USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Lives of the eminent dead and biographical notices of prominent living citizens of Montgomery County, Pa. > Part 16
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We turn now to record the business life of Robert T. Potts, the proper subject of this memorial. He began as store-boy
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ROBERT T. POTTS.
with Harman Yerkes, and after being grown went to Philadel- phia in the employ of Isaac Lawrence, then engaged in the dry goods business, afterwards entering into partnership. He continued with him some years. Lawrence dying, however, Mr. Potts took the stock and associated with him William V. Reynolds, afterwards also taking in James B. McFarland, and the wholesale trade was thence conducted under the firm title of Potts, Reynolds & Co. This concern continued for several years, till 1840, when Mr. Potts drew out and removed to Swedeland on a hundred-acre farm of valley land on the river, at Swedesburg, where he lived till his death, which took place December 13th, 1873, in his 83d year. His wife had died in 1850.
Robert T. Potts was a man of great probity and public spirit, a life-long Whig and Republican, and in 1840 was nominated and run for Congress. His business capacity was of the first order, and he acquired a large estate, having a half ownership of the Cedar Grove marble quarries. In person Mr. Potts was tall and stoutly built, light complexion and hair, and of very dignified yet sprightly demeanor, enjoying remarkably good health all his life.
A further notice of his son, E. Channing Potts, who is the representative and successor to his name and business in this locality, will not be an inappropriate conclusion. He has had the best educational advantages short of a college course, hav- ing attended Friends' school at Conshohocken, Strode's near West Chester, Bleck's seminary at Bethlehem, and Elmwood and Treemount seminaries at Norristown. He began business in 1857 as clerk at Swedes' Furnace, and afterwards operated the Cedar Grove marble works in Whitemarsh, associated with his father and Nathan Hallowell, under the firm name of Potts, Hallowell & Co. In 1864 he bought out his partners and took in Mr. Solomon Gilbert, and continued as Potts & Gilbert. They dissolved the firm in 1869, and he built large steam mar- ble-sawing works at Spring Mill, where he prepares and ships great quantities of blue and clouded marble for Philadelphia and distant markets. His mills are capable of turning out from
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THOMAS COWDEN, SR.
twenty-five thousand to thirty thousand cubic feet of sawed stone per year.
Some years ago Mr. Potts purchased a large lot in the First Ward, extending from the Ridge turnpike road to the Schuyl- kill river, on which, by that stream, he has erected a large ice- house. On the Egypt street front, on an eminence, he has built of marble one of the most spacious and costly mansions in Norristown. This fine residence, with its handsome ob- servatory, in consequence of the deflection of the avenue just above Stony creek, enjoys the rare advantage of bounding the view from all points of Main street in the Second Ward.
THOMAS COWDEN, SR.
Of loss and profit balancing, relieved at intervals, the irksome task, with thought Of future ease .- Course of Time.
The Cowden family is of Irish or Scotch-Irish origin, and dates back a few years previous to the Revolutionary war. The head of the Montgomery county line was Samuel Cow- den, who came from Ireland previous to the war for independ- ence, and occupied a small dwelling in the eastern suburb of Norristown. Being a poor laboring man, he left his wife and one or two young children to the care of herself and neighbors, and enlisted in the Continental army. When, therefore, the British marched through our county on their way to Philadelphia, learning that Samuel Cowden was a soldier in the American army, they sacked his dwelling, cutting open perhaps the only feather bed in his house and giving the contents to the winds. To this act the late Thomas Cowden, who was then a child, could never refer without an ebullition of anti-English feeling. Returning after the war he lived a few years, died, and was buried in Providence Presbyterian Cemetery. Samuel Cow- den, the emigrant, had three children, Hester, Thomas, and Samuel.
Hester, the eldest, married a man named Creighton, and afterwards William Stewart. By the latter she had three daugh-
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THOMAS COWDEN, SR.
ters and one son: Martha, who was never married; Mary, in- termarried with Mahlon Ranier, who had one son and one daughter; Hester, who married A. Frowart; Benedict D., the youngest, who was for many years an extensive and success- ful manufacturer of morocco in Philadelphia. The latter has a number of sons and daughters living in that city. All branches of the Stewart family reside in Philadelphia.
Samuel Cowden, the Revolutionary soldier, had a son named Samuel, who married and removed to the West.
Thomas Cowden, Sr., the subject of this biography, and son of Samuel Cowden the soldier, was born near Norristown February 6th, 1775. He learned the trade of a blacksmith with John Miller, the father of Isaac H. Miller, of Norristown, in that borough. After working a short time as a gunmaker at Evansburg, about 1798 he married Hannah Couch, of Upper Providence, and set up his trade at Hickorytown, Plymouth township, where he continued some years, till a family began to grow about him. He then purchased a farm half a mile above, removed his smithy, and carried on both farming and smithing together. Here he remained till he acquired a com- petence, when he gave his business to his sons, but lived on the farm till his death, which took place in September, 1847, at the age of 73 years. His widow, on the death of her hus- band, removed to Norristown, and lived with an unmarried daughter, where she died in September, 1850, also aged 73 years. They both lie buried in the cemetery of the First Pres- byterian Church, Norristown.
Thomas Cowden was a man of athletic frame, very indus- trious, frugal and self-reliant; one who pushed whatever he took hold of with indomitable will and energy. He was also a man whose word was as good as his bond.
The children of Thomas and Hannah Cowden were: Samuel, William, Hester, Ellen (died in childhood), Charles, George, John, Mary, and Ann. This family of children are further re- corded, as follows: Samuel, like his father and most of his brothers, was at first a smith, but afterwards bought a farm in Upper Dublin township. His first wife was Mary Printz, who died young, leaving one daughter, who died at the age of 14.
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THOMAS COWDEN, SR.
He married a second wife, who survives him, but they had no children. William was intermarried with Abigail Mitchell, of Whitemarsh township, and they had two sons, Thomas C. and Jacob M. He (William) died in 1837, aged 37 years, and his widow in 1860. Thomas Cowden, the elder of these two grandsons of Thomas Cowden, Sr., married Catharine Culp, by whom he had seven children, Jerome W., Samuel, Kate, Jen- nie, Anne, Martha, and Thomas. Thomas Cowden, Jr., whose children are just named, died in the West. His brother, Jacob M. Cowden, now of Norristown, as his brother, was left an or- phan when a small boy, and lived with his grandfather Cow- den till old enough to learn a trade: His mother then appren- ticed him to Andrew Fisher, of Chestnut Hill, to learn the family trade of a blacksmith, and when free he married Ange- line, the daughter of his employer. Soon after he set up his trade in Norristown, followed it some time successfully, then bought a small farm on DeKalb street, in Norriton township, and erected a large house upon it. After remaining there a few years he sold the property, returned to Norristown, and went into the real estate and scrivening business, which he has followed to this time. He owns considerable real estate in the borough, generally investing in such properties as yield a good income. Jacob M. Cowden had but a moderate school educa- tion, but has risen in fortune by shrewd judgment and close attention to business. His wife has been dead about twenty years, leaving three daughters and one son, whose names are Emily Virginia, Mary Ella, Amanda, and John.
We return now to the elder branches, the other children of Thomas and Hannah Cowden.
Hester, the third child of Thomas Cowden the elder, died in 1863. She was never married. Her remains are in Provi- dence Presbyterian Cemetery.
The next son is Charles, who lives in Illinois. He was in- termarried first with Emeline Jones, by whom he had one daughter, Mary, who lives in Norristown. His second wife he married in the West, and by whom he has several children.
George, the fourth son of Thomas Cowden the elder, mar-
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HON. ABRAHAM BROWER.
ried Harriet, daughter of Abraham Butz, of Norriton. He moved to Illinois and died there, leaving several children.
John, the fifth son, was intermarried with Charlotte, daugh- ter of Jacob Zimmerman, of Whitpain. He was many years a farmer on the homestead, was elected County Commissioner, and served during the erection of the court house. Subse- quently he was warden of the prison several years, and died in September, 1876. He had four children, Mary, Hannah, Charles, and Samuel. Mary was married to Ellis W. Baily, of Ohio, and died in December, 1872, leaving one daughter, Gracie. Hannah was intermarried with J. Jones Wright, and died in 1873, leaving one son, Carroll. Charles died young and unmarried. Samuel, the youngest of John's family, is in- termarried with Eliza, daughter of William Keiger, and has two children, Lottie and Harry.
The seventh child of Thomas Cowden the elder is Mary, wife of Moses Auge. They have two children living and two deceased, referred to elsewhere.
Thomas and Hannah Cowden's youngest child is Ann, the widow of James B. Evans, Esq., attorney-at-law, Norristown, who died June 30th, 1857, aged 37 years, leaving one son and two daughters, Charles W., Mary, and Ella.
HON. ABRAHAM BROWER.
Pleased to do good,
He gave and sought no more, nor questioned much,
Nor reasoned who deserved; for well he knew the face of need .- Course of Time.
Abraham Brower, farmer and State Senator, was born May 22d, 1787, on the left bank of the Schuylkill, in Upper Provi- dence township, Montgomery county, where he always lived, and where he died. The tract of about two hundred acres de- scended to him from his father. It is situated not far from the famous Fatland ford, where the British army crossed the river in 1777, and almost opposite the junction of the Reading and
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HON. ABRAHAM BROWER.
Perkiomen railroads. £ He was trained to the business of a farmer, and followed it all his life. When young he was mar- ried to Margaret, daughter of Joseph Crawford, of the adjacent township of Lower Providence. There were born to them eight children, two or three dying young. The following are the five who grew up: Ann, intermarried with Charles Shep- ard; Joseph Crawford and John E .- the last still occupying the family homestead and the former son a farm adjoining ; Frances was married to Samuel H. Umsted, but died soon after; Abraham, when a young man, was accidentally killed by the fall of a tree while felling timber in the woods.
Abraham Brower was a man of very superior natural endow- ments, physical, mental, and moral, as any one could see by his gigantic frame and lofty brow. He enjoyed but ordinary opportunities of education, yet his keen, penetrating mind grasped any subject of which it took hold. He was distin- guished all his life, therefore, for strong common sense. He was never at any time an office-hunter or politician, though a hearty Whig and Republican. In 1840 the party nominated him, unsolicited on his part, for State Senator, and he was. elected by a considerable majority over Hon. John B. Steri- gere, who had occupied the seat at the previous session. Al- though no talker on the floor, Mr. Brower was an industrious member, and filled his term of three years service to the satis- faction of his constituents. In private life he was distinguished for great probity and kindness of heart, the latter quality being so prominent that his house in winter was a general refuge for the poor and unfortunate. In truth, his benevolent instincts were so marked and dominant that he could never turn the needy or hungry away from his door without lodging them or supplying their wants. As a consequence he was often im- posed upon by the unworthy, who sought his bounty when it was in their power to provide for themselves.
The Schuylkill canal passed through his farm, and outlet locks were on his property. For many years he kept a store at the place for the provisioning of boatmen, which, added to careful and judicious farming, made him wealthy at the time
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REV. GEORGE WACK.
of his death, which resulted, mainly from old age, in his 86th year, in 1873.
Margaret Brower, the aged and worthy wife of Abraham Brower, died suddenly and shockingly from her clothes taking fire while engaged in household duties December 2d, 1869. She lived about twenty-four hours after the dreadful accident, and died in the 83d year of her age. This terrible visitation was received with profound sorrow by a large circle of friends and acquaintances, who attended her remains to Providence Presbyterian Cemetery, where her husband was afterwards in- terred by her side.
The descendants of Abraham and Margaret Brower, of the second generation, are the following :
The eldest daughter, Ann C., married to Charles -Shepard, of Norristown, has had two children, John, deceased in his 2Ist year, and Thomas, a law student in Norristown.
The second daughter, Fannie, married to Samuel H. Um- sted, had one child, but both she and her offspring are dead.
The eldest son, Joseph Crawford, intermarried with Catha- rine Highley, and has ten children living: Sarah Jane, Mar- garet, Mary Ann, Abraham C., Nettie, Fannie, John, Charles S., Laura, and Henry.
The youngest son, John E., is married to Ann Eliza Horn- ing, and they have the following children: Abraham H., Sarah Ann, James H., Fannie, Frank, Anne S., Mary, Norris, and Martha Jane.
REV. GEORGE WACK .*
Thou shalt know that thy tabernacles shall be in peace.
Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season .- Job V, 24, 26.
Few clerical names are more familiar to the people of Mont- gomery county than that we have placed at the head of this sketch. Rev. George Wack was the son of Rev. Casper and Barbara Wack, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. After study-
#For the material from which is drawn the following life we are indebted to Har- baugh and Heisler's "Fathers of the German Reformed Church."
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REV. GEORGE WACK.
ing for the ministry he was examined and ordained at Read- ing in October, 1801, and on the 25th of April in the next year took charge of Bæhm's and Wentz's Reformed churches in our county. In 1806 he extended his charge to embrace Hilltown church, in Bucks county. Here, within the bounds of these three congregations, he ministered till 1845, when he closed his service at Wentz's, having preached thirty-two years at Bæhm's, twenty-two at Hilltown, forty-three at the first, and also ten years at Gwynedd. This last congregation he held in -connection with Wentz's, after he had resigned Bæhm's in 1834. This pastorate, with the exception of that of Rev. Dr. Steel, of Abington, is doubtless the longest continued ministry to the same churches recorded in our county.
In 1805 he married Elizabeth Pannebecker, with whom he lived forty-five years, and who bore him four children. Although he had charge of three congregations nearly all his life, his sup- port was so meagre that he followed the business of a farmer for many years to assist in procuring a livelihood. Though he often worked with the plow or other implements in the field all the week, he was punctual in filling appointments to preach at his different charges on the Sabbath.
In 1817, during the Gubernatorial term of William Findley, he was appointed to the office of Register of Wills of Mont- gomery county, which he filled for three years.
Mr. Wack was a classical scholar, and in his later years "wrote a work on theology in Latin, which he partly translated into English for publication, but never completed. He was an ingenious man in the use of tools, often making and repairing his farm implements, and, being very fond of music, built an organ with his own hands. The last annual classis he at- tended met at Bœhm's church in 1855, he saying, "This, I think, is the last meeting we shall have on earth, and I desire to attend."
He had retired from the active work of the ministry about 1846, when near 70, mainly because of bodily infirmities, and lingered on till 1849, when he relinquished housekeeping and went to reside with his son-in-law, Philip S. Gerhard, Esq., of Centre Square, where he died February 17th, 1856, aged 79
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REV. GEORGE WACK.
years, II months, and 14 days. His funeral was attended by Revs. Father Helffenstein, Samuel Helffenstein, Jr., John Naile, Jesse B. Knipe, George D. Wolff, E. M. Long, J. S. Ermen- trout, S. G. Wagner, of the Reformed, and Rev. John Hassler, of the Lutheran church, who had been an intimate friend. His children have marked his resting-place in Bœhm's church cemetery by a handsome marble memorial stone. It is re- corded that during his long ministry he united seven hundred and twenty-four couples in marriage, preached five thousand times, baptized a thousand infants, and confirmed a like num- ber of catechumens.
In personal appearance Mr. Wack was of medium size and erect; in habits, orderly, frugal, and laborious. His character for childlike simplicity and unsuspecting confidence was re- markable. Without a shadow of dissimulation himself, he trusted implicitly in the integrity of all with whom he had to do .*
Rev. George Wack had three children who grew to matu- rity, as follows: Rev. Charles P., a minister of the Dutch Re- formed Church, and settled at New Brunswick, New Jersey, who is intermarried with Adeline Van Dursen; Abigail, the wife of Philip S. Gerhard, of Centre Square; and Elizabeth Amanda, married to Rev. Alfred B. Shenkle, many years ago pastor of St. Luke's Church at Trappe, and Reformed Church at Vincent, Chester county, but later of Millersville, Lancaster county.
The following are the grandchildren of Rev. George Wack: Caroline, Joanna, Eleanor, Elizabeth, Salome, Charles B., and S. Van Dursen, children of his son Charles P .; George Wil- mon and Andora Elizabeth, children of his daughter Abigail; and George Caspar and Laura Elizabeth, children of his daugh- ter Elizabeth Amanda.
*" Fathers of the German Reformed Church," Vol. II, p. 116.
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HON. JOHN B. STERIGERE.
HON. JOHN B. STERIGERE.
I'll give thrice so much land
To any well deserving friend ; But in the way of bargain, mark ye me, I'll cavil on the ninth part of a hair. -Hotspur, Part First of King Henry IV.
-ambition, how much art thou shrunk ! When this body did contain a spirit, A kingdom for it was too small a bound; But now, two paces of the vilest earth Is room enough .- Prince Henry over the body of Harry Percy.
Within the past fifty years Montgomery county has produced no public man possessing more marked characteristics than John B. Sterigere, who rose from obscurity by perseverance, industry, and indomitable will. Apart from inherited force of character he was entirely a self-made man, rising without the slightest aid of wealth or influential kinsmen. Nor was he a man of transcendent mental ability.
He was the son of Peter and Elizabeth Sterigere, and was born October 13th, 1793, in Upper Dublin township, Montgomery county. His grandfather, Justus Sterigere, came from Germany, settling in that township about the middle of the last century. Both his father and grandfather were probably farmers, and the earliest public mention of them is contained in a newspaper item, issued in 1800, which stated that " the house of Peter Sterigere, of Upper Dublin, was accidentally consumed by fire." The latter appears to have died the following year, for we learn from the same news- paper file of the date of 1806 that Elizabeth Sterigere and Edward Burk offered "a small tract of land for sale on the Susquehanna street road, the property of Peter Sterigere, deceased."
Beside the subject of our notice, Peter Sterigere had two other sons and four daughters. One of the former, Peter, went West, settled, married, and had children, at least two daughters, who came East, and were educated at Oakland Institute and Pennsyl- vania Female College at the expense of their uncle, John B. The other son, William, studied medicine for a time, but died of sun- stroke in 1829, before graduating. One of the sisters was married to Augustus Brock, who recently died in Norristown; another was the wife of Jonathan Taylor; and the third, Sarah, intermarried with James Conrad, lives in Maryland. The last sister, Martha, unmarried, boarded a long time at the Montgomery House, Norris- town, with her brother, John B., and, by his fraternal liberality, at
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HON. JOHN B. STERIGERE.
his expense. She inherited considerable of his property, and sur- vived him till 1867, a period of fifteen years. In making her wilk she bequeathed $700, the residue of her estate, to the Norristown Town Council in trust, the income to provide food and fuel for the poor in winter. This merciful remembrance of the destitute should: keep her memory green forever.
Some time after the decease of Peter Sterigere, his wife married. a man named Philip Somers, who lived a short distance from Nor- ristown, near Stony creek. Both are now dead.
The early life of John B. Sterigere is thus described by persons who knew him well: " He was a very studious, exemplary boy; was- hired with a Mr. Engard as a farm hand during the summer, and in the winter worked mornings and evenings for his board while at- tending school. Having acquired a good education, he stood so high in the estimation of the people that they gave him the school at Puff's church, and he taught it for a considerable time."
So early as 1818, when 25, he received a commission as Justice of the Peace from Governor Findlay, and remained several years in the neighborhood surveying, scrivening, and serving the people as. magistrate. During that time, in 1821, he was put on the Demo- cratic ticket and elected to the lower house of Assembly. He was returned to this position three succeeding years, making a term of four sessions. Two years after, in 1826, the competition for a suc- cessor to Hon. Philip S. Markley in Congress being very sharply contested between two aspirants, General Henry Scheetz had suffi- cient address and influence in the party to bring forward his friend and neighbor, John B. Sterigere, as a compromise candidate. He was nominated, and, in those Jackson times, elected without diffi- culty, and returned to the next Congress. Mr. S. was quite a young member, but being ambitious and irrepressible as a debater, and much less influential than Hon. Jonathan Roberts had recently been, his Federal opponents at home applied to him very con- temptuous epithets. There is no evidence, however, that he did not represent his constituents fairly and satisfactorily. The fact
that the opposition hated him was proof that he was a live man. While a member of Congress he studied law, and was admitted to the bar November 17th, 1829. Being a man of indomitable will and industry, and very correct in his habits, he rose rapidly in the legal profession, though he did not enter upon the study of it until his thirty-fourth year. He enjoyed the fullest confidence of clients from the start, being always reliably devoted to their interests.
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HON. JOHN B. STERIGERE.
Fidelity to his friends and employers was, indeed, a marked trait of his character, but being without much suavity or affability of manners, it was always a marvel to people who did not watch him: closely how he maintained for so many years influence and popu- larity with his party. But he was a constant worker, a man of un- yielding pluck and mental force : he was set in his own way and in- flexible even to obstinacy. Accordingly, often when defeated im court, he went to the Legislature and procured some explanatory act that enabled him to enter a new plea for his client. Besides, while other young attorneys were spending time conversing in bar- rooms, or in social intercourse with ladies, Mr. Sterigere was hard at work in his office.
The secret of his power, moreover, was the unyielding fidelity he always maintained to party friends. He had all the second-class politicians of the county as his retainers, and had promised most of the working men of the party small offices, such as he could secure them by his influence. In every part of his bailiwick he had men who were devoted to his interests and aspirations. The ancient relation of lord and clansmen was not more real than the tie that. bound John B. Sterigere and his friends together.
In 1835 Mr. S. was taken up for Senator by his party, but owing to the division about Wolf and Muhlenberg the whole ticket was: defeated and he beaten by James Paul, a Whig or anti-Mason.
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