Dr. John Christian Bucher Sr. 1 2 3 4
- Born: 22 Mar 1863, Schaefferstown, Lebanon, PA 1 2 4
- Marriage (1): Jennie F. Herman in 1892 1 2
- Died: 6 Sep 1926, , Lebanon, PA at age 63 1 4 5
- Buried: Lebanon: Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Lebanon, PA 4
FamilySearch ID: L4S6-X5N.
Noted events in his life were:
1. Census in 1870 in Heidelberg Twp., Lebanon, PA. 6 Isaac Bucher, 38, physician, is living with wife Mary, 35; John C., 7; Hannah E., 5; and John B. Hiester, 72. Everyone was born in Pennsylvania.
2. Census in 1880 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. 7 The 1880 census recorded I. Reilly Bucher, 47, living with wife Mary E., 45; sons John C., 17; Heister, 8; and twins Paul, and May, 3. Everyone and their parents were born in Pennsylvania.
3. He was educated at medical college at the University of Pennsylvania in 1884. 1
4. Book: Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, 1889. 3
HERMAN, John C., deceased, was born on Shelly's Island, in the Susquehanna river, Dauphin county, Pa., November 5, 1836; son of Abraham and Elizabeth (Crull) Herman. His parents removed to the vicinity of Lewisberry, York county, where he was reared and received his education. He served an apprenticeship at cigar making, and began business for himself early in life; at the outset of his career he displayed extraordinary business tact and talent.
At the breaking out of the war of the Rebellion, Mt. Herman yielded to his patriotic impulses and sentiments, laid aside his business and enlisted in the army in response to the call of President Lincoln. He was enrolled and mustered into company K, One Hundred and Thirtieth Pennsylvania volunteers, and was with his regiment in some of the most hotly contested engagements of the war, conspicuous among which are the battles of Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. He was honorably discharged from the service when his term of enlistment had expired, and returned to the occupations of civil life, bearing in his body the marks of wounds received on the fields of conflict.
After leaving the army, Mr. Herman returned to Lewisberry, Pa., and was for a short time engaged in the tobacco business; from there went to New York and established a wholesale business.
In 1866 he became a senior partner in the firm of Herman & Hay, and established a wholesale and retail tobacco business in Harrisburg, which occupied him for the remainder of his life. Mr. Hay retired from the firm at the end of two years, and the business was thereafter ably and successfully conducted by Mr. Herman, who also dealt extensively in leaf tobacco.
He was the first person to take out a manufacturer's license in the Harrisburg district. The integrity of his character and his honorable methods in business won for him the utmost confidence of all who dealt with him, and as a result his commercial relations were rapidly and widely extended, and he attained the most gratifying success.
He was the local wholesale agent for some of the most famous tobacco manufacturers and merchants in the world, who unhesitatingly entrusted him with valuable business interests, and cordially honored him as an able and honest man and merchant.
Although busily occupied with the important and varied interests of his private enterprise, which were never neglected or slighted, he found time to participate in politics, and was often active in public affairs, being several times honored by his fellow-citizens with positions of trust. In 1881 he was selected to serve the unexpired term of Mayor Patterson, and at the subsequent election was chosen by a large majority to this important office. His official career was characterized by the same ability and fidelity that he had displayed in commercial affairs.
Retiring from office, Mr. Herman resumed business, and personally supervised his vast establishment until his death. The illness which resulted in his death had its inception in a severe cold contracted in the year previous, which, together with a disease of the heart, baffled all medical skill, and gradually brought him down to the grave. He was well aware of his approaching dissolution, and made ready his affairs, meeting his end with peace and resignation.
Mr. Herman was prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Robert Burns Lodge, No. 464, and Pilgrim Commandery, Knights Templar. He was also a prominent member of Post 58, G. A. R., and one of the founders of the Young Men's Republican Club, being its second president, and a member until its dissolution. He was a charter member of the Board of Trade and took an active interest in building up the city. He was chairman of the citizens' committee who erected the monument at State and Second streets to the memory of the soldiers of Dauphin county.
Mr. Herman had the most kindly disposition, and was uniformly genial and courteous. He was warm hearted and generous, and enjoyed the esteem and affection of his fellow-men. He died July 17, 1886, and was followed to his tomb by a large concourse of citizens.
He was married, in 1861, to Miss Frances, daughter of Moses McGrew, of York county. His widow and three children survive. The children are: Edwin S.; Jennie F., who married Dr. John C. Bucher, of Lebanon, Pa., and Florence M.
Edwin S. Herman was born in Lewisberry, York county, Pa., May 9, 1864. After finishing his education in the Harrisburg high school he became associated with his father in business. After the death of his father he conducted the business as an estate for about eight years, when he and his mother became the sole owners, and have since conducted the business under the firm name of John C. Herman & Co. Mr. Herman was a very young man when the death of his father cast the burden of conducting the business upon him, and he is entitled to much credit for the able and successful manner in which he has managed it. He is an active young business man, a member of the Board of Trade, and a director in the Harrisburg Trust Company. He is a Republican in politics. He is a member of all branches of the Masonic fraternity, from the blue lodge to the consistory.
Mr. Herman was married in 1887 to Miss C. Almeda Kunkel Wallower, daughter of Col. John and Mary (Zollinger) Wallower, of Harrisburg. They have two children, Frances Mary and John Crull. Mrs. Herman is a member of Grace Methodist Episcopal church.
5. Census in 1900 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. 8 The 1900 census recorded at 1003 Chestnut Street: John C. Bucher, physician, living with wife Jenne H., 29; sons I. Riely, 7, and John C., 2; and servant Ellen J. Horth, 28. Everyone was born in Pennsylvania.
Next door at 1001 Chestnut Street is John's father, I. Reily Bucher, physician, 67, widowed, born Aug 1832, living with his daughter May, 23, Nov 1876; and son Paul, electrical engineer, 23, Nov 1876.
6. Book: Biographical Annals of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, 1904. 2
John Christian Bucher, M.D., a prominent physician and surgeon of Lebanon, a worth member of a professional family whose members for six generations have been the disciples of Galen, was born March 22, 1863, at Schaefferstown, Pa. His parents were Dr. I. R. and Mary E. (Heister) Bucher, the former of whom has long been a practitioner in this city, and the latter of whom, a daughter of John B. Heister, or Lebanon, a nephew of Governor Heister, died in this city in 1897.
Dr. Bucher received careful instruction during his youth, first in the public schools and later in a private academy, and graduated form the Lebanon high school in 1880. Yielding to the inherited inclinations he resolved to enter the medical profession, and under the careful and thorough instruction of his able father, prepared for entrance to the University of Pennsylvania graduating from the Medical Department in the class of 1884. Soon after he entered in to a partnership with his father, and this association continued until 1892, when the younger physician opened an individual office at No. 1003 Chestnut street, and has built up a large and lucrative practice.
Dr. Bucher has been a factor in city and county politics, having been elected a member of the Common Council of Lebanon in 1887. From 1900 to 1902 he served as chief engineer of the Lebanon Fire Department and for the past twenty-five years has been a member of the Lebanon Hook and Ladder Company.
In 1892 Dr. Bucher was married to Miss Jenne E. Herman, daughter of the late ex-Mayor John C. Herman, of Harrisburg, and two sons have been born to this union, namely: I. Reily, and John C. The religious connection of the family is with St. John's Reformed Church.
Dr. Bucher is a man who makes friends, both in social and in a business way. His fraternal affiliation is with the Masonic organizations, and he has filled the chairs in Mount Lebanon Lodge, No. 226, F. & A. Y. M., Weidel Chapter, No 197, R. A. M., Lebanon Council, No 27, R. S. E. and S. M M., Hermit Commandery, No 24, K. T.; is also a member of Rajah Temple, Mystic Shrine, and Harrisburg Consistory., Thirty-second degree. Socially he is a member of the Lebanon Cycle Club, the Lehigh Valley Association, and the State Sportsmen's Association, having served on the legislative committee of the latter. He is also medical examiner of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of New York, the United States Life Insurance Company, and the Pennsylvania Catholic Benevolent League.
7. Residence: 1909 Lebanon City Directory in 1909 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. 9 The 1909 Lebanon City Directory listed these Bucher families:
Bucher, Benedict D., physician, 740 Cumberland, h same. Carrie music teacher.
Bucher, Benjamin, waiter, Colonial Hotel.
Bucher, Edwin B., repairman, h Bismarck Rd RFD No. 7. Mrs. Amelia, Paul, Cora, Stephen.
Bucher, Edwin W., laborer, h 1227 Lehman. Mrs. Susan, Sadie C., Grant T., Cora, Joseph, Charles, Robert.
Bucher, I Reily, physician, 30 S 9th, h same.
Bucher, John C., Physician, 1001 Chestnut, h same. Mrs. Jennie E., John C., Herman V.
Bucher, John H., fireman, h 434 N 13th. Mrs. Elizabeth, Alice M., Lloyd H.
Bucher, Katie (wid Peter), h 1321 Brandywine. Peter W.
Bucher, Monroe D., Grocer, 348 N 10th, h same. Mrs. Annie, Kathryn.
Bucher, Paul, engineer, bds 1001 Chestnut.
8. Census in 1910 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. 10 The 1910 census recorded John C. Bucher, 47, with wife Jane E., 39; and sons I. Reily, 16; John C., 12; and Herman V., 3. Also in the home is servant Ellen J. Horst, 37. Everyone and their parents were born in Pennsylvania.
9. Census in 1920 in Lebanon, Lebanon, PA. 11 The 1920 census recorded John C. Bucher, 56, with wife Jennie E., 48; Isaac R. 27, divorced; John C. Jr., 21; Herman B., 13. Also in the home is servant Ellen J. Horst, 47.
John married Jennie F. Herman, daughter of John C. Herman and Frances McGrew, in 1892.1 2 (Jennie F. Herman was born in Feb 1871 in Harrisburg, Dauphin, PA,1 8 12 died in 1936 12 and was buried in Lebanon: Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Lebanon, PA 12.)
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