Philip Dorsheimer

Life

He came to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1815, and settled in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...

. On August 23, 1821, he married Sarah Gorgas. In 1826 he removed to Lyons, N.Y.

Lyons (town), New York

Lyons is a town in Wayne County, New York, USA. The population was 5,831 at the 2000 census. The town is named after Lyons , France....

, and in April 1836 to Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York

Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...

.

In 1838, he was appointed Postmaster

Postmaster

A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Postmistress is not used anymore in the United States, as the "master" component of the word refers to a person of authority and has no gender quality...

 of Buffalo by President Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....

. On April 1, 1845, he was appointed again Postmaster of Buffalo by President James K. Polk

James K. Polk

James Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States . Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 12th Governor of Tennessee...

.

He had been always a Democrat, but joined the Republican Party upon its foundation. He was a delegate to the 1856 Republican National Convention

1856 Republican National Convention

The 1856 Republican National Convention convened from June 17 to June 19, 1856 at the Musical Fund Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and nominated General John C. Frémont of California and former Senator William Dayton of New Jersey for President and Vice President of the United...

. He was New York State Treasurer

New York State Treasurer

The New York State Treasurer was a state cabinet officer in the State of New York between 1776 and 1926. During the re-organization of the state government under Governor Al Smith, the office was abolished and its responsibilities transferred to the new Department of Audit and Control headed by the...

 from 1860 to 1861. From 1862 to 1864, he was Inland Tax Collector at Buffalo.

His son was Lieutenant Governor William Dorsheimer

William Dorsheimer

William Dorsheimer was an American lawyer, journalist and politician.-Life:...

.

Sources

• http://www.archivaria.com/GdDbios/GdD7.html Bios of German-Americans in Buffalo, with photo (giving as birth place "Weistein", a misspelling of "Wollstein")
• http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/dorsh-dougher.html Political Graveyard
• http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E02EFD8153FE336A05752C0A96F9C946391D7CF Appointed tax collector, in NYT on September 1, 1862
• http://genforum.genealogy.com/dorsheimer/messages/23.html Dorsheimer genealogy (giving as birthplace "Dondersberg" - a variant spelling of Donnersberg, translated to Mont-Tonnerre in French, "Canton Wollstein" - cantons are the divisions of the départements)
• http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=950DE1DA1339E134BC4153DFBE66838D649FDE His letter to J. F. Donaldson, in NYT on August 9, 1856