History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 250

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 250

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farming enterprise may be conveyed by the statement that in February, 1885, he had about one hundred and sixty thoroughbred Holstein yearlings, constitu- ting undoubtedly the finest private herd in the country, and he does not propose selling until he has three hundred, which number will far exceed in size any high grade herd upon this side of the Atlantic, and, perhaps, in the world. He has two hundred cows, heifers and calves, all thorough or high-breds ; about one hundred and thirty fattening steers, and eight hundred and fifty sheep. Of the latter he is a very large pen-feeder, and one year wintered over twelve hundred. His sheep are mostly high grade Cotswolds, but he has some South-downs for the purpose of insuring plumpness as well as large size in the spring lambs. In the spring of 1882 he sold in New York, for export, four hundred and forty- three, which averaged one hundred and sixty-six pounds each, and were probably the finest lot of sheep ever sold in the United States.

Mr. Singerly is a strong advocate of the system of the motive-power that is made to serve various pur-

"soiling " or stall-feeding cattle, and the practice is followed at the " Record farms " on a large scale with the result of proving its great superiority over pasturing in economy of food and production of milk. In one stable, in what has come to be known through- out the Southern part of the county as "Singerly's big barn," are to be seen a hundred handsome Hol- stein cows, all comfortably stalled, and with pure running water before them.

Always fond of a fine horse, Mr. Singerly's regard for the noblest of our dumb friends has increased considerably, as he has become from year to year more interested in his farm and in out-door life. The horses in use at the farm are fine specimens of their kind, but it is in Kentucky that he is interested in steeds of a finer strain of blood and higher spirits. He has ten selected mares, every one of which has shown him portions of a mile at a two-thirty gait. It may be mentioned as indicative of his success in breeding trotting stock, that a colt Ben Van, (foaled by his road mare, Rena C. and sired by Red Wilkes), sold recently for one of the largest prices on record, and was pronounced the choicest yearling of Ken- tucky.

The breeding of stock on such an extensive scale as that followed at the "Record Farms," of course, ren- ders necessary commodious buildings provided with all of the conveniences known to the most advanced students of farming. The main barn is two hundred and fourteen feet in length hy forty-four in width, and two stories in height. The first story is built of brick, resting upon a substantial stone foundation, and the second story is frame. Other structures, ex- tending from either side of the barn proper, increase the line of buildings nearly four hundred feet, while from the centre of the main building a wing, thirty feet in width, extends one hundred and fifty feet for- ward, dividing the yard into equal portions. The | building of several hundred dwelling houses upon a

great barn presents a pleasant appearance in detail and as a whole. A writer, in describing it in a local paper, says : " It is certainly about as near perfection as the present state of advancement of agricultural, mechanical and architectural science, coupled with abundance of means, will admit of. It is . .. the model barn of the country, and, in point of capacity, stands, it is said, second to none in the United States." Other buildings are elnstered about the large struc- ture, which has been briefly described, or located else- where about the grounds, as Mr. Singerly and his superintendent, Mr. Jason Sexton, have thought best. The system of soiling cattle and feeding ensilage, in- augurated in this portion of the country by the pro- prietor of this farm, made requisite a very large silo, one sufficient to hold three hundred tons of ensilage, an amount which will keep the entire herd of cattle for six months. There is an extensive creamery, in which golden butter is made from the rich milk of the Holstein cows; an engine-house, in which lies

poses ; a blacksmith shop, where the horses of the farm are shod and tools repaired, and dwellings for various employees, all well adapted to the uses for which designed.

The colossal farming enterprise which identifies Mr. Singerly with Montgomery County will not only prove, as years go by, a great benefit to the people of this region in the way of giving innumerable sugges- tions, but will produce good results throughout the country wherever stock-raising is carried on and im- proved methods of farming are appreciated.

Concerning the other enterprises of the proprietor of the farm, it is scarcely within our province to speak in detail, for they belong more properly to the Phila- delphia field of his activity than to that of Mont- gomery County. As the son of the late Joseph Singerly he enjoyed the advantages of inheriting business ability and receiving a business training. He graduated from the City High School in 1850, immediately entered mercantile life, and after ten years passed amidst commercial surroundings he was called to the management of the Germantown Pas- senger Railway, in which his father was a large stock- holder. His ministration was sagacious and success- ful. Toward the close of his father's life he had absolute control of the road, a position involving great responsibility ; and upon his death, in 1878, came into possession of its stock, valued at $750,000, which he afterwards disposed of for twice that amount. On the 1st of May, 1877, Mr. Singerly secured con- trol of the Philadelphia Record, and in 1881-82 erected the superb building on Chestnut Street, from which that journal is now sent broadcast through town and country, and which is a monument to its remarkable success. Neither journalism nor stock-farming have, however, claimed all of his time or talent. One of the largest of his recent undertakings has been the

CREAMERY.

RESIDENCE.

HOME FARM. WILLIAM M. SINGERLY,

WHITPAIN TOWNSHIP.

1177

tract of land in Philadelphia, between Seventeenth Street and Islington Lane and Diamond and York Streets. This, probably the largest building operation ever attempted by any one person in the city, for the erection of more than a thousand houses is contem- plated, has in it a large element of practical philan- thropy and is one of several actions which entitle Mr. Singerly to be called a public benefactor. Another way in which his business sagacity and money have been determinedly and effectively de- voted to the benefit of the public has been in the breaking down of the exorbitant price of coal. He has succeeded in placing it in the market at seventy-

benefit to the "Record Farms" and as worthy of their projector and the promotion of Philadelphia's welfare.

MATHIAS SHOEMAKER.

Mathias Shoemaker, now of the city of Philadel- phia, is a native of Whitpain township, Montgomery County, where he was a resident for many years. His great-grandfather was Jacob Shoemaker, one of the early settlers of Philadelphia County, who was the father of eight children, viz .: Mathias, born Decem- ber 14. 1736, died January 17, 1816; Barbara, born June 30, 1738; Jonathan, born December 16, 1739 ; Isaac, born November 16, 1741; Hannah, born Sep-

Mathias Shoemaker

five cents per ton less than the rate which railroad discrimination has dictated,-a measure which it would surprise nobody should he characteristically so push it as to save Philadelphia a half-million dollars annually and thus greatly enhanee its manu- facturing interests and at the same time aid the poor.

As Mr. Singerly is searcely beyond the meridian of life (having been born December 27, 1832), it is within the realm of the probable that he will not only carry forward to successful completion all of the various enterprises he has auspiciously begun in city and country, but that his activity will find exercise in the inauguration of new ones, fully equal in scope and

tember 10, 1743; Elizabeth, born November 30, 1745; Sarah, born February 3, 1748; David, born January 30, 1753. The eldest of these children, Mathias Shoe- maker, and his wife, Hannah (grandparents of the present Mathias), had five daughters,-Agnes, Mar- garet, Dorothy, Rachel and Mary, and one son, Thomas. In 1777 Mathias Shoemaker, the elder, purchased the farm in Whitpain township, which af- terwards became the property of his only son, Thomas, and is now owned and occupied by Charles K., son of Thomas and brother of Mathias Shoemaker, the sub- jeet of this memoir.

Mathias Shoemaker, one of the seven sons of

1178

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

Thomas and Jane (Supplee) Shoemaker, was born on the homestead farm of his father in Whitpain, Feb- ruary 17, 1810. Through the years of his youth his life was passed like that of other farmers' sons of his time, doing the boy's work on the farm and studying in the common schools during the short winter terms. His education was obtained in the "Cross Roads School-house" in Whitpain, and at the "Supplee School-house" on the Swedes' Ford road, in Norriton township. In the fall of 1826, when he was a little more than sixteen years of age, he was apprenticed to Samuel Cowden to learn the blacksmith's trade. Cowden's shop was at the " Broad Axe Tavern," on the township line of Whitpain and Whitemarsh. He served four years in his apprenticeship, which elosed in the fall of 1830, a few months before he was twenty- one years of age. During those few months he again attended the "Cross Roads School " (then taught by Benjamin Conrad) until the spring of 1831, when he went to Philadelphia, and engaged as a journeyman in the shop of Franklin W. Coggins, on Queen Street above Second, where he remained more than three years. In the fall of 1834 he went to Chestnut Hill, where he worked in the employ of Andrew Fisher. In 1835 he returned to the family homestead in Whit- pain, where he commenced business for himself, and worked about four years in a shop which his father built for his use. At that place he commenced the business of making elliptic springs for wagons and other vehicles. The first pair of springs which he made were for John Slingluff, of Whitpain, and they were also the first springs of that kind ever manufac- tured or used in Montgomery County.

In 1839 (being then married) Mr. Shoemaker re- moved to the vicinity of the " Cross Roads School- house," where he had purchased a house and about eight acres of land, on which he built a shop. After- wards he added twenty-four acres by purchase from the estate of Christopher Mathias. At that place he remained engaged in the work of his trade and in farming for more than ten years. In 1850 he moved to Philadelphia, and there worked at journey work for about eight months, after which time, for about one year, he carried on business in a shop which had been built for him by John Conrad. He then bought a shop of Samuel Wooley, on Hutchinson Street above Master, where he recommenced the business of spring-making, living in a house which he had bought, located on Master Street. At his commence- ment of business on Hutchinson Street he employed three hands, but as his business grew he increased the number, so that at one time during the war of the Rebellion he employed twenty-five hands. After the war he put in machinery driven by steam-power, which enabled him to reduce his force of hands. He continued to manufacture springs at his shops on Hutchinson Street for about nineteen years. In 1870 he moved from this city to Abington township, Mont- gomery County, but still continued to carry on the |

business in Philadelphia until 1871, when he sold it out to a company. From Abington he removed to Cheltenham township, where he purchased a residence and lot of ground, and lived there till 1874, when he moved to his present residence in Mount Vernon Street, Philadelphia.

Mr. Shoemaker was married, February 23, 1837, to Sarah M. Fisher, daughter of Andrew Fisher, of Chestnut Hill. She died October 14, 1883. Their only surviving child, an unmarried daughter, lives with her father in Philadelphia. Mr. Shoemaker is a Republican, but has never held or sought public office. In his youth he, with his father and other members of his family, affiliated with the Friends, but he was never a member of the Society until 1865, when he joined the Green Street Meeting. He is now a member of the Meeting at Fifteenth and Race Streets, Philadelphia.

CHARLES K. SHOEMAKER.

Charles K. Shoemaker is the great-grandson of Jacob Shoemaker, one of the pioneers of Eastern Pennsyl- vania, who was the father of children as follows: Mathias, grandfather of Charles K., born December 14, 1736, died April 17, 1816 ; Barbara, born June 30, 1738; Jonathan, born December 16, 1739; Isaac, born November 16, 1741; Hannah, born September 10, 1743 ; Elizabeth, born November 30, 1745 ; Sarah, born February 3, 1748; and David, born January 30, 1753.

Of these children, Mattis (or Mathias), the eldest, purchased, March 28, 1777, from John Yedder, forty- seven aeres of land, upon which his grandson, Charles K., now resides, in the township of Whitpain. April 30, 1796, he added to his original tract, thirty-three acres, purchased from Heury Conard and wife, the whole forming the original Shoemaker farm in this township. Upon his demise, Mathias left the farm to be divided equally between his children. By an amicable arrangement between the heirs, the farm came into possession of Thomas, the only son.

The children of Thomas were Enoch, born Septem- ber 25, 1804; Job, born October 7, 1805, died August 14, 1828; David, born January 6, 1807; Alan, born September 22, 1808; Mathias, born February 10, 1810; Hannah, born January 3, 1813, died April 10, 1817; Jesse, born March 31, 1815, died June 28, 1854; and Charles K., born June 4, 1819, on the farm, and in the house where he now lives, where also his father, Thomas Shoemaker, was born.

In 1857, Charles K., purchased from the heirs the old homestead, and although involving himself in a large bonded debt, with little or no capital beyond good health and a strong determination to succeed in life, he has, by honest industry and frugal habits, relieved himself from all financial obligations, reared a large and highly respected family, and amassed a sufficiency of this world's goods, so that in his declining years he has been enabled to retire from the active

WHITPAIN TOWNSHIP.

1179

duties of life, having transferred the responsibility and care of the old homestead upon his son Jesse. Mr. Shoemaker was married, March 4, 1841, to Miss Sarah, daughter of Peter and Sarah Childs, of Whitemarsh township, Montgomery Co., Pa. Mrs. Shoemaker was born December 2, 1818, and is still in possession of all her faculties, and in the performance of the active duties of the household.

The children of Charles K. and Sarah Shoemaker, are Phebe G., born March 1, 1842, married, in 1866, to Charles C. McCann, of Whitpain township; Ma- thias, born Angust 9, 1843. At the first call of Pres- ident Lincoln for troops, in April, 1861, to defend the

Libby Prison, from which place he was transferred to that hell of the Southern chivalry, commonly dig- nified by the title of "Andersonville Guard House," or prison. There he was literally starved, and in June, 1865, died the death of a noble martyr. George, born February 20, 1846, married, in June, 1864, to Harriet Henshall, of Norristown, Pa .; Emma Jane, born August 28, 1848; infant daughter, born October 16, 1850, died same day ; Albert, born September 6, 1851, married in Novevember, 1875, Miss Ray R. De- Haven, of Whitpain township; Jesse, born Septem- ber 6, 1854, married, January 1, 1880, Miss Annie C. Smith, of Norriton Township; Sally C., born

Charles R Shoe maker

life of the nation against the assaults of the southern slaveocracy, young Shoemaker volunteered his ser- vices, and at the end of his term of enlistment re- turned to the paternal roof, where he remained until the dark cloud of the slaveholders' war covered the land, when he once more offered himself as a living sacrifice upon the altar of his country, enlisting Angust, 1862, in Company H, Thirteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania Cavalry, where, by his strict obedience and soldierly-bearing, he passed through the several gradations, to the honorable position of second-lieu- tenant. While on pieket duty in September, 1863, he was captured by the enemy, and consigned to

January 19, 1857, married, in October, 1877, Harry C. Hoover, of Whitpain township; Charles T., born November, 10, 1859, died December 8, 1876; Anna C., born March 29, 1864.

Phebe G. McCann, daughter of Charles K. Shoe- maker, is the mother of children as follows: Mary L., born April 29, 1867; William, born November 3, 1868; Sallie S., born November 11, 1871; Charles S., born February 1, 1874; Anne, born July 18, 1876.

George Shoemaker is the father of George M., born March 17, 1865, died July 6, 1865; Sarah P., born August 20, 1866, died November 9, 1872; Charles H., born July 9, 1870; Fannie M., born June 26, 1873, died

1180

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

August 18, 1873; Ella M., born October 28, 1879, paternal great-grandfather of the present Abram, was died October 13, 1884.

Albert Shoemaker's children are Irene D., born October 13, 1876 ; Lida May, born April 23, 1880.

Jesse Shoemaker's children are C. Harvey, born January 13, 1881; Katie Vaughan, born July 19, 1882; Gertrude M., born January 5, 1884.

Sallie C. Hoover, daughter of Charles K. Shoe- maker, is the mother of children,-Elsie C., born Oc- tober 15, 1879; Emma S., born April 11, 1881.

The children of Mathias and Hannah Shoemaker (grandparents of Charles K.), were Agnes, born 23d Ninth Month, 1765, died June 29, 1851; Margaret,

the pioneer of the family of that name in Whitpain township, and came to be one of the prominent and progressive men of his time. Under the old militia laws of the State, Johu, above named, was commis- sioned colonel of a regiment, and was ever after known as "Colonel Wentz." His ancestors were either German or of German descent, but when they came to America is not known. Colonel Wentz owned the farm now occupied by Abram, and in the latter part of the last century built the house in which his grand- son, Abram, now lives. Colonel Johu Wentz was not only a military officer, but a civil officer as well.

Aram Hertz

born First Month 9, 1767, died November 10, 1816; Dorothy, born 25th Seventh] Month, 1769, died in August 1777; Thomas (father of Charles K.), born Eighth Month 1, 1771, died January 26, 1853. He was married, December 1, 1803, to Jane Supplee, who died July 6, 1857 ; Rachael, born Twelfth Month 13, 1773, died January 20, 1855; Mary, born Seventh Month 19, 1776, died in August, 1777; Hannah, wife of Mathias Shoemaker, and mother of the above named children, died in October, 1777.

ABRAM WENTZ.

le was for many years a justice of the peace, and was as popular in that capacity as in the military. His justice dockets were neatly and accurately kept, and might properly be used as a model for like officers at the present day. It was customary in those days for justices of the peace to do their share in the mat- ter of uniting lovers in bonds of holy wedlock, and the colonel was as popular in that line as in the other two. His side-board was never empty, and no newly married couple ever left his house without being refreshed with the best of wine, and that in abun- dance. It is one of the misfortunes that we sometimes

Colonel John Wentz, son of Abram Wentz, the | labor under, that neither the date of the birth or

1181

WHITPAIN TOWNSHIP.

death of so good and great a man as he was cannot be given.

His son, Abram, inherited the farm, and added to it the farm on the opposite side of the road, where his son Abram Wentz now lives. Ile, like his illus- trious father, was a man of sterling worth, respected by all who knew him. He was one of those unob- trusive men, always attending strictly to the affairs pertaining to the duties of the farm, allowing others to look after township and outside affairs. He died in September, 1870, at the ripe old age of eighty-four years ; Charlotte, wife of Abram Wentz, died Decem- ber, 1881, in her ninety-third year. IFis children were Joseph Tyson (who owns forty acres of the old homestead and in whose house he died), Hannalı (died in infancy), Mary (deceased), Elizabeth, Bar- bara, John (deceased), Abram (who owns the fifty acres formerly owned by his father, Abram, and grand- father, John Wentz) and Henry (deceased). It is proper to state here that the property upon which the present Abram now resides has been in possession of the Wentz family for about one hundred and twenty- five years.

Abram Wentz was born in the house now occupied by his brother, J. Tyson, on the opposite side of the turnpike, where, and upon his own farm, his life. thus far, has been spent. He has quietly and honor- ably followed in the footsteps of his father, seeking not the plaudits of men, nor places of public trust or political preferment ; yet his townsmen discovered in him the qualities best suited to fill a position where honesty is requisite to a just balancing of accounts, and for many years have kept him in the board of township auditors. IIe has also been honored with a seat in the board of directors of the Montgomery National Bank, at Norristown.

He was married, April 30, 1868, to Miss Louisa, daughter of Jesse and Parthena Castner, of Gwynedd township. They are the parents of four children three of whom are deceased. The surviving son, Earl Castner, was born October 27, 1883.

Mrs. Wentz's father, Jesse Castner, died September 9, 1883, in the seventy-second year of his age. Her grandfather, Jesse Castner, was in his ninety-second year when he died, and her great-grandfather, Samuel Castner, died when in his ninety-eighth year. Her mother, Parthena Castner, died May 15, 1881. They were all residents of the township of Gwynedd. Mr. Wentz and wife are members of Bohm's Reformed Church, at Blue Bell.

JOSEPH P. CONARD.

Among the hardy pioneers who sought the shores of America, was one Dennis Conard (as the nanie was anglicized), who came in the ship " Concord," in the year 1683. He was from Saxony, Germany, and upon his arrival settled with the German colony, in Ger- mantown. From him all of the Conards of Whitpain township are descended. The family were Friends,

and when Henry, the youngest son of Dennis, moved to Whitpain township May 16, 1711, he brought with him a letter from the Germantown Friends, signed among others by Francis Daniel Pastorius. This letter is now in the possession of Lewis Conard. Upon his arrival in Whitpain, Henry settled on a tract of two hundred and twenty-three acres, a part of which is now comprised in the property owned by the Strogdale family and by Christian Duffield. The Strogdale farm is a part of the original tract owned hy direct descendants of the first owners, making a period of one hundred and seventy-four years in which it has been in the possession of the family.

Upon the decease of Henry, the land comprising these two farms passed to Joseph, his fifth son, being willed to him under date of September, 1758. Joseph had two sons, Joseph and John, and to them the property descended in equal parts.

John Conard, son of Joseph, was born in 1782 and spent the earlier part of his life upon the home farm. Having a taste for mechanics he served an apprentice- ship with James Wood, one of the pioneers in the iron business and the first iron-master in Consho- hocken.

John intermarried with Sarah Childs, of Abington, who was born in 1786, and in 1805 settled upon the Duffield farm. Here he built the house and barn, which are

yet standing, and transformed the then uncultivated tract into one of the most productive farms in the neighborhood. Here he also built a log blacksmith-shop, where he subsequently began the manufacture of the "Conard Screw Auger." This business is now greatly enlarged and improved by the introduction of machinery, and is carried on by two of his sons, Albert and Isaac, at Fort Washington, upon the site of Daub's old oil-mill. John Conard's death occurred in Seventh Month 30, I853, he having lived to the good old age of seventy- one years and filled well the position of an energetic but quiet and modest life of a useful citizen and a sincere and devout Friend. To John and Sarah Con- ard were born twelve children,-James, Mary, Peter, Joseph P., Tacy, John R., Albert, Charles, Elizabeth, Lewis, Isaac and Levi R., of whom nine are still living.

Two of the sons merit special mention, on account of their patriotism. James, the oldest, though hav- ing passed the age of those subject to military duty, enlisted in Company B, of the First Pennsylvania Cavalry (Forty-fourth Regiment Pennsylvania Vol- unteers), and served till sickness caused by exposure necessitated his discharge. Levi R., the youngest son, was a private in the Nineteenth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, and died at Columbia College Hospital, from the effects of a bullet wound received at the second battle of Bull Run. He was buried in the Plymouth Friends' graveyard September 21, 1862. Most nobly was the motto of his regiment, "Non sibi sed Patrice " exemplified in him.

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History of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Part 250

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