History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 100

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418

USA > Pennsylvania > Berks County > History of Berks county in Pennsylvania > Part 100

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JOHN C. K. HEINE, son of Gregory Heine, was born at Reading; attended the public schools of his native place ; was graduated from the Reading High School with the class of 1870; read law with Hon. Daniel Ermentrout, and was admitted to the bar April 12, 1875.

BENJAMIN F. DETTRA is a native of Mont- gomery County, born in Upper Providence township July 4, 1845; attended Washington Collegiate Seminary, in his native county ; pre- pared for the profession of the law under the direction of A. G. Green, Esq., and was admit- ted to practice at Reading, April 5, 1875. In 1881 he was elected city solicitor for Reading, and served one full term of two years.

BENJAMIN Y. SHEARER was born Decem- ber 15, 1842, in Bern township, Berks County, Pa. ; attended common schools of his township and the Reading Classical Academy for ten ses- sions in summer, and taught school in the win- ter ; read law in the office of his uncle, Edward H. Shearer, Esq., and was admitted to the bar April 12, 1875.

CHRISTIAN H. RUHL was born in Cumber- land County, Pa., August 7, 1853; was edu- cated in the public schools of Carlisle, Pa., and at Dickinsou College; read law in the office of C. E. Maclaughlin, Esq., at Carlisle, and was admitted to the Cumberland County bar August 24, 1874; removed to Reading and was ad- mitted to the Berks County bar April 15, 1875; was city solicitor from March, 1879, to March, 1881.

JOHN F. SMITH was born December 12, 1849, in Richmond township, Berks County ; came to Reading with his father in 1853; was

educated in the public schools and Reading Classical Academy, and attended the Muhlen- berg College, at Allentown, Pa .; read law in the office of John S. Richards, after which he at- tended the Law Department of Columbia College, New York. He returned to Reading in 1873; entered the law-office of Cyrus G. Derr, Esq., and was admitted to the bar August 9, 1875.

JEFFERSON SNYDER was born November 6, 1848, in Exeter township, Berks County; at- tended the schools of his native county, entered Lafayette College at Easton, Pa., and was gra- duated therefrom in 1872; pursued the study of law under the direction of George F. Bacr, Esq., of Reading, and was admitted to the bar August 9, 1875.

DANIEL B. YOUNG, son of Major Samuel L. Young, was born December 25, 1852. He re- ceived a preparatory education at Weyer's West Chester Academy, at Pennsylvania College and spent two years in Harvard College. He stud- ied law in his father's office and was admitted June 10, 1876. The next year he removed to Chicago, where he is now practicing.

ADAM H. SCHMEHL was born May 15, 1852, in Reading; prepared for college in the schools of his native city and was graduated from Muhlenberg College, at Allentown, with the class of 1874; pursued his legal studies under the direction of Amos B. Wanner, Esq., and was admitted to the bar January 6, 1876.

EDWIN B. WIEGAND is a native of Lycom- ing County, Pa., born at Somerset, November 5, 1×52; was graduated from Frankliu and Marshall College, at Lancaster, in the class of 1874; read law in the office of ex-Attorney- General Thomas E. Franklin, of Lancaster, and was admitted to the Lancaster bar in Novem- ber, 1875; moved to Reading in January, 1876, and was admitted to practice in the courts of Berks County the same year. He was exam- iner in the Department of Justice at Washing- ton, D. C., from August, 1881, to August, 1884, with the Hon. Benjamin Harris Brewster, At- torney-General of the United States. Since 1884 he has been practicing at Reading.

WESLEY D. HORNING was born July 3, 1848, in Chilcoat's Hollow, in Huntingdon County, Pa., received his preparatory education

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in the school of his native place, and attended a special course of study at Kishacoquillas Sem- inary, in Mifflin County ; read law with Hon. R. Milton Speer, of Huntingdon, and was ad- mitted April, 1875, to the bar in Huntingdon; removed to Reading in April, 1876, and was admitted a member of the Berks County bar the same month.

GUSTAV A. ENDLICH was born January 29, 1856, in Alsace township, Berks County ; from 1867 to 1872 he was in the schools of Germany, returned to his native country and entered the College of New Jersey, at Princeton, from which institution he was graduated in the year 1875; read law in the office of George F. Baer, Esq., of Reading, and was admitted to the bar in No- vember, 1877 ; in 1882 he wrote and published a work on the law of "Building Associations in the United States," in 1884 a work on the "Affi- davits of Defense in Pennsylvania," and in 1885 edited two volumes of the decisions of Warren J. Woodward, late president judge of the Twen- ty-third Judicial District of Pennsylvania.

SIMON P. O'REILLY was born in June, 1853, in the city of Reading. After his graduation from Mount St. Mary's College, at Emmitsburg, Md., in the year 1875, he entered the office of A. G. Green, Esq., as a student-at-law, and was admitted to the bar January 14, 1877.

HENRY A. ZIEBER was born March 27, 1848, at Reading ; was educated in the Read- ing High School ; read law in the office of Amos B Wanner, Esq., and was admitted to the bar in April, 1878. He was appointed a notary for the city of Reading in 1876 and served until 1885.

ISAAC HIESTER, sou of William M. Hiester and grandson of Dr. Isaac Hiester, was born in Reading, January 8, 1856. He acquired his preparatory education in the public schools of Reading, completing the course of the High School in 1871 and soon afterward entered Trinity College, at Hartford, Conn., from which institution he was graduated in the year 1876. He was admitted a member of the Reading bar in 1878, after having finished the required course of study in the office of George F. Baer, Esq.

J. H. MARX was born at Kutztown, Berks

County, iu 1846, and educated in his native town. He studied law in the office of H. H. Schwartz, Esq. (now judge of the Orphans' Court of Berks County), and was admitted to the bar August 13, 1878. He then opened a law-office at Kutztown, where he has since practiced his profession.

JEREMIAH K. GRANT was born October 24, 1847, in Pike township, Berks County ; was edu- cated in the common schools and the Keystone State Normal School ; attended lectures at the Law Department of the University of Pennsyl- vania ; read law in the office of William H. Livingood, Esq., of Philadelphia, and was ad- mitted to practice in the several courts of that city in 1877; in 1878 came to Reading and commenced to practice; is at present (1886) solicitor for the Board of Prison Inspectors for Berks County.

WALTER B. CRAIG was born June 5, 1855, in the city of Reading, completed the course of study in the Reading High School with the class of 1872 and afterward spent two years in the United States Military Academy at West Point. He began his legal studies under the direction of George F. Baer, Esq., and after completing the required course of reading, was admitted to the bar in November, 1878.

D. NICHOLAS SCHAEFFER was born Sep- tember 10, 1853, in Maxatawny township, Berks County. He is a brother of N. C. Schaeffer, Ph.D., principal of the Keystone State. Normal School at Kutztown, and of Rev. William C. Schaeffer, President of the Palatinate College, Myerstown, Pa. He ob- tained a preparatory education at the Keystone State Normal School, and was graduated from Franklin and Marshall College, at Lancaster, in the class of 1876 ; studied law in the office of George F. Baer, Esq., and was admitted to the bar November 12, 1878.

M. BRAYTON MCKNIGHT was born at Read- ing in 1855; obtained a preliminary education in the public schools ; completed the course in the Reading High School with the class of 1872; subsequently entered Amherst College, Massa- chusetts, and was graduated in 1876; read law in the office of Charles H. Shaeffer, Esq., and was admitted to the bar in 1878.

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DANIEL G. GULDEN was born in Oley town- ship; was a student-at-law under the instruc- tion of Henry C. G. Reber, Esq., and was ad- mitted to practice January 20, 1879 ; practiced in Reading for several years. In 1886 he was engaged at teaching in the eastern section of Berks County.

FRANK S. LIVINGOOD was born February 24, 1855 ; attended the schools of Reading until 1869, when he entered Phillips Andover Acad- emy, at Andover, Mass., and afterwards com- pleted the course at Harvard College, graduat- ing with the class of 1876 ; read law under the direction of his father, Jacob S. Livingood, Esq., and was admitted to the bar in August, 1879.

JOHN W. APPLE read law in the office of Frank R. Schell, Esq. ; was admitted to practice at Reading August 11, 1879, and immediately thereafter went to the State of Missouri.

HENRY D. GREEN was born at Reading May 3, 1857; in 1872 he completed the course of studies in the City High School and then entered Yale College, from which institution he was graduated in the class of 1877; read law under the instruction of his father, Albert G. Green, Esq., was admitted to the bar in 1879; was ap- pointed notary public the same year and re- appointed in 1882; was elected a member of House of Representatives at Harrisburg for the years 1883-84 and re-elected for the years 1885-86.

WILLIAM C. HEACOCK was a native of New York State, and for a number of years was a lieutenant in the United States navy. He came to Reading in 1878, and, after reading law, was admitted to practice August 12, 1880.

W. OSCAR MILLER was born August 28, 1857, in Maxatawny township, Berks County ; was graduated from the Keystone State Normal School in 1875, and also from the Wyoming Seminary, at Kingston, Luzerne County, in 1878. He pursued his legal studies in the Law Department of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and was graduated from that in- stitution in 1879; was admitted to the bar of that State, and immediately thereafter re- moved to Reading, entered the law-office of Harrison Maltzberger, Esq., and was admitted

to practice in the courts of Berks County in April, 1880.

WILLIAM J. ROURKE was born in Reading September 11, 1859 ; attended the public schools and finished the course in the City High School in the year 1876, and afterwards entered Lafay- ette College. In 1877 he became a law-student of Peter D. Wanner, Esq., and was admitted to the bar November 22, 1880. On February 28, 1885, he was elected solicitor for the city of Reading.

ALBERT R. HEILIG was born September 16, 1859, at Strausstown, Pa., attended the Reading High School, read law in the office of Cyrus Derr, Esq., and was admitted to the bar November 22; 1880.

ALONZO E. REAM was born in New Hol- land, Lancaster County, Pa .; attended the pub- lic schools ; read law in the office of H. Willis Bland and H. Y. Kauffman, Esqs., and was ad- mitted to the bar in November, 1880.

GEORGE F. HAGENMAN was born March 7, 1857, in Reading ; was graduated from the Reading High School in the class of 1876, and then, to continue the study of classics, was a pupil of Prof. John P. Slocum, of this city ; entered the office of Henry C. G. Reber, Esq., and was admitted to the bar January 22, 1881.

ISRAEL H. ROTHERMEL was born in Rich- mond township, Berks County, Pa., April 26, 1853; was educated in Reading Scientific Academy and Millersville State Normal School, at Millersville, Pa .; read law in the office of A. G. Green, Esq., and was admitted to the bar August 20, 1881 ; was solicitor for directors of the poor for 1883, and is now (1886) district attorney for Berks County.

JOHN H. ROTHERMEL was born March 7, 1856, in Richmond township, Berks County ; acquired his preparatory education in schools of his native place ; attended Reading Scientific Academy and Keystone State Normal School ; read law in the office of A. G. Green, Esq., and was admitted to the bar August 20, 1881.

DANIEL F. WESTLEY was born in Robeson township, Berks County ; was educated in public schools, the State Normal School, at Kutz- town, and the Reading Scientific Academy ; read law in the office of Frank R. Schell, Esq.,

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and was admitted to the bar November 14, 1881. He taught school for twelve years in Berks County, and was for a time an assistant teacher in the Reading Scientific Academy. He died in 1883, in Reading, at the age of twenty- nine years.

CHARLES C. KEHR was born in Ontelaunee township, Berks County ; attended schools of his native place; was graduated from the State Normal School, of Kutztown, with the class of 1877 ; taught in the public schools of Berks County for three years ; read law in offices of Horace A. Yundt and William P. Bard, Esqs., and was admitted to the bar in 1881.

HENRY MALTZBERGER was born October 10, 1858, and is a native of Reading. He pursued the public-school course; was graduated from the Reading High School in 1874. He then entered Yale College, at New Haven, Conn., and was graduated from that institution with the class of 1879. He then took up the study of law under the direction of his father, Harrison Maltzberger, Esq., and was admitted to the bar in November, 1881.

GEORGE F. GROSS, JR. was born in Phila- delphia, June 25, 1860 ; educated at the Uui- versity of Notre Dame, Indiana ; studied law under the direction of Daniel H. Wingerd, Esq., and was admitted to practice November 14, 1881.

HENRY O. SHRADER is a native of Reading, born January 4, 1859 ; attended the schools of his native city and completed the High School course in the year 1875; was proof-reader on the Reading Eagle for one year and then en- tered upon the study of the law in the office of Morton L. Montgomery, Esq., remaining two years, and one year with Israel C. Becker, Esq. He was admitted to the bar November 6, 1882.

I. COMLEY FETTER was born January 5, 1857,at Warminster, Bucks County ; acquired a preliminary education in the academy at Hat- boro'; graduated from the Millersville State Normal School, at Millersville, Pa .; read law under the direction of J. Howard Jacobs, Esq., and was admitted to the bar November, 1882.

JAMES B. BAKER was born in Berks County April 20, 1851. He attended the Keystone Normal School for a number of sessions, and

was engaged in the profession of teaching for thirteen years in this county. In 1871 he be- gan the study of law, and had as his preceptors Judge Sassaman, William M. Goodman and B. Y. Shearer, Esqs., and was admitted to the bar in November, 1882.

ADAM B. RIESER was born October 22, 1854, in Bern township ; entered Franklin and Mar- shall College, at Lancaster, and was graduated from that institution in 1880; studied law under the direction of Henry C. G. Reber, Esq., and was admitted to the bar November 14, 1882.

ELWOOD H. DEYSHER was born January 9, 1857, in Reading ; graduated from the High School of his native city ; continued his studies in the State Normal School at Millersville; read law with J. Howard Jacobs, Esq., and was ad- mitted to practice November 13, 1882.

PHILIP S. ZIEBER was born June 30, 1861, in Reading. He was graduated from the Read- ing High School in 1876, and from Lafayette College, at Easton, in 1881, and then became a student-at-law in the office of George F. Baer, Esq. ; was admitted to the bar in November, 1884.

J. EDWARD MILLER was born June 6, 1860, at Hamburg, educated in the schools of his native town and at Keystone State Normal School, from which he was graduated in 1879; read law in the office of J. Howard Jacobs, Esq., of Reading, and was admitted to the bar in No- vember 1883, and then located at Hamburg, where he is practicing his profession.

CHARLES H. TYSON was born May 30, 1863, in Reading. He completed the course in the Reading High School with the class of 1880, and then studied law in the office of Frank R. Schell, Esq. He passed the required examina- tion in the year 1883, but was not admitted to the bar until the following year, when he attained his majority.

HENRY P. KEISER was born in Womelsdorf in January, 1860. He acquired his education at the Union Academy, in his native town, and left that institution to pursue the study of law under the direction of J. Howard Jacobs, Esq., of Reading, and was admitted to the bar in November, 1883.

FELIX P. KREMP was born in Reading Feb.

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3, 1859. He was graduated from St. John's Col- lege, at Fordham, N. Y., with the class of 1879. After graduation he entered upon the study of law in the office of George F. Baer, Esq., and was admitted to the bar in November, 1883.

FRANK K. FLOOD was born in Hollidays- bury, Blair County, Pa .; was graduated from the Keystone State Normal School at Kutztown in the elementary course in 1875, and in the scien- tific course in 1877. He entered upon the study of law in the office of Hon. Hiram H. Swartz, the present judge of the Orphans' Court of Berks County, and was admitted to the bar Nov., 1884.

HOWARD P. WANNER was born in Reading August 13, 1862, was educated at Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, became a student- at-law in the office of his father, A. B. Wanner, Esq., and was admitted to the bar Nov. 9, 1885.

WILLIAM KERPER STEVENS is a native of Reading, born July 15, 1861 ; after acquiring a preparatory education he entered Yale College, and was gradnated in the class of 1883. After completing the required course of legal studies in the office of Isaac Hiester, Esq., he was ad- mitted to the bar in November, 1884.

WILLIAM B. BECHTEL, a native of Reading, was born March 18, 1862; received his ednca- tional training in public schools, completed the High School course in 1879, and entered Frank- lin and Marshall College, at Lancaster; read law under the instruction of Jeremiah K. Grant, Esq., and was admitted to the bar in Nov., 1884.

BERKS COUNTY LAW LIBRARY .- When the county was erected in 1752, the several courts of the county were organized and judges were qualified to carry them on successfully ; and attorneys were admitted to practice the legal pro- fession before them. After the establishment of independence a Constitution was adopted, and the courts were continued under the system then existing, except where expressly modified by legislation. In the course of litigation, vari- ous principles of law were established by the adjudications of the Supreme Court, and both judges and attorneys soon felt the necessity of having the adjudicated cases compiled and pub- lished. Alexander James Dallas, Esq., an attorney at Philadelphia, collected the decisions with the view of publishing them iu book-form,

and the judges at that place in 1790, "for the common good," approved and recommended the printing and publishing of his book, entitled " Reports of Cases ruled and adjudged in the Courts of Pennsylvania before and since the Revolution." Mr. Dallas accordingly published the cases. The first volume was inscribed to the Hon. Thomas Mckean, chief justice of Pennsylvania. He published four books, cover- ing the adjudications for fifty years, from 1754 to 1805, and they were known as "Dallas' Re- ports." Subsequently other attorneys also com- piled and published reports, namely,-Yeates, 4 volumes; Binney, 6 ; Sergeant & Rawle, 17; Rawle, 5; Penrose & Watts, 3; Watts, 10; Wharton, 6 ; Watts & Sergeant, 9.

During the publication of the last-named re- ports, in the year 1843, a number of prominent attorneys, including David F. Gordon, Jacob Hoffman, Henry W. Smith, William Strong, J. Pringle Jones, George G. Barclay and Robert M. Barr, met and formed a society for the pur- pose of organizing a " Berks County Law Library." A fund was raised by them among the members of the bar, who each subscribed five dollars, and with it they purchased the first State Reports and certain law-books. This collection of reports and books was placed in the small retiring-room of the judges, situated at the southern end of the bench in the court-house, and formed the nucleus, from which has been developed the present extensive law library.

The reports continued to be published in the same manner, without authority of law, from 1790 till 1845. Then an Act of Assembly was passed, authorizing the Governor of the State to appoint a State reporter, and commission him for the period of five years. The reporter com- missioned was required to be " a person of known integrity, experience and learning in the law." This appointment to be made every five years.

The first person appointed was Robert M. Barr, Esq., a practicing attorney at Reading. He was appointed before July, 1845. He died previous to the expiration of his term of service, and his friend, Hon. J. Pringle Jones, finished the work which he had left incomplete, and, with the consent of Governor Johnson, published the materials collected for the use of his family.

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Mr. Barr, as State reporter, published ten volumes, two a year, as required by the law, and Mr. Jones published two volumes, being the eleventh and twelfth volumes of State Re- ports. George W. Harris, of Harrisburg, was appointed, in 1849, as the second State reporter. He served his term until 1855, and published two volumes a year, and two additional volumes (under act of May 8, 1855), altogether twelve volumes, from the twelfth to twenty-fourth State Reports. Subsequent State reporters have been Casey, Wright, Smith, Norris and Outerbridge.

The law library of the Reading bar continued a feeble existence till 1859 ; then a determined effort was made by the attorneys to more thoroughly organize a society for this purpose and to increase the collection of books, and they decided to obtaiu a charter. Accordingly, a peti- tion for the incorporation of the Berks County Law Library was presented to court on February 28, 1859, and the decree of incorporation was made on April 11th following, by Hon. J. Pringle Jones, then president judge, on motion of John S. Richards, Esq. The petition was signed by the following active members of the har :

Henry W. Smith. John Banks.

Charles K. Robeson.

Charles Davis.

Hiester Clymer.

John S. Richards.

William M. Baird. A. L. Hennershotz.

Albert G. Green.

Samuel L. Young.

J. Hagenman.

A. Jordan Swartz.

George G. Barclay. Joel B. Wanner.

Jacob S. Livingood. F. Leaf Smith.

John A. Banks. Jacob K. McKenty.

Amos B. Wanner.

C. Oscar Wagner.

Henry Van Reed.

Michael P. Boyer.

Jacob M. Sallade.

George J. Eckert.

Andrew M. Sallade.

James B. Bechtel.

David F. Gordon.

The object of the association was " to estab- lish and perpetuate a Law and Miscellaneous Library for the use of the Judges of the Courts, the members of the Bar and the Commissioners of the County."

Various plans were suggested for the purpose of raising funds with which to keep up the necessary supply of books ; and, after consider- ing them for some months, finally John S. Richards, Esq., conceived and expressed earnestly the idea of obtaining a portion of the fines which were imposed in the Quarter Sessions. At that time Mr. David L. Wenrich,

an enterprising, progressive and liberal-minded farmer, residing in Lower Heidelberg township, was one of the county commissioners, and J. Hagenman, Esq. (now president judge), was the commissioners' solicitor. The latter intro- duced the matter to Mr. Wenrich's attention and explained the advantages which would re- sult to the county in various ways, and Mr. Wenrich, appreciating the movement, then in- duced the county commissioners to agree to allow one-half of the fines to be appropriated to the law library for the period of five years. Subsequently, to legalize this appropriation, an act of Assembly was passed on March 24, 1860, authorizing one-half of the fines to be paid to the treasurer of the library for the period of five years, and providing that the hooks pur- chased "shall be for the use of the several courts, the commissioners of the county and the members of the association." This act was ex- tended in 1866 for another period of five years, and in 1870 the provision in the act relating to a limit of time was repealed. From 1860 till the present time such fines have been received by the library and appropriated towards the pur- chase of law-books, and necessary miscellane- ous books for reference ; and under this system the library has become very valuable.

The collection of books comprises all the Pennsylvania State Reports, digests and prom- inent treatises on law topics, complete sets of reports of the following States : Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecti- cut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Ohio, and also a full set of English reports. There are also promiscuous reports from other States, ency- clopædias, etc. The number of books in April, 1886, was thirty-eight hundred and fifty.

In 1869 a fire-proof extension of two wings was constructed at the rear of the court-house, and then the library was removed from the small and inconvenient room where it had been located for twenty-five years into a fine, large and very pleasant room on the second floor in the upper wing. Opportunities for increase were afforded thereby, and from that time the books multiplied rapidly.

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History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 100

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846 Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards Number of Pages: 1418

Author: Montgomery, Morton L. (Morton Luther), b. 1846
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : Everts, Peck & Richards
Number of Pages: 1418