History of Montgomery County Pennsylvania United States of America

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Samuel Miles, soldier, was born in Montgomery county, Pa., March 11, 1740. In 1755 he enlisted in Capt. Isaac Wayne's regiment and was discharged in February, 1756, when he re-enlisted in Capt. Thomas Lloyd's company and was made captain-lieutenant in the expedition of General Forbes against Fort Duquesne in 1758, when it was evacuated and blown up. He was commissioned captain in 1760 and given command of the forces at Presque Isle. He became a wine merchant in Philadelphia in 1761; was one of the wardens and manager of the House of Employ, 1766, and was a member of the general assembly, 1772-73. He raised a body of militia and was elected colonel of a regiment, 1774; was again a member of the assembly, 1775-76 and 1805; a member of the council of safety and colonel of the Pennsylvania rifle regiment, in 1776, and was sent to Sussex county, Del., to quell an insurrection. He tendered his command to congress and was placed in the flying camp and reached Washington's army in time to take part in the battle of Long Island, Aug, 27, 1776, where he was taken prisoner. During his imprisonment he was appointed brigadier-general of state forces, but upon his exchange in April, 1778, he was unable to obtain his rank and retired from the army. He served as public auditor and deputy quartermaster-general of Pennsylvania, was judge of the high court of errors and appeals, 1788-87; a member of the council of censors of Philadelphia, 1787-88; city councillor, 1788-89; alderman and member of the council of property, 1789-90, and mayor of Philadelphia, 1790. His son, John Miles, was graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1794 and became a lawyer in Philadelphia. General Miles prepared a valuable paper on the battle of Long Island, which, with his autobiography written in 1802, was published in the American Historical Record (1873). He died in Chesterham, Pa., Dec. 29, 1805.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Charles Philip Krauth, educator, was born in Montgomery county, Pa., May 7, 1797; son of Charles James and Catherine (Doll) Krauth, and a descendant of Charles James Krauth, who came from Germany and located at Lynchburg, Va. His mother was a native of Pennsylvania. He was educated for the medical profession but before receiving his degree he took up the study of theology and was licensed as a Lutheran minister. He was pastor of the German churches at Martinsburg and Shepherdstown, Va., and in 1827 went to Philadelphia to take charge of an English-speaking congregation and he served the church, 1827-33. He was professor of biblical and oriental literature in the Gettysburg Theological seminary, 1833-67, and president of Pennsylvania college from its organization in 1834 to 1850, when he resigned and was succeeded by Dr. Henry Louis Baugher, Sr. He was editor of the Evangelical Review, 1850-61; co-editor of the general synod hymn-book published in 1828 and editor of the Lutheran Sunday-school Hymn-Book published in 1843. He was twice married: first, Dec. 7, 1820, to Catherine Susan, daughter of Peter Helsken, and secondly, April 17, 1834, to Harriet Brown. He received the degree of D.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1837. He is the author of: Inaugural Address (1834); Life and Character of Henry Clay (1852). He died in Gettysburg, Pa., May 30, 1867.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Aubertine Woodward Moore, author and musician, was born in Montgomery county, Pa., Sept. 27, 1841; daughter of Joseph Janvier and Elizabeth Graham (Cox) Woodward; sister of Joseph Janvier Woodward ; granddaughter of William Wallis and Susan (Janvier) Woodward, and of Justice and Betsey (Paschall) Cox, and a descendant of Col. Moses Woodward of Portsmouth, N.H., an officer in the Continental army, and on the maternal side, of Philadelphia Quakers, and of Swedes who settled on the Delaware during the reign of Queen Christina. Her father and paternal grandfather were well-known publishers in Philadelphia. She studied music with Carl Gaertner and became an efficient pianist. Her earliest writings, under the pen-name "Auber Forestier," consisted chiefly of translations from the German and musical criticisms. During a year's visit to California, 1869-70, she contributed descriptive articles to newspapers. In 1879 she removed from Philadelphia to Madison, Wis., where she became prominent in musical circles. She lectured first in Concord, Mass., in 1880, on the music of Norway, illustrating her lecture on the piano, and was thus the pioneer in America in the field of illustrated talks on music. She continued her lectures in the leading cities of the United States. Among her specialties were the musical dramas of Wagner, above all "The Ring of the Niblungs." She was married in 1887 to Samuel H. Moore, a native of Pennsylvania. Her published translations include: Robert Byr's Sphinx (1871) and The Struggle for Existence (1873); Sophie Verena's Above Tempest and Tide (1873); Victor Cherbuliez's Samuel Brohl & Co. (1877); Kristofer Janson's The Spellbound Fiddler (1880); Theo. Hauptner's Voice Culture (1886), and a vast amount of song-words for music, stories and sketches from the German, French and Scandinavian tongues. She also assisted in the translation of several books; was one of the editors and translators of the Norway Music Album (1881), and wrote its introduction, which gives a sketch of Norwegian music. She wrote the English words to Songs from the North (1895), a volume of songs from Norway, Sweden and Denmark. She is the author of: Echoes from Mist-Land, or the Nibelungen Lay Revealed to Lovers of Romance and Chivalry (1877), the first attempt to popularize the old lay in America; For My Musical Friend (1900); For Every Music Lover, or How to Know Music (1902), and numerous sketches, essays and stories in current periodicals.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Samuel Medary, territorial governor, was born in Montgomery Square, Pa., Feb. 25, 1891; son of Jacob Medary, a farmer. He was brought up as a Quaker and taught a Friends' school when eighteen years old, and wrote both prose and verse for the Norristown Herald. He removed to Montgomery county, Md.,with his parents in 1820, and about 1823 to Georgetown, D.C. He settled in Batavia, Ohio, in 1825, where he was county surveyor, school trustee, and county auditor. In 1828 he established the Ohio Sun, in which he supported Jackson for the Presidency. He represented Clermont county in the Ohio legislature in 1834-35, and was a member of the state senate, 1835-37; purchased and edited the Western Hemisphere, Columbus, Ohio, changed its name to the Ohio Statesman, and conducted it, 1837-57, as the leading Democratic newspaper of the state. In it he supported all the measures of President Jackson and Senator Douglas. He was chairman of the Ohio delegation to the Democratic national convention at Baltimore, Md., May 27, 1844, and in accordance with the request of President Jackson, in the event of discord, presented the name of James K. Polk as the Democratic nominee for President. He was state printer for many years, declined the appointment of U.S. minister to Chili, tendered him by President Pierce in 1853, and was temporary chairman of the Democratic national convention of 1856, where he strongly supported the nomination of Stephen A. Douglas. He was appointed governor of Minnesota Territory by President Buchanan, serving 1857-58, was postmaster of Columbus in 1858, and governor of Kansas Territory, 1858-59, as successor to James W. Denver. He established the Crisis in 1860, and edited it until his death. He was one of the founders of the Ohio State Agricultural Fair, and served as the first treasurer and as president of the organization for several terms. He aided Samuel F. B. Morse in promoting the electric telegraph, and was a member of the board of visitors to the U.S. Military academy. A monument was erected to his memory in Columbus, Ohio, in 1869. He died in Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 7, 1864.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

History of Montgomery County Pennsylvania

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