{"id":4538,"date":"2021-09-02T15:18:02","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T15:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lovettsvillehistoricalsociety.org\/?p=4538"},"modified":"2021-09-04T22:07:37","modified_gmt":"2021-09-04T22:07:37","slug":"the-family-of-w-s-seitz-builder-of-the-ruse-bank-barn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lovettsvillehistoricalsociety.org\/index.php\/the-family-of-w-s-seitz-builder-of-the-ruse-bank-barn\/","title":{"rendered":"The family of W.S. Seitz, builder of the Ruse bank barn"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Although the Seitzes were not one of the pre-Revolution German families in Lovettsville, the family\u2019s roots were thoroughly grounded in Pennsylvania German and Swiss immigrants. They came from Pennsylvania to the Lovettsville area via northern Baltimore County, not through Frederick County as did most of the local families.<\/p>\n

But, unlike the family of Christian Ruse, which was almost impossible to trace, the Seitz family is well-documented back to its immigrant origins.<\/p>\n

Winfield Scott Seitz<\/strong> (or \u201cW.S. Seitz\u201d as he seemed to prefer to be known) was a son of Andrew Seitz (Jr.)<\/strong>, who was in Lovettsville at least by 1848 when he married the widow Amanda Yakey. Andrew then spent the rest of his life there, except during the Civil War years when he took refuge in Morgan County, West Virginia. Andrew died in Lovettsville in 1888 and is buried in Lovettsville Union Cemetery, as are Winfield and ten other Seitz family members.\u00a0 (Additionally, Amanda Russell Seitz is buried in the Lovettsville German Reformed Cemetery, and Mary Seitz Goodhart is buried in Leesburg Union Cemetery.)<\/p>\n

Andrew Seitz [Jr.], Winfield\u2019s father, was born in 1823 in Gorsuch Mills, Maryland, a small town in Baltimore County which is about a mile south of the long-disputed Pennsylvania-Maryland border.\u00a0 His father, Andrew Seitz [Sr.]<\/strong> had moved there from Hametown, in York County, Pa., which is only about ten miles from Gorsuch Mills. His grandfather Johannes Georg Seitz was a \u201cPalatine\u201d immigrant, having been born in Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg (now Germany), in 1740, and emigrating to Pennsylvania in 1764 with his new bride, Anna Catharina. There is even some direct Swiss ancestry there, through Catharine Klinefelter, the wife of Andrew Seitz Sr.<\/p>\n

We know a lot about Winfield\u2019s father, Andrew Seitz Jr., because of the availability of records from his post-Civil War claims to the Southern Claims Commission, in which he sought compensation for timber and lumber taken by the Union Army from his farm in Morgan County, WV.[1]<\/a> Morgan County is along the Potomac at the beginning of the Panhandle; from northern Loudoun County, going west, are Jefferson, Berkeley, then Morgan County.<\/p>\n

Why were Andrew, and Winfield, there? According to testimony in the claims case, Andrew was living in the Lovettsville\/Hoysville area until the Spring of 1861. In May 1860, he had been elected one of four Magistrates (or Justices of the Peace) for the Lovettsville District, running in opposition to the Democratic machine candidate. He was also the local School Commission for the Literary Fund, a position which he relinquished in 1861 at the outset of the Civil War.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Andrew<\/a>
Andrew Seitz’s notice of resignation as School Commissioner, dated March 12, 1861. Image courtesy of Gary Clemens, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Historic Records Department.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seitz was strongly opposed to secession and said he would leave Virginia if it seceded from the Union.\u00a0 It did, and he did, staying in Morgan County until the end of the war \u2013 except for a short trip to Pennsylvania in 1863.\u00a0 According to testimony in the claims case, Seitz returned to Loudoun in 1868 and was \u201cmade\u201d a deputy Sheriff by the military authorities of the state.\u00a0 It is not known if that is true, but the well-researched book, Between Reb and Yank,<\/em> reports that, in the elections after Virginia was re-admitted to the Union in 1870, Seitz was defeated in the race for sheriff, thus keeping that office \u201csafely in `Confederate\u2019 hands.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Following is a genealogical summary for Winfield Scott Seitz and his direct ancestors:<\/p>\n

Winfield Scott Seitz<\/strong> (b. 1850, Morgan Co. WV[4]<\/a>; d. 1901, Lovettsville)<\/p>\n

Married 13 October 1874[5]<\/a> to Annie Belle Ruse<\/strong> (1856-1927), at New Jerusalem Lutheran Church; she was the daughter of Emanuel and Harriet Ruse. \u00a0Their children were:<\/p>\n