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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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REV. JOSIAH CLEMMER, a bishop in the Mennonite church, was born May 1, 1827. He was ordained to the ministry in 1860, and became bishop in 1867.

The family are of German origin. In 1717, the ancestor of the family (great-grandfather of Bishop Clemmer) came to America with four sons: John, Valentine, Henry, and Abraham (grandfather).

Abraham Clemmer lived in Montgomery county. He had three sons, Henry, Abraham and John (father).

John Clemmer was a farmer. He had four sons and four daughters, as follows: Abraham, married Sarah Swartley, and had one son, Josiah, and two daughters (Sarah and Mary Ann) dying in 1852. Abraham married (second wife) Sophia Bechtel, and had a son Henry; she dying, he married his third wife, who still survives, having one son, Abraham, and one daughter. His third wife, Anna, was previously married to Jacob Nice.

John Clemmer, born in 1825, married Eliza Moyer; the couple had two daughters who died in infancy. Mrs. Clemmer died in 1863, and he then married (second wife) Margaret Boorse, having one son, John Henry Clemmer.

Henry Clemmer, born in 1837, married Mary Ruth. Their children: Joseph, Tobias, Henry, Abraham and Michael. Henry also had one daughter, Annie, who died at the age of seventeen years.

Elizabeth Clemmer, born in 1826, married Henry Bergey, and had two sons and three daughters. Henry Bergey died in Canada, and she married (second husband) Joseph Hallman.

Susanna Clemmer, born in 1830, married George Rosenberger and had one daughter.

Mary Ann Cleinmer, born in 1830 (twin sister of Susanna) married David Hagey, and had one son, Oliver, and one daughter, who died in infancy. Oliver Hagey married Sarah Benner and has two sons, David and Willie.

Anna Clemmer, born in 1840, married John Rosenberger. The couple have had three sons and six daughters, as follows: Harry, Levi, John, Mary Ann, Lizzie, Susanna, Katie (deceased), Ella and Annie. Harry married Miss Lapp; John married Miss Moyer; Levi also married; Mary Ann married William Godshall; Lizzie married Henry Hendricks; Ella married Henry Heckler; Anna married T. R. Haldeman.

Rev. Josiah Clemmer married Sarah Kulp, November 9, 1851. They had eight children, five sons and three daughters: Jacob, John, Josiah, Jonas, Hiram (died at the age of twenty years), Susanna, Mary and Sarah (died at the age of seventeen years). Mr. Clemmer married (second wife) Lydia Derstine, on December 24, 1884. Mrs. Clemmer is the daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Gehman) Derstine. Her brothers were: John, George, Jacob, Jesse, Abraham, Samuel, Noah, Isaac, and her sisters, Sarah, Kate, Elizabeth, Anna, Mary and Hetty.

Mrs. Sarah Clemmer, daughter of Jacob Kulp, a minister of the Mennonite church, died on November 8, 1883, aged fifty years. One of her children, Jacob, married Catharine Benner, and had three children as follows: John, unmarried; Sarah, married John Hensel; Lizzie, unmarried. Jacob died at the age of thirty-six years.

John Clemmer, born September 1, 1861, married Lizzie Free, and had two sons, Jacob, died at the age of two years; and Elmer, married Miss Greeser, they having two daughters, Beth and Mary. John Clemmer is a miller.

Josiah Clemmer, born June 1, 1867, married Ella Hunsberger, in 1885. Their children: Harvey, Clayton, Willis, Norman and Josiah. Josiah Clemmer is a farmer.

Jonas Clemmer born August 9, 1870, married Laura Loudenslager. He died April 6, 1901. His wife died in 1898. Their children: Katie, Ellwood and Wallace. Jonas Clemmer married (second wife) Barbara Freed in 1899, and had one son, Raymond.

Hiram Clemmer, born January 28, 1874, died May 10, 1894.

Susanna Clemmer, born October 29, 1855, married Samuel Derstine and had nine children, of whom Irvin, Josiah, Lizzie, Erma and Edna survive.

Mary Clemmer, born December 27, 1857, married Charles Brunner. Their children: Hiram, Harvey, Katie, Sarah, Mary, Ella, Barbara (deceased). Mary died and Mr. Brunner married (second wife) Mary Oberholtzer and had five children, Hanna, Lizzie, Elverdy, Charles and Edwin. Of the children by the first wife, Hiram married Lizzie Belger, and had a son, Morgan; Harvey married a Miss Hendricks, and had one son; Kate married Henry Mininger, and had three children; Sarah married Ulysses Alderfer.

Family of Henry Kulp: Catharine, born February 3, 1798, married to John Freed, whose occupation was farming, and who was a Mennonite in faith. Jacob B., born in November, 1799, died in 1875, aged sixty-eight years. Jacob was married to Anna Alderfer, who was a minister.

Polly Kulb married to Peter Hendricks. They had the following children: Henry Kulb was born January 24, 1804, and died August 8, 1869. He married Elizabeth Shoemaker. They had the following children: Jacob, Henry, Samuel, Michael, Susan, Eliza and Sarah. Abraham Kulb was born January 11, 1806, and married Elizabeth Landes. Mr. Kulb was a weaver and farmer by occupation and was a member of the Mennonite church. Sallie Kulb married Joseph Swartz. William Kulb married Mary Frederick, and had the following children: Abraham and Sallie.

Bishop Clemmer says of his mother: Her maiden name was Swartley. She was a granddaughter of Henry Rosenberger, who came to America from Germany between 1720 and 1730. He was a Mennonite deacon. He settled in Franconia, at Indian Creek. He gave the ground for a graveyard where there have been buried about a thousand persons. He was married to Barbara Oberholtzer in the year 1745, They lived together twenty years, having nine children, seven daughters, and two sons who died young. The daughters were: Anna, Lizzie, Barbara, Mary, Maudalin, Sarah, Susan. Sarah married John Swartley, she being my grandmother. They had six sons and two daughters: John, Henry Samuel, Joseph, Abraham and Philip, Elizabeth and Mary (my mother), who married John Clemmer (my father).

FRANCONIA CONGREGATION.

Rev. Henry Funk was the first minister of Franconia congregation. The first meeting house was built of stone in the year 1730. It had a seating capacity of over seven hundred, with a membership of about four hundred and fifty. The third house was built of stone. The church has a membership of six hundred with seats for eight hundred or nine hundred.

Josiah Clemmer was chosen to the ministry in 1860. His co-workers in the ministry are Jacob Landes and Michael Moyer. Henry Nice was chosen to the ministry in 1839 and died in 1883, aged seventy-nine years. Jacob Godshall was chosen to the ministry in 1804, and was elected bishop in 1813. He died in 1845, aged seventy-five years. Abraham Clemmer, Sr., was elected deacon in Franconia congregation in 1839, and died in 1879, aged eighty-five years. Abraham Clemmer, Jr., was elected deacon in 1879. Jacob Freed was ordained to a deacon in 1884. Abraham Clemmer was ordained as a minister in 1904.

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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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