Alice Catherine Hollabaugh Enck - Seventh Child of George and Elizabeth Hollabaugh

The Children of George and Elizabeth Bittinger Hollabaugh

(Great-Great Grandparents)

Sarah (1836-1918)

Eliza Jane (1838 - before 1918)

Mary Elizabeth (1840 - 1941)

*William Levi (1842 - 1939)

George Washington (1844 - 1924)

David William (1847 - 1936)

Alice Catharine (1849 - 1916)

Jacob Bittinger (1852 - 1943)

                                  Georgianna Hannah (1856 - 1944) 

 Alice was born on November 12, 1849 to George and Elizabeth, as recorded in the books of the Lutheran and Reformed Church, Arendtsville, Adams County, Pennsylvania.  She was baptized on April 7th, 1850, (mistakenly transcribed as 1840 online).  In the 1850 and the 1860 census, she was found enumerated with her parents, and in one instance, her name was written as Allin.  

In 1867, she married Henry Enck; she was 17 or 18. One researcher found the wedding announcement in the American Volunteer newspaper of Carlisle, PA, the October 17, 1867 edition, but I have not been able to get a copy of it as yet. 
According to the records of the Church of Christ in Harrisburg, Henry was born on August 12, 1844 in Dauphin County, PA to parents, 
John and Sarah.

The enumerator found Mr. and Mrs. Enck in Monroe Township, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania in 1870.  Henry, 25, was working as a cooper and had personal effects worth $150.  Alice C., his wife, 20, and their children, Crayton - a son, aged 1 - and Carmy C. - a daughter, aged 2/12 - lived with him. 

Henry was a resourceful fellow and seemed to have a different type of job in each census.  In the 1880 census, the family lived in Mechanicsburg in Cumberland County.  Henry, 35, was a sewing machine agent, working to support their five children: Carmie C., 10; Argle H. (Harrison), 8; Minnie A.E., 6; John C., 4; and William R., 1. Where was the first born child, Crayton?  He was found enumerated with his Enck grandparents, John, 57, and Sarah, 60.  Crayton, 12, (written as Cranton) also had his Uncle Edmund, 26, and Aunt Lizzie, 23, in the home.  His grandfather Enck was a farmer near Silver Springs in Cumberland County, so perhaps the boy was helping on the farm.

In the books of the German Reformed Church, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Henry Enck and Alice C. Enck were admitted into membership on April 13, 1884. Just two years later, on April 19, 1886, the couple were dismissed, probably indicating that they had moved.

On June 11, 1900, the Encks were renting a home in Millersburg, Daughin County, PA.  Henry, now 55 years old, worked as a pretzel salesman.  Living right next door was John Enck, his son, and new wife, Rebecca, the owners of a pretzel factory.  Alice, now 50, reported that she had had ten children, eight of whom were still living.  At home were Argle (born October 1871), 28, single and working as a pretzel roller; Franklin (born May 1883), 17,single and a cutter in a shoe factory; Bertha (born August 1884), 15, single and a stitcher in a shoe factory; and little Mable (born March 1892), 8 and in school.

Where were the older children in 1900?  
By that time, the oldest, Crayton, had married Margarete Ellen (Ella) Zeiders and had one son, Ralph.
And...Crayton was a baker. At the pretzel factory?  They had a house servant, Marvin Holman, 17, living with he and his wife in Ward 9, Harrisburg, PA, as well as George Spealman, another baker.

The second child, Carmie, had married Ira Meck on May 11, 1893; he was a baker and she was a tailoress.  In the 1900 census, Ira gave his job as pretzel baker.  Living with them, also in Harrisburg, were Charles McClain, a pretzel baker, and Eloysius Jones, a pretzel baker apprentice.  Do you see a pattern here?  I envision a family business - a pretzel factory in which many of the family are employed.  Perhaps an old city directory, if it existed, could give us more information on that.

The 3rd child, Argle was at home.  Minnie, the fourth child married George Brown on July 30, 1895 in Harrisburg.  George gave his occupation as "rigger" - which perhaps related to sailing vessels.  He and Minnie were enumerated in Philadelphia in 1900 along with their two daughters, Florence, 4, and Myrtle, 1.  They also had boarders.

The fifth child, John C., was owner of the pretzel factory in which he had employed many of his family in Harrisburg.
The sixth child, William R., died at the age of 3 in 1882, and the seventh child, Nestor G., also died young, at the age of 12 in 1893.

The other three children, Franklin, Bertha and Mable were at home in 1900.

 Henry T. Enck died on November 2, 1905 in Harrisburg, leaving Alice a widow at about age 55.  Most of their children were independent by that time.  In 1910, Alice Hollabaugh Enck lived on Market Street in Harrisburg and at age 60, she was a washerwoman, taking in laundry for pay.  Mable, at 18, was also contributing by working as an operator at the telephone exchange.  (Perhaps her Aunt Mary Hennigh or cousin, Minnie, helped her get the job.)

Alice died at age 66 on February 9, 1916.  She, her husband, and sons, Nestor and William, are buried in the cemetery at Churchtown, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. 

More information on the Enck family from descendent, Bob Enck!

  Henry Enck, Sr. originally owned this log dwelling located on Locust Point Road, Mechanicsburg, PA, which was listed by the Bureau of Historic Preservation as being in fair condition on a form completed in 1986.  The form states that Henry "was a farmer with 99 acres, the guardian of Weaver heirs in 1842, but no house was listed until 1850.  An old barn was replaced with a new bank barn in 1853.  Henry Enck, Sr. married Alice C. Hollabaugh of Adams county on October 10, 1867.  This same property on the 1872 (atlas) is listed under Abraham Hertzler who was born in 1812 and moved to Cumberland County in 1852."

Bob is a descendant of Franklin Enck, son of Henry and Alice Hollabaugh Enck.  Franklin married Gertrude Chrisner (1882 - 1953) and moved to Philadelphia around 1920 from the Harrisburg area.  
Franklin and Gertrude had two sons, Frederick (1904-1961) and Paul (1908-1980).  Paul never married, but Frederick married Mae Gaunt (1903-1971) in 1927 at St. James Parish, 38th and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, PA, on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.
Frederick and Mae had three sons: Frederick (1928-2007), William, and Robert, Bob's father.)

Thank you so much, Bob, for this addition to the family story!  

(William) David Hollabaugh, Sixth Child of George and Elizabeth Bittinger Hollabaugh

The Children of George and Elizabeth Bittinger Hollabaugh

(Great-Great Grandparents)

Sarah (1836-1918)

Eliza Jane (1838 - before 1918)

Mary Elizabeth (1840 - 1941)

*William Levi (1842 - 1939)

George Washington (1844 - 1924)

David William (1847 - 1936)

Alice Catharine (1849 - 1916)

Jacob Bittinger (1852 - 1943)

                                  Georgianna Hannah (1856 - 1944)

Photo courtesy of Rodger Dohm, a descendent of David

What exactly was this sixth child’s name?  

According to the baptismal records of the St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, George and Elisabeth Hollabaugh named their third son who was born on July 24, 1847, David.  Just David.  He was baptized on February 9, 1848 as such.

In the 1850 and the 1860 censuses, he was listed as David.  But as we follow his life, we see that he referred to himself as William David or W. D.   One source said that he gave himself the name, William.  It does seem unlikely that his parents named two children, William.  So, for the purposes of this recounting of his life, I will refer to him as David to distinguish him from his older brother William Levi.

  


David was fourteen, just days away from his fifteenth birthday, when the Battle of Gettysburg took place near his home in the first days of July 1863.  In a letter posted online, a letter written by David's youngest daughter, Ethel Elaine (Niemann) to her descendents,  Ethel (who referred to her father as David) recounted how her father and a friend watched the battle from the relative safety of a tree limb until the the fighting became so intense, they were forced to take shelter in a cellar.  At the end of the third day of fighting, July 3, 1863, David said (according to the letter), that “between Seminary Ridge, where Lee’s Army was stationed, and Cemetary Ridge, across the mile-wide valley where Meade’s Army waited for Pickett’s Charge, dead men and horses were so numerous that, ‘I could have walked from ridge to ridge without stepping off a body.’”  David witnessed the battle at the west end of Gettysburg when Lee’s army met Meade’s.  He saw the Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg turned into  a hospital for wounded Confederates.   David said he knew the legendary Old John Burns who grabbed his squirrel rifle and joined the Union Army on the spot, fighting so valiantly that legend and song have grown up around his bravery.  Young David Hollabaugh, and his brothers and sisters were in the midst of this chaos, death, and destruction.

We know that David was still in Gettysburg on November 19, 1863, because his daughter reported that he was witness to the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery and heard Lincoln’s address that day.  The statesmen of Pennsylvania had to move quickly to provide a resting place for the plethora of bodies that rested on the fields of Gettysburg and the surrounding area.  By the end of July, measures were being taken to identify the bodies using whatever items the soldiers had on them.  Markers on the graves were rough boards with names written in lead pencil. It must have been a gruesome sight for old and young citizens alike.

His daughter noted in her letter that David headed for the west sometime in 1864 or 1865 to Fort Wayne and Spencerville, Indiana, briefly, and then on to Nebraska City, Nebraska.  Nebraska became a state in 1867, so he was in what was known then as the Nebraska Territory.  In his brother, George's, obituary, it stated that George came to Indiana in 1871, after marrying in PA, and brother, William, married in Indiana in 1870.  Did any of the brothers come west together or did the younger David set out alone?  

In the 1870 census of Nebraska City, Otoe County, Nebraska, A. Holabaugh, 25, a carpenter, was enumerated in the boarding house of D. and E. Cinnamond.  Seventeen young men were living in that house, which led me to think that perhaps the landlord gave information to the enumerator, causing some mistakes.  The Hollabaugh man was said to be born in Ohio, a fact that a landlord probably wouldn't know.  The age was appropriate for David,as was the location and occupation, as we will soon learn, but someone has given the first initial as A.
I, personally, think this was our David Hollabaugh, but can not be absolutely sure.

In 1873, David made the almost seven hundred mile trip back to the Spencerville, Indiana, area where he married Margaret Jane Furnish, a teacher, on April 10.  Had he met her on an earlier trip back to visit his brothers?  Or did the brothers arrange this marriage in some way?  All that is left to the imagination.  Margaret was the daughter of David and Mary Caroline Davis Furnish.  Born on January 21, 1847 in Ohio, Margaret was 27 when she married and David was about a half year younger.  

The young couple left Indiana to make their home in Nebraska City, Nebraska.
By the 1880 census on June 11, they were settled in the Third Ward of Nebraska City where W.D. Hollabaugh worked as a carpenter at 31, and his wife Margaret, 30, kept house and cared for their two sons, William, 6, and Albert, 4, both born in Nebraska.  William's age and birthplace put the family back in Nebraska by 1874;  however a land transfer from W. D. Hallabaugh to G. W. Cooper is noted in the Nebraska Advertiser newspaper on May 29, 1873, suggesting David and Margaret were probably back in Nebraska soon after their wedding.  Their first child, Caroline Elizabeth, born December 26, 1873, died of cholera in August 1874.

The 1885 Nebraska census of June 4, 1885, again showed David as a carpenter at age 37 and he and Margaret had added a few more children.  Listed were
William, 11, and John (John Albert), 9, along with Horace, 4, and Mabel 11/12.

Daughter Ethel wrote, "David worked with John Wales as a skilled cabinetmaker and interior finishing man. He did the greater part of the interior finishing of the Post Office building at 8th Street & Corso, Nebraska City, which was erected in 1886 - 1888, a building which still stands today in perfect condition as of June 17, 1956."

This post office is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

At some point between 1885 and 1900, William gave up making a living as a carpenter and purchased a farm.  His daughter wrote, "As time passed, David decided to go to farming on a farm he purchased about five miles southwest of Nebraska City, then known as Talbot Hall, a school which was being abandoned.  He lived there for many years, being very successful as a fruit grower, gardener and farmer.  He also worked as a gardener for J. Sterling Morton, who became U. S. Secretary of Agriculture under President Cleveland and whose estate and mansion are now Arbor Lodge, a beautiful Nebraska state park.  On this farm, David and Margaret Jane raised six children, three boys and three girls, all of whom are now in homes of their own in Nebraska City. (1956)"

In 1900, William and Maggie (Margaret) were on the farm with all of their children. 
This census disputes the church record, giving William's birthdate as July 1846, rather than 1847.  The children were: William, born December 1873, age 26 and at college;  Albert, born March 1876, age 24; Eugene, born September 1880, age 19; Mabel, born July 1884, age 15; Lulu, born January 1887, age 13, and Ethel, born October 1891, age 8.

I've found some articles in historic newspapers that revealed much about this Hollabaugh family.  
The oldest daughter,Mabel Maud Hollabaugh, married Ross McWilliams on 20 October 1903 and this announcement appeared in the Omaha Daily Bee on the next day:
"Nebraska City, Neb., Oct. 20 - Mr. R. McWilliams of Pennsylvania and Miss Mable Hollabaugh of this city were married this afternoon at the Cumberland Presbyterian church.  After the ceremony, the couple left for Pennsylvania to make their future home. The bride is the daughter of W. D. Hollabaugh, a well-known fruit grower southwest of this city."

Again in the Omaha Daily Bee of August 6, 1904, we learn of the high esteem given to W.D. Hollabaugh and his talents as a fruit grower.
"Peach Trees Make a Change
Nebraska City, Neb., Aug. 5 - Several of the best known fruit growers in this section of the county claim that peach trees that bore freestone peaches heretofore are bearing clingstone peaches this year.  W. D. Hollabaugh and Emery Sherfey, two very successful fruit growers, say their freestone peach trees are bearing the clingstone variety.  They are at a loss to explain this phenomena and can give no explanation of the transformation. Some of the trees, they claim are bearing both the free and clingstone varieties."
 

Lulu Grace Hollabaugh married Chester Dwyer

In 1906, another Hollabaugh daughter, Lulu Grace, was married.  The Omaha Daily Bee reported the event on June 8, 1906:
"Nebraska City - At high noon today at the home of the bride's parents, two miles southwest of this city, Mr. C. E. Dwyer and Miss Lulu Hollabaugh, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Hollabaugh, were united in marriage by Rev. C. A. Mastin, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church.  The ceremony was performed on the lawn under a group of old trees.  Mr. and Mrs. Dwyer left this evening for an extended trip to Massachusetts."

In the 1910 census, only the youngest daughter, Ethel E. (Elaine) was at home at the age of 18.  William D., 62, and Margette J., 63, were living back in Ward 2 of Nebraska City.  
That same year, tragedy struck the oldest Hollabaugh son, William Edmond, who never married and apparently had very diminished eyesight.
 The Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, NE) - February 4, 1910 -
"STRICKEN BLIND AT WORK
Piano Tuner Loses His Sight Unexpectedly at Talmage, Neb.
Nebraska City, Neb. - Feb. 3 - William Hollabaugh, whose sight had been failing for a number of years, was suddenly stricken blind while at work tuning pianos at Talmage.  He was brought to his home here.  Oculists who have examined his eyes give him no hope that he may ever recover his eyesight."
Then, in the Valentine Democrat of Valentine, Nebraska of February 10, 1910, this article appeared:
"Piano Tuner Partially Blind - William Hollabaugh, for years partially blind, and a graduate as a piano tuner from the Institute for the Blind, was suddenly stricken totally blind while tuning a piano at Talmage."
William did continue his work as a piano tuner.  In the 1930 census, he was renting a room for $5 a month in Nebraska City.  He was single at 55 and still working.  The census noted he could not read or write...yes, because he was blind.

And more trouble followed, according to the Omaha Daily Bee of January 28, 1911:
"Nebraska City - Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Hollabaugh have been called to Freona, Tex. to attend the bedside of their daughter, Mrs. Ross McWilliams, who is dangerously ill with appendicitis."
Thankfully, Mabel survived this ordeal and lived on until 1962. 

By the 1920 census, William D. and Margaret J. were living in the same home on 8th Street. With them were Lulu G. Dwyer (called Laura by the census taker), 32 years old and a widow, and her children Raymond C., 12, and Paul, 9. Lulu had a salaried job as a mail clerk at a packing plant. William and Margaret, at 72, were retired.

The Evening State Journal and Lincoln Daily News of March 15, 1924, reported this finding:
"Nebraska City, March 15 - While tearing down part of the fresco work on the old Bishof building in this city, workmen found a board with the following information on it in pencil: 'Built by W. D. Hollabaugh July 8, 1880.'  The writing was legible in spite of being forty -four years old.  W. D. Hollabaugh is still a resident of this city.  The board will be kept by Earl Brust, a contractor, as a memento."

This invitation was sent back to the Indiana Hollabaughs and was in the possession of brother George's family.  I wonder if any relative from Indiana attended. 

What a challenge it was to find the Hollabaughs in the 1930 census!  I finally found them under "Hoolabah."  W. D., 82, and E. J. (Margaret), 83, lived in their same home, at that time worth $3500.  The enumerator wrote in error that they had been married 26 years in 1930.  Maybe it was just the handwriting...

On July 17, 1934, Margaret Jane Furnish Hollabaugh died of a stroke.  She would have been 87.  A book exists about her Furnish family which may contain her obituary and more information about her, but it was unreadable online.  I hope to eventually find the book at the Allen County Public Library.  If anyone has a photo and/ or obit for Margaret, I would love to post it.

About a year and a half later, On January 4, 1936, David died of a coronary, at almost 90.  I have an obituary from an unknown source:
"William David Hollabaugh, 88, who as a youth, watched the battle of Gettysburg from a point of vantage in a tree and a few months later heard President Abraham Lincoln speak his immortal words at Gettysburg, dropped dead in Nebraska City Saturday morning.  He died in the post office, a building he helped build as a skilled carpenter, before his sudden death came.  William married Margaret Jane Furnish (daughter of David Furnish) and they were the parents of seven children , had a good life, and spent many anniversaries together, their 59th being their last."

They are buried in the Wyuka Cemetery, Nebraska City, along with others of their family. 

George Washington Hollabaugh - Fifth Child of George and Elizabeth Hollabaugh

The Children of George and Elizabeth Bittinger Hollabaugh

(Great-Great Grandparents)

Sarah (1836-1918)

Eliza Jane (1838 - before 1918)

Mary Elizabeth (1840 - 1941)

*William Levi (1842 - 1939)

George Washington (1844 - 1924)

David William (1847 - 1936)

Alice Catharine (1849- 1916)

Jacob B. (1852 - 1943)

Georgianna Hannah (1856 - 1944) 

It is an honor today to have a guest blogger, Mary Hollabaugh-Diehl, great-great granddaughter of George W. Hollabaugh.  Thanks to her research and photos, I have learned much more about this next younger brother of my husband's great grandfather, William Levi.  Thank you, Mary!

George Hollabaugh was the fifth child out of nine born to George and Elizabeth (Bittinger) Hollabugh.  He was born in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on January 19, 1844.  George married Elizabeth Springer on March 17, 1870 in Adams County, Pennsylvania. In 1871, George and Elizabeth moved to Spencerville, Indiana.  George and Elizabeth became members of the Lutheran Church in Spencerville on April 26, 1874.    

Five children were born to this union. 

William Henry Hollabaugh              1870-1924

John Franklin Hollabaugh              1873-UNK

Martha May Hollabaugh                1876-1877

Minnie Dell Hollabaugh                 1877-1971

Jacob Scudder Hollabaugh           1883-1965

George and Elizabeth made Spencerville their home.  They first settled in a log home in the middle of town. They later purchased property on River Street and built a house.  They remained in this home till Elizabeth died in 1920.  In this home, they raised four of their five children to adulthood.  Martha May died in infancy and is buried alongside her parents in White City Cemetery in Spencerville.    

George worked in the local saw mill and Elizabeth ran a boarding house out of their home.  George lost part of a finger while working at the saw mill.  This is evident in one of the photos that accompany this entry.  George’s granddaughter once described George’s appearance:  “He had the bluest eyes, a clear, ruddy complexion and thick white hair.”    He has also been described as a pleasant and patient man.  Besides working at the saw mill and helping Elizabeth with the boarding house he was the Sexton for the Lutheran church.  He took care of the furnace, rang the bell and opened and closed the church for services.  During the service, he always sat in the very back seat in the left section.  

 When Elizabeth died in 1920, George sold the house to his son John Franklin and went to live with his daughter Minnie, on her farm south of town.  George died June 26, 1924 at the age of 80. 

Notice the missing finger on George's hand, a result of an accident at the sawmill where he worked.

 George W. Hollabaugh's obituary appeared in the St. Joe News, St. Joe, IN on July 3, 1924:
"Obituary -
George W. Hollabaugh was born near Gettysburg, Pa., Jan. 19, 1844, and died at the home of his daughter in Allen county, Indiana, June 26, 1924, aged 80 years, 5 months, and 7 days.
He was of English descent and was the son of George and Elizabeth Hollabaugh.  He married Elizabeth Springer and they afterward moved to this community from Pennsylvania.  His wife died Januaary 13, 1920.  To them were born three sons and two daughters, one daughter dying in infancy.  The surviving children are William, born in Pennsylvania, of Auburn, Indiana; Frank, Mrs. Lee Hollapeter, and Scudder of Spencerville.  Besides he leaves nine grandchildren, three brothers and one sister.
Brother Hollabaugh joined the Lutheran church in Pennsylvania and transferred his membership to the Lutheran church at Spencerville and truly remained a devout and consistent member till the end of his life.  He cared for the house of God for many years and it was his chief joy.  
He was a good husband and father, and a splendid citizen and had more friends than is allotted to most people. 
He had been in poor health for some time, but was at church each Sunday ecept the one before he died, thus passing suddenly to be with the Lord.
Peace to his ashes.
The funeral service was held in the Lutheran Church on Saturday at 2 P.M., conducted by Rev. W. D. Steffley after which interment was made at White City Cemetery."

 The obituary of George's wife, Elizabeth, appeared in The St. Joe News on Thursday, January 22, 1920:
"Obituary -
Elizabeth Springer was born in Hamburg, Germany, May 15, 1851 and died at Spencerville, Indiana, January 13, 1920.
She came to America when a child of about one year old.
She was married to Mr. George H. (W.) Hollabaugh March 17, 1870, in Adams County, Pennsylvania.  To this union were born five children, three sons and two daughters, one daughter died in infancy.  She united with the Lutherans near Gettysburg, Pa. when but a girl in early teens.
She moved with her husband from Pennsylvania to Spencerville in 1871 and has lived for forty years in the same place in which she died.  She united with her husband with the Lutheran Church Spencerville, April 26, 1874.  She leaves a husband, one brother - Benjamin Springer of Cedarville, four children - William H., of Auburn; Frank, Scudder and Minnie Hollopeter of this place, five grandchildren and many friends.
She was a sufferer for a number of years and for the past two years and one half an invalid, but she bore it all with remarkable patience,never complaining or giving any trouble to those taking care of her.  She was a kind, loving mother and grandmother and a devoted wife.
The funeral services were conducted by her pastor, Rev. A. K. Mumma on Thursday afternoon and buried at White City Cemetery."