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 58
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Olivia M. 60ans
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with credit, and returned to his home in Hatfield township, where he practiced medicine for some time, and then removed to the city of Philadel- phia, where he was continuously engaged in practice until his death, which occurred July 7, 1851. Dr. Evans was a Whig in politics, and took an active interest in the success of that or- ganization. He was a man whose ideas were broadened by a liberal education and by contact with the world. His honesty and other admir- able qualities gained for him the esteem and re- spect of all who knew him. He was twice mar- ried. His first wife was Sarah, daughter of Rev. Joseph Mathias, of Bucks county. There was one child by the first marriage, Julia, long since deceased. The second wife of Dr. Evans was Jane, the daughter of Owen Jenkins, of another old Montgomery county family of Welsh de- scent, being among the earliest settlers of Hat- field and adjoining townships. Dr. Jonathan and Jane Evans had two children, Oliver M. Evans, and Sarah J., who married Dr. John S. Jenkins. It is somewhat remarkable that the members of the Evans family in different gen- erations adhered so persistently to intermar- riages with persons of kindred stock. Two of the ancestors of Mr. Evans married Evanses, and his mother was a Jenkins, whose frequent intermarriages with the Evans family had al- ready established a sort of connection between them.
Oliver M. Evans was born in Hatfield town- ship, April 28, 1831. He was educated in neigh- boring schools until his removal with his parents to Philadelphia, where he became engaged in mercantile pursuits. He gave up business on account of ill health, and went west for the bene- fit of his impaired constitution, remaining there for some time until he had fully recovered his strength. He then returned to Hatfield town- ship, where he conducted a store for three years, and in 1874 removed to Lansdale, then a mere village, where he accepted the position of teller in the First National Bank of that place. Mr. Evans filled that position acceptably for a per- iod of nearly thirty years, when ill health made & necessary for him to resign, and he is now liv-
ing retired in a beautiful home in that borough of which he has been so long a resident. In poli- tics he is a Republican, and has always shown an active interest in the promotion of the prin- ciples and policy of that organization. Like his father, Mr. Evans married a member of the Jen- kins family, his wife being Ella, daughter of Charles Todd Jenkins, and sister of J. P. Hale Jen- kins, of Norristown. The children of Mr.and Mrs. Oliver M. Evans: Jennie, born January 25, 1872, married Arthur Drake; Evelyn, born January 8, 1874 ; Oliver Morris, Jr., born March 17, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Evans were married January 31, 1871. He and his family are members of the Baptist church.
Mr. Evans has filled every position in the borough government of Lansdale. He was a burgess for several years, and is now president of the board of health, a member of the borough school board, and a member of town council. He has also been borough treasurer. His integ- rity, business-like methods and progressive ideas in local government fit him peculiarly for the positions he has held from time to time, besides gaining him the confidence and respect of the en- tire community. He has a brief military record, having gone to the front during the Rebellion with a regiment of one hundred day men.
JACOB WAYNE HEEBNER, youngest child of Henry L. and Catharine (Schutt) Heeb- ner, is a native of Norriton township, where he was born March 1, 1865. The Heebners are on old family in Montgomery county, of Schwenk- felder ancestry.
Henry L. Heebner (father) born December 8, 1826, was the oldest son of Joseph R. and Susanna (Letherach) Heebner. He was born on the old Heebner homestead, in Norriton town- ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He was educated in the schools of the township, and on coming to the years of manhood, became a suc- cessful farmer, continuing in that occupation until the later years of his life, when he lived retired. He was a model farmer, a faithful husband and father and a good citizen, who enjoyed the es- teem and confidence of all who knew him. In
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politics he was a Republican and held the office of school director in Norriton for several years. He died February 26, 1901. His wife is living. Their children are: Mary S., born January 7, 1854; Martha (deceased) born November 17, 1856; Catherine S., born March 2, 1861; J. Wayne, subject of this sketch. Catharine (mother) is the daughter of Jacob Schutt. She married Mr. Heebner, December 7, 1851.
Joseph R. Heebner (grandfather) was the son of Abraham and Catharine (Rittenhouse) Heeb- ner. He married Susanna, daughter of Henry Letherach, March 21, 1826. Their children are: Henry L. (father) ; Abraham L., born September 5, 1828; David L., born August 25, 1830, and died at the age of three days ; Catharine, born Decem- ber 24, 1831 ; Ann, born February 9, 1834; Ben- jamin L., born August 17, 1835; Joseph L., born April 7, 1837; William L., born January 1, 1840; and Enoch M., born June 20, 1843.
Abraham Heebner (great-grandfather) was the son of Christopher and Susanna (Wiegner) Heebner. His marriage to Catharine, daughter of Matthias Rittenhouse, took place December I, 1791. Their children were: Sarah, born in 1792; Hannah, in 1794; Christopher and John, who died in infancy; Joseph, born in 1799; Susanna, in 1801; Catharine, in 1804; Rebecca, in 1806; Mary, in 1808; and Elizabeth, in 181I. Abraham Heebner died November 25, 1846. He lived on the farm in Norriton township after- wards occupied by Henry L. and J. Wayne Heeb- ner, his descendants. Catharine, his widow, died September 27, 1851.
Christopher Heebner (great-great-grand- father) was the son of David Huebner or Heeb- ner, the immigrant, who came to Pennsylvania with his wife Maria in 1734, along with the tide of Schwenkfelder immigration. Their children were Christopher, Susanna, Rosanna and George. David died in 1784 and his widow in 1793. Christopher married Susanna Wiegner, daughter of Hans Wiegner, May 3, 1757. Their children were: Melchior, born 1759, died 1781; John, 1761-1824; Sarah, 1763-1833; Abraham (great- grandfather) 1766-1846; Christopher, 1770; Susanna, 1773-1777 ; David, 1778-1783. Susanna,
wife of Christopher Heebner, died January 17, 1814, aged seventy-six years. He died August 21, 1827, aged eighty years.
J. Wayne Heebner was educated in the town- ship schools, finishing his schooling in Norris- town, and then going back to the farm where he has remained ever since. Mr. Heebner married, in 1886, Miss Mary A. Wismer, daughter of Christian and Sarah (Cole) Wismer, the father being a farmer of Upper Providence township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. They have three children, Grace, Ralph and Earl. Mr. Heebner is a Republican in politics, and is active in party affairs, although not an office seeker in any sense of the term. Like his father he has held the position of school director and is still a mem- ber of the township school board, manifesting much interest in educational progress. He is a member of the Improved Order of Red Men and of the Order of Heptasophs, showing an active interest in each organization. He is an attendant at the services in the Worcester Schwenkfelder church, with his family. Mr. Heebner is one of the progressive farmers of Norriton and is re- spected by all who know him.
CHALKLEY K. CLEAVER. Prominent among the enterprising business men of Mont- gomery county, Pennsylvania, is Chalkley K. Cleaver, who was born at the family homestead, Ioth mo., 15, 1857. He is a descendant of one of the old and prominent families of that section of the state, having migrated thence from German- town, where they settled upon their arrival in the country, in the time of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania. Although originally Germans, they have been among the stanchest members of the Society of Friends in every generation of the family.
Peter Klever, the progenitor of the American branch of the family, was undoubtedly one of the company of German immigrants which included the Shoemakers, Lukenses, Conrads and others, who came from the Lower Rhine some time after the arrival of Pastorius and the earlier German settlers of Germantown, Pennsylvania. He is on record as having been naturalized in 1691, and
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he died in Bristol township, Philadelphia county, adjoining Germantown, in 1727. He left children as follows : Isaac, who possessed land in Chelten- ham, and probably removed to that township; John, who succeeded his father on the farm in Bristol township, and was the father of six chil- dren, namely : Elizabeth, Peter, William, Sarah, John, and Hannah ; Peter, Jr., mentioned in this sketch ; Derrick ; Agnes ; and two married daugh- ters-Christiana Melchoir and Eve Adams.
Peter Cleaver, Jr., third son of Peter Klever, settled in Upper Dublin prior to 1734, as his name is given in the list of taxables for that year in said township, as the owner of a hundred acres of land. His name is frequently mentioned as a road juror, etc., in the early records of Philadel- phia county, from which Montgomery county was formed in the year 1784. The name of his wife was Elizabeth Cleaver. He died in 1776, leaving a will in which he mentions his sons-John, Isaac, Ezekiel, Peter, and Nathan-and his daughter, Elizabeth, who became the wife of John Roberts, of Whitpain township, a brother of Ruth Rob- erts, who became the wife of Nathan Cleaver, brother of Elizabeth.
Nathan Cleaver, son of Peter Cleaver, Jr., was born in Upper Dublin township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer by oc- cupation, and on his marriage with Ruth Roberts, daughter of John Roberts, of Whitpain township, he removed to Montgomery township, same county, and purchased one hundred and thirty- seven acres of land which had been part of the Isaac Jones property, located in the extreme lower end of the township. His children were: Phebe, who became the wife of Amos Griffith ; David, who married and had several children, namely: Edward, a resident of Chicago, and father of a family of children; Annie, wife of Wilmer A. Wood, of Horsham; Jesse; and Rebecca, who died a few years ago at the Friends' Home, in Norristown, Pennsylvania: Jonathan, who mar- ried Ann Jones, and was the father of one son, Elias, who married Ann Acuff ; Nathan, Jr., who married Martha Shoemaker : and Salathiel, of whom mention is made later in this sketch.
Salathiel Cleaver, son of Nathan and Ruth
(Roberts) Cleaver, was born roth mo., 1780, and was an active and industrious farmer of Mont- gomery township, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- vania. His wife, Mary (Shoemaker) Cleaver, daughter of Daniel Shoemaker, of Upper Dublin township, bore him the following named chil- dren : Lydia ; Nathan, who married Deborah Con- rad, and Sarah C. James, of Byberry, is their daughter ; Josiah, who married, 4th mo. 11, 1844, Martha P. Lukens, daughter of Peter and Mary Lukens, and among their children are: Mary, Daniel (deceased), Jane, wife of William B. Richards, of Plymouth township, near Norris- town, and Phebe, wife of Charles Keisel; Daniel ; Silas, mentioned at length below ; and John, men- tioned at length in the following paragraph. Silas Cleaver was born 2d mo. 7, 1819. He was edu- cated at the Joseph Foulke boarding school, and after completing his studies he entered the mill of William Ely, in Whitemarsh, and learned the trade. The following eight years he operated the Walnut. Mill, in Upper Dublin township, and then purchased the property on the Wissahickon, since known as Cleaver's Mill, and now operated by Chalkley K. Cleaver, son of John Cleaver. Silas Cleaver attended strictly to business, prospered in his undertaking, and had made all preparations to retire, and had bought a handsome house, when he died rather suddenly, 2d mo. 18, 1884. He was a man of the highest integrity and stood well in the community in which he lived. He was noted for gentleness, which is a characteristic of the Society of Friends, causing them to be greatly beloved, and as a business man and in every other relation of life he was all that a man should be, and his memory will long remain among the suc- ceeding generations. He married, 3d mo., 9, 1848, Mary E. Rupert, daughter of John Rupert, who is still living and now resides in Norristown, Pennsylvania.
John Cleaver, son of Salathiel and Mary (Shoemaker) Cleaver, was born November I, 1822, on the homestead in Montgomery township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He remained on the farm with his parents until he was nineteen years of age, and his education was acquired in a private school on his father's property, and later
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at the boarding school of Joseph Foulke, in Gwynedd. He decided to learn the trade of a miller, and, accordingly, he entered a mill on the Pennypack, near Bustleton, in Philadelphia county, as an apprentice. Having finished his ap- prenticeship two years and a half later, he went to Byberry, in the upper end of Philadelphia county, where he remained one year, at the expiration of which time he formed a partnership with Will- iam Buckman, long since deceased, this business relation continuing two years. In the spring of 1848 an opportunity presented itself for engaging in business with his brother, Silas Cleaver, who owned a mill on the Wissahickon, in Whitemarsh township. This business relation was of the most satisfactory character and continued until the year 1884, when the partnership was dissolved by the death of Silas Cleaver. William J. and Chalkley K. Cleaver, sons of John Cleaver, having been ad- mitted into the firm the previous year, they con- tinued the business until the death of William J., which occurred August 31, 1888. The business was then conducted by John Cleaver and his son Chalkley K., John acting as salesman and collec- tor in Norristown and elsewhere, and since the death of the former named, in 1901, Chalkley K. Cleaver has managed it alone. John Cleaver was for some time a member of the Commercial Ex- change, in the city of Philadelphia. In politics he was an earnest and uncompromising Republi- can. He was deeply attached to the principles of the Society of Friends, of which the family have for many generations been members. With his family, about the year 1885, he removed to Nor- ristown, and for many years thereafter he served as overseer in that meeting, and he was also prom- inent in other society work. Mr. Cleaver married, November II, 1852, Sarah J. Kenderdine, daugh- ter of Chalkley and Ann (Jarrett) Kenderdine, of Horsham township, Montgomery county. Their children were: William J., born 2d mo. 3, 1854, deceased : Anna K., born 6th mo. 3. 1855; Ella, born 7th mo. 5, 1856, and died Ist mo. 17, 1860; Chalkley K., born Ioth mo. 16, 1857; Mary R., horn 9th mo. 14. 1859; Emma, born roth mo. 16, 1862 ; Sarah, born 3d mo. 9, 1864 ; Tacie K., horn 8th mo. 21, 1865; Silas C., born 12th mo. 17,
1866, and died 6th mo. 10, 1883. Anna K. Cleaver married George Rex, 2d mo. 26, 1880, and they reside in Philadelphia. He is a son of Joseph and Amanda Rex. Their children are: John C., born 2d mo. 26, 1881, and died 7th mo. 26, 1881 ; Joseph, born 4th mo. 8, 1882; William, born IIth mo. 18, 1885 ; and Sarah C., born 6th mo. 6, 1888, and died 5th mo. 3, 1894.
Mrs. John Cleaver is a descendant of Thomas Kenderdine, the head of the American family of that name, who was born in Montgomeryshire, Wales, about 1650, and died at his home near By- berry Meeting, in Abington township, Montgom- ery county, Pennsylvania, 8th mo. 2, 1713. He married Margaret Robert, daughter of John Rob- ert, prior to 1680, and among their children was a son Thomas, who was born about 1692, and died in 12th mo., 1779, being buried 12th mo. 5, of that year. In 1720 he married Dorothy Roberts, but not through the Meeting, he not having the con- sent of his parents. Being dealt with, he deliv- ered a paper of condemnation, was retained in membership and became a very active member at Horsham. Another son was Joseph (great-great- grandfather of Mrs. Cleaver), who was born 12th mo. 14, 1703, and died 2d mo. 23, 1778. His estate was not settled, however, until 1785. He married, 7th mo. 28, 1738, Mary Jarrett, and their family consisted of one son, John, and six daugh- ters, Margaret, Mary, Hannah, Rachel, Sarah, and Jane. John (great-grandfather of Mrs. Cleaver ) married Hannah Morgan, and their chil- dren were: Joseph, Issacher, and John. Issacher (grandfather of Mrs. Cleaver) was born roth mo. 13, 1780, and died 8th mo. 15, 1848. He mar- ried, Ioth mo. 31, 1804, Sarah Morgan, daugh- ter of Morgan and Ann (Roberts) Morgan, and their children were: Chalkley, Morgan, Issacher, Ann Morgan, Hannah, Elizabeth and Jane. Chalkley Kenderdine (father of Mrs. Cleaver) was born 9th mo. 5, 1805, and died 2d mo. 23, 1885. He married Ann Jarrett, Ist mo. 2, 1828, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Lukens) Jar- rett, and their children were: Tacie, born 4th mo. 29, 1829, and died 3d mo. 16, 1898; Sarah Jane, born 7th mo. 21, 1832, widow of John Cleaver ; Letitia, born 5th mo., 2, 1838, who married Will-
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iam Ambler, 3rd mo. 8, 1860; and Elizabeth, born 5th mo. 24, 1840. The Kenderdine family are numerous in Bucks county as well as in Mont- gomery, and have intermarried with a majority of the old families of Friends.
Chalkley Kenderdine Cleaver, second son of John and Sarah J. (Kenderdine) Cleaver, was educated in the public schools of Whitemarsh, the Friends' Central School, in Philadelphia, which has a high reputation for thoroughness and dis- cipline, the Lauderbach Select School, in Phila- delphia, and the West Chester Normal School, where he completed his studies. On leaving that institution he decided to learn the milling trade with his father, and later he was admitted as a member of the firm. After the death of his father he assumed entire charge of the business, and has since conducted it with great ability and success. He has introduced much improved machinery, and under his judicious management every de- partment of work has been brought up to a high standard of efficiency. In politics Mr. Cleaver is an earnest Republican, the policy of that party corresponding with his convictions as the true theory of government. He is a member of the Junior Order of United American Mechanics. He attends Friends' Meeting at Plymouth.
Chalkley K. Cleaver married, 5th mo. 27, 1884, A. Laura White, daughter of Thomas and Mary White, the former named being a retired cattle dealer of Norristown, and a descendant of an old county family. Their children are: Ella W., born 8th mo. 27, 1885; Mary A., born 8th mo. 5, 1889; and S. Isabel Cleaver, born 7th mo. 17, 1895.
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY of Mont- gomery county was incorporated on May II, 1883. The object of this Society, as stated in its charter, is the study and preservation of the history of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. The Society had its real start several years be- fore a charter was obtained. A strong motive for forming the Society was to prepare for a proper celebration of the one hundredth anni- versary of the formation of the county. The Act of Assembly for erecting part of the county
of Philadelphia into a separate county, to be called Montgomery, was passed on September 10, 1784.
The first meeting for establishing the His- torical Society was held at the court house in Nor- ristown, on February 22, 1881. Among those who signed a call for this meeting, most of whom were present, were Dr. Hiram Corson, Major William H. Holstein, Colonel Theodore W. Bean. Robert Iredell, General William J. Bolton, Moses Auge, Isaac Chism, Reuben Krieble, Samuel M. Corson, F. G. Hobson, Prof. R. F. Hoffecker, Isaac Roberts, Nathaniel Jacoby. Jonas Detwiler, L. H. Davis, Dr. J. S. Shrawder, William M. Clift, A. K. Thomas, William J. Binder, William H. Bean, M. S. Longaker, William J. Nicholls, William Auchen- bach. Colonel Theodore W. Bean was made chairman, and Samuel M. Corson secretary.
It brought about in 1884 the celebration of the centennial of Montgomery county. The public demonstration on that occasion lasted four days, and was a success in every way. That cele- bration was also made a financial success. After paving all expenses, a balance of $1.200 remained which was invested for the Society's benefit. This sum has since been used in part payment for Historical Hall, now owned by the Society.
The Society is engaged in marking important historical places within the county limits with permanent monuments. Recently it erected at Barren Hill a monument indicating the location of Lafayette's camp there in May, 1778. It also erected near the Perkiomen Creek. opposite Schwenksville, a monument commemorating Washington's encampment there, at Penny- packer's Mills, in 1777.
Prior to 1897 meetings of the Society at Norristown were mostly held in the court house. The county commissioners had granted the So- ciety the exclusive use of a small room in that building, and permitted it to meet in one of the court rooms. But the growth of the Society de- manded that it own a meeting place which should include an audience room and library rooms, with space for future expansion.
In 1896, the former borough hall of Norris-
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town, with the lot belonging thereto on Penn street, was offered for sale, the authorities hav- ing erected a more commodious municipal build- ing at DeKalb and Airy streets. The Historical Society decided to buy this property. Its deed therefore bears the date December 22, 1896, when it obtained possession of the property. The con- sideration was $5.500 .. The twelve hundred dollars remaining from the County Centennial celebration, and $300 of accumulations and life- membership fees, enabled the Society to raise $1.500, and it borrowed the balance of the pur- chase money and gave a mortgage for $4,000 on its new building. The building was erected in 1884. It is a large. substantial brick structure, situated on Penn street, adjoining the public square, and opposite the court house. When bought, it was found that the building needed considerable repairs, and material alterations were required to fit it for the needs of the Society. These were made at a cost of about one thousand dollars. The property is now admirably adapted to the Society's uses.
The Society's property is called "Historical Hall." The first meeting was held there May 26, 1897. It occupies all the second story and part of the first story of the building, renting a por- tion for offices, from which it derives some revenue. The part used by the Society consists of a commodious hall and rooms for its library on the second floor, and a large permanent fire- proof vault on the first floor. During the con- struction of the new court house, the upper floor was rented to the county commissioners for oc- cupancy by the judges and the law library. The fire-proof vault was also leased to the county, it being a suitable place to keep the jury wheel.
The annual suppers given by the ladies on Washington's birthday for five years in succes- sion, under the chairmanship of Mary R. Livezey, who was materially aided by Ellwood Roberts and others, yielded the Society altogether nearly $2.500. Part of this was devoted to alterations and repairs to the building, and the rest was used to cut down the mortgage to little more than half of its first amount.
Joseph Fornance and Ellwood Roberts have
edited and published Volumes I and II of "His- torical sketches," containing papers prepared and read at the meetings of the Society, and other materials. .
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ELLWOOD ROBERTS, teacher, author, journalist and builder, has exhibited in his career a versatility which is seldom met with in ordinary experience. Combining a good physical consti- tution with an enormous capacity for labor, he has never found lacking all the employment he needed to occupy his time and attention. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, January 22, 1846, he has been a citizen of Pennsylvania, the native state of both his parents, since 1861, and few native- born Pennsylvanians have a gerater share of pride in the grand old commonwealth founded by William Penn than Mr. Roberts.
Educated in the common schools and supple- menting the slender knowledge gained in this way by home study, he is emphatically a self- made man, having taught school fourteen years, mostly in public schools and in Friends' Central school, Philadelphia, before taking a position as associate editor of the Norristown Herald in 1883, which he still holds. In the meantime, he has been actively engaged in other pursuits, having in 1895 published a volume of poems entitled "Lyrics of Quakerism :" a volume of genealogy in 1898, "Old Richland Families," containing the history of his own and connected families of Quakertown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where his first ancestor in this country, Edward Rob- erts, settled in 1716; and a third volume, also his- torical and genealogical, "Plymouth Meeting," in 1900. All these publications were well received. He has several more well under way, including the "Dewees family," now in press.
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