Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery

p. 872

Surnames: ESSER, GROSCUP GEEHR, KROLL, HUMBERT, OVERBECK, FISTER,
WINK, DIEBERT, SCHWOYER, KLINE, BIEBER, FETHEROLF, SMITH, URICK,
HILLEGAS

Among the prominent family names in the history of Kutztown is that
of Esser. From the information at hand it appears that the family
have lived in that vicinity for more than a hundred years past, and
there is a tradition extant that the first house erected upon the
site of Kutztown was built by an Esser.

The earliest American progenitor of this
well-known family of which anything is definitely known is Jacob
Esser, who was born December 29, 1758. He was a cabinet maker by
occupation, and long had a shop and place of business in Kutztown.
One of his specialties was making cases for the old style
grandfather’s clocks, and specimens of his handiwork are still
preserved in some Berks county houses. He died August 24, 1845, and
was buried in the graveyard of the old Lutheran and Reformed Church
in Kutztown. He was a soldier during the Revolutionary war, and
fought in the battle of the Brandywine. He served as a private in a
Pennsylvania company, Paul Groscup, captain, and Balser Geehr,
colonel. He first enlisted in 1776. This entitles his descendant
Jacob B. Esser to all Revolutionary honors. The records of his
military service are on file in the Bureau of Pensions at
Washington.

This Jacob Esser married Anna Maria Kroll, of
whom little is known beyond the fact that she was born March 23,
1767, in Greenwich township, Berks county, and grew to womanhood in
that locality. She died January 4, 1851. For some years before her
death she was totally blind but bore her affliction in meekness and
patience, and her Christian graces are still warmly commended
whenever her memory is recalled by those who knew her in the flesh.
She also is buried in the graveyard of the Lutheran and Reformed
Church. Jacob Esser and Anna Maria Kroll, his wife, had issue as
follows: Jacob, Daniel, Samuel, Michael, Hannah and George. Daniel
m. Elizabeth Humbert; Samuel m. Hannah Overbeck; Michael died
unmarried; Hannah m. Jacob Overbeck and George m. Elizabeth
Overbeck. The Essers and the Overbecks of this generation were
quite effectually intermarried, Hannah and Elizabeth Overbeck being
sisters of Jacob Overbeck.

Jacob Esser, the oldest child in the family of
Jacob and Anna Maria (Kroll), was born October 9, 1792, in
Maxatawny township, where he engaged at farming nearly all his
working days. He married Sarah Fister, a daughter of George and
Margaret Fister, and a member of another old representative Berks
county family. He died January 20, 1860, and his wife October 20,
1870, both dying in the house now occupied by D. A. G. Wink, the
house in which they were married. The remains of both are buried in
the Hope cemetery, which adjoins the cemetery of the old Lutheran
and Reformed Church.

To the union of Jacob and Sarah (Fister) Esser
were born two children, namely: Charles W. and Mary. Mary m. Samuel
Diebert, a merchant of Schuylkill Haven, by whom she had two
children, both of whom are dead. Mr. And Mrs. Diebert are also
deceased.

Charles W. Esser was born on the farm in
Maxatawny township, but early in life learned the hat-maker’s
trade. After completing his trade he opened a store in Kutztown,
using the back part as a shop in which to manufacture his goods and
the front part as a salesroom. In politics he was a pronounced
Democrat, and took great interest in party and public affairs. He
was elected to the office of justice of the peace and several times
was a candidate for nomination as sheriff, in which, though not
successful, he always commanded a strong following. He was twice
married. He first married Anna Maria Schwoyer (born March 12, 1832,
died Jan. 15, 1859), by which union three children were born, two
sons who died in infancy, and a daughter who grew to womanhood and
married A. A. Kline, of Allentown. Mrs. Kline died in 1902, leaving
issue two sons. Charles W. Esser m. second, Mary Bieber, daughter
of John Bieber and Salome Fetherolf, his wife. Mary Bieber also was
born in Maxatawny township, on Jan. 11, 1822, and was a member of
one of the largest and most prominent families in this part of
Pennsylvania. Charles W. Esser died Aug. 20, 1863; his wife, Mary
(Bieber) Esser, survived him until Sept. 8, 1894. He and his two
wives and his parents are buried on the same plot in the Hope
cemetery.

To Charles W. and Mary (Bieber) Esser were born
two children, namely: Sally M. (m. to Samuel Smith and lives in
Kutztown), and Jacob B. Esser Jacob Bieber Esser was born Jan. 5,
1863, in the borough of Kutztown, where he grew to manhood and has
spent nearly all his days. He was educated in the public schools of
his native town and in the Keystone State Normal School, and
selected for his life occupation the printer’s trade, serving his
apprenticeship with A. B. Urick in the office of the Kutztown
Journal. After completing his apprenticeship he worked for two
years as a journeyman in Philadelphia and for three years more in
the city of New York, by which time he had acquired a thorough,
practical knowledge of the art of printing. He then returned to
Kutztown and in 1887 purchased the Kutztown Journal and the
Kutztown Patriot, which two papers he has successfully conducted
ever since. He gives every branch of his business close personal
attention and under his energetic direction both papers have not
only maintained the high prestige they enjoyed when they came into
his possession, but have greatly increased in circulation and
influence. His plant is complete and up-to-date in every respect,
containing linotype, improved presses, folders and other modern
machinery, and a very superior class of typographical work is
turned out. The Journal is printed in German, the Patriot in
English.

Mr. Esser is an enterprising and public-spirited
citizen and has done much to forward the best interests of his
community. For a period of three years he was chief burgess of the
town; for nine years continuously was secretary of the former
Kutztown Fair Association, and one of the leading spirits and first
president of the new association, which has expended more than
thirty thousand dollars for grounds and improvements. In the matter
of politics he is a Democrat, both by inheritance and conviction,
and has expended much time and labor for the success of his party.
For six consecutive years he was a member of the Democratic county
committee for Kutztown and for four of those years secretary of the
committee. In 1903 he was elected assistant chairman of the
Democratic county committee and the following year, its chairman,
in which capacity he served acceptably until April, 1905. He has
repeatedly been delegate to county and State conventions and one of
the best proofs that his political course generally met the
approval of his party is the fact that in 1901 he was nominated and
elected clerk of the court of Quarter Sessions of Berks county, it
being the first time that his name was ever presented for county
office.

Fraternally Mr. Esser belongs to Huguenot Lodge,
F. & A.M.; Excelsior Chapter, of Reading; Reading Commandery,
Knights Templar; Rajah Temple of the Mystic Shrine; is a
Thirty-Second degree Mason; a Knight of the Golden Eagle; and a
Junior American Mechanic. He is also a member of the Reading Press
Club and of the Pennsylvania State Editorial Association.

On Oct. 10, 1887, Mr. Esser married Miss Mary L.
Hillegas, a daughter of John G. Hillegas, of Pennsburg, Montgomery
county, and their union has been blessed with the following
children: Florence O., Charles H., and Helen M.

p. 957

Surnames: ESSICK, BARR, MCFARLAND, MARCH, GREENWOOD, OBERHOLTZER,
BARR, EBY

Joseph Wesley Essick, prominently engaged in the insurance business
at Reading since 1894, was born at Royersford, Pa., in 1877, and
there educated in the public schools until he was seventeen years
old, when he located at Reading and engaged in the insurance
business as the agent of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance
Company of Boston, and he has continued to be its agent until the
present time. His agency embraces nine counties ? Berks, Lebanon,
Schuylkill, Lehigh, Northampton, Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and
Lancaster ? and through his well-directed efforts he has developed
his agency into the third largest in the State, the other two ahead
of it being Philadelphia and Pittsburg; and in the volume of
personal business he has made it the second largest, the first
being at Pittsburg. During this time he has also represented the
casualty lines of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, of Hartford,
Conn., for which Company he has also been very successful.

In 1901, Mr. Essick married Bessie H. Barr,
daughter of William U. Barr, of Reading, chief clerk to the General
Superintendent of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company,
and they have one child, Elizabeth McFarland. Their home is in the
suburban town of Springmont, four miles west of Reading.

Mr. Essick’s father is William Somerfield
Essick, born in 1852, at Coventryville, in Chester county, and
there educated and brought up on his father’s farm where he
remained until 1881, when he became the secretary of the Buckwalter
Stove Company at Royersford, and he held this position for thirteen
years. He then moved to Reading and filled the position of general
manager of the Reading Stove Works for five years, when he became
associated with his son Joseph W. in the insurance business, and
has continued with his son until the present time, being in charge
of the Harrisburg branch office, which he established at that
place. He married Charlotte March, of Phoenixville (daughter of
Hiram March and his wife, Esther Greenwood), and they have two
children: Evelyn and Joseph Wesley.

Mr. Essick’s grandfather was John Essick, Jr.,
of Philadelphia, a lineal descendant of Rudolph Essick who
emigrated from Wittenberg, Germany, in 1760. His grandfather on his
mother’s side, Hiram March, was a son of Jacob March, of Chester
county, and was married to Ellen Oberholtzer of same county. His
wife’s grandfather was Elias Barr, of Lancaster City. He married
Anna Eby, daughter of Christian Eby, a descendant of Peter Eby who
emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1720 and settled in that section of
the province which became Lancaster county.

p. 623

Surnames: ESTERLY, SNYDER, MILLER, QUIMBY, NOECKER, HOMAN, TAENZER

Daniel S. Esterly, a well known business man of Reading, and a
member of the Board of Trade, was born in 1831, in Exeter township,
Berks Co., Pa., son of Joseph Esterly, and grandson of Daniel
Esterly, a blacksmith by trade, who followed that occupation in
Exeter township, near the “Black Bear Hotel” where he died at an
advanced age.

Joseph Esterly was born in Exeter township, and
learned the blacksmith business of his father. He followed that
trade for some time, later devoting his time to farming, and he
continued at that occupation until his death, aged sixty-two years,
well known and highly respected in his native community. He married
Lydia Snyder, who died at the age of eighty-three years, and of
their family, two children survive; Augustus, a farmer of Exeter
township and Daniel S.

Daniel S. Esterly attended the schools of the
place of his nativity until fifteen years of age, and then learned
the cabinet makers’ trade, which he followed a few years on Penn
street, Reading. The work not proving congenial, Mr. Esterly
engaged with the Reading Railroad in the car shops, and remained
therein for about two and a half years, when he was transferred to
Philadelphia, where he became car inspector. After nine and a half
years in that position, Mr. Esterly returned to Reading and engaged
in the produce business at No. 15 North Sixth street, in 1865, and
later in 1868 took his brother Augustus as a partner. They later
removed to the corner of Seventh and Penn streets, and continued
business together at that stand until the spring of 1876. Their
business became so prosperous that they had four private cars
built, the first one, a four wheeler, being built at a cost of
$400, and the second, an eight wheeler, at a cost of $350. In 1897
Mr. Esterly retired from the produce business and engaged in the
wholesale grocery business at No. 818 Penn street, until 1901, when
he retired. He was known as one of the largest commission merchants
of Reading, his four cars running daily between Philadelphia and
Reading. Mr. Esterly built his fine home in 1874, at No. 116 South
Eighth street and there he has since resided.

Mr. Esterly married Mary Miller, daughter of
Daniel Miller, a well known blacksmith, and she died in 1889, the
mother of these children: Joseph, a grocer salesman, of Reading, m.
Lavina Quimby, and has two children, Daniel and Joseph H.; and
Clara A. m. George W. Noecker and has a son Alpheus (m. Carolina,
daughter of Edward and Kate (Holman) Taenzer).

In politics Mr. Esterly is a democrat, and is a
member of the board of health. He has been a member of the Reading
Board of Trade for many years. He is a member of the Baptist
Church, and been a deacon for fifteen years, and treasurer of the
Baptist Association for the past fifteen years. Fraternally he is a
member of Richmond Lodge No. 230. F. & A. M., of Philadelphia;
the Good Fellows, No. 32 of Philadelphia; and also the Odd Fellows.

p. 1122

Surnames: ESTERLY, SNYDER, KANTNER, EPLER

Harry S. Esterly, a leading citizen of Reading, Pa., engaged in the
manufacture of cakes, crackers and biscuit, with his brother,
Romanus Esterly, under the firm name of the Reading Biscuit
Company, also following the occupation of railway mail clerk, was
born in Exeter township, in 1866, son of Henry and Sarah (Snyder)
Esterly.

Harry S. Esterly attended the public schools and
graded schools of Reading, and in 1882 and 1883 took a course at
the Kutztown State Normal School. He began teaching school at the
age of fifteen years, in Exeter township, continuing at this
profession in all ten years. Mr. Esterly then took a civil service
examination for the position of railway postal clerk, passing very
high in rank, at Philadelphia in 1894. In October, 1895, Mr.
Esterly began running between Philadelphia and Pottsville, and was
considered one of the most faithful and efficient clerks in the
mail service. He resigned in May, 1907, to give his entire
attention to his business. In April, 1903, Mr. Esterly formed a
partnership with his brother, Romanus, and since this time they
have been engaged in the manufacture of crackers, cakes and
biscuit, the firm style being The Reading Biscuit Company. In this
venture the Messrs. Esterly have been very successful, and their
patronage extends throughout the State.

Mr. Harry S. Esterly was married in April, 1905,
to Miss Sallie E. Kantner, daughter of W. C. and Sarah (Epler)
Kantner, of No. 103 South Sixth street, Reading, and they have one
son, Franklin Kantner. They have their home at No. 143 South Eighth
street. Mr. Esterly is a Mason, being connected with Blue Lodge No.
62, Consistory, and Rajah Temple, Mystic Shrine. He is also a
member of the Sons of American and the Knights of the Golden Eagle.
In politics he is a Democrat, and his religious connection is with
Schwartzwald Lutheran Church.

p. 957

Surnames: ESSICK, BARR, MCFARLAND, MARCH, GREENWOOD, OBERHOLTZER,
BARR, EBY

Joseph Wesley Essick, prominently engaged in the insurance business
at Reading since 1894, was born at Royersford, Pa., in 1877, and
there educated in the public schools until he was seventeen years
old, when he located at Reading and engaged in the insurance
business as the agent of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance
Company of Boston, and he has continued to be its agent until the
present time. His agency embraces nine counties ? Berks, Lebanon,
Schuylkill, Lehigh, Northampton, Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and
Lancaster ? and through his well-directed efforts he has developed
his agency into the third largest in the State, the other two ahead
of it being Philadelphia and Pittsburg; and in the volume of
personal business he has made it the second largest, the first
being at Pittsburg. During this time he has also represented the
casualty lines of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, of Hartford,
Conn., for which Company he has also been very successful.

In 1901, Mr. Essick married Bessie H. Barr,
daughter of William U. Barr, of Reading, chief clerk to the General
Superintendent of the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company,
and they have one child, Elizabeth McFarland. Their home is in the
suburban town of Springmont, four miles west of Reading.

Mr. Essick’s father is William Somerfield
Essick, born in 1852, at Coventryville, in Chester county, and
there educated and brought up on his father’s farm where he
remained until 1881, when he became the secretary of the Buckwalter
Stove Company at Royersford, and he held this position for thirteen
years. He then moved to Reading and filled the position of general
manager of the Reading Stove Works for five years, when he became
associated with his son Joseph W. in the insurance business, and
has continued with his son until the present time, being in charge
of the Harrisburg branch office, which he established at that
place. He married Charlotte March, of Phoenixville (daughter of
Hiram March and his wife, Esther Greenwood), and they have two
children: Evelyn and Joseph Wesley.

Mr. Essick’s grandfather was John Essick, Jr.,
of Philadelphia, a lineal descendant of Rudolph Essick who
emigrated from Wittenberg, Germany, in 1760. His grandfather on his
mother’s side, Hiram March, was a son of Jacob March, of Chester
county, and was married to Ellen Oberholtzer of same county. His
wife’s grandfather was Elias Barr, of Lancaster City. He married
Anna Eby, daughter of Christian Eby, a descendant of Peter Eby who
emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1720 and settled in that section of
the province which became Lancaster county.

p. 546

Surnames: ESTERLY, CLARK, HERBEIN, SNYDER, BODY, KEENER, DUNN,
WERTZ, BROWN, LEVAN

Romanus Esterly, one of Reading’s successful business men, and one
of the proprietors of the Reading Biscuit Company, manufacturers of
cakes, crackers and biscuits, located at No. 120 South Third
street, was born in Exeter township, Berks Co., Pa., son of Henry
Esterly, and grandson of John and Mary (Clark) Esterly. John
Esterly, who was a farmer and blacksmith of Exeter township, died
when eighty-three years of age, and his wife at the age of
eighty-two years.

Henry Esterly attended the public schools of
Exeter township, receiving a fair education, and early in life
engaged in agricultural pursuits, owning a fine farm of 110 acres.
He continued to operate in that township until 1903, in which year
he removed to Mt. Penn, where he has since resided, retired from
active business life. For one and one-half years, Mr. Esterly kept
the old “Washington House” in Exeter township, conducting it under
the name of the “Gechter’s Hotel.” He is known as an honest,
upright citizen, and has the respect and esteem of all with whom he
has come into contact. Mr. Esterly married Sarah, daughter of Peter
and Mary (Herbein) Snyder, of Oley Valley, Berks county. The
children born to this union were: John of Mt. Penn.; Harry S.;
Romanus; Alice, m. to Howard Body; George, m. to Catherin Keener,
of Reading; and Sallie, m. to Harvey Dunn. Henry Esterly is a
Democrat in politics and for ten years was a school director in
Exeter township. He is now serving as a member of the board of
health of Mt. Penn, and as member of town council.

Romanus Esterly received his primary education
in the public schools of Exeter township, where he supplemented
with a course at Stoner’s Business College, and subsequently
attended Kutztown State Normal school in 1888 and 1889. The next
four years he taught schools in his native township, and was then
employed as a salesman with F. S. Wertz & Co., bakers, with
whom he remained until they sold out to The National Biscuit
Company. Mr. Esterly remained with the latter firm until this
branch of the business was closed. In April 1903, Mr. Esterly, with
his brother, H. S. formed a partnership, and since that time they
have engaged successfully in the baking of cakes, crackers and
biscuits under the firm name of the Reading Biscuit Company. They
have a fine large four-story building at No. 120 Third street, 60 x
120, well equipped with all the latest machinery and improvements,
employing forty-five skilled workmen. The firm works up an average
of 125 barrels of flour weekly, and besides enjoying a good, steady
local trade, ships the product throughout the surrounding country.

Mr. Romanus Esterly married Miss Sallie Brown,
daughter of Charles and Sarah (Levan) Brown, and five children have
been born to this union: Mabel, Sarah, Paul, Charles and Frances.
In politics Mr. Esterly is a Democrat. He is connected with St.
Matthew’s Lutheran Church, serving as a deacon and as a teacher in
the Sunday-school, and is a member of the Christian Endeavor. Mr.
and Mrs. Esterly and their children make their home at No. 721
North Fourth street. Mr. Esterly has made his own way in the world,
and his success is due to his native ability, his determination to
succeed and his straightforward manner of doing business. He and
his wife are highly esteemed in the community in which he has
proved himself to be such a useful and public-spirited citizen. Mr.
Esterly is a Mason, being connected with the Isaac Hiester Blue
Lodge, No. 660.

p. 333

Surnames: EVANS, THOMAS, CHEW, KEENE, STILLE

Charles Evans, founder of the superb cemetery at Reading which
bears his name, was born in Philadelphia, March 30, 1768. His
parents were David Evans, of Philadelphia, and Letitia Thomas, of
Radnor, both members of the Society of Friends. He received a good
education, and when twenty years of age, entered the office of
Benjamin Chew, Esq., a distinguished lawyer at Philadelphia, for
the purpose of reading law. He was admitted to the Bar in June,
1791, and two months afterward went to Reading to practice law. In
his profession he was faithful, capable and diligent. He continued
in active business till 1828, and then retired with an ample
fortune. In 1846 he founded the Charles Evans Cemetery, situated in
Reading, and established it firmly by large donations of money and
grants of property. He died Sept. 5, 1847, and was buried in the
cemetery of his endowment. He married Mary Keene, daughter of
Reynold Keene and Christiana Stille, his wife, both of
Philadelphia. He was the first philanthrophist at Reading. Strange
to say, notwithstanding this incentive to others who have been
engaged in business at Reading and accumulated fortunes, not a
single individual since then has been moved to make a similar gift,
donation or grant for a public cause.

p. 711

Surnames: VAN REED, EVANS, THOMAS, YOST, BECHTEL, MILLER, BRIGHT,
JONES, SPOHN, CARPENTER, SHEPP

Charles Van Reed Evans (deceased), who during the course of a long
and useful life was a well-known and most highly esteemed resident
of Berks county, conducting a farm in Heidelberg township, was born
on the original Evans homestead in Cumru township, March 4, 1810.
The Evans family, one of the early established families of Berks
county, has contributed its share of prominent citizens in this
section in peace and in war. Church-loving, law-abiding and
God-fearing, the family has always been noted for the honesty and
integrity of its members, some of: whom have filled positions of
eminence in their day.

Three brothers named Evans emigrated from Wales
about the year 1720, and landed at Philadelphia, whence all went
prospecting through Pennsylvania, with the result that Daniel
settled in Chester county, Philip (the ancestor of the family
herein described) in Berks county, and the third in Montgomery
county.

Joshua Evans, grandfather of Charles Van Reed
Evans, was born in 1733, and his death occurred. in March. 1778,
when he was aged forty-five years. His wife, who bore the maiden
name of Mary Thomas, was born July 1, 1746, and died in 1813, at
the age of sixty-seven, after a widowhood of almost thirty-six
years. They were the parents of the following children:. Thomas,
Peninnah, Philip, Thomas, Mordecai, Sarah and Joshua. Mrs. Evans’
parents, Philip Thomas and his wife, Esther, lived in East Vincent
township, Chester Co., Pa., but they owned outlying land near
Reading, upon which their daughter Mary and her husband, Joshua
Evans, settled. By the will proved in Philadelphia Oct. 4, 1774,
Philip Thomas wills this farm to Joshua Evans’ son, Philip Thomas
Evans. As previously stated, Joshua Evans and his wife continued to
live on the farm, improved it, and built the stone farm house.

Philip Thomas Evans, father of Charles Van Reed
Evans, was born on the old Evans homestead just mentioned, July 13,
1770, and he passed all his life on that place, dying there Sept.
26, 1835. On Feb. 1, 1801, he married Anna Elizabeth Van Reed, who
was born Sept. 29, 1778, daughter of John and Eve (Yost) Van Reed;
she died July 18, 1853, aged seventy-four years. They became the
parents of children as follows: (1) Thomas Evans, born Jan. 7,
1803, died July 30, 1844, aged forty-one years, six months and
twenty-three days. He m. Susan Bechtel, and lived eleven miles up
Maiden Creek. (2) John V. R., born Jan. 29, 1804; died July 5,
1864, aged sixty years, five months, six days. He inherited the
homestead. He m. Anne Miller. (3) Joshua, born Dec. 25, 1805, died
Dec. 12, 1826, aged twenty years, eleven months, seventeen days.
(4) Mary T, born Sept. 11, 1807, m. Peter Bright, and moved to
Danville, Monitor Co., Pa. (5) Charles V. R. is mentioned farther
on. (6) Abner, born Dec. 25, 1811, died May 21, 1816, aged four
years, four months, twenty-six days. (7) Hannah was born Feb. 10,
1814. (8) Henry V. R., born Jan. 8, 1818, died Oct. 29, 1838, aged
twenty years, nine months, twenty-one days. He inherited the mill
property. (9) Anna Elizabeth, born May 10, 1821, m. Thomas H.
Jones, who died in 1850. Mrs. Jones resides in Reading.

Charles Van Reed Evans was born March 4, 1810.
He received his education in the common schools, the teacher being
paid by the patrons of the school. He gave his time to his father
on the farm, and with his patrimony purchased his farm in Lower
Heidelberg, where he continued throughout his active days,
following farming. He spent the last twenty years of his life in
retirement, and died April 13, 1891, at the age of eighteen years,
one month, three days, and was buried at Sinking Spring. He was a
Republican in politics, and held a number of township offices, was
frequently appointed administrator, executor and guardian, and was
of well known integrity. In 1836 he married Maria Spohn, daughter
of William and Catharine (Miller) Spohn, and to them were born a
family of thirteen children, namely: Josiah S., a soldier in the
Civil war, who served in the 90th Ohio regiment under Captain
Carpenter, and died in a Southern hospital, Feb. 26, 1863; Margaret
E.; Jane, who resides at No. 115 North Third street, Reading;
Amanda, deceased; John H., m. to Margaret J. Van Reed; Maria C.,
Catharine, James, Sarah and Katie E., all deceased; P. Thomas, of
Iowa. rn. to Sally H. Shepp; Annie S., who died Sept. 24, 1901; and
Mordecai, who died young.

p. 1090

Surnames: EVANS, THOMAS

John Van Reed Evans was a lifelong farmer in Spring township, where
he died July 5, 1864. He was born Jan. 29, 1804, son of Philip
Thomas Evans, and a descendant of a Welsh emigrant who came to
America in 1720.

The Evans family, so long represented in Berks
county, has an enviable reputation for honesty and right living.
Three brothers named Evans emigrated from Wales about the year
1720, and landed at Philadelphia, whence all went prospecting
through Pennsylvania, with the result that Daniel settled in
Chester county, Philip (the ancestor of John Van Reed Evans) in
Berks county, and the third in Montgomery county.

Joshua Evans, grandfather of John Van Reed
Evans, was born in 1733, and died in March, 1778, when he was aged
forty-five years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary
Thomas, was born July 1, 1746, and died in 1813, at the age of
sixty-seven, after a widowhood of almost thirty-six years. They
were the parents of the following children: Thomas, Peninnah,
Philip Thomas, Mordecai, Sarah and Joshua. Mrs. Evans’ parents,
Philip Thomas and his wife Esther, lived in East Vincent township,
Chester Co., Pa., but they owned outlying land near Reading, upon
which their daughter Mary and her husband, Joshua Evans, settled.
By the will proved in Philadelphia, Oct. 4, 1774, Philip Thomas
willed this farm to Joshua Evans’ son Philip Thomas Evans. As
previously stated, Mr. Evans and his mother continued to live on
the farm, improved it, and built the stone farm house.

p. 470

Surnames: EVERTS, LICHTY, BROCK, ROBINSON, FORESTERS

Garrett Brock Everts, of the Reading Times is the grandson of
Garrett Everts, who was court crier of the Lancaster county courts
for many years, and who died at the age of eighty-three years.
Garrett Everts had four children: Garrett H., Strickler R., Jacob
R., and Catherine (m. Samuel K. Lichty, of Lancaster, a well known
tailor, who met his death while standing at the cutting table). Of
these children three are living, Strickler and Mrs. Lichty who live
in Lancaster, and Garrett H., the father of Garrett B., a retired
tailor who now makes his home with a married daughter in
Harrisburg. Garrett B. Everts’ mother, who was Sarah Brock before
marriage, died June 19, 1886, leaving three children: Annie, who
died Feb. 6, 1902; Mary, the wife of H. A. Robinson, proprietor of
an extensive department store in Harrisburg; and Garrett B., of
Reading.

Garrett B. Everts was born in Baltimore Md.,
Oct. 9, 1855, and was educated in Baltimore and in Lancaster, Pa.,
after which he became an apprentice to the printer’s trade in the
office of the Lancaster Intelligencer, this being in 1872. On Oct.
25, 1881, Mr. Everts removed to Reading, when he has ever since
resided, his first position being with the Spirit of Berks, as a
compositor, with which he remained one year, then becoming
connected with the Reading Times in a like capacity. In 1898 Mr.
Everts was transferred to the linotype department of this
publication, and he now holds a responsible position therein.

Mr. Everts belongs to the Foresters,
Typographical Union No. 86, the West End Social Club and the
Keystone Hook & Ladder Co. In religion he is a Presbyterian,
and he is a constant attendant and liberal supporter of that
denomination. In politics Mr. Everts is a Democrat. Garret B.
Evert’s uncle, Strickler R. Everts, was for many years the champion
skater of Lancaster county, and although now advanced in years, can
to-day give the younger generation lessons in the art of fast and
fancy skating. The Everts family was one of the oldest and best
known in Lancaster. Garrett B., its representative in Reading, who
has spent twenty-five years of his life in this city, has
determined to make the “Capital of Old Berks” his permanent abiding
place.