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 45
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Allan Corson Egbert married Miss Rachel Fisher, whose grandfather was a resident of Horsham township and whose ancestor came from Germany. She was a daughter of Jacob and Rachel (Barns) Fisher and is now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Egbert had the following children : Horace, who died when twenty-nine years of age; Flora, who married Dr. Weaver, of Philadelphia, where she lives, her husband being deceased ; Walter R., unmarried, a college graduate, who is principal of the State Normal School in Clarion county, Pennsylvania ; Radie, who married Pat- rick Callahan, a grocer in Philadelphia; and Lillie, wife of Thomas Jackson, who assists Mr. Egbert on the farm.
THOMAS V. SMITH, one of the most active business men of Norristown, is a native of Lower Merion township, where he was born September 12, 1861. His father, William G. Smith, was at that time the proprietor of the Flat Rock Hotel. In 1867 the family removed to a small property, "Willow Lawn Mill," where Thomas grew to manhood and enjoyed the bene- fit of the Penn Square and Norristown public schools until he started in life on his own ac-
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count in 1883. He learned the stone cutters' trade, to which he was apprenticed when he was seventeen years of age. He soon earned by his skill a man's wages. His first venture was in the produce business, which he commenced in 1883 on DeKalb street in the old Norris engine house, where he remained two years. About 1891 his father's failing health compelled him to retire from business as a contractor, and his son Thomas V. continued it under the name of Will- iam G. Smith & Son, although the father had little or nothing to do with the management. Since his father's death, in 1899, the business has been conducted in his own name, his line being general concrete work, confined principally to Norristown, although Mr. Smith does work in the surrounding country in Pottstown, Con- shohocken and elsewhere. Mr. Smith employs twenty men on an average.
Thomas V. Smith is a Democrat in politics, as was his father, and has been active in the interests of his party. He was chairman of the Democratic committee of his ward for twelve years. He was in the town council three years, being the first Democrat elected to that body from the eighth ward, and serving from 1887 to 1890. He was on the finance committee and several of the others at some period during his term. He has been delegate to county and state conven- tions several times. He was appointed night in- spector in the United States custom house in Philadelphia in 1893, during President Cleve- land's administration, and held the position for four years. He has been asked several times by his party friends to become a candidate for bur- gess of Norristown, but declined the honor. In 1896 he was nominated for the lower house of the state legislature and althoughi his party is in a hopeless minority, he came within six votes of being elected. He was treasurer of the Demo- cratic county committee for two years.
Mr. Smith is a member of the Norristown Lodge, No. 620, Free and Accepted Masons. He is also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 714, of Norristown.
Mr. Smith married Miss Anna M. Wilson, who was born in Norristown, October 28, 1863,
daughter of Richard and Anna S. Wilson. Her father came from the south and located in Norris- town where he dealt extensively in real estate. In the south he was engaged in manufacturing. He was of Scotch and French ancestry, his father being a Scotchman and his mother a French woman, and he spoke both French and English fluently. His wife was born in Scotland and came to America when young to join relatives after the death of her father and mother. Their children : Mary married James Hennings, of Penn Square, and their children are Elizabeth (deceased), Virginia, Harry, Anna, Richard, Elizabeth (second), Mattie (deceased), George, Clara and May. Richard married Clara Rocky, and their children are : Louis (deceased), Walter, Katie, Andrew (dead) married Catharine Dalton (children Bessie and Josephine). Anna, our subject's wife.
William G. Smith (father) one of the most prominent business men of Montgomery county, died February 19, 1899, at his residence No. 1039 Willow street, Norristown. He was born in Lower Merion township, on December 18, 1823, and was the only child of Henry and Cathe- rine Smith. His father died when the son was fourteen years old and he supported his mother. He started out in life as a poor boy and worked himself up to his high standing in later years by hard work and business qualifications. He was a lifelong Democrat and filled various poli- tical positions from time to time. He served twenty-one years as a school director, twelve years in Lower Merion and nine years in Norri- ton. He also served as road supervisor in each township and as auditor. He also served one term as county commissioner, having been elected in 1866. He married Catharine A., daughter of Thomas Vaughan, of Lower Merion, on July 22, 1847. and celebrated with his wife their golden wedding in July, 1897, in the midst of their family, numbering eight children, with a dozen or more grandchildren. Their children are: Henry C. Smith, of Norristown; Mary, wife of Henry L. Fretz, Norristown ; Clare, wife of Roy Hagaman ; Anna, wife of Jesse Shoemaker, Whit- pain ; Emma, wife of Daniel Yost, Worcester ;
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Sarah Elizabeth, wife of Charles Carn, Phila- delphia ; ex-councilman Thos. V. Smith and Miss Josephine Smith, Norristown. He was for many years one of the most prominent contractors in the county, and a number of county bridges were built by him. During the last ten years of his life, in partnership with his son Thomas V., he made a specialty of laying concrete pave- ments and similar work.
The Smiths were among the earliest settlers of Lower Merion. Frederick Smith, great-grand- father of William, bought a tract of land, many years ago, at the mouth of Mill Creek for a price per acre equivalent to a dollar and a half of our money. Frederick Smith's son, Leo Smith, oc- cupied the farm during the Revolutionary period and became an object of animosity, according to tradition, to the Doans, a lawless family of Bucks county free booters, one of his sons, it is said, having whipped one of the Doans. The gang determined upon revenge, so the story goes, and set out one night to execute their purpose, pro- posing to kill the Smiths and plunder and then burn the ancestral homestead. The scheme came to naught, however. There were no Schuylkill bridges at that time, as a matter of course, and the party approached the ferry where is now Mana- yunk to make arrangements for crossing later. The ferryman was a blind man but he had his wits about him and their inquiries for the exact lo- cation of the Smith home aroused his suspicions. He sent a special messenger to warn the family of their danger. They summoned their friends and neighbors and the whole vicinity resounded with the preparations for defense. Word of this reached the attacking party and they precipitately retired, abandoning their design as they did not care to cope with men who were ready for them and fully equal to the occasion.
PETER Y. LEVENGOOD, deceased, formerly a leading merchant of Pottstown, was a native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, born July 15, 1848. He was a son of John and Susan (Yohn) Levengood. His mother, born in 1816, is still living. His father died in 1879, at the age of sixty-two years, and was buried at Old Potts-
town cemetery. By occupation he was a stone mason and farmer. He always resided upon the homestead in Berks county, where he died. His widow lives in Berks county on the same farm. John Levengood was a Democrat in politics and held the offices of supervisor and school director for several years. He and his wife were mem- bers of the Reformed church. They had nine children, as follows: Rachel, Samuel, Caroline, Elizabeth, Peter Y., John, Mary, Jacob and James. John and Mary were twins. Rachel and Mary are deceased.
John Levengood (grandfather) married Christine Baker and lived in Berks county, near Glendale, where he was a farmer of considerable prominence. Both died many years ago and were buried at Old Pottstown cemetery.
John Yohn (maternal grandfather) married Elizabeth Reifsnyder. They lived at the Swamp, Montgomery county, he being a farmer by occu- pation. For several years he survived his wife, who is buried at Swamp churchyard and he at the old Pottstown cemetery.
Peter Y. Levengood attended school in the neighborhood of his home until he was eighteen years of age. He then worked upon adjoining farms until he had reached the age of twenty-one years. He learned the painting trade and worked four years at that occupation for the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company. He next turned his attention to quarrying, in which he was en- gaged for three years, and was next employed at the baking business for six years. He sold the bakery and built his last place of business, estab- lishing a flour and feed store in 1885. This he conducted for twelve years and then entered the grocery and provision business, in which he was interested until his death. He also built several properties adjoining the one in which he carried on his store.
Mr. Levengood was married, October 17, 1874, to Ella, daughter of Christian and Matilda (Fritz) Yergey. They resided in that section of Montgomery county, where they were prosperous farmers. They had nine children, as follows: Jacob, Mahlon, Luther, Harry, Ella, Agnes, Sally, Ambrose and Candace. Mr. and Mrs. Peter Lev-
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engood had seven children, of whom six are liv- ing, as follows : Nellie, born April 23, 1881, died August 4, 1881 ; Newton L., a mechanic of Potts- town, born in 1875, married Miss Ada Ratz, and they have one child, deceased ; Clarence, born January 16, 1877, a mechanic of Pottstown, married Miss Naomi Prisn and they have one child; Jennie, born January 26, 1882, married Frederick Roland, and their son, Leonard, born October 6, 1900 is deceased ; Brooklyn, born April 16, 1884, Minnie, born September 24, 1892, and Robert, born December 23, 1894, are all living with their mother.
Mr. Levengood was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Order of United American Mechanics of Pottstown. He was a successful merchant and a prominent citizen, enjoying the esteem of the entire community. He died March 17, 1904, in the faith of St. Paul's Reformed church, of Pottstown, to which he belonged and of which Mrs. Levengood is a member.
WILLIAM SHEPPARD, one of the most successful farmers of Plymouth township, resides on the Ridge Road near the Trenton Cut-off crossing. He was born First-month 12. 1842. The Sheppards are descended from Irish ancestry but the family had been originally of English stock, being among the colonists transplanted from England to Ireland by Cromwell, two hun- dred and fifty years ago.
Charles Sheppard (father), born Eleventh- month 4, 1810; and died Tenth-month 8, 1873. was the son of William and Mary (Thompson) Sheppard. He was a native of Cumberland county, New Jersey, and came to Pennsylvania in 1838, living in Conshohocken until 1850, and then in the vicinity of the farm now owned by William Sheppard, his son locating on it in 1861. He was a prominent member of Gwynedd Monthly Meeting of Friends and a successful farmer. He married Third-month 15, 1838, Eliza- beth Jones, of Conshohocken, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Yerkes) Jones. Elizabeth (Jones) Sheppard was born Fourth-month 15, 1809, and died Third-month 8, 1891, in Norristown. Charles and Elizabeth Sheppard had the follow-
ing children : Susan J., born Ninth-month 14,. 1839; William; Mary T., who was born Fifth- month 23, 1844, and died Ninth-month 24, 1891 ; Emma M., born Twelfth-month 21, 1846, and married Ezra H. Brown; Isaac J., born Twelfth month 3, 1849, who married Clara T. Shannon. Ezra H. and Emma M. Brown had the following children : Elizabeth S., born First-month 24, 1874, married George Lane, belonging to an old Poughkeepsie, New York, family. They have two children, Eleanor Brown Lane, born Eighth- month II, 1896, and George Lane, Jr., born Second-month 26, 1900. Clayton Lippincott Brown (second child of Ezra H. and Emma M. Brown), born Twelfth-month 26, 1877, is a mem- ber of the Philadelphia bar. The children of Isaac J. and Clara Shannon Sheppard : Elizabeth Shannon, born Seventh-month II, 1875, married Charles H. Rile, Third-month 2, 1898, their chil- dren being, J. Clarence, born Twelfth-month 17, 1898, Josephine Craft, born Fourth-month 6, 1901, William Sheppard, born Sixth-month I, 1902. Susan Jones Sheppard (second child of Isaac and Clara Sheppard) was born Tenth-month 25, 1880. Charles H. Rile, husband of Elizabeth Rile, is the son of Albert G. and Mary (Craft) Rile, his mother being deceased. Some account of the Rile family is given in the biographical sketch of Lewis J. Stannard elsewhere in this work.
William Sheppard (grandfather) was the son of Mark and Mary (Craven) Sheppard. He mar- ried Mary (Thompson) Hall, widow of Ebenezer Hall and daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Thompson. He was not a member of the Society of Friends. He was a native of New Jersey, as well as his wife. The couple had five children as follows : William L. married Abigail A. Davis ; Mary married Zebedee Clement ; Charles married Elizabeth Jones; Richard married (first wife) Ann Stewart, (second wife) Martha Holmes ; Casper married (first wife) Emma Mulford, (second wife) Emily Smith.
Mark Sheppard (great-grandfather) was the first of the family who was a Friend. He became a member of the Society when he was a young man. He married Mary Craven. The couple
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resided at Bacon's Neck, New Jersey. He died Fifth-month 16, 1780, aged fifty-two years. Mark Sheppard was the son of John Sheppard. He was born in 1728 and married Mary Craven in 1760. The couple had four children, as fol- lows: Thomas, born Eleventh-month 12, 1764; Sarah, born Fifth-month 2, 1769; William (grandfather), born Second-month 7, 1772; Josiah, born Fourth-month 5, 1774.
John Sheppard (great-great-grandfather ) was the son of Dickinson and Eve Sheppard.
Dickinson Sheppard (great-great-great-grand- father) was born in 1685. He and his wife, Eve, had seven children : Patience, Stephen, Dickinson, John, Jonadab, Ann and Eve. In 1722 Dickin- son Sheppard purchased fourteeen hundred acres of land on the south side of Antuxet creek, and in 1723 he purchased sixteen hundred acres more, adjoining the other tract, all the land being lo- cated in the township of Down, Cumberland county, New Jersey.
John Sheppard (great-great-great-great- grandfather ) was the immigrant. He and David Thomas, members of Cleagh Keating Baptist church, in Tipperary, Ireland, came to America in William Penn's time and settled for a short period at Shrewsbury in East Jersey. In 1683 they removed to what is now Cumberland county on the lands lying between Cohansey river and Back creek, naming it Shrewsbury creek. They were among those who organized the first Co- hansey Baptist church, in 1690, at Shrewsbury. Neck. John Sheppard married and had several children, of whom the eldest was Dickinson. It is probable that his wife's surname was Dickinson.
William Sheppard, the subject of this sketch, was educated at the public school in the neighbor- hood in which he now lives and learned thoroughly the business of farming, which he has followed ever since. He is a Republican in poli- tics, with Prohibition leanings, but has never sought or held office. He was for a number of years a director in the Peoples' National Bank of Norristown. He, like all others of his family, is a member of the Society of Friends, and at- tends Plymouth Meeting. He is a progressive
and intelligent agriculturist and is a member of the Patrons of Husbandry, of which he was secretary of the Cold Point Grange for ten years. He belongs to the reading and thinking class of farmers. He married, Second-month 22, 1881, Sallie R. Butcher, of Burlington county, New Jersey, at the home of Chalkley Styer, of whom she is a niece, by marriage. Sallie R. Sheppard was born August 3, 1854. She is the daughter of William (deceased) and Franklinia Butcher. The last named married, second husband, Will- iam Fridley, who is also deceased, his widow residing in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a son, Lewis. Butcher, and another daughter, Caroline, resid- ing with her. Sallie R. Sheppard's grandparents were Benajah and Abigail (Roberts) Butcher, who lived at Marlton, New Jersey. The chil- dren of William and Sallie R. Sheppard are : Emma B., born Fourth-month 21, 1882; Harriet W., born Third-month 4, 1885 ; Charles W., born. Tenth-month 12, 1886; Lewis B., born Ninth- month 17, 1888; Isaac J., born Twelfthi-month 21, 1895.
Charles Sheppard (father) was a bricklayer by trade but never followed that occupation. He became a teacher and taught school in the neigh- borhood of Plymouth Meeting, boarding with Alan W. Corson, and meeting there his future wife, Elizabeth Jones. When they married in 1838, they engaged in farming on the Isaac Jones homestead in Conshohocken. In 1851 they bought the Ramey place and lived there for ten years, purchasing the Streeper farm, where Will- iam now resides, in 1861.
The Jones family, for a century or more prominent among the membership of Plymouth Friends' Meeting, are the descendants of David Jones, who came from Wales, settling on a large tract of land which he purchased in the vicinity of Plymouth Meeting, a considerable part of what is now the borough of Conshohocken hav- ing heen owned by the Jones family for several generations. David Jones, the immigrant, came to Pennsylvania with his family in the year 1700, about which time there appears to have been a very large accession of Welsh Friends to this section of Pennsylvania. He brought with him
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the following certificate from the Men's Meeting in Haverford West, Pembrokeshire, Wales, to which he belonged, dated the Fourth day of the First-month, 1699-1700:
"Whereas, our tender and well beloved friend, David Jones, and his wife and children intend to remove themselves to the province of Pennsyl- vania, these are to certify to whom it may con- cern we have a dear and tender love for them, and truly desire their welfare. We certify that we believe them to be clear of debts or encum- brances, the want of which has made truth suffer in many places in this nation."
This document was signed by James Lewis, Thomas Merchant, Pergryn Musgrave, Andrew Llewellyn, Henry Smith, Arthur Reaves and Pierce Worte. It was recorded at Radnor, Sixth- month 8, 1700.
Isaac Jones (maternal grandfather of William Sheppard) was born in what is now Conshohock en, Fifth-month 20, 1772. He was the oldest child of Jonathan and Susanna (Ashton) Jones. He married Elizabeth Yerkes, daughter of John and Ann (Coffin) Yerkes, in Fourth-month, 1793. Elizabeth Yerkes Jones was born Second-month 16, 1772, and died in Eight-month, 1819. The children of Isaac and Elizabeth Jones were : Polly, born First-month 20, 1794, died at the age of three years ; John, born Twelfth-month 18, 1795; William, born Eighth-month 17, 1798, died in 1836; Jonathan, born Third-month 24, 1800; Isaac, born Fifth-month 6, 1802; Ann, born Sixth-month, 18 1804, died Seventh-month 3, 1886; Susan, born First-month 10, 1806, died Eighth-month 2, 1890; Elizabeth, born Fourth- month 15, 1809, died Third-month 8, 1891 (mother of William Sheppard) ; Charles, born Second-month 2, 1813, died Second-month 14, 1864.
Isaac Jones lived to a great age, dying Sixth- month 12, 1868, being twenty-three days more than ninety-six years of age. He had three wives in all, although all his children were by the first wife. His second wife was Rachel Foster, they being married Sixth-month 28, 1825. She died Fourth-month 12, 1843. His third wife was Martha Lukens, born Eighth-month 18, 1793,
married Sixth-month 4, 1845, died Second-month 14, 1883. Isaac Jones sold off a great part of his farm in building lots to meet the demand for the growing borough of Conshohocken. He was president of the Matson Ford Bridge Company for a number of years, and was actively inter- ested in the affairs of the community in which he lived. He was a member of the Society of Friends, as were all his family, from the time of David, the immigrant.
Jonathan Jones (maternal great-grandfather ) was the son of John and Catharine Jones, who were married in Plymouth Meeting-house. Fourth-month 8, 1738. John Jones' wife was Catharine Williams, a widow. Jonathan Jones married Susanna Ashton. Their children were: Isaac Jones, born Fifth-month 20, 1772 (grand- father of William Shepard) ; Mary, born Ninth- month 3, 1774, married Abraham Yerkes; Jona- than married Mary Streeper; Susanna married David Brooke; John married Elizabeth De- Haven ; Ann married Charles Jones.
John Jones (maternal great-great-grand- father) and Catharine, his wife, had five children as follows : Jonathan, who married Susanna Ash- ton : David: John ; Abigail, who married Joseph Shoemaker; and Sarah, who married Joseph Ambler. John was the son of David, the immi- grant. He was born in Wales, Ninth-month 31. 1697.
Elizabeth (Yerkes) Jones, wife of Isaac Jones, was the daughter of John and Ann (Cof- fin) Yerkes, whose children were: Abraham Yerkes, who married Mary Jones; Elizabeth ; Harman, who married Elizabeth Hagy and lived for many years at what is now known as Har- manville, where he kept a general store: Jona- than, who married Elizabeth Speece ; William, who married Deborah Streeper ; John, who mar- ried Elizabeth Stump; Sarah, who married George Webster ; and Ann, who married Maurice Righter. The Yerkes is of German origin. John Yerkes, who married Ann Coffin, they being the parents of Elizabeth Yerkes Jones, was the son of John and Alice (McVaigh) Yerkes. This John was the son of Hermanus and Elizabeth (Watts) Yerkes. Hermanus was the son of
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Anthony Yerkes, the immigrant, whose wife was Margaret.
By a deed made April 15, 1791, John Jones, of Whitemarsh township, conveyed to his son, Jonathan Jones, for the sum of eighteen hundred pounds, good gold and silver money current in the state of Pennsylvania, a tract of land con- taining one hundred and ninety-two and three- fourth acres, being part of a tract of two hundred and fifty acres, bought at sheriff's sale from David Barry's estate, Twelfth-month 4, 1753. this being the land which formed the homestead in what is now the borough of Conshohocken.
William and Sallie R. Sheppard have five children as mentioned above. Of these Emma B. married, 8th-mno. 12, 1903, J. Russell Hibbs, of Germantown, Pennsylvania. He is a traveling salesman for the Harrison Safety Boiler Works, of Philadelphia. Mrs. Hibbs is a graduate of the George School, at Newtown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Harriet W., the second daughter, is a teacher in a Friends' school at Sandy Spring, Maryland. She is also a graduate of the George School. Her sister Emma, prior to her marriage, was employed in teaching at the Friends' School at Plymonth Meeting. Charles W., the third child of the couple, is a graduate of the Friends' School at Plymouth Meeting and a student of the George School. Lewis B., fourth child, is a graduate of the Friends' School at Plymouth Meeting. It will be seen that the parents are earnestly devoted to securing a proper education for their children.
Mr. Sheppard was nominated for the office of county treasurer, in 1886, on the Prohibition ticket. As a rule, however, he has preferred to support the nominees of the Republican party.
S. WILSON FISHER, son of Coleman and Mary (Wilson) Fisher, is a native of Philadel- phia, where he was born September 21, 1853. In 1855 Coleman Fisher (father) purchased the Wertsner homestead of George Wertsner, contain- ing twenty-eight acres of highly improved land, facing the Morris road, and known as Briar Hill. It adjoins the estates of Saunders Lewis, Edward Drayton and the Mercer Home for Superan-
nuated Clergymen of the Presbyterian Church, in the eastern end of Whitpain township. Since the original purchase, there has been added thirty- eight acres of the Albert Wertsner farm, the land being rolling and consisting of field and forest. The house has also been greatly enlarged and im- proved. The lawn has also been greatly extended, and all the surroundings improved until Briar Hill is one of the most beautiful and desirable estates of Whitpain, a township noted for its lovely and substantial homes.
S. Wilson Fisher attended the preparatory school of Chase & Buckingham, at 1318 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, an institution well known and highly valued in its day. He also studied for a time at the Episcopal Academy, after which he en- tered the Department of Science at the University of Pennsylvania, at the fall term, in 1870. He graduated from that institution in the class of 1874, and began the study of law with Henry Wharton, a leading attorney of Philadelphia. He was admitted to the Philadelphia Bar, but in- clining to the natural sciences, and especially to astronomy, Mr. Fisher never entered actively upon the practice of law.
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