USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume II > Part 12
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Prior to Judge Solly's election to the bench he was connected with important business enterprises. He was one of the incorporators of the Norristown Electric Light and Power Company, and held at different times the offices of director, secretary, treasurer and solicitor. He was a director of the Norristown Gas Company, an incorporator of the Albert- son Trust and Safe Deposit Company, later the Penn Trust Company of Norristown, a director from its organization and president February I, 1901, until taking his seat upon the bench, June 10, 1901. During the War with Germany, 1917-18, he was a member of the Pennsylvania Com- mittee of Public Safety.
Judge Solly is a member of the Masonic order, affiliated with Charity Lodge, No. 190, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he is an honored past master; is a past high priest of Norristown Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, a Sir Knight of Hutchinson Commandery, No. 32, Knights Tem- plar; and in Scottish Rite Masonry holds the thirty-second degree of Philadelphia Consistory, Sovereign Princes of the Royal Secret. He is a trustee of the Masonic Homes Endowment Fund of the Grand Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Pennsylvania. He is president of the Norristown Library Company ; a manager of the Aged Woman's Home of Montgomery County; president of the Montgomery County Fish, Game and Forestry Association; member of the Historical Society of Montgomery County ; member, incorporator and president of the Nor- ristown Club, Plymouth County, Ersine Tennis, and the Pacific Club of Nantucket, Massachusetts. He is a member of St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church of Norristown.
Judge Solly married, at Norristown, Pennsylvania, October 19, 1882, Alice Lukens Gilbert, daughter of Solomon and Anne (Lukens) Gilbert, her parents both of Montgomery county birth, and both deceased, her mother a descendant of Jan Lukens. To Judge and Mrs. Solly a daughter was born, Anne Catharine, born January 21, 1885, married, February 17,
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1917, to Henry Clay Wood, of St. Louis, Missouri, now deceased. Mrs. Wood has a son, Henry Clay (2) Wood, born January 2, 1918. She resides in St. Louis. Mrs. Solly is a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Norristown, Mrs. Wood being a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church of St. Louis. She is a graduate of Wells College.
WILLIAM BENJAMIN KIRKPATRICK-A beneficent and inter- esting career came to an end on June 26, 1919, when Mr. Kirkpatrick died. A man of quite unusual ability, born with a genius for good citi- zenship, and exercising for many years the prerogatives of his position as a newspaper editor and proprietor to inform and to guide public opin- ion in the direction of the finest ideals of human character and conduct, his influence extended far beyond the confines of his native State. As a member of the Draft Board during the World War, he will long be remembered as an examining officer and as a friend by over two thousand United States soldiers. Deeply concerned with the fate of those sons of the State, one of them his own, it was Mr. Kirkpatrick who conceived the idea of the Memorial Plaza at North Wales, which commemorates the deeds and the lives of those Pennsylvania boys who fell on the field of battle. His own early death having been due in no small part to the long and arduous services he rendered to his country during the trying days of the conflict, he will, himself, long be remembered by his fellow-towns- men at the yearly services held in that memorial square.
Mr. Kirkpatrick was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, April 25, 1869, son of William and Aksah (Dauphin) Kirkpatrick. The family name of Kirkpatrick had long been known in Pennsylvania, and for many years the fortunes and history of the family had been woven into the fabric of Lancaster county life. On his mother's side, Mr. Kirkpatrick was of French descent, but the Dauphin family, like the Kirkpatricks, had long been domiciled in Pennsylvania, and the quaint Christian name which Mr. Kirkpatrick's mother bore had previously been borne by other mem- bers of her family, as it was afterwards borne by her youngest daughter. Mr. Kirkpatrick's parents were married during the Civil War and felt the heavy burdens that followed in its wake. Exempted from military service, his father fought behind the lines, cultivating his land and fur- nishing his share of the grain, the beef cattle, and the horses and mules used for transport and refitting by the Union army. When the Civil War was over, he continued in the business of managing his farm, and reared and educated a large family of children, the individual members of which were as follows: Susan, who has never married and who is now a resident of Lancaster; Sarah, who, like her sister Susan, never married, and is now a resident of Lancaster ; Grace, who married Samuel Ekert, and is now a resident of Harrisburg, New York; William Benja- min, of this review ; John, who moved to the West and is now engaged in business at San Francisco; Rachel, who married John Hartman, of Lan- caster, and who has since died; Charles and Aksah, both of whom died young.
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Mr. Kirkpatrick received his education in the public schools of Lan- caster, and entered the field of business as a practical printer, learning the art by serving as a 'prentice hand to the genial and whole-souled editor of the Lancaster "Examiner." He spent several years as a mem- ber of the working force of the "Examiner" and thus learned the rudi- ments of the newspaper business in the best of all schools, that of experience. In 1900, without solicitation on his part, he was offered a post on the "Sentinel," of Ansonia, Connecticut, and as this was in the line of advancement and offered him an opportunity to enlarge his expe- rience, he decided to take it. Relinquishing his long connection with the Lancaster "Examiner," he moved to Ansonia with his wife and chil- dren and spent between six and seven years as mechanical superintendent of the "Sentinel" plant. In 1907 he returned to his native State and pur- chased the North Wales "Record," which thereafter he continued to own and edit until the time of his death, when it passed into the hands of his only son. The newspaper, which thus came under the control and man- agement of Mr. Kirkpatrick, is one of the oldest in Montgomery county, and its files constitute a valuable commentary on the post-Civil War development of American social life and history. A full file of its weekly issues for the past half century is stored in the archives of the Pennsylvania Historical Society at Harrisburg, where it is not infre- quently consulted by research workers for the valuable sidelights it throws upon a period of great national importance. It was founded in 1874 by M. F. Wood. Shortly afterwards it fell into the hands of Wilmer Johnson, who edited it for a quarter of a century and brought it to a posi- tion of stability and financial security. The next proprietors of the hardy weekly were Yeakle & Sons, who acquired it from Mr. Johnson and man- aged it until the year 1907, when they sold it outright to Mr. Kirkpatrick.
A born newspaper man, one to whom newsprint was life, Mr. Kirk- patrick had a peculiar affection for the "Record." In a literal sense, his paper was his pride. He superintended every detail of the business, and to the last went down into the press room to see the forms locked and the printing begun. His subscribers were his friends and he addressed them as neighbors in his weekly editorials. A deep thinker, an omniverous reader, and a man who was as direct in speech as in action, his pen had power. He advised and encouraged, informed and entertained his readers, and the prevailing tone of his paper was always one of lofty optimism, courage, and an invincible determination to mould the characters of men. In the belief that these were the proper functions of a newspaper editor, Mr. Kirkpatrick lived and died. He was president of the Montgomery and Bucks County Press League at the time of his death, and nowhere was the loss of him more deeply felt than among those of his associates who had for so long been his companions-at-arms in the newspaper pro- fession and who understood and shared his vision of the duties, the rights and the responsibilities of an unfettered press wielding its coordinating power and exerting its corrective influence in the free life of a great democracy.
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A Republican in politics, Mr. Kirkpatrick was for ten years a justice of the peace at North Wales. He was instrumental in forming the Fel- lowship Club of the Gwynedd Valley. Always active in his support of Republican principles and candidates, he was a member of the Republi- can committee of Montgomery county, and his word carried great weight in political discussions. A Pennsylvanian of the Pennsylvanians, he knew the character and temper of his public as it has been given to few men to know it. His mind outran the present and saw in the events of to-day and yesterday the beginnings of to-morrow's news. Public opin- ion found its way to him through a thousand channels and seldom, if ever, did he fail to appraise it rightly. He was a touchstone for true Americanism, and those forces which would seek to impair or destroy our national life turned away from him abashed. Of such a temper and of so finely moulded a character was the man who examined over two thou- sand specimens of young American manhood that had been designated for military service by the draft, personally filling out their question- naires, like an old-fashioned judge who scrupulously records the testi- mony in every case he tries. Small wonder that many men went over- seas with the memory of him as a kind and patient friend. In addition to his work as an examining officer of the Draft Board, he acted in an advisory capacity to the local draft boards of Lansdale and Bridgeport. Most of his war work was done at night in hours taken from sleep that had been well earned by his labors during the day. As a minute-man during the loan drives, few that saw him in the open air under the glare of electric torches pleading for the cause he had so much at heart will fail to remember him. At such times Mr. Kirkpatrick was a deeply mov- ing and heroic figure. When the war was over and he came forward with his plan for a Memorial Plaza to commemorate the lives of the boys who went overseas from North Wales and the surrounding district, his fellow- citizens, who could refuse him nothing, responded nobly to his call. He did not live to see the Plaza completed, but year after year, when memorial services are held at North Wales in that new and beautiful square, his name will be spoken with the wistful and affectionate intona- tions that voice human gratitude and esteem.
Half a dozen clubs and fraternal organizations carried Mr. Kirkpat- rick on their membership rolls. He was a Mason, and belonged to Lans- dale Lodge, No. 558, Free and Accepted Masons, and to the Chapter. He held membership in North Wales Lodge, No. 610, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; in the Woodmen of the World; the Royal Arcanum; and in the Mutual Protective Order of Artisans at Lancaster. Mr. Kirkpat- rick also had numerous business affiliations, and was widely known as a director of the North Wales Building and Loan Association. Born and brought up in the Lutheran faith, of which his mother was an adherent, Mr. Kirkpatrick took a deep personal interest in church affairs. He was a member of the Church Council of St. Peter's Lutheran Church at North Wales, and was a moving spirit in all of its humanitarian works. Gen- erous to a fault, in his private life Mr. Kirkpatrick set an example of con-
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stant Christian charity and benevolence, and it is safe to say that no one in need ever called at the office of the "Record" and came empty-handed away.
At Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on November 25, 1893, Mr. Kirkpatrick married Frances Ellen Mercer, daughter of William and Ellen (Doan) Mercer. Mrs. Kirkpatrick's father was a veteran of the Civil War and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. Harry Mercer, who was her only brother, was for a long time connected with the firm of Robert Gair at Brooklyn, New York, as manager of the credit department. Mrs. Kirkpatrick died at North Wales, September 30, 1917. Mr. Kirkpat- rick died at North Wales, June 26, 1919. Mr. and Mrs. Kirkpatrick had two children : William Mercer, of whom further; and Mary Ellen, born November 15, 1898, married Frederick R. Ellis, and is now a resident of Glenside, Pennsylvania.
William Mercer Kirkpatrick, the only son of Mr. Kirkpatrick, was born October 28, 1896. He was educated in the public schools of North Wales. After his graduation from the North Wales High School, he proceeded to Pierce's Business College at Philadelphia, where he spent the years 1916 and 1917 in study. When he had completed the course of instruction at Pierce's Business College, he returned to North Wales and became associated with his father in the management of the "Rec- ord." On April 5, 1918, he enlisted for service in the United States army and was assigned to the Ordnance Department and stationed at the Proving Grounds at Sandy Hook, New Jersey. On September 17, 1918, he was promoted to the rank of corporal, and on January 14, 1919, he became a sergeant. In March, 1919, he was transferred to Fort Slocum, and five days after his arrival there, on March 22, he was honorably discharged from the service. When the period of his military service had thus come to an end, he returned once more to North Wales and resumed his work on the "Record." At his father's death, he became the owner and editor of the paper and he has conducted it ever since. Mr. Kirk- patrick is a Mason, and holds membership in Lansdale Lodge, No. 558, Free and Accepted Masons; Lansdale Chapter; and the Tall Cedars Club of Lebanon. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, holding membership in the North Wales Lodge of that order ; and to the Knights of the Golden Eagle at North Wales. As a veteran of the World War, he belongs to McLeod Post of the American Legion.
On August 25, 1917, Mr. Kirkpatrick married Eleanore Saxton. Mr. and Mrs. Kirkpatrick have two children : William B., and Jean Eleanore.
EMANUEL J. WIEDER-The business and professional experience of Emanuel J. Wieder, president of the Farmers' National Bank of Penns- burg, Pennsylvania, has been a wide and varied one. As teacher, agricul- turist, public official, real estate man, and finally as a bank official, he has demonstrated his versatility and his ability to bring to diverse kinds of work the energy and ability which wins success.
Edwin J. Wieder, Dr.
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Born in Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, November 11, 1855, son of Saul, a successful farmer of that county, and Anna (Mechling) Wieder, Mr. Wieder received his preparatory education in the public schools of his native district, and then entered the State Normal School, where he prepared for the profession of teaching. He also further prepared him- self for the efficient discharge of his responsibilities by taking a course in business college. When his preparations were completed, he engaged in teaching in Lehigh county, and for six years rendered efficient service in that line. The strain of his rigorous course of study, followed by thor- ough and conscientious devotion to his teaching responsibilities, how- ever, impaired his health, and at the end of six years he found himself obliged to seek a more healthful occupation. He bought a farm and became a tiller of the soil, in which occupation, an out-of-door life and plenty of physical exercise gradually brought robust health and restored nervous stability. For twelve years he continued in the occupation which had brought to him the blessing of health, serving meantime as justice of the peace for twelve years. Engaging then in the real estate business, he bought and sold houses and lands until 1901, when he came to Mont- gomery county as cashier of the Farmers' National Bank at Pennsburg. This position he retained until January, 1921, a period of more than twenty years, when he was elected president of the Farmers' National Bank, which official position he has continued to hold to the present time (1922).
Politically Mr. Wieder gives his support to the principles and the candidates of the Democratic party, in the activities of which he takes a deep interest, but is not an office-seeking man. He served as mercantile appraiser, however, and in this capacity rendered service of a highly satisfactory character. During the World War he was chairman of the Upper Perkiomen District for the Liberty Loan drives, and he has always been ready to give of his time and his means for the advancement of those projects which seem to him to be well planned for the advance- ment of the public welfare. His religious affiliation is with the Reformed church of Chestnut Hill, Lehigh county, which he serves as a deacon and an elder. He also has served for twenty-seven years as superin- tendent of the Sunday school at Lower Milford, in Lehigh county.
On June 10, 1878, at Upper Saucon, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, Mr. Wieder married Vesta E. Dillinger, daughter of William D. and Helene (Person) Dillinger, and they are the parents of three children: Edwin Joshua, Jr .; John William; and Cora Anna.
EDWIN J. WIEDER, JR., as one of the foremost citizens of Penns- burg, Pennsylvania, holds a position of public trust as postmaster of this place, his business activity in Pennsburg having placed him in the lead- ' ing ranks of commercial advance. Mr. Wieder is a son of Emanuel J. and Vesta E. (Dillinger) Wieder, his father's life being reviewed in the preceding sketch.
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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Edwin J. Wieder, Jr., was born in Lower Milford township, Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, March 29, 1880. Following his elementary educa- tion in the public schools, he attended Perkiomen Seminary, where he gained a broadly practical foundation for his future success. Variously employed as a young man, he came to Pennsburg in May, 1902, and here established a jewelry business at No. 365 Main street, but is now retired from business pursuits. He received his appointment as postmaster of Pennsburg in February, 1916, and has been retained in the office con- tinuously since, the exacting duties of the position having been handled by him with the same efficiency and courtesy which he has made the ruling forces in his individual enterprises. He is highly esteemed in the community, both as a private citizen and as a public servant, and the people feel that the postal affairs of the borough are in good and faithful hands. This is not, however, the only instance of Mr. Wieder's public service. Prior to his appointment as postmaster he had been borough auditor for eight years, and in all public interests he at all times stands ready to bear a part in any movement which tends to advance the public welfare, regardless of honors or recompense. During the World War he served as district chairman of the War Savings Stamps drive, and under his leadership the local district did excellent work. Fraternally he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Star of Bethle- hem Lodge, No. 190, of Philadelphia ; Pennsburg Encampment, No. 234, of which he is at present treasurer; is now patriarch militant, of Lodge No. 39, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and also past chief patriot. He is a member and past commander of the Knights of Malta, No. 338, of Penns- burg, and a member of Nest No. 1302, Order of Owls, of East Greenville, in this county. Mr. Wieder is the recipient of a gold medal symbolizing his rank as past commander, receiving what is known as the Red Cross degree. He is a member of the Pennsburg Board of Trade, and the Vol- unteer Fire Department, and of St. Paul's Lutheran Church.
Mr. Wieder married, in Pennsburg, on April 9, 1905, Mary C. Waage, daughter of Charles T. Waage, M. D., for years the oldest grad- uate of Jefferson Medical College, and a practicing physician for more than fifty years. He died in 1921, at the age of ninety-three years. The mother, Lydia (Eschbach) Waage, died in 1912, at the age of sixty-four years. Mr. and Mrs. Wieder are the parents of three children : Gertrude, born June 9, 1907; Mildred Esther, born December 23, 1912; and Helen Doris, born March 25, 1916. The young people are now attending the Pennsburg schools.
DANIEL YEAKEL MILLER-As the son of one of Montgomery county's eminent jurists, D. Yeakel Miller had an inherited liking for the law, and his environment was such that the liking grew into ambi- tion and determination to make the law his profession. He is a son of Judge John Faber and Emma (Yeakel) Miller, his father president judge of the Court of Common Pleas, of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.
Мреали тилет
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BIOGRAPHICAL
The son came to the Montgomery county bar at the October term, 1916, and has since been admitted to all State and Federal courts of the dis- trict, and to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, his offices in Norris- town and home in Springfield township, his standing at the bar of his native county secure and honorable.
D. Yeakel Miller was born at Conshohocken, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, November 6, 1890. At six years of age he began attend- ing the Friends' School of Plymouth Meeting, continuing a scholar there for ten years. Then he entered Friends' Central School, Philadel- phia, there finishing with graduation, class of 1908, after an attendance of two years. During the years 1908-09 he was a student in the college department of the University of Pennsylvania, going thence in 1909 to Princeton University, where he was graduated Litt. B., class of 1913. He prepared for the profession of law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, whence he was graduated LL. B., after a course covering the period 1913-16.
On October 2, 1916, Mr. Miller was admitted to practice at the Mont- gomery county bar, and has since been continuously in practice at that bar with offices in Norristown. He was admitted to practice before the Court of Common Pleas, the Orphan's Court and the Municipal Court of Philadelphia, in the fall of 1916; to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, January 15, 1917; and to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in 1921.
His practice was interrupted during the World War period, he enlist- ing in the United States Naval Reserve Forces, June 5, 1918. He was sent to the United States Naval Training Station at Great Lakes, Illi- nois, as seaman, and from November 1, 1918, until February 7, 1919, he was in Officer Material School there, rating as chief boatswain's mate. On the last date mentioned he was released from active duty at his request, and honorably discharged September 30, 1921.
Mr. Miller is a director and member of the finance committee of The Penn Trust Company of Norristown, and has been a member of the Board of School Directors of Springfield township since 1917. He is a Republican in politics, and an Episcopalian in religious faith, his clubs the Princeton of New York, the Princeton of Philadelphia, and the Ply- mouth Country. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Society Sons of the Revolution, the American Legion, and the Phi Delta Phi, the last named a legal fraternity.
On June 12, 1917, at Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Mr. Miller married Avis Buckman, daughter of Louis and Mary R. (Cox) Buckman. Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of two children : John Faber, 3rd, born November 14, 1919; Elizabeth Buckman, born June 3, 1922.
FRANK PHILIP KENDRICK BARKER-One of the best known professional men in his field in this section is Dr. Frank Philip Kendrick Barker, dental surgeon, who has enjoyed an exceedingly active and com-
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prehensive experience since he first began practice in 1907. Dr. Barker was born in Roseglen, Lower Merion township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, April 14, 1884, a son of Thomas Henry and Josephine (Conrad) Barker. His father was a man of prominence in the com- munity, and served two terms from his district in the State Legislature, while his business was that of manufacturer.
Dr. Barker devoted the years of his boyhood and early manhood to the acquirement of his education, which has been of broad character. In 1899 he graduated from the Merion Square Grammar School, following which he took a full four-year course in the Lower Merion High School, receiv- ing his diploma with the class of 1903. Following this he entered the University of Pennsylvania in the college and dental department, gradu- ating in 1907. Immediately afterwards he began the practice of the dental profession, opening his first office in the Flanders building at Fif- teenth and Walnut streets, Philadelphia, and later removing to the Empire building at Thirteenth and Walnut streets, Philadelphia. This practice he continued for ten years, between 1907 and 1917, and at the same time, during 1908 and 1910, was an instructor at Temple University. Following that period, from 1910 to 1917 he was an instructor in den- tistry at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania.
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