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 147

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 147

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559

BIOGRAPHICAL

place July 28, 1830, aged fifty-one years, six months, 26, 1890, and (11) Edward Christian, born April 8, twenty-one days, and is buried at the Grimville Church. 1892, are all at home. In 1807 he married Elizabeth Ohl, who survived him many years, and they became the parents of thirteen children, as follows: John, Reuben, Samuel, Anna Maria (born 1809), Jonas, Hanna (born 1812), Ben- jamin (born 1813), David, Eva, Daniel (1828-1834), Joseph, Esther and Catharine.

(II) Johann Christian Dietrich, son of Adam the emigrant, was born on the Dietrich homestead in Greenwich township, Jan. 13, 1783. This farm he pur- chased from his father in 1812, and on it all his life was spent. He was a farmer, and by industry and frugality accumulated a small fortune. He was a short- set, strong and robust man, very fond of horseback riding. Like most of the family, he was full faced and had very black hair. He was kind-hearted and affable. but firm in his convictions. He was very prom- inent in his community, and was an official member of the Lutheran congregation at Dunkel's Church, where he and the members of his family are buried. He died Nov. 21, 1873, aged ninety years, ten months, eight days. He married Elizabeth Georg, born Jan. 27, 1786. who died Jan. 17, 1846, aged nearly sixty years. They were the parents of twelve children, namely: (1) Benjamin (born 1806, died 1894) m. Anna Wiltrout. (2) Solomon (born 1807, died 1874) m. Beckie Will. (3) Jonathan (Jonas) (born 1808, died 1862) m. Betsy Shearer. (4) George B. (born 1811, died 1887) m. Polly Heinly. (5) Beckie m. Jacob Heinly. (6) Samuel (born 1817, died 1893) m. Juli- annus Schollenberger. (7) Anna m. Daniel Spohn. (8) Hettie (born 1822, died 1904) m. John Moyer. (9) Daniel (born 1824, died 1898) m. Sally Ann Christ. (10) Jeremiah (born 1826, died 1901). (11) Nathan (born 1827, died 1880) m. Elizabeth Stump. (12) Hen- ry (born 1832, died 1905) m. Lydia Merkel.

(III) Benjamin Dietrich, son of Johann Christian. was born in 1806, and died Ang. 26, 1894, at the age of eighty-eight years. He was a prominent citizen and large taxpayer of Greenwich township, owning 375 acres lying between Dunkel's Church and the Three Mile House. He married Anna Wiltrout, and they enjoyed a happy wedded life of more than fifty years. They were the parents of children as follows: Magdalena, Levi, Daniel W. (m. Sallie Ann Merkel), Benjamin. Lewis, James W. (m. Elizabeth Fetherolf), Henry W. (m. Amelia Heinly), Samuel A., Adam, Susanna and Eliza (m. Rolandus Dreibelbis).

(IV) SAMUEL A. DIETRICH, son of Benjamin, was born in 1848, and his death occurred in 1894. He was a farmer by occupation. and his land was located in Greenwich township, about one and one-half miles southwest of the Three Mile House. In the year 1870 he married Susanna Spohn, only child of Daniel and Anna (Dietrich) Spohn. the former a farmer in Green- wich township. Eleven children blessed this union, viz .:

(1) Clara A., born March 2, 1871, m. Samuel S. Men- gel, and lives in Maiden-creek township. They have had children: Katie M .. born in 1891; Flossie A., born in 1897; Elsie L., born in 1899, and Lizzie I., born in 1903. (2) Wilson L., born July 29, 1872, lives with his family at the old Dietrich homestead. He m. (first) Kate Adam, by whom he had one son, Clar- ence S., born in 1893, and m. (second) Cora Dietrich. (3) Robert Daniel, born Oct. 14, 1874, is mentioned below. (4) Henry B., born Sept. 17, 1876, died Dec. 8, 1876. (5) Louisa Kate. born Jan. 31, 1878, married Charles H. Fegley, of Maiden-creek township, and has had three children: Edna, born in 1896; John S., born in 1899, and Jennie S., born in 1903 (died in 1905). (6) Elmer Samuel, born June 14, 1880, died July 7, 1880. (7) Charles L., born Aug. 26. 1883, married Sallie Leob and has two children: Elda, born Jan. 31, 1907, and Florence S., born Sept. 21, 1908. (8) George Herbert, born Nov. 7, 1885, (9) Jennie Su- san, born Dec. 21, 1887, (10) Calvin Andrew, born Aug.

Mrs. Susanna (Spohn) Dietrich, widow of Samuel A. Dietrich, resides on a fine farm of 140 acres, in Greenwich township. Her great-great-grandfather was George Spohn, who married Margaret Schulter, and her great-grandfather was Conrad Spohn, born April 18, 1755, who married Dorothea Bohlig, born 1763, died 1830. They had these children: Johannes, Johann Peter, Susanna, Maria, Abraham and Eliza- beth. Of this family, Johannes Spohn, the grand- father of Mrs. Dietrich, was born in 1785 and died in 1857. He married Maria Sitler, and they had the following children: Polly, Hannah, Sarah, Samuel, Jonathan, Rebecca, Catherine, Daniel, John and Eliza. Daniel Spohn, Mrs. Dietrich's father, was born in 1818 and died July 29, 1902, and he married Anna Dietrich, who was born in 1820 and died in 1881.

(V) ROBERT D. DIETRICH, a rising and respected young farmer in eastern Richmond township, where he Owns a fertile farm of fifty-seven acres, was born Oct. 14, 1874, near Dunkel's Church, in Greenwich township, son of Samuel A. He was reared on a farm, and received his early education in the common schools, later attending the State Normal School at Kutztown, Pa. He is very industrious, and by his own energy has acquired his present property. He is a Lutheran member of Dunkel's Union Church in Green- wich township, as is also his wife: In politics he is a Democrat, and has taken an active interest in the welfare of his party. and in the progress of his com- munity.

Mr. Dietrich married Laura S. Fraunfelder, daugh- ter of W. Adam and Catharine (Lenhart) Fraun- felder, prominent farming people of Windsor town- ship. Five children have blessed this union, namely: Susanna May, born in 1896; Harry Adam, born in 1898; Raymond Daniel, born in 1899; Paul Leroy, born in 1900; and Helen Fannie, born in 1902.

(III) Jonathan (or Jonas) Dietrich, son of Johann Christian, born Dec. 2, 1808, died Jan. 29, 1862. When a young man he followed blacksmithing and later in life became a farmer, in Greenwich township, where he lived all his life. He is buried at Moselem Church. In 1831 he married Elizabeth (Betsy) Schearer, born Sept. 25, 1810, who died June 7, 1897. The following children were born to this union: Ephraim died at Silver Lake, Kans., in 1905, aged seventy years, leaving a large family, and is buried in Kansas; Jonathan died in 1870; Joel, born in 1837; William, born in 1838, died in 1906; Daniel S., born Sept. 20, 1840. died in Baltimore, Md., May 11, 1907; Henry; Samuel; Ed- win; Sarah Ann m. Cyrus Lesher, of Reading.

(IV) DANIEL S. DIETRICH, son of Jonathan (or Jonas), was born in Berks county Sept. 20, 1840. While a young man he moved to Montour county, Pa., where he married Catherine B., daughter of Jacob and Jus- tina (Boyer) Moser. Her father was born in Mont- gomery county, Pa., oldest son of Peter and Anna (Steinbruch) Moser. Peter Moser was the son of S. P. Moser, who lived in Pottstown, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Dietrich were the parents of four sons: S. P., Jacob M., Edwin M. and J. Calvin. Jacob M. and J. Calvin died young. Edwin M. married Susan C., daughter of Samuel and Margaret Mauger. They have two sons, Mark S. and Kenneth, and live in Harrisburg, Pa. Mrs. Catherine B. (Moser) Dietrich died at Milton, Pa., March 14, 1897. The father then moved to Baltimore, where he followed building and contracting until the time of his death, which occurred May 8, 1907. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dietrich are buried at Oak Grove ceme- tery, in Montour county, Pennsylvania.

(V) PROF. S. P. DIETRICH, of Reading, was born in Mon- tour county, Pa., Aug. 3, 1866. He was reared on a farm, upon which he worked during the summer, attending the rural schools during the winter. until he was fourteen years old. He then attended the Potts Grove Academy and Prof. Schneider's select school, at Mil- ton, Pa. At the age of eighteen years he began teach-

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

ing in the rural schools of Montour county, Pa. In He married Mary Behler, who survives him and lives this manner he earned sufficient money to pay his own with her sons on their farm in Richmond township. Three sons blessed the marriage of James H. and Mary (Behler) Dietrich, as follows: Lawson G., Llew- ellyn J. (died in 1890, aged twenty-two years) and Cal- vin J. way through the Williamsport Commercial College and Ursinus College. He graduated from the former in 1888 and from the latter in 1894. In 1897 he took the examination with the junior and senior classes in the Bloomsburg State Normal School under the State board of examiners and passed the same, re- ceiving his credentials with the senior class. After graduation he in 1894 accepted the principalship of the McEwensville Academy, where he remained two years. In 1896 he resigned to accept a position in the Dan- ville (Pa.) high school. In 1899 he resigned his posi- tion in Danville to accept the vice-principalship of the Sunbury (Pa.) high school. He remained in Sunbury, P.a., eight years, and in 1907 resigned to accept a position in the Boys' High School, Reading, Pa. Pro- fessor and Mrs. Dietrich are members of the New Lutheran Church. He is a man of marked intellect- ual attainments. and is a fluent and able speaker, frequently called upon to make addresses at public functions.

On Dec. 23, 1896, he married Sara H., daughter of Alem and Hannah (Hood) Mauser. They have no children.

(IV) Edwin Dietrich, son of Jonathan (or Jonas), born in Greenwich township, is a small farmer in Richmond township, where for many years he was engaged in milling. He has served in the office of su- pervisor of this township, and is now acting in the ca- pacity of road-master. He married Rufena Adam, daughter of George Adam, of Greenwich township. and to this union have been born the following chil- dren: Wilson G. is mentioned in full farther on; Charles E. is a miller in Greenwich township; Pierce A. is a well-known druggist in Philadelphia; Mahlon J. is a miller by trade; Jane m. Henry Adam; Francis A. is a student in Muhlenberg College; Alice resides at home. (V) WILSON G. DIETRICH, son of Edwin, was born in Greenwich township, Berks county, March 4, 1869. He obtained an ordinary common school educa- tion in his native township and in Albany township, and his early boyhood was spent on the home farm, where he early learned that industry was requisite to success in life. In 1899 he began farming in Maxa- tawny township, where he lived seven years, removing to Richmond township in the spring of 1906. He now lives on one of the farms of Lawson G. and Calvin J. Dietrich. He is a man of good traits of character, and is industrious and persevering. By thrift and econ- omy he has earned sufficient capital to buy a good farny stock. Hle is deeply interested in the welfare of his family and children.

On May 20, 1893. Mr. Dietrich married Katie M. Adam, daughter of Benjamin and Catharine ( Mengel) Adam, farming people of Perry township. Mr. and Mrs. Dietrich are both members of Dunkel's Church. In political matters he is a Democrat, and he is well in- formed on all topics of the day. He and his wife have had children as follows: Llewellyn, Edna (died in childhood), Minnie (died in childhood). Pius. Mamie, Effie, and Lizzie (died in childhood).

(III) George B. Dietrich, son of Johann Chris- tian, was born Jan. 20, 1811, and died May 2, 1887. He owned land in Richmond township, along the Easton road, two miles west of Kutztown, and while he al- ways followed his trade of carpenter, he also worked at farming. He married Polly Heinly, and they became the parents of three children: James H., born Nov. 22, 1840, died Aug. 26, 1893; Maria, who is unmarried. lives on the old homestead, which she now owns; Katie mn. Enoch J. Heinly (mentioned elsewhere in this work).

(IV) James H. Dietrich, son of George B., was born in Greenwich township Nov. 22, 1840, and was there reared and educated, making his home throughout life in the same township. He learned the carpenter's trade with his father, and this he followed in connection with farming all of his active years. He died Aug. 26. 1893.

(V) LAWSON G. DIETRICH, son of James H .. and .one of Berks county's representative men, was born in Greenwich township, May 2. 1864. His early years were passed upon his father's farm and in attending the public schools of his district. Later he attended the Keystone State Normal School, and in 1881, when sev- enteen years of age, he began teaching, a profession he followed with marked success for nine years. After spending two years as a student and bookkeeper in the city of Reading, he moved to a farm in Richmond township, two miles east of Kutztown, where he has since made his home. Since 1890 he has been exten- sively engaged in agricultural pursuits, and with his brother Calvin J., with whom he formed a partnership, he cultivates 376 acres of excellent land. The brothers employ only modern machinery, and are always the first to give practical tests to the new methods. Mr. Dietrich has made earnest efforts to improve condi- tions in his section, and on his own farm lays great stress upon hay raising, shipping annually car-loads of baled hay to the city market. He is a man of large business capacity, and is a financier as well as a thor- ough farmer. In 1892 and 1893 he studied civil engin- eering and surveying, and he is an able mathematician. Frequently he is appointed by the court of Berks coun- ty to survey new roads or lands in dispute. having the largest practice in his profession in the upper part of Berks county. He is often called upon by the courts of both Berks and Lehigh counties to give expert tes- timony. and has rendered valuable service. He was elected a justice of the peace in Richmond in 1895, re-elected by an overwhelming majority in 1900. and re- elected without any opposition whatever in 1905. His decisions have never heen reversed by any higher court. Mr. Dietrich is an uncompromising Democrat, and a man of great influence in the party. He has served as delegate to many State and county conventions, and for ten years he represented his township as committee- man on the county committee, being one of the oldest members of that body in point of service. In the spring of 1906 he was a candidate for the office of clerk of the Quarter Sessions of Berks county, re- ceiving nearly 3,000 votes. Mr. Dietrich is a man of varied interests, and is prominently identified with the Kutztown Fair Association, of which he was an organ- izer and is a director. He is a stockholder in several banks and trust companies in Berks county. He is a close student of men and events, and is possessed of calm, prudent and sound judgment. His life has been above reproach.

On May 20. 1893. Mr. Dietrich married Miss Mary Alice Shollenberger. daughter of the late Capt. Jonas and Mary (Dry) Shollenberger, the former a success- ful farmer in Richmond township and prothonotary of Berks county. To this marriage has been born one son, Irwin, a public school teacher. Mr. and Mrs. Diet- rich have also an adopted daughter, Ida Shollenber- ger. who is a niece of Mrs. Dietrich.

(V) CALVIN J. DIETRICH, youngest son of James H., was born in Greenwich township June 30. 1869, and is now one of the prosperous citizens of upper Berks county. He obtained a good education at Shofer's school in his native township, and at the Keystone State Normal School at Kutztown, which he attended in 1884 and 1885. He then taught his home school for several terms, and in 1900 entered into partnership with his brother Lawson G., in the agricultural business. They have a modern threshing apparatus. and in ad- dition to threshing do shingle and wood sawing for the farmers of their vicinity. also engaging extensively in hay raising, selling baled hay by the car-load lots an- nually. Mr. Dietrich is an intelligent and respected citi-

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BIOGRAPHICAL

zen, a Democrat in political principle, and actively inter- Mr. and Mrs. Bachman had children as follows: Rev.

ested in the success of his party. He is prominently connected with the Dietrich Family Association, which has members all over the country.

On April 25, 1891, Mr. Dietrich married Evada E. Trexler, born Dec. 28, 1868, daughter of Benneville and Maria (Hoch) Trexler, the former born Dec. 14, 1839, died Feb. 25, 1881. Mr. and Mrs. Trexler were the parents of: Evada E. (now Mrs. Dietrich); Francis, who married Clara Stein; Beulah, who died in childhood; and Miss Mamie. Mrs. Dietrich was confirmed in the Lutheran faith by the Rev. Dr. W. S. Mueller, at Mos- elem Church, and there she and her husband both attend. They have no children.

(III) Daniel Dietrich, son of Johann Christian Diet- rich, was born in Greenwich township, Berks county, April 24, 1824, and died at Dietrich's mill in the same township April 20, 1898. He was one of the best known men in all that locality, and for many years con- ducted what is known as Dietrich's mill, located on the Sacony on the road from Kutztown to Hamburg, two miles north of the former place. With the mill property were fifty acres of land, which Mr. Dietrich cultivated and improved. He built the large brick residence there in 1857, and the barn some years later. He was public- spirited and progressive, and was one of the prime movers in the establishment of the Keystone State Normal School at Kutztown, and one of its first trustees, serv- ing as such from the time of its organization until his death. He is buried in Hope cemetery at Kutztown. On May 28, 1842, he married Sally Ann Christ, born Nov. 12, 1824, died July 5, 1898. To this union were born ten children: (1) Willoughby, born Jan. 10, 1850, died aged twenty-three days. (2) William C., born 1851, died 1876. (3) Jonathan C., born Nov. 26, 1852, in Greenwich, owns and lives on the old homestead, where he oper- ates a creamery, and is also engaged in the ice busi- ness. For a number of years he was chief bookkeeper for the Keystone Shoe Manufacturing Company, and he was deputy county controller under H. F. Livingood and A. L. Rhoads. (4) Mahlon C. (5) Mary Elizabeth, born Jan. 25, 1857, is the widow of Levi D. Dietrich. (6) Franklin, born Aug. 15, 1858, died aged forty-four days. (7) Diana, born Sept. 5, 1859, died March 22, 1862. (8) Aaron, born Oct. 11, 1860, died March 23, 1862. (9) Emma Amanda, born Oct. 25, 1861, died May 31, 1870. (10) Amelia, born April 14, 1863, is the widow of Charles A. Ketner, and has two children, Anna Bell and Wil- liam R.

(IV) MAHLON C. DIETRICH, grain, potato, lumber, coal and general merchandise dealer at Kempton, Pa., was born January 3, 1855. He early became familiar with the milling and lumber business, and on August 3, 1874, located in Kempton, which then consisted of one private dwelling and the hotel, but which has since grown to contain twenty-five houses. He conducted the grain warehouse for Dietrich & De Turk, the senior partner of the firm being his father. In 1877 he pur- chased his father's interest in this business and the firm continued under the same name until 1881, when he also purchased the interest of his partner, Isaac L. De Turk. Since that date he has been alone, building up one of the largest businesses of its kind in the State. He has a large stock of general merchandise, carrying everything that might be included among the needs of a farmer. He is an extensive potato shipper- in fact the most extensive on the Schuylkill & Lehigh railroad, a branch of the P. & R. road, and he has many customers in the large cities of the East.

Adam J., of Schaefferstown, Lebanon county; Rev. James N. (1854-1907), of Lynnport, Pa .; and Sarah E. To Mr. and Mrs. Dietrich have been born two daughters and one son, namely: Roie Annie Eva, born Sept. 12, 1877, died Jan. 21, 1883; Edgar Adolphus, born Nov. 20, 1886, died Jan. 23, 1889; Blanche R., graduated from the public schools of Albany township in 1906, and is a member of the class of 1910 at the Keystone State Nor- mal School.

Mr. Dietrich is so well known in his district as a shipper of potatoes that a few words from him about the potato growing industry which plays so prominent a part in the agricultural prosperity of the section will be of interest here:

Potatoes are raised on every farm in Albany town- ship and in part of Greenwich township, Berks county, and in the lower section of Lynn township, Lehigh county, which adjoins the two townships named, are raised more than in any other township. From all these localities a good many are brought to Kempton, Berks county, for shipment. Hence not all the po- tatoes shipped from that station are raised in Berks county. A good many were raised before the building of the Berks County railroad, which was first operated in 1874. The nearest markets then were Allentown, Reading, Pottsville and Tamaqua. To each place the distance is about twenty-five miles from this section, the trip taking two nights and one day or two days and one night. Since the railroad was built more have been raised from year to year. The old varieties have been supplanted by new favorites, and many have held their reputation as good yielders. At present the Dewly, Vul- can, State of Maine, Prince Henry, Twenty Century, World's Wonder, National and Banner are principally raised, and all are a round white potato, good yielders, and also best adapted for the market.

The planting season begins about April 10th. Many turn the sod in the fall, some in the. early spring, and make ready to plant with the Aspinwall and other plant- ers; the slanting tooth harrow is used, then the weeder and cultivator. The Colorado potato bug or beetle is very injurious to the plants and the growers must spray them in time with Paris green or arsenic; and some also spray for the prevention of the blight, which is a much dreaded disease, as potatoes commence to rot about the time when the first shipments are made in car-load lots, which is about Sept. Ist. York State stock is always about two weeks later, and Michigan and other northwestern States still a few weeks later. The shipping of potatoes is a most hazardous under- taking. All kinds of risks are connected with it. The rot, the cold weather and the overstocked markets have to be contended with. Most of the farmers have not yet provided a good protected storage place, and have to sell about half the stock raised before the cold weath- er sets in, being therefore obliged to sell those out- side the cellars and other protected places. Some three hundred full car-loads and a number of bushels in bag lots are shipped from the different stations in Albany township; six hundred bushels is about the average for a car, or about two hundred thousand bushels at an average price of fifty cents; the shipments amounting to $100,000.

(III) Nathan Dietrich, son of Christian, was born in Greenwich township, July 30, 1827, and died Jan. 24, 1880. He was reared to farm life and when about twenty-five years old began work for himself. He lived in Montour county, Pa., for a time, working on a farm for a man by the name of McCormick. When he returned to Greenwich township, Berks county, he began farming at Stein's mill, and then lived on

Mr. Dietrich is interested in all that tends to the development of his county. He was active in the Diet- rich Family Reunion Association, and gave great as- sistance in the preparation of the family record. He is a member of the New Jerusalem Church, belonging different farms in that locality until the spring of to the Lutheran congregation.

1860, when he went to Albany township, and purchased a farm, now the property of Henry Heffner, which

On Sept. 2, 1876, Mr. Dietrich married Miss Sarah E. Bachman, daughter of Nathan and Eliza (Donat) Bach- he sold six years later and bought the 162-acre farm man, of Lynn township, the former born 1817; died 1908. from Daniel Kunkel, that is now owned by his son,

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Henry S. The barn on this farm is 114 feet long- in Virginia, from which State one Casper Dietrich, the largest in the township. and the farm and sur- Jr .. had enlisted in the war of 1812. roundings are kept in first-class condition. Nathan (II) John Adam Dietrich. son of Johannes the emi- grant, was born Nov. 23, 1784. in Greenwich town- ship, and died on his farm July 23. 1864. He was bap- tized Dec. 12, 1784, by Rev. Heinrich Hartzel, in Green- wich township, and the certificate states that his spon- sors were his uncle Adam and his wife, Maria Bar- bara Dietrich. This is proof conclusive that Johannes, Adam and Casper Dietrich were brothers. The line of Adam is fully treated of elsewhere. Dietrich was a Lutheran member of New Bethel Church, in which he was an official. He married Elizabeth Stump, daughter of Samuel Stump, who now lives at Kempton. Six children, all still living, were born of this union: (1) William S., now living re- tired at Weatherly, Pa .. owns two farms and a mill. He is married and has children-Wilson, James, Maud, Annie and Francis. (2) Catharine. widow of Moses Hein, lives at Kempton. (3) Henry S. (4) Rosetta m. Francis Lenhart, a farmer in Albany township. (5) Annie m. Owen Snyder, a farmer at Steins Corner, Lehigh county. (6) Lenius S .. a farmer in Albany township, m. Ellen Miller, and has three children- Verna, Alma and Anson.

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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 147

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