Kistler Kin
Samuel Kistler / Perry County
-JOHANNES KISTLER, Immigrant of 1737
-HANNES KISTLER of Albany Township
-ABRAHAM KISTLER, b 1761 Berks Co, d 1833 Perry Co
-SAMUEL KISTLER, b 1802, Perry Co, d 1872, Perry Co
Til Death Do Us Part
Samuel marks a religious divide in my ancestry. Like his Pennsylvania German ancestors, Samuel was Lutheran. He is buried at Zion Union (Lutheran and Reformed) Cemetery in Blain. However, his wife, Catherine Kline, was Methodist and is buried at the Methodist Episcopal Cemetery on the ridge outside of Blain. Apparently, sectarian beliefs were stronger than family ties. At least three of their children were Methodist while others were Lutheran. Thereafter, the Kistlers of my line were predominantly Methodist.
Finding Samuel’s Land…and Still Looking
Unlike his ancestors, however, Samuel found it unnecessary to relocate to improve his situation. He was born in Perry County and remained there his entire life. He was born in Spring Township and owned farms in Toboyne Township and later Jackson Township. Samuel owned a number of parcels for which I have obtained surveys from The Perry Historians. Because these metes-and-bounds surveys only reference adjacent landowners and do not key to the modern section, township and range grid, I have had difficulty locating the parcels on a map. However, with a little detective work, I have been able to determine that his second farm was in Jackson Township, west of present-day Fowler Hollow Road, south of Shermans Creek. His first farm was somewhere on the Toboyne-Jackson township line near New Germantown but so far I have been unable to pinpoint the location. His first son William was born in New Germantown in 1826.
How "Uncle John" Started Me on My Ancestral Quest
Samuel's son, John A. Kistler, is the person who triggered my interest in Kistler genealogy. My father had given me a box of old family letters. Several of those letters were written by my great-grandfather Sydney while visiting his Uncle John in Blain, Perry County. When I looked for Blain on a roadmap, I noticed that the village of Kistler was not far away. Kistler, Pennsylvania! I somehow knew that was no coincidence. The Kistlers obviously had deep roots in Perry County. From that moment on I embarked on a quest to discover my Kistler heritage. Decades later, I'm still on that journey.
Uncle John was first a tanner and later a farmer, limestone dealer and lime burner in Blain. As a member of the 49th Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, he saw action at Fredericksburg, Petersburg, Antietam, Gettysburg and elsewhere. He received a gunshot wound to the left leg at the Second Battle of Rappahannock Station. He lived for many years at the limestone quarry northwest of Blain before moving into town. He is buried at the Methodist Episcopal Cemetery along with his mother.