Historical and biographical annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania, embracing a concise history of the county and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families, Volume I, Part 109

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846; J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1018

USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > Historical and biographical annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania, embracing a concise history of the county and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families, Volume I > Part 109

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Mr. Xander married, in 1875, Miss Matilda Richards, like himself a native of Hamburg, Pa. Their only child is a daughter, Florence, cashier for the G. M. Britton Com- pany. The family are all members of St. Andrew's Re- formed Church. Mr. Xander's business interests have left him little time for any political work, but he is an intelli- gent student and observer of conditions, and in voting always takes an independent stand. He is a member of Camp No. 78, P. O. S. of A., Hamburg,, and of the Veteran Association of the same order.

ELDRIDGE ZIMMERMAN. The ancestors of Eldridge Zimmerman, prothonotary of Berks county, Pa., came to this county as early as 1743.

Isaac Zimmerman, grandfather of Eldridge, was born in Maxatawny township, Berks county, where his life was spent as a farmer.

Daniel Zimmerman, son of Isaac and father of Eldridge, was a farmer and hotel keeper. He was a school director at Kutztown, and was recorder of deeds for Berks county for the years 1879, 1880 and 1881. He died March 10, 1888, aged sixty-three years. He married Susan Caroline Fisher, daughter of Jacob Fisher, of Kutztown, where he kept a hotel. They had three children, viz. : Mary, wife of A. S. Hottenstein, a lawyer of Milton, Pa .; Jacob F., U. S. store- keeper and gauger at Kutztown; and Eldridge of Topton. Pennsylvania.

Eldridge Zimmerman was born April 13, 1852, in Maxa- tawny township. After completing the common school course at Kutztown, he attended the State Normal School there, and subsequently taught school for two terms. He then engaged in the grain, flour and coal business at Kutz- town, in which he continued for three years, and then served as deputy recorder during the years 1879. 1880 and 1881. After retiring from this position he returned to the

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BIOGRAPHICAL

homestead and farmed until 1889, when he served as deputy treasurer for five months during that year. After retiring from this position he moved to Topton, Berks county, Pa., where he has since resided. For six years he served as school director in Maxatawny township, for fourteen years was justice of the peace in the same township, and for six years served in the same position in Topton. He was deputy prothonotary of Berks county during the years 1901-02-03-04-05-06, and in the fall of 1906 was elected to the office of prothonotary which he now fills, his term expiring the first Monday of January, 1910.

Mr. Zimmerman married Nov. 30, 1876, Louisa A. Miller, daughter of Charles Miller, a retired farmer, who died in May, 1905, aged ninety-nine years and twenty-eight days. They have one son, Charles D., born Dec. 25, 1880; he is a graduate of the Kutztown State Normal School, and taught school for several terms, but is now a clerk for the Phila- delphia & Reading Railway Company. Mr. Zimmerman is a member of the Lutheran denomination while his wife attends the Reformed church. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, having joined when twenty-one years and twenty-seven days old. He was the first Mason admitted to Huguenot Lodge, No. 377, F. & A. M., at Kutztown, and he also belongs to the Knights Templars and to the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. His son was raised a Mason when twenty-one years and one day old, and is also a Knight Templar and a Shriner.

In politics Mr. Zimmerman is a Democrat as were his forefathers, and he has been an active worker in his party since attaining his majority. He is a man of upright character, liberal education and broad-minded views.

ALFRED SCHROEDER JONES was born at Fisher's Ferry, Susquehanna river, a few miles below Sunbury, Aug. 18, 1835. When he was six years old his father, Thomas Jones, who was a farmer and the proprietor of a tannery, died, and his widow with three children returned to Read- ing, her native place.

The subject of this sketch received his education in the public schools of Reading; in the classical school of John Kelly, Court street below Sixth, who had been educated for a priest; in Trinity Lutheran Parochial school, south- west corner of Sixth and Washington streets, taught by Constantine Deininger, a linguist, and in the Reading In- stitute, No. 225 South Fifth street, a classical school of which Prof. James S. Lee and Rev. Dr. William A. Good were the principals. In the spring of 1857 he became an assistant teacher in the latter school, which position he held for several years. Subsequently he taught a select school at Snydertown, Northumberland county, and public schools in Maiden-creek, Bern and Cumru townships, and

In April, 1864, he started the Reading Daily Reporter, the publication office being located at No. 517 Penn street, having previously personally canvassed a portion of the city for subscribers, which gave him needed outdoor exer- cise. He bid for the city printing, which was awarded to him, and the newspaper was so successful that the receipts from its circulation and advertising paid all the expenses from the beginning until the paper was enlarged at the suggestion of a candidate for office who promised financial aid, but did not give it, when the expenses became greater then the receipts, and the publication was suspended after being in existence six months.

A number of years before he published the Daily Re- porter he did his first newspaper work when he contrib- uted to and edited the Educational Department of the Berks County Press which was specially intended to be read by the school teachers of Berks and surrounding counties. He was then a teacher himself.

When the Civil war was in progress Mr. Jones spent three years in the employ of the Ordnance Department of the United States Navy, drawing his pay, nearly $4,000, from the paymaster located at the Navy Yard, Philadelphia. After

spending two years at Scott Foundry, Reading, he was sent to Fort Pitt Foundry, Pittsburg, where he remained a year, until the manufacture of cannon ceased there, the war having closed. His duty was to be in the foundry when the naval guns were cast, note the different stages of their fabrication in the machine shop, and be at the proving ground when they were tested with powder and shot, and prepare weekly reports, which were signed by the Naval Ordnance Inspector, and sent to the Navy Ordnance de- partment at Washington, D. C.

Mr. Jones had begun the study of shorthand when he was a school boy, and he put it to practical use when he was one of the official reporters in the Pennsylvania State Senate during the session of 1867-68. When he returned to Reading at he close of the session the Reading Daily Eagle had just been started, and he accepted a position on it, which he has retained ever since, a period of forty years. He has done all kinds of reportorial work up to and including the reporting in shorthand of the proceed- ings of political State conventions. When he first be- came connected with the Daily Eagle he was for some time the only newspaper reporter in Reading. Later he occupied the position of city editor, and he now edits the manuscript of correspondents of the paper, of which there are over 300 in Berks and adjoining counties. Every week he prepares special articles for the Sunday Eagle, and he has written more historical articles about aged persons and occurrences in Reading and Berks county in olden times for publication in the daily and weekly press than any other person in eastern Pennsylvania. When he first became connected with the Eagle in 1868 he began interviewing for publication the oldest residents, veterans of the War of 1812, persons prominent in politics, business and other pursuits, and he has continued this ever since. He is a member of the Historical Society of the County of Berks, and has prepared historical sketches for the archives of this organization. Mr. Jones is proud of the fact that he is the oldest reporter in Reading, and has been continuously connected for over forty years with such a wide-awake and progressive journal as the Eagle.

On April 11, 1861, Mr. Jones was married to Catharine Hammer, daughter of the late Judge Jacob Hammer, of Orwigsburg. She died March 29, 1906. Two children were born to them, Thomas H. and Lilian H.

JOSEPH O. FLATT, SR. (deceased), founder of the brush manufacturing business now conducted by the firm of Joseph O. Flatt & Co., was a native of Baden, Germany, born Oct. 4, 1829. There he spent his youth and early man- hood, receiving the thorough training characteristic of his country and her institutions. He learned the trade of machinist in the Fatherland, not only familiarizing him- at Rehrersburg and Strausstown, Berks county, and during self with the more practical details of the work, but also the summers read law in the office of Amos B. Wanner, but that being too sedentary for Mr. Jones he turned his attention to the newspaper publishing business.

attending several of the leading technical schools of Ger- many, acquiring an education above the average.

In 1856 Mr. Flatt came to America, and settling in Reading, Berks Co., Pa., found employment readily with the Philadelphia & Reading Company, with which he re- mained until the panic of 1872. On Oct. 22d, of that year, he turned his attention to the manufacture of brushes, a business in which he continued the remainder of his life. He made a financial success of the undertak- ing, and won high personal standing, being noted for his honest and upright methods of dealing. His death, which occurred in 1894, was widely mourned in Reading, where he left a large family and numerous friends and acquain- tances who admired and respected him as an able and use- ful citizen.

Mr. Flatt married April 7, 1857, Carolina W. Maurer, a native of Saxony, Germany, and a daughter of Christian and Henrietta (Grasser) Maurer. Children as follows were born to this union: Anna and Mary, twins, died in infancy. Charles married and became the father of two children, Sally and Walter. William, a printer, m. Sallie Kolb and had two children, William and George. Max (deceased) m. Maggie Rodenberger, and they had one child, Hattie. Mary m. Harry Wentzel, of Philadelphia. Anna (deceased) m. George Hoffman. Frederick died at

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

the age of two years, Joseph O., Jr., is mentioned below. Harry, a blacksmith and horseshoer of Reading, is mentioned elsewhere. George W. is in business with his brother Joseph O., being junior member of the firm of Joseph O. Flatt & Co., and is mentioned below. Caro- line m. Ralph Fink and lives in Philadelphia. The entire family are identified with the Lutheran Church.

JOSEPH O. FLATT, senior member of the firm of Joseph O. Flatt & Co., brush manufacturers, of Reading, has passed all of his life in that city. He was born in Reading, Aug. 27, 1872, son of the late Joseph O. and Carolina W. (Maurer) Flatt, and received his education in the public schools and at Brunner's Business College. Immediately after leaving school he began keeping books for his father, by whom he was employed until the latter's death, Nov. 25, 1894. Joseph O. Flatt carried the business on alone for about a month, and on Jan. 1, 1895, formally assumed control of same in partnership with his younger brother, George W. Flatt, under the firm name of Joseph O. Flatt & Co. They have continued the business ever since. Until 1897 it was located at No. 641 Pine street, and then was located at Nos. 548-552 Miltimore street in a factory 28 x 42 feet in dimensions, and three stories in height. This they still own, but it is rented, as on May 1, 1908, they removed to Nos. 137-139 Cedar street, where they had built a large three-story brick factory building, 35 x 120 feet, with all conveniences, where they are equip- ped to turn out brushes in carload lots. The product includes all kinds of brushes, which the firm ships to all parts of the United States, and through jobbers some of the brushes are also exported. Employment is given to about twenty hands the year round. Joseph O. Flatt acts as treasurer and general manager of the company, and George W. Flatt is the traveling representative of the firm. Both brothers rank among the substantial men of the city in commercial circles, where their business acumen has earned them an honorable place.

In March 1894, Mr. Flatt was married to Anna C. Bentz, and they have one child, Anna Catherine. The family home is at No. 122 North Ninth street. In fra- ternal life Mr. Flatt is quite prominent as a member of various Masonic bodies, being past master of Teutonia Lodge, No. 367, F. & A. M .; a member of Excelsior Chapter, No. 237; Reading Commandery, No. 42, K. T .; Reading Lodge of Perfection, and Rajah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is also a member of the Knights of the Golden Eagle and of the Schuylkill Fire Company. Mr. Flatt in religious connection unites with St. John's German Lutheran Church.

GEORGE W. FLATT, junior member of the firm of Joseph O. Flatt & Co., brush manufacturers, of Reading, is one of the young business men of that city, but the house with which he is connected was founded by his father over thirty years ago. Mr. Flatt was born in Read- ing, March 4, 1876, son of Joseph O. and Carolina W. (Maurer) Flatt. He was educated in the public schools of the city, and ever since leaving school has been iden- tified with the business he is now conducting, working with his father until the latter's death. On Jan. 1, 1895, he and his brother Joseph O. formed the partnership which still exists, George W. Flatt being business manager and traveling representative of the house, while Joseph O. acts as treasurer and general manager. The output of the factory is 8,000 brushes daily, but the patronage is increasing so steadily that they are kept very busy filling orders, and the business has shown a creditable growth under their management. They have a sales and sample room at No. 128 North Ninth street, Reading, and a well- equipped factory, where twenty hands are given regular employment. The Flatt brothers have given evidence of the same enterprise and progressive spirit that character- ized their father, who was a man of more than ordinary ability and education, and their irreproachable treatment of customers has been rewarded with continued success.

tonia Lodge, No. 367, Excelsior Chapter, Reading Com- mandery, Reading Lodge of Perfection and Rajah Temple. The family are all musical, and George W. Flatt plays the clarionet and was financial secretary of the Ringgold Band of which he was a member, but since April 1, 1908, he has discontinued the active part of the music business, so as to devote more time to his growing brush business. He resides at No. 128 North Ninth street.

HENRY AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG (1), clergyman, Congressman and first minister to Austria, was born at Lancaster, Pa., May 13, 1782. He was the eldest son of Rev. Henry E., and grandson of Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlen- berg, the American ancestor of the family who, in 1741, emigrated from Saxony as a missionary of the Lutheran Church to the German population of Pennsylvania.

According to the wishes of his father Henry A. Muhlen- berg studied theology under the Rev. Dr. Kunze, of New York, and in 1802 he became pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church at Reading, Berks county, and continued there for twenty-seven years. His health becoming impaired, he resolved to withdraw from ministerial duties and retire to a farm, but his fellow-citizens, who had long admired his consistent support of Democratic principles, solicited him to represent the district in Congress and he was elected. In December, 1829, he took his seat at Washing- ton, and gave his support to the administration of Presi- dent Jackson. His views on the tariff question were mod- erate. He was opposed to the United States Bank, and coincided in all the views hostile to that institution which were expressed by the President, and it was he who, on Feb. 18, 1834, after more than two months of daily appeals in behalf of the banks, moved the previous ques- tion. He retained for nine years his prominence as a member of the House. In 1835 he was a candidate of a portion of the Democratic party for the governorship of Pennsylvania, but was defeated. In 1837, President Van Buren tendered him a seat in the cabinet as Secretary of the Navy, and afterward the Russian mission, but for pri- vate reasons he declined both positions. In 1838 he was named minister to Austria, and was unanimously confirmed, officiating at Vienna until the close of 1840. In 1844 he was nominated by the Democratic State Convention for Governor, and he accepted the nomination, but died sud- denly on Aug. 11, 1844, two months prior to the election.

Mr. Muhlenberg was a man of studious habits and great learning, rather retiring in disposition. decidedly eloquent, and strong and forcible when his feelings or conscience were once aroused. His influence is attributable in large part to his sterling integrity of character, for when the community found that he was earnestly in favor of any public measure, they knew that he believed that measure to be just and were generally willing to adopt his estimate of it as correct. As a relief from his pub- lic duties Mr. Muhlenberg was a great lover of nature and outdoor sports, and spent quite a portion of his spare moments in hunting and fishing.

Mr. Muhlenberg was married twice: First to Elizabeth Hiester, daughter of Gov. Joseph Hiester, and they had one daughter, Mary Elizabeth (m. E. Jonathan Deininger) ; and second to Rebecca Hiester, also a daughter of Gover- nor Hiester, by whom he had six children, Emma Eliza- beth, Hiester H., Henry A., Emma Elizabeth, Rose Cath- arine and Henry A. His first wife died in 1806, and the second in 1841.

ABRAHAM H. ROTHERMEL. The large and influen- tial Rothermel family of Pennsylvania is descended from Johti Rothermel, who was born in Wachbach, a province of Holland, in 1688. In 1708, he married Sybilla Zimmer- man, a sister of General Zimmerman, of his native land. In 1730, after the birth of one daughter and five sons, he set sail from Rotterdam, with his entire family, for Amer- ica. John Rothermel died at sea and never saw the shores of the country for which he started. His wife and. children arrived in Philadelphia Aug. 29, 1730. The daughter, Anna Maria, who had married Peter Fetherolf,

George W. Flatt married, in 1902, Miss Anna Otto. He is well known in Masonic circles, being a member of Teu- in Wachbach, in 1729, settled with her husband in Ma-

HENRY AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG

at Ractionel

BIOGRAPHICAL

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cungie township, Lehigh county. The five sons, namely: ship of the late Hon. Augustus S. Sassaman, and he was Lawrence, Paul, Peter, John and Christian, all settled in admitted to practice in the courts of Berks county, Nov. Berks county.

Abraham H. Rothermel, the subject of this sketch, is a descendant in the fourth generation from John Rothermel, of Wachbach. His father, Abraham Rothermel (1822- 1903), was a son of Peter Rothermel (1773-1856), who was a son of Peter Rothermel, the son of the aforesaid John Rothermel. All of Mr. Rothermel's paternal ances- tors in America, with the exception of his father, whose remains are interred in Spies's Church Cemetery, lie buried

Mr. Rothermel's mother was Magdalena (Heckman) Rothermel (1828-1888), daughter of Adam and Catharine (Heffner) Heckman, of Alsace township. His paternal grandmother was Magdalena Iaeger, daughter of Frederick Jaeger, of Oley township (1748-1822), and his paternal great-grandmother was Magdalena (Dreibelbis) Rother- mel, daughter of Jacob Dreibelbis. The last named, as well as Frederick Iaeger, above mentioned, were soldiers of note in the war of the American Revolution.

Rothermel.

. Abraham H. Rothermel, one of Reading's ablest lawyers, and ex-district attorney, is the youngest son of Abraham and Magdalena (Heckman) Rothermel. He was born in Maiden-creek township, Berks county, March 8, 1863. His parents removed to the Quaker community in Amity township when he was two years of age, and there his youthful character was moulded under the pure and re- fined influence of. a Christian home. He attended the schools of the township, being qualified at an early age to teach a township school, and this he did for several years with boyish dignity and marked aptitude, more than half the pupils being older than himself. After teaching several years, he entered upon a course of preparatory study at Palatinate College, Myerstown, Pa., and later at the Franklin and Marshall Academy. In September, 1883, he entered Franklin and Marshall College, at Lan- caster, Pa., from which institution he was graduated in 1887 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later the same institution conferred the degree of Master of Arts upon him. Immediately after his graduation from college, Mr. Rothermel took up the study of law under the preceptor-

24, 1888; and, later, on motion of Richmond L. Jones, Esq., was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

In November, 1889, Mr. Rothermel entered into a part- nership in the practice of law with David F. Mauger, Esq., under the firm name of Rothermel & Mauger, and the partnership, which has been eminently successful, has con- tinued to the present time, the firm enjoying a large and representative clientage. In politics Mr. Rothermel has

in the Rothermel family cemetery, at Walnuttown, Berks always been a consistent Democrat, and he has done val- county.

uable service for his party in many campaigns. He is an eloquent and forceful public speaker, and has been on the platform on many notable occasions. His fame as an orator is not confined to political circles. In May, 1897, he delivered the oration at the laying of the corner-stone of the Watts de Peyster Library at Franklin and Marshall College, as the representative of the donor, Gen. J. Watts de Peyster, of New York; and again, in June, 1898, he was selected by General de Peyster to make the formal presentation of the library to the board of trustees of the college. From 1890 to 1893 Mr. Rothermel filled the office of county solicitor of Berks. The conscientious and fear- less manner in which he performed his duties did much to procure for him the almost unanimous nomination of his party for the office of district attorney, to which he was elected in 1898, and he filled this office with distinction, for a term of three years from 1899 to 1902.

Mr. Rothermel is a member of the Second Reformed Church of Reading; the Berks County Historical Society; the Pennsylvania-German Society; the Wyomissing Club; and the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity.

In November, '1898, Mr. Rothermel married Miss Eva McKenty, of Reading, Pa., and their marriage has been blessed with two sons, Henry McKenty and Frederic de Peyster. They reside at No. 130 North Fifth street in the winter and spend their summers at their beautiful home near Carsonia Park, in Lower Alsace township.

HON. W. OSCAR MILLER, former State senator and . now a prominent citizen of Reading, where he is engaged in practice as a lawyer, also dealing in real estate, is an active worker in the Democratic party, and is known throughout the State as a politician of sagacity and fore- sight. He was born in Maxatawny township, Aug. 28, 1857, son of Joseph and Mary (Ziegler) Miller.

John Miller, great-grandfather of the Hon. W. Oscar, lived in the vicinity of Fogelsville, Lehigh Co., Pa. The Millers have been noted for their longevity.

John Miller (2), son of John, was born near Fogelsville, in Lehigh county, but in his young manhood came to Max- atawny township, Berks county, and engaged in farming for the remainder of his life. His political views made him a supporter of the Democratic party. He was a mem- ber of the Reformed Church, and in that faith he died in 1846. He was the father of five sons and one daughter, namely: Charles, who died in Maxatawny township, in May, 1905, aged ninety-nine years, two months, twenty- nine days; John, who died in June, 1905, aged ninety-five years; Rosalind, who married Napoleon Drescher, and died at the age of eighty-three; Jonas, who died aged seventy- two years; Joseph; and Joshua.

Joseph Miller, son of John (2), was born in Maxatawny township, Jan. 21, 1819, and there grew to manhood with a full practical knowledge of farming. He attended the common school's, and for two winters a subscription school. His death, the result of internal injuries re- ceived in a fall from an apple tree, occurred in August, 1890, in his seventy-second year. He married Mary Zieg- ler, born May 3, 1830, and to this union were born the following children : W. Oscar; Mantana mi A. S. Heffner, a coal and lumber merchant at Topton, this county; Sally I. m. L. A. Stein; Alvin J .; Fianna m. the Rev. James O. Leibensperger; and George F. Joseph Miller, the father, was a stanch Democrat, and served as school trus- tee for several terms.

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W. Oscar Miller was given the benefit of a good edu-

JOHN D. MISSIMER was for twenty-five years before cation. After finishing the common school he went to his death managing editor of the Reading Eagle. Born Kutztown, and graduated there from the Keystone State in 1847 at Denglers (now Mount Penn), Berks county, he Normal School in 1875. He then entered Lafayette Col- was a son of John Missimer, a prominent Democrat and lege, and later went to the University of Michigan, at Ann member of the Pennsylvania Legislature for several Arbor, graduating from the Law Department in 1879. The following year he was admitted to practice in Reading, and for a quarter of a century he has had his law offices at No. 610 Washington street.

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Historical and biographical annals of Berks County, Pennsylvania, embracing a concise history of the county and a genealogical and biographical record of representative families, Volume I, Part 109

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846; J.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 1018

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846; J.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago : J. H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 1018