History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 176

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

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The Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company of Berks County is an offspring of the company named, and was organized in 1875 by members of the old company opposed to the insurance of village property. In the new company policies are written on farm and country property only, for two-thirds of their valne. The company has been eminently successful, being prosperous from its formation. In 1885 the policies ag- gregated over $2,000,000 insurance. On or- dinary property the insurance is perpetual, if the mutual clause is complied with ; but on ex- tra hazardous country property five-year policies are written. By the terms of the charter the meetings must be held annually at Windsor Castle. In 1885 the principal officers were the following : Samuel K. Fisher, president; A. S. Seidel, secretary ; Samuel Bewer, treasurer.

Windsor Society for the Detection of Horse- Thieves .- This body was organized under a charter granted April 9, 1855, with eighty members and the following officers: Daniel Bausher, president ; Jacob Reber, Jr., vice- president; M. A. Sellers, secretary ; Jeremiah Focht, treasurer ; William Miller, G. E. Hor- lacher and William Reber, auditors. Of the above officers, M. A. Sellers has filled the po- sition of secretary continuously to the present time. The membership is limited to an area of country described by a radius of ten miles from Windsor Castle, the headquarters of the society.

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TOWNSHIPS OF COUNTY.

The by-laws provide a police committee of six- teen persons, who hold themselves under the control and direction of the president of the society, and when the theft of a horse is re- ported, a search is instituted by this committee, and, getting on the track of the horse, must be pursued fifty miles, or until the thief is appre- hended. In case of the loss of the animal the horse is appraised and the owner reimbursed from the funds of the society to the extent of three-fourths of the actual value. Since the operation of the society twelve horses belonging to members were reported missing, of which ten of them were recovered, and in nearly every in- stance the thieves were brought to justice. In 1885 there were one hundred members and the following officers : Joseph L. Smith, president; John De Turk, vice-president ; Mahlon A. Sel- lers, secretary ; Joseph Bewer, treasurer.

The Windsor Horse Life Insurance Company of Berks County was organized under a charter granted by the County Court Angust 1, 1859, with one hundred and ten members and the fol- lowing as the first board of directors :

Mahlon A. Sellers. Daniel Bausher.

William Miller.

William Rieser.

Samuel S. Unger. Benjamin Gardner.

Joseph Smith. William Reber.

William D. Shomo.

Jeremiah Focht.

John Balthaser.

George Merkel.

The first officers were William D. Shomo, president; Benjamin Gardner, vice-president ; Mahlon A. Sellers, secretary ; Samuel S. Unger, treasurer ; John Balthaser, collector.

In its workings the company is purely mutual, and its operations are limited to Berks County. Its success is attested by the fact that its mem- bership is fully kept up, and that since its ex- istence the society has been able to sustain the loss of one hundred and forty-five horses. In- surance on animals may be placed as high as two hundred dollars, and in case of a loss, the owner is compensated within thirty days, less twenty per cent. of the appraised value of the animal. In 1885 the officers were Solomon Miller, president; John De Turk, vice-presi- dent; Mahlon A. Sellers, secretary ; Jacob F. Christ, treasurer.

PERRY TOWNSHIP.

In an act passed April 2, 1821, establishing and altering certain election districts, the fol- lowiug provision was made : " That the township of Perry, in the county of Berks, shall be a separate election district, and the electors thercof shall hold their general elections at the house now occupied by John Binckley, in said town- ship." But no action was taken npon this legis- lation, and that section of territory was not made into a separate election district. No such township was in existence. Twenty-eight years afterward this election district was again cstab- lished ; and still the township was not erected. Four years more elapsed before such a political division was created. The provision was as follows : " That so much of the town- ship of Windsor as lies south of a line com- mencing at a certain point on the Schuylkill River designated by a post on land of George Hughes ; thence, including the farm buildings, the Zion's Church, et cetera, N. 87} degrees, E. 1776 perches, to a double-hickory tree on the banks of the Maiden Creek, on land of Jacob Heinly, be and the same is hereby erected into a new and separate township, school and election district, to be called Perry township." The voting-place was fixed at the house of Jacob Boyer, in Shoemakersville. Benjamin Gardner was appointed judge and John Snyder and Jolin H. Mohr inspectors of the first elec- tion for township officers.

INDUSTRIES .- The industries of Perry town- ship are few in number and limited to the ordinary occupations of a farming country. Along the Maiden Creek, near Virginsville, is the blue-stone quarry of Isaac Leiby, which is noted for its fine quality of stone, resembling slate in many respects. Blocks of stone have been taken from it varying from two inches to four feet in thickness and thirty feet long. The same kind of stone is found on the farm of Jacob Shappell. Neither quarry is worked on a large scale. The former has been open many years. Near Shoemakersville flag-stones of fine quality and large size are quarried by William S. Koller and Isaac Wheeler, both quarries being worked to a considerable extent.

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

On Plum Creek, more than a mile east from Shoemakersville, is an old mill-seat, known in early times as Schnable's, and later as the mill of Nicholas Greth. The present mill, a roomy brick building, was erected by Enoch Wartzenluft, and steam supplied, in addition to the water-power, before 1870. It is operated on custom-work. Near the village of Virgins- ville, and operated by the waters of the Maiden Creek, are the Gruber grist and saw-mills, built in 1832 by John Dreibelbis and now owned by Ephraim Dreibelbis, which have a good repu- tation. The fine mill of Adam Stoudt, at Shoemakersville, is operated by the Plum Creek and the Schuylkill. It was built, about 1840, by James and Joshua Reber, but has been sup- plied with modern machinery. In all points it is an excellent mill.

On the Plum Creek, in the village, is the well-equipped tannery of C. H. & W. S. Seidel, operated by the present firm since 1884. It was built to its present size in 1867, by Solomon B. Seidel, the owner since 1846. The building is fifty by ninety feet, and two stories high. There are sixty-four vats. Fifty hides per week are tanned into harness-leather. Steam has been used since 1863. The business was established by Samnel Shoemaker. Part of the building put up by him in 1810 is still used as an office. It is said that schools were taught in that room at an early day. Shoe- maker was succeeded by Jacob Seidel, grand- father of the present owners. Near Shoe- makersville, Henry Moll began the manufacture of common pottery-ware many years ago, and this is still carried on by Franklin B. Moll.

CHURCHES.

ZION'S CHURCH (Lutheran and Reformed) .-- This old house of worship is in the northern part of the township, three miles from Shoe- makersville. In 1805 the present edifice was erected, the brick used in its construction hav- ing been made on the church property. The lot on which the house stands was bought then. Since that time additions have been purchased to enlarge the cemetery, which now embraces about three acres. It has lately been improved .

by having a neat iron fence built in front of the lot. The house shows evidence of age; but it has been improved so as to make it attractive. It was remodeled in 1860. At the time it was built the trustees were Andrew Schmidt, Peter Shappell, George Hinkel and Peter Gardner, the last two named being Lutheran. The pres- ent is the third house of worship used by these congregations. As early as 1760 the purpose to build a church in this neighborhood was agi- tated, and Conrad Kerschner made a journey to Philadelphia to secure a donation of land from the Penns for church purposes. He was suc- cessful in obtaining a grant of forty acres, and on this there was built a small log meeting- house, in 1761. It soon proved too small, and, in 1771, a larger building (also of logs) was erected, by a committee composed of Jeremiah Shappell, Eberhard Shappell, Johannes Herd, Conrad Kerschner and George Hauer. This house also stood on the church property, on land donated by the Penns, but the third house it was thought best to build on more elevated ground, which was secured by purchase. The church property is improved with a residence, barn and enough sheds for the gratuitous use of church attendants to accommodate sixty-one teanıs.

The Rev. Bernhart Hausich was the first to preach in this locality. He held meetings be- fore the first church was built. He visited the neighborhood from 1759 to 1763. Then came, . as Lutheran pastors, the following :

D. Schumacher ... 1763-65 John A. Krug ..... 1765-71 Heinrich Miller .. 1775-77 Dan. Lehman .. 1778-1810

John Knoske ...... 1811-14

Frederick Engel .. 1817-23 G. F. J. Iaeger ... 1823-66 Thos. T. Iaeger ... 1866 --

The Rev. John Andreas Krug was the first minister to preach regularly, and he began the records of the church. Some of his first entries indicate, in 1766, the marriage of Frantz Roth to Hannah Kerschuer, the ceremony having been performed in the church, after the bans had been declared at Reading.

The first baptism was that of a child belong- ing to Jacob and Magdalena Schumacher, in September, 1762. The child received the name of Mary Magdalena, and Jacob Hill and Mag- dalena, his wife, were the sponsors. The Luth-

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eran congregation has flourished for many years. In 1885 it had four hundred members.

The Reformed congregation had its first set- tled pastor in 1771, in the person of Rev. Philip Jacob Michel. The successive pastors were as follows:

Henry Hertzell 1800

Abraham Berkey. .. 1834

George Wack. 1807

C. Y. Hermann .... 1836

Henry Dieffenbach ... 1808

J. S. Hermann.

C. S. Hermann 1819

L. D. Lederman. 1868

Joseph S. Dubbs. .1822

R. S. Appel 1870

P. S. Fischer 1831

B. S. Wise 1872 Adam Schaeffer 1833

In 1885 the congregation had three hundred members. Sixty years ago the church was sup- plied with a pipe-organ and John Starr was the organist for thirty-six years. Daniel Saul has filled the same position since 1866.

SHOEMAKERSVILLE CHURCH (REFORMED AND LUTHERAN) was built in 1853 on two acres of land secured for this purpose from the farm of Joshua Reber. It is a two-story brick edifice, with a gallery, and was put up by a building committee composed of Daniel Unger and Solomon B. Seidel, on the part of the Lutheran congregation ; and David Becker and Isaac Mohr, on the part of the Re- formed congregation.

The latter had for its first pastor the Rev. Isaac Miesse, and was succeeded by the Revs. F. H. Swartz, E. P. A. Hoffman and the present pastor P. Y. Schelley. The congregation has one hundred and fifty members. The Lutheran congregation had for its first pastor the Rev. Thomas T. Iaeger, whose successors in the ininistry were the Revs. B. E. Kramlich, Ben- jamin Kline, T. T. Iaeger, C. K. Drumheller and O. D. Miller. It has one hundred and fifty members and a well-attended Sunday-school is superintended by Henry K. Miller.

ST. TIMOTHY'S CHURCH (REFORMED AND LUTHERAN) is, as its name implies, a union house of worship, and was built at Mohrsville in 1864. It is located in the upper part of the village, on the east side of the turnpike and presents an inviting appearance. The house is of brick, in modern style of church architect- ure, and is supplied with a plain spire. The

church was formally dedicated on Sunday, May 17, 1865.

The Lutheran congregation was organized with seventeen members and has increased to about sixty. The Rev. E. B. Kramlich was the first pastor. The Rev. G. W. Fritch is the present pastor.

'The Reformed congregation numbers about thirty members, and has had the pastoral services of the Revs. Aaron S. Leinbach, Tobias Kessler, and R. S. Appel, the latter at present in charge.

THE EBENEZER CHURCH of the Evangelical Association was built in 1857, in the eastern part of the village of Snoemakersville. The building is of brick and rather small in dimen- sions. It was erected under the direction of the Rev. Daniel Wieand, assisted by a building committee. At that time about thirty persons constituted the membership, which is not much stronger at this time, owing to the organization of Salem United Brethren Church in the same village. The church is included in the Kutztown Circuit. It was served in 1885 by the Revs. William Weidner and C. C. Speicher. The circuit embraced in 1885 Kutztown, Lyons, Shamrock, Richmond, Virginsville, Wesnersville, Albany, Hamburg and Shoemakersville. The following ministers have been in charge of it: Revs. Wieand, Ziegenfuss, Leib, Leopold, Sechrist, Gingrich, Lichtenwalter, Stauffer, Yeagle, Lenz, Hess and Weidner.

Ebenezer Church supported a Sunday-school in 1885, which had Wm. P. Burkhart as the superintendent.

SALEM CHURCH of the United Brethren in Christ is located in the upper part of the village of Shoemakersville.

The congregation occupying it was or- ganized in 1874. The church was built in 1876. It is a small, but neat brick house, plainly built. The committee who erected it were John Sieger, Peter Heckman and Frank- lin Gundy. The two former and Samuel Lesher are the present trustees. There were thirty members when the church was organized ; now they are nearly double that number. Since the fall of 1885 the pastor has been the Rev. L. W. Cranmer. Other ministers of the church have been the Revs. Longenecker, Fleisher,

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Lowry, Etter, Unger and Moon. A flourish- ing Sunday-school is supported by the church, with Henry Dubson as superintendent.

SCHOOLS .- The people of Perry have taken a warm interest in educational matters, and their school-houses generally, are well supplied with the requisities demanded by our modern teachers. The school-house at Shoemakersville was built in 1875. It is a spacious two-story building, well furnished and the schools main- tained in it enjoy a good reputation.

VILLAGES.

SHOEMAKERSVILLE, the largest village in Perry township, is on the Schuylkill, south- wardly of the centre of the township and at the mouth of Plum Creek. It is finely located on a level tract of land and is surrounded by a fertile country. Its name was derived from Henry Shoemaker, one of the first settlers at the place, who lived on the north side of Plum Creek. The stone mansion which he built in 1768 is still standing and is used as a residence, being now the property of Solomon B. Seidel. For a time he kept an inn at that place, but it was discontinued when a public-house was opened in Charles Shoemaker's dwelling, which stood on the south side of Plum Creek and on the site of the present Metropolitan Hotel. The original house was of logs, but an addition of stone was made after more room was demanded. Charles Shoemaker was the father of sons named Charles, Benjamin, Jacob and Samuel. The first-named figured most in public affairs, being a member of the Assembly and a Senator from 1813 to 1816. He died at Shoemakers- ville in 1822. He was the father of Mrs. Solomon B. Seidel, of Shoemakersville, and Mrs. Charles Mohr and Mrs .. Samuel Stepp, of Mohrsville. The lower part of Shoemakers- ville was never laid out for village purposes, but buildings were put up on lots of irregular size to suit the purchasers. Most of the growth has been made within the last twenty years. A quarter of a mile farther up the turnpike, and on the north side of the canal, an addition to Shoemakersville was made by Isaac Reber ; and later, others, by F. S. Reber and S. S. Unger, upon which a number of houses have been

built. Now this part is larger than the original village. The first house here was put up by Harrison Derrick, a log building used for a dwelling. Jacob Sieger put up the first sub- stantial house, also a residence, in 1855; and about the same time William Miller another, now the residence of Perry Reber. Near the same time substantial improvements were made by Daniel Zuber, D. B. Fisher and George B. Fisher. The latter opened the first store, about 1865, in a building now occupied as a tin-shop by William F. Burkhart.

In 1870 S. S. Unger put up a large three- story brick hotel in this part of the village, calling it the " Mansion House." The upper part was finished off for a public hall and part of the lower floor prepared for a store-room, which has since been occupied for business purposes. The hotel has been continuously kept by S. S. and A. S. Unger.

Between these two parts of the village the Pennsylvania Railroad has located its station, erecting very neat depot buildings, opened for business in December, 1885. Half a mile west, in Centre township, is the depot building of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, and which is the Shoemakersville station. It was not located as early as the construction of the rail- way, the people of the place for many years having been obliged to transact their business through the Mohrsville station. In 1862 the Windsor Haven Bridge Company opened its toll- bridge and entered into an agreement with the railroad company whereby the latter agreed to maintain a station, provided the former would erect the depot buildings. This arrangement was carried out and since that time the station has aided in increasing the business of Shoe- makersville. The first merchandising was done in the old Shoemaker mansion, where Samuel Dreibelbis had a store. Soon after, a man named Feyer opened a store in part of the Charles Shoemaker inn. This was discontinued and a store was opened at the canal by Jacob Barndt. Soon after, Michael Beard began trad- ing in a house put up for store purposes by the Reber brothers, Joshua and James, who endea- vored to attract business to the village by these improvements. Auother store-stand was es-

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tablished by Charles Shoemaker, where Charles Weightman engaged in business. Later, Joseph Seidel built a store-house, which is still in use, occupied by Henry K. Miller many years. Along the canal store-houses were built by the Rebers and by Jacob Seidel, Sr. Iu the one D. I. Saul is in business, and near the Penu- sylvania depot Charles N. Brownmiller has lately established himself in trade as a lumber and coal dealer.

The old Charles Shoemaker inn was carried on in a repaired condition until 1869, when Elias Becker built and has since kept the com- modious three-story hotel known as the Metro- politan House. The upper story was fitted up for the use of secret societies and it has been oc- cupied by lodges of the orders of Patrons of Husbandry, Knights of Pythias, Junior Ameri- cau Mechanics and Knights of the Mystic Chain, all of which have been discontinued and the charters surrendered. In this hotel is the Shoemakersville post-office, established in 1833, and which was kept by Charles Shoemaker, Jr. The present postmaster is Elias Becker.

Among the physicians at Shoemakersville may be named Dr. Winters, Dr. Hiram Whit- ner, Dr. J. N. Brause and the present practi- tioners, Dr. M. S. Reber and Dr. N. K. Fisher.

On the turnpike, above the village, were two old-time inns, known as Fink's and Heckman's ; at the former were also as landlords, Solomon Lesher, Tobias Gerhart, Aspen Kerschner and Charles Dreibelbis, the last to keep the inn.

MOHRSVILLE is a pleasant hamlet consisting of fifteen buildings on the Perry township side of the Schuylkill, and as many more on the Centre township side. There are stations of the same name on both the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and tlie Pennsylvania Rail- road. The former station was established in October, 1841, in Centre township, and J. W. Smith appointed agent. Upon his decease Seth Zimmerman became his successor, and since December, 1842, has faithfully and effi- ciently discharged the duties of an agent of the company. The depot is large and much ship- ping is done at this point.

The station on the Pennsylvania Railroad was opened in December, 1885, and has been

provided with pleasant quarters. It was on this side that Mohrsville began its growth and took its name from the Mohr family, who were early settlers here and the first to engage in trade. John H. Mohr had a public-house in the first building in the place, and he was the first postmaster of the office established May 10, 1836. The inn was vacated about 1853, after the hotel on the west side was opened. The store built about 1840 by John H. Mohr and John Gernant, and in which Michael R. Smith is now carrying on business, is the only public place on the east side, and in it is kept the post- office by Michael R. Smith. It is the distribu- ting office for Centreport and Bernville by stage route tri-weekly. Various shops are in the village. Dr. W. R. Shaner is located there in the practice of medicine.

On the west side are a large hotel, a good store and a number of fine homes, some of them lately erected, while on the east side the new railroad has caused evidences of improvement to appear.

ALBANY TOWNSHIP.

Albany township is the northernmost dis- trict in the county. Its eastern line forms part of the county line between Berks and Lehigh Counties, and its northern line part of the county line between Berks and Schuylkill Counties. I have not been able to ascertain when this township was first erected and how much territory it embraced. The first district in this upper section of the county embraced a large area of territory, including what is now Albany and Greenwich townships, altogether about forty-five thousand acres, and it was known for some years previous to 1752 by the name of "Allemaengel," which signified all- wants, a country wanting in fertility of soil. About the time of, and probably immediately after, the erection of the county this large area was divided into two districts by a straight line run east and west through the central portion, the upper having been named Albany and the lower Greenwich. These names were taken from prominent districts in England, and were doubtless suggested by the surveyor, Benjamin

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Lightfoot, who was active in such service during that early period of the county. I made diligent search amongst the old records of Phil- adelphia County, and also of Berks County, without finding anything relating to the erec- tion of this large tract of territory into a town- ship or to its subsequent subdivision.

Immediately after the country between the Sonth Mountain and Blue Mountain was de- clared open to general settlement upon its pur- chase from the Indians, settlers proceeded north- wardly along the Maiden Creek and took up lands by warrant and survey. These were mostly, if not entirely, Germans. In 1741 there were thirty-seven taxables.

In 1732 a "manor" of two thousand acres was set apart for the use of Thomas Penn in the upper section. This tract was described as situated on the Andenehilia (Maiden Creek), be- DIE ÜBERKLUGE WELT VER- tween Big Manor Creek and Little Manor Creek. Tradition has carried the " manor" =STEHT DOCH KENE WAAREN down till now, and the creeks to the east and west are still pointed out and so named.

EARLY SETTLERS .- Cornelius Frees took up a tract of land, containing two hundred acres, in 1743, which lay at the foot of the Blue Mountain, towards the western end of the town- ship, in what is commonly called " The Cor- ner "-[Die Eck]. His neighbors then were Adam Frees, Andreas Hagenbough and Tobias Stapleton. When the land was taken up it was described as being on a branch of Maiden Creek, in Philadelphia County. But several years afterward this section was known as " Alle- maengel." He erected a log building on this tract. It was one story, with a garret, and its dimensions were eighteen feet wide by twenty- seven feet long. This was the first building erected in that distant locality. It was still standing in 1883, when I visited it, being then one hundred and forty years old, but it was in a very weak condition. The first floor had three rooms, and the garret the same. A large space was set apart for the " fire-corner " and kitchen. The two rooms adjoining were heated by a walled-in stove, which consisted of iron plates fastened together, and extended from one room through the partition into the other room. This was the only specimen of a stove of this

pattern which I saw at any time in this county or elsewhere.

A large iron plate had been walled in on the side of the building by Frees, which continued in place for many years, until it was removed by Daniel Levan, a succeeding owner, who migrated from Exeter township. This plate is supposed to have been cast at the Colebrookdale Furnace. It contained the following inscription in raised letters :

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History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 176

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