Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery

p. 748

Surnames: DEATRICK, BENDER, KELKER, WALDSCHMIDT, BOSSHAAR, SHAFER,
BALLENDINE, MULLER, MILLER, ARENDT, SPANGLER, SPENGLER, SMITH,
FIDLER, KEYSER, BUSHEY, BREAM, IRVINE, SOHN, RANSON, CHRISTIAN,
PEYTON, WASHINGTON, HIGBEE, MOSSER, HACKENBERG, BALLIET, SCHREIBER,
MICKLEY, WOTRING, HACHENBERG, GOODMAN, PENN, HAINES, BAXTER,
SCHUYLER, SCHAEFFER

In the quiet country graveyard attached to the “Bender’s Church” in
Butler township, Adams Co., Pa., is a gray slate tombstone bearing
the following inscription, in German text:

A little space from the footstone of this grave
is another headstone, also of gray slate, on which is this
inscription in italic and gothic lettering:

It will be noted that the arithmetic of the
stone-cutter is at fault-married in 1752 and dying in 1797, she
could have been married fifty-five years, but born Nov. 15, 1724,
and dying July 19, 1797, her age could not have been seventy-two
years, four months. Of interest in this connection are two entries
contained in the old records of a church in Earl township,
Lancaster Co., Pa. (discovered arid transcribed by Luther R.
Kelker, State Custodian of Public Records, of Harrisburg). They
were made by Rev. John Waldschmidt, a pioneer Reformed minister,
who served widely separated congregations in eastern Pennsylvania.
These records are as follows:

“Baptisms: Dietrich. Johann Balser, son of Johann Nicholaus, and
Anna Margaretha his wife, born Dec. 23, 1754, baptized Jan. 26,
1755, Balser Bosshaar and wife Anna Maria sponsors.”

“Marriages: Nicholaus Dietrich, son of deceased Johann Jacob
Dietrich, married 31st October, 1752, Anna Margaretha, daughter of
Johann Gerhart Shafer.”

Unless the Waldschmidt records refer to other
Dietrichs, which seems improbable, it is likely that his “Oct. 31”
is more accurate than the “Oct. 1” on the inconsistent tombstone.
Whether the Johann Jacob Dietrich in the Waldschmidt record
emigrated from Germany to this country or died in the Fatherland is
uncertain. A certain Jacob Dieterich, aged forty, is recorded in
the Pennsylvania Archives as having landed at Philadelphia from the
ship “Charming Nancy.” Nov. 9, 1738. A Hannus Diedrich came on the
ship “Thistle,” Sept. 19, 1738, and Johannes Diterichs and
(probably his wife) Ann Dederick arrived on the ship “Samuel,” Aug.
17, 1731. Whether either of these was the father of John Nicholas
is uncertain. There is no record of a John Jacob Dietrich as an
immigrant after 1731. As to the date of arrival of John Nicholas
Dietrich we have, at present writing, no certain information. The
Archives show, however, that on Oct. 7, 1749, one Nicholas Dietrich
landed from the ship “Leslie,” Captain J. Ballendine, from
Rotterdam. On this ship came 121 immigrants, among them Frederick
Bender, Johan Rudolph Muller, Johan Wilhelm Arendt, Georg Mnd
Peter Miller. These being names of early settlers in Adams county,
(then York), it may be reasonably inferred that the Nicholas
Dietrich arriving at that time was the “Johan Nictlas Dietrich” of
Bender’s churchyard, whose stone declares that he “wahr geboren in
deudschlant.” The “Pennsylvania Archives” also give a “Niclas
Deederich” as arriving on the ship “Mary Galley,” qualifying on
Sept. 7, 1748. His name is first on the list and was spelled on the
original list “Derrick.”

To John Nicholas Dietrich arid his wife Anna
Margeretha were born (in addition to the Johann Balser of
Waldschmidt’s record, of whom we have no further knowledge),
according to tombstones in the same churchyard: Nicholas Dietrich,
whose wife Mary Ann “Deatrick” lies buried by his side; Margret
Tietrich; William Dietrick; Michael Dietrich; and Martin Dietrich.

Nicholas Dietrich and his wife Mary Ann died
childless, but tradition has it that they acted as father and
mother to the children of others; bringing up in their home, as
some say, no less than seventeen children of other families.
Margaret and William never married. On the tombstone of William is
this line: “A Patriot of the Revolution.” As he was only twenty-one
years of age at the close of that war he must have been a youthful
soldier. He fell asleep on his country’s birthday, July 4, 1848, at
the ripe age of eighty-six years.

Michael Dietrich married Sophia daughter of
Rudolph Spangler (or Spengler), who resided near Heidlersburg later
near Abbottstown, Adams county. To this couple were born nine
children: Nicholas, Jacob, Rudolph, Michael, Christiana (m. Jesse
Smith), Mary (m. George Keyser), Sarah (m. Daniel Fidler) and
Margaret and Catherine, the last two of whom died unmarried.

Nicholas Dietrich, eldest son of Michael,
married March 21, 1822, Margaret, daughter of Nicholas and Rebecca
(Bushey) Miller. Nicholas was a hard-working. industrious farmer,
owning an estate in Tyrone township, known as “Cranberry,” from the
wild cranberries growing in a marsh near the farm house. Their
seven children were: William Miller, Michael, John Bushey, Anna
Elizabeth (m. Adam Bream), Jacob Spangler, Abraham, and Howard
Nicholas. Of these John B., who died unmarried, was a soldier in
the Civil war.

The eldest. son, William Miller Deatrick, was
born Jan, 22, 1823. At an early age he was impressed with a desire
to become a minister of the Gospel. The way to this calling did not
seem open, and so for some time he worked at the trade of milling.
At last he gathered funds to go to college, and in 1848 he
graduated from Marshall College at Mercersburg, Pa. He continued
his studies in the Theological Seminary of the (German) Reformed
Church, at the same place, graduating from that institution in
1851, and was licensed to be a minister of the Reformed Church. He
was ordained in 1852, and his first charge was at Huntingdon, Pa.
During his time of preparation for the ministry, he taught school
at Norristown, Mifflinburg, and Milton, Pa., also at Manchester,
Md. In 1856 he removed to Pattonsville (now Loysburg), Pa., where
he served the”Yellow Creek Charge,” a laborious field. In 1862 he
removed to Friends Cove, Pa. This charge was also a laborious one,
the minister being obliged to ride on horse-back across a high
mountain, over a bridle-path (there was no driving road) to serve
several of the more distant congregations of his extended parish.
He was, indeed, a pioneer abundant in labors. In 1875 he gave up
the active work of the ministry to become the Financial Secretary
of Mercersburg College, an institution in which he was deeply
interested. To attend to the duties of his new, office he removed
with his family to Mercersburg, Pa. Later he became President of
the Board of Regents of Mercersburg college, and to the service of
that institution he gave unstintively of his time and money, the
latter hard earned and saved with incredible economy. During the
dark days of that institution which now, as Mercersburg Academy,
enjoys a high degree of prosperity and ranks, under Dr. William
Mann Irvine, as one of the foremost schools for boys in America,
Dr. W. M. Deatrick bore for some years the brunt of the financial
burden, really saving the school from bankruptcy and extinction,
and preserving it for the church he loved so well. For forty-four
years he was Stated Clerk for Mercersburg Classis, and for thirty
years its treasurer. He was also Stated Clerk of the Potomac Synod
for twenty-eight years, and treasurer of the Board of Education of
the Synod for twenty-five years until his death, which occurred at
the home of his daughter, Mrs. Charles V. Smith, at Bedford, Pa.,
May 6, 1901. He was also President of the Society for the Relief of
Ministers and their Widows until he was called from the labors of
earth. The Rev. W. M. Deatrick received from his alma mater the
degree of A. M. in course, and in 1887 had conferred upon him, in
recognition of his signal services in behalf of his church, by
Franklin and Marshall College, at Lancaster, Pa., the degree of’
Doctor of Divinity.

Dr. Deatrick married Nov. 9, 1852, Miss Harriet
Peyton Sohn, born March 3, 1818, in Martinsburg, W. Va., daughter
of Conrad and Ann Ranson Sohn, of Mercersburg. Her mother’s maiden
name was Christian and she came of a prominent Virginian family,
intermarried with the Ransons, Peytons, and Washingtons of that
State. She died Aug. 3, 1884, and is buried by the side of her
husband and parents in the beautiful “Fairview Cemetery,” on the
southern outskirts of Mercersburg, the home of her youth and last
years. This union was blessed with three-children: (1) William
Wilberforce Deatrick, A. M., Sc. D. (2) Rev. Edward Ranson
Deatrick, B. D., born in 1856, graduated from Mercersburg College
in 1879, and from the Reformed Theological Seminary at Lancaster in
1884. In the same year he was sent as home missionary to Baltimore,
where he succeeded in founding a number of churches, becoming
settled pastor of one in Woodberry, one of the suburbs of that
city, and remaining in charge until May of 1906, when he assumed
the pastorate at Mt. Pleasant, Pa. He married in 1890, Miss Mary A.
K. Everhart, and one child, Anna Marguerite, has blessed this
union. (3) Ann Margaret, born in 1864, graduated from the female
department of Mercersburg College in 1884, and in 1896, she married
Charles V. Smith, A. M., then professor in Mercersburg Academy,
lately principal of Kittanning Academy, Kittanning, Pa.; they have,
two children, Arthur Deatrick and Harriet Peyton.

William Wilberforce Deatrick was born in
Huntingdon, Pa., Aug. 1, 1853. He and his brother, Edward R.,
attended public school in an old stone school-house near their
father’s church in Friends Cove. For several terms in summer he
attended an academy known as Allegheny Seminary, at Rainsburg,
about four miles from his home, the daily journey being made, for
the most part, on foot. When only sixteen year’s of age he began
teaching, being employed to teach a short unexpired term of the
home public school. From 1870 to 1872 he taught regularly in the
public schools of the township, having won in examination under the
county superintendent a certificate averaging only a slight
fraction over one. Latin and Greek were studied under his father
and, in the autumn of 1872, he entered Mercersburg College as a
freshman. Here he came under the influence of the eminent educator
and theologian, Dr. Elnathan E. Higbee, to whose inspiration he
attributes, in large measure, the success he has himself attained
as a thinker and teacher. In 1876 he graduated from the college
with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Continuing his studies, he
received from the same institution, three years later, the degree
of Master of Arts. In the autumn of 1876 he took up the study of
theology in the Theological Department of Mercersburg College. To
secure, in part, the funds necessary to the prosecution of his
studies he engaged, during his vacations, in the sale of books and
during the winters served as tutor in the preparatory school
attached to his alma Mater. During the summer of 1878 he was a
member of the faculty of Juniata Collegiate Institute, a secondary
school or academy, located at Martinsburg, Pa. In the autumn of
1878 he entered the senior class of the Theological Seminary at
Lancaster, from which institution he graduated in May, 1879. He was
licensed to preach a few days later by the Mercersburg Classis of
the Reformed Church, then in session at Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.

No call coming to him at that time to a pastoral
charge, he returned to Martinsburg, where he taught again during
the summer. Late in the same year he was elected principal of the
public schools of Milton, Pa., closing his work there at the end of
the school year, declining a re-election, on the night preceding
the day of the dreadful fire of 1880 which laid the beautiful town
in ashes. By this time he had received three calls to churches, one
being in Washington, D. C. Of these he accepted the call to the New
Centerville charge in Somerset county, Pa., where he began his
labors as pastor on June 1, 1880, receiving ordination on the 18th
of the same month. In this field of ministerial activity he labored
for three and one half years. In December, 1883, he removed to
Rimersburg, Clarion Co., Pa., and in January, 1884, re-opened the
Clarion Collegiate Institute in that town. This institution of the
Reformed Church had been closed for some time. Under his management
as principal the building was put in excellent repair, a
considerable debt paid, and a vigorous school built up. For seven
and one-half years be labored there with indefatigable zeal and was
instrumental in preparing a number of young men for college, of
whom a goodly proportion found their way into the ministry of the
denomination under the auspices of which the institution was
conducted.

In 1891 he was elected to the chair of
Psychology and Pedagogy in the Keystone State Normal School at
Kutztown,. Pa., then under the principalship of Rev. Nathan, C.
Schaeffer, Ph. D., the present Superintendent of Public Instruction
of the State of Pennsylvania. Later, owing to enlargement of the
faculty and consequent re-arrangement of the work, his duties were
slightly changed, and he is now, as for some years he has been,
Professor of Psychology and Higher English, the Higher English
comprising rhetoric, English literature, and the English classics.
Since his connection with the Normal school he has been active as
an institute instructor, and a worker and lecturer at Chautauquas
and elsewhere. His engagements at county institutes have taken him
not only to many counties in his native State, but to the States of
New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska. For a
number of seasons he was on the teaching force of the Pennsylvania
Chautauqua at Mount Gretna, giving, in addition to classroom work,
each year an illustrated lecture.

Although not serving as a pastor in charge since
1883, he has been active as a clergyman. During the eighties he
“supplied” churches of his denomination at DuBois, St. Petersburg,
Emlenton, and Kittanning. In 1903 he filled the pulpit of the First
Reformed Church in Reading, during the illness of the pastor, Rev.
Dr. H. Mosser, for a period of eight months, preaching regularly
each alternate Sunday. A part of his duties at the Normal school
during the past eighteen years has been to take turns with other
ministerial members of the faculty, in preaching to the students in
the chapel, about once every three weeks. Frequent summons from
churches in Reading and elsewhere have kept him fairly well
occupied in sermonizing. In addition to these labors, he has been,
for eighteen years, chorister of St. Paul’s Reformed Church,
Kutztown, in the Sunday-school of which church he was
superintendent for ten years.

Notwithstanding the multiplicity of his duties
in school and church he has yet found time for some literary work.
He has been a contributor to religious and educational periodicals.
For half a year before he left Rimersburg he edited and published
The Rimersburg Courier, a weekly local newspaper. For about
thirteen years past he has been on the staff of The Kutztown
Patriot, writing weekly editorials, many of which have attracted
the attention of, and been reprinted by, colleagues of the press.
From June, 1902, to September, 1905, he was editor, and manager for
most of the time, of The Pennsylvania Chautauquan, the quarterly
and, during the sessions of the Assembly, the daily organ of the
Mount Gretna Chautauqua. He was one of the joint authors of a
voluminous “History of Clarion County,” published in 1887. He is
author of a text book on physiological psychology, entitled “The
Human Mind and Its Physical Basis,” now undergoing revision for a
second edition. He has under way, in addition to this revised and
enlarged edition of the psychology, two smaller manuals, one on the
study of poetry and the other on letter writing. In recognition of
his ability as an educator, of the thoroughness of his scientific
studies and his scholarship, as well as of the excellence of his
book, Franklin and Marshall College, at its Golden Jubilee in 1903,
bestowed on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Science. He is a
member of the Pennsylvania Educational Association, having
organized the Child-Study Section of that body and been for several
years president of the Child-Study Section. He has been for
eighteen years an “active member” of the National Educational
Association, and for ten years has maintained membership in the
Pennsylvania-German Society. He is also a member of the Berks
County Historical Society. In November, 1907, he was appointed a
member of the Advisory Council of the Simplified Spelling Board,
this council being composed of about a hundred of the leading
educators of America.

On June 15, 1881, Dr. Deatrick married Miss Emma
Jane, daughter of Levi and Matilda (Hackenberg) Balliet, of Milton,
Pa. Mr. Balliet was a son of John and Elizabeth (Schreiber)
Balliet. This John Balliet was a son of John Balliet and his wife,
Catherine M. Mickley (a daughter of John Jacob Mickley, who hauled
the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Allentown during the American
Revolution), both of Whitehall, Lehigh county. The elder John
Balliet (1761-1837) was the fourth son of Paulus Balliet who, with
his wife Maria Magdalena (Wotring) Balliet, lies buried in the
southeast section of the old walled burial ground of the Union
Church in Whitehall. This Paulus Balliet was the first of the race
of Balliets in Whitehall. He was a French Huguenot, born in the
Province of Alsace on the Rhine, in 1717. “At the age of about
twenty-one years he was compelled, with many other French
Protestants, to seek refuge in a foreign country, on account of the
terrible persecutions of the Huguenots after the revocation of the
famous Edict of Nantes at the close of the seventeenth century, by
the then reigning King Louis XIV. He embarked for America on board
ship ‘Robert Oliver,’ of the Palatines, Walter Goodman, commander,
Sept. 10, 1738.” He located at what is known as the “Old Balliet
Stand,” in Whitehall township, Lehigh county, in 1749, on a tract
of land containing a little over ninety-seven acres, secured, by a
deed from Thomas Penn and Richard Penn. From time to time Paulus
added to his lands, until his estate embraced over 700 acres.
According to tradition, he was known as “Bowl” Balliet, a name
given to him by the Indians to whom he was accustomed, as landlord
at Ballietsville, to furnish refreshments from a wooden bowl. He
became a naturalized American citizen in the year 1759. His wife,
Maria Magdalena Wotring, according to tradition, was born A. D.
1727, in the province of Lothringen (now Lorraine) in France. She
died in. 1802, aged seventy-five years. It is presumed that they
married in this country. Paulus died March 19, 1777, aged sixty
years.”

Mrs. Matilda (Hackenberg) Balliet, born Aug. 1,
1825, at Freeburg, Union (now Snyder) county, Pa., died Sept. 26,
1903, at Kutztown, was a daughter-the fourth child in a family of
eleven children-of Johann Peter Hachenberg and his wife Anna Mary
(born Haines). She was fifth in direct descent from Peter
Hachenberg, prince of a township and “dorfe” of about 2,000
inhabitants in Germany, which bears the name of “Hachenberg” to
this day, known from his love of the chase as “the Hunting Prince
of Hackenberg.” He was the father of Caspar Frederick Hachenberg,
who, going to England; held a Greek professorship in one of the
universities, where he wrote one of the most perfect of Greek
grammars, the basis of the one by Goodrich used generally in
American colleges some years ago. He was also author of a law book
“Hachenberg’s Media,” still quoted in American courts. His youngest
son, Johann Peter Hachenberg, came to America in 1764 and settled
at Freeburg, where, being a skilled linguist, he taught Latin,
Greek, French and German. He also had local fame as a
mathematician. As ensign of “the Flying Camp” of Col. Baxter’s
regiment he served through the Revolutionary war, was taken
prisoner at Fort Washington (one account says “at Trenton”), and
was sent by the British to Long Island. He died March 4, 1820. His
son, Peter Hachenberg (1773-1847), was a surveyor, justice of the
peace, register and recorder of Union county (1821) and county
commissioner (1830). He spent the latter half of his life in New
Berlin but, with his wife, lies buried at Freeburg, the home of his
youth. His fourth son, the father of Mrs. Balliet, Johann Peter
Hachenberg (1800-1870), was in youth a carpenter and joiner by
trade, following also the occupation of surveyor and conveyancer.
In 1823 he, too, was appointed justice of the peace, holding office
till 1836, when he removed from Freeburg to McEwensville, Montour
county, where later he conducted a general store. In 1834 he was
Antimasonic delegate to the, New Berlin Convention. In 1836 he was
appointed supervisor of the West Branch of the, Pennsylvania Canal.
Two years later he gave up this office to devote his time to
building and contracting. While thus engaged, in partnership with
John P. Schuyler, he erected the bridge over the West Branch of the
Susquehanna at Northumberland. In 1854, having sold his store to
Len Balliet, he moved to White Pigeon, Mich., where he engaged in
merchandising to the day of his death. Levi Balliet and Matilda
Balliet, parents of Mrs. Deatrick, are buried in the “lower”
cemetery at Milton, Pennsylvania

To William Wilberforce and Emma (Balliet)
Deatrick have been born five children. Of these the two eldest,
boys, died in early childhood. There are living at the present
writing: Ethel Matilda, born 1886, who graduated, June, 1909, from
the classical department of Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa.;
Eugene Peyton, born 1889, a member of the class of 1911, in the
classical department of Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster,
Pa.; and Anna Louise, born 1896, who is a student in the Keystone
State Normal School The family lives on Normal Hill in a
substantial and comfortable home, a brick building owned by Dr.
Dietrich and built by him in 1898.

p. 1669

Surnames: DECHANT, BOYER, CHAMBERLAIN, KENDALL, HAGMAN

William Dechant, C. E., a civil engineer and surveyor, located at
No. 536 Penn street, Reading, Pa., began the struggle for self
support without means in the capacity of messenger boy on the
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad, and by perseverance and
industry has worked his way up to his present enviable standing in
the community. He was born in Perry county, Ohio, and is a son of
Rev. Frederick W. and Angeline (Boyer) Dechant.

William Dechant, the grandfather of William H.,
was born in Germany, and came to America at the beginning of the
nineteenth century, locating in Oley township. He was prepared for
the ministry of the Reformed Church, had a charge in Oley township
for many years, and was buried in the churchyard. He had
considerable influence and was well known throughout the county. He
was the progenitor of a large family of children, one of whom was
Rev. Frederick W., the father of our subject.

Rev. Frederick W. Dechant was born in Oley
township, Berks county, Pa., Dec. 25, 1812, and received his
intellectual training in the public schools of his native town and
in Mercersburg College, from which he graduated. He was prepared
for the ministry of the Reformed Church, and was ordained to
preach, making the cause of Christianity his life work. His labors
were mostly in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana where he
accomplished a great and good work. He was an excellent German
scholar, and worked principally among the German people, preaching
to them in their native tongue. His earnest aim was to assist his
fellowmen. He had a high ideal of manhood, and lived up to it in
every respect. He was united in matrimonial bonds with Angeline
Boyer, a daughter of Henry Boyer, after whom the village of
Boyertown was named, and a member of one of the oldest and best
known families of Berks county. The following children were born to
them: Sarah Rebecca; William H.; Calvin M., who is a civil engineer
in the employ of his brother; and Adelaide, the wife of Edwin
Chamberlain of Reading.

William H. Dechant received his education in the
public schools of Western Pennsylvania and in Philadelphia, after
which he entered the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading
Railroad as a messenger boy. He then learned telegraphy, and was an
operator for the same company from 1866 to 1871, when he was
promoted to a position in the engineering office of the canal
department. He then began the study of engineering, and after a few
months of preliminary work became assistant engineer, remaining in
that department until 1884, when he was placed in charge as
roadmaster of the Tamaqua Division of the Pennsylvania &
Reading Railroad. Eighteen months later the company was reorganized
and Mr. Dechant was given a division engineership on the Mahanoy
Division, which embraces all of the railroads in the Mahanoy coal
fields, with headquarters at Mahanoy Plane. By that time he had
gained largely in experience, as his work in connection with the
canal gave him good training in the construction of locks, dams,
aqueducts, etc., and in the measurement and control of extensive
water powers. While with the railroad company he laid the
foundation for the bridge across the Susquehanna River at Sunbury,
repaired and rebuilt the high trestles on the Catawissa and the
Nesquehoning Valley branches. His many years of experience in the
various lines of work created a demand for his services, and, in
1886, he was called to Reading to take charge of the miscellaneous
engineering business of the Kendall Brothers, and served as manager
of that firm for five years. At the expiration of that time or in
1891, he succeeded to the ownership of the business and has since
conducted it on his own account, making a specialty of civil and
hydraulic engineering. Some of the most important work performed by
him since he has been established in business was for the following
organizations: Shamokin Water Company, Sunbury Water Company,
Bloomsburg Water Company, Gettysburg Water Company, Birdsboro Water
Company, the Sinking Spring Water Company, the City of Reading
Water Department, and several water power dams. He has also done
engineering work for the Mount Penn Gravity Railroad; the Never
Sink Mountain Railroad, in connection with the latter also putting
in the electric power plant; he located the Mohnsville &
Adamstown Railroad, and the extension of the Reading &
Southwestern Railroad. He has done satisfactory engineering work
for the commissioners on county bridge building since 1894. Along
the line of contract work he performed a very difficult task in the
laying of a 30 inch iron pipe for the sewage disposal of the city
of Reading and he is now engaged, in company with Edwin
Chamberlain, in laying a line of 36 inch cast iron pipe in the
Susquehanna river at Binghamton, New York.

On Dec. 15, 1885, Mr. Dechant was united in
marriage with Rebecca Catherine Hagman, a daughter of Frederick
Hagman of Philadelphia. and they are the parents of three children,
namely: Frederick H., who was born Aug. 31, 1887; Miles B., who was
born Jan. 9, 1889; and Mary A., who was born March 31, 1893.
Religiously they are members of the Reformed Church, and Mr.
Dechant has been an elder in St. Paul’s Memorial Church of Reading
for many years. He is a member of the executive committee of the
Berks County Sabbath School Association, which is a branch of the
state organization. He is much interested in all enterprises having
for their object the elevation of the social and moral standing of
the community. He is also a member of the board of managers of the
Y. M. C. A. of Reading.

p. 888

Surnames: DECHERT, LERCH, DAVIS, PORTER, STRUNK, KAY, REBER,
ALTHOUSE, HEFFNER, HERTZ, RATHMAN, WEITZEL, MILLER

Among the representative citizens of Berks county none was more
worthy of mention in this volume than Adam Dechert, late a retired
citizen of Sinking Spring, who for many years was prominent in
business and religious circles in Spring township. Mr. Dechert was
born Aug. 23, 1823, in Lower Heidelberg township, son of Daniel and
Maria Magdalena (Lerch) Dechert.

Records prove that the first of this family to
come to America was Peter Dechert, who emigrated from Rotterdam to
Pennsylvania in 1752. He settled in Cumru township, Berks county,
where he owned a farm of 183 acres, and in the cultivation of this
land he was engaged until his death in 1784, He became the owner of
the hotel at Sinking Spring, Sept. 26, 1768. On July 19, 1784, his
widow, Elizabeth, applied for an order of sale to dispose of
certain real estate. In a later petition the children named are
John, William, Jacob, Peter, Michael, Daniel and the petitioner,
George. Peter Dechert, the emigrant, was a captain in the
Revolutionary war from Jan. 5, 1776, to Feb. 3, 1777. His company,
which was raised in the vicinity of Reading, was in active service
in New York and on Nov. 16, 1776, was captured by Howe’s army.

John Dechert, son of Capt. Peter, was a farmer
in the western section of Berks county. He married Deborah Davis,
daughter of James Davis. They had five children, namely: (1) Elijah
was a prominent member of the Reading Bar and on account of ill
health moved in 1852 to Philadelphia, where he died in 1854. He
married Mary Williams Porter, and their son, Henry Martyn, is well
known in Berks county and also in Philadelphia, where he resides.
(2) Johan, born May 5, 1790, died Dec. 5, 1864, aged seventy-four
years, seven months. He married Maria Strunk, born Feb. 24, 1793,
died Oct. 14, 1881, aged eighty-eight years, seven months, twenty
days. (3) Daniel is mentioned below. (4) Hannah, born June 4. 1795,
died Aug. 18, 1815. (5) Samuel settled in Miamisburg, Ohio, and was
engaged in the mercantile business. He married and had two
children, George L., and. Clara (who married Isaac Kay, M. D.), who
both reside at Springfield, Ohio.

Daniel Dechert, father of Adam, born in Berks
county June 4, 1793, died Sept. 17, 1884, aged ninety-one years,
three months, thirteen days, and is buried in the family lot at
Sinking Spring. He was a Lutheran in religious belief. He was a
carpenter by trade, but in middle life he engaged in agricultural
pursuits in Lower Heidelberg, his farm passing into the possession
of his son, Adam. His wife, Maria Magdalena (Lerch), was born Feb.
23, 1791, daughter of John Lerch, of Heidelberg, and died Sept. 30,
1872, aged eighty-one years, seven months, seven days. Four
children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Dechert, as follows Adam is
mentioned below; Ellen. born Jan. 11, 1826, married Benjamin B.
Reber. and died March 7, 1895, aged sixty-nine years, one month,
twenty-seven days; Angelina married Adam Althouse; James, born
Sept. 1, 1832, died March 18, 1900, aged sixty-seven years, six
months, seventeen days.

Adam Dechert was educated in the old German pay
schools of his day, when the Psalter and the New Testament were the
text-books, and the school term consisted of from two to three
months. He received an ordinary education in German, and afterward
became fairly conversant with the English language and kept well
posted on the topics of the day; he read the Reading Eagle
continuously from 1862 until his death, Oct. 3, 1907. Though
advanced in years, Mr. Dechert was well preserved in body and mind.
He was brought up to farm work, and remained at home with his
parents until twenty-four years of age, when he engaged in
agricultural pursuits on his own account in Heidelberg township,
continuing there until locating in Sinking Spring in 1859. He
purchased the old John Heffner stand, which included the present
Sinking Spring hotel and twenty-eight acres of land, but this he
sold after three and one-half years to Hertz & Rathman, also
disposing of some of the land. In 1863 he erected his late
residence near the toll-gate, where he afterward made his home.
After selling the hotel property Mr. Dechert engaged in farming,
but after 1895 he lived in retirement. In politics he was a
Democrat, but he never cared for public office. For ten years he
was manager of the Berks and Dauphin turnpike from Reading to above
Sinking Spring, a distance of five miles, serving capably and
faithfully in this position. After 1860 he was treasurer of the
Sinking Spring cemetery, rendering good service until his death. He
was, one of the building committee of the two Sinking Spring
churches, and was a liberal contributor to both, giving $2,600
toward the building of St. John’s Lutheran church, in which he was
deacon and elder. His remains rest in the family lot at Sinking
Spring, where are also interred those of his wife and brother. He
purchased an acre of ground for the Lutheran congregation at
Sinking Spring, this plot to be used for burial purposes for the
poor who were unable to buy lots. This he presented to the
congregation free of all costs, as an addition to their new
cemetery.

Mr. Dechert lived a clean, honest and upright
life, and was a useful man in his community. He was a good manager,
and at his death his estate was valued at upward of $50,000,
including among other property the old homestead in Lower
Heidelberg, of 182 acres, and an adjoining farm of 132 acres.

In 1851 Mr. Dechert was married to Maria
Weitzel, born March 31, 1819, who died Oct. 11, 1891, aged
seventy-two years, six months, eleven days. They reared as their
own daughter a niece, Maria Weitzel, who married Frank Hertz, and
had a daughter, Sallie R. On Oct. 6, 1894, Sallie R. Hertz married
Elmer F. Miller, who came to Adam Dechert’s family when ten years
of age and was in his family for twenty-eight years, up to the time
of his death. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have two sons, Adam E. and Mahlon
M. They resided with Mr. Dechert, taking the best of care of him in
his later years, and at his death they were bequested the home at
Sinking Spring.

DECHERT,
HENRY M.

p. 904

Surnames: DECHERT, WILLIAMS, PORTER, DAVIS, STRUNK, LERCH, HOFF,
KAY, PENROSE, TAYLOR, GALE, DAVIS

Henry Martyn Dechert. In considering the prominent and
representative men of Reading, Berks Co., Pa., the name and
personality of Henry Martyn Dechert comes readily to mind as
lawyer, financier and citizen. Mr. Dechert was born at Reading,
March 11, 1832, son of Elijah and Mary Williams (Porter) Dechert.
His father was a prominent member of the Reading Bar.

The family is of German extraction, descending
from Capt. Peter Dechert, who emigrated from Rotterdam to
Pennsylvania in 1752, and became the owner of a farm of 185 acres
in Cumru township, Berks county. From Jan. 5, 1776, to Feb. 3,
1777, he was captain of a company recruited, for service in the
Revolution, in the vicinity of Reading, and saw service in New
York; they were captured, Nov. 16, 1776, by Howe’s army. On July
19, 1784, his widow Elizabeth applied for an order of sale to
dispose of certain real estate. In a later petition the children
named are John, William, Jacob, Peter, Michael, Daniel and the
petitioner, George.

John Dechert, son of Capt. Peter, was a farmer
in the western section of Berks county. He married Deborah Davis,
daughter of James Davis. They had five children, namely: (1) Elijah
is mentioned below. (2) Johan, born May 5, 1790, died Dec. 5, 1864,
aged seventy-four years, seven months. He married Maria Strunk,
born Feb. 24, 1793, died Oct. 14, 1881, aged eighty-eight years,
seven months, twenty days. (3) Daniel married Maria Magdalena
Lerch. (4) Hannah, born June 4, 1795, died Aug. 18, 1815 (5)
Samuel, born Jan. 7, 1808, in Berks county, settled in Miamisburg,
Ohio, and was engaged in the mercantile business. He died in
Springfield, Ohio, April 7, 1884. He married Caroline E. Hoff, born
in Lancaster, Pa., Sept. 7, 1808, died Dec. 4, 1886, in
Springfield, Ohio, and they had six children: Frank William, born
Nov. 14, 1830, died in California; Clara Maria, born Nov. 25, 1832,
married Dr. Isaac Kay, Nov. 4, 1852, and they live in Springfield,
Ohio (they have two sons, Charles S., now age fifty-four years, and
Clarence K., now aged fifty-two years, both living in Springfield):
George Leonard, born Dec. 29, 1834, died March 1, 1891; Henry
David, born Jan. 1, 1836, died Oct. 29, 1853; Margaret Deborah,
born Nov. 18, 1838, died Aug. 10, 1875; Clay Harrison, born Sept.
2, 1841, is living in Germantown, Ohio.

Elijah Dechert, son of John, who was born in
Spring township, Berks county, Oct. 15, 1799, died in Philadelphia
June 14, 1854. He married Mary Williams, daughter of the Hon.
Robert Porter, president judge of the judicial district
compromising Berks, Northampton and Lehigh counties. Mr. Dechert
was a prominent member of the Reading Bar, and on account of ill
health moved to Philadelphia in 1852. Two of his sons became
prominent there, Henry M. and Robert P. The latter, Robert Porter
Dechert, was a distinguished soldier as lieutenant-colonel of the
29th Pennsylvania Volunteers from 1861 to 1865; was city controller
for six years; and at the time of his death, May 12, 1894, was
brigadier-general commanding the 1st Brigade, N. G. P. He was a
leading member of the Philadelphia Bar at the time of his death.

On the maternal side Mr. Dechert is of Irish
extraction. The Porter family derives descent from Robert Porter,
who emigrated from Belfast, Ireland, in 1720, and became a farmer
at Norristown, Pa. He was the father of Col. Andrew Porter, of the
Fourth Regiment of Pennsylvania artillery. The mother of Mr.
Dechert was a daughter of his son, Hon. Robert Porter, once
presiding judge of the judicial district comprising Berks,
Northampton and Lehigh counties, a lieutenant of the Fourth
Pennsylvania Line during the Revolutionary war.

Henry Martyn Dechert was educated primarily in
the schools of his native city, and then entered Yale College,
where he was graduated in 1850. After two years of experience as
principal of Mt. Pleasant Academy for Boys, at Boyertown, Pa., he
took up the study of law, first in his father’s office at Reading,
and later in the office of Charles B. Penrose, Esq., of
Philadelphia, and was admitted to the Bar in 1854. Being of
studious habits, a ready and effective speaker, he soon achieved
success in general practice, particularly in the trial of cases
before the various courts. He early adopted as a specialty real
estate and OrphanƳ Court practice. In 1862 and 1863 he volunteered
for service in the Union army and served as lieutenant of the 23d
and the 40th Pennsylvania regiments.

Mr. Dechert practised law for thirty-two years,
becoming prominent in the profession. In 1886, on the foundation of
the Commonwealth Title, Insurance and Trust Company, he was chosen
its president and held the position until 1906, when after twenty
years’ service, he declined re-election on account of his age and
was chosen chairman of the board and of the executive committee,
which position he continues to occupy. The corporation, which has
become an important factor in the financial life of Philadelphia,
has been notably successful. The stock is held by lawyers,
capitalists, conveyancers and real estate brokers.

Mr. Dechert is a director in several other
financial institutions; is president of the State Asylum for the
Chronic Insane of Pennsylvania, the institution situated at South
Mountain, Berks county; is president of the West Philadelphia
Institute, of the Young Men’s Institute, of the Western Home for
Poor Children and of the Midnight Mission for Wayward Girls; and is
vice president of the Pennsylvania Society to Protect Children from
Cruelty. He is a member of Meade Post, No. I. G. A. R.; of the Sons
of the Revolution; and of the Art, Lawyers, Belmont and University
Clubs, of Philadelphia, and of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. He
is treasurer of the Sinking Fund of the Grand Lodge of the F. &
A. M. of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Dechert was married Sept. 15, 1857, to
Esther S., daughter of Thomas S. Taylor. She died Nov. 6, 1890. Of
their four children two sons and one daughter survive: Henry T.
Dechert, a leading member of the Bar of Philadelphia, and late
colonel of the 2d Regiment, N. G. P.; Edward P., a journalist; and
Bertha M., wife of Charles H. Gale, a lawyer of Cleveland, Ohio.

p.
1307

Surnames: DECK, DEK, WAGNER, WILHELM, SNYDER, WEBBER

O. W. Deck, who was for many years a teacher throughout
Pennsylvania and other States, and acquired a very favorable
reputation in that profession, was, in 1904, acting in the capacity
of cashier for the Canada Life Assurance Company, having charge of
the Central Pennsylvania branch, consisting of five counties.

The Deck family traces its origin to the
Palatinate immigration of early Colonial times. Mathias Dek, aged
thirty-seven years, landed by the ship ‘Harle,” Sept. 1, 1736. Four
years later his son Johann Frederick was born, after he had located
on a small tract of land in Tulpehocken township, in the
“Fogelsbirge,” near Host, which remained in the possession of the
Deck family for over a century. Johann Frederick died in 1820, when
the farm became the property of his son Henry (born 1782). There
were other sons, but their names and number is not now definitely
known. One was John, another Frederick, and a third, George. The
first named moved to Virginia, and settled near Winchester, in
Frederick county, where he died in 1847. Frederick never became
possessed with the “wanderlust,” it seems, and remained in the
State, but where he lived is not now known. George followed his
brother into Virginia (now West Virginia), and settled near
Martinsburg, where several of his descendants yet reside.

Henry Deck died at the old homestead in 1854,
and the property came into the possession of his son Matthias, who,
however, some years before this time had moved to Lebanon county,
near Jonestown, where our subject’s father, Isaac Z., was born in
1837. Matthias tilled the farm faithfully, being assisted by his
seven sons: Henry, a victim of the Civil war; Jonathan, who died at
Hamburg, this county, in 1893; Israel, who died in early manhood,
unmarried; Isaac Z., who died in Easton, Pa., in 1897; Samuel, now
living at West Leesport; Willoughby, who lives at present at
Oakbrook, a suburb of Reading; and John, a veteran of the Civil
war, now living at Rehrersburg. When Matthias Deck retired from
active life, in his old age, he sold the farm, soon after the end
of the Civil war, to a Mr. Webber ? by which act it ceased to be
associated with the Deck family in ownership, after undivided
possession for a century and a quarter.

Isaac Z. Deck was a school teacher for
twenty-eight years, and was also church organist in the old
Lutheran Church at Rehrersburg for twenty years. He was elected to
the Legislature from Rehrersburg for two terms, and died in 1897,
at Easton, Pa., aged sixty years. He married a Miss Wagner,
daughter of Daniel L. Wagner, a farmer of near Bernville, Berks
county. Five children were born to this union: Eva m. S. P.
Wilhelm, of Bernville, and died in August, 1905; Delos, of Easton,
a granite cutter, is in the employ of the Easton Traction Company;
Blanche m. George W. Snyder, railway mail clerk at Reading; Daphne,
a graduate of the Reading High School, is now stenographer and
typewriter for the Sun Wall Paper Company, of Reading; and O. W. is
our subject.

O. W. Deck was born in Womelsdorf, Berks county,
and was educated in the schools of that county and of Schuylkill
county. He also attended Normal schools in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
His first occupation was that of marble cutting, which he followed
from the time he was fourteen years old until he was twenty, and
part of this time he spent in attending school. He started teaching
school at the age of twenty years, and followed that occupation for
a like period of time in Berks, Perry and Luzerne counties, Pa.,
and in Monmouth county, N. J. Tiring of teaching, Mr. Deck returned
to Reading, where he held the position of Cashier in the Central
Penna. Branch of the Canada Life until the Branch was merged with
the Philadelphia Branch of that Company. He is now bookkeeper for
the Reading Quarry Company, located in Temple, five miles out from
Reading.

p. 956

Surnames: DEEDS, MILLER, WARNER, YOUNG, LLOYD, MOHN, HORNBERGER,
PENNYPACKER, FISHER, SCHNADER, LEIB, KRICK, ROLLMAN, FINK, STEIN,
HAIN

Luke M. Deeds, late superintendent of the Deeds Floral Company, of
Shillington, Berks county, Pa., who was known as the leading
florist of this section, and throughout eastern Pennsylvania as a
trainer of horses, was born July 21, 1874, in Shillington, son of
Owen and Mary (Miller) Deeds.

Thomas Deeds, the progenitor of the family in
America, was a native of England, and came to this country long
before the Revolutionary war, settling in Chester county, Pa. Among
his sons was Henry, the great-grandfather of Luke M. He came to
Cumru township about 1794, and at the time of his death owned a
farm there.

Henry Deeds was born Oct. 10, 1771, and died
Dec. 31, 1845, after a long life spent in agricultural pursuits. He
married Mary Warner, born June 19, 1775, daughter of Joseph and
Susan Warner, and she died Nov. 16, 1856. To them were born
children as follows: Mary, born in 1800, died unmarried in 1823;
Susan m. Isaac Young; Leah m. John Lloyd; Harriet m. Benjamin Mohn;
Nellie m. William Hornberger; and Henry W. The Warner family, with
which the Deeds is intermarried, came from the same section of
England, and settled in Cumru township.

Henry W. Deeds, grandfather of Luke M., was born
on the Deeds homestead Sept. 8, 1811, and died Nov. 30, 1888. He
was a manufacturer of gun barrels all his life, having learned that
trade from his father-in-law, William Pennypacker. He owned the old
Fisher mill property in Bern township, Berks county. He married
Elizabeth, daughter of William and Elizabeth (Schnader) Pennypacker
and to them were born children as follows: Angelina m. Richard
Schnader; Elizabeth m. John F. Leib; Owen; Henry m. Kate Krick; and
Mary m. Adam Rollman.

Owen Deeds was born Jan. 19, 1841, in Cumru
township, where he now lives, engaged as a veterinary surgeon, and
well known horseman. He was married March 21, 1872, to Mary,
daughter of Jonathan and Catharine (Hornberger) Miller, of Cumru
township, and one child was born to them, Luke M.

Luke M. Deeds attended the schools of
Shillington, Steward Academy and Stoner’s Business College of
Reading, and then took a special course in shorthand and
typewriting, becoming one of the ablest stenographers in the
county. He was employed for about a year at the Mansion House,
Reading, as a stenographer, and then engaged in the show business.
Later he drove race horses. In 1903 he embarked in the florist’s
business, and at his death had seven greenhouses, 70 x 23 feet, on
Miller street. On Sept. 15, 1907 the Deed Floral Company was
incorporated; E. M. Deeds is president; A. J. Fink, Jr., treasurer;
and A. B. Stein, secretary. They do both wholesale and retail
business, and have a fine equipment.

In August, 1895, Mr. Deeds married Ella M. Hain,
and two children were born to them, Mabel Catharine and Alice E.
Mr. Deeds’ death, which occurred Dec. 1, 1907, was accidental and
most untimely. He was overcome by coal gas in his greenhouses where
he had gone at night to look after the heating before retiring. He
is buried in the Mohnton cemetery, and is mourned by many friends.
He is survived by his wife and daughters.

Mr. Deeds was a member of the United Evangelical
denomination. Fraternally he was a member of Oley Lodge No. 218, I.
O. O. F.; Mohnton Lodge, Knights of Pythias; Reading Tent, Knights
of the Maccabees; Knights of the Golden Eagle; and the P. O. S. of
A. In politics he was a Republican, and served as township
committeeman.

DEETER,
DANIEL H.

p. 422

Surnames: DEETER, HOLL, NOLL, BENNETHUM, HARRISON, FRENTZEL, GOOD,
KEMMERER

Daniel H. Deeter, master mechanic of the Philadelphia & Reading
Railway Company, is a native son of Reading, Berks county, born in
1863. His father, Henry Deeter, was with this company for
forty-seven years, the services of father and son covering the
remarkably long period of sixty-five years.

Henry Deeter died Sept. 28, 1887, at the age of
fifty-nine years, eleven months, after a successful career as a
railroad man. When only a boy of thirteen he became locomotive
fireman for Timothy Jackson, and at the early age of sixteen was
made a locomotive engineer. He continued in that capacity, serving
also as wreck master and engineman for the company until the close
of his life. Mr. Deeter married Lavinia Holl, and to them were born
six children, namely: Emma (m. William Noll); Henry H., who is
foreman in the Port Richmond shops of the Philadelphia &
Reading Railway Company, Philadelphia; Annie (m. J. W. Bennethum);
Isaac L., a machinist; Miss Mary E., who is living in Philadelphia;
and Daniel H. The father of this family was a member of the
Reformed Church. For thirty-eight years he belonged to the I. O. O.
F.

Daniel H. Deeter was educated in the Reading
public schools and private institutions. He took up the study of
mechanical drawing under Rosell E. Frentzel, and later had private
instruction in that line from Superintendents Good and Kemmerer of
the Philadelphia & Reading shops, serving his time as a
machinist, as well as in drafting, in the employ of the
Philadelphia & Reading Company. All of his working years have
been passed in the employ of this concern. He left the office to
acquire practical experience in the care and operation of a
locomotive, serving as fireman, engineer, wreck master, round house
foreman, assistant road foreman of engines, road foreman of engines
and on July 16, 1900, he became master mechanic of the Philadelphia
and New York division of the road. On Nov. 1, 1904, he was raised
to his present position, that of master mechanic at the
Philadelphia & Reading locomotive shops in Reading. Here he has
2,500 men under his supervision, and some idea of the volume of
work done in the vast establishment may be gained from the
statement that an average of ninety locomotives is turned out
monthly-new, repaired and rebuilt.

Mr. Deeter has devoted his entire life to
acquiring proficiency in his chosen calling. He has never spared
himself in adding to his general knowledge by study or research,
and has not only kept abreast of modern times and methods but has
been the leader in many of the most progressive movements of his
day in his line. The position he holds is sufficient evidence of
his ability, and of his right to be classed among the foremost men
of the present time in his branch of mechanics. His practical
experience in his work has been most comprehensive. Mr. Deeter is a
self-made man in the truest sense. He has acquired his position and
the knowledge which enables him to hold it by unceasing efforts,
begun in early life, and never relaxed under the many demands made
upon his strength and time. His attainments are noteworthy, and
have gained him the respect and admiration of all the men with who
he has been brought into contact. Mr. Deeter is a member of Lodge
No. 62, F. & A. M.; Reading Lodge of Perfection; Philadelphia
Consistory; and Rajah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. He is a member of
the Second Reformed Church, and is independent in politics.

On June 3, 1884, Mr. Deeter married Frances C.
Harrison, and they had two children; J. Harrison, a graduate of
Haven College, Philadelphia, who died Aug. 25, 1907, aged eighteen
years, six months; and Evelyn, at school.

p. 1693

Surnames: DEGLER, BASEHORE, HOLLENBACH, NAFTZINGER, AUMAN,
SCHWOYER, CHRIST

Moses Degler, a resident of Shartlesville, was born in Upper Bern
township Dec. 17, 1837, and is a grandson of John Degler, who
founded the family in America, coming to this country from Germany
when a young man. John Degler settled in Bern (now Upper Bern)
township, Berks Co., and engaged in farming. He died when only
thirty-five years old.

John Degler, son of John and father of Moses
Degler, was born in Bern township, and became a farmer by
occupation. He died at the age of seventy-five years, and is buried
at Blue Mountain Church, in Upper Tulpehocken township. He married
Elizabeth Basehore, and to them were born the following named
children: Moses; Aaron, a resident of Reading, this county; Elias,
of Strausstown, Berks county; Elizabeth, Mrs. Hollenbach; Kate,
Mrs. Naftzinger; John, of Upper Tulpehocken township; Adam, of
Upper Bern township; Lydia; Amelia; Caleb, of Strausstown; and
Annie.

Moses Degler attended the public schools of
Upper Tulpehocken township, and when old enough went to learn the
cabinet-maker’s trade at Strausstown, where he spent three years.
He then located at Lebanon, Pa., for a time before coming to
Shartlesville, where he has made his home since 1860. He made a
success of his undertaking and furniture business here and built
himself a fine store, having a well-equipped establishment for the
undertaking and embalming branch, in which he was especially well
known. He dealt in all kinds of furniture, having a good stock.
This business Mr. Degler has lately sold out.

Mr. Degler married Mary Hollenbach, daughter of
John Hollenbach, of Upper Bern township, and seven children have
been born to them, viz.: Calvin, who is living in Upper Bern
township; Henry, living in Shartlesville; Clara, wife of William
Auman; Kate, wife of Arthur Schwoyer, of Reading; William; Mary A.,
wife of William Christ; and Sallie, unmarried, living at home.

A Democrat in politics, Mr. Degler has been
active in local affairs and has served on the election board of
Upper Bern township. He is a member of the Reformed Church, and
socially unites with the P. O. S. of A., the I. O. O. F. and the K.
G. E.