Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery
p.
1664
Surnames: JACKSON, BUSHY, MORRIS, THORNTON, ROGERS, BARKLEY,
RUNYEON, FRITCH, KLINE, NOLL, SNYDER, MOHR, YOUNG, SHEARER, MILLER,
WAGNER, JOHNSON, COX, MOYER, ARMON
William E. Jackson, who recently moved with his family from Cumru
township to Philadelphia, was born Jan. 4, 1866, in Reading, Pa.,
son of Charles H. and Amanda H. (Bushy) Jackson.
Ephraim Jackson, Sr., the progenitor of this
family in Berks county, was a resident of Robeson township prior to
1750, and it is traditional that he was a relative of President
Andrew Jackson. He had two sons: John, the great-grandfather of
William E.; and Ephraim, Jr. Whose will was probated in 1807, in
which were mentioned these children: Thomas, Mary and Joseph; Lydia
(m. Enos Morris); Sarah (m. Innis Thornton); Rachel (m. Jesse
Rogers); Hannah (m. Isaac Morris); Susanna; and Mary (m. Iddings
Barkley). Elias Jackson, the grandfather of William E., was one of
the first foundrymen of Kutztown, and a pioneer of that business in
eastern Pennsylvania. For many years he lived in Kutztown, where he
became prosperous and influential, giving employment to many
people.
Mr. Jackson married a Miss Runyeon, and to them
were born seven children: Frank, who resided at Kutztown; Charles
H., the father of William E.; Andrew and Robert, who lost their
lives during the Civil war; Amanda (m. Allen Fritch); Annie (m.
David Kline); and John, m. Amelia Noll, by whom he had four
children, Robert, Annie, Emma and John.
Charles H. Jackson was born Nov. 10, 1833, in
Hereford township, Berks county, and died Dec. 3, 1900, at
Kutztown. Until fourteen years of age he lived in Philadelphia,
after which he came with his parents to Kutztown, and there learned
the molding trade in his father's shop, where he worked until 1860.
In this year he located in Reading, working at his trade in that
city until his retirement, a few years prior to his demise,
returning to Kutztown. Mr. Jackson was buried in the Aulenbach
cemetery, Reading. In politics he was a Republican, and fraternally
he was connected with the I. O. O. F., for many years. He married
Amanda H. Bushy, who was born March 2, 1837, and who died Sept. 3,
1885, daughter of Samuel Bushy. Thirteen children were born to
them, namely: Mary A., who died in infancy; Annie, who died at the
age of twelve years; Sallie, m. G. W. Snyder, Charles, m. Kate
Young; Kate, m. H. W. Mohr; Frances, m. Llewellyn Shearer; William
E.; George, who died in childhood; John, who was married; Samuel,
m. Mary Miller; Robert, m. Rosa Kline; Emma, m. Harry W. Wagner;
and Florence, who died single at the age of twenty-four years.
William E. Jackson was reared in Reading and
secured a good common school education, completing the grammar
grades when sixteen years of age. He learned the molding trade at
the Adam Johnson foundry, Eighth and Chestnut streets, and with
this firm he continued for more than ten years, after which he
worked for one year with the Dixon Foundry Company, of Wilkesbarre,
Pa., and in 1898, he became associated with the Reading Stove Works
as a molder. He was soon promoted to a foremanship, filling his
position with ability for six years, and in 1906 he accepted a like
position with the Abraham Cox Stove Company, of Philadelphia, a
position in which he is now serving. Mr. Jackson is a skilled
foundryman and has inherited much of his ability from his
ancestors, who were early engaged in that business in this section.
In politics Mr. Jackson is a Republican. In 1905 he was elected a
school director of Cumru township, and as such in various ways
helped to advance the educational interests of the community.
During his term in office in the capacity of school director the
high school was advanced from a second grade to a first grade
school, and janitors were employed in the graded school buildings.
Mr. Jackson is a charter member of Washington Camp No. 329, P. O.
S. of A., of Reading. He is a member of the Iron Molders Union of
America, in the local branch of which he has held all the important
offices; was one of the organizers of Local No. 208, of Dover, N.
J.; and is also connected with the Foundry Foremen's Association of
Philadelphia. He and his family are connected with the First
Reformed Church of Reading.
On Jan. 15, 1887, Mr. Jackson was united in
marriage with Miss Annie L. Moyer, daughter of Cyrus D. and Matilda
(Armon) Moyer, the former of whom was a machinist of Reading. To
Mr. and Mrs. Jackson five children have been born, as follows: Edna
M., born in 1887; William M., Dec. 29, 1889; Leon R., July 14,
1893; Harold C., July 29, 1900; and Alfred I., April 3, 1903.
p. 616
Surnames: JACOBS, DAVIES, MOORE, MORRIS, CRESWELL, LINCOLN,
KALBACH, SUMMERVILLE, HOFF
J. Howard Jacobs, in whose
death, which occurred Aug. 18, 1902, at his home in Reading, that
city lost one of its good citizens and a professional man of
considerable reputation, was born in 1838, in the Conestoga Valley,
in the lower part of Berks county, son of Samuel and Mary A.
(Davies) Jacobs. Samuel Jacobs was a farmer in the Conestoga
Valley. He and his wife, Mary A. (Davies), were members of the
Episcopal Church. Of their children, Thomas (deceased) was a
resident of Iowa; J. Howard is mentioned below; Mary married
Clifton Moore, of Pottstown, Pa.; Annie married William Morris, of
Atlanta, Georgia.
J. Howard Jacobs received his early education in
the public schools, and then studied law in the office of judge
Banks. After his admission to the Bar of Berks county, he practiced
in Reading, where all of his professional life was passed, becoming
a leading member of the legal fraternity. Mr. Jacobs died Aug. 18,
1902, and was buried four days later in the Charles Evans cemetery.
In 1860 Mr. Jacobs married Hannah E. Creswell,
daughter of Samuel M. and Thomazine (Lincoln) Creswell, farming
people, the former of whom was a Presbyterian and the latter an
Episcopalian. Four children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs, as
follows: Carrie H., who married William Summerville, of Washington,
D. C., and has one child, J. Howard Jacobs; Sallie, who married
Pierson Hoff, and has one child, D. Pierson; Edward H.; and J.
Howard, an attorney at Reading, who married Margaret Kalbach. In
his political principles Mr. Jacobs was a Republican, and in
religious faith an Episcopalian. For many years he had been
identified with the Masons.
p. 647
Surnames: JACOBS, BECHTEL, WINTER, MUSSER, DeHART, GRIEFF,
FRYBERGER
John Jacobs, who died in Reading May 12, 1894, was a native of
Chester county, Pa., born in 1836. Mr. Jacobs remained at home
until he had finished his studies in the public schools, and had
learned the trade of stone cutter, after which he went to
Norristown to work. He was employed there for several years, and
then moved to Reading, where the rest of his life was spent. He
worked for the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company, at first
as a stone cutter and later as foreman, continuing in that position
until within the last six years of his life. He was a master of his
trade, a fine workman and mechanic, and his perfect reliability was
fully appreciated by his employers. In politics he supported the
Democratic party, and fraternally he was connected with the Red
Men. A man of uniformly good character and actuated by the best
motives, his life was an exemplification of his religious faith,
and he was a sincere member of the First Reformed Church of
Reading.
In 1874 Mr. Jacobs married Mrs. Mary A. Bechtel
Winter, widow of David Winter, the ceremony being performed by the
Rev. Henry Musser, so long Mr. Jacobs' pastor. Mrs. Jacobs was
daughter of John C. Bechtel, a farmer of Exeter township of well
known Democratic principles. She was born in 1826, and her only
brother, Joseph, m. Lydia DeHart, and has two daughters: Catherine
m. John Grieff; and Louisa m. the late George Fryberger. Mrs.
Jacobs has no children. Like her husband she is a devout member of
the Reformed Church, and one of its earnest workers. She has many
warm friends.
p. 1591
Surnames: JACOBS, WELLS, BEARD, BALB, DAMPMAN, RHINE, STOCKER
John W. Jacobs, a substantial business man of Caernarvon township,
whose fine farm of fifty-five acres is situated near the town of
Joanna, Pa., is also engaged in contracting, and does a large
creamery and ice business. Mr. Jacobs was born Aug. 24, 1849, at
White Bear, Berks county, son of James R. and Mary (Wells) Jacobs.
James R. Jacobs was a native of Berks county, a son of Christian
Jacobs. He married Mary Wells, born at Joanna, the daughter of
William and Christiana (Beard) Wells. John W. Jacobs was educated
in the public schools of Caernarvon and Robeson townships, and
early in life engaged in agricultural pursuits. On his fine
fifty-five acre farm are located a saw and planing mill (where job
work is done) and a fine residence, surrounded by native trees. He
also has an ice house and creamery, the output of the latter being
about 3,000 quarts of milk daily, which is shipped to Philadelphia,
Pa. Mr. Jacobs has also been quite extensively engaged in
contracting, and in this as well as in his other lines, he has been
very successful. He is a man of much business ability, and his
reputation for integrity in business dealings is an enviable one.
Politically, he is a Republican, on the ticket of which party he
has been elected to the offices of judge of election, auditor and
member of the school board, of which he is now secretary. He and
his family are members of Harmony Methodist Church, where he has
served as a member of the board of stewards. Mr. Jacobs married
Barbara Ann Wells, daughter of James E. and Rosanna (Balb) Wells,
and granddaughter of James and Mary Wells. To their union have been
born the following children: Eva, born July 11, 1875, m. H. W.
Dampman, lives in Canonsburg, Pa., and has one son, John, born in
February 1897; J. Herbert, born June 10, 1877, m. Miss Elizabeth
Rhine; Mary R., born Dec. 20, 1880, m. Clarence M. Stocker, lives
in Amesville, O., and has two children, Anna M., and C. Jackson;
William Howard, born April 11, 1883; Carrie Ann, Sept. 8, 1885,
died June 19, 1907; John W., Nov. 13, 1887; E. Merrill, Jan. 10,
1890; Wynn T., April 8, 1893; and Elizabeth E., June 21, 1897.
p.
1238
Surnames: JACOBS, HENSINGER, HITTLE, MILLER, NUSS, BENTSINGER, De
LONG, WEIDNER, GRANT
Oswin A. H. Jacobs, justice of the peace at Boyertown, Pa., was
born in Hereford township, Berks Co., Pa., March 17, 1865, a son of
William H. and Susanna (Hensinger) Jacob.
John Jacob, the grandfather, was a native of
Trappe, Montgomery Co., Pa. In early life he settled in Hereford
township, where he lived for many years and later resided in
Columbia county. He was a veterinary surgeon for forty years and
made his trips over the country in a high, two-wheeled sulky, such
as was used by professional men of that day. He was a man of
natural and acquired ability and is described as being of
aristocratic appearance and as always wearing a "stove-pipe" hat.
For thirty years he filled the office of justice of the peace.
His first marriage was to a Miss Hittle and his
second to a Miss Miller. The children of the first marriage were:
Elizabeth, who married Joseph Nuss and lived at Lena, Ill.; William
H.; John H., who lives in Lehigh county; and Joshua H., who was a
soldier in the Civil war and was killed at the battle of the
Wilderness. A large family was born to the second union, among whom
were: Mary, Amanda, Susanna, Abraham, Franklin, Allen, James and
Charles. The father was buried at Hoover's Church, Montgomery
County. William H. Jacob, father of justice Jacobs, was born in
Berks county, Pa., in May, 1832, died Oct. 14, 1898, in the
sixty-fifth year of his age, and is buried in Lehigh county.
He was a carpenter and followed bridge work for
many years and assisted in building the railroad bridges on the
Reading line between that city and Philadelphia. His grandfather
Hittle was the general boss of the construction work and under him
William H. Jacob learned the trade. Later Mr. Jacob became a farmer
at Hensingerville, on his father-in-law's land, and in addition he
conducted the hotel there for some time. Later he became the
proprietor of the Maple Grove hotel in Longswamp township, which he
owned and conducted for twelve years. After this he bought a farm
of seventy acres near Topton, but a few years later sold and
purchased the Bentsinger farm of fifty acres, at Maple Grove, and
on that farm he died. He was a man of large intelligence and
retentive memory, possessed a natural gift for penmanship and was
very popular among his fellows.
William H. Jacob married Susanna Hensinger, a
daughter of Peter and Catherine (De Long) Hensinger, formerly of
Berks and then of Lehigh county. Peter Hensinger once conducted
Gauby's tannery in Berks county and after selling that he bought a
tract of 150 acres in Upper Macungie township where valuable
minerals, rock and hematite ore were found. He built the
Hensingerville store and hotel, together with dwellings, and was
the leading man in the village, which was named in his honor. His
children all became good members of society. The children born to
William Jacob and wife were: Catherine, deceased; William, who
conducts a photographic studio at Clarion, Ia.; John, a resident of
Des Moines, Ia.; James, residing at Wilmington, Del., is
superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad Construction Co.; Oswin
A. H.; Franklin H., foreman of the car shops at Wilmington, Del.;
and an infant daughter.
Oswin A. H. Jacobs secured his educational
training in the public schools and at the Keystone State Normal
School at Kutztown and was licensed to teach school by Prof. D. S.
Keck but he never made use of the permission. When he was fourteen
years of age he learned the milling trade and continued to be
interested in it until 1906, with the exception of three years,
from 1883 to 1886, when he went to Hawarden, Ia. His business there
was preparing and dealing in hay. He cut, dried and baled the
upland blue joint prairie grass, which is noted for its sustaining
qualities and during his last year in the West he was
superintendent of the Chicago & Northwestern Hay Co., which is
a successful corporation still doing business.
In the spring of 1886, Mr. Jacobs returned to
Berks county and continued his milling business, conducting it
along the most modern lines at different points, and while at
Linfield, in Montgomery county, he served as postmaster from 1893
until 1905. From there in 1906 he came to Boyertown and now
occupies a handsome residence on North Reading Avenue. He is still
in business, conducting an extensive wholesale feed trade and also
operates his four acre farm near Boyertown.
On Jan. 11, 1887, Mr. Jacobs was married to Mary
G. Weidner, daughter of William and Mary (Grant) Weidner, of
Lobachsville, and to this union were born the following children:
Frances E., who married William Weidner, of Boyertown; Oswin D., a
bookkeeper residing at Boyertown; Lizzie, Annie and Eva, all
deceased; and Mary J., Mabel, William, Helen, Esther, Elda and
John, residing at home. Mr. Jacobs and family are members of the
Longswamp Lutheran Church. of which he has been a deacon and elder.
In politics, Justice Jacobs is a Democrat and he has held local
offices in Longswamp and Colebrookdale townships. In the spring of
1908 he was elected a justice of the peace of the borough of
Boyertown. For many years he has been interested in fraternal
organizations, believing they increase sociability and foster
humanitarian impulses and at the same time implant ideas of high
and virtuous living. He organized three of the lodges at Boyertown,
the Odd Fellows, the Red Men and the Woodmen. While at Kutztown he
helped to organize the Adonai Castle, K. G. E., of which he was a
charter member. He belongs to Boyertown Lodge of Odd Fellows, No.
708, to the Boyertown Lodge of Woodmen, No. 8286, and to the
Boyertown P. O. S. of A., No. 104.
An added note, not included and submitted by Theodore Miller, is that Oswin also had a daughter, Lottie.
p. 1171
Surnames: JACOBS, LEIGHTNER, WAGNER, ARTHUR
William R. Jacobs, proprietor of the Quaker Cafe, at No. 523 Penn
street, Reading, was born Nov. 23, 1875, at Knox, Clarion Co., Pa.,
son of Leary R. Jacobs and grandson of Henry Jacobs.
Henry Jacobs, the grandfather, a native of
Germany, came to America when fourteen years old, and for some
years resided at Shirleysburg, Huntingdon Co., Pa., at present
living retired. He was a farmer during his active years, and still
owns a large and valuable farm. He has now (1908) reached the age
of seventy-two. Among the ten children born to him and his wife,
Elizabeth, were: Roy, Harry, Albert, Leary R., George, Henry,
Halbert, James, and Annie (m. William Leightner, of Shirleysburg,
Pennsylvania). Leary R. Jacobs, father of William R. Jacobs, lives
at Altoona, Blair Co., Pa., and is there employed by the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company. He married Nina Wagner, and they
have had two children, William R. and Florence.
William R. Jacobs received his education in the
public schools of Altoona. His first work was in a broom factory,
where he learned all the details of broom-making, being employed
there for about seven years. The next year he worked in a grocery
store in the same city, and then entered the service of the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a scale builder, remaining with
that company for about fifteen years. In the fall of 1906 he came
to Reading, where be became proprietor of the Quaker Cafe, at No.
523 Penn street, buying out William Arthur. Mr. Jacobs has built up
a good trade, and is making a success of his establishment. He is
well known among the local fraternities, belonging to Juniata
Tribe, Improved Order of Red Men; to Mountain City Lodge, No. 824,
I. O. O. F., of Altoona, and to Aerie No. 66, Fraternal Order of
Eagles, of Reading.
p. 1170
Surnames: JACOBY, KERCHNER, STITZEL, FOCHT, MENGEL, SONDAY, GROW,
EISENHOUR, ADAM, FEGLEY, LESHER, HOLLENBACH, REESER, SHOMO,
BAUSHER, BRISON, ROBITZER, UNGER, DUMN, HINTERLEITER
Conrad Jacoby, a native of Europe, and the ancestor of a family of
upper Berks county, Pa., was born Nov. 30, 1744, and died Aug. 6,
1823, in Windsor township where he made his home. He was a farmer
by occupation. His wife, Anna Magdalena (Kerchner), born Aug. 20,
1757, died Aug. 1, 1822, in her sixty-fifth year. Their married
life covered a period of forty-seven years. They are buried in the
old graveyard of Zion's Union Church in Perry township, near the
stone wall along the street, and their graves are marked by brown
sandstone tombstones. The number of their children is not known,
but among them were Catharine and Conrad.
The daughter, born in 1779, died in 1842. She
was the wife of Peter Stitzel (1764--1841), of Windsor township,
and they are buried at Zion's Church.
Conrad Jacoby, son of Conrad, born June 24,
1784, died Nov. 15, 1854, aged seventy years, four months,
twenty-one days. He married Elizabeth Focht, born Sept. 17, 1784,
died June 16, 1862, and to them were born three sons and one
daughter, Johann Georg, Daniel, Jeremias (Jeremiah) and Mrs. Joseph
Mengel. We have the following record of the three sons: Johann
Georg Jacoby, born in Windsor township Sept. 16 1807, died March
11, 1850. On Dec. 25, 1832, be married Elizabeth Sonday, and they
lived in Windsor township. They are buried at old Zion's Church.
Their children were: Mary, who died unmarried at the age of
twenty-five years, and Joseph, born June 11, 1843, died Sept. 1,
1906, who married Eliza Grow. Daniel Jacoby was married three
times, first to an Eisenhour, by whom he had two sons, Samuel and
Charles (m. Lydia Adam). By his second wife, Rachel (Fegley), he
had one son, William, m. to Hettie Lesher, and father of twelve
children, one son and eleven daughters, of whom Clara and Alva died
young. Jeremias (Jeremiah) Jacoby was born in Windsor township Jan.
12, 1811, and died Nov. 19, 1855, aged forty-four years, ten
months, seven days.
He lived in his native township, but is buried
with many other members of the family at Zion's Church, in Perry
township. His wife, Eva (Hollenbach), born in Windsor March 25,
1811, died Nov. 19, 1871, aged sixty years, seven months,
twenty-four days. Five children were born to them, namely: Joseph,
John, George, Susan and Ellen. Joseph Jacoby, late of Hamburg,
Berks county, was born in Windsor township, May 18, 1828, and died
at Hamburg, June 7, 1902, aged seventy-four years. He was a stone
mason. During the Civil war he was a soldier in the Union army. He
and wife, Sarah Reeser, were members of St. John's Lutheran Church,
and are buried in the cemetery adjoining it in the family plot.
Their children, seven in number, were: Wilson; Amanda m. Dr. Cosmus
Shomo, of Ashland, Pa.; Adda m. Jacob Bausher, of Hamburg; Sarah
Alvesta m. John Brison, of Reading; May Rose, late of Reading, is
deceased; Myers lived in Hamburg; and Annie m. Fred Robitzer, a
common councilman of the First ward, Reading. Mrs. Sarah (Reeser)
Jacoby was a daughter of John Christian Reeser, of Greenwich
township, who was born Nov. 27, 1792, and died on his farm May 16,
1853, aged sixty years, five months, and nineteen days. He married
Sara Unger, born Nov. 16, 1794, and died Feb. 24, 1862, aged
sixty-seven years, three months, and eight days. They were farming
people and are buried at Lenhartsville. Their children were: Moses,
of Allentown; Jacob, a farmer and drover, of Greenwich township;
Christian, who lived in Greenwich township; Matilda, m. to Levi
Dumn; Sarah, m. to Joseph Jacoby; Mrs. David Hinterleiter, and Mrs.
Augustus Hinterleiter, of Allentown, the only one of her father's
family still living.
Note from Bonnie Blau:
Additional surname: KREISCHER, Conrad Jacoby is my 5th
great-grandfather. He was married to Anna Margaretha Kreischer (not
Anna Magdalena Kerchner). Anna Margaretha Kreischer was the
daughter of Johan Jost Kreischer (b. 1730, d. 1766 in Windsor
Castle, Berks Co.) and Beaty Elisabetha Kreischer (maiden name
unknown).
p. 371
Surnames: JANSSEN, THUN, RAEKER, BENNER
Henry Karl Janssen, manufacturer of textile machinery at
Wyomissing, was born at Barmen, Germany, Feb. 8, 1866, and was
educated in the local schools there, attending until 1881. He then
learned the trade of a machinist in all its branches, serving the
regular apprenticeship of three years. Afterward he followed the
customary life of a journeyman mechanic for four years, working in
various machine shops in the industrial centers of the Rhine
Province, for the purpose of becoming an expert machinist. With
this experience he determined to emigrate to America, and in 1888
he went to New York City. He located in Brooklyn, entering the
employ of the Castle Braid Company, and after working a while as
all-around machinist became, on account of his proficiency, the
foreman of the place, and he filled this position until 1892.
In that year he moved to Reading and formed a
partnership with Ferdinand Thun, a German friend from Barmen, for
manufacturing textile machinery. In the organization of the Textile
Machine Works in 1900, Mr. Janssen became its president, and he has
filled that position to the present time. He also was one of the
incorporators and has served as vice-president of the Berkshire
Knitting Mills and the Narrow Fabric Company since their
organization, having assisted in establishing all of these
industries at Wyomissing. In the building up of Wyomissing, and its
erection as a borough in 1906, Mr. Janssen took a very active part,
and at the first election of the borough officials he was chosen
one of the councilmen. In 1897 he erected a home on a lot of ground
adjoining the Textile Works, and this was one of the first
dwellings in the borough. It is situated on the corner of Mory
avenue and Van Reed road.
In 1890 Mr. Janssen married Minnie Raeker,
daughter of Henry Raeker, of Lippspringe, Westphalia, by whom he
had four children: Harry, Minnie, Helen and Elsie (who died young).
Albert Janssen, father of Henry Karl, was born in 1834, along the
lower Rhine on the borders of Holland. He learned the business of a
book publisher and upon locating in Barmen when he was twenty-six
years old, carried on that business, and continued it until his
decease in 1878. He married Helen Benner, daughter of Jacob Benner,
of Hesse Nassau, and by her he had six children: Albert and Helen,
both of whom died when thirty years old; Henry Karl; Ernest, a dyer
in Barmen; Johannes, a wholesale merchant at Barmen, and a member
of the city council; and Paul, a provision merchant and hotel
proprietor at Offenbach, in Hesse.