Berks County

James H. Van Reed James H. Van Reed. Born in Berks county, Pennsylvania, November 2, 1809, where he resided for the first thirty-five years of his life. On coming of age Mr. Van Reed started the manufacture of paper, an industry he prosecuted for some years; he next established himself as a broker in Philadelphia … Read more

James N. Ermentrout Jurist; born in Reading, Pa., in 1846. He was educated in the public schools of Reading. He became a teacher in the Tuscarora Academy, Union County, and in other schools, and for two years served as deputy superintendent of schools under his brother. While thus engaged he studied law, spent some years … Read more

James Young YOUNG, James, capitalist, was born at Swatara Hill, near Middletown, Pa., July 25,1820, descended on both sides from ancestors of means and prominence in pre-revolutionary times. His paternal grandfather appears in colonial records as “Peter Young, Gentleman,” and resided during the revolutionary war near Sinking Springs, Berks county, Pa., and, was an active … Read more

Jehu Glancy Jones In the early colonization of Pennsylvania, William Penn, who was of Welsh extraction, offered inducements to natives of that country to settle in his newly-acquired possessions. He instructed his surveyor-general, Thomas Holmes, to lay out 40,000 acres on the west bank of the Schuylkill river, which became known as the “Welsh Tract.” … Read more

Jeremiah Haak Good Good, Jeremiah Haak, D.D., b. 1822, at Rehrersburg, Berks Co., Pa.; educated at Marshall College, Mercersburg, Pa.; became professor of mathematics in Heidelberg College, Tiffin, O., an institution which he had been largely instrumental in founding, in 1850, and was transferred to the chair of dogmatic theology in its theological department in … Read more

Jeremiah Hagenman Jeremiah Hagenman, Lawyer and Judge, was born at Phoenixville, Chester county, Pennsylvania, February 6th, 1820. His parents were Jeremiah F. and Mary H. Hagenman. His primary education was obtained at Phoenixville, and followed till he was sixteen years of age, when he became a school teacher, and continued so for a short time. … Read more

Joel L. Reber Joel L. Reber, a minister of the German Reformed Church, was born in Berks County, Pa., Nov. 8, 1816. He spent his youth on a farm, and afterwards learned the printing business. He pursued his studies in the college and seminary at Mercersburg, Pa., from 1837 to 1842, and was ordained in … Read more

John Andrew Schulze Shulze, John Andrew. Born in Tulpehocken, Berks County, Pennsylvania, July 19, 1775; represented Lebanon County for several years in the State Legislature; and was Governor of that State from 1823 to 1829. Died in Lancaster, November 18, 1852. Lanman, Charles. Biographical Annals of the Civil Government of the United States During Its … Read more

John Andrew Shulze John Andrew Shulze, Governor of Pennsylvania, born at Tulpehocken, Berks county, July 19, 1775, was the son of the Rev. Dr. Shulze, one of the early pastors of the Lutheran church, and a grandson of the Rev. Dr. Muhlenberg, its founder in America. He represented Lebanon county for several years in the … Read more

John Banks Banks, John. Was born in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, in 1793; was brought up on his father’s farm, but received a classical education; studied law, and came to the bar in 1819, and settled in the western part of the State; was a Representative in Congress from Pennsylvania from 1831 to 1836, when he … Read more