…bringing our past into the future
Nathan Zipfel 
Official Program of the 175th Anniversary of the Founding of Reading Simon Seyfert Simon Seyfert was born June 2, 1786, near Shartlesville, Berks County. Pa., being one of seven sons of Joseph Seyfert, a farmer and miller. When a young man he came to Reading, where, after several years’ service in the grocery and dry … Read more
Official Program of the 175th Anniversary of the Founding of Reading Hiester H. Muhlenberg Hiester H. Muhlenberg was born in Reading, January 15th, 1812. His father was Henry A. Muhlenberg, for many years pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, a member of Congress and Ambassador to Austria. The subject of this sketch graduated from Dickinson College … Read more
Official Program of the 175th Anniversary of the Founding of Reading Frederick Lauer Frederick Lauer was born in Palatine, October 14, 1810. He came to America with his father in 1823, and shortly thereafter came to Reading. His father first established a brewery at Womelsdorf, and in 1826 removed it to Reading, at which time … Read more
Official Program of the 175th Anniversary of the Founding of Reading William Arnold Born in 1798, he was for more than fifty years very prominently identified with the manufacturing, political and business interests of Reading. In fact, he might be called the father of the wool hat making industry in Reading, because, while his father, … Read more
Official Program of the 175th Anniversary of the Founding of Reading Isaac McHose Although born in the year 1822, in Lehigh County, it was not until the year 1852 that Isaac McHose came to Reading; but from the time of his coming to Reading he made an enviable reputation for himself as a business man, … Read more
Official Program of the 175th Anniversary of the Founding of Reading William Harbster Little did William Harbster dream, when he opened his blacksmith shop at the foot of South Sixth Street in 1851, that he was laying the foundation of what is today one of the largest hardware manufacturing concerns in the United States–The Reading … Read more
JOHN HARRY FILBERT Source: Pennsylvania, A History, George P. Donehoo, (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1926), p. 100 Surnames: Filbert, Batteiger, Ache, Webber, Reith, Fidler, Meyers, Leiss, Machimer, Umbenhaur, Stoudt, Lamm, Clayton, Reitzel, Kitzmiller, Conrad, Beltzhoover, Herman, Hitch, Saulsbury, Henning A well-known attorney of the Schuylkill County Bar, John Harry Filbert, who has been … Read more
HON. CHARLES JOSEPH ESTERLY Source: Pennsylvania, A History, George P. Donehoo, (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1926), p. 261 Surnames: Esterly, Zabel, Eckert, Hunter, Deem, Shade, Fisher Hon. Charles Joseph Esterly, whose scope of activities and interests include representing the Berks-Lehigh District in the Sixty-ninth Congress of the United States, and as an executive … Read more
HENRY H. DENT Source: Pennsylvania, A History, George P. Donehoo, (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1926), p. 15 Surnames: Dent, Hewitt, Roder To intelligently direct a business enterprise is not the task of an ordinary man. It requires a man with brains, and one who has the power to use them, an excellent example … Read more
JOHN ROBERT COXE Source: Pennsylvania, A History, George P. Donehoo, (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co., 1926), p. 402 Surnames: Coxe, Harper, Datts John Robert (J. Robert) Coxe, chiropractor, was born March 26, 1899, in Reading, Pennsylvania, a son of John L. and Trace (Harper) Coxe of that city. He was educated in the public … Read more