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 70
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92
Johann Jost Wiegandt (great-great-grandfa- ther) was a native of Freinsheim, in the Palatinate, Germany. He was born along the banks of the River Rhine and was the founder of the family in America. On arriving in Amer- ica he changed the spelling of his name from Wiegandt to Wieand. Johann Jost Wiegandt landed in Philadelphia in 1750 and took the oath of allegiance November 3, 1750. His wife's given name was Barbara. Johann Jost Wieand had an older brother Johann Wendel Wieand,
b. S. Ulland
-
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Shalom of Pottstome Fon. Charles S.
che J Facher MO liner Thetime of the eso for
De fire wire dled hogy el any-four years. Peab To wants wife we members of the Ger- Himmel chuan Mls muriel terond offer she Granne (Wiegdy Erb, who died try hel no children TarW Wieand deste Upet wn at the Woon wi ht nalighter Mrs. ShoaTer in 1890, at
[yd "sound greened grandfather) was Vaatfw vi Retsylwet and firel most of his De - Lemtiy Suhte when he was Chgagel in The wrapati;ein in iing. this wife was Su-an Was droogjo- et Lientering Philip Walter
Wwrol \\imamil Tyreal gramMatheri bved at Yorgunop, Danymi, and afterward in Le- T_ dos FED wwww werte le. was a liten wover in early
Malgrat Temuns Heb born Bin The Tasks of the Byer Rhine amf As the founder AT- HowHe was Chr ;- dla Herzog.
01 50c, 505 Ningember 2 1750 The Wife's tad go over here hope Well Wicked.
-
C. S. Wie and
400
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
who came to America August 19. 1729, twenty- one years prior to Johann Jost Wieand's ar- rival. Johann Wendel Wieand was the ancestor of Judge Henry K. Weand of Norristown, who drops the letter "i" in the spelling of the name. The Wiegandt family dates back in Germany to Jacob Wiegandt.
Andrew Krauss (maternal grandfather) was a native of Lower Milford, Lehigh county, Penn- sylvania. He was the first pipe-organ builder in the state of Pennsylvania. He and his brother John manufactured pipe organs for many years and one of their organs is still in use in the Roman Catholic church in Bally, Pennsylvania. The wife of Andrew . Krauss was Susan Schultz, daughter of Andrew Schultz and granddaughter of Rev. Christopher Schultz, Sr., of the Schwenk- felder faith. Andrew Krauss was born June 21, 1771, and died May 11, 1841, aged nearly seventy years. His wife lived to be eighty-three years old. The couple had thirteen children and owned their own farm.
Andrew Krauss' father was Balthasar Krauss, a native of Germany, who came to America with his mother in 1733 with the colony of Schwenk- felder immigrants, locating in what was then an almost unbroken wilderness within the limits of what is now Lehigh county. Balthasar Krauss was born in the dukedom of Liegnitz, Silesia, Germany. He died February 25, 1774. aged sixty-eight years. He was the founder of the family in this country.
Rev. Charles S. Wieand grew to manhood in Lehigh county, attending the district schools and the old Allentown Academy. He worked on a farm and also in a mill, learning the trade of a miller and operating his father's mill for about three years. He prepared for college at Freeland Seminary and later entered Franklin and Marshall College at Lancaster, graduating in 1874. He then founded Perkiomen Seminary at Pennsburg, Montgomery county, and was principal of that school for nine years. During that time he studied theology under Rev. Dr. C. Z. Weiser and was licensed by the classis of Goshenhoppen, of the Reformed church, to preach in 1880. He served the Chestnut Hill
congregation in Lehigh county one year and then became pastor of Zion's Reformed church, Potts- town, in the spring of 1884. and has been con- tinuously since the pastor of this congregation, whose membership now exceeds four hundred and fifty.
On July 1, 1875, he married Leonore M. Sell, daughter of Charles B. M. and Clarissa W. Sell, of Allentown. His wife's maiden name was Keck. They had seven children: Irma Clarissa, Charles Samuel, Mary M., Leonora S., Edward Wendel, Helen Emma and Alma Margaret. Irma C. is now in Europe taking a post-graduate course in the University of Leipzig. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Massachu- setts, of the class of 1901. Charles Samuel died at the age of five years, four months and twenty- two days. Mary M. died at the age of nearly four years. Leonora died in infancy. Edward Wendel died at the age of eleven months and twenty days. Alma died at the age of five years. Helen E. is now pursuing a course at Mount Holyoke College.
Rev. C. S. Wieand is and has been for many years stated clerk of the Goshenhoppen classis of the Reformed church, and is also its treasurer.
OLIVER G. MORRIS, of Line Lexington, Hatfield township, Montgomery county, Pennsyl- vania, is one of the best known business men in that section. He has been for many years justice of the peace and general agent in the settlement of estates and all neighborhood business of the kind. He is of Welsh descent, his ancestor. Cadwallader Morris, having emigrated from Wales, and located in Pennsylvania, intermarry- ing with the Thomas family, also from Wales, who came to this country soon after 1700.
Morris Morris, son of the immigrant, inherited 267 acres of land lying in Hilltown township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, which he held all his life, and bequeathed it in his turn to his son Cadwallader, he paying out certain sums to the other heirs of his father. Morris Morris married Gwently Thomas, and had seven children: Cad- wallader. Abraham, William, Benjamin, Enoch, Joseph, and Morris, Jr.
412
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
Benjamin Morris, who was sheriff of Bucks coun- ty, was a son of Benjamin the clockmaker. Enoch Morris, brother of the sheriff, had a son James, who fell into the hands of the Algerines, and was one of those liberated by Commodore Decatur. He married a Miss Hobson, of Philadelphia, and settled at Cineinnati. One of their sons became a West Point graduate.
DR. SAMUEL B. SWAVELY, residing at the corner of Chestnut and Washington streets, Pottstown, is a native of Potts Grove township, Montgomery county, where he was born April 13, 1847. He is the son of Aaron and Mary (Burdan) Swavely, the father being a native of Berks county and the mother of Montgomery county. They had five children : four sons and one daughter, of whom Dr. Samuel B., Levi and John survive.
Aaron Swavely (father) was a blacksmith all his life in Potts Grove township, Boyertown and Pottstown. He went to Pottstown about 1868, and was engaged in his trade there to the time of his death in 1896, dying on his seventy-third birth- day. His wife died in 1900, aged seventy-four years. The parents of Dr. Swavely were both Lutherans. The father was a soldier in the war of the Rebellion, belonging to the One Hundred and Seventy-sixth Regiment Pennsylvania Volun- teers, serving nine months in all. He was for one term tax collector of the borough of Pottstown.
Samuel Swavely (grandfather) was born in Pennsylvania and was of German descent. His wife was Rebecea Richards. He died well ad- vanced in years. His wife survived him some years. They had a family of five sons and one daughter.
Adam Swavely (great-grandfather) was born in Germany. He came to America and settled in Pike township, Berks county.
Samuel Burdan (maternal grandfather) was a native of New Jersey, and a blacksmith by trade. He belonged to the state militia. His wife was Miss Overman. He died at upwards of seventy years of age, leaving a large family.
Dr. Samuel Swavely lived in Boyertown until he was ten years of age and then went to
Pike township, residing in that vicinity until he was twelve or thirteen years of age. He attended the common sehool and on February 29, 1864, when he was only sixteen years old, enlisted in Company B, Fiftieth Pennsylvania Volunteers, Army of the Potomac, and served until the close of the war. He was in the following actions : battle of the Wilderness, Ny River, Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, City Point, and in front of Petersburg, and assisted in undermining Fort Stedman. He was present at the time of Lee's surrender at Appomattox, and then went to Washington, D. C., and thenee to Gettysburg, where the regiment took part in the dedicatory services of the monument on that famous battle- field, and was mustered out July 30, 1865. At Spottsylvania his trousers were pierced by a bullet, and his cap while he was on picket duty in front of Petersburg. Again, in front of Peters- burg, the tin cup from which he was drinking was shot away. He then entered as a student at Kallyenan Academy, and, on leaving that insti- tution, taught five years in Montgomery county and two years in Berks county, after which he took up the study of medicine at Jefferson Medi- cal College, graduating in 1877. He began prac- ticing at Blue Roek, Chester county, now called Elverson. He remained there until the spring of 1882, when he went to Pottstown and has prac- tieed there since.
On February II, 1869, he married Miss Mary D. Buck, daughter of Henry and Annie (Dunn) Buck. They had two children, Cora Alice and one who died in infancy. Cora Aliee married James M. Reigner, of Pottstown. They have one child, Charles. Mrs. Mary D. Swavely died No- vember 17, 1880, aged thirty years. She was a member of the Lutheran church.
On July II, 1895, Dr. Swavely married Miss Annie Elizabeth Smith, of Phoenixville, daughter of Adam and Elizabeth (Swavely) Smith. Dr. Swavely was confirmed in the Lutheran church. Mrs. Swavely was raised in the Methodist faith. Dr. Swavely belongs to Madison Lodge, No. 466, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and to Gra- ham Post, No. 106, G. A. R.
Politieally he is a Democrat and has been an
S. BASwarely M.D.
413
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
active and influential worker in the ranks of that party since 1868. He is a councilman from the fifth ward of Pottstown, serving his second term. He was president of the school board in West Nantmeal township, Chester county. In 1902 he made the canvass for county commissioner on the Democratic ticket, receiving the highest vote polled in the convention, but was defeated at the election by a small vote.
The parents of Mrs. Annie Elizabeth Swavely were natives of Germany and came to America about 1852. Mrs. Swavely was born in Phoenix- ville, where her parents still reside.
CHARLES GILBERT HAWKINS, pro- prietor of the Montgomery Hotel, and one of the most popular men in Pottstown, was born at Boy- ertown, Pennsylvania, June 14, 1870, being the son of Thomas Charles and Sallie W. (Gilbert ) Hawkins.
Thomas Charles Hawkins was born in the state of New York, and was reared near Ogdens- burg, that state. He was a traveling salesman, dying in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, in 1878. His wife was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, and is still living. She and her husband were members of the Lutheran denomination. They had three children : Charles G .; John, died at the age of six years: and Elizabeth, died at the age of four years. Sallie W. (Gilbert ) Hawkins mar- ried (second husband) C. W. B. Todd, proprietor of the Merchants' Hotel, at Reading.
Isaac Hawkins (grandfather) was a farmer near Ogdensburg, New York. Elias Gilbert (ma- ternal grandfather) was born in Montgomery county, and was a blacksmith during the early part of his life. He later became a hotel proprie- tor in Berks, Lehigh and Montgomery counties. He conducted the Merchants' Hotel, Pottstown, for ten years, and died in that borough four years after withdrawing from the business. His son, Elias Gilbert, is the present proprietor. Elias Gilbert died in 1899, aged seventy-four years. He married Rebecca Wartman, a native of Montgom- ery county, who died in March, 1901, aged sixty- eight years. They belonged to the Lutheran de- nomination. Their children were: Sarah; John
W., of Reading : Ellen, wife of N. K. Gery, of Tioga, Philadelphia; Elias K., of Pottstown ; Emma, wife of W. M. Stauffer, of New Holland, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and Howard, of Pottstown. John Gilbert (great-grandfather) was born in Montgomery county, and spent the greater part of his life on a farm, He was twice married, first to Miss Yerger, and second to Miss Bickel, his son Elias being the only child by the first marriage.
Charles G. Hawkins spent the early years of his life in Berks county and in Lehigh county, where he attended the common schools and ob- tained his elementary education. He afterwards attended the Perkiomen Seminary at Pennsburg, and the John Arms Academy at Pottstown. Mr. Hawkins held his first position with J. Fegely & Son, in their hardware store, and later became one of the proprietors of the Merchants' Hotel, of Pottstown, where he remianed until 1902. In 1903 he purchased the furniture and good will of the Montgomery Hotel, of Pottstown, which is located on High street, and has made it one of the best hotels in Pottstown. Mr. Hawkins has been a resident of Pottstown for about twenty years, and is one of the best-known men in the borough. He is a member of the following secret orders : Manatawny Lodge of Odd Fellows. No. 214, and Encampment ; Washington Camp, No. 641, P. O. S. of A. ; Junior Mechanics, No. 353, and Fraternal Order of Eagles, No. 626, of Pottstown. In politics he is an active Democrat, and was tax receiver in Pottstown for six years. He is a member of the Lutheran church.
HARRY A. SHANER, son of George H. and Sarah (Levengood) Shaner, was born on the farm where he has always lived, on March 6, 1869. He is one of the most prosperous and careful farmers in Lower Pottsgrove township, and has won his place in the world entirely through his own efforts.
George H. Shaner (father) was born on the same farm as his son, in Lower Pottsgrove town- ship, and combined with his occupation of farm- ing his trade of shoemaking, in which he was very skillful. He served in the Civil war as a
414
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
private. In politics he was a Democrat, and was a school director for many years. George Shaner built the house which is now standing on the Shaner farm. He was a member of the following organizations : the Mechanics, and the Grand Army of the Republic. George H. Shaner died in September, 1896, and his wife died in April of the same year. They had three children, one of whom, Alice, died very young. The other two are : Harry A .; Flora, married Frank Radel, and lives in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, where he is a photographer.
George Shaner (grandfather) lived upon the present home of the estate of John E. Krause, in Lower Pottsgrove township. His occupation was that of a day laborer. He lived to be ninety-four years of age. He married Mary Hartenstein, and they were both members of the Swamp Lutheran congregation of New Hanover town- ship.
Harry A. Shaner received a very limited edu- cation, using education in its generally accepted sense. But he has educated himself by persever- ing in whatever he has undertaken during his life. He was employed in Pottstown for some years, and then learned the trade of stonemason.
He married Laura Wagner, daughter of Mar- tin and Emma Matilda (Smith) Wagner. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner resided at that time and still reside in Fegleysville, Montgomery county, where he was a farmer, and is now living retired. Mr. and Mrs. Martin Wagner bought the farm where they still have their home from Mr. and Mrs. Deiter Smith (parents of Mrs. Wagner) in 1868. The place, which had been used as a hospital dur- ing the war and which had been a burying ground for soldiers, still contains some relics of the war. Jacob Wagner (grandfather of Mrs. Shaner) was also a farmer near Fegleysville.
Harry A. Shaner followed his trade of a stonemason until 1896, when he bought his father's farm, and since that time has not only attended to his farming but has also continued in his former business. Before removing to his present home, Mr. Shaner spent some time in Perkiomen township, being engaged in the mill- ing business.
The farm has been greatly improved under his management, and each year he aims to be in a better position than before. He is a member of the following organizations: the Knights of the Mystic Chain; the Junior Mechanics; the Odd Fellows of Pottstown. He and his wife belong to the German Reformed church of New Hanover township. They have no children. Mrs. Shaner was born in 1872.
JACOB SHADE, a well-known citizen of Royersford, was born in Upper Providence town- ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, October 5, 1827. He was reared on the farm, attending subscription schools, but owing to the need for his services at home, his educational advantages were - comparatively limited. He was the son of Jacob and Mary ( Shunk) Shade, both of Montgomery county. The last-named Jacob Shade was the son of another Jacob Shade, who married a Miss Buck, also of an old Montgomery county family. Both families were mostly farmers and both are of German descent, but there have been a half- dozen generations in Pennsylvania. Jacob Shade was a member of the Reformed church. His children were: Henry, Daniel, Jacob (father), Elizabeth, Christina, and Catharine, who died unmarried ; and Margaret (Mrs. B. Place).
Jacob Shade (father), after his marriage, en- gaged in farming in Upper Providence township. Later he removed to Limerick, where he spent one year and then returned to Upper Providence. He again went back to Limerick, and engaged in farming near the locality where Royersford now stands. He died in 1829. He was a member of the Reformed church. His wife survived him, and married Benedict Garber, a blacksmith, who at first located in Upper Providence township, but in 1834 removed to Limerick, where he worked at his trade a number of years. In 1848 he re- tired from active labor and lived for a time in Philadelphia, but later went back to Royersford and built a home, where he died, and his wife died in 1871 or 1872. The children were: Fran- cis, a blacksmith; and Martha (Mrs. Evan Lewis).
Jacob Shade's children were : Abel, who died
415
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
at the age of thirty-two; Jeriah, a Reformed min- ister ; Henrietta (Mrs. F. Isett) ; Charlotte (Mrs. Peter Cramer), both died in Philadelphia ; Daniel, a wheelwright first and later a physician; and Jacob, mentined hereinafter, who is the only member of the family now living.
Jacob Shade was only about eighteen months old at the time of his father's death. His mother cared for him, although others of the children were scattered, as she married again. Jacob grew up with his step-father, and learned the trade of blacksmithing, remaining under the par- ental roof until the retirement of his step-father, when he married and continued the blacksmithing business at the shop near Limerick church. He remained a dozen years, or until 1860, when he remove:l to a location near Linfield, conducting business there until the year 1901, when he retired and settled in Royersford. He bought a hand- some residence where he now lives, enjoying him- self as best he can. He still retains the shop and six acres of land near Linfield. During his early days when he and his step-father worked together at the blacksmith business, a different state of things prevailed from that of later times. Hon- esty and fair dealing were the rule in almost every community, and all were striving to make an honest, even though it might not be a luxur- ious living. Mr. Shade was an active Democrat. He was well informed upon all subjects of gen- eral interest. He took a hand in working for party success, and was everywhere regarded as an influential citizen. As the result of his activity in politics, he received the nomination of his party at one time for recorder of deeds of Montgomery county, but his party was in the minority that year, and his Republican competitor was elected to the position. He was only defeated, however, by a small majority. He served as township aud- itor and in other minor offices. He was recog- nized as an effective campaign worker, who was always willing to do his share towards securing party successes.
In 1851, he married Miss Mary A. Major, who was born in Limerick township, August 10, 1827, being a daughter of Jacob and Mary M. (Schwenk) Major. Jacob Major was the son of
John Major, while John's father was Jacob Major, who came from Wales to this country during colonial days and settled in Montgomery county, emigrating along with the Evans family and others who settled in Limerick and adjoining townships. The Majors were mostly farmers. John Major was a leading Democrat. He filled several township offices, including constable and tax collector. His children were : Jacob, William, Jolın, George and Hannah (Mrs. Daniel Miller). Jacob Major was reared in farm pursuits and learned also the shoemaker's trade. He died in Limerick in 1851. His wife survived him seven- teen years, dying in 1868. She was the daughter of Matthias Schwenk, a tailor, who was of Ger- man descent, and a member of the Lutheran church. He had only one child-Mary Magda- lene, mother of Mrs. Shade.
The children of Mr. and Mrs. Major were: Matthias, John, Louisa, Mary A. (wife of Jacob Shade), Elizabeth, David Enos and Catharine.
The children of Jacob and Mary A. Shade were : Charlotte (Mrs. William Saylor ), John M., Zephanian, Samuel, a stove mounter, Jacob A., Catharine (Mrs. Charles Hetrick), who died in 1891, leaving two children ; Mary E. (Mrs. Daniel Shelcup) ; Harriet, unmarried ; Frederick I., who is employed at the Royersford Water Works ; and Charles M., who learned the trade of a black- smith, but later engaged in the life insurance bus- iness. Of these children, Jacob A. died when he was twenty-two years of age.
SAMUEL M. YERGER, a farmer of Towa- mencin township, Montgomery county, was born in Lower Pottsgrove township, October 30, 1859, his parents being Abraham and Sarah ( Miller) Yerger, in whose family were eleven children : Ann Amanda, deceased, Josiah M., Sarah A., Abraham M., Mary A., Henry J., Jacob M., Samuel M., Milton J., John F. and Daniel.
Samuel M. Yerger began his education in the common schools and continued to pursue his stud- ies there until eighteen years of age. He lived on a farm until twenty-two years of age, after which he learned the harness-making trade, serv- ing two years' apprenticeship. He worked as a
416
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
journeyman for sixteen years, at the end of which time he purchased the harness shop of his em- ployer, C. S. Stover, of Kulpsville. He also bought a barber business of the same man, and is now conducting this. In 1898 he purchased twenty acres of land in Kulpsville, upon which he has since made his home.
Mr. Yerger gives his political allegiance to the Republican party and has served as judge of elec- tions and is now filling the office of township as- sessor. He formerly belonged to the Lutheran church.
In 1884 Mr. Verger was married to Miss Emma C. Jones, a daughter of B. F. Jones, of L'pper Gwynedd, Montgomery county. Unto them have been born two children: Stanley J. and Le Roy J.
WILLIAM W. DAVIDHEISER, treasurer of the Manatawny Knitting Company, of Potts- town, was born in Amity township, Berks county, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1851. He is the son of John and Sarah (Weasner) Davidheiser, both born in Pennsylvania.
John Davidheiser ( father) was a miller and later a farmer in Berks county, Pennsylvania, living to the age of sixty-seven years, seven months, and fourteen days. He died in 1900. His wife died in 1894, aged sixty-three years. Both he and his wife were Lutherans, and in politics he was a Democrat. They had three children : William W .; Harriet, wife of Luther Fisher, of Boyertown ; and Jacob, of Pottstown.
George Davidheiser (grandfather) was also born in Pennsylvania, and spent the greater part of his life in Berks county. He died at the age of sixty-seven years, leaving a large family.
Jacob Weasner (maternal grandfather) was also a native of Pennsylvania and lived in Berks county. He died many years ago at the age of seventy years. By occupation he was a farmer. He married Mary Romich and they had six chil- dren. The Weasner family is of German origin.
William W. Davidheiser was reared on his father's farm in Berks county and attended the district schools in the vicinity of his home. He began life on a farm of two hundred and four-
teen acres in Amity township, and remained on this farm, which belongs to the estate, until 1878. On removing from Amity township, he went to Greshville, and purchased a farm of two hundred and fourteen acres and seventy acres adjoining. He also owns this at the present time. He lived at Greshville until 1901, at which time he went to Pottstown, where he now lives. He owns a beautiful home at the corner of Third and John- son strects. He also is the owner of four houses in Boyertown and he has an interest in the Mana- tawny Knitting Mills of Pottstown, of which he is treasurer.
January 1, 1877, William W. Davidheiser married Miss Matilda Bahr, daughter of Jacob and Kate ( Bliem) Bahr. They had two chil- dren: Minerva, and one who died in infancy. Minerva married Daniel R. Swaively and they reside in Amityville. They had three children, two of whom are now living: Leon and Stella. Mrs. Matilda ( Bahr) Davidheiser died in 1880, when she was twenty-six years old. She was a member of the Lutheran church.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.