Dr. Solomon S. Schultz and Hannah Laughead Magill [70-38]

[70-38] DR. SOLOMON S. SCHULTZ, b July 5, 1831; d Sept. 27, 1891; s Jeremiah and Maria (Schultz) Schultz [70-9]; m Sept. 27, 1872, HANNAH LAUGHEAD MAGILL, b Nov. 25, 1835; dau William Hazlitt Magill. Widow’s address, 529 East 4th St., Tueson, Ariz. (1921.)

Children (2):

Dr. Solomon 8. Schultz was a great-grandson of the immigrant Schwenkfelder, Rev. Christopher Sehultz, and was born and reared on the farm in Washington Twp., Berks Co., Pa., secured by his paternal ancestor. After completing his public school education in his native community, he prepared for college at the celebrated institutions of Washington Hall at Trappe, Pa., and Freeland Seminary at Collegeville, Pa. Thereupon he entered Princeton, being graduated with very high honors in the class

of 1852. After teaching school for a brief period, he read medicine with Dr. D. D. Detwiler, and subsequently entered the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1856. Very soon thereafter he received an appointment as assistant physician in the State Lunatic Hospital at Harrisburg, which position he held until 1861. Dr. Schultz made a tour of Europe, visiting the hospitals and charitable institutions of England, Germany, and France. At the same time he made a detailed tour of the old Schwenkfelder homes in Silesia of which he gave graphic descriptions in letters and in subsequent addresses. He also went in quest of Schwenkfeld’s grave, visiting Ulm and Strassburg. It was through his meeting with the Rev. Oswald Kadelbach at Langendls, Silesia, that Dr. Schultz, with the support of the Schwenkfelders of Pa., negotiated the purchase of the ‘‘Viehweg”’ at Harpersdorf, Silesia, the burial pilot of the persecuted Schwenkfelders in the years 1721-1740. In addition to the purchase of the plot of land, Kadelbach erected an appropriate monument thereon in 1863. Dr. Schultz served as secretary for the Schwenkfelder committee throughout the transaction.

While making the ascent of Mt. Blane, Dr. Schultz received the news of the outbreak of the Civil War. Returning home immediately, he entered the army and served as a surgeon throughout the entire war, at first with the 75th and 23rd Pa. Volunteers, and subsequently as executive officer and surgeonin-charge of the General Hospitals at Harrisburg, Pa., Covington, Ky., Madison, IIll., and Columbus, Ohio.

After the conclusion of the war he engaged in private practice at Harrisburg, Pa., during the years 1865-1868. In this latter year he was appointed by the Commissioners of the State Hospital at Danville, Pa., to superintend its erection and to assume full charge of the same. This responsible position of public trust he filled eminently from the time of his acceptance of the appointment to the end of his life. As a.designer and architect in the establishment of a foremost charitable institution, he performed a monumental service for the commonwealth. To his position he brought a superior executive ability, conspicuously adorned with a remarkable intelligence and a challenging zeal. Entrusted with vast sums of public money, its conservation and disbursement were wisely and properly executed. At the close of his life it was said that the affairs of the institution had always been in such condition during his administration that at the beginning of each day a suecessor could have assumed charge without difficulty. In the treatment of the insane there were combined his eminent learning, his unimpeachable character, a firmness never wanting in kindness, the strictest integrity enriched by a wealth of benevolence, and an unobtrusive but convincing Christian manhood. These qualities were peculiarly conspicuous in his daily contact with the patients. His cheerful cordiality, sympathy, and a rare tact with a wholesome admixture of humor, enabled him to render most helpful service to those entrusted to his care.;

Dr. Schultz was a pillar in the Mahoning Presbyterian Church at Danville, Pa., and a public spirited citizen who has permanently left the impress of his high character upon the community. He died at Danville on Sunday morning, September 27, 1891, and his body rests in the local public cemetery, overlooking the Susquehanna River. [E. E. S. J.]