Dr. Ezra Clayton Saylor
Ezra Clayton Saylor was born near Meyersdale, Somerset County, PA, 18 June 1881. His parents were Henry William and Ellen (Glotfelty) Saylor. He graduated from the Baltimore school of Dental Surgery in 1905. On 6 June 1906 he married Mary Edith Glessner, a fourth cousin.
His interest in Somerset County history may have been inspired by the
history surrounding the family names of Berkey, Livengood, Folk, Walker, Miller,
Beachly and Meyers in
their combined tree
[viewing the .pdf tree requires Adobe Acrobat]. Whatever drove his inspiration, his accomplishments are unique. His documentation of more than 40,000 tombstone inscriptions and 600 family bibles - some published, some unpublished, all preserved - are invaluable to ongoing research. To view a long list of his work, click here >> His Work |
He also created a form that
he mailed to Saylor family members. Hundreds of "blanks" were completed and returned to
him. His intention was to publish a family history. In a February 8, 1951 hand-written letter to Ralph Saylor, Dr. Saylor wrote: "I am not working very much due to the fact that I can’t take it so well can’t stand anymore for 14 – 16 hours a day however my sister is all right and I can write even if people can’t read half of it and I am trying to get the family records up to the present time with a view to having it printed. I would very much like to get my record as full as possible before I kick off." That printing was not
completed prior to his death in 1954. After his death the completed blanks, along with
his other work, were stored by his family and later donated to the Berlin
Area Historical Society. |
A great Find! |
During November 2009, I received an email from Jane Gilbert telling me about a baptism certificate for Ezra Clayton Saylor displayed on a windowsill at Beans in the Belfry in Brunswick, MD. It took me until May 2013 to make the trip to Brunswick - I must do better. The certificate appears genuine. While the church is not named, the Pastor signing the certificate was Pastor of the Amity Reformed Church in Meyersdale, Summit Twp., Somerset County, PA from 1881- 1888 per the following. |
Click picture to enlarge |
The 1941 Edition of
Pastors and People of Somerset
Classis,
The Reformed Church in the United States, published by the
Berlin Publishing Company, Berlin, Pennsylvania, page 394-395, “John M.
Schick was born at Richmond, Va., Nov. 8, 1848. In 1863 he moved to
Pittsburgh, Pa., where under Rev. J. H. Wagner he began his preparation
for the ministry. He entered Westmoreland College, Mt. Pleasant, Pa.,
and later went to Mercersburg College and the Theological Seminary. He
was licensed by Allegheny Classis in 1876 and the same year ordained by
Mercersburg Classis as pastor of the Orbisonia Mission. He also served
charges at Meyersdale, Pa., 1881-88, Shenango, Pa., Tiffin, O., and
Grace Church, Washington, D.C., under whose pastorate a fine new church
was built. President Theodore Roosevelt was a worshipper at Grace during
the eight years he was in office. Dr. Schick served on General Synod’s hymnal committee and was secretary and treasurer of the Board of Ministerial Relief. He was stated clerk of Pittsburgh Synod from 1884 to 1894. He died July 12, 1913, his death resulting from injuries received when he was run down by an automobile.” |