THE HISTORY OF THE KUSTER FAMILY FROM KALEDENKIRCHEN
GERMANY
THE KUSTER FAMILY CAN BE TRACED TO REINER(REINHART)
KUSTER, WHO WAS BORN ABOUT 1542 AND DIED ON JULY 3, 1616. THE NAME OF REINER'S
WIFE IS UNKNOWN. REINER WAS THE FATHER OF JOHANNES KUSTER WHO WAS BORN IN
1576.JOHANNES MARRIED A LADY BY THE LAST NAME OF "walburgis" JOHANNES DIED
ON APRIL 8, 1650. ARNOLD KUSTER , THE SON JOHANNES WAS BORN IN 1606,
HE MARRIED CATHARINE VON HAREN, (D/O CHRISTOPH VON HAREN).ON OCTOBER 13,1629.
THEY WERE THE PARENTS OF PAULUS KUSTER, WHO WAS OUR FIRST KUSTER EMIGRANT
TO AMERICA SETTLING IN GERMANTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.
PAULUS KUSTER BORN BET. 1640-1646, WAS
REARED A ROMAN CATHOLIC, MARRIED GERTRUDE DOORS ON OCTOBER 16,1668, IN THE
REFORMED CHURCH AT KALDENKIRCHEN. JAKOB FLODROP WAS PASTOR.
PAULUS AND GERTRUDE HAD SEVEN KNOWN
CHILDREN ALL WHOM WERE BAPTIZED IN THIS CHURCH.
CHILDREN WERE:ARNOLD, JOHNNES, MATTHYS, REINER, ANNA, HERMANUS, CATRIN
AND POSSIBLY AN 8TH CHILD, A DAUGHTER ELIZABETH..
PAULUS KUSTER AND GERTRUDE DOORS
THEY WERE AMONG THE EARLIEST MEMBERS OF THE
MENNONITE CONGREGATION IN GERMANTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA. THEY ARRIVED IN GERMANTOWN
ABOUT 1690. IN 1700 PAULUS WAS CHOSEN TO BE A COMMITEEMAN . ON DEC.4,1704
,PAULUS BOUGHT 50 ACRES OF LAND FROM HENRY BUCHHOLTZ, AND ON JAN.5,1706,
HE WAS APPOINTED AS AN OVERSEER OF FENCES IN GERMANTOWN. BY THE TIME THE
COMMUNITY HAD BEEN GRANTED A CHARTER FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT IN 1691, IT WAS RECOGNIZED
THAT SOME CITIZENS NEEDED TO BE PUNISHED FOR SUCH THINGS AS LETTING ANIMALS
DESTROY FENCES , CALLING EACH OTHER NAMES BORROWING WITHOUT PERMISSION AND
SELLING MORE LIQUER THAN THE LAW ALLOWED...
They were naturalized May 7, 1691.
It is believed that most of the 13 original families to settle Germantown,
are brothers and sisters of Gertrude Doors. Gertraudt Doors was baptized
in the Reformed Church of Krefeld Germany in 1681. Paulus and Gertrude were
sponsors for the baptisms of the children of Jan and Entgen (Doors)Strepers.
In 1669, Jan Streipers sponsored a child of Paulus and Gertrude Kuster.In
1670, a child was sponsored by Agnes Doors. Paulus' first four children born
in Germany were baptized in the Reformed Church of Kaldenkirchen. Two more
children born in Germany, Elisabeth (Anna) and Hermann, were not baptized
in Kaldenkirchen. Paulus' father, Arret, was probably Roman Catholic. Paulus
who also was Catholic, later became a member of the Reformed Church of
Kaldenkirchen Germany, and Mennonite in Germantown. Paulus' sons, Arnold and
Hermanus, came to America with him. They were preceded by Johannes, another
son of Paulus. Paulus was a stone mason and farmer. Paulus died in Jan. or
Feb. 1708, and Gertrude
soon after.
IT IS SAID THAT PAULUS AND GERTRUDE WERE
BURIED IN THE GERMANTOWN MENNONITE CEMETERY,BUT THERE IS NO REAL PROOF.
THEY WERE AMONG THE FOUNDERS OF THE FIRST MENNONITE CONGREGATION OF AMERICA..