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 78

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 78

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J. H. Sternbergh, in addition to being the head of this vast concern, in a director in the Second National Bank of Reading; a director in the Reading Trust Company; and president of the Kansas City Bolt & Nut Company, which was founded by him in 1887. He was one of the founders of the Reading Board of Trade, and its presi- dent for the first three years, and he was also one of the founders of the Young Men's Christian Association, and served as its president many years.

Mr. Sternbergh has been twice married. In 1862 he was married ( first) to Harriet M. May, of Southbridge, Mass., who hore him five children, two of whom survive, Her- bert M. and Hattie May. He married (second) Mary Candace Dodds, of North Hero, Vt., and they had six children born to them, namely: James Hervey, born May 26, 1890; Helen, Aug. 18, 1891 (who died Nov. 11, 1894) ; David, Dec. 29, 1892; Lambert, March 29, 1895; Margaret, May 20, 1897; and Gertrude, May 8, 1899.

Mr. Sternbergh is an honorary member of the Academy of Inventors and Manufacturers of Paris, and the Euro- pean Society of Brussels, Belgium. He is a ruling elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Reading, and for eighteen years with all his many and onerous duties found time to serve as Sunday-school superintendent. A re- markable fact about Mr. Sternbergh is that his years of strenuous work have been endured without a day's illness, and he stands today as an example of manly strength and mental superiority.

suing county election. He was re-elected in 1895, and in 1905. He died Aug. 19, 1908, after having served as a judge of the courts of the county twenty-two years.

JAMES W. YOCUM, late of Reading, was one of the most successful business men of that city for a number of years before his death. He was a member of the firm of Yocum Brothers, the largest manufacturers of cigars in Berks county, and the business is still conducted under that name and ranks among the leading industries of this prosperous section of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Yocum was born May 24, 1854, in Spring town- ship, Berks county, and was descended on both paternal and maternal sides from old Berks county stock, being a son of William and Mary ( Potteiger) Yocum. George Yocum, his grandfather, was born at Yocum's Forge, this county, and there passed all his life, dying at the age of seventy-eight .. He was an iron manufacturer, and a man of substance and standing, highly respected in his com- munity. His family consisted of six children, four sons and two daughters.

William Yocum, son of George, was also born at Yocum's Forge, and was reared at his native place. He received his education in the local public schools, and learned the milling business, but he soon went to farming, in which he found a congenial and profitable field for his energies throughout his active career. He died in 1905 at Stouchsburg, this county. Mr. Yocum was a prominent member of the Lutheran Church, in which he had held all the official positions. In political matters, he was, like his father, a strong Republican. He married Mary Pot- teiger, and to them were born five children: Clara; James W .; William H., who was in partnership with his brother James for many years; Velaria; and George J.

James W. Yocum was reared in the locality of his birth and received his education in the common schools of that section. He was an ambitious student, and succeeded so well that he was able to teach, being thus engaged for six terms during his young manhood. His first business venture was as a general merchant, in partnership with S. F. Fisher, with whom he did business at Stouchsburg under the firm name of Fisher & Yocum, for two and a half years. On Jan. 1, 1885, he entered into partnership with his brother, William H. Yocum, under the name of Yocum Brothers, and they continued together in the manu- facture of cigars until the death of Mr. James W. Yocum, building up their business until it became the most ex- tensive of the kind in Berks county. Five hundred skilled workers found employment in the immense factory at the corner of Walnut and Seventh streets, the yearly product amounting to as much as 20,000,000 cigars, disposed of in various markets throughout the United States.

JAMES NEVIN ERMENTROUT, fourth elected President Judge of Berks county, from 1889 to 1908, youngest son of William and Justina ( Silvis) Ermentrout, was born at Reading, Oct. 25, 1846. After a preparatory education in the common schools he was graduated from the high school in 1862, first in his class. He then taught school for several terms, and assisted his brother ( Prof. J. S. Ermentrout, County Superintendent of public schools) until 1868. While deputy superintendent, he conducted a At the time of his death no business man in Reading enjoyed better standing than James W. Yocum. His integrity had stood the test of many years of business success, and his ability was unquestioned. He had the true business instinct, understanding the art of making business, and he had the basic honesty which always proved sufficient to hold trade after it had been won, his product being exactly as represented. He was reliable, conservative, con- siderate of all his associates, and a man of earnest public spirit, and he won the unfailing respect of all who knew him, whether in business or personal relations. His rise in the manufacturing world was due solely to merit, and he enjoyed universal good-will. His death, which occurred at his home in Reading, Dec. 22, 1903, was widely mourned throughout the city. course of reading and study, under his brother, Daniel Ermentrout, Esq., a practicing attorney at Reading till Nov. 27, 1867, when he was admitted to the Bar. He then directed his earnest attention to the legal profession and soon became actively engaged in practice. In 1869 he formed a law partnership with his brother, under the firm name of Daniel & James N. Ermentrout. Their law business increased rapidly and embraced a general prac- tice, including important litigation and the settlement of numerous valuable estates. In 1874 his brother was elected State Senator from this district, and re-elected for three successive terms till 1880; and then he was chosen a mem- ber of Congress. During this period the practice of the firm was conducted almost entirely by the junior partner ; and this constant engagement in legal business gave him a On Oct. 14, 1875, Mr. Yocum married Agnes G. Schaffer, and six children were born to them: Charles; John, who married Alice N. Weand; Frank, who married Nettie Newmark and has a daughter Frances E .; Paul; Ralph ; and Sadie. The family reside at No. 619 North Fifth street. Mrs. Yocum is a daughter of John and Gustana (Schlaseman) Schaffer, the former a native of Pennsyl- vania. where he carried on agricultural pursuits. In later life, however, he removed to Indiana, where he died. He was twice married, first to Gustana Schlaseman, by whom large and valuable experience. When the term of the additional law judge of the county was about to expire, the members of the Bar directed their attention toward Mr. Ermentrout, and in April, 1885, a letter was addressed to him subscribed by eighty attorneys, without regard to political party, requesting him to permit the use of his name as a proper person to fill this office. This proceed- ing created a strong public sentiment in his behalf, and when the Democratic convention assembled he was nom- inated by acclamation, and afterward elected at the en- he had two children: James, of Brook, Ind .; and Agnes

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G., who became Mrs. Yocum. His second marriage was to Sarah Schlaseman, sister of his first wife, and there were two children born to this union also, Melinda and Wilson, both residents of Indiana. Mr. Schaffer was an industrious, hard-working man all of his life, and died in 1891, aged about seventy years.

Mr. Yocum was a 32d-degree Mason, belonging to Wil- liamson Lodge, No. 307, F. & A. M., and he was also a member of Camp No. 237, P. O. S. of A. His religious membership was in the Lutheran Church, and in political faith he was a Republican.

WILLIAM H. LIVINGOOD, long an eminent member of the Bar in Berks county, where he practised for a period of forty years, passed away Oct. 22, 1906, in his seventieth year. From 1860 until his death he maintained a high standing in the legal fraternity and had a reputation not only in his own county but also in Philadelphia, where he was located for six years.

Mr. Livingood was born April 5, 1837, at Womelsdorf, this county, son of Dr. John B. Livingood, a distinguished physician of that place, and grandson of John Livingood. He received his early education in his native place, at- tending the Union Academy at Womelsdorf, from which he graduated in 1851. He continued his literary studies at the Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., where he completed the course in 1855, after which he took his special prepara- tion for his profession, at the Law School of Harvard University. He was accordingly admitted to the Bar at Lowell, Mass., and returning home was admitted to prac- tice in Berks county on Jan. 19, 1860. With the exception of the six years he spent in Philadelphia, he was from that time until his death engaged in general legal practice in Reading. For the first three years he was in partnership with his brother, and then for about ten years he had an office of his own in Reading, where he built up a practice which was a decided tribute to his ability, fidelity and intelligent attention to the interests of his clients. In 1873 he moved to Philadelphia, where his expectations were fully realized, his patronage being all that could be de- sired. During his residence there, in 1874, he was admitted to the United States Supreme Court, at Washington, D. C., the motion for which action was made by Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, of Pennsylvania.

In 1879 Mr. Livingood, feeling that his original field was more congenial in many ways, returned to Reading, where he ever after remained. Except for a comparatively brief connection with the Staten Island Terra Cotta Company, which he formed upon his return to Reading, he devoted himself wholly to his profession. He was for a few years treasurer of the company, which carried on the manufac- ture of fire brick at Staten Island, N. Y., but disposed of his interest in order to give all his time to legal work. As a pleader Mr. Livingood had no superior at the Berks county Bar. His learning, his accuracy, his thorough comprehension commanded the attention of his fellow practitioners whenever he gave utterance to an opinion, and these, combined with ready eloquence and unrivalled ease of delivery, won him an interested and sympathetic audience in the courtroom, no matter which side retained him. He was a man whose personal character and habits were above reproach, winning him the esteem and ad- miration of all his associates, his co-workers as well as his clients. His private affairs demanded all his attention, and he neither sought nor held public office, his only services of such nature being given as solicitor for the almshouse, which position he held three years. He was, however, both interested and active in politics, as an ardent member of the Democratic party, and he was president of the Keystone Club during the Mcclellan campaign. His church connection was with the Presbyterians, and he held membership in a Masonic lodge at Reading, being past master of the same. His death carried mourning into many circles outside his home, for he was universally liked.

On Aug. 20, 1863, by the Rev. E. J. Richards, pastor -

of the Presbyterian Church, Mr. Livingood married Anna H. Jameson, of Reading, and to them were born four sons,

namely: (1) James J. is manager of the Spa Spring Clay and Brick Works, and makes his home in New York City. He m. Miss Elizabeth Potter, of Woodbridge, N. J., and they have one son, James J. (2) Albert J. m. Irene Rhoads, and died at the early age of twenty-seven years, leaving one son, James S., who is in Philadelphia. (3) Paul, a druggist, was previously in business in Allen- town, Pa., but is now in San Francisco, Cal., with the Owl Drug Company. He m. Laura Smith, who died in 1905, the mother of two children, John and Ruth. (4) William W., M. D., received his medical education at the University of Pennsylvania, and is now located in prac- tice at Reading. He m. Stella Ziegler, daughter of Dr. P. M. Ziegler, of Reading.

WILLIAM STRONG, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1870 to 1878, was born at Somers, Conn., May 6, 1808. When sixteen years of age he entered Yale College, and was graduated in 1828. He subsequently taught a classical and mathematical school, occupying his leisure hours in the study of the law, and so continued until February, 1832, when he entered the Law Department of Yale College. In October, 1832, he was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of Con- necticut; and in November of the same year he opened a law office at Reading, and `made that place his resi- dence. In political faith he was a Democrat, and as such served several terms as a member of the city councils and as one of the controllers of the public schools. In 1846 he was elected as the representative to Congress from the Berks county district and re-elected in 1848. In 1850, he declined a re-election and returned to the prac- tice of his profession. In 1857, he was elected a judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for the term of fifteen years, but he resigned this position Oct. 1, 1868, to resume' the practice of his profession at Philadelphia. On Feb. 18, 1870, he was appointed by President Grant an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, which high position he held till 1878, when he was retired under the Act of Congress. While a resident of Reading he was for many years a director of the Farmers Bank. He was counsel for the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company until he was elevated to the Supreme Bench. In religious faith he was a Presbyterian, and for many years a ruling elder. For several years he was one of the vice presidents of the American Bible Society and also of the American Sunday- school Union; and in 1873 he was elected president of the American Tract Society. He received in 1867 the hon- orary degree of Doctor of Laws from Lafayette College, at Easton, and in 1870 the same honorary diploma was granted him by Nassau Hall, Princeton, N. J., and also by his Alma Mater, Yale College. His remains were brought to Reading and buried in the Charles Evans Cemetery.

JAMES T. REBER, President of the Reading National Bank, and one of the city's men of capital, business and social importance, is a descendant of one of the very old families of Berks county, Pa. On account of its promi- nence and its numbers and wide distribution, some of its members have taken a justifiable pride in looking up its early records. A well known citizen of Reading and a member of this family, Morris B. Reber, has with careful research compiled a volume which bears the title "Genealogy of the. Reber Family, descended from Johan Bernhard Reber, 1738." From this interesting work we quote as follows :

"The idea of preparing a genealogy of the Reber family was probably suggested by the finding of the original passport of Johannes Reber still preserved, who was, for a long time, believed to be the first one of the large family of Rebers who emigrated to this country. This passport shows that he came from Langenselbold, Ger- many, which is situated in Kreiz Hanau, Regierungsbezirk Cassel, Konigreich Prussia. While visiting in that part of the country, in 1882, Mr. James T. Reber found re- corded in the old church book of the Evangelical Church

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(Rev. Frederick Hufnagle, Pastor), the names of four permitted, serving for three years in the common council brothers, Johan Bernhard, Hans, Johan Conrad and Mi- and for three years an unexpired term as prison inspector. chael Reber.

"This church book dates back to the year 1563, so that it might be possible to obtain the ancestors of these four brothers since the sixteenth century. However, we have been satisfied to make a record only from the earliest emigrant to this country.

"Johan Bernhard Reber, the first of these brothers, is recorded in this same book as having one son, Johannes, mentioned below. The Pennsylvania archives, containing the names of 30,000 early emigrants, mention the arrival of John Bernhard Reber, from Rotterdam, Holland, on the 'Snow Two Sisters', landing in Philadelphia and qualifying Sept. 9, 1738, by swearing allegiance to Great Britain. We can learn of nothing pertaining to his where- abouts or life after his arrival in this country. The pass- port, however, of the son who came to this country in 1742 is still intact.

"Johannes Reber, whose date of birth is unknown, son of Johan Bernhard, was married Feb. 8, 1736, to Johanna Magdalena Hahn, daughter of Conrad Hahn. They had two sons born in Germany, Johannes, Dec. 16, 1736, and Ludwig Friedrich August, Sept. 11, 1740. According to his passport, he left his native country for America, April 23, 1742, bringing his family with him, although it is known that the second son, Ludwig, died on board the ship. Be- ing a member of William Penn's colony, his first object was to find a desirable location. Having selected some acres of land about six miles west of Reading, in Lower Heidelberg township, at the big bend of the Tulpehocken, in a beautiful though desolate valley known afterward as the 'Blue Marsh', he moved thither with his wife and son, built himself a home which served the double pur- pose of shelter and protection against the Indians and wild animals, his only neighbors. This quaint old build- ing, with its large, square fire-place in the center is still standing on the farm formerly occupied by Mr. Henry Shofer, of Reading.

"We find recorded in the Pennsylvania archives, that John Reber was naturalized May 13, 1768, and also that he, like many others of the early settlers, was concerned in numerous disputes regarding the rights of ownership of their land. During the time that he resided in this locality, he was blessed with an increase to his family of three sons who were named Thomas, Valentine and Peter."

James T. Reber is a descendant of John or Johannes Reber mentioned above, who was the eldest son of Johan who emigrated in 1742. and who continued to live in Pennsylvania after his father's death. Johan Reber was twice married and had six children. Two of the brothers, Peter and Valentine, settled in the west in the neighbor- hood of Lancaster, Ohio. where numbers of their de- scendants may be found. The remaining brother, Thomas Reber, was born in Pennsylvania in 1746, was married to Elizabeth Kerschner, born Nov. 1, 1747, died Dec. 22, 1823, and he left ten children.

James T. Reber, the immediate subject of this sketch, was born April 29, 1834, at Sinking Spring, Berks Co., Pa. He was educated in the public schools and after- ward engaged in the hardware business for forty years, from 1853 until 1893, trading as Bard, Reber & Company. James T. Reber was married to Miss Sarah W. Potteiger, Oct. 3, 1854. They have had seven children born to them, of whom Benjamin died aged nine years, the survivors being : C. Alice, wife of Joseph F. Templin, of Philadel- phia, Pa .; Valeria E., wife of Isaac L. Deeter, in the Read- ing railroad service at Reading; Morris B., for a time en- gaged in the real estate business branch house, represent- ing a large New York concern; Clara R .; and James C., a manufacturer of Reading. The mother of these children died Jan. 31, 1903, aged sixty-seven years.

In addition to the business interests already mentioned, Mr. Reber has been president of the Reading National Bank since March 14, 1893, the date of its organization. As one of the city's most responsible citizens he has been chosen for offices of responsibility as his leisure time

He is a Knight Templar Mason and an Odd Fellow. Mr. Reber is prominent in the Reformed Church, in which he has been an elder for many years, and for six years he has been treasurer of the board of Home Missions. For more than twenty years he has been a trustee of the Bethany Orphans' Home; was treasurer of the board of publication of the Reformed Church of the United States for over twenty years; and has been a member of the board of Home Missions of the Reformed Church for many years. In 1907 he was elected trustee of Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

GEORGE FREDERICK BAER, President of the Phila- delphia & Reading Railway Company since 1901, and the leading attorney at Reading for the thirty years preceding, was born Sept. 26, 1842, in Somerset county, Pa. When six years old, his parents removed to the county-seat from a farm situated three miles distant. He received his preliminary education at the Somerset Institute. When thirteen years old, he manifested an interest in the print- ing business, and entering the office of the Somerset Democrat worked at setting type for upward of two

years. Appreciating then the importance of a better education, he resumed his studies in an earnest man- ner at the Somerset Academy; but he continued there only a year when he accepted the position of chief clerk and bookkeeper of the Ashtola Mills, a large lumber manufacturing establishment located ten miles from Johns- town, a position he filled for about a year, when his am- bition for a miore thorough education again asserted itself, and he entered the Sophomore class of Frank- lin and Marshall College at Lancaster, Pa. This was in the fall of 1860, but his course there was terminated by the breaking out of the Civil war. He and his broth- er Harry then purchased the newspaper mentioned and they conducted the publication in a successful manner until the following September, when Harry enlisted in the Union army, becoming an officer of Company B, 54th Regt., P. V. I., and he was left in sole charge of the newspaper. He worked assiduously at the case dur- ing the daytime, and edited the paper at night, having been frequently so pressed for time as to be compelled to compose the editorials and set them up in type while standing before the case. During this interesting per- iod of his life, he continued a private course of studies with the expectation of returning to the college which he had left so abruptly, and it was this course, with the earnest and persistent exercise of his concentrative pow- ers before the printer's case, which unwittingly pre- pared him so thoroughly for the arduous labors of pro- fessional and business life. He edited and published the Democrat until August, 1862, when his patriotic spir- it also asserted itself for suppressing the Rebellion, with the enemy approaching the border of his own county, and he raised a company of volunteers from Somerset and vicinity, which was mustered into the national ser- vice as Company E. 133d Regt., P. V. I., and of this com- pany he was commissioned captain, though not yet twen- ty years old. He served for the period of his enlist- ment (nine months), and was mustered out of service with his company on May 26, 1863. For part of the time, he acted by detail as Adjutant-General of the 2d Brigade, in Humphrey's Division. His regiment joined the Army of the Potomac at the second battle of Bull Run, and his company participated in the battles of An- tietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville .. Its most distinguished service was in forming the advance line of the army in the famous charge on Fredericksburg Heights, Dec. 13, 1862.

Upon returning home from the army, Mr. Baer select- ed the law as his profession, and after pursuing a regular course of legal studies in the office of his brothers Wil- liam and Herman (both attorneys at the Somerset Bar), he was admitted to practice at the April term, 1864. He began immediately the practice of his profession, and under the guidance of his brothers for the following

Geo. F. Baen

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BIOGRAPHICAL

four years was made thoroughly familiar with the in- building on Washington street. The first two floors are occupied by the business offices of the Reading Iron Company.

tricacies of the profession in all its branches, more es- pecially in the department which related to pleading and the trial of cases. He then removed, to Reading for the purpose of locating there, having visited the place several months before, and on Jan. 22, 1868, was admitted to the Berks county Bar. In a few years af- ter his location at Reading, his practice began to in- crease rapidly, and each succeeding year found him more successful. The trial of cases gradually became the prominent part of his practice, and within a de- cade his services were engaged in every important case in the local courts. This is shown on the records in the prothonotary's office, and in the published reports of cases taken to the Supreme court of Pennsylvania. This extensive and highly remunerative practice before the courts, local and Supreme, both State and national, continued for thirty years, when his important services as solicitor to the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Com- pany during this period eventually resulted in his selec- tion as president of the re-organized corporation, and he has been re-elected annually for the past eight years, evidencing the highly satisfactory character of his ser- vices in its management. During the same time (since 1901) he has officiated as president of the Central Rail- road of New Jersey.

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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 78

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