Hiester, Gabriel

Gabriel Hiester, (son of Hon. Gabriel Hiester, a prominent representative man of Berks county) was born in Bern Township Jan. 5, 1779. He was given a good English and German education, and his youth was spent on his father's farm. His father having taken an active and successful part in local politics, he naturally exhibited the same spirit at an early age. By appointment from the Governor, he was prothonotary of the county from 1809 to 1817; clerk of the Quarter Sessions from 1809 to 1812, and 1814 to 1817; and associate judge from 1819 to 1823. During the War of 1812-15 he served as brigade-major in the campaign at Washington and Baltimore. He served as a Presidential elector in 1817 and in 1821, casting his ballot upon both occasions for James Monroe. Governor Shulze appointed him surveyor-general of the State in 1824, when he removed to Harrisburg, and he officiated in that position for six years. While at Harrisburg he became interested in the iron business, and he erected the first rolling-mill in that vicinity, continuing actively engaged in it till his decease there in 1834. He married Mary Otto (daughter of Dr. John Otto, of Reading), and she died in 1853. They had the following children: Louisa, Harriet (m. C. B. Bioren), as Augustus O., Gabriel and Catharine.[bib]624[/bib]