BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF
SAMUEL J. KISTLER.
Pages 285 & 286
Samuel
J. Kistler, of Saegersville, Lehigh Co., is of German decent. His great-grandfather,
George Kistler, was among a number of Palatinates or Swiss who, during the
interval between 1735 and 1745, removed from Falkner Swamp and Goschenhoppen
(now Montgomery County) to Lynn township, and settled in the vicinity of what
is now called Jerusalem Church, and was formerly Allemangel Church. He had six
sons and three daughters, - George, Jacob, John, Samuel, Philip, Michael,
Barbara, Dorotea, and Elizabeth.
Samuel Kistler, the grandfather of Samuel J. Kistler, was born Sept. 20, 1754,
and died April 24, 1822. His first wife, Mary Elizabeth Ladich, was the mother
of three children, - Barbara, Jacob S., and Samuel. Jacob S. Kistler, the
father of Samuel J. Kistler, was born Oct. 5, 1781, and died Oct. 7, 1849. By
his second wife, Catharine Brobst, he had the following children: John S.,
Michael, Christian, Daniel S., David, Jesse, Charles, Levi, Maria Elizabeth,
Catharine, Salome, and Magdalena.
Jacob S. Kistler, the oldest son of Samuel Kistler, and the father of the
subject of this sketch, was first married to a daughter of William J. Carl,
whose two sons were John and Jacob.
His second wife was Catharine, and his third wife Anna Barbara, daughters of
Henry Baush. The former had no children. The third wife, Anna Barbara, who was
born June 25, 1790, and died Nov. 19, 1867, had the following-named children:
Nathan, Stephen, David J., Reuben, Jonas J., Charles, Salome, Mary, Lydia,
Catharine, Anna Fenah, Helenah, Elizabeth and Samuel J. Kistler. The later was
born Nov. 24, 1819, in Lynn township, Lehigh Co., about three-quarters of a
mile west of Lynnville. His father, a farmer by occupation, had two large farms
in Kistler’s Valley.
He spent his early life with his parents on the farm, and
received his education at the common schools at Lynnville. After attaining the
age of twenty, he moved to Jacksonville, and served as clerk in the store of
John Hermany, who soon afterwards established another store in Lizard Creek
Valley, West Penn township, Schuylkill Co., which was managed by the now Hon.
Z. H. Long, of Lehighton, Pa., and at times given in charge of Samuel J.
Kistler. Hon. Daniel H. Creitz was at
that time also
employed by Mr. Hermany, and the three, after having completed their work,
spent the time in study. Samuel J. Kistler, becoming desirous of acquiring
further education, left Jacksonville in the fall of 1841, and, with Henry Rodly
(a New York huckster), rode in a heavy four-horse huckster-wagon to Bound
Brook, N. J., no railroad having at that time been constructed between Easton
and bound Brook, the latter being the terminus of the railroad.
He attended the academy for one winter, and in the spring of 1842 returned to
Lehigh County, entering the employ of Miller & Saeger, at Saegersville, as
clerk. He served as such until the spring of 1844, and then removed to
Bloomsburg, Columbia Co., Pa., where he became clerk in the store of Elias
Wertman, and remained two years. During the latter part of this period the
store was removed to Rohrsburg, Columbia Co., Mr. Kistler remaining with him
until the spring of 1846, when he again
returned to Saegersville, Pa., Miller & Saeger having dissolved
partnership, and Peter Miller becoming the proprietor of the store, under whom
he served as clerk until 1859, and then became sole proprietor, continuing thus
until 1870.
In 1848 he was elected justice of the peace, and, with the exception of several
short intervals, has since that date held the office. The intervals occurred
during his period of service in the State Legislature and while under the
appointment as associate judge. During the entire time from 1848, in connection
with his business, he was actively employed as justice of the peace, and served
under appointments of the court as auditor, surveyor, executor, administrator
in settling estates, etc. He was also identified with the general business of
the county. In 1854 he was elected to the office of county auditor, and served
as such for the term of three years. In 1859 he was elected from Lehigh and
Carbon counties to the Legislature of Pennsylvania, serving during the term of
1860.
His first Presidential vote was cast for Henry Clay, at Bloomsburg, in 1844. He
was frequently elected as a delegate in the State conventions, and was at the
convention held in Chicago in 1860, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for
President. He was also at the convention in Philadelphia when Gen. Grant was
nominated for his second term. Mr. Kistler has been treasurer of the school
board of Heidelberg township since the introduction of the free-school system,
and assisted in the organization of the schools of the township while meeting
great opposition.
He is one of the original directors of the Farmers’ Union Mutual Fire Insurance
Company of Pennsylvania, and also one of the original directors of the National
Bank of Slatington, Pa., as also president of the Saegersville Slate-Quarrying
and Manufacturing Company.
He was married to Matilda Miller, a daughter of the before-mentioned Peter Miller, in 1849, to whom were born a daughter - Mary Magdalena - and a son, - Samuel J. Kistler, Jr. He is a Lutheran, and a member of the Heidelberg Church, near Saegersville.
END
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RETURN
TO THE MATHEWS & HUNGERFORD
INDEX
PAGE
From
The History of the
Counties of Lehigh & Carbon, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
By
Alfred Mathews &
Austin N. Hungerford
Published
in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1884
Transcribed
from the original in 2005
by
Shirley
Kuntz
Web page by
March 2005