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 81

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 81

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Mr. Keast came to Reading in childhood and received his education in the public schools and the Interstate Commercial College. For some time he was chief pack-

ter the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. with which he has since remained. He is chief clerk to Mr. A. H. Kline, the Chief Inspector of Lumber of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He is a Republican in poli- tics.

NATHANIEL POTTS HOBART was born in Phil- adelphia Oct. 3, 1790, read law in the office of John C. Smith, and was admitted to the Bar of his native city; removed to Pottstown, where he was appointed justice of the peace by Gov. Simon Snyder; joined Capt. Daniel De B. Keim's company of Washington Blues in August, 1814; marched with it to Camp Depont, and there joined the 1st Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers Oct. 7, 1814, and served as fourth sergeant of the com- pany until Dec. 5th of the same year, when they re- turned to Reading; admitted an attorney of the Berks County bar Jan. 3, 1818; was clerk in the prothonotary's office, under John Adams, for several years; was as- sistant clerk in the House of Representatives at Harris- burg, under chief clerk Francis R. Shunk. In 1827 Gov- ernor Shulze appointed him clerk of the Orphans' court and court of Quarter Sessions of Berks county, which positions he held until 1830, when he removed to Potts- town. In 1826 he was appointed auditor-general of Penn- sylvania by Governor Ritner, and held the office for three years. He resided at Pottstown from 1830 until his death July 3, 1860. He married April 18, 1813, Jo- anna Holland, and their children were: John Potts (who became an attorney in Pottsville), Sarah P., Eliza R., Anna Sophia, Robert H., Nathaniel B., William R. and Ellen G. Hobart.

EDWARD BURD was a practising attorney at Read- ing, having been admitted to practice in the courts of Berks county in 1772. He removed to Reading from Lancaster. When the company of Capt. George Nagel marched to Cambridge, in Massachusetts, during July and August, 1775, Burd was one of a number of de- voted and patriotic sons who went along at their own expense; and when the "Flying Camp" was raised he was chosen major of Haller's regiment. In the Battle of Long Island, in August, 1776, he was taken prisoner, and while imprisoned addressed a letter to Hon. Jasper Yeates, at Lancaster. On August 12, 1778, he was ap- pointed prothonotary of the Supreme court, and he con- tinned to officiate in this position by re-appointment until Jan. 2, 1800. His autograph is reproduced herewith :

Eduturele

JOHN SILVIS ERMENTROUT, second County Super- intendent of Public Schools of Berks county (eldest son of William and Justina Silvis Ermentrout), was born at Womelsdorf, Berks county, Sept. 27, 1827. When he was two years old his parents removed to Reading, and there he was reared. Developing a great aptitude for study, he was sent to Marshall College, Mercersburg, Pa., from which he was graduated in 1845, the first honor man of his class, though not yet eighteen years of age. He re- mained in the college as a tutor, teaching the languages and lecturing on history. At the same time he was a student of the Theological Seminary connected with the institution, and from this seminary he was graduated in 1848, and then ordained as a minister of the Reformed Church.

For a time he was editor of the Reformed Messenger. In 1852 he was installed pastor of the Reformed Church at Norristown, Pa., where he served for six years. He returned to Reading in 1859, and opened a select school. One year afterward he was elected superintendent of the common schools, and he was twice re-elected, serving from 1860 to 1869. In 1865 he was active in founding the Keystone State Normal School at Kutztown, became its

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

first principal, and continued as such until 1871, when he resigned, preparatory to making a public profession of his faith in the Roman Catholic Church, and removed to Baltimore, where he edited a Catholic journal. Sub- sequently he taught in the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary at Overbrook, near Philadelphia.

In 1873, by the unanimous action of the board of trustees of the Keystone State Normal School, he was re- called to that institution, and he filled the chair of Mental and Moral Science and English Literature, until his death in 1881. The vast influence he exerted in educational matters can hardly be overestimated, and the institution which he promoted at Kutztown will always constitute an enduring monument to his memory.

JONATHAN JONES was a son of David Jones, one of the earliest settlers of Caernarvon township, Berks county. He was born in that township in 1738. Upon the breaking out of the Revolution he raised a com- pany of Associators in that locality, and was appointed a captain in the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment, of the regular Continental army Oct. 25, 1775. He was ordered with his company to the "British Barracks," at Phila- delphia, and acted as part of the escort of Martha Washington into Philadelphia. In December he was ordered into Northampton county, Va., to protect it against Lord Dunmore. The alarming state of affairs in Canada led to the revocation of this order, and, by command of Congress, he marched with his company of eighty-three men for Quebec, over the snow and

"frozen lakes." This terrible midwinter march con- sumed two months. After the precipitate retreat from Quebec, he voluntarily returned, at the risk of capture, and recovered valuable papers. He was with Arnold in his pursuit of the British, after the battle of the Cedars, and took part in the battle of "Three Rivers," June 8, 1776. He shared the terrible and distressing sufferings of the army in its disastrous retreat to Ticonderoga, and underwent at that post the severe and exacting rou- tine of military duty incident to its fortification and defense to resist the attack of General Carleton. He was stationed there from July 9 to Nov. 15, 1776. On Oct. 27th the time of enlistment of his men ran out, but through his exertions they consented to remain as long as the enemy was in their front. After a year's active service he was promoted to the rank of major, Oct. 25, 1776, and to lieutenant-colonel of his regiment, which had become the 2d under the new arrangement, March 12. 1777. His constitution was so shattered by the hardships and exposure of the campaign against Canada that he was obliged to return home to recruit his health in the winter of 1776-77. Having partially recovered, he rejoined his regiment in the spring of 1777, the command of which devolved upon him after the res- ignation of Col. James Irvine, June 1, 1777. Two com- panies of the regiment were then on duty in Philadelphia and the remainder were guarding the upper ferries of the Delaware. Increasing ill health, however, obliged him to resign his commission in the latter part of July. In December. 1778, he was appointed by the Assembly a commissioner under the test laws, and he was a member of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania from Berks county from October, 1779, to October, 1780. His health continued steadily to decline, and he was shortly after- ward stricken with paralysis, of which he died. after a lingering illness, on Sept. 26, 1782, at the early age of forty-four. He was buried at Bangor Church, Church- town, of which members of his family had been wardens and vestrymen from its earliest foundation.

HIESTER FAMILY. One of the old and import- ant families of Berks county is that of Hiester, and the ancestry can he clearly traced to Johannes and Catherine Hiester. who spelled their name in German Huster. They had three sons who came to America, John. Joseph and Daniel by name. John, born in 1707, in 1750 married Mary Barbara Epler, and died in 1757. Joseph, born in 1710, married Elizabeth Strunk, and died in 1777.

Daniel, born in 1713, in 1742 married Catherine Schuler, and died in 1795. They were natives of the town of Elsoff, in the Grafschaft of Witgenstein, Westphalia, Germany. These brothers settled in Pennsylvania early in the eighteenth 'century, and their descendants have been more or less prominent in the various walks of life in the same section ever since.

Joseph Hiester came to America in 1738 and first went to live in Goshenhoppen, then Philadelphia (now Mont- gomery) county. Several years afterward Joseph and his brothers, John and Daniel, united in purchasing from the Proprietary government between two thousand and three thousand acres of land in Bern township, Berks county. Here Joseph and John settled, while Daniel remained at the old homestead in Goshenhoppen. Joseph and his wife Elizabeth had the following children: John, born in 1754, died in 1826; John Christian married Susan Reber; Catherine, born in 1758, died in 1813, married Nicholas Lieb; Daniel, born in 1761, died in 1827, mar- ried Magdalena Albright; one son married Barbara Kauff- man; another son married Susan Anman; Ann Eliza, born April 8, 1766, married Jacob Van Reed; Joseph, born in 1768, died in 1830, married Elizabeth Beck; and William, born in 1770, died in 1828, married Anna Maria Bentz.

Daniel Hiester had several sons who were distinguished : John, born in 1746, was a member of Congress in 1807- 08, resigned, and was succeeded by his son Daniel, who served in 1809-10; Daniel of Montgomery county, born in 1747, was a representative in Congress front Pennsylvania from 1789 to 1797, and from Maryland from 1801 to 1805; Gabriel, of Berks county, served thirty years in the State Legislature; William, the youngest son, for a short time served in the Continental army (his son William, born in 1791, of Lancaster county, was a member of Congress in 1833-35, and died Oct. 15. 1853).

The first named John Hiester had a son Joseph, who was a member of the convention to ratify the Constitu- tion of the United States; was repeatedly elected to the State Senate and House; was a member of Congress in 1797-1807. and from 1815 to 1821, resigning to assume the governorship of Pennsylvania. He died June 10, 1832.

John Hiester, grandfather of John K. Hiester of Read- ing, was a son of the Joseph Hiester who was born in Germany in 1710. John was born in Bern township, Berks county, Sept. 25, 1754, and died Sept. 17, 1826. He is buried at Bern Church, which he helped to erect. He owned a tract of 200 acres, which was divided after his death into five shares. This was all woodland when he secured it. His wife was Catherine Albright, and they had the following children: John died unmarried; Ann Eliza married Jacob Gieding: William died un- married: Daniel died unmarried; Catherine married David Bohn; Daniel died unmarried ; John Christian married Catherine Kramer; Yost married Rebecca Reber ; and Jacob.

Jacob Hiester, father of John K. Hiester, was born in Bern township July 1, 1801, and died in March, 1873. He was a lifelong farmer, and died on the farm on which he was born and on which he had spent his whole life. His portion of the old Hiester farm was some sixty- six acres, to which he had added twenty acres. In politics he was a Democrat, but he held no office except that of school director, a position he filled for six years. He and his family were members of the Bern Church, of which he was one of the leading elders. For many years he served as a lieutenant in the State militia, and he made a fine appearance, as he was a man of commanding presence. He married Susanna Kramer, daughter of John and Catherine (Ruhl) Kramer, of Bern township, and they had the following children: Adam, a farmer on the old homestead, married Rebecca Gring; Lydia mar. ried John Moyer, a farmer of Heidelberg township; Gabriel died young : John K. is residing at Reading: Cath- erine died unmarried.

Jona Tones 1

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BIOGRAPHICAL

JOHN K. HIESTER was born in Bern township, on married Cyrus Bohn; Annie married Henry Stamm, of one of the old Hiester stands, Nov. 2, 1848. His edu- Penn township; Jemima, unmarried, resides at Reading; Edward K. lives in Bern township; Harry lives in Penn township; Lizzie, residing in Bern township, is married to Grant Hartman. cation was obtained in the township schools, at a Reading academy, and at the Keystone State Normal School, at Kutztown. In the fall of 1866 he began teaching at Hiester's school in Bern township, and during the winter of 1868-69 he taught in Maiden-creek township; later taught one year in Bern township; three terms in Ruscombmanor township; three terms in Exeter township; one term in Jefferson; one term in Ontelaunee; two terms in Birdsboro; three terms in Cumru; two terms in Robeson, and then thirteen terms in Bern township, in all thirty-two terms, his services being given all over the county, with fifteen terms in his native township. He thus became widely known, and is held in high esteem, and he constantly meets his former pupils, many of whom never received other in- struction than that he gave them.

Thomas K. Hiester was educated in the township schools and the Kutztown State Normal School, and in 1879 he taught school in Bern township. Then he was em- ployed by his father until 1888, when he began to farm the homestead for himself; he bought the property in 1905. His farm contains 134 acres of very valuable land, which, under Mr. Hiester's excellent management, is very productive. Like the other members of his family he is identified with the Democratic party and is sound on all its doctrines. He has served on the township . election board and in 1896 he was made a member of the school board, of which he has been president ever since, having twelve schools under his supervision. He is a leading member of the Bern Reformed Church and one of its deacons.

Thomas K. Hiester married (first) Eva Bohn, a daugh- ter of Emanuel and Elvina (Krick) Bohn. She died Dec. 31, 1891, aged twenty-three years, seven months, nine days, and was buried at the Bern Church. She was survived by two children, William and Edna, the for- mer of whom resides at home; the latter married Daniel Gicker, a well-known young man of this community. Mr. Hiester married (second) Ruth Fisher, daughter of James and Elizabeth Fisher, and they have had two children: Walter, who attends school; and Mabel, who died aged ten months, June 9, 1902.

EDWARD K. HIESTER, a well-known young farmer of Bern township and a member of the old Hiester family of this section, was born on the Hiester homestead May 1, 1871, son of Harrison K. and Rosabella (Kischner) Hiester. He attended the public schools of his native township and during 1888-89 was a student for two ses- sions at the Kutztown State Normal School, after which he worked for his father on the farm. In 1898 he began to farm for himself and bought one of the Hiester home- steads. It is valuable land, and Mr. Hiester has im- proved it by erecting fine buildings and modernizing his residence to a large degree, putting in a system of water pressure. His land adjoins the Bern Church prop- erty. In 1892 he married Sallie Schwoyer, daughter of Cornelius and Sarah (Looser) Schwoyer, of Centreport, Berks county, and they have the following children: Abner, Harry, Earl, Bertha, Edward J. and John.

Politically Mr. Hiester is a Democrat, and he has served as township assessor. He is serving in his third term in this office and is a popular public official. . For two years he served as a deacon of the Bern Reformed Church. .

COL. DANIEL UDREE was born in Philadelphia Aug. 5, 1751. Removing to Berks county, he settled in Oley township, where he became extensively engaged in the manufacture of iron. He operated the Oley Furnace and Rockland Forges very successfully for over thirty years, owning, in connection with those industries, sev- eral thousand acres of land. He was established in busi- ness by his uncle, Jacob Winey, a prominent capitalist and merchant of Philadelphia.

Harrison K. Hiester, father of Thomas K., was born in Bern township Aug. 6, 1832, and died April 27, 1904; Colonel Udree was enlisted in the Revolutionary war for several years, commanding a regiment at the battle of Brandywine where his horse was shot under him. He took an active part in the local militia for many years, and served as major-general for one term of seven years about 1815. He represented Berks county in the General Assembly from 1799 to 1803, and also for the year 1805, and while there showed an earnest interest in legislation relative to public internal improvements in the State. He was the representative in Congress for the Berks Dis- trict for two terms, from 1813 to 1815, and from 1823 to 1825. It was while he was at Washington, during his last term in Congress, that John Quincy Adams was elected President. He, however, was one of Jackson's supporters. He died July 15, 1828, leaving a large estate. he was laid to rest in Bern churchyard. He was the owner of the old homestead, consisting of 134 acres, and later he bought an adjoining farm of 107 acres from his brother Benneville, the transaction taking place in 1876. He was an enterprising farmer and a man of progress in his community. At the time of his death he was serving as school director. In politics he was a Democrat. He was a liberal supporter of the Reformed faith and of the Bern Church. He married Rosabella Kischner, born Sept. 16. 1834, who died Feb. 24, 1878, aged forty- three years, five months, eight days. They had issue as follows: Kate, widow of Aaron Bohn, lives at Mt. Pleas- ant; Ellen married J. F. Yeager: Thomas K. is men- tioned below; Mary married Jonathan Ohlinger, of Penn township; Rosa married Adam Gruber; Sallie, deceased, He was the last really prominent and representative man

During the summer months, until 1890, Mr. Hiester worked upon the farm in his native township, but in that year he came to Reading and in the following year he purchased his comfortable home at No. 314 South Thirteenth street, where he has resided ever since. After establishing his home at Reading he continued to follow his profession during the winter months until 1898-1899, when he taught for the last time. For five summer seasons he was in the employ of Alderman Griesemer and subsequently worked as labor boss and shipping clerk in the Johnson Foundry & Machine Company, where he continued for seven years; when that firm went out of busi- ness he went to the American Iron & Steel Company, where he has remained until the present.

On Oct. 30, 1890, Mr. Hiester married Hettie A. Deish- er, born Oct. 30, 1857, a daughter of William and Sarah (Stayer) Deisher, the former of whom is a farmer and business man of Berks county. To Mr. and Mrs. Hies- ter have been born three children, namely: S. Adella, born Feb. 21, 1892; Morris W., born in August, 1893, who died in October, 1893; and William L., born June 17, 1895.

Mr. Hiester has spent almost all of his life in Berks county, but in January, 1869, he went to Lee county, Iowa, where he worked on a farm until his return to Berks county in the following October. Politically he is a Democrat. He is a member of Bern Union Church and of the Reformed denomination. His wife worships in Grace Lutheran Church.

THOMAS K. HIESTER, one of the prominent farmers of Bern township and a representative member of an old and leading family, was born where he now resides, Dec. 16, 1861. He is a son of Harrison K. Hiester and a grandson of John Christian Hiester (son of Joseph, born in 1710). The grandfather was a man of ample fortune, owning two farms near the well-known Bern Church, and he was noted both for his fine personal appearance and for his good judgment and foresight. He and his wife lie buried at Bern Church. He married Catherine Kramer, a native of. Bern township. They had five chil- dren : Benneville; Jared; Harrison K .; Washington, twin of Harrison, now residing on North Queen street, Lan- caster, the oldest surviving member of this family; and Maria, who married John Eyrich.

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who lived in Oley, and one of the few Congressmen se- lected from the country districts of the county. He was a well-developed man, rather below the medium height, and his conversational manner was quick and nervous.

JOHN BANKS, the fifth President Judge of Berks county, serving from 1836 to 1847, was born near Lewis- burgh, Juniata county, Pa., in the year 1793. His pa- ternal grandfather emigrated from Scotland. His father being a farmer, his youth was spent mostly on a farm, but the advantages of a liberal education were not denied him. He entered upon the study of law, was admitted to the Bar in 1819, and soon after removed to the western part of the State. He located in Mercer county, and there attained eminence at the Bar. Without any solicitation on his part he was nominated and elected a representative in Congress, and twice re-elected, serving from 1831 to 1836. He won distinction in Congress by his treatment of contested election cases. In the spring of 1836, he va- cated his seat in Congress to accept the appointment of president judge of the Third Judicial District of the State, composed of the counties of Berks, Lehigh and North- ampton. His superior qualities soon won for him the full confidence of the people. No man was ever more obliging and condescending to his juniors than he, and no man ever lived in Reading whose companionship was more highly prized by so varied a circle of friends. Hav- ing spent eleven years as president judge of the court, he resigned the position in 1847 and accepted the office of State treasurer of Pennsylvania, in which he served one term. In 1841, while judge of the courts, he was nom- inated by the Whig party for the office of governor of Pennsylvania, but was defeated by David R. Porter, the Democratic nominee. He was subsequently nominated by the Whig members of the State Legislature, when in the minority, as their candidate for United States senator. Upon his retirement from the Bench, Judge Banks re- sumed the practice of the law, and soon became the ac- knowledged leader of the Berks county Bar. He contin- ued in his profession until his death, April 3, 1864, enjoy- ing a very extensive and lucrative practice.

DR. WILLIAM F. MUHLENBERG, physician at Read- ing since 1872, and a lineal descendant of Rev. Henry Mel- chior Muhlenberg, recognized as the founder of the Lutheran Church in America, was born in Gettysburg, Pa., Nov. 18, 1852, while his father was filling the position of Pro- fessor of Greek in the Pennsylvania College at that place. His preliminary education was obtained at that institu- tion, and he was graduated from Muhlenberg College at Allentown, Pa., in 1868, of which his father had be- come the president. Then he entered the Medical De- partment of the University of Pennsylvania, and gradu- ated in 1872. Selecting Reading as a promising field for practising his chosen profession, he located in that city, won the confidence of the people, and soon secured a lucrative practice, which he has held until the present time. In 1884 he was appointed surgeon for the Penn- sylvania Schuylkill Valley Railroad Company, for cases arising at and in the vicinity of Reading, and he has since served this position in a most satisfactory manner. Dur- ing this long period he has also served as a surgeon at the Reading Hospital.

Dr. Muhlenberg has been an active member of the Berks County Medical Society, and also of the Reading Medical Society, for many years, having officiated as president of these bodies, and he is recognized by them as a most skillful surgeon, as well as a general practi- tioner. For social diversion, he has identified himself with the Wyomissing Club, and the Berkshire Club at Reading; also with the University Club and the Country Club at Philadelphia; in all of which he has shown great interest.

graduated from the Reading high school in 1904, and Pennsylvania College in 1908) ; and Augusta. His wife died in 1890. He and his children are members of Trinity Lutheran Church. His wife's father was prominently identified with the financial interests and enterprises of Reading for many years, having filled the office of cashier of the Farmers Bank from 1842 until his decease in 1886.

Rev. Dr. Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg, father of the Doctor, was born at Lancaster in 1818, and died in Read- ing in 1901. He was very prominently connected with higher education in several colleges of Pennsylvania for sixty years, the last important position being that of professor of Greek at the University of Pennsylvania. His wife was Catharine Muhlenberg, daughter of Major Peter Muhlenberg, of Reading. She died in 1894 aged sixty-seven years. They had four sons; Ernest A., Henry M., Francis B., and William F.

Rev. Dr. Henry Ernest Muhlenberg, his great-grand- father, was also of Lancaster, and his maternal great- grandfather was the distinguished Revolutionary hero, Gen. Peter Muhlenberg.

FREDERICK SMITH, Attorney General and Associate Justice of Pennsylvania, and one of the most distin- guished men that Berks county produced, was born at Reading in 1773. He was a son of the Rev. John Fred- erick Smith. an eminent divine of the Lutheran Church in Pennsylvania, and one of the pioneers of that denom- ination in America. He obtained a superior classical education, and, selecting the law as his profession, after a careful preparation was admitted to the Bar at Reading Aug. 7, 1795. He soon won prominence and distinction, both as a counselor and as an attorney in important liti- gation. In the meantime he became actively interested in local politics, and served as a member of the Legislature in 1802 and 1803. He was appointed deputy attorney- general for Berks county in 1818, and filled that position three years. He served from 1823 to 1828 as attorney- general of Pennsylvania, and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1828 until the time of his death. His judicial career, though brief, was distinguished. He died at Reading Oct. 4, 1830. He was a member of the Roman Catholic church. He married Catharine Leaf, of Phila- delphia. His two sons, Henry W. Smith, Esq., and George Smith, were prominent in the local affairs of Reading for fifty years anterior to 1878, when they died.

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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 81

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