Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery

MONIER, WILLIAM S.

p.
1684

Surnames: MONIER, PHILLIPPI, HOLLOWAY, BARTLETT, CORNMAN, YOUNG,
TREGO, FRICK

William S. Monier, a retired merchant of Reading, whose death
occurred May 13, 1909, came from one of the oldest families in the
city, and his ancestry can be traced back still farther to a family
well known in French history before the settlement of America.

The paternal grandfather, Daniel Monier, lived
and died in Reading, a cooper by trade. His wife had the name of
Mary Phillippi, and while born in the same city, was descended from
the famous Phillippi family. Their son, Henry W. Monier, born in
Reading, passed his life there engaged in business as a contracting
plasterer. He died in 1900, aged seventy-four. He married Mary A.
Holloway, who died in 1884, aged eighty-four. She was a daughter of
Samuel Holloway, a farmer of Amityville, Berks county. Their five
children were: Henry A., who died at the age of nine years; Emily
A., who died aged four years; Margaret H., Mrs. H. V. Bartlett, who
died aged thirty-four; Mary A., wife of Rev. W. O. Cornman, who
died when she was fifty-two years of age; and William S.

William S. Monier was born in Reading, July 18,
1839. His early education was acquired in the Reading public
schools, and he later attended a boarding school at Amityville.
When he reached an age to begin his active career in the world, he
started as a machinist, but after working at that trade for a year,
he went to Carlisle and learned carpentry, following that
occupation until the breaking out of the Civil war. He enlisted in
1861 at the Carlisle Barracks as a private in the 4th U. S.
Cavalry. He was one of the body guard for General Sherman, General
Buell and General Rosencrans, and participated in all the battles
of the Cumberland division up to that at Chickamauga, seeing
nineteen months service in all. When his term of enlistment
expired, Mr. Monier returned to Reading and became a clerk in the
office of the collector of internal revenue, remaining there till
the collectorship was abolished. His next business enterprise was
the establishment of a confectionery store, which he conducted for
six years. After closing that out he entered the service of the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad for four years and then was
employed for twelve or thirteen with the Consumers Gas Company, at
Reading. This ended his active business life, as on severing his
connections with the company May 1, 1905, he retired to private
life.

Mr. Monier was for a number of years prominent
in politics, and for a time represented the city in the council.
For four years he held a seat in the select council, representing
the fourth ward, and he also served two terms in the common
council, from the fifth ward. While serving in these capacities, he
formulated and proposed all the ordinances which gave the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company the right of way through Reading.

The first union contracted by Mr. Monier was to
Mary H., the daughter of William T. Young, a prominent shoe
manufacturer of Allentown. She died in 1882. They had six children:
Mabel H. deceased, m. to Irwin Trego; Emily R., deceased; Harry Y.,
at Bethlehem; W. R., clerk at the Crystal Palace in Reading; Edward
M., a merchant in Trenton, N. J.; and Howard R., of the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company. In 1894 Mr. Monier
married Miss Mary V. Frick, the daughter of Elhannan Frick, of
Chester county. She too died, passing away March 28, 1905, aged
forty-eight years.

Mr. Monier was for many years a member of the
First Presbyterian Church, and was one of its active supporters and
workers. He was a member of McLean Post, No. 16, G. A. R. He was a
man of much ability, who had attained a very gratifying amount of
success in life and many friends mourn his loss. Mr. Monier was
borne to his last resting place in Charles Evans Cemetery by
members of the G. A. R. and he was covered by the flag which in his
young manhood he had risked his life to defend.

MONTGOMERY, MORTON L.

p.
402

Surnames: MONTGOMERY, ZACHARIAS, HOFFMAN, LIVINGOOD, YOUNG, RUSH,
RENNINGER, SPOHN, ROSCH, FISCHER, GITTELMAN, BUSH, BAUGH, LESSIG,
BUSCH, BACH, PRICE, PREISZ

Morton L. Montgomery, the compiler of this history, was born at
Reading Nov. 10, 1846. He was educated in the common schools till
1863, having spent the last three years in the High School; and,
being inclined to mathematics and drafting, he then entered the
office of Daniel S. Zacharias, county surveyor of Berks county and
city engineer of Reading, for the purpose of learning practical
surveying and civil engineering. He continued in this office eight
months, when he went to Pottsville, Schuylkill county, at the
request of Mr. Zacharias, to enter a larger field for the
prosecution of his studies, and he was there employed by Daniel
Hoffman, a mining, civil and topographical engineer, who was
constantly engaged in important work for prominent coal operators.
After remaining with Mr. Hoffman the greater part of two years, he
returned to Reading, and entered the office of Jacob S. Livingood,
Esq., as a student-at-law. He spent the required term of three
years with Mr. Livingood, and besides prosecuting his legal studies
looked after an extensive practice, the labors of which consisted
in the preparation of cases, arguments, proceedings in partition,
conveyancing, etc. After traveling for a time in the fall of 1869
through the Middle and Eastern States, he entered the Law
Department of Harvard University and remained there two terms. Upon
returning to Reading, he spent a year in the office of Samuel L.
Young, Esq., in order to comply with the new rules of court which
had been adopted during his absence and required the last year of
study to be passed in a lawyer’s office. He was admitted to the Bar
on Aug. 28,1871, since which time he has been in active practice at
Reading.

Shortly after his admission to the Bar, he
became interested in the history of his native county, and, after
he had collected much valuable material relating to the early
settlements and formation of the townships, and the development of
all the districts of the county, he determined to publish the
“History of Berks County.” In the course of his
investigations he contributed a number of historical articles to
the press, and in 1883 published the “Political Hand-Book of Berks
County, Pa.” In 1884, he issued a prospectus, announcing his
proposed publication of the “History of Reading,” but finding soon
afterward, in the course of his undertaking, that the practice of
law and the labors of an author and publisher could not be
conducted together successfully, he entered into a contract with
Messrs. Everts, Peck & Richards, publishers of histories, etc.,
at Philadelphia, for the publication of the “History of Berks
County” in one large octavo volume, to comprise all the history
of the entire county, and thereby conclude his undertaking more
speedily and satisfactorily, and the publishers named issued the
work (comprising 1,200 pages) in 1886. The labor of Mr. Montgomery
in behalf of that history was necessarily arduous during a period
of ten years, he having carried on his investigations and
researches without any assistance, visited many places, traveled
throughout the county repeatedly, and examined county records,
newspaper files, and libraries here and elsewhere, besides looking
after his increasing legal practice.

In 1889, Mr. Montgomery published a “School
History of Berks County” (pp. 300) for use in the local schools,
and the book having received the endorsement of the leading
educators in the county, it was adopted and introduced in all the
districts. At a number of county institutes, it was earnestly
recommended. It was the first book of the kind published in the
United States, and Mr. Montgomery received much commendation from
prominent educators and school journals in all parts of the country
for his enterprise and zeal in behalf of encouraging the study of
local history in connection with national and general history.

Shortly after this school history had made its
appearance, he began to deliver lectures on the “Life and Times
of Conrad Weiser, the First Representative Man of Berks
County,” and on the “Revolutionary Heroes of Berks
County,” in all parts of the county before local teachers’
institutes at the request of the county superintendents, and he
continued these lectures successfully until 1893, when, under the
auspices of the Reading Board of Trade, he published the former in
a pamphlet of 40 pages, and 3,500 copies of this pamphlet were
distributed gratuitously among all the schools of the city and
county for the purpose of securing a suitable memorial to Conrad
Weiser.

In 1894, he published a volume of 300 pages,
entitled “Berks County in the Revolution,” and this was also the
first book of the kind issued to show what a participating county
in the Revolution had done in behalf of independent representative
government. These three publications are in the leading libraries
of the country from Boston to San Francisco, which evidences their
popularity. About this time, he also compiled the “Centennial
History of Lodge No. 62, F. & A. M.,” a volume of 250 pages,
which was presented by the Lodge to the members as a suitable
memento of the occasion.

In 1898, the Sesqui-Centennial of the founding
of Reading was properly celebrated under the auspices of the Board
of Trade, and the executive committee having employed Mr.
Montgomery to compile and publish a suitable book in commemoration
of the event, he issued a superior volume of 300 pages, which was
highly appreciated for its conciseness and comprehensiveness. After
the lapse of more than twenty years, numerous persons, who
appreciated the necessity of having the history of the county
published again, embracing all the important local events which
have occurred since, suggested to Mr. Montgomery that he should
revise his “History of Berks County.” Agreeing that such a
revised history would be acceptable to the public, he accordingly
made the arrangements with Messrs. J. H. Beers & Co.,
publishers of histories, at Chicago, Ill., for its compilation
under the title “Historical and Biographical Annals of Berks
County,” and this large and comprehensive work is the result of
his labor in that behalf.

Mr. Montgomery’s father, John Leonard
Montgomery, was born in Northumberland county, near Sunbury, in
1812, and moved to Reading in 1841, where he was engaged in the
hardware business for twenty-five years, and then in the flour
business for a number of years, after which he lived in retirement,
until his decease, in 1880. He was married To Catharine Rush, of
Reading (daughter of Philip Rush), by whom he had five children:
Jonas (married to Mary Renninger); Morton Luther; Mary Elizabeth;
Sarah, and John, the last two dying in early girlhood and youth,
respectively.

His mother’s father, Philip Rush, born at
Reading in 1784, learned the trade of weaver, which he followed
until 1861. He was enlisted in the War of 1812-15 and served as
fife-major of the 1st Regiment, in the 2d Brigade of Pennsylvania
Volunteers. He died in 1871. He was married to Barbara Spohn
(daughter of Capt. John Spohn, who raised at Reading the second
company of volunteers in the Revolution, which was engaged in
active service, more especially at the Battle of Long Island, on
Aug. 27, 1776). She died in 1853, aged sixty-seven years. They had
three sons and four daughters, including Catharine, above-named.
Before 1800, the Spohn family was inter-related by marriage with
all the prominent families of Cumru, Heidelberg and Robeson
townships.

His mother’s ancestors on the father’s side were
residents of Reading from the founding of the town in 1751. Her
great-grandfather, Michael Rosch, was born at Remmingsheim, in
Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1703. He was a carpenter by trade, which he
followed until 1751, when he emigrated to Pennsylvania from
Rotterdam, on the ship “Duke of Wurtemberg,” having qualified Oct.
16th.

He was accompanied by his wife, two sons
(Michael and Stephen) and four daughters. Immediately after landing
at Philadelphia, he proceeded to Reading, and there purchased a lot
(No. 189, on south side of Penn street, below Tenth) which he
improved by the erection of a dwelling-house under the conditions
of purchase, and obtained his patent in 1753. He lived on these
premises until he died in 1796. In 1767 he also secured by patent
the adjoining lot on the corner (No. 192). His wife was Catharine
Fischer, daughter of John Fischer, of Remmingsheim. She died at
Reading in 1775, aged seventy-one years. Their six children
survived them. He and his descendants have been members of Trinity
Lutheran Church at Reading since its establishment in 1751.

Her grandfather was the second son, Stephen
Rosch. He was born in 1740 at Remmingsheim. He learned the trade of
cooper at Reading, which he followed until his decease in 1816. In
his last will, dated 1815, he still signed his name Rosch, in
German. In 1770 he married Magdalena Gittelman, daughter of John
Gittelman, who lived in Berks county beyond the Blue Mountains and
was there engaged in farming. She died in 1826, aged seventy-eight
years. They had three sons (Stephen, John and Philip) and two
daughters.

Mr. Montgomery married Florence Baugh Bush,
daughter of Dr. Andrew Bush and his wife, Mary Price Baugh, of East
Coventry, in Chester county, and they have a daughter, Florence
Baugh, married to Joshua Brooke Lessig, banker and iron
manufacturer of Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

Dr. Bush was born at Philadelphia in 1805,
studied medicine and was graduated from the University of
Pennsylvania in 1832. After traveling through the Southern States
for a year, he began an introductory practice of medicine at
Philadelphia, and continued in that place until the death of his
father in 1836, when he located in East Coventry township, Chester
county, and there carried on an active practice for twenty-five
years. He then directed his attention to the cultivation of certain
choice fruits in connection with farming until his decease in 1874.
He was an accomplished linguist, speaking the German, French,
Spanish and Italian languages, and was also a fine Greek and Latin
scholar, keeping up his interest in these languages until he died.

Dr. Bush’s father, Andrew Daniel Michael Busch,
was born in 1763 at Wesel, in Rhenish Prussia, near Duesseldorf,
and was thoroughly educated in the University of Berlin. After his
graduation he emigrated to Pennsylvania, locating at Philadelphia,
where he became extensively engaged in the wholesale shoe business,
and he followed this business successfully for many years. For a
considerable period, before and after 1800, his philanthropic
spirit in behalf of immigrating Germans, who landed at
Philadelphia, gave his much distinction. He died in 1836. Dr. Bush
was his only child.

Dr. Bush’s wife, Mary Price Baugh, was a lineal
descendant of John Sebastian Bach, of Eisenach, in Upper Saxony,
born 1685, and died 1750; whose son John, born at the same place in
1740, emigrated to Pennsylvania and located in East Coventry
township, Chester county, where he was engaged in farming until his
decease in 1819. His grandson, also named John Baugh (the father of
Dr. Bush’s wife), was born in 1775 in the township named, became
the largest proprietor of farms in that section of the county, and
died in 1841. He married Mary Price, a lineal descendant of Rev.
Jacob Preisz, who emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1719.

MOORE, A.
B.

p. 1441

Surnames: MOORE, KNOWLES, KAY, BENNER

A. B. Moore, of Reading, engaged in the contracting business, was
born May, 1838, in Chester county, son of James and Mary (Knowles)
Moore, and is a descendent of a long line of Scotch-Irish
ancestors.

David Moore, grandfather of A. B. , was an
early settler of Chester county, where he engaged in farming and
milling, accumulating considerable property. He married a Miss Kay,
and they became the parents of three children: Caroline, Elizabeth
and James. In religious matters the family were connected with the
Presbyterian Church. Mr. Moore was a Whig in politics, but is not
known to have taken more than a good citizen’s interest in public
matters. James Moore, his son, was born in Chester county, and
early in life took to agricultural pursuits, an occupation which he
followed all of his active career. Very enterprising and
progressive he became more than ordinarily successful, and at the
time of his death, in 1864, was the owner of 1,100 acres of
valuable land. James Moore and his wife were buried at the
Presbyterian Church (of Fairview) cemetery, in Chester county, they
having been members of that congregation.

After receiving his education in the schools of
Chester county, and at West Chester Academy, A. B. Moore engaged in
farming, and at this occupation he continued until 1869, in which
year he located in Reading and was appointed to the position of
officer on the city police force. He continued in this position for
eight years, and at the end of this time engaged in contracting on
public works and for corporations in the city, and has proven very
successful in this line, at which he is present engaged. Mr. Moore
is politically an unswerving Republican, and is considered a strong
man in his community by the party leaders. For four years he has
served as a member of the Common Council from the First Ward. He is
fraternally connected with the I. O. O. F. and K. G. E. Lodges, the
I.O.R.M., Patriotic Sons of America, and the Reading Iron Company
Beneficial Association. He is a member of the First Baptist Church
of Reading.

Mr. Moore was married in February, 1861, to
Miss Priscilla Benner, a native of Chester Co., Pa., and three
children have been born to them: Elmer E. , engaged in the retail
coal business in Reading; Edwin A., president of the United Coal,
Coke and Gas Construction Co.; and Mary K,. a saleslady at Dives,
Pomeroy & Stewart’s establishment in Reading.

MOORE,
GEORGE K.

p. 1317

Surnames: MOORE, KOONS, LEIDY, STETLER, SHETLER, HILTEBEIDEL,
GRUBB, WILLEAUER, GRATER, KOHL, BERGEY, STAUFFER, FEGLEY

George K. Moore, of Boyertown, president of the borough council and
otherwise prominently identified with the life of that place, has
resided there since 1893. He is a native of Montgomery county, Pa.,
born Feb. 9, 1866, in Frederick township, where his father and
grandfather before him lived and died.

George Moore, the grandfather, was a farmer in
Frederick township, and died upon his farm there in the early
sixties. He was a well-to-do man, owning a tract of over two
hundred acres, and he was a well-known and influential citizen in
his time. He is buried at Keeler’s Church, though there is an
interesting old cemetery on the homestead. It is 100 feet square,
and covers the four adjoining corners of the Koons, Moore, Leidy
and Stetler farms; there are 150 tombstones on this plot, which
contains the remains of many ancestors of the families mentioned.
Mr. Moore married Barbara Shetler, a member of a well-known family
of Reading, Pa., and the East Penn district, and to them was born a
family of six children namely: George F. is mentioned farther on;
John S. lived at Limerick, Pa., where he conducted the “Limerick
Centre Hotel” for many years; Anna married Daniel Hiltebeidel, of
Montgomery county, Pa.(Hendricks post-office); Maria married George
Grubb, of near Braunback’s Church, in Chester county, Pa.; Sallie
married Jesse Willeauer, of Schwenkville, Pa.; and Eliza married
Levi Grater, of Frederick, Pennsylvania.

George F. Moore, eldest son of George Moore,
born in Frederick township Nov. 25, 1821, on the homestead of his
father, passed all his life there, and died Jan. 10, 1908, at the
age of eighty-six years, one month, fifteen days. He died in the
house in which he was born. He was a Reformed member of Keeler’s
Church, in Montgomery county, and served it officially in his
earlier life; he is buried there. He followed farming, owning about
eighty acres of land. Mr. Moore married Leah Kohl, who was born in
1829, daughter of Daniel, whose wife was a Miss Bergey, and she
survives her husband, still residing on the old homestead. Mr. and
Mrs. Moore had four children: Daniel K., now deceased, was a
resident of Frederick township; Barbara, died in infancy; Henry K.
lives at Green Lane, Pa.; George K. lives in Boyertown.

George K. grew to manhood on the parental farm,
and he continued to work for his parents until he attained his
majority, though after he was sixteen he also clerked in the store
at Gilbertsville, Montgomery county, being employed thus until he
was twenty-two years old. In 1888 he engaged in the huckstering
business, buying produce and poultry, which he sold at the
Philadelphia markets, both wholesale and retail, going to market
once or twice a week. He followed this line of business for some
years, finally selling out because of failing health. During this
time he has a home in Gilbertsville, whence he removed to Boyertown
in the spring of 1893. From 1893 to 1898 he was employed at the
“Mansion House” bar, and in the spring of 1898 embarked in the
wholesale liquor business on his own account, on Reading avenue. He
has since carried on this business, which he has built up from
small beginnings to its present proportions, and in the interests
of which he travels all over the county.

Mr. Moore has been very active in the public
life of the borough of Boyertown for a number of years. He was
first elected to the town council in 1902, and has served
continuously since, having been re-elected the third time in the
spring of 1908; since 1904 he has been president of that body, and
under his progressive regime some of the most desirable
improvements in the borough have been promoted and carried to
successful issue. During this period the borough has granted
franchises for right-of -way to the Oley Valley and Boyertown &
Pottstown Traction Companies; the borough has bought its own
water-works; the gas plant has been erected, and other notable
changes have taken place. When the great theater calamity of Jan.
13, 1908, occurred, Mr. Moore proved himself equal to the
exigencies of the occasion, and did noble work in bringing about
order and directing relief work. He is alert to every need of his
city and active in promoting its best interests. He is a Democrat
in political connection.

In March 1888, Mr. Moore was married to Ellen
Stauffer, daughter of Andrew and Amelia(Fegley) Stauffer, of
Gilbertsville, and they have had three children, Agnes, Anna and
Henrietta. Mr. and Mrs. Moore and their family are members of St.
John’s Lutheran Church at Boyertown, and he is a member of
Popodickon Tribe, No. 388, Improved Order of Red Men.

MOORE,
GEORGE L.

p. 1493

Surnames: MOORE, LEVAN, ELMGOOD, MILLER, DELCAMP, SEIFRIT, SLIKE,
SEIDEL, BARTO, CLAUSER, FIGEL, DEEDS, SCHAEFFER, BROWN, CASSIDY.

George L. Moore, of Gibraltar, Pa., who holds the responsible
position of superintendent of the Gibraltar Iron Works, was born
Jan. 10, 1883, in Robeson township, Berks county, son of Isaac C.
and Amelia (Levan) Moore. The Moores settled in Robeson township in
1731, and George L. Moore is a representative of the family that
located along the Allegheny Creek in that year.

George Moore, great-great-grandfather of George
L., resided in Robeson township. He was the father of these
children: Samuel, Elias N., Joseph, Abraham, William and George,
and three daughters (whose first names could not be learned, all
records having been lost), Mrs. Elmgood, Mrs. Miller, and Mrs.
Delcamp.

Samuel Moore, son of George, and
great-grandfather of George L., was born Dec. 13, 1791. He was a
cabinet maker and undertaker, occupations which he followed all of
his active period, his death being caused in an accident on the
Philadelphia and Reading Railroad in February, 1847. He and his
wife Elizabeth (Seifrit), were the parents of these children:
Isaac, deceased; George, deceased; Abiah S., deceased, who was with
his brother Isaac in the iron business; Monroe, deceased, in the
iron business with Jonathan Seidel; Samuel, who emigrated to
Stephenson county, Ill,. in September, 1855, where he was killed
while operating a reaper, Aug. 1, 1863; Emanuel, who is a resident
of Stephenson county, Ill.; Elias, deceased, a carpenter; Elisha,
deceased, who was engaged in farming near Lebanon, Lebanon county;
Raymond, deceased;Mary, deceased, who married David Slike, and
resided in Harrisburg, Pa.; Lucetta, deceased, wife of Jonathan
Seidel, of Lebanon, Pa.; and Susanna, deceased, who married
Jonathan Barto, and resided at Elroy, Illinois.

In religious belief the family were members of
the Reformed Church. Mr. Moore was a stanch Whig in politics, but
it is not believed that he took more than a good citizen’s interest
in public matters.

Isaac Moore, son of Samuel and grandfather of
George L., was born Aug. 17, 1815, and was educated in the schools
of Robeson township, and when a young man engaged at iron making
with the Seidels. He later became the possessor of a charcoal
forge, which he operated on his own account until within a few
years of his death, in 1885, when he retired. He married Sarah
Clauser, daughter of John and Sarah Ann (Figel) Clauser, and to
this union there were born children as follows: Sarah, deceased(m.
Jeremiah Boyer); Catherine, deceased(m. John Deeds); Samuel C.(m.
Annie Schaeffer); and Isaac C. First a Whig Mr. Moore later became
a stanch Republican, while in religious belief the family were
connected with the Reformed Church.

Isaac C. Moore was educated in the common
schools of Robeson township, and for fifteen years taught school
there and in Exeter township. In 1881 he entered the employ of
Simon Seyfert, as foreman of his farm, but later entered the iron
works, where he was gradually and steadily promoted until he
reached the position of superintendent, which he held at the time
of his death, March 15, 1903, aged fifty-five years, three days.
Mr. Moore was a business man of ability, a substantial citizen of
much integrity, and a popular member of the P. O. S. of A., K. G.
E., and the I. O. R. M. He was a Republican in politics. In 1868
Mr. Moore was married to Amelia Levan, by whom he had children as
follows: Harry A. m. Mamie Brown, daughter of William and Katie
Brown; W. Oscar, a heater, m. Sallie Seidel, daughter of Frederick
and Mary Seidel; Irvin is unmarried; Emma m. Harvey O. Clauser;
Edmund, deceased, m. Virginia Cassidy; George L.; and two children
died in infancy. The family are connected with the Reformed Church.

George L. Moore was educated in the schools of
Robeson township, and at Brunner’s Business College, Reading. He
entered the employ of the Gibraltar Iron works in the position of
weighmaster, May 29, 1899, continuing as such until 1902, when he
was promoted to the position of assistant superintendent, and at
the time of his father’s death he was made superintendent, of the
works, in which capacity he has ably served to the present time,
having under him 130 employes.

In politics Mr. Moore is a Republican, and is at
present a member of the board of school directors of Robeson
township. He is a prominent member of the P.O.S. of A., being a
past district president of the Fifth Berks district. In December,
1908, he was selected to compile a history of the order in Berks
county. He is also a member of the Commandery.

MOORE,
JAMES

p. 1535

Surnames: MOORE, MATZ, ALTHOUSE, FITTERLING, HARTZ, KACHEL, LUDWIG

James Moore, deceased, who for a number of years was a well-known
agriculturist of Berks county, operating an extensive property in
Spring township, was born in that township, June 15, 1850, son of
Jacob and Elizabeth (Matz) Moore, and grandson of Jacob Moore, a
farmer and miller of Spring township, where he died.

Jacob Moore, the father of James, received a
fair education in Brecknock township, Berks county, his native
place, and later became a miller and farmer of Spring township,
owning a fine mill and 100 acres of land. He also successfully
conducted a hat manufacturing business for some years, having his
factory in a part of his mill. He died at the age of seventy-one
years. Mr. Moore married Miss Elizabeth Matz, daughter of George
Matz, and they had these children: Elizabeth, m. Martin Althouse,
lives at Denver, Lancaster county; Martin m. Sallie Fitterling, is
now the owner of the old homestead in Spring township, which has
been in the possession of the family for a period of 150 years; and
James.

James Moore attended the schools of his native
township, and under his father learned the hatting business, which,
however, he only followed for a few years. He then devoted all of
his time to agricultural pursuits, being for a time employed by his
father, after which he conducted the homestead on his own account
for six years. Mr. Moore died April 21, 1894. He was a member of
the Lutheran Church, a kindly Christian gentleman, and a man of
many sterling qualities of character. In political matters he was a
Republican, but took only a good citizen’s interest in public
matters.

On Jan. 6, 1882, Mr. Moore was married to Amanda
Hartz, daughter of Jesse and Catherine (Kachel) Hartz, and
granddaughter of Samuel and Sarah (Ludwig) Hartz, the latter
farming people of Brecknock township, Berks county. Jesse Hartz,
father of Mrs. Moore, was a well-known farmer of Spring township,
where he had a fine property, and where his death occurred at the
age of seventy-one years. Two children were born to Jesse and
Catherine Hartz, namely: Elizabeth, who is single; and Mrs. Moore.

Mrs. Moore erected a fine double residence at
Shillington in 1901, in one part of which she resides, and she also
owns other valuable real estate in the town. She is a member of the
Lutheran Church and has a wide social circle.

MOORE, JOHN
W.

p. 1088

Surnames: MOORE, WAGNER, SLOUCH, BELL, ZIEGLER, SEIFERT, SANDS,
McKENTLY, DUCHMAN, NOLL, ULRICH, FULMER, KLOPP, HECKMAN

John W. Moore, who is extensively engaged in truck farming in
Muhlenberg township, Berks county, where he is known as a practical
agriculturist and public-spirited citizen, was born Feb. 15, 1853,
at Hampden Furnaces, in Robeson township, this county, son of John
and Hannah (Wagner) Moore.

George Moore, the grandfather of John W., was a
farmer of Robeson township, where he died in 1860 at an advanced
age, in the faith of the Lutheran Church. The name of his wife is
not known, but his children were as follows: Jesse, Nicholas,
Daniel, George, Levi, John and Annie (who married Jonas Slouch).

John Moore, born and educated in Robeson
township, there engaged in work for the E. & G. Brooke Co., at
Hampden, later removing to Birdsboro, Pa., where he was
accidentally killed when but twenty-nine years old. His children
were: Angeline, who married George Bell, has eight children, Agnes,
Sally, Reuben, Minnie (deceased), Alice, William, John and Levi;
Albina, who married Harrison Ziegler had six children, Abram
(deceased), John, Harrison, Reuben, Nora and Walter; Wilhelmina,
who married Howard Seifert, had six children, Reuben, Wilbert,
Harvey, Heber, Minnie, and Rudie; and John W. The father was a
Lutheran, and the mother died in the faith of the Reformed Church
in 1881, at the age of sixty-three years. John W. Moore was
educated in the schools of Robeson township, and at the age of
fifteen years he apprenticed himself to the blacksmith’s trade with
Isaac R. Sands, at the Scarlett scythe factory, where he remained
five years, subsequently following his trade for four years at
Beckersville. In 1875. he removed to the country in Robeson
township and for two years engaged in trucking, in 1877 locating on
a property owned by Joseph McKently, which consisted of fourteen
acres, about ten acres of which were purchased by the Reading water
board. The balance of this land, as well as much land he rents, Mr.
Moore devotes to truck farming, giving special attention to the
raising of radishes, beets and cabbages.

Mr. Moore married (first) Ellen J., and to this
union ten children were born, namely: Minnie M., who married Howard
Noll and has one child, Ethel N.; William E., who married Susan
Ulrich; Carrie E., who married William Fulmer and has one child,
Leroy; Rose E., who married Walter Klopp, and has two children,
Ruth M., and Grace M.; Jennie E.; Oliver C., who is connected with
the shoe manufacturing firm of Curtis & Jones; Estella F.;
Mabel E.; and two sons who died in infancy. Mr. Moore’s second
marriage was to Kate Heckman, who had a son by a former marriage,
Jacob. Mr. Moore is a member of the Alsace Reformed Church, and his
wife is a Lutheran. In politics he is a Democrat, and has served as
school director. Fraternally he is connected with Muhlenberg Castle
No. 372, of which he was high priest for five sessions; and
Washington Camp No. 168, P. O. S. of A.

MORGAN,
JACOB

p. 355

Surnames: MORGAN, JENKINS, HUDSON, PRICE, WETHERILL

Jacob Morgan was the most prominent Revolutionary character of
Berks county ? from 1777 to 1780, and as such brought great credit
to the county and great honor to himself. He was born in the
district of Caernarvon, in the northern part of Wales, in 1716, and
emigrated with his father, Thomas Morgan, to Pennsylvania some time
previous to 1730. About that time a colony of Welsh people,
including Thomas Morgan and his family, migrated up the Schuylkill
Valley from Philadelphia to the mouth of the French creek, and
thence along and beyond the headwaters of that creek until they
reached the headwaters of the Conestoga creek, in Caernarvon
township. There they settled and took up large tracts of land. That
section of territory was then a part of Lancaster county, but since
1752 a part of Berks county. The tract taken up by his father was
at and in the vicinity of Morgantown. It included the town-plan
which he came to lay out in 1770, and which he named after the
family, a custom quite common in that day throughout the county.

When the French and Indian War came to affect
Pennsylvania in 1755, Jacob Morgan was thirty-eight years old, and
until that time had been engaged at farming. In December of that
year, he was commissioned as a captain under the Provincial
government, and he continued actively engaged in this military
service until 1760, when he returned home and resumed farming. When
the Revolution began, he was nearly sixty years of age. In June,
1776, he was selected to represent the county as a delegate to the
Provincial Conference, and in July following as a delegate to the
Constitutional Convention. In 1777, upon the creation of the office
of lieutenant of the several counties for the purpose of aiding the
Executive Council in effectively prosecuting the war, he was
selected by the Council to fill this very important position. This
preference evidences his distinguished character, for at that time
Berks county possessed a number of prominent and influential men.
In the prompt and faithful performance of his duties he was very
successful, the Executive Council in their letters to him
frequently complimenting his energy in having the county fill
promptly the numerous orders for troops. He resigned in December,
1780. While filling this office he was always recognized as a
colonel, and was addressed as such by the Executive Council. He
officiated as a judge of the county for the years 1768, 1769, 1772,
and from 1774 to 1777; and also as a justice of the peace for the
southern district of Berks county (which included Caernarvon
township), from 1777 to 1791. His autograph follows. He died at
Morgantown on November 11, 1792, and was buried in the graveyard of
the St. Thomas Episcopal Church at that place. He had two sons,
Jacob and Benjamin; and three daughters, Sarah (m. a Jenkins); Mary
(m. Nicholas Hudson), and Rebecca (m. John Price, an attorney at
Reading). Rachel, a daughter of John Price, m. Samuel Wetherill, of
Philadelphia.

MORGAN,
THOMAS H.

p. 1027

Surnames: MORGAN, HILL, LANSISCUS, DEMOSS, ORR, WHEATLEY, DIEHL,
HOMAN, HIGH, MILLER, BRINTON, WILHELM, PENNEPACKER, MAJOR, NEILOR

Thomas H. Morgan, a member of the Reading school board and one of
the city’s enterprising business men, who is engaged in the
manufacture of paints and painters’ supplies, was born in Reading,
Pa., Nov. 25, 1838, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Hill) Morgan.

Thomas Morgan was born in 1812, at Tunbridge
Wells, County Sussex, England, and died April 26, 1872. When
eighteen years of age he came to America, and located at Reading,
assisting in the work on the Schuylkill Canal as a stone-cutter.
After the completion of the canal he engaged in boating thereon for
thirty-five years, and became very successful, owning property on
North River street, where he resided for twenty-five years. He was
married to Elizabeth Hill, born Dec. 25, 1810, who died in her
ninety-third year, daughter of Jacob Hill and wife, Susan
(Lansiscus), daughter of Jacob Lansiscus, who received a large
tract of land by patent from William Penn, which is now included in
Mineral Spring Park, Mt. Penn borough, St. Lawrence borough,
Carsonia Park, Stony Creek village and Antietam creek. To Thomas
and Elizabeth (Hill) Morgan were born children as follows: Hannah
m. Harry DeMoss; Susan m. John W. Orr; Thomas H.; Ruth m. D. H.
Wheatley; Emma m. George W. Diehl; Harry m. Savilla Homan (all of
these children being residents of Reading); and several died in
infancy.

Thomas H. Morgan received his education in the
public schools of Reading and later attended the Reading Academy,
then located on the present site of the Girls’ high school, it
being under the supervision of Prof. A. C. High. For eighteen years
he was a boatman, owning a boat and team, and after discontinuing
this occupation he became a cabinet maker for four years, being
employed in a large establishment at Philadelphia. On his return to
Reading he took charge of the finishing department of E. S.
Miller’s undertaking establishment, where he remained about one
year, then entering the employ of the Reading Railway Company, with
which he remained nine years. One year later he went to Media,
where he erected a fine residence for Dr. Brinton, who was for many
years editor of the Medical Journal, and after the completion of
this work engaged for one year in the contracting and building
business in Delaware county, also erecting a number of large
buildings in and around Royersford and Spring City. He again
returned to his native city and continued contracting for one year,
but subsequently erected his factory and paint establishment at No.
122 Wood street. After having charge of the paint mill of A.
Wilhelm for eleven years, Mr. Morgan was influential in the
establishment of the Morgan & Ruth paint establishment, which
firm continued successfully for eight years, at which time the
business was sold to Jackson & Smith, and Mr. Morgan was
retained as superintendent, it being from his plans and
specifications and under his supervision that the present building
was erected in 1895 between Eighth and Ninth streets on Windsor. In
December, 1895, Mr. Morgan took possession of his present place on
Wood street, where for six years he was engaged in business. He
then purchased a farm of 120 acres near Phoenixville, Chester
county, where he moved factory and fixtures, but after two years,
not being satisfied with that location, returned to Reading and
again located in the Wood street plant, where he has since
conducted a flourishing business. He manufactures all kinds of
paints, and does principally a custom trade. He is also an inventor
of some reputation and has a number of good plans on paper, for
which patents have been applied for. His own residence, at No. 121
South Fourth street, was erected after his own specifications. In
politics Mr. Morgan is a Republican, and in 1907 he became a member
of the Reading school board. He and his family are members of the
First Baptist Church of Reading, and he was active in the
organization of the First Baptist Mission, which afterward became
the Second Baptist Church, and later was merged into the Berean
Baptist Church. He also held prominent position as Moderator of the
Reading Baptist Association.

In 1870 Mr. Morgan married Wilhelmina D.
Pennepacker, daughter of Daniel and Rebecca (Major) Pennepacker,
and to this union there have been born two daughters: Ruth S., a
graduate of the high school, class of 1884, is now engaged in
teaching in Reading. Mary J. married Clarence T. Neilor, an
associate with Mr. Morgan in the paint business, and they have one
daughter, Wilhelmina, and they reside on their farm near
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.

MORRET,
H. ECKERT (DR.)

p. 1232

Surnames: MORRET, HERMAN, GRABILLE, THRONE, SMITH, LEBER, OLIVER,
MERRITT, RAUDENBUSH, HERMAN, SCHAEFFER

Dr. H. Eckert Morret, a successful medical practitioner located at
Wernersville, Lower Heidelberg township, and one of the town’s
leading and representative citizens, was born June 1, 1879, at
Douglassville, Berks Co., Pa., son of Benjamin Franklin and Clara
C. (Herman) Morret.

The Morret family, which is one of the oldest
and most honored in Pennsylvania, is of patrician rank and the name
occurs among immigrants to America, compiled from The Nobility of
Normandy, date A. D. 1688. In Claude D. du Maigney’s Science of
Heraldry, a very fine work and authority on the French nobility,
published in 1856 in Paris, the name Morret also appears. Jean
Dedier and Matthieu Morrett, brothers, came to Berks county, Pa.,
in 1757, the former of whom was the direct ancestor of Dr. H.
Eckert Morret, and was buried in Lower Berks county, where he had
lived.

Samuel Morret, son of Jean Dedier Morrett, and
great-grandfather of the Doctor, was a farmer of Cumberland county,
where he died about 1831, ripe in years. His wife passed away in
1860, when ninety years of age, having been the mother of three
children: Samuel, the grandfather of Dr. H. Eckert; and John and
George, who lived and died in Cumberland county.

Samuel Morret, son of Samuel, was a native of
Cumberland county, where he became a general merchant and a
prominent and successful man. He died in 1867, at the age of
sixty-six years, and is buried at Circleville, Ohio. Mr. Morret was
married to Mary Grabille, who was born in Adams county, Pa., and
she bore him seven children, as follows: William resides at Muncie,
Ind.; Caroline m. Jacob Throne, of Circleville, Ohio; Mary m.
McKinney Smith, a farmer of near Waynesport, Lycoming Co., Pa.;
Julia m. Jacob G. Leber, of Manheim, Pa.; Lida m. John G. Oliver,
of Circleville, Ohio; Rusetta died in infancy; and Benjamin F.

Benjamin Franklin Morret was born June 29, 1842,
at Churchtown, Cumberland Co., Pa., and received his education in
the common schools of Carlisle and Wrightsville, Pa., and
Circleville, Ohio. At the age of fourteen years he learned the
coach-making trade at Muncy, Lycoming Co., Pa., an occupation which
he pursued for one and one-half years. When the Civil war broke
out, he enlisted at Circleville, for a term of three years, in Co.
C, 15th Reg., O.V.I., 3d Brigade, 3d Army Corps, Army of the
Cumberland. He was wounded by a musket ball in the right hip, Dec.
31, 1862, during the battle of Stone River, and after recovery was
sent as drill sergeant to Fort Adams, Newport, R. I., where he
drilled recruits and formed them into companies, a work which he
continued until the end of his service. He received his honorable
discharge with the rank of sergeant at Newport, R. I., Sept. 16,
1864.

After the close of his services to his country,
Mr. Morret embarked in the iron business, renting Dowling Forge at
Dowling, Chester county, where he continued two years, employing
thirty men. He then went to the falls of French Creek for three
years, and subsequently conducted the Union Forge, now called
Lickdale, for four years. In 1878 he erected a forge at
Douglassville, which he operated successfully for twelve years,
employing sixty people, and in 1891 he built the Hamburg Vitrified
Brick Works at Hamburg, in company with A. Howard Merritt and
George W. Raudenbush. This he operated six years and then sold his
interests to the Mack Brothers of Philadelphia. For three years Mr.
Morret lived retired at Hamburg, but in 1900 he located at No. 40
North Sixth street, Reading, where he has since been extensively
engaged in a real estate business.

In 1875 Benjamin F. Morret was married to Clara
C. Herman, and one son was born to this union: Dr. H. Eckert. Mrs.
Morret was a daughter of Rev. Augustus Herman, of Reading, Pa., who
erected the old St. John’s Church at Hamburg, and preached there
for many years.

Dr. H. Eckert Morret received his education in
the common schools of his native locality and the Hamburg high
school, from which latter institution he was graduated in 1899,
being class orator. He then entered Jefferson Medical College, from
which he was graduated in 1903, at which time he was elected
resident physician of the St. Joseph Hospital, Reading, where he
remained one year. Selecting Wernersville as the field of his
professional labor, Dr. Morret soon built up a large and lucrative
practice, extending over a radius of twenty miles and including
considerable practice in Reading. He is a general practitioner and
has been very successful in his treatment of may complicated cases,
giving most careful attention to his patients and sparing himself
in no way when life or health are in the balance. Thus Dr. Morret
has won the confidence and affection of the community. He is a
member of Wernersville Lodge No. 835, I. O. O. F.; Washington Camp
No. 199, and the William Penn Commandery No. 8, of the P. O. S. of
A.; and Maccabees of the World, of which he is examining physician
of his district of Berks county. On Feb. 7, 1907, Dr. Morret was
united in marriage with Mary M. Schaeffer, of Wernersville, Pa.,
and they make their home in a desirable residence on Main Street.