Henry Meyer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Henry Meyer (1840-1925) was a poet originally from Brush Valley (Centre County), Pennsylvania. His native language was Pennsylvania Dutch, and though he learned English in school he wrote his poetry in "Dutch". His original career was as a wheelwright, but he lost an arm near Spottsylvania during the Civil War. (He was a corporal in the Centre County Regiment, the 148th Pennsylvania.) In the war he began the diary he would keep the rest of his life, and after the war spent time as a teacher, county superintendent, state representative and justice of the peace during the 58 years he spent in Rebersburg. He was a teacher of the poet Calvin Ziegler and was active in community organizations. While his collected poems have apparently yet to be published, at least one ("For Was Er So Freundlich Is") was published in The Millheim Journal of 14 August 1907.