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 172

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 172

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William F. Anthony received his education in Read- ing attending night schools. At an early age he learned the trades of bricklaying and hatting, the latter with J. H. Spatz at Mohnton. After several years spent at the hatting trade, Mr. Anthony again took up brick- laying, and in 1871 engaged in contracting business. Two years later, however, he again engaged in hatting, but did not follow that occupation for any length of time. He once more took up bricklaying, and in 1904 again engaged in the business on his own account, now employing forty-seven hands. Mr. Anthony is very skilled in his work, and some of the finest buildings in Reading will testify to the fact. He erected the German Greek Catholic Church, and Eisenbrown mar- ble plant (which is one of the finest and largest of its kind in the State), and the private residence of Mr. Joseph Ganter at Mt. Penn borough.

Mr. Anthony married Henrietta Goodhart, daughter of John N. and Sarah C. (Lovering) Goodhart, and they reside at No. 327 North Ninth street. Mr. An- thony organized Bricklayers' Union, No. 21, and served as its first president. He is a member of the 1900 Beneficial Association; the Northeastern Democratic Association; and the Owls, and Turn-Verein Associa- tions. In political matters he is independent, voting for the man, regardless of party ties.

DANIEL F. PRINTZ illustrates in a remarkable degree the power of natural endowments to overcome adverse circumstances, for though he started in youth without promise of any kind he nevertheless reached a position of commanding influence in manufactures, building opera- tions and finance almost at the threshold of his business career, which he has maintained in this community for twenty years with increasing success.

Mr. Printz was born at Reading shortly after the close of the Civil war, on Oct. 26, 1865, and his mother having died when he was but a year old he was allowed to drift along without parental care as to his future destiny. Quite naturally he received a limited education in the elementary branches in the local schools which he attended until he became twelve years of age, and then secured his first regular employment for wages in the Reading Hardware Works. While he was working there a spirit of ambition to become a skilled mechanic asserted itself and accordingly within a year he applied for an appren- ticeship in the machine shop of the Philadelphia & Read- ing Railway Company, which had a recognized fame for developing finished workmen. His application was granted and for the next four years, until the end of his apprentice- ship, he exerted himself toward acquiring a practical knowledge of the trade in all its branches; and he re- mained with the company afterward for five years for the purpose of increasing his proficiency.

With this experience in turning out and running ma- chinery, he, at the age of twenty-five years, felt qualified to start in business for himself; and associating himself as partner with Mr. Samuel H. Fulmer, banker of Reading, he purchased a nickel-plating works. Within one year his genius for organizing and directing an enterprise was displayed in the development of the works into an estab- lishment for the manufacture of bicycle saddles and acces- sories. This was in 1891, when the bicycle craze in the country was at its highest point. The firm was known as the P. & F. Manufacturing Co., and in a few years its productions came to be forwarded to all parts of the world, and its plant to be known as the largest of its kind operated anywhere, with a volume of business ex- ceeding that of any other similar enterprise in the country.

The spirit of organization, co-operation and concentra- tion was formulating and developing rapidly in the United States during this period, and in the next ten years the P. & F. Manufacturing Company had come to possess so much influence in the line of bicycle accessories that it was purchased by the American Saddle Company, with Mr.

and this company afterward came to be absorbed by the American Bicycle Company when he retired from the management.

In 1893 the Reading Wood Pulley Company was incor- porated with Mr. Printz as one of the directors, and he was chosen as president of the corporation, which position he has filled to the present time, successfully directing its affairs. During this period building operations were going on extensively at Reading, and Mr. Printz became inter- ested in them; and co-operating with Mr. Fulmer and later with Lambert Rehr and Jacob B. Fricker, he assisted in erecting and disposing of several hundred dwelling- houses, mostly in east Reading on and in the vicinity of Perkiomen avenue.

In 1902 the Reading Stove Works was found to require re-organization, and the stockholders, appreciating the ability of Mr. Printz in managing various enterprises successfully, selected him to become its president. He has filled this position to the present, maintaining its trad- ing relations throughout the country, even throughout the world, in an admirable manner, and keeping up the repu- tation of Orr, Painter & Co., for superior stoves and heaters, which had been established by his predecessor. Jesse Orr.

In 1904 Mr. Printz became interested in establishing a furniture business at Pittston, Pa .; in 1905 at Allentown, Pa .; in 1907 at Hazleton, Pa., and in the same year at Rochester, N. Y .; and in 1908 at Newark, N. J .- with a total capitalization of more than a million dollars by the several companies (made up of associates of his from Reading).

In 1904 Mr. Printz organized the Penn Shoe Manufactur- ing Company for the manufacture of shoes; and in 1905 he organized the Reading Saddle Manufacturing Company, for the purpose of manufacturing bicycle saddles and hard- ware specialties which have since been sold extensively throughout the country, and he has officiated at the head of these enterprises to the present time. In 1906, upon the reorganization of the Reading Standard Manufacturing Company, for the increased manufacture of motor cycles, he was selected to act as president of the company. Over two thousand employes are required in the numerous in- dustrial establishments under his control and supervision ; and daily reports are submitted or forwarded to him for his inspection and approval, which evidences the exten- sive and important character of his duties and respon- sibilities.

Mr. Printz represented the ward in which he resides (the Sixteenth) on the school board as one of the control- lers from that district for two terms from 1898 to 1906; he has served as a director of the Penn National Bank since 1903, acting as chairman of the building committee; and since 1904 he has filled the position of treasurer of the Pennsylvania Stove Manufacturers Association.

In 1881 Mr. Printz married Matilda Becker, daughter of Nicholas Becker, of Reading, and granddaughter of Samuel Lewis, a descendant of one of the earliest settlers in Cumru township, at "Lewis' Neck" along the Schuylkill river, and great-granddaughter of Philip Rush, a descend- ant of Michael Rosch, Sr., who emigrated from Remming- sheim, in Wurtemberg, Germany, and settled at Reading in 1751. By her he has a son, Harold Ellsworth, who was educated in the local schools and Kenyon Military Acad- emy, Gambier, Ohio.

James Printz, the father of Daniel F., is a machinist of Reading; he married Susan Homan, daughter of Daniel Homan, of Reading, and they had two children: Charles (deceased) and Daniel F. Printz.

DAVID HERTZOG, who for many years was en- gaged in the lumber business in Reading. Berks county, was a native of this county, born in Oley township, Sept. 16, 1834, son of Jacob and Mary (Greisimer) Hertzog, natives of this county. Mr. Hertzog died at his home in Reading in August, 1902.

Jacob Hertzog was an agriculturist of Berks county, and owned and operated a well-cultivated farm. He

Daniel 7 Printy

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BIOGRAPHICAL

was well-known throughout the township. He and his of the American Life and Annuity Society of Pittsburg, Pa. and he is prominently identified with the Masonic order in Reading.

wife were the parents of the following children: Wil- liam, a blacksmith of Mohnton; Henry, of Pleasant- ville; Catherine, m. to a Mr. Dilliplaine, of Oley town- ship; and David. The family were members of the Reformed Church.

David Hertzog received a common school education in Oley township, and during his minority engaged in farming. On the death of his father, he inherited a farm near Shillington, Pa., and this he operated for a time, but later embarked in the lumber business, pur- chasing many tracts of wooded land. He continued in this connection and became very prosperous. Mr. Hertzog was married in November, 1857, to Margaret Yocum, daughter of Daniel Yocum, and four children were born to this union: John, deceased; Daniel W., deceased; Henry F., a prominent hardware merchant of Reading; and Katie, m. to Ellis Worley, of Mohn- ton. Mrs. Hertzog is a member of the Reformed Church, and formerly took an active interest in the work of that church. Mr. Hertzog was a Democrat in politics, but took only a good. citizen's part by cast- ing his ballot, caring nothing for political preferment.

ALBERT B. KAUFMANN, connected with the insur- ance business in Reading, is one of the influential men of that city. Mr. Kaufmann comes from German ancestry, his father crossing the sea in 1850, settling in Reading, and following his trade of a tailor with the clothing house of Jameson & Co., whom he served faithfully for nearly fifty years. He died Feb. 23, 1892, at the age of seventy-one years. He married Christiana, daugh- ter of John and Christiana Boyer, and she died Dec. 11, 1894, at the age of sixty-eight. She was the mother of ten children, four of whom are deceased; the others are Carolina, m. to Charles Drick, a planing mill oper- ative; John, a clerk in Reading; Charles, a tailor with Jameson & Co., for over thirty years; Adolph G., a grocer, member of the firm of Smith & Kaufmann, Reading; Albert B .; and William G., a tailor in Read- ing.

Albert B. Kaufmann, born Jan. 22, 1867, in Reading, was educated in St. John's Lutheran parochial school of the city. He began his business life early, engaging as an operative in a planing mill, and this he followed for twenty-one years, when he launched out into the real estate and insurance business, which he has con- tinued with success to the present time. Fraternally Mr. Kaufmann is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the Encampment and the Protestant Junior Association. He is quite active in church work, being a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, where he has served as a member of the choir. He is also a member of the or- ganization known as St. John's Beneficial Society of the Lutheran Church. Mr. Kaufmann is a Democrat in politics.

On Oct. 29, 1888, Mr. Kaufmann married Miss Emma R. Braun, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Braun, both now deceased. Two of the six children born to this marriage, Florence May and Emma R., died in infancy; those living are Adelaide, Elmer T., Walter J. and Ruth Elizabeth.

In 1896, Mr. Meck was married to Clara A. Ruth, daughter of John A. Ruth, who has been connected with the Reading Eagle as solicitor and collector for many years. They are active members of Calvary Reformed Church, both taking great interest in the work of the Sunday-school as well as of the church. He is a member of the Consistory, and treasurer of the church. Mrs. Meck is also actively interested in the work of the Y. W. C. A. at Reading, having been one of the directors for many years.

Mr. Meck's father is James A. Meck. He was born in 1848, in Bethel township, Berks county, while his father was cultivating a farm there. When a young man he was employed by the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company at Schuylkill Haven, and he con- tinued there until 1878, when he removed to Refton, Lancaster county, and engaged in the coal and lumber business until 1885. He then sold his business and accepted the position of assistant superintendent of the. Baltimore Mutual Aid Association at Reading. He filled this position and later the position of super- intendent until 1904, when he located at Harrisburg. and became the superintendent of the Commonwealth Title Insurance & Trust Company, which responsible position he has since been filling. He was married to Susanna Coho (daughter of John L. Coho, of Schuyl- kill Haven), and they have three sons: Harry C. (cash- ier of the Reading Brewing Company, m. Mary Ruth); Edgar (manager of a department in the large store of Brown Shoe Company, St. Louis, Mo., m. Fannie Frost); and Randolph.

Mr. Meck's grandfather was Benjamin Meck, born in 1804 in Longswamp township, Berks county, where he learned the trade of a shoe-maker, following it until 1845. He then bought a large farm in Bethel township which he cultivated until his death in 1889. He was married to Elizabeth Ruth (daughter of Jacob Ruth, farmer of Spring township), and they had fourteen children: nine sons and five daughters.

And his great-grandfather was Dewald Meck, farmer of Longswamp township, who was a son of Jacob Meck, a farmer of Oley township.

HENRY G. YOUNG (deceased) was a native citizen of Reading, son of Jacob Young, and one of a family well known in this city.

The paternal grandparents were Jacob and Mary (Schreffler) Young, the former of whom was a native of Reading. He was a prominent brick manufacturer there, having established his plant when the city was only a small town, and successfully conducting it until his death in 1835. His wife survived him until 1854. They were the parents of the following children: Jacob (2); William S .; Charles; Elizabeth, m. to George Geiss; and Maria, who m. Peter Sherman, and had one daughter, Maria. Jacob Young was a Catholic in re- ligious belief, and his wife was a Lutheran. In pol- itics he was a Democrat.

Jacob Young (2), father of Henry G., passed all his life in Reading, where he died at the home of his son, Henry G., in 1893, aged eighty-one years less one month. His brickyard was located where his son's late home stood, and for thirty years he was in the retail coal business. He was prominent in public life, and was prison inspector twelve years, and county commissioner three years. For many years he was a deacon in Trinity Lutheran Church. He married Cath- arine Henninger, who died in 1883, aged sixty-four years, and both are buried in the Lutheran cemetery at Reading. Their children were: Henry G .; Jacob never married; and Sallie married Joseph Klopp (de- ceased), of Reading. All three are deceased.

RANDOLPH S. MECK, assistant cashier of the Farmers' National Bank of Reading since 1903, was born at Schuylkill Haven, Pa., Oct. 3, 1873. He ac- quired his education at Refton, Lancaster county, and at Reading, Pa., and upon completing a special course in civil engineering secured a position with the Phil- adelphia & Reading Railway Company as a civil en- gineer. He continued with the company five years, resigning in 1893 to accept a position as messenger and clerk with the Farmers' National Bank of Read- ing. On account of his proficiency and reliability he was rapidly promoted until he became the assistant cashier of the bank in 1903, and he has filled this posi- Henry G. Young was born Dec. 28, 1838, and his life covered a span of more than sixty years, being tion in a most satisfactory manner until the present time. He is a past president of the Reading Council brought to a peaceful close Jan. 9, 1900. His first ex-

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

perience in business was with his father, a brick man- ufacturer, but after working for him a while, he gave that up and secured a position in the Navy Yard, where he remained for seven years. At the end of that time he went to Kutztown, and in partnership with Fred Zehm, conducted a foundry for a couple of years. With- drawing from that enterprise he went back to Reading, and once more went in with his father, for whom he worked until 1896, in which year he was elected city treasurer. He was still discharging the duties of that office when death claimed him. For fourteen years Mr. Young also served as superintendent of the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery.

In 1863 Mr. Young was married to Miss Hettie A. Rahın, daughter of John Rahn, and a family of five children was born to them as follows: Clara; Fred; Katie, m. to John Miller; Ida, m. to Frank Gendall; and Jacob. Mr. and Mrs. Young belonged to Trinity Lutheran Church in which he officiated as deacon for twelve years. Both were active in various departments of the church work, and were prominent among its members. Mr. Young likewise was connected with several fraternal organizations, in whose aims and methods he took much interest, belonging to the Ma- sons, the Knights Templars and the Odd Fellows. In politics he always supported the Democratic ticket. Mr. Young was one of Reading's prominent citizens.

WILLIAM S. YOUNG, brother of Jacob (2), was born March 10, 1821. He first learned to make shoes, but as that trade did not prove congenial to his tastes, he learned brickmaking, and for many years was in the same line of business, that his father before him had followed. For a long time he was located at No. 62 Spruce street, but later removed to the vicinity of the Philadelphia & Reading depot, and remained there until he retired from business in 1865.

William S. Young's chief connection with public life came after he retired. He had before the war served as market commissioner, and was active in the Democratic party, but the greatest service of his to the community came after his election in 1865 to the office of county commissioner.' When he entered upon the duties of that position the county was $600,000 in debt and Mr. Young made it his chief aim to reduce this amount. In 1868 he was re-elected to a second term of three years, and when he retired from office in 1871, the county was not only free from debt, but also had a balance in the treasury, a noteworthy achievement and an illustration of what the application of business principles and honesty can accomplish in the public service. In 1879 Mr. Young was again nom- inated and elected county commissioner but he retired in 1881. He always received good majorities, and had the confidence not only of his own party, in which he was for years a prominent counsellor, but of the county at large. He was a good speaker and during the campaign before the election of S. E. Ancona stumped the county for him, while for years no county convention was complete without him. No other man has held three times the office of county commissioner for Berks county, and this fact alone. if proof were needed, would attest the great personal popularity of Mr. Young.

William S. Young was united in marriage to Miss Susan Geiss, and children were born to them as fol- lows: Mary, who married a Mr. Cox, and has two ·children, Drusilla and Ralph; Hannah, widow of the late Thomas R. Hannah, and mother of one daughter, Susan; Sophia; and William R., who married Sallie Hawes and has four children, Paul, William. Mary and Helen. Mrs. Young passed from this world Dec. 29, 1904. She belonged, as did her husband, to Trinity Lutheran Church, and was an active worker in it. Mr. Young was for many years an Odd Fellow, be- longing to Montgomery Lodge, and to the Encamp- ment.

REV. GEORGE B. SMITH. On Jan. 30, 1732, the proprietaries of the Province of Pennsylvania granted Casper Wister a patent for 633 acres of land lying in Philadelphia county. By the subsequent subdivis- ion of Philadelphia county the larger portion of this tract of land was brought within the confines of Maxa- tawny township, Berks county, close by the borders of Lehigh. Casper Wister dealt extensively in lands, and on the early records he is almost invariably desig- nated as the brass button maker of Philadelphia. In October, 1734, Casper Wister and his wife Cath- erine conveyed 123 acres of this land to one Jost Hen- ry Sasamonhousen, "Blacksmith," who on March 5, 1761, in confirmation of his title to the same, .ob- tained a patent deed for it from the proprietaries, John and Thomas Penn. On Dec. 2, 1761, Jost Hen- ry Sasamonhousen and his wife Petronilla conveyed the same to Henry Sasamonhousen, one of their sons, and on April 19, 1775, Henry Sasamonhousen and Elizabeth, his wife, conveyed it to George Smith, of Macungie township, Northampton (now Lehigh) county. From George Smith it descended to his son, George Smith, Sr., from him to his son, George Smith, Jr., and from him to his son, George L. Smith, who is the present owner and occupant.

Two George Schmits came from Germany to Ameri- ca in the fall of 1749, one on the ship "Patience," Sept. 19, and the other on the ship "Leslie," on Oct. 7. Other George Schmits came in other years, but the weight of circumstances favors the theory that one of the two arrivals named was the George Smith who came into possession of this tract of land in 1775. The future investigator through the help of addition- al facts may be able to determine which of the two it was. Landing at Philadelphia, he in time removed inland with the incoming drift of homeseekers, and settled where now is Fogelsville, within the present bounds of Lehigh county. He and his wife are in- terred in a family burying ground on the farm which he acquired in 1775, but as their tombstones have long ago crumbled away it cannot be ascertained when either was born or how long they lived. Their son, Joh. Georg Schmit, was born Feb. 12, 1770, while thev yet lived in Lehigh county. He married Margaret Klein, born April 10, 1768, and in course of time came into possession of the farm, improved it and lived upon it until the end of his days. He died Jan. 21, 1855, and his wife Margaret Oct. 23, 1850. both being buried in the same little burying ground that con- tains the unmarked graves of their parents.

When Joh. Georg Schmit came into possession of the farm, the house upon it was a massive stone structure, built in 1740, probably with a view of not merely using it for a house but in case of emergency as a fort as well. This was occupied until in 1841, when it was abandoned for a new and larger house, also of stone, which is the Smith family homestead of to-day. From the information at hand it does not appear fully what family Joh. Georg Schmit and his wife Margaret had, but it is definitely known that they had a son, George, designated as George Schmidt, Jr., and another named John, who lived near Clauss- ville, and there raised a family, among whom were several sons. They also had a daughter, Elizabeth, who died Oct. 13. 1804, at the age of six and one-half years; and a son Jonathan, who died May 1. 1816. in his twenty-third year, both of whom are buried in the aforementioned little family graveyard.

George Schmidt, Jr., was born April 25, 1800, on the old homestead in Maxatawny, where he always lived. The country becoming. Anglicized by this time, the spelling of the name with him changed from Schmidt to Smith. He married Lydia Leibensper- ger, born Nov. 10, 1798, in Lehigh county, and to them. were born seven children. namely: Stephen, Caroline, David, George L .. Alfred. James and Re- becca. (1) Stephen died March 27, 1896, leaving a widow. one son and four daughters. (2) Caroline

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BIOGRAPHICAL

died Jan. 17, 1838, in her tenth year. (3) David mar- after careful and conscientious consideration he select- ried Catherine Adams, engaged at farming in Le- ed the ministry for his life work. This decision he arrived at unaided and uninfluenced by circumstances, purely from a sense of duty, and after graduating from College he entered the Reformed Theological seminary at Lancaster, from which he was graduated in 1892. high county, and died leaving a widow and two sons. (4) George L. (5) Alfred died March 11, 1847, in his seventh year. (6) James, who was a physician, died unmarried May 8, 1861, in his twenty-sixth year. (7) Rebecca married John Kump, of Maxatawny township, who died survived by his widow and three children. The remains of Caroline, Alfred and James rest in the little family burying ground on the Smith ancestral farm. George Smith, Jr., died Sept. 1, 1890. During his active years he was one of the leading spirits of his locality, enterprising and successful in his own affairs, and bearing his full share of the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, and during his long lifetime was respected and honored by those who knew him. His wife died Feb. 3, 1865, twenty- five years before the death of her husband, and the two rest side by side in the family graveyard.

George L. Smith, the fourth child of George and Lydia (Leibensperger) Smith, was born June 26, 1833, in the same house in which his father was born and in which his grandfather had lived. He grew to man- hood upon the old homestead and received the benefit of the schools of his neighborhood, later attending a select school in .Reading, of which the late Hon. Daniel Ermentrout was principal. He then returned to the farm and continued at farm labor until in 1854, when he went to Lehigh county and there for three years engaged at clerking in a general store. Re- turning to Maxatawny township, he took charge of the old homestead and has remained upon it ever since, engaged at farming and stock-raising. He mar- ried Louisa Dutt, daughter of Thomas and Henri- etta (Strauss) Dutt, who paternally is of English ancestry and whose family formerly lived in Mont- gomery county. In course of time he acquired title to the old homestead and improved it in various ways, making it for himself and children not only a pleasant abiding place, but a home in the highest and best sense. He is an enterprising and progressive citizen, a man of intelligence and integrity, and enjoys the confidence and respect of all his neighbors and friends. He belongs to the Reformed Church, the church of his family for generations past. In politics he is a Re- publican. To George L. and Louisa (Dutt) Smith five children were born, namely: Elizabeth, m. to Edwin Boyer; Rev. George B .; Dr. James, a prac- ticing physician living at Allentown, who m. Mary L. Richards, of Maxatawny, and had two children: Marion (died in 1903, aged seven years) and George; Anna, m. to George Strump, and had two children: Wayne and Mark (died aged five years); and William, m. to Annie Kieffer, living at 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 172

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