Montgomery County PA

Montgomery County, situated in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania, is a region steeped in historical significance and endowed with a diverse landscape that ranges from lush river valleys of the Schuylkill River to the rolling hills that characterize much of Pennsylvania’s terrain. Established on September 10, 1784, the county was formed from parts of Philadelphia County and named after Richard Montgomery, an Irish-American soldier who played a crucial role in the American Revolutionary War. The county seat, Norristown, serves as both a judicial and administrative hub, reflecting the county’s longstanding role in the political and social fabric of the state. Montgomery County’s geographical position within the Philadelphia metropolitan area has significantly influenced its development, blending urban expansion with rural preservation. This dynamic has fostered a rich cultural and economic diversity, making it a microcosm of the broader trends of growth and change seen across the region.

Biography of William Stephen McDonald

William Stephen McDonald. The distinctive fact in Doctor McDonald’s record as a physician and surgeon at Fort Scott is not the twenty-five years he has practiced there, nor even the exceptional attainments and the skill he has gained in the profession, but more than all these the spirit of service which has animated him in all his work. Such a man never measures his success by fees, but by the satisfaction of doing all he can to alleviate human suffering and by the conscientious performance of his duties to the world and humanity. Doctor McDonald is of old New England … Read more

Biographical Sketch of McCarty, T.L., Dr.

Dr. T. L. McCarty, physician and surgeon (allopathic school) and dealer in a general stock of drugs and medicines, carries a stock of $3,000. He came to Dodge City, Kan., in November 1872, and opened a medical office. He opened the drug trade in 1877. He was born in Tuscola, Ill., 1848, and educated in his native State. He graduated from the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, Pa., in the class of 1870. Began the practice of his profession at St. Louis, MO., where he continued until he came to Kansas. Was married in 1871, to Miss S. L. Artt, … Read more

The Crum family in America

“The Crum Family in America” by Edwin Wallace Crum and Ferris Bertrand Crum is a comprehensive exploration of the Crum lineage, focusing primarily on two branches that emigrated from the Lower Rhineland, Germany, and settled in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Published in 1949 by Wallace Press, this book meticulously compiles historical and genealogical data about the Crum family without claiming to encompass all bearers of the Crum name. Delving into the lives and legacies of key figures such as Anthony Crum, Sr., and Matthias Crum, Sr., the text presents a detailed account of their migration to America around 1770, their subsequent settlements, and their family developments in Virginia. By combining archival records and the first U.S. Census data, this work aims to piece together the family’s early American history, while acknowledging gaps and unresolved connections in the family’s lineage.

Biography of William Clinton Bardo

William Clinton Bardo, vice president of the Security National Bank of Arkansas City, was a pioneer in the Cherokee Strip of Oklahoma, was a homesteader and farmer there for a number of years, but finally moved across the line to Arkansas City, where he had become prominent in financial and business affairs. Mr. Bardo is of an old Pennsylvania family. The lineage goes back originally to France. Four brothers of the name during the turbulent times that led to the French Revolution came from France and landed in Pennsylvania, and from there their families became widely scattered. One of the … Read more

The William Wade Hinshaw index to Pennsylvania Quaker meeting records

Stroudsburg Pennsylvania Monthly Meeting Book

These monthly meeting records were abstracted from the original Pennsylvania Quaker Monthly Meeting records in the 1930’s by William Wade Hinshaw of Washington, D. C. They are a transcription of the microfilmed records containing birth, death, burial, and marriage records, as well as meeting minutes, removals and certificates. After Hinshaw’s death, the unpublished material was deposited at the Friends Historical Library, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania. This collection is known as the William Wade Hinshaw Index to Quaker Meeting Records. The following record has been transcribed from a microfilm copy of this Index. As this copy is several generations removed from the … Read more

Biographical Sketch of J. D. Cassell

J. D. Cassell, proprietor Cassell’s Restaurant, Mattoon; was born in Montgomery Co., Penn., A. D. 1827; until he was 17 or 18 years of age, he passed his life upon the farm, deriving his education mostly from the common schools; in 1854, he came West to Jennings Co., Ind., where he remained one year; he then went to Crawfordsville, Ind., and was a student in Wabash College a short time; he next engaged in the merchant tailoring business there for two or three years; leaving Crawfordsville, he next located in South Bend, remaining one year; in the fall of 1859, … Read more

Biography of Edward Everett Hazlett, M.D.

Edward Everett Hazlett, M. D. From 1880 until his death on June 17, 1915, Doctor Hazlett practiced medicine and surgery at Abilene, Kansas. That was a period of thirty-five years. He was one of the pioneers in his profession at Abilene, and began practice there when the city to some extent still retained the prestige and the somewhat unenviable prominence it derived as a center of the great cattle industry. Without disparaging the merits and attainments of his contemporaries, it can be stated that Doctor Hazlett was always the leader of his profession in that city, not only in point … Read more

A history of the Goshenhoppen Reformed charge, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (1727-1819)

In “A History of the Goshenhoppen Reformed Charge, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (1727-1819),” William John Hinke delves into the rich history of one of Pennsylvania’s earliest Reformed congregations. Published in 1920, this detailed account traces the evolution of the Goshenhoppen Reformed Charge, focusing on its foundational years and the pivotal role it played in the religious life of early American settlers. Drawing from an extensive collection of church records and other historical documents, Hinke’s work not only highlights the religious activities but also sheds light on the community’s social dynamics from its establishment in 1727 through the early 19th century. This book serves as an invaluable resource for historians and genealogists alike, offering insights into the development of Reformed Church communities in colonial America.

Biography of William Thomas Montgomery

William Thomas Montgomery is one of the pioneer settlers of Saline County, Kansas, where he had lived for thirty-five years. It was in 1881 that Mr. Montgomery came to this district of Kansas. He had acquired a broad knowledge of farming in several more eastern states, and when he located in Kansas he bought land in Liberty Township of Saline County, and was an active farmer there for fourteen years. He then bought 240 acres in Walnut Township of the same county, and his energies have since been absorbed in the management of that fine estate. He had some of … Read more

A history of George Summers of Douglass and Lower Dublin townships, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

George Summers, progenitor of one of the Summers Families in America, was born in Germany shortly after the year 1690, and arrived in this country on the 22nd ot September in the year of 1752, landing at Philadelphia on the ship “Brothers, in charge of Captain Wm. Muir. He was married to Elizabeth . They had six sons and one daughter, namely Philip, Henry, John, Martin, George, Peter and Margaretha Elizabeth. Two of them, Philip and Henry, however, did not come over with their father but arrived two years later, September 30th, 1754 on the ship “Edinburg also landing at Philadelphia.

Biography of Andrew C. Jobes

Andrew C. Jobes. Though vice president of the First National Bank of Kansas City, Missouri, Mr. Jobes still had his home in Kansas and had been a resident of the state for thirty-two years. Throughout that time he had been an active factor in banking, and made his reputation which preceded him to the metropolitan district of Kansas City at Wichita, where he assisted in building up one of the largest and strongest banks of Southern Kansas. Like many men who have gained prominence in the financial world Mr. Jobes was born in a home of comparative poverty, and was … Read more

Biography of John Quincy Smith

John Quincy Smith. The career of J. Quincy Smith, of Fredonia, had been an expression of well directed and diversified industry and in its development had invaded various fields of human activity, in each of which J. Q. Smith had won a full measure of material success and satisfying reputation. He had had experience in both professional and business labors, and while he is now retired from the activities of life, having approached the Psalmist’s three-score-and-ten years, is still an influence for good in his community and a citizen whose help and support continue to be factors for the development … Read more

Biography of Francis C. Herr M. D.

Francis C. Herr, M. D. One of the most widely known physicians in Franklin County is Dr. Francis C. Herr, who graduated from one of the oldest medical colleges in the country forty years ago, and had been in active practice at Ottawa since 1884. Born at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, December 1, 1852, he is a son of Amos F. and Anna (Frantz) Herr, both of whom are natives of Lancaster County. This is a very old and prominent family of early colonial German ancestry. Doctor Herr is a descendant of Hans Herr, who represented a Suabian family of Germany, where … Read more

Biography of Samuel Bowman

Samuel Bowman, now of Coffeyville, where he is engaged in the real estate, insurance and loan business with his sons, is a Kansas resident of nearly thirty-five years and was long prominent in Labette County, where he served two terms as probate judge. His Bowman ancestors were German people who came to Pennsylvania in Colonial times. His grandfather, Benjamin Bowman, a native of Pennsylvania, was a farmer and cabinet maker, also a minister of the Dunkard Church, and spent many years in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where he died some years before Judge Bowman was born. It was in … Read more

Biography of Hon. Robert C. Hill

HON. ROBERT C. HILL. – Mr. Hill, one of the most responsible men of Washington, and a pioneer of an early day, was born in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, September 14, 1829, the son of Doctor John Hill, his mother’s maiden name having been Eliza L. Davis. At the age of seven he moved with his parents to Philadelphia, and received his education at the excellent grammar and high schools of that city. He entered upon a business career as clerk in a wholesale dry-goods store in the city, and followed that occupation four years. In 1848 he removed with his parents … Read more

Biography of John Quincy Smith

Biographical Sketch of George Godfrey Moore

George Godfrey Moore, general agent for Kansas of the Germania Life Insurance Company, had been a resident of the state since 1900. He is one of the well known and capable men in the insurance field in this state, and had the personality and energy which make for success in that business. When he first came to Kansas it was as a newspaper man, and his career had been one of somewhat varied interests and activities. He was born in the City of Philadelphia November 20, 1872, grew up in the Quaker City, graduating from high school in 1888, and … Read more

Biography of Lewis Fleischner

Fleischner, Lewis, one of the leading merchants of Portland was born in the village of Vogelgesang, Bohemia, in 1829. He was educated in his native village and at Tissan a small town near his home. At the age of fifteen years he came to America, and for a short time remained in New York City. He then went to Philadelphia, where he was employed for five years by a dealer in horses and cattle. At the end of this period, in 1849, he came to Drakeville, Davis County, Iowa, and for three years was engaged in merchandising. In 1852 he … Read more

Biographical Sketch of A. W. King

A. W. King. The Concordia Monumental Works is one of the leading enterprises of the kind in Cloud County and all Northern Kansas. It was established April 1, 1915, by the firm of Perkins & King. Mr. Perkins had been in business for himself at Concordia from 1911 to 1915. The partners are now Mr. D. F. Perkins and Mr. A. W. King. The junior member of this firm is a practical mechanic with thirty-five years’ experience in marble and granite cutting and the monument business. The firm is supplied with all the most modern machinery and turns out very … Read more

Biography of Henry Sheppard

Henry Sheppard, among the early people of Greene county, was the man who made and left the best impression. He was born in Cumberland county, New Jersey, on November 8th, 1821, of the seventh generation from the original settler of his name. His father was a quiet man of moderate means who gave to his sons what education he could in schools and at home taught them, by precept and by example, industry, self-reliance and truth. The mother was a deeply religious woman. Henry, the oldest son, an ambitious and independent boy supported himself from the age of fifteen. He … Read more