Person:Moses Kieffer (1)

... Catherine married Rev Moses Kieffer of Chambersburg, Pa, a prominent divine
in the Reformed Church stationed at Hagerstown Md, Reading Pa and
President of Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio where she died in Sept
1867 and is buried. Some years after her death he married Mrs. Barny
of Sandusky, Ohio where he is buried. ...

REV. MOSES KIEFFER, D.D., retired minister, Gettysburg, was born in Franklin
County, Penn., May 5, 1814, the seventh son of Christian and Mary (Poorman)
Kieffer, natives of the same county. The ancestors of our subject, on both
sides, were among the early German settlers of Pennsylvania and the male members
of the family were mostly tillers of the soil. Our subject is a cousin to the
Rev. Ephraim Kieffer, who is widely known through Pennsylvania, and of Dr.
Keiffer, a prominent physician of Carlisle, whose sketch appears elsewhere in
this work. Dr. Kieffer grew to manhood in Franklin County, and in 1838 was
graduated from what is now Franklin and Marshall College, receiving the highest
honors of his class. On completing his college education he entered the
theological department of that institution, where he remained two years, and at
the same time was employed as tutor in his alma mater, teaching one hour per
day. His first pastoral charge was at the Water Street Church in Huntingdon,
Penn., accepting the call to that church in 1840, and serving the charge four
years. He then accepted a call at Hagerstown, Md., where he was minister in
charge seven years. From Hagerstown he went to Reading, Penn., and was there
actively engaged in the ministerial work for five years. In 1855 he was elected
president of Heidelberg College, at Tifflin, Ohio, over which he presided nearly
thirteen years, and of which he was the second president. When he took charge
the college was in its infancy, and being anxious that it should succeed the
Doctor really performed the work of two men, doing all he possibly could for the
prosperity of that institution, and in his efforts overtaxed his strength, which
compelled him to resign his position. Following this the Doctor was supply
preacher at Sandusky City, Ohio, for one year and a half. He then returned to
Franklin County, Penn., locating at Greencastle, where he was pastor in charge
ten years, and where he is now living a retired life. During the late war, when
the rebels burned Chambersburg, Penn., Dr. Kieffer was publisher of the
Quarterly Review and other publications of his church, and the publishing house
and office were, with the buildings, destroyed, and with them the manuscript of
a work he had ready for publication. His contributions to the religious press
have been many. In politics he is a Republican, and in religion a Catholic, but
not a Roman.

[Includes monument photo]

(XXII) Moses Kieffer (born May 5, 1814—died Feb. 3, 1888), son of Christian and Mary (Poorman) Keefer, entered a preparatory school at York, Pa., at the age of seventeen, and was graduated at Marshall College, Mercersburg, in 1837. He was licensed to preach in 1840, and was pastor at Waterstreet, Huntingdon County, 1840-44; Hagerstown, Md., 1844-51, and Reading, Pa., 1851-55. While at Reading he built the Second Reformed Church. In 1855 he was chosen president of Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio, over which he presided for thirteen years, besides filling a professorship in the Theological Seminary. He resigned because of ill health and then filled a Presbyterian pulpit at Sandusky, Ohio. Believing that country life would be beneficial to his health he returned to his native county, and was pastor of the Grindstone Hill charge, 1870-71; Greencastle, 1871-74; and Gettysburg, 1874-84. His last work was as a missionary at Sioux City, Iowa. Dr. Kieffer married (first) Catharine Smith; they had issue
1. Augustus R. (LH).
2. George Smith (LIII).
Dr. Kieffer married (second) Nov. 8, 1868, Mrs. Elizabeth Caldwell Barney (born May 8, 1820), but they had no issue.