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 199

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 199

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For many years Mr. Mohn has been closely identified with other business enterprises at Reading. He is a direc- tor of the Penn National Bank, serving as vice-president since its incorporation in 1883; and also a director of the Reading Trust Company since its incorporation, in 1886; and also a member of the Board of Trade, having served as president in 1905 and 1906. In politics he is a Repub- lican, and as such represented the Third ward in the select branch of city councils from 1888 to 1892.

Inheriting a strong religious nature, he has taken an active part in the United Evangelical Church from its in- ception in 1894, having previously, since his boyhood, been connected with the Evangelical Church. He was chairman of the building committee in the erection of the fine edifice of the First U. E. Church at Eighth and Court streets, toward which he was a liberal contributor. He is president of the board of trustees (having been a mem- ber of the board continuously for thirty-seven years), and he is the treasurer of the Missionary Society. He was a delegate to the First General Conference, which was held at Naperville, Ill., in November, 1894; and he has been a delegate to the East Pennsylvania Conference from its first meeting in 1894 to the present time. He has been the treasurer of the Albright Collegiate Institute for twen- ty-nine years, and a member of the board of trustees since its foundation; and, in appreciation of its educational efforts, he in 1908 presented to this college the three-story brick building and six acres of adjoining ground (form- erly the Behne mansion at Myerstown), which the insti- tution set apart for the use of the young women students and dedicated as the Jeremiah Gerner Mohn Hall. He is also a member of the board of publication at Harris- burg, and of the board of managers of the Chautauqua

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BIOGRAPHICAL

at Lebanon; also president of the board of trustees of the the Civil war, having been mustered into the service at Reading Y. M. C. A.

Mr. Mohn married Jan. 28, 1865, Annie Shirk, daughter of Henry Shirk, of Adamstown, and his wife Hannah Zell (who was a daughter of John Zell) ; by whom he has a son, Charles Ellsworth. His wife died June 4, 1867. He then, on Oct. 7, 1869, married (second) Susanna, daughter of Daniel and Mary (Lutz) Royer, of Lancaster county, and they had the following children: Ada Mary, a graduate from the musical department of Albright Col- lege, who married Herbert Landis (employed since 1898 by the Reading Trust Company) ; Harry Scott, born May 17, 1874, and Howard R., born May 17, 1879, both dying in youth; and Elmer L. His second wife died Aug. 29, 1883, and on Nov. 10, 1885, he married (third) Emma S., daugh- ter of John H. Spatz, of Mohnton. He has had two children by the wife last named: Maud, born Oct. 7, 1886, who died April 28, 1887; and Luella Faith, now being educated at Albright College.

Charles E. Mohn (son of Jeremiah G.) was born at Reamstown, Lancaster Co., Pa., May 21, 1867. After completing the public school course at Reading he entered Schuylkill Academy, where he continued until June, 1883, when he entered his father's hat factory in order to learn the business. He passed through the minor positions, then became a presser and afterward a hardener, filling the latter position at the present time. He has been in the employ of J. G. Mohn & Bros. continuously until the present time, except for five years when he was a partner in the Mohn Hat Company at Mohnsville. He married Eulalia Blankenbiller, daughter of Joseph and Emma (Hinnershitz) Blankenbiller. They have one son, Winfield H., now in school. He is a member of the First United Evangelical Church at Reading.

Elmer L. Mohn (son of Jeremiah G.) was born Oct. 14, 1881, attended the schools of Reading, graduated from Albright College in 1902 and from the Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in 1903. He then engaged in the wholesale coal business with offices at Philadelphia and Reading, in which he has been very successful. He married Mary Elizabeth Horst, of Myerstown (daughter of George H. Horst, cashier of the Myerstown National Bank). She is a graduate of Albright College and of Swarthmore College.

RICHARD MOHN, a member of the firm of J. G. Mohn & Bros., was born on the old homestead at Mohn's Hill Jan. 23, 1844. His education was obtained in the public schools of his native township and later at Adamstown, Lancaster county. During the progress of the Civil war, he enlisted on Feb. 23, 1864, in Company B, 55th Regiment, P. V. I., and participated in the battles of Cold Harbor and Petersburg, and of the Richmond campaign; and he was mustered out of service with the regiment at Peters- burg, Va., Aug. 31, 1865. After his return he worked in a grist-mill at Adamstown which was owned by his brother Henry G. (who had been previously employed there). He worked also in a hat factory at Adamstown, where he had charge of the shipping and packing depart- ment. In 1871, he went to Reading and became associated with his brothers in the manufacture of wool hats, under the firm name of J. G. Mohn & Bros., and he has continued with the firm until the present time. He has served as a director of the National Union Bank of Reading for a number of years.

On Jan. 6, 1870, Mr. Mohn married Elizabeth Prutzman, daughter of Samuel Prutzman, of Adamstown, and by her had four children: Edgar P., who died in 1907; William R., manager of the estate at Pine Grove of the late ex- Mayor Weimer of Lebanon: Bessie A .; and Earl S., at home. In politics Mr. Mohn is a Republican. He served as a member of the school board from the Tenth ward; and has been a member of McLean Post, No. 16, G. A. R., for many years.

Reading on Feb. 23, 1864, with Company B, 55th Regiment, P. V. I., and he continued in the service with this regi- ment until it was mustered out at Petersburg on Aug. 31, 1865. He participated in several of the largest battles of the war, but was never wounded. Upon returning home he learned the trade of hatting at St. Lawrence, in Exeter township, in the factory of John and George Hen- del (the latter having been his brother-in-law), and he continued with the firm until 1871. Having mastered the details of the business, he united with his brothers Wil- liam, Jeremiah and Richard in carrying on the manufacture of hats under the firm name of Mohn Brothers. [For his connection with this firm and with J. G. Mohn & Bros. from 1871 to the present time, see the following sketch of J. G. Mohn & Bros.]

Mr. Mohn married Cecelia A. Harbster, daughter of the late William Harbster (whose sketch and portrait appear in this publication) and Ellen Matthews, his wife, of Reading; and they have a son, William Harbster (having also had three daughters, who died young). They are members of the First Presbyterian Church, in which he has served as one of the trustees since 1884. His wife has been active in religious and charitable work in Reading for upward of twenty years. She has taught a class in the Sunday-school of the First Presbyterian Church con- tinuously since 1885, some of the children of the first pupils being in her class now; and she has had charge of the mother's meetings of the church for the past sixteen years. She has been a member of the Widows' Home since its organization, in 1874, serving as one of its man- agers for the past ten years. She has been prominently identified with the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Y. M. C. A. for many years, serving as its treasurer since 1892; and the charitable work of the Reading Benevolent Society has received much of her attention since 1890. Her hus- band has also been prominently identified with the Y. M. C. A. as one of its managers for twenty-five years, filling the office of treasurer for fifteen years.

Politically Mr. Mohn has been affiliated with the Re- publican party from the time he attained his majority. From 1874 to 1876 he represented the Third ward in the common council; and from 1876 to 1888 he represented this ward in the school board. He has identified himself actively with a number of local financial and business institutions, as follows: as director of the Keystone Nat- ional Bank, of the Reading Hardware Company, and of the Consolidated Hardware Company; president of the National Brass & Iron Works, and of the Reading Screw Company. He has been a member of Chandler Lodge, F. & A. M. No. 227, for forty years; and for many years a member of Keim Post,' No. 76, G. A. R.

WILLIAM HARBSTER MOHN, Mr. Mohn's son, wa's born at Reading July 24, 1872, and educated in the public schools and at Blairstown Hall, New Jersey. For a short time he was employed in the hat factory of J. G. Mohn & Bros., and then entered the National Brass & Iron Works in the mounting department. After a thorough course of five years in this department he was promoted to the posi- tion of foreman, and in 1902 became superintendent of the plant. He filled the position of superintendent until 1908, when he became associated with Edward Kershner under the name of Mohn & Kershner, for the manufacture of foundry and art metal goods, in which the firm have since been successfully engaged, employing eighty hands. He married Hallie Adams (daughter of Daniel L. Adams, founder of the Reading Radiator Works at Reading), and they have two children, Kathryn and John Daniel. He is connected with the First Presbyterian Church, in which he has taken a very active part, and for thirteen years has served as treasurer of the Sunday-school.

JOHN GERNER MOHN was born at Mohn's Hill, in Berks The firm of J. G. MOHN & BROS. has been a prominent industrial enterprise at Reading in the manufacture of wool hats for thirty-five years. It is constituted of three county, Nov. 19, 1846, and received his education in the public schools of that vicinity and at Adamstown, two miles distant. When seventeen years old, he enlisted in brothers, Jeremiah G. Mohn, Richard Mohn and John G.

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Mohn, who had acquired practical experience in the busi- Mary S. (m. John A. Seitzinger), Ella M. (m. George ness before starting for themselves.

The firm's first factory on Maple street was destroyed by fire on March 17, 1875, but they rebuilt it the same year, and after operating it until Jan. 1, 1881, sold it to the Reading Fur Hat Company. In 1878 they purchased the old and well-established hat factory of Kutz, Arnold & Co., on Eleventh street, south of Chestnut, and then began to operate this plant in conjunction with the Maple street factory and the Levan factory at the rear of No. 1026 Penn street, which they had leased. The Eleventh street plant was carried on very successfully with one hundred and fifty hands until Sept. 6, 1892, when it was almost totally destroyed by fire. They rebuilt it immed- iately and operated it with increased energy and success until Feb. 13, 1899, when (during a violent snowstorm and blizzard late in the evening, with snow lying on the sidewalks and roof-tops two feet deep) a third fire visited their large industrial establishment, verily "like a thief in the night," and caused a total loss. Undaunted, with greater resolution than before, they rebuilt their factory, introducing the latest and best machinery for the manu- facture of wool hats, and resumed operations with over two hundred hands; and in 1905 they erected a large addition, which made their plant one of the largest hat factories in Pennsylvania. It is recognized as one of the important industries at Reading which has afforded constant employment to a faithful little army of people, male and female, old and young, and thereby contributed a considerable share in the development of Reading.

SAMUEL KEGERISE MOHN was born Nov. 21, 1824, in Cumru township, Berks county, near Gouglersville, and after receiving a common school education, pursued until he was sixteen years old, learned the trade of miller at Adamstown, Lancaster county, which he finished at the age of twenty-one years. In 1846 he accompanied his uncle, Benjamin Mohn, who then established a grist-mill along the Wyomissing creek at a point now called Mohn- ton, and he opened a general store in this mill. He re- ceived the appointment as first postmaster of the postoffice established at that place in 1857, which was then named Mohn's Store. He was engaged in the store business for about fifteen years.

Mr. Mohn was brought up in the faith of the Evangelical Church, becoming a member when sixteen years old, and from that time on showed much devotion to its affairs, becoming in succession class-leader, exhorter and steward. He assisted in establishing Salem Evangelical Church at that place in 1849, and has served as one of the trustees until the present time-a continuous period of sixty years. He also took great interest in the Sunday-school work, officiating for many years as superintendent.

H. Leininger), and Kate (m. Tyson L. Huyett).

In 1871, the brothers named and an elder brother, Wil- Mr. Mohn is a son of John Mohn, and grandson of line, see preceding sketch of Mohn family. liam, purchased the hat factory of their brother-in-law, Daniel Mohn. For his antecedent history in the Mohn George Hendel, which he had established at . Reading on Maple street, south of Chestnut, in 1867, and carried on until that time, and they then organized a partnership under BENJAMIN CLOUSER, who for many years prior to his retirement some time before his death was en- gaged as a blacksmith in Reading, Pa., was born in Robeson township, Berks county, Nov. 20, 1840, son of John and Anna (Wesley) Clouser. the name of Mohn Brothers for the manufacture of wool hats. The firm began operating with fifty hands and carried on the plant successfully, with an annual pro- duction exceeding 10,000 dozen, for three years, when the elder brother, the senior partner, died and the three John Clouser was for many years a farmer of Robe- son township. Berks county, where he also engaged as a forgeman, and where he died, aged seventy-two years, his wife also attaining that age. They were the parents of ten children: John, Benjamin, Lucinda, Sarah, Thomas and Aaron, twins, Samuel, Henry, Charles and William. In religious belief Mr. Clouser was a Lutheran, while his wife belonged to the Re- formed denomination. surviving brothers purchased his interest and reorganized the firm on Jan. 1, 1875, under the name of J. G. Mohn & Bros .; and since then, for upward of thirty years, this firm has been engaged in the wool hat business at Reading with great success, increasing their employes from fifty to three hundred, developing their annual production from 10,000 dozen to 100,000 dozen, and extending their trading relations to all parts of the United States and Canada and also South American countries.

Benjamin Clouser received his education in the schools of his native place, and when a boy learned the blacksmith's trade, which was his occupation throughout life. He was a good, practical mechanic, and a hardworking man, and in his death, which oc- curred Oct. 4, 1906, the city of Reading lost an honest Christian gentleman and good citizen. He was a mem- ber of the P. O. S. of A., in which organization he has many friends, and was a Republican in politics, although he never aspired to office.

Mr. Clouser married Margaret C. Corbit, daughter of John Corbit, and to this union were born four children, namely: William W., a draftsman employed by Cor- nelius Vanderbilt of New York; Harry C., a machinist of Reading; Anna, a teacher in the public schools of that city; and Frances, m. to Edgar L. Fulmer, office manager for a New York firm. Mrs. Clouser, who survives her husband, resides in Reading, where she is well known and very highly esteemed.

RICHARD TRETHEWEY, assistant superintendent of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company at Read- ing, Pa., and a man well known in insurance circles of Pennsylvania, was born Jan. 19, 1855, near Chat- tanooga, Tenn., son of Samuel and Mary Kent (Burt) Trethewey.

Samuel Trethewey was born March 7, 1822, at St. Hilary, Cornwall, England, son of Richard Trethe- wey, a miner of Cornwall, and came to America in 1849, locating first in New Jersey and later in Tennessee, and taking a trip to California during the gold fever, He was a mining engineer all of his life and from 1877 until his death, May 22, 1905, resided at Friedensville, Lehigh Co., Pa., having been retired for the last thir- teen years of his life. He died at his own home in Friedensville, well known and highly esteemed. Mr. Trethewey was married in Cornwall, England, to Mary Kent .Burt, born May 12, 1818, at Lostwithiel, Corn- wall, who died Feb. 15, 1901, at the old homestead in Lehigh county. They had the following children: Samuel, of Boyertown; William, who was buried at Friedensville; Mary, residing at Pottstown, the widow of Thomas Brown; Richard; Joseph, who resides at No. 3130 Carlisle street, Philadelphia; John H., of No. 121 Oak street, Providence, Scranton, Pa .; and James, of No. 120 Oak street, Providence.

Richard Trethewey spent his boyhood days in Mary- land, whence his parents had removed in 1857, and at- tended the pay schools, which became free schools after the Civil war. After coming to Friedensville he following zinc mining for eight years, and then spent nine years in the Boyertown ore mines. The following year and one -half he mined for gold, sil- ber and copper at the Butte and Boston mine, at Butte City, Mont., a great mining camp, but in 1893 returned to Pennsylvania and began working as an

Mr. Mohn was married in 1847 to Susanna Spatz (daughter of John Spatz, of that vicinity), and they had ten children, five of whom reached maturity: Charles S. (m. Mary Redcay), Susanna C. (m. John A. Bohler), agent for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company

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BIOGRAPHICAL

at Bethlehem. The following year he was appointed district. Mr. Kapp was also a well-known sportsman, to an assistant superintendency, and was sent to Pitts- being an excellent marksman, and frequently won prizes. In his religious belief he was a Lutheran, and he attended St. Elias Church at Newmanstown. Mr. Kapp married Elizabeth Meiser, born Dec. 4, 1807, and died Sept. 19, 1875, aged sixty-seven years, nine months, fifteen days, daughter of George and Elizabeth (Keller) Meiser. They had nine children, all but one surviving, the oldest being seventy-five years of age, and the youngest past fifty-five: Peter, Levi, Elizabeth, George, Thomas, James, Emma, Sarah and John. burg, where he remained six months, being trans- ferred at this time to an assistant superintendency at Reading, where he has since continued with. eminent success. Mr. Trethewey has developed a number of successful insurance men who were formerly in his district, among whom is William H. Spang, superin- tendent of the Allentown district. Mr. Trethewey is an able insurance man, and during his incumbency of his present office has made his name well known in insurance circles throughout the State.

Mr. Trethewey has been twice married, his first wife being Jennie Schiffert, who died in 1879, in Friedens- ville, Lehigh county, aged twenty-six years, leaving three children: Florence E., who is single; Jennie M., m. to Wayne Wilson, of Philadelphia; and William G., who is married and resides at No. 520 Broad street, Bethlehem, Pa. He m. (second) Jan. 16, 1892, Addie B. Conner, daughter of Willoughby B. Conner, of Boy- ertown, Pa., and to this union one child has been born; Paul Richard.

In politics Mr. Trethewey is a Republican with in- dependent inclinations. He is socially 'connected with Prosperity Chamber, Knights of Friendship, and Wash- ington Camp, No. 104, P. O. S. of A., of Boyer- town. He and his family are members of Covenant Methodist Episcopal Church of Reading, and they reside in Mr. Trethewey's large brick residence, at No. 960 North Eleventh street, Reading.

GEORGE J. KAPP, one of Marion township's highly respected citizens, who lived retired at Stouchsburg from 1902, was for many years engaged in tailoring. He was born Sept. 22, 1837, in Mill Creek township, Lebanon Co., Pa., son of John and Eliza (Meiser) Kapp, and died Sept. 26, 1909.

Michael Kapp, the progenitor of this family, was of German descent, and a pioneer settler of Heidelberg township, in the district that is now embraced in Jackson township, Lebanon county. His name appears among the list of taxables of Heidelberg one year after Berks county had been separated from Lancas- ter. Mr. Kapp had two children: Frederick; and Leon- ard, who had a son Leonard.

Frederick Kapp (Capp), the great-grandfather of George J., was one of the pioneers of the Newmans- town section of what is now Lebanon county. He owned in the neighborhood of 400 acres of land, on which he built log cabins, and dug a well in sandy soil. He had reached a depth of sixty feet, but while he was at dinner the sides caved in, burying his tools, which stood at the bottom of the well, and there they re- main to this day. He was an excellent blacksmith, manufacturing all of his own farming implements in addition to forks and blacksmith nails. He is buried in the old burial ground at the Tulpehocken Lutheran Church. His grave has no head-stone, but a relative has a stone near by. Frederick Kapp had child- ren: George and Andrew; Molly, m. to Frederick Moyer; and Meria, m. to Jacob Kehl.

George J. Kapp spent his youth upon the home farm, and until he was seventeen years of age remained with his parents, at this time learning the trade of tailor from Frederick A. Schultz, who was a member of the same family from which came Governor Schultz. Mr. Kapp came to Stouchsburg in 1862, and there carried on the tailoring business with marked suc- cess until his retirement in 1902. He had in his em- ploy five assistants, and enjoyed a large trade, much of which in the earlier days consisted in making up home-made woolen material, which was brought to him by the settlers in the surrounding country. Mr. Kapp was an agent for the Northern Mutual Fire In- surance Company of Ephrata. Lancaster county, a po- sition which he held since 1875, during which time he wrote up a large number of risks in his district. Although he was an invalid from the fall of 1906, and was almost entirely confined to his house, he was of cheerful dispo- sition, bearing his suffering patiently. He was a man of intelligence, and conversed fluently in both English and German. A Republican in his political affiliations, he always had the welfare of his township at heart, but would never allow his name to be used in connection with any office. He was a member of the Order of Good Fellows at Stouchsburg, being one of the oldest members. He was connected with Christ (Tulpehocken) Lutheran Church, of Marion township.

On June 21, 1862, Mr. Kapp married Amanda M. Donges, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Burkholder) Donges, and to this union there have been born two children: Ellen m. Frank Walborn, a cigar-packer of Stouchsburg, who was born March 17, 1858, and died April 6, 1905, aged forty-seven years, leaving two children, Ralph. K. and Mary A .; and Charles F., born Oct. 30, 1867, met his death in the dynamite explos- ion which destroyed the Tulpehocken church in Mar- ion township, Nov. 6, 1884, in his eighteenth year, and is buried in the Kapp family lot at that church, his last resting-place being marked by the Kapp mon- ument.

JACOB OTTO, who died at his residence, No. 833 Washington street, May 23, 1904, at the age of sixty- seven years, was not an American by birth, but had lived in this country since his seventeenth year. . He was born in 1837 in Hesse-Darmstadt, and brought to his adopted country the sterling qualities which char- acterize the German race, and make them so valuable a part of our body of citizens.

Andrew Kapp, grandfather of George J., was born When he was sixteen years old Mr. Otto landed in Feb. 25, 1782, at Newmanstown, on the Kapp farm, New York City, and proceeded directly to Reading. later owned by his son John. He was a lifelong farm- er, and died Dec. 31, 1844, being buried at the burial ground at Newmanstown. He married Elizabeth Mil- ler, who was was born Jan. 19, 1783, at Millcreek, Le- banon county, and died Aug. 27, 1867. They had three children: Sarah died unmarried at an advanced age; Catherine, m. to Isaac Gerhart; and John.

Although he had learned the trade of shoemaking, he never followed it, and instead worked at tinning under a Mr. Snell. He remained with him for a number of years, and became a very skilled workman. In 1877, he went into partnership in that same line with a Mr. Harper, under the firm name of Harper & Otto, and for a long time they were located on Seventh street near Penn, doing a general tinning business. When that partnership was dissolved, Christ Geisler became associated with Mr. Otto and the store was moved to No. 643 Penn street, its present location. In 1889 Mr. Otto bought out Mr. Geisler and from that time conducted it by himself. Nine years later his son

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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 199

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