Heister, Joseph. Was born in Bern Township, Berks County, November 18, 1752, and was brought up to conduct a farm and a store. Inheriting a good fortune, at the outbreak of the Revolution he equipped a company himself, with which he joined the army. He became a Colonel; was a prisoner in the Jersey prison-ship, where he exercised a liberal generosity in alleviating the sufferings of his fellow-prisoners. He was a member of the Convention that framed the State Constitution of 1776. He served five years in the House and four in the Senate of Pennsylvania, and as a member of the "State Constitutional Convention" of 1790. He was a member from Pennsylvania of the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Congresses. In 1807 he was appointed one of the two Major-Generals to command the Pennsylvania contingent, called for by the President. After this he retired from public life, but in 1814 his old constituency of Berks would again have him in Congress, and elected him for the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth terms. In 1817 he was run for Governor unsuccessfully, but three years afterwards was elected, and served in that office until 1823, with great credit for a wise and honest administration of public affairs. Declining all solicitations to the contrary, he now finally retired from office, and spent the serene evening of an honorable life in the midst of the people who loved him. He died at Reading, June 10, 1832.
Lanman, Charles. Biographical Annals of the Civil Government of the United States During Its First Century: From Original and Official Sources. Washington: James Anglim, Publisher, 1876, pp. 196-197.
Contributed by: Nancy.