USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume II > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
In 1905 Dr. Edwards became associate pastor of the South Congre- gational Church, in Brooklyn. During this period he was president of the Brooklyn Sunday School Union and of the New York State Sunday School Association. The pastor of South Congregational Church, Dr. Albert J. Lyman, retired, and Rev. Boyd Edwards was elected as his suc- cessor in 1908.
Two years later, in 1910, Dr. Edwards accepted a unanimous call to the Hillside Presbyterian Church in Orange, New Jersey, which pastorate he served for twelve years, resigning to come to The Hill School in April, 1922. When he went to the Hillside Presbyterian Church, it numbered four hundred and fifty members. He left it a great church, whose mem- bership had more than doubled during his administration. Under his care the Hillside Presbyterian Church was distinguished in that it drew together into one fellowship the most widely divergent kinds and classes of people; those of large wealth and those in the most humble walks of life. The activities of the church became highly organized under the effi- cient management of Dr. Edwards. It became a real experiment in social democracy, and a successful one, in a church for the whole community, with three paid workers, who conducted, with the pastor, classes and clubs for all sorts and conditions of men and women. There was a strong specialization in the work of religious education among the young people.
It is needless to say that Dr. Edwards' tireless energy and warm personality won for him almost immediately a large place not only in his own community, but also in the denomination with which he was affiliated. During his residence at Orange he was a member of the National Church Erection Board, a director of the National Temperance Society, a director of the New York Society for the Prevention of Crime, a moderator of the Presbytery of Morris and Orange, president of the board of directors of the Community School of Religious Education of Orange, and since 1920 a trustee of Mt. Holyoke College.
Despite the manifold calls upon his time and strength, Dr. Edwards has found time since 1907 to continue his interest in the schools and col- leges of the country. He has, during these years, been college preacher
81
BIOGRAPHICAL
at Williams, Amherst, Smith, Yale, and Princeton ; and has also preached regularly at Andover, Exeter, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, Mercersburg, and The Hill School. Such was his success in school and college pulpits and such was the power of his influence over youth, that on two occa- sions, in successive years, he was earnestly urged by John Meigs perma- nently to associate himself with The Hill School.
It was after his sermon at The Hill School on January 22, 1922, that he was first approached by the president of the Board of Trustees with respect to the prospective vacancy in the head mastership of the school. He was the unanimous choice of that committee of the board which had been appointed with power to select a successor to Dwight R. Meigs. On February 17 the trustees formally ratified the choice, and February 18 the formal offer of the entire board was sent to Dr. Edwards, which was accepted on February 22.
During the period of the World War, Dr. Edwards as a volunteer worker in the Young Men's Christian Association spent considerable time on speaking tours among the various posts and cantonments of the Pacific coast and the Mexican border. At this same time his church at Orange was accomplishing splendid results in cooperation with the American Red Cross.
At the beginning of his ministry, Dr. Edwards married, May 24, 1904, Frances McCarroll, daughter of William McCarroll, of Brooklyn, New York, who came to the United States from his home in Belfast, Ireland, when eighteen years of age. He entered business, sent for his younger brothers and sisters, and became a successful operator in patent leather. He was president of the New York Board of Trade and Transportation, and an executive committeeman of the New York Chamber of Commerce, vice-president of the National Manufacturers' Association, a director of several banks, and was equally prominent in civic and philanthropic endeavor. William McCarroll was a member of the first Public Service Commission to be appointed by Governor Hughes, and active in religious work, chairman of the board of directors of the Young Men's Christian Association, and a trustee of Adelphi College, of Brooklyn. Dr. and Mrs. Edwards are the parents of one child, Beatrice Clyde, born December 31, 1905.
ALBERT ROWLAND GARNER, M. D .- The list of Montgomery county's active and able men of the medical profession would be incom- plete without the name of Dr. Albert Rowland Garner, who in addition to building up a large and important practice is an all-round citizen, con- tributing through his professional qualifications to the advancement of the public interests, and taking part in the athletic training of the youth of the community as well as finding time for other civic duties and for fraternal and club affiliations. Thoroughly trained, skilled and faithful in his profession, and interested in the larger aspects of the advancement of human welfare, Dr. Garner is one of the few men who combine insight and vision with practical ability and skill in "making dreams come true."
Mont-6
82
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Perhaps his ancestry is responsible for his possession of that rare com- bination of qualities. He is a descendant of an old Bucks county family which traces its descent from Hans (John) Garner, who came to Bucks county about the middle of the eighteenth century and settled in New Britain township, where he became a prominent citizen and a large land- owner, and where his descendants still own much of the land originally held by him.
Rev. Harrison Brower Garner, father of Dr. Albert Rowland Garner, was born in Howellville, Chester county, Pennsylvania, September 20, 1840, and after receiving his early and preparatory education in the schools of his native district, became a student in Bucknell College, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, later receiv- ing from the same institution the degrees Master of Arts and Doctor of Divinity. His long and able service in the ministry was terminated by his retirement in 1913, and from that time to the time of his death, Janu- ary 21, 1915, he spent the years of his well-earned leisure in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He married Annie L. Evans, who was born in New Britain, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, October 11, 1845, and died May 16, 1915. She was the daughter of David and Mary (Rowland) Evans. David Evans was a retired lumber merchant of Philadelphia, who had bought a large farm at New Britain, and he became active in the banking, civic and political life of Doylestown. Mr. and Mrs. Garner were the parents of two children: Mary, who married Professor Joseph Henry Tudor, of the Pennsylvania State College; and Albert Rowland, of fur- ther mention.
Albert Rowland Garner, son of Rev. Harrison Brower and Annie L. (Evans) Garner, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 17, 1877. His early school training was received in private schools and the Tredyffrin township school, and his preparatory work was done in South Jersey Institute, at Bridgeton, New Jersey, from which he was graduated in 1895. He later became a student in Bucknell College, matriculating in the fall of 1895, and graduating in 1899 with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He then began his professional studies in the medical school of Hahnemann Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1902, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The following year, 1903, he received from Bucknell University the degree of Master of Science, and in later years he still further enlarged his professional training by taking post-graduate courses at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, continuing his professional study through the years of his professional practice, and receiving from Pennsylvania University the degree Master of Arts in 1914. Meantime, after receiving his medical degree, he served an interneship of one year in Grace Hospital, at New Haven, Connecticut, and for six months served as interne in the Bernard Sanitarium, at Bal- timore, Maryland. In 1904 he removed to Norristown and engaged in private practice, and as a specialist in nervous diseases in Philadelphia, which he had to give up on account of his health in 1917. During the two decades which have passed since that time he has built up a very large
83
BIOGRAPHICAL
and important practice and has made for himself an enviable reputation, both in his profession and as an all-round citizen, and is a promoter of all that is best in civic life.
For years Dr. Garner served as medical instructor in the Norristown High School, and also as athletic coach, in which capacity he trained the baseball, football and track teams. He lectured on hygiene and social hygiene for twelve years, and his influence in the lives of the young men with whom he has been thus associated has been very great. Having served as captain of the football team at Bucknell in 1898, and as man- ager of the Bucknell baseball team for two years, his qualifications were such as to command the respect and admiration of the high school boys, and through his interest in athletic affairs he has been enabled to render a service which can never be estimated. While thus engaged in practical work for the young people of his community, Dr. Garner has also kept actively in touch with the larger aspects of professional service. He is a member of the American Medical Association, of the Pennsylvania State Medical Association, and of the County Medical Society, also of the Homeopathic societies, National, State, and county ; and of the Schuyl- kill Valley Medical Club; and the Philadelphia Medical Club. He is a member of the Montgomery Hospital staff, and for two years was an assistant to the Philadelphia Orthopedic Hospital staff. He has won the esteem of his associates, both as a general practitioner and as a specialist in nervous diseases.
Fraternally Mr. Garner is affiliated with Charity Lodge, No. 190, Free and Accepted Masons, of Norristown; Norristown Chapter, No. 190, Royal Arch Masons; of the Royal and Select Masters; Hutchinson Com- mandery, No. 32, Knights Templar ; and Lu Lu Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Philadelphia. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, being a past grand of Norris- town Lodge, No. 130; a member of the Tall Cedars of Lebanon ; of Sigma Alpha Epsilon college fraternity of Bucknell University, and of the Phi Alpha Gamma medical fraternity. He was a charter member and was a member of the organization committee of the Plymouth Country Club, of which he is now chairman of the membership committee. He is also a member of the Ersine Club of Norristown, and of the University Club of Philadelphia.
Dr. Garner has a summer home and fifty acres of land in Worcester- shire township, Montgomery county, where he finds recreation in indulg- ing his love of agricultural pursuits. The entire fifty acres are under cul- tivation, and the owner of those well cultivated acres specializes in the breeding and raising of Ayrshire cows and Berkshire pigs. He was the first member to introduce certified milk into the city of Norristown, and as a member of the National and State Ayrshire Breeders' Association, and of the National and State Berkshire Association, he keeps closely in touch with the most modern methods and theories of the breeding and raising of these particular lines of farm stock. No citizen of the city of Norristown is so closely in touch with so many of the interests of its
84
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
people as is Dr. Garner, and there are very few who have been privileged to exercise a wider influence for wholesome living than has he. His friends in Norristown are legion, and both in that city and among his professional associates in other sections of the country he is held in high esteem.
On October 30, 1907, at Norristown, Pennsylvania, Dr. Albert Row- land Garner married Margaret J. Ross, daughter of Lafayette and Sarah (Hall) Ross, the former of whom is a retired merchant. Mrs. Garner is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College, and is active in the civic and social affairs of the city of Norristown. She is a member of the school commit- tee of Norristown; of the Women's League of Voters; Norristown Lit- erary Club; Norristown Civic Club; Norristown Octave Club; and also a member of the College Club of Philadelphia, and the Ladies' Golf Committee of the Plymouth Country Club. She takes an active part in political affairs and was one of the executive board during the Pinchot campaign. Both in Norristown and in Philadelphia her influence is widely felt in social, civic and club life, and that influence is consistently exerted in the interests of progress. Dr. and Mrs. Garner are the parents of three children : Junior, born August 20, 1910; Lafayette Ross, born March 28, 1914; and Sarah Janet, born June 22, 1915.
FRANCIS J. CLAMER-A leading citizen of Collegeville, Pennsyl- vania, and its burgess for a number of years, Francis J. Clamer, although retired from active business activities, still retains his interest in all things pertaining to the welfare of that community, and wherever substantial aid will further progress it is readily given by him.
Christian J. Clamer, grandfather of Francis J. Clamer, was a resident of Hamburg, Germany, where he had extensive plantations. The family history dates back to the twelfth century, but the country from which the original Clamer came is unknown. Children of Christian J. Clamer : George P. H., of further mention ; Francis J., Henry, William, Theodore, Nicholas, Johannes, Wilhelmina, Augusta. It is interesting to note here that at the diamond anniversary of the couple, the emperor presented a diamond iron cross. Christian J. Clamer died at the age of ninety-two years, and his wife, who was a Hoffman, also lived to a great age.
George P. H. Clamer, son of Christian J. and - (Hoffman) Clamer, and father of Francis J. Clamer, was born in Hamburg, Ger- many, in 1802, where he received a liberal education and learned the trade of a silversmith. He was an artist in work of this kind, having been sum- moned to Mexico to fashion the ware for the Catholic churches of that country, and was the designer of all that work. His family remained in Hamburg but he came to this country, settling in Philadelphia in 1852, after first traveling over the United States. In a short time his family joined him and he secured employment at special art work in his line, at which he continued until he was eight-three years of age. His last work was a bronze portrait of the late William L. Elkins, the traction mil- lionaire. He died February 20, 1889, at the age of eighty-seven years.
Francis & Cotamer
85
BIOGRAPHICAL
He married Marie Rush, who died March 11, 1886, at the age of seventy- seven years. Mr. and Mrs. Clamer were the parents of the following children: Francis J., of further mention; Augusta Maria, deceased ; Louisa Henrietta, a former resident of Philadelphia, died November 16, 1920.
Francis J. Clamer, son of George P. H. and Marie (Rush) Clamer, was born in Hamburg, Germany, July 4, 1841. It was in this city that he received the early portion of his education or until he was eleven years of age, at which time he came to this country with his mother, joining his father in Philadelphia. The lad continued his education first in Philadel- phia and later in Camden, New Jersey, studying chemistry and the natu- ral sciences under the best chemists in the country, subsequently acquir- ing a thorough knowledge of the trade of goldsmith and silversmith under the tuition of his father. Later for five years he engaged in the merchandise, hardware and house furnishing business. Then engaging in the manufacture of bronze hardware he experimented in the produc- tion of anti-frictional metal, accomplishing the first practical results in 1868. Twelve years later, after hard study and hard labor, he made his discovery a success. About this same time he became acquainted with the late William L. Elkins, William C. Warden, and J. G. Hendrick- son, who had already heard of his success and advanced money to manu- facture it on a large scale, and a corporation was formed, known as the Ajax Metal Company. In 1897 Mr. Clamer turned over the active work to his son.
Since his childhood, Mr. Clamer has accomplished successfully every- thing he has undertaken. He had all his life resolved that he would retire at the age of sixty years, which he was able to do. In 1888 he pur- chased a small farm near Collegeville, which he rented out the following year, and bought Professor J. Shelly Weinberger's farm. During the summer of 1890 he occupied the Weinberger farm and spent the winter in Philadelphia, making the location which he called "The Glen" his home. In 1903 Mr. Clamer built a palatial mansion on Main street, Col- legeville, where he has resided up to the present time. In 1906 he pur- chased the Warren Mills as a means of supplying light and water for the borough, continuing this for nine years when he devoted the place to the manufacture of mill feed.
A Republican in politics he has always taken an interest in the activi- ties of his chosen party and was unanimously elected the first burgess of Collegeville. He is a director of the Norristown Trust Company, of Nor- ristown; director of the Collegeville National Bank; director of the Ajax Metal Company, of Philadelphia ; and was formerly on the board of trus- tees of Ursinus College. Mr. Clamer affiliates with Warren Lodge, No. 310, Free and Accepted Masons; Philadelphia Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, in which he holds the thirty-second degree; and is a member of the Acacia Club of Collegeville. It is interesting to note here that Mr. Clamer has crossed the ocean thirty times for business and pleasure, traveling from the North Cape to lower Italy, and during this
86
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
time he imported all the acacia trees from Germany that now beautify the garden of his home. He gave to the Masonic club of Collegeville the name Acacia. When Francis J. Clamer moved to Collegeville there were but eleven houses in the borough ; personally he has built forty-five houses and helped to build the Masonic Temple there. He also owns six farms of two hundred and eighty-five acres. Horticulture is his hobby and on his property Mr. Clamer has two conservatories to which he has always given a large portion of his time. Although having lived far beyond the "three score and ten," Mr. Clamer has never let his interest wane in the worth while things of life, and while he has necessarily retired from active club life, his home and family holding his chief inter- est at the present time, his activities as a philanthropist are still a domi- nant feature in the life of this venerable man.
Mr. Clamer married, July 12, 1864, Margaret Dieterich, who was born in Philadelphia, April 30, 1843. Eight children were born to them, of whom four are still living, three daughters and one son. The oldest living is Guilliam Henry, who has become internationally known as a metalurgical chemist ; his home is at Atlantic City, New Jersey. Anna Marie, married G. Walker Kelley; Gertrude Margaret, married Chris- tian Bauer ; Alma Julia, married Ralph E. Miller. The daughters reside at Collegeville, Pennsylvania.
JUDGE WILLIAM F. SOLLY-For more than two decades Wil- liam F. Solly has served Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, as president judge of the Orphans' Court, and for two decades prior to his elevation to the bench he had practiced in Montgomery county courts, his connec- tion with the bar of that county dating from his admission, September I, 1879, at the age of twenty-one. The years have brought Judge Solly many of the honors with which his profession rewards her worthy sons, and as a judge he has proved most worthy and satisfactory. He pos- sesses the judicial attributes, learning, an impartial mind able to weigh evidence evenly and without prejudice, dignity, courtesy, and an intense love of justice. He is very careful in his decisions, and is held in highest esteem by his contemporaries of the Montgomery county bench and bar.
Solly is an old county family long seated at Norristown and Northern Philadelphia. Cornelius Solly, son of the founder of the family, who was of English birth and ancestry, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1802, and died in Norristown, Pennsylvania, March 13, 1888. He married a Miss Day, and they later resided in Whitemarsh township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania; they were the parents of Benjamin Franklin Solly, of whom further.
Benjamin Franklin Solly was born at Valley Green Tavern, March 24, 1833. He moved to Norristown upon attaining his majority, and manufactured and dealt in shoes for about fifty years. He married, Jan- uary 1, 1857, Catherine Smith Moyer, daughter of Joseph and Deborah (Rhoads) Moyer, and granddaughter of John Moyer, a cooper of Nor- ristown.
Som.5. 5011/
87
BIOGRAPHICAL
William F. Solly, the principal character of this review, son of Benja- min Franklin and Catherine Smith (Moyer) Solly, was born in Norris- town, Pennsylvania, February 17, 1858. He was educated in the public schools, finishing with graduation from high school, class of 1873. He then entered his father's employ as a clerk in his shoe store, devoting his eve- nings to further study. Later he began the study of law (May 1, 1876) under the preceptorship of Gilbert Rodman Fox, and on September I, 1879, Mr. Solly was admitted to the Montgomery county bar. He at once began practice in Norristown, was admitted to the Supreme Court, April 18, 1882, and built up a large practice. As a lawyer he acquired a reputa- tion for ability and for exactness, thoroughness, care and fidelity in the management of the interests of his clients, and the trusts committed to his care. Methodical and deliberate in forming his judgments, he was consulted by many leading citizens in different sections of the county, and served a large clientele. Until January 1, 1887, he was assistant to Mr. Fox, his preceptor, Mr. Fox's son then being admitted to the bar and becoming his father's assistant. During these years at the bar, Mr. Solly served as solicitor to registers of wills, J. Roberts Rambo and Joseph W. Hunter, to sheriffs Henry C. Kline and Edwin S. Stahtnecker, and to county treasurer, Edwin S. Stahtnecker; was county solicitor for four and a half years; was solicitor of the borough of Ambler, for the board of township commissioners of Cheltenham, and also for the supervisors of several townships. He was counsel for the State Hospital for the Insane, Southeastern District of Pennsylvania, and the Valley Forge Commission for a number of years, and for a number of business men, firms and corporations in Norristown and elsewhere in the county. On December 1, 1890, he was appointed assistant solicitor to the Pennsyl- vania railroad for Montgomery county, and in May, 1899, he succeeded to the solicitorship upon the death of Judge Stinson, who had formerly held the position. For several years after his admission to the bar he was connected with the staff of the Norristown "Herald" in carefully prepar- ing the proceedings of the county courts.
When the separate Orphans' Court of Montgomery county was created by the Legislature during the session of 1901, Mr. Solly was freely named as a candidate for president judge, sixty-seven of the seventy-two mem- bers of the Montgomery county bar signing a petition to Governor Stone asking for his appointment. Another petition, signed by 1,500 citizens of prominence and standing, was also presented to the Governor, who on May 25, 1901, sent the name of William F. Solly to the Senate as his appointment to the office of president judge of the newly-created Orphans' Court of Montgomery county. That body confirmed the appointment without a division on June 3, and on June 10, 1901, the new judge was sworn in and at once entered upon his duties.
Judge Solly served under that appointment until elected the following November as the regular candidate of the Republican party for the office to which he had been unanimously nominated. He entered upon his reg- ular term of ten years the first Monday of January, 1902, was reelected
88
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
for a second term in 1911, and for a third in 1921, without opposition, and is now (1923) in office. He organized the new court, placed its machin- ery in good working order, and has since conducted the large business of the court in a most thorough, careful and systematic manner, the court records being most carefully kept.
In politics Judge Solly has always been a Republican, formerly very active. He has received many honors and trusts from his party asso- ciates in addition to his judgeship. He was a presidential elector in 1896; was secretary of the county committee and a member of the executive committee, 1880-92, then became chairman of the county committee. In 1893 he was elected chairman of the county committee, a position he ably filled for nine years. In 1901, after the November election, he resigned the chairmanship, then closing twenty years of unselfish con- nection with the county committee, every county office being then filled by a Republican as they had been for several years. As an organizer he had no superior, and as a harmonizer of discordant elements he was most successful.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.