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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
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
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SITY
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1787
LIBRARY
3 1735 060 395 948
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Existing by Mar Rows
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JOHN FREDERICK HARTRANFT
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA
A HISTORY
BY
CLIFTON S. HUNSICKER
Member of the Montgomery County Historical Society; Journalist and Author of Letters of Travel; Ex-President and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Press League of Bucks and Montgomery Counties; Chief of Newspaper Divi- sion of the United States Food Administration in Montgomery County during the World War.
WITH THE CO-OPERATION OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
VOLUME II
LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK CHICAGO
1923
UNIVERSITY OF
COPYRIGHT, 1923 LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK-CHICAGO
1.22 Five Money
7-31-41
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
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Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from University of Pittsburgh Library System
http://www.archive.org/details/montgomerycounty02huns
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Nicholas St. Largelire
BIOGRAPHICAL
NICHOLAS HENRY LARZELERE-Of French, English and Dutch ancestry, Mr. Larzelere derives from each some prominent trait that has formed in him a rare combination of manly, intellectual vigor. From the Huguenot, Nicholas Larzelere, the American ancestor, comes the tenacity and courage to follow his convictions; from his Holland ancestor, the thrift and energy that attends to temporal benefit; while from the English ancestor he received the pride of country, of family, and of honorable achievement, yet from these he gained but a founda- tion upon which he has built that splendid figure whom all recognize as American.
Among the families forced to flee from France through the Revoca- tion of the Edict of Nantes was the Larzelere family headed by Nicholas and John, who settled in Long Island. Nicholas, after a short stay on Long Island, settled on Staten Island, in New York Harbor. His son, Nicholas (2), settled in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1741 ; his son, Nicholas (3), fought in the Revolution ; his son, Benjamin, married, and among his two children was a son, Benjamin (2), who married Mary Maxwell, a granddaughter of Jacob Buskirk, whose father came from Holland and married Mary Lawrence, a granddaughter of John and Mary A. Lawrence, who came from England in 1712. Mary A. Lawrence was a Townley, of Lancashire, England, of a family traced to the time of Henry VIII.
Nicholas Henry Larzelere, son of Benjamin (2) and Mary (Maxwell) Larzelere, was born in Warminster township, Bucks county, Pennsyl- vania, March 7, 1851, but his youth was spent in Warrington township in the same county. He attended public schools until the age of eighteen, then entered Doylestown English and Classical Seminary, where he pre- pared for college and did some teaching. He entered Lafayette College in September, 1871, and there received his A. B., class of 1875. He won the oratorical contest between Washington and Franklin Halls in his junior year at Lafayette, and represented his college in the inter-collegiate debate held in the Academy of Music, New York City, January 13, 1873. In September, 1875, he began the study of law under the direction of George Ross, of the Bucks county bar, and a year later placed himself under the preceptorship of B. Markley Boyer, of Norristown, under whom he studied until admitted to the Montgomery county bar, Septem- ber 28, 1877. He at once began practice in Norristown, and at the bar of Montgomery and surrounding counties he has practiced continuously and most successfully.
Mr. Larzelere is solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company ; Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company ; Lehigh Valley Transit Company ; Reading Transit and Light Company ; the Philadelphia & Western Com-
Mont-1
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
pany, and many private corporations. He was the attorney for the Free Bridge Association, and won a bitterly contested fight for a free bridge across the Schuylkill river at DeKalb street, Norristown, and has been connected with many important cases during the years, forty-five, which he has been in law practice. He is a director of the Norristown Trust Company, and of the John B. Stetson Company, of which he is also solicitor, as he is for other banks, trust companies and many business organizations. For many years he has served as president of the Mont- gomery County Hospital and has given much of his time and means to charitable works. He was senior of the law firm, Larzelere & Gibson, which later became Larzelere, Gibson & Fox, but later associated with him in practice his son, Charles Townley Larzelere, and his nephew, Franklin L. Wright.
Mr. Larzelere has acquired large business interest and has been a prominent factor in the development of Norristown suburban railways. He is a Republican in politics ; a member of the Union League of Phil- adelphia ; the Plymouth Country Club, and the Buck Hill Golf Club. He is one of the founders and a charter member of the Norristown City Club, and a trustee of the Young Men's Christian Association. He was selected a director of public safety for Montgomery county during the World War, and headed the movement for raising funds for the War Chest, Red Cross, and other drives, and in every case Norristown went over the top. He is a Presbyterian in religion and for twenty years a trustee of the First Church, Norristown. His library is one of the finest private col- lections in the State, and his gallery of paintings and art work speaks the skilled connoisseur.
Mr. Larzelere married, September 21, 1880, Ida Frances Loch, daugh- ter of Dr. John W. and Hannah M. Loch, of Norristown. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Larzelere: John Loch, born January 20, 1882; and Major Charles Townley, a sketch of whom follows.
MAJOR CHARLES TOWNLEY LARZELERE-Among the younger generation of prominent and respected citizens of Norristown, Pennsylvania, none stand higher nor possess a wider circle of friends than Major Charles Townley Larzelere. His career having been marked by continuous advancement in a difficult profession, one in which success can only come as a result of superior merit and ability, he occu- pies an enviable position in legal circles of this community.
Charles Townley Larzelere was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, August 29, 1884, the son of Nicholas H. and Ida F. (Loch) Larzelere, see preceding sketch. Major Larzelere attended the Lawrenceville school, at Lawrenceville, New Jersey, from 1899 to 1902, and then entered the Mackenzie School, at Dobbs Ferry, New York, from which he was graduated in 1903. The fall of that same year he entered Princeton Uni- versity, subsequently, in 1907, receiving from that institution the degree of Bachelor of Letters. Having in the meantime determined to follow in his father's footsteps and take up law as his chosen profession, he
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BIOGRAPHICAL
accordingly matriculated at Pennsylvania Law School. After devoting three years to this subject he was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county and the Supreme and Superior courts of Pennsylvania. During his senior year at Princeton he was chairman of the Senior Council, editor-in-chief of the "Daily Princetonian" and of the "Bric-a-Brac" year book. Major Larzelere is also his class representative on the Graduate Council at Princeton. Immediately after graduating from law school, Major Larzelere returned to Norristown, entering the offices of his father, and subsequently becoming a member of the well known legal firm of Larzelere, Wright & Larzelere. From the inception of his pro- fessional career he has met with great success, his legal practice having reached large and important proportions. Holding forth with an elo- quence enlivened by spontaneous outbursts of an irresistible sense of humor, Major Larzelere, whom everyone in Norristown knows or has heard about, is a frequent figure in Philadelphia courts. He is a rhe- torician of special attainment, whose ability is fully recognized by the jurors before whom he appears in pursuit of the law.
Besides his legal interests Major Larzelere is also a director of the Norristown Trust Company ; director of the Willow Grove Trust Com- pany ; president of the Main Line Transfer Company ; and vice-president of the Keystone Auto Club. He is a Republican in politics and a Pres- byterian in religion. In social and club life Major Larzelere is also prominent, holding membership in the Union League Club of Philadel- phia; the Plymouth Country Club, of which he is secretary and treas- urer ; the Norristown Club; the Nassau and Tigers Inn clubs of Prince- ton ; Ersine Tennis Club of Norristown ; Princeton Club of Philadelphia ; and the Phi Delta Phi fraternity of the University of Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania Reserve Militia was organized when the National Guard entered the World War. Company I, First Infantry, which con- sisted of two platoons, one at Norristown and the other at Ambler, was formed at this time to replace Company F. The first captain of the new unit was Charles Townley Larzelere, who was soon promoted to the rank of major of the regiment. It is interesting to note here that under his leadership the company became one of the models of the service. During wartime Major Larzelere was one of the most effective "Four- Minute Men" of the county, due to his ability as a public speaker, and was one of the most active members of the Reserve Militia.
On November 8, 1912, at New York City, Major Larzelere was united in marriage with Frances Wharton Mendelson, daughter of Dr. Walter and Mary (Wharton) Mendelson. From this union has been born two children : Nicholas Henry, 2nd, born November 18, 1913; and Mary Wharton, born August 29, 1916. The family home is at No. 1026 De Kalb street.
Major Larzelere is still a young man, but his ability in his chosen profession has carried him forward with such rapid strides that his many friends do not hesitate to predict for him continued and rapid progress in the years to come.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
ABRAHAM D. FETTEROLF-Describing a man as a leading busi- ness man is equivalent to saying that he possesses intelligence of a high order and touches life at many points. A man of this type is Abraham D. Fetterolf, president of the Collegeville National Bank.
Adam Fetterolf, paternal grandfather of Abraham D. Fetterolf, was a member of an old Berks county family. His children were: Michael, Samuel, Peter, Daniel, Adam, Gideon, see forward, and Rachel.
Gideon Fetterolf, father of Abraham D. Fetterolf, and son of Adam Fetterolf, was reared and lived all his life in Montgomery county. He died in 1894, aged eighty-seven years. He was an elder in the Mennonite church, which is now merged into the Reformed church of Collegeville. He passed most of his life in farming, but also spent some time as a merchant in Royersford, where he was widely known and respected. He married (first) Elizabeth Hunsicker, daughter of Bishop John Hunsicker, and to them were born the following children: Captain Henry H., of Collegeville, who served as Captain of Company I, 129th Pennsylvania Volunteers during the Civil War ; Adam H., formerly president of Girard College ; Susan, wife of A. Tyson ; Sarah, wife of A. Grimley ; and Gideon. Mrs. Fetterolf died about 1847. He married (second) Esther Hunsicker, daughter of Bishop Abraham and Elizabeth Hunsicker. They had the following children: Abraham D., whose name heads this review; A. Curtin, of New York City ; Horace G., of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Bishop Abraham Hunsicker, maternal grandfather of Abraham D. Fetterolf, was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, July 31, 1793, and died June 12, 1872, at the age of seventy-eight years. He was a son of Bishop Henry Hunsicker, a descendant of Valentine Hunsicker, who came from Switzerland and settled in Pennsylvania, where he took an active part in the Mennonite church. The advanced ideas of Bishop Abraham Hunsicker caused a division of the Mennonite church. The few followers remained together, and in 1862 Rev. Joseph H. Hendricks was elected minister and took charge of the church at Collegeville which flourished, and in 1888 merged with the Reformed church of the United States, and the Trinity Reformed Church of Collegeville is among the strong congregations of that denomination. For more than forty years it was under the supervision of Rev. Joseph H. Hendricks, D. D., and is a monument to Abraham Hunsicker's views. Bishop Hunsicker was the founder of Freeland Seminary and established his son Henry A., as prin- cipal. The institution afterwards became Ursinus College. Abraham Hunsicker had children as follows: Henry A., who conducted Freeland Seminary for years and later settled in Germantown; Elias; Mary, wife of Rev. J. T. Preston ; Catherine, wife of Rev. Joseph H. Hendricks; Esther, the mother of Abraham D. Fetterolf; Anna, Mrs. John B. Lan- des; Elizabeth, wife of Rev. F. R. S. Hunsicker ; Abraham; Benjamin ; and Horace M.
Abraham D. Fetterolf, son of Gideon and Esther (Hunsicker) Fetter- olf, received a fair education, and started in life with fixed principles by the training of his parents. At sixteen years of age he became a teacher
As Settwolf.
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BIOGRAPHICAL
in the public schools, and at the age of twenty-one went to Philadelphia, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. From 1871 to 1875 he was a lumber inspector, and then formed a partnership which carried on a flour and feed business. From 1888 to 1890 he was a member of the firm of Roberts Machine Company at Collegeville. In 1882 Mr. Fetterolf was elected a justice of the peace of Upper Providence township, and served until he resigned to accept a county office, later being elected transcribing clerk of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. In 1885 he was promoted to speaker's clerk; four years later was made journal clerk ; in 1893 was made resident clerk; in 1895 chief clerk ; from 1897 to 1899 served as president clerk of the House of Representatives ; in 1890 was nominated for registrar of wills of Montgomery county, but failed of election by only a small majority of votes.
In 1906 Mr. Fetterolf, together with E. S. Moser, F. J. Clamer, B. F. Steiner, M. B. Linderman, Frank W. Gustock, and others, founded the Collegeville National Bank. Mr. Fetterolf is its president, which office he has held from its inception, and Mr. Linderman is its vice-president. The capitalization is $50,000, deposits are $700,000, and the surplus and undivided profits are $85,000. Mr. Fetterolf is also secretary and treas- urer of the Perkiomen Valley Mutual Fire Insurance Company ; director and chairman of the executive committee of the board of directors of Ursinus College; and president of the Collegeville School Board since 1907.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Fetterolf has always been active in the affairs of the organization of his choice. In 1892 he was unanimously elected chairman of the Republican committee of Montgomery county, and that he conducted the campaign successfully is shown by the fact that the entire Republican ticket was elected with a single exception, in a year that the county was nominally Democratic. He resigned this office to become secretary of the Republican State Committee during the campaign of 1893 and 1894. In the spring of 1903 Mr. Fetterolf was elected burgess of Collegeville and that he had her best interests at heart was never doubted during his tenure of office.
Mr. Fetterolf is affiliated with Warren Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, having served as master in 1880, and as secretary for ten years, and for the past eight years has served as treasurer. He was chairman of the building committee during the erection of the lodge's new temple at Collegeville. He is also a member of Royal Arch Chapter, No. 190, Free and Accepted Masons; Hutchinson Commandery, No. 32, Knights Templar; was district president in 1884; and charter member of the Patriotic Sons of America, Iron Bridge Camp, No. 267; and holds mem- bership in the Trinity Reformed Church, of Collegeville.
Abraham D. Fetterolf married (first) Sarah E. Graybill, a native of Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Henry N. and Anna (Musser) Graybill, originally of Lancaster county. He was a bishop of the Brethren church, and a prominent farmer. Their children were: I. Gertrude, died in infancy. 2. Henry, died young. 3. Clement
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
G., received a good education and gave promise of great success in the business world ; he was the youngest member of the New York Produce Exchange, but was cut off in his early manhood, dying February 23, 1899, at the age of twenty-one years. 4. Horace M., born 1885, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1907, and became associated with S. W. Sargent and Major Butts, with offices at No. 261 South Fifteenth street, Philadelphia, as selling agents for steel and other products ; during the World War he was assigned to the officers' training camp at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and commissioned a first lieutenant, afterwards sail- ing for France in December, 1917, with the Thirty-fifth Regiment Engi- neers; he served on the front line during the St. Mihiel drive and the Verdun offensives; later he had charge of railroad transportation under General Atterbury ; was commissioned captain in 1919, and received his honorable discharge from the service in May, 1919. Horace M. mar- ried, in December, 1917, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Margaret Rieman, and to them was born Horace M., Jr., September 23, 1920.
Abraham D. Fetterolf married (second) Bertha Kooken, born at Mercersburg, daughter of the Rev. John R. and Mary (Prizer) Kooken, both natives of Pennsylvania, of German descent. Rev. John R. Kooken was highly educated, well known, and a minister of the Reformed church ; he conducted Elmwood Seminary, an institution of learning, near Nor- ristown, which was the second seminary in the county; under President Buchanan's administration he was appointed Consul to Trinidad de Cuba ; when Abraham Lincoln became president, he returned to his home and at the beginning of the Civil War raised a company and served as captain of Company C, One Hundred and Tenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry ; he was killed in the battle of Fredericksburg, Decem- ber 13, 1862, and was buried in the National Cemetery of that place. Mr. Fetterolf still has Captain Kooken's sword in his possession. Captain Kooken's wife, who survived him some years, was the daughter of Henry Prizer, the first principal of what was known as the Washington Hall Boarding School of Trappe, Pennsylvania.
FRANKLIN LOCH WRIGHT-A distinguished member of the Pennsylvania bar, Mr. Wright was born at Norristown, Pennsylvania, December 14, 1880, only child of Willard S. and Ella R. (Loch) Wright. Mr. Wright's father was a wholesale shoe merchant and manufacturer. He was a partner in the firm of Weimer, Wright and Watkins. The factory belonging to this firm is located at Lynn, Massachusetts, but for many years Philadelphia has been the chief distributing center for the company's goods. The business of distribution was carried on at the firm's premises in Arch street, but the business finally outgrew these quarters and was moved to a larger and more commodious building on Sixth street, where the distribution of the manufactured products is still carried on under the old firm name. Since the death of his father, which occurred several years ago, Mr. Wright's mother has lived with him in his residence at Sandy Hill and Belvoir Roads in Plymouth township.
Franklin L. Night
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BIOGRAPHICAL
Mr. Wright early evidenced his inclination for the law, and, from the beginning, he pursued a course of study that was designed to bring him to the bar with a broad general education as well as the requisite and specific training is profession demands. He was a pupil of the Norristown public schools and proceeded from high school to Law- renceville School, Lawrenceville, New Jersey, where he spent two years in college preparatory work. From Lawrenceville, he entered Princeton University, where he was enrolled in the Academic Depart- ment. He was graduated from Princeton University in 1903, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. During his Princeton years and even earlier, Mr. Wright had begun the study of the common law and basic legal subjects and after his graduation, he continued his legal studies at the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania. He gradu- ated in 1906, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, and shortly afterwards was admitted to the bar of the State of Pennsylvania. Having been born and brought up at Norristown and having no desire to leave the people and surroundings that had been familiar to him from his earliest years, Mr. Wright decided to practice law at home, and established himself as an attorney and counsellor at Norristown in 1906. He has continued in the practice so established with success ever since. Mr. Wright's chief interests are, and always have been, professional. Corporation and negligence law have engaged a great deal of his attention and his exten- sive knowledge of these subjects, as well as his ability as a trial lawyer, have given him a high place in the ranks of the legal profession.
In politics, Mr. Wright is a Republican. He holds the office of com- missioner of Plymouth township at the present time and takes a keen interest in the political affairs of the State and Nation. An admirer of President Harding, he has for the past two years been an active sup- porter of the present administration at Washington. Finding his chief recreation in good fellowship with men of his own outlook, Mr. Wright is a member of several social and recreational clubs. Golf is his prin- cipal recreation, but he follows various other outdoor sports and pastimes. He belonged to the Cap and Gown Club while he was a student at Princeton University, and holds membership in the Union League Club of Philadelphia, and the Princeton Club at Philadelphia. As an alumnus of Princeton University and one of those to whom college days will always seem to be the happiest, Mr. Wright takes the keenest interest in Princeton ideals and activities. He attends the reunions of his class regularly and upon the major athletic occasions of Princeton life, he is always to be found among the "old grads" who have at heart the interest of Princeton. Mr. Wright is a member of only one fraternal organization. He is a mason of long standing, and belongs to the Norristown Lodge, No. 190 and the Norristown Chapter, No. 190 of that order. Although Mr. Wright is not enrolled as a member of the Presbyterian church, he attends the service of this denomination at Norristown and takes a great deal of interest in its humanitarian and religious affairs.
On November 4, 1909, he married, at Norristown. Edna L. Gresh,
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
daughter of W. Perry and Margaret (Heim) Gresh. Mrs. Wright's father is engaged in business at Norristown as a cigar manufacturer. Her mother is now deceased. Mrs. Wright is one of a family of four children, her brothers and sister being: William K. Gresh, who is asso- ciated with his father in the cigar business as a member of the firm of W. K. Gresh and Sons; Perry H. Gresh ; and Sarah, who married Donald F. Lippincott. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have three children: Margaret Gresh Wright, who was born October 5, 1910, and who is named for her maternal grandmother; Marshall Wright, who was born April 21, 1912, and Hamilton Wright, who was born September 26, 1914.
PROFESSOR WILLIAM W. RUPERT-During the period from 1888 to 1922 the public school work of Pottstown was under the direction of William W. Rupert, his term of service in this capacity covering thirty-four years, his entire service in the Pottstown schools of forty- three years' duration, and his career as an educator extending over the grand total of forty-six years. This, in expression of time, is the record compiled by Professor Rupert in a lifetime of professional effort. He has reached the age of seventy years, and has retired under the pro- visions of Pennsylvania law. Pottstown, for so long the beneficiary of his diligent and brilliantly able superintendency of the educational sys- tem of the city, figures his administration not only in its remarkable length, but in the splendid results of his leadership, in the great forward strides that have been made under his guidance, in the influence he exercises in the community, and in the permanence of the work he has done.
Professor Rupert is a member of a family of long Pennsylvania resi- dence, and is a son of George and Anna (Durnall) Rupert, grandson of William Rupert, the line of Welsh descent. William Rupert was born in Pennsylvania, in earlier life lived near Philadelphia, but died at an advanced age in Chester county, his home for many years. His profes- sion was that of teacher, and for forty years he taught at Fox Chase, now within the city limits of Philadelphia. He married Elizabeth Achuff and among their numerous children was George, of whom further.
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