The name of Schuyler Brossman should be familiar for some of you reading this post. If you are not familiar with his name, you will be. Schuyler Brossman embodied everything we as family researchers and genealogists should aspire to…asking the right questions, hunting down the truth and documenting anything and everything we can get our hands on. Schuyler’s particular interest and talent was for those families that had settled Berks County and the surrounding community dating back to the very origins of the county and before.

Schuyler was born 8 Jan. 1927 in Rehrersburg, Berks County, PA to Charles Brossman and Sarah Deck.  In the 1940 Census for Rehrersburg, Tulpehocken Township, Berks Co., PA, Schuyler is 13 years old, living with Mom and Dad, Aunt Clara Deck, brother Howard and sister Grace.  Interestingly, 3 doors away on the previous page, there resided a relative of mine, Roy Keim and about 6 doors away in the opposite direction lived Harry Beidler (a relative to my cousin James Beidler).

Schuyler Brossman was a Merchant Marine veteran of World War II and an Army veteran of the Korean War, and also served as a staff sergeant in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard.

Photograph courtesy of and permission given by Dolores Hill

On 1 Oct 1949, Schuyler Calvin Brossman and Gladys Emmaline Miller were married in Topton Lutheran Parsonage, Berks Co., PA. Gladys Emmaline Miller, was the daughter of John Miller and Gertrude Snyder, and was born on 13 May 1931 in Walnuttown, Berks Co., PA. (Schuyler’s wife Gladys is not related to my Miller family).

The Brossmans had 3 children, Mary Ann, Diane and Mark.

Schuyler’s career skills and interests were many…he worked for 30 years as a filler machine operator at the Glidden Co., retiring in 1988.  As a local area historian, he founded and was an active member of the Tulpehocken Settlement Historical Society in 1969.  Schuyler was also a newspaper correspondent for the Reading Eagle Co. and wrote a genealogy column for the Daily News of Lebanon and The Press and Journal of Middletown.  His other memberships and posts included former president of the board of Bethel-Tulpehocken Free Public Library, a member of the Altalaha Lutheran Church in Rehrersburg, where he was the secretary of council and president of the cemetery board.  He was also a member of the Leon Deck Post 991, Veterans of Foreign Affairs and life member and secretary of the Keystone Fire Company, Rehrersburg.

So you may be asking yourself why I have such a keen interest in Schuyler Brossman…the answer is simple, really. Besides being a genealogical legend, Schuyler expressed a keen interest in my family. Specifically, the Jacob Mueller family and his descendants. This is what started it all for me.

When I began my Miller family research journey, in its early stages, I got a book called “Matthias Miller and his 17 Children” by Floyd R. Mason.  In it, the humble beginnings of my immigrant family are described and the descendants outlined from one generation to the next, but there was more “eye candy” prior to these pages…there were many photographs taken by, what Floyd Mason called himself in the book, the “compiler” instead of an “author”.  There were photographs of the Christ Little Tulpehocken Church, ministered by Rev. Johann Casper Stoever during the time my Miller (Mueller) family were in attendance. Other photographs were of Matthias’s family and residence in Rockingham, VA.

One photograph in particular from the book caught my attention immediately. Schuyler Brossman and his son Mark standing at the Mueller Homestead Monument marker in 1971:

From the book by Floyd R. Mason-“Matthias Miller and his 17 Children”

Second Edition – Page 11

There is no doubt in my mind that Floyd Mason knew Schuyler. So why was Schuyler’s fascination with my family so intriguing?  I still didn’t have an answer.

After reading and researching more about Schuyler and learning of his “Our Keystone Families” newspaper articles he had written, my “ancestry hunter” instincts kicked in and I went to newspapers.com to find an answer.  I’m glad I did. In his “Our Keystone Families” article for 21 March 1979 in the Lebanon Daily News, Schuyler was on the hunt for a woman named Justina Catarina Brossman.  The article is too lengthy to make it a part of this post, but I have supplied a link to it so you can read the article in its entirety.

Now, I already knew that Floyd Mason had outlined in his book on page 18 that my 6x great-grandfather, Johannes Mueller (1733-1796) was married to a Justina Brossman, but he specifically names her as Justina Catherine Brossman (1737-1796), daughter of Frantz Brossman and his wife Corlis.

There are a few issues with this…based on a book called “The Brossman Book”, which several of Schuyler’s own research passages are referenced, a Justina Catarina Brossman was born 7 Jan 1727 in Karenthal, Germany to Frantz and Corlis Brossman, outlined as the 2^nd daughter born to them.  She was married to Johan Henrich Ketner in 1744.

It’s not until the 12^th child of Frantz Brossman and his wife Corlis that things started to make some sense.  I found a Justina Christina Brossman (apparently also known as Louisa), born 3 May 1737 in Karenthal, Germany.  The “Brossman Book” says that she was married to a Jacob Miller (Mueller).  I knew better…this is my 6x great-grandmother Justina Brossman that married Johannes Mueller.  I do not have or have I ever found a marriage record for them, but they were probably married about 1757.

Next, there’s the issue of mistaken identity in the Christ Little Tulpehocken Church cemetery. In the cemetery records, it shows the gravesite of my Johannes Mueller as K-20 and next to him is a Katherin Mueller as K-18.  Everyone, including myself assumed that this was Justina Catarina (Brossman) Mueller.

It is not…the David Mueller next to John (Johannes) was the husband of Anna Catherine.  For so many years, ancestry trees have had it wrong.  Some still do.  After I found a document from 1798 of which land belonging to the late Johannes Mueller was being given to Johannes and Justina’s son John, and all the family members were present and named including widow, Justina Mueller, I knew that she was buried somewhere else and did not pass in 1796.

I then made the discovery of her death of 1816 in Cumberland Co. (now Perry Co.).  She had relocated with her daughter, Justina (Mueller) Fenical to that county…interesting note, Justina Fenical is my mother’s 4x great-grandmother.  Yes, my mother and father are 5^th cousins and they never knew it, so all of the cousins on my mother’s side related to her Lentz family are double cousins and have the Miller heritage.

For now, this is what I know about my connection to the Brossman family, but it is more than I had before and I believe Schuyler would have loved this part of the research.

One more tidbit that seems to have a bit of kismet…Schuyler and his wife are buried in the Altalaha Lutheran Church cemetery.  Why is this so interesting?  A rather large portion of my Miller family, including Jonathan Miller (1777-1858), his wife Elisabetha and some of their children are buried there as well.  Jonathan Miller is mine and James Beidler’s 5x great-grandfather.  There are also Miller descendants of Matthias Mueller (1743-1805) buried there, and the Harry Beidler I had mentioned before is also buried there with his wife Katie.

Schuyler has left behind a tremendous legacy of how to do it right! I can just ask my colleagues and friends (one of which that shares my Miller heritage), James Beidler, but also Hank Jones and Dolores Hill because they all knew Schuyler personally. 

If you want to know more about Schuyler Brossman, all you really have to do is an internet search on his name.  His collections are well known and recorded in Salt Lake City and the Library of Congress.  There are even YouTube videos of interviews with him.

Schuyler was not a man wanting notoriety or fame. He shied away from such things and was a quiet unassuming man that just had a passion for genealogy, especially in Berks County.  He would gladly send his research around the globe, entrusting it to those that understood what his work really meant. 

It is my hope that what you have read here inspires you to take on the mantle that Schuyler did.  Can you imagine that Schuyler did all that he did without the internet?  Without smart phones? Truly inspiring.

I am humbled to be able to bring you the message that Schuyler himself would more than likely would have passed on to you…go find your family! They are out there!

Sources:

Ancestry©

Newspapers.com©

James Beidler – Author, speaker and Interim Executive Director @ Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania – https://jamesmbeidler.com/

Hank Z. Jones, Jr. – Actor, singer, genealogist and Past President & Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, & Fellow of the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society – http://www.hankjones.com

Dolores Hill – Head of the Tulpehocken 300th Anniversary Committee and also president of the Andulhea Heritage Center

Sam Keibach – Find a Grave contributor

Featured Image: Our Keystone Families by Schuyler C. Brossman – The Lebanon Daily News – Weds. – July 18, 1979

Tributes:

From James Beidler…

“Schuyler C. Brossman was a major figure in the history and genealogy of western Berks County during the second half of the 20th century.

His intimate knowledge of the area, radiating out from his home in Rehrersburg throughout the Tulpehocken, made him the type of “local expert” – someone who not only knows the records of an area but also its stories and how the families fit together over generations – that the Internet will never replace.

His weekly column “Our Keystone Families” was published in newspapers for more than three decades and remains a major source of information for 21st century genealogists.”

From Hank Jones…

“Schuyler was a VERY nice man – and did amazing good for the Palatine community with his marvelous, informative columns. Besides the nuts and bolts of births, marriages, and deaths he wrote about, he took these skeletons of names and dates and included much about their personal lives and what they were like as people. They came alive again! Schuyler was very special to me – I dedicated volume I of my three volume set EVEN MORE PALATINE FAMILIES to him.”

Acknowledgements:

James Beidler – thank you Jim for your encouragement and being a mentor as Schuyler was for you.

Hank Jones – what can I say Hank…it is a pleasure to know you and you have been a great inspiration.

Dolores Hill – Dolores, thank you for filling in the gaps on Schuyler and Schuyler’s family and your dedication to preserving the legacy that Schuyler has left behind.

Sam Keibach – thank you Sam for getting me in touch with Dolores Hill. It was the icing on the cake.

Cheryl, my wife…I could not do this without you…you are my love!

Brian