Christian Myers

The Myers family farm was in eastern Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but the land in 1800 looked nothing like the pristine acreage tourists see today. Christian was one of at least ten children. He knew about what grew above the ground but was also interested in getting iron ore from beneath it. A taste of his future career came while working part-time at a local iron works. 

From there he started working for the Lancaster Land Company. He became a partner with Henry Bear, forming an iron ore and furnace development business. But Christian also became a partner for life with Martha Hanobenfer, whom he married in 1819. He may have felt like he was on Mount Joy when he found her, and perhaps he was, literally, since that’s the name of the borough in Lancaster County where she lived.

Iron furnaces thrived in some parts of eastern Pennsylvania but the business partners knew there was more to discover further west They bought property with mining potential along the Clarion River in Venango County. The early going was difficult but eventually the furnace became profitable and many families, including his own, moved there to live their lives. His was the second blast furnace in the state west of the Allegheny mountains.

As a leader in the budding community, Christian became a delegate to the state’s constitutional convention in 1838. Shortly after its adoption, Clarion County was created and Christian helped in its organization and contributed land for the new county courthouse.

Thirty other furnaces were to follow in Clarion County, home to more iron furnaces than any other county in the state. Unfortunately, all were short-lived as the open-hearth stone blast furnace technology would soon become obsolete. 

In 1840 Governor Porter appointed him an associate judge of the state’s 18th District, providing the catalyst for a new career in public service. He was one of the 170 men who cast an electoral college vote in 1844 to make James Knox Polk the next President. 

His support quickly vanished, however, when Congress and President Polk refused to support protective tariffs. Along with advancing technology, the lack of those protections led to the decline of the charcoal iron industry.

On the verge of bankruptcy in 1851, Christian sold his furnaces to pursue politics as a high-tariff advocate and was elected as a Whig in the State Senate. He served three one-year terms, one year as the Speaker. After his return home he received another four-year appointment as an associate judge. 

With his iron business a fading memory, he and some others built the county’s first steam-powered sawmill. He ran a hardware store, donated land for the Clarion County Fair Association, and lent support to the new Republican Party in the campaigns of Abraham Lincoln for President and Andrew Curtin for Governor. 

In appreciation for his support, Governor Curtin appointed Christian to lead the Board of Grain Measurers for the Port of Philadelphia in 1861. He and Martha moved there, and he held that post until he retired in 1867. The 1870 census reveals he was operating a grocery store, probably just to keep busy.

Two of their now-adult children also lived there and all of them modeled their parents’ behavior of integrity, character, and right living:

• Amos Myers (1824-1893) was an Allegheny College graduate and a lawyer in Clarion before serving in Congress from 1863-1865. He later became an ordained minister, serving Baptist churches in Pottsville, Pennsylvania and East Carlton, New York.
• Christian Myers, Jr. (1826-1907) was a 40-year veteran of the Philadelphia Post Office and superintendent of the money order department. He left an estate worth $21,000, or nearly $730,000 today after adjusting for inflation. 
• Clara Myers Hetherington (1831-1912) raised her family in Philadelphia and took care of both of her parents in their final years. Her son was appointed to chair the Philadelphia Civil Service Commission.
• Andrew Myers (1837-1901) was an assistant paymaster in the Navy during the Civil War, serving under Admiral Porter, and also worked at the U.S. Census Bureau and the District of Columbia’s Assessor’s Office. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The judge passed away at age 81 while he and Martha were living at their daughter’s home at 2122 Vine Street. The death certificate gives the cause as “paralysis (old age).” A family descendent recalled, “He was ill but one week in his life.”

Martha lived three years more, joining her husband here. The only child buried with them was Christian, along with two of his children.