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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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JOHN BERKHIMER, one of the best-known farmers of Whitpain, was born April 18, 1846, in Upper Dublin township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He is the son of Jacob and Tacy Weber (Deaves) Berkhimer, his father being a farmer. The son was brought up to hard work on the farm, going to school when there was nothing to be done at home, as it was a well-settled principle at that time that work must not be interfered with for the secondary purpose of gaining an education. On reaching his eighteenth year he laid aside his books and betook himself entirely to the cultivation of the soil. At the age of twenty-one years he was apprenticed to the trade of stonemason, at which he worked for ten years, and then again engaged in the occupation of farming in Plymouth township, when he rented the old Berkhimer homestead known as the Maples, succeeding to the title on the settlement of his father’s estate, which occurred in the year 1895. The Maples contains sixty-four acres of rolling and highly fertile land, part of it heavily timbered, and all in a fine state of cultivation. The farm takes its name from the many maple trees that surround the dwelling and are found elsewhere on the place. Mr. Berkhimer operates The Maples as a dairy and truck farm, his products being shipped to the Philadelphia markets.

Mr. Berkhimer has been twice married. His first wife was Susanna Rex, of Plymouth township. Their children are: Tacy, born June 27, 1868, unmarried; and Mary Ann, born January 2, 1874, unmarried. Both daughters reside at The Maples. Mrs. Berkhimer died September 10, 1877, and he married (second wife) Mrs. Josephine Rapine, widow of Jerome Rapine, of Whitemarsh township. Mrs. Rapine, whose maiden name was Hallman, had two children by her first marriage.

Mr. Berkhimer has always been actively interested in the affairs of his community. He is a Democrat in politics. He is a member of the Baptist church, at Cold Point, Plymouth township, of which he is a trustee. He is a progressive citizen and engaged earnestly in whatever tends to religious and social improvement.

Jacob Berkhimer (father) was born January 6, 1809. He was the son of George and Margaret Berhimer. He married, November 14, 1841, Tacy Weber Deaves. Her mother was Tacy Weber, of Fairview Farm, at Sandy Hill, in Whitpain township. Their children are: Susanna Deaves, born September 27, 1842, married, June 3, 1869, Nicholas R., son of William and Mary Ann Rex, of Plymouth township; George E., born January 13, 1845, died July 3, 1845, and was buried at Plymouth Meeting; John, subject of this sketch; William D., born May 22, 1848, married Margaret, daughter of Joel Dewees, of Whitpain township, they living on the township line near Blue Bell road, in Whitpain; Isaac, born in 1848, died August 13, 1848; Mary Elizabeth, born October 5, 1850, died September 22, 1851; Jesse, born October 5, 1852, married Sarah, daughter of William Moore, who dying, he married (second wife) Emily, daughter of Samuel and Sarah Fisher, they living at West Ambler; Jacob Martin, born December 25, 1854, married Sarah J. Thomas, of Harmonville, in Whitemarsh township, where they live, having one daughter; Charles, born May 3, 1859, unmarried, lives at Fairview Farm, and owns the property which formerly belonged to his grandfather Deaves, and prior to that to his great-grandfather Weber, who held it from his father.

The children of Nicholas R. and Susanna D. (Berkhimer) Rex are: Jacob, born November 11, 1871, died July 11, 1872; Mary Ann, born September 22, 1877, died September 6, 1878; William Berkhimer, born September 24, 1882, unmarried and resides at Fairview, where he assists his uncle, Charles Berkhimer, in managing the farm.

George Berkhimer (grandfather) was born October 1, 1773.

George Berkhimer (great-grandfather) was born in 1759.

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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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