William S. Troxell
# William S. Troxell

William Stahley Troxell (June 11, 1893 – August 10, 1957) was an American writer in the Pennsylvania German language. Born in Rising Sun, Pennsylvania, Troxell's dialect pseudonym was Pumpernickel Bill. He was a frequent author of dialect columns in the Allentown Call-Chronicle (later The Morning Call) newspaper from 1925 to 1955 and served as president of the Pennsylvania German Society from 1952 to 1957. Troxell was a popular teacher of Pennsylvania German, as well as a prolific author of poems, pageants, and radio shows. He was a graduate of Kutztown State Teachers College and Muhlenberg College.

Troxell, a member of the German Reformed Church, died in Allentown and is buried at Neffs Union Cemetery in Neffs, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Lehigh County Historical Society and the National Society of Sons of the American Revolution. Troxell was a founder of the Grundsau Lodge movement and its fersommlings as well as an early supporter of the Kutztown Folk Festival.

