USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. I > Part 17
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Among the living, Fleming Sandt, son of Samuel, is at present in the retail leather business in Easton; his brother Albert, at one time en- gaged in the practice of law, is now the general manager of the Emery Wheel Company, which operates a number of factories in the United States and Canada. George Sandt, son of George of the John Sandt branch, owns, and his son conducts, a large hotel at Sea Bright, New Jer- sey. Clyde, a grandson of George, is prominently identified with politics. Enos, son of Leonard of the Adam Sandt branch, was for years a success- ful school teacher, and is now connected with the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of Nazareth. Frank, grandson of Leonard, is a physician practicing in Paterson, New Jersey. Madison, son of Peter, who died in the war, is manager in Bush & Bulls' store. Other physi- cians of the John Sandt branch are John Lear, of Allentown, who is also professor of biology in Muhlenberg College, and William Schoch of Easton. Frank, son of Dr. John Sandt, has for years been principal of the Easton High School, and John E. Sandt is professor in the Stroudsburg Normal School. Four have
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
entered the Lutheran ministry,-George, son of Dr. John Sandt, who is edictor of The Lutheran, published in Philadelphia, the of- ficial paper of the General Council; Charles M., son of Simon Sandt, pastor of a congregation in the same city; Charles E., son of Philip Sandt, pastor of a congregation in South Allentown; and John H., son of Melchoir Sandt, pastor in Lebanon. Still others are in colleges and schools, preparing for the higher walks of life.
Only one Sandt answered the call to arms in the war of 1812, and that was Adam (second generation), but his company was never sent to the front, being no longer needed. In the war of the rebellion, Dr. Samuel Sandt, son of John Sandt (second generation) served as surgeon. Three sons of his brother Philip took up arms- Peter was killed at Fredericksburg; Amandus was wounded in the thigh at Chancellorsville, and some time later his brother, Dr. John Sandt, extracted the flattened bullet and removed about thirty small splinters of bone; (the wound was probably responsible for his subsequent death) ; Edwin spent some time in the famous Saulsbury prison. Others who served in the war were Levi Mann, grandson of John Sandt ( second genera- tion), John Lerch, another grandson who died at Frederick City, Maryland, five grandsons of Michael Sandt (second generation), Alfred, Sam- uel, Uriah, and Hiram Meyers, all sons of John and Hetty (Sandt) Meyers, and John Schug, son of Jesse and Catherine (Sandt) Schug ; and Adam and Jacob, sons of Leonard of the Adam Sandt branch.
The Sandts of the first four generations were with few exceptions members of the Lutheran church. The first Adam and his wife and sons communed in St. John's Lutheran church, Easton, when the congregation worshipped in the Third Street Reformed church. The remains of him- self and wife were interred in the cemetery where the Fourth Street school building now stands, and were afterwards removed to the Forks church cemetery where most of the Sandts lie buried, though not a few rest in the Easton ceme- terv.
DR. SAMUEL SANDT, son of John and Magdalene .(Seip) Sandt, was born at Sandt's Hotel, five miles north of Easton, Pennsylvania, November 15, 1815. He began his education in the schools of the late Dr. Vanderveer, and in his young manhood came to Easton, where he ob- tained employment in the general store of the late Michael Butz. In 1839 he entered Lafayette College, from which he received his degree. He read medicine under the office tutorship of Dr. H. H. Abernethy, and then became a student in the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, and received his medical diploma in 1844.
He began practice in Plainfield township, and was so engaged until 1848, when he removed to the city of Easton, where was thereafter his abode, and where he conducted a large and very successful practice which extended into all the ad- jacent regions. In connection with his practice he also conducted a drug store from 1855 until 1862, when he closed its doors to enter the army. Commissioned as surgeon of the Eighty-fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers, he performed three years arduous service with troops in the field, incurring all the dangers and undergoing all the hardships incident to some of the most ex- acting campaigns and bitterly contested battles of the Civil war. During the latter portion of his service he was connected with the Sixty-second Regiment Ohio Volunteers, and was with General McClellan before Richmond, and also served about a year, at the time of the siege of Charles- ton, before that city. After the restoration of peace he resumed his practice in Easton, and was actively engaged until shortly before his death, when he became a sufferer from paralysis, and was confined to his residence. He was a man of strong character, and he bore a full part in con- tributing to the welfare of the community. He was for many years a most capable member of the school board, and he was president of that body during a large part of his long term of ser- vice. He occupied a high place in the estimation of his professional colleagues, and was president of the Northampton Medical Society.
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
Dr. Sandt was married, December 23, 1845, to Miss Susan Flemming, daughter of Christian Flemming, of Easton, and of their marriage were born children as follows: I. C. Flemming; 2. Mary; 3. Charles Albert, to be further written of; 4. Elizabeth, died April 1, 1903; 5. Nettie ; 6. George F .; 7. Clara, deceased. Dr. Sandt died September 1, 1902, having survived the mother of his children, who died July 16, 1894.
Charles Albert, third child and second son of Dr. Samuel and Susan (Flemming) Sandt, re- ceived a liberal education, being graduated from the Easton high school when he was seventeen, and from Lafayette College in 1872. In the same year he began reading law in the office of Judge Myers, and was admitted to the bar in August, 1875. He practiced his profession industriously and successfully for a period of twenty years (serving for one term as county solicitor), and retired from it in 1894 to engage in the emery manufacturing business, which has since occu- pied his attention. He is general manager and treasurer of the Ashland Emery and Corundum Company, which is largely engaged in the manu- facture of emery and corundum. A man of ex- cellent business qualifications, industrious and persistent, Mr. Sandt is recognized as one of the foremost manufacturers of Easton, who has con- tributed in no small degree to the importance of the city in industrial affairs. In religion he is a Lutheran, and he is a communicant and was vestryman of St. John's church for years. He is a member of the Pomfret Club, and is an inde- pendent in politics.
Mr. Sandt was married, September 24, 1876, to Miss Elizabeth Stryker, a daughter of the late Nelson and Catherine (Seager) Stryker, of Phil- lipsburg, New Jersey. Born of this marriage were the following children: I. Catherine; 2. Charles Albert, Jr., who was educated in the schools of Easton and Lafayette College, and who in now superintendent of the Jackson Emery Mills ; 3. Elizabeth F.
C. Flemming Sandt was engaged in business with his grandfather, Christian Flemming, many years. At his death in 1869 he entered the employ of the late Jacob Fraley, and served with him in
the leather business for a period of twenty-three years, at the end of which time he purchased from Mr. Fraley his business, which since then he has been conducting successfully. He is one of the prominent business men of Easton.
George F. Sandt was a graduate of the Easton high school, Lafayette College, and Stevens In- stitute, Hoboken. After the completion of his education he served a number of years with the Edison General Electric Company, of New York City. He also served with electric companies of Denver, Colorado, and Atlanta, Georgia. He was also general manager and superintendent of the Ellison Illuminating Company and Easton Power Company of his native place. He is now general manager of the Ontario Corundum Company, Cumbermire, Ontario, Canada.
JOHN SANDT, A. M., M. D., was born in Forks township, Northampton county, Pennsyl- vania, June 9. 1822. He entered Dr. Vander- veer's classical school in Easton in 1841, and Lafayette College in 1844, teaching in Dr. Van- derveer's school at the same time. He graduated from Lafayette College in 1846 as second honor man. He conducted an advance school at the Trappe, near Pottstown, in the year following. He entered the Medical Department of the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania in 1847, graduating in 1850. He married Sophia Frace in 1849. He practiced in Belfast in 1850; removed to Stock- ertown in 1856, and in 1847 to College Hill, Easton, where he died May 4, 1889. He was a member of the American Medical Association, of the American Academy of Medicine, and of the State and County Socities. In the Lehigh Val- ley Medical Magasine, January, 1890, Dr. Seip says of him, "Few men treated a greater variety of cases," "He was always able to cull from his extensive experience remarkable cases wherewith to illustrate subjects that were under discussion." Dr. Estes says of him : "While con- servative, he was ever abreast of the day. Calmly questioning all things new, his educated judg- ment soon was able to appreciate that which was good. No one could say of Dr. John Sandt, 'he is an old fogy and behind the times.'"
Je Nachenun
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
HENRY D. LACHENOUR, M. D., an ac- complished physician, of Easton, now deceased, was a son of Dr. Daniel Lachenour, who was for more than forty years an active and successful practitioner in the same profession, and whose fame extended over a wide region.
Daniel Lachenour was born in Salem, North Carolina, December 8, 1804, and was educated in the schools of the Moravian church, to which he adhered throughout his life. When seventeen years of age he removed to Philadelphia. He studied medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Abraham Stout, in Bethlehem, and after three years he entered the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated with high honors in 1829, his thesis on Ptyalison receiving the warmest praise from the faculty. Locating in Easton, he took up the practice of Dr. Samuel Gross, whose office was in a small frame building on the site of the pre- sent First National Bank. He was entirely devoted to his profession, and was wholly forget- ful of self-comfort, journeying long distances and in the most inclement weather to minister to the suffering, not regarding whether the patient could ever compensate him for his services. A warm personal friendship subsisted through life be- tween Dr. Lachenour and his former roommate, Dr. Gross. When Dr. Lachenour, died, the medi- cal practitioners of Easton and vicinity assembled in the rooms of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation and paid to the memory of their beloved associate tributes of the most fervent and touching character. Dr. Lachenour married Miss Margaret Henry, a native of Philadelphia.
Henry Daniel Lachenour, son of Dr. Daniel and Margaret (Henry) Lachenour, inherited the lovable traits of character and professional tastes of his honored sire. He was born on the family homestead in Easton, June 18, 1838. He received his preparatory education in the school of Dr. Vanderveer, and completed his classical studies at Lafayette College. He read medicine under the tutorship of his father, and finished his profes- sional training in Jefferson Medical College, from which he was graduated most creditably. He was subsequently for some years engaged in the pri-
vate hospital of Dr. Gross, where through obser- vation and experience he added materially to his professional knowledge. Returning to Easton, he entered into partnership with his father, and this association was most agreeably maintained until the death of the parent, whom the son succeeded in a practice in which both had won the gratitude and affection of a large population covering a wide expanse of territory, for their professional skill and for their excellencies of personal char- acter which made them the personal friends of those to whom they ministered.
Dr. Henry D. Lachenour was a man of ex- tensive reading and widely informed, earnest and consistent in his views, whether upon profes- sional, religious or political subjects, yet broadly tolerant with those who held to different ideas. He was absolutely free from professional jeal- ousy. He was an ardent admirer of art, and pos- sessed rare gifts of appreciation and skill as a musician. He was originally a Lutheran in re- ligion, but in the later life became an Episcopa- lian. He was an independent in politics. His death occurred November 6, 1893.
The Easton Medical Society paid the follow- ing tribute to his memory :
The Easton Medical Society, in special session assembled, for the purpose of giving expression to their feelings in the death of their late presi- dent, Henry D. Lachenour, hereby record :
That each member of this society feels keenly the grief caused by the loss of him for whom we had such love and admiration. To know him was to be attached to him and to admire him.
"His skill as a physician was almost as great as his honesty ; had it stretched so far, it would have made nature immortal, and death should have play for lack of work." His love for his profession was great, and his treatment of fellow physicians such as endeared them to him. He was a cultured gentleman of many polished sides ; and, it mattered little what subject was being discussed, the fact was soon evinced that his knowledge of it was far from superficial. He never advanced an opinion, but that his argu- ments were replete with convincing theories.
He was a wonderful reader, not only in his own but in collateral sciences. He was an art critic, and an excellent musician. In general literature he was a never tiring student. Vanity
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
and jealousy were unknown to him, because he was broad and liberal in his views. He never had any desire for public office. His life was gentle, and found its enjoyment with his friends, at the bedside of his patients, and in his library.
He died as he had predicted-quietly, swiftly. Going to his room, "he wrapped the drapery of his couch about him, and lay down to pleasant dreams."
Dr. Lachenour was married, July 9, 1874, to Miss Laura, a daughter of the late Edward and Margaret Kennedy (Runkle) Stewart. Her mother was a daughter of Adam and Margaret (Kennedy) Runkle. The Runkle and Kennedy families were among the prominent ones of New Jersey, and figured conspicuously in the civil and military history of that state in and after the Revolutionary period.
Dr. and Mrs. Lachenour were the parents of three children: I. Margaret Kennedy, who be- came the wife of Frederick Nesbit; 2. Laura Stewart, who became the wife of Frank Gordon Ormsby ; 3. Henry Daniel Lachenour.
THE SHIMER FAMILY. The first Amer- ican ancestor of the Shimer family, whose repre- sentatives are found in Northampton and Lehigh counties, Pennsylvania, and in Warren county, New Jersey, was Jacob Scheimer. The name also appears on old records as Scheumer, Shey- mer, Shymer and in other forms.
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Though he settled among the Hollanders and married a lady of that nativity. Jacob Scheimer was according to the family belief and record, of German extraction. The exact date of his arrival in America, however, is unknown, but it was prior to 1722, and he settled in Germantown. He was naturalized in 1730. The early Germantown settlers are noted in history for their high stand- ard of character, education, refinement and gen- eral thrift. They left the fatherland not only to better their worldly condition, but to secure freedom of worship in Penn's liberal province. Ja- cob Scheimer was born in 1679, as appears in a record in the old Williams township church book, which is as follows : "Anno 1757, der 17th September ist Jacob Scheimer an der reformirten kirchen begraben werden, 78 yahr alt." The
exact location of his grave is unknown, for the slate tombstones placed over the graves of the early settlers of Lower Saucon have long since crumbled to dust. The date of Jacob Scheimer's removal from Germantown is not known, but we have record of his residence in Van Bebber's township in the county of Philadelphia about 1729, and in Skippack about 1734. About 1736 he removed to the uplands above Redington, and his property extended down to the Lehigh river (referred to in the old deeds as the West Branch of the Delaware) and included the present site of Redington. Jacob Scheimer was a Lutheran, as are the majority of his descendants. He died in 1757, and his interesting will was probated October 15 of that year, and is now on file in the register's office in Philadelphia, where, though the will is clearly signed, "Jacob Scheimer," written in German, it is indexed under the name of Jacob Shinor. Jacob Scheimer was married twice. His first wife was Margaret Papen, fourth daughter of Heivert Papen, one of the in corpo- rators of Germantown. Her mother was Eliza- beth Rittenhouse, only daughter of William Rit- tenhouse, the first paper manufacturer of Amer- ica. The marriage probably took place between 1720 and 1722. The children of this marriage were Abraham, Anthony, Mrs. Elizabeth Vicker- son, Mary, who married Michael Shoemaker ; Mrs. Catherine Young, and Sarah. The eldest, Captain Abraham Scheimer, settled in the Mini- sink Country, near the headwaters of the Dela- ware, where he wedded Lena Westbroeck, in 1749. He became a noted leader and expert rifleman in the Indian wars of that region. One of the histories of New Jersey states that he kept account of the number of Indians he killed by cutting notches in his rifle stock, and there are many traditions of his exploits with wild beasts and savages. He is the head of that branch of the family of which the region about Port Jervis, New York, is the ancestral home. Jacob Schei- mer's first wife died sometime between 1728 and 1732. His second wife, Elizabeth, survived him. The children of this marriage were Jacob (1734-1764), Conrad, Samuel, Edward (1741- 1815), Peter, Isaac (1749-1838), and John.
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HOMESTEAD OF THE LATE JACOB SHIMER, BETHLEHEM TOWNSHIP. BUILT IN 1800.
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GENEALOGICAL AND PERSONAL MEMOIRS.
Isaac Shimer, son of Jacob Scheimer, was a sergeant in Captain Kichlein's company in the war of the Revolution, and took part in the des- perate conflict known as the battle of Long Isl- and. He survived this engagement, but was taken prisoner and incarcerated for a time on an island from which he made his escape by swim- ming. He was, however, discovered when not far distant from shore, and was fired upon while in water, but managed to make his escape.
The sons, Jacob and Edward Shimer, are the ancestors of nearly all of the representatives of the name in the Lehigh Valley. Jacob Shimer, born in 1734, married Rosina Seip, who was born in Odenwald, Hesse Darmstadt, September 7, 1739, and died in 1822. In the spring of 1751 her eldest brother, Melchoir Seip, emigrated to America, landing at Philadelphia, on the 14th of September. He settled in Lehigh county. Soon after Melchoir Seip's emigration, his father died, and the widow, with her adult son Peter, her thirteen year old daughter Rosina, and her eleven year old son Jacob, followed Melchoir Seip to Ameria, the ship on which they sailed reaching Philadelphia on September 22, 1752. The mother, however, died and was buried at sea. Jacob and Rosina Shimer had three sons, Peter, John and Samuel. Peter, through his son John, is the ancestor of the Shimers of Warren county, New Jersey. John Shimer founded Shimersville, Lehigh county, and is the ancestor of the families of that county, including the Allentown branch. It is to this branch that the late Dr. Jacob S. Shimer, of Philadelphia, the genealogist of the family, belonged. Samuel Shimer, the third son, is the ancestor of the Shimers who settled near Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, among whom was Gen- eral Conrad Shimer and other well known men.
Jacob Shimer (2d) died at the age of thirty years, and his tombstone is the oldest and most interesting in the old Saucon graveyard. In due time his widow, Rosina, married Edward Shimer, the brother of her first husband. In 1775 Ed- ward Shimer built the large stone house, which is still standing in an excellent state of preserva- tion on the old plantation above Redington, and
now belongs to the heirs of the late B. Frank . Shimer. Little is known of Edward Shimer, save that he was a prosperous farmer, a good Lutheran, serving as elder in his church, and a patriotic member of the committee of safety, rep- resenting Lower Saucon in the Revolution. For nearly one hundred years Edward and Rosina Shimer have been resting side by side in the old orchard on the home place under large marble slabs covered with German inscriptions in a wall enclosed private burial ground. The children of this marriage were three sons and a daughter : Jacob (1767-1845) ; Isaac (1769-1838) ; a son that died in infancy ; and Susanna ( 1776-1863). The daughter, Susanna, married James Bingham, of Philadelphia. After his death she became the wife of Dr. Peter Von Steuben, a skillful physi- cian and a most interesting character. Tradition has it that he was a court physician to George III, but fell from favor because of his sympathy with the colonists in America then struggling for independence. He was a relative of Baron Von Steuben, who came to this country to assist in winning independence for the nation and com- manded a portion of the army with the rank of General. The children of Isaac Shimer were Charles, Jesse, Thomas, Lydda and Sarah Shimer.
Jacob Shimmer (3d), a son of Edward Shimer, in 1801 built the large stone homestead near the Lehigh river, about a mile below Freemansburg. He was a most successful agriculturist, and devised a method of farming by a proper rotation of crops so exactly suited to the conditions of the soil that he was most successful in his work, his land yielding as much as fifty bushels of wheat per acre, and this won him a first prize in a state competition of methods of farming. He married Elizabeth Beil, or Beyl, who was born in 1772, and died in 1857. She was the daughter of John Beil, a prominent citizen of Lower Saucon and a member of the committee of safety in the Revo- lution. The children of this marriage were : John (1792-1878) ; Joseph ( 1795-1878) ; Edward (1797-1869) ; Jacob (1802-1871) ; Isaac ( 1799- 1863) ; Elizabeth (1805-1899) ; Samuel (1807- 1897) ; and Abraham (1809-1881). Of this fam-
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HISTORIC HOMES AND INSTITUTIONS.
ily, John married Mary Schweitzer, and settled in the village of Shimersville, Northampton county. Joseph married Catherine Hubler, and made his home in Mount Bethel township, North- ampton county. Edward married Hannah Lerch, and made his home in Fork's township of the same county. Jacob married Fietta Keck, and removed to Bath, Pennsylvania. Isaac married Kate Apple, and established himself in Shimers- ville. Elizabeth married Michael Butz, and lived in Easton. Samuel married Anna Kuhns, and re- moved to Illinois. Abraham married Margaretta Johnston, and remained on the old homestead.
The first five generations of the Shimers were almost without exception prosperous farmers, cultivating their own broad acres by the help of their stalwart sons and hired men, and living in comfort and plenty in the large stone houses so characteristic of the German settlements of Penn- sylvania. In 1812 Jacob Shimer (3d) built an oil and grist mill at the mouth of the Saucon creek, and around this as a nucleus grew the village of Shimersville. His son John in 1824 built a plant for fulling, dyeing and finishing cloth. In 1837 George Shimer, son of John Shimer, took charge of the mill and continued in the manufacturing business there until 1872. In 1875 the firm of Shimer & Company began the operation of a foundry and machine shop at Shimersville. This business has grown to be a large and important one, and is now conducted by the firm of William Shimer's Son & Company. Among the other members of the family prom- inent as manufacturers was the late Samuel J. Shimer, and associated with him earlier in his career was his brother, George J. Shimer, now deceased, sons of Abraham Shimer. The firm of S. J. Shimer & Sons now owns and operates an extensive plant situated at Milton, Pennsyl- vania, employing many hundreds of men in the manufacture of cutter heads and wood-working machinery-the inventions of members of the firm. A large part of the plant is that of The Milton Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of nuts, bolts, washers and refined iron. The members of the Shimer family in the sixth and seventh generations are now very numerous and
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