USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Lives of the eminent dead and biographical notices of prominent living citizens of Montgomery County, Pa. > Part 35
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John Weber, the proper subject of this memorial, married Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and Catharine Reiff, and had five
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JOHN WEBER.
children, George, Christian, Mary, John, and Joseph. After becoming very noted as a business man and politician for sev- eral years, he took a fever, and died comparatively young, on the 24th of August, 1815, in his forty-seventh year, and in the same month and year as his father, who had moved to Lehigh county. His wife survived till 1825, and died in her fifty-sixth year.
John Weber's oldest son, George, who was born in 1786, married Sarah Beaver, of Chester county, and after following his father's trade and occupying his mill at Perkiomen until about 1819, removed first to Philadelphia and afterwards to Allen township, Northampton county, where he established himself in like business, and also in storekeeping. While there he became Captain of a company of volunteers, and was after- wards elected Colonel of a regiment.
We here insert a testimonial to the high character of Colo- nel George Weber, written by Mr. Snyder, of Northampton county, who still lives there at an advanced age:
"George Weber came to Northampton county about 1819, and commenced business as a merchant miller in Saucon township. In 1823, or about three years thereafter, he purchased a mill and farm in Allen township, near Kridersville, which he occupied about eight years, when he bought a mill and store property in Kridersville, where he continued till 1848. He then sold out and moved to Como, in Whitesides county, Illinois. The business in which he was engaged in Northampton county during his residence there was that of mer- chant milling, storekeeping and farming combined. His compli- cated affairs were conducted during almost the whole time in the absence of canal and railroad facilities. It was therefore very in- convenient and laborious to transact such a multiplicity of work, and none but an energetic mind like his could have carried out the regularly systematic management with the strict honesty and integ- rity which he did. Notwithstanding the laborious management resting upon him, he did not neglect the higher duties of religion as a christian. The records of the church, school, and Sunday school bear evidence of the interest he manifested in all proceedings rela- tive to church building, contributions, schools, and any matter pro- moting the sacred cause. It may not be amiss for the writer, who was an intimate friend and near neighbor, and who had financial and other business with him, to bear this testimony in his behalf in reiteration of what the community yet living would willingly verify."
He died at his Western home in 1851, at the age of sixty- one years.
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JOHN WEBER.
The oldest child of George and Sarah Weber is Devault, who was born in 1813, and married Mary A., daughter of Dr. Hiester, of Chester county, in 1840. They have had one son, John H., who died in childhood. Devault Weber learned the family business of milling. He was well educated, first attend- ing a primary school at Easton, and later entering Lafayette College .* On account of health, however, he did not graduate, but studied there, as specialties, hydraulics and civil engineer- ing, subjects to which he has given much attention for many years. He has acquired such a proficiency in hydraulics that he is often employed as an expert in determining water-right disputes. From 1851 to 1854 he operated the flour mill of his- uncle, John Weber, near Jeffersonville, and then converted the building into a cloth manufactory, continuing it as such three years longer. He and his wife are now (1879) living retired in Norristown.
The next child, Elizabeth, was born in 1815, and married Enos L. Reiff; offspring, Joseph, Sarah, and Enos.
Margaret, the third child, was born in 1816, and married Rev. Charles Becker; offspring, George and John.
Sarah, the fourth, was born in 1817, and became the wife of John Addams, a prominent citizen of Cedarville, Illinois; off- spring, Mary Catharine, Martha, John W., Laura Jane, and Sarah Alice.
The next child was George, born in 1819, who became a Reformed minister, and married Miss Hoffenditz; offspring, Samuel, Mary, Joseph, George, and Grace. They live in Iowa.
The youngest son, John Harrison, born in 1826, married Miss Houck, of Mercersburg, and is now a merchant of New York; offspring, George, John, and Edward.
John Weber's second son received the family name, Chris- tian, and married Charlotte, daughter of William and Catha- rine Casselberry, of Evansburg. He located as a farmer near Jeffersonville, and there were born to them eight children, as follows: Ann Eliza, first married to William Flintham, by whom she had two children, John W. and Anna E., and after-
*Devault Weber's father was one of the trustees of Lafayette College, and Mr. W. re- ceives yearly the invitation to the annual reunion and dinner of the Philadelphia Alumna Association of Lafayette College.
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JOHN WEBER.
wards to Captain Stephen M. Whitney, the latter having four children, Charles, Ada L., Flora, and Edward E. The next child of Christian and Charlotte Weber is Catharine, intermar- ried with Thomas Atwood, the latter now deceased; they had three children, Albert, Ida B., and Mary B. The third child, Rebecca, was the wife of William Carr, who was overcome and died from the effects of the great snow blockade on the Nor- ristown railroad which also caused the death of Rev. Dr. Stem and others; the Carr children were four, Ella, George, Anna B., and John W. Elmina, the next daughter, is the wife of David Schrack, of Norriton; they have two children, Kate and Elmina. We continue the record of Christian and Charlotte Weber's children. William C., the elder son, is intermarried with Hannah, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Walker. They live in Great Valley, and have ten living children, as follows : W. Harry, Lottie, John, Winfield, Elmina S., Mary F., Ella, Charles C., G. Norwood, and Emma. The younger son, John C., married Anna M., daughter of Isaac and Margaret Cassel- berry; they had four children, Mary Ellen, Charles Z., Isaac C., and Anna C. John C. Weber's first wife died, and he after- wards married Miss Sarah B. Heebner. Emma, the youngest daughter, is intermarried with Thomas P. Walker, and they have eight children, Charles C., Howard, Lottie, I. Newton, William, Emma May, T. Herbert, and Edith. Mary B. ends the list of the children of Christian Weber, and now resides with her aged mother in Norristown. Christian Weber died November 16th, 1865, aged seventy-one years. He was for many years a worthy member, as also an elder, first of the Presbyterian church in Lower Providence and afterwards of that at Jeffersonville. He was a man of deep humility and great simplicity of character.
Having given the intermarriages and offspring of the two elder sons of John Weber, the proper subject of this memorial, we come to the third child, Mary, intermarried with William Bean, son of Jesse Bean, Esq., of Lower Providence. They had the following children: Jesse, the eldest, is married to Elizabeth, daughter of Captain John Matheys, of Norriton, and they have two surviving children, David and Howell. The
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JOHN WEBER.
next child is William, who is intermarried with Emily Owen, and they have two children, T. Howard and Hannah; he is a merchant, and with his family resides in Norristown. The next of the Bean family is Hannah, the wife of James H. Owen, of Cape May; they have one surviving child, Mary, united in marriage to Dr. M. W. Reeves, of New Jersey. The next child is Edwin A., who is married to Elizabeth Hood; they have one child, Wilmer M. The next is Colonel Theodore W., who is intermarried with Hannah, daughter of John Heebner; they have three children, William H., Mary L., and Lane S. Colonel Bean won his military title by gallant service in the cavalry during the late rebellion. Since then his patriotism and public spirit have been conspicuous in active co-operation in the movement to set apart Valley Forge as one of our national shrines. He delivered the historical address at the late centen- nial celebration held there. He has also written and published a "History of Valley Forge." The youngest of the Weber- Bean family is Anna L., who is the wife of Dr. Nathaniel Rit- ter, of Lehigh county; they have children, Ada, Effie, Ervin, Bertha, and Horace.
William Bean, whose family are above recorded, was a very prominent and influential citizen in his day. He was elected" in 1841 by Democratic suffrage to the lower house of Assem- bly, and, according to usage, twice re-elected. He was born in 1788, and died January 29th, 1855, in his sixty-sixth year.
The fourth child of John Weber, the subject of this notice, bore the same name as his father. He was a prominent mer- chant of Philadelphia for several years, and owned a handsome farm near Jeffersonville, on which he erected a mill propelled by steam, which was afterwards changed to a cloth mill, and is now (1879) owned and operated by J. and J. Shaw & Co. John C. Weber died, a bachelor, on the 19th of September, 1860, aged sixty-one.
The youngest of John Weber's children was Joseph. He was a printer, and lived some years in Boston, Massachusetts, where he married. Subsequently he removed to Clermont, New Hampshire, where he publishes the Northern Advocate. He and his wife have two children, Joseph and Susan.
376
CHRISTOPHER RITTENHOUSE.
CHRISTOPHER RITTENHOUSE.
Love labor; for if thou dost not want it for food, thou mayst for physic. It is whole -- some for thy body and good for thy mind .- William Penn.
The man who conducts an increasing business for nearly fifty years with quiet industry and steady perseverance, neither grow- ing immensely rich nor becoming poor through time's vicissi- tudes, must possess qualities to attract at least the attention of" the village biographer. Thus, reluctantly on the part of the subject of our notice, we have placed the above name among the noted business men.
Christopher Rittenhouse, son of David and Rachel Ritten- house, was born in Norriton township, near Norristown, in 1806 .. His maternal grandfather was William Zimmerman, of the same township. When young he obtained a very limited school education, and at the proper age was apprenticed to Samuel. Sloan to learn the wheelwrighting trade. On reaching his twenty-second year he set up business in Roxborough, Phila- delphia county, where he remained till 1836, and then removed to Norristown. About this time he was married to Catharine Markle, and soon after began business at Main and Arch streets, where he now has his works. For a number of years he pur- sued his calling in connection with his brother Henry, who was a blacksmith. A few years later, about 1850, he aban- doned the old business, associated with Frederick Gilbert, en- larged the buildings, and went extensively into the manufac- ture of agricultural machinery. This trade was driven with energy and success till about 1860, when the firm was dis- solved, but the business continued by him and his sons. In 1868 another enlargement of the works took place by adding the foundry business, which was only an increased facility to the agricultural branch. By aid of his sons, who have also learned the latter art, he is now engaged in all the lighter de- scriptions of the foundry business, and doing a large machinery trade generally. Mr. Rittenhouse's horse-powers, threshers,. and winnowing machines have been famous for several years. past. The concern is one of the oldest in Norristown.
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HON. HENRY P. ROSS, A. B.
Christopher and Catharine Rittenhouse have had six child -- ren: Mary, intermarried with John C. Snyder, Esq., of Norris- town; Charles, George, William, Ella, and Frank. They all reside or work at home except William, who has a family, and. . is employed as a machinist at the Pennsylvania Tack Works. The business establishment we have described, as built up by nearly fifty years of patient toil, may possibly descend as a family inheritance to the next generation.
The father of the subject of our notice"was probably a cou- sin of David Rittenhouse, the astronomer and philosopher,. though the relationship is not claimed by Mr. R. The family was German, and the name was originally spelled Rittenhaus .. Nearly all the grave-yards in our locality, connected with Ger- man sects, contain tomb-stones with this name chiseled upon them.
HON. HENRY P. ROSS, A. B.
Zeno says that a speaker should never let a word come out of his mouth that is not strongly tinctured with sense; so Phocion's oratory contained the most sense in the fewest words .- Plutarch's Life of Phocion.
There are very few, if any, mere civilians in Pennsylvania who have achieved so early in life as distinguished and endur- ing a reputation as Hon. Henry Pawling Ross, now Judge of the Montgomery county courts. He is the son of Hon. Thomas and Elizabeth Pawling Ross, of Doylestown, Bucks county, where he was born on the 16th of December, 1836. His father was a distinguished lawyer of that county and his mother the. daughter of the late Hon. Levi Pawling, of Norristown, whose. wife (Judge Ross' grandmother) was the daughter of Hon. Joseph Hiester, of Reading, formerly Governor of the State. From the particular sketch in hand we turn aside to give a short history of the Ross family and its affiliations.
Its paternal head in this locality was Scotch-Irish, and early settled in eastern Pennsylvania. The first noted ancestor was Thomas Ross, an approved preacher among Friends in Sole-
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HON. HENRY P. ROSS, A. B.
bury, Bucks county, where his son John, who became an emi- nent lawyer and Judge, was born in 1770. The latter studied law with his cousin, Thomas Ross, of West Chester, and after becoming a member of Congress was in 1818 appointed Presi- dent Judge of the courts of Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Bucks counties. In 1830, because of his eminent ability, he was transferred by Governor Wolf to the bench of the Su- preme Court, which position he held till the time of his death in January, 1834. He had married Mary Jenkins, of Jenkin- town, Montgomery county, in 1795, and they had several child- ren, Thomas Ross, the father of Henry P. Ross, being among the number. Thomas Ross, named doubtless after his pater- nal grandfather, the Quaker preacher, was born in Easton on the 3d of December, 1806. After receiving a good primary education he entered Princeton College, where he graduated with honor in 1825, and soon commenced the study of law under the tuition of his father, then Judge of the counties be- fore stated. In 1829 he was admitted to the bar of Northamp- ton county, but soon after removed to Doylestown, where in 1830 he was commissioned commonwealth's attorney by Hon. Philip S. Markley, then Attorney General of the State. While he held that post it was his duty to prosecute the Chapman- Mina murder case, securing the conviction and execution of the Spaniard. The notoriety of that trial, and other law pro- ceedings in which he soon engaged, gave him a high reputa- tion as a lawyer, and he was put forward in 1848 as the Demo- cratic candidate for Congress in the Sixth district, was elected, and returned the next term (1850-52). He died July Ist, 1865, in his fifty-ninth year.
Henry P. Ross' maternal ancestors are of English and Ger- man descent, and he derives his given name from his distin- guished uncle, Dr. Henry D. W. Pawling, of King-of-Prussia. After receiving the usual elementary training, he entered Prince- ton College in 1853, and graduated in 1857, receiving the de- gree of Bachelor of Arts. Soon after completing a college course, having doubtless an aptitude for legal studies, inherited through two generations, he entered the office of his father to read law and enter upon the now family profession. He was
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HON. HENRY P. ROSS, A. B.
admitted December 16th, 1859. In 1862 he was taken up by the Democracy of his native county for District Attorney and elected, serving three years with great fidelity and efficiency. In 1864 and 1866 he was brought forward for Congress in like manner by his political friends in Bucks county, but not elected. In June, 1865, he was married to Mary Clifton, an accom- plished young lady of Princeton, New Jersey. She died Novem- ber 26th, 1873, leaving one surviving daughter. In 1864 and 1868 he represented in part the Democrats of the Sixth dis- trict in the national Presidential convention. In 1865 he was appointed Deputy Escheator General for Bucks county, and in 1869 elected Additional Law Judge for the Seventh district, composed of Bucks and Montgomery. Shortly after, the two counties being erected into separate districts, Judge Ross re- signed the joint position in 1871, and was elected President Judge of the courts of Montgomery alone, which post he now fills. In 1875 he was married to Emily Genung, of Brooklyn, New York.
His eminent qualities as a Judge early drew public attention to him as a suitable incumbent for the bench of the Supreme Court, and at the Democratic convention in 1874 he was next to the highest candidate before it for that office. At the State convention at Erie in 1876 he was a very prominent candidate for Governor, coming very near a nomination. In 1878 public sentiment early began to manifest itself through the Demo- cratic press of the State in favor of Judge Ross for the vacant seat on the Supreme bench. Accordingly the convention that met at Pittsburg in May nominated him for the place on the first ballot, and although he was not elected, owing to the di- vided state of parties, his vote in Bucks and Montgomery, where he is personally well known, was very complimentary, as the following figures show: In Montgomery-Dill, for Governor, 9164; Ross, for Supreme Judge, 9441; Ross ahead of Dill, 277 votes. So in Bucks county : Dill, 7552; Ross, 7827; the latter in advance of the former 275 votes. He thus led his ticket in the two home counties by five hundred and fifty-two votes.
He is claimed as one of the founders of the English and clas-
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HON. HENRY P. ROSS, A. B.
sical seminary at Doylestown. Being selected by his Alma Mater to deliver the oration before the literary societies of" Princeton College in 1873, he did so with marked credit om the topic, "The duty of the American scholar to become an active agent in American politics." He has in like manner been invited to deliver addresses to the graduates of our high schools at their annual commencements, and performed the- duty with great acceptance.
It only remains to speak of Judge Ross as a man and a jur -. ist. He is affable, courteous and social in an eminent degree,. with an utter absence of that hauteur so common to men in his position. He takes a deep interest in all political questions as; they arise, and the necessary retiracy of his high position is: rather enforced than voluntary. His mental and physical en -- dowments indicate a predominance of nerve, giving quickness,. intrepidity, and decisiveness to every action. As a writer andi speaker he uses language always concise, direct and forcible, and never confuses the hearer with mere verbiage. As an elo -- cutionist he has learned what very few public speakers have,. that syllables, words and sentences are ideal pictures addressed. as such to the understanding of the hearer, and which, from: rapidity and indistinctiveness of utterance by many are misap -. prehended or lost. Judge Ross' deliverances from the bench,. therefore, sound to the unlearned listener very like a carefully" delivered law lecture. The perspicuity of his charges, also,, rarely if ever fail to give juries a clear idea of the cause in hand,. and his quick and analytic mind seldom errs in a ruling. Con -- sequently his decisions do not often come back from the Su -- preme Court for another trial. Few county Judges in a short. period have presided over so many important cases as he, such as the murder trials of Curley, Pistorius, Whalen, and Sutton.
In his intercourse with the bar and the public he has escaped the imputation of favoritism and partiality, and his integrity and uniform inflexibility command the confidence of all. If the Judge's health and life are spared, he has a distinguished and useful career before him. Though not a member of any church,. his affiliations and attachments are towards the Episcopalian ..
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381
JONAS M. HARLEY.
JONAS M. HARLEY.
It is a serious thing to die; it is a more serious thing to live .- Schiller.
The modest, unpretending citizen whose name stands above, is recorded because, from considerations of patriotism and pub- lic spirit, he inscribed himself a patron of our book, which aims to rescue from forgetfulness departed public men of the county. He makes no pretensions, wants or needs no eulogies. He has a family record, however, which is here given.
Among the pious Germans who left the fatherland with Pas- torius and settled at "ye Garmantown" was Rudolph Harley, who had a son, also named Rudolph, born to him in the old country in 1719, and a daughter married to a man called Graef, who moved West. This Rudolph of the second generation married Mary Becker, daughter of Peter Becker, of German- town, and had thirteen children, born as follows: Johannes (or John) in 1741, Johanna in 1743, Lena in 1745, Maria in 1747, Rudolph in 1749, Elizabeth in 1750, Jacob in 1752, Henry in 1754, Sarah in 1756, Samuel in 1758, Joseph in 1760, Maria Margreta in 1762, and Abraham in 1765. These numerous :sons and daughters were thus intermarried: Maria with Freder- ick Diehl, Rudolph with Barbara Bach, Elizabeth with Chris- tian Dettra, Henry with Elizabeth Groff, Sarah with George Price, Samuel with Catharine (daughter of Christopher Saur, of Germantown), Joseph with Catharine Reiff, Maria Margreta with Jacob Detwiler, and Abraham with Christiana Geisz.
We continue the genealogy in the fourth generation through Samuel, the fifth son of Rudolph. This Samuel had ten child- ren, born as follows: Daniel in 1787, Samuel in 1788, Mary {the mother of Abraham H. Cassel, the antiquarian) in 1789, Sarah in 1791, John in 1792, Catharine in 1793, Joseph in 1795, Elizabeth in 1797, Jacob, and Abraham. The above named Joseph Harley married Sarah Markley, and they became the parents of ten children, as follows : Samuel, Ann, Philip, Joseph, Edwin, Deborah, Jonas M. (the proper subject of this notice), John, Sarah, and Daniel, all now (1879) living but Joseph.
Jonas M. Harley was born in Gwynedd township, Mont- gomery county, on the 18th of September, 1831, and received
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REV. HENRY A. HUNSICKER.
a good common school education, partly under the instructions of his cousin, Abraham H. Cassel. At the age of fifteen years; he was apprenticed to the cabinetmaking business with his: uncle, which he learned and successfully followed for a period of ten years in Juniata county, where he continued (including his apprenticeship) thirteen years. About 1859 he returned to the East and located at Line Lexington, Bucks county, in the mercantile business, continuing there eleven years, when he removed to North Wales, where he has since been prominently engaged in the general storekeeping business.
In 1865 Jonas M. Harley was united in marriage to Eme- line, daughter of Robert Stonebach, and there were born to- them two children, Walter S. and Laura Amanda. Having lost his first wife by death some years ago, he was afterwards married to Hannah Cassel. Mr. Harley for a long time has been a member of the Baptist church of North Wales, and justly stands very high in that growing young borough as a. business man and useful citizen.
REV. HENRY A. HUNSICKER.
Mountains and hills may move, But naught can set aside His power eternal
Nor change His truth and love. O, soul afflicted, tempest-tossed, uncared-for! Whilst His face can see Thou needst not fear, for terror and oppression Can never come near thee .- Mrs. M. J. Bittle.
Henry A. Hunsicker, of Freeland, Montgomery county, son of Rev. Abraham and Elizabeth Hunsicker, of that place, was; born November 10th, 1825. His father was a farmer, and as. usual with such the son had at first but the ordinary opportu- nities of common schools till well grown, when he was sent. first to Washington Hall boarding-school, then under the care- of Rev. Henry S. Rodenbough, and for a short time to Tree- mount Seminary, Norristown, then presided over by the Rev .. Samuel Aaron. These limited advantages, however, were so-
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REV. HENRY A. HUNSICKER.
well improved by close application to hard study, rigid schol- astic discipline, and a naturally inquiring turn of mind, added to great administrative abilities, that he was enabled in his twenty-second year, with the assistance of his father and friends, to erect buildings and open Freeland Seminary for the education of young men. This school, under his management, became eminent and very prosperous for a period of eighteen years, or from 1847 to 1865, when he sold it to Professor Fetterolf. During this long time about twenty-three hundred pupils were under his instruction. It is proper here to remark that Mr. Hunsicker was remarkable as a Principal for rigid yet mild, kindly management of the young, and pupils always left his school with pleasant recollections of their school-boy days.
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