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 110

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 110

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From the time he attained his majority he has been active in politics and in the Order of Odd Fellows. As early as 1887 he was a delegate to the State Convention, and in 1889 was elected district attorney, an office he filled to the general satisfaction of the public. In November, 1896, he was elected to the State Senate. As chairman of the County committee in 1892 and 1894, he did yeoman service for his party, and in 1896 he was a delegate to the National Convention at Chicago which nominated William Jennings Bryan for President. As editor of the Reading Democrat he has been able by his forceful and logical arguments to mould public opinion in favor of the reforms he advocated. In 1896 he made a statement one week be- fore election that there would be only 375 Gold Democrat votes cast for Palmer and Buckner in the county, and the results showed 416; while in 1900 he predicted Gov. Pat- tison's majority to within one vote of the correct result in the county.

Mr. Miller married March 23, 1889, Emma L. Reider, daughter of Augustus and Elizabeth ( Heffner) Reider, of Pricetown, granddaughter of John Reider, and great- granddaughter of Daniel Reider (1794-1891). To this union has been born one daughter, Frances.

HENRY H. FRY, former county treasurer of Berks county, and a prominent lumber dealer of Oley township, was born July 12, 1863, in Ruscombmanor township, near Pricetown, where he was educated in the public schools. He was reared on the home farm where he remained until he was sixteen years old, when he entered the country store of Daniel Brown, at Pricetown, and he remained there two years, when he became a clerk in the store of B. A. Glase, Son & Co., at Friedensburg. After con- tinuing there a year the senior partner died. and his son, Peter L. Glase, purchasing the Baer general store at the same place, persuaded Mr. Fry to work for him. He acted as clerk for seven years in that store, and then became a partner, and under the firm name of P. L. Glase & Co. they have carried on the business together from 1889 until the present time. In 1894 Mr. Fry began purchasing tracts of timber, converting the trees into lumber, railroad ties and telegraph, telephone and trolley poles, and he has been very successful. He officiated as a school direc- tor in Oley township for three terms. In November, 1905, he was elected county treasurer, and served his term of three years, which expired in January, 1909.

In 1887, Mr. Fry was married to Anna L. Stitzer, daugh- ter of Daniel Stitzer, and Annetta Ahrens, his wife, of Oley township, by whom he had four children : A. Paxton, Sadie, Arthur and Roger.

William Frey, father of Henry H., was engaged in farming in Ruscombmanor township until his decease in 1882, when he was aged sixty-three years. He officiated as a county commissioner from 1873 to 1876, having been elected on the Democratic ticket. He married Annie L. Haas (1824-1894), daughter of George Haas, of the same township. Thev had eight children: James (m. Hannah Brown) ; Nathaniel (m. Clara Haas) ; Sarah (m. Mayberry Angstadt) ; Caroline (m. Thomas Leinbach) ; Amos (m. Isabella Fox) ; Lewis (m. Mary Brown) ; Henry H .; Augustus (m. Annie Jarrett).

George Frey, father of William and grandfather of Henry H., was of the same township. He married Cath- arine Rothrock, by whom he had eight children: George (m. a Reinheimer ) ; Charles; William ; Julia (unmarried ) ; Catharine (m. John Wahl) ; Maria (m. Henry Keller) ; Sallie (m. Nicodemus Noll) ; Margaret (m. Jacob Krick). him with one daughter, Grace.

terms. Just prior to the Civil war he was librarian to the House of Representatives in Washington. John D. Missimer attended school in Washington until he received the appointment, secured by Maj. S. E. Ancona, then Con- gressman from this district, as cadet at the Naval Acad- emy, Annapolis, Md. He made a voyage to foreign ports, but taking a dislike to the life of the navy was allowed to resign. Early in life he gained considerable reputation as a writer of verse and sketches for the newspapers, and he naturally drifted into newspaper work, being for some time associated with the famous "Brick" Pomeroy in the publication, in New York, of an illustrated weekly paper that enjoyed a national circulation. His connection with the Reading Eagle commenced about 1872, when he became a reporter on the staff of that journal, with which he was thereafter identified until his death. He soon ac- quired the reputation of being one of the most affable and capable newspaper men in the city, and in 1880 he suc- ceeded J. Warren Conard as managing editor, which position he continued to hold until his sudden death, Sun- day morning, April 22, 1906.

As a general all-around newspaper man Mr. Missimer had few equals. He did his work with a thoroughness which made the paper a complete epitome of each day's events. He was a master of details, concise, able and industrious, and possessed the faculty of condensing an item or "boiling it down" to substance. In his relations with his subordinates he was genial and sympathetic. At the close of his thirtieth year with the Eagle his fellow- workers celebrated the anniversary by tendering him a banquet, as a tribute to his fidelity to the paper and his courtesy to them.

Mr. Missimer was a ready and easy writer, and a num- ber of years ago he contributed many serial stories of interest to the New York Weekly, the Saturday Night, and other weekly and monthly publications. He wrote "The Amish Girl" and several other dramas, which at dif- ferent times were presented to appreciative and delighted audiences in Reading and other cities. For years he con- tributed much to metropolitan dailies, and three years before his death he founded the Reading Financial Bulletin, which he published to the end of his days. It is a publi- cation devoted to the subject of local investments.

A few years before his death he wrote and published a pamphlet on the libel law, which was intended as a guide to young newspaper writers, and it not only had a large sale among that class but also among experienced newspaper workers all over the country, and the author received many letters from successful publishers in praise of the work. During his last days he wrote the history of the famous "Conway Cabal," a conspiracy fomented in this section during the Revolutionary war to depose Washington from the position of commander of the Continental army. This plot is supposed to have been hatched in Reading, and Mr. Missimer invested his work with a great deal of local color. Its preparation involved the consultation of many authorities, and he devoted himself to it with his accustomed vigor and thoroughness.

From the time of his young manhood Mr. Missimer entered heartily into the social life of the city, and in his later years he enjoyed spending his leisure moments among congenial friends. His popularity and felicity of expression are attested in the fact that he was frequently called upon to act as toastmaster at banquets, and in this role appeared at his best. He was always most happy in his introduction of the speakers. He was a member of Reading Council, Royal Arcanum, the Reading Press Club, the Berks County Historical Society. Trinity Lutheran Church, and a trustee of St. Joseph's Hospital.

Mr. Missimer married Anetta Richards, who survived

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BIOGRAPHICAL

JAMES S. FOCHT, general superintendent of the Job Wilbur Mining & Milling Company, of Providence, R. I., and a successful farmer residing near Greenawald Station, in Albany township, Berks county, was born in Windsor township, this county, May 12, 1856, son of Daniel and Hannah (Stepp) Focht, and grandson of George Focht, of Windsor township.

Daniel Focht, the father, was born on his father's farm in

EARLY. There are a dozen or more distinct families Windsor township in 1818, and early in life learned the in the United States bearing the name of Early or Earley. Some are of English origin, some of Irish, and others of German and Swiss descent, but by far the larger number trace their line to the German Fatherland.

stone-mason's trade, which he followed for a number of years. Later he purchased a farm near Windsor Castle, consisting of twenty-four acres but this he subsequently sold and removed to a farm in Centre township, where his death occurred in 1901. He was a staunch Democrat in his political views, and for some time he served as sup- ervisor of Centre township. In religious belief he was a Lutheran and belonged to St. Michael's Union Church. Mr. Focht married Hannah Stepp, daughter of Samuel Stepp, of Centre township, and twelve children were born to them, namely: David, Mary, Catherine, William, Ben- jamin, Reuben, Ellen, Senora, James S., Frank, Samuel and Isabella.

James S. Focht was educated in the public schools of Centre township which he attended until he was eighteen years of age. This was chiefly in the old Roth school, to which vicinity his parents had moved when he was two years old. At the age of twenty-two he entered the Hun- tingdon Collegiate Institute, in Huntingdon county, and after three months hard work was licensed to teach by Prof. Samuel A. Baer. His first term was taught at Klinesville, at a salary of twenty dollars for a term of five months. He then taught four terms in Greenwich township, and three in Windsor under Superintendents Baer, Keck and Zechman. For four years Mr. Focht was engaged in a mercantile business at Lenhartsville, and in connection with this he also for one year conducted the "Farmers & Drovers Hotel," the hotel stand having now been his property since 1905. After giving up teaching entirely, he became connected with the Job Wilbur Mining & Milling. Company, of Providence, R. I., superintending their mining in Berks and other counties of the State. In 1895 he purchased the old Trexler homestead, located at Greenawald in Albany township, and known as the Trex- ler tannery, consisting of one hundred acres. This farm he purchased for the Wilbur Company, and on it is found "Talckene," a mineral deposit which is used exclusively in the manufacture of oil cloth and linoleum. An average of 7,500 tons are shipped annually to Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Pa. Mr. Focht owns the old Focht home- stead in Centre township, consisting of 106 acres, and also an adjacent tract of fifty-four acres, at one time the prop- erty of his father. On this tract are a new set of buildings, and the land is in an excellent state of cultivation. On the homestead Mr. Focht erected, in 1905, a fine barn 46 x 112 feet, on a solid concrete foundation. There is run- ning water in both barn and hen house, as well as in the residence. The house is of brick, with large double porches, and was erected by Daniel Focht in 1868. Mr. Focht also owns several houses in Lenhartsville, and also a factory building. He is the largest tax payer in that borough.

In politics Mr. Focht is a strong and influential Dem- ocrat. He has held many township offices, and was the first chief burgess of Lenhartsville borough, of which he was a leading spirit in the incorporation. He was justice of the peace in Lenhartsville, and served the third com- mission before moving to Albany. He was also deputy coroner and school director, and he is thoroughly inter- ested in the cause of education. In 1908 he was one of five candidates for county treasurer, but was unsuccessful, and is a candidate again for 1911. In Church and Sunday- school work he has long taken an active part, having served as elder at Friedens Church, and superintendent of the Sunday schools at Greenawald's, Bethel and Friedens.

In December, 1881, Mr. Focht was married to Agnes B. Epler, daughter of Valentine and Rebecca (Bechtel) Epler, of Penn township. Eleven children were born of this union : Charles F. m. Kate Smith; Alice Agnes grad-

uated from the Keystone State Normal School in the class of 1907, and is now teaching at Lenhartsville; George W. and William J. are students at the Keystone State Normal School; J. Herbert, Edgar B., and Elda May are at home; and a daughter and three sons all died in early infancy.

Older generations of the family to which this sketch is especially dedicated spelled the name Oehrle, or Oehrlin or Ehrle, and Thomas Oehrle went from Lauffen, Wurtem- berg, and settled at Jesingen, Oberamt Kircheim, in that Kingdom. In 1670 he married Agatha Endriss. Whether he first settled there and then married, or whether he came there immediately after his marriage is not known, but it seems likely that he met his wife while traveling as a jour- neyman. They had nine children: John George, born 1672; Anna Mary, 1673; John, 1675; Agnes, 1676; Agatha, 1677; Jacob, September, 1679; Barbara, 1681; Rosina, 1684; and Thomas, May, 1687. The mother died in 1711. There is no record of the father's.death.

(II) Thomas Early, youngest son of Thomas, born in May, 1687, became very prominent. He was a school teacher, and later became court clerk at Jesingen. On Feb. 25, 1710, he married Margaret, daughter of Jacob Fensterle, judge and treasurer of the town. She died Feb. 8, 1735. Nine children blessed this union, as follows : Thomas, born 1710, died 1713; Christine, born 1712; John Jacob, born 1714, died 1717; John Martin, born 1716, died 1717; Anna Catharine, born 1718; Anna Margaret, born 1721, died in infancy; George and John Jacob (twins), born 1722, both died under five years of age; and John, born Jan. 9, 1724. Thomas Early married ( second) Chris- tine, daughter of Conrad Algaier, then judge of Jesingen .- This marriage occurred either late in 1735, or early in 1736. To this marriage were born: Thomas, born in 1736, died in 1746; John George, born in 1738, died in 1746; Agnes, born in 1738, died in 1741; Anna Barbara, born 1741, married George Hartman, a farmer at Jesingen, and died in 1798; Christine, born in 1743; and Conrad, born in 1746, died in 1747. Thomas, the father, died Nov. 25, 1746, aged fifty-nine years and six months.

(III) John Early (Johannes Oehrle), youngest son of Thomas by his first marriage, left Jesingen, Kircheim, An der Teck, Wurtemberg, for the New World, arriving at Philadelphia in the ship "Brothers" Aug. 24, 1750. He im- mediately proceeded to Londonderry township, Lebanon (then Lancaster) county, but before January, 1752, he had become a resident of Reading, Berks county. On January 6th of that' year at a congregational meeting he was elected one of a committee to superintend the erection of a church for the newly organized congregation. His name also appears in the first list of contributors toward its maintenance. On April 10, 1753, he married Susanna Brumbach. One child, Christian, was born to them Jan. 13, 1754, and some time between the middle of October and second week of November, the wife and mother died (ac- cording to records of Trinity Church) in the faith of the Reformed Church. Shortly after the death of his wife John Early left Reading to settle on the banks of the Swatara. At first he settled about a half mile southwest of Bindnagle's Church, on a part of the original Bindnagle tract. In February, 1773, he purchased an additional tract of 233 acres, named "Betimes" in the original survey made for the Rev. Leonard Deininger in 1751. To this tract John Early at once moved, and in 1790 he sold the north- ern part to his son Christian, and the remainder passed into the hands of his son John. On March 11 (Stoever says March 10), 1755, he married Mary Regina, daughter of John Albrecht Sichele; she was quite young, possibly not more than eighteen. To this marriage was born the follow- ing family : John, born July 31, 1757; John William, Aug. 10, 1763; Thomas, Nov. 4, 1767; Anna Catharine, July 7, 1772; Anna Margaret, Feb. 28 (or March 1), 1779; and

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four others who doubtless died in infancy, as their names are not recorded. John Early died Oct. 19, 1796, aged seventy-two years, nine months, ten days, and is buried at Bindnagle's Church, where his grave is marked by a red sandstone. He was a man of wide influence. On Dec. 31, 1769, he started the endowment of Bindnagle's church by a gift of seven pounds and eight shillings, and he was one of the trustees of a fund left by George Berger in 1788, for the same purpose. Tradition says his second wife, who survived him many years, she being of record as sponsor at the baptism of Jacob Early, son of J. William, in 1811, was buried beside him at Bindnagle's church. John Early's "pass," which he used as a journeyman, was preserved many years, but was lost finally at a Harrisburg printing office.

(IV.) John Early, eldest son of John and his second wife, Mary Regina, born July 31, 1757, married, Sept. 4, 1777, Margaret, daughter of John Adam Deininger. Their children were: Magdalena, born Feb. 24, 1778, married David Earnest, near Hummelstown; John Jacob, born Dec. 12, 1779; John William, born March 5, 1782; and Daniel, born Feb. 9, 1784, died March 4, 1813. Immediately after his marriage John Early settled on the old "Betimes" home- stead, and lived there the rest of his life. He acquired considerable property, and to the original homestead he added that part of the Joseph Longnecker farm lying out- side and south of the town of Palmyra. His estate as inventoried by his executors amounted to a modest for- tune, but much of it was in notes on which he was the security, and these were practically valueless. He also owned land in Center and Bedford counties. He was commissioned Aug. 27, 1790, justice of the peace for the third district of Dauphin county, embracing London- derry and Annville townships. Some warrants issued by him and served by his brother Thomas, who was a con- stable, are still in existence, one of them bearing the date, September, 1799.

Mr. Early had the usual experience of those who attain prominent position, and suffered many annoyances caused by petty jealousy, in one case being accused of stealing a wagon wheel, when the prosecutor had not the least ground for his accusation, and instead of humiliating Mr. Early was obliged to pay heavy costs for his folly. Mr. Early was one of the organizers of the Evangelical Luth- eran congregation at Campbellstown in 1792, and this accounts for the fact that when the new Bindnagle's church was erected in 1803 his name seldom appears. He died March 1, 1810, aged fifty-two years, seven months, and his widow survived until Aug. 8, 1811. The records at the Church at Campbellstown state that they were buried there, as was also their son Daniel, who died in 1813.

(V) John William Early, son of John and Margaret (Deininger), born March 5, 1782. was better known as "Squire William Early." He died Dec. 12; 1863, aged eighty-one years, nine months, seven days, the first of the family to attain such advanced years. He was twice married. On March 2, 1801, he wedded Catharine Hirsche (or Hershev), born in 1780. To this union came seven children, namely : (1) Margaret, born May 1, 1802, married Oct. 7, 1830, Henry Laudermilch, and died in 1889. (2) Benjamin, born Dec. 11, 1803, died May 5, 1827, while pursuing his theological studies at the newly established seminary at Gettysburg. (3) Catharine, born March 22, 1805, died May 31, 1811: (4) John, born Oct. 10, 1806, attained the age of ninety-one years and nearly six months. (5) William was born Sept. 13, 1808. (6) Jacob, born Sept. 8, 1810, lived only a little over nine months. (7) Jacob (2), horn June 2, 1812, died when eight years of age, falling, says family tradition, from one of the large poplars in front of his father's home. Mrs. Cath- arine ( Hirsche) Early died Aug. 1, 1815, aged thirty-five years. On Jan. 30, 1816 (Jonestown church record made by Rev. J. H. Van Hoff), Squire William Early married (second) Christina Kreider (cousin to his first wife). She was a daughter of a Mennonite preacher who min- istered unto the people for sixty years. To this marriage also were born seven children: Catharine, born Nov. 7, 1816, married Gabriel Wolfersberger, and died in Har-

risburg, where all her sons, except Reuben, of Palmyra, reside; Joshua Hiester, born Jan. 25, 1818, died 1903; Martin German, born Jan. 10, 1820, died 1900; Christina, born Oct. 6, 1821, died 1902, married about 1847-50 Thomas Getz; Mary Magdalene, born Nov. 26, 1822, died Sept. 22, 1846; Elizabeth, born August 24, 1824, died in infancy; and Aaron Daniel Seth, born May 14, 1828, died 1907, became a local preacher of the United Breth- ren. On Dec. 2, 1823, John William Early, father of the above family, was appointed by Gov. Joseph Hiester justice of the peace. Soon after his appointment the common school law was enacted and he took a very active part in the ensuing bitter controversies, being a stern opponent of the public school system. Not alone did he oppose it by words, but he donated land on which a school house in which to teach the German language was erected. It was still standing a few years ago, but had long since be- come a public school.

(VI) William Early, third son of John William Early, was born in Londonderry township, Lebanon county, Sept. 13, 1808. His education was acquired in special and private schools of his day, and he early turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, following that line all his active life, owning the farm previously owned and occupied by his father. His death was caused by a fall, and it occurred Oct. 12, 1876, when he was a little past sixty-eight years of age. He married Leah Detweiler, daughter of John and Elizabeth ( Williams) Detweiler. To bless this union came six children, namely : John William; Henry; David; Leah, who died aged four years; Mary L., who died aged one year ; and one that died in infancy unnamed. In their religious faith the family were all Lutherans.

(VII) REV. JOHN WILLIAM EARLY, son of William, is active in the ministry of the church of his fathers, the Evangelical Lutheran. He was born near Palmyra, Lon- donderry township, Lebanon county, Sept. 3, 1835. His boyhood days were spent on his father's farm. For about three years he attended a private school in charge of Alexander Dasher, and then the common schools, after their introduction. He entered the preparatory department of Pennsylvania College in 1852, and graduated in 1857. After a year spent at home recruiting shattered health, he, in the fall of 1858, entered the Theological Seminary, and was ordained by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, June 7, 1860. After supplying the pulpit of St. Michael's, Germantown, during the sickness of the pastor, Dr. C. W. Schaeffer, he took charge of congregations in Lancaster county, Pa. He spent eight years in that county, and then removed to the northern part of the State, serving con- gregations at Selinsgrove, Stone Valley, Danville, etc. Having spent twenty-five years in that section he came to Reading to be near his sons, employed there, also to be where he could be nearer the sources of historical and genealogical research in which he was interested.

He was secretary of the Fourth (or Lancaster) Confer- ence from 1861-68, of the Fifth or Northern District from 1869-75. He filled the office of president of this latter Con- ference from 1874-77, and again from 1880-83.

Since residing at Reading the Rev. Mr. Early has pre- pared and published the "Lives of Lutheran Ministers of Berks County"; likewise "Sketches of the Lutheran Con- gregations of Berks," besides preaching whenever occasion offered, and acting as Statistician of the Conference until 1908.

On Jan. 8, 1861, he married Jane M., eldest daughter of Rev. L. G. Eggers, then pastor of the Stouchs- burg parish. Their children, all residing in Reading, are : Lewis Gustavus, of No. 121 South. Ninth street, Reading, night editor of the Reading Times, m. Anna Bechtel, and has two children, George William and Annetta Margaret. Martin Luther, a carpenter at No. 505 South Fifth street. m. Magie E. Garman, and has seven children-Paul Fred- eric ( now at No. 1931 East Monmouth street, Philadelphia, m. Kathryn Yeager, and has two children, Paul William and Ellen Henrietta), Jennie Eliza, Ella Miranda. John William, Jr., Leah Esther, Charles Garman and Clarence Robert (at home) ; Henrietta Catharine m. Harry W. Grim, No. 939 Ritter street, and has two children, William

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BIOGRAPHICAL

George and Ralph Early; David Frederic, No. 141 South Sixth street, m. Margaret H. Hiester, and has one child, Albert Hiester; John Henry, assistant to his brother in the Times office, is at home; and Leah Jane is also at home.

JOSEPH N. SHOMO, a retired merchant of Hamburg, Berks county, was born in that place Oct. 27, 1833, son of Joseph Shomo, of Hamburg, grandson of John Shomo (1752-1836), and great-grandson of Bernard Shomo.

Joseph Shomo, father of Joseph N., was born in Ham- burg in 1794, and there he died in 1867. The mother of Joseph N. Shomo was Mary Lesher, daughter of Jacob Lesher, a hotel-keeper in Richmond township. The fol- lowing are his brothers and sisters: John, Elizabeth, Charles, William, Amanda, Mary, Harrison and Ellen. Joseph came between Mary and Harrison: he is now the only surviving member of the family.

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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 110

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