USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Biographical annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, containing genealogical records of representative families, including many of the early settlers and biographical sketches of prominent citizens, Vol. I > Part 15
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of cattle and eight sheep. He managed his busi- ness affairs in a most systematic manner, keeping a set of books, and his old ledger, displaying his beautiful penmanship, is now in possession of Percival K. Gable, of Norristown, as is the old hotel license, granted September 25, 1787, and deeds for his farm of three hundred and forty acres. Aside from his business, he not only took a deep interest in church but also in military af- fairs, and was captain of a company of the First Batallion of Philadelphia county militia, com- manded by Colonel Daniel Heester (Heister) dur- ing the Revolutionary war.
John Philip Gabel, the grandfather of Perci- val K. Gable and the only child of Johan Philip and Margaret Gabel, was born July 29, 1768, in Upper Salford township, Montgomery county. He was not only a worthy successor of his father in business, but also developed still greater busi- ness enterprises, and became even more widely known as a merchant, hotel proprietor and exten- sive land owner. He, too, conducted the Gabel House, and in addition to his tavern and his home in Upper Salford he owned at the time of his death fifty-nine acres of land in Skippack and Perkiomen, a tavern and six acres of land at Whitemarsh, a tavern and twenty acres in Gwynedd, and four acres of wood land in Fred- erick, making a total of four hundred and forty- four acres, his estate being appraised at fifty thousand dollars. The same devoted following of Christian teachings and the same fidelity to the church that were numbered among the strong characteristics of his ancestors were also manifest in him, and he served as elder and treasurer in the old Goshenhoppen church. His death oc- curred October 4, 1835. His wife, whom he had married December 3, 1797, bore the maiden name of Catharine Schneider. She is a descendant of Conrad and Catharine Schneider, natives of Ger- many. Their son, Conrad Schneider, Jr., was born in Germany in 1699, and was married there in 1724 to Catharina Detz, who was born in that country in 1700, and was a daughter of Sebastian and Eva Detz. Conrad and Catharina (Detz) Schneider came to America on the ship "John- son," landing at Philadelphia. September 19, 1732.
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It was their son Henrich and his wife Christina Schneider who were the parents of Catharine Schneider, the wife of Philip Gabel. She was born April 5, 1776, and died February 1, 1822.
The children of Philip and Catharine Gabel were: Charles, born April 9, 1799, and died No- vember 27, 1879 ; Sarah, born February 13, 1800, and became the wife of John Groff; Esther E., born May 18, 1803, and married John Smith ; Philip, born April 21, 1805; Margaret, born No- vember 17, 1807, and married Michael Reiff; Elizabeth, born July 30, 1810, and married Abraham Groff ; Anna Catharine, born May 6, 1812, and married Zachariah Leidy ; and Jesse.
The last named, Jesse Gable, born December 29, 1816, followed the same business pursuit which had engaged the attention of his ancestors. He was first proprietor of the Upper Hotel at Skippackville, then another lower down until about 1850, and in 1851 he built the lower hotel in the same place, this being now the Valley House. From 1868 until his death, which oc- curred September 16, 1874, he was proprietor of the Farmers' Hotel at Norristown, and his life labors returned to him gratifying success. In the affairs of the community he manifested a public- spirited interest, giving to many measures for the general good his hearty cooperation and financial support. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, called him to public office, and he served as treasurer of Montgomery county from 1851 until 1853, while at the time of his death he was president of the board of prison in- spectors. He was married June 18, 1843, to Mary Kemmerer, daughter of Jacob and Susan (Mc- Noldy) Kemmerer, of Red Hill, Pennsylvania. She was born January 27, 1821, and died Sep- tember 27, 1896. They had twelve children : John Philip, born January 17, 1844, died October 9, 1857 ; Oliver, born May 3, 1845, died May 22, 1852; Caroline, born October 27, 1846, died Oc- tober 1, 1896; Catharine Ann, born May 17, 1849, died March 24, 1852; Jesse, born July 14, 1851, died February 28, 1853 ; Mary, born July 14, 1851, is the wife of Aaron H. Harley, proprietor of a hotel in Philadelphia, and they have six children ; Emma Louisa, born April 30, 1853, died Decem-
ber 15, 1881 ; Rosa, born December 19, 1854, was married in 1878 to Hiram Pierce Beerer, and they had two children; Elizabeth, born October 18, 1856, died June 23, 1857; Allen Nelson, born April 5, 1858, died June 29, 1860; Percival Kem- merer is the next of the family ; and Charles, born May 18, 1863, died October 26, same year.
Percival Kemmerer Gable, born in Skippack- ville, Pennsylvania, February 27, 1860, pursued a public school education, and in early life devel- oped a native talent for hotel-keeping, inherited from a long line of ancestors who had been iden- tified with this department of business activity almost from the time of the establishment of the colony of Pennsylvania. That Mr. Gable entered upon a work for which he was eminently fitted is demonstrated by the success which has contin- ually attended his efforts. His work has broad- ened in scope, his business increased in magni- tude, and he has largely followed the methods of the pioneer who works upon new and original lines, and accomplishes a task which is of benefit to his entire locality. Mr. Gable first became. proprietor of the Valley House of Skippack, which had been built for his father, and after conducting it for a time took charge of the Hart- ranft House of Norristown. Atlantic City next became the scene of his labor, where he conducted Hotel Appledore, and later he was proprietor of the Central House of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, and then of the Red Lion, of Quakertown, this state, On the 13th of May, 1895, he took charge of the Rambo House of Norristown, of which he has since been proprietor, and has made it one of the popular hostelries of this part of the state, thor- oughly equipped with all modern conveniences and splendidly adapted for the entertainment of the traveling public. Studying the demands of the public throughout his business career, he has become thoroughly conversant with modern meth- ods of hotel-keeping, and because of his progres- sive ideas and earnest efforts to promote the com- fort of his guests he receives a liberal patronage.
His citizenship is of that character which prompts cooperation in all measures for the gen- eral good, and while in Quakertown he served as president of the town council. His political al-
1. Horace Landis,
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legiance is given the Democracy, and in 1887 and again in 1893 he was a delegate to the Democratic state convention. He is identified with various benevolent, fraternal and social organizations. He belongs to Warren Lodge, No. 310, F. and A. M., of Trappe ; Norristown Chapter, No. 190, R. A. M .; Hutchinson Commandery, No. 132, K. T., and Lulu Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of Lansdale Lodge, No. 997, I. O. O. F., of Lansdale, Pennsylvania; Milford Cas- tle, No. 165, Knights of the Golden Eagle, of Trumbauersville, Bucks county; Norristown Lodge, No. 171, B. P. O. E .; Beaver Tribe, No. 62, I. O. R. M .; Norris Lodge, No. 11I, Broth- erhood of Union; Hartranft Conclave, Order of Heptasophs; Knights of the Royal Arch; and Camp No. 114, Patriotic Order of Sons of Amer- ica. He is identified with the Newtown Masonic Relief Association, with the Deutsch Amerik ; the Norristown Maennerchor, of which he is the treasurer ; the Norristown Rifle and Gun Club, of which he is also the treasurer; and the Penn- sylvania Gun Club. He is also connected with Beneficial Section, N. M., of which he is treas- urer. He is a member of the Fairmount Fire Company, and he has deep interest in whatever tends to promote a spirit of fraternity, of mutual helpfulness and of desirable social relations among men.
Mr. Gable has been twice married. He wed -. ded M. Levina Kohl, a daughter of John and Levina Kohl. Mrs. Gable died April 16, 1882, and the only child of that marriage died in in- fancy. On the 23d of April, 1885, Mr. Gable married Ella J. Kulp, who was born January 3, 1861. She is a daughter of Professor Henry D. and Matilda (Johnson) Kulp, of Lucon, in Skippack township, a granddaughter of John and Susan (Detwiler) Kolb ; and a great-granddaugh- ter of Henrich and Barbara (Hunsicker) Kolb, of Skippack, Pennsylvania. Hendrich Kolb was a son of Henrich and Elizabeth (Cassell) Kolb, of Skippack, and the ancestry is traced back still further to Jacob Kolb, who was born in Germany, May 21, 1685, and came to America in 1707. He was a son of Dielman Kolb, of Aolfsheim, Baden, Germany, who married a daughter of Peter Schu-
macher, who settled in Germantown, Pennsyl- vania, in 1685. Jacob Kolb married Sarah Van Sinterm and came to America in 1707. Mrs. Gable is numbered among his descendants in the sixth generation. By her marriage she has be- come the mother of three daughters : Rosa Linda, born March 5, 1887; Elsie Irene, born May I, 1888; and Mary Kulp, born September 19, 1889. The family are members of the Reformed church of Norristown. He is thus identified with the material, social and moral development of his borough and among the popular and public-spir- ited citizens he is numbered.
PROF. J. HORACE LANDIS, A. M., County Superintendent of Public Schools in Montgomery county, is a native of Grater's Ford, where he was born October 20, 1854. He is the son of John and Anna (Hunsicker) Landis.
John B. Landis (father) was a native of Up- per Providence township. He was born in 1814. After receiving an ordinary education in neigh- borhood schools he learned the trade of a plasterer, which he followed for many years at Trappe, Norristown, and elsewhere in the county. Later he engaged in farming at Grater's Ford, where he owned a fine farm of 140 acres. Dur- ing the latter years of his life his time was em- ployed principally in the management of his farm. He was an active Republican in politics, earnestly working to promote the success of its principles and candidates. He was a member of Trinity Reformed church, Collegeville, although the fam- ily were originally Mennonites. He married Anna, daughter of Abraham and Elizabeth Hun- sicker. She was born in 1817. Her mother, Elizabeth Hunsicker, died a few years ago at the age of ninety-nine years. Mr. and Mrs. John B. Landis had the following children : Elizabeth B. (deceased); Mary M., Anna (deceased) ; Hattie, Hannah H. (deceased) ; Abraham, Katie H., Benjamin, J. Horace, subject of this sketch ; Henry, Josephine, Frits, A. Lincoln, Elias (died in infancy). John B. Landis died in 1896, and his wife in 1897. The Hunsickers are an old family in Montgomery county, the progenitor in America being Valentine Hunsicker, a native of
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Switzerland, who came to this country in 1717, and about 1720 settled in Perkiomen township. His descendants are now to be found in a major- ity of the townships of the county.
John Landis (grandfather) was born in Montgomery county, near Branchville, in 1775, and died in 1831. Early in life he removed to Upper Providence township, and purchased a large farm on which he spent the remainder of his life. In politics he was a Whig. He mar- ried Mary Beitler, of an old Chester county fam- ily. The couple had four children : Abraham, John, (father). Jacob, and Hannah, who mar- ried Daniel Longacre. The Landis family trace their ancestry back to Holland, whence their progenitor emigrated to this country at an early date. Some branches of the family spell the name Landes.
J. Horace Landis was reared on the home- stead farm, alternating school study with .work in the fields during the summer season. The foundation of his education was laid in the schools of Perkiomen township. He followed farming for a time, and then entered Ursinus College, where he perfected himself in several branches. Having a desire to become a teacher, he became a student at the Millersville State Nor- mal School in Lancaster county, graduating therefrom in the elementary course in 1877. Soon afterwards he took a post-graduate course at that institution, subsequently entering the University of Pennsylvania. In 1895 the de- gree of Master of Arts was conferred upon him by Ursinus College. While attending the var- fious institutions of learning which have been named, Professor Landis taught school at inter- vals, and during vacations. He served for sev- eral years as principal of the public schools of Mauch Chunk, the county seat of Carbon. He was also principal of the Schwenksville and Landsdale schools, both in Montgomery county, filling all these positions very successfully, and being generally recognized as. one of the leading educators of the county, and taking a very active part in the annual institutes. In 1892 he was elected principal of the Conshohocken public schools, filling the position in the most satis-
factory manner, and being chosen by successive re-elections until his appointment to the office of county superintendent, made vacant by the death of Professor Reuben F. Hoffecker, in December, 1903. He had under his charge as principal of the borough schools of Conshohocken about twenty-five teachers, and under his management the various departments attained a high standard of efficiency. On Christmas day, 1879, Professor Landis married Lizzie K. Kratz, a daughter of Michael Kratz, a well-known business man of Greenlane, Montgomery county. The couple have one child, Vesta K., who has for some time been engaged in teaching in the public schools of Conshohocken.
In politics Prof. Landis is an earnest Repub- lican. He is a member of the Schwenksville Mennonite church, Schwenksville, Pennsylvania. His selection as county superintendent at a time when a number of competitors were seeking the honor, was a high tribute to the esteem in which he was held not only in Conshohocken but throughout the county. He had shown himself in his management of the Conshohocken schools to be an able, progressive and popular teacher, and it was generally felt that the educational in- terests of the county would be safe in his hands. It was his aim in the position to secure for the borough schools what was attainable in the way of buildings, books, furniture and other edu- cational equipment. During his principalship, Latin, German, typewriting, sewing, vocal music and manual training were introduced into the Conshohocken schools, and the buildings de- voted to school purposes were very much improved. As a teacher, Professor Landis en- joyed the confidence of his pupils and of the en- tire community. He greatly extended the course of study, and elevated the educational standard of the borough. He had no difficulty in inter- esting the pupils in school work, and in securing the full cooperation of parents and directors in school progress. In the position of county super- intendent Professor Landis has very thoroughly fulfilled the expectations that were entertained at the time of his appointment. He has pursued a wise, liberal and progressive policy, laying
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more stress upon originality in research on the part of the pupils of the schools under his super- vision than upon mere memory work. He has sought to increase the usefulness of the schools in every possible way, favoring a generous policy as regards school buildings and equipment, and encouraging teachers and pupils to cherish the highest and best aims. He has been in the posi- tion of county superintendent what he was as a teacher-alert, progressive, and ever ready to do his utmost to promote the interests of education.
Professor Landis is a member of the Masonic order. Mrs. Landis belongs to a family long resident in Montgomery county. Their first an- cestor in America was Valentine Kratz, who came to Pennsylvania early in the eighteenth century, settling in what is now Skippack town- ship. The family are of German origin.
ROWLEY K. ORTT, who is one of Norris- town's widely-known manufacturers, has risen by his own exertion to the position which he now oc- cupies, inventive genius and mechanical skill en- abling him to perfect a lawn mower on entirely new principles, making it a novelty in its line, a steady demand existing for it in all parts of the world.
Mr. Ortt was born October 25, 1855, at North Ridge, Niagara county, New York. His father was a contractor and builder who enlisted at the beginning of the Rebellion in the Eighth New York Volunteers. He was discharged in October, 1863, at Baltimore, after serving three years. He was a helpless invalid and was brought home by two comrades in an invalid's chair and placed in bed. His wife undertook to lift him and strained herself, causing a rupture, from which she died one week later. The husband's ailment was due to the fact that he was placed in the cook- house, the steam from cooking pork being the cause of his sickness. After his wife's death a nurse was secured to take care of him. There were four children : Hannah M., John H., Row- ley K., and Cyrus N. Ortt. Hannah died in 1894; John in 1874, his death being caused by a kick from a horse : Cyrus lives in Pekin, New York, where he owns a small farm, and his father, who
is now seventy-eight years old and seems to grow stronger with age, lives with him. The father was born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, but when he was a mere lad the family removed to New York state.
The Ortts came originally from Germany, but have long been naturalized in this country. Ar- thusia (Peterson) Ortt (mother) was a daughter of John Peterson, a farmer living at North Ridge. John Peterson had seven children : John, Nathan, Cyrus, Arthusia, Melinda. Oranda, and Jane. Arthusia married Elias Ortt (father), as has been said. Elias Ortt built many of the prom- inent buildings in that section of the country prior to the war. He built a church, parsonage and a school house at Beemsville in Canada, removing his family to that place while engaged in the work. Having learned that Elias's wife's mother was dying, the family started to return, and when they reached the Suspension bridge which was just being built at that time, there being only a walk for the carpenter to cross it consisting of three six inch boards, and the boat known as the "Maid of the Mist" being on the opposite side of the river and not likely to return for some time, and Mrs. Elias Ortt (mother) being very anx- ious to reach her mother's bedside before she passed away, and there being apparently no other way, she said she could walk over on those three narrow boards, and she did so, one of the car- penters going ahead, holding her hand and her husband following. Mrs. Ortt was thus the first woman who ever crossed the Suspension bridge. There were three children at that time, Anna, Jolin and Rowley, who were strapped in the basket running on a cable rope used to draw the workmen across, and thus all reached the New York side of the river safely.
The inventive genius of Rowley K. Ortt was manifested at a very early age. When only nine years old he went to live with a cousin and later with Thomas Parker. While at Mr. Parker's he was replanting twenty acres of corn which had been partly ruined by the grub worms. While en- gaged in this laborious task he conceived the idea of the jabber planter, using it next day with fairly good results. The next night he improved on his
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first idea and made a new planter which worked still better, and was loaned to a neighbor named Fuller. Fuller secured a patent for the machine and started to manufacture it, which he did suc- cessfully. Rowley K. Ortt at this time was only seventeen years of age and of course received nothing for his invention.
While hauling logs from the woods the young inventor had another opportunity to display his genius. The bob-sled upset and broke the short reach on the hind bob. Ortt went to work and bored a hole through the back bolster, and coupled it by a swivel to the front bolster and to this day all bob-sleds are made in that way.
In 1878 Thomas Parker took the agency for the Norristown gleaner and binder, manufactured by William A. Singerly in what was then known as the agricultural works and is now the Key- stone Hosiery Company's building, at Astor and Oak streets, Norristown. Mr. Parker could not succeed with them and Mr. Ortt took hold and succeeded in making them operate very well. The result was that the company induced him to come to Norristown in 1879. He made a number of im- provements, including a chain tightener, a fric- tion tension, etc. He left the company in 1883, going into the shoe business at 125 East Main street. In 1892 he sold out the shoe store and has since been working on patents. Among those he has secured are devices for curtain fixtures for inside shutters for lace curtains ; also a double nut tack, a bonnet for vestibule cars, and the Clipper lawn mower. The last he is now manufacturing, being unable to supply the extensive demand for the machine, which is steadily growing in popu- lar favor. Mr. Ortt is now manager of a large establishment in the lower part of Norristown, owned and operated by the Clipper Lawn Mower Company, Incorporated.
Mr. Ortt has been twice married. His first wife was Jane Greavy of Norristown. The couple were married in 1882, she dying in 1889, and leav- ing two children, Hannah L. Ortt and Ellwood K. Ortt. He married, in 1893, Rachel P. Flint of Germantown. They have one child, Horace F. Ortt.
The relationship of the Ortts and Petersons
has been mentioned. The Petersons were con- nected also with the Tanners and the Brownells, both old families, the Brownells being of Rhode Island. Phœbe Tanner, daughter of Josias Tan- ner, by his second wife, Phœbe Brownell, was born May II, 1775. Phœbe married John Peter- son in November, 1793, both being of South Kingston, Rhode Island. The couple removed to Bristol, Vermont, and later to Ridgway, in what is now Orleans county, New York. They en- dured the privations of early frontier life, going to western New York when it was still a wilderness.
Josias Tanner was the son of Francis Tanner and his wife Elizabeth (Sheldon) Tanner. Eliza- beth was a daughter of Isaac Sheldon, a respected citizen and freeman in South Kingston. She was born in 1713. Josias was a Revolutionary soldier.
Francis Tanner was the son of William and Elizabeth Tanner of South Kingston. He was born July 3, 1708. After his marriage he re- moved to the neighboring town of Hopkinton, where he bought twelve hundred acres of land. He was admitted a "freeman" in South Kings- ton in 1753, and in 1762-5 held the honorable po- sition in that day of justice of the peace, holding his commission (still in existence) from the gov- ernor of the province. He died January 3, 1777, and his widow in 1801.
William Tanner, father of Francis, and founder of that branch of the Rhode Island Tan- ners in America, first appears in the state in 1682, as witness to a deed of Frances Houlding, wife of Randall Houlding, the leading spirit in the col- ony that she had lately represented in England. In 1687 William Tanner paid a tax on one poll. In 1693 he bought land in South Kingston, hav- ing somewhat earlier married a daughter of Henry Tibbitts, an influential landholder who in his will provided an estate for each of his chil- dren and for each grandchild whose parent on the Tibbitt side was dead. William Tanner was prominent in founding the old Seventh-Day Bap- tist church in Westerly, now Hopkinton, and held an influential position therein. He was living as late as 1735, and his third wife, Elizabeth, as late as 1752. The date of his birth is unknown, but
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was probably about 1660-3. It is not known from what part of England he came, nor to what branch of the Tanners he belonged. The family has been traced to the time of Edward III, if not to the Norman conquest. It is probable that William Tanner and a brother or two brothers crossed the ocean to escape the rigorous measures enforced against the Baptists in the time of Charles II.
William Tanner was the father of fifteen chil- dren. Francis had seven children. At his death he gave his slave, Quom, his freedom. The boy, Quom, was a Revolutionary soldier.
Josias Tanner was the father of thirteen chil- dren. He was admitted a "freeman" in 1757. He was ensign of the Second Continental Com- pany, 1762, and a private of the First Battalion, Rhode Island troops, Colonel Green commanding, from June I to July 1, 1778, Colonel Arnold's de- tachment. He died March 14, 1810, and his remains rest on the old homestead in Rhode Island.
CHARLES TEMPLETON, a leading man- ufacturer and organizer of industries, was born in Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, February 24, 1859, and resided there until 1865, when his parents re- moved to Norristown. His opportunities for ed- ucation were confined to the public schools of Bridgeport and Norristown. In 1876 he started out on his own account, going to Philadelphia and obtaining employment on the Centennial Expo- sition grounds as a clerk. He remained there until December of that year, and in March fol- lowing entered the Wanamaker store in the in- voice department. He was thus engaged for a year, and during that time, and the two years he was with Benjamin Israel, he attended night school at the Spring Garden Institute.
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