My Genealogy Hound

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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COLONEL THOMAS ALLEN GLENN, the eminent historian and genealogist, is one of the best known residents of Lower Merion township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. He has been prominent in military and social circles, and is related to some of the oldest families in Pennsylvania.

Colonel Glenn married in 1890 Miss Marie, daughter of the late Edward Robbins. The couple took up their residence in a handsome residence in Wynnewood. He always had an inclination towards military affairs, and aided in the organization of the Second City Troop. He derives his title, however, from his service in the Spanish-American war. At the outbreak of that contest he was appointed aide-de-camp to General Gobin, and served with him throughout the war. Later he was appointed aide on the staff of Governor Pennypacker, and was granted leave of absence to visit Europe and report upon the militia systems. He had occasionally visited Europe previously in connection with his researches in genealogy. It is as historian, author, biographer and genealogist, that Colonel Glenn is best known. Among the most highly valued productions of his pen is his “Merion in the Welsh Tract,” a history of the early settlers in Lower Merion township, especially the Roberts, Jones, and other leading families of that section of Montgomery county. The genealogies of these families were worked out with great care and accuracy, and the book is very generally regarded as an authority on the subjects of which it treats. The old families are traced for many generations in Wales, and much information is given in reference to the families with which their members intermarried. Another valuable work of Colonel Glenn is his “Some Colonial Mansions, and Who Lived in Them,” two volumes of the three originally planned having been published. The work is very handsomely illustrated, and in its preparation much genealogical and historical research was required.

Colonel Glenn is forty years of age. There are few literary workers in his field who have accomplished so much in so short a time. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, of the Montgomery County Historical Society and of those of Chester and Delaware counties. He has made many valuable contributions to local and general historical research in addition to the works which have been mentioned. He was an applicant for the position of State Librarian on the accession of Governor Pennypacker to the office of executive of the state, but the appointment went to another part of the state. In politics Colonel Glenn is a Republican, and he has been a very active worker for party success for many years.

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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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