Biographical Sketch of Aaron J. BOYER (1893); Chester County, PA

Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris 
<jMcDmorris@comcast.net>.

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Source: "Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chester County, Pennsyl-
vania, comprising a historical sketch of the county," by Samuel T. Wiley
and edited by Winfield Scott Garner, Gresham Publishing Company, Phila-
delphia, PA, 1893, pp. 513-5.

"AARON J. BOYER, now serving as justice of the peace at Valley Forge, and a
well known telegraph operator and cigar manufacturer, is a son of Aaron S.
and Sarah A. (Kern) Boyer, and was born at Leesport, Berks county, Pennsyl-
vania, July 8, 1862.

"His paternal grandfather, Jacob Boyer, was born at Leesport, where he is
still living, being now in the seventy-ninth year of his age, and still
hale and hearty.  In his early years he was a farmer and maintained a kind
of connection with that occupation nearly all his life, though his main
business was that of a hotel keeper, in which he became well known and
quite popular.  He maintained his connection with the hotel business for a
period of forty-two years, during part of which time he was also engaged in
dealing in real estate, and loaned large sums of money to business men and
others engaged in different enterprises.  About 1875 he practically retired
from active business, and has since been leading a quiet and comfortable
life, enjoying the fruits of a somewhat extended, busy and successful
career.  Politically he is a democrat of the old school, and while always
active in the various interests of his party, has never cherished political
ambition for himself nor allowed the use of his name for any office.  In
religion he is a member of the German Reformed church of Leesport.  His
wife was Matilda Brownmiller, a daughter of Dr. Brownmiller, a prominent
physician in his day, and by her Mr. Boyer had two children.  The eldest
was a daughter named Catharine, who is now deceased, while the younger was
Aaron S. Boyer (father).

"The latter was born at Leesport, Berks county, this State, in 1840, and
died there in November, 1869, at the early age of twenty-nine years.  After
being educated int he public schools of his native place he was employed
with his father in the hotel business for a time, but when the civil war
broke out, he went to the city of Reading and enlisted as a private in the
Pennsylvania infantry, in which he served faithfully until the war ended.
He actively participated in twenty-nine engagements fought by the army of
the Potomac, during one of which he was captured by the enemy, and was
afterward incarcerated in Andersonville prison for a time.  There he per-
sonally underwent all the hardships and privations which have rendered that
military prison infamous in the annals of civilized warfare, and his death
resulted a few years later from disease brought on by the exposure and
semi-starvation endured while an inmate of that prison pen.  In 1859 he
married Sarah A. Kern, and by this union had a family of three children,
two sons and one daughter: Aaron J., the subject of this sketch; Heister J.,
now engaged in the slating and roofing business at Pottsville, Schuylkill
county; and Kate, still single, and also residing there.

"Aaron J. Boyer grew to manhood at Leesport, Berks county, and obtained a
superior English education in the public schools of that village.  After
leaving school he entered the telegraph office and soon became a skillful
operator, being in the employ of the Reading Railroad Company for a period
of nearly thirteen years, during ten of which he was operator at various
places along the line, and for three years station agent at Valley Forge,
to which place he removed to 1883.  In 1887 he began the manufacture of
cigars in the city of Philadelphia, and three years later, in September,
1890, transferred his operations to Valley Forge, where he opened the
factory since known as No. 39, and has built up a prosperous and paying
business in that line.  In politics he is a democrat, but broad and liberal
in his views, and is well known for his sound judgment and correct business
principles.  In February, 1891, he was elected by his fellow citizens to
the position of justice of the peace, the duties of which office he has
ever since creditably discharged.  In religion he is a strict member of
the German Reformed church, and ranks among the most substantial and useful
citizens of Chester county.

"On November 15, 1883, Squire Boyer was united in marriage to Ella Evans,
a daughter of Josiah and Esther A. Evans, of Linfield, Montgomery county,
Pennsylvania, and their union has been blessed by the birth of one child,
a son named Jacob E., who is now (1892) in his fourth year."