Nicholas Keim was born in Oley Township in 1719. He came to Reading in 1755, where he embarked in business as a dealer in hardware and grain. In 1769 he purchased what was then known as the "Old White Store," on Penn Street near Fifth, which he conducted successfully for a number of years.
During the period from 1763 to 1766 he carried on an extensive business with the leading merchants of Philadelphia and Germantown. In 1785 he transferred his interests in the store to his son John and retired from active business.
His progressive spirit and ideas greatly assisted in the development of Reading as a community in his time.
He died in the year 1802 at the age of eighty-three.
Source: Official Program of the 175th Anniversary of the Founding of Reading, PA, and the 150th Anniversary of the Reading Volunteer Fire Department Sept. 30th to Oct. 6th 1923, ed. by the Chairman of the Publicity Committee, Reading, PA, 1923, p. 141.
Submitted by: Nancy.
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