My Genealogy Hound

WILSON P. KISTLER, M. D., classed among the prominent physicians and skillful surgeons of Allentown, and one who enjoys the esteem and confidence of all with whom he is brought in contact, was born in Kistler Valley, Lynn Township, Lehigh County, October 12, 1843. He comes of a very prominent family in this section, and is the son of Benjamin Kistler, a saddler by occupation, an energetic business man, and the owner of numerous farms and other real estate at the time of his death. He was also a native of the above county, and died in 1892, when in the eighty-first year of his age.

John Kistler, the grandfather of our subject, claimed Lehigh County as the place of his birth. He was a very wealthy man and the owner of a large establishment for the manufacture of hats in Kistler Valley. The Kistlers, emigrated from Germany many years ago, and on landing in America some of the family located in Berks County, and others in Lehigh. They were intelligent people, and very active in church work and in the educational work of the neighborhood. The mother of our subject was prior to her marriage Miss Rebecca, daughter of John Peters, a wealthy farmer of this county, who died in 1827. The Peters family came originally from Switzerland and made settlement in that section in a very early day.

Wilson P. spent his boyhood days on the home farm, and when only thirteen years of age began learning the harness-maker’s and saddler’s trade. He received a common-school education, and after mastering his trade began teaching a select school in Kepnersville, Schuylkill County. After being thus occupied one winter, he entered Schnecksville Academy, in Lehigh County, when seventeen years of age. He carried on his studies there for eleven weeks, and then left to go to Quakerstown, where he became a student in the Bucks County Normal and Classical School, where he spent several years. He also attended the Allentown Seminary and the Allentown Academy (Allentown) for a session each. After a year’s study at Quakerstown, Mr. Kistler was engaged to teach in the institution. Later he taught school in Schuylkill County, also in Lynnville, Mechanicsville, Weaver’s School near New Tripoli, and in numerous places in Lehigh County, and for a time in the Steinsville Odd Fellows’ Hall taught a select school, composed of the grown-up young men and women in that section of Lehigh and Berks Counties. During his spare time he devoted himself to his medical studies, it being his earnest desire to follow professional life.

In 1863, during the late war, our subject enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Ninety-fourth Pennsylvania Infantry, commanded by Colonel Nagle, of Schuylkill County. The regiment was assigned to the Army of the Potomac, and our subject was placed as clerk in the office of Brigadier-General, H. H. Lockwood, at Baltimore, Md. In the fall of 1864, his term of service having expired, our subject entered Bellevue Hospital Medical College, in New York City, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1867. His preceptor was Dr. A. S. Miller, of Saegersville, Lehigh County.

On receiving his diploma Dr. Kistler at once located in Germansville, this county, assuming the practice of Dr. G. H. Scholl, who had removed to Slatington. He conducted a general practice in that place for three years, and then, on account of failing eyesight, turned his practice over to Dr. W. K. Kister (who is still a resident of that place), and entered the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary as a patient, receiving treatment for his eyes under the care of the famous Prof. H. D. Noyes. On regaining the former strength of his eyes, he again took up his practice, this time at Schnecksville, Lehigh County. He was very successful there as a skilled physician, and remained for a period of twelve years. In 1882 we find him located in Allentown. The Doctor, in addition to following his profession, is extensively interested in real estate in the city, owning about one hundred dwellings, which he rents to good advantage; he also has an interest in a large general merchandise establishment.

In May, 1891, Dr. Kistler purchased the Laurel Hill Slate Company’s property, consisting of a farm of about sixty acres, on which is located a large slate quarry, well developed and improved, with a mantel factory worth about $50,000. The Doctor at once began working the quarry, making additional improvements to the amount of $30,000, and he now has the satisfaction of knowing that his is one of the most valuable pieces of property in the Lehigh Valley. He has always taken an active part in public improvement, giving liberally of his time and means toward the establishment of enterprises that would prove of benefit to the city and county at large.

Dr. Kistler is in the enjoyment of an extensive practice, and is at present engaged in writing a book, entitled “Medical and Surgical Family Guide in Emergencies.” It is intended for use in the home, and for the teacher in instructing pupils, and will be a work of much merit and value. He is also a contributor to medical journals, papers, etc., and, taken all in all, is a very busy man. In politics he is a stanch Republican, and has always taken an active part in county and national affairs. In 1888 he was elected and served for two years as Councilman of the Fifth Ward of Allentown, which district always gives a large Democratic majority, but the Doctor received one hundred votes over his opponent. He is a member of E. B. Young Post No. 87, G. A. R., belongs to the Knights of the Golden Eagle, Order of Red Men, United Order American Mechanics, Knights of the Mystic Chain, and Daughters of Liberty, in all of which orders he takes a prominent part.

March 8, 1868, Miss Jane E., daughter of Nathan Clauss, became the wife of our subject, and to them were born a son and two daughters, the latter of whom are deceased. Eugene M., the son, after graduating from the Allentown High School in the year 1890, took the short summer course at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and in the fall entered Bellevue Hospital Medical College. From this institution he graduated in the spring of 1893, being awarded the highest honors in a class of one hundred and fifty-seven. He afterward entered a competitive examination with twenty-four others for the appointment to a position in St. Vincent’s Hospital, in New York City, and in this instance, as in the other, was given the highest place. He remained at St. Vincent’s for eighteen months, the last six months of which were spent as House Surgeon, and graduated from the institution as a practical surgeon. On leaving there he refused an appointment at the New York Lying-in Hospital to accept the position of Resident Physician at the Hackensack General Hospital, at Hackensack, N. J., where he is now stationed. In the afternoons he attends clinics at the Manhattan Eye and Ear Infirmary in New York City and acts in the capacity of assistant to Professor Paine, the eminent oculist, at this institution.

Of the two daughters born to Dr. Kistler and his wife, Emma E. died when in her seventeenth year; the other died in infancy. The Doctor and his wife and son are members, in good standing, of St. Michael’s Lutheran Church.