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 132

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 132

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(V) Daniel Weller, brother of Joel H., had children : Charles, Willie, Warren and Paul (deceased).

(VI) Charles Weller, son of Daniel, has a son (VII) Earl-a representative in the seventh generation of the family in America.

JOHN A. HIESTER. alderman of the Sixth ward, Reading, and one of that city's most prominent and in- fluential citizens, is descended from the Hiesters who have been prominent in Pennsylvania affairs for so many years.

John Hiester, grandfather of John A., was a farmer of Berks county, as was also his son, Benneville, the father of the alderman. Benneville Hiester died in 1857, aged forty-two years. His wife was Sarah Brown. dangh- ter of Daniel Brown, a well known farmer of Berks county. They had six children: Henry died in 1866, aged · ineteen years; Daniel F. is a carpenter; Amanda mar- ried Isaac Menviller. a farmer of Berks county; Sarah m. James Keller, of Kansas; Emma m. Joshua A. Schle- gel, of Topeka, Kans .; and John A.

John A. Hiester was born in Cumru (now Spring) township, Berks county, Sept. 21, 1846, and was educated in the public schools. When nearly twelve years old his father died, and, after working on a farm for a time. young Hiester went to Monroe county, where he had charge of a sawmill. Tiring of this he located in North Heidelberg and became a farmer. His friends elected him judge of election as well as a member of the school board. In 1882 Mr. Hiester removed to Reading and established a livery and boarding stable, and this business, still owned and managed by him, has grown to large proportions. Mr. Hiester served efficiently as a

director of the poor for nine years, so efficiently, indeed, that he was elected alderman of the Sixth ward of Reading, on the Democratic ticket (although the ward was largely Republican) in February, 1903. While a resi- dent of Bernville, in 1876, Mr. Hiester was elected chief burgess of the place although only thirty years old at the time.

Mr. Hiester was married in 1873. to Catherine E. Weber, daughter of Z. Weber, a carpenter of Bernville. Ten children have been born to this union: Charles, who died at the age of three years; Mary M. has been employed in the U. S. Mint Service at Philadelphia since 1894; Martha m. Edwin Larum, a clerk at the Philadelphia and Reading freight station at Reading; John C. is a carpenter of Reading; Vernon was mustered out of the army in the summer of 1904, after serving three years, two years of which were spent in the Philippine Islands, where he was made provost sergeant; James D. and Herbert are at Reading: Eleanor is at home; and Arthur and Catherine are at school.

Alderman Hiester belongs to Mt. Penn Lodge No. 65, K. of P .; K. G. E., No. 49; the Home Circle; the Liter- ary Society; Schuylkill Fire Company, No. 12. and to the uniformed rank of this company. In his religious affilia- tions he is connected with the Reformed Church. The alderman has two offices, one being at No. 10 North Third street, and the other at No. 20, the same street.

WILLIAM F. McLEAN. one of the most prominent farmers of Berks County, Pa., and a leading citizen in the affairs of Heidelberg township, owns a fine farm of 135 acres one mile east of Womelsdorf. on the Berks and Dauphin pike. He was born Oct. 17, 1854, in Philadelphia, Pa .. son of Daniel J. and Adeline F. (Futcher) McLean.

The great-grandfather of William F. McLean, who was the progenitor of the family in this country, came here in middle life from Aberdeen, Scotland, and was a member of the noted military McLean family .. He was married and had children at the time of his location in America.

William McLean, son of the progenitor. was born Feb. 15, 1778, at Philadelphia. and died Jan. 20, 1844. He married Sarah Douglass, born Sept. 10, 1783, who died at Philadelphia, Dec. 31. 1843, and both are buried at the old Philadelphia cemetery. Mr. McLean was a jeweler all his life, and was very successful. He and his wife had these children : Elizabeth. born Oct. 3, 1801; Andrew, born Feb. 22. 1803; Martha, May 25, 1804; John D., Feb. 28, 1806; William S., June 3, 1808; James V., Jan. 29, 1810; Margaret, Jan. 22, 1812; Samuel G., Oct. 6. 1813; Robert M .. Oct. 4, 1815; Col. George P., July 13, 1817 (was colonel of the 88th Pa. V. I.) ; Daniel J., July 14, 1819; Jonathan D., May 4. 1821 (Lieut .- Col. of the 88th Reg. Pa. V. I.) ; Joseph A., May 22, 1823; and Mary E., March 28, 1826. Lieut. Col. Joseph A. McLean was killed at the head of his regiment while leading a charge on the Confederate masked battery at the second battle of Bull Run, and his body was never recovered, resting in an unknown grave on the battlefield. McLean Post, G. A. R., No. 16, was named in this hero's honor.

Daniel J. McLean, father of William F., was born at Philadelphia, July 14, 1819, and died May 30, 1880, in the place now occupied by his son William F. He was a watch case maker by trade, which he followed for many years at the old stand at Dock and Walnut streets, Philadelphia, under the firm name of McLean & Harper. Much of the concern's business was done in the South, and at the outbreak of the Civil war the partners sustained much loss, and finally mutually agreed to sever their business connections. Mr. Harper. however, continued the busi- ness on a smaller scale. Mr. McLean also served in the militia of emergency men who were mustered in at Philadelphia during the raid of the Confederates into the State of Pennsylvania. Mr. McLean was active in the ranks of the Republican party, serving for a number of vears in the city council from the Twentieth ward, and being highway commissioner. He was on the presentation committee when the city of Philadelphia awarded General MeClellan a gold medal for bravery; participated in the

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BIOGRAPHICAL

Philadelphia Council's reception committee, June 9, 1860, under John S. Ermentrout, county superintendent of when the first Japanese embassy visited the United States, Berks county. He taught school for twenty-five years and was on a similar committee, Feb. 21, 1861, when Pres- in all: The first term in Centre township, and the bal- ance in North Heidelberg. ident-elect Abraham Lincoln visited Philadelphia. He is buried at the Union cemetery, Womelsdorf.

Mr. McLean was married to Adeline F. Futcher, born Oct. 17, 1824, who died Aug. 28, 1892, and was buried at Mt. Vernon Cemetery, Philadelphia, daughter of William and Catherine (Talbert) Futcher. One child was born to Mr. and Mrs. McLean : William F.

William F. McLean was educated in the public and pay schools of Philadelphia which he left at the age of nineteen years, his last schooling being in the Philadelphia High School for Boys. In the spring of 1872 his parents removed to the old Manderbach property, opposite Womelsdorf station, in Berks county, this removal being made on account of the failing health of Mr. Mc- Lean's father. Here William F. McLean taught in the public schools for three terms, and at the end of this time engaged in the poultry business, raising fine thorough- bred poultry, which he sold in different parts of the country, disposing of their eggs all over the United States. This he followed with much success until the spring of 1876, when he was appointed to the position of turn-stile keeper at the entrance gate to the exhibition of the Phila- delphia Centennial, serving with ability until the end of the exposition, by which time he had been promoted on merit to a lieutenancy. His duties completed here, Mr. McLean returned to poultry raising which he continued until his father-in-law. William Scheetz's death, in 1884, when he purchased one of the latter's farms at appraise- ment and since that time has been giving his entire atten- tion to the cultivation thereof. He breeds thoroughbred Jersey cattle and has also made numerous importations from England of Scotch collie dogs. His farm consists of 135 acres of which forty acres is woodland located on the South Mountain, and it is very highly cultivated. Mr. McLean is a practical agriculturist and has his farm furnished with the best and most modern farm implements, and in the spring of 1897 he built an addition to his resi- dence. He operates a dairy, the product of which he sells to a creamery. In politics Mr. McLean is a Repub- lican, but in local matters votes independently.

On Nov. 30, 1873, Mr. McLean was married to Mary Agnes Scheetz, daughter of William and Henrietta (Dep- pen) Scheetz, and to this union four sons have been born : William S. m. Reta, daughter of John and Isabella Filbert, and resides at Robesonia, and has charge of the hospital department of the State Asylum at Wernersville; Walter D. m. Catherine Scheetz, works for his father and resides in the tenant house; Robert. D. resides at home; and Edgar P. died in infancy.

WILLIAM E. FISHER, one of the leading young attorneys of Reading, is descended from an ancestry who were sturdy yeomen in Germany prior to the days of the American Revolution. They emigrated to this country before that great struggle. and were leading farmers in Berks county during its continuance, and indeed to the present time.

John Fisher, great-grandfather of William E., was a soldier of the war of 1812, and participated in the bat- tle of Baltimore. in August, 1814. He was engaged in boating on the Schuylkill and Union canals. He rear- ed of a family of four sons and one daughter, one of whoni, Daniel Fisher, was the grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch.

Daniel Fisher was also engaged in hoating up to the time of his marriage with Sarah Gruber, daughter of John Adam Gruber, of Heidelberg township, after which he was engaged in farming up to the time of his death. He reared a family of two sons. John W. Fisher, born Nov. 9, 1844: and Albert A. Fisher. born June 4, 1852.

JOHN W. FISHER ( father of William E.) in his early days worked on a farm, and was a student at Freeland Seminary, now Ursinus College, Collegeville, Montgom- ery Co., Pa. At the age of seventeen years he began teaching school, making his first teacher's certificate

At the age of twenty-one years, he was appointed jus- tice of the peace of North Heidelberg township and was re-elected for nine successive terms, holding that of- fice up to the time of his removal from North Heidel- berg township in 1907. In 1864, Mr. Fisher married El- len M. Lamm, the youngest daughter of Benjamin Lamm, now deceased, who for many years was an influential and well-to-do farmer of North Heidelberg township. Benjamin Lamm's father was John Lamm, and he had four sons and four daughters. Benjamin Lamm was married to Lydia Ruth, daughter of Frederick Ruth, of Lower Heidelberg township, and he had four sons and four daughters. To John W. Fisher and Ellen M., his wife. were born twelve children, as follows: Adelaide E., who died March 25, 1881, aged sixteen years; Lillie A., m. to Nelson Brossman, of North Heidelberg township; Emma V., m. to Henry G. Stump, of Heidelberg town- ship; Sallie L., m. to Michael A. Fox, of Jefferson town- ship; Heela M., who died Aug. 11, 1878, aged six years; Ellen Nora, at home; Diana R., m. to William Alvin Christman of Womelsdorf; William E .; John C., a Luth- eran clergyman of Germantown, Philadelphia; Cora C., m. to Lloyd K. Minnich, of Robesonia; Anna G., married to Howard E. Brown, of Robesonia, and F. May, married to Herbert C. Schell, of Oley.

William E. Fisher was born in North Heidelberg town- ship, July 11, 1878, and passed his youth on the farm, developing a good physique and laying the foundation for his future education. He attended the country schools in the winter and assisted on his father's farm in the summer. At the age of fifteen years he attend- ed the Bernville Grammar School for five months. At the age of sixteen years he successfully passed the teach- ers' examination under William M. Zechman, county superintendent of Berks county, and during the winter of 1894 and 1895 he taught Lengel's school in North Heidelberg township. In the spring of 1895, he entered the Keystone State Normal School, at Kutztown, as a student, and subsequently was a student there during the fall and spring, when not teaching school. During the winter of 1895 and 1896 he taught the Forge School in North Heidelberg township, and in the spring of 1897 he graduated from the Keystone State Normal School at Kutztown. For a time thereafter, Mr. Fisher contin- ued his studies under private instruction, giving partic- ular attention to Latin and mathematics. On Nov. 6, 1897, he successfully passed the preliminary examina- tion as a student at law, and registered as a student in the office of Ermentrout & Ruhl, and for the following three years he studied law under the preceptorship of Christian H. Ruhl, one of the foremost practitioners at the Reading Bar. During the winter of 1897 and 1898 he taught school at Newmanstown, Lebanon county, in connection with his legal studies. During the winter of 1898 and 1899 he taught in the public schools of Robe- sonia. On Nov. 12, 1900. he was admitted to practice law in all the courts of Berks county, and immediately thereafter opened an office at No. 38 North Sixth street" where he practised his profession until March 25, 1908, when he removed his office to No. 541 Court street. On Nov. 11, 1902, on motion of his preceptor. Christian H. Ruhl, he was admitted to practice in the Superior court of Pennsylvania, and on Jan. 5, 1903, on motion of Wil- liam Kerper Stevens, at present a Judge of the court of Common' Pleas of Berks county, he was admitted to practise in the Supreme Court of the State. Since his admission to the Bar he has enjoyed a large practice, principally in the Orphans' Court of Berks county, where he has been engaged in the settlement of a large num- ber of decedents' estates.

On Oct. 1. 1904, he, in connection with his law prac- tice, engaged in the building business, and since that time has erected in the city of Reading one hundred and

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

ninety-five houses. Mr. Fisher has the confidence of 1876 he personally revised, amended and codified its local his clients and those that are doing business with him laws, and published in the latter year the first Digest of as a builder.

In 1896, Mr. Fisher married Minnie Ellen, daughter of Jolin E. Moyer, a retired farmer of Robesonia, Berks county. They have two children, Earl Eugene and Mil- dred May. They reside at No. 145 West Douglass street, Reading, Pa. Mr. Fisher has always taken an active part in the political life of the county, engaging in every campaign since he arrived at voting age. He is a Democrat, and was solicitor during 1902 for the board of directors of the poor of Berks county. He is a mem- ber of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Read- ing, Pa., and a vestryman of that church since Eas- ter, 1900, and takes an active part in all that pertains to church life. Mr. Fisher is a member of the follow- ing Masonic organizations : St. John's Lodge, No. 435, F. & A. M .; Excelsior Chapter, No. 237, R. A. M .; Read- ing Commandery, No. 42, K. T .; Reading Lodge of Perfection, A. A. S. R .; Philadelphia Consistory, A. A. S. R .; Rajah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S .; and of Pro- gressive Lodge No. 470, I. O. O. F., of Reading, Penn- sylvania.

LOUIS RICHARDS, law writer and member of the Bar of Berks county, Pa., was born May 6, 1842, at Gloucester Furnace, Atlantic Co., N. J., of which his father, John Rich- ards, was proprietor. The latter, a native of Berks county, came of a vigorous stock, of Welsh descent, his paternal ancestors having settled in Amity township as early as 1718. He was for many years of his long and active life engaged in the iron manufacturing business, principally in the State of New Jersey, also representing Gloucester county in the Assembly in 1836 and 1837. From 1848 to 1854 he resided at Mauch Chunk, Pa., as proprietor of the Carbon Iron Works at that place, and in the latter year retired to a handsome country seat known as "Stowe," in the vicinity of Pottstown, Montgomery county, where he died Nov. 29, 1871, at the patriarchal age of eighty-eight. The subject of this sketch was his youngest son, and only child by his second wife, Louisa (Silvers) Richards, a native of Monmouth county, N. J., descended upon the maternal side from the well-known Rogers family of that section, and, in the third generation, from Henry Lawes Luttrell, second Earl of Carhampton. Employed in early life as an instructor of youth, she was distinguished for her mental culture, marked individuality of character, and social tastes and accomplishments. Her decease occurred Jan. 26. 1880, when well advanced in her eighty-first year.

Mr. Richards received his preliminary education in the public schools of Mauch Chunk, and subsequently took an academical course, attending the West Jersey Collegiate School at Mount Holly, N. J., the Hill School at Pottstown, and the Upland Normal Institute at Chester, Pa. In No- vember, 1861, he came to reside at Reading, commenced the study of the law under the direction of his cousin, John S. Richards, Esq., a highly talented and widely-known practitioner at the Berks county Bar, and was admitted to practice Jan. 16, 1865. While a student he served in the Pennsylvania Militia, during the invasions of the State by the Confederate armies in 1862 and 1863.

Having an early inclination to write, he contributed largely to the press, both before and after his admission to the Bar, furnishing incidentally accurate reports of all the cases tried in the county courts. In 1869 he married. and engaged in journalism, becoming a partner of the firm of J. Knabb & Co., in the publication of the Reading Times and Dispatch and the Berks and Schuylkill Journal, the daily and weekly organs of the Republican party in Berks. In 1871 he resold his interest to the firm, and resumed the practice of the law. In 1875 he purchased his fath- er's estate at "Stowe," which he occasionally occupied until 1882, when he disposed of it to the Pottstown Iron Company, which erected thereon a very large manufactur- ing plant.

For many years Mr. Richards devoted much attention to municipal law, and the municipal affairs of his adopted city. While serving as a member of its Councils in 1875-

the Statutes and Ordinances of Reading. Of this work he subsequently compiled three other and more elaborate editions, containing many valuable notes and citations of judicial decisions. In December, 1876, he was selected as Secretary of the State Municipal Commission, ap- pointed by Governor Hartranft to devise a uniform plan for the better government of the cities of Pennsylvania. Of this body, which was composed of eleven eminent lawyers and citizens of the State, the Hon. Butler B. Strang was Chairman. The Commission presented its final report to the Legislature in January, 1878, and the principal features of the code which it submitted were subsequently incorporated in the Act of June 1, 1885, for the government of the city of Philadelphia, known as the "Bullitt Bill." As a member of committees appointed by the Inter-Municipal Conventions of 1886 and 1888, Mr. Richards was deputed to prepare the original drafts of the Acts of May 24, 1887, and May 23, 1889, the latter constituting the present frame of government of cities of the third class in Pennsylvania. In these several capacities he rendered much valuable service to the people of the State, and acquired a wide reputation as a skillful drafts- man of municipal statutes. He is a charter member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, organized in 1895, serving for some years past upon its committee on Legal Biog- raphy. In the interest of law reform he devised and secured the passage by the Legislature of the Act of July 9, 1897, "declaring the construction of words in a deed, will or other instrument, importing a failure of issue."

In 1889, in association with the Hon. G. A. Endlich, Law Judge of the Berks district, then also a practitioner at the Bar, he was the author of a treatise upon the "Rights and Liabilities of Married Women in Pennsylvania," de- voted principally to the exposition of the Married Persons' Property Act of 1887, which greatly enlarged the con- tractual powers of femes covert. In 1895 he issued, in two volumes, the "Pennsylvania Form Book," containing precedents in the various branches of law practice-a work in general use by the profession throughout the State -and, in 1898, a "Digest of Acts of Assembly for the Government of Cities of the Third Class," which was followed by two successive editions. His other published productions include numerous law pamphlets, historical and genealogical sketches, and reports and addresses upon various subjects of professional or general interest. Pro- foundly devoted to antiquarian researches, he has since 1903 been President of the Historical Society of Berks County, giving to its affairs much attention and intelli- gent direction. He is also a member of the Historical So- ciety of Pennsylvania, and an occasional contributor to its Magazine of History and Biography. His only business connection is with the Charles Evans Cemetery Com- pany, of which he has been for the past fifteen years the efficient secretary and treasurer.

Distinguished for his public spirit, he has employed his time and talents in the promotion of every movement in the line of progress, good government and reform. In politics Mr. Richards is a Republican, and in the Presi- dential campaign of 1884 was the candidate of the minor- ity party in the Berks district for Congress against Dan- iel Ermentrout. the sitting member, receiving 9,405 votes. His political views are, however, strongly tempered with the spirit of independence, which inclines to subordinate mere partisan considerations to the superior obligations of individual good citizenship.

As a member of the Bar he is recognized as a highly reputable, accurate and painstaking practitioner, though it is in the capacity of a writer, of marked vigor and skill, that he is best known to the public. His literary tastes are cultured and absorbing, and it is in the com- panionship of his books, and the environment of the stu- dent, that he finds his chief entertainment and solace. Practical and thorough in all his methods and undertak- ings, he devotes to the performance of every duty in which he may engage his best abilities and most con- scientious efforts.

LOUIS RICHARDS

BIOGRAPHICAL

513

Mr. Richards has four children-three sons and a born in 1817, died unmarried in 1840; and Catharine m. daughter-all of whom have reached maturity. Isaac Johnson.

LATSHAW. The Latshaw family is well represented in Washington township, Berks county, and there, to-day, especially prominent may be found John H. Latshaw, a farmer near Passmore; David H. Latshaw, a merchant at Bechtelsville; Samuel B. Latshaw, miller, coal merchant, and farmer; and Jacob S. Latshaw, a retired farmer at his home near Barto ..

(I) Frantz Latshar, the emigrant ancestor of this old Mennonite family, was a native of Switzerland. He came to America on the "Mortonhouse" which qualified at Phila- delphia, Ang. 24, 1728. On the list of passengers his name is spelled "Frans Latshow." He located in Colebrookdale township, Berks Co., Pa. His last will and testament was made in 1781, and was probated Oct. 29, 1795. He left a large estate, which he divided equally among his children. Tradition says that his first wife died, leaving him a num- ber of small children and no one to help in the house. Accordingly he went to Philadelphia (as the pioneers were obliged to do in those days for merchandise or help) for a woman to look after his home and children. He was told of a young woman in good repute whose husband, a

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. (V) John B. Latshaw, son of Samuel, was. born in Washington township, on the old farm at Passmore March 22, 1828, and died March 4, 1887. He was a farmer, though in his earlier life for a time he followed carpentering. He married Maria Hiestand, born July 11, 1837, and died Sept. 16, 1898. They are both buried in Hereford Mennon- ite Meeling House cemetery. Their postoffice address was Congo, near which station they owned a large farm. Mr.YGabel, had died on the voyage to America, leaving ' Their children were: David, born in 1863 died in 1864; his widow with two small children. At Philadelphia she Samuel H., born Oct. 6 1864; Malinda, born Nov. 24, 1866 ; Menno, born Jan. 22,, 1869, is deceased; John H., born April 26, 1871; Franklin, born in 1873, died in 1874; Har- vey H. born Feb. 17, 1876; David H., born Feb. 28, 1878. (VI) SAMUEL H. LATSHAW, son of John B. and Maria (Hiestand) Latshaw, born Oct. 6, 1864, is the owner of a gristmill at East Coventry, Chester Co., Pa., to which property there is a seventeen-acre farm. He married Hanna O. Bechtel, of Bechtelsville, Berks county, and they have three children-Verna, Irene and Ella. began a struggling life with her children, finding a place as servant in a Germantown family. Mr. Latshar became ac- quainted with her, persuaded her to accompany him home as housekeeper, and later they were married. Her son, Henry Gabel, was taken along with them, and early in life was taken into the Rutter household, the Rutters being the early iron masters of Colebrookdale, and he fell heir to some of the Rutter money, also being remembered in his step-father's will. He was a Mennonite and is buried at Boyertown; his birth occurred in 1734. Frantz Latshar (VI) MALINDA H. LATSHAW, daughter of John B. and Maria (Hiestand) Latshaw, was born Nov. 24, 1866. She married"Aaron L. Bauer, a successful farmer and dealer in farm implements in Douglass township. They have one child, Harvey. Mr. Bauer has six children by a former marriage. and his second wife had children also. The children mentioned in his will, as recorded in book B, page 398 were John, Frantz, Abraham, Jacob, Mary Lantes (Landis ), Henry Gabel (step-son), Rebecca Shelly (deceased, the mother of six children) and Catharine Lantz ( step-daugh- ter). Of these Abraham lived on the Hereford town- ship farm, and Frantz elsewhere in the same township.

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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 132

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