USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume III > Part 22
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In politics, Mr. Schweyer is a member of the Republican party. He is a Presbyterian, and belongs to the Central Presbyterian Church of Norristown. He is a member of the Advertising Club of New York City ; the Kiwanis Club of New York City ; the City Club of Chicago; and the Plymouth Country Club. He takes an active part in all move- ments designed to increase the prosperity of Norristown and is a leader of progressive thought and action in the community.
In October, 1914, he married, at Norristown, Ettabelle F. Johnson, daughter of J. Crawford Johnson (q. v.), and Etta L. (Fulliam) Johnson. Mrs. Schweyer's mother died February 22, 1920. Mr. and Mrs. Schweyer have one daughter, Eloise Fulliam Schweyer, who was born June 6, 1922.
JOHN JOSEPH KAVASH-Lansdale, Pennsylvania, numbers among its most interesting citizens John Joseph Kavash, who has been one of its leading merchant tailors for more than a quarter of a century. Coming to this country from Austria-Hungary, he has not only become one of the best in his line of trade, but among other things is a skilled musician. He has the acquaintance and friendship of a host of citizens throughout this country.
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He was born in Austria-Hungary, February 3, 1874, the son of John and Susanna (Fabri) Kavash, the former of whom was a builder and contractor and served his required time in the Austrian army, and was also engaged in the Revolution of 1848.
John J. Kavash, after being educated in the public schools of his native land, became an apprentice to a tailor, spent four years learning his trade, and then followed that occupation in various places abroad until 1891, when he emigrated to America. On June 13, of that year he landed in New York City, and went to work making clothes there. After following his trade in New York, Philadelphia, and Connecticut, he settled in Lansdale, Pennsylvania, and set up in business as a merchant tailor. His skill as a designer, cutter and fitter has won for him a name known far outside the borders of his city, and his large clientele keeps him very busy and prosperous.
For years he has been a musician of note, playing the cornet and violin with bands and in concerts and as a member of the Confederation of Musicians. He affiliates with the Knights of the Golden Eagle ; Loyal Order of Moose, of which he is a past dictator; Modern Woodmen of America ; and the Knights of Malta ; and his club is the Citizens. He is a communicant of the Evangelical Lutheran church, of Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
John Joseph Kavash married (first), on July 4, 1897, at Rocksburg, Pennsylvania, Irma Fiedler Bretz, of Austria-Hungary, daughter of Mathias and Susanna Bretz, and they were the parents of five children, all of whom are musical: I. Irma M. 2. J. Leonard, a musician of note, who covered the Chautauqua Circuit in 1920. He plays the saxophone and clarinet, and does orchestral work. 3. Bernard M. (deceased). 4. Johanna May. 5. Josephine M. Mrs. Kavash died March 3, 1920. He married (second), in Danbury, Connecticut, June 29, 1922, Elizabeth K. Haitsch, daughter of John and Susanna Haitsch, of that city. The fam- ily home is at No. 149 South Broad street, Lansdale, Pennsylvania, while his business is located at Main and Walnut streets.
JOHN E. GANJAMIE-Coming from Italy in his early boyhood, John E. Ganjamie has become one of Ambler's prominent citizens and business men. He sought and has found the opportunity for service and the prosperity he desired, and is active and progressive in all the things that pertain to civic and business life. He is a son of Joseph and Sarah Ganjamie, and has two sisters: Julia and Susann; and four brothers: Charles, Thomas, Joseph and Samuel.
John E. Ganjamie was born in Messina, Italy, October 1I, 1891, and emigrated early in life to this country. His education was received in the public schools of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, supplemented by home reading and study. After working in several places at the tailor's trade, in 1911 he opened a store at No. 301 Main street, and in 1913 bought the property at No. 205 North Main street, removing his business to that location, where he has since continued. Among the financial interests outside of his regular business is his membership in the Ambler and
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DOROTHY MAY
LYDIA O. MRS. ETHEL M. B. ROBERTS
HOWARD C. ROBERTS
MIRIAM ALICE MARY RUTH
ELWOOD LEWIS
WILLIAM H.
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Community Building and Loan Association. Fraternally he is con- nected with Brunno Lodge, No. 308, Free and Accepted Masons; and Lodge No. 543, Sons of Italy.
Mr. Ganjamie married, on October 23, 1922, at Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, Concentina Iannelli, daughter of Francis and Maria (Spol- tore) Iannelli, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Iannelli, prior to his death, which occurred in 1906, was for many years manager of the uni- form department of the Horstman Uniform Company, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
NICHOLAS B. TUFILLARO-Among the energetic and progres- sive young men of Bridgeport and Norristown, Pennsylvania, Mr. Tufil- laro is well known, and his activities in the field of real estate and insur- ance place him among the leading business men of the community. A native of Italy, he is a son of Dominico and Mary (Ottaviano) Tufillaro, the latter now deceased, his father being the founder and still the head of the firm of D. Tufillaro & Son.
Nicholas B. Tufillaro was born in Italy, May 9, 1898. The family coming to America in his childhood, he received his education in this country, attending the elementary schools of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and the grammar and high schools of Bridgeport, thereafter completing his studies at Temple University, Philadelphia. Meanwhile, the elder Mr. Tufillaro was gaining a leading position in the business world, handling real estate and insurance first in Phoenixville and later in Bridgeport, where their main office is now located. His education com- pleted, Nicholas B. Tufillaro became associated with his father in busi- ness under the present firm name. Several years ago a department of foreign exchange was added to the business, and this is now fully as prosperous as the earlier lines of real estate and insurance. The firm has been identified with some very important transfers of real estate, and their activity in this field is of no slight significance to the growth of the town. In August, 1920, the firm opened an office at No. 200 De Kalb street, Norristown, which is already rivalling in importance the longer established business in Bridgeport, and promises to exceed it in the early future.
In the various interests of the community, Nicholas B. Tufillaro takes an active part. He is treasurer of the Columbus Savings and Loan Association ; is a member of the Knights of Columbus; the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; and is venerable of the Order of the Sons of Italy. He is a member of St. Salvador Roman Catholic Church of Norristown. The family home is at No. 309 De Kalb street, Bridgeport.
In April, 1923, Nicholas B. Tufillaro married Lena Lauro, daughter of John and Accusria (Santangela) Lauro, of Norristown.
HOWARD CARTER ROBERTS-Among the representative citi- zens of Montgomery county is Howard C. Roberts, who for over a quarter of a century has been actively engaged in business of various Mont-33
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kinds and who was associated with his father, Ellwood Roberts, in building and in acquiring and developing real estate in the vicinity of Norristown, Pennsylvania.
(I) Mr. Roberts comes of an old Welsh-Quaker family, tracing his ancestry to Edward Roberts, who was born in Merionethshire, Wales, in May, 1687. In 1699 Edward Roberts emigrated to Pennsylvania, settling at Byberry, near Philadelphia, from which place he removed in 1716 to The Great Swamp (Richland), now Quakertown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He married, in 1714, Mary Bolton, daughter of Everard and Elizabeth Bolton, and they were the parents of a large family of children who married into prominent families of Eastern Pennsylvania, establishing such extensive connections that Edward Roberts became the founder of a very numerous and influential line of descendants.
(II) David Roberts, son of Edward and Mary (Bolton) Roberts, was born in 1722, and died in 1804. In 1754 he married Phoebe Lan- caster, daughter of Thomas and Phoebe (Wardell) Lancaster, the former named an eminent minister, and they were the parents of nine children : Amos, of whom further ; Mary, Elizabeth, Nathan, Jane, Abigail, Nathan (2), David and Ivan.
(III) Amos Roberts (great-great-grandfather of Howard C. Roberts), son of David and Phoebe (Lancaster) Roberts, was born 4th mo. 19, 1758. He married, IIth mo. 30th, 1775, Margaret Thomas, and they were the parents of nine children: Mordecai; Mary; Alice Matilda; Hugh, of whom further; Andrew, George, Phoebe, Margaret, and Deborah, all born in Richland except Deborah, who was born in Philadelphia.
(IV) Hugh Roberts (great-grandfather of Howard C. Roberts), son of Amos and Margaret (Thomas) Roberts, was a miller and lived near Branchtown, Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania. He was born 2d mo. 16, 1782. He married, in 1806, Sarah Spencer, eldest daughter of Nathan and Rachel (Pim) Spencer, and they were the parents of eight children : Lydia, died in infancy ; Caroline, born in 1809, married Charles S. Rorer, and died in 1872; Spencer Roberts, born in 1811, died in 1885; Margaret, born 1813, married Gideon Lloyd, died in 1891 ; 'Edmund, born in 1815; died in 1866; Alfred, born in 1817, died in infancy ; Maria, born in 1819, died in infancy ; Hugh, of whom further.
(V) Hugh (2) Roberts (grandfather of Howard C. Roberts), born August, 1821, died August 23, 1894. He married, 8th mo. 8, 1842, Alice Anna Gallagher, born in 1819, died April 10, 1902, in Norristown. They were the parents of seven children: Charles H., born June 18, 1843, married, March 25, 1865, Sarah Elizabeth Stradling; Ellwood, of whom further ; Mary, born October 25, 1847, married November 7, 1877, Samuel Livezey ; these children were all residents of Norristown. The four other children of Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, who all died in infancy, were as fol- lows: Edmund; William ; Spencer, and Alfred.
(VI) Ellwood Roberts, son of Hugh (2) and Alice A. (Gallagher) Roberts, teacher, author, journalist and builder, was born in Wilming-
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ton, Delaware, January 22, 1846, and died at Swarthmore, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, January 31, 1921. He received his education in the public schools, and by home study, continued throughout his life, so enriched and enlarged what he had gained during the brief years of his school training that he might properly be styled a "self-made" man. For fourteen years he taught school, mostly in the public schools and in Friends' Central School in Philadelphia. He then removed to Norris- town and accepted a position as associate editor of the Norristown "Herald," in 1883, which position he held during a period of twenty-one years. In the meantime, along with his duties as editor of the "Herald," he was active in other lines. In 1895 he published a volume of poems entitled "Lyrics of Quakerism ;" in 1898 a volume of genealogy entitled "Old Richland Families," containing a history of his own and connected families in and about Quakertown, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, where his first ancestors, in several lines, settled early in the eighteenth century ; and a third volume, also historical and biographical, entitled "Plymouth Meeting" in 1900. All of the publications were well received and are in demand up to the present time, as were others of later publication. He was an active worker in the Montgomery County Historical Society, of which he was a life member, and rendered valuable assistance in editing the two volumes of historical sketches which that organization has published. He purchased for the society the building which it occu- pies on Penn street, east of Swede street, at a time when many of the members feared that the undertaking was too great, and both he and his sister, Mary (Roberts) Livezey, labored unceasingly to reduce the debt thus incurred.
Born of nine generations of Quakers, he remained true to their prin- ciples, and for many years both as a writer and as a speaker he devoted much energy to the defence and interpretation of the Society of Friends. He was deeply interested in the growth and prosperity of Norristown and became one of the most extensive property owners in that vicinity, engaging in several enterprises of note, first in association with his father and later with his son, Howard C. Roberts. His properties were continually developed and improved and always kept in first-class repair, and he steadfastly demonstrated his belief that real estate, properly handled, is a better investment than stocks or bonds. Though nominally a Republican in politics, he cast his influence on the side of good govern- ment quite independent of partisanship, and in all matters relating to the welfare of the community was active and earnest, both in forwarding those projects which seemed to him to be well planned and for the advancement of the public welfare and in combatting those wrongs which sap the civic life of the community.
Mr. Roberts purchased in 1911 the Samuel G. Rosengarten estate of 6,515 acres at Winslow, New Jersey, and soon removed to the imposing mansion thereon, called Winslow Inn, in order to more effectively super- intend the activities connected with that enterprise. These consisted of extensive farming and fruit growing tracts, dairying, saw mill and lum-
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bering operations, the country store, and a large number of tenement dwellings.
Mr. Roberts continued to reside at Winslow principally during the remaining years of his life, though he spent several winters in Philadel- phia. Few men of his age were so active and so capable of continued exertion in the affairs which enlist their interest as was Mr. Roberts, and few have rendered as great service to the community in which they resided. His death, which occurred on January 31, 1921, at the residence of his daughter, Mary C. (Roberts) Smith, at Swarthmore, Delaware county, Pennsylvania, was felt keenly by a host of friends who loved and respected the active, kindly Christian gentleman, who so attractively embodied the principles of the Society of Friends.
On September 12, 1878, Ellwood Roberts married Mary Long Carter, daughter of Job and Rachel (Owen) Carter, of Upper Greenwich, New Jersey (see Carter line). They were the parents of five children: How- ard Carter, of whom further ; Charles A., born May 30, 1881, died March 14, 1888; Alice R., born June 15, 1886, married William A. Robinson ; William H., born February 12, 1888, married Rosalie Geyer, and died during the influenza epidemic in 1918; and Mary C., born January 31, 1892, married Claude C. Smith, of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
(VII) Howard Carter Roberts, the subject of this sketch, son of Ellwood and Mary L. (Carter) Roberts, was born July 6, 1879, at Center Square, Whitpain township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He received his education principally in the public schools of Norristown, Pennsylvania, and supplemented the same by a business course in the Schissler College later. He began his business career in 1897 by open- ing a grocery store at George and Airy streets, and soon acquired another stand at Elm street and Haws avenue, Norristown. He conducted both for a number of years, combining with this occupation that of building in association with his father. As time passed he continued to engage extensively in the building of houses, and about 1908 he sold his grocery stores and then engaged in the hardware and builders' supply business at No. 320 West Main street, Norristown, which he still conducts at that location.
During a temporary period of business and industrial stagnation in 1920 Mr. Roberts became interested in furnishing means to a number of persons to tide over periods of idleness and in assisting many to retain houses which they had purchased through his influence on partial payment plans. Their enforced idleness during this period of readjust- ment and the fact that they were compelled in many cases to accept greatly reduced wages caused distress to many, and through assisting these Mr. Roberts became convinced that the means at hand for needy persons to secure temporary help was inadequate, and he accordingly applied for license under the Small Loan Act of 1915 and established the Emergency Loan Company in addition to his other interests. The response was surprising, and the growth of the business far beyond expectations, and indications are that Mr. Roberts will soon be com-
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pelled to withdraw from all his other activities and give undivided attention to his banking and money-loaning business.
He early became an expert in real estate values and became the owner of considerable property in and about Norristown. He has also retained his interest in the Montgomery County Historical Society, of which he is a life member, and is a member of the Odd Fellows, Loyal Order of Moose, and American Woodmen. He has always had a fond- ness for literature, art and music, and is an enthusiastic collector of antique furniture, glassware and china, of all of which he has acquired a very valuable and interesting collection.
He is well endowed with the family characteristics of energy, indus- try and strict attention to business, and is usually successful in accom- plishing whatever he undertakes. He is a Republican in political affairs, and takes a deep interest in local, State and National affairs, and is much given to sifting the surface facts of a subject or question, comparing, analyzing and searching for the underlying causes.
During the summer of 1907 Mr. Roberts was engaged in erecting a cottage for his father at Buck Hill Falls, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, and there met a young Canadian lady, Ethel May Brown, who was spending the summer at that place. The friendship which soon formed between them improved as years passed, and they were married at the residence of her parents, John L. and Azelma Brown, at Corinth, Ontario, September 9, 1909. After their wedding Mr. and Mrs. Roberts made an extended tour, covering the Canadian Rocky Mountains and the Cana- dian Southwest and down the Pacific Coast to Los Angeles, then visited the Grand Canyon and other points of interest in California, New Mexico and Arizona, and finally returned home through the Middle West States, having covered a distance in excess of eleven thousand miles.
They purchased a home at No. 513 West Main street, which they occupied for about eleven years, and then removed in May, 1920, to their present residence on the Germantown pike at Swede street, East Norri- ton township. They have six children, as follows: Dorothy May, born July 9, 1910; Lydia Olivia, born August 5, 1912; Miriam Alice, born December 15, 1913; Mary Ruth, born June 23, 1917; William Howard, born December 4, 1918; Ellwood Lewis, born October 25, 1921.
(The Carter Line).
Job Carter (maternal grandfather) was born February 20, 1813, in Gloucester county, New Jersey, and died February 27, 1893, being one week more than eighty years of age. He was a Friend. He was twice married, (first) to Mary Turner; (second) to Rachel Owen, daughter of Joseph and Mercy (Kirby) Owen. The children of the first marriage were: I. Joseph T., born in 1844; married (first) Anna Frances Clark, daughter of Edward and Jane Clark, of Clarksboro, New Jersey. She died in 1885, leaving two children: Mason, born in 1878, and Etta. Joseph T. Carter married (second) Emma Tonkin. 2. Abigail, born in 1847, married Burkett W. Warrington, and had one child, William, who
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married Hannah Haines. Mary (Turner) Carter died in 1850, and Job Carter married (second) in 1852, Rachel Owen. The Owen family is of Welsh descent, their ancestor having come to this country in the time of William Penn, and in the course of two centuries which have passed have, by marriage, become allied with many of the older New Jersey and Pennsylvania families. The children of Job and Rachel (Owen) Carter were: 3. William M., born in July, 1856; became a surveyor and settled at Woodbury, New Jersey, married, in 1882, Elizabeth Pym Horner, and they have two children: Owen, born February 4, 1890, and Ella, born February 4, 1895. 4. Mary Long, born April 19, 1858; mar- ried, September 12, 1878, Ellwood Roberts of Norristown, Pennsylvania. 5. Sallie, born March 20, 1861 ; married, February 24, 1885, Richard S. Brown, and have three children: Rachel, J. Clinton and William C. 6. Lydia, born November 17, 1867, died June 24, 1890.
DR. JOHN MEIGS-There are many appropriate settings for the life record of Dr. John Meigs, but of them all there are two peculiarly fitting. One is in the group of American educators whose work has been of regnant influence in institutions of which they were, living, the life and soul, and, dead, the inspiration. The other is in the history of the region of his birth, which was also the scene of his life-work, and the following paragraphs are devoted to that end. The biography of Dr. John Meigs has been written in beautiful and intimate manner by Walter Russell Bowie under the title, "The Master of the Hill," who, in remark- able degree, transferred to the typed page the spirit of faith, strength, and consecration that was Dr. John Meigs'. To this volume, indebted- ness is gladly acknowledged for the major part of the present account. "His life was such that the story of it ought to go out with its kindling message to all those everywhere who rejoice in idealism, gallantry and strength."
John Meigs was born in the old stone mansion on The Hill August 31, 1852, the sixth child and the fourth son among eleven children. In school he came under his father's discipline, and Dr. Matthew Meigs' rigorous ideas of scholarship were not at all abated, but rather made more urgent, in their application to his own son. By the time he was six, he was in the Latin class. By the time he was eight, he was being taught Greek with his older brothers. His entrance into college came in singular fashion. Lafayette College, founded at Easton, Pennsyl- vania, in 1832, under Presbyterian control, had been appealing to all Presbyterian ministers to send their sons there. Dr. Matthew Meigs accordingly sent his two eldest boys, and in the fall of 1866 he took the third, Edward Kirk, to Easton to enter him. On the trip he carried John along, and, with his austere ideas of scholarship, he was very much disgusted by the examinations, which were all oral, and to his thought absurdly easy. "Why, this boy here could pass them" he said, and forthwith he had the boy try. John did pass, and his father promptly entered him in the college, and departed for home. The elder brother died in December, and the lad of fourteen, left alone in the college to
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which he had been introduced in such summary fashion, was naturally unhappy. So his father took him away after Christmas, and carried him with him to Europe for a trip which lasted until the autumn. In the fall of 1867 he reentered Lafayette College and began that part of his college course which was to be continued now until his graduation in 1871. At this time he went back to teach under his father at The Hill for a year. This was, however, not the beginning of his permanent con- nection with the school, for in the fall of 1872 he was back at Lafayette as an instructor of modern languages. In 1875 he was made adjunct professor in this subject, and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the commencement of 1876. It was in 1876 that John Meigs finally left Lafayette to go back to The Hill-this time to remain. His return came about through an appeal from his mother. In the years since The Hill School had been opened, it had been not chiefly Dr. Matthew Meigs himself, but his wife, Dr. John Meigs' mother, who had been the main-spring of its life. With rare sweetness and efficiency she gave herself in tireless unselfishness to her manifold duties as mother of her own family, and mother to all the boys of the school. She had eleven children of her own, and her room was nursery and playroom and schoolroom, too, for the smaller ones whom she taught herself. Dr. Matthew Meigs went seven times to Europe, and was for a time the United States Consul at Athens ; but she never left America, and seldom in term-time left The Hill. She was housekeeper for the school, and carried all its affairs upon her mind and heart; she watched over the boys' welfare, and even up to the time when the number of pupils had grown to fifty, she mended all their clothes.
Between Dr. John Meigs and his mother there was a very close and loving bond. In the years while he was teaching at Lafayette, he sent her each month $25.00 out of his salary to help her at the school. But now, in 1876, she needed the help of his personal presence.
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