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 67
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Jacob Fryer (grandfather) was born in Mont- gomery county. He was a farmer, and was a constable for many years. The Fryers are of German descent. He died at the age of sixty- nine years, and his wife, Catherine (Bowman) Fryer, died aged eighty-two years. They had nine children, five sons and four daughters. Jacob Fegeley (maternal grandfather) was born in Pennsylvania, and married Susanna Miller. They lived to an advanced age, and both died in Potts- town. They had four sons and four daughters.
Mr. Josiah Fryer removed to Pottstown with his father when he was three years old .. He at- tended the public schools, and when nineteen years of age, began to learn the blacksmith trade, which he has followed ever since. He has been in the employ of the Ellis & Lessig Nail Works for the past eighteen years, and is foreman of the blacksmith department.
December 24, 1864, Josiah Fryer married Miss Mary C. Lessig, daughter of Joshua B. and Tena (Bechtel) Lessig. They had four children, as follows: I. Emma Melissa, married Frank Ewing, who died eleven months after their mar- riage. She then married Mark Jacoby, and they have two children, Walter and Edith. 2. Annie Gertrude, died at the age of five years, six months,
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and twenty-one days. 3. Brity, married Samuel Trout. They have two children: Odetta and Alice Mildred. 4. Etta, unmarried, is a book- keeper and stenographer at the Pottstown Gas Works.
Mr. Fryer is a member of the German Reformed congregation, while his wife is a Lutheran in religious faith. He is a member of the following societies : Madison Lodge, No. 466, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Im- proved Order of Red Men, Sanatoga Trige, No. 213, of Pottstown. Politically he is a Democrat, and was a member of the borough council for six years. He is a member of the Hook and Ladder Company of the Pottstown Fire Depart- ment, and is trustee of the Odd Fellows and Red Men. Mr. Fryer built his handsome residence on King street in 1884, and owns two other properties on Charlotte street. He learned the blacksmith trade with Mr. Israel Easner, of Apple street, Pottstown. During his apprenticeship of two years he received his board and washing, and was allowed two weeks in haymaking and harvest time to earn some spending money, and at the end of two years he received twenty-four dollars. After completing his apprenticeship he entered the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Rail- way, and worked in their blacksmith shop until it was removed to Reading, being with them for about fourteen years. He next worked for Co- frode & Saylor, in their bridge works, and was the first blacksmith they employed. He remained with them for three years. He then worked six months for the Hope Milling Company, when it was sold to the Pottstown Iron Company, with whom he remained until the plant of Ellis & Lessig was built.
ELIZABETH A. BOORSE. The ancestor of the Boorse family in Pennsylvania was Har- man Boors, who came from Holland and settled in what is now Towamencin township, Mont- gomery county. Having been a man of wealth and influence in his own land, the settlement of his affairs in Holland required him to revisit that country several times, and on a voyage he died at sea and was buried in mid-ocean. He left
property in Towamencin, near Kulpsville, on which he resided. He had five children, of whom Peter, Arnold and Harman married. John and Henry died unmarried.
Harman Boorse, Jr., great-great-grandfather, reared a large family. His children were John, Margaret, Peter, Henry, Anna Catharine, Sybilla, Susanna and Elizabeth. John Boorse, great-grandfather, the eldest of the children of Harman Boorse, Jr., born October 17, 1763, mar- ried, June 8, 1797, Elizabeth Cassel. He re- ceived the ordinary education attainable at that time in Towamencin township, and engaged in farming on the Boorse homestead, which occu- pation he followed through life. His wife died in 1830, but he lived to his eighty-fourth year, dying in 1847, on January 26th. Their children : Abraham, Henry C., Magdalena, Peter, Daniel, Joseph, Harman, Jacob, Catherine, Mary and Hubert.
Henry C. Boorse (grandfather) was born on the Boorse homestead, October 14, 1799. This farm, still in the possession of a member of the Boorse family has not been out of the name in the course of more than a century and a half. Henry C. Boorse was a farmer, like his ancestors, but he was an influential man in the community and held several township offices, although not an office seeker. He married, in 1822, Susanna Cassel, who died in 1856, he surviving his wife thirteen years, and dying April 26, 1869. The children of Henry C. and Susanna (Cassel) Boorse : Barbara, born in December, 1822, married Henry Ziegler, and died in 1866: John C., born June 27, 1831, of whom see sketch elsewhere; Ephraim C., (father), born January 24. 1825 ; Catherine, born in 1836, married William Bechtel, died in 1877 ; Susan, born in 1839, died in 1856.
Ephraim Cassel Boorse, father, was born on the homestead in Towamencin township. He was reared as a farmer, obtained his education in the common schools of his day and neighborhood, and on reaching manhood engaged in farming, which he reliquished after the lapse of four years to establish himself in the lumber and coal busi- ness at Port Indian, about three miles above Norristown, on the Schuylkill river. in the town-
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ship of Norriton. He carried on business quite extensively, and accumulated considerable money, handling large quantities of coal and lumber. He sold this business at the end of fourteen years. He also at one time owned a number of canal boats, but sold them out also when the extension of railroads practically ruined the canal boating business. He then purchased a fine farm above Jeffersonville, which he cultivated for sixteen years, when he retired from active pursuits and removed to Norristown, buying a home on De- Kalb street, where he and his family resided the remainder of his life, and where his widow and children lived for a number of years. Mr. Boorse retired from farming in 1874, removed to No. 1340 DeKalb street, Norristown, in 1878, and died November 27, 1895. As a business man he was careful, conservative and uniformly success- ful in his undertakings, qualities which he in- herited from a long line of thrifty and prosperous ancestors. His integrity and strict attention to business established a reputation for him as a useful member of the community, and he was widely known and respected. He was a Republi- can, but took little interest in politics, beyond casting his ballot. He married, March 16. 1845, Elizabeth K., daughter of Abraham and Rachel (Krause) Ziegler, her father being a farmer of Skippack township, in Montgomery county. Penn- sylvania. Abraham Ziegler was a son of Garret Ziegler, of the same place. Their children: Isaiah Z. Boorse, married Mary Reiner, and re- sides on his farm above Jeffersonville, having three children, and is one of the best farmers in that section of the county ; Susan ; Clara C., mar- ried James Hoffman, they having six children ; Henry A., married Martha Gottshall, and has two children, being engaged in business in Nor- ristown ; Elizabeth A., and Mary Katherine.
Elizabeth A. Boorse, the subject of this sketch, is a graduate of the State Normal School of West Chester, Pennsylvania, and also of a business course in the Commercial School of Rochester, New York. She taught in the public schools for several years, in which work she was very suc- cessful. She has traveled extensively, partially induced for the benefit of her impaired health,
which was fully restored to her early in her travels when sojourning in southern California. She is a woman of excellent business capacity, and is the executrix of her father's estate. She is since engaged in attending to the property in- terests of the family, and is very successful in business of this kind.
She, as well as her sisters, Susan and M. Katherine, are members of the Montgomery County Historical Society, and take an active in- terest in pursuits of this kind. They are also eligible to membership in the Society of The Daughters of the American Revolution. Through their mother's side they are the great-grand- daughters of Captain Carl Krause, who willingly gave his fortune and bravely enlisted his life in his endeavors for the achievement of freedom and National Independence.
WILLIAM CONARD SNELL, son of Con- ard and Elizabeth (Erb) Snell, was born in Lower Pottsgrove township, on the homestead which has belonged to the family for four generations. He was born on May 23, 1871.
Conard Snell ( father) is still living and a sketch of him appears elsewhere in this book. The grandfather of William Conard Snell was Samuel Snell, who married Margaret Haas, and the great-grandfather of William C. Snell was George Snell, who emigrated from Germany and settled in Montgomery county.
William Conard Snell attended school during his earlier years, and immediately after leaving it, started to help his father on the farm, and now manages the farm himself, which he purchased about four years ago, containing one hundred and eleven acres. Politically Mr. Snell is a Repub- lican, and has been superintendent of Sunday school for many years. He is a very prominent citizen of his township, being one of the most progressive class of farmers. Mr. Snell is a member of the Junior Order of Mechanics ; the Knights of the Mystic Chain: the Patrons of Husbandry : and the True Blue Society.
William Conard Snell married Sallie Shellen- berger, daughter of Aaron Shellenberger of Limerick township, Montgomery county. They
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have had three children, one of whom is deceased. They are: Harry H., deceased; Elmer A .; George W.
ALBANUS C. ARTHUR, one of the best known farmers of Montgomery township, Mont- gomery county, Pennsylvania, was born in Phila- delphia, July 13, 1859. He is the son of Albert and Eliza Jane (Redifer) Arthur.
The Arthur family are of Scotch origin. Ac- cording to family tradition the great-grandfather of Albanus C. Arthur emigrated from Scotland and settled in the state of New Jersey prior to the Revolutionary war. The ancestor of this branch of the family removed at an early date to Pennsylvania. Albert Arthur (father) was born at Chestnut Hill, in Philadelphia county, and spent his entire life in that vicinity. He was a blacksmith by occupation and labored at his trade throughout life. He served for a time in the Mexican war. In 1849 he crossed the plains to California, where he prospected and operated gold mines. He subsequently worked in silver mines in Mexico, and in 1879 returned to Penn- sylvania. In the fall of that year he purchased the farm of 125 acres now occupied by Albanus C. Arthur, situated on the state road, in Mont- gomery township, where he spent the remainder of his life, engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was an honorable and highly estcemed citizen. and in religious faith affiliated with the Society of Friends.
Albanus C. Arthur acquired his early educa- tion at Mount Airy public school. After leaving school he became an apprentice to the carpenter trade, at which he remained three years. Hc worked for a time at his trade, and, removing with his father to the farm, has spent the re- mainder of his life there. He is unmarried. In his political views he is a Democrat, and has never sought or held office.
JOHN D. ROYER, bookkeeper for the War- wick Iron and Steel Company, of Pottstown, was born at Colebrookdale township. Berks county. Pennsylvania. August 29. 1835. He is the son of George and Rebecca ( Dotterer ) Royer.
George Royer ( father) was born in Mont- gomery county, and was reared in Pottsgrove township. He was by trade a stonemason and a bricklayer. In his younger days he taught school during the winters. He removed to Berks county, where he died in 1879, in his seventy-ninth year. His wife died in 1873, aged sixty-six years. She was a member of the Reformed church, and he of the Lutheran. In politics he was a Demo- crat. They had eight children, four sons and four daughters, two of whom are now living, John D. and Franklin D., of Pottstown. Mrs. Royer was also born in Montgomery county.
John Royer (grandfather) was born in Penn- sylvania. His ancestors were from Alsace Lor- raine. He married Elizabeth Longabach and they had eight children. Abraham Dotterer (maternal grandfather ) was a native of Pennsylvania. He was a blacksmith, and died well advanced in years. Abraham Dotterer was twice married, his first wife being Miss Reifsnyder, and his sec- ond wife, the grandmother of John D. Royer. Christina Hahn, daughter of Doctor Hahn of Reading, Pennsylvania.
John D. Royer was reared in Berks county on a farm. He learned the brick and stone mason trade, and at the age of thirty years began to work as clerk at the furnaces, spending three years at the charcoal furnace at Rockland, and six years at the Carrick & Franklin furnaces. He then moved to Cornwall, and spent one year at the anthracite furnaces. He has been with the Warwick Iron Company since April 1, 1875. and has been their bookkeeper since his connection with the firm. He helped to build the first furnace of the company.
On October 5. 1862. John D. Royer married Miss Sarah M. Ritter, daughter of Isaac and Anna (Moser) Ritter. They had three chil- dren: I. Adaline, married Thomas R. Shaner. They have three children living: Sarah, Laura and Luther. 2. George R .. married Mary Laveille. They have two daughters. Carrie Theressa, and Ethel May. He is a clerk in Phila- delphia. 3. Laura, married Edward B. Trout. They have two children : Sarah Rebecca and John Aaron.
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Mrs. Sarah M. Royer died September 24, 1901, in her sixty-second year. She was a mem- ber of the Lutheran church, as is her husband also. He is assistant superintendent of the Sun- day school, and has only been absent from church four Sundays in twenty-two years. Politi- cally he is a Republican.
ISAAC R. CASSEL was born November 14, 1848, in Towamencin township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He attended the common schools in the neighborhood of his home until he was fifteen years of age, and then worked on the farm for three years. He became a butcher, drover and cattle dealer, and continued in that business until 1902. In that year he leased the Montgomery House, at Kulpsville, Towamencin township, which he has conducted very success- fully ever since.
Isaac Cassel (father) has eight children, four living : Isaac; Elizabeth, married Abraham Kulp (deceased), who was a farmer of Towamencin township, they having eleven children; Salome, married Mr. Ludwick, and lives in Towamencin township, they having eight children; Lavinia, married Christian Cassel (deceased), a butcher and cattle dealer in Worcester township, they having five children.
Isaac Ruth Cassel married (first wife) Annie P. Moyer (deceased), and they had one child, Emma L. Emma L. Cassel married Abraham Benner, of Gwynedd township, where he is a farmer. They have no children.
Isaac R. Cassel married (second wife) Anna Ensley, daughter of William Ensley. They had four children: Alma, Olive (deceased), Calvin and Martha. Calvin married Saide, daughter of Benjamin Frederick, and they have no children. Calvin Cassel is a cutter in a Philadelphia tailor shop.
FRANK M. CLYMER. John Clymer (grandfather) was one of the earlier residents of Hatfield township, Montgomery county, Penn- sylvania. He was educated there, having come to the vicinity with his parents when he was quite young. He followed farming all his life, and
was a useful and valuable citizen. Among his children was John K. Clymer.
John K. Clymer (father) was born on the family homestead, and educated in the common schools of Hatfield, and also followed the occupa- tion of farming throughout his life. He had several children, one of them being Frank M.
Frank M. Clymer, subject of this sketch, was born on the Clymer homestead, January 10, 1864. He was educated in the public schools of the town- ship, and later engaged in the business of butcher- ing, which he still conducts very successfully, in addition to his occupation of farming. He buys cattle, and butchers them on his farm. He has been successful in all his undertakings, and enjoys the confidence and respect of the com- munity in which he lives.
He married, in 1883. Sarah K. Swartley, daughter of Philip R. Swartley, a farmer of Hat- field township. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Frank M. Clymer: Wellington S., Howard S., and Mabel S., all unmarried, and residing with their parents. Mr. Clymer is a staunch Republi- can in politics, and is at present a member of the board of school directors of Hatfield township. He is an active member of the True Blues, a secret society, and is a charter member of the Beneficial Society of Souderton. He and his family attend the Mennonite church at Souder- ton.
JOEL BARLOW, a prominent farmer in Lower Pottsgrove township, was born in Mont- gomery county on October 9, 1833. He is the son of Joel and Susan (Holabush) Barlow.
Joel Barlow (father) had been a resident of Schuylkill county for a number of years at the time of his death. He was a farmer and a coal miner. He married Susan Holabush, daugh- ter of Henry Holabush, of Montgomery county. She died in 1884, some years after her husband. The father of Joel Barlow is buried in Schuyl- kill county, Pennsylvania. Joel and Susan Bar- low had five children, two of whom are now de- ceased. They are: Washington (deceased) ; Sarah, married Daniel Marsh, a farmer in Mont- gomery county ; Phoebe, unmarried, and teaches
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school near Philadelphia; Joel, Jr .; John (de- ceased).
Joel Barlow went to school until he was eighteen years of age, when he began to learn the carpenter trade, and followed that occupation for six years. After his marriage he and his wife removed to the farm which he owns to-day, and where they have lived ever since. The farm has within its limits six excellent springs, and many other points of interest. There is a vein of copper crossing the land which is at present being worked by a Philadelphia company.
He is a Democrat in politics. Mr. Barlow has attended the Philadelphia market for thirty-one years. He married Miss Mary Christman, daugh- ter of George Christman and Saralı (Doris) Christman, of Linfield, Montgomery county. George Christman was a boatman and a farmer for many years. He was a Democrat, and a mem- ber of the Reformed church. Mrs. George Christ- man died fifty-four years ago, and her husband ten years ago, of old age.
Mr. and Mrs. Joel Barlow had one son, Harvey Barlow, who married Elizabeth Shaffer, of Lower Pottsgrove township.
Harvey Barlow is engaged in the feed busi- ness at 79 Franklin street, Pottstown, where he has been established for many years. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Barlow have one daughter, Evelyn.
AUGUSTUS W. DOTTERRER, of 170 North Hanover street, Pottstown, Pennsylvania, was born in Pikeville, Berks county, Pennsyl- vania, December 28, 1867. He is the son of John and Esther (Weller) Dotterrer.
John S. Dotterrer (father) was also born in Berks county December 7, 1822. After complet- ing his education he taught school for some years, and afterward became a farmer in his native county where he died December 12, 1881. His wife survived him six months. She was born in Berks county, July 29, 1828, and died July 28, 1882. They were both members of the Ger- man Reformed church. They had nine children, four sons and five daughters, one deceased: Kate (deceased), November 9, 1892; Jacob, of Pike- ville; John, of Hill Church; Daniel, of Hill
Church ; Sarah, wife of Irvin K. Buchert, of Gil- bertsville; Elizabeth, wife of William Hil- bert, of Pikeville; Hettic, wife of Daniel H. Peter, of Felton, Delaware; Amanda, wife of John L. Ritter, of Boyertown; Augustus W.
Jacob Dotterrer (grandfather), the son of Daniel and Barbara Dotterrer, was born in Penn- sylvania, April 4, 1794. He devoted his life to farming and died August 23, 1885. He was mar- ried to Sarah Sassaman, who was born December 21, 1797 and died June 8, 1880. The Dotterrer family is of German descent. Jacob Weller (maternal grandfather), the son of Philip and Gertrude Weller, was born in Pennsylvania, April 28, 1798, and died May 8, 1872. He was married to Elizabeth Mest, who was born July 31, 1800, and died June 14, 1881. The Weller family was of German descent.
Mr. Augustus W. Dotterrer spent his boy- hood days at home until after the death of his parents. He received his early education in the public schools, and afterward attended the Key- stone State Normal School, Kutztown, Pennsyl- vania. He graduated from that institution in 1886, receiving a diploma which allowed him to teach in the public schools of the state of Penn- sylvania without submitting to further examin- ation. Before graduating he taught several years, and afterward taught four years. When not in school, he was working on the farm. In the autumn of 1888 Mr. Dotterrer removed to Potts- town, and taught several years in the public schools of that borough. During his last year as a teacher, he was assistant in the Pottstown high school. For eight years he was book-keeper of the Buckwalter Stove Company, and is still con- nected with this company, being its secretary. The company's factory is at Royersford.
On April 21, 1892, Augustus W. Dotterrer married Miss Lizzie Y. Reigner. daughter of Peter and Mary (Yerger) Reigner. They have one daughter, Helen May, born June 14, 1894, and one son, Paul Reigner, born February 14, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Dotterrer are members of Trinity Reformed church, Pottstown. and he is secretary of the church consistory, and has been for many years. He also served as a deacon in
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said church for a number of years. He belongs to Stichter Lodge, No. 254. Free and Accepted Masons : and Pottstown Chapter, No. 271, Royal Arch Masons. Politically he is a Democrat.
Mrs. Dotterrer's parents were born in Mont- gomery county, and her father was a farmer. They had three children, Wallace, Samuel and Mrs. Dotterrer. Mr. Reigner died in 1904, aged seventy-seven years. Mrs. Reigner died in 1891, aged fifty-nine years. She was a member of the Lutheran church, while he belonged to the Re- formed church.
Daniel Reigner, grandfather of Mrs. Dot- terrer, was also born in Montgomery county, and was a farmer. He married Catharine Koch and they had four children. His father was Herman Reigner. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Dotterrer was Conrad Yerger, a native of Mont- gomery county. He was a shoemaker and a farmer, and lived to be more than eighty years of age. He married Elizabeth Brendlinger, and they had two children.
GEORGE LYNDELL EGOLF, a young but active attorney-at-law, belongs to a family long prominent in Pottstown and vicinity. He was born in that borough, November 5. 1875. He is the son of Peter and Melinda (Geiger) Egolf, both natives of that section of Montgomery county. The couple had three sons : Ephraim H., M. D., deceased; and Harry C. and George Lyn- dell Egolf of Pottstown.
Peter Egolf (father) was a carpenter in early manhood but for many years afterwards was en- gaged in the lumber business in Pottstown, from which he has now retired. He was born in that borough and it has always been his home. His wife died in May, 1887, aged forty-three years. She was a Lutheran as is also Mr. Egolf. He was for some time a Democratic member of the town council, and takes an active interest in every- thing relating to local progress.
Peter Egolf (grandfather) was also a native of Pottstown. He followed the occupation of a farmer. His family was German on his father's and Scotch on his mother's side. His wife was Catharine (Levengood) Egolf. He died at the
age of ninety-four years. They had two sons and four daughters.
John Egolf (great-grandfather) was also a native of Pennsylvania. He was a wheelwright and died at the age of ninety-six years. The founder of the Egolf family in this country settled in Montgomery county.
Mr. Geiger (maternal grandfather) was a na- tive of Montgomery county, of German descent. He was a farmer and a soldier in the war of 1812. He was married three times and had children by each wife.
George Lyndell Egolf has lived in Pottstown all his life, attending the public schools, the Hill Preparatory School, and Ursinus College, being graduated from the law department of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania in 1896, before he was of age, the youngest member of his class. He en- tered the law office of Roger Foster, Esq., of New York city, and was there eighteen months. He then returned to Pottstown and opened on office. He has practiced his profession there since. He was admitted to the Montgomery county bar in May, 1898.
September II, 1901, Mr. Egolf married Miss Pearl Taylor, daughter of Thomas and Lillian ( Kexper) Taylor. Mr. Egolf is a Lutheran and his wife is an Episcopalian. He belongs to Potts- town Lodge, No. 814, B. P. O. E., and is exalted ruler. He was the organizer of the lodge. He also belongs to the Royal Arcanum and to the Colonial Club.
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