Home of Samuel J. Shimer 238 N Front St

From Bell’s History of Northumberland County 1891: SAMUEL JOHNSTON SHIMER, senior member of the firm of S. J. Shimer & Sons, was born in Bethlehem township, Northampton county, Pennsylvania, December 3,1837, son of Abraham B. and Margaretta (Johnston) Shimer, natives of the same county and of German and Scotch descent, respectively. Mr. Shimer was reared upon the old homestead in Bethlehem township, and during his youth he followed the daily routine of farm life. He attended the public schools of his neighborhood, and finished his education at an academy in the borough of Bethlehem. Throughout his early manhood Mr. Shimer was engaged in farming, but in October 1871, he came to Milton for the purpose of joining his brother George in the lumber business, whither the latter had preceded him in the spring of 1869 and commenced operations under the firm name of Applegate, Shimer & Company. Their first purchase consisted of a tract of eighteen hundred acres of heavily timbered land in Union county, from which they cut the timber, and, converting it into lumber, hauled it to Milton, their nearest shipping point. Subsequent purchases increased these operations until the product of about three thousand acres of fine timber lands had been cut and marketed.

During this period in 1873, an event occurred that has proven an incalculable benefit to the firm - the invention of a matcher-head by George and Samuel J. Shimer, which is recognized as one of the most valuable inventions of the century. In 1872 the firm established a saw and planing mill in Milton, with a small machine shop attached, which was operated up to its destruction by the fire of May, 1880. They then rebuilt the plant as a machine shop for the manufacture of cutter heads and other specialties, and from that time forward devoted their whole attention and energies to the prosecution of the new business. In 1884 George Shimer retired from the firm, and our subject became sole proprietor. He afterwards took into partnership his sons Elmer S. and George S., and the firm then became S. J. Shimer & Sons. In the fall of 1888 they assumed control of the Milton Manufacturing Company's plant, which they have since operated successfully. In the spring of 1889 Mr. Shimer invented and patented a valuable machine for cutting washers, to the manufacture of which the latter plant is principally devoted.

Mr. Shimer was married, September 27, 1860, to Catharine A., daughter of Isaac and Catharine (Clemens) Stout, the former a native of Northampton county and the latter of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, and both of German origin. Mrs. Shimer was born in Northampton county, and is the mother of three children: Elmer S.; Mary C., wife of William A. Heinen, and George S. The whole family are members of the Presbyterian church, and are ardent supporters of the principles and measures of the Republican party. Mr. Shimer is one of the corporators of the Milton Trust and Safe Deposit Company, and a director and vice-president of that institution. He is widely known and recognized as a gentleman of commendable enterprise and public spirit, as well as one of the most successful manufacturers of the West Branch Valley.