Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery

OBERHOLTZER, JACOB B.

p.
426

Surnames: OBERHOLTZER, STAUFFER, HUNSBERGER, YOHN, LINSENBIGLER,
MOYER, LANDES, BLIEM, BECHTEL, MOYER, RENNINGER, CLEMMER, GEHMAN

Jacob B. Oberholtzer, miller and farmer of Colebrookdale township,
who conducts the White mill, located on Swamp creek, was born on
the family homestead in Washington township, this county, Oct. 29,
1844. The Oberholtzers have lived in Berks county for several
generations. According to the Pennsylvania Archives three of the
name came to America in the early days of the Commonwealth, viz.:
Hans Jacob Oberholtzer arrived in 1730; Jacob Oberholtzer arrived
in 1732, at which time he was twenty-eight years old, and had a
daughter Elizabeth, aged six years, and a son Samuel, aged three
years, to come with him to the New World; Hans George Oberholtzer
arrived in 1754. One of the two first mentioned settled in Milford
township, Montgomery county, (now included in Lehigh county), and
there is a well-founded tradition that Jacob Oberholtzer,
great-grandfather of Jacob B. Oberholtzer, whose name heads this
sketch, was of this Montgomery county stock. The family is of Swiss
origin, and its members have clung to the Mennonite religion. They
have been upright in morals, successful in business and true to the
traditions and faith of their forefathers.

Jacob Oberholtzer, previously mentioned as the
great-grandfather of Jacob B. Oberholtzer, located about 1770 in
Colebrookdale township, Berks county, in that section now included
in Washington township. There he continued to make his home until
he died, in May, 1811, full of years. He owned land and followed
farming. In 1779 this pioneer paid a tax of 121, 10s. sterling. In
1805 he paid $3.70 and his son Jacob, Jr., $1.79. In 1809 they
paid, respectively, $3.09 and $1.46. Jacob Oberholtzer was a
Christian man. His will, made Nov. 28, 1810, and probated May 27,
1811, (sons Christian and Jacob, executors), is on record in Will
Book A., page 584. He was survived by his wife, Esther, who bore
him the following named children: Christian, Jacob, Abraham,
Martin, Eve (m. Abraham Stauffer), Barbara (m. Jacob Stauffer),
Esther and Elizabeth.

In Book 7, page 376, there is on record a German
will of one Jacob Oberholtzer (the executors being Regina and
Joseph Oberholtzer), who may have been a son of Christian
Oberholtzer or one of the Montgomery county Oberholtzers. Martin
Oberholtzer, previously mentioned as one of the children of Jacob
Oberholtzer (who died in 1811), made his will Aug. 21, 1862, and
died the following year in Washington township, where he had spent
all his life, engaged in farming. His sons Jacob and Isaac, were
the executors of the Will. He had six children in all, namely:
Polly (m. a Hunsberger), Elizabeth (m. George Yohn), Susanna (m.
Matthias Linsenbigler), Isaac, Sarah and Jacob.

Jacob Oberholtzer, born Dec. 5, 1773, another
son of Jacob Oberholtzer (who died in 1811), was also a farmer in
Washington township, where he owned land. He was a blacksmith by
trade, and followed that line of work in connection with farming.
He married Esther Moyer, born March 16, 1784, died Jan 13, 1843,
who born him two sons and one daughter, Susanna and John M.
reaching maturity. The daughter married Henry Landes, and they had
a daughter Susanna, who became the wife of a Jacob Oberholtzer. As
both Mrs. Landes and John M. Oberholtzer preceded their father to
the grave the latter’s estate was equitably divided among the
grandchildren. Mr. Oberholtzer made his will Jan 19, 1858, and it
was probated April 19, 1859. The executors were his friends Jacob
M. and Jacob C. Oberholtzer. He died April 3, 1859.

John (Johannes) M. Oberholtzer, son of Jacob and
father of Jacob B. Oberholtzer, was born Aug. 11, 1811, in
Washington township, where he passed all his life, dying May 8,
1857, at the age of forty-five years. In his early manhood he was
engaged as a school teacher and surveyor, but he eventually settled
down to farming, the vocation of his ancestors. On Feb. 18, 1838,
he married Anna Bliem (daughter of Jacob Bliem), born Nov. 4, 1815,
died Oct. 26, 1884, and to them were born six children, viz.: Mary,
who married John Bechtel; Hettie, wife of Eli Bechtel; Amos, of
Bechtelsville; Jacob B.; Anna, wife of Joseph Moyer; and Minerva,
wife of H. H. Stauffer. All this family were Mennonites and active
in church life. Mr. Oberholtzer is buried at the Mennonite
meeting-house at Bally.

Jacob B. Oberholtzer was reared to farming,
growing up on the old home place in Washington township. As he was
only twelve years old at the time of his father’s death
responsibilities came early to him and his brother, both remaining
at home. Jacob worked for his mother until he was nearly
twenty-five years old, he and his brother buying the homestead in
1869, after which they continued to cultivate the place together
until 1872. That year Jacob B. Oberholtzer moved to Bechtelsville,
where he lived until 1903, when he came to the place he has since
occupied, in Colebrookdale township. He has the old Renninger mill
property, originally owned by one Michael Renninger, and which Mr.
Oberholtzer has owned since 1874, and which he has conducted. Mr.
Oberholtzer is a man who takes an interest in the public welfare as
well as in his own affairs, and he was prominent during his
residence in Bechtelsville as one of the organizers of the borough,
becoming its first secretary and later serving as chief burgess; he
also served as township auditor and school director. Since settling
in Colebrookdale he has been elected to the office of township
auditor, in which he served efficiently. He is a Republican in
political opinion.

On Nov. 6, 1869, Mr. Oberholtzer married Malinda
Clemmer, daughter of Christian and Barbara (Gehman) Clemmer, and
granddaughter of John Gehman. Mrs. Oberholtzer died June 25, 1888,
at the age of forty-three years, and is buried at the Mennonite
meeting-house at Bally. She was the mother of five children,
namely: Eli, who lives in Douglass township, Montgomery Co., Pa.;
John, of Philadelphia; Ida, who is unmarried and keeps house for
her father; and Abraham and David, both of Philadelphia. Mr.
Oberholtzer and his family hold fast to the religion of their
forefathers, being New Mennonites in faith. They belong to the
church of that denomination at Bally.

OBERLIN, THOMAS J.

p. 533
Surnames: OBERLIN, SPANGLER, PORTER, MULL, THIRWECHTER, HUYETT,
BURGNER, GROFF, BINKLEY, SALLADE, MYERS, LYNCH, SOUDERS, SCHAEFFER,
STOBER, SCHWEITZER

Thomas Jefferson Oberlin, a school teacher in Berks county for over
twenty-three years, and a wholesale florist of Sinking Spring, was
born at Schaefferstown, Lebanon county, June 21, 1850, son of Levi
Schaeffer and Elizabeth (Spangler) Oberlin. He was educated in the
local schools, the Palatinate College and the Ursinus College,
qualifying himself for the profession of teaching. In 1868 when
eighteen years of age, he began teaching public school in the
vicinity of Epler’s Church, in Bern township, Berks county, and he
continued teaching in different parts of the county until 1876,
when he located at Sinking Spring, and a year later opened a
private school. He there established an institution under the name
of the Charter Oak Academy, in the Mull Mansion, which he carried
on successfully for fifteen years, being supported by pupils from
the village and vicinity. Then the township school directors
erected a large two-story brick building, and established graded
schools, which caused Prof. Oberlin to abandon his academy. Having
made a special study of botany and flowers since his boyhood, he
naturally turned his attention to the extensive cultivation of
flowers, and he has pursued this business in the line of cut
flowers during the spring, summer and fall seasons until the
present time, in a very successful manner, making almost daily
shipments to large wholesale dealers in Philadelphia and New York.

Prof. Oberlin made a valuable collection of the
flora in Berks county, which he arranged and classified
scientifically, the specimens numbering over 1,000, and including
several species which are exceedingly rare. Among these he found
the very rare orchid, Pogonia affinis, C. F. Austin, in June 1882,
in Cumru township, this county, the third station know for it in
Pennsylvania, and the fourth in the United States. This specimen
was deposited in the herbarium of Lafayette College, Easton, Pa.
For this extraordinary work of classifying the Berks flora, he was
highly complimented by the late Prof. Thomas C. Porter, of
Lafayette College, the recognized authority on botany in
Pennsylvania. Apropos of the subject of botany, Prof. Oberlin, in
July, 1907, read a very practical paper, “The Redemption of the Hog
Backs,” before the Florists’ Club of Philadelphia, at is session in
Horticultural Hall, which paper was widely published in the floral
journals of this country.

Upon located in Sinking Spring Prof. Oberlin
identified himself with St. John’s Reformed Church, and he took an
active part in organizing the first Reformed Sunday-school in the
village and became its first superintendent, serving in this
position for several years. Since 1897 he has been officiating as a
member of the consistory, acting as secretary of that body.

In 1902 Prof. Oberlin laid out the Mull
plantation in the eastern section of the village into building
lots, which number altogether nearly 1,000, and a considerable part
of these lots has been sold. They have taken the local name of
“Oberlin’s addition.”

Prof. Oberlin married Eva Ann Mull, daughter of
Reuben Mull, of Sinking Spring, and widow of Dr. William J.
Thirwechter, of Stouchsburg. By her he has four children:
Elizabeth, Mrs. Irvin R. Huyett; Eva Maria, Mrs. Harry W. Burgner;
Fredericka, Mrs. Floyd E. Groff; and Reuben L. Mrs. Oberlin had a
daughter by her first husband, Marguerite, who married Dr. Thomas
G. Binkley, a practicing physician at Sinking Spring.

Levi Schaeffer Oberlin was born in 1818 and died
in 1893. He married Elizabeth Spangler, and had these children:
Thomas J.; William Wallace, m. Lillie F. Sallade; Levi F., m.
Eveline A. K. Myers; Ida Elizabeth m. Daniel F. Lynch; John Charles
m. Katie V. Souders; Tamar A., m. Harry T. Myers; and George F.,
died in infancy.

Frederick Oberlin, father of Levi S., and
grandfather of Thomas J., was born near Schaefferstown, Lebanon
county, in 1775. For many years he was the owner and landlord of
the “Franklin House” at Schaefferstown, which was built by
Alexander Schaeffer in 1746. He died in 1840. He married Maria
Schaeffer, daughter of Capt. Henry Schaeffer, and granddaughter of
Alexander Schaeffer.

James Adam Oberlin, father of Frederick, married
Margaret Stober, and his father, the great-great-grandfather of
Thomas J., was Michael Oberlin, who emigrated from Germany in 1751,
and settled in the vicinity of Schaefferstown.

Capt. Henry Schaeffer, father of Mrs. Maria
(Schaeffer) Oberlin, was a captain in the Revolutionary war, and
his company was included in the Second Battalion of Pennsylvania
Associators from Lancaster county. This company was engaged in
active service in the battle of Long Island, in August, 1776. In
1777 and 1778 he served as a justice of the peace, and as such
administered the oath of allegiance to more than 360 persons at
Schaefferstown. He married Anna Eva Schweitzer, by whom he had six
children, of whom Maria was the third. Capt. Schaeffer’s father,
Alexander Schaeffer, was born in 1712 in the Palatinate, Germany,
and emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1738, landing at Philadelphia. He
was accompanied by his wife and several children. It was he who
laid out and founded Schaefferstown in 1758.

OBOLD,
HAROLD

p. 1196

Surnames: OBOLD, FICHTHORN, HEMMIG, STOUDT, HOLLER, GRETH, HAAS,
UNBENHAUER, CHRIST, KISSLING, DEPPEN, SMITH, BALTHASER, LAMBERT,
ECKENROTH, FISHER, LERCH, BRIGHT, JACKSON, FRAME, FRESCOLM, MURPHY,
NOBLES

Harold Obold, who is known to the citizens of his section of
Reading as the proprietor of the popular “West End Hotel,” was born
Nov. 28, 1867, in Reading, Pa., son of John and Susan (Fichthorn)
Obold.

Joseph Obold, the progenitor of this old and
honored family, settled in Bern township, Berks county, prior to
the organization of the county in 1752, and in 1759 paid a federal
tax of eight pounds. His will is on record in Will Book 2, page 80,
and was entered Nov. 30, 1770. From this fact and date we glean
that he probably died early part of November, 1770. His wife, Maria
Elizabeth, survived him. From items in his will we learn that he
had children at the time of his death who were still under
twenty-one years of age. He mentions his son Joseph, who obtained
the homestead by paying seventy pounds to the other heirs and
twenty pounds annually to his mother. The will was witnessed by
Hieronymus Hemmig, Mathias Stoudt and Nicholas Holler. This
ancestor, Joseph Obold, was probably the same party who came to
America on the ship, “Robert and Alice” which qualified at
Philadelphia, Sept. 3, 1739, and on this same ship was one Mathew
Onbolt, who was, very likely, a brother. In 1759, in Heidelberg
township, lived one Sebastian Obold, who paid a federal tax of ten
pounds. We have no record of any children, or that he was related
to Joseph Obold, but it is probable that there was some
relationship between them.

Joseph Obold, the great-grandfather of Harold,
died during the building of the Union Canal, where he contracted a
fever. He was a farmer by occupation, owning upwards of 300 acres
of land in Penn and North Heidelberg townships, this being
subsequently divided among his children, and he was also the owner
of “Obold’s (later Mount Pleasant) Hotel.” Among others he had
these children: Rebecca, m. to Andreas Greth; Elizabeth m. to
Benjamin Haas; Mrs. Umbenhauer; Joseph, who had an only daughter m.
to James Christ, of Reading; George; and Philip, who made his will
March 27, 1843, it being probated June 17, 1843. The last named was
a yeoman of Penn township. His wife was Susanna, and who was
executor of the will; and Sophia and Philip who were under age at
the time of their father’s death. Their uncle, George Obold, was
their guardian.

George Obold, grandfather of Harold, was born in
Penn township, in 1800, and died in 1854. He was a tanner by trade,
and later became a farmer and dealer in grain, having a station
along the Union Canal. He is buried in the private Catholic
cemetery in Penn township, the ground for which was donated by the
Obolds, Kisslings, and Deppens, who were all Catholics, as were the
Smiths, Greths, Balthasers, Lamberts and Eckenroths, all of these
families being related by marriage. George Obold was married to
Rebecca Fisher (born in 1812, died in 1897), and they had these
children: William; Alfred; John; Frank; and Henry, who had three
children–Hiester, Bertha and Nevin.

John Obold, father of Harold, was born in North
Heidelberg township, Feb. 26, 1836, and resided in his native
locality until reaching his tenth year, at which time he came to
Reading, and spent two years in this city with his parents. He then
removed to Lower Heidelberg township, where he worked on the farm
until fifteen years of age, and at this time again came to Reading,
with his parents, attending school here for a short time. He was
employed in a grocery store on South Fifth street, the site of the
present city hall, for three years, and he then learned the
machinist’s trade wit the Nobles at Front and Pine streets, an
occupation which he followed for one and one-half years. For more
than twenty years, Mr. Obold was employed in George Lerch’s
hardware store, where the Bright & Co.’s hardware store is now
located. In 1862 he enlisted and was made a lieutenant in Company
K, 128th Pa. V. I., and served nine months. He was captured at
Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863, and for three weeks was confined at
Libby Prison, when he was paroled and exchanged. During the time of
Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania he formed Company H, 42d Pa. Vol.
Militia, which served six weeks and was mustered out at Reading. He
was ever a brave and faithful soldier, and his war record is one of
which any man might well be proud. After his services to his
country were completed, Mr. Obold returned to the Lerch hardware
store, but he subsequently form a partnership in the same line,
with J. T. Jackson, under the firm name of Jackson & Obold, a
connection with which he was identified until his election to the
office of city treasurer in 1888, which he served for four years
and then resigned, since which time he has lived retired, making
his home with his son Harold.

In August, 1862, Mr. Obold was married to Susan
Fichthorn, daughter of George Fichthorn, and she died in 1894, aged
fifty-seven years. To Mr. and Mrs. Obold there were born these
children: George C.; William and Annie, deceased; Emily; Kate;
Mary; Harold and John.

Harold Obold received his education in the
public schools of Reading, and when only six years of age began
selling newspapers after school hours for George Frame, dealing in
the Saturday Evening Review. Later he entered the employ of the
Reading Eagle, as a carrier under Charles Frame, and in the morning
carried the Reading Times for Thomas Frescolm. He continued selling
papers from his sixth until his fifteenth year, at which time he
entered the employ of the Reading Stove Works, where he remained
for twelve years in different departments, and the following six
years he was a bar clerk at different stands in Reading. For
fourteen months he carried on a retail grocery business at the
corner of Second and Spruce streets, Reading. Since 1901 he has
been the proprietor of the “West End Hotel,” at No. 129 Penn
street.

Mr. Obold is connected with Reading Aerie No.
66, F. O. E. and Unamis Tribe No. 330, I. O. R. M. He is also a
member of the West End Social Club, the Independent Gun Club and
the Neversink Fire Company, with which he has been connected since
1889. Mr. Obold has represented the fire company at various State
conventions, and at present is holding the office of captain of the
organization.

On May 2, 1891, Mr. Obold was married to Mary C.
Murphy, daughter of Charles Murphy, of Ontelaunee township, and one
daughter, Susan, has been born to this union.

OBOLD, JOHN H.

p. 597

Surnames: OBOLD, ABOLD, FILBERT, HEMMIG, STOUDT, HOLLER, ONBOLT,
GRETH, HAAS, UMBENHAUER, CHRIST, HETRICK, DEPPEN, KISSLING, LERCH,
JONES, CLOUS, EVANS, VALENTINE, FIDLER

John H. Obold, of John H. Obold & Co., hardware dealers, No.
300 Penn street, Reading, Pa., is a representative business man of
that city, and was born in Penn township, Berks county, March 8,
1850, son of Elias and Elizabeth (Filbert) Obold. The name was
originally spelled Abold, and tradition says that three brothers of
the name came to America, one settling in Bern township and one in
Heidelberg township, Berks county, while the third, it is believed,
settled in the southeastern part of the state, although nothing
definite is know of him.

The progenitor of this old and honored family
was Joseph Obold, who settled in Bern township, Berks county, prior
to the erection of the county in 1752, and in 1759 he paid a
federal tax of eight pounds. His will is on record in Will Book 2,
page 80, and was entered Nov. 30, 1770, from which fact it is
deduced that he probably died early in November, 1770. He was
survived by his wife Maria Elizabeth. From items in his will it
appears that he had children not yet twenty-one years of age. He
mentions his son Joseph, who obtained the homestead by paying
seventy pounds to the other heirs and twenty pounds annually to his
mother. The will was witnessed by Hieronymus Hemmig, Mathias Stoudt
and Nicholas Holler. This Joseph Obold is probably the same Joseph
who came to America in the ship, “Robert and Alice” which landed at
Philadelphia, Sept. 3, 1739, and on this same vessel was one Mathew
Onbolt, perhaps a brother. In 1759 in Heidelberg township lived
Sebastian Obold, who paid a federal tax of ten pounds. There is,
however, nothing to indicate his relationship to Joseph, though it
is very likely that they were related, nor is there record of his
children.

Joseph Obold, great-grandfather of John H., died
during the building of the Union canal, where he contracted a
fever. He was a farmer by occupation, owning upwards of three
hundred acres of land in Penn and North Heidelberg townships, this
being subsequently divided among his children, and he was also the
owner of the “Mt. Pleasant Hotel.” Among his children were:
Rebecca, m. to Andreas Greth; Elizabeth, m. to Benjamin Haas; Mrs.
Umbenhauer; Joseph, whose only daughter became the wife of James
Christ, of Reading; George; and Philip.

Philip Obold, son of Joseph, was a yeoman of
Penn township. He made his will March 27, 1843, and it was probated
June 17, 1843. He married Susanna Hetrick, and among their children
were: Elias, who was executor of his father’s will; and Sophia and
Philip, who were under age at the time of their father’s death, and
for whom their uncle, George Obold, acted as guardian. Philip Obold
was a stanch Democrat in his political belief, but was never an
aspirant for political preferment. The early Obolds were Roman
Catholics, and with the Deppens, Kisslings and others donated the
land for the Catholic cemetery.

Elias Obold, son of Philip and Susanna, was
reared to farm pursuits, but on reaching manhood directed his
attention to the mercantile business, carrying on a successful
general store at Mt. Pleasant, although he still owned and operated
a farm. He was honest and upright, and his word was as good as
another’s note with those he met in business. He was a member of
the Reformed Church, and in that faith died in 1888, at the age of
sixty-eight years. He married Elizabeth Filbert, who died Dec. 25,
1904, aged eighty-one years. Mr. and Mrs. Obold were the parents of
the following children: P. Reily F.,; Elias; Emma; Mary; Katie;
John H.; Annie, who died aged twelve years; and several who died in
infancy.

John H. Obold received his education in the
common schools and in the Keystone State Normal at Kutztown,
Palatinate College at Myerstown and Mt. Pleasant Seminary at
Boyertown. He taught school for seven terms, and for some time was
engaged in farm work. In 1871 he came to Reading where he engaged
as a clerk with the firm of Lerch & Co., hardware merchants, in
which capacity he remained until 1881, when he came to his present
stand, then operated by Jones & Clous, purchasing the stock,
and doing business under the firm name of J. H. Obold & Co. The
firm handles all kinds of shelf hardware, builder’s materials,
glass, paints, oils, etc., and all other lines usually carried in a
first class store, giving particular attention to shot-guns,
rifles, and ammunition. The firm also carries a full line of horse
blankets and lap robes, and is the Reading agent for the Oliver
Chilled Plows and Blue Rock Targets. Mr. Obold has sustained the
reputation of his ancestors for honest and square dealing, and his
house is known all over this section of Pennsylvania. Sixteen men
are employed, including three traveling salesmen who cover eastern
Pennsylvania.

Mr. Obold has been twice married. His first
wife, Elizabeth M. Evans, who died May 3, 1900, was a daughter of
John V. R. Evans. Three sons were born of this union: Howard,
Calvin and Lester Elias, the latter of whom died Oct. 23, 1905,
aged twenty years, five months and twenty-five days. Of the others,
Howard, a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and the Eastern
Theological Seminary both of Lancaster, was ordained a minister of
the Reformed Church in 1901, and is now located in Alexandria, Pa.
Calvin is clerking in his father’s store. Mr. Obold married
(second) Mrs. Elizabeth (Valentine) Fidler, of Womelsdorf.

Fraternally, Mr. Obold is a member of Lodge No.
549, F. & A. M.; Excelsior Chapter, No. 237, R. A. M.; Reading
Commandery, K. T.; Rajah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.; Wyomissing
Council, R. A. For over thirty years he has been a member and
officer in the Second Reformed Church. In politics he is a
Democrat, and for seven and a half years held the office of Prison
Inspector. For more than twenty years he has been a member of the
Reading board of school controllers, and has been serving as a
chairman of the Text Book committee many years. He also is a member
of the Building and Sites committee.

O’BRIEN,
HARRY L.

p. 1070

Surnames: O’BRIEN, BOYER, HILLEGASS

Harry L. O’Brien, a prominent business man of Reading, was born in
that city in 1856, son of Joseph T. O’Brien, also a native of
Reading, born in 1831.

Joseph T. O’Brien engaged in the milling
business, at the foot of Penn street, Reading. Mr. O’Brien remained
in that business for a number of years, and then engaged as a
grocer at No. 233 Penn street, and later at No. 319 North Sixth
street. continuing at the latter place, very successfully, until
his death in 1891, aged sixty-six years. Joseph T. O’Brien married
Mary A. Boyer, who survived her husband two years, and was
sixty-three yeas old at the time of her death. They had two
children, Thomas B., who died when forty-eight years old, and Harry
L., our subject.

Harry L. O’Brien received his education in his
home city and assisted his father in the grocery business as a
clerk, remaining with him for about six years. In 1877 he engaged
in the variety business in which he has since continued, locating
first at No. 626 Penn street, and in 1891 removed to his present
location, No. 728 Penn street. He carries a full line of toys and
varieties, dealing wholesale and retail, and pays strict attention
to business. Mr. O’Brien has won an enviable reputation for honesty
and integrity and this no doubt is one of the reasons of his great
success.

Mr. O’Brien was married in 1885 to Mary J.
Hillegass, of Reading, and one daughter, Edna M., who is attending
the College for Girls at Frederick, Md., was born to this union.
Mr. O’Brien is a Republican, and he is a member of Trinity Lutheran
Church.

ODEAIR, WILLIAM S.

p. 863

Surnames: ODEAIR, SCHNABEL, SHERIDAN, KIMBEL, BECHTEL, HARTRANFT,
MAURER, MILLER, HARTMAN, MATZ, KOHNS, RICE, SPAYD

William S. Odeair, one of the venerable citizens of Spring
township, Berks Co., Pa., who for some years has been retired from
active pursuits, was for a long period engaged in farming in this
section. He was born Jan. 30, 1834, at Mount Penn Furnace, son of
Patrick and Mary (Schnabel) Odeair.

Patrick Odeair, grandfather of William S., was a
native of Ireland and emigrated to America in 1798, settling in the
vicinity of the Mount Penn Furnace soon thereafter. He died, as did
also his wife. Besides his son Patrick, Mr. Odeair had at least one
daughter, Agnes, who was twice married, first to a Mr. Sheridan and
second to a Mr. Kimbel. By her first marriage she had two
daughters, both of whom married a Mr. Bechtel.

Patrick Odeair, father of William S., was born
on the ocean while his parents were emigrating to America, and he
died on his 100-acre farm in Cumru township in 1850, being buried
on a private plot above Mount Penn Furnace, on the Blue Ball road.
He started in life a poor man, but by industry and economy had his
whole farm paid for at the time of his death. Mr. Odeair was
married to Mary Schnabel, who died five weeks after her husband,
being about the same age. They had these children: John, died
unmarried; Mary m. Edward Hartranft, a lumber merchant of Kansas;
William S.; Deborah m. David Maurer, a shoemaker at Yocom’s Church;
and Patrick m. Elizabeth Miller, and had his home with his son,
Patrick M., until his death, July 20, 1908, and he was laid to rest
in Sinking Spring cemetery. Patrick M. Odeair married Mary Hartman,
and they live at No. 318 Cherry street, West Reading; they have
five children; Aquilla Gertrude, a young woman of eighteen years
who lives with William S. Odeair, for whom she attends market three
time a week; William H.; Estella H.; James M. and Dewey W.

William S. Odeair was reared on the home farm
and when twenty years of age learned the carpenter trade with
Benjamin Matz, an occupation which he followed for fifty-one years.
he purchased a tract of five acres of land in Spring township,
between the Textile and Van Reed’s paper mills, and here he built
himself a house in 1862, and here he has lived for forty-seven
years, retiring from active pursuits in 1906. In 1863 he built a
barn, and carried on farming to some extent in the following years.
In 1891 he bought eleven acres just below his home, and on it
erected a frame kitchen, but in 1908 he sold this to Mr. Kohns. For
eight years he also conducted a milk route to Reading.

On Jan. 12, 1861, Mr. Odeair was married to
Harriet Rice, born June 19, 1841, daughter of David and Sarah
(Spayd) Rice, of Walnuttown, Pa, and granddaughter of George Rice,
of Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Odeair are very highly esteemed in their
community and are familiarly known by their neighbors as “Uncle”
and “Auntie” Odeair. They have no children, but their grandniece,
Aquilla G. Odeair, has made her home with them since her childhood.

O’HARRA, ISAAC
HARRISON

p. 843

Surnames: O’HARRA, MILES, POTTS, JOHNSTON, RICK

Isaac Harrison O’Harra, who was engaged in the tailoring business
in Philadelphia for many years, and who died in that city in 1888,
was prominent in business, fraternal and political circles. Mr.
O’Harra was born in Bridgeton, Cumberland Co., N.J., in 1817, and
was educated in the schools of that place. When a boy he was
apprenticed to the tailor’s trade in Philadelphia, where his
business life was spent. He was for a number of years engaged in
business for himself, and became prominently known, his interest
being large and varied. He was connected with the Masonic order and
active in its interests, as he was also in the I. O. O. F. In
politics he was a stanch Republican, filing various positions of
trust and responsibility, and was at one time a member of the
Pennsylvania State legislature.

Mr. O’Harra married (first) Elizabeth Miles, and
to them were born four children: Mary; Annie (m. Horace T. Potts,
of Philadelphia); Agnes, deceased; and Ella, of Philadelphia. Mr.
O’Harra m. (second) Maria Johnston, a native of Lehigh county, Pa.,
and a daughter of Adam Johnston, and four children were born to
this union: Julia (m. James Rick, mentioned elsewhere); Isaac H.
(who is connected with the Fidelity Trust Company, of Philadelphia,
Pa.); Adam J. ( of Reading, employed by the Philadelphia &
Reading Railroad Company); and John B. (deceased). In religious
belief Mr. O’Harra was a Baptist, to which faith his widow, who
survives him and resides in Reading, also adheres.

OHNMACHT, ADAM A.

p.
1481

Surnames: OHNMACHT, OLINGER, AHRENS, BAER, BALTHASER

Adam A. Ohnmacht, of Bern township, Berks county, is a native of
Lower Heidelberg township, born in September, 1867, son of John A.
Ohnmacht.

John A. Ohnmacht was born in Lower Heidelberg
township, Jan 27, 1835, and he died March 12, 1906. He had
eighty-eight acres of good land in that township, and he farmed all
his life. This farm is now the property of his son-in-law, William
Olinger. John A. Ohnmacht married Elenora N. Ahrens, born Aug. 30,
1831, daughter of John Ahrens, and she died July 19, 1904, and both
she and her husband are buried in the new cemetery at Bern church.
Their children were: Adam A.; and Kate, who married William
Olinger.

Adam A. Ohnmacht attended school in lower
Heidelberg, and his first experience in practical farm work was in
partnership with his father and brother-in-law. In 1902 he bought
from his father a tract of sixty-six acres of good land and in 1907
he purchased the farm of Joseph Baer, containing 134 acres, and
this latter he has rented.

Mr. Ohnmacht married Kate Balthaser, daughter of
Henry Balthaser of Lower Heidelberg, and they have two children,
Paul A., and John William. The family attend the Lutheran church at
Bern.

OHNMACHT, WILLIAM S.

p.
1478

Surnames: OHNACHT, STRICKERT, RIEGEL, SCHNECKIN, HIMMELBERGER,
KEMMERER, GRUBER, KLINE, HAHN, SARIG, MOHN

William S. Ohnmacht, who resides on the old Ohnmacht homestead in
Lower Heidelberg township was born on his present property, Feb.
16, 1865, son of John Adam and Lizzie Ann (Strickert) Ohnmacht.

Frederick Ohnmacht, who settled in Oley
township, in Berks, about the time of the Revolutionary war, and
the ancestor of this old and honored family, was assessed in the
federal tax register from 1779 to 1781 inclusive as a laborer in
Oley township. Before 1791 he was a resident of Heidelberg
township, Berks county, where he died. His children were: George
frederick, who died in 1787; Johan Christoph; and Catherine, who
died in 1805.

John Christoph Ohnmacht, the great-grandfather
of William S., was born Oct. 16, 1766, and died on his farm Dec.
14, 1827, aged sixty-one years, one month, twenty-eight days. He
was a farmer and owned a tract of land in Heidelberg (now Lower
Heidelberg) township, near Hiester’s Mill, the present property of
John Riegel. John Christoh Ohnmacht was married to Magdalena
Schneckin, who was born Sept. 22, 1775, and died Oct. 1, 1834, aged
fifty-nine years, nine days, and their children were: Susanna, born
Nov. 1, 1800; Johannes, born Sept. 19, 1801, died Oct. 12, 1834;
William, born Oct. 19, 1802, died July 22, 1882; Cathrine, born
March 17, 1804, had two sons, Benjamin and David Himmelberger, and
died in 1875; Valentine, born July 4, 1806, died Aug. 5, 1834;
Benjamin, born March 31, 1808, died July 14, 1879; Sarah, born May
15, 1810, married (first) David Kemmerer and (second) a Ruth, and
died Aug. 30, 1875; Helen, born Dec. 13, 1811; and Samuel. Benjamin
Ohnmacht of the above family, was married (first) to Lydia
Himmelberger, born in 1815, who died in 1846, leaving three
children: William, John and Lydia. Benjamin Ohnmacht was married
(second) to a lady whose first name was Elizabeth and who was born
June 13, 1813, and still lives, making her home at Grantville,
Lebanon county, with her nephew, Percival Ohnmacht, who was born
Oct. 7, 1833, son of William and Hettie (Himmelberger) Ohnmacht.
Percival is the owner of the old Family Bible, and is well-known
and much respected in his community.

Samuel Ohnmacht, grandfather of William S. was
born Nov. 2, 1814, in Lower Heidelberg township and his death
occurred on his farm Sept 15, 1899, at the age of nearly
eighty-five years. He was a farmer by occupation, and was the owner
of the 119acre farm now owned by his grandsons, William S. and
Samuel S. spending all his life in one community. He was a Lutheran
member of St. John’s Church at Sinking Spring, and is buried at
Hain’s Church. On May 16, 1884, the house on his farm was totally
destroyed by fire, as were most of the contents thereof, including
the Ohnmacht Family Bible, but in 1884, Mr. Ohnmacht replaced the
former building with a large brick residence. Mr. Ohnmacht was
married to Mary Gruber, daughter of John Gruber, and they had but
one child, a son, John Adam.

John Adam Ohnmacht, father of William S., was
born on the homestead in Lower Heidelberg township, April 7, 1842,
and died Sept. 13, 1902. Like his father he was a farmer all of his
life, and owned the farms now operated by his sons. In religious
beliefs, he was a Lutheran, and he was interred at Hain’s Churh. On
Oct. 17, 1863, Mr. Ohnmacht was married to Lizzie Ann Strickert,
who was born Nov. 8, 1844, and now lives with her son, William S.
To this union there were born these children: William S; Edwin,
born Feb. 16, 1866, who died April 21, 1872; Samuel S.; Mary M.,
born May 18, 1868; and John Adam, born Sept. 25, 1872, who died
Dec. 13, 1883.

William S. Ohnmacht received his early education
in the public schools of his native district and later entered the
Keystone State Normal school at Kutztown, where he remained one
session. He remained at home and farmed for his parents until he
was thirty-two years of age, at which time he commenced operating
the Werner farm in Bern township, but in the fall of 1897 returned
to the home place, which he has since continued to cultivate. Mr.
Ohnmacht has an excellent property, which he operates with the most
highly improved implements, and his fifteen head of cattle and
seven horses are of the best stock to be found in the locality. The
farm was purchased by Mr. Ohnmacht after his father’s death, and
consists of 119 acres, on which is situated the large brick
residence built in 1884 by his father, and a substantial barn built
many years ago by an Ohnmacht, to which an addition was built by
Samuel Ohnmacht, his grandfather. He attends the Bingaman street
market in Reading, where he has a stand. Mr. Ohnmacht is a stanch
Democrat, was elected school director in 1899, and has since served
with efficiency as a member of the school board and treasurer
there-of. He and his family are members of St. John’s Lutheran
Church, of Sinking Spring, where many of the family name are
buried.

Samuel S. Ohnmacht, son of John Adam, and
brother of William S., was born on the old family homestead, June
28, 1867. He was reared on the home farm, and his education was
secured in Faust’s school in lower Heidelberg township, which he
attended until twenty-one years of age. Until his father’s death,
Mr. Ohnmacht worked for his parents, but in the spring of 1898 he
commenced operations on his present farm of forty-eight acres,
located in Spring township, which formerly belonged to his father.
Mr Ohnmacht’s property is a fertile one, and he raises good crops,
which he disposes of at the Reading market. In politics Mr.
Ohnmacht is a Democrat, and he has held the office of judge of
election in his precinct. He and his family are members of Hain’s
Reformed Church.

Oct 15, 1892, Mr. Ohnmacht was married to Mary
Sarig, daughter of Valentine and Caroline (Mohn) Sarig of
Lenhartsville, and four children have been born to this union: Eva
E., Katie L., Adam S., and Harvey C.