BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES - WATSON ANCESTORS REPPERT
The REPPERTS, who first came to America in 1792, were from the Saar Basin in Germany, which borders on France, where they had a long history as glassmakers. 36-Johann Georg REPPERT (my 3G Grandfather) married 37-Catherine VOLZ in Germany and they had six children, Catherine Magdalene, Catherine Elizabeth, John George, 18-John Christian, Catherine Margaretta and Sophia Margaretta. In 1792 37-Catherine (VOLZ) REPPERT was one of two REPPERT widows who sailed for America with their families. The other was Sophia (MYERS) REPPERT who it is believed was married to a brother of 36-Johann George Reppert. Both husbands were killed in wars that swept Germany for several years during that period. The families landed at Baltimore, MD and initially settled in Maryland. It is not known whether 37-Catherine remained in Maryland the rest of or life, or joined her children in their move westward. The REPPERT brothers, George and 18-Christian, accompanied their mother and the rest of the family on the trip from Germany to America in 1792. They settled in Maryland initially where George and Christian worked at the Amelung Glass Factory located in Frederick County on the Monacacy River*. About 1795 they, and several other German glass makers (including Christian and Baltzer KRAMER, John GABLER, Adolph EBERHART, and Louis REITZ were approached by Colonel HART, father-in-law of Henry CLAY, concerning relocation to Kentucky where he owned property, for the purpose of starting the first glass plant in that area. The group agreed to the proposal and in time set out for their new location. They stopped one evening, in route to Kentucky, at Tomlinson's Tavern on the trail west of Cumberland, MD where they met Albert GALLATIN, owner of Friendship Hill Plantation at New Geneva, PA. (Mr. GALLATIN subsequently had a brilliant career as a member of the U. S. Congress, Secretary of the Treasury under Thomas JEFFERSON, and U. S. Minister to Russia, Ghent, England and France). Mr. GALLATIN, who had immigrated from Switzerland, spoke German fluently and when he heard the group singing German hymns he started to converse with them. Upon learning their mission he suggested that instead of continuing to Kentucky they consider joining him in building a glass plant on his plantation at New Geneva, to serve the Southwestern Pennsylvania area.** The group evaluated both locations before making a final decision and in the late 1790's constructed a glass plant near the log cabin village of New Geneva, PA, the first such plant west of the Allegheny Mountains. Their main product was 8"x10" window glass to replace the oiled paper that had been used in windows until that time. In 1816 they moved their glass making operation across the river to a location adjacent to Greensboro, a small town that had been plotted in 1791 on land patented in 1787 by Elias Stone and his wife, Elizabeth, under the name "Delight". They constructed new buildings and gradually a new community developed that became known as Glassworks. 18-Christian
REPPERT soon left the group to
pursue other interests. George REPPERT continued as a key person
in the glass operation until it was disbanded in the early 1830's due
to increasing competition. In about 1838 he sold his extensive
holdings in Greene County, PA and he and his wife, Christiana (KRAMER)
REPPERT, moved to Marietta, Ohio. They purchased a five hundred
acre farm where they lived until their deaths on 27 July 1854 and 1
October 1861 respectively. Both are buried in the West Side
Cemetery, Marietta, Ohio.
****** 18-Christian REPPERT was born in Germany in 1773 and came to the United States with the family in 1792. After settling initially in Maryland he moved to Southwestern Pennsylvania in the late 1790's where he settled near Greensboro in the eastern part of Greene Township, Greene County, PA., which became part of Monongahela Township when that township was formed in 1823. He worked with his brother George at the glass plants in New Geneva and Glassworks for the first several years in Pennsylvania. He married 19-Catherine DIEFFENBACH, a native of Pennsylvania, in about 1800. They had at least ten children, Christian Jr., George, Catherine Margaret, Solomon, Maria Magdalena, Maria Sophia, Lewis, 9-Louisa Wilhelmena, who became the wife of 8-John WATSON, Benjamin Franklin, and Alfred Crawford. Records show that after Christian left the glass making operation at Glassworks he worked as both a merchant and a tanner before purchasing a farm near Bald Hill, Dunkard Township, Greene County, PA and moving his family there. Christian and Catherine lived the rest of their lives in that location. 18-Christian died in 1851 at age 75 and 19-Catherine, who was blind in her later years, died in 1866 at age 86. Both are buried at the REPPERT Cemetery in southwestern Dunkard Township, near the WV state line. * In 1784 John Frederick Amelung, a native of Bremen, Germany, established a glass factory on two thousand plus acres at the mouth of the Monocacy River near Frederick, MD. Over eighty glass makers immigrated from Germany followed by blacksmiths, bakers, shoemakers, tailors and a physician. The colony of New Bremen was formed in the area surrounding the glass plant and by the end of 1785 three to four hundred people inhabited the community. Many of the countries leaders at that time including Washington, Franklin, Jefferson and John Adams took note of this ambitious new enterprise and expressed their hopes for the future of the company and the industry. Unfortunately the Amelung Glass Factory, for a variety of reasons, found itself financially embarrassed within a few years and it closed permanently in 1795. Many of the German glass makers formerly employed by Amelung moved to other locations to become key figures in the development of the glass industry in other parts of the United States. ** There are several variations, in print, of the story of the meeting between Albert GALLATIN and the German glass makers. The facts in these stories are essentially the same except for some of the details of where and when the meeting took place. SUPPLEMENTAL BIOGRAPHIC MATERIAL - REPPERT
(Added after initial printing) ADOLPHUS EBERHART When my 2G Grandfather 18-Christian Reppert (1774-1851) came to southwestern Pennsylvania in the late 1790’s he was accompanied by several other German glassmakers including his brother George REPPERT, Baltzer KRAMER, John GABLER and Adolph EBERHART. They, working with Albert GALLATIN, established the first glass plant west of the Allegheny Mountains at New Geneva, Fayette County, PA and later another plant at what became known as Glassworks, near Greensboro, just across the Monongahela River from New Geneva. The German glassmakers were all related through intermarriages among their families, both before they left Germany and after they settled in America. We (the WATSONS) are related to all of them and their many descendants. An interesting member of that original group was cousin Adolphus “Adolph” EBERHART. He was a great grandson of my 5G Grandparents 144-Hans Georg REPPERT (1672-1731) and 145-Elizabetha KRAMER (1681-1730). Adolphus EBERHART was born Jan. 4, 1760. He came to this country from Karlsbrunn, Baden, Germany, aboard the ship Catherine, landing Sept. 21, 1773. “He enlisted in the army on Jan. 21, 1777 at Burlington, for the war, and served as a private in a unit designated at various times as Captain Jonathan KINSEY’S Company and Lieutenant CONN’S Company, 4th New Jersey Regiment, commanded by Colonel Ephraim MARTIN. He was transferred in Feb. 1779, to a company designated at various times as Major Richard HOWELL’S, Major John ROSS’ and Captain Nathaniel LEONARD’S, 7th and 8th Company, 2nd New Jersey Regiment, commanded by Colonel Israel SHREVE. His name last appears on the company muster roll for March, 1780, dated April 7, 1780, with the remark: Command with Captain BOWMAN.” (Based on a letter from the Adjutant Generals Office, Washington, D.C., dated May 2, 1940) “He fought under General LAFAYETTE, and during the Battle of Brandywine assisted in carrying him from the battlefield when the General was severely wounded. They did not see each other again until they met at the home of Albert GALLATIN, ‘Friendship Hill’, near New Geneva, PA in 1825, when they embraced each other and wept for joy.” After the war Adolphus EBERHART returned to his trade of glass blowing, and after making some experiments in Baltimore with Thomas JOHNSON (first Governor of Maryland), he and his brother Martin and other friends went to Frederick, Maryland. Here they worked at the new Glass House established at New Bremen, a few miles from Frederick, by John Frederick AMELUNG, a native of Bremen in Germany. One of the most memorable days in the history of Fayette County was May 25, 1825, when Albert GALLATIN entertained the venerable General LAFAYETTE at his home at Friendship Hill. GALLATIN’S son James recorded in his diary: “The meeting at Uniontown and the reception of Monsieur LAFAYETTE far surpassed anything that I have ever seen in this country. People came from miles away and camped out, bringing their tents.” LAFAYETTE’S own private secretary, A. LAVASSEUR, recorded that while at Uniontown: “The General accepted an invitation from Mr. GALLATIN to spend a few days with his family. When we set out with him for New Geneva, a delightful residence on the rocky shores of the Monongahela, a few miles from Uniontown, a detachment of militia of the county of Lafayette, in the ranks of which appeared the son of Mr. GALLATIN, served as an escort: and on the way we met groups of inhabitants, who with their joyous acclamations joined the names of LAFAYETTE and GALLATIN, with the latter of whom is attached the memory of numerous benefits on this part of Pennsylvania. At new Geneva we found everything that could render a residence there agreeable; for to the advantage of a situation well chosen, are added the charms of a society, pleasant, amiable, and enlightened such as the GALLATIN family. But the General was far from finding the solitude there which his friends had promised; and during the twenty four hours that we spent in that delightful place, the doors of the place remained constantly open, to give free access to the good inhabitants of the environs, who came in crowds to salute their guest. On the 28th day of May, Mr. GALLATIN brought us back to Uniontown, where we took leave of him.” SOURCE: EBERHART family genealogy book by Rev. A. D. EBERHART Scottdale, PA And from Andrew WAYCHOFF’S LOCAL HISTORY OF GREENE COUNTY AND SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA – “In 1825 LAFAYETTE visited his friend GALLATIN at his home and stayed overnight. Many people gathered there to see the distinguished visitor. Adolphus EBERHART, of Greene County, was a soldier of the Revolution, was at the battle of Brandywine and was one of the two men who carried LAFAYETTE, when wounded, from that battlefield. When they met, a pathetic scene occurred. Each recognized the other, embraced each other and wept, sobbing aloud.” REESE SHELBY
Cousin Reece SHELBY was a REPPERT descendant. He was a grandson of my GG Aunt Minerva S. REPPERT (1814-1896), sister of Great Grandmother 9-Louisa W. Reppert (1819-1890). Reece SHELBY, former owner of the business conducted under the title of the Shelby Shoe Company at Morgantown, Monongalia County, WV is one of the progressive business men and representative citizens of the fine little city that is the judicial center of Monongalia County. Mr. SHELBY was born in Greene County, Pennsylvania, and is a representative of one of the old and honored families of that county. His paternal grandparents, Reece and Minerva (REPPERT) SHELBY, were born in Monongalia County, West Virginia near the state line. The grandfather Reece SHELBY later became a prosperous merchant at Greensboro, Greene County, Pennsylvania. Their son, Walter, father of the younger Reece SHELBY, was born in the same part of Monongalia County as were his parents, March 31, 1847, and as a young man he married Matilda PATTERSON, who was born near Sharpsburg, February 12,1849, a daughter of John W. and Sarah (BUGH) PATTERSON. Mrs. SHELBY was a resident of Morgantown, West Virginia, at the time of her death, July 7, 1915. Walter SHELBY was for a prolonged period a merchant at Greensboro, Pennsylvania, and thereafter became a salesman of farm machinery and fertilizers. In 1903 he removed with his family to Morgantown, West Virginia, to afford his children better education advantages, and for several years he here held a clerical position in the Mississippi Glass Works. Since 1912 he has lived retired in his home at Easton, near Morgantown. He is a member of the Baptist Church, and was also his wife. Of their children, Reece, subject of this sketch, was born at Greensboro, Pennsylvania, May 12, 1888, and he was afforded the advantages of the public schools of that place and of Morgantown, West Virginia, in which latter city he for a time attended the commercial department of the state university. For several years thereafter he held an office position in the Mississippi Glass Works, and he next became a clerk for the American Sheet & Tin Plate Works, three years later marking his promotion to the position in the warehouse and pickling department. In 1915 Mr. SHELBY became associated with C.R. HUSTON in the purchase of the business of the J.M. Waters Shoe Company on High Street, and the business was then incorporated as the Waters Shoe Company. In 1918 L.E. PRICE purchased Mr. HUSTON'S interest, and in September, 1919, re-incorporation was effected, under the title of the Shelby Shoe Company. Shortly afterward Mr. Reece SHELBY purchased the interest of Mr. PRICE, and he was sole owner of the substantial business, which represented one of the two largest shoe houses in Morgantown until October 15, 1921, when he sold out. He is now sales agent for the Delco Light System for Monongalia County and for part of Preston County. Mr. SHELBY was formerly vice president of the Morgantown Business Men's Association, and was a director of the organization at the time when it was merged into the Chamber of Commerce, of which he has been a director from the time of its organization. He is also a progressive member of the Rotary Club. His basic Masonic affiliation is with Morgantown Union Lodge No. 4, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, and in the Scottish Rite of Masonry he has received the thirty-second degree in the Consistory of Wheeling, where also he holds membership in Osiris Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of Athens Lodge No.36, Knights of Pythias, and Morgantown Lodge No. 411, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. September 11, 1910, recorded the marriage of Mr. SHELBY and Miss Annabel JONES, who was born at Rivesville, Marion County, this state, a daughter of Haynes and Isabelle (HOWELL) JONES, both of whom are deceased. Mr. and Mrs. SHELBY have five daughters, whose names are being recorded: Eleanor Gertrude, Annabel Louise, Sarah Katharyn, Virginia Hope, and Frances Genevieve. SOURCE: THE HISTORY OF WEST VIRGINIA, OLD AND NEW (1923) The American Historical Society, Inc. |