USA > Pennsylvania > Schuylkill County > Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania; genealogy-family history-biography; containing historical sketches of old families and of representative and prominent citizens, past and present, Volume I > Part 54
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Mr. Dochney was only twenty-one years old when elected a member of the Mahanoy City school board, and he was retained in that office for nine years. For two years he served as justice of the peace. He was one of the founders of the board of health and a member of that body for eight years. Since the close of his term as burgess he has resumed mine work, being now
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foreman at the Tunnel Ridge colliery. For thirty-two years he has been a member of the Humane Fire Company, and takes a leading part in its activities. He was a charter member of the Mahanoy City lodge of the Knights of Columbus.
Mr. Dochney married Sarah Houlahan, who was born at West Wood, this county, daughter of Thomas Houlahan, a native of Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Dochney have had the following children: John is now located in New York City ; Thomas lives in Mahanoy City; Jane is a public school teacher in Mahanoy City ; Catherine is at home ; William resides in Reading, Pa .; Joseph, twin of William, is a locomotive engineer in the employ of the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & Iron Company at Mahanoy City; Frank, a mining engineer, resides at Mahanoy City ; Raymond and Mary are at home.
ROBERT J. LUTZ, carpenter and builder, of Mahanoy City, has been doing a liberal share of the best construction work in the borough executed within the last decade. In workmanship, solidity, architecture, arrangement and finish his structures compare well with those around them, for Mr. Lutz has had the worthy ambition to embody in his work the high principles which make him respected as a man.
Jacob Lutz, the grandfather of Robert J. Lutz, lived and died at Lewis- town, Schuylkill county. He was a farmer by occupation. His son, Solomon H. Lutz, father of Robert J. Lutz, was born and reared at Lewistown, and came to Mahanoy City in 1860, before its incorporation as a borough. By trade he was a carpenter, and he followed that calling in Mahanoy City and the vicinity all his active years, becoming very well known in this section as an honest and competent workman. His death occurred July 21, 1895, and he is buried at Tamaqua. His widow, Mrs. Kate (Kline) Lutz, is still resid- ing at Mahanoy City. They had two children, Robert J. and Gertrude, the latter the wife of Dr. I. O. Felmlee, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Robert J. Lutz was born March 31, 1874, at Mahanoy City, where he spent his boyhood in attendance at the public schools. He early began assisting his father in carpenter work, following the trade as journeyman until nine years ago, when, in 1906, he undertook contracting on his own account. The contracts for a number of the best residences and business blocks constructed since he started for himself have been awarded to him, and his patrons have been well satisfied with his services. He has given close attention to the vari -. ous branches of the work, neglecting nothing and placing due importance on each detail. For this reason his buildings are unusually complete, economically and tastefully arranged, finished with a regard for lasting beauty as well as durability, and for fitness, being distinctly desirable units in the material fea- tures of the borough. He has a faculty for making the most of space, and for using the points of a location to good advantage, which bring the effects of his completed structures into harmony with their surroundings. Among the residences he has constructed are the James K. Silliman house and the home of Joseph Garrahan, lawyer; his business contracts include the Tribune building, the Cook & Meehan building and the Gatly & West building. Mr. Lutz has taken a public-spirited interest in local government, and since 19II has been a member of the town council. Politically he is a Republican. He belongs to all the local Masonic bodies-Mahanoy City Lodge, No. 357, F. & A. M .; Mizpah Chapter, No. 252, R. A. M .; and Ivanhoe Commandery, No. 31, K. T .; and is also a member of the I. O. O. F. and the Royal Arcanum.
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His religious connection is with the United Evangelical Church. Personally he is held in high esteem wherever known. Mr. Lutz married Mabel M. Kriner, and they are the parents of the following named children: Leon, Carrie, Robert, Norman, Ira, Martha and Roy.
PROF. WILBUR MERRILL YEINGST, A. M., one of the most efficient educators of Schuylkill county, has been superintendent of the public schools at Minersville since December, 1908, and has been enthusiastic in the promo- tion of the best interests of public education throughout his career. He is a native of Cumberland county, Pa., a member of a family of German origin which has long had its home there.
George Yeingst, his grandfather, was born in Dickinson township, Cum- berland county, and was engaged in farming in that township, on what was known as the Bradley farm. Thence he moved to Mt. Holly, where he passed the remainder of his days, dying at the age of seventy-six years. His wife also died at Mt. Holly, when seventy-one years old. They were the parents of the following named children : Sallie is the widow of David Geyer, and is living at Mt. Holly Springs; Michael died in 1902, in Dickinson town- ship; Fred, who is a carpenter, makes his home in Carlisle; Alfred died in Illinois ; William lives in Dickinson township; Amelia, Mrs. Kauffman, is a resident of Mt. Holly Springs; David, born in 1841, married Martha Sowers; Charles, a carpenter, is employed at Steelton, and makes his home at Mt. Holly Springs; James was the father of Professor Yeingst.
James Yeingst was born in South Middleton township, Cumberland Co., Pa., learned the trade of blacksmith, and followed it for many years as an employee of the Philadelphia & Reading Company at Boiling Springs, in his native county. He died May 9, 1914. To his marriage with Elizabeth Smith was born one child, Wilbur Merrill.
Wilbur Merrill Yeingst was born June 12, 1875, near Boiling Springs, in South Middleton township, Cumberland county, and attended the local schools. His higher education was received at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa., from which institution he was graduated in 1897. He has since been devoted to educational work. After two years as teacher in the high school at Boiling Springs he was engaged for three years as principal of the schools at Halifax, Dauphin Co., Pa. For the six years following he was supervising principal of the schools at Lykens, also in Dauphin county, in December, 1908, assuming the duties of his present position. Professor Yeingst has met with unquali- fied success in his chosen profession, and the work he has done at Minersville is typical of the services which have given such satisfaction wherever he has been engaged. His modern ideas, prompt adoption of tested methods and prom- ising changes, and above all his energy in every department of school work, have fostered a spirit of cooperation among his fellow teachers, and also among the pupils, which could not fail to have a wholesome effect upon the general welfare of the schools under his charge. Professor Yeingst is a mem- ber of the Modern Woodmen, of the Improved Order of Red Men and of the Masonic fraternity, in the latter connection belonging to Lykens Lodge, No. 570, F. & A. M .; Schuylkill Chapter, No. 159, R. A. M .; Harrisburg Con- sistory, thirty-second degree; and Zembo Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Harrisburg. His religious association is with the Methodist Church.
Professor Yeingst married Olive Mountz, daughter of Urias Mountz, of
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South Middleton township, Cumberland county, and they have a family of four children: James, Oliver, Violet and IIelen.
CALVIN ELIJAH SITTLER, postmaster and general merchant at Sittler, Schuylkill county, is a son of the late Tilghman E. Sittler, founder of the town and its leading citizen for a generation and more.
The name of Sittler or Sitler has had many representatives of solid worth in the older communities of Pennsylvania from Colonial times. It was in the year 1736, according to the testimony of his descendants of the third genera- tion, that Dietrich Sitler, the ancestor of the branch of the family here under consideration, arrived in America with his older brother Mathias. Their origin, the reasons for their emigration and the unique tradition which had its rise in the circumstances of their complete separation from carly home and family ties, and the comparatively recent efforts of the family to establish their claims as heirs to a vast estate in Germany, constitute a record of unusual interest. The story forms an appropriate introduction to the history of Dietrich Sitler and his posterity.
This account of the earliest known ancestors of these Sittlers is compiled from a report of Prof. J. R. Dimm, dated "Selingsgrove, Pa., Sept. 4th, 1900," of the efforts he and others made that summer in pursuit of information relat- ing to the Sitlers, at the instigation of a number of the family, and with the view of stimulating the present heirs to united activity in the famous Sitler will claims. He is a grandson of Margaretha Sitler, wife of Christopher Dimm, who on Aug. 20, 1784, had a large lot of ground in the town of Ham- burg, Berks Co., Pa., conveyed to him. The desired records, and the descend- ants of the emigrant Sitlers able to throw any light on the subject, were scat- tered over York, Lancaster, Berks and Lehigh counties, but the investigation was conducted most conscientiously and had many promising results, as well as a number of disappointments. The work occupied several weeks. The various sources of information exploited included the Colonial records found in the State libraries; the county records; church records ; tombstone inscrip- tions ; old family Bibles ; and family traditions-and where indisputable facts were being sought each was found to have its limitations. The county record begins with the date of the county's erection, which in most cases was later than the Sitlers' arrival in America and settlement in the Province of Pennsyl- vania. Of early records, the church chronicles are the most reliable, and when complete very valuable, but in many cases they have been so irregularly kept as to be only fragmentary, and, moreover, they "bear no witness at all to those who neglected the Christian religion." It was found, too, that in many cases the books had been lost or destroyed; or that they had been neglected ; or that the handwriting was so defective and the ink so pale as to make the entries undecipherable. Many burials were made in the woods where they cannot be located, even though in grounds set apart for the purpose ; many tombstones were not engraved for want of skilled craftsmen; and others have had the markings almost obliterated by time. Old family Bibles seem to be scarce, and comparatively few contain records; and traditions, though legion, and usually a guide to the facts upon which they are founded, are not reliable.
Professor Dimm fortified himself with all the available knowledge concern- ing the family before he set out on his twofold mission. Jacob Sitler, of Hittenthall (post office Schartzenau), Westphalia, Germany, found the name
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of Mathias Sitler, father of the emigrant ancestors of this family, in the records of Elsoffer Church. The entry translated reads as follows: "Bap- tized Mathias Sidler, son of Frederick Sidler and his wife Elizabeth, born June 4, 1651. Sponsors Hans Ludwich Theis of Hoffe and Ann Elizabeth, wife of John Kasper Miller." This Mathias was the Baron von Sidler the story of whose strange will forms the foundation of a family tradition of exceptional interest. It would appear that the Baron was a man of original mind; but he could scarcely have considered the consequences in case his plan miscarried. Two of his sons, Mathias and Dietrich, changed their religious allegiance from the Roman Catholic to the Lutheran Church, which so in- censed the father against them that the alienation was permanent. It was probably the cause of their emigration to the New World, for as far back as known in this country the tradition has existed in the family that they were entitled to a share of large estates in Germany possessed by their ancestor, Baron Mathias von Sidler, the settlement of whose property was delayed by the peculiar directions concerning his will, that it was not to be opened before the lapse of a century after his death. As trustee to take charge of his estates during the one hundred years he appointed the King of Prussia. It was under- stood that the Baron's wealth was employed in banking institutions in the province of Alsace. The Baron had another son, Abraham, who, it is claimed in some quarters, also came to America, but there is nothing to refute or prove the claim.
Those of the Sitlers who have given any time to gathering and preserving family information have the united testimony of the third generation in America that the Sitlers came to this country in 1736. Mathias, from the fact that he was given his father's name, was probably the eldest son. He settled in Lancaster county, Pa., owned a house in the city of Lancaster in 1764, and later moved westward into York county, where he had a large landed property. His last removal was to Baltimore, Md., where he pur- chased lands which he let out on ground rents in parts, for ninety-nine years, helped to develop the city, and left a large estate unsettled when he died in Baltimore in 1787. Some of his family moved back to York county, Pa., where their descendants still reside; others went to the Southern States. A daughter of his grandson Abraham Sitler was found at Hanover, Yorks Co., Pa., by Professor Dimm in 1900. She was then seventy years old (born in 1830), an intelligent, well educated woman of unimpaired faculties, and testi- fied that from her earliest childhood she had heard her father speak to his family about the will of his great-grandfather, who died in 1745, which would make the year 1845 as the time set for the distribution of the property. Her father confidently expected this, and it was a subject of common conversation among the relations whenever they visited. There is evidence to show that the same belief about the will and its eccentric provisions prevailed in other branches of the family. When 1845 went by and the expectations were not realized an effort was made to find out whether these estates really existed or not, the Sitlers sending a lawyer to Germany to inquire into the matter, and especially to ascertain the possibilities in the case of the American claimants. In Berks and Lehigh counties Professor Dimm found men whose fathers had contributed,to the expense of this investigation, and who said the attorney returned with the news that there was an estate worth millions await- ing their claims, but that he was not equipped with the genealogical records and other papers necessary to make proper application therefor. The matter
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rested at that stage until about 1850. Meantime two grandsons of the emi- grant Mathias Sitler, residing in York county, Pa., received several notices from Germany informing them of the existence of the estates awaiting Ameri- can heirs ; no attention had been paid to these notices. From various Sitlers it is learned that about 1850 a messenger was sent from the German govern- ment to the United States government, at Washington, where he was referred to Thaddeus Stevens, then the representative in the House from the district made up of Lancaster, York and Berks counties. Mr. Stevens obligingly undertook his introduction to the Sitler heirs in York county. It is related that they arrived at the house of a wealthy grandson of Mathias Sitler near the city of York about nine o'clock one night, after he had retired, and he refused to get up but had them come up to his room. After learning their errand he told them to collect what was due, take out their pay and give him his share. Thaddeus Stevens it is known made one more effort, offering to collect the whole estate and bring it to America for twenty-five per cent. But the grandsons considered the percentage too high, and so nothing was done.
In 1897 the American consul at Berlin inserted a small advertisement in a New York newspaper: "Wanted heirs to inherit a vast estate left in Germany by Mathias Sitler, Sr." It had the effect of bringing the present- day descendants to their feet, and the organization now existing among them is the result. The Sitler German society was founded in 1897 by descendants of Mathias Sitler, none of Dietrich's posterity being included. Upon inquiry Professor Dimm learned that its primary object was to assert and enforce the claims of the heirs of Mathias Sitler of Baltimore to an unsettled estate and the interests in certain grounds in Baltimore whose leases had expired (to which property the heirs of Dietrich had no right) ; and, that accom- plished, to use the proceeds to prosecute their claims to the estates of Baron von Sidler. However, the officers of the society explained that it then had neither charter nor constitution, and that reorganization to secure the full cooperation of the heirs in both branches was possible, so that an agent sent to Germany would represent all the heirs, all of whom should participate in bearing the expense of the undertaking. However, it was considered advisable to suggest the proviso that the Dietrich Sitler heirs should make no claim to the property of Mathias Sitler of Baltimore; and if they contributed anything to aid in the prosecution of the claim their money should be returned to them with interest from the date of contribution when the claims were awarded.
As a result of the exertions of Professor Dimm and his coworkers it was planned to hold a meeting at which all the descendants of Mathias and Dietrich Sitler should be represented, and the executive committee of the Sitler German Society called such a meeting, at Harrisburg, the date set being Oct. 23, 1900, in order to acquaint those interested with the known facts; to amplify these as much as possible from other information in the family ; and to secure definite promises of assistance, for the fund necessary to carry on the re- searches which were a necessary preliminary to the legal action. At Phila- delphia the cooperation of a lawyer engaged by one of the group of the family was secured, his clients falling in with the general plan. Professor Dimm, as a representative of the Dietrich Sitler heirs, and the various officers of the Sitler German Society, representing the Mathias Sitler heirs, agreed on certain preparatory work: to complete the family trees in this country ; to ascertain if these estates still exist in the care of the German government, or whether they have been forfeited to the authorities ; to obtain documentary
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evidence in support of their claims, including baptismal records and a copy of the will in question from Germany; and to engage competent German legal talent. There was some apprehension that the German government might resist the transfer of so much property to citizens of another country.
Dietrich Sitler, the younger of the two brothers whose change of faith isolated them from their family and gave to Pennsylvania some of the sturdy Teutonic stock which has largely influenced the characteristics of the popula- tion even down to the present time, came to this country in 1736-in the midst of the Colonial period, fifty-four years after Penn founded Philadelphia, when only a few counties had been erected in Pennsylvania, and forty years before the Declaration of Independence. The brothers settled on lands now included in the counties of Lancaster and Berks, and Dietrich remained a citizen of the latter county to the end of his days, and was buried, as his descendants believe, at the Moselem Church in Richmond township. In the course of his investigations during the summer of 1900 Professor Dimm visited this old church, the oldest house of worship in all that region, located on a tract of land ( 103 acres) presented to the German Lutherans by a son of William Penn. Dietrich Sitler helped to build the first church there, in 1745, a log structure which was burned by the Indians. It was replaced in 1761 by a stone church, and Dietrich Sitler was one of the members and officers until 1778; his son Henry was one of the church officers from 1785 to 1816. It is practically certain that Dietrich is buried in the graveyard there, and a close search was made for a possible tombstone, though, as is frequently the case, the ancient burial spot had few stones marking the scores of graves. On close examination it was found that several stones had once borne clear inscriptions, now so effaced by time and the weather as to be almost if not entirely illegible, and many were broken and lying flat on the ground. However, one of the upright markers, a stone about three feet high, sixteen inches wide and six inches thick, showed plainly the word Sitler, with a German "D" before it, the rest of the wording all worn off except the dates, of which the months were doubtful, but the years plain. The inscription as finally deciphered read: "Dietrich Sitler, born Sept. 13th, 1716, died Oct. 20th, 1775." But as 1716 is the date of birth of Mathias, brother of Dietrich, and as there is documentary evidence that the latter was living in 1778 (he certified to a settlement of church accounts Jan. 22, 1777, and communed in Moselem Church with his wife June 27, 1778), the date on this stone must refer to another of the same name, and there is no tangible support for the supposition that the Dietrich Sitler in which we are interested rests there. The outline of his history may be found in the records of the Colonial period, 1730-1780, now deposited in Philadelphia. He married Anna Maria Von Resler, and they reared a family of six children. By his second wife, Dora- tha, he had no family. Nothing concerning him was found in the records at Reading and Hamburg.
Phillip Sitler, son of Dietrich, is next ancestor in the line of Calvin E: Sit- tler. His wife's name was Catherine.
George Sitler, son of Phillip and Catherine Sitler, married a Miss Moser, and they had a large family : John, Solomon, Samuel, Johnathan, George, Mrs. Judith Weiss, Mrs. Lucy Werley, Mrs. Shoemaker (of Ohio), Mrs. Lechleiter (of Ohio), Mrs. Klingeman and Mrs. Beninghoff (of Ohio). Of the sons, Samuel, grandfather of Calvin E., is referred to more fully in the next para- graph. John had a son John, who settled on a cattle range out West. Solomon
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had four children : Edward, whose children were Pierce, Calvin, Harvey, Vin- nie, Rudolph, John and Estella ; John, who had Wesley and Stanley; Charles; and Sallie, who married Edward Lester and had four children, Edward, Jennie, Adelbert and Frankie. Johnathan had three children, Elias, Catherine and Caroline; this family moved to Ohio, and Jolinathan's widow married a Mr. Stondt. George had a family of eight: Reuben, whose children were James, Sylvester, Caroline, David and Sarah; David, who had Daniel and Sarah ; William; George, who had Henry, John, George and James; Regina, Mrs. Abraham Kestler: Polly, Mrs. Nathan Miller, who had a daughter Ella, wife of Alvin Rupp; Lovina, Mrs. Peter Warner; and Levi, father of Dr. Al. Sitler.
Samuel Sittler, grandfather of Calvin E. Sittler, was born in Lehigh county, Pa., and settled in Mahoning township, Carbon Co., Pa., where he passed the remainder of his life. He had a farm of sixty acres. By his marriage to Eliza- beth Everett, daughter of Jacob Everett, he had a family of six children, namely: (1) Caroline married John Balliet and had children : Stephen, Tilgh- man and Emma. (2) Charles married Priscilla Snyder and had children : Agnes (Mrs. Eberts), Savannah (Mrs. Kistler), Daniel W., Martha (Mrs. Kresge), Ida and Estella. (3) William married Mary Snyder. (4) Tilghman E. married Louisa Hunsicker. (5) Sarah married Joseph Hoppes and had one child, Lizetta. (6) Amanda married John Longacre and had children : Olivia (Mrs. Wertman), Lizzie (Mrs. Delp). Caroline, Hattie and Roscoc. Mr. Sittler was a Republican in his political faith. He was a member of the German Lutheran ( Ben-Salem) Church in East Penn township, Carbon Co., Pa., and he and his wife are buried there.
Tilghman E. Sittler, son of Samuel, was born in East Penn township, Car- bon Co., Pa., July 19, 1837, and died Sept. 27, 1907. His education was ob- tained in the public schools of Mahoning township, Carbon county, and at Per- kiomen Seminary, and he taught school in West Penn township, Schuylkill county, until his enlistment in the Union army, in which he served as sergeant. He enlisted Aug. 16, 1864, for one year, and was enrolled at Harrisburg as sergeant in Company A (Capt. Jacob D. Laciars), 202d Pennsylvania Volun- teer Infantry, which was under the command of Col. Charles Albright and later of Col. John A. Manns. The regiment rendezvoused at Camp Curtin, Harris- burg, Sept. 3, 1864, and proceeded to Camp Couch Sept. roth, where it was drilled and led out on a three days' march for exercise on Sept. 23d. Going on to Washington and Alexandria, it was then sent by General Stough to do duty on the Manasses Gap railroad, taking possession along the road from Thor- oughfare Gap to Rectortown; and participated in the fighting at Salem Heights, Oct. 8-16, 1864. The enemy wrecked their railroad train and poured a volley upon the poor sufferers in the wreck; Colonel Albright then ordered that all the buildings within a radius of one mile be burned ; later this railroad was abandoned and the 202d Regiment was engaged in its destruction as far as Alexandria. This regiment guarded the Orange and Alexandria railroad from Bull Run to Alexandria, with headquarters at Halifax Station. where they protected woodmen and teams which were engaged in the construction of four works for the United States army. The regiment was then sent to Philadel- phia, and from there took headquarters at Tamaqua, Pa., later assembling at Harrisburg, where Mr. Sittler was mustered out and honorably discharged Aug. 3, 1865.
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