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 89

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 89


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After some months at home, given up to farming. Mr. Ancona accepted in 1845 an English select school at Seyfert's Mills, in Upper Tulpehocken township, Berks county, having about twenty pupils at this school and being very successful in instructing them. He had some very bright boys there, notably Charles Albright, who afterward became a general in the army during the Civil war, a prominent lawyer, and was elected to Con- gress on the ticket at large from Pennsylvania some years after the close of the war.


Having decided in the year 1846 to discontinue teaching school, on the invitation of Daniel H. Feger. who had obtained a position with the Reading Railroad Company. Mr. Ancona accepted a position in the service in the same department with him as an assistant timekeeper, devoting himself with all his energy and giving his entire time to the requirements which they demanded. He con- tinued with the railroad company until 1862, in the posi- tion of chief clerk and bookkeeper from December, 1851, having been acting as assistant timekeeper previous thereto. At the close of December, 1851, he took charge of the general books of the company, which were then out of balance and in a neglected condition. He succeeded at once in the work. although he had had no previous experience in double entry bookkeeping.


"FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN IN WASHINGTON, D.C. WHILE A MEMBER OF THE 38TH CONGRESS"


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When nominated for Congress in 1860, without. having given the company any notice of his purpose, he was warmly congratulated by the general manager of the no cavalry companies would be called. company on his achievement. A few days thereafter he received the gratifying communication from the president of the road that his election to Congress would not inter- fere with his position with the company, and that they expected him to return at the end of the session.


During his connection with the railroad company, in 1849, together with his brother-in-law, Daniel H. Feger, he organized a military company known as the Reading Rifles, which was composed largely of young men em- ployed by the Reading Railroad Company, engineers and machinists. It was a notable organization numbering some two hundred, thoroughly armed and equipped with rifles furnished by the State. It had a band of music made up of its own members, and was decidedly one of the crack volunteer organizations of the country. It was attached to the 1st Brigade, 5th Division, P. V., under the command of William H. Keim, of Reading. The com- pany made several notable excursions to Philadelphia as the guests of the celebrated State Fencibles, then under the command of Col. James Page. They were received by the State Fencibles in the grounds surrounding In- dependence Hall, and were presented by Colonel Page, in behalf of the State Fencibles, a handsome silver- mounted rifle and a gold medallion containing Colonel Page's portrait with a suitable inscription. In 1854 the company went on an excursion to Washington and Mount Vernon. They passed through Philadelphia under the escort of the State Fencibles. At Washington they were received by the "German Jaeger," commanded by Major Schwartzman, together with other volunteer companies in the District of Columbia at the time. They were re- ceived by the President of the United States, General Pierce, and his Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, in the East Room of the White House, having 137 men in line, all told. In presenting the company, each man was introduced by name to the President and Secretary of War. The company was complimented by both the Pres- ident and Mr. Davis. The company was entertained by Hon. J. Glancy Jones, the representative from Berks county, at his home. The arsenal and navy yard were visited, and Mount Vernon reached under the escort of Major Schwartzman and his company. Returning home, they stopped over in Baltimore, the next day at York, had dinner at Columbia, and were received in Lancaster by the Buchanan Rifles and entertained at a banquet at Fulton Hall in the evening. They attended the reception tendered to Louis Kossuth, the celebrated Hungarian patriot; also the reception to the first Japanese legation that visited the United States.


Mr. Ancona retired from the Rifles soon after this excursion in consequence of a political controversy with men who had left the Rifles and joined a rival organiza- tion. He was then invited to take command of the Read- ing Troop, a cavalry company that dated its organization from the Revolutionary war. He accepted, and was sub- sequently elected major of the Reading Battalion by a very large majority. Mr. Hiester Clymer, later his suc- cessor in Congress, was supported by the opposition, but Mr. Ancona carried the companies by a majority larger than the total vote of Mr. Clymer in the Ringgold Light Artillery, which was the finest military organiza- tion in the United States.


In February, 1861, Governor Curtin sent Maj. Gen. William H. Keim (5th Division, Pennsylvania Volun- teers, to which the brigade was attached) to him and Capt. James McKnight to ascertain whether their com- panies could be held in readiness to respond to a call in defense of the government. They conferred with their men and had them pledged by oath to go out in defense of the government, then threatened with seces- sion by a number of its States. The call came finally. but for the Ringgold Artillery only. In April, after the President's Proclamation, and on the same day that the call came from Governor Curtin, Mr. Ancona went


to Harrisburg to ascertain whether his company was also to be sent, but was advised that for the time being


On July 4, 1861, the XXXVIIth Congress was called in special session, and having been elected as a represen- tative from Berks county, he took his seat and . soon after called upon Secretary of War Cameron, with Cap- tain McKnight, George Durrell and John B. Kiefer, who was a nephew of Cameron and had been a member of the Reading Rifles. He then asked the General what the probabilities were of his company being called. The General replied that they "had more men than they wanted," and hence Mr. Ancona made no further effort to obtain recognition. A very short time thereafter a mustering officer was sent to Reading without his knowl- edge. The company was mustered in, divided into two companies, the one under George Clymer as captain and the other under J. C. A. Hoffeditz. Thus he failed to get into the service owing to circumstances over which he had no control.


Mr. Ancona was elected to the XXXVIIth Congress in 1860 and took his seat on July 4, 1861, at a special ses- sion called by President Lincoln. He was also elected to the XXXVIIIth and XXXIXth Congresses. He served on the committee on Commercial Affairs, which as he says had but little opportunity for recognition, as most bus- iness which should have been referred to it was referred to the committee on Ways and Means, which also con- trolled the appropriations during these years. Later, however, he was placed on the committee on Military Affairs, which was a very active and important body, of which Gen. Robert C. Schenck was chairman. Among the members of this committee was James G. Blaine of Maine, as well as a number of other equally prominent men. While on this committee he frequently met Mr. Blaine, who was a very industrious and active member.


About this time General Grant was considered a fav- orite candidate for the Presidency, and the so-called radical representatives of the House, including such men as Thaddeus Stevens, William D. Kelly and Henry Win- ter Davis, of Maryland,, did not favor his nomination. Mr. Blaine predicted, however, that he would be nominated on the Republican ticket. This proved to be correct.


Through the influence of General Schenck a resolution was introduced in the House, tendering the thanks of Congress to General Hancock for his distinguished ser- vices during the war, and especially at Gettysburg. The matter was referred to the committee on Military Affairs, who ordered Ancona to report favorably to the House. This brought him into direct communication with Gen- eral Hancock, who wrote a very handsome letter of ac- knowledgment. In consequence a close personal friend- ship sprang up between him and General Hancock; fre- quent conferences took place between them by reason of the prominent position of General Hancock as a. favorite candidate of many Democrats for the Presidency. At the request of Mr. Glover, a prominent attorney of St. Louis, Hancock and Ancona met at Milwaukee, the Gen- eral being at that time at the head of the Department at St. Paul. Subsequently, there were meetings at Norris- town and Governor's Island, Col. De Puy Davis and B. Markley Boyer, among others, being present.


He enjoyed very pleasant relations with Edward M. Stanton, the Secretary of War, having met Mr. Stanton at a party given in honor of J. Glancy Jones at the res- idence of Maj. William Flinn, who was an intimate ac- quaintance of President Buchanan. On that occasion he met also Judge Black, who had been Buchanan's Attorney- General and afterward his Secretary of State. He recalls that during the conversation with Mr. Stanton, whom he met that evening, he expressed his views very freely and criticised the policy of the administration in the conduct of the war. Mr. Stanton did not dissent; Mr. Ancona's surprise can be imagined when he saw in the morning papers the next day that Mr. Stanton had been appointed Secretary of War to succeed Mr. Cameron.


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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA


After his failure to obtain the renomination for a large company to continue the Reading Company as fourth term to Congress, in 1866, his colleagues from before, and to have all its policies and liabilities under- Pennsylvania had President Johnson name him for naval written by such a company, taking all its revenues, and officer, port of Philadelphia. Strong and representative paying all its expenses and the rental, which would be Republicans in his district had requested Senator Cam- eron and others to favor his confirmation by the Senate, this being done without his request and knowledge until one day communicated to him by Judge Kelly, of Phila- delphia, in the committee-room on Military Affairs. He was frequently importuned to again run for Congress, but peremptorily declined.


Mr. Ancona had been connected with the fire department of the city of Reading for some years when on the suggestion of Gen. George M. Keim he took the pres- idency of the Reading Hose Company. General Keim headed a subscription with one hundred dollars toward the purchase of a steam fire-engine in 1858. With his accustomed energy and determination he succeeded in getting the first steam fire-engine into Reading at a cost of thirty-six hundred dollars. It was called the "Novelty," and was built at the Novelty Works in New York, by Lee & Larned. In 1867 he, with a few others, organ- ized the Hampden Fire Company, of which he was the first president. He has been re-elected and occupied this office for forty-two years continuously. He is also a delegate to the Firemen's Union.


He has held the office of treasurer of the Reading Fire- men's Relief Association since its organization and has always been prominently and actively connected with the volunteer fire department of the city of Reading. He was a member of the Reading school board and the pres- ident of that body for several terms. He served for many years with Judge Stitzel and Charles Breneiser, Sr., as a member of the local board of charities, appointed by the Governor. Governor Pattison appointed him a trustee of the State Asylum at Harrisburg. He was one of the originators of the Reading Steam Forge, Cotton Mill, a director of the Reading Savings Bank, and was identified as president, secretary and director with building and savings associations for over sixty years.


Having some relations with the officers of the Fire Asso- ciation of Philadelphia, he proposed to the fire depart- ment in the city of Reading the organization of an insur- ance company for insurance against loss by fire on a plan somewhat similar to the plan of the Fire Association of Philadelphia, which had grown out of the old volun- teer fire department of that city, and had an accumula- tion at that time of some millions of assets. The necessary legislation was obtained, but he could not con- vince the representatives of the various fire companies in the Firemen's Union of the feasibility of his plan. He then organized a stock fire insurance company with a capital of $100,000, of which $35,000 was subscribed by his friends. Twenty per cent was paid in so that he had $7,500 in cash when the company organized. He started business July 8, 1867, and was elected secre- tary and treasurer. The company had a board of directors, composed of some of the leading business men of the city. Judge J. Pringle Jones was elected president, and Maj. James McKnight, vice-president. He served as secretary and treasurer for over thirty years and from the small beginning of $7,500 he in- creased the paid-up capital to $250,000, and net surplus over and above the capital to $300,000.


He also, during this period, succeeded in organizing the Reading Trust Company, with many of the stock- holders of the Reading Fire Insurance Company, and with the same board of directors and officers, he serving as secretary and treasurer of this company.


With the tendency to consolidation of insurance bus- iness by the insurance companies, by re-insurance and otherwise, with strong competition by companies with large aggregations of capital, and owing to excessive losses for two years previous to 1898, he was impressed with the belief that the Reading Fire Insurance Company had reached the greatest success it could attain under the adverse prospect, and he therefore determined to effect a re-insurance of the Reading Company with some


equivalent to a dividend of from ten to twelve per cent to the stockholders of the Reading Fire Insurance Company. After several negotiations with companies in the United States and Europe, where he went in 1896-97 with this purpose in view, after he had abandoned all hope of effecting such a transaction, he received a com- munication to enter into negotiations with the Hartford Fire Insurance Company. He met Mr. Chase, the pres- ident of the company, and seemed in a fair way of com- ing to an agreement, but the methods proposed to accom- plish the purpose did not meet with his approval and were promptly declined. Mr. Edward Cluff, of New York, who had heard of these negotiations, had at the same time proposed an arrangement with the Scottish Alliance, which was declined. The president of the Scottish Alliance had been cabled for, however, and a meeting was arranged in New York for this purpose, which finally resulted in the sale of the stock of the Reading Fire Insurance Company, with the consent of a large number of the stockholders, the Scottish Alliance paying the stockholders twenty dollars a share, and from which they had received an average dividend of eight per cent per annum, for over thirty years.


During a period of over fifty years Mr. Ancona was an active member of the Masonic fraternity. In 1848, with some associates and friends, he organized a lodge known as Chandler Lodge, No. 227, of which he became Worshipful Master. He was also a member of the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania and received the degree of Knight Templar in Philadelphia. He was also appointed Emi- nent Commander, but he did not attend the meeting for the installation of officers by reason of the death of his father. In 1870, with a few friends, he applied for au- thority for another Commandery, K. T., which was accomplished and became known as Reading Commandery, No. 42. He was appointed to and accepted the position of Eminent Commander, with the understanding that he would do no more than preside for the year at their meetings. He was appointed District Deputy Grand Master for the District of Berks, Lebanon and part of Montgomery counties in 1861-62-63-64, and 1874-75-76.


He was elected president of the Penn Street Passenger Railway, the' first road in the city of Reading. He was also one of the projectors and directors of the Mt. Penn Gravity Railway Company in 1889, and has continued as director in it ever since.


Notwithstanding a long and busy life he has found time to travel extensively, not alone the many trips through every State and Territory of the United States, but frequent trips abroad and to the Indies. He has de- voted his attention to public matters and the common good, giving them the advantage of his wide experience and close observation. Philanthropic and charitable, and intense in all his undertakings, he has well filled to the fullest measure, and enjoyed the blessings of, a life of over fourscore years, retaining full possession of his vitality, energy and mental faculties.


EDWARD S. WERTZ, who conducts the Wertz Milling Company at Reading, one of the best known establishments of its kind in Berks county, was born in Harrisburg, Dau- phin Co., Pa .. Feb. 23, 1850, son of Samuel and Maria (Sweigert) Wertz.


Samuel Wertz, his father, was born March 2, 1809, in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland, and in his native country learned the trade of wool fulling. In 1827 he came to America, settling first at Frankford, Philadelphia, where he manufactured cotton laps and wadding. He subsequent- ly removed to Harrisburg, where he operated a flouring and woolen-mill and remained until 1856, at which time he engaged in business at the old Ritter Hotel stand, in Exeter township. The following year he removed to Spring township, Berks county, where he purchased the old Althouse Mill property, which he rebuilt, making vast


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improvement in the establishment, and he successfully operated it as a flour and feed mill until 1870. That year he settled in Reading and opened the flour and feed store which he conducted until his retirement, in 1880. His death occurred in 1884, when he was seventy-five years old.


Mr. Wertz was twice married. His first wife, Maria Sweigert, a native of Lancaster county, Pa., died in 1852, leaving six children, namely: Louisa M. m. Amos Price; Elizabeth, deceased, m. Herman Strohecker; George W .; Samuel; Edward S., and Jacob Henry. On April 28, 1853, Mr. Wertz m. (second) Catherine Waldenmyer, daughter of John Waldenmyer, and to this union two children were born, Augustus and Frank. Mr. Wertz was a member of the Reformed Church, while his wife held to the faith of the Lutheran denomination. In politics he was a stanch Democrat.


Edward S. Wertz was quite young when his father came to Berks county, and here he received his education in the public schools. From boyhood he was employed around his father's milling establishment, and when sixteen he left home to complete his apprenticeship at the miller's trade. He went to Huyett's Mill at Shillington, in Cumru town- ship, remaining there about a year, after which he took a responsible position at Womelsdorf, having charge of a flouring mill owned by a Mr. Fisher. There he also spent a year, and then accepted a similar position at the old Hiester Mill, in Bern township, later going to Reed's Mill, in Robeson township. Going to Chicago, Ill., in 1871, Mr. Wertz spent one year there in the storage warehouse business, at the end of that time returning to Reading, where he was employed by Heilman & Co., hardware mer- chants, who were then located on the present site of the Dives, Pomeroy & Stewart store. After two years' ser- vice with this firm he went to the old Wertz Mill prop- erty in Spring township, and for twenty-five years carried on the mill there. It was one of the old-style burr mills, and was one of the first to be adapted to the modern roller. process, the necessary changes being made by Mr. Wertz, who during his occupancy of the property rebuilt the establishment four times. He enlarged as well as moder- nized it, increasing the capacity as trade demanded from a fifteen-barrel mill to a seventy-five-barrel mill. It was there he first manufactured the now celebrated Wertz Roller Cream Flour, which has gained an enviable reputa- tion throughout this section of Pennsylvania. Mr. Wertz still continues the manufacture of this brand, which has efficient, capable and wide-awake business man. He has lost none of its popularity, for he has sustained its high quality to the present time.


In 1898 Mr. Wertz removed to Reading, where he estab- lished his present plant, his mill and office being at Nos. 135-141 Buttonwood street and conducted under the name of the Wertz Milling Company. His mill is one of the best equipped in the State of Pennsylvania, no device of approved pattern known to flour manufacturers having been omitted in fitting it up, and the conduct of the plant and standard of products are accordingly high. All the product is disposed of to the local trade. The brands manufactured by the Wertz Milling Company are Roller Cream, Gold Dust, White Rose and Minnehaha, all of which are in popular use throughout this section. Besides his milling business Mr. Wertz is interested in other lines, be- ing an extensive dealer in farm products and having the largest hay storage plant in the city of Reading. Dur- ing the year 1905 he handled 185 carloads of grain, hay, etc., and his business is steadily on the increase. In this line he gives employment to eight men. He is one of the directors of the Pennsylvania State Millers' Association.


Mr. Wertz was married Sept. 11, 1873, to Miss Sarah Kercher, daughter of William Kercher, of Bern township. They have had no children of their own, but have reared two: Emma Gerhart, who is now married and resides in Schuylkill county; and Hannah Malburn, wife of Harry Focht, Mr. Wertz's able assistant in his milling operations.


With all his extensive business cares Mr. Wertz finds time to take a public-spirited interest in local affairs, and to devote to benevolent and charitable objects. He is secretary and treasurer of Kissinger's Church, of which


he has been a member for many years, and in September, 1908, he was elected an elder. He served as superintendent of the Sunday school for a period of thirty-eight years. He is a member of the board of trustees of the Topton Orphans' Home, and a member of the school board of Reading. Fraternally he is a Mason, holding membership in Lodge No. 62, F. & A. M .; Excelsior Chapter, R. A. M .; Reading Commandery, K. T .; and Rajah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.


A. ELLSWORTH LEINBACH, vice-president of the J. G. Leinbach Company of Reading, was born Oct. 24, 1862, in the city with which his whole business career has been identified. His parents were Mahlon A. and Mary E. (Adam) Leinbach.


Mahlon A. Leinbach was born April 14, 1840, in Bern township, Berks county, but while he was a small child his father removed to Exeter township, and the boy at- tended school there. He has always been engaged in the manufacture of pants and woolen goods, and gained his first insight into the details of that work under William Brumbach, with whom he remained a number of years. From there he went to the Reading Mills, of which his brother J. G. was one of the owners and was given an interest in the firm, being one of the organizers of this large plant. He was active in its management till July, 1904, when he retired from the firm, although he still re- tains stock and is one of the directors. He is also a direct- or of the Mt. Penn Gravity Railroad, of the Reading Cold Storage Company and of the Black Bear Railroad. Mr. Leinbach married Miss Mary E. Adam, of Berks county, and they had a family of seven children, only two of whom are living, A. Ellsworth and Charles E. The latter resides at home and is foreman of the spinning department in the Reading Mills. The family residence is at No. 311 North Fourth street, where Mr. Leinbach built a home specially adapted to his own needs and ideas. With his wife and sons he is a member of the First Reformed Church.


A. Ellsworth Leinbach during his boyhood attended the Reading schools, and then entered the Reading Mills. He advanced steadily through different positions, becoming familiar with the various departments of the factory, and is now in charge of the weaving departments. His of- ficial position, since the incorporation of the company, has been vice-president, and he has proved himself a most also been active in politics, a strong supporter of Republi- can principles, and has done much service for his party, as delegate to county and State conventions, as. secretary of the county committee, and as chairman of the Seventh Ward Republicans, while he has also been a member of the school board of Reading for several years.


In 1884 A. Ellsworth Leinbach married Miss M. Alice Lotz, daughter of Caspar and Rebecca (Nagle) Lotz, of Reading. Two children have been born to them, viz .: Ada L., who was graduated from Marshall Seminary, at Oak Lane, Philadelphia, in 1904, married William A. Heizmann, a young business man of Reading; and Caspar L. died Feb. 20, 1905, aged fifteen years, three months and twenty-two days. The family residence is at No. 314 Oley street. Socially Mr. Leinbach is a member of Isaac Hiester Lodge No. 660, F. & A. M .; Reading Lodge of Perfection, 14th degree; Harrisburg Consistory, 32d de- gree; Rajah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S .; and Reading Lodge, No. 115, B. P. O. Elks.




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