USA > Pennsylvania > Montgomery County > Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a history, Volume III > Part 43
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CHARLES CLEAVER EVANS, owner and manager of the Mont- gomery Riding Academy, Norristown, Pennsylvania, was born in that city, April 23, 1886, son of William Amos and Emma J. (Davis) Evans. William A. Evans was a school teacher, and later a real estate dealer of Norristown, serving several years as justice of the peace. He married Emma J. Davis and they were the parents of six children: Mabel L., married Charles H. Gotwals; Anson B .; Charles C., of further mention ; Breta, married Clarence I. Moore; Frank, deceased ; William Amos, Jr.
Charles C. Evans was educated in the public grade and high schools of Norristown and Schissler's Business College, attending the latter for two years. His first position was as bookkeeper and stenographer with the Central Trust and Savings Company of Philadelphia, reaching the position of manager of the loan department. He remained with that company until 1920, then resigned his position to devote his entire time to the Montgomery Riding Academy. That academy Mr. Evans started in 1918 in association with J. Raymond Chamberlain, but the partnership was dissolved in 1920, Mr. Evans then becoming sole owner and manager.
The Montgomery Riding Academy is located on a farm of 117 acres on which there is a half mile race track and ninety acres under cultiva- tion. Fifteen horses are owned by the academy, which has accommo- dations for seventy-five, and a horse boarding department is maintained. Races are held at the track, and the academy is very popular with eques- trians and all lovers of the horse. Mr. Evans is an enthusiastic sports- man and takes a deep interest in athletics. For twelve years he was president of the Junior Athletic Club of Norristown; was manager of base ball and foot ball teams; and for five years was manager of the Young Men's Christian Association basket ball team. He holds two Young Men's Christian Association records for the one-quarter mile run and high diving, and has a collection of thirteen medals won in athletic contests.
In politics Mr. Evans is a Republican, and holds a notary's commis- sion. He is a member of Lodge No. 190, Free and Accepted Masons ; Norristown Lodge, No. 714, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; the Riders' and Drivers' Association of Philadelphia; Alexis Club of Port Indian, Pennsylvania; the Perkiomen Valley Hunt Club; and Calvary Baptist Church.
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Mr. Evans married, in Norristown, June 15, 1915, Naomi R. Ritter, youngest daughter of David H. and Catharine (Baker) Ritter. Her sisters are Isabella, wife of Walter Gaumer, and Joanna, wife of Frank Getty.
SAMUEL HUNSICKER BOLTON-In various branches of useful endeavor Mr. Bolton has long borne a part in the general progress of Montgomery county, and is counted among the progressive and enter- prising men of this section. Descended from old settlers of Pennsylvania through both paternal and maternal lines, he is a son of Jacob and Hannah (Hunsicker) Bolton, his father throughout his lifetime a farmer of Zieglersville, Pennsylvania.
Samuel Hunsicker Bolton was born in Skippack township, Montgom- ery county, Pennsylvania, October 16, 1877. Gaining a very practical education in the public and high schools of his native township, he was active in the work of the homestead farm until the age of nineteen years, meanwhile, in 1891 taking a trip through the Western States to Cali- fornia. In 1893 Mr. Bolton became active in Collegeville as a cattle dealer, and the following year entered the livery business, which super- seded the first venture. With his headquarters at the Perkiomen Bridge Hotel, in Collegeville, he carried forward the livery business very suc- cessfully for about fifteen years, after which he was persuaded to take over the management of S. W. Stearley's farm, in Trappe, and has been thus engaged since. A practical man, highly skilled in the field of endeavor to which he is devoting his attention, Mr. Bolton has won the esteem and good will of all who know him. Markedly successful, he is counted among the prosperous men of the day in this section, and is a stockholder in the Schwenkville Water Company. Supporting the Repub- lican party in affairs of both local and wider import, he nevertheless takes no personal interest in political matters beyond that of the forward- looking citizen of the day. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, of Collegeville, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, of Norristown.
IRWIN RICHARD has had a long experience in the manufacturing line, and since 1907 has been the successful proprietor of a broom factory in Red Hill, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. As a citizen and as a successful business man he is highly esteemed in the township, and is taking an active part in the affairs of the borough.
Mr. Richard was born in New Hanover, January 27, 1881, son of George Washington and Emma (Houck) Richard, and received his edu- cation in the public schools of his native district. When his formal school training was completed, he began his business career as salesman for the International Harvester Company, which connection he main- tained for a period of four years. At the end of that time he made a change, and learned the art of making cigars, in which line he continued to be employed for several years. By 1907 he had accumulated some
Avin Richard
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capital, and in that year he engaged in manufacturing for himself, estab- lishing a broom factory at Red Hill, Pennsylvania. He began in a small way, working by himself in a room eight by ten feet. As his business increased, he moved into larger quarters and employed first one work- man, then more as the demand for his product continued to grow. Since that time the business has continued to grow and prosper until at the present time (1923), it is housed in a modern factory containing 19,700 square feet of floor space and requiring the services of a number of operators. From a total output of six brooms per day, the daily produc- tion has increased to 4,000 brooms daily, only the best and medium quality brooms being made. In addition to his interests as owner of a large manufacturing plant, Mr. Richard is a member of the board of directors of the Valley National Bank.
Politically he gives his support to the Democratic party, and he has always taken an active interest in the affairs of the borough in which he lives and in which his business is located. He is a burgess of the borough, and in every possible way gives his aid to those projects which are planned for the public good. Fraternally he is affiliated with Perkio- men Lodge, No. 595, Free and Accepted Masons, and he is a member of the Patriotic Sons of America. His religious connection is with the Lutheran church.
At Red Hill, Pennsylvania, Irwin Richard married Carrie Reminger, daughter of Solomon and Catherine (Cale) Reminger, and they are the parents of nine children: Benea, Florence, Clarence, Claude, Nelson, Paul, Alice, Beatrice, and Sanford.
ABRAHAM H. NYCE-Just a few days before the news was carried to the world that Abraham Lincoln had been elected president of the United States, Abraham H. Nyce was born in Franconia township, Mont- gomery county, Pennsylvania, his parents, William P. and Sarah Nyce, his father a farmer. The more than sixty years which have since elapsed have brought prosperity and honor to Mr. Nyce, who has never left his native county but has been one of the important factors in the growth and development of the section in which he made his home and located his factory in 1898-at Vernfield. He is responsible for the founding of that village and for its growth, his coming with his business creating a demand for a post office, which was established in 1898, and for a gen- eral store which he opened. The coming of the Nyce Manufacturing Company, makers of clothing, brought prosperity to Vernfield, and there Mr. Nyce has resided since his retirement from business in 1912, the business now being conducted by his eldest son.
Abraham H. Nyce was born on the home farm in Franconia township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, October 24, 1860, and there attended the district public school until he had completed its courses. He then was successively a student for one session at Huntington College, one session at Westchester College, and six weeks at Muhlenberg College. After his own study term was over he taught for three years in the
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district public school in Franconia, which he had himself attended as a pupil, then entered business life as a manufacturer of clothing, locating his plant at Morwood. He was successful in his business enterprise and remained in Morwood until 1898, then sought a new location which he found at Vernfield, Montgomery county. There he erected a factory and opened a general store, conducting both until 1912, when he retired. Vernfield as a post office dates from his coming in 1898, and Mr. Nyce was the first postmaster of the village, an office he long held.
The upbuilding of a community is a most worthy work, and in Vern- field Mr. Nyce has a monument to his enterprise and public spirit which will ever endure. His usefulness has not, however, been confined to that village, but he is responsible for the building of the road from Mansfield to Schwenkville, for the concrete bridge thereon, and for the establishing of a mail route from North Pennsburg to Perkiomen road. In religious faith he is a German Baptist, in political faith a Republican.
Abraham H. Nyce married, in February, 1885, in Franconia township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, Leona F. Godshall, daughter of Jacob F. and Barbara (Meyer) Godshall. Children of Mr. and Mrs. Nyce: William, born December 13, 1888; Werner, born September 5, 1895; Lincoln, born July 12, 1898. The family home is at Vernfield, Pennsylvania.
WILLIAM SUMMERS-Within the long span of William Sum- mer's life there was no historical work concerning the Montgomery county district, whether relating to men and women, as individuals or in the mass, in which he did not bear a part. His love for historical and genealogical pursuits gave him a vast store of accurate and dependable information, and he had no greater pleasures than those which came from having wakened the public interest in recognition of scenes wherein were enacted some of the most memorable events in the life of the nation, insur- ing their existence as shrines for future American generations. Thus it is peculiarly appropriate that here honored place is given the record of his life, passed in useful, honorable service and the constant regard of his fellows ; and it is also fitting that it should be prefaced with his ancestral line, representing diligent labor on his part in its compilation.
(I) The American founder was Hans George Summers (Sommer in German), who, with his wife Elizabeth and children Johannes, Hans Martin, George, Peter and Margaretha Elizabeth, arrived in Philadelphia from Germany, on September 22, 1752, on the ship "Brothers," captain, William Muir. Philip and Henry, also sons, arrived September 22, 1754, on the ship "Edinburg," James Russel, master. Hans George Summers resided in Lower Dublin township in 1769. Issue: 1. Philip, of whom further . 2. Johannes, born in 1737, married, January 24, 1764, Eliza- beth Reidennauer. At the date of his marriage his residence was near New Hanover. (There was a John in Moreland in 1774). Issue: John, born February 24, 1765. 3. Hans Martin, born in 1740, died in March, 1804; married, July 6, 1769, Anna Barbara Geiss. Issue: Philip; Henry ;
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and Elizabeth, who married Loedwyk Sharp. Hans Martin lived in Lower Dublin in 1769. He was an employee in the United States mint from its organization to 1804, as were some of his descendants down to 1899. He served in the Revolution as a private in Captain Ezekiel Lett's Company, and was on the muster roll of August 25, 1779. 4. Peter, died . November 24, 1783; married, August 3, 1769, Catherine Maenchen. Issue: Ernest; Margaret; and Catherine. He lived in North Ward, Philadelphia, in 1774. He served in the War of the Revolution, filling the following positions in the 4th Pennsylvania Regiment: ensign, second lieutenant, first lieutenant and quartermaster. 5. Margaretha Elizabeth, born in 1743; arrived in Philadelphia from Germany, September 22, 1752, with her parents. 6. George, born March 5, 1745, died October 10, 1825; had wife Ann, born in 1752, died March 16, 1829. Issue: John; Eli; David; and Martin. George was a drummer in the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment, in the War of the Revolution. He resided at the time of his death, in Warrington township, Bucks county. He and his wife are interred in the churchyard of Upper Dublin Evangelical Lutheran Church, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. In 1899 the church was enlarged, necessitating the removal of the bodies of George Summers and his wife, Ann, and their son, John, to a part of the cemetery adjacent to the rear wall of the church. A bronze tablet to their memory was dedi- cated by William Summers on the inside of the building at this point. 7. Henry, died in October, 1798; married, May 6, 1766, Catherine Des- singer. Issue: Mary, married Daniel Linker; and Elizabeth, who mar- ried Squire Clevenger. Henry was enrolled as a private in Captain Isaac Cooper's Company, muster roll dated November 2, 1778, War of the Rev- olution. He resided in the city of Philadelphia.
(II) Philip Summers, son of Hans George and Elizabeth Summers, was born October 2, 1728, and died May 2, 1814. His home was succes- sively in Douglass, Cheltenham, and the Manor of Moreland (1769), and on November 24, 1774, he purchased a farm of 165 acres in Horsham township, Philadelphia (now Montgomery) county, from Charles Stead- man. Here he resided until March 29, 1796, when he sold his homestead to Job Spencer and removed to Philadelphia. He and his wife are interred in the churchyard of St. John's Lutheran Church, on Race street, Philadelphia. Philip Summers was enrolled as a private in Captain David Marpole's (Marple's) Company, 1777-1780; his name is on the depreciation pay roll (Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. XIII, page 721), and he is believed to have held a lieutenant's commission. His sword was a highly prized possession, and one of his two-horse pistols, inscribed with the initials "P. S.," was owned by William Summers. The latter loved to tell a story that illustrated some of the terrors of the Revolutionary days when all the available males were in service. He said a number of soldiers found the men-folk were absent from Philip Summer's farm in Horsham township and promptly made the barn a loafing-place, much to the annoyance and fear of his young wife and children. One day these soldiers were seen making a hasty departure in all directions, and the
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relief and delight of the family were great when they found that the exodus was due to an officer riding up the lane, and that this officer was the husband and father. Philip Summers married, February 24, 1764, Salome Reibel, born in 1739, died May 20, 1817, daughter of Nicholas and Susanna Reibel, the ceremony being performed by Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, pastor of St. Michael's and Zion's Lutheran Church, Phila- delphia. Issue: 1. Martin, of whom further. 2. George, born April 8, 1766; married Elizabeth Dotts. Issue: John; George; Jacob; Henry; Samuel; Mary; and Elizabeth. 3. Nicholas, born October 21, 1767, died March 24, 1854; married Ann Hoover, born November 8, 1776, died August 8, 1827. Issue: John; Sarah; Isaac; and Enos. 4. Philip, born September 30, 1769, died July 3, 1834; married Catherine Hurst, born December 18, 1772, died June 18, 1827. Issue: Henry; John; Philip H .; William; Anna; Mary; Jesse; and Charles. 5. John Summers, born in 1770, died April 10, 1846; married Catherine Kneedler, born in 1777, died February 12, 1835. Issue: Jacob; John; and Elizabeth. 6. Anthony, born in 1773, died August 22, 1816, unmarried. He enlisted, May 4, 1812, for five years in the 4th Regiment, United States army, and died at Creek Agency. 7. Henry, born in 1775; married (first), January 17, 1796, Maria Magdalena Shearer, who died May 24, 1802. Issue : Elizabeth; Henry; and Samuel. He married (second) Susanna John- son. Issue: Elizabeth; and Elijah. 8. Peter, born in 1778, died March 12, 1865 ; married Susanna Schwenk, born July 24, 1770, died March 10, 1865. Issue: Eva Maria; Sarah; and Noah.
(III) Martin Summers, son of Philip and Salome (Reibel) Summers, was born December 5, 1764, and died July 27, 1845. His place of residence was first in Horsham township, second in Gwynedd township, third in Providence township (1803), fourth in Norriton township, where he pur- chased, April 5, 1810, a farm of 104 acres from John Brown. He was a member of St. Peter's Lutheran Church, North Wales (known as the Yellow Church), and was elected a deacon thereof, November 16, 1796, his residence at that time being in Gwynedd township. He married (first) Elizabeth Houpt, born August 4, 1766, died November 4, 1822; (second), December II, 1823, Mrs. Anna Elizabeth (Houpt) Sterigere, born June 1, 1770, died June 21, 1853, widow of Peter Sterigere and sis- ter of his first wife. His second wife is buried beside her first husband in Puff's Upper Dublin Lutheran Cemetery, and he and his first wife are interred in the churchyard of St. John's Episcopal Church, Norristown. Issue (of first marriage) : 1. Sarah, born February 25, 1788, died Janu- ary 20, 1868; married George Bossert, born September 28, 1790, died October 27, 1866. 2. George, born October 1, 1789, died April 7, 1862; married Sarah Hilkherd. 3. Martin, born February 6, 1792, died June 2, 1820; married Elizabeth Freed, born March 19, 1792, died February 14, 1820. 4. Anna Margaret, born December 7, 1793, died June 5, 1873; married Nicholas Gouldy, born in 1793, died February 5, 1861. 5. Philip, born June 13, 1798, died November 13, 1871; married Ann Shut, born October 31, 1801, died April 25, 1861. 6. Elizabeth, born April 20, 1802,
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died May II, 1863; married Andrew Keel, born November 8, 1800, died February 13, 1885. 7. Samuel, of whom further. 8. Hannah, born June 6, 1807, died December 30, 1862; married Philip Shambough, born Feb- ruary 28, 1797, died November 13, 1847.
(IV) Samuel Summers, son of Martin and Elizabeth (Houpt) Sum- mers, was born in Providence (now Upper Providence) township, Sep- tember 27, 1804, and died July 18, 1881. He married, March 22, 1832, Rev. George Wack officiating, Eliza Whitby, born March 22, 1809, died November 16, 1898, daughter of Anthony and Mary (Berkheimer) Whitby. They resided in the borough of Norristown and are interred in Montgomery Cemetery, Norristown, Pennsylvania. Issue: I. William, of whom further. 2. Martin, born November 2, 1836, died May 12, 1872 ; was a soldier in the Civil War, Company G., 114th Pennsylvania Regi- ment. 3. Charles, born December 2, 1839, died January 14, 1874. 4. Anna Elizabeth, born January 7, 1843, died March 27, 1915. 5. George M., born July 19, 1845, died November 12, 1872 ; was a soldier in the Civil War, Company D, 95th Pennsylvania Regiment. 6. Albert, born April 24, 1848.
(V) William Summers, son of Samuel and Eliza (Whitby) Sum- mers, was born in Norristown, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1833, there attending the public schools and spending his youthful years, although for the greater part of his life his home was four miles eastward, in Conshohocken. At the age of eighteen years he became a clerk in a general store of that place, then recently incorporated as a borough, under the Indian name of Edge Hill. From that time there was no period when he was not distinctively identified with the growth and prosperity of the community, and his diligence, thrift and ambition soon brought him to the place of a proprietor of an independent enterprise. He was known as a general merchant from April 15, 1858, until his retire- ment in 1900, and upon this long record of commercial activity there rests no shadow of departure from principles of the strictest integrity. After his retirement he devoted his time to his private interests and to the scholarly pursuits in which he won notable prominence.
William Summers was a man of strong and positive convictions, which he made no attempt to force upon his fellows, and his quiet man- ner, ready concurrence in proposals for the general welfare, and unfailing good citizenship brought him numerous official honors. He was elected to membership in the Town Council for the terms of 1869 to 1872, inclu- sive, and in 1883 and 1884, while in 1875 and 1876 he filled the office of burgess of Conshohocken. For more than eighteen years he was a public school director, and it is a matter of record that frequently when the treasury was without funds he advanced sums sufficient for the salaries of the teachers. He was a charter member of Washington Fire Com- pany, No. I, the first organization of its kind in the borough, and he was an original subscriber to the Conshohocken Gas and Water Company, holding membership on its board of directors. The business perspicacity and wise judgment, reinforced by civic and unswerving honesty were instruments of broad benefit to his fellows.
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Mr. Summer's interest in family and local history dated from the early days when he was first able to appreciate the generations of upright and patriotic ancestors whose revered memory was his heritage, and from his first instruction in the historic lore in which the district abounded. It was incomprehensible to him that one could live within passing distance of Valley Forge and its sacred traditions without feeling the inspiration to add to his knowledge of former times and to use every means within his power to honor his forbears who had a part therein. He was a boy- hood and lifelong friend of William McDermott, prominent as a church worker and banker and as a contributor to the journals of Norristown and Conshohocken, and through association with Mr. McDermott he became an active member of the Historical Society of Montgomery County, February 22, 1897, assuming life membership May 26 of the same year, and throughout his lifetime he was one of its most consistent and zealous supporters. In this society, of which he was elected librarian on February 22, 1902, being reelected until his death, his declining years and activities were centered. He made donations of his means and service to its upbuilding, and important contributions resulting from close and long-prosecuted historical and genealogical research. Not the least in value of the latter, particularly in view of the absence of enforced vital statistics, is his compilation of his marriages and deaths extracted from the newspaper files of the "Norristown Register," 1803-1845; "Norris- town Free Press," 1829-1837; and the "Lafayette Aurora," of Pottstown, 1825-1827, a painstaking and laborious exaction upon patience and eye- sight. He also accumulated a list of marriages performed by justices of the peace in Montgomery county.
A most interesting reprint appeared in the "Conshohocken Recorder" of July 11, 1913, the result of his examination of the "Norristown Regis- ter" of July 7, 1813. It set forth that "The officers of the 51st Regiment of Pennsylvania Militia and a respectable number of 'Democratic Repub- licans'" sat down to dinner at the house of Colonel Thomas Humphrey, Centre Square, and after the Declaration of Independence was read, amidst the firing of cannon and with music, responses were made to no less than eighteen toasts (titles carefully recited) of the most patriotic character. And, that on July 5, 1813, a like celebration, likewise with toasts, was held on Barbadoes Island, where also, May 17, 1804, had been held the celebration, according to Mr. Summers, of the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana. These and many other articles of patriotic value and example he enthusiastically revived lest the public forgot "the blood of our fathers and the tears of our mothers."
His contribution of obituary notices collected from Montgomery county papers and published in the "Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography," Vol. XXXVIII, page 443, has been of extreme value to descendants of soldiers of the Continental Line and Pennsylvania Militia during the Revolution. In addition to the organizations previously men- tioned, Mr. Summers was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Pennsylvania-German Society; the Pennsylvania Library
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Club; Pennsylvania Society, Sons of the Revolution; and the Summers Family Association, to which last-named he gave hearty cooperation from the time of its organization.
Mr. Summers' travels took him from Maine to Florida, to the Colum- bian Exposition in Chicago, and the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, but he made no journey that had such rich rewards for him as one to Illinois. He was the possessor of the original land warrant granted "unto (his grandfather) Martin Summers, Brother, and the other heirs of law of Anthony Summers, deceased, late Private in the Hooks Company, Fourth Regiment of Infantry," dated January, 1819, and signed by James Mon- roe when commissioner of the General Land Office, and by its president, Josiah Meigs. When a favorable opportunity offered he visited the 160 acres included in this grant, located in the southwest quarter of Section 25, of the Township N in Range Four W., in the tract appropriated by act of Congress, May 6, 1812, for military bounties in the territory of Illinois (recorded Volume XXXII, page 221 E). In the same reverential spirit he advocated memorials and markers for historic sites and personally erected a new tablet to take the place of the weather-beaten slab in St. John's Lutheran Churchyard, Fifth and Race streets, Philadelphia, where lay his Revolutionary forbear, Philip Summers, and his wife, Salome (Rei- bel) Summers.
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