It's always interesting to share information about local people who weren't opposed to donning several hats in service to their community.  As you thumb through

John D. Apple

the annals of our local history, you find many of these individuals.  Leaders like John D. Apple of Marlborough Township. 

            Born in 1808 in New York City, he eventually settled in the land of the Swamp Creek. John initially set out to learn the blacksmith trade.  With a change of mind, he switched gears and decided to work hard and become a teacher.  It was that profession that brought him to our corner of Montgomery County.  It wasn't long until he won the confidence and trust of his Marlborough Township and Montgomery County neighbors.

            Elected to the position of Justice of the Peace, Apple was officially appointed to serve County District 5 in that capacity by then Pa. Governor George Wolf in 1834.  District 5 was one of ten election districts.  It included Marlborough, Upper Hanover, and Lower Salford Townships. 

            When the Montgomery County Constitution was revised in 1838, the local municipal boundaries replaced the districts.  John Apple was once again picked to serve Marlborough Township.  While serving as the Justice of the Peace, John took up surveying and property conveyance, a trade he learned on his own and became quite accomplished in.

            Prior to 1836, Montgomery County was deemed a Democratic stronghold.  But

St. Augustine's Church in Philadelphia was torched by nativists on May 8, 1844 as Anti-immigrant mobs attacked Irish- American homes and Roman Catholic churches before being suppressed by the militia.

when Joseph Ritner and his entire Whig Party ticket swept the county elections that year, the Democrats looked for a plan to keep that from happening again.  At a Democratic Young Men's meeting, John Apple was one of seven young leaders tapped to develop a set of resolutions to express their beliefs.  They also decided to unite with other young Democrats at a convention later in the year.  He was appointed as a county delegate to that convention.  In that position, he was tapped to help draft an address to the young men of the county.  His group became a powerful political factor in Montgomery County. 

            John Apple also commanded the Sumneytown Artillerists.  As captain of the local militia group, he led his 16 volunteers to Philadelphia in 1844, in support of the Montgomery County Militia, to help quell a serious riot.

            In May and July 1844, Philadelphia suffered some of the bloodiest rioting in the period before the Civil War.  Anti-immigrant mobs attacked Irish-American homes and Roman Catholic churches before being suppressed by the militia.

            The unrest resulted in 20 deaths, with many more people injured.  Property losses included churches, schools, and hundreds of homes burned to the ground.

            In the Upper Perkiomen Valley, Apple was considered a prominent citizen who was held in the highest regard.  In his position of Justice of the Peace, during a time when that designation was considered second only to the local clergy, he adjudicated cases and performed his duties in a professional manner. 

            Of John Apple, it was written in "Beans 1884 Montgomery County History" that "he was always a student, and although a self-made man, he was at the time of his death, which occurred in 1862, a good Greek, Latin, and French scholar, as well as a fine mathematician.  He was a large-hearted, popular and useful man."