Biographies from Historical and Biographical Annals by Morton Montgomery
p.
1450
Surnames: LICHTENWALLNER, BEAR, STETLER, LEIBENSPERGER, SHAFFER,
KLINE, FOGEL, STEININGER, SMITH, MILLER, ALBRIGHT, FOLK, SCHMOYER,
GERNERT, STETTLER, SCHANTZ, HUNSICKER, MEITZLER
John Lichtenwallner. The Lichtenwallner family of Longswamp
township traces its ancestry back to Johannes Lichtenwallner, who
with his wife and one year old son, arrived at Philadelphia, Aug.
17, 1733, on the ship "Samuel," of London, from the Palatinate or
Rhine country. On his arrival in Philadelphia, he purchased a team,
loaded his wagon with what few household effects he had and, with
his wife Barbara and son, followed the immigration as far as
Hanover, in Montgomery county. There he remained a brief time,
following his trade of blacksmith, at which he was a past master,
as his passport from the mother country proves. He was in search of
vacant land, and his evident desire was to settle where he could
build for himself a home and till his own soil. He therefore took
advantage of the new road opened in 1733 from Goshenhoppen,
Montgomery county, across the Lehigh mountains, to where
Trexlertown is now located. In 1734 he landed in "Magungy," which
then comprised nearly all of the west end of Lehigh county, then a
part of Bucks county. He followed an old Indian trail from
Trexler's tavern, now Trexlertown, across Macungie into what is now
North Whitehall township, and there settled on 300 acres of vacant
land along the Jordan creek, for which tract he secured a warrant
from the province of Pennsylvania in 1738. Just how long he
remained on this property is not definitely known, but the land
being rough and hilly and the soil shallow and gravelly, he went
back to Upper Macungie, and located on a tract one mile west of the
present site of Fogelsville. He must have settled there about 1742,
built himself a log dwelling (on the spot where now stand the farm
buildings of the old John Lichtenwallner farm, at present owned by
Peter R. Bear, Esq., of Fogelsville), and there spent the remainder
of his life. He and his wife had these children: the one year old
son whom they brought from the old country; Margaretta, born Feb.
3, 1734; Maria Agatha, in 1736; Johann (2); Catherine, Oct. 2,
1742; Anna Christina, May 12, 1745; Johann Tobias, April 23, 1747;
Catherina Margaretta, Oct. 30, 1749; and Abraham, July 12, 1753.
Johann Lichtenwallner (2), the common ancestor
of the Pennsylvania family of that name, was born June 29, 1738, on
the Lichtenwallner homestead. When twenty-five years of age, he
married Catharina St?ler, daughter of Daniel St?ler, who was one of
the pioneers of Weisenburg township. He resided during his whole
life, in the stone house erected before his father's death in place
of the original log house on the old homestead. He inherited 413
3/4 acres of land from his father, which lay in a body one mile
west of Fogelsville. He evidently was a thrifty farmer, buying one
tract after another until he owned, all told, 952 acres of good
land in this section of the county. He died Oct. 30, 1794, aged
fifty-six years, and was buried in Jordan Lutheran Church cemetery.
His widow died eight years later, aged fifty-seven years, and was
buried beside her husband. They had twelve children, of whom five
sons and five daughters attained old age and left numerous
descendants. The children were as follows: Johann (3); George (or
"Yarrick"); Peter; Christopher (or "Stoffel"); Jacob; Catharina, m.
to Matthias Leibensperger; Anna Maria, m. to George Shaffer;
Barbara, m. to Philip Leibensperger; Margaret, m. to Henry Kline;
Mary Magdalena, m. to Jacob Fogel; and two who died in infancy.
Johann Lichtenwallner (3) was born Dec. 1, 1766,
or ten years before the Revolutionary war. He married Margaret
Steininger, and they had ten children, namely: Jonathan, born Aug.
20, 1794, died unmarried, April 6, 1817; Lydia, born Oct. 16, 1796,
died in infancy; Eliza, born Dec. 5, 1798, died young; Leah, who
died in 1886, aged eighty-five years, m. John P. Smith; Rebecca,
born Dec. 5, 1798, who died Dec. 16, 1889, m. John Miller; John was
born June 1, 1803; Samuel was born Jan. 16, 1806; Judith, born Jan.
13, 1810, died June 20, 1887; Solomon died in 1824, aged seventeen
years; and one child died in infancy.
Samuel Lichtenwallner, seventh child of Johann
(3), and father of John, of Longswamp township, was born Jan. 16,
1806, on the old homestead near Fogelsville. His first wife was
Maria Albright, and after her death in 1884, he married Eliza Folk,
who died some years later. Mr. Lichtenwallner died on his farm near
Mertztown, March 24, 1876, aged seventy years, and is buried in the
Mertztown cemetery. He had ten children, as follows: Eliza, born
Oct. 20, 1832, m. James Schmoyer; Lydia died young; John; Mary,
born Sept. 5, 1839, m. Mathias Gernert; Aaron and Samuel died
young; Sarah m. Israel Stettler; Hettie died young; Susan, born
Oct. 28, 1850, m. (first) Adam Stettler, and (second) Jacob
Schantz; and Lewis S., born Dec. 21, 1852, m. Lizzie
Lichtenwallner.
John Lichtenwallner was born Aug. 5, 1836, in
Longswamp township, where he was reared, and received his education
in the local schools, later attending the advanced school at the
Trappe, Montgomery county, under Henry Hunsicker. He was reared to
the occupation of an agriculturist, and followed this as his life
work until the spring of 1908, when seventy-three years of age he
sold his stock, rented his farm and since that time has lived in
well-earned retirement. He is unmarried and his sister, Eliza,
widow of James Schmoyer, resides with him, being his housekeeper.
Mrs. Schmoyer was left with five boys and four girls, as follows:
Maleria; Lorah; Elias; Llewellyn; Uriah, who died in 1907, Erasmus;
Harvey; Myra, who married Frank Meitzler; and Alice, who lives with
her mother and uncle John, near Mertztown.
The family are active members of the Mertztown
Lutheran Church. Mr. Lichtenwallner has been a life-long
Republican, but has never aspired to office.
p. 764 Surnames: LICHTENWALNER, CLICK, SCHEAFFER,
HAWK
Dr. Milton D. Lichtenwalner, a resident physician of Reading, Pa.,
was born in Lehigh county, in 1846, son of Elias and Fenna (Click)
Lichtenwalner the former a prominent farmer of Lehigh county who
owned a farm of 160 acres near Fogelsville. He died when
seventy-nine years of age, and his wife in her eighty-first year,
both in the faith of the Lutheran Church. Their only child was
Milton D.
Dr. Lichtenwalner attended the common and
private schools of the place of his nativity, and when thirteen
years of age went to Quakertown and entered a school taught by
Professor Horne, remaining there four years. He then spent a short
time at a business school at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and returned home
and spent two years at Philadelphia, 1856-6, at the Homeopathic
Medical College. He read medicine two years with Doctors Slough and
Hulfrich, at Fogelsville, Lehigh county. The Doctor practised in
Macungie, Lehigh county, for three years, and then gave up his
profession, and went to Chicago where he spent five years as a
bookkeeper in the Grain Exchange. He was also engaged in the hat
business at Allentown, and came to Reading in 1883, becoming
bookkeeper for J. B. Scheaffer, a wholesale hat dealer. He remained
there until Mr. Scheaffer closed out his business in 1903, since
which time Dr. Lichtenwalner has lived a retired life. The Doctor
is the owner of the old homestead farm in Lehigh county, and also
owns another farm of 100 acres in the same county, but resides in
Reading at No. 51 South Eleventh street.
Dr. Lichtenwalner was married, in Reading, to
Miss Alice Hawk, daughter of Charles Hawk, of Reading, and one son
was born to this union, Milton H., who is attending school. The
Doctor is a member of Lehigh Lodge of Masons, No. 326, of
Trexlertown.
p. 908
Surnames: LIEB, LASH, HETRECH, DUNDORE, KANTNER, GICKER, ADAMS,
HERBEIN, KLOPP, LOTZ, HAIN, KRAMER, YODER, KAUFFMAN, STRUNK, DICK
Aaron L. Lieb, a farmer of Bern township, Berks Co., Pa., was born
in Penn township March 8, 1860, son of Joshua and Rebecca (Lash)
Lieb, grandson of Nicholas Lieb and great-grandson of Michael Lieb.
(I) Michael Lieb was a large landowner in Bern township and a man
highly respected for his sterling integrity and uprightness of
purpose. He and his wife, Anna Margaretta, had these children:
Susan (Hetrech), Mary, Nicholas, Zechman, Margaret, Elizabeth,
Catherine and Sarah.
(II) Nicholas Lieb, born Nov. 16, 1793, died Dec. 9, 1837. He is
buried at the Bern Church, of which he was a consistent member.
Nicholas Lieb owned a farm of about 100 acres on the Bernville
road, between the Bern Church and Mt. Pleasant, in Penn township.
In addition to farming he followed the tailor's trade, traveling
through Berks and the surrounding counties, as was the custom in
those days. He was one of the most representative men of his times,
and one of the most popular in his neighborhood. When his father
died he was the executor of the estate; the will, which was made
Feb. 26, 1818, was probated July 25, 1818. His wife was Catherine
Dundore, a daughter of Jacob and Anna Dundore, born Sept. 6, 1796,
died March 4, 1881, aged eighty-four years, five months,
twenty-eight days. Their children were: Elizabeth married Joel
Kantner, and died in Penn township; Annie married John Gicker and
died in Heidelberg township; Joshua is mentioned below; Aaron
married Louisa Adams and died in Bern township (they had children:
John, of Spring township, Eliza, of No. 1818 Perkiomen avenue,
Reading, the mother of Rev. M. L. Herbein, whose sketch appears
elsewhere in this work, and Amanda, who married Louis Klopp and is
living at No. 324 North Front street, Reading, Pa.). Nicholas Lieb
was a prominent and highly respected farmer and tailor and built up
for himself a lasting reputation as a man possessing most excellent
personal traits of character. Upright and honorable in his business
transactions, and imbued with that generous public spirit that was
always ready to assist in whatever was calculated to promote the
welfare of his county and community, he made his worth felt and his
loss was long mourned.
(III) Joshua Lieb, born May 3, 1826, died May 13, 1878, aged
fifty-two years, ten days. He was born in Penn township on the old
Lieb homestead, and for years remained with his father, engaged in
farming. Marrying Miss Rebecca Lash (born Dec. 17, 1823, died Aug.
23, 1859, aged thirty-five years, eight months six days), daughter
of George Lash, he settled on the farm and there remained until
five years prior to his death, when he removed to State Hill and
built a home, there living retired until his demise. In politics he
was a Democrat, and in religious connection a member of the Bern
Church. He was a man of substance, and one who won the confidence
of the community.
Never aggressive, he nevertheless bore his part
in the development and advancement of his community, and left the
lasting heritage to his children of an unsullied name and spotless
honor. The following children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Joshua
Lieb: Ellen, who married Andrew Lotz, of Reading; Nathaniel W.;
Rosa, who married John Hain, of West Reading; Emma, who married
Edward Kramer, of Reading; Aaron L., of Bern township, married to
Kate E. Yoder; Sallie, who married Frank E. Kauffman, of Reading.
(IV) Aaron L. Lieb attended the township public schools. He worked
for his father until 1890, when he embarked in farming on his own
account, in Lower Heidelberg township, but after a year he removed
to Bern township, and resided on the Lash farm of 240 acres. After
another year he went to Douglassville, and four years later settled
on the Nicholas Dick farm, in Cumru township. His next location was
at Poplar Neck, where he remained seven years, and then in 1902 he
removed to Bern township, purchasing a farm at State Hill, of
twenty acres, which later he sold.
Mr. Lieb married Kate E. Yoder, a daughter of
William and Susan (Strunk) Yoder, and they had children as follows:
William J., Howard N., and Harry P., deceased; A. Calvin, Annie F.,
John A., Katie R., Cora S. and Paul E., at home. Mrs. Lieb died
Sept. 19, 1907, aged forty-one years, six months, nine days, and is
buried at Hains Church cemetery, in Lower Heidelberg township.
Mr. Lieb is a member of the Bern Lutheran
Church. In politics he is a Democrat, and fraternally he is a
member of the Modern Woodmen of America at Leesport. He is genial
and pleasant in manner, and a man who has a host of warm personal
friends. The Lieb family is widely known throughout Berks county.
p. 926
Surnames: LIEB, LASH, HETRECH, ZECHMAN, DUNDORE, KANTNER, GICKER,
ADAMS, HERBEIN, KLOPP, LOTZ, HAIN, KRAMER, YODER, KAUFFMAN,
BRUNNER, STAVER, OEHRING, SHARTLE, AMMARELL, DE TURK, WAGNER
Nathaniel W. Lieb, of West Reading, Berks Co., Pa., was born on the
old Lieb homestead, in Penn township, Oct. 29, 1850, son of Joshua
and Rebecca (Lash) Lieb, grandson of Nicholas Lieb, and
great-grandson of Michael Lieb.
(I) Michael Lieb was a large landowner in Bern township, and was
highly respected for his sterling integrity and uprightness of
purpose. To him and his wife, Anna Margaretta, were born: Susan
(Hetrech); Nicholas; Mary (Zechman); Margaret; Elizbeth; Catherine;
Daniel; Sarah.
(II) Nicholas Lieb, born Nov. 16, 1793, died Dec. 9, 1837. He is
buried at the Bern Church, of which he was a consistent member.
Nicholas Lieb owned a farm of about 100 acres on the Bernville
road, between the Bern Church and Mt. Pleasant, in Penn township.
In addition to farming he followed the tailor's trade, traveling
through Berks and the surrounding counties, as was the custom in
those days. He was one of the most representative men of his times,
and one of the most popular in his neighborhood. When his father
died he was the executor of the estate; the will, which was made
Feb. 26, 1818, was probated July 25, 1818. His wife was Catherine
Dundore, a daughter of Jacob and Anna Dundore, born Sept. 6, 1796,
died March 4, 1881, aged eighty-four years, five months,
twenty-eight days. Their children were: Elizabeth married Joel
Kantner, and died in Penn township; Annie married John Gicker and
died in Heidelberg township; Joshua is mentioned below; Aaron
married Louisa Adams and died in Bern township, the father of John
(of Spring township), Eliza, (of No. 1813 Perkiomen avenue,
Reading, the mother of Rev. M. L. Herbein, whose sketch appears
elsewhere in this work), Amanda, (m. Lewis Klopp, and is living at
No. 324 North Front street, Reading,). Nicholas Lieb was a
prominent and highly respected farmer and tailor and built up for
himself a lasting reputation as a man possessing most excellent
personal traits of character. Upright and honorable in his business
transactions, and imbued with that generous public spirit that was
always ready to assist in whatever was calculated to promote the
welfare of his county and community, he made his worth felt and his
loss was long mourned.
(III) Joshua Lieb was born in Penn township on the old Lieb
homestead, May 3, 1826, and he died May 13, 1878, aged fifty-two
years and ten days. For years he remained with his father engaged
in farming, but after his marriage he settled on the farm, and
there remained until five years prior to his death, when he removed
to State Hill, and built a home, there living retired until his
demise. He married Rebecca Lash, born Dec. 17, 1826, daughter of
George Lash. She died Dec. 4, 1891, aged sixty-five years, five
months and six days. In politics he was a Democrat, while
religiously he was a member of the Bern church. Though never
aggressive he always bore his part in the development and
advancement of his community, and left a lasting heritage to his
children of an unsullied name and spotless honor. The children born
to Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Lieb were: Ellen m. Andrew Lotz, of Reading;
Nathaniel W.; Rosa m. John Hain, of West Reading; Emma m. Edward
Kramer, of Reading; Aaron, of Bern township, m. Katie Yoder, and
died in 1907, leaving Calvin, John, Annie, Katie, Cora and Paul;
Sallie m. Frank E. Kauffman, of Reading.
(IV) Nathaniel W. Lieb attended school in Penn township, and later
the Keystone State Normal School, at Kutztown, during 1868. He then
taught two years in District township, being licensed by Prof. D.
B. Brunner. After this he removed to Reading and worked for the
Reading Eagle as collector remaining about two years. He then
embarked in farming operations in Heidelberg township, and at the
expiration of six years, he removed to Centre township, but after
five years he made another change and took up his residence in Bern
township on the William Staver farm, where he resided for some
eighteen years. In 1902 he came to West Reading, and for some six
years has resided at No. 334 Penn Street.
For eighteen months he was engaged with
Brossman, in the manufacture of stockings, with plant at No. 111
Lenore street, Reading, but, selling his interest, he went in with
the Felix Oehring Furniture Van Company, of Reading. Mr. Lieb was
appointed executor of the Staver estate, and Nov. 3, 1907, he
purchased the Staver farm, a property of 203 acres of excellent
farming land, perhaps the best in Bern township. The water power
facilities are unsurpassed, and the farm is very valuable, as is
all of the property of the large Staver estate. In politics Mr.
Lieb is a Democrat. He is a member of the Bern Lutheran Church.
On Oct. 17, 1872, Mr. Lieb married Miss Valeria
Yoder, daughter of Frederick and Mary (Shartle) Yoder, and their
children were: George R. is unmarried and at home; Mary m. Harry
Ammarell, a teacher in Bern township; Arabella m. Allison Kramer, a
teacher in Bern township; Sallie C., a graduate of the Central
State Normal School, class of 1900, m. Elder P. De Turk, and they
live in New York City; John E., at home, m. Sadie Wagner.
Mr. Lieb is a gentleman possessing those natural
abilities and qualities which constitute the true man and valuable
citizen. He is honored and respected by his associates in business,
church and social life. As a teacher he bore his part in
educational matters, and has always been interested in school
matters, giving his children excellent advantages. Perhaps no one
could have been selected who is better fitted for the office of
executor of so large an estate as the one n the charge of Mr. Lieb,
and this is demonstrated by the satisfaction he has given. His own
interests in Berks county are very large; he is a man of wealth and
influence, and he administers his properties wisely and honorably.
p.
916
Surnames: LIGHTFOOT, KERCHOFF, YARNELL, WRIGHT, WILLITS, MELOT,
HIX, MENGEL, REDCAY
Jasper Y. Lightfoot, a well-known retired citizen of Blandon, Pa.,
who was for many years engaged in painting in Maiden-creek
township, was born Jan. 26, 1849, near the old Friends' Meeting
House, in that township, Berks county, son of David and Harriet
(Kerchoff) Lightfoot.
Samuel Lightfoot, grandfather of Jasper Y.,
married Rachel Yarnell, and the had these children: David; Susan m.
Joseph Wright; and Margaret m. Jesse Willits.
David Lightfoot, father of Jasper Y., married
Harriet Kerchoff, daughter of Daniel and Sarah Kerchoff, and to
this union there were born the following children; Eliza K. m.
Daniel Melot; Margaret and Jane both died single; and Jasper Y.
Jasper Y. Lightfoot was reared in his native
vicinity, where he attended the public schools, later going to
Tremont Seminary at Norristown. He then clerked for some time in a
store, but subsequently learned the trade of painter, which he
followed until recent years, when he retired, and now only
occasionally handles odd jobs. Mr. Lightfoot was married to Sarah
C. Mengel, daughter of John and Mary (Hix) Mengel, and to this
union there were born three children: Susan Eliza is deceased; Mary
Jane m. Harris Redcay, and has had two sons, Harris (who died aged
four days) and Linwood S.; Emma Lizzie is deceased. Mr. Lightfoot's
wife and daughter are members of the Lutheran Church. In political
matters he is a Republican, but he has never aspired to office
outside of his township.
p. 324
Surnames: LINCOLN, RICHARDS, MILLARD, ROBESON, BOONE, HANKS/HANCK,
FOULKE
Berks County ancestry of Abraham Lincoln. Concerning the historical
fact that the paternal ancestors of President Abraham Lincoln were
residents in the Eighteenth Century of Berks county, whence they
migrated to Virginia, Louis Richards, Esq., president of the County
Historical Society, in a recent paper read before it, wrote in part
as follows:
Among the early immigrants to the Colony of
Massachusetts - or Massachusetts Bay, as it was called in colonial
times - were the Lincolns from old England. 
The first of the name from whom the President's
descent can be traced was Mordecai Lincoln, who is said to have
been born at Hingham, near Boston, in 1657. The tradition that he
was an "ironmonger" is strengthened by the fact that his son
Mordecai followed that occupation. The latter, who was by the first
wife, was born in 1686, and had two brothers, Abraham, born 1689,
and Isaac, born 1691. The preference for Scriptural Christian names
was followed in the family through many succeeding generations.
President Lincoln, writing a brief autobiography in 1860, said that
an effort to identify his Quaker ancestors in Pennsylvania with the
New England family of the same name ended in nothing more definite
than a similarity of Christian names in both families, such as
Enoch, Levi, Mordecai and Solomon. Since that date the connection
of the families has been reliably established. By a second
marriage, Mordecai, Sr., had other children, some of whose
descendants remain in Massachusetts at this day. The son Mordecai,
Jr., removed with his brother Abraham to East Jersey about 1717,
acquiring lands in Monmouth county. He resided there until probably
1720, at which date, and down to 1726, he is found assessed as a
taxable in Nantmeal and Coventry townships, Chester Co., Pa. That
he was possessed of considerable estate, and was an ironmaster,
appears from record evidence of his association with Branson and
Nutt, pioneers of the iron industry in that State, in the erection
of a forge at Coventry, on French creek. His one-third interest in
this establishment, and the lands appurtenant, he sold to Branson
for L500, in December, 1725. In 1726 he is designated as a resident
of Chester county in a conveyance to him in that year of certain
lands in New Jersey. On May 10th, 1732, he obtained from Thomas
Millard, of Coventry, a conveyance of one thousand acres of land in
that part of Amity township, Philadelphia county, now included in
Exeter township, Berks county; the tract being a portion of sixteen
hundred acres formerly belonging to Andrew Robeson. The date of
this deed is conjecturally that of his first residence in what is
now Berks county, though it is possible that he may have come there
earlier. In 1732-33 he is found in commission as one of His
Majesty's Justices of the Peace.
His will dated Feb. 22, 1735 (O. S.), was proved
June 7, 1736, indicating very nearly the date of his death. By it
he divided his land in Amity township equally between his sons,
Mordecai and Thomas, making provision contingently for an expected
child, which, if a son, was to share the inheritance with his two
brothers, each to take a third part. A certain tract of three
hundred acres of land in the Jerseys he devised to his John, and
other lands in the same Province to his daughters Ann and Sarah,
leaving bequests to his remaining daughters, Hannah and Mary. His
wife Mary received the residue of his personal estate, and the use
of his plantation for life, being also constituted executrix. His
friends Jonathan Robeson and George Boone were designated as her
assistants in that office, according to a custom then prevalent.
The son John, who was by a former wife, was the
lineal ancestor of President Lincoln. He subsequently sold his land
in New Jersey, and emigrated to Rockingham county, Va., in 1765.
This date is established from the tax lists of Berks county and the
local records in Virginia in correspondence therewith. John had a
son Abraham who went to Kentucky in 1782, and two years later was
killed there by the Indians. Abraham left three sons, Mordecai,
Josiah and Thomas. The president was the son of the last named, by
his first wife, Nancy Hanks.
The posthumous son of Mordecai of Exeter, named
Abraham, half-brother of John, was born Oct. 29, 1736. He became
the most prominent member of the Berks county family in public
life. From 1773 to 1775 he was a County Commissioner; served as
sub-lieutenant of the county in 1777, was a member of the
Pennsylvania General Assembly from 1772 to 1786; delegate to the
Pennsylvania Convention of 1787 to ratify the Federal Constitution,
and a member of the convention which devised the State Constitution
of 1790. He died at his residence in Exeter township Jan. 31, 1806,
in his seventieth year. He married in 1761 Anne Boone, daughter of
James Boone, and his wife Mary Foulke. Her father's brother, Squire
Boone, was the father of Daniel Boone, the pioneer of Kentucky, and
a native of Berks county, to whom she was thus first cousin. Thomas
Lincoln, brother of Abraham, was a thrifty landholder, and was
sheriff of the county in 1758 and 1759. Mordecai Lincoln, the other
brother, remained a resident of Berks county up to about 1789,
removing to Dauphin county and subsequently to Fayette county,
Pennsylvania.
President Lincoln referred to his Pennsylvania
ancestors as Quakers. There is no evidence of the connection of the
New England Lincolns with the Friends. Some of the members of the
branch which came to Pennsylvania became affiliated with that
denomination through intermarriage. Anne Boone, wife of Abraham
Lincoln, the county commissioner, was brought under mild censure
for marrying out of meeting. The Boones were of English descent,
and staunch Quakers. George Boone, a native of Devonshire, who
emigrated to the Province in 1717, belonged for a time to the
Gwynedd Monthly Meeting, in Philadelphia county. Having acquired
lands in what is now Exeter township, Berks county, in 1718, and
settled there, he was appointed in 1723 by the Gwynedd Meeting to
keep the accounts of births and marriages of Friends in his
vicinity. He donated the ground for the meeting-house and burial-
place of the Oley Monthly Meeting, since called the Exeter Monthly
Meeting, constituted in 1737. The Boones were a prolific race, and,
together with the Lincolns, left numerous descendants, who were
among the most intelligent and respectable of the county stock. The
two families were closely associated, and in the Exeter Meeting
Ground the earlier generations of both lie buried.
Squire Boone, father of Daniel, removed in 1750
with his family to North Carolina, on the Yadkin river. Thence
after he had grown to manhood, Daniel went to Kentucky, and entered
upon his famous career as pioneer of that remote border land of
civilization. From the connection of the Boones and Lincolns in
Berks county, the inference is reasonably certain that the Southern
migration of John, the President's ancestor, in 1765, was the
direct result of that of the Boones, fifteen years previously.
A theory regarding the maternal ancestry of
President Lincoln is that his mother, Nancy Hanks, was descended
from a family of that name traceable in Berks county at the period
when the earlier generations of the Lincolns were seated there.
Nancy Hanks was a daughter of Joseph Hanks, of Nelson county, Ky.,
and one of her aunts on the maternal side married Abraham Lincoln,
of Virginia, the grandfather of the President and son of John. All
that is positively known upon this head is that a family by the
name of Hanks appears in the records of the Gwynedd Monthly Meeting
of an early date, and that the name of one Joseph Hanck is found
upon the list of taxables of the town of Reading between 1758 and
1763. Whether the latter was identical with the Joseph Hanks of
Kentucky, father of Nancy, is a matter of conjecture. In the
absence of more definite facts, either for or against the
supposition, no positive conclusion can be reached upon the
subject.
[On page 299 may be seen a cut of the building
where the children of Mordecai Lincoln, Sr., were born. It is
situated about a mile below Lorane Station, several hundred feet
north from the Philadelphia & Reading railroad, near a small
stream. An extension was built to the west end.]
p.
1147
Surnames: LINCOLN, GILBERT, KOUB, HAFER, FOCHT, RUTH, BIEHL, HOFFA,
STONER, YOUNG
Richard G. Lincoln, a retired citizen of Reading, Pa., and the
owner of the old Lincoln homestead in Exeter township, one of the
most historic spots in Berks county, was born in Exeter township,
Dec. 5, 1844, son of John D. and Sarah (Gilbert) Lincoln, and
grandson of Thomas.
Thomas Lincoln was a lifelong farmer in Exeter
township, and there died at the age of eighty-six years. He had
three children, John D.; Anna, m. to John Koub; and one daughter
who died young.
John D. Lincoln was born Dec. 1, 1814, in Exeter
township, and was engaged in farming there all of his life, he
owning a small tract of land. He died at the age of eighty years,
in Reading, his wife being eighty-four years old at the time of her
death. They were the parents of the following children: Amelia, who
died single; Alfred, of Exeter township; Harrison, of No. 935
Franklin street, Reading; Elizabeth, m. to Samuel Hafer; John , who
died in 1876; Richard G.; Martha, m. to David Focht; Anna; Sarah,
m. to Lewis Ruth, of Reading; Mary, m. to Daniel Biehl, of Reading;
and Oscar, who died at the age of two and a half years.
Richard G. Lincoln attended the public schools
of Exeter township and the Buttertown school. His first business
venture was the opening of the "Red Lion Hotel" at Baumstown, where
he remained for a period of thirteen years, after which he went to
Birdsboro, being there engaged in a company store for three years,
as clerk. Mr. Lincoln's next employment was with the E. & G.
Brooke Iron Company, in the same borough for a period of three
years, and in 1886 he came to Reading, where he was employed with
the Philadelphia & Reading Company, at the freight depot as
clerk. After seven years at the latter place, Mr. Lincoln went to
the lumber yard of Reuben Hoffa, of which he had charge.
On May 17, 1866, Mr. Lincoln married Hannah Y.
Stoner, daughter of George and Catherine (Young) Stoner, and to
this union there have been born children as follows: Roswell, a
graduate of the Reading high school and Stoner's Business College,
is now employed at the freight department of the Philadelphia &
Reading Company, and resides at home; Virginia, single, resides at
home. Mr. Lincoln is a Democrat, and has served as tax collector of
the Ninth ward. In religion he is a member of St. Stephen's
Reformed Church. He is an Odd Fellow, belonging to Lodge No. 314,
of Birdsboro, and a member of Castle No. 302, Knights of the Golden
Eagle, at Reading. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln reside at No. 220 North
Ninth street, and are much esteemed in their community.