My Genealogy Hound

HON. HIRAM CONRAD HOOVER, ex-member of the Pennsylvania legislature, the last associate judge of the courts of Montgomery county, and for many years president, of the Montgomery County Historical Society, is a son of Hon. Philip and May Mary (Conrad) Hoover, and was born in Gwynedd township, Montgomery county, October 23, 1822.

Between 1727 and 1776, several immigrants by the name of Huber came from the Palatinate, and landed at Philadelphia. Of this number were four brothers, Christian, John, Martin and Jacob, who came in the ship Pink Plesance, commanded by Captain John Paret. These brothers landed on September 21, 1732, at which time Jacob was under sixteen years of age. Of all the immigrant Hubers, these four brothers were among those that changed their name from Huber, the German form, to Hoover, the English spelling. One brother went to western Pennsylvania, another to Lancaster county, the third to Georgia, and Jacob, the youngest, seems to have been the Jacob Hoover who bought a farm in Plumstead township, Bucks county, in 1748. It has been established that Jacob Hoover was the father of Henry Hoover, who was born in 1751, in Bucks county. He married Margaret Kern, and in 1797 moved from Hilltown township, Bucks county, to Gwynedd township, Montgomery county, where he purchased a farm of two hundred acres. In politics he was a Democrat, and in religion a member of the Reformed church, in which he served as elder. When troops were ordered out to suppress the Fries Rebellion in eastern Pennsylvania, one regiment of infantry sought to take his buildings as temporary quarters, but he refused with such determination that they went to an adjoining farm of William Foulk. Henry Hoover died April 9, 1809, aged fifty-seven years, and his widow survived him until November 27, 1813, dying at the age of sixty-two years. They had five children: Christian; Jacob; Philip; Elizabeth, who married John Rile; and Mary, wife of William Kneedler.

Hon. Philip Hoover, the father of Judge Hiram C. Hoover, was educated in his youth in the German language, but after his marriage he was taught to read and write English by his wife, who had received a good education in both languages. He became a member of a volunteer organization when but eighteen years of age and rose from the ranks to the captaincy. He filled many offices in the township, such as assessor and collector of taxes, and in 1831-32-33 was elected a member of the state legislature, where he served with credit and satisfaction to his constituents-all positions having sought him, as he did not aspire to them. He was the executor, administrator and guardian of many estates, in all of which he rendered satisfactory accounts.

Philip Hoover was regularly catechised and received as a member of Boehm’s Reformed church, at Blue Bell, by Rev. George Wack, its pastor. In 1810 he was elected a deacon, and served as such until 1823, when he was elected an elder, holding that position, with the exception of three years, until his death-a period of more than forty years. He held the office of president and treasurer of the consistory for some time. He was also frequently a delegate to classis and synod.

In the War of 1812 he served as lieutenant of another company (the organization to which he previously belonged having been disbanded), for three months, being practically its captain, as that officer had returned home soon after being mustered into service. He also provided a team to convey military stores from Philadelphia to Marcus Hook. Afterwards he was elected colonel of a regiment of militia.

Philip Hoover was born July 20, 1782, and was married to Mary Conrad, November 13, 1804. They were the parents of thirteen children but only six reached the age of maturity. Mary Conrad Hoover, daughter of Hon. Frederick Conrad (who was a member of congress for four years) was born August 23, 1785, and died October 17, 1868, aged eighty-three years, one month and twenty-four days. Their children were: Frederick W., Julian, Susanna, Maria, Henry C., Ann Catharine, Judge Hiram C., Albert C., Ann Elizabeth, Andrew J., and two sons and one daughter that died in infancy.

Judge Hiram C. Hoover received his literary education in common and select schools and studied surveying. Possessing fine musical talent, he began to teach music and to organize church choirs at an early age. While teaching music he engaged in farming, which he followed until 1872. In 1849 he bought a part of the St. Clair estate in Norriton township, and when, in 1872, the Stony Creek Railroad was built through part of his land, his neighbors suggested his building grain and mercantile stores where the railroad crossed Germantown turnpike. He thus founded Hooverton, which has absorbed Penn Square and gives promise of future importance. He soon retired from business, and the feed, coal and lumber business is now in the hands of his son William A., while the general mercantile establishment is conducted by his son-in-law, Albertus Hallman. Judge Hoover lives a retired life except what time he gives to his interests as a stockholder in several industrial enterprises. He has served as guardian for the heirs of eighteen estates and not a single exception has ever been filed to any of his estate accounts. He has served many years as treasurer of Philadelphia classis, whose financial matters include seven different accounts, which have been found correct by the finance committee each year.

In early life Judge Hoover took much interest in military affairs. He was a member of the First Troop of Montgomery Cavalry sixteen years, and in 1861 sought to reorganize the troop for active service in the war, but circumstances prevented. He has been active and useful in civil, educational and religious affairs, and has done much toward the development of his section. He is a Democrat in politics and has filled some of the most important political offices of his county. He was a member of the Pennsylvania house of representatives in 1862, 1863 and 1864, and during his three consecutive terms served on many leading committees, having been chairman of the committee on agriculture in 1863. In 1865 he was elected associate judge of Montgomery county, and in 1870 was elected for a second term which would have ended in 1875, but the office was abolished by the state constitution of 1874. He served as justice of the peace for four terms, nearly twenty years, and as school director for seventeen years, while in his party he was made chairman of the county committee for three successive years. Judge Hoover has served as trustee of Ursinus College for twenty-five years, and of Franklin and Marshall College five years. He was president of the Norristown and Centre Square Turnpike Company from its organization in 1868 until its dissolution a few years ago. In 1844, when the Philadelphia riots occurred, he served as an officer in the First Troop of Montgomery county, one of the companies that suppressed the riots. He is an old and prominent Mason, being a member of Charity Lodge, No. 190, Free and Accepted Masons; a life member of Chapter No. 190, Royal Arch Masons; also a charter member of Commandery No. 32, Knights Templar. Judge Hoover has been an elder in Boehm’s Reformed church since 1856, has been president of the consistory during all the time except two years, and has frequently served as a delegate to various church bodies. Among his most important labors has been the instruction of different Bible classes and the efficient supervision of Sunday-schools, in which work he has spent many happy hours, during a period of over fifty years of continuous service.

On March 4, 1847, Judge Hoover married Margaret Dull, youngest daughter of Frederick and Sarah Dull, of Whitemarsh township. Judge and Mrs. Hoover had four children: William A.; Irvin W., now dead; Sarah D., who married James W. Hercus, of Washington city, and died March 18, 1894; and Mary M., who married Albertus Hallman, a business man of Hooverton.

Judge Hoover was very active in the old Montgomery County Agricultural Society. At its organization at Springtown he was made a member of the executive committee and later its chairman. Subsequently the society divided and Judge Hoover became president of the Norristown branch, and served as such for three years. At the one hundredth anniversary of Washington’s evacuation of Valley Forge in 1778, the Judge presided and again in 1903 he attended the meeting, it being the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary. He is a member of the Patriotic Order of Sons of America and was a charter member of Camp No. 322, at Penn Square, and also a charter member of an auxiliary camp, No. 38, of Patriotic Order of True Americans, which later was united with the Patriotic Daughters of America, and he was elected the first national assistant president of the united organization. He has for more than twenty years of its existence taken an active interest in the work of the Montgomery County Historical Society, presiding at its meetings, reading an occasional paper, and participating in its reunions and annual outings. In every relation of life he has performed his duty and won the esteem and respect of his fellow citizens because he has fairly earned such distinction. Courteous in his manners, unostentatious in his bearing, he is in every situation the same dignified, pleasant and earnest man. It is largely through his instrumentality that the Hoover Family Association has been organized, its annual reunions being a delightful feature in its history.