That from the first has been inclined to thrift.-Shakspeare,

Among the modest, unpretending, and successful business men of Montgomery county, there is none stands higher than Daniel Otto Hitner, of Springmill, in Whitemarsh township, who was born in Pottstown, the upper borough of our county, on the 29th of January, 1815. He is the son of Daniel and Catharine Scheetz Hitner, who for many years afterwards resided at Marble Hall, in the same township. He is the son of a second marriage of his father with the daughter of General Henry Scheetz, elsewhere recorded in this volume. His paternal grandfather, also called Daniel, was probably of the Protestant German emigration of the early part of the last century, as were also his maternal ancestors of those who came over with Pastorius and settled at Germantown. The grandfather Hitner was a soldier of the Revolution, and was killed at the battle of Germantown. Daniel and Catharine Scheetz Hitner had three other children, named as follows: Henry S., so long and well known as a partner with Daniel O. in the furnace business, and who married Margaret Dager; Margaret, who is dead, was married to Henry Cress; and Catharine, who married Reuben Y. Hagey, the latter of whom is deceased.

After receiving primary instruction in the common schools of the locality of Marble Hall, where his father removed soon after his birth, Daniel O. Hitner, up to the age of sixteen, had the benefit of academic training under Alan W. Corson at his famous seminary near by. At the age named, however, his father placed him as assistant or superintendent of the noted marble quarries at Marble Hall. A short time previous to this, while shooting at game, he had the misfortune to lose his left arm by the bursting of a gun. On the 31st of January, 1836, at the age of twenty-one, Mr. Hitner was married to Catharine B., daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Kirkner, of Barren Hill. The same year he rented or took charge of his father's extensive marble quarries at that place. In 1840 he erected a large steam mill adjoining the quarry for sawing the stone into merchantable condition, and from that time till the present a very heavy business in marble has been done, the sales ranging from thirty thousand to fifty thousand dollars per annum. In 1841 his

father died, leaving the quarries, mill, and a portion of the land to him, and the main farm and homestead to his brother, Henry S. His mother died as early as 1824.

Residing in a mansion beside the works, he continued to push the production of marble till 1849, when, in company with his brother, he bought the upper William Penn Furnace, and in 1853 they erected another immediately below, both of which were kept in blast till near the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861. Having confidence in the future, and capital to hold the product, the Messrs.. Hitner did not "blow out" on the recurrence of hard times in 1857, but accumulated the pigs until the war began, when a prodigious demand for iron arose, thus demonstrating their wise foresight, and adding very materially to their fortune. In 1863 D. O. and H. S. Hitner purchased of the heirs of Abraham Kunzi the old Spring Mill. Furnace, just above William Penn. All these establishments were kept in blast from that time until about 1878, when some of them were stopped, and subsequently all, as the result of business prostration all over the world. These furnaces produced, when running, or were capable of producing, about twenty thousand tons of iron per annum, consuming thirty-five thousand tons of coal, and employing nearly sixty hands, independent of perhaps a hundred others engaged in digging ore and hauling on their own account.

Having so large an interest and business on the line of the Schuyl kill, Mr. Hitner in 1856 concluded to remove from Marble Hall, and erected for himself, on an elevation near the furnaces, a handsome and commodious cottage, now surrounded by evergreens, terraces, statuary, and other needful ornamentations. This dwelling his family first occupied in the spring of 1857.

To his original patrimony of one hundred and fifty-two acres, in cluding the quarries, Mr. Hitner a few years ago purchased the adjoining Dull tract of one hundred and ten acres and the Wood property of fifty-two acres. Most of these contain iron ore, which has been mined in past years. The furnace property covers about sixty acres. In 1879 Mr. H. and his brother Henry S. dissolved partnership in the iron business, the former retaining the furnaces.

For many years Daniel O. Hitner was a considerable stockholder andi a director in the Bank of Montgomery County, and still more recently was active in founding the First National Bank of Norristown, and has been a director in its Board for fifteen years, or from its organization to the present time.

In public and political matters Mr. Hitner has always been dis

tinguished as a man of public spirit. He gave very largely to the fund in support of the families of the "emergency men" in 1863, when our State was invaded. He was also a very liberal contributor to the erection of Barren Hill Lutheran Church, as to most other objects of a like nature in the locality. Having always been an active Whig and Republican, his purse is generally open to promote the success of the party. Pending one of the drafts for troops during the rebellion, he was appointed, and served for a short time, as United States Marshal of our district. He was once run for Congress, but failed of election owing to an adverse majority. He has often represented his political friends in county and State conventions.

Mr. Hitner still owns and operates the works at Marble Hall, and has a large yard for the sale of the stone at Ninth street and Columbia avenue, Philadelphia, which is superintended by his son-in-law, L. V. Righter, while his son, Daniel O., overlooks the diamond-saw cutting. The works at Marble Hall are managed by his son, Henry H., and his son-in-law, Henry M. Helling. His quarries, which furnished much of the marble for Girard College, originally belonged to his grandmother, and were first opened and operated in 1785 by Thomas Moore, who leased them for many years. From that time to the present many millions of tons of blue and white marble have been conveyed to market, constituting as sure an income as a gold mine, and not demoralizing, as the latter usually are. Mr. Hitner's farms are worked on shares, and they are all of the most productive character.

It only remains to record the offspring of Mr. and Mrs. Hitner and their wedded affiliations. Their eldest, Elizabeth K., is married to Henry M. Helling; they have two children, Kate H. and D. Hitner. The second, Rebecca R., is intermarried with Lindley V. Righter; they have seven children, Lizzie L., D. O. H., KateH., Helen P., Rebecca H., Lindley V., and Edwin L. The next child is Henry H., married to Isabella Lentz; they have two children, Daniel H. and Clara H. The fourth child, Helen S., is the wife: of John Freedley Prince; they have four children, Clara H., Mary A., Helen P., and Kate H. The next is Kate H. The youngest son, Daniel O., is married to Lizzie Lentz; they have two children, Lillie May and Horace R. The last child is Clara R. The two latter daughters live with their parents at William Penn Cottage.

HENRY A. STEVENS, Esq.

From nothingness we enter into time,

Controlled by laws we made not, but obey

As slaves their masters; filled with thoughts sublime,

We crawl in dust and perish in a day.-L. F. Bittle.

The gentleman whose name stands above is the son of John and Catharine Stevens, and was born in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1827, while his father was a temporary resident there, acting on a government commission to survey and establish the true channel of the Ohio river.

We turn aside here to trace the history of Mr. Stevens' father and mother, whose incidents are curious and interesting. John Stevens, his father, was born in New York city in the year 1780, he being an orphan boy, living under the care of an uncle in that city. In 1793, when he had grown to the age of thirteen, as is well known, Admiral Alexander Cochran, of the British navy, looking after English interests along our coasts, dropped anchor at New York. While remaining there he boarded some time on shore, and made the acquaintance of the uncle of John Stevens, the father of the subject of this notice.

The Admiral took a fancy to John, the young Yankee, then about fourteen years old, and often took him on board of his ship to see the sights. The attachment seemed mutual, the little fellow admiring the plump, ruddy-faced Englishman, and amused by the yarns of the seamen. So when the time to weigh anchor came, John, by permission of his uncle, found himself on board of the English ship, under the special care of the Admiral, bound for a long cruise "to see the world," the latter promising to permit his return when his relatives should so determine.

The next year, 1794, as is well known in history, the British sent a fleet to chastise the Algerines for their piracies. In making the attack it was necessary to disembark in boats adjacent to the city. While doing this young John was placed in a boat as cockswain, with two Lieutenants on board to land under the eye of the Admiral. The boat had hardly touched the beach, and the two officers landed, when the lives of both were simultaneously sacrificed by the deadly fire of the enemy.

Not knowing whether he would be censured or commended for the loss of his companions, he instantly put the boat's head towards the ship, and was soon on the great deck again to await further orders. He was at once commanded into the presence of the Admiral, who, for his gallantry, courage and presence of mind, made him a midshipman on the spot, and ordered that he should be respected as such. From this time until near the breaking out of the war of 1812, the young midshipman sailed with his patron, Admiral Cochran, till England and the United States seemed on the point of going to war again. Young Stevens had always dreamed of a joyous return to his native country; so, consulting with his uncle, he was advised to resign his commission and return home, which he did soon after.

We will now turn to give an account of Mr. H. A. Stevens' maternal ancestry, which is equally full of incident. His mother's father was General Nicholas Parisett, who, by invitation of General Lafayette, left France and his home, which was surrounded by all that fortune could bestow, to assist in our Revolutionary struggle. In July, 1780, he arrived at Newport, Rhode Island, with the French forces, under Admiral Count De Rochambeau. From thence the French fleet and forces went South to co-operate with Washington against the British in Maryland and Virginia. Late in 1781, as is known, the allied army and navy compelled Cornwallis to surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, which nearly ended the war.

The year following, General Parisett, while operating with the army, or encamped in Maryland, married the daughter of General York, of that State, and soon after purchased a plantation with stock, slaves, and the like, near the Head of Elk, where he resided for several years. But the climate not proving to his mind, in 1792 he removed to Trenton, New Jersey, with his family of four daughters, the eldest becoming the mother of H. A. Stevens, Esq., the subject of our notice. Here the former midshipman, Stevens, who had turned his mind and attention to engineering and surveying, formed the acquaintance and married Miss Catharine Parisett, and thus became the parents of our subject.