Bernard Eisenhuth ²

   Other names for Bernard were Barnard Eisenhuth, Barney Eisenhuth and Bernet Eisenhuth.

  General Notes:

His obituary says he had 10 children. According to his obituary, his house was destroyed in 1806 along with the family records. There is considerable debate regarding Bernard's service in the Revolutionary War, as well as the service of his father. No records substantiating involvement have been found. Historians in Schuylkill County generally include Bernard in lists of those who served, but in the area where a soldier's specific military company or commander is specified the listing for Bernard merely says "tradition."

  Birth Notes:

His birth date may not be as reported in varous sources, including his obituary which listed him as the oldest living man in Pennsylvania aged 111 years, 3 months, and 12 days when he died on June 22, 1866. Several U.S. Census listings suggest he was actually born 10-11 years later.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Church, 1780, West Brunswick Township: Zion Red Church (Union Lutheran), Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, USA. His children by Anna Maria Orwig appear in the christening records of this church.

• Census: 1793 Pennsylvania Septennial Census, 1793, Manheim Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA. This is now known as Schuylkill County.

• Census, 1800, Brunswick Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA. ⁹ The Bernard Eisenhuth household is listed in Brunswick, which was in Berks County in 1800 but later became Schuylkill County. The family consisted of:
Males (born)
Under 10 (1791-1800) = 1 son
26-44 (1756-1774) = 1 Bernard
45 & over (<=1755)
Females (born)
10-15 (1785-1790) = 2 daughters
26-44 (1756-1774) = 1 wife

• Occupation: 1800 Pennsylvania Septennial, 1800, Brunswick Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA. His occupation is listed on census records as laborer. This is now known as Schuylkill County.

• Census, 1810, Brunswick Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA. ¹⁰ The 1810 Census lists him as Bernhard Eisenhood with this household:
Males (born)
Under 10 (1801-1810) = 4 sons
16-25 (1785-1794) = 1 son
26-44 (1766-1784) = 1 father Bernard
Females (born)
Under 10 (1801-1810) = 1 daughter
10-15 (1795-1800) = 1 daughter
16-25 (1785-1794) = 1 daughter
26-44 (1766-1784) = 1 wife

However, Bernard's age by his birth date should have been 55, so perhaps his birth date is wrong or the census recorder made an error?

• Census, 1850, Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, USA. ¹¹ His listing is in the North West Ward. He is listed as 84 years old and occupation "none." Note that if he was 84 in 1850 then his birth year would be about 1766, not 1755 as reported in most sources. This census listing is clearly the right Bernard since he is living with his family. He was living in a household headed by George Eisenhuth (age 43) and occupation "none." Also present are Mary (29 or 24, handwriting unclear), Lydia (15), George (10), Sarah (12), Susan (6). Also in the household is another relative, Henry Eisenhuth (21), occupation clerk, and a Mary Logan (17). Everyone is listed as being born in Pennsylvania, except for Logan who was born in Ireland.

• Obituary: Pottsville Standard, 30 Jun 1866, Pottsville, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, USA.
Bernard Eisenhuth
Aged 111 years, 3 months and 12 days.

Death of the "Oldest Inhabitant." - On Friday morning of last week, June 22, 1866, Mr. Bernard Eisenhuth died at New Castle in this county, aged over one hundred and eleven years. He was probably the oldest man in Pennsylvania.

He was born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania and was Baptized on the 10th day of May, 1755, in the old Lutheran church at Lebanon. His age then was two months.

During the Revolutionary War he was left at home to take care of the family, while his father who Captain of Riflemen under General Anthony Wayne, was in the Army. It is supposed that Captain Eisenhuth was killed, as he never returned.

Mr. Eisenhuth afterwards removed to Berks county, where he married Catherine Saylor. She was born in Philadelphia. They had 10 children, 5 of whom are still living.

The early history of the family is not known correctly, as the house of Mr. Eisenhuth was destroyed by fire in 1806, and the family records etc. were consumed. His wife died in 1848, aged 95 years. Mr. Eisenhuth leaves 5 children, 41 grand children and 116 living descendants; probably as many more have died.

He was sick only five weeks, apparently suffering from nothing but weakness, and retained his consciousness to the last, dying as gently as though falling asleep.

In his younger days he was a powerful man. He was about 6 feet in height, raw boned and heavily built, with light brown hair, light complexion and blue eyes. He was a lumberman and trapper, and at the age of 105 years he worked in the harvest field with apparent ease.

He was always "early to bed and early to rise," being up at daylight every morning. He always ate plain food, and frequently lectured his descendants for using too much shortening, etc. in their food. He used liquor occasionally, but never to excess, and would taste only the best old-fashioned rye Whiskey.

At the age of 105 years, while at work clearing new land, he fell and severely injured his hips. He was by a physician fastened to a plank for nine weeks, and requested to remain nine days longer, but he refused to do so; and attempted to walk, when it was discovered that his hip was dislocated. The injury was properly attended to, and he was soon able to walk, but he was lame ever after from the effects of it.

He was attended during his last illness by Rev. U. Graves, of the English Ev. Lutheran Church of Pottsville, who at his request gave him the Communion; during the service the old man was melted to tears, and partook as intelligently as ever of the sacred elements. Nor did he forget this service while he continued to suffer out his days.

The last Sabbath of his life on earth he expressed a wish that he might be at church and hear Mr. Graves preach, but in a few days after that Sabbath he left these earthly scenes for the realities of another world.

The text from which Mr. Graves addresses the friends of the family at the funeral is found in Gen. xlvii, 9: "And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years; few and evil have the days of my life been and I have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their Pilgrimage."

Mr. Eisenhuth always voted the Democratic Ticket. He voted for Washington, and cast his vote at every presidential election in the United States. His last vote he cast for Abraham Lincoln, he (Mr. Lincoln) appearing to him like Washington.

Mr. Eisenhuth was one of a class that seem to be getting smaller yearly; to the class who do their duty to God and man, love their country for their country's sake, pay their debts and live honestly and frugally. He goes down to the grave respected and honored by all; and thus is broken one of the few living links between the by-gone past and present.

He was buried on Saturday last at the Old Lutheran Cemetery at Ringtown. His descendants are generally healthy and able-bodied, and carry their age remarkably well. Like himself, they are good, useful and law-abiding citizens. May our country be blessed with many more such men as the old patriarch who has been gathered to his fathers, Bernard Eisenhuth. - Pottsville Standard, June 30, 1866.

• Book: History of Schuylkill County, 1881. ⁶ Union Township Cemeteries. The earliest burying-ground was in connection with the Union church, and the first person interred in it was Jacob Eisenhauer, who died May 9th, 1815, aged two years, eleven months and twenty-six days. The first adult to whose memory a stone is erected was Daniel Kolb, who died January 5th, 1818. In this cemetery are stones erected to the memory of the following soldiers of 1812: Jacob Laudig, died July 17th, 1863, aged 77 years; Benjamin Sautzer, died November 29th, 1863, aged 71 years; William Dombuch, died October 5th, 1847, aged 69 years; Charles Bitting and Frederick Labenberg. The oldest person whose death is recorded on the burial tablets of this country church yard was Barnard Eisenhuth, aged one hundred and eleven years.

• Book: Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Schuylkill County, 1893. ¹² ANDREW C. EISENHUTH, an enterprising young shoe manufacturer of Orwigsburg, Pennsylvania, is a son of Henry and Catherine (Christ) Eisenhuth, and was born August 14, 1863, in Auburn, Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania.

The great grandfather of our subject on the paternal side of the family, Bernard Eisenhuth, was almost a contemporary of George Washington himself, being born in March, 1755, in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania.

During the Revolutionary struggle, resulting in our National Independence, he was left at home to take care of the family, whilst his son, George Plisenhuth, the grandfather of our subject, was in the patriot army under General Anthony Wayne, with the rank of Captain. Conrad Eisenhuth removed to Berks county, where he married Catharine Saylor, a native of Philadelphia, and who died in 1848 at the advanced age of ninety-five years. He was among the pioneers of that county and became a lumberman, a trapper and a hunter, avocations indigenous to a pioneer life. He was a man of remarkable physical vigor, and at the age of one hundred and five years worked in the harvest field with apparent ease. His first vote was cast for George Washington, and he voted at every Presidential election down to Lincoln, dying in June, 1866, at the extreme age of one hundred and eleven years, three months'and twelve days.

Quite likely, George Eisenhuth, grandfather, was born in Auburn ; it is at least known that at an early day he went to Pottsville and became proprietor of a hotel on the present site of the Merchants' hotel. This hotel he operated a number of years, and accumulated considerable money, and invested extensively in the coal lands of the county. He removed to Shenandoah, this county, about the time that place was founded, and lived there until his death in 1884.

He was twice married ; first time to a Miss Saylor. Among the issue of this marriage was the father of subject His second marriage was with a Miss Mary Baer.

Henry Eisenhuth, father, was born in Millheim, Pa., in 1830, but has been a resident of Schuylkill county most of his life. He married Catharine Christ, who was born February 5, 1840, and died May 3, 1891. The fruit of this marriage was a family of seven children.: John, who is a station agent for the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company at Orwigsburg; Andrew C.; T. Harry, who is in the employ of his brother Andrew as bookkeeper and shipper; Kate, the wife of Howard Eisenburg, of Hazleton ; and Mamie, a milliner of Reading, Pa.; two died in infancy. In Mr. Eisenhuth's career we find an example of what a young man can accomplish even with a limited education, coupled with a strong will and indefatigable energy. After leaving the public schools of his township, he entered the Kutztown Normal school. He then taught school five terms, two of them in South Manheim township, two in Porter township, and one as principal of the Green Street building in the borough of Hazelton, Luzerne county. This position he resigned in 1884, to accept the position of bookkeeper in the office of A. E. Brown & Co., of Orwigsburg. He remained with that firm until January 1, 1892. During this time he made a study of the shoe business in all its details, and feeling that he was competent to pursue successfully the business on his own account, he formed an alliance with Alfred M. Miller, under the firm name Eisenhuth & Miller, and embarked in the manufacturing of shoes. The factory of this firm is located on the corner of Tannuary and Warren Streets, and is sixty feet long by forty wide, two stories high. It gives employment to forty hands, including six traveling salesmen. They manufacture children's and infants' turn shoes exclusively, and dispose of their product throughout the central and western States.

Mr. Eisenhuth is a republican, has served for eight years as town clerk, and is one of the school directors of his borough. He is a member of Schuylkill Lodge, No. 138, F. and A. M., of which lodge he is a Past Master; Mountain City Chapter, No. 196, R. A. M., at Pottsville ; Constantine Commandery, No. 41, Knights Templar, of same place; Grace Lodge, No. 157, I. O. O. F., of Orwigsburg, of which he is a past officer; and St Paul's Lutheran church, at Orwigsburg. His union with Anna R. Wernert, daughter of Victor Wernert, of Orwigsburg, on March 11, 1892, has been blessed with the following children: Harry, Lillian, Floyd and Marguerite.

• Book: Beecher Family History: Bernard Eisenhuth, 1972. ¹³ Written in 1978 by our family genealogist, Bruce Franklin Beacher Ph.d (1919-2004)

BERNARD "BARNEY" EISENHUTH was well-known among Pennsylvania's backwoodsmen. Fair-haired and blue-eyed, he stood a full head above most of his short-statured contemporaries. His youthfulness was astonishing; he was destined to live longer than any other man in Pennsylvania--over ill years! Born in the Lebanon Valley and baptized a Lutheran on May 10, 1755 (probably by John Casper Stoever, the younger), he grew to six feet and assumed charge of the family when his father left to serve as Captain of Riflemen under General Anthony Wayne. Capt. EISENHUTH never returned, presumably killed in action.

In their youth, BARNEY EISENHUTH and JACOB BICHER were friends in the Lebanon community. But the EISENHUTHs left Lebanon for new lands opening in the mountain valleys after the war. BARNEY met and married a Philadelphia girl, CATHERINE SAYLOR, and tried farming in Pine Grove Township (then Berks County.) They had ten children before fire destroyed their home in 1806 and, with it, most of the family's keepsakes. Relatives and the demand for lumbermen to serve the rapidly growing iron industry of Centre County drew Barney and his family to that area where the EISENHUTH name became established in Penn Township.

When young JOHN JACOB BICHER reached manhood he left the Lebanon Valley seeking his independence and livelihood, as well as his heart's desire--ANGELINE EISENHUTH. Nothing could have pleased his grandfather and BARNEY EISENHUTH more when the young couple married in 1837 and proceeded to bring a succession of sons into the world that welded the bond between the old friends for life.

The firstborn of JACOB and ANGELINE was named WILLIAM, honoring JACOB BICHER's brother and other family ancestors. His brothers arrived with regularity--JOHN JACOB (1840), HIRAM (1842), BENJAMIN (1845), GEORGE (1849) and NATHAN (1851.) Meanwhile opportunity for lumbermen shifted eastward to Schuylkill County, the focus of the evolving hard coal mining industry. It was there where the first and only daughter, MARY, broke the male dynasty in 1853. The family moved to Pottsville before 1850 when the flurry of inventions for coal stoves, ovens and furnaces, the development of railroads, and the application of machinery to mining multiplied coal production 40 to 50 fold.

Lumbermen, miners, masons and other tradesmen were drawn as by a magnet to the center of action in Schuylkill County. The word "schuylkill" is Swedish, meaning "to hide." The county is named after the river. Picturesque mountains and valleys hid the great deposits of coal until anthracite became a prime fuel. Now the torn hillsides and great rounds of mine tailings are mute reminders of the historic, albeit frantic, mining period.

Sadly, BARNEY EISENHUTH lost his wife in 1848 when she was 95. He was still capable of a day's work, and already a legend in the State. He moved his home to Pottsville with son GEORGE EISENHUTH and nearby ANGELINE and her sons.

The 1850 United States Census records JACOB BIEGER, tailor, living in the South Ward, Pottsville, Pennsylvania, with his wife, ANGELINE, and six sons. The earliest settlers of the community were from Alsace-Lorraine and Switzerland, via the Schoharie Valley (New York) settlement and the Pennsylvania-German speaking JACOB and his family were at home among fellow "Germans." But Pottsville literally exploded with growth as mining developed and the railroad came to town. It became the seat of Schuylkill County in 1851 as well as the center of communications for rail and stagecoach travel and the news.

Life was rough by today's standards--mining, drinking and fighting became commonplace together and churches were few and sparsely attended. But the people were courageous and patriotic. Volunteers joined the campaign against Mexico under the leadership of Captain James Nagle and the young BIEGER boys followed the news with keen interest in the Freiheits Press and the Miners Journal. Emotions ran high with the outbreak of the War Between the States and when Lee threatened Pennsylvania at Gettysburg WILLIAM and JOHN enlisted.

Many families coming to America have experienced name changes. The BEACHERS are no exception and the enlistment of the Sons of JACOB and ANGELINE in the Union Army marked the introduction and permanent attachment of BEACHER to this branch of the original BUCHER line. Coincidentally in Lebanon, Pennsylvania at about the same time, the enlistment of WILLIAM BICHER, blood-relative of WILLIAM of Pottsville, introduced the name of BEICHER to that line of the family.

JOHN and BENJAMIN BEACHER survived the campaign without injury and returned home to be mustered out of service on August 23, 1865. Brother WILLIAM also had re-enlisted as a private, this time in Company C, 194th Regiment Infantry, at Pottsville, on July 13, 1864. The regiment was sent to Baltimore for provost duty before returning to Harrisburg, where WILLIAM was mustered out of the service on November 6, 1864.

While the War was in progress, other events were shaping a future home for the BEACHERS in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. For a long time the site had been occupied only by an old tavern, the Kaley House. PETER KALEY (or KEHLEY) settled there to farm sometime after 1820. He found some coal which he carried to the blacksmith in Ringtown over the mountain. But the great seam of coal beneath him attracted the Philadelphia Land Company to purchase his right, allowing him to remain there until his death in 1860. Mining began in earnest in 1862. P. W. SFIAEFER of Pottsville laid out "Shenandoah City," choosing an Indian name meaning "sprucy stream" (Or perhaps, "daughter of the stars.") The first building was a frame hotel, followed by houses on Cherry street, where JACOB and ANGELINE BEACHER and their family would settle.

When the War ended, marriages quickly followed. BENJAMIN married SARAH JANE JACOBS while his brother, JOHN, stood as a witness with his girl-friend, ANGELINE OCOM (or OKUM), whom he soon married. HIRAM BEACHER married HENRIETTA JACOBS and established his home in Mt. Carmel.

The Nation would never be the same after the War Between the States, nor would the BEACHER families ever again enjoy a role model like BARNEY EISENHUTH. At the age of 105 while clearing land, he fell and severely injured his hips. He was fastened to a plank by a physician for nine weeks and finally could remain no longer, although requested to do so. He was soon able to walk painfully, suffering from the effects thereafter. On June 22, 1866 at the age of 111 years, 3 months and 12 days, he departed this life. He was attended during his last illness by the Reverend U. Graves of the English Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pottsville, who at his request gave him the Communion. During the service the patriarch was melted to tears, and partook as intelligently as ever of the sacred elements. He was laid to rest with other Eisenhuths and Eisenhowers in the beautiful setting. of the Old White Church cemetery near Ringtown, the oldest church in Schuylkill county.

BARNEY EISENHUTH left five children, forty-one grandchildren and one hundred and sixteen living descendants. Probably as many more predeceased him. His impact on the BEACHERS was far more than genetic. He was always "early to bed and early to rise," being up at daylight every morning. He always ate plain food, and frequently lectured his descendants for using too much shortening, etc. in their food. He used liquor occasionally, but never to excess, and would taste only the best old-fashioned rye whiskey. Arriving in the world at the outset of the French and Indian War he had experienced the yoke of colonialism, watched his father go off in the struggle for independence without return, followed the Contention among the new States and finally the supreme struggle to maintain the Union. He voted for every President from George. Washington to Abraham Lincoln. He was eulogized in the Pottsville Standard as "one of a class that seem to be getting smaller yearly; to the class who do their duty to God and man, love their country for their country's sake, pay their debts and live honestly and frugally. He goes down to the grave respected and honored by all.. .one of the few living links between the by-gone past and present."

JACOB and ANGELINE BEACHER lived out the rest of their lives through the 1880's in Shenandoah, never forgetting the grand old man or failing to recount his life and character to their children and grandchildren. JACOB's own grandfather, the Elder of Lebanon, preceded BARNEY EISENHUTH in death by nearly a quarter of a century, and the families gradually lost contact.

JACOB's brother, WILLIAM BICHER (BEICHER) died in 1880 and was interred in Mount Lebanon Cemetery by his son, WILLIAM, a veteran of Company K, 127th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, along with their mother MARY MICHAL BICHER and other relatives. The BIECHER name was carried into the 20th century in Lebanon by 'four sons and four daughters of the marriage of the veteran WILLIAM to LOUISA HARTMAN EMBICH.

It is one of life's fateful facts that bloodlines diverge and lose contact. What an event it would be if all were to be reunited at the feet of the patriarchs and grand dames to renew associations and exchange experiences! But especially to look for the familiar twinkle of an eye, dimpled smile, or gesture that one could identify at once with an ancestor and relative. There is no doubt that some might be called "Little Barney" or "Little Jacob" or "Little Angeline" if this were to happen. And the honored elders would, no doubt, beam their approval.

Bernard married Anna Maria Orwig. (Anna Maria Orwig was born in 1751 in , Berks County, Pennsylvania, USA ¹⁴ and died in 1778 in West Brunswick Township, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, USA.)

Bernard next married Catherine Saylor in 1780 in Lebanon, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, USA.¹ (Catherine Saylor was born on 9 May 1767 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA,³ died on 20 Jan 1849 in Mahanoy City, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, USA ³ and was buried in Union Township: Ringtown: Old Lutheran Cemetery at White Church, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, USA.)