My Genealogy Hound

R. MORGAN ROOT, outfitter and manufacturer of Regal shirts and pajamas, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, was born in North Coventry township, Chester county, Pennsylvania, June 6, 1848. He is the son of Eli and Sarah (Pennypacker) Root.

Eli Root (father) was born in Chester county, and learned the carpenter trade, which he followed for a short time. He afterwards became a feed merchant, and later a farmer in Chester county, where he still lives. He is now in his eighty- seventh year. His wife died April 5, 1892, being seventy-four years of age at the time of her death. She was also a native of Chester county. Both were members of the Reformed church. They had seven children, three sons and four daughters, namely: Mary Jane, widow of H. H. Wanger, or Philadelphia; R. Morgan Root; Frank H., of Chester county; Emma, wife of H. F. Yergey, who is president of the Columbia Wagon Works, of Columbia, Pennsylvania; Catharine Root, a teacher; Maurice, of Texarkana, and Carrie E., wife of William H. Herr, of Columbia, Pennsylvania.

Jacob Root (grandfather) was born in Pennsylvania. He was a carpenter by trade. He married Miss Safried, and they had a large family. He died at the age of thirty years. Jacob Root (great-grandfather) was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His father was Sebastian Root, who spelled his name Rutt. Sebastian Rutt was born in Berne township, Berks county, early in the eighteenth century, but moved to North Coventry township, Chester county, in early manhood. The family were of English descent, and the name was originally spelled Roots.

Richard Pennypacker (maternal grandfather) was born in Pennsylvania in Montgomery county. He was a farmer. The Pennypacker family is of German origin, and dates back several centuries in Montgomery county. The first of the name in this country was Henry, who made a purchase of land on Skippack creek on Christmas day, 1702, on which he settled, and in 1708 purchased two hundred acres more in the same vicinity. About 1705 he married Eve Umstead, daughter of John Peter Umstead, of Germantown.

He died April 4, 1754, aged more than eighty years. He had eight children, as follows: Martha, born 1706; Adolph (Olif) 1708, died in May, 1789; Peter, 1708, died in 1770; John, born in 1713, died 1784; Jacob, 1715, died 1752; Henry, 1717, died 1792. Peter married Elizabeth Keyser, Martha became the wife of Anthony Vanderslice. The Pennypackers are a very numerous family in Montgomery, Chester and adjoining counties, and members of the family are still among the most substantial citizens along the Perkiomen and Schuylkill, as well as elsewhere. Governor Pennypacker is one of the most prominent members of this family, and he has published a very complete genealogy of the dcscendants of Henrich (Henry) Pennebaker. Richard Pennypacker (maternal grandfather) married Catherine Roberts, of Welsh and Scotch origin. He died at an advanced age, leaving a large family.

R. Morgan Root was reared on his father’s farm in Chester county, attending the district schools and Oakdale Seminary. He resided with his parents until reaching manhood, when he married. He then engaged in the hardware business in Pottstown, he being associated with Lewis B. Reifsneider, the partnership continuing for about eighteen months. In 1876 Mr. Root engaged in his present business, and has followed it continuously since. He also had a similar store in Philadelphia, at 206 North Eighth street, which he disposed of on April 23, 1903.

On August 15, 1871, Mr. Root married Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham and Mary Ann (Holman) East. They had five children, as follows: C. Cleaver, J. Lawrence, Carrie, Howell and Mary. C. Cleaver Root assists his father in the store. He married Miss Jane Cofrode, daughter of Daniel R. Cofrode. J. Lawrence Root was married to Miss Elizabeth Hoch, of Philadelphia, in 1893. The other children are unmarried.

Mr. and Mrs. Root are both members of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Root is a member of the following social and fraternal organizations: Stichter Lodge, No. 254, Free and Accepted Masons; Pottstown Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Nativity Commandery, Knights Templar; Madison Lodge, No. 466, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Royal Arcanum, of which he was one of the original thirteen members to organize the council, July 5, 1878, and was its secretary for twelve years; the Order of United American Mechanics, the Patriotic Order of Sons of America, and others. Politically Mr. Root is a Democrat. He was elected delegate at large to the proposed Constitutional Convention in 1891, and polled the highest vote in Philadelphia of any delegate in the state on the Democratic ticket.

J. Lawrence Root, the second son of Mr. Root, was in the hospital corps and served as orderly under Major Ashenfelter in the Spanish-American war. His eldest son, C. Cleaver Root, was a member of the National Guard, and was encamped at Homestead, on the Cinder Banks, in the famous riots of 1891.