Joseph Hiester
Bern Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Revolutionary soldier, Congressman, Governor 1820-1823, lived in the Hiester Mansion. Now a part of the Berks County Welfare Farm.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Joseph Hiester rose from Revolutionary War soldier—captured and held on a British prison ship—to a long career in public life, serving in Congress and then as governor of Pennsylvania from 1820 to 1823. A son of the Pennsylvania German community, he lived at the Hiester Mansion here in Berks County. The property later became part of the county welfare farm.
Why it matters
Hiester's path from battlefield to statehouse reflects how Revolutionary service forged the leadership class of the early American republic.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Thompson's Rifle Battalion: Capt. George Nagel's Company
Reading, PA · est. 1989
In June 1775, with war just underway around Boston, the Continental Congress took a momentous step: it authorized its first troops raised directly under national authority—rifle companies drawn from the frontier. Captain George Nagel's company, filled with Berks County marksmen, mustered at Reading that July and then set off on a grueling march of roughly 350 miles to reinforce the American siege of Boston. These backwoods riflemen, prized for their accuracy, were among the first soldiers to serve the united colonies rather than a single province.
Hiester Home
Reading, PA · est. 1951
From about 1792 until his death in 1832, this Reading site was the home of Joseph Hiester, whose life spanned the founding era. He fought as a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army, sat as a delegate to Pennsylvania's Provincial Convention in 1776, served fourteen years in Congress, and capped his career as governor of Pennsylvania from 1820 to 1823.
Dr. Bodo Otto
Reading, PA · est. 1951
This was the home of Dr. Bodo Otto, a military surgeon who served the Continental Army from 1775 to 1782. As surgeon-in-chief at Valley Forge during the brutal winter of 1777–78, the aging physician tended troops battling smallpox, exposure, and starvation in the encampment that became a symbol of American endurance.
Doctor Jonathan Potts
Reading, PA · est. 1951
On this Reading site stood the home of Dr. Jonathan Potts, who served from 1777 to 1780 as Deputy Director General of the Continental Army's Northern and Middle Departments. In an era when battlefield disease killed more soldiers than musket fire, Potts organized the army's overwhelmed medical service during the hardest years of the Revolutionary War.