History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 87

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

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502

HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

David Fister 1850-53

J. Bowman Bell 1851-57

Lewis Briner. 1851-64

Samuel Frees. 1851-54

David Kutz. 1853-68

William Henry

1854-60

Jacob Dick.

1855-57

Daniel Young

1857-66

Abr. D. Hill.

1857-66

Levi B. Smith

1858

James Lee.

1858-64

Jacob Young

1859-71

Samuel Summons 1860-72

Charles H. Fritz.

1864-70

Henry Z. Van Reed 1864-70

J. Glancy Jones 1864-68

David McKnight 1864-70

David L. Wenrich.

1868-71

Amos Weiler. 1868-69

Calvin Goodman 1869-72

Peter A. Kline 1869-72

George Lerch. 1870-73

Joseph Ganser 1871-73

W. B. Griesemer 1872-73

William K. Grim 1872-73

Isaac R. Fisher 1872-73

Benjamin Levan

1873

Jacob Miller 1873

Elected Under Act 1873.

The first nine named comprised the 1st board elected in 1873. After organization, on the 1st day of December, lots were cast for the terms of these inspectors. The board organizes annually on the 1st day of December.

Name. Term.

John Gernant. (1 yr.) 1873-74; 1874-77

William Stump. ... (1 yr.) 1873-74; 1874-77

S. Schmehl. .(1 yr.) 1873-74 ; 1878-81

Samuel Buch .(2 yrs.) 1873-75

Amendon Bright (2 yrs.) 1873-75 William Herbst. (2 yrs.) 1873-75

W. J. Lyon .(3 yrs.) 1873-76; 1876-79 Tobias Barto. (3 yrs.) 1873-76

Jacob Miller. (3 yrs.) 1873-74

Calvin Goodman 1875-77

Peter Rapp. 1874-77

Jacob Shaffner. 1875-78

Peter A. Kline. .1875-78

Peter L. Hain. 1875-78

James T. Reber 1876-79 William S. Ritter 1877-82 Adam Minnich 1877-80

Daniel L. Rhoads. 1877-80

David Brown 1877-80

Josiah Boltz.

1878-81

Isaac H. Rahn. 1878-81

Lewis L. Moyer 1879-82

John Stieff. 1879-82

Adam H. Potteiger 1880-83

Charles S. Wentzel. 1880-83

Milton T. Donmoyer 1880-83

William D. Klopp. 1881-84

William A. Schall

1881-84

William W. Lewis.

1881-82

William Schweitzer

1882-84

John Obold.

1882-85 ; 1885-88

Henry Rieger. 1882-85; 1885-88

Jacob S. Wisler

1882-85

John S. Wenrich. 1883-86

Samuel H. Mensch 1883-86

Dallas Leinbach 1883-86

John B. Clemmer. 1884-87

William H. Seitzinger 1884-87

D. D. Hinterleiter. 1884-87

PRISON WARDENS.

Name. Term.

Mahlon Bertolet 1849-53

Dr. Henry Tyson 1853-65

Joseph Ganser 1865-70

Daniel S. Francis. 1870-73

Thomas Will. 1873-76

Isaac K. Knoll 1876-79

Adam B. Brossman 1879-82

Dr. R. B. Rhoad 1882-85

Aaron M. Wenrich 1885

SUPERINTENDENTS OF COMMON SCHOOLS.

Numerous legislative attempts were made to popularize and thoroughly introduce public education. Fifty years were spent in endeavors to educate the poorer classes of children by proposed taxation, with comparatively little progress. Finally, an act was passed May 8, 1854, which made proceedings in this behalf compulsory, and anthorized a school tax to be levied, directors to be elected, etc. And to see that the brauches of a common education were properly taught, teaching directed, established graded schools maintained, and uniformity in course of studies preserved, a county superin- tendent was to be elected for a term of three years by all the directors of the county. Since 1854 the system of education provided by the State has been carried on successfully in the county by school directors and a county super- intendent.

The school affairs of the city of Reading are under the supervision of a board of school controllers and a city superintendent.

The county superintendents were :

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POLITICS AND CIVIL LIST.

Name.

Term.

William A. Good. 1854-60

John S. Ermentrout. 1860-69

David B. Brunner. 1869-75

Samuel A. Baer

875-81

David S. Keck .1881-84; 1884 -87

JURY COMMISSIONERS.

Before 1867 the jurors for the trial of cases in the several courts of the county were se- lected from the qualified electors by the county commissioners and the sheriff. On April 10, 1867, a general act was passed for the State re- quiring the election of two jury commissioners in October following, for the term of three years, and every third year thereafter, for the purpose of selecting jurors from the qualified electors. The act provides that each elector shall vote for one person for this office, and the two per- sons having the highest vote shall be the com- missioners. They are to select a number des- ignated by the court, and place the names in a jury wheel in the presence of a judge of the court; and they and the sheriff are to draw panels of jurors as grand, petit, and traverse jurors for the county as theretofore. The num- ber generally designated for the jury wheel pre- vious to 1875 was a thousand names; then, upon the introduction of an additional law judge, the number was increased to twelve hundred. Since 1867 the jurors for the quar- terly terms of the several courts of the county were selected and drawn as mentioned, by the following commissioners, who were elected for that purpose :

George W. Bruckman } 1867-70 Charles J. Faber

Zacharias H. Maurer ? 1870-73

Joseph Brelsford

Israel R. Laucks } 1873-76

Samuel U. Hollenbach

Michael K. Boyer Į

1877-79

Reuben Rhoads

Henry Graul

Edwin H. Harner1 1880-82

Jacob K. Sterrett

Cosmos Swoyer 1883-85

John B. Snyder

William G. Welder ?

1886-88

Daniel Sheirer

Edwin H. Harner removed from the county, and J. K. Sterrett was appointed February 26, 1881, for unexpired term.

LICENSE COMMISSIONERS.

In 1676 the Duke of York's Laws required a license to enable a person to sell liquors in the province of Pennsylvania. This was granted by two justices of the peace in the Quarter Ses- sions, for the term of one year, upon the appli- cant furnishing " a certificate of his good be- havior from the constable and two overseers of the parish " wherein he dwelt. In 1710 the law required the application to be recommended by the justices of the county courts to the Governor, who issued the license. The number was unlimited. But in 1794 the law required the judges of the Quarter Sessions, at the first session of every year thereafter, to limit and declare the number of taverns and public-houses to be licensed for the year following; and the judges were to have "regard to the particular neighborhoods and situations the most suitable for the accommodation of the inhabitants and travelers." The Governor still granted the licenses upon the proper recommendation ; and he continued to grant them till the passage of the act of March 8, 1815, when the judges of the Quarter Sessions issued them, upon the recommendation of the applicant by twelve reputable citizens of the district in which the tavern was to be kept. On April 23, 1869, an act of Assembly was specially passed for Berks County, whereby a Board of License Commis- sioners was created to issue licenses. The first board was composed of tliree members : the district attorney, in office ex officio ; one men- ber appointed by the judges of the Quarter Ses- sions for a term ending February, 1871; and the third by the county commissioners for a term ending February, 1873. And every two years after 1869 the court or commissioners were authorized to appoint a person for a term of four years. Licenses in the county were accord- ingly issued annually by this board till the law was repealed, May 5, 1876. In the year pre- vious, on April 12, 1875, a general law to re- strain and regulate the sale of liquors was passed by the Legislature for the State, except- ing in those counties for which special provis- ion was made. After the repeal of the act of 1869, the Court of Quarter Sessions issued licenses pursuant to the act of 1875. And this

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

is the law under which the licenses are still issued.

In respect to licenses, a general act was passed March 27, 1872, "to permit the voters of this State to vote every three years on the question of granting licenses to sell intoxicating liquors." The time for the first general election on the ques- tion, in every city and county, was fixed for the third Friday in March, 1873, and every third year thereafter on the day for the annual municipal electious. It will be observed that the time was set in the spring of the year in order to obtain the expression of political sentiment uninfluenced by the general tide of opinion of the fall elections. One election was held, but before the first three years had expired the act was repealed, on April 12, 1875.

The board, during the seven years in which the act prevailed, comprised the following mem- bers :

(Ex-officio, being the District Attorneye.)

Name.

Term.

Edward H. Shearer

1869-71

Peter D. Wanner

1871-74

Henry C. G. Reber 1874-76

Appointees.

Name.

Term.

Richard Ludwig.

1869-75

John H. Snyder.

1869-73

William Heins. 1873-76

Elias Obold

1875-76

OIL INSPECTOR.

The office of oil inspector was created by the act of May 15, 1874, " to provide for the better security of life and property from the dangers of coal and petroleum oils." By this act the standard or fire test of all burning-fluids was fixed at one hundred and ten degrees Fahren- heit. The inspector is appointed by the Court of Common Pleas of the county for the term of three years; and he is required to furnish security in ten thousand dollars for the faithful discharge of his duties. The first appointment was made in August, 1877.

Charles A. Z. Griesemer was the first inspec- tor. He was reappointed in 1880, and again in 1883.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CONGRESSMEN, FOREIGN MINISTERS, DELEGATES TO STATE CONVENTIONS AND STATE OFFICIALS.

CONGRESSMEN.

DANIEL HIESTER was born in Bern town- ship, Berks County, in 1747. He obtained a good English education and became a prosper- ous business man. He moved to Montgomery County, where during the Revolution he took an active and patriotic part. He was chosen a colonel and afterwards a brigadier-general of militia, and was in the service for a considerable time. In 1784 he was elected to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, and in 1787 was appointed a commissioner of the Connecti- cut land claims. After the Revolutionary War he returned to Berks County and was elected a member of the First, Second, Third and Fourth Congresses of the United States. After this he removed to Hagerstown, Md., and was elected from that State a member of the Seventh and Eighth Congresses. During his attendance upon the Eighth Congress he died at Washington, March 8, 1804. He was one of those who voted for locating the seat of govern- ment on the Potomac.

JOSEPH HIESTER, a Congressman for many years. (See sketch as a Governor of State, with State Officials).

MATHIAS REICHERT was of German parent- age. His grandfather, John Frederick Reichert, was born in Augsburg, Kingdom of Würtem- berg ; emigrated to Pennsylvania, landing May 24, 1720 ; settled at New Hanover, in Mont- gomery County ; took up one hundred and fifty acres of land, and died there in 1748, leaving a wife Anna Maria, and three children,-Casper, Mathias and Hannah. Mathias was born in 1719 and died March 25, 1775, aged fifty-six years, and left three sons and three daughters. The youngest son was Judge Reichert, born February 26, 1758. He married Maria Sa- lome, daughter of Henry M. Muhlenberg, May 2, 1782. They had five sonsand four daughters. He spent much of his life at Colebrookdale as a farmer, scrivener aud justice of the peace. He first served as one of the court justices under the Constitution of 1776; was appointed

505

POLITICS AND CIVIL LIST.

associate judge of Berks County under the Con- stitution of 1790 and served until 1797. In 1802 he moved to Reading to fill an appoint- ment as collector of excise, and in 1807 was elected to the United States House of Repre- sentatives to succeed Governor Joseph Hiester ; was re-elected in 1809 and served until 1811. He held the commission as a justice of the peace for forty-two years and died in 1830, highly respected by the entire community.

JOHN M. HYNEMAN was a resident of Read- ing. He was a representative in the State Legislature from Berks County in 1809, filled the position of clerk of the Orphans' Court from 1810 to 1815, and was county surveyor from 1813 to 1816. He was elected a repre- sentative in Congress by the Berks District in 1810, and re-elected in October, 1812, serving from 1811 to 1813, when he resigned, and General Daniel Udree was elected to fill the vacancy. He died in April, 1816, aged forty- five years.

DANIEL UDREE was born in Philadelphia August 5, 1751. He removed to Berks County, and settled in Oley township, where he became extensively engaged in the manufacture of iron. He operated the Oley Furnace and Rockland Forges very successfully for over thirty years, owning, in connection with those industries, several thousand acres of land. He was estab- lished in business by his uncle, Jacob Winey, a prominent capitalist and merchant of Philadel- phía.

He was enlisted in the Revolutionary War for several years, commanding a regiment at the battle of Brandywine, where his horse was shot under him. He took an active part in the local militia for many years, and served the office of major-general for one term of seven years abont 1815.

He represented Berks County in the General Assembly from 1799 to 1803, and also for the year 1805, and while there showed an earnest interest in legislation relative to public internal improvements in the State, He was the repre- sentative in Congress for the Berks District for two terms, from 1813 to 1815, and from 1823 to 1825. Whilst at Washington during his last term in Congress, John Quincy Adams

was elected President. Shortly before the elec- tion he attended a party which was given by Mrs. Adams, and she, in a quiet, pleasant way, alluded to the probable support which her hus- band would receive from the representatives from Pennsylvania. "Yes," said he to her, " we are like the handle of a jug, all on one side," intimating politely that the great majority of them were for General Jackson. He died July 15, 1828, leaving a large estate. He was the last really prominent and representative man who lived in Oley, and one of the few Congressmen selected from the country districts of the county. In personal appearance, he was a well-developed man, rather below the medium height, and his conversational manner was quick and nervons.

LUDWIG WORMAN was a native of Bucks County, Pa. He removed to Berks County early in life, and carried on the tanning busi- ness in Earl township. He was elected to Congress for the term 1821 to 1823, and died October 17, 1822, while a member of that body.

WILLIAM ADDAMS was born on the 9th of March, 1777, in Lancaster County, Pa .; re- moved to Berks County early in life, and served as county auditor during the years 1813 and 1814; was county commissioner from 1814 to 1817; member of the State Legislature from 1822 to 1824, and associate judge of Berks County from 1839 to 1842, having succeeded the Hon. William Darling by appointment from Governor David R. Porter.

He was a Representative in Congress from Berks County from 1825 to 1829, and ren- dered efficient service on a committee for the Deaf and Dumb Institutions of the States of New York and Ohio. He was a man of exein- plary habits, highly respected and honored by those who knew him, and held many local posi- tions of trust and responsibility. He was esteemed for his " sterling integrity, good sense and unostentatious sincerity of purpose." For many years he was captain of the " Reading Troop," which, under his discipline, was the pride of the county. He died at his residence in Spring township, this county, March 31, 1858, at the advanced age of eighty-one years.

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

HENRY A. MUHLENBERG, a Congressman from 1829 to 1838. (For sketch, see biographies of Foreign Ministers.)

JOHN RITTER, a Congressman from 1843 to 1847. (See sketch in chapter on Newspapers.)

WILLIAM STRONG, a Congressman from 1847 to 1853. (See sketch with biographies of State Officials.)

J. GLANCY JONES, a Congressman from 1851 to 1858. (See sketch with biographies of Foreign Ministers.)

HENRY A. MUHLENBERG1 Was born at Reading, Pa., July 21,1823. He was the son of Henry Angustus Muhlenberg and Rebecca, daughter of Governor Joseph Hiester. His preliminary education was acquired under the direction of his father. At the age of fourteen he entered Jefferson College, at Canonsburg, Pa., where he remained one year, passing thence to Dickinson College, where he entered the sopho- more class, and was graduated in 1841. He was a close student, especially of the classics and of history. He passed three years, from 1841 to 1844, in the office of his preceptor, Hon. J. Pringle Jones, engaged in the study of the law.

During his father's candidacy for Governor, in 1844, he displayed marked ability as his private secretary, and conducted all his father's corre- spondence during the canvass. In 1846, when the Mexican War broke out, he raised a com- pany of volunteers in Reading, and personally tendered their services to the Governor, but the complement of Pennsylvania having already been filled, the offer was declined. In the County Convention of 1846, he, with his brother Hiester, the president of that body, was mainly instrumental in cansing the adoption of a res- olution approving of the principles of the tariff of 1842, and demanding that, as it was passed by Democratic votes, it should receive a fair consideration from a Democratic Congress. He also delivered a speech in the same body on the Oregon question, in which he strongly favored the claims of the United States to all that dis- trict of country lying south of the parallel of 54° 40'. In 1847 and 1848 he was occupied in writing a " Life of General Peter Muhlenberg,"of

Revolutionary fame, which was published early in 1849, by Cary & Hart, Philadelphia, and was well received. It was dedicated to Jared Sparks, as a slight recognition of his services in elucidating our Revolutionary history.

In the fall of 1849 he was elected to the Leg- islature from Berks County, and served three years. He there acquired a reputation for in- tegrity, eloquence and business ability. Shortly after taking his seat he delivered a speechı on the supplement to the act incorporating the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Com- pany, which greatly influenced the Senate in its decision to pass the measure. During the second part of his Senatorial career he was the Democratic candidate for Speaker, though the youngest member of that House, his competitor on the Whig side being Hon. John H. Walker, of Erie (the president of the Constitutional Conven- tion of 1872-73). The Senate then contained sixteen Whigs, sixteen Democrats and one Native American, and a majority of all who voted was required to elect. On the eighth ballot, and on the third day, when it was evident that no choice could be made, unless the Whig candi- date should vote for himself, the Democratic candidate, together with Messrs. Packer and Guernsey, also Democrats, out of political courtesy, ahstained from voting. Throughout the whole contest the two candidates respectively voted for Thomas Carson and William F. Packer. As chairman of a select committee, to which was referred that portion of Governor Johnston's message for 1851 treating of the care and preservation of the State archives, Mr. Muhlenberg reported a bill, which became a law, for the publication, at the expense of the State, of the records of the proprietary govern- ment and of all papers relating to the Revolu- tionary War down to 1783. He was greatly instrumental in securing the passage of an act making an appropriation to continue the geolog- ical survey of the State, conducted by Professor Rogers. He favored also the building of new railroads to develop the resources of the com- mon wealth, though he was opposed to the State granting any direct aid to these objects. During the whole of his Senatorial term he was, in the words of Hon. C. R. Buckalew, " The bulwark

1 " Biog. Ency. of Penna."

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POLITICS AND CIVIL LIST.

of the treasury against the assaults of outside interested parties." He was outspoken in de- fense of a tariff of such amount and so levied as to protect the great manufacturing interests of country. He also thought that as iron was an indispensable requisite for any nation, to pro- vide against the contingency of a war, and to render the United States independent of any other country, that a high, thongh not a pro- hibitory duty should be imposed on that article.

In the Senate and in the County Conven- tions he, in connection with Judge Strong and other distinguished Democrats, demanded a modification of the tariff of 1846, in favor of the iron interest, in accordance with the views of Hon. Robert J. Walker, the author of that tariff-views expressed at the time of its passage. He was an earnest opponent of slavery, and considered it "a curse to that community on which it was inflicted ; no one could dislike it more than he did, nor did he ever wish to be thought the friend and advocate of the institu- tion." In his devotion, however, to the Union, and in his desire to do away with all causes which might inflame one section of the country against the other, looking upon the compromise measures of 1850 as a solemn compact between the North and South, he thought those measures and the laws resulting from them should be executed fully, honestly and completely. His devotion to the Union was one of the cardinal principles of his political faith. The words used by his father in Congress, at the time of Clay's compromise act of 1833, might be placed in his mouth also,-" The Union is the first and greatest of our national blessings, and to pre- serve it, nothing can or onght to be too precious. I go for the Union, the whole Union and no- thing but the Union. It must be preserved, peaceably, if we can, forcibly, if we must."

No one who knew him intimately can doubt for a moment that he would have been foremost in the van of those Democrats who, in the hour of greatest danger, rushed to the rescue of their government and of their Union if he had then lived.

At such a time he would not have been be- bind his brother Hiester, or his uncle, Dr. F. A. Muhlenberg, of Lancaster, in forming that

party which, in their opinion, held the true Democratic doctrine, in that it advocated the greatest good to the greatest masses. In July, 1852, he was nominated by acclamation the Democratic candidate for Congress in Berks County, and was elected the following October by a large majority. He left Reading late in November, 1853, for Washington, and was present at the opening of the thirty-fourth Con- gress, but had scarcely taken his seat when he was stricken down by illness. Everything was done for him that was possible and it was believed at one time that he was materially improved, but a relapse occurred and he died January 9, 1854, of hemorrhage and congestion of the lungs. His remains were laid to rest in the " Charles Evans Cemetery," near Reading.

He was a warm and true friend; no act of kindness was ever forgotten by him, and noth- ing within the limits of possibility was deemed too difficult when done in' the cause of a friend. His fearlessness in all departments of life was one of the most marked traits of his character ; he never shunned bearing the responsibility of any of his actions ; he did what he considered his duty, no matter what the consequences might be. Above all, throughout all of his public life he was a man of unswerving integrity and un- blemished honor ; he would do nothing, however great the inducements to the contrary, which could lower himself in his own esteem or in that of others.

His standard was a very high one, and when he believed himself to be right, no power on earth could divert him from the path which honor, good faith, good feeling and his own judgment pointed out. He possessed an ample fortune, from which he was ever ready to con- tribute to all objects, whether charitable, relig- ious, political or literary, which deserved his support.

As a citizen of Reading, he was foremost in advancing, by pen, tongue and purse, all projects which could benefit or increase the prosperity of his native place.

Had he lived, he would have written his name on the historical records of his country, and would have impressed his character on her legislation ; cut off untimely in the flower of

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HISTORY OF BERKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

his youth, and in the very maturity of his powers, his loss was a great calamity to the commonwealth. He married, in November, 1847, his cousin, Annie H., daughter of the late Dr. F. A. Muhlenberg, of Lancaster, Pa., and a son and only child survives him,-Henry A. Muhlenberg, a member of the Reading bar.

GEORGE MAY KEIM

GEORGE MAY KEIM was the son ot Gen- eral George de Benneville Keim. He was born at Reading on March 23, 1805, and educated at home and at " Bentley Hall," the school of Joshua Hoopes, at Downingtown, Chester County, Pa. He then studied law under Charles Chauncey, Esq., at Philadelphia, where he was admitted to practice on June 5, 1826, and on August 11th following he was admitted to practice in the several courts of Berks County.

In 1827 he was elected cashier of the Farm- ·ers' Bank of Reading, his uncle, Benneville Keim, having then been the president, which po- sition he held till 1836. In 1829 he was com- missioner, and afterwards for some years a manager, of the Mill Creek and Mine Hill Navigation and Railroad Company.

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History of Berks county in Pennsylvania, Part 87

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