BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
History of Berks County, Pennsylvania
 in the Revolution from 1774 to 1783,
by Morton L. Montgomery,
Vols. I & II,
publ. Reading, PA: Chas. F. Haage, Printer, Seventh and Court Streets,
1894

NOTE:  If you want a biography transcribed, you MUST list the State and the County in the Email.
Thank you, Sharon Wick
CONTACT ME HERE

	HENRY HALLER was a tailor at Reading in 1765, and in 1775 was engaged as an inkeeper, by which time he had become a man of considerable social and political influence. In the formation of a regiment in Berks County, as its quota of the 4500 men for the Flying Camp, he was chosen Colonel, but he did not accompany the regiment in its march to Long Island, and did not participate in that battle. Shortly afterward, however, he commanded another battalion which went into service in New Jersey. In the public actions for encouraging the Revolution, he took a prominent part, and next to Edward Biddle, George Nagel, Jacob Morgan and Bodo Otto, was a prominent as any other man at Reading. He was a delegate to the Provincial Conference in 17776, and also a member of the Committee of Safety, the Committee on Attainder, and the Committee to Collect Arms, etc. He served as a member of the assembly form 1776 to 1781. During the years 1778, 1779 and 1780, he was wagon-master of Berks County, and during 1779 and 1780, wagon-master-general of the Continental Army. The first public office that he filled was coroner of the county in 1767. After the Revolution, he moved up the Schuylkill Valley beyond the Blue Mountains, in Brunswick township, then still part of Berks County, and there he died in September, 1793, possessed of a very large estate. He had eight sons, Frederick, Jacob, Henry, John, William, Isaac, Benjamin and Lewis; and two daughters, Elizabeth (married to William Mears), and Sarah (married to Samuel Webb.) Source:  History of Berks County, Pennsylvania in the Revolution from 1774 to 1783, by Morton L. Montgomery, Vols. I & II, publ. Reading, PA: Chas. F. Haage, Printer, Seventh and Court Streets, 1894 - Page  230
	GABRIEL HIESTER, a son of Daniel Hiester and Catharine Shueler (natives of Witzenstine, Westphalia), was born in Bern township June 17, 1749.  He was brought up as a farmer and given such an education as the neighborhood afforded at the school connected with the Bern Church.  IN 1776, he was selected as one of the representatives from Berks County to the Provincial Convention for the formation of a Constitution.  In 1778 he received the appointment of justice of the Common Pleas Court of hte county, which he held for four years.  He was afterward elected to the Assembly, and represented the county for eight years, 1782, 1787-89, 1791 and 1802-04.  He was in the Assembly when the question of framing a new Constitution was discussed, but he voted against the propriety of calling a convention for this purpose.  He was Senator from the district which comprised Berks and Dauphin Counties for ten years, 1795-96 and 1805-12.  This continued selection by his fellow-citi-citizens indicates their confidence in him as a man of ability and integrity.      He died on his farm, in Bern township, Sept. 1, 1824.  He was a brother of Col. Daniel Hiester, of Montgomery County; of Col. John Hiester, of Chester County, and a cousin of Col. Joseph Hiester, of Berks County.  His wife was Elizabeth Bausman, who survived him eight years, dying in the 81st year of her age.  He had four sons, Gabriel, Jonathan, William and Jacob, and two daughters, Mary (married to Frederick A. Shulze), and Elizabeth.      The family name was commonly written Hiester, but he wrote it, as given, Heister. Source:  History of Berks County, Pennsylvania in the Revolution from 1774 to 1783, by Morton L. Montgomery, Vols. I & II, publ. Reading, PA: Chas. F. Haage, Printer, Seventh and Court Streets, 1894 - Page  233
	JOSEPH HIESTER was born in Bern township, Berks County, on Nov. 18, 1752.  His father, John Hiester, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1732, in the 25th year of his age, from the village of Elsoff, in the province of Westphalia, Germany, and some years afterward settled in Bern township, where he married Mary Barbara Epler, a daughter of one of the first settlers in that section of the county.      The son was brought up on the farm until he was a young man.  In the intervals of farm labor, he attended the school at Bern Church, and there he acquired the rudiments of an English and also a German education.  The homestead was situated about a mile north of the church.      He went to Reading before he was of age, and entered the general store of Adam Witman.  He remained in the store until 1776, and then, manifesting an active sympathy for the Revolution, he was selected as a delegate to the Provincial Conference.  Upon returning home, he raised a company of men which became a part of the "Flying Camp" in the regiment of Lt. Col. Nicholas Lotz, and with it participated in the Battle of Long Island, where he was taken prisoner.  Upon his exchange he returned to Reading, and after recovering from the effects of his imprisonment, he rejoined the army.  He participated in the battle of Germantown in 1777, and in 1780 commanded a regiment which was in service in New Jersey for Thirty days.  About the close of the Revolution, he entered into partnership with his father-in-law, and some years afterward became the sole proprietor of the store.  He conducted business operations very successfully for a number of years.  Public affairs also received much of his attention.  In 1787, he was elected a member of the General Assembly and re-elected twice.   In 1789, he was chosen a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and in 1790, the first State Senator from Berks County.  In 1797, he was elected to represent this district in Congress and afterward re-elected five times.  After an intermission of eight years, which he devoted entirely to business at Reading, he was again sent to Congress in 1815, and re-elected twice.  The party naturally selected him in1820 a second time as the most available candidate, and he was elected.  The election returns reveal the fact that the devotion of the people of Berks County caused his election.  His numerous friends signalized this triumph by a grand festival at Reading on Nov. 1, 1820.  His administration was characterized by great activity in promoting the growth of the Commonwealth, especially through interval improvements.  He suggested that such improvements could be made advantageously, and domestic manufactures encouraged with success, and that there existed an imperative duty to support a liberal system of education.  At the end of his term he lived in retirement at Reading.  He died June 10, 1832.  His remains were interred in the burying ground of the Reformed Church, and some  years afterward removed to the Charles Evans Cemetery.  He had a son , John S. Hiester, and four daughters.      While holding this office, he became the nominee of the Federalist party for Governor in 1817, and though not then elected, his popularity was shown in the vote which he received.  He was the first candidate on the Federal ticket who received a majority of hte votes in Berks County against the Democratic candidate, and also in the southeastern section of the State. Source:  History of Berks County, Pennsylvania in the Revolution from 1774 to 1783, by Morton L. Montgomery, Vols. I & II, publ. Reading, PA: Chas. F. Haage, Printer, Seventh and Court Streets, 1894 - Page  234
	DANIEL HUNTER.  The parents of Daniel Hunter were emigrants from Germany, amongst the early settlers of Oley township.  The name of Iaeger in German.  He was born in this township on Apr. 8, 1742, and carried on farming all his life.  At the breaking out of the Revolution, he manifested an earnest interest in public affairs.  His prominence and patriotic spirit led to his selection as a representative from the county to the Provincial Conference in June, 1776, and to the Convention in July following.  The supreme Executive Council appointed him a paymaster of the militia in 1776, and he served in this position until August, 1777.  In militia affairs he was particularly prominent.  In the Winter and Fall of 1777, he commanded a regiment of militia, formed of companies from Oley and vicinity, which was engaged in the Revolutionary service, first in the campaign about Trenton, and then in the campaign about the Brandywine.  He represented the county in the General Assembly for the year 1782.  While serving this office, he was taken ill, and from this illness he died at home, Feb. 3, 1783, in the 41st year of his age.      His wife was Maria Lease.  He left three surviving children - Daniel, Frederick and Catharine (who was married to Jacob Kemp).  His sister Catharine was the wife of Balser Geehr. Source:  History of Berks County, Pennsylvania in the Revolution from 1774 to 1783, by Morton L. Montgomery, Vols. I & II, publ. Reading, PA: Chas. F. Haage, Printer, Seventh and Court Streets, 1894 - Page  235