WILLOUGHBY K. KISTLER, M.D., is one
of the leading physicians of Lehigh County and is located at
Germansville, where he has been engaged in practice since 1871.
He is a native of this county and was born November 1, 1846, to
Jacob M. and Lydia (Kistler) Kistler, also natives of this
county, residing during their life in Kistler's Valley. George
Kistler, who is the founder of that branch of the family to
which our subject belongs, is said to have located in what is
now known as Montgomery County as early as 1745.
The original of this sketch was reared on
the farm in Kistler's Valley, which was in the possession of the
family for many generations, and is now owned by his brother,
Charles K. Willoughby K. attended the public schools of Lynn
Township until a lad of fifteen years, when he entered the
academy at Quakertown, and later the Lewisburg Academy in Union
County, this state. The knowledge gained therein supplemented
by a course at the Allentown Seminary and the normal school at
Kutztown. Young Kistler then taught five terms of school, when
the opportunity presented itself for him to carry out his long
cherished plan of becoming a physical. With this end in view he
read medicine with Dr. F. C. Seiberling, as eminent physician of
Lynnville, Pa., and in the fall of 1868 entered the Bellevue
Hospital Medical College in New York City, from which he was
graduated in the spring of 1870.
When looking around for a suitable
location Dr. Kistler made settlement in Pennsville, Carbon
County, where he practiced for a year. He then came to
Germansville, soon secured a lucrative patronage and has resided
here ever since. He stands very high in professional circles
and is connected with the Lehigh County Medical Society. In
politics he is a stanch adherent of Republican principles and a
strong advocate of public schools.
Dr. W. K. Kistler and Miss Emma C.
Seiberling, a native of this county, were united in marriage in
1871. The lady is the daughter of Squire Joshua Seiberling, now
deceased, but formerly a resident of Seiberlingville, which
place was named in honor of his family. To the Doctor and his
estimable wife there have been born two children. Clinton J. is
now a student in the medical department of the Pennsylvania
University, being a member of the Class of '95. Prior to
entering this institution he was graduated from the Kutztown
normal School. He taught school for two terms before entering
the medical school. Minnie M., the daughter, is likewise a
graduate of the State Normal School of Kutztown and is at
present engaged in teaching in the public schools of Slatington.
Socially our subject is identified with
Central Lodge No. 636, I.O.O.F., at Pleasant Corners, in which
order he is Past Grand. As a private citizen the Doctor is
highly esteemed for his public spirit, personal example and
interest in all that is beneficial to his members of the
community and the county at large. The Doctor and his family
are members of the Lutheran wing of the Heidelberg Church.