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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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WILLIAM GEIST KEHL, a leading tailor of Pottstown, was born January 18, 1860. He is the son of John and Catharine (Geist) Kehl, the father being a tailor in Pottstown all his life. In politics he was a Democrat; he was a member of town council, and otherwise participated in public affairs. He was a director in several local enterprises of the town, including the Gas Company, Fire Insurance Companies, etc. He died January 18, 1899, aged sixty-eight years. Mrs. Kehl died before him, being buried in the family vault on Charlotte street, in Pottstown cemetery. They were both members of the Trinity Reformed church, Pottstown. The couple had five children, of whom two sons survive. One of these is William Geist Kehl, the subject of this sketch; the other is Albert G. Kehl, who married Miss Binder, of Boyertown, they living in Pottstown. Albert is also a tailor. Henry Geist was the maternal grandfather.
William Geist Kehl attended school until he was seventeen years of age. He then learned the tailoring trade with his father, being thus employed for four years. He then went into business as his father’s successor, continuing in the tailoring line until 1899. Mr. Kehl then traveled for five years, at the end of which time he resumed business at his present place, July 11, 1903, having one of the finest establishments of the kind in the country.
Mr. Kehl married in May, 1880, Miss Carrie, daughter of Franklin B. and Caroline (Coller) Fichthorn, of Reading, who was a grocer and a very prosperous business man. Mr. Fichthorn was an independent voter. Mr. and Mrs. Kehl have two children: Daisy May, born in 1883; she is a graduate of Reading High School, and Katherine, born in 1888, who resides with her parents.
As a business man, Mr. Kehl stands high. He is a member of the Masonic Lodge of Pottstown, and of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, Royal Arcanum and the Heptasophs. Mr. Kehl is the owner of several properties in Pottstown.
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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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