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 80
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
Levi B. Moyer (father) was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and at present resides in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is and always has been a carpenter, having been very successful in his business, and having constructed many handsome buildings. He is a Republican, and is a member of the Episcopal church. Levi B.
471
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
Moyer was twice married. His first wife, Mrs. Elizabeth (Ehst) Moyer, died when Tobias Ehst Moyer, their only child, was two years and a half old. She is buried in Berks county. Mr. Levi Moyer married (second wife) Mary Mease, and they have two children, both residing in Bethlehem. They are: Edwin Moyer, married Emma -- and they have one child. He is engaged in the wholesale tobacco business. Ida, married Edwin Ludwig, who is by trade an iron worker and is employed by the government as inspector.
Peter Moyer (grandfather) lived in Bucks county, where he was engaged as a farmer all his life. He married Elizabeth Behler. The great-grandfather of Tobias E. Moyer emigrated from Germany, and settled in Bucks county.
Tobias E. Moyer acquired a good education, having attended school until he was eighteen years of age. He then started to learn the trade of a miller, and worked in a mill for eleven years.
He married Amanda Gabel, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Stauffer) Gabel, who lived with their daughter after her marriage. They owned and lived on the farm which Tobias E. Moyer afterwards bought. Mr. Gabel died July 19, 1801, and his wife died in December, 1895. They were both Mennonites, and are buried in Coventry township, Chester county. Mr. and Mrs. Tobias E. Moyer have three children, all residing with their parents. They are: Edwin Levi, Arthur Tobias and Mary Elizabeth.
After leaving the milling business in Boyer- town and Lehigh county, Mr. Moyer bought the farm where he now lives and has lived for eleven years. He has improved the place, which was already favored by nature with good soil and a beautiful location. Among other buildings he has erected a new barn.
Mr. Moyer in 1904 leased his farm and bought a handsome residence in Pottstown, at No. 523 King street, where he now resides.
Before he left Lehigh county his house was entirely burned, together with all the household goods.
Mr. Moyer is a Republican in politics, and has been a school director for many years, tak-
ing an active interest, as every progressive man does, in improving the educational facilities of his township. He is interested in the Ringing Rocks Mining Company, being a director in the com- pany and also an extensive stockholder. Mr. Moyer and his family are members of the Men- nonite church.
ISABELLA F. AND MARY CORSON are descended from one of the oldest families in Eastern Pennsylvania. They are the daughters of Alan and Elizabeth (Francis) Corson.
Cornelius Corson and wife emigrated from France about 1685, soon after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and settled on Staten Island, New York. All the family in America are de- scended from this couple. Cornelius Corson's will was probated in 1693. His son, Benjamin Corson, born on Staten Island, settled in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, about the year 1726. He is the ancestor of the Corsons of Bucks, Montgom- ery, and adjacent counties. His son, Benjamin Corson (great-great-grandfather), was seven years old when he came from Staten Island with his father. He married Maria Sedam, or Suy- dam, and had one son, Henry, who married Mar- garet Cornell. The other children were: Benja- min, Cornelius, John, Richard, Mary, Janle, Abraham.
Henry Corson (great-grandfather ) had the following children : Benjamin (grandfather ), Wilhelmas, Richard, Cornelius, Alice, and Mary. Henry Corson lived in Plymouth township in 1790. According to tradition he was very stout, weighing four hundred pounds. He was buried at Falls of Schuylkill about the year 1800.
Benjamin Corson (grandfather), eldest son of Henry, was a farmer, in Whitemarsh township, Montgomery county. He married Mary Febridge. They had three children: Margaret Corson, 1111- married, now deceased : Susan Corson, married Peter Weaver, and had no children ; Alan Corson ( father), married Elizabeth Francis, daughter of Thomas and Margaret Francis, of Shannonville, now Audubon. Benjamin Corson married (sec- ond wife) Christiana Febridge, sister of his first wife, by whom he had two children : Amos E.
472
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
and Mary F. Amos married Mary A., profession. He later retired from active prac- daughter of Abraham Heydrick, of Chest- tice, and was in the real estate business until his death on May 29, 1902. He married (first wife) Margaret Johnson, and had one daughter, Jean- ette, who lives with her aunts, Isabella F. and Mary. He married (second wife) Edith McPher- son, and they had one son, Alan Corson, a civil engineer, who is married and lives in Phila- delphia. nut Hill. They had one child, Sarah T. Corson, who married James Vancourt, who lived near Fort Washington. Mary F. Corson married Charles Vancourt, and had five children : Benja- min F. (deceased) ; James, who married his cousin, Sarah Corson; Emma (deceased) ; Howard, in the publishing business, married Sarah E. Rickert, and they have five children ; Horace, who married Anna E., daughter of the late Jacob Craft, of Norristown.
Alan Corson (father) was reared and edu- cated in Montgomery, where he was born March 29, 1808. He taught school in the county for many years, but finally settled on a farm near Audubon. He carried on general farming and attended market, being of good business capacity. He was often called upon to prepare legal docu- ments and settle estates. He served as justice of the peace for many years. He was a Whig in politics, and was one of the progressive men of the community where he lived. He died April 19, 1855. His wife was born October 7, 1813, and died October 1, 1894. She was the daughter of Thomas and Margaret (Umstead) Francis. The children of Alan and Elizabeth (Francis) Cor- son : Isabella_F .; Thomas F .; Margaret, died at the age of three years, and Mary.
Thomas Francis (maternal grandfather of Isabella and Mary Corson) was born in Mont- gomery county. He was of Welsh descent, and his wife of Holland Dutch. He was not a church member, but was trustee of the building of the Episcopal church, and was an advocate of all that was good. He was one of the early set- tlers of Lower Providence township, and was widely known and respected. Their children : Issabela (Mrs. William McHarg) ; a son who died unmarried ; John U .; Joseph, married Mary Phillips ; and Elizabeth (mother).
Thomas F. Corson, brother of Isabella F. and Mary Corson, was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, and was a prominent physician. He was an assistant surgeon in the Civil war, and afterwards settled in Philadelphia and engaged in the drug business and in the practice of his
Isabella F. and Mary, the oldest and youngest of their father's children, have never married and for years have lived together at Audubon, in Lower Providence township. Their niece Jean- ette also lives with them, and their home is a proof of the fact that three women may live happily together.
ALEXANDER LOUGHIN was born Oc- tober 23, 1845, in Sewickley township, West- moreland county, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Daniel and Jane (McKay) Loughin. He came with his father to Montgomery county by stage and boat, that being before the building of the Pennsylvania Railroad. His father settled in Port Kennedy, where Alexander grew to man- hood and now resides. He attended the public schools of the township, but left school at an early age. He drove his father's team on the Schuylkill canal, hauling lime and coal from Philadelphia to different points in the state. In 1862 he started to learn the trade of molder in the foundry of Samuel Cresswell, in Philadelphia, and remained there six months. For the next year he was employed in the blacksmith shops of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, at Six- teenth street and Penn avenue, Philadelphia. After that, and until 1867, Mr. Loughin worked in the blacksmith shop of Evan Vanderslice, at Fountain Inn.
In the last named year, being desirous of see- ing something of the country farther west, he went to Iowa and remained in that state for four months. For a time he was employed by a bridge building company. After returning to his home he worked in his father's store and coal yard until, again excited by the spirit of adventure, he took another trip to Iowa, this time staying
alexander Longhin
473
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
for six months. After this journey he settled down at Port Kennedy, conducting a general store for many years. This store is now man- aged by Daniel H. Loughin, a nephew of Alex- ander Longhin, who is also postmaster of Port Kennedy.
After conducting his store very successfully for about twenty-five years, Mr. Alexander Longhin retired from active life in 1895, and since that time he has been attending to his real- estate interests in Port Kennedy and to his farm in Stafford county, Virginia, which he purchased in 1899. It includes six hundred and twenty-five acres of land, three hundred of which are im- proved, and is situated four miles from Brooke Station, on the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Po- tomac Rilroad. It is a typical Virginia home- stead on the banks of the Potomac river, at Aqua Creek landing, which was famous during the Civil war.
Alexander Loughin is an independent Demo- crat, voting for candidates according to their worth rather than according to their party. He was postmaster of Port Kennedy for ten years, holding the office during Cleveland's first term, Harrison's administration, and part of Cleve- land's second term. He is not a member of any church but is a trustee of the Port Kennedy Pres- byterian church.
On May 2, 1893, Alexander Loughin married Mary M., daughter of Benjamin and Margaret (Shambough) Jones, who was born in Lower Providence township, February 6, 1837. The Jones family are old residents of Montgomery county and have always lived in Lower Provi- dence township. Mrs. Margaret (Shambough) Jones was of German extraction and her hus- band's ancestors were Welsh. Both Mr. and Mrs. Jones were members of the Lower Provi- dence Presbyterian church and are buried in its churchyard. Mr. Jones died in 1885 and his wife in 1869. They had five children as follows : Lydia Ann, married Price Schutt, and lived in Port Kennedy until Mr. Schutt's death. Mary M., is the wife of Mr. Loughin. Elizabeth mar- ried Christopher Bridge and they live in Prince- ton, Minnesota. Mr. Bridge was a member of
Company I, Fifty-first Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Hartranft, and served throughout the war. He re-enlisted with his reg- iment and was wounded in the head in one of the battles in Virginia. John died in childhood. David married and lives in Norristown.
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Loughin have no children.
Daniel Loughin, the father of Alexander Loughin, settled at Port Kennedy in 1847. He was born in County Antrim, Ireland, but his an- cestors were of Scotch descent. He came to America when about eighteen years of age. Two brothers and his mother also came to America. His father died in Ireland. In 1863 he bought the hotel and removed to it in 1864. He mar- ried Miss Jane McKay, who was born in Ire- land. He died September 15. 1898, while his wife died in Port Kennedy, in August, 1892. Their children are: Isabella, born in Pittsburg, February 10, 1842. She resides with her sister Catharine, and manages the Logan home. John, born in Sewickley, Westmoreland township, Pennsylvania, November 6, 1843, married Annie R. Gitty, and they live in Virginia. He served in the Civil war. His first enlistment was with the Weathrell Guards, before the war, but from some cause they were disbanded when called into ser- vice. On June 16, 1863, he joined the Second Blue Reserves of Philadelphia, known as the Thirty- third Pennsylvania Volunteers and served until August 3, 1863. This was during the invasion of Pennsylvania by Lee and his army. In Feb- ruary, 1864, he joined Company C, One Hundred and Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers. The regiment was commanded by Lieutenant- Colonel G. K. Bowin, Third Brigade, First Di- vision, Eighteenth Army Corps. He was slightly wounded at Dorsey's Bluffs but did not leave the field. Here he was made corporal. At Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864, he was wounded in the right leg, was sent to the hospital and on his return was made sergeant. After Lee's sur- render he was transferred to the Freedemen's bureau at Campbell Courthouse, where he re- mained until December 14. 1865, when he was honorably discharged. Mr Loughin was engaged
474
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
in ten raids and engagements, including Swift Creek, Fair Oaks, Cold Harbor, Chapins Farm and several others. The company to which he belonged lost in killed and wounded one captain, two lieutenants and forty-two men. Alexander is the third of the family. Annie J., born Decem- ber 2, 1847, married William A. Murtha (de- ceased). She lives at Port Kennedy. Mr. Murtha served in the war of the Rebellion. Dan- iel, Jr., born February 10, 1850, died May 18, 1877, unmarried. He was a conductor on a Phil- adelphia & Reading express train. Catharine, born June 21, 1854, is unmarried and lives with her sister Isabella. Harry Loughin, born March 16, 1858, married Clara J. Gibson. He was the conductor on the train which was wrecked at Shoemakersville, September 19, 1900, and was among the killed. He left a widow and one child, Jennie G., seventeen months old.
Alexander Loughin was made a Mason in Phoenix Lodge, No. 75, F. & A. M., Phoenixville, Chester county, Pennsylvania, December 18, 1869. He is a member of Phoenix Chapter and the Jerusalem Commandry, No. 15, of Phoenix- ville, Chester county, also of Port Kennedy Council, No. 844 Jr. O. U. A. M. and is past officer and treasurer of the council, and the Valley Forge Lodge, No. 459, I. O. O. F. He has filled all the chairs and is now its secretary.
AUGUST STREHLE, son of Matthias and Eleanor (Yerger) Strehle, was born May 19, 1835, at New Weir, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany. His father was a cooper by trade, to which August was also apprenticed after attend- ing the state school of his parish until he had reached the age of fourteen years.
In 1855, having finished his apprenticeship, August came to this country and settled in Phila. delphia, where he worked for Louis Bergdoll and others at his trade until the year 1864, when he established himself in business as a cooper at No. 1732 Frankford avenue. He also kept a hotel at that location, remaining in business there until 1898 when he retired, having disposed of his business, and decided to remove to the country.
Mr. Strehle married, November 14, 1856, Frederica Pflander, born May 28, 1837, daugh- ter of Jacob and Agnes Barbara (Heckler) Pflander, of Felbach, Wittenberg, in Germany, at which place the father had been for some years a bailiff or constable, but he dying his widow re- moved to Philadelphia. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Strehle: 1. Mary, born November 29, 1857, married Charles Smith, of Philadelphia, and had two children; Elizabeth, born Oc- tober 9, 1859, who married Joseph Muller, of Philadelphia, and had two children, Frederica, born July 20, 1888, and Harry, born Sep- tember 22, 1895; Catharine, born Septem- ber 6, 1861, died in October, 1866; August, born September 8, 1863, died in infancy ; Josephine, born in 1865, deceased; Frederica, born September 6, 1867, married Louis Kiefer, of Philadelphia; August, second, born April 15, 1869, married Gertrude Kramer, of Philadel- phia, and had one child, Edna, born in Decem- ber, 1895; Amelia, born June 3, 1871, married in April, 1895, Louis Doell, of Philadelphia, and had three children, Edna, Walter, and Hen- rietta; Henry, born in 1873, died in 1876; Harry, born October 7, 1876, married, July, 1901, Mary Rayner, daughter of Henry Rayner, of Penllyn, farmer, and had two children, Mary, born November 7, 1902, and Henry, born July 19, 1903; Frank, born July 19, 1879, deceased.
Mr. Strehle, having retired from active busi- ness, resides upon the farm that his thrift and industry have enabled him to acquire. In his younger and more active years, he took much in- terest in those organizations that are dear to the German heart, and whose tendency is to keep up the old associations of the sons and daughters of the Fatherland, including the Junger Mannerchor, the Canstatters, Schutzenferein and singing socie- ties. Fraternally Mr. Strehle is a member of Goth- ic Lodge, No. 519, Free and Accepted Masons, of Philadelphia, and has been since 1870. Now in the autumn of life, Mr. Strehle, having raised his family, is enjoying well-earned repose, and enjoys the respect and confidence of the com- munity in which he lives.
475
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
JOHN R. HERNER was born in Amity township, Berks county, Pennsylvania, November 18, 1834. He is the son of David and Susan ( Rhoads) Herner.
David Herner (father) was born in Amity township, Berks county, and spent his life on the farm. He held various township offices, and was a prominent man in his community. He died in Amity township at the age of eighty- nine years. He married Susan Rhoads, who was born at Milton, Pennsylvania, and died at the age of seventy-seven years. David Herner was a member of the German Reformed church, while his wife was a Lutheran. They had eight chil- dren, four of whom are now living: John R., Nathaniel, Sarah and Franklin.
Henry Herner (grandfather) was also a na- tive of Berks county, and was a farmer. He served in the war of 1812, and at the time of his death was nearly ninety years of age. He held township offices. His wife lived to an advanced age and they had a large family. John Rhoads (maternal grandfather) was born in Pennsylvania, and spent most of his life at Mil- ton, where he was a farmer. He and his wife both lived to an old age. They had five chil- dren.
John R. Herner was reared in Berks county and attended the district schools. Beginning at the age of eighteen he worked at the trade of flour milling for sixteen years, part of the time operating a mill which he had rented, in Amity township. After leav- ing the milling business he worked on the farm for three years, during which time his wife died. In 1878 he removed to Pottstown, where he has resided ever since, being employed in the Potts- town Iron Company's mill.
November 3, 1862, John R. Herner married Miss Susan Sassaman, daughter of Daniel and Susan Sassaman. They had four children: I. Warren, a puddler in the Glasgow Iron Works. He married Clara Schaeffer and they have one child, Maud. 2. Lucy, unmarried and keeps house for her father. 3. David, died at the age of ten years. 4. John Allen, died at the age of eight 12. Mrs. Susan (Sassaman) Herner died
in 1873, at the age of twenty-eight years. She belonged to the German Reformed church.
October 8, 1887, John R. Herner married (second wife) Mrs. Matilda Moyer, widow of William Moyer. Mrs. Matilda Herner died in 1891, at the age of forty-four years. She was a Baptist.
Mr. Herner is a member of the German Re- formed church. Politically he is a Democrat, and was a school director for several terms. He was also township auditor and held other town- ship offices. He belongs to the Patriotic Order, Sons of America. . He resides at 401 Chestnut street, where he bought a home and remodeled it.
MAHLON HILLEG.ASS, a retired mer- chant and highly respected citizen of East Greenville, is a son of Charles and Christiana (Graber ) Hillegass. He was born July 19, 1829, in Milford township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania.
Charles Hillegass (father ) marrier Chris- tiana Graber. He was one of the projectors and chief promoters of the Goshenhoppen Turnpike Road Company, organized in 1851, and served for many years as its president. He was a leading member of the new Goshenhoppen church, served as elder, deacon and trustee, and was also one of the building committee of the present church.
Mahlon Hillegass received only a limited edu- cation at the district schools of that day. He learned the mercantile business by clerking in his father's store, and after sufficiently mastering its details he engaged in business for himself at East Greenville, where he soon built up a very extensive and profitable trade, one of the largest in that section of the country. He continued in business until his hearing became impaired, when he retired and has since lived at his home in East Greenville. He is a Democrat in politics and a leading member and elder of the New Goshenhoppen Reformed church. He served as treasurer of the Greenlane and Goshenhoppen Turnpike Road Company for thirty-seven years.
On October 1, 1859, he married Sallie W., daughter of Danicl Eberhard, a farmer of Lower Milford township, Lehigh county. They had
476
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
one child, Cyrus Ellsworth, who died in infancy.
Mr. Hillegass is a worthy descendant of worthy ancestors. He is a progressive and pub- lic-spirited citizen, taking an intelligent interest in everything that is likely to benefit his com- munity. He is widely known and greatly re- spected.
DR. ELMER N. SOUDER, a prominent physician of Souderton, is the son of Jonas and Amanda (Nicholas) Souder, of a family long resident in Franconia township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He is the only child of the couple.
Dr. Souder was born February 24, 1871. He was educated in the public schools of Richland township, and after completing the course very satisfactorily entered as a student at the State Normal School at West Chester. After com- pleting the course there, he entered the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where he grad- uated in 1895, and then located at his present home in Souderton. He has succeeded in estab- lishing an extensive and profitable practice not only in Souderton, but in the surrounding country. He married, in 1897, Miss Bertha Hartzell, of Hilltown, Bucks county, belonging to an old and highly respected family of German descent. She is a daughter of Andrew Hartzell. The couple have one child, Gladys.
Dr. Souder is a Republican in politics, al- though he is too busy with his professional duties to become a candidate for public office. He is, however, a member of the board of health of Souderton. He is a member of the Patriotic Order, Sons of America. He and his family at- tend the Methodist church.
The Souder family is one of the oldest in Montgomery county, being of German origin. The founder of the family in America was Christian Souder, who came to Pennsylvania in colonial times and settled in Franconia town- ship, Montgomery (then Philadelphia) county, near the Indian Creek Reformed church. He was there in 1755 if not earlier. He married and reared a family, among his children being Jacob Souder. who was reared on the farm and at-
tended neighborhood schools. He became a farmer, which occupation he followed through life on the old Franconia homestead. Among the children of Jacob Souder was Christian, the grandfather of Dr. Souder, the subject of this sketch. He was born on the homestead in the year 1791. Christian Sonder was a man con- siderably above the average in ability and good judgment. He acquired an ordinary education in the schools of the vicinity, and then devoted himself to the occupation of farming, dying at a very advanced age. He retained his faculties un- til his death in a very remarkable manner.
Christian Souder married Miss Catherine Nyce, of the same township, and reared a large family of children. Among them was Jonas, the father of Dr. Elmer N. Souder. He was born on the homestead in 1836, and died in 1873. After completing his studies at the schools of the vicinity he learned the shoemaking trade, and followed it successfully for a number of years. He removed from the old neighborhood to the vicinity of Telford, in Franconia township. He married Miss Amanda Nicholas, who is still liv- ing. Mr. Souder was a Mennonite in religious faith, and in politics a Republican.
The Souders are numerous in that section of Montgomery county, and are among the most respected and useful members of the community.
DR. CHARLES H. MANN, a leading phy- sician of Bridgeport, is a member of an old Bucks county family. He was born in Doylestown, August 3, 1852, on the homestead farm which came into the possession of his grandfather in 1790, he buying it of Benjamin Snodgrass. It is now owned by Dr. Charles H. Mann. On this farm Dr. Mann was reared, attending the public schools of the vicinity and graduating at the Doylestown Seminary. From that institution he entered LaFayette College, at Easton, taking a two years' course. He then became a student in the Bellevue Medical College in New York city, from which he was graduated in April, 1874. He also graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, receiving from the last-named in- stitution his degree of M. D.
477
MONTGOMERY COUNTY.
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.