While we know that Gabriel Schuler (or Shuler) lived in Pennsylvania as early as 1710, when he is thought to have been 38 years old, documentary evidence about Gabriel Schuler's birth, youth and ancestry has not yet been unearthed. In 1900, however, Pennsylvania German historian Abraham Cassel claimed that Gabriel emigrated to America with his Mennonite father in what would have been a part of the first wave of Mennonite emigration to America from Germany, Holland or Switzerland. According to Cassel, "The stem-father of the [Schuler] family, a follower of Menno Simmons, the anabaptist, and therefore the object of persecution from state and church in the old fatherland, had, in company with many thousands of his brethren in the faith forsaken the old home to seek an asylum in America, where after a fashion he might become happy."

"There was amongst his family," Cassel continues, "a son named Gabriel, a keen youth who could not well content himself in the still and contemplative life of the pious Mennonites, but found great delight in the chase, for which the extensive woodlands then in the vicinity of Germantown offered a rich opportunity." On one of Gabriel's extended hunting trips away from the Mennonite homestead, according to Cassel, Gabriel stumbled upon a "wonderfully clear place" which he decided to make his home. Against the wishes of his family and warnings of "Indian" peril, he began to build his own home in the Perkiomen Valley, in what is now Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. By 1718, he had acquired over 425 acres in Montgomery County through purchases or by "squatting" long enough to possess the land. (Or sometimes through a combination of both. Cassel reports that the colonial government at one point demanded payment for lands which Schuler had long before acquired through adverse possession, and that Schuler obliged, most likely in order to avoid a protracted legal battle. Around the same time, Cassel claims, Schuler was prosperous enough to buy an additional 700 acres of woodland in northeastern Montgomery County, known as "the 700.")

As early as 1710, Gabriel Schuler had apparently totally abandoned the Mennonite faith and had become associated with the Reformed Church, a Swiss, Dutch and northern German "cousin" of the Presbyterian Church in England and Scotland, favoring a Calvinist-inspired belief in discipline, self-reliance and hard work. In that year, Schuler was listed as one of the members of the largely Dutch congregation of the Reformed Church at Whitemarsh, a few miles west of Germantown along the Schuylkill River. Presumably it was through this community that he met his first wife, Margaret Aweegh, whose kin were also members of the Whitemarsh congregation. Gabriel and Margaret were married by Father Paulus van Vlecq on September 17, 1711, in nearby Hoppenville.

By the end of the 1720s, Schuler had ensconced himself as a prosperous landowner and merchant who exerted considerable influence in the communities in which he moved -- including that of the Reformed Church. In 1720, as the Reformed Church was undergoing growing pains in eastern Pennsylvania, a German Reformed schoolmaster by the name of John Philip Boehm arrived in the Perkiomen Valley. Because there was a lack of qualified Reformed preachers in the area, Boehm's Reformed neighbors quickly prevailed upon Boehm to hold religious services, although he had not been ordained by the Reformed Church. Boehm did so, at first reluctantly, and without compensation, for five years, as his "congregation" gradually began to urge him to assume the office of an ordained minister. Three congregations -- one at Falkner Swamp in the far eastern reaches of Montgomery County, one at Skippack which Gabriel Schuler helped to establish, and the old one at Whitemarsh -- elected Boehm their pastor, and set about to convince the Classis of Amsterdam -- the seat of Reformed ecclesiastical governance -- to legitimize Boehm's ministry and ordain him.

Gabriel Schuler, as an "Elder" of the "Christian Reformed Congregation," was one of the sixteen signers of a letter about Boehm to the Classis, dated around July 1728. Although Boehm's biographer, Rev. Hinke, was of the opinion that the letter was "certainly written by Boehm" himself, it is nonetheless probably illustrative of the attitudes and beliefs of Schuler and his fellow elders. While evidencing humility and piety, it is also a remarkably pragmatic document, as one might expect the prayers of rough-hewn men to be. The letter reveals the frustrations of a somewhat widely geographically extended group of Reformed worshippers trying to survive in the relative wilderness without a local church hierarchy to guide them and with scores of religious "errorists" dwelling among them "who maintain[ed] among other things, that one can judge from the outside of a man whether he is a Christian or not . . ."

The elders explained that they had initially asked Boehm to lead services and perform sacraments, despite the fact that Boehm had not been ordained, so that the group might not be distracted by the many anabaptist faiths which flourished in the atmosphere of religious liberty in colonial Quaker Pennsylvania. "Good as the land is in which he live," the letter observes, "equally sad and unfortunate is our condition respecting spiritual things, as you can easily see. It is for this reason that the simple-minded people are exposed to the greatest danger of contamination, and this all the more, because most of them are inexperienced and poor, living great distances from each other. Therefore, we felt ourselves under obligation without delay to set up a pure religious worship and to maintain it by every agency possible, in accordance with the Word of God; in order that neither we nor our children nor so many simple-minded couls, in whom there is still a longing for the true doctrine of the Holy Gospel, may be lost forever in this soul-destroying whirlpool of apostasy; but that they should work out each other's salvation with fear and trembling."

While some colonial Reformed pastors were quick to criticize Boehm for his lack of formal religious education, the elders pointed out that "evil consequences . . . would ensue, if all that has been done amongst us should be declared null and void" -- that, for example, innocently undertaken baptisms and weddings might have to be unraveled, and for no good reason, according to the pragmatic elders. (A group led by Rev. George Michael Weiss, fueled by some renegade members of the Reformed Church in and around Perkiomen Valley, had been particularly against Boehm's ordination. It appears, however, that Boehm had a habit of getting into skirmishes with people; one of the reasons he left Germany was as a result of in-fighting with local Reformed deacons.)

A year after the letter was sent, the Classis responded that Boehm's acts were legal and that Boehm should be ordained to the ministry by one of the ministers of New York. Thereafter, as Rev. Hinke reports, "(s)teps were at once taken to secure the ordination of Boehm as speedily as possible. Three commissioners were appointed on November 4 [1729], one from each congregation, to accompany Boehm to New York, Frederick Antes of Falkner Swamp, Gabriel Schuler of Skippack and William DeWees of Whitemarsh." Schuler, Antes and DeWees appeared with Boehm before the Dutch ministers in New York City on November 18, 1729, where they each declared their adherence to the Heidelberg Catechism and the Formulas of Unity. Boehm was then ordained in their presence by Father Henricus Boel on Sunday, November 23 in the Dutch Reformed Church in New York.

On January 29, 1730, Boehm and another group of Reformed elders, Gabriel Schuler among them, addressed another letter to the Classis of Amsterdam, expressing their joy and gratitude at the Classis' decision and at Boehm's ordination. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this letter to the Schuler family, however, is Gabriel Schuler's "signature." Unlike Boehm and Schuler's fellow elders, whose natural signatures can be found at the bottom of the letter, for Gabriel Schuler someone saw fit to affix a mark to the letter -- a poignant, egg-shaped "O" around which is inscribed the words "Gabriel Shuler's . . . mark." According to the custom of the time, the appearance of someone's mark did not necessarily mean that the person did not know how to sign his or her own name; often it could mean that the person was not available to sign, so that the mark would be affixed by someone else as a "seal" of that person's assent to the document's contents, or it could have been affixed by the person him or herself in lieu of the signature as a matter of personal preference, to represent his or her own "seal" of assent, as in a legal document. On the other hand, an illiterate person could affix a seal and have someone else write his or her name to indicate the author of the mark.

Schuler remained active in church affairs at least through the mid-1740s. He joined Boehm and Ulrich Stephen in the purchase of 150 acres of land near the Skippack River (now part of Harleyville, Pennsylvania) from the estate of Christian Stauffer, in effect helping to finance Boehm's purchase of the land for a church site. The property came with a well-built house on it, which Boehm used for services until December 1745, when he had to sell it due to lack of financial support from Amsterdam; Schuler and Stephen had sold their portions to Boehm in 1742. When the Old Goshenhoppen Church was built in 1744, Gabriel, a skilled woodworker among his many other talents, built and donated the original pulpit.

As Abraham Cassel's narrative would suggest, it would be wrong to think of Gabriel Schuler only as a sedate and pious church elder. As the owner of one of the most popular taverns in Montgomery County (albeit an unlicensed one, probably), he was a man of the world, and his efforts on behalf of his church would appear to be in keeping with a need to exert influence over his environment as he established his life and livelihood in Penn's Woods. As with any tavern, its prime location and Schuler's own force of personality probably contributed to the tavern's success. Schuler's tavern was the usual stop for wagons carrying goods from Philadelphia to Lancaster and points west, and became the tax collector's weigh station along the commerce route. In its heyday, the tavern had been well-established as a landmark in the region: more recent immigrants would advertise in Christopher Sauer's newspaper to alert friends and relatives of the fact that they had arrived in America, and in more than one instance, the advertisements observed that the immigrant had set up housekeeping "near Gabriel Shuler" or "one mile from Gabriel Shuler." Schuler had competitors, however. A proprietor named Johann Isaac Klein built a smaller, meaner inn across the road from Schuler's, causing Schuler to hang a sign outside his own tavern, reading:

Ich verkaufe bier und wein
So volfeil als der nachbar Klein      

The German couplet translates roughly (and pithily) as "I sell beer and wine/As inexpensively as neighbor Klein."

After the death of his first wife, Margaret, Schuler married Catherine (born May 4, 1695 - died February 1, 1773), the widow of Peter Tyson. Peter and Catherine were the parents of Schuler's daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Tyson (the wife of Gabriel's son, William), so ultimately Elizabeth Tyson Schuler was both Gabriel's step-daughter and daughter-in-law.

As he entered his 70s, Schuler began to engage in a number of land transactions with his family. In 1745, he sold 200 acres on the eastern bank of Swamp Creek (Unami), near the confluence of the Swamp and Perkiomen Creeks at present day Perkiomenville, which he had purchased in 1734, to his eldest son Samuel for 100 Pounds and "the natural affection, love and Goodwill he bears toward his son." Also that year, he was associated with Henry Myer in the purchase of 100 acres. In 1755, Schuler deeded 188.5 acres in Towamencin, which his wife Catherine's late first husband had left to her, to Elizabeth Tyson Schuler. and his other step-daughter, Barbara Tyson Antes, for 50 Pounds. In 1770, at the alleged age of 98, he sold 191 acres to his grandson John, son of William.

Cassel caps his reflections on Gabriel Schuler with an amusing legend concerning him in his old age within which, even if it is not true, one might still wish to find kernels of truth about Gabriel's character. According to Cassel: One day, Gabriel entered the shop of a carpenter where a collection of farmers from the neighborhood, all within the outskirts of Gabriel's "700," had congregated to talk about the events of the day. Schuler was by this time white-haired with age, and though he usually had a pleasant, engaging disposition, that day he seemed cold and forbidding, and he carried an axe upon his shoulder. Without a smile or word of greeting, he advanced to the grindstone in the carpenter's shop and snarled, "Let someone turn it for me." One of Schuler's kin, who happened to be there, got up and turned the stone while the old man sharpened his axe painstakingly. Afterwards, he stood before the hushed onlookers and replaced his axe upon his shoulder. Some thought that the old man, whom they had never seen in such a mood, had suddenly lost his senses and was brooding mischief. At last he spoke. "Now let each one of you follow me." One of the farmers asked tentatively, "Shall we take arms along?""Do as you please," he answered. With that, the farmers followed him, some quickly arming themselves with rifles, others with tools from the carpenter's shop. Gabriel led the silent, puzzled throng to a clearing in the middle of the "700." Addressing them curtly again, the old man said, "Let each of you go separately into the woods and select a fine, large tree, and return to this clearing again when you hear my signal." The farmers scattered and did as they were ordered. Upon Gabriel's signal, they all came back, having faithfully followed his instructions. Gabriel asked each of them to take him to their selected tree in turn. He examined each tree carefully, eyeing its full measure and shaking his head with disapproval. Taking them all to the true that he had selected, Gabriel declared: "You have found many fine and robust trees, but none compares to this oak." The farmers stood in awe before the most massive oak they had ever seen, and all quickly agreed that Gabriel's oak was certainly the finest and strongest tree of any they had seen that day. With that, the old man threw off his jacket and took after the tree with his newly-sharpened axe. The farmers formed a ring around him as the old man cut half the tree and, without missing a beat, changed sides and tore into the other half of the great oak. Before one hour had passed, Gabriel had cut through the second half. The tree tottered, broke and fell.

With a triumphant laugh, for the first time the old man straightened up from his labor, breathed deeply and mounted the jagged stump of the fallen oak. He looked down upon the farmers and said: "I will now explain the meaning of this. Today I am 100 years old, and to you I would bear evidence of my well-maintained strength. I desire now of each of you the solemn promise that this tree shall not be disturbed nor removed by anyone." And, as Cassel reported, as of 1900 the remnants of the time-decayed oak which Gabriel Schuler felled on his 100th birthday could still be seen.

Gabriel made his last will when he was allegedly 104 years old in February of 1776, three years before he passed away at the remarkable age of 107. To his grandsons Gabriel and John, he left his personal dwelling in Lower Salford township, upon payment by them of 300 Pounds each to his executors, who were asked to pay the 300 pounds to Gabriel's younger grandsons, Henry and William, the sons of his deceased son William. Gabriel appointed their mother, Elizabeth Tyson Schuler, and his friend Daniel Price, as the guardians of Henry and William. He granted free privilege to Elizabeth to live in any of his dwellings, use the kitchen garden and keep two cows, and left her 300 Pounds ("to be deemed the share of my deceased son William"), all of the interest money out of his bonds and notes, which totaled 699 Pounds at the time of his death, for one year ("in consideration of her being a careful nurse and faithful housekeeper to me in my old age") and the balance of his estate. He noted that he had already paid out to his other living children their shares of the estate. He named his grandson Gabriel and his grandson-in-law Nicholas Reil as the executors of his estate.

Gabriel was buried at Reiff's Church along the Skippack River in Montgomery County, in a small burial ground near his wives and some of his children. Unfortunately, the graves do not survive. In June 1854, Rev. Henry Harbaugh described Reiff's burial ground as follows: "The spot which was once a graveyard, but can now scarcely be recognized as such, is one the west side of a large field. The fence which once enclosed it is long since gone. The field was at one time covered with waving rye. The ploughing of the field has, from time to time, encroached upon the sacred precincts, so that the corners have been rounded off; and it now lies, like a small half-moon, along the fence. The soapstone gravetsones are all broken; some pieces are still projecting above ground, but nearly levelled with the earth, while fragments are lying around, with letter and parts of names upon them. The largest number of letters we could find together, on any fragment, was 'schu.' . . . A most lonely and neglected spot is this ancient burialplace, but, on that very account, it is more sadly and solemnly interesting. The fence corners are filled with thorns, under which we found pieces of tombstones. A solitary Juneberry tree throws a feeble shadow upon the spot. The ground is covered with the many-leaved yarrow, the wild parsnip, the Canadian thistle, St. John's wort, cinquefoil, spots of white clover, solidago of golden rod, with here and there a lonely mullein, a bunch of wild cotton, and low bushes of wild plum." As of the 1880s, the spot was a cultivated field.

The unusually long life of Gabriel Schuler -- hunter, landowner, innkeeper, church leader, carpenter and legendary woodsman -- allegedly spanned the founding of Pennsylvania by William Penn in 1674 and the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776. Few if any other beings could make the same claim.