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 191
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While still residing in Germany Mr. Granz was united in marriage in 1877 to Miss Mary Heinig, also of Kaufungen, Saxony. They have had only one child, a daughter Hattie, now the wife of Theodore Webber, of New York City. Some years ago Mr. Granz be- came interested in the work of the I. O. O. F., and joined that organization, in which he has made an as- sured position for himself in the esteem of its mem- bers. For two years he has been a member of Teutonia Lodge No. 367, F. & A. M. of Reading; and he also be- longs to the Workingmen's Sick and Beneficial Asso- ciation.
ALFRED S. SEIDEL. Among the well-known re- tired residents of Reading, Pa., may be mentioned Alfred S. Seidel, of No. 145 Walnut street, who was for a number of years extensively engaged in business in the city. Mr. Seidel was born in Windsor (now Perry) township, and is a descendant of an old and honored Pennsylvania family.
His emigrant aricestor was Johann Heinrich Seidel, who came to the United States from Alsace-Lorraine in the early part of the seventeenth century and settled
where he became very prosperous, owning much land. One of his descendants, Jacob Seidel, was born in Hamburg, receiving his education in the district schools of Berks county. Upon reaching his majority he vis- ited Germany, whence he brought a large amount. of money, and many family heirlooms. Settling in the northern part of Berks county, he engaged in agricul- tural pursuits also carrying on a mercantile business. Jacob Seidel in addition was the proprietor of a hotel on the old Philadelphia Pike, where many noted per- sonages partook of good old-fashioned Pennsylvania Dutch dinners, prepared by Jacob's wife, who was noted for her excellent cooking. Jacob and Elizabeth (Bossler) Seidel were the parents of these children: Benjamin, Jacob, Solomon, Henry, David, Daniel, Sarah, Mary, Eliza and Amelia. In religious belief the family were Lutherans. The male members of the family were divided in their political belief, some being Whigs and others Democrats.
Benjamin Seidel, son of Jacob and father of Alfred S., was engaged in agricultural pursuits for all of his active business life. Several years prior to his death, Feb. 9, 1884, he retired. He married Catherine Seibert, daughter of Jacob Seibert, of Lebanon county, and she died in 1906, having been the mother of these chil- dren: Alfred S .; Jacob, and Monroe (m. Hannah Reber, and had two children-Ida May and Bertha, the latter deceased). In religious belief Benjamin Seidel was a Lutheran and his wife a member of the Reformed Church.
Alfred S. Seidel's early education was secured in the common schools of his native locality, and he later at- tended Franklin & Marshall College and the State Normal School at Millersville, Pa. After teaching school successfully for three terms, he turned his at- tention to mercantile pursuits, engaging in business at Shoemakersville, of which business, however, he later disposed. He was then appointed justice of the peace and surveyor, had also engaged in conveyancing, following this for eleven years, when he accepted the position of traveling salesman for a large Philadelphia firm. In 1891 he located in Reading, continuing to rep- resent the firm until 1901, when he retired. He has en- gaged in various business enterprises, and has been successful in both local and foreign deals.
In 1872, Mr. Seidel married Miss Helen Loose, daughter of William Loose, and to this union there have been born children as follows: Mahlon m. Susan Brown, and has two children, William and Stewart; Claudius m. Emma Ulrich, and has one child, Elsie; Miss Lillie; Howard m. Fannie Wamsher; William B .; Robert L .; Titus; Allen; and Ida M. and Lyla, de- ceased. Mr. Seidel is a member of Kutztown Lodge, No. 377, F. & A. M .; Reading Chapter, R. A. M., No. 152; and Reading Commandery No. 42, K. T. He is independent in politics.
RANCK. Early records show the Ranck family to be of French Huguenot origin, many of the family living in Paris in the sixteenth century. The name was then spelled Rance and Ranc. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the attendant persecution, drove the family to Germany, where they located along the Rhine. Many of them changed the spelling of the name to Ranke or Ranck, according to the German historian, Leopold von Ranke, himself a member of the family. From Germany some of them moved to Holland. where their descendants still live.
Three brothers came to America. John Michael Ranck sailed on the good ship "Mortonhouse," John Coultas, master, from Rotterdam, last from Deal. June 15, 1724, and arrived in Philadelphia Aug. 24, 1724, and some of his posterity are now living in Lancaster county, Pa. Jacob Ranck arrived on a later voyage of the same vessel landing in Philadelphia, Aug. 19, 1729. Phillip Ranck came over in the ship "Winter Galley," Edw. Paynter, master, landing at Philadelphia, Sept. 5,
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BIOGRAPHICAL
1738, and he was the ancestor of H. Herbert Ranck, of of Bucks county, but later in Oley township, Berks Joanna, Berks county.
Naturalization papers were granted to Phillip Ranck
in 1760. His wife's name was Barbara. In 1770 he that time on for fifty years he was prominently iden- deeded land to his four sons: Jacob, Ludwig, Phillip Adam arid John, and he also had a son Valentine. Of these Ludwig married and had twenty-four children, some of whom located in Ohio. Phillip Adam and John moved to Union county, Pennsylvania.
Jacob Ranck, son of Phillip and Barbara, was born Oct. 1, 1745, and died. Sept. 13, 1827, aged eighty-two years, and was buried in Ranck's graveyard on the old farm. He married Margaretta Worst, who died Jan. 28, 1820, aged seventy-four years. They had five sons and two daughters, namely: John and Samuel, who were the only ones to marry; Abraham, Jacob, David, Barbara and Margaret.
Samuel Ranck, son of Jacob and Margaretta (Worst), had four children: David, who had two sons, Daniel and Edward, and died in Intercourse, Lancaster county; Samuel, who moved to Carroll county, Illinois; and two daughters, one of whom married a Kessler, and the other a Wagner.
John Ranck, son of Jacob and Margaretta (Worst), was born in 1774. and died in 1845. He married Eliz- abeth Shively, a sister to his brother Samuel's wife, and they had eight children: Jacob, Barbara. Margaret (born Aug. 27, 1806, died Oct. 23, 1849, married Jos- eph Ranck), Ann, Elizabeth, Samuel, John and Cath- arine.
Valentine Ranck, son of Phillip the emigrant and his wife Barbara, died in 1813. the father of two sons, Michael; and Jacob, whose children were-John. Adam, Jacob, Samuel, Mrs. Benjamin Herr and Mrs. Peter Eably.
Joseph Ranck, son of Michael, married his cousin Margaret Ranck. born Aug. 27, 1806, died Oct. 23, 1849, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Shively) Ranck (above mentioned). To this union were born five chil- dren: Jonathan, who lives in western Iowa and had fif- teen children, some of whom live in Chicago; Samuel, of Naperville, Ill., who has several daughters but no son; Elizabeth who married Lewis Emery, and lives in Illin- ois; and Joseph, of Naperville, Ill., who has a son who is a missionary in China and a daughter a missionary in Japan.
Amos Ranck, son of Joseph and Margaret (Ranck), married Rebecca White and had four sons and two daughters, namely: J. Clarence, of Denver, Colo .; Jos- eph A., living in Elsmere, Del .; H. Herbert, on the old homestead at Joanna; Florence M., living in Phil- adelphia; and Fannie E., wife of J. Warren Barkley, of Wilmington, Delaware.
H. HERBERT RANCK married Clara M. Leippe, and has three daughters, Esther, Katherine and Mar- garet.
The Rancks were agricultural people, and lived near New Holland. Pa. The early members of the family adopted the Mennonite faith on locating in Lancaster county, but later many joined. the Evangelical denom- ination, and many the United Brethren, who have a church known as Ranck's church.
ALLEN R. LESHER, a retired farmer of Richmond township, Berks county, who lives about one mile below Virginville, along the Berks & Lehigh railroad, was born at the place where he now resides, Dec. 2, 1835, son of Samuel S. and Sallie (Reber) Lesher ..
county. In 1744, he and two other men erected a forge which became known as the "Oley Forge," and from tified with the iron industry of the county. He rep- resented the county in the Constitutional convention of 1776, and served in the General Assembly from 1776 until 1782. During the Revolution he acted as one of the commissioners for purchasing army supplies. He addressed an interesting letter to the Supreme Execu- tive Council in 1778, relative to the taking of supplies from him. [See Berks County in the Revolution, p. 181.] John Lesher died in Oley township, April 5, 1794, leav- ing a widow, two sons and five daughters, namely: John (had a son Isaac), Jacob, Barbara (m. Jacob Mor- gan), Hannah (m. George Focht), Maria (m. John Potts) and Catharine (m. John Tysher).
Jacob Lesher, grandfather of Allen R., and the pro- genitor of many Leshers in this country, was born in Oley township, Berks county. He came to Richmond township before 1790, and died in 1804 in Virginville, being buried in a field above Virginville along the railroad, which was used for a burial ground, but the plow share has turned up the sod and destroyed all vestige of the last resting place of a number of old pioneers. He m. Elizabeth Stenger, who kept a hotel in Virginville for a livelihood, and they had these children: Elizabeth m. John Heater; Jacob m. a Miss Bartholomew; Samuel; Jonas; William; and Polly m. Joseph Shomo, of Hamburg, Pennsylvania.
Samuel S. Lesher, father of Allen R., was born in Virginville at the old hotel stand that was kept by his parents. He learned the trade of a stone mason in Michael Ranck, son of Valentine, was a teamster in early youth, and this he followed for many years. He Washington's army. He had one son, Joseph, and married Sallie Reber, daughter of John Reber, five daughters, and of the latter one' married a Yoder, and they had these children: Gabriel died aged seventy- one a Good, one a Musser, one a Witmer and one a Shirk.
one years; John died aged twelve years; Polly m. (first) a Mr. Young, and (second) David Fulmer; Jacob died three months after marriage; Allen R .; William lives at White Deer, Union Co., Pa .; Louis lives in Pickaway county, Ohio; Lizzie is the widow of Simon Lucken- bill; Joel is of Reading; and Sallie is the widow of Daniel Gruber.
Allen R. Lesher attended the pay schools of his time, his first teacher being Joe Pike, and later when the public schools were established he attended them for a time. Mr. Lesher has spent all of his life on the farm, on which he now resides, a 100-acre tract. Mr. Lesher retired from active labor in 1898. He is con- nected with Becker's St. Peter's Union Church, in which he is a trustee, and takes an active interest. It was largely through the influence and activity of Mr. Lesher that a new township was not created back in the eighties, when a strong effort was made to cut off a part of Richmond township and Greenwich town- ship, and create it into a new district. Mr. Lesher performs the duties of a good citizen, and is highly esteemed in his community. In politics he is a Dem- ocrat.
On July 27, 1861, Mr. Lesher married Sallie Ann Sassaman, daughter of William and Sallie (Delp) Sass- aman, the former a furniture dealer and undertaker in -his time, residing near Fleetwood. These children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lesher: Louisa S. m. Reuben M. Kline, and their daughter, Mrs. Francis Z. Sieber, has a son, William Allen; Sallie A. m. Wilson M. Kline, and has children-Virgie (m. Richard Sheradin, and has a son, Francis Arlington), Franklin, Harry, Elsie, Webster and Edison; Lizzie m. Eli Gettis; Katie m. the Hon. Jacob A. Lesher; Samuel S. died in infancy; Wil-
John Lesher, great-grandfather of Allen R., was a native of Germany, born Jan. 5, 1711, only son and heir- liam R. of Virginsville engaged in the paper-hanging at-law of Nicholas Lesher. He emigrated to Pennsyl- vania in 1734, and first settled in the Upper section
and painting business, m. Katie Kline, and has two children, W. Paul and Jennie P.
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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
JONATHAN MOULD, merchant at Reading since 1871, was born in Orange county, N. Y., near Newburg, Feb. 20, 1847, and educated in the pay schools of the vicinity and at the Montgomery Academy. He was reared on his father's farm during the course of his education until he was eighteen years old, when he went to Newburg and entered the large dry-goods store of A. K. Chandler as a salesman, and he continued there seven years. During the later years he assisted Mr. Chandler in establishing and operating a chain of dry-goods stores in New York and Pennsylvania. In this capacity, he was sent to Reading, Pa., in January, 1871, and after operating the store for over a year it was sold to Schofield & Co.
Mr. Mould, during this interval, having come to appre- ciate Reading as a business center, remained with the new firm, and assisted in the management of the store until January, 1875, when he embarked in business for himself. He established a department store at No. 325 Penn street, and in three years moved into larger quarters at No. 645 Penn street, where he continued with increasing success for twelve years. In 1890, he purchased the two adjoining premises on the east, Nos. 647-49, and upon erecting a large four-story brick store building, 30 feet wide by 270 feet deep, moved into the new quarters, where he has since been conducting a department store with upward of a hundred employes, and a wholesale and retail trade which reaches. into the surrounding districts and adjoining counties.
Brecknock township, Berks county, was largely set- tled by the Swiss and Welsh. On the same ship on which came the Trostells were many others whose names are still common (1908) in Brecknock. Appar- ently a whole colony left their native home and came to America, settling in one locality. Parts of Breck- nock township were settled soon after 1733, and these emigrants evidently worked their way through the for- ests from Philadelphia. Whether the two brothers, Peter and Hans Bernhardt, settled in the same district is conjectural, but it is evident that the Trostles were a numerous family in Brecknock township in earlier years, the cemetery at the old Allegheny Church (Un- In 1887, his brother-in-law, George H. Bell (after being employed in the store for ten years), was admitted as a partner, and since then the business has been carried on under the name of J. Mould & Co. Mr. Mould has been identified for some years with the Farmers' National Bank of Reading, the Neversink Bank, and a number of indus- trial enterprises, serving in each of them as one of the directors. ion) containing many tombs bearing the name. This church was the place of worship for the settlers for many miles around. Among the tomb-stones in the cemetery there that are yet readable are those of Heinrich and George Trostell. The former was born June 4, 1724, and died Oct. 9, 1759, aged thirty-five years, four months, and five days. The latter, George, was In 1871 Mr. Mould married Julia E. Bell, daughter of born Feb. 17, 1730, and died Sept. 11, 1804, aged seven- ty-four years, two months and twenty-four days. It Dr. William P. Bell, a prominent physician of Fishkill-on- . is undetermined who were the parents of Heinrich and the-Hudson, N. Y. They are members of the Trinity Lutheran Church at Reading, having been identified with this church since 1871.
Mr. Mould's father was John Mould. of Orange county, N. Y., where he cultivated a farm for many years until his decease in 1888, at the age of seventy-five years. He married Emily Douglas (a daughter of Isaac Douglas, of Catskill, N. Y., where he taught school in the local Acad- emy, and died a young man).
His grandfather was Jonathan Mould (after whom Mr. Mould was named); also a farmer of the same place for many years until his decease in 1855 at the age of seventy- three years. He was a lineal descendant of Christoffel Mould, who emigrated from Holland about 1712 and settled at Kingston, N. Y. Several of Mr. Mould's direct an- cestors were actively engaged in the Revolution, and they have been honorably mentioned in Ruttenber's History of Orange county, N. Y. His mother was a lineal descend- ant of William Douglas, who emigrated from Scotland in 1640 and settled at Boston, Massachusetts.
GEORGE H. BELL (son of Dr. William P. Bell), partner of Jonathan Mould since 1887, was born in 1862 at Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, N. Y., and was educated in the local schools. He entered the department store of Mr. Mould, his brother-in-law, at Reading in 1877, as a sales- man, and in several years showed so much proficiency that he was placed in charge of one of the departments. In 1887 he became a partner, and since then the business has been conducted under the name of J. Mould & Co.
In 1894 Mr. Bell married Alice Bryson (daughter of Allen Bryson, of Orange county, N. Y., and Emma F. Mould, his wife, a sister of Mr. Mould). They have three children : Jonathan Mould, Helen, and George Allan. They are members of Trinity Lutheran Church; and Mrs. Bell is a member of the D. A. R. at Reading, Conrad Weiser Chapter.
Bernhardt Trostell, natives of Switzerland, who sailed for the New World from Rotterdam on the ship "Sam- uel," Hugh Percy. master. They landed at Phila- delphia Aug. 17, 1733. In the records the name of Peter Trostell is variously spelled. The clerk who kept a list of the passengers aboard the ship spelled it Troksell, while elsewhere it appears Trossell. In 1733 his age was given as forty-two, and that of his wife Anna Maria, as thirty-two. In the same year (1733) Hans Bernhardt Trostell was thirty-eight, and his wife, Catharine, thirty. Peter Trostell. aged nine years, and Daniel Trostell, aged seven years, possibly children of the former Peter, were also registered as passengers aboard the same. ship.
George; but. there is little doubt that they were the chil- dren of one or the other of the emigrant ancestors. The Trostle homestead in Brecknock township is in the western part near "Knauer's Hotel." Tradition says that it has been in the family name for more than one hundred and fifty years. There is a house upon this property, built by a Trostle long before the Amer- ican Revolution. It is of stone. the masonry of su- perior workmanship and good appearance, and the walls twenty-two inches thick. This property has never been out of the Trostle name.
George Trostle was the ancestor of Henry F. Tros- tle of Spring township. He was born in Brecknock township. Feb. 17, 1730. as above stated. There is still in existence an old deed for the Trostle homestead bearing the date 1749. He married Rosina Seidaben- ner, and they became the parents of the following children: Heinrich, John, George, Jacob, William, Ab- raham, Margaret (wife of Jacob Merkle) and Eliz- abeth (wife of David Miller). The signatures of the children are to be found on an old deed, dated June 29, 1805, when all signed over the homestead to Hein- rich. George Trostle (Trostell) died Sept. 11, 1804.
Heinrich Trostle, son of George, was a blacksmith by trade. and did a great deal of work for the Indians, with whom he was on the friendliest terms. many stories of his association with the red men being fa- miliar to the older members of the family. He had two teams on the road hauling goods from Philadelphia to Pittsburg. His will was probated in 1824. He married Elizabeth Sweikhart. and they had children: Hein- rich (2) ; John, who was survived by his wife Catharine (who was the executrix of his will made Jan. 18, 1857. and probated Feb. 23, 1857) and children, Levina, Sar- ah, Caroline and Wallace; Barbara, born Jan 6, 1786, m. to Benjamin Remp, and died March 15. 1857; Peggy, m. to George Fritz; and Elizabeth, m. to Isaac Griffith.
HENRY F. TROSTLE. The Trostle family was Heinrich Trostle (2), born Jan. 15, 1794, died Aug. founded in America by two brothers, Peter and Hans 15, 1875, and is buried in the Allegheny Church cem-
Amould
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BIOGRAPHICAL
etery, of which he was a stanch member. He married
In February, 1887, Mr. Trostle married Emma Eber- Elizabeth Griffith, and their children were: Benjamin, ly, who was born in 1864, daughter of Israel Eberly and Isaac, Henry (3), John, Eliza, Katie, Cassia and Susan wife (whose maiden name was Oberlin), the former a farmer in Clay township, Lancaster county, and a de- scendant of Jacob Eberly, a Swiss Mennonite who set- tled in Lancaster before 1750. Mrs. Trostle's great-grand- father, Samuel Eberly (born Feb. 8, 1793, died Jan. 26, 1876) lived in Elizabeth (now Clay) township, and there in 1832 built a house; he was the first county treasurer under the constitution of 1837. To Mr. and Mrs. Trostle were born children as follows: Harry died in infancy; Ida Susan; Edwin E .; Mary Edith; and Alvin E. They are all members of St. Joseph's Re- formed Church of West Reading, and since 1901 Mr. Trostle has been a member of the Consistory. He is a Democrat in politics, and for eight years under Pres- ident Cleveland's two administrations, 1885-89 and 1893-97, was in the postoffice at Bowmansville, being assistant postmaster during the first term, and post- master the second term. He is a member of the Mod- ern Woodmen of America. (m. Lewis Echenroth, and had four sons and five daugh- ters), of whom Benjamin, Isaac, Eliza and Katie died unmarried. In about 1800, when Heinrich Trostle was six years of age, he witnessed the parting of the Indians and his father, the Indians informing the lat- ter that they were going on the war path, and prov- ing their words by beginning to murder when only a short distance away. At the age of thirteen young Heinrich (2) made his first trip to Pittsburg with his father's team. It had not been intended that the lad should make the entire trip, but to drive only until he could find some one to do it. This was not to the young man's liking, however, and he made the long drive without looking for any one to do the work. This was the beginning of this work for him, and he drove his father's teams until he was twenty-one years of age. He then started out for himself and made many long and ofttimes dangerous trips. Later he was engaged in hauling charcoal to Mt. Penn Furnace for a number of years. When not engaged with his teams he devoted himself to farming-doing the work the other boys did while he was absent. His wife Elizabeth died in 1842, and from that time until 1848 his household was looked after by his daughter Cas- sia. In the latter year she wedded Reuben Kachel, who rented the farm until 1852, when he died. Then again Cassia became her father's housekeeper, continuing un- til 1875, when he died. Cassia, by her marriage to Mr. Kachel, had two sons, Henry T. and, Reuben Samuel.
John Trostle, youngest son of Heinrich (2), was a stone mason by trade, but in 1859 he rented his father's farm, and carried it on as a tenant until his father's death in 1875, when he purchased it, continuing to at- tend to its cultivation until his death. It is now owned by his widow. John Trostle married Julia Hoffert, and they became the parents of two children: Henry m. Mary Huber, and had two children, John (m. to May Neinzehhelzer) and Sally (died in infancy); and Aman- da m. Samuel Kissinger, and had sixteen children. six sons and ten daughters, of whom two daughters are deceased.
Henry Trostle (3), son of Heinrich (2), was born in 1824, on the old homestead in Brecknock township. From 1852 to 1859 he was a tenant on the home farm. He married Sophia Geigly, daughter of Samuel Geigly, of Lancaster county, Pa. Their children were: John died in boyhood; Susanna m. John M. Kessler, and has no children; and Henry F.
Henry F. Trostle, son of Henry (3), and now a sub- stantial citizen of West Reading, was born in Breck- nock township, Sept. 4, 1859, and was but five weeks old when his father died. He obtained his education in the township schools near his birthplace, and in the Good school in Lancaster county. He was brought up to farming and for a number of years lived with Chris- tian and Benjamin Good in Lancaster county. After his marriage in 1887 he engaged in the merchandise business in Bowmansville. At first he was in partner- ship with C. M. Beam, under the firm name of Trostle & Beam, and this continued for six years, when he went into business with J. M. Kessler under the name of Trostle & Kessler. This firm existed two years, and was then dissolved by mutual consent. Moving to Ephrata, Pa., Mr. Trostle lived there a year, and for. some time was employed as a salesman, also doing various other kinds of work. In 1896 he came to West Reading, and worked for a wholesale produce com- pany, doing huckstering in Reading. That same year he bought building lots in West Reading, and erected two residences, Nos. 701 and 703 Penn avenue, which he sold. He' then erected ten more in the same bor- ough. He lives in a fine three-story brick house at No. 700 Penn avenue.
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