USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume II > Part 14
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HENRY DAVID REED, M. D .- The rapid development of surgical science during the last quarter of a century has led many physicians to devote themselves almost exclusively to the surgical branch of their pro- fession, and among these must be numbered Dr. Henry David Reed, who has since 1914, been practicing on his own account in Pottstown. The influence of heredity is wonderfully displayed in Dr. Reed, son of a physician, and a love of his father's profession is inherent, for he follows it with satisfaction and success.
Jesse Reed, father of Henry David Reed, was born in Reed Station, North Cumberland county. He attended the public schools of his native place until he entered Elysburg Seminary, where he prepared for col- lege, subsequently matriculating at Jefferson Medical College, from which he was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1867. During the Civil War he enlisted in the Pennsylvania Volunteer Regi- ment at Reed Station, and was actively engaged in the Union's cause. Upon completing his college course he removed to Uniontown, Pennsyl- vania, where he located in his chosen profession, and also took an active part in town affairs. He married Adelaide Bosler, of Millersburg, Penn- sylvania, whose ancestor was a Reformed minister, the first to locate in this section. She died in 1921, at the age of seventy-six years. Dr. Reed passed away in 1916. Dr. and Mrs. Reed were the parents of three children : Arthur, who is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Phar- macy and established in the drug business at Mascher and Huntington streets, Philadelphia; Clara, who married Alfred Schwahn, of Hegins, Pennsylvania ; and Henry D., of further mention.
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Henry David Reed was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, June 30, 1880, the son of Dr. Jesse and Adelaide (Bosler) Reed. The early part of his education was obtained in the public schools of his native place, after which he attended Mercersburg Academy, from which he was graduated in 1898. Having decided to pursue a medical profession, he took a pre- paratory course at the University of Chicago, and then matriculated at Jefferson Medical College, from which he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1903. The following year he was a resident physician at
Pottstown Hospital, and then associated himself for the next ten years with Dr. John Todd, subsequently establishing himself in his chosen profession at his present location. He is a member of the surgical staff of the Pottstown Hospital; affiliates professionally with the American Medical Association ; the Pennsylvania State Medical Association; the Montgomery County Medical Society; and the Philadelphia Medical Club.
A Democrat in politics, he has always taken an active part therein, and is now (1922) president of the Town Council. He is also school examiner. Fraternal organizations have also always held his interest, and in consequence of which he holds membership in Stricter Lodge, No. 254, Free and Accepted Masons, as well as being a member of Phila- delphia Consistory, having attained to the thirty-second degree in Masonry. He is a member of Pottstown Lodge, No. 824, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Modern Woodmen of the World; Alpha Kappa Kappa fraternity of Jefferson Medical College; and the Brook- side Country Club. Dr. Reed and his family attend Trinity Reformed Church of Pottstown.
On October 12, 1909, at Pottstown, Dr. Reed was united in marriage with Gertrude W. Selinger, daughter of John A. and Mary (Mullen) Selinger, the former associated with the Brancate Foundry and Machine Company of Pottstown. Dr. and Mrs. Reed are the parents of two chil- dren : Gertrude S., born in 1911 ; and Mary Adelaide, born in 1915. The family home is at No. 359 Chestnut street, Pottstown. What time Dr. Reed can take from his ever increasing professional duties he devotes to golf and municipal affairs, the latter claiming a consistent part of his spare hours.
JOHN S. WILSON-In financial affairs in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, the name of John S. Wilson holds a foremost position. A native of this State, but coming to Ardmore only about seven years ago, he has risen to the highest office in the Ardmore National Bank, and holds other affiliations which link his name with constructive effort along various lines of progress. Mr. Wilson is a son of Nelson and Sarah (Bruce) Wilson, his father being a member of the long prominent Phila- delphia concern known as Henry L. Wilson's Sons Company, one of the oldest manufacturers of paper in that city. The family consisted of the following children : Retta ; Alice, who died in childhood; Edna ; Wilbur Fish, who was ensign on the United States Steamship "Connecticut," now deceased; Marian ; and John S., whose name entitles this review.
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John S. Wilson was born in the city of Philadelphia, February 14, 1883. His education was acquired in the public and high schools of that city, and while still less than fourteen years of age he entered the bank- ing world as errand boy. This was in December, 1896, in the employ of the Fourth Street National Bank of Philadelphia. He remained with that institution for nearly twenty years, rising to the responsible posi- tion of paying-teller, from which he resigned in July, 1916. Then com- ing to the Ardmore National Bank in the capacity of assistant cashier, Mr. Wilson has since continued with this institution. He was advanced to cashier not long after forming this connection, and on January 1, 1921, was elected president of the bank. Highly esteemed in the community, Mr. Wilson lends his influence to every advance movement or worthy cause. He is treasurer of the Brookline Building and Loan Association, and president of the Main Line Bankers' Association. Fraternally he is identified with Cassia Lodge, No. 273, Free and Accepted Masons, of Ardmore, and also is a member of Montgomery Chapter, Royal Arch Masons. A Republican by political affiliation, Mr. Wilson is interested in public matters only from the viewpoint of the progressive citizen. He has had a course in vocal culture at Ann Arbor Conservatory, and is well known as a bass singer in this part of the State. He has sung in choirs for fifteen years, and is now bass soloist at St. Paul's Luthern Church of Ardmore, of which he is a member. He is also a member of the church council.
Mr. Wilson married, on February 16, 1915, Florence (Jamison) Comp- ton, daughter of John and Florence (Wood) Jamison, her mother being a member of the pioneer Wood family of Montgomery county. Mrs. Wilson's daughter by her former marriage, Eleanor P. Compton, is one of the popular young ladies of the Ardmore social circle.
HENRY WILSON STAHLNECKER-A leading representative of the legal fraternity of Norristown, Pennsylvania, is Henry Wilson Stahl- necker, a native of Flourtown, Springfield township, Montgomery county, where his birth occurred June 27, 1878.
Edwin Schantz Stahlnecker, father of Henry Wilson Stahlnecker, was born in Lehigh county, October 1, 1836, the son of George Stahlnecker, a farmer and blacksmith. There is a tradition that his ancestors came to this country from Holland early in the seventeenth century. He received the scant education then given to farmers' boys in the public schools of his native place, and at the age of twelve came to this country, became self-supporting, and in early manhood engaged in the live stock business in Flourtown. Later in life he removed to Norristown, where for many years he was engaged as a real estate and general business agent. He served three terms as county auditor, and in 1883 was the Republican candidate for sheriff of Montgomery county, being elected to that office in November of that year. He entered upon the duties of that position the first Monday of January, 1884, and served the full term of three years. In 1889 he was again a candidate on the Republican ticket, hav-
go Milan Fallwecken.
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ing been nominated for county treasurer, but was defeated along with most of the Republican ticket. In February, 1890, Mr. Stahlnecker was appointed county treasurer to fill a vacancy in the office and served until January, 1892. He married, August 30, 1860, Anna Regina Yeakle, daughter of Jacob Yeakle. Mrs. Stahlnecker was a direct descendant of Christopher Yeakle, who at the age of eighteen years came to Pennsyl- vania with his mother, then a widow, in 1734, with the Schwenkfelder emigrants, on the ship "St Andrew." He apprenticed himself to a cooper and continued through life to follow the trade. He built a log house in 1734, until recently standing at Cresheim, Germantown, Philadelphia, which was his dwelling nearly to the time of the Revolutionary War, when he purchased the property on the summit of Chestnut Hill, where he died at an advanced age. His house is still standing there and is now used as the Pennsylvania railroad freight station. Mr. and Mrs. Stahl- necker were the parents of the following children: Lydia, born March 26, 1866, died in infancy ; Laura, born March 1, 1868, died December 21, 1868; Alice, born July 29, 1871, married, March 24, 1897, Charles H. Wolford; Yeakle, born October 16, 1872, died in infancy ; Henry Wilson, of further mention. Mr. Stahlnecker died January 10, 1920, his wife having passed away August 27, 1896.
Henry Wilson (H. Wilson) Stahlnecker received the early portion of his education in the public schools of Norristown, graduating from high school in 1895 as class president and salutatorian. He entered the col- lege department of the University of Pennsylvania in the fall of 1895 and four years later received the degree of Bachelor of Arts, with honors, having won the first prize for sight reading of Greek in the sophomore year ; second prize in Greek and Latin in his junior year; and the first prize for the best Latin essay written by a member of the graduating class in his senior year. He was also elected to the Phi Beta Kappa society in the same year. In 1899-1900 Mr. Stahlnecker was the Harrison scholar in classics and spent one year in the department of philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, receiving the degree of Master of Arts in June, 1900, subsequently entering the law department of the university and winning the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1903. While studying law he also acted as court reporter for the Norristown daily papers, as special deputy prothonotary during the terms of the Civil Court, and was also a registered law student in Norristown in the office of J. P. Hale Jenkins. While thus engaged he conceived the idea of issuing a daily list of legal transactions in the recorder's and prothonotary's offices for private circulation among banks, law and real estate offices, and other business places, and, accordingly, founded the Montgomery County Lien Schedule, later changing its name to Montgomery County Daily Legal Record, and has the enviable reputation of never having missed an issue of this informative sheet on any business day during almost twenty-two years last past.
Mr. Stahlnecker was admitted to the Philadelphia bar in June, 1903, and to the Montgomery county bar July 7 of that same year. It is worthy of note that he was the first law student from Montgomery county to
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take and pass the examination by the State board of law examiners, and was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Feb- ruary 1, 1904, and later to the United States District Court. Mr. Stahl- necker is essentially an office lawyer, confining his attention mostly to civil cases, real estate law, conveyancing and settlement of estates, and is solicitor for a number of building and loan associations. He has also represented a number of townships and school boards as solicitor, and is solicitor, trust officer and director of the Ambler Trust Company, having held these offices since its inception in 1916. He has also been solicitor and secretary to the Directors of the Poor of Montgomery county since December, 1914.
During the World War, H. Wilson Stahlnecker was one of the "four- minute" men of this county and a member of the Liberty Loan commit- tees. He is a Republican in politics, taking a keen and active interest in his party. He was elected a member of the Norristown School Board in 1903 and served until December, 1911, filling the offices of treasurer and secretary at various periods. He also served for two years as president of the Norristown High School Alumni Association, and one year as president of the Montgomery County Alumni Association. At the dedi- cation of the Montgomery county court house he delivered the address transferring the building from the contractors to the county commis- sioners. He is a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon college fraternity, Hare Law Club, and while at the University of Pennsylvania was a mem- ber of the Board of Editors of the "American Law Register" and the "Red and Blue." Mr. Stahlnecker is a member of the board of governors of the Society of Descendants of the Schwenkfeldian Exiles; Charity Lodge, No. 190, Free and Accepted Masons, of Norristown, of which he was worshipful master in 1908; Norris Lodge, No. 430, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and the higher branches of both orders, also the Norristown Club. He is also president of the Union Cemetery of White- marsh, where his parents and a number of his ancestors are buried.
On August 6, 1910, at Norristown, Pennslyvania, H. Wilson Stahl- necker was united in marriage with Kathryn (Schwenk) Johnson, widow of Harry K. Johnson, who died in 1904. Mrs. Stahlnecker is the daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Schwenk, of Norristown, and was born at Skippack, this county. She takes an active interest in all community and patriotic movements, and during the World War was secretary of the Flourtown Chapter of the American Red Cross. She is now president of the Fort Washington Branch of the Needlework Guild of America, and corresponding secretary of Valley Forge Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution of Norristown. Mr. and Mrs. Stahlnecker are active members of St. Paul's Reformed Church of Whitemarsh, Fort Washington, of which Mr. Stahlnecker is a trustee. In 1912 Mr. Stahl- necker purchased a modern suburban home at his native place, Flour- town, and removed there, residing at this location until May, 1922, when he purchased his present residence, at the corner of Bethlehem Pike and Hartranft avenue, Fort Washington. He maintains his law offices at Norristown, making daily trips from his residence to the county seat.
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REV. LEVI SAMUEL HOFFMAN-The struggles of the farmer boy who, seeking an education, gains it by his own unaided efforts, are little known or appreciated, but the Rev. Levi Samuel Hoffman, of Lans- dale, Pennsylvania, knows them all, and is the broader, stronger man because of his struggle. His father, William M. Hoffman, was a wheel- wright by trade, but a lifelong farmer, and his mother, Sarah Hoffman, was of the enduring, faithful kind, who mean so much to their children.
Rev. Levi Samuel Hoffman was born at Topton, Berks county, Penn- sylvania. Before he was six years of age his father moved on a farm in Kraussdale, Pennsylvania, where Levi S. received a meagre schooling while working with his father on the farm. He pursued agriculture until he became of age, and then entered Perkiomen Academy, Pennsburg, to prepare for college. This period of study left him in debt, and to pay it off and save for further education he taught school until 1903, when he entered Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, from which he was graduated. During two years of his collegiate work he preached in the Hope Congregational Church at East Providence, leaving to matricu- late in the Hartford Theological Seminary at Hartford, Connecticut. Shortly after graduating from this institution he was ordained a minister of the Schwenkfelder church, for two years was located near Lansdale, and then moved to Lansdale, where he has since resided and carried on his work. His gifts and training have brought him into prominence, and he will long be remembered as the leader in the movement that built the beautiful stone church on the corner of Main and Towamensing ave- nues, Lansdale. This church has a seating capacity of more than four hundred, and one of its important works is its Sunday school of four hundred and twenty members. Rev. Hoffman is a member of the Board of Trade, also a trustee of the Perkiomen School, a member of the Schwenkfelder Board of Missions, and a member of the Board of Publi- cation of the Schwenkfelder church. In 1921 he was elected as associate editor of the "Corpus Schwenkfeldianorum."
On June 29, 1910, at Fall River, Massachusetts, Mr. Hoffman was mar- ried to Adelaide Lenora Mattox, daughter of Benjamin F. and Mattie Lenora (Howe) Mattox, who died in 1885. Mr. Mattox is now living in Denver, Colorado. Rev. and Mrs. Hoffman have one daughter, Elinor Adelaide, born February 28, 1912. Mrs. Hoffman served eight years as a deaconess in the Methodist Episcopal church at Fall River, Massa- chusetts.
JOSEPH ELLSWORTH BEIDEMAN, M. D .- Although Dr. Beide- man has been established in his profession but a comparatively short time, he has already proven himself to be an able physician, and is daily adding to an extensive practice. Having chosen the diseases of the eye as his specialty, he devotes himself exclusively to that particular branch of the profession, and the success that has attended his efforts is con- clusive proof that he has chosen wisely.
Joseph Ellsworth Beideman was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, September 25, 1895. He is the son of Elmer E. and Martha (Middleton)
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Beideman, to whom was born one other child, Lydia, a graduate of Wil- son College, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, class of 1924. Elmer E. Beide- man was born in Norristown and has spent his entire life in this com- munity. He is secretary of the Frank Boyer Plumbing and Heating Company, ex-chairman of the Watch and Lamp Committee, which office he held for many years; affiliates with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and in politics is a staunch Republican.
Dr. Beideman attended the public schools of Norristown and, after graduating from the local high school, entered Lafayette College, from which he was graduated in 1915. That year, having in the meantime determined to adopt medicine as his life work, and with that end in view, he accordingly matriculated in the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which institution he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1919. After having spent the following year in the Pres- byterian Hospital in Philadelphia, and the next eighteen months in Wills Hospital, Philadelphia, Dr. Beideman returned to Norristown and estab- lished himself in the practice of his chosen profession, with offices in the Boyer Arcade.
Dr. Beideman is a member of the staffs of the Montgomery Hospital, Norristown, and Wills Hospital, Philadelphia; the American Medical Association ; Pennsylvania State Medical Association; Montgomery County Medical Society ; American Academy of Ophthalmology and Oto- Laryngology; Sigma Nu fraternity of Lafayette College, Gamma Epsi- lon Chapter; Alpha Kappa Kappa fraternity of the University of Penn- sylvania, Mu Chapter ; the Medical Reserve Corps, S. A. T. C .; and the Ersine Tennis Club of Norristown. In politics he is a Republican, and in religion a Presbyterian.
Joseph Ellsworth Beideman combines with his professional activities those of a public-spirited nature, and is ever ready to give his earnest support to whatever pertains to the civic welfare in his home community. He is but a young man, but his ability has carried him forward into important professional relations, and his many friends do not hesitate to predict for him continued and rapid progress in his chosen field.
ELWOOD LAWRENCE HALLMAN-In legal circles in Mont- gomery county the name of Elwood Lawrence Hallman stands among the highest, and Mr. Hallman is identified with many of the various interests of the day, both in his native county and State, and in other sections of the United States. Coming of a well known Pennsylvania family, Mr. Hallman is a son of Henry and Sarah (Setzler) Hallman, of Upper Providence township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Hallman was born in Upper Providence township, July 22, 1857. Receiving his early education in the public schools near his home, he entered Dartmouth College for his course in arts and letters, and was graduated from that institution in the class of 1880. Having early made his choice of a profession, he took up the reading of law with Charles Hunsicker, a prominent counsellor-at-law of that day, and was admit-
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ted to the bar in the year 1881. At once beginning practice independ- ently, Mr. Hallman developed a very extensive practice, which he has always handled alone, somewhat along general lines, but with much cor- poration work. In the latter branch of law he has won high distinction, and is now retained by many of the foremost industrial and mercantile concerns in this part of the State, also by the leading financial institutions of Montgomery county. His clientele includes the Bunkwalter Stove Company, the Home Water Company, the Royersford and Diamond Glass companies, the Newborn Glass Company, the Royersford Foundry & Machine Company, and the National Bank, all of Royersford, also the People's National Bank of Norristown, and various corporations which are leaders in the business life of the city. He also acts as special coun- sel for many concerns, specializing in commercial affairs. The People's National Bank of Norristown was organized in his offices, and for more than forty years he has been its special counsel, and he is also a director of this institution, and of the Montgomery Trust Company as well. Mr. Hallman is not only one of the most prominent, but one of the most active professional men of Norristown, his interests reaching into various fields of endeavor. He was for many years president of Schissler's Col- lege of Business, and long served on the school board of Royersford.
A staunch Republican, and an enthusiastic worker for the good of the party, he was never an officer seeker, but as a thoroughly representative member of the "Old Guard," his influence is widely felt. He has enter- tained many of his party's leaders and men of wide celebrity, and has done much to promote the welfare of the party in his county and State. He is a member of the American Bar Association. and also of the State and county associations, and socially and fraternally is connected with the leading organizations of the day, including the Old Colony Club of New York City, the Commonwealth Hotel Club, the Norristown Club, and the Plymouth Country Club. He is also a member of the Pennsyl- vania Society of New York, and the Canadian Camp Club. Fraternally he holds membership in Royersford Lodge, No. 585, Free and Accepted Masons, of which he was a charter master and past master of Spring City Lodge, of Spring City. He is a member of Norristown Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Hutchinson Commandery, Knights Templar; Blooms- burg Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; and Reading Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine ; and he is a member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America. Mr. Hallman's chief pleasure in former years was travel, although now he chooses hunting and fishing, which sports were always intermingled with his travels. He had passage on the first boat to visit the Alaskan gold fields, and went as far as the Yukon river, in company with Liebernash, of the New York "American," Joaquin Miller, the poet, also having been a member of the party. On the return trip the vessel sank, and those who survived were obliged to take to the life-boats. Farther along on the overland part of the return journey, when in Yellowstone National Park, Mr. Hallman was held up by robbers, but eventually returned in safety to Norristown. He has
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now at his home and in his office many curios collected in his travels, also many remarkably fine trophies of his hunting expeditions. He has long been interested in agricultural advance, and in 1900 started a plantation on the Isle of Pines, which he operated for ten years and still owns. Mr. Hallman's religious affiliation is with the Lutheran church, and he was the organizer, in company with Dr. O. P. Smith, of the Lutheran church at Royersford. For one year, lacking a pastor, he conducted the regular services at this church.
Mr. Hallman married (first) on March 6, 1881, Elizabeth Benton, of Hanover, New Hampshire, and they had two children: Thomas H. B., attorney-at-law of Norristown; and Frank, who is now a resident of California, and a dealer in automobiles. Mr. Hallman married (second), in 1907, Florence Hannum, a descendant of John Bartram, of Philadel- phia. The family residence is in Norristown, with a summer home, a delightful bungalow, in Perkiomen.
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