THE RIPPMAN FAMILY

Charles Augustus Rippman, who was born January 15, 1839, in Wurttemburg, Germany, the son of John Gottfried and Mary (Stotz) Rippman, came to America in 1855-at the youthful age of 16. A few years earlier his mother had been thrown from a carriage and been killed.

After reaching America, he worked for some years in a tannery in Boston, then made his way to Harrisburg and got work with a tanner, a Mr. Greenewalt. Although his salary of 25 cents a week (after room and board) did not seem like a princely sum, this Mr. Greenewalt was a great benefactor. He allowed, perhaps encouraged, young Charles to buy hides for himself and tan them late at night after the regular 16-hour work day had ended. Saving the profits from this "moonlight operation" for 8 or 9 years, he was then able to buy tanneries and equipment for himself.

After a few years in Harrisburg, too, he had saved enough to send for his younger brother August. This young lad learned the baking trade and later had a family bakery in Newport, Pa.

Charles' first plunge on his own took place in 1865, when with savings, borrowed money and credit he bought a brick tannery on Walnut Street in Newport (his biography in "Who's Who in The East," however, says he also operated and owned a tannery at Monterey, Toboyne Township, at this time). With one full-time employee and a blind horse to grind the oak bark, he was in business.

Soon after this he married Anna Maria Wolz (b. 1847) (now called Mary), also a first generation German whose family had settled in Harrisburg.

Anna Maria's father, Henry Wolz, born in Hesse Darmstadt, near Frankfurt, Germany, was an architect in nearby Beerenfelder, Germany. He prospered, but unfortunately, built several large houses, which were not paid for and left him heavily in debt. This was a blot, which could not be overcome in the Germany of that day, so he sold his house and other possessions to pay these debts. Taking passage on a sailing ship, he set for America to start a new life.

After finally getting settled in Harrisburg, he sent for his wife, Maria, also from Hesse Darmstadt, his wife's sister, and his children. A few days before sailing, the ship the family was to sail on cancelled their passage so it was necessary for them to wait for another sailing schooner.

"If that had not occurred, our family history would have been very different." a grandchild related. "The first ship was lost at sea, no lives spared. I don't know how long it usually took to cross the Atlantic in those days, but we were often told that it took this little group six weeks very rough sailing."

The Henry Wolz family continued to live in Harrisburg, where the father made a fair living and in time adjusted to the new life.

Yet the Wolz family seemed to be surrounded by much tragedy in trying to get settled in this country. The father died; a boy was run over by an ice wagon; two sons were injured and died from their fireman duties; and a daughter succumbed to TB. In time, the mother gave up and spent most of her time in bed.

The only surviving son, Herman, married Nellie Ellis. They had two daughters, Anna and Mary.

Consequently, the shadows of tragedy in the Wolz family influenced the Rippman family life. Charles' wife Mary worried about her children being home and safe. She discouraged them against going out into the world and getting married; she feared they would come to harm, and wouldn't be happy.

The Wolz family also seemed to be clairvoyant, having premonitions that something was happening; accident, death or troubles were forthcoming.

Charles now moved his young bride, only 17 years old, to Newport. She often grew homesick for her mother and sisters. One particular day she planned to go to Harrisburg for an overnight visit and, in great anticipation, packed her bags. Unfortunately, she missed her train, probably the eleven o'clock one. She must have been terribly upset, for Charles closed up the tannery and took her down by buggy. It took him the rest of the day, then the whole night to get back.

Every few weeks, too, he would go oversee the tannery in Monterey, near New Germantown. The older children remembered the family being packed in a carriage for the 30-odd-mile trip, where they would stay overnight at the hotel and return the next day.

Roland Adams wrote in his History of the Adams Family: Newport had been a lively place even back in the days when it was called Riders Ferry. The ferry had been crossed by dispatch bearers on horseback. Traveling from Washington, D.C. (through Carlisle), to Niagra in the War of 1812. Meantime, the settlement had been plotted and when the canal was opened in 1829, the name of the place was changed to Newport - for it was indeed a port, and a busy one. It served as a gateway to Sherman's and Buffalo Creek Valleys, and in 1835 John Sipe had opened a Tavern there--the first one along the Juniata from Duncan's Island to Lewistown to sell whisky. There were warehouses in Newport and loads of grain were brought in by the farmers to be shipped on the canal. Loads of bark were brought in also for there was a thriving tannery in town (Rippman's.) After the advent of the railroad, Newport became a great shipping center and it was not unusual to see as many as thirty four-and-six-horse teams on its streets hauling grain or bark to market.

The Rippman family had a beautiful house on Front Street in Newport--this was before the railroad embankment was built along the canal. Grass and willow trees stretched along the river.

Newport had an academy for older children at that time, which one Rippman boy attended. To go to school, the younger children had to cross the Third Street railroad tracks four times a day, where over the years several towns-children were killed by speeding trains.

While Charles and the older boys worked in the tannery, his wife was kept busy cooking for the growing family. When she first came to Newport, Charles had sent her to a German woman who taught her all the South German dishes Charles liked so much. She became known far her excellent German and Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. She did all the cooking herself until Charles died at 84, after which she never cooked anything again.

In the early years the family would get sugar and coffee wholesale in barrels from Philadelphia.

Twice a year, too, Mary would go to Bowman's in Harrisburg and buy material by the bolt to make the children's underclothes, dresses, shirts, and pants. All the change from the shopping excursion was given back to Charles.

This union of Charles and Mary Rippman, March 10, 1865, produced ten children: the Honorable J. G. Harry Rippman, Charles A., Jr.; Clara (Thompson); Edward E.; Bertha (Landis); William F.; Mary; Helen; Marguerite; and Alexander, who died in infancy.

The sons all helped their father, learning the tanning business from beginning to end.

In the spring local farm boys could earn extra money by cutting rock oak trees and peeling the bark. They would line up at the tannery with their wagons about 2 o'clock in the morning. Before 3, Charles would be there to pay the sellers for their labors. (One of the boys who brought in the bark, Samuel H. Miller of Richfield, later became president of Chase Manhatten Bank in New York. He would be the first to drive up--often at 2 at 3 A.M.). Afterwards the boys would go home to their regular chores.

It was because of this rock oak bark tanning process that Charles had the best leather and won many medals--in 1876, a medal and diploma from the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and in 1893, he won the highest award for oak sole leather at the World's Fair, Chicago.

In 1883 he sold the tannery in Newport and bought a larger one in Millerstown. The family moved to Millerstown, too.

Charles' daughter Bertha was a greet admirer of her father and loved to help him. It was her responsibility to cross the Millerstown Bridge to the railroad station to pick up the weekly payroll money sent to the station each Saturday by a Philadelphia bank. Mother worried about her little girl trekking across the long covered bridge with so much cash, so she gave her a basket with a napkin to place over the moneybags. Everyone in town, however, knew what the little girl in "Red Riding Hood" guise was doing. This bridge, along with many others, was washed away during the Johnstown flood in 1889.

The Rippmans were fortunate in that they had the first bathtub in the county, a large tub made by a tinsmith which was placed in the boiler house between their home and the tannery. This room was all glass, but the panes were painted. It was necessary to heat steam to work on the hides, so the water was just fine for the Rippman's new bathroom.

Charles was always among the leaders of the community where he lived. He helped acquire the first fire engine in Millerstown--a man drawn two-wheeler. He was among the first bank presidents of the Millerstown bank and Newport Citizens Bank, and did much to bring piped water into both towns. He was also active in bringing industry to Millerstown and Newport.

In 1901 he gave the tannery and stone house in Millerstown to his sons, Harry and Charlie, and moved in 1903 with his family of three unmarried daughters to Second Street, Newport.

When Charles had first come to Perry County, he had bought a tract of woodland on Buffalo Mountain, which reminded him of the Black Forest in Germany. Each Sunday he'd take his wife and family in a surrey to picnic and roam around the woods.

In 1911 he decided to build a house so he could spend the entire summer there. He wanted it built of stone, to resemble a castle on the Rhine. The architect, however, couldn't make castle plans to suit, so he made it as close as he could. The family was pleased.

Berries, laurel, and oak graced the grounds-a hole was even cut in the porch roof so an old oak tree did not have to be chopped down. The Rippmans spent their summers there, although they enjoyed every season. Charles died there in 1923, at the age of 84. Mary lived until 1931.

The Millerstown Tannery was managed by the two sons, Harry and Charles A. II from 1901. In 1927 the eldest grandson, Charles A. III, the son of Harry was preparing to take over the business. His sudden death, however, caused the family to shut down the tannery and later dismantle it.

John Gottfried Henry Rippman

In 1922 he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and thus helped to get a bill passed which provided for the building of the Amity Hall Road. This cut off many tedious miles between Millerstown and Clark's Ferry.

He married Irma Haberacker of Altoona, who died soon after their first child was born. Harry, as he was called, went beck home to live with his parents, and his son, Charles Eugene Rippman, III, was raised by Grandmother Mary. His son Charles then married Janet Jones, and they had three daughters, Julie, Janet, and Christine. Julie married Arthur Mathna, Janet married George Swartz, and Christine married George Hohenshilt.

He died in 1942.

Charles Adolph

Clara Pauline

She married Ralph Thompson of a prominent local family who owned a mill and several farms. They settled in Thompsontown, but after some years took over the family farm between Millerstown and Thompsontown, and moved into the big colonial mansion. For some years he owned and managed the hardware store on the square in Millerstown. Their only child, Kathleen (Kitty), and her husband William Ullery continued to live there for many years. Their only child, William Thompson Ullery, died in infancy.

Betsy died in 1965. She and Bertha joined the Episcopal Church, but Charles and all others in his family remained Lutherans.

Edward Eugene Rippman

Bertha Augusta

Bertha Augusta Rippman, (b. 1873) (Bertie) married Arthur Clair Landis. Clair and Bertha's first child Helen Landis married Elmer Baker of Perry County in 1937. They had two sons, Elmer, Jr. (Bob), John, and four grandchildren.

Virginia Marian Landis married Peter St.Clair Christie in 1926 in Hamburg. Peter was an English businessman who was a representative of tea importers. After two years in London, they moved to Maplewood, NJ. Both are now deceased. They had two sons, Peter and Michael and eight grandchildren.

Arthur, after graduating from Lehigh College, went to Lynchburg VA with the S. S. Kresge Company, where he met Elizabeth Caldwell Sydnor. They married in Lynchburg and had four children, Arthur III, Sydnor, Richard, and Suzanne. There are ten grandchildren.

Charles, after graduating from Penn State U., married in 1937 a Nancy Eby of Paradise PA where they lived their entire lives. Charles has worked for Armstrong Quaker Tile and Cork and later for PP&L. They had three children, Dr. Charles, Jr., David, and Mary Alice. There are 7 grandchildren.

Mary Marguerite, until she was 16, attended a girls' school in Hamburg where her schooling was in German. In 1933, she attended Smith College and was graduated with a BA in 1937. She worked for Armstrong Quaker Tile and Cork and then returned home to Newport to look after her mother. Until her death in 2004, Mary was a civic-minded resident of Newport, and was instrumental in starting or aiding many programs to improve the town, notably the Newport Public Library, the Episcopal Church and the Head Start program. She left the family home, the family furnishings and a great sum of money for the furtherance of the arts to the local Arts Council at her death.

Bertha died in 1970 in her home in Newport, PA aged 97.

William Frederick

Mary Emma

Samuel Alexander

Helen Eugenia

Marguerite Gertrude

Marguerite Gertrude Rippman (Margie), born in 1890, spent most of her life at home, except for a year at Wilson and a few trips to Germany to see relatives. In later years she made a home for her sister. Margie died in 1979.

Bertha Rippman

Bertha was the fifth child listed above. After finishing Millerstown Public School, Bertha, Charles' second daughter, went to Irving College, one of the first women's colleges in Pennsylvania, and to West Chester Normal School. Afterwards she lived at home, but taught in a country school during the week for $23 a month. In the wintertime, when the farm boys had free time, her school children ranged in age from 5 to 21 or 22.

One time some big boys came to heckle the young teacher. They marched past in file, the last boy kicking over the coal bucket. She ran after him and had it out. Afterwards she was able to keep discipline, but used to say she hated the hard life of teaching and would be glad to marry.

Fortunately, she chose Arthur Clair Landis, who took her to Cuba and kept her in gracious style. Their grounds were large and surrounded by wrought iron fences. Clair, who loved horses, would often come home from the office early in the afternoon to go riding, the only time the children were allowed outside the gates.

However, keeping herself and the children healthy was a constant worry - the climate and the poor nursing in time of sickness never helped. Fortunately, they always had a wonderful doctor. In sickness, Bertha and her friends would perform the duties of the untrained native nurses.

One time baby Charles was unable to keep down his formula, and the doctor insisted Bertha take him immediately to the states. Quickly she booked passage for herself and a nurse; but was more or less in despair until a German-American friend, Mrs. Handel, assured her that she and her husband would take Clair and the three older children into her home until they were able to go north, too.

By 1917 the older children were in boarding school--Helen and Virginia at St. Mary's Hall in Burlington, N. J., and Arthur at the Harrisburg Academy.

As soon as World War I was over, Swift and Company, for whom Clair worked, sent him to central Europe to reopen their business. Bertha and five children and a companion, Eva Mumper of Landisburg, sailed on the steamship LaFrance in June 1919 to join him. The beautiful steamer built for several thousand passengers arrived in France with only 50 people aboard - since there were still mines in the Atlantic only a few businessmen and families were allowed to leave the states.

After a brief stay in Paris, the family settled along Lake Geneva. A year later they moved on to Hamburg, Germany, where they lived for thirteen years.

The first year in Hamburg the entire family rented an apartment that belonged to Baroness von Buelow. It contained three parlors and a family room, a fireplace and a grand piano, plus four rooms for the housekeeper's family. It was fortunate that the quarters were so comfortable, for the city was still suffering from the effects of the war.

The next fall they bought a large German house and during the coming years they were able to travel and enjoy all the different experiences of living in Europe.

In 1933 after Hitler was in power, foreigners began to leave, feeling it was unsafe to stay. Clair's family was saddened and shocked, but they packed only their clothes and returned quickly to the states. Despite the big adjustment, Bertha was happy to come back to Perry County and settle near her family. The children, too, were glad.

Clair retired and settled in Newport, Pa., where the remaining child, Mary, is still living, and where he and Bertha are now buried.

He married Louisa Kauffman, and they had one daughter, Mrs. Minnie Kraise. When Louisa died, he again wanted to marry a good wife. He considered three of the Wolz daughters, sisters of Charles' wife Mary. The first he asked, however, was interested in someone else; the second said "no." The third, Christine, accepted him.

After some years, Christine died. August then later married a widowed sister-in-law, Lizzie Kauffman, and acquired four stepchildren. These families of Rippman, Kauffman, and Kraise are all buried in Newport, while Charles' family is buried in Millerstown.

A sister married a Schweitzer and settled in Ulm. A granddaughter married a Goetz and had two children and lives in Tuebingen. There are no Ruebmann named relatives left in Germany and the Rippman name seems to have died out as well.