Kugler
and LeBold Ancestors
This
narrative contains facts extracted , and expanded, from material of a copy of
a Catalog of Kugler Family Memorabilia found among the belongings of Jean
Kugler Woodburn shortly after her death on August 25, 1974; arranged by Walter
Kugler of Secane PA. Much of the
material is written by George Kugler Jr. The copy of the material was
provided to me some time during the seventies. Now in 1994, I am trying
to correlate the facts! - Ann
Smullen
"The
Kuglers were an old family in Montgomery County and
originally came from Berlin, German" - George Kugler Jr.
Samuel
Kulger and his parents migrated from Berlin, Germany during the period of or
before the Revolutionary war [sometime
between 1775 - 1780]. They first
settled in Montgomery Co. PA.; then settled in Port Kennedy [which is also in
Montgomery Co.] where he died and was buried in the Baptist Church Buring
Ground. Samuel seems to be the first one of the line of whom anyone has any
recollection. Samuel married a girl whose maiden name was "Scott".
Their first child was George
Kugler, born Nov. 7 1807, was the only son of Samuel Kugler. While he
was the only son, he had three sisters.
The
LeBold family were the Kugler's neighbors. Jacob LeBold was born in
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, March 18, 1778. He married Christiana Singer,
of another Montgomery County family of Berlin, Germany stock. Mrs. LeBold was born
July 11, 1781. It is thought that Jacob "was by trade a
miller". The Labels had many children as recorded by Catherine (Catarine)
LeBold. Catherine (Catharine) LeBold was born in 1810. Catherine
Lebold grew up to marry George Kugler. Catherine had many brothers
and sisters, whose birth dates she recorded. In 1851, Catherine LeBold recorded
a list entitled "Ages of my Brothers an Sisters" giving names and
birthdays of the twelve children born to her parents, Jacob LeBold and Christina
Singer Lebold.
1800 Lebold, Elizabeth born, as recorded by Catherine LeBold Kugler
1801 Lebold, Christiana born,
as recorded by Catherine LeBold Kugler
1803 Lebold, Mary born, as recorded by Catherine LeBold Kugler
1804 Lebold, Margaret born, as recorded by Catherine LeBold Kugler
1806 Lebold, John born, as recorded by Catherine LeBold Kugler
1808 Lebold,Barbara born, as recorded by Catherine LeBold Kugler
1810 LeBold, Catharine born, as recorded by Catherine LeBold
Kugler
1813 Lebold,Sophia born, as recorded by Catherine LeBold Kugler
1816 Lebold, Ann born, as recorded by Catherine LeBold Kugler
1818 Lebold, Jacob born, as recorded by Catherine LeBold Kugler
1822 LeBold, Mary born, as recorded by Catherine LeBold Kugler
1822 Lebold, Joseph born, as recorded by Catherine LeBold Kugler
I
guess after ten children, I would start naming them "Mary" &
"Joseph"!
Christina was nineteen when she gave birth to her first child; she was
forty-one when Mary and Joseph were born.
Also
written by Catherine LeBold Kugler .. 'There are two additional items of
information: 1), "Mother was 69 last July 11, 1851. 2)"Father's age
Jacob LeBold aged 71 years 11 months and 13 days"... leaving it unclear
whether he or not he still living.' However, George Kugler Jr. states that
Catherine's father, Jacob LeBold " died March 20, 1850 and is buried at
Boehm's Church Yard." Catherina's
mother lives until 1872.
On September 28, 1830 George Kugler married Catarine (Catherine)
LeBold. George and Catarine had many children during the next years but
experienced some sad losses. Many birth announcements claimed the Kuglers to be
residents of Norristown. Actually they lived in Port Kennedy, which today is
still a Norristown mailing address. Port Kennedy is outside of Norristown; both
towns are in in Montgomery County PA. George and Catherine Kugler had ten
children:
1831
Kugler, Ann Elizabeth born, died in November 1846, age 15.
1833
Kugler, Charles Nassau born, lived to be 75.
1836
Kugler, Martha Jane born, "Jane was next." She married Thomas S.
Morris, and is buried in Trenton NJ.
1838
Kugler, Jacob LeBold born, who was a Chaplin of the 10th Alabama Confederate
Army and was killed in 1862 near Mobile, Ala.
1841
an infant son born but only lived a few days.
1842
Kugler, Samuel Aaron born, was in the Union Army and died at the
age of 70 at the Soldier's Home Hampton Road.
1845
Kugler, Catharine Kugler born, married John Glanney in March 1868. "She
left a numerous family and died about 1886."
1848
Kugler, Caroline Kugler born, married Samuel Bagot in July 1868.
1850
Kugler, George Jr. born
1853
John L. Kugler born, died 1908 leaving two sons and two daughters. John was
married to Kate Dickel, born 1858.
It
is also noted in the Kugler bible
as a birth "July 5,
1850,Paterson,Jane, daughter of James & Anne Paterson, Philadelphia." Jane
will become George Junior's wife.
During
the 1840s life must have been hectic for George and Caterine Kugler. In February
1841, Caterine gave birth to an infant son, who
only lived a few days. With three youngsters at home, Caterine gave birth
to another son, Samuel in July 1842. Ann Elizabeth was 11 years old at the time.
In the Kugler Family Memorabilia are two letters which indicate Ann
Elizabeth Kugler was visiting her Aunt Ann (Ann Lebold Vanderan, Caterine's
youngest sister) in Philadelphia. Listed
in the Catalog of Kugler Memorabilia is the following:
'The two letters on a single sheet of paper,
addressed to Mrs. Catharine Kugler, Norristown, apparently folded and
mailed without an envelope. There is a Philadelphia postmark but the date is
illegible. A tear in the paper suggests that a stamp had been removed.'
'The first letter is dated Philadelphia 20th September, no year given,
and is addressed to "Dear Mother" and signed "from youre
Daughter". The writer must have been Ann Elizabeth, the oldest of George
and Catharine Kugler's children. She mentions "Charlie and Jacob" and
"Samuel and Martha", and "little Katie", her brothers and
sisters. Little Katie was born March 6, 1845 and Ann Elizabeth
died on November 21, 1846, at the age of fifteen, so the letter indicates
that Ann Elizabeth is visiting her Aunt Ann in Philadelphia, and is enjoying
herself. She mentions "Uncle Constine" who is on a "long
journey to South Carolina". Was he the husband of Aunt Ann?'
'The other letter, addressed to "Deare Sister" is signed Ann
Vanderan, or Vanderon, who is evidently Catherine Kugler's younger sister.'
Samuel
Kugler died before 1850. George Kugler
Jr writes, "My grandfather, Samuel Kugler, lived at Port Kennedy,
Montgomery County, Pa and died before I was born in 1850. My Grandmother Kugler,
whose maiden name was Scott, I have no recollection of at all."
By 1860, George and Catarine Kugler's family were grown; John was
seven
years old, George Jr. was 10, and his sister's Caroline and Catharine were 12
and 15. Charles Nassau Kugler had
married Kate M. Conrad in 1855. Martha
Jane Kugler had married Thomas S. Morris and moved to Trenton NJ.
Samuel
had gone off and joined the Union Army as a Private Co. B. 4th Regiment Pennsylvania
Volunteer Infantry. Jacob left to
become a southern colporteur only to windup joining the Confederate Army.
A colporteur is a peddler of devotional literature.
Jacob received a Second Class Certificate [what ever that means?] from
Norristown High School on January 1, 1851. In the Kugler Family
Memorabilia is a leather-bound notebook, on the fly-leaf is inscribed Jacob
L. Kugler Journal Commenced November 25th 1858. There are regular entries
until December 13, 1858 during which time he left his home in Trenton NJ,
visited friends and relatives in Philadelphia and Norristown. Entries also tell
of Jacob going to Savannah GA. by ship, and to Gainsville GA. by train. There
are also entries for April 8 through 12, 1860 and November 29 through December 3.
During April Jacob says he has "discontinued the work of colportage".
"On December 3 he enters the "school of Mr. Lewis" in Columbia
Alabama, apparently to study the ministry. This ends the journal. There follows,
in the notebook, a seven page essay entitled Thoughts in a Prayer Meeting. Beginning at the other
end of the book is an eight-page essay entitled Liberty which is a
defense of the institution of slavery, and which may have been copied from a
book or magazine.
This explains why Jacob became a
Chaplin the 10th Alabama Confederate
Army. Jacob was killed March 12,1862 in a train accident near Mobile, Ala. Of
course George and Caterine Kugler were grief stricken to lose their son to the
Confederate Army and then to have him killed. Meanwhile their other son was
fighting in the Civil War as a soldier in the Union Army.
Items in the Kugler Memorabilia indicate that the
conditions of Jacob's death were heart rendering. Maybe the heartbreak was too
much! George Kugler died on August 2, 1862 at the age of 55. George
is buried at Boehm's Church Yard, Blue Bell, Montgomery Co. PA. Blue Bell
was originally called "Pigeon Town".
An entry in the Kugler Memorabilia is an accounting by Catherine
Kugler as Executrix of her husband's estate filed January 8, 1864. it appears
from an item in this statement that George Kugler died at Trenton NJ. It may be
that at the time of his death, Catherine and George were visiting their
daughter, Martha Jane, who married Thomas S. Morris and lived in Trenton NJ.
Listed in the
Catalog of Kugler Family Memorabilia
are several letters which describe the agony Christina and George must
have experienced after their son Jacob's death.
The item are the following:
'An envelope contains two
letters. The envelope is addressed to Mr. George Kugler, Norristown Pa.,
postmarked Selma Alabama November 29. On the back of the envelope is a return
address: Rev E. Anderson Summerfield Ala. ...'
'The first letter is dated August 28, 1861 and the salutation is
"My Dear Father,
Mother, Sisters and Brothers" and
concludes
"I remain truly
your Son and Brother Jacob L. Kugler".
'The letter was written when Jacob enlisted in the Confederate Army. He
left the letter with Mr. Anderson with the request it be mailed in the event of
his death.'
'The second letter is dated Summerfield November 15 and is signed by E.
Anderson. It had been Jacob's request, he says, that the letter be forwarded
"on return of peace" [or] if he, Jacob, failed to survive the war. Mr.
Anderson says Jacob had been studying for the ministry under the care of his,
Mr. Anderson's, Presbytery, and quotes the report of Jacob's death issued by
that body on April 17, 1862. The letter tells that Jacob fell between the cars
of a moving train on which he had been riding, and only lived a few minutes.
This letter cannot be firmly dated.'
Before 1864, Catherine
Lebold Kugler apparently moved to Philadelphia with her four
youngest children. Charles was now eleven years old, George Jr. was fourteen and
the girls were sixteen and nineteen. Other entries in the catalog indicate that
Catharine Kugler continued to have to suffer the memories of her son's death for
the next six years, while still handling the early years of widowhood of George
dying in 1862.
'An envelope addressed to Mrs.
Catherine Kugler, 2138 Christen Street, Philadelphia. The enclosed letter is
dated Selma November 1866. It is addressed "My Dear Madam" and is
signed "Your Bro. in Christ E. Anderson".
Catharine Kugler had written to Mr. Anderson for further information on
Jacob. Mr. Anderson says he has
given her letter to someone - unnamed- who may be able to supply it.'
'A letter dated Centerville May 30, 1868, addressed to Mrs. Kugler and
signed H.A. Smith. He says that Mr. Kenneth Morrison of Columbia, Shelby County,
wishes her to know that he has her son's books and other things , and knows
where Jacob is buried.'
'A letter to Catherine Kugler from K.L. Morrison, Columbia, Alabama,
dated July 1, 1868. He acknowledges receipt of Catharine Kugler's letter of June
15, and says he has sent her a box of books and a trunk belonging to Jacob. Here
is the letter's closing paragraph:
"J.L. Kugler belonged to
Company C, 25th Infantry. He was killed on the Mobile and Ohio Railroad
by accidentally falling between the cars in attempting to step from one car
to another. It was on or about 12th of March 1862 some 20 or 30 miles above
Mobile Ala. He was buried a grave yard in the country nearby the sad accident.
The men that was left to bury him are both dead."
'
Meanwhile life goes on for the
surviving Kugler family.
In May of 1865 the last Confederate Troops surrendered. The Civil War was
over. Samuel returned home from the war. Catharine Kugler born, married John
Glanney in March 1868. Caroline
Kugler born, married Samuel Bagot in July 1868.
In 1869, at the age of 27, Samuel Arron Kugler married
Francis (sic) Phillipps. After Francis died in 1875, Samuel re-married
Margaret S. Taylor in 1877. In April, 1891, Samuel was granted a pension. The
pension, being for Rheumatism, Piles, and of heart, was signed John W. Noble,
Sec'y of Interior, counter signed Andrew Davison Acting Commissioner of
Pensions. Samuel died in 1912, age 70, at the Soldier's Home Hampton Road. The
youngest boys, George Jr. and John, continued to live in Port Kennedy. George
Jr. will marry Jane Patterson in March of 1872. John will marry Kate Dickel
in January 1879. Kate was born in 1858 and is the adopted daughter of Nicholas
Roberts.
On March 25, 1872 George Kugler Jr. married Jane (Jennie) Paterson.
At the time of the wedding George Kugler Jr.'s grandmother, Christiana LeBold, was ninety-one years old. She died November 5, 1872 and is buried at Boehm's Church Yard, Blue Bell, Montgomery Co. PA. Blue Bell with the other Kugler's.
It
appears from a typewritten copy of Catharine Kugler's will, dated 1892, that Martha Jane Kugler Morris lived in Trenton, and Catharine
Kugler lived with her for a while; and that John Lebold Kugler lived in Philalphia. The will bequeaths the 1820 bible to
George Kugler Jr.