Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery

GRISCOM, WILLIAM
MORRIS

p. 392

Surnames: GRISCOM, POWELL, DALE, GABITAS, HANCOCK, BACON, DENN,
HARBSTER, MILLER

William Morris Griscom, president of the Reading Hardware Company,
one of the leading business enterprises of its kind in the country,
of which he was the principal organizer in 1851, is now residing at
Bryn Mawr, near Philadelphia, in comfortable retirement from active
pursuits. He was born Oct. 14, 1823, at Oxford, Chester Co., Pa.,
son of Samuel and Ann (Powell) Griscom.

Andrew Griscom, the
great-great-great-grandfather of William M., emigrated to the New
World from England in 1680, and settled at Philadelphia, residing
on Second street, opposite the home of William Penn. He built the
first brick house at Philadelphia, served as one of the city’s
first grand jurors, and died in 1694. He married Sarah Dale, and by
her had four children: Samuel, David, Tobias and Sarah.

Tobias Griscom, son of Andrew, was a farmer, and
settled between Philadelphia, Pa., and Gloucester, N. J. He married
Deborah Gabitas, and they had five children, namely: William,
Tobias, Mary, Andrew and Samuel.

Of this family, Andrew Griscom, born in 1711,
died in 1773, was the great-grandfather of William M. He married
(first) Susanna Hancock, by whom he had three children: Sarah,
Everett and William; and after her death married (second) Mary
Bacon, by whom he also had three children: Mary, Andrew and
Deborah.

William Griscom, the grandfather of William M.,
a farmer of Mannington, Salem Co., N. J., was born in 1747 and died
in 1813. He married Rachel Denn, born in 1745, who died in 1808,
and they had a family of seven children: John, William, Samuel
(died in infancy), Everett, Rachel, Samuel (2) and David.

Samuel Griscom, the father of William M., was
connected for upward of twenty-three years with the Schuylkill
canal management. He was born at Salem, N. J., in 1787, and was
reared on a farm. Upon reaching manhood he determined to become a
builder, and in this behalf learned the trade of brickmason.
Developing an aptitude for building operations, he located at
Philadelphia, where he was engaged in erecting dwelling-houses for
ten years. While so engaged he came to know some of the directors
of the Schuylkill Navigation Company, and they, appreciating his
abilities and success as a builder, employed him to fill the
position of civil engineer and manager of the canal, to look after
the construction department. Immediately after his appointment to
this position, in 1826, he fixed his residence at Reading, which
was the central point of the canal between Pottsville and
Philadelphia. In the performance of his duties, he distinguished
himself by the construction of dams, locks and viaducts, and the
maintenance of the artificial channel; which is evidenced by his
retention for twenty-three years.

While filling this important position he
discovered a bed of cement rock along the eastern bank of the
Schuylkill near the Shepp Dam, three miles above Reading, and,
building the necessary oven, manufactured large quantities of
superior cement, which was profitably used in construction work
along the canal. He also developed a large business for the company
in the transportation of lime for agricultural purposes, thereby
becoming the first person in this section of the country to
manufacture and supply lime as a fertilizer. In 1844 it became
necessary for him to locate at Pottsville in the management of the
canal, and he continued in the employ of the company until 1848,
when he resigned to superintend boating interests on the canal.
This position he held until his death, in 1849, when, in the report
of the company, his efficiency was recognized.

Mr. Griscom married Ann Powell, daughter of
Jeremiah Powell, a farmer of Salem county, N. J., and there were
twelve children born to this union: Rachel D., David P., Sarah P.,
Powell, Elizabeth, Samuel Everett, Edwin Atlee, Chalkley, William
M., Horace, Anna and Emeline. The mother died in 1860, aged
seventy-two years, at Reading, to which place she had removed after
Mr. Griscom’s decease.

William M. Griscom was three years old when his
parents removed to Reading, and there he pursued his preparatory
education until he was twelve years old, when he entered the
Clermont Academy, situated in the vicinity of Frankford, near
Philadelphia; he remained in that institution for two years. Being
inclined to mechanics, his father secured an apprenticeship for him
in the famous “Norris” Locomotive Works” at Philadelphia, where 125
apprentices were at that time learning the trade of machinist, but
after he had been there less then two years the prevailing panic
throughout the State caused the works to suspend operations, and he
was obliged to return home.

Mr. Griscom then entered the hardware store of
Keim & Miller, at the southeast corner of Third and Penn
streets, Reading, as a clerk, and by so doing started a career in
the hardware business which has been continued very successfully
until the present time, covering altogether a period of seventy
years. He served in this store for about three years, but wishing
to fill a similar place with better prospects for advancement he
went to Philadelphia, and there obtained employment in the large
and prosperous hardware store of R. & W. C. Biddle. In three
years he succeeded in developing such a large and profitable trade
in the Schuylkill Valley and the territory beyond the Broad
Mountains, through the assistance and influence of his father, that
he was invited to become a member of the firm. Appreciating this
honor, he secured an interest in the business and continued as a
member of the firm for five years. An opportunity was then
presented for him to engage in the manufacture of charcoal iron in
Centre county, and withdrawing from the firm he directed all his
efforts to the successful operation of the furnace for the next
three years. The plant was called the Howard Iron Works. While
operating this plant, Mr. Griscom became interested with his
brothers-in-law, William and Matthan Harbster, whose sister Ellen
he had married, in establishing a foundry at Reading for the
manufacture of all kinds of building hardware and he advancing the
necessary capital they together put up a small plant and then
started an enterprise which was the foundation of the Reading
Hardware Works. This was in 1851. In a short time the prospects for
a large and profitable business became so encouraging that he
disposed of his interest in the iron works mentioned and devoted
all of his time to the development of the hardware business. His
extended acquaintance and large experience in the hardware trade,
which he had acquired by his connection with the Biddle firm, gave
him unusual advantages in building up the trade and influence of
the new enterprise, and thereby he was enabled to supply orders
from different sections of the country, which kept the plant busy
and required constant enlargements year after year, until in a
quarter century the enterprise so modestly begun was on of the
largest and most prosperous industries in Pennsylvania.

In 1878 Mr. Griscom went to Europe in behalf of
the works, and he there succeeded in gradually developing a very
large trade. A special exhibit of their articles was made at the
Paris Exposition of 1878, which proved highly creditable and
beneficial, and for which they received a bronze medal. In the
countries of Europe, as well as in the United States, they came to
supply the building hardware for the finest and largest structures,
thereby showing that their plant at Reading was recognized as the
equal, if not the superior, of any similar plant. While abroad, Mr.
Griscom returned annually to Reading to make necessary arrangements
for filling his orders, and in so doing he traveled across the
Atlantic ocean about fifty times. Finally, in 1904, on account of
his age, he was obliged to discontinue his residence abroad, and
returned to Pennsylvania he purchased a property at Bryn Mawr, near
Philadelphia, which he improved according to his ideas of a home
for himself and family, and he is now enjoying its well-deserved
comforts. In the reorganization of the hardware works, in the
spring of 1907, he was elected president of the corporation.

On May 23, 1847, Mr. Griscom married Ellen
Harbster, who was born at Hamburg, Pa., July 5, 1828, daughter of
Henry Harbster, of Hamburg, and died April 22, 1864. To this union
there was born one daughter, Annie. On May 10, 1882, Mr. Griscom
was married at Zurich, Switzerland, by U. S. (vice) Consul John
Syz, to Annie Lydia Miller, who was born at Hamburg, Pa., Aug. 9,
1859, daughter of Girard Miller, also of Hamburg, and by her he had
four sons and two daughters, as follows: Andrew, William M., Jr.,
Frederick G., Edgar DeWare, Ethel L. and Grace Millicent, all of
whom were born in Germany, which Mr. Griscom was living at Berlin.

Rachel Denn Griscom (sister of William M., and
daughter of Samuel Griscom) was the founder of the “Widows’ Home”
at Reading, and one of the noblest characters in Berks county,
having been known for her humane and charitable spirit in the
community for seventy-five years–a period extending from the dawn
of her womanhood until she went to her eternal rest at the age of
ninety-two; and the board of managers, with which she had been
intimately associated for twenty-five years, truly said of her at
the end of her remarkable career: “Her life is a noble example of
womanly power through the life of the highest feminine virtues.”

Miss Griscom was born at Salem, N. J., Nov. 5,
1808. While she was an infant, not a year old, her parents removed
to Philadelphia, and there she was brought up and educated under
the superior influence of the Society of Friends until she became
seventeen years of age. With a natural inclination to carry on the
vocation of a teacher, she secured a school at Hancock Bridge, N.
J., near her birthplace, for her initiatory experience, and after
teaching there for a season was employed to teach in the “Friends’
School,” at Philadelphia, in 1826, but she was there only a few
months when her parents removed to Reading and she went with them.

There was a large settlement of Friends in
Maidencreek township, eight miles north of Reading, and learning of
Miss Griscom’s success as a teacher, they employed her to carry on
their school. She continued teaching this school until the common
school system was accepted by Reading in 1835l, and then she
started as a teacher in the public school there; and from that time
for about twenty-five years she was engaged at teaching either in
the public schools, or in private female seminaries, or on her own
account. Soon after beginning at Reading, in 1837, she reported a
school attendance of 116 pupils, fifty-eight in the first class,
twenty-sic in the second and thirty-two in the third. Her salary
was then only thirteen dollars a month. The last school which she
taught was in the Exeter meeting house in 1860.

Miss Griscom will be principally remembered,
however, as one of the organizers of the “Home for Widows and
Single Women of Reading,” indeed as the very first person to
suggest the propriety and necessity of establishing a charitable
institution of this kind at Reading. She and a number of other
Christian ladies assembled repeatedly in the law offices of the
author of this history, at No. 546 Court street, during the year
1875, and formulated the plans which culminated in the incorporated
body in January, 1876. The petitioners signed the application for a
charter in this office. As the secretary, she was most active and
zealous, always hopeful and determined and her great perseverance
was eventually rewarded by the recognition of the community and the
establishment of the “Home.” Her indomitable spirit in the noble
cause kept her at the head of all the movements of the society
until her physical strength became too weak to permit her to
continue any longer active in its management and so, in 1891, at
the age of eighty-three years, after a continuous service of
fifteen years as the secretary, she declined a re-election. Upon
the announcement of her purpose, the board of managers passed the
following highly appropriate and laudatory resolution, Jan. 15,
1891: “No mere words of sorrow or resolutions of regret can convey
an idea of the loss the Board of Managers sustained in the
resignation of Miss Griscom as secretary. From her labors of
philanthropy this charity had its origin; to her praiseworthy
industry much of its systematic arrangement is due; to her
influence among the people, who accepted what she approved, much of
its success is due. Her faith in the benevolence of her neighbors
often enabled this Board to undertake work that at first sight
seemed impossible. May her example of untiring industry and
Christian philanthropy have a lasting influence on the members of
this Board.”

The retiring secretary addressed this reply to
the Board, Feb. 12, 1891: “Accept my heartfelt thanks for your kind
resolution in regard to my past services as secretary. Those
services were made and well repaid by your unvarying consideration,
indulgence, aid and cheerful, helpful gifts. We have journeyed
together in harmony and prospered. May the future bring to you, to
the Association and to my successor the same progress, prosperity
and grateful consciousness of Divine aid and appreciation.”

During Miss Griscom’s declining years, the
author of this history called to see her a number of times socially
at her home, No. 227 South Fourth street, and to him her noble
spirit was always inexpressibly beautiful and inspiring. She died
at Reading Jan. 8, 1901, at the age of ninety-two years, two
months, three days, and all who had come to know here and to
appreciate her worth to the community mourned her departure. The
managers of the Widows’ Home felt their loss particularly, and on
the 10th of January following passed an appropriate resolution of
regret.

GROHMAN, FREDERICK W.
E.

p. 1340

Surnames: GROHMAN, WONNEBERGER, HUNTZINGER

Frederick W. E. Grohman, who is engaged in pattern-making at No.
1053 Mulberry street, Reading, is conducting an independent
business in his line, and has met with much success. Mr. Grohman
was born in 1872, in Brandenburg, Prussia, German Empire, son of
William and Bertha (Wonneberger) Grohman, the latter a sister of
the noted Professor Wonneberger.

In his native country, Mr. Grohman served in a
military school from the age of eight until fourteen years old, and
learned the pattern and cabinet making business, which he followed
at the Scott works, Reading, after coming to America in 1890. Later
he became connected with the Penn Hardware Co., and spent three
years at brass pattern making with the Berks foundry. He then took
a complete mechanical course in the correspondence school of
Scranton, Pa., and went to Lancaster county, where he was employed
as pattern maker and foreman of a machine shop. From Lancaster

county Mr. Grohman went to Philadelphia, working
for the Pen Coyd Iron Company for two years, and in 1900 returned
to Reading, entering the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading
Railroad. In 1907 Mr. Grohman resigned his position and opened an
independent shop, which he has equipped with all modern machinery,
and here he is carrying on a large and lucrative business. He is a
first-class mechanic, and makes a specialty of designing artistic
furniture, both mission and modern. While living in Lancaster
county, in 1897, Mr. Grohman received his naturalization papers,
and since that time he has been allied with the Republican party.
He and his wife attend the Lutheran Church. Fraternally Mr. Grohman
is connected with the K. G. E., the Foresters, Manchester Unity, I.
O. O. F., the Twentieth Century Quakers and the I. O. R. M.

In 1895 Mr. Grohman was united in marriage with
Miss Emma Huntzinger, a cousin of Rev. F. K. Huntzinger, and to
this union there were born four children: William, George, and two
who died in infancy.

GROMAN,
ISRAEL

p. 645

Surnames: GROMAN, KISSINGER, LASCH, DOUGLASS, THOMPSON

Israel Groman, a resident of Reading, was born in Bern township,
Berks county, Nov. 8, 1838. The family, which is of German descent,
has lived in that county for several generations.

George Groman, grandfather of Israel, was a
farmer in Bucks county, and his son Charles, father of Israel,
worked as a stone mason all his life, both quarrying the stone and
doing contract work. He and his wife, Elizabeth (Kissinger) Groman,
had three children, viz.: Fietta, m. to Soloman Kissinger; Israel;
and Catherine, m. to John Lasch. The family were Lutherans in
religious faith.

Israel Groman went to school till he was about
sixteen, acquiring as good an education as the township schools
offered, and then for three years drove mules along the canal
route. For his permanent occupation he decided on carpentry and
learned that trade, but before he was fairly established in
business, the war broke out and in 1861 he enlisted in Company H,
88th Pa. V. I., and served for three years. During that time he
participated in twenty-one engagements and was wounded in the
battle of Gettysburg, the others being Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock
Station, Thoroughfare Gap, Second Bull Run, Chantilly, South
Mountain, Antietam, Mine Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville,
Wilderness (two days), Cold Harbor, North Anna River, South Anna
Forks, front of Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, charge on Fort Hill,
Explosion of Rebel Fort, Five Forks, and cavalry charge prior to
Five Forks. After his discharge, he returned to his native county,
located at Reading and secured a place as carpenter for the
Schuylkill Navigation Company. He left that company to work for the
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company, and after some
time with that corporation he took up house carpentering. In 1904 a
position with the Reading Iron Company was offered him and he has
since been with them.

In 1865, Mr. Groman married Barbara, daughter of
William Douglass. There is a stepson, the child of Mrs. Groman’s
former husband, William Thompson. Mr. Groman has adhered to the
faith in which he was brought up and is a member of the Lutheran
Church. His political views are those of the Democratic party. He
is an enthusiastic advocate of lodge work and is connected with a
number of fraternal bodies, including F. & A. M. Lodge No.
62; Reading Commandery No. 42; Excelsior Chapter No. 237; the P. O.
S. of A.; and the I. O. O. F., while he also belongs to the
Carpenters’ Union and for many years maintained his connection with
the G. A. R. The family resides at No. 34 Schuylkill avenue.

GROSS,
DAVID

p. 1313

Surnames: GROSS, ROLLAND, ARNOLD

David Gross died in Reading May 14, 1891. For many years he was
xtensively engaged in the lumber business.

Mr. Gross, who was a native of Berks county, was
educated in the schools of his native locality, and in early life
learned the trade of carpenter, which he followed for many years,
some of the structures erected by him still standing in Reading and
the vicinity. Later he accepted a position at the shops of the
Philadelphia & Reading company, and it was while in this
company’s employ that he received an injury which caused his
retirement from active work, although later he engaged in the
lumber business. He was an upright citizen, and had many friends.
He was a Republican in politics, but later became independent,
choosing the right to vote for the man he thought best suited to
the office.

Mr. Gross married Christiana Rolland, daughter
of George and Catherine (Arnold) Rolland. She died July 15, 1909,
aged eighty-three years, six months and twenty days. She is buried
in Aulenbach cemetery. To them were born these children: Rosie E.,
Albert, Emma, William, James, Clara, Kate, David L., and Harry.

GROSS, DAVID
G.

p. 868

Surnames: GROSS, GULDIN, CLOUSER, YEAGER, BRUNNER, SHIREY,
BERTOLETTE, WISE, KAUFFMAN

David G. Gross, an enterprising business man of Monocacy, Berks
county, who is engaged in business as a dealer in lumber, coal,
agricultural implements, farm supplies and vehicles, was born Sept.
12, 1862, in Exeter township, Berks county, son of Alfred and
Sophia Henrietta (Guldin) Gross.

John Gross, grandfather of David G., was born
Feb. 19, 1801. He became a farmer in Earl township, and he died
Oct. 15, 1836. He married Catharine Clouser, daughter of David
Clouser, and among their children was a son, Alfred.

Alfred Gross, son of John, was born in Earl
township, Aug. 8, 1827, and died Feb. 24, 1896, and is buried at
Amityville. He was a blacksmith in early life, and later a farmer
and cattle dealer in Exeter township, where he owned 104 acres of
land. In 1885 he built thereon a substantial barn 45 x 90 feet. He
married Sophia Henrietta Guldin, born in Amity Feb. 24, 1828,
daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Yeager) Guldin. She died Oct. 2,
1893. They had nine children, as follows: John Alfred; Samuel;
James; Elizabeth; Isaac; David G.; Charles G., born Aug. 10, 1864;
Simon Peter, who lives in Reading; and Guldin, a resident of Earl
township.

David G. Gross attended the public schools of
his native township, and later the Reading Scientific Academy,
taught by Prof. D. B. Brunner, and the Eastman Business College,
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., from which institution he graduated. For a
year and a half after leaving school, he traveled east of Reading
and throughout the state of New Jersey, for a Zanesville, Ohio,
queensware firm, and then assisted his father on the farm for a
time. In 1886 he went to Monocacy, and engaged in the coal
business, succeeding Samuel Shirey, and in 1888 he added farm
implements and vehicles of all kinds, and in 1892, lumber. He has a
steady business, employing three assistants all the year, and extra
help during the busy seasons. In 1903 he built a two-story
warehouse, 40 x 80 feet.

On March 10, 1887, Mr. Gross was married to Miss
Mary A. Bertolette (born in Jan. 1859, who died May 30, 1900),
daughter of Jeremiah Bertolette. She is buried at Oley Church. Four
children were born to this union, of whom Miss Anna B., born in
1896, is the only survivor. The others Helen and the twins, died in
infancy. Mr. Gross was married (second), in August, 1905, to Lenora
K. Wise, nee Kauffman, of Leesport.

In politics, Mr. Gross is a stanch Republican,
and he has held the office of supervisor. He is a member of the
Lutheran Church, and for the past ten years has been president of
the vestry. He lives in Monocacy, just across the Schuylkill river
from his place of business, and his home is an elegant one, well
cared for, and showing indications of energy and thrift. Mr. Gross
is highly respected in this community, and is a popular member of
Union Lodge, No. 479, F. &. A. M., of Birdsboro; Reading
Chapter, No. 152, R. A. M.; De Molay Commandery, No. 9, K. T.;
Philadelphia Lodge of Perfection; and Philadelphia Consistory.

GRUBE,
JOHN

p. 1072 Surnames: GRUBE, WANNER, MARTIN, CLARK

John Grube, who has for eleven years been engaged in the milling
business at Hartz’s Mills, near Morgantown, Pa., was born in
Caernarvon township, Lancaster county, in 1867, son of Elias and
Anna (Wanner) Grube.

Elias Grube was born at New Holland, Lancaster
county, in 1842, and died in 1877. He married Anna Wanner, born in
Salisbury township, Lancaster county, in 1835, who now lives in
Salisbury township. To this union there were born four children:
Elam, born in 1864, lives with his mother; John; Amos, born in
1870, lives near Christiana, Chester county; and Clara, born in
1873, married Frank Martin, of Lancaster county.

John Grube obtained a good common school
education, and at the age of sixteen years learned the milling
trade at Grube’s Mill, whence he went to Morgantown, being employed
at Hartz’s Mills for two years. The next eight years were spent at
Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, but subsequently he returned to
Hartz’s Mills, where he has continued ever since. Mr. Grube is a
staunch supporter of the principles of the Republican party, and
for some years he has been a township supervisor. He attends the
Methodist church at Morgantown, of which he is a trustee and
steward.

On March 14, 1896, Mr. Grube married Miss Emma
Clark, daughter of John Clark, of Caernarvon township, Lancaster
county. One child, Ethel, was born to this union in 1899.

GRUBER, ADAM
R.

p. 863

Surnames: GRUBER, HIMMELBERGER, EYRICH, HENRY, STAUDT, BRIGHT,
SCHRACK, HAHN, HIESTER, LANDO, PHILLIPS

Adam R. Gruber, who met an accidental death Nov. 25, 1903, will be
well remembered by a large circle of friends as one of the good
citizens and enterprising business men of Mt. Pleasant, Pa. He was
born Feb. 29, 1864, in Penn township, Berks county, son of Franklin
H. and Matilda (Himmelberger) Gruber.

Franklin H. Gruber was born Sept. 14, 1835, near
Robesonia, Pa., where he spent his early life. When a young man he
was apprenticed to his cousin, John Henry, to learn the
millwright’s trade, and after his married in 1858, he located at
Mt. Pleasant and established himself in business. After the Civil
war he engaged in farming, but later returned to his old business,
and conducted two large shops on his farm about one mile south of
Mr. Pleasant until 1883, in which year he bought the William Penn
Hotel property and the Eyrich Estate at the foot of the hill at Mt.
Pleasant, and there established a large wheelwright shop, where he
build up a fine business. He died July 3, 1898, and is buried at
Bern Church, of which he was a member. Mr. Gruber married Matilda,
daughter of John Himmelberger, and they had the following children:
Amelia M., born Sept. 20, 1859, died Dec. 8, 1859; John W., born
Oct. 4, 1860, m. Clara A. Staudt; James, born May 30. 1862, is
deceased; Adam R.; Jacob H., born July 14, 1865, m. Annie Bright;
Katie A., born Sept. 18, 1866, died March 22, 1871; George P., born
Dec. 1, 1867, m. Kate Schrack; and Rev. Levi Franklin m. Amelia L.
Hahn, of Rochester, N.Y. John W., Jacob H. and George P. Gruber are
continuing the business founded by their father.

Adam R. Gruber learned the wagon manufacturing
business with his father, and at the time of his death had charge
of the paint shop department of the works. While on a return trip
from Reading, while passing Blue Marsh, the horse which he was
driving ran away, and he was killed. His death was a severe shock
to the community where he had numerous friends and acquaintances.
Mr. Gruber was buried at Bern Church, of which he was a consistent
member. Fraternally he was connected with the K. G. E.

In 1884 Mr. Gruber was married to Rosa I.
Hiester, who is now conducting a fine twenty-four-acre farm in Penn
township near Mt. Pleasant. They had two children: Lizzie m. Calvin
Lando, who now conducts his mother-in-law1s farm, and has one
daughter, Erma H.; and Katie H. m. Elias H. Phillips, of Reading,
and has one son, Elias H.

GRUBER, ALANDON J.

p. 1462

Surnames: GRUBER, ERNST, SHOWER, HIESTER, LASH, SEIDEL, FIDLER,
SEIBERT, WENRICH, BOYER, HORN, POTTS, WERNER, HIMMELBERGER,
SCHNEIDER, POTTEIGER, SPEICHER, BLATT, MILLER, LAMM, BROWN

Alandon J. Gruber, of North Heidelberg township, was born Feb 18,
1854, in that township, son of Israel S. and Rebecca (Ernst)
Gruber.

Henry Gruber was one of the early settlers of
Heidelberg township, and is very likely the Heinrich Gruber who
came to this country from Germany on the ship “Dragon,” and landed
at Philadelphia, Sept. 10, 1761. His will was admitted for probate
June 17, 1777. His wife’s given name was Maria Eva Rosina, but the
name of her parentage is not known. Mr. Gruber was a Lutheran, and
for many years was a member of the Little Tulpehocken Church, but
in about 1750, when the St. Daniel’s (Corner) Church was founded he
became a member of it. About fifty of his descendants rest in the
burial ground of that church. He owned about 300 acres of land,
which has since been divided, the original tract, however,
remaining in the Gruber name to this day. The first warrant was
dated June 17, 1737. Mr. Gruber had these children: John Adam;
Elizabeth, born Feb. 6, 1737; Maria Eva Rosina, Dec. 3, 1738;
Christian, Feb. 18, 1740; Henry, Aug. 19, 1747; Christopher and
Elizabeth, twins, Oct. 10, 1749.

John Adam Gruber, the great-great-grandfather of
Alandon J., was born in 1735 and died in 1807, on the homestead,
where he spent all of his life.

He married (first) Elizabeth Shower, and
(second) Sarah, whose family name is not known, and all three are
buried at St. Daniel’s Church. Eight sons and four daughters were
born to the first marriage, of whom two sons died in childhood, the
ten remaining being: Maria Elizabeth, born in 1762; John George,
1764, deceased 1841; Maria Christina, 1766-1825; John; John Jacob,
1771-1849; Henry, 1773; John Peter, 1775-1828; Catherine; Anna
Maria; and Philip, who moved from Berks county between 1814 and
1820.

John Gruber, the great-grandfather of Alandon
J., was born in 1769, and died in 1840. He owned the homestead from
1807 until his death, and at times other farms, bur for
twenty-seven years lived on Governor Joseph Hiester’s farm near the
“Blue Marsh,” in Bern township. He married Anna Maria Lash, who is
buried at Hain’s Church, and they had six children: John, George,
Daniel, Maria Barbara, Michael and William.

Daniel Gruber, grandfather of Alandon J., was
born in 1795, and died in 1867, on the homestead, which he owned
and cultivated from 1841 until his death. He was married (first) to
Christina, daughter of Michael Seidel, and (second) to Sarah
Fidler, all of whom are buried at St. Daniel’s (Corner) Church.
Daniel Gruber had six children: Catherine, Israel S., Matilda,
Elizabeth, Mary and Rebecca.

Israel S. Gruber was born July 9, 1827, on the
old Gruber homestead, and was reared to agricultural pursuits,
becoming later the owner of the property, which he farmed all of
his life with the exception of two years when he lived in Marion
township on the Major Seibert farm. His property consisted of 139
acres, and thereon he built in 1844 a substantial house, the barn
not being erected until 1884. He was a prominent Democrat of his
section, and held many offices, being a school director of the
township for fifteen years and a supervisor for some time. He was
well-known throughout this section of the county, and was respected
and esteemed by all who knew him. Mr. Gruber was a deacon, elder
and member of the cemetery board of St. Daniel’s (Corner) Church,
in the faith of which Church he died Aug. 2, 1907. During the Civil
was Israel S. Gruber served as a soldier in the Union army. He was
a member of the Robesonia Grange.

On Jan. 12, 1853, Mr. Gruber was married to
Rebecca Ernst, born Aug. 5, 1833, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth
(Wenrich) Ernst, and granddaughter of Johannes and Catherine
(Boyer) Ernst, of Heidelberg township. To this union the following
children were born: Alandon J.; Levi E., born Nov. 16, 1855, m.
Vilanda Horn, lives near Wernersville, and has two
children,–Charles and Robert; Joseph S., born Aug. 26, 1857, m.
Amanda Potts, and lives in North Heidelberg township; Ebilia Sarah
E., born Jan. 22, 1859, m. Isaac Horn, a farmer of Heidelberg
township, and has two children,–Willie C. and Annie A.; Pierce M.,
born May 16, 1860, m. Mary Werner, a sister of Emma, who is the
wife of Alandon J., and they live on the Ernst homestead in North
Heidelberg township; Calvin J., born Nov. 17, 1861, m. Lillie
Himmelberger, lives near Sinking Spring, and has two
children,–Charles I. and Mabel; Arabella R., born May 9, 1864, m.
Daniel Schneider, of Jefferson township, and has one
son,–Clarence; Daniel H., born March 24, 1867, m. Ella Potteiger,
lives in Centre township, and has two children,–Herbert W. and
Esther; Lillia M., born April 24, 1869, m. Charles Speicher, lives
at North Kill, and they have four children,–Calvin, Harry, Jennie
and Florence; and Milton R., born Feb. 17, 1876, m. Annie Blatt, is
farming in North Heidelberg township, and has these children,
Laura, Alberta, Peter, Harry and Maggie.

Alandon J. Gruber obtained his education in the
common schools of North Heidelberg and Marion townships, and until
he reached the age of twenty-seven years worked for his parents. He
was then married, and worked as a laborer for thirteen years, but
in the spring of 1894 commenced farming on his own account on a
tract of 102 acres, which he had purchased the year previous, the
William Werner farm. Here has since resided, being engaged in
general farming. His operations have proved successful, and he is
now ranked among the substantial men of his community. He is a
Democrat in politics, and has held several precinct offices. He and
his family are members of St. Daniel’s Lutheran (Corner) Church, of
which he was a deacon for two years, elder since January, 1903, and
since 1905 a member of the cemetery board.

On Nov. 13, 1880, Mr. Gruber was married to Emma
C. Werner, born Jan. 19, 1861, daughter of William and Catherine
(Miller) Werner, and granddaughter of William and Elizabeth (Lamm)
Werner, of North Heidelberg township. Her maternal grandfather was
Matthias Miller. One daughter has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Gruber:
Ellenora Rebecca, who married John Brown, of Robesonia, and has one
daughter,–Laura Emma.

GRUBER
FAMILY

p. 1000

Surnames: GRUBER, KRUMBINE, PETREE, FIDLER, KANTNER, REEDY, ECKERT,
BETZ, ASHE, SARGENT, BELLEMAN, GICKER, PHILLIPS, SEIDEL, DEPPEN,
SCHEETZ, LENGEL, KNOBB, SCHAUER, SHOWER, BRESSLER, WILHELM,
HIESTER, LASCH, WERHEIM, MOYER, KELLER, ZERBE, FIEHL, FIELD, BEYER,
BOYER, ZUBLER, FILBERT, SPYCKER, KLOPP, SLOAT, STIELY, KRICK,
OHNMACHT, SEITZINGER, BICKEL, UMBENHOWER, DUNDOR, LASH, GERHART,
ERNST, WERNER, HORNE, POTTS, HIMMELBERGER, SNYDER, POTTEIGER,
SPEICHER, BLATT, STOUDT, GLASS, YONSON, BOHN, KISSINGER, WUMMER,
MILLER, GAUL, WENRICH, SMALTZ, ALTHOUSE, BROSSMAN, HETTINGER,
STUMP, KUNKELMAN, SCHAEFFER, STAUDT, RICHARD, ULRICH, STAMM,
GERMAN, MEASE, ADAMS, BERNDT, HAAS, MATZ, KLEIN, LEINBACH,
HECKAMAN, HOMAN, KERRYHART, GARVERICH, LIEB, REED, BURKHOLDER,
PAFFENBERGER, SCHAUM, KETTERER, LUDWIG, KLINGLER, ACHENBACH,
MADERN, MADDEN, HOLLINGER, WAGNER, KAHL, KEHL, BRICKER, FERNSLER,
HUMMEL, WILSON, NEFF, FEEG, SHULTZ, MCCONNELL, BROSS, HESS, LAMM,
SCHOLL, RIEDY, KLINGER, NOECKER, RHEIN, KINTZER, FOLTZ, BECHTEL,
LEITNER, KOCH, REBER, KREITZ, MACHEMER, SIMON, KOENIG, FISHER,
MINNICH, LEININGER, SCHUTTER, MOUNTZ, MATTHEWS, ANSPACH, DIEHL,
SPEARS, HENRICH, HENRY, NEWCOMER, KREIDER, STRUNK, DIETRICH, DAVIS,
BURKHART, LAMBERT, BRIGHT, SCHROCK, HOEHN, ADDAMS, HAAG, RUTH,
ALBRIGHT, YODER, FESSLER, GROBY, KLINE, GRUVER, GEBHART, SHADE,
BATDORF, RHIEL, RIEGART, FORD, ZELLER, SMITH, BEHNEY, PEIFFER,
CARVER, STUP, SCHULTZ, STOEVER, EMRICH, ITZWEYLER, ROGERS,
WOLFGANG, WETZEL, SLIGHER, BODEY, BAILEY, SAVAGE, MENGEL, HOFFMAN,
RIESER, BERGER, SCHMIDT, ZUBER, ALBRECHT, KNOBB, CUSTER, ZERBE,
BACHMAN, SHERMAN, COCKRELL, LYLE, GIESEMAN, BAER, BECKER, HAMSHER,
LESHER, STETZLER, HILL, ROTHERMEL, SWOYER, TREXLER, ALTHOUSE,
SHEARER, KUTZ, WOLFERSBERGER, IMBODEN, RITTER, SHAPPELL, CLAY,
SWEITZER, SELL, REESER, DUNKELBERGER, LAUCKS, MADERIA, WEITZEL

Michael Alvin Gruber (son of Richard Michael, of Michael, of John,
of John Adam, of Henry), the author of this article, was born April
24, 1855, in North Heidelberg township, on the farm where his
mother and mother’s father were born and raised. He grew up on his
father’s farm and assisted in performing the varied labors and
duties connected therewith, among which were certain kinds of work
once quite common but now almost extinct as farm labor in Berks
county, viz., breaking flax, threshing rye with the flail, making
thatches and thatching roofs. His education, up to the age of
fifteen years, was under the direct and careful supervision of his
father, and for five years thereafter he attended the Womelsdorf
Academy, taught by that proficient teacher and mathematician,
Prof.. John S. Krumbine, where he prepared for college. In the fall
of 1875 he entered the junior class of Muhlenberg College,
Allentown, Pa., from which institution he graduated in June, 1877,
at the head of his class, and three years later received the degree
of Master of Arts.

He chose teaching as his profession, which he
followed for fourteen years (1877-1891), during eight of which he
was principal of the high school at Bernville, Pa., where, in
addition to thorough instruction in the branches of the regular
school course, he prepared young men and women for teaching and for
admission to higher institutions of learning. His pupils are found
in the various occupations and professions of life and are numbered
among the graduates of Princeton, Muhlenberg, Franklin and
Marshall, and Pennsylvania Colleges and of the Normal Schools at
Kutztown and West Chester. During the school term of 1890-91, forty
of his pupils were teachers in Berks county.

In March, 1891, he passed the civil service
examination and, in May of that year, was appointed to a clerkship
in the War Department at Washington D. C., where he is still
employed. His leisure time is occupied in mathematical and
genealogical research and in writing an occasional article for “The
Pennsylvania-German.” In mathematics he has made a special study of
integral, rational triangles, solutions by continued fractions, and
Diophantine Analysis in general. A number of his problems and
solutions are published in the “American Mathematical Monthly,”
Vols. I to IX. In genealogy he is compiling the Gruber family
history, and has made a translation and transcript of the old
baptismal record of St. Daniel’s church in Heidelberg, in Berks
county, to which is added information pertaining to the early
history of that church and the pastors thereof.

In his early career as a teacher he devoted
considerable time to the study of botany. He also invented a
trisector of plane angles.

In 1877 he married Amelia Margaret Petree,
daughter of John F. Petree and wife Rosanna (Fidler) and
granddaughter of William Witman Petree and wife Margaret (Kantner)
and of Daniel M. Fidler and wife Amelia (Reedy). The union resulted
in nine children, of whom five are living, as follows: (1) Ralph
Arthur, married to Lousia E. Eckert; (2) Grace Evangeline; (3) Ella
Florence, married to Harry E. Betz; (4) Anna May; and (5) Mary
Amelia. Ralph A. and Anna M. are graduates of the Keystone State
Normal School at Kutztown, and Mary A. of the Inter-State
Commercial College, Reading.

Calvin Luther Gruber, brother of Michael Alvin,
was born April 8, 1864, in North Heidelberg township, where he grew
up on his father’s farm a student and admirer of nature. For the
first sixteen years of life, his father was his principal teacher,
and, with the exception of one year during that period, his studies
and recitations were conducted under the parental roof. For about
three years thereafter (1881-84) he attended the high school at
Bernville taught by his brother, Michael A., where his recitations
were models of thoroughness and where he studied Latin, Greek, and
the higher mathematics. In 1886 he graduated from the Keystone
State Normal School at Kutztown and was honored by being appointed
one of the speakers on the commencement programme. Since 1889 he
has held the position of professor of arithmetic and civil
government in that institution and, since 1891, also the
secretaryship of the faculty.

Prior to his connection, as teacher, with the
Keystone State Normal School, he taught school for three terms in
Marion township, two terms in the West Leesport grammar school, and
one term at the “Forge school,” North Heidelberg township, where
his father had taught eleven terms.

He made botany a study from the time he was ten
years of age, and later added the specialty of trees, shrubs, and
woody vines, having collected specimens of wood of about four
hundred and fifty species, with fruits, seeds, and leaves to most
of them. Since 1901 he has also been assisting Prof. W. W. Ashe, of
Raleigh, N. C., and Dr. C. S. Sargent, director of the Arnold
Arboretum, of Harvard University, in determining the species of
Hawthorns (Crataegus) of the eastern United States. His labors in
this field have been rewarded by the discovery of a number of new
species and the naming after him of one of them (Crataegus Gruberi,
Ashe). He has published several brochures on the Hawthorns of Berks
county, has contributed a number of articles to educational
journals, is the author of “Recreation Queries in United States
History” (1890), and “The Government of the United States and of
the State of Pennsylvania” (1909), and has in preparation an
excellent treatise on arithmetic. He has also devoted considerable
time to the study of birds and insects.

In 1890 he married Sallie G., daughter of Joseph
P. Belleman and wife Sarah Isabella (Gicker) and granddaughter of
Joseph K. Belleman and wife Christina (Phillips) and of Daniel H.
Gicker and wife Elizabeth (Seidel). They have one child, a bright
and studious daughter, Florence May, who at the age of eleven years
was admitted to the normal course of the Keystone State Normal
School, graduating in 1908, and continuing in the post-graduate
course of that school.

The Grubers of Berks county are principally descendants of Henry,
Christian (brother of Henry), and Simon Gruber, those of the
Heidelbergs, Penn, Marion and Bethel descending from Henry; those
of Perry and Windsor chiefly from Christian; and those of Greenwich
and Albany mostly from Simon. Descendants of these branches are
also living in Reading; and besides, there are in that city several
Grubers–descendants of Joseph Gruber, who was naturalized in 1872
and who came from Bavaria, Germany, about six years earlier.

LINE OF HENRY GRUBER. (I) Henry Gruber was one of the early
settlers of the Heidelbergs and is very likely the Henrich Gruber
who is shown as having come to this country in the ship “Dragon”
and landed (qualified) at Philadelphia Sept. 30, 1732. He appears
to have been naturalized April 10 or 11, 1761. No records have been
found of his birth or death; but the period of his life can be
pretty closely approximated from the fact that his will was
admitted to probate on June 17, 1777, and that his brother
Christian, who is considered the younger of the two, was born Oct.
18, 1712.

His wife’s name was Maria Eva Rosina, or, as the
“learned” writer of his will put it, Maria Euphrosina, but nothing
has been found as to her parentage.

He belonged to the Lutheran Church, which has
been, as a rule, the religious faith of his descendants. For a tine
he was a member of the “Little Tulpehocken Church,” near Bernville;
but when, about 1750, the “Lutheran Congregation in Heidelberg,”
now known as St. Daniel’s Church or “Corner Church,” was founded,
he was one of the original members, and he and his wife are, no
doubt, buried in the old graveyard at that place, although no
tombstones to that effect have been found. The remains of fully
fifty of his descendants, named Gruber, rest in the burial-grounds
of that church.

He took up, at different times, about three
hundred acres of adjoining land in what is now North Heidelberg
township, the survey of the first tract being dated June 17, 1737.
In 1761 this land was patented to him by the Penns, and in 1769 he
divided it into two almost equal parts, giving, for a certain
consideration, the eastern portion to his oldest son, John Adam,
and the western to his youngest son, Henry. In the same year John
Adam added a patent of thirty-nine acres to his portion, and the
greater part of his farm is still in the Gruber name, the owners
being as follows: (1) Henry Gruber, 1737 to March 1769; (2) his son
John Adam, March, 1769, to March, 1807; (3) John Adam’s son George,
March to June, 1807; (4) George’s brother John, June, 1807, to
1840; (5) John’s son Daniel, 1841 to 1867; (6) Daniel’s son Israel,
1868 to 1907; and (7) the estate of Israel Gruber since 1907.

Henry, Jr., sold his farm, in 1785, to John
Deppen, and by intermarriage it passed through Scheetz to the
present owner, Nathaniel P. Lengel.

In the old baptismal record of the “Little
Tulpehocken Church” are found the names of seven children of Henry
Gruber, as follows: (1) John Adam, born Oct. 19, 1735; (2)
Catharine Elizabeth, born Feb. 6, 1737; (3) Maria Eva Rosina, born
Dec. 3, 1738; (4) Christian, born Feb. 18, 1740; (5) Christopher,
born Dec. 11, 1741; (6) Henry, born Aug. 19, 1747; and (7)
Elizabeth, born Oct. 10, 1749. These children, excepting
Christopher, are also mentioned in his will, which was made Feb.
10, 1773.

Of his daughters and son Christopher no further
information has been found, excepting that certain records might
warrant the statement that Maria Eva Rosina Gruber was the wife of
John Nicholas Knobb. As Christopher is not mentioned in the will,
he probably died young.

(II) John Adam Gruber (1735-1807), son of Henry, lived and died on
the old homestead; married (first) Elizabeth, tradition giving
maiden name as Schauer [Shower], and (second) Sarah, maiden name
not known; the three buried at St. Daniel’s church; eight sons and
four daughters, by first wife, two sons dying in childhood, the ten
surviving being: (1) Maria Elizabeth, born in 1762, married George
Knobb; (2) John George (1764-1841), blacksmith and wheelwright,
married Elizabeth Bressler, both buried at St. Daniel’s church (no
children); (3) Maria Christina, (1766-1825) married John Adam
Wilhelm, both buried at Host church (seven children,–John, Jacob,
Adam, Catherine, Maria, Barbara, and Elizabeth; numerous
descendants with surnames Wilhelm, Smith, Christ, Lengel, Moyer,
Himmelberger, Kuehner [Keener], Zeller, Groff, Potteiger, Rauch,
Miller, etc.); (4) John (1769-1840), buried at St. Daniel’s church,
owned the old homestead (1807-40) and at times other farms, but for
twenty-seven years (1803-29) lived on Gov. Joseph Hiester’s farm
near the “Blue Marsh” in Bern township, married Anna Maria Lasch,
who is buried at Hain’s church (six children,–John, George,
Daniel, Maria Barbara, Michael, and William); (5) Henry
(1771-1849), buried at Rehrersburg, married Mary Werheim (five
children,–David, Joseph, Nellie, Catharine, and Elizabeth); (6)
John Peter, born 1773, removed from Berks county about 1811 (St.
Daniel’s Church record shows a son, Henry, born in 1807); (7) John
Jacob (1775-1828) married Eva Moyer, both buried at St. Daniel’s
church, (thirteen children,–Elizabeth (1) and Catherine, twins,
John Adam, Sarah, Jacob, Rebecca, Hannah, “Poll,” Isaac, John,
Elizabeth (2), Juliann, and Mary, of whom Elizabeth (1) died young;
the other twelve grew up and had families); (8) Catherine married
John Keller (a son, John, and a daughter, Margaret, wife of John
Zerbe); (9) Anna Maria [Mary], died in 1859, married William Fiehl
[Field], both buried at St. Daniel’s church (nine
children,–William, George, Elias, Reuben, Isaac, “Poll,”
Elizabeth, Lovina, and Margaret; numerous descendants); and (10)
Philip married, in 1812, Elizabeth Werheim, and removed from Berks
county between 1814 and 1820.

Tradition has it that the team of John Adam
Gruber, with himself as teamster, was impressed into the service
during the Revolutionary war, and that he returned with a pair of
traces, the horses having died from want of forage. In 1778 and
1779 orders were issued for about two hundred wagons from Berks
county to carry provisions and supplies.

(II) Christian Gruber, born in 1740, son of Henry, married Susanna
Maria, daughter of the immigrant Andrew Beyer [Boyer]; resident at
different times during 1767-84 of Cumru, Heidelberg, and Bern;
removed from Berks county about 1785, and a taxable, in 1786, of
Penn’s township, Northumberland (now Union) county; ten children
shown on records of St. Daniel’s Church and the church at
Bernville, of whom five are known to have died young, the others
being: Susanna Maria, born in 1766; Christian, born in 1771;
Philip, born in 1777; Anna Engel, born in 1779; and Philippina,
born in 1783, and married in 1801 to George Zubler, a son David,
1806-09, being buried at St. Daniel’s Church.

On a return of militia officers of Berks county
for May 27, 1780, there is shown a Christian Gruber with rank of
ensign, commissioned May 10, 1780, as of the 6th Company (Capt.
Philip Filbert), 2d Battalion (Col. Henry Spycker), Berks County
Militia.

(II) Henry Gruber, born in 1747, son of Henry, sold his farm in
1785, and, as tradition has it, removed to Lancaster and later to
York county; married Anna Margaret (probably Klopp); two children
shown on St. Daniel’s Church record: Peter, born in 1768, and Anna
Margaret, born in 1785.

(IV) John Gruber (1791-1861), son of John, of John Adam, married
(first) Catharine (1791-1850), daughter of Michael Seidel, and
(second) Widow Maria M. Sloat (nee Stiely), the three buried at
Hain’s church; nine children, by first wife: (1) Daniel (1819-55)
married Hannah Krick, and had children, Benneville K. (of Reading),
Kittie Ann, Emmeline, Levi, and Ella, Benneville K. having served
as private in Company I, 128th Pa. Inf., nine months, in the Civil
war; (2) Maria (1820-78) married Samuel Ohnmacht (1814-99); (3)
Catharine (1823-64) married Joseph Seitzinger; (4) Susanna
(1824-54); (5) Margaret (1826-73) (known as Peggy) married Daniel
Bickel; (6) Sarah (1828-47); (7) Anna, born in 1830; (8) Lovina
(1832-87) married William Franklin Umbenhower; and (9) Matilda
(1835-67) married Aaron T. Dundor.

(IV) George Gruber (1793-1876), son of John, of John Adam, married
Anna Maria Lash (1801-75), both buried at St. Daniel’s church, no
children. From about 1841 until his death he resided about a mile
east of Womelsdorf, along the Berks and Dauphin turnpike.

(IV) Daniel Gruber (1795-1867), son of John, of John Adam, resided
on the old homestead, which he owned from 1841 to his death;
married (first) Christina (1795-1846), daughter of Michael Seidel,
and (second) Sarah Fidler (1814-72); the three buried at St.
Daniel’s church; six children by first wife: (1) Catherine
(1825-65) married Gabriel Gerhart (1816-91), both buried at North
Heidelberg church (descendants with surnames, Gerhart, Royer,
Zerbe, Stump, etc.); (2) Israel S., 1827-1907, resided on the
oldhomestead and owner thereof from 1868; married Rebecca, daughter
of Joseph Ernst (ten children,–Alandon John Israel, married to
Emma K. Werner; Levi Ephraim, married to Vilanda M. Horne; Joseph
Samuel, married to Sallie A. Potts; Etillia Sarah Elizabeth,
married to Isaac H. Horne; Pierce Emanuel, married to Mary Jane
Werner; Calvin Jeremiah, married to Lillie A. Himmelberger;
Arabella Rebecca, married to Daniel A. Snyder; Daniel Henry,
married to Ellen L. Potteiger; Lillie Mary, married to Charles G.
Speicher; and Milton Reuben, married to Annie A. Blatt); (3)
Matilda (1830-96), and (4) Elizabeth (1833-54) were the second and
first wives, respectively, of Ephraim Klopp (1830-78), the three
buried at St. Daniel’s church (descendants with surnames, Klopp,
Miller, etc.); (5) Mary married Jeremiah Horne (descendants with
surnames Horne, Helm, Schmehl, Grimes, Reifsnyder, etc.); and (6)
Rebecca (1839-73) married James H. Stoudt, buried at Bern Church
(descendants with surnames Stoudt, Ernst, Katzeman, etc.).

(IV) Maria Barbara (known as “Poll”) Gruber (1798-1873), daughter
of John, of John Adam, buried at St. Daniel’s church, married John
Lash, five children: Benneville, Adam, John, Sarah (wife of Daniel
Glass), and Mary (wife of Eli Yonson).

(IV) Michael Gruber (1802-74), son of John, of John Adam, was a man
of sterling qualities and fine physique; in 1834 he bought and
removed to a farm in Heidelberg where he lived the remainder of his
life; married Eva (1806-1890), daughter of George Bohn and wife
Maria (Kissinger) and granddaughter of Frederick Bohn and wife
Catharine Elizabeth (Wummer); both buried at St. Daniel’s church;
five children, the youngest of whom, Emma Maria, died in childhood,
the others being: (1) Emanuel B. (1826-1909), resided on and owned
(from 1866) his father’s farm, married Mary Elizabeth (1834-1908),
daughter of Daniel Fidler and wife Elizabeth (Miller) and
granddaughter of Henry and Catharine Fidler; one child, a daughter
Diana, wife of Albert, son of Levi Gaul and wife Rebecca (Wenrich)
(Albert Gaul and wife have one child, a daughter Maggie, wife of
Charles Blatt, son of Cornelius L. Blatt and wife Amanda Gruber);
(2) John (1827-70), crushed to death on his birthday anniversary
(July 14th) by earth and stones caving in on him while working in a
stone-quarry in his yard, buried at St. Daniel’s church, married
Elmira, daughter of John Smaltz, had a daughter who died in youth;
(3) Henrietta Matilda (1832-68), buried at Womelsdorf, married
Reuben Althouse, three daughters, Emma (wife of Thomas J.
Brossman), Mary (wife of Ezra Hettinger), and Clara Matilda (wife
of Adam G. Stump); (4) Richard Michael (1834-1909), a progressive
farmer and school teacher and, for forty-eight years, a resident of
North Heidelberg, forty-two years of which he lived on one farm; in
education and intelligence he was decidedly in advance of the
majority of the people in his township; he believed, with Burke and
Horace Mann, that school-houses and education are the chief defense
of nations, and personally attended to the instruction and
education of his children; he was a farmer for forty-four years,
from 1856 to his retirement in 1900, during which time he also
taught thirteen consecutive terms of school in North Heidelberg
(1862-75), eleven of them being spent in school No. 5, then known
at the “Forge School”; he had previously (1854-57) taught three
successive terms in Penn township; in 1849-50 he learned tailoring
with William Kunkelman, but worked at the trade only about three
years; he married, in 1854, Mary Ann (1833-1904), daughter of John
Schaeffer and wife Susanna (Staudt) and granddaughter of John
Schaeffer and wife Magdalene (Richard) and of Daniel Staudt and
wife Susanna (Ulrich); after her death he had made his home with
his sons, Calvin L. and H. Wayne; there are four sons, as follows:
(1) Michael Alvin [see sketch at beginning of this article]. (2)
John Emanuel, born March 13, 1857, in North Heidelberg, grew up on
his father’s farm and worked thereon till forty-three years of age,
taught school eleven terms, made a collection of 458 kinds of wood
arranged in a fine cabinet constructed by himself of 803 pieces and
about 100 kinds of wood, has a collection of eggs of fifty species
of birds, for several years has been setting up all kinds of farm
implements, wind-towers, fencing, etc., for Klopp & Kalbach
of North Heidelberg, besides clerking a number of sales during the
winter, is still single. (3) Calvin Luther [see sketch at beginning
of this article]. (4) Horace Wayne, born Jan. 26, 1871, in North
Heidelberg, grew up and worked on his father’s farm; taught school
three terms; clerked for several years in different kinds of
stores; since 1901 employed by the Philadelphia & Reading
Railroad Company in their Reading shops; resides in Reading;
married in 1897 Sarah Susanna, daughter of Abraham R. Gruber (son
of Christian of John Adam of Christian of Christian) has one son,
Raymond Abraham Richard. These four sons and their father enjoy a
remarkable record as school teachers; the father taught sixteen
terms and each of his sons attended his school; the oldest son
taught fourteen terms and had as pupils his two younger brothers;
the second son taught eleven terms and had as pupil his youngest
brother; the third son has been teaching since 1883 and had as
pupil his youngest brother; the youngest son taught three terms;
and in the same school where the father had taught eleven terms,
the second and third sons each taught one term and the youngest son
two terms.

(IV) William Gruber (1806-83), son of John, of John Adam, married
(first) Lydia Stamm (1810-46) and (second) Maria Catharine German
(1810-88), widow of Levi Mease; twelve children, a son and a
daughter by first wife dying in infancy; ten surviving children,
one son and four daughters by first wife and five daughters by
second wife: (1) Angeline married Henry Kissinger (three sons,
Frank, Henry and William); (2) Lovina married Benneville Adams; (3)
Lydia married Herman Berndt; (4) Rebecca married Joel Haas; (5)
William married Catharine Matz, two daughters–Anna Maria (wife of
Howard U. Klein), and Kate Elizabeth (wife of Calvin Leinbach),
residents of West Reading; (6) Maria Catharine married Henry
Heckaman; (7) Emma Elizabeth married Calvin Homan; (8) Susan Amelia
married John H. Stamm; (9) Amanda Rosa married Willard Kerryhart;
and (10) Sarah Ann married Elias L. Garverich.

(IV) David Gruber (1794-1872), son of Henry, of John Adam, married
Elizabeth Lieb; four children: (1) William married Catharine Reed
(no children); (2) Moses married Caroline Burkholder (seven
children, John–died unmarried, Franklin–married Fianna
Paffenberger, two sons, Samuel and William H., Mary Emmeline–wife
of John M. Schaum, Sarah Elizabeth–wife of C. Wesley Ketterer,
George–unmarried, Adeline Emilia–wife of Peter Ludwig, and Agnes
Elmira–wife of Rev. John Walker Klingler); (3) Nathan married
Elizabeth Achenbach; and (4) Mary married John Madern or Madden.

(IV) Joseph Gruber (1800-72), son of Henry, of John Adam, married
Catharine Hollinger; eleven children: (1) Maria married Valentine
Wagner; (2) Malinda married John Kahl [Kehl], removed to Alabama
(numerous descendants with surnames Edwards, Counts, Saunders,
etc., living in Alabama); (3) Elizabeth Anna married Jacob Bricker,
of Christian Bricker and wife Hannah Gruber; (4) Joseph married
Eliza Fernsler (six children, Emery, Albert, Alice, Ida, Ella and
Charles); (5) Moses married (first) Caroline Hummel and (second)
Lizzie Wilson (three children, William, Alice and Ida); (6) Lovina
married Cyrus M. Neff; (7) William H. married Maria C. Feeg (a son
Claudius J. F. and several daughters), residents of West Reading;
(8) Catharine married Edward B. Shultz; (9) Rebecca married John
McConnell; (10) John A., residing in Kansas, married Caroline Bross
(five children, Ida Mae, John Cleveland, Frances Amelia, Joseph
Jacob, and Walter Clifton); (11) Emma married John Adam Hess.

(IV) Nellie Gruber (1805-69), of Henry, of John Adam, married
(first) Peter Lamm and (second) Isaac Scholl; three children by
first husband: Nathan Lamm married Rebecca Klopp; Elmira Lamm
married (first) David Wenrich and (second) Levi M. Gerhart; and
Lovina Lamm married Samuel Filbert.

(IV) Catharine Gruber (1808-89), of Henry, of John Adam, married
Daniel Miller, descendants with surnames Miller, Bordner, etc.

(IV) Elizabeth Gruber, of Henry, of John Adam, married Joel
Seitzinger.

(IV) Catharine Gruber (1797- ? ), of John Jacob, John Adam, married
John Schaeffer; descendants with surnames Schaeffer, Stoudt,
Dundor, Klopp, Yost, etc.

(IV) John Adam Gruber (1798-1876), of John Jacob, of John Adam,
married Maria Riedy; nine surviving children: (1) Philip R.
(1815-91) married Elizabeth Klinger (eight children–Emma, wife of
Peter Noecker; Harrison, married to Harriet German,
children–Amelia, Kate, Elizabeth, and George F.; Isabella, wife of
Ephraim German, who belonged to Company K, 55th Regt., Pa. Vols.,
Civil war; Rebecca, wife of (first) Albert Rhein and (second)
Emanuel Kintzer; John Adam, married to Henrietta Foltz; Agnes, wife
of William Bechtel; Ellen, wife of Nathan Leitner; and George,
married to Mary Koch); (2) Emanuel R. (1817-1903) married Justina
Reber (seven surviving children–Amelia, wife of John B. Stump;
Malinda, wife of Simon Kreitz; Sarah, first wife of John K. Fidler;
Henrietta, wife of John Machemer; Amanda, wife of Cornelius J.
Blatt; Jonathan, married to Emma Simon, several children; and Mary,
wife of Cornelius Himmelberger); (3) Catharine (1821) married
Michael Koenig, removed to Ohio; (4) Sarah (1824-99) married Daniel
Fisher, one of the sons being John William Fisher, a well known
teacher, justice of the peace, and farmer of North Heidelberg
township, who with Richard M. Gruber and Adam Minnich formed a
noted trio of teachers in that township for ten or more years; (5)
Jacob (1826-1902) married Catharine Fidler (children–Jacob, Sarah,
and Amelia); (6) Elizabeth (born in 1828) married William Lash,
removed to Ohio; (7) Lovina (1830-92) married Jacob Leininger; (8)
Adam R., born in 1833, married Catharine Schaeffer (several sons
and daughters); (9) Caroline, born in 1835, married Christian
Schutter.

(IV) Sarah Gruber (1801-92), of John Jacob, of John Adam, married
Jacob Werner; six surviving children: Pauline Werner married John
Mountz; William Werner married Lydia Matthews; Adam Werner married
Amanda Anspach; Maria Werner married William Machemer; Malinda
Werner married William Diehl; Jacob Werner married Janette Spears.

(IV) Jacob Gruber (1803-77), of John Jacob, of John Adam, m. Sarah
Henrich [Henry]; eight children: (1) Mary (1829-1909) married
Samuel Bickel, 1817-79 (a daughter Elizabeth S., wife of Dr. I. W.
Newcomer, of Stouchburg), (2) Sarah (1830-70) married Israel Ernst
(four sons and five daughters: descendants with surnames Ernst,
Wagner, Kalbach, Fies, Seidel, etc.). (3) Amelia (1831-62) married
Jacob Kreider (descendants with surnames Kreider, Weber, etc.). (4)
Isaac H. (1833-1906) married (first) Sarah Ann Strunk and (second)
Mary Ann Deppen; six surviving children, a son and two daughters by
each of his wives, William E. (married to Salome M. Dietrich;
children–Sarah Margaret, Howard Dietrich and Jessie Louisa),
Catharine Elizabeth (wife of Edwin J. Klopp), Sarah Margaret, Helen
Regina (wife of Lewis Reese Davis), Charles Daniel (the veterinary
surgeon of Bernville, Pa., married to Mary Martha Burkhart;
children–Maye Katharine and Anna Laura) and Emily Maye (wife of
Harry J. Lambert). Isaac H. Gruber in 1855 founded the carriage
factory located in Mount Pleasant (Obold), Berks county, and
carried on that business until his death, when the property was
bought by his son, William E., who erected, across the street from
the old factory, a large and commodious three-story structure in
which the business is successfully continued. (5) Franklin H.
(1835-1898) married Matilda H. Himmelberger; eight children, three
dying in childhood, the others (five sons) being: John William
(married to Clara A. Stoudt; children–Franklin Pierce, Annie
Lydia, Aetna Amelia and Mary Matilda); Adam Rufusal (married to
Rosabella K. Hiester; children–Lizzie E. and Katie H.); Jacob
Henry (married to Annie Bright; children–Sallie Irene, Paul Levi
and John Adam); George Pierce (married to Kate Schrock; no
children); and Levi Franklin (a graduate with first honors of
Muhlenberg College and a prominent Lutheran minister of
Minneapolis, Minn., married to Amelia Louisa Hoehn, of Rochester,
N. Y.). Franklin H. Gruber founded, about 1883, the well-known
wheelwright establishment, the Gruber Wagon Works, located at the
foot of the hill below Mount Pleasant (Obold), Berks county, having
for some years previously followed that trade on his farm about a
mile south of that place. After his death his four oldest sons
continued the business until the death of Adam Rufusal, in 1903,
since which time it has been very successfully conducted by the
three brothers, John W., Jacob H. and George P., each an expert in
his special trade connected with the business, which is noted for
thorough, reliable and conscientious workmanship and the use of
up-to-date machinery. (6) Erasmus H., born in 1838, married Rebecca
Deppen; children: Annie Mary first married Charles V. R. Addams and
second Cyrenius F. Haag; and Daniel Francis married Ellenora Ruth.
Erasmus H. Gruber was a private in Company G, 151st Regiment (nine
months), Pennsylvania Infantry, Civil war, and was wounded with
loss of arm at Gettysburg, Pa., on July 1, 1863. (7) Henrietta,
born in 1840, married Nicholas Albright, of Reading. (8) John H.
(1843-1901) married Elizabeth Yoder; four children, George Milton,
John Calvin, Mary Elizabeth and William Martin.

(IV) Rebecca Gruber, of John Jacob, of John Adam, married Daniel
Fessler.

(IV) Hannah Gruber (1807-65), of John Jacob, of John Adam, m.
Christian Bricker (1801-72); six children, Jonathan, Jacob, John,
Catharine, David, and Daniel; numerous descendants with surnames
Bricker, Cox, Kepley, Barlett, Wagner, Batdorf, Shepp, Fidler,
Boyer, Lengel, Hetrich, Bright, Parson, Bennett, etc.

(IV) Isaac Gruber (1810-45), of John Jacob, of John Adam, married
Elizabeth Groby; three surviving children: (1) Melinda (born in
1838) married Levi J. Kline, of Ohio; (2) Adam (writes name
Gruver), of Miamisburg, Ohio, born in 1843, married Sarah Gebhart
(three sons and four daughters); (3) Miranda (1845-82) married H.
B. Shade.

(IV) John Gruber (1813-38), of John Jacob, of John Adam, married
(first) Mary Batdorf and (second) Angeline Rhiel; by first wife
four sons, and by second wife one son, namely: (1) Percival, born
in 1832, removed to one of the Western States. (2) Levi, born in
1832 (a twin brother of Percival), married (first) Catharine
Riegart, and (second) Catharine Fisher; no living children; a
resident of Kansas. (3) Rufus, born in 1834, married Jane Ford;
three sons and two daughters; a resident of Miami county, Ohio. (4)
Ishmael, a resident of Schuylkill county, Pa. (5) John Adam, born
in 1856, married Sallie Zeller; children, George David, John Edwin,
Samuel and Phoebe Estella.

(IV) Elizabeth Gruber (1815-92), of John Jacob, of John Adam,
married William W. Smith; three sons and one daughter; descendants
with surnames Smith, Degler, etc.

(IV) Juliann Gruber (1817-1907), of John Jacob, of John Adam,
married Peter Behney; four daughters, each married to a Peiffer;
numerous descendants with surnames Peiffer, Kline, Klopp, Seidel,
Ruth, etc.

(IV) Mary Gruber, of John Jacob, of John Adam, married a Mr.
Carver.

LINE OF CHRISTIAN GRUBER:

(I) Christian Gruber (Oct. 18, 1712-Nov. 14, 1781) was one of the
early settlers of what was then known as Tulpehocken, and owned a
farm in what is now Jefferson township. No record has been found of
his immigration, but he appears to have been naturalized April 10,
1760. He married Jan. 26, 1742, Anna Kunigunde Stup (1721-1799),
daughter of Martin Stup and wife Anna Catharine (Schultz), and he,
his wife, and three of his children are buried in the old graveyard
at Bernville, Pennsylvania.

In the old German family Bible (printed in
1736), in the possession of Josiah Gruber, a great-grandson, living
near Summit Point, W. Va., are recorded his seven children: (1)
John George, born Feb. 16, 1743; (2) Christian, born Jan. 5, 1745;
(3) Susanna, born Aug. 22, 1746; (4) Maria Catharine, born Dec. 24,
1749; (5) John Adam, born April 11, 1752; (6) John Albrecht, born
May 9, 1754; and (7) Anna Margaret, born April 2, 1759. All the
names, except Christian, are also found in Rev. John Casper
Stoever’s record of baptisms and marriages, 1730-79. The family
record in the Bible referred to contains the evidence in two of the
baptismal entries that Christian Gruber was a brother of Henry
Gruber, the immigrant, who settled in the Heidelbergs.

(II) John George Gruber (1743-1792), son of Christian, married
April 16, 1776, Elizabeth, daughter of Lenhart (Leonard) Emrich, of
Bethel township; about 1789 he removed from Berks county to what is
now Lower Mahanoy township, Northumberland Co., Pa., where he owned
a farm on which he died. He had five children: (1) Catharine
Elizabeth, born in 1777, married Frederick Itzweyler; (2) Susanna,
born in 1779, married Arthur Rogers; (3) Rosina Elizabeth, born in
1780, married Jonas Wolfgang; (4) Henry, in 1813, got full
possession of his father’s farm, and shortly afterward appears to
have removed to Franklin county, Ind. (descendants are residing in
Indiana, Ohio, California and other States); (5) Elizabeth, born in
1785, married Peter Wetzel.

(II) Christian Gruber (1745-1822), son of Christian, married
Susanna (maiden name said to be Sligher), owned about 250 acres of
land in Windsor (now Perry) township, and from him have descended
the Perry township Grubers; he had six children: (1) Susanna
(1770-1849) married George Bodey; (2) Christina (1773-1857) married
Frederick Bailey; (3) John George (1778-1866) married Hannah Savage
(two children–Susanna, 1805-90, wife of Solomon Mengel, and John
S.); (4) Barbara (1780-1854) married John Hoffman; (5) John Adam
(1786-1871) married Susanna Rieser (six children–Benjamin;
Elizabeth, wife of George Adams; Susanna, wife of Jacob Diehl;
Catharine, wife of Thomas Mengel; Christian, and John Adam); (6)
Elizabeth (1788-1868) married Christian Berger.

(II) Susanna Gruber (1746-1808), daughter of Christian married
Matthias Schmidt [Smith]; three sons and two daughters, the
youngest son, John Henry Schmidt (1784-1848), being married to
Catharine Wilhelm, daughter of John Adam Wilhelm and wife Maria
Christina (Gruber) in the line of Henry Gruber.

(II) Maria Catharine Gruber (1749-1796), daughter of Christian,
married a Mr. Zuber.

(II) John Adam Gruber (1752-1781), son of Christian, died
unmarried; buried with his parents and sisters, Mrs. Schmidt and
Mrs. Zuber, in the old graveyard at Bernville, Pennsylvania.

(II) John Albrecht (known also as Albright) Gruber (1754-1825), son
of Christian, married Susanna Vilbina [Philippina], daughter of
Henry Knobb and wife Maria Catharine (Fidler), of Heidelberg
township; removed in 1806 to what is now Jefferson county, W. Va.,
about two miles from Summit Point, where he owned a farm of about
250 acres on which he died; eight children, all born in Berks
county, Pa., namely: (1) Catharine Elizabeth married John Custer;
(2) Christian, buried at Marion, Ohio (three sons and three
daughters; numerous descendants in Ohio and other Western States);
(3) Susanna Vilbina married John Zerbe [the miller], the mill now
known as Sunday’s mill, along the Tulpehocken, being built by him
(both buried at the “Little Tulpehocken Church”; numerous
descendants); (4) John Adam married Barbara Bachman (six sons and
three daughters; descendants in Virginia, West Virginia, and the
West); (5) John Jacob married Martha (or Magdalene) Bachman (four
sons and five daughters, descendants principally in Virginia and
West Virginia, one of the sons being Josiah Gruber, who has the old
family Bible of his great-grandfather, Christian, in which Bible
are also recorded the children of his grandfather, John Albrecht,
as well as those of his great-grandfather); (6) John had one
daughter; (7) Elizabeth married John Bachman (ten children;
descendants living in Ohio and other States of the West); and (8)
Anna Maria. Albrecht Gruber is shown to have served as a private in
the Revolutionary war from Aug. 10 to Sept. 9, 1780, in Capt.
Conrad Sherman’s Company, 6th Battalion of Berks County Militia,
commanded by Lieut. Col. Joseph Hiester, but it has not been
ascertained whether this company had service outside of Berks
county. Albrecht’s sons, John Adam and John Jacob, served in the
war of 1812, as privates in (first) Capt. Thomas Cockrell’s Company
of Infantry, 57th Regiment, Virginia Militia, from Aug. 26 to Oct.
6, 1814; and (second) Capt. John Lyle’s Company of Infantry, 1st
Regiment, Virginia Militia, from Oct. 6 to Nov. 24, 1814.

(II) Anna Margaret Gruber, daughter of Christian, married William
Gieseman, who died in 1843, a resident of Mifflin township, Dauphin
Co., Pennsylvania.

(IV) John S. Gruber (1807-1889), son of John George of (II)
Christian, married Elizabeth Baer; three children: (1) Hannah was
twice married; (2) Elizabeth married Israel M. Becker; and (3)
George B., living about two miles east of Shoemakersville, married
Tilaria Hamsher, and raised a family of eight sons and six
daughters.

(IV) Benjamin Gruber (1809-1870), son of John Adam, of (II)
Christian, married Elizabeth Mengel; five children: (1) Daniel M.
married Sarah Ann Lesher (a son and a daughter); (2) Susanna
remained unmarried; (3) Elizabeth married Joel Stetzler; (4) Amanda
married F. Leonard Reber; and (5) Benjamin M., a well known justice
of the peace and clerk in the court-house offices, married Louisa
M. Hill (a son).

(IV) Christian Gruber (1818-1904), son of John Adam of (II)
Christian, married Sarah Rothermel; three children: (1) Abraham R.
married Emeline Swoyer (five sons and five daughters, the oldest
daughter, Sarah Susanna, being the wife of Horace Wayne Gruber in
the line of Henry Gruber); (2) Susanna married Jonathan Trexler;
and (3) Sarah married Benneville A. Althouse.

(IV) John Adam Gruber (1823-1862), son of John Adam, of (II)
Christian, married Anna Shearer; six children: (1) Samuel S., of
Moselem; (2) Amos S., who died in Douglas county, Kans.; (3) David
S., drowned in the Susquehanna river; (4) John Adam, of Grimville;
(5) Joel S., of Lehigh county; and (6) Mary S., wife of John M.
Kutz.

LINE OF SIMON GRUBER:

(1) Simon Gruber is said to have emigrated from Germany and
settled in Greenwich township, Berks county, some time prior to
1790, he and his family, consisting of three males and five
females, being shown in the census of 1790. He had five sons,
Jacob, Andrew, John, Michael, and Samuel, and several daughters,
Samuel being the father of Morgan Gruber of Albany township, from
whom this information was obtained. There are numerous descendants,
some of whom are living in Mercer county, Pa. A number of this line
are buried at Grimville.

MISCELLANEOUS GRUBERS:

There are several Grubers and Gruber descendants in Berks county
whose line of descent has not been traced to any of the sources
herein-before described, although in some instances, if sufficient
data could be secured, connection might be made.

1. At Mt. Aetna is buried a Catharine Gruber (1830-80), wife of
Levi Wolfersberger. She was the daughter of Jacob Gruber and wife
Elizabeth (Imboden), buried at Annville, Lebanon Co., Pa., and
granddaughter of Christian Gruber (1761-1814), buried in a private
burial-ground about one and a half miles south of Annville.

2. In Maxatawny township there died, in 1843, a Michael Gruber who,
it is said, emigrated from Germany. He served in the war of 1812
from Sept. 1 to Dec. 4, 1814, as a private in Capt. George Ritter’s
Company of the 1st Regiment of Pennsylvania Militia, commanded by
Lieut.-Col. Jeremiah Shapell. From his will, made in 1840, are
taken the names of his children, Samuel, Daniel, Jacob, Catharine
(wife of William Staudt), Susan, Anna, Lydia, and Elizabeth.

3. In Bern township resided an Adam S. Gruber, 1834-1907, married
to Rebecca Fessler, who raised a large family of children, namely:
Benneville U. (died unmarried), George F. (died unmarried),
Isabella R. (wife of Levi Clay), Elizabeth (wife of Abraham
Sweitzer), Sarah F. (wife of James Sell), Ellen F. (wife of Daniel
F. Baer), Hettie A. (wife of James Reeser), Rosa F. (wife of
Charles Dunkelberger), Mary Emma (wife of Daniel Laucks), Clara C.
(wife of John Maderia), Adam F. and Minnie F. His father was George
Gruber, who died it is said in 1836, residing at the time in Cumru
township; he was married to Elizabeth Seitzinger, and besides the
son Adam S. had a daughter, Rebecca, first wife of John A. Weitzel.
It is said that George Gruber came to Berks from one of the
counties near the confluence of the two branches of the
Susquehanna, and it is believed that he is connected with the line
of Henry or that of Christian.

The surname Gruber is found written in a variety of ways. The more
common forms are Gruber, Gruver, and Groover; and among the
occasional spellings may be mentioned Groober, Grouber, Kruber,
Kruver, Cruver, and Croober.

The name appears to have originated in Upper
Germany and is derived from the German word Grube, meaning a mine,
quarry, pit or ditch; and, no doubt, when surnames were being
introduced, it was applied to persons who worked in mines, quarries
or pits, or who dug pits or ditches, or, perhaps, who lived at or
near such places. The name may also have been given to owners of
mines, quarries or pits; but it is more likely that the owners
thereof received the name Grube (omitting the final “r”), now
frequently written Grubb or Grubbe.

The proper spelling of the name would,
therefore, be Gruber, and that appears to be the form used in Berks
county. The name is exclusively spelled in that way in Germany,
Austria, and Switzerland, and is very common in some sections of
those countries, the writer having been informed that the surname
Gruber appears about three hundred times in the Address Book
(Directory) of Munich, Bavaria.

The form Gruver came about principally in two
ways: (1) Gruber is frequently pronounced as if spelled Gruver,
whence the adoption of the latter form in a number of instances;
(2) in some English speaking localities a German form of name is
disliked, and the change of “b” to “v” was the result. This form
has been generally adopted by the descendants of the immigrant
Nicholas Gruber, residing in Bucks and Lehigh counties, Pa., and is
also found in other parts of the State as well as in some
localities of the West.

Groover is the form of the name frequently met
with in the South, especially in Georgia, which State bears the
same relation to the early Grubers of the South that Pennsylvania
bears to the Grubers of the North. The Georgia Groovers are
descendants of the Grubers who were among the Salzburgers, German
Protestants (largely Lutherans) that settled, in 1734 to 1741, at
Ebenezer, Georgia.

Gruber is found also compounded with other
names, as, Baumgruber, Frauengruber, Hartmannsgruber, Holzgruber,
Kalchgruber, Obergruber, Sassamansgruber, Steingruber, and
Wolfsgruber.

A similar name, Grueber, appears to be common to
parts of Austria.

GRUBER,
GEORGE B.

p. 917

Surnames: GRUBER, BAER, SHEP, EMERICH, KNAPP, GRISMAN, SLIGER,
BAILEY, HOFFMAN, BODY, REESER, BERGER, SAVAGE, MENGEL, RAMER,
MORGAN, BECKER, HAMSCHER, FENSTERMACHER, CLEVENSTINE, TYSON, SAUL,
SEIDEL, BAVER, NATFZINGER, LATSHAW, BOYER, KURTZ

George B. Gruber, who is engaged in farming and huckstering in
Perry township, Berks county, was born March 29, 1843, in the
district in which he still resides, son of John S. and Elizabeth
(Baer) Gruber.

Christian Gruber, the great-great-grandfather of
George B. Gruber, was the first American ancestor of this family.
He was born Oct. 12, 1712 and died Nov. 11, 1781. His home was in
Heidelberg township, Berks county. He married Anna Kunigard Shep,
by whom he had children as follows: John m. Elizabeth Emerich and
went West; Christian; Mary Catherine and John Adam died single;
John Albrecht left Berks county in 1806, settling in West Virginia
(he m. Susanna Knapp); and Anna Margaret m. William Grisman.

Christian Gruber, son of Christian, was born Jan
5, 1745, and settled in Windsor township after the Revolutionary
war. He married Susanna Sliger and their children were: Christina
m. Frederick Bailey; Barbara m. John Hoffman; John George; Susannah
m. George Body; John Adam. M. Susannah Reeser; and Elizabeth m.
Christian Berger.

John George Gruber, grandfather of George B.,
was born Aug. 9, 1778, and died Jan. 26, 1866. He was a blacksmith
by trade, and lived on his farm of twenty-seven acres of land near
Virginville. He was a remarkably strong man, standing six feet and
two inches, and weighing about 225 pounds, could manage any horse,
and by main force could throw it to the ground. He never met the
man who dared fight him, and was feared by those who boasted of
their physical powers. He was an uncompromising Democrat, and was
county poor director in his district for fifteen years. Mr. Gruber
married Hannah Savage, daughter of John Savage, born Jan. 16, 1786
and she died Oct. 13, 1846. Their children were: Susanna (m.
Solomon Mengel, of Shartlesville, Pa.) and John S.

John S. Gruber, father of George B., was born
Feb. 4, 1807, and was a farmer near Virginville, Berks county, and
died Oct. 11, 1889. He was a carpenter by trade and followed that
occupation for many years, also carrying on operations on his
164-acre farm. He also conducted a blacksmith shop, and did all
work of that kind in his neighborhood. Mr. Gruber was greatly
interested in educational matters, serving as school director for
several terms. He is buried at Zion’s Union Church, of which he was
a regular member. Mr. Gruber married Elizabeth Baer, daughter of
John and Susannah (Reeser) Baer, and to this union there were born:
Hannah m. (first) William Ramer, and (second) William Morgan;
Elizabeth m. Israel M. Becker; and George B.

George B. Gruber secured a good education in the
common schools of his native township, which he left at the age of
nineteen years, and his boyhood was spent on his father’s farm, on
which he has lived all of his life. In 1888 he embarked in business
as a huckster, buying butter and eggs from the farmers of his
district and in Windsor, Greenwich and Richmond townships, and has
an extensive weekly route. In 1873 he purchased part of the Daniel
Becker estate, consisting of thirty-eight acres of good land, which
Mr. Gruber was greatly improved. He rebuilt the wagon shed and
other buildings, remodeled the house and beautified the property in
many ways. He now has a fine little home, there being few places
that are kept in better repair. As a citizen Mr. Gruber stand high
in his community, being intelligent and progressive. He enjoys the
respect and esteem of his fellow-men. In political matters, like
all of the Grubers, he votes the straight Democratic ticket. He and
his wife attend the Shoemakersville Church, he being a Lutheran
member, while she clings to the Reformed faith.

On Feb. 20, 1869, Mr. Gruber was married to
Tillarah F. Hamscher, daughter of William and Angelina
(Fenstermacher) Hamscher, and to this union there have been born
children as follows: Ada E. m. R. E. Clevenstine, of Spring City,
Pa.; Ella M. m. J. Edward Tyson, also of Spring City, Pa.; John M.,
unmarried is manager of a large grocery store in Philadelphia;
George M. m. Marguerite Saul; William M. m. Lavada Seidel; Harvey
M. m. Laura Baver; Cora H. m. Thomas Naftzinger; Joseph I. W. m.
Anna Latshaw, and is living at Spring City, Pa., where he is a
manager of a large factory; Norman I. m. Lydia Boyer; Robert C. m.
Fannie Kurtz, and is assistant manager with his brothers in Spring
City, Pa.; and Virgil M., Wilmer A., Sallie T. and Katie A. are all
at home with their parents.