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 76

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 76


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General Gregg became first Lieutenant of the First Dragoons on March 21, 1861, and was made Captain in the Sixth Cavalry on May 14, 1861. During the first months of the war he saw duty in the defenses of Washington, D. C., and throughout the remainder of the war was con-


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nected with the Army of the Potomac. From Oct. 12, pany of Reading, and is a member of the Board of Trus- 1861, till January, 1862, he was on sick leave. He be- tees of the State Lunatic Hospital at Harrisburg. General Gregg has the right to append LL. D. to his name, that honor having been conferred on him by the Pennsylvania Military College, at Chester, Pennsylvania. came Colonel of the Eighth Regiment, Pa. Vol. Cavalry, Jan. 24, 1862, and took part in the Virginia Peninsular campaign. He was engaged in the battles of Seven Pines and Fair Oaks, May 31 and June 1, 1862, skirmishes at On Oct. 6, 1862, General Gregg married Ellen F. Sheaff of Reading, a great-granddaughter of Frederick A. Muhlen- berg, as also of Gov. Joseph Hiester. They have two sons, namely : George Sheaff and David McMurtrie. New Kent Courthouse, Savage Station, Bottom's Bridge, and White Oak Swamp, June, 1862, battle of Glendale, June 30, 1862, Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862, and covering the movement from Harrison's Landing to Yorktown, Thus is presented in measurably full detail the career of one of the most noted of Reading's citizens, belonging to Reading first, but in a larger and better sense to the State and nation. With a glorious record of duty faith- fully done, General Gregg is serenely passing the evening of life amid the scenes of its former activities, and is showered on every side with the plaudits of a grateful people. August, 1862. He was in the Maryland campaign of the Army of the Potomac, which extended from September to November, 1862, being engaged in several skirmishes on the march to Falmouth, Va., in October and Novem- ber. On Nov. 29, 1862, General Gregg was commissioned Brigadier General U. S. Volunteers. From December, 1862, to June, 1863, he commanded a Division of Cavalry, being engaged in the skirmish at Rappahannock bridge, April 4, 1863, and "Stoneman's Raid" toward Richmond, April 13 to May 2, 1863. The Pennsylvania campaign of the Army of the Potomac was participated in by General Gregg still as a division cavalry commander; he was engaged in the combat of Brandy Station, June 9, 1863, skirmish at Aldie, June 17, Middleburg, June 19, Upperville, June 21, and the battle of Gettysburg, July 1. 2 and 3. He was in the skirmish at Shepherdstown, July 16, and took part in the pursuit of the Confederates to Warrenton, Va., closing the campaign in the latter days of that busy month.


Central Virginia then became the scene of operations for the Army of the Potomac, and General Gregg there par- ticipated in the action at Rapidan Station, Sept. 14, Bever- ly Ford, Oct. 12, Auburn, Oct. 14, and New Hope Church, Nov. 27, 1863. From March 26 to April 6, 1864, General Gregg was in command of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and in the Richmond campaign from April 6, 1864, to :Feb. 3, 1865, was in command of the Second Cavalry Division of the Army of the Potomac, be- ing engaged in the skirmishes at Todd's Tavern May 5-7, 1864, where he was in command, Ground Squirrel Church May 11, combat at Meadow Bridge May 12, bat- tle of Haws Shop May 28, skirmish of Gaines House June 2, battle of Trevillian Station June 11, action of St. Mary's Church June 24, where he was in command, skirmish at Warwick Swamp July 12, combat of Darbytown July 28, skirmish at Lee's Mills July 30, 1864. On Aug. 1, 1864, General Gregg came into command of the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, being brevetted on that date Major General U. S. Volunteers, for "highly meritorious and distinguished conduct throughout the campaign, par- ticularly in the Reconnaissance on the Charles City road." On Aug. 17, 1864, he was in the action at Deep Bottom, skirmishes and battle of Ream's Station Aug. 23-25, combat of Peebles' Farm Sept. 29 and 30, of the Vaughan Road Oct. 1, where he was in command, the battle of Boydton Plank Road Oct. 27, destruction of Stony Creek Station Dec. 1, and skirmish at Bellcheld Dec. 9, 1864, which terminated General Gregg's active work in the army. He resigned from the service Feb. 3, 1865.


General Gregg's brothers, Henry H. and Thomas I., were both in the Union army and served three years, the form- er as Captain in the 125th P. V. I., and as Major in the 13th P. V. C., the latter as Lieutenant in the 6th P. V. C., and as Aide-de-camp on his brother's staff.


In February, 1874, President Grant appointed General Gregg U. S. Consul at Prague, Bohemia, which position he resigned and returned to Reading in the following August, where he has since made his home. In 1891, he was nominated by the Republican party as its candidate for Auditor General of Pennsylvania, was elected, and made a splendid record in his three years of service. He was elected Commander of the Pennsylvania Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States in 1886, and was continued in office by successive elections every year until 1904, when he was elected Commander-in-Chief of the Order. He is President of the Board of Directors of the Charles Evans Cemetery Com-


GEORGE BROOKE bears a name so intimately con- nected with the development of Birdsboro that a history of the recent generations of the Brooke family would be a nearly complete history of that borough. And no account of that borough, in the last hundred and more years, could be written without frequent reference to the achievements and efforts of the Brookes in every phase of its evolution from a settlement of a few houses to one of the finest boroughs in Berks county. The Brookes have ever been noted for intelligence and general excellence of character, proved in the wise administration of large interests, whose prosperity has had a direct bearing upon the public moral and material welfare as well as upon their own fortunes. They have also been noted for their unselfish public spirit, their means and influence having always been given liberally to the pro- motion of all projects tending toward progress, enlight- enment and the general improvement of the conditions affecting the daily life, comfort and happiness of the mass of humanity. To the brothers, Edward and George Brooke,, especially, is the borough indebted for many of its best advantages.


The Brookes are of English descent, the founders of the family in this country having come hither from York- shire, England, in 1698. John and Frances Brooke, with their two sons, James and Matthew, arrived in the Del- aware river that year, but because of a contagious disease aboard their vessel the passengers were not allowed to come to Philadelphia, disembarking lower down the river. The parents died there soon afterward, and were buried in the graveyard at Haddonfield, N. J. They belonged to the Society of Friends, and before leaving England John Brooke had purchased of William Penn 2,500 acres of land, to be taken up anywhere where . vacant land might be found between the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers. Accordingly the sons James and Matthew took up the land in what is now Limerick township, Montgomery county, Pa., where they settled.


Matthew Brooke, grandson of the Matthew who came over with his father in 1698, was the third in direct line to bear the name. He was the father of Edward and George Brooke, and was reared near Limerick. In 1796 he purchased a farm at Birdsboro, Berks county, and in 1800, in partnership with his brother, Thomas Brooke, and their brother-in-law, Daniel Buckley, pur- chased the Hopewell Furnace. From that time to the present the family has been prominently identified with the locality. Matthew Brooke occupied the old man- sion house built by William Bird, the original pro- prietor of this property, in 1751, a beautifully located residence facing the Schuylkill river, to whose banks the lawn stretched. On the side of the estate which lav along the shores of Hay creek, just where it emptied into the Schuylkill, was a grove of beautiful old trees, which one of the Birds fenced in and used as a deer park. When the canal was built in front of the house the place was no longer desirable for residential pur- poses, and the family moved to a house down near the lower forge, which was torn down in 1879 to make room for the enlargement of the rolling-mill. Matthew Brooke


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Geo Brooke


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continued to operate the iron industries


successfully pig-iron and two hundred and fifty thousand kegs of nails, until his death, in advanced age. He had led an active besides muck-bar and skelp iron. In the latter eighties life in many ways, having served the Colonial forces dur- a steel plant was erected at No. 2 Blast Furnace, to con- ing the Revolution when a mere boy, and while in the vert the molten iron directly into steel for the manufac- ture of nails. A new train of rolls was also put into the rolling-mill, as well as other devices for the working of steel. army was captured and held prisoner, but finally ex- changed. His business energies, while devoted chiefly to the iron works, were not confined to any one channel, and he was one of the first .stockholders of the Farmers In alliance with their furnaces the firm of E. & G. Brooke acquired a half interest in the French Creek, Warwick and Jones mines, which lie between ten and fifteen miles south of Birdsboro, and whence the great- er part of the raw product comes, the Wilmington & Northern road connecting the two properties. In 1864 E. & G. Brooke, associated with Seyfert, McManus & Co. and Samuel E. Griscom, opened the William Penn Colliery, near Shenandoah, in Schuylkill county, E. & G. Brooke subsequently becoming sole owners of the col- liery, which was and still is one of the best mines in the coal region. In 1887 they sold the colliery to interests identified with the Pennsylvania Railroad. These iron works and mines form one of the most valuable indus- trial factors in this section of Pennsylvania, affording profitable employment. to thousands of hands. Many of the houses occupied by the employees are owned by them, and about two hundred and fifty houses occupied by the men are owned by the company. After the death of Edward Brooke the concern was organized into two companies, the E. & G. Brooke Iron Company and the E. & G. Brooke Land Company, none of the property, however, changing hands. George Brooke became pres- ident of both companies, with George W. Harrison as treasurer and Richard T. Leaf as secretary. National Bank of Reading, one of the most important financial institutions of that city at the present day. He was an Episcopalian in religious connection. He married Elizabeth Barde, like himself a native of Penn- sylvania, daughter of Captain John Louis Barde, who came to Birdsboro in 1788, and for several years ran the old forges under a lease, in 1796 purchasing them with two thousand acres of land from James Wilson (a son-in-law of Mark Bird), one of the signers of the Dec- laration of Independence. This land formed a part of the original Bird properties of Birdsboro, and Captain Barde lived on it until his death in 1799. Captain Barde had an interesting career. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, he was educated in the Royal Military Academy at Wool- wich, England, entered the English army, and accom- panied the expedition to America to operate against the Spaniards in their attack on Pensacola in about 1779. He married the daughter of Maj. Robert Farmar, the English governor of West Florida, came north in 1782, and selling his commission became a citizen of the United States. His property came into the hand of his son- in-law, Matthew Brooke. Matthew and Elizabeth (Barde) Brooke had a family of five children, two daughters dying young. The others were: Elizabeth, who became the wife of the Hon. Hiester Clymer of Reading; Edward, deceased; and George.


George Brooke was born July 26, 1818, at Birdsboro, and has passed all his life in that place. He also has a residence in Philadelphia, where he sometimes passes a few winter months. He was educated in the schools of Reading, Lititz and West Chester, Pa., and afterward attended at Burlington, N. J., finishing his education at a private school in Philadelphia. . He ranked well in English, Latin and French, but showed a marked profi- ciency in mathematics, drawing, mineralogy and mechan- ics. The close of his school days marked his return to Birdsboro, and he at once plunged into the iron business, learning every detail of the immense concern ruled over by his father. On April 1, 1837, he and his brother Edward succeeded to their father's interests in the iron industry at that point, the works at that time comprising two forges-one the "refinery," where the pig-iron was converted into "anchovies" (blooms hammered down into a bar at one end for convenience in handling), and the "chafery," where they were heated and hammered into various kinds of bar-iron. At that time the entire out- put amounted to only two hundred tons annually. Under the firm name of E. & G. Brooke, the brothers developed the property, continuing to do business together until the death of Edward Brooke, Dec. 25, 1878. They built the Edward Brooke residence and a large flour mill, the latter begun in 1844 and completed in 1845. In the fall of 1844, while it was in course of construction, a Henry Clay meeting was held in the mill, there being no hall here at the time large enough for the purpose. In 1879 and again in 1882 the mill was remodeled, being supplied with modern machinery and steam-power, and mean- time had been greatly enlarged, the present structure being the third to occupy the site. Following the erec- tion of the mill the brothers extended the iron busi- ness. in 1846 putting up a charcoal furnace on the site of the old Hampton forge, in order to use their wood in the manufacture of pig-iron instead of operating the forges. In 1848 they commenced to build the rolling-mill and nail factory, which were completed and put in opera- tion the following vear. In 1852 No. 1 Anthracite Fur- nace was built, and two more furnaces were erected in 1870 and 1873, respectively, the capacity of the plant be- ing increased steadily until the annual product now amounts to more than one hundred thousand tons of 2


Mr. Brooke has been identified with numerous other interests in Berks county and also in other localities, his business affairs covering a wide range, and he has like- wise found time for active participation in the public and social life of his section. He and his brother were among the original projectors of the First National Bank of Reading, of which he has been president these many years ; he was one of the founders of the Pennsylvania Trust Company, another substantial financial institution of Reading, of which he is president; is a director of the Wilmington & Northern Railway Company and the Schuyl- kill Navigation Company, treasurer of the Keystone Coal Company of West Virginia, and president of the Birds- boro Steel Foundry & Machine Company. The last named company in 1885-then known as the Diamond Drill and Machine Company-was moved to Birdsboro from Potts- ville, being located in the old plant of the Birdsboro Iron . Foundry Company, whose buildings were sold to E. & G. Brooke in 1871, standing idle from that time un- til their occupation by the present company. From a small concern whose business was the manufacture of diamond drills it has grown to its present size. It is now one of the largest machine shops in eastern Penn- sylvania, comprising machine shops and iron and steel foundries. The steel foundry was added in 1903 and is one of the largest and most modern of steel casting plants. All manner of steel casting, for both private and government work, is turned out. The company manufacture all kinds of machinery, taking contracts for the building of rolling-mills of the largest sizes, besides building a number of special machines. They also still make the celebrated diamond drills, which are sold in all parts of the world. When these works are running full they employ about eight hundred men.


Mr. Brooke also was the originator of the borough water supply. Through the E. & G. Brooke Iron Com- pany large reservoirs were built about two miles south of the town up in the hills and an abundant water sup- ply of the purest kind was obtained from the mountain streams and brought to the borough in two large water mains. For the better conducting of its business this water department of the Iron Company was in 1900 turn- ed into a separate company, known as the Birdsboro Water Company. The town of Birdsboro is surely most fortunate in having such a pure and abundant supply


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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


of water. The pressure is so great that a stream of which he was connected, and his ability and ambition water can be thrown over the tallest buildings.


rounded out a nature unusually complete in intellectual Thus it will be seen that Mr. Brooke's interests, though force and practical knowledge. Industry, perseverance covering so wide a range, are all more or less closely allied, his connection and familiarity with the various side industries concerned in the successful operation of his main business facilitating its conduct greatly.


In 1837 the Brookes opened a store in the old mansion, soon afterward removing to a regular store-room which they erected at the canal lock, and in 1875 they erected a fine store property, which was burned out when near- ly ready for business. It was immediately rebuilt, and not only affords spacious store room but also contains the large auditorium known as Brooke Hall, located in the third story of the building. George Brooke was also one of the founders of the First National Bank of Birds- boro, of which he served as president for a time, be- ing succeeded by his son Edward. Mr. Brooke is a member of the Manufacturers Club, and also of the Union League, the Sons of the Revolution and the So- ciety of Colonial Wiars. He is also affiliated with the Masonic fraternity.


When the borough of Birdsboro was incorporated Ed- ward Brooke was elected burgess, and George Brooke has served repeatedly in the town council, of which he was president for many years. He has also given efficient service on the borough school board, taking especial interest in the question of public education, and in this connection may also be mentioned his services on the board of directors of the library opened and conducted under the auspices of St. Michael's Episco- pal Church. He was influential in the establishment of that church, which grew out of a mission estab- lished at Birdsboro by St. Gabriel's Church, Douglass- ville, and was one of its first vestrymen, still serving as such. In politics he is an ardent Republican.


Mr. Brooke is a courteous. affable gentleman, a type of the highest American citizenship, active and useful in every enterprise with which he has been connected, and serving his fellow-men while forwarding his own interests. He has traveled extensively in Europe, and has visited .every State in the Union. He has always been fond of outdoor life, and in his early days was pro- ficient in all kinds of sport. Though over ninety years of age he "virtually oversees all of his vast business in- terests, finds time to assist in the advising of other op- erations and maintains complete control of the details incident to the management of his large private for- tune."


In 1862 Mr. Brooke married Mary Baldwin Irwin, daughter of John H. Irwin, and granddaughter of Capt. Stephen Baldwin, a ship owner and merchant of Phil- adelphia. Mrs. Brooke's father was a grandson of Fred- erick Augustus Muhlenberg, first Speaker of the House of Representatives. Two sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Brooke, Edward and George. The family are all identified with the Episcopal Church. They occupy one of the most magnificent homes in this beautiful section of Berks county, Mr. Brooke having erected suit- able residences for himself and the members of his fam- ily at a spot overlooking Birdsboro and the surround- ing country, which has been beautified as well as devel- oped principally through his enterprise and that of other members of the Brooke family. Mr. Brooke's ninety- years "have been filled with varying experiences, but with- al have been favored with a due measure of sunshine, the brightest ray of which to him must be the rever- ence and affection of his townspeople, which is almost filial."


and faith in his ventures made his energetic course one of remarkable success. His progressive mind and far- seeing judgment enabled him to enter confidently into many fields where men of less strength would have hes- itated to venture, yet his prudence in management and care in looking after details kept his undertakings al- ways within conservative bounds and made him trusted among all his business associates.


Incidental to his own interests, and beyond them, Mr. Brooke was always active in promoting the welfare of his home town, and many of the most efficient measures for its prosperity in his day were originated or support- ed by him. The Wilmington & Reading railroad, which passes through Birdsboro, was constructed through his efforts, and he was the first president of that road. He was one of the original projectors of the First National Bank of Reading, and served as a director until his death. By nature kindly and genial, honorable and up- right in all his dealings, he was a man not only res- pected but beloved by all with whom he came in con- tact. His death, at Birdsboro, Dec. 25, 1878, was the occasion for general mourning throughout the commu- nity in which his entire life had been spent.


Mr. Brooke married Annie M. Clymer, daughter of Daniel R. Clymer. of Reading, and four children sur- vived him: Annie Clymer (who married Blair Lee, of Washington, D. C., and died in 1903), Robert Ed- ward, George Clymer and Frederick Hiester.


DAVID B. BRUNNER, prominent educator and con- gressman of Berks county, was born March 7, 1835, in Amity township. His father was John Brunner, a car- penter in that township, and a descendant of Peter Brun- ner, a native of the Palatinate, who emigrated to this country before 1736, settling in Douglass township, Berks county, about 1765. During his boyhood he attended the common schools in the township till the age of twelve years, when he learned the trade of carpenter under his father. At this occupation he continued until the age of nineteen years, attending school during the winter, study- ing higher branches for a time, and from 1852 to 1855, he taught public schools. During that time he prepared him- self for college at the Freeland Seminary. In 1856 he en- tered Dickinson College and took a complete classical course, graduating in 1860. He then opened a private school at Amityville, and conducted it successfully in 1860 and 1861. With this preparation he located at Reading in 1862, having purchased the Reading Classical Academy, which had been founded by the Rev. William A. Good in 1854. He conducted this institution with increasing suc- cess year after year till 1869, when he was elected county superintendent of common schools of Berks county, and at the end of his term of three years was re-elected with- out opposition. These circumstances indicate the deep and favorable impression which he had made upon the people. Upon his first election, he continued the classical academy with the aid of assistants; but upon his re- election he closed it so as to be able to devote his entire attention to the schools of the county. At the end of his second terin as county superintendent, he re-opened the institution under the name of Reading Scientific Academy. This change was made to signify that the study of the sciences was an important part of the course of education under him. Besides the daily study of scientific branches, frequent lectures were delivered by him to the scholars, his subjects illustrated by philosophical experiments, etc., with the aid of instruments manufactured by himself.


EDWARD BROOKE was until his death the senior part- In 1875 and 1876, he conducted a business college at ner of the firm of E. & G. Brooke, mentioned at length Reading; and in 1880 and 1881 he acted as city superin- in the sketch of George Brooke. He was born Feb. tendent of the common schools in Reading. From 1889 28, 1816, at Birdsboro, son of Matthew Brooke, and like to 1893 he represented Berks county in Congress. For other members of his family was all his life identified a number of years Prof. Brunner manifested a strong with the advancement of its best interests.


interest in the history of the Indians of Berks county. Highly educated, his scientific attainments played a He collected many relics, and narrated the results of his large part in the success of the various enterprises with investigations for the Reading Society of Natural Science.




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