History of Bucks County, Pa Volume 3 by William H. Davis
Names and Page # Index

ELIZA B. TROEMNER

ELIZA B. TROEMNER, of Point Pleasant, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, is a daughter of the late Ralph Stover and of his wife Eliza Stover, both of whom are descendants of Henry Stauffer, who was born in Alsace, and came to America with his wife Barbara Hockman, on the ship "St. Andrew," arriving in Philadelphia, September 9, 1749. They located on the Skippack in the present limits of Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where they resided for about ten years and then removed to Bedminster township, Bucks county, and located on two hundred and thirteen acres of land belonging to Chief Justice William Allen, of which Henry Stauffer completed the purchase and received a conveyance on June 12, 1762. This land remained the property of his descendants for a century. The children of Henry and Barbara (Hockman) Stauffer were: Ulrich, born July 16, 1750, married Barbara Swartz and lived and died on the homestead; Barbara, died young; Henry, born July 10, 1754, married Elizabeth Fretz and settled in Springfield township; Jacob, born May 13, 1757, died April 28, 1844, married (first) Elizabeth Swartz and (second) Catharine Stauffer; Ralph, born June 10, 1760, died November 7, 1811, married Catharine Funk, granddaughter of pioneer Bishop Henry Funk. The family name was changed to Stover on application to the legislature by Ralph Stover.

Ralph Stover was one of the prominent business men of his time, filling for many years the office of justice of the peace, a very important position in that section of the county, and did a large amount of public business in the transfer of real estate, settlement of estates, etc. He was a member of the state legislature from 1783 to 1799, and took an active part in state legislation of that important period of our history following the close of the revolutionary struggle. Mr. Stover was one of the first board of directors of the poor, created under the act of 1807, and superintended the erection of the first almshouse of the county. He purchased a farm of three hundred acres at the point where the Durham crosses the Tohickon, partly on Bedminster and Tinicum townships, where he died November 7, 1811, in the prime of life and usefulness.

Abraham F. Stover, eldest son of Ralph and Catharine (Funk) Stover, was born on the old homestead in 1786. He succeeded his father as justice of the peace and was twice elected to the state legislature. In 1833 he sold his interest in the old homestead and removed to Fauquier county, Virginia, where he died in 1854. He married Rachel Fretz, born 1787, died 1870, of the prominent family of that name in Bucks county, an account of which will be found in this work. Of their three sons, Charles, Albert, and Ralph, the two former died in Virginia.

Ralph Stover, born September 28, 1811, went to Virginia with his parents but returned to Bucks county in 1841. He married In October, 1838, Eliza, daughter of Henry S. and Barbara (Stout) Stover, and granddaughter of Jacob Stover, eldest son of Henry Stauffer, the emigrant. Her maternal grandfather was Isaac Stout, of Williams township, Northampton county, who was a son of Jacob and Anna (Miller) Stout, the pioneers of the family in America. Henry S. Stover was one of the pioneer millers on the Tohickon as well as a large land owner. Ralph Stover purchased of his father-in-law the mill property and farm at Point Pleasant long conducted by him, also the house still occupied by the subject of this sketch, where he passed a busy and successful life, living to an advanced age. He was one of the most active in the building of the Delaware river bridge at Point Pleasant, was also one of the projectors of the Danboro and Point Pleasant turnpike, and an officer of both corporations for many years. He was likewise interested in many other local enterprises. Ralph and Eliza Stover were the parents of twelve children, three of whom died young, and the names of the others are as follows: Robert C., of Virginia; Mary G., wife of Charles E. Keyser; John Henry, who was a soldier in the Union army during the civil war, was wounded at the terrible battle of Cold Harbor, Virginia, in 1864, and died of his wounds in Washington, D.C.; Eliza B., the subject of this sketch, who married Frederick W. Troemner, and their children are: Florence M., Clara Louise, and Henry, deceased; Ella, wife of John B. Lequear; Adelaide, wife of A. L. Thompson, of New York; R. Chester, of Bristol, Bucks county; Annie, wife of Albert Stover, of Kintnersville; and Albert F., of Point Pleasant. Frederick W. Troemner, aforementioned, was the son of Henry Troemner, who emigrated from Germany when a young man and in 1840 established in the manufacture of fine balances in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Upon the death of his father, Frederick W. Troemner succeeded to the head of the firm of Henry Troemner and so continued until his death, April 3, 1902.