My Genealogy Hound

AARON SPERRY, one of the best known residents of Horsham township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, was born November 9, 1826, on the farm on which he now resides, then owned and occupied by his parents, John and Sarah (Sheive) Sperry.

John Sperry (father), son of John Sperry, was born in the vicinity in which his son Aaron now resides, on Welsh Road, near the Bethlehem turnpike. He married Sarah Sheive, and their children were: Mary, deceased; Elizabeth, deceased; Aaron, mentioned hereinafter; George, who married Margaret Moyer; and Lydia Sheive, who became the wife of Lawrence Hawkins, of Philadelphia. The Sperry family have been for many years members of the Upper Dublin Dunkard church, and John Sperry (father) was associated with the building of the church of that denomination at Rose Valley, near Ambler, and was the first person to be interred in its cemetery, his death occurring April 6, 1842.

Aaron Sperry attended the public school of the township, which was located directly opposite the widely known Joseph Foulke Boarding School, at that time in its most flourishing condition. He spent two winters at school and after that time was too often needed at home to assist in the work of the farm to obtain more than a mere transitory acquaintance with books and learning. When he was sixteen years of age the demand for his services on the farm becoming more urgent than ever, he abandoned school altogether, and he has from that time devoted himself to the occupation of farming. After the death of his father, April 6, 1842, the farm was sold, and Aaron engaged with Charles Yocum, then a leading farmer of the vicinity, who was then cultivating the farms of Saunders Lewis, in Whitpain township, and with whom he was employed for a year and a half. He then returned to his childhood home and farmed for his mother until his marriage. He then located on the homestead farm, at that time containing sixteen acres of highly improved land, which has since been increased to eighty acres. In 1868 he erected on the farm a modern and convenient dwelling house. Mr. Sperry has been a lifelong Democrat, for a number of years took an active interest in public affairs, and his name has been frequently mentioned in connection with the nomination of that party for the office of sheriff of Montgomery county.

On May 26, 1851, Mr. Sperry married Sarah Rowe, who was born January 8, 1828, a daughter of Dr. John Augustine and Fannie (Betts) Rowe. Their children are: 1. Eleanor Fannie, who attended public schools in Philadelphia, residing there with her grandparents in order that she might pursue her studies successfully until her tenth year, after which time she attended the private school of Daniel Foulke, on the Bethlehem turnpike, above Springhouse, until her sixteenth year. She then remained with her parents until her marriage, November 25, 1874, to Morris Longstreth Thoman, son of Samuel Thoman, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. They are the parents of one child, Jeannette Sperry Thoman, who was educated at the Friends’ and Cedar Hill School, and under private tuition. 2. John Rowe, educated at the neighboring schools, including the private school of William Arrott, at Penllyn, until his eighteenth year, after which he assisted his father on the home farm until his marriage, in 1901, to Laura Grist, of Philadelphia. He is now engaged in the claim department of the Philadelphia and Reading Railway, at the principal office of the company in Philadelphia. 3. Ida May, who was educated at Cedar Hill and Prospectville schools, and the select school of the Rev. D. Levin Coleman, at Center Square, Whitpain township. She resides with her parents.

John Augustine Rowe, M. D., father of Mrs. Sperry, was a physician of the old school of practice, and a man of much mental culture. He married Fannie Betts, daughter of Thomas Wye and Mary (Favil) Betts. The Betts family were from England, and were people of considerable importance in that country. The children of Dr. and Mrs. Rowe are: Sarah, aforementioned as the wife of Aaron Sperry; Joseph Walter, M. D., born in Gosport, England, married Maria Wheat, daughter of the Rev. A. C. and Priscilla Wheat.