Samuel B. Barnitz Papers

Samuel Bacon Barnitz was born in York, PA on May 12th, 1838. In 1858 he entered Pennsylvania College (Gettysburg College) but was unable to continue the full college course due to health issues. in 1859, by a unanimous vote of the faculty, he was admitted to the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and completed the full seminary course. In 1863 he assisted the Rev. George G. Butler, D.D. in the hospitals in and around Washington, DC, ministering to the sick and wounded soldiers of the Union Army. in June 1863, Barnitz was called to a Southern Mission at Wheeling, VA. From 1862 to the close of the Civil War, he was secretary of the West Virginia brach of the Unisted States Commission. For 20 years he was a member of the International Sunday school Executive Committee and helped form the committee for International Bible Lessons. In 1881 Barnitz was called to the position of Western Secretary of the Board of Home Missions. Barnitz married Eliza Smyser on December 9, 1868, with whom he had three children, Susan, Sarah, and Samuel. Following Eliza's death in 1874, Barnitz marrieed Ann Aliza Park on Auf 14, 1877, and had two children, David and Fred. Samuel B. Barnitz died on June 12, 1902.