History of Bucks
County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis
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ELMER E. ALTHOUSEElmer E. ALTHOUSE, editor and proprietor of the “Sellersville Herald,” was born in Sellersville, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, December 12, 1874 and is a son of Milton D. and Elizabeth (Nace) Althouse. The pioneer ancestor of the subject of this sketch was Arndt (Andrew) ALTHOUSE, who emigrated from Germany in the ship “Fane” arriving in Philadelphia on October 17, 1749. He located on the Tohickon, near Church Hill, in Haycock township. He and his wife Anna Maria were members of Tohickon Reformed church at Church Hill, and their son Daniel was baptised there March 4, 1753. Daniel ALTHOUSE was a farmer in Haycock township until 1785, when he located in Bedminster township, where he died in 1795. He was twice married and left the following children: Maria, Frederick, Abraham, Conrad, Michael, Jacob and Rebecca by the first wife, and Isaac, Elizabeth, Daniel, Martin and George by the second wife.* Frederick ALTHOUSE, born in Haycock in 1783, on attaining manhood located in Rockhill township, where he purchased of Andrew Schlichter a farm of eighty-seven acres on the Bethlehem road, near Sellersville, and lived there the remainder of his life, dying January 26, 1852. He married Susanna SCHLICHTER, of Rockhill township and had nine cildren who survived him, viz: Thomas, Elias, Daniel, James, Andrew, Elizabeth, wife of Enos Sellers; Hannah, wife of Isaac BARNDT; May, wife of Noah WEISEL; and Abigail. Elias ALTHOUSE, second son of Frederick and Susanna (Schlichter) ALTHOUSE, was born and reared in Rockhill township. He was born August 5, 1814 and died in July, 1869. At the death of his father he accepted a portion of the homestead and it was adjudged to him by the orphans’ court, and part of his allotment was a small lot included in the present limits of Sellersville borough. He was a tailor by trade, and probably lived on this lot and followed his calling. He moved back to Rockhill in 1856, and lived there until his death in 1869. He married Maria DIETZ, daughter of Abraham DIETZ, of Rockhill, and they were the parents of nine children, viz: Milton D.; Susanna, wife of Thomas R. LEISTER; Elizabeth, wife of Peter R. ZIEGENFUSS; Henry; John; Thomas; William: Amos; and Emma, wife of Charles HIMMELWRIGHT. Milton D.ALTHOUSE was born in Rockhill township, January 6, 1841 and was reared and educated in Sellersville. He learned the trade of a cigar maker when a boy, and worked at that trade for twenty-five years. He at one time owned and conducted a cigar factory in Sellersville. He has always taken on an active interest in the affairs of the town, and has filled in a number of local offices, serving as school director and member of borough council for several terms. In politics he is an ardent Republican, and for many years took an active part in the councils of the party. He was elected to the office of recorder of deeds of Bucks county in 1884, and served one term of three years. He has also filled the position of transcribing clerk in the recorder’s office. In 1889 he was appointed postmaster of Sellersville by President Harrison, and filled that position for four years. Since July, 1903, he has had charge of the rural free delivery on the Sellersville mail route. He and his family are members of the Reformed church at Schlichtersville, of which he has been an elder for twenty-two years, and deacon for eight years. He also filled the position of trustee and treasurer of the church. He is a member of the Knights of the Golden Eagle and Patriotic Order Sons of America. He married October 15, 1863, Elizabeth NACE, and they have been the parents of four children, of whom only Elmer E., the subject of this sketch, survives. Elmer E. ALTHOUSE was born in 1874, and was reared in Sellersville. He graduated from the Sellersville high school in 1891, and from Pierce’s Business College, Philadelphia, in 1892. He entered the law department of the University of Pennsylvania and graduated in 1896. He, however, had a taste for journalism, having been correspondent for Philadelphia and Doylestown papers for some years, and in 1897 started the “Sellersville Herald” in partnership with C. R. Addison. During the first year he purchased his partner’s interest and has since conducted the paper alone, which now has the largest subscription of any weekly paper in upper Bucks. He is also connected with the “Emaus (sic) Herald,” published at Emaus, (sic) Lehigh county, Pennsylvania. The “Herald” is a popular weekly local paper and exercises a potent influence toward the improvement and development of the town of Sellersville and vicinity. Mr. Althouse is deeply interested in the affairs of his native town, and has filled a number of local positions; he is now serving as borough auditor. He is a member of McCalla Lodge, No. 596, F. and A. M., and Sellersville Lodge, No. 658, I. O. O. F. Mr. Althouse married June 30, 1897, Margaret G.LEINBACH, daughter of Rev. Samuel A. and Margaret (EVERHART) LEINBACH, and they are the parents of two children—Samuel L., born October 12, 1899; and Mary Elizabeth, born March 23, 1905. The family are members of the St. Paul’s Reformed church, Sellersville. Text taken
from pages 340-341 of: Davis,
William W.H., A.M. History of Bucks County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis
Publishing Company, 1905] Volume III Transcribed
August 2000 by Thera Schwenk-Hammond; tsh@harborside.com;
http://wc.rootsweb.com/~schwenk of as part
of the Bucks Co., Pa., Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html Published
September 2000 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/ NOTE: Corrections posted by Thera Schwenk-Hammond According to the records of Tohickon
Reformed Church, Daniel Althaus married Anna Maria SCHEIB on 28 Sep 1773.
She died in childbirth in Dec 1782.He married Julianna SCHWENK on 29 Jun
1783; she was born Sep 1762. Mr. DAVIS was inaccurate in his statement
about which children were born to which marriage. Following
are the known dates of birth for some children: |