Colonel John Tressler was born in Perry County, 1803, and died at Loysville in 1859. His father, Andrew Tressler, was born May, 1746, in Wurtemberg, Germany, and died October, 1828, at Loysville - when 3 years old, he came with his parents and an only brother, to Goshenhoppen, Berks County. He was married to Miss M. Loy, and, after her death to Miss Catharine Hamman. About 1800 he located near Loysville where he brought up a large family, among which was the subject of this sketch.
In the year 1826 Colonel John Tressler married Elizabeth Loy, who was a daughter of George Loy and a grand-daughter of Michael Loy......The following are the names of Colonel Tressler's children:
His oldest son, Professor John A. Tressler, died, in 1851, in Columbus, Ohio, where he had been a professor in the Capital University.
V.G. Tressler, retired farmer, living at Lakeside, Cook County, Illinois.
Mrs. Sarah A. Minnich, eldest daughter, intermarried with William H. Minnich, living at Newport, Perry County, Pa with whom the widow of Colonel Tressler is living in contentment.
Rev. John W. Tressler, living at Somerfield, Somerset County, Pa.
Dr. Josiah E. Tressler has retired and is now engaged in the banking business at Peabody, Kansas.
Mrs. Mary E. Arnold intermarried with John H. Arnold, formerly of Perry County, now living at Harrisburg, and is engaged in the railroad business.
Dr. Martin Luther Tressler living at Carthage, Illinois, engaged in the drug and book business.
Mrs. Matilda E. Richard intermarried with Rev. Professor J.W. Richard, professor in Wittemberg College, Springfield, Ohio.
Mrs. Loyetta E. Lark intermarried with H.L. Lark, formerly a prominent member of the bar of Dauphin County, but now living at Peabody, Kansas.
Mrs. Anna M. Scott intermarried with Samuel S. Scott, wholesale and retail dry-goods merchants at Ottawa, Illinois.
Rev. David L. Tressler, Ph.D, president of Carthage College, where he died February 20, 1880. He was married to Miss McIntyre, of New Bloomfield, who survives him, together with three children, who still reside at Carthage. A biography of Dr. Tressler was published after his death.
Excerpted from the 1886 book "The History of the Susquehanna & Juniata Valley"- page 970
Contributed by Starfishin [#48860385]

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In 1854, Col. John Tressler built the Loysville Academy on a portion of his farm near Loysville Pennsylvania in Perry County. In 1862, John Tressler entered the United States Army as an officer and was joined by most of his young men who also enlisted to combat the eminent dissolution of the Union. By 1865, the Civil War transformed the Loysville Academy into what was became commonly known as the Soldiers' Orphans' School.
The Lutheran Church began investigating the establishment of an orphanage around 1860 and ultimately acquired the Academy in 1868. The institution was then named Tressler Orphans' Home at the request of David L. Tressler, son of the founder, because he donated his share of the surrounding land. The institution existed "to provide a home for poor orphan children of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and such other poor children as the Board will find funds to justify; to have their temporal wants supplied; to educate them physically, intellectually, morally, and religiously; and to extend over them a wholesome guardianship." Over the following decades, the Tressler Orphans' Home served hundreds of children annually and grew into a community known as "Tresslertown".
Information from the 2020 Perry County Bicentennial Committee
See also "The Story of Tressler Orphans' Home in Word and Picture", written by the Junior & Senior English class, directed by Lee E. Boyer, Principal of Schools. Tressler Orphans' Home (Loysville, Pa.) 1930-31
Contributed by Starfishin [#48860385]

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