Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery

CLEAVER,
CHESTER B.

p. 524

Surnames: CLEAVER, BERTOLET, GRIESEMER, WEIDNER

Chester B. Cleaver, a well to do business man of Reading, Pa., who
has served as county commissioner of Berks county, was born in
Pleasantville, Oley township, Berks county, Nov. 21, 1855, son of
Hiram K. and Catherine (Bertolet) Cleaver.

Samuel Cleaver, grandfather of Chester B., was a
farmer and blacksmith all of his life in Oley township, where he
had settled at an early day. He was first a Whig in politics and
later a Republican, and he and his wife were members of the
Lutheran church. They were the parents of six children: Albert,
Samuel, Hiram K., Sarah, Angeline and Hanna.

Hiram K. Cleaver was born in Pike township, and
while engaged in farming, also worked at the trade of blacksmith,
which he, had learned from his father. He owned property in Oley
township, which he conducted until his death in 1877, at the age of
forty-six years. His first wife died in 1857. They were the parents
of three children: Chester B., Annie and Amanda. Mr. Cleaver was
married (second) to Esther Greisemer, and there were three children
born to this marriage also: Rosella, Catherine and Mary Ann.
Chester B. Cleaver was educated in Oley township, and when twelve
years of age entered his uncle’s store at Girardville, Schuylkill
county, where he remained three years. Then after five months
attendance at the State Normal School at Kutztown, be entered his
father’s store at Pleasantville. Three years later he engaged in
the store business at Spangsville, and after a few years returned
to farming. In 1879 he purchased seventy-one acres in Oley
township, his present home, and here be carried on operations until
1906. He purchased three more tracts, having in all 174 acres. In
1906 he was elected county commissioner on the Republican ticket,
an office he filled with efficiency and to the satisfaction of all
concerned. For the past twenty-three years Mr. Cleaver has been
engaged in a horse and cattle business, and in 1900 he opened a
sale, exchange and livery stable in Reading, in which new
enterprise he has been very successful. He is known throughout the
county as an able and honorable business man, and his reputation is
above reproach.

Mr. Cleaver married Ellen R. Weidner, and to
this union there were born four children: Howard, Webster, Warden
and Mabel. Mr. Cleaver is liberal in his religious belief.
Fraternally he is connected with Chandler Lodge, No. 227, of
Masons.

CLEAVER FAMILY

p.
990

Surnames: CLEAVER, HATFIELD, KEELY, SHORT, LYKENS, ROGER, KUSER,
LEASE, DAVIDHEISER, PRUTZMAN, KELSHNER, JONES, MILLER, KOCH.
WALTER, BECHTEL, GLASE, FRAUNHEISER, REIDENHEUR, BOHN, HERBST, COX,
GEEHR, SNYDER, GEISS, HOCH, GIFT, HOPPEL, BUSH, MATHIAS, FOCHT,
ROTHENBERGER, RITTER, ANGSTADT, HOLL, ZIEGLER, BERTOLET

One of the interesting features of a book of the nature of this
volume, of biographical and historical information, is the tracing
of ancestry from the sturdy pioneers who came from all over the
civilized world and found in the New World a veritable Land of
Promise. Many such families are to be found in Berks county, Pa.,
and none is more honored than that which bears the name of Cleaver,
and is represented by so many of the enterprising and successful
sons and daughters of the Keystone State.

(I) Derrick Cleaver, the ancestor from whom this family is directly
traced, was a Quaker in religion, and his name is found among the
records of Douglass and Amity townships, he having owned large
tracts of land in both districts. When he died in 1768, he was a
yeoman and resided in Douglass township. His last will and
testament was made Oct. 25, 1767, and probated Feb. 26, 1768, being
on record in Vol. 2, page 39. The executors were his only son John,
and his friend Samuel Hughes. Items in the will were: “son John
shall have 300 pounds in money”; “daughter Mary shall have 150
pounds in money.” He also made bequests to these grandchildren:
John Hatfield, Nathan Hatfield, Marv Keely, John Short and William
Short.

(II) John Cleaver, son of Derrick, was the first tax collector of
Colebrookdale township. In Douglass township he owned an estate of
1,000 acres, and was a very prominent man. Like his father Derrick,
he was a Quaker, and belonged to the Quaker community of
Maidencreek township. During the Revolution he served as captain of
a company, and upon the death of his first wife, a Quakeress, he
married one outside his religious creed, two very serious offenses
in that day with the people of his belief, and when his confession
of error in both cases was demanded, he refused, and was “read out
of Meeting.” John Cleaver was a devoted husband and an honorable,
upright man. By his first wife he had three children: Joseph, John
and Ruth. By his second wife he had seven children: Peter, Derrick,
Isaac, Jonathan, Martha, Nathan and Rebecca (m. John Lykens).

(III) —– Cleaver, son of John, had six children: Richard,
Derrick, Catharine (Roger), Elizabeth, Mary (Kuser) and Margaret
(Lease).

(III) Jonathan Cleaver, son of John Cleaver, was born in 1781, and
his children were: Anna; Peter; Jonathan; Eliza; George K., the
father of Dr. Israel Cleaver of Reading; Katie; Lewis and Lydia.
Jonathan was a wool manufacturer and resided near Pleasantville in
Oley township.

(III) Derrick Cleaver, son of John, was a carpenter, and lived one
mile south of Pleasantville. His children were: Jonathan and Mary.

(III) Isaac Cleaver, son of John Cleaver, was born on what is now
the John Davidheiser farm near Boyertown, in 1783, and died in
1856, and is buried at Hill church. He was a wheelwright by trade,
and also owned a farm near Pleasantville where the old paper mill
stood for so many years. Earlier in life he owned a tract in Earl
township. His wife was Sallie Prutzman (1783 -1826), daughter of
Adam Prutzman. Their children were: John, of Colebrookdale
township; Daniel P., father of William K.; Samuel (grandfather of
Chester B. Cleaver, present county commissioner of Berks county),
who first lived at Tilthammer, but later removed to Pleasantville,
and owned the farm now the property of Chester B. Cleaver;
Benneville, of Oley township; Mary, m. to William Kelshner; Hannah,
m. to Edward Jones; Sarah, m. to Benneville Miller; and Abraham,
who died at Philadelphia.

(IV) Daniel P. Cleaver, a son of Isaac Cleaver, was born in Earl
township, Aug. 20, 1803, and died in February 1876, aged
seventy-three years. He is buried in a private cemetery at
Pleasantville. In early life he was a worker in a woolen mill, but
later engaged in farming and lived near Hill Church in Pike
township, his property consisting of 212 acres, a portion of which
was in that township and the remainder in Washington township. This
property he bought in 1842, but later, after greatly improving it,
he sold it, and bought an iron forge in Rockland township. This
venture did not prove a success and he unfortunately lost
considerable money. After this he went to Reading, then to
Montgomery county, but finally returned to Pike township, where he
died on a small farm he owned. For many years he was a justice of
the peace, having been first appointed by Gov. Ritner. Later he was
elected by the people, and he was a man very well known throughout
the community. His first wife was Susanna Koch, daughter of Jacob
and Catharine (Walter) Koch. Their children were: Catherine m. Levi
Bechtel; William K.; Aaron, unmarried, was killed during the Civil
war, and is buried seven miles from Harper’s Ferry near
Charlestown; Sarah m. Jacob Glase (deceased), and lives at
Williamsport; Daniel died young; and two died at birth. Mr. Cleaver
m. (second) Catharine Fraunheiser, and they had these children:
Isaac, Samuel, Kimber, Mary Ann and Hettie. As a gentleman he was
honored and respected by all who met him, and while in his later
days he had the misfortune to meet with financial reverses, his
character was not altered and to the end of his days he remained a
good friend, a kind father and husband, and was beloved by many.

(IV) Jonathan B. Cleaver, father of Jonathan, son of Jonathan
(III), grandson of John (II) and great-grandson of Derrick (I), was
born on the old Cleaver farm in Earl township in 1814, and died
Aug. 10, 1901, aged eighty-seven years, three months and ten days,
and is buried at the Oley Churches in Oley township. He was a well
known farmer of Earl township, his farm consisting of thirty acres.
In politics he was a Republican, and for a quarter of a century he
served as justice of the peace. For several years prior to his
death Mr. Cleaver lived retired. Fraternally he was a member of the
I. O. O. F., his period of membership extending over forty-two
years. His religious affiliations were with the Lutheran Church.
His wife was Susanna Reidenheur, and they had these children:
Sallie m. James Bohn, of Earl township; Lizzie died young, and
Jonathan. Jonathan B. Cleaver is still remembered as a man of
sterling honesty, uprightness of purpose, and he has given to his
children an unstained name and unimpeached position in the
confidence of the county.

(V) William K. Cleaver, a retired farmer of Berks county, living at
the Oley Line, was born in Earl township, near Pleasantville, Jan.
6, 1832. Until he was eighteen he worked upon the farm, and then
commenced to learn the blacksmith’s trade, which he followed at
Pleasantville near the toll gate where a shop stood until 1900. Mr.
Cleaver worked as a blacksmith until 1861, when he enlisted in
Company D, 7th Pa. V. I., for a period of three months. Company D
was organized at Pleasantville, by Capt. George S. Herbst. At the
expiration of the three months’ service, Mr. Cleaver reenlisted at
Doylestown, Sept. 23, 1861, for three years, in Durrell’s Battery
D, Pa. Light Artillery. He was in Kelly’s Fort, along the
Rappahannock, Bristoe Station, Second Battle of Bull Run,
Chantilly, South Mountain Antietam, White Sulphur Springs,
Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, Jackson, Miss., Battle of the
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg, and was
mustered out at the last named place along the railroad, Sept. 23,
1864.

Mr. Cleaver returned to Oley township, and
resumed work at his trade, being in several places. In 1866 he
embarked in business for himself once more. About this time he
married and commenced farming, for a short time being in Montgomery
county, but for eight years he lived at Boyertown, and in 1879 he
came to his present home of 175 acres, which he secured through his
wife. Since the spring of 1893, Mr. Cleaver has resided here
retired from active life. This farm has historic interest as being
the property where resided Susanna Cox, who in February, 1808, was
convicted of infanticide, and was hanged for the crime at Reading,
in June, 1809, 10,000 people witnessing the execution. As she was
the first woman hanged in Berks county, her case attracted much
attention. She was an ignorant, illiterate girl, but had abundant
faith in Divine mercy. She held a handkerchief in her hand at the
time of the execution, and said: “I am forgiven. As I will enter
Heaven, I will tell you by dropping the handkerchief out of my
hand.” The spectators witnessed the dropping of the handkerchief
while her other hand remained closed.

The present house on the farm is a relic of the
eighteenth century, the building having been constructed in 1767,
and is of stone in a fine state of preservation. This is the house
in which the unfortunate woman had concealed her tiny victim. The
barn was built in 1869 by Catharine Geehr to replace a barn built
in 1766. The present barn is 44×98 feet. The cornerstone of the old
barn, bearing the date of 1769, has been incorporated in the newer
structure. With the date is this inscription: “Wo God nicht Gibt
Sein Segend Gedien So Sten Ler Seel Und Scheler. Jahr 1766.” Mr.
Cleaver has the old Geehr family Bibles, one of them being a big
Bible printed in 1748.

There is a well kept cemetery where Hans Snyder,
who died in 1743, is buried, as are many of his descendants. He was
a native of Switzerland, as was his wife Catharine, who was born in
1688. The whole place is teeming with historic interest, and is a
property of which Mr. Cleaver is naturally very proud.

In politics Mr. Cleaver is a Republican, and was
school director of Pleasantville district for three years. He is a
Lutheran, while his wife is a member of the Reformed Church, and
both attend the Oley Churches.

On Jan. 13, 1866, Mr. Cleaver married Sarah
Geiss, daughter of Henry and Susanna (Hoch) Geiss. They had these
children: Susan, m. to Oliver Gift; Aaron, of Reading; Mary, m. to
Albert Hoppel; Prof. William, of Cheltenham township, Montgomery
county, prominent in educational matters and superintendent of
schools of Cheltenham; Katie, m. to Harvey Bush; Charles, who is
unmarried and at home; Sallie, who is unmarried; and two who died
in infancy.

Mr. Cleaver was a brave soldier when the country
needed him, and he recalls those days of peril and hardships with
pleasure and recounts many thrilling stories to his interested
listeners. Both he and his wife are very hospitable and their
charming home is a gathering place not only for their children and
their families, but also for the many friends these two have made
during the years they have resided in Oley township.

(V) Jonathan Cleaver, a prominent retired farmer of Earl township,
was born on his present farm, June 7, 1852, son of Jonathan B.
Cleaver, and grandson of Jonathan.

After attending the school of his district
Jonathan Cleaver went to the Oley Academy at Friedensburg and
received a very liberal education. Completing his studies, he
assisted his father on the farm until he purchased it in 1878. The
property lies in both Earl and Oley townships, and the Boyertown
trolley passes through his farm. In addition to this homestead, Mr.
Cleaver owns sixty acres of woodland in Earl township, and is a man
of substance. In politics he is a Republican and has served the
township as supervisor, and in 1900 assisted in taking the census.
Fraternally Mr. Cleaver is a member of the Manatawny Castle, No.
161, K. G. E., of which he is now treasurer.

On May 6, 1876, Mr. Cleaver married Maranda
Mathias, daughter of Daniel and Wilhelmina (Focht) Mathias, and
they had one son, J. Daniel, born June 28, 1879, who is now farming
the homestead. He married Sallie Rothenberger, daughter of James
Rothenberger, of Oley township, and they had one son who died in
infancy. Mr. Cleaver has retired from active labor, and is passing
the sunset of life in peace and quiet, and in the enjoyment of a
well-earned competency. His farm is finely kept up, and the old
stone house, mellowed by the years of residence in it, is an
ornament to the well-laid-out fields and neat outbuildings. The
fences are substantially built and kept in good repair, and the
property is fully equipped with the most highly improved machinery.

Some very valuable records are found on the tombstones beneath
which are interred many of the Cleaver family. Investigation has
brought to light the following:

“Benneville Cleaver, born June 11, 1813, died Oct. 15, 1899, aged
eighty-six years, four months and four days.”

“Elizabeth, wife, born Ritter, Nov. 8, 1820, died Feb. 10, 1890,
aged sixty-nine years, three months and two days.”

“Aaron B. Angstadt, born May 5, 1820, died Dec. 30, 1898, aged
seventy-eight years, seven months and twenty-five days.”

“Catharine, his wife, born Holl, Oct. 31, 1820, died June 12, 1894,
aged seventy-three years, seven months and eleven days,”

“Daniel Cleaver, born Aug. 20, 1803, died Feb. 23, 1876, aged
seventy-two years, six months, three days.”

“Catharine, his wife, born Oct. 9, 1832, died Aug. 24, 1888, aged
fifty-five years, ten months and fifteen days.”

“Isaac Cleaver, son of Daniel and Catharine, born Nov. 19, 1851,
married Amanda Ziegler, died Nov. 6, 1872, aged twenty years,
eleven months and seventeen days.”

“Cath. Bertolet, wife Hiram K. Cleaver, married June 19, 1853 (1834
– 1857).”

“Hiram K. Cleaver, born Oct. 31, 1832, died June 6, 1877, aged
forty-four years, seven months and five days.”

“Maranda Cleaver, born Mathias, born Nov. 25, 1857, died April 20,
1900, aged forty-two years, four months and twenty-five days.”

CLEAVER, ISRAEL (M. D.)

p.
566

Surnames: CLEAVER, KLINE, MARTZ, BOYER, ARMPREISTER, BERTOLET,
GOLDEN, TYSON, NEIFFER, MILLER, MOORE, BOAS, GUTHRIE

Israel Cleaver, M. D., a prominent physician of Reading, represents
a family that dates back to the time prior to the Revolution. The
first of the name in Pennsylvania of whom record is found was
Derrick Cleaver.

(I) Derrick Cleaver was twice married. By his first wife he had one
child, John. By his second marriage there were seven children, one
of whom was also named John, and he became the great grandfather of
Dr. Cleaver.

(II) John Cleaver was also married twice. By the first union were
born Joseph, John and Ruth. On Nov. 2, 1767, John Cleaver was
married by Rev. Joseph Miller, to Catherine Kline, and they had
seven children, Peter, Derrick, Isaac, Jonathan, Martha, Rebecca
and one that died in infancy. John Cleaver died in 1790, and his
widow married Benedict Martz. After about forty years of wedded
life she was again left a widow, and survived Mr. Martz ten years.
She died April 14, 1841, aged ninety two years, eleven months and
seventeen days. John Cleaver was a Quaker in religious belief, but
as he married out of the church he was dropped from the Society.

(III) Jonathan Cleaver was born in 1781, in Earl township, Berks
county, Pa. He learned the business of woolen manufacturing, later
owning and operating a woolen mill. He was interested in military
matters, and during the period of “training days” held rank as a
colonel. He died in 1862.

Jonathan Cleaver married Elizabeth Boyer, born
in 1782, daughter of Samuel and Catherine Boyer, and children were
born to this union as follows: Anna, born July 4, 1806, m. to
Samuel Armpreister; Esther, born July 17, 1808; Peter, born April
1, 1810, father of Henry Tyson Cleaver, an engineer in the United
States Navy; Elizabeth, born Feb. 2, 1812, m. to Isaac Bertolet
(their son was Dr. Jonathan Bertolet late of the U. S. Navy);
Jonathan, born April 30, 1814; George K., born May 18, 1816; Lewis,
born Nov. 24, 1820; Mary (deceased) and Catherine (twins), born
Jan. 8, 1822, the latter of whom married Joel Golden; and Leida,
born Oct. 14, 1824. Jonathan Cleaver was a member of the Lutheran
Church. In politics he was a Whig.

(IV) George K. Cleaver was educated in the common schools, and he
learned the trade of wool fulling. In 1852 be moved to Reading, and
accepted a position in the county prison as assistant under the
warden, Dr. Henry Tyson. This responsible place he occupied for
twelve years, but finally went back into the business world and
engaged in the manufacture of carpets, which occupied his attention
until his death in 1897. He married Miss Christiana Neiffer, and to
them were born eight children, namely: Israel, of Reading, Pa.;
George W., of Hackensack, N. J.; Christian H., deceased; Jonathan,
deceased; John W., a hatter residing in Reading; James T., who died
in April 1907; Gertrude A., deceased wife of Linton Miller, who
left two children Earl and Alma J.; and Charles E., deceased. The
mother of these children died in 1893. In early life a Lutheran,
later Mr. Cleaver united with the M. E. Church.

(V) Israel Cleaver, M. D., was born Nov. 26, 1842, and in his early
childhood was sent to the public schools in Reading. He completed
the high school course, and then after his graduation began his
medical studies in the office of Dr. Henry Tyson. He took his
medical course in the University of Pennsylvania and received his
degree in 1863. During this period he was appointed medical cadet
at Buttonwood street military hospital in Philadelphia, and after
receiving his medical diploma he was appointed by Edward M.
Stanton, then Secretary of War, as assistant surgeon in the
Mississippi Marine Brigade and Ram Fleet, a special organization
designed to keep the river clear of bushwhackers, and equipped for
both land and water engagements. He served until the discharge of
his Command per General Orders in 1865.

After the close of the war Dr. Cleaver settled
in Luthersburg, Clearfield Co., Pa., and remained there a year,
when he removed to Philipsburg, Centre county, and entered upon a
professional career that lasted until 1871. In 1871 he left Centre
county, and after a course in certain special branches he located
in Reading, Pa., in the spring of 1872, being still in practice in
this city. He is connected with a number of professional
organizations viz.: the Berks County Medical Society, the Reading
Medical Association, Pennsylvania State Medical Society, the
American Medical Association, and the Lehigh Valley Medical
Association. He is a member of the board of managers of the Reading
Hospital, and secretary of that body. He holds the position of
County Medical Inspector, Pennsylvania Department of Health, and is
in charge of the local Dispensary for tuberculosis under the
Department.

In 1866 Dr. Cleaver was married to Miss Lorena
Moore, daughter of the late Wilson Moore, of Clearfield county, Pa.
Of their four children Mildred died at the age of four years;
Wilbur M. is the office manager of J. C. McCrorey & Co., New
York City; Hattie m. J. Freeman Boas, office employe of the Reading
Hardware Company; and Helen Guthrie is at home, a graduate of the
Reading high school and a teacher in Sternberg School of Music,
Philadelphia. The family belong to the M. E. Church. Fraternally
Dr. Cleaver is a member of Reading Lodge, No. 579, F. & A. M.,
and of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, Pennsylvania
Commandery. He is also a member of Gen. William H. Keim Post No.
76, G. A. R., while his loyal interest in the school of his early
days is evinced by his connection with the local alumni association
of the University of Pennsylvania.

CLEMMER,
DAVID B.

p. 1374

Surnames: CLEMMER, KLEMMER, MELCHIOR, KUHNS, GRETH, BAUER, KOCH,
RICHARDS, STENGEL, FICHTER, ECK

David B. Clemmer, now living retired at Bally, was born in
Washington township, Berks county, July 5, 1839. The name Clemmer
is also spelled Klemmer. The family originally were Mennonites, but
in the branch herein described, George Clemmer, grandfather of
David B., married a member of the Roman Catholic faith and later
was himself confirmed therein.

George Clemmer lived between Bally and Barto, in
a small stone house near James Melchior’s mill. He was a laborer.
He is buried at the Church of the Most Blessed Sacrament, of which
he had become a member. His death occurred before the Civil war. He
married into the Kuhns family, and his wife survived him only a
short time. They had six children: John and Jacob, living at
Reading; Joseph, mentioned below; Samuel, of Norristown, who became
a Methodist; a daughter that married David Greth, of Reading; and
Eliza, who married Henry Kuhns, a mason at Reading.

Joseph Clemmer, son of George, was born in
Washington township, April 26, 1800, and he was killed by a cave-in
in the ore mine at Barto, March 21, 1862. He is buried in the Roman
Catholic cemetery at Bally. His home was one and one-half miles
north of Bally. He married Anna Bauer, daughter of Peter and Rosina
Bauer. She was born Sept. 18, 1800, and died Dec. 24, 1876, in
Union township, where she was living with her daughter, Isabella.
These children were born to Joseph Clemmer and wife: Isaac, born
1822, died 1852; John, born 1825, died 1863; Nathan; Joseph; David
B.; Jonas; Mary, who married Samuel Koch, of Pricetown, Pa.;
Catharine, born 1827, died 1852; Sarah, who married Henry Richards,
and lives at Philadelphia; Isabella, who married Joseph Bauer. All
the children are now deceased except Joseph, David B., Isabella and
Jonas.

David B. Clemmer learned the stone mason’s trade
when he was seventeen, and this he followed nine years. After his
marriage he worked in the ore mines at Siesholtzville and Red Lion,
and for fifteen years at Barto, rising to the position of foreman.
In 1888 he engaged in the butchering business, and carried this on
for twelve years at Barto, residing in that town altogether
twenty-three years. In 1894 he came to Bally, and that town has
since been his home. He conducted a meat market and dry goods store
for two years, but since the spring of 1908 he has been retired
from active work. He helped to build the towns of Barto and Bally,
and gave employment to a number of men. In his younger days he was
very active, and being a man of progressive ideas was a source of
great usefulness in his community. In politics he is a Democrat,
and for two years be was assessor, and he has served as delegate to
a number of county conventions. He and his family all belong to the
Most Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church at Bally.

On Dec. 18, 1863, Mr. Clemmer was married to
Mary Stengel, daughter of Sophierus Stengel, of Bally. Thirteen
children have been born of this union, all in Washington township,
as follows: Rosa, who married George Melchior, had children —
Charles, Willie, Bertha, Mary, Tillie, John, Paul and Bennett —
and died in 1903; Clara, who married Frank Melchior, a farmer of
Washington township; Emma, who died in the fifteenth year of her
age; William, who died aged twenty three; Matilda, born 1870, and
died 1878; Mary Ann, born 1872, and died 1878; Agnes, born 1873,
who married Peter Fichter, and died 1898; Katie, who died in
infancy; Dora, born 1876, and died 1878; Franklin, born 1877, and
died 1878; Charles, who died in infancy; Mary, who married Leo Eck,
of Bally; and John, a tailor at Bally. Four of the children died
within one month of diphtheria.

CLEMMER,
HENRY G.

p. 1346

Surnames: CLEMMER, CLEIMER, KLEMMER, CLYMER, LEATHEROTH,
OBERHOLTZER, KILE, MOYER, KUHNS, DERSTEIN, DETWEILER, FUNK,
GEISSINGER, HIESTAND, PANNEPACKER, BECHTEL, GEHMAN, MARKLEY, KEHL

The Clemmer family is one of the oldest of the Mennonite families
in the State. Henry Clemmer (as his name is signed to his last will
and testament on record at Norristown) came over to America in the
ship “Alexandria Ann,” which landed its forty six passengers at
Philadelphia Sept. 5, 1730. His will was probated June 2, 1791. In
Vol. 17, Second Series Pa. Archives, page 21, his name is recorded
Henrick Cleimer. The name has been changed to Klemmer and Clymer,
but a large number of the descendants spell it as did the emigrant
ancestor, Clemmer. Henry Clemmer settled in Philadelphia (now
Montgomery) county. In 1779-80-82 the names of Henry Clemmer, Sr.,
and Jr., appear on the Federal and State tax lists in Franconia
township, then in Philadelphia county, where they paid a large tax,
showing them to be land owners at that time. Henry Clemmer, Sr.,
died in Franconia township. In his will he mentions nine children
as follows:, Catharine m. Henry Leatheroth; Elizabeth m. Jacob
Oberholtzer; Ann m. Jacob Kile; Mary m. Jacob Moyer; Christian;
Henry, Jr. (died in Hatfield township, and will recorded at
Norristown, Oct. 14, 1802); John; Valentine; and Abraham (died in
Franconia township, and will recorded at Norristown March 7, 1838).
On the same vessel on which Henry Clemmer, Sr., came to America was
one Hans Jacob Oberholtzer, a Mennonite, who also located in
Montgomery county. Elizabeth, daughter of Henry, Sr., married Jacob
Oberholtzer, who was probably a son of Hans Jacob. The Clemmers are
a numerous family and scattered throughout the State, especially in
the counties of Montgomery, Bucks, Berks and Lehigh. The early
members of the family were all Mennonites, but George Clemmer, a
grandson of the emigrant, married into a Catholic family named
Kuhns, and then he himself became a communicant of that faith; his
descendants live near Bally, and are members of the parish of the
Most Blessed Sacrament.

Christian Clemmer, great-grandfather of Henry
G., was a farmer near Sellersville, Bucks county. His children were
George, Abraham, Samuel, Catharine (m. John Derstein) and Mrs.
Jacob Detweiler.

George Clemmer, son of Christian, was born in
the vicinity of Sellersville, Jan. 29, 1786, and died June 25,
1864. He came to Berks county before his marriage, and began
farming on the farm now owned by James B. Funk. This is a large and
fertile tract of land, and on it is located “Clemmer’s Mill.” He
married Anna Geissinger (1787 – 1872), and their children were:
Catharine m. David Hiestand, of Lehigh county; John lived on the
farm now owned by Amos B. Pannepacker, near Bally; Rev. Christian;
Rev. Samuel; Abraham lived in various places, but died and is
buried in the State of Washington; and Anna m. John H. Bechtel.

Rev. Christian Clemmer, son of George, was born
near Clayton, in Hereford township, on the old Clemmer farm, Feb.
8, 1813, and died on the farm now owned by his son Henry G., March
9, 1883, and is buried in the Union cemetery at the Mennonite
Meeting House in Bally. He was first a farmer, and was then, in
1842, selected by lot to preach the Word of God, and he continued
active in the ministry until his death, He contracted a cold at a
funeral in Oley, and his death resulted seventeen weeks afterward.
He owned the farm now the property of Henry G., and was successful
in its cultivation. He married Barbara Gehman, daughter of John
Gehman, and to their union five children were born: (1) Maria died
in her fourth year. (2) Henry G. (3) Abraham G., who died in
Hereford township April 8, 1877, aged thirty-four years, eight
months and nine days, was extensively engaged in burning lime, for
eight years having burned 17,000 bushels annually, and he also
owned the seventy-three acre farm, now owned by his son David F. He
m. Mary Funk, daughter of Philip Funk, of Hereford, and their
children were: David F., Jacob, Oswin, Annie, Amanda, and Mary. (4)
Annie died Aug. 21,1864, aged twenty years, seven months, and
twenty-one days. (5) Malinda m. Jacob Oberholtzer, of
Bechtelsville.

Henry G. Clemmer, son of Rev. Christian, and now
living retired at Clayton, was born on the Clemmer homestead, in
Hereford township, March 11, 1841. He attended the public schools
of his township after they were established, and later was in
school at Collegeville, now Ursinus College. He was reared to farm
work, and when twenty-five years old began farming on his father’s
farm, and this place has continued to be his home. He has been
retired from active work since 1894, his son Alfred assuming the
cares and duties. He farmed from 1866 on for twenty-eight years,
and met with the success that comes from industry and honest
intelligent effort. In 1895 he began huckstering to Philadelphia,
and they went once a week to the Philadelphia market, selling
considerable produce and poultry. They also have a stand at the
Reading Terminal market, and have an established trade.

The Clemmer farm has been in the family since
1838, having before that time belonged to the Gehmans. It consists
of 115 acres of excellent land. The house is quite large. The old
part was built during the Revolution, and is of stone, but the
newer part was built at a much later period. The barn was built in
1857, replacing one erected in 1759 and covered with split cedar
shingles.

Mr. Clemmer was one of the charter members of
the Clayton Butter and Cheese Company, and became one of its first
directors, and later its manager. In politics he is a Republican,
and was committeeman of the township during the days when the high
and anti-high factions were at war. He and his family attend the
New Mennonite Church at Bally.

On Jan. 27, 1866, Mr. Clemmer married Mary
Geissinger, daughter of Abraham and Anna (Bechtel) Geissinger, of
New Zionsville, Pa., and granddaughter of Philip and Veronica
(Hiestand) Geissinger, of Lehigh county. To this union have been
born two children: Alfred G.; and Miss Emma, who lives at home.

Alfred G. Clemmer, born Feb. 1, 1867, received
his education in the public schools and at Kutztown, and for two
and one-half terms was engaged in teaching in Hereford township. He
worked for his parents until he reached his majority, and in 1894
he became the active manager, engaging in farming and huckstering.
He also sells cattle in the fall of the year. In 1893 he married
Naomi Markley, of Norristown, daughter of Richard and Sophia (Kehl)
Markley, and they have children as follows: Henry, Ira, Leroy,
Alfred, Warren, Mary, Ella, Annie and Bertha.

CLOSE,
JACKSON J.

p. 1686

Surnames: CLOSE, KLOHS, KLOS, KLOOS, KLOSS, JACKSON, STRAUSS,
SCHNEIDER, SPENGLER, SCHOEP/SHEPP, HUERT/HUYETT, DIEHM, SPANGLER,
BAUM, SIEGFRIED, LEVAN, WAGNER, WEIDNER, SCHAEFFER, GABRIEL,
GECHTER,

Jackson J. Close, a representative of one of Exeter township’s old
families, whose history can be clearly traced to one of Berks
county’s pioneer settlers, is well and favorably known all through
the section where almost his entire life, thus far, has been spent.
He is a son of Isaac W. and Catherine O. (Jackson) Close, and was
born in Exeter township, Berks Co., Pa., Oct 5, 1873.

In former days the name was variously spelled
Klohs, Klos, Kloos and Kloss, which have been anglicized into Close
in the later generations, and is now universally written in that
way. The first family record is of Thomas Kloos, who, with his wife
Margaret, formerly lived in Brechkehel, Hanau, Germany. Whether he
died enroute to America, or whether he died soon after coming to
this country, or whether he was killed by the Indians after
landing, is unproved. His widow made a will which was probated Feb.
10, 1773, and is on record in Will Book 2, page 123. This document
mentions the following children: John, Katherine, Maria Katherine,
Elizabeth and Henry. Mrs. Margaret Kloos, widow of Thomas, was of
Bern township, Berks county, where she owned property.

John, or Johannes, Kloos, eldest son of Thomas
and Margaret, was born in Germany, Dec. 6, 1723, and died Sept. 21,
1795, in Alsace township, Berks county, where he owned a large
farm. He was buried at Alsace Church, as was also his wife, Maria
Barbara Strauss, whom he married June 2, 1754. She was born Nov.
16, 1735, daughter of Albrecht Strauss, and died Dec. 1, 1812. They
had ten children, but the names of only nine are recorded: Maria
Elizabeth, born April 13, 1755, m. Abraham Schneider; John, born
Feb. 11, 1757, died young; Maria Barbara, born June 27, 1759, m.
April 8, 1783, John Adam Spengler, son of Georg Christoph and Maria
Catherine Spengler; Maria Christina, born Nov. 3, 1761, died Aug.
3, 1823, m. Conrad Schoep (also spelled Shepp), who was a Hessian
soldier in the Revolutionary war; Maria Catherine, born Nov. 6,
1763, m. Wilhelm Diehm, a soldier in the Revolutionary war; Maria
Magdalena m. Feb. 9, 1794, Philip Huert (now spelled Huyett); Anna
Margaret, born Aug. 26, 1766, died Sept. 27, 1792, m. Dec. 1, 1789,
John Spangler; Anna Maria, born Feb. 26, 1769; and Jacob, born
Sept. 12, 1771, died Jan. 30, 1849, married (first) Nov. 23,1790,
Magdalena Baum (1768-1831), had ten children (Catherine, Benjamin,
Mary, Barbara, John, Catherine, Jacob, Elizabeth, Henry and
Rebecca), and m. (second) Nov. 18, 1834, Catherine (Siegfried)
Levan.

Heinrich (or Henry) Close, son of Thomas and
Margaret and great-grandfather of Jackson J. Close, was a farmer in
Exeter township and when he made his last will and testament, in
1814, he left a large estate. To his wife Catherine he gave
especially: “12 bushels of rye; 6 bushels of wheat; 100 pounds of
pork; 50 pounds of beef; 10 pounds of flax and 7 pounds and 10
shillings in money, annually.” His children bore the following
names: Barbara, Christiana, Elizabeth, Hannah, Eve, Susanna,
Absalom, Jacob, John and Isaac. His large estate contained, besides
an old barn and provision for a new one, two dwelling houses. This
will was probated Aug. 12, 1815, and is on record in Book D, page
130.

Isaac Close, son of Henry and grandfather of
Jackson J., was born June 4, 1788, and died Dec. 31, 1827, aged
thirty-nine years, six months and twenty-seven days, and is buried
at Schwartzwald Church. His wife was Susanna Wagner, and their
children were: Rebecca, Solomon, Henry, Isaac W., Henrietta and
Mary.

Isaac W. Close, son of Isaac and father of
Jackson J. Close, was born Sept. 20, 1821, on the old Close
homestead, Stonetown, Exeter township, Berks Co., Pa. During his
active years he carried on farming on his farm of eighty-eight
acres, about one and one-half miles south of Jacksonwald. About
twelve years ago he retired and now resides at Jacksonwald. For
some years prior to the establishment of the railways, he drove a
team between Exeter township and Philadelphia, conveying grain and
farm produce to that city and bringing back freight for farmers. In
politics he is a Democrat. With his family he belongs to the
Reformed congregation of the Schwartzwald Church. For many years he
was the treasurer of the Schwartzwald Cemetery Association. He was
married (first) in 1848 to Harriet O. Jackson, who died in 1953.
They had the following children: Jacob J., who was born Dec. 26,
1849, m. Annie Weidner; Susanna J., born Sept. 15, 1851, m. Isaac
A. Schaeffer; and Harriet J., born March 20, 1853, is unmarried.
Mr. Close was married (second) in 1858 to Catherine O. Jackson, a
daughter of Jacob Jackson, and the following children were born to
the second union: Clarissa J., born Feb. 26, 1859; Washington J.,
Sept. 7, 1860 (m. Elizabeth Gabriel); Catherine J., July 28, 1862
(died Feb. 4, 1884); Isaac J., March 20, 1864 (m. Clara Gechter);
Daniel J., March 7, 1866 (died March 1, 1867); Andrew J., Sept. 18,
1867; Henry J., Dec. 4, 1869; Amelia J., Feb. 21, 1872 (died Feb.
4, 1900); Jackson J., Oct. 5, 1873; and Annie J., Oct. 12, 1876
(died Feb. 6, 1878).

Jackson J. Close obtained his early intellectual
training in the public schools of his native township and later,
attended Brunner’s Scientific Academy and Stoner’s Interstate
Commercial College in Reading, Pa., and Perkiomen Seminary, at
Pennsburg. In the fall of 1897 he began to teach, and followed that
profession with increasing success for some years. His first school
was the Green Tree, in Exeter township, where he remained one term,
and taught the following term at Alleghenyville, in Brecknock
township. During the succeeding four years he taught in Exeter
township, after which he turned his attention to the insurance
business for one year being a solicitor for the Metropolitan
Insurance Company in Reading. Since the spring of 1905, he has held
a traveling position with the firm of Gately & Brennan,
Reading. Mr. Close looks back upon his period of school teaching as
a pleasant part of his life, being licensed by county
superintendent E. M. Rapp. Until he was twenty-one years of age, be
assisted on the home farm. He is thus well equipped for different
careers and enjoys the reputation for honesty and ability which is
a valuable asset to any man.

Mr. Close is a member of Schwartzwald Reformed
Church, and since 1907, has been secretary of the church council.
He is active in the Jacksonwald Union Sunday school, being its
present assistant superintendent, and formerly was librarian and
secretary. He has always adhered to the Democratic party, and is in
close contact with the party leaders in his community. He has
served in the office of judge of election, on numerous occasions,
and in the spring of 1906, he was elected a member of the Exeter
school board for three years, and was re-elected in the spring of
1909 for a second term and is now serving as secretary of the
board. Fraternally he belongs to Washington Camp, No. 230, P. O. S.
of A., in St. Lawrence, Pa.; and Lincoln Chamber, Knights of
Friendship, No. 36, in Reading.

CLOUSER,
BENJAMIN

p. 730

Surnames: CLOUSER, WESLEY, CORBIT, FULMER

Benjamin Clouser, who for many years prior to his retirement some
time before his death was engaged as a blacksmith in Reading, Pa.,
was born in Robeson township, Berks county, Nov. 20, 1840, son of
John and Anna (Wesley) Clouser.

John Clouser was for many years a farmer of
Robeson township, Berks county, where he also engaged as a
forgeman, and where he died, aged seventy-two years, his wife also
attaining that age. They were the parents of ten children: John,
Benjamin, Lucinda, Sarah, Thomas and Aaron, twins, Samuel, Henry,
Charles and William. In religious belief Mr. Clouser was a
Lutheran, while his wife belonged to the Reformed denomination.

Benjamin Clouser received his education in the
schools of his native place, and when a boy learned the
blacksmith’s trade, which was his occupation throughout life. He
was a good, practical mechanic, and a hardworking man, and in his
death, which occurred Oct. 4, 1906, the city of Reading lost an
honest Christian gentleman and good citizen. He was a member of the
P. O. S. of A., in which organization he has many friends, and was
a Republican in politics, although he never aspired to office.

Mr. Clouser married Margaret C. Corbit, daughter
of John Corbit, and to this union were born four children, namely:
William W., a draftsman employed by Cornelius Vanderbilt of New
York; Harry C., a machinist of Reading; Anna. a teacher in the
public schools of that city; and Frances, m. to Edgar L. Fulmer,
office manager for a New York firm. Mrs. Clouser, who survives her
husband, resides in Reading, where she is well known and very
highly esteemed.

CLOUSER,
DAVID

p. 651

Surnames: CLOUSER, HERT, MOMBERGER, SAXON, CANDLE, KLINE

David Clouser, in his lifetime one of Reading’s highly esteemed
citizens, was born in Oley township, Berks Co., Pa., March 5, 1827,
son of Abraham Clouser.

Abraham Clouser was a miller by trade, who
followed that occupation in Oley township throughout his life. To
him and his wife, whose maiden name was Hert, were born children as
follows: David; John, an agriculturist of Ashland, Ohio; Sarah, m.
to the Rev. Samuel Momberger; Maria, m. to Lewis Saxon; and
Malinda, m. to the late Frank Candle, and residing in Reading.

David Clouser secured his early educational
training in the pay schools of Oley township, and at an early age
began to learn the carpenter’s trade. In 1854 he came to Reading,
working at his trade in the city for a period of thirty-five years.
He first was employed in the Philadelphia & Reading shops, and
later with different contractors, at house carpentering, and was
considered a skilled and faithful workman. He erected his late home
at No. 323 North Eighth street, Reading, in 1857, and resided there
until his death March 5, 1907. His remains were interred at Alsace
church.

Mr. Clouser married Sophia Kline, daughter of
Henry Kline. She died Oct. 5, 1905, and was buried at the Berks
County Alsace Church. Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs.
Clouser, only two are living: David K., who is a machinist at the
Philadelphia & Reading shops, Reading, and now living at the
home No. 323 North Eighth street; and Irwin, boss of the air brakes
at the Philadelphia & Reading shops, Reading. In his political
belief Mr. Clouser was a Democrat, but although he took a deep
interest in the success of that party, never cared for public
office. He was a Lutheran in his religious belief.

CLOUSER,
FRANCIS L.

p. 1515

Surnames: CLOUSER, LORD, FEIGLE, MOYER, MOORE, SEIFERT, WINGERT,
THOMPSON, ZACHARIAS, REED, BITLER, ROUCH, FISHER, FIDLER, HIGH

Francis L. Clouser, one of the successful young business men of
Reading, was born in Cumru township, Berks county, Jan. 7, 1867,
son of Daniel S. and Mary (Lord) Clouser.

John Clouser, great-grandfather of Francis L.,
moved from Oley to Robeson township many years ago, and bought the
old George Moore farm that is now owned by one of his grandsons,
Simon Clouser. He followed farming and lime burning for the
remainder of his life, also owning and operating canal boats on the
Schuylkill canal, which he used to carry his lime to market. Mr.
Clouser died about 1841 or 1842, in the faith of the Lutheran
Church, of which his wife, Catherine Feigle, was also a member.
They had children as follows: Daniel; John; Benjamin; Samuel;
Lydia, who married Henry Moyer; and Sarah, who married Isaac Moore.

Daniel Clouser, son of John, was born Jan. 28,
1810. On Dec. 9, 1834, he married Susannah Seifert, born Dec. 14,
1812, daughter of Daniel Seifert. Eight children were born to them,
as follows: Clement, born April 23, 1836, married Mary A. Wingert,
and has children – Ida, Milton, Matilda, Mamie, Elmer, Annie, Oscar
and Iva; Christina, born Oct. 15, 1837, married John Thompson, and
has a son, Heber; Lucy Ann, born Dec. 31, 1839, married Samuel
Zacharias, and has children – Sadie, Sue and Minnie; Daniel S.,
born Jan. 23, 1842, married Mary Lord; Ann Elizabeth, born June 19,
1844, died Jan. 25, 1868; Edward, born Sept. 29, 1847, died Oct. 8,
1847; Amos born Dec. 11, 1848, married Amanda Reed, and has
children – Emma, Minnie and Clayton; and Simon, born Nov. 1, 1852,
married Mary Bitler, and has a son Harvey.

Daniel S. Clouser, son of Daniel and Susannah,
was born in Robeson township Jan. 23, 1842. He followed farming
there until his marriage, when he came to Reading, and found
employment with the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company,
where he has since continued. On Sept. 2, 1866, he married Mary
Lord, and the nine children born of their union are as follows:
Francis L., born Jan. 7, 1867; Rose, born March 10, 1868, married
George Rouch, and has a daughter, Carrie M.; Howard, born April 29,
1869, married, and has children, Florence, Eddie, Carrie, Fred,
Francis, and the family home is in Pittsburg; Henry, born July 21,
1870, living at Shillington; William, born Feb. 2, 1872, now living
at Reading, has two children, Francis and another; Charles, born
March 27, 1873, is at home; Irwin, born June 25, 1874, died May 10,
1882; Anna A., born March 12, 1876, married Solomon Fisher, and has
a daughter, Edna M.; and Florence M., born Nov. 12, 1884, married
Edward Fidler.

Francis L. Clouser, son of Daniel S.,
accompanied his parents to Reading when he was seven years old. He
attended the schools of Reading, and then learned bolt and nut
making, a trade he followed until 1897 when he engaged in the
retail liquor business at Eleventh and Elm streets. In 1904 he
moved to Ninth and Penn streets, and now enjoys a lucrative trade.

Mr. Clouser married Maude High, daughter of Joel
High, and they have a charming home at No. 1004 North Eleventh
street. Mr. Clouser is a member of Reading Lodge, No. 115, B. P. O.
E.; Aerie No. 66, F. O. E.; the Twentieth Century Quakers; Owl
Beneficial Association; and the Ivy Leaf Association. He has been
treasurer of the Junior Fire Company since 1893.

CLOUSER, J.
E.

p. 1105

Surnames: CLOUSER, TYSON, FRANCIS, REED, SHARP

J. E. Clouser, who is conducting a successful grocery enterprise at
Reading, Pa., is one of the most prominent men in fraternal circles
in this section of Berks county. He was born Jan. 24, 1865, in
Reading, son of William and Margaret (Tyson) Clouser.

William Clouser, who was a highly esteemed
citizen of Reading, followed hatting all of his life, and died in
1890, aged fifty six years, his wife passing away in 1892, at the
same age. Their children were: William H.; Emma m. Omer Francis; J.
E. lives at Reading; and Sarah E. m. George Reed. In religious
belief the family were connected with the M. E. Church, while in
political matters Mr. Clouser was a Republican.

J. E. Clouser received his education in the
schools of Reading, after leaving which he secured employment in
the pipe mills of the Reading Iron Works, where he remained three
years. He then learned hat finishing with his father, and this
occupation he followed until 1892, in which year he embarked in the
grocery business, continuing to the present time, and meeting with
much success. Mr. Clouser, as noted before, is very prominent in
fraternal circles. He is past master of Lodge No. 62, F. & A.
M.; past high priest, Reading Chapter No. 152, R. A. M., eminent
commander of DeMolay Commandery, K. T.; member of Rajah Temple, A.
A. O. N. M. S.; Philadelphia Consistory, 32d degree; and a member
of Allen Council No. 23. R. & S. M. He is also a member of
Neversink Tribe, No. 351, I. O. R. M., past district deputy of the
Thirty fifth District of Pennsylvania; member of the Knights of
Malta; of Mt. Penn Council, Royal Arcanum; of Neversink Council,
Loyal Association, and Immediate Relief. He represented the Grand
Lodge of the State during the Washington Anniversary. He is
president of the Union Fire Company, of which he is also captain,
and president of the Uniformed Rank. In political matters Mr.
Clouser is a Republican, and is now serving as school controller of
the Sixteenth ward.

In 1884 Mr. Clouser was married to Della A.
Sharp, daughter of John M. Sharp. They have no children.

CLOUSER,
SIMON S.

p. 1546

Surnames: CLOUSER, SEIFERT, WENGERD, ZACHARIAS, LORD, THOMPSON,
REED, BITLER, MOORE

Simon S. Clouser, who has been connected with the iron industry of
Berks county, Pa., for a, number of years, is now acting in the
capacity of superintendent of the forges of the Gibraltar Iron
Company. Mr. Clouser was born Nov. 1, 1852, at Gibraltar, Robeson
township son of Daniel and Susan (Seifert) Clouser.

Daniel Clouser, who was born in Oley township, Berks county, was a
millwright by trade, and followed the occupation practically all of
his life. His death occurred in 1880, and that of his wife in 1904,
he being sixty-eight years of age, while she attained the
remarkable age of ninety-one years. They were the parents of eight
children: Clement S. m. Mary Wengerd; Catherine A. is unmarried;
Lucy m. Samuel Zacharias; Daniel S. m. Mary Lord; Annie m. John
Thompson; Amos m. Amanda Reed; Edgar is deceased; and Simon S. In
religious belief he was Reformed, while Mrs. Clouser was a
Lutheran. He was a Democrat in politics.

Simon S. Clouser was educated in the schools of Robeson township,
and remained on the home farm until eighteen years of age, when he
learned the boat building trade with Marcus Dick, at Six Mile
Level. At this trade he worked for a number of years, subsequently
accepting a position with the Gibraltar Iron Company, with which
firm he remained several years. He then engaged in farming for
fifteen years, at the end of which time he returned to the employ
of the Seyferts, where steady application to business earned him
promotion to the position of superintendent of the forge department
in 1899.

Mr. Clouser was married to Mary H. Bitler, daughter of Henry
Bitler, and two children have been born to this union: Harvey O.,
who married Emma Moore and has two children, the elder named
Carrie; and one who died in infancy. Mr. Clouser is a Democrat in
politics, and has served for several years as school director. He
and Mrs. Clouser are members of St. John’s Union Church.

CLYMER FAMILY

p. 360

Surnames: CLYMER, ROBERDEAU, WEIDNER, RIGHTMYER, HIESTER, PIERSON,
SMITH, DIETZ, WILLING, BROOKE, CLEMENS, Von SCHRADER, SWIFT,
STRONG, LIGHTNER, MARPLE, ERMENTROUT, McCLURE, RUSH

In tracing this family, the first of whom we know are Christopher
Clymer and his wife, Catherine, who lived in Bristol, England. They
had two children, Richard and William, who came to America about
the year 1705. Both married, but only Richard left issue.

Richard Clymer and his wife, Elizabeth, had five
children. Three of them died in infancy. Two sons, Christopher and
William, both married and both left descendants, Christopher’s son
George having been one of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence.

William Clymer, second son of Richard, married
Anne Judith Roberdeau and left but one child. This was Daniel
Cunningham Clymer, who was brought up by his uncle, General
Roberdeau, Daniel’s father having died when Daniel was quite young.
Daniel Cunningham Clymer married Mary Weidner and they had three
children: Ann who died unmarried; William, who married Susan
Rightmyer and had eight children, all of whom died childless; and
Edward Tilghman.

Edward Tilghman Clymer, son of Daniel C.,
married Maria Catherine Hiester, and they were the parents of seven
children, as follows: Daniel Roberdeau, born March 31, 1819;
William Hiester, born Oct. 9, 1820; Edward Myers, born July 16,
1822; Weidner. born May 12, 1824; Mary Hiester, born July 19, 1825;
Hiester, born Nov. 3, 1827; and George Edward, born Jan. 8, 1830.

Daniel Roberdeau Clymer, eldest son of Edward
Tilghman Clymer and Maria Catherine Hiester, was born at the Clymer
homestead in Caernarvon township, Berks Co., Pa., March 31, 1819.
After receiving his education at Lititz, Lancaster county, he
engaged in the mercantile business in Reading, Pa., which he
pursued until 1852. In 1853.54 he was mayor of Reading, and some
years later held a position with the East Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, which he resigned in 1869, after which time he was not in
business. He was also a lawyer, having been admitted to the Bar
Aug. 20, 1857, but was never engaged in the active practice of the
law. He married at Mercersburg March 31, 1846, Delia Pierson,
daughter of Silas and Sarah Pierson, of Morristown, N. J. Mrs.
Clymer was born Jan. 8, 1824, and died June 14, 1861. They had five
children: Maria Hiester, born June 2, 1847; Sarah Anna Moore, born
June 24, 1849; Delia Pierson, born May 28, 1851; Daniel Roberdeau,
Jr., born Nov. 6, 1854; and Hiester George, born Oct. 21, 1856.

Mr. Clymer was well known over the whole State
and highly esteemed by a large circle of friends. He was a devout
member of the Episcopal Church, and was looked upon as a faithful
and upright Christian gentleman. His death occurred after a short
illness at his residence in Reading, Pa., May 5, 1889.

William Hiester Clymer, second son of Edward
Tilghman Clymer and Maria Catherine Hiester, was born at the Clymer
homestead in Caernarvon township, near Morgantown, Berks county,
Pa., Oct. 9, 1820. His father dying while the children were all
small, the subject of this sketch was, placed in the charge of his
uncle, William Hiester, of New Holland, Lancaster county, where he
was in his uncle William’s store for a short time, and subsequently
sent to Lititz to school. He afterward came to Reading and he and
his brother, Daniel R. Clymer, opened a dry-goods store at No. 518
Penn street. Later they moved their store to the building on the
southwest corner of Fifth and Penn streets, which property they
bought. Some years after William Clymer sold out his interest in
the store to his brother Daniel, and in 1846 he and his brother
Edward M. Clymer purchased the charcoal furnace at Mt. Laurel,
Berks county, where he William H. Clymer resided until 1882, with
the exception of about two years, from 1864 to 1866, when he lived
in Reading. In 1860 he and his brother purchased the old Oley
Charcoal Furnace near Friedensburg, one of the oldest charcoal
furnaces in the United States, and commenced mining iron ore
extensively. The Temple Furnace, a large and perfectly equipped
anthracite furnace situated at Temple, five miles north of Reading,
was built by William H. Clymer & Co., and operated by them
until 1870, when the Temple Iron Company was organized with William
H. Clymer as its president. About 1880 the Clymer brothers had the
Mt. Laurel Furnace changed from a charcoal to an anthracite
furnace, and a railroad, one and a half miles in length, was built
from the East Pennsylvania railroad at Temple to the furnace. After
these improvements were made the brothers organized the Clymer Iron
Company, a corporation which included in its operations the Mt.
Laurel Furnace, Oley Furnace, extensive limestone quarries at
Bower’s Station, iron ore mines near Pricetown, and a number of
mines along the East Pennsylvania railroad. This corporation, of
which William H. Clymer was president, was entirely independent of
the Temple Iron Company; of which he was also the president. About
a year before his death Mr. Clymer resigned the presidency of the
Clymer Iron Company on account of ill health and was succeeded by
his brother, Hiester Clymer. He, however, retained the presidency
of the First National Bank of Reading, which he held from 1876
until his death, and the presidency of the Temple Iron Company. He
removed with his family to Reading, Pa., in September 1882, and
died there July 26, 1883. He had a large acquaintance and was
greatly respected for his sterling character; was a man of
excellent judgment, and his advice was frequently sought upon many
important matters. He was brought up an Episcopalian and was a
member of Christ Church, Reading, at the time of his death.

On June 12, 1855, Mr. Clymer married Valeria,
eldest daughter of Levi B. Smith. She was born March 14, 1828, and
died Aug. 17, 1901. Their family consisted of six children: Emily
Smith, born July 16, 1856; Edward Tilghman, born Aug. 8, 1857;
William Hiester, born March 21, 1860; Levi Smith, born April 2,
1863; Valeria Elizabeth, born April 29, 1865; and Frederick
Hiester, born May 2, 1869.

Edward Myers Clymer, third son of Edward
Tilghman Clymer and Maria Catherine Hiester, was born at the Clymer
homestead in Caernarvon township, Berks Co., Pa., July 16,1822. He
went to the local schools in his early youth and afterward to the
Abbeville Academy, in Lancaster county, and to the academy of
Joshua Hoopes, at West Chester. He then selected the law as his
profession, and after pursuing his legal studies for a while under
William Strong, Esq., he entered the Harvard Law School, from which
he was graduated in 1845. Upon his return to Reading he was
admitted to the Bar on Aug, 4, 1845. He then opened a law office
and soon acquired a lucrative business, which he continued until
1857, at which time he became thoroughly interested in projecting
the East Pennsylvania railroad, from Reading to Allentown. His
efforts in this enterprise were entirely successful and he became
the first president of the company, and continued in this office
until the road was leased to the Philadelphia & Reading
Railroad Company. In 1874 he was chosen president of the Coal
Company belonging to the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad
Company, which it owned and operated in Pennsylvania, and he held
this position until his death, which occurred in New York City, May
25, 1883. He was popular in social and business circles and united
to a more than common business sagacity an abundance of
well.directed energy, a quality which received marked development
in building the East Pennsylvania railroad, and the proposed
continuation of a system of underground railway under Broadway, New
York. He was married, Jan. 27, 1864, to Ella Maria Dietz, daughter
of William H. Dietz, of New York City. They had but one child, a
son, Edward Myers Clymer, born May 6, 1869, who survived him, as
did also his widow.

Mary Hiester Clymer, only daughter of Edward
Tilghman and Maria Catherine Hiester, was born at the Clymer
homestead, Caernarvon township, Berks Co., Pa., July 19, 1825. She
was married Aug. 10, 1852, in Christ Church, Reading, Pa., by the
Rev. Milton Lightner, rector, to her cousin, William Bingham
Clymer, the eldest son of Henry Clymer and grandson of George
Clymer, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Mr.
Clymer was born at the homestead, near Trenton, Bucks Co., Pa., his
mother having been Mary Willing. He received a liberal education,
graduating with credit at Princeton College, and studied law but
never practiced. When quite young he assumed the management of the
Bingham estate. In 1842 he was appointed agent for the northern
counties of Pennsylvania, and in 1845 established the general
office of the estate at Wellsboro. His management of the large
property was highly successful, so that in 1867 he was appointed a
trustee. He ever carefully considered the rights and interests of
all, and enjoyed the confidence of the trustees, while his
courtesy, kindness and perfect integrity commanded the respect of
the tenants and others on the estate. Mr. and Mrs. Clymer resided
for a time at Wellsboro, Tioga Co., Pa., where all their children
were born with the exception of the third, who was born in
Philadelphia. The children were all baptized by Rev. Mr. Marple,
rector of Christ Church, Wellsboro. In July 1869, they sailed for
Europe, taking all their children for the advantages of education;
and while abroad, on the 28th of May, 1873, Mr. Clymer died of
apoplexy in Florence, Italy. The family then returned to
Philadelphia in the autumn. Mr. Clymer’s remains were sent home and
are interred in Charles Evans cemetery, near Reading, Pa. In
November 1878, Mrs. Clymer and her children left America with the
intention of settling on the Continent, but she and two of her
children, Richard and Maria, were drowned in the English Channel
before they reached their destination, the vessel in which they
took passage having been lost Nov. 26, 1878. The following children
were born to Mary Hiester Clymer and William Bingham Clymer: Henry,
born June 10, 1853; Mary, Dec. 13, 1854; Ellen S., Dec. 9, 1856;
Richard Willing, April 10, 1858; Maria Hiester, Feb. 11, 1862; and
Rose Nicolls, Sept. 19, 1865.

Hiester Clymer, fifth son of Edward Tilghman
Clymer and Maria Catherine Hiester, was born at the Clymer
homestead, Caernarvon township, Berks Co., Pa., Nov. 3, 1827. He
received a liberal education, graduating from the College of New
Jersey in 1847, and taking up the study of law was admitted to the
Bar of Berks county, April 6, 1849, after which he practiced in
Reading and Pottsville. He married April 3, 1856, Elizabeth M.
Brooke, daughter of Matthew Brooke, of Birdsboro, Pa. They resided
in Reading, where their two children were born and died, and where
Mrs. Clymer died Oct. 9, 1870. He was a delegate to the Democratic
Convention at Charleston, in 1860, and in the same year was one of
the Revenue commissioners; served as State senator from 1860 to
1866; became the Democratic candidate for governor in the latter
year, but was defeated by Governor Geary. In 1870 he was appointed
by the governor a member of the Board of Public Charities, then
just organized. In 1873 he was elected a representative to the
XLIIId Congress from Berks county, as a Democrat; and served on the
committee on the Revision of the Laws, on Public Lands and on the
Library. He was reelected, to the XLIVth Congress, and was placed
on the committee on Expenditures of the War Department, and the
joint Standing Committee on the Library; also reelected to Congress
in 1876 and 1878. In 1880 Mr. Clymer was succeeded in Congress
from, the Berks District by the Hon. Daniel Ermentrout, and from
that time until his death resided in Reading. His discussion with
State Senator A. K. McClure, in February 1861, in the State Senate,
on the repeal of the tonnage tax on the traffic of the Pennsylvania
Railroad Company, brought him prominently before the public. The
crowning act of his Congressional life was his presentation to
Congress of the special committee report touching the rascalities
of William W. Belknap, President Grant’s Secretary of War, which
created a great sensation throughout the land. His career in the
Senate of Pennsylvania was distinguished for dignity and courtesy
of demeanor, force and eloquence in debate, and steadfast devotion
to the best interests of the Commonwealth. He was interested in the
iron business, and at the time of his death was president of the
Clymer Iron Company.

Mr. Clymer married April 26, 1882, Mrs. J. B.
Clemens (nee Von Schrader), of St. Louis, Missouri.

Mr. Clymer died June 12, 1884, at which time he
was vice-president of the Union Trust Company, Philadelphia;
president of the Clymer Iron Company, which operated the Mt. Laurel
and Oley Furnaces; a director of the Reading Fire Insurance and
Trust Company from the time of its organization, and a trustee of
the Charles Evans Cemetery.

Hiester Clymer and Elizabeth M. Brooke had two
children: Elizabeth M., born Jan. 20, 1857; and Edward Brooke, born
March 18, 1859.

George Edward Clymer, youngest child of Edward
Tilghman Clymer and Maria Catherine Hiester, was born at the Clymer
homestead, in Caernarvon township, Berks Co., Pa., Jan. 8, 1830. He
was sent to the Reading Academy and from there to Princeton
College, from which institution he graduated in 1849. He then
became associated with his brothers, William, Edward and Hiester,
in the iron business in eastern Pennsylvania, owning the Mt. Laurel
and Oley Furnaces and other property connected with the iron
business. In 1858 he went to Mexico and joined a party who surveyed
the route for a railroad from Vera Cruz to the City of Mexico. In
the summer of 1861 Mr. Clymer raised a company of cavalry which
became attached to the 6th Pennsylvania Regiment, Col. R. H. Rush,
of which Mr. Clymer was made major in March 1862. During 1865.68 he
was occupied in mining in Nevada and Chihuahua, Mexico. In 1870 Mr.
Clymer severed his connection with his brothers in the iron
business and removed to Cincinnati, where he became interested in
the Swift Iron & Steel Works of Newport, Ky., of which his
father.in.law was president. Mr. Clymer was elected vice.president
in 1874 and removed with his family to Newport. In 1884 he returned
to Reading and again became interested in the iron business, and
after the death of his brother Hiester bought the Mt. Laurel
Furnace property and operated the furnace until two years before
his death, when he retired from active business and settled in
Reading.

Major Clymer married June 29, 1868, Alice Cary
Swift, daughter of Alexander Swift, of Cincinnati. She died in
Jacksonville, Fla., Feb. 14, 1873, leaving two children. Mr. Clymer
died in Reading July 7, 1895. He was the worshipful master of Lodge
No. 62, F. & A. M., during the years 1855 and 1856, and was
also a member of the Sons of the Revolution and of the Loyal
Legion. The children of George Edward Clymer and Alice Cary Swift
were as follows: Edwin Swift, born June 16, 1871; and George
Alexander, born July 25, 1872.

(Note: Photo of William H. Clymer is found opposite page
360.)