Rittenhouse: The Saga of an American Family

By J. D. Rittenhouse

Migrating to America and 1688, Wilhelm Rittinghausen became the first Mennonite minister and just before he died, the first Mennonite Bishop in America. He also established the first paper mill in North America. Before he died he changed his name to William Rittenhouse, helped write the first protest against slavery in America and established one of the most distinguished families in America.

His progeny includes several patriots in the Revolutionary War, a world renowned astronomer, mathematician and scientist who became the first Secretary of the U.S. Mint, and who Thomas Jefferson labeled "America's first genius".

Also included in this blood line are famous military officers, scientists, judges, legislators, poets, writers and adventurers. It is a family line truly blessed with interesting and intriguing characters who not only witnessed the history of America being made, but also made American history.

The stories J. D. Rittenhouse tells about his family are sure to captivate and entertain anyone interested in the history of the United States has seen through the eyes of common, yet heroic people who contributed so much to this great country.

Rittenhouse: The Saga of an American Family is a thoughtful story of a family not unlike most American families, yet it is a story of an extraordinary journey through American history has seen through the eyes of one family. It is the saga of the Rittenhouse family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514409596

J. D. Rittenhouse

J. D. Rittenhouse is a retired attorney who became interested in his family history as a young man when he learned of a famous poet named Jessie Rittenhouse. His parents divorced while he was still a baby. Because of the demands on women in the workforce during WWII he was placed in a home where he lived off and on until he was about 10 years old. He knew very little about the paternal side of his family. After learning of Jesse Rittenhouse he then found out that his ninth great-grandfather built the first paper mill in North America. Excited by these findings he then dug a little deeper and found that is seventh grade uncle was the first Secretary of the United States Mint. Further inquiry into his family history had to wait until his retirement from his law practice fifteen years ago. For the last 15 years Mr. Rittenhouse has been researching and writing about his family history. He was born in Flint, Michigan and spent his formative years in Lansing. Now a widower, he is currently a resident of San Diego, California.

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Copyright © 2015 by J. D. Rittenhouse.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015915868

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-5144-0960-2

Softcover   978-1-5144-0958-9

eBook   978-1-5144-0959-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

While this is a work of fiction. It is based on the lives of real characters and real events.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

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Rev. date: 03/23/2016

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Dedicated to all of my relatives, past and present.

FOREWORD

The strength of the United States of America comes from the contributions of thousands of families who immigrated here from all over the world during the last 400 years. The histories of these families are rich with stories of successes and failures -- bravery, hardship, misfortune, perseverance and strength.

This is the story of one of those families and its enduring contributions to American political, cultural, and literary development. The Rittenhouse family founded an American industry that has endured for over 325 years. Some of this family became world-renowned scientists, scholars, and political leaders whose accomplishments and deeds were held in high esteem by our founding fathers.

Others were early settlers pushing westward, founding new towns and settlements and finding new fields to plow. Many contributed hugely to America's military successes --

to the fight for independence of our country. Some gave their lives in America's struggles, others gave their leadership during times of war or peace.

Some bore the name of the family's founders; others bore names of families that had integrated with them. All are the descendants of one man who had the vision and the courage to bring his family from the Netherlands to a new and promising world in the 1680's. I proudly bear the sir name of the family founder, Wilhelm Rittenhouse.

This book may disturb those who also have devoted researched the history of this family. Many are purists who believe no history of the family should be written until all the T's have been crossed, and all the I's have been dotted. An exact history of the family may never be known -- the precise details regarding the husbands or wives of certain members, or the exact date of marriages, births or deaths of other individuals.

If most those people had their way, the history of this family would never be written, other than in sketches, until researchers resolve those disputes. I would like to point out that this book is in the form of a novel based on the lives of various family members. I do not write with a historian's precision or pretend to offer a totally accurate account of the history or genealogy of the family. This manuscript is meant to be a fictionalized account based on factual events and individuals to the best of my researching ability.

I wrote it for the joy of learning about our family and making the engaging history of our family available to those with an interest in the history of our country. Frequently when I meet people for the first time, they tell me they have never heard my family name before, or that it is an unusual name. Most of them are curious about it.

It is my hope that the book will offer fascinating information to those who do not know the long and outstanding history of the family. It is also my hope that members of the family, whether they carry the Rittenhouse name or not, will take an interest and pride in their heritage.

CHAPTER 1

It is early fall in Mulheim-an-der-Ruhr, Germany, 1658. The early morning sun was vainly trying to break through the dark, gray clouds which typically filled the mid-autumn skies of northwestern Germany. Snow had not yet begun to fly, but there was that crispness in the air that preceded the first flurry of winter. All but a few lonely leaves had fallen from the once-lush trees overhanging the pathway leading to Mulheim's only industry, the Broich paper mill.

Look, twelve-year-old Heinrich said to his fourteen-year-old brother, Wilhelm, as he pointed to one of the trees. Both boys stopped and looked up. The old tree conjured up visions of witches and hags in the mind of the boys as it cast its gnarled fingers upward toward the grayness that surrounded it.

It looks like Frau Steinhelman, Wilhelm said as he struck a twisted pose with his body. Both boys laughed at the thought. Frau Steinhelman was one of three older women who served as midwives in the small village of Mulheim located in Westphalia Germany.

She had, in fact, delivered all three of George and Maria Rittinghausen's children. She had delivered Nicholas 11 years earlier, and Wilhelm two years before that, as well as their 16-year-old sister, Emgard.

She too knew the rumors and, as a result, felt honored to deliver the three children who in her mind were descendants of Frederick Barbarossa, the first real king of the Germans and still a national hero in the eyes of most Germans. He was still revered as a great crusader, even though he had died some five hundred years earlier.

George never offered any information about his childhood, and no one ever asked. Nevertheless, because of his unruly head of red hair, and his sometimes pompous and overbearing manner, the people of the village could well imagine him as descending from royalty.

Marie Rittinghausen was a Hacgershoff, the daughter of a wealthy farmer from Nassbaum at Speldorf, a nearby region. Many believed that the only reason Maria's father had permitted the marriage was that he too believed the Barbarossa rumors. He could often be heard bragging that his daughter had married royal blood.

As Frau Steinhelman grew older, she became deformed by arthritis and osteoporosis. Most of the young people in the village made fun of her and her appearance. The older children delighted in scaring the younger children by telling them she was a witch.

The village of Mulheim was the home of the Broich Castle that had stood like a silent sentry guarding the Helwig running through a ford in nearby Ruhr River for over 800 years. It was originally a fort built by Burckhardt Von Broich to guard against invasions by Vikings. Most of Germany was Roman Catholic at that time.

Eventually, Dietrich, Count of Limburg, became the magistrate of Mulheim, and the Castle came under his jurisdiction. At the beginning of the 16th century, Wirich Von Daum, Count of Falkenstein, and the Lord of Oberstein, came to power in Broich.

Lutheranism began gaining a foothold in the valley, provoking the nearby Catholic Spaniards who, in 1598, marched on the Castle and slaughtered all of its inhabitants, including the lord of the castle. From then on, courtiers ruled the area from afar.

Come on. We'd better hurry, Wilhelm said, untwisting his body. Herr Vorster will be angry if we're late again.

Both boys were apprentices in the Broich paper mill which had been built in the early 1500s on of the Ruhr River. The mill belonged to the Count of Falkenstein, but Adolph Vorster had leased it since 1643, a year before Wilhelm was born.

Wilhelm and Heinrich Nicholas, who preferred to be called Nicholas, both worked at the mill. Working at the mill was hard and heavy work to which as their physiques testified. Both boys were muscular for their ages. However, Nicholas was also tall for his age, and although he was two years younger than Wilhelm was, he was an inch taller than his older brother. Their mother always said Nicholas took after her side of the family.

I know Mathias is already at work, Wilhelm added. Mathias was Vorster's younger brother. He was 19 years old and had been working at the paper mill for ten years. He was a large, well-built young man whose dark hair fell almost uncontrollably to his shoulders.

Despite his unruly appearance, he was a good-looking boy with a merry, mischievous look in his eyes. He was very curious about things and liked to explore new ideas. His curiosity, however, did not please his older brother who was very set in his ways.

Wilhelm could picture Mathias at the dipping vat right now, waiting for it to be heated to the right temperature. As apprentices, Wilhelm and Nicholas had the job of feeding rags into the vat and making sure that it reached the proper temperature.

Mathias was now a layman at the mill. He was in charge of drawing the moist sheets of paper from the felt after they were pressed. It was tedious work that demanded steady hands and a sensitive touch. The sheets of still wet paper had to be drawn off quickly. Speed was important if the mill was to meet its quota of seven or eight reams of paper per day. However, drawing them off too quickly would tear the wet sheets. Waste was not something Vorster tolerated well.

He's going to tell Herr Vorster he couldn't do his job because we are not there. Wilhelm, who had run ahead of Nicholas, shouted back over his shoulder.

Don't worry about Mathias, Nicholas yelled back. Emgard will protect us.

Mathias had been courting the boy's sister, Emgard, for almost a year and even Nicholas at his young age could see how she had controlled the love-struck youth. Wilhelm realized it too, but Mathias was not his concern right now.

But she has no sway over old Adolph and die Donner Rute. Nicholas winced at his brother's observation.

When the boys worked too slowly or made a mistake, Adolph Vorster was quick to teach them their craft by beating them on their back and legs with a heavy oak branch. The boys, including Mathias, called it die Donner Rute or the Thunder Club.

Wilhelm very seldom provoked the older Vorster into using the club on him, but Nicholas frequently was taught the craft of papermaking by means of a couple of well-placed thuds on his backside. On those occasions, Nicholas would try not to cry out in pain but the third whack was usually more than he could endure without letting out at least a muffled cry of pain.

After arriving at the mill the boys, expecting the usual all the work and no-nonsense attitude Adolph Vorster was famous for, instead found a lighthearted atmosphere at the mill. Adolph Vorster seemed happy and even glad to see the boys. Adolph and Mathias were gathered around the large press that occupied most of the inside of the building.

Oh, Wilhelm and Nicholas come, come, Adolph shouted as he motioned brothers over to him.

He had a large grin on his face as he put his arm around Wilhelm's shoulder. He was a large man with a big belly, and when he laughed, which was not often, his whole body seemed to jiggle. He was beginning to stoop a little as a result of working long, hard years over the vat and presses. His large meaty hands were swollen and red from the dye that came from the rags used to make the paper he so proudly manufactured.

Mathias has decided he is going to ask your father for your sister's hand in marriage. What do you think about that?

Wilhelm beamed. He and Mathias had always been very close. In fact, Mathias was more like an older brother to him than just a friend. Though thoroughly delighted by the announcement, it did not come as a surprise to Wilhelm. The whole village had been talking about the young couple for over a year.

I think Papa will be very happy, Wilhelm replied. He has been worried about Emgard. I mean she is 16 years old, and Mathias is the only one who has shown an interest in her.

It was true. Mathias had been the only boy in the village to show any interest in Emgard. It was not that she was an unattractive young girl. She was tall like her mother, with her father's slender build and long blond hair that she would keep in braids. In fact, she was probably one of the most attractive girls in the village.

Everyone in the village always knew that there was something special between Emgard and Mathias. Even as little children there had been a closeness between them that all those in the village who knew them could see.

Mathias had always been bigger than the other boys and even now at six feet three inches, he was the tallest man in the village. As the largest boy in the village, he had had taken on the role of Emgard's protector.

Mathias said he had chosen that day to ask for Emgard's hand in marriage because he had been invited to eat dinner with the Rittinghausen's.

It was a long and quiet dinner. Wilhelm and Nicholas could not help but keep their eyes on Mathias and Emgard as they ate. Neither of the young lovers looked at George or Maria during the entire meal.

As planned, after dinner Mathias asked George if he could have a word with him. The two men went outside while Maria and Emgard cleared the table. Neither one of them, however, could keep her attention away from the front door. They knew that Mathias was asking for her hand in marriage.

Emgard nervously awaited the two men's reentry.

Finally, as Emgard and her mother stood off in a corner by the large fireplace which dominated the Rittenghausen's little cottage, George and Mathias came back into the house and sat at the table. George turned to Maria.

Young Mathias here has just asked for our daughter's hand in marriage.

Maria let out a feigned, muffled gasp.

What do you think, mother? George asked Maria.

George was a short man with broad shoulders and a clean-shaven face. He was 45 years old, but his many years as the only roof tile maker in the village made him look much older. He was a stern man with the little or no time for humor. Now, a slight smile creased his weather- beaten face.

Maria looked at her daughter, who had her hands clasp under her chin as though begging for her parents' approval. She was vigorously nodding her flaxen-colored head up and down. It was obviously the most important moment in her young life.

"I