Shimer Mansion, today located in Pohatcong Township, is an Italianate country residence constructed by banker and gentleman farmer, William B. Shimer, circa 1850.
The Early History of the Scheimer (Shimer) Family
JACOB SCHEIMER AND ELIZABETH RITTENHOUSE SCHEIMER
Around 1725, JACOB SCHEIMER established a settlement near the mouth of the Saucon Creek where it meets the Lehigh River in Northampton, PA in what was to become the community of Shimersville . He was married twice. First to MARGARET PAPEN SCHEIMEIR and later to ELIZABETH RITTENHOUSE SCHEIMER. Jacob had two children by his first wife and three by his second. Shimersville grew throughout the eighteenth century. By 1855, according to the Scott map of Easton and its vicinity, the town dwellings included the Shimer’s Woolen Mill, Knecht’s Grist and Saw Mill, and a schoolhouse.
JACOB SCHEIMER, JR. AND ROSINA SEIP
JACOB SCHEIMER JR., the eldest son of Jacob Scheimer, Sr. and Elizabeth, senior's second wife, was born in Skippack, PA, in 1734. During the Indian massacre of 1755-56 in and around Northampton County, Jacob Scheimer Jr. enlisted as a soldier under Captain Jacob Arndt, receiving as pay for his services 13 pounds, 6 shillings.
Jacob Jr. married ROSINA SEIP, in 1758. She was born in Germany in 1739. Rosina came to America when she was 13 years old with her mother and two brothers to meet their eldest brother, who has already settled in Pennsylvania. During the trip over, Rosina's mother became ill, died and was buried at sea. It is said that Rosina, when she saw the body of her dead mother dropped over the side of the ship into the sea, was so despondent that she attempted to jump in after her. The Captain, however, pulled her back. The bereaved family landed in Philadelphia in 1752 and settled in Northampton County, Pa.
Jacob Jr. was named in his father's will as one of the executors. He and Rosina occupied the old homestead at Shimertown. Jacob Jr. died in 1764 at the early age of 30.
PETER SCHEIMER AND ANNA MARIA LERCH SCHEIMER
Jacob's eldest son, PETER SCHEIMER was born in Shimerton, Northampton, Pennsylvania in 1760. ANNA MARIA LERCH SCHEIMER was the first wife of Peter Scheimer and the mother of John Lerch Scheimer; their only child. Anna Maria was the daughter of Anton Lerch and Anna Margaretta Lauer Lerch. Anton served on the Committee of Observation in Easton, Pa. from Northampton County, Pa. in 1774 during the Revolutionary War. Anton Lerch accompanied Captain Christian Laubach and the Saucon Rangers to erect Fort Allen under the direction of Benjamin Franklin during the French and Indian Wars on the Pennsylvania frontier at Weissport, Pa.
Anna Maria died young in 1784 and Peter then married ELISABETH MARGARETHE KRATZER and they had 7 additional children. Around 1800 Peter purchased a farm of 200 acres of land for $2600 for his son, John Lerch Shimer, in Greenwich Township near Still Valley in Warren County, NJ. Peter died in 1828.
JOHN LERCH SHIMER AND SUSANNA SCHWEITZER
JOHN LERCH SHIMER was born in 1782 in Pennsylvania. He settled on the land his father gave him soon after his marriage to SUSANNA SCHWEITZER (m. 1804) and the two became the progenitors of the Shimer family in New Jersey. John Lerch amassed six large farms in Greenwich during his lifetime.
The Family Bible
John Lerch and Susanna had seven children listed in the family Bible: Peter b. 1805, John N. b. 1811, Robert K. b. 1813, Isaac S. b. 1816, William B. b. 1820, Samuel I. b. 1822 and Mary Jane b. 1824.
A page from the Shimer family's 1819 Martin Luther German Bible featuring the children of John Lerch Shimer and Susanna Schweitzer
John Lerch died in 1854. Shortly before John Lerch died he gifted his children each with parcels of land in Greenwich Township.
WILLIAM B. SHIMER AND MARY MARGARET SHARP SHIMER
WILLIAM B. SHIMER was born in 1820 in Greenwich Township, NJ. He was the fifth of seven children born to John Lerch and Susanna Schweitzer Shimer. On November 2nd, 1843, he married MARY MARGARET SHARP, the daughter of Jacob Sharp and Sophia Shipman Sharp.
THE SHARP and SHIPMAN FAMILIES
The Sharp family were connected with the founding of the St James Lutheran Church, otherwise known as the Straw Church.Sophia’s paternal grandfather, Matthias Shipman, signed the Articles of Faith in the St. James Lutheran Church. He settled in Lopatcong Township around 1763. He is identified with the history of Warren County, having served during the Revolutionary War. Sophia’s father, Isaac Shipman, was an elder of St. James Lutheran Church. As chairman of the Finance Committee he helped raise funds for completion of the present brick church. Jacob’s father (John Sharps) became one of the most extensive landowners in Warren County. Among his holdings was the site of all the present City of Phillipsburg, NJ and rich flatlands adjoining it.
Sophia Sharps was a dedicated member of the church. In 1849/69, Sophia organized the first Sunday School. The stained glass window in the front of the church was dedicated to the memory of Sophia Sharps by her son Isaac Shipman Sharps, her daughter Mary Sharps Shimer, and her grandson Charles Roseberry Sharps in 1879, and her picture is hanging near the entrance in Frey Hall. Historical documents indicate that at its peak there was an enrollment in Sunday School of 210 children and 35-40 teachers and helpers.
In Sophia Shipman Sharp's last will and testament she bequeathed to her daughter Mary "her sideboard and all the chairs she might have at her death" she also left her "all my clothing, jewelry and the like to be used or distributed by her as she may think proper."
William B. built his home on the parcel of land his father had given him circa 1850. Upon completion, William B. Shimer's grand three-story brick home, became the centerpiece of a 120-acre rural estate and an area landmark referred to in the community as "The Pines".
The tall, fashionable residence with flanking chimneys, bracketed cornice, rooftop balustrade, expansive glass windows and classical portico was an expression of social relevance and wealth.
William B. Shimer situated his contemporary dwelling at the southwestern corner of his farm for eye-catching visibility. He oriented his home toward the west, within the "Y" of a major fork along the New Brunswick Pike and overlooking the shallow dale of Lopatcong Creek.
For many years, William B. Shimer also served as an elder for the the St. James Lutheran Church in Greenwich, otherwise known as the Straw Church.
William B. Shimer and Mary Margaret had four children: three boys, Frank P. (1851), William S. (1865), and Thomas E. (1866) and one daughter Suzanne V. (1845) who died young.
The Residence of William B. Shimer was prominent enough that it was featured in an etching on the 1860 Hughes Farm Map of Greenwhich Township in 1860 (See above map, lower left image). Just above the dotted line of the railroad depicted in the map above, you can see the full extent of William B. Shimer's farm lot.
In this 1860 Map of Greenwich Township you can see William B. Shimer's brothers John N. and Samuel I. also have land and homes nearby in Greenwich. John N.'s land is noted just north of the Kennedys and Samuel I.'s between Still Valley and the Kennedys.
WILLIAM S. SHIMER AND ELIZABETH PURSEL SHIMER
William B. died in 1887.
After William B.'s death, his son William S. took over The Pines. WILLIAM SHARP SHIMER was the second son of William B. and Mary Margaret Sharp. He was born in 1865.
William S. Shimer married Elizabeth Pursell Fine December 15, 1887 when he was 23 and she was 20 years old. They had one son: Isaac Sharps Shimer.
When Pohatcong Township was formed in 1881, the Shimer Mansion and its surrounding property formed the northernmost point of the Township.
The home of Mr. William S. and Elizabeth Shimer was home to at least one Shimer family reunion. The Morning Call shared and article about the reunion of 1912 describing it as being held at "The Pines, this fine old Shimer homestead, set in its pine grove, testifying to the solid prosperity of the able farmers of the olden time...The meeting was held indoors and on the porches."
"A very interesting feature of the meeting was the presentation, with the hearty approval of all those present, of a handsome gavel to the President of the Family Association. On one side of the gavel is a silver plate bearing the following inscription: "To Allen R. Shimer. Presented by your dear cousins for the great interest taken in the Shimer Family, August 10th, 1912." a similar plate on the other side the following words are inscribed: "This apple- wood was taken from your great-grandfather's orchard at Dry Land, Northampton County, Pa., Jacob Seip Shimer."
A network of improved roads lined with modest suburban-scaled lots of a quarter acre-or-less and dotted with late Victorian era dwellings took shape to the south of the residence during the late 1910s and 1920s. At about that time the Shimers began to consider selling and dividing the property. A preliminary layout for the development of the land was created in 1911.
By 1925 the land had been subdivided and a neighborhood of small mid-twentieth century residences, labeled Shimer Manor, was put up to the north and west of the Mansion.
Elizabeth passed away in 1933 and William S. passed away two years later, at the age of 70.
A gas station was built in 1935 at the foot of the hill right at the Y, blocking the grand view of the Mansion. A school was proposed on the land in 1938 for the Township. It was called the Shimer School.
The Mansion remained in the Shimer family into the 20th century. Today it occupies a heavily wooded 1.41-acre vestige of the original Shimer farm. The property is one of only six remaining parcels within the northern Pohatcong Township that cover in excess of 1-acre.
SHIMER FAMILY PHOTO SLIDESHOW
The objects below were either found on site at the Shimer Mansion or are connected to the R.A. Shimer General Store which was located in Riegelsville, New Jersey during the late 19th and early 20th century.
The pipe, trade beads and button were found when the gas station on the original Shimer Property was constructed and they were donated to the Pohatcong History and Heritage Society by Carole Buck. The ashtray and rolling pin a privately owned and are promotional items connected with the Shimer Store in Riegelsville New Jersey.
