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 42

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 42


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In April, 1903, he married Miss Sarah B. Daub, daughter of Harry and Myra Daub. Her


father was a prominent farmer. He died at his homestead farm; his wife survives and resides with her daughter, Mrs. Springer. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Daub were : Samuel B., a vet- erinarian ; Louis, a tinsmith, at Linfield; Benja- min, a telegrapher ; Daniel; Sarah, wife of Mr. Springer ; Myra (Mrs. J. B. Yerkes) a hatter residing in Philadelphia. The parents of Mrs. Springer were Lutherans.


HON. HENRY K. BOYER, ex-Speaker of the House of Representatives, ex-State Treas- urer, and ex-Superintendent of the United States Mint at Philadelphia, was born at Evansburg, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, February 19, 1850.


The first ancestor of the Boyer family in America was of French Huguenot stock, and came to Pennsylvania during the colonial days. A large number of his descendants followed the trade of blacksmith, while others were farmers and mechanics. Jacob Boyer (great-grandfa- ther) was a resident of Chester county, Pennsyl- vania. Henry Boyer (grandfather), a native of Montgomery county, followed the trade of a blacksmith during his active life, but spent his de- clining years with a son at Mont Clare, where he died: He was a Jeffersonian Democrat, but never aspired to political notoriety. He married Elizabeth Dull, whose Huguenot ancestors emi- grated to this country in the earliest colonial times. Their children were: Manassah, a blacksmith by trade ; Charles, and Ephraim D. Boyer.


The father of Mrs. Elizabeth (Dull) Boyer was a son of Christian Dull, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and was killed at the battle of Germantown. Mr. Dull (father) re- sided near Mont Clare, where he owned and managed a farın on scientific principles. It was known as the ornamental farm, was beautiful in many ways, and all of his attention was given to its cultivation. He resided on the same up to the time of his death. He was a member of the Lutheran church. He married Elizabeth Es- sick and the following named children were born: Mary, unmarried; Margaret, unmarried; Cath- arine, unmarried; Elizabeth (Mrs. Henry


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Boyer) ; Sarah (Mrs. E. Coates) ; Hannah (Mrs. Rev. John Davis), her husband being a Presby- terian minister; Theresa (Mrs. Samuel Custer) ; Charles, a stationery and paper merchant in Philadelphia.


Ephraim D. Boyer (father) was born in Limerick township, Montgomery county, Penn- sylvania. He was reared on a farm, chose the trade of blacksmith, and after his marriage be- came the village blacksmith at Evansburg, where he had a comfortable home, and where he died. His wife, Rebecca (Kline) Boyer, a native of Montgomery county, and a descendant of a Ger- man ancestry, bore him two children: Matilda (Mrs. J. K. Espenship), and Henry K., men- tioned hereinafter. Gabriel Kline, father of Mrs. Boyer, was a prominent farmer and inn- keeper at Trappe, on the Philadelphia and Read- ing turnpike, his place of business being a widely known and popular hostelry, where now stands a farm house. At this inn he entertained all comers, among them statesmen, clergymen, pro- fessional men, farmers on their way to market, teamsters, and others of the traveling public. It was at this house that the name of the town (now borough) of Trappe, originated. He mar- ried a Miss Croll, and their children were: Sarah (Mrs. J. Espenship) ; Sophia, died unmarried ; Henry, a bachelor; Kitty (Mrs. Longstreth) : and Rebecca, aforementioned as the wife of Ephraim D. Boyer. The Croll family are among the best known residents of the upper section of Montgomery county. The name is variously spelled as follows: Krull, Crull, Croll, Kroll, Crall, and Krall.


Henry K. Boyer is a combination of French Huguenot and Pennsylvania German stock. He early developed qualities of leadership in politics which soon made him prominent in public life. He was educated in the public schools and in Freeland Seminary, now Ursinus College, at Col- legeville, in the vicinity of which he was reared. At the age of sixteen he became teacher of a district school in the neighborhood of his home, and later went to Philadelphia, where he became teacher of a classical academy in that city, and subsequently taught school in the Quaker set-


tlement of Byberry. He then accepted the posi- tion of principal of the grammar school at Kaighn's Point, Camden, New Jersey, he having been granted a grammar school teachers' cer- tificate when only eighteen years of age. He remained in New Jersey until 1871, when he registered as a law student in the office of Ben- jamin Harris Brewster, late attorney-general of the United States under President Arthur. He was but twenty-three years of age when admitted to the Philadelphia bar in the fall of 1873. He confined his attention more especially to civil cases. In the meantime Mr. Boyer had trans- ferred his voting place from Montgomery county to the seventh ward of Philadelphia. His grow- ing inclination for public affairs led him in the spring of 1882 to attend a meeting of Republi- cans, of which Edwin S. Stuart was chairman, preparatory to choosing delegates for the state convention which nominated General James A. Beaver for governor. He was announced as a candidate for delegate from the seventh ward, and secured a very complimentary vote, although not elected. He was a candidate for member of the state house of representatives in the fall of that year, and was elected by a handsome major- ity, which was largely increased in 1884 and again in 1886. As a member of the legislature of Pennsylvania Mr. Boyer at once took a very prominent position, having a large share in fram- ing the revenue act of 1885. Other important legislation to the success of which he contributed included the board of health law, the Bullitt charter for Philadelphia, and the medical ex- aminers' bill, all of which were vigorously ad- vocated hy him. He offered the amendment to the Bullitt bill that postponed the operation of the new charter until the termination of Mayor Smith's term.


At thirty-seven years of age, Mr. Boyer was unanimously nominated in the Republican cau- cus for speaker of the house of representatives at the session of 1887, and his election was made unanimous after the formality of the Democratic members voting for their two candidates had been completed. At the close of his term as speaker, members of both parties testified that his


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rulings had always been fair and just, that he had displayed rare knowledge and ability as a parliamentarian, and that even when the partisan spirit ran high and controversy was acrimonious, he wielded the gavel of the speaker with justice and impartiality to all. A compliment that had not been bestowed on anyone since the adoption of the new constitution of Pennsylvania in 1874 was given to Mr. Boyer in his re-election to the speakership in 1889, the caucus nomination again being unanimous. At the end of his second term as speaker he enjoyed a repetition of the com- pliments paid to him two years previously, not only by his party friends, but also by his political opponents. The Republican state convention that year nominated him unanimously for state treasurer, and though it was an off year in poli- tics, with Mr. Boyer the only candidate on the state ticket, his majority at the polls was 60,926.


During his term as state treasurer Mr. Boyer became the author of the revenue act of 1891, a very important piece of financial legislation, through whose agency the state treasury has been constantly replenished without imposing any undue burden upon the farmers and other real estate owners of the commonwealth. This statute, which is the law of to-day, was passed without the aid of a conference committee. It made possible the appropriation yearly of $5,- 500,000 to the schools, and has ever since pro- vided ample revenue.


Ketiring from the office of state treasurer in May, 1892, Mr. Boyer was returned as a member of the house of representatives at Harrisburg in November of that year. When the legislature met he was made chairman of the ways and means committee, the leading honse committee.


In Mr. Quay's contest for the state chairman- ship against B. F. Gilkison, Mr. Boyer espoused the case of Senator Quay. He succeeded Frank Willing Leach at the head of the executive com- mittee of the state organization, holding that position until Mr. Quay and his lieutenants agreed that the one man to be at the helm in the capitol during the legislative session of 1897 was the ex-speaker. Mr. Elkin was elected chairman of the state committee, and Mr. Boyer was again


elected representative from the seventh ward of Philadelphia in the fall of 1896, and having car- ried the caucus unanimously was elected speaker of the house the following years in spite of the fight between Wanamaker and Quay, this making his third election to that place, an honor never before conferred upon any man. In the house and senate cancns for the Republican nomination for United States senator, Mr. Boyer made the speech putting in nomination Hon. Bories Pen- rose, present senior senator. Other honors awaited Mr. Boyer. He was given the appoint- ment of superintendent of the United States Mint at Philadelphia, and in order to accept this he resigned his membership in the legislature. He held the position during the construction of the new mint, which is equipped with all modern machinery, being the most complete money-mak- ing establishment in the world. When he mani- fested his desire to be released from the position it was no easy task to fill the place. He made three or four attempts to resign before he suc- ceeded in having his resignation accepted by the President. He served four years in all, being relieved in 1902, since which time he has lived retired from the busy whirl of politics. His services were sought in every position which he has filled, his experience illustrating very fully the idea of the office seeking the man and not the man the office.


He has made several investments in real estate near his old home, purchasing the old Perkiomen Bridge Hotel and twenty-two acres of land. He has also bought farm lands from time to time, adding to his original holdings. He com- menced with forty-one acres known as the Fry farm, having in his possession deeds continu- ously transferring the title from 1722 to the present time (1904). His farm now contains one hundred and sixty-seven acres. He has re- modeled the farm buildings, adding to them a large barn with many modern conveniences, it being a model structure equipped with modern machinery for all purposes, operated by a gaso- line engine. Everything about Mr. Boyer's prop- erty is up-to-date. his farm implements being of the most improved kind. He has built a model


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creamery equipped with all the modern require- ments, and has given much attention to the im- provement of his dairy stock, having a large herd of cows, a number of which are thoroughbred Guernseys. He has one of the best and most fertile farms in the state of Pennsylvania. He has planted many forest and other trees, and has left nothing undone that is needed to bring his farm up to the standard of perfection attainable in that direction. Quiet and unobtrusive in his manners, he has strong social inclinations, caus- ing his company to be much sought after and enjoyed. In his school days he was exceedingly apt in mathematics, and later he devoted himself to the study of literature and history. He dis- played his knowledge of English literature in an address to the literary societies at the commence- ment at Ursinus College (his alma mater), in 1887. The faculty met immediately afterward and conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. In 1871, shortly after attaining his ma- jority, he was made a Mason in Trimble Lodge, No. 117, F. & A. M., Camden, New Jersey. He served in all the offices from junior deacon up, and thus became a past master by merit, and a member of the grand lodge of New Jersey. About the year 1880 he was demitted and became a member of Philates Lodge, No. 527, at Phila- delphia. Mr. Boyer is fond of fishing, gunning and other out door sports.


GEORGE W. BOWMAN, banker, of Roy- ersford, is a descendant of an old Pennsylvania family. He was born in Waterloo county, Pro- vince of Ontario, Canada, September 30, 1850. He was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools of the vicinity, in the Toronto Normal School, and in the scientific department of the University of Toronto. He taught public schools for fifteen years in Canada, and then re- ceieved a call to the chair of natural science in Lebanon Valley College, Annville, Pennsylvania, where he taught ten years, during which time he received the degree of A. B. from the North- western University, of Illinois, in 1887; that of Doctor of Philosophy, at Otterbein University, Ohio, in 1891. In 1892 Mr. Bowman retired


from teaching and removed to Royersford, and assisted in organizing the Home National Bank and the Industrial Savings Bank, which have been merged into the Royersford Trust Company, which he also assisted in organizing. Mr. Bow- man has been cashier from the time of the organ- ization of the institution. The officers have been mostly the same from the first, and the institution has been very successfully managed.


Mr. Bowman is the son of Noah and Lydia ( Clemens) Bowman, both of Canada. Noah Bowman ( father ) is the son of Jonathan B. and Polly (Snyder) Bowman. The Snyders were of Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and of German descent. The immigrant, Jacob Snyder, was born in the Palatinate, Germany, in 1727. He came to America when a mere lad and settled in Lan- caster county, and married, when about twenty years of age, Maria Hershey. He was the father of fifteen children from whom sprang the Snyder family. His son, Jacob, was the great-grandfa- ther of Mr. Bowman. This Jacob Snyder, the seventh child of the immigrant, married Mary, daughter of Christian and Mary Erb. He was born in 1764 and went with a colony to Canada in 1806, being a leader in the Pennsylvania Ger- man settlement in that province. He died there in February, 1853. He was a good financier and business man and became possessed of large tracts of land. Each of his children was given a large farm, and many of the Snyders yet live there, be- ing among the prominent families of that pro- vince of Canada.


The children of Jacob Snyder : Christian J .; Nancy (Mrs. Benjamin W. Bowman) ; Jacob, Jr. ; Polly (maternal grandmother, Mrs. Jonathan B. Bowman) ; Benjamin ; John ; Elizabeth, never married ; Susana (Mrs. Jacob P. Shantz) ; Mag- (lalena ( Mrs. Levi L. Bechtel) ; Henry.


Jonathan B. Bowman (grandfather ) was the son of Rev. Joseph Bowman, and Joseph was the son of Christian Bowman, and Christian was the eldest son of Wendell Bowman, who was born in Switzerland in 1681. When he was seventeen years of age he emigrated to Holland. whence, early in the seventeenth century, he came to America. He arrived in Philadelphia in the year


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1709, being one of a number who settled on Pequa Creek, in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. They purchased a large tract of land where Wendell Bowman had a deed for four hundred acres. He reared a family of seven sons and one daughter. His children were: Christian; Peter; John; Jacob; Michael; Benjamin ; Joseph ; Magdalina.


Joseph Bowman (great-grandfather ) was born in Berks county in 1766. He married Mary Baer. He was a minister in the Mennonite church. In May, 1816, he moved to Canada. Some of the members of his family have been members of the Canadian parliament. His chil- dren : Elizabeth (Mrs. C. Burkholder) ; Salvina (Mrs. Henry Weber) ; Jonathan (grandfather) ; Mary (Mrs. Joseph Snyder) ; Christian ; Joseph ; Jolın ; Samuel B .; Judith (Mrs. Jacob Bricker) ; Leah (Mrs. David Snyder) ; Wendell ; Benjamin B. The family were mostly Mennonites in faith.


Jonathan Bowman was the first justice of the peace of Waterloo county, and received a token from the governor general of Canada, a fine sil- ver snuff-box, lined with gold. He was a very useful man in his day, giving legal advice and writing legal papers. He was urged to become a candidate for parliament, but declined, pre- ferring to remain in the walks of private life. His children: Mary (Mrs. Isaac Winger), her husband being a very wealthy merchant; Noalı (father) ; John S., died in 1903, aged eighty-one years; Jacob S., yet living ; Samuel S .; Saloma S. ( Mrs. George H. Clements) ; Levi S., of Mich- igan; Joshua, a merchant ; Menno S., of River- side, California, and judge of the orphan court.


The children of Noah and Lydia Bowman : George W .; Rachel (Mrs. Rev. John E. Lynn) ; Clemens D., who resides at the old homestead, and by profession a civil engineer, being often employed by the Ontario government : Byron C., a druggist at Dolgeville, New York.


Noah Bowman died at the Canadian home- stead on May 4, 1886. He was born February 26, 1820. His wife survives and resides in Can- ada. She was the daughter of Abraham S. Clemens, who was born near Lederachsville, in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, March 7, 1790. Abraham Clemens and family removed to


Canada in 1825, and located in the German set- tlement. He was a descendant of Gerhard Clemens, son of Jacob Clemens, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1709 and settled in Skippack township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.


The children of Abraham Clemens: Abraham D .; Mary (Mrs. B. Bowman) ; Jacob; Amos; Susana (Mrs. Moses Bowman) ; Veronica, died young ; Lydia A. (mother) ; and George H.


George W. Bowman married, in Canada, Miss E. Woodward, daughter of Milton and Roxilia (Smith) Woodward. Milton Smith was a farmer. He died at his home in Canada, in 1878. He stood high in his community. His children : Aba Woodward, of the state of Washington ; Lyman, a merchant residing in Canada; Asa, of Michigan ; Horace, deceased; Lance, died un- married: Harriet (Mrs. E. Smith) ; Elisheba (Mrs. George W. Bowman). The children of Mr. and Mrs. George W. Bowman are: Maurice W., born February 13, 1868, a druggist, and en- gaged in business in Germantown ; Ida, born No- vember 1, 1871, wife of Arthur E. Richards, a grocer of Royersford. Mrs. Bowman died Sep- tember 30, 1877.


In February, 1879, Mr. Bowman married (second wife) Miss Mary Bowman, a distant relative, born in Canada in 1850. She is the daughter of Samuel S. and Levia (Shantz) Bow- man, she of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and he of Canada. Samuel S. Bowman was a prominent farmer. He died in Canada in 1902.


Samuel S. Bowman's children : Mary (Mrs. George W. Bowman) ; Nelson, of Canada ; Lean- der, resides at the homestead farm and is a miem- ber of the county council of Waterloo county, Canada ; Joanna (Mrs. John B. Shantz), residing in Buffalo, New York.


The children of George W. and Mary Bow- man : Evelyn N., born April 1, 1883 ; and a boy that died in infancy.


Nr. Bowman is a Republican in politics. He is president of the Royersford school board; treasurer of the borough. He and his family are Methodists in religious faith, he being superin- tendent of the Sunday-school. He is an influ- ential and honored member of the community in


Allen Mas tret-


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which he lives, taking an active interest in public affairs, and being in every respect a model citizen.


REV. ALLEN MYERS FRETZ, pastor of Zion Mennonite church, at Souderton, Pennsyl- vania, is a native of Tinicum township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and was born December 12, 1853. He is the son of Ely and Mary ( Meyers) Fretz.


Ely Fretz ( father) was the oldest son of Christian and Mary (Leatherman) Fretz. He was born September 9, 1825, in Bedminster, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. His wife, Mary Meyers, born October 18, 1830, in Pipersville, Pennsylvania, was the daughter of William and Barbara ( Schimmel) Meyers, who were mem- bers of the new school or General Conference Mennonites, whose church is at Deep Run, Mr. Meyers being one of the organizers of the church in 1849. and for many years its deacon. . Ely Fretz is a prosperous farmer, and for many years a director of the Sellersville National Bank. He is a member of the new school Mennonite church at Deep Run, of which his son Allen is pastor. The couple have eight children.


Christian Fretz (grandfather) married Mary Leatherman. He was a prosperous farmer, and for many years a director of the Doylestown Na- tional Bank. He was the founder of Bedminster- ville. In religious faith he was a Mennonite. He had four children.


Abraham (great-grandfather) married Mag- dalena Kratz, also of a very numerous Mennonite family, whose ancestor emigrated to America in 1727. Abraham Fretz was a farmer and a deacon in the Deep Run Mennonite church. He had ten children.


Christian Fretz (great-great-grandfather) married Barbara Oberholtzer. The couple were Mennonites. They had twelve children, and died at a good old age, honored and respected by all who knew them.


John Fretz (great-great-great-grandfather) and his brother Christian emigrated from near the city of Manheim, in the grand duchy of


Baden, Germany, formerly known as the Pal- atinate, or Rhenish Prussia. Many Fretzes still live in the province of Alsace, on the opposite side of the Rhine, which was annexed to France in the year 1648, and again ceded to Germany after the Franco-Prussian war, in 1871. In more than two centuries the people of Alsac became French, although of German origin. John Fretz and his brother came to this country about 1715, possibly a few years earlier or later, as the exact date is not known. Driven from the fatherland on account of religious per- secution, they were among the founders of the Mennonite church at Deep Run in 1746. John settled on the bank of the Tohickon creek, near the present Bedminsterville, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He was one of the citi- zens who resided in Bedminster township at its organization in 1741. The village of Bedminster- ville was founded by his great-grandson, Christian Fretz. John Fretz was a farmer and weaver. Allen M. Fretz, the subject of this sketch, now owns the farm of Christian Fretz, his grandfather, on which he started building the village, while Allen's brother Mahlon owns part of the original farm of John Fretz. John Fretz, the immigrant, married Barbara, daughter of Hans Meyer, an ancestor of the numerous Meyer family in Montgomery county. He came to this country from Germany or Switzerland about the same time as the Fretz ancestors. Hans Meyer settled in Upper Salford township, Montgomery county, near the branch of the Perkiomen, ahout two miles east of Salfordville. The Meyers were Mennonites in their religious belief, and farmers by occupation. John and Barbara Fretz had five children, John, Jacob, Christian, Abraham and Elizabeth.


Rev. Allen M. Fretz was reared on the home- stead at Bedminsterville, attending the public school at that place. For six months, from Octo- ber, 1869, to April, 1870, he attended the Men- nonite Seminary at Wadsworth, Ohio. He then attended one term at Excelsior Normal Institute at Carversville, Bucks county. He also attended one session at the West Chester State Normal


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School and taught school eleven terms, working during vacations on his father's farm. In 1883 the new school or General Conference Mennonite church at Deep Run called him to be its minister, and he was accordingly ordained by Elder Moses Gottschall, of Schwenksville, Montgomery county, on October 13, 1883, and formally installed as pastor of the church. On November 24, 1892, he was ordained by Elder William S. Gottschall, of Schwenksville, to the office of elder in full charge. He was elected pastor and elder in full charge of the Souderton church, on February 8, 1893, which position he still holds. In politics Mr. Fretz is a Republican and Prohibitionist. He was nominated by the Republicans of Bucks county as a candidate for member of the lower house of the state legislature in 1882, but with the rest of the Republican ticket that year was de- feated at the polls. He is opposed (as a Mennon- ite) to secret societies. He is a member and work- er in the Christian Endeavor Society of the church of which he is the honored pastor. He is a mem- ber of the Pennsylvania organization of the Na- tional Christian Association, and was elected its president for 1904.


Rev. Mr. Fretz has been twice married. His first wife was Sallie, daughter of Abraham L. Leatherman, of Plumsteadville, Bucks county. She, with an infant child, died in March, 1882. His present wife is Anna, daughter of Jacob F. and Agnes (Wismer) Rittenhouse, of Campden, Ontario, Canada. The marriage was solemnized on March 5, 1884. Mrs. Fretz is a descendant of John Fretz, son of the immigrant, John Fretz. He went to Canada in 1800, and was the first deacon of the Mennonite church in Canada. On the Rittenhouse side of her ancestry, Mrs. Fretz is descended from William Rittenhouse who came from Holland in 1683, and settled at Germantown, establishing the first paper mill in America on the bank of the Wissahickon, near that place, and was the first Mennonite minister in America, hav- ing been elected to that position in the German- town church. The famous astronomer, David Rittenhouse, who observed the transit of Venus in 1769 from his farm in Norriton township, Montgomery county, was of the same family.




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