(Picture of Samuel Roberts Family)

 

SAMUEL ROBERTS. Among the men of energy and enterprise belonging to the younger element of Norristown business men, there are none who possess in a higher degree the qualities essential to success in life, than the subject of this sketch, Samuel Roberts. He is pre-eminently a self-made man, being the son of parents who devoted less attention to the accumulation of wealth than to the proper training and education of their children. He is still a young man, having been born in Lower Merion township, November 21, 1860. He is the son of Joseph and Martha (Wrigley) Roberts, both long deceased. They were natives of England,-Yorkshire and Rochedale, respectively, and in early life sought to better their condition by emigration to America, and have succeeded in thus achieving a considerable measure of success in the country of their adoption, for themselves and for their children.

The paternal grandfather of Samuel Roberts was John Roberts, a manufacturer of Yorkshire, England, and his grandfather on his mother's side, was James Wrigley, a native of Rochedale, England, who came to this country when a young man and settled in Conshohocken, there becoming a prominent citizen of the place. He died at the age of sixty years, leaving three children.

The parents of Samuel Roberts came to this country more than a half century ago, locating first at Chester Springs, and about 1850 remov-

 

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ing to Lower Merion, where they carried on farming, owning a small tract of land. On this they lived seventeen years, and then removed to Norristown, where they resided until their death, excepting a period of five years, which the spent on a farm at Jeffersonville. Mr. Roberts survived his wife six years. Both were members of the First Baptist church of Norristown, in which he was for many years an officer. Joseph Roberts was married three times.

By his first wife he had four children, two of whom are now living Sarah E., wife of Robert N. Wood of Norristown, and Martha, wife of Robert Lees of Roxborough. By the second marriage there were two children- Jennie, a successful teacher in the Norristown high school, and Samuel.

Samuel Roberts lived in Lower Merion until about the seventh year of his age, when his parents removed to Norristown, as already stated. The next few years were spent partly in attending the public schools of Norristown and partly in work on the farm at Jeffersonville. When he was nineteen years of age, the family returned to Norristown, and he became an apprentice in the lumber yards and planing mill of Guest & Longaker, learning the business from its lowest department, and following it ever since. During his apprenticeship he took a course in architectural drawing in the Spring Garden Institute and in 1882 he went to Philadelphia, where he worked in a planing mill for three years. He then returned to Norristown and secured employment with the firm of Bolton's Sons, for whom he worked two years. At the end of that time he purchased an interest in the firm of Guest & Grater, on Main street, corner of Arch, the business being gradually increased. He bought out Mr. Guest’s interest, but the firm was carried on under the same name until January 1902, when the firms of Guest & Grater, and Bodey, Jamison & Wainright were consolidated, the new Grater, Bodey & Company purchasing the extensive plant of Bolton’s Sons and establishing their business therein, with a capital of a hundred thousand dollars. The company gives employment to one hundred and twenty men, their plant being one of the most extensive and best equipped in the state of Pennsylvania. On January 1, 1902, Mr. Roberts became president of the company. He is a director in the Norristown Brick Company, in the Merchants' Ice Company, and in the Norristown Steam Heating Company.

While Mr. Roberts has achieved much success in conjunction with others in the lumber and planing mill business, his energies have not been confined to that department of work. He has contributed very largely to his own prosperity, and that of Norristown, by the erection of many dwellings, either alone or in conjunction with others, including Henry M. Keeler, Isaac Landis, B. F. Wildman and J. Frank Boyer. He and the first named erected a few years ago a dozen handsome residences on the upper side of Haws avenue, between Oak and Elm, and have built others elsewhere, finding a ready sale for them. He is associated with Messrs. Wildman, Landis & Boyer in the Hamilton Terrace Building Company, of which he is secretary. The company bought a tract of land on the Fornance farm extending from Main to Marshall streets, and from Buttonwood to Selma avenue, including twenty acres or more, which the first graded, drained and laid out in streets at great expense, and then erected thereon many fine residences, scarcely any two of them alike. This enterprise has developed one of the finest and most desirable sections of Norristown, greatly adding to the growth and prosperity of the town.

Mr. Robert’s wife was Miss Emma Rylands, daughter of William and Sarah Rylands. They have seven children: Helen, Donald, Wallace, Sarah, Willard, Jean and Emma.

Mr. and Mrs. Roberts are members of the Calvary Baptist church, taking an active interest in the work of the denomination. Mr. Roberts belongs also Norristown lodge, No. 620, Free and Accepted Masons, having been one of the charter members. He is a past master of the lodge. He is also a member of the Norristown Chapter, No. l00, Royal Arch Masons, and is past high priest of the chapter. Other organizations to which he belongs are: Hutchinson Commandery, No. 32, K. T., of which he is past commander; Norristown Lodge, No. 714, B. P. O. E.; and the Independent Order of Heptasophs. In politics Mr. Roberts is a Republican, working actively in behalf of the party. He served as councilman from the first ward for six years. He is at present one of the borough auditors. He resides in a handsome home at the corner of Main street and Forest avenue.

 

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Mr. Roberts is a progressive citizen, always taking the popular side on every question, as it arises, and exerting his influence so as to promote the best interests of the community of which he is a useful, valued, and respected member. In every relation of life he is an example to those around him, impressing his individuality upon all with whom he comes in contact.

 

 

JACOB HOFFMAN, son of John Jacob and Louisa (Halwick) Hoffman, is a native of Ohio, where he was born January 14, 1844. In 1852, the father bought the farm now owned and occupied by Andrew J. Murphy, in Lower Gwynedd township, Montgomery, county, Pennsylvania, containing 114 acres of land, of which about thirty-five acres was woodland, which was cultivated by the parents of Jacob Hoffman, farming being combined with dairying.

Jacob Hoffman attended the school taught by Andrew J. Lewis, of Gwynedd township, the same person who was for many years a justice of the peace in that township. After attending school three years, he relinquished his studies and began to participate in the management of the farm, and at eighteen years of age he took full charge because of his father's failing health, and so continued until the death of his father.

Jacob Hoffman married, April 23, 1871, Caroline, daughter of Charles and Hannah (Lentz) Gouak, who were farmers of Horsham township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Gouak were natives of Saxony, in Germany, who emigrated to this country.

The children of Jacob and Caroline Hoffman: Daniel Geiger, born January 31, 1873, attended the public school at Gwynedd until his twentieth year, after which he remained at home assisting oft the farm; Hannah Louise, born August 19, 1874, attended Maple Grove school, and like her brother Daniel resides with her parents, being unmarried; John Charles, born July 3, 1876, attended school at Maple Grove, and is unmarried, residing with his parents and assisting on the farm; Walter Jacob, born October 25, 1880, died May 19, 1884; Edward Jacob, born January 1, 1886, attended Friends' School at Gwynedd and also Maple Grove public school, and is now a pupil at the Williamson Trades School at Media, class of 1905.

John Jacob Hoffman (father) was born in Stuttgart, Wurtemberg, Germany, and emigrated to America, locating in Philadelphia when he was seventeen years of age. He learned the trade of carriage building. Being offered a situation in a shop at New Orleans, he went to that city and was employed at his trade for some years there. While at New Orleans he married Louise Halwick, also a native of Germany.

Their children: Christian, born in New Orleans, deceased; John C., deceased; Louisa, married Christian Booner, and resides in Philadelphia: Jacob, subject of this sketch; Caroline, married Jacob Zoll and resides at Centre Square, in Whitpain township; Mary, married Christian Heebner, who lives retired in Norristown; Julia Frances, married Benjamin Franklin Murphy, son of John and Tacy (Gillin) Murphy, and resides in Whitpain township; Susanna, married and resides at Centre Square.

 

 

WILLIAM H. YOUNG, president of the Pottstown Cold Storage Company and Warehouse Company, was born in Douglass township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, August 17, 1842. He is the son of Jacob and Sarah (Hoffman) Young, both natives of Douglass township, Montgomery county. They had five children, two sons and three daughters: Henry, of Pottstown Sophia, wife of Noah Huber; Maria, widow of Thomas Will of Douglass township; William H., and Sarah, wife of Charles Moser of Douglass township.

 

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William H. Young (father) was a farmer and a miller in Douglass township, and died there about 1844, aged thirty-nine years. His wife survived him until 1887, being eighty-three years old at the time of her death. They belonged to the German Reformed church. He was a prominent than in his community. Andrew Young (grandfather) was born in Montgomery county, and was a farmer. His wife's maiden name was Brendlinger, and they had a large family. He died at an advanced age. His father came from Germany and was the founder of the family in this country. Henry Hoffman maternal (grandfather) was also born in Montgomery county and was a farmer. At the time of his death he was more than eighty years of age. He had nine children, the youngest of whom died at the age of seventy-six years.

William H. Young was reared on the farm in Douglas township, and received his first schooling in the district schools. He bean working for himself when a small boy, and engaged in the produce business in a small way when a young man. He continued in that business for more than twenty years in connection with farming. He bought a farm of 117 acres, to which he added about thirty-eight acres. In 1886 he was elected county treasurer and served as such for three years. He removed to Pottstown in 1888. Associating himself with E. K. Snell, Robert Baldwin, C. Q. Guldin and W. D. Young, his son, he built the Pottstown Cold Storage and Warehouse Company, and has continued in this business ever since.

He married Miss Catharine Pennypacker, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Garver) Pennypacker. They had five children, as follows: 1. William P., an attorney-at-law in Pottstown. He married Miss Martha Leidy, and they have two children: William H. and Lotta. 2. Flora, a graduate of the Pottstown high school. 3. Olivia, died at the age of three years and six months. 4.-5. Charles and Nana (twins). Charles is in the cold storage plant with his father. Nana is attending college at Syracuse, New York.

William H. Young is a member of the German Reformed church, and his wife of the Methodist church. He belongs to Warren lodge, No. 310, Free and Accepted Masons. Politically he is a Republican. He served several terms as school director. He is a director in the National Iron Bank of Pottstown. He resides at 482 Charlotte street, where he built his home in 1887.

During the Civil war he enlisted, September 12, 1862, in Company G, Sixth Regiment Pennsylvania Militia, and served two months. He contracted rheumatism, and was discharged.

 

 

HENRY BOBB, M. D., a successful physician and prominent business man of past Greenville, is a descendant of two old settled German families, Hillegass and Bobb. He is the son Henry and Elizabeth (Hillegass) Bobb, and was born at the old Hillegass homestead in Upper Hanover, December 9, 1846.

Henry Bobb (father) was born at Forgedale, in Washington township, Berks county, October 10, 1809 and died August 11, 1901, at East Greenville. After attending neighborhood schools until his sixteenth year, he learned the trade of saddler which he followed until 1840, when he engaged in farming on the old Hillegass homestead, continuing that occupation successfully until 1868, when he retired. He was a Democrat in politics, and a member in high standing of the Lutheran church. He married, about 1833 Elizabeth Hillegass, the couple having five children, of whom Dr. Bobb is the sole survivor. John died in infancy; John 2d died at the age of ten years; George died at the age of twenty-nine years; James Daniel, the oldest, died in his fifty-third year, leaving, three children, the eldest of whom Dr. W. G. Bobb, is a prominent medical practitioner in Philadelphia. Henry Bobb was a school director and treasurer of the school board of Upper Hanover for many years.

Daniel Bobb (grandfather) married Anna Herb he was born in Forgedale Berks County, July 26, 1781. He had ten children, of whom three survived. He was a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Lutheran church. He died February 27, 1866.

 

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Daniel Bobb (great-grandfather) was the youngest son of immigrant, John Conrad Bobb. He was born in 1740. His father dying in 1760, when he was but fourteen years of age, the care of the hundred acre farm and grist and oil mill at Forgedale fell to his lot. He continued their management until 1774 when he bought it, continuing to operate it until 1782, when he sold it to his son Daniel.

John Conrad Bobb (great-great-grandfather) came from Germany prior to 1744. In that year he bought from Christian Beidler the farm, grist and oil mill at Forgedale. He died in 1760, intestate.

John Conrad Bobb, who spelled his surname Bopp, as is shown by receipts and other papers in existence, married Elizabeth Stover. Their children were John, Abraham, Anna (Mrs. Bowman), and Daniel.

Dr. Henry Bobb's early educational training was obtained at East Greenville, Quakertown and Washington Hall Collegiate Institute, Trappe. He taught school for a time, serving in this capacity in the public schools of Upper Hanover for two years. He then accepted a position as clerk in a general store, but after spending two years in this way decided to study medicine, which he did under the preceptorship of Dr. John G. Hillegass, of Pennsburg. Later he entered the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from the medical department of that institution in 1868. He practiced successfully for seven years at Herefordville, Berks county 1875, he removed to East Greenville where he opened a drug store, combining its management with the practice of medicine. He has been the preceptor of a number of physicians now practicing successfully in various sections of Pennsylvania. He is a Democrat in politics, and was for many years treasurer of East Greenville, and also it the Factory Company and Water Works of that place. In religions faith he affiliates with the Reformed denomination, and is prominently identified with the New Goshenhoppen church. He is also president of the St. John's Reformed Chapel at East Greenville. He owns and occupies one of the most beautiful homes in that borough.

Dr. Bobb married, May 11, 1868, Maria Catharine, daughter of Peter Hillegass, the well-known linseed oil manufacturer, who resided in Upper Hanover township. The couple have had five children, as follows: Vincent Peter, Nevin and Henry Hillegass, all of whom died in infancy; Eugene Hillegass, an alumnus of Franklin and Marshall College, of the class of '95, died from pneumonia on Friday, May 20, 1898. He had just completed his post-graduate course for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biology, Chemistry and Psychology. He came to the college in 1892 as a boy of seventeen years, his preparatory training leaving been received under Dr. N. C. Schaeffer, then principal of the Kutztown State Normal School. He was the first student of Franklin and Marshall College who entered the second year of the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania on certificate. But his love for Franklin and Marshall was greater than his taste for the practice of medicine, and in 1890 he returned in order to take in postgraduate work in the branches mentioned above.

In 1897 he received the degree of Master of Arts in the basis of his thesis, "On the Origin of the Apple." At his graduation as Doctor of Philosophy he wrote a unique thesis, "On the Development of the Middle Germ Layer," which was worthy of a higher degree than that of the first academic distinction, and the drawings he made for the scientific contributions of Professor R. C. Schiedt evoked the commendations of the professors at Merlin.

The funeral services were held on Thursday, May 26, 1898, six of his college friends served as pall-bearers, namely Messrs. D. N. Laudenslager, W. F. DeLong, Harry D. Schaeffer, J. Frank Meyer, and Revs. Thomas Dickert and Daniel E. Schaeffer.

Dr. John S. Stahr, president of Franklin and Marshall College, spoke very feelingly of the departed, and Professor D. C. Schiedt, with whom Mr. Bobb was intimately associated during the, last six years of his life, paid a glowing tribute to the heroic self-sacrifice of his friend. His pastor preached a sermon in German, and the presence of many friends attested the high esteem in which he held.

Mary Mabel, only daughter of Dr. Bobb was born August 5, 1882. She is a graduate of Perkiomen Seminary, of Pennsburg, and of Woman's College of Frederick, Maryland. She is now the wife of Professor J. Parsons Schaeffer, who attended the Central Pennsylvania

 

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College, of New Merlin, graduated with honors from the Keystone State Normal School, at Kutztown, and was first honor man at the United States College of Engineering. He was supervising principal of the East Greenville schools for two years, but resigned to complete his medical studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He has also done special work at Cornell University. The maternal ancestors of Dr. Henry Bobb were John Frederick and Elizabeth Hillegass. They came with his sister Barbara and his brother Michael, who was the father of Michael Hillegass, the first treasurer of the United States, from Germany, sailing from Rotterdam in the ship "William and Sarah," and landing at Philadelphia, September 18, 1727, settling in Upper Hanover township in the region named by the Indians "Goshenhoppen." They were accompanied by the Rev. George Michael Weiss, a Reformed Minister, and a graduate of the University of Heidelberg.

John Frederick Hillegass took up a large tract of land along the Perkiomen near the present borough of East Greenville. Among his children were: George Peter (great-grandfather of Dr. Bobb): Leopold, a soldier in the Revolutionary war, who afterwards settled in the state of New York; John Adam, who built the first grist mill in the upper end of Montgomery County. George, Peter Hillegass was born February 2, 1735, and died September 24, 1810. He married Anna Barbara Hornecker.

The couple had the following children: Eve, John, Jacob, Frederick, Catharine, Elizabeth, Magdalena and Maria Margaret. Maria Margaret married John George Hillegass, a grandson of John Adam Hillegass.

John George Hillegass (maternal grandfather) was born in Lower Milford township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, February 28, 1771. In early life he removed to Upper Hanover township, Montgomery county, where he engaged in farming and mercantile business, and being, a man of great business tact and ability accumulated a competency. He was a Democrat in politics, a member and officer of the New Goshenhoppen Reformed church, and one of the most influential men in that section of Pennsylvania. He died May 8, 1851, leaving his estate to his children: Charles, George, Jacob, Maria, Elizabeth (mother), and Catharine. Of these Maria married Samuel Kepler, and has the following children John, Samuel, Hannah, Maria, Eliza and Adline?. Catharine married Solomon Steltz, her children being John, William, Edward and two deceased.

 

 

(Picture of Mr and Mrs. George Righter)

 

GEORGE RIGHTER, one of the most progressive citizens of Upper Merion township, is a son of John and Elizabeth (Legeaux) Righter.

The family is of German origin, tracing their ancestry to one of three brothers, who, with two sisters, came to Philadelphia. One of them, John, located on Mill creek, in Lower Merion where he owned a grist mill. All were Friends, and the two sisters were preachers in the Society.

John Righter (great-grandfather) had a family of children, among them Anthony, the ancestor of George W. Righter's line.

Anthony Righter (grandfather), a millwright by trade, was a native of Lower Merion, but lived later in Whitemarsh township. He married Catherine Taylor, and they had ten children: John, Morris, T. Isaac, Joseph, Anthony, Richard, Mary (Pontzler), Catharine and Elizabeth (Nuss). Anthony Righter died at the age of eighty-nine years.

John Righter (father) also born in Lower Merion, engaged later in the business of burning lime, at Spring Mill, much of it being taken to Philadelphia. Large quantities are shipped by the canal after its construction, amounting to hundreds of thousands of bushels a year. Originally a Democrat, John Righter became a Republican, and was generally active in the affairs of his community. He died in 1869, aged eighty-three years, his remains being interred in Barren Hill Cemetery. His wife was Elizabeth Legeaux, who died in 1867, in the seventieth year of her age. Their children are: Peter L., Isaac, Joseph, Anthony P., John A., Charles C., Lucressa R., George W., and Lindley. All are deceased but Charles and George W.

 

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Peter Legeaux (maternal grandfather) was a native of Lorraine, France. He came to America in 1785. He was an attorney-at-law, having been admitted at Metz in his twentieth year and at the supreme court at Nantes, in 1768. Peter Legeaux was a very remarkable character. He was a member of the Masonic order, a member and correspondent of several academies of science and art in Europe and America, a meteorologist, a man of considerable literary ability and had a thorough knowledge of astronomy. He planted vineyards on his tract of land at Spring Mill and organized the Pennsylvania Wine Company. Washington visited him at his Spring Mill home during his term as president of the United States. He died at Spring Mill, September 27, 1827. His will is a very peculiar document, his property being divided among three heirs, his daughters, Sophia and Elizabeth, and their mother. Sophia married Joseph Geiger and moved to another part of the country but her family is now extinct.

George W. Righter was reared on the homestead at Spring Mill, in the house of Peter Legeaux, still in good condition. He attended the township schools and later took a course of study at Treemount Seminary, Norristown, under the teaching of Rev. Samuel Aaron, one of the most famous educators of his day. After completing the course at the Seminary, George W. Righter engaged in teaching, which pursuit he followed for five years. At the end of that time he engaged in agricultural pursuits for which he had a special aptitude, and the cultivation of the soil has claimed his time and attention ever since, mostly on the farm which he bought in 1863, near Merion Station, on the Reading Railway, one of the most fertile and best managed in the state. He has long been active in the Patrons of Husbandry, taking a deep interest in everything pertaining to the success and prosperity of agriculture. In politics he is a Republican with independent tendencies, believing in the motto of the greatest good to the greatest number, and casting his ballot in the way that he thinks best calculated to promote that object. He is a member of the Lutheran church.

On February 24, 1859, Mr. Righter married Caroline, daughter of John and Almira (Hallman) Hart. Their only living child is Harry Sherman, born January 21, 1860. He married Almira Ford. Their children are Caroline May, born April 9, 1884; Salome Hart, born July 16, 1886; Theoline Ford, born August 16, 1888; Georgine Annetta, born March 18, 1891, and died January 26, 1895; Marion Legeaux, born September 4, 1896, and died January 23, 1897; Anna S., born February 16, 1898, Harry S. and George who died in infancy. Harry S. Righter attended the public schools of the neighborhood and later attended the Conshohocken High school, where he was graduated in 1875, after which he pursued a regular course at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated in 1880, adopting civil engineering as his profession. He has since been connected with the Pennsylvania railroad Company as civil engineer.

Carrie E., George W. and Mary Romaine, other children of George W. and Caroline Righter, died in childhood.

John Hart (father of Mrs. George W. Righter) was born in Plymouth township, where he grew to manhood and learned the trade of carpenter and Builder. He was engaged for a time in mercantile business in Norristown, then at Hickorytown and still later in Roxboro. A short time before his death he sold his Roxboro business, went to upper Merion and resumed work at his trade. He was a member of the Lutheran church of Barren Hill for a half century, as was his wife. In politics he was a life-long Democrat, but not an office-seeker.

He had seven children Samuel H. (deceased) born March 13, 1834, married Matilda Rex. Charles is also deceased. Caroline H., born May 19, 1839, married George W. Righter. William born March 15, 1842, married Salome Boyer. He enlisted in 1861, in the Fifty-first Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and served through the war. He was wounded at Antietam, but, afterwards recovering, reenlisted and was mustered out at the close of the war. He went into the army as a private and came home a captain. He was for a time clerk in one of the department of Harrisburg, and later elected on the Republican ticket, as state treasurer but died November 9, 1889, during his term of office. John H., born September 9, 1846, married Harriet Miller. Mary Emma L., born August 17, 1848, married Frank Churlton, a Philadelphia manufacturer. T. Jefferson, born April 16, 1851, married Maggie Myers. He is now deceased. George Howard, born March 7, 1856, married Elmira Diffenderfer. He is the station agent at Pennsburg, on the Philadelphia & Reading Railway.

 

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CHRISTIAN S. FREED, leading restaurant keeper of Souderton, was born on a farm in the vicinity of Schwenksville, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, the son of Isaac and Annie (Solider) Freed, both deceased, who were farmers at Schwenksville.

He was born February 22, 1861, and was educated in neighboring schools, and later in Hatfield schools. On leaving school he assisted his father on the farm for a time. Later he decided to start in the grocery business for himself at Souderton, and conducted that business successfully until 1898, when seeing the need for a first class restaurant in the place he established one, and has succeeded far beyond his expectations. He married, September 24, 1878, Miss Rosa Adleman, daughter of Cornelius Adleman, a farmer of Sumneytown, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, they having the following children: Howard, married Leah Harden; Elmer; Norman; Bertha, married Horace Landis, they leaving two children; Alice, Pearl and Lillian, the last two being twins.

Mr. Freed is an earnest Republican, and has recently been elected a member of the town council of Souderton by his fellow citizens. He is a public-spirited man, and enjoys the confidence of the whole community, of which he is a valued member. He is emphatically a selfmade man, owing whatever he has achieved to his own unaided exertions.

Isaac Freed (father) was born on the homestead at Schwenksville. He obtained his education in the schools of that vicinity, and then farmed on the home place. Later, however, he took up the trade of blacksmith, which he followed until the time of his death. He was a Republican in politics, and was always ready to do what was possible to aid it. He was a man of good business attainments, and was respected by all who knew him. He married Miss Annie Souder. The couple had seven children. Joseph Freed (grandfather) was a member of in old Montgomery county family. He resided in Franconia townships. He was a farmer, and strictly attentive to business. Among his children was Isaac, the father of Christian S. Freed.

 

 

JOHN E. BROWER, a prominent citizen of Oaks, is a descendant of an old Montgomery county family. He was born at the old Brower homestead, where he still lives, on December 3, 1821. He was reared as a farmer, and educated in the common schools of the neighborhood. He is a son of Abram and Margaret (Crawford) Brower, both of Montgomery county, in which county they were married and have always lived. Abram Brower is a son of Daniel and Fannie (Reiff) Brower. Both families are of German descent, and one of the earliest settlers in the state of during colonial days. Daniel Brower bought a large tract of land and erected a dwelling with all the improvements, on which place John E. Brower now resides. He reared his family on this farm, and when his death occurred his farm passed to his son Abram. Abram Brower resided on the old homestead until his death, which he in turn passed over to his son John, who is still surviving at the advanced age of eighty-three years.

Daniel Brower (grandfather) was a very prominent man and farmer in his day. He was a member of the Mennonite church, was widely known throughout the surrounding country, and was highly respected by all with whom he came in contact. His children: Henry, died in Canada; Fanny (Mrs. Pennypacker); Barbara (Mrs. Kurts); Eliza, married J. Pennypacker after the death of her sister Fanny; Mary (Mrs. Blickler); Daniel, hotel keeper, miller and farmer; Abram (father); Christian, also a farmer, miller and hotel keeper; Ann (Mrs. J. H. Umpstead); Sarah, never married; Catharine (Mrs. Judge Henry Longacre).

 

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Abram Brower (father) was born, reared and always resided at the old homestead after the death of his father. He purchased the interest from the other heirs and carried forward what his father had intended to be done, and reared his (Abrams) family at the old homestead. The old home was situated in the valley of the Schuylkill river, and was an excellent place for him. too carry on systematic farming and stock raising, to which he gave his entire attention, raising horses, cattle and hogs. He was known to have the finest horses in that section of Pennsylvania, and formed a market for the sale of these animals both at home and in Philadelphia. Politically, Mr. Brower was a Whig and a Republican. He represented his county in the legislature, and filled other prominent positions. He took an active interest in all public questions and used his influence for his party. He was not a member of any church. He died in 1871, at the age of eighty-seven years. His wife preceded him in death, dying in 1869, aged eighty-five years. She was a daughter of Joseph Crawford, of Lower Providence township. She was of Irish descent, and the members of her family were among the early settlers of this township. Her father was well known and highly respected. Their children were: Margaret (mother of John L. Brower); Joseph, a farmer; Alexander, died single. The children of Abram Brower; Ann Mrs. U. Sheppard; Joseph, yet resides in this neighborhood at the ripe old age of eighty-seven years; Fanny (Mrs. S. Umpstead); Abram, a farmer; John E., the subject of this sketch; Jane B. (Mrs. John Tyson).

John E. Brower was reared on the old homestead, at which place he yet resides. After the death of his father, he purchased the interest of the other heirs and so far has spent his life on the farm. He has sold some of the land, but still owns about eighty acres. The quaint stone building erected by his grandfather is still doing service as the dwelling house; it has been repaired and remodeled, and the same is capacious and comfortable. The farm has required all his energy, and in addition to this he has given careful attention to the raising of stock of all kinds. In politics, Mr. Brower is a Republican, and he was the first of his own immediate family to vote the Republican ticket. He voted for Fremont. He has never aspired for office. He is very much interested in the doings of "Our Country," and notes carefully all progress made by this nation.

Among his first recollections is the old canal traffic, before railroads were known, and when the marketing was carried to and from the large cities by horses and wagons only. He is widely known and highly respected by all in his community.

On August 30, 1841, he was united in marriage to Miss Anna E. Horning, who was born in Montgomery county, May 8, 1824. She was a daughter of James and Sarah A. (Miller) Horning, both of this county. James Horning was the son of Samuel Horning, also of this county, and he was a son of Michael Horning, a prominent settler of German descent. The Horning family were mostly tillers of the soil, and also handled flax seed oil. He was known very well in that section of the county. In politics, he was a Democrat. He had filled some minor offices, but never aspired to public service. He contributed freely to the support of different churches and attended the meetings of same, but was never a member of any church. He died in 1863, his wife preceding him in death, dying when she was quite young, thirty-two years of age. She was a member of the Lutheran church. The children of Samuel Horning: James (father of Mrs. Brower); Martha (Mrs. Eli Rambo); Mary (Mrs. J. Arr); Lewis; Hannah (Mrs. J. Bickley); Samuel.

The children of Mr. Miller: Christian; Maria (Mrs. E. Bean); Sarah A., mother of Mrs. Brower; Julia A. (Mrs. William Amsley); Rebecca (Mrs. Samuel Ashenfelter); Rachel (Mrs. Hait); John; Ellen, still single; Elizabeth also single; Letitia (Mrs. Hearst); Emaline (Mr. J. Freedly); Jackson.

James Horning's children: Anna F;., wife of John E. Brower; Samuel F.; Mary (Mrs. U. Hurst); Frank; John; Lewis; Martha (Mrs. Snyder).

The children of Mr. and Mrs. John E. Brower; Abraham, of this township; Sara A.

 

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(Mrs. F. Highly); James H., iron-worker of Phoenixville; Fanny (Mrs. H. Parsons); Frank, of Phoenixville; Anna S. (Mrs. C. Jarrett) Mary, still single; Norris, formerly superintendent of the shirt factory, of Hagerstown, Maryland, but now superintendent of state roads in Pennsylvania; Martha J. (Mrs. Hobson). All these children are living but Anna. There are nine children, twenty-four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Mrs. Brower is a member of the Dunkard church.

 

 

(Picture of Capt. George Bisbing)

 

CAPTAIN GEORGE W. BISBING, participant in two wars, after gallantly battling for his country on many a hard-fought field gave his life's blood in proof of his devotion to his flag.

He was of German descent, his earliest ancestor in America being his great-grandfather, Barnard Bisbing who came from Germany. Barnard Bisbing was the father of seven sons and three daughters. George, the youngest of his children, settled at Fountain Inn, Barren Hill. He married Catherine Bilger. Their son, William, was a farmer on the Crawford farm in Plymouth township, and also lived on the Carver property on the Gulf road in Upper Merion township. He married Maria Streeper, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth Streeper, and to them was born one child, George W. Bisbing.

George W. Bisbing was born at Barren Hill, May 28, 1823. His career was one most notable, and such as must be inspiring to all who knew him or of him. He was educated at the Norristown Academy, where he had for school companions two men whose names are famous in history-that superb soldier, General Winfield S. Hancock, and General George F. Hartranft, who after splendid service in the Civil war twice became governor of Pennsylvania. George W. Bisbing was a young man of twenty-three when the war with Mexico occurred, and during the two years of that brilliant conflict he was in the employ of the United States government on a vessel carrying supplies from New Orleans to the army in Mexico, and he was present at that stirring scene, the surrender of Vera Cruz to General Winfield Scott. After the restoration of peace Captain Bisbing returned to his home. While an academy student he had learned civil and mechanical engineering, but he did not follow the occupation and settled upon a farm.

He was so engaged when the Civil war broke out. As soon as he could arrange his affairs, he left his little family, consisting of his wife and two children, the one of eleven and the other of two years, and on September 28, 1861, went to the front with Company I, Fifty-first Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. This company was recruited through his own effort, and he encamped his men upon his own farm, his wife cooking for them. At the organization of the company Mr. Bisbing was elected first lieutenant, and he was promoted to the captaincy on June 23, of the following year. His regiment was assigned to the brigade commanded by General Hartranft, who had been his former school companion. Captain Bisbing participated in some of the most arduous campaigns and bloody battles of the war, in both the south and west, acquitting himself with unsurpassable courage and displaying officer-like conduct of the highest degree. His active service began with General Burnsides' expedition to North Carolina, with the tempestuous voyage in midwinter, followed by the capture of Roanoke Island and the battle of Newberne. His command was then conveyed to Virginia, where it operated under General Pope and afterward under General McClellan, and fought in the battles of Kelley's Ford, Rappahannock River, Sulphur Springs, Warrenton, Groverton, Gainesville, the second Bull Run, Chantilly, Frederick, South Mountain, Antietam and Upperville. At Antietam, Captain Bisbing's sword was broken by a Rebel rifle ball, after it had passed through the body of a man by his side, who fell dead on the instant. Sent west to aid General Grant, Captain Bisbing's regiment came under the immediate notice of the writer of this narrative, taking part in the siege of Vicksburg, and after witnessing the surrender of that city, participating in the battle of Big Black River, and the several days' battles at Jackson, Mississippi, in the latter of which, on July 16, 1863, he was wounded in the shoulder. Captain Bisbing's regiment was now sent to the relief of General Burnside, who was in state of siege and at the point of starvation, at Knoxville, Tennessee. En route, Captain Bisbing was engaged in the battles of Loudon, Lewis Farm, and Campbell's Station, and finally fought General Bragg's army, at Knoxville, raising the siege, and admitting supplies to the famished garrison. The regiment was now transported again to Virginia, and took a noble part in the series of battles in the Wilderness, and at Spottsylvania Courthouse. In the last named engagement, May 12, 1864, about ten o'clock, while gallantly leading his men, Captain Bisbing was wounded in the hand. Refusing to leave the field, he applied a bandage and continued in action with his men until two o'clock in the afternoon, when he was shot down, a rifle ball entering his right side and penetrating to the left, and remaining there. The injured man was removed to Seminary Hospital, at Georgetown, D. C., where he lingered until June 5, when he died.

 

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Thus passed away a splendid type of the volunteer soldier of the Civil war. "Proving his truth by his endeavor," he and such as he gave in their life and death the heroic example which inspired the great Lincoln, at Gettysburg, to voice the most pathetic and eloquent tribute to patriotism that ever fell from human lips. While a matchless soldier Captain Bisbing was also a model citizen, cultivating, even amidst the horrors of war, the gentle manners of peace, and the virtues of a devout Christian life. The esteem in which he was held at his home was evidenced in the presentation to him, by the citizens, of a beautiful sword, a sacred relic now cherished with a glowing yet sorrowful pride by his daughter, Anna, who also has in her possession the sword broken in battle, as previously mentioned, with numerous relics sent home by her father from many of the most notable battle-fields of the war. Captain Bisbing was a member of the Lutheran church, and the lodge of Odd Fellows at Barren Hill, and was a Republican in politics.

Captain Bisbing married, December 13, 1849, Miss Elizabeth Shainline, daughter of Andrew and Ann S. (Holstein) Shainline, of Upper Merion township. Her father was a farmer and lime burner in Upper Merion township. He was a Whig in politics and captain of a company of state militia prior to war times, commissioned by the governor. In religious faith he was a member of the old Swedish church of Upper Merion. He was the son of Jacob and Rebecca (Yocum) Shainline, who owned a tract of four hundred acres along the King of Prussia turnpike in Upper Merion. He married Ann Sophia Holstein, May 17, 1826. The couple had nine children, as follows: Elizabeth, who married George W. Bisbing; DeWitt Clinton, who married Catherine Davis; George Holstein, deceased, who married Sarah Forsythe; William Holstein, who married Mary Emily Potter; James Yocum, unmarried; Rebecca Emily, deceased; Mary Louisa, deceased; Henry Harris[on], who married Abbie [Abigail] S. DeHaven ; and Ann Sophia, deceased.

Captain and Mrs. Bisbing were the parents or four children: William Holstein, born October 6, 1850, married Emma Styer, of Plymouth, and has one child, Martha; Winfield Scott, born September 21, 1852, died May 23, 1858; Maria Streeper, born December 25, 1854, died May 19, 1858; and Anna Holstein, born March 10, 1859.

 

 

JOSEPH S. HATFIELD, of Upper Pottsgrove township, was born there August 15, 1819. He is the son of Jacob and Eleanora (Skean) Hatfield.

Jacob Hatfield (father) was the son of John Hatfield, who married Miss Newberry. Mrs. Eleanora Hatfield (mother) died first, he surviving for many years and dying about 1874. They are both buried in Pottstown. They were members of the Lutheran church. At the time of his death he was eighty-six years of age. In politics he was a Democrat. The grandparents were buried in Berks county. Jacob Hatfield and wife had five children, as follows: Isaac, a farmer and shoemaker, married Mary Spotts, both being deceased, leaving two children; Rachel, married William Conway, they living in Philadelphia, where he was engaged as a hotel man, both being deceased, with one child surviving; Mary Ann, married William Yergey, they residing in Pottstown, where he was a carpenter and builder, both being deceased, and leaving several children to survive them; Joseph S., subject of this sketch, and one other child who died in early infancy.

 

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Joseph S. Hatfield attended the schools of the vicinity until he had grown to manhood, when he engaged in stock raising, which occupation he followed for fourteen years, and then turned his attention to farming. During this time he also taught school in Douglass township. His efforts at farming were in Upper Pottsgrove.

Mr. Hatfield married in 1842 Miss Mary Derr, daughter of Jonathan Derr. Her parents lived in Douglass township, where they were engaged in farming. Both Mr. and Mrs. Derr have been deceased many years.

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph S. Hatfield have had four children, of whom three are now living, as follows: Ephraim, married Catharine Moser, they living in Pottstown, where he is engaged in one of the iron industries of that borough, they having five children; Mrs. Hatfield died and he married later Sophia Wise, by whom there are no children; Nathan (deceased), married Catharine Hartline, also deceased, three children surviving, who are living in Pottstown, and one living in Gilbertsville, he was also an iron worker; Eleanora D., married Peter Mauger (deceased), they having six children, and he was also an iron worker in Pottstown ; Mary Ann; married Amos Baker, who is engaged as a farmer and saddler, they living on the old homestead and having eight children, of whom six are living. Mrs. Joseph S. Hatfield died in September, 1892, in the seventy-fourth year of her age, and was buried at Boyertown. She was a member of the Reformed church. Her death was due to an ailment of a dropsical nature. Mr. Hatfield is a Democrat in politics, and has been school director for many years. He has also filled the position of auditor and others for a number of years. In religion he is a Lutheran. In addition to farming the homestead Mr. Hatfield has built nearly all the new buildings in the neighborhood. He has also built three farm buildings and barns upon his own property.

 

 

GEORGE B. KIBBLEHOUSE, youngest child of John and Anna (Fetzer) Kibblehouse, of Gwynedd township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, now retired from active labor, but for many years one of the leading farmers of his section of the county, was born February 6, 1837, in Whitpain township, where his parents resided at the time, though most of his life has been spent in Gwynedd.

John Kibblehouse (father) was born in Gwynedd township, of German parentage, April 3, 1800. He was reared on a farm, obtaining such education as could be had in the schools of that day. He married Ann or Anna Fetzer, also of German parentage, born December 10, 1799. Their children: Evan, born September 4, 1825; William F., born December 28, 1826; Lavina F., born April 28, 1828; John Antrim, born June 12, 1830; Ann Catharine, born December 28, 1831; Eliza Jane, born February 28, 1833; George W., born November 1, 1834, died in infancy; Clement Jones, born December 22, 1835; George Berkhimer, subject of this sketch. John Kibblehouse died at a very advanced age in Gwynedd township, his first wife having died many years previously; he married a second time. He passed his later years, undisturbed by the duties of active life, a short distance above Gwynedd Friends' Meeting-house. He was a thoroughly honest and upright man, and was highly esteemed by all who knew him.

George B. Kibblehouse was reared on a farm, attending school during the winter season as was the custom for farmers' sons. He was a pupil at Mount Pleasant, Shady Grove, and Sandy Hill schools, all in Whitpain township. He completed his school studies on reaching his seventeenth year, in the meantime assisting in the work at home. On leaving school, he went to work with his brother-in-law Joseph B. Stackhouse on his farm in Gwynedd township, remaining with him for seven years and taking much of the management of the farm upon himself. He then spent two more years in similar employment on another farm situated in Whitpain township.

 

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Mr. Kibblehouse married, in 1866, Hannah Custer, daughter of Joseph and Catharine (Custer) Shrawder, of Lower Providence township. Their children: Joseph, born April 1, 1867, married, April 3, 1890, Mary Emma, daughter of Isaac and Catharine (Booz) Custer, a farmer of Upper Gwynedd, near North Wales, and resides in Upper Gwynedd township, being a prosperous farmer; Ralph Knapp, born August 28, 1871, married, July 16, 1894, Sarah Fry, daughter of Henry Baker and Mary Ann (Fry) Reyner, of Penellyn, Mr. Reyner being a farmer and miller of Lower Gwynedd township; John Raymond, born November 15, 1873, married, October 31, 1896, Margaret Harp, daughter of Alvin Williamson and Mary Catherine (Harp) White, and lives in Lower Gwynedd township, being a farmer-, George Berkhimer, Jr., born February 28, 1876, married, April 3, 1901, Martha Brendlinger, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Fox, of Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, and is a farmer residing in Upper Gwynedd township; Mary Henrietta, born May 28, 1878, married, in 1897, Reuben Michael, son of Reuben and Mary (Zearfoss) Rodenbaugh, of Centre Square, in Whitpain township, the couple residing in Whitpain township, and having one child, Dorothy, born in 1897; Levi S., born August 7, 1880, is unmarried and lives with his parents, being engaged with his brother Ralph in the stone-crushing business. All the children of Mr. and Mrs. Kibblehouse are thoroughgoing, progressive and prosperous, and bear ample testimony to the value of the training they have had in their youthful years, example being added to wise precepts which were given by the parents, and proving effective in directing the steps of the younger generation aright.

In politics George B. Kibblehouse has been an active Republican since the formation of the party, casting his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln, and voting for every Republican president since. He has always been an earnest worker in behalf of Republican success in the county. He has served several terms as school director, fifteen years in all, and has always felt a deep interest in educational work. He and his family are members of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church, at Centre Square.

Mrs. George B. Kibblehouse is descended from German ancestry, at least on the father's side, the name originally being probably the same as Shroeder. Daniel Shrawder, her grandfather, married Elizabeth Ellis, of an old Welsh family, long resident in Montgomery county. Her mother's parents were Levi and Elizabeth (Zimmerman) Custer. The Custers and Zimmermans are both old county families of German descent, and among the most prominent and most highly respected in the vicinity. Mrs. Kibblehouse's brothers and sisters: John S., M. D., of Upper Providence township, Montgomery county, well known as an inventor; Levi C., deceased; Elizabeth, who married H. V. Johnson; Mary, who married Charles Evans; and Kate, who married George West.

After the marriage of George B. Kibblehouse, he rented the 60-acre farm of Jacob B. Rhoads, in Gwynedd township, living there for a number of years, and establishing his reputation as a careful and successful dairyman. For twenty-nine years he resided on what was known as the "Maple Tree" farm, which contained a hundred acres devoted principally to grain and hay. This was subsequently occupied by J. C. Walton. In 1890, Mr. Kibblehouse sold the latter to Henry G. Keasby, the millionaire Ambler manufacturer, and one of the largest landowners in that section of Montgomery county. After selling the "Maple Tree" farm Mr. Kibblehouse continued to reside there for about seven years, and also rented two other farms owned by Henry G. Keasby. In 1894, Mr. Kibblehouse bought of James T. Lang the 10-acre property, owned from 1870 to 1882, by Ellwood Roberts, now of Norristown, who erected the original buildings on the tract, as well as others in the neighborhood, some of them in conjunction with his father, Hugh Roberts, now deceased. Mr. Kibblehouse has greatly improved and enlarged the mansion, providing it with every convenience. It occupies a beautiful slope extending beyond the Wissahickon on the State Road (DeKalb street) in Lower Gwynedd, a few hundred yards from the township line of Whitpain. The situation is high, overlooking the valley of the Wissahickon, which at this

 

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point is peculiarly endowed with natural beauty. The tract is part of a farm of 78 acres, which three-quarters of a century ago was the property of Isaac Ellis. It passed into the hands of Jacob Showaker, and was purchased from him in 1866 by Hugh Roberts and his son Ellwood. They erected new buildings ultimately at several sites, one of them being the country place of the late George Handy Smith, state senator for many years from the First district of Philadelphia, immediately adjoining the property now owned and occupied by Mr. Kibblehouse. The site is an ideal one for a quiet country home, and Mr. Kibblehouse has made the most of its natural advantages by the improvements which he has added. He finds ample work to occupy his time and attention on his farm of ten acres where he enjoys the fruits of a life that has been well and wisely spent.

 

 

OLIVER ELLSWORTH SHULER, treasurer of the Glasgow Iron Company of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, was born in Pughtown, Chester county, Pennsylvania, February 18, 1862. He is the son of Lewis H. and Zilpha (Strickland) Shuler, both natives of Pennsylvania. They had four children, two now living Laura B., wife of Harry Christman and Oliver E. Shuler.

Lewis H. Shuler (father) was a farmer in boyhood, and later a general merchant in Pughtown until the time of his death in 1882. His wife died in December, 1888. She was a member of the Reformed church. John Shuler (paternal grandfather) was born in Pennsylvania. He was a farmer. He married Eliza (Ralston) Shuler and they had two sons and three daughters. He died in middle life. Amariah Strickland (maternal grandfather) was also born in Pennsylvania, and was a general merchant in Charleston township, Chester county. He and his wife both died at advanced ages, he being seventy years of age at the time of his death. They had one son and five daughters.

Oliver E. Shuler lived in Pughtown until he was eighteen years of age, attending the public schools. He entered his father's store as clerk, and continued as such until he left home and went to Pottstown in 1880. He had a position as clerk there for two and a half years, and after his father's death returned to his home to take charge of the store. He conducted it for more than two years, and then removed with his mother and family to Pottstown, and clerked for Mr. J. S. Bahr for six years. He entered the employ of the Glasgow Iron Company in 1889 as a clerk. In 1897 he became treasurer of the company. They manufacture tanks, boiler and bridge-plates and employ about eleven hundred people. They also operate the Pottstown Iron Works, and manufacture a great deal of skelp iron.

December 25, 1888, Oliver Ellsworth Shuler married Miss Ella M. Francis, daughter of Thomas and Harriet (Mohr) Francis. They have one son, Clyde Francis Shuler. Mr. and Mrs. Shuler are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Transfiguration, of which he is a deacon. Mr. Shuler is a member of Pughtown Lodge, No. 363 I. O. O. F. Politically he is a Republican, and was a school director in Pottstown for two years. He resides at 255 Walnut street.

Mrs. Shuler's parents were natives of Pennsylvania, and lived formerly in Berks county. They removed to Pottstown about thirty-five years ago, where Thomas Francis died at the age of about seventy years. His wife is still living, and resides with her daughter, Mrs. Shuler.

 

 

CHARLES O. F. TREICHLER, of East Greenville, is the son of Joseph M. and Matilda (Gery) Treichler. He was born June 17, 1864, at Palm.

Joseph M. Treichler (father) was a hotel keeper and merchant at Emaus. He is a Republican in politics, and has served as postmaster at Emaus, and also at Palm. He is a member of the New Goshenhoppen Reformed church at East Greenville. Mr. Treichler was married in 1855 to Matilda Gery. The couple had eight children: Charles, subject of this sketch; Rose R. and Phoebe H.; Sarah Jane, died in 1861; Catharine, born in 1858; Laura O., born in 1861; one still born; John S. (deceased).

 

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Mrs. Joseph Treichler was the daughter of John W. and Kate (Glauser) Gery. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Gery: Mrs. Frank Steinman, who has two children, John and George; Mrs. Samuel Keppler, who has one daughter Hannah; Charles G.; George G., and Matilda (Mrs. Treichler) and Mrs. John Christmas, both deceased. John W. Gery was a Republican in politics, and a member of the Reformed church. He was a farmer by occupation. He died in September, 1878, she in February, 1884. They resided in Palm where he died and afterwards she made her home in East Greenville with her daughter, Mrs. Keppler, where she died.

Charles O. F. Treichler attended school until he was fifteen years of age. He then went to Norristown and learned the trade of a printer, working as a compositor on the Norristown "Herald" for a number of years. He was married March 25, 1897, to Mary A., daughter of William H. and Sarah Sallade. They have two children: William S. and Pauline S. Mr. Treichler is a Republican in politics. He is a member of the New Goshenhoppen church at East Greenville. He started a printing office in East Greenville in 1890, in connection with his brother John S. They established the Perkiomen "Ledger," one of the most flourishing of the country newspapers in the county. His brother John S., was a partner in the enterprise until the time of his death in 1900, since which time the surviving brother has conducted the business very successfully.

 

 

HENRY B. YOHN, who was a well-known hotel keeper of Lower Pottsgrove township, is the son of Henry (deceased), and Sarah (Burns) Yohn. He is a native of Pottstown, where he was born May 4, 1840.

Henry Yohn (father) was a resident of Pottstown and Lower Pottsgrove. He was a millwright by trade, but also followed the occupations of farming and butchering. During his later years he was employed as gardener in the public school yards of Pottstown. He died at the age of sixty-five years, and was buried at Mount Zion cemetery. Mr. Yohn was a Republican in politics, but took no very active part in public affairs. Henry Yohn (grandfather) was a miller by trade, and operated a mill in Lower Pottsgrove township for many years. He died at an advanced age, leaving a number of children, having had seven in all. He was a very prominent resident of the township.

The parents of Henry B. Yohn had nine children, of whom seven are living: 1. Charles, married Hannah Lewis. They live in Easton, Pennsylvania, where he is master mechanic of the Broad Top Mountain Railroad Company. They have three children. 2. Henry B., subject of this sketch. 3. Mary, married Michael Steier. They live in Pottstown, where Mr. Steier is engaged in driving omnibuses. They have five children. 4. Kitty (deceased). 5. Sarah, married Watson Albright. They live in Pottstown. Mr. Albright is employed as an engineer in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. The couple have three children. 6. Emma (deceased) married Dr. Levengood, of Altoona, who is also deceased. Three children survive them. 7. William, who went west thirty-five years ago and has never been heard of since. 8. Matilda, residing in Pottstown, married Milton Detwiler, a butcher by occupation. They have six children. 9. Elma died very young.

Henry B. Yohn had very limited opportunity for education, having attended school only thirty days during his entire life. He took up the occupation of boating on the canal when a mere boy, and followed it steadily for a dozen years. He then turned his attention to railroading for a year or more. Having secured employment as an iron worker he continued that occupation for thirty-one years. At the end of that time, in 1891, he purchased the property of the Ringing Hill Hotel, one of the most popular public houses in that section of Montgomery county.

Mr. Yohn married, December 26, 1861, Phoebe, daughter of Francis and Sophia (Zollers) Garber. The parents resided in Pottstown, where he followed the occupation of carpenter and builder. Both have been deceased many years. They were Lutherans in religious faith. Mr. and Mrs. Yohn have had but one child, who died very young. In politics Mr. Yohn is a Republican, being active in support of the party. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to Pottstown Lodge. Mr. Yohn added very much to the attraction of the Ringing Hill Hotel, having put all the buildings in perfect repair, provided a very large dance floor, and otherwise improved it. In January, 1904, he sold his hotel, and in April removed to Pottstown, where he now resides, at 421 Cherry street.

 

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HOWARD CARTER ROBERTS, son of Ellwood and Mary L. (Carter) Roberts, was born seventh mo. 6, 1879, at Centre Square in Whitpain township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Through the Roberts line he is of Welsh-Quaker descent, the ancestor of the family, Edward Roberts, having come to Pennsylvania from Wales in 1699 and settled at Abington, near Philadelphia, removing later to Great Swamp (Richland), now Quakertown, in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. His Roberts ancestry is fully given in the biographies of Ellwood Roberts and Hugh Roberts, elsewhere in this work. His mother belongs to an old New Jersey family.

Job Carter (maternal grandfather), was born second mo. 20, 1813, in Gloucester county that state, following the occupation of a farmer all his life, and accumulating a considerable estate. He died second mo. 27, 1893, being one week more than eighty years of age. He was a Friend. He was twice married, his first wife being Mary Turner, and the couple having two children. Joseph T. and Abigail. Joseph T., born 1844, married (first wife), Anna Frances Clark, daughter of Edward and Jane Clark of Clarksboro, New Jersey. Anna Frances Carter died in 1885, leaving two children: Mason, born 1878, married Blanche Somers, they- having two children; and Etta. Joseph T. Carter married (second wife), Emma Tonkin. Abigail Carter, daughter of Job and Mary Turner Carter, born 1847, married Burkett W. Warrington; they have one child, William, married Hannah Haines; they have one child. Mary, wife of Job Carter, died in 1850.

Job Carter married, in 1852 (second wife), Rachel Owen, daughter of Joseph and Mercy (Kirby) Owen. The Owens are an old family of Welsh descent, their ancestor having come to this country in the time of William Penn, and in the course of two centuries they have become connected with many families of New Jersey and Pennsylvania by intermarriage. The children of Job and Rachel (Owen) Carter: William Mickle, Mary L., Sarah and Lydia (deceased). William M. Carter, born seventh mo. 1856, educated in public and select schools, mostly in Friends' schools, of the vicinity, became a surveyor and justice of the peace, and is now located at Woodbury, New Jersey, where he is city engineer, and is engaged in the settlement of estates and other business of that character; married, 1882, Elizabeth Pym Horner, they having two children Owen, born second mo. 4, 1890, and Ella, born second mo. 4, 1895. Mary Long Carter, daughter of Job and Rachel Carter, born fourth mo. 19, 1858; married ninth mo. 13, 1878, Ellwood Roberts of Norristown, they having the following children: Howard C.; Charles Alfred, born fifth mo. 30, 1881, died third mo. 14, 1888; Alice Rachel, born sixth mo. 15, 1886, graduated from the Norristown high school in the summer of 1903; William Hugh, born second mo. 12, 1888, educated in the public schools of Norristown; Mary Carter, born first mo. 31, 1892. Sarah Carter, born third mo. 20, 1861, married Richard Brown, they having three children: Rachel, Clinton and William; Lydia, fourth child of Job and Rachel Carter, died in 1890, in her twenty-second year.

Howard C. Roberts was educated in the public schools of Norristown, engaging in 1897 in the business of a grocer, and combining with that occupation that of building, in which he has been associated with his father for several years. He has taken an active part in the organization of the Norristown and Bridgeport Retail Grocers' Association, and is a life member of the Montgomery County Historical Society. He is an antiquarian in his tastes, taking delight in the collection of old china, books, furniture, etc., in all which he is an enthusiast. In politics he is an active Republican, taking a deep interest in every question that divides parties, local, state and national. He has the family characteristic of energy, industry and strict attention to business; is fond of literature, music and art; is a careful observer of everything that transpires around him, and is accustomed to investigate closely the causes that underlie effects, desiring to have more than a superficial knowledge on any subject that engages his attention. Although a young man, Mr. Roberts is an expert in real estate values, and owns considerable property in Norristown. Few men at any age are better posted in all that relates to the progress of the community. He is, as his family have been for ten generations, an active member of the Society of Friends.

 

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(Picture of George W. Rogers)

 

GEORGE W. ROGERS, one of the best known members of the Norristown bar, he having had among his clients some of the most substantial farmers and business men of the county, and having twice been the candidate of the Democratic party for the office of law judge, is the eldest son of David and Cynthia (Watson) Rogers, and a native of Warrington, Bucks county, where he was born June 15, 1829. The family is descended from English Puritan stock, and removed to Pennsylvania from Connecticut, where Dr. David Rogers, paternal great-grandfather of George W. Rogers, was born and resided all his life. One of his sons, was General William Charles Rogers (grandfather), who was born in Connecticut, May 28, 1776, and when a young man removed to Philadelphia, where at the age of twenty he married Mary Hiltzheimer, a daughter of Hon. Jacob Hiltzheimer. Jacob Cox Parsons, a great-grandson of Jacob Hiltzheimer, in 1893 published his diary, extending over the years 1765-1798, affording a very interesting picture of social life in Philadelphia during that time. Jacob Hiltzheimer was at one time a member of the Pennsylvania legislature and held other public positions. In 1761 he married Hannah Walker, of a family of Friends. Jacob died of yellow fever, September 14, 1798, and was interred in the cemetery of the German Reformed church, now a part of Franklin Square. Mary Hiltzheimer was born March 16, 1771, in the house where Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, corner of Seventh and Market streets, Philadelphia, then owned by her father and in the possession of his descendants until 1874.

In early life William Charles Rogers followed the sea, sailing from Philadelphia to China in the merchant marine service. He served with distinction in the war of 1812, holding the rank of brigadier general, and commanding the volunteer militia stationed at Marcus Hook, as a protection to Philadelphia and ports on the Delaware against British invasion. In later life he devoted himself to agricultural pursuits and he served for many years as a justice of the peace in Bucks county.

By his marriage to Mary Hiltzheimer he had a family of nine children, five of whom grew to majority and among whom were: Jacob H., who served for a quarter of a century as justice of the peace in Bucks county; General William P. F., a resident of Doylestown, who served two terms as a member of the senate of Pennsylvania, during a part of which time he occupied the speaker's chair; and David Rogers (father). The last named was born in Warrington township, Bucks county, in 1800, and after securing a good practical education engaged in agricultural pursuits, first at Warrington and then at Pleasantville, on the county line between Bucks and Montgomery. Here he followed farming until 1858, when he removed to Norristown, where he died. He was a Jacksonian Democrat in politics, and held a number of local offices, while in religion he was a strict Presbyterian. He married Cynthia Watson, a daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Watson, of Bucks county, and by that union had a family of three children: George W., whose name introduces this sketch; William C., who became a physician and surgeon, and afterwards served for a time as surgeon on the steamship, Illinois, between Philadelphia and Liverpool; and Mary, who married Henry Hibbs, of Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, and is deceased. David Rogers died in 1883, aged nearly eighty-four

 

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years. His wife died in 1879, aged eighty-seven years. They were members of the Presbyterian church.

Mrs. David Rogers' father, Benjamin Watson, was a member of General Morgan's Riflemen during the Revolutionary war, and participated in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown, Trenton, Stony Point, Cowpens, and other historic struggles. He was discharged at Charleston, South Carolina, at the close of the Revolution, and, not receiving his pay, he was obliged to walk all the way from that place to Philadelphia. At Germantown he was one of those detailed by General Washington to apprehend and execute the Tories, who were betraying American soldiers to the British, and he assisted in hanging one such traitor. He died at the age of seventy-seven and was interred at Neshaminy Presbyterian church, Bucks county.

George W. Rogers was reared principally in Montgomery county, attending the public schools of the vicinity in his earlier years, and completing his studies in a private classical school in Bucks county. Entering upon the occupation of teaching, he followed that pursuit for three years, when he began preparations for admission to the legal profession under the instruction of Hon. Joseph Fornance. Mr. Fornance dying before the course was finished, Mr. Rogers completed his law studies with Hon. David Krause, who at one time filled the position of judge, and was admitted to the bar January 24, 1854, immediately afterward beginning the practice of law at Norristown. He was elected burgess of Norristown the same year on the Democratic ticket and in the fall of 1856 was the nominee of the same party for the position of district attorney, and was elected, discharging its duties for three years with great ability and success. As a lawyer Mr. Rogers labored with energy for the interests of his clients and his natural aptitude for his profession gave him a great advantage in the preparation and trial of his cases. He was soon recognized as one of the leading members of the Montgomery county bar.

In 1874 he was the candidate of the Democratic party for additional law judge of the judicial district composed of Montgomery and Bucks counties, but judge Richard Watson of Doylestown, the Republican nominee, was elected by a small majority, after a very active contest. In 1888 Mr. Rogers was again a candidate for the same position, the district at that time consisting of Montgomery county alone, but as his party had come to be largely in the minority, he was again defeated. He is a member of the American Bar Association and of the Lawyers Club, of Philadelphia.

Among the many noted trials with which Mr. Rogers has been connected as counsel, in the course of a practice extending over a period of more than forty years, may be mentioned that of Alfred Hopkins, indicted for manslaughter as conductor of the wrecked excursion train on the North Pennsylvania Railroad; Kilby Bayletts arraigned for the murder of his wife; and Blasius and John Pistorius, jointly indicted for the murder of James Jacquett, the latter of whom was acquitted, while the former was twice sentenced to be hanged but the sentence was finally commuted to imprisonment for life. In conducting these and other important cases, which were local sensations of the day, Mr. Rogers displayed the ability that makes the successful lawyer and which won for him a lasting reputation. During his law practice Mr. Rogers has defended fifteen men charged with murder, not one of whom was ever hanged. Some of the cases were very hotly contested.

Four years after his admission to the bar, on July 1, 1858, Mr. Rogers was united in marriage to Cara C. Bean, only daughter of Jesse and Mary Bean, of Norristown, Pennsylvania. To them was born a family of four children; Cara, married Clarence L. Blakeley, of Verplank, New York; D. Ogden, who was educated at Dr. Loch's Treemount Seminary and Lafayette College, being graduated from the latter in the class of 1882, afterward studied law with his father, was admitted to the bar in 1883, and died December 25, 1894; G. Austin, died February 1, 1877; and Jessie B., was graduated in June, 1895, from Elmira college, Elmira, New York.

 

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Dr. and Mrs. Clarence L. Blakeley have three children-G. Rogers Blakeley, Paul Latan Blakeley and Clarence Hiltzheimer Blakeley. Miss Jessie B. Rogers married John R. Van Campan, of Elmira, New York, where they now reside. They have two children-Mary Elizabeth and Cara Van Campan. Mr. and Mrs. George W. Rogers are members of the First Presbyterian church of Norristown, of which he is also a trustee. Mr. Rogers belongs to Charity Lodge, No. 190, Free and Accepted Masons; Norristown Chapter, No. 190, Royal Arch Masons; and Hutchinson Commandery, No. 32, Knights Templar. Politically he has always been a Democrat but of the gold standard persuasion, taking no part in the movement in behalf of the free coinage of silver. Mr. Rogers has traveled much abroad of late years, crossing the Atlantic ocean several times. He resigned his position as president of the Albertson Trust & Safe Deposit Company, which he had held for several years, in order to gratify more fully his tastes in this direction, leaving his law business in charge of Edward E. Long, with whom he formed a partnership, the firm name being Rogers & Long, which partnership was dissolved by the death of the latter in the autumn of 1902, while Mr. Rogers was abroad. His first trip to Europe was made in 1883, since which time he has made three others in 1895, 1899, and 1902, visiting at one time or another most of the countries of Europe and also the Holy Land. His last European trip was to Norway, Sweden and Russia. He is familiar with all the important historic scenes of Palestine. He has prepared and delivered a number of lectures on his various tours, they being finely illustrated with stereopticon views.