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 74
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but of the independent class, a position he and his brothers can well assume as they are not office seekers. As a man of affairs Mr. McFarland stands high in his locality, and holds various posi- tions of trust. For years he has been a director in the First National Bank of Conshohocken, and its president since 1900. He has also been a director in the Bryn Mawr Trust Company since its organization, and is treasurer of the Con- shohocken Woolen Company.
On the 9th day of October, 1900, he was joined in marriage to Miss Martha, daughter of Edwin and Annie (Yerkes) Conrad, who was born September 29, 1868. After his marriage Mr. McFarland purchased a fine residence on DeKalb street in Norristown, where he now re- sides.
James Arthur McFarland was born on the McFarland homestead at Gulf Mills, March 10, 1857, and grew to manhood thereon. He at- tended the public schools in his young boyhood, and later was sent to Mount Pleasant Academy at Boyertown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. After his return from the Academy he was given charge of the home farm for a time, after which he engaged in the agricultural implement busi- ness and trade at the Gulf, and under his control this line of business has assumed large propor- tions, and to its management Mr. McFarland de- votes more hours hard labor every day of the week than most men would be willing to under- take. To such an extent is his time devoted to the line he is so well adapted to handle, that he has no time and less inclination to seek political honor and preferment. He has, however, de- voted considerable attention in the last few years to educational matters, and is now serving his sixth term as school director of Upper Merion township.
April 22, 1880, J. Arthur McFarland was united in marriage to Miss Anna B., daughter of Matthias and Eliza (Rambo) Walker, who was born January 11, 1860. Their children are Mary C., born May 23. 1881 ; Eliza W .. born October 21, 1882: Emma Merritt, born Decem- ber 15. 1884; George Matthias, born March 18, 1889, died December 20, 1889.
John, the youngest of George McFarland's sons, was born at Gulf Mills, on the 14th day of February, 1859, and has resided there, save the days spent in school, until the present time. Like his brothers, he attended the public schools until of an age to acquire the higher branches when he also became a pupil at Treemount Seminary, Norristown, under the tutelage of Professor John U. Loch. His attendance at the seminary ended, he went to Boyertown, and at the Mount Pleas- ant Academy completed his education. His school days ended, he returned to Gulf Mills and entered his father's mills, to which he has since devoted his time and energy. He, too, is a Re- publican, and is as independent politically as his brothers. He is treasurer of the George Mc- Farland Company, and also a director of the First National Bank of Norristown.
JACOB L. HALLOWELL, a well known farmer of Cheltenham, is the son of Abel S. and Tacy (Livezey) Hallowell. He was born in Abington township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, April 8, 1839.
Abel S. Hallowell (father) was a son of George and Sarah Hallowell, both natives of Abington township, where they spent their en- tire lives. Their children : Elizabeth, who mar- ried the late William Harper; Mary, deceased; Sarah, who married the late Abraham Chilcott, of Jenkintown : Susan, married Charles Lefferts, deceased; Jacob L., subject of this sketch; Isa- bella, wife of George Evans; Tacy, married Henry Warner, who is now deceased ; Georgianna, married J. Thomson Roberts, both now deceased; Abel S., Jr. John Thomson Roberts left five children.
Jacob L. Hallowell was educated in the public schools of Abington township, and in Abington Friends' School. He has been engaged in agri- cultural pursuits throughout his life. For the past thirteen years he has been a resident of Cheltenham township. On July 29, 1861, shortly after the breaking out of the rebellion, he be- came infected with the patriotic war spirit and en- listed in the Cameron Dragoons, an organization which later became the Fifth Regiment Pennsyl-
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vania Cavalry. He served throughout the year as second lieutenant, until December 23, 1862, when he resigned on account of disability. Mr. Hallowell is a member of Ellis Post, No. 6, Grand Army of the Republic, of Germantown; of Peace and Love Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Jenkintown ; and also of Jenkin- town Lodge, No. 476, Knights of Pythias.
Mr. Hallowell married, at Frankford, in Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, July 12, 1865; Rebecca R., born March II, 1845, daughter of Richard and Catherine (Thomson) Roberts. They have two sons : Richard R., born Novem- ber 27, 1866, and William L., born April 19, 1870, married Margaret Rollins, and has one daughter, Rebecca R. Hallowell, born August 28, 1903. Richard Roberts, father of Mrs. Hallo- well, belonged to an old family. He was born 4th-mo. 19, 1812, and died 12th-mo. 27, 1891. The children of Richard and Catherine ( Thom- son) Roberts were: I. Charles, who married Hannah Chandler, and they have a daughter Eva. 2. J. Thomson, deceased, married George- anna Hallowell, and their children were: George Franklin, who married Mary Jones, and has two children ; Helen and John T. Roberts; Catharine, who married Joseph Shoemaker, and has three children : Nellie R., Leslie and Charles O. Shoe- maker ; Susan L., who married Charles Obnecht, and has three children: Franklin R., John and Alice Catharine Obnecht ; Abel H., who married Etta Cuckle, and has one son, Linford C. Roberts ; William, deceased. 3. Benjamin Franklin, who died in infancy. 4. Rebecca R., who married Jacob L. Hallowell, the subject of this sketch. 5. Jane T., deceased, who married Abel Hallo- well, and has one child, Theodore H., born June 2, 1883.
Richard Roberts, grandfather of Mrs. Hallo- well, was the youngest child of Thomas, Jr., and Letitia Roberts, of Quakertown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He married first, Tacy Shoemaker, daughter of George and Martha Shoemaker, of Cheltenham, and after her death married, second wife, 9th-mo. 10, 1804, Rebecca Jones, born 6th- mo. 18, 1777, died 8th-mo. 19. 1825. Richard and Rebecca (Jones) Roberts had ten children,
from whom have sprung a very large family connection, mostly resident in the lower section of Montgomery county, especially numerous in the townships of Abington and Cheltenham. Dy the first marriage, Richard Roberts had three children. Thomas Roberts, Jr., was the son of Thomas and Alice Roberts, early settlers at Rich- land (now Quakertown), Bucks county, Penn- sylvania. ( For further particulars of the Roberts. and allied families, the reader is referred to Ell- wood Roberts' "Old Richland Families," a work which exhausts the subject). The Roberts fam- ilies as well as the Hallowells were all members. of the Society of Friends, and have become con- nected by intermarriage with many of the promi- ment families of Eastern Pennsylvania.
HORACE MARTIN BELLOWS, a well. known physician and surgeon of Huntingdon Val- ley, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, is among the oldest practicing medical men of his section of the state. He was born in the city of Phila- delphia, June 30, 1839, being the son of Martin and Maria (Keim) Bellows.
Martin Bellows, father, was a native of Massachusetts, and a direct descendant of Colonel Benjamin Bellows, the founder of Wal- pole, New Hampshire. Martin Bellows was born at Sturbridge, Massachusetts, April 5, 1813, be- ing the son of Jonas and Sallie (Bridges) Bel- lows. He married Maria Keim, July 12, 1838. Their children: Horace Martin, subject of this. sketch ; William Henry, born March 19, 1841 ; John Saunders, born January 19. 1843. Martin Bellows was a manufacturer of boots and shoes. He died in Philadelphia, in September, 1888. His wife died in 1898.
Horace M. Bellows obtained his education in the public schools of Philadelphia, including the- Hancock Grammar School and the Boys' High School with the expectation of becoming a physi- cian, but he was apprehensive that he might be too long dependent upon his father. He be- gan to look, after he had graduated with honor, February 12. 1847, toward mercantile pursuits, and took a course in Crittenden's Commercial College, Philadelphia, receiving his diploma May-
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8, 1857. Having thus qualified himself for an accountant, he entered his father's store as book- keeper. This occupation was not, however, suited to his taste, and after a short experience he resolved to turn his attention to the study of medicine as he first intended. In 1858 he en -. tered upon his medical studies with the eminent teacher, Professor Joseph Leidy, as his preceptor at the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. He entered that institution Sep- tember 28, 1858, and graduated March 14, 1861. After his graduation he served in the hospital of the Philadelphia Almshouse as resident physician for one year. The rebellion had meantime as- sumed a threatening appearance, and skillful sur- geons were needed in the quickly improvised hospitals that were established in Philadelphia and elsewhere. On January 31, 1862, Dr. Bellows was placed in charge of one of the wards of the United States army general hospital at Broad and Cherry streets, and his services proved to be so satisfactory that he was placed in charge of the hospital itself by the medical director of the department, Surgeon John Neill, during his ab- sence with the troops at Gettysburg.
From this time to the close of the war in 1865, the services of Dr. Bellows were constantly required in the hospital department. March 15, 1864. he was placed in charge of the hospital for recruits, drafted men and substitutes, at Twenty- second and Wood streets, Philadelphia. It still remained under his charge when it was trans- ferred to Twenty-third and Filbert streets, in that city. May 2, 1864, Dr. Bellows was trans- ferred to the United States army general hospital on South street, Philadelphia. May 14, 1864, he was ordered to report to the surgeon-general at Washington, and on May 16 he was assigned to Harewood United States army general hospital on the Corcoran Place, near the national capital. July 12 of the same year he was detailed by the medical director of the department of the Susque- hanna to examine recruits at Camp Cadwalader, near Philadelphia. On August 16 he was de- tailed to examine recruits for muster in the Sixth Union League Regiment, raised by General Horatio Gates Sickel for the Reserve Corps, and
known as the One Hundred and Ninety-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers. March 21, 1865, he was ordered to perform the duties of the surgeon commanding at the Citizens' volun- teer hospital, Broad and Prime streets, Philadel- phia, during the temporary absence of that officer. May 9, 1865, he was ordered by the medical director to the Citizens' volunteer hospital for duty. July 16, of that year, he was ordered to conduct a number of sick and wounded soldiers from Philadelphia to the United States army general hospital at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and other points enroute, according to designation. August 9 he was transferred to Mower United States army general hospital, being assigned to the charge of the Christian street general hospital, which was afterward made a ward of the Mower general hospital at Germantown. His connec- tion with the army ceased October 4, 1865, the Christian street general hospital being the last of the army hospitals remaining at Philadelphia, and it was closed soon afterwards. In addition to the positions which have been mentioned, Dr. Bellows held many others under the medical de- partment of the United States government.
After the close of the war, Dr. Bellows began the practice of medicine in the city of Philadel- phia, where he remained until March, 1870, when he removed to Huntingdon Valley, having pur- chased the property on which he still resides, and which from time to time he has greatly im- proved. He is deeply interested in whatever is likely to interest the community in which he lives, and in which he has built up a large and lucrative practice. He is a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, and while he lived in that city was a member of the Medical County Society of Philadelphia, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Dr. Bellows married, in Philadelphia, May 21, 1863, Catherine Schober, daughter of George and Susan Schober. They have one daughter, Susan S .. born March 20, 1865. Dr. Bellows is a member of Union Lodge, No. 21, Free and Accepted Masons. He is past master of Excel- sior Mark Lodge, and a member of Oriental
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Chapter, No. 183, Royal Arch Masons, of Phila- delphia. He is a member of and past grand of Eagle Lodge, No. 222, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of Huntingdon Valley, has been its secretary for many years, and is a member of the grand lodge of Pennsylvania. He is a past chief patriarch of Hatboro Encampment, No. 169, of Odd Fellows, and a member of the grand encampment of Pennsylvania for six years. He is a member and past chief of Moreland Castle, No. 82, K. G. E., and a member of the grand castle of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bellows has filled the position of school director. He has always been interested in every enterprise that is calcu- lated to benefit the community in which he lives. He was reared in the Presbyterian faith.
Dr. Bellows is a direct descendant of Joseph Bartlett, a Puritan of distinction, who arrived in this country in 1750 and was one of the early settlers of Cambridge and Newton, Massachu- setts. Joseph Bartlett was born in 1634, and died in 1701. He married Mary Wayt, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, October 22, 1668, and had a fam- ily of six children, four of whom were born at Cambridge, and two at Newton, to which place they removed in 1678. John, the fifth child of Joseph and Mary (Wayt) Bartlett, was born at Newton, in 1679. He married Patience Cady in 1706, and had ten children. Nathaniel, the fifth child of John and Patience Bartlett, was born at Newton, March 7, 1713. He married Sarah Thompson, of Brookfield, Massachusetts, on May 24, 1734, and his wife died October 28, 1749. He married (second wife) Mrs. Dorothy Harwood, of Worcester, Massachusetts, July 5. 1850. By his two marriages Nathaniel Bartlett had thirteen children, seven by the first, and six by the second marriage. Lucy, the fourth child of Nathaniel and Sarah (Thompson) Bartlett, was born at Brookfield, Massachusetts, April 27, 1740. She married Edmund Bridges, of Spencer, Massachusetts, and had nine children. The eighth child of Edmund and Lucy Bridges was Sarah, or Sallie, born October 22, 1772. She mar- ried Jonas Bellows in 1794. They had eight chil= dren born at Paxton, West Boylston and Stur- bridge. Martin Bellows, father of Dr. Horace
M. Bellows, was the youngest child of the family, and was born at Sturbridge, April 5, 1813. He married Maria Keim, at Philadelphia, July 12, 1838. Dr. Bellows is the oldest of their three children.
BARNET K. BEAVER, son of Frederic and Margaret (Knipe) Beaver, was born on the Beaver homestead, on the Bethlehem turnpike, now adjoining the limits of the borough of North Wales, June 19, 1859. He attended in the intervals of farm work the public schools of North Wales, and later the business college con- ducted for many years by the late Professor Samuel U. Brunner, which was the resort of many of the studious young men and women of that community in his school-going days. He at- tended that institution until he was about nine- teen years of age, when he discontinued school studies and assisted his father on the farm until 1884, when he succeeded to its management.
Mr. Beaver married, April 5, 1884, Angeline, daughter of Jacob and Fietta (Grove) Vanfossen, residents for many years of Centre Point, in Wor- cester township. Mrs. Beaver was born May 7, 1860, and died April 3, 1903. Their children : Harvey, born May 21, 1885 ; Samuel Arthur, born August 31, 1888; Irma Luella, born November 2, 1896; Raymond, born February 17, 1899. All reside with their father, Samuel attending the North Wales high school, and Luella also attend- ing school.
The Beavers have always taken an active part in local affairs, and have contributed much to the development and prosperity of the community in which they live. Barnet Beaver is a Demo- crat in politics. He is a director in the North Wales Building and Loan Association, a position which he has held for many years. In religious faith the Beavers adhere to the Reformed church, being members of St. Luke's, at North Wales. He has been one of its trustees for many years, since 1892.
Frederic Beaver (father) is the son of Henry and Barbara (Wanner) Beaver. He was born on the farm which has of late years been known as the William Ray Farm, being separated from the
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property now held by Barnet K. Beaver by the North Pennsylvania Railroad. Mr. Beaver was born July 15, 1816. In 1829, when he was about thirteen years of age, his father bought the pres- ent Beaver property and removed with his family to it, where Frederic was reared. He took an active interest in neighborhood affairs, and was an honored member of the community in which he lived. He married Margaret Knipe, of an old and respected Gwynedd family. Their children : Samuel Henry, born February 17, 1841, married, March 9, 1878, Phebe Ann, daughter of George Hallman and Catharine Ann ( Phander) Danne- hower, of Springhouse, who were farmers and well-known residents of that section of the coun- ty, the children of Samuel H. and Phebe Ann Beaver were Kate, Walter and Norman, all re- siding with their parents at North Wales ; Mary Ann, born December 7, 1844, married Washington Irving, son of Adam and Mary Fleck, of Lower Gwynedd township; Emma Louise, born No- vember 15, 1850, married March 18, 1874, Charles Henry, son of Charles and Elizabeth ( Wilson). Dannehower, of Springhouse, in Lower Gwynedd. Mr. and Mrs. Charles H. Danne- lower reside at Centre Square, where they are farmers, their children being: Walter Charles, born October 28, 1876, married Emily, daughter of Thomas Banks, of Norristown ; Irvin Frederic, born September 12, 1879, died May 22, 1899; Samuel Henry, born October 22, 1882, died Au- gust 26, 1884; Catharine Ann Beaver, born Sep- tember 3, 1853, married William Henry Danne- hower, of Lower Gwynedd, they residing at Colmar, and having two children; Barnet K., subject of this sketch.
MILTON R. DAVIDHEISER, of the firm of Davidheiser & Wiand, contractors and builders of Pottstown, was born in Upper Pottsgrove township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, De- cember 6, 1851. He is the son of Henry and Sarahı (Reigner) Davidheiser.
Henry Davidheiser (father) .was born in Montgomery county, and spent his life in farm- ing in Upper Pottsgrove township, where he owned a fine farm of 160 acres. He died at the
age of seventy years. His wife survived him ten years, and at the time of her death was seven- ty-one years old. He was a Lutheran in re- ligious faith, and she was of the Reformed church. They had eight children who grew to maturity, six sons and two daughters, four now living. They are: Ephraim, Reuben, Mary Ann, wife of Henry Y. Wise, Milton R.
Henry Davidheiser (grandfather) was a farmer and died in 1852, being advanced in years. He had nine children. Joseph Reigner (maternal grandfather ) lived in Upper Pottsgrove town- ship, where he died at an advanced age. He was' a farmer. His wife was Rosanna Reigner, and they had three sons.
Milton R. Davidheiser was reared on his father's farm, and lived with his parents until he married. He received his early education in the district schools, and later attended the Hill school at Pottstown. After leaving school he entered on the occupation of teaching, and re- mained thus engaged for sixteen terms, working at the carpenter trade in the summer season, and teaching in winter.
On October 10, 1874, he married Miss Anna E. Linderman, daughter of Peter and Sarah (Egolf) Linderman. They have had no chil- dren. Mr. and Mrs. Davidheiser are members of Emmanuel Lutheran church, of Pottstown. Mr. Davidheiser is a church trustee and a men- ber of the church council, and is also the present church treasurer, and a teacher in the Sunday school connected with it. Politically he is a Democrat. He has never sought or held public office, but has served on the borough school board for fifteen years, being its president for a number of years. Mr. Davidheiser and his brother Reuben own a brickyard at Stowe, a short dis- tance above Pottstown. He built a beautiful home in which he resides at 364 York street, in 1893-4. He also owns a number of other prop- erties in Pottstown.
Mrs. Davidheiser's parents were natives of Montgomery county. They had two children. The father died in 1900, the mother is still living. He was a school director and a prominent man in his community, having been a teacher in his
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younger life. Mrs. Davidheiser's grandfather was Aaron Lindeman. He lived on Crooked Hill, in the vicinity of Pottstown. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and died at the age of eighty- five years, and was buried in Limerick.
WILLIAM J. WELLS. When, in April, 1861, the firing upon Fort Sumter aroused the entire north to the fact that war was inevitable and that the issues then existing between the two sections would be settled by the arbitrament of the sword, among the first to express a desire to respond to President Lincoln's call for seventy- five thousand volunteers was a boy of nineteen years, who only three years before had landed in the United States from his home beyond the sea. His father would not consent to his enlist- ing, as the youth was small of stature, and in his opinion not able to stand the hardships of a soldier's life. There was naught to do but obey and for three months the boy continued at his work in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. The day came, however, when he quit work and set out to find employment in another part of the coal regions, with no thought of enlisting. While on his way to work, and walking along a moun- tain side lie heard the sound of martial music, as it came to him across the valley. He halted, and for a few minutes listened to the inspiring strains and watched the stars and stripes float- ing in the summer wind. He turned about, went home, changed his working clothes, and without saying a word to the family as to his intentions started for Minersville, where Captain Joseph H. Hockins was recruiting for the Forty-eighth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry.
The youth had no thought of bounty nor had he any knowledge of what was a soldier's pay. His only desire was to serve the country of his adoption.
That boy was William J. Wells, who was born in Blaina, South Wales, July 24, 1842. He remained there until 1858, when with his father he came to America.
Joseph Wells ( father) was born October 10, 1810, at Wells, near Bath, Somersetshire, Eng- land, which had undoubtedly been for genera-
tions the home of his ancestors, as indicated by the town and family name being the same. He grew to manhood in Wells and married Miss Elizabeth Smith, whose father was for many years keeper of the Hinton Abbey Lodge and died holding the position. Mr. Wells, Sr., in early life and until he removed to Blaina, was engaged in farming. About 1838, he with his family, which then consisted of his wife and two sons, Henry and John, removed to Blaina, where he obtained employment as an iron worker in the Blaina Iron Works, then under the manage- ment of Mr. Levick. He remained in Blaina until 1858, at which time his family consisted of seven chidlren, six sons and a daughter. In that year he came to America with the intention of making a home for himself and family, and brought with him his son William. After a voy- age of eight weeks on the sailing vessel, George Washington, they landed at Castle Garden, New York, and at once went to Minersville, in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, where a home was secured and all his family but his sons, Henry and John, were sent for. They arrived in 1859, and of the family who then came over all are alive but the parents and daughter. After a short stay in Minersville, he removed to Thomastown, in the same county, and engaged in the mining of coal. In 1864, he removed to Girardville, same county, and was one of its first settlers. Here he engaged in the same work as in the other towns and remained there until his death, which took place August 9, 1889. In politics Mr. Wells was an ardent Republican but never a politician. He was a member of the Methodist church over a half century, and a memorial writ- ten at the time of his death by a committee of his church in Girardville says of him: "He has lived among us twenty-five years and was hon- ored and respected by all. He was thoroughly honest and a man of great integrity. He was of the old school of Methodism and an earnest ad- vocate of the old fashioned Methodist camp- meeting."
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