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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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LEWIS B. STONG. Among the esteemed citizens and influential business men of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, no more worthy representative of honest and industrious manhood can be found than Lewis B. Stong, whose ability and enterprise have added materially to the commercial activities of that great center of trade. He has been the architect of his own fortune. Beginning in life without means or influential friends, beset with obstacles on every side, he nevertheless worked his way up from a humble position to the prominent one he now occupies in commercial circles, and won an enviable reputation for the strictest integrity and the utmost probity in all his transactions. He was born at the old Stong homestead in Worcester township, near Centre Point, May 16, 1865. The earlier generations of the family spelled the name Stang.
The earliest ancestor of the family of whom there is any authentic information was Philip Stang, born in 1760, at Stong’s Mill, in Worcester township. He married Barbara Wentz, of Worcester, the daughter of the founder of Wentz’s church, in that township. Their son, Henry Wentz Stong, also born at Stong’s Mill, was the grandfather of Lewis B. Stong, and his son, Henry Cassel Stong, father of Lewis B. Stong, was born August 21, 1835, at the old Stong homestead.
Henry Cassel Stong (father) attended the public schools of the district and also a pay school until he attained the age of fourteen years. In the meantime he assisted his father in the grist and saw mill and on the home farm, continuing these pursuits until the year 1876, when he established a flour and feed business in Philadelphia, in the management of which he achieved a large degree of success. He was also prominently associated with the Corn Exchange, now the Commercial Exchange of that city. He retired from active business pursuits in 1882, when he removed to Norristown where he resided until 1890, in which year he took up his residence with his son, Lewis B. Stong. On November 8, 1856, he was united in marriage to Emeline Brunner, daughter of Henry and Sarah (Comfort) Brunner, of Hatfield township. Henry Brunner was a farmer and brick manufacturer, widely known in his day in that section of the county. Their children are: Lewis B., mentioned hereinafter. Jennie, wife of Philip Yost, formerly of Pottstown, but now a resident of Philadelphia; they are the parents of three children-Walter L., Clarence M., and Alma B. Yost. Mary C., wife of John Leister, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, but now a resident of Philadelphia; four children were the issue of this marriage, two of whom are living at the present time, namely: Lizzie and Emma May Leister. The family are members of the Reformed church. Mr. Stong is a Democrat in his political affiliations, but takes no active part in local affairs.
Lewis B. Stong obtained his education in the public schools of his native township and in those at Norristown, whither his parents removed when he was a boy. When he was thirteen years of age his parents located in the city of Philadelphia, where he has since resided. In 1884 Mr. Stong began the business of buying and selling poultry, in which occupation he has since been successfully engaged, and he is now one of the most extensive wholesale dealers in that line in the city of Philadelphia. Since 1898 he has been located at No. 335 North Front street, where he occupies the greater part of two four-story brick buildings, giving employment to a large force of men in killing, dressing and packing poultry for shipment to different parts of the country. He purchases the greater part of his poultry alive, and if they are not of a suitable size for the market he fattens them by his own process. They are then killed, dressed, and placed on the market or held in cold storage for future shipment. He makes a specialty of broilers and squabs, which he freezes and holds so that he has always a large stock on hand and is ready for any demand. He was the first man to make a success of preserving broilers, squabs and sweet breads by the freezing process and for six years he controlled the markets of Philadelphia in the line of squabs, thereby obtaining large profits in return for the labor and care bestowed on these articles of merchandise. In 1891 Mr. Stong bought a farm near Centre Square, in Whitpain township, on the State road, which was formerly known as the Jacob Reif farm. It contains thirty acres of finely located and highly cultivated land, adjoins the properties of William Meigs and Miss Ellen Duddy, and is operated by Mr. Stong as a general farm, being very productive. To this place Mr. Stong and his family are very much attached, spending their summers there, devoting their time to such outdoor work as the farm affords, and enjoying the healthful change from the confinement of city life. Mr. Stong is a horseman, and life on the farm permits him to enjoy his hobby. In politics he is an Independent, but is not an active participant in political affairs.
In October, 1888, Mr. Stong married Elizabeth Smeltz, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in November, 1868, a daughter of Louis and Pauline (Eberhardt) Smeltz, of Philadelphia. Louis Smeltz was born in Germany in the year 1835, came to America with his parents when a child, was engaged in the poultry business in Philadelphia, and died February 6, 1896. His wife, Pauline (Eberhardt) Smeltz, whom he married in June, 1859, was also a native of Germany, and she bore him seven children, as follows: John E.; Pauline C., who became the wife of Merritt Hutton, and they reside in Philadelphia; Louis C.; Elizabeth mentioned above as the wife of Lewis B. Stong; Anna, deceased; Anna M., who became the wife of Joseph Neely; and Millie C., who became the wife of Dr. S. B. Segrest, of Philadelphia. Mrs. Smeltz, mother of these children, resides in the city of Philadelphia. Mr. and Mrs. Stong are the parents of two daughters: Edna Alberta, born in 1889, attends school in Philadelphia; and Florence May, born in 1890, also attends school. The domestic life of Mr. Stong and his family is very pleasant and peaceful, every member contributing his or her share to the general happiness. They are attendants at the Reformed church.
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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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