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 2

Author: Roberts, Ellwood, 1846- ed
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : T. S. Benham
Number of Pages: 826

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 2

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Water Company and also of the Norristown Gas Company, and was for many years presi- dent of both, holding the office until recently.

Colonel Boyd has always been a careful in- vestor. He holds stock in many of the prominent corporations of Philadelphia and is the owner of valuable property in Montgomery and other counties of the state, being generally regarded as one of the wealthiest men in Norristown.

In politics Colonel Boyd was a Whig during the existence of that party but later became a Democrat. He was elected burgess of Norris- town many years ago. At that time there was no regular police force. After asking the town council to provide police protection and being re- fused, he appointed a policeman, and, later, an additional one, and, there being no public funds available from which to pay them, he met the expense from his own resources. It was quite common in those days for the youngest member of the bar to be elected burgess for one year, but at the end of Colonel Boyd's term, he had con- ducted the borough government so successsfully that there was not the slightest difficulty in se- curing him a re-election, the rule being set aside for the time being.

In 1873 Colonel Boyd was elected a member of the constitutional convention of Pennsylvania on the Democratic ticket and became a prominent member of that body which framed the consti- tution under which the people of the state are now living. He was one of three members who refused to attach his signature to the instrument after it was drafted and accepted by a majority of the convention. There were some provisions in the document of which his conscience did not approve and he decided that he would not sign. It is characteristic of him that, having once made up his mind, he can not be swerved from his de- cision. Colonel Boyd's speeches at the time the constitution was discussed in the convention were considered models of good sense and elegant dic- tion, and they added very much to his reputation as an orator. At this time an amusing episode occurred, being a mock trial of Colonel Boyd for the offense of impersonating a Methodist min- ·ister. During the existence of the constitutional

MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

convention, E. C. Knight invited its members to be his guests at Cape May. On the trip Colo- nel Boyd was introduced to a Methodist clergy- man, and, being an inveterate joker, succeeded in making him believe that he belonged to the same profession, much to the amusement of the other members of the convention. Later the mock trial was arranged by ex-Governor An- drew G. Curtin, Colonel Boyd being arrested as the defendant in the case of the Commonwealth vs. James Boyd, on the charge of impersonating a minister. Men of note from all parts of the state being members of the convention, including many prominent lawyers, the trial proceeded in due form, the testimony being carefully recorded by a court reporter. The speeches of counsel on both sides caused much merriment, and some of the rulings were absurdly funny, Colonel Boyd adding much to the general amusement by his witty sallies. The trial was printed and the de- mand from the legal fraternity all over the coun- try greatly exceeded the supply.

Colonel Boyd was and still is a strict discip- linarian, severely rebuking familiarities. He counted among his personal acquaintances, Lin- coln, Grant, Sherman and many other notabili- ties of their time. Few men in Pennsylvania were better or more widely known than he dur- ing the more active years of his life. His after dinner speeches are renowned for their wit, and several bar dinners recently held in Philadelphia have been greatly enlivened by the scintillations of his dry humor.

As a lawyer Colonel Boyd owes much of his success to his keen wit and to superior manage- ment, especially in the handling of witnesses on cross-examination, in which he is an adept, lead- ing those of his opponent to contradict themselves in their statements and thus to ruin their case.

Colonel Boyd has long beeen president of the Montgomery County Bar Association. He has won the respect and esteem of all with whom he came in contact. He is exceedingly kind-hearted and genial. Many a young man in the legal pro- fession has come to him for advice, and he has given them advice that has been of the greatest benefit to them in the trial of their cases. Strug-

gling lawyers have been very much aided by his friendly suggestions.

Colonel Boyd often relates with much gusto the practical joke which he once played on Dan- iel Dougherty, the "silver-tongued orator" of Philadelphia, who was very popular with the ladies because of his fine Shakespearean render- ings and other accomplishments. He had at one time built up quite a practice in the courts of Montgomery county, and was very often in Nor- ristown. At his parlor in the leading hotel, the old Montgomery House, now the Hotel Mont- gomery, he entertained delighted audiences in the evenings. When he had occasion to deliver a speech in behalf of a client in the courthouse, his admirers usually made it a point to be present. Colonel Boyd decided, when he had an oppor- tunity, to head off the brilliant Philadelpdia law- yer, whom no one else had ever been able to match, and the opportunity was not long in pre- senting itself. The two were pitted against each other and the followers of Dougherty had gath- ered in force to witness his triumphs through his brilliant oratory which was supposed to be irre- sistible when he addresed a jury. On this oc- casion, however, Colonel Boyd had the right to speak first, and he made the most of the privi- lege. He knew that Mr. Dougherty would be obliged to leave on the 5:30 train in the evening, and, launching into his address at 3 o'clock, he contrived to consume the time so that it was 5:20 o'clock when he concluded his speech, to the utter discomfiture of Mr. Dougherty and his friends. The great orator made no attempt to speak at all. Colonel Boyd has often been pitted against Wayne MacVeagh and other eminent lawyers, whose fame was world wide, and he proved himself equal to any of them in fertility of resources and skill in handling his case. Wayne MacVeagh said of Colonel Boyd on one occasion that he was the most forcible and convincing speaker he had ever heard; stern and unbending at times, but with a heart as mellow and kind as could be desired when occasion required it.

Colonel James Boyd married Sarah Jamison, who died in 1884. She was the daughter of the late Samuel Jamison, a prominent manufacturer

MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

of Norristown. Their children were Howard (deceased), who married Miss Mary, daughter of William H. Slingluff, they having one child, James S. Boyd, Jr., a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where he takes much interest in athletics ; and Wallace J., who served in the house of representatives, and is long deceased, leaving one child who died in infancy.

Colonel Boyd is widely known for his charity to the needy, his benevolence being unostenta- tions but none the less prompt and generous. He is universally esteemed by his fellow members of the bar and by all who know him. The dinner given to him by the members of the bar on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of his admis- sion, was an event long to be remembered. Em- inent associates in the legal profession vied with each other in paying deserved tribute to their guest and friend. Hon. Wayne MacVeagh left an important .case in Washington to be present and add his word by way of testimony to the splendid qualities of the grand old man.

Mental power and self control are the quali- ties which have given to Colonel Boyd his pre- eminence in the profession in which his success has been so great. With a jury he has been al- most irresistible, carrying its members with him by his mental force. Independent in his bearing, his humor and sarcasm are powerful weapons against his adversaries in legal contests. His in- vective, when he feels called upon to use it, is terrible. His varied and wide experience, his legal knowledge, and his at- tainments in his profession have long given him fame and reputation that have not been ap- proached by any of his contemporaries in the practice of law. Had he cared for preferment of that kind he might have occupied a seat on the bench where his great learning and the force of his intellect would have made him a shining light in the judiciary of the state and country.

MONTGOMERY EVANS. THIS FAMILY OF EVANS, which (according to a genealogical chart compiled by I. I. H. Harris, of St. John's College, Cambridge, and now in the British Museum) is descended from Elystan Glodrydd

through his second son Idnerth, was originally settled in Carmarthenshire.

JOHN EVANS, gentleman, a lineal descendant, having performed valuable military service dur- ing the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in aiding to suppress the Irish rebellion, obtained from the Crown a grant of land and emigrated from Car- marthenshire in Wales to Limerick, Ireland, where he was living in and before 1628. He mar- ried Ellen De Verdon and dying January 1, 1632, left issue two sons and three daughters.

GEORGE, the elder son, represented Limerick in parliament for many years and died in 1707 at a very advanced age, having passed a most eventful life.

JOHN, the younger son, who was a colonel in the English army, married and had issue three sons, Simon, the oldest, buried at Fanningstown, County Limerick, Ireland; William; and John, the youngest, buried at Ballygrenane in the same county.

WILLIAM, with his wife Ann came to Amer- ica with the Welsh emigration that sailed in the year 1698, which Proud mentions in a foot note, vol. I, page 222, and Jenkins in his Historical Collections of Gwynedd speaks of as follows: "The main company of emigrants sailed from Liverpool on the 18th of April, 1698. Their ship was the Robert and Elizabeth, its master Ralph Williams, its owner Robert Haydock of Liver- pool. They touched at Dublin before proceeding and it was not until the Ist of May that they finally spread the ship's sails for the new world. Forty-five passengers died of dysentery. It was not until the 17th of July that they reached port in Philadelphia.

Having settled temporarily at Gwynedd in the then province of Pennsylvania while prospecting for land, he subsequently purchased two tracts, aggregating seven hundred acres, in Manatawny, afterwards Limerick township, and there settled permanently. Here William's death soon after occurred and his wife, surviving him but a few years, died in 1720. Her will recorded in Phila- delphia, June 18th of that year, devises the es- tate to her five children, namely : William, Owen, George, Elizabeth and David.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

OF THESE, OWEN, born in 1699, was for many years justice of the peace and at one time a mem- ber of the colonial assembly. He was also a mem- ber of the vestry of St. James' Protestant Episco- pal church of Evansburg from 1738 until the time of his death. Bean, in his History of Mont- gomery County, page 917, says: "Owen Evans was an early settler. He was appointed a justice of the peace in 1732 and continued to hold that office until his death. He appears to have been a prominent man and died in 1754, aged fifty-five years."

On August 14, 1721, in Christ church, Phila- delphia, he married Mary, the daughter of Will- iam and Mary Davis, and had by her eight chil- dren, one of whom,

DAVID, born January 22, 1730, inherited from his father the homestead and lived thereon until the time of his death, which occurred October 23, 1800. On October 27, 1762, in St. Michael's and Zion's church, Philadelphia, he married Anna, the great-granddaughter of John and Frances Brooke, and left issue: Sarah, who married James Garrett and moved to Maryland; Mary, who married Amos Evans of Limerick; Matthew and William, who died young, and

OWEN, born October 27, 1767, who on March 20, 1792, married Rachel, the great-great-grand- daughter of John and Frances Brooke. The issue of this marriage was eight children, of whom the youngest was

THOMAS BROOKE, born in Limerick, April 21, 1809, who, after receiving the customary educa- tion that was then accorded to youth of his sta- tion in life, became a teacher. He subsequently learned the trade of tanning and afterwards estab- lished himself in the tanning business. Mr. Evans was prominent in local affairs, was a jus- tice of the peace from 1841 to 1861 and clerk of the county commissioners and for the board of poor directors for many years. He was active and influential in the community until his death, which occurred December 13, 1863. On Novem- ber 9, 1834, he married Mary Ann, the daughter of Daniel and Mary (Kendall) Schwenk, and there were born unto them eight children, of whom the eldest, Robert Brooke, was for many

years a justice of the peace in Limerick ; Benja- min F. Montgomery Ist, and Zella died young ; Mary Elizabeth married to B. Frank Saylor and residing in St. Louis ; Charlotte, deceased ; Emma, married to Garrett E. Brownback, of Linfield, and Montgomery, 2d, the subject of this sketch.

MONTGOMERY EVANS, 2D, one of the leading attorneys of the Norristown bar, was born in Limerick, November 18, 1853. He was educated in the public schools of his native township and in select schools in Phoenixville, Spring City and Norristown, was graduated from Lafayette Col- lege in 1875, as valedictorian of his class, and was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and of the Phi Beta Kappa society. For two years he was principal of the public schools of Montrose in Susquehanna county. He afterwards studied law with the late Benjamin E. Chain and on November 30, 1878, was admitted to the bar.

For a number of years Mr. Evans was a part- ner of Louis M. Childs, the firm being Childs & Evans. Subsequently this partnership was dis- solved and he associated himself with Messrs. Holland and Dettra, which firm under the style of Evans, Holland & Detra, is recognized as among the leading attorneys of the state.

Mr. Evans is president of the Norristown Trust Company, of the Norristown Insurance & Water Company, and of the Bridgeport Water Company, and with Colonel James Boyd is coun- sel in this county for the Reading Railroad Com- pany. Since 1885 he has been treasurer of the Law Library. He is a director of the Norris- town Gas Company, the Gas Company of Mont- gomery county, Norristown Steam Heat Com- pany and Western North Carolina Land Com- pany ; also secretary and treasurer of the last- named corporation.

His career of more than a quarter of a century has been marked by continued advancement ; as a lawyer he stands high. To natural ability are added the results of careful study and observa- tion, and fidelity to his clients' interests, coupled with sound judgment and conservative advice has gained him that confidence which has classed him among the trustworthy and reliable attorneys in this state.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

Mr. Evans is a Democrat in politics but has never sought or held office. He is an elder of the Central Presbyterian church and superinten- dent of its Sunday-school and is also a member of the board of trustees. He is treasurer of the Trustees of the Presbytery of Philadelphia North.

On November 30, 1886, he married Cara G., daughter of Rev. James Grier Ralston, D. D., who was the owner of Oakland Female Seminary. Three children have been born of this union- Dorothy, Roger (deceased), and Montgomery.

NICHOLAS H. LARZELERE. The revo- cation of the famous Edict of Nantes, signed by Henry IV, in 1598, which gave religious freedom to all parties, was an act which lost to France many of her best and most desirable citizens, a large number of families finally finding refuge in America. Among those who fled from the persecutions following the ill-advised action of Louis XIV, were Nicholas and John Larzelere, who settled on Long Island. Nicholas removed ultimately to Staten Island, where he married and reared a family which consisted of two sons, Nicholas and John, and two daughters. Of the sons, Nicholas, in 1741, removed with his family to Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and settled in Lower Makefield township. He died at the age of eighty-four, having reared a family of eight children, and was buried in the Episcopal grave- yard at Bristol.

The eldest son of the first settler in Bucks county of the name, also Nicholas (great-great- grandfather), was born on Staten Island in 1734. He married Hannah Britton, of Bristol town- ship, and removed into Bensalem township, where he became possessed of a large estate, rearing a family of ten children. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and died at the age of eighty- four years.

Benjamin Larzelere (great-grandfather), eld- est son of Nicholas, last-mentioned, married Sa- rah Brown, of Bristol township, the couple having eight children, and he dying at eighty-four years of age on the farm which he purchased in that township, and on which the present borough of Bristol is partly located.

Nicholas Larzelere (grandfather), eldest son of Benjamin, located in Abington township, Montgomery county, in 1825. He married Esther Berrell, daughter of Colonel Jeremiah Berrell, and reared a family of twelve children. He died at sixty-seven years of age, in 1858, and was buried in the Presbyterian graveyard at Abington, one of the most ancient burial places in that vicinity.

Benjamin Larzelere (father) was born in 1826 and is still living. He married Mary Maxwell, eldest daughter of Henry and Ann (Buskirk) Maxwell, of Moreland township. Mrs. Maxwell was the daughter of Jacob Buskirk, originally from Holland, who married Elizabeth Lawrence, eldest daughter of Jonathan Lawrence. Jona- than Lawrence was the eldest son of John and Mary (Townley) Lawrence, who came from England to Massachusetts in 1713. Mary Law- rence was a daughter of Charles Townley of Lancashire, England, the genealogy of whose family has been traced in England to the reign of Henry VIII.

Nicholas Henry Larzelere was born in War- minster township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He was reared on his father's farm in Warring- ton township, to which the family had removed, and was educated in the common schools of the neighborhood, attending them in winter, as is the usual custom in rural districts, and assisting with the duties of farm life during the greater part of every year. Having decided to take a college course, he entered the Doylestown English and Classical Seminary at the age of eighteen years, teaching part of the time. He entered the fresh- man class of Lafayette College at Easton in Sep- tember, 1871, graduating from that institution in 1875. In his junior year he won first honors in an oratorical contest between Franklin and Wash- ington Halls. In his senior year he had the honor of representing Lafayette College in the inter- collegiate oratorical contest, which took place in the academy of music, New York city, January 13, 1875. The institutions represented were Am- herst, Princeton, Williams, Cornell, New York, Columbia and Lafayette colleges.

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

office of Hon. George Ross, a leading lawyer of Doylestown, reading law under his direction for one year. At the end of that time he entered the office of Hon. B. Markley Boyer, afterwards president judge of the courts of Montgomery county. At the end of two years of diligent study, Mr. Larzelere was admitted to the bar of Montgomery county, September 28, 1877. Mr. Larzelere married, September 21. 1880, Miss Ida Frances, second daughter of Dr. John W. and Hannah Loch, of Norristown. They have two sons, John Loch and Charles Townley Larzelere, who are students at Princeton University. In religious faith Mr. and Mrs. Larzelere are both Presbyterians. On his father's side Mr. Larze- lere's ancestors adhered to the Presbyterian faith, while on his mother's side they were mostly mem- bers of the Society of Friends or Quakers.

In the practice of his profession Mr. Larzelere soon attained a commanding position among his associates at the bar. He took the lead from the beginning and has well maintained it to the present time, his industry, devotion to the inter- ests of his clients, and his fertility of resources overcoming every obstacle that appeared in the course of his career. He has been counsel, on one side or the other, of the majority of the im- portant cases that have arisen in the Norristown courts in the more than a quarter of a century that has intervened since his admission. He was a recognized leader from the beginning of his career, and he has won some notably splendid triumphs before juries and elsewhere, the force of his reasoning powers enabling him to present his case in the strongest possible light to the court or the jury as the case might be. Among the more notable of the cases in which he distinguished himself, from time to time, are the following : Bradfield et al. vs. Insurance Company : Com- monwealth vs. Gaffey, indicted for manslaughter at the hospital for the insane. The matter of freeing the DeKalb street bridge at Norristown, one of the most stubborn legal contests ever waged in the county ; Rudolph vs. Pennsylvania Railroad Company, in which as in the DeKalb street bridge case, the damage verdict consider- ably exceeded a hundred thousand dollars, and

many other cases involving damages on account of railway construction, in all of which he ac- quitted himself with the highest credit, and won the highest encomiums for his ability and success in presenting his case to the best possible advant- age. Success is the best test of a lawyer's ability, and, judged by this, Mr. Larzelere is entitled to- the highest consideration as a master in the legal profession.

In politics Mr. Larzelere was originally a Democrat, according to the traditions of his family, but he was never a strong or unreason- able partisan. When the Democratic party, in the nomination of William J. Bryan for the pres- idency, in 1896, and the endorsement of the fal- lacy of silver coinage at the ratio of 16 to I, abandoned the principles of sound finance, Mr. Larzelere publicly announced that he could no longer support that organization and, with voice and vote, supported Mckinley and Hobart, the- Republican nominees for the offices of president and vice president. His vote and his influence have ever since been cast on the side of sound money, and safe methods in connection with the administration of national affairs. He is a stanch Republican and a member of the Union League. When Judge Swartz was a candidate in 1904 for judge of the Pennsylvania supreme court, Mr. Larzelere presented his name at the Republican county convention in a speech that will long be remembered for its earnestness and eloquence, by all who heard it.

In everything that relates to progress and im- provement in the borough of Norristown, his home during all his adult life, Mr. Larzelere has been actively interested, always casting the weight of his influence on the side of advance- ment. He has been for a number of years prom- inently identified with the street railway system, which has assisted so much in the development of the best interests of the county seat. He has been president of the Schuylkill Valley Traction Company during its entire existence, and still occupies a prominent position in connection with the management of the company's line and the operation of its various branches, which are be- ing extended in many directions so as to become

MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

an important link in the chain of communica- tion between different sections of the county and state. In this work of development and growth of the popular means of transportation, Mr. Larzelere has assisted very materially, his ef- forts being constantly directed towards the im- provement of the service so that the public con- venience may be promoted to the fullest possible extent. He is also solicitor for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in Montgomery county, for the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, the Lehigh Valley Traction Company, the Bell Tele- phone Company, the Western Union Telegraph Company and many other great corporations which have business interests in his district. All these are added to a large and exacting practice, which has grown, year by year, to large pro- portions. The law firm which was for many years Larzelere & Gibson, Mr. Larzelere's part- ner being Muscoe M. Gibson, son of Rev. Isaac Gibson, has within a few years been enlarged further by the addition of Gilbert R. Fox, also of Norristown, the firm name being Larzelere, Gibson & Fox, in which working shape it is pre- pared to take up any and all legal business that is presented, and carry it to a successful issue. Mr. Larzelere, notwithstanding the fact that he is a very busy man in his profession, is not un- mindful of other business interests and oppor- tunities, and is in the directorates of several rail- way, manufacturing and fiscal corporations. Mr. Larzelere and his. family reside in one of the handsomest and most complete homes in Nor- ristown at DeKalb and Basin streets, with ex- tensive grounds laid out elegantly, forming a fine setting for his residence in the finest part of Norristown. He has found time among his other occupations to devote a good deal of at- tention to literature, and art and has collected one of the best private libraries in the state, as well as a collection of oil paintings representa- tive of the highest excellence and merit among modern artists.

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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 2

Author: Roberts, Ellwood, 1846- ed Publication date: 1904 Publisher: New York, N.Y. : T. S. Benham Number of Pages: 826

Author: Roberts, Ellwood, 1846- ed
Publication date: 1904
Publisher: New York, N.Y. : T. S. Benham
Number of Pages: 826