NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES: Rev. Rudolph Duenger PART III Copyright (c) 1999 by John Paul Deeben. This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives. jdeeben@aol.com USGENWEB NOTICE: Printing this file by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. PERSONAL AND FAMILY MATTERS, 1835-1855 SOMETIME NEAR THE BEGINNING of his service in the Lower Mahanoy Charge, Rudolph Duenger married and began to raise a family. Between 1834 and 1835 he married Catharine Maria Gerhard. Catharine has proven to be one of the most enigmatic figures in the story of Rudolph's life. She was born August 2, 1814 at Langensteinbach in Hassendamstadt, Wurttemberg, and migrated to America with her parents in 1817. Little else is known for certain regarding the details of her life and identity. One modern scholar has asserted that Catharine belonged to one of the Lower Mahanoy congregations, an affiliation which led directly to her union with Rudolph: "Although a native German . . . pastor Duenger endeared himself to his congregation by marrying a daughter of the Howerter congregation."[1] While this assertion has raised considerable interest among Duenger descendants, it immediately raises several problems as well. The Howerter Church register provides no concrete evidence of Catharine's membership in the congregation, nor does it contain any record of her marriage to Rudolph-indeed, no Duenger family information of any kind has been found. The records do exhibit a Gerhard family in the parish shortly after the date that Catharine came to America-the Lutheran register listed a David and Catharina Gerhard who had a son Peter baptized in 1819- but there is no conclusive proof to link Catharine with them. Despite the coincidence of a common name shared between Catharine and the mother, any possible connection with this Gerhard family must remain conjecture for the present. A second complication with the Howerter connection emerges over the birth date of their first child, who was born in October 1835. The timing of this birth suggests that Rudolph and Catharine had to have met and been married before he began his pastoral career in the Lower Mahanoy Charge in February 1836. It is entirely possible that Duenger could have met Catharine during his initial visitations to the pastorate in early 1835. The brief time frame, however, still does not allow for any substantial courtship between the two, especially considering Duenger's ongoing ministerial responsibilities in the Altoona area during this time. Any scenario regarding the origins of Rudolph and Catharine's relationship, and whether or not she was even a member of the Howerter congregation, must therefore remain speculative. (Could the marriage have been arranged, perhaps? One will probably never know.) This lingering uncertainty, at any rate, serves to emphasize the ongoing difficulties that have been encountered in the search for information on Catharine Maria Gerhard. RUDOLPH AND CATHARINE DUENGER were married for approximately twenty years, from about 1835 until Catharine's death, which probably occurred in 1854 or 1855. Here again, mystery surrounds the elusive details of the end of Catharine's life. None of the records of the parish congregations mention her death or burial, and a search of the various cemeteries throughout the charge have yielded no marker of any kind (a surprising circumstance which seems rather odd considering Catharine's station as the wife of the parish minister. Indeed, only one family grave has been located so far within the parish, that of an infant son, Carl Frederick Duenger [March 17, 1847-September 27, 1847], who was interred in the Himmel's churchyard.) Based on a general knowledge of the conditions of the time, a logical assumption could be made that Catharine died in 1854 during childbirth. Occurrences of that nature were tragically commonplace in the mid-nineteenth century. The birth of the Duengers' last known child on February 14, 1854, moreover, corresponded almost simultaneously with Rudolph's resignation from the Lower Mahanoy Charge. The traumatic loss of a spouse during childbirth could very well have prompted Duenger to move his family on to new locations and away from unhappy memories. This scenario, however, once again remains purely-although very logically-speculative, since no validating evidence has yet emerged. During their life together, Rudolph and Catharine Duenger raised a very substantial family of nine children. Their offspring included John Harvey (b. 1835), Jonathan (b. 1837), Mary (b. 1839), Amelia Susanna (b. 1841), Catherine (b. 1843), Rudolph (b. 1845), Carl Frederick (b. 1847), Christiana Elizabeth (b. 1850), and Mary Malinda (b. 1854.). Of these children, only four-John Harvey, Amelia Susanna, Christiana Elizabeth, and Mary Malinda-are presently known to have survived to adulthood. All were born in Jackson Township, Northumberland County. (This assumption is made simply because U.S. census records show the Duengers as residents of this township at the time in question. No specific evidence has been found to locate exactly where the Duengers lived. It appears as though the Lower Mahanoy Charge did maintain a parsonage from about 1822 to 1853, but no record of its location exists. On March 22, 1850, however, Rudolph did purchase a twenty-acre farm in Jackson Township from John and Catharine Kiehl for $475.00. It bordered the farmlands of John Latsha, Nicholas Drumheller, Daniel Gonser, and John Schott, and had originally been part of the old Drumheller homestead. This transaction, of course, took place after most of Rudolph and Catharine's children were already born.) [2] John Harvey Duenger, the first child of Rudolph and Catharine, was born October 2, 1835. John Harvey worked most of his life as a farmer and carpenter. At some point he relocated to Berrysburg in Mifflin Township, Dauphin County. There, he met and married Catharine Ann Wert (December 28, 1838-November 11, 1888), a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Harman) Wert, on December 25, 1860 at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Berrysburg.[3] John and Catharine Duenger also raised a sizable family of eight children: 1.) EMMA ELIZABETH (May 10, 1861-1931), who married Reuben K. Wehry (1854-1934). They lived near Hepler, Schuylkill County and had at least two children of record, Edward and Beulah; 2.) CHARLES EDWIN (August 15, 1862-September 16, 1863); 3.) WILLIAM ALBERT (June 7, 1864-May 15, 1922), who moved to Shamokin, Northumberland County where he worked as a carpenter in the coal mines. On January 16, 1896 he married Bessie Grant Hodge (November 3, 1869-December 25, 1925) and had six children: Verna (1896-1938), Catherine Henrietta (1898-19320, William Rudolph (1900-1959), Eupha Milla (1902-1959), Florence Mae (1905- 1981), and Cora Marie (1908-1992); 4.) CATHERINE LOUISE (October 27, 1866-1940), who married John A. Schaffer (1866-1954) and lived in Pillow, Northumberland County; 5.) HARRY RUDOLPH (July 3, 1868-1926). Harry married Minervea Luppold (1867-1915) and had one son, Ralph J. Dinger (September 17, 1889-1958); 6.) SARAH AMELIA (December 1, 1870-February 22, 1936), who married Leidy Thomas Gerhart (December 12, 1864-October 16, 1937) of Hatfield, Montgomery County. Sarah and Leidy had five children: Howard Jerome (1893-1894), Daisy Adeline (1895-1966), Charles Rudolph Duenger (1897-1946), Lottie Amelia (1899-1947), and Clifford Thomas (1905-1972); 7.) JOHN HARVEY JR. (October 19, 1874-May 2, 1925), who moved to Williamstown in Dauphin County where he thrived as a building contractor. John Harvey married Elizabeth Gertrude Row (January 242, 1880-July 13, 1960) and they had six children: Margaret (1899-1950), Helen Isabel (1901-1984), Joseph Row (1903-1964), Sarah (1906-1975), Bertha Mae (1909-1968), and Cora Elizabeth (1914-); and 8.) NORMAN WESLEY (August 5, 1878- December 22, 1936). Norman also relocated to Hatfield and married Annie Marcella Cressman (November 13, 1878-November 11, 1932). They had two children, George (1904-1969) and Helen (1911-1995.) Following Catharine Wert Duenger's sudden death near the age of fifty on November 11, 1888, John Duenger married Mrs. Mary (Rush) Forney on January 25, 1890. They had two children together, Cora Ann Duenger (born April 22, 1891) and Clair Franklin Duenger (February 28, 1894-February 13, 1931). John Harvey Duenger passed away on February 25, 1898 and was interred in St. John's Lutheran cemetery at Berrysburg. At the time of his death, he must have been a man of moderate means for the day. Dauphin County death records listed his personal wealth at $300 in "Goods, Chattels, Rights and Credits," and $1400 in real estate.[4] Amelia Susanna Duenger, the fourth child and second daughter of Rudolph and Catherine, was born February 16, 1841. After Rudolph moved the family to Ashland in 1855, Amelia met and married John Peter Fisher (March 20, 1829-June 18, 1893), a man of local prominence from Fountain Springs who had been born in Prussia and emigrated to America as a young man. He worked for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad for more than thirty years, first as a repair boss and then as a watchman. They raised a modest family of four children: John Fisher (1864-?); Emma Amelia Fisher (January 5, 1866-January 26, 1950), who married Augustus F. Kehler (February 8, 1866-September 5, 1927), a prominent Shamokin businessman and traveling salesman. Their children included Claude Ellsworth (October 11, 1891-September 15, 1961), Harold (1894-?), Clarence F. (September 13, 1898-September 5, 1938), Lloyd (1901-?), and Irene A. (June 27, 1903-December 27, 1974); Rudolph Fisher (1870-?), and twin Joseph Fisher (1870-?). Little else is known of Amelia Duenger Fisher. She passed away eighteen years after her husband on July 2, 1911 and was buried in the Christ Church Cemetery at Fountain Springs, just outside Ashland.[5] The last child of Rudolph and Catharine Duenger for whom a substantial record survives was Christiana Elizabeth Duenger. Christiana was born in May 1850. She remained single for a large portion of her life, probably acting as a housekeeper for her aging father (Rudolph was already forty-two years of age by the time Christiana was born.) It was probably through Rudolph's ministerial connections that Christiana eventually met and married Rev. Christian Henry Mutschler, a German Reformed minister who was serving at the time in the Augusta Reformed Charge near Sunbury, Northumberland County. Christian and Christiana were married by Rudolph Duenger on August 21, 1894, and soon afterwards Christiana transferred her church membership from the Ashland Charge to Augusta's Lantz Emmanuel Reformed Church on October 29, 1894. Christian Henry Mutschler was born in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania on October 14, 1840, a son of Francis Theodore and Sarah Mutschler. He was orphaned at age sixteen. Christian's first significant experience of manhood was military service in the Civil War. He enlisted on October 22, 1862 as a private in Co. H, 152nd Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, an independent artillery battalion. In April 1863 this unit and another battalion were combined to form the 3rd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. (Although originally organized for heavy artillery service, this unit was redesignated a light, or field, battery per Special Orders No. 73, dated May 6, 1863.) The twelve batteries of the unit were recruited from various parts of Pennsylvania and first rendezvoused at camps in Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey. There were some initial problems in the regiment involving unpaid bounty money for many of the recruits, which resulted in the mutiny of Battery H (Mutschler's company.) The battery was sent under arrest to Fort Delaware, where Maj. Gen. Robert C. Schenck investigated the matter and determined the claims of the mutineers to be justified. He released the battery and stationed it in the Baltimore defenses. In June 1863 a section of Battery H was mounted as light artillery and assigned to the Army of the Potomac's Cavalry Division. There, it saw action at the battle of Gettysburg on July 2-3. (It so far does not appear as though Mutschler was in the battery section engaged at Gettysburg.) Regimental headquarters for the unit was established at Fort Monroe, but all of the batteries were dispersed, performing various duties in other fields of operation. Some detachments participated in engagements along the James, Chickahominy, and Nansemond rivers, and also in the capture of Fort Fisher, North Carolina. During the Petersburg campaign in 1864, companies D, E, G and M were attached to the Army of the James at Bermuda Front. Mutschler was appointed corporal on March 8, 1864 by Captain W. D. Rank to fill a vacancy occasioned by the death of Sergeant William L. Billman. Mutschler was promoted to sergeant on June 17, 1865 and was discharged from the service with that rank at Baltimore on July 25, 1865.[6] Following service in the Civil War, Christian attended Myerstown Palatinate College and studied theology privately. Just prior to the war, on August 4, 1860, Mutschler married Lorenah Sarah Bender (July 14, 1839-April 22, 1893), and they had eight children: Alice Maria (b. March 13, 1863), Emma Jane (b. June 22, 1866), Oscar Calvin (b. December 10, 1867), Charles Henry (b. June 1, 1871), Francis Theodore (b. March 9, 1873), George William (b. February 15, 1875), Clara Martha (b. September 5, 1877), and Albert Herman (b. April 2, 1883.) [7] Mutschler was licensed and ordained by the Lebanon Classis of the German Reformed Church on November 10, 1870, and was immediately installed as pastor of the Swatara Charge in Lebanon. He served there until 1878 and then followed a succession of callings and appointments from 1878 to 1902. These included several years of missionary work in Bronson and Gainesville, Florida (1878-1882), as well as supply ministries at the Overton Charge in Dushore, Pennsylvania (1882-1888), the Augusta Charge in Sunbury (1888-1901), and Mainsville, Pennsylvania (1901-02.) [8] In February 1902 Mutschler became pastor of the Second (St. Luke's) Church in Wilkes-Barre. He served there until his sudden death on October 7, 1908 during a meeting of his G.A.R. post at the G.A.R. Hall in Wilkes-Barre. Mutschler's remains were returned to Ashland where he was interred in Christ Church Cemetery. His simple grave marker, bearing only the plain inscription "Corpl. C. H. Mutschler" along with his unit designation, belies the prominence Christian Mutschler attained, in a manner similar to that of his revered father-in-law, as a servant of the Reformed Church.[9] Following Mutschler's death, Christiana married a man named Herbert and lived in the Allentown area. She died in 1932 and was returned to Ashland for burial at Christ Church. No record of her second husband has been found. ____________________ [1] Yoder, "Baptismal Records of Howerter's Church," p. 143-44. [2] John Kiehl to Rudolph Duenger, August 6, 1850, Deed Book AA, Register and Recorder's Office, Northumberland Count Court House, Sunbury, Pennsylvania. [3] "St. John's Lutheran Church Records, Berrysburg, Dauphin County, " (typescript, Charlotte Darrah Walter Genealogical Library, NCHS, n.d.). Original handwritten record of John and Catherine Duenger's marriage may also be found in Rev. Rudolph Duenger's German Pulpit Bible, in possession of Mrs. Kay Duenger Rudis, Factoryville, Pennsylvania. See also Dr. Jonathan Maxwell Wert, The Wert Family of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania (Grantville: Wert Bookbinding, Inc., 1996), for complete information on the Wert family line. [4] Death Petition for John H. Duenger, March 15, 1898, Register and Recorder's Office, Dauphin County Court House, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. [5] 1900 U.S. Census for Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. [6] Battery Muster Roll, Co. H, 3rd Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery, March-April 1863 and May-June, 1864, National Archives, Washington D.C.; Samuel P. Bates, History of the Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-1865, Vol. 1 (Harrisburg: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1870), p. 773; Bell, History of Northumberland County, p. 431. [7] Reformed Church Almanac (1910), in Breachy, "Fathers of the Reformed Church," pp. 253-54; Military Pension Claim No. 542306, September 7, 1897, National Archives, Washington, D.C. [8] Reformed Church Almanac (1910). [9] Ibid.