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 149

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 149

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(III) Peter Weidner, son of Jacob, was born Dec. 4, 1787, and died Nov. 9, 1847. He was a weaver by trade, and had a shop in Amityville on a lot now owned by John Bertolett. He also owned a small farm at Amityville, which became the property of his son Charles. He married Elizabeth Levengood, born May 1, 1792, and died May 21, 1844, and they are both buried west of the present church at Amityville. They were members of the Reformed congregation. Peter Weid- ner and his wife became the parents of twelve children, namely: Harriet m. Jared Jones. Charles and Samuel were twins. Nellie m. Charles Goodman. Sallie m. John Lundy, and they moved to Greencastle, Ind., where both died. Lewis (Ludwig) is mentioned be- low. Anna, born Jan. 6, 1823, m. in 1852, Christopher Renz, a native of Germany, who died Nov. 10, 1876. aged seventy years, the father of Lydia, Emma, Rosa, Albert, Annie and Laura, and Mrs. Renz now lives with her daughter Laura, widow of Edward G. Davis, of Reading. Peter was next in the order of birth. Aaron, born 1826, died 1847. Elizabeth m. William Schaeffer. Catharine is the widow of Samuel DeHart, of Bloomsburg, Pa. Lydia died aged nineteen years.

(IV) Lewis (Ludwig) Weidner, son of Peter, was born in Amity township, Dec. 27, 1820, and died Aug. 25, 1907. He was a laborer and post fence maker, be- ing an expert at the latter. In the possession of his son, Mahlon E., is the following document: "On the 19th day of August, 1843, Lewis Weidner was honor- ably and legally discharged from all the duties enjoined of him as a member of the National Blues attached to the Washington Battalion of Volunteers, within the Second Brigade, 6th Division of P. M. Given under my hand and seal the day and year above written. J. W. Rhoads, Capt." Lewis Weidner was a private in Company B, 205th Pa. V. I., enlisting Aug. 24, 1864, to serve one year. On June 2, 1865, he was honorably discharged. During the latter years of his life he lived with his son Mahlon E., and from the time of the Span- ish-American war in 1898, in which James S. (son of Mahlon E.) served as a private under Gen. Nelson A. Miles in the Porto Rico campaign, three generations of one family lived in the same house, who had served their country in time of war. Lewis Weidner married Hannah Engel (daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth), born Oct. 1, 1820, died Dec. 3, 1895, and both she and her hus-

After the war Mr. Weidner learned the milling trade at Solomon Rhoads' mill, serving an apprenticeship of two years. He then worked two years more as a journeyman at the same place and eight years at a neighboring mill. In the spring of 1879 he took possession of the Manatawny Flour Mill, which he had purchased of the Solomon Rhoads estate in the fall of 1878, and he has successfully conducted this mill for thirty years. In 1884 he entirely remodeled the mill, and installed the roller process, and since then has made many other improvements, having one of the most up-to-date mills in the county, with a capacity of two and one-half barrels an hour. There is a tract of sixty acres of land with this mill, on which in 1899 Mr. Weidner built a new barn 43 x 70. The large stone house was built in 1807 by Othniel R. Sands. In 1893 Mr. Weidner purchased the Amity mill, also on Mana- tawny creek, and this has been named the Glen Alpine Flour Mill. It also has the roller process and a capac- ity of two barrels per hour. To this mill belongs thirty acres of land. On this property was a stone mill erected in 1745, but the present brick mill replaced it in about 1840. This mill is conducted by Mr. Weid- ner and his brother Francis, under the firm name of F. E. Weidner & Brother. The flour is shipped to Philadelphia. Mr. Weidner owns the Ezekiel Rhoads farm of 122 acres in Amity township, which he pur- chased in October, 1907. He is a director of the Na- tional Bank of Boyertown, to which position he was elected in 1896. He is one of the substantial and fore- most citizens of the township, and wields great in- fluence in public affairs.

In politics Mr. Weidner is a stanch Republican, and from 1866 to 1902 served as a member of the county committee, giving efficient and faithful service. He has, however. always refused to hold office. Frater- nally he belongs to Camp No. 43, Union Veteran Le- gion, of Reading; Post No. 16, G. A. R., of Reading; and the P. O. S. of A., No. 213, of Amityville.

On Sept. 23, 1865,. Mr. Weidner married Amanda Shadler, daughter of Jeremiah and Harriet (Schealer) Shadler, who in later years lived near Republic, Ohio, where they died and were buried. They became the parents of eleven children: Mary Ellen m. Irwin Rein- ert; George is deceased; Grant C. died in infancy; Emma m. Marks Boyer, and both are deceased; William H. is a miller at the Glen Alpine Mill; Anna m. George

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Delcamp; Louisa m. Jeremiah Hine; Irwin died in infancy; John is a farmer in Amity; James operats the Manatawny roller mills; and Sallie died in infancy.

ISRAEL CLEAVER, M. D., a prominent physician of Reading, represents a family that dates back to the time prior to the Revolution. The first of the name in Pennsylvania of whom record is found was Derrick Cleaver.

(I) Derrick Cleaver was twice married. By his first wife he had one child, John. By his second marriage there were seven children, one of whom was also named John, and he became the great-grandfather of Dr. Cleaver.

(II) John Cleaver was also married twice. By the first union were born Joseph, John and Ruth. On Nov. 2, 1767. John Cleaver was married by Rev. Joseph Miller, to Catherine Kline. and they had seven children, Peter, Derrick, Isaac, Jonathan, Martha, Re- becca and one that died in infancy. John Cleaver died in 1790, and his widow married Benedict Martz. After about forty years of wedded life she was again left a widow, and survived Mr. Martz ten years. She died April 14, 1841, aged ninety-two years, eleven months and seventeen days. John Cleaver was a Quaker in religious belief, but as he married out of the church he was dropped from the Society.

(III) Jonathan Cleaver was born in 1781, in Earl township, Berks county. Pa. He learned the business of woolen manufacturing, later owning and operating a woolen mill. He was interested in military matters, and during the period of "training days" held rank as a colonel. He died in 1862.

Jonathan Cleaver married Elizabeth Boyer, born In 1782. daughter of Samuel and Catherine Boyer, and children were born to this union as follows: Anna, born July 4. 1806, m. to Samuel Armpreister; Esther, born July 17, 1808; Peter, born April 1, 1810, father of Henry Tyson Cleaver, an engineer in the United States Navy; Elizabeth, born Feb. 2, 1812, m. to Isaac Bertolet (their son was Dr. Jonathan Bertolet late of the U. S. Navy) ; Jonathan, born April 30, 1814; George K., born May 18, 1816; Lewis, born Nov. 24, 1820; Mary (deceased) and Catherine (twins), born Jan. 8, 1822, the latter of whom married Joel Golden; and Leida, born Oct. 14, 1824. Jonathan Cleaver was a member of the Lutheran Church. In politics he was a Whig.

(IV) George K. Cleaver was educated in the com- mon schools, and he learned the trade of wool fulling. In 1852 he moved to Reading, and accepted a position in the county prison as assistant under the warden, Dr. Henry Tyson. This responsible place he occupied for twelve years, but finally went back into the busi- ness world and engaged in the manufacture of car- pets, which occupied his attention until his death in 1897. He married Miss Christiana Neiffer, and to them were born eight children, namely: Israel. of Reading, Pa .; George W., of Hackensack, N. J .; Chris- tian H., deceased; Jonathan, deceased; John W., a hatter residing in Reading; James T., who died in April, 1907; Gertrude A., deceased wife of Linton Mil- ler, who. left two children Earl and Alma J .; and Charles E., deceased. The mother of these children died in 1893. In early life a Lutheran, later Mr. Cleaver united with the M. E. Church.

(V) Israel Cleaver, M. D., was born Nov. 26, 1842, and in his early childhood was sent to the public schools in Reading. He completed the high school course, and then after his graduation began his medical studies in the office of Dr. Henry Tyson. He took his medical course in the University of Pennsylvania and received his degree in 1863. During this period he was appointed medical cadet at Buttonwood street military hospital in Philadelphia, and after receiving his medical diploma he was appointed by Edward M. Stanton, then Secretary of War, as assistant surgeon in the Mississippi Marine Brigade and Ram Fleet, a special organization designed to keep the river clear of

bushwhackers, and equipped for both land and water engagements. He served until the discharge of his Command per General Orders in 1865.

After the close of the war Dr. Cleaver settled in Luthersburg, Clearfield Co., Pa., and remained there a year, when he removed to Philipsburg, Centre coun- ty, and entered upon a professional career that lasted until 1871. In 1871 he left Centre county, and after a course in certain special branches he located in Read- ing, Pa., in the spring of 1872, being still in practice in this city. He is connected with a number of profes- sional organizations viz .: the Berks County Medical Society. the Reading Medical Association, Pennsylvania State Medical Society, the American Medical Associa- tion, and the Lehigh Valley Medical Association. He is a member of the board of managers of the Reading Hospital, and secretary of that body. He holds the position of County Medical Inspector, Pennsylvania Department of Health, and is in charge of the local Dispensary for tuberculosis under the Department.

In 1866 Dr. Cleaver was married to Miss Lorena Moore, daughter of the late Wilson Moore, of Clear- field county, Pa. Of their four children Mildred died at the age of four years; Wilbur M. is the office man- ager of J. C. McCrorey & Co., New York City; Hattie m. J. Freeman Boas, office employe of the Reading Hardware Company; and Helen Guthrie is at home, a graduate of the Reading high school and a teacher in Sternberg School of Music, Philadelphia. The family belong to the M. E. Church. Fraternally Dr. Cleaver is a member of Reading Lodge, No. 579. F. & A. M., and of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Pennsyl- vania Commandery. He is also a member of Gen. Wil- liam H. Keim Post No. 76, G. A. R., while his loyal in- terest in the school of his early days is evinced by his connection with the local alumni association of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania.

EDWIN L. MOSER was for many years at the head of the drafting room of the motive power depart- ment of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Com- pany, located at Reading. Pa. He learned his trade in the establishment where he was until recently engaged, and with the exception of two years spent in Phila- delphia was connected therewith until May 1, 1909. He was horn in Reading June 5, 1865, son of Solo- mon L. and Catherine (DeTurck) Moser, members of two of the oldest families in the Schuylkill Valley in Berks county, numerously and creditably represented, particularly in the central and northern parts of the county. Mr. Moser is of Swiss and French Huguenot descent, his French ancestors coming from Alsace- Lorraine. Representatives of the Moser family settled in Berks county in pioneer days, and George Moser, grandfather of Edwin L., was a farmer in Baumstown. Berks county, during the first half of the nineteenth century. He died there in 1863.

Solomon L. Moser, son of George, was engaged at various times as a carpenter, cabinet maker. organ builder and patternmaker in Reading. He married Catherine De Turck, daughter of Jacob De Turck, who for many years owned and operated a fulling mill near Baumstown. To Mr. and Mrs. Moser were born the following children: Calvin De T .: Amanda E .: Emma M .: Howard L. and Henry I. died in infancy; and Edwin L.

Edwin L. Moser was educated in the public schools of Reading, and during the winter of 1881-82 taught school, in Spring township, this county. From April. 1882, until August, 1883. he was in the employ of the Reading Hardware Co., and on Sept. 1, 1883. began his apprenticeship to the machinist's trade in the Philadelphia & Reading shops. He served his time in the machine shop and drawing room, and in what was then the primitive nucleus of the testing department. Finishing his trade in 1887, he continued intermittently in the shops and the drawing room until transferred to the latter in August, 1888. There he

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BIOGRAPHICAL

remained, engaged as a draftsman, until June 1, 1891, trade of machinist in the large works of Haywood & when he was advanced to the position of chief drafts- Snyder, and continued with them until 1848, when he man. Upon the resignation of Samuel F. Prince, Jan. removed to Reading and entered the machine shop of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company. He worked continuously for this company in the same shop 1, 1892, Mr. Moser was promoted to be mechanical engineer, and was thus engaged until Nov. 15, 1897, when he resigned and accepted a position in the for nearly thirty-five years, filling the position of fore- Baldwin Locomotive Works, at Philadelphia. While man of one of the departments in the large shop for a there he devoted his time principally to designing electrical locomotives. On Nov. 1, 1899, he returned to the service of the Philadelphia & Reading Company, as chief draftsman in the Motive Power Department- the position of mechanical engineer having been abolished-where he remained until May 1, 1909, when his health demanded his retirement from the con- finement of office work.

Mr. Moser has been twice married. On May 24, 1888, he m. Sallie Schaeffer, a native of Berks county, who died May 12, 1905. To this union were born two children. Esther A. and Ruth K. On Nov. 27, 1907, he m. (second) Elizabeth R. Brunner, daughter of Hon. David B. and Amanda (Rhoads) Brunner. Mr. Moser is a Lutheran in religious belief, and served three years as deacon of Grace Church. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to Reading Lodge No. 549, F. & A. M .; Excelsior Chapter, No. 237, R. A. M .; Reading Commandery, No. 42, K. T .; and Rajah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is also a member of Washington Camp, No. 61, P. O. S. of A .; and of Mt. Penn Coun- cil, No. 495, Royal Arcanum.

DANIEL J. DRISCOLL, manufacturer of seamless steel tubing, was born at Reading Dec. 25, 1862. He received his education in the schools of the city and in the Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. Resigning from the navy he entered the employ of the Philadel- phia & Reading Railway Company as a clerk in the office of the superintendent of motive power. After serving there several years he secured a position in the large establishment of J. H. Sternbergh, manufac- turer of nuts and bolts, for the purpose of learning the business, and he continued with Mr. Sternbergh until 1887, when he established a plant of his own at Auburn, in Schuylkill county, along the Schuylkill river, twenty-five miles north of Reading.

Mr. Driscoll operated this plant in a successful man- ner until 1896, when he abandoned the further mann- facture of nuts, bolts, rivets and bar-iron, and sub- stituted machinery for the manufacture of seamless steel tubes, his establishment being the first plant of the kind in the United States to manufacture seamless tub- ing from American steel. His product was highly appreciated by the Navy Department of the National government, and he came to supply a considerable pro- portion of the seamless steel tubes in the building of the monster war-ships for the new navy. He continued to operate the plant until 1902, when it was absorbed and abandoned by the United States Steel Corporation. However, in one year, Mr. Driscoll succeeded in re- purchasing the plant, and after installing new machin- ery resumed the manufacture of seamless steel tubes. Since then he has carried on a large business under the name of Delaware Seamless Tube Company.

In' 1888 Mr. Driscoll married Laura B. May, daugh- ter of Isaac May, and Mary Sterling, his wife, of Shamokin, Pa., and they have four children: Marie, James, Caroline and Elizabeth. They are members of St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Driscoll has established a superb country home, "Doneraile," in Bern township, on a bluff along the west bank of the Schuyl- kill river, a short distance beyond the Berkshire Club, which commands a fine view of the river and the sur- rounding country. He is a director of the Keystone National Bank, and a trustee of St. Joseph's Hospital, both of Reading.

Daniel Driscoll, his father, was born in 1824, in County Cork, Ireland, and was an infant about a year old when his parents emigrated to America, locating at Pottsville, in Schuylkill county, Pa. He learned the

considerable part of the time. He lived in retirement for about ten years before his decease, in 1894. He married Elizabeth Grady (who died in 1905, aged eighty years), daughter of Patrick Grady and Margaret (Hayes), his wife, who also emigrated from County Cork (Doneraile), Ireland, in 1840, and settled at Philadelphia. They had thirteen children, of whom the following reached maturity: Catharine, who be- came a sister in the Notre Dame Convent at Cincinnati, Ohio; Agnes, a graduate of the Reading Girls' high school and teacher in the public schools; Johanna, m. to Matthew J. Buckley, mechanical superintendent of the U. S. Mint at Philadelphia; Daniel J .; and another son, John A., who was educated for the priesthood in St. Charles Seminary at Overbrook, Pa., ordained as a priest in 1892, and stationed at St. Mark's Church, in Bristol, Pa., but died four years afterward. [See succeeding sketch.]

Mr. Driscoll's grandfather, also named Daniel, was born and brought up in County Cork. He was married to Mary Conway, of the same county. Their families were prominent in that section of Ireland.

Mr. Driscoll's wife's father was born in Cornwall, England, emigrated to America when a young man, and settled in Schuylkill county, afterward removing to Shamokin, where he became a prominent mine operator.

REV. JOHN A. DRISCOLL, Catholic priest at Bris- tol, Pa., for a time, was born at Reading Oct. 14, 1867, and received his preliminary education at the Con- vent of the Immaculate Heart at Reading, where he attended until he was thirteen years old. He was then a pupil at the Boys' high school until he was fifteen, when he entered the Seminary of St. Charles Borromeo, at Overbrook, Pa., for the purpose of preparing to en- ter the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church. He devoted nine years to his studies in the most assid- uous manner, and finally reaped the reward of his great industry and perseverance by being ordained at the Cathedral in Philadelphia on June 11, 1892. He cele- brated his first Mass at St. Peter's Church in Reading on the following day. Shortly afterward he was given his first charge at St. Patrick's Church, in Norristown, but his health failing he was transferred to St. Mark's Church, at Bristol, where he continued in the active and successful performance of his duties, winning the great love and confidence of the members of his congrega- tion, for nearly four years, when his physical condi- tion was so weakened and he himself so incapacitated that he was relieved of his charge and returned to the home of his mother at Reading (the house in which he was born). There he died on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 1896. The following extract from an interesting account of his funeral was taken from the Philadelphia Times : "On Thanksgiving night the remains of Father Dris- coll lay in state at St. Peter's Church, where several thousand persons took a last view of the familiar feat- ures then cold in death .. Members of the T. A. B. Society acted as guard of honor during the night. .

On Friday morning Solemn Re- quiem Mass was chanted by Rev. Thomas Farrelly, of St. James Parish, West Philadelphia, celebrant; Rev. Michael McCabe, of St. Agatha's, deacon; Rev. J. Kier- nan, of St. Paul's, sub-deacon; and Rev. P. J. McMahon, master of ceremonies, who had been his classmates, and were ordained with him at the Cathedral. Absolution of the body was pronounced by Right Rev. Bishop Prendergast, of the Philadelphia diocese, after which an impressive sermon was delivered by Rev. P. J. Gar- vey, D. D., of St. James Church, Philadelphia, a life- long friend of Father Driscoll's who took for his text,

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Verses, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15, Chapter IV, Book of Wisdom:

"'For venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years, but the understanding of a man is gray hairs.

"'And a spotless life is old age.

"'He pleased God, and was beloved, and living among sinners he was translated.

"'He was taken away, lest wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul.

"'Being made perfect in a short space, he fulfilled a long time.

".For his soul pleased God, therefore he hastened to bring him out of the midst of iniquities, but the people see this and understand not, nor lay up such things in their hearts.

"'That the grace of God and His mercy is with His Saints, and that He has respect to His chosen.'

"He paid a glowing tribute to the well-known nobil- ity of soul and high intellectual qualities possessed by the departed young clergyman.

"There were a number of religious societies in at- tendance, and upward of eighty clergymen participated in the solemn, impressive ceremony, which truly mani- fested their great love for this promising and admirable young priest, and their deep sorrow at his untimely de- parture."

JACOB KNABB, in whose death, which occurred Jan. 30, 1889, at his home in Reading, this city and section lost a man of more than ordinary distinction, was born in Union township, Berks county, Attg. 21, 1817, son of Jacob, Sr., and Hannah (Yoder) Knabb, and grandson of Michael and Eve Magdalena (Seltzer) Knabb.

Michael Knabb, the grandfather, was a native of Bavaria, born at Pfeldersheim, in the Pfalz, April 17, 1717. About 1737, in company with his two brothers, John and Peter, he came to America, and settled near the Exeter township line, in Oley township, Berks county, Pa., on the farm now occupied by Samuel B. Knabb. The old house was burned in 1816-17, and the same year the present house was erected. A family cemetery on the farm contains the remains of the three brothers and many of their descend- ants. John died in the forty-eighth year of his age, unmarried, but Peter lived to his seventy-fourth year and left a numerous progeny. Michael Knabb married, on March 11, 1755, Eve Magdalena Seltzer, only child of Jacob and Elizabeth Seltzer, of Heidelberg township, and they became the parents of eight children : Nicholas, Peter, Jacob, Daniel, Susan, Sarah, Catharine and Mary. Mich- ael Knabb died June 17, 1778, in the sixty-second year of his age, and was laid to rest in the family cemetery above mentioned.

Jacob Knabb, son of Michael, was born in Oley town- ship in 1771. Soon after his marriage, in 1800, he moved to Union township, where he prospered as a farmer. He died in February, 1825. In 1800 he married Hannah Yoder, daughter of John Yoder, and a descendant of John ( Han- sel) Yoder, a Huguenot, who on account of religious persecution emigrated from Switzerland in the early part of the eighteenth century, and went first to England, thence coming to America and locating carly in Oley township, Berks county. From John (Hansel) Yoder, Mrs. Knabb's descent is through John (2) and Daniel. To Jacob and Hannah (Yoder) Knabb were born six children : Daniel, George, Jacob, Margaret, Catharine and Hannah. The mother died in August, 1824.

Jacob Knabb, son of Jacob, and the subject of this sketch, was but seven years old when his parents died. Until he was about eleven he attended the pay schools of the township, making his home with an elder sister. He apprenticed himself to learn the printer's trade under George Getz, of the Berks and Schuylkill Journal, and re- mained there until Mr. Getz sold the paper. By this time Mr. Knabb realized the benefit of an education, and he set about remedying his deficiency in that line, studying for one year in the Lititz school, and for another year in Lafayette College. From the time he left college until

1840 he was engaged in printing in Reading, and in Har- risburg. In the latter city he worked on the Harrisburg Telegraph, where the State printing was done, and he held the position of foreman for a time. In 1840, with Mr. J. Lawrence Getz, he began the publication of a weekly paper, the Reading Gazette, but in 1843 he sold his share, and the next year found him in Harrisburg, pub- lishing the Clay Bugle, a campaign paper. In 1845 he came back to Reading and became the editor of the Berks and Schuylkill Journal, some time later becoming also its proprietor. This he continued for about forty-five years. In 1866 he associated two partners with himself, and the firm became J. Knabb & Co. Three years later (1869) they purchased the Reading Daily Times, and some years afterward the Evening Dispatch, and the two papers were consolidated under the name of Reading Times and Dis- patch, and published daily and weekly. Prosperity attended the venture, and in 1881 Mr. Knabb erected the substantial four-story brick building, which became the paper's home.

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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 149

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