USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume III > Part 35
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In 1894, at Philadelphia, Mr. Yeager was married to Katherine Hall, of whom he was bereaved by death in 1897.
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WILLIAM R. YEAGER-For nearly a quarter of a century William R. Yeager has been identified with the florist business, and for seventeen years has been successfully conducting an establishment of his own. His greenhouses are located at Old Arch road and Freedley street, Norris- town, Pennsylvania, and he has recently erected a building at Nos. 534-536 DeKalb street, where he has a store, and where he also rents to others eight apartments and one store.
Mr. Yeager was born in the old homestead in Norristown, Pennsyl- vania, where his father and his brother Harry C. (see preceding sketch), now reside. He is the son of William and Susan (Kranich) Yeager.
William R. Yeager was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, June 15, 1873, his parents and brother yet occupying the old homestead (1923). He was educated in Norristown public schools, Schuylkill Seminary, Lebanon, Pennsylvania; and Schissler's Business College, Norristown. He was employed for several years by his father, an expert florist, and became himself an expert, his father turning over to him the management of his business. He continued in that position five years, then resigned to engage in business for himself. That was in 1905, and his career has con- tinued most successfully until the present time. He now has about eight acres which are devoted to the needs of his business, and four buildings give him an area of 25,000 feet for indoor cultivation of plants and flow- ers. He has a store devoted to the selling of cut flowers and plants at No. 536 DeKalb street, a building which also contains another store and eight apartments, having but recently been completed.
Mr. Yeager is a Republican in politics ; is a past noble grand of Nor- ristown Lodge, No. 832, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and is a member of Norristown Lodge, No. 714; Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
Mr. Yeager married, in Norristown, Pennsylvania, October 30, 1896, Flora Prizer, daughter of Elwood and Susan (Wood) Prizer. Mrs. Prizer is one of a family of eight sons and daughters: Anna, married Harry McWhorter; Walter, married Anna Miller; Harry, married Josephine Griffith; Martha, married Charles Harrison; Sarah, married Warren Geiger ; Elwood Corson, unmarried; Margaret, married Clyde Coverston and resides in South Dakota; and Flora, wife of William R. Yeager, above mentioned. Mr. and Mrs. William R. Yeager are the parents of five children : Glendora, born August 19, 1897, married, October 1I, 1922, Robert Elsmore Sheldon, of Norristown; Thelma P., born November 4, 1900; Sarah, born October 31, 1903; Margaret P., twin with Sarah, a graduate of Norristown High School, class of 1922; and Flora, born February 2, 1906. Mr. and Mrs. Yeager reside at No. 1432 Arch street.
ELBRIDGE McFARLAND-The late Elbridge McFarland, of Nor- ristown, was a representative of a family which, for more than half a century, has been identified with the manufacturing interests of Mont- gomery county, and during those fifty years and more it was chiefly to them that the people of Gulf Mills looked for employment. While fol-
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lowing, as a manufacturer, in the footsteps of his father, Mr. McFarland was officially connected with the financial and railroad interests of his community and took an active part in local politics.
The Clan Macfarlane (as the name was originally spelled) descended from the ancient Celtic Earls of the district to which they belonged, the Lennox. "The wild Macfarlanes' plaided clan" occupied the land form- ing the Western shore of Loch Lomond from Tarbert upwards, and from Loch Shay, a small sheet of water near the foot of Ben Voirlich, they took their Cathghairn of "Loch Shusi."
The remote ancestor of this clan is said to have been Duncan McGil- christ, a younger brother of Malcolm, Earl of Lennox. Duncan appears in the Ragman's Roll of 1296. His grandson was Bartholomew, which, in Gaelic, is Parlan, from whom the clan is designated, the letters P and F being easily convertible in Gaelic. Robert the First granted to Dougal MacFarlane a charter of the lands of Rindoweil, Argurhonche, etc. Mal- colm was the sixth laird and received from Duncan, Earl of Lennox, a charter of the lands of Annoquhar, in the northwest corner of Dumbarton- shire, dated at the Castle of Inchmurrin, in 1395. The direct male line of these ancient chiefs failed and their estates were forfeited. By mar- riage with a daughter of the Earl of Lennox (whose name does not appear in Douglas), Andrew Macfarlane succeeded in 1493, but his son was only allowed the title of captain of the clan. Sir John Macfarlane, of that ilk, was slain at Flodden. The Macfarlanes emulated the Mac- Gregors in their raids upon the lowland districts as much as their limited numbers allowed. Walter Macfarlane, of Larbet, was among those slain at Pinkey in 1547, and at Langside, in 1567, the clan fought under Mur- ray's banner. From that time to the present the Macfarlanes have been distinguished in history, winning laurels in many of the greatest battles. The last descendant of the chiefs is said to have gone to America at the close of the eighteenth century, and his home of Annoquhar became the property of the Duke of Argyle, being long used as an inn for travellers from Tarbert to Glencoe and Inverary.
There is nothing more noteworthy in the history of the Macfarlanes than the fact that, at the time of the civil wars, they took the part of the Regent, almost all the other Highland chiefs being warmly attached to the cause of the Queen. The clan boasts of having taken, at the battle of Langside, three of Queen Mary's standards which, they say, were long preserved in the family.
Following is the McFarland escutcheon :
Arms-Argent, a saltire engrailed between four roses gules.
Crest-A demi-savage, wreathed around the temple and waist with leaves, grasping in his dexter hand a sheaf of arrows, and pointing with the sinister to an imperial crown resting on the wreath, all proper.
Supporters-Two Highlanders in belted plaids, with broad swords, and on a com- partment wavy the word Lochsloy.
Motto (over crest)-This I'll defend.
The saltire represents the cross of St. Andrew, the Patron Saint of Scotland, which was the cross carried by the Scottish contingent of that
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great army of Christian warriors who, at the time of the Crusades (1100- 1200), traveled to the Holy Land to do battle with the Turk and Saracen for the sake of Christianity. The red roses indicate the ancestor's loyalty to the English crown (the red rose is one of the emblems of England). For meritorious services rendered the ancestor was granted the right to bear them in his arms. The crest, a demi-savage holding a sheaf of arrows in his right hand and pointing with his left to an imperial crown -and the legend above: This I'll defend-denote the loyalty of the ancestor to the crown. The word "Lochsloy" under the shield means : The Loch of the Host (the Lake of the host) which was the gathering- place of the clan.
(I) James McFarland, founder of the Norristown branch of the family, was forced to quit Scotland on account of his religious principles and settled in the north of Ireland. About 1733 he left that country and found a home for himself and his descendants in Bucks county, near Doylestown, Pennsylvania. He married, in Scotland, Margaret McGrea, who accompanied him in his exile. Their children were six in number.
(II) Arthur McFarland, son of James and Margaret (McGrea) McFarland, settled in Norristown, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He married Elizabeth (Todd) Parker, widow of William Parker, and daughter of Robert Todd, Sr., and they became the parents of four children.
(III) James (2) McFarland, son of Arthur and Elizabeth (Todd- Parker) McFarland, was reared near Norristown, Pennsylvania, and entered the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. For many years he practiced his profession at Morgantown, Berks county, Pennsylvania. He married Mary Neely and their children were: I. John, deceased, who made his home in Northampton county, Pennsylvania. 2. Arthur, who resided in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and is also deceased. 3. James B., deceased, who was a resident of Philadelphia, and a member of the well known mercantile firm of Potts, Reynolds & Company, afterward McFar- land, Tatman & Company; he married Margaret F. Weaver and their children were : Mary, married Henry R. Gummy ; Elizabeth, died in child- hood; Annie, married Charles Lukens; Fannie, William, died in child- hood; Margaret, married Harry K. Day; and James, married Margaret B. Roberts. 4. George, mentioned below.
(IV) George McFarland, son of James (2) and Margaret F. (Weaver) McFarland, was born March 20, 1811, in the vicinity of Morgantown, Pennsylvania. He lived with his uncle, Stephen Porter (a nephew of General Andrew Porter), who resided in Norristown township, near Norristown, and obtained such education as was to be acquired in the public schools of that day and generation. On leaving school he entered the woolen mills of Bethel Moore, the first woolen mills in Pennsylvania, situated on the site now occupied by the Conshohocken Woolen Com- pany's mills. He learned there the trade of manufacturing cloth, and then went to Easton, Pennsylvania, to serve as superintendent in a slate
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quarry owned by another uncle, the Hon. James M. Porter, of Northamp- ton county. Returning to Gulf Mills several years later, he began the manufacture of woolen goods, and at that time laid the foundation of his subsequent successful business career. As a result of the hard times caused by the panic of 1837 he met with reverses, but overcame them in the course of years, and in 1847 purchased a mill which he rebuilt and operated successfully until 1859. In February of that year his mill was destroyed by fire, and the machinery, much of which had been imported not long before, was likewise destroyed. This calamity, though the loss was great, did not discourage Mr. McFarland, and he soon had the mill rebuilt and equipped even better than before, and in the operation of this new mill he gained a wide reputation as a manufacturer of woolen goods, a reputation which enabled him to secure contracts during the Civil War from the general government to manufacture cloth from which clothing was made for the Union soldiers. In 1875 Mr. McFarland associated with himself as partners his son Elbridge and Frank L. Jones, under the firm name of George McFarland & Company, and the style so remained until his death, which occurred January 7, 1879. Mr. McFarland's wealth and ability naturally made him a man of influence in the county, and he was called upon to fill many positions of honor and trust, among which were justice of the peace, school director, director of the Matson's Bridge Company, and director of the First National Bank, of Norris- town. He married, November 25, 1849, Mary Cornog, of Gulf Mills, and they became the parents of four sons: George Clinton, died in infancy ; Elbridge, mentioned below; James Arthur; and John.
(V) Elbridge McFarland, son of George and Mary (Cornog) McFar- land, was born May 4, 1853, on a farm his father owned near King of Prussia, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He received his prepara- tory education in private schools, afterward taking a course at Tremount Seminary for Boys, presided over by Professor John W. Loch, at Norris- town. In 1872 he graduated as a civil engineer from the Polytechnic College, Philadelphia. The first position occupied by Mr. McFarland was that of civil engineer on the Pittsburgh, Virginia & Charleston rail- road, and in Pittsburgh he became acquainted with Charles W. Fair- banks, later Senator from Indiana and vice-president of the United States.
It was not long, however, before Mr. McFarland felt, as the preceding generation had felt, the lure of the loom, entering the Gulph Woolen Mills, situated near Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, and then operated by his father. In this field of action he gave evidence of business abilities which won for him speedy promotion and eventually led to his being given an interest in the concern. After the death of his father in 1879, the firm was composed of the three sons and Frank L. Jones, still retain- ing the firm name of George McFarland & Company. Elbridge McFar- land and Frank L. Jones assumed the active management of the mill, the former retaining it until his death. In 1895 the business was incorporated under the name of the George McFarland Company. Before that time
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additions had been made to the mills, new machinery and fixtures taking the place of the old, and in every way it had been made an up-to-date mill, employing from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and forty peo- ple. Elbridge McFarland was a director of the Conshohocken Woolen Company from the time that corporation was organized until 1916, when it ceased to exist, and during the greater part of the time was its secretary and treasurer.
As a man of affairs Mr. McFarland was held in high esteem in his community and filled various positions of trust. In 1887 he became a director of the First National Bank of Conshohocken, on January 13, 1894, was elected vice-president, and from September 22, 1900, until his death, held the office of president. He was also a director of the Bryn Mawr Trust Company from the time of its organization, the Coosa Manufacturing Company of Piedmont, Alabama, the United States Loan Society in Philadelphia, and other Philadelphia corporations.
After the death of Mr. McFarland his associates in the First National Bank of Conshohocken paid him the tribute of requesting one of the Norristown papers to emphasize his worth and services to that model financial institution. For eighteen years he gave it his loyal and daily attention, and his interest in its behalf was largely accountable for the high position which he holds among the financial institutions in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
In 1905 Mr. McFarland appeared in the extended field of action pre- sented by the famous railroad system of the Keystone State, becoming president of the Philadelphia, Germantown & Norristown Railroad Com- pany, an office which he retained to the close of his life and in which he manifested rare administrative and executive talents. His thorough business qualifications caused his services to be much in demand on boards of directors of various institutions, but of the many he was induced to accept only the few mentioned above.
During the latter years of his life Mr. McFarland turned his attention from wool to cotton, leasing the Gulph Mills to others and heading a con- centration of Norristown and Philadelphia capital in the southern fac- tories engaged in making cotton yarn and in the various operations of perfecting that product. In addition to holding the vice-presidency of the large and prosperous Coosa Manufacturing Company, of Piedmont, Ala- bama, he held directorships in the Standard Processing Company and the Thatcher Spinning Company, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and was inter- ested as a stockholder in other southern factories. In all these concerns he was no merely nominal officer. To him such posts were trusts and to every such trust he was a faithful and efficient trustee. In politics Mr. McFarland was a Republican and served a term in the Norristown Town Council, greatly to the satisfaction of his fellow-citizens. He affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, and was enrolled in various clubs. He was an attendant of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. McFarland married, October 9, 1900, Martha Conrad, and they became the parents of one son : George Conrad, born July 31, 1903, now
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a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, class of 1924. At the time of his marriage Mr. McFarland removed to Norristown, though always retaining a strong personal affection for the little mill hamlet among the Gulph hills where he grew to maturity and entered upon his career, and where his father had founded at Bird-in-Hand (as Gulph Mills was then called) the great business with which the family name has ever since been associated.
On March 14, 1918, this able, good and useful man rested from his labors, leaving a vacancy not soon to be filled either in the business world, his home community, or the inner circle of his friends. He was one of the representative men of Eastern Pennsylvania. To Elbridge McFarland important trusts were committeed and each one he fulfilled to the letter. The narrative of his life is a lesson in the rare virtue of abso- lute fidelity.
WILLIAM H. WAGNER-Justice of the peace for New Hanover township, and a former secretary of the Excelsior Dairymen's Associa- tion of New Hanover, Pennsylvania, Mr. Wagner is one of the influential citizens of the community. He was born at New Hanover, March 5, 1869, son of Martin and Emma Matilda (Smith) Wagner. His father was the proprietor of a fine farm at New Hanover, and devoted his life to the scientific cultivation of the soil.
Mr. Wagner received his preliminary education in the public schools of his native town and, after having completed his preparatory studies, became a student at the Normal Institute of Pottstown. In addition to his work in the classes of the institute, Mr. Wagner received private instruction from Professor Herbst, a well known educator. An enthusi- astic student, he made rapid progress and was graduated from the insti- tute upon completion of the full course of study. Naturally studious, and deeply interested in educational problems, Mr. Wagner began his career as a teacher. In 1889 he was appointed to take charge of a school in New Hanover township and met with such success in his work that he con- tinued his educational career for a period of three years. He might have continued teaching for a longer period, but owing to failing health he gave up teaching, much to the regret of his friends and associates in the profession, and devoted part of his time to working on his father's farm. At this time he was appointed secretary of the Excelsior Dairymen's Association, which office he continued to fill for a period of twenty-eight years, during which time he took a great interest in dairy methods and cattle, and he is, therefore, an authority on all questions relating to the dairy industry in Montgomery county. His advice is frequently sought by young farmers and dairymen just starting out in their career, and Mr. Wagner is always ready to help those who come to him for advice and opinions concerning different breeds of cattle, methods of feeding and proper stabling conditions.
In 1892 Mr. Wagner was elected a director of the National Bank of Schwenkville, which position he still holds, and takes the greatest pride
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in its progress. He has himself contributed to this growth in prosperity and influence in no small degree, and he is everywhere regarded as one of the most substantial and public-spirited members of the community. In 1903 Mr. Wagner assumed control of his father's farm at New Han- over; he did not, however, give up his other positions, but continued to fill his offices while attending to the needs of his property.
A country boy, brought up amid the pleasant and congenial activities of farm life, Mr. Wagner was a practical farmer and under his direction the farm prospered. He continued to conduct it for ten years, and the well kept fields, pastures and modern buildings and equipment bore wit- ness to the care and thoroughness of his management. In 1913 a dis- asterous fire occurred and the barn was completely destroyed. Undaunted by this staggering blow, Mr. Wagner remedied his loss the best he could and rebuilt the barn, but after careful consideration of the various prop- erties, he left the old homestead and moved to his newly purchased home near New Hanover post office, which he occupies at the present time. His estate is no less productive and profitable than was the former, and Mr. Wagner is widely known in agricultural circles for the excellence of his produce and the high yield per acre which he secures from his land through careful cultivation and fertilization of the soil.
In poltical faith Mr. Wagner is a Republican, and living in a strongly Democratic district, he was elected to the office of township auditor for three successive terms. In 1906 Mr. Wagner was elected to the office of justice of the peace of New Hanover township, which office he still holds to the credit of himself and the community in which he resides. In con- nection with his office he took up clerking at public sales, which he still follows, and his services are sought by people holding public auctions not only in his immediate community, but also from a distance. He is also secretary for the Board of Road Supervisors of New Hanover town- ship. He is also school director of the Independent District of Swamp, and as a former educator takes great interest in the work of the schools, and the part played by the rural school in the development of national greatness. He is a member of different secret and fraternal organiza- tions in which he takes a great interest. He has served as secretary of Sparta Castle, No. 71, Ancient Order Knights of the Mystic Chain, for twenty-five years, and is also financial secretary of the Fraternal Order of Patriotic Americans, No. 976, of New Hanover, Pennsylvania. In reli- gious faith Mr. Wagner is a member of the Falkner Swamp Reformed Church and a member of the church council of said church.
Mr. Wagner's home farm is a historic place, having been established before the Revolution. It was first in use as farm land, and the com- fortable farm house erected upon it by the first owners must have seen many interesting gatherings and events during the stormy days of the Revolution; the old house was turned into a hospital and crowded with wounded and dying men after many of the battles and lesser engage- ments which took place in the surrounding country.
In the era that followed the Revolutionary War, the property returned
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to conservative private ownership and was once more used as a farm, but amid the peaceful activities of modern farm life, it retains its host of memories of other days, days of stirring events and great movements, covering in range of two hundred years the foundation and growth to power of a new continent and a great nation. It is situated upon New Hanover road, which was even then a much traveled highway through the region. Later, the property was used as an inn, a use for which it was well fitted by its size and location on a thoroughfare. In those days it must have been known to hundreds of travelers making their way Westward by stage coach, to whom the sight of its friendly lights must have been welcome indeed with their promise of rest and refreshment after hours of journeying, harder than any that are undertaken in this age of motors and fast trains.
Mr. Wagner married (first) at Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Rebecca Roshon, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Heist) Roshon. Mrs. Wag- ner died in 1900, leaving two daughters, Stella May and Laura Aurilla Wagner. Mr. Wagner married (second) Emma B. Erb, daughter of Israel and Rachel (Bliem) Erb. Mr. and Mrs. Wagner have one daugh- ter, Anna Mildred Wagner.
OLIVER F. HALLMAN-One of the successful and enterprising business men of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, is Oliver F. Hall- man, who is the founder, owner and manager of the only concern engaged in the manufacture of ornamental iron, railings, fences of light struc- ture, etc., in the town of Mont Clare.
Mr. Hallman is a thorough mechanic, and the son of an able mechanic, his father being Augustus Hallman, a skilled blacksmith, who, during the Civil War, was engaged in the manufacture of the "John Griffin can- non," in the employ of the Phoenixville Iron Company, under John Grif- fin, superintendent of the works. Mr. Griffin, at the request of the Sec- retary of War, had devised the particular kind of cannon which was named for him, and which met the requirements of the time so well that it largely supplanted the earlier and clumsier models. Augustus Hallman was one of the sturdy and able citizens who consistently supported the principles and candidates of the Democratic party, and he was also inter- ested in various local activities. He died February 27, 1919, at the age of eighty-four years, the death of his wife, Mary (Conklin) Hallman, who was born in New Jersey in 1834, having occurred in 1917. Augustus and Mary (Conklin) Hallman were the parents of seven children: Oliver F., of further mention ; Catherine, who married William Austin, of Mont Clare; Laura; Joseph, who resides in Mont Clare; Angeline, who mar- ried Witherell Wright, of Pennsylvania; Emma, who married Samuel Wilson; and Lillian, who resides in Philadelphia.
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