The Family of Augustus/August and Rosanna Abicht/Abbott
Charles Augustus Abicht/Abbott
Charles Abbott, born 14Feb1823, Saxe Coburg, Prussia, Germany was about 12 years old when his parents came to America. See Saxony in a 1815-1871 map of Germany. He was a prosperous farmer in Beadling, Upper St. Clair Township, Pennsylvania with about 102 acres on his home farm, plus the "old Fryer Farm." His wife, Magdalena Hedrick, daughter of Louis Hedrick, was born about 1820 in France. In 1897, Beadling was described as "a very unhandy place to reach" by an investigator for the U.S. Pension Department who was assigned to interview Charles about his younger brother, Henry.
On September 27, 1856 Charles petitioned for citizenship at the U. S. District Court of the United States, in and for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He signed as Charles Augustus Abicht and renounced allegiance to the Grand Duke of Saxe Wiemar.
Charles and Magdalena were members of the St. Clair United Presbyterian Church, which later became Mt. Lebanon Presbyterian Church. Charles died 8Apr1911 and Magdalena died 7Dec1910. See Charles' obituary and Magdalena's obituary. Charles left 40 acres of "the Fryer farm" at the foot of Bower Hill Road to his sons, Lawrence Boyd and Alexander, with the remainder going to his son, John. He left 37 acres of the home farm to his son, James. Charles and Magdalena are buried in St. Clair Cemetery, behind the Mt. Lebanon United Methodist Church on Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Charles used his German name of "Carl" on his grave marker and on his will. Also buried in the family plot are their two sons, Henry H., died 1881, and Charles F., died 1892, both at age 29. Charles and Magdalena had 13 children: Wilhelmina (Meenie), Louise, Henry, Caroline, Rosann, Sophia, Louis, Alexander, John, William, Charles, James H., and Boyd.
Charles' daughter, Wilhelmina may have married Jacob Bolinger in 1867, and moved to Cheny, Kansas, and died in 1913. Wilhelmina's cousin, Edward Abbott, told his granddaughter that he had a relative who went west in a wagon train.
Christian Abicht/Abbott
See The Family of Christian and Magdalena Schmeltz Abbott
Frederick Abicht/Abbott
The research on Frederick Abbott is still undocumented. But he is on the 1880 U.S. Census, Baldwin Twp., Allegheny Co., PA, Roll T9_1089, pg. 886, Enumerator's District 50. This is just over the Scott Township line, near his brother Charles' place in Beadling. Frederick is 54 years old, and born in Saxony (1826). His wife is Margaret is 53 years old, and born in France (1827). They have five children still living at home: William, 23, (1857); Mary, 21, (1859); George, 17, (1863); Herman, 15, (1865); John, 9, (1871). All their children were born in Pennsylvania. At their age, it is reasonable to expect that Frederick and Margaret had older children who already had left home.
Frederick Abbott is in the 1880 U.S. Census for Union Twp., Allegheny Co., PA, Roll T9_1091, p. 363B, Enumeration District 91. This is in Green Tree. He was born in 1852, and lists his father as born in Saxony, and his mother born in France (as were the senior Frederick and Margaret). Frederick is 28 years old, and was born in Pennsylvania (1852). His wife, Elizabeth, is 25 years old, born in Pennsylvania (1855). They have two children: James, 3, and Mary, 1. Both were born in Pennsylvania.
Wilhelmina Abicht/Abbott
It is assumed that Wilhelmina was born in Germany, since her brother, August, appears to be the first one born in America. She was called "Meenie," according to the reference made to her in her father's will, filed in 1872.
Mary Abicht/Abbott
Mary married August Cuphon, who died before 1870, leaving her a widow. It is assumed that Mary was born in Germany, since her brother, August, appears to be the first one born in America. Mary's brother, Christian, was commended in their father's will, filed in 1872, for his loving kindness to his sister, Mary.
August Abbott, Jr.
August, Jr., was born in 1836 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. In 1860 he lived in Upper St. Clair Township with his wife, Caroline, a one-year-old daughter named Caroline, and a woman who was probably his mother-in-law.
August enlisted in 1861 in Co. L of the 5th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Calvary. He was 6' 1' tall; and about 185 lbs. His brother, Henry, joined at the same time, and after about a year they were both detailed as a teamsters. He was discharged in August 1864 after serving three years. August later filed a paper with the Pension Department stating that his name was "August," not "Augustus."
Apparently the Civil War took its toll on August as he struggled with alcohol and marital problems the rest of his life. He lived in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wyoming, Idaho Territory, and Minnesota. I don't know what happened to his first wife and daughter, but he married again in Maine Prairie, Minnesota about 1879. He had another daughter, Ida. His wife divorced him for nonsupport in 1880. He then entered the National Soldier's Home in Dayton where he lived for three and a half years. He left there without a discharge and was never heard from after that. The U. S. Pensions Department tried a number of times to find his new address and finally rejected his pension request because he didn't follow up on it. His daughter later married a man named Thompson and lived in Staples, Minnesota in 1908.
Henry Abbott (Abbrecht)
Henry was born in 1839 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. In September 1861, Henry enlisted in Co. L of the 5th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Calvary during the Civil War. He applied for a disability pension in 1872 claiming to have been shot in the knee, but investigators found no evidence the wound was inflicted by the enemy. A number of comrades and friends testified that Henry suffered from rheumatism and joint pain while driving the company team during the campaign in Virginia. Both Henry and August were assigned as teamsters after about one year in the service. Henry said he lived in California and Ohio after his discharge on August 8, 1864, although research shows little opportunity for him to have gone to California. For a while Henry lived with his parents and helped on the farm. Then he opened a butcher shop in Mt. Lebanon in the spring of 18651.
June 13, 1867, Henry Abbott and Magdalena "Lena" Raser were married by the Rev. Dr. C. Walther, minister of the I German Evangelical Protestant Church of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania2. Henry drank too much, neglected his business, and lost the respect of his family3. He moved his wife to Ohio where their daughter was born at Youngstown, Ohio on October 27, 1869. She was baptized November 21, 1869 in the Evangelical Lutheran Martin Luther Church as Catherine Pauline Abbrecht4. She went by her middle name, Pauline.
On July 28, 1870 Henry's wife, Lena, sued for divorce and child custody in Youngstown, Mahoning County, Ohio on the grounds of drunkenness, gross neglect, nonsupport, and desertion. The divorce was finalized the September Term, 1870, Common Pleas Journal Vol. 11, Page 59. [Abrecht]
Henry signed himself into the National Soldiers Asylum in Dayton, Ohio November 7, 1871 and complained of pain and swelling in his wounded knee. While in the Soldier's Home, he applied for a disability pension on the grounds of rheumatism, heart trouble, and his wounded knee. He was discharged March 20, 1872 and his pension claim was rejected on insufficient proof of claims.
Henry went to Beaver, Pennsylvania where he worked in a stone quarry and boarded on the farm of Thomas Anderson. In the winter of 1873 he worked as a coal miner. The owner of the mine, W. C. Smith, described his work: " When he dug coal for me he had to lie on his side while he dug the coal and push the coal cars out while crawling on his knees ..."5
About 2 weeks before he died, Henry went on an excessive drinking binge that ended with delirious tremors. He was at the Anderson home, where he died on June 23, 1874 at the age of 35. Mr. Smith buried him in Beaver County and Henry's mother paid for his burial (his father had died in 1872.)
Upon his death Henry's daughter, Pauline Catherine Abbott, of Youngstown, Ohio, filed for a Minor's Pension. The case and appeal went on for a number of years. Catherine refers to her uncles, John Kumpf, Charles Abbott and her grandmother [Rosa Ott Abbott] as people who would be knowledgeable about her father. Catherine had, apparently, visited in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania6.
Sophia Abbott
Sophia was born about 1841 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. In 1864 she married Philip Hetrick in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. They had at least three children. They lived in Green Tree with her parents in 1870, shortly before Augustus and Rosa died. Augustus, Sr. left Sophia's share in trust for her, or to her children, should she die first.
Caroline Abbott
Caroline was born July 9, 1845 in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and was baptized "Carolina" in the First German Evangelical Protestant Church (now United Church of Christ) at Sixth and Smithfield Streets, Pittsburgh PA. She lived at home until her marriage in 1865 to John Kumpf, a shoemaker at the Allegheny County workhouse. She and John raised their family in Carnegie, PA. They had at least 6 children: Ida R., Willie A., George, Minnie M. Harry H. and Howard S. Caroline's parents, Augustus and Rosa, lived with them in the late 1860s. John was a "chum" of Caroline's brother, Henry, when he moved to the area in 1856-7. Caroline died of stomach cancer on March 25, 1912 at the age of 66. John died in 1937 at the age of 101. They are both buried next to Augustus and Rosa in Chartiers Cemetery, Noblestown Road, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania7.
See Augustus and Rosanna Ott Abicht/Abbott for information about the lives of Augustus and Rosanna.
Footnotes
1 Deposition of Caroline Kumpf, Application for Minor's Pension No. 395706, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
2 Affidavit of Rev. Rouff, Application for Minor's Pension No. 395706, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
3 Deposition of John Kumpf, Application for Minor's Pension No. 395706, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
4 Affidavit of pastor of church, Application for Minor's Pension No. 395706, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
5 Deposition of William C. Smith, Application for Minor's Pension No. 395706, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
6 Application for Minor's Pension No. 395406, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
7 Deposition of John Kumpf.