USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania; genealogy-family history-biography; containing historical sketches of old families and of representative and prominent citizens, past and present, Volume I > Part 25
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Daniel Walborn, son of John, was born Sept. 19, 1825, in Lebanon county. Pa., settling in West Brunswick township, Schuylkill county, where he came into possession of the old homestead. He was one of the prosperous farmers of his day and a trusted official of his township, serving for several years as member of the school board and as assistant assessor. During the Civil war he and Daniel Alspach were appointed to look for recruits for the army in West Brunswick township. As a devout member of the Lutheran denomina- tion, he was an active worker in the old Zion's (Red) Church, served on the church council, as church treasurer, and was a member of the building com- mittee when the present church building was erected in 1883. He reached the age of eighty years, dying March 29, 1906, and is buried at the Red Church. His wife, Christiana, daughter of Jonathan Albright and Molly (Berger) Albright, was born Aug. 18, 1822, and died Sept. 26, 1892. They were the parents of five children, of whom Lewis, Henry and Henrietta died young. Jonathan Henry and Joseph Albright are the survivors.
Jonathan Henry Walborn obtained his early education in the public schools, later attending the Keystone State Normal School, at Kutztown, Pa. For ten terms he was engaged in teaching in West Brunswick township, fol- lowing farming during that period, and for five years he conducted a mercantile business at Drehersville, Schuylkill county. Retiring to the homestead place
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in West Brunswick township, he resumed farming. In 1901 he moved with his family to his present residence on the farm which he purchased from the Thomas Hoy estate, the Hoy homestead, in Orwigsburg. For one year, 1913. he was engaged in the manufacture of shoes, but sold out his interests, and has not since engaged actively in business pursuits. However, he still retains his connection with the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which he serves as secretary ; for twenty years he was secretary of the West Brunswick Horse Insurance Company. Like his father, Mr. Walborn has taken part in the administration of public affairs. For several years he served as member of the school board of West Brunswick township, and for one four-year term as director of the poor of Schuylkill county, to which office he was elected in 1897. His duties were discharged with the utmost fidelity and with due regard to the best interests of his constituents, and his services were a credit to the community as well as himself. Politically he has been identified with the Democratic party. He is a leading member of Zion's (Red) Church, in which he has held the offices of deacon and elder, giving the same conscientious attention to the duties of this position as he has to every other responsibility assumed.
On Jan. 7, 1881, Mr. Walborn married Sarah Elizabeth Hoy, born Jan. 7. 1860, daughter of the late Thomas Hoy and Mrs. Sarah ( Faust) Hoy, of Orwigsburg. Two sons were born to this union: Ira Guy, Oct. 20, 1881, and Maurice Daniel, Nov. 29, 1892, both born in West Brunswick township. Mrs. Sarah E. (Hoy) Walborn died Nov. 10, 1911, and is buried at the Red Church.
IRA GUY WALBORN attended the public schools of West Brunswick town- ship, the Orwigsburg high school, and Keystone State Normal School, at Kutztown, Pa., and taught two terms in the public schools of West Brunswick township. In 1899 he entered Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., and after completing three years' work entered the University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo., in 1902, as a student in electrical engineering and the College of Arts, graduating with the degrees of bachelor of arts in 1904 and bachelor of science in electrical engineering in 1906. After graduation he followed his profession, electrical engineering, in Utah and Idaho. In March, 1908, he was employed by the Eastern Pennsylvania Railways Company, Pottsville, Pa., and has served as electrical superintendent for that company since April, 1912. On June 16, 1909, he married Frances Cary Mountjoy, born Aug. 1, 1881, daughter of the late Rev. John Mountjoy and Mrs. Rebecca (Shannon) Mountjoy, of Colum- bia, Mo. Two children were born, in Pottsville, Pa., to this union: One daughter, Rebecca Shannon, Oct. 21, 1912, and one son, Jonathan Mountjoy, Jan. 23, 1915. Mr. Walborn is a member of the Lutheran congregation at the old Red Church. Fraternally he is connected with Schuylkill Lodge, No. 138, Free and Accepted Masons; Black Diamond Commandery, No. 466, Ancient and Illustrious Order Knights of Malta; and the Alpha Tau Omega college fraternity. He is a member of the Pottsville Club and an associate member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.
MAURICE DANIEL WALBORN attended the public schools of West Brunswick township and Orwigsburg. From the Orwigsburg high school he entered the First National Bank of Orwigsburg in April, 1909, and has served since as teller. He engages in writing various lines of insurance. On May 7, 1913, he married Stella Heist, who was born April 30, 1892, daughter of Oscar Heist and the late Louisa ( Boettger) Heist, of Orwigsburg. He is a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Orwigsburg and is serving as a member of
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its church council and as secretary. Fraternally he is connected with Schuyl- kill Lodge, No. 138, Free and Accepted Masons ; Bethel Commandery, No. 319, Ancient and Illustrious Order Knights of Malta, of which he is recorder ; Grace Lodge, No. 157, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Industrial Coun- cil, No. 437, Independent Order of Americans; and Washington Camp, No. 86, Patriotic Order Sons of America.
JOSEPH ALBRIGHT WALBORN, son of Daniel Walborn, was born July 8, 1857, in West Brunswick township, and obtained his early education there in the public schools. He also attended select school at Shoemakersville and Port Clinton, and during his young manhood taught school for six years in West Brunswick township. He then turned his attention to farming, which he followed for a period of twenty-one years, in 1908 removing to Pinedale, Schuylkill county, where he is engaged as a huckster. He has been a leader in church work, and as a public official of his locality served fifteen years as assessor of West Brunswick township; twenty-one years as school director, during all of which time he was secretary of the board; eight years as town- ship clerk, and subsequently as member of the election board. Politically he is a Democrat. In religion he is a devout Lutheran, and has been deacon of his church for the last thirty years, and for forty years an official of the Sunday school, of which he was superintendent for eight years.
Mr. Walborn married Sallie A. Boyer, daughter of Daniel C. and Kate (Breisch) Boyer, and two sons have been born to them: Claude Daniel, now living at home, taught two terms of school after graduating from the Key- stone State Normal School, at Kutztown, Pa., in 1906; and Guy Franklin, also a graduate of the Keystone State Normal School ( 1908), has been teaching school in District No. 7, West Brunswick township, since his graduation. Both sons are members of the Lutheran congregation at Zion's (Red) Church, in which they have been active workers.
CONRAD WEISER was the most prominent historical character in the county of Berks (which originally included Schuylkill) to 1760. His great prominence arose from his intimate connection with the Provincial government of Pennsylvania for thirty years. He was the principal judge of Berks county from 1752 to 1760. He was born Nov. 2, 1696, at Afstaedt, a small village in the county of Herrenberg, in Wurtemberg, Germany, and there he acquired a general education, which included the principles of the Christian religion according to the catechism of Martin Luther. Whilst in his fourteenth year he emigrated with his father and family (which included himself and seven other children) to New York, landing June 17, 1710. At that time several thousand Germans were sent to America by Queen Anne. Shortly after their arrival they were removed to Livingston Manor by the governor of New York, to burn tar and cultivate hemp to defray the expenses incurred by Queen Anne in conveying them from Holland to England and from England to America. They labored until 1713 in this employment under the direction of commissioners; then, finding they were existing under a form of bondage, they protested against the treatment and thus effected their release. About one hundred and fifty families of them, including the Weiser family, removed to Schoharie, forty miles west of Albany. Whilst spending the winter of 1713-14 at Schenectady, the elder Weiser was frequently visited by an Indian chief of the Mohawk tribe, and during one of these visits the chief proposed to Conrad
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to visit the Mohawk country and learn the language of the Mohawk tribe. This proposition was agreed to.
Conrad Weiser was in his eighteenth year when he went to live with the Indians. He was a strong young man, but all his strength was necessary to endure the sufferings which he was compelled to undergo whilst living with them. He had scarcely clothing sufficient to cover his body during the winter of that trying year. Besides much suffering, he was frequently threatened with death by the Indians during a state of intoxication. In July, 1714, he returned to his father's home at Schoharie. In this time he had acquired a considerable knowledge of the Mohawk language, and while at home he in- creased this knowledge by acting as interpreter between the German settlers of that vicinity and the Mohawk Indians. The settlers having been disturbed in their possessions, Conrad Weiser's father and a number of others migrated to Pennsylvania. They located in Tulpehocken in the spring of 1723, in the midst of the Indians; and there they also commenced improvement of the land without permission of the land commissioners. The Indians complained, but the settlers were not disturbed. Subsequently the Indians released their rights, and about 1733 they removed beyond the Blue mountains.
In 1720 Conrad Weiser was married to a young woman of Schoharie. He continued at that place until 1729, when with his wife and five children he removed to the Tulpehocken settlement, locating on a tract of land near the present borough of Womelsdorf. Shortly after his arrival, his ability and success as an Indian interpreter became known to the Provincial government, and the governor employed him in negotiation with the Indians. His first serv- ices in this capacity were performed in 1731, and from that time for nearly thirty years he was constantly engaged in this important work. He assisted at numerous treaties, and in the published proceedings of these treaties his name appears prominently. His integrity was particularly recognized and publicly complimented. He was one of the most prominent men in the French and Indian war. His numerous letters indicate his zeal, courage and patriotism. He served in the war as a colonel, and his services were of great value to the government and to the people of Berks county.
The first proceedings for the erection of Berks county were instituted in 1738. In this behalf Mr. Weiser was very active, and he continued active until the county was established, in 1752. The town of Reading was laid out by the Penns in 1748, and in the sale of the town lots Mr. Weiser acted as one of the commissioners. He was prominently identified with the first movements in building up the town, and in developing the business interests of the place. The governor of the Province appointed him as the justice of the peace in 1741, and he filled this office for a number of years. When the county was erected, in 1752, he was appointed one of the first judges. He acted as presi- dent judge of the courts till his decease, in 1760. He lived at Reading mostly during the latter part of his life.
Conrad Weiser died on his Heidelberg farm July 13, 1760, and his remains were buried in a private burying-ground on the place, where they have re- mained since. He left a widow and seven children : Five sons, Philip, Fred- erick, Peter, Samuel, and Benjamin ; and two daughters, Maria (married Rev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg) and Margaret (married a Finker). He was possessed of a large estate, consisting of properties at Reading, and lands in Heidelberg township and in the region of country beyond the Blue mountains. In Heidelberg he owned a tract which included the privilege of a court-baron,
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1
granted to him in 1743, the tract having originally contained 5,165 acres as granted to John Page in 1735, and having then been erected into a manor called the "Manor of Plumton." At Reading one of his properties was a business stand, and it has continued to be a prominent business location from that time till now, a period embracing over 150 years.
For upward of fifty years, various unsuccessful efforts were made in behalf of erecting a suitable memorial to Conrad Weiser. In 1892 and 1893, Prof. M. L. Montgomery delivered a lecture before local teachers' institutes in different parts of the county entitled "Life and Times of Conrad Weiser" for the purpose of securing a memorial, and the Reading Board of Trade led the school authorities of the county to set aside November 2, 1893, for observance by the teachers and scholars as "Weiser Day," and to facilitate this observance 3,500 copies of the lecture were distributed gratuitously to all the schools of the city and county. It was not until October 30, 1907, that a modest tablet was placed in the west wall of the Stichter Hardware store on Penn Square by the Historical Society of Berks county, which reads as follows:
POSTERITY WILL NOT FORGET HIS SERVICES .- WASHINGTON. IN MEMORY OF COL. CONRAD WEISER, PIONEER, SOLDIER, DIPLOMAT, JUDGE. AS INTERPRETER AND INDIAN AGENT HE NEGOTIATED EVERY TREATY FROM 1732 UNTIL NEAR THE CLOSE OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
THE WEISER BUILDING WHERE HE OFTEN MET THE INDIANS IN CONFERENCE, WAS ERECTED BY HIM ON THIS SITE IN 1751.
BORN IN GERMANY IN 1696, ARRIVED IN BERKS IN 1729, DIED IN 1760, NEAR WOMELSDORF, WHERE HIS REMAINS ARE BURIED.
HIS UNSWERVING HONESTY SET A SHINING EXAMPLE TO FUTURE GENERATIONS .- UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF BERKS COUNTY THIS TABLET WAS ERECTED IN 1907 BY THE SCHOOL CHILDREN OF THE COUNTY.
SAMUEL H. SHANNON, M. D., was preeminent among the popular physicians of his day in southern Schuylkill county, and though thirty-five years have elapsed since his death his name is still affectionately spoken among the older residents of that section. A professional man first, last and always, he never held any public office or attempted to control any of the affairs of the community in which he made his home, yet his influence wherever his duties called him was so strong that his opinions and ideas had an appreciable effect in the wide circle of his acquaintances and friends, who
Samlet Shannon
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regarded him as a competent adviser in the ordinary concerns of life as much as in his capacity of physical healer.
The Doctor was a native of Montgomery county, Pa., and a member of the family from which the town of Shannonville, in that county, derives its name. His great-grandfather settled there upon his emigration from Ireland, and his homestead remained in the possession of his descendants for several generations. Robert Shannon, son of the emigrant, was one of the five commissioners appointed by the State authorities to fix upon a site for the seat of justice and organize the county of Montgomery, which was done in 1784. Their judicious selection of Norristown, and the hand- some borough which has grown up as the result, make it apparent that the early generations of the family were as conspicuous for intellectual qual- ities and good sense as the later representatives. The Shannons have always been counted among the most respected families of their section of Pennsyl- vania.
Robert Shannon, son of Robert, and father of the late Dr. Shannon, was born in 1785, and was a farmer and merchant in Montgomery county throughout his active years, dying in 1844, at the age of fifty-nine years. His wife, Elizabeth (Porter), was of Revolutionary stock, a niece of Gen. Andrew Porter, and of a family also associated with the early history of Montgomery county. She was a most estimable woman, possessed of strong traits of character which made a deep impression for good in the family circle and in the community, and led a life of exemplary usefulness. Her death occurred in 1865, when she was eighty years of age. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Shannon.
Samuel H. Shannon was born April 27, 1814, at Shannonville, and spent his youth upon the homestead farm. After attending the local schools and obtaining the best education possible in the home neighborhood, supple- mented with a limited amount of tuition under private instructors, he entered Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia, where he completed the course, graduating in 1836, with honor. The same year he located at Schuylkill Haven, Schuylkill county, which was his field of labor through- out his medical career, the scene of a busy and successful life which ter- minated Jan. 17, 1879. In these forty years he achieved prosperity as well as fame. His skill, developed in the varied round of duties which fall to the lot of the general practitioner whose patronage is scattered over a country district, made him no more welcome than the warm sympathy, tender solici- tude and sincere interest which he always seemed to feel for the afflicted, and his generosity never allowed him to withhold his services because of any inability on the part of his patients to recompense him. He loved his work, and though it was often arduous continued in it with practically unabated zeal almost to the close of his life. His unremitting attention to its demands, indeed, is believed to have shortened his days. Though in his sixty-fifth year at the time of his death, he had never seemed to realize his age, being physically and mentally as sound as men years his junior until a few months before his decease. But he overtaxed himself by turning out in inclement weather to look after a critical case several miles from his office, when he himself should have been under a doctor's care, and he never recovered from the strain. It was typical of his unselfishness, and not regarded as anything unusual at the time, for he treated all with the same devotion. regardless of his own inclinations. Dr. Shannon made friends Vol. I-11
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wherever he went by his undeviating affability and courtesy, and he was no respecter of persons, esteeming those with whom he came into contact for their real worth, and judging no one by his worldly circumstances. Although he acquired wealth by his able management of the income from his profession he never made the acquisition of means his object in life, and his donations to religious and benevolent purposes, together with the private charities of which only the recipients were aware, proclaimed broad sympathy with all his fellows and an intimate understanding of their needs. His hospitable mansion was always the stopping place of the non-resident min- isters of his church. For several years Dr. Shannon was physician at the county almshouse, resigning the position in favor of his brother, Dr. Ben- jamin Franklin Shannon.
Dr. Shannon became the owner of several valuable farms in Schuylkill county, besides other real estate, and for many years he was a director of the Miners' National Bank of Pottsville. In 1856 he was offered the Demo- cratic nomination for Congressman in his district, but declined, having no aspirations for the publicity or power of political preferment.
Soon after beginning practice Dr. Shannon married Esther Mannon, who was a most devoted helpmate, and four daughters were born to this union: Jane Elizabeth, who died in infancy; Mary Kathryn; Elizabeth Tamzen, Mrs. Willis L. Bryant; and Harriet Esther. Dr. Shannon is buried in the Episcopal Churchyard in Schuylkill Haven, and a fine monument marks his grave. Mrs. Shannon died April 19, 1888.
WILLIS L. BRYANT, late of Schuylkill Haven, a resident of that borough for twenty years, was a native of Pittsburgh, Pa., and for a number of years engaged extensively in the lumber business in Jefferson county. this State. In 1889 he located at Schuylkill Haven, and became well and favor- ably known in the borough and surrounding territory during the score of years he maintained his home there. He died at his residence in Schuylkill Haven, Oct. 31, 1909. Mr. Bryant married Elizabeth Tamzen Shannon, daughter of the late Dr. Samuel H. Shannon, and she survives him, occupy- ing the old family homestead in the borough which as in the days of her father is noted for its open hospitality. She and Mr. Bryant always lived there.
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN SHANNON, M. D., late of Schuylkill Haven, was the youngest child of Robert and Elizabeth (Porter) Shannon, and was born at Shannonville, Feb. 9, 1829. He attended the district schools there until twelve years old, at which time he entered West Chester Academy, in Chester county, Pa., following his studies at that institution for four years, after which he took the medical course at Pennsylvania College, Phila- delphia, graduating with the degree of M. D., April 7, 1849. Locating at Schuylkill Haven, he was engaged in practice there to the close of his life, becoming well beloved in the wide territory over which his work called him, and prominent among his fellow physicians in this section. For more than twenty years he was attending physician at the county almshouse, and he and his brother, practicing here at the same period, made the name of Shannon as well known and esteemed in Schuylkill county as it has been for generations in Montgomery county. His death occurred Aug. 8, 1878. Dr. Shannon was twice married, his first wife being Sally Reed, daughter of Mark and Sarah Reed. She died in 1863, and he subsequently married, Oct. 3, 1867, Mary Elizabeth Bast, daughter of Gideon and Mary Bast.
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BENJAMIN BANNAN, journalist and political economist, was born in Union township, Berks Co., Pa., April 22, 1807, and died July 29, 1875. His father was a farmer and teacher, occupied in agricultural pursuits during the spring, summer and fall, and teaching in the winter. He died when his son was but eight years old. Benjamin went to school only about two years alto- gether during the next seven years; for at that time schools were open for only three or four months a year, during the cold weather. It was at Union- ville that he became inspired with the idea of becoming a printer and editor, from reading the Village Record, to which the teacher subscribed. Having acquired the utmost that was taught in the schools of that day, at the age of fifteen he was indentured to learn the printing business in the office of the Berks and Schuylkill Journal, of which George Getz was proprietor, remaining there six years. During his term the same industry and honesty of purpose and action which characterized his whole life won the regard of his preceptor, who eventually asked him to become his partner and associate in business. Mean- while, at the close of his apprenticeship, he had repaired to Philadelphia, where he worked in several printing offices, finally in the establishment of Lawrence Johnson, the celebrated type founder, where he added the art of stereotyping to his already thorough knowledge of printing. After a visit to Reading, where he received the offer already noted, he thought it advisable to decline it, and directed his steps to Pottsville. On his arrival there he found the office of the Miners' Journal in the hands of the sheriff; and, believing that this was a fair opportunity and a field for future operations, concluded to purchase it. Almost all his ready funds were invested in this enterprise, and the subscription list numbered but 250. This took place in April, 1829, and he was connected with this one paper nearly forty-four years. On July 1, 1866, he disposed of a half interest in the establishment, and, wishing to retire from business, in January, 1873, sold the other moiety ; nevertheless his attachment to the Journal was so great that he continued writing for the paper and attending to the coal sta- tistics, as when he was sole owner. The number of subscribers had increased to over four thousand, and its weekly circulation was only exceeded by that of three other political journals in the State, outside of the larger cities.
Mr. Bannan's first vote was cast for John Quincy Adams for presi- dent, in 1828, and he voted at every succeeding presidential election as long as he lived, and always in opposition to the Democracy. Indeed, during his whole life he never voted for a Democrat when there was a contest between the political parties. He was always a firm and undeviating supporter of pro- tection to American industry, and proposed and organized the first tariff league in 1840, after the disastrous effects of the first compromise bill had become apparent ; which led to the adoption of the tariff of 1842, the most beneficial measure, in many respects, ever passed by Congress. In 1841 and also in 1861 he collected signatures to the longest petitions ever laid before the national legislature, praying for protection to home industry. For fifteen years he held the position of school director, and for fourteen years was president of the board. During this period he suggested to Governor Pollock the present admirable normal school system of the State, in all its details, which was afterwards adopted. It is justly claimed for him that he was the first to propose a plan for a national currency ; as far back as 1857 he first originated it and published a series of articles on the subject. His views were commu- nicated to several prominent bankers, who acquiesced in his suggestions and admitted that such a currency as he proposed would be the best obtainable, but
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