These two chapters focus on three generations of Schlieremacher (Slaymaker) families that illustrate the struggle that reform minded protestants faced in Catholic central Europe and France. The men were theologians who had a significant impact on religious philosophy and doctrine. They moved communities from one country to another in the middle of the night, to escape death and imprisonment. One was so well respected in Germany that the entire capital city closed down for the day to honor his funeral. Slaymakers would go into hiding when necessary and traveled in an underground network, eventually escaping to the Pennsylvania Colony of the Americas.
On that journey they were led by a woman who had lost her husband to assassination. She met with William Penn and the Queen of England and convinced each that she had what it takes to make an enclave work in Lancaster County. At her side was Matthias Slaymaker whose fortune along with hers, would help finance the journey. Matthias and his family established White Chimneys, still found in Lancaster, PA (Amish Country). Slaymakers controlled the toll road leading to Pittsburgh and the Shenandoah Valley in the 1700s.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 34 of Whit’s End: A Brief Look at Slaymaker Lineage
Chapter 35 of Whit’s End: Mathias Slaymaker and His Descendants
Slaymaker Links to Robert the Bruce and British Royalty
