Gabriel Adam Reichert (1796 - 1877)

Born 25 Feb 1796 in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Husband of Lydia T (Tyson) Reichert — married 16 Sep 1823 in Pennsylvania, United States

Descendants

Died 18 Sep 1877 at age 81 in Manor Township, Armstrong, Pennsylvania, United States

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Biography

Gabriel Reichert was born in Durlach, Baden, Germany, 25 Feb 1796. He was the son of Samuel and Friedrika Reichert.^[1] Gabriel had four siblings: Frederica, Gabriel Adam, Adam Gabriel, and Ernest. Gabriel's parents are said to have both died when he was eleven years old after which he and his sister were raised by their grandmother.

Gabriel graduated at the seminary at age fourteen, and then attended the law school in Carlsruhe for two and a half years. After receiving his license as a government clerk, he moved to Mannheim, where he served as a notary public.

On 3 May 1817, Gabriel left for America, arriving at Philadelphia on 28 Jul 1817. In short time, he met up with a minister friend in New York City and together the two travelled to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, where his friend took charge of the local Lutheran congregation.

Over the coming years, Gabriel made two voyages to the West Indies. On the second journey, the ship was struck by a massive storm and became shipwrecked. In regard to this experience, Gabriel wrote in his diary: "I was so near death's door that I expected every moment would be my last, and our mate, a rough, hardened sinner, told me, as the waves broke over the vessel, 'Mr. Reichert, to-morrow we'll all be in hell.' Shortly after this the mate was washed overboard and was the only one lost." This experience made such an impression on Gabriel that he promised that, should he survive, he would devote the remainder of his life to the service of God. Upon returning to Lunenburg, he began studying theology.

In 1820, Gabriel returned to Pennsylvania in search of employment and educational opportunities. He eventually arrived on the Columbia turnpike, three miles from Lancaster, where he studied under Dr. Endress, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church. It was there that Gabriel preached his first sermon on 15 Oct 1820. In June 1821, he was licensed to preach the gospel by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. He spent the following year traveling through eastern Pennsylvania, teaching school, and preaching the gospel as opportunities arose.

In 1822, Gabriel was appointed a traveling missionary. He visited the counties of Lancaster, Perry, Huntingdon, Indiana, Venango, Erie, Tioga, Centre, Columbia and Luzerne, as well as the western part of New York. By his own count, he travelled 1,320 miles over three months, preaching fifty-one times, baptizing sixty-one people, and administering the sacrament to fifty-nine.

On 16 Sep 1823, Gabriel, now twenty-seven-years old, married sixteen-year-old Lydia Tyson. Lydia was born to a Quaker family and was then preparing for baptism in the Lutheran Church. The couple had seven children: Gabriel Adam, Louisa Caroline, Rosena, John Earnest, Theresa (died in infancy), Magdalena, Jacob Philip Blarrer and Alexandrina.

In 1828, Gabriela and Lydia moved to Kittanning, Pennsylvania, where Gabriel served a number of congregations until 1838. He was then called to serve as assistant to Dr. C. R. Demme, pastor of St. Michael's and Zion's German Lutheran congregations of Philadelphia. In 1840 and 1850, Gabriel and Lydia were residing at Northern Liberties, Pennsylvania, a largely German community just north of Philadelphia.^[2][3]

He remained at Philadelphia, seventeen years before moving to a farm near Kittanning, in Manor Township, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. In 1870, Ganriel and Lydia were residing in Manor Township with an eighteen-year-old domestic servant named Mary Martin, and 9-year-old Adda Roberts whose connection to the couple is unknown.^[4] Gabriel spent his final years ministering to the local Lutheran congregation in Manor Township, delivering his final sermon just three weeks before his death.

Gabriel died 18 Sep 1877, at Manor Township, Pennsylvania. He was 81 years old. He was buried at Kittanning Cemetery, Kittanning^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Baden and Hesse Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1502-1985. Ancestry.com (database online) Karlsruhe, Preußen, Baden, Taufe {Baptism}, Gabriel Adam Reichert, 730-731.
2. ↑ 1840 U.S. Federal Census. Ancestry.com (database online with images) Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County, City of Northern Liberties, Ward 4, page 9, line 9, household of G.A. Reichert [image 82].
3. ↑ 1850 U.S. Federal Census. Ancestry.com (database online with images) Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County, City of Northern Liberties, Ward 4, page 82, dwelling 543, family 560, household of Gabriel A. Reichert [image 82].
4. ↑ 1870 U.S. Federal Census. Ancestry.com (database online with images) Pennsylvania, Armstrong County, Manor Township, page 20, dwelling 134, family 134, household of Gabriel A. Reichert [image 20].
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81888943/gabriel-adam-reichert: accessed 31 March 2022), memorial page for Rev Gabriel Adam Reichert (25 Feb 1796–18 Sep 1877), Find a Grave Memorial ID 81888943, citing Kittanning Cemetery, Kittanning, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by PA (contributor 47274097).

• Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Her People, Past and Present (Chicago: J.H. Beers & Co., 1914) Vol II, pages 978-980.