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 62
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DM.B. Oberholzer.
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entered the establishment of James Hall, a carpet weaver of West Conshohocken, with whom he re- mained three years, finding employment at the end of that time in John Wood's Rolling Mill in Conshohocken. At the end of a year he hired with William B. Rambo in his line of work, where he remained another year. He then spent two years in the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, gaining knowledge of a locomo- tive which has been exceedingly valuable to him many times in his railroading.
Mr. Brophy then took a western trip, going to Chicago to visit relatives. After his return ne worked for the Reading Railway Company a short time at Ninth and Master streets, Philadel- phia, handling coal. Engaging with Forepaugh, he took a trip through Ohio and part of Indiana, and this gave him all he wanted of circus life. He came home to enter the employ of the Read- ing Railway Company as repairsman, in 1887, this being the real start of his life as a railroad man. Mr. Brophy has always stood by the com- pany in its labor troubles, and at the time of the strike of the Knights of Labor in 1887, he was made a brakeman, which duty he performed for a year and a half, and then was promoted to con- ductor one year on day shifts. He was then a fireman for seven years, and on October 15, 1895, was examined for engineer and received a certifi- cate as such. He has been an engineer ever since, six years a regular engineer.
Mr. Brophy has been a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians for fifteen years. In re- ligious faith he is a Catholic, being a member of St. Augustine's church, Bridgeport.
Mr Brophy married, October 21, 1888, Miss Catharine Coleman, daughter of John and Mary ( McNallis) Coleman. She was born March IO, 1870, in Phoenixville. After his marriage he lived for a time in Swedeland, and then went to Downingtown, remaining there seven years. He then returned to Bridgeport and has resided there ever since.
William Brophy ( father) was horn in County Tipperary, Ireland, on the province of Ulster, where he lived fourteen years, and then, with his mother's family, removed to England, his father
having died a few years previously. In England Mr. Brophy was reared and there married Mary Ann Mooney, who was born in Queens County, Ireland. Two years after his marriage, Mr. Brophy and his wife left Liverpool in a sailing vessel and after a voyage of thirteen weeks landed at Castle Garden, New York. This was in 1857, and during the panic of that year he was glad to accept work with John Kennedy at Port Kennedy, for eighty cents a day. He remained with Mr. Kennedy twenty years. At Port Ken- nedy, his children were born and he spent there the best years of his life. He is above the age of seventy years and his wife nearly seventy-five years of age, and resides at Swedeland. Their children : Martin J., married (first wife) Annie Waters, and (second wife) Mrs. Cennus ; Thomas and Margaret (twins), of whom Thomas mar- ried Estella Brightenstine, and Margaret married John McCaully ; Joseph J., subject of this sketch.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph J. Brophy have had five children, as follows: John M., born Sep- tember 13, 1889; Mary, born January 29, 1891 ; Margaret, born April 11, 1892; William, born April 1, 1895; and Joseph, born October 12, 1898.
Mrs. Brophy's father was born in County Tip- perary, Ireland, her mother in County Donegal. They came to the United States at different times and located in the coal regions of Pennsylvania, where they were married. Their children : Catha- rine, now Mrs. Brophy; Margaret, deceased, wife of John Nalley ; Annie, who married Harvey Ott : Grace, unmarried ; and Cecilia, who married Matthew Morris.
GEORGE W. GEHRET was born in Doug- lasville, Berks county, Pennsylvania, March 15. 1850. At the age of eight years he removed with his parents to Bridgeport where he attended the public schools. His father. Levi Gehret. died May 28, 1902. For a short time after the re- moval to Bridgeport. George W. Gehret worked on neighboring farms and then attended the pub- lic school at Swedeland. Having completed his education he obtained employment as a fireman at the woolen mills of James Lees & Sons, where
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he remained for several years or until he became an engineer in Swede's Furnace. In 1872 he en- tered the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway, first as an engineer in the pump house for five years and then as fireman on the road. At the close of a year's service as fireman he was appointed an engineer in the yards at Bridgeport. Since that time he has been offered passenger trains, but has always refused as he preferred to remain near home. Mr. Gehret has always been true to his company in all the strikes and labor troubles and has never lost any time except through sickness and the vacations which have been granted him.
In politics he is a Democrat although he does not feel himself so bound to his party that he can- not vote for the man whom he considers best fitted for the office. Since 1900 he has advocated the principles of the Prohibition party. He has be- longed to the Old Swedes' Episcopal church since 1860 and has been a vestryman for many years. He takes an active interest in Sunday-school work and has served as assistant librarian for many years. In 1872 he joined the Norristown Mont- gomery Lodge of Odd Fellows, No. 57, and the Ancient Order Knights of the Mystic Chain in the same year, serving as an officer in these orders. He also belongs to the Patriotic Order Sons of America, No. 51, of Bridgeport.
October 20, 1875, George W. Gehret mar- ried Rebecca J., daughter of Ross and Ann (Fry) Rambo. She was born at Swedesburg, in the old Rambo homestead, March 10, 1853. Mr. and Mrs. Gehret have one daughter, Rena K., born October 4. 1876, who married Joseph C. Jones. Mr. Jones is an operator in the employ of the Reading Railway at the "Y", near Consho- hocken. He has worked for the Reading Rail- road for ten years. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Jones are : George Gehret, born April 11, 1896, and Francis Lees, born February 7, 1902.
Ross Rambo, Mrs. Gehret's father, was born in Upper Merion township on the farm now owned by Harry Eckhart. He attended the public schools in Upper Merion township. After leav- ing school he started immediately in the lime- burning establishment, which was his ancestor's
business. In politics he was a Republican but never became a politician during his short life. He belonged to the Old Swedes' church. He died February 7, 1853, at the age of thirty-seven years. His widow married Mr. Charles Hansell, and is still living, at the age of eighty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Ross Rambo had four children : Mrs. Gehret; Anna M., who was born March 2, 1849, married Andrew Blair, and lives in Philadelphia, their children being Mildred A. and Elsie M .; Meta R .; and Florence S.
Levi Gehret (father) died May 28, 1902.
ABRAHAM G. GOTWALS, long an efficient member of the Norristown police force, and more recently warden of the Montgomery county prison, is a native of Upper Providence township, where he was born July 30, 1850. His father was Joseph S. Gotwals, born November 11, 1810, in the same township where he lived all liis life. The father had a limited education, his father dying when he was eleven years of age, so that he was compelled to seek a home among strangers. An uncle named Hendricks received him as a sort of an adopted son. He lived with this uncle until his marriage. His wife was Mary Grater, whose ancestors had for generations lived at what is now known as Grater's Ford, in Perkiomen town- ship. She inherited money from her father's estate, with which they purchased the farm on which they lived thirty years, and where their eight children were born. This farm is now occu- pied by their son, John G. Gotwals, and is known in the family as the old homestead. In early life he was a Whig and on the formation of the Republi- can party he became a strong member thereof. He took an active interest in politics but was not an office-seeker. In religious faith he was a Men- nonite. He died in 1889 and was buried in the Upper Providence Mennonite cemetery. He had the following children : Susan, the eldest, is de- ceased; Catharine (deceased) married John D. Bechtel, they having one child, Mary Ella : John G. married Lydia H. Detwiler, their children be- ing Daniel (deceased), Joseph (deceased), Abra- hanı, Isaiah (deceased), Mary, Jane, Kate, David, Esther (deceased), Elmer, Raymond (deceased)
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and Vernon; Mary M. married James G. Det- wiler, their children being Frances (deceased), John, Mary, Lydia, Joseph, Elias, Susan, Lizzie, James and Sarah; Elizabeth married Peter H. Colehower; Joseph G. married Sarah Detwiler, their children being Elias, John, Mary, Charles, and two died in infancy ; Abraham G. is the sub- ject of this sketch ; Amos G. married Ida Radcliff, their children being Sarah, Mary, Claude, Ruth and one boy.
Abraham G. Gotwals grew to manhood on the old homestead, attending the country schools in the winter months and working on the farm in the summer, until he reached the age of eighteen years, when he became an apprentice to Reuben Landis at the carpenter trade. He remained with Landis for two years and afterwards followed his trade for about five years. He then accepted a position as superintendent of the Yerkes Cream- ery, located at Yerkes Station, on the Perkiomen Railroad, where he remained two years. He then removed to Norristown, where he engaged in the flour and feed business for one year, when he sold out and sold meats and produce for the Phil- adelphia market. Several years, unprofitably spent in this way, satisfied him that he was not intended for the produce business and he became a member of the police force of Norristown in 1890, remaining in that position eight years, dur- ing the last two years as assistant chief of police. In 1898 he was appointed by the Montgomery county prison inspectors to the position of warden of the prison, to which he has been elected con- tinuously ever since. He is a Republican in poli- tics and he and his family are members of the First Presbyterian church.
Warden Gotwals was a model of what a po- liceman should be when he held that position. In the office of warden he has won the highest en- comiums by his careful, vigilant and efficient management of the institution. He takes the deepest interest in those under his charge, look- ing specially after their comfort and leaving noth- ing undone that promises to promote the welfare of the inmates of the institution which is every- where recognized as being, under Mr. Gotwals' superintendence, one of the best managed in the
state or country. In his police experience Mr. Gotwals had many memorable experiences. He assisted in apprehending the parties in the Kaiser tragedy and, being then appointed warden, had charge, in that capacity, of Kaiser and Clemmer, the former of whom committed suicide after be- ing convicted of the murder of his wife. Clem- mer, the accomplice, who was also convicted, was executed in the prison for the crime.
An exciting episode during Warden Gotwals' prison experience, was the deadly assault made upon him and Watchman Beckwith, on the even- ing of January 24, 1904, by Frederick Bond and William Cornwall, who were in prison awaiting trial. Cornwall pretended to be very sick, and when Mr. Gotwals and Mr. Beckwith went into the cell occupied by the two, Bond swung an iron bar with great effect, injuring the Warden and pounding the watchman into insensibility. They nearly succeeded in making their escape from the prison, but were prevented by the courageous conduct of Mrs. Gotwals and her sixteen-year-old daughter Eunice. The latter notified Chief of Police Rodenbaugh, at the city hall, while the mother kept the desperate men at bay with a revolver which she had obtained from the family apartments in the prison. The jail-breakers were finally overcome, and were tried at the next term of court, pleading guilty and receiving sentences of eleven and twelve years respectively in the peni- tentiary for the assault on their keepers and the crimes for which they had been arrested and sent to prison. The aged watchman, Beckwith, ulti- mately recovered, although he was badly injured.
Mr. Gotwals married, December 23, 1876, Mary C., daughter of William B. and Kate (Connell) Logan. She was born February 23, 1859, in Audubon, Montgomery county, Penn- sylvania. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Gotwals are : William, born December 25, 1877 ; Elizabeth, who was born May 12, 1879, and married Dr. J. R. Shuman, now residing in Wagon Mound, New Mexico; Cora Kate, born October 14, 1880; John Carl, born November 4, 1884, and Eunice, born November 15, 1888. The Logan family are of Irish ancestry, and on coming to this country set- tled at what is now Audubon, where they pur-
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chased a large tract of land, lying between Audu- bon and Norristown, in Norriton township. Some of the family have always occupied this farm. William B., the father of Mrs. Gotwals, was a skillful blacksmith and one of the best known horse trainers in all the country round. He handled and trained horses for General John F. Hartranft, and other prominent men. He owned some fine horses himself. His wife was Kate Connell and they had the following children : Abraham Linwood, who married Emma Bader; Mary C .; William B., Jr., who married Mrs. E. Butz, of Philadelphia ; and Eunice S., unmarried. Mr. Logan has always been an active Democrat, and has been school director and election officer. He is a member of the Reformed church. He re- sides at Yerkes Station, in Upper Providence township.
JONAS M. LANDIS, the proprietor of the leading store in Souderton, which he has con- ducted successfully for nearly a quarter of a cen- tury, is the son of John and Mary ( Moyer) Lan- dis, of Franconia.
He was born on the Landis homestead in that township, December 24, 1850. He obtained his education in the public schools of the township, working on the farm at intervals as occasion re- quired, the exigencies of farming often making it necessary to be absent from the school room, es- pecially in the summer season. At the age of six- teen years he relinquished school studies to en- gage in employment in a lumber yard at Souder- ton, where he remained five years, and then ac- cepted a clerical position in the store of Mr. Slifer in Souderton, in which situation he continued five years. Being of a thrifty disposition he' saved his money, and at the end of that time purchased the business of Mr. Slifer and commenced busi- ness on his own account, in which he has been very successful. Mr. Landis is a model store- keeper, and has a large share of the trade of Souderton and also that of the dwellers in the country districts in the vicinity. He married, May I, 1875, Susan, daughter of James Gross, of Schwenksville, Montgomery county, Pennsyl-
vania. They have one child, May, who is un- married.
Mr. Landis is of Mennonite antecedents in re- ligious faith, and in politics he is an active Re- publican. He is a member of the town council of Souderton, and a useful member of that body, his sound sense and good business principles being of value in that position. He is a director of the Souderton Improvement Company, and mani- fests an active interest in whatever is calculated to promote the welfare of the community in which he lives. He and his family attend the Lutheran church.
John Landis (father) was a well known res- ident of Franconia. He was engaged all his life in agricultural pursuits. He married Mary Moyer, of the same township. The couple had the following children : Sarah, William, Barbara, Mary, John, Catherine, Annie and Jonas, the last named the subject of this sketch. The Landis family are old settlers in that section of Montgomery county. The name is also spelled Landes. The Moyers are also an old family of Mennonite ancestry.
JOHN E. BRECHT, son of John Gottlieb and Catharine (Ernst) Brecht, for many years a member of the board of directors of the People's National Bank, of Norristown, where lie lived retired the last few years of his life, died early on the morning of March 25, 1904, at his resi- dence, 926 West Marshall street. He had been in feeble health for more than a year, but his death came unexpectedly, being a severe shock to the community in which he lived, of which few members were more valued or so highly respected as he. He was interred at Worcester Schwenk- felder cemetery, March 30, 1904.
John G. Brecht (father) was born in Wur- temberg, Germany, February 6, 1806. He was the son of Conrad Brecht. He acquired near his home such education as was obtainable in his day. He became a weaver by occupation, and attained considerable skill in his calling. He wrought in silk, woolen and linen. At the age of twenty-one years he went to Marseilles, France, where he
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secured a good position in a large silk mill. In 1832 he came with his father to America, and lo- cated at New Britain near Doylestown, in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where he continued to work as a weaver. In 1836 he married Catharine Frances Ernst, who was the daughter of George Ernst. The Ernsts were also natives of Ger- many. John G. Brecht was a farmer in addition to his occupation of weaving.
After farming in several localities, John G. Brecht removed with his family to Ohio, but his wife's relatives being anxious that he should re- turn to Pennsylvania, he did so, and took charge of a large farm and mill in Lancaster county. His wife died while he was at that place, on December 22, 1861, and was buried in the little Mennonite graveyard at Strasburg. Soon after Mrs. Brecht's death the family returned to Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and resided for several years on the property of Jacob Heebner, now owned by Henry H. Heebner, in Worcester township.
In 1865 John G. Brecht purchased a lot in Towamencin township, west of Kulpsville. About this time he married (second wife) Mary, widow of Frederick Merkle. He died in Towamencin township, September 25, 1881, and his remains were interred in a cemetery connected with Wentz's Reformed church, in Worcester town- ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He had been, however, a member of the Lutheran church. His widow died in Skippack township, August 8, 1898, her remains being also interred at Wentz's church.
The children of John G. and Catharine (Ernst) Brecht (first marriage) : John Ernst, subject of this sketch, born in Hilltown township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, November 25, 1837 ; Elizabeth, married Samuel H. Price, of College- ville ; Jacob E., of Fort Myers, Florida, who mar- ried Clara, daughter of the late Rev. J. H. A. Bomberger, of Collegeville, and practiced den- tistry at Trappe, in that vicinity, and at St. Louis, Missouri, and for a number of years has been located in Florida, where he is now engaged in the practice of medicine; Samuel E., born June 15, 1844, now of Lansdale, formerly of Skippack and Worcester townships, who married, October
23. 1869, Annie, daughter of Michael and Ann Hallman, of Skippack; Susan Louisa, now of Collegeville; George E., now of Ashbourne, for- merly of Philadelphia, and Montgomery county, who married (first wife) Kate, daughter of Will- iam D. Bean, of Skippack, and, she dying in 1879, he married (second wife) Elma, daughter of Mil- ton and Sarah Jenkins, of Hatfield township, in Montgomery county ; Abraham E., of German- town, born December 4, 1851, married, February 24, 1876, Josephine Brong, of Germantown, adopted daughter, and reared in the family of Adam and Julia (Brodhead) Mintzer ; Sarah E., married Ephraim Hertzler, of Johnson county, Kansas, where she died January 15, 1894.
The children of Samuel E. and Annie H. Brecht : Miriam H., wife of Jacob L. Gaumer, of Lansdale; Annie H., who married Edwin S. Godshall, now of Norristown, died March 9, 1895 ; and Mary H. Brecht. Jacob L. and Miriam B. Gaumer have one child, Samuel Brecht Gaumer.
The children of Samuel H. and Elizabeth B. Price : Ella B., of Collegeville; Harry B., of Philadelphia, who married Bertha Starr, their children being Marion Price, Samuel Price, Jr., and Catharine Price.
The children of George E. Brecht: Vincent B. and William Alvin by the first marriage, and Anson, John Ernst and Sarah Elizabeth by the second marriage.
The children of Abraham E. and Josephine B. Brecht : Julianna Brodhead Brecht and Frances Harland Brecht.
John Ernst Brecht, subject of this sketch, married, February 18, 1865, Sarah, daughter of George and Sophia Kriebel, prominent members of the Schwenkfelder congregation of Towamen- cin church or meeting-house, where Mr. Kriebel's ancestors for several generations were born, lived and died, and where his son, Abraham Kriebel lived all his life and died, November 8, 1903, aged almost seventy years. The farm is now oc- cupied by Abraham's son, Charles Kriebel, Jr.
Soon after his marriage John E. Brecht united with the Schwenkfeldian church, of which he was a faithful member the remainder of his life. He,
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being the oldest child, was obliged, from an early age, to take part in a variety of employment in- cident to farm life, and had very little opportunity to make use of the educational advantages af- forded by the public schools. He attended school irregularly, a few months during each winter, and grew up with a practical knowledge of the routine of farming. While quite a young man, he assisted the farmers in the neighborhood. At the time of his marriage, he was engaged in the work of cigar-making, living about one year in Gwynedd township, but in 1866 he purchased from William D. Bean a farm of one hundred and fifteen acres in Worcester township, on which he lived and engaged in the active pursuits of agri- culture until 1898, at which time he leased his farm and removed to Norristown. Some time later he purchased the house on Marshall street in which he resided until his death, and in which his widow now lives. During almost the entire time, in the course of his farming career, he at- tended the Philadelphia markets, first the old Spring Garden market, and, after its erection, the Ridge Avenue market, at Eighteenth street and Ridge avenue, occupying a stand there. Having reached his majority about the time of the birth of the Republican party, he became active in its support, but he was too busy and too modest to aspire to public office. He was one of the organ- izers of the Worcester Creamery Association at Centre Point, in the early eighties, and was a director to the time of his death. He was also active in organizing the Ridge Avenue Market Company, although not officially connected with it. He was a member of the board of directors of the Girard Avenue Market Company. He was connected with the People's National Bank of Norristown, from its organization in 1881 until his death.
The children of John E. and Sarah K. Brecht : Emma K., born January 21, 1866, in Gwynedd township, married, August 16, 1892, John D., son of George M. and Matilda Weber. Mr. Weber is the proprietor of Centre Point store. Their chil- dren : Sarah B., born July 6, 1895; Russell B., born January 27, 1898; John Herbert, born June 30, 1900 ; Marion B., born September 9, 1903.
George K., born October 7, 1867, in Worces- ter township, was educated in the public schools of that township and in West Chester State Nor- mal School, graduating from the latter in 1889. Before graduating he taught at Cassel's school, in Skippack township, and at Metz school in Wor- cester township, one term each. In the autumn of 1889 he became principal of the Hatboro public school, remaining in that position one year. He then became principal of the Plymouth township high school, on its establishment. After five years there he registered as a law student with Childs & Evans, a prominent law firm of Norris- town, finishing his law studies in the autumn of 1898, under the direction of Louis M. Childs, the firm of Childs & Evans having meantime been dissolved, and being admitted to the Montgomery county bar. In February, 1902, he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of Pennsylvania. In April, 1903, he assumed the duties of secre- tary and trust officer of the Montgomery Trust Company, which position he still holds. On Oc- tober 7, 1902, he married Rebecca Allabough Wood, daughter of William H. and Belle Morgan Wood, of Philadelphia, formerly of Montgomery county. The couple reside at 539 George street, in a house which Mr. Brecht purchased about the time of his marriage.
Samuel K., born December 14, 1869, was educated in the public schools, being one of the first graduates in Worcester after the graded course of study was adopted. He graduated from the West Chester State Normal School, in 1891, and from Haverford College in 1896. Be- fore his graduation from the normal school, he taught two terms at the Metz school, in Wor- cester. Before attending college, he was princi- pal of Bryn Mawr high school, in Lower Merion township, for two years. After completing his college course, he was instructor in the prepara- tory school for the Annapolis Naval Academy, Maryland. He was also similarly engaged at Perkiomen Seminary, Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, and at Pottstown high school. He was also prin- cipal of the Union school of Rushford, New York, for two years, and is at present a member of the corps of teachers at the Norristown high
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