Frank Strouse, Civil War Soldier

Frank Strouse was my maternal GG Grandfather

I recently visited the Gettysburg battleground. Prior to getting deeply involved in genealogy, I vaguely knew that my maternal GG grandfather, Frank Strouse, served there but knew very little else. Other than telling one funny story, he did not talk to his family about the war. I took the opportunity of preparing for this Gettysburg trip to put more pieces together. Following is what I learned.

 

Pottsville ca 1861. John Warner Barber & Henry Howe,Our Whole Country or the Past and Present of the United States....Volume I (New York: Tuttle & McCauley, 1861), 538

Prior to the Civil War, Pottsville had a longstanding National Light Infantry unit. When President Lincoln issued a call to protect Washington, this unit was among the First Responders. Frank Strouse was not among this initial unit, but at the end of their three months tour of duty, when nearly all of the former National Light Brigade members signed a three-year/duration of the war contract, Frank Strouse and other Pottsville citizens joined them. They became Company A of the newly authorized 96^th Pennsylvania Infantry. Organized right in Pottsville in September, 1861, the unit served in many of the bloodiest fights of the war, finally mustering out after the Battle of Cedar Creek in September, 1864.

Gettysburg is only one of the many battles in which the 96^th was engaged. When I reviewed the service record for the unit, I could understand why he might have chosen not to talk about what he must have witnessed and endured. Following is a partial list of their campaigns and battles:

 

Image from Gettysburg Cyclorama

1862

First Battle of Manassas

Siege of Yorktown

Seven Days Battles before Richmond

Gaines' Mill

Maryland Campaign

Antietam

Battle of Fredericksburg

1863

Burnside's second Campaign, "Mud March"

Chancellorsville Campaign.

Maryes Heights, Fredericksburg

Battle of Gettysburg

Bristoe Campaign

Mine Run Campaign

1864

Rapidan Campaign

Battle of the Wilderness

Siege of Petersburg

Repulse of Early's attack

Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign

Battle of Opequan, Winchester

Battle of Cedar Creek

 

Gettsyburg Battlefield Day 2 (July 2)

With specific reference to Gettysburg, the 96^th was part of the Sixth Corps commanded by John Sedgwick. The rigorous march they made to Gettysburg earned them the nickname “Sedgwick’s Foot Cavalry.” I had believed that the 96^th was held in reserve but that was not exactly true, and certainly was not consistent with the position of their monument on the field. A little more research revealed that when they reached the battlefield the afternoon of July 2nd, Longstreet was in the process of driving Sickles from his position. The men were at once formed, with no rest, to join the battle and wound up to the right and front of Little Round Top. They took position behind a stone fence and held the position with slight loss until end of the battle.

 

Monument marks the position of the 96th near Little Round Top

The 96^th is commemorated with a monument of a prone soldier at the point where they were positioned, and also with a plaque on the huge domed Pennsylvania State Monument, which names every man who fought for Pennsylvania at Gettysburg.

 

The domed Pennsylvania Monument at Gettysburg.

Closeup of 96th Infantry plaque. Frank Strouse is a private in Company A.

Frank Strouse’s descendants can be proud of his service during the Civil War. We can also count ourselves lucky that he survived the war to marry his sweetheart, Sarah Jane Bast!

Memorial Stone at Highland Park Cemetery in Allentown

For more information you may want to read the History of the 96th Pennsylvania.

Dad’s Got Ancestors! Wilhelm Rittenhouse, the Paper Maker

My Rittenhouse ancestors are from my paternal Smith line. 
Wilhelm Rittenhouse was my 9^th great grandfather.

My mother’s maternal line was very well established, so I was frustrated when initial research into my father’s paternal (Stine) line did not yield results. I turned instead to his Smith antecedents and within short order excitedly emailed my family saying, “Dad’s Got Ancestors!” I had discovered the Rittenhouse family.

Wilhelm Rittenhouse

Wilhelm Rittenhouse (1644-1708) is arguably my most famous immigrant ancestor. He built the first paper mill in the British North America and the mills run by his extended family held a virtual monopoly on paper making for about 40 years. Many of the important colonial documents of that period were printed on paper sporting a Rittenhouse watermark. The family-owned business continued to make paper for 150 years.

Wilhelm Rittenhouse was born in 1644 in a small village outside of Mühlheim on the Ruhr River in Germany. He probably learned the paper making trade in his home village, then followed an aunt and uncle to the Netherlands where they operated a paper mill. He lived in the Netherlands for over 20 years, taking the citizen’s oath in 1679. He married a Dutch woman, Geertruid Pieters, in 1665, and their three children -- Nicholas or Claus, Gerrit, and Elisabeth -- and were all born in the Netherlands. The family papermaking business expanded and Wilhelm learned all parts of the business.
 

1690 homestead, now serving as the kitchen/bakery

It isn’t known why Wilhelm relocated his family, including the three children, to Pennsylvania in 1688. William Penn presented a very attractive vision for his new colony, including business opportunities and religious freedom. While in Amsterdam, Wilhelm became a Mennonite, and although no longer persecuted for their beliefs in the Netherlands, many Mennonites joined with Quakers to move to Pennsylvania. Wilhelm brought a good skill set to the colonies, including the ability to negotiate, speak multiple languages, build mills, and make paper.

By the summer of 1889 Wilhelm had several town lots in the new Germantown settlement, but by the fall of 1890 he had leased acreage on a tributary of the Wissahickon Creek in preparation to build a paper mill. This acreage eventually formed Rittenhouse Town.

One of Wilhelm’s partners in this venture was William Bradford, who had an established printing business with a government contract. In exchange for financing, Bradford held a monopoly on much of the paper mill’s output for a number of years.

Paper making fit nicely into the colony’s economy. At this time, paper was made from cloth rags. William Penn promoted the growing of flax to make into cloth; the cloth in turn became rags for paper. This early “green” economic system is described in the first poem published in Pennsylvania, Richard Frame’s 1692 poem A Short Description of Pennsilvania excerpted below.

The German-Town, of which I spoke before,
Which is, at least, in length one Mile and More,
Where lives High-German People, and Low-Dutch,
Whose Trade in weaving Linnin Cloth is much,
There grows the Flax, as also you may know,
That from the same they do divide the Tow;
….

A Paper Mill neare German-Town doth stand,
So that the Flax, which first springs from the Land,
First Flax, then Yarn, and then they must begin,
To weave the same, which they took pains to spin.
Also, when on our backs it is well worn,
Some of the same remains Ragged and Torn;
Then of those Rags our Paper it is made,
Which in process of time doth wate and fade:
So what comes from the Earth, appeareth plain,
The same in Time returns to Earth again.

About 1700 a devastating flood wiped out the original paper mill, and a new improved one was built, this time without Bradford financing. At last Wilhelm was free to expand his customer base and reputation.

1707 Homestead

On the personal side, while Mennonites were free to practice their religion in Pennsylvania, there was more support for the Quaker establishment and some Mennonites converted. Those who stayed true to their Mennonite beliefs, including Wilhelm and his family, began meeting in homes in 1690. However, there was no official minister or deacon until 1698 when Wilhelm reluctantly agreed to serve in that capacity. 
 

1770 meetinghouse that replaced 1708 log structure

Unfortunately, ministers could not baptize or celebrate communion. In 1702 the colonials begged Europe for an ordained bishop to be sent to the colony, but the trip was considered too arduous, so they were told to prayerfully choose a bishop from their midst. Eventually Wilhelm overcame his misgivings and agreed to serve as the first bishop in British North America. Before he could celebrate either rite, he died unexpectedly, so historians agree he cannot technically have been considered a bishop. Nevertheless, he is credited with having made arrangements before his death to have the Mennonite meetinghouse in Germantown constructed.

Stone with initials and 1707 date

Wilhelm’s son Claus or Nicholas (1666-1734) was his partner in the paper mill and took over the business on Wilhelm’s death.  Claus, in turn, prepared his son William Dewees Rittenhouse (1691-1772) to inherit the mill. William Dewees was the last of my line to own the mill; he bequeathed the mill to his son Jacob. I am descended from two other sons of William, Nicholas and (probably) Henry. [Note that I am NOT a descendant of the well-known David Rittenhouse, who was a cousin.]

Oldest part of home built for William D Rittenhouse

I feel somewhat awestruck to have Wilhelm Rittenhouse as an ancestor. When I studied Pennsylvania history in school, names like William Penn and Benjamin Franklin seemed far removed. That makes it startling to read that William Penn took a personal interest in seeing that Wilhelm’s paper making business got back on its feet after the 1700 flood, and to read that that Benjamin Franklin preferred to print on Rittenhouse paper. Think of the words and ideas that were expressed on that paper! I was delighted to find that Historic Rittenhouse Town is not only a National Historic District, but that two of Wilhelm’s homes have survived, a small building built in 1690 which now serves as a bakery and a larger homestead dated 1707. It is also somehow comforting to know that as the Rittenhouse family expanded and dispersed, family ties to those who stayed in the Germantown area were maintained.

National Historic Landmark Plaque

I highly recommend taking the time to visit HistoricRittenhouse Town, which is located in Fairmount Park. Go on a summer weekend and choose to pay for a tour, which provides access inside the homesteads and a docent to tell the stories. If you’ve a mind to learn more, the website below  provided the most detailed information that I have found to date, and I have borrowed from it for this post.

"WilliamRittenhouse," Immigrant Entrepreneurship, 2014, Immigrant Entrepreneurship. 5 Apr 2014 <http://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=9>

Hannah and Julia Hauze: A Mother-Daughter Story

 The obituary for Hannah Hauze Smith, my great great grandmother, lists her as “a daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hamilton.” That seems fairly straightforward until you question why Julia’s maiden name was Hauze rather than Hamilton.

Obituary for Julia Hauze Smith

Julia Hauze Smith was, in fact, the daughter of Hannah Hauze and a man named Charles Hamilton, but despite the “Mr. and Mrs.” designation in the obituary, there is no proof they ever married. No definitive clues have been found as to where Charles came from, nor where he went after fathering a child. Was this an affair? Did he die? We don't know.

Hannah Hauze was the daughter of John and Phoebe Rittenhouse Hauze. She was born in 1848 in Black Creek, Luzerne County, PA, so would have been about 19 when her daughter Julia was born.

The 1870 census shows “Julia Ann Hanz” (sic), age 2, living with her grandparents. In 1880 “Julia Hamilton,” age 12, is still living with her grandparents and listed as a granddaughter.  While records for her mother Hannah have not been found for 1870, it was about then that she married Matthew O’Brien. Hannah and Matthew had four children in Pennsylvania before 1878, and ca. 1879 they moved by wagon train to Iowa, following others from the Black Creek area. They left Julia, about 10 years old, behind. Hannah died in Iowa in the early 1890s.

So what of the lives of these two women? According to anecdotal reports, Julia was raised by her grandparents, John and Phoebe Rittenhouse Hauze, with lots of mothering by her aunts. She visited extensively with the Rittenhouse clan in Philadelphia/Germantown. My Aunt Julia (a namesake) told me that it was there at a church picnic that Julia Hauze met her husband-to-be, Daniel Asa Smith. [Note that as they were both from Black Creek, it may just be that a romance was kindled in Philadelphia.] Interestingly, when Daniel Asa and Julia purchased the farm at 728 Walnut Street in Catasauqua in 1905, the deed was in Julia’s name. Where did the $1,500 purchase price come from?

Header for 1905 Property Deed

Certainly not from Julia's mother Hannah, whose life was considerably harder. On the wagon train trip west, many were caught up in an epidemic and died, according to my aunt. Hannah herself became ill and never fully recovered. Life in Iowa was difficult. The families kept in touch, but most of the letters were lost when Julia died. We do have the following poignant letter from Hannah to Julia, written about 1890.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------

Stone City [Iowa]

My dear

Well Julia you seem to think that I have forgotten you. You are sadly mistaken for I think of you day and night but you don’t know all the trials and troubles that I have to go through with. We sold our place and bought one acre of land and built us a new house. It is not very large and Hary and Jim and their father all work in the quarries now. I want you to come out here this summer and then you will know how I live. I will give you money to go home again if you don’t like it here. You must not think that I have any thing very grand for I have not so much as one good dress to my name and I shall be fourty two years old next Wensday if I live and I have seen very little pleasure in my life. Now be shure and come out here as soon as you can for we all would like to have you come. I know you and Kate and the boys would like each other. Now I hope you will come for I have thousands to tell you. 

Be sure and write soon and let us know if you are coming out here.

From your mother 

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Hannah must have died within a year or two of this letter. We don't know if Julia, who married in 1890, ever visited. Information about Stone City can be found here.

We know the families stayed in touch in part because about 1955, my grandmother, Ellen Smith Stine, traveled to Iowa to meet family members. We have a photograph of that meeting.

Ellen Smith Stine (right) with her Aunt Nell O'Brien (left)

So questions remain. Where did the money come from to purchase the farm? If anything, Daniel would have had the funds, as his father died in 1903 and left him a share of the estate.

Just as interesting is the question of why Hannah’s existence was unacknowledged when Julia died, and the name of Charles Hamilton preserved? Not only were Julia’s parents listed as “Mr. and Mrs. Charles Hamilton,” but on Julia’s death certificate her father is listed as Charles Hamilton and her mother as “unknown!” [Julia’s son Marvin was the informant.] When the home was cleaned out, correspondence with Hannah's family in Iowa was lost, but a half brother in Ohio (should say Iowa) was acknowledged in the obituary. We have the one letter above, and a portrait identified as Hannah.

Hannah Hauze O'Brien

One bright spot is that in addition to the extended family we have here in Pennsylvania, descendants of Hannah Hauze and Charles Hamilton's only daughter, we also have slightly more distant cousins in Iowa, the children of Hannah and Matthew O’Brien, whom I have "met" while on my genealogical adventure.

Life goes on.

The Woman Behind the Man: Anna Maria Merkle Hite

My Hite ancestors are from my maternal Manning line. Jost and Anna Maria Merkle Hite were my sixth great grandparents.

“Who Do You Think You Are” did a segment on Tim McGraw (turns out he's a very distant cousin), and part of the story focused on Jost Heyd/Hite, known as a pioneer responsible for settling the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Typical of histories, it credited the man, but not the woman behind the man, Anna Maria Merkle.

By all accounts Jost Heyd and his bride, Anna Maria, were more comfortable than many when they married in 1704 in Germany.  She was of a prominent family; he was a linen weaver, son of a butcher. However, times in Palatinate Germany were hard, and in 1709 they joined thousands who emigrated to England with hopes of resettlement to the Americas. By the time they left England in 1710, expenses and fees had reduced their circumstances so that they were placed on the subsistence list. They were sent to an ill-conceived New York settlement near Kingston which was supposed to produce pine tar for shipbuilding. Promises of land and support were broken; some of the settlers spent their first winter in caves.

Nevertheless, by 1714 Jost’s family was able to move to Philadelphia County where he purchased 150 acres on Skippack Creek. In 1718 they purchased 600 acres on Perkiomen Creek and built a grist mill (which became Pennypacker Mills). By 1728 the family owned considerable property and he was a community leader. Anna Maria had probably established a very comfortable home (except for the occasional Indian troubles).

Pennypacker Mill homestead

So what did Jost do? He sold everything to speculate on 140,000 acres of land in the wilds of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia!

His wife and extended family had to leave their established homes, pack essentials into wagons, and move to newly charted lands in Indian territory. For a good part of the trip they had to create their own roads, and when they arrived they had to build their own homes … hovels to start with … in which to live. I can only imagine the conversations husband and wife must have had!

Ruins of Jost Hite's Tavern near Stephen's City, Virginia

After bearing eleven children, making four daunting moves (Germany to England to New York to Pennsylvania to Virginia), and establishing multiple homes from scratch only to leave them, Anna Maria died in Virginia in 1739, six years after they moved there. She was 53, and they had just moved again, this time a short distance from their tavern south of Winchester, VA, to a more comfortable new home across the road.

Mill house across Route 11 from the ruins of the tavern

Was she equal in ambition to Jost, or a long suffering wife? We will probably never know. But if Jost is credited as a pioneer and granted the title “Baron of the Shenandoah," Anna Maria should receive equal billing as the “Baronness.”