Golden Wedding Anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Bashore, Schuylkill Haven, Pa. and Initial Reunion of their Family Friday, October eighteenth, Nineteen hundred twenty-nine
Family History
"When God formed the rose, He said, 'Thou shalt flourish and spread thy perfume.' When He commanded the sun to emerge from chaos, He added, 'thou shalt enlighten and warm the world.' When He gave life to the lark, He enjoined upon it to soar and sing in the air. Finally, He created man and told him to love. And seeing the sunshine, perceiving the rose scattering its odors, hearing the lark warble in the air, how can man help loving?"
On October the eighteenth, eighteen hundred seventy-nine, father and mother were united in Holy Matrimony by the Reverend William Kuntz, the Lutheran Pastor of Jerusalem Union Church of Schuylkill Haven. The Misses Clara Sterner and Damie Kuntz witessed the ceremony, which was solemnized at the Parsonage.
The bride, Mathilda Sophia Flammer, daughter of William and Sara (Brenzinger) Flammer was born on October the fifteenth, eighteen hundred fifty-seven, in North Manheim Township, Schuylkill County, and baptized sometime thereafter by the Reverend Jacob Klein, with the parents standing as sponsors.
The groom, William Henry Bashore, son of John and Carolina (Hillibush) Bashore, was born on April the fourth, eighteen hundred fifty-seven in Washington Township, Schuylkill County, and baptized three years later on February the twenty-ninth by the Reverend Jacob Klein, with the mother as sponsor.
Mother is the sixth oldest of a family of nine brothers and four sisters; father is the oldest of a family of one sister and two brothers. All have gone "to where beyond these voices there is peace," except of course, mother and father and also Uncles John and George Flammer and Robert Bashore, whom we are happy to know are celebrating this joyous occasion with us.
Mother's father, William by name and a printer by trade, was the youngest of a family of three sons and two daughters. His father, John H. Flammer (the German for 'puddler'), emigrated from Wuerttemberg, Germany near the close of the eighteenth century. Arriving in Philadelphia, he remained there until he had liquidated the debt he owed to a certain Mr. Shiffert for passage.
He then moved to Lehigh County where he purchased a piece of land, of which he soon disposed. Thereupon he moved to Longswamp Township, Berks County, where he purchased a farm of one hundred sixty acres. The news that coal had been discovered across the mountain induced his son to purchase the farm in Schuylkill County, where mother was born and raised.
The first of the Bashore clan to settle in the New World, Jacob Bashore (French, Jacques La Basseaur; i.e. 'the kettler') fled from France, during a persecution of the Huguenots or French Calvinists by the Roman Catholics, through the Rhineland, to England. In seventeen hundred eleven, he, and two brothers, who died without offspring, emigrated to America.
After arriving in New York, Jacob remained in that vicinity until he had paid for his traveling expenses by rendering service to an unknown creditor. After several mishaps, he settled on a tract of land near Fredericksburg, in Lebanon County. In seventeen fifty-four he was the loyal husband of a loving wife and the happy father of seven sons and five daughters.
With strange coincidence, a century and three-quarters later, a descendant of his and his wife, that is, our father and mother, come to this day and hour similiarly blessed.
God saw fit to make them the parents of seven sons and five daughters, and they in turn deemed it wise to return them all to Him in Holy Baptism. This was administered, with the parents as sponsors in each instance, to the three oldest by Pastor Kuntz and to the remaining by Pastor Smoll. Since the latter not only confirmed all of the twelve but also had numerous contacts with the family, he may well be described as the "Family Pastor."
The names and birthplaces of the children are as follows: Alice Caroline, February nineteenth; Effie Sara, August twenty-eighth; Heman William, November eighth; Luther Edward, August twenty-seventh; Clayton Robert, October ninth; Mary Mathilda, August eighteenth; Anna Marie, July eighth; Willis Ambrose, April third; Arthur Clare, May twenty-six; Mathilda Lavina, July twenty-third; Samuel Leon, October thirty-first, and Sterling Flammer, April third.
With the exception of Arthur, all of the children have been married: Alice to J. Clayton Miller; Effie to Maurice A. Saylor; Heman to Minnie A. Brommer (deceased) and Bella Irene Jonas Schreyer; Luther to Doris Dieter; Clayton to Ella Rose Fidler; Mary to Charles Smith (divorced) and Charles H. Bittle; Anna to August MIchel (deceased); Willlis to Mae Bernd; Mathilda to C. Elmer Smith (married seven years today); Samuel to Buelah Eve Auchey and Sterling to Louise Elizabeth Hay.
The grandchildren are: Carolina Clayton Miller; William Theodore and Mildred Bashore Saylor; Ruth Naomi, Blanche Alberta, Dorothy Vyona, Evelyn Brommer and Heman William (deceased) Bashore; Edward Henry and William Sydney Schreyer; Betty and Caryl Jeanne Bashore; Clayton H., Lewis Clarence and Margaret Mathilda Bashore; Gladys Viola Smith; Marcus Bittle, August Michel (deceased); Kathryn and Carol Wilhelmina Bashore; and Charles William Smith (deceased).
Of these, the following are married: William Theodore Saylor to Mildred Florence Lehr (parents of Mildred Lehr, William Theodore, Richard Calvin and Edna Mae Saylor); Mildred Bashore Saylor to Roy Allen Witner; Ruth Naomi Bashore to Clarence Andrews Bair (parents of Elizabeth Minnie Bair); Blanche Alberta Bashore to Harold Earl Rudolph (parents of John Heman and Hurania Emelym, deceased, Rudolph); Marcus Bittle to Mayflower Moyer (parents of Charles Harold Bittle).
Thus, twelve children, nineteen grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren unite this day in transforming the bridal wreath of fifty years ago into golden crowns to be placed on two heads that so well deserve our honor and esteem, our affection and obedience. Grateful hearts beat as one in lifting to God their fervent petition that He would
"Grant them the joy which brightens earthly sorrow, Grant them the peace which calms all earthly strife; And to life's day the glorious unknown morrow, That dawns upon eternal love and life."
- Sterling
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