USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > History of Berks County, Pennsylvania, in the Revolution, from 1774 to 1783 > Part 15
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afterwards formed a part of Spyker's Battalion, and par- ticipated in the campaign at and about Germantown and White Marsh during the Fall of 1777. In this service, he was wounded in the battle at the for- mer place, and his health in consequence became so impaired that he never fully recovered. Subsequently, in 1778 and 1780, his company was connected with the 4th Battalion of County Militia.
Upon his return from military service, he carried on farming on the Eckert homestead, near Womels- dorf, until his death, August 25, 1791. He was mar- ried to Elizabeth Hain, a daughter of- Hain, in Heidelberg township, by whom he had seven sons, John, Peter, George, David, Daniel, Solomon and Conrad, and two daughters, Catharine (married to Henry Co- penhaven), and Barbara (married to Daniel Reeser). His remains were buried in the graveyard connected with Hain's Church.
Col. Valentine Eckert was an elder brother.
GEORGE EGE.
George Ege was born March 9, 1748, and settled in Berks County about the year 1774, when he became the sole owner of the Charming Forge, a prominent industry then situated on the Tulpehocken Creek, in Tulpe- hocken (now Marion) township. During the Revolu- tion he was an ardent patriot and supplied the Gov-
George go
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erninent with large quantities of cannon balls. He represented the county in the General Assembly for the years 1779, 1780 and 1782. Upon the adoption of the State Constitution of 1790, he was appointed an Associate Judge in 1791, and he served contin- uously until 1818, a period of twenty-eight years, when he resigned to devote his attention entirely to the management of his extensive business in the manu- facture of iron.
In 1804, he was the largest manufacturer and land owner in the county. Then he owned and carried on the Charming Forge witli 4000 acres, Berkshire Fur- nace with 6000 acres, Schuylkill Forge, near Port Clinton, witlı 6000 acres, and four large farms in Tul- pehocken and Heidelberg townships, together con- taining 1000 acres. In 1824, the assessed value of all his property was near $400,000.
He died at his home on the Charming Forge prop- erty, December 14, 1829, aged nearly 82 years. He had been actively engaged in business from 1774 to 1825, a period exceeding half a century, and for some years after he had reached the age of three score and ten. His remains were interred in the cemetery con- nected with Zion's Church at Womelsdorf. His daughter Rebecca was married to Joseph Old, a prom- inent iron master who carried on the Reading Fur- nace in Chester County, and a son Michael was mar- ried to Maria Margaretta Shulze, who was a daughter of Rev. Emanuel Shulze.
Judge Ege was distinguished for great kindness of heart and humane impulses. Among his possessions were many slaves, numbering about forty, and he was
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always known to treat them with mnuch consideration. Occasionally renegade slaves from the South found a comfortable home with him and also employment at one or other of his iron industries. A trusty slave, by the name of Tom Nelson, is particularly remembered for his integrity and devotion to the interests of his master, the Judge, having frequently been intrusted with large sums of money which he carried from Charming Forge to the bank at Reading. Judge Ege was then a director in the "Bank of Deposit," the first bank at Reading. When Washington stopped at Womelsdorf in 1794 on his way to Carlisle, during the excitement growing out of the "Whiskey Insurrec- tion," Tom was especially desirous of driving his master to Womelsdorf, not only to enable the Judge to pay his compliments to the great Revolutionary hero and first President of the United States, but to afford himself the opportunity of seeing him. Judge Ege was personally known to Washington on account of his patriotic spirit during the Revolution, and of his prominence as a large manufacturer of iron, cannon balls, &c.
BALSER GEEHR.
Balser Geehr was born of German parentage at Germantown, near Philadelphia, on January 22, 1740, and removed to Amity township, in Berks County, when a young man. By the year 1767, he was living in Oley township, employed as a gunsmith. While in Oley, he was married to Catharine Hunter (Iaeger),
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a daughter of Anthony Iaeger, and a sister of Col. Daniel Hunter. In 1771, he purchased a large planta- tion of nearly 500 acres in Bern township, several miles to the south of the Blue Mountain, and moved upon it in 1772. 1
When the Revolution began, he was a man of large influence in the northern section of the county, and upon the selection of a Standing Committee in 1774, for a proper guidance of popular sentiment in its be- half, he was naturally chosen to represent that sec- tion on this important committee. In the formation Balser Geehr of the Associators of Pennsylvania, Balser Geehr was one of the five del- egates from Berks County who attended a meeting at Philadelphia in August, 1775. These delegates were known as the "Colonels of the Associated Battalions." He took an active part in the county militia. In 1775 and 1776 he was lieutenant-colonel of the 4th Battalion, which was composed of companies in the northern section of the county. In September, 1776, his battalion partic- ipated in the campaign about New York, but I can- not state what particular service was rendered.
He officiated continuously as a judge of the county courts from 1775 to 1784, and represented the county in the General Assembly for the years 1782, 1786, and from 1792 to 1799. These positions show the popular csteem in which he was held.
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It is stated that he attended a levee given by Presi- dent Washington in Independence Hall, in company with friends from Reading. In that day, cards were not commonly used but the names were announced. Upon arriving at the hall door, he gave his name upon request, and then it was called out to an usher at the first landing of the stairway, who in turn called it out again to another at the doorway of the assembly room, where it was again announced in a distinct manner. Not having been acquainted with the custom, this public use of liis name excited him so that he ex- claimed in a loud tone of voice-" Yes, yes, I'm com- ing ; give me time," to the great amusement of other invited guests about him.
He carried on farming extensively on the Bern plantation until 1796, and then removed to a farm of 23I acres in Maxatawny township, several miles north of Kutztown, which he had purchased shortly before. He died June 19, 1801, and his remains were interred in a private burying ground near the centre of the plantation last mentioned.
By his decease without a last will, and the decease of his two sons John and Jacob also, and his two grand- daughters (the children of Jacob), dying intestate without issue, the Maxatawny farm became involved in very tedious and costly ejectment litigation, cover- ing a period of fifteen years. One of the cases in- volving the trial is reported in Outerbridge Reports (Penna. State) vol. 9, p. 577, (1884); and another in Crumrine Reports, (Penna. State) vol. 28, p. 31I (1891). The trials excited much general interest
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amongst the legal profession, and the cases reported are regarded as leading cases on the subject of title to land by descent.
ALEXANDER GRAYDON.
Alexander Graydon was born at Bristol, in Bucks County, Penn'a, on April 10, 1752. He went to Philadelphia while young and was educated principally at the Quaker school. He then studied law, but did not come to be admitted to the Bar at that place. He was a volunteer in the Revolution, and commanded a company in the Long Island campaign. In the capture of Fort Washington, he was taken prisoner. Alexander Grayson Upon his release, he afterward went to Reading and was admitted to the Bar on May 14, 1779. He car- ried on practice for a time, then removed to Harris- burg, where he died, May 2, 1818. His remains were buried in the Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church burial ground at Philadelphia. While at Harrisburg, his memoirs were published in 1811. William Gray- don, a practicing lawyer at that place, and the author of Graydon's Forms, was a brother.
HENRY HALLER.
Henry Haller was a tailor at Reading in 1765, and in 1775 was engaged as an innkeeper, by which time he had become a man of considerable social and polit-
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ical influence. In the formation of a regiment in Berks County, as its quota of the 4500 men for the Flying Camp, he was chosen Colonel, but he did not accompany the regiment in its march to Long Island, and did not participate in that battle. Shortly after- ward, however, he commanded another battalion which went into service in New Jersey.
In the public actions for encouraging tlie Revolu- tion, he took a prominent part, and next to Edward Biddle, George Nagel, Jacob Morgan and Bodo Otto, was as prominent as any other man at Reading. He Henry Haller was a delegate to the Pro- vincial Conference in 1776, and also a member of the Committee of Safety, the Committee on Attainder, and the Committee to Col- lect Arms, etc. He served as a member of the Assem- bly from 1776 to 1781. During the years 1778, 1779 and 1780, he was wagon-master of Berks County, and during 1779 and 1780, wagon-master-general of the Continental Army. The first public office that he filled was coroner of the county in 1767.
After the Revolution, he moved up the Schuylkill Valley beyond the Blue Mountains, in Brunswick township, then still part of Berks County, and there he died in September, 1793, possessed of a very large estate. He had eight sons, Frederick, Jacob, Henry, John, William, Isaac, Benjamin and Lewis ; and two daughters, Elizabeth (married to William Mears), and Sarah (married to Samuel Webb).
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GABRIEL HIESTER.
Gabriel Hiester, a son of Daniel Hiester and Catha- rine Shueler (natives of Witzenstein, Westphalia), was born in Bern township June 17, 1749. He was brought up as a farmer and given such an edu- cation as the neighborhood afforded at the school con- nected with the Bern Church. In 1776, he was selected as one of the representatives from Berks County to the Provincial Convention for the formation of a Con- stitution. In 1778 he received the appointment of justice of the Common Pleas Court of the county, which he held for four years. He was afterward elected to the Assembly, and represented the county for eight years, 1782, 1787-89, 1791 and 1802-04. Gabriel Heister He was in the As- sembly when the question of fram- ing a new Consti- tution was discussed, but he voted against the pro- priety of calling a convention for this purpose. He was Senator from the district which comprised Berks and Dauphin Counties for ten years, 1795-96 and 1805-12. This continued selection by his fellow-citi- citizens indicates their confidence in him as a man of ability and integrity.
He died on his farm, in Bern township, September 1, 1824. He was a brother of Col. Daniel Hiester, of Montgomery County ; of Col. John Hiester, of Chester County, and a cousin of Col. Joseph Hiester, of Berks County. His wife was Elizabeth Bausman, who sur- vived him eight years, dying in the 8Ist year of her
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age. He had four sons, Gabriel, Jonathan, William and Jacob, and two daughters, Mary (married to Fred- erick A. Shulze), and Elizabeth.
The family name was commonly written Hiester, but he wrote it, as given, Heister.
JOSEPH HIESTER.
Joseph Hiester was born in Bern township, Berks Jos: Hiester County, on November 18, 1752. His father, John Hiester, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1732, in the 25th year of his age, from the village of Elsoff, in the province of Westphalia, Germany, and some years afterward settled in Bern township, where he married Mary Barbara Epler, a daughter of one of the first settlers in that section of the county.
The son was brought up on the farm until he was a young man. In the intervals of farm labor, he at- tended the school at Bern Church, and there he ac- quired the rudiments of an English and also a German education. The homestead was situated about a mile north of the church.
He went to Reading before he was of age, and en- tered the general store of Adam Witman. He re- mained in the store until 1776, and then, manifesting an active sympathy for the Revolution, he was se- lected as a delegate to the Provincial Conference. Upon returning home, he raised a company of men which be-
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came a part of the "Flying Camp" in the regiment of Lt .- Col. Nicholas Lotz, and with it participated in the Battle of Long Island, where he was taken prisoner. Upon his exchange he returned to Reading, and after recovering from the effects of his imprisonment, he re- joined the army. He participated in the battle of Germantown in 1777, and in 1780 commanded a regi- ment which was in service in New Jersey for thirty days.
About the close of the Revolution, he entered into partnership with his father-in-law, and some years afterward became the sole proprietor of the store. He conducted business operations very successfully for a number of years. Public affairs also received much of his attention. In 1787, he was elected a member of the General Assembly and re-elected twice. In 1789, he was chosen a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and in 1790, the first State Senator from Berks County. In 1797, he was elected to represent this district in Congress and afterward re-elected five tinies. After an intermission of eight years, which he devoted entirely to business at Reading, he was again sent to Congress in 1815, and re-elected twice.
While holding this office, he became the nominee of the Federalist party for Governor in 1817, and though not then elected, his popularity was shown in the vote which he received. He was the first candidate on the Federal ticket who received a majority of the votes in Berks County against the Democratic candi- date, and also in the southeastern section of the State. The party naturally selected him in 1820 a second time as the most available candidate, and he was
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elected. The election returns reveal the fact that the devotion of the people of Berks County caused his election. His numerous friends signalized this triumph by a grand festival at Reading on November I, 1820. His administration was characterized by great activity in promoting the growth of the Com- monwealth, especially through internal improve- ments. He suggested that such improvements could be made advantageously, and domestic manufac- tures encouraged with success, and that there ex- isted an imperative duty to support a liberal system of education. At the end of his term he lived in retire- ment at Reading. He died June 10, 1832. His re- mains were interred in the burying ground of the Re- formed Church, and some years afterward removed to the Charles Evans Cemetery. He had a son, John S. Hiester, and four daughters.
DANIEL HUNTER.
The parents of Daniel Hunter were Daniel Hunter
emigrants from Ger-
many, amongst the early settlers of Oley town- ship. The name was Iaeger in German. He was born in this township on April 8, 1742, and carried on farming all his life. At the breaking out of the Revolution, he manifested an earnest interest in public affairs. His prominence and patriotic spirit led to his selection as a representative from the county to the Provincial Conference in June, 1776, and to
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the Convention in July following. The Supreme Executive Council appointed him a paymaster of the militia in 1776, and he served in this position until August, 1777. In militia affairs he was particu- larly prominent. In the Winter and Fall of 1777, he commanded a regiment of militia, formed of com- panies from Oley and vicinity, which was engaged in the Revolutionary service, first in the campaign about Trenton, and then in the campaign about the Brandy- wine. He represented the county in the General As- sembly for the year 1782. While serving this office, he was takeu ill, and from this illness he died at home, February 3, 1783, in the 4Ist year of his age.
His wife was Maria Lease. He left three surviving children-Daniel, Frederick and Catharine (who was married to Jacob Kemp). His sister Catharine was the wife of Balser Geehr.
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THOMAS JONES, JR.
Thrones Thomas Jones, Jr., was a son of Thomas Jones, an early Welsh settler in Cum- ru township, who took up a large tract of land in 1735. He was born in 1742 in this township, and was brought up to farming. At the beginning of the Revolution, he assisted in organizing the Associators of Berks County, and was in active service for a time as a major in one of the bat- talions. He was a meinber of the first Constitutional Convention from Berks County, and he also served as
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a county commissioner for two terms, from 1779 to 1782, and from 1783 to 1786. He died in 1800, aged 58 years. His residence was in Heidelberg township. He left one son, Samuel, and four daughters-Martha, Susanna, Sarah and Mary.
JOHN LESHER.
John Lesher was a native of Germany. John other He was born Janu- ary 5, 17II, the only son and heir-at-law of Nicholas Lesher. He emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1734, and was naturalized in 1743. He first settled in the upper section of Bucks County, but subse- quently removed to Oley township, Berks County. Along the Manatawny Creek, near the Oley Churches, he, with two other men (Jolin Yoder and John Ross), erected a forge in 1744. This was known as the "Oley Forge." From that time, for a period of fifty years, he was prominently identified with the iron in- dustry of Berks County. He represented the county in the Constitutional Convention of 1776, and served in the General Assembly from 1776 until 1782. While in the Convention, he was one of the important com- mittee who prepared and reported the "Declaration of Rights." During the Revolution, he acted as one of the Commissioners for purchasing army supplies. He addressed an interesting letter to the Supreme
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Executive Council in 1778, relating to the taking of supplies from him. [See p. 181.]
He died in Oley township April 5, 1794, aged 83 years. He left a wife, two sons, John and Jacob ; and five daughters-Barbara (married to Jacob Morgan), Hannah (married to George Focht), Maria (married to John Potts, Jr.), Catharine (married to John Tysher), and Elizabeth.
DANIEL LEVAN.
Daniel Leven Daniel Levan was the son of Daniel Levan, of Maxa- tawny township, in Berks County, who died in June, 1777. He was born in that township, and, after hav- ing been brought up on a farm, removed to Reading. He studied law with Edward Biddle, Esq., on whose motion he was admitted to practice in the several courts of Berks County on November 11, 1768.
He officiated as the sheriff of the county during the years 1778 and 1779, and as the county treasurer from 1780 to 1783. His residence was situated on the south-east corner of 5th and Cherry streets, and there he died in March, 1792, leaving to survive him four sons, Isaac, Daniel, Jacob and Samuel.
SEBASTIAN LEVAN.
Sebastian Levan was born in Maxatawny township, Berks County. He was a son of Jacob Levan, one of
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the first judges of the County from 1752 to 1762. He was raised on his father's farm and learned the trade of miller, which he afterward carried on for him- self. At the breaking out of the Revolution, he rep- resented his district on the Standing Committee. Sub- Sebastian evans sequently, he served in the the State Assembly during 1779 and 1780, and as a Councillor on the Supreme Executive Council front 1782 to 1784. He was also active in the County Militia, being colonel of a bat- talion. He died in August, 1794.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Abraham Lincoln was a son of Mordecai and Mary Lincoln. He was born a posthumous son in 1736, in Exeter township, Berks County, (then part of Phila- delphia County). His father-who died in May of that year, a few months before his birth-was the paternal ancestor of Abraham Lincoln, President of
Abraham Lincoln
the United States. He was brought up on a farm and received a fair education. Prior to the Revolution, he served as a county commissioner from 1772 to 1775, and continued in office by re-election until 1778. On March 21, 1777, he was appointed one of the sub-lieu- tenants of the county, but it is not known how long he served in this position.
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He represented the county in the General Assembly from 1782 to 1786, and was a delegate to the Pennsyl- vania Convention to ratify the Federal Constitution in 1787. He did not sign the ratification. He was also a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1789-90.
He died at his residence in Exeter township, Jan- uary 31, 1806, in the 70th year of his age. In 1761, he married Anne Boone, a daughter of James Boone and Mary Foulke. She was a full cousin of Col.
Twin
Early Home of Lincolng .
Daniel Boone, the Pioneer of Kentucky. The Boones were Quakers and the Lincolns Congregationalists. Hence it appears by the minutes of the Exeter Meet- ing, October 27, 1761, that she " condoned " her mar- riage to one who was not a member of the Society. He left four sons, Mordecai, James, Thomas and John, and five daugliters, Mary (married to Joseph Boone), Martha, Ann (married to William Glassgow), Anna, and Phebe (married to David Jones).
The above cut represents the building where the children of Mordecai Lincoln, Sr., were born. It is
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situated about a mile below Exeter Station, several hundred feet north from the railroad, near a small stream. An extension was built to the west end.
JACOB LIVINGOOD.
Jacob Livingood, a captain of a company of riflemen during the Revolution in 1781, was born in Tulpe- hocken township, Berks County, on January 26, 1752, on the property commonly known as the "Livingood Mill," which is situated on a branch of the Little Swatara, within a mile of its outlet into that stream. His father and grandfather, both of the same name, had lived there for a number of years, the latter hav- ing migrated from New York in 1729 with a small colony of Germans, under the leadership of Conrad Weiser. He was brought up to farming and milling.
In the Fall of 1781, he raised a company of rifle- men at and near Womelsdorf for the Continental Army, which was in service for ninety days. Upon his discharge and return home, he resumed his avocation as a miller. For some years afterward, he was en- gaged in the grain business, disposing of the grain collected at Philadelphia. He was also at Reading for a time. Subsequently, he returned to Tulpehocken and lived by himself in a small log building, which was erected by members of the family expressly for him, on the Mill premises, where he frequently enter- tained the surviving members of his company. It is stated that the meetings of his Continental associates were occasions of great hilarity, and he always wel-
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comed them in his military uniform. So proud was he of this dress that he died with it on; and out of respect for his known wishes, he was thus laid to rest in the burying ground of the Lutheran Church, a mile west of Stouchsburg. The day. of his decease is not known.
NICHOLAS LOTZ.
Nicholas Lotz was born February 20, 1740, in the Palatinate, and emigrated to Pennsylvania when a young inan. He first settled in the western section of the county. Some time previous to the Revolu- tion, he located at Reading and became the owner of two mills at the mouth of the Wyomissing Creek, which he conducted very successfully. When the struggle for independence began, he was prominently identified with the patriotic movement at Reading. In January, 1775, he was selected as chairman of the Standing Committee. He served as a delegate to the Provincial Conference in June, 1776, and upon his return home took an active part in the enlistment of men. He was commissioned a lieutenant-colonel and participated in the campaign of the "Flying Camp " at New York, where he was engaged in the battle of Long Island and taken prisoner. He was admitted to parole within certain bounds on April 16, 1777, and exchanged on September 10, 1779. He showed great interest in Militia affairs, being at the head of the battalion in the central section of the county from 1775 for many years.
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In 1780 he was appointed Commissioner of Forage, and, as such, purchased supplies for the army until the close of the war. The Executive Council ad- dressed him as a Colonel and so recognized him.
Proving hood EJES "
Nicholas Loty
Col. Lotz represented Berks County in the General Assembly from 1784 to 1786, and again from 1790 to 1794; and he filled the office of Associate- Judge of the county from 1795 to 1806. Gov. Thomas Mifflin gave him the appointment, there having been great intimacy between them.
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When Gen'l Washington, while President, was at Reading, on his way to Carlisle, in 1794, Col. Lotz was at the head of a party of prominent men who signalized the occasion by giving a military parade on Penn Square in honor of the distinguished visitor. The review was made from the second story of the "Federal Inn" (now the Farmer's Bank building). In personal appearance, he was a tall, finely-propor- tioned man, being over six feet in height and weigh- ing about 300 pounds ; and upon that occasion he attracted marked attention, not only by reason of his commanding presence, but also of his military, political and social prominence.
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