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 87
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John Roberts (great-great-grandfather) was born 4th mo. 26, 1710, and died January 13, 1776. His wife died 12th mo. 8, 1779. He was the son of Robert and Sidney Roberts. Robert
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Roberts was the son of John and Gainor (Fugh) Roberts. This John Roberts was the immigrant, and he was also a very prominent man in the colony. He held the office of justice of the peace, and was elected to the colonial assembly. Where he settled he was almost surrounded by Swedes, who came to the country before he did. He built the old mansion which is still occupied by his de- scendants. He left for his posterity a very inter- esting account of his life, for which see Thomas Allen Glenn's "Merion in the Welsh Tract."
Algernon Brooke Roberts was educated in the Episcopal Academy, Philadelphia, becoming a student at Princeton University, from which he graduated in 1896, at twenty-one years of age. He then entered the Law Department of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania, completing the course and being admitted to the Philadelphia bar in 1899. He was admitted to the bar of Montgom- ery county in 1903. Senator Roberts entered upon an active career at the bar, attracting favor- able attention from the first. In 1900 he was elected a member of the board of commissioners of Lower Merion township, and the same year was presidential elector-at-large on the Republi- can ticket for McKinley and Roosevelt. March 18, 1901, he was appointed assistant United States district attorney for the eastern district of Pennsylvania. In 1902 he was elected to the presidency of the Lower Merion board of town- ship commissioners, in which position he has been very active in behalf of the public interests of the township in which the family have resided from the earliest colonial times. At the election in No- vember, 1902, Mr. Roberts was elected senator, after a very active canvass, his Democratic op- ponent being John A. Wentz, who had been elected in 1898. The senatorial career of Mr. Roberts was exceedingly brilliant, he laboring zealously, not only for his constituents but for the interests of the people of Pennsylvania. As the author of the Sproul-Roberts Road bill, provid- ing for state aid to highways, he was its cham- pion in the senate and secured its passage through that body by a practically unanimous vote. He has also devoted much time and effort to the ex- planation of the workings of the law to the people
of the county, making many public addresses at different points. He made also otherwise a splen- did record in his first session at Harrisburg. He also took an active part in the Roosevelt campaign of 1904.
Mr. Roberts married, June 12, 1902, Elizabeth Binney Evans, daughter of Rowland Evans, Esq., of the Montgomery county and Philadelphia bars, and granddaughter of Horace Binney, of the Philadelphia bar. They have one son, Alger- non, born April 6, 1903.
B. WILSON COX, well known as a lime- burner and business man of Whitemarsh town- ship, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, is the son of Charles A. and Margaret H. (Davis) Cox. He was born at Cold Point, in Plymouth town- ship, February 29, 1872. He was educated in the schools of the neighborhood, and also attended the Friends' Central School in Philadelphia, and took a commercial course in Peirce Business College. He then engaged in business at his father's ex- tensive lime quarries and kilns, in Whitemarsh township, and is now the general manager.
He married Miss Ida Jackson, a daughter of Andrew Jackson, of Norristown. The couple have one child, Margaret H., born November 18, 1902. Mr. Cox is an active supporter of the Re- publican party, although he has never sought or held office, preferring to atttend strictly to busi- ness. He is a member of the Masonic order, having attained the Commandery degrees. He and his family attend the Cold Point Baptist church. The Cox family are of English origin, and their ancestors were members of the So- ciety of Friends.
CHARLES STURGIS WOOD, a retired farmer residing in Norristown, Pennsylvania, was born on the old family homestead on Skippack pike, near Center Square, in Whit- pain township, Montgomery county. He was the fifth child and third son of Charles S. and Melinda (Supplee) Wood. The father was a farmer by occupation, owning and operating a tract of land which he converted into a fine farm. He was born in the year 1803, and was the son
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of James Wood of Horsham township, Montgom- ery county, where Horace Wood now resides. Having arrived at years of maturity Charles S. Wood wedded Miss Melinda Supplee, and to them were born six children : Jonathan Harrison, born January 7, 1841, married Sallie Hunsicker, a daughter of Garrett and Kate (Rieff) Hunsicker, and lives in Philadelphia. Harriet Supplee, born December 22, 1842, died unmarried. Jeanette, born February 22, 1844, resides in Norristown. Samuel Supplee, born September 9, 1845, married Ella Boyd of Coatesville, Chester county, Penn- sylvania, and resides at Elgin, Illinois.
Charles Sturgis Wood is the youngest of the father's family. In his youth he attended the public school at Center Square, meanwhile assist- ing in the operation of the home farm. He be- came familiar with all the duties of the school room. He was thus employed until eighteen years of age, when he entered upon an appren- ticeship to the painter's trade, which he followed for nearly eight years. At the same time he re- mained at home and assisted in the farm work. He succeeded his father in the ownership of the old homestead, purchasing the interest of the other heirs at the time of the settlement of the estate. He then devoted his energies to manag- ing the farm for some years, engaging in the dairy business and in the production of general produce. In his operations he met with a fair measure of success, and as the years passed by accumulated a comfortable competence. He was an active and enterprising agriculturist until the spring of 1902, when he was succeeded by his son, Horace Centenial Wood. He now resides in Norristown, living retired from further business cares.
Mr. Wood has always taken a deep and active interest in the affairs of his neighborhood, and has given helpful support to many measures for the general welfare. Politically he is a Republi- can, and has always been a consistent yet con- servative worker in the interests of his party. He and his family are members of the Reformed church although in earlier generations his ances- tors were connected with the Society of Friends,
or Quakers, and held membership with the Plym- outh Meeting and that at Gwynedd.
On the 6th of February, 1873, Mr. Wood was united in marriage to Andora Rieff Tyson, a daughter of Andrew and Elizabeth (Rieff) Tyson of Lower Salford township, Montgomery county. Mrs. Wood was born on the 19th of November, 1846, and by her marriage became the mother of two children: Horace Centenial, born January 1, 1876, married Caroline Knaus, a daughter of Jacob and Sophia (Knaus) Weigner. Two children graced this marriage, Charles Earl, who was born May 24, 1898; and Ruth Mildred, born November 17, 1900. Horace C. Wood and his family now reside upon the old homestead in Whitpain township. Tyson, the younger son, re- sides with his parents at Norristown, and assists his father in the butchering and pork-packing business.
HORACE F. REIFSNYDER, the well- known railroad agent, located at Norristown, is a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania, where he was born January 8, 1852. He is the son of Jon- athan H. (deceased) and Mary K. Reifsnyder. He was reared and educated in that county, in the vicinity of Pottstown, in which locality the family had resided for several generations.
The Reifsnyders are of German descent, but have been domiciled in Pennsylvania for a cen- tury and a half. John Reifsnyder, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, conducted a general store very successfully in Chester county, and was widely known in that section of the state. He married Anna Harley. The couple had a family of four children, one of whom was Jonathan H. Reifsnyder.
Jonathan H. Reifsnyder (father) was born in 1819, in Chester county, and died there in 1893. After obtaining his education in the schools of the vicinity he engaged for a time in the occupa- tion of teaching, and later turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, in which he was successfully engaged for a number of years. In politics he was a Republican, although he never sought or held office. In religious faith he was a member of
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the Lutheran church. He married, in 1848, Mary, daughter of Frederick Klink. Mr. and Mrs. Reifsnyder had five children, four of whom sur- vive, as follows: Frank, Irwin, Horace F. and Charles.
Horace F. Reifsnyder, the subject of this sketch, after relinquishing school studies occu- pied various clerical positions for several years and then became a railroad agent. He finally located at Norristown in 1884, accepting the posi- tion which he has held ever since. Mr. Reif- snyder has made many friends by his courtesy, affability and strict attention to business. The interests of the traveling public receive at his hands that consideration to which they are en- titled, and he possesses in a remarkable degree, the confidence and esteem of the community.
In politics Mr. Reifsnyder is an active and earnest Republican. He has served several terms as a school director from the seventh ward, in which he resides, his home being at No. 720 West Marshall street. He served a term as treas- urer of the school board, and has ever been a friend of educational progress in Norristown. He and his family are members and he is an official of Calvary Baptist church, at the corner of Mar- shall street and Haws avenue, Norristown. Mr. Reifsnyder married, May 6, 1874, Allie, daugh- ter of George Alexander, of Chester county. Mr. and Mrs. Reifsnyder have seven children as fol- lows : Carolyn, a teacher in the public schools of Norristown; George, Edgar, Herbert, Emma, Nelson and Eva.
Mrs. Reifsnyder's parents resided in Chester county, where they were for many years engaged in farming. After disposing of their farm her father was occupied in mercantile pursuits, con- ducting a general store at Pottstown Landing, opposite Pottstown. Mr. Alexander continued in the business until his death.
JOSEPH BOSLER, a widely and favorably known resident of that section of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, immediately adjacent to the city of Philadelphia, has been during a long and active career prominently identified with various of the most important commercial and
financial interests of that region. He has long been an influential leader in the Republican party, to which he has ever adhered, and is held in honor as a type of that excellent class of Americans who engage in politics as a duty incumbent upon the true citizen, and not for sake of personal ag- grandizement.
He comes of a family which, as its name indi- cates, is of German origin. His great-grand- father, who was his immigrant ancestor, on com- ing to America landed in Philadelphia. His wife came with him, and their son Joseph was born after their arrival. Joseph Bosler in his young manhood located in the village of Shoemaker- town (now Ogontz) and took employment as a teamster, hauling grain to the Cheltenham mills, and later delivering the flour therefrom. He eventually prospered and acquired property. He married Hannah McBride, of Paoli, Chester county, and they became the parents of two sons and three daughters : Joseph, who died June 23, 1828, at Columbia, Pennsylvania, where he was engaged as a contractor and bridge builder ; Charles, mentioned at length hereinafter; and Ann, Emma, and Ellen. Hannah (McBride) Bosler, the mother of the above named children died January 16, 1831, and her remains were in- terred in the Friends' burying ground on Chelten avenue in Cheltenham.
Charles Bosler, second of the sons of Joseph and Hannah (McBride) Bosler, was born August 27, 1810. He attended the neighborhood schools and received an education sufficient for all prac- tical purposes. When he was sixteen years of age occurred the death of his father, whom he succeeded in the business of wagoning flour from the old Cheltenham flour mills at Shoemaker- town to Philadelphia and grain on his return trip to the mills. He was eminently successful in this work, and in 1847 was able to purchase the Shoe- makertown flour mills, formerly the property of Charles H. Shoemaker, and with the assistance of his sons he operated the same from that time until his death, a period of twenty-six years, and accumulated a considerable estate. He was highly esteemed in the community, and one of its most valuable members. A man of the greatest energy,
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industry and integrity, his business career was characterized by sound judgment and prompt de- cision, and he held his verbal obligations as bind- ing as if based upon a bond, the forfeiture of which would bring ruin and dishonor. He was of lively and sanguine disposition, benevolent and kind-hearted, and charitable both in thought and deed. In politics he was a Whig until the forma- tion of the Republican party in 1856, when he connected himself with that organization, of which he was thenceforward an earnest and active member, voting for its candidates as a matter of principle regardless of the results at the polls. He marrried Mary Watson, daughter of William and Hannah Gillingham, of Buckingham, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Their children were as follows: 1. William G., born December 2, 1840. Early in the Civil war period he enlisted in Com- pany C, One Hundred and Thirtieth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, in which he served nine months, being wounded at the battle of Fredericks- burg, Virginia. He re-enlisted in Captain Samuel W. Comly's company of Cavalry. He was an ac- tive Republican, and took a prominent part in public affairs in Cheltenham township, where he was school director and auditor for some time. From 1871 to 1874 he served as transcribing clerk in the state senate. For a number of years he was in partnership with his father in the milling business, under the firm name of Charles Bosler & Son. After his death, which occurred March 19, 1871, and on January 1, 1872, his brother Joseph took his place in the firm, which was con- tinued under the same name. 2. Joseph, who is further referred to hereinafter. 3. Charles, a twin brother of Joseph, who died in infancy. 4. Han- nah, born January 22, 1848. Charles Bosler, father of the children above named, died August II, 1873, and his remains were interred in the Friends' burying ground at Abington, where those of his widow, who passed away January 3, 1899, were laid beside him.
Joseph Bosler, second child of Charles and Mary (Watson) Bosler, was born February 24. 1846. He acquired his literary education in the public schools of Cheltenham township, the Ab- ington Friends' School, and the Friends'
Central School in Philadelphia, located at Fifteenth and Race streets. He then completed a commercial course in the Philadelphia Business College, from which he was graduated in 1864, at the age of eighteen years. He shortly afterward engaged in a lumber and coal business at Shoe- makertown, now Ogontz, which he successfully conducted until January 1, 1872. Since that date he has devoted his attention to the operation of the old Cheltenham flour mills, which was form- erly conducted by his father and brother. Mr. Bosler was elected township auditor of Chelten- ham in 1871, and has consecutively served as a member of the board up to the present time. He is also actively connected with various financial institutions, among them the Jenkintown National Bank, in which he is a director, the National Bank of Germantown, Philadelphia, and the Penn Mu- tual Life Insurance Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in which he is a member of the board of trustees. For many years he has been a member of the Commercial Exchange of Phila- delphia, and he also holds membership in the Union League of that city. In his community he is a leader in every movement conducing to the public interest, and is known as a man of sound and stable judgment, a wise counselor, and a sym- pathetic and helpful neighbor. He has ever been a stanch advocate of Republican principles, and has taken a prominent part in every important political campaign since entering upon the duties and privileges of citizenship, but without thought of personal advancement, and he has never sought a public office. He has been a delegate to numer- ous county, congressional district and state con- ventions, and was either a delegate or an alter- nate in the national conventions of 1884, 1888, 1892, 1896, 1900, and was nominated in 1904 for presidential elector from his district. It is scarcely necessary to add that the calling of one individual to so many consecutive national bodies is a most unusual distinction, and emphasizes in the strong- est possible way the worth and usefulness of him who is so honored.
Mr. Bosler was married, October 6, 1869, to Cynthia G. Comly, who was born October 8, 1844, a daughter of Watson and Mary ( Lester) Comly,.
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well known Friends of Byberry, Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania. Born of this marriage were the following named children: Mary W .. who is the wife of Walter S. Comly ; Caroline C., who is the wife of Davis L. Lewis ; Charles W., a civil engineer, residing at Altoona, Pennsylvania ; and Lester C., who is a student in the University of Pennsylvania.
GEN. JOHN F. HARTRANFT. Among those who were brought into prominence by the war for the Union, forty years ago, there was none who achieved greater distinction, or attained a more brilliant career than John Frederic Hart- ranft, the typical soldier-statesman of Penn- sylvania.
Descended from that German ancestry which transmitted so many of its admirable traits to the people of Montgomery county, he inherited also the steadfastness and simplicity of the Schwenk- felders, that historic band who withstood persecu- tion and oppression in the maintenance of their religious principles. An earnest patriot, unsel- fishly devoted to the idea of national unity, he might, had he lived longer. have risen to still higher honors and filled a higher niche, if pos- sible, in the temple of fame.
The first of the name in this country was To- bias Hartranft, who came with other followers of Schwenkfeld to Pennsylvania, refugees from in- tolerance in their native land. Tobias married Barbara Yeakle and had several children, as fol- lows: Maria, second wife of Melchior Schultz. who died in 1799; George, married, but had no son, and died in 1759: Abraham, married Su- sanna Shubert, who came in the same ship, and died in December, 1766, his widow marrying Michael Seidle in Philadelphia : Melchior, mar- ried, and died in 1760, aged thirty-four years, without male offspring; and Rosina. Tobias Hartranft died in 1758, aged seventy-four, and his wife, Barbara, in 1764.
Abraham, the second son, who married Su- sanna Shubert, had the following children : Chris- topher, born in Philadelphia, October 5, 1748, married and had five children : Abraham, born in April, 1750, married and lived in Montgomery
county, having twelve children : Barbara, born in December, 1751, married, lived in Philadelphia, and had four children ; John, born in April, 1753, married three times, and had thirteen children ; Leonard, born in 1757, died in infancy ; Leonard, second, born November 6, 1759, married Chris- tiana Mayer, lived in Montgomery county, hav- ing fifteen children, and died at Tamaqua on Au- gust 28, 1841, aged eighty-two years, he being the great-grandfather of Governor John F. Hart- ranft ; Maria, married Conrad Mayer, a brother of the wives of Leonard and William, lived in Philadelphia, and had five children ; William, died in infancy; William, second, married Barbara Mayer, a sister of Leonard's wife, had four chil- dren, and resided in Berks county.
The ancestry of General Hartranft is contin- ued through Leonard, the sixth child, who mar- ried Christiana Mayer. Their children: Jacob, born in May, 1780, married Maria Geiger, lived in Ohio and died in 1862, Ephraim and John Hartranft, of Pottstown, being his grandsons : Re- becca, married Johan Beidman, and had three chil- dren ; Leonard (grandfather) married Elizabeth Engle, had eight children, living in Northumber- land county, where he died about 1842; Maria, born in 1784. married John Fox, and resided in Berks and Lebanon counties, having children ; Susanna, born in 1786, married Andrew Maurer, and lived at Boyertown, having eight children, and dying in 1861; John, born in 1788, married Miss Bucher ; David, born in 1789, married Miss Bickel, and had five children, marrying again and having five other children ; Anthony, born in 1791, died in childhood ; Margaretta, born in 1793, mar- ried Conrad Rhodes; Henry, born in 1795. mar- ried Mary Ann Gresh, living in Berks county and Philadelphia, and having twelve children; Cath- arine, became the wife of James Coates ; Amos, born in 1799, married Mary Haberstein, lived in Schuylkill county, and had three children ; Sarah, born in 1801, married Jacob Gilbert, and had three children : William, born in 1801 ; Christiana, born in 1807, was the wife of Jacob Lutz, and had seven children.
The line of descent is continued through Leon- ard, who married Elizabeth Engle : his children :
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Henry, born in 1804, who lived in Northumber- land county, and had a large family of children ; Samuel Engle (father) ; John, married, and had a family, who lived in Michigan ; Susan, the wife of Mr. Weinberg, also lived in Michigan ; Eliza, married to Mr. Hiles, lived in Michigan; Abra- ham, married, had a family, and resided in Ly- coming county ; William, married, and had chil- dren, living in Clinton county ; David, married, and lived in Michigan.
John F. Hartranft was married on January 26, 1854, to Miss Sallie D., daughter of William L. and Ann Sebring. Their children: Samuel Se- bring, born October 30, 1855 ; Ada, born March 4, 1857 ; Wilson, born December 1, 1859 ; Linn, born June 28, 1862 ; Marion, born September 19, 1865 ; Annie, born February 7, 1867. Ada died March 17, 1862, and Wilson on the 22d of the same month.
John Frederic Hartranft was the only child of Samuel Engle and Lydia Bucher Hartranft. He was born in New Hanover township, Montgomery county, December 16, 1830. When his parents removed to Norristown in 1844 he was a school boy of fourteen years of age. For several years he attended Treemount Seminary, under the care of Rev. Samuel Aaron, a celebrated teacher. He passed a year at Marshall College, at Mercers- burg, where he prepared for entering Union Col- lege, at Schenectady, New York, at which insti- tution he graduated in 1853. His first employ- ment after leaving college was assisting to locate a railroad from Mauch Chunk to White Haven, and other work in that line. Sheriff Michael C. Boyer appointed him his deputy, and he served also in the same capacity for three more years under Sheriff Rudy, Boyer's successor. Having in the meantime studied law, on October 4. 1860, he was admitted to the bar, and immediately opened an office.
Some time previously young Hartranft had joined the Norris City Rifles, being chosen lieu- tenant, and afterward captain. At the next elec- tion held by the county militia he was chosen colonel. There were five companies in the vicinity of Norristown, and these formed the nucleus of the regiment. When the so-called Confederates
fired upon Fort Sumter in April, 1861, and Pres- ident Lincoln issued his call for 75,000 men, Col- onel Hartranft went to Harrisburg, leaving his company commanders at home to proceed with recruiting, and offered the services of his regi- ment to the government through Governor An- drew G. Curtin. The Fourth Regiment was ac- cepted. It consisted of seven companies, and reached Harrisburg on the twentieth of the month. In a day or two the men were on their way to the national capital. by Perryville and An- napolis.
The order to advance on Bull Run did not issue till the day the Fourth Regiment was or- dered to the rear to be mustered out. A few, however, were willing to go into the fight as vol- unteers, among them Colonel Hartranft, who was accepted as a volunteer aide to Colonel Franklin, who spoke of him in his report in words of com- mendation. He passed through the fray unhurt and returned home to recruit a regiment for three years. He had no difficulty in completing arrangements for the formation of the Fifty-first Regiment. Five of the companies of the regiment consisted of Montgomery men and five from east- ern and middle counties of Pennsylvania. The regiment was organized at Harrisburg late in September, and was at once assigned to the com- mand of General Burnside, to undertake a win- ter campaign in North Carolina. The expedition left Annapolis by sea early in January, 1862, and on the Ioth of February Colonel Hartranft led his men into the first battle in the swamps and thickets of Roanoke Island. Foster's and Reno's troops, of which the Fifty-first was a part, not only car- ried the works on the first assault, but captured nearly all the garrison. ' At the attack on New- bern, a few days later, Hartranft's forces were held as a reserve at first, but soon participated in the final assault, which carried the works of the enemy.
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