History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 111

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534

USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania > Part 111

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J. M. ALBERTSON & SONS,-J. M. Albertson estab- lished a private banking-office in Norristown in 1857, in a building on Swede Street. In 1870 he erected the three-story brick banking-house on the corner of Swede and Main Streets, which he occupied in the fall of that year. In 1875 his sons William E. and Amos L. became partners, under the firm-name of J. M. Albertson & Sons, as it now is.

JACOB MORTON ALBERTSON .- The well-known and worthy citizen of Norristown whose name forms the caption of these few paragraphs is of Holland Dutch descent, and of a family which has been represented in America for nearly two and a half centuries, his remote ancestors having come to New Amsterdam now New York, in the "good ship 'Fox,'" on the 16th day of the Ninth Month, 1640. On the paternal grandmother's side he is Welsh, descended from Cadwalader Roberts, who emigrated from Wales to Gwynedd about the year 1693. His own mother was a sister of Thomas Livezey, a notice of whom appears elsewhere in this work.

The grandfather of our subject, Jacob Albertson, about the year 1800, bought from Joseph Potts a farm in Plymouth township, which became the home of the family in Montgomery County, and part of which was inherited by Jacob Albertson, and after his death bought by J. M. Albertson, the present owner. The property in question fronts upon the Conshohocken turnpike, and lies about midway

between the Ridge and the Germantown and Perki- omen turnpikes, and, with the additions made by the present proprietor, contains about ninety acres of limestone and iron-ore land.

It was upon this farm that Jacob Morton Albertson was born, on the 5th day of the Fifth Month, 1826. He was the fifth of ten children, of whom but four are now living. As a lad he attended the boarding and day-school kept by Hannah Williams in the house where Joseph R. Ellis now lives, at the crossing of the Conshohocken with the Germantown and Perki- omen turnpike, and later was, for a year or more, a pupil at Westtown boarding-school. Afterwards, until he was twenty-two years of age, he worked upon his father's farm, and was then sent to Philadelphia to serve customers with the products of the dairy and farnı. While there Nathan R. Potts, who took an interest in the young man, allowed him to spend his spare hours in his office, reading the law that related to conveyancing, copying opinions and writing bonds, mortgages and finally deeds. He had already at- tained at Westtown a theoretical knowledge of survey- ing, and John Levering, of Lower Merion, whose acquaintance he made, interested himself in showing him what he needed to know of the practical part of the work. Then he spent a period with his estimable uncle, Lewis Jones, of Gwynedd, who was a surveyor and conveyancer, and became quite proficient in the profession.

At the invitation of Addison May young Albertson, in the spring of 1850, removed to Norristown. A deed which his friend gave him to write fell under the observation of William Rossiter, a conveyancer, who offered him a desk in his office and a half-interest in all of the business which the two could transact. At the end of a year, through the favor of William H. Slingluff, he was elected surveyor of the borough, which so increased his business, that he had more than enough to do. His success in life was now fully assured. Industry and honesty, doing all that they could as well as they could, had prepared the way, and his subsequent progress was easy and natural, for he had the esteem of all around him.

In: 1857 he began the banking business, and in 1865 built the banking-house which he now occupies. In 1870 his business interests were further extended by his acquisition of the Star Glass-Works, which he has since successfully conducted. Lately, in connection with his two sons, he has built and is now carrying on a second factory.

Mr. Albertson, in the year 1852, married Miss Sarah P. Lee, of Exeter, Berks Co., Pa., a descendaut of Anthony Lee, an English settler, who took up six hundred acres of land in Oley township, now Berks County, by survey, dated Tenth Month 24, 1716, and received patent therefor the following year. They have five children and five graud-children. The names of the former are William E .; Amos L .; Mary, married to P. F. Hunter, of Norristown; Martha,

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

married to A. W. Howard, of Pittsburg; and Eliza- beth.

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF NORRISTOWN .- The First National Bank of Norristown (capital stock, $150,000) was organized January 8, 1864, the directors elected on that date being James Hooven, Franklin Derr, S. P. Stinson, Garret Bean, William W. Taylor, George McFarland, Samuel Anders, Benjamin E. Chain and Daniel O. Hitner.

The first officers of the bank were James Hooven, president ; George Shannon, cashier ; Lindley V. Righter, teller ; Christian H. Detwiler, clerk.

The bank opened for business March 28, 1864. The subsequent officers were: President, James Hoo- ven ; Cashier, George Shannon ; Tellers, Lindley V. Righter, Christian H. Detwiler, George R. Kite; Clerks, A. C. Rhoads, Walter Shannon, Edward L. Crawford, William C. Lenzie.

The bank was rechartered February 24, 1883, for twenty years.

This bank commenced business in a building at Egypt and Cheery Streets, and subsequently erected

1860

FIRST

NATIONAL BANK

FIRST NATIONAL BANK, NORRISTOWN.

the banking-house now occupied, being No. 107 N. W. Egypt Street, which was finished in 1870 and occupied the same year.

The amount of deposits at the close of first year was $389,503.63 ; amount of discounts at the close of first year, $244,764.57 ; amount of deposits March 28, 1874, $346,383.16; amount of discounts March 28, 1874, $338,502.45; amount of deposits March 28, 1884, $611,478.08; amount of discounts March 28, 1884, $469,267.62; surplus fund, $80,000.

The board of directors are elected and organized annually, in the second week of January.

Charles H. Stinson, Esq., was solicitor of the bank from the date of organization until appointed prcs- ident judge of the courts of Montgomery County, when he was succeeded by Benjamin E. Chain, Esq., who has been secretary of the board since the date of organization.

R. T. Stewart, H. K. Weand, Theodore W. Bean and F. G. Hobson, Esqs., have been notaries-public for the bank.

The persons who died while in the service of the bank as directors were Franklin Derr, George Mc- Farland, S. P. Stinson and Christopher Heebner. William W. Taylor died a few years after his resigna- tion.

This bank was a United States depository for the revenue collected in this district from June, 1864, to October, 1877, when the several districts were consol- idated. About the close of the war, in April, 1865, when the volunteer soldiers of the armies were being discharged and paid off, the treasurer of the United States drew a draft on the bank for one hundred thousand dollars, being the largest amount drawn upon one draft while the bank acted as a United States depository.

The board of directors meet in each week, and since the organization of the bank have on no occasion suspended discounting for customers. During the currency suspension of the Philadelphia banks in 1873 the bank paid all currency demands.

The aggregate amount of dividends paid to stock- holders during the first twenty years of business, i.e., from March 24, 1864, to March 24, 1884, was $377,987 .- 50. The par value of stock is $100 per share ; divisible value per share, $170. The present board of directors is composed of James Hooven, Daniel O. Hitner, Samuel Anders, Benjamin E. Chain, Benjamin Hughes, George S. Hallman, Frank M. Hobson, Francis G. Stinson, Walter H. Cooke.

JAMES HOOVEN .- The paternal ancestors of Mr. Hooven emigrated from Amsterdam, Holland, to Amer- ica early in the last century. His grandfather, Henry Hooven, was a native of Pennsylvania, and resided in Upper Merion township, Montgomery Co., where he was an enterprising farmer. He was married to Eliza- beth Bolton, whose son Benjamin, a native of Mont- gomery County, married Jane Ekron, who was of Scotch nativity. The children of this marriage were Philip, Helen, James and Elizabeth. Mr. Benjamin Hooven was by trade a blacksmith, and followed his vocation in Upper Merion township. He enlisted during the 'war of 1812, and lost his life while in the service. His son James was born on the 30th of March, 1808, in Chester County, and when a youth removed with his parents to Upper Merion township, where he became a pupil of the neighboring district school, but under the watchful care of his mother acquired a more thorough rudimentary education. He early cultivated a habit of study and reflection, was a skillful translator from the German and purposed

James Strover

Gareth ammons

479

BANKS AND BANKING.

devoting himself to a literary career. Circumstances, however, influenced this determination and devel- oped as successful a man of business as would other- wise have adorned the field of literature. At the age of fourteen he entered a country store located at King of Prussia, in the same township, and in 1830 embarked in business with a partner, remaining thus engaged for two years, when Norristown became his home. Here he formed a copartnership with Dr. George W. Thomas, and was for seven years interested in mercantile ventures. The business of lime-burning next oceupied his attention until 1846, when he sought a wider field of operation, and, in company with Mordecai R. Moore, erected a rolling-mill, which still operates. In 1870 he extended his manufac- turing interests by the erection of a blast furnace, and later of a pipe-mill. In 1864 he was elected presi- dent of the First National Bank of Norristown, which office lie still fills. He was also the first president of the Stony Creek Railroad. Mr. Hooven was, in 1833, married to Miss Emeline Henry, of Evansburg, Pa., whose children are Joseph Henry, Alexander, Jean- nette (Mrs. G. P. Denis), and Mary (Mrs. John W. Schall). He was a second time married, in 1874, to Helen Cushman, of Norristown. Mr. Hooven was formerly a Whig in his political predilections and subsequently became a Republican, though never in the arena of polities. He was among the earliest advocates of the doctrine of abolition, and the stanch protector and friend of the escaped slave, who found a safe abiding-place under his hospitable roof. Mr. Hooven was a delegate to the National Republican Convention in 1860, and aided by his vote in the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency. He is a supporter of and pew-holder in the Protestant Episcopal Church of Norristown, though exercising a kindly toleration toward all religious denomina- tions.

GEORGE SHANNON .- The grandfather of Mr. Shan- non was James Shannon, born in Lower Providence township, who subsequently became a farmer in Nor- riton. He married Miss Elizabeth Lane, whose children were John, Samuel, William and two daughters. Samuel, whose birth occurred in Norri- ton April 16, 1781, and his death March 18, 1858, remained in that township during his early youth, but later removed to Norristown, where he resided until his death. He married Elizabeth Harner, of the township of Whitemarsh, born December 11, 1785, who died March 20, 1879, and had children, - JJohn, James, Joseph, Samuel L., George, Ann and Rosanna. George, of this number, was born in Norristown on the 5th of November, 1821, and removed when a youth with his father to Norri- ton, where he received such advantages of education as were obtainable in the country at that time, and afterward attended the Norristown Academy. At once entering upon a career of business, he accepted a clerkship in the Bank of Montgomery County, and

was employed for sixteen years in that capacity, when he became interested in the manufacture of linseed oil.

In January of 1864 he was appointed cashier of the First National Bank of Norristown, and is still the incumbent of that position. Mr. Shannon was, in April, 1850, married to Miss Arabella Steinmetz, daughter of William Steinmetz, of Montgomery township and county, whose children are a son Walter and a daughter Flora M., now Mrs. William H. Bennett.

In his political affiliations Mr. Shannon is a Republican, and has served as a member of the Borough Council, as also of the board of school directors. He has been frequently solicited for other positions of trust, but has declined such distinetions. Ile is a director of the Sunbury and Lewistown Rail- road Company. His religions associations have been in connection with the Protestant Episcopal Church, his family being worshipers at St. John's Church, of that denomination, in Norristown.

THE PEOPLE'S NATIONAL BANK OF NORRISTOWN was organized September 24, 1881, with $100,000 capital. A. A. Yeakle was the first president ; Lewis Styer, cashier ; and A. A. Yeakle, John J. Hughes, Felix F. Highly, John J. Corson, Issachar Johnson, William Shultz, Norman Egbert, Isaac Wanner and John E. Brecht, directors.

At the present time the capital stock is $100,000 ; deposits, $134,799.41; discounts, $160.639,38 ; value of bank property, $12,000; and the surplus fund, $4000. The present officers are : President, A. A. Yeakle; Cashier, Lewis Styer; directors, A. A. Yeakle, William Schultz, John J. Hughes, William H. Sling- luff, Isaac Wanner, Nathan Schultz, John Keiser, John E. Brecht, Norman Egbert.

THE BANK OF POTTSTOWN .- This institution was chartered August 27, 1857, under act of the Gen- eral Assembly of Pennsylvania, passed on the 15th of the preceding May, and was organized Septem- ber 14th following, with an authorized capital of $100,000. Business was commenced October 5, 1857. The officers were: President, Henry Potts ; Cashier, William Mintzer; Teller, Daniel Priee; and the Directors, Henry Potts, William D. Evans, J. D. Streeper, Joseph Bailey, Peter Y. Brendlinger, David Potts, Jr., Owen Stover, George Baugh, Frederick Brendlinger, Perry M. Hunter, Isaac Linderman, S. Gross Fry, William Price.

The amount of deposits at the end of the first year (October 5, 1858) was $63,217.19 and the amount of the discounts $158,432.10.

Henry Potts died August 31, 1861. The bank was reorganized November 22, 1864, under the National Bank Act, with a capital of $150,000. William Mint- zer was elected president and served until his death, on January 26, 1867, and Daniel Price was chosen eashier. The amount of deposits at the time of reor- ganization was $290,767.92; of discounts, $178,823.09 ;

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

and the other loans, chiefly United States bonds, reached the sum of $392,000. In 1865 the capital was increased to $200,000, and in 1868 to $300,000, and a contingent fund of $125,000 was provided dur- ing the latter year. On November 22, 1884, at the expiration of the first charter as a national bank, the capital was $300,000; contingent fund, $160,000; de- posits, $584,377.24; discounts, 8490,034.56; other loans, chiefly United States bonds, $669,662.50; and the real estate, furniture, etc., was valued at $14,- 075.

The present officers are : President, Daniel Price ;

tion in the schools of the neighborhood and at the academy of Joshua Hoopes, in West Chester. On leaving school he entered his father's dry-goods store, where he remained until 1839, at which time that parent died and the store and property were sold. He then purchased another property on the corner of High and Hanover Streets, where he carried on the mereantile business extensively and successfully for about six years. Disposing of this concern, he em- barked in the lumber business in Schuylkill County, and while thus engaged bought a large tract of land above Tamaqua, in the same county. Returning to

WILLIAM MINTZER.

Cashier, Horace. Evans; Directors, Daniel Price, Abra- ! ham M. Stanffer, Edwin Morris, William Yocom, George Mull, Mark H. Richards, Ephraim Fritz, James F. Brendlinger, A. D. Bechtel; Notary Public, Charles Rutter.

WILLIAM MINTZER .- Among the citizens of Mont- gomery County few have been more prominently identified with the three great departments of busi- Dess-banking, merchandising and manufacturing- than the late William Mintzer, of Pottstown. He was born in that place May 11, 1820, and was the son of William and Sarah Mintzer. He received his educa-

Pottstown, he established a banking business there, which he conducted for some time, until he was in- duced to enter the Pottstown Bank in the capacity of cashier. This position he occupied until the death of the president, Henry Potts, when he was elected to sueceed him, and it is said that the Pottstown National Bank owes much of its present prosperity to the ability and judicious management he displayed as its presiding officer.

In 1863 he started the large and well-known establishment, which enjoys a high reputation in the trade, under the name of the Pottstown Iron-Works.

Ihn To. Capellerm

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BANKS AND BANKING.

In 1841, Mr. Mintzer was married to Rebecca Evans, the following year opened a private banking-house, in of Chester County. He died in 1867 at the early age | connection with W. L. Williamson, under the style of forty-seven years, his wife surviving him and de- parting this life July 7, 1884. They were the parents of seven children, of whom three attained maturity and are now living, viz .: George E., William and Sarah (Mrs. Elliot Evans), all residing in Philadel- phia. William is an attorney-at-law in that city, having been admitted to practice in 1878. of J. W. Casselberry & Co., in which he is still in- terested. He has also been, but is not at present, officially connected with other organizations. He has manifested a keen interest in the advancement of Pottstown, and has been identified with various pro- jects which resulted in benefit to its citizens, notably in an effort to light the borough by gas, in which the In polities the late Mr. Mintzer was a steady and conscientious Republican, warmly but unostenta- tiously supporting the principles of the party. cost was largely borne by him. He was an early Whig and later a Republican, but has not partici- pated in the various political movements of the day Ilis religious affiliation was with the Episcopal Church, and he was a benevolent, active and influen- tial worker in its cause, other than by the casting of his ballot, his rare busi- i ness ability having been employed chiefly in the fur- therance of his own commercial schemes. Mr. Cas- selberry is a member of Christ Protestant Episcopal Church of Pottstown, in which he has served as ves- tryman.

Though no brilliant event characterized his career, his quiet and steady course of active industry could not fail to exert a beneficial influence and to materi- ally advance the interests of the community.

J. W. CASSELBERRY & Co .- J. W. Casselberry and William L. Williamson built a three-story brick build- ing on High Street, in Pottstown, in 1868, and on the 24th of November opened a private banking-office for discount and deposit in the lower room, which was specially fitted up as a banking-office.

JOHN W. CASSELBERRY .- William Casselberry, the grandfather of the subject of this biographical sketch, married Catherine Wentz, and resided at Evansburg, in Lower Providence township, Montgomery Co. Their children were Richard, John, Joseph, Charlotte (MIrs. Christian Weber), Barbara Ann (Mrs. William Evans, of Evansburg) and Rebecca (Mrs. M. L. Burr). Rich- ard Casselberry was born on the 6th of December, 1799, at Evansburg, in Lower Providence township, and married Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of John and Catherine Miller, to whom was born children,- John W., Thomas M., Hilary B., Dr. Jesse R., Louisa Jane (Mrs. Charles Streeper), Catherine Ann and M. Burr. John W., the eldest, was born on the 1st of April, 1822, at Evansburg, and in youth removed with his father to Skippack township, in the same county, where his father had purchased a farm. A second removal of the family, to Pottstown, occurred in 1831, where the subject of this biographical sketch has since resided.

His education was received at the Pottstown Academy, and when yet a school-boy he devel- oped a predilection for speculative enterprises, the lad having been engaged thus early in the purchase and sale of cattle. These operations were varied by dealings in railroad stocks and securities until the death of his father, in 1852, when he succeeded him in the management of a tannery, which was con- ducted with very successful results. He was married, on the 29th of August, 1854, to Amelia, daughter of John and Mary Maltsberger, of Pottstown. Mr. Cas- selberry, having meanwhile become connected with the National Bank of Pottstown, as a director, relin- quished his connection with the tannery in 1867, and

THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF CONSHOHOCKEN, PA., was organized March 13, 1873, with a capital of $150,000. The officers were: President, Alan Wood, Jr. ; Cashier, William MeDermott ; Direc- tors, Alan Wood, Jr., George Bullock, Evan D. Jones, Michael O'Brien, William Davis, John Y. Crawford, Elias Hicks Corson, Augustus D. Saylor, Samnel Fulton.

At the present time (1884) the officers are : Presi- dent, George Bullock; Vice-President, Evan D. Jones; Cashier, William McDermott ; Directors, George Bullock, Evan D. Jones, Augustus D. Say- lor, Michael O'Brien, William Davis, Lewis A. Lukens, George Sampson, Samuel Pugh, Hamilton Egbert.

The present capital is $150,000; deposits, $320,000; discounts, $420,000; value of real estate and bank property, $16,000.

WILLIAM MCDERMOTT .- William, the son of Wil- liam and Mary MeDermott, was born on the 1st day of September, A.D. 1825, in Upper Merion town- ship, near the King of Prussia, Montgomery Co., Pa.

His parents came from the north of Ireland, were of Scotch descent, and were brought up and ad- hered to the strictest tenets of the "Covenanters' " Church. As a consequence, the children were all kept close to that creed, especially with reference to the observance of the Sabbath. About the year 1828 the family removed to Norristown. In the year 1837 the father contracted a cold that gradually settled upon his

lungs. After a long and painful illness he fell asleep in Jesus on the 5th of May, 1838, in the peaceful calm- ness of a soul trusting in the Saviour. The mother, left alone with a family of children, began the strug- gle of life. She was a woman of much more than ordinary intellect and decision of character, and ruled well her household, giving the impress of her vigorous character to her children. In the year 1852 she died at the home of her daughter Mary, who had married Samuel Griffith, of Norristown.

482

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

After doing the little work that a boy could do in those early days, William, when fourteen years of age, took the contract for keeping up the fires in the small school- house of that district, in the borough of Norris- town.

the printing office of the Norristown Herald owned by Robert Iredell, the present postmaster, and soon assumed charge of the office, remaining with Mr. Iredell until 1849. A year was spent as printer in the office of the Montgomery Watchman, a Democratic

Milliein AL Dermott

In 1839 he engaged as clerk for James Hagar, of Norristown, and remained until the financial crisis of 1841, when, at the failure of Hagar, he sought other employment, and he was carrier for The Truth, a newspaper of the town. September, 1843, he entered

paper, afterwards sold to and merged into the Nor- ristown Register. While learning the "art preser- vative of all arts " he became a Whig, and, later, embraced the principles of the Republican party, to which he has ever since been attached.

483

BANKS AND BANKING.

In the year 1850, after working at the " case " until the hour at which the Bank of Montgomery County (the only bank at that time in the county) opened its doors, he washed the printers' ink from his hands, and began the business of a banker as clerk and watchman, sleeping in the banking-room. Soon after he was promoted to the position of teller, performing the duties of paying and receiving teller. Here he continued until January, 1873, when, on leaving the Montgomery Bank, he organized and prepared for business the First National Bank of Conshohocken, Pa., as its eashier, which position he still fills, having had a continuous banking experi- enee since May, 1850, under the old State system of banking as well as under the present National Bank Act. After acquiring this practical knowledge he is convinced that the present system is the very best the State or nation can have, and should certainly be perpetuated.

Mr. McDermott has held the office of school di- rector and served in the Town Council of the borough of Conshohocken. While learning his trade as a printer he wrote for the Olive Branch, a temperance paper, published at Doylestown and afterwards at Norristown, having been a temperance adherent from his youth. He was probably the first newspaper reporter in the county, reporting lectures and gather- ing news under the heading of "Town Chips " with the signature of " Vidi." He has been a contributor since his apprenticeship to the newspapers and for about fifteen years was a correspondent of the Mont- gomery Ledger, Pottstown, over the name of " Excel- sior." During the war, while Colonel Edwin Schall was absent on duty in the field, Mr. MeDermott edited the National Defender, making it while under his control a strong and popular journal. Later he was the editor of The Independent, published in Norristown. All this labor was performed after the hours of his duties as a printer and teller were over. He has been for about twenty-seven years secretary of the Nor- ristown Library. While in Norristown, in addi- tion to the duties of a teller, he was treasurer of three building and loan associations and secretary of the Norristown Insurance and Water Company. He prepared a sketch for the Montgomery Historical Association on the banking operations of the county, and, at the request of the Montgomery County Sunday- School Association, a " Review of the Sunday-school work for the past quarter of a century."

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History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 111

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 1534

Author: Bean, Theodore Weber, 1833-1891, [from old catalog] ed; Buck, William J. (William Joseph), 1825-1901
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 1534