This is a bio in progress for a complex gent. A timeline is being developed for George M. Scheidy's life and pastoral positions. That he was well-prepared for a Lutheran pastoral calling with an emphasis on education and Sunday schools is unquestioned, as a graduate of Keystone Normal School (1880), Muhlenberg College (1884), and Philadelphia Theological Seminary (1887).
Son of Enoch and his wife Rebekah nee Wenrich Scheidy, George lost his father when he was but nine years old. He was counted twice on the 1870 census, once showing 21 year old Rebekah raising nine year old George alone, and again in the household of Jacob Scheidy, his uncle. Still, he would live with his mother most of her life, the 1900 census proving that he was 61 year old Rebekah's only child. He was close to age 40 when he married Anna Catherine Brown in 1901, and had a daughter Esther, in 1902. The marriage seems to have been short-lived, or at least most unconventional; the 1910 and 1920 censuses show the couple living apart. George's mother would die in 1907, and his daughter would die before she left her teen years in 1919.
Beginnings and partings are common life themes, yet G. M. Scheidy's life follows a pattern of many happy beginnings and some most unhappy partings. He was an energetic and able beginner, spotted early by the Lutheran church and immediately after seminary graduation he was sent to Nova Scotia to expand the Lutheran movement in the Lunenburg area. There he began and expanded three churches- St. Matthew's (Rose Bay), St. Mark's (Middle LaHave), and St. John's by the Sea (Feltzen South). He would serve also in Scranton, Pennsylvania where he began two new churches from missions, and again pioneered in Williamstown. He also spent time as pastor of St. Joseph's Lutheran in east Allentown, Pennsylvania. He left the synod in 1916.
He left a pastorate in Scranton over a raucous disagreement with the church council which was not well documented, but made the newspapers and implied his treatment of the church youth was found wanting. He left a post in Williamstown at Emanuel Lutheran church in 1904 over congregational friction that included his "failure to live with his lawfully wedded wife". Interestingly, he then began a new church across the street to compete with his former one. He was a deeply learned man, well-schooled in education and religion, a writer who contributed to Lutheran World and The Lutheran, a speaker and historian active in the Pennsylvania German Society and Lehigh County Historical Society, yet he seems not to have tolerated others well, ending virtually all his positions with a resignation.
Geo. M. Scheidy fascinates me, this man of books and the cloth, as he chose to be a business partner of my great grandpa. Though the business commenced in Allentown, Pennsylvania, it is probable the men knew one another originally from Williamstown where they both had once lived and worked. The minute books of the company meetings, begun in late 1914, tell us that Scheidy invested in the company and was elected treasurer. Some of the early meetings were held at his home at 211 E. Union Street. The meetings and minutes from one entry to the next are quite mundane and routine until... they state that at one meeting there was some sort of large disturbance at Scheidy's home, the meeting was abruptly ended, and next we know, the Reverend is pulling out of the company. It's too bad the minutes are very genteel, as I would love to better understand what happened.
The date of passing on his gravestone is incorrect; the Reading Eagle newspaper on January 12th of that year carried news of his death. Several obituaries appear for him in the press near the time of his demise, most published from afar and after the fact, and (so far) none giving the date, just the news of his death. Finally in March of 2013, I laid eyes on his death certificate which settles it; he passed on January 11, 1938 at the county home. It says he was divorced, which is news to me, perhaps that happened quietly, and such things were not commonly published in that day. Interestingly, however, his wife, who died in 1950, 12 years after him, has a death certificate stating she was a widow. Perhaps it is semantics, and was never done officially.
From the Bridgewater Bulletin, dated Janaury 26, 1938:
The death at Allentown, Pa., of Rev. G.M. Scheidy, a former pastor of the Rose Bay parish, is reported. Rev.Scheidy preached his first sermon in the province at Conquerall Bank, from the text," Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." He was the first pastor of the Rose Bay parish, which ceased to be a part of the Lunenburg Mission January 3, 1890. His preaching places were Rose Bay, Middle LaHave, and Feltzen South.
On the fourth Sunday in Advent, December 23, 1888, a new Lutheran Church in Feltzen South was dedicated with special services held by Revs. Rankin, Scheidy, Kohler, Maurer, and Schweinsburg. An address in German was delivered by Rev. Dr. Cossman.
1886- attended state teachers association conference from Lehigh County.
Recorded at LaHave Crossroads (Nova Scotia) through records of marriages performed 1887-1889.
June 1891, re-admitted to Synod from Pittsburgh Synod.
July 24 1892 to October 22 1894 - Saint Mark's in West Scranton, where he helped choose a lot at 14th and Washburn, and had a new church erected. He resigned Oct. 7, and the resignation was accepted the 22. The church had had a major fire in April 1894.
February 1895, by then is pastor at St. Paul's in Providence, near Scranton. An English Lutheran Church at Park Place opposite the public school building, he advocated then for a new church to be built. The church regularly advertised as having free pews. Still there in August 1895. That month a news item says he has been, since January, holding services in Kyte's Hall, west Pittston and now Sunday school with textbooks will begin. Congregation being organized to be called St Luke's worships near the street car terminus.
March 1899, performs wedding at his "pastoral home" at 530 Garfield in Scranton. That month he also received a call to St. Joseph's in Allentown. Resigned February 2, 1902.
August 1908, attends conference, is said to be "of Williamstown".
Son of Enoch and his wife Rebekah nee Wenrich Scheidy, George lost his father when he was but nine years old. He was counted twice on the 1870 census, once showing 21 year old Rebekah raising nine year old George alone, and again in the household of Jacob Scheidy, his uncle. Still, he would live with his mother most of her life, the 1900 census proving that he was 61 year old Rebekah's only child. He was close to age 40 when he married Anna Catherine Brown in 1901, and had a daughter Esther, in 1902. The marriage seems to have been short-lived, or at least most unconventional; the 1910 and 1920 censuses show the couple living apart. George's mother would die in 1907, and his daughter would die before she left her teen years in 1919.
Beginnings and partings are common life themes, yet G. M. Scheidy's life follows a pattern of many happy beginnings and some most unhappy partings. He was an energetic and able beginner, spotted early by the Lutheran church and immediately after seminary graduation he was sent to Nova Scotia to expand the Lutheran movement in the Lunenburg area. There he began and expanded three churches- St. Matthew's (Rose Bay), St. Mark's (Middle LaHave), and St. John's by the Sea (Feltzen South). He would serve also in Scranton, Pennsylvania where he began two new churches from missions, and again pioneered in Williamstown. He also spent time as pastor of St. Joseph's Lutheran in east Allentown, Pennsylvania. He left the synod in 1916.
He left a pastorate in Scranton over a raucous disagreement with the church council which was not well documented, but made the newspapers and implied his treatment of the church youth was found wanting. He left a post in Williamstown at Emanuel Lutheran church in 1904 over congregational friction that included his "failure to live with his lawfully wedded wife". Interestingly, he then began a new church across the street to compete with his former one. He was a deeply learned man, well-schooled in education and religion, a writer who contributed to Lutheran World and The Lutheran, a speaker and historian active in the Pennsylvania German Society and Lehigh County Historical Society, yet he seems not to have tolerated others well, ending virtually all his positions with a resignation.
Geo. M. Scheidy fascinates me, this man of books and the cloth, as he chose to be a business partner of my great grandpa. Though the business commenced in Allentown, Pennsylvania, it is probable the men knew one another originally from Williamstown where they both had once lived and worked. The minute books of the company meetings, begun in late 1914, tell us that Scheidy invested in the company and was elected treasurer. Some of the early meetings were held at his home at 211 E. Union Street. The meetings and minutes from one entry to the next are quite mundane and routine until... they state that at one meeting there was some sort of large disturbance at Scheidy's home, the meeting was abruptly ended, and next we know, the Reverend is pulling out of the company. It's too bad the minutes are very genteel, as I would love to better understand what happened.
The date of passing on his gravestone is incorrect; the Reading Eagle newspaper on January 12th of that year carried news of his death. Several obituaries appear for him in the press near the time of his demise, most published from afar and after the fact, and (so far) none giving the date, just the news of his death. Finally in March of 2013, I laid eyes on his death certificate which settles it; he passed on January 11, 1938 at the county home. It says he was divorced, which is news to me, perhaps that happened quietly, and such things were not commonly published in that day. Interestingly, however, his wife, who died in 1950, 12 years after him, has a death certificate stating she was a widow. Perhaps it is semantics, and was never done officially.
From the Bridgewater Bulletin, dated Janaury 26, 1938:
The death at Allentown, Pa., of Rev. G.M. Scheidy, a former pastor of the Rose Bay parish, is reported. Rev.Scheidy preached his first sermon in the province at Conquerall Bank, from the text," Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." He was the first pastor of the Rose Bay parish, which ceased to be a part of the Lunenburg Mission January 3, 1890. His preaching places were Rose Bay, Middle LaHave, and Feltzen South.
On the fourth Sunday in Advent, December 23, 1888, a new Lutheran Church in Feltzen South was dedicated with special services held by Revs. Rankin, Scheidy, Kohler, Maurer, and Schweinsburg. An address in German was delivered by Rev. Dr. Cossman.
1886- attended state teachers association conference from Lehigh County.
Recorded at LaHave Crossroads (Nova Scotia) through records of marriages performed 1887-1889.
June 1891, re-admitted to Synod from Pittsburgh Synod.
July 24 1892 to October 22 1894 - Saint Mark's in West Scranton, where he helped choose a lot at 14th and Washburn, and had a new church erected. He resigned Oct. 7, and the resignation was accepted the 22. The church had had a major fire in April 1894.
February 1895, by then is pastor at St. Paul's in Providence, near Scranton. An English Lutheran Church at Park Place opposite the public school building, he advocated then for a new church to be built. The church regularly advertised as having free pews. Still there in August 1895. That month a news item says he has been, since January, holding services in Kyte's Hall, west Pittston and now Sunday school with textbooks will begin. Congregation being organized to be called St Luke's worships near the street car terminus.
March 1899, performs wedding at his "pastoral home" at 530 Garfield in Scranton. That month he also received a call to St. Joseph's in Allentown. Resigned February 2, 1902.
August 1908, attends conference, is said to be "of Williamstown".
This is a bio in progress for a complex gent. A timeline is being developed for George M. Scheidy's life and pastoral positions. That he was well-prepared for a Lutheran pastoral calling with an emphasis on education and Sunday schools is unquestioned, as a graduate of Keystone Normal School (1880), Muhlenberg College (1884), and Philadelphia Theological Seminary (1887).
Son of Enoch and his wife Rebekah nee Wenrich Scheidy, George lost his father when he was but nine years old. He was counted twice on the 1870 census, once showing 21 year old Rebekah raising nine year old George alone, and again in the household of Jacob Scheidy, his uncle. Still, he would live with his mother most of her life, the 1900 census proving that he was 61 year old Rebekah's only child. He was close to age 40 when he married Anna Catherine Brown in 1901, and had a daughter Esther, in 1902. The marriage seems to have been short-lived, or at least most unconventional; the 1910 and 1920 censuses show the couple living apart. George's mother would die in 1907, and his daughter would die before she left her teen years in 1919.
Beginnings and partings are common life themes, yet G. M. Scheidy's life follows a pattern of many happy beginnings and some most unhappy partings. He was an energetic and able beginner, spotted early by the Lutheran church and immediately after seminary graduation he was sent to Nova Scotia to expand the Lutheran movement in the Lunenburg area. There he began and expanded three churches- St. Matthew's (Rose Bay), St. Mark's (Middle LaHave), and St. John's by the Sea (Feltzen South). He would serve also in Scranton, Pennsylvania where he began two new churches from missions, and again pioneered in Williamstown. He also spent time as pastor of St. Joseph's Lutheran in east Allentown, Pennsylvania. He left the synod in 1916.
He left a pastorate in Scranton over a raucous disagreement with the church council which was not well documented, but made the newspapers and implied his treatment of the church youth was found wanting. He left a post in Williamstown at Emanuel Lutheran church in 1904 over congregational friction that included his "failure to live with his lawfully wedded wife". Interestingly, he then began a new church across the street to compete with his former one. He was a deeply learned man, well-schooled in education and religion, a writer who contributed to Lutheran World and The Lutheran, a speaker and historian active in the Pennsylvania German Society and Lehigh County Historical Society, yet he seems not to have tolerated others well, ending virtually all his positions with a resignation.
Geo. M. Scheidy fascinates me, this man of books and the cloth, as he chose to be a business partner of my great grandpa. Though the business commenced in Allentown, Pennsylvania, it is probable the men knew one another originally from Williamstown where they both had once lived and worked. The minute books of the company meetings, begun in late 1914, tell us that Scheidy invested in the company and was elected treasurer. Some of the early meetings were held at his home at 211 E. Union Street. The meetings and minutes from one entry to the next are quite mundane and routine until... they state that at one meeting there was some sort of large disturbance at Scheidy's home, the meeting was abruptly ended, and next we know, the Reverend is pulling out of the company. It's too bad the minutes are very genteel, as I would love to better understand what happened.
The date of passing on his gravestone is incorrect; the Reading Eagle newspaper on January 12th of that year carried news of his death. Several obituaries appear for him in the press near the time of his demise, most published from afar and after the fact, and (so far) none giving the date, just the news of his death. Finally in March of 2013, I laid eyes on his death certificate which settles it; he passed on January 11, 1938 at the county home. It says he was divorced, which is news to me, perhaps that happened quietly, and such things were not commonly published in that day. Interestingly, however, his wife, who died in 1950, 12 years after him, has a death certificate stating she was a widow. Perhaps it is semantics, and was never done officially.
From the Bridgewater Bulletin, dated Janaury 26, 1938:
The death at Allentown, Pa., of Rev. G.M. Scheidy, a former pastor of the Rose Bay parish, is reported. Rev.Scheidy preached his first sermon in the province at Conquerall Bank, from the text," Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." He was the first pastor of the Rose Bay parish, which ceased to be a part of the Lunenburg Mission January 3, 1890. His preaching places were Rose Bay, Middle LaHave, and Feltzen South.
On the fourth Sunday in Advent, December 23, 1888, a new Lutheran Church in Feltzen South was dedicated with special services held by Revs. Rankin, Scheidy, Kohler, Maurer, and Schweinsburg. An address in German was delivered by Rev. Dr. Cossman.
1886- attended state teachers association conference from Lehigh County.
Recorded at LaHave Crossroads (Nova Scotia) through records of marriages performed 1887-1889.
June 1891, re-admitted to Synod from Pittsburgh Synod.
July 24 1892 to October 22 1894 - Saint Mark's in West Scranton, where he helped choose a lot at 14th and Washburn, and had a new church erected. He resigned Oct. 7, and the resignation was accepted the 22. The church had had a major fire in April 1894.
February 1895, by then is pastor at St. Paul's in Providence, near Scranton. An English Lutheran Church at Park Place opposite the public school building, he advocated then for a new church to be built. The church regularly advertised as having free pews. Still there in August 1895. That month a news item says he has been, since January, holding services in Kyte's Hall, west Pittston and now Sunday school with textbooks will begin. Congregation being organized to be called St Luke's worships near the street car terminus.
March 1899, performs wedding at his "pastoral home" at 530 Garfield in Scranton. That month he also received a call to St. Joseph's in Allentown. Resigned February 2, 1902.
August 1908, attends conference, is said to be "of Williamstown".
Son of Enoch and his wife Rebekah nee Wenrich Scheidy, George lost his father when he was but nine years old. He was counted twice on the 1870 census, once showing 21 year old Rebekah raising nine year old George alone, and again in the household of Jacob Scheidy, his uncle. Still, he would live with his mother most of her life, the 1900 census proving that he was 61 year old Rebekah's only child. He was close to age 40 when he married Anna Catherine Brown in 1901, and had a daughter Esther, in 1902. The marriage seems to have been short-lived, or at least most unconventional; the 1910 and 1920 censuses show the couple living apart. George's mother would die in 1907, and his daughter would die before she left her teen years in 1919.
Beginnings and partings are common life themes, yet G. M. Scheidy's life follows a pattern of many happy beginnings and some most unhappy partings. He was an energetic and able beginner, spotted early by the Lutheran church and immediately after seminary graduation he was sent to Nova Scotia to expand the Lutheran movement in the Lunenburg area. There he began and expanded three churches- St. Matthew's (Rose Bay), St. Mark's (Middle LaHave), and St. John's by the Sea (Feltzen South). He would serve also in Scranton, Pennsylvania where he began two new churches from missions, and again pioneered in Williamstown. He also spent time as pastor of St. Joseph's Lutheran in east Allentown, Pennsylvania. He left the synod in 1916.
He left a pastorate in Scranton over a raucous disagreement with the church council which was not well documented, but made the newspapers and implied his treatment of the church youth was found wanting. He left a post in Williamstown at Emanuel Lutheran church in 1904 over congregational friction that included his "failure to live with his lawfully wedded wife". Interestingly, he then began a new church across the street to compete with his former one. He was a deeply learned man, well-schooled in education and religion, a writer who contributed to Lutheran World and The Lutheran, a speaker and historian active in the Pennsylvania German Society and Lehigh County Historical Society, yet he seems not to have tolerated others well, ending virtually all his positions with a resignation.
Geo. M. Scheidy fascinates me, this man of books and the cloth, as he chose to be a business partner of my great grandpa. Though the business commenced in Allentown, Pennsylvania, it is probable the men knew one another originally from Williamstown where they both had once lived and worked. The minute books of the company meetings, begun in late 1914, tell us that Scheidy invested in the company and was elected treasurer. Some of the early meetings were held at his home at 211 E. Union Street. The meetings and minutes from one entry to the next are quite mundane and routine until... they state that at one meeting there was some sort of large disturbance at Scheidy's home, the meeting was abruptly ended, and next we know, the Reverend is pulling out of the company. It's too bad the minutes are very genteel, as I would love to better understand what happened.
The date of passing on his gravestone is incorrect; the Reading Eagle newspaper on January 12th of that year carried news of his death. Several obituaries appear for him in the press near the time of his demise, most published from afar and after the fact, and (so far) none giving the date, just the news of his death. Finally in March of 2013, I laid eyes on his death certificate which settles it; he passed on January 11, 1938 at the county home. It says he was divorced, which is news to me, perhaps that happened quietly, and such things were not commonly published in that day. Interestingly, however, his wife, who died in 1950, 12 years after him, has a death certificate stating she was a widow. Perhaps it is semantics, and was never done officially.
From the Bridgewater Bulletin, dated Janaury 26, 1938:
The death at Allentown, Pa., of Rev. G.M. Scheidy, a former pastor of the Rose Bay parish, is reported. Rev.Scheidy preached his first sermon in the province at Conquerall Bank, from the text," Repent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." He was the first pastor of the Rose Bay parish, which ceased to be a part of the Lunenburg Mission January 3, 1890. His preaching places were Rose Bay, Middle LaHave, and Feltzen South.
On the fourth Sunday in Advent, December 23, 1888, a new Lutheran Church in Feltzen South was dedicated with special services held by Revs. Rankin, Scheidy, Kohler, Maurer, and Schweinsburg. An address in German was delivered by Rev. Dr. Cossman.
1886- attended state teachers association conference from Lehigh County.
Recorded at LaHave Crossroads (Nova Scotia) through records of marriages performed 1887-1889.
June 1891, re-admitted to Synod from Pittsburgh Synod.
July 24 1892 to October 22 1894 - Saint Mark's in West Scranton, where he helped choose a lot at 14th and Washburn, and had a new church erected. He resigned Oct. 7, and the resignation was accepted the 22. The church had had a major fire in April 1894.
February 1895, by then is pastor at St. Paul's in Providence, near Scranton. An English Lutheran Church at Park Place opposite the public school building, he advocated then for a new church to be built. The church regularly advertised as having free pews. Still there in August 1895. That month a news item says he has been, since January, holding services in Kyte's Hall, west Pittston and now Sunday school with textbooks will begin. Congregation being organized to be called St Luke's worships near the street car terminus.
March 1899, performs wedding at his "pastoral home" at 530 Garfield in Scranton. That month he also received a call to St. Joseph's in Allentown. Resigned February 2, 1902.
August 1908, attends conference, is said to be "of Williamstown".
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