Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery

FROM,
WILLIAM H.

p. 921

Surnames: FROM, FROMM, HEMMIG, FRITZ, HIGH, GOTTSHALL, HORNING,
ELLIOTT, ESHELAM, LEVAN, SEITZINGER, STOTT

William H. From. As far back as the family history can be traced
there were two brothers, William and John Fromm, who came to this
country from Germany and settled in Upper Bern township where they
were engaged in farming all their lives. The name was originally
spelled Fromm, but Mr. John B. From adopted the shorter form,
though some members of the family retain the double “m.”

The one brother, John Fromm, was the grandfather
of William H., and he became the father of four children, namely:
Joseph, Jacob, Rebecca and John B., the first three dying young.
John Fromm served as a captain in the war of 1812, and was
stationed in Baltimore.

John B. From, son of John Fromm and father of
William H., was born in Upper Bern township, and learned the
shoe-making trade, following it many years. He was also track
foreman for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad. In 1849 he
married Eliza Hemmig, who was born in Cumru township, March 5,
1827, daughter of Benjamin and Anna Mary (Fritz) Hemmig; the former
was a carpenter and died in 1831 at the age of twenty-five.
Benjamin Hemmig was captain of the Light Horse Company under
General High, and this company took charge of his funeral. To Mr.
and Mrs. John B. From were born seven children, namely: (1)
Emmaline R. m. Hiram Gottshall, who conducted a shoe store at Sixth
and Bingaman streets, Reading, and they had three children: Mary E.
and F. Walter, who both died young; and J. William, who is married
and resides at Reading. Mr. Gottshall was very prominent in secret
orders, belonging to quite a number, and was a Mason and Knight
Templar. He was killed in a wreck at Rose Glen, Pa., on the
Philadelphia & Reading Railway in 1893. (2) Mary E. m. Oliver
F. Horning, an ice dealer, at Wyomissing, Pa., and their only
child, Effie Naoma, died at the age of fourteen. (3) William H. was
born in Reading, Nov. 7, 1854. (4) Lizzie H. m. John A. Elliott, W.
& R. tobacco, formerly of Pottstown, now of Philadelphia. Mr.
Elliott was a color bearer in the Civil war and was wounded in a
battle in front of Richmond. (5) Thomas H., a hatter by trade but
now engaged in the shoe business at Shillington, Pa., m. Anna F.
Eshelam, and has one child, E. Earl. (6) John S. died at the age of
twenty. (7) Annie C. died young.

William H. From, son of John B., received a
liberal education in the schools of Reading and also in Cumru
township. He worked on the farm until the age of twenty when he
learned the carpenter’s trade, and also that of wood pattern maker.
The latter trade he followed for twenty years. In 1889 he came to
Sinking Spring where he purchased a valuable tract of eight acres
of land. Upon this land he erected a house and the following year
the barn and necessary outbuildings. He then engaged in trucking
and fruit raising, to which he has devoted his entire tract. He
also later built a number of forcing houses. Mr. From retails his
product at Stalls Nos. 60-61 Opera House Market, Reading. He makes
specialties of horse-radish and asparagus, and owns one of the
largest and finest asparagus beds in this section. Mr. From is a
man of progressive ideas and is keenly interested in the
incorporation of Sinking Spring into a borough. He is a member of
St. John’s Lutheran Church and his wife is a member of St. John’s
Reformed Church of Sinking Spring. He is also a fine musician.

On Aug. 16, 1883, Mr. From married Miss Mary
Moyer LeVan, daughter of Wellington R. and Kate (Seitzinger) LeVan,
of No. 114 South Fourth street, Reading. Three daughters and one
son blessed this union: Mayme L. m. Charles E. Stott, who is
connected with the Reading Eagle, and they have two children, Ruth
Geraldine and John William; and Geraldine L., John Wellington and
Anna Dorothy.

FROMM,
THOMAS H.

p. 1242

Surnames: FROMM, HENNIG, FRITZ, WHITE, GOTTSHALL, HORNING, LEVAN,
ELLIOTT, HORNING, LEVAN, HENDEL, ESHELMAN, FISHER

Thomas H. Fromm, of Cumru township, was born Jan. 29, 1864, at
Gouglersville, son of John B. and Eliza (Hennig) Fromm.

The family is descended from Frederick Fromm,
who emigrated from Germany and in 1749 is on record as paying seven
pounds tax in Bern township, Berks county. Of his posterity, John
Fromm, the grandfather of Thomas H., was born in Upper Bern
township, and spent his entire life there, engaged in agricultural
pursuits. He and his wife had four children: Joseph and Jacob, who
died young; John B.; and Rebecca, who died young.

John B. Fromm was also born in Upper Bern
township, and his death, at the age of sixty-seven, occurred June
29, 1892, at Shillington, interment being made at the Wyomissing
cemetery, Gouglersville. A shoemaker by trade, Mr. Fromm engaged in
that occupation many years and was also employed by the
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad as track foreman of the repair
gang. In 1849 he was married to Eliza Hennig, born March 5, 1827,
in Cumru township, daughter of Benjamin and Mary Ann (Fritz)
Hennig. Benjamin Hennig was a well known carpenter of Cumru
township where he died in 1831 at the age of twenty-five years; his
widow married for her second husband William White, who died aged
eighty-two years, while she passed away when seventy-three years
old. To Mr. and Mrs. Fromm there were born seven children: (1)
Emaline R. m. Hiram Gottshall, a shoemaker, and had three children
? Mary E., William and Walter; (2) Mary E. m. Oliver Horning,
resides at Wyomissing, and has one daughter ? Effie N.; (3) William
m. Mary Levan, resides at Sinking Spring, and has four children ?
Mamie, Jared D., Wellington and Dorothy; (4) Lizzie m. John Elliott
and now lives with her sister, Mrs. Horning; (5) Thomas H.; (6)
Annie C. died young; (7) John S. died at the age of twenty. Mrs.
Fromm, the mother of Thomas H., resides with her daughter, Mrs.
Gottshall at No. 1380 Perkiomen avenue, Reading, and is in the best
of health.

Thomas H. Fromm was reared in Shillington, where
he spent his boyhood days, and received his education in the public
schools of Cumru township. At the age of fourteen years he learned
the hatting trade from George Hendel & Son, Edison, which he
followed for about twenty years, becoming very proficient in the
entire process of hat-making. Failing health caused Mr. Fromm to
retire from that business and engage in shoemaking at Edison, now
Shillington, and this has been his occupation ever since. In 1907
he erected a fine brick residence on Madison street, where he now
resides with his family. In politics he is an independent voter,
although he is very public-spirited and is found in the front ranks
of all movements calculated to be of benefit to the community.
Socially he is connected with the Mohnton Lodge, No. 485, K. P.;
the K. G. E., No. 137, of which he is past chief; and the P. O. S.
of A., No. 211, of which he is past president. He is a charter
member of Keystone Fire Co. No. 1, and has served on the
investigating committee thereof. He and his family are members of
Grace United Evangelical Church, of Edison, and he is an active
worker therein, a member of the Sunday school and of the K. L. C.
E. Society of the church.

In 1889 Mr. Fromm was married to Annie F.
Eshelman, born in 1869, daughter of Franklin R. and Catherine
(Fisher) Eshelman; and one son was born to this union, Earl E.,
Nov. 3, 1895.

FRONHEISER, CHARLES Y.

p. 1380

Surnames: FRONHEISER, KUMMERER, STAPLETON, DERR, HERB, KISTER,
WATTER, DIEROLF, DOTTERER. BECHTEL, GRIES, GILBERT, ZWOYER,
CLAUSER, ROHRBACH, YODER, WELLER, HARTLINE

Charles Y. Fronheiser, a farmer in Washington township, Berks
county, is a descendant of George Fronheiser, a farmer, who is
given in the federal census list of 1790 as the head of a large
family. His early home was in the part of Colebrookdale township
now embraced in Washington township, and he died in 1820, when very
old. His will is on record in Book C, page 186, and the witnesses
were Isaac Kummerer and William Stapleton. The executor was his son
“Georg” (pronounced Jurick). His wife Elizabeth bore him eleven
children, viz.: Georg; Johannes; Daniel; Joseph; Jacob (1799-1854)
who married Rebecca Derr (1804-1866); Samuel; Henry; Abraham;
Molly, who married Jacob Herb; Catherine, who married Conrad
Kister; and Elizabeth who never married.

Georg Fronheiser, previously mentioned as the
executor of his father’s will, was born Jan. 20, 1783, in Pike
township, Berks county, on the farm now owned by Elmer Fronheiser,
and died May 3, 1863, aged eighty years, three months, thirteen
days. He was twice married, first to a Miss Herb, by whom he had a
family of seven children: George; Samuel; Daniel; Jacob; Catharine
married Samuel Watter; Betzy married George Dierolf; Polly married
(first) Abraham Dotterer and (second) Gehret Bechtel. For his
second wife Georg Fronheiser married Betzy (Elizabeth) Derr, born
in 1781, died in 1846, and with whom he had a married life of
nearly forty-four years. By her he had three sons, as follows:
Abraham, Henry, and William, all of whom are deceased.

Abraham Fronheiser, son of Georg, born March 25,
1819, died Feb. 8, 1900, aged eighty years, ten months, thirteen
days. He was a farmer, owning the place of 140 acres in Pike
township where he died, and which is now owned by his grandson,
Elmer Fronheiser, though it is now included in Washington township.
His land line bounded the Washington township line, and his
grandson, Charles Y. Fronheiser, owned land in Washington township
which in his grandfather’s day belonged to Pike. Abraham Fronheiser
put up the present set of buildings upon Elmer Fronheiser’s farm.
He was a prominent man in his day, and very influential in the
affairs of his locality. He was a stanch Jeffersonian Democrat, and
served many years as a school director of Pike township. He married
Elizabeth Gries, an Englishwoman, daughter of Jacob Gries, a
blacksmith from above Reading. Mrs. Fronheiser died in August,
1873, at the age of fifty-five years, the mother of six children,
as follows: Sarah, who married Henry Gilbert, of Bechtelsville;
Mahlon; Jefferson; Elizabeth, deceased, who married Jacob Zwoyer;
Catharine, who married Mahlon Clauser, of Griesemersville; and
Sybilla, who married Thomas Rohrbach, of Ohio.

Jefferson Fronheiser, son of Abraham, was born
in 1851, in Pike township, where he is at present employed, working
also in the surrounding townships. His home is at Bechtelsville.
For some years he worked at Hyde Park, in Muhlenberg township. Mr.
Fronheiser married Mary Ann Yoder, daughter of George S. and
Catharine Yoder, of Oley township, and they had one child, Charles
Y., whose name introduces this sketch. Mrs. Fronheiser died in
September, 1869. She is buried at Oley Churches.

Charles Y. Fronheiser was born Dec. 7, 1868, on
the Abraham Fronheiser homestead in Pike township, where he was
reared, making his home with his grandfather during his boyhood and
youth. He was trained to farm there, and also worked on the
neighboring farms, and from 1888 to 1891 was engaged in driving the
mail from Shanesville to Reading. He then became the proprietor of
the “Keystone House,” at Bechtelsville, which he conducted for
three years, and in the spring of 1894 he began farming on one of
the old Dotterer homesteads, where he has ever since lived. This
farm consists of seventy-one acres, and was originally owned
jointly by him and his uncle, Mahlon Fronheiser, Charles Fronheiser
purchasing his uncle’s interest in the property in the winter of
1893. The place was formerly owned by Joseph Dotterer, and before
him by D. Dotterer, a pioneer, and the old stone house, built
during Revolutionary days, is one of the landmarks of this
district. The present barn, however, is modern, having been built
by Mr. Fronheiser and his uncle in 1891. Many improvements have
been made by Mr. Fronheiser during his residence on the place,
which is very productive and yields him a good income. He is a
progressive farmer and also engages in dairying, keeping from
twelve to fifteen milch cows.

Mr. Fronheiser has served his fellow citizens in various
capacities, and he has been constable of Pike township ever since
1896. He was fire warden of Berks county for three months, and on
different occasions has acted as tipstaff in the court-house
corridor at Reading. In politics he is identified with the
Democratic party, in which he has been a good worker. He is a
member of the Junior Order of American Mechanics, belonging to
Council No. 1019, of Eshbach.

On March 7, 1890, Mr. Fronheiser was married to
Rosa Weller, daughter of William and Hettie (Fronheiser) Weller, of
Pike township, later of Boyertown, and granddaughter of Gideon
Weller and his wife, who was a Miss Hartline. Five children have
been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fronheiser, namely: Verna W., Sallie W.,
Herbert W., Leroy M. and Elmer C. Mr. and Mrs. Fronheiser are both
members of the Hill Church, Mr. Fronheiser belonging to the
Lutheran congregation and Mrs. Fronheiser to the Reformed
congregation.

FRY, HENRY
H.

p. 442

Surnames: FRY, BROWN, GLASE, STITZER, AHRENS, FREY, HAAS, BROWN,
ANGSTADT, LEINBACH, FOX, BROWN, JARRETT, ROTHROCK, REINHEIMER,
WAHL, KELLER, NOLL, KRICK

Henry H. Fry, former county treasurer of Berks county, and a
prominent lumber dealer of Oley township, was born July 12, 1863,
in Ruscombmanor township, near Pricetown, where he was educated in
the public schools. He was reared on the home farm where he
remained until he was sixteen years old, when he entered the
country store of Daniel Brown, at Pricetown, and he remained there
two years, when he became a clerk in the store of B. A. Glase, Son
& Co., at Friedensburg. After continuing there a year the
senior partner died, and his son, Peter L. Glase, purchasing the
Baer general store at the same place, persuaded Mr. Fry to work for
him. He acted as clerk for seven years in that store, and then
became a partner, and under the firm name of P. L. Glase & Co.
they have carried on the business together from 1889 until the
present time. In 1894 Mr. Fry began purchasing tracts of timber,
converting the trees into lumber, railroad ties and telegraph,
telephone and trolley poles, and he has been very successful. He
officiated as a school director in Oley township for three terms.
In November, 1905, he was elected county treasurer, and served his
term of three years, which expired in January, 1909.

In 1887, Mr. Fry was married to Anna L. Stitzer,
daughter of Daniel Stitzer, and Annetta Ahrens, his wife, of Oley
township, by whom he had four children: A. Paxton, Sadie, Arthur
and Roger.

William Frey, father of Henry H., was engaged in
farming in Ruscombmanor township until his decease in 1882, when he
was aged sixty-three years. He officiated as a county commissioner
from 1873 to 1876, having been elected on the Democratic ticket. He
married Annie L. Haas (1824-1894), daughter of George Haas, of the
same township. They had eight children: James (m. Hannah Brown);
Nathaniel (m. Clara Haas); Sarah (m. Mayberry Angstadt); Caroline
(m. Thomas Leinbach); Amos (m. Isabella Fox); Lewis (m. Mary
Brown); Henry H.; Augustus (m. Annie Jarrett).

George Frey, father of William and grandfather
of Henry H., was of the same township. He married Catharine
Rothrock, by whom he had eight children: George (m. a Reinheimer);
Charles; William; Julia (unmarried); Catharine (m. John Wahl);
Maria (m. Henry Keller); Sallie (m. Nicodemus Noll); Margaret (m.
Jacob Krick).

FRY,
KEYSER

p. 800

Surnames: FRY, KEYSER, RUTH

Keyser Fry, trade factor and jobber of bicycles, motor cycles and
supplies, auto accessories and sporting goods, located at Nos.
723-725 Chestnut street, is one of Reading’s successful young
business men. He was born in 1873, in Reading, son of Daniel S. and
Angelina (Keyser) Fry.

Mr. Fry secured his education in the common
schools of Reading, graduating from the high school in 1891. At
this time he became identified with the Reading Rolling Mill
Company, as time-keeper, remaining three years, and was then with
the Penn Hardware Company for a short period. He next became office
manager for the Relay Manufacturing Company, of which he was later
made secretary and general manager, until, in 1899, when the Relay
Company discontinued the making of bicycles and sold their plant,
he embarked in his present business, which from a small beginning
has grown to a very extensive merchandising enterprise.
Simultaneously with the starting of this business, the Penn Cigar
Company was formed, and in 1905 was incorporated and Mr. Fry was
elected president, an office he has since filled. He is also
connected with the Fry-Geary Live Stock Company of Casper, Wyoming,
and from its incorporation has been president.

Mr. Fry was married in 1901 to Lorena M. Ruth,
and they reside on Mineral Spring road. He is prominently
identified with the Masonic bodies of this city, being a past
master of Reading Lodge No. 549, F. & A. M.

FRYMIRE,
JOHN

1228

Surnames: FRYMIRE, RAPP, ADAMS, COLLER, HINKLE, SEIDEL, SCHAEFFER,
REDDIG, DEEM

John Frymire, deceased, who during a long and active life spent in
Reading gained a widespread reputation as a stair-builder, was one
of Berks county’s representative men, and a veteran of the Mexican
war. Mr. Frymire was born Aug. 30, 1835, in Milton, Northumberland
Co., Pa., son of John and Barbara (Rapp) Frymire.

John Frymire the elder was also a native of
Northumberland county, where in early life he engaged in
freighting, and later his team of six white horses became a
familiar sight traveling between Milton and Philadelphia. Mr.
Frymire was a powerfully built man, but died in the prime of life,
his wife also having died when young. They were the parents of four
children: Adam, Jackson, Sarah and John. Mr. Frymire was a Democrat
in political belief, but it is not known that he took any active
interest in public matters. He and his wife were members of the
Lutheran church.

John Frymire, son of John, was bound out when a
youth to learn the cabinet making and stair building trades, and
while thus engaged enlisted in the Mexican war, which had just then
broken out. Upon his return from the war, Mr. Frymire completed his
apprenticeship, and for many years engaged in stair building, being
considered an expert in this line. Many of Reading’s finest
residences bear evidence of his skill and workmanship, and he
continued to work at this trade until his retirement in 1885. He
had built, in 1876, a large twenty-room hotel, now in possession of
his heirs, but it was left in care of his wife and children,
leaving Mr. Frymire free for his regular calling.

Mr. Frymire married Hannah Adams, daughter of
John and Hannah (Coller) Adams, and to this union there were born
these children: (1) Amanda m. David Hinkle, and had three children,
J. Elwood, who m. Carrie Seidel and had two children, Emily and
Mary; and one who died in infancy. (2) Katie m. Martin Reddig and
had a daughter, Bessie F., who m. Edward Deem and had two children,
Robert and Catherine. (3) John F. is single. (4) George died at the
age of six years.

In religious belief both parents were Lutherans,
in the faith of which church Mrs. Frymire died Feb. 16, 1895, at
the age of fifty-nine years. Mr. Frymire was a member of the I. O.
O. F., and was a stanch Democrat in politics.