Biography of Hon. Charles Joseph Esterly

HON. CHARLES JOSEPH ESTERLY

Source: Pennsylvania, A History, George P. Donehoo, (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1926), p. 261

Surnames: Esterly, Zabel, Eckert, Hunter, Deem, Shade, Fisher

Hon. Charles Joseph Esterly, whose scope of activities and interests
include representing the Berks-Lehigh District in the Sixty-ninth
Congress of the United States, and as an executive in manufacturing
circles, farming on an extensive scale, the breeding of blooded stock,
and an honored career in politics, is today one of the best known and
most prominent citizens of Reading, Pennsylvania, and its environs.
He is still a young man, and that he has been successful in such a
ramified career in so short a time is irrefutable proof of his ability
and energy.

Mr. Esterly was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, February 8, 1888, a
son of Hermann Augustus and Louise Gertrude (Zabel) Esterly, both of
whom are living (1925). Hermann Augustus Esterly was born in
Baumstown, Pennsylvania, and has been successful as a commission
merchant. Louise Gertrude (Zabel) Esterly is a native of Schenectady,
New York. The senior Mr. Esterly is a son of Joseph S. Esterly, who
served with distinction in the Civil War. The Esterly family has been
prominent in Pennsylvania since 1720, when the first of that surname
came to America from Southern Germany, and established the family in
the New World. The name was originally spelled Oesterle, which soon
was changed to the present form in America. The town of Esterly,
Pennsylvania, is named in honor of the pioneer Esterly.

Hon. Charles Joseph Esterly received his early education in the
public schools of his birthplace, following which he attended the
Reading High School, from which he was graduated in the class of 1906.
Immediately upon the completion of his schooling he embarked upon his
business career, his initial employment being that of meter reader for
the Metropolitan Electric Company, of Reading, with which concern he
remained for ten years, working up to be sales agent for the company.
In 1916 he served his connection with the Metropolitan Electric Company
in order to accept the offer of a position in the sales department of
The Berkshire Knitting Mills of Wyomissing, Berks County, Pennsylvania.
He began his duties with this well-known concern on January 1, 1916,
and has continued with it ever since. As an important factor of the
sales department of the above-named company, Mr. Esterly continues to
demonstrate his ability as a business man. Other outstanding business
affiliations of Mr. Esterly’s are as follows. President and director
of the Crystal Rock Water Company, a director of the United States
Knitting Mills, and a director of the Reading Bottle Stopper Company.
He is also owner of the famous Sally Ann Furnace Farms in Rockland
Township, near Bowers, Berks County, Pennsylvania, where the historic
Sally Ann Furnace was started in 1791 by Valentine Eckert, and later
owned and managed by Nicholas and Jacob Van Reed Hunter. The mansion,
erected in 1814, on this property, is still in an excellent state of
preservation. Altogether, Mr. Esterly owns six large farms in Berks
County. He resides at the Sally Anne estate, Rockland Township, Berks
County, where he is especially interested in breeding registered
Ayreshire cattle and Berkshire swine.

During the late World War, Mr. Esterly served as secretary of the
local Red Cross Chapter, and later chairman of the Red Cross Roll Call,
his enthusiasm and energy predicating the successful outcome of all
financial drives. He helped to organize the New Reading Fair and
served as the first advertising manager. He has also been a supporter
of the Reading Baseball and Athletic Association, having acted as
director for some time. For the past seven years, in addition to
managing other public celebrations, he has had charge of the Wyomissing
Fourth of July festivities. He has also lent his support to the
Playground Association, having served as a director.

Mr. Esterly’s achievements in the world of politics have been
noteworthy. Since his ephebic days he has cast his lot with, and his
ballot for, the Republican Party. His party soon recognized his
evident ability, and in 1917, at the age of twenty-nine years, elected
him Borough Committeeman, which office he held until 1921. Meanwhile
he had been chosen a school director of Wyomissing, holding this
position for six years, from 1915 to 1921, inclusive. In 1920 he was
National delegate to the Republican Convention in Chicago, and helped
to nominate President Harding. From 1922 to 1924, as a fitting
compliment to his successful years as a delegate and committeeman, Mr.
Esterly was elected by a majority of 6,700 to the Sixty-ninth United
States Congress to represent the Berks-Lehigh Fourteenth Congressional
District of Pennsylvania, and in view of his past record it is an
assured fact that the interests of his constituents will be well and
wisely served. Veteran politicians, who have watched the meteoric
career of the youthful Congressman, predict other steps upward when his
term in Congress is completed.

Mr. Esterly is an enthusiastic Mason, and holds membership in a
majority of the Masonic bodies. That he is ever “in search of further
light” is proved by his affiliation with Rajah Temple, Ancient Arabic
Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and other of the higher Masonic
degrees. He is also a member of Reading Lodge, Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks, and of the Loyal Order of Moose. Mr. Esterly
holds membership in many clubs and social organizations, among which
may be mentioned the Temple Club, the Wyomissing Club, the Iris Club,
and that internationally-known organization of good-fellowship among
business men – The Rotary Club, of which he was one of the organizers,
and to which at one time he gave his services as secretary. Mr.
Esterly and the members of his family attend Grace Lutheran Church of
Reading.

Hon. Charles Joseph Esterly was married in Reading, Pennsylvania,
February 14, 1912, to Beulah Shade Deem, who was born in Reading, a
daughter of Henry and Rosa (Shade) Deem. Mr. Deem, now deceased, was
for many years prominently identified in local real estate circles. To
Hon. Charles Joseph and Beulah Shade (Deem) Esterly have been born two
children, as follows: Henry Herman, born February 15, 1917; and
Richard Harding, born October 12, 1920. Mr. and Mrs. Esterly are
prominent in both Reading and Wyomissing society, and are always ready
and willing to lend their moral or financial support to any worthy
movement which has as its design the advancement of civic, municipal
and county welfare work.

Sally Ann Furnace

Then and Now

History informs us that Valentine Eckert, a Revolutionary officer,
started Sally Ann Furnace – now a picturesque ruin nestling amid the
fabled hills of Rockland Township, three miles from Topton, Berks
County, Pennsylvania – during 1791. Tradition states that iron was
made at the same spot at a still earlier but undetermined date by
Hollandish forge masters who are supposed to have penetrated the then
wilderness on a pilgrimage of research from New Amsterdam, as New York
City then was known. Since tradition is just as reliable as written
history, it is not an idle claim to declare Sally Ann Furnace one of
the primitive centers in America where an excellent quality of ore was
reduced to a superior, finished charcoal iron. The ruins of the
furnace are very picturesque.

For long historians have wondered what prompted the erection of this
now famed but silent mart in an isolated locality – far from basic
requirements of virgin ore. From later discovered data they learned
that the surrounding hills were studded with a prolific growth of giant
dog-wood trees which yielded a peculiar kind of charcoal of unrivaled
value in manufacturing iron. A few saplings are but remnants of a
remote dense growth. It required two hundred and fifty acres of
woodland per year to keep the furnace going – the daily capacity was
six tons of pig iron.

Aside from the furnace proper there is much of interest to those who
delve into Indian lore radiating for miles. No less than six authentic
aboriginal towns were in the neighborhood. On the south bank of the
Saucony Creek that bisects a vale of rugged grandeur, Indians had an
immense peach orchard three centuries ago. Further on is Flint Hill
with its extinct volcanic crater filled with monster fragments of
vari-colored stone from which Indians for hundreds of distant miles
procured material for fabricating stone weapons of war and implements
of agriculture. The covered spring on the estate was once a shrine for
vanished red men. For years there has existed a belief among
neighboring farmers that the gentle knoll due north of the mansion
house was an ancient graveyard on account of skeletons and implements
being unearthed when ploughing.

According to custom, Nicholas Hunter, once part owner of the entire
estate, named the furnace in honor of his wife, Sally (Sarah) Ann
Fisher, daughter of a prominent and substantial early settler in Oley
Valley, Berks County. During 1814 the mansion – an outstanding replica
of early Colonial architecture – was built. It is the largest Colonial
mansion in Berks County. The ceilings of the mansion are twelve feet
high and a ten-foot Colonial hallway divides the house. There are
fourteen rooms in the house – all of spacious size. The six fireplaces
are outstanding examples – some of them being constructed of imported
Italian marble. The windows are of huge size and the window panes are
curved – coming from England. The woodwork is in remarkable state and
the stair railing is considered a masterpiece. The house faces the
furnace ruins and due to a confronting mill race forcibly reminds
visitors of the feudal period. What was then considered the most
attractive garden in the county occupied an adjacent enclosure. The
largest and oldest lilac bushes in Pennsylvania stand clustered nearby.
The original estate comprised one thousand acres. Some two hundred
acres remain with the property.

A spacious barn, sheep fold, smoke house, store house, charcoal shed
and several minor buildings at regular intervals lend added charm to
the environment. Several century old hemlocks impart delightful odor
to a constant atmosphere of invigoration and health. The place –
verily an oasis of beauty – can easily be reached over an ancient
Indian trail, now a smooth road leading eastward from Lyons, a typical
Pennsylvania German village of thrifty, upright, pious, energetic and
highly respected people.

Two examples of the famous Sally Ann Furnace ten plate wood stoves
are on exhibition at the Pennsylvania State Museum at Harrisburg. The
Berks County Historical Society has placed a granite marker on the
premises, and with the advent of the automobile some ten thousand
persons visit this historic shrine yearly. The guest book kept by the
present owner, Congressman Charles J. Esterly, contains the names of
famous men of the State and nation.