Anthony Willis family tree » Peter Gundlach (1865-1940)

Personal data Peter Gundlach 

• He was born on January 26, 1865 in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.Source 2
• He was christened on May 31, 1870 in Cheltenham, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, United States.
• Resident:
• in the year 1900: Philadelphia city Ward 25, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
• in the year 1915: Washington Township, Mercer, New Jersey, United States.
• in the year 1930: Washington, Mercer, New Jersey, United States.
• in the year 1940: Robbinsville, Washington Township, Mercer, New Jersey, United States.
• (Marriage) in the year 1893 in United States.
• (FamilySearch ID) : G93C-MJX.
• He died on September 14, 1940 in Robbinsville, Mercer, New Jersey, USA, he was 75 years old.Source 2
• He is buried in the year 1940 in Trenton, Mercer, New Jersey, United States of America.Source 2
• A child of Justus Gundlach and Caroline Friedrich

Household of Peter Gundlach

Notes about Peter Gundlach

Peter's obituary states that he died after a lengthy illness. He was hit by a truck (either a gasoline truck or fire truck) several years before his death. His leg was severely injured. He tried to treat it with home remedies, and it never completely healed.

Baptism of the Children of Justus and Caroline Gundlach
A Mother’s Dying Wish?
Justus and Caroline Gundlach had four living children. Their oldest, Anna Katharina, was born in Elmannshausen, Germany, on 23 October 1858, prior to their emigration to the United States. Their other three were born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they settled. Christina was born on 31 March 1860, followed by Edward Justus on 9 July 1862, and Peter on 26 January 1865. There may have been another birth, or at least another pregnancy, that led to Caroline’s death at age 37 on 25 April 1870. Her death certificate says she died of complications resulting from “annatural and severe” childbirth. Another document lists the cause of death as “confinement,” a term used to refer to pregnancy or childbirth.
The records of St. Paul’s Protestant Episcopal Church in Cheltenham, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, reveal that on Tuesday morning, 31 May 1870, Justus Gundlach brought his three younger children to the church to be baptized by Reverend Edward Webster Appleton. A notation in the record indicates that Caroline, their mother, is deceased. (If their sister, Anna Katharina, was present at the baptism she is not mentioned. We can assume that she was baptized in Eltmannshausen, Germany, in late 1858 or early 1859, before her family emigrated to the United States.)
The baptism must have been a very sad occasion for everyone. The children had recently lost their mother. Justus had now lost his second wife. (According to church records in Eltmannshausen, Germany, Justus’ first wife, Anna Martha Schlarbaum, died on 22 May 1857; and their infant son Heinrich died at the age of five months on 15 August 1857. Those same church records state that his marriage to Caroline Friedrich took place on 7 February 1858.)
Was it Caroline Gundlach’s dying wish that Justus have their children baptized? If so, Justus did what she asked of him. There was little else he would, or possibly could do for his children after that. Soon after the baptism, Christine was placed as a servant in the home of a widowed doctor named Brinton. And by July 1870, Edward and Peter were placed in the custody of the Northern Home for Friendless Children, where they were subsequently “farmed out” as bound boys to earn their keep.
The dissolution of their family must have been devastating to the children. Surely their mother’s death and their father’s abandonment had a profound impact on their lives. It is unknown whether Justus Gundlach ever reestablished contact with his children in Pennsylvania. The children did maintain contact with each other, and with their aunt and uncle, John and Catherine Fredericks. (John Fredericks, or Johann Friedrich, was Caroline Gundlach’s brother. He and his family also lived in Philadelphia.)
What happened to Justus and Anna Katharina Gundlach from May 1870 to 1880 is unknown. No record of Justus has been found after the 1870 federal census. He and Anna Katharina may have returned to Germany. He reappears in England for Anna Katharina’s (now Anna Catherine) wedding to Heinrich C. Berning in 1880. His whereabouts after that remains a mystery.

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Timeline Peter Gundlach

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