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

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John Lesher	JOHN LESHER was a native of Germany.  He was born Jan. 5, 1711, the only son and heir-at-law of Nicholas Lesher.  He emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1734, and was naturalized in 1743.  He first settled in the upper section of Bucks County, but subsequently removed to Oley township, Berks County.  Along the Manatawny Creek, near the Oley Churches, he, with two other men (John Yoder and John Ross), erected a forge in 1744.  This was known as the "Oley Forge."  From that time, for a period of fifty years, he was prominently identified with the iron industry of Berks County.  He represented the county in the Constitutional Convention of 1776, and served in the General Assembly from 1776 until 1782.  While in the Convention, he was one of the important committee, who prepared and reported the "Declaration of Rights."  During the Revolution, he acted as one of Rights."  During the Revolution, he acted as one of the Commissioners for purchasing army supplies.  He addressed an interesting letter to the Supreme Executive Council in 1778, relating to the taking of supplies from him.  [See p. 181.]      He died in Oley township Apr. 5, 1794, aged 83 years.  He left a wife, two sons, John and Jacob; and five daughters - Barbara (married to Jacob Morgan), Hannah, (married to George Focht), Maria (married to John Potts, Jr.), Catharine (married to John Tysher) and Elizabeth. 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 237
	DANIEL LEVAN was the son of Daniel Levan, of Maxatawny township, in Berks County, who died in June, 1777.  He was born in that township, and, after having been brought up on a farm, removed to Reading.  He studies law with Edward Biddle, Esq., on whose motion he was admitted to practice in the several courts of Berks County on Nov. 11, 1768.      He officiated as the sheriff of the county during the years 1778 and 1779, and as the county treasurer from 1780 to 1783.  His residence was situated on the southeast corner of 5th and Cherry streets, and there he died in March, 1792, leaving to survive him for sons, Isaac, Daniel, Jacob and Samuel. 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 238
	SEBASTIAN LEVAN was born in Maxatawny township, Berks County.  He was a son of Jacob Levan, one of the first judges of the County from 1752 to 1762.  He was raised on his father's farm and learned the trade of miller, which he afterward carried on himself.  At the breaking out of the Revolution, he represented his district on the Standing Committee.  Subsequently, he served in the the State Assembly during 1779 and 1780, and as a Councillor on the Supreme Executive Council from 1782 to 1784.  He was also active in the County Militia, being colonel of a battalion.  He died in August, 1794. 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 238
Early Home of Lincolns	ABRAHAM LINCOLN was a son of Mordecai and Mary Lincoln.  He was born a posthumous son in 1736, in Exeter township, Berks County, (then part of Philadelphia County).  His father -who died in May of that year, a few months before his birth - was the paternal ancestor of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States.  He was brought up on a farm and received a fair education.  Prior to the Revolution, he served as a county commissioner from 1772 to 1775, and continued in office by re-election until 1778.  On Mar. 21, 1777, he was appointed one of the sub-lieutenants of the county, but it is not known how long he served in this position.      He represented the county in the General Assembly from 1782 to 1786, and was a delegate to the Pennsylvania Convention to ratify the Federal Constitution in 1787.  He did not sign the ratification.  He was also a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1789-90.       He died at his residence in Exeter township, Jan. 31, 1806, in the 70th year of his age.  In 1761, he married Anne Boone, a daughter of James Boone and Mary Foulke.  She was a full cousin of Col. Daniel Boone, the Pioneer of Kentucky.  The Boones were Quakers and the Lincolns Congregationalists.  Hence it appears by the minutes of Exeter Meeting, Oct. 27, 1761, that she "condoned" her marriage to one who was not a member of the Society.  He left four sons, Mordecai, James, Thomas and John, and five daughters, Mary (married to Joseph Boone), Martha, Ann (married to William Glassgow), Anna, and Phebe (married to David Jones).      The above cut represents the building where the children of Mordecai Lincoln, Sr., were born.  It is situated about a mile below Exeter Station, several hundred feet north from the railroad, near a small stream.  An extension was built to the west end. 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 239
	JACOB LIVINGOOD, a captain of a company of riflemen during the Revolution in 1781, was born in Tulpehocken township, Berks County, on Jan. 26, 1852, on the property commonly known as the "Livingood Mill," which is situated on a branch of the Little Swatara, within a mile of its outlet into that stream.  His father and grandfather, both of the same name, had lived there for a number of years, the latter having migrated from New York in1729 with a small colony of Germans, under the leadership of Conrad Weiser.  He was brought up to farming and milling.      In the Fall of 1781, he raised a company of riflemen at and near Womelsdorf for the Continental Army, which was in service for ninety days.  Upon his discharge and return home, he resumed his avocation as a miller.  For some years afterward, he was engaged in the grain business, disposing of the grain collected at Philadelphia.  He was also at Reading for a time.  Subsequently, he returned to Tulpehocken and lived by himself in a small log building, which was erected by members of the family expressly for him, on the Mill premises, where he frequently entertained the surviving members of his company.  It is stated that the meetings of his Continental associates were occasions of great hilarity, and he always welcomed the in his military uniform.  So proud was he of this dress that he died with it on; and out of respect for his known wishes, he was thus laid to rest in the burying ground of the Lutheran Church, a mile west of Stouchsburg.  The day of his decease is not known. 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 241
Nicholas Lotz Federal Inn, Penn Square, Reading.	NICHOLAS LOTZ was born Feb. 20, 1740, in the Palatinate, and emigrated to Pennsylvania when a young man.  He first settled in the western section of the county.  Some time previous to the Revolution, he located at Reading and became the owner of two mills at the mouth of the Wyomissing Creek, which he conducted very successfully.  When the struggle for independence began, he was prominently identified with the patriotic movement at Reading.  In January, 1775, he was selected as chairman of the Standing Committee.  He served as a delegate to the Provincial Conference in June 1776, and upon his return home took an active part in the enlistment of men.  He was commissioned a lieutenant-colonel and participated in the campaign of the "Flying Camp" at New York, where he was engaged in the battle of Long Island and taken prisoner.  He was admitted to parole within certain bounds on Apr. 16, 1777, and exchanged on Sept. 10, 1779.  He showed great interest in Militia affairs, being at the head of the battalion in the central section of the county from 1775 for many years.      In 1780 he was appointed Commissioner of Forage, and, as such, purchased supplies for the army until the close of the war.  The Executive Council addressed him as a Colonel and so recognized him.      Col. Lotz represented Berks County in the General Assembly from 1784 to 1786, and again from 1790 to 1794; and he filled the office of Associate Judge of the county from 1795 to 1806.  Gov. Thomas Mifflin gave him the appointment, there having been great intimacy between them.      When Gen'l. Washington, while President, was at Reading, on his way to Carlisle, in 1794, Col. Lotz was at the head of a party of prominent men who signalized the occasion by giving a military parade on Penn Square in honor of the distinguished visitor.  The review was made form the second story of the "Federal Inn" (now the Farmer's Bank building).  In personal appearance, he was a tall, finely-proportioned man, being over six feet in height and weighing about 300 pounds; and upon that occasion he attracted marked attention, not only by reason of his commanding presence, but also of  his military, political and social prominence.      He died Nov. 28, 1807, and left to survive him eight children: seven sons, Philip, Nicholas, Jacob, John, Henry, Michael and William, and a daughter, Rosa (married to John Yeager).  His remains were buried in the graveyard of the Reformed Church, and from thence removed to the Charles Evans Cemetery. 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 242
Christian Lower	CHRISTIAN LOWER was of German descent.  In that language the name was spelled Lauer, but in writing it himself he spelled it Lower.      The name of his father, Christian Lauer, appears in the list of families that migrated from Schoharie in New York to Tulpehocken in 1723, and his grandfather, Michael Lauer, followed in 1728.      He was born in Tulpehocken township and brought up to the trade of a blacksmith.  He took an active part in the Revolution and was prominent in the political affairs of the county for many years.  In August, 1775, he was selected as one of the Colonels of the Associated Battalions and attended the Convention at Philadelphia.  He officiated as a County Commissioner during the years 1777, 1778 and 1779, served as a Sub-Lieutenant in supplying the quota of troops from 1780 to the close of the war, and represented the county in the General Assembly for the years 1779, 1782 to 1785, 1793, 1794 and 1796.      Before the Revolution, his father was the owner of the Moselem Forge.  He was a man of social prominence and died possessed of a large estate in September, 1786, leaving to survive him two sons, Christian and John, and three daughters, Elizabeth (married to George Holston), Magdalena (married to Michael Ley), and Catharine (married to Benjamin Spyker).      The son Christian,  the subject of this sketch, died in January, 1807, and left a widow and seven children:  three of age, Elizabeth (married to John Battorf), Catharine (married to Jacob Kohr), and Magdalena (married to John Dieffenbach);  and four under age, John, George, Margaret, and Mary.  The remains of both father and son were interred in the burying ground of Tulpehocken Church. 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 245
John Ludwig	JOHN LUDWIG was a son of Dan'l Ludwig, the elder, of Heidelberg township, where he was born, and raised at farming.  At the opening of the Revolution, he was a man of prominence in the central section of the county.  He raised a company of men which formed part of the "Flying Camp" in Lotz' Battalion, and it appears that he and his company were subsequently engaged in the battles of Trenton and Princeton.  He also commanded a company which comprised part of Hiester's Battalion in 1780, that was with Reed's Army in New Jersey.      He was commissioned a justice of the peace in 1777, and recommissioned in 1784.  He was a delegate to the Pennsylvania Convention to ratify the Federal Constitution in 1787, but, with his colleagues, did not sign the ratification.  He served in the General Assembly in 1782-83, and again in 1788-90; and he also served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1790 to 1793.  In 1795, Gov. Mifflin appointed him a justice of the peace, and he was still in commission at the time of his death in July, 1802. 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 246