First Sunday Look at History: Pottstown family's four generations of doctors

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Thanksgiving 1945, before family members resettled. From left, Frederick Van Buskirk Jr., Anna Rebecca (Evans) Van Buskirk, Anna Elizabeth Johnson and Kryder Evans Van Buskirk.

Photo courtesy of Geoffrey Johnson

Thanksgiving 1945, before family members resettled. From left, Frederick Van Buskirk Jr., Anna Rebecca (Evans) Van Buskirk, Anna Elizabeth Johnson and Kryder Evans Van Buskirk.

Photo courtesy of Geoffrey Johnson

Photos courtesy of Geoffrey Johnson
Above is a photo of Dr. Frederick W. Van Buskirk. At right is Anna Rebecca (Evans) Van Buskirk on her wedding day.

The children of Frederick W. and Anna Rebecca (Evans) Van Buskirk. From left, in photos courtesy of Geoffrey Johnson, Col. Kryder Evans Van Buskirk, Sarah Elizabeth Van Buskirk, and Anna Elizabeth (Van Buskirk) Johnson. At right, in a photo courtesy of Emmett Van Buskirk, is Dr. Frederick Van Buskirk Jr.

Photos courtesy of Geoffrey Johnson
Above is a photo of Dr. Frederick W. Van Buskirk. At right is Anna Rebecca (Evans) Van Buskirk on her wedding day.

By Michael Snyder Special to The Mercury

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Photos courtesy of Geoffrey Johnson
Above is a photo of Dr. Frederick W. Van Buskirk. At right is Anna Rebecca (Evans) Van Buskirk on her wedding day.

In 1819, Pottstown was a tiny country village inhabited by no more than 600 people and life there was, by modern standards, pretty rustic. It had incorporated in 1815 so there was a borough council but there was no police, fire department or public schools and the local carpenter — who built coffins — was the nearest thing the town had to an undertaker.

To make matters worse, this little village didn’t have a doctor. Earlier one of the many descendants of town founder, John Potts, Sr. had a Dr. in front of his name, but a search of historical records shows that by 1810 Pottstown didn’t have a resident physician.

That situation changed almost a decade later when, in 1819, Dr. George Van Buskirk moved to town. The son of the Rev. Jacob Van Buskirk, the first man born in America to be ordained as a Lutheran Minister, George Van Buskirk, was born in Macungie, Lehigh County, Aug. 11, 1787. He had taken classes in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and practiced medicine in the area around Macungie before moving to Pottstown.

Because Van Buskirk had children that were born before he came to Pottstown, he was either a widower or his wife died soon after their arrival. By 1821 he was married to Elizabeth Lesher, whose father Jacob was a member of Pottstown’s first borough council, and their marriage produced several children.

In addition to being a skillful doctor, Van Buskirk records indicate that he was also a successful businessman. For instance, the 1840 assessment, where he name appears as “Booskirk Geo: Van,” he is listed as owning 22 lots and four houses in town, as well as two horses and a carriage (a necessary piece of equipment for a country doctor), and — to further emphasize the rural nature of life in Pottstown at that time — four cows.

Dr. Van Buskirk retired from the practice of medicine in 1850, but his strong constitution gave him another 20 years. He died in Pottstown Feb. 26, 1870. The esteem that he enjoyed in the community was indicated by his obituary. In an era when few death notices were published in the newspaper the Berks Chester and Montgomery Ledger, Pottstown’s weekly, noted in its Mar. 1 edition that George Van Buskirk was “a person of more than ordinary ability as surgeon and physician who had no superiors in this part of the country” and that personally he was “a genial pleasant gentleman with a well balanced and richly stored mind.” He and his wife, Elizabeth, are buried in the east section of the Pottstown City Cemetery.

When George Van Buskirk laid down his stethoscope, his son, William Alexander Van Buskirk, took it up. William was born in Pottstown on Apr. 16, 1827. He attended the University of Pennsylvania’s Medical School and when he graduated returned to his home town to practice his profession.

William married Sarah Rebecca Miller. Born in Philadelphia Jan. 8, 1830, she came to Pottstown as a young girl and spent the rest of her life here. Her brother, the Rev. George F. Miller, was the founder and first pastor of Transfiguration Lutheran Church known for years as the English Lutheran Church because its members did away with what was then, the traditional church services in German and adopted the English language for that purpose.

William Van Buskirk died suddenly on Dec. 3, 1874 of what was, according to the Ledger, an attack of “congestion of the brain,” which sounds very much like he had a stroke. Judging by his obituary, during his quarter of a century medical career, he, like his father, had earned a great deal of respect, as the Ledger noted that there were a “number of prominent gentlemen in town yesterday” for his funeral.

Dr. William Van Buskirk left two sons: George M., born in April 1856, and Frederick W. who was born in 1868.

Well provided for, both sons went to college. George graduated from Muhlenberg and eventually became a real estate broker in Manhattan, where he died in 1928. Frederick went on to become the 3rd generation of Van Buskirks to practice medicine in Pottstown.

Frederick, after graduating from the High School in 1885, took the Classical Course at the University of Pennsylvania. From there he followed his grandfather and father into Penn’s Medical School emerging in 1889 with his doctor of medicine

Following two years of practice in Philadelphia, the third doctor Van Buskirk returned to Pottstown, where he became well known as a family doctor and surgeon.

In 1903, Frederick married Anna R. Evans, the daughter of Rev. L. Kryder Evans, the pastor of Trinity Reformed Church and his wife, Ellie (Longaker) Evans. Even though Anna was 11 years younger than Frederick, he had had his eye on her for some time. In writing about their courtship, their daughter Anna Virginia Johnson, explained that “in those days people called to visit.’ Frederick used to “call on Grandma Evans.” However, it soon became apparent that his visits really had nothing to do with her. It was her daughter that he was interested in. Eventually he revealed his true purpose to his future mother-in-law by announcing, “Mrs. Evans I have come to call on Anna.”

Frederick and Anna were married in a quiet ceremony performed by her father in his house, 212 King St. After their honeymoon they returned to Pottstown and took up residence at 64 N. Hanover St., the house that Fred had built for them and would be their home for the rest of their lives.

Frederick Van Buskirk practiced medicine in Pottstown for 39 years. Like most doctors, his life was hectic. His daughter Anna Virginia recalled how their meals were “often interrupted by office hours and phone calls.” In part of his practice he was a classic example of the old- fashioned family doctor. He saw patients in his office and made house calls both in town and into the country beyond. In the horse and buggy days his driver, Jake, would hitch up the horse and off they would go. It was common to see his buggy on the roads during all hours and in all kinds of weather.

Dr. Van Buskirk was also a medical innovator who played an important role in founding the Pottstown Hospital which opened in 1894. He was the longtime president of the hospital’s staff of physicians and well known for his surgical skills. He also donated his time as the doctor in charge of Pottstown’s well baby clinic from the day it opened.

In late 1928, Van Buskirk suffered a serious stroke and after “lingering for several months” died at his home, with his family around him, on March 21, 1929.

His death was the Pottstown News’ lead story in its March 22 edition. In addition to the article which covered his life and his contributions to the community, the paper included testimonials to him written by nine of his colleagues.

Anna (Evans) Van Buskirk was born in Pottstown Sept. 24, 1878. Because her parents put a high premium on education, she attended Wilson College in Chambersburg for two years.

To her daughter, Anna Virginia, she was a “devoted mother.” She was also very devoted to Trinity Reformed, where she was the choir director and the organist and also taught Sunday School.

Anna Van Buskirk died Jan. 29, 1954, at the family home, less than a stone’s throw from Trinity Reformed and around the corner from where she was born. Her pastor, the Rev. John B. Frantz recalled that “she had always said she was born in the shadow of the church and wanted to die in the shadow of the church and she did.” Rev. Frantz also noted that “she was one of the finest Christians — in the real sense of the word — that I ever knew. She lived what she taught.”

Frederick and Anna had five children. Their daughter, Ellen Virginia, died a few hours after her birth in 1911; however her brothers and sisters went on to lead successful lives.

Their sons, Frederick William Jr. and Kryder Evans followed their father into the medical profession. Frederick, born

Sept. 17, 1907, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania’s Me
dical in 1933 and after serving his residency returned home to become Pottstown’s 4th generation of Van Buskirk doctors.

He joined the Army in 1940 and after his discharge in 1946 he moved to Burlington, Vt. where he became a radiologist of international reputation serving more than 30 years with the University of Vermont College of Medicine and its affiliated hospitals. He died June 3, 1984, and he and his wife are buried in the same lot with his parents in the eastern section of Pottstown City Cemetery.

Kryder Evans — named for his maternal grandfather — was born Jan. 17, 1914. Also a graduate of Penn’s Medical School, he served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Following his discharge from the Army, he returned to Pottstown for a brief stint in private practice, but soon re-enlisted. During his career he served as Chief of Urology at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the urology consultant and chief of professional training to the surgeon general, and commander of the Valley Forge Hospital in Phoenixville.

When the Korean War began in 1950 he was put in charge of a MASH (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) unit and experienced some harrowing times seeing to the care of wounded soldiers close to the front lines.

His experience in Korea got him a job as technical advisor for the production of “M*A*S*H,” the 1970 Academy-Award winning movie.

Kryder retired from the Army Medical Corps in 1972 and moved to Belleair, Fla. He died there July 1, 1992, and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sarah Elizabeth, the oldest of the Van Buskirk children, was born in 1904. Like her mother, she loved music and developed into a pianist of professional quality. Her sister later recalled that Sarah’s “day was not complete without hours of practice — 4 to 6 hrs. per day.”

She studied for three years at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and later in New York City. She married Paul Chancellor, a professor at the Hill School, and they had one daughter. She taught piano in Pottstown, loved to play chamber music and took over for her mother as the church organist at Trinity. She died suddenly May 16, 1943, and she is buried with her parents in the Pottstown Cemetery.

Anna Virginia, the youngest, was born Oct. 30, 1917. She graduated from Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y. in 1939 with a degree in sociology. While taking graduate classes in Baltimore, she met Owen Johnson, a young dentist from Wisconsin. They married and eventually moved to Texas. Like the rest of her family, she was imbued with the spirit of wanting to help people, and to this end she remained active in her profession in the Dallas area, where she started a social services program at what is now part of Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. Anna died in Dallas Oct. 31, 2000, the last of survivor of a unique family.

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First Sunday Look at History: Pottstown family's four generations of doctors