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Below is a family biography included in the Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania published in 1904 by T. S. Benham & Company and The Lewis Publishing Company; Elwood Roberts, Editor.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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AUGUSTUS M. CLEAVER, a prominent farmer of Douglass township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, was born September 3, 1852, in Berks county, Pennsylvania, being the son of Isaac F. and Catherine (Motz) Cleaver.

Isaac F. Cleaver (father) has resided most of his life in Berks county, where he still lives at the age of seventy-four years. He was a blacksmith and a farmer during his active life. He worked for Bailey & Shoemaker for thirteen years. His wife died in 1889 at the age of sixty-five years and was buried at Hill church, Berks county. He served in the war of the rebellion. In politics he was a Republican, and although often asked to accept office, he invariably refused, although his popularity practically guaranteed his election. The couple had nine children, of whom six are living, as follows: Edwin, married Annie Miller, living in Lower Providence, he being a brick manufacturer, they have one child; Isaac, married Catharine Hornetter, and is a farmer in Pennsburg, they having four children; John, married Alice Drumheller, he being a furnaceman in Pottstown, and they having six children; Catharine, married Abner Johnson, a merchant in Pottstown, they having four children; Susan, married Henry Kleiser, a clerk in the court house at Reading, they having two children; Amelia (deceased), married Adam C. Stetler, a butcher in Douglass township, they having had four children; Hannah M. (deceased), died unmarried; Augustus M., the subject of this sketch.

John Cleaver (grandfather) married Miss Dutterer and they resided in Berks county where he was a farmer. Both died at an advanced age and were buried at Hill Church cemetery, Berks county, Pennsylvania. Adam Motz (maternal grandfather) lived in Berks county. He died at an advanced age, and was buried at Hill Church cemetery, Berks county. He was a farmer in that county all his life.

Augustus M. Cleaver attended school until he had reached the age of nineteen years, and then became a farmer, spending several years on the Fagley estate in Pottstown. He has been engaged in the occupation of farming ever since that time, and has lived in Montgomery county.

In January, 1882, Augustus M. Cleaver married Agnes, daughter of William E. and Mary Ann (Gresh) Yoder. Mr. and Mrs. Yoder were farmers in Montgomery county. He died many years ago, and his wife still survives, residing upon the homestead. He was a Republican in politics. They had nine children. The children of Augustus M. and Agnes Cleaver: William Isaac, born April 19, 1884, resides with his pa rents; Daniel Augustus, born 1886; James E., born September 8, 1888; John Y., born 1894; Edwin, born 1897; Eva, died young, and one died in infancy.

Mr. Cleaver is a Republican in politics, but not an aspirant for public position. He has lived upon his present property since 1889, and has been very prosperous in farming pursuits, being one of the leading agriculturists of his section of the county.

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This family biography is one of more than 1,000 biographies included in the Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania published in 1904 by T. S. Benham & Company and The Lewis Publishing Company.  For the complete description, click here: Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

View additional Montgomery County, Pennsylvania family biographies here: Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Biographies

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