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 113

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 113

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(III) Daniel H. Guldin, son of Samuel M. Guldin and his wife Elizabeth, was born April 20, 1735, and he died Aug. 17, 1817. In 1762 he married Catherine Elizabeth Geltback, and she died about 1785. Their children were: Samuel G., 1763-1769; Daniel G., 1764-1845; John Jacob, 1766-1826; Samuel G., 1769-1775; John G., 1770-1852; Elizabeth G., 1773-1848; George G., 1774-1814; Abraham G., 1776-1838; Samuel G., 1777-1854; Frederick G., 1779- 1838; Peter G., 1782-1826; David G., 1784-1799.

(IV) John G. Guldin was born Oct. 18, 1770, and died June 13, 1852, son of Daniel H. Guldin and wife Catherine Elizabeth Geltback. He was a blacksmith, farmer and justice of the peace. He married Mary Cronrath, born Jan. 1, 1772, died Dec. 28, 1835. Their children were: Daniel C., 1792-1856; Samuel C., 1794-1871; Rev. John C., D. D., 1799-1863; David C., 1804-1858; Charles C., 1808-1864; Abraham C., 1811-1884; Isaac C., 1812-1874.

(V) Samuel C. Guldin, son of John G. Guldin, was born 1794, and died 1871. He was an extensive dealer in cattle and mules, a large owner of real estate and stock and a man widely and favorably known throughout Berks county. He married Elizabeth Yeager, of Chester county, who was born June 17, 1797, and died Feb. 8, 1879. They lived near Yellow House. Their children were: Simon P., 1823-1873; John F., 1825-1875; Mary Ann; Elam Y., 1829-1892; Sophia H., 1832-1893; James A., 1834-1864; Jeremiah L., 1837-1858.

(VI) John Frederick Guldin, son of Samuel C. Guldin, was born in Oley township, June 9, 1825, and he died at Yellow House May 13, 1875, aged forty-nine years, eleven months and four days. He was one of the most extensive dealers in mules in this part of the county, owning hun- dreds of the mules along the Schuylkill canal, and he supplied the whole system with mules. In addition he kept in stock from 100 to 150 and his business was a very successful one. He also cultivated his eighty-five acre farm, now owned by his son John R. Mr. Guldin was a

charitable man, and while in the business to make money, never hesitated to help one less fortunate than he by lending mules to tide over a difficulty. For some years he was associated in business with his father, Samuel Guldin, and after the latter's death, he continued with his brother Simon. After a prosperous life, he died firm in the faith of the Reformed Church, and is buried at Amityville, in the cemetery of that church. For years prior to his death he took an active part in church work, organizing the Reformed denomination at Amityville, as well as estab- lishing the cemetery. Fraternally he was a member of the Masonic order.

On Sept. 21, 1852, John F. Guldin married Hannah Rhoads, born Oct. 1, 1832, daughter of Abraham Rhoads, of Amity; she died June 2, 1872. They had children : Samuel, born Aug. 26, 1853, died Oct. 24, 1905; Lizzie, born 1856, died in 1858; Mary, born in 1858, died in 1861; Ella, born in 1860, died in 1893; Emily m. J. F. D. Geiger, of Philadelphia; Catherine m. (first) Nelson Bertolet, deceased, and (second) Grant Loder, of Philadelphia ; John R .; and Charles R. of Philadelphia, a butcher.

(VII) JOHN R. GULDIN, postmaster at Yellow House, and agent of the National Bank of Boyertown, was born in the house where he now resides, March 15, 1867. He was educated in the common schools, and Prof. D. B. Brun- ner's Business college, at Reading, from which he was graduated in 1885. Having been reared upon the farm, he thoroughly understood the work, and at the age of eighteen began farming for his father on the homestead. The property is a very fine one consisting of eighty-five acres located at Yellow House, in Amity township. Mr. Guldin supervises the work upon this very valuable tract, and makes it pay well. Since 1897 he has been engaged in a butchering business, and gives employment to three men in this line; and runs three teams delivering to his customers throughout a wide section. Mr. Guldin is one of the owners of "Yellow House Hotel," having succeeded to his father's interest in it upon the latter's death. This old landmark is often referred to by writers of Berks county, and for many years has been a place of entertain- ment for the traveling public. Mr. Guldin's residence is just opposite the hotel, and is a large stone house, well supplied with all modern conveniences, and surrounded with a magnificent lawn. At midnight, Aug. 14, 1908, his large barn was burned to the ground, including its con- tents, consisting of the year's crops, three thorough-bred cows, one bull, thirteen trained hounds and about one- hundred chickens,-a total loss of $6,500. Mr. Guldin immediately rebuilt on practically the same site, and now has the only barn in his section that has a complete con- crete base, one staple high. In addition to being the agent for the National Bank of Boyertown, he is one of its largest stockholders, and since 1893 he has been the postmaster at Yellow House.

Before he was of age, in 1888, Mr. Guldin was placed upon the Democratic ticket for auditor of Amity town- ship, and being elected served that and two succeeding terms, nine years in all. In politics he is a Democrat, and has always taken a lively interest in township affairs. Fraternally he is a member of Wohling Tribe No. 179, Order of Red Men, at Yellow House. He and his family are members of Amityville Reformed Church, of which he was elder for some years, and is now treasurer.

On Feb. 26, 1891, Mr. Guldin married Sue L. Rhoads, daughter of Frank and Rebecca (Lorah) Rhoads, of Amity township. To Mr. and Mrs. Guldin have been born these children : Paul R., a graduate of Mercersburg Academy, in Franklin county, Pa., Class of 1908, and now taking a course in Agriculture, at Cornell University, Class of 1912; and Miss Helena, a member of Class of 1909, Kutztown State Normal. School, and an accomplished young lady.

Mr. Guldin is a sportsman, and is very fond of hunting, keeping a large number of hounds for fox hunting. At times his pack numbers thirty. He also has foxes, opos- sums, coons and other wild animals.

The old Guldin family is well represented in Mr. Gul- din, an excellent type of the genial, kind-hearted hos- pitable country gentleman. He is wealthy, prominent and

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a great favorite throughout all of Berks county, where successively the positions of assistant, assistant principal he and his family occupy so desirable a place in the con- and principal. fidence and esteem of its people.

PROF. R. A. TOWNSEND (deceased), for many years a well known and successful educator, was a native of Lancaster county, born on a farm near Smyrna, about thirty miles southwest of Reading, April 19, 1844. His father was a Quaker, of English descent, and his mother, whose maiden name was Catharine Wagner, was of Dutch ancestry. Prof. Townsend was the youngest of thirteen children, of whom only two survive, all the others having passed away at nearly the same age. The two still living are Martin, of Norwich, Kans .; and Samuel, of Christiana, Lancaster county.

Prof. Townsend secured the rudiments of his education in what was known as the Bart township school, which he attended until he was seventeen years old. He then went West with his brother George and sister-in-law, and settled in Illinois on the unbroken prairie, in the region of Philo, Champaign county. Not far from there was a boarding school which he attended for fifty-three weeks of the two years he was in that part of the country. He also continued his studies by himself while working on the farm, and would carry his Latin books to the field and study conjugations while plowing. On the death of his father he returned to the East, and entered Bucknell Uni- versity of Lewisburg, Pa., where he was graduated in 1864, the valedictorian of his class. Continuing his work he took the degree of A. M., standing second among the ap- plicants for that honor, and attracted much attention by the unusual quality of his work. It was said by the late Rev. J. R. Loomis, LL. D., then president of the Uni- versity, that his record in several of his studies was the highest ever attained in the college.

After leaving the University, Prof. Townsend went to Lancaster to read law under Judge John B. Livingston, and during the period he was thus engaged, he also gave private instruction to the present Judge Landis. When examined for the Bar his unusual powers were again demonstrated, for he was given the highest certificate ever recorded in the prothonotary's office there. The examining board said that they knew of no adjective adequate to describe his degree of scholarship. His future as a lawyer was most promising, but nevertheless his in- clinations were toward the teacher's profession, and when a vacancy occurred in the Lancaster high school, he turned his back upon the law and began his long career as a teacher by becoming assistant to Dr. J. P. McCaskey, the principal. He taught there two years, and then received the appointment to the professorship of mathematics in the Mary Sharp College, Winchester, Tenn. Later he removed to Ghent College, in Kentucky, where he was professor of Latin and Greek, and thence to Vincennes, Ind., where he was first instructor and then principal of the high school. Prof. Townsend was in reality the founder of this school, beginning in 1870, with an attendance of thirty- five pupils, which increased rapidly until at his departure in 1882 there were 200 students. From 1872 until he left Vin- cennes, he filled the office of city superintendent.

From 1882 until his death Prof. Townsend was located in Reading, and during those twenty-one years he exerted an influence far reaching in its effects and unusual in its scope. Unlike some teachers, he made "his boys" his friends, mingling with them on the best of terms and always encouraging and developing them. His recitations, instead of being dreaded, were looked forward to with pleasure and his pupils took the greatest pride in their work. His most effective work, possibly, was in the literary department of education in the Boys' High School, where everything was in his personal charge, and where his success with timid and nervous boys was specially noteworthy. While never glossing over their faults or compromising with them, he nevertheless made kindness and encouragement his chief reliance, and the essential manliness and strength of character developed in the boys under him proved conclusively the wisdom of his methods. During his career in Reading, Prof. Townsend occupied

A man of Prof. Townsend's character could scarcely have failed his country in her hour of need at the time of the Civil war, and he was one of the veterans who survived that struggle. He had enlisted while still in college, was a quartermaster sergeant in Company A, 28th Pa. V. I., and was in the battle of Gettysburg.

In 1868 Prof. Townsend was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Matilda Conroy, a successful and popular teach- er, who as a student had attained a high degree of scholar- ship, and was salutatorian of her class. Their happy wedded life was blessed with eight children, four of whom only, however, survive their father. They are: Roberta Ella, wife of Herbert A. Brown, chief train dispatcher for the Texas & Pacific railroad, with headquarters at Marshall, Texas; Frank A., employed as a draughtsman in the office of the water superintendent, Mr. Neubling, No. 25 North Eleventh street, Reading; Sara E., principal of the school at Tenth and Union streets, Reading; and Thomas W., baggage master for the Texas and Pacific rail- road, at Marshall, Texas.

The last months of Prof. Townsend's life were dark- ened by illness and suffering, and for much of the time he was confined to his bed. His trouble was caused by an accident which occurred March 2, 1902. A great lover of nature, it was his custom to take long walks into the country on Saturdays and Sundays, but on this particular Sunday it was too cold and rainy for him to go out as usual, so he spent the day in-doors reading to himself and his family. In the evening before retiring, he started out for a short walk down Penn street to Front or Second street intending to ride home. Just as he was passing Lichty's Music Store a terrific explosion of acetylene gas occurred which blew out the fronts of two stores and damaged property all around. Prof. Townsend was hurled into the street, landing on his left side, and was made insensible by the force of the impact. On coming to him- self he went home and apparently had received only a few cuts on the head and face, but. before long the full effect of the shock appeared in the steady decline of his health from that time. On June 19, 1902, was the gradua- tion of the last one of his children, Thomas W., from the high school, and on that day the father finally went to bed, never to leave it again until his death, Oct. 4, 1902, when his sufferings were over. He left the record of a life rich in usefulness and honor, and in the affectionate esteem of numbers who owed to his wise guidance and counsel much of their happiness and success in life.

The name Townsend is very old, and we append a brief account of its early history, as given by Malcolm Townsend, Esq., of Brooklyn, N. Y., foreign freight agent of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The name has been spelled in at least fifty-seven different ways. each spelling found in print. The original Townsend in England came from Normandy with William the Conqueror in 1066, and took part in the battle of Hastings. For his services to William the Norman, he received a grant of land in Norfolk and named it Raynham. "Rayn" means river, and "ham" (hame) means home, and thus Raynham means river home. This grant of land from William the Conqueror still remains in the possession of the Town- sends. Very few of the English nobility are now seated on the original grant of land made to them, but the Town- sends have retained their possessions for over 800 years, and through all the revolutions and wars in which Eng- land was engaged during that period. The name then was Norman ; and, while meaning the same as Townsend, it was spelled de Hauteville-"de" means "at," "Haute," "head" or "end;" and "ville," town; de Hauteville in Norman, means at Town's-end in English. Seventeen of the fifty-seven spellings begin with the preposition "at." as "atte Town-end." In French the name is spelled de Bouteville : "de" means "at," "Boute" means "end" and "ville," "of the town" [at the town's end]. In Latin, the name becomes Ad Exitum Villae. "Ad" meant "at;" "Exitum," "end ;" "Villae," "town." These different names and spellings become very important should any future

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Townsend choose to continue archaeological researches in of his profession at Yellow House. In 1857 he erected this direction. Townsend is the proper modern spelling there his late home, one of the most beautiful places in both in England and in this country. That the name is that part of the county. Here he was living, caring for a large number of patients, being friend and adviser to almost everybody in his township, active in public affairs- altogether a very busy and useful man-when the Civil war broke out. uniformly spelled Townsend is a matter of congratulation and prevents many inconveniences. For the spelling Townshend, there is high authority. Edmund Burke, the great English statesman, says, "It seems not improbable that Townsend is the more correct, 'hend' being derived from 'henden' [Saxon] or Latin 'hendere,' to take or hold."

On the monument to commemorate the battle at Sara- toga, N. Y., Oct. 17, 1777, is a bronze relief of "The King and his Ministers." In this picture beginning on the left are William Pitt, Lord Charles Townsend, Earl of Bute, Lord North, Archbishop Markham, and King George III. Lord Charles Townsend, prime minister, with outstretched hand is advising King George III. to some course of action. "The present Marquis of Townsend, whose father was Lord Chancellor to Queen Victoria, and whose pic- ture is in the group, 'Victoria and her Court,' married a sister of the Duke of Fife, whose son, owing to his marriage with a daughter of the Prince of Wales, may some day reign in England." Should this Townsend ascend the English throne and become King of England and Emperor of India, then the English Sovereign, through his great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, and by thirty-five different lines of descent, could trace his re- lationship to Egbert, the first English King who held a Grand Lodge of Masons at York in 826.

Many other interesting references have been found concerning the three brothers who settled at New York City and became very wealthy. Richard and William Townsend sailed in the ship "Welcome" with their worthy friend, William Penn, arriving at Newcastle, Delaware, in 1682. William Townsend emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1712, settling near West Chester, Pa., in 1725. From these the Townsends of Chester and of Lancaster counties are descended.

DR. ELIAS CAREY KITCHIN, of Amity township, one of the most distinguished and best known citizens of Berks county, was born in Solebury, Bucks Co., Pa., Nov. 27, 1827, son of William and Ellenor (Carey) Kitchin, and grandson of William Kitchin, and died at his home in Brumfieldsville, March 13, 1909.

William Kitchin, the grandfather,. was a farmer in Bucks county. He was a man of much learning, devoted to scientific pursuits, and he was prominent among the old orthodox Quakers. His wife was Ann Paxson, a member of an old Quaker family.

William Kitchin, the Doctor's father, was born in Sole- bury township, Bucks county, Feb. 12, 1789, and died Oct. 16, 1873 ; he was buried at Solebury Quaker meeting- house. Like his father he was a strict orthodox Quaker. For seventeen years he was president of the Bucks County Fire Insurance Company. In 1812 he married Ellenor Carey (1794-1877), daughter of Elias and Hannah Carey, and eight children were born of this union: Elias ( died small), John, Ann, Thomas, William (a retired merchant of Bucks county), Dr. Elias C., Paxson (of Northampton county) and Samuel (deceased).

Elias C. Kitchin gave evidence of an unusually brilliant mind as a very small child, being able to read before he was three years old. His father was superintendent for the contractor making the Delaware division of the Penn- sylvania canal that was finished in 1830, and the Doctor

Dr. Kitchin was a stanch Protectionist, and when he moved to Berks county he was warned that to be popular there he would be obliged to become a Democrat, but he was true to' his principles, and for eighteen months he presided over the Know-Nothing Council, during his ad- ministration greatly changing the political complexion of his township by one hundred votes. He was a Republican from the organization of the party, and was one of a committee of twenty for the first Republican convention at Reading, and was the last survivor of the twenty men who signed. Of the seventy-two soldiers furnished by Amity township for the Civil war, sixty-five were Re- publicans.

At the outbreak of the Civil war Dr. Kitchin did not enlist, thinking it his duty to care for his patients, but when he, learned the Confederates were marching into Pennsylvania he started for Harrisburg with his rifle. There he chanced to meet Surgeon-General King who made him assistant surgeon, and he was assigned to the 21st Pennsylvania Cavalry, remaining with that regiment until its term of service had expired. He was then or- dered to Reading to recruit, and after much difficulty succeeded in recruiting Company H, 21st P. V. C. They proceeded to Washington, where they were dismounted, and they saw hard service as infantry. They participated in the following engagements: Bethesda Church (when sixty men, killed and wounded, were lost in fifteen min- utes ), Petersburg, Jerusalem Plank Road, Peeble's Farm. Stony Creek, Boydton Plank Road. In the last named battle Assistant Surgeon Kitchin so distinguished him- self for his active service in caring for the wounded on the firing line, being the only surgeon that remained with Surgeon Le Moyn, that he was recommended for pro- motion, and was made surgeon of the 155th P. V. I., with which regiment he served until the close of the war, taking part in the fights at Hatcher's Run, Five Forks and Appomattox. At Appomattox he dressed the wounds of the last soldier injured in Lee's army, and gave a Con- federate who made himself known as a Mason $50 to enable him to get home, to Shelbyville. Dr. Kitchin was mustered into service Feb. 21, 1864, promoted from as- sistant surgeon to surgeon Jan. 30, 1865, and was mustered out June 2, 1865. He proved himself an able and fearless soldier, cheerfully and effectively doing his duty in what- ever capacity he was ordered. When the war was over he returned to his home and resumed his professional work.

In 1856 Dr. Kitchin married Ellen Filbert, daughter of Samuel and Charlotte ( Kline) Filbert, the former for some years proprietor of "Yellow House." Mrs. Kitchin died Oct. 23, 1900, aged sixty-six years, ten days. Two children were born of this union: William F. and Char- lotte. The Doctor was prominent socially, belonging to McLean Post, No. 16, G. A. R., Reading; to the F. & A. M .; to Phoenixville Commandery, K. T., of which he was the last surviving charter member ; to the Knights of the Red Cross, and the Knights of Malta.

One of the Doctor's last requests was that the address at his funeral be made by Judge H. Willis Bland, of Reading; that members of the Masonic Lodge act as his is still able to sing songs he heard the workmen sing pall bearers, and that comrades of the G. A. R. conduct there. In 1833 he was sent to a Quaker school, where he the services at the grave. This was done, and a large

spelled in a class with girls fifteen and sixteen years number of friends came to pay their last respects to one whom they knew so well. old. In 1844 he went to work on the Bucks County In- telligencer, published at Doylestown, but this work proved too hard for him, and it was four years before 'he re- DR. EDWARD BROBST, of West Leesport, died Dec. teen days. He was one of the best known physicians in the county, and one of the last of that noble class of men known as "family doctors"-a firm friend and coun- selor of every member of the family, sometimes through covered his health. During these years of ill health he 31, 1907, aged seventy-four years, three months and six- became interested in medicine, and Dr. Livezey, a graduate of Princeton, who afterward became a professor in the Female Medical College, Philadelphia, took him in charge, and in 1850 he graduated in medicine. In January, 1851, he located in Berks county, and entered upon the practice two or three generations, in health as well as in sickness.

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He was born at Rehrersburg Sept. 15, 1833, son of Valen- of age, and in the Academy at Orwigsburg, Schuylkill tine and Mary (Miller) Brobst, and a descendant of Philip Brobst and wife Cerine, who came to this country from Germany or Switzerland in search of home and for- tune.

Philip Brobst and his wife Cerine made their home in Albany township, Berks county. His will, made in 1747, and probated March 21, 1760, made provision for his children as follows: Michael, one hundred acres of land and a good grist mill belonging thereto; Martin, a tract of fifty acres and a good new grist mill; Valentine, his just portion of the estate; Eva Catharine, fifty pounds in money; and Dorothy (wife of Johannes Fetherolff), fifty pounds in money.

From the Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. XVII, pp. 75- 77-81, is learned that one Hans Michael Brobst (or Probst) and his family emigrated from Switzerland or Germany on the ship "Samuel," which qualified at Phila- delphia Aug. 17, 1733. This family was listed as follows : Michael Bropts, aged fifty-four; Johan Michael, aged twenty-one; Barbara Brospts, aged fifty-three; and Bar- bara Brospts, aged eight.

In 1759, in Albany township, Michael Brobst was tax collector, and on the list of taxes paid were: Michael Brobst, fourteen pounds (or $37.24) ; Martin Brobst, four- teen pounds (or $37.24) ; and Valentine Brobst, sixteen pounds (or $12.56). These amounts were reckoned by allowing $2.66 United States money for a Pennsylvania pound.

The will of Martin Brobst, of Albany township, was probated June 9, 1766, and Anna Elizabeth Brobst was named as executrix. This document is in German script, and mentions several children.

Valentine Brobst, mentioned above as son of Philip and Cerine, emigrated with his brothers from the Old World. He lived in Reading for some years, and tradi- tion says for a time in Albany township, where his broth- ers, Michael and Martin, were also large land owners, as indicated by the amount of taxes paid. The Christian name of Valentine's wife was Catharine. He died prior to 1775, and his wife in 1775. The executors of the will of Valentine Brobst were Frederick Hill, a brother-in- law, and Henry Brobst, a brother's son. Among the items were: "Cath. Snyder, my aforesaid wife's sister's daugh- ter, shall have fifty pounds; Jacob Brobst shall have the plantation I bought from Jacob Gortner (Jacob was a son of Michael, the latter a brother of Valentine) ; Catha- rine Stine (daughter of Martin, another brother of Valen- tine) shall have fifty pounds ; my sister Dorothy married to Johannes Fetherolff shall have fifty pounds." The witnesses to the will were: Philip Staumbog, Georg Kistler and. Matthias Brobst. The will of Catharine, widow of Valentine Brobst, is on record in Will Book 2, p. 236.

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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 113

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