My Genealogy Hound

WILLIAM RALSTON SHULER, deceased, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, on French creek, April 13, 1828, and died December 4, 1889. He was the son of John and Eliza (Ralston) Shuler.

John Shuler (father) was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and devoted his life to tilling the soil. He died in Chester county, aged fifty-three years. His wife survived him many years, dying at the age of ninety years. They belonged to the Reformed church, and are buried in Benneback’s churchyard. He served in the war of 1812. His wife was also a native of Chester county. They had five children, three daughters and two sons, as follows: Catharine, William Ralston and Lewis H., all deceased; Emma, wife of John Sheeler, of Spring City, Pennsylvania; and Elizabeth, wife of Martin Lapp, of Rutledge, Delaware county, Pennsylvania.

William Shuler (grandfather) owned an oil mill in Chester county. He was of German descent.

The maternal grandfather of William R. Shuler was born in Pennsylvania and was of Scotch descent. His wife was a Miss Hefferfinger.

William R. Shuler was reared in Chester county on the farm, and attended the old-fashioned neighborhood subscription schools. He remained at home and followed farming with his father until the latter’s death when he became his successor, and continued to carry on the home farm for some years. Selling the farm, he engaged in merchandising at Wilson’s Corner, on French creek. From that place he went to Birdsboro, where he conducted a hotel for three years, removing to Pottstown in 1870, and purchasing the Farmers’ Hotel. He changed its name to the Shuler House and continued to conduct it until the time of his death. It still bears his name.

On October 17, 1854, William R. Shuler married Miss Elizabeth Baker, daughter of Jacob and Mary (Rosenberg) Baker. They had eight children as follows.

John Clement (deceased) married Barbara Hartenstine and they had two children, one now living, Nanna. Lewis Irwin (deceased) married (first wife) Irene Airgood, and (second wife) Mattie Malsberger, who is also deceased. William R. married Emma Weand and they have one child, Lewis Irwin. William R. Shuler is the proprietor of the Shuler Hotel and has been ever since his father’s death, acting as manager up to the death of his mother. Mary Eliza died when nineteen years old. Emma Jane died when seventeen years old. Carrie Theressa married Montague Blaine and they live in Reading. Ella Catherine and Anna May, both live with their mother.

William R. Shuler was reared by German Reformed parents but was not himself identified with any church. His wife was a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Transfiguration. Mr. Shuler was a Democrat in politics but never sought or held office.

Mrs. Shuler’s parents, Jacob and Mary (Rosenberg) Baker, were also natives of Chester county and lived on the opposite side of French creek from the Shulers, at a place called Sheetertown, where Mr. Baker kept a hotel. He died in August, 1828, aged twenty-six years. His wife survived him many years, and died at the Shuler Hotel, in February, 1883, aged seventy-eight years. They were both members of the Lutheran church. They had two children, a son and a daughter. The son, John Baker, died unmarried at the age of twenty-eight years. His sister, Mrs. Shuler, died January 12, 1904.

Mrs. Shuler’s paternal grandfather was John Baker. His father came from Germany and settled in Chester county, where he (John) conducted a hotel called the Seven Stars, and there he reared his family. His wife was Elizabeth Pelts.

Mrs. Shuler’s maternal grandfather Rosenberg was a German, and lived at Bethlehem, where he died in the prime of life, leaving a widow and a son and a daughter. His widow married Mr. Owens, who was a plantation owner in Cuba, where they both died.