The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
Author: Douglas T. Collins
Samuel Royer was born in 1738 at Brickersville, Warwick Twp., Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania.
His father was Samuel Rheyer, born 4 October, 1718, at Bohl, a town in Germany, near Speyer and Ludwigshafen. He died in 1764.
His mother was Juliana Schreck, nothing more on her.
The family, headed by Sebastian Matthias Rheyer, 1686-1758, arrived at Philadelphia in 1726. Sebastian came over in 1718 to make arrangements for his family. The Rupp book shows him in Lancaster Co. in 1719.
In 1768, Samuel Royer went west, to Cumberland Co., and settled at what is now Five Forks, north of Waynesboro.
Samuel married Catherine Laubscher in 1761 in Lancaster Co. She was born 1743 and died in 1782. He then married her sister, Mary.
When the Revolution began, Samuel was elected Captain of the 5th Company, 1st Battalion, Cumberland Co. militia. He was wounded at the battle of Brandywine, 11 September, 1777. He was a commissary officer at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-1778. His duties likely were stealing chickens from local farmers.
While at Valley Forge, he sent word to his son, Daniel, who was an Ensign in the Cumberland Co. militia, and a Ranger on the frontier, to bring his herd of cattle to feed the Army.
Daniel and a slave drove the herd to the Schuylkill River, where they were butchered, and the meat sent to Valley Forge. General Washington heard of this, and summoned Samuel and Daniel to his headquarters for dinner.
After the War, Samuel returned to his farm, and was active in local politics; on 22 March, 1786, he was appointed Justice of the Peace, and served seven years as Judge of the Franklin Co. Court.
In 1784, he was among those who petitioned the state to create Franklin Co.
Samuel died 9 May, 1823, at the home of his son, Daniel, just east of Waynesboro, along the east branch of the Antietam. This house is now Refrew Park. He is buried at the Royer graveyard, in Wayne Heights.
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