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 36
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Joseph H. Carey was reared in Pottstown and attended the public schools. At the age of four- teen years he began to learn the printing trade, at the Pottstown Ledger office, and for many years has been foreman of the job printing department. He is connected with the newspaper and print- ing department of the Pottstown Ledger, and for twenty years has been correspondent for various Philadelphia newspapers. He worked for J. B.
Lippincott & Company, book publishers, in Phil- adelphia at one time, and was also reporter for the Norristown Register.
March 31, 1887, Joseph H. Carey married Miss Agnes A. Reinert, daughter of Benneville and Cecelia Reinert. They had two children, Mary and Pauline. Mr. and Mrs. Carey are members of the First Methodist Episcopal church. He is a steward in the church, and also Sunday-school librarian.
Politically Mr. Carey is a Democrat. He was a member of the school board for ten years, hav- ing been elected three times in a strong Repub- lican ward, and was treasurer of the board. In 1901 Mr. Carey was appointed borough and school tax collector by Judge Weand, a vacancy having occurred. He resides at 326 Cherry street.
JOSEPH SPANG, the well-known Pottstown brick manufacturer, residing at. 104 South Char- lotte street, in that borough, was born in York, Pennsylvania, August 6, 1839. He is the son of Jeremiah and Catharine (Fricker) Spang, both of whom were born in Pottstown. They had a family of five children-three sons and two daughters-of whom three are now living: John, of Philadelphia ; Joseph, of Pottstown ; and Mary, widow of Mahlon Coller, also of Pottstown.
Jeremiah Spang (father) was a millstone- maker. He removed to York, Pennsylvania, liv- ing there a number of years, and then returned to Pottstown, where he resided until his death in 1876, in his sixty-fourth year. His wife died in 1887, aged nearly seventy-six years. He was a Lutheran in religious faith, and she was reared a Catholic.
Adam Spang (grandfather) was a native of Montgomery county and also a'burr-maker. He was married three times and had seventeen chil- dren in all. He died at the age of upwards of sev- enty years.
Anthony Fricker (maternal grandfather) was born in New Hanover township, Montgomery county.
Joseph Spang lived in York until he had reached the age of eighteen years. He attended the public schools there, being reared partly upon
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the farm and partly in the town. He pursued the even tenor of ordinary life until the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861, when he enlisted for the defense of the government in Company C, Fourth Pennsylvania Regiment, for three months, and at the expiration of his term, re-enlisted in Company A, Fifty-third Pennsylvania Volunteers. He en- listed a third time in the field and served to the end of the war. At first a private, he became successively corporal and sergeant. He was slightly wounded in the battle of Petersburg. Mr. Spang participated in the following engagements with the commands to which he belonged : in the seven days fighting before Richmond; in the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellors- ville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, Petersburg. He was in the hospital at York, Pennsylvania, and re- turned to his regiment when convalescent, and was afterwards engaged in the action of Hatcher's Run, South-Side Railroad, Farmsville, and Ap- pomattox Court House.
After the war Sergeant Spang returned to Pottstown and engaged in the brick manufac- turing business which he has conducted success- fully ever since.
On December 26, 1865, he married Miss Emma H. Craver, daughter of William M. and Priscilla A. (Clayton) Craver. They have had four children : Anna Priscilla married Harry G. Rinehart, of Pottstown, and they have four chil- dren : Claude, Carl, Evalyn and Mildred. Ella May died in infancy. William H., a typewriter and stenographer, married Ella May Burk. Joseph died at the age of six months.
Mr. and Mrs. Spang are members of the Methodist Episcopal church and he is a church trustee. He is also a member of Richards Post, No. 595, Grand Army of the Republic, and of Encampment No. 22, Union Veteran Legion.
Politically Mr. Spang is a Republican, being an active worker in behalf of the interests of that party. He cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He served in the town council for a term of three years.
In 1891 he built an elegant home for himself,
in which he now resides, and owns several other properties in Pottstown.
William M. Craver (Mrs. Spang's father) was born in Pennsylvania and her mother in Mary- land. They had a family of eight children, of whom seven are still living. Her father was a hatter in York. He died in 1876 at the age of fifty-nine years. His wife survived until 1887, when she died at the age of sixty-seven years. In religious faith both were members of the Lutheran denomination.
Daniel Craver (Mrs. Spang's grandfather) was a native of Pennsylvania and a hatter by trade. He was of German descent. His wife was Rebecca Neff. Both lived to be upwards of sev- enty years of age. They had a family of six chil- dren. Mr. Craver's father was George Craver.
Mrs. Spang's maternal grandfather was John Clayton. He was a native of Maryland, but his parents came from England. His wife was Har- riet Houchman. He lost his life by accident in middle age, but his wife lived to be upwards of eighty. They had a family of three daughters.
Mr. Spang's family are descendants of Michael Spang, who emigrated from Germany to this country about one hundred and fifty years ago.
WILLIAM BROOKE, a retired farmer, re- siding at No. 259 Chestnut street, Pottstown, was born in Limerick township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, June 23, 1841. He is the son of Robert and Catharine (Yost) Brooke, both of whom were born in Montgomery county.
Robert Brooke (father) was a teamster for twelve years, driving a six-horse team to Pitts- burg. He later bought a farm in Limerick town- ship, where he lived for forty-five years, and where he died, June II, 1880, at the age of eighty years. His wife died in 1878, at the age of sev- enty years. She belonged to the German Re- formed church. Mr. Brooke was a member of the school board for a number of years. They had twelve children, nine sons and three daughters, seven of whom are now living: Michael ; Mary Elizabeth, widow of John A. Loughridge; Martha, wife of Andrew Fenstermacher; Will-
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iam; Charles : Kate, wife of William H. Jones; and Isaac.
Matthew Brooke (grandfather) lived in Mont- gomery county during the greater part of his life. He was a farmer by occupation. He married Mary Stetler and they had a large family. The Brooke family is of English descent, Matthew Brooke having come to America from England, accompanied by his brother, early in the eigh- teenth century.
Peter Yost (maternal grandfather) was born in Pennsylvania and lived in Montgomery county most of his life. He owned the mill now known as the Kepler Mill, and carried on the milling business in. connection with farming. He mar- ried Elizabeth Ziegler and they had a large fam- ily. The Yost family is of German origin.
William Brooke has lived in Montgomery county all his life. He was reared on the farm and attended the district schools in his youth and he lived at home until the time of his father's death. He then abandoned farming and removed to Pottstown in 1882. He built his present home in 1888.
December 31, 1880, William Brooke married Miss Effietta Scholl, daughter of Conrad and Elizabeth (Scholl) Scholl. They had no chil- dren. Mrs. Brooke died June 23, 1891, at the age of fifty-eight years. She was a member of the Lutheran church. Her parents lived in Mont- gomery county all their lives.
August 13, 1862, William Brooke enlisted in Company H, Sixty-eightlı Pennsylvania Regi- ment, commanded by Colonel Lipton. He served one year as a corporal. He was in the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, in the latter of which he was badly wounded in the right arm, May 3, 1863. He was confined in Carver Hos- pital at Washington for three months, and was mustered out of service on August 13, 1863, and returned to his farm.
HORATIO SANDS, a civil engineer of Pottstown, residing at 245 Beech street, was born at the home where he now lives, on July 27, 1850. He is the son of William L. and Caroline ( Missi- mer) Sands.
William L. Sands ( father) was born in Long Swamp, Berks county, Pennsylvania. He was a general contractor and was for many years super- intendent of the roadway department of the Phil- adelphia & Reading Railroad. Late he was a car-builder in Pottstown. Among the large buildings that he constructed were: the Memor- ial Hall in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia; tlie Insane Asylum at Norristown, and the first cable power stations in Philadelphia. He removed to Pottstown about 1844.
On July 13, 1845. William L. Sands married Caroline Missimer. Rev. L. L. Herman officiated at the ceremony. They were active members of the Trinity Reformed church, whose building at Pottstown Mr. Sands designed. In politics he was a Republican. He died at his home in Potts- town, on February 22, 1892, at the age of seven- ty-five years, three months and two days. His wife died November 19, 1899, at the age of sev- enty-seven years, eleven months, and twenty-one days. She was born in Montgomery county. Mr. and Mrs. William L. Sands had three children, all sons : Winfield Scott, Horatio and Joseph Bailey.
Samuel Sands (grandfather) was born in Berks county and was buried at Long Swamp. Like his son William, he was a carpenter and builder. He married Miss Lesher. The Sands family is of German descent. Samuel Sands was driven out of Germany on account of his religion and came to Berks county, settling at Long Swamp.
Joseph Missimer (maternal grandfather) was a native of Montgomery county. He married Mary Geist, February 17, 1811. His second mar- riage was with Catharine Geist, a sister of his first wife, August 11, 1816. Joshua was his oldest son, being the child of his first wife. Delilah, Mary, Cassimer, Caroline. Susan, Washington, Rebecca, Kate and Isabella were children of the second marriage. Joseph Missimer died on Au- gust 3, 1847, at the age of sixty-one years. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. His father was Henry Missimer, who was the son of Cassimer Missimer, the founder of the Missimer family in America.
Horatio Sands was reared in Pottstown and
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has spent all of his life, except eighteen months, in that borough. During this eighteen months he was a resident of Royerford. He was educated in the public schools of Pottstown, and in the Hill school at the same place. He studied civil and mechanical engineering and learned to build lo- comotives at the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, and for the last twelve years has practiced civil engineering. His first employment was at Lititz, Lancaster county, in the Lititz Water Works, and later he was employed in the following water works: the borough of East Greenville, Montgomery county ; the borough of Honeybrook, Chester county ; and Malvern, Ches- ter county ; Aberdeen, Maryland ; and he was su- perintendent of the Home Water Works at Roy- ersford.
On May 29, 1881, Horatio Sands married Miss Priscilla N., daughter of Henry Koch, of Pottstown. They were married by Rev. A. W. Kreamer, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, pastor of the First Reformed church. They have four chil- dren, namely: William Lesher, born September 29, 1886; Bell Bisbing, born March 12, 1888; Margaret Dull, born September 3, 1889; and Matthew Stanley Quay, born August 6, 1895.
Mrs. Sands and the children are members of the Trinity Reformed church, and Mr. Sands was reared in that faith. Politically Mr. Sands is a Republican. He was borough engineer of the borough of Honeybrook for one year, of the borough of East Greenville for two years, of Aberdeen, Maryland, one year. Mr. Sands occu- pies the home where his father and mother lived. Mrs. Sands was born at Gilbertsville, Montgom- ery county, and her parents were natives of Berks county.
PROFESSOR WILLIAM W. RUPERT, superintendent of schools in the borough of Potts- town, is a native of Chester county. He was born near Oxford October 29. 1852, being the son of George and Anna (Durnall) Rupert, both natives of Pennsylvania. The couple had three children : Professor William W., of Pottstown: Elizabeth, wife of Rev. Edwin Macminn, D. D., of Bur- lington, Iowa ; and Edgar W. Rupert, of Oxford.
George Rupert ( father) was a farmer in Ches- ter county, near Oxford, where he died in 1891, aged eighty-two years. His wife died earlier, aged about sixty-five years. Both were Baptists in religious faith, the husband being a deacon in the church for many years.
William Rupert (grandfather) was a native of Pennsylvania and the early part of his life was spent in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, though he afterwards lived for many years in Chester county, where he died at an advanced age. His wife was Elizabeth Achuff. They had a large family. He was a teacher and followed that occu- pation for forty years at one place, Fox Chase, near Philadelphia, and now within the limits of that city. The family are of Welsh descent.
Mr. Durnall (maternal grandfather) was a native of Pennsylvania. His wife was Elizabeth Durnall. He was a farmer and both he and his wife lived to an advanced age. They had a large family.
Professor William W. Rupert lived on the farm until he was twenty years of age and at- tended the district schools of that vicinity. Later he spent three years in the Union high school in Lancaster county, a private institution conducted by James W. Andrews, A. M. Subsequently he took a course in civil engineering, graduating from the Polytechnic College of Pennsylvania, and located at Philadelphia, in 1877. He then taught school near Oxford for one year, having also taught in the same . school before entering college. While he was employed there a second time he accepted a position as professor of mathe- matics in the Parkesburg Classical Institute, of Chester county, remaining in that position one year. From Parkesburg he went to Pottstown in 1879 as principal of the high school, continuing in that situation for nine years. He was then elected the first borough superintendent of Potts- town, which position he has held ever since.
On July 27, 1882, he married Mrs. Clara S. Davis, widow of Dr. Brooke Davis, and daugh- ter of John and Margaret ( Sommers) Miller. The couple have two children : William Earle and Marion E., both of whom were educated in the schools of Pottstown. Mrs. Rupert is a member
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of the Baptist church, which Professor Rupert also attends. Politically he is a Republican.
Mrs. Rupert's parents were natives of Chester county. They had three children: Franklin, of Chester county, who resides on the farm; Lewis Miller, of Chester county; and Mrs. Clara S. Rupert. Mrs. Rupert had two children by her former marriage : Brooke Davis and Edgar Davis. Her father was a farmer and one of the directors of the First National Bank of Pottstown.
Professor Rupert is the author of the follow- ing works : "Guide to the Study of History and the Constitution of the United States," published by Ginn & Company, of Boston; "Rupert's Geo- graphical Reader," published by Leach, Shewell & Sanborn, of Boston; "Famous Geometrical Theorems and Problems with their History," published by D. C. Heath & Company, Boston ; and "Geography of Pennsylvania," published by McMillan & Company, New York.
Professor Rupert is one of the most success- ful teachers in the country, and it is due largely to his energy and ability that the schools of Potts- town enjoy so excellent a reputation.
JOHN M. SHADE, for more than a dozen years superintendent of the Royersford Water Works, is descended from an old family in Mont- gomery county. He is a native of Limerick township, where he was born October 31, 1851. He was reared on a farm, varying such duties with work in a blacksmith shop, and attendance at a neighborhood school. He is the son of Jacob and Mary (Major) Shade, both of Mont- gomery county.
Jacob Shade (father) was the son of Jacob and Mary (Shunk) Shade. Both members of - old families in that section of the county, of Ger- man descent. Jacob was a favorite name in the Shade family, some one of their number having borne it in each generation. Jacob Shade, great- grandfather of the subject of this sketch, mar- ried a Miss Buck, of another old upper end fam- ily, the couple having the following children : Henry, Daniel, Jacob (grandfather) ; Elizabeth, Christina and Catharine, all died unmarried; Margaret (Mrs. B. Place).
Jacob (grandfather) was born in Upper Providence township. After several removals he finally located on a farm near where Royers- ford has since been built. He died in 1829. He was a member of the Reformed church, and stood well in the community. His widow married again, her second husband being Benedict Gar- ber, a blacksmith located at first in Upper Provi- dence township. He removed in 1834 to the vicinity of Limerick church, where he worked at his trade many years. He retired from busi- ness in 1848, and after a few changes of residence located in Royersford, built a residence, and lived there until his death. His wife died there also in 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Benedict Garber had two children-Francis, also a blacksmith by occupa- tion, and Martha (Mrs. Evan Lewis).
Jacob Shade's children were: Abel, died at the age of thirty-two years ; Jeriah, a Reformed minister ; Henrietta (Mrs. F. Isett) ; Charlotte (Mrs. Peter Cramer) ; Daniel, who learned the trade of a wheelwright and later became a prac- ticing physician ; Jacob, father of John Shade, subject of this sketch, who was an infant at the time of his father's death, and was reared by his step-father, Benedict Garber, with whom he learned the blacksmith trade, and later succeeded Mr. Garber, remaining at the original stand near Limerick church from 1848 to 1860, and then removing to a location near Linfield, where he continued until 1901. He then retired from active labor, and settled at Royersford, where he still resides, enjoying the fruits of a well-spent life. He still owns the country home of six acres, in that vicinity. Mr. Shade was for many years a leading Democrat of Limerick, being prominent in party councils. He was nominated for re- corder of deeds of Montgomery county by his party convention, and made a close race with his Republican opponent, but was defeated along with the rest of the Democratic ticket. He was a man of the highest integrity and honor, who performed every duty in the most satisfactory manner. In 1851 he married Miss Mary A. Major, an intelligent and cultured woman, who made him an excellent wife. She was born in Limerick township, August 10, 1827. being the
John In Shade
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daughter of Jacob and Mary (Schenck) Major. Jacob Major was a son of John Major, and the father of the last named came from Wales at the same time as the ancestors of the Evans family, also prominent residents of Limerick. John Major was a leading farmer of the township, and a strong Democrat. He filled a number of township offices, but never aspired to higher honors. His children were: Jacob, William, John, George, Hannah (Mrs. Daniel Miller).
Jacob Major was reared in farm pursuits, alternating this employment with work at the shoemaker's bench.' He followed that trade for some time afterwards. He died in Limerick in 1851. His widow survived him seventeen years, maikng her home with her daughter, Mrs. Jacob Shade. Mrs. Major died in 1868. She was a danghter of Matthias Schenck, a tailor by trade, and a native of Montgomery county, of German descent. He had but one child-Mary Magda- lene, grandmother of John M. Shade. The chil- dren of Jacob and Mary M. Major : Matthias, died in 1863, leaving ten children, all of whom are living; John, a railway engineer, who died in 1899. leaving three children ; Louisa, died young ; Mary A., mother of John M. Shade; Elizabeth (Mrs. Jacob Fout) ; David died young ; Enos, of Spring City; Catharine (Mrs. N. Brant). They are all members either of the Lutheran or Reformed churches.
Jacob and Mary A. Shade had ten children as follows: John M., subject of this sketch ; Zephaniah, foreman in the pattern-fitting depart- ment of the stove works; Charlotte (Mrs. Wil- liam Saylor) ; Samuel, a stove mounter; Jacob A., died at the age of twenty-two years; Cath- arine (Mrs. Charles Hetrick) ; Mary E. (Mrs. Daniel Shelcap) ; Harriet, unmarried; Fred- erick, who has been employed by the Home Water Company of Royersford for seven years ; Charles M., by occupation a blacksmith, but at present employed in the life insurance business at Spring City. The mother is a member of the Reformed Church.
John M. Shade is naturally ingenious, and soon acquired a knowledge of the use of tools which has been of great value to him in his subsequent
life. He remained at home until he was fourteen years of age; he then worked as a farm hand, and when he was seventeen years of age he found employment at the stove works of March, Brown- back & Co., at Linfield, being thus engaged for three years. He then spent a year in work on the construction of the Colebrookdale Railroad. He was then for a time at New Bedford, Massa- chusetts, engaged in the construction of a coal pocket for the Philadelphia and Reading Rail- way Company. After recovering from an attack of typhoid fever he returned to March, Brown- back, & Co., remaining there two years, dur- ing which time he married and located at Linfield in June, 1876. He then removed to Royersford (in 1878) and became employed with Schantz & Keely, stove manufacturers, being thus em- ployed until 1880, when he took a position with the American Wood Paper Company of Spring City, being engaged eleven years with this firm, where he was engineer in charge of repairs, superintending the mill for two years. He was then one year with the Keystone Meter Company, of Royersford. In 1893 he took the management of the Royersford Water Company, in which he has continued ever since, being most emphatically the right man for the place. In 1878 Mr. Shade built a commodious residence in Royersford, which he occupies. He is a practical man, giv- ing the closest attention to business, and doing all that is possible to promote the prosperity of the community in which he lives. Politically he is a Democrat, but has never been an office-seeker. He has filled several important positions, includ- ing nine years consecutively in town council, and director in the Water Company for a dozen or more years. He has also held several minor of- fices. Mr. Shade is a member of the Reformed church, where he is a deacon. He is also a mem- ber of the Masonic order, and of the Knights of the Golden Eagle.
Mr. Shade married Miss Annie C. Ran, a native of Chester county. She was born in No- vember, 1852, being a daughter of John and Frederika ( Bausman) Ran. The parents of Mrs. Shade are deceased. Both her parents were born in Germany. Their children: David. John,
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Harry, Mary (Mrs. John Grander) ; Lydia ( Mrs. D. Hillborn) ; Annie C. (Mrs. John M. Shade).
Mr. and Mrs. Shade have the following chil- dren : Bessie and Mary E.
HORACE A. CUSTER, the leading book- seller and stationer of Pottstown, is a native of that borough. He was born January 12, 1845, being the son of Aaron L. and Elizabeth ( Kinzer ) Custer, who lived in Berks county about five miles from Pottstown. When a young man Aaron Ludwig Custer removed to New Holland, Lan- caster county, where he engaged in mercantile life in a general country store and married there. Mrs. Custer was born in Lancaster county. The couple had seven children, three of whom are now living, as follows: Rose A., wife of Samuel R. Ellis ; Carrie K., widow of Jacob Hartranft ; and Horace A. Custer, all residents of Pottstown.
Aaron L. Custer (father) went to Pottstown many years ago and was postmaster of that place in the '40s. Later he engaged in the bookselling business with Abner Evans, under the firm name of Evans & Custer. Both are now deceased and have been succeeded in the business by their sons. This was the first bookstore of the place. Mr. Custer also served as notary public for the Pottstown Bank. He was one of the public spir- ited citizens of Pottstown and took a deep and helpful interest in all matters pertaining to the general welfare. Aaron Custer died in 1881, aged seventy-seven years. His wife survived him until 1892 and was eighty-four years of age at the time of her death. Both she and her husband were buried in Pottstown cemetery. Both of them were Lutherans in religious faith. He was secretary of the school board for a number of years and also secretary of the board of vestrymen of the Lutheran Church of the Transfiguration.
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