USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume II > Part 33
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Mr. Egan is a Republican in politics, but is in no sense of the word an office-seeker, preferring to concentrate his attention upon the profes- sion of which he is today a leading and successful representative, having been admitted to practice in all the United States courts, Supreme and Superior. He holds membership in the Montgomery County and the
Jan Hecker Eau
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Philadelphia Bar associations, the Miller Law Club of the University of Pennsylvania ; Woodmen of the World, Norristown Lodge, No. 565; Lamda Chi Alpha fraternity, of Franklin and Marshall College; and the Delta Theta Phi fraternity of the University of Pennsylvania. In religion he is an Episcopalian, attending the Church of the Redeemer of that denomination at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
On June 25, 1919, at Bryn Mawr, James Herbert Egan was united in marriage with Larue Mac Gowen, daughter of Harrison Graham and Lillie (Trego) Mac Gowen. Mr. and Mrs. Egan are the parents of one child, Harriett Jane, born July 3, 1922. The family home is on Fisher road, Bryn Mawr. Mr. Egan is interested in all water sports, but par- ticularly does his interest center around his home.
IRVIN S. SCHWENK-In tracing back the ancestry of Irvin S. Schwenk it is found that Hans Michael was born in Germany in 1696, and came to America, September 20, 1741, on the ship "Lydia," with his two sons, Hans Jacob and George, landing in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania. George Schwenk was born in Germany, in 1728, and died in this country, February 24, 1803, leaving a son Abram. Abram Schwenk was born May 24, 1759, and died August 6, 1843, and was a tanner and Revolutionary veteran. His son, Jacob Schwenk, was born September 14, 1789, and was a storekeeper and the first postmaster in Schwenkville, Pennsylvania, in 1833; his death occurred August 19, 1852. He was survived by a son, Abram G. Schwenk, born June 14, 1826, who married Elizabeth Stauffer, and died October 14, 1899; they had the following children: Minerva, deceased, wife of J. Foster Barber, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania ; Irvin S., the subject of this sketch; Warren, who died in infancy.
Irvin S. Schwenk is a prominent citizen of Schwenkville, Pennsyl- vania, where he was born October 18, 1853. After attending the local pub- lic schools, he studied at Freeland Seminary and Ursinus College from 1870 to 1872, being a sophomore at the latter when he left to pursue a course in Bryant and Stratton Business College, in Philadelphia, in 1873. When the Schwenkville bank was organized the following year he became a clerk there. His father, Abram Schwenk, was one of the organizers of this bank, but because of the office he held as notary public was ineligible to become its president, so an uncle, Jacob G. Schwenk, was made presi- dent, J. G. Prizer, cashier, and the directors were Albert Bromer, Jacob G. Schwenk, J. B. Pennepacker, Philip Fox and Philip Prizer. The capital stock at the time of organization, April 27, 1874, was $50,000, which was increased to $100,000 the following May 4, and now shows a surplus of $200,000 with $103,000 in undivided profits. Mr. Schwenk rose from bank clerk to teller, then cashier. Jacob G. Schwenk died May 5, 1889, and Henry Kratz succeeded to the presidency, and upon his death, Octo- ber 4, 1917, Mr. Schwenk became president and continues as such. Wil- liam Bromer, son of Albert, is the present cashier of the bank.
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Jacob Schwenk, grandfather of Irvin S. Schwenk, built the first hotel and store at what was then known as Schwenk's store and post office, and after his death Abram G. Schwenk took over the farm and his brother, Jacob G. Schwenk, the store. These generations of the Schwenk family were all Federalists in politics.
Mr. Schwenk is a Republican and was for one term of four years the burgess of Schwenkville. He is a Mason and the second oldest living past master of Warren Lodge, No. 310, of Collegeville, having reached that office in 1882. He is also a member of the Norristown Chapter, Hutchinson Commandery of Norristown, and the Lu Lu Shrine of Phil- adelphia. He is a fraternal member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania ; also a member of the Patriotic Order Sons of America, Schwenkville Lodge, No. 387. In religion he is a member of the Lutheran church.
On May 13, 1879, Mr. Schwenk was married to Elizabeth Bromer, who was born January 3, 1861. Her parents were Albert, owner of a clothing factory at Schwenkville for several years and one of the bank organizers, deceased, and Elizabeth Sheppard, deceased. Their children were: Elizabeth, wite of subject; Susan, wife of Samuel Weller, of Camden, New Jersey, deceased ; William, cashier in the bank at Schwenk- ville; Albert, pastor of a Reformed church in Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania; Edward, also a Reformed minister at Lancaster, Pennsylvania ; Emily, died in infancy ; Frank, pastor of a Reformed church at Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Jacob, garage owner in Schwenkville; Katherine, wife of James Hunsicker of Eckert, Colorado; Minerva, who married John D. Logan, of Toronto, Canada; Alice, died at age of two years; Ralph, physician in Philadelphia; Cordelia, wife of Frank Fell, of Mt. Clare, Pennsylvania.
Mr. and Mrs. Schwenk are the parents of four children: I. Minerva, born March 5, 1880, and married to Fred Sweinhard of Eckert, Colorado. They have one child, Mary Ann Sweinhard, born February 6, 1921. 2. Albert, born October 9, 1881, enlisted July 12, 1900, in the Fifth United States Infantry, Company M, and saw service during the Span- ish-American War and in the Philippine Islands. At the time of his enlisting he was a student in Lehigh University, and at the close of the war became an engineer in the mines of Mexico, and Bisbee, Arizona, dying there February 26, 1914. 3. Abram, born September 21, 1883, married Florence Weatherhead, of Versalia, California, June 1, 1911, now living at Philadelphia, and is superintendent of construction with Phila- delphia Electric Company. They have two children: Eleanor Claire, born June 22, 1914, and Elizabeth Bromer, born December 6, 1919. 4. Edward, born August 27, 1885, is a teller in the Schwenkville bank.
SAMUEL CLYMER MOYER, M. D .- The medical profession claimed Samuel Clymer Moyer, who, from 1872 until 1917, was a suc- cessful practitioner of the Hahnemann School at Lansdale, Pennsylvania. He was of ancient Bucks county family, son of William and Sarah (Clymer) Moyer, his father a landowning farmer of that county, a
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member of the Mennonite church, and a Republican in politics, who died April 4, 1885. Sarah (Clymer) Moyer died January 13, 1881. William and Sarah (Clymer) Moyer were the parents of five children: Henry, born March 17, 1837; Barbara, born March 21, 1840; Mary, born Janu- ary 20, 1843; Samuel C., to whom this review is dedicated; and John, born November 29, 1851.
Samuel C. Moyer was born at the home farm in Milford township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, November 17, 1846. His education begun in Milford District School, was continued at Quakertown Normal School (Pennsylvania), at Wadsworth Seminary (Ohio) and Hahnemann Medi- cal College, receiving the degree M. D. from the last-named institution with the class of March 12, 1872. For one year he practiced with Dr. Detweiler in Bucks county, but in 1873 he located in Lansdale, Mont- gomery county, Pennsylvania, twenty-two miles north of Philadelphia, and there he was in continuous practice until 1917, and nearly completed a half century of medical practice in one locality before his death.
He was a member of the State Homoeopathic Medical Society ; and a member of Zion Mennonite Church, of Souderton, Pennsylvania. He served as treasurer of the township school board, was a Republican in politics and a man most highly esteemed. Dr. Moyer was the owner of a farm, and a breeder of fancy and thoroughbred chickens, which he placed on exhibition at county fairs and poultry shows. He met his death while returning from a visit to a patient on the railroad crossing near Arvilla, two miles above Lansdale, on the morning of August 3, 1920.
Dr. Samuel C. Moyer married (first), April 25, 1874, Mary M. Swart- ley, daughter of Levi and Catherine (Baldemar) Swartley. Mrs. Moyer was the mother of three children : Elnora S., born May 20, 1876; William and John, died in infancy. Dr. Moyer married (second), November 8, 1883, Emma Jane Tyson, and to them eleven children were born: I. Winfield T., born December 15, 1884, a graduate of Princeton University, class of 1907, now a teacher of French in Philadelphia High School. 2. Herbert Tyson, see following sketch. 3. Sarah T., born March 8, 1889, resides at home with her mother. 4. Catherine T., born October 19, 1890, a graduate of Oberlin University, Ohio, now a teacher by profession. 5. Samuel T., born April 10, 1893, a graduate of State College and ordained a minister of the Mennonite church, now a foreign missionary at Janjgir, C. P., India. 6. Emma Grace, born February 9, 1895, a gradu- ate of Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania ; she married Christian L. Martin, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 7. Florence T., born December 16, 1896, a graduate of Manchester College, North Manches- ter, Indiana ; she is engaged in home mission work. 8. Raymond T., born August 20, 1899, a graduate of Oberlin University, Ohio ; he is an instruc- tor of English and athletics at Oberlin Extension School in Shanghai, China. 9. Paul T., born December 11, 1900, a graduate of State College, now a student at Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania. 10. Arthur T., born March 3, 1903, a student at Manchester Col- lege, North Manchester, Indiana. II. Lawrence T., born October 8, 1907, a student at Lansdale High School.
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HERBERT TYSON MOYER, M. D .- This name was brought to Lansdale, Pennsylvania, professionally in 1873, when Dr. Samuel C. Moyer, a homeopathic physician began practice there. From that date, now half a century in the past (1923), it has been kept continually before the public, Dr. Moyer continuing practice until 1917. But in 1909 another Dr. Moyer located in Lansdale, Herbert Tyson Moyer, a son of Dr. Samuel C., and father and son were contemporaries for eight years, but with the retirement of the elder physician, the younger was left in pos- session of the honor of being the active "Dr." Moyer.
Herbert Tyson Moyer, second son of Dr. Samuel C. and his second wife, Emma Jane (Tyson) Moyer, was born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, February 7, 1886. He began his education in the township school, com- pleting the grades of public school study with graduation from Lansdale High School, class of 1904, entering the senior class in Perkiomen Sem- inary, Pennsburg, graduating with the class of 1905. Choosing medicine as his profession, he entered Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whence he was graduated M. D., class of 1909. He was interne at Hahnemann Hospital in 1909, and in both 1909 and 1910 was assistant anæsthetist at that institution, one of Philadelphia's famed hos- pitals. In 1909 he also began private practice in Lansdale, in connection with his work at the hospital, and there continues well established in the confidence and esteem of his community. He is a member of the medical staff of Grand View Hospital, Sellersville, Pennsylvania, and during the war period, 1917-18, was chief examining physician for Division No. 4, of Montgomery county and a member of the local selective draft board. He is a member of Tri County Medical Society ; Lehigh Valley Medical Association ; Pennsylvania State Homoeopathic Medical Society, and the American Institute of Homeopathy. He is a director of Lansdale Memorial Park Association; is a member of the Board of Trade, of the Hahnemann Alumni Association, and of the Plymouth Country Club of Norristown.
In politics Dr. Moyer is a Republican, and is a member of the Lans- dale Board of Education. In religious faith he is affiliated with the First Church of The Brethren, Philadelphia.
Dr. Moyer married, in Lansdale, August 24, 1911, Mildred Laros, daughter of Charles M. and Emma Louise B. (Bitting) Laros. Dr. and Mrs. Moyer are the parents of three children: Virginia Louise, born June 18, 1912; Pauline Laros, born July 22, 1913; and Herbert Tyson (2), born November 3, 1916.
IRVIN POLEY KNIPE-Three generations of Knipes have attained eminence in the professional life of Montgomery county, beginning with Jacob Knipe, who after forty years of uninterrupted successful practice in medicine in New Hanover township, retired to a period of rest before going to his long home in his seventy-ninth year. Dr. Jacob Knipe was succeeded in practice by his sons: Jacob Oliver Knipe, who practiced medicine in Norristown from 1862 until his death in 1919 (fifty-seven
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years) ; Francis M. Knipe (M. D. Jefferson Medical College, 1856), prac- ticing in Frederick township, Montgomery county, and Pottstown, Penn- sylvania ; Dr. Septimus A. Knipe, practicing in New Hanover. Dr. Jacob Oliver Knipe married Clara Poley, of Norristown, and their son Irvin Poley Knipe, whose name furnishes the caption for this review, departed from the family profession for his career and studied law, a profession which he has continuously followed since his admission to the Montgomery bar, June 4, 1889. Norristown knew the father for more than half a century as a skilled and devoted physician, and has now known the son for thirty-four years as a learned and able lawyer.
In these three generations of Knipes in all branches, paternal and maternal, and in the Poley and Bigony families, whose blood mingled with that of the Knipes in the veins of Irvin Poley Knipe, who is the sub- ject of this sketch, there were thirteen medical practitioners, but the law has not made so strong an appeal. The forefather of the Knipes was Johannes Kneip, who landed in Philadelphia, at the age of thirty-eight years on September 25, 1748, from the ship "Patience and Margaret," from Rotterdam, last from Leith. The records of New Hanover Lutheran Church disclose his marriage, November 5, 1749, to Anna Barbara Hoff- man. He resided in Gwynedd township, at least from his purchase of a farm in 1763, until he died May 27, 1792 ; and German ancestry is pre- sumed from the fact that he signed his name in German to his will written in English. He left numerous children, among them a son David, who became a farmer of Montgomery county and who was the father of Dr. Jacob Knipe, the first of these eminent professional men whose career will be herein reviewed, his son, Dr. Jacob Oliver Knipe, his son, Irvin Poley Knipe, the present leading represenative of the family in Norris- town.
Dr. Jacob Knipe was born at the home farm in Gwynedd township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, September 12, 1804, died in August, 1883. He was left fatherless at the age of two years and his early life was spent in his native township, his education being secured in the township school and in Philadelphia. He read medicine in the office of his brother-in-law, Dr. Chester Clark, of Schultzville, Berks county, then entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, whence he was graduated M. D., class of 1828. He began practice in Lehigh, was for two years at Schultzville in Berks, then located at Swamp Churches, New Hanover township, Montgomery county, where he continued in practice for forty years. He passed through every experience of the typical country doctor, made the long drives on errands of mercy only to return to find urgent need of his services as far away in an opposite direction. But he met the demands and won a place in the hearts of his people that only the long time family physician does win. Then he retired, and spent a peaceful evening of life rich in the love and gratitude of a legion of friends. He was identified with the public enter- prises of his times and section serving until resigning the office as presi- dent of the Colebrookdale Turnpike Company. He was a Democrat in
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politics and a member of New Hanover Lutheran Church, the oldest still-living Lutheran congregation in America.
Dr. Jacob Knipe married, October 30, 1828, Rachel Evans, of Welsh ancestry, daughter of David Evans, of Hatfield township, Montgomery county, and fifty years later, October 30, 1878, they celebrated the golden anniversary of their wedding day. Dr. Knipe died five years later. Three of their sons, Francis M., Jacob Oliver, and Septimus A. Knipe embraced their father's profession, the youngest, Dr. Septimus A. Knipe succeeding him in practice at New Hanover when the father retired. Rachel Evans Knipe's grandfather, Dr. Peter Evans, was appointed a commissioner for the purchase of supplies for the Continental Army, February 21, 1778, and on December 18, 1784, was commissioned one of the first associate judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery county ; his father, John Evans, Jr., represented Chester county in the Provincial Assembly, 1734-5-6; was a justice of the peace in 1737, and died April 14, 1738. Another of Rachel Evans Knipe's ancestors was Rev. Benjamin Griffith, Sr., long pastor of Montgomery Baptist Church; and still further back, her ancestry can be traced to Rev. Thomas Dungan, who founded the Baptist church in America at Cold Spring, near Bristol, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Jacob O. Knipe, son of Dr. Jacob and Rachel (Evans) Knipe, was born in New Hanover township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1837, died in Norristown in the same county, June 5, 1919. He was educated in the district public school, Freeland Seminary, Mount Pleasant Seminary (Boyertown), and Franklin and Marshall College. He read medicine under the preceptorship of his father and elder brother, then entered Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whence he was graduated M. D., class of 1862. He at once located in Nor- ristown, Pennsylvania, and continued in practice until his passing, fifty- seven years later. He was a most skillful physician, possessing every human quality that was characteristic of this family of doctors that endeared them to their patients. He was a member of the Montgomery County Medical Society, serving as secretary, treasurer and president ; member of the Pennsylvania State Medical Society, and of the American Medical Association. He was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Dr. Jacob Oliver Knipe married on May 16, 1865, Clara Poley, daugh- ter of Jeremiah Poley, of Norristown, and they celebrated their golden wedding in 1915. Dr. and Mrs. Knipe were the parents of six sons: Irvin Poley, of further mention; Reinoehl; Jay C .; Francis Warren (deceased) ; George L .; Norman L.
Irvin Poley Knipe, eldest son of Dr. Jacob Oliver and Clara (Poley) Knipe, was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, February 27, 1866, and there yet resides (1923). He completed public school study with gradu- ation from Norristown High School, class of 1881, then continued his education in the University of Pennsylvania, A. B., class of 1886. Choos- ing a professional career he entered the law department of the University of Pennsylvania, whence he was graduated LL. B., class of 1889, receiv-
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ing his A. M. degree the same year. He read law prior to entering the University Law School, his preceptor being Irving P. Wanger, member of Congress from the eighth Pennsylvania district; and while studying law from April, 1887, to August, 1889, he was a reporter on the "Norris- town Herald."
Upon graduation he at once began the practice of his profession, being admitted to a partnership with his former preceptor, the firm practicing as Wanger & Knipe. From that year 1889, Mr. Knipe has continuously practiced in Norristown, serving the borough as solicitor from 1896 until 1914. In that same capacity he has served other boroughs of the county, being widely known throughout his section for his legal ability and his writings. He is the author of "Digest of Laws and Ordinances of and Pertaining to the Borough of Norristown;" two editions 1897 and 1904. He is a member of the bar associations and is highly regarded among his contemporaries of the profession. In the business world he is known as a director of the Norristown Trust Company, and among agricul- turists as a large fruit grower whose orchards at Arcola, Montgomery county, are a commercial success. He greatly enjoys his farming activi- ties, having a genuine love for the out-of-doors and the freedom of out- of-door occupations. In politics he is a Republican and an ex-chairman of the Montgomery county Republican committee. He is a past master of Charity Lodge, No. 190, Free and Accepted Masons of Norristown, and a member of Trinity Lutheran Church.
Mr. Knipe was married, February 23, 1899, to Margaret Richardson, born April 15, 1872, youngest daughter of John C. and Ellen (Ritten- house) Richardson, a descendant of a brother of David Rittenhouse, astronomer and scientist. Miss Richardson was a skilled shorthand court reporter. Inspired by experience in that profession to study law, she was admitted to the Montgomery county bar September 5, 1898, its first woman member. She died November 30, 1915. Her slender girlish frame housed a remarkable mentality and the finest of culture. Her life was a succession of successful attainments in everything she undertook, and was well epitomized in the obituary minute of the courts of Mont- gomery county : "She was a fine woman, a good housewife, and an able lawyer. This minute is a tribute in memory of her beautiful life." Mr. Knipe married (second), April 11, 1917, Anna E. Lovett, daughter of John K. and Isabella (Mann) Lovett. He has no children.
HARRY T. WOODLAND-The success in business, and high stand- ing in the community of Conshohocken of Harry T. Woodland, is a tribute to his increasing industry and unblemished integrity. Coming from the open life on a Mid-Western ranch, with practically no capital, he has won for himself a prominent place among business men, and no small degree of prosperity. He is the son of the well known shoemaker, A. Taylor Woodland, who died in 1917 at the age of sixty-nine. He learned his trade in his father's shop, Chester county, Pennsylvania, where he was born. He located for a time in Iowa, but came to Conshohocken,
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and there followed his trade until the time of his death. He married Isabella B. Hass, who died on March 13, 1922, having lived for the same number of days as had her husband, who had preceded her into the here- after. She was the mother of eight children: Harry T., of whom further ; Catherine, now Mrs. George Porter; A. Norris; William J .; For- rest C .; Gertrude, who married I. Opdegrave; Benjamin F., and Ammon G.
Harry T. Woodland was born at Norristown, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, August 10, 1872, and went with his parents to Iowa in 1876. He was educated in the schools of Cedar county, Iowa, but early went to work on his father's ranch, herding cattle on the plains as well as doing the usual farm chores. On April 23, 1889, he came East to Norristown and learned the trade of paper hanging and painting. He started in Conshohocken with a capital of five dollars in a partitioned off part of a room for a shop, but soon was able to buy the building at 224 Hector street, where for twenty-one years he has conducted a very suc- cessful business as a wall paper merchant and general contractor. For the last eight years he has been a director of the First National Bank of Conshohocken, and has made himself felt as a member of the Chamber of Commerce.
His social disposition has led him into fraternal connections with many societies, among which are the Knights of the Golden Eagle, of which he is a trustee; the Improved Order of Red Men, Tribe No. 53; Patriotic Sons of America, in which he is a member of the building com- mittee ; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is a past councillor, and the oldest living member of the lodge ; and the Blue Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons of Conshohocken; Royal Arch Masons; Knights Templar, Norristown ; and the Lu Lu Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a communicant and steward of the Methodist Episcopal church of Con- shohocken, Pennsylvania.
At Norristown, on June 1, 1898, he was married to Frances Estella, daughter of Abram and Adeline (Kingkinger) Tyson, well known resi- dents of Norristown, Pennsylvania.
U. S. G. FINKBINER-For thirty-six years identified with the com- mercial and financial affairs of Royersford, and for more than twenty- one years at the head of his own business in real estate and insurance, Mr. Finkbiner stands among the foremost men in local commercial circles. He comes of prominent Pennsylvania antecedents, both paternal and maternal lines being affiliated with names long honored in this State, and is a son of David and Margaret S. (Brownback) Finkbiner.
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