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 123

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 123

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Mr. Rhoads is a member of Reading Aerie, No. 66, F. O. E .; Metacomet Tribe, No. 416, I. O. R. M .; Junior Fire Company; Humane Association; Eagles Mountain Home Association; Berks County Retail Liquor Deal- ers Protective Association.

On Feb. 5, 1882, Mr. Rhoads was married to Miss Laura Weidner, daughter of Charles and Elmira Weid- ner, of Amity township. They have had four children, one of whom died in infancy. The others are: L. Ger- trude m. H. W. Ulrich, an electrician of Philadelphia; Carl M. is a bar clerk for his father; and John C. is a clerk for the Berks County Trust Company. Mr. Rhoads is well known as a loyal Democrat, and he has long been active in the councils of his party.

JOHN GILBERT RHOADS, son of Reuben B. Rhoads, was born Jan. 17, 1865, and he received his education in the schools of his native town and in Reading high school, graduating from that institution in 1886. The next three years he spent in the coal and lumber business, after which he went to the Philadelphia Bridge Works at Potts- town, where he was engaged at structural iron work. In 1895 he became deputy prothonotary, and in 1897 he was defeated for the position of prothonotary by one vote, and in 1900 was elected prothonotary. At the expira- tion of his term he was again appointed deputy prothono- tary, a position he still holds. He was elected to the school board for the City of Reading in 1907, and reelected for four years Feb. 16, 1909.

Mr. Rhoads married Clara Ritter Guldin, daughter of Jeremiah R. Guldin, and to this union were born: Mag- gie Esther, who died in infancy; and Clarence G., liv- ing in New Berlinville. The wife and mother died April 9, 1892. Mr. Rhoads married (second) in 1896, Annie May Hartenstein, daughter of Henry Hart- enstein. One son, Frederick, born of this union, died in infancy, and Catherine and Robert still survive. Mr. Rhoads is a member of the Lutheran Church. He is very highly esteemed in Reading where his many ster]- ing traits of character are known and appreciated.

ALBERT BRODEN, superintendent of blast furnaces of the Reading Iron Company, and one of Reading's prominent and influential citizens, was born in Sweden, April 22, 1851, and was educated at Skara College, in his native country.

Mr. Broden came to America in 1873, and located in Reading, where he has ever since been connected with railroad and iron work, with the exception of one year spent in the United States of Colombia, building blast furnaces. He also spent six months at Ogden, Utah, for Richmond L. Jones, making an experimental blast to determine the value of iron ores in the Rocky Moun- tains. Since 1887 he has been connected with the Hon. George F. Baer, in the iron interests, and since that time he has been superintendent of the Reading Iron Company's furnaces, and is also manager of the Tem- ple Iron Company's furnaces.

Mr. Broden is a member of the Wyomissing and Berk- shire Clubs. He is connected with St. Matthew's Luther- an Church. In polities he is a Republican.

pleted by one well equipped by Nature, and molded by experience.

E. RICHARD MEINIG, a representative business man of Reading, where he owns a well-equipped factory and carries on a large silk glove manufacturing industry, was born near Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany, May 10, 1874.

In his native land Mr. Meinig secured an excellent education and then thoroughly learned the business of manufacturing fabric gloves, mastering every detail. In 1900 he came to America and became the foreman of the Reading Glove and Mitten Company, two years later being made manager of this concern. After filling that position for three years he embarked in business for himself, organizing the E. Richard Meinig Company, for the purpose of manufacturing silk and other fabric gloves. He is secretary and treasurer of this corporation as well as its general manager, the president being George Horst, of the hosiery manufacturing concern of Nolde & Horst, Reading.

In 1907, the E. Richard Meinig Company erected a fac- tory on Mcknight street between Greenwich and Oley streets. It is of brick construction, four stories and basement, with dimensions of 210 x 50 feet. There has been erected an addition two stories high with dimensions of 180 x 30 feet. This glove factory has the name of be- ing the most complete in its equipment of any building of its kind in the world. Employment is given to from 700 to 800 employees, and the product is sold in the United States and in other lands, probably reaching every enlight- ened country. Mr. Meinig possesses remarkable business capacity together with high standards of commercial life and a personal character above reproach.

In 1903, Mr. Meinig married Maria Vogt, daughter of Hans and Catrina (Horst) Vogt, also of German birth. They have four children : Ernst, Louisa, George and Karl.

JAMES GAUMER TREICHLER, a well-known resi- dent of Kutztown, who has for a number of years been engaged in farming in that section, is a native of Berks county, born at Treichlersville Sept. 7, 1845, son of David M. and Luzetta (Gaumer) Treichler.

There is a tradition in the Treichler family that the immigrant ancestor was Jacob Trycler, and that he came from the city of Treichlerdorf, Holland, landing at Phila- delphia, Oct. 16, 1727. It is also believed that his wife came from Amsterdam, Holland. The Treichlers origin- ally settled in New Jersey.

Samuel Treichler, Sr., grandfather of James G .. is sup- posed to have been the first of the family to come to Berks county, where he settled in Hereford township. It is said he came from Kintnersville, Bucks county, on the Delaware river, on which stream the Treichlers were engaged as rafters. He followed mercantile pursuits and also engaged in the manufacture of linseed oil, and was the founder of Treichlersville, Berks county. Born July 14, 1776, he died March 29, 1865, aged eighty-eight years, eight months, fifteen days. He married Maria Magda- lena Mumbauer, daughter of Philip and Barbara Mum- bauer, born May 18, 1781, died Dec. 28, 1851, aged seventy years, seven months, ten days. They had these children : John, Jacob, David, Samuel (born Oct. 15, 1806, died Jan. 29, 1860), Joseph, Mollie (m. Samuel Wehr), Sally, Anna, and two who died in infancy. The will of Samuel Treichler, Sr., is on record in Will Book 11, page 380. The executors were his sons David M. and Joseph. The following children are mentioned in the will : Jacob, John, David M., Samuel, Sarah, Mary and Joseph.

Anna Treichler (1763-1792) and Elizabeth Treichler (1768-1851), sisters of Samuel Treichler, Sr., were the second and third wives, respectively, of Jacob Gery, an early resident of Hereford township, who was married three times.

David M. Treichler, born May 6, 1809, died of Bright's disease May 24, 1878. He was a farmer and miller at Treichlersville, and successful in business. He was a Re- publican in politics, a member of the Reformed Church, and is buried at New Goshenhoppen Church at East Greenville, Montgomery county. Mr. Treichler was mar-

Mr. Broden through the storm and stress of Amer- ican business life, for the past eighteen years, has been a notable example of the success of well-directed energy. Cool, careful, thorough, he has mastered details and; brought about results which could only have been com- ried in May, 1840, to Luzetta Gaumer, daughter of John

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BIOGRAPHICAL

Adam Gaumer born Nov. 20, 1814, died Dec. 5, 1898, the place was known from the Delaware to the Schuylkill aged eighty-four years, fifteen days, and they had these river as Gery's Tile Hut or "Ziegel Huette." Jacob Gery children : Sarah Ann m. William Butz; Mary is unmar- died Feb. 25, 1808, some years after his wife, who passed away Feb. 8, 1802. They are buried in the old graveyard at New Goshenhoppen Church .. Nine children were born to this pioneer couple: Jacob, John Adam, John, Peter, Michael, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Anna Maria and Catharine. ried; James G. is mentioned below; Emma m. Jacob Bit- tenbender; Lucinda m. John Smith and died in 1888; David G. m. Maria Schantz; Caroline m. J. M. Grimley ; Samuel m. Amelia Lorentz.

James G. Treichler was reared on his father's farm and attended the schools of his district and the Normal Academy at Quakertown, of which Rev. Dr. A. R. Howe was principal, and later the Macungie Academy, of which Prof. Oliver Fell was principal. In 1877 he left the farm and became a salesman for Artman & Treichler, dealers in carpets, oilcloth and woodenware, of Philadelphia, and dur- ing a period of eighteen years he was their traveling sales- man, his field being all over the eastern part of Pennsyl- vania and also the central part of the State. In the

spring of 1895 he moved to Kutztown, on the old Kutz. children as follows: Elizabeth, Michael, Joseph, David,

farm, which came into his possession and which he owns to this day, and for six years his fine team carried milk in Kutztown and vicinity from his dairy. He had about forty head of Guernsey and Jersey cows, all high-bred stock, for which he paid as much as $240 a head. His farm is in the highest state of cultivation and is one of the finest farms in the rich Maxatawny valley. His was one of the first barns in Berks county to be lighted by electricity. In every detail he is an up-to-date agricul- turist and operates his land with modern, improved ma- chinery.

Mr. Treichler was instrumental in starting building op- erations in the section of Kutztown north of the Sacony creek, and since the spring of 1900, when the building boom started, more than sixty fine residences have been erected, of which the Treichler mansion at the corner of Park and Treichler avenues is one of the handsomest and most modern buildings in the community. He is a director in the Building and Loan. Association and was also director and treasurer of the Kutztown Park Association.

On Oct. 7, 1876, he married Anna Eliza Levan, daughter of David Levan, a prosperous farmer of Maxatawny town- ship, and his wife, Lydia Jarrett, who had three children, viz .: Anna Eliza m. James G. Treichler; Sarah m. H. R. Nicks; Alvin lived in Reading many years, but died in Kutztown where he is buried.

Mr. and Mrs. Treichler have two children: Annie L. has been thoroughly educated; David L., who resides at home, assists in managing the estate. In politics Mr. Treichler is identified with the Republican party. He and his family are members of St. John's Reformed Church at Kutztown, in which he has been an elder for some years.

which has been in the hands of the Gery family for over fifty years. This family was established in Berks county one hundred and seventy years ago by Jacob Gery, Erwin C. Gery being a member of the fifth generation in direct line of descent from this pioneer.

Jacob Gery, son of Jacob and Gertrude, was born Feb. 11, 1754, in Montgomery county, Pa., and died Sept. 28, 1828, aged seventy-four years, seven months, seventeen days; he is buried at New Goshenhoppen Church. By occupation he was a farmer, owning a large farm. He was married three times, first to Elizabeth Lauer, by whom he had four children, Jacob, Peter, Sarah and John. His second wife, Anna Treichler, 1763-1792, bore him one child, that died in infancy, and by his third union, with Elizabeth Treichler (1768-1851), sister of Anna, he had Maria (or Polly) and Julia.

Michael Gery, son of Jacob and Elizabeth, was born Feb. 22, 1795, on the old Gery homestead, and died at Perry- ville (now Harlem), in Hereford township, Aug. 17, 1870, aged seventy-five years, five months, twenty-five days. Coming to Hereford township in 1823, he passed the rest of his life there, owning a seventy-four-acre farm at what is now Harlem, which he cultivated. He also carried on an oil mill which stood on his farm, at the source of the Perkiomen creek, running this mill profitably for a period of twenty-two years, and he was likewise successful as a store and hotel keeper, conducting the hotel at Harlem from 1832 until 187 -. His hotel was a popular resting place for the early residents of Upper Berks county who passed through on their way from Albany, Greenwich, Windsor, Richmond, Maxatawny and Longswamp town- ships to Philadelphia, whither they took their grain and produce to market. Michael Gery's son, Charles N. Gery, now one of the venerable residents of Hereford township, recalls that on a Monday morning fifty-two teams stopped there. Whiskey then sold for three cents a glass, and a cigar was given for good-will to each "smaller." As might be expected from one of his energetic nature and wide acquaintance, he was a leading and influential spirit in his community, active and aggressive, interested in politics and alive to the needs of his community. In 1852 he was county commissioner, during that time assisting in the erection of the Berks county prison. He was one of the organizers of the Goshenhoppen Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of which he was a director many years, and the family has been represented on the board of directors up to the present time, Michael Gery retiring in favor of his son Charles N., who after a service of thirteen years retired in favor of his son, Erwin C., who has been a director of the company since 1890. Michael Gery and

ERWIN C. GERY is the present proprietor of the hotel his son and grandson have been chosen many times as at Siesholtzville in Hereford township, Berks county, county and State delegates in their connection with this

concern. The grandfather was a man of medium height, but stout, commanding in appearance, and much respected among his friends and acquaintances. He was twice mar- ried, first to Sally Nuss, born March 7, 1795, died July 25, 1844, aged forty-nine years, four months, eighteen days, and they had a family of twelve children, six sons and six daughters: Daniel, Ephraim, David (1820-1884), Charles N., Polly, Elizabeth, Judith, Sarah, Franklin, Caro- line, Matilda and Michael. By his second wife, Elizabeth (Moll), he had two sons, Milton M. (who is an auctioneer) and Jacob M. Michael Gery and his family were German

Jacob Gery, born May 9, 1721, came to this country from Switzerland, landing at Philadelphia Sept. 3, 1739. He was a "redemptioner," and to pay for his passage served a num- ber of years with Valentine Griesemere, of Hereford, in Berks county, Pa. In later years, like his Biblical namesake, he married his master's daughter, Gertrude Griesemere, born May 15, 1728. Jacob Gery purchased six hundred .Reformed members of Huff's Church, where he is buried. acres of land, located partly in what is now Upper Han- Charles N. Gery, son of Michael, was born Oct. 28, 1822, in Upper Hanover township, Montgomery county. He was less than a year old when his father settled in Hereford township, Berks county, and there he received his education, attending the old pay schools then in Vogue. Remaining upon the farm until he was eighteen, he then entered the store at Henningsville, in Longswamp township, as a clerk, being engaged there four years. In 1845 he moved to Siesholtzville, where in partnership with his father he over township, Montgomery county, and partly in Here- ford township, Berks county. He sold some of it, clearing the remainder, upon which he erected the necessary build- ings and made many improvements. His old place is now the property of a descendant, Thomas H. Gery. The orig- inal dwelling was used as late as 1803, when the house which is at present on the place was built. The old dwell- ing served as a schoolhouse for a number of years. Jacob Gery understood the art of making tile, and erected a hut kept the store for one and a half years, after which they and kilns for manufacturing the same, and on this account conducted the store at Harlem (then Perryville) for eight

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

and a half years, at the end of that time dissolving partner- circles, being a member of Perkiomen Lodge, No. 595, F. ship. Returning then to Siesholtzville he again com- & A. M., of East Greenville, Pa .; of Covenant Command- ery, No. 58, A. & I. O. K. of M., of Alburtis, Pa .; and a charter member of Camp No. 470, P. O. S. of A., of Siesholtzville, of which he was the first past president, and which he has represented many times as delegate at State and district conventions. menced keeping store there, and he has been interested in that business ever since, the firm now being Gery & Moll, as it has been ever since he admitted his son-in-law, William B. Moll, to a partnership. They carry a full line of general merchandise, and are considered the most re- liable merchants in this section. Mr. Gery was appointed On June 24, 1876, Mr. Gery was married to Lizzie Baus, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Geissinger) Baus, of Hereford township. To this union have been born three children : Harry C., born June 12, 1877, is married to Jennie Reinert, and they reside at Reading, Berks Co., Pa .; Lizzie, born in 1882, died in 1886; Donald E. was born March 9, 1897. Mr. Gery and his family are Re- formed members of Huff's Church. He was the leader of the choir there for nine years, during which time he sang bass, and he was connected with the choir in all twenty-three years. He was one of the last class of catechumens taught by Rev. Alfred Hennan at Huff's Church. postmaster at Siesholtzville in 1854, by President James A. Pierce, and served until the post office was abandoned, Nov. 30, 1908, upon the establishment of a rural free delivery route. No citizen of eastern Berks county is held in higher esteem than Mr. Gery, who is one of the oldest and best known residents of that locality. He has always been an active man, winning success by industry and devotion to business, and he is one of the heavy tax- payers of his township, owning the store and hotel prop- erty as well as several dwellings at Siesholtzville. He served one term of three years as township auditor when the office was literally thrust upon him, but with this ex- ception has taken no part in public life, having stead- fastly refused offers of preferment and trust.

In 1848 Mr. Gery married Elizabeth Moll, born Jan. 24, 1827, died Dec. 26, 1895, and six children were born to them : (1) Malinda m. William B. Moll, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work. (2) Sally An m. Alfred A. Schall, and is deceased. (3) Erwin C. is mentioned later. (4) Allen G. is mentioned elsewhere. (5) Cassie Ann m. Dr. J. L. Roth, of Red Hill, Montgomery Co., Pa., and is de- ceased. (6) Dr. Ambrose M. is a prominent physician and surgeon at Coopersburg, Pa., where he is also the pro- prietor of the "Vanness Hotel." Charles N. Gery and his family are Reformed members of Huff's Church, which he served as treasurer for fourteen years.

Erwin C. Gery was born Dec. 2, 1852, and has passed practically his entire life in Hereford township. He re- ceived a thorough education, which was begun in the township schools and continued at the Keystone State Nor- mal School, at Kutztown (where he was under three principals, Profs. John S. Ermentrout, Horn and Schaeff- er), the Seminary at Kulpsville, Montgomery county, and the Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., from which he was graduated in 1875. His boyhood days were spent in Siesholtzville, where he clerked in his fath- er's store from the time he could be of any use, also as- sisting in the hotel and upon the farm. After graduating from the business college he clerked In the store until early in 1877, on March 27th of which year he took charge of the hotel at Siesholtzville, which he has conducted ever since. It is one of the oldest hostelries in the county, and has been in the Gery family since 1854, Charles N. Gery having carried it on for twenty-one years before Erwin C. Gery took charge. There are sixteen rooms, and the place is well patronized by the traveling public, Mr. Gery being one of the most popular landlords in his sec- tion, for he conducts a reliable hotel and bears a favor- able reputation among the best citizens of the county. Siesholtzville is located on the road from Hamburg to Philadelphia, and from Allentown to Reading, and the hotel is one of the landmarks in its neighborhood. The building is an old stone structure erected during the French and Indian war.

Mr. Gery owns considerable real estate in and around Siesholtzville, having several houses in the vicinity which he rents, and in connection with the hotel property he has thirty acres of land. Since 1890 he has been con- nected as a director with the Goshenhoppen Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which has risks at present amounting to nearly $16,000,000. He has been a director of the National Bank of Topton since its organization in 1905. He is one of the best known Democrats in Berks county, being a strong advocate of the principles of his party, in whose interests he has been an active worker from the age of nineteen years. He has served many times as county and State delegate, was school director of his township for three years, and in the spring of 1908 was a candidate for the office of county treasurer, making a very creditable run. Mr. Gery is well known in fraternal

WILLIAM T. SNYDER, alderman of the Fifteenth ward of Reading, Pa., and one of the successful and in- fluential . business men of the city, is the grandson of Daniel H. Schneider, who is remembered by the older residents of Berks county as a prominent farmer and miller of Exeter township, and the son of W. H. Schneider, for many years a miller in the same township, and for thirty years its justice of the peace. He died in Reading, Oct. 9, 1905, at the ripe age of seventy-eight years. The Alderman's mother was Hannah Tobias, who died in 1865, the daughter of a Berks county farmer. To W. H. and Hannah Schneider were born six children, one of whom, Susan, died at eighteen. Those living are: Kate, widow of John K. Young, proprietor of "Stonersville Hotel" in Exeter township at the time of his decease; Hannah, wife of Howard E. Ahrens, a contractor of Reading; Deborah, wife of Albert H. Adams, truck and dairy farmer of Exeter township; Elizabeth, wife of Charles M. Richardson, proprietor of a creamery at Bernville, and one of the owners of the Ahrens & Richardson cream- eries; and William T.

William T. Snyder, who Americanized the spelling of the family name, was born on the old homestead in Ex- eter township, Dec. 3, 1858. He received a fair common school education, and then passed the time until a year after his majority in helping his father about the mill. At twenty-two he left home and entered the service of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company at Pottstown, and after three years came to Reading, where he was for the same period of time proprietor of the "Bridgeport Hotel." On the passage of the Brooks high license law he closed the hotel and started coal, flour and feed busi- ness. In 1894 he erected the fine business building which he now occupies and continued the business, adding a stock of fancy groceries.

Mr. Snyder even as a boy had opinions as to public matters. When he reached man's estate and went into business for himself this characteristic became more marked, and with the wisdom that came with experience, personal and by observation, these opinions began to at- tract the attention of his friends and neighbors on account of their soundness. At thirty he was in Reading's com- mon council, where for two terms his voice was heard and respected in the framing of ordinances for the betterment of the city. This was back in 1887-88. Again in 1894 he became a member of the city's legislative body, this time as alderman from the Fifteenth ward, and he is now serv- ing his fourth term. Though a Democrat in political faith, Alderman Snyder does not allow politics to enter into questions upon which he is called upon to vote in the sessions of the board. In national, State and county affairs he is however, a partisan, believing thoroughly in the ef- ficacy of Democratic principles and policies.

Unlike many leading men, Alderman Snyder takes a lively interest in religious affairs. He is a working mem- ber of the St. Mark's Reformed Church of Reading, and for the past ten years has acted as treasurer. During

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485

the building of the splendid $55,000 church edifice in which the congregation now worships, Mr. Snyder was a member of the Building committee and disbursed the funds, call- ing forth the thanks of his church brethren for the satis- factory manner in which that part of the work was done.

In the business world Alderman Snyder is regarded with confidence by his associates, being the first president of the Pennsylvania Retail Coal Merchants Association, and now secretary of the Retail Coal Dealers Association of Reading. Since the death of his father he has been treasurer of the Oley Turnpike Road Company. He is also a member of the fraternal organization known as the F. m. John R. Haws, and has one child, John M. P. O. S. of A .; and of the Masonic fraternity.

On July 2, 1881, Mr. Snyder married Sarah H., daugh- ter of John G. Brower, of Boyertown, a contracting car- penter of that place. To this union have been born three children, as follows: Elmina, born 1882, wife of John D. Bear, of Reading; William B., born 1887, in business with his father; and John LeRoy, a student in the public schools. The life of Alderman Snyder has been one of earnest endeavor for the advancement of society in general and Reading in particular, and he is now enjoying the merited esteem of a host of friends, who delight to do him honor on all proper occasions.

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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 123

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