Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery

GRIM, DANIEL
P.

p. 1304

Surnames: GRIM, WEAVER, KEMP, ROTHERMEL, BERTOLET, CROUSE,
STETTLER, DIETRICH, BREINIG, SNYDER, FABER, KLINE, KNABB,
HOTTENSTEIN, SMECK

Daniel P. Grim, living in retirement at Kutztown, after an active
and successful business career of forty years, was born at
Grimville, in Greenwich township, Berks county, Aug. 31, 1833. He
was educated in the local schools; also at Bethlehem and
Strasbourg; and after quitting school, served as a teacher from
1852 to 1855. Then he went to Davenport, Iowa, to engage as a clerk
in the general store of Jacob Weaver Jr. & Co., and he remained
for two years, when he removed to Kansas City. Shortly afterward,
he purchased a large tract of farming land near Topeka, which he
continues to hold; also over seven hundred acres in Iowa, which he
owned for ten years. In 1857, he returned home at the request of
his father to assist as a partner in carrying on the tannery at
Grimville. In three years he became the sole owner of the business,
and he directed this successfully until 1897. Upon the decease of
his father in 1883, he purchased the premises from the estate. He
had removed to Kutztown in 1878, and traveled to and fro almost
daily until 1897. Since then he has practically lived in
retirement. By his father’s influence he came to thoroughly
appreciate the importance of education, and therefore encouraged
the education of children in the upper section of the county in
spite of much opposition. He was the first taxpayer there to send
his children to a college for the purpose of giving them the
advantages of a superior education.

When a national bank was established at Kutztown
in 1872, Mr. Grim became one of its directors, and he continued to
serve as such until the bank was removed to reading, in 1883; and
when interest in a local bank was revived, in 1896, he cooperated
earnestly in its organization, and has since then served as a
director. Mr. Grim also encouraged an electric plan at Kutztown for
light, heat and power, and has filled the office of president of
the corporation since 1901.

In December,
1861, Mr. Grim married Catharine A. Grim, daughter of Seth K. Grim
and Anna (Kemp), his wife, of Maxatawny township, and by her had
five children: Annie C., who was educated at the Keystone State
Normal School; A. Elizabeth, who attended the same school, and
married Ira P. Rothermel, Esq., an attorney at Reading (whose
sketch appears in this publication); Daniel P., Jr., who attended
the Keystone State Normal School, Millersville State Normal School
and Stoner’s Inter-State Business College, and was appointed
book-keeper of the Kutztown National Bank in 1902 (which position
he is still filling); Emma, who graduated form the Keystone State
Normal School, teacher in the local schools for six years, and an
artist of superior accomplishments; and Mary, who died in infancy.
Mr. Grim and his family have been devoted members of the Lutheran
Church. In politics he has been a strong adherent of the Republican
party.

Mr. Grim’s father was Col. Daniel Bertolet Grim,
for sixty years identified with the welfare of Grimville and
vicinity, after whom the village had been named and by whom the
post-office of the same name had been established in 1830. He was
born in the township of Maxatawny July 17, 1800, and was brought up
to farming and tanning under his father. He remained at home until
twenty-four years of age, and then started in business on his own
account, purchasing a farm of over two hundred acres in Greenwich
township. There he established a hotel, store, tannery and
distillery, and operated them all successfully for many years. He
also dealt in cattle, which he purchased in the Western States,
brought to his place and disposed of at public sale. In this manner
he developed a business stand and market for live stock which came
to be well known in Berks county and in the adjoining counties. He
showed much interest in the military affairs of the county and
officiated as colonel for a number of years. He was a fine-looking
man, of commanding presence and influence. He gave great
encouragement to education, at the inception of the common school
system, notwithstanding local prejudice and opposition. In politics
he was a Whig, taking a stand which in his time required great
determination and courage in a community almost wholly Democratic.
In 1819 he married Elizabeth Crouse, daughter of Charles Abraham
Crouse, of Skippackville, Montgomery county, and granddaughter of
Cap. Charles Crouse, of Longswamp township in Berks county, who
took an active part in the Revolution; and by her he had nine
children: Jonathan, Daniel, Charles, Catharine (m. William
Stettler), Sarah, Susan (m. Charles Dietrich), Amelia (m. William
T. Breinig) and two who died in infancy. He died in 1883, and his
wife in 1882.

Jonathan Grim, the grandfather of Daniel P.
Grim, was a farmer and tanner of Maxatawny township. He married
Catharine Bertolet, daughter of Daniel Bertolet, of Oley, and
great-granddaughter of Jean Bertolet, the immigrant from
Switzerland in 1726. By her he had an only son, Daniel Bertolet.
Upon the decease of this wife he married Elizabeth Snyder, of Oley,
by whom he had three children: Jonathan, Joshua, and Mary (m.
Charles Faber).

Heinrich Grimm, the great-grandfather, had five
sons (including Jonathan) and two daughters; and the
great-great-grandfather was Egidius Grim, who emigrated from
Germany in 1728, and left two sons, Jacob and Heinrich, and three
daughters, Margaret, Catharine, and Elizabeth.

Egidius Grim was accompanied from Wurtemberg,
Germany, by his wife, and, on their way to Pennsylvania, they
tarried at Deal, England, for several years. By a “Family Tree,”
prepared many years ago, it appears that he was descended from a
Norman knight of the time of William the Conqueror. Upon locating
in Pennsylvania, he purchased a large tract of land (upward of
seven hundred acres) in the district of Weisenburg, near the
Maxatawny settlement, and at the time of his decease, in December,
1761, he was resident of Macungie township, an adjoining district.
By his last will, it appears that he gave his large farm to his two
sons, Jacob and Henry, in two equal parts, having previously
disposed of the premises to them with the reservation of a life
estate to live on either of them (his last will being of record in
the register’s office of Northampton county).

Mr. Daniel P. Grim’s wife’s father, Seth K.
Grim, born in Maxatawny township in 1817, was engaged at farming
for a number of years, but he retired at an early age and died in
1887. His wife, Anna Kemp, born in 1814, died in 1883. She was the
daughter of Jacob Kemp, farmer of Oley township. They had two
children: Catharine A. (m. Daniel P. Grim) and Mary (m. William
Kline, of Maxatawny township).

Seth K. Grim’s father was David Grim, born 1787,
died 1838. He married Catharine Knabb, a daughter of Peter Knabb,
of Oley, born 1794, died 1838.

His grandfather was Jacob Grim, born 1754, died
1833; he married Catharine Hottenstein, of Maxatawny township, born
1761, died 1848. His great-grandfather was Henry Grim, the younger
son of Egidius Grim, the immigrant in 1728.

Jacob Grim, the grandfather of Seth, was
enlisted in the Revolution, having been first lieutenant in the
company of Capt. Casper Smeck, Maxatawny township, Second
Battalion, of the Berks County Militia, which was called into
active service in the summer of 1777, and participated in the
battles of Brandywine and Germantown.

GRIM
FAMILY

p. 654

Surnames: GRIM, GRIMM, STOEVER, MERKEL, ROTH, HOTTENSTEIN, BUTZ,
APPEL, BAILEY, KLINE, HERMAN, GARBER, MILLER, BUNKER, MOSSER,
FREDERICK, HARTZELL, SHANKWEILER, TREXLER, KUTZ, DENGLER, GABY,
WEISER, BIEBER, KIRBY, KROUSE, RHOADS, BOYER, SEBOLD, BERTOLETT,
SNYDER, DIETRICH, BIEBER, ZIMMERMAN, RAUBENHOLD

In Weisenburg township, Northampton (now Lehigh) county, Pa., in
1728 located Johan Egidius Grimm (or Grim), who came to this
Commonwealth with that noted pioneer minister of the Lutheran
Church, John Casper Stoever. The Grim family home was in Normandy
and the lineage is traced back to a Baron there in the time of
William the Conquerer. One branch of the family went to Alsace,
whence came Johan Egidius (also known as Gitti or Gideon). It
appears that he later settled in Maxatawny, Berks county, where he
secured a large tract of land. He built a substantial house, where
other settlers frequently sought refuge in times of Indian
disturbances. Most of his descendants are members of the Lutheran
Church, and two of his sons served in the war of the Revolution.
The will of “Gitti, alias Gideon,” Grim was made Jan. 28, 1760, and
was probated Oct. 1, 1761, when Jacob and Henry Grim, his sons,
were appointed as executors. In this will he gave his land to his
sons Jacob and Henry; fifty pounds to his daughter Cattarina; fifty
pounds to his daughter Elizabeth (m. Casper Merkel); thirty pounds
to Frantz Roth, “son of my daughter Margreth.”

(II) Henry Grim, son of Gitti, married and had three children:
Jacob; Jonathan, ancestor of Daniel P. Grim, of Kutztown; Gideon.

(II) Jacob Grim, son of Gitti, married and had a son Henry, born
March 16, 1765, who died April 3, 1829, aged seventy-three years,
and eighteen days, the father of five children-Rachel, Jonas,
Abraham, Solomon and David.

(III) Jacob Grim, son of Henry, was born June 17, 1754. On Nov. 2,
1779, he married Catharina Hottenstein, and he died June 24, 1833,
aged seventy-nine years, seven days. Both he and his wife are
buried on the farm in Maxatawny township, now owned by Mrs. Cecilia
(Grim) Butz, of Allentown. This adjoins the old homestead farm. To
Jacob and his wife were born eleven children, namely: Jesse; David;
Henry, who died in Philadelphia unmarried; Sem; Daniel, who died in
infancy; Nathaniel, who died in infancy; a son that died in infancy
unnamed; Sarah, m. to John Bailey; Judith, m. to John Appel;
Catharina, who died in infancy; and one whose name is not known.

(IV) Jesse Grim, son of Jacob and Catharina (Hottenstein), had six
children: Jacob, father of Mrs. Cecilia Grim Butz, of Allentown;
Walter J.; Ephraim; Deborah; William and Allen.

(IV) Sem Grim, son of Jacob and Catharina (Hottenstein), married
Anna Kline, and had five children: Dr. Henry; Isabella, m. to the
Rev. A. J. Herman; Catharine, m. to Prof. Davis Garber; Louise and
Oscar Sem, all of Allentown.

(IV) David Grim, son of Jacob and Catharina (Hottenstein), was born
April 12, 1787. He died Oct. 12, 1838, and was buried in the
cemetery on the farm owned by Mrs. Cecilia G. Butz. His five
children were: Seth K., who had two daughters, Mary (m. William
Kline, of Rothrocksville) and Catharina (m. Daniel P. Grim, of
Kutztown); Daniel K.; David K., who had four children, Henry,
George, Mary A. (m. William Miller, of Philadelphia), and Anna (m.
a Mr. Bunker); Peter K., who married Elizabeth K. Mosser, and had
nine children, David, Mary (m. William J. Frederick, of Reading),
Catharine, Amanda, (m. John S. Hartzell, of Allentown), Emma (died
in infancy), Jacob W. (whose only child, Anna K., is secretary of
the Grim Reunion Association), Albert P., R. Matilda (m. Charles
Appel, of Allentown) and Anna M. (m. Lewis Shankweiler, of
Allentown); and Henrietta K., who married Jesse Kline.

Heinrich Grim, great-grandfather of Moses K., of Maxatawny
township, was born in Maxatawny township in 1733, and he died upon
his farm near Bowers Station in 1804. He owned the old Grim
homestead two squares from Bowers Station, on which is the old
mill-one of the land marks of the township. Heinrich Grim was a
farmer and miller. He married Gertrude Trexler, and they had
children: Absalom; Gideon (1760-1823); Jonathan; Daniel; Reuben;
Solomon; Ann; and Polly.

Solomon Grim, son of Heinrich and Gertrude
(Trexler), was a successful farmer and miller in Rockland township,
where he died in 1815. He married Leah Kline, daughter of David
Kline, the owner of much valuable property in Maxatawny. They had
two children, Reuben, and a daughter that died in childhood.

Reuben Grim, son of Solomon and Leah (Kline),
was born on his father’s farm in Rockland township, March 7, 1816.
For many years he conducted the mill in connection with farming,
continuing this double occupation until 1866. He was very
successful, and became the owner of three farms. In 1867 he moved
to Maxatawny township to the farm now occupied by his son Moses K.
He was a man of influence and was a prominent worker in the
Lutheran Church at Lyons. He died Dec. 20, 1897. He married Diana
Kutz, daughter of Daniel Kutz, of Maxatawny, and their children
were: William; Solomon; Dewald, who died aged two years; Moses K.;
Amanda, m. to Anthony Dengler, now of Michigan; Louisa, m. to the
late Daniel Gaby; and Eliza, who died aged seven years.

Moses K. Grim, son of Reuben and Diana (Kutz),
was born in Rockland township, May 8, 1845, and is now a prominent
and successful farmer, located near Bowers Station, in Maxatawny
township. His early training was along agricultural lines, and when
he started out for himself in 1873, it was on the same farm on
which he now resides. This consists of 110 acres, and Mr. Grim has
been its owner since 1896. He is a man of much business capacity,
and is possessed of more than ordinary intelligence, and is greatly
esteemed in his locality. In his political affiliations he is a
Republican, and from 1900 to 1903 served his township (which is
nominally Democratic) on the school board, being that board’s
president for one year, and for some time its treasurer. With his
family be belongs to Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church at Bowers.
For a number of years they worshipped at St. Paul’s Lutheran
Church, at Lyons, where his father, Reuben, was an official.

In 1872 Mr. Moses K. Grim was married to Miss
Emma C. Weiser, daughter of Elijah and Esther (Bieber) Weiser.
Seven children were born of this union, namely: Jacob, born March
8, 1876; Louisa E., June 30, 1878; William G., April 25, 1881;
Walter B., Nov. 4, 1883; Ida May, March 7, 1886; Julius H., July 2,
1888; and John E., April 2, 1890. ———Gideon Grim, son of
Heinrich and Gertrude (Trexler), was born in Maxatawny township in
1760, and died in 1823, an extensive and prosperous farmer. His
wife, Elizabeth Kirby, was of English extraction. She bore him five
sons and two daughters, as follows: David, Nathan, Gideon,
Benjamin, Joshua, Hannah and Dinah.

Gideon Grim, son of Gideon and Elizabeth
(Kirby), was born in Maxatawny township, Aug. 31, 1792, and died in
Colebrookdale township, April 27, 1848. He married Esther Krouse,
and they had two sons, William K.; and Levi, who died when eighteen
years old.

William K. Grim, son of Gideon and Esther
(Krouse), was born in Exeter township, May 28, 1825, and was one of
the substantial and representative men of Boyertown. In his youth
he learned the tanning trade, and this he followed successfully
until 1874. In 1872 he moved to Boyertown, and there helped to
organize the National Bank. He was also one of the organizers of
the Farmers’ National Bank of the same town. He was interested in
the Colebrookdale Iron Company, of Pottstown, a large chartered
corporation doing business since 1835. He was very level headed in
business matters, and his judgment was frequently accepted as
final. In 1853 he married Loretta B. Rhoads, daughter of John and
Catharine (Boyer) Rhoads, and they have four children: Mahala, at
home; Sallie, wife of Frank Sebold; William R., a bank cashier at
Texarkana, Texas; and Kate, at home.

Jonathan Grim, son of Heinrich and Gertrude (Trexler), was a tanner
in Maxatawny township, where he lived for many years. His later
years were passed in Kutztown. He married (first) Catharine H.
Bertolett, and by her had one son, Daniel B., born July 17, 1800.
He m. (second) a Miss Snyder, and they had three children: Joshua
S., Polly and Jonathan.

Daniel B. Grim, son of Jonathan and Catharine H.
(Bertolett), born July 17, 1800, owned a farm of 220 acres at
Grimville, where he kept a store, hotel and tannery many years,
amassing a comfortable fortune. He was active in the State militia,
and in public affairs always took an interested and prominent part.
He was known as “Der Hellwedder Grim.” In 1819 he married Elizabeth
Krouse, and they became the parents of children as follows: Daniel
P., born Aug. 31,1833, now a wealthy and influential citizen of
Kutztown; Jonathan K.; Mary; Charlotte; Catharine; Sarah; Charles
A. K.; Susan (Dietrich); and Amelia.

Joshua S. Grim, son of Jonathan by his marriage to Miss Snyder,
became a tanner in Maxatawny township, near the Lehigh county line.
He owned the farm of 140 acres now the property of Cyranius R.
Grim. His first wife, whose maiden name was Bieber, bore him four
children: Johathan; Catharine; Elizabeth; and Henry P. He m.
(second) Mary Zimmerman, daughter of Esau Zimmerman, and the five
children of this union were: Charles A., Joshua I., Cyranius R.,
Mary and Susan.

Cyranius R. Grim, son of Joshua S. and Mary
(Zimmerman), was born on his father’s farm July 22, 1852. In his
earlier years he engaged in tanning, but in 1884 began farming,
making a specialty of his poultry, of which he is very proud. For
many years he has been one of the active and energetic workers in
the Democratic party of Maxatawny township, and in 1889 was elected
assessor, an office he has continued to fill to the satisfaction of
all ever since. In 1881 he married Amelia L. Raubenhold, and they
have six children: Mary E., Walter J., Cyranius R., Jr., Martha A.,
Rose Ann L. and Solon D.

GRIM,
WILLIAM K.

p. 381

Surnames: GRIM, KIRBY, KNOUSE, RHOADS, SEIGFRIED, DRESHER, MERKER,
SABOLD, HAUBERGER, BOYER

William K. Grim was a very prominent and influential citizen at
Boyertown, and his death Aug. 14, 1905, was greatly deplored. The
Grim family is one of the oldest in the county, and owes its
residence here to the emigration from Germany of Johan Egidius
Grim. The home of the family was originally in Normandy, and the
lineage is traced back to a Baron there in the time of William the
Conqueror. One branch of the family went to Alsace, and to that
branch the Berks county Grims belong.

(I) Johan Egidius Grim came to America in 1728 with the Rev. John
Casper Stoever, and he settled first in Weisenburg township,
Northampton (now Lehigh) county, but it appears he later came to
Maxatawny township, Berks county, and secured a large tract of
land. His house was a most substantial one, and to it other
settlers fled for refuge in time of Indian disturbances. Two of his
sons served in the war of the Revolution, and most of his
descendants are members of the Lutheran Church. The will of “Gitti,
alias Gideon” Grim was made Jan. 28, 1760, and was probated Oct. 1,
1761, when Jacob and Henry Grim, his sons, were appointed as
executors. In this will he gave his land to his sons Jacob and
Henry; fifty pounds to his daughter Cattarina; fifty pounds to his
daughter Elizabeth (who married Casper Merker); thirty pounds to
Francis Roth “son of my daughter Margreth.”

(II) Henry Grim, son of Gitti was born in Maxatawny township in
1733, and died in 1804. He married and had three children: Jacob,
Jonathan and Gideon.

(III) Gideon Grim, son of Henry, was born in Maxatawny township,
where he became an extensive and successful farmer. His death
occurred in 1823, when he was aged sixty-three years. By his wife,
Elizabeth Kirby, an Englishwoman, he became the father of five sons
and two daughters, namely: David, who died unmarried; Nathan, who
settled at farming in Columbia county, Pa.; Gideon and Benjamin,
millers at Weisenburg, in Lehigh county; Joshua, a farmer on the
homestead; Hannah (m. John Seigfried); and Dinah (m. John Dresher).

(IV) Gideon Grim, son of Gideon and Elizabeth , was born on the old
homestead in Maxatawny township Aug. 31, 1792. He carried on
milling and farming for many years in Exeter township at the home
of his father-in-law, Henry Knouse. In 1830 he purchased in
Colebrookdale township two farms of about ninety acres each, with a
tan yard, and these he operated until his death April 27, 1848. He
was buried in the Boyertown cemetery. He hauled the product of his
farm and tannery to market in Philadelphia by team, and was well
known throughout the county. He was an official member of the
Lutheran Church. He married Esther Knouse, and had two children:
William K.; and Levi, who died at the age of eighteen.

(V) William K. Grim was a son of Gideon and Esther, and was born in
Exeter township May 28, 1825. He early learned the tanner’s trade
from his father, and often used to accompany the latter on his
trips to Philadelphia, and at the age of sixteen William K. began
making these trips alone. He operated the tan yard until 1874, when
that enterprise was abandoned on account of the scarcity of tan
bark. A flour and grist mill was then built on the property, and
this is still in operation. Two years before this Mr. Grim had
moved to Boyertown, and in the business life of that town he at
once entered, taking an active part therein until his death. He
built the large Grim block, was instrumental in organizing the
National Bank of Boyertown, of which he was a director for some
years, and later he was one of the organizers of the Farmers’
National Bank, in which he was a director and later vice president.
He was a heavy stockholder in the Colebrookdale Iron Company,
established in 1835, and incorporated in 1886, and located at
Pottstown, and after he became its president its scope was largely
increased, their goods being shipped to all parts of the world. In
politics Mr. Grim was a Democrat, and for thirteen years was
burgess of Boyertown, and during the administration of President
Cleveland was its postmaster. He was a member of the Lutheran
Church, and in that faith died Aug. 14, 1905.

On June 11, 1853, William K. Grim married
Loretta B. Rhoads, daughter of John and Catharine Rhoads. She was
born Aug. 21, 1825, and died Aug. 4, 1906. Her maternal
grandparents were Henry and Sarah Boyer. Henry Boyer and his
brother Daniel were the first settlers of Boyertown, and from them
the town derived its name. To William K. and Loretta B. Grim were
born four children: Mahella, Sarah (m. Frank W. Sabold, manager of
the New York Telephone Company, at Yonkers, N. Y., who in 1902
became associated, in an official capacity, with The Hudson River
Telephone Company, at Albany, N. Y., at which place he died April
16, 1904), William R., and Kate.

(VI) William R. Grim, son of William K. and Loretta B. Grim, was
born April 24, 1860, and was given the benefit of a good education.
After studying in the public schools, he went to Mt. Pleasant
Seminary and then to Muhlenberg College, graduating from the latter
in 1882. He read law at Salina, Kans., and was there admitted to
the Bar. He later went to Texas, and located at Texarkana, where he
became cashier of the Texarkana National Bank, and in 1903 was
elected its president. This bank is a strong financial institution,
and is a power in its locality. Mr. Grim is also interested in
railroads. He married Sarah Hauberger, of Philadelphia, and they
have two children, Emeline and Loretta.

GRIMES,
PETER

p. 933

Surnames: GRIMES, HENRY, WENRICH, LEININGER, BECKER, THOMPSON,
SHEARER, WHITE, BORRY, WALMER, ZIMMERMAN, TREXLER, NESTER, KNODERER

Peter Grimes, of Womelsdorf, Pa., who is engaged in carpentering,
and who is a veteran of the Civil war, was born Aug. 29, 1846, in
Heidelberg township, Berks county, son of Peter and Sarah (Wenrich)
Grimes.

Henry Grimes, his grandfather, was of Heidelberg
township, where as a lad he was bound out as a servant in a family.
Later he engaged in agricultural pursuits and became the owner of a
tract of 150 acres in the mountains in Heidelberg township,
cultivating his land in addition to teaching the “three R’s” in
German subscription schools, the principal text-books being the
Psalter and the New Testament. Mr. Grimes married Susanna
Leininger, who after his death married George Becker. Mr. Grimes is
buried at the Corner Church. He and his wife had these children:
Peter; John; Anna; Benjamin; David; Henry; Joseph; Franklin, of
Marion township; Daniel, of Mill Creek township, Lebanon county;
Mary, of West Philadelphia; and Jacob of near Denver, Lancaster
county.

Peter Grimes, father of Peter, was born Aug. 29,
1819, and died May 11, 1882, in Heidelberg township, after having
spent his life in various places. He was engaged in agricultural
pursuits and fence making. He was a member of Zion’s Lutheran
Church, where he was buried. Mr. Grimes married Sarah Wenrich, born
June 14, 1821, died Dec. 21, 1895, daughter of David Wenrich, who
was married three times, having five children by his first wife,
five by the second, and nine by the third. Mrs. Grimes was of the
second marriage, her mother’s maiden name being Henry. To Mr. And
Mrs. Grimes were born: John, who died during the Civil war at
Beaufort Hospital, S. C.; Peter; Henry, of Womelsdorf; Franklin,
deceased, who had a son Franklin; and Sarah, who married William
Thompson, of Philadelphia, in which city she died.

Peter Grimes spent his youth upon the home farm,
where he worked until the outbreak of the Civil war, at which time
his youthful heart was fired by patriotism, and on Oct. 27, 1862,
he enlisted as a drummer boy in Company A, 167th Pa. Vol. Inf.,
being then but sixteen years old. He served nine months, and was
mustered out Aug. 12, 1863, at Reading, having participated in the
battle of Black Water (where Colonel Knoderer was killed) and the
siege of Suffolk. He re-enlisted Feb. 19, 1864, at Womelsdorf,
becoming a private of Company B, 55th Pa. Vol. Inf., Capt. John C.
Shearer, of Robesonia, and Col. Richard White, of Indiana County,
Pa. He was mustered into the service at Reading, and received his
honorable discharge at Petersburg, Aug. 30, 1865, the war having
closed. During his long and faithful service Mr. Grimes
participated in the battles of Old Town Creek; Proctor’s Creek;
Drury’s Bluff; Cold Harbor, June 3-10, 1864, where he was wounded
in the head by a piece of bursting shell; Petersburg, June
16-17-18, 1864; Cemetery Hill; Chapin’s Farm; Hatcher’s Run, March
30-31; Fort Gregg; capture of Petersburg, April 2; Rice Station,
April 6, and surrender of Lee at Appomattox Court House, April 9,
1865. Mr. Grimes was always a faithful and willing soldier, gallant
in action, and cheerful during the long and tedious marches. He was
popular among his comrades and respected by his officers, and his
war record is one of which any man might well be proud.

On his return from the war, Mr. Grimes located
in Womelsdorf, and took up carpentering and fence making at which
he gained quite a reputation. He has long been known as an expert
carpenter, and has done much work in Womelsdorf and vicinity. In
1864 he purchased a house on South Front street; with his bounty
money. In politics, he is a Republican, and twice against his will,
he was elected to the town council, in which body he served very
efficiently. He is a member of Capt. William Tice Post, No. 471, G.
A. R., of Myerstown, Pa. He and his family are members of Zion
Union Church, belonging to the Lutheran congregation.

On Jan. 22, 1871, Mr. Grimes was married to
Henrietta Borry, daughter of Samuel Borry, of Lancaster county,
Pa., and they have the following children: John B., of Lebanon, who
married Annie Walmer; Charles D., who resides at Newmanstown, Pa.,
married to Nora Zimmerman; Calvin P., of Womelsdorf, who married
Emma Trexler; Katie S. and Monroe O., unmarried, who are at home;
Samuel, of Womelsdorf, who married Katie Nester; and Mary, who is
unmarried and resides at home.

GRIMLEY, OLIVER P.

p. 1314

Surnames: GRIMLEY, MOYER, ZIEGLER, JACOBS, SHANER

Oliver P. Grimley, the popular cashier of the Kutztown National
Bank and one of the organizers of that well-known institution, was
born April 2, 1846, in Upper Hanover township, Montgomery Co., Pa.,
son of Jeremiah and Mary Ann (Moyer) Grimley, and grandson of
Frederick Grimley.

Frederick Grimley, who was an agriculturist of
Salford, Montgomery county, was the father of these children:
William, Jeremiah, Amos, Mary, Mrs. Trout, Mrs. Hallman, Jesse and
Albert.

Jeremiah Grimley was born and reared in Upper
Salford, Montgomery county, and after the completion of his
education engaged in teaching, which he followed for many years,
first in New Hanover and later in Upper Hanover. Later in life he
settled upon a farm in Frederick township, where he died in 1858,
ripe in years, being respected by all who knew him for his many
sterling qualities. He was a member of the Reformed Church and an
active worker therein and deacon for many years. He was twice
married, hi first wife being Mary Ann Moyer, a daughter of Jacob
Moyer of Upper Hanover township. To this union there were born:
Oliver P.; and J. M., an extensive dealer in carpets, wood and
willow ware of Allentown, Pa. Jeremiah Grimley’s second marriage
was to Mrs. Ziegler, who bore the maiden name of Louisa Jacobs. One
daughter was born to the second union, Clara A., a telegrapher of
Philadelphia.

Oliver P. Grimley was reared on his father’s
farm and his early education was obtained in the local schools of
his native township. Later he attended Freeland Seminary, Ursinus
College and the Pierce Business College at Philadelphia, graduating
from the latter institution in 1869. He began teaching in the
public schools of Montgomery county in his early manhood and
continued to serve for eleven terms. He then entered the service of
the Perkiomen Railway Company as freight agent of Schwenksville and
afterward became the station agent at Palm station. He remained in
the employ of the company until 1883 when he removed to Boyertown
to fill the position of teller of the National Bank of Boyertown
and he continued there for fourteen years. In 1897 Mr. Grimley,
with certain capitalists at Kutztown and vicinity, organized the
Kutztown National Bank, with a capital of $50,000, and he was
selected as the cashier. From the beginning the operations of the
bank showed evidence of superior management and by the year 1904 it
appeared on the roll of honor of the national banks of the United
States. Its surplus was earned, not paid in, as is done in many
cases; and the bank’s success is attributable in a large degree to
Mr. Grimley’s ability as a financier.

In 1872 Mr. Grimley was married to Sevilla
Shaner, daughter of Isaac Shaner, a farmer of Frederick township,
Montgomery county. They have two sons: Isaac C., teller of the
Kutztown National Bank till 1902, and now assistant cashier of that
institution, is greatly interested in collecting historical
autographs, and is an antiquarian of some distinction; and Oliver
Raymond is head book-keeper of the Keystone Shoe Manufacturing
Company at Kutztown. Mr. Grimley is identified with the Free
Masons, the Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias; in politics he
is a Democrat.

GRING
FAMILY

p. 1516

Surnames: GRING, WALDSCHMIDT, LICHTY, TROXEL, STAMM, HILL, ZERR,
GRILL, WEACHTER, FISHER, WALTERS, STEFFY, GAUL, GENSEMER, OBERLY,
FLEISCHER, MILLER, HARDER, MUHLENBERG, STRUNK, POTTEIGER, SPOHN,
LORAH, LENGEL, SANDS, RUTH, MEADE

One of the old and honorable families of Berks county, Pa., members
of which have distinguished themselves in business and political
life and in military circles, is that of Gring, who has as
representatives in Spring township many men of prominence. This
sketch has to do with two brothers, Franklin H. and Charles H.
Gring, and their nephew, Lewis W. Gring, well known citizens and
substantial business men of Sinking Spring.

Johannes Gring, the founder of this family in
America, crossed the ocean in the ship “Lydia” from Rotterdam,
which landed at Philadelphia, Sept. 20, 1743.

Samuel Gring, son of Johannes, was born in
Holland, and was but a lad when his parents emigrated. He settled
in Cumru, about 1760, and there acquired land and prospered, dying
a wealthy man, and he occupies an unknown grave in the vicinity of
Sinking Spring.

David Gring, grandfather of Charles H. and
Franklin H. and the great-grandfather of Lewis W., was born Feb. 9,
1760 in Cumru township, Berks county. In early life he located at
the Tulpehocken creek, where he took up a tract of land, built
several grist mills, and like his father, became prosperous. He
died Feb. 1, 1848, aged eighty-eight years, less eight days. David
Gring was married (first) Dec. 7, 1790, to Anna Maria Waldschmidt,
of the Fatherland, whose parents came to America with Samuel Gring.
Tradition has it that the Grings and Waldschmidts were neighbors
before coming to this country. Anna Maria Waldschmidt was born Aug.
3, 1767, and died April 20, 1818. She bore her husband these
children: John, a minister of the Reformed Church; William, a
miller of the Tulpehocken Creek; David; Daniel, born July 9, 1798,
a minister of the Reformed Church, who died Sept. 5, 1862 (his
wife, Esther, born March 8, 1799, died Dec. 3, 1861); Susan, who
died unmarried; a daughter, who married a Mr. Lichty; and one who
married a Mr. Troxel. Mr. Gring’s second wife was Gertrude Stamm,
born July 12, 1772, who died March 31, 1857, aged eighty-four
years, eight months and nineteen days.

David Gring, son of David and father of Charles
H. and Franklin H., was born March 9, 1806 and died Jan. 26, 1890,
aged eighty-three years, ten months, seventeen days. He was married
June 25, 1826, to Maria Hill, who was born Oct. 6, 1803, and died
May 18, 1885, aged eighty-one years, seven months and twelve days.
Their union was blessed with these children: David H., born Jan.
11, 1829, a miller; Daniel, born July 27, 1830, a farmer; Samuel,
born Oct. 7, 1832, who is still living, is a prominent lumber
dealer of Reading; Ann, born Feb. 22, 1834, is the widow of George
Zerr; Mary born Nov. 22, 1836, married Joshua Grill; John, born
March 27, 1838, a miller and tanner; Charles H., born Feb. 18,
1840; Lewis, who died at the age of fifteen years, one day;
Franklin H., born July 14, 1844; and Levi, born Nov. 30, 1847, died
Dec. 1, 1862. The father of the above children followed in the
footsteps of his father and grandfather, and at the time of his
death he was the owner of several farms and a good grist mill. He
was first a Whig and later a Republican in politics, and was
prominent in public matters of his day and generation. Mr. Gring
served ad captain, and later as major in the State Militia,
occupying the latter rank for eleven years.

David H. Gring, father of Lewis W., and brother
of Charles H. and Franklin H., was born Jan. 11, 1829, in Lower
Heidelberg township, and died March 10, 1904. He was a farmer and
miller and owned and conducted the well known Gring mill for more
than half a century. Mr. Gring married Catherine Weachter, born
April 30, 1836, who still survives and retains the old homestead.
Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. David H. Gring, namely:
George, of Sinking Spring; Thomas of Wernersville, Pa.; Lewis W.,
who is mentioned below; and two who died in infancy.

Franklin H. Gring was born on the old stand
across the line in Spring township, July 15, 1844, and was reared
upon the farm. Until twenty-six years of age he worked for his
parents, at which time he set out for himself, and in 1871 began
farming the home property, where he lived for three years. The next
location of Mr. Gring was Denver, Lancaster county, but
subsequently, in 1876, he purchased the old Alex Fisher farm, at
Fritztown, a tract of thirty-two acres of fertile land, and here he
has since lived. He has a fine little place which he has greatly
improved. It is located along the Lancaster road, and the road
running from Fritztown to Wernersville, at the foot of Cushion
Hill, and is supplied with some of the finest water in the world.
The property includes many fruit trees, and is in an excellent
state of cultivation. Mr. Gring is a Republican in politics, and he
and his family are members of St. John’s Reformed Church of Sinking
Spring.

On Jan. 14, 1871, Franklin H. Gring was married
to Mary Fisher, born Sept. 14, 1851, daughter of Alexander and Kate
(Walters) Fisher, and granddaughter of John Fisher, who owned many
acres of land around the Keener’s mill. Mr. and Mrs. Gring have had
eight children: Harry R., who resides near his father at Fritztown,
and manufactures cigars, married Mary Steffey, and they have one
son, Stephen; Katie V. died in infancy; Alva G. married Charles
Gaul, of Wernersville, and has two sons, Robert and Harvey; Edwin
F., of Lancaster, Pa., married Alice Gensemer, and has a son,
Elwood; Millie E., who married H. C. Oberly, of Lancaster county;
David A., who was killed Nov. 12, 1902, by the accidental discharge
of a gun while hunting in Lebanon county; Mary A., who married
Oscar Fleischer, born Oct. 7, 1885, an employe of the State Asylum
at Wernersville; and William F., born July 10, 1890.

Charles H. Gring was born in Spring township,
March 18, 1840, and was reared at Gring’s Mill and on the farm
belonging to the mill property. He attended the township schools,
and worked with his father until he was of age, when he embarked in
farming for himself. This he continued until his enlistment, Oct.
27, 1863, in Company E, 167th Pa. V. I., with which he served nine
months, and later was drafted for three years in Company B, 11th U.
S. Cavalry, serving until the close of the war. Mr. Gring had two
miraculous escapes during the service. At Blackwater a bullet
struck a tree, and glancing off, entered the back of his neck, this
bullet, or a part of it, still being in his head, back of his right
ear. On another occasion a bursting shell injured the third finger
on his right hand. Mr. Gring has as many thrilling experiences
during his army career as any soldier in the war. He became
corporal of his company, and for meritorious service was promoted
to skirmish bugler. He showed extraordinary courage on every
occasion, and it was often remarked that he knew no fear. The hard
and trying experiences of a soldier disabled Mr. Gring, and after
his return home he was stricken with rheumatism, contracted during
his service, and the year of sickness which followed wasted his
body to such a degree that he weighed but ninety-two pounds.

After partial recovery Mr. Gring engaged in
farming on his father’s property, where he continued for twelve
years, at the end of which time this was sold, and he located in
Heidelberg township, where he operated the property of Henry and
Charles Miller, when this farm was also sold. Mr. Gring then spent
one year at Wernersville, and in 1880 he purchased the “Centennial
Hotel,” at Sinking Spring, which he successfully conducted for
three years. In 1884 he again engaged in farming on the 200-acre
tract of William Harder, in Heidelberg township, which he
cultivated for two years, and at the end of this time took charge
of the well known H. H. Muhlenberg farm of 542 acres, now embraced
in the city limits of Reading. Here he had ninety-two milk cows and
twenty-two head of horses. In addition to his nine children, he
hired six regular men and several maids, forty people going to one
table. Besides farming, he conducted a stone quarry, where he
employed eleven men.

Mr. Gring has always been noted for his
generosity and hospitality, and on Labor day, for four successive
years, he gave a great dinner to the letter carriers and clerks of
Reading, this being one of the jolliest occasions of the whole
year. His home was a great gathering place for the Reading firemen,
and any one was welcome to share his bed and board. On this farm
Mr. Gring continued to reside until the death of his good wife,
when he sold out his vast farm stock at the public sale in the
spring of 1899, at which time he took out a license for his hotel
at Sinking Spring, which he has conducted very successfully to the
present time. He has a first rate hostelry, which is patronized by
the best people of the community. Throughout his life Mr. Gring has
been an industrious, hard-working man, and as a consequence,
although he has lost over $10,000 through loaning to dishonest
persons, he is in very comfortable circumstances. In politics he is
a Republican. He is a member of the Jr. O. U. A. M.; the Knights of
the Golden Eagle; Post No. 76, G. A. R.; and the Marion Fire
Company, of Reading, since 1887. He is a member of St. John’s
Reformed Church, where his children have all been confirmed, and
where he has been a deacon. Mr. Gring has a fine family lot in the
new cemetery.

Mr. Gring is an enthusiastic sportsman, and
every year takes a trip to some distant point, his outing in the
fall of 1906, being to the spot where he was wounded. He has also
quite a collection of relics, souvenirs, etc., principal among
which are the sword, epaulettes and hat of Gen. George Washington,
concerning which we are allowed to quote from a local paper: “Very
few people are aware of the fact that the original hat worn by Gen.
Washington and his sabre and epaulettes are in the possession of a
Berks county man. Charles H. Gring, proprietor of the upper hotel
at Sinking Spring, claims to be the fortunate owner of these
articles, and they have been in his possession for many years. He
prizes them very highly and takes great pleasure in showing them to
visitors. Mr. Gring has had frequent offers to sell them to
historical societies and relic hunters, but refused them all. Mr.
Gring’s father, the late Major David Gring, who was in the civil
war, received the articles from his grandfather. The latter was a
lieutenant on Gen. Washington’s staff, and a short time before the
close of the Revolution Gen. Washington, it is declared, presented
Lieut. Gring with his sabre and belt, hat and epaulettes. The
articles were in Major David Gring’s possession for many years, and
a short time before his demise he presented them to his son, the
present owner. Mr. Gring saw three years service in the Civil war,
and besides his father was the only one of the family to go to the
front. For this reason the articles were given to him. The hat once
worn by Gen. Washington is kept in a large box. It is in a fair
state of preservation. It is shaped like a half moon and is made of
some stiff black cloth material. Both sides are trimmed with black
braid about a quarter of an inch wide and well worn. In the center
of the hat on the outside is a large American eagle of silver.
Silver cords encircles the brim and the hat almost comes to a
point. When Mr. Gring first secured the old hat there was a red and
a blue feather on top of it. Both have long since crumbled away.
There was a small piece of paper on the band containing the name
and date of the presentation of the hat to Lieut. Gring. It is a
foot high and twenty-two inches long. The sabre and belt are in
excellent condition. The sword is of the finest kind of steel and
is handsomely engraved. The hilt is formed from a solid gold plate.
The grip is formed by a coiled snake, the tail of which is fastened
in an eagle’s beak. At several places on both sides of the blade
are thirteen stars, one for each of the original colonies. The
scabbard is of steel and the belt of genuine horsehide. The
epaulettes are of solid silver, with a red white and blue field on
the top piece. The fringe is of silver cord of heavy weight.”

In 1860 Mr. Gring was married to Mary A. Miller,
born Sept. 25, 1838, who died Jan. 6, 1901, daughter of Isaac and
Mary (Strunk) Miller, of Spring township, and to this union there
were born children as follows: William, m. to Katie Fisher; Lillie,
m. to John Potteiger; Charles H., of Alsace Church; Katie, m. to
John Spohn; Edwin, m. to Edith Lorah; Annie, m. to Frank Lengel;
Harvey; Irwin, who is unmarried; and Edith, m. to William Sands.

Lewis W. Gring, son of David H., was born July
19, 1867, in Spring township, and was educated in the district
schools and also spent two years at a graded school. He was reared
on his father’s farm, and at the mill conducted by him, and when
but eighteen years of age engaged in the manufacture of hosiery on
his father’s farm, erecting a small mill, the machinery of which
was run by water power. Here he continued for about seven years,
when he came to Sinking Spring, and for one year engaged in
manufacturing alone, when he took into partnership James Ruth,
which connection continued for about one year. At the end of this
time Mr. Gring became the employe of Nolde & Horst, extensive
hosiery manufacturers of Reading, with which firm he remained about
two years, subsequently becoming employed at the Textile Works.
After two years in this company’s employ, Mr. Gring erected a small
house and factory at Sinking Spring, and on Jan. 25, 1904, he began
manufacturing again. He now has a one story factory, 40 x 70 feet,
and employes about forty people, the daily output, which finds a
ready market, being 200 dozen machine grade and 144 needle goods.
Mr. Gring is a thorough business man, and has the respect and
esteem of the community in which he resides.

On April 14, 1895, Mr. Gring was married to
Ellen Meade, daughter of Patrick Meade (born Aug. 7, 1826, who died
Jan. 16, 1882), and his wife Mary A. (born April 5, 1833, who died
in Aug. 1907). Mr. Gring and his wife reside in a nice residence on
the Lancaster road, in Sinking Spring, adjoining his factory, and
they attend St. John’s Reformed Church.

GRING, HARRY
R.

p. 1429

Surnames: GRING, WALDSCHMIDT, LICHTY, TROXEL, STAMM, HILL, ZERR,
GRILL, FISHER, WALTERS, GAUL, GENSEMER, OBERLY, FLEISCHER, STEFFY,
KLINE

Harry R. Gring, cigar manufacturer of Fritztown, Berks county,
belongs to one of the old families of the county, being a son of
Franklin H. Gring and a descendant of Johannes Gring.

Johannes Gring, the founder of the family in
America, crossed the ocean on the ship “Lydia,” from Rotterdam,
which landed at Philadelphia Sept. 20, 1743. His son Samuel, who
was a lad when his parents emigrated, settled in Cumru, some time
after 1760. Here he acquired land and prospered, dying a wealthy
man, and occupies an unknown grave in the vicinity of Sinking
Spring.

David Gring, the great-grandfather of Harry R.
Gring, was born Feb. 9, 1760, in Cumru township, Berks county. In
early life he located at Tulpehocken Creek, where he took up a
tract of land, built several gristmills and, like his father,
became prosperous. He died Feb. 1, 1848, aged eighty-eight years
less eight days. David Gring was married (first) Dec. 7, 1790, to
Martha Waldschmidt, of the Fatherland, whose parents came to
America with Samuel Gring. Tradition has it that the Grings and
Waldschmidts were neighbors before coming to this country. Martha
(Waldschmidt) Gring was born Aug. 3, 1767, and passed to her reward
April 20, 1818. She and her husband had the following children:
John, a minister of the Reformed Church; William, a miller on
Tulpehocken creek; David; Daniel, a minister of the Reformed
Church, born July 9, 1798, died Sept. 5, 1862 (his wife, Esther,
born March 8, 1799, died Dec. 3, 1861, aged sixty-two years, eight
months, twenty-five days); Susan, who died unmarried; a daughter,
who married a Mr. Lichty; and one who married a Mr. Troxel. Mr.
Gring’s second wife was Gertrude Stamm, born July 12, 1772, who
died March 31, 1857, aged eighty-four years, eight months, nineteen
days.

David Gring, grandfather of Harry R. Gring, was
born March 9, 1806, and died Jan. 26, 1890, aged eighty-three
years, ten months, seventeen days.

He was married June 25, 1826, to Maria Hill,
born Oct. 6, 1803, died May 18, 1885, aged eighty-one years, seven
months, twelve days. Their union was blessed with these children:
David, born Jan. 11, 1829, a miller; Daniel, born July 27, 1830, a
farmer; Samuel, born Oct. 7, 1832, who is still living, a prominent
lumber dealer of Reading; Ann, born Feb. 22, 1834, widow of George
Zerr; Mary born Nov. 22, 1836, who married Joshua Grill; John, born
March 27, 1838, a miller and tanner; Charles H., born Feb. 18,
1840; Lewis, who died aged fifteen years, one day; Franklin H.,
born July 14, 1844; and Levi, born Nov. 30, 1847, died Dec. 1,
1862.

The father of this family followed in the
footsteps of his father and grandfather, and at the time of his
death was the owner of several farms and a good gristmill. He was
first a Whig and later a Republican in politics, and was prominent
in the public matters of his day and generation. Mr. Gring served
as captain, and later as major, in the State militia, occupying the
latter rank for eleven years.

Franklin H. Gring was born on the old stand
across the line in Spring township July 15 (14), 1844, and was
reared upon the farm. Until twenty-six years of age he worked for
his parents, at which time he set out for himself, and in 1871
began farming the home property, where he lived for three years.
The next location of Mr. Gring was Denver, Lancaster county, but
subsequently, in 1876, he purchased the old Alexander Fisher

farm, at Fritztown, a tract of thirty-two acres
of fertile land, and here he has since lived. He has a fine little
place, which he has greatly improved. It is located along the
Lancaster road and the road running from Fritztown to Wernersville,
at the foot of Cushion Hill, and is supplied with some of the
finest water in the world. On the property are many fruit trees and
it is in an excellent state of cultivation. Mr. Gring is a
Republican in politics, and he and his family are members of St.
John’s Reformed Church at Sinking Spring.

On Jan. 14, 1871, Franklin H. Gring married Mary
Fisher, born Sept. 14, 1851, daughter of Alexander and Kate
(Walters) Fisher, and granddaughter of John Fisher, who owned many
acres of land around the Keener’s mill. Mr. and Mrs. Gring have had
eight children: Harry R. is mentioned further on; Katie V. died in
infancy; Alva G. m. Charles Gaul, of Wernersville, and has two
sons, Robert and Harvey; Edwin F., of Lancaster, Pa., m. Alice
Gensemer, and has one son, Elwood; Millie E. m. H. C. Oberly, of
Lancaster county; David A. was killed by the accidental discharge
of a gun while hunting in Lebanon county, dying Nov. 12, 1902, aged
eighteen years, six months, eighteen days; Mary A. m. Oscar
Fleischer, born Oct. 7, 1885, an employe of the State Asylum at
Wernersville; and William F. was born July 10, 1890.

Harry R. Gring, eldest of the family of Franklin
H. Gring, was born in 1871 in the building at Fritztown where his
cigar factory is now located. He attended the public schools of
Lower Heidelberg township, and as well a summer school, and by the
time he was seventeen was prepared to teach school, beginning at
the Spohn school in Spring township. Before he began teaching he
was in the lumber business in Bedford county, Pa., for a year.
After teaching three terms he went into the service of the
Pennsylvania & Reading Railroad Company, remaining in that
employ for two years. He was next engaged by the Montello Brick
Company for two and a half years, after which he commenced in his
present line, as foreman for his brother-in-law, P. K. Steffy, who
was then in the cigar manufacturing business at Fritztown. In 1899
he embarked in the business on his own account. He had been foreman
for his brother-in-law for two years, during which time he acquired
a thorough knowledge of cigar manufacturing, in which he has made a
decided success. His factory is No. 43. Mr. Gring employs as many
as twenty-seven hands in his establishment, and the product is sold
mainly in Philadelphia and the West.

On Nov. 23, 1889, Mr. Gring was married to Mary
V. Steffy, daughter of Isaac L. and Margaret (Kline) Steffy. One
child has been born to them, Stephen E. Mr. Gring is a member of
St. John’s Reformed Church at Sinking Spring. He is a member of the
K. of P. lodge at that place, of I. O. O. F. Lodge No. 835, at
Wernersville and of Reading Tent, K. O. T. M. He is a Republican in
politics and interested in local public affairs, having served
three years as school director of Lower Heidelberg township.

GRING,
SAMUEL H.

p. 372

Surnames: GRING, HILL, WALSMITH, LICHTY, TROXEL, RINGLER, HILL,
ZERR, GRILL, HOYER, CALDWELL, SNYDER, LEITHEISER, FISHER

Among the representative business men of Reading, who have been
identified with the large interests of the city, may be mentioned
Mr. Samuel H. Gring, a prominent lumberman, contractor and
financier. Mr. Gring was born in Cumru township, Berks Co., Pa.,
Oct. 7, 1832, son of David and Mary (Hill) Gring, and grandson of
David Gring.

The great-grandfather, Samuel, son of Johannes
(who emigrated in 1743, and who founded the family in America),
came from Holland, and settled in Cumru township, where he became
an extensive land-owner and died a wealthy man. His son, David, was
born in Cumru township, but in early life located at Tulpehocken
creek, where he took up a tract of land, built mills, and like his
father became very prosperous. He died at the age of eighty-eight
years in February, 1847. By his first wife, a Miss Walsmith, he had
eight children as follows: John, who was a minister of the Reformed
Church; William, a miller; David, father of Samuel H.; Daniel, a
minister of the Reformed Church; Susan, who died unmarried; Mary,
m. to a Mr. Lichty; Elizabeth, m. to a Mr. Troxel; and Kate, m. to
a Mr. Ringler.

David Gring followed in the footsteps of his
father and grandfather, and at the time of his death, Jan. 26,
1890, aged eighty-three years, ten months, seventeen days, he was
the owner of several farms and a good mill. He was a Whig, and
later became a strong Republican, was prominent in the affairs of
his day, and served as captain and major in the State militia for
eleven years. He married Mary Hill, who died May 18, 1885, at the
age of eighty-one years, seven months, twelve days. To this union
were born twelve children, eight of whom grew to maturity, as
follows: David, a miller; Daniel (engaged in farming); Samuel H.;
Annie (m. George Zerr); Mary (m. Joshua Grill); John (a miller and
tanner); Charles (proprietor of a hotel); and Franklin (a farmer).
The family were all members of the Reformed Church.

Samuel H. Gring was educated in the schools of
Spring township and remained on the home farm until twenty-five
years of age, working about the home mill, driving a team, and
turning his hand to any employment that presented itself. He then
went to East Cocalico township, near Denver, where he purchased a
mill and remained until 1871, selling out in this year and removing
to Newville, Cumberland county. Here he engaged in a lumber
business, buying a tract of timber land which he converted into
lumber for railroad purposes, and in 1876 he removed to Muhlenburg,
locating in his present home two years later. This house was built
about 1734, and at the time Mr. Gring purchased it it was the
property of Dr. Muhlenberg. His next lumber enterprise was back of
Lewistown, where he purchased a tract of pine and oak timber. He
then went to Mount Rock, Cumberland county, and afterward in turn
to a tract near Mechanicsburg, to near the Loop in Perry county,
Pa., to Bloomfield, Perry county (where he operated two saw mills),
to Turley Valley (where he operated three mills), to Huntingdon
county, Pa. (where he carried on operations for three years), and
to Bedford county, Pa., until 1886, in which year he purchased
10,000 acres of land, building a railroad sixteen miles long to get
lumber out, this road being known as the Diamond Valley Railroad.
In 1890 he returned to Perry county and leased seventy-one tracts
of timber land, surveyed the line to New Germantown, a distance of
thirty miles, and in September of that year grading was commenced,
ties put down and rails laid. By Jan. 26th of the following years,
sixteen miles of railroad had been built, and the following year
the road was built to Blaine, and in 1892 completed from Newport to
New Germantown. Mr. Gring’s son, David Gring, is the president of
both of these roads, including the one from Duncannon to
Bloomfield, which is known as the Perry County Railway, and father
and son deal extensively in lumber in North Carolina, Virginia and
throughout the South, also being the owners of twenty-five water
companies.

On Dec. 14, 1856, Mr. Samuel H. Gring married
Catherine Hoyer, daughter of Simon Hoyer, a bridge-builder. She
died June 8, 1900, aged sixty-three years. Nine children were born
to this union: David, of Newport, m. Emma Caldwell, and has five
children–Bruce, Rodney, Herbert, Wilber and Elizabeth; Kate m.
Daniel B. Snyder, and had nine children –Sue S., Evan G., Lucy M.,
Charles L., Lester B. and four that died young; Elizabeth m. John
Leitheiser, and has two children–Hattie and Grace; Samuel,
deceased, m. Annie Fisher, and has one child–Bertha; Charles died
at the age of twenty years; Susan died at the age of four years;
and three died in infancy. In religious belief Mr. Gring and his
family are members of the Grace (Alsace) Reformed Church of
Reading, he being a member of the finance committee. In politics a
Republican, he was treasurer of the township of East Cocalico,
Lancaster Co., Pa., during the latter years of the war.