Week 29: Newsworthy #52 Ancestors

On March 4, 1879, my third great-grandfather, John Michael Rebholz, turned 100. His family and the town of Reading, Pennsylvania went all out to celebrate and thanks to two articles in the Reading Eagle, I learned about the day’s celebrations.[1] Already “famous” for being the oldest resident of Reading, a Pittsburgh paper wrote on his ninety-eighth birthday he was still “brisk and healthy” and had over one hundred great-grandchildren.[2]

The day started out with mass at 7:30 AM at St. Paul’s Catholic Church. Crowded with well-wishers, Michael did not attend for fear of catching a cold in the damp weather. Nevertheless, he is reported to have awakened at about six AM to pray from a book he had given his wife when they were married seventy-five years earlier. 

In the afternoon until late evening, several hundred relatives and friends attended his birthday party held at his son-in-law’s hotel, the Madison House. Those attending included Monsignor George Borneman, the rector of St. Paul’s, and incoming Reading mayor Henry Tyson and his wife. At 8:00, dinner was served in the large banquet room where six seatings were needed to feed all the attendees. At 10:00, the “Caecilia Saengerbund” entertained the assembly. A “saengerbund” is a German choral society (sänger – singer + bund – club).[3] The Caecilia Saengerbund was one of the largest and most influential of these groups back in the day.[4]

Growing up, I had heard stories about an ancestor whose hundredth birthday was celebrated by the town of Reading with a parade lead by John Philip Sousa. Grinning at another story with perhaps a little grain of truth. While I enjoyed reading about his birthday celebrations, none of those articles told me much about the man himself. However, when he died about a year later, the Reading Eagle published an extensive obituary on page one.[5]

The obit is chock-full of information which I assumed would help with my research. I verified that Michael was indeed born in the village of Ramberg in Bavaria.[6] The obit says he was one of nine children and that he and his wife had twelve. While I have no reason to dispute these numbers, I haven’t located them all (yet).[7] The paper noted that his wife did not emigrate to the U.S.  and died in 1849 which I found to be true.[8]

The obituary noted Michael’s long history as a butcher, a trade many of his sons and grandsons also followed and that he had a ninety-three-year-old brother living in New York.[9] It described Michael’s military service as a soldier who fought at the “Siege” of the French-held Fort Landau in 1793 where the French under Adam Phillippe, Comte d Custine, defeated the Prussians.[10]

I was so very excited to find all of this information about Michael: he lived to be almost 101, he was a soldier, he had all these kids, etc. I didn’t look too deeply into his life until I decided to write this blog. As anticipated, I see things a little differently now.

First of all, if Michael was born in 1779, he would have been fourteen at the Siege of Landau (1793), which I suppose could be true. But really?  Secondly, I couldn’t find that Custine was actually at the Siege of Landau. Thirdly, near as I can tell, Ramberg was not in Prussia. What gives? Was the paper wrong or was Michael telling a story?

You guessed it. Another tall-tale.[11]

The first record I found for Michael, the 1860 U.S. census, said he was seventy-five.[12] Hmm. Wouldn’t that mean he was born in 1785? I then found his baptismal record from 1786 where it noted he was an infant. And this week, I located his naturalization records and the manifest for the ship he arrived on. Guess what? They all show a 1786 birthdate.

Well rats! Just when you think you have this great story, it turns out to be pure invention. 

I wonder what Michael’s reaction was when he found out what was being cooked up for his “100th”? By then, did he believe his own story or did he figure it was too late to stop it so he might as well enjoy it?

Not to leave on a sour-note, here’s what the Philadelphia Herald had to say about his passing:

The Philadelphia Herald thinks that when John Michael Rebholz, an aged fellow citizen, died at Reading last Sunday, aged 101, he could not have imagined that he was going to be telegraphed all over the country and talked about in the newspapers. But his was the happy fate to say “beer” with his departing breath, and that thrilling utterance has already taken its place beside the “last words” that will live in history.[13]

I’ll drink to that.

[1] “The Centennarian’s Birthday,” Reading (Pennsylvania) Eagle, 4 March 1879, p. 1, col. 3. “The Centennarian Serenated,” Reading (Pennsylvania) Eagle, 5 March 1879, p. 1, col. 2.

[2] “The oldest man in Reading,” The Pittsburgh Commercial, 24 February 1876, p. 2, col. 4.

[3] Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com : accessed 23 July 2020), “saengerbund.”

[4] “Much Trouble Ahead for German Singers,” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 4 September 1900, p. 16, col. 1.

[5] “Reading’s Centenarian Dead,” Reading (Pennsylvania) Eagle, 9 February 1880, p. 1, col 2.

[6] Church Register, Albersweiler, Rheinland-Pfalz, 1785-1790, p. 14, Joannes Michael Rebholz (1786); digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 19 October 2018), FHL microfilm 247684, image 154 of 166.

[7] I found six of his siblings and ten of his children.

[8] Catholic Church, Ramberg, Bayern, Germany, deaths, 1835-1868, page 130, Catharina Knapp, 20 November 1849; digital image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org : accessed 19 October 2018), FHL microfilm 367395, image 80 of 532. Catherine died a year after Michael left for America. I wonder if she was too ill to make the trip and he went because so many of their children had already immigrated.

[9] Probably true. 1870 U.S. census, Kings County, New York, population schedule, Brooklyn, Ward 19, p. 370, dwelling 30, family 88, Louese (sic) Rebholtz; digital image, Ancestry  (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 July 2020); citing National Archives microfilm publication M593, roll 959. 

[10] A distinguished general, Custine fought with the Americans at the Battle of Yorktown. He had many enemies in Paris and was convicted of treason and lost his head in the guillotine.

[11] I was explaining to my sister-in-law the other day that I have been keeping up with the #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks even though lately it’s been a bit of a slog. One reason that I come back to write each week (or so) is that I get to do a deep-dive into a person or topic and the payoff is always worth it. This time is no exception.

[12] Oh, by the way, if you haven’t returned your census form yet, please do it NOW! You can fill it out online by going to www.2020census.gov. 1860 U.S. census, Berks County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Reading, South Ward, p. 1199, dwelling 1194, family 1249, Michael Rebholtz; digital image, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 July 2020); citing National Archives microfilm publication M653, roll not noted.

[13] “The Beer We Drink,” Williamsport (Pennsylvania) Sun Gazette, 13 February 1880, p. 2, col 3.

Since I don’t have a picture of Michael, this is a drawing of the packet ship Devonshire that he took from London to New York in November 1848. I’ve yet to figure out why he took that route, as most German immigrants traveled out of the port of Le Havre, France. This colored lithograph was drawn by Thomas Goldsworthy Dutton in June of 1848 and presented to the captain of the Devonshire, E.E. Morgan. The original lithograph can be found at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Royal Museums Greenwich (https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/140557.html : accessed 26 July 2020).