1.  Lecture Note Book of Samuel Lodor, while a student at Central High School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, small quarto, 114 manuscript pages, not dated, circa 1847-1850, bound in contemporary ¼ leather, marbled  paper covered boards, spine badly chipped, corners and edges of boards worn, boards worn and scuffed, written in ink, in a legible hand, printed paper label on front board "Samuel Lodor. Philadelphia."

This volume contains the lecture notes of Samuel Lodor while a student at Central High School, in Philadelphia. The lectures notes are for two of his teachers, Frederick G. Heyer and James A. Kirkpatrick. Heyer offered a series of lectures, once a week on the "History of Public Institutions of Philadelphia." The lecture notes are for lectures on "The Pennsylvania Hospital," "The House of Refuge," "Walnut Street Public School," and "Girard College." The lecture notes for Kirkpatrick are for his lecture on "The History of Philadelphia." There is an index page for the lectures. While the volume is not dated, it dates from the mid nineteenth century, which is also when Heyer and Kirkpatrick, were teachers at Central High School.  Samuel Lodor was born in 1832, and would have reached high school age about 1847-1850. Founded in 1836, Central High School is the second continuously operated public high school in the United States. Throughout its history, it has continuously been rated one of the top high schools in Pennsylvania.

2. Manuscript  Minute Book of Samuel Lodor, Secretary, Second Reformed Dutch Church Sabbath School Association, Philadelphia, containing the constitution (adopted 11 February 1855) , and meeting minutes (11 Feb. 1855 to 21 Jan. 1858),  small quarto, 39 manuscript pages, dated 1855-1858, bound in contemporary half leather, marbled paper covered boards, spine worn, board edges and corners worn, front board and first signature detached, entries written in ink, in a legible hand.

This volume contains the "constitution" of the Sabbath School Association, containing eight articles which outline the organization,  its structure and purposes, and the signatures and addresses of the members of the group.  Also included are the minutes of the first 21 meetings of the association detailing the running and operation of the Sabbath school.

Samuel Lodor (1832-1912)

Samuel Lodor was born in March of 1832, the son of Benjamin Lodor , and Elizabeth Morrow, both of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia City Directories begin to show Samuel Lodor as a clerk starting in 1859. His work address of 821 Cherry Street would have made him employed by Cornelius & Baker, a well-known lamp and chandelier company, who had offices at 710 Chestnut and 821 Cherry. The 1870 Census had Lodor listed as a superintendent for a gas fixture company, which presumably was still Cornelius & Baker, as lamps & chandeliers were usually gas at this time. In 1870 Samuel's parents were living with him, they were retired, his father having been a "turner" for many years, living at 398 Brown Street, then later at 1020 Brown Street. These two addresses are likely the same, there were address number changes in the late 1850s, which is when the family's home address changed. It would have been located on Brown Street, between 10th and 11th Streets, in North Philadelphia. Later Samuel is shown living at 1313 N. 12th Street when he died, not far from the Brown Street address.

The 1880 Census shows Samuel Lodor listed as a coal dealer, apparently moving away from the lamp and chandelier industry and into coal. Samuel married Elmira Minus about 1858. She was born in Pennsylvania in September 1834, the daughter of William Minus and Sarah Hahn. Together the couple had five children, who were all still living in 1910. Three of their daughters were living with them in 1910 (Mary born 1861, Elizabeth born 1866, and Elmira born 1873), all were still single and school teachers. Samuel and his wife were retired in 1910. The couple’s  two other children were Dr. Charles Lodor (1858-1936), and Clara Lodor (1877-1970).

Samuel Lodor died on 15 June 1912 of cerebral embolism and “softening of the brain”. He was buried at Northwood Cemetery in Philadelphia. He was 80 years old and at the time of his death was living at 1313 N. 12th Street in Philadelphia's 15th Ward.

Second Reformed Dutch Church

The Second Reformed Dutch Church was organized in 1852 from members that withdrew from the First German Reformed Church located in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia. The church was built in 1853-1854 and located at 811 N. 7th Street. The Rev. Joseph F. Berg, D.D. was the original pastor. The church lasted at this location until 1917, being purchased in that year by a Russian Orthodox Church.

According to a history of the church, the "... Reverend Joseph F. Berg established the congregation because he "contemplated a change of ecclesiastical relations by withdrawing from the German Reformed and uniting with the Dutch Church, on account of the great principles he had been contending for with such self-sacrificing zeal and devotion." It was presented retrospectively that Reverend Berg believed the German Reformed Church "was surrendering too much of the difference that marked the distinction between the Protestant and Roman Catholic Church... [including] the introduction of a liturgy, the wearing of the gown in the pulpit, anything that even intimated the real presence of the body of Christ at the Communion." Taking many members of the German Reformed congregation with him, Reverend Berg and his followers allied themselves with the Dutch Reformed movement and founded a new church upon the motto "'Jehova-Nissi! In the name of God we set up our banner.

While the formation of the new church was somewhat dramatic, after they were established in their new building, the Second Dutch Reformed congregation quietly passed the next several decades in worship and fellowship. Yet, as time passed, many of the church's members moved from the Northern Liberties as the neighborhood's demographics changed from being primarily German to primarily Slavic. In 1917, dwindling membership led to the sale of the church to a group of Slavic immigrants who had recently separated from the nearby St. Andrew's Russian Orthodox Cathedral. After the division of the St. Andrew's congregation, the new members of St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church met for a short time in a Methodist chapel located at 509 North Fifth Street before purchasing the Second Dutch Reformed Church on November 22, 1917. A century-and-a-half after its construction, St. Nicholas Church remains one of the more architecturally distinguished and prominent buildings in Northern Liberties and its second resident congregation, as with its first, offers a spiritual and social center for residents in the neighborhood and beyond."