HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



423 



is president of the Bridgetown and Bloom- 

 ing Glen Turnpike, and associated with 

 other local enterprises. He is a member of 

 Blooming Glen Mennonite church. Mr. 

 Renner married, in 1869, Sarah Hunsicker, 

 daughter of Abraham and Catharine (Islo- 

 yer) Hunsicker, "who is deceased. Their 

 only cTiild is also deceased. 



C. HARRY HALL. The Hall family has 

 long been represented in Bucks county, and 

 C. Harry Hall has ever sustained the hon- 

 orable record made by those of his name 

 who have always been active in upholding 

 the moral and political status of their re- 

 spective communities and aiding in its ma 

 terial development. He was born in Doyles- 

 town township, April 22, 1846, and received 

 his education in the public schools. During 

 the periods of vacation he assisted his fa- 

 ther in the operation of the home farm, and 

 continued under the parental roof until 

 twenty-two years of age, when he began 

 clerking in a general store for his brother. 

 Benjamin, with whom he remained for a 

 year and a half. He then went to Phila- 

 delphia, where, embarking in commercial 

 pursuits on his" own account, he was engaged 

 in the flour and feed business for about 

 nine years. He next secured employment in 

 the city hall at Philadelphia as a steam and 

 gas fitter, and remained there for eight 

 years. Returning at the end of that time 

 to the occupation to which he had been 

 reared, he purchased in 1902 the farm upon 

 which he now resides, near Danboro, in 

 Plumstead township, and is giving his at- 

 tention to the tilling of the soil. His life 

 has been characterized by unfaltering in- 

 dustry and his well directed labor has been 

 the foundation of his success. 



Mr. Hall was united in marriage to ^liss 

 Clara A. Shermer, a daughter of William 

 and Maria Shermer. They have two chil- 

 dren : ^klabel S., born December 7, 1879; 

 and Elsie ^L, born March 15, 1886. The 

 latter is a graduate of the normal school of 

 Philadelphia, and is now principal of the 

 public schools of Germantown. 



IDA JOSEPHINE RIEGEL, of Riegels- 

 ville, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, was born 

 in Riegelsville, New Jersey, and is a daugh- 

 ter of John Leidy Riegel, by his second 

 wife, Lydia Stover. John Leidy Riegel, a 

 prominent and successful manufacturer of 

 Riegelsville, was born in New Jersey, May 

 I, 1819, and belonged to a family that have 

 been residents of Bucks and Northampton 

 counties, Pennsylvania, and adjoining parts 

 of New Jersey for several generations. His 

 parents were Benjamin and Elizabeth 

 (Leidy) Riegel, of Lower Saucon township, 

 Northampton county, and his grandparents, 

 Martha and Catherine (Kram) Riegel, of 

 German parentage, and his maternal grand- 

 parents were John and Elizabeth (Lerch) 



Leidy. ^Ir. Riegel was educated in the 

 schools of New Jersey, and remained a resi- 

 dent of that state until 1874, when he re- 

 moved to Pennsylvania, erecting a hand- 

 some residence at Riegelsville, where he 

 spent his remaining years, dying December 

 ^7, 1893, at the age of seventy-four years. 

 He was for a half century a prominent 

 manufacturer of Riegelsville, New Jersey, 

 being the proprietor of a large flour and 

 paper mill there, and doing an extensive 

 business. 



He married, September 12, 1839, Eliza- 

 beth Shimer, who died in 1858. They were 

 the parents of five children, of whom two 

 survive — Benjamin, and Sarah Jane, the 

 wife of B. F. Fackenthall, Esq., of the 

 Thomas Iron Company. Mr. Riegel married, 

 (second) on April 30, 1859, Catharine 

 Stover, of an old Bucks county family, an 

 account of which is given in this volume, 

 and they became the parents of three chil- 

 dren, only one of whom lived to maturity, 

 Ella E., wife of Silas DeWitt, wlio^died at 

 the age of twenty-one years, leavi^ a son, 

 John Riegel DeWitt. ^Nlrs. Catherine 

 (Stover) Riegel died in 1864, and Mr. 

 Riegel married (third) March 28, 1855, 

 Lydia Stover, who died in 1873. She was 

 the mother of four children : Clara M., 

 Ida Josephine, John and Laura May. On 

 June 19, 1876, Mr. Riegel was married a 

 fourth time, to ?klary Easton, who survived 

 him, and they were the parents of one child, 

 George E. Mr. Riegel was a lifelong mem- 

 ber of the Reformed church, in which most 

 of his family have retained membership. 



MARY A. NASH. The home occupied 

 by Miss Mary A. Nash, in Wismer, Plum- 

 stead township, was erected in 1827. Her 

 paternal great-grandparents were residents 

 of Bucks county, where they followed farm- 

 ing and it was upon the farm on which Miss 

 Nash now resides that her grandfather, 

 Abraham Nash, was born in the eighteenth 

 century. He continued to reside here 

 throughout his entire life, also carrying on 

 general agricultural pursuits. His children 

 were Abraham; Joseph; William; Barbara, 

 the wife of George Gaddes; and Agnes, 

 the wife of William Bryan. 



Abraham Nash, the father, was born on 

 the old Wismer family homestead in 1798, 

 and in early life learned the carpenter's 

 trade, being connected with building opera- 

 tions for many years in addition to agri- 

 cultural pursuits. Eventually he retired 

 and spent the evening of his life in the 

 enjoyment of a well earned rest, passing 

 away in 1882. He was a member of the 

 Old Mennonite church, and his Christian 

 religion permeated his entire career. He 

 was twice married. First to Miss Barbara 

 Detweiler, by whom he had five children: 

 Abraham, John, William, Joseph, and Mary, 

 who died unmarried. For his second wife 

 he married Barbara Myers, and their chil- 

 dren were Elizabeth, the wife of Levi 



