Charles Louis Berghaus

Charles Louis Berghaus¹

• Birth*: circa 1803; Dresden, Germany; Birth date based on age at death; place based on daughter's death certificate [so neither is reliable].²
• Marriage*: 16 May 1833; Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania; Spouse:Mary Walborn Hummel^3,4
• Burial*: 8 October 1858; Harrisburg Cemetery, Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania; "age about 55"⁵

Parents:

Family:

Mary Walborn Hummel b. 15 Jan 1814, d. 24 Oct 1892

• Marriage*: 16 May 1833; Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania; Spouse:Mary Walborn Hummel^3,4

Children:

Fannie Welsh Berghaus+^18,19 b. 8 Jan 1841, d. 6 Jan 1917
Anne Eliza Berghaus²⁰ b. c 1843, d. 4 Mar 1846
Rev. Valentine Hummel Berghaus+²¹ b. 14 Jun 1846, d. 22 Mar 1910
Eliza Berghaus+²² b. 9 Oct 1847, d. 15 Sep 1909
Sidney Taylor Berghaus+ ²¹ b. 20 Aug 1848, d. 19 Oct 1925
Caroline Elizabeth Berghaus²² b. 31 Dec 1851
Mary Elizabeth Berghaus²³ b. 16 May 1858

Notes

• Note*: Charles L. Berghaus was born in Germany about 1804 and immigrated with his family to Baltimore about 1812. He lived briefly in Perry county Pennsylvania, and then settled in Harrisburg in the early 1830s, as did his parents and siblings. There he became a successful lumber merchant. He may have had medical training in the late 1920s but is never known to have practiced.
• Note: Medical lectures, about 1829: In May 1837 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on a case brought from the Dauphin County court of Common Pleas. It ruled in the favor of Charles L. Berghaus, finding that an old debt was beyond the statute of limitations, regardless of an attempt by a third party to present the debt 1 April 1835. The debt of $104.80 was on a promissory note owed to Dr. Calhoun of Philadelphia for attending lectures. The statute of limitations was six years, so the lectures would have occurred on or before 1829. This compiler has not seen the Court of Common Pleas records.
  
  The implication of the Supreme Court case summary is that Charles Berghaus had attended the lectures and was addressed as Dr. Berghaus by the third party attempting to collect the debt.⁶
• Note: License granted at Perry County, Pa., Quarter Sessions, April Sessions 1829, Buffalo township to Charles L. Berghaus. The book suggest the license was for a tavern, but perhaps it was for dry goods.
  
  The compiler could not find Charles Berghaus found in 1829 & 1831 tax lists for Buffalo Township, Perry Co., Penn.^7,8
• Note: 1830 Census: Charles L Burghouse resided Buffalo Twp., Perry Co., Pa.⁹
• Note: The packetship Monongahela sailed 19 April 1830 from Philadelphia for Liverpool with passengers Dr. Geo. W. Berghauz and Charles L. Berghaus.¹⁰
• Note: The daily journal of Charles Rawn, a Harrisburg attorney, names Dr. George H. Berghaus about 25 times in entries from 1832 to 1842. He also names Charles in three entries:
  October 23, 1832: "...Wrote to Chas H. Cheyney in answer to his letter of the settlement and sent by Dr Chas Berghaus."
  January 13, 1836: "Paid C.L. Berghaus and father (V. Bill and Receipt) for wood bought in Sep. 1835. $1.50 this is in full of all demands between them and me from me to them."
  March 15, 1841: "Also bot ½ ton Pine Grove Coal of C S Berghous 2 12 ½ (v Bill & Receipt) del-d this day, present Mr Henback when I pd the black fellow who hauled it and del-d me the bill & receipt."¹¹
• Note: 1840 & 1850 US Census shows Charles and family living in Harrisburg a few doors from his father-in-law Valentine Hummel. (1840 indexed as Borghouse/Berghause; 1850 as C S S Berghauser)⁹
• Note: By deed dated 28 Sept. 1840 Thomas Elder Jr. of Harrisburg conveyed to Charles L. Berghous of Harrisburg, for $600, a lot in the borough of Harrisburg, situated on Meadow Lane and Second Street, 150 feet by 86 feet by 125 feet. Recorded 10 Mar 1841, Dauphin Co. Vol. 2N, p. 31-2. Abstracted by the compiler. Viewed on FHL # 21279.
  
  Deed dated 19 Feb 1844 by which Charles L. Berghaus and his wife Mary W. Berghaus, for $90, granted to The Washington Hose Company of Harrisburg a lot situated in Harrisburg at the corner of Meadow Lane and Second Street, 44 feet along Meadow Lane by 30 feet 6 inches by 53 feet 6 inches. The lot was a part of the lot purchased by Charles L. Berghaus from Thomas Elder Jr. by deed dated 28 Sept 1840 recorded in Deed Book N. Vol. 2, page 31. Recorded 19 Feb 1844, Dauphin Co. Vol. 2Q, Pages 82-84. Abstracted by the compiler. Viewed on FHL # 21280.
  
  Deed dated 25 Nov 1845 by which Charles L. Berghaus and Mary W. his wife and Martha Sides, all of Harrisburg, for $750, conveyed to Thomas Asbury Demming a lot in Harrisburg, half of lot no 210 in the borough plan, between Front Street to the south and River Alley to the north, being 26 feet three inches on Front St. and extending 210 feet to the Alley. The half lot had belonged to John Sides, who by his will left it to his children Isaac and Martha Sides. Charles L. Berghaus obtained Isaac's moiety by a sheriff's deed poll dated 27 Nov 1843. Recorded 15 Dec 1845, Dauphin Co. Vol. 2R, Pages 146-7. Abstracted by the compiler. Viewed on FHL # 21281.¹²
• Note: Harrisburg city directories 1842, 1843, 1845 list Charles Berghaus and his father Henry as lumber merchants.¹³
• Note: Church: An 1845 list of families of St. Stephens Episcopal Church in Harrisburg names "Dr. Berghaus, Mrs. B. (communicant), 1 child". Aside from his children's baptisms, that is the last reference to him in their records until his burial. On the other hand, his wife and children were life-long active members.¹⁴
• Note: Death notice in Baltimore Sun, 8 Oct 1858: "C. L. Berghaus, Esq. an extensive lumber merchant of Harrisburg, Pa., died Wednesday."¹⁵
• Note: Will of Charles L. Berghaus of Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Penn.
  
  Will written 20 Sept 1858, proven 18 Oct 1858.
  
  Names wife Mary W. Berghaus, son Valentine Hummel Berghaus, and daus. Fanny W., Sidney T., Eliza and Mary Elizabeth Berghaus; all children under age 21. Furniture to his wife; estate real and personal one sixth each to wife and each child. Four houses in Meadow lane to be sold. William M. Kerr of Harrisburg guardian for children.
  
  Wife executrix.
  
  Witnessed by F.? Uhler?, Val Hummel
  
  Dauphin Co., Penn., wills Vol. 1G, p. 22-3. Abstracted by compiler. Viewed on FHL microfilm 21239.¹⁶
• Note: Sale of property on Meadow Lane: On 30 Aug 1864 Mary W Berghaus, executrix of will of Charles L Berghaus, petitioned the Dauphin County Orphan's Court for permission to sell four lots and houses on Meadow Lane as directed in his will. The court approved her petition and ordered her to offer them for sale to highest bidder. On 6 Dec 1864 Mary W. Berghaus reported back to the court that the lots were sold: to Joseph Gilled for $780, to Frederick Snyder for $740, to Magdalena Block for $750, and to Catharine Saur for $800. The court confirmed the sales.
  Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Orphan's Court, Book Q, pp. 176, 207. Abstracted by the compiler from photocopies obtained from the county.
• Note: Minors' Estates: On 1 Feb 1870 the Dauphin County Orphan's Court appointed Eldridge McConkey guardian of Ida Berghaus and Mary E. Berghaus upon their petitions that stated that they were minor children, above fourteen years, of Charles L. Berghaus who died in 1858, and that George H. Berghaus, brother of Charles, had died intestate in New Orleans, leaving an estate of $13,561.85, and that the only heirs of George H. Berghaus were his sister Eliza B. Klein of Harrisburg and the five children of Charles.
  
  On 10 May 1871 the court appointed V. Hummel Berghaus guardian of Mary E. Berghaus, per her petition.
  
  Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Orphan's Court, Book R, pp. 264-5, 423. Abstracted by the compiler from photocopies obtained from the county.
• Note: Hass Depositions
  
  In the Louisiana probate file of George H. Berghaus is a document prepared 3 Feb 1870 by Harrisburg alderman F. W. Hass. The document was the proof presented to the Louisiana court identifying the heirs of George H. Berghaus. The document contains depositions taken from three Harrisburg citizens, James Wyeth, Valentine Hummel Jr., and E. Brisbend Boyd, all who knew the Berghaus family. No challenge was made to the facts in these depositions, and the court accepted them.
  
  The family descriptions given in the three depositions was nearly identical: That Henry Berghaus and his wife, both deceased, last resided in Harrisburg, and had three children, namely George H. Berghaus, Charles L. Berghaus, and Eliza L. Berghaus intermarried with Mr. Klein. Mr. Klein was deceased and widow Eliza resided in Harrisburg. Charles L. Berghaus was deceased and had last resided in Harrisburg. Charles L. Berghaus had married Mary W. Hummel, and they had five children now living, namely Fanny Berghaus intermarried with Elbridge McConkey, Rev. Valentine Hummel Berghaus, Sidney Berghaus intermarried with John Haggerty, and Ida and Mary. Ida and Mary were minors, Mary the youngest.
  
  Abstracted by the compiler. Cover letter and depositions are contained in the intestate succession (probate) file of George H. Berghaus of New Orleans, 1870, No. 33441. Viewed on FHL microfilm 568245.¹⁷