Husband Samuel Christopher Wiestling 1 2
AKA: John S. Wiestling 3
Born: 4 Jun 1760 - Oschatz, Canton of Meisischen, Prussia 1
Christened:
Died: 20 Apr 1823 - Harrisburg, Dauphin Co, PA 4
Buried:
Father: Christopher Martin Wiestling ( -1769) 1
Mother: Dorothea Elizabeth Goldman ( - ) 5
Marriage: Abt 1785
Wife Anna Maria Bucher 4
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: [Father] Bucher ( - )
Mother:
Children
1 F Anna Maria Wiestling 6
Born: 1789 6
Christened:
Died: 1856 6
Buried:
Spouse: Abraham Gross (1781-1835) 6
2 M Samuel C. Wiestling, M.D. 4
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
3 M John S. Wiestling 4
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
4 M Rev. Jacob H. Wiestling 4
Born: 1793 - Montgomery Co, PA 7
Christened:
Died: 1826 - Hanover, York Co, PA 7
Buried: - Reformed Church Cemetery, Hanover, York Co, PA
5 F Eliz. Dorothy Wiestling 4
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Norman Callender ( - ) 4
6 M Joshua Martin Wiestling, M.D. 4
Born: 28 Feb 1797 - Susquehanna Twp, Dauphin Co, PA 4
Christened: - Shoop's Church, Paxtang Twp, Dauphin Co, PA
Died: 15 Jan 1854 - Harrisburg, Dauphin Co, PA 7
Buried:
Spouse: Catharine Youse ( -1854) 7
Marr: 22 Jan 1824 7
7 M Frederick Wiestling 4
Born:
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Died:
Buried:
8 F Sarah Wiestling 4
Born:
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Died:
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Spouse: Rev. Henry Wagner ( - ) 4
9 M Benjamin Joseph Wiestling, M.D. 8 9
Born: 16 Sep 1805 - Middle Paxtang, Dauphin Co, PA 9 10
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Spouse: Matilda Eveline Ross ( - ) 10
Marr: 23 Jun 1831 9 10
10 M George Philip Wiestling 2 4
Born: 4 May 1808 - Susquehanna Twp, Dauphin Co, PA 7
Christened:
Died: 31 May 1883 - Harrisburg, Dauphin Co, PA 7
Buried:
Spouse: Margaret C. Berryhill ( - ) 2 7
11 F Catharine E. Wiestling 3 4
Born: 21 Feb 1810 3
Christened:
Died: 18 May 1845 3
Buried:
Spouse: John Andrew Weir (1802/1802-1881) 11 12
General Notes: Husband - Samuel Christopher Wiestling
He was born at Oschatz, in the Canton or District of Meisischen, on the 4th of June, 1760, during a visit of his mother to her parents. The home of his parents was Colba, on the river Saale, in Lower Saxony. Inasmuch as the military law of Prussia required all Prussian officers and citizens to have the name of every child recorded in the church-book of the town wherein it was born, this was done in his case. The record was also made in the military canton-book or soldiers' roll of Oschatz. He was baptized soon after, his sponsors being Samuel Ludwig Goldman, Christopher Henry Ahren, and Mrs. Catherine Elizabeth Wiestling, all residents of Colba.
His father, who held the office of secretary of Colba, and was widely known, died in 1769. The widow afterwards married Michael Horst, a justice of the peace, of Acken, on the river Elba, in whom Samuel found a kind parent. He was sent to school, and carefully educated. Subsequently, being influenced and guided by the counsel of his preceptors, Herr Ruprecht and his brother-in-law, the Honorable Inspector Gehring, his step-father persuaded him to study theology, and through the recommendation of those mentioned he was received into the Hallische Weisenhaus. But this life was irksome to him, and unsuited to the natural bent of his mind, and, becoming discontented, he returned to his home at Colba.
In April, 1774, he was placed under the instruction of the State Surgeon and "Land Physician," Dr. Unger, but the doctor having died on the 1st of May, 1776, he with a good recommendation went to Halle and put himself under the care and tuition of Field-Surgeon Ollenroth, with whom he remained until 1778. This gentleman very kindly secured for him regular college privileges, under Professors Makel, Nestsky, Dr. Younghaus, and others. As war broke out about this time between the Emperor Joseph and King Frederick II.,-the bone of contention being Bayern,-and a part of the Prussian army being stationed in Alsace, under Prince Henry, he was recommended by his principal for the position of lazar-surgeon, and was accordingly examined and appointed on June 3, 1778.
On July the 1st, the army marched to Dresden, and the field hospital was removed to Thorgan. In the beginning of October he was taken sick, in consequence of which he obtained leave to return home. On recovering his health, in November, he went to Halle and resumed his studies under the professors already named until the year 1779, when he went to Dresden for the purpose of continuing his studies in anatomy in the then existing preparatory institute, under the care of the Elector's counselor, Pietochen. Here the branches of anatomy, physiology, physics, materia medica, chemistry, pathology, and therapeutics were as thoroughly taught by Dr. Hoffrath and Professors Meiden and Thomrianie as they were in Halle; but botany was neglected, though chirurgery was also thoroughly taught by the general surgeon, Wilde. In the spring of 1780 he went to Berlin to prosecute, under the Berlin State accoucheur, Dr. Hagan, his studies in obstetrics, which he had already commenced at Halle, under Catenius, Loesicke, Schmucker, and Thedus. He remained during the summer in a private college of medicine, chirurgery, and anatomy.
In October of the same year he returned to Dresden, to visit the preparatory school of anatomy. In April of the following year he went to Amsterdam, to visit John Herman Osterdyke, who had been his intimate friend in Halle, and who was now a doctor of medicine in Amsterdam. This afforded him an opportunity to visit the Land and Sea Hospital located there, and also the Amsterdam College of Medicine and Surgery, of which Dr. Herman Gerhard Osterdyke, the father of his friend, was the president. Through the kindness of the general surgeon of the hospital, the Hon. B. Hasson, he had free access to the Gast-Huys. His friend going to Halle to hold his "Inaugural Disputations," in order to the promoting, under the supervision of Dr. Leopold Osterdyke, and at his earnest persuasion he gladly accompanied him. He remained in Halle until April, 1782, when he returned to Amsterdam, where he attended the Hospital and College of Medicine and Surgery until June of 1782, when he was appointed to a position as navy doctor and surgeon, he having passed a creditable examination before the Committee of the Honorable Board of Admiralty.
At this time an expedition started out from the Netherlands to America, under the ambassador from Holland, with two ships laden with linen, a frigate, and a cutter. He was ordered to duty on this expedition as navy surgeon. He set sail on June 4, 1783, with a favoring wind. His record says, "We left Texel, and on Oct. 4, 1783, we reached the port of Chester on the Delaware, in Delaware County and State of Pennsylvania. The voyage was not all smooth sailing, as we encountered high winds and rough seas. Indeed, on one occasion one of the vessels came very near swamping and emptying us all out into the sea. However, with hard work, good management, and the interposition of a kind Providence we kept above water and arrived safely on terra firma."
As it was obligatory upon all students and artisans in Germany to travel and see the world before they could pursue the practice of their chosen profession or trade, he concluded to see something of the New World before returning. He accordingly left the vessel in company with a friend by the name of Godfrey Fritchey, and started on foot on a tour of observation. They traversed Middle Pennsylvania, which was not then, though it later became, "the garden spot of the world," but was sparsely settled, and the whole country deeply impressed with the desolation and devastation consequent upon the Revolutionary war. Visions of the "home beyond the sea," however, beckoned them to return, and they turned their footsteps towards Philadelphia with a view of finding a vessel to carry them home.
At the Trappe, in Montgomery County, in Pennsylvania, they fell in with a gentleman by the name of Messemer or Minsker, who was proprietor of an inn at that place, who, learning that his guest was a thoroughly-educated German physician, succeeded in persuading him to tarry with him, as he had a sick wife, who had been bedridden for a long time, and upon whom he had expended quite a sum of money to physicians, to little or no purpose. This was an episode in his life that shaped his destiny for the future. This man offered to pay him twenty dollars in hand, with his boarding for self and friend, and find the medicine. He regarded this a good and advantageous offer, under the peculiar circumstances, and accepted it. The case was a serious and obstinate one, and although it baffled others, he was entirely successful, and this fortunate turn of affairs afterwards proved to be the foundation of a large and paying practice at the Trappe. He married, and about the year 1792 or 1793 he, with his family and that of his father-in-law, removed to Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, locating on farms along the Blue Mountain, on the road leading from the Susquehanna River to Linglestown. His new home was about two miles from the river and five miles from the city of Harrisburg, in now Susquehanna township. Here he continued in pursuit of his profession (while his wife superintended the farm) until the spring of 1811, when they removed to the town of Harrisburg, where his practice greatly increased until the year 1817, when he was stricken with paralysis, which terminated his medical career.
He came from Upper Saxony, Germany, to America, prior to the Revolution. He was a noted physician and linguist, being master of seven languages, and had been a surgeon in the German navy. While making a tour of the American colonies, he visited "The Trappe" in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, where he met and married Anna Marie Bucher, a lady of Swiss descent. He subsequently located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he built up a large medical practice, and accumulated considerable wealth. [HFC 1887, 895]