USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Lives of the eminent dead and biographical notices of prominent living citizens of Montgomery County, Pa. > Part 56
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602
WILLIAM W. WENTZ.
as an assistant, where he continued some time, and where he died in 1879, leaving three orphan children.
The seventh, Henry, born in 1837, graduated with honor at Yale College in the class of 1858, studied law, and now (1881) as a matter of preference, is actively engaged in mercantile bu- siness at Pottsville, Pennsylvania. He served two years as a Captain in the Ninety-sixth Regiment of Pennsylvania Volun- teers, which post he resigned and returned to civil employ- ment.
Joseph and Elizabeth Royer's youngest child and only daugh- ter is Josephine. She is the wife of M. L. Kohler, attorney-at- law, and resides in Philadelphia.
WILLIAM W. WENTZ. -
And then the bearded sire we bore With lingering steps away, To mingle with the loved of yore, To lie with kindred clay .- Whitehead.
The Wentz family, almost from the first settlement of our county, have been among its most reputable citizens, the pro- genitors evidently arriving with the Reformed and Lutheran emigration from the Palatinate, Germany, about 1730. They have been from an early day connected with the Reformed churches of Whitpain and Worcester, as the congregation near Centre Point has always borne the name of " Wentz's," proba- bly from one of its chief patrons or founders of that name.
Our subject, William W. Wentz, was born at Centre Square, Whitpain township, August 24th, 1807, and after receiving a good education, was married in 1834, in his twenty-seventh year, to Hannah, daughter of Joseph and Mary Levengood. Mr. W. was trained in the occupation of a farmer, following that business after his marriage about six years, when he took charge of the Centre Square hotel, which had been a pub- lic house from the time of the Revolutionary war, and perhaps earlier. At the expiration of four years he purchased the pub- lic house of George Boyer, at Penn Square, to which he re-
603
WILLIAM W. WENTZ.
moved and remained seven years, when, building a fine dwelling near by, on part of the land, he sold and vacated the hotel, and engaged in farming again for two years.
His next enterprise was the founding of the large hotel and boarding-house at what has since been known as Washington Square, at the intersection of the new and old State roads from Norristown to Centre Square, and nearly equidistant from both places. Here, by building large and elegant buildings, Mr. Wentz sought to establish a sort of combined hostelry for tra- velers and convenience for city boarders. It was a large pro- perty, which had been known as the "Walker farm." At this place Mr. W. established, during a term of six years, a very successful business, when, in 1859, he concluded to sell the public house and part of the land to Joseph C. Beyer, and with his characteristic enterprise built himself a mansion across the road on fifty-five acres which he had reserved. He continued from that year engaged in farming until the time of his death, which resulted from paralysis, April 5th, 1880, in his seventy- third year, after about five weeks confinement to his bed.
William W. Wentz was early in life confirmed a member of Bæhm's Reformed Church, under the ministry of Rev. George Wack, and many years an office-bearer, continuing in its communion to the time of his death, as do also his widow and most of his surviving children to the present time. He was always held in high estimation by his neighbors and friends, as ready to sympathize with them in times of sickness and mis- fortune. Having a fair education and good judgment, he often filled public and social positions at the call of his fellow-citi- zens, such as school director, supervisor, juryman, and the like.
William W. and Hannah Wentz had eleven children born to them, namely: Alfred, Wells and Mary Ann (twins), Isa- bella, Jesse W., Augusta, David L., Winfield Scott, Isadore, William Henry, and Anna. Of these, five, Alfred, Mary Ann, Augusta, David L., and William Henry, are (1881) deceased.
Wells is intermarried with Rebecca Morris, of Delaware county, and Isabella with William H. Baker, merchant and postmaster at Belfry station; the latter has two sons, William J. and Walter Eldridge. Jesse W. is married to Mary Bella
604
WILLIAM W. WENTZ.
Preston, of Philadelphia, and Winfield Scott to Emma A. Rob- blee; the latter reside (1881) at Lampasas, Texas, and have had one child, Eldridge M. The next daughter, Isadore, is the wife of John Dettera, of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and has two children, Herbert W. and Rena Estella. Anna, the youngest child, has been a life-long invalid, a victim of con- sumption; she resides in care of the aged widow and mother at the Washington Square mansion.
William W. Wentz and wife gave their surviving children the best opportunities of education, the sons being sent to Hun- sicker's seminary at Freeland, Isabella to the State Normal School at Millersville, and the rest to other good institutions of learning. The parents have had the satisfaction since of see- ing nearly all of them well settled in life.
In person Mr. Wentz was of medium stature, light complex- ion, dark hair, with countenance wearing a kindly, genial ex- pression.
605
REV. MATTHIAS SHEELEIGH, D. D.
REV. MATTHIAS SHEELEIGH, D. D.
The prudent man looketh well to his going .- Proverbs xiv, 15.
Although not a native of Montgomery county, the subject of this sketch has now (1886) for almost a score of years been identified with its people and interests, being a resident of Whitemarsh, near Fort Washington, on the border of Phila- delphia, and as pastor of two Lutheran congregations.
His paternal ancestor-the great-grandfather-arriving from Germany, settled in the northern part of what is now Mont- gomery county, then embraced in Philadelphia county, at or near Skippack, about a century and a half ago, and he had the repute of a man of superior intellectual culture. The name was first written Schillich, also sometimes Schillig; and in the present branch of the family, there followed a generation or two ago-probably through some officious school-master-the transformation into the un-German orthography at the head of this biographical sketch. This earliest known progenitor's Christian name was Valentine, as seen on the marriage records of Great Swamp German Reformed Church, at the date of 1759, and his wife's maiden name was Maria Elizabeth Moll.
There are also entries on the records of old Augustus Lutheran Church at Trappe, showing that Catharine Schillig, aged 17 years, was both confirmed and married there 1755 by Dr. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg. The husband was Johannes Fuchs, and her father Philip Schillig. This lady, it is inferred, was a sister to Valentine, the great-grandfather of the subject of this monograph; and hence the great-great-grandfather's given name appears to have been Philip; but whether or not he came to America with his children is still a matter of inquiry.
Descending a step, the genealogist comes to the grandfather, a son of Valentine; his baptismal name was John, and he had four brothers called respectively Matthias, Michael, Philip, - and at least one sister, who married John Geist, of Pottstown. John Schillich crossed the Schuylkill westward into Chester county, and married Sarah Linderman; died in the
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REV. MATTHIAS SHEELEIGH, D. D.
year 1800, and was buried at the East Vincent Reformed Church, on "the Ridge," three miles north of Phoenixville. The book of that church contains the record of an infant daughter's baptism in 1795. John left, as survivors of six children, two sons and a daughter, Valentine, Jesse and Mary. Valentine died in 1863 in his seventy-first year, leaving a son, Ameriah, and three daughters ; and his grave appears in Brom- back's Reformed Church yard, three miles farther north on "the Ridge." Mary married John Wagner, near Womelsdorf, Berks county.
Matthias Sheeleigh, D. D., was born December 29, 1821, at Charlestown, Chester county, north of the North Valley Hill range, in a picturesque vale overlooked by Pikeland Church, being six miles southwest of Phoenixville and twelve north of West Chester. He is wholly of German descent in the fourth and fifth generations since the emigration to America. His father was Jesse, named in the last paragraph, who had mar- ried Mary, the granddaughter and daughter, respectively, of Valentine and Conrad Orner. This patronymic was once well known in the northeastern townships of that county. Valen- tine Orner was married to Elizabeth Ludwig, and Conrad Orner's wife Elizabeth was the daughter of Christopher Schmidt, who in his youth came from Germany (both parents dying on the ocean passage) and married Mary Miller, born in America. Mr. Schmidt was one of the early members of the Lutheran Church, at Pikeland, established in the time of Dr. H. M. Muh- lenberg. This church subsequently became a "Union Church," Lutherans and Reformed conducting service there alternately ; and in its cemetery repose our subject's parents, whose decease occurred respectively in 1830 and 1876; there too are seen the the well-marked graves of numerous kindred.
In his ninth year, the son, our subject, together with five sisters, was left an orphan to the mother's care, a vicious horse having occasioned the father's untimely death. The boy was early accustomed to farm work, and some time was also spent in a village store and post-office at Kimberton, affording op- portunities for gaining for future service much valuable prac- tical knowledge of men and things. His youthful education
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607
REV. MATTHIAS SHEELEIGH, D. D.
was obtained in the home schools, and supplemented later by the advantages of a select school at West Chester, the county town, a place long and widely known for its special educational facilities. In very early years he showed an aptitude for math- ematics, studied surveying and related branches; and friends at one time suggested that the taste and tendency in this di- rection should determine his future pursuits. Later he was engaged at intervals for the space of several years as a teacher in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The course of special prepa- ration for his chosen profession was next taken in Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, and in the Lutheran Theological Semi- nary of the same place, institutions whence have issued some of the best equipped minds in America.
The holy office of the Gospel ministry, to which he felt drawn, was entered October, 1852. He first served as pastor at Valatie, N. Y., nearly five years; then at Minersville, Pa., two; in Philadelphia five years; at Stewartsville, N. J., five; and finally took charge of the churches of Whitemarsh and Upper Dublin, Pa. (his present parish), in April, 1869. It is worthy of remark here that although accustomed from earliest childhood to use the German as a spoken language, his lot has been cast in places where its public use has not often been re- quired of him, and while speaking both languages not the least trace of German accent has ever been discernible in his clear and thoroughly English pronunciation.
In 1859 he was married to Miss Sabina M., daughter of John Diller, of the city of Lebanon, Pa., belonging to a numerous family, whose paternal ancestor, Caspar Diller, with wife Bar- bara, came from Germany, and settled near New Holland, Lan- caster county, over a century and a half ago, about 1729, which family is intimately related to those bearing the names of Luther, Ringwalt, Roland, Diffenderffer, and others of the locality last named. John Diller is a son of Adam and his wife Margaret (Mark). A book of "The Diller Family" was prepared and published in 1877 by J. Luther Ringwalt, of Philadelphia. Mrs. Sabina Sheeleigh's mother was Elizabeth, born Seltzer, of Jonestown, Lebanon county, daughter of Hon. George Seltzer;
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REV. MATTHIAS SHEELEIGH, D. D.
and her mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Zimmerman, of an old Holland family.
. The children born to Dr. and Mrs. Sheeleigh are Luther Diller, Lizzie Seltzer, Mary Orner, Matthias Muhlenberg, and Grace Matilda, all residing at the parental home.
Besides his labor as pastor and preacher, Rev. Dr. Sheeleigh has been for a long time very industriously busy with the pen. In addition to publishing a number of books in poetry and prose, editing several volumes, and translating one from the Ger- man, he has issued occasional sermons and addresses; has served as corresponding editor of church periodicals; has for twenty-seven years edited an illustrated paper for the young, " The Lutheran Sunday-School Herald," which circulates forty thousand copies monthly ; and has during the last seventeen years prepared " The Lutheran Almanac and Year-Book." Both publications last named are issued in Philadelphia. He has also written during the period hundreds of miscellaneous arti- cles in prose and poetry (among them a number of hymns), most of which have appeared in the religious and periodical press, including Magazines and Reviews. He has also several other books in hand now almost ready for the press, among which are a volume of original Sonnets, numbering over four hundred ; a monograph on the "Dies Ira," including a large collection of translations of that old Hymn ; and a similar work representing Luther's great Hymn-
" Ein' Feste Burg ist Unser Gott."
Among his published books there may be particularly no- ticed a volume of poems, all relating to Luther and the Ref- ormation, bearing the title, "Luther: a Song Tribute on the Four Hundredth Anniversary of His Birth," consisting of forty- five original poems, and nine others translated by the same hand from the German, Danish, and Latin : Philadelphia, 1883.
Rev. Dr. Sheeleigh has also borne a prominent part in the ecclesiastical councils of his Church, and has occupied many of her places of trust, labor and honor. He has been a mem- ber of the Lutheran Board of Publication, Philadelphia, for twenty-seven years, to the current one, 1886, serving also as President two years, and for eleven as Corresponding Secre-
609
REV. MATTHIAS SHEELEIGH, D. D.
tary ; also for seven years as member of committee to examine manuscripts offered for publication. He has acted at three sessions of the General Synod as its Secretary, and received appointments as delegate from this body to the General Synods of the Reformed Dutch and of the German Reformed Churches. He has filled the place of a member of the Board of Directors in the Theological Seminary of which he is a graduate for up- wards of twenty years, and one term as the President; has ac- ceded to requests to deliver addresses before the Lutheran Historical Society, and the Alumni Association of the Theo- logical Seminary ; also delivered a poem at the Jubilee of the General Synod, at Dayton, O., in 1871; a second at the Jubilee of the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, in 1876; and a third at the Unveiling of the Luther Statue in Washington, 1884, etc., etc. All these productions are in print.
Dr. S. has been a diligent student in theology, science, his- tory, literature, and general learning; owns a library of several thousand volumes, besides making free use of public libraries in Philadelphia. Thus far he has passed a remarkably busy life, and enjoyed the high esteem of his brethren, both near and remote, in his own denomination and others. In deport- ment he is affable and unassuming, but tenacious of principle. Like most men of positive convictions, he has learned how to pursue duty calmly yet fearlessly, even though a host should rise in opposition to truth and right. His preaching has been received with much favor because of its clear, direct, earnest, Scriptural character; and the pastoral relation to his people is noticeable for marked kindness and sympathy. He is ever ready to aid in advancing the great moral, evangelical, and educational movements of the age, which he regards as de- velopments of the Gospel's life and uplifting power.
During the war of rebellion he stood throughout shoulder to shoulder with that distinguished class of ministers who proved themselves true patriots in the nation's sore calamity, and without whose decided words and wide-spread influence the government would most likely have perished. Numerous calls to prominent positions, aside from the direct line of pas- toral work, have been tendered him; in five instances, from as
610
REV. MATTHIAS SHEELEIGH, D. D.
many different places in the church, urging upon him the principalship or professorship of Female Seminaries; but all such overtures he has steadily chosen to decline.
In 1885 Newberry College, South Carolina, duly conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, a recognition which two prominent colleges nearer home were at the same time, as it happened, taking steps to accord. S. A. Allibone, LL. D., of Philadelphia, gave him a place in his great "Dic- tionary of Authors"; J. G. Morris, D. D., LL. D., of Balti- more, presented a list of his publications in the "Bibliotheca Lutherana," 1876; a more extended article is found in the "Pennsylvania College Book," Gettysburg, prepared by Prof. E. S. Breidenbaugh, and issued at the Jubilee of the institu- tion, 1882; and Rev. Dr. J. C. Stockbridge has honored him with a notice in that unique book, "The Annotated Catalogue of the Harris Collection of American Poetry," published at Prov- idence, R. I., 1886. Rev. E. M. Long, in his "History of Hymns," gives him credit for aid in that work, and like ac- knowledgments are recorded by Rev. Dr. Morris, Rev. S. Stall, and Rev. P. C. Croll, in books produced by them.
The subject of this sketch has been connected with the Historical Society of Montgomery county from its first year, and is the Vice President of the Lutheran Historical So- ciety of America. As a matter of interest to the bibliophile especially, it may be proper to add that in 1885 Dr. S. yielded to a long continued importunity from the Lutheran Historical Society (whose treasures are kept in the Theological Seminary edifice at Gettysburg) to dispose of and transfer to it a valuable collection of publications produced in years past by ministers and laymen within the Lutheran Church in America. This collection was the result of much effort and expense through more than thirty years, and was thought much more com- plete than any other of its kind in the country. It consisted of nearly five hundred volumes; almost a thousand bound pamphlets, such as sermons, addresses, catalogues of the church schools, etc .; and approaching two thousand more unbound, being sermons, catalogues, almanacs, minutes of Synods, &c. Besides these, there were church papers and periodicals, bound
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611
WILLIAM G. SMITH.
and unbound, many complete, the gathered series running through seventy years, bearing sixty-five titles, in six different languages. Thus temporary and personal conveniences were wisely and generously sacrificed to public interests, and the tastes and treasures of the individual subordinated to the ad- vantage of the historian in coming generations.
WILLIAM G. SMITH.
The above is one of the self-made men of our county, a per- son who has risen to some prominence as a capable contractor, builder and general manager of private and public improve- ments. He is the son of Joseph and Catharine Grow Smith, of Lower Merion, where he was born Dec. 14, 1823. His paternal grandfather was of Welsh nationality, and his mother's ancestors German, both settling here at the commencement of last century.
In youth our subject had but a limited common school edu- cation ; but possessing a ready turn of mind, and genial, kindly disposition, his fellow citizens placed him successively in nearly all the township offices in their gift.
In his twenty-fourth year, 1847, he married Miss Catha- rine, daughter of Thomas Vaughan, of that township, and they have had borne to them six daughters and two sons, named as follows: Harry C., intermarried with Emma Yost; Mary E., with Harry L. Fretz; Kate Anne, with Jesse Shoemaker; Thomas V., with Annie Wilson; Clara V., Emma A., Joseph W., and Sallie.
In 1865 Mr. Smith sold out in Merion and removed a little north of Norristown, purchasing the property known as "Zie- ber's Mill," where he still resides.
612
WILLIAM G. SMITH.
To enumerate his public service, it may be stated briefly that he was School Director of Lower Merion twenty-one years ; one term as County Commissioner, being one of the committee to locate the new Alms House; was Deputy County Treasurer several years, and while serving on the County Board was the leading member to take oversight of the erection of county bridges. He recalls the fact of having received twenty-three certificates of election by the people to subordinate offices. In this extended public service he acquired such a thorough knowledge of building work of all kinds that he has become a qualified contractor for the supervision of mechanics and laborers on all descriptions of public and private works.
Mr. S. has been for sometime overseeing the improvements at the State Hospital for the Insane, at Norristown.
Mr. Smith is regarded as a man of industry, probity, and judgment on all building and improvement matters. In poli- tics he has always been a Democrat.
613
ROBERT R. CORSON.
ROBERT R. CORSON.
Robert R. Corson has earned his reputation by acts of be- nevolence and self denial that in former times would have placed his name high up on the list of those canonized for works of charity and mercy. He comes within the scope of our book of biography by reason of having resided, and ob- tained most of his liberal education, in our county, as also being an assistant some years in a mercantile house in Nor- ristown. He is a native of New Hope, Bucks county, Penn- sylvania, where he was born May 3, 1831. His father, Dr. Richard D. Corson, a prominent physician of that place having a large practice, was a cousin to Doctors Hiram and William Corson, of Montgomery county. His mother was Helen S., daughter of Thomas P. Johnson, of New Jersey, a distinguished lawyer, and well known throughout that state. Our subject had three brothers, David R., Richard and Thos. J., all graduated at the University of Pennsylvania, and prac- ticing medicine until their death. His parents had also four daughters, Caroline, Harriet M., Helen and Eliza P. Harriet married Dr. Charles Foulke, and is living at New Hope; Eliza also is still living. Both the others are deceased.
Before leaving the paternal homestead for boarding school, the celebrated Rev. Thomas P. Hunt, on one of his tours, vis- ited Dr. Corson at New Hope, and young Robert R. heard the "great apostle of temperance" dilate upon the benefits of total abstinence. He at once heartily embraced the principle of temperance, and has adhered to it by example and precept ever since, advocating, in a quiet way, the cause on all suita- ble occasions.
In 1847, when a well grown youth, Robert R. left New Hope and was sent to live with his cousin, George Corson, at Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery county, and while there en- tered as a pupil Treemount Seminary, at Norristown, enjoying for three years an academic training under the celebrated Rev.
614
ROBERT R. CORSON.
Samuel Aaron, A. M., of that famous school. George Corson, with whom he then lived, was an earnest abolitionist, and his house was a prominent station on the "Underground Rail- road," where many fugitive slaves on their way to freedom, guided by the "North Star," would stop for food and shelter. It was here that young Robert R. Corson's sympathies were deeply enlisted in behalf of suffering slaves. These poor people frequently came late in the night and asked to be taken in, where they might escape capture and return to slavery. Sometimes they were strong, ablebodied men, but often a mo- ther with a child in her arms. None were ever turned away. After keeping them long enough for refreshment and rest, sometimes requiring several days' stay, a close carriage would be ready, and in the darkness of night they would be driven to a friend's house in Bucks county, a distance of about twenty miles, where they would be cared for in like manner, and the following night taken on their way to some other friendly sta- tion, till perhaps Canada was reached. These facts are detailed here to indicate the young man's early lessons in "showing mercy" to helpless and despised bondmen.
At the conclusion of his school term, and on leaving the seminary, his health being delicate, he went to live in Schuyl- kill county, near Pottsville, remaining several years, when, in 1856, he removed to Philadelphia to enter into the business of shipping coal to eastern markets, in which he continued until the breaking out of the war of rebellion, at one time occupying three wharves on the Schuylkill, and leasing a mine near Pottsville to supply coal.
Soon after locating there in 1857, he married Rebecca J., daughter of Edward Foulke, of Gwynedd, whose paternal an- cestor was one of the leading settlers of that name to pilot Welsh emigrant Friends to Montgomery, then Philadelphia, county in 1698.
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