Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery

BOYER,
ABRAHAM

p. 1651

Surnames: BOYER, WINEHOLT, STRUNK, STIEF, REID, ABLING, KOCHERIAS

Abraham Boyer, proprietor of the Green Terrace Hotel, situated in
Lower Heidelberg township, one mile south of Wernersville, was born
Nov. 22, 1859, in Lower Heidelberg township, son of Moses and
Elizabeth (Wineholt) Boyer.

Abraham Boyer, the grandfather of Abraham, who
established the famous hotel now conducted by his grandson, was
well-known by the traveling public of this section, and made a
reputation for his house that has been kept to the present time. He
was married to Katie Strunk, and to them the following children
were born: Matilda, Elizabeth, Annie and Moses. Moses Boyer became
proprietor of the hotel after his father’s death, and conducted it
until within several years of his own demise, when he retired from
active pursuits. His death occurred in 1899, in his seventy-second
year. Moses Boyer was married to Elizabeth Wineholt, who still
survives and makes her home in Lower Heidelberg township, near the
Green Terrace Hotel. Five children were born to her and her
husband: Jerome, Wellington, Violet, Lemon and Abraham. Moses Boyer
served in the Civil war and while fighting for his country,
contracted an illness from which he never fully recovered.

Abraham Boyer attended the schools of his native
township, after leaving which he learned the painting and paper
hanging trade, which he followed for a period of twenty-two years.
Subsequently, however, at the time of his father’s retirement in
1897 be took charge of the hotel, but soon thereafter removed to
Reinhold’s Station, where he remained two years, at the end of
which time he located in his present place of business. He has
twenty large, well-lighted and well-heated rooms, and his cuisine
is of the best. In connection with his hotel he has a large livery,
and in every respect conducts a modern, up-to-date establishment.

In 1880 Mr. Boyer was married to Amanda Stief,
daughter of Henry and Sarah (Reid) Stief, of Lower Heidelberg
township, and they have had these children: Katie; Henry, who
resides at Wernersville and is an operator at Myerstown, he married
Alice Abling; and Jerome, a cigar maker of Lancaster county,
married Lillie Kocherias.

Mr. Boyer is an independent voter, and his
religious belief is that of the Reformed Church. Fraternally he is
connected with Reading Lodge No. 66, F. 0. E., and Sons of Veterans
also of Reading. For thirty-two years he has been prominent in
musical circles of his community and is now leader of the Sinking
Spring Band, and assistant leader of the band at Fritztown.

BOYER, AMOS

p. 9
0 0

Surnames: BOYER, BEARD, MCGOWAN

Amos Boyer, a representative agriculturist of Robeson township,
Berks county, who is carrying on operations on the old Jacobs farm,
was born May 14, 1842, in Robeson township, son of William and
Susanna (Beard) Boyer. John R. Boyer, great-grandfather of Amos,
was a native of Berks county, whence he went to Tennessee in 1835
and there acquired a large tract of land, which is today very
valuable. There he died. He and his wife were members of the M. E.
Church, and in political belief Mr. Boyer was a Whig. They had two
children: Thomas and John.

Thomas Boyer, grandfather of Amos, was born near
Boyertown, Berks county, where he was educated in the common
schools, and early in life removed to Robeson township, where he
spent the remainder of his days as a collier, burning much charcoal
for the furnaces. He also for some time worked at the furnaces at
Warwick. In 1862 while on a visit to his son Thomas, Mr. Boyer
died, aged eighty-one years. His wife, Elizabeth McGowan, preceded
him to the grave by several years. They were Methodists in
religious belief. Their children were: William, John, Thomas,
Isaac, Mary A., Elizabeth, and Susanna.

William Boyer, father of Amos, was born in Union
township, on the line of Robeson. Early in life he engaged in
farming by the day among the neighbors, and later purchased a farm,
which he operated in connection with hauling iron for the Joanna
furnace. He died March 7, 1892, aged seventy-seven years, his wife
surviving until 1904, when she died, aged eighty-two years. Ten
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Boyer, as follows: Levi; Amos;
John; Henry; William; Leah (m. Levi Fox); Mary A. and Susanna
(unmarried) ; Emily Ida (in. Jacob Peterman); and Ellen C.
(deceased). In religious belief the family were Methodists. Mr.
Boyer was first a Whig, and later a Republican in politics, and
held the office of ‘assessor and supervisor’.

Amos Boyer was educated in the schools of
Robeson township, and his first teacher, at the old Hay Creek
school was Levi Scarlet. After leaving school he engaged in driving
his father’s team, but in 1862 he went to Robesonia to engage in
charcoal burning for the old Penn furnace for three or four weeks.
At this time, fired by the news of his brother’s death, who had
enlisted in the 3rd Pennsylvania Reserves, Mr. Boyer enlisted, Aug.
5, 1862, at Camp Curtin, Harrisburg, under Capt. Heber Smith, in
Company A, 12sth Pa. V. I., 12th Army Corps. At this time he found
that the news of his brother’s death was false. He left Harrisburg
Aug. 17,1862, and on Sept. 14th following participated in the
battle of South Mountain; Sept. 17th at Antietam; May 1, 2, 3,
1863, at Chancellorsville. He was honorably discharged May 19,
1863, and reenlisted in July in Company C, 194th Pa. V. I., serving
until Nov. 18, 1863, when he was again discharged. In February,
1864, Mr. Boyer again enlisted, this time in Company D, 213th Pa.
V. I., serving until the close of the war, when he returned to the
peaceful occupations of farming and teaming. Later he engaged as a
clerk in the store of G. H. Zerr, with whom he remained about six
months, and then rented the Pierce stand at Scarlet’s Mill, which
he operated until 1871, when he erected the store now occupied by
J. H. Eschelman. He was appointed the first postmaster at Scarlet’s
Mill, where he remained until about 1880, then purchasing the
Thomas Lewis property, formerly owned by the Scarlets. Here he
remained until 1890, when he sold out to John A. McLannigan and
purchased the old Jacobs farm, better known as the Miller farm, a
tract of fertile, well-cultivated land comprising 145 acres. Mr.
Boyer is a good, practical agriculturist.

BOYER, ANDREW S.

p. 678

Surnames: BOYER, SCHLAPPICH, WAGNER, LINDEMUTH, REISS, RICK,
HEILIG, LUDWIG, BLATT, RITLER, RAUENZAHN, SPEER
Andrew S. Boyer, a retired box manufacturer of Reading, Pa., and an
honored veteran of the great Civil War, was born in Upper Bern
township, Berks county, April 3, 1833, son of Andrew Boyer.

Andrew Boyer, the father, was a farmer in Upper
Bern township, owning two farms, of two hundred and thirty acres,
respectively, situated about one mile above Bern station. He was
also a carpenter by trade, and followed that occupation in
conjunction with his agricultural pursuits. He died at the age of
seventy-five years, and his wife, who had been Catherine
Schlappich, at the age of seventy-eight. Mr. Boyer was a Lutheran
in his religious belief, and a Democrat in political matters. His
children were: Rebecca, m. to George A. Wagner; Susan, m. to Josiah
Lindemuth; Lovinia, m. to Reuben Reiss; and Andrew S.

Andrew S. Boyer attended the district schools of
Bern township and an academy at Morgantown, Pa., and in 1851 began
business as a clerk at Centreport, Berks county, remaining there
for a period of three years. He then held a like position at
Shartlesville and after a period of seven years here enlisted in
Company I, 179th Pa. V. I., his term of enlistment expiring Aug. 1,
1863. Returning to Centreport, he was engaged for two and one-half
years as a clerk, and he then went to Bernville, where he engaged
in business with Frank Rick, under the firm name of Boyer &
Rick for two years, at the end of which time Mr. Boyer purchased
his partner’s interest and continued the business eight years. In
1876 Mr. Boyer came to Reading, and began making cigar boxes by
hand, in this way building up a good local trade. For about two
years he had his place of business at his home, and he then
purchased a three horse-power engine. He took into partnership Mr.
George W. Heilig, and in 1886 they built a factory at Cedar and
Walnut Streets, at first employing only eight men. The business
grew rapidly and at the time of his retirement in April, 1906, the
firm was employing from twenty-five to thirty hands. The factory
was 70×20 feet, three stories and cellar. In his line of work Mr.
Boyer was very well known throughout the city. Since his retirement
he has resided at his home No. 819 Elm Street.

Mr. Boyer married Matilda Ludwig, daughter of
John and Sarah (Blatt) Ludwig, and to this union were born ten
children, of whom these survive: Frank J., in the publishing
business in Reading, m. Priscilla Heilig, and had children: Ella,
Howard, James, Irwin, Lawrence, Harry, William, Edward and Charles
(who died in infancy); Sallie A. m. Howard J. Ritler, a draughtsman
at the Philadelphia & Reading shops, and had three children:
Tillie E., Lillian (deceased) and Helen B.; Katie A. m. Henry
Rauenzahn, a foreman painter at the Philadelphia & Reading
shops, and has two children: Ella A. and Jennie E.; and Thomas W.,
junior member of the firm of Speer & Boyer, dealers in general
merchandise at Bangor, Northampton County, m. Jennie Speer.

Mr. Boyer is a Republican in politics, and while
in Bernville served on the school board and as inspector. He
belongs to St. Paul’s United Evangelical Church, serving on the
building committee, as a member of the board of trustees since the
erection of the church, as class leader for four years, and as
assistant class leader for two years. Among Mr. Boyer’s most
highly- prized possessions is a cane, made and decorated by himself
while in camp during the war. The carving on this cane, which is
very elaborate, was done by Mr. Boyer principally with a pen-knife
and a piece of glass.

BOYER,
CHARLES A.

p. 939

Surnames: BOYER, LINEAMOYER, LEINBACH, HOYER, SCHLOTTMAN

Charles A. Boyer, owner of the celebrated “Center Square Hotel” in
Muhlenberg township, Berks county and of an excellent farm of
twenty-five acres which he devotes to poultry raising, was born
Feb. 5, 1866, at Ninth and Spring streets, Reading, Pa., son of
Gotleib and Rosina (Lineamoyer) Boyer, a full sketch of whom will
be found on another page of this publication.

Mr. Boyer was educated in the schools of
Reading, and when a boy was employed in his father’s hothouse, also
engaging in truck farming for some years. At the age of twenty-five
years he purchased the old Leinbach stand in Muhlenberg township,
known for miles around as the “Center Square Hotel,” on which he
spent several thousand dollars in improvements and repairs, and
which he converted into one of the best stands in the rural
districts of Berks county. Mr. Boyer conducted this well known
hostelry until June 10, 1907, when he leased and erected a fine
residence on his property adjoining the hotel, which he will devote
to poultry raising.

Mr. Boyer married Naomi Susan Schlottman,
daughter of Mark and Naomi (Hoyer) Schlottman, They have no
children of their own, but ten years ago adopted a daughter Mabel
Ray. Mr. Boyer is a member of the I. O. O. F. at Leesport, and the
Rebekah Lodge (of which Mrs. Boyer is also a member); of the I. 0.
R. M. (his wife being a member of the Pocahontas Auxiliary of that
order); of the P. 0. S. of A., and the F. 0. E. He is a Democrat in
politics.

BOYER, CHARLES CLINTON (DR.)

p. 583

Surnames: BOYER, BEYER, BAYER, REIFSCHNEIDER, WELLER, FRIEDENS,
SCHAEFFER, SCHOFER, BENSINGER, YOST, BAUSCHER, BRECK, STEVENS,
WOLF, BURROWES, HUEY, GUNSETTE, HOUSER, LINTZ, SCHEIRER, BAUSCHER,
ERB, BALLIET, HANCHER, KRAMLICH, ROTHERMEL, WRIGHT, GARTLEY, POTTS,
LAFFERTY

The Boyers, as the original spelling of the name Beyer or Bayer
indicates, are Rhine Bavarians. The records show that this family
dates back into the earliest tribal history of Germany and France,
in both of which countries they hold an honorable place today. Many
of them became Protestants both in Germany and France; persecution
drove them to America. About thirty-five Boyers, as the ships’
lists show, came to Pennsylvania before the Revolutionary war. From
the well-known fact that the earlier settlers “sent for their
relatives and kin”, we gather that the Boyer settlers of
Pennsylvania were blood relatives in Europe. There are thousands of
them now in Philadelphia, Reading, and in the States of
Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Virginia, Kentucky, Missouri,
Illinois, etc.

Philip Beyer, who came over in the ship “Winter
Galley” in 1738, was the European ancestor of Dr. Charles Clinton
Boyer, of Kutztown. Philip Beyer, as the connection of events
proves, found his way into Bern township, Berks county, where as
the list of Berks county taxables shows, he owned property in the
vicinity of what is now known as St. Michael’s Church, before 1755.
This church was founded a few years before Philip died and it is
likely that he is buried in the cemetery of St. Michael’s, but the
brown headstones found over the earliest graves of the church
reveal nothing concerning him. The early church records, together
with the list of Bern taxables, seem to prove that there were at
least four sons, namely: Michael, Henry, John and Christopher. The
mother’s name, at this writing, has not been ascertained. Philip
disappears from the tax list in 1780.

Christopher Beyer, in all probability the
youngest son of Philip Beyer, was born in Bern township, Berks
country, about 1740 or 1745. He became a member of the Lutheran
Church. To his marriage with Katherine Reifschneider were born
children as follows: Christopher, born in 1765; Jacob, 1767; Henry;
Christian, 1781; Daniel, and two daughters. In 1785, or soon
afterwards, the family removed to what is now Brunswick township,
Schuylkill county. The elder Christopher’s name appears for the
first time on the tax list of Brunswick township in 1791. He lived
in a log hut, probably constructed by himself, against a hill side
in the rear of what is now known as Friedens Church, about a mile
north of McKeansburg. Whether or not he was the schoolmaster of the
congregation is a little uncertain. Missionaries stopped at his
house and preached in his barn, as Rev. H. A. Weller records in his
history of Friedens Church. He was certainly closely identified
with this congregation, as we infer from a fragment of church
records to which his name is signed. His name disappears from the
tax list in 1811, or soon afterward. He and his wife lie buried in
Boyer’s Row, Friedens cemetery, but the brown headstones that
marked the graves were rudely removed when the present church
building was erected.

Jacob Boyer, second son of Christopher and
Katherine (Reifshneider) Beyer, was born in Bern township, Berks
county, Jan. 14, 1767, and became a member of Frieden’s Church
(Lutheran). In 1802 he owned a large farm in Lewistown Valley,
about four miles north of Friedens Church. He died April 1, 1829,
and lies buried in Frieden’s cemetery. His wife, Susanna Schaeffer,
born Jan. 14, 1775, died Nov. 4, 1849, in the home of a daughter,
and is buried in the cemetery of the Lutheran Church, East
Germantown, Ind. Their children were: Jacob, Samuel, Joseph,
Daniel, Mary, Elizabeth, Susan, Kate and Hettie.

Samuel Boyer, second son of Jacob and Susanna
(Schaeffer) Boyer, was born in Lewistown, Schuylkill county, Feb.
12, 1801. He was confirmed in the Lutheran Church and on Nov. 9,
1823, was married by Pastor Schofer to Lydia Bensinger, daughter of
Michael Bensinger. When his father died six years later, Samuel,
who was a blacksmith by trade, took the father’s farm, which, as
the deeds show, comprised about 300 acres. On the Yost farm, which
he owned soon afterward, he carried on milling. He was prominently
identified with the founding and maintenance of the Lutheran Church
at Lewistown. In 1873, when he was serving as township supervisor,
he died in the Bauscher home, where he had called to warm himself
on a bitterly cold morning. His wife, Lydia, born Feb. 29, 1808,
survived him until 1894. They are buried at Lewistown. The sons and
daughters of this marriage were: Israel, Samuel, Emanuel, Joseph,
Benjamin, William, Jacob, Daniel, John, Catherine, Elizabeth and
Caroline.

Joseph Boyer, fourth son of Samuel and Lydia
(Bensinger) Boyer, was born Jan. 27, 1831. When he began to go to
school the free school bill of 1834 and 1835, framed by Lawyer
Breck and saved by Thaddeus Stevens in Governor Wolf’s
administration, had just been put into operation by Secretary of
State Thomas Burrowes. The Lewistown school fell in line in 1837.
The teachers, however, were poorly qualified. Joseph’s best teacher
was a Mr. Huey. The school terms were short, about three months,
and the branches about the same as those of subscription schools.
The rod was freely used, and the pupils were hardly able to
understand the importance of an education. The English language was
not in high repute in the valley as yet, and German spelling,
together with the trapping system in the “paragraph reading” of the
German Psalter, was about all that counted for much in serious
study. There were no blackboards and few books. The long plank
benches were arranged around the walls of the room, with benches
for the smaller boys and girls in the middle of the room. The old
frame schoolhouse, however, in which Joseph Boyer received his
education, has long since been replaced. Joseph was a miller by
trade, but lived on a Lewistown farm the greater part of his life.
He was confirmed in the Lutheran Church of Lewistown. In 1856 he
married Magdalena Gunsette, daughter of Christian Gunsette (who
came from Alsace with his father Philip Henry and his mother
Margaret (Houser) Gunsette in 1828) and Mary (Lintz) Gunsette(a
Lehigh county girl). To this marriage were born: Charles Clinton,
Alice Minerva, George Harris and Frank Samuel. Joseph Boyer served
his township eight terms as supervisor of roads, took an active
interest in the political affairs of his times, and lived to enjoy
a ripe old age. At this writing he is seventy-nine years old and
his faithful helpmate seventy-five.

Dr. Charles Clinton Boyer, eldest son of Joseph
and Magdalena (Gunsette) Boyer, was born at Lewistown, Schuylkill
county, Aug. 6, 1860. His first school teacher was Mr. Benjamin
Scheirer, a man of learning, of charming personality and remarkable
teaching powers. His last teacher in the public schools was that
excellent master of boys, Mr. David Bauscher. He was confirmed in
the Lutheran faith by Rev. I. N. S. Erb, and it was partly through
his influence, and that of Mr. Bauscher, that in 1877 Mr. Boyer
first came to the Kutztown Normal school, to which he continued to
return every spring as a student until 1883. For one term he was a
pupil of the now illustrious Dr. Thomas Balliet in his Center
Square Academy. He prepared for college under Rev. Mr. Erb, while
teaching at Landingville and Orwigsburg. In 1885 he was graduated
from Muhlenberg College with second honor. He studied Theology at
the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, but, called to
the chair of Latin and Greek at Kutztown through Dr. Schaeffer, he
completed his theological course under Dr. Hancher, and was
ordained with his class in 1888. Then, while teaching, writing and
preaching, he completed six years of post-graduate work, graduating
from Wooster University in 1894, and receiving the title Doctor of
Philosophy cum laude. His thesis on “Psychic Initiative in
Education” attracted considerable attention. After that he studied
psychology, experimental and theoretical, under Dr. Hugo
Munsterberg, of Harvard University. In 1901 he traveled in Europe,
accompanied by Professor George E. Kramlich, the main object of
interest being history, education and art.

Dr. Boyer began his teaching career at
Patterson, Schuylkill Co., Pa., when he was seventeen years of age.
Then he taught an ungraded school in Lewistown for two years. He
gave up this school for the Landingville grammar school, in order
that he might take up college preparatory work under the Rev. Mr.
Erb, of Orwigsburg. This proved to be his stepping-stone to the
principalship of the Orwigsburg high school, where he remained
until in 1883, when he entered college. In the fall of 1887, after
conducting a very successful summer school for teaching at
Lynnville, Pa., he was called to the chair of Latin and Greek in
the State Normal School, at Kutztown, Pa. Two years later when he
had entered upon his duties as professor of Greek in the
Pennsylvania Military Academy, at Chester, Pa., he was recalled to
Kutztown to teach psychology and English classics. Two years later,
after supplying the pulpit at St. John’s Lutheran Church at
Boyertown, Pa., for six months or more, and confirming a large
class of catechumens, he went to Boyertown as pastor of this
congregation, remaining there until 1893. Then Dr. Schaeffer, the
principal of the Normal School, became Superintendent of Public
Instruction, and Professor Boyer was called back to the Normal
again, this time to the chair of Pedagogy, under the principalship
of Dr. Hancher. In 1900, when Vice Principal Rothermel became
Principal, Dr. Boyer became Vice Principal of the Normal School, a
position which he fills with much ability at this writing.

Dr. Boyer has few superiors as a teacher. His
rapid promotions were due not simply to his acknowledged
scholarship, but to his marked teaching powers. Progressive and
modern in spirit and method, he is also well proportioned and
conservative. He has served the cause of the Normal school and
education about twenty-two years at this writing. As an institute
instructor and lecturer he is as well received in Maryland,
Delaware and New Jersey as in Pennsylvania. Among the subjects on
which he has lectured most frequently, are “Mental Moods and
Tenses,” “On the Up-Grade,” “Lawlessness in Pupils,” “Serpent and
Dove in Discipline,” “As You Would Like It in Schooldays,” “The
Roman Child and Ours,” “Spencer’s Theory of Consequence,” “In Touch
with the Infinite in Teaching,” “Vulcan and Venus,” and “An Hour in
Europe.” He is considered an eloquent and forceful talker, and a
master in the art of thinking, and this is as true of his sermons
as of his lectures. The most tempting propositions have at this
writing not persuaded him to leave Kutztown.

As an author Dr. Boyer has won signal success.
He published his “Concrete Psychology” in 1891, for the use of his
own classes. “Principles and Methods of Teaching,” a work that has
now gone through many editions, and that is deservedly popular,
followed in 1899. A book entitled “Waymarks of General History” was
published in 1902. This work, like that on methods of teaching, is
highly praised by the reviewers. His book on “Modern Methods for
Modern Teachers” was published in 1909. He is a member of the
National Education Association, the Pennsylvania German Society,
and the Historical Society of Berks county, etc.

In 1889 Dr. Charles Clinton Boyer was united in
marriage with Margie Wright, daughter of Calvin D. Wright, a
cavalry officer of the Third Pennsylvania Regiment during the Civil
war, and his wife, Katherine (Gartley) Wright. She was born Oct.
11, 1869, in Pottsville, Pa. The Wrights were originally English
Quakers and the Gartleys Scotch Presbyterians. Through her Gartley
ancestry Mrs. Boyer is related to the Potts family, founders of
Pottstown, Pa., and through her father’s more distant Lafferty
ancestry she is also of Irish descent. She is a cultured artist and
musician, and devotes much of her energies to church work. There is
one son, Karl Wright Boyer, born at Mt. Carmel, Pa., Nov. 26, 1897.

BOYER,
CHARLES G.

p. 1132

Surnames: BOYER, GETZ, NAGLE, RUDY, KESPER, RIGHTMYER, SHANNEMAN,
O’BRIEN, STROHACKER, DAVIS, STEINER, HOGE, HENCHEN, PENGERLY,
LAUTHER

Charles G. Boyer, one of Reading’s representative young business
men, and the popular proprietor of the “Madison Hotel,” corner of
Third and Franklin streets, is a native of Reading, born June 29,
1869, son of Alvin N. and Mary Ann (Getz) Boyer, grandson of Jacob
and Susan (Nagle) Boyer, and great-grandson of Henry and Rebecca
(Rudy) Boyer.

Henry Boyer was a butcher by trade, and he
followed this occupation for many years in Reading, on South Sixth
street, just beyond Franklin. He accumulated considerable property
for his children, who were: Henry; John; Betsy, m. to Abraham
Kesper; Jacob, grandfather of Charles G.; George; Rachel, m. to a
Rightmyer; and Charles. In religious belief the family were
Lutherans. Politically he was a Democrat.

Jacob Boyer, son of Henry, was also a butcher by
trade, and followed this practically all of his life, retiring in
1862. He was a man well known for his sterling traits of character,
honest and upright in all of his dealings. He and his wife, Susan
Nagle, were the parents of: Harriet, m. to John Shanneman; Peter;
Mary, m. to Joseph O’Brien; Alvin N., father of Charles G.; Sarah
Louisa, m. to John Strohacker; Henry; Esther, single; and Jacob.
The father was a member of the Lutheran Church, and the mother of
the Reformed. He died in November, 1871, aged seventy years, two
months, and his wife at the age of ninety years, in 1890. Mr. Boyer
was formerly a Democrat, but before his death joined the ranks of
the Republican party.

Alvin N. Boyer was born in Reading, Pa., July
23, 1843, and was educated in a school conducted by Joshua Davis,
an old Quaker. The school was located on Washington Street, and was
known as the Quaker school house. Later he attended a school at the
corner of Sixth and Walnut streets, under Jesse Steiner, and still
later a school under the tutorship of Benjamin Hoge. After
completing his education he went into the butchering business, in
which he continued until 1903, in which year he retired. He
conducted a meat market on Penn street, between Second and Third
streets; having located there in 1868. Mr. Boyer was married in
1861 to Mary Ann Getz, daughter of Aaron Getz, and a second cousin
to Ex-Mayor Getz’s father. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Boyer
were: Clara, m. to George Henchen; Emma, m. to Edward Pengerly;
Charles. G., and Miss Martha. Politically Alvin N. Boyer is a
Republican, and was a member of the board of school directors for
several years.

Charles G. Boyer was educated in the public
schools of Reading, and the Chester Farr Business College. After
completing his schooling he engaged at the butchering business
until 1901, when he embarked in the hotel business, at the corner
of Franklin and Third streets. Mr. Boyer is well adapted to the
work of a hotel manager and proprietor, and his hotel-the “Madison”
-is one of the nicest little family hotels in Reading. Its rooms
are well furnished with modern conveniences. Mr. Boyer is well and
favorably known in Reading and commands the public respect.

Mr. Boyer. was married Oct. 5, 1895, to
Catherine Lauther, daughter of Gerhardt Lauther, a prominent hotel
man of Reading, who formerly owned and conducted the “Madison
Hotel.” Mr. Boyer is a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, and
the Foresters of America, and he belongs to Trinity Lutheran
Church. He is a Republican in politics but has never been an office
seeker, taking only a good citizen’s interest therein.

BOYER,
CYRANUS F.

p. 829

Surnames: BOYER, MILLER, KUTZ, SCHWOYER, DeLONG, FREY, REINHEIMER,
SCHAEFFER, SCHULER, HAAG, SPEIKER

Cyranus F. Boyer, former burgess of the thriving borough of
Fleetwood, is extensively engaged in the manufacture of ice-cream,
and is also conducting a first-class restaurant on Main street. He
was born Oct. 24, 1862, in Rockland township, son of James Boyer.

Reuben Boyer, grandfather of Cyranus F., was a
miner and woodchopper of Ruscombmanor township. He married Esther
Miller, and they became the parents of: William, Emeline, James,
Levi, Henry, Sarah, Hannah and Isaac.

James Boyer, son of Reuben, like his father, was
a miner of Ruscombmanor township, and was killed Oct. 10, 1881, in
the caving in of an embankment while at work at the Kutz, Schwoyer
& DeLong ore mines of the township in which he resided. He
married Mary Frey, daughter of George and Susannah (Reinheimer)
Frey, of Ruscombmanor, and they had children: Hettie; Cyranus F.;
William 0.; Lizzie, who died aged four years; Charles H.; Emma F.;
Howard F.; Peter F.; Clara F. and James F.

Soon after his birth Cyranus F. Boyer was taken
to Ruscombmanor township by his parents, where he spent his boyhood
and, school days. When thirteen years old he was hired out on the
farm of George S. Schaeffer, in Richmond township, for three
succeeding years, and then he worked in the ore mines for two
years. At the age of nineteen years he learned the trade of coach
making with his uncle, Henry M. Boyer, and later worked at that
trade for one year with Thomas Schuler at Alburtis, Lehigh county.
On Feb. 10, 1884, Mr. Boyer connected himself with the well known
firm of Schaeffer, Merkel & Co., implement dealers of
Fleetwood, and in their employ he remained for eight years as a
millwright under the supervision of his good friend A. W. Haag of
Reading, his term of service with the firm covering a period of
fifteen years. At the expiration of that time he established
himself in the ice-cream and restaurant business, in which he has
since been very successfully engaged, his celebrated ice cream,
which is served at all social festivities of the town, being
considered of the finest on the market. Mr. Boyer’s success in life
has been due to his honesty and integrity and his native business
ability.

In 1896 Mr. Boyer was first elected to the
borough council on the Democratic ticket. and at the expiration of
his first term his services merited a re-election. In the spring
election of 1906 he was elected chief burgess of the borough of
Fleetwood after a most spirited campaign, by the margin of one
vote. He was nominated for re-election in the spring of 1909, but
under the Act of 1893 was not eligible to succeed himself. He takes
a great interest in the welfare of the town, and holds the
confidence and esteem of the entire community. Mr. Boyer is a
member of St. Paul Union Church of Fleetwood, belonging to the
Lutheran denomination. He was a teacher in the Sunday-school, and
prior to locating in the his own residence on Main Street, was for
two years assistant superintendent of the Ruscombmanor Sunday
school. He is past chief of Fleetwood Lodge, K. of P.; noble chief
of Fleetwood Castle, K. G. E.; and a member of Camp No. 103, P. 0.
S. of A. On Aug. 21, 1886, Mr. Boyer was married at Allentown,
Lehigh Co.. Pa., by the Rev. George F. Spieker, to Miss Bessie W.
Boyer, daughter of Levi Boyer, a farmer of near Fleetwood, Richmond
township, and to this union were born: Helen E., Grace M., Herbert
C. and Frank F.

BOYER, EDWIN
A.

p. 537

Surnames: BOYER, YOUSE, WANNER, WELDER, HEIST, RUPPERT, NOLL,
EBERT, TREXLER, MARKS, UNGER, SMITH

Edwin A. Boyer, chorister and organist of Maxatawny Zion’s Church,
and a popular music teacher as well as a composer, was born in
Maxatawny township, near Kutztown, Pa., Aug. 28, 1871, a son of
Abraham and Lucy Ann (Youse) Boyer, grandson of Abraham Boyer and
great-grandson of Philip Boyer.

(I) Philip Boyer was a native of Germany, and
came to America before he was married. Meeting his future wife on
ship board, a pretty romance followed and the young couple were
married in Philadelphia, but later removed to Rockland, where they
settled. He is buried at Mertz in the same township. The four
children born to himself and wife were: Jacob moved to Union
county, Pa; Abraham; William lived in Rockland township Lydia m.
Jacob Wanner of Richmond.

(II) Abraham Boyer, Sr., was born in Rockland
township, in 1791, and died in 1849, aged fifty-eight years, and is
buried at Mertz church. By trade he was a weaver and butcher,
following both callings according to the season, and in addition he
owned a fine farm in Rockland township. He married Mary Welder, a
daughter of Philip Welder, and she died at the age of eighty-five –
many years after her husband. Their children were: Solomon died
unmarried; Hettie, deceased, m. Daniel Heist of Rockland; Sarah m.
Benjamin Ruppert; Catherine m. Daniel Heist; Betsy died young;
Benneville; David; Daniel; and Abraham.

(III) Abraham Boyer, Jr., was born in Maxatawny
township Jan. 15, 1837, and for many years was a farmer of
Maxatawny township, but during eight years he lived near
Breinigsville; at Monterey for fourteen years, and in 1897 he
retired to Schofers where he now lives, acting as janitor for the
Maxatawny Zion’s Church. On June 28, 1857, he married Lucy Ann
Youse, daughter of John and Barbara (Noll) Youse, and the following
children were born to them: Charles, of Tatamy, Pa.; Louisa m.
Henry Ebert, of Monterey; Solomon is of Lehighton, Pa.; Jeremiah is
of Lyons, Pa.; Prof. Edwin A.; Alice m. Jeremiah B. Trexler, of
Breinigsville; Amanda died young.

(IV) Edwin A. Boyer worked upon the farm for
about fifteen years, and attended the local schools, but when only
eighteen he began to cultivate his musical talents, under the
instruction of Prof. C. A. Marks of Allentown. He is a musician of
marked ability, and plays all instruments equally well, although he
makes a specialty of the piano, pipe organ and violin. A number of
years ago he began to give instruction in music, and since 1902 he
has devoted all of his attention to his beloved profession, now
having a large class, numbering about forty-five, gathered from
Upper Berks and Western Lehigh counties. He is the organist of the
Maxatawny Zion’s church, and the Mertztown Union church, having
been elected to these positions in 1900, and prior to that, from
1894 to 1900, he held a similar position with the Seiberlingville
Union church. Since 1894 Prof. Boyer has sung at 294 funerals, his
services being in great demand upon such occasions, as well as
those of a less serious character. He leads the singing at both the
churches before mentioned, alternating Sundays, and the choirs in
both are excellent owing to his skill as an instructor. Altogether
he has played at 1,325 services. He is a composer of both
instrumental and vocal music, among his compositions being the
Boyer’s Reunion March, in 1908, which was played by Unger’s Band,
of Reading, at Black Bear Park.

Fraternally Mr. Boyer is a member of the Jr. 0.
U. A. M., Pioneer Council No. 380, New Smithville. He and his
family are consistent members of the Lutheran congregation of
Maxatawny Zion’s Church.

On April 25, 1895, Mr. Boyer married Lizzie A.
Smith, daughter of George L Smith, a complete sketch of whom
appears elsewhere.

BOYER FAMILY

p. 786

Surnames: BOYER, BOII, BURKERT, SCHULER, LATSHAW, STEINRUCK,
RICHARDS, DENGLER, FRITZ, DOUGLASS, NAGLE, GARBER, MILLER BRUNNER,
COLLER, AMWEG, PETERSON

“The Boyers have direct connection in name and history with the
Gallic Boii, widely distributed over Rhine regions in the time of
the wandering of races, and particularly active between the fourth
and second century before Christ. Julius Caesar conquered them in
part about 58 B. C. Both the Bavarians and the Bohemians get their
names from the Boii, though the Bohemians are not Boii by descent.

“Like other families, many of the Boyers, both
in France and Germany, accepted the doctrines and consequences of
the sixteenth century Reformation. In the complications that
resulted from the revocation of the edict of Nantes by Louis XIV,
king of France, in 1685, the Palatinate was terribly devastated.
Those who could escape Louis’ fury found at last temporary refuge
in parts of Germany, Holland and England. In the meantime Penn, the
proprietary governor of Pennsylvania, sympathizing with the
refugees in Europe, helped to produce a veritable exodus from
Europe. Through his agents he made it known among refugees in
Europe that he was ready to grant land possessions on easy terms in
Pennsylvania, and that liberty of conscience was to be allowed
there. Among these refugees were the Boyers. About forty of them
settled in Pennsylvania before 1775-some of them in Philadelphia
and others at various points in the eastern counties of
Pennsylvania Wherever they settled they became identified with the
Colonial efforts to sustain ministers and schoolmasters, and to
build the log church, the latter also serving as schoolhouse in
many instances. There are now. about 100,000 Boyers in America.”
[Extract from an address of the Rev. Dr. Charles C. Boyer, at Boyer
Reunion, Kutztown, Pennsylvania.]

Henry Boyer, the founder of Boyertown, was an
early settler in Colebrookdale township, Berks Co., Pa. He settled
on the Latshaw place, securing a central location, and opened a
public house. He had a number of sons who engaged in other lines of
business in the same locality, which through them received the name
of Boyertown, long before it was laid out in town lots, in 1835. In
1851 the first attempt was made to have the town incorporated as a
borough, thirty-three persons signing the petition, but this was
not granted, and in 1866 a second and successful attempt was made,
the grand jury reporting favorably, Oct. 20, 1866. Among the Sons
of Henry Boyer was Daniel who opened the first store in the town.

Daniel Boyer, son of Henry, and grandfather of
George F. Boyer of Cumru township, was a foremost merchant in the
lower end of Berks county. He started his first store in a corner
closet, on a very small scale, but he prospered from the beginning,
and at his death was in very comfortable circumstances. He passed
his entire life in Boyertown, and died there. He married Salome
Burkert, and became the father of the following children: Samuel,
who became a merchant but died when comparatively young; Henry B.;
Daniel, who died quite wealthy, having acquired his fortune as a.
merchant; Sallie, who married William Schuler; Elizabeth, who
married John Steinruck; Lavina, who married Richard Richards; and
Willoughby, a merchant at Norristown, who married Harriet Dengler.

Henry B. Boyer, son of Daniel, was born at
Boyertown, July 25, 1805, and died July 19, 1895, aged nearly
ninety years. For many years he was a. merchant in Boyertown, being
associated with his brother Daniel, and they met with great
success. In 1848 Henry B. Boyer came to Reading and opened a
general store in the old Keystone building, near the corner of
Sixth and Penn streets. For a number of years before his death he
had lived retired. His home was at No. 630 Walnut street, Reading.
He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church. He and his wife Susanna
Fritz had nine children, of whom two died young, the others being:
Frank, a merchant in Reading, where he died; Henry, a merchant at
Bowers Station, who died there and is buried on the Boyer lot in
the Charles Evans cemetery, Reading; Mary, who married Theodore
Douglass, of Philadelphia, later of Reading; John, who kept a
livery in Reading known as the “Old Reliable,” now conducted by his
son Morris; George F.; Howard F., who conducted the livery on South
Sixth street, Reading, now carried on by his son Harry; and
Lucretia, who married Dr. Hiester M. Nagle; of Reading.

George F. Boyer, son of Henry B., now a retired
citizen of Cumru township, was born in Reading, June 29, 1837, was
educated in the district schools, a school in Exeter township, and
at Boyertown Academy. In his young manhood he learned tanning in
Reading, and for a time clerked in his father’s store. For a number
of years he was employed as a clerk by the Philadelphia &
Reading Railway Company, and when he left the employ of this
company he moved to the farm whereon he now resides. This consists
of 100 acres of good and well cultivated land, and its care
received his attention until his retirement. In politics he is a
Republican. He and his family are members of Trinity Lutheran
Church, of Reading. Mr. Boyer married Mary Ann High, daughter of an
influential citizen of Berks county, and they have had six
children, three Sons and three daughters: Emma, who married Henry
Garber, of Philadelphia; Katie, who died in, infancy; Harry, who
resides at Boyer Heights, in Cumru township; George A., unmarried
and at home; Mary G., who married George Miller, of Reading; and
Walter, unmarried and at home.

George A. Boyer, son of George F., was born in
Reading in 1864, and was educated in the public schools of the city
and at Prof. D. B. Brunner’s business college. He learned the
tool-maker’s trade with the Reading Hardware Company, and has been
employed by that firm since 1882. He is also engaged in the real
estate business at Boyer Heights, and is one of the successful and
industrious men of the place.

Howard F. Boyer, son of Henry B. and Susanna,
was born in Boyertown, Nov. 19, 1839, and received his education in
his native place. On beginning work he was first employed as chain
bearer for a surveying party, making surveys for the Philadelphia
& Reading railroad from Reading to Pottstown. After that he
became a clerk in his father’s retail grocery store, located on the
present site of the “Hotel Penn.” When the elder Mr. Boyer sold his
store, in 1855, and went into the livery business, the son
accompanied him, and they opened the old Coleman stable, on Pearl
street. Later they moved to Sixth and Cherry streets and did a
thriving business there until 1876, in which year the father
retired from the concern and Howard F. and his brother John
operated it together until 1885, when the partnership was
dissolved, Howard F. opening a new stable on South Sixth Street,
where he remained until his death. He married Mary J. Coller,
daughter of Solomon and Sophia L. (Amweg) Coller, and they had but
one child, Harry C. They were members of the Lutheran Church. Mr.
Boyer’s fraternal connections were with Chandler Lodge, No. 227, F.
& A. M.; the I. 0. 0. F.; and the K. P. In politics he was a
strong Republican, and so widely known and esteemed that his
election to several offices would have been assured if he could
have been induced to become a candidate. Mr. Boyer was one of those
who volunteered for service during the Civil war, enlisting for six
months in Company C, 25th regiment. His company was one that
accompanied the 6th. Massachusetts through Baltimore at the time of
the riots there caused by the marching of the Northern troops
through that city on their way to the front. He died Dec. 6, 1904,
when he was aged sixty-five years, and was widely regretted. He was
a man of large heart and generous impulses, and his life was filled
with good deeds, the half of which were never known.

Harry C. Boyer, son of Howard F., was born in
1865, and was given a good education, it being his father’s
ambition to prepare him for a professional life. Accordingly, after
completing the school course in Reading, he went to Dean Academy,
Franklin, Mass., but the confinement indoors and the close
application to books proved uncongenial to the youth and he was
wisely allowed to choose a path in life more adapted to his tastes.
Returning to Reading, he decided upon the tailor’s trade, and he
served his apprenticeship in Wilmington. He then formed a
partnership with a Mr. Peterson, and opened a tailoring
establishment in the Wilson building, on Penn street, Reading,
where they continued for two years. The partnership was then
dissolved, and Mr. Boyer went into his father’s livery stable,
where he was employed until the latter’s death. After that event he
assumed the entire management of the business, though retaining the
old name. He attends strictly to business, and by his improved
ideas and methods has increased the patronage forty per cent. He
has now one of the best equipped liveries in the State and stands
well in the business community.

Mr. Boyer is popular with the younger element in
Reading, and he belongs to the B. P. 0. E., the Order of Eagles,
and the S. M. A., which latter is a dramatic organization. In
religion he belongs to the Universalist Church.

BOYER FAMILY

p. 1278

Surnames: BOYER, BEYER, SCHANTZ, HEEBNER, HOUCK, SETZLER, CAMPBELL,
SASSAMAN, HENDRIX, SCHWENCK, LATSCHAW, KREBS, RHOADS, HUFF, TYSON,
CRAIG, LUDWIG, SELLERS, DECHANT, GRIESEMER, HILL, DENGLER, ERB,
KEELY, SCHULER, STEINRUCK, RICHARDS, STETLER, GRANT, KNAUSS,
LESSIG, HOUCK, CAMPBELL, ALLEBACH

The Boyers have long been a prominent Berks county family, and the
name has been perpetuated in the borough of Boyertown, so called in
their honor. The family history in this country begins with

(I) John Philip Beyer (as the name was then spelled), from whom the
brothers James K., and Horace K. Boyer, general merchants of
Boyertown, trace their line through (II) Jacob, (III) Daniel and
(IV) Daniel B. Boyer. Henry and Daniel Boyer, sons of (II) Jacob
Boyer and his wife Catharine, were really the founders of the
present beautiful borough, now a prosperous community of 2,500
souls, which was known as Boyertown long before it was laid out in
1835. It was not incorporated until 1851. We give a brief record of
both these men, first mentioning their forefathers in America.

John Philip Beyer came to these shores from
Rhenish Bavaria, better known as the Palatinate, in 1731, and
settled in Pennsylvania, dying in Frederick township, Montgomery
Co., Pennsylvania.

(II)Jacob Beyer, son of John Philip, born in August, 1754, died
Feb. 11, 1796. He lived on the old homestead at Perkiomenville, in
Frederick township, Montgomery Co., Pa., where all his children
lived, he and his wife Catherine Schantz who was born in 1759)
having a family of eleven, viz.: Henry, Daniel, Jacob (born Jan. 9,
1777, died March 13, 1853; married Elizabeth Heebner, born May 4,
1777, died July 30, 1838; had ten children, all daughters), Philip,
John, Samuel, and five daughters, Susanna (born Aug. 2, 1787, died
May 10, 1863, married Jacob Houck), one who married a Setzler, one
who married a Campbell, one who married a Sassaman and one who
married a Hendrix. One of the daughters, Mary, born Feb. 18, 1784,
died Aug. 30, 1857, and she and her sister Susanna are buried in
Keelor’s churchyard. Jacob Beyer is said to be buried in the family
plot near his homestead. After his death his widow married Daniel
Schwenck, and she survived until Feb. 1, 1837; she is buried at
Keelor Church, in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania.

(III) Henry Boyer, son of Jacob, was among the early comers to the
vicinity of what is now Boyertown, and he settled on what was then
the Latshaw place, securing a central location on the farm and
opening the public house, then known as the Boyertown Inn; it is
now the “Union House.” He became a large land holder, he and his
brother. Daniel owning the land upon which Boyertown is now built.
Henry Boyer owned the land upon which the ore mines have since been
opened. He was an exception to most of the name in that he was
active in public affairs as well as in business, serving as
representative in the State Legislature from 1824 to 1827, and
again in 1832. He died in Boyertown March 18, 1857, age
seventy-eight years, four months, twenty-nine days, an is buried in
Fairview cemetery, at Boyertown. Henry Boyer married Sarah Krebs,
who died at Boyertown July 7,1858, aged seventy-four years, four
months, nine days, their married life covering a period of
fifty-seven years, fifteen days. She, too, is buried in the
Fairview cemetery. They had children as follows: (1) Catharine K.
married John Rhoads. (2) Caroline married George Huff, of Huff’s
Church, Berks county, and they had six children. Harry, Sallie Ann
(of Altoona, Pa.), Hon. George (Congressman-at-large for
Pennsylvania). Caroline (married William Tyson), Elizabeth (married
John Craig) and William A. (banker at Greensburg, Pa.). (3) Michael
lived and died at Reading. (4) Jacob K., born Dec. 21, 1811, died
March 10, 1850, and is buried at Boyertown. In 1835 he married Lucy
Ludwig, who was born July 3, 1813, daughter of David and Sarah
Ludwig, and died Feb. 7, 1868. They had five children. (5) Henry.
(6) Hannah married Dr. Sellers, and they had a son Colvin, who was
a prominent man in his day, being superintendent of the Reading
division of the telephone service . (7) Maria married Marshall
Campbell, and they lived in Michigan. (8) Angeline married Rev. F.
W. Dechant. (9) Sarah married a Griesemer. (10)______ married an
Allebach. The sons of this family were also engaged in business at
Boyertown.

(III) Daniel Boyer, brother of Henry, was born Sept. 12, 1782, and
died at Boyertown April 23, 1869, at the advanced age of eighty-six
years. He passed his entire life at Boyertown, and is buried there.
Commencing in the mercantile business in a very small way, he
prospered from the start by careful management and attention to
detail. He married Salome Hill, born Nov. 16, 1785, who died June
14, 1861, and they had the following children: Samuel; Henry B., of
Reading; Daniel B.; Sally Ann, who married William Schuler; Betsey,
who married John Steinruck; Lavina, who married Richard Richards;
and Willoughby, who lived and died at Norristown, Pa., where he was
engaged as a merchant (he married Harriet Dengler).

(IV) Daniel B. Boyer, son of Daniel, born at Boyertown Jan. 12,
1814, died April 5, 1892, and is buried in the Boyer plot in
Fairview cemetery, where the Boyer monument marks his last
resting-place. He passed all his life at Boyertown, becoming a
clerk in his father’s store when quite young, and as early as 1830
embarked in the mercantile business on his own account, following
that line throughout his active life, though he had numerous other
interests. He and his brother Samuel were partners in the
mercantile business, which they conducted under the firm name of
Boyer Brothers. They were eminently successful, drawing their
patronage from a radius of twenty miles about Boyertown, for there
were few stores in those days, and not all the merchants
replenished their stock with the enterprise shown by the Boyer
Brothers, who hauled all their freight from Philadelphia, making
weekly trips to that city, a distance of forty miles. In time he
took his sons into the business with him, and they have carried it
on since 1872 under the present name, J. & H. K. Boyer. Daniel
B. Boyer served many years as postmaster, in 1836 succeeding his
father in that office, which the older man held from 1828. He
served until 1841, after which he and his cousin Jacob K. Boyer
filled the office until 1865. Daniel B. Boyer held it again from
1869 to 1885. In addition to his mercantile business he dealt in
lumber, his yards being in the center of the borough, where D. S.
Erb’s large cigar factory now stands, and in this connection may
also be mentioned his building operations, which at one time were
quite extensive. He built up three of the corners at the junction
of Philadelphia and Reading avenues, and about thirty
dwelling-houses in the town were of his construction. Mr. Boyer was
the first man to organize a bank in Boyertown, the institution
being known as the Mory, Boyer & Co. Bank, which later became
the National Bank of Boyertown, and Mr. Boyer was vice-president at
the time of his death. The bank was originally located in a corner
of the “Union Hotel.” Altogether his activities made him a very
well known and useful man. He was active both as a member and
official of the Lutheran Church at Boyertown, to which he gave a
liberal support.

Daniel B. Boyer married Mary Ann Keely, born
Feb. 14, 1815, who died May 6. 1890. Eight children were born of
this union, viz.: William, ‘born in 1837, who died in 1838 Samuel
K., born in 1838 who died in 1866; Cornelia. born in 1842. who died
in 1843: Catharine. born in 1846, who died in 1847: Emeline, who is
unmarried; Malinda. now the wife of David S. Erb; James K.; and
Horace K.

(V) James K Boyer, eldest surviving son of Daniel B. Boyer, and
senior member of the well known mercantile house of J. & H. K.
Boyer, was born in Boyertown Oct. 31, 1848. He has passed all his
life in his native place, and received his education in the public
schools. When only a boy of thirteen he began clerking in the large
general store his father then conducted, and he has continued to
make merchandising his principal interest. After he became
associated as a partner in the business the firm was known for some
years as D. B. Boyer & Sons, and in 1872 the name was changed
to its present form. J. & H. K. Boyer are the most prominent
general merchants in the lower end of Berks county, carrying a
heavy stock of dry goods, groceries, hardware, pumps, and other
things in constant demand in their community, where no firm is
rated higher or enjoys more universal popularity. They occupy an
immense three-story brick building, and employ six clerks
regularly, the bulk of trade in the vicinity coming to them. Their
location in the Boyer building, which is 50 x 80 feet in dimensions
and stands at the southwest corner of Philadelphia and Reading
avenues, is very advantageous. Both the brothers are interested in
the general progress of the community and in other important
business affairs aside from their large mercantile business. They
own the”Union Hotel,” the post office building, and six dwellings
in town. Mr. James K Boyer succeeded his father as vice-president
of the Boyertown National Bank in 1893 and has served in that
capacity ever since. He is a director of the famous Boyertown
Casket Company, which is one of the most important industrial
concerns in the town, giving employment to three hundred and fifty
people and he is also a director in the Union Manufacturing Company
of Boyertown.

In 1878 Mr. Boyer was married to Annie Stetler,
daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Schwenk) Stetler, her father a
merchant of Earlville, Berks county. Five children, two sons and
three daughters, have been born to this union, as follows:
Florence, who graduated from Washington College, Washington, D. C.,
resides at home with her parents. Edna, who perished in the Opera
House fire of Jan. 13, 1908, was also educated at Washington
College, was a talented musician and often called upon to sing on
public occasions, and was a young woman greatly admired in her
town. Edith is a graduate of Lutherville College, of Baltimore, Md.
Daniel B. graduated from the Meigs Hill School, of Pottstown, Pa.,
and is now a student at Yale. J. Keely, who also perished in the
Opera House disaster, was a student at Boyertown high school and a
young man of promising character. Mr. Boyer and his family are
active members of St. John’s Lutheran Church and also of the
Sunday-school, in which he was a teacher for many years, until
1906. He has also served as deacon of the church, and he is
generally regarded as one of the pillars of the congregation.

(V) Horace K. Boyer, junior member of the mercantile firm of J.
& H. K. Boyer, was born Feb. 18, 1851, at Boyertown, and
received his education there in the public schools. When fourteen
years old he became a clerk in his father’s store, with which he
has ever since been connected. As in the case of his brother, the
mercantile business has been his principal interest. Horace K.
Boyer is treasurer of the Union Manufacturing Company of Boyertown,
and he is interested as a stockholder in a number of local
industries, he and his brother supporting some of the most
important enterprises in the borough, where the members of the
Boyer family have always sustained the name of being substantial
citizens.

Mr. Boyer was married in June, 1871, to Sallie
K. Grant, daughter of Charles and Catharine Knauss Grant, who for
many years conducted the “Union House” at Boyertown. Mr. and Mrs.
Boyer have had three children, as follows: (1) Warren, who died May
5, 1892, aged twenty years, five months, had just graduated from
the Pierce Business College, Philadelphia, and was an ambitious
young man, just ready to enter upon the earnest work of life. He
came home from school sick, and died four days later. (2) Anna G.,
who died Nov. 25, 1900, at the age of twenty-six years, was the
wife of Joshua B. Lessig, of Pottstown, Pa., who was connected with
his father in the iron business, eventually succeeding him. Mrs.
Lessig left no children. (3) Edgar G., who graduated from the
Schissler Business College, of Norristown, Pa., is engaged as
assistant to his father in the mercantile business at Boyertown.

Mr. Boyer and his family are members of St.
John’s Lutheran Church at Boyertown, in the work of which they are
active.