lease had expired Freeland 
 seminary was sold to the board of directors 
 of Ursinus college. The constitution of 
 the college provides that one-fourth of the 
 board may consist of members not belong- 
 ing to the Reformed church. In the elec- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 525 
 
 tion of the facility it was considered wise 
 by the board to make J. Shelly Weinberger 
 a member, to represent the old element in 
 the school, a stroke of policy for which 
 there has been no cause for regret. He 
 saved for the college one-half of the 
 students of Freehand seminary, some of 
 whom subsequently graduated. He ren- 
 dered valuable aid to the Reformed breth- 
 ren in their efforts to put the college on a 
 firm basis and in their endeavors to estab- 
 lish a good system of discipline. 
 
 Professor Weinberger for some years 
 studied the co-education of the sexes in 
 colleges by reading all the books treating 
 on the subject at his command, pro and 
 con. Besides his own theory, the experi- 
 ence of Oberlin college for fifty years, as 
 well as that of other colleges which opened 
 their doors to ladies at more recent periods, 
 satisfied him that it is the natural and nor- 
 mal way to educate, as mind knows no sex. 
 Being acquainted with the difficulties 
 which have to be overcome to introduce 
 the system and make it effective at Ursi- 
 nus, he proposed what he thought might 
 prove an entering wedge. He made a re- 
 quest that his daughter should be allowed 
 to enter the college classes, proposing to 
 pay for her tuition the same as if she were 
 a son. The school had just commenced its 
 session, and immediate action on the re- 
 quest was painful and every intimation un- 
 favorable. After a consideration of one 
 week the request was granted with the 
 understanding that no others be allowed to 
 enter should they apply. Everything 
 went on as before, and at the end of the 
 scholastic year, Dr. Super, the vice-presi- 
 dent, and Professor Weinberger were ap- 
 pointed a committee to present an over 
 ture to the board of directors to admit 
 young ladies as day pupils into the institu- 
 
 tion. The board reported favorably, and 
 the president of the faculty in his next 
 annual report stated that "the experiment 
 of admitting young ladies had proved the 
 wisdom of the measure." 
 
 The quarter-centennial of the office of 
 teacher in the different halls, on the same 
 grounds, through three successive admin- 
 istrations, was celebrated on the 26th of 
 June, 1884, by the graduation of his only 
 child, Minerva, who was the valedictorian 
 in a class of nine, and the first lady gradu- 
 ate in the classical department of Ursinus 
 college. 
 
 In 1884 he became a member of the Cen- 
 tennial Association of Montgomery county, 
 and served as committeeman of the upper 
 district of Upper Providence. Each elec- 
 tion district was asked to subscribe one 
 hundred dollars. In two days after he re- 
 ceived his papers he had raised his quota of 
 one hundred dollars in paid up subscrip- 
 tions. On his favorable report the com- 
 mittee on finance began to breath more 
 freely. Others fell in line and a fund of 
 three thousand, five hundred and fifty dol- 
 lars soon promised to make an assumed 
 success of the coming centennial celebra- 
 tion. After a successful celebration a hand- 
 some balance of money was left in the 
 treasurer's hands. It was proposed to spend 
 the residue on a grand banquet. The pro- 
 fessor objected to this as he said the funds 
 were subscribed for the benefit of the citi- 
 zens of Montgomery county and not for 
 private use. He offered a resolution to 
 place the money in mortgage trust forever 
 for the benefit of Montgomery County His- 
 torical society, the projector of the cele- 
 bration. Some of the lawyers opposed the 
 measure violently, but the good sense of the 
 committeemen from the country districts 
 prevailed, and it was so ordered. He be- 
 
526 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 came a member of the Historical society at 
 that time. 
 
 In 1889 he was chairman of the com- 
 mittee of arrangements to celebrate the 
 fortieth anniversary of the founding of Free- 
 land seminary, on which occasion he de- 
 livered a neat address of welcome, which 
 called forth hearty response from Rev. H. 
 A. Hunsicker, principal of Freeland semi- 
 nary for seventeen years ; A. H. Fetterolf, 
 LL. D., president of Girard college ; Milton 
 T. Urner, a prominent lawyer and ex-con- 
 gressman of Frederick, Maryland ; John M. 
 Vanderslice, Esq., of Philadelphia ; and 
 Hon. George N. Corson, of Norristown. 
 
 J. A. Strassburger, Esq., of Norristown, 
 and Professor Brunner, congressman elect 
 from Berks county, made the after dinner 
 speeches of the occasion. 
 
 Prof. Weinberger served as professor of 
 Latin and Greek in Ursinus college, 1870 
 87, and has been professor of the Greek 
 language and literature since 1887. He 
 ranked as senior professor for twenty years 
 and after the death of the first president, he 
 held the second place in the faculty until 
 the election of the second president in 1892, 
 when he was elected dean of Ursinus 
 college. 
 
 In 1890 he was elected by the board of 
 directors as a member of the building com- 
 mittee of which Robert Patterson was 
 chairman, to erect Bomberger Memorial 
 hall. This token of honor he accepted with 
 some reluctance, but all apprehensions were 
 soon removed by an intimate acquaintance 
 with Mr. Patterson, from whose noble pur- 
 poses he learned that the college was 
 building better than it knew. 
 
 The Professor has had different offers 
 since graduation to become principal or 
 president of higher institutions, all of which 
 he declined, preferring a less responsible 
 
 position, as increasing responsibility weighs 
 heavily upon him. He was a contributor 
 to the Reformed Church Monthly. Among 
 the addresses delivered in connection with 
 his official duties are notably one on "Con- 
 science," and another on " Success." Lec- 
 tures on forestry were delivered by him 
 when the question was first agitated in the 
 State, and he has been president of the 
 Montgomery county branch of the Penn- 
 sylvania Forestry association for many 
 years. The master-piece of his literary pro- 
 ductions outside of his profession is an ad- 
 dress on " Objective History," delivered at 
 the Inter-County Historical meeting, at 
 Ambler Park, June 10, 1S86. A reporter 
 commenting on this piece of literature now 
 in history, says that philosophy and criti- 
 cism are natural to the speaker. 
 
 The professor has always been closely in 
 touch with all public interests in his com- 
 munity and has discharged the duties of 
 various trusts committed to him, and has 
 been styled "the business professor." 
 
 He was senior elder for many years in 
 Trinity Christian church, and since its con- 
 nection with the Reformed church, he re- 
 presented it in classis three successive years, 
 and was once a delegate to synod. He con- 
 tributes to the interests of the mid-week 
 prayer meeting and teaches his class regu- 
 larly in Sunday school. 
 
 He has been teaching the second genera- 
 tion for some time. The sons in many cases 
 have related incidents told by their fathers. 
 Prof. Weinberger is the only member of the 
 faculty from the start remaining in it at 
 the present time. His relation with the 
 educational institution of the place has been 
 unique. For thirty-six consecutive years he 
 has been a teacher here. He has always 
 been the connecting link between the old 
 and the new. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 527 
 
 He has been a successful teacher and dis- 
 ciplinarian, and a true servant. The Re- 
 formed Church Almanac savs : " His in- 
 herent force of character and positive man- 
 ner and expression tend to develop manli- 
 ness and decision in the student. Prof. 
 Weinberger contributes important qualities 
 to the faculty of Ursinus." Another says, 
 " There are but two tender spots in the 
 professor's make-up, a tender conscience 
 and a tender heart." 
 
 He is now sixty-three years of age and 
 lives in a modest home fronting on the main 
 street of Collegeville. He has been hon- 
 ored with the degrees, Master of Arts and 
 Doctor of Laws. 
 
 HENRY U. BRUNNER, a district 
 attorney from 1871 to 1875, is a son 
 of Frederick and Lydia (Umsted) Brunner, 
 and a native of Worcester township, this 
 county, where he was born, December 23, 
 1841. The family is of German origin and 
 trace their lineage back to the ancient 
 palatines, or high officials with royal 
 preogatives, in an unbroken line of descent. 
 Its first representatives in America were two 
 brothers, who left the fatherland early in 
 1720, and after a long and tempestuous 
 voyage landed at Philadelphia in the 
 autumn of that year and settled, one in 
 what is now Montgomery county, and the 
 other in the county of Berks. From these 
 two emigrants are supposed to be descended 
 all the numerous Brunners now in this 
 country. Thev each reared a large family, 
 but the biographer lacks the necessary data 
 to trace them carefully, and will only say 
 that two of their descendants, uncles of the 
 subject of this sketch, served with distinc- 
 tion in the War of 1812, and that others 
 
 have been among the useful and respected 
 citizens of Montgomery county and Eastern 
 Pennsylvania. PYederiek Brunner, paternal 
 grandfather of Henry Y . Brunner, was a 
 blacksmith and farmer by occupation, a 
 Jacksonian Democrat in politics, and an 
 adherent of the German Reformed church. 
 He passed nearly his entire life in Mont- 
 gomery county. He married and reared a 
 family of several children, one of his sons 
 being Frederick Brunner (father), who was 
 born in Worcester township, this county, 
 in 1797. The latter obtained a good com- 
 mon school education, and after arriving at 
 man's estate engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits, which he followed all his life. Like 
 his father, he was an ardent Democrat in 
 politics, and served as school director for a 
 period of six years, between 1850 and i860. 
 He was a member of the Reformed church, 
 and died at his home in Worcester town- 
 ship, this county, December 1, 1869, aged 
 seventy-two years. He married Lydia Um- 
 sted, and by that union had a family of 
 children, only seven of whom now survive : 
 Joseph, Albert, Franklin, Jacob, Henry U., 
 Samuel, and Hannah, now the wife of 
 George M. Weber, of Worcester township. 
 The deceased were : Julia A., Mary, Eliza- 
 beth, Isabella, Frederick and Daniel (twins), 
 Benjamin, John, Lydia and Elizabeth, the 
 last named dying in infancy. 
 
 Henry U. Brunner was reared on the old 
 homestead in Worcester township, this 
 county, and attended the public schools un- 
 til his sixteenth year. By that time he 
 had acquired a very good common school 
 education and began teaching in the dis- 
 trict schools of this county. After four 
 winters passed in that employment he en- 
 tered Franklin and Marshall college in the 
 spring of i860, and was graduated from 
 that institution early in 1864. He then 
 
528 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 taught a select school in Westmoreland 
 county, and at the same time began the 
 study of law with the late Hon. Henry I). 
 Foster, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Hav- 
 ing completed his preparation and passed 
 the usual examination he was admitted to 
 the bar of Westmoreland county in August, 
 1866, and in September of the same year 
 was admitted to practice in the courts of 
 Montgomerv countv. He at once located 
 at Norristown, where he has been engaged 
 in a lucrative general practice ever since. 
 He has been solicitor fjr a number of 
 county officers and is a member of the com- 
 mittee on records for the county of Mont- 
 gomery. 
 
 In the year 187 1 Mr. Brunner was elected 
 to the office of district attorney, and served 
 acceptably until 1875. His administration 
 of the office was alike creditable to himself 
 and conducive to the public welfare. In 
 his more than a quarter of a century of 
 general practice in the courts of Eastern 
 Pennsylvania, he has been connected with 
 many important actions, among which may 
 be mentioned the Curling murder case in 
 1875, the Supplee libel case in 1879, and 
 the Hoskins and Earnest case, in all of 
 which he prominently figured. 
 
 On August 7, 1872, Mr. Brunner was 
 united in marriage to Mary A. Houpt, a 
 daughter of the late Isaiah B. Houpt, of 
 Norristown. To. Mr. and Mrs. Brunner 
 have been born two children, one son and a 
 daughter : Blanche and Charles H., the 
 latter now a member of the Freshman class 
 at the alma mater of his father, Franklin 
 and Marshall college, Lancaster, Pennsyl- 
 vania. In his political affiliations Mr. 
 Brunner is a Democrat, and for many years 
 has taken an active part in local politics. 
 He has been officially identified with the 
 Democratic county committee, and is re- 1 
 
 garded as among the conservative and far- 
 seeing leaders of his party in Montgomery 
 countv. 
 
 HON. CHARLES H. STIXSON, one 
 of the most efficient and popular pub- 
 lic men that Montgomery county has ever 
 produced, is a son of Hon. Robert and 
 Elizabeth (Porter) Stinson, and was born in 
 Xorriton township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, June 28, 1825. The Stinsons 
 are of sturdy Scotch-Irish descent, and in- 
 herit all the worthy traits of their celebra- 
 ted and distinguished race. Hon. Robert 
 Stinson was a man of prominence and 
 worth, and led a life above reproach and 
 worthy of imitation. He was a justice of 
 the peace for many years and served as an 
 anti-Masonic member of the legislature of 
 Pennsylvania in 1836. He married Eliza- 
 beth Porter, daughter of Stephen Porter 
 and niece to General Andrew Porter. 
 
 Chas. H. Stinson was reared in his native 
 county, and after completing his academic 
 course entered Dickinson college, at Car- 
 lisle, this State, from which institution of 
 learning he was graduated in the class of 
 1845. His hard work at college im- 
 paired his health, and he spent a year 
 very profitably to himself physically in 
 traveling through several mountainous 
 sections of the State. At the end 
 of that time he returned home and read law 
 with his brother, George W. Stinson, of 
 Norristown, until the death of the latter in 
 1848. After this sad event he completed 
 his legal studies under Addison May, and 
 and was admitted to the Montgomery 
 county bar May 22, 1849. Immediately 
 after admission to the bar, Mr. Stinson en- 
 tered upon the practice of his profession at 
 Norristown, where he has remained ever 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 529 
 
 since. He practices in the courts of Mont 
 gomery and adjoining counties, where he is 
 known as a lawyer of ability, diligence and 
 honesty. 
 
 In politics Mr. Stinson is a Republican. 
 He refused the nomination of his party for 
 State senator in 1864, but three years later 
 was prevailed upon to accept it, and was 
 elected with Dr. Werthington, of West 
 Chester, this State, to represent the counties 
 of Montgomery, Chester and Delaware. He 
 served on the general judiciary and other 
 prominent committees of the State senate 
 in 1868, and was elected speaker in 1869. 
 He was re-elected to that office in 1870, and 
 presided with such dignity, fairness and 
 general acceptation to all parties as to com- 
 mand general respect and make his brief 
 political career one of honor and worthy of 
 record. 
 
 Shortly after retiring from the political 
 field and refusing any further nominations, 
 he declined the appointment of additional 
 law judge of Montgomery and Bucks coun- 
 ties, tendered him by Governor John \V. 
 Geary. In April, 1882, Governor Hoyt ap- 
 pointed Senator Stinson president judge of 
 the thirty-eighth judicial district to fill the 
 vacancy occasioned by the death of Judge 
 Henrv P. Ross. Senator Stinson took his 
 place on the bench and by the urbanity of 
 his manner and the prompt, accurate and 
 impartial discharge of every duty of his 
 position made as worthy a judicial record 
 as he had a political career. In the autumn 
 he was the unanimous choice of his party 
 for judge, but the district being largely 
 Democratic he was defeated, although pop- 
 ular and running ahead of his ticket. 
 
 Judge Stinson has always been philan- 
 thropic and patriotic, and throughout the 
 late Civil war was an earnest supporter of 
 the Union, serving as a private in an eraer- 
 
 34 
 
 gency company called into the Gettysburg 
 campaign when the legions of Lee threat- 
 ened Pennsylvania. Judge Stinson has 
 also been active and useful in varous ways 
 to his fellow citizens. lie was one of the 
 organizers and is the solicitor of the First 
 National bank, of Norristown, ami served 
 as a trustee of the hospital for the insane of 
 Southeastern Pennsylvania. While serv- 
 ing in the latter position he was instru- 
 mental in breaking the old hospital system 
 of this country, and placed a woman phy- 
 sician at the head of the women's depart- 
 ment. The results of this change in hos- 
 pital management of the insane have been 
 so beneficial that every hospital for the in- 
 sane will soon have a woman for chief 
 physician of the women's department. In 
 private and public life Judge Charles H. 
 Stinson has been faithful and efficient in 
 the discharge of every duty devolving upon 
 him. 
 
 HUGH MclNNIS, a self-made man and 
 a leading manufacturer of Norris- 
 town, is a son of John and Martha (Hunter) 
 Mclnnis. John Mclnnis was born in Ren- 
 freeshire, Scotland, from which place he 
 emigrated to America and came to Phila- 
 delphia, where he was killed. He estab- 
 lished the first carpet manufactory in Phila- 
 delphia, and for several years was engaged 
 in burning lime, in which he dealt, at No. 
 1328 North Ninth street, the oldest lime 
 market stand in the city. In politics he 
 was a Republican and in religious matters 
 a member of the Presbyterian church, in 
 the success of which he was deeply inter- 
 ested. He was a member of the Independ- 
 ent Order of Odd Fellows and was highly 
 respected as a citizen. He was united in 
 marriage with Martha Hunter, by whom 
 
532 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ss and has over since conducted a very 
 large establishment, his stock being esti- 
 mated at $6,000. He is a man of thorough 
 business capacity and gives his affairs close 
 personal attention. 
 
 Politically Mr. Christian is a Democrat 
 and has always been most active in the 
 work oi his party. For tour years he was 
 assistant postmaster of the town and tor 
 two terms has held the position of post- 
 master. He has also held several 
 offices and is very popular in the party. In 
 gion he is an active Christian and a 
 member oi the Reformed church. He mar- 
 ried Sarah Krat/. daughter of Isaac and 
 Kate Krat.:. They have only had one 
 child, who died young. 
 
 Mr. Christian is respected in the district 
 in which he lives and has always been 
 earnest in the advocacy of local improve- 
 ment. 
 
 EPHRAIM C. BOORSE, now resident 
 of Norristown, and a retired coal and 
 lumber operator, is a sou o{ Henry C. 
 and Susan (Cassel) Boorse, and was born 
 in Towamenein township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, January 25, 1SJ5. 
 He was reared on the farm, received his 
 education in the local pay and the early 
 common schools, and then engaged in farm- 
 ing, which he quit four years later to em- 
 bark in the lumber and coal business. His 
 yards were near JefFersonville, in Norriton 
 township, and he handled a large amount 
 of lumber and coal. After fourteen years 
 spent in the lumber and coal business, he 
 sold out and bought a farm, which he tilled 
 for sixteen years. At the end oi that time, 
 Mr. Boorse retired from all active business 
 pursuits and removed to his present resi- 
 dence at Xo. 1340 DeKalb street, Norris- 
 
 town. Mr. Boorse through life has been 
 strictly a conservative business man with 
 no turn of mind for rash or speculative 
 ventures. 
 
 On March 10, 1845, ^' r Boorse married 
 Elizabeth K. Ziegler, a daughter of Abra- 
 ham K. and Rachel iKrause^ Ziegler. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Boorse have six children: Isaiah C, 
 Susan A.. Clara C, wife of James Hoffman, 
 of Norriton township ; Harry A., Lizzie A., 
 now engaged in teaching in the State of 
 California ; and Mary C., a teacher in the 
 Lansdale schools of this county. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Boorse are members ot the 
 Mennouite church, while all of their child- 
 ren have united with the Presbyterian 
 church. 
 
 The ancestor o( the American Boorse 
 family was Harman Boors, who came from 
 Holland and settled about 1750, in what is 
 now Towamenein township, where he 
 owned property, and resided near Kulps- 
 ville. His business affairs required him to 
 re-visit his native country several times, 
 and on his last voyage he died at sea. He 
 had five sons, ol whom three: Peter, Arnold 
 and Harman, jr., were married. Harman, 
 jr., was a farmer, and married and reared a 
 family. His children were : John, Mar- 
 garet, Peter, Henry, Anna Catharine. 
 Sibilla, Susanna and Elizabeth. 
 
 John Boorse was born October 17, 170;, 
 wedded Elizabeth Cassel June S, T707, and 
 died January 26, 1S47. His children were: 
 Henry C. , Magdalena, Peter, Daniel, Joseph, 
 Harman, Jacob, Catharine, Mary and 
 Hubert. Henry C. Boorse, father, was born 
 October 14, 1700, and was reared on the 
 old Boorse farm that has been in the pos- 
 session of the family for nearly one hun- 
 dred and fifty years. He was a farmer and 
 held several local offices during his lifetime. 
 He married Susanna Cassel, who died April 
 
Bk ".!■: vphic \i. Sketches. 
 
 533 
 
 6, 1856. Mr. Boorse survived his wife 
 thirteen years, dying April 26, [869. To 
 Henry C. and Susanna (Cassel) Boorse were 
 born five children : Barbara, Bphraim C, 
 
 subject ; John C, Catharine and Susan. 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER SHELLY, M.D., 
 a physician in active practice at 
 Ambler, is a son of Isaac II. and Susan 
 (Mover) Shelly, and was born in Milford 
 township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, 
 August 10, i860. The ShelK' family of 
 which Dr. Shelly is a member is descended 
 from Henry, one of three Shelly brothers, 
 who came from Platney, Germany, and 
 settled shortly after the commencement of 
 the last century in Lehigh and Bucks 
 counties. In line of direct descent from 
 this immigrant, Henry Shell)-, was an 
 other Henry Shelly (grandfather), who was 
 a farmer and Mennonite and resided in 
 Rucks count)-, where he married Elizabeth 
 High, by whom he had one child, Isaac 
 H. Shelly, the father of the subject of this 
 sketch. Isaac II. Shelly attended Ursinus 
 college and learned the trade of miller. 
 His fust employment was in a store at 
 Vera Cruz, in Lehigh county, and later en- 
 gaged in farming and milling in Lower 
 Milford township, that count)-, but soon re- 
 moved to Bucks county, where he con- 
 ducted a general mercantile business for 
 ten years. At the end of that time he re- 
 moved to Quakertown, Lucks count)-, where 
 lu has been engaged in the general mer- 
 cantile business ever since. Mr. Shelly is 
 an active Republican and a consistent mem- 
 ber of the Mennonite church, and has 
 served for several years as a director of the 
 Quakertown National bank, In 1S55 he 
 married Susan Mover. The}- have two 
 
 children : James II. and Dr. It. \Y., whose 
 name appears at the head of this sketch. 
 Dr. I). W. Shelly was reared in his native 
 township until he was eight years of age, 
 when he was brought to Pleasant Valley. 
 He received his education in the public' 
 schools, Quakertown high and the Men- 
 nonite academy, of Wadsworth, < >hio, con- 
 ducted by a Professor Shell)-, who was a 
 distant relative. Leaving school he com- 
 menced the stud)' of medicine in 1S7.X in 
 the medical department of the University 
 of Pennsylvania, from which he was gradu- 
 ated as an honor man in the class of [882. 
 Immediately after graduation he came to 
 Ambler, where has been actively and suc- 
 cessful lv engaged in the practice of his pro- 
 fession up to the present time. Dr. Shell) 
 stands well in his profession, being a mem- 
 bei of the Montgomery county and the 
 Pennsylvania State Medical societies. 
 
 < >n < >ctober 9, 1885, Dr. Shelly married 
 Lydia S. Acuff. To their union have been 
 born four children, three sons and a daugh- 
 ter : Isaac H., James H., J. Marshall and 
 Mary, deceased. 
 
 Dr. Shelly is a Republican, and has been 
 elected for a second term as burgess of 
 Ambler. He is a member of the Mennon- 
 ite church and Spring House lodge, Inde- 
 pendent ( )rder of < )dd bellows. 
 
 H()X. FRANKLIN A. COMLY, a 
 member of the present house of rep- 
 resentatives of Pennsylvania from Mont- 
 gomery county, is a son of Major Samuel 
 W. and Julia (Peters) Comly, and was born 
 in Whitemarsh township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, February 17, 1856. 
 Major .Samuel W Comly was born and 
 reared at Spruce Mills, near Philadelphia, 
 
534 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 and learned the trade of miller. He ran 
 the Spruce mill for some years and then 
 removed to Whitemarsh township, this 
 county, where he operated the old and 
 well known Linden flouring mill for up- 
 wards of twenty years. In connection with 
 running the last named mill he was en- 
 gaged in farming to a considerable extent. 
 Major Comly was born in 1821, and lived 
 to be sixty-three years of age, dropping 
 dead in 1884, in the Palace hotel, San 
 Francisco, California, while on a pleasure 
 trip to the Pacific slope. He was an active 
 Republican and a strong Union man when 
 the late Civil war commenced. He was 
 captain of a company of Pennsylvania cav- 
 alry and served in the Army of the Poto- 
 mac, where he was promoted major for 
 meritorious service. He married Julia 
 Peters, whose father obtained the first 
 right of way granted for passenger railways 
 in the city of Philadelphia, and ran an 
 old stage line from that city to Bethlehem. 
 Major and Mrs. Comly had three children : 
 Emma P., wife of William Wersler ; one 
 who died in infancy ; and Hon. Franklin 
 A., of whom this brief sketch is given. 
 
 Franklin A. Comly attended the district 
 schools, was a student for two terms in 
 Swarthmore college, Delaware county, and 
 then entered the Friends' Central high 
 school at Fifteenth and Race streets, Phila- 
 delphia. He then took the commercial 
 course of Bryant &. Stratton's business col- 
 lege at Tenth and Chestnut streets, and in 
 1876 received a position in the freight de- 
 partment of the Bound Brook railroad corn- 
 pan}- at Second and Berks streets. Two 
 years later he received the contract to 
 deliver all the New York freight of that 
 company for the city of Philadelphia, and 
 in 1880 transferred his contract to other 
 hands to engage in the produce business as 
 
 a member of the firm of Nice & Comly. 
 They did business on South Water street 
 until May, 1884, when on the death of his 
 father he withdrew to take charge of the 
 home farm. After six years spent partly 
 in farming, he sold the farm to the Penn- 
 sylvania railroad, and has resided since 
 then near Ambler. 
 
 Mr. Comly is a staunch Republican who 
 believes in a protective tariff for the best 
 interests and rapid advancement of Ameri- 
 can industries. He was elected in 1892, 
 when the count}' was politieallv close, to 
 the legislature, and in 1894 was re-elected 
 by a majority of nearly three thousand. 
 He gave close and personal attention to 
 the interests of his constituents during the 
 legislative sessions of 1893 and 1895 
 and was a member of important com- 
 mittees. Franklin A. Comly is a member 
 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
 Junior Order of American Mechanics, and 
 Ambler Lodge, Knights of Malta. 
 
 ALFRED WALTERS, general superin- 
 tendent of the Swedes' furnace at 
 Swedelaud, Montgomery county, is a 
 native of Reading, Pennsylvania, where he 
 was born on the 22d of October, 1847. His 
 parents were Robert and Elizabeth (John- 
 son) Walters, the former born in Scotland 
 and the latter a native of the city of Read- 
 ing. Robert Walters (father) came to 
 America when quite young, and settled 
 near Waynesburg, in Chester county, this 
 State. His father remained in Scotland 
 and died in that country. After attaining 
 manhood and securing a good common 
 school education, Robert Walters learned 
 the blacksmith trade at Waynesburg, and 
 followed that occupation most of his life. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 535 
 
 He continued to reside in Chester county 
 until his death. He was a Presbyterian in 
 religion and for many years an active mem- 
 ber of St. Mary's Presbyterian church, at 
 Hill, Chester county. Politically, he was 
 a Democrat and held a number of local 
 offices. He became a man of considerable 
 prominence in his community, and was 
 noted for his love of domestic life. In 
 1846 he married Elizabeth Johnson, and 
 they had a family of five children, of whom 
 the subject of this sketch is the eldest. The 
 others were : Frank, now with the Wil- 
 mington & Northern railroad ; Annie, who 
 married H. Ames ; William ; and Emma, 
 who became the wife of James Miller, an 
 employee of the Swede furnace at Swede- 
 land. 
 
 Alfred Walters spent the early part of 
 his life in Chester county, attending the 
 public schools until eighteen years of age, 
 and afterwards went to Berks county and 
 entered the employ of the Monocacy Fur- 
 nace company, near Reading. He re- 
 mained with them for a period of eighteen 
 years. He then went to Columbia, Penn- 
 sylvania, and assumed the management of 
 the Shawnee furnace at that place. This 
 he operated for one year, and then removed 
 to Lynchburg, Virginia, where he became 
 manager of General Grubb's furnace. After 
 one year in this position he entered the 
 employ of the Crane Iron company, at Cat- 
 asauqua, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, and 
 ran their furnace successfully for two years. 
 From Catasauqua Mr. Walters came to 
 Swedeland, Montgomery county, and as- 
 sumed the management of the Swede fur- 
 nace, of which he has now had entire 
 charge for nine years. He is a successful 
 and practical iron operator, and is favora- 
 bly known in business circles throughout 
 eastern Pennsylvania. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Walters 
 is a Democrat, and has frequently taken an 
 active part in local politics. Religiously 
 he is a strict Presbyterian. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Independent Order of Red Men ; 
 Knights of the Mystic Shrine ; and Lodge 
 No. 24, Knights of Pythias. He has 
 passed all the chairs in the two orders last 
 named, and is active in all. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Walters married Esther 
 Richards. To them was born a family of 
 fourteen children : Harry, now night fore- 
 man in the Swede furnace; William; Fan- 
 nie, wife of H. A. Allender ; Howard, de- 
 ceased ; Edward; Oscar; Harriet, deceased; 
 Dollie; Frank, deceased; Paschal; Bentley; 
 Pearl; Edith; and Richard. Mr. Walters 
 is what has justly been called a self-made 
 man, and has passed through every depart- 
 ment of a blast furnace, thoroughly master- 
 ing every detail until he is well qualified 
 to superintend the entire plant, and may 
 justly feel proud of the position he has 
 attained bv industry and ability. 
 
 JOHN BREEN, a prosperous business 
 man of Merion Square, who has been 
 the architect of his own fortune, is a son 
 of Arthur and Annie (McMannis) Breen, 
 and was born in the city of Philadelphia, 
 Pennsylvania, June 30, 1857. He was 
 reared in Philadelphia until he was twelve 
 years of age, and then left the city schools 
 and Chester business college to learn the 
 market gardening business at Merion 
 Square, this county, where he remained 
 until 1878. In that year he went to Dela- 
 ware county and took charge of the prop- 
 erty of S. R Fuller which he managed 
 until 1885, and during that period of time 
 he read much in Mr. Fuller's large library 
 
534 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 and learned the trade of miller. He ran 
 the Spruce mill for some years and then 
 removed to Whitemarsh township, this 
 county, where he operated the old and 
 well known Linden flouring mill for up- 
 wards of twenty years. In connection with 
 running the last named mill he was en- 
 gaged in farming to a considerable extent. 
 Major Comly was born in 1821, and lived 
 to be sixty-three years of age, dropping 
 dead in 1884, in the Palace hotel, San 
 Francisco, California, while on a pleasure 
 trip to the Pacific slope. He was an active 
 Republican and a strong Union man when 
 the late Civil war commenced. He was 
 captain of a company of Pennsylvania cav- 
 alry and served in the Army of the Poto- 
 mac, where he was promoted major for 
 meritorious service. He married Julia 
 Peters, whose father obtained the first 
 right of way granted for passenger railways 
 in the city of Philadelphia, and ran an 
 old stage line from that city to Bethlehem. 
 Major and Mrs. Comly had three children : 
 Emma P., wife of William Wersler ; one 
 who died in infancy ; and Hon. Franklin 
 A., of whom this brief sketch is given. 
 
 Franklin A. Comly attended the district 
 schools, was a student for two terms in 
 Swarthmore college, Delaware county, and 
 then entered the Friends' Central high 
 school at Fifteenth and Race streets, Phila- 
 delphia. He then took the commercial 
 course of Bryant & Stratton's business col- 
 lege at Tenth and Chestnut streets, and in 
 1876 received a position in the freight de- 
 partment of the Bound Brook railroad com- 
 pany at Second and Berks streets. Two 
 years later he received the contract to 
 deliver all the New York freight of that 
 company for the city of Philadelphia, and 
 in 1880 transferred his contract to other 
 hands to engage in the produce business as 
 
 a member of the firm of Nice & Comly. 
 They did business on South Water street 
 until May, 1884, when on the death of his 
 father he withdrew to take charge of the 
 home farm. After six years spent partly 
 in farming, he sold the farm to the Penn- 
 sylvania railroad, and has resided since 
 then near Ambler. 
 
 Mr. Comly is a staunch Republican who 
 believes in a protective tariff for the best 
 interests and rapid advancement of Ameri- 
 can industries. He was elected in 1892, 
 when the county was politically close, to 
 the legislature, and in 1894 was re-elected 
 by a majority of nearly three thousand. 
 He gave close and personal attention to 
 the interests of his constituents during the 
 legislative sessions of 1893 and 1895 
 and was a member of important com- 
 mittees. Franklin A. Comly is a member 
 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
 Junior Order of American Mechanics, and 
 Ambler Lodge, Knights of Malta. 
 
 ALFRED WALTERS, general superin- 
 tendent of the Swedes' furnace at 
 Swedeland, Montgomery county, is a 
 native of Reading, Pennsylvania, where he 
 was born on the 22d of October, 1S47. His 
 parents were Robert and Elizabeth (John- 
 son) Walters, the former born in Scotland 
 and the latter a native of the city of Read- 
 ing. Robert Walters (father) came to 
 America when quite young, and settled 
 near Waynesburg, in Chester county, this 
 State. His father remained in Scotland 
 and died in that country. After attaining 
 manhood and securing a good common 
 school education, Robert Walters learned 
 the blacksmith trade at Waynesburg, and 
 followed that occupation most of his life. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 535 
 
 He continued to reside in Chester county 
 until his death. He was a Presbyterian in 
 religion and for many years an active mem- 
 ber of St. Mary's Presbyterian church, at 
 Hill, Chester county. Politically, he was 
 a Democrat and held a number of local 
 offices. He became a man of considerable 
 prominence in his community, and was 
 noted for his love of domestic life. In 
 1846 he married Elizabeth Johnson, and 
 they had a family of five children, of whom 
 the subject of this sketch is the eldest. The 
 others were : Frank, now with the Wil- 
 mington &. Northern railroad ; Annie, who 
 married H. Ames ; William ; and Emma, 
 who became the wife of James Miller, an 
 employee of the Swede furnace at Swede- 
 land. 
 
 Alfred Walters spent the early part of 
 his life in Chester county, attending the 
 public schools until eighteen years of age, 
 and afterwards went to Berks county and 
 entered the employ of the Monocacy Fur- 
 nace company, near Reading. He re- 
 mained with them for a period of eighteen 
 years. He then went to Columbia, Penn- 
 sylvania, and assumed the management of 
 the Shawnee furnace at that place. This 
 he operated for one year, and then removed 
 to Lynchburg, Virginia, where he became 
 manager of General Grubb's furnace. After 
 one year in this position he entered the 
 employ of the Crane Iron company, at Cat- 
 asauqua, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, and 
 ran their furnace successfully for two years. 
 From Catasauqua Mr. Walters came to 
 Swedeland, Montgomery count}', and as- 
 sumed the management of the Swede fur- 
 nace, of which he has now had entire 
 charge for nine years. He is a successful 
 and practical iron operator, and is favora- 
 bly known in business circles throughout 
 eastern Pennsylvania. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Walters 
 is a Democrat, and has frequently taken an 
 active part in local politics. Religiously 
 he is a strict Presbyterian. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Independent Order of Red Men ; 
 Knights of the Mystic Shrine; and Lodge 
 No. 24, Knights of Pythias. He has 
 passed all the chairs in the two orders last 
 named, and is active in all. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Walters married Esther 
 Richards. To them was born a family of 
 fourteen children : Harry, now night fore- 
 man in the Swede furnace; William; Fan- 
 nie, wife of H. A. Allender ; Howard, de- 
 ceased ; Edward; Oscar; Harriet, deceased; 
 Dollie; Frank, deceased; Paschal; Bentley; 
 Pearl; Edith; and Richard. Mr. Walters 
 is what has justly been called a self-made 
 man, and has passed through every depart- 
 ment of a blast furnace, thoroughly master- 
 ing every detail until he is well qualified 
 to superintend the entire plant, and may 
 justly feel proud of the position he has 
 attained bv industry and ability. 
 
 JOHN BREEN, a prosperous business 
 man of Merion Square, who has been 
 the architect of his own fortune, is a son 
 of Arthur and Annie (McMannis) Breen, 
 and was born in the city of Philadelphia, 
 Pennsylvania, June 30, 1857. He was 
 reared in Philadelphia until he was twelve 
 years of age, and then left the city schools 
 and Chester business college to learn the 
 market gardening business at Merion 
 Square, this county, where he remained 
 until 1878. In that year he went to Dela- 
 ware county and took charge of the prop- 
 erty of S. P. Fuller which he managed 
 until 1885, and during that period of time 
 he read much in Mr. Fuller's large library 
 
536 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 and thus added greatly to his limited educa- 
 tion. Leaving Mr. Fuller's employ in 1885, 
 he returned to Merion Square in Lower 
 Merion township, and bought the local and 
 city newspaper routes throughout that sec- 
 tion of the county which he operated for 
 some time. He then embarked in the 
 general mercantile business and slowly in- 
 creased his stock of goods until he now has 
 one of the largest stores in his section. He 
 has prospered in ever}- enterprise in which 
 he has ever been engaged. Mr. Breen is a 
 staunch, sound money, high protective 
 tariff Republican. He has been prominent 
 in local politics and for several years has 
 been a delegate from Lower Merion to all 
 district and county conventions of his 
 party. He served four and a half years as 
 postmaster of Gladwyne (Merion Square), 
 being appointed by President Harrison, and 
 is now an auditor of Lower Merion town- 
 ship. His record in politics has been such 
 as to command respect and win him friends 
 in all parts of the county. 
 
 On April 20, 1887, Mr. Breen married 
 Matilda Norris, a daughter of Robert Nor- 
 ris, of Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. Breen 
 have three children, two sons and a daugh- 
 ter : Raymond, born December 12, 1888; 
 Anna, born March 27, 1892, and Harold, 
 born November 10, 1893. 
 
 John Breen is a self-made man in the 
 truest sense of that term, and has always 
 won success in whatever field he has en- 
 tered. His township is one of the wealthi- 
 est townships in the State, and his high 
 home standing attests to his reliability and 
 integrity in local positions where the 
 finances handled would equal those of some 
 counties. He is one of the finest marks- 
 men in the county, but gives little time 
 from business to the chase or hunting party. 
 Mr. Breen is a member of the Lower Merion 
 
 Building and Loan association, in whose 
 prosperity he takes a deep interest. 
 
 On September 24,- 1895, Mr. Breen was 
 presented by the Republicans of Lower 
 Merion township as a candidate for the 
 office of sheriff of Montgomery county, but 
 was defeated by Charles Johnson, of Norris- 
 town. The indications are plain, however, 
 that he will be an exceedingly strong con- 
 testant in 1898. 
 
 JOHN TODD, M. D., one of the most 
 successful physicians of Pottstown and 
 Montgomery county, is a son of John and 
 Christiana (Boughman) Todd, and was 
 born at Freeland, now Collegeville, Upper 
 Providence township, Montgomery count}-, 
 Pennsylvania, April 25, 1830. Dr. Todd's 
 paternal grandfather, Andrew Todd, bought 
 from the Penns a large tract of land near 
 Freeland, which remained in the family 
 until 1884. Andrew Todd was a man of 
 recognized ability and superior mechanical 
 attainments, enterprising and progressive. 
 He was one of the founders of Providence 
 Presbyterian church, the first Presbyterian 
 church in the county, and was a warm 
 friend and ardent supporter of the eminent 
 and celebrated divine, Dr. William Ten- 
 nant. He was the first justice of the peace 
 appointed for Montgomery count}', by Gov- 
 ernor McKean, his commission bearing date 
 of November 12, 1824. He held that office 
 up to his death, which occurred in 1834. 
 'Squire Todd wedded Hannah Boyer, and 
 their children were : John, William Ten- 
 nant, who went west in 1840; Isabella, 
 who married Samuel Hammel, a merchant 
 of Norristown, and died in 1850 ; and Han- 
 nah, wife of Samuel McClintock, of North- 
 umberland county. John Todd, father, 
 
^^Qj7fz*>f& & 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 537 
 
 was born in 1776, and died in 1863. He 
 was an extensive fanner and a prominent 
 man in all matters pertaining to the public 
 welfare of the county and State. He served 
 one term as sheriff, and two terms as county 
 treasurer, and was appraiser of public works 
 under Governor Porter. John Todd was 
 twice married ; first to Miss Campbell, and 
 after her death, to Christiana Boughman. 
 By his second marriage he had six children: 
 Dr. John, William T., Samuel M., Charles 
 W. B., Christiana and Emily. 
 
 Dr. John Todd passed his boyhood days 
 on the farm, received his education at Free- 
 land seminary, and then taught school for 
 three years. In 1855 he commenced the 
 study of medicine with Drs. Keeler and 
 Groff, of Harleysville, and a year later en- 
 tered the Pennsylvania Medical college, 
 from which he was graduated in the class of 
 
 1857- 
 
 After graduation he located at Boyer- 
 
 towu, Berks county, where he prac- 
 ticed until 1868, and then came to Potts- 
 town, a wider field for the practice of his 
 profession. He soon built up a good prac- 
 tice, which he has held ever since and in- 
 creased from year to year. 
 
 In 1857 Dr. Todd married Ida Amanda 
 Smith, who was a daughter of Jacob K. 
 Smith, of Philadelphia, and died in October, 
 1859, leaving one child, Amanda, now the 
 wife of George Kramer, a merchant of 
 Philadelphia. For his second wife, Dr. 
 Todd, in 1864, wedded Sarah M. Heller, a 
 daughter of Daniel Heller, of Boyertowu, 
 Berks county. To this second union have 
 been born five children : Blanch, wife of J. 
 G. Kulp, a merchant of Philadelphia ; 
 Bertha C, married Lyman Byers, an elec- 
 trician of Pottstown ; Sallie, wife of M. E. 
 Gilbert, proprietor of the Mansion house, 
 of Pottstown ; Mary, and John, a telegraph 
 
 operator, now with the District Telegraph 
 company. 
 
 Dr. John Todd is a member of the Luth- 
 eran church of the Transfiguration, at Potts- 
 town ; a member of Stichter Lodge No. 
 254, Free and Accepted Masons ; Royal 
 Arch Masons ; and Knights Templar. 
 While not neglecting his profession, he 
 never fails to take an active part in all po- 
 litical and public movements. He is a 
 Democrat in politics, and served two terms 
 as burgess and nine consecutive terms as 
 councilman of Pottstown. He was a mem- 
 ber from Montgomery county to the State 
 constitutional convention of 1891, and in 
 1894, was the candidate of his party in the 
 Seventh district for congress. Dr. Todd 
 ran far ahead of his ticket, but was unable 
 to reduce the Republican majority suf- 
 ficient to be elected. But two other Demo- 
 cratic congressional candidates did better 
 in holding the party vote in that disastrous 
 year, and they were in very strong Demo- 
 cratic districts. He is the present president 
 and has been a director of the Bringhurst 
 Poor trust, of Pottstown, ever' since it was 
 founded, and during the last year, has di- 
 rected the expenditure of $5,000 of its funds 
 in relief of the poor of Pottstown. He is 
 also president of the Montgomery, Berks 
 and Chester County Agricultural and Hor- 
 ticultural society, and has served for several 
 years as a director of the Pottstown Security 
 company. 
 
 Dr. John Todd is one of the prominent 
 and successful physicians of Montgomery 
 county. He is a general practitioner and 
 while often called in consultation in 
 particular and complicated cases, yet has 
 made no specialty of any branch of his 
 profession. He has been remarkably suc- 
 cessful, and his rare professional skill and 
 attainments have given him a deserved pres- 
 
53§ 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 tige. He is a member of the Pottstown 
 Medical society, and the president of the 
 medical staff. 
 
 JAMES BROWNBACK, president of the 
 March-Brownback Stove company of 
 Pottstown, is a son of William and Eliza 
 (Wilson) Brownback, and was born in Ches- 
 ter county, Pennsylvania, March 4, 1833. 
 He is a representative of one of Chester's 
 fine old families, which was planted in 
 America more than two hundred years ago 
 by Garrett Brownback, a native ofWurtem- 
 burg, Germany, who emigrated to this 
 country in 1683, on the vessel Concord. 
 from Amsterdam, and settled first in Ger- 
 mantowu, near Philadelphia. In 1734 he 
 removed to Chester county, where he 
 founded Brownback's Reformed church, 
 and became one of the largest land-owners 
 in the county. He married Mary Pepen, 
 youngest daughter of Howard Pepen, whose 
 wife was Mary Rittenhouse, and they reared 
 two sons — Benjamin and Harry — and four 
 daughters. He died about 1758, aged 
 ninety-six vears. Benjamin Brownback mar- 
 ried Mary Paul and had three sons — Henry, 
 John and Edward. Henry Brownback mar- 
 ried Magdalena Paul and reared a family of 
 five children : John, Peter, Benjamin, Annie 
 and Susan. From the families of these two 
 sons of the original emigrant have sprung 
 a numerous and widely distributed race, 
 which it would require a volume to set 
 forth in regular order. Among them have 
 been a number who have become distin- 
 guished in various lines of endeavor, and 
 have furnished the State with some of her 
 most useful and exemplary citizens. 
 
 William Brownback, father of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, was born and reared in 
 
 Chester county, where he engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits and became quite success- 
 ful. He married Eliza Wilson, and by that 
 union had a family of children. She died 
 in 1840, at the age of thirty-two. Her hus- 
 band survived her for half a century, dying 
 in 1890, in the eighty-fourth year of his 
 age. 
 
 James Brownback attended the common 
 schools of Chester county during his early 
 youth, and subsequently entered the Ches- 
 ter county academy at West Chester, where 
 he remained until 1849. He then engaged 
 in farming with his father during the sum- 
 mer, and taught district school in the win- 
 ter. This was kept up for five years, after 
 which Mr. Brownback embarked in the 
 mercantile business in which he remained 
 three years. He then sold out and pur- 
 chased a farm, and followed farming for 
 eight years. In 1868 he purchased a fourth 
 interest in March, Lisle &. Co's stove foun- 
 dry, at Linfield, Pennsylvania. In 1891 
 the business was removed to Pottstown, and 
 a corporation organized, under the name of 
 the March-Brownback Stove company. Mr. 
 Brownback was elected president of the 
 company and has ever since continued to 
 occupy that position. The works were en- 
 larged and greatly improved, and their 
 business has become extensive and impor- 
 tant. The company now employs about 
 one hundred and fifty men, and the pro- 
 ducts of their foundry have a well earned 
 popularity wherever they have been intro- 
 duced and sold. 
 
 In 1872 Mr. Brownback, in company 
 with William March and J. Keeley, of 
 Philadelphia, purchased the Dauphin fur- 
 nace, located in Dauphin county, this State. 
 They owned and operated this furnace for 
 two years and then sold the property to a 
 Philadelphia company. Mr. Brownback is 
 
cr&>+^ ^t/« L?<T%^)ra^eL~i 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 539 
 
 a director in the BramcOte Land company, 
 and a stockholder in the Pottstown Textile- 
 works. For a number of years he served 
 as a trustee of Ursinus college, but resigned 
 the position on account of the pressure of 
 private business on his time. He also 
 served as school director for some time. 
 
 In December, 1857, Mr. Brownback was 
 married to Ella S. March, a daughter of 
 Michael and Susanna March, of Chester 
 county, this State. They have three chil- 
 dren : Adia E., married Henry G. Kulp, of 
 Pottstown ; Henry M., now district attorney 
 of Montgomery county — see his sketch on 
 another page ; and William M. Politically 
 Mr. Brownback is an ardent Republican 
 and uncompromising protectionist. He is 
 a Knight Templar Mason, and an ardent 
 religious worker. 
 
 J 
 
 OHN G. HERSH, M. D., of East 
 Greenville borough, is a direct de- 
 scendant of one of the oldest families of 
 Montg-omerv countv. Indeed, his family 
 contributed not a little to make the history 
 of the county, and in him they have an 
 able representative, who is known to be a 
 public spirited citizen and one of the most 
 skillful practitioners in the county. He at 
 present holds the office of chief burgess, 
 and has been closely identified with the 
 politics of the county and State, and he is 
 to-day thoroughly respected and looked up 
 to as a man who is destined to be one of the 
 leading men of the district. Dr. Hersh is 
 of German origin, but his family have been 
 in this country for many generations. The 
 original spelling of the family name was 
 Hersch, but it was shortened and angli- 
 cized long ago. t 
 
 Dr. Hersh is a son of John and Maria 
 
 (Gery) Hersh, and was born in Upper Han- 
 over township, near East ( '.reenville, on 
 August 23, 1852. His paternal great-great- 
 grandfather was Heinrich Ludwig Hersh. 
 With two other brothers he came from 
 Strasburg, Germany, to this country about 
 1750, and located at Fort Pitt, now I'itts- 
 burg, Pennsylvania, his brothers, however, 
 soon settled along the Ohio river. Hein- 
 rich came last and soon settled in York 
 county, where he permanently established 
 himself and resided up to his death. He 
 had a sou, Elias Hersh, born August 15, 
 1769, died February 19, 1855, aged eighty- 
 five years and six months, who was the 
 the great-grand lather of the subject of this 
 sketch. His wife, Susanna (Long), was born 
 August 24, 1777, died January 7, 1S44, aged 
 sixty-six years and four months. Jacob 
 Hersh (grandfather) was born November 
 21, 1801, and lived on a large farm, which 
 is now included in the borough of Penns- 
 burg. He bought another farm near Six 
 Corners church, near Pennsburg, where he 
 remained until he died. This farm is now 
 owned by Dr. Hersh. Jacob Hersh was for 
 a short time a merchant on a large scale at 
 Klinesville. He was allied with the Demo- 
 cratic party. He was also a member of the 
 new Goshenhoppen Reformed church, of 
 which he was a deacon and an elder and 
 held other important offices in the gift of 
 the congregation. Among other important 
 positions filled in this connection may be 
 mentioned that he was a member of the 
 building committee under whose super- 
 vision the present new Goshenhoppen Re- 
 formed church was erected. He was mar- 
 ried to Sophia Miller, and their union 
 brought them five children : John, father 
 of Dr. Hersh ; Lydia, who is the wife of 
 Aaron Greasimer, both of whom are dead ; 
 Thomas, who resides in the .State of Illi- 
 
54° 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 nois ; Daniel, of Philadelphia, and Henry, 
 who is dead. Grandfather Hersh died 
 June 3, 1877, aged seventy-five years, six 
 months and sixteen days, and his kind and 
 faithful helpmate died August 19, 1883, in 
 her eighty-third year. 
 
 On January 28, 1821, John M. Hersh, 
 father of Dr. Hersh, first saw the light of 
 day in Upper Hanover township. He was 
 brought up on his father's farm, and at a 
 suitable age was sent to school, where he 
 secured an average education. He worked 
 on the farm, and when he reached man's 
 estate he took to farming on his own ac- 
 count. He also became a huckster and a 
 postman and was engaged in hauling to 
 Philadelphia prior to the introduction of 
 traffic by railroad. After leaving school he 
 learned the trade of wheelwright, but never 
 followed it to any extent. He and his 
 estimable wife are still living in East 
 Greenville, and he has long been retired 
 from business. Following the inclination 
 of his father he became a Democrat when 
 he could vote, and was an eager and earnest 
 worker in the party and held a number of 
 local offices. He is a consistent Christian 
 and a member of the Reformed church, 
 and always took an active part in church 
 work. He was married to Maria Gery on 
 November 28, 1847, and this union was 
 blessed with five children, three sons and 
 two daughters : Man- Jane, who died in in- 
 fancy ; Dr. John G., Milton Jacob, who 
 died at the age of five years ; Katie Maria, 
 who is the wife of David H. Keller, of 
 Bangor, Northampton county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and Dr. Daniel G, who is a practic- 
 ing physician at Bangor, Pennsylvania. 
 
 And now we come to the direct history 
 of the gentleman whose portrait accom- 
 panies this sketch. Dr. John G. Hersh has 
 always been a close student, and it is 110 
 
 doubt due to this fact, together with his 
 wide experience, that has made him so suc- 
 cessful. Arriving at the proper age he was 
 sent to the public schools of Pennsburg, 
 and on being well grounded in the rudi- 
 ments was placed at Mt. Pleasant seminary, 
 at Boyertown, Berks county. After taking 
 the course provided in this institution he 
 soon began to read medicine under Dr. 
 Bobb, of East Greenville, and then entered 
 the University of Pennsylvania, where he 
 graduated with high honors. His first field 
 of practice was Chapel village, Berks 
 count}-, where he remained ten years, and 
 was very successful. In 1886 he removed 
 to East Greenville, where he has been 
 located ever since, and soon after locating 
 here took a special course at the Polyclinic 
 Institute on diseases of the ear, nose and 
 throat, and from that time on has combined 
 the work of the general practitioner with 
 with that of the specialist, which is of 
 special value in districts outside of large 
 cities. He owns the old homestead farm of 
 sixty-five acres in Upper Hanover township, 
 besides considerable other property. 
 
 Dr. Hersh is a Democrat in everything 
 that word implies. He has from earliest 
 manhood taken the deepest interest in poli- 
 tics and has been a worker for his party at 
 all times. That his efforts for his party's 
 principles and tickets are appreciated is 
 seen by the fact that he is now serving his 
 third term as chief burgess of East Green- 
 ville. In 1894 he was placed on the ticket 
 for State assembly, and although that was 
 a very disastrous year for Democrats he ran 
 away ahead of his ticket, a sure sign of his 
 great popularity. It is not likely that his 
 constituents will let him rest here, and he 
 is certain to be retained in public life. 
 
 In secret society circles Dr. Hersh is as 
 well and favorably known as in any other 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 54* 
 
 walk in life. He is a member of Perkio- 
 men lodge, No. 595, F. and A. M., of which 
 he is secretary, and Nativity Commandery, 
 No. 72, Knights Templar, of Pottstown, 
 Pennsylvania ; a member of Pottstown 
 Chapter, No. 271, Royal Arch Masons; 
 Pennsburg lodge, No. 449, I. O. O. F.; East 
 Greenville Castle, No. 298, Knights of the 
 Golden Eagle, and several other orders. 
 
 Dr. Hersh was married on November 1, 
 1877, to Miss Ida, daughter of Dr. John G. 
 and Kate (Ziegler) Hillegas, and they have 
 had five children : Elmer, aged seventeen 
 years ; Katie Maria, who died at the age of 
 one year ; Mary Elizabeth, also dead ; Ella 
 Matilda and Ida Olivia. The family is 
 united with the new Goshenhoppen Re- 
 formed congregation near East Greenville, 
 and Dr. Hersh has served as a deacon of 
 that church for four vears. 
 
 JOHN HAMPTON, a farmer of some 
 means, near the village of Abrams, 
 is the youngest son of John and Anna 
 (Chalfant) Hampton, and was born in Dela- 
 ware county, Pennsylvania, 1842. His 
 paternal grandfather lived in Chester 
 county, where he was one of the great 
 farming class of that county. He married 
 and reared a family of children, and his 
 son, John Hampton, was born in 1819. 
 John Hampton grew to manhood in his 
 native township and then removed to Dela- 
 ware county, which he left in 1840 to settle 
 in Upper Merion township, this county. 
 He lived three years past man's allotted 
 three score and ten years and died in 1882. 
 He was a shoemaker by trade, but followed 
 farming principally for a livelihood. He 
 was a Republican and a Baptist, took an 
 interest in local affairs, and had served as 
 
 supervisor of roads besides holding other 
 township offices. He married Ann Chal- 
 fant. Mrs. Hampton was born in 1806, 
 and died in 1S79. To Mr. and Mis. Hamp- 
 ton were born a family of four sons and 
 four daughters. The sons were: David, 
 Isaac, George, deceased ; and John. The 
 daughters were : Lydia ; Sophia, married 
 Joseph Gill; Jane, who died; and Mary, 
 wife of J. Ortlett. 
 
 John Hampton was brought at two years 
 of age by his parents to Upper Merion 
 township, in which he was reared and in 
 which he has resided ever since. He was 
 carefully trained to farm labor of all kinds, 
 and after attending the common schools 
 assisted his father in farming until he at- 
 tained his majority. He then made choice 
 of farming as a life vocation, and rented 
 of Heister Jones a farm which he tilled. 
 In that year he bought his present farm, 
 which is well adapted to grain raising and 
 grazing, and lies near Merion or Abrams. 
 Mr. Hampton is a practical and well-to-do 
 farmer, who gives close attention to the 
 cultivation and improvement of his land. 
 He is a Republican in politics, and has 
 served for the last year as township auditor. 
 He is a member of the Patrons of Hus- 
 bandry. 
 
 In 1S66 John Hampton was united in 
 marriage with Esther Ramsey. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hampton have been born four 
 children, three sons and a daughter: Clar- 
 ence ; William, deceased ; Howard; and 
 Bertha E. 
 
 LEVI R. SHAFFER, the senior member 
 of the large and prosperous brick 
 manufacturing firm of Schaffer Brothers, 
 of Norristown, is a son of George and Eliza- 
 
542 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 beth (Whiteraan) Sliaffer, and was born at 
 Norristown, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, February 26, 1843. His parents 
 were of German descent, and his father, 
 George Shaffer, was a brewer and brick- 
 maker by trade. George Shaffer at a very 
 early age served in the War of 1812, and 
 was slightly wounded at the defense of 
 Baltimore. Returning from the War of 
 1S12, he was engaged as a brewer and in 
 brick-making until the opening of the late 
 Civil war, when, although somewhat up in 
 years and exempt from all military duty by 
 age, yet enlisted in company D, 51st Penn- 
 sylvania infantry, commanded by Colonel, 
 afterwards, General John F. Hartranft. 
 He served as a private until his death, 
 which occurred June 21, 1862, when on 
 board a boat. Patriotic and brave, he knew 
 no fear nor danger and gave his life as a 
 sacrifice in defense of his country's liberty 
 and preservation. 
 
 He was married to Miss Elizabeth 
 Whiteman. Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer had a 
 family of thirteen children, of whom ten 
 grew to maturity : John W., Sophia H., 
 now deceased ; George, Sarah, wife of Rob- 
 ert Patton ; Charles W., Mary, who married 
 William Smith, and is now deceased ; Jos- 
 eph, deceased; William A., Joseph (2nd), 
 now dead ; and Levi Roberts, whose name 
 heads this sketch. 
 
 Levi Roberts Shaffer was reared at Nor- 
 ristown, where he received his education in 
 the public schools. He learned the trade of 
 brick-making, which he followed until 
 1869, when he formed a partnership with 
 his brothers, John and William, under the 
 firm title of Schaffer Brothers. This firm 
 manufactured brick for two years at Nor- 
 ristown, and then John withdrew, after 
 which, Mr. Shaffer and his brother, Wil- 
 liam, continued the business to 1886. In 
 
 that year they abandoned their yard and 
 opened a brick-making plant just beyond 
 the borough limits and in Norriton town- 
 ship, which they equipped with the best 
 improved machinery, and where they have 
 manufactured, ever since, an excellent qual- 
 ity of brick by the steam process. Their 
 plant is known by the name of the East 
 Penn brick works, and has an out-put of 
 four millions of brick per year. They em- 
 ploy from thirty to forty men, and for sev- 
 eral years have furnished all the brick that 
 have been used for public buildings and 
 school houses at Norristown. They are 
 now furnishing the brick for the new mar- 
 ket house, and for some private buildings 
 at Norristown, besides filling a large num- 
 ber of orders for brick to be used for vari- 
 ous other building purposes. Mr. Shaffer's 
 good management of these works has made 
 his business an extensive and a profitable 
 one. 
 
 In September, 1888, Mr. Shaffer wedded 
 Annie C. Thornley, whose parents are 
 George and Emma Thornley, of Norristown. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer have one child, a 
 daughter named Ethel Attalene. 
 
 In politics Mr. Shaffer is not prominent. 
 He served as mayor of Norristown from 
 March 6, 1893, to March 6, 1894, and 
 shortly before his term of office expired, de- 
 clined a re-election to the mayoralty. Pre- 
 vious to this he had served two terms as a 
 councilman, the first one in 1878-79, and 
 the second one in 18S0-81. He has been 
 quite prominently connected with the fire 
 department of Norristown for the excep- 
 tionally long period of twenty-eight years. 
 Mr. Shaffer has held all the offices of the 
 fire department from president down to 
 treasurer, and also served as treasurer of 
 the Fairmount Fire Engine company for 
 fourteen vears. 
 
B IOC, K A PHICA I. SKETC 1 1 ES. 
 
 543 
 
 DR. HOWARD WILSON, V. S., has 
 for the past three years been practic- 
 ing his profession of veterinary surgeon 
 with great success and profit at Hatboro, 
 and being a young man of excellent educa- 
 tion and thoroughly drilled in his calling, 
 has built up a large practice that extends 
 over a very wide territory. Dr. Wilson 
 was born on January 15, 1871, and is a son 
 of Lorenzo F. and Anna (Ritter) Wilson. 
 He is descended from American ancestry, 
 running back at least five generations. His 
 grandfather was a veterinary surgeon, and 
 was well known and very popular in his 
 day. He married and had several chil- 
 dren. The father of our subject, Lorenzo 
 F. Wilson is a veteran of the Civil war and 
 parted with one of his legs in the service 
 of his country. This was at the fiercely- 
 contested battle of Antietam. He served 
 until he was totally disabled by the loss of 
 his leg. Mr. Wilson received a thorough 
 common school education. He then be- 
 came a clerk in a store in Philadelphia, 
 where he remained until his services were 
 needed to help defend the old flag. He 
 married Anna Ritter, and their union 
 was blessed with two children : Eva, and 
 Dr. Howard Wilson. 
 
 Having received a public school educa- 
 tion, Howard Wilson took a scientific 
 course in the Philadelphia high school. 
 He then entered the New York Veterinary 
 college, from which he graduated with 
 honor in 1892. As soon as he had received 
 his diploma, Dr. Wilson came to Hatboro, 
 where he opened an office and began prac- 
 tice. He soon came to be recognized as a 
 surgeon of ability and one who was thor- 
 oughly posted on all the diseases and ail- 
 ments of horses and cattle and the proper 
 and most modern treatment thereof, and 
 his services were sought accordingly. He 
 
 is a good student and thoroughly conscien- 
 tious in his professional relations, so that 
 with a genial disposition and a high stand- 
 ard of character he has become deservedly 
 popular. 
 
 Dr. Wilson is an active worker in the 
 Republican party politics of his section, 
 and is now serving a term as justice of the 
 peace. Fraternally he is a member of the 
 Masonic Order and Knights of the Golden 
 Eagle. Dr. Wilson is not married. 
 
 HON. M. S. LONGAKER, the present 
 postmaster at Pottstown, is a son of 
 Rufus B. and Elizabeth (Smith) Longaker, 
 and was born December 24, 1842, at Crooked 
 Hill, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. 
 He obtained his elementary instruction in 
 the public schools of his native place, and 
 completed his education in the Meigs 
 academy at Pottstown. He then engaged 
 in teaching for several years, and about 
 1863 entered the county treasurer's office 
 as deputy treasurer, under his father, who 
 was then treasurer of Montgomery county. 
 In the spring of 1875 M. S. Longaker was 
 elected burgess of Pottstown, and re-elected 
 in the spring of 1876. In the fall of the lat- 
 ter year he was elected to a seat in the 
 •State assembly, and resigned the office of 
 burgess to assume his new duties as a State 
 legislator. ( )n January 20, 1886, Mr. Long- 
 aker was appointed postmaster of Pottstown 
 by President Cleveland, and took charge of 
 the office February 16th. He served as 
 postmaster for four and a half years, when 
 he was succeeded by an appointee, under 
 the administration of President Harrison. 
 On August 16, [894, Mr. Longaker was 
 again appointed to the office by President 
 Cleveland, and once more assumed charge 
 
544 
 
 Biographical Skktches. 
 
 on September ist, of that year. He is now 
 discharging the duties of postmaster, and 
 his administration of the office has proved 
 very acceptable to the general public and 
 creditable to himself 
 
 For a number of years Mr. Longaker has 
 been a prominent local leader of his party, 
 and has been a delegate and chairman of 
 several Democratic conventions. He is a 
 member of Trinity Reformed church, and a 
 Knights Templar Mason, and has served as 
 treasurer of the blue lodge and chapter for 
 a period of twenty consecutive years. He 
 is a stockholder of the Pottstown Water 
 company, and a manager of the Reading & 
 Perkiomen Turnpike company. 
 
 In 1867 Mr. Longaker was married to 
 Diana M. Beerer, a daughter of Joseph 
 Beerer, of Norristown, who had served as 
 treasurer of this county. To that union 
 were born two children : Gertrude, now a 
 clerk in the Pottstown postoffice, and Helen. 
 Mrs. Longaker died in 1872, and in 1876, 
 Mr. Longaker married a sister of his first 
 wife. By this second marriage he had a 
 family of six children : Charles K., Mont- 
 gomery, Beulah, Mabel, Louis, and Joseph 
 B., the latter now deceased. 
 
 Peter Longaker, paternal grandfather of 
 the subject of this sketch, was a native of 
 Lawrenceville, Chester county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, where he was born March 14, 1786 
 He died November 1, 1866, aged eighty 
 years. He married Hannah Boyer, daugh- 
 ter of George and Mary Boyer, of Berks 
 count)', and reared a family of six children : 
 Rufus B., Mary, who married Abram Kohl, 
 deceased ; Louisa, became the wife of Se- 
 bastian Kohl ; Emmeline, John B. and 
 Frances Elmira, deceased. 
 
 Rufus B. Longaker, eldest of the family 
 and father of Hon. Montgomery S. Long- 
 aker, became a pupil in the Trappe board- 
 
 ing school, in Montgomery county, at the 
 age of sixteen. On completing his studies 
 he removed to Berks county and engaged 
 in teaching. After two years he returned 
 and became a clerk in a country store at 
 Trappe, where he was employed one year. 
 He then embarked in the mercantile busi- 
 ness at Crooked Hill, Pottsgrove township, 
 this county, where he remained from 1840 
 to 1851. Having been elected recorder of 
 deeds, he removed to Norristown in the lat- 
 ter year, and served in that office for three 
 years. 
 
 In 1855 he removed to Pottstown and 
 engaged in the live stock business, buy- 
 ing and selling cattle until about i860. In 
 1863 Mr. Longaker was elected on the 
 Democratic ticket as treasurer of Mont- 
 gomery county, and returned to Norris- 
 town. He served two terms in this office. 
 In 1862 he engaged in the wholesale wine 
 and liquor business at Norristown, under 
 the firm name of Longaker &. Buskirk. He 
 served at various times as a delegate to the 
 State conventions of his party, and was for 
 three years a member of the Pottstown bor- 
 ough council. For many years he was a 
 member of the board of managers of the 
 Union Mutual Fire and Storm Insurance 
 company of Montgomery county, and a 
 manager of the Reading and Perkiomen 
 Turnpike company. In 1842 he married 
 Elizabeth Smith, a daughter of the late 
 Abram Smith, of Pottstown. Their chil- 
 dren were : Montgomery S., whose name 
 heads this sketch; Hannah E., Mrs. Mathias 
 Geist, Horace S., Mary, wife of William H. 
 Thomas ; Lewis C, of Bradford, Pennsyl- 
 vania ; and two who died in infancy. Mr. 
 Longaker was a member of the Reformed 
 church. He enjoyed a reputation for in- 
 tegrity and promptness in business, and 
 was extensively acquainted with public men 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 545 
 
 throughout the State. His life was one of 
 great activity, and was closed by death on 
 September 36, 1892. 
 
 DR. J. M. ANDERS, an eminent physi- 
 cian and lead i no; medical authority of 
 this country, and for five years a Professor 
 in the Medico-Chirurgical College at Phila- 
 delphia, is a member of one of Montgomery 
 County's oldest and most respected families. 
 Dr. Anders received his education in the 
 old "Oak Tree" school, the Norristown 
 High school and a Theological seminary at 
 Wadsworth, ( >hio. He subsequently read 
 medicine with Dr. G. K. Mechter, and later 
 took a course at the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania, graduating in 1877 with the degree of 
 M. D. , and soon after with the degree of 
 Ph.D. He made a brilliant record as a stu- 
 dent at the University, and won a number 
 of prizes. On December i, 1877, ne W;:s 
 appointed a resident physician of the Epis- 
 copal Hospital of Philadelphia, and served 
 up to March 31, 1879, when he resigned to 
 pursue the practice of his profession. In 
 1880 he was appointed assistant physician on 
 the visiting staff of the Episcopal Hospital, 
 and served up to 1885. In this year he was 
 appointed to the Chair of Forestry and the 
 " Relation of Plant Life to Health " in the 
 Bureau of Scientific Information of the 
 Academy of Natural Sciences at Philadel- 
 phia. From 1887 up to 1892 he served on 
 the visiting medical staff of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Hospital, and in 1889 was ap- 
 pointed a lecturer on Materia Medica in the 
 Medico-Chirurgical College, and soon suc- 
 ceeded to the Chair of Hygiene, with a seat 
 in the faculty. In 1S91 he was appointed 
 to the newly-created Chair of Clinical Medi- 
 cine, and the following year he succeeded to 
 
 the Chair of Theory and Practice of Medi- 
 cine, made vacant by the resignation of Dr. 
 W. 1'. Waugh, in which position he has ably 
 served ever since. In 1889 he was elected 
 by the Board of Charities to his present 
 position as a member of the medical staff of 
 the Philadelphia Hospital, a position very 
 much coveted by leading physicians. In 
 1892 he was appointed by Minor Stuart as 
 one of the Civil Service Examining Board 
 of Hospital Physicians, consisting of three 
 members. 
 
 Among the original articles written by 
 Dr. Anders are the following : 
 
 "The External and Internal Use of Guaiacol. with 
 Brief Reports of Cases." "Beriberi, with Report of 
 Cases." "Special Wards for the Treatment of Ty- 
 phoid Fever." "Seasonal Influences in Erysipelas, 
 with Statistics." "Points in the Etiology and Clinical 
 History of Erysipelas." " Complications and Mortal- 
 ity-rate of Erysipelas." " The Treatment of Erysipe- 
 las." "A Statistical Study of the Complications of 
 Malaria." " A Statistical Study of Influenza ; Its Po- 
 tency to Lessen the Receptivity of the Body to Ma- 
 laria, as well as to Increase the Receptivity to Pneu- 
 monia, and probably Typhoid Fever." "House Plants 
 as Sanitarj Agents." "Forests; their Influence upon 
 
 Climate and Rain-fall. file Exhalation of Ozone 
 
 by Flowering Plants." "Hygienic and Therapeutic 
 Relation of Plants." "House Plants and Lung lu's- 
 ease." " Beneficial Influences of Plants." " Sanitary 
 Influences of Forest Growth." "The Relation of 
 Forests to Health Resorts." 
 
 Among the published lectures delivered 
 by Dr. Anders are the following : 
 
 "The Diagnosis and Treatment of Catarrhal Dys- 
 pepsia." "Treatment of Typhoid Fever: Two Re- 
 lapses and other Complications — Asthma associated 
 with Emphysema and Chronic Bronchitis." "Speci- 
 mens from a Case of Impacted Gall-stones, with Fistu- 
 lous Connection between the Gall Bladder and the 
 Colon ; A Case of Irregular Malarial Fever ; and a Case 
 of Atrophic Cirrhosis of Liver." "A Case of Typhoid 
 Fever; Numerous Intestinal Hemorrhages, the amount 
 I of Blood Lost being Seventy-eight and a-half Oum 
 and Obstinate Vomiting, with Recovery." "Acute 
 Pleurisy with Effusion; Interstitial Pneumonia (Chali- 
 35 
 

 Bii igraphicai. Sketches. 
 
 cosisi, with Encysted and probably Interlobular Locu- 
 la'ed Pleurisy." "Cases Illustrating the Various 
 Forms of Chronic Diffuse Nephritis Mitral Regurgita- 
 tion following Acute Rheumatism." " Cardiac Dila- 
 tation." "Dilatation due to Chronic Valvular Dis 
 ease ; Subsequent Acute Endocarditis ; Three Cases of 
 Bronzing of the Skin : one due to Pediculosis Corporis, 
 one to Pulmonary Tuberculosis, and one to Syphilis, 
 (11,1 Vg ■, and Pulmonary Phthisis." "Subacute Pleu- 
 ritis, with Effusion ; Paracentesis." 
 
 He is one of the founders and direc- 
 tors of the City Trust, Safe Deposit and 
 Surety Company, and a Director of the Pro- 
 vident Mutual Insurance Company. He is 
 a Repuhlican politically, and a member of 
 Oxford Presbyterian Church. He has been 
 compelled to abandon, to a large extent, gen- 
 eral practice, and, since located at 1605 
 Walnut St., is confining his work almost 
 entirely to consultation and office practice. 
 
 Dr. Anders is a member of the Pan- 
 American Medical Congress, the Pennsyl- 
 vania Forestry Association, the American 
 Medical Association, and his County, City 
 and State Medical Societies. He is also a 
 life member of the Philadelphia Academy 
 of Natural Sciences. 
 
 Exact, clear and eloquent as a lecturer, 
 Dr. Anders invests the driest subject of his 
 profession with life, and renders it interesting 
 and instructive. As an author he is exact and 
 comprehensive, and as an original investi- 
 gator is unprejudiced and progressive, yet 
 does not favor innovation or rash experiment. 
 
 He regards his profession in its true light 
 and progressive character, and would keep 
 it abreast of the wonderful advances of the 
 present age. 
 
 He knows no grander or nobler field for 
 human effort than that of medicine, and 
 though but in the early prime of matured 
 manhood, yet has contributed much to the 
 improvement and elevation of his profession, 
 which justly stands in the van of earth's 
 leading professions. 
 
 GUSTAVUS F. THEEL, M. D., a 
 specialist in nervous and spinal dis- 
 eases, who resides at Ambler and practices 
 ' in Philadelphia, is a son of Major Charles 
 F. and Marie (Bonahels) Theel, and was 
 born at Colon, on the Rhine, in Germany, 
 February is, 1833. Major Charles F. Theel, 
 who received the Cross of the Eagle, for 
 bravery, from the hands of the Emperor 
 William I, of Germany, entered the Prus- 
 sian army at a very early age. He was in 
 the battle of Waterloo and fought through 
 the Prussian and Danish war. He served 
 with distinction, rose step by step until he 
 became major of his regiment, and when 
 the weight of years disqualified him from 
 active service he resigned. He died Janu- 
 ary 13, 1895, at tne r 'P e °'d a ? e °f uinetv- 
 eight years. He married Marie Bonahels, 
 and reared a family of twelve children. 
 
 Gustavus F. Theel was reared at Cologne, 
 Prussia, until he was fourteen years of age, 
 and attended a military school in that Ger- 
 man citv. When in his fifteenth vear he 
 came to the United States, and resided with 
 an uncle at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where 
 he attended school for two years. He then 
 went to Chicago, Illinois, where he resided 
 with another uncle. Leaving Chicago he 
 returned home, and after attending a mili- 
 tary college took full medical courses at 
 the University of Bonn, Germany. He was 
 graduated from both medical schools that 
 he attended, and then became a medical as- 
 sistant in Berlin for six vears. At the end 
 of that time he came to Philadelphia, and 
 after taking the full medical course in Hah- 
 neman college, went to Indianapolis, In- 
 diana, where he established a homeopathic 
 college, which he conducted for one year. 
 He then returned to Philadelphia, where 
 he has practiced ever since. In 1885, Dr. 
 Theel purchased property at Ambler, which 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 547 
 
 is still his place of residence, although prac- 
 ticing in Philadelphia. He makes a spec- 
 ialty of nervous and spinal diseases and 
 blood poisons. 
 
 In 1865 Dr. Theel married Eliza Hoff- 
 man. To their union were born two chil- 
 dren : Joseph, deceased ; and Dr. Thomas, 
 engaged in practice with his father in 
 Philadelphia. Mrs. Theel died in 1883, at 
 the age of forty-eight years. 
 
 Dr. Theel is a staunch Republican, took 
 an active part in the Garfield and Blaine 
 campaigns of 1880 and 1884, and served in 
 1892 as burgess of Ambler. He has given 
 many years to the study and practice of his 
 chosen profession and has enjoyed the best 
 of opportunities for thoroughly qualifying 
 himself as a physician. Dr. Theel is a 
 member of W. R. Snyder Lodge, Free and 
 Accepted Masons, and Washington Lodge, 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 
 
 SAMUEL P. SEESE, M. D., has been 
 one of the leading physicians of Lans- 
 dale since 1884, and on account of his wide 
 and varied experience, covering over twenty 
 years of active practice of medicine in all 
 its departments, he gained the confidence 
 and esteem of the district and is therefore 
 one of the busiest men of his profession in 
 the county. 
 
 Dr. Samuel P. Seese is a native of Bucks 
 county and was born in Plumstead town- 
 ship, on January 6, 1849. He is a son of 
 John A. and Mary (Lott) Seese and is of 
 German ancestry, though his forefathers 
 have been citizens of England and this 
 country for many generations. His pater- 
 nal grandfather, John Seese, was born July 
 2, 1757, in New York city. He was a far- 
 mer by avocation and tilled a very large 
 
 and fertile tract of land. He served faith- 
 fully through the Revolutionary war. On 
 October 7, 1779,11c married Elizabeth Kep- 
 ler, and ten children were born to them : 
 Catharine, Joseph, Sarah, Elizabeth, Jane, 
 John A., Susan, Rebecca, Mary and Ann. 
 John A., the second son and Dr. Seese's 
 father, was born November 25, 1792. He 
 attended the common schools of the dis- 
 trict in which he lived and then taught a 
 pay school for a number of years. Later on 
 he learned the trades of carpenter and cabi- 
 net maker and worked at them for some 
 years, finally abandoning that avocation to 
 take hold of a farm in Bucks county, where 
 he remained until 1873. After this he re- 
 sided at North Wales, Montgomery county, 
 where he died March 22, 1882. He was a 
 Democrat in politics, but never took a very 
 prominent part in party work. He . also 
 served his country during the latter part of 
 the War of 1812. On August 6, 1S29, he 
 married Mary, daughter of Benjamin Lott 
 and grand-niece of George Clymer, signer 
 of the Declaration of Independence. This 
 union was blessed with the following chil- 
 dren : William and Sarah, who died young ; 
 Elizabeth, married to Samuel Geil ; Mi- 
 randa, intermarried with Isaac G. Freed ; 
 Mary and Jennie, deceased ; Samuel and 
 Emma. 
 
 Dr. Seese was sent through the common 
 schools of his native town. He then be- 
 came the teacher of a common school at 
 Gardenville, Pa., and remained there sev- 
 eral years. Afterwards he took a one year's 
 course at the State Normal school, Millers- 
 ville, and the following year had charge of 
 the intermediate department of Newark 
 academy, at Newark, N. J. He began to 
 read medicine with Dr. B. K. Johnston, of 
 North Wales, and when he resignad his po- 
 sition in Newark academy, entered the 
 
548 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 University of Pennsylvania, from which he 
 graduated in 1874. 
 
 Dr. Seese first began to practice the pro- 
 fession at Erwinna, Bucks county, where 
 he remained ten years and was very suc- 
 cessful. He, however, saw a better opening 
 at Lansdale, and he located there in 1884, 
 and his present very extensive practice is 
 testimony to the fact that his judgment was 
 right. Besides his office and visiting prac- 
 tice, Dr. Seese is a surgeon of rare ability 
 and is called upon very often to perform 
 operations and attend to persons injured on 
 the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, as 
 he is the doctor for the company in that 
 district. He is a Democrat like his fore- 
 fathers, and takes a great interest in politi- 
 cal matters, though never making a bid for 
 office. 
 
 On the 17th of September, 1874, Dr. 
 Seese and Miss Mary, daughter of Robert 
 Wetherill, of Delaware county, were joined 
 in marriage, and three children have been 
 born to them, Mary, Richard and Gertrude, 
 all of whom are living. Dr. Seese is a 
 member of the following fraternal organi- 
 zations : Masonic, Patriotic Order Sons 
 of America, and Commandery Sons of 
 America. 
 
 WILLIAM D. ZIMMERMAN, the 
 efficient cashier of the First Na- 
 tional bank of Conshohockeu, is a son of 
 Lorenzo D. and Anna M. (Dager) Zimmer- 
 man, and was born September 7, 1854, in 
 Whitpain township, this county. Mr. 
 Zimmerman received his education in the 
 public school of his native township, and 
 subsequently took a course in the Norris- 
 town high school. After leaving school he 
 returned home and remained with his father 
 
 on the farm up to 1875. In that year, 
 through a personal friendship that existed 
 between his uncle, Isaac Zimmerman, who 
 had been a director in the Bank of Mont- 
 gomery county, and Mr. William H. Sling- 
 luff, whom he assisted in making cashier of 
 that institution when only twenty-one years 
 of age, Mr. Slingluff reciprocated this early 
 confidence of Mr. Zimmerman by tendering 
 his nephew a position as book-keeper in the 
 same institution. Mr. Zimmerman entered 
 on the duties of that position September 1, 
 1875. After serving faithfully in this ca- 
 pacity up to 1889, in recognition of his very 
 satisfactory service, he was asked by Mr. 
 John Slingluff, then president of the Mont- 
 gomery Trust company, to accept a similar 
 position in that institution, then recently 
 organized and located in the same building. 
 He remained in the capacity of book-keeper 
 in the Trust company up to May, 1890, 
 when he was elected as its secretary and 
 treasurer, in which capacity he continued 
 up to October 1, 1894, when, upon the res- 
 ignation of William McDermott, the vet- 
 eran cashier of the First National bank of 
 Conshohocken, he was elected to his pres- 
 ent position, at once assuming the duties 
 and responsibilities of the same, after hav- 
 ing spent more than nineteen years in va- 
 rious capacities in the two institutions of 
 the Montgomery National bank building of 
 Norristown. 
 
 Mr. Zimmerman is a Republican in poli- 
 tics but has never taken an active part in 
 political matters. On April 10, 1879, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Mary L., 
 a daughter of William W. Baily, a retired 
 builder, formerly of Tamaqua, Pa., but then 
 residing in Plymouth township, this county. 
 This marital relation has been blessed with 
 one child, Frederick. 
 
 The original progenitor of that branch of 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 549 
 
 the Zimmerman family of which our sub- 
 ject is a member, was one of the traditional 
 three brothers who came to this country 
 from Germany about the year 1700, and 
 whose descendants are scattered through 
 parts of New Jersey and eastern Pennsyl- 
 vania. The earliest Zimmerman of whom 
 any definite information is obtainable, was 
 Christopher Zimmerman, who was a farmer 
 and resided in Worcester township, in the 
 early part of his life. Later and at the 
 time of his death he lived on the old home- 
 stead in Whitpain township, and his re- 
 mains repose in the old Bethel church ceme- 
 tery in Worcester township. The date of 
 his birth, 1735, is still legible on the 
 weather-worn tombstone. He had a family 
 of seven children : Isaac, Jacob, William, 
 Christopher, Catharine Clemens, Magdalene 
 DeHaven and Susan Supplee. One of his 
 .sons, William Zimmerman, grandfather, 
 was born and lived the early part of his life 
 in Worcester township. He was a stone- 
 mason by trade but never followed that oc- 
 cupation to any extent. Subsequently, 
 from 1830 to 1835, he was engaged in the 
 lumber business at Philadelphia, in partner- 
 ship with John Evans, operating under the 
 trading name of Zimmerman & Evans. He 
 afterwards purchased the old homestead 
 farm of two hundred acres in Whitpain, 
 where he resided up to his death. He was 
 a Whig and afterwards a Republican, and 
 a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. He was one of the emergency 
 men in the War of 1812, and was stationed 
 at Marcus Hook near Chester. He married 
 Esther Butler, a daughter of Thomas But- 
 ler and Mary Norman Butler, of Whitpain, 
 and four children were born to this mar- 
 riage : Sylvester and Cecilia, twins ; Lo- 
 renzo and Franklin. William Zimmerman 
 died November 6, 1862, in the eighty-second 
 
 year of his age. His wife, Esther, died 
 August 8, 1888, at the age of ninety years. 
 Lorenzo D. Zimmerman, father, was born 
 in Gwynedd township, this county, July 20, 
 1827. His father soon after removed to 
 Philadelphia, thence to Whitpain, where he 
 received his education at the Ellis school 
 of that township. Here he reared his fam- 
 ily and continued in an extensive fanning 
 business up to February, 1SS1, when he re- 
 tired from active pursuits and removed to 
 Norristowu, where he purchased a site at 
 No. 1300 DeKalb street, and erected a hand- 
 some residence in which he has since lived 
 in well earned retirement. 
 
 In 1853 Mr. Zimmerman married Anna 
 Maria, daughter of Jacob and Caroline 
 Streeper Dager, of Springfield township. 
 To this union were born two children : 
 William D. and George S., the latter at 
 this writing occupies the home farm. 
 
 Caroline S. Dager, grandmother, was a 
 daughter of George Streeper, of White- 
 marsh, who died in 1864, at the age of 
 eighty-two years. His father was Leonard 
 Streeper, who owned an extensive tract of 
 land in Whitemarsh township during col- 
 onial times, from which he donated the 
 ground upon which the church and ceme- 
 tery at Lafayette Hill are located. George 
 Streeper was married to Elizabeth Hinckel. 
 She was born near Philadelphia in 1779, 
 and reached the age of ninety-two years, 
 her death having taken place in 1871. She 
 is, of course, distinctly remembered by the 
 subject of this sketch. 
 
 PO. WICK ART, M. D., who has been 
 . practicing medicine with success in 
 and about Salfordville during past years is 
 a man who came here as a stranger, but 
 
55° 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 soon demonstrated his worth as an experi- 
 enced practitioner, gaining and retaining 
 the confidence and respect of the community 
 and all with whom he came in contact. 
 Dr. Wickart is a native of Lehigh county, 
 where his ancestors have for many years 
 resided and have helped to build it up and 
 add to its importance. He is the son of 
 Peter and Mary (Person) Wickart, and was 
 born on the 27th of November, 1858. His 
 forefathers were originally Germans, and 
 when they came over to America they lo- 
 cated in the Lehigh Valley and contributed 
 to the great Pennsylvania German settle- 
 ment in that section of the State. 
 
 Charles Wickhart, his grandfather, was 
 born in Lehigh county. He was a farmer 
 and owned and successfully wprked two 
 hundred acres of the finest land in the val- 
 ley. 
 
 He was a Democrat in principle and 
 precept and took considerable interest in 
 the work of his party in his locality. Dur- 
 ing many years of an active life he was a 
 member of the Reformed church and was a 
 devout Christian. He was a deacon of his 
 congregation for many years and was be- 
 loved by all. He was married and the 
 union was blessed by three children : Peter, 
 Charles and Julian. 
 
 Dr. Wickart's father was also born in 
 Lehigh county on the 16th of February, 
 1827, an d followed the pursuits of a farmer 
 all his life and was eminently successful. 
 He also became largely interested in coal 
 mining interests and was well known in 
 the region. Politically he took to the 
 Democratic principles, but did not take a 
 very active part in politics. He was a 
 deacon and trustee of the Reformed church 
 and was an earnest and untiring supporter 
 of Sunday school work. His marriage with 
 Mary Person was productive of a family 
 
 of three children : Jennie, Alfred and Dr. 
 Wickart. 
 
 The common schools of forty years ago 
 did not in any way compare with the sys- 
 tem of the present day, but they were sound 
 institutions. It was in this class of schools 
 that Dr. Wickart was initiated into the 
 early stages of an education. He then took 
 a two years' course at the Keystone State 
 Normal school, and after serving some 
 time as a clerk in a drug store began to 
 read medicine. His medical education was 
 prosecuted at the Baltimore Medical college, 
 where he graduated in 1882, after which 
 he took a special advanced course. Having 
 finished his medical training Dr. Wickart 
 went to Ohio, where he remained some 
 time, and then came to Salfordville, where 
 he now enjoys a commendable practice. 
 Dr. Wickart has made an enviable name 
 for himself as a general practitioner and 
 has a very bright future before him. 
 
 On the 30th day of June, 1882, Dr. Wick- 
 art married Grace B., the cultured daughter 
 of George and Kate Long, and this union 
 has been fruitful in the birth of five chil- 
 dren, two only of whom, however, now live 
 to bless the home happiness of their par- 
 ents. The children are : Peter, deceased, 
 who was born April 14, 1883 ; Levi, de- 
 ceased, born July 7, 1884; Lewis W. , de- 
 ceaaed, born July 13, 1887 ; Benjamin, 
 born February 18, 1890, and J. A., born 
 September 31, 1893. 
 
 MONTGOMERY EVANS, Esq., a 
 prominent attorney of Norristown, 
 this county, is a son of Thomas and Mary 
 (Schwenk) Evans, and was born November 
 18, 1853, in Limerick township, Montgom- 
 ery county, Pennsylvania. The old world 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 551 
 
 home of that branch of the Evans family, 
 of which the subject of this biographical 
 record is a worthy scion, is in the historic 
 little principality of Wales. The coming 
 to this country of the founder of the fam- 
 ily, William Evans, is co-existent with the 
 early colonial history of the country. In 
 1698 William Evans, together with his 
 wife and family, settled in what is now 
 Limerick township, Montgomery county. 
 In this vicinity he and members of his 
 family became the owners of "a large tract 
 of land, part of which is yet in the posess- 
 ion of his descendants. The. first deed bears 
 date of 1 7 16, from the London Land com- 
 pany. William Evans died soon after 
 emigrating to this country. One of his 
 children, Owen, the second son, was the 
 lineal ancestor of the subject of this sketch. 
 He became owner of a portion of the Evans 
 estate and resided all his life in Limerick 
 township, engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 He married Mary Davis, who died Novem- 
 ber 28, 1854. One of the sons of Owen 
 Evans was David Evans, the great-grand- 
 father of Montgomery Evans, born January 
 22, 1730, died October 23, 1S00. His wife 
 was Anna Brooke. One of his sons was 
 Owen Evans, the grandfather, who was 
 born October 23, 1767, died April 14, 1845, 
 in Limerick township, and following in the 
 footsteps of several generations of his an- 
 cesters, followed farming as a means of 
 securing a livelihood. He was a Democrat 
 of the Jeffersonian stamp and exhibited a 
 commendable interest in the administration 
 of local political affairs. Religiously he 
 was a member of the Society of Friends. 
 He married Rachel Brooke, and the fol- 
 lowing children were born of this union : 
 Anna, Robert, David, John, David, 2nd, 
 Matthew and Thomas Brooke. 
 
 Thomas Brooke Evans, father, was born 
 
 on the old family homestead in Limerick 
 township on April 21, 1809. He attended 
 the common schools and obtained a fair 
 education for that day, and taught 
 for a time in the public schools 
 of the county in his younger days. 
 He learned the trade of a tanner, 
 and for a time followed that trade in Clus- 
 ter county and in Limerick township, and 
 then located upon a farm in the same town- 
 ship, where he followed farming the re- 
 mainder of his life, dying on December 13, 
 1863. In political texture he was a Demo- 
 crat, and being a man of good judgment 
 was elected to the office of justice of the 
 peace a number of terms and served as a clerk 
 to the county commissioners and directors 
 ot the poor of Montgomery county a num- 
 ber of years. His marriage with Mary 
 Schwenk, daughter of Jacob Schwenk, re- 
 sulted in the birth of eight children : R. 
 Brooke, who resides on the homestead 
 farm in Limerick township ; Franklin and 
 Montgomery, both died in early boyhood ; 
 Mary E., wife of Frank S. Savior, a wire 
 manufacturer of St. Louis, Missouri; Char- 
 lotte, died in 1892 ; Emma, wife of Garrett 
 E. Brownback, a butter manufacturer, of 
 Linfield,this county; Montgomery, 2nd; and 
 Zella, wdio died at the age of five years. 
 
 Montgomery Evans obtained his ele- 
 mentary and preparatory education in the 
 public schools of Limeiick township and in 
 the select schools of Phcenixville, Spring 
 City and Norristown. He then entered 
 Lafayette college, at Easton, from which 
 educational institution of high standing he 
 graduated in 1875. Leaving college he 
 took a position as principal of the public 
 schools of Montrose, Susquehanna county, 
 this State, and remained there two years. 
 At the end of that time he came to Norris- 
 town and registered as a student at law in 
 
552 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 the office of the late B. E. Chain, and was 
 admitted to the bar of Montgomery county 
 on November 30, 1878. He at once en- 
 tered upon the practice of his profession at 
 Norristown, and has remained there ever 
 since actively and successfully engaged in 
 the practice of the law. In the spring of 
 1888 he formed a partnership with Louis 
 M. Childs, under the firm name of Childs 
 & Evans, which relation still continues. 
 He is vice-president of the Norristown 
 Trust and Safe Deposit company; and sec- 
 retary and treasurer of the Norristown 
 Land and Improvement company, a Demo- 
 crat in matters political and a strict and 
 consistent member of the Central Presby- 
 terian church, of Norristown. He is an 
 elder in this church organization, has been 
 superintendent of its Sabbath school for a 
 period of twelve years, and a member of the 
 board of trustees for the same -length of 
 time. 
 
 He is a member of the Montgomery 
 County Law association, and since 1885 the 
 treasurer of the law library committee of 
 the county. 
 
 On November 30, 1886, Mr. Evans and 
 Miss Cara G., a daughter of Rev. James G. 
 Ralston, of Norristown, and formerly pro- 
 prietor of Oakland female seminary, were 
 united in marriage. Two children, Doro- 
 thy L. and Roger, deceased, were the fruits 
 of this marriage. 
 
 As a lawyer Mr. Evans stands deservedly 
 high and is literate in all the intricacies 
 and subtleties of the law. He is a careful 
 student of legal and judicial literature 
 as well as of human nature, possesses 
 a keen and discriminating mind aud is al- 
 ways alert in the detection of technical 
 points and in legal manceuvering. Person- 
 ally he is affable and dignified and com- 
 mands the highest esteem. 
 
 HON. MILTON H. WALTERS, an 
 ex-member of the Pennsylvania legis- 
 lature and a successful business man of 
 Montgomery county, is a son of John K. 
 and Kate (Hoffman) Walters, and was born 
 September 4, 1848, in Marlborough town- 
 ship, Montgomery count}-, Pennsylvania. 
 His paternal grandfather upon arriving at 
 maturity embarked in the pursuits of hus- 
 bandry in Centre county, this State. In- 
 dustrious, frugal and of strict integrity, he 
 won not only pecuniary success, but the 
 confidence and respect of all who had busi- 
 dess or social relations with him. Politi- 
 cally he was a Democrat, whilst religiously 
 he was a devout and consistent member of 
 the Lutheran church. He wedded, and the 
 following children, now all deceased, blessed 
 their union : John, Jacob, George, and 
 Anna. John K. Walters, father, was born 
 in Upper Salford township, this county, 
 and died at the age of sixty-three years. 
 He was reared upon his father's farm, and 
 attended the subscription schools obtaining 
 only an elementary education. Leaving 
 school at the age of sixteen years, he soon 
 began life on his own account as a tiller of 
 the soil and followed it until death closed 
 his useful, industrious, and successful 
 career. He was a Democrat and a member 
 of the Lutheran church, in the work of 
 which he took a prominent part, holding 
 the office of deacon, and his life was an 
 exemplification of cardinal Christian vir- 
 tues. His marriage union with Kate 
 Hoffman was blessed in the birth of the 
 following children : Maria, who became 
 the wife of David Kline ; Charles, Ephraim, 
 Emaline, Oswin, and Milton H, subject. 
 
 Milton H. Walters' boyhood days were 
 spent after the fashion of a typical farmer 
 boy, doing chores about and working upon 
 the farm during the summer months and 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 553 
 
 attending school during the winter. At 
 school he was quick and apt in his studies. 
 After attending the common schools until 
 he had mastered the course of instruction 
 provided in them, he attended Washington 
 Hall Institute, at the Trappe, one session 
 and Freeland seminary for the same length 
 of time, and so rapid was the progress 
 made that at the early age of fifteen he was 
 qualified to teach and received the county 
 superintendent's license or certificate. He 
 taught four terms successfully in Marlbor- 
 ough township and then relinquished teach- 
 ing to engage in the milling business, hav- 
 ing learned the trade with his brother. For 
 sixteen years he followed the fortunes of a 
 miller in this township. On the economic 
 questions of the day Mr. Walters believes 
 in a Jacksonian enforcement of Jefferson- 
 ian principle and has always accorded it 
 his suffrage, uniformly taking an active 
 interest in the success of the Democratic 
 party. He is a man well recognized for 
 his good judgment and fair dealing and in 
 1883 was elected to the judicial office of 
 justice of the peace, and at the end of his 
 first term was re-elected, but resigned on 
 December 31, 1890, to accept a higher 
 office. The people of his district, recogniz- 
 ing in him those qualities of head and heart 
 that go to make up a good legislator, 
 elected him in 1890 to represent them in 
 the Pennsylvania legislature, and his 
 course in that body was such as reflected 
 honor upon himself and was entirely satis- 
 factory to his constituents. He has always 
 been a staunch friend of the cause of popu- 
 lar education and has served continuously 
 as school director from 1880 to the present 
 time (1895), acting as secretary of the 
 board since 1883. In his business relations 
 and transactions he has exhibited the same 
 rare good judgment that has characterized 
 
 him in other phases of life's activities, and 
 as a business man has been eminently 
 successful, posessing large and valuable 
 land interests, among which are the follow- 
 ing: two well improved farms one of sixty- 
 eight acres and the other of sixty-five acres 
 in Marlborough township; joint owner of 
 forty-eight acres adjacent to the fair 
 ground near Pottstown ; and a nicely im- 
 proved small farm at Royer's Ford. Mr. 
 Walters has been twice married. His 
 first union resulted in the birth of two 
 children : Irvin G. and Agnes K , both de- 
 ceased. His second marital alliance has 
 been blessed in the birth of three children : 
 Laura, Howard and Norma. Mr. Walters 
 is affable and well liked and his success 
 and popularity among his neighbors and 
 acquaintances is well deserved and last- 
 ing:. 
 
 |()HN C. HATHAWAY, who owns 
 <J shirt factories at Norristown and Lans- 
 dale, is a son of John C, sr., and Barbara 
 Ann Hathaway. He was born at Norris- 
 town, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 in September, 1851. The Hathaway fam- 
 ily is of English origin and John C. Hath- 
 away, sr., was born in Delaware county, 
 near the city of Wilmington, in the State 
 of Delaware. He received a common En- 
 glish education and learned the trade of 
 carpenter, which he followed for some time 
 at Chestnut Hill. He afterwards came to 
 Norristown and engaged in contracting on 
 a small scale. He built up an extensive 
 business, and at the time of his death, was 
 one of the largest contractors at Norristown, 
 employing quite a force of hands and erect- 
 ing many buildings in various parts of the 
 borough and in the adjacent suburbs and 
 surrounding county. Mr. Hathawav was 
 
554 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 in religious matters inclined to the faith 
 and practice of the Quakers or Society of 
 Friends. He was patriotic, and when the 
 government called for men to maintain the 
 union, he responded to the call. He en- 
 listed in company C, 2nd Pennsylvania 
 cavalry, and participated in many hard bat- 
 tles and numerous skirmishes. He con- 
 tracted rheumatism from cold and exposure 
 while in the Union service, and died from 
 the effects of that disease, when in the six- 
 ty-sixth year of his age. Mr. Hathaway 
 wedded Barbara Ann Kitzginer, whose 
 father, John Kitzginer, was a native and 
 resident of Delaware county. Mrs. Hath- 
 away lived to be fifty years of age. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Hathaway reared a family of four 
 children, three sons and a daughter: George, 
 who went to California ; John C, the sub- 
 ject of this sketch ; William and Mary. 
 John C. Hathaway was reared in his na- 
 tive town, received his education in the 
 Norristown public schools, and at fourteen 
 years of age, entered the employ of a con- 
 tractor, with whom he worked for two 
 years. He then entered the employ of his 
 mother, who was then carrying on the 
 manufacture of pantaloons at Norristown, 
 and remained with her up to 1869, when he 
 embarked, on DeKalb street, in shirt manu- 
 facturing on a small scale. Three years 
 later he removed to his present place of 
 business, 520-522, George street, near West 
 Marshall street. He opened out there in 
 rather an unpretentious manner, safely 
 weathered the financial panic in 1873, and 
 yearly increased his business until he now 
 has a large demand for his products in 
 many of the eastern cities. He has remod- 
 eled, enlarged and fully equipped his fac- 
 tory, and employs a force of one hundred 
 hands. Mr. Hathaway also owns and ope- 
 rates a shirt factory at Lansdale, which he 
 
 started in 1894, and whose capacity and 
 output are such that he there employs 
 fifty hands. Xo panic or financial depres- 
 sion has effected his business, and in 1893 
 and 1894, when the distrust and uncertainty 
 of the times caused many shirt factories to 
 either close down or run on half time, his 
 trade was such that the output of his Nor- 
 ristown factor) - was five hundred dozens of 
 shirts per week. 
 
 On Christmas day, 1869, Mr. Hathaway 
 was united in marriage with Emma E. 
 Shuber. Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway have six- 
 children living. 
 
 In politics Mr. Hathaway is a Republican 
 and has served three years as a member of 
 the borough council. He is a member of 
 L-ynwood Lodge, Ancient Order of United 
 Workmen. 
 
 JOHN G. HUNSICKER, proprietor of 
 J the central store of Souderton, has 
 been located in that town for the past two 
 years, and i., well and favorably known all 
 over the county as a business man of 
 sound principles and thorough mercautile 
 training. He was born on June 4, 1S50, 
 and is the son of Isaac C. and Mary 
 (Garges) Hunsicker, and is a descendant of 
 American-German ancestry. His paternal 
 great-grandfather, Isaac Hunsicker, was a 
 native of this county. He was the father 
 of thirteen children. His grandfather was 
 also named Isaac Hunsicker, -and after get- 
 ting a common school education, he went 
 to svork on a farm. He followed the 
 peaceful life of a farmer until his death and 
 was respected by all who knew him. On 
 February 4, 1845, ne married a Miss Cassell, 
 and after the death of his first wife married 
 Miss Stauffer. He was the father of seven 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 555 
 
 children. Isaac C. Hunsicker, who is the 
 father of the subject of this sketch, was 
 born October 3, 1819, and was a farmer 
 by occupation, working a fertile farm and 
 becoming prosperous. He was a man of 
 excellent judgment and held the confidence 
 of his neighbors. The Hunsicker family 
 were all members of the Mennonitc church 
 and this gentleman was very active in 
 church work. He was the father of the 
 following children : James, born January 7, 
 1846, deceased ; Isaac, born January 7, 
 1848, deceased ; John G., born June 4, 1850; 
 Anna, born February 26, 1852, deceased ; 
 and Henry G. , born February 10, 1856. 
 He is a Republican in politics, and is still 
 living at the age of seventy-six years. 
 
 John G. Hunsicker was sent to the com- 
 mon schools and then spent one term at 
 Freeland seminary. On finishing his 
 schooling he accepted a position as clerk 
 in the wholesale dry goods store of Rom- 
 berger, Long cc Co., of Philadelphia, where 
 he remained four years and then resigned 
 to start in the general store business at 
 Lederachville. Later on he engaged in 
 the same business in Bucks county and 
 remained there four years. During this 
 time he assisted in establishing the first 
 creamery in that vicinity. Then he bought 
 the creamery at Branch Valley. In 1895 he 
 came to Souderton and bought the store 
 he now manages with such skill and 
 profit. Besides being a prosperous mer- 
 chant, Mr. Hunsicker is a man of enter- 
 prise and public spirit. He assisted in 
 organizing the Trust Company at Lansdale 
 and is at present a stockholder in that con- 
 cern. He makes a specialty of butter in a 
 mercantile way and handles ten thousand 
 pounds of that article every week. In 
 every thing that Mr. Hunsicker has taken 
 an interest, he has prospered. He started 
 
 in the world on nothing and his Inst posi- 
 tion netted him only S3 a week. But his 
 indomitable energy and strong ambition 
 carried him onward and upward until now 
 he holds the most prominent place in the 
 neighborhood and is generally respected 
 for his business ability and integrity. 
 
 Mr. Hunsicker was married October 30, 
 1873, to Sallie, daughter of Hiram Heil, 
 and this marriage has been blessed with 
 six children, five of whom are living. The 
 children are: Harry H., born August 2, 
 1874; Charles, born January 4, 1877; Irvin, 
 born January 2, 1879, now deceased; Lilly, 
 born January 13, 1881; Sallie, born Sep- 
 tember 4, 1883; and Lizzie, born August 
 24, 1889. The family are regular attend- 
 ants of the Reformed church. In politics, 
 Mr. Hunsicker is a Republican, but does 
 not hold office or aspire to do more than 
 to assist in preserving the prosperity of 
 his countrv. 
 
 SAMUEL C. MOVER, M. D., who since 
 1892 has been a very successful 
 homeopathic physician at Lansdale, is a 
 native of Bucks count} - , this State, and was 
 born on November 17, 1846. He is a de- 
 scendant of good old German- American 
 ancestry. His paternal grandfather was 
 Joseph M. Moyer, who was a prosperous 
 farmer in Bucks county, a prominent mem- 
 ber of the Mennouite church, and was first 
 a Whig and then a Republican in political 
 faith. He married, and they had several 
 children. 
 
 The father of our subject was born in 
 Bucks county, received his education in 
 the common schools of his day and then 
 began farming, following that avocation 
 all his life. He owned a productive farm 
 
556 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 in Bucks county, which he cultivated with 
 profit. He was an active member of the 
 Mennonite congregation of this township 
 and was a staunch, unswerving Republican 
 in politics. He married and they had five 
 children ; Henry, born March 17, 1837 ; 
 Barbara, born March 21, 1840 ; Mary, born 
 January 20, 1843, and married to Daniel 
 Christmau ; Dr. Samuel C, and John, who 
 was born November 29, 1851. Mr. Moyer 
 died on April 4, 1885, and his wife died 
 January 13, 1881. 
 
 Dr. Samuel C. Moyer was given a com- 
 mon school education, also attended the 
 Ouakertown normal institute and after- 
 wards spent two terms at Wadsworth semi- 
 nary, Ohio. He subsequently read medi- 
 cine and graduated from Hahnemann Medi- 
 cal college, Philadelphia, on March 12, 
 1872. On securing his diploma Dr. Moyer 
 became associated with Dr. Detwiller, of 
 Bucks county, and practiced his profession 
 with commendable success. He remained 
 there until he saw a good opening in Lans- 
 dale and vicinity. Since locating in the 
 above mentioned locality he "has built up a 
 very large practice and is deservedly popu- 
 lar in that neighborhood. Dr. Moyer is a thor- 
 ough student and a close observer, and his 
 long years of experience have made him one 
 of the leading physicians of his school in 
 Montgomery county. He is a Republican 
 in politics and an earnest supporter of 
 the party ticket. He is a member of 
 the Mennonite faith, like his forefathers, 
 and is very active in church work. His 
 first wife was Mary Swartley. By this union 
 he became the father of three children : 
 Ella, William, and John, who is now de- 
 ceased. His second marriage resulted in 
 the birth of six children : Winfield, born 
 December 15, 1884; Herbert, born Febru- 
 ary 7, 1886 ; Sarah, born March 8, 1889 ; 
 
 Katie, born October 19, 1890; Samuel, born 
 April 10, 1893; and Emma G., born Feb- 
 ruary 9, 1895. 
 
 ELWOOD G. GILBERT, V. S., a well 
 known veterinary surgeon, was born 
 July, 1855, in Bucks county, this State, and 
 is a son of Joseph S. and Mariah (Most) Gil- 
 bert. His parents were both natives of 
 Bucks count}-, and were descended from 
 good old German stock. Joseph S. Gilbert 
 (father) was a prominent and successful 
 farmer of Bucks county, and a steadfast ad- 
 herent of the Quaker faith. He was of a 
 quiet disposition, unassuming in manner, 
 and never aspired to public office. He died 
 much respected by all who knew him in 
 1S72. He married Mariah Most, and by 
 that union had a family of several children. 
 Dr. Elwood G. Gilbert attended the pub- 
 lic schools of Newtown, Bucks county, dur- 
 ing his youth, and as he emerged into man- 
 hood began an apprenticeship at the mill- 
 ing business with David R. Warman, at 
 Frenchtown, New Jersey. He subsequently 
 followed that business for eight years, and 
 in 1S79 began the study of veterinary sur- 
 gery under Dr. Isaiah Michner, the dis- 
 tinguished veterinary surgeon of Car- 
 versville, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. 
 After two years' study with Dr. Michner, 
 Dr. Gilbert went to New York and 
 entered the American veterinary col- 
 lege of that city, from which he graduated 
 in 1884, receiving a silver medal for having 
 passed the best practical examination of any 
 student in his class. In the fall of that 
 year Dr. Gilbert located at Pottstown, 
 Montgomery county, for the practicing of 
 his profession. He has now been in active 
 practice for eleven years, and during that 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 557 
 
 time, has by ability and energy, built up a 
 large and lucrative business, winning at the 
 same time a reputation in his profession of 
 which he may justly feel proud. His prac- 
 tice now extends over several counties of 
 the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, 
 and he is frequently called for consultation 
 by some of the most distinguished veteri- 
 nary surgeons of Philadelphia and other 
 large cities. 
 
 In August, 1879, Dr. Gilbert was united 
 in marriage to Susanna Eichlin, a daughter 
 of Lewis Eichlin, of Bucks county, Penn- 
 sylvania. To their union have been born 
 three children : Honore, Lizzie and Willie. 
 In politics the Doctor is a Republican, and 
 fraternally a member of the Free and Ac- 
 cepted Masons. 
 
 THOMAS H. BARKER, a successful 
 business man and a member of the 
 important woolen manufacturing firm of 
 Booth & Bro. of Gladwyne, is the eldest son 
 of Edward and Elizabeth (Hardy) Barker, 
 and was born at Todd Morton, Delaware 
 county, Pennsylvania, November 12, 1S49. 
 His paternal grandfather, Thomas' Barker, 
 was a cotton spinner and worked for main 
 years in English cotton factories. He left 
 Olden, England, in 1842, and settled at 
 Todd Morton, Delaware county, where he 
 afterwards died. He married in England, 
 and his son, Edward, came with him to 
 this country. Edward Barker was born at 
 Olden, England, in 1823, received an ordi- 
 nary education and learned the trade of 
 spinner, which he followed for upwards of 
 twenty-five years after coming to this 
 country. In 1868, he came to Montgom- 
 ery county, and rented the old mill prop- 
 erty on Mill creek and was engaged for two 
 
 years in the manufacture of woolen yarn. 
 The mill then burned and Mr. Barker lived 
 a retired life until his death in 1883. He 
 was a Democrat until after Buchanan's 
 election and then became a Republican. 
 He was a member of the Episcopal church, 
 and Leeperville Lodge, Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows. Edward Barker in 1847 
 married Elizabeth Hardy and to their 
 union were born three sons and two daugh- 
 ters : Thomas H.; George and Henry, who 
 are both dead ; YVillimina; and Mary, wife 
 of Thomas Donnelly. Mrs. Barker was a 
 Miss Hardy before marriage. 
 
 Thomas H. Barker was sent at nine 
 years of age from his native place to West 
 Philadelphia, where he attended the public 
 schools until 1865, and then became a card 
 feeder in the cotton and woolen mill of 
 James Greenwood at Forty-seventh and 
 Market streets. After two years spent in 
 the employ of Mr. Greenwood, he came to 
 Lower Merion township and drove a team 
 and also acted at times as engineer for his 
 father. After the burning of the mill in 
 1870, he went back to Philadelphia and 
 rented the factory at Forty-seventh and 
 Market streets, which he operated up to 
 1872. In that year he and William Booth 
 (a half-brother) formed a partnership under 
 the firm name of Booth & Brother and be- 
 came possessors of the Rose Glen mill on 
 Mill creek, which they have operated ever 
 since in the manufacture of carpet yarn. 
 This mill was built by Samuel Nippes in 
 1814 and used for some years as a gun 
 factory. It was afterwards used as a car- 
 pet yarn mill by James Ledward, and later 
 for the same purpose by Thomas Schofield. 
 The present firm commenced with but ten 
 hands and now have a large force of em- 
 ployees. 
 
 Mr. Barker married Josephine Courad, a 
 
558 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 daughter of Jacob Conrad. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Barker have a family of the following sons 
 and daughters : William, Thomas J., Con- 
 rad, Frank K., Charles F., Margaret H., 
 and Eva. 
 
 Thomas H. Barker is a staunch Republi- 
 can and has served of late years as a dele- 
 gate to all the important State and county 
 conventions of his party. He is a member 
 of the Episcopal church ; Merion Lodge 
 No. 260, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; 
 Lodge No. 219, Knights of Pythias, and 
 has served several times as representative 
 to the State Grand Lodge of the Odd Fel- 
 lows and of Pythian Knighthood. In addi- 
 tion to these two secret organizations he is 
 a member of ten other secret and beneficial 
 orders, besides four Republican and several 
 social clubs. Mr. Barker is a thirty-two 
 degree or Scottish Rite Mason, having 
 passed through lodge, chapter, council, 
 commanderv and consistory. 
 
 CHARLES B. HOUGH, M. D., one of 
 the successful physicians of Ambler, 
 and a relative of General Ulysses S. Grant, 
 is a son of James F. and Margaret (Fries) 
 Hough, and was born at Ogontz, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, October 31, 
 1854. He was taken by his parents, in 
 1865, to Bucks county, and received his edu- 
 cation in the public schools, Hatboro pri- 
 vate school, Carversville Normal school 
 and Doylestown English classical school, 
 from which latter educational institution he 
 was graduated tn 1874. Leaving school he 
 studied medicine with Dr. Frank Swartz- 
 lander, of Doylestown, and then entered 
 Jefferson Medical college, from which he 
 was graduated in 187S, with the degree of 
 M. D. Immediately after graduating he 
 
 located at Prospectville, where he practiced 
 for three years. He then removed to Three 
 Tuns, and a year later, came to Ambler, 
 where he has been in successful practice 
 ever since. 
 
 In 1887 Dr. Hough married Mary Paul 
 Hallowell, M. D., a graduate of the 
 Woman's Medical college, and a practicing 
 physician at Swarthmore, in Delaware 
 countw They have three children : Wil- 
 liam J., Margaret and Tacy. 
 
 Dr. Charles B. Hough is a Republican in 
 politics, and has been for several years a 
 member of the Reformed church. He has 
 served as school director and as health 
 officer of his borough and is a member of 
 Ambler Lodge, Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows. 
 
 The Hougfh familv is of distinguished 
 Xorman-French ancestry, and the original 
 name, De la Hough, was subsequently 
 changed to De Hough, then La Hough, 
 and finally written Hough. The family 
 came into England with William the Con- 
 queror, in 1066, and two centuries later, one 
 of its member, Richard Hough, who re- 
 sided at Macclesfield, in Chestershire, re- 
 solved upon settling in the new world. He 
 came in 1683, to Makefield in Bucks county, 
 where in the ensuing year, he married 
 Margery Clowes, by whom he had five 
 children. Their son, Joseph Hough, sr., 
 wedded Elizabeth West, and was the father 
 of Joseph, jr., who married Mary Toinpkin 
 and reared a family of seven children. One 
 of these children was Benjamin Hough, sr., 
 who married Hannah Simpson, a sister of 
 John Simpson, the maternal grandfather of 
 General Ulysses S. Grant. Benjamin and 
 Hannah Hough had a sou, Benjamin 
 Hough, jr., who resided at Xewville, Bucks 
 county, where he owned a large tract of 
 land and had a general mercantile store. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 559 
 
 He was a man of extensive means for his 
 day and by marriage had eleven children : 
 John, .Silas, Simpson, Samuel, Benjamin, 
 George, Harry, James F., Ellen, wife of G. 
 E. Bryan ; Jennie and Anna. The eighth 
 sen, James F. Hough, was born in Bucks 
 county, attended boarding school and 
 learned the trade of miller with Chas. Bos- 
 sier, at Shoemakersville, now Ogontz. 
 After remaining at Shoemakersville for five 
 vears, he removed near Doylestown, Bucks 
 county, where he bought a farm and mill, 
 which In- disposed of five years later to be- 
 come the owner of the Horsham flouring 
 mill. He operated the last named mill for 
 eight years and then sold it to purchase a 
 farm in Bucks county, where he followed 
 farming for ten years. He then established a 
 general mercantile store at Ambler and 
 later on went to Atlantic city, New Jersey, 
 wdiere he died in 1889. 
 
 He was a Republican politically, and 
 married Margaret Fries. To James F. and 
 Margaret Hough were born three children : 
 Dr. Charles B., Horace, and Ellen, wife of 
 J. S. Buchanan. 
 
 WE. PHILLIPS, a leading citizen 
 and representative farmer of the 
 southern part of the county, is a son of 
 Jonathan C. and Sarah (Abrams) Phillips, 
 and was born in Upper Merion township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, May 9, 
 1856. The founder of the American branch 
 of the Phillips family was Griffith Phillips, 
 who came from Wales, in 1731, and settled 
 on the William Peun farm in Upper Merion 
 township. His son, Jonathan Phillips, a j 
 prominent citizen and farmer and who 
 helped to organize the first Philadelphia 
 market, was the father of Samuel D. Phil- 
 
 lips, a prominent surveyor and large land- 
 holder. Samuel I). Phillips was a stirring 
 and progressive man and started the move- 
 ment to organize the first Norristown Bap- 
 tist church, in which he was a deacon 
 up to the time of his death. He was 
 widely known throughout his own and 
 adjoining counties, his advice often be- 
 ing sought on matters of importance, and 
 died in 1861, aged seventy-two vears. He 
 married Theodosia Cleaver, and their chil- 
 dren were : Jonathan C, William E., and 
 Charles D. The eldest son, Jonathan C. 
 Phillips, born 1814, and died 1884, on the 
 old homestead, and like his ancestors for 
 three generations before him, was a fanner. 
 He attended the old subscription schools 
 and Rev. Samuel Aaron's celebrated aca- 
 demy, and then devoted his life to agricul- 
 tural pursuits. He was a Republican and 
 Baptist, and a leading advocate of the 
 Grange movement, being a member and 
 past officer up to his death, of Merion 
 Grange, No. 112, Patrons of Husbandry. In 
 1845 he married Sarah Abrams, whose 
 father was Joseph Abrams, a resident of 
 Upper Merion, Pa. They had six children : 
 Anna (deceased), Joseph A., Martha E., 
 Mrs. F. S. Maniel, Samuel D. Jr., (de- 
 ceased), William E., and Ella M., now 
 dead. 
 
 William E. Phillips was reared and has 
 always resided on the old homestead, pur- 
 chased by Griffith Phillips nearly two cen- 
 turies ago, from Wm. Penn, and from 
 which circumstance it is known as " Wm. 
 Penn's Farm," and which has always been 
 in the family. He received his education 
 in the district schools, John W. Loch's aca- 
 demy and Lewisburg university (now Buck- 
 nell university) from which well known 
 institution he graduated with honor in 1877 
 and received the degree of B. S. Leaving 
 
5 6o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 college he was manager of his father's farm 
 until the death of the latter. He then en- 
 gaged in the hardware business at Norris- 
 town, but two years later returned to the 
 old homestead farm where he has been en- 
 gaged ever since in farming and raising im- 
 proved breeds of horses. Mr. Phillips has 
 done and is doing much to improve the 
 stock of horses in the county. He is a Re- 
 publican politically, a member of the first 
 Baptist church at Xorristown, Pa., and su- 
 perintendent of King of Prussia Sunday 
 school since 1888. He is also a member of 
 Merion Grange and like his father is a pro- 
 gressive farmer and leader in agricultural 
 pursuits. 
 
 On October 18th, 1886, Mr. Phillips mar- 
 ried Hannah A. Rapp, a daughter of Joseph 
 E. and Rachel A. Rapp, of Norristown. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Phillips have one child, Jos- 
 eph Leon, who was born June 15, 1888. 
 
 GW. EGOLF, has been a well known 
 • and highly successful manufacturer 
 of clothing at Harleysville for many years. 
 He is a native of this town and was born 
 February 22, i860. He is a son of John G. 
 and Sarah (Leister) Egolf He is of Ger- 
 man ancestry, his paternal grandfather, 
 having been born in Baden Baden, Ger- 
 many, March 1800. He was a well known 
 farmer, a Democrat and a devout Christian, 
 and came to Philadelphia in 1854, at which 
 time he located in Philadelphia and re- 
 sided there up to the time of his death. 
 He was the father of the following chil- 
 dren: Charles, Caroline Fertig, nee Keener; 
 John G., Elizabeth Dush, Sophia Foltz, 
 Rosa Turner. 
 
 Mr. Egolf's father was born in Baden 
 
 Baden, Germany, on April 1, 1832. He was 
 a tailor by trade and followed cutting for 
 several years. He came to Harleysville in 
 1865 and established himself as a manufac- 
 turing tailor. He was very successful in 
 business, and in 1S88 sold his establishment 
 to his son, George, and came to Philadel- 
 phia and carried on the grocery business 
 for four years, up to May 24, 1895. He is 
 a Democrat and a member of Grace Re- 
 formed church, of Philadelphia. Twelve 
 children blessed his fireside. They are : 
 William, who died young ; George, the 
 subject of this sketch ; Laura, wife of Mont- 
 gomery Linderman ; Sally, wife of Benja- 
 min F. Gerhab ; Mary, wife of Joseph Fred- 
 erick ; Henry, Ida, wife of Samuel B. Cas- 
 sel ; Samuel, Kate, Ella, Harvey and Cloid. 
 He is a member of Perkiomenville Lodge, 
 I. O. O. P., No. 367. 
 
 George Egolf was given a common 
 school education and graduated when he 
 was sixteen years old. He then entered his 
 father's store, and after a few years was taken 
 into parnership. At the expiration of two 
 years he became sole owner of the establish- 
 ment. He has ever since conducted a con- 
 stantly growing business and his sense of 
 integrity has earned for him the highest 
 respect. 
 
 Politically Mr. Egolf is a Democrat. He 
 is a member of the Reformed church and 
 prominent in the administration of its 
 affairs. He is also a member of the follow- 
 ing secret organizations : Lansdale Lodge, 
 No. 558, F. and A. M. ; the lodge of Odd 
 Fellows of Perkiomenville, No. 367, and 
 Lodge No. 18, O. U. of A. M., of Mont- 
 gomery Council. On January 22, 1880, he 
 married Miss Emma S Kindig, and this 
 marriage has resulted in a family of four 
 children. These are : George H., Anna K., 
 Sail)- K. and Elva. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 561 
 
 ANDREW J. SMITH, now a resident, 
 of Jenkintown, this county, is a son 
 of Daniel and Eliza (Delaney) Smith, and 
 was born in the county of Bucks, Pennsyl- 
 vania, on the old homestead, still in posses- 
 sion of the family, June 25, 1841. 
 
 The founding of the Smith family in this 
 county is traceable to Welsh progenitors. 
 The first of the lineal descendants of which 
 anything definitely is known is Captain 
 Smith, grandfather of Andrew J , whose 
 residental city was Philadelphia. He fol- 
 lowed the sea for a livelihood, and for many 
 years was in command of merchant vessels 
 owned by the late Stephen Girard. He re- 
 mained in his employ almost throughout 
 life and died at sea. Daniel Smith (father) 
 was a native and a resident of Philadelphia, 
 where he lived until his death in 1851. His 
 business was that of a leather currier, at 
 which he worked in his native city for 
 Robert Pechim. This was his life work. 
 Politically, he affiliated with the Demo- 
 cratic partv, to which he gave very liberal 
 support. In his religious predilections he 
 was an Episcopalian, and for many years 
 was the superintendent of the Sunday 
 school connected with Christ church, Phila- 
 delphia. He was a zealous Christian- 
 worker and a faithful churchman. In the 
 year 182 1 Daniel Smith espoused in mar- 
 riage Eliza Delaney, who gave birth to five 
 children : Caroline, deceased ; Mary, John, 
 James and Andrew J. 
 
 The subject of this annal, during his early 
 childhood, removed to Philadelphia with 
 his parents, and remained in that city until 
 ten years of age. His education was ob- 
 tained in the public schools of Philadelphia 
 and Jenkintown, in which latter place he 
 attended school during the period interven- 
 ing the age of ten and sixteen years. 
 Subsequently he entered the general store 
 
 36 
 
 of Charles Harper, of Jenkintown, with 
 whom he remained four years, after which 
 he was placed in charge of the store of 
 George Peirson, at Weldon, this county, 
 with whom he continued the two succeed- 
 ing years. At the expiration of this time 
 he was seized with an illness that incapaci- 
 tated him for business actively for an addi- 
 tional two years. After his recuperation 
 he entered the employ of Henry Danbert, 
 an iron merchant, and remained with him 
 until his appointment as postmaster of the 
 village of Jenkintown by President Andrew 
 Johnson in the year 1865. He held office 
 throughout Johnson's administration, and 
 then, in partnership with B. W. Fleck, pur- 
 chased the iion business of Mr. Danbert, 
 which was henceforth conducted by the 
 firm of Smith & Fleck for some three or 
 four years. Succeeding this venture he 
 purchased a property located on York pike, 
 and started the first bakery in the village, 
 which remained under his control for four- 
 teen vears. After a somewhat varied em- 
 ployment up to the year 1890, he entered 
 the feed and lumber business with Samuel 
 L. Schively, which has been continued 
 down to the present time. In his fraternal 
 relations Mr. Smith was a member of both 
 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and 
 a Mason. 
 
 He is a staunch Democrat in politics, 
 has served as school director and council- 
 man, and as president of council in Jenkin- 
 town borough. He is a member of the 
 Episcopal church, in which he is a vestry- 
 man, and also was a director of the Jenkin- 
 town Building and Loan Association for 
 ten years. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Smith married Mary C. Zane, 
 by whom six children have been born : W. 
 Raymond, E. Gertrude, Francis C., Amanda, 
 Alfred and Herbert. 
 
562 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 CHARLES W. HUMPHREYS, real 
 estate assessor of Lower Merion town- 
 ship, is a son of Charles and Mary Ann 
 (Burrows) Humphreys, and was born at 
 Humphreysville, now Bryn Mawr, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania, April 16, 
 1845. His paternal grandfather, Benjamin 
 Humphries, was a blacksmith by trade and 
 a Whig in politics, and passed his life at 
 Humphreysville, where he died in 1863 at 
 the age of eighty-six years. His son, 
 Charles Humphreys, was born November 
 2, 1802, and after leaving school, learned 
 the trade of carpenter which he followed 
 up to the time of his death on April 7, 
 1861. He was an elder in the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and a Lincoln Republi- 
 can in i860. He was an honest, upright 
 and highly respected man, and in 1831 
 purchased the place and erected buildings 
 where his son, the subject of this sketch, 
 now resides. Charles Humphreys was a 
 member of the Minute Men, a military 
 organization that met at Merion Square 
 and in every way was patriotic and loyal 
 to the Federal government. In 1826 he 
 married Mary Ann Burrows. To their 
 union were born nine children : Lydia, now 
 dead; Jessie B.; Rachel, wife of E. A. 
 Johns, of Philadelphia; Mary W.; Eliza- 
 beth; Sarah; Fannie; Annie L.; and Charles 
 W., whose name appears at the head of 
 this sketch. 
 
 Charles W. Humphreys was reared at his 
 native place and received his education in 
 the Bryn Mawr public schools and the 
 Friends' Central High school of Philadel- 
 phia. He was then engaged in the leather 
 and finding business in Philadelphia from 
 1862 up to 1888, in which year he was 
 elected real estate assessor of Lower Merion 
 township. At the end of his term he was 
 re-elected two times. He 
 
 his third term and has been very successful 
 in assessing' the real estate of one of the 
 wealthiest townships in the State. 
 
 In July, 1870, Mr. Humphreys married 
 Bell Palmer, of Philadelphia. They have 
 three children, two sons and a daughter : 
 Charles E., who was graduated from Prince- 
 ton college in 1893, and is a civil engi- 
 neer; Florence A.; and Warren P., now a 
 student at Haverford college. 
 
 In politics Charles W. Humphreys has 
 always been a Republican. He served as 
 school director from 1882 to 1888, and has 
 not missed a delegate or regular election 
 since 1865 Mr. Humphreys has been 
 active in various ways for the benefit of his 
 community. He is a member and past 
 master of Cassia Lodge No. 273, Free and 
 Accepted Masons, of Ardmore, and a mem- 
 ber and past officer of American Star 
 Lodge No. 53, United Order of American 
 Mechanics of Bryn Mawr, and was one of 
 the original members of the Merion Cricket 
 club of Bryn Mawr. He is a member of 
 the Espicopal church. 
 
 ELMER G. KRIEBEL, M. D., one of 
 the young and rising physicians of 
 Montgomery county, is a son of Henry and 
 Elizabeth Kriebel, and was born in Berks 
 county, Pennsylvania July 27, 1867. Henry 
 Kriebel was also a native of Berks county, 
 and followed farming and milling in 
 the early part of his life. He was a man 
 of prominence in his community and filled 
 various local positions of trust and responsi- 
 bility. He served continuously for several 
 years as director of a National bank in Berks 
 county, was postmaster at Hereford, which 
 was near his birthplace, for over fifteen 
 years, and served his township as a member 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 563 
 
 of its school board for a number of years. 
 Henry Kriebcl was a Democrat in politics, 
 and died in November, 1893. Mr and Mrs 
 Kriebel were the parents of eight children, 
 as follows : Howard ; Lewis ; Calvin ; Reg- 
 ina ; Sallie, wife of Adam S. Urffer ; Dr. E. 
 G. (subject) ; Andrew ; and Asher. 
 
 Dr. Elmer G. Kriebel received his ele- 
 mentarv education in the public schools 
 of Hereford township, Berks county, and 
 then went to the state of Wisconsin, where 
 he spent one year in the University of Wis- 
 consin, at Madison, the State capital. Leav- 
 ing Wisconsin, he went to Toronto, Can- 
 ada, and entered the ■ Ontario Veterinary 
 college of that city, from which he was 
 graduated March 24, 1891. Leaving Onta- 
 rio college he was engaged for one year as 
 a veterinary surgeon. He then resolved to 
 qualifv himself for another sphere of labor 
 in life, and in 1892 entered Jefferson Medi- 
 cal college, of Philadelphia, from which 
 well known institution he was graduated 
 May 9, 1894. During the same year, on 
 June nth, he passed the Pennsylvania 
 State medical board of examination, and 
 after viewing various locations for a suita- 
 ble field of practice, selected his present 
 place, where on September 1, 1894, he 
 formed a partnership with Dr. James R. 
 Care, who was the successor of Dr. Mesht- 
 ler of that place. Drs. Care and Kriebel 
 have an extensive practice, which requires 
 the larger part of their time. Dr. Kriebel 
 is not active in politics, but gives his time 
 to the practice of his chosen profession. 
 
 DAVID HARMER, a leading carriage 
 manufacturer of Jenkintown, was born 
 in Cheltenham township, this county, on 
 the Brock property, September 15, 1834, and 
 
 is a son of Samuel and Deborah A. (Smith) 
 Harmer. His paternal grandfather, James 
 Harmer was a life-long resident of Chelten- 
 ham township, a fanner and shoemaker 
 by vocation, and a large land holder, 
 owning property at one time from Jenkin- 
 town to Glenside station. He was a Quaker 
 both by descent and through individual 
 conviction, and possessed many of the vir- 
 tues of a good citizen and a progressive 
 man. In connection with farming, he was 
 a large fruit grower and probably the first 
 in his section of the county to give special 
 attention to the cultivation of peaches. 
 He was also a pioneer in the dairy business 
 and very eaily established a milk route in 
 the city of Philadelphia. Aside from purely 
 business interests, he was a warm friend 
 and patron of popular education, and 
 donated the ground upon which the Har- 
 mer school building was erected, now torn 
 down. He was a Whig in politics. His 
 union in marriage with Mary Thomas re- 
 sulted in the birth of nine children. He 
 died about the year 1853 or '54. 
 
 Samuel Harmer was born February 27, 
 1802, and was brought up on one of his 
 father's farms near Glenside station. He 
 received his education in the public schools 
 and at Abington Friend's school, located 
 near by. After the period of his school 
 days, he learned the trade of shoemaking, 
 which he followed for a while and then re- 
 turned to farm life, which henceforth be- 
 came his leading occupation. He owned 
 the farm now in the possession of the Griffith 
 estate. He was a nominal Republican only, 
 but took an exceedingly marked interest in 
 church affairs. He was a strong Methodist, 
 served as class leader for a number of years 
 and was largely instrumental in the estab- 
 lishment of the house of worship of that 
 sect at Harmer Hill. Through his relig- 
 
564 
 
 Biographical Skktches. 
 
 ions zeal and constant exertion in behalf of 
 the cause, he left an indelible impress upon 
 the church congregation with which he was 
 so long and so actively identified. He mar- 
 ried Deborah A. Smith on February 27, 
 1X27. Nine children resulted: Caroline, 
 intermarried with Christopher Ottinger ; 
 Henry S. ; Hannah, deceased; Harriet, 
 widow of George Waterfield, and David. 
 Mrs. Harmer died July 19, 1836, and on 
 February 13, 1S28, Mr. Harmer married for 
 his second wife Susannah Funk, by whom 
 he had four children : James, Mary, de- 
 ceased ; Samuel B , deceased ; and John 
 Samuel Harmer, the elder, died in 1861, at 
 the age of fifty-nine years. 
 
 David Harmer attended the schools of 
 his township, and when he reached the 
 proper age indentured himself to learn the 
 trade of carriage builder with his brother at 
 Three Tuns, Montgomery county. After 
 serving a three years' apprenticeship, he 
 spent an additional year at Fox Chase, this 
 countv. Succeeding this, he removed to 
 Jenkiutown and occupied a farm of twenty- 
 seven acres in conjunction with the farm 
 of James Kent, upon the latter of which now 
 stands the Beechwood hotel. He farmed here 
 for a period of three years and then returned 
 to his trade at Weldon, this county. He 
 conducted the business at Weldon from 
 1861 to 18S4, upon which latter date he re- 
 moved to Jeukintown and purchased the 
 factory of Joseph A. Shoemaker, wdiere he 
 has since continued as the leading builder 
 of that section of the country. In his 
 earlier days he was an active Republican 
 and served for two terms as'justice of the 
 peace Like his father before him, he was 
 formerly a strong adherent of the Methodist 
 church, with which denomination he was 
 connected for a period of twenty-seven 
 years. Since his removal to Jeukintown, 
 
 he joined the Grace Presbyterian church, of 
 which he is now an elder. He quarried 
 Susan E. Tustin in 1855, by whom he has 
 had four children : George, Hattie, Mary 
 and Samuel. The three latter children 
 are deceased. 
 
 WILLIAM MARTIN, a veteran Union 
 soldier, and a resident of Upper 
 Merion township, is a son of Richard and 
 Hannah (Moore) Martin, and was born in 
 the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
 March 12, 1839. His paternal grandfather, 
 Samuel Martin, was a resident of the great 
 manufacturing city of Manchester, where 
 he was a silk hand loom weaver. His son, 
 Richard Martin, the eldest of nine brothers, 
 was a resident of Bolton, in Yorkshire, 
 until 1825, when he came to America, and 
 after spending some time in the vicinity of 
 Philadelphia, removed to Upper Merion 
 township. He there operated the woolen 
 mill and for several years manufactured 
 cotton and woolen goods. He was a Re- 
 publican in politics, and when the fateful 
 strutrole came for masterv between the 
 northern and southern sections of this great 
 nation, no man gave more generously of 
 his time and means to the Union cause 
 than Richard Martin. He lived to see the 
 government successful and disunion a 
 dream of the past, and died April, 1871, 
 when lacking but a twelve months of being 
 an octogenarian. He was a master Mason, 
 being initiated, passed, and raised in York 
 lodge, England. He married Hannah 
 Moore, who was a daughter of Thomas 
 Moore, and passed away in December, 1879, 
 aged seventy-three years. They had nine 
 children : Samuel, Henry, Richard, Wil- 
 liam, Jane, James, Sarah, George and Han- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 565 
 
 nah. Two of the sons served as soldiers in 
 the Union army, and one of the daughters, 
 
 Sarah, married William Siter, and Hannah 
 became the wife of Charles Crerve. 
 
 At twelve months of age, William Mar- 
 tin was brought by his parents to Upper 
 Merion township, where he grew to man- 
 hood and received an ordinary English 
 education. He learned the trade of carpen- 
 ter, at which he worked steadily until the 
 commencement of the late Civil war. He 
 enlisted on August 19, 1861, in company 
 E, eleventh Pennsylvania cavalry, and 
 served until August, 1864, when he was 
 honorably discharged from the Federal 
 service at Jones' Landing. His principal 
 service was in the Army of the James, and 
 while never wounded and always escaping 
 capture, yet he participated in the battle of 
 Franklin, the defence of Suffolk, the siege 
 of Petersburg and Richmond, battle at 
 South Anna Bridge, and in numerous cav- 
 alry skirmishes. Returning home he again 
 engaged at carpentering to which he has 
 added building and contracting. He re- 
 sides near King of Prussia. He is and 
 always has been a Republican in political 
 affairs. He is a member of < >wen Jones 
 Post No. 591, Grand Army of the Republic, 
 at Hrvn Mawr. 
 
 ( )n June 13, 1S67, William Martin was 
 united in marriage with Josephine Carr, a 
 daughter of James Carr, of Chester county. 
 Their union has been blessed with two 
 children, a son and a daughter: Hannah 
 M. and H/nvard S. 
 
 PHILIP S. GARRETT, now a resident 
 of Ardmore, is the eldest son and 
 child of William and Hannah (Super) Gar- 
 rett, and was born in Upper Darby town- 
 
 ship, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, Janu- 
 ary 25, 1S34. His paternal grandfather, 
 William Garrett, Sr., was of English 
 Quaker stock and spent his life in Delaware 
 county as a farmer. He married, and his 
 son William Garrett was born in 1808. Wil- 
 liam Garrett learned the trades of carpenter 
 and cabinet maker, which he followed until 
 the death of his father, when he came into 
 possession of the home farm. Some years 
 later he sold the farm and removed to Up- 
 per Darby township, in his native county, 
 and resided there until his death, which oc- 
 curred in 1868. After disposing of the 
 home farm he dropped cabinet making and 
 gave his time to carpentering and farming. 
 He was a Quaker or Friend in religious be- 
 lief and a Whig and Republican succes- 
 sively in political opinion. He served as a 
 member of the Emergency militia company 
 during Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania, and 
 was near Gettysburg, when that great bat- 
 tle was in progress. In 1833 he married 
 Hannah Super, and their family consisted 
 of five children : Philip S , Mary A., Wil- 
 liam H., Rachel S., and John K. 
 
 Philip S. Garrett was reared in Delaware 
 county, until he was nine years of age, and 
 then went to George Hill, Philadelphia, 
 where he grew to manhood. He attended 
 the common schools and was employed on 
 a farm and in delivering milk on a city 
 route until 1851. In that year he came to 
 Lower Merion township, where he learned 
 the trade of carpenter which he has fol- 
 lowed ever since. 
 
 In October, 1856, Philip S. Garrett wed- 
 ded Elizabeth McAfee. To their union 
 have been born five children : Lydia C, 
 William Ellsworth (deceased), Louis M., 
 Mary A. (deceased), and M. Edith. 
 
 Politically Mr. Garrett has always been a 
 strong Democrat, but is no office seeker, al- 
 
5 66 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 though an active worker at the polls, and 
 serving frequently as a delegate to county 
 and State conventions of his party. He is a 
 past grand of Banyan Tree Lodge, No. 378, 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; and a 
 member of Cassia Lodge, No. 273, Free and 
 Accepted Masons. Mr. Garrett is a good 
 workman and reliable citizen, and has 
 served for some time as the vice-president 
 and a director of the Lower Merion Build- 
 ing and Loan association. 
 
 PETER A. BLANCHETTE, a resident 
 of Gulf Mills, and a veteran Union 
 soldier of the late Civil war, is a son of 
 John and Lucy (Larver) Blanchette, and 
 was born February 14, 1849, in the old and 
 historic city of Quebec, in the Dominion of 
 Canada. John Blanchette was of French 
 descent and spent his life in Quebec, which 
 was the city of his birth. He owned a large 
 farm, was a skilled mechanic and a good 
 surveyor, and died in 1875 when in the 
 seventieth year of his age. He was an ac- 
 tive and prominent man in his community, 
 and married Lucy Larver, a resident of his 
 native country, and reared a family of 
 twelve children. Mr. Blanchette was a 
 member of the Catholic church, and in 
 Canadian politics warmly supported the 
 Liberal party. 
 
 Peter A. Blanchette was partly reared 
 and educated in his native city, and at 
 thirteen years of age came to Vermont, 
 which he soon left to go to Marlboro, Massa- 
 chusetts, where he began to learn the trade 
 of shoemaker. The Civil war, then at its 
 height, drew the attention of every one, the 
 young as well as the old, and although but 
 fifteen years of age he enlisted in 1864 in 
 company H, fourth New Jersey volunteers, 
 
 and served until the close of the war, being 
 honorably discharged in 1865. He took 
 part in several battles and numerous skir- 
 mishes, and by an accident was severely in- 
 jured, by which he was unable to perform 
 any labor for about a year after being dis- 
 charged. His name is inscribed on a roll 
 of military honor issued by Governor Mar- 
 cus L. Ward, of New Jersey. After the 
 war Mr. Blanchette returned to Massachu- 
 setts, and shortly afterwards went to Knox- 
 ville, Tennessee, where he completed learn- 
 ing the trade of shoemaker. He was a resi- 
 dent of Nashville for nearly three years and 
 then came to Philadelphia, where he fol- 
 lowed shoemaking for five years. During 
 the Centennial year he opened a restaurant 
 at No. 136, North Sixth street, which he is 
 still running successfully. In 1893 Mr. 
 Blanchette purchased the George Nugent 
 property at Gulf Mills, and has resided there 
 ever since, although still doing business in 
 Philadelphia. He is a member of Perkin 
 Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; Para- 
 dise Lodge, Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, and the Phil Kearney Brigade, a 
 military order. 
 
 In 1871 Mr. Blanchette married Mary 
 Love. To their union have been born three 
 children two sons and a daughter: Emma, 
 Peter A., jr. and Louis. 
 
 JONATHAN M. SHAINLINE, of near 
 k-» Abrams, a substantial farmer and busi- 
 ness man, is a son of George W. and Han- 
 nah (Moore) Shainline, and was born 
 in Upper Merion township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, in 1829 ^is pa- 
 ternal grandfather, Jacob Shainline, was 
 an influential man in Upper Merion town- 
 ship, who served as a director of the Norris- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 567 
 
 town Bridge company, in which he held 
 considerable stock. He was a Whig, and 
 when Washington was at Valley Forge, he 
 furnished the American troops with quite 
 an amount of provisions. He was a mem- 
 ber and vestryman of the Episcopal church 
 and died in 1833. His sou, George W. 
 Shaiuline, who was reared on the farm and 
 obtained a fair education, went at thirty- 
 three years of age to Norristown, and built 
 the first steam mill of that place, which he 
 operated for eleven years. He then re- 
 turned to farming in his native township, 
 where he died in 1874. He was an Episco- 
 palian, and a Whig and Republican and 
 served for twelve years as supervisor of 
 highways. He married Hannah Moore. 
 They had four children, three sons and a 
 daughter: Rebecca J., Richard M., Jonathan 
 M., and Jacob. 
 
 Jonathan M. Shaiuline grew to manhood 
 in his native township, attended the or- 
 dinary schools of his neighborhood and 
 Treeinount seminary when under Rev. 
 Samuel Aaron, and at eighteen years of age 
 went to Reading, Berks county, where he 
 served a three years' apprenticeship in the 
 machine shops of that place. At the close 
 of his apprenticeship, he went to the cele- 
 brated Baldwin Locomotive works, of Phila- 
 delphia, in which he worked as a machinist 
 for seven years. He then went to a farm 
 which he cultivated for nine years, and at 
 the end of that time purchased his present 
 farm of good, arable land in Upper Merion 
 township, and within a short distance of 
 Abrams. Mr. Shaiuline has assiduously 
 devoted himself to the upbuilding of his 
 farm, and has been successful in all of those 
 agricultural pursuits in which he has ever 
 been engaged. He is an independent Re- 
 publican and supports only those political 
 measures that in his estimation are calcu- 
 
 lated for the best interests of the State and 
 nation. He was auditor for three years of 
 his township, and also served as assistant 
 assessor for one term. He is a member of 
 Lodge No. mo, Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows, of Philadelphia. 
 
 In 1851 Mr. Shainline wedded Jane B. 
 Graff. Their union has been blessed with 
 one child, a son, George W. 
 
 DANIEL D. DRESLIN, a self-made 
 business man of Bridgeport, is a son 
 of George and Margaret (McGrath) Dresliu, 
 and was born at Bridgeport, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, March 10, 1855. His 
 paternal grandfather, George Dreslin, was a 
 native of County Tipperary, Ireland, where 
 he was engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 He was a member of the Catholic church, 
 and reared a family of three children : 
 George, Margaret and Mary. George 
 Dreslin, father, was born in the same county 
 as his father, and in 1849 emigrated to 
 America and settled in New York city. 
 There he resided until 1853, when he came 
 to Norristown. He was an iron worker by 
 trade and helped to build the Montgomery 
 court house in 1855. He continued as a 
 worker in the iron business until i860, 
 when he enlisted in company C, of a Penn- 
 sylvania regiment. He served as a fireman 
 on the Cumberland in the great engage- 
 ment with the Merrimac at Fortress Mon- 
 roe, and for one year after he was engaged 
 on the Cossack. At the close of the war he 
 was honorably discharged and returned to 
 Xurristown, where he worked in the iron 
 mills until 1871. He afterward removed to 
 Hampton, Virginia, where he is still living, 
 aged seventy years. Politically he was a 
 Republican, and married Margaret McGrath, 
 
568 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 who died January n, 1871, at the age of 
 thirty-five years. This union was blessed 
 with ten children, among whom were : 
 George, deceased; Daniel D., John, George 
 (2nd), Mary Bell, Thomas (deceased), Catha- 
 rine (deceased). 
 
 Daniel D. Dreslin received his education 
 under a private tutor, Dr. Bradley, of Nor- 
 ristown, and in 1869 entered Jamison's 
 cotton mill. Eight years later he learned 
 the trade. of bricklayer, serving an appren- 
 ticeship of three years. At the end of this 
 time he started in business with James A. 
 Murray under the firm name of Dreslin & 
 Murray, and for one year they were en- 
 gaged in contracting and building. Since 
 then he has operated the business himself 
 and has erected a large number of fine 
 buildings among which are the Catholic 
 church and school buildings, the public 
 school building of Bridgeport, the Ameri- 
 can Surgical works and the Thomas tack 
 works. He carries on an extensive and 
 successful business. 
 
 On August 1, 1889, Mr. Dreslin married 
 Maggie Dillion, the only daughter of 
 Thomas Dillion, of Bridgeport. They have 
 a family of three children : Annie A., 
 George T. , and Edward. 
 
 Mr. Breslin is a supporter of the Demo- 
 cratic party, and a member of the Catholic 
 church, and for five years was a member of 
 the National Guard of Pennsylvania, com- 
 pany H, 1 6th regiment, commanded by 
 Captain Samuel J. Dong. Mr. Dreslin is 
 president of the Pioneer Lawn Mower com- 
 pany, and a director of the Fame Building 
 and Loan association. He has done his 
 share toward advancing the business in- 
 terests of his borough. Starting in life 
 with but little means, he went right ahead 
 and has succeeded in acquiring a comfort- 
 able competency. 
 
 CHARLES MATHER is a son of John* 
 and Martha (Potts) Mather, and a well 
 known resident of Jenkintovvn, this county. 
 He was born in Cheltenham township, 
 Montgomery count}-, Pennsylvania, on 
 March 19, 1823. This locality has been 
 the seat of his residence and the scene of 
 his activity down to the present time. His 
 education was acquired at the school of the 
 Society of Friends in his immediate neigh- 
 borhood. After his school days were 
 ended, which were very limited, he re- 
 mained on the farm with his father until 
 the latter retired from active work, after 
 which he joined his brother, with whom he 
 lived until he reached his majority. About 
 this time he gravitated to Rochester, N. V., 
 where he entered the printing office of the 
 Daily Advertiser and maintained his con- 
 nection with it two years. At the expira- 
 tion of this time he gave up the trade of 
 printing, returned to Philadelphia, and 
 purchased a spice mill. Later he engaged 
 in the manufacture of printer's ink, in 
 Philadelphia, in which business he re- 
 mained some four or five years, afterward 
 connecting himself with the Y. B. Palmer 
 Advertising agency, of the same city. 
 Some time later he again returned to Jen- 
 kintown, and finally took up the real estate 
 and conveyancing business, which he has 
 ever since continued. From 1869 to 1878, 
 he served as justice of the peace, but in the 
 latter year resigned to qualify for the posi- 
 tion of notary public of the First National 
 bank of Jenkintown, which place he now 
 holds. At present he is also secretary of 
 the Union Mutual Fire Insurance company 
 of Jenkintown, secretary of the Storm In- 
 surance company, the Live Stock Insurance 
 company, the Abington Library society, 
 and the Union Company for the Recovery 
 of Stolen Horses, all of Jenkintown, and a 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 569 
 
 director of the Jenkintown Building and 
 Loan Association. Fraternally, Mr. Mather 
 is a member of Friendship Lodge No. 400, 
 F. and A. M., of Jenkintown, of which he 
 was an organizer, and at the time senior 
 warden. He married Alice ( ). Warner, a 
 descendant of one of the oldest families in 
 the State, in 1846, by whom he had three 
 children : Mary, Charles and William. 
 
 The Warner family came into Pennsyl- 
 vania about twenty-five years prior to Penn, 
 and settled in Mantua village, now the 
 present site of West Philadelphia. 
 
 The ancestors of Charles Mather came 
 from England contemporaneously with 
 William Penn. The original founder of 
 the family in Pennsylvania was one, Joseph 
 Mather, who first landed in Maryland, and 
 subsequently settled in what is now Chel- 
 tenham township, and married a Miss Rus- 
 sell, who had inherited three hundred acres 
 of land from her father. Ogoutz seminary, 
 formerly the estate of Jay Cooke, is now 
 located on this tract. 
 
 His son Richard succeeded to the estate 
 bv purchase from his mother. Richard had 
 eight children : Joseph, Bartholomew, Ben- 
 jamin, Richard, Isaac, Elizabeth, Hannah, 
 and Sarah. Isaac was the grandfather of 
 the subject of this sketch, lived in White- 
 marsh township, was a millwright by trade 
 and built the old mill in 1769 on the place, 
 near Jenkintown, now owned and occupied 
 bv Hon. John Wanamaker, a part of the 
 old family tract. He spent his latter days 
 in Cheltenham, and left a family of chil- 
 dren. 
 
 He was twice married ; first to Mary 
 Morris, and in the second instance to Re- 
 becca Austin, widow of Richard Austin. 
 His son, John Mather, father of Charles, 
 lived near Jenkintown, where he pursued 
 the avocation of farmer until 1841, when 
 
 he retired and afterward resided in Jenkin- 
 town. He married Martha Potts, daughter 
 ofZebulon Potts, the first sheriff of Mont- 
 gomery county. To this alliance ten chil- 
 dren were born, namely : Isaac, Edward, 
 John, Martha, Daniel, Rebecca, Elizabeth, 
 Charles, Jane and Ann, of which seven are 
 still living. 
 
 TR. HARTZELL, postmaster and 
 • general merchant of Colmar, Mont- 
 gomery count}', is a young man, who has 
 rapidly won his way to solid financial stand- 
 ing and prominence in the commercial cir- 
 cles of his locality. He has been at the 
 head of a large general store for ten years 
 and has made of it a great success, and by 
 reason of his enterprise and progressiveness 
 and reputation for honesty and integrity 
 commands the respect and confidence of 
 the general public. He was born on March 
 11, 1860, and is the son of Henry and Mary 
 (Raudenberg) Hartzell. He is of American 
 parentage and ancestry, though his fore- 
 fathers originally came from Germany. 
 His grandfather, Henry Hartzell, was a 
 very prominent Democratic politician in 
 his day ; in fact was a leader in his neigh- 
 borhood and commanded a ,^reat deal of in- 
 fluence. 
 
 Henry Hartzell was given a common 
 school education. He then took to farming 
 and followed that avocation all his life. He 
 was very active in Democratic politics, and 
 for many years served as a director on the 
 local school board. He was also elected to 
 one term as county commissioner and filled 
 that very important office with honor and 
 credit. He was a man very well informed 
 on legal matters and settled up many es- 
 
5/0 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 tates. An active member of the Reformed 
 church, Mr. Hartzell served that congrega- 
 tion many years as deacon, trustee and 
 elder, and was beloved by all who knew 
 him. He was married to Mary Rauden- 
 berg, and their union was productive of a 
 family of seven children : Hiram ; Irwin ; 
 Revier, deceased ; T. R. ; Harriett ; Harry ; 
 and Anna. 
 
 T. R. Hartzell attended the common 
 schools of his native town and then took a 
 two years' course at Sellersville academy. 
 On leaving school he secured a position in 
 J. E. Frick's general store at Hilltown as 
 clerk and remained there for three years. 
 He then went into the mercantile business 
 on his own account with his brother as 
 partner in Bucks county, but only remained 
 there one year. At the expiration of that 
 year this partnership was dissolved and Mr. 
 Hartzell returned to Montgomery county 
 and located in Colmar. This was in 1885, 
 and he started in the general store business 
 and has continued in it ever since, yearly 
 increasing his volume of trade and adding 
 to his standing in the financial world. He 
 carries a large and varied stock of not less 
 than $4,500 in value, and employs a num- 
 ber of clerks. 
 
 In politics a Democrat, he is very active 
 and influential and as a reward for services 
 during recent campaigns he was appointed 
 postmaster of Colmar by President Cleve- 
 land. 
 
 Mr. Hartzell and Sarah, daughter of John 
 G. Frick, his old employer, were married, 
 and this union has been blessed by four 
 children. 
 
 The family belongs to the Reformed 
 church of Colmar, and Mr. Hartzell takes a 
 lively interest in church work as well as 
 all public movements that are calculated to 
 advance the town in which he lives. 
 
 WILLIAM H. BUSKIRK, a successful 
 carriage manufacturer and dealer at 
 Jenkintown, is a sou of Philip and Mary E. 
 ( Watton) Buskirk, and was born at Willow 
 Grove, this county, January 23, 1864. The 
 Buskirks are of German origin, as the author- 
 ity of the name would indicate. Jacob L. 
 Buskirk, grandfather of William H., came 
 from Germany at an early period and 
 landed at Philadelphia, but soon settled 
 near edge Hill, this county. He was a 
 carpenter by trade and a Democrat in poli- 
 tics. 
 
 Philip Buskirk, father of the subject, was 
 born at Willow Grove and resided in that 
 vicinity all his life. He was a farmer by 
 occupation and a Democrat in political 
 make up, and took an active interest in 
 political matters, having served two terms 
 as supervisor and the same length of time 
 as constable of Abington township. He is 
 an active member of the Knights of the 
 Golden Eagle. He married Mary Walton, 
 and to this union were born five children : 
 William H., Howard W., Rachel, wife of 
 Howard Ervin ; George Walton, Samuel 
 W T . Mr. Buskirk received his education 
 in the district schools of Abington township, 
 and after leaving school, learned the car- 
 riage building trade, and after working 
 three years for W. J. Dillsworth at Jenkin- 
 town, bought out his employer, and in 
 partnership with Mr. Donnell, trading 
 under the name of Donnell &: Buskirk, con- 
 tinued the business for about five years, up 
 to 1891. At this time, Mr. Buskirk bought 
 his partner's interest and down to the pres- 
 ent time has conducted the business alone. 
 
 Mr Buskirk is an active Democrat, hav- 
 ing served as judge of the election and as 
 inspector a couple of terms. Religiously 
 he is a member of the Episcopalian church. 
 He is a member of Peace and Love Lodge 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 57i 
 
 No. 337, Independent ( >rder of * >dd Fellows, 
 at Jenkiritown, and a past officer of Arling- 
 ton Encampment No. 189. He is a mem- 
 ber of Jenkintown Lodge No. 476, 
 Knights of Pythias, and grand chancellor 
 of the lower district of Montgomery county; 
 Samaritan Castle No. 214, Knights of the 
 Golden Eagle ; Jenkintown Lodge No. 404, 
 Junior Order of United American Me- 
 chanics. He is also a member of Indepen- 
 dent Fire company, and at one time served 
 as foreman. 
 
 In 1890 Mr. Buskirk was united in mar- 
 riage with Crissie D. Moyer ; they have one 
 child, Albert J. 
 
 EDWIN H. FAUST, of Ambler, is a 
 member of the firm of A. D. Faust 
 Sons, now operating extensive tanneries in 
 Montgomery and Huntingdon counties. 
 He is a son of Alvin D. and Catherine 
 (Kuhns) Faust, and was born December 20, 
 1853, in Upper Dublin township, Mont- 
 gomery county, Pennsylvania. He was 
 reared in his native township and received 
 his education in the common schools and 
 Muhlenburg college at Allentown, this 
 State. He supplemented his college course 
 with a commercial term at Bryant and Strat- 
 ton's Business college at Philadelphia, and 
 then assisted his father in the tanning busi- 
 ness until the death of the latter in 1886, 
 when he and his four brothers formed a 
 partnership and have run ever since their 
 father's two extensive tanneries, the one 
 near Ambler, and the other at Mt. Union, 
 in Huntingdon county. They do business un- 
 der the firm name of A. D. Faust Sons, in 
 Montgomery county, and operate as Faust 
 Brothers at Mt. Union, where their plant is 
 
 under the personal supervision of Richard 
 J. Faust, the eldest brother. 
 
 On November 11, 1876, Edwin H. Faust 
 wedded Eliza A. Ranch. Their union has 
 been blessed with two children, a son and 
 a daughter : William N. ; and Blanche E. 
 
 In politics Mr. P'aust is a Democrat. He 
 is an active member of the borough coun- 
 cil, and is a school director and the treas- 
 urer of the Ambler school board. Mr. 
 Faust is an active business man, and has 
 been a member of the Lutheran church, of 
 which he has served as a trustee for several 
 years He is a member of Ft. Washington 
 Lodge No. 308, Free and Accepted Masons; 
 and Ft. Washington chapter, Royal Arch 
 Masons. 
 
 The Faust family is of German lineage 
 and in the early part of the present century 
 were resident in Lehigh county, where 
 John Faust (grandfather) was born and 
 reared. John Faust, who died in 1841, was 
 a member of the German Reformed church 
 and married Sarah Moyer, by whom he 
 had three children : Alvin D. ; Owen W. ; 
 and Matilda, wife of H. Barringer. Alvin 
 D. Faust was born in 1827, in Lehigh 
 county, and after receiving an ordinary En- 
 glish education learned the trade of tanner 
 which opened to him his life vocation in 
 the business world. He came in early life 
 to Montgomery county, but soon returned 
 home where he remained until 1850. In 
 that year he purchased the tannery of Jos- 
 eph Rudder, with whom he had worked on 
 his first visit to this country. This tannery is 
 one of the oldest in the county and was for- 
 merly known as Rose Valley tannery, and 
 was successfully operated by Mr. Faust un- 
 til his death, which occurred May 10, 1884. 
 In 1873 he purchased an additional tannery 
 at Mt. Union in Huntingdon county, which 
 he improved and put into successful opera- 
 
572 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 tion. A very influential and highly re- 
 spected man, he was a consistent member 
 of Ruff's Lutheran church, and a strong 
 Democrat in politics. He had served for 
 several years as church trustee and school 
 director, and was a member of the Jarretts- 
 town Lodge of Odd Fellows. 
 
 He married Catharine Kuhns, and their 
 family consisted of five sons : Richard J. ; 
 Edwin H. ; Samuel A. ; Milton D. ; and 
 Alvin R. 
 
 WM. C. BLACKBURN, proprietor of 
 the Ambler Hotel, is a son of Alex- 
 ander and Susannah (Custard) Blackburn, 
 and was born in Lower Salford township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, July 7, 
 1842. His paternal grandfather came from 
 England and settled in Lower Salford 
 township, when his son, Alexander Black- 
 burn, was but a child Alexander Black- 
 burn was principally reared in Lower Sal- 
 ford township by David Heckler, a farmer, 
 with whom he remained until he attained 
 his majority. He then rented Mr. Heckler's 
 farm and was engaged in farming up to the 
 time of his death, which occurred in 1846, 
 when he was in the thirty-second year of 
 his age. 
 
 He was a Whig in politics, and a Men- 
 uonite in religion. In the year 1826 Alex- 
 ander Blackburn married Susanna Custard. 
 To their union were born three children, 
 two sons and a daughter: David ; William 
 C. ; and Catherine, who married John G. 
 Tyson. 
 
 William C. Blackburn was reared in 
 Lower Salford and Towamencin town- 
 ships, and after attending school in the lat- 
 ter township from eight to sixteen years of 
 age, he learned the trade of blacksmith, 
 
 which he followed steadily for five years. 
 He then turned his attention to a different 
 line of business — hotel keeping — in which 
 he has been successfully engaged ever 
 since. He opened his first hotel, the Sor- 
 rell house, at Fourth and Vine streets, 
 Philadelphia, where he remained for one 
 year. He then purchased the Centre Square 
 hotel, and five years later disposed of his 
 hotel property there to become proprietor 
 of the Hartranft house, Norristown, which 
 he conducted for five years. At the end of 
 that time he went to North Wales and 
 bought a hotel, which he disposed of a year 
 later to remove to Ambler, where he pur- 
 chased the Ambler House and has con- 
 ducted it since the spring of 1893. Mr. 
 Blackburn is well fitted for his special line 
 of business by many years of successful ex- 
 perience in providing for the wants and ac- 
 commodation of the traveling public. He 
 is a Republican in politics and always sup- 
 ports the principles and measures of his 
 party. 
 
 hi 1861 Mr. Blackburn was united in 
 marriage with Catherine Hantzberger 
 Their union has been blessed with one 
 child, a son, named Irwin H. 
 
 CAPTAIN SAMUEL J. LONG, has 
 been successfully engaged in business 
 for a number of years at Norristown, was 
 born in that borough May 14, 1846, and is 
 a sou of Joseph and Jane (Cascaden) Long. 
 Having a desire to pursue a business simi- 
 lar to that of his father, Samuel J. Long 
 became engaged in the manufacture of soap 
 and tallow at an early age. Subsequently 
 he began dealing in hides, tallow and ground 
 bone, and has ever since been so employed. 
 Industrious in his pursuits, he has been 
 
B IOG R A PH IC A I. S K ETC 1 1 ES. 
 
 573 
 
 very successful and at present commands an 
 
 extensive trade. In 1886 lie rebuilt the 
 two story brick establishment which he 
 now occupies and increased its size to sixty 
 feet front and seventy feet in depth. He 
 employs a number of men in his business, 
 and manufactures the "tankage" fertilizer, 
 which he originated. This substance has 
 proved itself very valuable as a fertilizer. 
 
 Mr. Long united in marriage with Sallie 
 M.March. On April, 1889, Mrs. Long 
 passed away at the age of thirty-six years, 
 leaving two children : Joseph M., and 
 Lenore D. 
 
 Mr. Long is a Democrat in politics. He 
 is a member of the Masonic fraternity, be- 
 longing to Charity Lodge No. 190; Norris- 
 town Chapter No. 190 ; and Hutchinson 
 Commandery No. 32. He is also a mem- 
 ber of the American Order of United Work- 
 men. He enlisted, in 1870, in company H, 
 16th regiment, National Guards of Penn- 
 sylvania, and was afterwards promoted to 
 corporal, sergeant, first lieutenant, and fin- 
 ally to captain. He was engaged in the 
 military service of the State for seven years, 
 from 1870 to 1877. 
 
 The Longs are of Irish lineage and Jos- 
 eph Long, father, was a native of Ireland, 
 from which country he came to America in 
 1840. He located at Norristown. He was 
 an ardent Democrat, a member of the 
 Methodist Evangelical church, and died at 
 the age of fifty-seven years. He married 
 Jane Cascaden and reared a family of three 
 children : Samuel, Ella J., and one which 
 died in infancy. 
 
 DAVID W. SHEARER, a successful 
 farmer and business man of Upper 
 Merion township, is a son of George and 
 
 Mary (Rex) Shearer, and was born in 
 Whitpain township, Montgomery county, 
 
 Pennsylvania, in 1830. His paternal grand- 
 father, Captain John Shearer, was a lime 
 burner and life long resident of near Flour- 
 town. He was in the Revolutionary war 
 first as a teamster and later as a captain of 
 a company in a regiment of the Pennsj 1- 
 vania line. He was a Federalist in politics 
 and his son, George Shearer, died in 1877. 
 George Shearer was a farmer by occupa- 
 tion, and spent his life in Plymouth and 
 Whitpain townships, being supervisor of 
 highways for four years in the former of 
 these townships. He was a Democrat, and 
 an active member of the Presbyterian 
 church, and served as a director of the 
 Benevolent Order then at Broad Axe, but 
 now at Fort Washington. In 1812 he 
 wedded Mary Rex, who passed away in 
 i860. Their family consisted of eight chil- 
 dren: William; Elizabeth, wife of Mark 
 Jones; Harriet; Charles; Sarah; Hannah, 
 wife of C. Greene; David W.; and Susan, 
 who wedded Stephen Shard. Mr. Shearer 
 after his wife's death wedded, in 1862, 
 Barbara Wingate, by whom he had one 
 child named George. 
 
 David W. Shearer spent his boyhood 
 years in Whitpain and Plymouth town- 
 ships, and at fourteen years of age com- 
 menced to do for himself. He worked as 
 a farm laborer successively in Norriton, 
 Whitemarsh, and Whitpain townships, and 
 obtained during this time but an ordinary 
 education. After attaining his majority 
 he went into the reaping and threshing 
 business and ran reapers and threshers in 
 the central part of the county, cutting and 
 threshing grain for a certain price per 
 acre. Quitting that line of business, he 
 rented a farm in Worcester township, which 
 he left two vears later to rent S. K. Stout's 
 
574 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 farm in Plymouth township, on which he 
 remained five years. He then rented and 
 farmed successively the John Fern, the 
 James Van Roden, the P. Smith, and the 
 Charles Roberts' farms, and left the last 
 named farm to remove to Upper Merion 
 township, where he immediately purchased 
 his present farm. He has been very suc- 
 cessful as a farmer, and resides near 
 Bridgeport. 
 
 He is independent in political affairs, 
 and, yielding allegiance to no party, sup- 
 ports men and measures as he thinks best 
 for the public welfare. He served as super- 
 visor of highways for some time while re- 
 siding in Plymouth township, but has 
 never been desirous of holding office. 
 
 In i860, Mr. Shearer was united in mar- 
 riage with Hannah Roberts, a daughter of 
 Charles Roberts. They have two chil- 
 dren : Edward ; and Ella, wife of George 
 Streeper. 
 
 ISAAC MULLEN, a general merchant 
 and the present postmaster at Gulf Mills, 
 is a son of Robert and Letitia (Barnwall) 
 Mullen, and was born in the city of Phila- 
 delphia, Pennsylvania, April 16, 1833. 
 Robert Mullen, whose father came from 
 Ireland, was born and reared in Phila- 
 delphia and learned weaving. He came 
 some years later to Gulf Mills, where he 
 was foreman of the weaving department of 
 McFarland's mills for a long period of time. 
 He was a Democrat, and a member of the 
 American Protestant association, and mar- 
 ried Letitia Barnwall. They reared a fam- 
 ily of three children : Isaac, Henry (de- 
 ceased), and Alfred. 
 
 Isaac Mullen was brought when but a 
 
 child, by his parents, from Philadelphia to 
 Gulf Mills, and received his education in 
 the common schools. He commenced life 
 for himself as a clerk in a store at Mechan- 
 icsville, where he remained until 1861, in 
 which year he became book-keeper in a 
 Philadelphia mercantile establishment. He 
 held that position for ten years and at the 
 expiration of that time, returned to Gulf 
 Mills, where he engaged in his present gen- 
 eral mercantile business His establish- 
 ment is well stocked with every thing re- 
 quired in a first-class store outside of a city. 
 He enjoys a good trade and has a large 
 patronage. 
 
 Later, after his returning to Gulf Mills, 
 he was appointed in 1873, as postmaster, 
 and has held that position continuously 
 ever since. He is a Republican in political 
 opinion. He has served as a member of the 
 school board for ten years, and has held the 
 office of township auditor for four years. 
 He is a member of Potter Lodge No. 441, 
 Free and Accepted Masons. 
 
 In 1862 Mr. Mullen was united in mar- 
 riage with Maggie W. Whistler. To their 
 union have been born four children, one 
 son and three daughters : Clara, Ger- 
 trude (Mrs. Samuel Kinkier), Susie and 
 Walter. 
 
 Isaac Mullen has closely followed, and 
 with success, his chosen line of business, to 
 which he has largely devoted his time and 
 attention, yet when Lee invaded Pennsyl- 
 vania in 1863, he dropped everything and 
 joined the Union forces. He enlisted in a 
 company of Pennsylvania militia and par- 
 ticipated in the battle of Gettysburg, where 
 he was taken prisoner by the Confederates, 
 but paroled on the battle-field. He was 
 sent to West Chester, where he remained 
 until he was exchanged and honorably dis- 
 charged from the Federal service. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 575 
 
 RICHARD HALLOWELL, past State 
 president of the Patriotic Order Sons 
 of America of the jurisdiction of Pennsyl- 
 vania, is a son of Lieutenant Charles and 
 Mary (Stewart) Hallowell, and was born 
 near Swedesburg, in Upper "Merion town- 
 ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 September 5, 1849. The Hallowell family 
 is of English-Quaker ancestry, and came 
 from England to southeastern Pennsyl- 
 vania prior to the year 1700. Nathan 
 Hallowell, the grandfather of Richard H. 
 Hallowell, was reared in the religious faith 
 of his American ancestors and was a con- 
 sistent member of the Society of Friends. 
 He was a farmer by occupation and a Whig 
 and Republican in politics, and resided in 
 close proximity to the old Swedes' church, 
 near Swedesburg. His son, Lieutenant 
 Charles Hallowell, was born in Upper 
 Merion township, where he obtained a good 
 common English education. He then 
 learned the trade of millwright, which he 
 followed for a life vocation. He worked at 
 different places throughout the county, and 
 ■was employed for some time in a furnace. 
 He was a Whig and Republican politically, 
 and died in 1887, aged seventy-one years. 
 He served as an officer in the old militia 
 organization of the State and was elected 
 lieutenant of the Montgomery troop of 
 cavalry that helped to quell the Kensington 
 riot at Philadelphia in 1S47. He married 
 in 1844, Mary Stewart. To their union 
 were born seven children, four sons and 
 three daughters : Eugene, Richard, Nathan, 
 Annie, Stewart, Mrs Eliza Templin, and 
 Mary. 
 
 Richard H. Hallowell was reared in 
 Upper Merion, excepting one year (1851) 
 when his parents resided in Plymouth 
 township. He attended school at Swede- 
 land, and then learned the trade of carpen- 
 
 ter, which he has followed ever since in 
 connection with contracting and building. 
 He has served as foreman on the erection 
 of several large buildings, superintended 
 the remodeling of Washington's head- 
 quarters at Valley Forge in 1887, and was 
 superintendent in 1894 of the construction 
 of the Soldiers' Orphan school building in 
 Franklin county. Mr. Hallowell is a 
 staunch Republican, has been a member of 
 the county committee, and is serving on 
 his third year as auditor of his township. 
 He is an active member and vestryman 
 of the old Swedes' Episcopal church, and 
 has been a member for some years of Wash- 
 ington camp. Patriotic Order Sons of 
 America, in which organization he served 
 as State president in 1887-88. Mr. Hallo- 
 well is a skilled workman, a competent 
 builder, and a successful contractor. He is 
 active, energetic and patriotic. 
 
 Mr. Hallowell wedded Jennie Eakius, a 
 daughter of Augustus Eakins, of Phila- 
 delphia. Their union has been blessed 
 with one child, a son named Frank. 
 
 JOHN S. BUCHANI >N, a public spirited 
 citizen and a successful real estate 
 dealer of Ambler, is the eldest son of John 
 and Jane (McClay) Buchanon, and was born 
 at Rousville, Venango county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, March 4, i860. The Buchanon family 
 is of Scotch-Irish descent, and the grand- 
 father of subject was a resident of Crawford 
 and Venango counties, and died in 1879, at 
 the age of eighty-seven years. He was a 
 Presbyterian and a Republican, and his son 
 John Buchanon was the father of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. John Buchanon was 
 reared near Titusville, this state, and re- 
 moved to the vicinity of Oil City, where he 
 
576 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 purchased a farm which he first leased and 
 afterwards sold to the oil firm of Rouse, 
 Mitchell and Co. Some time later he 
 bought a farm near Titusville, which he 
 also sold in 1864 to come to Montgomery 
 county, where he purchased a farm near 
 Ambler. He had made preparations to im- 
 prove his third and last farm, but was cut 
 down suddenly by the hand of death, in 
 1865, at the early age of thirty-one years. 
 He was one of the first to dip oil from the 
 waters of Oil creek, and owned considera- 
 ble property at the time of his death. He 
 was a quiet and reserved man, but active 
 and energetic in whatever he undertook. 
 In i860 he married Jane McClay. They 
 had two children : John S. and Joseph. 
 
 John S. Buchanon was brought at four 
 years of age to Upper Dublin township by 
 his parents, and received his education in 
 the public schools of that township, which 
 he supplemented by a full course in Pierce 
 and Crittenden's Business college. Upon 
 completing his commercial course he re- 
 turned home and worked upon the farm 
 until 1884. In that year he married and 
 removed to Ambler, where he bought his 
 present property on Butler avenue, from 
 Henry Jones. Soon after removing to Am- 
 bler he was elected teller in the First Na- 
 tional bank of that place and served in that 
 capacity up to 1889, when he 'embarked in 
 his present real estate business. Mr. Bu- 
 chanon is a Republican politically. He 
 has served as a member of the borough 
 council ever since its organization in 1886, 
 and was its president for several terms. He 
 has served as a notary public since 1889, 
 in which year he was appointed by Gover- 
 nor Beaver. Mr. Buchanon was largely in- 
 strumental in securing the establishment of 
 the borough and has been active in its local 
 affairs ever since. He is a stockholder in 
 
 the First National bank, and has been 
 president and secretary of the Ambler Real 
 Estate Improvement company ever since 
 its organization. He is a member of Am- 
 bler Lodge No. 1045, Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows ; and Fort Washington Lodge, 
 No 308, Free and Accepted Masons. He 
 is a member and trustee of the First Pres- 
 byterian church, towards the erection of 
 whose present edifice, in 1892, he both 
 worked and contributed. Ever alive to the 
 progress of his borough he has done his full 
 share in its upbuilding and towards its 
 present prosperity. 
 
 On September 10, 1884, John S Bu- 
 chanon was united marriage with Ellen B. 
 Huff. Their union has been blessed with 
 three children, two sons and a daughter : 
 Joseph H. ; Charles and Helen. 
 
 MORRIS A. GANGAWER, the genial 
 proprietor of the Colonial hotel, and 
 railroad agent at North Wales, is a son of 
 Edwin G. and Mary (Keassler) Gangawer, 
 and was born in Saucon township, Lehigh 
 county, Pennsylvania, July 17, 1864. The 
 Gangawer family is of German descent, and 
 was among the earliest settlers at Allentown, 
 this State, and Solomon Gangawer, grand- 
 father, passed the latter part of his life at 
 that place. He was a farmer and lime- 
 burner of Northampton county. He was 
 one of a family of thirteen children and one 
 of three sets of twins born to his parents. 
 He was a Democrat, and a member of the 
 Reformed church and married Elizabeth 
 Gangawer, a member of a branch of the 
 family that settled at Tipton, Ohio. They 
 had nine children : Filmore, Edwin G., 
 Moses, Augustine, Sevilla, Margaret, Emma, 
 Cecilia, and a child that died in infancy. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 577 
 
 Edwin G. Gangawer, father, was born, 
 reared and received his education in his 
 native county, and then went to Saucon 
 township, in Lehigh count}*, where he fol- 
 lowed fanning and lime burning for thirty- 
 three years. 
 
 In politics he was an ardent Democrat 
 and in religion a Reformed churchman. 
 He passed away on June 12, 1892, at fifty- 
 eight years of age. He married Mary 
 Keassler in 1855, and their children were : 
 Eugene, Harvey, William and Morris A., 
 whose name heads this sketch. 
 
 Morris A. Gangawer was reared in his 
 native county and after receiving his edu- 
 cation in the public schools, spent a short 
 time in the railroad telegraph office at Long 
 Siding, now Saucon. He then worked on 
 the farm for a few months and soon there- 
 after completed his course as a telegraph 
 operator at Hillside. 
 
 Several years after this Mr. Gangawer 
 became assistant operator at Hellertown, 
 then was transferred as night operator to 
 Long Siding, where he remained for five 
 years. He then left Long Siding and 
 served successively as operator at Heller- 
 town and Skellerman, New York. He 
 left the last named place in 1889 and came 
 to North Wales, where he has been ticket 
 and freight agent of the Pennsylvania rail- 
 road company ever since. 
 
 On October 6, 1886, Mr. Gangawer mar- 
 ried Alice Witiner, and to their union have 
 been born two children : Warren and Lloyd, 
 who both died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. Gangawer is a Democrat, and a mem- 
 ber of the Reformed church. He is a good 
 business man, and takes interest in what- 
 ever will benefit North Wales or add to its 
 material prosperity, being a member of the 
 Home Building and Loan association. He 
 js a member of the Pennsylvania Railroad 
 
 37 
 
 Relief association, the Knights of the 
 Golden Eagle, and the Independent Order 
 of Odd Fellows. 
 
 REMANDUS SCHEETZ, now engaged 
 in the wholesale grocery business at 
 Norristown, was born in Bucks county, 
 Pennsylvania, April 28, 1847, and is a son 
 of Francis and Catharine (Fortz) Scheetz. 
 His paternal grandfather was a native of 
 Germany and a man of education. He 
 came to this country when a young man, 
 and first settled at Germantown, in Phila- 
 delphia county, where he followed teaching 
 for some time. He afterwards removed to 
 Bucks county, where he continued teaching 
 for several years and resided until his death. 
 He married and reared a familv of eight 
 sons and one daughter : William ; Francis ; 
 Jacob ; Reuben ; Charles ; Edwin ; Samuel ; 
 Albert and Eliza, who married Aaron Ful- 
 mer, of Bucks county, and is now deceased. 
 Francis Scheetz, the father of the subject of 
 this sketch, was born in Bucks county, Jan- 
 ary 12, 1814. He was a tailor by trade, but 
 at an early age in life turned his attention 
 to the general mercantile business and 
 finally engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
 which he followed until his death. His 
 brother Reuben was prothonotary of Bucks 
 count}', and another brother, Samuel, served 
 for man}- years as a justice of the peace in 
 Richhill township, Bucks county, and was 
 a director of the Ouakertown bank. Francis 
 Scheetz was a Democrat in politics, and a 
 member of the German Baptist church. He 
 married Catharine Fortz. To their union 
 were born two children ; M. F., a merchant 
 of Flourtown ; and Remandus, whose name 
 heads this sketch. 
 
 Remandus Scheetz was reared on the 
 
578 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 farm until the age of six years, when he 
 was brought to Montgomery county, where 
 he grew to manhood and received his edu- 
 cation in the public schools. He followed 
 farming until 1868, whien he attained his 
 majority and came to Norristown, where he 
 entered the employ of Moore & Ramsey, ' 
 grocers, of that place. He remained with 
 them for two years, and then in may, 1870, 
 commenced business for himself as a whole- 
 sale and retail grocer, also handling queens- 
 ware. In March, 1894' he turned his atten- 
 tion entirely to the wholesale grocery busi- 
 ness in which he is still engaged. His 
 present wholesale grocery house is on the 
 corner of Main and Cherry streets, and is a 
 large structure 25x240 feet in dimensions, 
 conveniently'arranged for the transaction 
 of his large and nourishing business. He 
 carries a large, complete and assorted stock 
 of plain and fancy groceries, and handles 
 field and garden seeds, wood and willow 
 ware, and every article of merchandise 
 usually carried by a first-class house. 
 
 On February 16, 1886, Mr. Scheetz mar- 
 ried Miss Harley, of Fairview, this eountv. 
 To their union have been born four chil- 
 dren, one son and three daughters : Ger- 
 trude ; Sara ; Ethel and Francis. 
 
 Mr. Scheetz is a Republican in political 
 texture, but gives his time principally to 
 his business affairs. 
 
 He is a vigorous, energetic business man 
 and has taken no ordinary interest in the 
 promotion of enterprises for his commu- 
 nity's advancement. His grocery house is 
 a substantial and well arranged structure, 
 and has probably no peer, outside the cities 
 of Pittsburg and Philadelphia in the State. 
 
 Personally Mr. Scheetz is affable, and a 
 man of strict integrity, whose efforts have 
 met with a large measure of pecuniary suc- 
 cess. 
 
 PETER FREDERICK ROTHERMEL. 
 Few painters have had a more in- 
 teresting life than Peter Frederick Rother- 
 mel. He was born on the 8th of July, 1817, 
 in the little village of Nescopek, which 
 took its name from the creek flowing into 
 the Susquehanna river. Here his early boy- 
 hood was spent in the usual pursuit of book 
 learning, varied with plenty of healthy boy- 
 ish sport. 
 
 Talent for art early disclosed itself in the 
 usual boyish attempts at drawing, and the 
 painter in his old age owned also to the fas- 
 cination exercised over his budding genius 
 by the village sign painter as his brush 
 swept back and forth in its record of a truly 
 impressionistic, if primitive, art. One par- 
 ticular signboard, a black horse on a yellow 
 background, fired the boy's youthful ambi- 
 tion, and it was a proud day indeed when 
 he painted a signboard which was placed in 
 front of his father's hotel. 
 
 While early circumstances indicated the 
 bent of his talent, the boy had grown to. be 
 a man of twenty-three before he turned to 
 serious and progressive study of the tech- 
 nique of art in the drawing school of John 
 Reuben Smith. It was not long before the 
 young painter had absorbed about all that 
 his teacher could give, whereupon he en- 
 tered upon a period of more advanced study 
 with Bass Otis, the portrait painter, who is 
 also to be credited with the .invention of. 
 the perspective protractor and the produc- 
 tion of the first lithograph made in Ame- 
 rica. ' 
 
 The ambitious young painter launched 
 out for himself as a portrait painter on 
 Branch street, between Third and Fourth. 
 Here he painted a large number of por- 
 traits, among thenrthe Hydes, the Blanch- 
 ards and Nathan Beach, who, as a surveyor, 
 discovered the Beaver Meadow coal mines 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 579 
 
 on the Berwick turnpike, near Mauch 
 Chunk. 
 
 Afterward he had a studio on Callowhill 
 street in what was then well on toward the 
 outskirts of the city. Not much farther 
 northwestward, where enterprise has now 
 left its trail in rows of handsome houses 
 and well-kept streets was the open country. 
 As he gained in experience the young ar- 
 tist essayed more elaborate figure painting, 
 illustrating Shakespeare, Coleridge and 
 Scott. Colonel Cephas G. Childs brought 
 him his first order for a picture, " the Em- 
 barkation of Columbus at Palos." 
 
 This picture and the fine " Columbus Be- 
 fore the Queen" started the painter on the 
 road to fame, and the " De Soto's Discov- 
 ery of the Mississippi" placed him securely 
 before the public. Just about this time 
 Prescott's work on the " Conquest of Mex- 
 ico" was making a great noise, and its 
 thrilling incidents furnished the painter 
 with congenial material. " Cortez address- 
 ing His Troops within Sight of the Valley 
 of Mexico" was bought by the liberal pa- 
 tron of art, Warrington Gillette ; " The 
 Surrender of Guatomozin" was painted for 
 Professor Mapes ; "Cortez Burning His 
 Fleet" resulted to James Robb, of New Or- 
 leans, and the " Launch of the Brigan- 
 tines" to J. B. H. Latrobe, of Baltimore, the 
 son of the architect of the Capitol. 
 
 Mr. Rothermel was closely identified with 
 two important movements in the history of 
 art in Philadelphia, the growth of the Ar- 
 tists' Fund Society and the early develop- 
 ment of the schools of the Academy of the 
 Fine Arts. The Artists' Fund Society, of 
 which he was many years an active mem- 
 ber was incorporated in 1835 with John 
 Naegle as its first president. Its meetings 
 did much to kindle enthusiasm among the 
 artists, and almost every painter of dis- 
 
 tinction in Philadelphia was a member. 
 
 In those early days of the middle century 
 the present elaborate system of art study 
 was not yet devised. Ambitious students 
 drew and painted in the studio of an artist, 
 there often learning the mechanical pro- 
 cesses of grinding colors and stretching can- 
 vas, as well as the more complicated princi- 
 ples of the grammar of art. It was before 
 the time of the printed course of instruc- 
 tion. The teaching was conducted rather 
 on the Pestalozzian method (adapted) — "we 
 learn to paint by painting." 
 
 Not only in the matter of academic train- 
 ing, but in what are now recognized and 
 accepted facilities for study the painter was 
 thrown pretty much on his own resources. 
 The artists were compelled frequently to 
 pose for each other. This suggested the 
 formation of life classes. Mr. Rothennel 
 was one of a number who met at Joseph 
 Kyle's room at Sixth and Walnut streets. 
 Later on they took advantage of the per- 
 mission to use a class room of the academy. 
 The artists paid for the models, the acad- 
 emy, besides the room, providing light and 
 fuel. 
 
 At this time the academy was on Chest- 
 nut street, where it was destroyed by fire in 
 1845. It was rebuilt in 1847, with closer 
 reference to the needs of the artistic contin- 
 gency accustomed to draw there. Later on 
 an organized movement, for which Mr. 
 Rothermel worked actively, was inaugura- 
 ted, and in 1856 the life class of the Acad- 
 emy of the Fine Arts was regularly organ- 
 ized. At the suggestion of Mr. Rothermel 
 a code of regulations was formulated. It is 
 interesting to note among the rules that no 
 conversation was allowed between the 
 model and any member of the class ; no 
 smoking, the strictest order was to be main- 
 tained, and no one under the age of twenty- 
 
5 8o 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 one years was to be allowed to draw from 
 the female model without written permis- 
 sion from his parents or guardian. Such 
 was the origin of the life class in Philadel- 
 phia. 
 
 Previous to his visit to Europe in 1856, 
 Mr. Rothermel was a director of the Acad- 
 emy of Fine Arts from 1847 to 1855. With 
 James Read Lambdin, who was elected in 
 1846 and served until 1864, he represented 
 for some time the artistic element in the 
 board. The names of these artists figure 
 prominently on the exhibition committees 
 of these years, and are closely identified 
 with the material and artistic advancement 
 of the institution. 
 
 In 1856 Mr. Rothermel resigned from the 
 board of directors to go abroad. 
 
 Paris had not yet become the Mecca of 
 art students, nor was there then the usual 
 annual exodus of wielders of the palette and 
 brush, which has come to be an indication 
 of summer as unfailing as the maturity of 
 leaf and flower. 
 
 Mr. Rothermel traveled through Europe 
 in regulation tourist fashion, studying the 
 galleries of England, France and the Neth- 
 erlands and visiting the Dusseldorf School. 
 Gilbert Stuart, Trumbull, the Peales and 
 Sully followed West to study in England, 
 but the kaleidoscope of fashion had turned 
 and many of the painters were at Dussel- 
 dorf. Two years were spent in Rome, the 
 summers being passed at one of the charm- 
 ing spots not far distant from the city, 
 where the artists painted the matchless blue 
 Italian skies and hills, some of which land- 
 scape studies hang in the dining room of 
 his home at Ljnfield, near a fine engraving 
 of his picture " Patrick Henry Making His 
 Celebrated Speech in the House of Bur- 
 gesses." 
 
 While abroad Mr. Rothermel received 
 
 a warm recognition in Franca, Italy and 
 Russia. For the Grand Duchess Helena of 
 Russia he painted " The Virtuoso," a copy 
 of which hangs in his home at Ljnfield. 
 The picture represents the old connoisseur, 
 grave and intellectual looking, absorbed in 
 his books. The picture is also interesting 
 from the fact that " The Virtuoso" is a por- 
 trait of the father of Mrs. Rothermel. 
 While at Rome the picture " St. Agnes" 
 was painted for Count Kusheleff and a "Ru- 
 bens and Vandyke" for Prince Kotehabey. 
 On his return to Philadelphia in 1S59, Mr. 
 Rothermel painted a series of pictures illus- 
 trating the events in the life of Paul. Of 
 these the original study of the large pic- 
 ture, " Paul Before Agrippa," was presented 
 to the Academy of the Fine Arts by James 
 L. Claghorn in 1878; "Paul at Ephesus" 
 was presented to the same institution by 
 Mrs. Matthew Baird in 1887 ; the Academy 
 also owns the " Embarkation of Columbus 
 at Palos," given by Joseph Dugan in 1844. 
 "Shylock and Portia in the Judgment 
 Scene" was sold to the Art Union of New 
 Vork; " Cromwell Ordering Hitch Out of 
 the Pulpit" was painted for the Art Union 
 of Cincinnati; " Murray's Defense" was pur- 
 chased by the Art Union of New York. 
 
 The picture of '' King Lear and Cordelia" 
 may be seen in Memorial Hall. " The Mas- 
 sacre of the Sicilian Vespers," depicting the 
 outburst of the massacre just at the mo- 
 ment of the insult to the bride, was painted 
 for Anthony J. Drexel, and the large pic- 
 ture of " King Lear, Gloucester and Edgar" 
 is the property of Mrs. Joseph Harrison. 
 
 " The Martyrs in the Coliseum," among 
 the best known and most popular of the 
 painter's pictures, was loaned to the Art 
 Club at the time of the reception tendered 
 him March 19, 1890, and still remains 
 there, together with "The Bacchantes," a 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 58i 
 
 gift from the artist to the club, and " The 
 Judgment of Solomon," presented by C. 
 Stuart Patterson, Theodore Cuyler Patter- 
 son, Miss Partersou, and Mrs. Sims. 
 
 But it is the "Battle of Gettysburg," 
 which hung for many years in Memorial 
 Hall, Fairmount Park, until its removal 
 last December to the new State Library at 
 Harrisburg, which has shed the brightest 
 lustre of fame over the name of Peter Fred- 
 erick Rothermel. 
 
 " The Battle of Gettysburg" was painted 
 on commission from the Legislature of 
 Pennsylvania and was originally intended 
 for the library at Harrisburg, but when 
 found too large for suitable exhibition there 
 was deposited in the large gallery at Me- 
 morial Hall, where it became familiar to 
 thousands of sight-seers. It is one of the 
 largest American pictures ever painted, and 
 a year and a half was consumed in its com- 
 pletion, the painter receiving $25,000 for 
 his work. From the first the picture 
 aroused an absorbing public interest. 
 Painted while the scorching wounds of 
 Gettysburg were as yet unsoothed by the 
 healing touch of time, the picture stirred 
 the heartstrings of the people as no Ameri- 
 can picture may be said to have done be- 
 fore or since. 
 
 The " Battle of Gettysburg" was painted 
 in the building on the northeast corner of 
 Fifteenth and Market streets. Joseph Har- 
 rison, one of the well-known older art pat- 
 rons of Philadelphia, gave the use of seve- 
 ral rooms. Numbers of people crowded 
 around the artist as he sat at work, and 
 soldiers' mothers, soldiers, widows and or- 
 phans, and the boys in blue themselves, 
 wept before the pictured struggles which 
 were living realities to them. 
 
 Many of the portraits in the picture are 
 actual likenesses. General Meade sat per- 
 
 sonally to the artist, and these was no diffi- 
 culty in getting soldiers for models. They 
 were more than eager. When completed 
 the picture was formally exhibited at the 
 Academy of Music. General Sherman was 
 there and one of the most valued criticisms 
 long remembered by the old artist were 
 the words of the stern old hero of the march 
 to the sea : " I wish that my battles could 
 be painted so !" 
 
 The "Battle of Gettysburg" was formally 
 exhibited at Tenth and Chestnut streets in 
 1 87 1 in a hall erected for that purpose. It 
 was about Christmas and thousands of 
 people went to see it. It was next sent to 
 Boston, after which it was exhibited in Chi- 
 cago. While there the great Chicago fire 
 broke out. A saving hand cut the picture 
 from its frame and so preserved it to Amer- 
 ican art. The picture was afterward exhib- 
 ited in Pittsburg and finally brought back 
 to Philadelphia and placed in a building 
 erected in the Park near the Green street 
 entrance. At the time of the Centennial 
 it was removed to Memorial hall, from 
 which it was taken with the four pendants, 
 "The Death of General Reynolds," "The 
 Charge of the Pennsylvania Reserves," 
 " The Repulse of the Louisaua Tigers" and 
 " The Repulse of General Johnson's Divi- 
 ion," to Harrisburg. 
 
 Personally the artist was striking looking. 
 His features were strongly modeled, and a 
 mass of silvered hair fell negligently in true 
 artistic fashion above his brow. He was 
 tall and lithe, and in the old days was not 
 infrequently taken for an actor. Although 
 his brush had been laid aside for a long 
 time prior to his death, he retained to the 
 last a strong interest in all that pertained to 
 art. It was a pleasure to visit him at his 
 home at Linfield, a picturescpie village 
 nestling in the bosom of Montgomery 
 
5 82 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 county, about thirty-four miles from Phila- 
 delphia. It is a quaint house built in 1803, 
 with old-fashioned gables and a spacious 
 piazza overlooking a garden in which flow- 
 ers abloom, trees in the full luxuriance of 
 foliage, robins twittering their summer call 
 and the blue sky bending over all paint a 
 picture instinct with the charm of happy 
 home life. 
 
 Mr. Rothermel was one of the now rapidly 
 lessening group of older artists of whom 
 Russell Smith, America's best known scene 
 painter; John Sartain, the engraver, and 
 George R. Bonfield, who recently completed 
 his ninetieth year, are the few shining links 
 that remain to bind us to the days when 
 Sully painted social beauties and Naegle 
 distinguished men, and Bass Otis and Rem- 
 brandt Peale conducted drawing classes. 
 
 It was a pleasure to coax the old painter 
 into an easy chair on the shaded piazza of 
 his country home on a summer afternoon, 
 and there to follow his mellow, deep-toned 
 voice down the current of a long life's 
 reminiscences. The constant tribute of an 
 appreciative public will be paid to his 
 merits as an artist, but to those who thus 
 came near him in friendship, in personal 
 intercourse, many words, many deeds will 
 remain to embalm the memory of the painter 
 of the " Battle of Gettysburg " through 
 future years. 
 
 Mr. Rothermel died on August 15, 1895, 
 at his home in Linfield, Montgomery 
 county. 
 
 LOUIS M. CHILDS, Esq., a prominent 
 and successful attorney of Norristown, 
 is a son of Jacob and Lester (Foss) Childs, 
 and was born in Norristown, August 19, 
 1852. Mr. Childs is of English-Quaker 
 lineage, and the old world home of the 
 
 family was at Cale's Hill in Herford 
 county, England, from which locality the 
 founder of the family in America came in 
 1693. One of the original immigrants to 
 this country was Henry Childs, who first 
 settled in Philadelphia, but later removed 
 to Ann Arundel county, Maryland, where 
 he died in 1740. He was a well-to-do hus- 
 bandman, and purchased from William 
 Penn a tract of one thousand acres of land 
 in southern Bucks county in what is now 
 Plumbstead township. His family con- 
 sisted of two sons, Cephas and Henry, and 
 five daughters. Cephas married Mary 
 Atkinson in 1716, and purchased one-half 
 of the one thousand acre tract in Bucks 
 county, and through conveyance from his 
 father in 1739 became the sole owner of the 
 entire tract. He was a devoted and active 
 member of the Plumbstead Friends' Meet- 
 ing and served for two years as a member 
 of the Pennsylvania State legislature. He 
 was a man of strong, sturdy character, keen 
 of intellect, and wielded a potent influence 
 in the community. He died in 1756. He 
 was the father of five sons : Abraham, 
 Henry, Isaac, John, and Cephas, jr. 
 
 Henry, the second son, was the great- 
 great-grandfather of the subject of this 
 biographical record. He was born in 1728, 
 and in 1750 his father deeded to him one 
 hundred and forty-five acres, a part of the 
 old homestead in Bucks county. He mar- 
 ried Mary Shoemaker, and one of his sons 
 was John Childs, great-grandfather, who 
 married, at Abington Meeting, Mary Phipps, 
 of Abington township. He died in 1816, 
 well advanced in years. He wa,s the father 
 of ten children, of which John, grandfather, 
 was the youngest. The latter was born in 
 1796, and died in 1824. He married, in 
 1820, Ann, a daughter of Jacob T. and 
 Mary Moore, and two children, Jacob and 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 583 
 
 John, were born of this union. The former 
 mentioned of the two children, father of 
 Louis M. Childs, was born in 1822, and 
 died in 1886. He obtained an elementary 
 education in the common schools and then 
 attended for a time the Norristown aca- 
 demy. His career in after life was credita- 
 ble and exemplary and was marked in in- 
 dustry and probity. Politically, he was a 
 Whig up, to the disruption of that party, 
 but upon the formation of the Republican 
 party he became a staunch supporter of the 
 new party and steadfastly supported it all 
 his life. From 1850 until his death he was 
 a member of the town council of Norris- 
 town and for six years was treasurer of the 
 borough. His marriage to Lydia Foss, 
 daughter of Joseph Foss, who resided near 
 Coatesville, Chester county, this State, 
 resulted in the birth of five children, as 
 follows : Mary, who died at the age of nine 
 years; Louis M., subject; Walter 'F. and 
 Emma H., twins; and Lillian. 
 
 Louis M. Childs received his preliminary 
 education in the public schools of Norris- 
 town, graduating from the high school at 
 the early age of twelve years He then 
 took a course of special instruction, and 
 prepared himself to enter the University of 
 Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia. From the 
 scientific department of this time-honored 
 institution of learning he was graduated in 
 1872 as a member of the first scientific 
 class graduated from the University. After 
 leaving college, Mr. Childs assisted his 
 father in his factory as clerk and general 
 assistant until he arrived at the age of 
 twenty-one years, when, having resolved 
 upon the law as a life profession, he entered 
 upon its study in the office of Gilbert Rod- 
 man Fox, Esq., of Norristown, and was ad- 
 mitted to the bar of Montgomery county in 
 February, 1876. He at once formed a part- 
 
 nership with his preceptor and this busi- 
 ness alliance continued until the spring of 
 18S8, when he entered into a law partner- 
 ship with Montgomery Evans, Esq., under 
 the caption of Childs .K: Evans. Mr. Childs 
 is a member of the Montgomery County 
 Bar association and for one year was solici- 
 tor of the borough of Norristown. 
 
 On September 26, 1879, he was united in 
 marriage with Alice G. Hibberd, a daugh- 
 ter of Norris Hibberd, of Bridgeport. This 
 marriage has been blessed in the birth of 
 two children : Alice H., and Marjorie. Mr. 
 Childs stands in the front rank of the leeal 
 profession of Montgomery county. He 
 possesses a comprehensive knowledge of 
 the law, is careful in the preparation of his 
 cases and has won an enviable success in 
 his chosen profession. Intellectually, he is 
 a man of culture, innate refinement, and 
 diversified knowledge. 
 
 THOMAS HOVENDON. At the hour 
 of five on the afternoon of August 14, 
 1895, Thomas Hovendon met his tragic and 
 heroic death. He was instantly killed in 
 an attempt to rescue a child of ten years 
 from a passing train on the Trenton cut-off 
 in Plymouth township, Montgomery county. 
 The heroism of the act was a beautiful 
 though pathetic finale of a life imbued with 
 true nobility and pervaded with a moral 
 sense whose efflorescence was like the scent 
 of some sweet flower. His death at any 
 time would have been a tragedy to art; but 
 under the attendant circumstances, it was 
 appalling. No one of his time had earned 
 a wider popularity or enjoyed to a higher 
 degreee the admiration and respect of his 
 profession. Ardent American as he was, 
 in his feeling as in his work, he was not of 
 
5»4 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 native birth, having been born in Ireland, 
 at Dimmanway, in County Cork, December 
 28, 1840. He began his studies in Dublin, 
 but came to this country in the early period 
 of the war and entered the schools ot the 
 National Academy of Design in New York. 
 In 1874 he went to Paris, where he worked 
 in the Ecole des Beaux Arts under Cabanel, 
 and immediately began to exhibit in the 
 Salon, each year's picture attracting in- 
 creased attention. These pictures were 
 mainly of Breton peasant life. His studies 
 in Brittany led to an interest in the heroic 
 struggles of the people, and in 1880 he ex- 
 hibited the picture of the Vendean peasants 
 arming for battle, "In Hoc Signo Vinces," 
 which fully established his reputation. 
 
 In this year Hovendou returned to New 
 York, where the picture just named was ex- 
 hibited at the National Academy. He was 
 recognized at once as a leader among the 
 young painters who were then coming 
 home from Paris and Munich. He was 
 elected an associate of the National Acad- 
 emy the next spring and an academician in 
 18S2. The intense sympathy with the weak 
 and humble that was always a dominating 
 influence in his character, as well as the 
 artist's sense of the picturesque, interested 
 him in the negroes, and for several years 
 after his return to America his pictures 
 were generally of darkey life, of which he 
 expressed at once the humor and the pathos. 
 About this time he married Miss Corson, of 
 the well-known Montgomery county family, 
 herself an artist, and one whose home asso- 
 ciations with the Quaker Abolitionists of 
 the old day accorded well with Hovendon's 
 own sympathies. He settled at Plymouth 
 Meeting, and he and his wife set up their 
 studio in an old barn that had done service 
 01; the Underground railway. Here he 
 painted some of the best of his negro pic- 
 
 tures and notably the " Last Moments of 
 John Brown," one of the most earnest if not 
 one of the most interesting of his works. 
 
 The drama of the ordinary rustic life was 
 what Hovendon felt as perhaps none of our 
 painters had felt it before, in its simple 
 dignity and pathos. In the plain Pennsyl- 
 vania home he found his material, transfig- 
 uring it with a touch of art. It is neces- 
 sary to mention only one of his pictures, 
 "Breaking Home Ties," to awaken a uni- 
 versal sympathy. No picture was ever 
 painted in America that reached as deep as 
 this into the universal heart of the people, 
 and it did so by a direct simplicity of which 
 only a master is capable. The " Bringing 
 Home the Bride," which followed this, was 
 less successful because less universal, and 
 last year's picture, "Jerusalem the Golden," 
 bordered on the sentimental ; but the pic- 
 ture of the Confederate prisoner in a Penn- 
 sylvania farmhouse was one of the noblest 
 expressions we have had of the domestic 
 side of the civil war, and there are many 
 other works of this same period that are 
 worthy to be named with it. 
 
 Mr. Hovendon was for a time at the head 
 of the schools of the Pennsylvania Academy 
 of the Fine Arts, but he found the demand 
 upon his time too great, though he con- 
 tinued to take great interest in the work. 
 He was a thorough master of the whole 
 technical range of his profession and ex- 
 perimented with and mastered every new 
 method that came along, though his own 
 serious style was already well formed. Only 
 last year he played a good natured trick on 
 the jury of selection at the Academy by 
 sending in anonymously an impressionist 
 study that he had painted the night before 
 and which was accepted with acclamation. 
 He was a man of very positive views of the 
 seriousness of art and was always ready to 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 585 
 
 combat the "art for art's sake" theory, so 
 that some of the young painters thought 
 him old fashioned, though no artist ever 
 was more receptive to new ideas or more 
 generous in his appreciation of his fellow 
 craftsmen. 
 
 He held his opinions strongly, because 
 they were based on knowledge. He painted 
 landscape, flowers, portraits, all brilliantly ; 
 he was one of the most successful American 
 etchers ; he was widely and deeply read, 
 and with his Irish impetuosity, he had an 
 Irishman's warmth of heart and sincerity of 
 affection that made him one of the best- 
 loved men in his profession. He was an 
 influential member of all the leading art 
 societies, including the National Academy 
 of Design, the American Society of Aitists, 
 the Artist's Fund society, the Etching club, 
 the Art club and many others, and in every 
 one of these his untimely death will be pro- 
 foundly mourned. 
 
 Hovendon stood in the forefront of the 
 American painters of the day. The very 
 modern critics affected to despise his art 
 because it always had something to say, but 
 even they acknowledged that he said it with 
 consummate skill. And what he had to 
 say was always something honest and true, 
 something that touched the universal hu- 
 man heart and touched it with a noble sen- 
 timent. 
 
 It was this that gave Hovendon his wide 
 popular fame. He painted not merely for 
 other painters, but for the people. Yet 
 purely as a painter we have no one who 
 is his superior, in the whole range of tech- 
 nical achievement, and he employed his 
 skill with a breadth of understanding and 
 earnestness of purpose that completed the 
 character of a great artist. 
 
 The honesty of Hovendon's art was an 
 expression of the honesty of the man. The 
 
 earnestness, the manliness, the warm hu- 
 manity of his nature had made him a per- 
 sonal force in his profession, and to his 
 friends the horror of his death is only 
 mitigated by the fact that he met it, as he 
 would have been glad at any time to meet 
 it, in an act of heroic sacrifice. 
 
 THE BROWER FAMILY. — First" 
 Generation. — Henry Brower, the 
 progenitor, was born February 14, 1720, 
 and died October 14, 1784. He settled in 
 Coventry township, Chester county, Penn- 
 sylvania, near Lawrenceville, upon a farm 
 granted to him by his father-in-law, Peter 
 De Fraine, in 1741. 
 
 The origin of this family is in Holland, 
 though there is some probability that his 
 direct ancestry was from Germany, near 
 Worms. They were Mennonites, and as is 
 well known, man}' of this sect went from 
 Holland to Germany, and settled in various 
 localities, removing thence to America, 
 where they established their religious 
 meetings along the Schuylkill, Skippack, 
 and Deep Run, in this county. Some of 
 them came in the early part of 1700, and a 
 few as earl\- as the middle of the seven- 
 teenth century. 
 
 The Holland name is Brawer, or Brouwer, 
 as spelled by Adrian Brower, the Dutch 
 painter who was born in 1608 at Haarlam. 
 The latter was an artist of eminence, had 
 an admirable eye for color, and much spirit 
 in design ; he died in 1640. During the 
 war with the Netherlands he went to Ant- 
 werp, where he was seized as a spy and 
 taken to the citadel. Here to prove him- 
 self a painter he executed a sketch of the 
 ouards who had him in custodv. This 
 
 o - 
 
 picture was shown to Rubens, who innnc- 
 
5 86 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 diately exclaimed : " That's the work of 
 Brauwer ! No other artist could treat the 
 subject in that style." By the interposi- 
 tion of Rubens he was discharged. His 
 works are few and rarely met with. The 
 largest collection of his masterpieces is in 
 the picture gallery at Munich. At the 
 Centennial exposition in 1876 the Brauer 
 Brothers, woolen manufacturers, of the 
 Netherlands, exhibited the very finest 
 woolen blankets and other woolen fabrics 
 of the finest qualities. 
 
 Contemporaneously with Henry Brower, 
 about 1750, Christian Brower and John 
 Brower owned large farms in the same 
 locality, and about 1765 Enoch Brower and 
 wife, Eva, were the owners of a farm. 
 The kinship of these four is not known by 
 their posterity, but Henry Brower and his 
 descendants always claimed to be Hol- 
 landers, and letters and other manuscripts 
 filling about two bags, passing between 
 them and their Dutch correspondents, were 
 preserved at the Brower homestead, Coven- 
 try, until about the middle of the present 
 century, when during a housecleaning, be- 
 cause of being cumbersome and producing 
 the " silver fish," they were committed to 
 the flames, and thus perished an important 
 link, no doubt, in this lineage. 
 
 From the middle to the latter part of the 
 last century and the beginning of this, the 
 Browers of Pennsylvania and of New York 
 and New Jersey, visited each other and ex- 
 changed notices of deaths and other events 
 occurring to their immediate families. It 
 was traditionary that one of the New York 
 families who rode to the Schuylkill to 
 visit the Browers, on his return was struck 
 by lightning and killed. A correspond- 
 ence with D. B. Brower, an attorney-at- 
 law, of Hannibal, New York, under date 
 of May 12, 1895, establishes the fact of an 
 
 entry in his family bible taken from his 
 father's bible, to wit : " Adolphus Brower, 
 born in Holland, killed by lightning near 
 Hackensack, N. J." The bible containing 
 the original entry is said to be in the pos- 
 session of Mr. Wilkes, of Tompkinsville, 
 Long Island, N. Y. Adolphus Brower 
 had a son Nicholas, who was born March 
 8, 1747. Of this ancestry is the said N. B. 
 Brower. 
 
 The first known of this family in Amer- 
 ica is Adam Brower, who died in New 
 York in 1692 ; will recorded in Vol. 4, 
 page 278, 1692. The birth of eight sons 
 and two daughters and of many of their 
 descendants are known and preserved on 
 record. In the several litigations which 
 were carried on from fifty to sixty years 
 ago as regards the Trinity Church, Fulton 
 street, and other properties in the city of 
 New York by the Brower heirs, being the 
 descendants of Auneke Jans, valued at 
 many millions of dollars, the descendants 
 of Henry Brower were regarded as of kin- 
 ship, and were consulted and contributed 
 to defray the expenses incurred. Apart 
 from these considerations there is a very 
 strong resemblance between some of the 
 present posterity, and so marked is it that 
 Miss Adelaide C Brower, of Doylestown, 
 a daughter of Christian and Catharine 
 Brower, while on a visit to a sister, was 
 mistaken by the physician of a Brower 
 family of Brooklyn for the daughter of 
 that family, and not until the ensuing con- 
 versation became confusing to the doctor 
 could he be convinced of his error. The 
 descendants are now to be found in man}' 
 of the States. One family settled, in the 
 middle of the last century, in the Carolinas, 
 who corresponded with and visited those 
 on the Schuylkill and are of that ancestry. 
 And one of the Carolina descendants was a 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 587 
 
 member of Congress some years ago, and 
 some are merchants, planters, and profes- 
 sional men in the Carolinas and Tennessee. 
 The biographies of those who are the direct 
 descendants of Daniel and Frances Brovver 
 (of the second generation) are noted upon 
 other pages. 
 
 Henry Brower was twice married. His 
 first wife was Miss De Fraine. They had 
 two children : Salome nee Brower, wife of 
 Jacob Bangh ; and Abraham Brower, who 
 married Magdalena Buckwalters. The 
 second marriage was with Barbara High 
 (formerly Hoch), a daughter of Jacob High, 
 of New Hanover township. The wife of 
 Jacob High was Elizabeth, a daughter of 
 Daniel Langenecker (now Longaker), of 
 Mingo, who settled there in 1733 on two 
 hundred and forty acres of land. To the 
 second union were born six children : John 
 Brower; Isaac Brower, married May Gabel; 
 Daniel Brower, settled in Providence ; 
 Jacob Brower, died unmarried ; Elizabeth, 
 nee Brower, wife of Jacob Urmy. Of this 
 generation there are many descendants. 
 
 As some of the prominent posterity of 
 Daniel Brower are sketched in this volume 
 it is proposed to narrate more particularly 
 the biography of his descendants. 
 
 Daniel Brower married Frances Reiff 
 about the beginning of 1779. Their issue 
 are: Henry, who was born May 3, 1780, 
 and after marriage settled in Canada and 
 died in his ninety-third year. There are 
 numerous descendants of this family. Bar- 
 bara Brower Kurtz, who had a family of 
 about eight children ; Frances, who mar- 
 ried Nathan Pennypacker (their sou, Doc- 
 tor Jacob Pennypacker, was a noted physi- 
 cian, who practiced near Phoenixville for 
 nearly half a century) ; Joseph, a practical 
 farmer; and Ann, who married James A. 
 Pennypacker, and from this union there 
 
 was a son, Doctor Nathan, who became 
 eminent as a physician and was a member 
 of the State legislature. He practiced 
 near Phoenixville. His widow and daugh- 
 ter survive him, and are now residing at 
 Phoenixville. There was also a daughter 
 Mary, who married William Williamson, 
 at one time part owner and editor of the 
 Montgomery Ledger at Pottstown ; his 
 wife and several children survive him and 
 are living at Pottstown. Eliza, second 
 wife of Nathan Pennypacker, and one 
 child, Frances, married to Joseph Fitz- 
 water, merchant and farmer, residing near 
 Mont Clare. Christian Brower, whose 
 sketch appears in another part of this work; 
 Abraham, see his sketch, on another page; 
 Mary, married Abraham Beitler ; their 
 grandsons, Abraham M. and Lewis, are 
 noticed hereafter; Sarah Brower, died un- 
 married; Daniel R., the father of Doctor 
 R. R. Brower, whose sketch appears in 
 another part ; Catharine, who married the 
 Hon. Henry Longaker ; Ann, who married 
 Rev. John H. Umstead, who was a promi- 
 nent divine in the Dunkard congregations 
 in this State and Maryland. He lived on 
 a farm of about one hundred acres near the 
 Green Tree Meeting house. One of the 
 daughters, who married Milton Davis, is 
 now residing upon the same farm. 
 
 Christian Brower was born the eleventh 
 day of September, 17S4, at B rower's Locks, 
 Upper Providence. He died June 22, 1869. 
 His true achievement was character-build- 
 ing. He was chaste from birth to death ; 
 in the 54th anniversary of their marriage 
 he called those of his descendants living 
 hear to him and told them that he would 
 leave the legacy of a good character, and 
 said in substance that he had so lived that 
 he could return to any neighborhood in 
 
5 88 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 which he had resided with a clear con- 
 science that he had been an honorable citi- 
 zen, and that his descendants could retrace 
 his footsteps and that they would find each 
 period of his life without shame or blush. 
 
 He early believed Jesus Christ to be the 
 son of God, and accepted him as his Lord 
 and Savior. Believing the Bible to be the 
 revealed will of God, with a faith simple 
 and strong, he obeyed its precepts — relying 
 on the Holy Spirit for light and guidance. 
 He was baptized by triune communion , by 
 his wife's uncle, John Price, the " Boy 
 Preacher," and united with the Dunkard 
 church shortly after his marriage. 
 
 His wedding gift to his wife was a family 
 Bible. On the evening of his wedding day, 
 upon this Bible — they covenanted before 
 God — that its teachings should be the rule 
 of conduct for themselves and family, and 
 that all individual differences of desire or 
 opinion should conform to its teachings. 
 This covenant was never broken during the 
 fifty-four years of their union, but was re- 
 newed and strengthened at the advent of 
 each of their trials, and all important events 
 in their history. 
 
 In the family government, when disci- 
 pline of any child became necessary, that 
 Bible was opened — preceded by prayer — 
 and the divine teaching suitable to the oc- 
 casion and correction of the offence, and 
 ending with the suggestive admonition : 
 " Spare the rod and spoil the child." was 
 read in the impressive German voice of the 
 mother, and then followed by the rod, and 
 so judiciously administered that the same 
 offence was never repeated. The subse- 
 quent careers of this family of masterful, 
 independent and original children prove the 
 justness and good judgment of the exercise 
 of this discipline. The children rise up and 
 call their parents blessed. The use of the 
 
 rod was delegated to the mother because of 
 the impulsiveness of the father, which made 
 his great physical strength dangerous to 
 the child. He was impulsive but slow of 
 speech, and an incident in his early youth 
 illustrates his impulsive nature. Journey- 
 ing on horse-back across this State and rid- 
 ing up to an inn, he saw a half-witted girl 
 grossly insulted by two young men. He 
 quickly sprang from his horse, seized each 
 by the collar and knocked their heads to- 
 gether so firmly that one of them was so in- 
 jured that he laid at the point of death for 
 several days Realizing what had occurred, 
 he submitted himself to the legal formali- 
 ties of his offence, but was treated with 
 great leniency, the witnesses all vindicating 
 him, and then he remained and nursed the 
 young man while suffering from the injury. 
 
 He subsequently related that his emo- 
 tion at that sick bed was intense. He 
 realized his impetuosity, his impulse to 
 strike under indignation, his great physical 
 strength, his inability to control his acts 
 aside from Divine aid, and he prayed to 
 God "to show him the way to hold him- 
 self" After awhile the answer came: 
 "Clasp your hands behind your back." 
 With him to know was to do, and many 
 times the observer saw the mild, brown 
 eyes, flash while under indignation at some 
 wrong being done by another, and then he 
 would quickly clasp his hands behind his 
 back and maintain self-control. His habit 
 of walking with his hands behind his back 
 was acquired from this circumstance. 
 
 He saw a like impulse in his youngest 
 child and made her tenth anniversary day 
 memorable by telling her this incident, and 
 extracted two vows from her, the one to 
 clasp her hands behind her under all serious 
 emotion ; the other, so long as she bore his 
 name never to receive a gift of value from 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 589 
 
 a stranger. If the necessity seemed to 
 arise, some near male relative must decide 
 the matter and receive the gift He de- 
 sired this because he saw a disposition in 
 the child to be influenced unduly through 
 gratitude. 
 
 As a Christian his faith was remarkably 
 simple and direct. To know the divine 
 teaching was to obey it implicitly and with- 
 out perversion. 
 
 As a citizen he honored the constitution 
 of his State and country, he loved its flag, 
 and taught his children to place the consti- 
 tution next to the Bible. Politically he 
 was an Old Line Whig, and after the deca- 
 dence of that party he voted bnt once for 
 president — for the son of his old friend, Dr 
 McClellan — saying if he is like his father 
 it will make little difference what his party 
 politics are. 
 
 In his family he was patriarchal. He 
 had high ideas of honor. His wife was 
 honored, protected and loved. His chil- 
 dren were his pride as well as his care. In 
 hospitality he excelled. His invitation to 
 " pot hick " was genuine, and guest and 
 help were treated with dignified respect and 
 protection. The widow and orphan in 
 need were kindly cared for, and the sick 
 and afflicted he was always ready to assist. 
 
 In financial matters he regarded " his 
 word as good as his bond," a promise made 
 or obligation assumed was strictly kept and 
 was promptly performed. His persistence 
 in the " narrow way " was the key-note to 
 the development of character. 
 
 He was, in turn, merchant, miller, farmer. 
 As a miller he was noted for his skill in 
 dressing the mill-stones. He built a dam 
 across the Perkiomen creek. The old 
 dam was faulty and his neighbors said the 
 freehets were so strong that the dam could 
 not resist their force. In building the new 
 
 dam all the foundation stones were laid bv 
 himself, with suitable help assisting. Up 
 to the time of his death the dam has not 
 burst and has withstood all the freshets. 
 This work he considered one of his best 
 achievements. The mill is located above 
 I Perkiomen vibe, as has lately and for many 
 I years, been known as Schneider's mill. 
 [ He removed from the mill to Philadelphia 
 subsequently. His business relations in- 
 troduced him to many merchants, who came 
 from the West and South to make their 
 purchases of new stock. Some of them 
 sent their sons to the medical schools of that 
 city, and he was noted for the kind fatherly 
 care and advice which he gave to the young 
 men thus introduced to him. Some years 
 after his death an old physician gave a course 
 of lectures before the English and Classical 
 seminary of Doylestown. The youngest 
 child of Christian Brower attending these 
 lectures was greatly annoyed by the puzzled 
 manner in which the lecturer gazed at her. 
 At the close of the course he came to her 
 saying : " Why did you not tell me you 
 were the daughter of Christian Brower? 
 He was my friend. He saved me when a 
 young medical student." He said that 
 many other students had proclaimed her 
 father their friend and guided them on their 
 introduction to city life. He said his apol- 
 ogy for gazing at her was that he had seen 
 her eyes in some man before he saw her. 
 
 He removed from Philadelphia to Bridge 
 Point in Bucks county, and while residing 
 here, and some fifteen years before the erec- 
 tion of the Baptist church at Doylestown, 
 a prayer meeting was held at his home by a 
 few Baptists, who agreed that the county 
 town should have a Baptist church, and 
 they consecrated themselves to that work. 
 After the lapse of so much time he fur- 
 nished about two-thirds of the cost of the 
 
59° 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ground upon which the church was erected. 
 After the erection had commenced his great 
 wish was to see it under roof. He felt that 
 he would never worship in it, but he did 
 want to walk along the peak of the roof. 
 He lived to see it under roof and he walked 
 the peak without any assistance. He had 
 great steadiness in high places. He did 
 not live to worship in it. About ten days 
 after this he passed in sleep to his reward. 
 His prayers and ministrations were ended, 
 and the family was left without his loving 
 kind presence. The day before his death he 
 gave his wife into the care of his youngest 
 child, saying: "You must balance 
 mother." She was an invalid and he had 
 been doing the serious work of " balancing 
 her." His daily prayer was that his chil- 
 dren and his children's children to the end 
 of time may all have their names written in 
 the " Lamb's Book of Life," and have part 
 in the first resurrection. 
 
 He had a very high ideal of the obliga- 
 tions and conduct relating to hospitality. 
 " To turn and rend those who had cast the 
 great pearl of hospitality in one's way " — 
 "to lift up the heel after partaking of the 
 loaf," was indicative of character too un- 
 worthy to be retained under his roof. 
 
 One who had been spending a whole 
 winter in his household, and to whom every 
 attention as to comfort was given, while 
 visiting some of the neighbors told some 
 petty falsehoods in regard to his wife, the 
 neighbors not believing what was said, so 
 informed him. When he returned home and 
 entered the house, he had his hands locked 
 behind him, his eyes blazing with indigna- 
 tion, he said: "Where is Mrs. ?" 
 
 His wife tried to mollify him. " That 
 woman has broken our bread — and now she 
 has belied you — not one word this time, 
 my dear." * * * The accused came j 
 
 and tried to flatter him and denied the 
 charge. In a voice so calm it was terrible, 
 he said : " You have broken my loaf and 
 lifted up your heel against my wife. Pre- 
 pare to leave my house to-morrow morning. 
 I'll not turn you out at night. You lied 
 about my wife." She winced at the reiter- 
 ated charge. " But I always spoke well of 
 you." " My wife and I are one. To-mor- 
 row morning you will leave my house." 
 The trunk was packed and next morning 
 she left the house and was driven to the 
 station to depart in the cars. 
 
 His. personality. A discriminating artist 
 said : "He is an ideal model of a righteous 
 man of the Dutch type." He was persist- 
 ent in the right, almost inflexible, but not 
 stubborn, nor unreasonable, and yielding 
 readily if he were made to perceive that he 
 was wrong, and withal was most forgiving. 
 His temperament was the nervous sanguine 
 with a strong trend to the poetic strain. A 
 profound Christian, professedly Baptist, 
 patriotic, concentered in his family, slow 
 of speech, impulsive, quick to strike yet 
 self-restraining, intolerant of evil, sympa- 
 thetic of suffering, authoritative, always in 
 the front, amiable, loving of good, almost 
 perfect physique. His hair was jet black, 
 face cleanly shaved save before the ears, 
 complexion clear and bright, nose short, 
 Roman, large broad fronted and slightly 
 pinched at the back base. Eyes large, 
 dark brown, well set, and usually mild, 
 inviting, trustful, but under feeling or pro- 
 vocation, blazing, penetrating, masterful 
 and fearless before evil or danger. Yoice 
 clear, strong and sympathetic. Height 
 five feet six inches. Body, thick set, of 
 great muscular power, endurance and agil- 
 ity. In death his countenance was life- 
 like, and placid as if glorified. It is said 
 that two who were unbelievers in Christ, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 59i 
 
 were made, while looking on his body, to 
 doubt their unbelief. The one said : "It 
 is death smothered in life." The other: 
 "It is more than death; it is triumph." 
 And thus, while in physical death, his 
 countenance continued to proclaim his 
 risen Lord. He was buried at Green Tree 
 Dunkard Meeting, Montgomery county, 
 but was re-interred at the death of his 
 widow in Hope cemetery, now Doylestown 
 cemetery. , 
 
 Catharine Brower, wife of Christian 
 B rower was a descendant of the Price family 
 (born July 23, 1797; died January 3, 1878)7 
 Jacob Price, the ancestor, spelled his name 
 Preiss; he was born in Witzenstein, Prussia'. 
 In the fall of 1719, because of religious perse- 
 cution, he came to America, and stayed about 
 Germantown until 1721, when he settled at 
 Indian Creek, in Lower Salford township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. It is 
 traditionary in the family that a brother 
 came with him, who settled in Virginia, 
 and some of whose descendants now reside 
 in Brooklyn, Xew York. Jacob Price was 
 of small stature, imperfectly developed, but 
 a powerful preacher. It is from this an- 
 cestry that Catharine descended, she being 
 a daughter of Daniel Price,- of the fifth 
 generation, who married Hannah Baugh ; 
 her sister Sarah, married Edward Davis, 
 .and her brother William married, and was 
 the father of Daniel Price, now president of 
 the Pottstown bank, Penna. The descen- 
 dants of other branches of Jacob Price are 
 numerous in Montgomery and Chester 
 counties. 
 
 A sketch of the life of this remarkable 
 mother is as interesting and instructive as 
 that of her husband. She was born in 
 Chester county, Penna., nearly opposite to 
 Pottstown. She was the eldest child, and 
 
 her father died when she was thirteen years 
 old, and her mother became an invalid. 
 This defeated the plans of her father to 
 have her educated at the Moravian semi- 
 nary at Bethlehem, Penna. This - young 
 child, with the aid of the bond servants, 
 thus became the acting head of the house 
 until her marriage in her seventeenth year. 
 She was proud, sensitive, imaginative, con- 
 servative, mathematical, with marked abil- 
 ity to comprehend and memorize many de- 
 tails, resourceful under all circumstances, 
 and wise in execution. She reverenced her 
 husband and obeyed her God. She was 
 poetical with chaste taste and great love 
 for the beautiful and artistic. In her fifth 
 year she painted original designs of flowers 
 with pigments made from crushed berries 
 and leaves, soft stones and earth of various 
 colors. This gift of subduing her sur- 
 roundings to meet her needs continued 
 through life. When the handsome young 
 Dutchman asked her hand in marriage from 
 her guardian and uncle, John Price, her 
 uncle told her that she was honored above 
 all young women ; that Christian Brower 
 was a man of unusual character and life. 
 He spoke of him as one without guile or 
 blemish, truthful, honest and loving. Her 
 love for him was intense, and at times she 
 feared she would forget her God because of 
 her husband. She had a great desire for 
 literary knowledge, and self culture seemed 
 to be her strongest affection. She saw that 
 she would not meet all the demands of the 
 headship of the family and read and study. 
 This was a severe crisis. She disliked do- 
 mestic cares and maternal duties. She laid 
 the matter before her God ; she made the 
 sacrifice, and turned from herself and her 
 ambition, and forbade herself the reading 
 of any book except the Bible and the 
 almanac. She bothered herself with chil- 
 
592 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 dren other than her own, and read her 
 Bible with daily zeal, which never left her. 
 Not nntil after she was fifty years of age, 
 could she be persuaded to read any other 
 book ; and after that, for the sake of her 
 youngest child, she added the reading of a 
 weekly Baptist paper. She believed that 
 prayer and spiritual song were the two 
 legitimate emotional outlets for those 
 "called to be saints," and these were of 
 daily observance in the household. 
 
 She was a constant teacher of charity, 
 morals and spiritual belief. Chaste in act, 
 thought and speech, she permitted only 
 orderly acts and sound, refined speech. 
 Dialect or slang or perfervid expression was 
 severely repressed. Her method of bring- 
 ing explanations and teachings to a forceful 
 end is typically illustrated by the following. 
 Adelaide, a little daughter, asked the 
 meaning of "ducking-stool." Her mother 
 described it, and the " Scold's Bridle " re- 
 marking that if all overburdened and weak 
 women would pray and sing spiritual songs, 
 there would be no use for ducking stools, 
 very little need for insane asylums. Her 
 daily habit was to retire at noon for a half 
 hour of prayer. This, on one occasion, was i 
 omitted by some important events occurr- 
 ing, and something happened during the 
 afternoon to cause her to become indignant, 
 and four words (words of command) were ; 
 quickly uttered, but she immediately re- 
 covered herself and said to her youngest 
 daughter: "Now you see what comes to 
 your mother when she does not retire to 
 pray." I told you I was impulsive and 
 quick of tongue, now 7 you know it." She 
 arose early in the morning, usually about i 
 four o'clock, to pray for her children, and 
 her children's children to the end of time. 
 She could not endure the thought that any 
 of them should be eternally lost. Ten 
 
 children were born to this marriage, and 
 seven of them lived and reached maturity, 
 and surived her ; and besides these she 
 cared for in her family one niece and two 
 nephews, who were instructed and received 
 as her own, and other children whose pa- 
 rents were unable to support them, were 
 likewise cared for. She was almost ex- 
 clusively engaged in her household, seldom 
 making visits, except in cases of need, giv- 
 ing aid in sickness and affliction. 
 
 What seemed to her to be her greatest 
 humiliation was the birth of her youngest 
 child. She had been and was suffering 
 from malarial neuralgia and nervous ex- 
 haustion, and she believed that the child 
 could not be strong. She had borne nine 
 healthy, unblemished children. Now her 
 pride and her ambition were crushed. She 
 who had always been so strong, and she 
 who hated weakness, to be the mother of 
 weakness This episode was very pathetic. 
 For three years, while the child was a weak- 
 ling, she plead with the Lord to take it ; it 
 would always have pain ; it never could be 
 successful ; but her desire was not God's 
 will. The child lived and grew in health, 
 and at last she found her joy in a daughter 
 so like the father in love and devotion to 
 her, that after his loss, she trusted this 
 child to care for her, under conditions of 
 suffering and loss of memory, that proved 
 to her, even in her weakness, that God had 
 cared for her in her humiliation. One who 
 knows the family well, says: " All that is 
 womanly, dutiful, lovely and faithful in pa- 
 rental devotion finds its greatest excellence 
 in Adelaide C. Brower." 
 
 In her church work she was active in the 
 organization of the First Baptist church at 
 Doylestown. So long as her health per- 
 mitted she led the Women's meeting. Able 
 to preside, exhort, pray and sing, or keep 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 593 
 
 silent, her wisdom was recognized bv all. 
 All her daughters were taught to nurse the 
 sick and reared to habits of good house- 
 wifery. She loved life and was satisfied 
 
 with it, but during the last six months of 
 it, she expressed a desire to depart. She 
 was satisfied. Her life seeni^ best summed 
 up in the life of her children. 
 
 Christian Brower, at the time of his mar- 
 riage, June 13, 1814, to Catharine Price, 
 lived at Uniontowu, Chester county; thence 
 he removed to the Perkiomen mills ; thence 
 t) Philadelphia, and thence to Bridge Point, 
 Bucks countv. 
 
 Children of Christian and Catha- 
 rine Brower. — This sketch would be in- 
 complete without some note of the children 
 and grandchildren of these remarkable par- 
 ents, who have themselves become notable. 
 The seven children who arrived at ma- 
 turity are : Amelia Douglass, born Feb- 
 ruary 26, 1815, and twice married ;_ first, 
 June 22, 1834, to William T. De Bree ; 
 second time, to Robert Johnson, Novem- 
 ber 5, 1857. Nathan Pennypacker 
 Brower, born May 21, 1818. Elizabeth 
 Pennypacker Brower, born February 22, 
 1821, married February, 1848, to Rev. 
 Frederick Kitcham. Davis Edward Brower, 
 born April ig, 1822. Anne Brower mar- 
 ried Jacob Darst, August 1, 1844; her hus- 
 band died April 1, 1856, and December 10, 
 1 N57, she married Jacob Darst, a cousin of 
 her first husband. Sarah, born March 16, 
 1829, married the Rev. William H. Wyck- 
 off, LL. D., of Brooklyn, New York. 
 Adelaide Catherine, born November 20, 
 1839, the youngest, living at Doylestown 
 with her brother Davis. 
 
 Amelia's first husband was of English 
 ancestry (his mother a Taylor, whose fam- 
 ily for many generations were employed 
 
 33 
 
 in the Bank of England) and only brother 
 of John De Bree, a long-time purser in the 
 United States navy. Her first husband 
 was improvident and a spendthrift, and 
 she and her children were obliged to re- 
 turn to the home of her father. Mr. De 
 Bree died sometime prior to 1857. In 1857 
 she married Robert Johnson, a prosperous 
 farmer of Rucks county. There were no 
 children by this marriage. She was a 
 noble, sensitive woman, of the rarest 
 purity, devotion, and faithful attention to 
 all details in her life work. She was an 
 earnest church worker, and before her 
 second marriage spent much time in chari- 
 table work, and was very active in organiz- 
 ing the Baptist church at Doylestown ; for 
 two years she had charge of the infant de- 
 partment of its Sunday school. She died 
 about twenty-five years after her second 
 marriage. 
 
 Nathan De Bree, a child of the first mar- 
 riage, deserves more than a passing notice. 
 He has been connected with the telegraph 
 service since about i860. He entered the 
 army as an operator, and at the close of the 
 war engaged with the Western Union and 
 became manager of the Louisville office. 
 During the first great strike, he kept the 
 office open and the important business 
 moving. After this he was in the Con- 
 struction and Engineering Branch, superin- 
 tending the work in different States of the 
 Union. 
 
 In 1873 he was engaged in the work of 
 repairing the interrupted sub-marine cables 
 between Cuba and Florida. He made a 
 topographical map of the Gulf bottom be- 
 tween Cuba and Key West Reef and be- 
 tween Bahama and the coast of Florida, 
 and laid the new cables by which a double 
 line to the coast of Cuba was completed in 
 1879. When he undertook this work he 
 
594 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 had no practical nautical knowledge. The 
 maps were misleading, new surroundings 
 had to be made. He was sent out with a 
 crew who had never seen a cable The 
 old cable was badly worn and eaten so 
 that it was difficult to follow, but his great 
 ingenuity and untiring energy surmounted 
 all difficulties. After the completion of 
 this line he was ordered to Baltimore, 
 Maryland, to reorganize that office and the 
 district within a radius of one hundred 
 miles. His predecessor was in feeble 
 health and many clerks had become insub- 
 ordinate. In three days they realized that 
 they had a new manager who could man- 
 age. The fourth day he announced an 
 order that no employees who came into the 
 office intoxicated would be retained. Some 
 of the employees seemed inclined to test 
 ' the new manager. He, like his grand- 
 father Brower, whom he greatly resembles, 
 is slow of speech, but quick of perception 
 and movements. One day a clerk came in 
 drunken and he and the whole force in the of- 
 fice were insolent. He called the offending 
 clerk to the platform, and in the presence of 
 the others discharged him, but he refused to 
 leave. He was seized by the back of the 
 neck and thoroughly shaken, and when re- 
 leased from the powerful grip of the man- 
 ager he was glad to quickly disappear. 
 There was no more insubordination until 
 the great strike of the 8o's, and during it 
 he managed to keep the important offices 
 in his district open by putting his young 
 children, who could use the keys more or 
 less, in responsible positions. 
 
 Since this time he has been largely in- 
 terested in improvements in multiplex tele- 
 graphy and underground work, and is now 
 engaged to put in operation an under- 
 ground system at Toledo, Ohio. 
 
 He, it is thought, is the greatest of the j 
 
 grandsons of Christian Brower. He was 
 born in October, 1S3S, and married Ida 
 Harlan, a daughter of Dr. Harlan, of Vir- 
 ginia. He was an able organizer, with 
 large ability to comprehend detail, and 
 power for delicate manipulation, energy," 
 resistance, and withal persistent and re- 
 sourceful. He is a commander of men, a 
 disciplinarian, and kindly friend. He 
 stands as a marvelous representative of his 
 ancestry. He showed the trend of his 
 genius in childhood. He would place all 
 the playthings in line over the floor and 
 send his little aunt, a year younger than 
 himself, to listen while he spoke ; and so 
 the children played telegraphing when four 
 years old, in 1842. 
 
 Nathan P. Brower, now one of the under 
 superintendents of the Asylum for the In- 
 sane at Norristown, was for many years 
 one of the active and prominent business 
 men of Doylestown, Pa. He was public- 
 spirited, and was one of the active organ- 
 izers of the Bucks county Agricultural 
 Society, of the Doylestown English and 
 Classical seminary, of the Hope cemetery, 
 and of the building of the meeting house 
 of the Baptist church, and was generally 
 interested in the progress and development 
 of the town. 
 
 He is the father of a large family of 
 children: one of them, Mahlon Lewis, resid- 
 ing in Philadelphia, has been a member of 
 the State legislature. He is a good busi- 
 ness man of fine executive ability. Anna 
 Azella Brower Schlect, the oldest daugh- 
 ter, was first a school teacher ; next she 
 taught in the House of Refuge, and was 
 promoted to assistant matron. Thence she 
 went to the Preston Retreat, and had the 
 position of matron for several years, and 
 resigned when she married Mr. Schlect. 
 Adelaide was a gifted and careful nurse, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 595 
 
 and attended to the sick of the family with 
 great fidelity and success. 
 
 Elizabeth P. married the Rev. Keteham. 
 She went to the central part of Illinois in 
 1850, where her husband engaged in mis- 
 sionary work. She was happily married, 
 and had two step-daughters whom she 
 brought up well, and became the mother 
 of four able men. She was the gifted one 
 amongst the daughters, of literary abilities, 
 highly imaginative, poetic, humorous, ana- 
 lytical ; but failed of full development by 
 the duties of matrimony at the time she 
 was gaining recognition as a writer. 
 
 Anna married Jacob Darst, merchant, of 
 Circleville, Ohio, and after his death she 
 married his cousin. She was the mother 
 of an interesting group of children. She 
 was gifted, poetical, and artistic, proud of 
 her family, and anxious to fill to the full 
 her position as a wife. She was an ardent 
 reader of pure fiction. She trained her 
 daughter, Lillian, and planted in her the 
 seeds of future success. She read to her 
 in her very little girlhood Scott and 
 Shakespeare and the Bible with such per- 
 sistence that at nine years she was able to 
 recite largely from Scott's poems and 
 Shakespeare and relate many prominent 
 narrations of the Bible. She read studi- 
 ously to the other children. She was a 
 great and delighted reader. For many 
 years she has been an invalid ; but the 
 family has been kept together by the chil- 
 dren showing great devotion to the mother 
 and clinging together, helping and caring 
 for each other. 
 
 Sarah, the father's pet and his greatest 
 happiness amongst his daughters, because 
 of her mildness, quietness, dignity, and 
 freedom from need of discipline (the only 
 child that needed no punishment, no 
 prayers, no rod), and who seemed to profit 
 
 by the experience of her elders, has had a 
 unique life. She united all her father's abil- 
 ity to make friends and keep them with the 
 strong conservatism of her mother. At 
 school an apt scholar, obedient and rever- 
 ential to the teachers, she was a joyous 
 cheerful mate to her equals. 
 
 She was met at Dr. Cushman's Select 
 School in Washington, D. C, by a gentle- 
 man who was a friend of Dr. Wyckoff. 
 On his return to New York he reported to 
 Dr. Wyekoff, that he had found just the 
 lady for him to marry. The doctor was a 
 widower with a son eighteen years old. 
 By this mutual friend, permission was ob- 
 tained from Christian Brower to have Dr. 
 W. call at the home, Bridge Point. When 
 he came he first saw the mother. He felt 
 the matter already decided ; if the daugh- 
 ter is like her he wanted her. He saw her, 
 and she pleased him then and did so until 
 the time of his death. He was her ideal, 
 comely in person, pure, high-bred, God- 
 fearing, and scholarly. He was one of the 
 organizers of the American Bible Union. 
 Through all that serious conflict, when 
 constantly battling for this great truth, 
 her true character shone out brilliantly. 
 Her conservatism and tact were remarka- 
 ble. He once said of her that she had 
 never alienated a friend of the cause or 
 hardened an enemy. She met at her own 
 house scholars, professional men, friends 
 and non-friends of pure business. She was 
 her husband's confidant, and she used her 
 knowledge to his advantage. She assisted 
 in organizing the first Woman's Missionary 
 society that was formed. It was a union 
 of Protestant denominations. She was one 
 of the managers and one of the editors of 
 the Missionary Link. When the different 
 denominations composing it separated, she 
 assisted to organize the Woman's Baptist 
 
596 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Foreign mission, as well as its auxiliary, 
 the Long Island branch, and was president 
 of the latter. She had great tact in presid- 
 ing and modifying factions. She was self- 
 possessed, dispatched business rapidly, and 
 spoke in a clear, audible, but low voice. 
 She was from its organization and for 
 twenty years or more one of the board of 
 managers of the Home of Aged Baptists of 
 Brooklyn. 
 
 After the death of her husband, the set- 
 tlement of his estate devolved upon her. 
 He had had in hand trust funds and the 
 management of the Bible Union and other 
 like matters out of which arose many com- 
 plications, all of which opened a new field 
 to her ; but she was equal to the task, and 
 out of some confusion she brought order, 
 overcame all difficulties, and successfully 
 settled the estate. 
 
 Her musical education was liberal. She 
 sang well. Her children aie intellectual, 
 devotedly Christian, and loyal to her and 
 to each other. Her life from childhood has 
 been a beautiful unfolding, without cross 
 purposes to hinder or dispel. Her husband, 
 children, home, and occupations have all 
 been satisfying, and her Christian faith, 
 like her father's, was simple and direct, 
 without much question, or serious rebel- 
 lion. 
 
 Davis Edward Brower was born at the 
 Perkiomen Mills, educated at a Westchester 
 school, conducted by Joshua Hoopes, then 
 entered the hardware trade ; next the book 
 trade in Philadelphia ; next went to St. 
 Louis, first as assistant editor and then edi- 
 tor of the Western WatcJiman, the leading 
 Baptist paper of the West. A severe 
 attack of typhoid-pneumonia caused his 
 return, and he settled upon his father's 
 farm, Bridge Point, and for many years 
 was a successful and prosperous farmer. 
 
 Leaving the farm, he entered the services 
 of the American Bible Union as agent for 
 western New York. He had been pre- 
 viously licensed to preach the gospel by 
 the Eleventh Baptist church of Philadel- 
 phia, and was ordained a minister of the 
 gospel at the New Britain church. He 
 was one of the active organizers of the Bap- 
 tist church, of Doylestown, and of the 
 Hope cemetery. Simple and pastoral in 
 his habits, with great love for his people, 
 original in method and patient in reverses, 
 tenacious, persistent, and exact, his true 
 achievement, like his father, has been his 
 character. He is a characteristic descend- 
 ant of both families, uniting more clearly 
 both branches than any other of the chil- 
 dren. 
 
 Adelaide Catharine Brower, a partial 
 invalid from birth, has had some trials, 
 strong likes and dislikes, a strong natural 
 religion in conflict with the humility of 
 the religion of Christ, and necessarily turn- 
 ing from her natural self and consecrated 
 by her mother to the Saviour of God and 
 her people, her life has been of service 
 and weakness and pain, upheld by the 
 peace of God, and greatly beloved by the 
 family with a conscience void of offence. 
 She was an earnest church member, and 
 organized the Morning Star Mission band, 
 of Brooklyn, New York. Coming to 
 Dovlestown about 1867, she did much 
 active work in the First Baptist church, 
 also the Doylestown English and Classical 
 seminary. The musical department was 
 under her charge and instruction for five 
 and one-half years. Owing to nervous ex- 
 haustion she suspended teaching, but soon 
 after her mother's illness changed the cur- 
 rent of her life, and devoted her time 
 to her mother during her long period of 
 infirmity, and since has continued in the 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 597 
 
 liuu.se of her brother, Davis Edward, as its 
 head. Her life has been one of discourage- 
 ment on account of ill health, because her 
 strength was never equal to the duties 
 which she so nobly, lovingly and willingly 
 assumed. 
 
 All these children had strong literary 
 tastes and all the daughters were more than 
 usually gifted in song, rythm and poetry, 
 and Elizabeth and Sarah had more than 
 ordinary literary gifts, and became highly 
 cultured ladies, with aptness to compose 
 poetry and especially religious versification. 
 Amongst them and the grandchildren are 
 found farmers, ministers of the Gospel, 
 Evangelical workers, editors, teachers, ma- 
 trons, telegraphers, engineers, printers, poli- 
 ticians, railroad superintendent, railroad 
 engineers, chief railroad dispatcher, insur- 
 ance agent, advertising agent, commercial 
 business, artists and poets. 
 
 The gift of nursing, inherited from 
 mother and father, has been developed in 
 all the daughters, and in some of the grand- 
 daughters, and distinctively in Adelaide, 
 daughter of Nathan. Her devotion and in- 
 telligent care of the sick in her own family 
 marks her as a true descendant of her pa- 
 ternal grandparents. 
 
 The gift of rythm and rhyme, coming 
 from the Prices, has been developed in the 
 three daughters, Elizabeth, Sarah and Ade- 
 laide, the last two writing and composing 
 suitable music to their songs. 
 
 Elizabeth and Sarah have published 
 works though somewhat fugitive, yet of 
 much merit, and this poetic talent is largely 
 possessed by Lillie C. Darst, Adelaide E., 
 Ellen and Spencer C. Wyckoff. 
 
 Lillie C. Darst, a daughter of Annie and 
 Jacob Darst, (by first marriage), deserves a 
 special sketch. She was born at Circle- 
 ville, O., where she lived and died. She 
 
 was burn Nov. 20, 1846, and died April 11, 
 1883. Clipped from the memorial edition 
 of the Circleville Herald April 18, 1883, 
 (Extract from Cincinnati Enquirer): " She 
 graduated from the high school of Circle- 
 ville, O., about 1867. Her graduation pa- 
 per was a poem which attracted much at- 
 tention. She leased from the owner the 
 Circleville Herald in 1875. She was the 
 first woman to enter the field of journalism 
 in Ohio. In 1881 she was elected clerk of 
 the Ohio Senate and was re-elected. She 
 was the first woman in Pickaway county to 
 attract attention beyond its limits by her 
 writings." 
 
 From Chicago Inter- Ocean : " Miss Lillie 
 C. Darst was in many respects a remarkable 
 woman. She was one of the brightest news- 
 paper correspondents in the country, and the 
 only woman, it is believed, who success- 
 fully edited and managed a newspaper 
 which was not an organ for some special de- 
 partment of woman's work or defending 
 woman's rights. = * She entered the 
 
 field of journalism, and asked no favor that 
 would not be granted to a man. She took 
 and gave blows in the same spirit that a 
 man would, and it was not long before 
 " Kenneth" was recognized by correspon- 
 dents as one not to be despised or over- 
 looked. For several years she was associa- 
 ted with the Herald, and eight years a°o 
 assumed the editorial chair and business 
 management of the paper. There were 
 many cutting paragraphs in Ohio papers 
 about the girl editress, but like the corres- 
 pondauts the editors soon learned that to 
 keep the new management from taking the 
 lead of the county weeklies they must look 
 to something else than writing funny para- 
 graphs about the new editress. * * For 
 over a year she has not been fit for work, 
 but by force of will had kept her post, do- 
 
598 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 ing both the work of a man in the office, 
 and that of a woman looking after house- 
 hold duties at her home, where she had for 
 twenty years taken the place of a mother as 
 well as a sister. When failing health 
 warned her that she must stop, she took a 
 young brother into the office with her and 
 taught him to manage the paper. 
 She came to Chicago in 1880 to attend the 
 National convention as a correspondent for 
 her own, and other papers, and did efficient 
 work for Senator Blaine. She, in Cir- 
 cleville, Ohio, was the first to name Mr. 
 Blaine for president. Whenever she went 
 to the headquarters she was treated as one 
 whose counsel was wise, and President 
 Garfield was her personal friend. The day 
 he received the nomination he saw Miss 
 Darst approaching, while receiving the con- 
 gratulations of many distinguished men, 
 and leaving them, he stepped forward to 
 meet her, and talked to the little woman, 
 while the great Republican leaders waited. 
 She was the personal friend of Senators 
 Sherman and Blaine, and by them was con- 
 sidered an able politician as well as a clever 
 writer." 
 
 Extract from Record of the Ohio Senate : 
 Resolved, That we learn with great re- 
 gret the death of Lillie C. Darst, late en- 
 grossing clerk of the Senate, which occur- 
 red in Chicago Wednesday morning, that 
 the Sergeant at-Arms is hereby directed to 
 keep the flag over the Senate at half mast 
 on Saturday, the day of the funeral, and 
 that the president is hereby authorized to 
 appoint a committee of three members to 
 attend the funeral." 
 
 The Indianapolis Journal alluding to her 
 death says : " Her poems were greatly ad- 
 mired for their grace and strength. Her 
 prose was exact and able. She made ear- 
 nest study of politics, and as the editor of 
 
 the Herald she discussed public affairs fa- 
 vorably and uuderstandingly." 
 
 Springfield Republican said : " She was a 
 woman of genius and culture, a graceful 
 and able writer, and a poet of undoubted 
 rank, and her courage and nerve were really 
 remarkable " 
 
 She was a member of the Ohio Editorial 
 Union, and at one time its secretary. 
 
 Her step-sister, Marion C. (in giving the 
 record of the family) said : " Of all the fam- 
 ily Lillie is so far superior that I hope you 
 will give her the most space, as she is the 
 one who made the rest of us able to go for- 
 ward and do as we have. ' 
 
 One of her shortest poems is hereby 
 given : 
 
 "Crux et Astrcm." 
 
 By Kenneth (Lillie C. Darst.) 
 
 I sit below the vaulted window height 
 
 One spire, one star I view 
 Against the splendid azure night 
 
 By a low moon lit through. 
 
 And the star sayeth as a star may, "God !" 
 
 Leading my thoughts afar 
 On a dim path by many fancies trod 
 
 Pure as the white rays are. 
 
 But the spire sayeth what no star can, " Christ!" 
 
 And gently leadeth home 
 To the dim altar foot in solemn tryst 
 
 The restless thoughts that roam. 
 
 And not for mystic vision is thy creed, 
 
 Oh, Christ, the crucified 
 But for divert practice in the daily deed 
 
 By love thus sanctified. 
 
 Of the other children of this interesting 
 family are Harvey Johns Darst, a graduate 
 of Michigan University, once editor with 
 his brother of the Herald, but now practic- 
 ing law ; Walter Curtis Darst, now editor 
 of the Circleville Herald; Marion Curtis 
 Darst, unmarried, educated in art at the 
 Columbia art school, now artist and teacher 
 of art, having taught in several schools, 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 599 
 
 but now has her own school aud studio ; 
 Christian Brower Darst ; artist and teacher 
 of wood carving aud modeling. He com- 
 menced bis career as teacher of modeling 
 and wood carving at Columbus art school, 
 subsequently he organized the department 
 of wood carving at the Metropolitan mu- 
 seum art school, and remained at its head 
 until the industrial features of art work 
 were discontinued. He is now teaching in 
 several schools in New York city. He 
 copied with much spirit the portraits of two 
 noted horses, which were sold for high 
 prices ; Daniel Price Darst, a printer, lives 
 at Dayton, O., and Edward Davis Darst is 
 an advertising agent. 
 
 All these children have acted nobly, 
 for many years they have provided for an 
 invalid mother. They have clung together 
 helping each other, and under Lillie's sac- 
 rificing example have been loving, helpful 
 and energetic, and according to their abili- 
 ties and strength they have been success- 
 ful. 
 
 Another notable grand-child is Adelaide 
 Eliza Wyekoff, a graduate of Packer col- 
 legiate institute, a teacher of superior 
 ability, svho has taught for three years in 
 the public schools in Brooklyn, then in the 
 Bracket institute, a very select school. 
 While there she was called without appli- 
 cation to her alma mater, where she was 
 placed in charge of the 3d academic de- 
 partment. She has risen steadily, and for 
 several years has been teacher of psyschol- 
 ogy aud physiology, aud is now in charge of 
 the collegiate department. She has taught 
 twenty-one years, and is the author of two 
 Papers read at the World Congress of Ex- 
 perimental Psychology, Columbian Exhi- 
 bition, Chicago. She is possessed of high 
 intellectuality, gracious and energetic and 
 lovingly loval to her mother and the 
 
 younger children, and is the author of some 
 beautiful poems. 
 
 Ella Wyekoff, a younger sister and a 
 graduate ot Packer, is now making 
 the study of Greek a specialty, and she has 
 also the gifts of versification. 
 
 A strong family love and care for each 
 other have been shown in all branches of 
 the families, caring for the sick and weak 
 and unfortunate with persistent zeal. Love, 
 sacrifice and persisteut labor have been re- 
 markably conspicuous, showing itself 
 most beautifully in Catharine, a daughter 
 of Xathan Weaver Brower, who after the 
 death of her father (at the age of fifteen) be- 
 gan as a dressmaker, to help support the 
 family, and so continued after her marriage 
 until the death of her mother, who breathed 
 her last in the home of this noble daughter. 
 
 Of the fifty-four descendants of Christian 
 and Catharine Brower nearly all have cho- 
 sen to retain God in their heart and follow 
 the example and precept of their progeni- 
 tors, a strong religious sentiment is en- 
 tertained by all, and so far none have 
 passed beyond who have not gone in the 
 faith of Christ, their crucified, risen, and 
 coming Lord, aud the praying ones have 
 taken up the prayer of the parents. " That 
 our children, and our children's children, 
 to the end of time may have their names 
 in the Lamb's Book of Life, and take part 
 in the first resurrection." 
 
 Hon. Daniel Brower Kurtz of San 
 Louis Rev, San Diego county, Cal., was 
 born March 20, 1820, near Brower Lock, 
 on the Schuylkill, Montgomery county, 
 Pa. His parents were John and Barbara 
 (Brower) Kurtz. When at the age of about 
 10 years he was an orphan, bereft of both 
 parents. He was taken into the family of 
 his uncle, Daniel R. Brower, then living in 
 
6oo 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Philadelphia, with whom he resided 
 until he was about sixteen years old. At 
 this time his uncle and family going to 
 Florida, he went to his uncle, Christian 
 Brower, with whom he continued while 
 learning the trade of a carpenter. His edu- 
 cation was obtained in the public schools 
 of Philadelphia. For several years he fol- 
 lowed his trade, and December 26, 1849, ne 
 sailed from Baltimore on the schooner 
 James Franklin for California. He settled 
 at San Diego, and in the fall of 1850 he was 
 elected mayor of that city. In 1852 he was 
 elected a member of the State Senate, serv- 
 ing in the sessions of 1853 and 1854. In 
 1855 he was elected county judge and 
 served until i860, when he resigned be- 
 cause he was elected a member of the As- 
 sembly, serving the term during the session 
 of 1861, and in 1864 he was again elected 
 and served in the Assembly during the ses- 
 sion of 1865. Since holding these positions 
 he has served on the board of school trus- 
 tess and justice of the peace. 
 
 He has lived upon his ranch, a tract of 
 many acres, at San Luis Rev, about four- 
 teen miles from San Diego, during the past 
 twenty years, growing principally wheat 
 and rearing horses and cattle. As mayor, 
 legislator, judge and other positions of 
 trust in which lie was honored by the peo- 
 ple of his locality and State, he has earned 
 a reputation for integrity, honesty and effi- 
 ciencv in the discharge of official duties 
 which places him amongst the foremost of 
 the people of his adopted State. In liberal- 
 ity and hospitality he has exercised to its 
 full measure the heritage which came to 
 him from his maternal ancestry. 
 
 Abraham Merklee Beitler, a son of the 
 late Daniel Beitler, and a grandson of Ab- 
 raham and Mary Brower Beitler, is deserv- 
 ing of more than passing note. He was 
 
 born in Philadelphia, July 8, 1853, 
 studied in the public schools, graduated 
 from high school class '56 July 1870, studied 
 law with C. Stuart Patterson, admitted 
 January, 1875, appointed assistant city soli- 
 citor in 1879 and by gradual advancements 
 became first assistant, and October 18, 1891, 
 was appointed director of the Department 
 of Public Safety. He married October 16, 
 1879, Julia L. Bornemann. The children 
 of this marriage are : Harold B., born De- 
 cember 30, 1880, Flsie Julia, born Decem- 
 ber 6, 1888. 
 
 Louis Eugene Beitler, a brother of the 
 director, was born in Philadelphia, October 
 4, 1863, graduated from the senior class 
 Northwest grammar school, took a course 
 in business college in Franklin Institute 
 Drawing school, and a complete course in 
 stenography and a partial course at the 
 University of Pennsylvania Law school. He 
 followed commercial pursuits from 1881 to 
 1887, then became private secretary to May- 
 or Fitler until 1891, and was retained in the 
 same position by his successor, Mayor Stu- 
 art, which position he resigned in January, 
 1895, and became private secretary to Gov- 
 ernor Hastings. The 12th of June, 1894, 
 he married Miss Clementina Morrillow 
 Beck, and has one child, Edwin Fitler 
 Beitler, born June 23, 1895. 
 
 Any further biography of these notable 
 brothers would seem to be supererogatory. 
 They are so well-known in their official 
 positions, and the events which have so re- 
 cently occurred and are still occurring, that 
 their lives are specially a part of the muni- 
 cipal history of the city which has so highly 
 honored them, and whose citizens they have 
 so well and faithfully served. It may be 
 safely assumed that they have greater and 
 higher honors awaiting them. 
 
 Prof. Oscar C. S. Carter (another notable 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 60 i 
 
 descendant) is a native of Philadelphia, 
 though of Yankee descent. He is a grand- 
 son of Daniel R and Anna (Fanner) Brower 
 and a nephew of Dr. Brower. He was born 
 on the 1st of March, 1857. His mother 
 was Louisa Brower and his father the late 
 Oscar C. B. Carter, was a book publisher of 
 Boston, Mass., and a relative of the present 
 firm of T. H. Carter & Son. Prof Carter 
 was educated in the public schools and 
 graduated first in his class. He then en- 
 tered the Polytechnic School of Mines and 
 pursued a course in mining engineering 
 witli the intention of making that his life 
 work, but for two years he taught in the 
 public schools. 
 
 He next entered the junior class of the 
 University of Pennsylvania, taking a course 
 in chemistry and mineralogy under Prof. 
 Genth, and geology under State Geologist 
 Lesley. After two years study he passed 
 the second best examination in chemistry 
 in the class of 1879. He became immedi- 
 ately thereafter the chief chemist of the 
 Midvale Steel works, which is engaged in 
 making guns and armor plate for the gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 In 1880 he was elected professor of chem- 
 istry at the Central high school and was the 
 first to teach the subject of qualitative 
 analysis in the high school. In 1881 he 
 was elected drug master in general and 
 analytical chemistry in the medical depart- 
 ment of the University of Pennsylvania, 
 and in 1883 he received a medal from the 
 Agricultural society of Pennsylvania for pre- 
 senting the best means of freeing water 
 from soluble mineral impurities. In the 
 year 1887 he was made professor at the 
 Spring Garden Institute. He holds at the 
 present time the full professorship of geo- 
 logy and mineralogy and associate profes- 
 sliip of chemistry in the high school. In 
 
 the following year he became a lecturer on 
 chemistry for the United Chatauqua Circles 
 of Philadelphia. When the history of 
 Montgomery county was written he was se- 
 lected to write the chapter on "Ores, Min- 
 erals and Geology." This received very 
 complimentary praise from the press, and 
 was subsequently published in pamphlet 
 form. His publications are to be found in 
 the London " Chemical News," proceedings 
 of "American Philosophical Society," 
 "Journal of Franklin Institute," " Sanita- 
 rian," "American Chemical Journal " of 
 Johns Hopkins University, "Pennsylvania 
 Agricultural Reports and Mineral Resources 
 of the United States" His more 'recent 
 work has been the subject of artesian wells, 
 to which he has given much time and col- 
 lected and published four papers on the 
 complete records of more than twenty-seven 
 wells in Philadelphia, Montgomery, Ches- 
 ter and Delaware counties. He was of- 
 fered a position on the staff of chemists at 
 the Philadelphia mint and chief chemist of 
 the largest steel plant west of the Missis- 
 ippi, at South Pueblo, Col. 
 
 He is little given to show and pretence, 
 and by his methods of teaching and kindly 
 treatment soon wins the esteem and affec- 
 tion of all students with whom he comes in 
 contact. We hope that lie may live many 
 years to labor in his chosen field. 
 
 The father of the professor was Oscar 
 C. B. Carter, who married Mary Louisa 
 Brauer, a daughter of Daniel R. and Ann 
 Billop Pawling Brower. Their children 
 are: Oscar C. S., Gustave Blessner, Mary, 
 and Josephine. 
 
 The Carter ancestry come from Garston 
 Manor, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire, 
 England, twenty-one miles north of Lon- 
 don, granted by Henry VI II to Richard 
 Carter. At that time it was a monastery 
 
6o2 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 with four hundred acres of land. Thomas 
 Carter, the first to come to this country, 
 was educated at University of Cambridge, 
 a classmate of Cotton Mather, the preacher, 
 in Massachusetts, not far from Lancaster, 
 and the father of the professor, is one of the 
 descendants of Thomas Carter. 
 
 Hon. Abraham B rower was born May 
 22, 1787, on his father's farm of about 200 
 acres, located on the east bank of the 
 Schuylkill at Brower's Lock, in the canal 
 opposite to a point now known as the Per- 
 kiomeu Junction with the Reading R. R. 
 He married Margaret, a daughter of Joseph 
 Crawford. Six children of this marriage 
 grew up. Ann married Charles Shephard, 
 a very prosperous farmer who lived on the 
 Schuylkill (east side of it) about one and 
 one-half miles further up the river; Joseph 
 Crawford, who lives on an adjoining farm, 
 John E., who owns and occupies the home- 
 stead, and Francis, who maried Samuel H. 
 Umsted. She died soon after her mar- 
 riage, leaving one son and her husband, 
 both of whom are dead : Abraham Brower, 
 who grew to be a young man, and while 
 felling timber in the woods was crushed 
 under a falling tree and killed, and; Jane, 
 who married John W. Tyson, and died 
 without issue about two years after mar- 
 riage. 
 
 At the death of his father he purchased 
 the homestead, and lived upon it to the 
 time of his death, which occurred in 1873, 
 in his eighty-fifth year. His principal oc- 
 cupation was farming and lime burning, 
 and conducting a small store at the lock, 
 for the accommodation of the boatmen 
 chiefly and for a few of his nearest neigh- 
 bors. 
 
 His farm became famous for the fine farm 
 horses which he reared there, not only for 
 
 his own use in farming and in hauling lime, 
 but for the benefit of his neighbors as well 
 as for sale to the frequent buyers from other 
 localities. The Eclipse stock of horses ac- 
 quired a reputation not only in that local- 
 ity, but in some parts of New Jersey. He 
 always had many more young horses than 
 were required to carry on the farming and 
 lime business, and so numerous did they 
 become at times as to be a serious charge 
 upon his finances. His great love for them 
 made him loath to sell the favorites. He 
 enjoyed life and has delighted to have 
 others enjoy it. His great hospitality was 
 extended unstintedly and without question 
 and those in want never went away without 
 aid, and the hungry never departed from 
 under his roof unfed. He was endowed 
 with great common sense, and his opinion 
 was of great weight on public and private 
 affairs. At all seasons, and especially in 
 the winter there were usually quartered 
 with him those of improvident families, 
 whose wants he charitably supplied. 
 
 Old Aunt Flora (Harry), as she was called, 
 came into his household as an emancipated 
 slave of the Crawford family, and she and 
 some of her descendents were his pension- 
 ers. One of her sons " Blind Cain" so nick- 
 named, was of the household most of his 
 time. Cain was almost totally blind, though 
 he could distinguish daylight from dark- 
 ness. He frequently attended vendues, mi- 
 litia training and holiday gatherings, and 
 being expert to imitate a horse neighing, 
 cattle bawling, pigs squealing, sheep bleat- 
 ing, dogs barking, cats mewing, the cock 
 crowing, the birds singing, and whistling, 
 etc., he greatly amused the people and 
 thereby liberally replenished his purse, and 
 for a period of thirty years he was a fre- 
 quent visitor in several families of the 
 Brower descendants, traveling by the aid of 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 603 
 
 a cane only, five and ten miles at a stretch, 
 finding his destination without mischance, 
 and generally remaining a week or two as 
 a single visit. The home of Hon. Henry 
 Longaker was one at which he tarried sev- 
 eral times yearly to see Catharine (Mrs. 
 Longaker) as he familiarly called her. 
 During a visit shad, fresh from the Dela- 
 ware, had been served several times with 
 the tail end of the fish for his portion. 
 Tiring of his portion he said " Catharine, 
 I smell shad frying ; please keep me the 
 head this time, with a good deal of the fish 
 to it." 
 
 Mr. Brower was a very popular man and 
 in 1840 he was elected a member of the 
 State Senate over the Hon. J. B. Sterigere. 
 He was the Whig candidate and the county 
 usually was decidedly Democratic. He 
 had a fine personality, commanding atten- 
 tion wherever he went, about six feet tall, 
 physically well formed, very amiable coun- 
 tenance, eyes sparkling with good humor, 
 blond complexion, and withal a very hand- 
 some man. 
 
 His home so well presided over by his 
 excellent housewife, had a reputation far 
 and near, and he seemed to live in a pa- 
 triarchal state rather than as an ordinary- 
 farmer. About five years preceding his 
 death his wife, while preparing a meal, had 
 her dress to take fire, and before help could 
 come she was so horribly burned as to 
 cause death within a day or so after its sad 
 occurrence. 
 
 Daniel R. Brower, a brother of the Hon. 
 Abraham Brower, and father of Doctor 
 Daniel R. Brower, whose sketch appears in 
 another part of this volume, was a good 
 and versatile business man. He was very 
 progressive and a great friend of education, 
 and wherever he resided he was foremost in 
 establishing good schools. He lived sue- 
 
 cessively in Philadelphia, a year or two in 
 Florida, then in Manyunk, next at Phoenix- 
 ville, and last at Xorristown. 
 
 His sons and daughters were very pa- 
 triotic during the late war, Elizabeth was 
 an efficient and distinguished nurse, and 
 Rachael Evans, wife of Cadawalader Evans, 
 did much good work in the Sanitary De- 
 partment of the army. These ladies have 
 received well deserved notice by former lo- 
 cal historians. 
 
 The daughters of this remarkable family 
 were ladies of more than ordinary attain- 
 ments in the polite society of their day, 
 and were amongst the foremost in the 
 handiwork of the household, and many of 
 the textiles manufactured for family use 
 were made from woolen yarn, or flaxen 
 thread spun by them, and this, now almost 
 lost art, they taught their daughters, as well 
 as other craft in good housekeeping. Nearly 
 all of them with their husbands were set- 
 tled upon the rich lands bordering on the 
 Schuylkill river, and were of the most 
 prosperous of the farmers of their locality. 
 
 The mother of Doctor Daniel R. Brower, 
 whose sketch appears on page 3S0, was 
 Ann Billop Farmer. She was born on the 
 east bank of the Schuylkill, on the farm 
 known during the Revolutionary war as 
 Fatlauds. She was a daughter of Robert 
 Adolph Farmer, who was born April 2S, 
 1762. He married Margaretta Pawling 
 (who was born November 5, 1773) March 
 25, 1792. Their children were : Elizabeth 
 Mary Farmer, born 1792; John Pawling, 
 born 1795; Catharine Louisa, born 17 
 Ann Billop, born 1800 ; James Fisher, born 
 1802 ; Margaretta, born 1S04. Her next 
 preceeding ancestor was Major-General 
 Robert Farmer, of the British army. His 
 children were: the aforesaid Robert Adolph 
 1 Fanner ; Catharine, Elizabeth, and Ann. 
 
604 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 These descendants date their ances- 
 try from Joseph Farmar, of the county 
 of Cork, through a younger son of the 
 family of Fermor, of Easton, Weston 
 county, Northampton, England, who was 
 deprived of his estates in 1641, and forced 
 to seek an asylum in England ; he married 
 the eldest daughter of Anthony Gamble, 
 Esq. Among other children, he had a son 
 John, who settled at Youghall, and his son, 
 George Farmar, was of the royal navy, and 
 while commanding H. M. ship Quebec, off 
 Ushant in 1779, came up with and closely 
 engaged La Survilante, a French frigate of 
 greatly superior force. The contest on both 
 sides was desperate, and Captain Farmar 
 displayed such gallantry and intrepidity 
 that he continued the engagement until his 
 ship accidentally took fire, was blown into 
 the air together with her brave captain. 
 His children were : George, William, John. 
 Henry and Charlotte, who married Count 
 Emanuel de la Barthe. The son William 
 was created a baronet for the meritorious 
 services of his father ; George and Richard 
 Farmar, second baronet, and Sir Richard 
 Henry Kenwick, the fifth and present baro- 
 net of Mt. Pleasant county, Sussex. It is 
 through this illustrious lineage that the 
 maternal ancestry of Dr. Brower, by his • 
 mother, Anna Billop Brower, nee Farmer, 
 comes. 
 
 PHILIP V. EISENBERG, M. D., one 
 of Norristown's leading and well known 
 physicians, is a direct descendant of Ger- 
 man ancestry, though for the past four 
 eenerations the familv antecedents have 
 been residents of south-eastern Pennsylva- 
 nia. His great-great-grandfather Eisen- 
 berg is believed to have emigrated from 
 
 Saxony to America early in the eighteenth 
 century. His grandfather, Lawrence Eisen- 
 berg, was born and raised a few miles north 
 of The Trappe, Montgomery county, and 
 lived there all his life upon his farm. At 
 his death he was buried in the churchyard 
 at Douglassville, Berks county, Pennsyl- 
 vania. He married a Miss Jones, and they 
 became the parents of a large family of 
 children, among whom was Samuel, the 
 father of the subject of this sketch. The 
 latter (Samuel) was born in May, 1806, and 
 upon growing to manhood followed his 
 father's occupation. Later in life he be- 
 came an extensive dealer in hay, purchas- 
 ing it in large quantities and shipping it to 
 the city markets. Samuel Eisenberg was 
 a thrifty, industrious and broad-minded 
 man with excellent judgment, and was 
 held in high esteem by all who knew him. 
 For many years he was a member of St. 
 Luke's German Reformed church at The 
 Trappe, but later in life he identified him- 
 self with the German Baptist church. In 
 1829 ne married Lydia Yerger, daughter of 
 David Yerger, a well-to-do farmer in Lime- 
 rick township, and was the father of seven 
 children : Elizabeth, wife of Frederick 
 Baker; Catharine, widow of Jesse Mester ; 
 Frederick, now deceased, but formerly a 
 prosperous lumber merchant of Bridgeport; 
 John and David, both resident of Philadel- 
 phia ; Samuel, named after his father, an 
 energetic, pushing produce dealer and pro- 
 prietor of a creamery in Limerick town- 
 ship ; and last, Philip Y., the subject of 
 this biographical sketch. Samuel Eisen- 
 berg, sr., died August 10, 1861, at the age 
 of fifty-five years and was survived by his 
 widow and seven children. The latter had 
 all attained their majority and married 
 except Samuel and Philip at the time of 
 their father's death. The completion of 
 
1 
 
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 ^^^2 
 
 ^dF^^^^> 
 
 '4 E m 
 
 
 
 mmmmi 
 
Biog r aphical Sketches. 
 
 605 
 
 their education and moral training fell 
 upon their mother, a most estimable 
 woman. She was for many years a mem- 
 ber of the St. Augustus Lutheran church, 
 Trappe, and lived to the age of seventy 
 years and died in April, 1873. 
 
 P. V. Eisenberg, M. I)., was born on his 
 father's farm near Fairview, Montgomery 
 county, January 21, 1S47. His early edu- 
 cation was obtained in the public schools 
 until his fifteenth year, when he attended 
 .111 academy at North Wales, then known 
 as the North Wales Institute, for two 
 terms. It was during his attendance at 
 this school that General Robert Lee in- 
 vaded Pennsylvania. Governor Curtin 
 made an urgent call for more troops to 
 meet the emergency. The student dropped 
 his books and enlisted in one of the first 
 emergency regiments organized, com- 
 manded by Colonel Charles Albright, of 
 Mauch Chunk and Lieutenant-Colonel Ed- 
 ward Schall, of Norristown. Having 
 served the period of his enlistment, he re- 
 turned to his studies, and having taught 
 school for four years, Dr. Eisenberg en- 
 tered the Pennsylvania State Normal 
 school at Millersville, Lancaster county, 
 Pennsylvania. At that time Dr. Edward 
 Brooks, now superintendent of the schools 
 of Philadelphia, was principal of that pop- 
 ular and well-known institution. After 
 graduating in 1869, he was at once elected 
 a member of the faculty. His duties were 
 those of professor of vocal music and 
 assistant to the chair of Latin language. 
 After filling this dual position for two 
 years and having in the meantime contem- 
 plated and entered upon the study of medi- 
 cine, he selected Dr. Louis \Y. Read, sur- 
 geon-general of the National Guard of 
 Pennsylvania, as his preceptor. After 
 diligently pursuing his studies at Bellevue \ 
 
 Hospital Medical college, New York, and 
 at the medical department of the I niversitv 
 of Pennsylvania, he graduated from the 
 latter institution in March, 1873. Dr. 
 Eisenberg at once opened an office in 
 Norristown, where he has been in active 
 practice for the past twenty-two years. He- 
 has served as coroner's physician of Mont- 
 gomery county for three years, and during 
 President Harrison's administration he was 
 secretary of the board of examining sur- 
 geons for pensions at Norristown. He was 
 an active member of the board of health of 
 Norristown for five years. He has always 
 taken great interest in the County Medical 
 society, of which he is a member, and was 
 its president in t888. He is likewise a 
 member of the State and National Medical 
 associations. Though always a very busy 
 man in his profession, Dr. Eisenberg has 
 found time to demonstrate his public spirit 
 and enterprise in his desire that Norristown 
 should have facilities for caring for the 
 sick and injured. In December, [888, as a 
 member of the board of trade, he offered a 
 resolution creating a committee to formu- 
 late a plan for the establishment of a hospi- 
 tal and he himself was made chairman. 
 Having able colleagues to assist him in 
 this most praiseworthy object, the scheme 
 soon assumed tangible shape and the insti- 
 tution now known as Charity hospital is 
 in a flourishing condition, on a solid finan- 
 cial basis, and an honor to the town. Dr. 
 Eisenberg is one of the staff of surgeons 
 to the hospital, as well as a member of the 
 board of directors. The doctor, in all his 
 efforts to create a sentiment in favor of this 
 noble charity had a zealous and energetic 
 supporter in Mrs. Eisenberg, who as presi- 
 dent of the Women's Auxiliary, has ren- 
 dered valuable service towards the mainte- 
 nance of the institution. It was she who 
 
6o6 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 suggested and perfected the plan of syste- 
 matic contributions by churches each 
 month. By this plan each denomination 
 has its own particular month of the year 
 in which all the churches of that denomi- 
 nation are expected to lift contributions 
 toward the maintenance of the hospital. 
 For a number of years Dr. Eisenberg has 
 taken the deepest interest in fraternal soci- 
 eties. He has been a member of the An- 
 cient Order of United Workmen since 1879. 
 As a charter member of Lynvvood Lodge 
 and as its medical examiner he aided ma- 
 terially in its organization and in the per- 
 petuation of the principles of protection on 
 the lodge system in Xorristown. In April, 
 1893, he was appointed Grand Medical Ex- 
 aminer of the Jurisdiction of Pennsylvania 
 and West Virginia, and in October follow- 
 ing he was elected for a term of two years. 
 He has since been elected to another term. 
 Dr. Eisenberg is also a member of the 
 Independent Order Heptasophs, and for the 
 present term is chairman of the board of 
 trustees. He is likewise a member of the 
 Order of Sparta, the Royal Arcanum, the 
 American Legion of Honor, and the Order 
 of the American Union. Being a true lover 
 of nature, Dr. Eisenberg found diversion for 
 a number of years studying the flora of the 
 Schuylkill Valley. While on his drives to 
 visit the sick he did not fail to gather and 
 study each new flower, shrub or tree that 
 met his gaze, and the result of his botani- 
 cal work is found in Colonel Theodore W. 
 Bean's History of Montgomery Count}-. 
 
 On June 11, 1874, Dr. Eisenberg mar- 
 ried Harriet Dawes, eldest daughter of the 
 late John L. Dawes, of Allegheny, Pa. 
 
 Mrs. Eisenberg's father was born in Not- 
 tingham, England, 1820, and was the son 
 of a lace manufacturer. Mr. Dawes came 
 to this country in 1844 and located in Pitts- 
 
 burg, and soon became a prominent and 
 prosperous merchant of that city. 
 
 Mrs. Dr. Eisenberg's mother, Charlotte 
 League, is a direct descendant of old Vir- 
 ginia families on both sides, dating as far 
 back as 1633. The Sanfords on the mater- 
 nal and the Stones on the paternal sides 
 were all identified with early Colonial and 
 Revolutionary times. Mrs. Eisenberg is a 
 member of Valley Forge Chapter of the 
 Daughters of the American Revolution. 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Eisenberg's family consists 
 of two sons, John Lawrence, aged eighteen 
 years, and Edward Xorman, aged sixteen 
 years. The former, after having completed 
 his studies and graduated from the Xorris- 
 town High school, entered the biological 
 department of the University of Pennsyl- 
 vania and took a course there. He has 
 now entered upon a four-year course in 
 medicine in the same institution. Edward, 
 the second son, is a member of the gradu- 
 ating class of the Xorristown High school. 
 
 THE LOXGAKER FAMILY.— Jacob 
 Longenecker, the progenitor of those 
 of Montgomery county, whose sketches are 
 noted in this volume, landed in America on 
 the 28th day of August, 1733, arriving on 
 the ship Hope of London from Rotterdam, 
 last from Cowes. In the same vessel came 
 Ulrich Longenecker, and Ulrich jr. The 
 two latter settled in Rapho township, Lan- 
 caster county, and May 1, 1794, the execu- 
 tors of Ulrich sr., conveyed to Ulrich Longe- 
 necker, a farm of one hundred and seventeen 
 acres. Jacob settled near Parker Ford in 
 Coventry township, Chester county. From 
 1727 to 1733, there came besides these three, 
 John, Daniel, Christian and David Longe- 
 necker. Daniel was the father of John, and 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 607 
 
 he settled at Mingo, on the hanks of the 
 Schuylkill river, near what is called Black 
 Rock, ahove Phoenixville, purchasing two 
 hundred and forty acres on May 1, 1733, 
 and adjoining this tract in 1735, John 
 bought two hundred and fifty acres of land, 
 most of which now constitutes the "Poor- 
 House Farm," which, at the death of John, 
 descended to his son Daniel, who, in 1800, 
 conveyed to his uncle Abraham Gotwaltz, 
 and Abraham Gotwaltz in 1807, conveyed 
 to the directors of the poor, etc., of Mont- 
 gomery county. 
 
 Christian settled in Rapho township, Lan- 
 caster county, purchasing September 28, 
 1746, ninety-four acres of land, and on Feb- 
 ruary 23, 1775, in the same township, made 
 another purchase of two hundred and four 
 acres, and up to 1791, three tracts, together 
 being five hundred and sixteen acres in 
 Donegal township, and three more tracts in 
 Rapho, being two hundred and eight acres, 
 were purchased. From this ancestry came 
 Hon. J. M. Longenecker, of Chicago. 
 
 David Longenecker, June 8, 1751, pur- 
 chased from Christian Naff (or Neave) and 
 wife, one hundred and twenty-five acres 
 along the Peque creek.; and in 17 711 David 
 Longenecker, sr. , granted to David Longe- 
 necker, jr., one hundred and fifty acres in 
 Lampeter township, and July 23, 177", 
 Peter Beller granted to him two hundred 
 and fifty acres in Strassburg township, Lan- 
 caster county ; and from this ancestry 
 comes the Hon. J. H. Longenecker, whose 
 sketch is inserted on page 357. These 
 families are the progenitors of many de- 
 scendants in this and other States found 
 under the name of Longenecker, Long- 
 necker, Longaker and Longacre. They 
 came to America from Switzerland, but, it 
 is traditionary in the family of Jacob, that 
 they went from France to Switzerland. 
 
 The French name is Longacre, and in 1580, 
 owing to the continued persecution of the 
 Huguenots, they escaped to Switzerland, 
 and living in the Cantons bordering on 
 Lake Constance, amongst the Germans. 
 The name was Germanized and became 
 Lodgenaecker or Longenecker, as now ren- 
 dered by some of the descendants of this 
 county. The exact kinship of those who 
 came to this country from 1727 to 1733 
 (and none are known to have come earlier 
 or later) is not known ; but as all agree in 
 coming from Switzerland, it is probable 
 that they were of the same blood. 
 
 Hon. Joel Longenecker, of Chicago. — 
 Edwin A. Longenecker, the father of Joel, 
 was born April 12, 1807, in Lancaster 
 county, Penna., and removed to Crawford 
 county, Illinois, in the early part of his 
 manhood. He died February 16, 1894. 
 There were six sons and two daughters. 
 All six were enlisted in the Union army. 
 Henry, the oldest was killed in battle, and 
 Michael, the youngest, died in the army. 
 
 Joel M. was born in Crawford county, 
 Illinois, January 12, 1S47, educated at Rob- 
 inson, Illinois ; taught school for two terms; 
 read law at Robinson, and was admitted to 
 the bar in 1S70. He was elected justice of 
 the peace two months after he became of 
 aere and while he was reading law. Soon 
 after he began practice, settling at < >lney, 
 he was elected city attorney, and in 1876, 
 State's attorney of Richland county. In 
 1881 he removed to Chicago, Cook county, 
 and in 1887 he was elected State's attorney 
 for that county, to fill an unexpired term. 
 In 1888 he was elected again for a term of 
 four years. In 1892 he declined a nomi- 
 nation for re-election, and went into private 
 practice. During his official term, some 
 verv important criminal cases were tried, 
 attracting attention throughout the country. 
 
6o8 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 The prosecution known as the Cronin 
 case was tried by him, and the disclosures 
 made, caused the people everywhere to take 
 great interest in the trial. One hundred 
 days were consumed in its actual trial. He 
 is one of the leading members of the 
 Chicago bar, with a reputation throughout 
 the Union for his last and great ability. 
 He was married to Florence Fitch in 
 1870; and has two boys and two girls living; 
 two other children died. 
 
 John (the son of Daniel, who settled at 
 Mingo) died in 1 745, leaving to survive him, 
 his widow, Susanna ; a son, Daniel ; and 
 three daughters . Elizabeth, Catharine and 
 Sarah, who with their husbands, joined a 
 deed to their brother Daniel, as cited infra. 
 Daniel (the first), who settled at Mingo, 
 died sometime prior to 1756, as of that 
 date his children — Elizabeth, wife of Jacob 
 High ; Ann, wife of Philip High ; Mary, 
 wife of Valentine Clemen ; Magdalena, wife 
 of John Buckwalter ; Jacob, jr. ; and Sus- 
 anna, widow of John and then wife of Jacob, 
 and the children of John, to wit : Daniel 
 and his wife Elizabeth, and daughters, 
 Elizabeth, wife of Nicholas Christman ; 
 Catharine, wife of Jacob Bechtel ; and 
 Sarah, wife of John Cochenour, — granted 
 the farm at Mingo to David, the eldest son. 
 This David, from about 1750 to 1776, was 
 a Mennonite preacher at the Schuylkill 
 Meeting. He died in 1776, leaving a son 
 David, other sons and daughters, whose de- 
 scendants are quite numerous in this and 
 adjoining counties. His son John became 
 a Mennonite preacher in 1772, and sup- 
 plied the congregation called the Rhodes 
 Mennonite meeting in Coventry township. 
 Mary, a daughter of David, first married 
 Mr. Maris, and being left a widow, she mar- 
 ried Mathias Pennypacker, the grandfather 
 of Judge Pennypacker of Philadelphia, and 
 
 their only child, Sarah, married William 
 Walker, of Chester Valley. 
 
 In 1746 Jacob Longenecker married 
 Susanna, the widow of John. They were 
 the grandparents of the Hon. Henry Long- 
 aker : he acquired about four hundred and 
 fifty acres of laud in Coventry township, 
 and a farm of one hundred and seventv- 
 four acres near Pawling's Bridge, on the 
 east bank of the Schuylkill, and later on 
 known as the George Heilig (now Highley) 
 property. During the wintering of the 
 army of General George Washington at 
 Valley Forge, these farmers plentifully sup- 
 plied wood and farm products to the army, 
 and flour, provender, etc., were liberally 
 furnished by the mill on the farm of Dan- 
 iel, at Mingo. 
 
 These pioneers were strong, sturdy and 
 hardy people, not only farmers, but arti- 
 sans. Some were blacksmiths, carpenters, 
 weavers, millers and shoemakers and their 
 children of the first generation were me- 
 chanics also, but carpentry seemed to be 
 the favorite trade. From the third genera- 
 tion hence they became merchants, traders, 
 doctors, lawyers, clergymen and other pur- 
 suits, so that some lines of descent have al- 
 most entirely abandoned the farms. From 
 their early settlement the} - had well estab- 
 lished schools and menonite churches, and 
 were progressive educationally wherever 
 they settled, and amongst the prosperous 
 and leading men of their localities, and in 
 the present century many of them were 
 prominent and successful in public affairs, 
 holding many prominent official positions. 
 Jacob and Susanna Longenecker had two 
 sons, Jacob and Peter, and five daughters, 
 Salome, wife of Jacob Bliem, Mary of Wis- 
 ler, Esther of Henry Rhodes, Magdalene of 
 Jacob Ruth (now Root), Susanna of John 
 Brower. All these had children and their 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 609 
 
 descendants are numerous in this and ad- 
 joining counties. 
 
 Pursuing the lineage of Hon Henry 
 Longaker, his father, Jacob, married Catha- 
 rine Detwiler, and by this union the chil- 
 dren were : John, Jacob, Peter, Hannah, 
 wife of James Miller ; Susanna, of Peter 
 Wagonseller ; Abraham, Isaac, Henry, Jo- 
 seph, Samuel and Catharine, wife of Henry 
 Surnehart. The father of these children 
 died in 1806. Five of them were in their 
 minority, and their mother died in 18 17. 
 Of the sons only three married: Peter, 
 Henry and Isaac. 
 
 Peter Longaker was born in Chester 
 county, Pa., March 14, 1786, and died No- 
 vember 1, 1866. He married Hannah, 
 daughter of George and Mary Boyer, of 
 Churchville, Berks county. She died in 
 her 90th year. Their children were : R11- 
 fus B., Mary (Mrs Abram Kohl), Louisa 
 (Mrs Sebastian Kohl), Erveline, John B., 
 and Frances Elmira, who died in childhood. 
 Rufus B. was born April 6, 1816. At the 
 age of sixteen he became a pupil of the 
 Trappe Institute, and completing his 
 studies taught in the schools of Berks 
 county two years. For ten years he was 
 engaged in general merchandizing at a 
 store at Crooked Hill until 1S51. Subse- 
 quently he formed a co-partnership with 
 Lesher Van Buskirk, and was engaged in 
 business from 1862 until within a few years 
 of his death. He was an influential Demo- 
 crat. In 1 85 1 he was elected recorder of 
 deeds, in 1863 elected county treasurer, a 
 member three years of the council of the 
 borough of Pottstown and enjoyed other 
 minor offices in private corporations. He 
 was a devout member of the Trinity Re- 
 formed church of Pottstown. He is the 
 father of Hon. Montgomery S. and Louis 
 C, whose lives are noted in this volume. | 
 
 39 
 
 His other children are: Hannah E. (Mrs. 
 Mathias Geist), Horace S., and Mary (.Mix. 
 Williajn H. Thomas). 
 
 Louis Cass Longaker. He is the son 
 
 of Rufus B. He was born at Pottstown, 
 February 14, 1856, was educated in the 
 public schools of that borough. He is a 
 well formed, handsome man, of pleasing 
 personal appearance, about five feet, eleven 
 inches, well proportioned, weighing about 
 165 pounds, brown gray eyes, with hair 
 almost black. In the spring of 1877 he 
 started business pursuits in the office of I. 
 Beam & Son, Parker's Landing, Armstrong 
 county, Pa., making gauge tables of oil 
 tanks, continuing with them until the win- 
 ter of 1878. In the spring of 1S79 he en- 
 tered the gauging department of the United 
 Pipe Line company (a branch of the Stand- 
 ard), measuring and computing oil tanks. 
 In the fall of 1880 he went into the leak 
 keeping department, taking charge of the 
 over and short leaks. In July 1, 1895, he 
 was put in charge of the running of oil in 
 the Bradford district, and still continues in 
 it. September 5, 1883, he married Gert- 
 rude P. Robinson, of Brooklyn, X. V. 
 (She was born July 1, 1864.) By this mar- 
 riage the children are : Elizabeth L. , born 
 October 13, 1884, and Harold Robinson, 
 born September 25, 1886. 
 
 Henry and Isaac were twin brothers. Isaac 
 married Catharine Diehl of Plymouth town- 
 ship, and had three children, Daniel, Francis 
 and Isaac. Daniel married Elizabeth Boyer, 
 a daughter of George Boyer. Their children 
 were : Catharine, who died wdien about 
 sixteen years old ; Annie, George W., mar- 
 ried and living in Norristown ; Ella, wife 
 of Rev. L. K. Evans, of Pottstown ; Bertha, 
 wife of Rev D. W. Moore ; Eliza, wife 
 of C. Howard Harry, a prominent dentist ; 
 
6io 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Clara Bell, wife of Ellwood Rhodes ; Sarah, 
 deceased, and unmarried, and Mary and 
 Daniel, deceased. Daniel Longaker for a 
 period of forty years was one of the promi- 
 nent business men of Norristown, carrying 
 successfully a large grocery store and build- 
 ing many houses to employ his capital. 
 His biography appears in the local histories 
 of Montgomery, published by the late M. 
 Ange and Col. Theodore W. Bean, so that 
 further comment would be unnecessary. 
 
 Isaac Longaker was a farmer for many 
 \ears in this county, but removed to Phila- 
 delphia some ten \ ears before his death. 
 He had a large family of children, most of 
 whom are married and living in Phila' 
 phia. Francis settled in Louisville, Ken- 
 tucky, married and has a large family, and 
 is -till living. Hon. Henry Longaker mar- 
 ried Catharine Rrower. Their children 
 are: Price, born October, 1816, died Octo- 
 ber, i", 1826; John, born February 9, 1818, 
 died November 25, [89a ; Frances, born 
 December 7, 1819, unmarried ; Albert, born 
 May 4. [821, died February 25, 1805 ; James, 
 born March 4, 1823, l ^ cu - August [9, 1846; 
 Sarah Ann, born June 23, [825, wife of 
 Aaron Fretz ; Abraham Rrower and Kliza- 
 beth, born April 21, 1828, and Elizabeth 
 died May 7, 1828; Henry D., born July 15, 
 1829, l ''°'' October .;, [894; Davis, born 
 December 2 and Mary Jane, March 
 
 23, [836, wife of Morris L. Kirk. 
 
 John Longaker left to survive him three 
 sons, who are married and living. Albert 
 left four children : Frances, wife of William 
 Shoemaker; Sarah, wife oi Henry Conrad, 
 a prominent, influential and successful law- 
 yer of Wilmington, Del., having two chil- 
 dren, Edith and Rachael; Louise and Al- 
 bert Edwin, a young, prominent and suc- 
 
 isful attoruey-at-law of the Xorristown 
 
 Hon. A. Brower Longaker married, the 
 
 8th of December, A. D. 1859, Mary Moore, 
 the second daughter of William H. and 
 Mary Kuorr Slingluff. They have three 
 children : Leila, wife of H. K. Kurtz, (who 
 is a son "i W. Wesley Kurtz, the banker of 
 Philadelphia), who, with three children, 
 Leila, Wesley W. and Henry, reside 
 at Coatesville, Pa., interested in and con- 
 ducting the Valley Iron works ; Rosalie 
 and Xorris S. The biography of A. Brower 
 Longaker is fully noted on pa^ t seq. 
 
 Doctor Henry D. Longaker was for many 
 years a prominent physician in Phi! 
 phia, some ten years at Allentown and the 
 last ten years of his life at Seattle, Wash- 
 ington. He married Mary A. Young 
 Bethlehem, Pa., who was a doctor of skill 
 and prominence. Doctor Longaker's pro- 
 fessional life was chiefly devoted to the 
 treatment of chronic diseases, his great 
 specialty being cancers and tumors. In 
 1S84 he established a hospital for special 
 treatment of chronic cases at Seattle, and 
 ably assisted by his wife, as many as thirty 
 to fifty patients were under treatment at one 
 time. Ten years of his early professional 
 life, from 1856 to 1866, were spent upon the 
 Pacific slope, generally as physician to the 
 gold mining camps. He was along the 
 Columbia river, the Snake river in the 
 Xez-Perges at Seattle and other parts of 
 Washington, ami during that time he 
 located and purchased a few lots of land in 
 the projected town of Seattle, which in 
 be improved to great advantage by 
 erecting his hospital thereon. His death 
 occurred in October, 1894, that ot his wife 
 preceding his some five years. Two minor 
 children, Frances and Mary A., survive 
 their parents, and are at school at Kent, 
 near Seattle, cared for by Mrs. H. B. Jef- 
 fries, an intimate friend of the family. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 6ii 
 
 Davis Longaker is married and has a large 
 family of children. He is and has been for 
 the last twenty-five years one of the promi- 
 nent and prosperous business men of Lans- 
 dale. The married daughters of Henry 
 Longaker have children. Some of whom 
 are married and others residing with their 
 parents. Four of the sons, Janu 
 Brower, Henry D. and Davis, are stalwart, 
 well-developed men, in height about six 
 feet and, true types in this respect of their 
 paternal uncles. Peter and Susanna Wagon- 
 seller lived upon a farm of about ioo acres 
 in Lower Providence township, Montgom- 
 ery county, Pa., adjoining or near to his 
 father-in-law, Jacob Longaker. The wife sur- 
 vived the husband many years, and both are 
 buried in the graveyard of the Old Luth- 
 eran Church at the Trappe. The wife died 
 in her eighty-second year. She was a 
 lady of uncommon information, and espe- 
 cially of the events which had occurred in 
 her own family and ancestors, and her con- 
 temporary "Aunt Susie" Schantz, who was 
 a daughter of Esther ( Longaker I Rhodes, 
 would tell of the hardships their ancestry 
 had endured during the Revolutionary war. 
 and how the armv lying at Valley Forge 
 were supplied with farm produce, flour 
 mill feed, provender, etc., and how this an- 
 cestry had suffered as Huguenots before 
 they emigrated to Switzerland. Mr. Schantz. 
 in the beginning of this century, rode alone 
 on horseback on three different oceask 
 going from The Trappe to visit relatives in 
 Lower Canada and returning. They would 
 also relate how their mothers and they, 
 later on, rode on horseback to market their 
 products in Philadelphia, going one day 
 and returning the next. The children and 
 the posterity of the Wagonseller family 
 form an interesting group. The sons were 
 Jacob, Benjamin, Joshua, John, Peter and 
 
 William P., and the daughters Catharine 
 and Hannah. The daughters married Chain 
 brothers, Matthew and Hamilton, who re- 
 moved to Ohio, and died there, leaving 
 descendants. Jacob was a celebrated doc- 
 tor, he settled at Selin . Union 
 county, Pa., and married Mary Richter. 
 He was a member of the State Senate in 
 
 and died while serving his first term. 
 He had a large family, two of his sons, Dr. 
 Peter Richter and Dr. Benjamin F. became 
 notable physicians. The former was a very 
 eminent physician and was murdered in 
 1873 by a drunken worthless fellow, from 
 whose stabs he died in twenty-three hours 
 from the time of their infliction. His death 
 was a great loss to the community, which 
 was outraged bv his murder. Doctor P.. I". 
 is in full practice, and is a physician and 
 surgeon of high rank. He served as a sur- 
 geon in the Union army, in 139th Pennsyl- 
 vania regiment, three years' service ; was 
 promoted February 13, 1S63, to be surgeon 
 of 158th regiment, nine months' service, 
 and September 1, 1864, was mustered in 
 again as surgeon of the 201st regiment, one 
 
 service. 
 Benjamin and John settled near Colum- 
 
 >.. where some of their posterity are 
 still living. Joshua became a merchant at 
 Pekin, 111., and did a very large busine- 
 married Harriet Rupert, where some of 
 their descendants now reside. William F. 
 married Amelia Bergstresser, of Selin's 
 Grove, and for many years and up to the 
 time of his death he was largely engaged in 
 merchandizing. He was for two terms a 
 member of the House of Representatives of 
 Pennsylvania, in the years 1S59 and i v 
 He died on Auf >, on his return 
 
 from a visit to the "Centennial." A num- 
 ber of children survive him. Martin L.. 
 ' promoted from sergeant January 1, 1873. to 
 
6l2 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Second Lieutent, Company F, 131st Penn- 
 sylvania regiment, nine months' service. 
 He is an active, leading and efficient Grand 
 Army member, and very popularly known 
 throughout the State. 
 
 James and (Hannah Longaker) Miller, 
 after theii marriage, May 13, 1810, lived at 
 the Trappe. He was a tailor and was 
 born near Evansbnrg August 25, 1784. Two 
 children, Abraham and Hannah, were of 
 this marriage, and the wife died after the 
 birth of this daughter. Mr. Miller married 
 twice after this. Some time before his 
 death he lived in Philadelphia, and was 
 buried at The Trappe with his wife. He 
 was a life long member of the Lutheran 
 Church. His daughter Hannah married 
 Abraham B. Landis, a son of John and 
 Mary Beitler Landis, born October 26, 1808, 
 died July 3, 1890.. His wife was born Feb- 
 ruary 1, 1816, died July 29, 1851. Mr. 
 Landis carried on farming in Upper Provi- 
 dence, near Royersford, from about 1843 to 
 1866, when he removed to Pottstown and 
 retired from business. In 1879 he had his 
 home with his cousin, Hannah Beitler, near 
 Howelville, Chester county. 
 
 James M. Landis is a son of this an- 
 cestry. He was born Nov. 19, 1842, near 
 Gratersford, his father removing soon there- 
 after to Royersford. In boyhood he ob- 
 tained a common school education, and 
 had one year's schooling at Washington 
 Hall, Trappe ; was employed as station 
 agent at Royersford from i860 to 1864, in 
 the latter year the freight claim office of 
 the Reading Railroad company in Reading ; 
 in 1868 he became traveling auditor, and 
 iu 1871 chief clerk in the general manager's 
 office and the vice president's office at the 
 central offices of the Reading company. 
 
 September 21, 1868, he was married to 
 Emma Good in Reading. She was born in 
 Lebanon county. The children were Bertha, 
 Herbert, Charles, Edward, Arthur and 
 George, but only Bertha, Edward and 
 George are living, the others dying in in- 
 fancy. Mr. Landis is the true type of his an- 
 cestry, and by sheer force of will, pluck, per- 
 sistency, and above all unswerving fidelity 
 and integrity has gradually risen to a high 
 rank in the corporation which he has served 
 so well. 
 
 Henry and Catharine (Longaker) Swine- 
 hart soon after their marriage settled in the 
 eastern part of Ohio, near the Pennsylvania 
 border, and almost directly west of Mer- 
 cer count)-. They are dead, but leave chil- 
 dren and grandchildren in that locality to 
 survive them. 
 
 None of the remaining sons of Jacob 
 and Catharine (Detwiler) Longaker mar- 
 ried, but one by one, within a few years 
 after attaining their majority, travelled to 
 other parts of this union. Abraham was a 
 doctor, and settled at Natchez, where he 
 died while a young man. Jacob had trav- 
 elled south and southwest, and after awhile, 
 returning, went to Canada and soon after 
 died there. 
 
 John, Samuel and Joseph going south 
 and west, after a few years of absence 
 ceased all correspondence with the other 
 members of the family, and long since have 
 departed this life unknown to their kindred. 
 They were stalwart, athletic, vigorous men, 
 of great vitality and activity, ranging from 
 five feet ten inches to six feet in height, 
 with no superfluous flesh, but the pastoral 
 life of their ancestry had no charm for 
 them. Some were excellent artisans, and 
 others were born travellers seeking new 
 fields of occupation. Those who married 
 and lived within the knowledge of their 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 613 
 
 people have left an illustrous posterity sur- 
 passed, if at all, only by a few of their day 
 and generation. 
 
 FRANKLIN T. BEERER, a popular 
 Democrat of Norristown, and who has 
 served continuously over thirty years 
 in appointive and elective county official 
 positions, is a son of Joseph and Elizabeth 
 (Klein) Beerer, and was born in Upper 
 Hanover township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania, May 21, 1836. He received 
 his education in Treemouut seminary, con- 
 ducted by the celebrated Rev. Samuel 
 Aaron, and Elmwood institute, taught by 
 Rev. J. R. Kooken and Rev. G. Deering 
 Wolf at Norristown, Pa., and then went to 
 Philadelphia where he spent eight years in 
 the drug business, (two years thereof as 
 proprietor of the drug store at Buttonwood, 
 1 1 tli and Ridge Road). At the end of that 
 time he was appointed an inspector in 
 the United States custom house at Phila- 
 delphia, and detailed as licpior inspector, 
 and served from 1857 to 1861. On May 18, 
 1861 he enlisted in Company C, Ninteenth 
 Pennsylvania Volunteers at Philadelphia 
 until its term expired, August 29, 1S61. 
 He then re-enlisted as a corporal of Com- 
 pany B, Nineteenth Pennsylvania Infantry 
 Volunteers, Col. Peter Lyle commanding 
 regiment, and served until December 10, 
 1862, when he was discharged for disability 
 from wonnds at Convalescent camp, Fort 
 McHeury, Baltimore, Md. He participated 
 in the engagements of Cedar Mountain, 
 Rappahannock Station, Thoroughfare Gap, 
 Second Bull Run, Chantilley, South 
 Mountain and Antietam, in which last 
 fierce contest he was shot through the left 
 knee, left elbow, contused wound . in left 
 
 shoulder by a piece of shell and nine other 
 slight flesh wounds. Returning from the 
 army to Norristown, Pa., Mr Beerer was 
 engaged for several years in the 
 manufacture of cigars extensively with ex- 
 Judge A. Brower Longaker, and then 
 turned his attention to conveyancing, 
 which he still follows to some extent. He 
 became a pension attorney in 1889 and lias 
 had good success in prosecuting claims be- 
 fore the bureau of pensions at Washington, 
 D. C, being thoroughly conversant with all 
 the details ot his line of work. Mr Beerer 
 is a Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, 
 and being popular has always had a large 
 personal following which has often secured 
 him an election when his party was in the 
 minority. 
 
 On October 1, 1854, Mr Beerer married 
 Clara Clymer, a daughter of Joseph Clynier, 
 of Washington township, Berks county, Pa. 
 Three children were born to their union. 
 Mary died in infancy; Edward Theodore 
 Knox died at the age of three years; and 
 Thomas Henry died January i, 1882, aged 
 twenty-three years. His said wife died Au- 
 gust 8, 1S60, aged 25 years, and on January 
 16, 1866, Mr Peerer wedded Mary Louise 
 Greger, a daughter of Col. Charles Greger, 
 ex-county commissioner of Montgomery 
 county, by which marriage he has two 
 children, Charles Montgomery, employed 
 by the Williamsport Sun, and Flora Eliza- 
 beth, intermarried with William D. Lu- 
 keus, a carpenter and builder of Whitpain 
 township. 
 
 Franklin T. Beerer connected himself 
 with the Trinity Lutheran church at Nor- 
 ristown, Pa.; is a member of Charity lodge, 
 No. 190, F. and A. M. ; Norristown chap- 
 ter, No. 190, R. A. M., and Hutchinson 
 commandery, Knights Templar, of which 
 he is a past-eminent commander ; P. C. of 
 
614 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Pocahontas tribe of the Independent Order 
 of Red Men (German), Zook post, No. n, 
 G. A. R., Encampment No. 96, U. V. Le- 
 gion, and Lynwood lodge, No. 154, A. O. 
 U. Workmen. 
 
 Mr. Beerer's official life began in 1865 
 as deputy county treasurer, afterwards serv- 
 ing as deputy register of wills, deputy sher- 
 iff, deputy recorder, deputy prothonotary, 
 prison inspector and secretary of board, 
 elected as clerk of the courts of Montgomery 
 county in 1875, justice of the peace in 1879, 
 and is now serving his third term as one of 
 the county auditors of Montgomery county. 
 He is regarded as the best acquainted man 
 in the county with the routine of business 
 in the different county offices. 
 
 Joseph Beerer's name, originally spelled 
 Buhrer, was born near Strasburg, Septem- 
 ber 17, 1806, in what was then the French 
 province of Alsace. He came with his par- 
 ents and family to Philadelphia in 1812 
 and was indentured to one Matthias Ritter, 
 of Oley, Berks county, Pa, with whom he 
 stayed until he was twenty years of age 
 and learned the trade of tanner. He then 
 took charge of the tannery of Charles Hille- 
 gas at Gerysville, Bucks county, Pa. In 
 1836 he purchased a farm from his father- 
 in-law in Upper Hanover township, which 
 he tilled in connection with the tannery for 
 some years. He then sold the farm to en- 
 gage in the general mercantile business at 
 a place which he named Tylersport in honor 
 of President Tyler. In 1850 he sold out 
 his store at Tylersport and removed to Nor- 
 riton township, Montgomery county, where 
 he purchased a farm from Robert Stinson, 
 which he disposed of four years later in 
 order to become a resident of Norristown, 
 where he engaged in the coal business, and 
 in 1857 purchased the Pennsylvania Farm- 
 ers hotel in Norristown, now known as the 
 
 Hartranft house, which he conducted to 
 April 17, 1872. He then sold the hotel and 
 purchased a residence at the corner of Main 
 and Stanbridge streets, now owned by the 
 Hon. Irving P. Wanger. He died on the 
 22nd day of May 1893, at the residence of 
 his sou, Alfred, on Noble street, Norris- 
 town. Joseph Beerer was a Jackson Demo- 
 crat and served as the first postmaster at 
 Tylersport. He was commissioned as cap- 
 tain of the United Rifle Rangers, a volun- 
 teer company attached to the Jackson Vol- 
 unteer battallion by Governor Porter on 
 June 6, 1840, and offered the services of the 
 company during the Buckshot war and the 
 Philadelphia riots in 1844, but they were 
 not needed. He was elected as a justice of 
 the peace of Upper Salford township in 
 1845, but did not take out his commission. 
 He was elected jury commissioner in 1863 
 and county treasurer in 1865. He also- 
 served for a number of years as one of the 
 prison inspectors and also as school director 
 of Upper Salford township. 
 
 On December 1, 1833, he was married to 
 Elizabeth Klein, a daughter of Michael 
 Klein, of Upper Hanover township. He 
 was the father of ten children, four sons 
 and six daughters, all of whom, but two, 
 Louis Klein and Dianna M., who was inter- 
 married with Hon M. S. Longaker, sur- 
 vive him. His wife died February 29, 
 1888. They are both buried in the Mont- 
 gomery cemetery at Norristown, Pa. 
 
 Capt. Beerer was a very active business 
 man and an efficient and resolute public 
 official. 
 
 EDWARD S. MURRAY, proprietor of 
 the extensive Merion Roller Process 
 Flouring mills, is a son of Patrick and 
 Elizabeth (Smith) Murray, and was born 
 
'/xJ^Los-u- 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 615 
 
 in Upper Merion township, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, < >ctober 31, 1866. 
 Patrick Murray is a native of Longford, 
 
 Ireland, and at fourteen years of age came 
 near to Swedeland, in Upper Merion town- 
 ship, where he worked for some time in 
 the iron mills of Swedesburg. He pur- 
 chased land there which he sold in 1870 to 
 buy the Morgan Egbert property in 
 Lower Merion township, on which he still 
 resides. He has a large dairy and is a very 
 successful farmer. He is a Democrat and 
 Catholic, and when the late Civil war com- 
 menced he enlisted and served with credit. 
 He married Elizabeth Smith, and to them 
 were born five children, three sons and two 
 daughters : Thomas E., assisting his father 
 on the farm and in the dairy ; Margaret T.; 
 John J., a farmer; Edward S.; and Eliza- 
 beth F. 
 
 Edward S. Murray was reared in Upper 
 and Lower Merion townships, and after 
 receiving his education in the Gladwyn 
 public schools, entered Bryant ec Stratton's 
 business college, from which he was gradu- 
 ated in 1884. He then entered the employ 
 of William Simpson 6c Son as a clerk in 
 their Norristown Wyoming woolen and 
 cotton mills, of which he soon became 
 assistant manager. At the end of five 
 years he left the mills to purchase his pres- 
 ent Merion roller process flouring mills on 
 Mill creek from Evan G. Jones. He imme- 
 diately enlarged, remodeled and rebuilt 
 these mills, which he has ecpiipped with 
 the latest and most improved machinery. 
 His flour has attained quite a reputation, 
 and he supplies Ardmore, Haverford, and 
 Bryn Mawr, and other towns with his best 
 brands, besides having a steady demand 
 from the leading families of the surround- 
 ing country. Mr. Murray also deals largely 
 in western grain, and is an extensive ship- 
 
 per in flour, grain and feed. In March, 
 1895, he bought a woolen mill, but soon 
 disposed of it to Samuel L Robinson, 
 who immediately thereafter sold it to 
 Thomas H. Clegg and W. T. Tilden. 
 
 In his special line of manufacturing, Mr. 
 Murray has met with unusual success. His 
 mill, in which he takes a most justifiable 
 pride, has a large capacity. His business 
 is extensive and lucrative, and to its every 
 detail he gives the closest attention, thereby 
 giving assurance of future prosperity. Mr. 
 Murray is a Republican in politics, and has 
 for several years been a member of the 
 Catholic church. 
 
 TAMES R. CARE, M. D., who has been 
 J in the active practice of his profession 
 at Worcester, Pennsylvania, since 1886, is a 
 son of Henry and Margaret (Roberts) Care, 
 and was born in Union township, Berks 
 county, Pennsylvania, March 22, 1865. 
 Henry Care was also a native of Berks 
 county, and died in April, 1892. He was a 
 railroad engineer in early life, and subse- 
 quently engaged in farming, which latter 
 occupation he pursued in his native county 
 up to the time of his death. He was twice 
 married, and by his first wife had three 
 children, one son and two daughters: 
 Anna, wife of John Hart ; Catharine ; and 
 David. After the death of his first wife, 
 Mr. Care wedded Margaret Roberts, daugh- 
 ter of James Roberts, of the same place. 
 By this second marriage two children were 
 born, both sons: Dr. James R. and Thomas. 
 Dr. James R. Care attended the public 
 schools of his native township and then en- 
 tered Amityville seminary, located at Am- 
 ity, Berks county, from which institution 
 he was graduated in the class of 1880. 
 
6i6 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 During his vacations while attending the 
 seminary, he employed his time in teach- 
 ing and so continued until the completion 
 of his academic course. After leaving the 
 seminary he was variously engaged until 
 1883, when he commenced reading medi- 
 cine under the preceptorship of Dr. B. F. 
 Bunn, of Birdsboro, Berks county, in whose 
 office he remained until 1884. In the last 
 named year he entered Jefferson Medical 
 college, Philadelphia, and was duly gradu- 
 ated in 1886. After graduation he removed 
 to Center Point, Montgomery county, and 
 formed a professional partnership with Dr. 
 G. K. Meschter, which remained in force 
 until 1S92, when, Dr. Meschter retiring, 
 he succeeded to their combined practice. 
 He then continued an individual practice 
 for two years. At the end of this time his 
 practice had increased to such an extent, 
 and the professional demands made upon 
 him were so great that he admitted Dr. 
 Elmer G. Kriebel into a new partnership 
 under the firm name of Drs. Care & 
 Kriebel. Dr. Care, while a general practi- 
 tioner from the nature of his location, is 
 yet a skilled specialist in diseases of the 
 eye, ear and throat. He stands in the front 
 rank of his profession in the county and is 
 a valued citizen, as well as a man of high 
 professional attainments. Dr. Care is a 
 member of the Montgomery County Medi- 
 cal society, the Lehigh Valley, and the 
 Pennsylvania State Medical association. 
 Politically, he is a supporter of the Repub- 
 lican party and has been for some years a 
 member of the Schweukfelder church at 
 Worcester. He is a man of attainment 
 and usefulness beyond the field of his pro- 
 fession and takes a marked interest in civic 
 problems and the complex relations of labor 
 and capital. He is a member of the Acad- 
 emy of Political and Social Sciences, the 
 
 Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and 
 other learned associations. 
 
 On April 24, 1888, Dr. Care was united 
 in marriage with Ella Knabb, whose father, 
 Captain George W. Knabb, is a native and 
 resident of Birdsborough, Berks county, this 
 State. To Dr. and Mrs. Care have been 
 born three children : Virginia ; Catharine, 
 deceased ; and Margaret. 
 
 PROF. SAMUEL, U. BRUNNER, the 
 founder and principal of North Wales 
 academy and school of business, is a son of 
 Frederick and Lydia (Umstead) Brunner, 
 and was born in Worcester township, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, April 
 6, 1842. (For ancestral history see sketch 
 of Henry U. Brunner, page 527 of this 
 work). He was reared in Worcester town- 
 ship, where he attended the public schools 
 and then taught some time, after which he 
 entered Washington Hall Collegiate insti- 
 tute at Trappe, and took the course of that 
 educational institution. Leaving Trappe, 
 he entered Eastman's Business college at 
 Poughkeepsie, New York, from which well 
 known commercial institution he was grad- 
 uated at the end of only thirteen weeks' 
 study. He then became book-keeper in 
 the Philadelphia office of the Grover & 
 Baker Sewing Machine company, and re- 
 mained there up to 1866. In that year he 
 concluded to resume teaching, in which he 
 has been successful and in which he had 
 always taken a deep interest. He therefore 
 taught one year at Jenkintowu, and then 
 concluded to put in operation his long 
 cherished design of opening a first class 
 academy and connecting it with a practical 
 and efficient business school. In 1867 he 
 organized such an institution at Kulpsville, 
 
^O ■ Zo . VyJ4sc<^r7s^-iJZSi^; 
 
• 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 617 
 
 and soon demonstrated the feasibilty of the 
 idea and its practical value as a factor in a 
 valuable home education. After four years 
 of successful teaching, he removed in April, 
 1871, to North Wales as a more favorable 
 center for the full development of his idea, 
 and founded the North Wales academy and 
 school of business. Each succeeding year 
 has added to its efficiency and the number 
 of pupils in attendance, until to-day it 
 stands as one of the foremost institutions of 
 its kind in the State. Professor Brunner 
 also publishes a paper in connection with 
 his institution called The Academy Acorn, 
 which is devoted to school life and the gen- 
 eral improvement of the pupils. He is a 
 Democrat, and a member and elder of the 
 Lutheran church, in which he has served 
 for several years as secretary of the church 
 council. He is also a member of Washing- 
 ton Camp, Patriotic Order Sons of Amer- 
 ica. 
 
 On October 19, 1869, Professor Brunner 
 w.as united in marriage with Anna Mary 
 Reiff. Their union has been blessed with 
 two children, a son and a daughter : Mary 
 R., and J. Reiff. 
 
 JOHN WOOD, Jr., a large iron worker 
 of Conshohocken, this county, was born 
 May 24, 1847, at Conshohocken, this county, 
 and is the son of Hon. John and Elizabeth 
 K. (Wells) Wood. His mental training and 
 discipline was obtained in Treeinount semi- 
 nary of Norristown, and Gregory academy 
 of Philadelphia. Having determined upon 
 pursuing a business career, he entered his 
 father's iron mills at Conshohocken, where 
 he remained until 1867, gaining, during 
 this time, much useful practical knowledge 
 of the iron-working art. That he was a 
 
 young man of spirit and enterprise is evi- 
 denced by the fact that at the early age of 
 twenty, or on May 1, 1867, he founded his 
 present foundry, machine and boiler works. 
 Not that the works as founded are to be 
 compared with them as they now exist as 
 to size and work turned out, but that from 
 them, through expansion and the progress 
 of the times, we have the present large and 
 well equipped works. The factory is one 
 hundred and twenty-five feet front by four 
 hundred and fifty feet deep, and comprises 
 the following departments, each under the 
 supervision and direction of skilled special- 
 ists: machine department, pattern-making 
 department, drafting department, boiler 
 department, blacksmithing department and 
 foundry department, all fitted up with the 
 most improved machinery and well equipped 
 to turn out the best product along these 
 different lines. This mammoth establish- 
 ment gives employment to not less than 
 two hundred and fifty hands and is an en- 
 terprise that contributes much to the ma- 
 terial prosperity of Conshohocken. 
 
 Mr. Wood is a Republican and a staunch 
 believer in the great political policy of a 
 protective tariff, and whilst he has always 
 taken a commendable interest in the suc- 
 cess of his party, yet has never aspired to 
 office. He is always interested in any move 
 which has for its object the promotion of 
 the welfare of the borough of his nativity. 
 He was one of the most active promoters of 
 the Fidelity Building and L,oan association 
 of Conshohocken. This association is one 
 of the most prosperous of its kind in the 
 county and has done much to aid the labor- 
 ing men of Conshohocken to secure homes, 
 and in this way has contributed much to the 
 substantial wealth of the community. He 
 is one of the largest stockholders of the as- 
 sociation. 
 
6i8 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 Fraternally he is a member of the Union 
 Republican club, and the Merchants' club 
 of Philadelphia. Mr. Wood was appointed 
 by Governor Hartranft, major in the Na- 
 tional Guard of Pennsylvania, on the staff 
 of General Batton and served in the rail- 
 road riots at Pittsburg in 1877, and in the 
 Philadelphia railroad riots subsequently. 
 
 John Wood, jr., early manifested an un- 
 usual skill for mechanical pursuits, along 
 which lines he has achieved an enviable 
 success. Of quick perception, close ob- 
 servation and great executive ability, he 
 gives that personal supervision to the dif- 
 ferent departments of the factory that has 
 long since given it a reputation second to 
 none of its class in this part of the State. 
 
 REV CLEMENT Z. WEISER, D. D. 
 the only survivor of three sons, was 
 born in Union (now Snyder) county, Penn- 
 sylvania, which was also the native place 
 of his father, the late Dr. Daniel Weiser. 
 He is the fourth in descent from the re- 
 nowned Conrad Weiser. After the usual 
 preparation he entered Franklin and Mar- 
 shall college, from which he was graduated 
 in 1850. Subsequent to his graduation he 
 became tutor in German in his alma mater, 
 and later became principal of the prepara- 
 tory department, over which he presided for 
 two years, the time of the removal of the 
 college to Lancaster, Penna. Just twenty- 
 five years after his graduation his college 
 conferred upon him the degree of D. D. 
 After the completion of his theological 
 training, Mr. Weiser accepted a pastorate 
 at his native place, of which church his 
 father had formerly been pastor. He main- 
 tained his connection with this church up to 
 
 the year 1855, when he was called to assist 
 his father at the old Goshenhoppen church, 
 Montgomery county, Pa., where he con- 
 tinued for a period of seventeen years, fol- 
 lowing in the footsteps of his father. Dr. 
 Weiser has made few pastoral changes but 
 has concentrated his efforts and consecrated 
 his will to the upbuilding of the cause in 
 but two localities. During his lifework he 
 received frequent calls to other churches of 
 prominence and vigor, but uniformly de- 
 clined them in order to devote himself more 
 potently to the charges already under his 
 care. Apart from his zeal and earnestness 
 in the direct work of the church, he has 
 also been conspicuously identified with lit- 
 terary and scholastic pursuits; he has been 
 a valued contributor to various papers and 
 magazines and has also published several 
 books. Among the latter is his well known 
 "Life of Conrad Weiser." He has also 
 been a frequent lecturer and has in this way 
 supported and extended the cause of the 
 church and its auxiliary agencies. Dr. 
 Weiser stands deservedly high in the coun- 
 cils of his church and by reason of his va- 
 ried attainments, his broad scholarship and 
 his undoubted devotion, is one of the leaders 
 of his denomination. He is a member of 
 the Montgomery County Historical society, 
 and upon the occasion of the centennial 
 anniversary of the county, was selected to 
 deliver the chief oration. He was also for- 
 merly chaplain of the 6th regiment, National 
 Guard of Pennsylvania. 
 
 In 1859 Dr. Weiser was joined in mar- 
 riage with Louisa C, daughter of Judge I. 
 Gutelius, of Mifflinburg, Union county, Pa. 
 Their children consisted of three sons and 
 one daughter, all of whom are now deceased. 
 
 At the present time Dr. Weiser is living 
 in a well earned retirement at East Green- 
 ville, this county. He is a highly esteemed 
 

 c.z 
 
 ^-v^^v.. 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 619 
 
 citizen, an eloquent speaker, imbued with 
 true Christian charity, and reflects upon all 
 with whom he comes in contact, the light 
 of a pious and conscientious life. 
 
 REV. HENRY T. SPANGLER, D. 1)., 
 the recently elected president ot Ur- 
 sinus college, Collegeville, Montgomery 
 county, was born November 14, 1853, an( ' 
 is yet a young man. He was born at 
 Myerstown, Lebanon county, Pennsylva- 
 nia. He prepared for college, and carried 
 his studies to the end of the Sophomore 
 year at Palatinate college, Myerstown, and 
 was graduated from Ursinus college in 
 June, 1873, at the head of his class, the 
 first sent out from the institution. After 
 taking the course in theology at Ursinus, 
 he was licensed as a minister of the Re- 
 formed church in June, 1875. The first 
 two years of active life was spent by him 
 in the editorial office of the Christian 
 World, at Cincinnati, Ohio. He subse- 
 quently filled pastorates at Lancaster and 
 Columbia, Ohio, and Landisburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania. He was finally called to St. Luke's 
 Reformed church, Trappe, Pennsylvania, 
 in April, 1884, as the successor of the late 
 Dr. Bomberger in the pastorate of that 
 church. In June of the same year he was 
 elected a member of the board of directors 
 of Ursinus college, and did his first finan- 
 cial work for the college in the summer of 
 1885. In 1888 he relinquished the Trappe 
 church and devoted all his time to the 
 college. In June, 1891, he became a mem- 
 ber of the faculty, and during the year 
 1892-93 taught psychology. Since Presi- 
 dent Spangler first gave attention to the 
 finances of Ursinus almost $100,000 has 
 been raised for the institution, besides the 
 
 late bequest of Mr. Patterson of $160,000. 
 In addition to his duties as president he 
 teaches psychology, ethics, and homiletics. 
 He is a man of fine intellectual attainments 
 and recognized executive ability, and the 
 college already feels the good effects of his 
 elevation to the presidency. 
 
 HEDLEV FRANKLIN SLIFER, M.D., 
 one of the best educated physicians in 
 Montgomery county, and the leading practi- 
 tioner of North Wales, is a son of John B. 
 and Lucy Mohr Slifer, and was born at Zion- 
 ville, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, June 
 15, 1852. 
 
 His grandfather, Joseph Slifer, was a busi- 
 ness man residing near Ouakertown, in 
 Montgomery county, up to the time of his 
 death, in 1877, at seventy-eight years of 
 age. He was a man of considerable promi- 
 nence in his community, and a useful and 
 influential citizen. He married Miss Beid- 
 ler and had a family of twelve children. 
 
 John B. Slifer, father of Dr. Slifer, was 
 born at Zionville, Lehigh county, where he 
 spent his boyhood days and resided until 
 after marriage, when out of desire to in- 
 crease his opportunities he was induced to 
 try the fortunes of the west, and accordingly 
 located near Warren, in Trumbell county, 
 Ohio, but soon established himself in an 
 extensive lumber business near Prankford, 
 in Clinton county, Indiana, where he re- 
 mained in profitable business up to his pre- 
 mature death in 1869, at the aye of forty- 
 two years. 
 
 He was a staunch Republican in his 
 political affiliation. In 1850 he married 
 Lucy Mohr; this martial relation was 
 blessed with five children. 
 
 Dr. H. Franklin Slifer received his pre- 
 
620 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 liminary educational training in public and 
 private schools of Zionville, this count)', 
 Trumbell county, Ohio, and Clinton county, 
 Indiana. After obtaining a proficient 
 knowledge of the subjects of an academic 
 curriculum, he conceived the idea of medi- 
 cine for his future life vocation. He came 
 to Philadelphia and resided for a short time 
 with an uncle, but soon entered the 
 medical department of the University of 
 Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated 
 in the class of 1876 with the degree of 
 M. D. Immediately upon graduation he 
 located in the practice of his profession at 
 Colmar, this county, where he practiced for 
 two years, when in 1878 he came to North 
 Wales, where he purchased the drug store 
 and succeeded to the practice of Dr. Sibbal, 
 and has here since built up one of the most 
 extensive practices in Montgomery county. 
 In 1880 Dr. Slifer was elected professor of 
 physiology in North Wales academy, in 
 which position he has served ever since. 
 
 In 1883 he went to Germany and took a 
 course of pathology under the celebrated 
 specialist, Professor Virchow, of the Univer- 
 sity of Berlin, and a course in surgery and 
 diseases of children under Professor Barden- 
 loben and Henoch, very celebrated special- 
 ists in these subjects. After spending some 
 time in European travel he returned home 
 and resumed his practice, but owing to ill- 
 health was unable to carry on his extensive 
 practice, and in the hope of restoring his 
 health, in 1887-8 he made a grand tour 
 around the world, and since his return has 
 delivered many entertaining and instructive 
 lectures on Egypt, China, Japan, Rome and 
 other places and countries of interest visited 
 by him. 
 
 In 1890 Dr. Slifer was elected an instruc- 
 tor in physiology in the Medico-Chirurgical 
 college of Philadelphia, in which position 
 
 he served two years, and at the end of this 
 time was elected to the full chair of pro- 
 fessor of physiology with a seat in the fac- 
 ulty, and remained two years. Since that 
 time he has been devoting his energies to 
 the practice of his profession in North 
 Wales. 
 
 Dr. Slifer is a member of the alumni as- 
 sociation of the University of Pennsylvania 
 and the Medico-Chirurgical college of 
 Philadelphia, the Montgomery County Med- 
 ical Society, the State Medical Society, the 
 American Medical Association and the 
 Pathological Association of Philadelphia. 
 
 He is medical examiner for the Provident 
 Life Trust Company, the New York Mutual, 
 the Equitable, the National of Vermont 
 and the Massachusetts Benefit Life Associa- 
 tion, and he is also treasurer of the public 
 library of North Wales. 
 
 On May 20, 1891, Dr. Slifer married 
 Emma Schlotterer. Their marriage has 
 been blessed with one son, Victor Galen. 
 
 Dr. Slifer as an instructor and lecturer, 
 is exact, clear and eloquent, investing the 
 dryest subject with life and color, rendering 
 it entertaining and instructive ; as a phy- 
 sician he is progressive and regards his 
 profession in its true light . progressive in 
 character, he would keep it abreast the 
 wonderful advance of the present age. He 
 knows no grander or nobler field for human 
 effort than that of medicine, which justly 
 stands in the van of the world's great pro- 
 fessions. 
 
 THE BLIEM FAMILY.— Mr. Christian 
 Bliem, sr., was born on the banks of 
 the Rhine, New Manheim, Germany, De- 
 cember 25, 1711, and died in his ninety- 
 eighth year, 1809. He was of Huguenot 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 621 
 
 extraction, his ancestry going from France 
 to Germany about 1570 on account of re- 
 ligious persecution. He came to America 
 about 1735, and bought and settled upon a 
 tract of one hundred and fifty acres of laud 
 in Hanover township, Montgomery county, 
 Pennsylvania (then part of Philadelphia 
 county), near Pottstown, which he occupied 
 nearly seventy-five years. Soon after his 
 death, Christian, jr., his son, bought two 
 hundred and fifty more acres, making the 
 whole tract four hundred acres, and which 
 in turn, the son occupied until his death 
 in 1816. 
 
 The father and son each made their 
 own wills, which are registered at Norris- 
 town. The deeds to these properties also 
 appear on record at the same place. Before 
 the Revolutionary war, Christian, sr., had 
 loaned a neighbor $800 in gold and silver, 
 which was repaid in the Continental money 
 and which became worthless after the close 
 of the war. He begged his neighbor to 
 give him at least a cow to partly cover his 
 loss, but his request was not granted. He 
 rode to Philadelphia, carrying his produce 
 to market on a pack-horse, a single market- 
 ing amounting to about ten dollars. He 
 prospered and died a rich man for one of 
 his day, and bought in his lifetime a farm 
 for his sons, Daniel and Christian. 
 
 Christian Bliem jr., (or the second) was 
 born February 25, 1746, (died February 20, 
 1816). He married, in 1768, Salome, eldest 
 child of Jacob and Susanna Laugenecker. 
 She was born January, 1746, and died 1810. 
 Their children were: Salome, born 1770, 
 married Samuel Moyer, of Perkasie, Bucks 
 county, died 1812 ; Christian L., born 1773, 
 and died 1831 ; Philip L., born 1775, and 
 died 1847; Daniel L,., born 1777, and died 
 1844; Mary, married Jacob Latshaw, born 
 1782, and died 1816 ; John L., born 1784, 
 
 and died 1858; and Jacob L. , born 1788, 
 and died 1864. 
 
 Christian L. Bliem married Magdalena 
 Hoch (now High), a daughter of the Men- 
 nonite preacher, John High. Their chil- 
 dren were: Salome, born December 15, 
 1796, was married May 2, 1819, to Joseph 
 Lerch, died April 24, 1847 ; Magdalena, 
 born January 25, 1798, married Jacob Dreis- 
 bach (children : Matilda, Sarah and Susan), 
 died November 2, 1847 ; Elizabeth born 
 May 3, 1800, married Peter Anevolt (chil- 
 dren were Stephen, Eliza, Lucy, John, 
 George, Samuel and William), died October 
 11, 1856; Daniel born August 30,1806, 
 married Susan Boyer (children were : J. 
 Christman, Calvin, Amanda, Catharine, 
 Mary and Ellen) ; Catharine, born in July, 
 1809, married Rev. David Kemmerer (chil- 
 dren were David C, Amelia, Theodore, 
 Ellen and Tillie.) The children of Joseph' 
 and Salome Lerch were: Stephen C, David, 
 Joseph, Catharine, Sarah, John, Mandes and 
 Benneville. Joseph Lerch was born .De- 
 cember 21, 1786, and died September 4, 
 1856. 
 
 Christian Bliem (the second, named 
 above) was from 1814 a Mennonite preacher 
 until the time of his death in 1831. His 
 first wife, Magdalena Hoch, died twenty- 
 three years after their marriage. His sec- 
 ond marriage was with Anna Heistand. 
 They had three children: one died in youth, 
 one daughter married Mr. Fretz, and the 
 other married Mr. Sell. He was born in 
 Montgomery county, moved to East Nant- 
 meal, Chester county, and, in 1805 pur- 
 chased a farm from Thomas Hower, in 
 Allen township, known as the Irish settle- 
 ment, containing two hundred and eighteen 
 acres, paying therefor $22,800. It is said 
 he made as much as $1000 yearly during 
 some of the best years of his farming. In 
 
622 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 r845 he removed to Milford Square, Bucks 
 county, and died October 14, 1831, and is 
 buried at the Milford Square Mennonite 
 church. J. Christian Bliem, son of the said 
 David, is a preacher of the Evangelical as- 
 sociation, South Bethlehem, Pa. 
 
 Rev. Daniel Kemmerer was born near 
 Eastou, Pa., September 15, 1802 ; died at 
 Wooster, Ohio, May 6, 1893. in his ninety- 
 first year. His great-grandfather emigrated 
 from Zwei-briicken, Germany, in 1730. Rev. 
 Kemmerer prepared for the ministry. The 
 descendants of this ancestry are so numer- 
 ous in this and adjoining counties that the 
 scope of this volume cannot follow the long 
 line of lineage, but there remain incidents 
 of the earlier ones deserving of note. 
 
 In the family of Jacob L. Bliem, for a 
 period of about thirty years, lived Mrs. 
 Susanna Schantz, wife of Peter Schantz, 
 during her widow-hood. She was the 
 daughter of Henry and Esther (Lange- 
 necker) Rhoads. Her husband and she 
 lived at Parkersford, and he died there 
 while yet a young man. She had many 
 cousins living in Chester, Montgomery and 
 Lancaster counties, and a few in Philadel- 
 phia, many of whom she visited. She was 
 very intelligent and knew much of the his- 
 tory of the generations which preceded 
 her, and had the traditionary sufferings of 
 the Longakers, Bleims, Bertolettes and 
 other families on account of being Hugue- 
 nots. She had features so strongly resem- 
 bling her paternal ancestry that Jacob H. 
 Bliem, who is now 75 years old, and resid- 
 ing at Hobbie, Luzerne county, Pa., says : 
 Many years ago while in Norristown he 
 met aud recognized Daniel Longaker, 
 whom he had not known before from the 
 strong resemblance which he had to her 
 and the other kindred. She was of the 
 third aud he of the fourth generations from 
 
 their progenitor, Jacob Longenecker. She 
 was always apprehensive that the persecu- 
 tions suffered by her forefathers might be 
 repeated in this country. For many years 
 she was the bosom companion of her cousin, 
 Susanna Longaker Wagenseller, the widow " 
 of Peter Wagenseller. Governor Francis 
 R. Shunk when a young man was her school 
 teacher. She read the German fluently 
 and preferred it rather than English. In 
 her early life she was a faithful Mennonite, 
 but later she worshipped with the Metho- 
 dists. Her father's farm, the Rhoads home- 
 stead of several hundred acres, was at 
 Phcenixville; upon the high ground above 
 the old cotton factory stood the dwelling 
 house, and the long stretch of fertile meadow 
 extended along French creek. 
 
 Christian Bliem, Jr., after the battle of 
 Brandywine, served in the army, using his 
 farm teams on the march towards Easton, 
 and while the army of Washington was 
 encamped near Fegleysville. General 
 Washington lodged during his stay in that 
 locality at the Bertolette mansion, two 
 miles east of Fegleysville. (Esther, a 
 daughter of Mr Bertolette, was the wife of 
 Jacob H. Bleim.) The Longeneckers also 
 assisted with their teams. The Bertolettes 
 were Huegenots, and have in their family 
 a Bible printed in French with the date 
 1567. In the summer of 1802 Jacob L. 
 Bliem, then fifteen years old, helped his 
 grandfather, Christian Bliem, Sr., then in 
 his 91st year, to thresh the seed rye which 
 was sown that season. There are many of 
 the Schantz, Bleim and Henry Brower de- 
 scendants living near Prescott and the ad- 
 jacant country in Canada, their ancestry 
 settling there the beginning of the present 
 century. 
 
 Elizabeth, a daughter of Christian and 
 Magdalena Bliem, married Peter Anewalt. 
 
Os'&mA <<P . Afl<rur0b, t 
 
Biographical Sketches. 
 
 623 
 
 Two of the sons, John and Samuel Ane- 
 walt, are prosperous merchants at Allen- 
 town. Another daughter married Joseph 
 Lerch. Maudes herch and Frank J. Lerch 
 of Bethlehem are descendants of him. The 
 latter is a popular and successful merchant 
 at Bethlehem. Jacob H. Blierri, of Hobbie, 
 Pa., has furnished data for many of these 
 incidents, also the lineage of the family. 
 
 Many branches comprising the present 
 generations living about Pottstown — the 
 Lessigs, Boettners and the Bechtels in Berks 
 county, and the Movers and Oberholtzers 
 at Perkasie, Bucks, have a large posterity, 
 many of whom are prominent, popular and 
 well-to-do people in their respective locali- 
 ties. 
 
 SAMUEL L. COWDEN, of the firm of 
 Cowden & Zimmerman, one of the 
 largest and most prosperous plumbing, gas 
 and steam-fitting establishments of Mont- 
 gomery county, is also one of the leading 
 citizens and most enterprising business men 
 of Norristown. He is the only surviving 
 child of John and Charlotte (Zimmerman) 
 Cowden, and was born on the 4th of March, 
 1848, on his father's farm in Plymouth town- 
 ship. Of Scotch-Irish ancestry, the Cowden 
 family has been in America since a few years 
 before the breaking out of the war for Inde- 
 pendence. The original ancestor in this 
 country was Samuel Cowden, who located 
 near Norristown, in Montgomery county, 
 and proceeded to earn a living for his wife 
 and little family. When the youthful Re- 
 public needed men to bare their breasts for 
 her safety, Samuel Cowden bade farewell to 
 his wife and children and shouldered a flint- 
 lock for his country. When the British 
 came through Montgomery county they 
 sacked his house and destroyed every vestige 
 
 of his household goods, and his family were 
 thrown upon the mercies of the kind people 
 of the neighborhood. Samuel Cowden lived 
 only a few years after the war, and was 
 buried at Providence Presbyterian cemeterv. 
 He was the father of three children : Hester, 
 Thomas and .Samuel. 
 
 Thomas Cowden, grandfather of the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, and son of Samuel Cow- 
 den, the soldier, was born near Norristown 
 on the 6th of February, 1775. He was 
 brought up in this section, and was appren- 
 ticed to John Miller, of Norristown, to learn 
 the trade of blacksmith. He also mastered 
 the art of gun-making, and followed that 
 business until about 1798, when he married 
 Hannah Couch, of Upper Providence, and 
 located at Hickorytown, Plymouth town- 
 ship, and followed his trade on his own 
 account. Some years later, being surrounded 
 with a numerous family, grandfather Cow- 
 den bought a farm near his blacksmith shop, 
 and combined farming with his regular 
 business. Here he reared a family of eight 
 1 children : Samuel, William, Hester, Ellen, 
 who died young, Charles George, John, 
 Mary and Ann. He prospered in his busi- 
 ness ventures, and died at the age of 73 
 years. After his death his widow went 
 to live with a daughter at Norristown, where 
 she lived to the age of 73 years, dying Sep- 
 tember, 1850. 
 
 John Cowden, the father of the subject of 
 this sketch, was the youngest son of Thomas 
 Cowden. He was brought up on his father's 
 farm, and assisted in working it until 1836, 
 when he married Charlotte, daughter of 
 Jacob and Mary Zimmerman, of Whitpain 
 township. This marriage was fruitful in 
 bringing them five children : Mary J., born 
 December 14, 1837; Charles Henry, born 
 September 27, 1839; John F. was born July 
 16, 1841, and died in infancy ; Hannah, born 
 
624 
 
 Biographical Sketches. 
 
 January 25, 1843, and Samuel L., born 
 March 4, 1S4S. He continued to work the 
 farm until 1847, when he purchased a small 
 tract of land and erected buildings thereon, 
 where he lived until 1855. 
 
 He was a prominent Democrat, and in 
 1853, was elected County Commissioner. 
 New public buildings were being erected at 
 the county seat, Norristown, about this 
 time, and as he wanted to give the work all 
 his time he removed his family to the scene 
 of operations. Here he was kept very busy 
 during his whole term of office. When he 
 retired from office he located at Airy and De 
 Kalb streets, where he fitted up a grocery 
 store, which he conducted with the help of his 
 eldest son Charles. About this time he was 
 appointed Street and Road Commissioner 
 by the Town Council and served two years 
 in that capacity. In the meanwhile he was 
 made executor of the will of Jacob Teany, 
 a prominent and wealthy citizen of Norris- 
 town, who was an elder in the Central Pres- 
 byterian Church. This estate and other 
 trusts kept him well occupied for several 
 years. When his son Charles died at the 
 tender age of 26 years, he closed out the 
 grocery store. In 1868 he was appointed 
 warden of the county prison by the County 
 Commissioners, and held that responsible 
 post two years. Disease contracted while 
 serving in this office resulted in his death 
 on September 3, 1 876, at the age of 62 years. 
 His widow survived him until June 7, 1882. 
 He was a member of the Norristown Presby- 
 terian Church from childhood, and his wife 
 was a member of the Oak Street Methodist 
 Church, and all of the deceased members 
 of the family are buried in the family lot in 
 the Montgomery Cemetery. 
 
 Samuel L. Cowden, the subject of this 
 sketch, is therefore the only survivor. He 
 was sent to the public schools of Norristown, 
 
 and then to Treemont Seminary. At the 
 age of 15 years he entered his father's 
 grocery store as a clerk, and one year later 
 was apprenticed to learn the plumbing 
 trade. He served an apprenticeship of four 
 years, and on April 1, 1869, he engaged in 
 business on his own account on a small 
 scale on Airy street above De Kalb, Norris- 
 town, where he continued and built up a 
 good trade until 1873. His father purchased 
 the lot 316 De Kalb street, and built a store- 
 room on it, and Samuel formed a partner- 
 ship with S. S. Jones and occupied the new 
 building. In 1879 this partnership was 
 dissolved, Mr. Cowden continuing it for 
 himself. His business kept growing rapidly, 
 and he soon found his building too small 
 for his trade. In 1886 he purchased an 
 addition to his lot and enlarged his build- 
 ing to a three-story mansard. The first 
 story is a large and complete storeroom 
 filled with a splendid stock of goods. The 
 upper floors are fitted up as workshops and 
 are supplied with all the latest improved 
 machinery, making it the most complete 
 and largest plumbing establishment in the 
 county. On March 1, 1890, Mr. Cowden 
 formed a co-partnership with W. I. Zimmer- 
 man, who had been faithful in his employ 
 for seventeen years, under the firm name of 
 Cowden & Zimmerman, and this firm is 
 still intact, doing a splendid business in 
 general plumbing and gas and steam fitting 
 and employing a force of fifteen hands and 
 occupying a three-story brick building 20 x 
 50 feet in dimensions. Mr. Cowden resides 
 at No. 19 East Airy street. He was married 
 on March 9, 1871, to Miss Lydia A., daugh- 
 ter of William and Hannah A. Keiger, of 
 Bridgeport, and they have two children: 
 Charlotte G. and C. Harry. Mrs. Cowden, 
 like her husband, is also descended from 
 Revolutionary stock, her great-grandfather, 
 
graphical Sketches. 
 
 625 
 
 George Keiger, being of German birth and 
 coming to this country in time to help fight 
 for its freedom. The Cowden family were 
 all Presbyterians, though Mrs. Cowden is a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 Mr. Cowden has been a member of the 
 Humane Fire Company for the last twenty- 
 five years, and from 1870 to 1875, he served 
 as a member of the State Militia, enlisting 
 as sergeant and being promoted later on to 
 second lieutenant of Co. A., 16th Regiment. 
 He is a man of fine business tact and highly 
 esteemed in the commuuitv. 
 
 WILLIAM W. RAMSEY, who has 
 been engaged in farming near 
 Abrams for many years, is the eldest son 
 and second child of Samuel and Sarah G. 
 
 (Terrell) Ramsey, and was born , 1847, 
 
 on a farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 
 near the point where the Pennsylvania, 
 Delaware and Maryland State lines join. 
 His paternal grandfather, Isaac Ramsey, 
 was a man of good education for his day, 
 and followed teaching in the old private 
 and subscription schools of his section of 
 the State. He resided at Bridgeport, was a 
 Democrat, and married and reared a family. 
 One of his sons was Samuel Ramsey, the 
 father of the subject of this sketch, and who 
 was born and reared at Bridgeport. He left 
 Bridgeport before he was of age, resided for 
 a time in Upper Merion township, and then 
 removed to the southeastern part of Chester 
 
 Count\', where he followed fanning for some 
 time. He then went to Philadelphia, and 
 was there engaged in butchering up to his 
 
 death, which occurred , 18 — , when 
 
 he was in the sixty-eighth year of his age. 
 He married Sarah G. Terrell, a daughter of 
 
 Terrell, and their family consisted of 
 
 five children, four sons and one daughter: 
 Martha (Mrs. Richard F. Wood), William 
 W., Matthew, Samuel G., and George W. 
 
 William W. Ramsey passed the first six 
 years of his childhood in Chester County, 
 then lived in Philadelphia until he was 
 eighteen years of age, and then came to 
 Upper Merion township, where he has re- 
 sided ever since. He attended a private 
 school in Chester County, the Philadelphia 
 city schools, and the common schools of 
 Upper Merion township, and then was en- 
 gaged in farming with Moses Walker until 
 the death of the latter. He then assumed 
 the management of the Walker farm for the 
 widow and heirs, and has continued therein 
 up to the present time. 
 
 On , 1877, Mr. Ramsey married 
 
 Ellen D. Walker, a daughter of 
 
 Walker, and has a family of three children : 
 Joseph D., Harold A., and Charles X. 
 
 William Walker is a stanch Republican, 
 and served as a member of the school board, 
 while he is now serving in his third con- 
 secutive term as auditor of Upper Merion 
 township. He is a member of Lynwood 
 Lodge, Ancient Order of United Work- 
 men. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 40 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK, 
 who with Generals Anthony Wayne 
 and Philip Henry Sheridan constitute the 
 great trio of American military chieftains 
 distinguished above all others for "fearless 
 courage and desperate energy," was a son 
 of Benjamin F. and Elizabeth Hancock, 
 and was born in Montgomery comity, 
 Pennsylvania, February 14, 1824. He re- 
 ceived his education at Norristown in the 
 academies conducted by Eliphalet Roberts 
 and the celebrated Rev. Samuel Aaron. 
 Leaving school, he received his appoint- 
 ment to the United States Military acad- 
 emy at West Point on July 1, 1840, through 
 Hon. Joseph Fornance, then a member of 
 Congress. He was a cadet with Grant, 
 McClellan, Reynolds, Franklin, Burnside, 
 Reno, and William M. Smith. He was 
 graduated June 30, 1844, and appointed the 
 next day as a second lieutenant in the sixth 
 infantry. He served on the western fron- 
 tier and then went to Mexico. In the bat- 
 tles of San Antonio, Cherubusco, Contre- 
 ras, Molino del Rev, and the assault on the 
 city of Mexico, he displayed conspicuous 
 courage and ability and received his first 
 promotion. From 1848 to 1855 he served 
 with his regiment in the west. He was 
 engaged against the Seminoles, in Florida, 
 and served in Kansas during a portion of 
 the quasi-civil war there. At the outbreak 
 of the late Civil war in 1861, he was at 
 Los Angelos, California, as chief quarter- 
 master of the Southern district. Relieved 
 from duty there, at his own request, he 
 went to Washington and applied for active 
 
 duty in the field. He was assigned to the 
 position of chief quartermaster under Gen- 
 eral Anderson in Kentucky, but before he 
 entered upon his duties he received the 
 commission (September 23, 1861) of a 
 brigadier-general of volunteers. He after- 
 ward joined the Army of the Potomac, and 
 from that time until the close of the war 
 his career forms a notable part of the his- 
 tory of that army. During the winter of 
 1861-62 he commanded a brigade in Vir- 
 ginia. In the spring of 1862 he accompa- 
 nied General McClellan to the Virginia 
 peninsula, and took an important part in 
 the Seven Days' battle near Richmond. 
 For his services there he received several 
 brevets and was recommended by McClel- 
 lan for promotion to major-general, which 
 was made in November, 1862. In the bat- 
 tles of South Mountain, Antietam, Frede- 
 ricksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettys- 
 burg, General Hancock's services were 
 conspicuous; so, also, were his services in 
 Grant's campaigns against Richmond, 
 which resulted in the surrender of Lee at 
 Appomattox. For his services at Gettys- 
 burg (where he was severely wounded) 
 General Hancock received the thanks of 
 Congress. In the winter of 1863-64 he was 
 engaged in the recruiting service in the 
 north, where his great popularity made 
 him very successful. While engaged in 
 the operations against Richmond, he was 
 commissioned a brigadier-general in the 
 regular army on the 12th of August, 1864. 
 In November he was selected to organize 
 the first army corps of veterans. In Febru- 
 
628 
 
 Neckoi.ockai. Record. 
 
 arv, 1865, he was assigned to the command 
 of the Middle military division, and in July 
 to that of the Middle department. In 
 August, 1866, he was transferred to the 
 command of the department of Missouri. 
 lie had relinquished his volunteer commis- 
 sion and been promoted to major-general of 
 the regular army. From September, 1867, 
 until March, 1S68, he was in command of 
 the department of the Gulf. From March, 
 1868, to March, 1869, he commanded the 
 Military division of the Atlantic. From 
 1869 to 1879 he was the supreme com- 
 mander of the Military division of Dakota, 
 and was then again placed in command of 
 the division of the Atlantic, with his head- 
 quarters at Governor's island in the harbor 
 of New York, which position he held until 
 his death, which occurred on the 29th of 
 October, 1885. General Hancock declined 
 the Democratic nomination for governor of 
 Pennsylvania in 1S69, but accepted from 
 the same party the nomination for presi- 
 dent of the United States in 1880, and was 
 defeated at the election in the fall. Gene- 
 ral Hancock was a large, well-proportioned 
 and handsome man. His last conspicuous 
 appearance in public was as marshal at 
 the funeral services at New York city in 
 honor of General Grant. 
 
 The brief account recited but barely 
 sketches an official record of General Han- 
 cock, and space in a work of this nature 
 allows but little more to be added, yet 
 some of the salient points of his character 
 will be noticed and reference made to some 
 of his brilliant battles and their great im- 
 portance in crushing the Confederate army 
 of Northern Yirginia and preserving the 
 imperilled union. General Hancock pos- 
 sessed a wonderful personal magnetism 
 like Sheridan, and like Sheridan could 
 hold his men to an attack where other gen- 
 
 erals would have ordered a retreat to have 
 prevented a disastrous rout. He knew no 
 fear, but carefully planned his movements, 
 and with equal numbers was never defeated 
 or driven back. In the Wilderness cam- 
 paign he commanded as high as fifty thous- 
 and men at a time, and his magnificent 
 storming of the Confederate works at 
 Spottsylvania was the most brilliant 
 achievement of the Army of the Potomac 
 during the year 1864. His prudence, fore- 
 sight, judgment and fearlessness indicated 
 his ability for military leadership, and 
 made him equal to any emergency. His 
 personal bravery on a score of battle fields 
 made him popular with the army and the 
 nation and his splendid generalship was 
 shown at Gettysburg on the first day when 
 he rallied the flying Union troops and in 
 the very face of a fierce attack made such 
 dispositions as to bring success on the two 
 ensuing days. He was also modest and 
 declined to oppose Meade for the command 
 of the Army of the Potomac. 
 
 General Hancock won the first battle in 
 the Peninsular campaign, and selected the 
 ground for the battle field of Gettysburg, 
 where the rebellion reached high-water 
 mark. The dangerous wound he received 
 there prevented him from joining in pur- 
 suit of the Confederate army, and from his 
 usual energy and foresight it is generally 
 believed that he would have given such a 
 vigor to that pursuit that Lee would have 
 found his Appomattox in one of the early- 
 July days of 1S64, upon the banks of the 
 Potomac. At Spottsylvania court house 
 he pierced almost to the heart of Lee's 
 position, and if he had been properly sup- 
 ported, ruin only could have been the fate 
 of the army of Northern Yirginia. From 
 Spottsvlvania to Petersburg he commanded 
 in several desperate charges and repelled 
 
Necrological Record. 
 
 629 
 
 various fierce attacks. After that he won 
 the battles of Deep Bottom, Ream's .Sta- 
 tion and Boydtown Road, and then, of all 
 the brave Union generals beneath ('.rant, 
 Sherman, and Sheridan, he was the one 
 chosen by President Lincoln to organize 
 and command an army of fifty thousand 
 veterans and to succeed Sheridan in the 
 Valley. He soon recruited his army, re- 
 lieved Sheridan, and was preparing to deal 
 a heavy blow, when the golden opportu- 
 nity slipped from his grasp by the deepen- 
 ing of the shadows of Gettysburg into the 
 night of Appomattox. 
 
 From the close of the war until his death 
 in 1885, he was in command of different 
 important military departments of the 
 United States, and everywhere and at all 
 times displayed prudence and discretion, 
 although never lacking firmness in any 
 emergency. Whatever may be said of his 
 celebrated general order No. 40, issued at 
 New Orleans, and however much depre- 
 cated by any one, on account of his refer- 
 ing crimes and offences to the civil tribu- 
 nals then in existence in Louisiana, yet it 
 must be borne in mind that that much dis- 
 cussed document emphatically declared 
 that " armed insurrection or forcible resist- 
 ance to the law will be instantly suppressed 
 by arms." His life is ended and his work 
 is done, but his glory is full-orbed and will 
 never wane while heroism and patriotism 
 are cherished in the land he fought to pre- 
 serve. 
 
 On every page of the history of the Army 
 of the Potomac from the Peninsular cam- 
 paign to the seige of Petersburg, the name 
 of Winfield Scott Hancock appears legible 
 and bright. Soldier, patriot and hero, he 
 occupies a high niche in the American 
 temple of fame, and for energy, bravery, 
 and military ability would have towered 
 
 among the marshals of the mighty Napo- 
 leon or the generals of Alexander the 
 
 Great. 
 
 DAVID RITTENHOUSE PORTER, 
 
 a very distinguished citizen of Montgom- 
 ery county, was one of the ablest public 
 men of Pennsylvania during the period 
 between 1S25 and [840. He was a son of 
 General Andrew Porter, an able and gal- 
 lant officer of Revolutionary fame, and was 
 born in the family mansion near Xorris- 
 town, October 31, 1788. He received his 
 education at the old Norristown academy, 
 and although intended by his father for 
 the bar, a want of health and a desire for a 
 more active and stirring life caused him to 
 remove to Huntingdon county and embark 
 in the iron business. He gained in health, 
 became prominent in business life and was 
 sent in 1821 to the assembly by the Demo- 
 crats of that count}-. In his new sphere of 
 life the qualities that made him prominent 
 in business secured him leadership in poli- 
 tics. At the end of his term he was sent 
 to the State senate and there increased his 
 already marked influence so much that in 
 1838 his party turned to him as the best 
 qualified and most available man to lead 
 them to victory in the gubernatorial con- 
 test. He was elected and at the close of 
 his term re-elected by a majority nearly 
 four times as large as at his first election. 
 No public man ever made a bolder and 
 more judicious fight and won a more de- 
 cided victory against inveterate foes and 
 the gravest of charges than David R. Por- 
 ter. His administration was able and wise 
 and completely refuted the serious cam- 
 paign accusations brought against him. Re- 
 tiring from the gubernatorial chair he re- 
 • sumed the iron business and was among 
 
630 
 
 Necrological Record. 
 
 the first to start anthracite furnaces. He 
 suffered in the financial storm of 1857, but 
 bore his losses manfully. 
 
 Governor Porter left his impress upon 
 the commonwealth of Pennsylvania for 
 good during a period when a man of bold 
 action and shrewd observation — such as he 
 was — could only have been successful as 
 chief executive. During the late Civil war 
 he was an ardent supporter of the Union 
 cause, for which his son, General Horace 
 Porter, fought so bravely. Governor Por- 
 ter passed to rest on August 6, 1867, and 
 his remains lie beneath a beautiful monu- 
 ment in the Harrisburg cemetery. 
 
 GENERAL ANDREW PORTER, a 
 Revolutionary hero and surveyor general 
 of Pennsylvania, was a son of Robert 
 Porter, who came from Ireland in early 
 life and settled in Worcester township. 
 General Porter was born September 24, 
 1743, received a good education and became 
 principal of a mathematical school in Phil- 
 delphia, which he left in 1776 to offer his 
 services to Congress. He was commissioned 
 captain and served in the navy a short time, 
 and then joined Washington's army, being 
 in the battles of Trenton, Princeton and 
 Brandywine. He was promoted major at 
 Valley Forge, and then became colonel of 
 the Fourth Pennsylvania artillerv at the 
 close of the Revolution. He afterwards as- 
 sisted Rittenhouse to ascertain the bound- 
 ary line between Virginia and Pennsylva- 
 nia, and in 1787 ran the boundary line be- 
 tween Pennsylvania and New Vork. These 
 services so ably performed secured him the 
 appointment of surveyor-general of Penn- 
 sylvania, which office he filled from 1809 
 until his death, which occurred in 1813. 
 He served as a brigadier-general and after- 
 
 wards as a major-general in the state mili- 
 tia, and it is said refused the secretaryship 
 of war once tendered him by President 
 Madison. He was the father of Governor 
 David Porter, and his other sons, James M. 
 and George B., became judges and the lat- 
 ter was subsequently governor of Michigan. 
 
 COLONEL ROBERT LOLLER, a 
 prominent citizen of Montgomery county, 
 was born in 1740. He was of Scotch-Irish 
 origin, received a superior education for 
 that day and taught school for some time 
 at Chestnut Hill. He then engaged in 
 surveying and resided at Hatboro until the 
 commencement of the Revolution, and soon 
 afterwards was a member of the conven- 
 tion that framed the constitution of Penn- 
 sylvania. He joined the army under 
 Washington in 1777 and was in the battles 
 of Trenton, Princeton, and Germantowu. 
 He was employed as a paymaster and sur- 
 veyor during the latter part of the Revolu- 
 tion and afterwards served as a member of 
 the assembly, besides holding numerous 
 county offices. He married Mary McClean, 
 a daughter of Richard McClean, and died 
 October 21, 1808. He was a man of some 
 means and made a generous use of his 
 w-ealth. By his will he gave money to 
 Norristown academy, Abingtou Presbyte- 
 rian church and Hatboro library, while 
 $11,000 went to build Loller academy, 
 which received an annual endowment of 
 $283. Hon. N. B. Boileau wrote the epi- 
 taph which was placed on his tombstone 
 and read as follows : " To the memory of 
 Robert Loller, Esq., this stone is dedi- 
 cated. He departed this life October 21st, 
 1808, aged sixty-eight years. In the Amer- 
 ican Revolution he took an early and active 
 part in defending the rights of his country. 
 
Necrological Record. 
 
 631 
 
 As a patriot, soldier, and statesmen he acted 
 with honor and usefulness, and in the prac- 
 tice of every domestic and social virtue was 
 highly exemplary. A literary institution, 
 called by his name, was erected and en- 
 dowed in the village of Hatboro." 
 
 COLONEL THEODORE W. BEAN, 
 an active lawyer and the author of the 
 Montgomery county history, published in 
 1884, was a son of Hon. William and Mary 
 (Weber) Bean, and was born in Norriton 
 township May 14, 1833. James and Mary 
 Bean came from Wales about 1700. Their 
 son John Bean, was the father of Hon. 
 Jesse Bean, who married Hannah Lane and 
 died in 1847. The eldest son of the last 
 named couple was Hon. William Bean, who 
 died in 1855, aged sixty-seven years. He 
 married Mary Weber, whose family went 
 from Bavaria to Holland in the fifteenth 
 century. From Holland in 1697 came 
 Christian Weber, who settled in Worcester 
 township, where his son Christian was 
 born. This Christian, the younger, was 
 the father of John Weber and the grand- 
 father of Mrs. Bean, who lived to be over 
 ' ninety years of age. 
 
 Theodore W. Bean received a common 
 school education, and worked at black- 
 smithing until 1862, when he enlisted in 
 the 17th Pennsylvania cavalry and served 
 in the army of the Potomac until the close 
 of the war, being breveted lieutenant-colo- 
 nel for gallant and distinguished service. 
 He afterwards read law, was admitted to 
 the bar in 1869, and practiced at Norris. 
 town until his death. He was a good law- 
 yer, but had a peculiar taste for historical 
 matters, and the history of this county 
 which he edited in 1S84, is a lasting monu- 
 ment to his memory. 
 
 HON. NATHAN B. BOILEAU, one of 
 
 the most brilliant men that Montgomery 
 county ever produced, and who out- 
 lived the earthly dream of greatness, 
 was a son of Isaac and Rachel (Brittain) 
 Boileau, and was born two miles north of 
 Hatboro, in 1763. Isaac Boileau was the 
 son of a French Huguenot who was driven 
 from France by the revocation of the edict 
 of Nantes. 
 
 N. B. Boileau was a graduate of Princeton 
 college, and for .some ten years afterwards 
 managed his farm, helped Fitch to build 
 one of his model steamboats, and studied 
 closely the political writings of the foun- 
 ders of the Republic. He entered political 
 life in 1797, being elected to the general 
 assembly in that year. He was re-elected 
 seven times and during his last session in 
 1808, was made speaker of the assembly. 
 Leaving the speaker's chair he resigned 
 and was appointed as secretary of the com- 
 monwealth, which office he held for nine 
 years. His name was now brought for- 
 ward as a Democratic candidate for gov- 
 ernor. The legislative caucus chose Find- 
 ley instead of Boileau, and the latter 
 charged Findley with securing the nomi- 
 nation by corrupt means. Following this 
 ill conceived move by openly supporting 
 Findley's opponent, he caused his party to 
 break with him and he was relegated to 
 private life. During his seventeen years of 
 public life, he did much for his county and 
 State, and was on the very highway to na- 
 tional position and national honors, when 
 one impolitic act cut short a splendid po- 
 litical career. His integrity, his honor, his 
 honesty were never questioned. He was 
 patriotic, benevolent and unselfish. " His 
 want of rigid care of property in his old 
 daws was perhaps a weakness, but an ami- 
 cable one, for his wealth lasted nearly as 
 
632 
 
 Xfxrological Record. 
 
 long as he had use for it, and when the 
 summons came he had no idol to bind him 
 to earth as many have." The last public 
 office that he held was that of register of 
 wills, which he held from 1836 to 1839, and 
 it was received by appointment from Gov- 
 ernor Ritner. Mr. Boileau was as singu- 
 larly unfortunate in private as in public 
 life. He was engaged to Charlotte Leech, 
 who died, then married her sister Hester, 
 who lived but two years, and afterwards 
 married the third sister, Ann Leech, who 
 died in 1834. Nathan Brittain Boileau, 
 talented, educated, wealthy and upright, 
 failed at the very threshold of grasping the 
 prize of his life's ambition, but lived for a 
 quarter of a century afterward and passed 
 away March 16, 1850, at eighty-eight years 
 of age. 
 
 HON. JACOB FRY, jr., who served two 
 terms in Congress and modestly earned the 
 title of "honest," was a son of Jacob and 
 Elizabeth Fry, and was born at Trappe, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, June 
 10, 1802. He was a pupil of Francis R. 
 Shunk, afterwards governor of the State, 
 and after receiving a good education, fol- 
 lowed teaching until 1830, when he was 
 appointed prothonotary. Four years later 
 he was nominated and elected to Congress, 
 and was re-elected in 1836. He was popu- 
 lar with his party and respected by the 
 other side of the house, in which he sup- 
 ported the Van Buren idea of no slavery 
 agitation in Congress. From 1838 to 1853 
 he was in the general mercantile business, 
 and then was elected and re-elected to the 
 general assembly, serving two terms. He 
 then, in 1856, was elected auditor-general 
 of Pennsylvania, and served one term. 
 This ended his political career, and six 
 
 years later he died on November 28, 1S66. 
 He was an ardent Lutheran, an upright 
 and honest man, and as a public official, 
 was courteous yet firm, and discharged 
 every duty with scrupulous care. He mar- 
 ried Man - Gross, only daughter of Hon. 
 Samuel Gross, an ex-member of Congress. 
 Mr. Fry, while possessing a vein of dry 
 humor, yet was never sarcastic or bitter. 
 
 REV. JOHN PHILIP BOEHM, the 
 first Reformed minister in the province of 
 Pennsylvania, was a schoolmaster and fore- 
 singer, of the city of Worms, Germany, and 
 came about 1720 to Philadelphia, where he 
 first acted as a reader for the members of 
 the Reformed church living there. He 
 then preached without license or church 
 authority until 1729 when on November 
 29 he was ordained by authority of the 
 Classis of Amsterdam. He labored through- 
 out a large region, and laid the foundation 
 of many Reformed churches. He settled in 
 Whitpain township before 1734, organized 
 the congregation there now T known as 
 Boehm's church, and became very wealthy, 
 owning a large tract of land, slaves and a 
 distillery. He died suddenly on May 1, 
 1749, and his remains lie under a wall of 
 the present Boehm church. 
 
 REV. HENRY E. MUHLENBERG, a 
 German Lutheran minister of talent, 
 piety and extensive literary and scientific 
 acquirements, was a son of Rev. Henry 
 Melchoir and Anna Maria (YVeiser) Muhlen- 
 berg, aud was born at Trappe, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, November 17, 1753. 
 He received his education at the University 
 of Halle, in Germany, was ordained to the 
 Lutheran ministry at twenty years of age, 
 
Nrcro logical Rhcord. 
 
 633 
 
 and served as pastor of a Lutheran church 
 at Lancaster, this State, from 1780 until 
 his death in 1815, at sixty-two years of 
 age. He was an authority on botany, 
 mineralogy and kindred sciences and wrote 
 in Latin several valuable botanical and 
 <reolotrical works. 
 
 DAVID RITTENHOUSE, whose name 
 is world wide as a mathematician and astro- 
 nomer, was a resident of Norriton township 
 from eight years of age until 1770. " Near 
 the banks of the beautiful Wissahickon, in 
 the vicinity of Germautown, four miles 
 from Philadelphia, lived three hermits a 
 century and a half ago ; and near their hid- 
 ing-places from the world's ken, a mile 
 from the old village where the good Count 
 Zinzendorf, the Moravian, labored and re- 
 posed, was the birth-place of one whose 
 name is co-extensive with scientific knowl- 
 edge. It was David Rittenhouse, the emi- 
 nent mathematician, who was born in Rox- 
 borough township, on the 8th of April, 
 1732. His father (Matthias) was a humble 
 farmer, and David was his chief assistant 
 when his life approached young manhood. 
 The geometrical diagrams which disfigured 
 his implements of labor, the barn doors, 
 and the pig-sty, attested the peculiar work- 
 ings of his brain while jet a mere lad. 
 These indications of genius would doubt- 
 less have been disregarded, and his aspira- 
 tion remained unsatisfied had not a feeble 
 body made the abandonment of field labor 
 a stern necessity. David was apprenticed 
 to a clock and mathematical instrument 
 maker, and the pursuit being consonant 
 with his taste, he was eminently successful. 
 Rittenhouse was a sincere student, but on 
 account of his pecuniary wants, he was de- 
 prived, in a great degree, of the most valua- 
 
 ble sources of information, especially con- 
 cerning the progress of science in Europe. 
 While Newton and Liebnitz were warmly 
 disputing for the honor of first discoverer 
 of Fluxions, Rittenhouse, entirely ignorant 
 of what they had clone, became the inventor 
 of that remarkable feature in algebraical 
 analysis." He had his observatory on the 
 eminence above Presbyterian church, where 
 Franklin frequently visited him. About 
 1766, although only known as a clock 
 maker, he constructed for Princeton college, 
 the first orrery ever made in America. In 
 1769 he observed the transit of Venus, and 
 in 1795 he was elected a member of the 
 Royal Society of London. 
 
 On February 20, 1766, David Rittenhouse 
 married Eleanor Coulston, a daughter of 
 Bernard Coulston. 
 
 When Dr. Franklin died, Rittenhouse 
 was chosen president of the American 
 Philosophical society, to fill his place ; and 
 from his own earnings he gave the institu- 
 tion fifteen hundred dollars, on the day of 
 his inauguration. His fame was now world- 
 wide, and many official honors awaited his 
 acceptance. He held the office of treasurer 
 of the State of Pennsylvania, for many 
 years; and in 1792, he was appointed the 
 first director of the Mint. Failing health 
 compelled him to resign that trust in 1795 ; 
 and on the 6th of June, the following year, 
 he died the death of a Christian, at the age 
 of sixty-four years. 
 
 DANIEL H. MULVANY, a distin- 
 guished lawyer and a man of fine intellec- 
 tual endowments and a quick perception of 
 the ideal, was born in Upper Merion town- 
 ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
 November 12, 1809, and died May 18, 1873. 
 He was a son of Thomas and Mary (Hitner) 
 
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Xecrological Record. 
 
 
 that the halo of the Muhlenbergs, who used 
 to breathe patriotism and piety combined 
 in the old Trappe church, was not lost on 
 young Frantz Shunk as he sat in that classic 
 sanctuary. 
 
 Annually, while he lived at Harrisburg, 
 he paid a visit to the scenes of his child- 
 hood, generally being the guest of his life- 
 long friend, Hon. Jacob Fry, Jr. At snch 
 times he loved to visit among his old ac- 
 quaintances, without any regard to rank or 
 par: gentleman, who was a small boy 
 
 then, gives the following characterization, 
 showing his utter lowliness of mind and en- 
 during friendship for old acquaintances. He 
 says : "I was but a mere lad at that time, 
 but well remember his tall and noble form 
 and pleasant face. His child-like simpl: c 
 and goodness of heart were conspicuous. 
 His delight was to visit the older abodes of 
 the older villagers of Trappe, no ma: 
 how humble their lot, and talk with them 
 of 've olden time.' " 
 
 University of Pennsylvania, and was a law- 
 yer of ability and success. He 
 Xorristov. -5. was general agent for 
 
 >h claims in America for several years 
 under the sixth article of Jay's treaty and 
 died at his mar. _ar Philadelphia, 
 
 March 12, 1821. His remains rest t 
 side of those of his father in Laure" 
 eemetery. Two sons survived him. Wil- 
 liam R. and Richard Penn, the forr 
 historian of Wisconsin, and the latter, a 
 
 By man of note at the commencement 
 of the present century. 
 
 WILLIAM MOORE SMITH, who has 
 the honor of first laying on: 
 the town of " Xorris" into streets and 1 
 was a son of Rev. Dr. William Smith, of 
 the University of Pennsylvania, and was 
 born in Philadelphia June 1, 1759 Dr. 
 Smith was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and 
 graduated from the L'niversity of Aberdeen. 
 He came to Philadelphia in 175 And was 
 provost of the L'niversity of Pennsylvania 
 and pastor of an Episcopal church for many 
 He was one of the finest scholars in 
 erica, and married Rebecca Moore, a 
 daughter of William Moore 
 in Chester county, and a descendan: 
 John Moore, of England. 
 
 William Moore Smith, the eldest child of 
 this marriage, received his education in the 
 
 from 1818 to : Congress and voted 
 
 against the admission uri as a - 
 
 State, was born Xovember 10, 1774, and 
 died March 19, 1S44. He lived in L'pper 
 Providence township, was a Democrat of 
 great influence and served as a member of 
 -~sembly from 1805 to 1S10 ; as a mem- 
 ber o: - :e Senate from 1811 to 1814 
 and as a member of Congress from 18 18 to 
 • : : He voted against the admission of 
 Missouri.: S iteunde- 
 and advice of the Per. 
 as did Jonathan Roberts in the Senate. 
 
 X. JOHN B. STERIGER: 
 man of marked chan 
 
 life was earnest and time was precious. 
 He was a son of \ 
 
 - born in ::>wn- 
 
 ship October He rose from ob- 
 
 prominence by his own nr: 
 
 :he truest 
 the word. He serve! 
 of the peace, was a member of 1 mbly 
 
 ed two terms in Con- 
 Democrat. I 
 
6 3 6 
 
 Necrological Record. 
 
 ing Congress he entered upon the practice 
 of law which he pursued ever afterwards. 
 He was a born political leader, served three 
 terms in the State Senate, and failed to se- 
 cure the governorship or a seat in the 
 United States Senate, both of which offices 
 he sought at different times. He was ever 
 faithful to his friends, urged Buehauon's 
 claims to the presidency at all times and in 
 seasons, and was responsible for the inser- 
 tion of the " white voter " in the State con- 
 stitution. No man in Norristown ever did 
 more for the improvement of that place 
 than Mr. Sterigere. His private life was 
 above reproach and public career was clean 
 and honorable. His final summons came 
 on October 13, 1852, and his remains were 
 entombed in Puff's church-yard, where his 
 parents sleep. 
 
 HON. DAVID KRAUSE, LL. D., was 
 the youngest son of Judge David and 
 Regina Krause, and was born at Lebanon, 
 Pennsylvania, November 2, 1800. Judge 
 Krause had served as a captain in the Revo- 
 lution and as a colonel in the War of 1812, 
 was a member of the legislature and after- 
 wards became an associate judge of his na- 
 tive county. He designed his son, David, 
 the subject of this brief sketch, for a farmer, 
 but Rev. Earnest, the boy's tutor, fitted him 
 for another field of labor. David Krause 
 secured an appointment to West Point, but 
 was induced by his parents to resign. He 
 afterwards read law, was admitted to the 
 bar and practiced at Lebanon until 1824. 
 He afterwards served as private secretary to 
 Governor Shulze, was associate State prin- 
 ter with Simon Cameron and served two 
 terms as a member of the assembly from 
 Dauphin county, voting for free schools, 
 public improvements and a State bank. In 
 
 1845, without solicitation on his part, he 
 was appointed as judge of Bucks and Mont- 
 gomery counties, which position he held 
 until 1851. He was popular but declined 
 an election, and when Lee invaded Penn- 
 sylvania in 1862, served as a private in 
 an emergency company. Respected, hon- 
 ored and esteemed, he died at Norristown 
 June 13, 1S71, and his remains were intened 
 in Montgomery cemetery. 
 
 GENERAL ARTHUR ST. CLAIR, 
 a citizen, property holder and temporary 
 resident of Pottstowu from 1779 to 1797, 
 was a conspicuous character in the Revo- 
 lutionary history of the American republic, 
 and although a brave military leader, 
 failed in winning that fame to which 
 his talents and courage entitled him. 
 General Arthur St. Clair, president of the 
 Continental Congress in 1787, commander- 
 in-chief of the armies of the United States 
 in 1 791 and governor of the Northwestern 
 Territory from 1788 to 1802, was born at 
 Thurso Castle, County Caithness, Scotland, 
 in 1734. He was a son of Willam St. Clair, 
 who was of the same stock as the then Earl 
 of Caithness, from a common ancestry. The 
 St.Clairs of Scotland are descended from 
 Walderne de St. Clair, a Norman knight 
 who married Margaret, daughter of Richard, 
 Duke of Normandy. Their second son, 
 William de St. Clair, settled in Scotland. 
 Of his descendants, one became Earl of 
 Orkney, which title the St. Clairs ex- 
 changed in 147 1 for the earldom of Caith- 
 ness, which they still hold under the An- 
 glicised name of Sinclair. 
 
 Gen. St. Clair was educated at the Uni- 
 versity of Edinburgh and removed to Lon- 
 don to study medicine under the celebrated 
 Dr. William Hunter. War breaking out 
 
Nkcrological Record. 
 
 6 37 
 
 between England and France, he purchased 
 an ensign's commission and served under 
 Wolfe in his campaign against Quebec in 
 1759. After peace he resigned his com- 
 mission as lieutenant, resided for some time 
 at Boston and Philadelphia and in 1765 was 
 placed in command of Fort Eigonier in 
 western Pennsylvania, by General Gage, to 
 whom he was related. He took up large 
 bodies of land in the Ligonier valley, was 
 made prothonotary of Bedford county, Penn- 
 sylvania, in 1781, and two years later was 
 largely instrumental in securing the erec- 
 tion of Westmoreland county. As pro- 
 thonotary and justice of the peace of the 
 new county, he successfully resisted the 
 claims of Virginia to the territory. When 
 the Revolution came he cast in his fortunes 
 with the colonies. He inspired the Hanas- 
 town Declaration of Independence in 1775, 
 perfected the Associators and was commis- 
 sioned colonel by congress. He raised a 
 regiment, fought in Canada under Mont- 
 gomery and Arnold and was promoted to 
 brigadier-general. At Trenton and Prince- 
 ton he behaved with great skill and bravery 
 and was commissioned a major-general. He 
 was placed in command of Ticonderoga in 
 1777 but was compelled to abandon it and 
 retreat with a disastrous loss of men and 
 munitions. A military court of inquiry ac- 
 quitted him of all blame. While suspended 
 from command he fought as a volunteer at 
 Brandywine and was with the army at Val- 
 ley Forge. He succeeded Arnold in com- 
 mand of West Point, and was a member of 
 the commission which sentenced Major 
 Andre to death. After the capture of York- 
 town he proceeded with a body of troops to 
 join General Greene in the South, and on 
 his way he drove the British from Wilming- 
 ton, North Carolina. In 1783 he became a 
 member of the Executive Council of Penn- 
 
 sylvania, was elected to congress and served 
 as president of that body during 1 787. Upon 
 the erection of the Northwestern Territory 
 in 1788 he was appointed governor and 
 faithfully served as such for fourteen years. 
 In 1790 he ran as the Federal candidate for 
 governor of Pennsylvania and received 
 two thousand eight hundred and two votes, 
 while his successful Democratic opponent, 
 Thomas Mifflin had twenty-seven thousand 
 seven hundred and twenty-five votes.. 
 
 General St. Clair commanded an army of 
 two thousand men which was sent against 
 the Miami Indians in 1791, and on No- 
 vember 4th of that year he was defeated 
 with a loss of nearly seven hundred men. 
 He was suffering from a fever, yet bore him- 
 self bravely in the thickest of the battle. 
 The public was severe and unjust in its cen- 
 sure, but a committee appointed by congress 
 acquitted him of all blame. When he re- 
 tired from public life in 1802, he was an old 
 man and almost ruined in fortune. He re- 
 turned about that time to his farm, two 
 miles northwest of Ljgnonier, Westmore- 
 land county. He owned ten thousand 
 eight hundred and eighty-one acres of land 
 in western Pennsylvania. General St. Clair 
 advanced several thousand dollars to pay 
 the expenses of the Pennsylvania line in 
 the Revolutionary war, which sum the gov- 
 ernment refused to pay him because he al- 
 lowed the statute of limitations to cut out 
 his claim. He also advanced $8,000 to pay 
 Indian claims against the government and 
 furnished $7,042 to help to fit out the ex- 
 pedition of 1791. These sums which he 
 had borrowed the United States also refused 
 to pay and his property was taken at half 
 its value by his greedy creditors who also 
 attached every dollar of the pitiful pension 
 granted him by congress in 1818. His last 
 days were ones of penury and want and he 
 
6 3 8 
 
 Necrological Record. 
 
 kept a tavern in a log cabin on the summit 
 of Chestnut ridge until his death on August 
 31, 1818. He was a Mason and his remains 
 were interred at Greensburg, this State, by 
 the Masonic fraternity, who erected in 1832, 
 a monument over his dust, on which is 
 inscribed this appropriate inscription, "The 
 earthly remains of General Arthur St. Clair 
 are deposited beneath this humble monu- 
 ment, which is erected to supply the place 
 of a nobler one due from his country. He 
 died August 31, 1818, in the eighty-fourth 
 year of his age." 
 
 JAMES WINNARD SHRACK, was a 
 son of Lewis and Phoebe (Griffith) Shrack, 
 and was born in Norristown, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, January 25, 1813. 
 Lewis Shrack was descended from Jacob 
 Shrack, who came in 1717 from Germany, 
 and bought and settled on a two hundred 
 and fifty acre tract of land at Trappe, and 
 died in 1742, at sixty-three years of age. 
 Lewis Shrack was the well-known proprie- 
 tor of the Norristown and Philadelphia 
 stage line in early times, and his wife was 
 of Welsh parentage and descent. 
 
 James W. Shrack attended the Norris- 
 town academy, and was trained to mercan- 
 tile life in the store of his brother-in-law, 
 John Bean. In 1836 he became the junior 
 member in the firm of Bean & Shrack, and 
 nine years later commenced the dry goods 
 business alone at the northwest corner of 
 Main and DeKalb streets, which he con- 
 ducted up to 1854, when he associated A. 
 A. Yeakle wtth him under the firm name 
 of Shrack & Yeakle. This last firm con- 
 tinued until Mr. Shrack's death in 1876. 
 
 On January 13, 1835, Mr. Shrack married 
 Lydia Setzler, a daughter of Frederick 
 Setzler, of Lawrenceville, Chester county, 
 
 and to their union were born eight chil- 
 dren. 
 
 James W. Shrack was a man of great 
 business energy and activity, and at the 
 time of his death was the oldest merchant 
 of Norristown. He was a member and 
 senior warden of St. John's Episcopal church 
 and as deputy, represented the parish in 
 the diocesan convention. He often in- 
 dulged his kindness of heart and generosity 
 beyond his financial means. He was quick 
 to observe and condemn wrong, but as 
 ready to forgive. He was devoted to his 
 home and family. He was of medium 
 height, light complexion and of good per- 
 sonal appearance. He died at his hand- 
 some residence on Airy street, opposite St. 
 John's church, on March 22, 1876, and his 
 remains were interred in Montgomery 
 cemetery. One who knew him well wrote 
 in the Episcopal Recorder : "We have lost 
 a friend and supporter of every good work 
 and enterprise having for its object the 
 preservation and spread of the true gospel of 
 the word of God. As a member of the 
 Protestant Episcopal church, Mr. Shrack 
 was earnest, zealous and heartilv in sym- 
 pathy with the movements which the Evan- 
 gelical portion made to preserve it from in- 
 novations and teachings not in hannonv 
 with its traditions as a Protestant body." 
 
 HON. BIRD WILSON, D. D., LL. D., 
 
 whose kindness of heart induced him to 
 resign his seat on the bench before he 
 would sentence a murderer to death, was a 
 son of Hon. James Wilson, and was born at 
 Carlisle, this State, January 8, 1777. Hon. 
 James Wilson was born near St Andrews, 
 Scotland, in 1742, and came to Philadel- 
 phia in 1766. He was a lawyer and was 
 one of the signers of the immortal Declara- 
 
Necrological Record. 
 
 639 
 
 tion of Independence. His son, Hon. Bird 
 Wilson, received his education at the Uni- 
 versity of Pennsylvania, read law and was 
 admitted to the bar in 1797. He was ap- 
 pointed president judge of the seventh judi- 
 cial circuit in 1806, and served until 1818, 
 when he resigned. He then studied for the 
 ministry of the Episcopal church and served 
 as a rector until 182 1 of St John's and St 
 Thomas' churches. In 1821 he removed to 
 New York where he was a professor for 
 many years in the General Theological 
 seminary. He never married, and died 
 April 14, 1859. Dr. Wilson was very kind 
 of heart and provided for several years for 
 his younger brothers and sisters. 
 
 HON. JONATHAN ROBERTS, the 
 most distinguished man in political life 
 that Montgomery county ever produced, 
 was a son of Jonathan Roberts, and was 
 born at Swamp Vrass farm, Upper Merion 
 township, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, August 16, 1771. John Roberts, a 
 millwright, from North Wales, settled in 
 Lower Merion township, in 1682. At sixty 
 years of age he married Elizabeth Owen, a 
 girl of eighteen years, and Matthew, the 
 youngest of their three children, was a 
 blacksmith and the owner of Swamp Vrass, 
 and wedded Sarah Walter, by whom he 
 had five children. Jonathan Roberts, the 
 eldest of these children, received a good 
 education and served as a member of the 
 Colonial Assembly from 1771 to 1775, but 
 being a Quaker when the Revolution came 
 he retired from public service. He took a 
 prominent part in organizing Montgomery 
 county, served as a member of Congress 
 and died at eighty-two years of age. 
 
 Hon. Jonathan Roberts left school at six- 
 teen years of age and learned the trade of 
 
 wheelwright, which he never followed, but 
 gave his time for several years to farming, 
 reading and self study. He served with 
 credit in the Assembly and ability in the 
 State Senate, and in 1810 was elected to 
 Congress, where he served with distinction 
 for two terms. At the end of that time, in 
 18 14, he was elected to the United States 
 Senate, in which he served from 1815 to 
 1821 with marked ability, and opposed the 
 introduction of slavery in Missouri, made a 
 speech still quoted for its eloquence and 
 logic and clear exposition of the slavery 
 question. While in Congress he supported 
 Madison in his war policy and thus lost his 
 membership in the Society of Friends. In 
 1823 he was elected to the Pennsylvania 
 legislature, where almost single handed he 
 opposed Jackson's endorsement for Presi- 
 dent by the legislation. After that he 
 served on the canal board for a time, and 
 in 1839 was instrumental in nominating 
 John Tyler for Vice President, who, after 
 becoming President, appointed Senator 
 Roberts as collector of customs for the port 
 of Philadelphia, and then removed him be- 
 cause he would not allow the custom house 
 force to be corruptly manipulated in the 
 interests of Tyler's efforts for a presidential 
 nomination. He then retired from public 
 life and died July 21, i s 55, aged seventy- 
 one years. He married Eliza H. P.ushby, 
 ot Washington city, who survived him for 
 nearly eleven years. He was a close stu- 
 dent and hard worker during his entire life- 
 time, believing that habits of industry con- 
 stituted the foundation of personal and po- 
 litical independence. He advocated inter- 
 nal improvements, believed in protection 
 for home industries and opposed the insti- 
 tution of slavery. He lived a life worthy 
 of imitation, and passed from the cradle to 
 the grave without a blot on his name. 
 
640 
 
 Necrologicae Record. 
 
 REV. GEORGE MICHAEL WEISS, 
 one of the four ministers who organized on 
 October 12, 1746, the First Reformed Synod 
 (German) in America, was a native of the 
 Palatinate, on the Rhine, in Germany, 
 and was sent to this country by the upper 
 consistory or classis of the Palatinate. He 
 came with a number of people as their pas- 
 tor, and settled at Skippack, this county, 
 where they built a wooden church and or- 
 ganized one of the first regular German con- 
 gregations in Pennsylvania. Rev. Weiss 
 was a fine Latin scholar, and a man of 
 energy and did much to build up the Re- 
 formed church. He served churches in 
 New York and Pennsylvania, and died at 
 Goshenhoppen in 1763. He had acquired 
 considerable wealth, owning Green Lane 
 iron works, a large tract of land and twenty 
 slaves at the time of his death. 
 
 REV. SAMUEL AARON, A. M., was 
 the most distinguished teacher and min- 
 ister of Montgomery county. On his 
 tombstone his parishioners inscribed the 
 sentence : " Honored as a minister, be- 
 loved as a friend, revered as a teacher of 
 youth, he is mourned as the guide and com- 
 fort of many." He was a son of Moses and 
 Hannah Aaron, and was born in New Brit- 
 ain township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, 
 October 19, 1800. He was of Welsh-Irish 
 descent, received his education in Dubois' 
 Doylestown academy and Gummere's Math- 
 ematical school, and then engaged in teach- 
 ing. He was ordained to the Baptist min- 
 istry in 1829, and spent the remainder of 
 his life as a minister and teacher. His 
 ministerial career was three years at New 
 Britain, five at Burlington, New Jersey, 
 three at Norristown, and six at Mt. Holly, 
 New Jersey. He taught for forty-five years 
 
 and most of the time was principal of Tree- 
 mount seminary, of which he was principal 
 from 1851 to 1857, and from whose walls 
 during that period went forth General Han- 
 cock and Hartranft and scores of those who 
 afterwards became distinguished in military 
 and civil life Endorsing for friends who 
 failed in the panic of 1857, he was com- 
 pelled to leave Norristown and remove to 
 Mt. Holly, New Jersey, where he followed 
 preaching and teaching nearly up to the 
 time of his death, on April 11, 1865. 
 
 In 1824 Mr. Aaron married Emilia Du- 
 bois, eldest daughter of Rev. Uriah Dubois, 
 of Doylestown, this State. 
 
 As a minister Samuel Aaron was able 
 and eloquent, and after convincing the 
 judgment made impassioned appeals to the 
 feelings. He held non-resistent views, was 
 a champion of temperance and anti -slavery, 
 and took part in the Republican convention 
 that nominated Fremont for President. He 
 received his degree of A. M. from Brown 
 University, and through Treemount semi- 
 nary, made a lasting impression on the his- 
 tory of Montgomery county and the eastern 
 part of the State. Rev. Samuel Aaron was 
 of average height, stout build, florid com- 
 plexion, and light hair, with a small eye 
 but prodigious forehead, indicative of his 
 great intellectual force and strength. After 
 his death, John G. Whittier, Wendell 
 Phillips and others of national reputation 
 wrote sympathizing letters to his bereaved 
 family. 
 
 FREDERICK A. MUHLENBERG, 
 eminent as the first speaker of the house 
 of representatives of the United States, 
 was the second son of Rev. Henry 
 Melchoirand Anna Maria (Weiser) Muhlen- 
 berg, and was born at Trappe, Montgomery 
 
Necrological Record. 
 
 641 
 
 county, Pennsylvania, June 2, 1750. He- 
 was educated at the University of Halle, and 
 settled over a Lutheran church in New 
 York city, but left it when the British en- 
 tered the place and like his brother, Gen- 
 eral Peter, never returned to the ministry. 
 He served in the State assembly in 1779, 
 was one of the first judges of Montgomery 
 county, which he also served as register and 
 recorder from 1 7S4 to 1 7X0. and served four 
 terms as a member of congress. He had 
 also been a member of the Continental con- 
 gress for two terms, and ran for governor in 
 1793 and again in 1796, but was defeated 
 each time. He died in 1802, when holding 
 the office of receiver general of the Penn- 
 sylvania land office. 
 
 LUCRETIA (COFFIN) MOTT, who 
 for several years was a resident of Chel- 
 tenham township, Montgomery county, 
 was one of the most remarkable women 
 this country ever produced. " Truth for 
 authority, not authority for truth " was the 
 form of a favorite aphorism which Lucretia 
 Mott wrote in a fair, round hand on the 
 back of a photographed portrait when she- 
 was eighty-six years of age. By the prin- 
 ciple formulated in this aphorism the 
 career of this noble woman was always 
 governed. It was a predominating ele- 
 ment in her character. It was the light 
 she followed : the inspirer of her courage 
 to walk fearlessly in the path of duty pre- 
 scribed by the light within — the con- 
 science — Emmanuel, God with us. Her 
 name was a synonym for a rare combina- 
 tion of Christian graces. Hers was a 
 strong, sweet, and noble soul, ever guided 
 by unswerving loyalty to truth and right- 
 eousness. Lucretia Mott was a descendant 
 of one of the earliest settlers on Nantucket, 
 
 41 
 
 where she was born on the 3d of January, 
 1793. Her parents removed to Boston, 
 and when she was thirteen years oJ age, 
 she was sent to the " Nine Partners " 
 boarding school, an institution established 
 by the Friends, in Duchess county, New 
 York, a few years before. There she was 
 under the instruction of Deborah Rodgers 
 (afterwards Mrs. Jacob Willetts), who died 
 in 1879 at tnc a S e "'" ; ibovc ninety years. 
 During her absence at that time her par- 
 ents removed to Philadelphia. She re- 
 turned home and two years later, in 1812, 
 married James Mott, a young merchant 
 and a Ouake-r. At twenty-five years of age- 
 she became a minister and extended her 
 labors from Virginia to Massachusetts. She- 
 battled against war, intemperance and 
 slavery, and in 1827 joined the Hicksite 
 branch of her church. She took an active 
 part in the organization of the American 
 Anti-Slavery society at Philadelphia in 
 1833, and was sent in 1840 to the World's 
 Anti-Slavery convention at London, where 
 she was refused a seat because she was a 
 woman, but astonished many of the dele- 
 gates by speaking at a breakfast to which 
 they were invited. She believed in 
 woman's right to the ballot. As a minis- 
 ter or speaker, she spoke- to the heart and 
 judgment, and was a model of purity, ele- 
 gance and force. 
 
 Mrs. Mott died on November n, 1880, 
 at her home in Philadelphia. Husband 
 and children had departed before, but no 
 funeral gloom shadowed her spirit, for she- 
 was in sympathy with all sufferers, and a 
 bright, beckoning hope always made her 
 cheerful. The atmosphere of her home 
 was almost ideal in its peace and harmony. 
 She leaned trustingly upon her husband as 
 the stronger being. His was a nature sim- 
 ilar to her own, but he- was a very silent 
 
642 
 
 Nkcro logical Record. 
 
 man. She was fond of bright things, and 
 had a piano, paintings, and warm colors in 
 the carpets and curtains of her home. Mrs. 
 Mott was of small stature and figure, and 
 her face had the charm of delicate and reg- 
 ular features, combined with great strength 
 of character. Her eyes were very bright, 
 and expressive of great intelligence, ap- 
 pearing gray ordinarily, but when ani- 
 mated in conversation or by some strong 
 emotion, their color deepened and appeared 
 almost black. 
 
 CHARLES THOMSON, who was so 
 prominent as secretary of the Continental 
 Congress during its entire existence, was a 
 resident of Montgomery count) - for many 
 years. Of him Lossing says : 
 
 " Of all the patriots of the Revolution, 
 no man was better acquainted with the men 
 and events of that struggle, than Charles 
 Thomson, who was the permanent secre- 
 tary of the Continental Congress for more 
 than fifteen years. He was born in Ireland 
 in 1730, and at the age of eleven years was 
 brought to America in company with three 
 older brothers. Their father died from the 
 effects of sea-sickness, when within sight of 
 the capes of the Delaware. They landed at 
 New Castle, in Delaware, and had no other 
 capital with which to commence life in the 
 new world, than strong and willing hands, 
 and honest hearts. Charles was educated 
 at New London, in Pennsylvania, by Dr. 
 Allison, and became a teacher in the 
 Friends' academy, at New Castle. He went 
 to Philadelphia, where he enjoyed the 
 friendship of Dr. Franklin and other emi- 
 nent men. In 1756 he was secretary for 
 the Delaware Indians, at a great council 
 held with the white people, at Easton ; and 
 that tribe adopted him as. a son, according 
 
 to an ancient custom. With all the zeal of 
 an ardent nature, Thomson espoused the 
 republican cause ; and when the first Con- 
 tinental Congress met, in Philadelphia, in 
 September, 1774, he was called to the re- 
 sponsible duty of secretary to that body. 
 At about that time he married Hannah 
 Harrison (the aunt of President Harrison), 
 whose brother, Benjamin, was one of the 
 signers of the Declaration of Independence. 
 Year after year, Mr. Thomson kept the rec- 
 ords of the proceedings of Congress, until 
 the new organization of the government 
 under the Federal Constitution, in 1789. 
 But the demands of public business did not 
 wean him from books, of which he was a 
 great lover. He had a passion for the study 
 of Greek authors, and actually translated 
 the Septuagint from the original into the 
 English. He made copious notes of the 
 progress of the Revolution, and after retir- 
 ing from public life, in 1789, he prepared a 
 history of his own times. But his sense of 
 justice and goodness of heart, would not 
 permit him to publish it ; and a short time 
 before he died, he destroyed the manuscript. 
 He gave as a reason, that he was unwilling 
 to blast the reputation of families rising 
 into repute, whose progenitors were proved 
 to be unworthy of the friendship of good 
 men, because of their bad conduct during 
 the war. So the world has lost the most 
 authentic civil history of the struggle for 
 independence, ever produced. Mr. Thom- 
 son died on the 16th of August, 1824, when 
 in the ninety-fifth year of his age. He then 
 resided at Lower Merion, Montgomery 
 county, Pennsylvania, where he was buried. 
 In 1838, his nephew removed his remains 
 to Laurel Hill cemetery, over which is a 
 handsome monument, bearing an appropri- 
 ate inscription, composed by John F. Wat- 
 son, Esq., the annalist." 
 
Necrological Record. 
 
 643 
 
 REV. HENRY M. MUHLENBERG, 
 
 who is known as the founder of the Evan- 
 gelical church in America, was born at 
 Eimbeek, in Hanover, Germany, in Sep 
 tember, 171 1. He received his education 
 in the famous universities of Gottingen and 
 Halle, was graduated from the theological 
 school of the former in 1735, and after being 
 ordained, felt the necessity of there being 
 a regularly educated Lutheran ministry in 
 America. He came to Philadelphia in 
 1743, and commenced organizing churches 
 and building houses of worship for existing 
 congregations. The next year he came to 
 Trappe, where he died October 6, 1787, after 
 having broken the bread of life to the Ger- 
 man Lutherans of Pennsylvania in their 
 mother tongue for nearly half a century. 
 He succeeded in placing the American 
 Lutheran church on a firm foundation and 
 giving to her a regularly educated min- 
 istry. 
 
 Rev. Muhlenberg married Anna Maria 
 Weiser, a daughter of the celebrated Indian 
 interpreter, Conrad Weiser. Their children 
 were : General Peter, Hon. Frederick A., 
 Rev. Henry E., Mary, wife of General 
 Francis Swayne ; one daughter that mar- 
 ried Rev. John Shultz, was the mother of 
 Governor Shultz ; and two other daughters 
 whose names cannot be secured at this 
 writing. 
 
 MAJ.-GENERAL THOMAS CRAIG, 
 of the Seventh division of Pennsylvania, 
 was the first associate judge of Montgom- 
 ery county. He was a sou of Thomas 
 Craig, who came to Ireland in 1728, and 
 was born in 1740, in the Irish or Craig 
 settlement, which was four miles from 
 Path. He served in the Revolutionary 
 war, was promoted from captain to colonel, 
 
 and commanded the Third Pennsylvania 
 regiment from 1777 n> 17S1. He served 
 under St. Clair and afterwards with Wash- 
 ington. He resided in Montgomery county 
 
 for several years, and held different county 
 offices. He afterwards returned to North- 
 ampton county, was elected major-general 
 of the Seventh division of Pennsylvania 
 militia, and died in 1832, at the ripe age of 
 ninety-two vears. 
 
 NICHOLAS SCULL, surveyor general 
 of the province of Pennsylvania, from June 
 14, 1748, to the time of his death in No- 
 vember, 1 761, was the eldest son of Nicho- 
 las and May Scull, who settled in White- 
 marsh township in 1685. Nicholas Scull, 
 the younger, was born in Whitemarsh 
 township, and became one of the best sur- 
 veyers of his day. He received a good 
 education, was a fine Indian interpreter, 
 and in 1708 married Abigail Heap, who 
 died in 1753 at sixty-five years of age. He 
 served as sheriff of Philadelphia county 
 and as surveyor general, and his maps of 
 Philadelphia and Pennsylvania and Mary- 
 land surpassed all previous ones for correct- 
 ness and neatness. 
 
 GENERAL PETER MUHLENBERG, 
 one of the two distinguished Pennsylva- 
 nians who were awarded statues in the 
 Federal capitol at Washington city, is elo- 
 quently described by the historian, Lossing, 
 as follows: " Spiritual and temporal war- 
 fare was the lot of many gospel ministers 
 during the War for Independence. Of 
 those who wielded weapons manfully in 
 both fields of conflict, was John Peter 
 Gabriel Muhlenberg, who generally wrote 
 his name with the John and Gabriel 
 
6 4 4 
 
 Necrological Rkcord. 
 
 omitted. He was a native of Trappe, a 
 village in Montgomery county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, where he was born on the ist of Octo- 
 ber, 1746. He was the son of Dr. Melchoir 
 Muhlenberg (the founder of the Lutheran 
 church in America) and the daughter of 
 Conrad Weiser, the great Pennsylvania 
 Indian agent. Peter was educated for the 
 ministry, partly in this country, and partly 
 in Europe. He was ordained in 1768, and 
 commenced his pastoral labors in western 
 New Jersey the following year. He was 
 called to the charge of a congregation in 
 Virginia in 1771, and it being necessary to 
 obtain ordination from an English bishop, 
 before he could enter upon his duties there, 
 he went to London for the purpose at the 
 beginning of the following year. He and 
 Mr. (afterward Bishop) White were ordained 
 at the same time. On his return, he be- 
 came minister of the parish of Woodstock, 
 Virginia, and was soon an acknowledged 
 leading spirit of that section among those 
 who opposed British aggressions. He was 
 chairman of the committee of safety in 
 that county in 1774, and was elected to a 
 seat in the House of Burgesses. At the 
 close of 1775, he was appointed colonel of 
 a Virginia regiment, and relinquished his 
 pastoral duties. In concluding his fare- 
 well sermon, he cpioted the language of 
 Holy Writ which declares that there is a 
 "time for all things," and added, with a 
 trumpet voice, " there is a time to fight, 
 and that time has now come ! " Then lay- 
 ing aside his gown, he stood before his 
 flock in the full uniform of a Virginia 
 colonel. He then ordered the drums to be 
 
 beaten at the church door for recruits, and 
 almost three hundred men, chiefly of his 
 congregation, were enrolled under his ban- 
 ner that day. He joined the army and was 
 in the battle at Charleston in June, 1776. 
 Congress commissioned him a brigadier in 
 February, 1777, and he was ordered to take 
 charge of all the Virginia Continental 
 troops. He joined the army under Wash- 
 ington at Middlebrook in May, and was 
 with the chief in all his movements from 
 that time until 1779 — Brandywine, Ger- 
 mantown, White Marsh, Valley Forge, and 
 Monmouth. He was with Wayne at the 
 capture ot Stony Point, in July, 1779, and 
 was very active afterward in Virginia until 
 the capture of Cornwallis in the autumn 
 of 1 781. He was a brave participator in 
 that last great battle of the Revolution. 
 At the close of the war he was promoted 
 to major-general, and removed to Pennsyl- 
 vania. He never resumed his ministerial 
 labors, but served his native State in several 
 civil offices. He was a member of the first 
 and third Congress after the organization 
 of the Federal government, and was also a 
 United States Senator in 1801. He was 
 appointed supervisor of the revenue of 
 Pennsylvania the same year ; and in 1802 
 he was made collector of the port of Phila- 
 delphia. In that office he remained until 
 his death, which occurred at his country 
 seat, near Philadelphia, on the ist of Octo- 
 ber, 1807, when he was precisely sixty-one 
 years of age. His remains lie buried in 
 the burial ground at Trappe, near the 
 church wherein he was baptized." 
 
INDEX 
 
 I'll face •? 
 
 Historical Sketch 5 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Boundaries and Area 5 
 
 Topography and Geology 6 
 
 Mineralogy 7 
 
 Botany 8 
 
 Zoology 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Pre-Historic Inhabitation 10 
 
 Mound Builders 11 
 
 Indian Tribes 11 
 
 Indian Purchases 11 
 
 Pioneer Races 12 
 
 Development Periods 14 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Iron Manufacture iS 
 
 Textile Fabrics 18 
 
 Paper and Minor Industries . 19 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Schools and Colleges 20 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Judicial Districts, etc 21 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Medical Profession 25 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Religious Denominations 29 
 
646 
 
 Index. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Newspapers 31 
 
 Political Statistics . . . 32 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Military History 38 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Miscellany 43 
 
 Biographical Sketches 49 
 
 Abraham, Benjamin T> 235 
 
 Adle, Thaddeus S 222 
 
 Anders, Rev. William S 77 
 
 Alberlson, Amos L 146 
 
 Abraham, James 302 
 
 Alderfer, George D 307 
 
 Autenrieth, George Adam 332 
 
 Ancheubach, William 93 
 
 Adams, B. Brook 42S 
 
 Althonse, Daniel S 433 
 
 Arnold, Herbert A., M. D 480 
 
 Abraham, Thomas D 4S3 
 
 Auchv, Lewis 494 
 
 Allcbach, J. R 498 
 
 Anders, Samuel K 513 
 
 B 
 
 Beeber, Rev. Thomas R, D. D 55 
 
 Becker, John James . 105 
 
 Borneman, Noah S 104 
 
 Bickel, Ephraim B 120 
 
 Brandt, Harvey Schaffer 137 
 
 Boyer, J. Frank 163 
 
 Bier, Dr. John R 1S3 
 
 Britt, Edward F 201 
 
 Burr, J. Rufns 205 
 
 Brown, Hon. Henry Richie 207 
 
 Buck, William 11 215 
 
 Bromer, William ... 413 
 
 Butcher, Thomas J 2S6 
 
 Bobb, Dr. Henry 2S7 
 
 Bardman, Irvin H 294 
 
 Bean, John F ^30 
 
 Barili, Eurico 334 
 
 Binder, William J, 377 
 
 Brower, Daniel Roberts, M. D 3S0 
 
 Boyer, Hon. Henry K 89 
 
 Brandt, Joseph Henry 403 
 
 Bickhart, James 411 
 
 Brown, Ezra H. . . 427 
 
 Beidler, Jacob H 432 
 
 Brownback, Henry M 436 
 
 Bcchtel, Joseph Y., M. D 441 
 
 Boyd, Hon. James 3S7 
 
 Bair, Christian G 477 
 
 Boyd, Howard 485 
 
 Biddle, Henry C 4S5 
 
 Bate, Richard H 505 
 
 Booth, John 507 
 
 Burgess, Warren S 510 
 
 Bigouy, F. G., M. D 522 
 
 Brunuer, Henry U 527 
 
 Boorse, Ephraim C 532 
 
 Breen, John 535 
 
 Brownback, James 538 
 
 Barker, Thomas II 537 
 
 Buskirk, William II 570 
 
 Blackburn, William C 572 
 
 Buchanon, John S 575 
 
 Brower Family, The 5S5 
 
 Beerer, Franklin T 613 
 
 Brunuer, Prof. Samuel V 616 
 
 Bliem Family, The 620 
 
Ix mix. 
 
 64; 
 
 c 
 
 Cook, Edgar S 98 
 
 Christman, Minard L 111 
 
 Crabtree, Dr. George H 119 
 
 Cressmao, Jesse S 147 
 
 Coleman, George P. ■ 147 
 
 Cooper, William A 171 
 
 Cressman, M. T 1S2 
 
 Coats, Samuel . . . • ■ . . . 200 
 
 Curren, Patrick 212 
 
 Caine, Edward J 21S 
 
 Crankshaw, John H 224 
 
 Childs, S. Powell 261 
 
 Cassel, Abraham Harley 29S 
 
 Craft, J. Watson 334 
 
 Cleaver, Jonathan 339 
 
 Cleaver, William 346 
 
 Clark, William J 359 
 
 Caley, Cyrus H 426- 
 
 Christman, Charles Ira 430 
 
 Chain, B. Percy 442 
 
 Clemmer, James K 385 
 
 Corson, Dr. Hiram . . 392 
 
 Clevenger, William II 469 
 
 Cripps, Ellis C 496 
 
 Cassel, Jonas U 500 
 
 Christian, Henry G. . 531 
 
 Comlv, Hon. F. A 533 
 
 Chillis, Louis M 5S2 
 
 Care, James R., M. D. 615 
 
 D 
 
 Dickinson, II, D , 104 
 
 Davis, Thomas, M. D., 114 
 
 Dresher, Samuel 141 
 
 Davidheiser, Dr. Allen K 157 
 
 DeHaven, J. Rambo 165 
 
 Davis, John, M. I)., iyo 
 
 Dettre, Ambrose, 219 
 
 1 1 anuehower. Win. Franklin, . 232 
 
 Dimmig, A.J 354 
 
 Dodd, Robert J, M. D., 375 
 
 Drake, Howard Henry, M. D 3S5 
 
 Davis, Lewis H., . . 
 Davis, George W., 
 
 Dyer. John T 
 
 I lanibly, Eugene, . . . 
 Detwiler, Dr. Charles II 
 Dreslin, Daniel I)., 
 
 404 
 415 
 435 
 (43 
 504 
 
 567 
 
 I'.rk, William II., M. D 72 
 
 Erb, Milton G ... no 
 
 Evans, Thomas B 180 
 
 Kvans, William Aims 226 
 
 Evans, Jesse Worth 216 
 
 Egolf, Gustavus 245 
 
 Elseuhaus, Edward 290 
 
 Evans, Oliver M 325 
 
 Everhart, Dr. Charles \V 416 
 
 Ellis, William S 510 
 
 Evans, Montgomery 550 
 
 Egolf, G. W 560 
 
 Eisenberg, Philip Y., MI) 604 
 
 Fegeley, Jacob 62 
 
 Finley, William A 107 
 
 Fry, John 191 
 
 Fox, Rev. William B 203 
 
 Finley, John E. . 210 
 
 Fearnside, John 221 
 
 Fisher, John Bisson . 229 
 
 France, Edward William . ■•.... 242 
 
 Fisher, Samuel R . 257 
 
 Fornance, Joseph 2N1 
 
 Famous, James P 2R4 
 
 Fetterolf, Captain Henry II .... 309 
 
 Fritz, Ephraim 322 
 
 Faust, Dr. Jonathan 352 
 
 Eox, Gilbert Rodman . . 87 
 
 Pox, Aaron ... 150 
 
 Faust, Jacob II 344 
 
 Faust, HOD. Samuel 345 
 
 r. iiton, William P. . 471 
 
 Finley, A. V 473 
 
 Faust, Edwin A 571 
 
64 S 
 
 Index. 
 
 Gilbert, Solomon 113 
 
 Gresh, William K .129 
 
 Guldin, Cyrus Q 210 
 
 Griffith, Alexander F 237 
 
 Gable, Jacob H 256 
 
 Gotwals, Professor Joseph K 306 
 
 GrofF, Henry G., M. I) 326 
 
 Graul, Henry W 329 
 
 Griflilh, Joseph K 337 
 
 Geist, Mathias 376 
 
 Gable, Percival K 405 
 
 Gotwalts, Jacob V 440 
 
 Gable, Henry R . . 446 
 
 Gery, Benjamin 194 
 
 Gillingham, Joseph E 4S4 
 
 Griffith, John H 493 
 
 Gerhart, Mahlou J 521 
 
 Gilbert, Elwood G., V. S 556 
 
 Garrett, Philip S . 565 
 
 Gangawer, Morris A 576 
 
 H 
 
 Hoover, Hon. Hiram C ... 63 
 
 Holland, James B., 67 
 
 Hobson, Erank M. 70 
 
 Hunter, Rev. James P., 71 
 
 Heebner, Hon. William P., 73 
 
 Hallman, Albertus 106 
 
 Hurst, James Appleby, 130 
 
 Hillegas, Pr. Jesse Ziegler 135 
 
 Hoover, William A 135 
 
 Hunter, Perry Franklin 13S 
 
 Humbert, George J., 158 
 
 Hendricks, Rev.Joseph H., 1). II 175 
 
 Hides, Joseph M., 1S7 
 
 Hartzell, Samuel J., .... 193 
 
 Haines, Empson K . . . 204 
 
 Hillegas, C. Q., D. P. S 214 
 
 Highley, George N., M. 1> 223 
 
 Harley, Mathias 230 
 
 Hillegas, Mahlou .231 
 
 Hall, Pr. William M., .... . . . 237 
 
 Hiltebeitel, Mark 240 
 
 Hillegas, Pr. John G. 244 
 
 Harley, Professor John K 274 
 
 Houpt, Francis 277 
 
 Herman, Pr Ambrose C 291 
 
 Himmelwrighl, William K 304 
 
 Hillegas, John P., M. P 315 
 
 Harry, James Wood 316 
 
 Helffenstein, Albert 324 
 
 Hamburger, Hon. Herman 355 
 
 Hauck, Samuel 356 
 
 Hillegas Family, The 361 
 
 Hunter, Ashley Pecuin 367 
 
 Hunsicker, Hon. Charles 382 
 
 Haguer, Mark R 410 
 
 Hallowed, Richard T. S 414 
 
 Holsteiu, George W, M. P . . .- -.423 
 
 Hobson, Freeland G 437 
 
 Houghton, John J 449 
 
 Harley, Lewis R., M. A , Ph. D 462 
 
 Haldemau, Isaiah R 46S 
 
 Hunsberger, J. Nefwton, M. I) 478 
 
 Hughes, John J 48S 
 
 Hunsberger, William H, M. P , 492 
 
 Hallowed, Horace G. J 494 
 
 Hoopman, Arthur A., M. P 497 
 
 Hartzell, Prof. Henry E 516 
 
 Hunsicker, Hon. John S 520 
 
 Hersh, John G.. M. P 539 
 
 Hampton, Jchn 541 
 
 Hathaway, John C 553 
 
 Hunsicker, John G 554 
 
 Hough, Charles I!., M. P 55 S 
 
 Humphrey, Charles W 562 
 
 Harmer, Pavid 563 
 
 Hartzell, T. R 569 
 
 Hallowell, Richard 575 
 
 Hovenden, Thomas 583 
 
 J 
 
 Jones, William Potts 318 
 
 Jones, Horace C 320 
 
 Johnson, I. H 323 
 
 Jarrclt, Samuel F 95 
 
 Jenkins, Charles S 412 
 
 Johnson, Wilmer H 426 
 
 Jones, Joseph C 434 
 
Index. 
 
 649 
 
 Jenkins, J. P. Hale 3S9 
 
 Johnson, Elmer E., MI) 512 
 
 Johnston, [ssachar 515 
 
 K 
 
 Keys, George W 115 
 
 Knctz, Jacob Moll 168 
 
 Kratz, Hon. Henry W. • 179 
 
 Kern, David S 195 
 
 Kneule, Albrecht 199 
 
 Kneule, Charles A 206 
 
 Kite, George R 243 
 
 Knox, Charles C • 273 
 
 Keeler. Dr. V. Z 314 
 
 Kreible, William Z 331 
 
 Keely, Nathaniel Beidemaii . 347 
 
 Kittson, Louis 364 
 
 Kriiler, William H 431 
 
 Kneule, Henry A 156 
 
 Kinzie, Daniel 469 
 
 Keyser, John 476 
 
 Kurtz, Milton R 501 
 
 Kriebel, Elmer G.. M. D. 502 
 
 L 
 
 Latshaw, Samuel B 117 
 
 Long, Edward Everett 166 
 
 Lewin, J. Milton 171 
 
 Leidy, Benjamin F 1S4 
 
 I.andis, Isaac 196 
 
 Leedom, Andrew S 211 
 
 Lubbe, Francis H 213 
 
 Lukins, Lewis A 234 
 
 Light, Frederick 236 
 
 Lukens, Charles 238 
 
 Loughin, Daniel 24S 
 
 Lees, Joseph 250 
 
 Little, William 254 
 
 Lukens, Jawood 255 
 
 Lee, John Kllwood 27S 
 
 Latshaw, John H 333 
 
 Larzelere, Nicholas Henry 340 
 
 Longenecker, Hon. J. II 357 
 
 Lawson, Bellelt, jr 384 
 
 Landis, J. Horace, A.M. 40S 
 
 Litzeuberg, Henry 250 
 
 Longaker, Hon. Henry 397 
 
 Lougaker, Hon. A. Brower 43,, 
 
 Larzelere, Jeremiah B 460 
 
 Leidy, Ephraim K 495 
 
 Lohb, Kber Heston 507 
 
 Leister, Jacob H 519 
 
 Longaker, Hon. M. S 543 
 
 Long, Captain Samuel J 572 
 
 Longaker Family, The 606 
 
 M 
 
 Mintzer, General William M 60 
 
 McDermott, William 6S 
 
 Moore, Dr. Charles 79 
 
 Morgan, George C 103 
 
 McCoy, Capt. Robert 121 
 
 McKinzie, William, A. M., M. I) 193 
 
 McMichael, Abner 247 
 
 Mattisou, Dr. Richard V 25S 
 
 Moir, James 295 
 
 McGinley, Joseph J 327 
 
 Moore, Rev. David W • • . . . 373 
 
 Miller, Charles H 37S 
 
 Mowlds, William 415 
 
 Moore, Joseph K 419 
 
 Miller, George Smith 421 
 
 Marshall, J. Newton (62 
 
 Miller, Francis 464 
 
 Moyer, Jonas S 466 
 
 Miller, John 467 
 
 Murray, Charles H 47S 
 
 Metcalf, Edwin 500 
 
 Moore, B. F 516 
 
 Mclnnis, Hugh, 529 
 
 Moyer, Samuel C, M. D 555 
 
 Martin, William 564 
 
 Mather, Charles 568 
 
 Mullen, Isaac 574 
 
 Murray, Edward S 614 
 
 N 
 
 Nice, G. S 336 
 
 Nuss, Edmund B . 491 
 
 Nice, J. S ■ 5°3 
 
 Neiman, Howard Y., M 1 >. 508 
 

 650 
 
 Index. 
 
 O 
 
 O'Rrien, William 10S 
 
 P 
 
 Perry, R. Wilson M4 
 
 Poley, George W 252 
 
 Preston, Mahlon, M. D 260 
 
 Peehin, William R 263 
 
 Price, Daniel 9° 
 
 Potts, William W 92 
 
 Pawling, George W . 41S 
 
 Place, Albert R "49 
 
 Pennington, A. J 3^6 
 
 Phillips, W. R 559 
 
 R 
 
 Reifsnyder, Horace F I2 2 
 
 Rambo, Joseph S '26 
 
 Royer, Joseph Warren. M. P 13 1 
 
 Rex, Jacob L '42 
 
 Robinson, Thomas • ■ 143 
 
 Rambo, Thomas J '62 
 
 Roebuck, George R 188 
 
 Roberts, Isaac 202 
 
 Riltenhouse, William 120 
 
 Reiff, Henry W 272 
 
 Righter, John A 276 
 
 Ritter, Hiram W.,M. I> 3°5 
 
 Rosenberger, A. W 3 r 9 
 
 Rogers, George W 341 
 
 Rufe, Rev. Augustine H 3 60 
 
 Rambo, Nathan 3 D 5 
 
 Read, Lewis W.. M. D 366 
 
 Reed, John Philip 83 
 
 Reed, Willoughby H , M. D, Ph. G S5 
 
 Regar, Howard K 86 
 
 Ruby, Samuel Vernon, Ph. D 96 
 
 Righter, George W 4°° 
 
 Reinert, David F 409 
 
 Reading, Dr. Thomas 445 
 
 Roberts, Ellwood '55 
 
 Rosenberger, Abraham S 4^1 
 
 Rothemiel, Peter F 6 7 K 
 
 s 
 
 Schall, General John W 52 
 
 Slingluff, John 58 
 
 Spang, Othniel S 78 
 
 Spear, John Crawford, M. D 90 
 
 Stritzinger, F. G no 
 
 Saylor, Albert G 116 
 
 Swartz, Hon. Aaron S 1 24 
 
 Supplee, Andrew 1 27 
 
 Sullivan, William M 133 
 
 Smith, Isaac W 151 
 
 Shannon, Rev. Thomas F. . . : 155 
 
 Sotter, Jacob C 152 
 
 Steinmetz, Jacob R 164 
 
 Saylor, A. R 169 
 
 Schultz, William A 181 
 
 Smith, William F 189 
 
 Schellinger, Isaac M 192 
 
 Slemmer, William 195 
 
 Smyth, Samuel Gordon 220 
 
 Schmidt, Nelson Frederick, D. I) 227 
 
 Slemmer, Samuel 239 
 
 Shoemaker, Albert 241 
 
 Scatchard, Henry F 246 
 
 Schultz, Edwin K 465 
 
 Saurman, Thomas M 251 
 
 Strassburger, Jacob A 2S0 
 
 Supplee, Mark R 289 
 
 Spatz, Irviu R 293 
 
 Seipt, Anthony H 297 
 
 Smith, Augustus H 30S 
 
 Stahler, William 312 
 
 Stritzinger, Lewis G 315 
 
 Sholl, Harvey F., M. D . . . 321 
 
 Shoffner, William H 32S 
 
 Scheldt, Adam 336 
 
 Snyder, Henry 33 s 
 
 Strahan, Rev. Joseph A 343 
 
 Seal, Thomas H 363 
 
 Simpson, Albert D Si 
 
 Schissler, AloysiusJ., M. A 82 
 
 Shoemaker, Hon. Joseph A 407 
 
 Smith, James B 421 
 
 Shoemaker, William H 43° 
 
 Slingluff, Joseph 39' 
 
Index. 
 
 651 
 
 Steiaer, Hon. I. Erb 305 
 
 Saylor, Hon. Henry I) 349 
 
 Streeper, I). H 472 
 
 Stadelman, Herman R 474 
 
 Snyder, Solomon 475 
 
 ShulU, Daniel S 4 S 7 
 
 Smith, George W 4«9 
 
 Speaker, Christian 49° 
 
 Somiesky, Richard 509 
 
 Smyth, John G 5" 
 
 Shaffer, William A 5'4 
 
 Stetller, D. W 518 
 
 Steen.JamesA •".... 519 
 
 Stinson, Hon. Charles H 528 
 
 Sehweyer, Henry A 530 
 
 Shelly, Daniel Webster, M. D 533 
 
 Shaffer, Levi R 541 
 
 Seese, Samuel P., M. D 547 
 
 Smith, Andrew J 561 
 
 Shainline, Jonathan M ■ ' 566 
 
 Shearer, David W 575 
 
 Scheetz, Remandns 577 
 
 Spangler, Rev. Henry T 619 
 
 Slifer, Hedley Franklin, M. D 619 
 
 T 
 
 Tyson, Neville D 75 
 
 Tyson, Jacob 136 
 
 Thomas, Edward 209 
 
 Tegtmeier, Christian F., M. I) 249 
 
 Todd, I. Heston 264 
 
 Thomas, Horace A K 2S5 
 
 Treichler, Charles O. F 292 
 
 Thomas, Benjamin 447 
 
 Tracy, Henry M 396 
 
 Todd, John, M. D. 536 
 
 Theel, Gustavus F., M. D 546 
 
 U 
 
 t'mstad, J. R., M. D 123 
 
 Uruer, Oliver N 12S 
 
 V 
 
 Yanghan, Rrnest M., M. I) 472 
 
 Vaugban, William 502 
 
 w 
 
 Weand, Hon. Henry K 51 
 
 Wanger, Hon. Irving Price 56 
 
 Whitcomb, Harry H., M. D., Ph. D 66 
 
 Whitby, Benjamin F 102 
 
 Withers, M. Augustus, M. 1) 112 
 
 Waage, Dr. Charles T 132 
 
 Wills Family, The 161 
 
 Weber, Charles Z., M. I) 173 
 
 Welker, William A 185 
 
 Weber, John D 190 
 
 Wildman, Frank I! 253 
 
 Wood, Hon. John 267 
 
 Wood, Howard 296 
 
 Wilkinson, Alfred 310 
 
 Werner, Rev. William I? 317 
 
 Weber, William C 350 
 
 Weber, Mathias, M. D 379 
 
 Wilson, Joseph M 417 
 
 Wilson, Francis S., M. D 402 
 
 White, J. Winfield 422 
 
 Weber, Irviu S 425 
 
 Weyand, John F ' ' 429 
 
 Warner, Ralph M., Jr 470 
 
 Wood, Hon. Alan, Jr 479 
 
 Weinberger. J. Shelly, IX. D 523 
 
 Walters, Alfred 534 
 
 Wilson, Dr. Howard 543 
 
 Wickart, P. O,, M. D 549 
 
 Walters, Hon. M. H 552 
 
 Wood, John, Jr 617" 
 
 Weiser, Rev. Clement Z 61S 
 
 Yost, Col. Daniel M 271 
 
 Yocum, Horatio L 35 ' 
 
 Yocum, J. Hagy 379 
 
 Yost, John B 4°3 
 
 Zimmerman, William I) 54$ 
 
 APPENDIX r > 2 7 
 
652 
 
 Index. 
 
 LIST OF PORTRAITS 
 
 William H. Buck. 
 
 Dr. Henry Bol>l>. 
 
 Hon. James Boyd. 
 
 Dr. Hiram Corson. 
 
 John H. Craukshaw. 
 
 Samuel L. Cowclen. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Davis. 
 
 Dr. Henry Howard Drake. 
 
 Dr. William H. Eck. 
 
 Hon. Joseph Fornance. 
 
 Dr. P. Y. Eisenherg. 
 
 Gilbert Rodman Fox. 
 
 P. K. Gable. 
 
 Malhias Geist. 
 
 Cyrus Q. Guldin. 
 
 Dr. Henry G. Groff. 
 
 Rev. J. H. Hendricks. 
 
 Dr. Arthur A. Jloopman. 
 
 Freeland G. Hobson. 
 
 Samuel F. Jarrett. 
 
 Rev. Thomas F. Shannon. 
 
 Albrecht Kneule. 
 
 Hon. Henry W. Kratz. 
 
 Hon. A. Brower Longaker. 
 
 S. B. Latshavv. 
 
 Albert R. Place. 
 
 S. Powell Childs. 
 
 Isaac Landis. 
 
 Dr. Thomas Reading. 
 
 Howard K. Regar. 
 
 Willonghby H. Reed. 
 
 Joseph S. Rambo. 
 David F. Reinert. 
 Ellwood Roberts, 
 General John W. Schall. 
 A. R. Savior. 
 J. A. Strassburger. 
 Aloysius J. Schissler. 
 Hon. Aaron S. Swartz. 
 Rev. Joseph A. Strahan. 
 Dr. John Todd. 
 Jacob Tyson. 
 Dr. J. R. Umstad. 
 Alfred Wilkinson. 
 Dr. Charles Z. Weber. 
 Louis Kittson. 
 Morgan R. Wills. 
 Mary A. Wills. 
 Ashley Pechin Hunter. 
 Dr. Daniel R. Brower. 
 Patrick Curren. 
 Dr. Louis W. Read. 
 P. Frank Hunter. 
 Rev. Clement Z. Weiser. 
 Hon. Charles Hunsicker. 
 James Moir. 
 Hon. Irving P. Wanger. 
 William H. Slingluff. 
 Hon. Henry Longaker. 
 Nathaniel B. Keely. 
 Dr. John G. Hersh. 
 
 rd -iftg. 
 
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