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 112

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 112

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William Nolan was six years old when his parents came to America and he went to school both in New York and in Reading. Although he returned to New York with other members of the family after the death of his father, he had made friends in Reading to whom he was anxious to return, one of these being Henry Jacobs, who was then master mason for the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company, with whom he secured employment as a stone- cutter. Even then, Mr. Nolan exhibited those steadfast traits that later so thoroughly characterized him, and be- fore he had attained his majority he was appointed fore- man of a large gang of workmen, who were employed by the large contracting firm of Riley, McGrann & Co., of Lancaster. in their building for the Lehigh Navigation Company. His work on this and other similar tasks was so satisfactory that it not only satisfied his employers but it also gave him the courage to embark in business for himself. He selected as a partner John Jacobs, a man who was industrious and ambitious like himself. and, although the firm' started with no appreciable capital, they made some money out of their first large contract and also brought their ability to the attention of those requiring any kind of stone or mason work.

In this business connection, like every other one with which he was associated, Mr. Nolan was a leader, pos- sessing the foresight which is often as necessary to suc- cess as is technical abilitv. He kept on the alert and secured contracts at Reading, Easton and other points, for work of more or less importance, and thus was fully experienced when, under a sub-contract, he completed the Eighth street bridge for the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company. at Reading, a piece of work which commanded the admiration and approbation of the ablest engineers of the country. Mr. Nolan was always disposed to feel that this was the real foundation stone of his subsequent uninterrupted business success. Shortly after this came the organizing of the firm of William Nolan

and John Dunn. With William Nolan at the head the firm was busy and prosperous, and during its duration completed many bridge contracts, not only in Pennsyl- vania but also in other States.

Perhaps the main work of William Nolan's business career was the organization of the firm of Nolan & Brothers, now the Nolan Construction Company, which, for a period approaching a half century, has stood at the head in the line of railroad contracting and bridge building in this section of the country. The firm was made up of William Nolan and two of his brothers, Charles and James Nolan, all men of the same fiber, fitted by nature for this close association. The firm established headquarters at Oil City and the series of stone bridges which they built on the Oil Creek & Allegheny railroad, in the face of many natural difficulties, not only thor- oughly filled an imperative need at that time but possessed the substantial qualities which made them enduring and also the artistic attractiveness which was so often a marked feature of Mr. Nolan's work. A recount of but a small part of the enormous amount of building and construction work done by this progresssive and able business firm, dating from 1871 in the recital, would include some of the finest roads, viaducts, bridges, arches and other structures that adorn the landscape and make possible the great transportation industries of a large part of the Atlantic seaboard. This firm executed all the mason work on the Philadelphia & Erie railroad between Renova and Driftwood, including the large stone viaducts at Hemlock and St. Mary's; built thousands of feet of masonry on the low grade division of the Pennsyl- vania railroad from Driftwood, on the Susquehanna. to Redbank on the Allegheny; built the Linden line for the Pennsylvania railroad, around Williamsport. and also the bridges across the Schuylkill, at Port Clinton, for the Philadelphia & Reading railroad.

In 1873 this company secured the contract to erect the great Richmond street bridge at Philadelphia, with its twenty-three tracks, for the Philadelphia & Reading Com- pany, and in the following year began the building of all the mason work on the Bound Brook railroad, from Bound Brook, N. J., to a point in the same State on the Delaware river, an undertaking of great magnitude. which was promised and successfully completed for the accommodation of visitors to the Centennial Exposition in 1876. During the next four years this firm built the connecting links between the New York City & Northern. and the Sixth avenue electric railways: the Askew arch over the Fairmount Park drive. on the west bank of the Schuylkill : double-tracked the main line of the New York & Erie railway, from Callicoon to Hawkins, N. Y .: built the great drawbridge across the Hackensack, the bridge over the Susquehanna river at Susquehanna, and the bridge over the Chemung river. at Corning, New York.

In 1882 this firm continued its large operations. In

connection with Thomas A. Reilly, capitalist, of Potts- ville, they built the branch railroad from Shamokin to Milton, Pa .. for the Pennsylvania system. and this included all the grading and mason work. together with the erection of that noble bridge. with its mighty spans and total length of 2,600 feet of strength, which was proved when the floods of the memorable year of 1899 beat upon and over it and it stood the strain, when many lesser structures went down. Another piece of fire work was the building of a portion of the Perkiomen bridge for the Philadelphia & Reading railroad and also a portion of the Pennsylvania railrond, between Reading and Pottsville. In association with T. N. DuBarry, this firm huilt nine miles of the Tomhicken branch of the Pennsylvania railroad. In the latter part of 1880 the firm completed the Allentown Terminal railroad; built the railroad bridge at Port Tervis, N. Y .: a bridge at Hor- nellsville, for the New York & Erie railway: the bridge spanning the Delaware, at Hancock. N. Y .: other bridges located in the environs of Philadelphia; and in the short space of eighteen months built the beautiful bridge on

Afillian Aday

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BIOGRAPHICAL

the Norristown branch of the Philadelphia & Reading He is a native of this county, born in 1862 in Amity town- railroad, over the mouth of the Wissahickon.

In the face of such a remarkable aggregation of com- pleted work, it is totally unnecessary to dwell upon the difficulties met and overcome, for even the casual reader must recognize that undertakings of such magnitude would involve the handling of an immense working capital and the directing force of master minds. One of these be- longed to the late William Nolan. With his brothers, he personally supervised much of the work as it progressed, and so careful, so practical and so thorough were his methods that no fault of construction ever escaped him. He was a man of ideas also, and not content with the opportunities offered in his own land, great as they were, went abroad and in his later work incorporated many de- tails of form and construction which he gained from con- templating many of the most notable buildings in En- rope. Mr. Nolan continued as the active head of the firm until 1896, when he retired, an accident which he suf- fered in 1888 probably contributing as a cause. During his later years, while still connected with the administra- tive work of the firm, he was a frequent guest at several leading hotels in Philadelphia and was there met socially and in business relations by men of affairs and prominence from every section.

No mention has yet been made of Mr. Nolan's con- nection with business interests outside of those connected with the firm of Nolan & Brothers, these, in fact, being large enough to have occupied the whole time and atten- tion of an ordinary man. But Mr. Nolan was not an or- dinary man, and he became identified with other impor- tant enterprises, many of these being directly concerned with the upbuilding of Reading, the city of his pride. He was a stockholder in a number of successful con- cerns, a director in many, and was the promoter of a num- ber of the infant industries of the city which later be- came giants. He was a man of public spirit and of such benevolence that, while a member and one of the trus- tees of St. Peter's Catholic Church, and its munificent benefactor, his distribution of charity was not confined to his own religious body, but was given to those in need, no matter what creed might be theirs. Since his death St. Peter's congregation has built a fine new edifice, and its great organ, which cost the sum of $6,500, was placed there by Mr. Nolan's nine children, as a memorial to their father and mother. Genial by nature, broadened by travel and educated largely by contact with men of broadened view and enlightened understanding, William Nolan com- manded respect and enjoyed the warmest friendship and esteem. He was too prominent a man not to be more or less of a politician, but he never accepted any political preferment and served in but one office, and that without compensation, being a trustee, for a time, of the Hunt- ingdon Reformatory. In his views on public questions he was an ardent Democrat, and he was frequently sent as a delegate to State and national conventions of his party.

Mr. Nolan married May 9, 1867, Miss Katherine Mc- Donough, and to this happy union was born a family of nine children, namely : Anna, Kate, James, William, Jr., Charles J., Thomas G., Edward Campion, Bernard J. and Reilly. Anna, the eldest daughter, married Charles P. Bower, a civil engineer. Kate is the wife of Frederick G. Jones. William, president of the Nolan Construction Company, married Margaret Coppinger. Charles J. mar- ried Lottie M. Schaeffer. Thomas G. married Annie M. Cavanaugh. Edward Campion, vice-president of the First National Bank of Reading, married Cora Louise Sembow- er, daughter of Clarence H. Sembower. The family is one of both social and financial prominence in Reading.

ship, son of Abraham L. and Harriet (Straub) Rhoads.

Abraham L. Rhoads was a successful farmer all his life, and during his younger years also followed cattle droving, which he found very profitable. He owned a farm in Amity township, and was considered well-to-do. He lived to the advanced age of eighty-one years, dying in 1905, and his wife survived him, passing away in 1907 at the age of seventy-nine. He was a Lutheran in church connection, she a member of the Reformed Church. Of the children born to them five lived to maturity: Irvin, Calvin, Charles S., Alice (m. William E. Henderson), and Ida (m. Samuel Fix).

Charles S. Rhoads received his early education in the public schools of his native township, and then for three terms taught school, after which he entered the Bryant & Stratton commercial school in Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1884. He again taught school, this time continuing for five terms, making eight terms in all, and had his first business experience as clerk in a tea and coffee house at Kensington, Philadelphia. About 1890 he settled in Birdsboro, where he at once became interested in shoe manufacturing with E. & A. Huyett, continuing in partnership with them until 1900. In that year, Mr. E. R. Huyett retiring on account of ill health, the present firm of Huyett & Rhoads (A. H. Huyett and Charles S. Rhoads) was forced. They manufacture infants' and children's footwear, and their orders keep them constantly busy. From sixty to seventy-five hands are employed. The firm has a substantial position among reliable business houses in this section of the county, and is steadily widen- ing its patronage and improving the output to a creditable degree.

Mr. Rhoads married Laura M. Huyett, daughter of Isaac and Catharine Huyett, Baumstown, and to them have been born eight children, namely: Garson, Verna, Earl, Marian, Vernon, Norman, Melvin and Harold. Mr. Rhoads is a Lutheran in religious connection and much interested in the local activities of his church. He is a member of the National Shoe Manufacturers' Association.

A. H. HUYETT, senior member of the shoe manu- facturing firm of Huyett & Rhoads, located at Birdsboro, began the shoe business when he was only sixteen years of age, and has followed it without interruption to the present day. The establishment with which he has been connected since its foundation has for many years been regarded as one of the reliable industrial factors of the borough.

Mr. Huyett was born in 1870 in Exeter township, Berks county, son of Isaac and Catherine (Root) Huyett, who are still living on a farm at Baumstown, this county. He was educated in the schools of his native township, where he passed his youth and early manhood, being reared upon a farm. When he was sixteen he and his brother, E. R. Huyett, engaged in the manufacture of children's shoes, carrying on their business for the first two years at home. But it was evident that under more favorable commercial conditions the trade would expand rapidly, and the young men moved to Birdsboro and began in a modest way what has since become one of the profitable manufacturing establishments of that place. They did business under the firm name of E. & A. Huyett. At first they employed. only four hands, but the demand for the product grew steadily, and now the factory gives constant employment to between sixty and seventy-five operatives. In 1900 Mr. E. R. Huyett, the senior partner, retired because of poor health, and Mr. A. H. Huyett then entered into partner- ship with Charles S. Rhoads, who had been associated with the business from 1890. The average daily output is from sixteen to twenty cases of children's and infants' shoes, of an excellent grade at a medium price, which find a ready market throughout the States. The plant is very well equipped, with the latest machinery invented for the work, and the factory is well managed in every respect, with due regard for the health and comfort of the em-

CHARLES S. RHOADS, of Birdsboro, member of the firm of Huyett & Rhoads, shoe manufacturers, has been engaged in his present line, and connected with the same establishment, ever since his location in that borough. He is a thorough business man, and has gained his present standing by the most honorable and commendable methods, holding the respect of all who have had dealings with him. ployees as well as the interests of the proprietors.

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

In 1892 Mr. Huyett married Annie D. Seifert, daughter county, and there grew to manhood. As soon as he reached of Reuben and Harriet (White) Seifert, and to them have eligible age he entered the public schools of his native been born six children, viz .: Beulah, Erma, Russell (who died when six months old), Marie, Dorothy and Paul. The family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which Mr. and Mrs. Huyett belong; Mr. Huyett is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. In political matters he is independent, voting as his principles dictate, and taking little active part in public affairs. His energies are de- voted almost exclusively to his business affairs, which have well repaid his earnest and efficient labors.

REV. FRANKLIN K. BERND. The earliest American ancestor of the Bernd family came from the Palatinate, Germany, and settled in Bucks county, Pa. He landed at Philadelphia, Sept. 7, 1748, in the ship "Mary Galley," George Lawson, captain, and his name stands upon the records as Peter Barnd.

This progenitor had a son, George, who was married twice, but the names of his wives are missing. By his first marriage he had two sons, namely George and Peter, and by his second marriage also had two sons, John and Philip. These four sons settled in Bucks county, and as far as is known spent the remainder of their lives there.

George Bernd, the elder of the two sons of the first marriage of George Bernd, was a tailor by occupation, and worked at that trade not only in his own home, but at certain seasons of the year at the homes of his patrons, going from one to the other and making clothes for their families, as was the custom in those early days. He was organist for the Indian Field Lutheran congregation in Bucks county, and afterward for many years for the congregation at the "Six Cornered," or St. Paul's, Lutheran Church in Montgomery county. He died at the age of seventy-eight years, and was buried in the old graveyard at Pennsburg, Montgomery county.

He married Miss Magdalena Gable, a member of an old and representative family of the vicinity of Penns- burg, and to them there was born in August, 1818, a son, Francis Gable.

Francis Gable Bernd grew to manhood in Rich Valley near the boundary line of Bucks and Montgomery coull- ties, and obtained the full advantage of the schools of that locality. He inherited his father's taste for music, and, practising the art from his earliest youth, became an accomplished musician, excelling as a performer on the organ. He was not merely an efficient performer, how- ever, but thoroughly understood the mechanism of the organ which under his skilful manipulation produced the music, and frequently persons who desired to pur- chase instruments consulted him as to the merits of the different makes. He was also a successful school teacher, was able, ambitious and progressive, and the first teacher in Lehigh county to whom was awarded a professional certificate. The various employments afforded by music and teaching were his life-work, he confining himself to them exclusively, and achieving in them a distinction which but few men attain. When in his prime he was without doubt among the most thorough and progressive musicians and educators in the State of Pennsylvania, outside of the cities. In 1845 he married and settled in the town of Egypt, Lehigh county, where he continued to reside the rest of his life, being organist to one congregation for forty-one consecutive years. He died in February, 1892, and his wife in 1886, both being buried in the cemetery at Egypt. He married Christina Kline, daughter of Michael Kline, and granddaughter of Michael, Sr., both leading farmers and influential citizens of Klinesville, Montgomery county, who are buried in the graveyard of the Six Cornered Church in that county. According to tradition the father of Michael Kline the elder came from the Palatinate, and is also buried in the same graveyard. To Francis G. Bernd and wife were born children as fol- lows: Maria m. Hiram Ruch; Ketura m. Sylvester J. Rensheimer; Franklin K .; Victor K .; Lydia F. m. Peter Laubach; and George T.

Franklin K. Bernd, the third child of the above family, was born March 16. 1850, in the town of Egypt, Lehigh

place, from which he entered the high school of North Whitehall township, then taught by Eli G. Schwartz, Esq. In April, 1867, having completed the high school course, Mr. Bernd entered the Keystone State Normal School at Kutz- town, remaining there the following summer session. By this time he had decided to become a teacher, and on application was elected as an assistant instructor for the following winter in a school in North Whitehall township, of which his father was principal. In the spring of 1868 he returned to the Keystone State Normal School, where he continued his studies until the summer of 1869, when he graduated in the elementary course. He then returned to North Whitehall township and resumed teaching, but in the following spring re-entered the Normal school and in 1871 graduated in the scientific course. During the win- ter of 1871-72 he taught a graded school in Bath, North- ampton county, and then in the following spring was called to the Keystone State Normal School and given the principalship of the Model school, which position he filled for five years. At the end of that time he went to Car- bon county, where from 1877 to 1880 he was principal of the public schools of Packerton and Lehighton, and then relinquished teaching for the purpose of preparing for the ministry.

In the fall of 1880 he entered the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1883. Soon thereafter he was elected pastor of the Jordan Lutheran congregation at Guthsville, Lehigh county, which he served very acceptably until in 1889, when he was again called to the Keystone State Nor- mal School, this time to fill the chair of Latin and Greek. His ability and zeal as a minister of the Gospel and as a scholar and educator by this time being generally recog- nized, Muhlenberg College in 1898 conferred upon him the honorary title of A. M. But with reputation and honors came more exacting labors, and in 1900 he was elected superintendent of the Topton Orphans' Home. This offer he declined, but about the same time came a call to the eastern portion of the parish of the late Rev. B. E. Kram- lich, consisting of a congregation at Maxatawny and an- other at Mertztown, which a sense of duty impelled him to accept. Circumstances not favoring an immediate separation from the position he had filled satisfactorily for so long, he for upwards of a year served as pastor of this charge and also as a professor on the Normal school faculty. In 1901 he resigned his position at the Normal school and since then has been devoting himself exclusive- ly to his pastoral duties in this charge, which, since his election, has been enlarged by the addition of the St. Peter's (or Becker's) congregation in Richmond township. He preaches in both English and German and is a faithful and assiduous worker in the Lord's vineyard. In 1905 he was elected by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania a dele- gate to the General Council of the Lutheran Church of America, which was held in Milwaukee in October of that year: and in 1907 he was elected president of the Reading Conference, which office he held two years. He is a member of the Pennsylvania German Society, and also of the Berks County Historical Society, occasionally contributing articles of a biographical character to the press.

In 1875 Rev. Franklin K. Bernd married Miss Hattie M. Heilman, a graduate of the Keystone State Normal School, class of 1871, and a daughter of Moses and Levina ( Lauchnor ) Heilman. Moses Heilman was a son of George Heilman, a farmer, and was born in Heidelberg township, Lehigh county. He was a merchant miller and enterprising and intelligent citizen. His wife, Levina Lauchnor, was of American birth, but of German-French descent. To the marriage of Rev. Franklin K. Bernd and Hattie M. Heilman were born the following children : Margaret, who became the wife of Elmer A. Krauss ; Florence; Katie; Alice, and Mary. Like their parents all of these daughters are graduates of the Keystone State Normal School of Kutztown, and at the present writing four of them have already been teachers.

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BIOGRAPHICAL

GULDIN. The early home of the Guldin family was at St. Gall, Switzerland, where records of it are found as far back as 1529 A. D. The first of the name found in America . was the Rev. Samuel K. Guldin, who left Ham- burg, Germany, July 1, 1710, and landed at Philadelphia Sept. 24, 1710. From him descended all the Guldins in the eastern part of the State. He was the leader of the church Pietists in Switzerland, and the spiritual forerunner of the Re- formed church in Pennsylvania. In Switzerland the Gul- din family is almost extinct, there being but six repre- sentatives of this once powerful name-one man, one boy and four women.

(I) The Rev. Samuel K. Guldin spent the first forty- six years of his life in Switzerland, Holland and Germany. In 1718 he made a brilliant defense of the Pietists which has been incorporated into church history. In 1710 he wrote a letter in which he states that he bought a farm in Oley township, Berks county, Pa. He lived at Roxboro and there died. In this letter he mentions these children : Samuel M., seventeen; Maria Catherine, fourteen ; Chris- toffel, thirteen; and Emanuel Frederick, eleven years of age.

(II) Samuel M. Guldin learned blacksmithing and then together with Engel Peter and a Mr. Bartolet, all black- smiths, went to Oley, then known as "The Land of Great Trees," about the year 1718. Each built a log house, and began to clear the land. These houses were built some- where along what is now the public road from "The Yellow House" and Friedensburg. On May 22, 1722, Samuel M. Guldin married Elizabeth Hilsaweck. Their children were: Samuel, born July 12, 1723; Susanna, Oct. 5, 1724; John, Feb. 22, 1726; Mary Magdalene, Aug. 26, 1728; Frederick. Aug. 2, 1729; Daniel H., Johanna Esther (twins), April 20, 1735; and Clara Elizabeth, Sept. 17, 1738.

Berks county was incorporated in 1752 and Samuel M. Guldin was one of its first county commissioners. At that time there were still Indians in the county, and with- out doubt this ancestor bore his part in defending the people and exterminating the dreaded foe. The records show that at least three of his children married and reared families.

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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 112

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