Montgomery County PA Archives Biographies.....Bate, Richard H. May 23, 1845 - 
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Source: Biographical Annals of Montgomery County Pennsylvania, T. S. Benham & Company and the Lewis Publishing Company, 1904
Author: Ellwood Roberts, Editor

  RICHARD H. BATE, junior member of the firm of William T. 
Bate & Son, proprietors of the extensive Montgomery Boiler 
and Machine Works at Conshohocken, and one of the leading 
and prominent citizens of that borough and Montgomery 
county, was born May 23, 1845, in Cornwall, England, a son 
of William T. and Elizabeth (George) Bate.

  In 1817 his parents emigrated to this country and settled 
at Belleville, New Jersey and he obtained his early 
education in the schools of Westminster and Finksburg, 
Maryland. Subsequently his parents removed to Norristown. 
Pennsylvania, where he continued his educational advantages 
in the public schools of that town up to the year 1859, when 
he laid aside his school books and turned his attention to 
the acquiring of a practical vocation. 

  He indentured himself to learn the blacksmith and boiler 
making trade in the Norristown Iron Works at Norristown, his 
father at that time being superintendent of the works. He 
was an employee of that establishment 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 malting branch of mechanics, he became associated in 
business with his father under the firm name of William T. 
Bate & Company. The firm first consisted of William T. and 
Richard H. Bate and John Wood, and was established for the 
manufacture of boilers and general machinery, being located 
at Conshohocken.

  In 1868 this partnership was dissolved, Mr. Wood retiring, 
and the firm was reorganized under the name of William T. 
Bate & Son, the present extensive Montgomery Boiler and 
Machine Works having been built for the manufacture of 
boilers, gas apparatus, core-barrels, castings, and all 
kinds of blacksmithing and machine work. The firm had made a 
small beginning in 1865, but the business tact and energy of 
the several members soon won for the firm prestige and a 
wide and well deserved reputation, with a consequence 
increase of trade extending to all parts of the country, and 
giving employment to 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 manufacture) they have 
been using their own patents. As their business developed 
and extended they increased their facilities by the erection 
of new buildings, and now give employment to a large number 
of workmen and skilled mechanics. Some of their patents have 
been of a very important character, have received 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 reorganization of the firm in 1868, Richard H. 
Bate has taken an active part in all matters pertaining to 
the business, assisting in the general management of the 
manufacturing, department as well as the trade. By strictly 
conscientious; and fair methods of dealing with the trade 
and all who come in contact with he has become a potent 
factor in the business, and has won for himself a prominent 
place in the manufacturing 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 
Republican party, and has 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 present serving his fourth consecutive torn 
of three years, in representing the third ward of his 
borough in council. He has been chiefly active and useful in 
the direction of industrial enterprises, being prominently 
identified with most of the business interests of the 
borough which have been brought forward for its development 
and general prosperity. 

  In addition to his extensive manufacturing interests, he 
is a director of the First National Bank of Conshohocken, 
and was for a number of years a director of the Conshohocken 
Electric Light Company, and a director and managing 
superintendent of the Conshohocken Gas Company. His aid and 
influence have been given to almost every movement which has 
for its object the promotion of the general welfare of his 
town and county. For over forty years he has been a member 
of the Montgomery Hose and Steam Dire Engine Company, No. 1, 
a volunteer organization of Norristown, in which he has 
rendered dutiful service. 

  On June 30, 1863, during the Civil war, he enlisted in 
Company E, Thirty-fourth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, 
under Captain F. Sullivan, in the ninety day service. He 
was, however, not called to the front, and was honorably 
discharged before the end of his term of enlistment.

  On August 31, 1866, Mr. Bate was united in marriage to 
Mary M. Murray, who was born May 15, 1845, a daughter of 
Jacob and Elizabeth S. (Thompson) Murray, the former named 
being a prominent citizen of Norristown, Pennsylvania. On 
Wednesday, November 14, 1877, occurred the centenarian 
birthday celebration of Mrs. Elizabeth Thompson, the widow 
of Benjamin Thompson and grandmother of Mrs. Bate. She was 
born at Barren Hill, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, 
November 14, 1777. Aunt Betsey Thompson, as she was 
familiarly known, was a very remarkable woman,, and was seen 
on the streets of Norristown up to within a few years of her 
one hundredth birthday. Mrs. Thompson resided in Norristown 
all her life with the exception of ten years. 

  She remembered the town from its earliest beginning, in 
fact from the time when it was but a small village, and 
recollected when farmers passed through on their way to 
market on horseback. She also recollected when the yellow 
fever raged so violently in Philadelphia, and when prisoners 
were brought from the city prison to the county jail here, 
which was kept by her grandfather, William Stroud. She ate 
her first meal in Norristown at her grandfather's, and was 
also present at the last dinner ever eaten in the old county 
jail, her son, Archibald Thompson, then being a keeper in 
the jail, and afterwards for many years being the court 
crier. Mrs. Thompson was in possession of all her faculties 
with the exception of a somewhat impaired hearing at the 
time of her one hundredth anniversary celebration, and took 
great delight in relating her recollections of General 
Washington. 

  On one occasion during his term as President, General 
Washington, en route through Plymouth township, stopped at 
the Black Horse Hotel, and Mrs. Thompson, then a young girl, 
had the honor of handing him a drink of water and shaking 
hands with him.

  Of her eleven children, those who grew to maturity were: 
Maria (Mrs. Everly), Archibald, Hannah (Mrs. McBride), 
James, William, Sarah (Mrs. Earl), Benjamin, Rebecca (Mrs. 
Rice), Elizabeth (Mrs. Murray), and Ann (Mrs. Weightman). 

  At the time of her one hundredth birthday, Mrs. Thompson 
had fifty-nine grandchildren and great-grandchildren and 
five great-great-grandchildren. Of the latter group a little 
daughter Annie, of Richard and Mary M. (Murray) Bate, of 
Conshohocken, aged about three months, was the youngest.

  Seven children, four sons and three daughters, were born 
to Mr. and Mrs. Richard H. Bate: 1. Tillie E., born March 9, 
1868. 2. Alice Estella, born December 14, 1869, who married 
H. A. Pennington, October 23, 1889, and had one child, Alice 
M. Pennington. 3. Howard Middleton, born April 25, 1872; 
married, February 11, 1902, Amelia Leitenburger. 4. Richard 
H., Jr., Born February 8, 1875, married, May 30, 1900, Annie 
M. Wafer, and their children are: Helen, Wilmer, and Richard 
H., 3d. 5. Annie E., born August 28, 1877. 6. Wilmer 
Middleton, born November 19, 1870, died January 10, 1806. 7. 
John S., born November 24, 1881, died April 12, 1887, Alice 
Estella (Bate) Pennington, wife of H. A. Pennington and 
mother of Alice M. Pennington, died one year after her 
marriage. She had been the assistant librarian of the Sunday 
school connected with the Methodist Episcopal church of 
Conshohocken, was an ardent Sunday school worker, and a 
zealous Christian woman. The members of her class attended 
her funeral services in a body and assisted in the last 
rites of laving to rest one who had been beloved by all who 
knew her. 

  The following are the resolutions passed at a special 
meeting of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday School Association 
of Conshohocken, and presented to the family.

  The sad tidings have come to us that Mrs. Alice (Bate) 
Pennington has passed away from earth. For years she was a 
scholar in our Sabbath school, and afterwards was one of our 
librarians. She was uniformly faithful, cheerful, and 
kindly, never refusing any work assigned to her, and 
performing all duties with a glad and loving heart. We are 
grieved to think we shall see her face no more. We weep with 
her husband and bereaved family, and a large circle of 
friends who mourn her loss; we lament that the happy home so 
soon be darkened, that one so young and lovely in life 
should receive the summons of death; we cherish her memory, 
we emulate her virtues, and we lay this humble tribute of 
affection upon her untimely grave.

  Resolved, That a copy of the above expression of sympathy 
be given to the family, and sent to the Norristown Herald 
and Conshohocken Record for publication.

 Signed: Rev. T. M. Griffith, J. W. Drummond, Fannie Herron, 
Clara Ulrick, Sallie E. Keys.

  The funeral of Wilmer Middleton Bate occurred January 13, 
1896, from the home of his parents in Conshohocken. The 
services were conducted in the Presbyterian church by Rev. 
Mr. Miller, of the Methodist Episcopal church, Nineteenth 
and Christian streets, Philadelphia: Rev. J. W. Bradley, 
pastor of the Conshohocken Methodist Episcopal church, and 
Rev. J. T. Sheppard, pastor of the Conshohocken Presbyterian 
church of which the deceased was a member. The pall bearers 
were: Harry Buckle, Frederick Eickfeldt, Bertram Caine, 
George Glenzinger, James Machonachy, and Lewis Dunlap, all 
friends of the deceased. The floral tributes from relatives 
and friends were numerous and magnificent.

  The following are the resolutions passed by the committee 
of the Conshohocken Public School upon the death of Wilmer 
Middleton Bate.


 WHEREAS. In his all wise providence our Heavenly Father has 
seen fit to call from among us Wilmer Middleton Bate, a 
fellow-member of our Literary Society, and a member of the 
first class of the division of the High School. We must 
therefore bow in humble and contrite submission to the will 
of Him "who doeth all things well," and await that final day 
when all who sleep shall wake, and when all that is dark and 
mysterious in His providence here, shall be made plain; 
therefore, so be it.

 Resolved. That in his early death, the community has lost 
one, who gave promise of becoming one of its foremost 
citizens, the Society a true, efficient and highly esteemed 
member, the school a conscientious and dutiful pupil, the 
class its brightest scholar, and the parents a model 
christian young man, and an illustrious son.

 Reso1ved, That we sincerely sympathize with the deeply 
stricken family, and tender them our heartfelt sympathy in 
this their sad hour of affliction. No word of condolence can 
express the deep feeling of sorrow which pervades in our 
hearts, but it is the will of the divine power who orders 
all things for the best, and we commend them for consolation 
to Him who alone call comfort the afflicted and support them 
in the time of their sore distress.

 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions of respect be 
entered on the minutes of the Society, published in the 
Conshohocken Recorder, and a copy sent to the bereaved 
family.

 By order of committee. Signed by Prof. J. H. Landis, Eva Y. 
Rowley, Edmund K. Williams, Ivy L. Gilbert, William Bailie.

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