My Genealogy Hound

THOMAS S. STREEPER, a well-known farmer of Plymouth township, was born August 16, 1851, in Whitpain township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, and is the son of Samuel C. and Mary (Shay) Streeper.

The founders of the Streeper family in America were four brothers who emigrated from Germany. Jacob Streeper (paternal grandfather) and his wife were farming people in the vicinity of Chestnut Hill. They had five children: Samuel, Jacob, Harriet, Maria and Margaret, all deceased.

Samuel C. Streeper (father) was born in Springfield township, Montgomery county, in 1802. He was the son of Jacob and Lydia (Samuel) Streeper. Samuel C. Streeper received a common-school education at Chestnut Hill, and spent the early part of his life in following the carpenter trade. At the time of his death and for many years previous to it, he was a farmer. He died at the age of seventy-one years. Samuel C. Streeper married Mary, daughter of Jesse and Sarah (Mullen) Shay, both deceased. Mrs. Mary (Shay) Streeper died at the age of fifty-five years. Mr. and Mrs. Streeper had five children, as follows: Lydia and Jessie, deceased; Amanda; John, who married Emma Paine and lives in Philadelphia; and Thomas.

Jesse Shay (maternal grandfather) and his wife were farming people and old residents of Horsham township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Sarah (Mullen) Shay was a member of the Society of Friends. They both lived to an advanced age, and had six children, one of whom is now living, Thomas B. Shay, of Florida.

Thomas S. Streeper was reared on the farm in Whitpain township where he was born, and received a common-school education. He lived in the same place until he was thirty-five years of age, when he married and removed to his present home in Plymouth township. He understands his business of farming thoroughly. Like his father he has always been a Republican, and is a public-spirited man.

On February 17, 1886, Thomas S. Streeper married Maria Taggart, born December 21, 1863, daughter of Austin L. and Sarah (Rudy) Taggart. They have two children: Amanda, born December 27, 1886, and Austin T., born April 8, 1891. The former is a graduate of the high school and is now attending the West Chester Normal School.

Mrs. Thomas S. Streeper is a member of St. Thomas’ Episcopal church, of Whitemarsh.

Austin L. and Sarah (Rudy) Taggart lived in Upper Merion township. He was a very prominent member of the Patrons of Husbandry, and from this circumstance, as well as his championship of the interests of farmers, he became known throughout Pennsylvania as “Farmer” Taggart. He was born in Tamaqua, Schuylkill county, November 21, 1836. His father was a merchant and lumber dealer, and he came of a long line of ancestors, of whom the first in Pennsylvania settled in the state in 1740. The Taggarts were always characterized by independence in thought and action. Austin L. Taggart’s great-grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war and was killed in battle.

In the year 1850 the family removed to Montgomery county where Austin was educated in public and private schools. At an early age he began work as a surveyor, running the lines and making the maps for a number of counties in Michigan. Returning to Norristown, he engaged for a short time in the mercantile business, but his tendency toward agriculture was too strong to permit him to remain in that business. He became a resident of Upper Merion, owning and tilling one of the best farms in that township. In 1886 the Republicans of the county named him for the legislature. Accepting the nomination with reluctance, he was elected and entered heartily, earnestly and efficiently upon his legislative duties. He was re-elected in 1888, 1890 and 1892, having charge of the important granger tax bills, prepared and endorsed by the state organization of Patrons of Husbandry. He was also on many important committees, including railroad, public buildings, and accounts. In 1892 he was again a candidate but was defeated by Charles I. Baker, his majority being twenty in a poll of twenty-seven thousand, one hundred and four votes. Mr. Taggart at once filed a notice of contest, alleging that fifty-five students of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, a Catholic institution at Overbrook, had illegally cast their votes for Mr. Baker. Mr. Taggart claimed that they had no residence within the meaning of the law to entitle them to vote in the county. The house elections committee sustained Mr. Taggart’s contentions, the house adopted its report, and on April 18, 1893, he was sworn in. He died very suddenly in February, 1894.

Mr. Taggart was a member of the Twentieth Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment during the war. He was mentioned at times in connection with the succession to the United States senate, and, but for his untimely death, might have become the Republican nominee for governor. He was a good talker, a deep thinker, and thoroughly independent in all that he said and did. He left a widow and eight children, all of whom reside in Norristown or its vicinity.