Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery

RAAB, GEORGE
J.

p. 1072

Surnames: RAAB, WELDNER, HIGH, HOFFEDITZ, BISSINGER, ADAMS, TAYLOR,
ROERICH

George J. Raab, one of the well known business men of Reading, Pa.,
is secretary of the Deppen Brewing Company, and has charge of the
collections of the company. Mr. Raab was born in 1866, in Carbon
county, Pa., son of John and Christina (Weldner) Raab.

John Raab was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, and
came to the United States when a lad of sixteen years, settling
first in New York City, and a few years later in the West, and at
Phoenixville he helped to build the P. & R. Railroad. He then
came to Reading, reaching this city with fifteen dollars in his
pocket. He had learned the carpenter’s trade, and this he followed
for many years, spending much time in the anthracite coal regions.
For thirty-two years he was with the Philadelphia & Reading
Company, and was also janitor of the public school at Fourth and
Elm streets. He is now living retired at his home, No. 527
Buttonwood street, Reading. He and his wife had sixteen children,
among them four sets of twins; John, Katie, Charles, Peter, George
J., Henry, Bertha, Mary, Frank, Fred, Clara, Elizabeth, Amelia,
Anna, and two whose names were not given. Mr. and Mrs. Raab in
religious belief are Catholics. In politics he is a Democrat.

George J. Raab was educated in the schools of
Reading, and his first work as a boy was with Postmaster A. M.
High, of Reading, from whom he received one dollar a week. He
worked for Mr. High for two years, and then engaged with J. C.
Hoffeditz to learn coach painting and after two years and eight
months with this gentleman, engaged as a waiter at the caf?f Philip
Bissinger (now Brownmiller’s Caf? where he remained seven years and
nine months, then engaging with John Adams, at No. 527 Penn street,
as hotel clerk. He next conducted the hotel at Front and Hamilton
streets, known as the “Hamilton House,” and after remaining there
for four and one-half years, sold out and rented the old Keystone
Brewing Company building, and carried on the business successfully
for five years. He took as partner John Roerich, and they continued
the business for five years longer, when they sold out to the
Deppen Brewing Company in 1902. Since this time Mr. Raab has been
retained by the firm as traveling salesman and manager of
collections, and is now secretary. Messrs. Raab, Taylor and Roerich
hold the majority of stock in the brewery, and have built a new
brewery at No. 3 Buttonwood street. Mr. Raab is also a partner in
the Crescent Shoe Company, Sharman & Raab, proprietors, Pearl
street, Reading.

Although Mr. Raab has been an earnest worker in
the ranks of the Democratic party since his majority, he has never
been an office seeker, and time and again has refused to allow his
name to be used as a candidate for public position. However, at the
solicitation of the leaders of the organization in this section, he
finally allowed himself to be persuaded to accept the nomination
for sheriff of Berks county. He is very popular with all classes,
and is well known not only in business and political life, but in
social circles as well, being connected with Coatesville Aerie, F.
O. E.; also Eagles Home, Coatesville; Americus Club; Northeast
Democratic Club; Jackson Club; Commercial Association; Buffaloes,
and the Hampden Fire Association. Mr. Raab resides with his parents
in Reading, for whom he is providing a comfortable home in their
declining years.

RAAB,
CHARLES T.

p. 1175

Surnames: RAAB, BAUER, HOPF, OBENHEISER, O’BRIEN, WARNER

Charles T. Raab, the genial proprietor of the “Hotel Exeter,” at
Reading, was born March 30, 1871, at Tresco, Pa., son of George and
Savannah (Hopf) Raab.

George Raab, father of Charles T., is a
well-known resident of Reading and carries on a shoemaking
business, residing at No. 1256 North Tenth street. he was born July
26, 1836, in Wittenberg, Germany, near Elwangen, and came to
America when he was eighteen years of age. In September, 1854, he
landed in the city of New York and subsequently traveled through a
number of the States of the Union, New York, Illinois, Iowa,
Missouri, and then located for a time in Carbon county, Pa. In 1873
he came to Reading and worked for a short time in the rolling mills
but has mainly followed shoemaking. He owns his comfortable home.
In 1862 he married Savannah Hopf, a daughter of John Hopf, of
Saxeweimar, Germany. Mrs. Raab came to America in her tenth year
with her widowed mother. John Raab, an older brother of George
Raab, was the first of the Raab family to come to America and his
son, George J. Raab is a well-known citizen of Reading. The
children of George Raab and wife were the following: George,
residing in Reading; John, who died aged one year; Mary, m. to John
Warner. of Reading; Carrie, m. to Newton Obenheiser, of Reading;
Charles T.; Minnie, m. to Edward O’Brien, of Reading; and Joseph,
living in Reading.

Charles T. Raab attended school in boyhood near
his home, but he was small when he became self-supporting, going to
work in a cigar factory in his native place, and after completing
his apprenticeship he worked at that trade for twenty years. In
1873 he accompanied his parents to Reading, where the larger part
of his life has been spent although he has lived in other places,
spending two years at his trade in Chicago and one year in New York
State. For two years he conducted a restaurant at his present place
of business, and started his hotel in the spring of 1908, being one
of the two new licensed men in this line in the city. He is also
one of the four business men to whom was granted a license in the
county. These facts prove how entirely Mr. Raab enjoys the
confidence of his fellow citizens. He gives a careful oversight to
his hotel, residing in it himself, and continues some features of
his restaurant. He is a member of the Marion Fire Company.

In 1896, Mr. Raab was married to Elizabeth
Bauer, daughter of Gottleib Bauer.

RADENBACH,
JOHN

p. 1456

Surnames: RADENBACH, LEIB, LONG, WAGNER, RICHARD, STOUDT

John Radenbach, deceased, was a lifelong resident of Jefferson
township, Berks county, having been born upon the farm where he
lived and died. His great-grandfather, George Radenbach, also lived
in that township, making his home for part of his life on the place
now occupied by Miss Rebecca Radenbach daughter of the late John
Radenbach.

Mr. Radenbach was a son of John and grandson of
John, and the family has long been known and respected in this
section of Berks county. He was one of the large land owners of
Jefferson township, owning two farms, one of 170 and one of sixty
acres, all valuable land. He married Polly Leib, and both are
buried in the Little Tulpehocken cemetery in Jefferson township.
They had children as follows: William, John (who died in infancy),
Daniel, Sallie, Rebecca and John, all of whom are deceased except
Rebecca, who owns and lives upon the old homestead. She also owns
the other farm mentioned. Miss Radenbach was born in 1829, and is
at present the only representative of her family. The house in
which she resides, though over two hundred years old is in fine
condition, and is a typical old-style log house.

Miss Radenbach’s farm is cultivated by William
Long, who was born in Jefferson township in 1854, son of Adam and
Maria (Wagner) Long and he has lived on this place since 1898. He
married Katie Richard, daughter of David and Kate (Stoudt) Richard;
they have no children of their own, but they are rearing a niece,
Helen Irene, who is now attending school.

There is a remarkable grove of walnut trees on
Miss Radenbach’s farm, one of which she sold recently for the
unusual price of $110. It was nearly five feet in diameter near the
base, and three feet in diameter fifty feet above the ground,
without a single branch up to that height. The tree was sent to
Germany, where it will be cut up for furniture veneer. There are a
number of other valuable trees in the grove, but none equal this
giant of the forest, which had long been famous in the locality.

RAHN, JOHN
W.

p. 1483

Surnames: RAHN, ROTHERMEL, SCHNEIDER, HERBST, LUPPOLD, BERNHART,
MERKEL, SEYFERT, SAILER, DUNKEL, STERNBERGH, MOSER, MANNARD

John W. Rahn, liveryman at West Leesport, was born in Ontelaunee
township, near Leesport, Feb. 5, 1877, son of William Z. and Sarah
A. (Rothermel) Rahn.

Jacob Rahn, his great-great-great-grandfather,
was born Aug. 8, 1728, and his wife, Margaretha, was born Aug. 4,
1714. They had two sons, as follows: Jacob; and Adam, 1762-1842,
who had a son Adam, born in 1809.

Jacob Rahn, son of Jacob and Margaretha, was
born in Maiden-creek (now Ontelaunee) township, July 16, 1757, and
died in 1823. He married Elizabeth Schneider, born Aug. 26, 1765,
and both are buried at Gernand’s Church. They had four sons and
four daughters, among whom were: Philip; Adam, of Leesport; Jacob;
Jonathan, of Maxatawny township; and Mrs. Conrad Herbst.

Jacob Rahn, third in direct line to bear the
name, was born in 1790, and died in 1874, his remains being
interred at Gernant’s church in Ontelaunee township. He owned a
wooded farm, now the property of Christian H. Luppold, of Reading,
which Mr. Rahn cleared, and on which he erected a house and barn in
1840, both of which are still standing. Mr. Rahn was successful in
his farming operations, and was ranked among the substantial men of
his community. He married Magdalena Bernhart, and they had two
children: William; and Fannie, who married George Merkel, a pioneer
iron master in Upper Berks county.

William Rahn, son of Jacob Rahn (3), was born in
Ontelaunee township in 1821, and died in July, 1898. He was a life
long farmer, and owned a tract of 600 acres of land in Ontelaunee,
and 200 acres in Upper Tulpehocken. One of the leading Democrats of
his section, Mr. Rahn was long identified with public interests,
and he served as county commissioner. He was buried at Gernant’s
Church, of which he was a Reformed member, and was trustee thereof
in 1860, when the present church was erected. He married Susan
Merkel, daughter of Jacob and granddaughter of Casper Merkel, on of
the most prominent men in Berks county in his day. Mr. and Mrs.
Rahn had children as follows: Fannie m. Joseph Seyfert; Jacob,
unmarried; James, of Ontelaunee; Sallie m. Solomon Sailer; Merkel
M., proprietor of the “Washington Hotel,” at West Leesport;
Catherine m. Rufus Dunkel; a daughter m. Albert H. Dunkel; William
Z.; and Milton, died aged three years.

William Z. Rahn, son of William, was born in
Ontelaunee township, May 20, 1852. He was a farmer, and then for
five years engaged at the butcher’s trade. He was also a stationary
engineer. In 1885 he went to West Leesport, where he is a watchman
at the cinder crusher at Leesport. He married Sarah A. Rothermel,
daughter of John Rothermel, of Berks county. Eight children were
born to them, as follows: Fannie E.; John W.; Estella A.; Llewellyn
R., a machinist at Bethlehem, Pa.; Carrie, who died in infancy;
Laura L.; Debbie H.; and Sallie S.

John W. Rahn acquired his education in the
schools near his home, and was only a boy when he went to work. He
spent four years at J. H. Sternbergh’s nut and bolt works, and the
next three years he passed in a brick yard at West Leesport. He
then became engineer at the Leesport Furnace, remaining six years,
and at the end of that time he became proprietor of the “Fairview
Hotel” in Bern township. This he conducted for three years, and in
1907 bought out George B. Moser’s livery business, having the only
livery now in West Leesport. He also does a large business in heavy
hauling. In his young manhood he traveled from coast to coast,
through twenty-nine States, and he has had a large and varied
experience. During the time he was at the “Fairview Hotel,” he was
appointed postmaster at Strause postoffice, the office being
located in the hotel, and it was during his term of office that
this station was abandoned. Mr. Rahn is a Democrat, and at present
is election inspector of West Leesport borough. He is a member of
the Reformed (Gernant’s) Church.

Mr. Rahn married Maggie Mannard, daughter of
August and granddaughter of Jacob Mannard, who came from France and
located at Leesport, being there employed many years by the Canal
company. Mr. and Mrs. Rahn have one daughter, Ida L., attending
school.

RAHN, MERKEL
M.

p. 1537

Surnames: RAHN, MERKEL, SCHNEIDER, HERBST, LUPPOLD, BERNHART,
SEYFERT, SAILER, DUNKEL, ROTHERMEL, WEIST, SHEARER, STOUDT

Merkel M. Rahn, proprietor of the Washington Hotel at West
Leesport, Pa., and one of Bern township’s best known and most
highly esteemed citizens, was born in Ontelaunee township, Berks
county, June 8, 1848, son of William and Susan (Merkel) Rahn.

Jacob Rahn, the great-great-grandfather of
Merkel M., was born Aug. 8, 1728, and his wife, Margaretha, who was
a widow, was born Aug. 4, 1714. They had two sons, Jacob and Adam.
The latter, born in 1762, deceased in 1842, had a son Adam, who was
born in 1809, and who had William, Isaac H., Sarah, Lewis, Adam and
Mary.

Jacob Rahn, the great-grandfather of Merkel M.,
was born in Maiden Creek (now Ontelaunee) township, July 16, 1757,
and died in 1823. His wife was Elizabeth Schneider, who was born
Aug. 26, 1765, and both are buried at Gernant’s Church. They had
four sons and four daughters, among whom were: Philip; Adam, of
Leesport; Jacob; Jonathan, of Maxatawny; and Mrs. Conrad Herbst.

Jacob Rahn, the grandfather of Merkel M., was
born in 1790, and died in 1874, being buried at Gernant’s Church in
Ontelaunee township. He owned a wooded farm, now the property of
Christian H. Luppold of Reading, which Mr. Rahn cleared, and on
which he erected a house and barn in 1840, both of which are still
standing. Mr. Rahn was successful in his farming operations, and
was ranked among the substantial men of his community. He married
Magdalena Bernhart, and to them there were born two children,
namely: William; and Fannie, who married George Merkel, a pioneer
iron-master of Upper Berks county.

William Rahn, father of Merkel M., was born in
Ontelaunee township in 1821, and died in July, 1898. He was a
life-long farmer, and owned a tract of 600 acres in Ontelaunee
township and 200 acres in Upper Tulpehocken township. One of the
leading Democrats of his section, Mr. Rahn was long identified with
public interests, and served as county commissioner. He was buried
at Gernant’s Church, of which he was a Reformed member, and was
trustee thereof in 1860, when the present edifice was erected.

William Rahn was married to Susan Merkel,
daughter of Jacob and granddaughter of Casper Merkel, one of the
most prominent men in Berks county in his day. Mr. and Mrs. Rahn
had the following children: Fannie, m. Joseph Seyfert; Jacob, who
is unmarried; James, of Ontelaunee; Sallie, m. Solomon Sailer;
Merkel M.; Catherine, m. Rufus Dunkel; Mrs. Albert H. Dunkel;
William, of West Leesport; and Milton, who died aged three years.

Merkel M. Rahn was reared on his
great-grandfather Rahn’s homestead, which had remained in the Rahn
family for more than 100 years, and here he resided exactly fifty
years, locating in 1898 at West Leesport, where he has since
engaged in the hotel business as proprietor of the Washington
House. This hostelry, which contains fourteen rooms, is very
popular with the traveling public and commands a large share of the
trade of this section. Mr. Rahn is a Democrat in politics and for
nine years was a school director of Ontelaunee township, the last
three years of his term as treasurer of the board. He and his
family belong to the Reformed denomination of Gernant’s Union
Church, of which he was a trustee for nine years.

In 1872 Mr. Rahn was married to Sarah A.
Rothermel, daughter of Peter and Sallie (Weist) Rothermel of
Maiden-creek township, and they have had three children: Ida S.,
who has the telephone exchange at West Leesport and was a
schoolteacher for seven terms in Ontelaunee township, is the widow
of John R. Shearer, who died March 29, 1902, aged twenty-six years,
leaving a daughter,-Ruth N.; Wert R., a graduate of the class of
1902 at the Keystone State Normal school, who taught school for
seven terms in Berks county, married Sallie Stoudt, and they have
one son,-Reid R.; and Curvin C. died, aged three years.

RAHN, WILSON
M.

p. 857

Surnames: RAHN, SCHNEIDERIN, KUTZ, BIBER, KOHLER, GEIGER, YOUNG,
MERKEL, SHERADIN, BIEBER, SCHUCKER, MACHMER, GIFT, BIELER,
LEIBELSPERGER, BRANCHER, ERMENTROUT

Wilson M. Rahn, a highly respected citizen and property owner in
Kutztown and in Richmond and Ruscombmanor townships, resided on
Leibelsperger’s farm at Moselem Springs, Berks county, for a period
of twenty-two years. He was born June 17, 1851, in Maxatawny
township on one of the Rahn farms.

Jacob Rahn, Sr., great-great-grandfather of
Wilson M., was born Aug. 8, 1728, and he became a property owner in
Ontelaunee township. He married a widow, Margaritha, born in 1714,
and they had two sons.

Jacob Rahn, Jr., son of Jacob, Sr., was born
July 16, 1757. He owned land in Ontelaunee township. His wife,
Elizabeth Schneiderin, was born Aug. 26, 1765, and they had eight
children, four sons and four daughters.

Jonathan Rahn, grandfather of Wilson M., was
born July 17, 1796, and was an early settler of Maxatawny township.
He was a large land owner, having four farms containing over 400
acres of the richest land in the township, most of this property
still being in the possession of his descendants. He was a most
honored and respected citizen. He and his family were prominent
members of St. John’s Reformed Church at Kutztown. In politics he
was a Democrat, but never held office, being too busily engaged in
the cultivation of the soil. He married Elizabeth Kutz, daughter of
Daniel Kutz, of Maxatawny township, and they had these children:
Jacob; John; William; Eliza, wife of Nathan Biber; Sallie, wife of
Daniel Kohler; Charles; Mary, wife of August Geiger; James, who
died in 1868; Isaac, who resides in Allentown, Lehigh county; and
Hettie, wife of Henry Young, deceased.

William K. Rahn, father of Wilson M., is a
prominent citizen of Maxatawny township, owning a farm of 114 acres
of Maxatawny’s best land, as well as 100 acres in Greenwich
township, which is tenanted by his son William. He was married in
1850 to Caroline S. Merkel, daughter of Benjamin and Catherine
(Sheradin) Merkel, substantial and early settlers of Richmond
township, and these children were born to the union: Wilson M.;
Franklin C., living at home; William, operating his father’s farm
in Greenwich township; Calvin M., a grocer of Philadelphia; Louisa,
wife of William Bieber, of Reading; Daniel and Clara, at home;
Nicholas M., a machinist of Kutztown, Pa.; Emma M., at home; James,
a farmer of Maxatawny township; Jacob, a machinist of Kutztown;
Katie, wife of Daniel Schucker, of Oakbrook, Pa.; and Fred M., a
machinist, residing in Maxatawny township. Mrs. William Rahn, the
mother of these children, died in 1900, in her seventy-first year,
just three days after the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary
of her marriage, at which all of her children were present.

Wilson M. Rahn worked on his father’s farm until
he was twenty-four years of age, attending the public schools of
his native township, and later studying at the Kutztown State
Normal school. In 1876, he married Miss Lenora C. Machmer, daughter
of Jonas and Catherine (Gift) Machmer, of Leesport, Pa.; and to
them were born these children: Howard, a graduate of the Keystone
State Normal School and Pierce’s Business College, Philadelphia, is
a bookkeeper for a prominent firm in the latter city; Cora m.
Howard Bieler, a farmer of East Greenville, Montgomery county;
Lewis M., a graduate of the Keystone State Normal School, is now
teacher of a grammar school at East Greenville; Clara m. Samuel
Brancher, a farmer of Richmond township; Alfred M., a graduate of
the Keystone State Normal School, is now a senior in Franklin and
Marshall College, Lancaster, intending later to study for the
ministry in the Theological Seminary of the same institution;
Robert M., a graduate of the Keystone State Normal School, and
afterward a teacher in Richmond township, is now a student of
Pennsylvania State College, in the class of 1911; Gertie M.;
Nicholas M. is a student of the Keystone State Normal, in the class
of 1910; and Edna M. is at home.

In 1877 Wilson M. Rahn began farming on his
father’s land in Greenwich township, where he lived for eight
years, and in 1885, he began operations on the Leibelsperger farm,
where he farmed until March 1907. He then retired and bought a fine
brick house and lot on Noble street, Kutztown, and now resides
there. He owns 102 acres of some of the best land in Richmond
township, has substantial buildings thereon, and in every respect
has a modern, well-cultivated farm; and he also owns a tract of
wood land in Ruscombmanor township. Mr. Rahn and his family are
members of St. Paul’s Reformed Church. In politics he is a
Democrat. He has been a delegate to numerous county conventions,
and his vote decided the nomination, and ultimate election, of the
late Daniel Ermentrout to Congress, when he was a candidate for
that office the first time. In later years Congressman Ermentrout
often stated that Mr. Rahn’s vote caused a stampede in his favor,
and that his political success in a great measure was due to that
act.

RAMER, JAMES
H.

p. 684

Surnames: RAMER, GEORGE, SCHUCKER

James H. Ramer, senior member of the contracting and building firm
of Ramer & George, at Reading, Pa., was born Dec. 9, 1864, at
Richmond township, Berks Co., Pa., son of John and Sallie S. Ramer,
and grandson of Jacob Ramer, a farmer of Richmond township.

John Ramer was born in Richmond township, where
his education was secured in the public schools, after leaving
which he engaged in bricklaying and later in stone mason work. He
died in Reading at the age of sixty-nine years, his wife having
passed away in her thirty-eighth year, and their children were:
Catherine, James H., Samuel, Jacob, Ellen, John, Annie, William
(who died young), Lydia and Sallie.

James H. Ramer attended the schools of Richmond
township, obtaining a good education, and in 1893 came to Reading,
where he worked at bricklaying until 1903, in this year entering
into a partnership with Samuel George. They have been very
successful in their building business, and to the present time have
erected forty-three houses in the northeastern section of Reading.
In political matters Mr. Ramer is independent, and he is
fraternally connected with Vigilance Lodge, No. 194, I. O. O. F.;
Camp No. 278, P. O. S. of A., Virginville, of which he is a charter
member; and the Maccabees. He is as popular in fraternal circles as
he is well-known in the business field, and is considered a
representative citizen.

Mr. Ramer married Fannie Schucker, daughter of
Adam Schucker, and to this union there were born two children:
Harry Warren, who died at the age of seven months, eight days; and
Eva Elizabeth, who died when nine years, three months old.