German [Township]

Among the early settlers of Montgomery County, none deserve a more prominent and better record than the subjects of this biographical sketch.

Samuel Rohrer was born in October, 1786, at Hagerstown, Maryland. In the year 1817, he went to Europe, in company with General Harper and Dr. Drideer, both of Maryland. After traveling two years on the Continent, he returned to his native State. March 30, 1826, dawned upon his marriage day; the bride who stood with im at the altar was Miss Elizabeth Schultz, of Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Rohrer removed to Dayton the same year, and embarked in the mercantile business. In the year 1827, he moved to Germantown, and thee built a brewery, and also carried on the business of a distillery. He continued in business twenty-six years, then his health failed.

Mr. Rohrer was highly esteemed by his fellow citizens; he was a member of the Reformed Church, and an elder. He died the 12th of July, 1856. He was a kind and affectionate father, and pen fails to describe his many virtues. Samuel was fifteen years of age when his father died. The old gentleman was a man of wealth and influence.

Samuel had the advantages of a liberal education, and was a man of refined culture; indeed, we cannot over-estimate his many good qualities.

Elizabeth, daughter of Conrad and Elizabeth Schultz, of Baltimore, Maryland, was born January 25, 1806, in the place just named; her father was a native of France. She was the sixth child of a family of nine children, three of whom are now living. She was partly educated at St. Joseph's Nunnery, at Emmetsburg, and finished at Rooker's School, in Baltimore. She was a proficient in music and drawing and other accomplishments. When nineteen years of age, she united her destinies with Samuel Rohrer. At the time of her marriage she was a notice in the art of housekeeping, and consequently her first experience in that branch of domestic life was not as pleasant as she could have wished. Being a lady of sound sense, she has learned that it is as necessary to train daughters in the ways and knowledge of the domestic routine, as it is to perform on the piano or to draw a beautiful picture. Her daughters are models of neatness, and excellent housekeepers. Before her marriage, Mrs. Rohrer passed most of her time in the city of Washington. During the administration of Monroe and Adams, she was a welome guest in the families of these illustrious men, and is able to relate scores of interesting events that transpired at that time; but our space just now will not admit of them. She and her husband have entertained at their residence many distinguished men, among them, General Harrison, when he was a candidate for the Presidency. Mr. and Mrs. Rohrer were widely known for their hospitality, and their apartments were considered by the elite of the day as the centre of refinement and high-bred culture.

Mrs. Rohrer, being acquainted with her husband's business, has conducted it since his death until within a few years past, when her son undertook, and with success, the management. Mrs. Rohrer has inherited a great taste for flowers and shrubs, and is the possessor of a beautiful home, a view of which may be seen in this Atlas. This lady is a member of the Reformed Church, and she established the first Sunday-school in Germantown, in the year 1828.

She was a teacher in the Baltimore Sabbath-school for colored children, and she says the memory of that time afords her more satisfaction than that of any other epoch in her life. She is a close Bible student; has read the Holy Book through several times, likewise the New Testament. Mr. and Mrs. Rohrer were the parents of six children, five of whom are living. In conlcuding this biography, we can truthfully and cheerfully say that they were a noble couple; their charity was not vaunting, and their love for their fellow-men was unbounded.