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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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OTHNIEL LESSIG, professor in the Pottstown high school, is the son of Joshua B. and Amanda (Bliem) Lessig. He was born June 8, 1875. He is a graduate of the Hill School, Pottstown, and also of Yale College, class of 1899. He is secretary of the Young Men’s Republican Club, and vice-president of the Empire Hook and Ladder Company.
Joshua B. Lessig (father) is the well-known secretary and treasurer of the Ellis-Lessig Steel and Iron Company of Pottstown. He was born July 25, 1852, son of Joshua B. and Christiana (Rechtel) Lessig. Joshua B. Lessig (grandfather) was a business man of Pottstown. He was a Republican in politics, and the family were German Lutherans in religious faith. Their children: George B., Joshua B. (father); Mary, (Mrs. Josiah Freyer); Anna (Mrs. Frederick Slonaker); Rebecca (Mrs. Charles Frick); Amelia (Mrs. John R. Shaner), Sarah, and Julia (deceased). Peter Lessig (great-grandfather) married Anna Bair. He was a shoe manufacturer in Pottstown. Their children: 1. Elizabeth, wife of Matthias Yergey. 2. Anna Maria, wife of Henry Steinmetz. 3. Catharine (Mrs. Thomas Reifsnyder). 4. Peter, Jr. 5. Joshua B., Sr. 6. Sarah, (Mrs. Anthony Duke). 7. Rebecca, wife of Isaac Yergey. Christian Lessig (great-great-grand-father) was born in Bavaria in 1750 and came to America in 1765. He served in the Revolution, and was storekeeper; he died in 1835 His children: Philip, Peter, Sr., Henry Christian, Jr., William, Samuel, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Michael, Christiana.
Joshua B. Lessig (father) married, in 1874, Amanda H. Bliem, who died in 1883. The first ancestor of the Bliem family in America was Christian Bliem, born in Germany in 1711 came to America in 1735, and settled in Hanover township. He had several children, among them Christian, born in 1746, who married Salome Langenecker. The children of Joshua B. and Amanda Bliem Lessig: Othniel, subject of this sketch; Mary, born 1877, died 1899; Caroline B., born February 4, 1881; Joshua Bliem, born February 8, 1883; George and Chrissie, both of whom died in infancy.
Mrs. Lessig died in 1882 and Joshua B. (father) married Emma Dickenshied. Of this marriage was born one child, Ruth Lessig, February 16, 1890.
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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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