History: Local: CHAPTERS LXI - LXII : Lower Salford & Marlborough Townships : Bean's 1884 History of Montgomery Co, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Susan Walters USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/montgomery/beantoc.htm URL of html Table of Contents and illustrations. ¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼ BEAN'S HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA ¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼¼ 945 (cont.) CHAPTER LXI. LOWER SALFORD. By Wm. J. Buck. THIS may be regarded as one of the central townships of the county, and is bounded on the north and northwest by Franconia; south, by Perkiomen; northwest, by Upper Salford; and southeast, by Towamencin. In form it is nearly square, the greatest length and width being about four and a half miles, with an area of eight thousand nine hundred and thirty-six acres. The surface is rolling and the soil red shale and loam. It is a fertile and productive township, under good cultivation and abounds in excellent farm buildings. The Northeast Branch flows near its western boundary nearly four miles, receiving Indian Creek as a tributary. The Skippack has a course of two miles across its eastern corner. Into that stream Little Branch empties just outside the township, but near its southern boundary. These streams all furnish mill-power, which, in seasons of drought, through the want of unfailing springs, become seriously impaired. It is no unusual circumstance for the Skippack, although it has its origin in Bucks County, over five miles distant, to become entirely dried up a short distance above Mainland. The principal public improvement in Lower Salford is the Sumneytown and Spring House turnpike, finished in 1848, which passes across the entire breadth of the township for a distance of nearly five miles. The turnpike from Lederachsville to Harleysville, one and a half miles in length, was completed in 1868, and from the latter place to Souderton, on the North Pennsylvania Railroad, in 1865. The villages are Harleysville, Lederachsville and Mainland, each possessing a post-office. The population of Lower Salford, in 1800, was 524; in 1840, 1141; and in 1880, 1828. The real estate for taxable purposes, in 1882, was valued at $1,059,225, and including the personal property, $1,220,218, the. aggregate per taxable being $2711. In 1883 three hotels, four general stores, three jewelers, one boot and shoe, one hardware and one stove-store, one confectioner, one dealer in sewing-machines and three in flour and feed, were licensed. In 1858 the township contained only three stores. The public schools are ten in number, five months open, with all average attendance of three hundred and sixty pupils for the school year ending June 1, 1882. The census of 1850 returned 234 families, 234 houses and 136 farms. There are three houses of worship, belonging, respectively, to the Mennonites, Dunkards and Schwenkfelders. Three creameries have been recently established, -at Harleysville, Skippack Creek and Willow Dale. Salford was formed into a township in 1727, if not earlier, and then comprised thirty thousand acres of land. The name was given to it from a town and several parishes of this name in England. By order of the Court of Quarter Sessions, in March, 1741, its territory was divided into the townships of Lower Salford, Upper Salford and Marlborough. The bounds of the former are thus described,- "Beginning at a post in a line of Perkiomen and Skippack townships; thence by the same N. W. 685 perches to a Black Oak; thence by the same S. W. 86 perches to a Thorn Tree; thence by the same N. W. 204 perches to a post at a corner of Upper Salford township; thence by the same N. E. 126 perches to a post; thence by the same S. E. 2 perches to a post; thence by the same N. E. 78 perches to a stone; thence by the same N. W. 18 perches to a post; thence by the same N. E. 772 perches to a post; thence by the same N. W. 89 perches to a White Oak; thence by the same North East 165 perches to a post in a line of Franconia township; thence by the same S. E 886 perches to a post; thence by the same N. E. 145 perches to a White Oak; thence by the same S. E. 384 perches to a post at a corner of Towamencing township; thence by the same S. W. 1233 perches to the place of beginning containing 8165 acres." 946 These boundaries do not quite agree with the present representations of the township on maps. The Franconia line in the aforesaid boundaries has no existence, and then again we had several on the Perkiomen and Upper Salford line that have not been noticed. The fact becomes more and more apparent that there should be resurveys made of the townships and draughts thereof recorded, as well as monuments, planted at all boundary angles to save future disputes, particularly in the duties of township officials. There is no doubt that some settlement was made in the township prior to any actual surveys or purchase. The earliest known was a warrant granted September 10, 1717, to David Powel, of Philadelphia, for three thousand acres of land, to be located between the "Skepeck" and a branch of the "Parkyooman." This whole tract was very irregular in shape, and from it six hundred and ninety acres, located on the Northeast Branch, were sold to Garret Clemens, February 14, 1717-18. It has been supposed that Gabriel Shuler was one of the earliest settlers; his purchase from the Powel tract was five hundred acres, which has now become divided into no less than eleven portions. Henry Ruth came from New Britain, Bucks Co., and purchased, August 15, 1719, two hundred acres, and John Isaac Klein's purchase comprised two hundred and fifty acres. Claus Johnson, of Bebber's township, obtained two hundred and seven acres, and Conrad Custer about the same number; Hans Reiff, two hundred and forty-three acres; Andrew Lederach, about one hundred and twenty; John Lederach, one hundred and fifty; and Dillman Kulp about three hundred acres, which may have comprised the whole of Mr. Powel's original purchase. Claus Johnson and his wife, Catharine, "for the good will they bore to their son, John Johnson, granted unto him their aforesaid purchase. On the 5th of Third Month, 1719, a warrant was granted to Humphrey Morrow and John Budd directing Jacob Taylor, surveyor-general, to survey for them nineteen hundred and twenty acres, as a part of a five thousand acre purchase. They conveyed, April 4 and 5, 1720, to Derrick Johnson or Janson, five hundred acres of the tract, and the latter sold to Dillman Kulp, of Salford, January 4, 1721, two hundred and twenty-five acres. Nicholas Scull conveyed to Andrew, Lederach, April 2, 1728, one hundred and seven acres, adjoining his other land, and extending Up to the northwest side of the present Lederachsville. Derrick Johnson's tract was located at or near Indian Creek, and at a subsequent date five hundred and fifty acres more were granted him, being in all ten hundred and fifty acres. The southern corner of this tract was very near the Salford Mennonite Meeting-house, extending up along both sides of that stream to the Franconia line. Of this tract three hundred acres were still in his possession at his death about 1755. These lands he bequeathed to his son, Richard Hohnson, and the latter devised them to his sister, Catherine Wister, probably Caspar Wister's wife, whose name was Catharine. The latter afterwards bequeathed it to her two daughters, Catharine Greenleaf and Rebecca, wife of Samuel Morris, who sold off portions of it as late as 1790. In 1730, Caspar Wister and John Johnson purchased a tract of one thousand acres of Charles Reid, sheriff of Philadelphia, which was situated in the east corner of the township, extending from the Towamencin line towards Franconia, but on the north side of the present pike, it being watered by the Skippack Creek. One of the purchasers from the aforesaid was Hans George Delp, whose tract has also since become pretty well divided into smaller portions. Samuel Powel secured a grant, in 1721, in the south corner of the township. From him Jacob Reiff purchased five hundred and forty-six acres, and his brother, George Reiff, one hundred and sixty acres from the latter, on which they respectively settled and made the first improvements. Hans or John Reiff made his purchase from David Powel in 1718, and it is supposed that they, Gabriel Schuler and Henry Ruth, were among the earliest settlers in this section. Jacob Price or Preus was a purchaser, in 1720, of two hundred acres from Derrick Johnson, on Indian Creek, where he settled in 1721. The aforesaid list, though it may not be quite complete, will comprise the earliest purchases and settlers in the township. To the diligent investigations of James Y. Heckler, near Harleysville, the writer is under great obligations for matters connected with this township's history, especially for locating the purchases and residences of its early settlers. Thus, from the list of 1734, the following have been assigned to Lower Salford, though the township was not divided until seven years later, the whole containing sixty-three names: Garret Clemmens, 150 acres Jacob Clemmens, 100 John Clemmens, 50 Christian Allebach, 150 Henry Ruth, 100 Gabriel Schuler, 150 Hans Reiff; 100 Jacob Reiff, 150 George Reiff, 100 Andrew Lederach, 110 John Lederach, 150 Jacob Hoffman, 100 Nicholas Haldeman, 100 Christian Croll, 50 Christian Moyer, Jacob Price, 150 John Henry Snyder, 100 John Johnson, 150 Dillman Kulp, 150 John Isaac Klein, 130 Henry Slingluff, 50 Hans George Boochard, 100 Andrew Swartz, 150 Christian Stauffer, 120 Jacob Landis, 150 Galy Hefflyfinger, 150 Hans Clemmer, 100 John Vincent Meyer, 100 Hans Meyer, 150 John Scholl, 100 acres. The descendants of the Price, Clemmens, Johnson, Clemmer, Lederach, Kulp, Reiff, Croll, Allebach, Moyer and Landis families still hold lands in the township. Gabriel Schuler settled on his tract, nearly a mile south of Harleysville, beside the Little Branch, now the properly of G. D. Alderfer. His original purchase is stated to have been five hundred acres. In 1734 his land was represented to be one hundred and fifty acres. He appears to have been a mechanic, and made the pulpit of the old Goshenhoppen Church, which about 1747, he presented to the congregation of which be was a member. The road through the present Harleysville which was opened in 1735 to Gwynedd, passed by his house, which induced him, some time before 1758, to open a public-house which was kept by him for some time. The property descended to his son, Gabriel Schuler, Jr., who was rated in 1776 as holding one hundred and ninety acres, and keeping three horses and five head of cattle. 947 Jacob Price, or Preus, was a preacher among the Dunkards or German Baptists in Germany, and came from Witgenstein, in 1719, in company, it is stated, with Henry Slingluff. After a brief stay at Germantown with those of their denomination, he removed, in 1721, to his purchase by Indian Creek, in this township, which, in 1734, is represented to be one hundred and fifty acres. He soon erected a saw-mill on that stream, and did an extensive business. There has since been added a chopping-mill and later a grist-mill, owned now by J. K. Shutt. His son John married and settled down here, and had two sons, -Daniel and John. The latter moved to Franklin County, Pa., in early life. Daniel had thirteen children, of whom five sons and two daughters left descendants; their names being John George Henry William Daniel Elizabeth Hannah. Elizabeth was married to Jacob Weidner, and Hannah to John Clemmens. The aforesaid Daniel Price was rated in 1776 as holding three hundred and forty-five acres. The Price family has produced no less than seventeen ministers in the Dunkard Church. John Price, son of Jacob, was a poet as well as a minister, Christopher Saur, of Germantown, having published, in 1753, a small collection of his hymns. Elder William W. Price, who was born in 1789 on a part of the old homestead, in 1814, became a minister, which position he retained until his death, in 1849. He was the author of a number of German hymns, besides translating from the English some of the most popular, which were collected and published by J. E. Pfautz, at Ephrata, in 1838. Jacob Reiff who was one of the founders of the Reformed Church of Lower Salford in 1727, was born November 15, 1698, and was, most probably, the son of Hans George Reiff, who purchased two hundred acres of Henry Pennepacker, in 1724, and died in 1727. His widow died January 8, 1753, aged nearly ninety-one years. The aforesaid tract was situated in the southern corner of the township, and since been divided into four or five portions, the homestead being now owned by J. R. Tyson, a descendant of the family. The Jacob Reiff mentioned was an enterprising man, and did much to improve this section of the country. His purchase, made in 1727, it is supposed, comprised about three hundred and eighty-six acres, and lay adjoining the Towamencin line. He erected, about 1743, a grist-mill, thirty by sixty feet in size, near the mouth of the Little Branch, the race-way being nearly a mile in length. Jacob Reiff died February 16, 1782, aged upwards of eighty-three years; Anna, his wife, died October 28, 1788, aged seventy-nine. They were interred with the rest of the family in the burying-ground of the old Skippack Mennonite Meeting-house. He had sons, Jacob and George, and a daughter Catharine. Jacob Reiff, Jr., was born June 18, 1734, and married Catharine Schneider in August, 1756. They had seven children, - Jacob John Catharine George Elizabeth Anna Benjamin. John married Elizabeth, daughter of Christian Funk, and built what was known as the Funk Meeting-house, in 1814. They had three children, - John Elizabeth Mary. The latter John married a Miss Price, who was a member of the Indian Creek Dunkard Meeting. Both the aforesaid John Reiffs owned and resided at the mill. The latter bequeathed the meeting-house near his residence, but over the Towamencin line, to the Dunkards, who still retain it as a place of worship. He died about 1836-37, and the mill and farm descended to his son, Henry Reiff, who, through mismanagement, was compelled to part with it after so long a possession in the family, and it was purchased by Jacob Allebach, about 1839. In 1860 the mill was rebuilt and greatly improved, and in 1877 Joseph K. Nyce, the present owner, added a steam-engine, which is, however, only used in the dryest seasons. In the assessment of 1776 we find Jacob Reiff, Jr., rated on two hundred and seventy-five acres, having eight children, two Negroes, five horses and nine cattle, and thirty acres in Towamencin. George Reiff, brother of the aforesaid, was rated on two hundred acres, one servant, four horses and six cattle. The aforesaid Jacob Reiff, Jr., was the assessor of Lower Salford in 1776, and died February 25, 1816, aged eighty-one years, eight months and seven days; his wife, Catharine, died September 18, 1811, aged upwards of seventy-four years. George Reiff died January 24, 1808, and his wife, Elizabeth, June 25, 1817 aged seventy-seven years. Benjamin, son of Jacob Reiff, Jr., represented the county in the Assembly for seven years. The Reiffs have been an energetic family in Montgomery County, of whom a number have been millers. Among the Germans who settled in Germantown may be mentioned Rudolph Harley, who had a son Rudolph, born in 1719, who married Mary, daughter of Peter Becker, of Germantown. They had thirteen children, - John, born 1741 Joanna, 1743 Lena, 1745 Maria, 1747 Rudolph, 1749 Elizabeth, 1750 Jacob, 1752 Henry, 1754 Sarah, 1756 Samuel, 1758 Joseph, 1760 Margaretta, 1762 Abraham in 1765. Rudolph married Barbara Bush Samuel married Catharine, daughter of Christopher Saur, of Germantown; Joseph married Catharine Reiff Abraham, Christiana Geisz. Samuel, the fifth son of Rudolph, had ten children, - Daniel, born in 1787 Samuel, 1788 Mary, mother of Abraham H. Cassel, 1789 Sarah, 1791 John, 1792 Catharine, 1793 Joseph, 1795 Elizabeth, 1797 Jacob Abraham. In the assessment of 1776, Rudolph Harley is rated as holding two hundred and sixty acres of land, four horses and eight cattle; Rudolph Harley, Jr., three horses and six cattle; and Jacob as a single man. Samuel Harley, the son of Rudolph of the second generation, was born in 1758, and was the founder of Harleysville, to which place he moved about 1790. The property here came into possession of his son, Abraham Harley, who kept the hotel, at which the township elections were held and had the post-office established. 948 Christopher Kriebel and his wife, Maria, arrived in Pennsylvania in 1734, with their children, - George Susanna Christopher Anna Maria Rosina. He died May 14, 1741. George Kriebel married Susanna, daughter of Balthasar and Regina Yeakel, November 25,1740. Their children were George and Andrew. He died September 2, 1778, aged sixty-three years. Christopher Kriebel married Maria, daughter of George Dresher, August 10, 1748. Their children were Abraham Rosina Jeremiah Anna Susanna. He died December 3, 1800, aged eighty years. In the assessment of Lower Salford for 1776, Christopher Kriebel was rated for 120 acres; George Kriebel, 125; and Andrew Kriebel, 106 acres. Balthasar Heydrick and wife, Rosina, came to Pennsylvania in 1734. They had two sons, Christopher and George. The latter was born September 22, 1737, and married Rosina, daughter of Balthasar Krause, June 17, 1760. Their children were Susanna Balthasar Eve Rosina George. He was rated in the assessment of 1776, as holding one hundred acres. George died January 29,1824, aged eighty-six years, and his wife, Rosina, October 29, 1828, aged ninety-one years and six months. He owned the place now occupied by Samuel Heydrick, near the eastern corner of the township. Balthasar Hoffman arrived September 12, 1734, with his children, -Anna, Rosina, and Christopher. He was born in Harpersdorf, Silesia. He early embraced the religious principles of Caspar Schwenkfeld. By close application he gained a knowledge of the Latin, Greek and Hebrew languages, to enable him the better to understand the Scriptures. On the death of the Rev. George Weiss, the first minister of the Schwenkfelders in America, Mr. Hoffman was chosen to officiate in his place, which was acceptably filled. He died from increasing debility July 11, 1775, in his eighty-ninth year. His wife, Ursula, died May 15, 1767, aged eighty years. He resided on the east side of the Skippack Creek, adjoining Towamencin and the present meeting-house, the property being now owned by Henry Derstine. Christopher Hoffman, son of Balthasar, married Rosina, daughter of George Dresher, May 17, 1753. He died January 29, 1804, aged seventy-six years. He was an acceptable minister in the church. In the assessment of 1776 he was rated for a farm of eighty-three acres. George Weiss, the first minister of the Schwenkfelder denomination in America, was a son of Caspar Weiss, and was born in Harpersdorf, Lower Silesia, Austria, in 1687. He married, in 1715, Anna Meschter, of Langenneudorf. Owing to religious persecution, he, with his wife and friends, fled in the night, leaving their property behind, and went to Herrnhut, in Saxony, on the 5th of May 1726. During his eight years' stay at that place he followed weaving and teaching. He arrived in Pennsylvania in September 1734, with the colony of Schwenkfelders, and settled on a farm by the Skippack Creek, in Lower Salford. After a residence here of about a year and a quarter, Mr. Weiss was formally appointed the first minister and catechist of the denomination in this country. He continued in the office, giving general satisfaction until his death, which occurred March 11, 1740, in his fifty-third year. He was interred in the graveyard of the Lower Salford Meeting-house, where a stone has been erected to his memory as its first pastor. Some of the information here given, as also several other facts in relation to the Schwenkfelders in this section, has been obtained from the genealogical record of that denomination, published in 1879. On the 15th of April 1734, a tract of land containing six hundred and ninety acres was granted by patent to Garret Clements. Parts of this large tract were sold by him to his sons Jacob, Abraham and John. To the latter be sold, September 6, 1738, "a certain grist-mill messuage, plantation and tract of land, on a branch of Perkiomen Creek." The tract contained one hundred and forty-one acres. It is ascertained from old manuscripts that the grist-mill was built by Garret Clement, in 1726, and that Jacob Souder was the millwright and received for his labor thirty-three pounds. John Clements owned and operated the mill property to May 25, 1764, when he sold it to Frederick Alderfer, who conveyed it to his son, John, July 1, 1776. Although it does not appear that the Alderfers, were an early family in the township, they have now become numerous and influential, holding here a considerable amount of real estate. The voters' list for 1883 furnishes twenty-six names. In the assessment of 1776 we find the names of Frederick Alderfer, miller, holding four hundred and ninety acres and John and Jacob Alderfer, his sons. The mill property is situated on the Northeast Branch, a mile north of Lederachsville. It is now owned by J. S. Groff, a son-in- law of the family. The wooden bridge over the stream here was built by the county about 1835. George Heckler, the ancestor of that family was a son of Michael, and was born in 1736 at Retchweiler, in Lower Alsace, then belonging to France. He was apprenticed to the tailor trade, at fifteen years of age and he became free at eighteen. To perfect himself in the occupation, he was then required to travel three years as a journeyman. 949 This opportunity determined him to flee to America, if possible. He fortunately succeeded, and arrived in Philadelphia in the ship "Neptune," from Rotterdam, September 30, 1754. Such was his poverty that he was unable to pay his fare, and was sold by the captain for three years' service as a redemptioner. He was purchased by John Steiner, of Coventry township, Chester Co., opposite Pottstown, who paid for his time forty-eight dollars of our present currency. After his freedom he came to Lower Salford where he in 1764, married Christiana, daughter of Peter Freid. Through his industry and judicious management he succeeded so well that in 1785 he purchased his father-in-law's farm, of two hundred and forty-three acres, for two thousand pounds, or about twenty-two dollars per acre. He was in the general practice of carrying his surplus produce to the city on horseback. He died August 28, 1816, having attained upwards of eighty years, and left to his descendants a handsome estate, The Freid family were early settlers in Salford. In the list of 1734 is found the name of Hans Freid, owning one hundred acres. In the assessment of Lower Salford for 1776, John Freid is mentioned as holding one hundred acres, and Peter Freid, two hundred and ninety acres, one servant, three horses and seven cattle. The latter, besides two daughters, had a son, John, to whom he granted a water-right, dated May 4, 1775, on a part of the Gabriel Schuler property, for a dam to irrigate the meadow, which is kept in good repair to this day. There was at least one other son, whose name has been forgotten. Peter Freid had purchased the farm from Hans Reiff in March, 1746. He had resided on the place thirty-nine years, and in the erection of the Salford Mennonite Meeting-house was a liberal contributor. His death occurred in 1791, aged about seventy-six years. The Freids are still land-holders in the township, residing near the Franconia line. Christopher Dock, the noted teacher and poet, lived and died in Lower Salford. At what time he arrived from Germany has not been ascertained, but the earliest known of him is as a teacher at Germantown where he taught school at intervals for at least four years. He purchased in the township, the 28th of Ninth Month, 1735, a tract of one hundred acres for fifteen and one-half pounds, adjoining or near the Perkiomen line. Upon that tract be settled and made the first improvements. In 1738 he gave up farming and resumed teaching, which he continued with great success to the close of his life. At the request of Christopher Saur, the printer at Germantown, he was induced to prepare a work, in German, on school-teaching, which be was finally prevailed upon to have published in 1769, making a pamphlet of fifty-four octavo pages, containing practical suggestions on the subject. After the death of his wife be made his home with Henry Cassel, who was mentioned in the census of 1756 as a weaver and farmer. His daughter Margaret was married to Peter Janson, a well-to-do farmer in Skippack, and Catharine married Henry Strycker, of Salford. He was a zealous member of the Mennonite denomination, the religious element of which entered largely into his mode of education and for whom he alone labored. He died suddenly, in the fall of 1771, being found lifeless in his schoolroom, after the pupils had been dismissed. He was buried in the graveyard belonging to the old Skippack Mennonite Meeting, where probably no stone bears an inscription to denote the spot. Specimens of his "Fractur" and "Vorschriften" have been preserved in the Cassel family, and display splendid penmanship. Several of his hymns were collected and printed by Michael Billmyr, of Germantown, in 1790, and exhibit considerable merit. Some of these were expressly composed to be sung by his pupils, whom he instructed in vocal music. Inns were established in Lower Salford at an early period, owing to the opening of the main road leading from the present Sumneytown, through this township, down to Gwynedd in 1735. This, with the increase of settlement above, led to a considerable amount of travel to Philadelphia with produce or for merchandise. John Isaac Klein, kept an inn in the lower part of the present Harleysville, and also Gabriel Schuler, half a mile father down the road, no doubt some time before 1750. Both of those places possessed unfailing springs of water, which was a desideratum to travelers in dry - seasons. Some time before 1766, Frederick Dickensheit kept an inn, known as the sign of the "Stag," which was kept by George Schwenk in 1802, by Balthasar Heydrick in 1822, and afterwards by Wm. Reiff, who removed the sign about 1836. It has since been a private house, and is now owned by John Binder. Two inns were located at Mainland in the beginning of this century, if not earlier. One had for its sign the "White Horse," subsequently changed to "The Half-Way house," because situated midway between Maxatawny, (from whence there was considerable travel,) and the city. During the second schism of the Mennonite Church which originated near the beginning of this century, the portion who withdrew erected for themselves a small one-story stone, meeting-house, a mile northeast of Harleysville, near the present turnpike leading to Souderton. Those who built it were known as the Herrites, who held to extreme views, -among the rest, that members should not attend nor hear the preaching or teaching of any other denomination whatever, and that they should rigidly adhere to their doctrines. By 1850 they had diminished so that the building was used only as a school-house, and five years later was torn down. It is supposed now that they have become extinct here, but a few scattered members, are said to remain in the townships of Worcester and Whitpain, also in Lancaster County and some parts of the West. The late Professor I. D. Rupp, has written and had published a pamphlet on extinct denominations in Pennsylvania; whether they have been included by him among the number has not been ascertained. 950 Harleysville is situated on the Sumneytown and Spring House turnpike, in the northern portion of the township. It contains one hardware one tinware one shoe one feed and one general store two clothing manufacturing establishments one jeweler and watchmaker one undertaker one baker one hotel four physicians several mechanic shops a creamery and forty-two houses. It is an improving place and the buildings are large, neat and built of stone, frame and brick. In 1858 it contained a store, hotel, several mechanic shops and eleven houses, and in 1870 had increased to twenty dwellings. The turnpike to Sumneytown and the Spring House was built in 1848, the pike to Lederachsville in 1868 and to Souderton in 1865. The first and only house in the place during the Revolution was that of Nicholas Schwenk, a blacksmith, who owned here, in 1776, one hundred and fifty acres of land. Samuel Harley built a tavern-house here about 1790, and, in connection with the same, kept a store, for many years doing an extensive business. He is regarded as the founder of the place, and after him it has been called. Abraham Harley, son of Samuel, afterwards became the owner of the property and at his house the township elections were held for some time. In 1840 he succeeded in having the post-office established there, none previously being nearer than Sumneytown, five miles distant. The mail is now brought daily from North Wales over the turnpike. The oldest house in the township is supposed to be over one half a mile below his, and now owned by Adam Fisher. It was built by Nicholas Rary in 1748, one story high, but in 1812 was raised to two stories and repaired. The creamery at Harleysville was built in 1881, and its business has been increased to above twelve thousand pounds of milk, making daily four hundred and fifty pounds of butter, besides a considerable quantity of cheese. Lederachsville is situated near the central part of Lower Salford, and at the intersection of six roads. It has become an improving place, containing now two stores, a hotel, telegraph-office, smith-shop and twenty-three houses; It occupies an elevated situation, affording a fine prospect of the surrounding country, which is well cultivated and productive. The place, for its size, has been very little given to manufacturing. The post-office was established here in 1857, and Septimus Kriebel was appointed postmaster. The road passing through here from Sumneytown to Skippack is an ancient highway, having been opened in 1728, and being the first from this section leading to the city. The village owes its origin to Henry Lederach, who built the first house here in 1825. He next put up a blacksmith-shop and carried on smithing for several years, after which be opened a store. Another store was opened by Jacob Zeigler, about 1833, when Mr. Lederach obtained a license for a hotel, and thus the foundation for the village were laid. By the list of 1734, Andrew and John Lederach were the owners of three hundred acres of land. In 1776, Henry Lederach owned one hundred and thirty-two acres, Andrew Lederach one hundred and fifty, and John Lederach one hundred and fifty, denoting in the family an attachment to real estate. About one-quarter of a mile to the southeast of the village is the old Lederach graveyard, on the farm now owned by Abraham K. Freid. A stone has on it "C. L., 1776," another, " H. L., De. 24, 1799." An opinion is entertained that this ground has become reduced by cultivation and that some of the stones have disappeared. Several Indian squaw, were also buried here, being, the last survivors of those who lingered about in the village. This ground passed out of the Lederach family about twenty years ago, and it remains uninclosed and neglected. Mainland is situated on the turnpike to Gwynedd adjoining the Towamencin line and the Skippack Creek. It contains a store, hotel, post-office and thirteen houses, besides several mechanic shops. The bridge over the Skippack Creek was built by the county in 1843, at which time the tavern and store were kept by Jonas Boorse, and the place was then known only as Boorse's Tavern. The post-office was not located here until 1877. The inn, in the beginning of the century, had for its sign "The White Horse," subsequently changed to the "Half-way House." Another public-house existed about half a mile farther up the road towards Harleysville, which ceased business in 1834. During the Revolution, Washington and the army were encamped in this immediate vicinity for eight days, chiefly on the Towamencin side. About half a mile west of the village was the Stouffer property, now owned by J. D. Alderfer, which had been in their possession a long time. In October 1777, it was occupied by Mathias Stouffer, at whose house several of the American officers connected with the camp took lodgings. The roads through the village did not exist at that time but crossed the Skippack half a mile below, passing Stouffer's and entering the present road at the Mennonite meeting-house. This change was brought about in straightening the old road. Among the extensive industries of this section deserving notice is the manufacture of clothing for the city trade, which had its rise under singular circumstances. John Binder, a German tailor, residing on as small farm near Harleysville August 1849, proceeded to Philadelphia with a small load of produce to help meet his expense. Near Third and Market Street was a clothing-store kept by a German, with whom he was acquainted. From him he secured some work to take home and make up in his family. On returning it he secured more, and so from the honest and faithful manner that he attended to it the business kept increasing, so he was offered more than he and his family could make. 951 He then gave some of it out to other poor families of the neighborhood, until it became a remunerative business. He received the goods in a trunk and returned the clothing therein until sewing-machines became introduced, which enabled him to further enlarge the business. In the Rebellion he thus became enabled to take large contracts of making clothing for the army, so that his business from 1860 to 1863 amounted to $55,000 annually. His success had been such that he withdrew, and the business was taken up by others. His son, S. B. Binder, entered into it in April, 1874, hauling the goods every week in a wagon with one horse, but he soon after used a two- horse team and next three horses, until he has attained to four loads every week, making eight thousand four hundred garments or four hundred and thirty-six thousand eight hundred in a year, weighing over two hundred and ninety-one tons. Besides the aforesaid, the business also followed by John Egolf, in Harleysville, and by John Lutz, who resides about a mile distant. There are also others engaged in the clothing manufacture in Perkiomen and other townships, which, it will be seen gives considerable employment to families at their own homes, and thus greatly adds to the prosperity of the neighborhood, Mr. Binder alone now paying out annually for this labor nearly seventy thousand dollars. From the number of sewing-machines now used, a repairer of them resides in Harleysville, who has thus been kept busy for several years past. THE SCHWENKFELDER MEETING-HOUSE. -The meeting-house of this denomination is situated in the eastern corner of the township, near Skippack Creek, and within a few yards of Towamencin line. The present edifice is a one-story stone building, erected in 1869, thirty-five by forty-six feet in dimensions, and stands about one hundred yards from the road, beside a wood. The graveyard is small in size, not covering a quarter of an acre of ground, but is kept in neat condition. The names on the tombstones are Heydrick or Heidrick Fischer Flin Schreider Hoffman Meschter Kreibel Weand Faull. No stone was observed hearing an earlier date than 1801. Considering the time of its establishment, the number of graves appear small. The Rev. George Weiss, the first minister, was buried here in March, 1740. The present pastor is the Rev. George Meschter, son of Christopher and Catherine Meschter, born March 28, 1808. He resides on a small farm adjoining, in Towamencin. The services here are still confined to the German language. The congregation dates back to an early period, the members having settled around here probably in 1734, or soon after for Mr. Weiss; was formally made their minister in 1735 or the following year, in which capacity he served them until his death. He was succeeded by the Rev. Balthasar Hoffman, who remained in charge till near his death, which took place in 1775, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, and he is also buried here. Through the exertions of the Rev. Christopher Schultz a more complete organization of the church was effected which went into operation in August, 1782. No edifice was expressly used by them for worship in the county until 1789; previously for this purpose the society assembled at private houses, and in the absence of a pastor the services were conducted by one of the members. There was a school-house at this place, erected in 1764, which was also used by the members for worship down to the erection of the present meeting-house, in 1869. The school was kept in operation through a fund of seven hundred and fifty pounds, Pennsylvania currency, raised by subscription, the interest of which was early applied for the purpose. During the French and Indian war the members settled around here raised by subscription the handsome sum of two hundred and sixty pounds in aid of the Friendly Association, to gain and preserve peace with the exasperated Indians on the frontiers. This paper was signed by forty-two persons, and is dated Lower Salford, November 13, 1756. They state therein "that they are a few families of a dispersed people from Silesia, who have always, under God's blessing, maintained themselves by the labor of their hands, having been forced to leave their estates behind." The names of these subscribers are George Andrews George Kriebel Byer's Estate George Heydrick Balthasar Heydrick Hans Heebner George Hoffman Christopher Heebner David Heebner George Heebner Caspar Heydrick Melchior Hartranft Christopher Hoffman Balthasar Hoffman Christopher Yeakle Abraham Yeakle Balthasar Yeakle Caspar Kriebel Balthasar Krauss Christopher Kriebel Melchior Kriebel Christopher Krauss George Dresher Christopher Dresher Melchior Meister Christopher Meister David Meister Christopher Neuman Christopher Reinwalt Melchior Scholtz George Scholtz Gregorius Scholtz David Scholtz George Scholtz, Jr. Christopher Scholtz Caspar Seipt Johannes Yeakle Christopher Yeakle Maria Yeakle Christopher Wagner Hans Weigner Melchior Weigner. These, no doubt, constituted the larger number of the denomination then residing within the present limits of the county to which it has in the past been almost confined. They are said to have become extinct now for some time in Europe. Hence the greater interest has been attached to their history here. They have always been a well-disposed and industrious people, remarkable, according to their lately published "Genealogical Record," for longevity. THE SALFORD MENNONITE-MEETING HOUSE. -This place of worship is situated about one mile west of Harleysville, and was built in 1850 of stone, one story high, forty-five by fifty-five feet in dimensions. It stands on elevated ground, with ample shedding attached and an open, unfenced woods adjoining. Josiah Clemmer, the bishop, resides in Franconia and his diocese extends also over Lower Salford and Towamencin. The ministers are Isaac C. Clemmer and Jacob C. Moyer; Deacon, Jacob Kulp. The membership is upwards of two hundred and fifty. The services are still exclusively confined to the German. The grounds attached to the meeting-house comprise ten acres, upon which is also erected a dwelling for the sexton. 952 The graveyard is large, and many have been buried here. The oldest tombstone observed bears the date of 1741 and another of 1760. The surnames which appear upon the stones are Alderfer Kolb Oberholtzer Frederick Lederach Freid Detweiler Gottschall Hoering Clemer Benner Ritter Kratz Saylor Zeigler Neisz Shelly Schlafer Krupp Scholl Metzger Bean Moyer Clemense Lukens Heckler Greisz Sleiber Merkle Musselman Stoll Kensey Schultz Sauder Groff Snyder Cassel Berge Springer Schott Halteman Weber Custer Pannebacker Weil Metz Deterey Hunsberger Hendricks Rosenberger Wampole Richards Hose Nyce Delp Bealer Lower Wierman Strunck Butterweck Trumbauer Tyson. The tombstones are of various sizes and designs, some being four and a half feet high, and the inscriptions are about as numerous now in English as in German. The Mennonites, though a plain people in dress, unlike the Society of Friends, permit individuals to exercise their own Judgment respecting the size, inscription and pattern of their monuments, as may be observed in any of their cemeteries. The congregation possesses no early records; hence the time of the erection of the first house of worship here is uncertain. Some have made it as early as 1730, and it is probable that it goes back at least to 1741. Henry Ruth, whose residence was here from 1718 to 1747, mentions, in a deed to Christian Stouffer, that one acre had been taken out for the use of a Mennonite meeting-house ground, without giving any date. Some have supposed the present meeting-house the third erected here. The one torn down in 1850 is represented as a very ancient-looking structure. Among the ministers here in the past have been -Oberholtzer, Christian Haldeman, Isaac Alderfer, John Bergey and Jacob Kulp. The Mennonites are a numerous body in Lower Salford and the adjoining townships of Franconia, Hatfield, Towamencin and Perkiomen. As a people, they show a strong attachment to an agricultural life, being prudent managers, excellent farmers and supporting their own poor. THE SALFORD DUNKARD MEETING-HOUSE. -This meeting-house is situated near the extreme northern corner of the township, on the turnpike leading to Sumneytown, and on the west side of Indian Creek which name has also been applied to this congregation. The present substantial house of worship was built in 1851, of stone, thirty-eight by fifty-six feet in dimensions, with a basement kitchen and fireplace for the purpose of holding love-feasts and communions. The present ministers are William P. Nice Jonas Harley Henry A. Price Jacob Booz, with a membership at present reaching nearly two hundred. Baptisms are performed in the neighboring stream, usually in the meadow of Abraham H. Cassel. There is no graveyard here, the rock being so near the surface as to render it impracticable for the purpose. To accommodate this need, the Harley and Stouffer burial-grounds, near by, have been enlarged. to four times their former size for the use of the congregation. The former is located just over the Franconia line, and was commenced by Rudolph Harley in 1745; one tombstone has the date of 1758. On this lot a frame meeting-house, thirty by forty-two feet, was built in 1843, in which worship is held on alternate Sundays. Members of this denomination were among the early settlers in the neighborhood, Indians being still in the vicinity and residing by the stream, from which circumstance it received the name. Jacob Price, a minister in Germany, settled here in 1721, and with several others is stated to have organized a society for holding worship at private house, in 1723. At what time the first meeting-house was erected here is not exactly known, but it was, no doubt, before the close of the last century. It was a frame structure, of about thirty feet square, to which, in 1830, was made an addition of twenty feet and the whole placed in good repair. But the congregation increasing, and again becoming too small, it was resolved in 1851 to tear the whole down, when the present meeting-house was erected in its place. For this purpose the ground was given gratis by Abraham Harley and John Price. The deed therefor was executed May 1, 1806, and was conveyed in trust to Rudolph Harley Samuel Harley Ulrich Stouffer Abraham Kampfer George Reiff George Price Henry Price, in behalf of the members. The aforesaid surnames are still those of the leading families, except that of Kampfer, which has become extinct. The Price family here has furnished no less than seventeen ministers to the church, Henry A. Price being now of the sixth generation. In 1870 the Dunkards, or German Baptists, as they are sometimes called, had nine houses of worship in the county. THE STORY OF REIFF'S EARLY CHURCH. -It is supposed that one of the earliest organized Reformed congregations possessing a house of worship in charge of a regularly ordained minister in Pennsylvania was located in Lower Salford, about two miles south of Harleysville, and nearly three-fourths of a mile west of the Skippack Creek. In this immediate vicinity resided Jacob Reiff, who made a purchase, in 1727, of several tracts of land, supposed to be in all three hundred and eighty-six acres, upon which he made extensive improvements; among the rest, a gristmill, in 1743, thirty by sixty feet in dimensions, near the mouth of the Little Branch and Towamencin line. His parents and several brothers also settled in the vicinity on extensive purchases that they had made somewhat earlier. 953 The Rev. George Michael Weiss, a Reformed minister, who had graduated at Heidelberg, and a native of Stebbach, on the Neckar, arrived in Philadelphia in the ship "William and Sarah" September 21, 1727, accompanied by a considerable number of his countrymen. He is represented as speaking the Latin fluently, and in the spring of 1730 advertised in the "American Weekly Mercury" to teach logic, natural philosophy and metaphysics. Report has it that he came immediately after his arrival into Salford with some of his followers, and here he at once organized a congregation, with the assistance of those that had preceded him in the neighborhood, who that fall erected a log church, the first belonging exclusively to this denomination in Pennsylvania. The Rev. John Henry Goetschy attended here during 1731. Mr. Weiss reported in that year that the Reformed members numbered fifteen thousand in America, which appears a high estimate. The trustees of the church are stated to have been Jacob Deemer Michael Hillyas Peter Hillyas Jost Schmidt Henrich Weller Jacob Siegel William Rohrich. In 1729, or the following year, Mr. Weiss, in company with Jacob Reiff, who had now become an elder, proceeded to Holland to make collections in behalf of the denomination and for the purchase of Bibles and other religious works. The Rev. Michael Schlatter, on his arrival in America, was instructed by the Synods of North and South Holland to visit Mr. Reiff and Mr. Weiss for an account of the moneys they had collected and had disbursed for the benefit of the Pennsylvania churches. After considerable trouble and delay, in October, 1746, the matter was settled by arbitration, though it appears from the correspondence on the subject not very satisfactorily, by Mr. Reiff refunding one hundred and thirty-five pounds after deducting his expenses. The result was that the matter made considerable talk, so much so that Mr. Schlatter came out in a brief advertisement in Mr. Saur's Germantown paper to calm the public mind by exonerating Mr. Reiff's conduct, without any allusion, however, to Mr. Weiss' participation, which did not mend matters, and may have led to his abandonment of the Skippack congregation from that date. Unfortunately, in this connection, the church had been built on a portion of Mr. Reiff's land, and he is charged with having refused to give a title or deed to the members for the ground; hence they became so disgusted as to be unwilling even to keep it in repair, and thus it went to decay. But the most unfortunate affair in connection with it was the fate of the graveyard, in which, no doubt, interments were made as early as the erection of the church, and which was actually used for this purpose until about the year 1800. Some have estimated that within that period from one hundred to one hundred and sixty may have been buried here. Besides the common stones, there were here between thirty and forty white marble tombstones with inscriptions. Among those remembered were stones to the memory of Gabriel Schuler and wife Catharine besides others of the name and several of the Stong family. The property, by purchase, came in possession of Jesse Anderson, who built the house here about 1841 or 1842. He was a mason with a family of boys who are charged with having commenced taking up the tombstones while he was following his trade. It was eventually sold by John W. Stouffer, the sheriff, December 10, 1859, to John George Nuss as containing seventeen acres of land. He was a native of Germany and moved on the place and now commenced removing the remainder of the stones until they all disappeared when the ground was put tinder cultivation. It is said that several neighbors remonstrated with him on the subject to which he replied that he had bought all and would cultivate all. The tradition of the neighborhood is that the tombstones were put in wash-gullies and covered over, likely to be revealed some day some day. Mr. Nuss and Anna Maria his wife sold the place April 6, 1864, to Elizabeth Berndt, as is mentioned in the deed for eighteen acres; thus it will be seen through the demolition of the graveyard the place had not been reduced in area. We shall now return to the old church, that, through neglect, was hastening to decay. The Old Goshenhoppen Church, five miles distant, was erected jointly by the Lutherans and Reformed in 1744, but was not fully finished until 1748. It was sufficiently near to somewhat affect the membership. Hence it was the policy of the congregation to locate at some advantageous spot more remote from the former, and thus it came that they finally fixed, in 1760, upon the present site of Wentz's Church, in Worcester township, but little over two miles distant, on the old Skippack road. The deed of conveyance for the ground is dated January 2, 1762, from John Lefevre and Christina, his wife, and Jacob Wentz, and Elizabeth, his wife, to Philip Wentz, Peter Wentz, Jacob Weber, Philip Spare, Henry Conrad and Jacob Reiff, Jr., in trust for the congregation. The church was commenced in 1762, but was not fully completed until 1771. The Rev. George Michael Weiss received the charge of the New Goshenhoppen and Swamp congregations in 1746, and continued there until his death, in 1761. He was buried in the New Goshenhoppen Churchyard, where a neat marble stone has been erected to his memory. Jacob Reiff died February 16, 1782, aged eighty-three years, and was buried in the graveyard of the old Skippack Mennonite meeting-house, a greater distance from his residence than to Wentz's Church. There is reason to believe that through the investigations of his financial affairs with the church, and the scandal it led to, he severed his connections therewith as a member, and no evidence has yet been produced to the contrary. Jacob Reiff Jr., mentioned in 1762 as one of the trustees of Wentz's Church, was his son. 954 In connection with the Reiff Church, as it has been commonly called, considerable error has been disseminated. -Mr. Weiss having been made its pastor several years before he had actually arrived in America. The church has been represented as having been torn down at dates many years apart and its materials applied to various contradictory uses, without any plausibility as to the facts. The fate of this church and its graveyard certainly teaches a humiliating lesson on human avarice; for through this cause the site of either can now scarcely be pointed out, though the traditions concerning them will long linger with no credit to the parties that have hastened the result. ASSESSMENT OF LOWER SALFORD, 1776. Jacob Reiff, Jr., assessor, and William Gergas, collector. Rudolph Harley, 260 acres, 4 horses and 8 cows Jacob Grubb, 130 a, 3 h., 6c Harman Acke, 45 a., 2h., 2c Gabriel Kline, 150 a., 1 servant, 3 h., 5 c John Alderfer, 1 h., 5 c Jacob Alderfer, 1h., 3 c Isaac Kratz, 2 h., 2 c Valentine Kratz, 150 a., 2 h., 4 c William Gergas 150 a., 3 h., 5 c Abraham Clements, 250 a., 4 h., 7 c Christian Bergey, 150 a., 5 h., 7 c Christian Halteman, 130 a., 3 h., 3 c Isaac Markley, 125 a., 3 h,, 5 c Henry Hefflefinger, 180 a., 2 h., 2 c Jacob Heffiefinger, 1 h., 2 c Godshalk Godshalk, 150 a., 3 h. 5 c Andrew Zeigler, 320 a., 1 h., 2 c Dilman Zeigler, 220 a., 4 h., 6 c Henry Lederach, 132 a., 2 h., 6 c Jacob Clements, 150 a., 2 h., 6 c Christopher Dickensheit, 100 a., 1 h., 2 c Frederick Dickensheit, 32 a., 2 h., 3 c Nicholas Schwenk, smith, 150 a., 3 h., 4 c Daniel Price, 345 a., 4 h., 8 c John Johnson, Jr., 2 h., 5 c Nicholas Johnson, deceased, estate 150 acres Gabriel Schuler, Jr., 190 a., 3 h., 5 c Rudolph Harley, Jr., 3 h., 6 c Andrew Zeigler, Jr., 3 h., 6 c John Smith, miller, 1 h., 3 c George Schwenk Frederick Alderfer, miller, 490 a., 3 h., 3 c., and a grist-mill Peter Freed, 290 a., 1 servant, 3 h., 7 c John Freed, 100 a., 1h 1 c Garret Stouffer, 193 a., 2h, 6 c Jacob Shoemaker, 141 a., 2 h., 1 c., a cripple Jacob Shoemaker, Jr., 2 c Henry Cassel, 100 a., 2 h., 3 c Jacob Reiff George Reiff, 200 a., 1 servant, 4 h., 6 c Jacob Reiff, Jr., 275 a., 2 Negroes, 5 h 9 c., 30 acres in Towamencin, 8 children Philip Stong, 178 a., 3 h., 6 c., 11 children Mathias Stoufrer, 80 a., 1h., 4 c Joseph Evans, 2 c Christian Moyer, 232 a. 5 h., 7 c Christian Stouffer, 38 a., 1 c Barnhart Getz, 120 a., 3 h. 1 c Jacob Bozart, 120 a., 3 h., 3 c Valentine Haake, 1 c Samuel Delp, 140 a., 3 h., 4 c Christopher Hoffman, 83 a., 2 h., 4 c William Yokum, 50 a., 1 h., 1 c Christopher Krieble, 125 a., 3 h., 5 c Andrew Krieble, 106 a., 2 h., 6 c George Krieble, 125 a., 2 h. 5 c George Heydrick, 100 a., 3 h., 3 c Michael Zeigler, 3 h., 4 c Garret Clements, 135 a., 3 h., 6 c Abraham Alderfer, 1 h., 2 c Paul Knaper, 50 a., I h., 3 c John Conrad 1 c Henry Hopple, 2 c Henry Reary Christian Dull John Schneider SINGLE MEN.- Yillus Kassel Henry Wierman Abraham Gergas Abraham Bergy William Gergas Gerhart Clements John Price Jacob Harley Frederick Lichtner Abraham Kreible Abraham Grubb Joseph Alderfer. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. SAMUEL B. BINDER. In the northern part of Montgomery County there is no one who is at this time doing as much to advance the prosperity and business interests of the people as Samuel B. Binder, the subject of this sketch. Born and reared in Harleysville, in said county, he is in every sense one of the county's most enterprising young business man. He is never content unless he sees men and women busy in his employ, and without him Harleysville would he dull indeed. His father, John W. Binder, was born in Wuertemberg, Germany, April 18, 1819. Arrived at a suitable age, he was placed at the hatter's trade, in which be became an efficient workman. He also learned the tailor's trade. His trade in all its details mastered, he commenced the manufacture of hats and traveled over a great deal of Europe in selling his goods. For his first wife be married Miss Magdelena Meier, who bore him one son, Frederick M. B. Binder. She died in Wuertemberg. His second wife was Miss Christina Bond, who was also born in Wuertemberg. To them have been born ten children, four only reaching man and woman's estate, viz.: Jacob B. John B. (now deceased) Samuel B. Sallie B. Jacob B. married Lizzie Frederick, who has born him three children. He is a carriage-builder and carries on business in Harleysville. Sallie B. married Jacob Moyer, a carriage-painter, now in the employ of his brother-in-law, Jacob B. Binder. In 1846, John W. and his family immigrated to America and settled down at the corner of Sixth and Brown Streets, in Philadelphia. He had but little of this world's goods, but he possessed what was of more account, viz.: honesty, energy and industrious habits. He found employment with Solomon Gans, one of the oldest ready-made clothing merchants in the city; also with the Schloss Brothers. He moved with his family to Towamencin Township, in Montgomery County, where he rented a small farm. and in a small way commenced truck-farming. He had but small means, and his start was with one cow, one horse and other things in like proportions. His marketing was done under grave difficulties, as he could neither understand nor talk English. He learned the name and price of what he had to sell by standing around the market and hearing what others said. He would bring a basket, and in it take back to his home unmade garments, part of which he would make, the rest put out among his neighbors, and in this humble way was started a business which has grown in magnitude until it gives employment to hundreds of people and requires the use of many thousands of dollars annually. His start was made in the days of State banks, and to avoid getting bad money he marked each bill so that he knew of whom it was obtained. He kept increasing his business and gave out the goods all through the northern part of Montgomery and part of Bucks Counties. During the war he had large contracts for making soldiers' clothing, and he also dealt largely in sewing-machines, which he sold by the car-load. His first purchase of real estate was a brick house and small piece of land near Harleysville, where he carried on the manufacture of clothing. He next bought a farm on which he built a dwelling-house and a large store, and then carried on farming as well as manufacturing. Mr. Binder's first book- keeper and managers was Albert Bromer, now an extensive manufacturer of clothing at Swenksville, Pa. Soon after the war he bought of Mr. Freed a farm of nearly one hundred acres on which he built the large establishment in Harleysville, in which he carried on, in a still more extended way, his business. 955 He soon after took in as partner Frederick Beck and John G. Egolf, the firm becoming known as Binder, Beck & Egolf. After this he moved to Philadelphia, but still continued in the firm. After a time he dissolved partnership with Messrs. Beck and Egolf, and carried on the business with the assistance of Wm. Olaboch, of Sumneytown. Becoming weary of work, he turned the business over to his son, F. M. B. Binder, who carried it on for several years, then failed, after which for a year or more the establishment in Harleysville remained idle. PICTURE OF SAMUEL B. BINDER, APPEARS HERE. In 1873, Mr. Binder, having returned to Harleysville, commenced business on a small scale, but soon became disgusted with it and sold out to his youngest son, Samuel B. Binder, who was born in Harleysville on the 18th day of April, A.D. 1853. Thus Samuel B., in the twentieth year of his age, in the midst of the hard times caused by the panic of 1873, commenced in a small way the manufacture of ready-made clothing and dealing in sewing- machines. In the start the goods were hauled to and from the city in wagons. But his work becoming too great and too much extended for teaming to be practicable, he ships to different points on the line of the railroad, from whence they are taken by his teams and distributed among the hundreds of people who find employment through his energy and splendid business tact. The unmade garments are taken from the wholesale clothiers in the city by Mr. Binder, and made up under his instructions by the country people, who from far and near are glad of this means of making an honest dollar. He also has sub-agents, who have worked done in Coopersburg, East Greenville and other places. Mr. Binder has an office at Philadelphia, where be manages and directs his increasing and now large business. He will, in the spring of 1885, move his family to North Wales, which will make his connection with his city office easier to keep up and still be in the midst of his work. In politics Mr. Binder is, as are his father and brothers, an ardent Republican, and while he is not and has never been an aspirant for office, he still takes an active interest in and is an efficient worker of his party. He was married, September 14, 1878, to Miss Carrie Hartzell, daughter of Josiah and Barbara (Benner) Hartzell. She was born in Telford, Bucks Co., Pa., on the 7th day of October 1860. They have two children, - Ella H. and an infant son. 956 CHAPTER LXII. MARLBOROUGH TOWNSHIP. THE township of Marlborough is bounded on the northeast by Bucks County, south and east by Upper Salford, southwest by Frederick and the borough of Green Lane and northwest by Upper Hanover. Its greatest length is five miles, and greatest width three miles, with an area of one hundred and fifty square miles, or eight thousand five hundred acres, having been reduced, in 1875, about one hundred and fifty-four acres by the incorporation of Green Lane. The surface is rolling sad the soil red shale. A rocky elevation commences near Sumneytown, between the East Swamp and Ridge Valley Creeks, and extends northeastwards into Bucks County. The Perkiomen flows along its southwest boundary, and East Swamp Creek through its eastern portion. The latter stream empties into Ridge Valley Creek at Sumneytown, and has been celebrated for its powder and oil-mills, which, in 1849, were twelve in number, one-half being powder-mills. The township is drained by the Perkiomen, East Swamp, Ridge Valley and Macoby Creeks. Its name is supposed to have been in honor of the Duke of Marlborough, whose military exploits gave him a wide celebrity about the year 1706, and who died 1722. The formation of the township appears to have taken place about 1745. The earliest settlement known within its limits was that of Thomas Mayberry, who purchased a tract of land, in 1730, containing twelve hundred and forty acres, on which he subsequently erected a forge near where the present borough of Green Lane is situated. This forge was in operation for some years prior to 1747. In the year 1785, Andrew Reed was appointed assessor, with Henry Snyder and Mathias Scheifly assistants, to levy a tax under the following directions: "MONTGOMERY COUNTY, August 15, 1785. "The quota required of Marlborough township is Ninety-five pounds, Fourteen shillings and five pence, which quota is to be raised by an equal assessment on the estates, real and personal, and on single Freemen, according to an act of General Assembly, passed in Philadelphia, the 16th day of March, 1885, [sic] for furnishing the quota of this State towards paying the annual interest on the debt of the United States, and for funding and paying the interest on the public debts of this State for said year." Taxables.- Nicholas Koons, 100 acres Joseph Himmelright, 2 horses and 2 cows Jacob Stahl, 180 acres Andrew Werner, 20 acres Jacob Young, 40 acres Thomas Mayberry, 400 acres, 55 acres of rock land, 14 horses, 6 cows (this was doubtless the old forge property and the first purchaser above referred to) Andrew Reed, 150 acres, 414 acres of rock land, 10 horses and 7 cows, 1 tan-yard, 1 saw-mill Henry Kneip, 100 acres and dwelling Ludwig Harsh, 102 acres Sebastian Gates, 115 acres, 1 grist-mill, 1 oil-mill, 1 servant Antony Sell, 125 acres Jacob Long, 196 acres Adam Bosert, 150 acres Matthias Walters, 170 acres Andrew Young, 150 acres John Shelly, 182 acres John Bachman, 70 acres George McReiter, 70 acres Adam Mangole, 87 acres John Swiseforte, 50 acres John Barnet, 81 acres Balser Reed, 105 acres Philip Koons, 113 acres Adam Henry, 132 1/2 acres George Rote, 281 acres Nicholas Miller, 214 acres, 126 acres of rock land Daniel Kryder, 62 acres. 1 small hammer, 1 hemp-mill Jacob Dost, 110 acres Christian Schair, 100 acres Matthias Scheifeley, 131 acres, 100 acres of rock land, 3 horses, 5 cows, 1 Negro girl, 1 servant Nicholas Eidemiller, 28 acres and dwelling John Schuler, 150 acres Conrad Zimmerman, 231 acres Martin Kawler, 105 acres. The following single men were assessed: Charles Zolly Samuel Cooper Gabriel Schuler Abraham Zimmerman Peter Zimmerman Abraham Kaufman George Yost Martin Wedkneicht Martin Stroin Henry Ewald Peter Zeller Frederick Heist John Bishop Peter Long John Kryder Jacob Shaffer Joseph Nice. These seventeen single men were assessed to pay in the aggregate £11 13s. 6d. There were 123 taxables returned by the assessors for 1785; for 1828, 197 for 1858, 329 for 1884, 336 The population in 1800 was 645 in 1830, 952 in 1850, 1174 in 1870, 1,303 in 1880, 1,212 Value of taxable property, 1884, was $391,820. The Sumneytown and Spring House Turnpike Company was incorporated 1845, and opened their road for public travel in 1848, through this township. The Perkiomen turnpike passes through the southwestern portion from Perkiomenville to Green Lane. The Green Lane and Goshenhoppen, and the Sumneytown and Gerysville turnpikes also pass through a portion of the township. The early forges, powder-mills and oil-mills erected on the Perkiomen and tributaries, and the great amount of hauling necessary in conducting them, induced the people to construct hard roads, and the several turnpike companies were encouraged to locate and build their highways through Marlborough by liberal subscriptions of stock among the business men within its limits. There are three villages in the township, -Sumneytown, Hoppenville and Marlboroughville. The largest is Sumneytown, long known as the largest village in the northwestern part of the county, situated on the north side of East Swamp Creek, a mile and a half above its junction with the Perkiomen, and about half a mile southeast of the borough of Green Lane. This is an early settlement, and Nicholas Scull, in 1758, mentions Dorn's inn as located here at the forks of the road. The place received its name from Isaac Sumney, [See NOTE.] who, in August, 1763, purchased one hundred and thirty acres of land, and shortly after kept for some time, a tavern, and probably succeeded Dorn in the business. [NOTE.] "Sumneytown was named after Isaac Sumney who on August 24, 1763, purchased one hundred and thirty acres of land in Marlborugh Township, which included part of the present site of the village Mr. Sumney had been a land owner in the township for, twenty-four years previous, to that time, and had most likely been a resident of the village before the time of this purchase. Mr. Sumney opened the first tavern in the village sometime before the Revolution the old frame building in the forks if the Maxatawny and Macungie roads, which is still standing and forms part of the present Sumneytown Hotel. He also erected a brewery, near the tavern, where he is said to have made most excellent beer." -Super's "Perkiomen Valley." 957 The building he occupied is supposed to be still standing, and forms a part of the present hotel. It is said that he also erected several other buildings. The earliest mention we have found of "Sumneytown," is on Howell's large map of 1792, on which it is thus called. An act was passed January 19, 1802, that the townships of Upper Hanover, Marlborough, Upper Salford and Franconia, constituting the Eighth District, shall hold their general elections at the house of John Scheid, at this place. We cannot say at what exact time the post-office was established here, but it was previous to 1827. Gordon, in his "Gazetteer of 1832," mentions that it contains one tavern, two stores and twelve dwellings; and Day, in his "Historical Collections of Pennsylvania," speaks of it as being fifteen miles north of Norristown, with from thirty to forty houses. If the latter statement is correct, it must have grown very little, for in 1870 it is stated to have contained thirty-five houses, one grist-mill, one segar- factory and several stores and mechanic shops. In April, 1827, Samuel Royer published here "Der Advocat," the first German weekly paper in the county; this was succeeded, August 6,1828, by the "Bauern Freund" which was successfully continued till July, 1858, when the proprietor, Enos Benner, sold out, and it was removed to Pennsburg. Sumneytown was for a long period a centre of powder and linseed oil manufacture. The first powder-mill in this section was erected by Jacob Dast, on East Swamp Creek about 1780, who continued the business till his death, in 1790. About two years after it was sold to Lorentz Jacoby, who erected additional mills. This business flourished, so that in 1858 eleven mills were in full operation in this township alone making twenty tons of powder daily. At the same time seven oil-mills were carried on, by which it may be judged that considerable flax must have been raised in this vicinity. The manufacture of powder and linseed oil has since greatly declined, and of course affecting the capital and labor employed therein. During the period referred to, when the industries of Marlborough were in full blast, some of the finest horse and mule-teams of the State were in use it) transporting their commodities to market. Philip Super, Esq., in his "Pen Pictures of the Perkiomen Valley," says, - "Sumneytown was for along time the centre of the powder and linseed oil business of the Perkiomen and its tributaries, the Macoby and Swamp Creeks- and its name became known all over that part of the State, where public improvements were made. At that time splendid teams of four and six horses drawing tons of powder were employed to distribute it for use along the various lines of public works." Teaming from Marlborough and the head-waters of the Perkiomen Creek came to an end upon the completion of the railroad to Green Lane. Although time has wrought changes in and near this ancient place, in the transfer of its leading features of trade and industry to other centres, its appearance still denotes the usual activities of Country life. There are upwards of fifty dwellings, a post-office, two stores, two hotels, blacksmith-shop, tinsmith and saddler-shops, job printer, two cigar manufactories, a powder manufactories and a number of other tradesmen usually found in a country village. HOPPENVILLE is located partly in Marlborough and partly in Upper Hanover Township. The village is built along, the main highway, and consists of farm buildings, with the hotel, store and post-office. This is an old village, and before given its present name, some twenty years ago, was known as " Die Gasse," or "Die Schmaiz Gasse," a free translation of which would be "the Road," or "the Lard Road," the last name having been given it, tradition says, by a person who, carrying a pot of lard on his way home, stopped at the village tavern, and was so overcome by the business- like hospitality of the jolly landlord that he and his lard-pot tarried on the road for the night. The good people of the village have long outlived the questionable habits of the former citizen, who derisively named the place " Lard Road," and concluded to call it Hoppenville, compounded from Goshenhoppen, an old name by which this part of the Perkiomen Valley has long been known. The village contains between twenty and thirty dwellings, a hotel, store and post-office, cigar manufactory, and the usual country tradesmen. MARLBOROUGHVILLE is situated in the north-eastern part, of the township, near the head-waters of the Macoby Creek, on a main road leading from Sumneytown to the Bucks County line, distant about three miles east from the former place. There are upwards of a dozen dwelling-houses, with a hotel, school-house and local industries. EDUCATIONAL. -The people of this township were among the first to encourage the adoption of the common-school system, provided for by the acts of Assembly of 1834-36. The township, in 1835, accepted the provisions of the law, received the appropriation, levied the school tax, built new school- houses and sought to popularize the movement by all just means. This effort continued until 1842, when the opposition became so marked that the "free schools" so called, were discontinued for 1842, and subscription schools substituted. Great dissatisfaction resulted. The teachers that had been employed in the school buildings erected and opened under the new system had not sufficient scholars to support them for the term of four and five months, and it was soon found necessary to return to the system of the common schools, which they did in the following year, 1843, and have enjoyed its advantages ever since. There are five schools in the township, having one hundred and seventy-five pupils enrolled. The length of term is five months. Wages paid to teachers are thirty dollars per month. Male and female teachers are employed, and equal salaries are paid them. 958 RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. -The Lutheran and Reformed denominations of the locality are united in their place of worship, and have a large and beautifully situated church, located quite near the village of Sumneytown. The church is built on a high piece of ground, overlooking the surrounding country, and is a prominent landmark in the township. The edifice was built in 1858, and dedicated in the month of June, 1859, having Seating capacity for seven hundred persons. It has a steeple and belfry, with a seven hundred pound bell to call together its worshipers and toll for the sorrowing, who there bury their dead, and whose tombstones are fast whitening the conspicuous ground upon which they are planted. The pastors, who have officiated here, are Revs. H. Wendts A. G. Struntz E. F. Fleckenstein A. L. Dechant Wm. B. Fox. The land, consisting of three acres, upon which the church buildings stand, and that inclosed for burial purposes, was donated by Daniel Jacoby, of Sumneytown, in 1857. There is a large Sabbath-school connected with the united congregations worshiping in the church. MILLS AND WATER-POWERS. -The Perkiomen Creek marks the western boundary line of this township, and has long afforded excellent water-power for mills of various characters. It is said that the first mills built on the Perkiomen were located within the limits of what is now Marlborough Township. "For some years after the first settlements were made in this part of the valley the inhabitants had to take their grain to Edward Farmer's mill, on the Wissahickon Creek in Whitemarsh township, at that time in Philadelphia County, distant 25 to 30 miles; his journey had to be made with the bag of grain thrown across the horses back, and as the roads were mere bridle-paths, going to mill could not have been the most pleasant undertaking." The first grist-mill erected by Samuel Shuler in the year 1742, was on the East Swamp Creek, about a mile above Sumneytown. The next mill built was the large stone grist-mill, still standing about half-way between Green Lane and Perkiomenville, which was built by one of the Mayberrys, and now or late of the estate of Jacob Snyder, deceased. This establishment was founded over a hundred years ago. Prior to 1784, Jacob Nice owned a tract of land on the East Side of Perkiomen Creek, on which he had erected a grist and saw-mill. He sold the property, March 30, 1798, to Daniel Smith, who soon after changed the grist and saw-mill into an oil-mill and powder-mill. On January 23, 1810, he sold to Matthew Campbell, who ran the mills as oil-mills until April 1, 1825, when he sold to George Poley, who, in that year, changed the mills into a fulling and carding-mill, and began the manufacture of satinets, linseys and stocking-yarn. In 1842 he built at the place a large brick fulling-mill, which was operated by him until 1860, when be sold to Henry Bergey, who continued there until the building was destroyed by fire, in 1871. The walls were used in rebuilding, and the building was fitted up as a grist and planing-mill, and is so used at present. The following advertisement, found in the "Norristown Register" of June 18, 1828, shows the nature of the business carried on by this mill at that time: "George Poley informs the public and his friends that he intends carrying on the woolen manufacturing business in all its branches in Marlborough township, one mile from Sumneytown, on Perkiomen Creek, next below Brower's mill. Those who will favor him with their custom can have their wool carded into rolls, spun into yarn, made into cloth, flannel, blanketing or sattinetts. All kinds of fulling and coloring done." Near Green Lane William Schall built a two-story stone grist-mill. It was erected during the time Mr. Schall operated the iron forges, near the village of Green Lane, it being an important adjunct to his manufacturing works at that place. There is a large flour and grist-mill at Perkiomenville; built by Jacob Graff, subsequently purchased by Jacob Johnson, who displaced the old building and erected a large three story brick building in its stead. This mill is now operated by Mr. John H. Nice. Within a distance of one mile and a half, from Green Lane to Perkiomenville, the Perkiomen Creek turns three grist-mills, two chopping- mills, one planing-mill and one saw-mill. At an earlier period, says Mr. Super, there were in this distance fifteen wheels in operation, turned by the water of the Perkiomen, -viz., forge and furnace three wheels grist-mills, three wheels oil-mills, four wheels plaster-mill, one wheel powder-mills, two wheels wool-mill, one wheel saw-mill, one wheel. This stream has served a good purpose in the early settlement of the Perkiomen Valley, and the industries which it has supported and still encourages have been a source of considerable trade and freight trade, to the Perkiomen Railroad, which passes up the stream in close proximity to these establishments, having two stations, besides that of Green Lane,- Rahn's and McLean's, -in passing through this township. MERCANTILE APPRAISERS RETURN FOR 1884. - Jesse Artman, butcher E. S. Brey, flour and feed D. R. Bowman, flour and feed Barndt & Cressman, merchandise Oliver Hendricks, produce Henry J. Hevener, flour and feed H. & A. McLean, coal and lime John H. Nice, flour and feed John H. Nice, coal J. S. Rahn, coal and lumber J. S. Rahn, flour and feed E. D. Reiter, merchandise John Weaver, live stock Jesse Zepp, live stock. Number of taxables, 336; value of improved lands, $312,335; value of unimproved lands, $28,503; value of 205 horses, $13,625; value of 470 cattle, $14,275; total value of property taxable for county purposes, $391,780. ELECTIONS. -By act of Assembly, April 9, 1833, the township of Marlborough was created a separate election district, and the general elections were ordered to be held at the public-house of Jacob Dimmig. 959 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. JOHN D. APPLE. John D. Apple was born in the city of New York, in 1808. His father and mother came from England, and both died soon after their arrival in America. The son, John D. was apprenticed to learn the backsmith trade, which apprenticeship he served out, but never followed that occupation. By his own energy be educated himself until be was competent to teach school, after which he located in the upper portion of Montgomery County, where he soon became a prominent citizen. He was elected a justice of the peace in Marlborough township, which office he held for many years. He also followed surveying and conveyancing, and the drafts and title deeds of a great deal of real estate in that portion of the county are his work, and their fine execution and accuracy attest his proficiency in that business. He was decidedly a self-made man. His reading of standard works and magazines was extensive. He was one of the few American subscribers of "Blackwood's Magazine," "The Penny Magazine" and other noted British publications. In 1834 he married Sarah Bitting, a daughter of John Bitting, of New Hanover township, with whom he had five children, - J. Wright Lewis C. Mary A. Hannah M. Sallie J. He was for many years the most prominent Democratic politician in the upper end of Montgomery County, and for a long time the intimate and personal friend of the Hon. John B. Sterigere, whose active adherent he was until the latter's death, in 1852. He took an active interest in the military organizations in his younger days, and was the captain of and commanded the Sumneytown Artillerists, in the Philadelphia riots in 1844. He was always a student, and although a self-made man, he was at the time of his death, which occurred in 1862, a good Greek, Latin and French scholar, as well as a fine mathematician. He was a large-hearted, popular and useful man. PICTURE OF JOHN D. APPLE, APPEARS HERE.