USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume II > Part 36
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Paul M. Brooke
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was there until October, 1918, when he was promoted to quartermaster sergeant and acted as chief clerk to the above branch until he was trans- ferred to Camp Meigs, Washington, D. C., Officers' Training Camp. He was honorably discharged from the service in December, 1918, with the rank of second lieutenant of the Quartermaster's Corps, and returned to his former office in Norristown. Later he removed to No. 325 Swede street, and in 1920 associated himself with Samuel D. Conover and moved to his present location at No. 415 Swede street. Mr. Brooke is solicitor for the Oreland Building Association of Oreland, Pennsyl- vania ; the Union Building and Loan Association, of Willow Grove; solicitor for the Jenkintown school board, and Lower Moreland school board. He is also a director of the Wyndmoor Building and Loan Association.
In everything pertaining to the welfare of Norristown and Glenside, Mr. Brooke has always taken an active interest, and no good movement which has for its aim civic betterment fails to gain his support. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Peace and Love Lodge, No. 337, of Jenkintown; Montgomery County Bar Association ; and the Delta Theta Phi legal fraternity of the University of Pennsyl- vania. Religious duties claim no small part of Mr. Brooke's attention, and at Saint Paul's Church, of Whitemarsh, Fort Washington, he is a deacon and member of the consistory and teacher in the Sunday school, having at one time been assistant superintendent of the school.
Paul M. Brooke is still a young man, and the progress that he has made indicates the success which will come to him in the near future. In both Norristown and Glenside, he is well known and deservedly pop- ular, commanding the respect. esteem and confidence of all with whom he is in any way associated.
HERBERT GERHART GODSHALL-The eminently successful business career of Herbert Gerhart Godshall, of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, is not due to accident or luck, but to native ability joined to industry, common sense and sound judgment. He is the son of William H. D. and Marietta S. (Gerhart) Godshall, members of a well known family of that name who have been prominent in the history of Montgomery county for several generations.
Herbert Gerhart Godshall is a native son of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, born March 26, 1886. After preliminary education he attended high school, but recognizing the necessity of specialized training for busi- ness, he attended and was graduated in 1914 from the School of Com- merce and Finance, also called the Wharton School, one of the depart- ments of the University of Pennsylvania. For some time after gradu- tion he was in the employ of Leas & McVitty, Incorporated, of Phila- delphia, as credit man, then in 1918 found a permanent business. In 1914 the Lansdale Ice and Storage Company was incorporated, and in 1918, Herbert Godshall and his brother Raymond, secured a controlling stock interest in that company and took over the management, electing the following officers: Herbert G. Godshall, president; W. H. D. God-
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shall, vice-president; Raymond G. Godshall, secretary-treasurer. The company has become one of the important industries of the borough, making and wholesaling about seventy tons of ice daily, serving a terri- tory with a radius of ten miles with Lansdale as a center. As president and manager, Mr. Godshall of this review, has demonstrated his ability to fill a place in the business world, and while his years are but thirty- seven, his achievement marks him a man who will go far.
A Republican in politics and deeply interested in borough affairs Mr. Godshall has served as a member of council, and secretary of the Electric Light Board of Commissioners. He is a member of the Masonic Order, affiliated with Shiloh Lodge, No. 558; Lansdale Chapter, No. 301, Royal Arch Masons; and Hutchinson Commandery, Knights Templar; is a member of North Penn Forest, Tall Cedars of Lebanon; Lansdale Gun Club ; Citizens Club of Lansdale ; and is a communicant of the Lansdale Reformed Church.
Mr. Godshall married at Quakertown, Pennsylvania, September 6, 19II, Florence Virginia Bartholomew, daughter of John and Puella (Krauss) Bartholomew. Mr. and Mrs. Godshall are the parents of a son, William Herbert, born January 18, 1915, in Lansdale.
RAYMOND GERHART GODSHALL-Of a prominent Montgom- ery county family, and one of the able business men of Lansdale, Penn- sylvania, Raymond Gerhart Godshall has put his best efforts into the successful handling of the Lansdale Ice and Storage Company, Inc., of his city. For many years in the Lansdale post office, he acquired a large acquaintance and deserved popularity that have been of great use to him in his present position. He is the son of William Henry Derstine and Marietta S. (Gerhart) Godshall, both of whom are well known in the county, the former having served for years as town councilman for the West Ward, and as a director of the school board.
Raymond Gerhart Godshall was born in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, March 5, 1891, attended the public schools for a time, and then took a course in the Norristown (Pennsylvania) Business College. He received an appointment in the post office department of Lansdale and remained for twelve years.
In 1921, associated with his brother, Herbert, he became a manufac- turer of ice with the Lansdale Ice and Storage Company, Inc., of which he is secretary and treasurer. He is a Republican in politics, and frater- nizes with the Free and Accepted Masons, Shiloh Lodge, No. 558; Lans- dale Chapter, No. 301, Royal Arch Masons; Hutchinson Commandery, No. 32, Knights Templar, Norristown, Pennsylvania; the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and the Loyal Order of Moose. He is a commu- nicant of the Reformed Church, of Lansdale.
Mr. Godshall married, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 2, 1917, Edna L. Baltz, daughter of Harry and Elizabeth (Flack) Baltz, of Mont- gomeryville, Pennsylvania. They have one son, Raymond Gerhart, Jr., born August 30, 1919. Mr. Godshall resides on his farm of sixty-one acres, about a mile and a half east of Lansdale.
Pauvre. Educa
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EDRED JOSEPH PENNELL-Shortly before his enlistment in the United States army, Edred J. Pennell was admitted to the bar of Juniata county, and to the bar of Montgomery county a little later, locating at Norristown, enlisting from that town in September of the same year. Upon his return from the army, in which he won a captain's commis- sion, he resumed law practice in Norristown and so continues. Captain Pennell is a descendant of Robert and Hannah Pennell, who settled in Middletown township, in now Delaware county, Pennsylvania, as early as 1686. They came from Boulderton, in Nottinghamshire, England, bringing a certificate from "Friends at Ffulbeck," issued 3d. 5mo. 1684, in conjunction with Thomas Garrett, Hugh Rodnel, Henry Pennell and Richard Parker, they, "with their wives and children, intending to transfer themselves beyond the seas into East Jersey in America."
Robert Pennell, in 1687, was appointed constable in Middletown township, and was a farmer of that township in good circumstances. His wife, Hannah, died in 1711, aged seventy-one years, he surviving her seventeen years, passing away in 1728. They were the parents of sons and daughters, and from him in direct line came Isaac Pennell, great- grandfather of Edred J. Pennell, of this review. He lived in Philadel- phia, and was a member of the Society of Friends, as was his wife, Jane.
Joseph Pennell, son of Isaac and Jane Pennell, was born in Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, in 1832, and prior to his marriage settled in Pat- erson, now Mifflin, in the Juniata Valley of Pennsylvania, going there as an employee of the Pennsylvania railroad. After his marriage he entered mercantile life and continued a prosperous career until the year 1900, when he retired, being then one of the oldest merchants in that borough. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and of the Masonic order, and a Republican in his political faith. Joseph Pennell married, in Mif- flin, Pennsylvania, Rebecca Mickey, daughter of Frank M. and Elizabeth (Souders) Mickey, her father a supervisor in the employ of the Penn- sylvania railroad. Among the children of Joseph and Rebecca (Mickey) Pennell was a son, Frank M. M., father of Edred J. Pennell. Joseph Pennell died in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, February 19, 1904, and was buried in Mifflin, Pennsylvania.
Frank M. M. Pennell, son of Joseph and Rebecca (Mickey) Pennell, was born in Mifflin, Pennsylvania, February 28, 1862. He was educated in the public schools of Mifflin, going thence to Millersville State Nor- mal School, finishing the course of that institution with the graduating class of 1882. He taught school for one year, then began the study of law under Louis E. Atkinson, and in 1885 was admitted to the bar of Juniata county. He spent the year after graduation at Albany Law School, Albany, New York, there receiving his LL. B. with the class of 1886.
Mr. Pennell began practice in Mifflin, forming a partnership with his former preceptor, which continued until the latter's death in 1910, Atkinson & Pennell conducting a successful general practice in County, State and Federal courts of the district. The legal learning and ability of the partners attracted the best class of clients, and after the death of
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the senior partner, the junior partner continued the business in the same offices and there maintains the high reputation of the firm of which he is the surviving member. Mr. Pennell was one of the charter members of the Pennsylvania State Bar Association, and served the Juniata County Bar Association as secretary and is now its president. In politics he is a Republican, and from 1887 to 1890 served Juniata county as district attorney. He is solicitor for the Fifth District of the Pennsylvania rail- road system, and occupies similar position with the Tuscarora Valley railroad. He is a director of the Mifflin and the Paterson water com- panies, but has few interests outside his profession. In religious faith he is a Presbyterian. Mr. Pennell married, December 28, 1887, Ida McCauley, daughter of James and Mary (Ewing) McCauley, of Mifflin. Mr. and Mrs. Pennell are the parents of two children: Rebecca, who died at the age of four years ; and Edred Joseph, of further mention.
Edred J. Pennell, only son of Frank M. M. and Ida (McCauley) Pennell, was born in Mifflin, Juniata county, Pennsylvania, December 29, 1890, and there completed public school study with graduation from high school, class of 1908. He then entered Gettysburg College, whence he was graduated B. S., class of 1912, after which he prepared for the profession of law in the University of Pennsylvania Law School, receiv- ing his LL. B., class of 1916. In 1917 he was admitted to the bar of Juniata county, and on April 24, 1917, to the bar of Montgomery county. He located in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and there practiced until his enlistment in September, 1917. After his return from the army in 1919 he resumed the practice of law at Norristown, but resides in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Pennell entered the United States army on September 20, 1917, as a private of Company A, 304th Ammunition Train, located at Camp Meade. He was transferred on October 14, 1917, to Headquarters Troop, 79th Division, still as a private, and on December 7, 1917, was appointed a private of the first class. On January 5, 1918, he entered Officers' Training School, Camp Meade, a member of the First Battery. On April 19, 1918, he was graduated from Officers' Training School and returned to headquarters troop of the 79th Division, as sergeant. On May 18, 1918, he was transferred to Field Artillery Replacement Depot at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, and was assigned to duty with Bat- tery B, 14th Battalion, Field Artillery Replacement Depot. He was commissioned second lieutenant of Field Artillery, National Army, June I, 1918, and assigned to Battery B, 14th Battalion Field Artillery Re- placement Depot. On June 15th he was transferred to Battery B, 23rd Battalion, Field Artillery Replacement Depot, as second lieutenant, Field Artillery, National Army, and on August 17, 1918, on reorganiza- tion of the 8th Regiment, Field Artillery Replacement Depot, he was re-assigned to Headquarter's Company, 8th Regiment, Field Artillery Replacement Depot. On September 26, 1918, he was commissioned first lieutenant of Field Artillery, United States army, and on October 22, 1918, was transferred to the command of Battery F, 8th Regiment, Field Artillery Replacement Depot, and on October 23, 1918, he was
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commissioned captain of the Field Artillery, United States army. On December 6, 1918, he was honorably discharged from the service, hold- ing the rank of a captain of artillery in the United States army.
Captain Pennell represented Montgomery county at the organization of the American Legion at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1919, and represented Pennsylvania on the National Constitutional Committee which drafted the National Constitution of the "Legion." He served on the special committee which drafted the Pennsylvania Constitution of the "Legion," and during 1919-20 was a member of the executive committee of the Department of the Pennsylvania American Legion. He organized posts of the "Legion" at Norristown, Narberth, Bryn Mawr, Ardmore, Ambler, Jenkintown, Elkins Park and Hatboro, all in Montgomery county, and the city of Johnstown, in Cambria county. He was commander of John Winthrop Post, No. 118, American Legion, at Bryn Mawr, and is scout master of Troop No. 2, Bryn Mawr.
Mr. Pennell is a member of the Juniata and Montgomery County Bar associations; Hare Law Club, University of Pennsylvania; Bryn Mawr War Memorial and Community House Association; Bryn Mawr Pres- byterian Church; Main Line Citizens' Association; Bryn Mawr Busi- ness Men's Association; Phi Gamma Delta fraternity (active member of Xi chapter, later affiliated with Beta chapter), and Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity.
Edred J. Pennell married, at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, April 27, 1918, Ruth Glenn, daughter of George B. and Mary (Gronninger) Glenn, of Johnstown. Mr. and Mrs. Pennell are the parents of a son: Edred Joseph (2), born February II, 1921. Mrs. Pennell is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College, class of 1915; is Republican county committee- woman from the Bryn Mawr district; and president of the Woman's Club of Bryn Mawr. On the maternal side she descends from John Daniel Gronninger, who came from Holland in a small sailing vessel, the "Marlborough," and arrived in Philadelphia, September 23, 1741. He became a successful farmer of Berks county, Pennsylvania, where he died in 1786. Descent is traced in this branch through his son, Leon- ard S. Gronninger, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, who was cap- tured by the Indians in 1780 and held their prisoner for two years.
J. L. ROTH, M. D .- In 1919 Dr. J. L. Roth, a graduate in homœop- athy, a physician of learning and skill and a man of culture and high professional reputation, located at Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, open- ing offices at No. 117 East Fourth avenue, where he continues well established in practice and in the regard of his community. He is a son of Dr. L. A. and Rose E. (Plank) Roth, his father a practicing physician of Spring Grove, York county, Pennsylvania.
J. L. Roth was born in Nashville, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1879, and there began his education in the public school, going to Ursinus Academy in 1898. He then entered Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania, whence he was graduated A. B., class of 1903. After completing his college course he spent several years as an instructor, being connected
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with Swarthmore College as teacher of biology and physical education and studied with the department of public hygiene, University of Penn- sylvania during the years 1910-1912.
In 1912 deciding upon the profession of medicine he began a four years' course of study at Hahnemann Medical College, Philadelphia receiving his M. D. from that institution in 1916. He then acquired experience in practice as interne and staff physician, being for fifteen months connected with J. Lewis Crozer Hospital, Chester, Pennsylvania. In 1918 he came to his present location in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, and began private practice.
Dr. Roth is a member of the American Medical Association, Penn- sylvania State Homeopathic Medical Society, American Institute of Homeopathy, Tri-County Homoeopathic Medical Society and takes a deep interest in local affairs, serving Conshohocken as a member of the school board and is a member of the board of directors of the Athletic Association, trustee of the Public Library Association, and member of the Council of the Boy Scouts. He is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and in politics is an Independent.
On December 6, 1904, in Passaic, New Jersey, Dr. J. L. Roth and Susan M. Moser were married, she a daughter of E. S. Moser, of Col- legeville. Dr. and Mrs. Roth are the parents of a daughter, Susan, born in Paterson, New Jersey, April 6, 1909. The family home is in Consho- hocken, Pennsylvania.
HARVEY J. STOUDT-One of the prominent residents in this sec- tion of Montgomery county is Mr. Harvey J. Stoudt, who for the past twenty-three years has followed the profession of teaching in Salford township, and has his residence at Tylersport. Mr. Stoudt was born on a farm in Worcester township, February 17, 1881, a son of Addison and Sallie (Saylor) Stoudt, his father being engaged in the butcher trade at Skippack. Mr. Stoudt, who has three sisters, Bertha, Evelyn, and Edna, was the oldest of the family of four children. In acquiring his education he attended the public schools of Limerick and Towamencin township, and by thorough study fitted himself to become a teacher in the public schools, which profession has been his life work, and he is still engaged in it.
In the social, official, and religious affairs of the community in which he resides, Mr. Stoudt has always taken a lively interest, and has given liberally of his time in the service of the people of the town in various capacities. He was elected a justice of the peace in 1903, which office he has occupied ever since. He also served six years as a supervisor, being reelected in 1921 for a second term of six years, and is secretary and treasurer of the township board. His political principles are those of the Democratic party, of which he is a staunch supporter. During the years of the World War Mr. Stoudt was active in the various phases of local work undertaken, and was especially prominent in promoting the different Liberty and the Victory Loan drives. He also had an influential part in the movement which resulted in the erection of the fine new town
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hall, and was a charter member of the Tylersport Volunteer Fire Depart- ment, which he further serves as one of its board of managers. He is prominently connected with several of the leading social organizations of this section including Tylersport Lodge, No. 600, Patriotic Order Sons of America, of which he has been financial secretary for twenty years ; the Improved Order of Red Men, of which he is a charter mem- ber; the Knights of the Golden Eagle, of which he is also a charter member ; and the Harleysville Beneficial Society. In the religious circles of the community he is known as a valued member of the Reformed church, at Ridge Valley, having been one of its board of deacons for a period covering four years.
The marriage of Mr. Stoudt to Laura Krause, a daughter of Charles and Angeline (Roth) Krause, took place at Quakertown, January 3, 1903. They are the parents of four children, all of whom were born at Tylersport : Mae, born April 30, 1907; Paul, born February 25, 1909; Wilmer, born October 28, 1912, and Edna, born February 18, 1918.
MUSCOE MINOR GIBSON-Since 1872 Muscoe Minor Gibson has been a resident of Norristown, Pennsylvania, and during these years has made an enviable record in his professional career.
Rev. Isaac Gibson, father of Muscoe M. Gibson, was born at Little Washington, Rappahannock county, Virginia, January 30, 1828, of provincial ancestry, and died in 1906. At the time of his death he was rector emeritus of St. John's Church at Norristown, where he had preached for many years. He married, on February 28, 1852, Annie Wingerd, of Washington, District of Columbia, who died in 1895, at the age of sixty-three years. They were the parents of four children: I. Rev. John Shackleford, who was graduated from the Episcopal Divinity School, at Alexandria, Virginia, in 1878, and served at Middleway, West Virginia, Huntington, West Virginia, and at Gordonsville, Virginia, at which latter place he died in 1912, at the age of fifty-seven years. 2. Ethel Wingerd. 3. Muscoe M., of further mention. 4. Delia Pendleton.
Muscoe Minor Gibson was born at Blacksburg, Montgomery county, Virginia, February 6, 1859. Removing to Norristown with his parents when he was but a child, he entered the local high school, graduating from there in 1875. The next two years he spent at Treemount Seminary, then matriculated at Lafayette College, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1880 and the degree of Master of Arts fifteen years later. Immediately after graduating from college he read law with Benjamin E. Chain, being admitted to the bar in September, 1883, and establishing himself in the practice of his chosen profession in Norristown, at No. 320 De Kalb street.
In politics Mr. Gibson is a Democrat. He is a member of Washing- ton Memorial Church at Valley Forge, being one of its vestrymen; belongs to Norristown Lodge, No. 620, Free and Accepted Masons; Phi Kappa Psi fraternity of Lafayette College, Theta chapter; Montgomery County Bar Association ; and the Ersine Tennis Club of Norristown.
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On January 25, 1896, at Norristown, Muscoe M. Gibson was united in marriage with Amy B. Whitton, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Cush- man) Whitton, the former for many years treasurer of the Arch Street Theatre at Philadelphia. To Mr. and Mrs. Gibson have been born the following children : 1. Anna, born July 3, 1897, died November 11, 1907. 2. Joseph Whitton, born September 26, 1899, graduated from the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania in 1921, and is with the Bell Telephone Com- pany as electrical engineer. He married, on June 18, 1921, at the Wash- ington Memorial Church at Valley Forge, Nellie Dear, daughter of Thomas and Eliza Dear, of Norristown, and from this union has been born one child, Joseph Whitton, Jr., February 24, 1922. The family home is at No. 1427 Powell street, Norristown.
GEORGE W. ROBERTSON-Those who erect a building or estab- lish a business which lives after them, build for themselves monuments which are more enduring than those of granite which mark their final resting places. George W. Robertson, who for many years wrought at the forge in Mount Crawford, Virginia, giving to the neighborhood for miles around, honest and efficient wheelwright and blacksmith service, earned by honest toil and skillful workmanship the capital which enabled him to become the founder of two business concerns which are continuing to operate even though he has passed on to the "Land o' the Leal."
Born in Nottaway county, Virginia, July 9, 1848, Mr. Robertson had passed, by more than two years, the allotted three score and ten, when he died, December 13, 1920. He was the son of Allen Robertson, a planta- tion owner of Virginia, and of Mary (Webster) Robertson, the latter a direct descendant of Daniel Webster. On the paternal side he was a cousin of Alice Robertson, who was the first woman to be elected to the national congress. Mr. Robertson attended the public schools of his native district, and then preferring an active life in which there was opportunity for much physical activity, learned the trade of blacksmith and wheelwright. Honest and industrious, and withal thrifty, he gave a square deal, made excellent shoes, and superior wheels, carts and farm- wagons for his patrons, and steadily saved a fair proportion of his honest earnings. In time thrift and industry brought their reward, and he invested in two most substantial lines of business activity. Always active, aspiring, and achieving, he was one of those who, believing thor- oughly in the right of the Southern states to develop their own social and economic system without interference from the central government, had the courage of his convictions, and enlisted in the cause of the Con- federacy. He served as a sergeant under General Robert E. Lee, in the Virginia volunteers, taking part in all the major engagements in which his unit was engaged, and was several times wounded. The war over, however, and the question settled, he accepted conditions as they were and came to Baltimore, Maryland, where the later years of his life were passed. Politically, he gave his support to the principles and the candi- dates of the Democratic party, and as a citizen was earnest and loyal.
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