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 25
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Mr. Butcher's father built the blacksmith shop and all the buildings now standing on the farm except the principal residence.
William Butcher married Elizabeth Roden- baugh, daughter of Michael and Alice (Johnson) Rodenbaugh. She was born in Plymouth town- ship, March 22, 1840. They have no children.
JOHN SHAFFER SCHREIBER is the son of Theodore and Anna (Shaffer) Schreiber. He was born July 29, 1857, at Broad Axe, in Whit- pain township, where his father was proprietor of a hotel. He attended the public schools at Shady Grove and Sandy Hill, and later entered the school in charge of Miss Ellen Sheaff, at St. Thomas's church, Whitemarsh, at which he re- mained until he had reached his sixteenth year. In the meantime, during school vacations and at other times, he assisted his father on the farm at- tached to the hotel, containing forty-six acres of highly improved land. He continued farming on
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this tract until his marriage, February 22, 1882, to Helen, daughter of John and Mary Ann (Butcher) Stiver, of Norriton township.
After Mr. Schreiber's marriage he removed to the homestead farm in Whitemarsh township, and cultivated it for four years. At the end of that time he engaged as farmer with Thomas Shepard, of Upper Providence, until 1888. He then re- moved to the estate of Jesse Strepper, where he remained until the spring of 1893, when he rented the hotel at Broad Axe, which he ran till November, 1897. In the meantime Mr. Schreiber gained a practical knowledge of farming and also interested himself in matters of local im- portance generally. In 1897 he removed to the farm of Albert Beck, in Upper Dublin town- ship, remaining there until the spring of 1899, when he rented the farm attached to the Broad Axe hotel, on which he had spent his boyhood days. During his occupancy of this farm, Mr. Schreiber has put in practice the lessons of ex- perience previously gained in following farming, and he has been very successful in raising good crops, and maintaining his reputation as one of the best farmers of the vicinity.
In politics Mr. Schreiber is a Democrat, and manifests much interest in its success, although he has never been a candidate for public office. He was, however, taken up by his friends in February, 1904, and elected school director of Whitpain township, by a large majority. In re- ligious faith the family are members of the Ger- man Baptist or Brethren church, worshipping at the church in Upper Dublin township, near Ambler.
Theodore Schreiber ( father), was born March 21, 1825, and died May 5, 1898. His father was also Theodore Schreiber. He married, Decem- ber 25, 1849, Anna Shaffer, born in 1830. She died August 21, 1901. Their children were: Ellen (deceased) and Kate (twins), born October 30, 1850; Kate married, July 4, 1872, Seth James. Amanda, born June 14, 1854, was married Feb- ruary 9, 1875. John S., subject of this sketch. Mary, born May 1, 1859, married June 24, 1884, J. Howard Marlin, they residing in Philadelphia. Harry, born April 7, 1866, died May 4, 1866.
George, born June 5, 1868, died July 12, 1868. Theodore, born December 29, 1871, married Harah Hays, of Norristown, they having children.
John Stiver, Mrs. Schreiber's father, was born October 22, 1820. He was the son of Michael Stiver.
JOHN ROBERTS MORRIS, son of Charles Ellis and Elizabeth Holstein (Amies) Morris, was born August 14, 1856, at Dry Valley, now Winfield, Union county, Pennsylvania, where his father was the manager of an iron furnace. Soon after the birth of John R. Morris, his parents re- moved to Conshohocken where his father man- aged the iron works of J. B. Moorhead & Com- pany, and in 1859 the father became superinten- dent at the works known as Swedes' Furnace, at Swedeland, midway between Bridgeport and West Conshohocken, in Upper Merion township, where the son attended the private school kept by Mrs. Allen, and later the school taught by Isabel Hitner, at Swedeland. He next attended the school of Mrs. Craig, at Norristown, and after- ward was a pupil of Professor George Barker, at Germantown. He then went to the Oak street public school, Norristown, after which he en- tered a Norristown bookstore, acting as clerk for a time. His father, having abandoned the iron business, operated the Holstein lime kilns, near King-of-Prussia, in Upper Merion township, and Jolın became bookkeeper for his father. He was thus engaged until arriving at the age of twenty- one years, when he entered into a partnership under the title of Charles E. Morris & Sons, manufacturers and dealers in lime, in which he continued until the late seventies, when the elder Morris bought the farm of Lewis Schronk, of Spring House, in Gwynedd township. The fam- ily removed to this farm in the same year and John Morris was actively engaged as managing farmer for his father until the death of his pa- rents, December 28, 1883.
On July 28, 1881, Mr. Morris married Ella Mary, born July 28, 1856, daughter of Alfred Dupont and Mary (Henderson) Woolaston, of Henderson Station, in Upper Merion. Their children are : Emily Walker, who was born March
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27, 1882, and resides with her parents at their home, Norwood; Courtland Southworth, who was born December 19, 1884, and resides at home, managing the family estate ; Russell Dupont, who was born August 29, 1887, and died September 6, 1896; and Charles Ellis, who was born Oc- tober 17, 1889, and is a student at Blue Bell.
Mr. Morris continued to reside on the farm near Spring House until 1888, when he removed with his family to a farm near Lafayette Station, where he remained for two years, after which he returned to Gwynedd township and spent the fol- lowing three years at farming. Later he was engaged with the Prudential Insurance Company, at Ambler. In 1895 he purchased the old Wentz homestead, at one time known as the Rising Sun Tavern or Wentz's Tavern, on Skippack road, a half mile south of Center Square. The farm contains forty acres of highly improved land, to which, on account of the many trees to the north of the house, the name "Norwood" has been given. John R. Morris is a Republican in poli- tics and he and his wife are members of the Epis- copal church.
Charles Ellis Morris (father), born March 7, 1825, was the son of Samuel Wells Morris. Samuel W. Morris was the son of Benjamin Wis- tar Morris, who married Mary Wells, at Muncy Meeting of Friends, Pennsylvania, December 5, 1710.
Mrs. John R. Morris is a native of Chicago, Il- linois. She is the daughter of Alfred Dupont and Mary (Henderson) Woolaston. Mrs. Morris' father, Alford Dupont Woolaston, was a native of Wilmington, Delaware. In the early '50s he moved to Chicago. He owned large tracts of timber in Illinois and Michigan and he died in Michigan about 1870. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Morris, died when Mrs. Morris was nineteen months old and she was reared by her aunt. Mrs. Woolaston belonged to a well-known family of Upper Merion, after whom Henderson Station was named. Her parents removed from Chicago when Mrs. Ella Mary Morris was quite young, making their home at the Henderson homestead. She attended the private schools taught by the Misses Allen, and later the school of Misses Boyne
and Dillaye, at Sixteenth and Chestnut streets, Philadelphia. At the age of fifteen she removed with her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. John Southworth, to Springfield, Massachusetts, where she attended the schools taught by the Misses Howard. Later she returned to Upper Merion and made her home with her uncle, Wallace Hen- derson, of Henderson Station, Upper Merion, .where she remained until her marriage to Mr. Morris.
Mrs. Elizabeth Holstein (Amies) Morris, mother of John R. Morris, was the daughter of William and Mary Atlee ( Holstein) Amies. Mrs. William Amies was the daughter of Colonel George W. Holstein, a very prominent resident of Upper Merion township. Her maternal great- grandmother was Elizabeth Wayne, a sister of Major General Anthony Wayne, of Revolutionary fame.
The Holsteins are the descendants of Matts Holstein, who was born in Philadelphia (or where that city now stands), in 1644, of Swedish parents, two years after the second immigration of Swedes to the banks of the Delaware and Schuylkill. The family were thus located in Pennsylvania forty years prior to the coming of William Penn. Matts Holstein's son, Matthias, came to Upper Merion in 1705, and bought one thousand acres of land, running west from the Schuylkill, near Swedes' Ford, and extending to Red Hill, in the same township. In 1714 he built a stone house near the center of the tract, where four generations were born and lived.
THOMAS W. PHILLIPS belonged to an old Montgomery county family, long resident in Whitpain township. He is the son of Aaron and Emeline (Fitzwater) Phillips. He was born May 10, 1845, on the old Phillips homestead, now owned and occupied by Benjamin F. Murphy. He attended neighboring schools until he was eigh- teen years of age, principally the Ellis school, on the State road, near Washington Square. From that time he assisted his father in working on the home farm and superintending its operation.
On March 4, 1871, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Barnabas and Rebecca (Neiman)
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Davis of Hickorytown, in Plymouth township, after which he settled on the homestead. Later he worked in Plymouth township as a carpenter, and in 1880 bought the place now owned by James B. Murphy on Skippack pike, known as Spring Brook Farm. Soon afterward Mr. Phillips' death occurred, February 3, 1887. Mr. Phillips was a Republican and a Quaker. Mrs. Phillips at once retired from farming to devote herself to the edu- cation of her children. Susan, the elder, born De- cember 18, 1876, married Harry Mumbower, on May 4, 1899, and they have one child, Viola Elizabeth, born January 1, 1900; Norman Mary, born May 3, 1879, is deceased.
After living in retirement for several years, Mrs. Phillips bought the farm of George Chap- elle on the State road, above Centre Square. She managed the farm until her son, Aaron Phillips came of age, when she relinquished its manage- ment to him, and later sold it to him. Aaron Phillips makes his home with his mother. Since Mrs. Phillips' first purchase, the adjoining farm of thirty-one acres has been added to the prop- erty, as well as the tract of Eugene Johnson.
GEORGE DEAN MURPHY. Among the highly cultivated and therefore productive farms of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, located in Whitpain township, is the one owned and oper- ated by George D. Murphy, fourth son and fourth child of John and Mary Ann (Gillen) Murphy nee Dean, who was born in Gwynedd township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, September 28, 1860.
He attended the public schools of the district, and later was a student at Sunnyside Academy which was located at Ambler and conducted by the Misses Knight. He continued his studies in this institution until his nineteenth year, after which he assisted his father on the home farm at Pennlyn, until the death of the latter on August 20, 1887. He then purchased the homestead and operated it for seven years, and at the expiration of this period of time he sold the same to Charles Edward Ingersoll, of Philadelphia, for whom he farmed for three years. In April, 1897, Mr. Murphy purchased the farm owned by Mrs. Phil-
lips, widow of Thomas Phillips, situated on Skip- pack pike in the vicinity of Center Square. It con- tains twenty-five acres of highly improved and fertile land which is well watered and drained, being supplied by several streams flowing from never failing springs, and from this circumstance the property has taken the very appropriate name of Springbrook Farm. He cultivates the farm for general purposes, operates an extensive dairy in which are all the modern improvements, and in addition is engaged in the operation of filling silos and harvesting grain and grass, for which purpose he furnishes the machinery and power that is necessary. He has always exhibited a keen interest in local politics, and has served his town- ship in the capacity of tax collector and constable. His affiliations are with the Democratic party.
September 8, 1892, Mr. Murphy married Emma Jacobine Sophia Halberstadt, born June- 21, 1869, a daughter of Jacob and Frederica Emma (Ebalt) Halberstadt, of Philadelphia. Mrs. Murphy, in girlhood, attended the public schools of that city and also the Knapp school located at Ninth and Race streets until her sixteenth year, then remained at home and assisted her mother in various domestic duties until her twenty-third year. In 1891 her parents removed to Gwynedd township where they purchased the Bodine farm of twenty-five acres. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy are- the parents of two children: Anna Dean, born June II, 1893 : and Charles Fitzwater, born Sep- tember 10, 1897. The family are members of St. Thomas' Episcopal church at Whitemarsh.
ELWOOD LYLE HART, son of Solomon. and Hannah (Lyle) Hart, of Blue Bell, was born July 20, 1830, in Whitpain township, Montgom- ery county, Pennsylvania. He attended the pub- lic schools in the vicinity until he reached his fif- teenth year, when he found employment among the farmers of the neighborhood for three years. At the end of that time he became an apprentice of Isaiah B. Houpt, of Norristown, to learn the mason trade and served for three years. At the age of twenty-one he commenced work as a jour- neyman, continuing thus for six years, when he began contracting on his own account in ma-
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sonry, building the foundations of many of the mills in Conshohocken, including the Wood roll- ing mill, several cotton factories and other es- tablishments. He continued in business for over thirty years as a contracting mason. When he was twenty-six years of age he married Kate, daughter of John and Elizabeth Smith, of Plymouth township. She was born May 12, 1841. The couple had nine children : Jacob, Azor, Will- iam and Perry, deceased; Norman, born at Con- shohocken ; Elmer Ellsworth, born September 18, 1862, married Hannah, daughter of Nathan and Sarah Rambo, born March 10, 1864, and married Elmer Ellsworth in 1886. They have seven chil- dren, Kate, Emma, Elmer, Anna and Sarah, and William and Elwood, deceased. Anna Coulston, born May 17, 1864, married Harry, son of Harry Werkeiser, who was born June 29, 1864, and lives at Center Square, having no children. Elwood, whose wife is Phœbe Stackhouse, lives at Con- shohocken and has three children : Albert Mauck, Kate and Eugene. Israel, born in May, 1872, mar- ried Margaret Cameron, of Norristown, they hav- ing one child, Dorothy, born in 1903, and they living at Conshohocken. The children of Elmer E. and Hannah Hart are: Kate, born September 13, 1887, William Aspinwall, born August 13, 1889, and died December 29, 1889; Emma Moyer, born October 8, 1890; Elwood, born October 5, 1892, and died October 5, 1894; Annie Coulston, born June 13, 1894; and Sarah McInnes, born September 7, 1900. They live at Wharton, Mor- ris county, New Jersey, where Mr. Hart is yard- master at the Wharton Furnaces. The children of Elwood and Phœbe Hart are: Kate, born Oc- tober 18, 1889; and Eugene, born March 17, 1892.
Elwood L. Hart continued to live at Con- shohocken during his entire career as a contractor. In 1887 he removed to Centre Square where he kept the hotel until the spring of 1893, when he retired from the hotel business and purchased the old parsonage property of St. John's Lutheran church, above Centre Square, on which he made many improvements and removed to it. Mr. Hart is a Democrat in politics, having always voted for the candidates of that party and been a con- sistent worker therein, although he has never
sought or held office. The family are attendants at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church, above Centre Square. Mr. Hart has retired from active business and devotes his time to the care of the home farm which consists of twenty-six acres of finely situated land, kept in a high state of culti- vation by the present owner.
Mr. Hart's parents, Solomon and Hannah Lyle Hart, were both natives of Whitpain town- ship and are farming people. The father died when thirty-five years of age. The mother died about 1884. They were buried at Barren Hill, in Whitemarsh township. Andrew, his brother, married Jane McCool and lives at Penllyn Station, having five children : David, Allen, Annie, Emily and Harry. John, another brother, born in 1828, married Elizabeth Jones, of Norristown, and has several children. His sister Kate, born in 1825, . married John Stillwell and lives at Hatboro.
HENRY GEIGER SLINGLUFF was born February 20, 1859, on a farm at North Wales, Montgomery county, being a son of William Hall- man and Margaret Ann (Shepherd) Slingluff. His parents, soon after his birth, removed to Rose Valley, near Ambler, where his father had rented a farm. They remained there for nine years, Henry attending for some time the public school of the district. The family then removed to Fort Washington where they lived until 1870. About this time William H. Slingluff (father) bought the property known as the Jones' farm, on Blue Bell road, about a half mile south of that village, which contained twenty-three acres of highly cul- tivated land. Mr. Slingluff operated it as a truck and fruit farm for the Philadelphia market, which he attended in all for nearly fifty years, earlier in life from North Wales and Rose Valley and more recently from the farm now managed by Henry G. Slingluff, who came into possession of it in the spring of 1903 and has greatly improved the buildings and their surroundings.
Henry G. Slingluff married, April 20, 1880, Flora Margaret, daughter of Andrew Jackson and Christiana (Dugan) Krewson, of Cheltenham township, she living in a neighborhood to which he went soon after leaving school in his seven-
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teenth year, to learn the trade of miller. He was compelled to abandon the pursuit of milling on ac- count of ill health and entered the employ of Thomas Rowland & Sons, manufacturers of shovels and other implements, with whom he re- mained until 1893, when in conjunction with his brother Casper, he rented his father's farm, on which he now lives. His children : Della Bertha, born March 8, 1881, married, April 10, 1901, Eugene Nice, son of Henry Fasset and Sarah Large (Nice) Conard, and having one child, Verol LeRoy, born June 20, 1903. Eugene Con- ard lives on his father's farm and assists him in its management. Ethel Alfreda, born July 3, 1882, resides with her father. Lyle Krewson, born March 16, 1885, resides with his father, assist- ing him in the management of the farm and at- tending Girard Avenue Market, Philadelphia.
Mr. Slingluff is a Republican in politics but has not given much attention to party affairs since he has resided in Whitpain township. When a resident of Cheltenham he was a member of the vigilance committee and was known as a party worker. In other matters which concern the com- munity, however, including education and general public improvement, Mr. Slingluff is much inter- ested. In religious faith the family are German Baptists or Dunkards, and attend the meeting at Rose Valley, in Upper Dublin township.
William Hallman Slingluff (father), born December 20, 1825, was the son of Henry and Elizabeth (Schlater) Slingluff. He married Jan- uary 1, 1852, Margaret Ann, daughter of Levi and Hetty (Wilkinson) Shepherd, residing near Springhouse in Gwynedd township. The children of William H. and Margaret Ann Slingluff are: Emma Jane, born May 28, 1853, died unmarried in 1881; William Hallman, born September 18, 1854, married Ella Long, and is now deceased ; Levi Shepherd, born May 22, 1856, married Idella, daughter of Andrew and Hannah (Woods) Berkhimer; George Berkhimer, born September 9, 1857, married Ella Long, widow of his brother, William Hallman Slingluff, and re- sides at Centre Square : Henry Geiger, subject of this sketch : Casper Schlater, born August 4, 1863. married Alice Shugard aud resides at Blue Bell.
The Shepherds are an old family in Montgom- ery and Gwynedd townships. Levi and Hetty Shepherd had several children besides Mrs. Sling- luff, among them, William Shepherd, a resident of Montgomery Square, who served as poor director for several years; Linford L. Shepherd, a well- known dealer in cattle, who resides at Franklin- ville in Whitpain township for many years, and married Emily, daughter of Amos Jones, a well- known resident of Upper Gwynedd, who had a large family of children, while Linford L. and Emily Shepherd had ten children in all, of whom Kate, married Jonathan Cleaver and resides near Conshohocken. Linford L. Shepherd died March 15, 1894, at the age of seventy-three years. His widow resides with one of her children in Con- shohocken.
Levi Shepherd, Jr., another son of Levi and Hetty Shepherd was a farmer of Gwynedd town- ship.
Elizabeth Slingluff (grandmother), was the daughter of Casper Schlater, born July 13, 1759, in Upper Dublin township. He married Mary, daughter of Nicholas Seltzer. His father and mother, Casper and Barbara Schlater, arrived at Philadelphia from Rotterdam, in the ship Thomas Coatman, on September 22, 1752.
Casper Schlater (great-grandfather) was a man of education and business capacity and a leader of the Democratic party, filling the offices of county treasurer and commissioner in 1817 and 1818. Because of his sound judgment he was also frequently called upon to act in the settlement of estates and the adjustment of disputes between neighbors. He was a member of Boehm's Re- formed church and filled the offices of elder, deacon and trustee.
WILLIAM EBER WALTON, son of Amos and Henrietta (Vonderau) Walton, was born at Walton Farm, in Whitpain township, near Blue Bell, January 12, 1861.
Amos Walton (father) married, January 28, 1858, Henrietta, daughter of Francis and Annie (Lebold) Vonderau. He is the son of Eber and Anna (Shaw) Walton, and was born in the house in which he now lives, near Blue Bell, November
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16, 1832. He belongs to an old family of Friends, whose ancestor settled in Pennsylvania at a very early date. He is a successful farmer. His chil- dren are: William E., Francis V., who married Emma Wilkey : Emma V., unmarried ; and Annie V., who married Warren Brooke.
Eber Walton (grandfather) was born near. Quakertown, Pennsylvania. At sixteen years of age he removed with his father's family to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, but returned to Quaker- town, and in 1823 married Anna, daughter of Joseph Shaw, of that place. He removed to Southampton, Bucks county, and in 1830 pur- chased the farm where his son Amos now resides. Their children were: Joseph, who married Eliza- beth Conard; Mary, who died young ; Israel, who married Tacy Conard; Amos; and Mahlon, de- ceased.
Abraham Walton (great-grandfather) re- moved to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, and later to Mount Etna, Indiana, where many of his de- scendants are now living.
William E. Walton attended the public schools at Sandy Hill and Shady Grove, in Whitpain, until his seventeenth year, in the meantime assist- ing his father on the home farm and attending the markets of Norristown. He engaged in the bus- iness of killing and marketing sheep, making a specialty of lamb and mutton, and has a high rep- utation among his customers for the quality of his meat and his upright dealing.
William E. Walton married, February 15, 1887, Naomi, daughter of Henry and Susan (Smith) Moser, or Norritonville. Their children are: Herbert Moser, born December 3, 1889; Henrietta Von Derau, born August 4. 1890; Henry Moser, born January 27, 1892; Ellwood, born December 24, 1894; Flora Moser, born April 8. 1896; Grace Algemine, born October 22, 1898; Mabel Anna, born March 10, 1900; William, born May 24, 1901; and Ruth B., born October 23, 1902.
In politics Mr. Walton is a Republican. His father's family were old-line Whigs and Repub- licans, and, prior to the Rebellion, took an active interest in the anti-slavery movement.
The Mosers are of German descent, and are a
prominent family in the history of Montgomery county, having been long settled in the middle and upper townships.
HON. JOSEPH AMBLER SHOEMAKER, a resident of Jenkintown for more than half a century, and one of the most influential and popu- lar men in the lower end of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, is a member of an honorable fam- ily of German descent, long resident in that county. The progenitor of the American branch of the family came to Philadelphia with William Penn in 1682, settled at Germantown, and in every generation since that time his descendants have been among the most substantial and pub- lic-spirited citizens of that section of the state.
Joseph Shoemaker, grandfather of Hon. Jo- seph A. Shoemaker, resided in Gwynedd town- ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and by exercising the characteristics which he inherited from his forefathers-industry, enterprise and perseverance-he was successful in his business undertakings and was enabled to provide a com- fortable home for his family. He married Tacy Ambler, of Welsh descent, who bore him the following named children : Ezekial, John, Joseph, Jesse, Ann, Ellen, and Hannah Shoemaker.
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