USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume III > Part 39
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Work on Autocar commercial trucks was begun seriously in 1907. The first commercial car was sold in 1908, and remained continuously in service for three years, until it was traded by its owner for a type 21UF Autocar. The type 21UF Autocar is still in production and in great demand. It and the type 21UG are both equipped with the dis- tinctive Autocar two-cylinder motor. Four different four-cylinder models, ranging from two to six tons capacities, now complete the Auto- car line of gasoline trucks, and in addition, there is the Autocar Electric Truck for short hauling and frequent stop work in congested cities.
The Autocar Company now manufactures motor trucks exclusively, and all Autocar trucks are characterized by the distinctive principles which Louis S. Clarke has from the first considered to be absolutely essential in a commercial vehicle, that is, the placing of the engine under the seat so as to provide a short wheelbase, small turning radius and evenly balanced load. Time and progress in motor truck experience are steadily confirming the soundness of Mr. Clarke's original judgment and firm adherence to the short wheelbase design. Not only does this design permit the Autocar truck to occupy less space for a given load in con- gested traffic, on ferry boats, on elevators, at loading platforms and in all other places where trucks have to operate, but it enables a much greater proportion of the total weight to be carried on the front wheels. New legislation in many states is continually aiming to limit the pro- portional weight which can be carried on the rear wheels of a truck. Autocar truck owners in many states have found, after such new laws went into effect, that they were able to continue normal operations with their Autocar trucks because of the correct load balance, whereas, the owners of some other trucks had been obliged to reduce their loadings considerably.
In connection with the distinct Autocar design, it is fair to point out that the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, District of Columbia, recently selected the four-cylinder Autocar trucks for permanent exhibi- tion in their transportation section. As a result of this selection, two small-size, working models of four-cylinder Autocar trucks were made by The Autocar Company and presented to the Smithsonian Institution, where they are now on exhibition.
In addition to its manufacturing headquarters at Ardmore, The Auto- car Company, at the present time (1923), maintains and operates forty- five direct factory branches, covering the entire country. The Autocar
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factory branch at Newark, New Jersey, operates a reconditioning and warehousing department which has in active use a floor space of more than 77,000 square feet and which is necessary to take care of the require- ments of Autocar users in the New York metropolitan area. Each of the Autocar branches is a permanent center of expert, personal service, built and maintained by The Autocar Company to make immediately available to Autocar users that ideal of helpful, practical service for which The Autocar Company is widely known.
From the very beginning The Autocar Company has continued to manufacture its own product and has participated in the development of many of the important details by which the present efficiency of auto- motive transportation has been promoted and achieved. To-day the principal stockholders of The Autocar Company are the same individuals who started the business, and fully ninety per cent of the common stockholders are employees of the company.
BENJAMIN IRVIN LATSHAW-The Latshaws early settled in Chester county, Pennsylvania, coming from Alsace, which was formerly and is now a part of France, but was then in the hands of the Germans. The members of the family were influential in early Chester and Mont- gomery county affairs, and John Latshaw, who lived in Revolutionary days, carried wagon loads of wheat to the soldiers at Valley Forge.
Benjamin Irvin Latshaw, of this review, is a son of Daniel and Angeline (Bean) Latshaw, and grandson of Jacob Latshaw, who was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and there spent his early man- hood, a successful farmer and landowner. Later in life he became a minister of the Mennonite faith, preaching, however, without pay. He married Mary Heistand, of ancient Pennsylvania family, and they were the parents of sons, Daniel, John, David ; and four daughters : Elizabeth, married Abraham Bechtel; Catherine, married William Buckwalter; Mary, married Joel Ebert ; and Anna, married Rudolph Stauffer.
Daniel Latshaw, eldest of the sons of Jacob and Mary (Heistand) Latshaw, was born at the Chester county homestead in 1820, and died in the borough of Royersford, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, Octo- ber 31, 1886, and was buried in Fernwood Cemtery. He engaged as a farmer for the greater part of his life, then, in later years, moved to the opposite side of the Schuylkill river, in Montgomery county, where he became the owner of a large tract, which included the greater part of the borough of Royersford as it was about twenty-five years ago, when the population was twenty-five hundred. This borough, about fifteen miles west and northwest of Norristown, was founded by Daniel Lat- shaw, who plotted his land into building lots and induced builders to erect homes. He was a Mennonite but broad-minded and liberal, giving to both Methodists and Baptists land upon which later churches of these faiths were erected. He secured for the borough its first factory, a stove foundry operated by Francis & Company, which later became the exten- sive Buckwalter plant. He gave land for school house sites as well as
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to the churches, and he labored diligently for the advancement of the interests of the community he founded. All men esteemed and respected him, and his life was one of usefulness and honor. In 1850 Daniel Lat- shaw married Angeline Bean, daughter of Samuel Bean, of Limerick, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and they were the parents of nine children: Samuel B., married Alice Rogers; Milton; Jesse Newton ; Jacob; Daniel; Benjamin Irvin, of whom further; John H .; William L., and Ira D., a sketch of whom follows.
Benjamin Irvin Latshaw was born in Royersford, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1862, and there yet resides (1923), head of a prosperous business which he founded and a vital factor in the growth and prosperity of the community in which his entire life has been passed. He was educated in the local public schools, and his out- of-school hours were devoted to the work of the home farm. He con- tinued as his father's assistant for several of his adult years, then formed a partnership with Allan Rogers and Joseph Benjamin, they conducting a prosperous fire brick business, which lasted six years, the business being closed in 1892. Mr. Latshaw then found his capital unemployed and founded his present business, cement, lime and coal, which he has now successfully conducted in Royersford for thirty years, his yards at Fifth and Chestnut streets covering two acres.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Latshaw always public-spirited and progressive, has been of service in the borough council, being now (1923) president of that body in which he has sat as a duly elected member for twelve years. He was formerly chairman of the streets committee and has served on a multitude of regular and special committees and com- missions. He is affiliated with Royersford Lodge, No. 585, Free and Accepted Masons ; and of the Knights of the Golden Eagle; his religious membership being with the Methodist Episcopal church, he having served as president of the board of trustees of the local church of that denomina- tion ever since its organization.
On May 16, 1887, at East Coventry, Chester county, Pennsylvania, Benjamin I. Latshaw married Ida Emma Eisenberg, daughter of John I. and Mary Ann (Isett) Eisenberg, her father a minister of the German Baptist church at East Coventry. Mr. and Mrs. Latshaw are the parents of five children : I. Clair W., born February 3, 1888, married Ethel Anderson, of Royersford, and has a daughter, Dorothy Emma, born January 20, 1914. 2. Dorothy L., born September 15, 1889, married Dr. Joseph A. Buckwalter, and they are the parents of two children: Joseph A. (3), born January 4, 1920, and David Irvin, born November 23, 1922. 3. Willard C., born August 27, 1892, and died March 27, 1913. 4. Ray E., born August 17, 1900. 5. J. Linwood, born February 21, 1909.
IRA D. LATSHAW-The manufacturing plant in Royersford, Penn- sylvania, which was owned and operated by Ira D. Latshaw is the only one in the United States engaged solely in the manufacture of band tape used by underwear manufactures. The plant has been in operation since
Vincent 2. Deler
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October, 1921, Mr. Latshaw having previously been engaged in another branch of underwear and knit goods manufacture. Mr. Latshaw was a descendant of a family that early settled in Chester county, Pennsylvania, as previously noted in the preceding sketch of his brother, Benjamin I. Latshaw.
Ira D. Latshaw of Royersford, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, was the youngest son of Daniel and Angeline (Bean) Latshaw and a grandson of Jacob Latshaw. He was born in Royersford, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, July 10, 1876. He was educated in the borough public schools, finishing with graduation from high school. He then pursued a course of special study at Pierce's Business College, at Phila- delphia, then returned to Royersford, where he has since been engaged in business. Until 1900 he was engaged as a bookkeeper with the Royers- ford Glass Company, when he engaged in business at Spring City as a manufacturer of women's ribbed underwear, a business he most success- fully conducted until 1918, when he sold his factory and business. In 1920 he began the manufacture of his highly-specialized line, band tape for underwear, in which he was engaged until his death, his being the only plant in this country devoted solely to its manufacture, as above stated. His plant at Royersford runs to capacity, and its product goes to widely separated points in the United States. Mr. Latshaw was vice- president and a director of the Royersford Trust Company, of Royers- ford, Pennsylvania ; of the Keystone Building and Loan Association ; and of The Metals Company of Philadelphia. In politics he was a Repub- lican and a member of the Borough Council. His religious preference was for the Methodist Episcopal church, which he attended with his family. He was a member of Royersford Lodge, No. 585, Free and Accepted Masons ; of Pottstown Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Nativity Commandery, Knights Templar; Reading Consistory, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite; and also of Rajah Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Reading.
Ira D. Latshaw married, December 15, 1889, Jessie B. Langham, daughter of John and Jessie (Irving) Langham, of Royersford. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Latshaw: I. Christine, a graduate of Royersford High School in 1918, and of Swarthmore College, class of 1922. 2. Beatrice, twin with Christine, also a graduate of the same high school and college, the same years. 3. Grace, a graduate of Royersford High School in 1921, now a sophomore at Swarthmore College. 4. Ira D., Jr., born September 19, 1909. The family home is at the corner of Sixth avenue and Church street, Royersford, Pennsylvania, and here Mr. Latshaw passed away on March 3, 1923, leaving besides his family a host of friends to mourn his demise.
VINCENT Z. KEELER, M. D .- In 1852 Dr. Reinhard K. Keeler began the practice of medicine in Harleysville, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and there, six years later, his son, Vincent Z. Keeler, was born and there succeeded his father as physician in 1880. For forty-two
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years Dr. Keeler has continued practice in the town of his birth, and while he is but just in the prime of his splendid powers, he is the oldest man living who was born in Harleysville and now resides there. Dr. Keeler is a grandson of Reinhard Keeler, and maternal grandson of Jesse Ziegler. His parents were Dr. Reinhard K. and Sarah S. (Ziegler) Keeler.
Vincent Z. Keeler was born in Harleysville, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, January 30, 1858. He was educated in the public schools, and in Washington Hall, a preparatory school of Trappe, Pennsylvania, where he was a student for two years. He then read medicine for one year under his father's directing care, completing his professional educa- tion at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, receiving his degree of Doctor of Medicine, from that institution, March 13, 1880. He began practice in Harleysville, where he succeeded his father and yet continues in active practice.
Dr. Keeler has always been active in town affairs and has given much of his time to community life as expressed in the different organi- zations and societies. He is a director in the Harleysville National Bank ; president of Harleysville Beneficial Association, and Harleysville Build- ing and Loan Association ; was superintendent of the Reformed church Sunday school thirty years before resigning ; is a member of the building committee of Harleysville National Bank, and was mainly instrumental in securing the erection of a new chapel for the Reformed church, of which he is a member. He is a Democrat in politics, and a member of the Montgomery County Medical Association, and the Pennsylvania and American Medical Society.
Dr. Keeler married, in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, May 10, 1881, Alice G. Raudenbush, daughter of Charles S. and Hannah (Hillebeitel) Rau- denbush. Dr. and Mrs. Keeler are the parents of two sons: Dr. Russell R., of further mention ; and Dr. Harold R., who was born February 27, 1894, and is a graduate of Lansdale High School, Lafayette College, and the University of Pennsylvania Medical College, class of 1921, and is now (1923) serving as interne at the latter college.
Dr. Russell R. Keeler was born in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, May 12, 1889. He was educated in Perkiomen Seminary and the University of Pennsylvania Medical College, class of 1912. When the United States declared war against Germany, Dr. Russell R. Keeler volunteered his services, and on August 11, 1917, was commissioned a lieutenant of the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States and assigned to duty at Washington, D. C. A little later he was sent overseas and assigned to duty at a Base Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, where he remained six months. He was then ordered to duty in France, going thence to Genoa, Italy, being assigned to duty with the British Army. He saw hard service in those last months of the war, being at the very front with an emer- gency hospital which was under fire, and saw war in all its horrors. After the fighting was over Dr. Keeler was appointed to accompany the commission that under the escort of one hundred and twenty soldiers
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brought relief to the starving children of Vienna. He was commissioned captain February 17, 1919, and was honorably discharged June 2, 1919. He then returned to Harleysville, where he is engaged in the practice of medicine.
This review of the activities of three members of the medical profes- sion, all practicing in Harleysville, son, father and grandfather, reveals a devotion to the profession and love of location most unusual. Since 1852 Harleysville has had its Dr. Keeler and a part of that time has had two skilled members of the profession bearing the name.
JOHN AUGUSTUS HARROLD-Building a hotel at Conshohocken, Pennsylvania in 1873, John Augustus Harrold began his career as a hotel man and has continued in that line for nearly a half century. He is known throughout Montgomery county and has been an influential member of the Town Council for forty years. He is the son of William Harrold, a native of County Cork, Ireland, who came to America in 1880 and to Conshohocken five years later, and who died in November, 1893. His mother was Eliza (Lavery) Harrold, who passed away on December 10, 1892. They were the parents of five children: Mary; Elizabeth ; John A., of whom further ; Augustus ; and Henry, a Civil War veteran.
John Augustus Harrold was born at Wilmington, Delaware, July 5, 1850, and coming to Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, when five years of age, was educated in the public schools of that city. His first work was in the Bullock Woolen Mills, where he spent the greater part of six years. He left this industry, however, in 1878, and had constructed a modern hotel building at Nos. 114-16 West Elm street, where he has carried on his thriving business ever since.
While a Republican in National politics, in local affairs Mr. Harrold is an independent. In 1873 he was chosen the first police officer of the city by the Town Council. In 1883 he was made a member of the coun- cil, and is now (1923) chairman of the railroad, police and street com- mittees. Mr. Harrold is a communicant of St. Matthew's Roman Cath- olic Church.
At Norristown, Pennsylvania, on June 5, 1889, Mr. Harrold was married to Anna Tuite, daughter of the late John and Anna Tuite of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Harrold are the parents of three children: Donald, Anna, and Muriel.
WILBUR M. FRANTZ-The Lansdale School of Business, of which Wilbur M. Frantz is principal and Walter E. Wireback business man- ager, was opened for students April 1, 1918, in the First National Bank building, Lansdale, Pennsylvania. The founders of the school, who regard it as an educational rather than a business enterprise, have made commercial instruction their life work and have successfully served one of the best known business schools in the United States. The value of the modern courses of instruction and methods is reflected in the quality
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of the graduates of the school who have gone out into the business world, where they have given such satisfaction that a demand has been created for other sons and daughters of the institution.
The day sessions of the school begin with the first week of September and continue until the last week of June. The night sessions begin with the second week of September and close with the last week of April. A special summer course begins the first week of July and continues six weeks. The curriculum includes a complete business course, a shorthand course, a secretarial course and special courses may be arranged for. These courses are complete and cover all the requirements of an office or secretarial position. The aims of the school are high and each department is in the hands of experienced men and women, the teachers being chosen carefully with due regard to the past records of efficiency and experience.
The school's annual enrollment averages two hundred students, and its alumni, now occupying positions of trust and responsibility in the business world, are numerous.
JOHN F. LEDERACH-For thirty-seven years Mr. Lederach has been engaged in general merchandising in the village of Lederach, Penn- sylvania, entering the business long conducted by his father, John Taylor Lederach, at Lederachville, then a little trading point at the crossing of three roads at the terminus of the Hurleyville and Lederachville turn- pikes. The hamlet owed its origin to Henry Lederach, a blacksmith, who lived in the first house built there, his shop being on the other side of the road. Henry Lederach worked at his trade, while his wife, Ann (Garges) Lederach, kept a tiny store in their home, a large table holding all the stock at first, there being no shelves. Gradually, however, the stock was increased, shelves added, and in time a very respectable stock was carried. But prosperity brought competition, and Henry and his wife built a large building that later became a tavern, and there they kept the store and later the tavern, but the store was in the hotel building several years before the tavern was opened. John Taylor Lederach kept the store until his death, then it passed under the management of the present owner, John F. Lederach.
The ancestor of this family was Andrew Lederach, a shoemaker, who came to Pennsylvania at an early day, and on September 2, 1718, bought of David Powell a tract of land which was supposed to contain about one hundred acres. The tract was later accurately surveyed and found to contain one hundred and thirty-two acres, with the usual six per cent. allowance for roads. This land was patented to Andrew Lederach on July 23, 1735, and on this tract the greater part of the village of Lederach- ville was built, and there Andrew Lederach lived for forty-one years, or until his death in 1759. He left his wife, Magdalena; a son, Henry ; and daughters, Magdalena and Esther. Henry Lederach, the son, was the blacksmith and first storekeeper of Lederachville, previously mentioned, who was born on the old farm, and died in the village December 24, 1799,
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aged about eighty. His wife, Ann (Garges) Lederach, preceded him to the grave twenty-three years, dying in 1776. They were both buried on the old tract. They were the parents of seven children: Molly, Magdalena, Elizabeth, Henry, Catherine, Anna, and John, of further mention.
John Lederach, of the third generation, son of Henry and Ann (Garges) Lederach, was born January 23, 1775, and received the old farm by virtue of his father's will. He married Mary Kolb, and lived on the old homestead until about 1834, when he laid off nineteen acres of the tract and on it built a residence, in which he died in 1848. He was a deacon of the Mennonite church, and after being left a widower, he mar- ried a second wife, Mary Clemmer, daughter of John Clemmer. John Lederach sold eighty-six acres of the farm to his son Henry, this includ- ing the old homestead, and later it passed out of the family name. John F. Lederach, of the fifth generation, became the owner of forty acres of the original tract. John and Mary (Kolb) Lederach were the parents of three sons: Henry ; John Taylor, of whom further ; and Jacob. The latter passed away in 1825, at the age of fifteen.
John Taylor Lederach, son of John and Mary (Kolb) Lederach, built a house back of the hill in the village in 1845, and there died, a merchant. He married Deborah Fettrol, and they were the parents of John F. Leder- ach, of whom further.
John F. Lederach, son of John Taylor and Deborah (Fettrol) Leder- ach, was born in the village of Lederach (ville), Lower Salford township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, January 17, 1866. He was educated in the public schools, and at the age of nineteen succeeded to the general merchandising business formerly operated in Lederach by his father. As he grew in years and experience he extended his lines, and now (1923) he reviews a business life of honor and success. He is a member of the old Mennonite faith, and a man of industry, integrity and ability.
John F. Lederach married, in Lederach, Montgomery county, Penn- sylvania, in December, 1888, Elizabeth T. Kulp, daughter of Samuel S. and Amanda (Frick) Kulp. Mr. and Mrs. Lederach are the parents of four children, all born at the family home in Lederach: Eva K., born March 22, 1891. Mark, born January 26, 1893. Willis, born July 1, 1896. John, born January 24, 1898.
DAVID B. COOLEY, M. D .- Although but eight years have elapsed since his coming to Pottstown, Pennsylvania, the name of Dr. David B. Cooley is already familiar, and most favorably so, to a majority of resi- dents of this borough. Dr. Cooley combines with his professional activ- ities those of a public-spirited citizen, and during these few years has thoroughly identified himself with the progressive element of the town which he has chosen as his field of endeavor.
David B. Cooley was born in Auburn, New York, March 3, 1884, the son of S. Curtis and Florence (Barnes) Cooley, the former, until the time of his death, which occurred in 1920, being a mason contractor in
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Auburn. Dr. Cooley attended the public schools of Auburn, and after graduating from the high school in that city, in 1905 entered Colgate University, receiving from this institution the degree of Bachelor of Science after four years of conscientious study. He then entered the New York Homeopathic Medical College in New York City, and in 1913 was graduated with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The follow- ing year he spent in Flower Hospital, and the second year in Reading Homeopathic Hospital, after which he came to Pottstown and established himself in practice. As a specialist in gynecology and obstetrics he has attained an eminent position, and is one of the successful men in the oldest of professions, having gained the confidence of a large clientele and won the regard of his brethren of the profession, who accord him full recognition.
In August, 1918, Dr. Cooley enlisted in the Medical Corps of the United States army and was commisioned first lieutenant. He was ordered to Camp Crane, Allentown, Pennsylvania, for two months, then to Washington, D. C., in charge of Infirmary, Chemical Warfare Service, Experimental Station, American University, for five months; and was discharged March 15, 1919.
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