Biographical Sketch of Aaron J. BOYER (1893); Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris . Copyright. All Rights Reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ********************************************************* 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."