Tobias Witmer

Tobias Witmer was an American inventor, spelling reformer, civil engineer, and a notable poet in the Pennsylvania Dutch language. He was also one of the most well known surveyors of the Niagara County, New York region. His inventions included a bicycle wheel made from the wires of an old hoop skirt; a corn sheller; and an automatic railroad switch. For a time, he was a schoolteacher and was one of the founders of the Williamsville Classical Institute, later known as the Williamsville Academy.
Witmer's Pennsylvania German poetry was anthologized by Abraham R. Horne and Edward H. Rauch.
He and his twin brother were born in Niagara Falls, New York to a family from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He died in Williamsville, New York.