Montgomery County PA Archives Biographies.....Buckwalter, Joseph Addison June 25, 1836 - 
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Joe Patterson jpatter@epix.net February 12, 2026, 4:55 pm

Source: Biographical Annals of Montgomery County Pennsylvania, T. S. Benham & Company and the Lewis Publishing Company, 1904
Author: Ellwood Roberts, Editor

JOSEPH ADDISON BUCKWALTER, the well known stove manufacturer 
of Royersford, was born in Chester county, June 25, 1836. He 
was educated in the public schools of the vicinity. Mr. 
Buckwalter is the son of Abraham and Rachel (Ortlip) 
Buckwalter, he a resident of Montgomery county, and she of 
Chester county.

Francis Buckwalter, the immigrant, came to America from 
Switzerland about 1700, and located near Phoenixville, 
taking tip a large tract of land where he reared his family. 
The family was of that sturdy, thrifty German stock which 
settled so largely the upper end of Montgomery county, and 
like most of them gave their attention to tilling the soil 
and rearing their families to honorable manhood and 
womanhood.

Abraham Buckwalter (father) was born in 1797. He was a 
millwright by trade, which occupation he followed a great 
part of his life. He resided in Chester county, where he 
owned and operated a sawmill and a farm. He was a Whig in 
politics, but had no aspirations in the direction of seeking 
office. He became a strong Republican during the rebellion, 
having been an abolitionist and assisted fugitive slaves on 
what was known as the "Underground Railroad," forwarding 
them to Canada or other place of safety.

Although not an abstainer in youth, he became an earnest 
temperance advocate, and founded the Royal Springs 
Temperance Society, near Kimberton, in 1844, and Mr. 
Buckwalter and his wife were the first members. He was ever 
after a faithful temperance man, advocating the cause and 
circulating petitions until they contained seven hundred 
names. J. A. Buckwalter has the original roll of the 
society, which he retains as a relic of his father's work 
for temperance. He died in 1878. His wife survived and died 
in 1898 at the age of ninety-three years. She was the 
daughter of Henry and Mary (Gurris) Ortlip, both of Chester 
county. Henry was a miller by trade and a hotel-keeper for 
many years. Their children: Samuel; Rachel (mother); 
Rebecca; Mary; Andrew; Henry; Osmond; Abram. Abraham and 
Rachel Buckwalter had eleven sons, as follows: Samuel; 
William; Elias; Henry Franklin; J. A. (subject of this 
sketch); Newton; David R.; Lewis; Theodore and John W. Three 
are yet living: Newton, Lewis and J. A. Buckwalter.

Joseph A. Buckwalter remained under the parental roof, 
assisting his father until he married in 1861. Later, he and 
his brother Henry engaged as partners in a small way in the 
foundry business at Royal Springs, in Chester county-, where 
the foundation of the present large business was laid, the 
present extensive stove works being the result. The 
management now consists of J. A. Buckwalter, president; A. 
W. Dotterer, secretary; T. D. Buckwalter, treasurer; I. N. 
Buckwalter, superintendent; Abram L. Buckwalter, director 
and assistant superintendent.

Mr. Buckwalter married Miss Mary Hamor, born in Chester 
county January 13, 1840. She is the daughter of John and 
Catharine (Hawk) Hamor. The Hamors are of Welsh descent, 
though long domiciled in eastern Pennsylvania. Their 
children were: John (died in infancy); John, 2d; James; 
Hannah (Mrs. A. Ralston); Eliza (Mrs. A. Wilson); Mary (Mrs. 
Buckwalter). The children of J. A, and Mary Buckwalter are: 
Katie, widow of David Springer, in real estate and insurance 
and who was burgess of Royersford at the time of his death; 
Rachel S., widow of C. Raiser, a glass manufacturer of 
Royersford, and having one son, Addison B.; William; Laura, 
(Mrs. J. Grater); Mary S., (Mrs. H. H. Herbine, of Reading); 
Hannah E. (Mrs. J. Rogers, her husband being in insurance 
business in New York); Abram L., superintendent of stove 
factory; Joseph A., graduate of Hahnemann Medical College, 
Philadelphia, and now in Metropolitan Hospital, New York. 
Mrs. Buckwalter died November 13, 1899.

Joseph A. Buckwalter is the president of the Buckwalter 
Stove Company of Royersford, known also as the Continental 
Stove Works; he is also president of the Home Water Company, 
of that place, and was the first burgess of Royersford, 
holding the position for several years. He was born at Royal 
Springs, near Kimberton, June 25, 1836. In the latter part 
of 1866, Mr. Buckwalter and his brother removed to 
Royersford, where in convection with C. S. Francis, Henry 
Francis and John Sheeler they organized the firm of Francis, 
Buckwalter & Company, which went into operation, January 1, 
1867, as proprietors of the Continental Stove Works. For 
such an undertaking their capital was small, but they were 
young men and what they lacked in money they more than made 
up in skill and enterprise. What is somewhat unusual in the 
case of inventors, the Buckwalter brothers possessed 
excellent business qualities, and the fact soon became 
apparent in the rapid success of orders for their wares. At 
the start the company employed about fifty workmen and in 
addition to stoves manufactured agricultural implements, and 
also the new Buckwalter Cherry Seeder.

In 1870 Mr. C. S. Francis withdrew from the business, but no 
change was made in the style of the firm. In the following 
year, the firm finding the capacity of their works too 
limited for their growing trade, erected an additional 
building which had the effect of nearly doubling the 
capacity of the plant, but these additional facilities were 
taxed to their utmost extent. In 1872 Henry Francis retired, 
selling his interest to the remaining partners, who changed 
the name of the firm to Sheeler, Buckwalter & Company. The 
demand for their products continued to grow very rapidly, 
and in 1875 it was decided that new works were necessary, 
and in 1876 the present extensive establishment was erected. 
Since then it has been frequently enlarged. In 1876 Mr. 
Sheeler died, his health having been failing for several 
years. The remaining members of the firm, the Messrs. 
Buckwalter, purchased the Sheeler interest from his heirs, 
and continued the business under the name of Buckwalter & 
Company.

The employment of the best material, the most approved 
methods, and the most skillful workmen were steadily 
operating to give greater value to the products of the 
Continental Works, and were carrying them to the most 
distant parts of the country. The energy of the Buckwalters 
in anticipating demands upon their resources kept them in a 
position to fill all orders, however unexpected. Under their 
management nearly one hundred and fifty men find employment, 
and through improvements, in the plant the output of the 
works is nearly four times as great as when fifty men were 
on the pay roll.

In 1882 Mr. Buckwalter had the misfortune to lose by death 
his elder brother and partner, Henry L. Buckwalter. He 
continued the business, the firm name being unchanged until 
October, 1887, when the present corporation, the Buckwalter 
Stove Company, was formed. The company increased their plant 
in 1888, by the addition of a five-story brick warehouse, 
seventy by seventy-five feet. The capacity of the works at 
the present time is about twenty-five thousand stoves and 
ranges. The demand shows a steady increase, and they have 
sales agencies in several of the largest cities of the 
country, including Philadelphia, New York and Chicago, the 
agency in the first named city handling its wares 
exclusively. The reputation of the company for fair dealing, 
enterprise, trustworthiness of products, and inventive 
ability is not surpassed in its line.

As the head of the Continental Stove Works and one of its 
founders, Mr. Buckwalter is known all over the United States 
as one of the leading manufacturers of America. In 
Royersford, where he has resided since 1866, he is 
interested in every public movement that promises to benefit 
his fellow citizens, as well as in those of a social, 
educational and philanthropic character. Early in life he 
was identified with the antislavery and temperance 
movements. He was a stockholder and president of the Home 
National Bank, and the Industrial Savings Bank. In 1902 both 
banks were converted into the Royersford Trust Company with 
authorized capital of two hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars, Mr. Buckwalter being its president. He owns a great 
deal of Royersford rented property. He has done more than 
any other man in building up and maintaining the prosperity 
of Royersford. He erected at great cost a palatial 
residence, constructed of stone, at the corner of Walnut 
street and Fourth avenue. It is of modern architecture and 
finely finished and furnished. It occupies an elevated site 
and has extensive grounds, being a home worthy of its 
occupant. In politics he was Republican but of late years is 
independent, trying to vote for the best man. He was a 
member of the Union League during the war.

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