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Frederick Sheely Weiser

The Reverend Frederick Sheely Weiser, a Lutheran clergyman, historian, and expert on Pennsylvania German folk art, was born 25 November 1935 in Hanover, Pennsylvania and died on 26 January 2009 in York, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Donald Koehler Weiser, a general manager for Aetna Life and Casualty, and Elizabeth Kathryn Sheely, a homemaker. Reverend Weiser graduated from Glenbard Township High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois in 1953. He attended Gettysburg College earning a B.A.in history in 1957 and the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg and in Philadelphia. He was introduced to the historian's craft by Dr. Charles H. Glatfelter of Gettysburg College.

Reverend Weiser was a lineal descendent of the Pennsylvania pioneer John Conrad Weiser, whose home is a state park in Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania. He was a major contributor to the Weiser geneologies published in 1960 and in 1997. From 1960 onward, he served on the board of the John Conrad Weiser Family Association.

An expert on Pennsylvania German folk art, particulary the art form known as Fraktur, Reverend Weiser lectured at the Abby Aldrich Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia, Winterthur, and the Museum of Folk Art in New York City. He was author of several monographs on Fraktur, and in 1967 began publishing Der Reggeboge and occasional journal devoted Pennsylvania German studies. Shortly before his death, he donated several of his papers on Fraktur to the Winterthur Museum in Delaware.http://findingaid.winterthur.org/html/HTML_Finding_Aids/COL0876.htm

Reverend Weiser served Lutheran congregations in Biglerville, Lancaster, York, and Hanover Pennsylavania. He was a member of the Adams County Historical Society, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Beta Kappa, and the American Geneological Association.

A List of Reverend Weiser's Publications:

"The Concept of Baptism among Colonial Pennsylvania German Lutheran and Reformed People." In The Lutheran Historical Conference: Essays and Reports (1970): 1-45.

Fraktur-Pennsylvania German Folk Art, Science Press, 1973.

Loves's Repsonse: A Story of the Lutheran Deaconesses in America, Philadelphia: The Board of Publication of the United Lutheran Church in America, 1962.

Marriage and Burials from the Frederick, Maryland Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1743-1811.

The Gift is Small, the Love is Great:Pennsylvania German Small Presentation Frakturs. York, Pennsylvania: York Graphic Services, Inc. 1994.

Piety and Protocol in Folk Art: Pennsylvania German Fraktur and Birth Certificates,Winterthur Portfolio 8 (1973): 19-43

Weiser Families in America, Volumes I and II, with Peter Weiser and Paulette Weiser, Peneboscot Press, 1997.

For Reverend Weiser's obituary, please see http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/eveningsun/obituary.aspx?n=frederick-sheely-weiser&pid=123435321