USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Lives of the eminent dead and biographical notices of prominent living citizens of Montgomery County, Pa. > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70
NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES 3 3433 08178776 8
(Monte
Au
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from Microsoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/livesofeminentdea00auge
LIVES
OF THE
EMINENT DEAD
AND
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES
OF PROMINENT
LIVING CITIZENS
OF
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA.
BY M. AUGE.
We do not give the uittina in Pet dletait, and with serapulous exactness, but rather in short summary : since we are not writing historles but lives .- PLUTARCH.
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, NORRISTOWN, PA. 1879, 72-312
538273
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1879, by M. AUGE,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress.
C
0
O
C
0
0
0
0
C
C
C
0
e
O
O
PREFACE.
In the preparation of a work of this kind, local in its character, the reader can hardly conceive the difficulties that lay across the author's path. Prejudice, jealousy, parsimony, false pride, modesty, real and imaginary, met him at every step.
The first question presented to his mind was, Ought the names of our distinguished dead to lie forever among forgotten things? He had no trouble in answering this query in the negative. But how should the rescue of their fame be accomplished? The life of any one would not pay or sell; nor would all Montgomery county's dead statesmen, if grouped by themselves, defray the expense of publication, as it is the living rather than the departed that mainly occupy the people's thoughts. Besides, a book concerning the citi- zens of a single county, however eminent the subjects might be, could not expect to command a full sale in distant counties. Hence the author was driven to the alternative of writing a home book to sell at the enormous price of six or eight dollars a copy, thus placing it out of reach of the masses, and virtually preventing its circulation, or of securing an endowment from the living, who might thereby assume the character of "patrons" of an enterprise to honor and do justice to our distinguished dead. The latter plan was adopted as most feasible. Accordingly, whenever a respectable citizen was found, willing to contribute ten dollars to the work (the book included), he was entitled to a sketch of his family and busi- ness on its pages. But very many of our wealthiest people-we state it with regret-were seemingly too conservative, unpatriotic, or morbidly modest; to contribute to the publication fund, though some have subscribed for the bock.
But the inception and financial basis of the scheme were the least of the difficulties encountered!" ""Patron's had to be personally so- licited, their individual and family memoranda procured, often after repeated visits; authorities had to be examined, facts collated, and numberless letters written. The manner in which the author has now finished his work is admitted to be a fit subject for criticism. In further explanation he may be allowed to say, first, that his pro- mise in the prospectus to avoid comment on the living has been found in most cases impracticable, and is partially disregarded. A
iv
PREFACE.
few eminent citizens, whose public lives are public property, having failed to respond, either by subscription or memoranda, the writer has been compelled to use his knowledge of their common fame or leave them out of the book entirely. It is believed, however, that in all departures as to comments the author has erred, if at all, in favor of his subject, and not against him. In nearly every instance, moreover, sketches of the living have been submitted to their in- spection either in manuscript or proof before publication. In most cases also lives of the dead have been submitted to their nearest rela- tives for revision. A few of the lives and sketches have been sup- plied nearly complete for the book by friends of those sketched.
Some stereotyped objections to a book of this kind will be noted and answered. "There are a few men's names in the volume who are neither noted nor eminent, and some eminent Montgomery county men whose names are not included." Both these state- ments are true in fact. We could not in honor refuse a place to those who generously became patrons of a book which could not be issued without their assistance. Of those who are omitted it is suf- ficient to say that they were invited, but did not respond; besides, in a volume of this size, it was impossible to include everybody. None of the most eminent class of our public men, however, have been left out.
Another objection will be, " The author has not given the whole of what is known of each person mentioned." That is true also. Of this objection it may be remarked generally that from the life of Washington down to that of Lincoln only worthy matters are re- corded for our emulation, the unworthy or trivial being discarded. We have been writing biography, and not strictly history. If "stat- ing part of the truth is equivalent to a falsehood," then the objection lies against all biography alike. The persons who are sketched, or others who read the record, must not imagine that the individual described is regarded as perfectly free from weaknesses and errors because none are mentioned: Nobody, however, is "puffed," in the strict sense of the word, for nothing is set down in our lives and sketches but what is believed to be credible and true.
The first feature of the book that will strike the attention of the casual reader is the space taken with genealogies and family affilia- tions. It is admitted that to each person totally unacquainted with the "sketch" and " life" in hand these details are dry and uninter- esting, and he can very conveniently pass them by. But he must not forget that to each and all of the connections of the family de-
·
v
PREFACE.
scribed, these records are the most precious part of the volume. It may surprise some also to see the wide reach of the enumeration of collateral branches connected with eminent men. This is justified by the fact that each person is entitled to a record of his relation- ship with a noted man. This feeling is natural-it is commenda- ble. This is emphatically a book of families, intended to be such, where the curious may examine and speculate at their leisure. It may be added in this connection also that in social intercourse much of the conversation, especially with ladies, is devoted to the status and relationship of living or departed families. Here that information, in most cases revised by themselves, is given accurately to the present era.
The next feature that will attract the reader is the mottoes. They are a fancy of the author's. First, to symbolize or illustrate the "life" or "sketch"; sometimes they are striking and graphic. In the second place they are often only intended to prominently herald a choice thought or sentiment and effect its lodgment in the minds of the young. Their general purpose is to relieve a book of dry facts and details of its sameness and tedium.
The author in sketching the living and dead has not endorsed the morals, politics or religion of any one. In selecting patrons or sub- jects other than the most eminent he has been guided by one in- quiry, Was the person respectable, according to popular estimate? He has asked no more. The author has sought to avoid becoming a party to the jealousies and thousand and one disparaging things that some people say of others. He can be a vehicle of no such matters.
The chief merit and use of this book will be found in its taking tradition and turning it into accurate history, which may endure a thousand years. It will become still more valuable for legal and social uses with the lapse of time.
We have spent over a year of incessant labor upon it, mainly in collecting the facts and memoranda. It could have been accom- plished in two months if the material had been at hand. The nov- elist constructs a plot, invents his facts, and coins his dialogues from his own brain; but in biography and history it is not so. In the latter it is a work of patient labor.
The author can hardly hope that the book is absolutely free from errors, though he has striven to have it so. He asks the indulgence of classical readers for any defects of style that may be found on its pages.
Vi
PREFACE.
This volume contains sketches and memorials of a hundred and fifty-three persons, covering from one to thirty-five pages each, which are nowhere else so fully found in print. This book appeals to local public spirit. It is about Montgomery county men, written by one of our own citizens, and printed and bound by Montgomery county workmen.
The writer was laid under deep obligations to Rev. Dr. Ralston for encouragement and advice in planning the enterprise in its very inception. He also acknowledges himself indebted to William J. Buck, Esq., of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, for valuable in- formation and several memorials of our early dead, and likewise to Senator Detwiler for similar favors.
In issuing the book the author records the valuable assistance of Morgan R. Wills, Esq., as also the interest manifested by him in the literary and pecuniary success of the enterprise.
To Reuben K. Fullmer, the accurate and judicious compositor, the author acknowledges himself indebted, and equally to John W. Thomas, the careful and obliging pressman. M. AUGE. Norristown, April 10th, 1879.º
This is a transitory world. Some changes in the personnel of our volume have occurred since these pages were printed, but before the binding and is- suing of the book. In order to be accurate up to the day of publication we note the following, who are recorded as living:
Mrs. Rev. Thomas Gibbs (page 204) died January 8th, 1879.
Mrs. Benjamin F. Hancock (page 285), mother of the General, died Janu- ary 25th, 1879.
· George Steinmetz (page 464) died March 26th, 1879.
In enumerating the connections of Hon. E. L. Acker, his sister Elizabeth was omitted.
In the motto prefacing the sketch of Abraham H. Cassel (page 324), the words "life-long" should have been "live-long."
In the biography of General Brooke, his rank is set down as Lieutenant Colonel in the regular army. Since printing it General B. has been pro- moted to the full rank of Colonel.
There are several papers, some of which are written, entirely crowded out, together with a four or five-page history of the author's family. If the pres- ent edition (which is only for sale by the author at No. 16 Main street, Nor- ristown, and at the office of publication) is rapidly exhausted, he will at- tempt another volume, uniform with this. There are other eminent living persons worthy of mention, and a few deceased, whose names could not he put in this publication without swelling it beyond dne proportions.
I Read the preface before pernsing the book.
PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION.
The word " edition " used here is not employed as indicat- ing a revision or correction of matter in the original work, for there was little that needed amendment or recall, but it is used in the sense of new " lives " and " sketches " added to the book as at first printed and published-there being a number of copies of first issue in print left over and unbound, to which this edition is added and all bound together, making now a large dictionary of county biography.
The original volume of 568 pages, containing 153 "lives " and "sketches," published 1879, has stood the test of eight years' public examination and criticism, unimpeached. A second edition (or addition) also, of over thirty pages, of per- sons who sought the honor of being added to the book, were printed in 1882. Readers of the present publication will per- ceive, that the same manner of presenting lives and memorial sketches has been observed as at first, with this exception, the mottos or poetic quotations of the first have been entirely omitted; this was at the suggestion of a friend-whether wisely or not-it is plain that, if it detracts from the literary appear- ance, it at least makes the contents look more matter-of-fact.
In reference to the imputation sometimes heard from jealous persons, "that those men or families recorded have themselves procured admission to its pages," the author affirms on the contrary that in nearly every instance he solicited the honor of writing them himself. Further, of the matter of these last lives and sketches, the author wants it clearly understood, that the material facts upon which the narratives are founded in every instance have been procured from the subjects, or their
PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION.
friends, or added of the author's own knowledge; but wher- ever he has added opinion or sentiment concerning a person described, it is strictly the author's own volunteer tribute to his or her character of something he regarded as just and true in every particular. To this there is no exception but in one or two instances, where sketches were drawn by friends of the subjects and without revision by the author.
The patrons of the third edition will observe, that the writer has laid aside his habitual bashfulness, as Franklin once did, and appended a revised copy of an. auto-biography formerly intended for this work but issued later in a pamphlet of essays.
As there are several items of needful information concern- ing sketches of first and second edition, and a few errors in both, corrected in the " appendix " to the second edition, those pages are also bound in this third edition ; the reference there- in, however, to "the sketch of the author," is superfluous, as that life has been revised and reprinted in this last edition.
M. AUGE.
Philadelphia, March 1, 1887.
* Moses Auge. See Beans Histi Montgomery Co. Re." (1884) p. 775
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Aaron, Rev. Samuel, A. M.
135
Acker, Hon. E. L.
.565
Adle, Jacob, Jr. 199 Antes, Rev. Henry. 59
Apple, John D., Esq
265
Boel, Rev. Philip.
21
Boileau, Hon. N. B.
43
Bolton, General William J .. 315
Bomberger, Rev. J. H. A., D. D. 404
Bosler, Charles.
213
Boyd, Hon. James.
522
Boyer, Hon. Benjamin Markley.
535
Brooke, General John R
418
Brower, Hon. Abrahanı.
168
Buck, William J
.288
Bullock, George.
560
Burnside, Hon. Thomas,
236
Cassel, Abraham HI.
.32.1
Chain, Benjamin E., Esq.
401
Kratz, H. W., Esq.
111
Christman, Charles
367
Krause, Hon. David, LL.D
Collins, Rev. Charles, Jr.
563
Conrad, Hon. Frederick
34
Corson, Alan W ..
303
Corson, Elias Hicks,
215
Corson, Hon. George N.
432
Corson, Hiram, M. D).
.352
Cowden, Thomas, Sr.
165
Craig, Colonel Thomas
24
Crawford, John Y.
241
Cuthbertson, William P.
.138
Davis, Captain Jesse B.
190
Derr, Franklin ..
208
Evans, Ilon. Josiah W.
197
Evans, Cadwallader.
460
Fornance, Hon. Joseph
113
Freedley, Hon. John.
204
Frick, Hon, Benjamin.
190
Fronefield, Dr. Charles.
267
Fry, Hon. Jacob, Jr ....
56
Gartley, Samuel, M. D.
42
Gery, General Jesse 11
410
Gibbs, Rev. Thomas.
20t
Gould, Rev. Samuel M
.361
Cross, Hon. Samuel.
Hamer, James, Sr., M. D.
131
Hamill, Robert ..
148
Hancock, General W. S.
269
Harley, Jonas M.
381
llartranft, Governor John F
498
llelffenstein, Samuel B., Esq ..
.285
Iliester, Daniel.
216
Hitner, Daniel O.
.525
Hobart, Hon. Nathaniel 1'
263
Hobson, Frank M., Esq
339
PAGE.
Iloffman, Rev. Balthaser.
107
Holstein, Major William HI.
309
Hooven, James
478
Hoover, Philip, Esq.
51
Houpt, Isaiah B.
130
lInddleson, Isaac, M. D.
128
Hunsicker, Rev. Abraham
125
Hunsieker, Rev. Henry A
.. 52
Iredell, Robert, Est.
531
Jamison, Samuel, Sr
468
Jarrett, Sammel F
319
Jenkins, Charles F
557
Johnson, Wilmer II., Esq.
458
Jones, Caleb P.
191
Jones, Hon. Owen
256
Kennedy, John, Esq.
115
Kugler, Charles, Esq ....
295
Leedom, Dr. Joseph
106
Loch, John W., A. M., Ph. D).
384
Loller, Colonel Robert
26
Longaker, Daniel.
455
Lowe, Prof. T. S. C.
537
Imkens, Ezra
136
Lukens, Seth.
111
Markley, Abraham
191
Markley, Hon. Philip S
218
MeCredy, Bernard.
McDermott, William.
153
McKay, John.
238
MeQuaide, Major James G.
428
Meeh, Christian
Mott, Lucretia
Muhlenbergs, The.
Mulvany, Daniel H., Esq
15%
Newport, David.
162
Pawling, Hon. Levi.
Phillips, Rev. Josiah.
312
Porter, General Andrew
25
Porter, Governor David R.
37
Potts, Henry
200
Potts, Robert T.
169
Price, Rev. William W
220
Quillman, Jacob F
1.6
Ralston, Rev. J. G., D. D., LL. D.
Rambo, William B.
Rapp, Joseph E
197
Read, Louis W .. M. D
551
Remer, Rev. Jacob K
292
viii
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Richards, Hon. George.
39
Rittenhouse, Christopher. .376
Rittenhouse, David. 9
Roberts, Hon. Jonathan
66
Rogers, George W., Esq ..
484
Ross, Hon. Henry P., A. B.
377
Rothermel, Peter F
.426
Rutter, Thomas
299
Schall, Colonel Edwin 182
Schall, General William .. 471
Scheetz, General Henry 60
Schlater, Casper .. 29
Schrack, David, M. D. 550
Schrack, James W
231
Scull, Nicholas
23
Shannon, George. 552
Shaw, Harvey.
.3.15
Shrawder, John S., M. D.
.. 567
Shunk, Governor Francis R
122
Slemmer, General Adam J. 224
Smith, Moore Willian. 12
Sower, David ..
388
Stahler, William
.446
Steel, Rev. Robert, D. D 116
Steinmetz, George ...
464
Stem, Rev. Nathan, D. D 141
Sterigere, Hon. John B.
173
Stevens, Henry A., Esq ..
528
PAGE Sunderland, J. Warrenne, LL.D. ,548 Swayne, General Francis ..... 102
Taylor, William W 358
Thomas, Zadok, Esq ...... 51
Thompson, Hon. John. 341
Thomson, Hon. Charles 11
Umstad, Rev. John H.
188
Wack, Rev. George. 170
Weaver, Captain Charles P. 166
Weber, John. 370
Weiss, Rev. G. M
Wills Family, The.
,543
Wilson, Hon. Bird ..
30
Winnard, James, Esq. 412
Wood, James
110
Wood, Hon. John
.320
Wright, Morgan
.333
Yeakle, Hon. William A. .346
Yerkes, Harman.
63
Yost, Hon. Jacob S.
161
Yost, Philip, Esq ...
101
SECOND AND THIRD EDITIONS.
PAGE
PAGE
Koplin, William H. 759
Markley, Hon. Benjamin 595
Martin, Charles W 742
McCann, John. 643
McCarter, Isaac
662
McFarland, George, Esq.
583
Moore, Edward B.
.683
Phillips, Jonathan C .. 645
Preston, Mahlon, M. D. 675
Quillman, Philip. 706
Rennyson, William
736
Royer, Hon. Joseph.
596
Schall, Col. Edward.
680
Shannon, Charles P.
569
Shannon, James. . 668 Sheeleigh, Rev. Matthias, D. D. 605
Shoemaker, Isaac L.
720
Smith, William G .. 611
Snyder, John C., Esq .. 687
St. Clair, Major General Arthur. 573
Stein, Daniel H.
664
Supplee.
754
Thomson, Elizabeth.
747
Wampole, William H., Dentist. 649
Weinberger, J. Shelly, A. M. 719
Wentz, Thomas H.
732
Wentz, William W ..
602
Whiting, Francis, Esq.
633
.
Bunting, Samuel M.
.666
Butz, Samuel.
.703
Corson, Laurence E., Esq. .728
Corson, Robert R .. . 613
Corson, William, M. D. .691
Cowden, Jacob M. .677
Cowden, John ..
.738
Custer, Jacob D .714
Eastburn, Jesse R .744
Evans, James B., Esq. .695
Evans, Owen Brooke. .640
Evans, Jesse.
.660
Fitzwater, Abel .. .709
Freedley, Edwin T. .671
Gilbert, Frederick . 725
Gregg, Milford H. .712
Haws, Captain Frederick. .722
Heacock, Joseph .. .653
Hendricks, Rev. Joseph H. .635
Jones, Evan. .580
Knox, Hon. Thomas P.
.591
Kohn, Gabriel.
.588
Kite, Edmund A.
698
Atkinson, Thomas. 658
Author, Sketch of. .763
Baker, A. H. .756
Boyer, Percival K. .586
Brendlinger, Frederick .700
DAVID RITTENHOUSE.
Modern philosophy anon,
Will, at the rate she's rushing on, Yoke lightning to her railroad car ; And posting like a shooting star
Swift as a solar radiation,
Ride the wide circuit of creation .- Old Sony .*
This name is a household word in Pennsylvania-a syno- nym for mathematics, mechanics and philosophy. No name in American annals furnishes a more exemplary instance of climbing the hill of science almost unaided, and by the mere force of native genius, industry and perseverance ; and there is no name in history that affords more encouragement to the young to pry into the arcana of nature in search of her yet unrevealed truths.
David Rittenhouse, or Rittenhaus, as the name was origi- nally spelled, was the son of Matthias Rittenhouse, one of the original settlers (or of the preceding generation) who emigrated to "ye Germantown," or vicinity, soon after Penn founded Philadelphia. He was born on the 8th of April, 1732, almost contemporaneous with Washington. He was the oldest son, and as such put early to the plow, for help in those days was the great desideratum, as every useful thing had to be got from the earth by delving for it. But like Burns, who about the same time was weaving poetic measures in the furrow, so Rittenhouse had his thoughts revolving with cogs, levers and equations, as he abstractedly strode over the fields. Although born on the Wissahickon, his father removed with him when a child to a farm a little northwest of Norristown, where he showed his mechanical bent so early as his eighth year in constructing a miniature water-power mill. His father had a brother Henry, located near him in Worcester township, from
*Th › sentiment of this verse was prophetic, for it was written twenty years before the invent on of the telegraph.
2
10
DAVID RITTENHOUSE.
whom many of the present family now living in Montgomery county are descended.
It seems nearly incredible, and yet is authoritatively stated, that he made a wooden clock, untaught, so early as his eigh- teenth year, and presently built a workshop at his father's place and began the business of a clockmaker soon after. Not only did he master that art, but soon began to manufacture planetariums, for one of which, made for Princeton College, he received three hundred pounds. He had an observatory on the eminence above Providence Presbyterian Church, a locality which afforded a sweep of the heavens east and west of near fifty miles, and north and south half the distance. Here he and Franklin, who was a frequent visitor, studied astronomy, electricity and kindred subjects. " So industrious was he that with the aid of three or four books, before his twenty-fifth year, he was able to read the Principia of Newton in Latin, and it is asserted that he discovered the method of fluxions, usually attributed to Newton or Leibnitz." *
In 1764 his father moved to another farm, giving the home- stead to David, who, on the 20th of February, 1766, married Ellanor Coulston, daughter of Bernard Coulston, a farmer of the neighborhood, of which name there are many respectable families still residing in our county. He shortly after made at this place the celebrated orrery for Princeton College, be- fore referred to, which was probably the first machine ever constructed in America to illustrate the motions of the orbs of the solar system. Dr. Gordon, who wrote in 1790, says " there is not the like of it in Europe." I quote again from Buck : "In 1769 Rittenhouse was named one of the com- mittee appointed by the American Philosophical Society to observe the transit of Venus over the sun's disk, which hap- pened June 3d, of that year. His assistants were Rev. Dr. Wm. Smith, the Provost of the University, John Luken, Sur- veyor General of Pennsylvania, John Taylor, also a surveyor and member of the Assembly from Chester county." From the date just named till the close of the Revolutionary war, he was frequently employed with others to settle boundary
. * Buck's History of Montgomery County.
II
CHARLES THOMSON.
lines between neighboring States, and in 1770 he removed to Philadelphia. He held the office of Treasurer of the State from 1777 to 1789; and some dispute or question of liability between him as an officer of the State and the National gov- ernment, led to suits being instituted against Elizabeth Ser- geant and Esther Waters, executors of his estate, by a certain man named Gideon Omstead. These executors came before our Legislature several years after, praying for relief, as appears on the records of the executive department of the State.
Rittenhouse, whose fame had become continental, as also world-wide, was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, at Boston, in 1782, and of the Royal Society of London, in 1795. He succeeded Dr. Franklin as President of the Philosophical Society, and held the office till his death in 1796. At the founding of the mint, he was ap- pointed a director, but resigned in 1795 on account of ill health.
His death, which occurred on the 26th of June of that year, terminated his useful life in his 64th year, and his remains lie buried in the cemetery of the Pine Street Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, and Dr. Benjamin Rush, by order of the Philo- sophical Society, pronounced an eulogium on his life and virtues, which has been published among its transactions.
David Rittenhouse's fame abroad is that of a mathematician and astronomer; but at home he was more known as the great clockmaker, there being quite a number of his fabrica- tion still in use in our county.
CHARLES THOMSON.
The above is one of the classic names of American history. The Secretary of nearly all the sessions of our Revolutionary Congress is so well known to everybody that it is hardly needful to write more of him than to state that he was born in Ireland in 1730, came over in 1741, enjoyed the confidence of all the " fathers," and lived in Lower Merion, where he dicd
12
WILLIAM MOORE SMITH.
in 1824, at the age of 96. His remains were first interred at the Presbyterian grave yard near his residence, but afterwards removed to Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia. His life and part in the American Revolution is one of the earliest illustra- tions of the trueness of the Irish heart to the mandates of liberty as further shown through all our history ; and that he should have held the one post of difficulty through all our struggle is the highest eulogy upon his integrity, zeal and fitness for the post.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.