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 (1850 - before 1918)

Jacob B. (1852 - 1943)

Georgeanna 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."

Mary Elizabeth Hollabaugh Hennigh - Third Child of George and Elizabeth Bittinger Hollabaugh

The Children of George and Elizabeth Bittinger Hollabaugh

Sarah (1836-1918)

Eliza Jane (1838 - before 1918)

Mary Elizabeth (1840 - 1941)

William Levi (1842 - 1939)

George W. (1844 - 1924)

David William (1847 - 1936)

Alice Catharine (1850 - before 1918)

Jacob B. (1852 - 1943)

Georgeanna Hannah (1856 - 1944)



Mary Elizabeth, the third daughter of George and Elizabeth Hollabaugh was born on June 7, 1840 in Adams County, Pennsylvania. 

She married William Andrew Hennigh in Philadelphia on August 9, 1862. In The Gettysburg Times, September 13, 1937, a column entitled "Seventy-Five Years Back" had this news:

"On the 9th ult., in Philadelphia, by the Rev. Mr. Sheeleigh, Mr. William A. Hennigh, of Capt. J. F. McCreary's company, P.V. (Pennsylvania Volunteers), to Miss Mary E. Hollabauch, of Carlisle."

 According to Civil War records, William enrolled in the Union Army at Gettysburg on August 7, 1862 and mustered in on August 16, 1862 at Harrisburg.  So just two days after he signed up, he and Mary were married. So, did the couple elope to Philadelphia?  

When William enlisted, an intense recruitment campaign was going on in Pennsylvania.  His term was to be for three years in the 138th Regiment, Company B.  Leaving his new bride behind, William and  the regiment moved to Baltimore where he was assigned to guard the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and given the job as clerk.  However, in June 1863, his regiment was ordered to active duty and began having encounters with the enemy.  

On November 23rd, the regiment set forth on the Mine Run campaign, meeting the enemy on the 27th at Locust Grove, Virginia.  From History of Pennsylvania Volunteers 1861-65:
"The fighting soon opened on its front, at close range, and buck and ball were hurled with telling effect against the advancing enemy...  The loss in the engagement was seven killed, forty-five wounded, and three missing.  During the night, the enemy withdrew  to his fortified position behind Mine Run.  After advancing to, and reconnoitering his ground, it was decided to abandon the campaign, and the army returned to camp near Brandy Station, where the regiment was soon settled in comfortable winter quarters."

William A. Hennigh was one of the wounded that day.  He died three days later on November 30, 1863 of wounds received in the Battle of Locust Grove.  In the U. S. Register of Deaths of Volunteers, 1863, the entry reads:
"Hennigh, William - Pvt. Co B, 138th Pennsylvania Infantry, Date of Death, November 27, 1863 at Rappahannock Sta., Va. - Cause of Death, Vulmus Sclopet."
The date of death differs from his actual government card and other sources.  Vulmus Sclopet refers to a gunshot wound.

So, Mary E. Hollabaugh Hennigh was left a very young widow, and one who had only spent a few precious days with her young husband.  However, Mary was pregnant with her only child, Minnie Margaret Elizabeth Hennigh, born December 9, 1863, according to the Pennsylvania Town and Church Records, only a week or so after her father's death.  (We can calculate that probably William had a furlough in March 1863, before his regiment was sent out into the field of battle.)
Minnie was baptized on April 1, 1864.  In February 1864, Mary filed for her widow's pension.

In the 1870 census, she and Minnie were enumerated with her parents, George and Elizabeth Hollabaugh, in Butler Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania.  Mary was 29 and Minnie was 6.

By 1880, Mary and her daughter had moved to Carlisle in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania where Mary, at 38, was keeping house and Minnie, 16, was at school.  Perhaps Mary was supporting herself on just her meager pension at this time.

In 1882, Mary and her daughter embarked upon careers with the Bell Telephone Company that lasted a very long time.  At first, she and her daughter alternated shifts as operators for the company, Mary being the Night Operator.  Eventually, Minnie advanced herself in the company to manager of the Carlisle Telephone Company in April 1891.  I'm sure their lives improved when both had secure jobs and an income along with the pension (which was very little).

In the 1910 census, both Mary E, 68, a widow, and Minnie, 46, single, were both agents for the telephone company.  They lived on East Louther Street in Carlisle.
The 1920 census found them in the same place, only now Mary had retired and was 79.  Minnie, 56, was a cashier at the telephone company.  

In the McKean County Miner (Smethport, Pennsylvania) paper of February 2, 1928, the article below appeared discussing Minnie Hennigh's long career.

 The rest of the article reads:
"A life of service dedicated to the telephone-using public is the epic story of Miss Minnie M. E. Hennigh, who on December 27th completed forty-five years of service with The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania.
Operator, Chief Operator, Manager and now Cashier in Carlisle, Pennsylvania are the highlights that are reflected in a career that aimed at the highest in the rendering of a public service to an intimately known public.
A slender slip of a girl on December 27th, 1882, when Miss Hennigh committed her fortunes and her happiness to a life of useful service, she still retains the youthful spirit of forty-five years ago.  Life has touched her, of course, but its drama and comedies coming to her over the telephone switchboard has only softened her innate kindness.
There were but eleven telephones connected with the first switchboard in the Drug Store at Louther and Fitz Streets, Carlisle, when Miss Hennigh became the operator.  Today there are more than 2000.  Many telephone employees have passed through the office since she began her career there.  Some have passed on and others have achieved great success in life.  Miss Hennigh has watched and observed with calm eye and nimble mind.  She has retained all through these years an integrity of thought and spirit and a paramount desire to offer an excellent brand of telephone service to the people served at her switchboard.  She has been the pillar on which have beat the storms of change and sometimes the waves of unfortunate conditions, but the shining tide has always shown her strong and steadfast in what she considered her duty to her telephone public.
"The first switchboard was very different from the delicately adjusted apparatus that it is today," Miss Hennigh said.  "We simply inserted small plugs in narrow brass strips to make connections, and when general groups of subscribers were talking, the switchboard reminded me of a chessboard.  When a subscriber wished to make a call," she continued, "he lifted the receiver and turned a hand generator, a small handle attached to his telephone, causing a shutter on the switchboard to drop with a heavy click.  No numbers were used in those days, and we rang the called party's bell with electrical power supplied by a hand generator."
On April 1, 1891, Miss Hennigh succeeded Mr. Leonard Kinnard as Manager of the Carlisle Telephone Exchange.  Mr. Kinnard is now President of the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania.  As Manager, Miss Hennigh struck out to do her first real soliciting and secured about seventy-five subscribers.  A new switchboard was then installed to accommodate the added telephones.
In a lifetime of service such as has been enjoyed by Miss Hennigh, there are many contrasting episodes of the early telephone days.  Once, when a line was being built, the Foreman sent word that more dynamite was needed to blast holes for telephone poles.  As Manager, it was part of Miss Hennigh's job to take care of these details, and instead of entrusting the high explosive to a boy who acted as her assistant, she helped to load a wagon with the dynamite and then drove the team.
Miss Hennigh now resides with her mother in Carlisle.  In the early days, the mother was of great assistance in alternating at the switchboard and in acting as Night Operator.
But this story of Miss Hennigh is not complete without some reference to her life outside of the Company.  She is a well-known member of the community in which she lived, both through business contacts and through her active interest in various civil and church organizations.  She is interested in people as individuals and exemplifies that which is best in the telephone slogan, 'the spirit of the service.'"
 

Miss Minnie Margaret Elizabeth Hennigh

The 1930 census found the location and mother and daughter and their situation unchanged.  Mary E., now 89, rented their home for $20 a month, and Minnie, 66, still worked for the Bell Telephone Company as cashier.

 The 1940 census gives us the information that Mary E. completed 4th grade, while her daughter was a high school graduate.  By then, both were retired; Mary was 98 and Minnie was 76.

On June 7, 1940, Mary E. turned 99 and photos were taken which I have been given permission to print.

Mary Hennigh and her birthday cake #99

 

From left: unknown neighbor, Minnie (standing) and Mary Elizabeth

Mary died on June 3, 1941, just before her 100th birthday on the 7th of June.  She made quite a splash in the newspapers of the time due to her telephone career.  She even made The New York Times!

The Indiana Evening Gazette ran this AP story on June 4, 1941:
"HELLO GIRL
Carlisle, June 4 (AP) - Mrs. Mary Hennigh, a 'hello girl' in the infancy of the telephone, died at her home here last night.  She would have been 100 next Saturday.  The Bell Telephone Company announced at Philadelphia that its record indicated she was the oldest retired telephone operator in the United States.  She served at Carlisle for 16 years."

The Daily News of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania reported on June 4:
"EARLY TELEPHONE OPERATOR DIES
Carlisle, Pa., June 4 - Arrangements were completed today for burial Friday of this community's first telephone operator, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Hennigh, who died of a lingering illness last Monday - just five days short of her 100th birthday.  Mrs. Hennigh, a widow since her husband died in 1863 of wounds inflicted during the Civil War battle of Locust Grove, Va., was the oldest retired employee of the Bell Telephone Company of Penn. She left the switchboard in 1914 when she was 73."

Mary's obituary appeared in The Gettysburg Times on June 4, 1941:
 "MRS. MARY ELIZABETH HENNIGH
Funeral services for Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Hennigh, 99, oldest retired employee of the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania, will be held Friday morning at 10 o'clock in the First Lutheran Church, Carlisle, conducted by the Rev. Dr. Harry L. Saul.  Interment in the mausoleum of Westminster Cemetery, Carlisle.  Friends may call at the Lutz funeral house in Carlisle from 6 until 8 o'clock.
The deceased, who would have observed her one hundredth birthday June 7th, was born in Gettysburg 22 years before the battle of Gettysburg.
Most of her adult life was spent in Carlisle where she became the first Bell Company telephone operator.  She was the widow of William Andrew Hennigh, Union soldier, who was wounded November 27, 1863, at Locust Grove, Virginia, and who died three days later.  The deceased was a member of the First Lutheran Church, Carlisle.
Surviving are a daughter, Miss Minnie M. E. Hennigh, Carlisle, one sister, Mrs. George Pensyl (Georgeanna), Iowa, and one brother, Jacob B. Hollabaugh, Biglerville."

Her daughter, Minnie, died in December 1956 and was buried near her mother.  In her will she left her estate largely to the First Lutheran Church in Carlisle, with a portion going to the National Body of the Lutheran Church of America for missionary ventures in India and Africa and another small portion going to the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg and the Carlisle Young Men's Christian Association.

Eliza Jane Hollabaugh Fries - Second Child of George and Elizabeth Bittinger Hollabaugh

The Children of George and Elizabeth Bittinger Hollabaugh

Sarah (1836-1918)

Eliza Jane (1838 - before 1918)

Mary Elizabeth (1840 - 1941)

William Levi (1842 - 1939)

George W. (1844 - 1924)

David William (1847 - 1936)

Alice Catharine (1850 - before 1918)

Jacob B. (1852 - 1943)

Georgeanna Hannah (1856 - 1944) 

The second daughter of George and Elizabeth was named Eliza Jane, born on May 18, 1838, according to Pennsylvania church records.  (Her tombstone gave the birthdate as May 18, 1840.)  The records of St. James Lutheran Church in Gettysburg noted her baptism on July 7, 1838, confirming the 1838 birthday.  

Finding the marriage record for Eliza was very challenging, but finally the record was discovered under a nickname, Lylie J. and her husband's initials, B. F. (Benjamin Franklin) Fries. The couple were married on October 15, 1866 at the Methodist Episcopal (United Methodist) Church in Gettysburg.  Benjamin, born May 1837, was 29, and Eliza, 28.

Before her marriage, in the 1860 census, Eliza was working as a seamstress, living in the home of Aug. Schwartz, Editor, near Hanover, PA in York County.  It was interesting that Eliza's husband, Ben Fries, was eventually also in the printing business, making one wonder if they met due to Mr. Schwartz.  I have not found definitely Benjamin Fries in the 1860 census.

However, in June 1863, he dutifully registered for the Civil War draft in Middletown (later called Biglerville), Cumberland County, PA (just north of Gettysburg).

He reported he was working as a shoemaker, was unmarried, and that he had lost his voice!  A permanent disability?  I could not find any evidence that he ever served as a Civil War soldier.

A letter exists in the Lincoln Papers held by the Library of Congress written by Ben Frank Fries to President Abraham Lincoln, dated February 14, 1865.  Ben had an idea for a new system of weights and measures that he presented in this letter.  

He concluded his plea for consideration by saying,
"But whatever conclusion you do arrive at,please be so kind, as to inform me of the reception of my papers and what action you intend taking on them.
I will now close, but if you wish a more detailed explanation of the above, I will be happy to forward the same.
As to my character, and capacity, I can produce the best of references.
And now may God bless us all; with our Union speedily Restored & Reformed.
Yours very respectfully, Ben Frank Fries, Carlisle, Pa."
His signature appeared on this page, and then the next five pages were devoted to the mathematical configurations of his plan.

An intensive search of the 1870 census failed to find the Ben and Eliza Fries family.

In 1880, Benjamin, 42, worked as an assistant editor in Phoenixville, Chester County, PA.  With him, were Eliza J., 42, and their children, Eamie E. (Emmie?), a daughter who was 12; Martha E. 10; Edwin S, 8; and Lydia A., 3 (Lydia Alice).
Ben reported that he was not well.

An 1892 and an 1893 Norristown, Pennsylvania city directory both listed Benj. F. Fries at 551 Chestnut Street under Printers, Books, and Jobs.

By 1900, the family had moved once again to 551 Warren Street in Pottstown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  Benjamin and Eliza were both enumerated at age 62; the couple reported a marriage of 35 years with four children, all of whom were living at this time.  Benjamin worked as a printer and they rented their home. Their daughter, Allice L. (Lydia) and her husband, William Erb, a machinist, and their one year old child, Claude W., born March 1899, lived with them. See their marriage record here.
Also living there was Benjamin and Eliza's only son, Edwin S., 27 and single and working as a day laborer.

Eliza Jane Fries died on May 22, 1904 and Benjamin died about nine months later on February 1, 1905 in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.  The couple were buried in the Edgewood Cemetery there.  Their son, Edwin S. (1872 - 1966), who never married, was buried with them.  

More research is needed on the other children of this couple.

Book Review - The Guardian by Beverly Lewis

Once again, Beverly Lewis has written a novel that both inspires us in our faith and reveals life in the Amish culture. 

The Guardian, third book in the Hickory Hollows series, takes us on a journey with Jodi, an Englicher whose only sister has recently died, leaving Jodi with a crisis in her relationship with God.  She has lost the desire to pray and to depend on or thank God for anything. 

 The reader also follows the story of Maryanna Esh, a young widow of three years and her four children.  Among these children is the youngest, Sarah, beautifully depicted on the book's cover.  When Sarah falls from her mother's buggy one evening on the ride home, a search party of Amish men race to find the helpless child.  But it is Jodi who discovers the young girl and takes her home, becoming to Sarah, her special angel.

Hence, the friendship between the English woman, Jodi, and the Amish woman, Maryanna begins.  Jodi is struggling with her fiance over having children after their marriage, and Maryanna is confused about "dating" again and finding another father for her children.  Each woman, although from very different backgrounds, helps the other.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I do most of Lewis's.  It is not necessary to read the previous two books in the series; the reader falls right into this story and the characters' lives very easily. Kudos also to the artist who rendered the poignant and engaging cover for this novel. 

This book was given to me by Bethany House Publishers for my honest review.

Sarah Hollabaugh Haverstick - First 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 W. (1844 - 1924)

David William (1847 - 1936)

Alice Catharine (1850 - before 1918)

Jacob B. (1852 - 1943)

Georgeanna Hannah (1856 - 1944)

Sarah, the eldest child of George and Elizabeth Hollabaugh, was born on November 30, 1836 in Adams County, PA.  According to Pennsylvania Town and Church Records 1708-1985, she married Robert Scott Haverstick on October 13,1865; she would have been 28 years old.  Robert, however, was born in 1843 or 1844 (depending on the source) and was about 22 or 23.  The couple resided throughout their married life in Carlisle, Cumberland County, PA, where Robert's parents lived...just north of Adams County.

Robert registered for the Civil War draft in June 1863, when he was about 20 years old.  He described himself as single and a carpenter, and listed that he was the only support for his mother and two other dependents, probably two younger siblings.  I have not found that he ever joined the Union forces.  In July 1863, Carlisle was shelled by Jeb Stuart's troops. Little damage was done, but it served the purpose of creating chaos and panic in the town. The Confederate officers did not get the provisions that they wanted from the town.  Stuart left rather quickly then and headed to Gettysburg where he was late in reporting, arriving on the second day of the battle there.

 In the 1870 census, Robert and Sarah Haverstick were found in the west ward of Carlisle, with children: William, 4; Blanche, 3; Charles, 2; and Millie, 4 months.  Sarah had delivered one child per year in her five years of marriage, if these ages are correct.  Robert worked as a carpenter and the family was by no means rich monetarily, with their personal property worth $200 and no real estate, hence they were probably renting a house.

By 1880, Robert, 37, and Sarah, 42, had lost little Millie.  The family consisted of William F., 14; Blanche K., 12; Charles, 9; Bertie E., 7 (Bertha), and Viola J., 5.
This spread of ages varies from the 1870 report which would seem more accurate, considering the marriage date.

Robert Haverstick died at about age 43 in 1886, leaving Sarah to provide for at least three children who were probably still at home.  It is likely that William, at about age 20, and Blanche at 18 could be working outside the home to help support the family.  Without the 1890 census, knowledge of how they made their livelihood is lost.  Robert was buried in the Old Graveyard in Carlisle, PA.

In the 1900 census, the widow, Sarah Haverstick, lived on West North Street in Carlisle with her two single daughters, Blanche, 33, and Bertha, 26.  Blanche was employed as a forewoman at the local wrapper factory, and Bertha was making shirtwaists at the same place. A wrapper was like a dressing gown and a shirtwaist was a dress.  Both are pictured below, with the wrapper on the left.

At the turn of the century, a large three story building on Bedford Street in Carlisle, originally a church, was bought and renovated into a factory which made women's and children's garments.  In 1913, it was officially called the Carlisle Garment Company. I would guess that this might be where Blanche and Bertha worked.

Viola Frances Haverstick was found in the 1900 census, also, living in Philadelphia with the widow, Isabella K. Wetz, and her partner, Mary L. Douglas, in their boarding house.  The boarding house, on June 4, 1900, had 37 women living there, other than the owners, and one cook.  Viola, 23 and single, was working as a trained nurse.

A Charles Haverstick is listed in the censuses of 1900, 1910, and 1920 in Lancaster, PA, working as a telephone lineman, but the ages given in those years do not quite match.

In 1910, Sarah and her daughters moved to West High Street in Carlisle.  She was 73 years old, and reported that she had been married 45 years!  (I guess she was saying that she was still married.)  She had five children, and all five survived.  (She did not account for the death of young Millie.) Sarah and daughters, Blanche, 41, and Bertha, 37, were renting their home.  Blanche was still single and still served as forewoman at the wrapper factory.  Bertha, however, must have tired of factory work, and she was self-employed as a manicurist.

Sarah's son, William Franklin Haverstick, preceded her in death in 1916.  He was buried in the Old Graveyard at Carlisle also.  In 1900 and 1910, William was a lodger in West Chester, PA where he plied his trade as a photographer in his own studio.  He was single in both censuses.  He died at 50, but his photographs live on.  This one I found on a Library of Congress site.

William F. Haverstick photo of the West Chester Courthouse, West Chester, PA

 He took many photos of university students and entered his photos into contests.

Check out the Chester County Historical Society!

Sarah Haverstick died on July 31, 1918.  Her obituary appeared in the Gettysburg Compiler on August 17, 1918.  (I guess it took awhile for news to get from Carlisle to Gettysburg.)
"Mrs. Sarah Haverstick, widow of Robert Haverstick, died at her home in Carlisle last Wednesday.  She became seriously ill the previous Saturday night.  Mrs. Haverstick was long a highly respected citizen of Carlisle,and for half a century or more has been a member of the First Lutheran Church.  She was 81 years of age. Surviving are four children: Misses Blanche and Viola, Mrs. T. Stuart of Carlisle (Bertha),and Charles of Lancaster. Two sisters also survive, Mrs. Mary Hennigh of Carlisle, and Mrs. Annie Pensyl of Iowa.  Jacob Hollabaugh of Adams County is a brother.

Interestingly, the three brothers who went west were not mentioned in the obituary, and all three were alive at the time. According to church funeral records, Sarah was buried in the Old Graveyard in Carlisle with her husband, Robert.

In 1920, Blanche, then 45, was a designer for the garment company and was still living on West High Street in Carlisle.  With her lived Viola Haverstick, 40, and single, her youngest sister, who was working as a nurse for a private family.  Also with them were sister, Bertha E. Thomas, and her husband Stuart.  Bertha was 46 and was self-employed as a hairdresser in her home, while her husband, Stuart, 60, had no occupation.

More research could be done on these children of Robert and Sarah Haverstick.  As far as I have been able to determine, the children had no offspring; four of the five remained single.  Bertha married later in life to Thomas Stuart.

George and Elizabeth Bittinger Hollabaugh - Great-Great Grandparents, Part 2

Part 2













By 1870, the Hollabaugh family had moved to Butler Township in Adams County, Pennsylvania.  The post office listed on their enumeration was Middletown which was renamed Biglerville in 1903.  George, at age 62, and Elizabeth at 55, owned real estate worth $4000 and personal property worth $1100.

By this time, the two younger children were still at home -  Jacob, 18, and Georgeanna, 14 - and with them were their older sister, Mary Elizabeth, now a widow at 29, and her daughter, Minnie, 6.  

On August 20, 1877, George died at the age of 69. He was buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Gettysburg, PA. In the 1880 census, Elizabeth lived with only Jacob, age 28.  Jacob was farming, probably the family farm.

Tombstone date conflicts with death date given in another source.

 With no 1890 census, we have a large gap in the story of Elizabeth Bittinger Hollabaugh until August 6, 1896, when her death was recorded.  She was 81 years old.

George and Elizabeth Hollabaugh and their family probably witnessed closely one of the bloodiest incidents of the Civil War.  We also know that at least one of the family claimed to have witnessed  Lincoln's delivery of the Gettysburg Address.
Elizabeth and George instilled in their children a sense of confidence and independence that allowed at least four of their children to venture west.  Several of the women in the family became entrepreneurs in a time when that was not the norm.  

George and Elizabeth Hollabaugh tombstones, Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, PA.  The flat stone is that of their son, Jacob B. Hollabaugh.