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 78
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favorably remembered by many of the older resi- dents of Gwynedd and neighboring townships as a man of very generous and kindly impulses, much interested in everything relating to the welfare of the community in which he lived. He was a Democrat in politics, but not an active party worker, preferring to give close attention to his business. He was a member of the Baptist church. His premature death was greatly regretted by a host of sorrowing friends.
HERBERT U. MOORE, one of the more prominent of the younger members of the Nor- ristown bar, is a native of the city. He is the son of Samuel M. (deceased) and Savilla P. (Umstead) Moore, both of Norristown. Mrs. Moore is a daughter of Robert Umstead (de- ceased), a farmer of Trappe, Montgomery coun- ty, Pennsylvania. Herbert U. Moore was born May 24, 1875. He was educated in the public schools and graduated from the Norristown high school. He then entered Easton Academy, where he graduated, after which he entered Lafayette College, at Easton, where he graduated with honors in 1897. Having decided to study law and become a member of the legal profession, he entered as a student with Larzelere, Gibson & Fox, where he proved an apt scholar, and was admitted to the Montgomery county bar in 1901. He is also a member of the bar of the supreme court of Pennsylvania. He opened an office for the practice of his profession on Dekalb street, Nor- ristown, and after practising successfully for sev- eral years, he became associated with Freas Styer, a lawyer of considerable experience, the firm be- ing Styer & Moore. He married, in 1902, Miss Nina M. Boyer, daughter of Wallace and Ida (McCarter) Boyer, of Norristown. They have one child-Dorothy.
Mr. Moore is an earnest and thoroughgoing Republican in politics, and is a public speaker of good ability, his services being in demand dur- ing political campaigns. He is a rising lawyer, and an honorable and successful career at the bar may be predicted for him. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order, belonging to Charity Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of
Norristown. He is a member of the Presbyterian (First) church, on West Airy street, Norristown, and a trustee.
Samuel M. Moore (father) was one of the best known citizens of Norristown. He was the son of William Moore, for many years engaged in the produce business in Norristown, being lo- cated on East Main street near Arch. Samuel M. Moore was born in 1850, and died in 1897. He was educated in the public schools of Norris- town, and at the school conducted by Dr. John W. Loch, known as Treemount Seminary. On completing his education so far as it was ob- tained at the schools mentioned, he entered the produce business, which he conducted success- fully for a number of years. He purchased much valuable real estate in Norristown, includ- ing the property at Main and Mill streets, which he occupied as a store, doing a very extensive business, the building being now owned by W. A. Bauer & Company, wholesale grocers. Mr. Moore later engaged in the real estate business, in which he was very successful, and which he conducted to the time of his death. Samuel MI. Moore was an earnest Republican, and was hon- ored by his fellow citizens with several terms in the town council of Norristown. He was also connected with several of the important corpora- tions of Norristown, being a director in several financial institutions, including the Norristown Trust Company, and the Riverside Cemetery Company. He owned stock in most of the local companies. He was a Mason and stood high in the order, as he did also in the community at large. He was a trustee of the First Presbyterian church. Mr. Moore married Miss Savilla P. Umstead, daughter of a well known resident of Trappe, who survives him. Mr. and Mrs. Moore had the following children: Meta, married G. Carroll Hoover, Esq .; F. Kenneth ; Morris, who died young; and Herbert U., subject of this sketch. Samuel M. Moore was a man who was deeply interested in whatever concerned the wel- fare of the public, in borough, state and nation, and he possessed in a very remarkable degree the confidence and good will of those around him. The widow of Samuel M. Moore resides in a
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· handsome residence on West Main street, Norris- town.
William Moore (grandfather) is descended from one of two Moore brothers who came to this country from Scotland. They were men of deep religious principle, which they transmitted to their descendants, and which has made itself manifest in every generation of the family. Will- iam Moore was a native of Norristown, and was educated in the common schools, acquiring a good education. He turned his attention to the pro- duce business in which he was very sucessful. A man of excellent character, he enjoys in old age the respect and confidence of his fellow citi- zens. Mr. Moore was twice married. His chil- dren : John, Elroy, Clarence E., Anna E. (de- ceased), Emma, Lillian, Vincent, and Samuel M. (father).
SAMUEL DRESHER, for many years a director in the Montgomery National Bank, and in other financial institutions of the county, is a native of Upper Dublin township, where he was born in the village of Dreshertown, March 17, 1830. He is the son of Oliver and Annie (Anders) Dresher.
The Dreshers are an old family in Mont- gomery county, having been the founders of Dreshertown, in the vicinity of which they resided for many years, they being among the best-known residents of that section. Dreshertown derived its name from Christopher Dresher (great-grand- father), who was born in 1771. A postoffice was established there in 1832 and the Upper Dublin elections were held there from 1840 to 1856, when they were removed to Jarrettown.
George Dresher and his wife Maria were among the Schwenkfelder immigrants who came from Germany to Pennsylvania in 1734, landing at Philadelphia. They settled largely within the boundaries of what is now Montgomery county, and their descendants are among its most valu- able citizens. George Dresher had three chil- dren-Christopher, Maria and Rosina. His wife Maria died March 18, 1762. George died March 3, 1774.
Christopher, the next in the line of descent,
married Anna, daughter of Christopher Kriebel, June 19, 1744. The children of the couple were : George, born in 1746; Rosina, in 1748; Abraham, in 1750; Susanna, in 1753; and Maria, in 1757. Christopher died August 2, 1770, aged fifty-two years. Anna, his widow, died July 4, 1786.
George Dresher (great-grandfather), the eldest child of Christopher, married Maria, daughter of Christopher Yeakle, October 23, 1770. Their children were: Christopher (for whom Dreshertown was named), born August 8, 1771; Samuel (grandfather) born November 6, 1773; and Maria, born January 17, 1779. George died October 17, 1822, aged seventy-six years. His widow died September 23, 1823. The Dreshers as a rule had small families of children and few of the name are living at the present time.
Samuel Dresher (grandfather ) married Anna, daughter of Jeremiah Kriebel, October 22, 1801. Their children were: Susanna, born January I, 1803; Oliver, born in January, 1804; Levi, born March 3, 1811; and Daniel, born September 10, 1823. Samuel died April 1, 1833. His widow died April 3, 1833, so that the husband and wife died within two days of each other.
Oliver Dresher ( father) married Annie, daughter of Abraham Anders, June 5, 1829. Their children are: Samuel and Theresa. The daugh- ter, born January 28, 1832, died March 29, 1853. Oliver Dresher died March 17, 1880, at the age of seventy-six years. He lived at the old mill at Dreshertown, which had been in the possession of the family for more than a century. He com- bined the occupations of farmer and miller. He was a Whig in politics during the existence of that party and after its day a Republican. He was a prominent man in his community, and served several years as supervisor of roads in Upper Dublin township, and also held the position of school director for a number of years. His wife survived him, dying on July 21, 1894, in the eighty-fifth year of her age.
Samuel Dresher was reared on his father's farm, alternating in youth in attention to agricul- ture and the milling business and attendance at neighborhood schools. He has all his life been
SAMUEL DRESHER
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interested in farming, although of late years he has retired from active labors, his fine farm of a hundred acres in Norriton township having been rented for more than thirty years. He resides about a mile from Hartranft station on the Stony Creek Railroad. In addition to his ordinary oc- cupations, he has found time to devote to public interests and is one of the most influential citi- zens of his community.
On November 9, 1854, Mr. Dresher married Susanna Seipt, daughter of George Seipt, of Worcester township. She died September 19, 1901, leaving no children.
In thirty-two years Mr. Dresher has had only two tenants on his farm. He is a member of the Schwenkfelder church, as was his wife, and he has been a deacon therein for more than thirty years.
Mr. Dresher is a member of the board of directors of the Montgomery National Bank, of Norristown, a position which he has filled ac- ceptably for many years. He is also a director of the Montgomery Insurance, Trust and Safe De- posit Company. He was president of the Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Montgomery County for five years and a director for twenty-five years or more. He is a stockholder in the new Hay- market Company of Philadelphia. He is a trustee of Perkiomen Seminary at Pennsburg, an institu- tion which is under Schwenkfelder control.
Mr. Dresher is a Republican in politics. He has filled various positions in his township, in- cluding the office of school director. He has never failed to exercise his right of suffrage when he had an opportunity to do so. He cast his fifty-second vote on November 3, 1903.
ERNEST W. STRASSER, the well known blacksmith and wagon maker of Souderton, is the son of Frank and Elizabeth (Lowdenstein) Strasser, both natives of Germany. Ernest W. Strasser was born in Manayunk, in the city of Philadelphia, May 15, 1864.
Frank Strasser, father, was born in Saxony, and received a good education in the schools of that country, and on completing his studies learned the shoemaking trade. On reaching manhood he
decided that he would be better off in America than in his native land. Having married Miss Elizabeth Lowdenstein, they emigrated together and landed in Philadelphia. He was about to engage in business in that city when the Rebellion began with the firing on Fort Sumter by the troops of the state of South Carolina. He en- listed at once, and served in the Union army from 1861 to 1865, participating in many battles and skirmishes, and winning commendation from his superiors for his gallant conduct. He was a member of the Twenty-ninth Regiment New York Volunteers, and was engaged in the battle of the Wilderness in the celebrated campaign of General Grant against the city of Richmond, the capital of the Southern Confederacy. During the progress of the battle a shell exploded near him, destroying the sight of one of his eyes. At the end of the war Mr. Strasser returned to Philadelphia, and later removed with his family to Hatfield township, Montgomery county, Penn- sylvania, where he still resides. Mr. Strasser is a Republican in politics, a good citizen, and is highly respected by all who know him. Mrs. Strasser is also living. Mr. and Mrs. Strasser had two children, Francis and Ernest W., the subject of this sketch.
Ernest W. Strasser removed with his parents from Manayunk to Hatfield township at an early age. He was educated in the public schools of the district, and on leaving school learned the trade of a blacksmith in Franconia. On com- pleting his apprenticeship he labored as a journey- man in different localities, and in 1887 went to Souderton, and located permanently in that borough, at first leasing a stand and ultimately purchasing it, and successfully conducting it ever since. He has also erected a comfortable house in which he resides. He has added to his black- smith business the manufacture of wagons of all descriptions, in which branch he has also been very successful.
Mr. Strasser married Miss Mary Shellen- berger, daughter of William Shellenberger, late postmaster at Souderton. By the marriage the following children were born : Elizabeth, Francis, William and Edna. In politics he is a Republi-
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can, but not in any sense an office seeker, al- though he has been elected a school directer. He is a member of the Knights of the Golden Eagle, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Sons of Veterans. In religious faith he and his family are members of the Lutheran church. Mr. Strasser is emphatically a selfmade man, and is an influential member of the community in which he lives.
ANDREW WALT, a well-known farmer of Lower Pottsgrove township, was born March 8, 1840, in Perkiomen township, Montgomery county. His parents removed to Limerick town- ship when he was two weeks old. He is the son of Henry S. and Elizabeth (Stauffer) Walt.
Henry S. Walt (father ) was for many years a resident of Limerick township, Montgomery county, where he was a farmer. He was a Re- publican, and a member of the Lutheran church. He married Elizabeth Stauffer, who died some years before his death. They are both buried in Limerick township churchyard. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Walt had ten children, all of whom are living. They are: 1. Henrietta, married Josiah Evans, and resides in Limerick township; her husband died and left three children, he was a farmer. 2. Elizabeth, married Augustus Kale, of Pottstown, who died two years ago, he was also a farmer, they had three children who are still living. 3. Matthew, married Catharine Stetles, and resides in Limerick township, where he is a farmer, they have one child. 4. Annie J., married Jerie Krause, of Pottstown, where they reside, he is retired, they have three children. 5. Henry, married, and resides in Illinois, where he is re- tired from business ; he went West thirty-five years ago ; he was a school teacher and also kept a general store and dealt in coal, they have three children. 6. Sarah, unmarried, and resides with her sister, Mrs. Annie Kranse, in Pottstown. 7. Matilda, married Dr. B. F. Desmond, and lives in Limerick township, where he is a practising physician, they have five children. 8. Warren, married Ella Custard, and has five children, they are farmers in Chester county. 9. Abraham,
married Carrie Rambo, and has no children, he was a farmer, and served in the army during the Civil war, he is now retired. 10. Andrew.
Andrew Walt, the youngest son of Henry S. Walt, having gone to school until he was six- teen years of age, and having acquired a common school education, began to learn the trade of harness maker. He followed this occupation for three years, when he left it and has ever since been engaged in farming. In 1861 he removed to his present home, which since that time he has almost entirely rebuilt, the house as well as many other buildings being his work. He also owns some very valuable chestnut land in Ches- ter county, Pennsylvania.
January 25, 1861, Andrew Walt married Har- riett Brook, daughter of John and Maria ( Christ- man) Brook, who resided in Sanatoga, and from whom Mr. Walt purchased his farm. Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Walt had five children, of whom one died very young. The rest are: I. Harry, married Marietta Shaeffer (deceased) who left one child. He married (second wife) Sarah Hartenstine, of Lower Pottsgrove township. He is a molder and resides at Sanatoga. By his second marriage he has one child. 2. John, un- married, and resides in Colorado, where he is a farmer. He has lived in Colorado about ten years. 3. Irwin, married Catherine Gumerick, of Pottsgrove township, and lives on his father's farm, doing the farming. He has no children. 4. Warren, unmarried, and lives in Pheonixville, where he is superintendent of an iron works.
Mrs. Harriett (Brook) Walt died about ten years ago, and is buried in Limerick township. Andrew Walt married (second wife) Mary, daughter of Enith and Mary (Markley) Schwenk (deceased). Mr. Schwenk was a farmer, but is now living retired in Skippack township. By his second marriage Mr. Wa1: had one daughter, Sallie, unmarried, who resides with her parents.
Mr. Walt is a Republican and a member of the Lutheran church. He is treasurer of the Sanatoga Creamery Company, and is actively in- terested in many other business enterprises of his community.
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MISS MARY A. DAVIS was born in Mont- gomery county, where she has always lived. Her father, Dr. Thomas Davis, was born March 6, 1809, in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and was rcared by Jones Davis, an older brother, who was the son of Dr. Roger Davis, a prominent physician of Chester county, of Welsh descent. He owned a farm besides practicing niedicine, and was very successful both as a physician and as a farmer. He was a member of the Baptist church. The children of Dr. Roger Davis : Jones, a physician; Eliza (Mrs. Saylor), who ‹lied in Ohio, leaving three children, who re- turned to Pennsylvania, where they were reared ; Morris, occupies the old homestead in Chester county ; Roger, died unmarried; Maria (Mrs. Anderson) ; Thomas ( father of Miss Davis).
Morris Davis was the guardian of Thomas Davis. Thomas was reared on a farm, and attended the common schools of the village of Mantua, now West Philadel- phia, and also a seminary at that place, where he graduated, and then studied medi- cine with Professor Horner, of Philadelphia, as preceptor. He attended the University of Penn- sylvania, Philadelphia, where he graduated in 1834, and commenced practice in Lower Provi- dence township, remaining there until he mar- ried, December 5, 1839. He removed to Trappe, and practised his profession there for seven years. On account of failing health he gave up the prac- tice of medicine temporarily and went to White- marsh township, where he spent four years and regained his health. He then went to Jefferson- ville to practice his profession, and in 1852 located at Evansburg permanently. He practised his profession with success, giving every attention to his patients, and enjoying the confidence of the entire community. About seven years before his death he had a severe attack of stiffness, and re- tired from active practice. Some of his former patients continued to call at his house and re- ceive treatment until his death. He died Janu- ary 22, 1891. He was a member of the Presby- terian church at Eagleville, and in politics was a Democrat. Mrs. Davis died November 2, 1869. She was the daughter of Joseph and An (Lewis)
Reiff. Joseph Reiff was the son of Jacob and Mary (Detwiler) Reiff. The Detwilers are an old family of German descent, and many of them Dunkards. The children of Joseph and Ann Reiff : Enos, a miller by trade ; Sarah, mother of Miss Mary A. Davis; Jacob, a farmer; Mary (Mrs. Joseph Wilson) ; Isaac, a farmer.
Mary A. Davis is the only child of Dr. Thomas and Sarah Davis. She received a liberal educa- tion, and is a practical business woman. She in- hierited thie estate of her parents and is perfectly competent to handle it successfully. She has a fine farm in the valley of Skippack Creek, and other valuable property. The homestead at Evans- burg contains about ten acres. She has greatly improved it, and erected upon it a commodious three-story stone mansion of modern architecture, and all conveniences to be found in a city home. She has erected at heavy cost a mausoleum in River Side cemetery at Norristown, for the burial of her parents and herself. Miss Davis is an active member of the Lutheran church. In poli- tics Mr. Davis was a Democrat.
BYRON MILLER FLECK, son of Allen and Elizabeth James (Miller) Fleck, is a native of Lower Gwynedd township, having been born on the farm on which he now lives, November 29, 1859, being the second oldest child of his parents. He attended the public school of his district, commonly known as the "Eight Square School", and also Sunnyside Academy, at Ambler, which institution he left when he had entered his nineteenth year. During vacation periods, as well as at intervals at other times, he found abundant employment on the farm. His father was a careful and successful farmer, and he was thoroughly taught the occupation which was to be his future calling in life. The farm, known as Wil- low Valley, at that time contained 89 acres of land and timber, but has since been reduced to 80 acres by sale of a portion. When Allen Fleck pur- chased the farm it contained 124 acres. Since his death the farm has been held jointly by Byron M. Fleck and his sister Laura Dalena. It is operated as a dairy and a general farm by the two.
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Byron M. Fleck married, July 29, 1892, Mar- tha, daughter of Henry and Mary Ann (Fry) Reyner, of Penllyn. They have one child, War- ren Stanley, born January 24, 1903.
The family are members of the Baptist church at Ambler. Mr. Fleck has been a trustee of the church since 1902. Mrs. Fleck has been a member of the Aid Society since 1900. In politics Mr. Fleck is a member of the Democratic party, but has taken little interest in party affairs the past few years, his entire attention being given to the farm.
Allen Fleck (father) was the son of Jacob and Mary (Hallman) Fleck. He was born Au- gust 1, 1820, on the old Fleck homestead, more recently the Adam Hoover farm. He attended the schools of the neighborhood, but the opportun- ities for acquiring an education were much more limited at that day than they are at the present time. It was all that a farmer's son could ex- pect to obtain the mere rudiments of an education, leaving it to those more fortunately situated to attend the higher institutions of learning. The only marvel is that men so intelligent as Allen Fleck and his contemporaries of a past genera- tion were produced amid such surroundings. Mr. Fleck married Elizabeth James Miller, daughter of Henry L. and Elizabeth (James) Miller, of New Britain township, Bucks county, Pennsyl- vania. The couple located immediately on the Willow Valley farm, which Mr. Fleck had pur- chased in 1842. The older child of the couple besides Byron M. Fleck is Laura Dalena, born August 19, 1858. She attended the Eight Square School and Sunnyside Academy at Ambler, until her eighteenth year, after which she remained with her parents, assisting in household duties. She married, September 24, 1895, Finley Hutton, son of Lewis and Anna Mary (Brinton) Kitzel- man, of Dilworthtown, in Chester county, Penn- sylvania. Their only child is Stanley Brinton, born July 13, 1897. Mr. and Mrs. Kitzelman make their home with their brother.
Jacob Fleck (grandfather ) .was born Febru- ary I, 1784, and died March 25, 1824, at the fam- ily homestead, in Lower Gwynedd. He married, September 8, 1807, Mary Hallman, of the same
vicinity. Their children: 1. Catharine, born May 26, 1808, who married John Kuhler, of Lower Gwynedd, their children being Mary Ann, who married George Wallace, they living in Phila- delphia, and Anna, who married Albert Colflesh, the couple living at Ambler; 2. Margaret, born April 16, 1810; 3. Henry, born May 1, 1813, married Mary Detwiler, of Horsham township, and died a few years ago in Norristown at a very advanced age; 4. Mary Ann, born July 5, 1815, who married Charles Berkhimer, of Whitpain township; 5. Allen, father of Byron M. Fleck. The Flecks have always been a worthy and highly respected family, enjoying the esteem of the whole community. The family are of German origin, their ancestor having come to America with the tide of emigration which came about the middle of the eighteenth century.
RICHARD F. WOOD was born on a farm near Chester, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, in the William Penn house, July 10, 1840. While Richard F. Wood was still very young, his fa- ther removed to the township of Concord and rented a farm of Mr. Perkins, where the family remained for a short time and then removed to Plymouth township, Montgomery county, where they lived two years. The family next spent five years on the Yerkes farm in Lower Merion township and then went to Swedesburg, near Swedeland, residing on the Abraham Supplee farm for six years. They after- wards lived on the Rambo farm in the upper part of Upper Merion township for ten years, and it was here that Richard F. Wood was reared. He received his education in the public schools, acquiring a knowledge of the ordinary branches of learning. In 1868 his father bought of Mr. Fulride the farm where Richard F. Wood now lives, and his son Richard managed it as a tenant for a year before the elder Mr. Wood removed to it. The father and son then tilled it on shares until the death of the father in 1872. A year later the farm was sold at executor's sale and Richard F. Wood pur- chased it, although he did not have even his stock paid for. This was a venture that required
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