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 135

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 135

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Michael W. Ruth, son of Leonard, was a farmer of Lower Heidelberg township. He was born in 1830, and died in 1905. He married Catharine Hain, daughter of John Hain, and she died shortly after her husband's death at the age of seventy-four years. They had six child- ren : James H. (father of Leonard M.) ; Frank P. (died young) ; J. Hain (m. Mary Moyer, and after her de- cease Jennie Rothenberger ) ; Ellen (m. Samuel R. Fisher) ; Emma (m. Garson M. Huyett) ; and Mary (died young).

James H. Ruth, father of Leonard M., was born in Lower Heidelberg township in 1852, educated in the local schools. and brought up to farming, which occupation he has followed up to the present time. He officiated as a school director of the township, for three terms, and also as treasurer, deacon and elder of the Hain's Church for nine years. He married Catharine Dundore, daughter of John D. and Sarah A. (Scholl) Dundore. Mr. Dun- dore was brought up on a farm in Bern township, and carried on farming operations in Lower Heidelberg town- ship. Mr. Ruth had six children : Leonard M .; Jennie (m. Amos Yoder) ; and Elizabeth, Ellen, Laura, and Mary, all of whom are single.

Leonard M. Ruth was born Aug. 2, 1875, and was edu cated in the local schools. He graduated from the West Chester State Normal School in 1895, and then "taught public school for eleven years-in Lower Heidelberg township four years, and as principal of the Robesonia high school for seven years. Upon the organization of the Wernersville National Bank in 1906, he was chosen one of the directors and cashier, and he has officiated as such until now in a highly satisfactory manner.

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

In 1904 Mr. Ruth was elected treasurer and deacon in had served with distinction in South America and India the Hain's Church, and served as such for two years. and was then commander-in-chief in India, promised to He was one of the charter members of the Citizens' Hose Company No. 1, for the protection of the people of the village from fire, and has since maintained an active membership.

Mr. Ruth married Laura E. Mengle, daughter of Sam- uel G. and Agnes (Shoup) Mengle, of Lower Heidelberg township. Mrs. Laura E. Ruth was born Oct. 19, 1875, in Muhlenberg township.

The great-grandfather of Mrs. Laura E. Ruth was Daniel Mengel, of Richmond township. He married Su- sanna Kind, and they both lived to the age of eighty- seven years. They were the parents of eighteen child- ren, one of whom, Samuel, was the grandfather of Mrs. Ruth. He was a farmer in Maiden-creek township, and he married Henrietta Gerhard, of Alsace township, by whom he had four children, Nathaniel, David Llewellyn, Rebecca Jane and Samuel G.

Dr. Samuel G. Mengle, father of Mrs. Ruth, was born April 19, 1850, in Ontelaunee township. He was educated in the local schools, and graduated from the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, in 1870. On Jan. 1, 1872, he married Agnes Shoup, daughter of Richard Shoup, and they had four children, Stella, Laurant, Laura and Carrie, all but Mrs. Ruth dying young. Mrs. Agnes ( Shoup) Mengle, the mother of Mrs. Ruth, was born Dec. 24, 1854, in Cumru township, was educated in the local schools, and died in 1883. Two years after the death of Mrs. Mengle, Dr. Mengle moved to Peru, Ill., where he married a second time, and where he is now practising medicine.

Richard Shoup, the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Ruth, was a farmer of Cumru township, who died in 1896, at the age of sixty-seven years. He married Elvina Ger- hart, daughter of John B. Gerhart. of Lower Heidelberg, by whom he had one daughter, Agnes. After the death of Elvina ( Gerhart) Shoup in 1866, Richard Shoup mar- ried (second) Kate Lanim. They had three children, Thomas, Emma, and Adalaide.

John B. Gerhart, the maternal great-grandfather of Mrs. Ruth, married Sarah Kline, and had five children : Elvina, Sarah, Ellenora, Rebecca, and John K.

Owing to the early death of her mother, Mrs. Laura E. Ruth, at the age of seven years was placed into the care of John K. Gerhart. and his sister Rebecca. She was reared in Lower Heidelberg township, educated in the local schools, and for a few terms attended Al- bright College, Myerstown, Pennsylvania.

GUSTAVUS ANTHONY NICOLLS, for many years prominently connected with the Philadelphia & Read- ing Railroad Company, and one of Reading's most dis- tinguished citizens, was born April 3. 1817, at Abbey View. Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland. He was the eldest child of Colonel William Dann Nicolls, of the English Royal Artillery, who married Maria Graves, daughter of Anthony Graves, a land proprietor in Coun- ty Kilkenny, Ireland. Three children were born to Col- onel and Mrs. Nicolls: Gustavus Anthony, born April 3, 1817; William Jasper, born in 1824 at Exeter, Eng- land ; and Maria Anne, born in 1825 at Woolwich. The Nicolls family is descended from John Nicolls, of Ar- ran. in Strathmore, near Inverness, Scotland, born in 1540.

Like the uncle after whom he was named, General Gus- tavus Nicolls, of the Royal Engineers, Mr. Nicolls was intended for the army. His early education was direct- ed with this in mind, under the personal supervision of his father, and later he was a student for some years at the Waterford Classical and Mathematical Academy, an institution noted for the scholarship of its pupils. He finished his schooling at the Wanstead Military College, near London. His proficiency in all branches of math- ematics was well shown in his subsequent success in civil engineering. It was his father's wish to have him sent to the East Indies immediately upon the conclusion of his student life, and his uncle, Sir Jasper Nicolls, who

give him an appointment as aide-de-camp on his per- sonal staff. But the young man had other ambitions, and believing that the United States offered a more con- genial field for his talents and energy left for this coun- try, sailing from England in September, 1834.

Arriving in Philadelphia, Mr. Nicolls studied law for a time in the office of Henry M. Phillips. In April, 1835, he was appointed a rodman in the engineer corps of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company, and in 1836 was promoted to assistant engineer, taking charge of the completion of a section of railroad between Doug- lassville and Exeter. In 1837 he became principal as- sistant and was stationed at Reading, and the next year he became superintendent of transportation, holding that position for eight years, until 1846. He then became chief engineer and general superintendent of the com- pany, holding both positions for thirteen years, by the end of which time the duties had become so arduous that it was necessary to divide the work, and Mr. Ni- colls chose the position of general superintendent. He served as such from that time until February, 1871, when he was appointed to act also as president's assistant. This change made it necessary for him to remove his residence from Reading to Philadelphia where he resided until his return to Reading in May, 1877. Meantime, in 1873, he was elected second vice-president of the com- pany, and was unanimously re-elected to that position in 1875 and 1876. In 1877 the positions of first and second vice-president were abolished. and then Mr. Ni- colls was elected president of the following branch rail- roads of the company: Reading & Columbia, East Penn- sylvania, East Mahanoy, Allentown, and Chester & Del- aware River. In 1876 he was chosen president of the Susquehanna & Tide Water Canal Company. These var- ious positions he continued to fill, by annual re-elections, until his death. He was in the employ of the Philadel- phia & Reading Railroad Company for over fifty years, and his ability, energy and integrity could have no bet- ter witness than his long retention in the various po- sitions to which he was chosen.

Coming to Reading in 1836, at the very dawn of the great developments which have taken place through the combination of iron, coal, and steam, Mr. Nicolls was foremost among the men who directed that develop- ment, and his name will always be prominent among the leaders of his day. During his unusually long term of service with the Philadelphia & Reading Company, covering over half a century, he saw the company ad- vance from a modest beginning to colossal proportions, and had the satisfaction of knowing that his interest and energy had much to do with its growth and progress. During his entire career as an official his constancy to the interests of the company was a prominent character- istic. and his intelligent, systematic management not on- ly resulted in great financial benefit to the road but in many other advantages, as well as in contributing to the safety and comfort of its patrons. His courage and re- source were never better shown than during the great riots of 1877 at Reading. when the whole community was aroused and alarmed over the rebellion of excited and dissatisfied railroad employes. He was fearless in occupying his prominent position at the passenger sta- tion, giving valuable suggestions for the preservation of the company's property and for the movement of regular trains. His attachment to the company was no less marked than his consideration for its employes. On one occasion during the riots he was endeavoring to quell some disturbance, when one of the rioters said to his companions: "Let's shoot that fellow !" "No, that's Nicolls," said the strikers who knew him, "and if you try to kill him, you must do it over our dead bod- ies."

Though he was probably best known in his connection with the Philadelphia & Reading Company, Mr. Nicolls was a man too broad and widely sympathetic to confine his activities to any one line. He was a director of the

I. a. Nicolla

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BIOGRAPHICAL

Reading Fire Insurance & Trust Company from the

came here he was a devout and consistent member of the time of its organization in 1868 until 1875. In 1862 he Protestant Episcopal Church. was elected a trustee of the Charles Evans Cemetery Company, and continued to serve as such until his death. He was also a director of the Schuylkill & Le- high Railroad Company. During the year 1882 the "Read- ing, Marietta & Hanover Railroad"-a branch line of the Philadelphia & Reading system-was completed main- ly under his supervision. He was a charter member of the Philadelphia, Reading & Pottsville Telegraph Com- pany. In the organization of the company in 1847 he was elected a member. of the board of managers, to which position he was annually re-elected for a long period.

As a citizen of Reading Mr. Nicolls always manifest- ed the keenest interest in its material development and prosperity. Enterprises of various kinds received his active encouragement. He assisted in erecting the cot- ton factory and the steam forge shortly after 1850, two large and costly establishments which proved largely instrumental in building up the respective sections of Reading in which they were situated, affording constant employment to many working-people.

In the Civil war period Mr. Nicolls showed himself thor- oughly in sympathy with the Union. He attended and en- couraged a number of public meetings held by prominent citizens regardless of political affiliations, supported the government by his voice and material aid, and was con- stantly liberal in encouraging voluntary enlistments. When the State was threatened with invasion in 1862 he enlisted in Company E, 11th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Militia, commanded by Capt. Charles H. Hunter, and served as a corporal. This Company was named after him, being known as "Nicolls Guards." After the war he de- voted much time and influence to commemorate the dis- tinguished part which Berks county took in its successful prosecution. In 1883 he prepared a suitable and superior design for a monument, and suggested the center of Penn Square a

proper as place for its loca- tion, believing that patriotism should be grandly typified in the form of a "Soldiers' Monument" placed permanently in the most prominent place in the community, where the cyes of future generations could behold what their fore- fathers had done to commemorate the services and sacrifi- ces made by the people to preserve and perpetuate the Constitution and the Union. In politics he was originally a Whig, later a Republican. In 1864 Mr. Nicolls was offered the nomination for Congress by the Republican party, but his numerous business duties, particularly those concerning the Philadelphia & Reading Company, made it impossible for him to accept.

Mr. Nicolls was active in the various charities sup- ported in the city. He was always a generous contributor to the work of the "Reading Benevolent Society," of which he served as president for eleven years, from 1860 to 1871. The Young Men's Christian Association also found him a liberal and ardent supporter of its work, and he served as president for over two years, from 1880 to 1882. For a number of years he served as one of the managers of the Reading Dispensary and of the Reading Hospital. He served the "Home for Widows and Single Women of Reading" as chairman of the building committee in the erection of its handsome and commodious stone structure; and the Reading Society of Natural Sciences received his earnest support and at- tention from the time of its organization in 1869 until its dissolution in 1884. During this period one of its most active members, Mr. Hiram Hollenbush, a few years before his death made for Mr. Nicolls a cabinet contain- ing a beautiful and complete collection of the various kinds of woods found in Berks county.

For many years Mr. Nicolls was a vestryman of Christ Episcopal Church of Reading. He served as a member of the building committee which had charge of the alter- ations of the church edifice when it was remodeled from a brick building to the present beautiful and costly struc- ture, which, with its towering and graceful spire, became at once the most imposing house of worship in Reading. He served as vestryman until 1871. From the time he

For over forty years before his death Mr. Nicolls was an indefatigable traveler. In 1848 he made a trip to the British Isles which covered a period of three months, during which he visited all the places of importance. In 1856, with a party of friends, he made a trip through the South and also visited the Island of Cuba. While so- journing in Cuba he addressed a series of letters to the Reading Times which were published in that paper, nar- rating the experiences of the party in that country, the sights observed, impressions received, and other inter- esting material. In 1872 he visited all the countries of Continental Europe. In 1878 he again went to the Con- tinent, visiting the Paris Exposition, England, Sweden and Russia; some of his letters home were published on account of the general interest they possessed and the information they contained. In 1884 he again crossed the ocean, spending several months in the British Isles.

In May, 1846, Mr. Nicolls married Rosa Catharine Muhlenberg, daughter of Hon. Henry A. Muhlenberg, who for a number of years was member of Congress from this district, and who was also the first minister from this country to Austria. He was at the time of his de- cease, in 1844, the Democratic candidate for Governor. Mrs. Nicolls, who died May 15, 1867, was a woman highly esteemed for her intellectual superiority. She was distinguished for her activity in charitable work in the city, and during the Civil war was untiring in her efforts in behalf of soldiers and their families who needed as- sistance. She was foremost in the movement which re- sulted in the formation of the first Ladies' Aid Society in the country, served as its president from the time of its organization until the close of the war, and was con- stantly active in performing valuable services by collect- ing useful materials and forwarding them to the men on the field of battle, as well as in aiding the families of sol- diers. Her kindness and devotion were highly appreciated, and her name became proverbial in that connection among the many who felt her unselfish and well-directed efforts.

In January, 1869, Mr. Nicolls married Annie Hall Muhlenberg, daughter of Dr. F. A. Muhlenberg, of Lan- caster, Pa. His only child, Frederick William Nicolls, was born to this union Feb. 7, 1870. He is now actively engaged in the practice of law in the City of Reading.

For many years Mr. Nicolls made his home at the. southeast corner of Penn and Fourth streets, Reading. In 1870 he began the erection of the handsome and com- modious double residence, three stories in height and con- structed of sandstone, at the northwest corner of Wal- nut and Fourth streets, the first costly improvement of the kind in that section of the city. The plans he prepared himself, and the building was put up under his personal supervision. It was finished in 1871, and even now, after the lapse of many years, is regarded as one of the most dignified and tasteful homes in the city.

Though his schooling ended at the age of seventeen, Mr. Nicolls by constant reading and study continued his education until the latest years of his life. He was well acquainted with the Latin and Greek classics, from which, like English gentlemen of education, he was able to quote freely, and could both read and speak French with some fluency. He was fond of English literature in all its forms and was particularly versed in natural sciences and mechanics, of which he had made a careful study. He took a deep interest in the great discussion occasioned by the publication of Darwin's works and was well ac- quainted with most phases of the controversies in science and religion, so characteristic of the latter part of the nineteenth century. He collected a library of some three thousand volumes, distinguished more for the variety and solidity of the subjects than for the mere beauty of the bindings.

He was a man almost six feet in height, erect in car- riage, rather striking in appearance, and with a dignity and courtesy of demeanor which marked him as the gentle- man by birth and breeding. But though intellectually an aristocrat, he was socially a democrat. He believed in

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the true equality of man, and practised this principle and was greatly beloved by all who came within the rad- by being courteous to the humble, no less than to the iance of his pure Christian life. high, and by treating all men in the same manner.

Mr. Nicolls always kept the motto of his family, "Fide et Industria," as the guiding rule of his life; and to this influence his success may be attributed. Those who knew him best know that his triumphs were the well deserved rewards of constant and devoted labor, of untiring thought and an unshrinking sense of duty. His name will ever be associated with the development of the best that has contributed to the growth of his adopted city, whether from a material or educational standpoint, and his, mem- ory is held in profound respect in the many circles with which he was identified.

WILLIAM O. HEINLY is the present publisher and proprietor of The Hamburg Item, published at Hamburg, Berks Co., Pa. He is a son of David L. and the late Maria Heinly, of Reading, and was born at Evansville on July 10, 1862.

The family locating in Hamburg when he was six years of age, he received his education in the public schools, leaving the high school at the age of fifteen years to enter the office of The Item-then established but a few years by Samuel A. Focht-to learn the printer's trade. About 1880 he took a position in the office of the Reading Eagle, later working in various job printing and news- paper offices in Reading, Allentown, Minersville. and other places, until he reached the foremanship of the job depart- ment of the Reading Times.

In 1884 he associated himself with John B. Clevenstine in the commercial printing and engraving business. After six months the business was divided by mutual consent, Mr. Heinly taking the engraving branch, and he continued this for one year. On Dec. 1, 1885, he entered for the first time the editorial field, assuming the control of the Herald at Claremont, Va., where he continued for several years, returning to the foremanship of the Reading Times job department in. 1887.

The death of Mr. Focht, the founder of The Hamburg Item, in September, 1887, necessitated the sale of the office to close the estate. Mr. Heinly purchased the property in December of that year. and took personal control at the close of the year. During the twenty-two years of his ownership the scope and influence of The Item have widened, the paper has been enlarged from a small folio to a large quarto, the office expanding from a hand operated press to cylinder presses, with folding machine, type-setting machine and stereotyping department.

Mr. Heinly has always taken an active interest in all public matters pertaining to the development of the town of Hamburg and community. He was the prime mover through the newspaper in the organization of the Board of Trade in 1889, and has served as its secretary from its organization to the present. He is a member of the Board of Health, and its secretary; he is the registrar of District No. 227 of the Pennsylvania State Department of Health; served five years as school director, and planned the present improvement of the school grounds; he is a member of St. John's Lutheran Church and its vested choir; also of the Pennsylvania State Editorial Association, the International League of Press Clubs, and the Reading Press Club; Hamburg Council, Royal Arcanum; Symmetry Lodge, I. O. O. F .; Arcadia Cham- ber, O. K. F .; Hamburg Castle, K. G. E .; Ontelaunee Tribe, I. O. R. M .; the Brotherhood of Odd Fellows of Boston; the Hamburg Motor Club, and the Hamburg Rod and Gun Club. He is also president of the Hamburg Gas Company, and interested in various industrial enterprises.

He is the father of two children, Esther and Raymond. His wife died in February, 1903.

REV. FREDERICK BENDER HAHN, pastor of Faith and St. James Reformed Churches, whose useful life was brought to an unexpected and untimely close, May 16, 1901, was one of the best known ministers of his faith,

The Rev. Mr. Hahn was born in Plainfield, Northampton Co., Pa., Sept. 8, 1847, son of Richard and Sophia Hahn, pious, industrious people of the sturdy pioneer type. His early education was acquired in the public schools of his native town, and he afterward attended the Normal School at Kutztown, graduating in 1869. For some time then he studied in the Academy at Mercersburg, after which he went to Lancaster and, entered Franklin and Marshall College there, whence he was graduated in 1875. Having determined to consecrate his life to the service of his Master, he at once entered the Theological Seminary, completing his studies there in 1878, in the spring of which year he was examined and licensed by the Lan- caster Classis, and then dismissed to St. Paul's Classis in the Pittsburg Synod.

In 1878 he was ordained by St. Paul's Classis, and re- ceived a call from the Reformed Church at Greenville, Mercer county, where he served six years, and where he accomplished the building of a much needed church edifice. He was then one year in Mt. Pleasant, resigning to accept a call to a broader field of work in Meadville, Pa., where he labored three years. From Meadville he accepted a call from the Board of Home Missions to become pastor of the First English Reformed Congregation in Cleveland, now known as the Hough Avenue Church, and there he performed a very difficult work, being compelled to hunt for members of the Reformed faith all over the city. finally beginning to hold service in a hall which he rented at one dollar per night. In every parish to which he gave his services he accomplished much from his mis- sionary work in all the territory round. He often preached three sermons on Sunday, besides conducting Sunday- school, and this, in addition to visiting the sick, and per- forming the countless tasks that fall to the lot of the average minister. often left him tired and worn at night- but never too tired to answer the call of the poor or afflicted. In 1889 he resigned at Cleveland, and was made pastor of the Kutztown charge, consisting of St. Paul's Church at Kutztown, and St. Peter's Church at Topton. In 1892 he resigned and moved to Reading, taking charge of two congregations-Faith and St. James -- and in this field he closed his well-spent life, and his labors were not in vain. It was largely through his personal effort that the debt on St. James was paid, and both charges were left in much better condition than when he hecame pastor. In 1895 at the organization of Reading Classis, the Rev. Mr. Hahn was elected stated clerk, and he served most efficiently until his death. He was a hard and earnest worker, promptly responding to the call of duty, and he considered at no time his own comfort or well being. Often when ill he was urged for his own good to abandon some part of his work. but he always declined, and his last labor was to assist a fellow worker by holding serv- ice in Boyertown. In his school days he was an indns- trious student, and the habits there formed clung to him all his life. No time was wasted, every minute of his waking hours was spent in accomplishing some part of the great work in which he was engaged. Little children instinctively loved him, and he was never so happy as when surrounded by them. Over thirty ministers of the Reformed Church came to do him honor at his funeral, as well as about a dozen ministers of other denomina- tions. Interment was made in the Charles Evans cemetery.

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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 135

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