USA > Pennsylvania > Chester County > Biographical and portrait cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsylvania : comprising a historical sketch of the county, by Samuel T. Wiley, together with more than five hundred biographical sketches of the prominent men and leading citizens of the county > Part 34
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 (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105
On February 24, 1869, Mr. Reiff was united in marriage with Emma M. Law, a daughter of Davis and Rebecca (Urner) Law, of this county. In his political affilia-
tions he has always been a republican, and while he is no politician and entertains a distaste for what is known as practical poli- ties, he is at all times well posted on current questions, and exercises a good deal of in- fluence in his party.
The Reiff's are of German descent, but have been honored citizens of the Com- monwealth of Pennsylvania since carly times. The paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Joseph Reiff, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, his ancestors having removed from Leacock township, Lancaster county, to this county, about 1750, and settled in North Coventry township. There he continued to reside until his death in 1838, at which time he had attained the age of nearly sixty-one years. He was a farmer by occupation and became very prosperous, owning large tracts of land and conducting his operations on an extensive scale. In religious faith he was a Mennonite, and a life-long member of that church, while politically he adhered to the old whig party. He married Sarah Harley, and was the father of ten children.
Rudolph Reiff ( father ) was born in North Coventry township, this county, in 1808, and passed his entire life in that township. He was reared on the farm, educated in the common schools of that day, and devoted his life to the cultivation of the soil and stock raising. His farm contained one hun- dred and thirty-six acres of excellent land, to which he afterward added ten acres, and was always well cultivated and carefully managed. Ile died at his home in North Coventry township in 1884, aged seventy- six years. Politically he was a whig and republican, and in religion a strict member of the Mennonite church. He was an active man, of sound judgment and good business
18
276
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
ability, and served as director of the Potts- town Mutual Insurance Company for many years, and was also a director in the Potts- town Bridge Company. He married Mag- dalena East, of Berks county, Pennsylvania, by whom he had a family of three children, one son and two daughters. The eldest was Mary A., who married Isaac Delwiter, a prosperous farmer residing at Charleston village, this county. They have three children. The other daughter, Sarah, wedded William W. Yarnell, a farmer of North Coventry township, this county, and has three children. The mother, Mrs. Mag- dalena Reiff, died in 1840, in the twenty- ninth year of her age, and greatly respected and beloved by her neighbors and friends.
ISAAC J. TUSTIN, one of the active business men of Phoenixville, and who has been a large dealer in agricultural ini- plements since 1880, is a son of Jones and Elizabeth (Pennypacker) Tustin, and was born in Schuylkill township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, August 19, 1854. He was reared on the farm, received his education in the common schools of his native county, and was engaged in farming until 1880. In that year he removed to Phoenixville, and established his present business house, which is located on Bridge street. He handles agricultural implements of all kinds, has a heavy and well selected stock of reapers, mowers, horse rakes, plows and improved cultivators; also deals in fine carriages and wagons, and commands a good trade in the northern part of Chester and the western part of Montgomery county. HIe has good facilities for shipment over a wide area of surrounding country, and being a practical farmer is specially qualified
to select the best and most useful farm machinery to be had in the market. Mr. Tustin has made himself master of his business, in which he takes great delight to serve the best interests of his numerous patrons. His business is marked by a steady annual increase, and its present pros- perity augurs well for the future. He is a republican in politics.
On September 6, 1882, Mr. Tustin was united in marriage with Hannah L., daugh- ter of Reuben and Mary Caveny, of Juniata county.
Isaac J. Tustin, as the name of Tustin would imply, is of Welsh lineage, and his grandfather, Isaac Tustin, was a farmer and life-long resident of Chester county. He was an old-line whig, and a member of the Baptist church. He married a Miss Jones, by whom he had five children : Jones, Joseph, Isaac (now deceased), John (dead), and Rachel. Jones Tustin, the first son and father of the subject of this sketch, was born at Chester Springs, in West Pike- land township, September 10, 1816. He was engaged extensively in farming until about ten years ago, when he retired from active business life. He is a republican and Lutheran, and still takes an active part in the affairs of his party and church. In 1838 Jones Tustin wedded Elizabeth Pennypacker, who was a con- sistent member of the Evangelical Lu- theran church, and passed away from this earthly life and its troubles on January 26, 1877, when in the fifty-eighth year of her age. To their union were born three children, two sons and one daughter : Milton, now clerk in the employ of the Phoenix Iron Company ; Annie, wife of James Anderson, a farmer of this county ; and Isaac J.
The Tustin family possesses the same
.
277
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
characteristics that have distinguished the numerons old and highly respected Welsh families of this county, some of whom came over with Penn, and all of whom are noted for thrift, energy and honesty.
M AJ. GEORGE M. RUPERT, a mem- ber of the Chester county bar, who has been engaged since 1859 in the active practice of his profession at West Chester, is a son of William and Rachel ( Achuff) Rupert, and was born in Upper Oxford township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, October 12, 1835. His paternal grand- father, William Rupert, sr., was born and reared in Philadelphia county, ere the city limits had become identical with the county boundary lines. He received a good edu- cation in the select and academic schools of the "Quaker City," which he left about 1820, to settle in Upper Oxford township, this county, where he purchased a farm. He followed teaching, was enthusiastically devoted to his profession, and was one of the most successful teachers of his day. Ile was a useful and well respected citizen in the community where he resided. He married and reared a family of industrious and respectable sons and daughters. His 801, William Rupert, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1808, in Philadelphia county, and at twelve years of age was brought by his parents to Upper Oxford township. He received a good English education and after arriving at manhood's estate removed to West Fallow- field, where he was engaged in the general mercantile business, and which he re- linquished some years before his death, which occured in April, 1878, when he was in the seventieth year of his age. He
was an active and thorough-going man, and in addition to merchandising, wa's engaged to some extent in farming. He married Rachel Achuff, who died April 13, 1890, aged seventy-eight years. Mr. and Mrs. Rupert were the parents of seven children, of whom six grew to maturity : Noah, who is engaged in farming in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania; George M., Alfred, a justice of the peace and stationer of West Chester, who has served as prothonotary of the county, and whose sketch appears in this volume; Charles A., who is postmaster at Ercildoun, East Fallowfield township, where he has served for several years as general manager of a large mercantile establish- ment; David H., who holds a position in the office of the Philadelphia Street Trac- tion Railway Company ; and Martha J., who married John Y. Latta, a cattle dealer and prominent business man of Sadsbury town- ship, and died a few years ago.
George M. Rupert grew to manhood in his native county, received his education at Hopewell academy, and then made choice of the legal profession as his life vocation. He read law with Judge William Butler, then of Chester county, but now a United States District judge at Philadelphia, and under his instruction acquired a good theoretical and practical knowledge of law, as Judge Butler had an extensive clientage and tried many important cases in the different courts of Pennsylvania.
Ile was admitted to the bar on October 20, 1859. and has been engaged in the active and successful practice of his pro- fession at West Chester ever since. He believes that willingness and application are among the main things necessary to success in the practice of the law. He is a republican in politics, but gives his time
278
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
chiefly to his professonal labors. He is a member of Holy Trinity Protestant Episco- pal church, and West Chester Lodge, No. 322, Free and Accepted Masons.
When Lee threatened the fair fields of the Keystone State in 1862, Mr. Rupert left his practice and enlisted in a regiment of Emergency men, of which he was made major. Again in 1863, when Lee poured his legions into Maryland, Mr. Rupert hastened to offer his services to the au- thorities of his native State, and was detailed to serve at Harrisburg under General Couch, who commanded the depart- ment of the Susquehanna.
On June 15, 1871, Mr. Rupert was united in marriage with Anne B. Brinton, daugh- ter of John B. Brinton, of West Chester. To their union have been born three children, one son and two daughters: Bessie B., Anne B., and George H.
J EREMIAH S. LEOPOLD, now de- ceased, was a prosperous farmer who lived an active and useful life, serving many years as president of the Pottsgrove Live Stock Insurance company, and becoming widely known in this part of the Keystone State. He was the only son of Jacob and Catharine (Strunk ) Leopold, and was born January 8, 1818, in North Coventry town- ship, Chester county, Pennsylvania. He was reared on the farm and received the best education afforded by the country schools of that day. After leaving school he devoted himself almost exclusively to agricultural pursuits, except a few years spent in running a market in the city of Philadelphia, and became the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and six acres in his native township of North Coventry, in
the management of which he was very suc- cessful. He was a man of good business ability and sound judgment, and for a period of eighteen years he served as president of the Pottsgrove Live Stock Insurance com- pany, of Pottstown. In political sentiment he was an ardent democrat, and while never taking a very active part in politics, was al- ways found supporting the great principles of equality and justice enunciated by the founders and early leaders of his party. His was an intensely religious nature, and for many years he was a strict member of the Evangelical Lutheran church, and later became attached to Shenkel's Reformed church. He died on his farm June 24, 1887, in the seventieth year of his age, and greatly respected aud beloved by a wide circle of friends, old and young.
On October 6, 1864, Mr. Leopold was married to Sallie Stauffer, a daughter of John and Susan (Benner) Stauffer, of Ches- ter county. To Mr. and Mrs. Leopold was born a family of five children, two sons and three daughters : Emma K., born January 2,1866 ; Annie L., born September 30, 1869 ; A. Howard, born February 18, 1871; G. Warren, born July 15, 1873; and Mary H., born August 19, 1876. Mrs. Sallie A. Leo- pold is a native of East Coventry township, this county, born May 23, 1841, and is con- sequently now in the fifty-first year of her age. After the death of Mr. Leopold the family removed to South Pottstown, where they now reside, and where they have a commodious, well arranged and beautiful home, which in every part displays the great care and excellent taste with which it is kept.
Jacob Leopold, father of the subject of this sketch, was born July 2, 1790, in North Coventry township, Chester county, where
279
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
he lived all his life, dying March 11, 1872, at the advanced age of eighty-two years. He was a farmer by occupation, but worked some at the mason's trade, which he had learned when a young man. In political faith he was a Jacksonian democrat, and in religious life a strict member of the Evan- gelical Lutheran church, which he served as elder for many years. He married Cath- arine Strunk, February 21, 1817, and was the father of three children, one son and two daughters. The eldest of these was Jeremiah S., whose brief biography has here been given. The second was Mary A., born October 19, 1820, who married Arnold Pen- nypacker (now deceased ), and lives at Vin- cent, this county. The youngest daughter was Elizabeth A., whose natal day was December 20, 1831. John Leopold, father of Jacob Leopold, came to this country from Germany when a boy, and lived on the same farın till an advanced age. Three genera- tions lived and died on the same farm.
JOSEPH C. GREEN, a well known general merchant of Pughtown, is the eldest son of John and Sarah (Morrison) Green, and was born in East Vincent town- ship, Chester county, Pennsylvania, Octo- ber 18th, 1826. His paternal grandfather, George Green, was a native of Edgemont, Delaware county, this state, and lived and died on the farm where he was born. He spent his life in agricultural pursuits, was a large land owner, and died about 1842, in his eightieth year, leaving an estate valued at eighty thousand dollars. Politically he was an old-line whig and became prominent in the politics of his section. He was elected to the position of commissioner of Delaware county, and served in that capacity a nnm-
ber of years. In religious faith he was a Quaker, and was a life-long member of the Society of Friends. He married Mary Chaney, who was also a Quaker, and who, being gifted in speech, frequently preached for the Friends in that county. They reared a family of seven children : Chaney, Edith, John, Jesse, Hiram, Isaae, and Mary A., all of whom are now deceased. John Green (father) was born on the old Green home- stead in Delaware county in 1801, from which he removed to East Vincent town- ship, Chester county, in the spring of 1826. He was an intelligent, progressive farmer, and did much to encourage improved meth- ods among the farmers of his neighborhood, being among the first in Chester county to introduce and use lime on his lands. His farm was always well kept and carefully cultivated, and he became very successful and prosperous. He died at his home in East Vincent township, October 10th, 1875, at the good old age of seventy-four years. In politics he was a whig and republican, and served as supervisor and constable of his township. In 18- he married Sarah Morrison, a daughter of JJohn Morrison, of Delaware county, and to them was born a family of ten children. four sons and six daughters: Joseph C., the subject of this sketch ; Hannah, who married Levi Penny- paeker, and is now deceased; Mary, also lead; Edith, married Thomas G. West, and died in 1891 ; George, also deceased ; Eliza- beth, wedded Wilmer W. West, and is now dead ; Martha, also deceased ; Rebecca, now the wife of Isaac P. Davis, a farmer of East Vincent township : John, now in the grocery business in Philadelphia, who served three years as a musician in the army during the civil war, and later married Bell Penny- paeker, by whom he hasa family of children :
280
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
and George, a machinist of Pottstown, who married Lovina Staufer and has three chil- dren living and one dead.
Joseph C. Green was reared principally on his father's farm in East Vincent town- ship, and received the best education ob- tainable in the public schools of this county. After leaving school he engaged in agricul- tural pursuits to some extent, and remained a resident of his native township for half a century. In 1877 he removed to Pughtown, where he conducted a hotel for one year, and then embarked in the general mer- chandise business, which he has very suc- cessfully managed ever since. He owns the handsome building in which he does busi- ness, and also the building now occupied by the public school, and sixteen acres of valu- able land upon which is a handsome brick residence adjoining Pughtown. Politically he is a republican, but takes no active part in politics. He is a member of Strichter Lodge, No. 254, Free and Accepted Masons, of Pottstown, and also of Yankton Tribe, No. 218, Improved Order of Red Men, at Pughtown, of which latter he has served as treasurer. In 1866 Mr. Green was married to Leah Priser, a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Priser, of South Coventry town- ship.
F RANK N. SAVAGE, one of the lead-
ing young farmers of East Coventry township, now residing on the old Savage homestead near Parker Ford, is the young- est son of Davis and Aquilla ( Harley) Sav- age, and was born in East Coventry town- ship, Chester county, Pennsylvania, April 26, 1863. The paternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch, Zenus Savage, was a native of Chester county, and for many years a farmer of East Coventry township,
where he died at an advanced age, on the . old homestead now in possession of Frank N. Savage. He was a democrat in political opinion, and married Rebecca March, by whom he had a family of four children : Washington, now deceased, but a resident of East Coventry township during life, where he was engaged as a farmer and car- penter, having also been connected with the foundry and stove manufacturing business ; Davis (father); Emaline, married George Missniner, and after his death wedded Hern Dietrick ; and Elias Swortley, who now re- sides in Florida. Davis Savage (father) was born at the old homestead in East Coventry township, December 29, 1828. He was educated in the common schools and after- ward taught one term himself, when he set- tled down to farming in East Coventry township. There he continued to reside, engaged in 'agricultural pursuits, until his death, February 5, 1890, when in his sixty- second year. Politically he was a repub- lican, and his sound judgment and other stable qualities caused him to be elected justice of the peace in his township, an office he administered with satisfaction to the pub- lic and credit to himself during an entire decade. In 1850 he married Aquilla Har- ley, a daughter of Benjamin Harley, of North Coventry township, who was a farmer in early life, a butcher in his later days, and served for fifteen years as a justice of the peace in his township. By this marriage Mr. Savage had a family of five children : Wilmot, born October 17, 1851, and died November 14, 1851; Rebecca, born October 9, 1852, married Christian Miller, of Seattle, State of Washington; a contractor and builder in the employ of the Puget Sound Improvement Company, who has four chil- dren -Davis, Chanceford, Edmund and Ina
.
281
OF CHESTER COUNTY.
Kate; Allen, born March 7, 1854, deceased August 25, 1861; Caroline, born November 23, 1856, married Elwood Leopold, a pros- perous farmer of East Coventry township, and has one child -Stella; and Frank N., the subject of this sketch. The mother, Mrs. Aquilla Savage, was born July 11, 1829, and passed away from earth August 27,1891, at almost the exact age at which her husband died in 1890.
Frank N. Savage was reared at the old homestead in East Coventry township, this county, inured to farm labor and familiar with all the varied processes of successful agriculture. He received a good English education in the public schools of the neigh- borhood, and after leaving school deterul- ined to become a farmer, and has spent all his life in the cultivation of the soil. He now owns a fine farm of forty-two acres of valuable land, splendidly improved and sup- plied with all necessary farm buildings. In- beriting the energy and enterprise of his ancestors, he promises to attain still greater success in the years to come.
On Christmas day, 1883, Mr. Savage was wedded to Amelia J. Reagan, a daughter of Washington Reagan, residing near Pugh- town, this county. Their union has been blessed by the birth of one child, a son named Davis Washington, who was born January 9, 1885.
D AVID G. WELLS, first burgess of Spring City, and one of the substantial business men of the Schuylkill valley, is a son of Jesse and Mary (Grubb) Wells. He was born on September 12, 1825, in North Coventry township, this county, where he was reared on the farm and received a good
practical English education. Arriving at man's estate he saw no opening in any busi- ness that was then within his reach that was more profitable than farming, and pur- chased his father's farm, which he owned and tilled for two years. He then, sold the farm and was engaged successfully at Spring City for four years in the general mercan- tile business with his brother, Joseph Wells, and David S. Taylor. At the end of that time, in 1861, he became a member of the firm of Smith, Francis & Wells, which leased the Spring City foundry for ten years, but after seven years of that time had elapsed, he withdrew from the company to engage in farming in North Coventry township, where he remained one year. He then pur- chased a farm in the neighborhood of Kin- berton, East Pikeland township, which he disposed of four years later to build a bakery at Spring City, which he owned for two years. He was then interested in various lines of business until 1874, when he pur- chased his present dairy farm of sixteen aeres, and has been engaged in dairying ever since. In 1862, when Lee was pushing his veteran columns northward across the State of Maryland, Mr. Wells was one of those who volunteered to defend his country and State from Confederate invasion. He was commissioned as second lieutenant of Co. C, 21st Pennsylvania militia, and served until the army of Northern Virginia was defeated at Antietam and driven back across the Potomac. Mr. Wells served two con- secutive terms as burgess of Spring City. and at present is a member of the borough school board, of which body he has been treasurer and secretary. lle is a prohibi- tionist in politics, and has been an active member for eighteen years of the German Baptist church of Coventry, of whose Sun-
282
BIOGRAPHY AND HISTORY
day school he has served as superintendent for several terms.
In 1851 Mr. Wells married Emeline, daughter of Jacob Shantz, a farmer of Parker Ford. To their union was born eleven children, five sons and six daughters : Isaac Erwin, Samuel, Enos Milton, Clara, Joseph, George, Ella, Annie, Emma, Katie, and one daughter who died in infancy. After the death of his first wife, on the 4th of June, 1890, David G. Wells married Sarah A. Grubb, formerly of Coventry, lat- terly of Philadelphia. She was a daughter of Peter and Catharine Grubb, of Coventry, both now deceased, and granddaughter of David Grubb, herein mentioned.
David G. Wells is known as an intelligent, honest and reliable man. He traces his paternal ancestry back to the old Quaker Wells family of Chester county, of which his grandfather, Joseph Wells, was a meni- ber. Joseph Wells was a farmer by occu- pation, and an old-line whig in politics, and removed to Joanna Heights in Berks county, where he died. He married and reared a family of ten children : Isaac, Samuel, Wil- liam, James, Edmund, Jesse, Joseph, David, Ann and Hannah. Jesse Wells, the sixth son, and the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1798, at Joanna Heights, where he was reared and grew to manhood, after which he removed to North Coventry township, opposite Pottstown. He there learned the trade of weaver, which was then a much more profitable business than at the present day. He purchased a small farm soon after removing to North Coventry, where he was engaged in farming and weav- ing from 1828 to 1840, when he went to Berks county, in which he remained two years. He then came to East Vincent town- ship and purchased a farm of eighty acres,
one mile west of Spring City, on which he resided until 1855, when he came to the above named borough, where he died in 1876, aged seventy-eight years. While liv- ing in North Coventry township, Jesse Wells married Mary Grubb, who was a daughter of David Grubb, and died in 1883, aged eighty-seven years. They reared a family of three children : Lieut. David G .; Joseph, a merchant of Spring City, who died in September, 1858; and Mary A., widow of Samuel B. Taylor, and now a resi- dent of Spring City. The Wells family is widely known for its industry and thrift, and its reputation is ably sustained by David G. Wells, whose name heads this sketch.
A NDREW J. WILLIAMS, general manager for the Parkesburg Iron Company, and a successful business man who has done much for the upbuilding of his town and county, and the development of the industrial interests of this section, is a son of David D. and Esther (Way) Wil- liams, and was born in West Caln township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, April 16, 1840. His paternal grandfather, Andrew Williams, was a native of Scotland, where he married and from whence he came with his wife to the United States about 1800, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland, where they resided only a short time before re- moving to Chester county, Pennsylvania. He was a tailor by trade, and engaged in that occupation for many years near Fogg's Manor, this county, where he died in 1855, at an advanced age. During the war of 1812 he served as a soldier in the American army, was a democrat in politics, and a mem- ber of the United Presbyterian church. His son, David D. Williams (father) was a
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.