Person:William Reimert (1)

Obituary

Genealogical Excerpts from Obituary from Allentown Morning-Call, Friday 27 Sep 1935. [Additions in brackets]

Wm. A. Reimert Called by Death in His 83d Year - died last night [26 Feb 1935] at the home of his son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Claude Lutz of this city [Allentown]. Mr. Reimert was born in Windsor township, Berks county, on August 1, 1852, a son of David and Mary, nee Miller, Reimert. Cabinet and furniture maker and undertaker in New Tripoli. Mr. Reimert's wife Jane, nee Follweiler, died 23 years ago this month. A son Daniel died while a boy, and another son, Rev. William A. Reimert, met death at the hands of Chinese soldiers in June, 1920. He is survived by eight children: Mrs. Lutz [Arlene], with whom he lived; Mrs. Mahlon Hamm [Helen], Mrs. George Snyder [Myra], Abner Reimert, all of Allentown; Mrs. Clinton J. Fetherolf [Irene] of Wanamakers; Mrs. George E. Weida [Hattie] of Stines Corner; Mrs. Alvin Schaeffer [Barbara] of New Tripoli, and Harvey Reimert of Palmerton. In addition to 22 grandchildren and three great grandchildren, he is survived by a sister, Mrs. Cyrus Dietrich [Elmira] of Reading, and these step-brothers and sisters: John Stump of Kutztown; Frank Stump of Kempton; Mrs. Nathan Snyder [Ellen] of New Tripoli; and Mrs. Jesse Kistler [probably Amanda] of Allentown.

Identity of Father

William's mother is definitely Mary Miller as stated in the obituary. Mary's mother, Hannah (Sontag) Miller, in her will dated 8 Jul 1882, mentions "William Augustus Reimert, John Stump, Franklin Stump, Ellen Stump, and Amanda Stump, children of my daughter Mary, deceased, late wife of Nathan Stump". William is listed in Nathan Stump's household with his mother in 1860, and again in 1880. (In 1870 he was an apprentice to Jacob Saul, cabinetmaker of Hamburg.)

Assuming a Mr. Reimert is William's father, there are two candidates. At this point, it is necessary to point out that it appears William's parents never married. In probate documents for Mary's father, Isaac Miller, from 1856 (4 years after William was born), Mary is still referred to as Mary Miller. Likewise, when the 15 Sep 1857 edition of the Reading Adler announces the marriage of "Mary Miller of Windsor" to "Nathan Stump of Albany".

One candidate is obviously the David Reimert mentioned in the obituary. (William Reimert's death certificate also identifies the father as David Reimert, but both the death certificate and obituary probably relied on the same informant, son-in-law Claude Lutz.) If this is so, the obituary could have been more precise and identified Elmira as William's half-sister, instead of sister, as she was clearly not a child of Mary Miller. When she was born in 1862 Mary had been married to Nathan Stump for 5 years and she never appears in Nathan Stump's household the way William does.

Reading Times, Wed. Jan. 9, 1946, p. 16

Elmira R. (Reimert) Dietrich, 84, wife of Cyrus D. Dietrich, died yesterday in the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Philip K. Howard, 322 South 17th St. She was born in Hamburg, a daughter of the late David and Anetta (Hughes) Rimert. [rest omitted]

Another candidate is the Daniel Reimert who appears in the household of Isaac Miller in 1850.

1850 US Census, Windsor Township, Berks County, house #76, family #80
Miller, Isaac, Jr., age 47
Miller, Johanna, age 45
Miller, Moses, age 20
Miller, Mary, age 18 [William's mother]
Miller, Henry, age 10
Miller, Isaac, age 8
Miller, George, age 6
Miller, John A, age 2
Reimert, Daniel, age 17 [candidate father?]

It is probably not pertinent that William named a son Daniel (the one mentioned in his obituary as dying young), since this was his wife's father's name.