USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume II > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43
Dr. Evans married, October 28, 1875, Ella V. Longaker, daughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Boyer) Longaker, of Norristown, who survives him. He is also survived by their two children, as follows: I. Anna R., wife of Dr. Frederick W. Van Buskirk, of Pottstown, their children being: Frederick, Kryder Evans, Sarah Elizabeth and Anna Virginia Van Buskirk. 2. Daniel Longaker, a sketch of whom follows. Dr. Evans is also survived by a brother, Rev. John M. Evans, pastor of the Reformed church of East Vincent, Chester county, Pennsylvania. Another brother, J. Wells Evans, of Spring Mills, is now deceased.
In the passing of Dr. Evans a living influence for good has become an inspiring memory. This is the one thought that comforts his sorrow- ing friends. His long and useful life, his upright walk and Christian example, will live long in the memory of all who knew him, and his influ- ence for the highest attainment of Christian manhood will inspire those who come after him.
DANIEL LONGAKER EVANS-Among the leading attorneys of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, is one of her native sons, Daniel L. Evans. Professional success has come to him in abundance due to his own energy, determination and ability, and no movement looking toward
25
BIOGRAPHICAL
better things for his native town is ever without his generous support. Daniel Longaker Evans was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, August 18, 1880, the son of Rev. Dr. L. Kryder and Ella V. (Longaker) Evans, mentioned at length in preceding sketch.
Daniel L. Evans attended the public schools of his native place, and later entered the Hill School, from which he was graduated in 1898. He then entered Franklin and Marshall College, receiving from this institu- tion the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1902 and Master of Arts in 1905. Having decided to adopt law as his profession, he accordingly matricu- lated in the law department of the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1905 received the degree of Bachelor of Laws. This same year he was admitted to practice in the courts of Montgomery county and the State of Pennsylvania, and immediately associated himself with the Hon. John Marshall Gest at No. 400 Chestnut street, Philadelphia, later removing to the Lafayette building, his headquarters at the present time. In 1907 he established himself in practice in Pottstown and it is here that he has identified himself prominently with legal, fraternal and social circles. His career at the bar has been meritorious, for he is learned in the law and skilled in its application to the case at hand, making a client's case his own and leaving no effort untried in order to fulfil the duty he feels he owes to every man from whom he accepts a retainer. He is also a director of the Citizens' National Bank of Pottstown ; the Shultz Baking Company of Pottstown; the Reading, Germantown & Norristown rail- road ; and president of the Pottstown Public Library, the Caballero Drug Company of Philadelphia, and treasurer of the Jellico Creek Company.
Mr. Evans is a member of the Stichter Lodge, No. 254, Free and Accepted Masons; Pottstown Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Nativity Commandery, Knights Templar; Philadelphia Consistory, having attained the thirty-second degree in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; and Rajah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; Foresters of America; Grath Krishma Grotto; Brookside Country Club, of which he is a charter member; Rotary Club, of Pottstown, of which he was president in 1920 and 1921 ; Pennsylvania State and Montgomery Bar associations; Law Association of Philadelphia; Phi Kappa Sigma fra- ternity of Franklin and Marshall College, and of the University of Penn- sylvania Alumni Chapter. In the Trinity Reformed Church, of Potts- town, of which Mr. Evans is a member, he has always been active, being superintendent of its Sunday school and an elder in the church.
On October 20, 1908, Daniel Longaker Evans was united in marriage with Gertrude Black Schofield, daughter of Dr. E. Lane and Mary (Black) Schofield. Mrs. Schofield was the daughter of Judge James Black, who was the first prohibition candidate for president and prac- ticed law in Lancaster. Mr. and Mrs. Evans are the parents of five children : Ellen Virginia, born July 27, 1911 ; Daniel L., Jr., born Octo- ber 24, 1914; Wilson Murray, born May 24, 1916; William Black, born November 13, 1918; and Edward Schofield, born March 30, 1923. The family reside at No. 713 King street, Pottstown.
26
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Daniel Longaker Evans is a man whose final mental endowments and exceptional force of character have helped him to rear the fabric of his own fortune both in the profession of the law and in the sphere of public affairs.
HENRY LABAN S. RUTH-As president of the Citizens' National Bank of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, Henry L. S. Ruth occupies a position of responsibility and trust which he has ably filled since 1905, and to which he came after a career of success as a business man. He adds to natural ability wide experience and a temperament not given to either over- caution or over-enthusiasm, either of which might overturn sound judg- ment ; but possesses that nicely balanced mind which avoids the pitfalls that beset the financier and steers wide of the excesses of the speculator.
The Ruth family is an old one in Bucks county, tracing to an ances- tor who came to Pennsylvania with the tide of immigration about the middle of the eighteenth century. The family has furnished many who have become prominent as inventors or mechanicians of skill and ability, also many eminent in financial and professional life.
The family was long seated in Prussia, and in Pennsylvania were resi- dents of Montgomery county during the years preceding 1801. Rev. David Ruth, great-great-grandfather of Henry L. S. Ruth, a minister of the Mennonite faith, in 1901 moved from Hatfield township, Montgomery county, to New Britain township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Catherine, and eight children, four sons and four daughters. The land he bought in New Britain was located on the banks of the Nesham- iny, and remained in the family several generations; Rev. David Ruth died in 1820 and was succeeded in the ownership of the homestead on the Neshaminy by his youngest son, Joseph ; Michael, the eldest son, settled in Buckingham ; Jacob, the third son, in Tinicum ; David, the second, and Joseph, the fourth son, remaining in New Britain, all in Bucks county. Descent in this line is traced through Joseph.
Joseph Ruth, fourth son of Rev. David and Catherine Ruth, was born in Hatfield township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, but in 1801 was taken by his parents to New Britain township, Bucks county, where he spent the remainder of his life, a farmer. He married Ann Price, and after the death of his father in 1820, came into the ownership of the homestead farm through purchase and there his life was passed. He married, as stated, Ann Price, and among their children was a son, Henry P., through whom descent is traced in this line.
Henry P. Ruth, son of Joseph and Ann (Price) Ruth, was born at the homestead in New Britain township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and there he died April 7, 1903. In 1853 he bought of his father a portion of the old homestead farm and settled thereon, thus spending his life on the same farm. Like his father and grandfather he was a member of the Mennonite faith, and in politics a Republican. He married, in 1844, Magdalena Swartley, born in New Britain township, September 28, 1824, died at the Ruth homestead April 7, 1893, her husband surviving her ten
27
BIOGRAPHICAL
years. She was a daughter of John and Mary (Moyer) Swartley, and granddaughter of Philip and his wife, Sarah (Rosenberger) Sewardley, as the name was originally. Philip Sewardley was born in Eppinger, Germany, October 28, 1764, died in New Britain township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, September 23, 1840. Sarah Rosenberger, his wife, was born in Montgomery county and died in Bucks county, April 6, 1849. Their son, John Swartley, was born in New Britain, June 8, 1792, and there died March 14, 1856. His wife, Mary Moyer, was born in Spring- field township, Bucks county, October 9, 1795, died in New Britain township, April 10, 1872. Henry P. Ruth was active in the public life of his township and filled several positions of trust. He left two sons, John S., of further mention, and Joseph S., who married Sarah Leidy, and had a family of seven.
John S. Ruth, eldest son of Henry P. and Magdalena (Swartley) Ruth, was born at the homestead in New Britain township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and during his active years was a farmer of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He clung to the religious faith of his fathers' and spent his life consistent with his profession. He retired prior to his death in 1913, a resident of Lansdale, Pennsylvania. He married Sarah A. Swartley, who bore him two sons, Henry L. S., whose name furnishes the caption of this review, and Frank S., who died at the age of seven- teen years. Sarah A. Swartley was a daughter of Henry R. and Anna (Gilman) Swartley, her father a Bucks county farmer and most capable business man, who after accumulating a goodly estate, retired. Mr. and Mrs. Henry R. Swartley were Mennonites in religious faith. Their only child, Sarah A., became the wife of John S. Ruth, and the mother of Henry L. S. Ruth, of Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Ruth died in 1879.
Henry Laban S. Ruth, only son of John S. and Sarah A. (Swartley) Ruth to reach man's estate, was born in New Britain township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, October 24, 1875. He was brought to Lansdale with his parents when he was a small child and received his education in the public schools of that borough. When school days were over, he began his business career as a clerk in a Lansdale store, but later went to Fox Chase, Philadelphia county, where he engaged in business for himself. Thus he continued for five years, then returned to Lansdale where he engaged in the real estate business and became the owner of considerable property. In 1902 he was elected a director of the Lansdale Trust Company, and in 1905, when that company was absorbed by the Citizens' National Bank, he became president of that institution, a posi- tion he has most ably filled during the seventeen years which have since intervened. Mr. Ruth's interests are large in Lansdale and elsewhere, and he takes an active interest in the affairs of the borough, having for several years served as president of both the school board and Board of Health. Politically he gives his support to the Republican party, and his religious affiliation is with the Reformed church of Lansdale, being a member of its consistory and active in all its work.
On April 5, 1897, in Philadelphia, Mr. Ruth married Caroline A.
28
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
Kindig, daughter of Henry K. and Sophia (Anders) Kindig, her father a wholesale grocer of Philadelphia and a man of strong business ability. Mr. and Mrs. Kindig were the parents of seven children: Emma, widow of Rev. Pennington Corson; Annie, married William F. Breitenbaugh ; Kate, widow of T. A. James; Lillie, married Nathan Spencer ; John, deceased; Marvin C., of Ambler, Pennsylvania, his father's business successor ; and Caroline A., wife of Henry L. S. Ruth, of Lansdale. Mrs. Ruth is active in woman's work and for five years has been president of the National Guild. Mr. and Mrs. Ruth are the parents of a son, Henry R. S. Ruth, born August 12, 1899, a student at Hahnemann Medical College, class of 1923. Mr. Ruth is a member of the Masonic order, holding all degrees of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite up to and including the thirty-second.
HERBERT A. BOSTOCK, M. D .- Of English birth and parentage Dr. Bostock was brought to the United States by his parents when but a boy and practically knows no other home. He is a son of Edward and Mary (Johnson) Bostock; his Grandfather Bostock was an English chemist who died in his native land at the great age of ninety years. Edward Bostock, born in England, was a glass blower by trade and the owner of a large hotel at West Bromwich, England. He came to the United States in 1884 and journeyed as far westward as Rock Island, Illinois. Later he returned to England, sold his hotel, and in 1887 came again to the United States, settling in Norristown, Pennsylvania, being the boss blower in the old Albertson Glass Factory. After the closing of that factory he worked in different parts of the country until his death in Philadelphia, November 25, 1911. Mary (Johnson) Bostock died in Norristown, February 7, 1898. They were both members of St. John's Episcopal Church, Mrs. Bostock being an active worker at Holy Trinity Chapel. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bostock are buried in Riverside Cemetery in Norristown. The Bostock family burying ground is located in Nunea- ton, near Stratford-on-Avon, England. An American, searching old English cemeteries for epitaphs, said, that in the old Bostock family burying ground he found upon a tombstone the following epitaph, and thought it was the finest one he found :
Praises on tombs are trifles vainly spent, A man's good name is his best monument.
Edward and Mary (Johnson) Bostock were the parents of four sons : Edgar H., of New York, president of the Bostock and Rhoades Com- pany; Herbert A., of further mention; Frank, president and general manager of the Sunflower and Victory Glass Factories of Sapulpa, Okla- homa; and Daniel E., a veteran of the World War, who enlisted in the English Army in January, 1915, and served five and a half years, being thrice wounded on French battlefields, returning with the rank of first lieutenant of The Royal Engineers. He was twice cited for bravery, and was awarded five medals for distinguished service. He was the first
29
BIOGRAPHICAL
Norristown man to enlist in the World War. The sons are all members of the Episcopal church.
Herbert A. Bostock was born in Staffordshire, near Birmingham, England, June 27, 1875, and there spent the first twelve years of his life. He came with his mother and two brothers to Norristown in 1888, and there completed grammar and high school courses of study. After two years in high school he entered the Lowenberg Drug Store and worked as clerk and student for four years, but part of that period was in the drug store of Charles B. Ashton, becoming manager of the latter store located at the corner of Fourth and Holstein streets, Bridgeport. He spent a year in study at Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and suc- cessfully passed the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Board of Examiners, receiving the degree of Q. A.
Deciding upon the profession of medicine he studied under Dr. J. J. Kane, of Norristown, then in the fall of 1895 entered Jefferson Medical College, where he completed a four years' course of study, receiving his M. D. degree at graduation on May 15, 1899. He at once located in Norristown, where he has since been in continuous practice, his clientele large and his standing high. He was for several years county physician, and for a number of years has been coroner's physician for Montgomery county.
Dr. Bostock is a fellow of the Forbes Anatomical League of Jefferson Medical College; member, and in 1916 president of the Montgomery County Medical Society, also a trustee and a co-editor of the society's journal, "The Montgomery County Medical Bulletin," to which he is a liberal contributor, also chairman of the society's committee on public policy ; member of Pennsylvania State Medical Society, and for several years past has been a delegate from the county to the convention of the State society, has discussed papers before the State body and is well known in the profession. Among the papers he has prepared and pre- sented to the county society are the following: "President's Address, 1916;" "Prenatal and Postnatal Care as a Factor in Lowering the Obste- tric Mortality ;" "Vagitus Uterinus;" "Obstetrical Statistics in One Thousand Cases of Labor ;" and Obstetric Technique."
Dr. Bostock was for one year president of the Schuylkill Valley Medical Club, a purely social organization, limited to a membership of thirty physicians of Norristown and vicinity. He is obstetrician upon the staff of Montgomery Hospital and as such has charge of the maternity department of the hospital. He is also secretary of the medical board, composed of members of the staff. His obstetrical practice is large, and that branch of medical practice has become his specialty. He is called, in the capacity of specialist, into many consultations, not only by the physicians of Norristown, but from nearly every part of the county. During the war period, 1917-18, he was examining physician to the Norristown draft board, being the first physician appointed to that serv- ice in the city. At that time he was chairman of the British Recruiting Mission for the Norristown section.
30
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
In politics Dr. Bostock is a Republican and member of the Mont- gomery County Republican Committee from the Fifth Ward of Norris- town. He is treasurer of the Borough Republican Executive Commit- tee; has served as a member of the city school board for the past four- teen years ; was vice-president of the board some years, and was chairman of the building committee in charge of the erection of the George Wash- ington School. He takes a deep interest in civic affairs, and is especially interested in the East End Improvement Society, of which he has been president since its organization. For a number of years Doctor Bostock was an active member of Montgomery Hose Company, and he is physi- cian to the Norristown Fire Department. He is a member of the Masonic order, affiliated with both Norristown Lodge, No. 620, Free and Accepted Masons, and Norristown Chapter, No. 190, Royal Arch Masons. In Odd Fellowship he is a past noble grand of Curtis Lodge, No. 239, Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of St. John's Epis- copal Church; has served the Brotherhood of St. Andrew as secretary- treasurer of the county organization ; and has rendered valued service as an official of St. Mark's Guild, Holy Trinity Chapel as lay reader, and Holy Trinity Sunday School as librarian. A good sportsman, he has in the past served Norristown Association Football Club as its manager and secretary for a number of years, and has always stood as the patron of all out-of-door sports and recreations.
Dr. Herbert A. Bostock married, on April 8, 1903, Claire Dorothea Bauman, daughter of Jacob and Sarah (Bechtel) Bauman, of Bechtels- ville, Berks county, Pennsylvania.
FREAS STYER-Among the German families that early settled in Worcester township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, was that of Styer, represented at the present time in Norristown by Freas Styer, a member of the Montgomery county bar. Stephanus Styer, the founder of the family, was born in Bohemia in 1688; his father, John Nicholas Stieger (as he spelled the name), was an officer in the Prussian army, in the fighting in Bohemia with the Austrians in 1688. Stephanus Styer settled on a farm of one hundred acres in Worcester township, Montgom- ery county, in 1727, a site being set apart upon which a Mennonite meet- ing house was built, which is yet in use and known as the Metatha Church. He was christened by a Catholic priest, the army chaplain, but died in the Mennonite faith. He had sons: Jacob, of whom further ; Stephen and Daniel; daughters: Catherine, Anna, and Gertrude.
Jacob Styer, son of Stephanus Styer, was a farmer of Montgomery county, and the father of a son John Styer, grandfather of John (2) Styer, great-grandfather of William Augustus Styer, and great-great- grandfather of Freas Styer. John (2) Styer and his wife, Hannah, were the parents of four sons: Amos; Alfred; Lewis, cashier of the People's National Bank of Norristown, from its organization in 1881 until his death in 1903; William Augustus, of further mention, and a daughter, Mary.
Frece Stylen
31
BIOGRAPHICAL
William Augustus Styer, son of John (2) and Hannah Styer, follow- ing in the footsteps of his ancestors in Montgomery county, was a farmer of Whitpain township, residing on a farm of one hundred acres in that township until 1898, when Norristown became the family home. He married Elizabeth Keeley Freas and to them eight children were born, six living to mature years: Henry C., Hannah ; Freas, whose career is herein reviewed; Martha C., Horace E. and Ellis K.
Freas Styer, son of William A. and Elizabeth Keeley (Freas) Styer, was born at the home farm in Whitpain township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, June 7, 1859, and there spent his youth. He began his education in the district school, attending during the winter months, and then continued his study in Treemount Seminary and in Centre Square Academy for several terms. He taught in the public schools of Plymouth township, during the school years 1879-1880 and 1880-1881, his college preparation continuing during these years. In September, 1881, he entered Lafayette College, where at the end of a four years' course he was graduated A. B., class of 1885. In 1888 Mr. Styer received from his alma mater the degree A. M. In June following graduation he began the study of law under Nicholas H. Larzalere, of Norristown, and in October, 1887, he was admitted to practice at the Montgomery county bar.
In October, 1887, Mr. Styer began independent, private practice in Norristown and has continued without intermission until the present, 1922. He became widely known as a lawyer of skill and ability and always has commanded a large practice.
In addition to his law practice Mr. Styer acquired important business interests. He was one of the original stockholders and board of directors of the Penn Trust Company; was solicitor and a director of several building and loan associations; an organizer, a director, and vice-presi- dent of the Consumers' Ice Company of Norristown, an organizer and a director of Cedar Hollow Lime Company, and a director of the Norris- town Box Company.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Styer has from early manhood been an active party man, taking a deep interest in county, State and National politics. He has been chairman of the Republican County Committee of Montgomery county since 1906, and a member of the Republican State Central Committee during the same period. For ten years he was a member of the borough Town Council from his ward; was solicitor and clerk to the county Board of Poor directors for ten years ; county solicitor since 1912, and in July, 1921, was appointed superintendent of the United States Mint at Philadelphia. He is a member of Montgomery County and Pennsylvania State Bar associations ; Cold Point Grange, Patrons of Husbandry ; Penn Square Camp, Patriotic Order Sons of America ; Norristown Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Charity Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Norristown Chapter. No. 90, Royal Arch Masons; Hutchinson Commandery, No. 32, Knights Templar ; Plymouth Country Club ; Norristown Club, and, like his father and grandfather, a member of the Society of Friends. He is eligible to
32
HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY
membership in the Sons of the Revolution, through the patriotic service of his great-grandfather, John Styer, and through his maternal great- grandfather, George Freas, both of whom served in the Revolutionary Army.
Freas Styer married, in 1911, Gertrude M. Wire, of Cynwyd, Penn- sylvania. The family residence is the Hotel Hamilton, Norristown.
GEORGE R. KITE-Few men of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, have been more constructively active, and that for the general good, than George R. Kite, organizer of many branches of financial and public utility enterprises, and for many years vice-president of the First National Bank of Norristown. Mr. Kite comes of early English ances- try, many generations in this country, members of the family in every generation giving to their day and time inspiring examples of patriotic devotion or civic usefulness. General Paschall, who served with Gen- eral Lafayette in the Revolution, was a relative of the Kite family.
Edmund A. Kite, father of George R. Kite, was an early employee of the Philadelphia & Reading railway, serving as station agent at Norristown for many years. He was a man of more than usual prominence in the community, and for six years was a member of the Town Council. He married Elizabeth Harman, and both are long since deceased. They belonged to the Society of Friends.
George R. Kite was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, March 3, 1852. His education was acquired in the local public schools, and his career was begun as assistant ticket agent, at Mill Station, of the Phil- adelphia & Reading Railroad Company, in Norristown. Later he acted as telegraph operator for the superintendent of the Schuylkill Navigation Company, of Bridgeport, Pennsylvania, and he was still later telegraph operator and clerk for George and James M. Bullock, at their woolen mills at Balligomingo. Upon severing his connection with the Bullock interests he became telegraph operator and bookkeeper for S. Fulton & Company, then leading iron manufacturers of Norristown. On Novem- ber 4, 1873, Mr. Kite entered the First National Bank, of Norristown, in the capacity of discount clerk, and he is now rounding out a full half century of service with this institution. He has filled the various offices up to vice-president, in which capacity he now serves, his endeavors always for the advance and welfare of the institution, and for the benefit of its stockholders and depositors.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.