Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery

JENNINGS, JOHN A. L.

p.
1366

Surnames: JENNINGS, LONG, WEAVER, MILLER, YERGER, D ERRICK,
GANSTER, TROXEL

John A. L. Jennings, one of the prominent citizens of Reading, Pa.,
who is now serving the city in the capacity of councilman, was born
at Ninth and Walnut streets, Reading, Feb. 29, 1848, son of John S.
and Julia (Long) Jennings.

John Jennings, grandfather of John A. L., was a
native of Reading, where he spent all of his life, his occupation
being that of a carpet weaver. He was first buried at Sixth and
Walnut streets, but later, with many others, his remains were
removed to the Lutheran graveyard. Among his children were John S.
and Mrs. Weaver. John S. Jennings was born at Reading in 1800, and
died there in November, 1867. He was a carpenter by occupation, as
well as an all-around mechanic, resided on Maple street, and was a
member of the Lutheran Church. He married Julia Long, daughter of
Joseph Long, a Chester county Quaker. She was born in 1803, and
died in 1887, having been the mother of four children: John A. L.;
Susan, who married Levi Miller, both deceased; Julia, who is the
widow of John Yerger; and Anna Elizabeth, who died aged five years,
in 1857.

John A. L. Jennings was educated in the public
schools of the city, and when but thirteen years old he commenced
working for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company, being
an apprentice boy in the machine shop at Seventh and Chestnut
streets. In 1864 during the strike, he was a fireman on the main
line, when the Government sent thirty–five crews to operate the
trains. For four years, from 1874 to 1878, Mr. Jennings worked as a
special officer on the same road, and was in Schuylkill County
during the Molly Maguire troubles, witnessing the hanging of the
first six offenders. After 1878 he returned to the shops and took
up the machinist trade, which he followed until he was made foreman
in about 1880. He has charge of the old shop and about 150 men are
under his employ, doing all the yard work and the heavy work in the
shop. Since 1887, Mr. Jennings has resided at No. 1346 Cotton
street. He is a member of Camp No. 212, P. O. S. of A., and the
Twenty Century Quakers No. 2, both of Reading. In religious belief
be is a Methodist. In political matters, Mr. Jennings is a stanch
Republican, and since he attained his majority he has taken an
active interest in his party’s welfare. He was ward chairman from
1900 to 1903, and in the spring election of 1908, was elected by a
good majority, to the office of common councilman.

On Oct. 12, 1869, Mr. Jennings was married to
Clara Derrick, born Oct. 12, 1852, at Reading, who died aged
twenty–eight years, daughter of Charles Derrick, of Reading, and
granddaughter of Charles and Libby Derrick. Five children were born
to this union: Minnie, who married Jacob Ganster, has a son, Earl,
who lives at home with parents; Viola, who died in 1901; Emma E.,
who married Walter W. Troxel, of Reading; Laura, who married Joseph
Miller, of Reading; and John, who is single.

JESBERG,
HARRY D.

p. 1086

Surnames: JESBERG, DEAL, BENZEL, HILLER, GIFT, WEILER, MILLER,
KETNER, ROHRBECH

Harry D. Jesberg, who is at present conducting the well known
“Montgomery House,” Nos. 938-940 North Eighth street, Reading, Pa.,
was born in August 1867, in Muhlenberg township, Berks county, son
of John and Elizabeth (Deal) Jesberg.

John Jesberg came to this country from
Wurtemberg, Germany, and for the rest of his life was engaged in
trucking and hotel keeping in Reading. He died in 1890, when
seventy-four years old, and his wife in May 1903, in her
seventy-third year, both being members of the Lutheran Church. Of
the eleven children of Mr. and Mrs. Jesberg, seven are now living:
John; William; Maggie, m. to Charles Benzel, of the firm of Jesberg
& Benzel; Rosie, m. to John Hiller; Elizabeth, who m. Peter
Gift, deceased; Harry D., mentioned below; and Annie, m. to Henry
Weiler. In political matters Mr. Jesberg was a Democrat.

Harry D. Jesberg was educated in the schools of
Muhlenberg township, and his first work, at which he continued
until eighteen years of age, was at farming by the month. In 1887
he came to Reading and engaged as clerk in the “Montgomery House,”
which he purchased in 1903, in company with Harry S. Weiler. Under
this management the business flourished from the start.

Mr. Jesberg married (first) Ellen Miller,
daughter of Susan Miller, and she died in 1902, aged 36 years,
leaving three children: Edna, Ida and Catherine. Mr. Jesberg m.
(second), in 1907, Mrs. Anna (Ketner) Rohrbech.

Mr. Jesberg is a member of the P. O. S. of A.,
the Knights of the Golden Eagle, the I. O. R. M., the F. O. E., the
White Swan Camping Club, the Excelsior Beneficial Association, the
Marion Fire Co., the Firemens Relief Association and the United
States Health and Accident Insurance Company. In politics he is a
Democrat.

JESBERG, WILLIAM DEAL

p.
1125

Surnames: JESBERG, DEAL, BENZEL, HILLER, GIFT, MILLER, WEILER, CRUM

William Deal Jesberg, a prominent and influential citizen of
Reading, Pa., who is engaged in the wholesale liquor business at
No. 1062 North Tenth street, was born in 1860, in Reading, son of
John and Elizabeth (Deal) Jesberg, natives of Wurtemberg, Germany.

John Jesberg, who came to this country when a
young man, followed trucking for the greater part of his life, also
conducting a hotel in Reading. He died in 1890, aged seventy-four
years, and his wife in April 1903, when seventy-three years old,
both in the faith of the Lutheran Church. Mr. and Mrs. Jesberg had
eleven children, of whom seven are now living: John; William D.;
Maggie, m. to Charles Benzel; Rosie, m. to John Hiller; Elizabeth,
m. to Peter Gift, deceased; Harry, m. to Ellen Miller, deceased;
and Annie, m. to Harry Weiler. In political matters Mr. Jesberg was
a Democrat.

William D. Jesberg was educated in the public
schools of Reading. In 1801 he opened the “Montgomery House,” at
No. 938 North Eighth street, where he continued for twelve years,
and spent one year at No. 815 Penn street. In 1894 he engaged in
the wholesale liquor business at his present stand, No. 1062 North
Tenth street, Reading, where he carries a full and complete stock
of imported and domestic wines and liquors. Since 1907 the firm has
been W. D. Jesberg & Son.

Mr. Jesberg married Miss Delilah Crum, and two
children were born to this union: Edward, with the firm of W. D.
Jesberg & Son; and Elsie, who died at the age of eight months.
Mr. Jesberg is a member of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. He is very
prominent in fraternal circles, and is a popular member of the
Fraternal Order of Eagles; Friendship Chamber, No. 284, Knights of
Friendship; Washington Camp, No. 163, P. O. S. of A.; Manangy
Tribe, No. 316, I. O. R. M., of which he is treasurer; Columbia
Accident Association; Twentieth Century Quakers, No. 2; Phoenix
Accident Company; Saginaw, Mich., Accident Insurance Company;
Marion Fire Company, of which he is treasurer; Independent Gun
Club; Excelsior Beneficial Association, in which he serves as
treasurer; White Swan Camping Club; Public Registry Company of
Philadelphia; Red Men’s Fraternal Insurance Association; Knights of
Friendship Funeral Benefit Fund and Eagles’ Mountain Home
Association.

JOHNSON,
HARVEY C., (DDS)

p. 1305

Surnames: JOHNSON, CUSTER

Harvey C. Johnson, D. D. S., one of the rising young dentists of
Reading, was born in Kutztown, Pa., Feb. 7, 1870, son of Henry and
Anna (Custer) Johnson.

Harvey C. Johnson was educated in Kutztown and
Reading, and later attended the Schuylkill Seminary and West
Chester State Normal School. His professional preparation was
secured at the Philadelphia Dental College, and he was given the
degree of D. D. S., in 1889. His father was one of the best known
dentists in Reading, and the young man at once went into the elder
Dr. Johnson’s office, and has been practicing in connection with
him ever since. He is a thoroughly wide-awake, energetic and
practical man, and has not only built up a good practice but has
also had time to serve his city’s interests. The Doctor is
treasurer of the Hamburg Manufacturing Company, one of the large
industries in Berks county. A Republican and active in party work,
he is at present serving his second term on the city council, where
he has done good service and has a record above reproach. He is an
active member of the Board of Trade.

Dr, Johnson is an enthusiastic lodge man and a
member of many organizations. They are: Chandler Lodge, No. 227, F.
& A. M.; Excelsior Chapter, No. 237, R. A. M.; Reading
Commandery, Knights Templar, No. 42; Bloomsbury Consistory
(thirty-second degree Mason); Rajah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S.;
Reading Lodge, B. P. O. Elks; Fraternal Order of Eagles; Sons of
Veterans; and the Knights of Pythias. He also belongs to the
Reading Hose Fire Company and the North Eastern Republican League.

JOHNSON, H.
T.

p. 1318

Surnames: JOHNSON, LEISINGER, SCHULTZ H. T. Johnson, president and
general manager of the Reading Quarry Company, is widely known in
business circles of Berks county. He was born in 1871, near
Norristown, Montgomery Co., Pa., son of William and Sarah
(Leisinger) Johnson. Mr. Johnson’s early educational training was
secured in the public schools of Norristown, and this was
supplemented by a course at Tremont Seminary, after leaving which
institution he learned the trade of painter. Later he engaged in
quarrying in Chester county, where he remained for six years. He
then returned to Montgomery county, where he continued in the same
business, and in 1902 came to Reading, and operated a stone quarry
and lime kilns. In 1906 Mr. Johnson established the Reading Quarry
Company, which now operates seven kilns, two of which are patent
kilns; quarries furnace, flux, crushed material, and building
stone, and employs about forty men, being located between Temple
and Tuckerton. Mr. Johnson is a business man of much ability, and
much of the success of the firm of which he is president and
general manager may be attributed to his enterprise and skilled
business methods. He is a popular member of Lodge No. 190, F. &
A. M., Charity Chapter No. 190 and Knights Templar, and of the B.
P. O. E. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and on the
erection of that denomination’s new structure, was a member of the
building committee.

In 1897 Mr. Johnson was united in marriage with
Miss Anna Schultz, also a native of Montgomery county, and to them
there have been born three children: Ralph S., Arthur S., and one
who died in infancy.

JOHNSON, MORRIS Y.

p.
1345

Surnames: JOHNSON, UPDEGROVE, BECHTEL, RITTER, FISHER, YODER,
GILBERT, BAHR

Morris Y. Johnson, a miller and farmer located near New
Berlinville, in Colebrookdale township, Berks county, is a member
of the fourth generation of his family to reside in that
neighborhood. The Johnsons are descended from one Nicholas Johnson,
a native of England, who settled in Colebrookdale township in an
early day.

(I) Nicholas Johnson was born Jan. 12, 1758, and came to America in
young manhood. He was a wool dyer by trade, and was working for a
man in Germantown, Pa., at the time the Continental army was
encamped there. One night he slept on the floor to give up his bed
to General Washington; the bed is now in the possession of Albert
J. Fisher, of Reading. Later he was at Skippack, in Montgomery
county, whence he came to Berks county, locating near New
Berlinville, where he followed farming. He died Sept. 4, 1839, when
over eighty-one years of age, and is buried in the Mennonite
cemetery at Boyertown. Mr. Johnson was not a member of the
Mennonite Church, but he attended the services of same. His wife,
Mary Updegrove, was born Sept. 18, 1761, and died on her
seventy-third birthday. Among their children was a son William.

(II) William Johnson was a native of Colebrookdale township, born
in February 1788, and died May 8, 1867, aged seventy-nine years,
two months, twenty-one days. He is buried in the Mennonite cemetery
at Boyertown. He was engaged in the manufacture of linseed oil, his
plant being located along Swamp creek, and later he conducted a
woolen mill on the same stream. This he subsequently changed to a
grist and saw mill, and he was successful in business, becoming a
man of substance. He married Susan Bechtel, born Oct. 6, 1782, who
died Jan. 9, 1869, and was buried by his side. Three sons and two
daughters were born to them. namely: Isaac, Nicholas, David, Mrs.
John Ritter and Polly (who married Henry Fisher).

(III) Nicholas Johnson, father of Morris Y. Johnson, was born in
Colebrookdale township, and died on the homestead. By occupation he
was a miller and farmer, owning the Johnson homestead of sixty
acres and operating a mill at New Berlinville, prospering in both
lines. He was well and favorably known, and served acceptably as
school director of Colebrookdale township. His remains rest in the
Fairview cemetery at Boyertown. Mr. Johnson was a Schwenkfelder in
religious belief, attending church with his family in Hereford
township, and a Republican in political opinion. His wife was Mary
Yoder, daughter of Jacob Yoder, of Oley township, and they had a
family of six children: William, now a resident of Montgomery
county, Pa.; Nicholas, deceased; Henry, of New Berlinville, Berks
county; Eli, of Spring township, Berks county; Rosanna, wife of
John E. B. Bechtel; and Morris Y.

(IV) Morris Y. Johnson was born July 21, 1854, and was reared in
his native place, attending the district school and later Kallynean
Academy, at Boyertown. He received a good education and was
licensed to teach by the late Prof. D. B. Brunner in 1871. His
first term, in Hereford township, was followed by five terms at New
Berlinville and one year at Gablesville. Ever since he has worked
on the farm. In 1880 Mr. Johnson moved to Douglass township,
Montgomery Co., Pa., where he bought a seventy-acre tract upon
which he engaged in farming for twenty years, and which he still
owns, having rented the land since he settled at his present
location. Since the fall of 1899, he has owned his present mill
property and farm of thirty-five acres near New Berlinville, in
Colebrookdale township. The land was formerly known as the Henry
Gilbert tract, and is fertile and productive, and in a good state
of cultivation. The mill had been burned in 1898, but Mr. Johnson
rebuilt it, opening his present establishment Oct. 17, 1900, since
which time he has enjoyed a large patronage and the good-will of
his entire neighborhood. Besides milling and farming he deals in
flour, feed and grain, and he is an energetic man in everything he
undertakes. He is a Republican in political belief, and while a
resident of Montgomery county took considerable interest in the
affairs of his community, serving as school director of Douglass
township, he was also elected to the office of poor director for a
term of three years.

In 1876 Mr. Johnson married Elizabeth Bahr,
daughter of Jacob Bahr, and to them have been born children as
follows: Edwin, of New Berlinville; William, who is now at East
Greenville, in Montgomery county; Nicholas, who lives at home;
Warren, living at Vera Cruz, Pa.; and Morris B., at home. The
members of this family are Lutherans, attending St. John’s Church
at Boyertown, in which Mr., Johnson has been active, having held
the offices of deacon and elder.