USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Lives of the eminent dead and biographical notices of prominent living citizens of Montgomery County, Pa. > Part 41
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" In ornithology, we lately heard That by the carol we must know the bird; The nest itself, the song, the chirp and play, The high-winged flight, the plumage dull or gay, Tell but too plainly whether they will fit The hooting owl or the naughty tom-tit."
436
EZRA LUKENS.
EZRA LUKENS.
Minutes are more than jewels. They are " the stuff that life is made of"; they are diamond stepping-stones to wisdom, usefulness, and wealth; the ladder to heaven .-- Dr. Prime.
The subject of this sketch, belonging to a prominent Mont- gomery county family, and some years a resident here, was born in Philadelphia on the 14th of October, 1837. His father was William Lukens, of Haverford, Delaware county, and his mother Edith Lukens, of Towamencin township, Montgomery county, a distant relative. The brothers and sisters of his mo- ther are the following: Abel, of North Wales; Seth, of Gwyn- edd, the famous temperance and anti-slavery advocate; Eliam, of Lyons, Iowa; Comly, of Decatur, Illinois; Sarah, intermar- ried with C. Todd Jenkins; Hannah, the wife of Aram Drake; and Mary, married to Samuel Rhoads, deceased. The early pedigree of the Lukens family is fully given in the sketch of Seth Lukens elsewhere in this work.
Ezra Lukens received a good academic education, first in schools under the care of Friends in Philadelphia, and after- wards in select seminaries in Montgomery county, having re- sided near Kulpsville from 1847 to 1851, as also in his child- hood, where his father died in July, 1838. His father and mo- ther were married in Friends' meeting, at Gwynedd, in 1834, and the subject of this notice, as also Cyrus, his only brother, are members of the society by birthright. At the time he was about seventeen, Ezra Lukens entered the mercantile house of Siter, Price & Co., No. 315 Market street, Philadelphia. This firm was largely engaged in selling goods to the West and South. He remained with them eleven years, a strong guar- antee of faithful service on his part, till 1865, after which, for some time, he was engaged in the wholesale commission mer- chant on North Delaware avenue. On the Ist of May, 1869, he was appointed to the position of chief register and loan clerk in the United States sub-Treasury at Philadelphia, hold- ing the appointment until April 5th, 1875.
At an election held the previous February, he was elected one of the Magistrates or Justices under the provisions of the
437
EZRA LUKENS.
new Constitution, for the period of five years. On the 5th of April of the same year he was commissioned Magistrate of Court No. 12, which comprised the Thirteenth and Fourteenth wards of Philadelphia, his office being located at No. 835 Cal- lowhill street. This position Mr. Lukens very worthily fills. at the present time, having beside much miscellaneous law business on hand. He is entered as a law student, but not ad- mitted.
For a number of years Mr. Lukens has taken an active in- terest in public affairs, and being a "dyed-in-the-wool" Repub- lican, as are nearly all of the name, he naturally arose to the surface. Accordingly, as early as 1860, Mr. L. identified him- self with that far-famed organization, the Republican Invinci- bles of the city, which, with blazing torches and serried ranks, marched "as an army with banners" to the redemption of the land from the curse of slavery. It was in that honorable and reputable body, as member, committeeman, assistant marshal, treasurer, and finally as president, that he won the high pub- lic standing before the people which led to his nomination and election to the responsible position he now holds. As an in- dication of the estimation in which he is regarded, it may be mentioned that he received the second highest vote on the list,. there being thirty-two candidates to be elected. Mr. L. has also been for several years a member of the Republican State Central Committee, and for three years one of its secretaries.
On the 29th of August, 1867, Ezra Lukens was married by Mayor Morton McMichael to Maria Fell Maddock. One child, Edward Fell Lukens, born April 29th, 1870, is the sole representative of this union. Justice Lukens is still in unity with Friends, but his wife was educated a Baptist.
438
WILLIAM P. CUTHBERTSON.
WILLIAM P. CUTHBERTSON.
We have remarked elsewhere in the words of the adage, that "it is better to be born lucky than rich," but to have quick, versatile parts, or, according to the Latin phrase, suavi- ter in modo, fortiter in re (in English, “gentle in manners, but resolute in deed,") is better than any amount of "born luck." Fortune is a very coy and capricious goddess at best; the wheel that turns you up to-day may tumble you down to-morrow.
The man that has a trade, a well cultivated gift, enduring moral principles, or choice native endowments, has a fortune in any of those possessions that is proof against all the muta- tions of life.
He whose name stands at the head of this page is the eldest son of Alexander and Rebecca Cuthbertson, the father coming from Scotland, and the mother, who is still living, of a Vir- ginia family.
The subject of our notice was born in Philadelphia in 1831, and there and in Norristown received an ordinary school edu- cation, being early put to work to earn his own living under his father, who was a cotton factory boss. For many years the latter worked in the mill of the late Samuel Jamison, in Norristown. At the proper age William P. was apprenticed to learn carpentering. Having finished his trade he went to work as a journeyman with a will, determined to rise in the world as the way might open for him. This rigid course was pursued for a period, saving his money, and improving his time and opportunities with prudent care. While many other young journeymen mechanics were dissipating, he was gathering a small capital on which to commence trading, for which he had remarkable capacity. About this time he married Harriet the youngest daughter of the late Frederick, Jr., and Elizabeth Conrad, of Norristown. He was the son of the Hon. Fred- erick Conard, who represented Montgomery in Congress from 1803 to 1807, and for many years was one of the most influen- tial men of the county, residing in Worcester township and in Norristown.
439
WILLIAM P. CUTHBERTSON.
After working at carpentering for some time a favorable op- portunity presented itself of going into the grocery trade by the retirement of Jacob Adle and sister, who, for several years, had followed that business in Norristown. He bought out their stock, rented their store-room and soon demonstrated his capacity for mercantile pursuits by increasing the custom of the establishment to four-fold what it had been under the old management. After remaining in that locality five years, he purchased a lot near the corner of Main and Cherry streets, on which he built a large brick store and dwelling. Here with increased facilities he pushed business for several years, adver- tising extensively and drawing trade from distant points all over the county.
In 1869, his health requiring a change of occupation, and having accumulated considerable means, he sold out his busi- ness and purchased a number of lots on Airy, Ann and Norris streets, Norristown, on which he erected several rows of well planned brick houses, which he still holds.
During the year 1870 he purchased an interest in the Penn- sylvania Tack Works, which he held and assisted to run for about two or three years, when having a favorable opportunity to sell it again to advantage, he retired from business alto- gether. During his retirement, however, his active brain was busy assisting the temperance reform and cogitating some me- chanical inventions, two of which he had patented. The first was a mode of adjusting nuts on screw-bolts so as to prevent the loosening of the former. That invention he sold to par- ties interested in such machinery. The other was an attached fixture to a locomotive to open and shut railroad switches auto- matically. This patent he retains.
Some time after retiring from the tack works he sold his store-house and dwelling on Main street, and purchased one on Swede near Chestnut, to which he removed. After occu- pying it a couple of years, he sold it and invested some money in one at Oak and DeKalb streets, which he finally purchased and now occupies.
In 1874 he took an active part in the Prohibition campaign, being chosen President of the Harrisburg State convention that
440
GENERAL JESSE H. GERY.
nominated J. Audley Brown for Governor and Elijah F. Penny- packer for Auditor General. He was also himself nominated for Secretary of Internal Affairs. He did considerable speak- ing during the canvass, addressing the people in Montgomery, Chester, Lancaster, and Philadelphia counties.
The fall of prices having crippled trade, rendered house rents. unremunerative, and being desirous of returning to active business, he concluded in the fall of 1876 to open a family · grocery again, which he did at Marshall and DeKalb streets, where he is dispensing groceries as of old.
William P. and Harriet Cuthbertson have two children, Harry a young man employed as book-keeper in Philadelphia in a house in the dry goods and notions trade, and Lizzie, who. lives with her parents.
GENERAL JESSE H. GERY.
Better than grandeur, better than gold, Than rank and titles a thousand fold, Is a healthy body and mind at ease, And simple pleasures that always please .- Catholic Herald.
The Gery family, of Upper Hanover and surrounding town- ships of Montgomery and Berks counties, is one of the most numerous and respectable in the famous "upper end." It dates back to the commencement of the last century. The original progenitor, Jacob Gery, came from Switzerland, and served a term of years as "a redemptioner" to pay for his passage to Valentine Geisenur, of Herford, now Berks county. As it happened this modern Jacob was not only named like Israel of old, who wandered from his father's house, but like him, married his master's daughter, Gertrude.
From this union has sprung all the Gerys of Montgomery and Berks counties. Sometime after his freedom and mar- riage, in 1748, he purchased of Margaret Jeckyl, who had bought of the Penn brothers, a tract of six hundred acres of land, now partly in Herford and partly in Upper Hanover. A
44₽
GENERAL JESSE H. GERY.
portion of it he sold but partially cleared the remainder, and erected upon it the necessary farm buildings. Being also ac - quainted with the art of making tiles, he erected a tile-hut and kilns for manufacturing them. The place was thenceforward for many years known as "Gery's tile-hut," or teigel huette ..
This Jacob Gery, the emigrant, was born May 9th, 1721, and his wife, Gertrude, 15th of the same month, 1728. He- died February 23d, 1808, aged eighty-seven years, and she- died February 8th, 1802, aged seventy-four years. Jacob and Gertrude Gery left nine children, five sons and four daughters: Jacob, John Adam, John, Peter, Michael, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Anna Maria, and Catharine.
We trace the descent only through his oldest son, Jacob, of the second generation, who was born February 11th, 1754, and was married three times, having born to him fourteen child- ren. He first married Elizabeth Lauer. She lived nine years, and had five children, four sons and one daughter. One of the former died in infancy. The names of the survivors are. the following: Jacob, the eldest, born in 1782, married Eliza -- beth Gregory, and died in 1828, aged forty-six years, leaving two sons and two daughters. Peter, the second son, was born in 1783, intermarried with Elizabeth Hallman, and died in 1868, aged eighty-four years, leaving five sons and three daugh- ters. The next was Sarah, the eldest daughter, who was born in 1785, and married Peter Marsteller, died in 1853, aged six- ty-seven years, leaving two daughters. The fourth was John, born in 1787, who married Catharine Graber, and died in 1873, aged eighty-six years, leaving four sons and eight daughters. The foregoing were the children of Jacob Gery, of the second generation, by his first wife.
After a time he married his second wife, Anna Treichler,. who lived but a short time, having one child, which died soon' after its mother, in 1792. He then married his third wife, Elizabeth Treichler, of Bucks county, and they had eight child- ren, four sons and four daughters, of whom one son and one daughter died in infancy. The other children are the following : Elizabeth, intermarried with Adam Hallman, who was born in 1793, and had six children, four sons and two daughters. Af-
29
442
GENERAL JESSE H. GERY.
ter the death of her first husband she married Jacob Deischer, by whom she had one son and one daughter. Elizabeth Deischer died in 1843, aged fifty years.
The next child of Jacob Gery, Jr., was Michael, born in 1795. He married Sarah Nuss, who bore him eight sons and six daughters. He was for three years County Commissioner of Berks county, and died in 1870, aged seventy-five years.
The next son of Jacob Gery, of the second generation, was Joseph T., the father of Jesse H. Gery, the subject of this no- tice. He was born at the old homestead on the 22d of Janua- ry, 1801, and in 1827 married Anna, daughter of Frederick Hillegass, of Upper Hanover township. She was born Janua- ry 27th, 1809, and died December 16th, 1878, in the seventieth year of her age. Joseph T. and Anna Gery had four children, one daughter and three sons: Lydia Amanda; Jesse H., born July 20th, 1831; Mary Ann died in infancy; Thomas H., born May 21st, 1837, and who married Mary Burkhalter. They have six children, four sons and two daughters. Thomas H. Gery is a farmer, and lives upon and works the ancient home- stead farm. The names of their children are Alfred, Jacob, Ida, William, Mary, and Jesse H. Joseph T. and Anna Gery's youngest son is Joseph H., who was born June 10th, 1839, and is intermarried with Elizabeth Baughman. They live in the West, and have four daughters, named Kate, Anna May, Mary, and Louisa.
Having given the offspring of Joseph T., we return to his other brothers and sisters, the children of Jacob, of the second generation.
David Gery was born in 1804, and married Maria (or Polly) Mollhour. They had seven children: William, Jacob, Na- thaniel, Elizabeth, Edwin, Emma, and David, all now dead. Three of the sons had children.
The next child was Maria (Polly), born in 1806. She was married to Peter Hillegass. They left one son and two daugh- ters. She died in 1876, aged sixty-nine years.
The last of the children of Jacob Gery, of the second gener- ation, was Judia, born in 1813, and who was married first to John Berger, by whom she had one son and one daughter.
443
GENERAL JESSE II. GERY.
After the death of Mr. B. she married Michael Hersh, and 'bore him one son and two daughters. Judia Hersh died No- vember 27th, 1855, aged forty-two years.
We have now traced the descent of the Gery family from the Swiss emigrant down through his eldest son, Jacob, to the fourth generation, giving the names of nearly all the descend- ants through that line. A brief sketch of Jesse H. Gery's an- ·cestry on the maternal side will now be given.
The father of his mother was the son of Frederick Hillegass, Sr., who was born in 1783, and died in 1859, aged seventy-six years. His wife was Lydia, a daughter of George Breinig, of Macungie, Lehigh county, who was born in 1787, and died in 1875, aged eighty-six years. The brother and sister of Anna Hillegass Gery are the following: Thomas B., married to Polly Berndt, and has had one child, named Romanus, who died a few years ago; Leah, married to Charles Graber, de- ceased, and has two sons, Edwin and Albert, the former of whom is married to Amanda Hevener.
We return now to the primary subject of this notice, Jesse H. Gery, of Palm. He was brought up on a farm-the old Gery homestead, and had the ordinary common school train- ing. He was afterwards sent to Oakdale Seminary in Chester county, Reading Collegiate School, and Allentown Seminary. After obtaining a good academic education, he spent some time in teaching school, after which he was entered as a stu- dent of law with the late Hon. David Krause. After passing a creditable examination he was admitted to the bar on the 23d of February, 1855. Previous to this last event he had been duly elected for five years a Brigadier General of the Sec- ond Brigade of the Second Division of the uniformed militia of Pennsylvania, and received a commission from Governor Big- ler, dated June 21st, 1854.
In 1866 Mr. Gery received the Democratic nomination for Prothonotary of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery county, was elected in October for three years, and duly com- missioned by Governor Curtin on the 16th of November of the same year. Serving his term in the court to the satisfac- tion of officials and people, he returned to Upper Hanover
444
H. W. KRATZ, ESQ.
again, and on the 16th of February, 1875, was elected Justice- of the Peace over his competitor, Philip Super, Esq., which office he holds at present, his term ending in 1880. Mr. G .. has one of the best law and miscellaneous libraries in the county, which, with his legal education, enables him to give- counsel, attend to his official duties intelligently, write con- veyances, and transact any description of legal business what- ever that may be entrusted to his care.
Jacob Gery, who figures so largely in this sketch, was a sol- dier, and served a term with credit in the armies of the Revo -- lution. He died in 1829, at the ripe old age of seventy-five- years, and his last wife, Elizabeth, who was born in 1768, died in 1851, aged eighty-three.
Joseph T. Gery inherited the homestead, and in 1860 built himself a new stone mansion, in one end of which, retired from business, he has resided some years, his son, Thomas H., farm- ing the place.
As before stated, Anna Hillegass Gery is dead, and Jesse H .- and the sister, who are unmarried, now (1879) reside with the aged father. It is only necessary to say in conclusion that. General Jesse H. Gery stands very high, wherever he is known, as a correct and capable business man, whose integrity, indus -- try and uprightness have secured him worldly competence and the respect of all. He and most of the family are members of the Reformed church.
H. W. KRATZ, EsQ.
Better than gold is a peaceful home, When all the fireside characters come, The shrine of love, the Heaven of life, Hallowed by mother, sister, or wife.
Henry W. Kratz, as his name indicates, is of German ex- traction, and was born in Perkiomen township, Montgomery county, July 31st, 1834, and when young removed with his parents to the village of Trappe, Upper Providence township, where at first he had the benefit of common school instruc --
445
H. W. KRATZ, ESQ.
tion, but later received a good academic training at Washing- ton Hall Collegiate Institute, under Joseph Hunsicker, Esq., Professor Rambo, and others, where he was also fitted to enter the Sophomore class in college. Instead of taking a regular collegiate course, however, as first contemplated, he returned to teaching at the age of eighteen, and thenceforward contin- ued as instructor at the public school, at Trappe, for about ten years, attending school during the summer sessions until he was twenty-two years old. He also taught one year at Barren Hill, and at Sumneytown Academy one term. For a time he was employed as a store assistant with Hon. Jacob Fry, in Trappe. He was next a tutor for one year at his Alma Mater, under Professor R. Having thus large opportunities of edu- cation, and being an accomplished penman, he was, in 1866, procured the post of transcribing clerk of the Senate, at Har- risburg, through the influence of the late Hon. Horace Royer, and the year following had the position of bill, book and mes- .sage clerk. In 1862 he was elected a Justice of the Peace, and has been re-elected three times, still holding the office very .acceptably to the public; he is also engaged in serving his fel- low citizens as surveyor, conveyancer and real estate broker. For many years Esquire Kratz has been an active Republican, and for one year was chairman of the county committee of the party, and also Republican committeeman for Upper Provi- dence township about ten years. He has once or twice been honored by his political friends nominating him for the Legis- lature and other county offices, but by reason of the opposition majority not elected. He was twice a candidate for Superin- tendent of common schools of Montgomery county, and came nearly being elected.
In 1877 Esquire Kratz erected for himself a very neat, com- modious and elegant dwelling, and adjacent office, on the ssouth side of the main street, Trappe, a very satisfactory evi- «dence of his active and successful business life thus far.
His domestic record or family affiliations are as follows: He is the son of Valentine and Mary Kratz, who also live at Trappe. On the 26th of May, 1857, Mr. Henry W. Kratz was married to Mira, daughter of the late William Bean, of Upper
446
WILLIAM STAHLER.
Providence township, and there have been born to them five children, named as follows: Mary Matilda, Irwin B., Kate B., Jane, and Henry E. Irwin B. and Jane are deceased. For the past eighteen years Mr. Kratz has been a member of St. Luke's Reformed Church, of which Rev. Dr. J. H. A. Bom- berger is pastor. For a long time also he was engaged in teaching vocal music, and leads the choir of the church. He has been for a period a teacher in this department at Ursinus College, and now (1879) is President of the Board of Trustees; of that institution.
Esquire Kratz has just reached the meridian of life, and as he stands high for capacity, integrity, and industrious business. habits, his past is an indication of what his future will be.
WILLIAM STAHLER.
-We are dreamers, one and all, And the visions sweet mislead our feet, Till in the grave we fall .- L. F. Bittle.
William Stahler is the son of Elias and Catharine Stahler,. and was born in Milford township, Lehigh county, on the 5th of February, 1826. There he received a common school edu- cation, and assisted in a small shop till his sixteenth year, when he entered a drug store in Philadelphia. Here he remained till 1856, when he bought an apothecary shop which had a short time previously been established on Main street, Norris -- town, by Dr. M. G. Kerr and Amos W. Bertolet. This estab- lishment Mr. Stahler conducted with a steadily increasing busi -- ness till 1876, when he moved into his present large place at: the corner of Main and Swede streets, now known by the name of "The Central Drug Store."
This building, which he purchased in 1875 of the assignees: of Nathaniel Jacoby, was erected in 1840 by David E. Wood: & Co. for a dry goods house. Being much out of repair, Mr .. Stahler proceeded to add a fourth story with a Mansard roof,. put into the first story a new and expensive iron front, and
447
WILLIAM STAIILER.
paved both sidewalks with heavy flag-stone. The front ground floor is laid in white marble, and the room is furnished with two counters supporting six plate-glass show-cases, between each of which the counter is laid with polished Italian marble. The rear is divided into prescription room, office, and packing apartments, while the second story, one hundred feet deep, is fitted up as a complete laboratory for the compounding of drugs, medicines, and stowing of glass.
The original building cost him about ten thousand dollars, and the improvements have added nearly fifteen thousand dol- lars more to its value. It is believed that there is no more completely appointed apothecary and drug house in the State.
Mr. Stahler purchased a lot on DeKalb street below Airy, and in 1869 erected upon it, for his own use, perhaps in all its appointments and appurtenances, the most complete and best built brick house, with side yard, bay windows, and the like, to be found in Norristown. On the rear of the lot, on Green street, he has also built a convenient and ornamental carriage- house, with stables, the front of which is hewn sand-stone.
Mr. Stahler, who is a strict business man, has held no public office except two terms as member of Town Council, from 1860 to 1866. He is a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, and has been an office-bearer in it for some years.
On the 3d of June, 1856, he was married to Savilla Esch- bach, daughter of Abraham Eschbach, of Norristown. Their children are Eugene A., born in 1857; William E., born in 1858; and Harry Lincoln, whose natal day was the same as President Lincoln's first election, hence the name. The family, as the spelling indicates, is of German extraction, the great an- cestor being one of the earliest settlers of Lehigh county.
4448
JAMES GRIER RALSTON, D. D., LL.D.
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JAMES GRIER RALSTON, D. D., LL.D.
"Nil Desperandum!"
A little philosophy inclineth a man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy boringeth men's minds about to religion .- Francis Bacon.
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