The Freund-Rudiger Family of London and New York

I offer below a little diagram so that everyone can be very clear about the story from here on. The previous three posts devoted themselves to establishing our one certified Jewish ancestor, Dr. Freund.

But what is equally, if not more fascinating, is what has been uncovered about his wife, Amelia Lousia Rudiger who was born in Prussia, possibly in Leipzig, but that is only a guess.

The narrative for Amelia Rudiger follows after the chart.

The Freund-Rudiger Family:

Jonas C. H. Freund, MD                              Amelia Louisa Rüdiger

Born Prague, c. 1808                             Born Prussia, c. 1824

Died London, 29 Dec 1879                          Died NYC?, 17 March c. 1885

(Raised by her grand-uncle, Johann Christian Hüttner in London)

Married London, 18 March 1846

They had at least 8 children, 3 of whom are known:

John Christian Freund, b. London, 22 Nov. 1848; d. NYC, 1924

Herbert P.E. Freund, birth and death unknown; “A lunatic.”

Gertrude, b. London June 1857; d. Penn. 1932

Gertrude Freund married Arthur A. Eyles 1n 1882 in London.

They had three children:

Arthur Henry, b. London

Charles, b. Chicago

Helen Esther, b. Chicago

(who married William J. Heydrick in 1917

in Bridesburg, Philadelphia, PA)

*****

         How did you two meet?  It is such a natural question to ask and the answers to this question make some of the best stories that we tell about ourselves and our lives.

     How did your parents meet?  Do you know?

         My mom and dad met at the Y in downtown Philadelphia.  My father had finished an intensive course in modern Greek at the Army Language School in Monterey, California.  He was on his way to be a counter-intelligence agent in Greece which was then engaged in a civil war and was the raison d’etre for the Truman Doctrine about containing Communism.

Anyway, back to the Y. . .

         My mom was a very good amateur pianist and had a gig playing the piano for the guys at the Y. This was after the war had ended and I don’t know why there were still so many servicemen hanging around.  You see?  I never asked about that part of the story.  My point exactly.

         Do you know the story behind your own parents meeting?  What about your grandparents?  Earlier than that?  No, I didn’t think so.

         It’s been fun to try to place the puzzle pieces as I’ve learned about all of my ancestors.  With Amelia Rüdiger and Jonas Freund I think I have a few answers as to how they MIGHT have met.

Amelia Louisa Rüdiger was born in Prussia but was orphaned as a young teen—perhaps earlier than that—but at any rate she ended up moving to London to live with her grand-uncle Johann Christian Hüttner.  I will tell the story of Johann Hüttner separately, for it is  a VERY good story (I was amazed at what I found out!), but for the time being let it suffice that Johann Hüttner was extremely well connected and did know all the prominent Germans in London.  It is mentioned that he knew the Prussian Ambassador.  This would be the same Prussian Ambassador who was a patron of the German Hospital in Dalston that was founded and directed by a young, talented Dr. Jonas Freund.

         It does not take a giant leap of imagination to envision how the well-known Johann Hüttner, through his friendship with the Prussian Ambassador could have introduced his ward to the charming Dr. Freund.

         Either Freund or Hüttner, or both had enough status that “The Economist” published a short announcement of the Freund-Rüdiger nuptials in 1846: 

“JCH Freund, Esq. MD , directing physician of the German Hospital. Dalston, to Louisa A. Rüdiger, niece of JC Hüttner, Esq. Foreign office.”

Note that they got her name wrong—but still.  (This announcement found online,—google The Economist 1846 and ‘Freund’—you’ll find it)

The Freund family then settled down at 7 West St., Finsbury Circus and there they stayed until Dr. Freund’s death in 1879.

I have found nothing at all about their 8 children save three.  The eldest son was named for Amelia’s uncle—John Christian Freund.  He became quite well known in New York in the field of music journalism and will have his own entry here in due time.

Gertrude’s story is a lot thinner than her brother’s but I’ll fill that in too, eventually.

The third sibling is known only through this tid-bit:

From the Medical Times and Gazette, (London)  Vol. 1, 1883  (accessed via Google eBooks)

“It is said that the Herbert P. E. Freund charged with being disorderly in front of St. Paul's Cathedral, and sent to prison for a month, was formerly a student at your Hospital, and a son of the late Dr. Freund, physician to, and founder of, the German Hospital. The unfortunate man had escaped, as the Alderman said, from a lunatic asylum.”

So there we have it—the lunatic in the closet.  Despite searching every which way I can not find anything else about Herbert P.E. Freund.  No clue.  Not one.

Amelia Freund first appears on the scene in the 1870’s.  One must presume
that until that time she was occupied with have and raising babies.  We know that her husband declared bankruptcy in the 1850’s and therefore it must have been hard on the family.

Oh, for the record, I’ve now concluded that Amelia Louisa Rudiger was not Jewish—and therefore none of her progeny are Jewish.  Her uncle, Johann Christian Huttner, besides having the middle name Christian (!)  was described as a devout German Lutheran.  I think it is a stretch to conclude without any other evidence that Amelia could have had Jewish parents.  So I’m closing the book on this question.

She has an entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and a friend from my church who is a research librarian at Dartmouth College helped me out a lot by getting a copy of it for me.

© Oxford University Press 2004–9

James Gregory, ‘Freund , Amelia Louisa [Amelia Lewis] (b. 1824/5, d. in or after 1881)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/74780, accessed 8 Dec 2009]

 I’ve also uncovered at least a couple of academics whose research involves the early British feminists and Amelia Lewis (Amelia Freund’s pen-name) is occasionally cited. [Note:  I find it really interesting that she chose a very English sounding pen-name., obviously modifying her middle name from ‘Louisa’ into ‘Lewis’; I’m tempted to infer from this that she was not exempt from the shadow of anti-Semitism.]

Since J.C.H. Freund was known for being an advocate for the poor and worked to better their condition, it is not surprising that his wife followed suit.  Amelia Lewis lectured and wrote widely on the topics of better nutrition and better means of cookery for the working classes.  She was quite devoted to demonstrating how homemakers could prepare more nutritious meals on very modest budgets.  Indeed, after joining her son in New York City she gave demonstrations to single female office workers on how they could prepare their own meals for just pennies.  Two such demonstrations were reported in the New York Times. Amelia Freund gave dinners in December 1880 and early January 1881, to members of the American Institute Farmers' Club and to women working at a department store. These dinners were held in her office, 704 Broadway, New York.

A paragraph from her biography provides a good sense of her interests and ambitions:

“Freund involved herself in social questions and educational reform. She attended the International Prison Congress, supported the Metropolitan Shopkeepers' Assistants' Association, and addressed the Social Science Congress in 1872. She planned a girls' school on ‘Prussian’ lines and was invited to lecture in Germany on the women's question. She lectured on the art of teaching at Exeter Hall, London. Her interest in food reform began at a dinner in London celebrating the Newsvendors' Benevolent and Provident Institution's anniversary in April 1872. Later she wrote that ‘I am tired of writing fine things [when] I am seeing more and more that we are at fault with our plain home arrangements, and that Food and Cooking are especially neglected’ (Food and Health Leaves, 3 Oct 1879, 165–6). Her next venture, from January to April 1874, was Women's Opinion, a journal (initially a weekly) that she edited, published, and printed, representing the ‘social, domestic and educational interests of women’. It supported women's suffrage, covered female labour, and like Woman had sections on music, fine arts, and the theatre.”

Amelia Freund was also an inventor and was granted a patent for a new type of stove:

“FREUND, Amelia Louisa, trading under the name of Amelia Lewis, of Southampton Street, in the county of Middlesex, authoress and editor and publisher of " Woman's Opinion."—" An improved system " or method of domestic cooking, and improved apparatus and utensils to be employed therein."

This invention relates to an improved system or method of domestic cooking, and to improved apparatus and utensils to be employed in carrying the same into practice, the object of the invention being to prepare food for human consumption, so that the human stomach may be able to digest the same or assimilate the substances contained therein to the requirements of the body more easily than if the food were prepared or cooked according to the systems or methods hitherto in use.

The improved system consists in cooking or preparing the food by the circulation round or about it of dry heat radiated from the fire or of moist heat or steam generated thereby from water contained within the same utensil, whilst the said food is enclosed from contact with atmospheric air.

In order to carry this system into practice I have found it necessary, firstly, to devise a more effective heating apparatus or cooking stove, one of such a character as to be specially adapted to the economical consumption of peat or peat coal, and in which the fire is completely under control; and secondly, to devise improved cooking utensils separately adapted to their special requirements.

The object I have sought to accomplish in carrying my ideas into practical effect have been to make the fire as small as possible and to retain the heat developed therefrom as long as possible in order that it may disperse itself more completely among all the cooking utensils in use, and not be allowed to escape wastefully up the chimney or flue immediately it is developed as in ordinary open fire places.”

[from British Patent applications pg 132   CHRONOLOGICÁL AND DESCRIPTIVE INDEX OF PATENTS APPLIED FOR AND PATENTS GRANTED, CONTAINING THE ABRIDGMENTS OF PROVISIONAL AND COMPLETE SPECIFICATIONS For the Year 1874. ]

Oh, gee.  Look what I just found.  Literally just this minute while looking for the url for the patent application above I stumbled upon this little gem:

http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/24280/pages/6700/page.pdf (accessed 22 March 2012.)

THE LONDON GAZETTE, DECEMBER 31, 1875.

The Bankruptcy Act, 1869.

In the London Bankruptcy Court.

In tbe Matter of Proceedings for Liquidation by Arrangement

or Composition with Creditors, instituted by Amelia Lewis Freund, otherwise Amelia Lewis, of 420 Strand, in the county of Middlesex, Authoress, Editor and Stove Manufacturer, a married woman trading apart from her husband.

N OTICE is hereby given, that a First General Meeting of the creditors of the above-named person has been •summoned to be hold at tbe offices of Messrs. Gamble and Harvey. No. 1, Gresbara-buildings, Basinghall-street. in the •city of London, Accountants, on the 12th day of January,

1876, at twelve o'clock at noon precisely.—Dated this 21stday of December, 1875.

CRONIN Hiid KIVOLTA, 22, Southampton-street,

Bloomsbury, Solicitors for the said Debtor.

This family certainly was creative, energetic, community-minded and educated—what they were not was fiscally adept.  Dr. Freund declared bankruptcy, his wife declared bankruptcy and according to his son’s biography, he too declared bankruptcy and fled to America ahead of his creditors.  I also now see something off:  Dr. Freund was still living at 7 West St. Finsbury Circus when he died in 1879, but in this 1875 bankruptcy filing, Amelia Freund gives 420 Strand as her address.  Hmmmm, I wonder what that signifies!!  We’ll never know.

Amelia Freund did move to New York after her husband died and I think that within 5 or 6 years she, too died.  I can’t find a New York obituary for her, but my mother gave me the copied text of a newspaper clipping with the notation "Article from daily paper."  It was probably passed on from Gertrude Freund Eyles to her daughter, Helen Eyles Heydrick.

"I have to announce the death of Mrs. Amelia Louisa Freund, a writer on musical subjects well-known in this country and in the United States.  Mrs. Freund, who died March 17, was sixty-one years of age.  She was brought up in London by her great uncle Charles Hufner, then one of the translators to the Foreign Office, a department who also employed the Lady, herself a most accomplished linguist.  She married the well-known London physician, Dr. J.C.H. Freund, a German, who in the Crimea was Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals.  Dr. Freund, who was one of the founders of the German Hospital, London, died in 1879.  Besides her contributions to musical journalism, Mrs. Amelia Freund was a fluent speaker, the authoress of several works on Political Economy, and one of the first founders of a School of Cookery in London.  The lady went to America in 1880, and has since supported herself almost entirely by writing on musical subjects."

I have some additional research on Amelia Freund and if anyone is so interested I can pass it along.  I have found for sale a few copies of two of her pamphlets, “How to Live in Summer” and the companion “How to Live in Winter.”  The last one was from a London bookseller and the price was 300 pounds.

So there we have it—another remarkable and accomplished ancestor.  If only we know her whole story.

J.C.H. Freund Sources and the Medical Times and Gazette from 1847/48

This blog posting makes sense as it relates to the one published previously entitled: "Dr. Frend, Karl Marx and Florence Nightingale: All true."

Published sources of information regarding Dr. Jonas Charles Hermann Freund, MD

All were accessed via Google ebooks in 2012. I have not provided the urls for each book since they each were many dozens of characters long.

Lattek, Christine, Revolutionary Refugees: German Socialism in Britain, 1840-188

Migration and Transfer from Germany to Britain, 1660-1914 ed. by Manz, Stefan et al, pp. 120-130

Two Nations: British and German Jews in comparative perspective, Michael Brenner, et al, editors 1999

The Jurist, Vol. 21, Part 2 1857

(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1139055/ Mentions Dr. JHC [sic] Freund’s establishment of the German Hospital and some history of same.)

See also through Google ebooks:

The Jewish Contribution to Civilization, page 302. (This is a one-line mention of Dr. Jonas Freund’s establishment of the German Hospital in London.)

The Marx-Engles letters are available online from various databases. http://solomon.tinyurl.alexanderstreet.com/cgi-bin/asp/philo/soth/getdoc.pl?S10022509-D000062

From the Medical Times and Gazette, (London) Vol. 17 (Oct 16, 1847 to April 29, 1848)

[Available on Google ebooks]

German Hospital Dalston

[From a Correspondent]

We have refrained from alluding to the late differences in connection with this institution until we were in possession of correct information on the subject, and we do so now the more readily as we consider the course pursued by Dr. Freund to have been highly proper and praiseworthy. The facts of the case are simply these: Dr. Freund, the directing physician of the hospital, having repeatedly requested, in committee and in his Annual medical report, dated Oct. 15, 1846, “that proper and efficient accommodation might be provided for seeing the out-patients, to no purpose, notwithstanding the medical officers had, at the request of the committee, met specially at the hospital, towards the end of July last, to report as to the necessary alterations, at length determined that the patients’ comfort should no longer be sacrificed by the negligence and delay of the committee. Therefore, on Tuesday, the 21^st September finding the patients exposed to the wind and violent rain—for they had no other waiting room save this very small one (about 5 or 6 ft by 15 or 16 long) devoted to their examinations I then resolved on seeing them in the boardroom where the patients would be more comfortable and the violation of decorum, hitherto inevitable avoided.” This gave great offence to one or two members of the committee and when Dr. Freund was about to enter the room on the following Saturday, he was told by the assistant secretary in the presence of some of the paid servants of the institution, that he had been instructed by the visiting committee ( which we find has no existence) “to lock the door and forbid his entering the room.” Of course, as the only responsible office of the hospital, Dr. Freund was much irritated at so gross an insult and said that any one who could give such must be a most ungentlemanly and impudent fellow. Mr. Phillips, a member of the committee, who, it appears, exercises an unwarranted authority in the management of the affairs of the institution, shortly afterward made his appearance, and Dr. Freund immediately asked him for an explanation; but he declined any answer until the doctor repeated his opinion of the conduct that had been pursued against him his; when he at once said, that he had done it that he was master of the house would kick the doctor’s nose and wring it.” Dr. Freund naturally became much exasperated at this, and told him that he was an impertinent fellow and that if he repeated such language he would turn him out of the hospital, A few members of the committee met on the next Tuesday at the hospital and immediately suspended Dr. Freund, declaring him unfit for the office of directing physician, and this without giving him an opportunity of refuting the charges that had been brought against him by Mr. Phillips, although he was on duty at the hospital that very day.

On receiving a copy of this resolution which was signed by the Rev. Dr. Kuper as chairman, as Dr. Freund wrote this gentleman and requested that an apology might be made and that the resolution thus hastily passed might be withdrawn, at the same time stating that he should still continue to discharged his duties at the hospital. No attention was paid to this letter. Dr. Freund, therefore, notwithstanding his suspension, which, according to the rules of the hospital, appears to have been illegal, went to the hospital as usual on the following Saturday, but was again insulted by being told by the house-surgeon that he ad orders to prevent his seeing the patients, and to give instructions to the dispenser, the nurses, and the porter, not to obey him. There was also a deputation of the committee . . . at the hospital to prevent his entering the wards. A general meeting of the governors was afterwards called for Oct 14, to decide on his retention or dismissal, which at once refused to sanction the conduct of the committee whereupon the Rev. Dr. Kuper tendered in their resignation, and they, with the illustrious chairman, the Duke of Cambridge, left the room. Mr. Alderman Sidney, M.P. one of the vice-presidents, remained behind, and was called to the chair, when a resolution was passed unanimously reinstating Dr. Freund in his office. This however, was of no avail, for so inveterate was the feeling of some few members of the committee, that, when the doctor again presented himself at the hospital on the following Saturday, Mr. Peeler, the sub-treasurer, met him, and said he protested against his seeing the patients. “in the name of the committee and in his own name, as owner of the house.” Dr. Freund immediately presented a written document with which he had provided himself, signed by Mr. Alderman Sidney, proving his reinstatement, but Mr. Preller refused to acknowledge it. Dr. Freund therefore left the hospital. The ex-committee then actually called another general meeting for the 28^th Oct. to appoint a court of inquiry—a course previously proposed by Dr. Freund to the deputation above alluded to, but not agreed to by them—to investigate the validity of the statement made in the their report read at the last meeting, and actually printed and distributed among the governors before the meeting took place.

This court of inquiry met a the London Tavern on the 17^th of November, and, after investigation the matter, came to the unanimous conclusion that—“the conversation and conduct of Dr. Freund took place when he was in a state of great excitement, and that such excitement was in part produced by his having received a the moment of his arrival at he hospital, a viva voce intimation that he was not to occupy, for the purposes of his duties in the hospital, a room which he had claimed as a temporary accommodation for him in the discharge thereof, while such intimation is, nevertheless, alleged to have been the act of the committee of visitors, held two days before, the omission of a written and immediate notice of such intimation to Dr. Freund, directing physician of the hospital, being likely to be specially painful to him, who had, from the commencement of the institution, rendered great and gratuitous services in aid of its foundation and maintenance.” {Signed Ashley, Chairman.”}

A third meeting of the governors was called for the 27^th of November to receive this report when, strange to say, Mr. Galdecheus commenced by asking Dr. Freund “if he meant to resign or not?” To this the doctor replied “no” and further stated that two days before he had been sent for my Mr. Alderman Sidney, who informed him that Chevalier Hebeler had called on him {Alderman Sidney} on the part of his Excellency Chevalier Bunsen, and offered him handsome testimonials and something still more substantial, if he would resign. The doctor declined accepting such paltry, mean offers, as he considered he would be degrading himself and the profession to which he belongs if he did so.

This meeting ended in a resolution being put and carried, to the effect that “Dr. Freund’s usefulness to the hospital since its foundation, his unremitting attention to the duties of directing physician, entitles him to the continued confidence of the governors of the institution.”

Thus has terminated a most unfortunate and as far as the committee are concerned, disgraceful affair. Dr. Freund, we think, has done great service to the profession: he has taught a lesson that ought not to be forgotten, that, if medical men wish to be respected by the pubic and by public bodies, they must first show that they respect themselves, and that they belong to the profession the honour and dignity of which it is their duty to uphold.

Also here is more on Karl Marx early years in Britain taken from a recent book [citation at the end]

"Marx reached England in summer 1849 at the age of thirty-one. His life in the capital city was far from tranquil. The Marx family, numbering six with the birth of Laura in 1845, Edgar in 1847 and Guido soon after their arrival in 1849, had to live for a long time in great poverty in Soho, one of London’s poorest and most run-down districts. In addition to family problems, Marx was involved in a relief committee for German emigres, which he sponsored through the Communist League, and whose mission was to assist the numerous political refugees in London.

As this wide range of research demonstrates, Marx was by no means “taking a rest”. The barriers to his projects again had to do with the poverty with which he had to wrestle during those years. Despite constant support from Engels, who in 1851 began to send him five pounds sterling a month, and the income from the New York Tribune, which paid two pounds sterling per article, Marx lived in truly desperate conditions. Not only did he have to face the loss of his daughter, Franziska, in April 1852, his daily life was becoming one long battle. In September 1852 he wrote to Engels:

For the past 8–10 days I have been feeding the family solely on bread and potatoes, but whether I shall be able to get hold of any today is doubtful… The best and most desirable thing that could happen would be for the landlady to throw me out. Then at least I would be quit of the sum of £22… On top of that, debts are still outstanding to the baker, the milkman, the tea chap, the greengrocer, the butcher. How am I to get out of this infernal mess? Finally… [but this was] essential if we were not to kick the bucket, I have, over the last 8–10 days, touched some German types for a few shillings and pence.77

Marx’s health and economic circumstances remained disastrous throughout 1855, and his family increased again in size with Eleanor’s birth in January 1856. He often complained to Engels of problems with his eyes and teeth and a terrible cough, and he felt that “the physical staleness also stultifie[d his] brain”.106 A further complication was a lawsuit that Freund, the family doctor, had brought against him for non-payment of bills. To get away from this, Marx had to spend some time from mid-September to early December living with Engels in Manchester, and to remain hidden at home for a couple of weeks after his return. A solution came only thanks to a “very happy event”: an inheritance of £100 following the death of Jenny’s ninety year- old uncle.107"

The Formation of Marx’s Critique of Political Economy: From the Studies of 1843 to the Grundriss by Marcello Musto

Dr. Freund, Karl Marx and Florence Nightingale: All True

I’ve had a hard time whipping into shape this more detailed post about my great-great grandfather, Jonas Charles Hermann Freund, than some of the previous posts. The difficulty lies in the fact that I have an embarrassment of riches in terms of information about Dr. Freund.

It’s important that I be as accurate as I can about the information I get on my ancestors. For anyone who stumbles upon this blog and is interested in the facts, they ought to have as clear a roadmap as to my sources as possible.

In the last couple of weeks, I discovered a couple of academic papers that provide a wealth of information about Dr. Freund and that has bogged me down a bit. This blog wasn’t intended to be academic—far from it, but the full story of Dr. Freund just calls out for more exposition, not less.

And yet, I am amazed. In a little less than two years I have gone from knowing nothing more about my grandmother Heydrick's parents than their names, to knowing quite a bit about her mother's parents. It is remarkable really. I had only a few clue to go on: I knew that my great grandmother's maiden name was Gertrude Freund, she was born at 7 Finsbury Circus, London and had a brother who was in the music publishing business. Someone in the family either knew or encountered Florence Nightingale and may have been a doctor in the Crimean War. That's it: the sum total of memories from my mother and her sister about their grandmother's background. I found a little clue myself: a U.S. census record on which Gertrude Freund Eyles revealed that both her parents were native German speakers--one born in Austria and one in Germany. And that was it. Starting with those scant clues I was able to put together a fairly decent portrait of the nuts and bolts of Dr. Jonas Charles Hermann Freund and his wife Amelia Rudiger. Far better would be able to know who they were as individuals.

The previous post (We're Jew-ish) provided a published obituary for Dr. J.C.H. Freund, who is primarily remembered as the founder of the German Hospital in Dalston, London. His birth date is frequently cited as 1808. One source I found states that he obtained his Austrian medical degree in Vienna in 1838. When he moved to London is unknown.

The best source about Dr. Freund’s role at the German Hospital that I've been able to find is a monograph by Dr. Christiane Swinbank who is a staff librarian at the German Historical Institute London. She contributed a paper entitled "Medicine, Philanthropy and Religion. Selective Intercultural Transfers at the German Hospital in London, 1845-1914" to an edited volume of research presented at two colloquia held in Berlin and Greenwich in 2003 and 2004. The resulting volume was published in 2007 as Migration and Transfer from Germany to Britain, 1660-1914. Unfortunately, this copyrighted book is unavailable online in its entirety. On the other hand, most of Dr. Swinbank's chapter, and especially the section that provides information about Dr. Freund, is included in the portion that can be accessed. Dr. Swinbank, relied heavily on archived annual reports from the German Hospital and if I had the means I might go to London to search the archives of the German Hospital in hopes of learning a little more about great-great-grandfather Freund. Alas, I am only an armchair historian and so this offering must suffice (not to mention the fact that I bet those records are in German, and I do not read German!)

(One can read this monograph for oneself by using the Google books feature to bring up the above referenced volume. The pertinent section begins on page 120, full citation at the end of this post.)

I believe that Dr. Freund must have emigrated from Austria to London fairly soon after his graduation from medical school. The German Hospital was opened in the fall of 1845 and Dr. Freund obviously didn’t drop in days before and decide to begin a hospital. His initiative was prompted by his experience within the German émigré community.

Dr. Swinbank writes:

“Within the medical landscape of mid-nineteenth century London the German Hospital, which opened its doors in the still relatively rural environment of Dalston on October 15^th 1845, was a rather anomalous creature. It was organized and functioned much like any other general hospital in London at the time, but it admitted the bulk of its in-patients according to the language they spoke. The title pages of its annual reports proclaimed that the hospital existed “For the Reception and the cure of natives of Germany and others speaking the German language.” [citation within the chapter]

A young German-speaking Jewish doctor from Bohemia, Dr. Hermann Freund, had taken the initiative for the foundation of a hospital for the German poor after he encountered many sick Germans in the capital’s hospitals who possessed little or on English and felt like “lonely strangers.” [citation within] Although they admittedly experienced no discrimination (“the London hospitals are alike open and offer the same kind of careful treatment to foreign as well as native sufferers”) [citation within], he thought the German poor were “usually labouring under great disadvantages, from their being unable to express their wants and feelings to the Medical officers and Nurses, and freely to communicate with their fellow-patients.” German doctors and nurses, who understood the patients’ language and knew their habits and customs, were to provide a congenial and familiar ‘German’ environment which would assist the speedy recovery of the patients, enabling them to return to work and avoid becoming dependent on outside assistance. [citation within]”

Dr. Freund’s tenure at the German Hospital was brief. He eventually clashed with his expectation that the staffing of the hospital would be accomplished in the German style which was in direct opposition to the way the English governing committee saw things.

Events came to a head as reported in The Lancet July, 1847 (accessed online via Google eBooks.

“The German Hospital”

“At this hospital, at Dalston, great commotion has recently existed, and disputes threatening the welfare of the charity are going on at the present time. The misunderstanding arose, the first instance, between the direction physician, Dr. Freund, and the house-committee. Dr. Freund felt aggrieved at the delay, which had taken place in providing accommodation for the out-patients, and insisted on using the board-room for this purpose. The committee resented this, and charged Dr. Freund with violent, indeed, riotous conduct, in consequences of this refusing the board-room, and they proceeded to suspend him from the duties of the office. A general meeting of the governors was, however, held, which refused to sanction the suspension of the directing physician, whereupon the committee resigned in a body, with the Duke of Cambridge at their head. On Dr. Freund presenting himself at the hospital he was refused admittance; but at another special general court, held on the 20^th ult., he was ad interim, restored to his post, and a committee of inquiry was appointed jointly by the house-committee and Dr. Freund, to inquire and report upon the alleged misconduct. The relative duties of the committee and house-physician should have been fixed clearly at first.”

There exists in the Medical Times and Gazette a very detailed account of what happened between Dr. Freund and the hospital committee that eventually led to his ouster. Christiane Swinbank also provides a detailed narrative as well. I am going to post the Medical Times account in a separate post so that those who chose can read it and not to bog down the story that has yet more to reveal about our illustrious ancestor.

I do just want to share one more little snippet that I found published in the American Jewish Review from September, 1948

http://www.ajr.org.uk/journalpdf/1948_september.pdf

There is a small article on page 5 about Dr. F [sic] Freund of Prague.

"He worked chiefly among he German colony in London whom he untiringly urged to make better provision for their poor--then a large number--by building a hospital of their own. His industry, devotion and humanitarian zeal at last secured the opening in 1845 of the German Hospital at Dalston but Dr. Freund, whom a German chronicler describes as "an Israelite filled with a truly Christian spirit," was not long suffered to enjoy the fruits of his labours. he was jockeyed out of he Hospital committee, and others, less conspicuous for a Christian spirit but also less non-Aryan, basked in the abundant appreciation , moral and material, which this grand monument of charity drew then, and has received ever since, from very many Londoners, German and native, Jew and Gentile, high and low."

Once Dr. Freund was ousted form the German Hospital it is difficult to know what happened to him. His obituary indicates that he was an Inspector General of the British-German Hospitals during the Crimean War, but I find absolutely no record of this anywhere except this obituary.

What I do find, however, in the Karl Marx archives and recorded in a few letters between Karl Marx and his friend and patron, Frederick Engles, are references to the Marx’ physician, Dr. Freund. I can’t claim with 100% certainty that this is J.C.H Freund, but it reasonably follows that the premier physician among the German émigré community would have likely ended up being the physician that Karl Marx would have used when he arrived in London.

The Marx family was impoverished and most of the references to Dr. Freund have to do with the money that is owed him and the fact that Marx cannot pay.

Then in a letter from April of 1857 Marx writes:

Dear Fred,

. . . “For the past six months I've been constantly having to call in the doctor for my wife. She is, indeed, very much run down.

Apropos. *Dr Freund has passed through the court of bankruptcy--assets . . . £200, debts £3,000.*

I found Dr. Freund mentioned in four letters between Marx and Engles. It is well established that Marx and his large family suffered many health problems endemic to the very poorest in London. This poor, German-speaking family was typical of whom Dr. Freund was dedicated to serving.

J.C.H. Freund came to an ignoble end, at least as far as I can tell. There is the mention by Karl Marx of his bankruptcy and in an 1857 copy of The Jurist , a published journal of court and legal activity in London, he is listed as a “boarding-house keeper, 7 West St. Finsbury.” It doesn’t say what action was being taken by or against him (maybe his bankruptcy), but he was scheduled for a meeting on March 13^th at 1:00. I found it odd that he was listed as a boarding-house keeper and not a physician.

There’s only one more detail to share and this regards Dr. Freund’s relationship with Florence Nightingale. Without doing a ton of research through the Nightingale archives, there is plenty of circumstantial eveidence that Dr. Freund and Florence Nightingale would have known each other fairly well and probably worked together in a professional capacity. Nightingale was trained in the German model of professional nursing, knew the Prussian ambassador well—as did Freund, and probably consulted with or worked with Freund as the German hospital was established.

Here ends my story of my great-great grandfather, Dr. Jonas Charles Hermann Freund. The next post will contain all the sources if you want to pursue reading more about him. I also will post the entirety of the conflict with the governing committee at the German Hospital that led to his early ouster from his post there.

We're Jew-ish.

I'm not the only one who has long suspected that the Heydrick girls have some Jewish blood in them. Now, that can be a dangerous thing depending on the decade and the country in which one is residing, but really, I thought we should know.

Growing up in a homogeneous, middle-class, white, post-war suburb of Denver I always thought just being Catholic was pretty exotic (the girls next door wore that plaid Catholic school-girl uniform and attended parochial school--seemed very exotic to me at the time!) I wasn't friends with anyone who was Jewish until I was in college, and even then this person was imported from Long Island (The University of Wyoming in Laramie in the 70's was definitely not the hub of cultural diversity.)

In hindsight I guess that Karen and Steven Kaufman, who were in my fifth grade class were probably Jewish, but I didn't know it. Later I was told that my fifth grade teacher was probably Jewish too--but I don't know if that was true. At any rate, once I knew what the word "ethnic" meant, I wanted to be ethnic. That didn't specifically mean I wanted to be Jewish, just that I wanted to be something other than an undifferentiated white Protestant. I wasn't even Irish Catholic; I just had a Scottish surname with no history to go with it.

I'm now married to a New York Jew and have glommed on to her cultural heritage as if my own. For the last 21 years we've been living in a homogeneous, middle-class, white--rural--community where the few members of the Jewish diaspora seek each other out. We always celebrate Passover with our dear friend Susi Erenthiel Learmonth (Jew married to a Scot) whose family escaped from Vienna in September of 1938--two steps ahead of the Nazis. So once I began really looking into my family history I went looking for the mysterious Jewish ancestor who I know MUST exist. I found him.

My mother's mother was Helen Esther Eyles Heydrick. She was born in Chicago to English immigrants. Her father, Arthur Eyles was an industrial chemist. (I will be posting all I know of the Eyles family eventually.) Helen Eyles' mother was Gertrude Freund. Now Freund is simply a German word that means "friend." But it could be a Jewish surname, or so I hoped. I had scant clues to go on:

My Aunt Margie told me that her grandmother had been "a real Cockney--born within the sound of Bow Bells in London. Their address had been 7 Finsbury Circus."

(Bow Bells are the bells of the church of St. Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, London. To be 'born within the sound of Bow Bells' is the traditional definition of a Cockney. http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/72100.html)

I started by doing some searches with the address 7 Finsbury Circus, London which is, in fact, very near to the City of London and the church of St. Mary-le-Bow--so that part is true. Some additional information revealed that in the 19th century there had been a large Jewish community center in that area. Ah ha! Getting closer! A U.S. census search showed that on the 1920 census each respondent was asked the birth place and native language of their parents. Gertrude Freund Eyles' record shows that her mother was born in Germany and her father in Austria--ha ha! No Cockney at all and it seemed more and more likely that the Freunds were Jewish. It was my mother who provided the critical clue: she remembered that her grandmother's brother had been very prominent in the music publishing business in the early 20th century. That clue led me to a John C. Freund who in fact did publish a music trade journal in New York in the late 1890's. His parents were Dr. J.C.H. Freund and Amelia Rudiger. My mom also had a very, very vague recollection about someone being a doctor in the Crimean War or knowing Florence Nightingale, or some such tale. Eventually this turned out to be a keystone clue.

I admit that I have no British birth record for Gertrude Freund and so do not have absolute proof that she is the daughter of Dr. and Amelia Freund, but the last clue to pop it all into place for me was from my mother's uncle Arthur, my grandmother's eldest brother. He was quite a character and wrote a memoir of sorts that he called "The Spasmodic Gas Jets." He remembers that his family lived still in Chicago when the 1893 World's Columbia Exposition drew visitors from all over the country to see such marvels as the first ever so-called "Ferris Wheel." His uncle John Freund arrived from New York for the Exposition--and so this last puzzle piece links the Eyles family firmly to John Freund. Luckily John Christian Freund was so well-known that his biographies popped up after a few google searches. These biographies clearly state who his parents were and that he left England for New York with creditors nipping at his heels.

More on John Christian Freund later--now I really want to return to our Jew-ish roots and the famous, no really he was famous, Dr. J.C.H. Freund.

There is a great deal to be said about the distinguished life and career of Dr. J.C.H. Freund, my great-great grandfather. For this posting, though, his obituary from the British Medical Journal will suffice.

From the British Medical Journal of January 10, 1880 came a death notice of Dr. Jonas Charles Hermann Freund, who died 29 December 1879. His address was given as 7 West Street, Finsbury Circus, London. He died of chronic bronchitis.

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/issue_pdf/admin_pdf/1/993.pdf (BMJ death notice Dr. JCH Freund)

DR. HERMANN FREUND. It may be mentioned in connection with the death of this gentleman, which occurred last week, that until he started the idea in 1844, there was no hospital in London devoted to foreigners where they could be attended by medical men of their own nationality. With such a mixed and ever-changing population the want became so apparent that Dr. Freund some thirty-five years ago set to work to found an hospital for Germans, and mainly through his original suggestions, energy of purpose and devotion to the cause he had undertaken, this nationality has now in London a large and flourishing hospital, with a regular staff, and beds for 125 in-patients, which will compare in efficiency and good management very favourably with most of the larger institutions. Dr. Freund, though possessing Austrian degrees, held the position of Inspector-General of Hospitals in the British Forces during the Crimean campaign. Amongst the poor Germans in London he was a great favourite, from the interest he always took in their welfare, and the kindly disposition always evinced towards them; and his loss will be greatly felt by them. Dr. Freund had for a long past suffered from severe bronchial attacks, and the excessive cold and fogs of the present winter developed the complaint to which he succumbed last week at his residence in Finsbury Circus.

As far as I can tell J.C.H. Freund was born around 1808. A source that I'll go into more in the next post described him as from Bohemia---Bohemia, Austria, who knows? But there you have it--our bona fide Jewish ancestor. The question, though, is whether his wife was Jewish too? If so--because one is Jewish only if one's mother is--then Gertrude Freund was Jewish and so too was Helen Eyles and so too is my mother and then so too am I. Ahhh, but if Dr. Freund's wife was a gentile, well, then all bets are off and we end up being Protestants again!

Mowisz po polsku? Nein, I'm German.

My cousin Bob's wife, Susie, mentioned to me that because the area of Silesia from whence came the Swenkfelders was once upon a time part of Poland that Bob has sometimes told people that he's Polish. I think that in his current uber-uninhibited state he ought to tell folks that he's Bohemian--it fits him better.

So, the question of the day is Are we Polish, German or Bohemian?

The Heydricks and their cohorts came from Lower Silesia; that's the anglicized Latin name for the obscure region in Eastern Europe that is known in Polish as Dolny Śląsk; in Czech as Dolní Slezsko; the proper Latin being Silesia Inferior.

But the Swenkfelders themselves being Deutsch sprechers would have called it Niederschlesien; or in Silesian German, Niederschläsing;

Did you know there is also a Silesian language all its own? Me either. In the Silesian language Lower Silesia is known as Dolny Ślůnsk;

(All the above cribbed from the Wikipedia page on Lower Silesia)

Silesia is one of scores of regions of pre-WWI Europe that were pulled hither and yon by the Great Powers. They might have started out as belonging to this Principality or that Duchy, but then the particularly brutal geo-politics of the eastern lands would have made them pawns in some kaiser, emporer or tsar's land grab and they were suddenly subjects of a new ruler.

It wasn't until the rise of the Nation-States in the 19th century that anything like "Germany" came to be as we understand it. The present day countries of the Czech Republic and Slovakia and all of what was Yugoslavia and the present day boundaries of Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria didn't exist until after 1919. Bohemia was never a Nation-State but was rather the name given to the Bohemian (aka Czech) speaking territory belonging primarily to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. (The Bohemian language wasn't even known as Czech until the 19th century when our Heydricks were firmly ensconced in Bridesburg.)

So back to our own Heydrick heritage. I think that there is no doubt whatsoever that no matter who controlled Lower Silesia, the Heydricks spoke German and probably considered themselves culturally German. Harpersdorf, (mentioned in the posting The Schwenkfelder Heydricks), and one of the places definitively identified with the Schwenkfelders, is a small town to the southwest of Leipzig and to the northwest of Prague. It was part of the Iron Curtain era East Germany. Although it might be a lot more fun to be Bohemian or Polish, the fact remains that the Schwenkfelders were German. Sorry, Bob.

Here's a great link to a map of the area for the next time you take a leisurely tour of infamous Iron Curtain landmarks:

http://www.maplandia.com/germany/thuringen/thuringen/greiz/harpersdorf/

The Heydricks Move to Bridesburg

I'm sticking with bringing the story of the Heydrick's up to my grandfather's generation, even though I don't know much about them and what I do know is pretty dry. Believe me, I've got some pretty good stuff on other members of the family, but this at least will explain how our Heydricks got from Flourtown in Montgomery County to Bridesburg, that little enclave that today is stuck between the Delaware River and I-95. My parents were married in Bridesburg and so eventually this neighborhood becomes central to my personal history.

Not all my readers know what or where Bridesburg is, but it is looms so large in the overall Heydrick story that it certainly warrants a bit of description all its own. I hope that my mother, my Aunt Margaret or any of my Philadelphia cousins will chime in with additions or corrections (use the comments section, mom.) Although I've visited Bridesburg (I think that I can lay claim to being the only non-Philadelphia cousin who endured Thanksgiving with The Twins.) I'm far from an expert.

Once settled in Bridesburg, the Heydricks stayed until the 1950's when my grandmother, Helen Eyles Heydrick, now a widow, sold the family home and moved into an attached apartment over the Rhawn Street House in which my aunt and uncle, Helen and Russ Dutcher lived with my cousins Carol, Bill and Bob.

The Isaac Heydrick family, (Isaac being the second Heydrick generation born in the U.S.), left Flourtown for Bridesburg in 1840. I can't find anything that gives even a smidge of a clue as to the motivation for such a move. There is not a single mention of what profession Isaac took up and so it remains a bit of a mystery. However, by the 1840s Bridesburg was industrializing and perhaps Isaac worked in industry of some kind.

The following description of Bridesburg comes from the website The Bridesburg Story http://bridesburg.net/bridesburg/bridesburg_html/The%20Bridesburg%20Story.html

The Village of Bridesburg was originally called Point No Point. The name being given in consequence of the changes in the appearance of the point by the approaches on the Delaware River. When first seen going northward it appeared to be a point, boldly jutting out into the stream and upon coming nearer, it lost its character and seemed to be an ordinary portion of the right bank; on further approach it seemed to again jut out into a point.

The village name was shortened to The Point and at the close of the Revolution was again changed to Kirkbridesburg, named for Joseph Kirkbride, for many years the largest landowner here. About one hundred and forty years ago the people of the village decided the name was too long, so Bridesburg was adopted.

The first road was known as Point No Point Road, listed on Scull and Heap's Map 1750, showing all roads, ferries and taverns around Philadelphia. It began at Second and Vine, continuing very nearly the same direction as Richmond Street of today. The terminus was at Parr's Tavern, at the junction of the Frankford Creek and the Delaware River, a distance of six miles.

The Industrial Community

The Bridesburg Manufacturing Co

In 1810 Alfred Jenks, having learned from Mr. Samuel Slater all that was then known of Cotton machinery, established at Holmesburg the first regular manufacture of cotton machinery. Mr. Jenks in 1819 moved to Bridesburg and commenced the manufacture of woolen machinery. In 1830 Mr. Jenks invented the power loom for weaving checks and introduced it into the Kempton mill at Manayunk. With his son Barton H. Jenks one of the most ingenious of American inventors, he established the Bridesburg Manufacturing Co., the most outstanding manufacturing concern here for three generations. In its best days four to five hundred men were employed. During the Civil War muskets were manufactured and newspapers list Mr. Jenks as a contributor of thousands to war distressed families.

The Lenning Chemical Works

Nicholas Lennig and Co. (begun in 1819) in 1831 established the Tacony Chemical Works at Richmond and Ann Streets in Port Richmond. The firm was Nicholas the father and Charles the son. Nicholas died in 1835 and Charles associated himself with Frederick Lennig, his cousin, the firm remaining Nicholas Lennig and Co. until 1859 when it changed to C.F. Lennig and so remained until 1863, when Frederick died and Charles Lennig became sole proprietor.

The Lennig Company was awarded a medal at the Centennial Exposition in 1876 "for the products exhibited coming from the distillation of wood, for metallic salts and especially for the careful manufacture of sulphate of alumina and alum".

My mom and Aunt Margie can attest to the fact that Bridesburg continued to be a center of chemical manufacturing with its accompanying smells and pollution all through their growing-up years. It really is miraculous that the Heydrick girls enjoyed robust good health for their entire lives considering the toxic air and water that permeated their neighborhood.

But back to Isaac and his progeny:

Isaac was born in Flourtown in November of 1796. His parents were Balthasar and Elizabeth Nungesser. Isaac married Elizabeth Wasser in 1825 and they had several children. Isaac and his family show up in the 1840 federal census in the Bridesburg ward. Neither Isaac nor Elizabeth enjoyed the good health of their descendants and both died relatively young. Isaac died in 1846 at age 50 and Elizabeth in 1854 at age 51. Both are buried in the First Presbyterian Church Of Bridesburg cemetery on Pratt Street. Next time one of us is in Bridesburg we ought to see if we can find the grave markers.

Isaac and Elizabeth's eldest son was David born November 1826 and seems to have been the family superstar. David graduated from Lafayette College in Easton, Pa (coincidentally this is Bill Dutcher's alma mater) and then went on to seminary at Princeton. He ended up in the ministry in Brooklyn, NY where he spent the rest of his career. The second son was William W. Heydrick, the Heydrick girls grandfather and eventually a purveyor of fancy buttons and imported notions.

William W. was born in November of 1828 in Flourtown (what is it with these November birthdays? Both my mother and her sister, Helen were born in November also!) He apparently did so well for himself that by April of 1865 he was on a list of "The Rich Men of Philadelphia: Income Tax of the Residents of Philadelphia and Bucks County." Following his name on this list is "$1,005.00."

He is listed on the 1870 and 1880 census as living in the 25th ward (Bridesburg) and in 1880 his address was listed at 3329 Garden Street. When I asked my mother whether that address rang any bells she said that it did not. Her family always lived at 4807 Garden Street and she has always believed that Isaac Heydrick built or helped build the house she grew up in. I found a 2004 history of Bridesburg portion of which are available on-line; in it it shows the sketch of 4807 that my grandparents used as their Christmas card in 1950 or so. It identifies the house as being built for the Brownell family but then occupied by three generations of Heydricks. The house was torn down in 2004.

The only time I ever saw 4807 was in the 1970's when the family next door had owned it for quite a few years using it to store god knows what. It was pretty derelict and full of all kinds of junk. I always fantasized about buying it back and keeping it in the family. It had a pretty big lot that stretched all the way down to the Delaware.

My mom remembers being told that her grandfather had a store downtown but never visited there. Her grandfather died when her dad was only 12 so none of the Heydrick girls ever knew their Grandfather Heydrick. She also thinks that she was told that Grandfather Heydrick helped to start the Bridesburg Methodist Church where he was quite active and they worshipped as a family her whole life.

As I mentioned before, William W. had a business:

William W. Heydrick & Co.,

Importers of

FINE FANCY GOODS,

Choice Elastics, Scrap Pictures and Christmas Cards.

Port-monnaies, Satchels, Dressing Cases, Dolls, Beads, Buttons, Fancy Boxes,

Notions, Novelties, etc. etc.

47 South Fourth Street, Above Chestnut

His letterhead has his name and also Edw. H. Cook--funny since Wm.W. married an Annie Cook about 1865. Hmmm, could it be? I shall have to dig further.

This letter from which I took the above information is dated August 10th, 1885 and reads as follows:

Dear H. C. Robinson,

The Trustees of our Church requested me to write you and ascertain on what terms you would fix up the top of the pews in our Church to prevent them sticking.

Mr. Getty refuses to do anything and Mr. Riles told him that he would as far as he was concerned see that not a dollars worth of work should go through his influence.

Give us please the actual cost it will be to the Church and when you would to it if we so arrange with you and please put on the back of this paper your answer and return it to me.

Yours truly,

W.W. Heydrick

The Armchair Historian and more Heydrick Lore

I am, alas, an armchair historian. My method of choice is the dogged google search. How fortunate for me that google is digitizing scores of books in the public domain. How else could I have so easily found references to my third-great grandfather, Dr. J.C.H. Freund in an 1847 copy of The Lancet. This issue contains, on page 503, a dramatic account of a confrontation between Dr. Freund and another doctor who were battling for control of the German Hospital that Dr. Freund had recently founded in London. They apparently came to blows.

I fully intend to visit the many places where, lodged in historical societies, local libraries, archives and museums, I can find more stories of my relatives. Until those journeys happen, however, I rely on manipulating key word searches in the hopes that I'll turn up some unknown document on the internet.

While I may rely on the work of others (what historian hasn't?) I will dutifully supply you with the links to someone else's work. I may borrow, but I don't plagiarize.

An excellent example is contained below. Since my previous post began the story of the Heydrick migration to Pennsylvania, I went looking to augment what I already knew about the first few generations of Heydricks in Montgomery County. A new google search provided this:

http://www.hetrick-philadelphia.org/Melchior_Heydrick.pdf.

Here is the product of one Stephan Hetrick who has done a lot of legwork for me and on whose work I gratefully piggy-back. Mr. Hetrick relied primarily on the official Schwenkfelder record for his information, a copy of which my cousin Bob's wife now has. Good for the Schwenkfelder's for keeping such good records! This Schwenkfelder record is available on-line from the Mormons, but you have to pay them to look at it. I'd rather not, thanks.

So based on Mr. Hetrick's reading of the Schwenkfelder genealogy record we learn the following interesting facts:

Our original Heydrick emigre was Balthasar, son of Melchoir. Melchoir stayed home in Silesia when the others set sail for Pennsylvania. Balthasar was born about 1708 and he died in 1753. He's buried in a Schwenkfelder cemetary on Skippack Creek Road in Montgomery County. Balthasar got right to work improving his lot and in the summer of 1735, less than a year after having arrived in a new land, he bought 100 acres of land along Swamp Creek. By 1743 he had become a naturalized citizen--but of what? Pennsylvania was still a British colony so I don't know if he became a citizen of Pennsylvania, or of Britain or of what exactly. A good question that Mr. Hetrick and the Schwenkfelder book don't seem to answer!

Balthasar arrived in Pennsylvania with his German wife, Rosina Heebner, but she died four years after arriving here. He waited a few years and then in 1741 married Marie (or Maria, I've seen it both ways) Hoffrichter in Frederick, Montgomery County. It was this marriage that produced the next Heydrick great-grandfather,

(An aside: the 1994 Stanley Cup Champion New York Rangers had in goal one Mike Richter who is from Flourtown, Montgomery County. How cool would it be if Mike Richter's ancestors came from the Hoffrichter line! My cousin, the Stanley Cup Champion!)

Balthasar and Rosina had several children including a son who was named after his father. This Balthasar junior was born December 29th, 1750 in Frederick, Montgomery County. He lived to be 80 years old and died December 19, 1831 and is buried in Union Cemetary, Flourtown.

Balthasar somehow became a Captain in the Pennsylvania Militia during the Revoluion and was attached to a Col. Houlgate's Battalion. His one-story log house stood for many years (I have a terrible xerox of a photograph of it) on the turnpike in the center of Flourtown.

I've done a little bit of searching and do find some references to a Col. John Houlgate who was a commander of a battalion in Philadelphia County. Stay tuned on this. I may get the time to read the full text of a several hundred page on-line archive of the Pennsylvania militia--but not in time to post this.

Balthasar and Elizabeth Nungesser were married about 1786. They had six children who lived to be recorded in the genealogy including son Isaac, born July 9, 1796 in, where else, Flourtown, of course. It was Isaac who moved the Heydrick lineage to the infamous 'burg on the Delaware--Bridesburg, naturally.

The Heydricks who settled in Flourtown--the many uncles and cousins of our direct forebears--were apparently all industrious, upstanding citizens of their communities. They included merchants, carpenters and mill owners. Several served in the Pennsylvania militia during the Revolution. Balthasar junior's cousin was the celebrated Dr. Christopher Heydrick who studied with the very well known Dr. Benjamin Say and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1792. He spent some time as a physician at the hospital and was also a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences.

The next posting will take up the story of the Bridesburg Heydricks.

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