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MARSHALL COLLEGE
Class of 1859 Obituaries
Rev. Henry Charles HEYSER, son of John Henry and
Anna Margaretha (Heller) Heyser, was born July 5, 1831, in Sexhelden, Nassau, Germany, near the border line of
Holland. He came to America in 1843, but for ten years we have no trace of him. He spent about a year in Marshall
Collegiate Institute, Mercersburg, Pa., at that time (1854) under the care of Rev. John R. Kooken, and in 1855 he
entered the Freshman class of Franklin and Marshall College, graduating in 1859. He was a member of the Goethean
Literary Society. The subject of his graduating oration was, " The Revolution of 1848."
After completing his theological studies he was ordained
to the holy ministry at Liverpool, Perry county, Pa., September 28, 1859, by the West Susquehanna Classis of the
Reformed Church. In this, his first charge, he spent six and one-half years. He then went to Brooklyn, N. Y., and
for three years was pastor of a congregation in the Dutch Reformed Church. After this he was pastor in the
Reformed Church in Mercer county, Pa., in Erie county, N. Y., in Rochester, N. Y., in East New York, N. Y., and in
Brooklyn, N. Y., his various pastorates covering a period of thirty years.
On May 27, 1869, Rev. Heyser was married to Miss Mary
Meyer, of Brooklyn, N. Y. His wife and three children survived him: Herman O., George W., and Carl J.
During his last pastorate, owing to a misunderstanding with his Classis, he laid down pastoral work and engaged
in the real estate business for several years, during which time he and his family were regular worshipers in the Ocean
Hill Dutch Reformed church, and highly esteemed by pastor and people.
After two years of ill health, which began with la grippe
and ended in consumption, he died December 15, 1893, at his home in Brooklyn, and was buried in Evergreen
cemetery in that city.
During the late war he was an army missionary, but the
details of this service are not at hand.
[Rev. A. C. Whitmer.]
Joseph Hervey JOHNSTON, A. M., son of John H.
and Rachel (Longhead) Johnston, was born in Waynesboro, Franklin county, Pa., August 29, 1832. After
receiving a good common school education he learned the trade of his father, who was a gunsmith, and at once began the
slow process of a gradual private preparation for college, working by day and studying by night, regularly reciting
to his pastor, Rev. H. W. Super (1849). He spent about a year in the Cumberland Valley Institute, Mechanicsburg,
Pa., then under the care of Rev. Joseph S. Loose (1849). In 1856 he entered the Sophomore class of Franklin and
Marshall College, graduating in 1859 with the second honor, the first Franklin oration. The subject of his oration was,
" What is Truth?" He was a most faithful and loyal member of the Diagnothian Literary Society.
He then spent two years in the Theological Seminary at
Mercersburg, graduating in 1861, and was licensed to preach by the Westmoreland Classis of the Reformed
Church, but was never ordained to the ministry. He was called to teach in Westmoreland College, at Mt. Pleasant,
Pa., where he spent the last two years of his pains-taking life. He had made botany a special study, and
discovered and classified several plants, for which Prof. Gray of Boston, Mass., thanked him in an autograph letter. He
received his A. M. in course in 1862.
After a short illness he died at Mt. Pleasant, August 26,
1863, and was buried in Waynesboro, universally loved and lamented.
[The Fathers, 4: 445; Rev. A. C. Whitmer.]
John Peter KOHLER, M. D., son of Dr. William S. and
Magdalene (Kern) Kohler, was born at Egypt, Lehigh county, Pa., August 4, 1841. He prepared for college in a
select school in Easton, Pa., and entered the Sophomore Class of Franklin and Marshall College in the fall of 1856.
He was a member of the Diagnothian Literary Society.
Graduating in 1859, his oration was on American Criticism.
' Devoting himself to the profession of his father, he studied medicine and graduated from the Medical Department of the
University of Pennsylvania in 1861. Returning home he practiced in partnership with his father one year. He then
became assistant surgeon of the 153rd Reg. Pa. Vols., in which capacity he served from October 11, 1862, to July 24,
1863, after which he spent one year at home in the practice of medicine.
He was married May to, 1864, to Miss Emma Elizabeth
Balliet, and died May 27, 1866, after an illness of only a week, of typhoid fever. A wife, son, John Herbert, and
daughter, Frances Naomi, survived him.
[Bates, 4: 777; Rev. A. C. Whitmer.]
William Rudy ORTH, son of William and Sarah (Rudy)
Orth, was born in Paxton township, Dauphin county, Pa, May 15, 1835. He prepared for college mainly in the
Preparatory School at Lancaster, which he entered in 1854. He entered the Freshman class of Franklin and Marshall
College in 1855, graduating in 1859. He was a worthy member of the Diagnothian Literary Society. The subject
of his graduating oration was, " The Carboniferous Era." Soon after leaving college he entered the office of Robert
Lamberton, Esq., Harrisburg, Pa., where for a time he read law. Before admission to the bar, however, he entered the
army, August 9, 1862, as second lieutenant, and on October 13, 1862, became first lieutenant, Co. C, 127th Reg.
Pa. Vols. On the second day's battle of Fredericksburg, Va., December 14, 1862, he was wounded in the knee by a
piece of shell, which unfitted him for duty, though he remained with his regiment until death. He died in camp,
February 23, 1863, of fever which produced congestion of the brain. He was sick only six days. He was buried in
Hummelstown, Pa.
(Bates, 4: 153; Rev. A. C. Whitmer.]
William Holman SHEIBLEY, son of Bernard and Mary
(Holman) Sheibley, was born at Landisburg, Perry county, Pa., April 17, 1834. His father was a soldier in the war of
1812. In 1853 William entered Airy View Academy at Port Royal, Juniata county, Pa., where he prepared for
college. He entered the Freshman class of Franklin and Marshall College in the fall of 1855, graduating in 1859. The
subject of his oration was, " False Principles of Moral Action." He was a Diagnothian. He was elected master
orator of his class, but would not deliver the oration. " I always thought those orations a bore," he said.
After graduation he spent a year with his brother at Rome,
Ga., but early in 1861, owing to the danger of war, he returned home, took charge of Mount Dempsy Academy at
Landisburg, and began the study of law.
In July, 1862, he recruited men who, on August 16, were
organized as Co. G, 133d Reg. Pa. Vols., with himself as first lieutenant. Before the men had seen any service he was
made captain, August 21. December 13, 1862, at the battle of Fredericksburg, Va., while helping a wounded soldier to
a place of safety, he was dangerously wounded and was sent to a hospital in Washington, D. C., but in two months
he returned to his company and was with it until mustered out, May 26, 1863.
For five years he had a clerkship in the War Department
at Washington, and for fifteen years, from 1872, he was inspector of customs at the port of Philadelphia. At length
his wound brought on a crisis, and on May 6, 1885, his entire left side was paralyzed, making him almost helpless.In 1887 he removed from Philadelphia to Landisburg. A
few years later a second paralysis rendered him almost speechless, and on November 1, 1891, he died. He was
buried in Landisburg.
Mr. Sheibley was married October 1, 1872, to Mrs. Jane
A. Niblock at Landisburg. His children, Blanche, Bernard, Ralph, Harriet Love, and Mabel Matilda, and his
widow survived him.
(Bates. 4: 275; Rev. A. C. Whitmer.]
Source: Franklin and Marshall College
Obituary Record, Edited for the Alumni Association, Vol. 1, No.1, Lancaster,
Pa. Published by the Alumni Association of Franklin and Marshall
College, June 1897.
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