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 40
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it fifteen years. He then sold out his farm stock and implements and entered the employ of Rev. J. D. Detrick, of North Wales, as foreman of his somewhat famous stock farm in Springfield township, and still remains there. In politics Mr. Blair is a Democrat but has never sought or held office, or taken part very actively in political af- fairs. He is a member of St. Paul's Reformed church at Fort Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Blair had five children : Barbara B .; James R., born Oc- tober 24, 1874; Harvey W., born February 14,- 1876, and William O., born June 30, 1878, all re- siding in Flourtown; and Ruth J., who was born August 20, 1879, and married Perry Godshall and has one child, Mary B.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry L. Nash have two chil- dren : Ruth B., born July 21, 1895, and Doro- thy A., born January 12, 1897.
Mr. Nash received a common school educa- tion, was reared on the farm, and commenced life on his own account by renting the home farm which his father had sold to the railroad com- pany, continuing this occupation for four years .. He then rented the farm of the late Charles A. Yeakle in Whitemarsh township, remaining on it five years. In 1898 he bought from the Baker estate the farm on which he now lives and re- moved to it April 1, 1899. He is a Democrat in politics but not a politician. He is a member of St. Paul's Reformed church at Fort Washing- ton. He is one of the best-known residents of Norriton township.
GEORGE W. PIFER, grocer, at the corner of Airy and Norris streets, Norristown, Pennsyl- vania, is prominent in matters connected with borough legislation. He was born in Norristown, November 3. 1857. He is the son of John and' Mary (Cressman) Pifer, both natives of Penn- sylvania. she of Montgomery county, and he of Catawissa. The couple had nine children, six sons and three daughters, of whom four are liv- ing, as follows : Ettie, wife of Dr. William Sweet, of Philadelphia ; William H., George W. and Franklin E., all of Norristown.
John Pifer (father) was employed at various- occupations when a young man, coming to Nor --
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ristown about the year 1854, and having lived there ever since. He is now in his eighty-second year. His wife died January 1, 1902, aged sev- enty-six years. She was originally a Lutheran, but at her death was a Presbyterian, her religious faith being that also of her husband. He was a soldier in the war for the Union, serving in the army four years as a private. He was a member of the famous Sixth Army Corps, and partici- pated in all its battles.
Samuel Cressman (maternal grandfather) was a native of Pennsylvania. His wife was Mary Heritage. They had three sons and two daughters.
George W. Pifer was reared in Norristown and attended the public schools. He is a molder by trade and followed that occupation for many years, until 1888, when he engaged in the gro- cery business at his present location, where he has continued ever since.
On September 6, 1881, he married Elvira L. Richard, daughter of Jacob H. and Mary A. (Jones) Richard. Mr. Pifer is a member of Charity Lodge, No. 190, Free and Accepted Ma- sons, Norristown Chapter, No. 190, Royal Arch Masons ; Hutchinson Commandery, No. 32, Knights Templar: LuLu Temple, of Philadel- phia ; and of the Montgomery Lodge of Odd Fel- lows. He is also exalted ruler in the Elks fra- ternity. He is a member of Beaver Tribe No. 62. Improved Order of Red Men, and of Hancock Castle, Knights of the Golden Eagle.
Politically Mr. Pifer is a Republican. He represents the second ward in the borough coun- cil of Norristown and is serving his third term, having been its president for a time. He is also connected with other Norristown enterprises and organizations. He is president of the People's Building and Loan Association, and of the Retail Grocers' Association of Norristown and Bridge- port. He is also musical director of the Germania Band of Norristown.
Mrs. Pifer's parents were natives of Pennsyl- vania. They had seven children, four sons and three daughters, the other children being as fol- lows : Sarah Lizzie, wife of Philip K. Kreibel of Norristown; Edward G .; Caroline C., wife of
William E. Earl ; Harry J., Diana R., and Will- iam J. Richard.
Jacob H. Richard, father of Mrs. Pifer, re- sides in Norristown, where he has lived for forty- eight years. His wife died in 1897, aged sixty- one years. Both are members of the Reformed church, but were originally Lutherans. He was a soldier in the war for the Union. He enlisted at first in the three months' service and then re- enlisted, serving altogether about a year. His father was James Richard, also native of Penn- sylvania, born near Reading. The family are of Welsh descent. His wife was Elizabeth Hart- line. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Pifer was Isaac Jones, also a native of Pennsylvania and of Welsh descent. His wife was Catharine Reese.
George W. Pifer .stands high in the commun- ity. He is pre-eminently a self-made man, hav- ing attained his present position in council and elsewhere entirely through his own exertions.
IRVIN C. WILLIAMS, attorney-at-law, a member of the bar of Philadelphia and also of Norristown, with an office in each place, is a resident of Royersford. He is a native of Mont- gomery county, having been born near Audubon, formerly Shannonville, six miles above the county seat, in Lower Providence township, December 2, 1866. He is a son of Jacob and Hannah (Cooke) Williams, both of whom are lifelong residents of the county. The couple have five children : Irvin C .; Charles C., of Upper Provi- dence ; Howard C., Nellie L., and Dr. Horace O. Williams, all of Lansdale.
Jacob Williams ( father) has always followed the occupation of farming, his home being in Up- per Providence township, where he has lived most of his life. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church. He was a soldier in the war for the Union, being a member of Company F, Twenty-seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volun- teers. He was a private, serving more than three years, and participating in the first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861 : in the skirmishes around Washington, when it was menaced by the Con- federate forces : and in a number of other battles.
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Later he was detailed for duty as one of the out- side men in the hospital service.
Ezekial Williams (grandfather) was born in Montgomery county, where he lived most of his life. He was a farmer and a merchant, and was in military life, seeing service in quelling the Philadelphia riots in 1844. His wife was De- borah Spare. They had five children, four of whom are still living. His wife died at the age of ninety-six years.
Charles Cooke (maternal grandfather) is still living, at the age of ninety years. He was born in Lehigh county, and is of German descent. His wife was Eliza Zollers, who is deceased. They had six children, all now living. Charles Cooke , is a stonemason by trade and did some contract work in his time, although long retired from ac- tive business.
Irvin C. Williams has been a resident of Mont- gomery county all his life except two years. To the age of fifteen years he lived on the farm, and attended the public schools regularly, acquiring thus the rudiments of an education. He then en- tered Washington Collegiate Institute at Trappe and afterwards the Phoenixville high school, be- ing graduated in 1885. After teaching school for two years, he attended Ursinus College at Col- legeville, and was graduated from the institution in 1891. In the same year he entered the service of the United States government, serving in the war department at Washington for two years. During that time he took a course in law at Columbian University, under Justices Harlan and Brewer, and was graduated from that insti- tution in the spring of 1893. He then entered the law department of the University of Pennsyl- vania and left it with the degree of Bachelor of Laws, in June, 1894. He was immediately ad- mitted to the Philadelphia bar, and in the follow- ing year to the bar of Montgomery county at Nor- ristown, beginning at once the practice of law in Philadelphia. He has an office in the Stephen Girard Building in Philadelphia, and one also in Norristown, where he is associated with John T. Wagner, under the firm name of Wagner & Wil- liams.
On February 22. 1895. he was married to
Miss Elizabeth Harley, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Landes) Harley. The couple have two children : Ruth and Paul.
Mr. Williams is a member of the Lutheran church. Mrs. Williams belongs to the German Baptist Brethren church. Politically he is a Re- publican, feeling much interest in the success of that party. He has frequently addressed pub- lic meetings at various points in the county, in advocacy of its candidates, its principles and its policy in national and state affairs. He is a pleas- ing speaker and an earnest and aggressive worker.
Mr. Williams has antiquarian tastes and is one of the most active members of the Montgom- ery County Historical Society, whose library he has been engaged in cataloguing in his spare moments during the past two or three years, suc- ceeding admirably in this work. He has read several valuable papers on local historical sub- jects at its meetings, and has otherwise done much to promote the interests and the objects of the organization. He is a skilled botanist and mycologist and has spent much time and labor on the flora of Montgomery county and of the District of Columbia.
In April, 1903, he was selected by Governor Pennypacker for a position in the department of forestry at Harrisburg, where he fills the post of expert in the sciences relating to the work therein, and is also actively employed as general counsel for that department.
SAMUEL R. FISHER, photographer, whose place of business is at No. 49 East Main street, Norristown, was born in Tredyffrin township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, February 9, 1834. He is the son of Jacob and Ann (Ritter) Fisher, both of whom were natives of this state. They had three children: Hannah (deceased), Susan and Samuel R., both of Norristown.
Jacob Fisher (father) was a blacksmith and edge-tool maker. He learned his trade near Brick Meeting House, which is located in Penn- syvania close to the line of Maryland, and after residing for a few years in Tredyffrin township, removed to Montgomery county about 1835 and
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carried on his trades, which he followed continu- ously during his life, except about eight years spent at farming near the Gulf Mills, in Upper Merion. The last twenty years or more of his life he resided in Norristown, where he died in 1877, at an advanced age. His wife survived un- til 1897, at the age of eighty-seven years. She was an Episcopalian in religious faith. Her hus- band was not identified with any religious de- nomination.
The paternal grandfather of Samuel R. Fisher was a native of Germany, a brickmaker by trade, and lived in Philadelphia, where he lost his life in an accident in middle life. He had a large family.
His maternal grandfather was Samuel Rit- ter, a native of Pennsylvania. He was a farmer and fencemaker. His wife was Jane Ritter. They had several sons and daughters.
Samuel R. Fisher grew to manhood in Mont- gomery county and received his early education there, also attending Freemount Seminary, Nor- ristown, when Rev. Samuel Aaron, a famous preacher, was its principal. He was reared on a farm, and learned the business of photograph- ing, in Westchester, Penn., which occupation he has followed about forty years very successfully.
On March 17, 1866, he married Miss Sarah Ann Neiman, daughter of John and Catharine (Day) Neiman. Mrs. Fisher died in 1889. She was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Trinity to which Mr. Fisher be- longs, being an elder in it. Mr. Fisher is a Dem- ocrat although he takes no active interest in poli- tics. Mr. Fisher resides at No. 365 East Main street, which was his father's home, and where his sister Susan lives with him.
Mr. Fisher owns a valuable business property on Main street, now occupied by Mr. Hyderman, the drygoods merchant, and other property of the kind. In 1895 he visited the Holy Land, and photographied many of the places of interest, his views being used by public speakers in steropti- con lectures. He devotes much time to the manu- facture of lantern slides. Mr. Fisher has also traveled extensively in the United States. He is an old resident of Norristown and one of its best- known citizens.
In connection with his occupation of pho- tograplıy, to which he is devoted above every -. thing else, Mr. Fisher has acquired a taste for local history. He has photographed very suc- cessfully all the prominent places of interest on or near the Valley Forge campground, and other objects of historical interest in Montgomery and adjoining counties. He is a valued member of the Montgomery County Historical Society, and has presented it with many highly prized speci- mens of his work in photography.
In his younger days he was a member of sev- eral secret societies-the Knights of Malta, Knights of Pythias and Mystic Chain.
In 1862 he enlisted in the Pennsylvania In- fantry, called the Emergency Regiment, and served some two months in defense of the state. In August, 1903, he made a trip to California and the Yellowstone Park, bringing back many fine pictures of that country.
CHARLES W. RAMBO, dealer in dry goods and notions at 229 High street, Pottstown, was born at Hayesville, Chester county, Pennsylvania, May 15, 1849. He is the son of John W. and Elizabeth (Pine) Rambo.
John W. Rambo (father) was also a mer- chant most of his life. He was born in Pennsyl- vania and kept a store at Black Horse, better known as Moscow, Chester county, Pennsylvania. He remained there until 1847, when he removed to Hayesville and engaged in the hotel business for two years. Later he went to Kinzer's Station to keep a hotel and stayed there for four years and afterwards conducted another hotel at At- glen for three years. He was employed as a clerk at Gap, Lancaster county, for a time and then spent a number of years at Atglen. His next position was as a clerk in a hardware store at Coatesville, and from there he removed to Potts- town in 1874. He was in the hardware store of H. G. Culp & Company for three years and then spent sixteen years with William Wood & Com- pany, manufacturers of cotton and woolen goods in Philadelphia. At the end of that time he re- turned to Pottstown, where he has lived ever since. His wife was born in the state of New
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York, and died August 10, 1894, at the age of sixty-eight years and eleven months. She and her husband were members of the Baptist church. He was at one time a Republican, but of late years has become a Prohibitionist. John W. and Elizabeth (Pine) Rambo had eight children, four sons and four daughters, six of whom are now living: Charles W .; Catharine S .; Eleanor, widow of J. Warren Durnall; Anna, wife of N. C. Naylor ; Margaret, wife of Henry J. Corbett ; and Edgar M.
John Rambo (grandfather) was born at Swedesford, on the Schuylkill, and was a miller and a farmer. His wife was Eleanor (Robinson) Rambo, and they had five sons and three daugh- ters who grew to maturity. He was killed while walking on the railroad, when eighty-three years of age. His wife survived him for a short time and died aged seventy-eight years. They were Presbyterians. He was of Swedish origin, while his wife's ancestors were Irish.
Jonathan Pine (maternal grandfather) was born in New York state, where he was a farmer. His wife was Catharine (Wood) Pine, whose first husband was Mr. Hanmore. He had three sons and three daughters, and lived to advanced years.
Charles W. Rambo spent his early boyhood in Lancaster and Chester counties and attended the common schools of Chester county. At the age of sixteen he secured a position as clerk in a gen- eral store at Atglen, where he remained several years, afterward being employed at Coatesville in the same capacity.
In 1872 he removed to Pottstown and was em- ployed as a clerk by L. and W. C. Beecher for five years, and by Howard Leopold in his dry- goods store. February 1, 1887, he formed a part- nership with E. K. Snell and at the end of one year E. K. Ellis bought out Mr. Snell's interest, the firm becoming Rambo & Ellis. Mr. Ellis died December 21, 1891, and in the following spring Mr. Rambo removed to his present loca- tion and has conducted the busines sever since, employing at this time five clerks His store is finely appointed, and well stock at all times with seasonable and stylish goods.
April 26, 1877, Charles W. Rambo married Miss Elizabeth Moser, daughter of Charles and Catharine (Whitman) Moser. They had three children: Oscar Naylor, a stenographer in the office of the New York Mutual Life Insurance Company, Philadelphia ; Karl Moser, a student in a business college at Pottstown ; and John Ralph, who died at the age of seventeen months.
Mr. and Mrs. Rambo are members of the Bap- tist church, where he is a deacon, and of which he has been financial secretary -since 1872. Politi- cally he is a Prohibitionist. He resides at No. I22 Walnut street, where he owns a good home. Mr. Rambo is a self-made man, of quiet de- meanor, and one of Pottstown's highly respected citizens.
I. N. BUCKWALTER, Vice-President and Superintendent of the Buckwalter Stove Works at. Royersford, Pennsylvania, is a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, where he was born November 24, 1838.
Although reared to farm pursuits, young Buckwalter gained an insight into mechanical occupations by means of a saw mill and machine shop to which he had access. He received his education at the ordinary schools of the vicinity in which he lived. He remained under the par- ental roof until he was twenty-two years of age. Then, about 1861, he went to California, did some prospecting, spending a year or more in mining and as much more time on a ranch, returning to his home in 1864, and again taking charge of the saw mill and machine shop. After two years he made a second trip west, going, however, no further than Illinois, where he was employed as a carpenter about a year, when he again returned to the mill and shop. A little later he went to Kansas, pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land, made improvements and did some farm- ing on his new acquisition, remaining three years, at the end of which time he returned to his home. While he was west he built a house in Burling- ton, Kansas. In 1872 he went to Royersford, Pennsylvania, and was employed at the Francis Buckwalter Stove Works, continuing with that firm until 1883, when various firm changes en-
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I V Buckwalter
Ano Isense OF Buchwalter
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sued, ending in incorporation as the Buckwalter Stove Company, when I. N. Buckwalter became a partner. He was foreman of the mounting department, and so continued until 1899, when he was made superintendent. Joseph A. Buck- walter is president ; I. N. Buckwalter, vice-presi- dent and superintendent ; A. L. Buckwalter, as- sistant superintendent ; Augustus Dotterer, sec- retary ; T. D. Buckwalter, treasurer. The estab- lishment has a large output of stoves and ranges, about fifteen thousand annually, and their pro- ducts have a high reputation for excellence, not surpassed by any in the state or country. The number of employes is about one hundred and seventy-five, and the company have repositories for their goods where they are on sale in Phila- delphia, New York and Chicago. The company is known all over the United States, and it has contributed very materially in the building up of Royersford.
Mr. Buckwalter inherited mechanical genius from his ancestors, he being descended from a long line of mechanics and machinists. The present generation, including I. N. Buckwalter, have brought the name prominently before the public throughout the entire country. (See J. A. Buckwalter's sketch, in another part of this work for a more complete account of the Buck- walter Stove Works).
Isaac N. Buckwalter married, in 1875, Miss Irene F. Buckwalter, she being a daughter of Daniel R. and Hannah R. (Williams) Buck- walter, the mother being of Montgomery, and the father of Chester county. They were married at Phoenixville. He had a large farm which he later sold, and bought a small farm at Spring City. The latter part of his life he was employed with the Buckwalter Stove Company. Early in life he was a farmer. Daniel R. Buckwalter's parents were Daniel and Mary (Roudenbush) Buckwalter, both of whom were members of the Mennonite church. Their children : Mary (Mrs. M. Schrack; Samuel, Sarah (Mrs. D. Yost) ; David; Barbara (Mrs. Zimmerman). Of these Daniel (father of Mrs. I. N. Buckwalter), was a Republican in politics and a member of the Luth- eran church. He died several years ago, but his
wife yet survives, at an advanced age, residing at Royersford. She was the daughter of Samuel and Maria (Richards) Williams. Their chil- dren : Hannah R. (mother), Charles, Samuel, Maria (Mrs. Sassaman) ; John, Eliza (Mrs. Walker) ; Emma (Mrs. C. Spare) ; Mary (un- married). The parents were Friends.
The children of Daniel and Hannah Buck- walter : Samuel W., died in 1901; Clara (Mrs. E. Moore, who died leaving one daughter, Phoebe) ; Irene F., (wife of Isaac N. Buck- walter) ; Crawford A., deceased ; Maria J. (Mrs. B. B. Brant) ; Anna (Mrs. William Melotte) ; Theodore, of Royersford.
Mr. and Mrs. I. N. Buckwalter have two children : Madge W. S., who was educated in the schools of Royersford and Shisler's Business College of Norristown ; and Samuel Emmet, who is teller of the Royersford National Bank. Isaac N. Buckwalter is the son of Abram and Rachel (Ortlip) Buckwalter, he of a Montgomery and she of a Chester county family. Mrs. Buck- walter (mother) was a daughter of Henry Ort- lip, who operated the old Ortlip mill, a well- known structure in its day. For many years he kept the Black Horse hotel at Shannonville, now Audubon. He died on his farm near Norristown. His children: Henry, Andrew, Abram, Osmun, Samuel, died and left a son, who is also deceased ; Rachel (mother of I. N. Buckwalter) ; Mary (Mrs. Osmond) ; Rebecca (Mrs. Minter) ; Eliza (Mrs. G. Eppehimer) ; Julia (Mrs. J. Teany).
Abram and Rachel Buckwalter's children: Elias, died at the age of twenty-two years ; David R., died at the age of seventeen years ; Henry, one of the original Buckwalter firm, who started the stove works, who died in May, 1880, leaving a widow and seven children ; B. F., died unmar- ried; J. A., president of the Buckwalter Stove Company; I. N., subject of this sketch; L. C., machinist of the Stove Company ; four other chil- dren died when quite young. Both parents be- longed to the Spiritualists. The father died at eighty years of age; the mother at ninety-three.
Abram Buckwalter (father) was born near Trappe. The first of the family in America came from Holland to Pennsylvania. Abram married
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and located in Chester county. He was a mill- wright, and an excellent mechanic, owning and operating a saw mill and machine shop for many years, and thus educating his children to the ex- ercise and cultivation of inventive genius which proved exceedingly valuable to them in after years. Abram Buckwalter was a very active temperance worker. He started the pledge with his own name, and had over seven hundred names enrolled in an incredibly short space of time, showing what can be done by earnestness and enthusiasm. The original pledge or roll is still in the possession of the family, being kept as a memento of their father's work for the good of humanity.
Isaac N. Buckwalter is a worthy son of such a sire, as are all the others. He is public spirited and a thoroughgoing business man, exerting him- self for the benefit of Royersford in every pos- sible way. He, in common with the other mem- bers of the Company, has accomplished much in building up the town and advancing its prosper- ity. Mr. Buckwalter built the large brick house in which he resides, and in 1896 altered and con- structed what is now known as the Buckwalter Block. He is a Republican in politics, although in the past he affiliated with the Greenback party. He has served three years as a member of town council. He is an active member of the Royers- ford Fire Company, a stockholder in both banks, and is otherwise identified with the interests of the community in which he lives. He and Mrs. Buckwalter are both Spiritualists in religious faith.
JACOB R. TITLOW, a well known farmer in Norriton township, was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, February 8, 1855. In 1873 his father bought the farm now owned by Mitchell Harrison, and here Jacob grew to manhood. Mr. Titlow attended the public schools in Phil- adelphia until after his father removed from that city, after which he took a course in Pierce's Business College, graduating from that institu- tion and receiving his diploma in the summer of 1873. He remained on the farm, assisting his father. until his marriage, in 1881.
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