Family Stories & Legends: The Family of Wilhelm Rittenhouse: Mennonite Papermaker & Minister

RITTENHOUSE: The Rittenhouse clan will be the subject of the next few posts.

Wilhelm Rittinghuysen was born in the Principality of Broich in Mulheim, Westphalia in 1644. He may have learned the papermaking trade from his uncle Mathias Vorster's brother, Adolf, who operated a paper mill in Broich. In 1660, the Vorsters and Wilhelm moved to Eerbeek, Gelderland, The Netherlands where Wilhelm married Geertruid Kirsten Pieters five years later.

Mathias Vorster, also in the papermaking business, relocated to Rozendaal, near Arnhem in The Netherlands, in 1672. He became the head of a large mill in 1678 and sent Wilhelm to the Dutch publishing center of Amsterdam as his agent.

In 1688, Rittenhouse, now converted to the Mennonite faith, elected to sail to the colony of New Netherland. By this time Wilhelm and Geertruid had three children, Claus, Elizabeth and Gerhard. He may have been persuaded to move to America by printer William Bradford.

Wilhelm relocated to Penn's Colony, near Germantown and built a paper mill on a branch of  Wissahickon Creek that became known as "Paper Mill Run." He also drew lot #19 in Germantown [the site of the current Mennonite Meeting House.] The mill began operating in 1790. It was the first paper mill in British America. The aforementioned William Bradford was an early partner in the enterprise.

[The Rittenhouse paper was made by hand, one sheet at a time, from rags pounded into pulp. One man could produce one and a half reams of 20"x30" in a day.]

The American Mercury was the first newspaper published in the Middle Colonies  It's publisher was Andrew Bradford, William's nephew. Rittenhouse paper was used for the Mercury.

The original paper mill was washed away by a flood in 1701. The mill would be rebuilt three more times. The Rittenhouse family gained full ownership in 1704, when William Bradford sold his interest in the mill back to the family. Bradford would still provide quality rags in partial payment for paper.

Wilhelm was a Mennonite minister in Germantown and was chosen to be the first Bishop in America in 1701. He died 18 February 1708 and was buried in the Mennonite Church Yard in an unmarked grave, according to Mennonite custom. Eldest son, Claus inherited the paper mill.

The sketch below appears on the Find A Grave page for Wilhelm Rittenhouse. According to the note, no one has questioned that the picture is of the Mennonite paper maker.