Ellwood Roberts' Biographical Annals, 1904: Montgomery Co, PA
Vol I - Part 24: pp. 523 - 544.

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THOMAS THOMSON, a well known and highly respected citizen of Cheltenham township, was born near Ogontz, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, February 28, 1842, a son of John and Caroline (Jones) Thomson, grandson of Thomas and Jane (Jarrett) Thomson and great-grandson of John and Abigail (Roberts) Thomson.

John Thomson (great-grandfather) was born 12th mo. 22, 1750, in Cheltenham township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where he died 9th mo. 28, 1838. In 1773 he married Abigail Roberts, born 7th mo. 28, 1751, died 7th mo. 15, 1843, daughter of Thomas and Letitia Roberts, of Milford township Bucks county, Pennsylvania, near Quakertown. Their children were: Hannah, married Thomas Shoemaker; Thomas, mentioned at length hereinafter; Sarah, married Samuel Rowland; Catherine, died at thirteen years of age.

Thomas Thomson (grandfather) son of John and Abigail Thomson, was born 9th mo. 30, 1775, died 12th mo. 26, 1825. He married Jane Jarrett, and the following named children were born of this union: 1. Ann, who married Jacob Jarrett, and their children are: William; Joseph, Jane, John Thomson, George, Susan and Jarrett. 2. Hannah, who became the wife of John Roberts, and their children are: Abigail, Thomas, Ann, Mary, William, and Jane. 3. Catharine who became the wife of Richard Roberts, and their children are: Charles, who married Hannah Chandler, and had two children-Harry and Eva Roberts; J. Thomson who married George Anna Hallowell, and their children were: George F., Catharine T., Susan L., Abel S., William M, Charles, and Emlen, the three latter named being deceased; Benjamin F., who died in infancy; Rebecca R., who married Jacob L. Hallowell, and had two children: Richard R., and William L.; Jane F., who became the wife of Abel Hallowell, and they were the parents of one child, Theodore H. Hallowell. 4. Sarah, whose first husband was Anthony Williams, second husband was Jesse Shoemaker, and third husband Cyrus Betts. 5. John, mentioned at length hereinafter. 6. Abigail, who became the wife of John Wildman, of Langhorne, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and had one child, Jane Wildman, who married Joseph J. Watson, and had two children-Dr. Franklin Watson, of whom a sketch appears elsewhere in this work; and Abigail Watson. 7. Elizabeth, who died young.

John Thomson (father) was the fifth child of Thomas and Jane Thomson. He married Caroline Jones, and their children were: Charles, who died young; Alice, who became the wife of Benjamin F. Penrose, county commissioner, and is now deceased; Thomas, mentioned at length hereinafter; Samuel, who married Fannie Twining, and one child has been born to them, Caroline; Jane; Margaret, who became the wife of county treasurer Henry W. Hallowell, and they are the parents of two children, Jane and Israel; John, who died unmarried; William, also died unmarried; J. Dawson, who married Annie Knight, and they are the parents of one child, Florence Thomson.

Thomas Thomson, second son of John and Caroline Thomson, received his early education at the Abington Friends' School, then pursued a course at Friends' Central School at Fifteenth and Race streets. Philadelphia, a well-known institution of learning, noted for its thoroughness, and on leaving school turned his attention to farming on the homestead. During the latter years of the life of John Thomson (father) he apportioned his estate among his children, Thomas taking the allotted section on which was the old homestead, and erecting thereon a modern and attractive house, in which he now resides. Mr. Thomson is an estimable and public-spirited citizen, and throughout his entire life has fully exemplified the traditions of his ancestors. He enjoys the respect and confidence of his friends and neighbors, and his example is worthy of emulation.

Mr. Thomson married, February 24, 1874, Mary Eyre, who was born 12th mo. 15, 1846, a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Knight) Eyre, of Newtown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania.

The children of this marriage are: 1. Elizabeth E., born 9th mo. 15, 1875, married Herbert K. Taylor, of Philadelphia, 11th mo. 3, 1897, and their children are: William Thomson, born 3d mo. 25, 1901, and Thomas Thomson Taylor, born 3d mo., 1904. 2. John, born 6th mo. 25, 1877, died 10th mo. 12, 1902; he married Elizabeth Watson, of Langhorne Bucks county, Pennsylvania 1st mo. 15, 1902. 3. Alice P., born 10th mo. 7, 1880, became the wife of Marshall P. Sullivan, of Moorestown, New Jersey, 4th mo. 27, 1904. 4. George, born 10th mo. 29, 1882, died 11th mo. 23, 1882. Mr. Thomson and his family are members of the Abington Friends' Meeting.

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(Picture of Joseph Percy Coulston)

JOSEPH PERCY COULSTON, a well known citizen of Whitmarsh township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, is a son of James M. (deceased) and Tacy A. (Freas) Coulston. The Coulstons are one of the oldest families of the vicinity, and are of Welsh descent.

William Coulston (great-grandfather) was in his day a prominent farmer of Whitemarsh. His children were Charles, William, Joint, Thomas, Mary (Mrs. William Kettler) and Sarah (Mrs. Jacob Rorer). Thomas Coulston and Mr. and Mrs. William Kettler owned a fine farm in Gwynedd township, Montgomery county, and resided thereon the greater part of their lives. All died many years ago at an advanced age. William Coulston was a native of Whitemarsh, where he was born August 9, 1797.

He married Ann, daughter of Joseph and Hannah Meredith, of another old family of Welsh descent, the immigrant being David Meredith, who carne to Pennsylvania in 1700 and settled in Plymouth township, Montgomery county. Ann Meredith was born October 29, 1802.

Their children were James M., Elizabeth and Hannah. William Coulston (grandfather) died April 17, 1863, in his sixty-sixth year, his wife having died March 25, 1833, in her thirty-first year.

James Meredith Coulston (father) was born January 27, 1831, in Whitemarsh township. He assisted in farming during the summer months and attended school in the winter according to the usual custom among farmers. He married, April 7, 1857, Tacy Amanda, daughter of Joseph and Ann Freas, of the same township, and granddaughter of George Freas and his wife Barbara.

Their children, Ann F. (Mrs. Daniel Maguire), Alice H. (Mrs. Harvey Lentz), William C. (deceased), his widow residing on DeKalb street, Norristown; Lizzie, Sarah R., Francis C., Joseph Percy (subject of this sketch) and Walter. James M. Coulston was an active Republican in politics. He was one of the most substantial and highly respected citizens of Whitemarsh, and was always active in promoting the interests of the community in which he lived. He was one of the most progressive farmers of Montgomery county. He served as school director, and also held other township positions, but was in no sense an office seeker, being guided rather by conscientious principle in his political leanings. He died in the year 1900.

Joseph P. Coulston was born on the family homestead in Whitemarsh, April 25, 1870. He was educated in the public schools of the township, and also attended the Norristown High School by way of completing his education, from which institution he graduated. Returning to his home, he assisted in farming the homestead, and afterwards rented a farm on which he now resides.

He married, in 1896, Miss Anna M., daughter of George and Mary (Markley) Miller, farmers in Whitemarsh. They have one child, Hannah W. Coulston. Mr. Coulston is a model farmer. He is a Republican in politics, and active in the support of party interests. He and his family attend the Lutheran church at Barren Hill.

 

 

(Picture of John Milton Coulston; picture signed James?)

JOHN MILTON COULSTON, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1849, a member of the banking firm of E. W. Clark & Company, of Philadelphia, resides on the Old York Road, just north of the limits of the borough of Jenkintown, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, his estate consisting of about nine acres with a frontage on the turnpike of nearly a quarter of a mile, the house an example of the Elizabethan period stone, and half-timbered and the grounds laid out in a beautiful and artistic manner with trees and shrubs in abundance, thus malting it one of the most handsome and desirable pieces of property in that section of the state.

Mr. Coulston is descended from a New England family of that name, the pioneer ancestor being George Coulston who came from England in

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1630 and settled at Longmeadow, Massachusetts, just south of Springfield. George Coulston, aforementioned, Married Deborah Gardner about the year 1645, and the line of descent is as follows John Coulston, son of George and Deborah (Gardner) Coulston, born 1659, married Joanna Wolcott, September 2, 1690, and died 1727. Captain Simon Coulston, son of John and Joanna (Wolcott) Coulston, born 1709, married Abigail Burt, 1736, who died 1760, and his death occurred in 1796. Major Luther Coulston, son of Captain Simon and Abigail (Burt) Coulston, born 1756), married Thankful Woolworth, November 30, 1780, who died October 25, 1797, and his death occurred in 1803. Sabin Coulston, son of Major Luther and Thankful (Woolworth) Coulston, born 1783, married Rhoda Boardman, January 2, 1811, who died 1852, and his death occurred five years later, 1857.

Sabin Woolworth Coulston, son of Sabin and Rhoda (Boardman) Coulston, born 1813, in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, married Susanna Beaumont, August 4, 1835, whose birth occurred in 1812, a member of an old English and Scotch lineage. They are the parents of John Milton Coulston, of this review. Sabin W. Coulston (father) died in 1890, but his wife is living at the present time (1904). J. Milton Coulston married, January 22, 1880, Mary Roberts, who is descended from an old Welsh family of Friends (Roberts) from Thomas Roberts, of Bryn-y-neuodd, high sheriff of Carnarvon, 1704, by appointment of Queen Anne. His son, Thomas Roberts, came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1699, with James Logan, at the invitation of William Penn.

Through marriage she is descended from the Barclays and Stevensons, both families of distinction in colonial days who aided the colonies in the revolution. Her parents were George H. and (Margaret Barclay Stevenson) Roberts. Three children were born of the marriage of John Milton and Mary (Roberts) Coulston, as follows: Milton Beaumont, Margaret Barclay and Mary Ethel Coulston.

By marriage Mr. Coulston is descended from the Chauncy family through Rhoda (Boardman) Coulston, wife of Sabin Coulston, as follows: Charles Chauncy, born 1592, died 1761; was second president of Harvard College; married, March 17, 1630, Catherine Eyre, born 1601, died 1667. Sarah Chauncy, daughter of Charles and Catherine (Eyre) Chauncy, born 1631, died 1699; became the wife of the Rev. Gresham Bulkley, October 26, 1659, who was born in 1636, died 1713. Edward Buckley, son of the Rev. Gresham and Sarah (Chauncy) Bulkley, born 1663, died 1748; married, July 14, 1702, Dorothy Prescott, born 1681, died 1748. Dorothy Bulkley, daughter of Edward and Dorothy (Prescott) Bulkley, born 1716, died 1801; became the wife of Thomas Curtis, January 8, 1741, who was born in 1710, died in 1789. Hepsibah Curtis, daughter of Thomas and Dorothy (Bulkley) Curtis, born 1757, died 1807; became the wife of Jason Boardman, July 7, 1784, who was born 1762, died 1844. All of these families were residents of New England. He was also related through the Chauncys to the following English families: Eyres of Wiltshire; De Roos, Kings of Scotland; Earls of Northumberland, Dukes of Rutland, Earls of Norfolk, Earls of Pembroke; and through French marriages from Henry I of France, and from Charlemagne, and also through the French line of marriage from the daughter of Edward I of England, and the Saxon Kings.

Mr. Coulston is a member of the Sons of the Revolution by descent from Major Luther Coulston, who served in the war of the revolution; a member of the Order of Founders and Patriots, by descent from George Coulston, 1630, and Major Luther Coulston, 1776; also a member of the New England Society of Pennsylvania.

 

 

CAPTATN WILLIAM AUCHENBACH, during a long and active career prominently identified with commercial and financial affairs in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, is a native of that state, born in Reading, February, 22, 1832. His parents were Henry and Mary (Shultz) Auchenbach, both of German descent and natives of Pennsylvania. The father was born in Schuylkill county, and in his young manhood removed to Reading, where he followed his trade as a carpenter, and where he died at the age of fifty years. His wife survived him until 1891, and died at the advanced age of eighty-four years. They were both Methodists in religion. They were the parents of six children, five sons and one daughter, of whom William Auchenbach is the only one living. William Auchanbach's maternal grandfather was also born in Reading, where he passed his life, following the occupation of a wool hatter, and where he died, well advanced in years, and leaving several children.

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Captain Auchenbach lived in Reading until he was twenty years old. During this time he was educated in the common schools and early entered upon a life of self-support. After he was ten years old he worked in a tobacco factory for one year, afterwards in a flour and feed store, then in a general store, and finally went into the Reading Depot to learn moulding, remaining there two and one-half years.

In 1850, at the age of eighteen, he was clerking in a general store in Pottstown. Five years later he undertook a business upon his own account as a dealer in groceries and dry goods. After eighteen months, his health being poor, he retired from this occupation and went upon a farm, where he remained for four years, when he returned to Pottstown and resumed a grocery business. In 1893 he associated with himself his sons, Harry and Frank, under the firm name of William Auchenbach & Sons, and expanded the business to the requirements of a wholesale trade. This was the first and is the only establishment of its kind in Pottstown, and was established to supply the trade within a radius of thirty miles, and has transacted a large business to the present time. In 1895 occurred the death of Captain Auchenbach's eldest son Harry, when the style of the firm was changed to that of William Auchenbach & Son.

Captain Auchenbach, besides standing at the head of this, one of the most important mercantile houses in this part of Pennsylvania, has also been actively interested in various other important enterprises. He was formerly president of the Bannock Cotton Mills, now the Bannock Silk Mills; is the only survivor of the organizers of the Pottstown Water Company; and is a director in the National Iron bank of Pottstown. His most conspicuous service to the community was in the part he took in the establishment of the Pottstown Hospital, to the building of which he secured subscriptions to nearly the amount of $50,000. Of this sum $25,000 was subscribed by Mr. John Krause, through the strong personal friendship which existed between himself and Captain Auchenbach, accentuated by some family ties which bound the generous donor to the city of Pottstown. Not a native of the county, Mr. Krause was born and reared about three and one-half miles from Pottstown, in Berks county. In early life a friendship sprang up between Mr. Krause and Captain Auchenbach which was continued throughout life. Captain Auchenbach was one of Mr. Krause's first as well as largest customers and most intimate personal friends, and so to this long connection is clue the benefaction which made possible Pottstown's handsome hospital, of which Captain Auchenbach has been one of the directors from its founding.

Captain Auchenbach served during eighteen months of the Civil war period as captain of Company H, Sixty-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, also known as the Scott Legion. He organized his company, and led it in some of the most momentous campaigns and bloodiest battles which make up the record of the Army of the Potomac, including the desperate conflicts of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He maintains relationship with his former comrades through his membership with Graham Post, G. A. R. Prominent in military circles, he is a member of the committee having charge of the arrangements for the celebration of Washington breaking camp at historic old Valley Forge, as he also was about thirty years ago.

He is affiliated with various Masonic bodies-Stichter Lodge No. 254, F. and A. M.; Pottstown Chapter, No. 271, R. A. M.; and Nativity Commandery, K. T.

In politics he is an independent Democrat. He was at one time a member of the borough council, and at another of the school board.

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Captain Auchenbach was married, in 1853, to Miss Annie Wamback, daughter of Bartholomew and Mary Wamback. She was a Lutheran in religion. She died after bearing to her husband four children, Harry and Frank, and two who died in infancy. Harry Auchenbach, who was for a few years associated with his father in business, died in 1895, leaving a widow, who was hiss Alice Corbett, and four children, Annie, Mary, Effie and Frank. Frank Auchenbach, who is now in partnership with his father, is unmarried.

Captain Auchenbach married (second) Miss Effie Bechtel, who is also now deceased. She was a member of the Baptist church.

 

 

JACOB EDWARDS, a well-known farmer of Plymouth township, residing near the borough line of Norristown, is descended from an old Bucks county family of Welsh origin. He is the son of Samuel and Margaret Edwards. He was born August 4, 1848, in Upper Dublin township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, near the village of Fitzwatertown. The family removed when he was a mere child to Whitpain township in said county, where they farmed for two years; to Plymouth township, near Hickorytown, where they resided four years; to Spring Mill, in Whitemarsh township, two years; and at other places in or near Norristown for the next half dozen years. Samuel Edwards then bought a farm of thirteen acres at Springtown, about two miles from Norristown, where the family remained about seventeen years, and then removed to Norristown, where they have since resided.

Jacob Edwards was reared on the farm, but on coming of age engaged in business as a contractor, being a part of the time in partnership with his brother George in Norristown. In 1901 he bought of the Shoemaker estate the twenty-eight acre farm which had been the home of John Gallagher, a well-known resident of the vicinity, in his lifetime. He resides on this farm, which is under a high state of cultivation and very productive. Everything about the farm is in excellent order, and he and his wife are devoted to the management of the farm and the interests of their family. Mr. Edwards was educated in the public schools of the different townships in which the family resided during his boyhood, and although he never had the advantage of what may be called a high school education, he acquired considerable knowledge, and is possessed of much ability in figures, being able to solve any ordinary question arising in business dealings with surprising quickness and accuracy. The Edwards family were originally Democrats in politics, but Mr. Edwards often votes independently. He has never sought or held office.

Mr. Edwards married, December 21, 1870, Debbie, daughter of Henry and Ann Elizabeth (Hallowell) Refsnyder. Mrs. Edwards was born December 24, 1847, near Jarrettown, in Upper Dublin township. Mr. Refsnyder died March 2, 1904, and was buried at Horsham.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards were: Annie Parry, born January 16, 1872, married, March 16, 1897, Louis A. Irons, the family residing at Arch and Freedley streets, Norristown, and having one child, Mable Ruth, born July 4, 1900; Jacob Brumheller, born April 19, 1875, married July 29, 1897, Margaret Hanselman of Pottsville, they leaving two children: Russell J., born in 1898, and Marguerite, born July 28, 1901; Phebe Allen, born November 19, 1877, and resides in Norristown.

Mrs. Edwards is the granddaughter of John and Deborah Hallowell, whose children were Martha, born November 24, 1821, married Edmond Stout, and removed to the state of Delaware, where the family reside; Anna, born April 2, 1824, died July 12, 1843; Ann Elizabeth, mother of Mrs. Edwards, born October 1, 1826, married Henry Refsnyder and died August 13, 1857; John Edwin, born May 1, 1834, died in infancy; Caroline E., born May 7, 1837, married Charles Briggs, who died May l0, 1903, and is buried at Southampton, Ducks county; Rebecka, married Elias Ott (both dead).

John Hallowell, grandfather of Mrs. Edwards, was born 9th mo. 19, 1784, and died July 21, 1881. Deborah, his wife, died November 20, 1866, aged sixty-three years, two months and four days. They lived near Horshamville, in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and were buried at Barrett's Chapel, Delaware, with Martha and Edmond Stout, as were also most of their children.

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John and Martha (Conard) Hallowell, great-grandparents of Mrs. Edwards, also resided in Hoarsham township, and were members of the Society of Friends. John was born December 15, 1753, and died January 26, 1829. His wife was born February 15, 1745, and died August 28, 1808. Their children were: Rebecca, Samuel, George, Elijah, Mary, John, grandfather of Mrs. Edwards, and Hannah.

The children of Henry and Ann Elizabeth Refsnyder, parents of Mrs. Edwards: Debbie Lizzie, born August 15, 1849, married George Ashton, and had one daughter, long since deceased, and married, second husband, Morris Lord, and has two children, Martha, married Firth Brown, and Edna; Mary, born August 13, 1851 married James Phipps, and has one son George; Amanda, born January 24, 1854, died December 14, 1875; John H., born February 14, 1856, married Roxanna Miller, of Minnesota, and resides in the state of Washington.

 

 

THOMAS F. BUZBY, a farmer and dairyman of Montgomery township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, is a native of Gwynedd township, in the same county, where he was born May 21, 1863. He is the son of James and Mary Ann (Myers) Buzby, lifelong residents of Gwynedd township.

James Buzby (father) was the son of William Buzby. He was born in Gwynedd township. He was a butcher by occupation, and also engaged in agricultural pursuits, although not very extensively. He was a progressive citizen and was highly esteemed in the community. He was a Republican in politics, and held at different times the positions of supervisor, assessor and tat collector and school director. He was elected a justice of the peace on one occasion, but declined to take out a commission. He was always interested in public affairs, and never missed an election, either local or general. He was a roan of the highest integrity, noted for his upright dealing with all. He died January 14, 1900.1 its widow resides on the homestead in Gwynedd township. Their children: William, deceased; Kate, Thomas F., Harry, William and Sarah.

Thomas Franklin Buzby was educated in Cedar Hill school at Gwynedd, and in the Friends' school at Gwynedd meeting house. For six years after leaving school he drove the butcher wagon for his father, and later engaged in butchering on his own account, continuing this occupation eight years. During four years of that period he was also engaged in farming in Horsham township.

In 1893 he purchased his present farm of about one hundred acres in Montgomery township, which he has greatly improved, and on which he has since resided. He married at Centre Square, in Whitpain township, November 22, 1883, Hallie, daughter of Robert and Jeannette Lindsay.

The couple have had five children, as follows: James, born September 1, 1884; Earl, born March 24, 1887; Mary Ann, born July 18, 1890; Sarah K., born July 7, 1895; Thomas F., born December 27, 1898, died August 14, 1899.

In his political affiliations Mr. Buzby is a Republican. He is a member of Springhouse Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a progressive and practical farmer.

 

 

ISAAC JONES CLARK, a well known retired resident of Lower Merion township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, was born June 18, 1846, in the township in which he now resides, a son of Dr. Jonathan and Susan (Freyburg) Clark, and great-grandson of John Clark, born September 14, 1749, died March 29, 1832 and his wife, Mary Clark, born October 4, 1761, died October 20, 1824. John and Mary Clark were the parents of the following named children: Deborah, born June 26, 1777, died October 24, 1781; Stephen, born December 25, 1778; Priscilla, born May 30, 1780; Champion, born November 9, 1781; Rena, born August 26, 1783; John, born April 23, 1785, died July 7, 1792.

Dr. Jonathan Clark (father) was born in the state of New Jersey, in 1812. His early education was acquired at the ordinary schools of the vicinity and under private tuition. After completing his studies as well as was possible with the facilities which were afforded at that day, he entered a drug store as a clerk. He took up the study of chemistry with a view of extending his

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knowledge still further in the domain of medical science, and in 1831 was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. Shortly after securing his diploma he entered upon a successful career in the practice of his profession, continuing therein until the year 1857, in Lower Merion township, Montgomery county, when he retired from active practice. He was an eminent physician in his day, and was among the first to use ether to relieve the pain of parturition. He was much in advance of the time in which he lived, not only in the particular named, but in many others. His published works show him to have been a man of great knowledge and skill, who combined with thorough study of the principles of medical science, long experience of the most valuable kind in his profession. After his retirement from the profession of medicine he devoted his attention to the mining of coal, being a partner in the Crow Hollow Mining Company, whose operations were conducted in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania. He finally retired altogether from active pursuits, leading a retired life until his death, November 12, 1869.

Dr. Jonathan Clark was united in marriage to Susan Freyburg. Their children were: 1. Lewis Jones, born June 25, 1835, died when he had reached the age of twenty-one. 2. Joseph Brookfield, born February 24, 1838, died in infancy. 3. Nathan Beach, born April 15, 1840, married Ellen Walddie, no issue, and died April 18, 1898. He was appointed third assistant engineer in the United States Navy on May 13, 1861; second assistant engineer, December 17, 1862, first assistant engineer, July 1, 1865, became chief engineer, October 16, 1868, and was placed on the retired list, March 3, 1885. 4. Edward Wurts, born May 20, 1842, died in the United States service, having been appointed third assistant engineer at the age of twenty-four years. 5. Margaretta Beach, born November 28, 1843, became the wife of Owen Jones, and mother of one daughter, born in 1874, who became the wife of Clarence T. Faires, M. D., and they are the parents of one child, Clarence T. Faires, Jr. 6. Isaac Jones, mentioned hereinafter. Mrs. Susan (Freyburg) Clark having died, Dr. Clark married Eliza Deringer, daughter of Henry and Eliza Deringer, and by the second marriage he had two children: Estalina, deceased, and Eva Evangeline.

After completing his public school studies Isaac J. Clark entered upon an active career in the extensive plant owned by Henry Deringer, father of Mrs. Eliza (Deringer) Clark, known as the Deringer Pistol Factory, located in Philadelphia, where he learned the various details pertaining to the business. He continued in the establishment a period of four years, when the head of the firm died and was succeeded by his son, Bronaugh Deringer, who died a year later. Then Mr. Clark took charge of the business for the family, succeeding so well that in 1873 he purchased the business and conducted it on his own account.

In 1881 he retired from active pursuits, turning over his extensive interest to others, and has since confined himself to the walks of private life. In religious faith he is an Episcopalian. In politics he is a Republican, supporting the principles and nominees of that party, but not seeking political preferment of any kind.

 

 

LESTER I. DINGEE, a representative business man of Ashbourne, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the date of his birth being January 31, 1868. He is a son of Albert H. and Emma (Ivies) Dingee.

Albert H. Dingee (father) was born in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 31, 1846, a son of Edmund and Catherine (Hama) Dingee. Albert H. Dingee was educated at the public high schools of his native city, and the knowledge thus gained thoroughly qualified him for a life of activity. He was an extensive manufacturer of bricks for building purposes, this occupation proving most successful and remunerative, and at the age of thirty-six years retired from business. He served for twenty-two years as a member of the bureau of health, was a member of the board of public charities for a number of years, a director of the German-American Title, Insurance and Trust Company, a large stockholder in several national banks of Philadelphia, and a holder of considerable traction stocks. He was a prominent and influential citizen and his influence for good was felt throughout the community in which he resided. Mr. Dingee married, December 13, 1866, Einina Ivins, daughter of Aaron B. and Anna (Lester) Ivins, and the issue of this union was two children, namely: Lester I., born January 31, 1868, mentioned at length hereinafter; and Blanch M. born July 26, 1873. Albert H. Dingee (father) died November 9, 1903, aged fifty-seven years.

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Emma (Ivins) Dingee, mother of Lester I. Dingee, is a lineal descendant of John Leicester, of London, England, who spent his entire life in his native land. By his marriage he had a son, Peter Leicester, who settled in Leicestershire, England, from whence in 1682 he emigrated to America with William Penn, settling in Philadelphia with the latter named, who gave him a square of ground on Market street which he afterward sold for thirty pounds. Peter Leicester married, and among his children was a son, John Leicester, who married and had a son, John Leicester, who married and had a son, Thomas Leicester, who married and had a son, Peter Leicester, who in turn married and had a daughter named Anna Foulke Leicester, who became the wife of Aaron B. Ivins, and their daughter, Emma Ivins, became the wife of Albert H. Dingee and mother of Lester I. Dingee.

The educational advantages enjoyed by Lester I. Dingee were obtained at the Friends' Central School, Fifteenth and Race streets, Philadelphia. After completing his studies he was admitted into the firm of James E. Dingee, this connection continuing until 1890, when he withdrew his interest and engaged in the hop business on his own account. In addition to this enterprise he devotes considerable time and attention to real estate operations in Cheltenham township. The confidence and esteem in which he is held by his fellow-citizens is evidenced by the fact that he has been chosen to serve in the capacity of commissioner of Cheltenham township. He is a member of the Manufacturers' Club of Philadelphia and of the Columbia Club.

On April 15, 1889, Mr. Dingee married Marie Madeleine Ravel, daughter of Jules M. and A. C. (Lafore) Ravel. Their children are: Lester I., Jr., born November 28, 1891; Albert H., born February 8, 1895; and Marie Madeleine, born October 6, 1904.

 

 

SAMUEL H. HIGH, one of the most active and reliable of the younger members of the Montgomery county bar, located at No. 325 Swede street, Norristown, was born in that city July 16, 1875. He is the son of Harry S. and Flora B. (Lightcap) High, also of Norristown. They had five children born to them, four sons and one daughter, four now living: Mamie, wife of Henry L. Stiles, of Philadelphia; Harrison L., deceased; Walter L., of Philadelphia, secretary of the Reading Screw Company; Samuel H., of Norristown; Raymond, of Philadelphia.

The father is a carpenter and builder and has lived all his life in Norristown. He and his wife are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Trinity, in which he is an elder. He is very domestic in his tastes, and quiet and unostentatious in his manners. He was always an ardent Democrat but not an office seeker.

Samuel High (grandfather) was a lifelong resident of Montgomery county. He was a dry goods merchant on Main street for many years. He died in Norristown at an advanced age, and had three children. The maternal grandfather of Samuel H. High was Samuel Lightcap. He was a native of Pottstown, where he spent the early part of his life, and later removed to Milwaukee, after his wife's death, and lived with one of his sons until his death, which occurred when he was upwards of seventy years of age. His wife was Mary Lightcap. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and had a small family.

Samuel H. High attended the public schools of Norristown, graduating from the high school in 1891. He then had a private tutor for one ,year, and entered Franklin and Marshall College at Lancaster, graduating in 1896 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He then took up the study of law under William F. Dannehower, and was admitted to the bar July 1, 1899, and opened an office at once in Norristown. His present home is at Jenkintown, where he has lived the past few years.

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Mr. High is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Trinity, Norristown. he belongs to Norristown Lodge No. 620, Free and Accepted Masons, and to the Jenkintown Lodge of Odd Fellows. Politically he is a Democrat, like all members of his family, but has never sought or held office.

 

 

COLONEL THOMAS ALLEN GLENN, the eminent historian and genealogist, is one of the best-known residents of Lower Merion township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He has been prominent in military and social circles, and is related to some of the oldest families in Pennsylvania.

Colonel Glenn married in 1890 Miss Marie, daughter of the late Edward Robbins. The couple took up their residence in a handsome residence in Wynnewood. He always had an inclination towards military affairs, and aided in the organization of the Second City Troop. He derives his title, however, from his service in the Spanish-American war. At the outbreak of that contest he was appointed aide-de-camp to General Gobin, and served with him throughout the war. Later he was appointed aide on the staff of Governor Pennypacker, and was granted leave of absence to visit Europe and report upon the militia systems. He had occasionally visited Europe previously in connection with his researches in genealogy.

It is as historian, author, biographer and genealogist, that Colonel Glenn is best known. Among the most highly valued productions of his pen is his "Merion in the Welsh Tract," a history of the early settlers in Lower Merion township, especially the Roberts, Jones, and other leading families of that section of Montgomery county.

The genealogies of these families were worked out with great care and accuracy, and the book is very generally regarded as an authority on the subjects of which it treats. The old families are traced for many generations in Wales, and much information is given in reference to the families with which their members intermarried.

Another valuable work of Colonel Glenn is his "Some Colonial Mansions, and Who Lived in Them," two volumes of the three originally planned having been published. The work is very handsomely illustrated, and in its preparation much genealogical and historical research was required. Colonel Glenn is forty years of age. There are few literary workers in his field who have accomplished so much in so short a time.

He is a member of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, of the Montgomery County Historical Society and of those of Chester and Delaware counties. He has made many valuable contributions to local and general historical research in addition to the works which have been mentioned. He was an applicant for the position of State Librarian on the accession of Governor Pennypacker to the office of executive of the state, but the appointment went to another part of the state. In politics Colonel Glenn is a Republican, and he has been a very active worker for party success for many years.

 

 

HARRY SNYDER LOWERY, son of Job Thomas and Susan (Snyder) Lowery, was born on a farm near Franklinville, in Whitpain township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, October 13, 1837. He attended the pay school of Hannah Righter, and later the public school of his district, until his sixteenth year, after which he was employed on the farm of George Dannehower, near Springhouse, in Gwynedd township, for two years. He then entered as an apprentice to the trade of blacksmithing at Bustleton, in Philadelphia county, on September 11, 1854, with Francis C. Michener, with whom he was employed for three and a half years. At twenty-two years of age he completed his apprenticeship and went to Gwynedd, where he was employed by Allen Dannehower. In 1860 he established himself as a blacksmith and horseshoer at the place where he is still engaged, on the State Road, a short distance above the William Penn hotel at Gwynedd, and directly opposite the old meeting house of the Friends at that place, on the estate of the Acuffs.

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Mr. Lowery married, April 1, 1860, Sarah Ann, daughter of George Dewees and Ann (Kemp) Clift, of Bustleton, her parents being farmers in that vicinity. Their children: Ada Augusta, married David H. Lukens, son of Seth and Mary Lukens, of Gwynedd, and had one son Harry Lowery, they residing at North Wales; Lydia Irene, married the Rev. William H. Beyer, of Norristown, and resides at Portland, Pennsylvania, her husband being pastor of the Methodist church at that place; Marion Kemp, married Septimus Cassel Kriebel, of North Wales, they residing at Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Lowery are members of the Methodist church at North Wales, in which they are greatly interested, Mr. Lowery having served as a member of the board of trustees of that church for many years.

In politics Mr. Lowery is a stanch Republican, and has always rendered it the most effective support. Since attaining his majority he has always been an efficient worker at the polls. He served six years as a member of the Montgomery county board of poor directors, and filled the office in the most satisfactory manner. He has been in no sense an office seeker, preferring to attend strictly to his business. On each occasion he was unanimously nominated for the position, and there has never been a more faithful incumbent of the office. Mr. Lowery has also served repeatedly as a member of the township election board, and in other minor positions. None are more highly esteemed in the community, than he.

Job T. Lowery (father) received a meager education in the schools of the day, being trained to steady work rather than to the pursuit of learning. He married Susan Snyder, and located in Whitpain township as a farmer, following that occupation all his life. His children: Thomas, married Mary Nixon, of Whitpain township; Mary, married George Dickinson, and lives in Philadelphia; Sarah, married William Trexler, a farmer, of Whitemarsh township; Charlotte married Philip Kuhnley, of Whitpain township; Catharine, harried Allen K. Moyer, and resides in Philadelphia: George W., married Amanda Preston, of Whitpain township, and resides at Ambler; Rachel, married Allen Dannehower, of Gwynedd township; Harry S., subject of this sketch; Owen S., lives at North Wales, and is unmarried. Job T. Lowery learned in his early years the trade of plasterer, and was a mechanic of excellent ability. He served as a soldier in the war of 1812.

Harry S. Lowery has been engaged at his present place of business for nearly a half century, and has achieved the reputation of being the best horseshoer in all the country round. He has a large amount of work, and always requires assistance to accommodate his many customers.

 

 

JOHN WOOD, hotel keeper at Greenlane, belongs to an old Montgomery county family, long resident in Plymouth township. He was born in Norristown, January 20, 1870. He was educated in the public schools, and on reaching manhood accepted a position in the hotel, at Zieglerville, Montgomery county, where he remained some time, and then went to the city of Philadelphia, where he secured a position with the Union Traction Company. He continued in that employment until 1901, when he went to Greenlane, in Montgomery county, as foreman in the Hendricks Brewery, located at that place. He filled this position satisfactorily until the year 1903, when he purchased the hotel at the railroad station in Greenlane borough, which he has ever since successfully conducted.

Mr. Wood married, in 1892, Miss Ella Keyser, daughter of Daniel Keyser, a farmer, of Upper Salford township, in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. The couple have one child, George. Mr. Wood is emphatically a self-made man, owing his success in life entirely to his own exertions. He is an earnest Republican in politics, and actively interested in its success. Fraternally he is a member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America, of the Improved Order of Red Men, and of the Independent Order of Odd bellows. He and his family attend the Reformed church.

James Wood, grandfather of John Wood, the subject of this sketch, was born at Hickorytown, in Plymouth township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. acquiring an ordinary education in the schools of the vicinity, he became a farmer-

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which pursuit he followed successfully. Politically he was a Whig, and later, on the organization of that party, an earnest Republican. Among his children was Henry H., who was born on the homestead at Hickorytown, father of John.

Henry H. Wood was educated in the schools of Plymouth township and learned the plastering trade, in which occupation he has been engaged for many years, and has also given attention to farming. He is still living. He married Miss Rile, of Blue Bell, the couple having eleven children, of whom two died and the others are living. Henry H. Wood is a thoroughgoing Republican. Fraternally he is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men.

 

 

ELLWOOD HOOT, son of Peter and Maranda (Wilgus) Hoot, is a native of the western part of Gwynedd Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He was born on the Hoot homestead, September 25, 1851. He remained on the farm until his eighteenth year, attending the public school in the district, and working at intervals on the farm. His father having died when he was quite a youth, his grandfather Philip Hoot, gave his a home whereon he remained until he grew to manhood.

He went to Illinois where he engaged in farming and taught school one winter. He decided, however, to return to the East. Resuming work on the farm, he attended Washington Hall Collegiate Institute at Trappe, teaching school in the winter in order to obtain the means to complete his education. He had charge of the public school near "Friends' Corner," Gwynedd, for three years. The building has since been changed and enlarged and owned by the Gwynedd home for convalescing children. A new school house was erected on the Gwynedd turnpike road near Gwynedd station. He then accepted a position at the Jeffersonville school, two miles above Norristown, where he remained two years. He then had charge of the "Eight Square" school in Gwynedd township, near Lansdale, for three years.

He married Eleanor J., daughter of Peter and Mary Hendricks Wanner, of Jeffersonville, on August 21, 1878, who died November 13, 1881, and was buried at the Lower Providence Presbyterian church cemetery. They had one child, Eleanor Naomi Hoot, born September 28, 1879. Mr. Hoot married on September 1, 1888, Ida L., daughter of Asher and Sarah (Shaffer) Webster, farmers and wood dealers, of West Point. Their children: Raymond, born September 27, 1889; Kenneth, born January 9, 1899, died February 1, 1904, and was buried at Wentz's church, in Worcester township.

Mr. Hoot taught school and operated the home farm or a part of it until 1883, when, on the death of his grandmother, the farm, which contained eighteen acres of land at the junction of the Morris Road and the West Point Turnpike, was sold, and he removed to the village of West Point where he engaged in the real estate business, which he has pursued successfully since that time.

In 1880 he was elected a justice of the peace, and has continued in the position by successive re-elections to the present time. In addition to his real estate business, he is employed in the settlement of estates and other business of that character, being a useful and valuable man in the community, whose confidence and respect he enjoys to the fullest extent. He owns three acres of fertile land which he cultivates.

Peter Cassel Hoot (father), born September 30, 1825, died Januarv 30, 1859, and was buried at Wentz's church, Worcester township. He was the son of Philip and Elizabeth (Cassel) Hoot. He was born on the original Hoot homestead, in Upper Gwynedd. He was employed on the farm and in attending school, until he reached manhood. He married Maranda Wilgus. Their children: James Peter, Ellwood and Peter Wilgus Hoot. James Peter Hoot married Sallie Roberts of Quakertown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he was engaged for several rears in teaching school, and also practiced as a physician. He died June 22, 1876, and was buried at the Friends' meeting house grounds, Quakertown. They had one child, James P. Peter Wilgus Hoot, who was never married, died May 8, 1904, and was buried at Wentz's church, Worcester; Ellwood, subject of this sketch. He is a member of St. Luke's Reformed church, North Wales.

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Mr. Hoot has been secretary of West Point T. R. Co. since 1883; secretary and treasurer of the Farmers' Mutual Live Stock Insurance Company of Montgomery county since 1889; a director in the Lansdale Trust Company; the Jenkintown Trust Company; manager of Line Lexington Mutual Fire Insurance Company and Montgomery 'Mutual Insurance Company of Norristown.

 

 

SUMMERS FAMILY. Hance George Summers (Summer in German), the ancestor of the Summers family, and great-great-grandfather of William Summers, of Conshohocken, with his wife Elizabeth and children-Johannes, Hans Martin, George, Peter and Margaretha Elizabeth, arrived in Philadelphia from Germany on September 22, 1752, on the ship "Brothers," Captain William Muir. Philip and Henry, also sons, arrived September 22, 1754, on the ship "Edinburg," James Russel, master. Hance George Summers resided in Lower Dublin township in 1769.

Johannes, born 1737, married, January 24, 1764, Elizabeth Reidennauer. At the date of his marriage his residence was near New Hanover. (There was a John in Moreland in 1774) Children: John, born February 24, 1765.

Martin died in March, 1804; married July 6, 1769, Anna Barbara Geiss; children: Philip, Henry and Elizabeth, married Loedwyk Sharp. Martin lived in Lower Dublin in 1769. He was an employee in the United States mint from its organization to 1804, as were also some of his descendants down to 1899. He was a private in Captain Ezekial Lett's Company, war of the Revolution; muster roll, August 25, 1779.

Peter died November 24, 1783; married August 3, 1769, Catharine Maenchen. Children Ernest, Margaret and Catharine. He lived in North Ward, Philadelphia, in 1774. He served in the war of the Revolution, filling the following positions in the Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment Ensign, second lieutenant, first lieutenant and quartermaster.

George, born April 5, 1745; died October 14, 1825; married, Ann, born 1752, died March 16, 1829. Children: John, Eli, David and Martin; one son died in 1781. George was a drummer in the Sixth Pennsylvania Regiment, in the war of the Revolution. He resided at the time of his death in Warrington township, Bucks county. He and his wife are interred in the churchyard of Upper Dublin Evangelical Lutheran church, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.

Henry died October, 1798; married, May 6, 1766, Catharine Dessinger. Children: Mary married Daniel Linker; Henry Summers, Linker, and Elizabeth, who married Squire Clevenger. Henry was enrolled as a private in Captain Isaac Cooper's company, muster roll dated November 2, 1778, war of the Revolution. He resided in the city of Philadelphia.

Philip Summers, great-grandfather of William Summers, was born October 2, 1728; died May 2, 1814; married February 24, 1764, by the Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, pastor of St. Michael's and Zion's Lutheran church, Philadelphia, to Salome Reibel, daughter of Nicholas and Susanna. Salome, born 1739; died May 20, 1817. Philip and his wife are interred in the churchyard of St. John's Lutheran church, Race street, Philadelphia. Philip purchased, November 24, 1774, a farm of 165 acres in Horsham township, Philadelphia (now Montgomery) county, of Charles Steadman, and here he resided until March 29, 1796, when he sold his homestead to Job Spencer, and removed to Philadelphia. Previous to purchasing his farm he resided in the following places: Douglass, Cheltenham, and Manor of Moreland in 1769.

Philip was enrolled as a private in Captain David Marpole's company, 1777-1780. His name is in the depreciation pay roll, Penna. Archives, vol. 13, p. 721.

Children 1. Martin Summers, grandfather, born December 5, 1764; died July 27, 1845. (See forward). 2. Nicholas Summers, born September 10, 1767; died March 24, 1854; married Ann Hoover, born November 8, 1776; died August 8, 1827. Children: John, Sarah, Isaac and Enos. 3. Philip Summers, born 1770; died July 3, 1834; married Catharine Hurst, born December 18, 1772; died June 18, 1827. Children: Henry, John, Philip, William, Anna, Mary, Jesse and Charles.

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4. John Summers, born 1770; died April 10, 1846; married Catharine Kneedler, born 1777; died February 12, 1835. Children: Jacob, John and Elizabeth. 5. Anthony Summers, born 1773; Died August 22, 1816, single. He enlisted May 4, 1812, for five years in the Fourth Regiment United States army and died at Creek Agency. 6. George Summers, born 1775; married Elizabeth. Children: John, George, Jacob, Henry, Samuel, Mary and Elizabeth. 7. Henry Summers, born 1775; married Maria Magdalena Shearer, died May 24, 1802. Children: Henry and Samuel. Married (second) Susanna Johnson. Child: Elizabeth. 8. Peter Summers, born 1778; died March 12, 1865; married Susanna Schwenk, born July 24, 1770; died March 10, 1865. Children: Eva Maria, Sarah and Noah. 9. Elizabeth Summers, born September 7, 1781; died October 12, 1803.

1. Martin Summers (grandfather), named above, born December 5, 1764; died July 27, 1845; married Elizabeth Houpt, born August 4, 1766; died November 4, 1822. Issue: Sarah, married George Bossert; George, married Sarah Hilkherd; Martin married Elizabeth Freed; Anna Margaret, married Nicholas Gouldy; Philip, married Ann Shutt; Elizabeth, married Andrew Keel; Samuel, married Eliza Whitby; Hannah, married Philip Shambough. Martin married (second) December 11, 1823, Mrs. Anna Elizabeth Sterigere, born January 1, 1770; died June 21, 1853. She was the widow of Peter Sterigere, sister to his first wife. He and first wife are interred in the churchyard of St. John's Episcopal church, Norristown, Pennsylvania. His first place of residence was in Horsham township, second Gwynedd township, third Providence township, 1803; fourth Norriton township, where he purchased April 5, 1810, a farm of 104 acres of John Brown. He was a member of St. Peter's Lutheran church, North Wales (known as "the yellow church"). He was elected a deacon of this church November 16, 1796. His residence at that time was in Gwynedd Township.

Samuel Summers (father), son of Martin and Elizabeth (Houpt) Summers, was born in Providence (now Upper Providence) township, September 27, 1804; died July 18, 1881; married March 22, 1832, by Rev. George Wack, to Eliza Whitby, born March 22, 1809; died November 16, 1898. She was the daughter of Anthony and Mary (Berkhimer) Whitby. He resided in the borough of Norristown, and for several years was employed by the borough; in later years he bought and sold country produce. He and his wife are interred in Montgomery cemetery, Norristown, Pennsylvania.

Children: William (subject), born May 30, 1833. Martin, born November 2, 1836; died May 12, 1872; was a soldier in the Civil war, Company G 114th Pennsylvania Regiment. Charles, born December 2, 1839; died January 14, 1874; employed as a clerk with his brother William, at Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. Anna Elizabeth, born January 7, 1843; resides at Norristown, Pennsylvania. George M., born July 19, 1845; died November 12, 1872; was a soldier in the Civil war, Company D, 95th Pennsylvania Regiment. Albert, born April 24, 1848; resides in Norristown, Pennsylvania; married Teresa; no issue.


(Picture of William Summers)

William Summers, the eldest son of Samuel and Eliza (Whitby) Summers, was born May 30, 1833, in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He received his education in the public schools.

In the year 1851 he was employed as a clerk in a general store at Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. In 1858 he commenced business as a dealer in general merchandise on the corner of Fayette and Washington streets.

In 1880 he erected the store on the corner of Fayette and Elm streets, where he continued business until the year 1900, when he retired. He took an active part in promoting the growth and improvement of the borough. He was elected burgess of the borough of Conshohocken for two terms, and also served as a member of town council and school director for several terms. He also served as a director in the Conshohocken Gas and Water Company. At the present time he is librarian of the Montgomery County Historical Society and a member of the Pennsylvania German Society.

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On October 10, 1858, he married Henrietta Yost, born March 26, 1833; died May 18, 1887, daughter of Abraham and Maria (Christman) Yost. She was a great-great-granddaughter of Jacob Yost, born March 16, 1696; married July, 1732, Elizabeth Shambough. He emigrated to this country from Zwibrucken, Germany, landing in Philadelphia, September 21, 1727. Children:

William E. Summers, born June 6, 1860; died March 9, 1897; married, February 8, 1888, Anne Donnelly, born June, 1866. Children: William, born November, 1888; died July 1889; Frances, born July 9, 1891. Clara E. Summers, born July 16, 1865; married July 26, 1900, John Murray, born July 14, 1865. They reside at Wharton, New Jersey. Lillian E. Summers, born December 5, 1875.

 

 

THE ROGERS FAMILY. William Charles Rogers, Esq., son of Dr. David Rogers, of Connecticut, was born in that state on May 25, 1776. He removed when a young man to Philadelphia, where at the age of twenty he married Mary Hiltzheimer, by whom he had nine children. After his marriage he removed to the Forks of Neshaminy and from thence to Warrington, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he pursued the avocation of farming. He was for many years a justice of the peace, and served in the war of 1812 as brigade major on the staff of the commander of Camp Marcus Hook. He died at Warrington at the age of seventy-eight years, and was interred at Abington, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.

Mary Hiltzheimer, the wife of William C. Rogers, was born in Philadelphia, March 16, 1771, and was the daughter of Jacob Hiltzheimer, member of Congress and owner of the house in which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. This house is at this date (July 12, 1874) still standing, owned by the daughters of Jacob Cox, the nieces of William C. and Mary H. Rogers.

Jacob Hiltzheimer Rogers, eldest son and first child of William C. and Diary H. Rogers, was born in Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, August 26, 1797. He intermarried with Priscilla Watson, by whom he had five children: Mary Hiltzheimer, William Charles, Benjamin Watson, Ann Steward, and Hannah Watson. He was a justice of the peace for several years, and a farmer. He died at the Turk's Hotel, Bucks County, Pennsylvania and is buried at the old Neshaminy church, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

General William Tennent Rogers, second son of William C. and Mary H. Rogers, was born in Philadelphia, June 17, 1799. He intermarried with Sophia Pugh, daughter of John Pugh, Esq., of Doylestown, at which place he resided most of his life. The result of his marriage was ten children, eight sons and two daughters: John, Charles, James, Henry, Edward, William, Marshall, and Elizabeth. Two of his children died at birth, and were not named. William T. Rogers was a general of militia, and for several years editor of the Doylestown Democrat. He represented Bucks county in the state senate for two years, the last as speaker. He was at one time supervisor of the Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, besides president of various company corporations. He was one of the originators of the Doylestown Cemetery Company, in which grounds he is buried.

David Rogers, the third son of William C. and Mary H. Rogers, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, November 5, 1800. July 6, 1828, he married Cynthia Watson, daughter of Benjamin Watson, by whom he had three children George Washington, William Charles, and Mary Hiltzheimer. After his marriage he removed to Montgomery township, Montgomery county, and followed farming until the year 1856, when he removed to Norristown, where he resided, the only survivor of seven brothers and two sisters.

James Rogers, the fourth son of William C. and Mary H. Rogers, was born September 2 or 3, 1802, and died November 16, 1802, aged two months and two weeks. He was interred at Abington county cemetery, Pennsylvania.

Robert Rogers, the fifth son of William C. and Mary H. Rogers, was born December 1, 1803,

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and died September 6, 1804, aged nine months and six days. He is buried at Abington, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Charles Rogers, the sixth son of William C. and Mary H. Rogers, was born July 30, 1805, and died December 8, 1806, aged eighteen months. He is buried at Abington, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.

George Washington Rogers, the seventh son of William C. and Mary Rogers, was born December 13, 1806, and died at Philadelphia on Tuesday morning, November 10, 1825, aged nineteen years. His remains were interred at Abington, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.

Susan Tennent Rogers, the eldest daughter of William C. and Mary H. Rogers, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, March 30, 1809. She married Andrew Yates Austin, her first cousin, and emigrated to Willoughby, Lake county, Ohio, where she resided until her death. The result of this marriage was eight children: John, Charles, David, Andrew, Lucius, Willis, Samuel and Susan. Mrs. Austin is interred at Willoughby, Ohio.

Mary Steward Rogers, the second daughter of William C. and Mary H. Rogers, was born May 1, 1811, in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. She married Elisha Tracy, a lawyer, and emigrated to Painesville, Lake county, Ohio. She was the mother of four children: Elisha, William, Lucy and Mary. Both she and her husband are dead, and are interred at Painesville, Ohio.

David Rogers, the third son of William C. and Mary H. Rogers, had three children, George Washington Rogers, the first son, was born June 15, 1829, and is a lawyer. He intermarried with Cara Bean and had three children: Cara, David Ogden and Austin. William Charles Rogers, the second son, was born June 23, 1833. He was graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in 1858, and served in the rebellion of 1861 as a surgeon. He married Jennie Scott, of Philadelphia, and had two children, David and Frank K. Mary Hiltzheimer Rogers was born February 22, 1838. She married Walter H. Hibbs, and is the mother of four children: Emily, Georgie, Cynthia and Walter.

Benjamin Watson, the maternal grandfather of George Washington Rogers, was born September 22, 1763, in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He married Hannah McKinstry, by whom he had four children: Priscilla, Cynthia, Hiram, and Ann. He entered the colonial army under Captain Beatty, in Colonel Proctor's regiment of the Pennsylvania line, and served the entire war. He was at one time attached to Morgan's riflemen. He participated in the battles of Stony Point, Brandywine, Trenton, Cowpens and Germantown, where he was wounded, then discharged at Charleston, South Carolina. He walked to Philadelphia barefooted and without pay. After lying in bed helpless for sixteen years from palsy, he died on November 20, 1836, aged seventy-seven years. He is interred at Old Neshaminy church, Bucks county, Pennsylvania.

Hannah McKinstry, wife of Benjamin Watson, was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, December 12, 1759, and died July 22, 1822. She is buried at Old Neshaminy church, Bucks county, Pennsylvania.

Priscilla Watson, the oldest daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Watson, was born October 2, 1793. She married Jacob H. Rogers, and is now deceased.

Cynthia Watson, the second daughter of Benjamin Watson, was born June 1, 1795. She married David Rogers, July 6, 1828; both, are deceased.

Hiram Watson, the only son of Benjamin and Hannah Watson, was born July 22, 1797, and died February 23, 1814. He is interred at Old Neshaminy church, Bucks county, Pennsylvania.

Ann Watson, the youngest daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Watson, was born October 18, 1799. She married Nathan Wier, her first cousin, and died April 26, 1877. She is interred at Hartsville Presbyterian church, Bucks county, Pennsylvania.

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ELMER B. ZIEGLER, one of the best known teachers of Montgomery county, is a native of Limerick township, where he was born January 16, 1872. He is the son of Augustus Ziegler, a prominent farmer of that township.

Mr. Ziegler was reared on the homestead farm, spending his youth in farm work, alternating with attendance at neighborhood schools. He was also for a time a pupil at a private school in Pottstown. He was a student in the West Chester State Normal School one term, remaining at that institution until 1889, and then went for a term to the State Normal School at Kutztown, Berks county, returning to the West Chester Normal School and graduating from that institution in 1898. He then entered upon his career as a teacher, in which he has been very successful, being now one of the leading educators of the county. He taught schools in his own township for several years, leaving that vicinity for a wider field of usefulness in a short time. He next tool: charge of the public schools at Barren Hill, in Whitemarsh township.

He was elected principal of the Hatboro public schools, remaining there for three and a half years. When Professor J. Horace Landis was appointed county superintendent to fill the vacancy caused-by the death of Mr. Hoffecker, Professor Ziegler became an applicant for the principalship of the Conshohocken public schools, the position which he now holds. Although there were a very large number of applicants, Professor Ziegler secured the appointment, resigning his position at Hatboro. He has given excellent satisfaction to the directors and patrons of the Conshohocken schools because of the able manner in which he has carried on the work of instruction.

Professor Ziegler married, in 1895, Miss Lydia M. Boyer, daughter of Peter Boyer, a farmer of Upper Salford township, the couple having had four children, of whom three died in infancy, and a daughter, Leota, who is living. In politics Professor Ziegler is a strong Republican. In religious faith himself and his wife are attached to the Lutheran church.

The schools of Conshohocken have had able teachers in the past thirty years, and the school board of that borough are especially desirous of maintaining the excellent reputation they have achieved. When Professor Hoffecker was elected to the county superintendency on the retirement of Abel Rambo in 1878, he had been teaching very successfully in Conshohocken for several years. His successors were able instructors, so that the high standard of the schools has been maintained.

The predecessor of Professor Landis was J. Warren Schlichter, also from that section of Montgomery county of which Professors Landis and Ziegler are natives. It is a somewhat curious fact that the teachers of Conshohocken schools for many years should all have belonged to the Pennsylvania-German element which is so numerous and so influential in the upper section of Montgomery county.

 

 

DR. JAMES J. KANE. Patrick Kane, father of Dr. James J. Kane, coroner of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, was a native of Ireland, where he was born in 1819. He obtained his education in the national schools, and on leaving school devoted himself to farming interests, in which he met with success. Being a man of steady habits he made good progress in his occupation, but wearying of the restraints imposed on himself and his countrymen in his native land, he decided to emigrate to the United States.

On arriving at Philadelphia remained in that city a short time, and then went to Norristown, where he succeeded in obtaining employment in a cotton factory, in which employment he remained for many years. He died in 1901. He was an earnest Democrat and a strong believer in Jeffersonian principles. He married Miss Elizabeth Hamill, who is still living. She is a daughter of James Hamill, who came from England to this country. Mr. and Mrs. Kane had the following children: Thomas, Catharine, Mary, Margaret, and James J., the last named the subject of this sketch.

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Dr. James J. Kane was born in Norristown, November 5, 1859. He was educated in the schools of Norristown, attending also Treemount Seminary, taught by Professor John W. Loch. He then took a course in a business college in the city of Philadelphia. He entered a wholesale house as bookkeeper, and also clerked in different business establishments in that city.

In 1889 he began the study of medicine, entering the Jefferson Medical College, in Philadelphia. He graduated with honor from that institution in 1892. He returned to Norristown, and established himself in practice in which he has been engaged ever since. Dr. Kane was for a time a student in the office of Dr. William Corson, a Norristown physician of great ability and wide reputation.

Dr. Kane married, in 1898, Miss Jennie Stubblebine, a daughter of George and Elizabeth Stubblebine, of Cedarville, in Chester county, Pennsylvania. They have no children.

Dr. Kane is a very active Democrat in politics, being an earnest worker in the interests of his party. He served two terms in the town council of Norristown, and in 1901 was the Democratic candidate for coroner of Montgomery county. He was elected over his Republican competitor, Charles B. Ashton, receiving a very large vote in Norristown, serving three years in that responsible position. He is an active member of the Knights of Columbus, of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and of the Foresters of America. He is a member of the Montgomery County Medical Society, of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, and of the American Medical Society. He and Mrs. Kane attend St. Patrick's church (Catholic) of Norristown.

Dr. Kane enjoys an excellent reputation as a physician. He is scrupulously careful to avoid holding inquests in cases where there is no necessity for putting the county authorities to that expense. As a man, an official and a citizen, he is a model of propriety, and is justly honored with the confidence of the community in which he has always lived.

 

 

(Picture of George Hamel, Sr.)

GEORGE HAMEL, SR., an old and respected citizen of Edge Hill, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, highly esteemed for his sound business judgment and many excellent personal qualities, is a son of John C. and Catherine (Zink) Hamel, both of whom were of German descent.

John C. Hamel, the father of George Hamel, was a native of Amsterdam, Holland, and when a youth of about sixteen years of age was drafted into the French army under Napoleon. Preferring freedom to his arduous service, he deserted and fled to America, landing in New York, whence he came to Philadelphia. There he entered a packing house, and after some years' experience as assistant he embarked in the business. He remained until 1834 engaged in mercantile pursuits, and then purchased a farm in the suburbs, below the city, and later another in Abington township, Montgomery county. His death occurred in Philadelphia, August 27, 1854, in his sixty-fifth year. He married Mrs. Catherine Zink, daughter of Henry Zink, and whose children were: Margaret (Mrs. Daniel Williams); Henry W.; George; Amanda L., (Mrs. Robert Zane); Emeline, who died in youth; and John C., whose death also occurred at an early age. Mrs. John C. Hamel was born January 22, 1785, and her death occurred at Jenkintown February 13, 1880, in her ninety-sixth year.

George Hamel, son of the parents named, was born June 6, 1821, in Philadelphia, at the southwest corner of Tenth and Buttonwood streets, and his boyhood until his sixteenth year was passed there and at Eighth and Noble streets. He then removed to Montgomery county and resided upon his father's farm, meanwhile educating himself with such books and newspapers as he could obtain from different sources. He became interested in the various branches of labor incident to the life of a farmer. August 21, 1841, he married Miss Hannah, daughter of John and Rachel Tyson.

After his marriage he removed to a place then owned by Mrs. Hamel's grandfather, Benjamin Tyson, near Weldon, and later to an adjoining farm in the same township. He embarked for a brief time in mercantile ventures at Willow Grove, Montgomery county, and in 1854 made agriculture the business of his life. On this farm was a product known as gannister-stone, chiefly used in lining cupolas and converters in Bessemer steel works.

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Mr. Hamel is largely identified with the best interests of Abington, having been for thirty years auditor of the township, and filled the office of school director for several years. He was for many years a director of the Willow Grove and Germantown Plank Road Company. He has been actively identified with Tacony Grange No. 59, of Montgomery county.

His political convictions led to his affiliation with the Democratic party, which he represented during the years 1856-57-58 in the state legislature, serving on the committees on banks and banking, agriculture, and others of equal importance. He is a member and an elder in the Carmel Presbyterian church at Edge Hill, having formerly filled the same office in connection with the Abington Presbyterian church, and has been superintendent of the Sabbath school at Edge Hill from which grew the present church organization, since its commencement in 1872.

Mr. Hamel, in his long and active career, has witnessed the rise and development of many of the most important agencies of the industrial world of today. He recalls the time when coal first came into vogue as fuel for domestic purposes; when the Conestoga wagon was superseded by the locomotive engine; and has seen the introduction of petroleum oil, illuminating gas, the telegraph, the telephone, the reaper and binder, and the sewing machine.

The children of George and Hannah (Tyson) Hamel were: 1. John C., born May 29, 1842, married Jane S. Stevens, November 4, 1868; their children are George M., Maria S., and Grace R. 2. Mary C., born June 23, 1844, died August 25, 1892. 3. Margaret, born April 4, 1846. 4. George, born March 5, 1848; died in youth. 5. Charles T., born April 11, 1850; died in youth. 6. George Hamel (second), born October 7, 1852, married Sarah Mann, and their children are Harrold M. and Ethel R. 7. Franklin P., born August 28, 1854, died in youth. 8. Hannah, born October 13, 1856; died in infancy. 9. Rachel T., born February 5, 1858, who became the wife of Joseph Douckenmiller and their children are Florence, who became the wife of Rev. Albert F. von Tobel, and son Earl. 10. Ida Amanda, born March 12, 1860, who became the wife of Frank T. Comly, and their children are John A. and Hutchinson S. Comly. 11. Harry I., born November 14, 1862; married Elizabeth Rhine, and their children are Alfred R., Catherine A. and Tyson Hamel.

Hannah (Tyson) Hamel, the wife of George Hamel, Sr., passed away at her home in Abington township, Montgomery county, May 28, 1896. She was a most estimable woman, and was beloved and esteemed by a wide circle of friends for her many deeds of kindness and benevolence. She was a member of the Presbyterian church.

 

 

L. R. FELTY, one of the best known business men of Kulpsville, where he was engaged in the tailoring business, was born in 1847. He was descended from the sturdy Pennsylvania-German stock which makes up so large a proportion of the population of that section of Montgomery county.

In politics he was a Republican, although he never sought or held office. In religious faith he was a member of the Lutheran church.

Mr. Felty died in 1903, at the age of fifty-six years. He left a widow and two daughters, two other children having preceded him in death. Mr. Felty was a man who was actively interested in all that concerned the welfare of the community in which he lived, and he enjoyed the esteem and confidence of all around him.

 

 

JONATHAN CLEAVER. The Cleavers of Montgomery county are the descendants of Peter Klever, an early German settler of Germantown. Peter Klever was naturalized in Germantown in 1691, and died in Bristol township, in Philadelphia county, in 1727. In the direct line of descent from Peter Klever (the surname being afterward changed into Cleaver) was Jonathan, great-grandfather, who had a son, among others, named William (grandfather), who located in Upper Merion township, between Bridgeport and King of Prussia. He donated the land on which was erected the Union school, since better known as Stewart Fund Hall, because of the bequest of William Stewart to the school in 1808. In his will Stewart says, in designating the school that is to benefit by his estate: "At the school house erected on a lot of ground conveyed by William Cleaver to certain persons in trust for the use of a school," etc. In 1831 William Cleaver was one of the "contributors" to the school. William Cleaver had a son Jonathan who married Anna Jane Wood, the families on both sides being members of the Society of Friends.

(Page 541)

Jonathan Cleaver, the subject of this sketch, was born at King-of-Prussia, in Upper Merion township, February 24, 1854. He was educated at the schools of the vicinity, and on leaving school took a position in the rolling mill of J. Wood & Brothers, at Conshohocken, who were relatives on his mother's side, remaining there several years. He subsequently learned the trade of plumbing in Manayunk, and was employed as plumber and gas-fitter at the Albion Print works in Conshohocken. In April, 1886, he started in business for himself in Conshohocken, and he has been engaged in it very successfully ever since. He does a large business, not only in Conshohocken, but in the surrounding country.

Jonathan Cleaver (father) was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, September 21, 1825. He was educated in the schools of the vicinity and in West Chester Academy. He engaged in farming after leaving school, and afterwards purchased a farm in Plymouth township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. It contained one hundred acres, and was located near Conshohocken. Having sold the farm he returned to Chester Valley, remaining there until 1857, when he removed, first to New Centreville, Chester county, and later to Valley Forge. He died there in 1862, and his remains were interred in Valley Friends' burying ground. He had six children three sons and three daughters, as follows: Anna W., wife of Jonas Everhardt; William, Jonathan, subject of this sketch; Mary (deceased) who married John DeHaven; B. Harry, who died at the age of eight years; and Jennie, wife of J. Ellwood Lee, the well known head of the J. Ellwood Lee Company, surgical instrument makers, of Conshohocken.

Mr. Cleaver is an active Republican in politics. He is a member of Washington Camp, No. 121, Patriotic Order Sons of America, of Conshohocken; of Fritz Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, and of other organizations. Mr. Cleaver married, October 25, 1883, Kate, daughter of Linford L. and Emily Shepherd, of Whitpain township. Mrs. Cleaver's father was an extensive dealer in cattle, and was widely known in business of this kind. He was a son of Levi Shepherd, of near Montgomery Square, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Linford L. Shepherd died March 15, 1894, at the age of seventy-three years. His widow who is the daughter of Amos Jones, who resided near West Point, in Gwynedd township, and had a large family of children, most of whom are now deceased, resides with her sons and daughters in Conshohocken. Her children are six in number: Lizzie, Kate (Mrs. Cleaver); Hester, Eugene, Eulalie, and Linford. (For further particulars of the Shepherd family, see the sketch of William Shepherd, elsewhere in this work).

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Cleaver: Francis and Emily, both deceased; William, Jonathan, Jr., Holstein DeHaven and Chester Shepherd.

 

 

BENJAMIN E. BLOCK, one of the best known business men on Main street, Norristown, though he is a comparatively a young man, has achieved remarkable success in his line of furniture and housekeeping goods generally. He conducted the same business very successfully for many years on Swede street above Lafayette. Finding that he needed more ample accommodations for his rapidly increasing business, he purchased a building formerly owned by the Meeh estate on Main street below Swede. Before he was able to get possession of the building, however, in order to make the necessary alterations to adapt it to his purposes, the congregation of the Central Presbyterian church secured a new location on Airy street, in the western portion of Norristown, and their property on Main street near Swede was placed on the market. Mr. Block, with his accustomed foresight and good judgment, saw the advantages of the site for the establishment of his business, and purchased it for a very reasonable price, and at once made the alterations necessary to convert it into one of the finest stores on the principal business street of Norristown, in which he conducts a very extensive business. He is a large stockholder in the Peoples' Building and Loan Association, and is also interested in a number of other local enterprises.

(Page 542)

He resides on Swede street near Chestnut. He is a man who is very highly esteemed in the community in which he lives, his great business enterprise and his interest in everything calculated to promote the prosperity and growth of Norristown, commending him to his fellow citizens generally.

 

 

ALBERT G. KEHL. The Kehls are an old family of German descent who have been long settled in Pottstown. A number of the family have been. engaged in the occupation of tailoring, in which they have been very successful. Albert G. Kehl is the son of John and Catharine (Geist) Kehl, the father having been a leading tailor of Pottstown, who was a prominent citizen, being a member of town council, and interested in a number of local enterprises. He died in 1899, at the age of sixty-eight years. The mother was the daughter of Henry Geist, of another old Pottstown family. Mrs. Kehl died several years before her husband, and both were buried in the Pottstown Cemetery, in the family vault. The couple left two sons, the other being William G. Kehl, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work.

Albert G. Kehl, the subject of this sketch, was born in 1862, in Pottstown. He attended the public schools of that borough until he was sixteen years of age, when he learned the tailoring trade with his father. Mr. Kehl married Miss Binder, of a prominent family long resident at Boyertown, in Berks county, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Kehl's place of business is at No. 240 High street. He resides at No. 61 South Hanover street. Mr. Kehl is a member of the Masonic order, and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, as well as of other organizations. He stands well in the community, enjoying the respect and confidence of all who know him.

 

 

JONATHAN R. JONES, son of Jonathan and Amanda (Robeson) Jones, one of the best known residents of Lower Merion, was born in that township, November 17, 1851. Jonathan Jones, his father, was born December 7, 1817, and died August 7, 1900. His mother, Amanda Robeson, was born December 25, 1822, and died May 10, 1885. The children of Jonathan and Amanda Jones were: Silas (deceased), married Mary Jeffries, they having no children; Jonathan R., subject of this sketch.

Jonathan R. Jones married M. Adele Wright. They have but one child, a son. He received his early education at Lower Merion Academy, attending later the Friends' Central School at Fifteenth and Race streets, Philadelphia. He also took a full course in penmanship, etc., at Bryant & Stratton's Business College, a well known Philadelphia institution in its day. Afterwards Jonathan R. Jones became an instructor in Crittenden's Commercial College, another well known Philadelphia institution, where he taught penmanship. He remained in that position for three years, at the end of which time he entered the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, in which he took a three years' course and graduated with honor. He then built a studio on his father's homestead in Lower Merion, where he has since practiced his profession and looked after the interests of the farm.

Jonathan Jones, father, was educated at Lower Merion Academy, and was in his day a very successful farmer.

 

 

S. B. WOODWARD, a well known citizen of the borough of Conshohocken, in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, was born near Downingtown, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, January 31, 1831. He is one of a family of ten children of Robert and Elizabeth (Gabe) Woodward.

Robert Woodward, father of the subject of this sketch, was a stone mason by occupation, which pursuit he followed for many years. He also owned a farm of twenty acres in Chester county, which he cultivated in addition to laboring at his trade. He was an industrious and energetic man, straightforward and scrupulously just in all his dealings with his fellowmen, and highly respected by all who knew him. He died in 1836.

(Page 543)

S. B. Woodward was educated in the schools of East Caln township, Chester county, remaining under the parental roof until his sixteenth year, when he became an apprentice to the blacksmith trade. After being sometime engaged in this line of work and wishing to improve his opportunities in life, he removed to Conshohocken, where he obtained employment with John Wood & Brothers, being a workman in their rolling mill in various capacities for five years. He was then made manager of his department, which position he filled very faithfully for a period of twenty-five years.

In 1881, because of failing health, he resigned his position. When he severed his connection with the establishment the firm expressed their appreciation of his services in a very forcible manner. Mr. Woodward has been very actively interested in the affairs of Conshohocken, serving as health officer of the borough. He also served two terms in town council. Politically he is a Republican.

Mr. Woodward married Susanna D. Garess. The couple have the following children: Lamar, Grant, Brinton, deceased; Katharine (Mrs. Thwaite); Harry, Savoy and Gabe.

 

 

DR. DANIEL WEBSTER SHELLY, a prominent and successful physician of the borough of Ambler, is a native of Milford township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, where he was born August 10, 1860. He is a descendant of honored ancestors of the Mennonite denomination. He is the son of Isaac H. and Susan (Moyer) Shelly, both of Lehigh county originally.

Isaac H. Shelly (father) is the only child of Jacob and Susan (High) Shelly. He was educated in neighborhood schools, and on reaching manhood rented a mill and operated that for some years. Later he attended Freeland Seminary, now Ursinus College, at Collegeville, and added to his store of knowledge in general.

After his marriage he obtained employment in a store at Vera Cruz, in Lehigh county, and later engaged in farming and milling in Lower Milford township. He soon removed, however, to Bucks county, and conducted a general mercantile business at Pleasant Valley for ten years, at the end of which time he removed to Quakertown, also in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and conducted a store there until his retirement from active business in 1899. He still resides in Quakertown, where he has interests that require his attention.

He is a director in the Quakertown National Bank. In religious faith he is a member of the Mennonite church. In politics he is a Republican, but takes no active part in elections beyond depositing his ballot.

He married, in 1855, Susan, daughter of William and Susan Moyer, who died in 1898. William and Susan Moyer were also Mennonites. Their children: Susan (mother of Dr. Shelly); Milton, a commission merchant in Philadelphia; Ambrose, also a resident of Philadelphia; Mrs. John Shelly; Elvina (Mrs. H. Rosenberger); Leanna (Mrs. H. Derr); and Charles, their third child who is a hay and feed dealer in Philadelphia.

The children of Isaac H. and Susan (Moyer) Shelly: James, a prominent business man of Quakertown, and president of the National Bank at that place; Dr. D. W., subject of this sketch; Morris and William, both died young. Dr. Shelly became a resident of Bucks county when he was about eight years of age.

Dr. D. W. Shelly obtained his earlier education in the public schools and in the Quakertown high school, from which he graduated, and then attended the Mennonite Seminary at Wadsworth, Ohio, of which Professor Shelly, a relative, was principal, graduating also from that institution. He then commenced reading medicine with Dr. R. T. Moyer, of Quakertown, and continued for one year.

He entered in 1879 the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, and graduated from that institution in 1882, being honor man in his class. The same year, after receiving his diploma, he opened an office in Ambler, and has ever since been successfully engaged in the practice of medicine there. He has built up an extensive and lucrative practice, meriting and enjoying the confidence of the public. He is a physician at the Mercer Home for Disabled Clergymen, a Presbyterian institution near that place, and a member of the Montgomery County Medical Society, of the Pennsylvania Medical Society and of the American Medical Association. In politics he is a Republican, and is active in support of its principles. He assisted in organizing the borough government in Ambler; served two terms as member of town council, two terms as burgess, and is now a member of the board of school directors. In religion he is an Episcopalian, and a vestryman of the church.

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In 1884 Dr. Shelly, married Elizabeth A., daughter of Alfred S. and Mary (Marshall) Acuff, of Upper Dublin township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. The Acuffs are an old Montgomery county family. Alfred Acuff was a son of William and Eliza (Scheetz) Acuff. William Acuff was a son of Jacob Acuff, and both Jacob and his son William were soldiers in the Revolutionary war.

Eliza Scheetz, the wife of William, was a daughter of General Henry Scheetz, of the third generation of the Scheetz family in America. They were of German origin. Several members of the family participated in the Revolutionary war, Henry reaching the position of captain of his company. He served throughout the war of 1812, and was one of the leading men in Montgomery county for many years, and was one of the early judges of the county.

Alfred Acuff, father of Mrs. Shelly, married Mary Marshall, daughter of John Marshall, whose father was also a soldier in the Revolutionary war. The Marshalls were of Irish descent. John Marshall was most of his life a citizen of Upper Dublin township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He was one of the earlier business men of Ambler. He died in 1888. He was an Episcopalian in religion. His wife survives, and resides at Roxborough.

Their children were Elizabeth, wife of Dr. Shelly, John M., a chemist; William S., a prominent and successful attorney-at-law; Walter, a banker and broker: Margaret, wife of Mr. Flanagan, a wool merchant; Alfred S., a master mechanic; Frances M., unmarried; Clarence S., engaged in the wool business.

Dr. D. W. and Mrs. Elizabeth Shelly have had three children, as follows: Isaac H., born April 30, 1886; James, born in October, 1892; J. Marshall, died at the age of nine years.

Dr. Shelly is a member of Springhouse Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The Shelly family are descended from Henry Shelly, who came from Germany and settled not far from Quakertown, in Bucks county.

 

 

JOHN STAGER was born September 17, 1841, in Chester county. After completing his education He learned the trade of plasterer. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Company E, Ninety-fifth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, the commanding officer being Colonel M. Gosling. He was wounded at Salem Heights, May 30, 1863, and honorably discharged from service September 9, 1863. He participated in the following battles; West Point, Virginia; the seven days fight around Richmond under General McClellan; the second battle of Bull Run, South Mountain, and the first and second battles of Fredericksburg. On his return from the war Mr. Stager taught school.

In 1876 he married Harriet, daughter of David Shafter. Their children Alice M., born 1878; Maurice B., born 1880; Horace, born 1882; Sallie, born 1884; Ralph, born 1892.

Rudolph Stager (father) was the son of Peter Stager. He married Mary Worts, and they had the following children: Joseph H., died in infancy; Rudolph, died at the age of forty years; Sarah, wife of John McCann; Barbara, wife of Harrison Marsh, they being deceased; Mary, widow of Harry Haldeman; and John. Peter Stager (grandfather) married Barbara Harley. Their children: Jacob, John and Rudolph, all deceased. The brothers and sisters of Mrs. Mary (Worts) Stager were: John Worts, living in Conchohocken; David Worts (deceased); Ann, wife of John Boyer (deceased).

Mr. John Stager is a Republican in politics, and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

 

END OF VOLUME 1

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