Montgomery County PA Archives Biographies.....Cofrode, Daniel R. September 25, 1841 - February 3, 1893
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joe Patterson jpatter@epix.net February 27, 2026, 2:27 pm

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

DANIEL R. COFRODE, deceased, was born in Dauphin county, 
Pennsylvania, September 25, 1841, a son of Jesse and 
Elizabeth (Howell) Cofrode. He was for many years one of the 
prominent and public-spirited citizens of Pottstown, 
Pennsylvania, where he was instrumental in the organization 
and forwarding of many enterprises which had for their 
object the well-being of the community, and by his 
generosity and open-handedness contributed materially to 
various charitable organizations, and also to the needs of 
poor and deserving individuals.
 
Jesse Cofrode (father) traced his origin to German ancestors 
who lived lives of usefulness and activity. He was a 
resident of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, an iron worker by 
occupation, and by industry and perseverance was enabled to 
provide a comfortable home for his family, which consisted 
of his wife, Elizabeth (Howell) Cofrode, and seven children, 
all sons, all of whom are now deceased but the eldest, 
Joseph Cofrode, a resident of Philadelphia, Jesse Cofrode 
died at his home in Dauphin county at the age of eighty-four 
years.

Daniel Cofrode was reared and educated in Dauphin county. 
His first business was canal boating, but the greater part 
of his life was spent in bridge building. For many years he 
was superintendent of the Cofrode & Saylor Bridge Works, of 
Pottstown, Pennsylvania.This company was established in 
1877, its buildings and improvements covered an area of 
about thirteen acres, and they gave constant employment to 
nearly one thousand men, thus making it one of the leading 
industries of that section of the county. Subsequently he 
formed a partnership with Mr. Lewis Evans, under the firm 
name of Cofrode & Evans, contractors, and at one time they 
required the services of six hundred workmen to carry out 
their contracts in the specified time. They were actively 
engaged in bridge building until the death of Mr. Cofrode, 
February 3, 1893, in the fifty-second year of his age. He 
was one of the organizers of the Citizens' Bank of Pottstown 
of which institution he was president from its organization 
until his death, and he also served as director in a number 
of other institutions. He attended the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and was a strong adherent of the principles of 
Republicanism. He was an active and zealous member of the 
Masonic fraternity, having filled all the chairs in both the 
blue lodge and commandery. He was a member of Stichter 
Lodge, F. and A. M., was one of the instigators of Nativity 
Commandery, and originally belonged to Hutchinson Commandery 
of Norristown.

On May 12, 1870, Daniel R. Cofrode married Miss Susanna 
McBride, daughter of Daniel and Jane (Long) McBride, the 
latter named having been the daughter of Joseph Long, a 
resident of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, and the former a 
son of Daniel and Rachel (Bird) McBride. The McBride family 
resided in America for many generations. Daniel and Jane 
(Long) McBride were natives of Delaware county, where Mr. 
McBride conducted a successful business at his trade of 
blacksmith. They were the parents of twelve children, three 
sons and nine daughters, six of whom are now living.

Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cofrode, as 
follows: Jane E., who became the wife of Cleaver Root; D. 
Frank, who is employed in the custom house in Philadelphia; 
he married Miss Evelyn Atchison, and they reside in 
Pottstown; and Florence H., who resides with her mother in 
her home in Pottstown. Mrs. Cofrode is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which she takes 
an active part.

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