USA > Pennsylvania > Encyclopedia of Pennsylvania biography : illustrated, Vol. III > Part 41
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Other business enterprises of Reading have benefitted by Mr. Mohn's energy and progressiveness. He has been vice-presi-
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dent and director of the Penn National Bank since its incorporation in 1883; sec- ond vice-president of the Reading Trust Company and director since its organization in 1886; and in 1905 and 1906 was presi- dent of the Reading Board of Trade. In political faith a Republican. It is one of the pleasant recollections of his life that his first vote was cast for that great American statesman and martyr, Abraham Lincoln, the first and greatest of all presidents elected by the Republican party. This vote was cast November 1, 1860, and from that date he has loyally supported his first choice of a party. From 1888 to 1892 he represented the Third Ward of Reading in Select Council.
Inherited from his honored parents a strong religious nature he early became a member of the Evangelical church, uniting, however, with the United Evangelical church, on its inception in 1894. He was a generous supporter of the building fund of the First United Evangelical Church at Eighth and Court streets, Reading, and chairman of the building committee. For forty years he has served as member of the board of trustees and for many years has been president of the board and treasurer of the Missionary Society of the church. He was a delegate to the first general confer- ence of his church, held in Naperville, Illi- nois, November, 1894, and has been a dele- gate to the East Pennsylvania conference from its first meeting in 1894 until the pres- ent, and to all conferences including the conference in 1914. In honor of his par- ents he purchased the ground and church established by his father at Mohn's Hill, presenting it to the congregation there wor- shipping, and since known as Mohn Memo- rial Church.
In educational affairs Mr. Mohn has taken a deep and active interest. For over thirty- five years he has been treasurer of Albright Collegiate Institute (now college) and a member of its board of trustees since its foundation. In 1908 he purchased the
Behne mansion at Myerstown, a three-story building with six acres of ground and pre- sented it to the college in appreciation of the work they were doing for higher educa- tional advantages. The trustees of Albright College accepted this noble gift gladly, set- ting it apart for the use of the young women students and dedicating it Jeremiah Ger- ner Mohn Hall. He is also a member of the church publication board at Harrisburg, a member and has served on the board of managers of the Lebanon Chautauqua Asso- ciation, and for many years has been a de- voted and liberal friend of Reading's Young Men's Christian Association, serving as president of the board of trustees, and also was chairman of finance committee to raise the funds for a new building and equip- ment. The success achieved may be gather- ed from results of over $200,000, and Mr. Mohn served as chairman of the building committee. The building is now completed and was dedicated May 24, 1914. So in busi- ness, civic, religious or educational work he lias ever borne his part, the record herein but imperfectly traced justifying the opening assertions that his career marked him one of the "Notable useful men of his day."
Mr. Mohn married (first) January 28, 1865, Annie Shirk, who died June 4, 1867, leaving a son, Charles Ellsworth, who mar- ried Eutalia Blankenville and has a son, Winfield H. She was a daughter of Henry and Hannah (Zell) Shirk, of Adamstown. Mr. Mohn married (second) October 7, 1869, Susanna, daughter of Daniel and Mary (Lutz) Royer, of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. She died August 29, 1883, leaving children: I. Ada M., a graduate in music from Albright College ; married Her- bert Landis, special agent of the North- western Mutual Life Insurance Company. 2. Harry Scott, died young. 3. Howard R., died in his twenty-first year. 4. Elmer E., married and resides in Philadelphia; a wholesale coal merchant. Mr. Mohn mar- ried (third) November 10, 1885, Emma S., daughter of John H. Spartz, of Mohnton.
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Children : Maud, died in childhood ; Luella Faith, a graduate of Albright College. The sons of Jeremiah G. Mohn, Charles Ells- worth and Elmer E., are both business men.
DORNEY, Oliver Charles, C. P. A., Prominent Business Educator.
The man who trains young. men and young women to become useful citizens and able to perform their part in helping the world forward, is doing a work which lies at the very foundations of the prosperity and permanence of the commonwealth. Among the foremost of those now engaged in rendering this incalculable service to mankind is Oliver Charles Dorney, founder and president of the American Commercial School, Allentown, Pennsylvania. Mr. Dorney has, for over a quarter of a cen- tury, occupied a prominent position among the business educators of the country.
Solomon Dorney, father of Oliver Charles Dorney, was a farmer, and at one time en- gaged extensively in the manufacture of carriages and sleighs. For fifteen or twenty years he held the office of postmaster of Cedarville, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. He married Elmina, daughter of Jonas and Lydia (Jones) Faust, and their children were: Ellen R., widow of H. O. Weaver; Franklin T .; Oliver Charles, the subject of this sketch; Albert H., and Edward J. Mrs. Dorney was a woman of unusual intelli- gence and energy, and assisted her husband in his duties as postmaster and in the con- duct of a general store.
Oliver Charles, son of Solomon and El- mina (Faust) Dorney, was born March 18, 1862, in South Whitehall township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. He received his early education in the district schools, from which he graduated at the age of fifteen. Upon the completion of his public school education in 1878, he entered business col- lege in the city of Allentown, where he completed the course and, having been a first honor graduate, was at once retained as
a teacher of these subjects, teaching during the winter months and helping his parents in their business during the summer months.
After having definitely determined to make the teaching of business his life work, and realizing the need of expert and special training along these lines he, in 1884, enter- ed Kibbe's Writing Parlors and Gallery of l'en Art, Utica, New York, placing himself under the direct and personal supervision of H. W. Kibbe (the proprietor), that famous pen artist, who, as a critic and all- around penman in every branch of the art, had no superior and few if any equals.
Upon the completion of this professional course he returned to assume the manage- ment of the local business college, until the spring of 1889, when he resigned his posi- tion to establish the American Commercial School, of which he is still president. In 1895 his institution was incorporated and chartered under the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, with a capital stock of $30,- 000, which represents the cost of its equip- ments, and there are few schools in Amer- ica that compare with it in appointments and facilities for the successful training of young men and women for business pur- suits.
During the early 'Sos, in addition to the practical training in his father's large manu- facturing plant, general store and postoffice, he acquired broad and valuable experience as general manager of the famous Dorney Park and Trout Hatchery, which was estab- lished by his father, and which remained in the family not only as the family home- stead but also as the most popular summer resort in Eastern Pennsylvania, visited annually by several hundred thousand peo- ple, including sportsmen who were attracted from all sections of the country for the angling of "speckled beauties" in season. After his father's death, the old homestead and park was sold to the Allentown and Reading Traction Company, on whose lines it is located. Owing to his wide and prac- tical experience as a business man and ac-
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countant, he, through his uncle, C. A. Dor- ney, who financed this road and who held its controlling interest, was appointed to the position of chief accountant, which afforded him an opportunity to become familiar with the details of the electric railroad business, and which soon lead to the promotion to the position of general manager, and which he held for a number of years. Upon the death of his uncle, however, he resigned his position with the electric railroad company to devote his entire time to the school founded by him.
With such able leadership, the growth of the school was so rapid that three times it outgrew its quarters, compelling it to seek larger and better accommodations until it finally had built for its own convenience and requirements, according to the plans and specifications of its founder, an entire floor in the Young Men's Christian Association building located on the southeast corner of Centre Square, a structure costing, with its equipments a quarter million of dollars, and where it is still located.
The object, however, of locating in the Young Men's Christian Association building was three-fold: First, to secure the needed accommodation in floor space; secondly, to throw around every student the highly moral and spiritual influences such as the Young Men's Christian Association only could afford; thirdly, to conduct the edu- cational classes of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association, affording its members all the advantages and facilities of every de- partment of the institution.
Hence, the advantages of both institu- tions have become affiliated, and in this con- nection it should be said that since President Dorney foresaw the incalculable benefits to be derived by the members of both institu- tions through the consolidation of interests as indicated, to him belongs the honor of effecting the first arrangement of this nature ever made in this country between any purely business educational institution and a Young Men's Christian Association.
The crowning feature of this educational institution, however, is its employment service, which, like the school, is regularly incorporated, and has been in successful operation since the organization of the school in 1889. Through it upwards of 12,000 young men and women have been placed in positions of responsibility and trust.
The dominant influence and guiding force of this great institution have been, from its inception, those of its founder and presi- dent. Ably seconded as he has been by a large staff of others, Mr. Dorney has, with the genius of true leadership, supplied his coadjutors with his own unfailing energy and enthusiasm, and the school is to-day a monument alike to his public-spirited zeal and to his administrative ability and un- wearied concentration of purpose.
In 1895 he erected the Dorney building, the first apartment building in the city. In this building he organized "The O. C. Dor- ney Co.," for the purpose of conducting a general designing, engraving and printing business. The first two floors were equip- ped with all the latest and best electric ma- chinery, all of which was electrically con- trolled by the mere pressing of a button and was considered the most modern and up-to-date plant of its kind in America.
In 1900 Mr. Dorney was commissioned by the State Board of Examiners and char- tered by the Governor of the State of Penn- sylvania, conferring upon him the degree of C. P. A. (Certified or Chartered Public Accountant). For years, however, before as well as after this commission was con- ferred upon him, he devoted much of his time to the adjustment of partnership, manu- facturing and corporation affairs, as well as doing auditing and public accounting work of every variety, the planning and in- stalling of office systems, preparing and supervising advertising campaigns for many of the largest concerns in this section of the country. As an expert penman, he has also for many years been consulted by and fre-
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quently figured in the local courts as a wit- ness and expert on forged or questioned handwriting.
In 1905 he drew up his own plans for and immediately started in the building of twenty modern three-story nine-room houses consisting of brick, stone and cement, in one of the most desirable sections in the city of Allentown, involving an investment of up- wards of $100,000, making a most valuable addition to one of the city's most important suburbs.
Mr. Dorney as an Inventor .- Not only of an intensely practical but also of an inven- tive turn of mind, he devotes what spare hours he has at his command to the develop- ment of practical and useful devices. He has invented and holds letters patent and copyrights on the following: Adjustable school desks; adjustable school, office and typewriter chairs ; adjustable typewriter and reading tables ; adjustable artists and draft- ing tables ; adjustable copyholders and de- vices for teaching touch typewriting ; elec- tric signal clock; adjustable necktie guard ; the Dorneyrian system of spelling; the Dor- neyrian card system for roll-call; the safe guard check and banking system. An en- tirely new, novel and effective system for indexing records for the various makes of talking machines, as well as numerous other time and labor-saving office systems and de- vices.
He is a prominent and active member of the following organizations: The National Commercial Teacher's Federation ; the Pri- vate Commercial School Managers Associa- tion; the Eastern Commercial Teacher's Association; the National Association of Accountants and Bookkeepers; the Book- keepers Literary Club; the National League of Business Educators; the National Asso- ciation of Accredited Commercial Schools ; the Allentown Chamber of Commerce. In the last named organization he has served on the committee of statistics, publication and advertising for many years.
In 1883 he was married to Jennie Clapp
Reynolds Wood, daughter of a prominent contractor and builder of Providence, Rhode Island, who has been actively en- gaged and deeply interested in her hus- band's welfare not only in the founding of the American Commercial School but also by filling the important position of matron and instructor in moral and business ethics.
Mrs. Dorney-a woman of exceptional talent and energy, joined to a most attrac- tive personality-is of English descent, and the great-great-granddaughter of Samuel Gorton, one of the founders of American liberties ; twice president judge; one of the authors of the fine political code adopted by the first Assembly of the United Colonies of the Providence (Rhode Island) Planta- tion; the writer of a statute against negro slavery, and the first edict adopted in Amer- ica ; a noted author and writer and whose writings and works have been recognized and recently commented upon by the lead- ing newspapers and magazines of the coun- try, notably among which "The Christian Science Monitor," published in Boston, Massachusetts.
Mrs. Dorney is a Colonial Dame, and a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution on five direct lines ; and her hus- band's success in educational, as well as in every one of his other business and pro- fessional enterprises, is largely due to her influence and indomitable efforts to be the greatest possible service to him.
The work to which Mr. Dorney has thus far devoted his life is far-reaching, the knowledge and training acquired in the in- stitution on which he has stamped the im- press of his personality being carried by his pupils to every part of our own land and to every quarter of the globe. It is also enduring, in that its influence will not cease with his own life or with the lives of those whose characters and destinies he has helped to mould. It will animate the generations of the future. His influence is always ex- erted on the side of reform and good gov- ernment, and no project which, in his judg-
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ment, tends to further the welfare and prog- ress of Allentown, ever lacks his coopera- tion and support. In politics he is a Pro- gressive Republican.
SCHALL, Capt. William A., Soldier, Retired Merchant.
Of ancient German lineage and of a fanı- ily distinguished in Pennsylvania annals from the time of the American ancestor, Lieutenant Tobias Schall, who came to America in 1748, Captain William A. Schall, of Reading, a veteran of the Civil War, and a retired merchant, has in his own right earned recognition among the "men of mark" in his native State.
The Schall family, first represented in America by Tobias Schall, of which family William A. Schall, of Reading, and his brothers, D. Horace Schall, of Philadelphia, and General John W. Schall, of Morris- town, are representatives, traces descent to one of the noble families of the Rhine coun- try, Germany. Originally von Schall was the name, but late in the fourteenth cen- tury, "Bell," the name of the family manor in Gladbach, was added, the name being written Schall von Bell. The ancient fam- ily history is authenticated by ancestral rec- ords, from which it further appears that in the sixteenth century members of the fam- ily settled in Livonia, where the office of hereditary marshal was obtained. In the eighteenth century the family appeared in Bavaria. During the first half of that cen- tury the rank of Baron was conferred upon Ferdinand Schall von Bell, and in 1747 he was admitted to the Knighthood of Bergen. The name Robert Schalls is found as far back as 1150 and a Johann Schall von Bell later was rewarded for valiant service with the Manor of Thurnhof at Freedsdorf. Of the Bavarian branch Count Carl Theodor. son of Baron Ferdinand (previously men- tioned) was privy councilor of the Electoral Palatinate and ambassador to the Court of Saxony. He married, in 1777, Countess
von Reaucour, heiress of Andreas, Count von Reaucour, minister of Saxony, who dying without male issue in 1794, directed that his son-in-law, Count Carl Theodor von Schall, should add the von Reaucour name and arms to his own. The estates of Putz- kau, Gansig and Croslato also came to him, that branch being continued as Counts von Schall Reaucour.
Such was the family from which sprang the later day Tobias Schall, who with his wife Magdaline left his home in Germany, near the French border, in 1748, sailed for America and landed at Charleston, South Carolina. With him came his son George, the progenitor of William A. Schall, of Reading.
George Schall was born in 1735 in the Pfalz, middle Shefflentz Moshbower Ampt, Germany, was baptized in Upper Shefflentz Evangelical Church, but confirmed in the Middle Shefflentz Reformed Church. In 1757 he married Catharine Newhard, born in Northampton (now Lehigh) county, Pennsylvania, and after his marriage set- tled in Pike township, Berks county, Penn- sylvania, where he followed the peaceful occupation of a farmer, until the War for Independence took him from the plow to the field of action. He enlisted in Colonel Daniel Hunter's regiment, became a lieu- tenant and faithfully served the Revolu- tionary cause until peace was restored. He then returned to Pike township, where he sowed, tilled and reaped until his death, De- cember 5, 1802. His widow survived him five months, dying May 5, 1803, and lies by his side in Hill Church Graveyard.
Hon. George (2) Schall, son of Lieuten- ant George (1) Schall and grandson of the emigrant, Tobias Schall, was born at the Pike township farm, December 26, 1768. He was a farmer and blacksmith, and in 1796 built at the old homestead a grist and saw mill, which he also operated. He was a Democrat in politics and in 1825 was elected State Senator, serving three years. His journeys to Harrisburg were made on
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horseback, Lebanon being his stopping place for the niglit, finishing the trip the second day. He was a member of the Reformed church, devout and useful. He married, November 10, 1789, Catherine Oyster, born August 7, 1786, died July 10, 1846, who bore him nine children, David, of further mention, being the sixth.
Judge David Schall, son of Hon. George (2) and Catherine (Oyster) Schall, was born at the Pike township homestead, Berks county, Pennsylvania, May 25, 1801, and there grew to manhood, his father's assist- ant at the forge, becoming familiar with the uses, qualities and working of iron. In carly manhood (1825) he began the opera- tion of the Dale Forge in Washington town- ship, manufacturing bar iron and blooms, continuing in the iron business for over half a century. He also owned and operated a large farm, and by careful management, energy and industry was able to retire with a fortune in 1870. Having made iron prior to his taking the Dale Forge in 1825, his. connection with the iron manufacturing business covered as stated over fifty years. He became prominent in the Democratic party, like his honored father, was county auditor, 1842-45, associate judge of Berks county, 1856 to 1856, and was a captain in the old State militia organization. He mar- ried Catharine Endy, born May 9, 1805, died August 24, 1873, the mother of four sons and five daughters. Judge Schall died January 22, 1877. Children: I. George, died in his sixty-fifth year, having been a farmer on the Dale Forge farm and for twelve years steward of the Montgomery county prison. 2. Amelia, deceased ; mar- ried William Trexler, of Longswamp. 3.
Emmeline, resides in Philadelphia. 4. General John W., a veteran officer of the Civil War, in which he served as colonel of the Eighty-seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, served four years as postmaster at Norristown, Pennsylvania, seven years as recorder of deeds of Mont- gomery county, and is a general of the
Pennsylvania National Guard, residing at Norristown. 5. Hannah, died 1896. 6. Captain William A., of whom further. 7. D. Horace, an official of the United States Custom House at Philadelphia. 8. Alfred, resides in Philadelphia. 9. Mary, also a resident of Philadelphia.
Captain William A. Schall, third son of Judge David and Catharine (Endy) Schall, was born in Berks county, Pennsylvania. He obtained his education at Elmwood In- stitute, Norristown, and private schools in Reading. He enlisted when the call for nine months' mnen was made by President Lin- coln, and on October 20, 1852, was mus- tered into the service as captain of Com- pany G, One Hundred and Sixty-seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. This regiment saw hard service with the often hard pressed Army of the Potomac, serving first with the Eighth Army Corps, later with the First. After reporting at Washington, they were at the siege of Suf- folk, and the battle of Black River, where Colonel Knoderer was shot. After this they were sent to Yorkstown, Richmond, Wil- liamsburg and Chickahominy River, thence ordered to Gettysburg, finally to South Mountain, where they camped one night, there receiving tidings of Lee's defeat and retreat. They joined the Army of the Po- tomac at Berlin, and followed Lee as far as Rappahannock. Their time expiring. the nine months' men were mustered out in August, 1863. Captain Schall served with his com- pany and regiment through all those move- ments, displaying the soldicrly qualities of bravery, endurance and sacrifice.
Returning from the army he became clerk in a mercantile house, remaining as such until 1872, when he returned to the Dale Forge farm, where for two years he was a dealer in lime, and a farmer. He then located at Pennsburg, conducting a lumber and coal business for several years. then until 1900 he conducted the same business at Barlow, adding grain to the lines carried. In the latter year he retired and has since
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resided at his beautiful home, Brookside. In politics a Democrat, he has held many local offices, and has served his communities well. He is a member of the Reformed church, fraternizes with his army comrades as a member of General Williard H. Keim Post, No. 76, Grand Army of the Republic, and is one of the highly respected and well esteemed men of his city.
Captain Schall married, in 1881, Mary B., daughter of Ezra High, a farmer of Cumru township, and has a daughter, Emily May. The family home is on Lancaster avenue, Brookside. Captain Schall's wife and daughter are also communicants of the Reformed church.
Mrs. Schall is a granddaughter of Briga- dier-General William High, born January 14, 1786, one of the best known men of Berks county of his time. He was county commissioner, member of the Legislature, delegate to the State Constitutional Con- vention of 1828, associate judge of Berks county, captain of the Reading Cavalry and for fifteen years brigadier-general of Penn- sylvania State Militia by election. He was a man of every sterling quality, courageous in the execution of his convictions and left to posterity a name untarnished. He mar- ried (first) Catherine, daughter of John van Reed, (second) a daughter of Jacob van Reed.
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