In 1979 Kay Busch (a descendant of Samuel Rutz) traveled to the last farm that Carl Ruthz had lived on. It was currently owned by Lewis F Rutz, a son of William Rutz (Carl Ruthz's first son). She met with Lewis along with several other grandchildren of "Charley". The following is Kay's notes from that meeting.
Charles F. Rutz came from Germany in 1855. His first wife's name is unknown
to me at this point and she was also from Germany. When they came they had two
children both born in Germany. William was born January 15, 1848 and Augusta
born in 1850.
His wife died on the trip and was either buried at sea or somewhere along the
Mississippi or Missouri Rivers. Some of the family said that his wife was
buried at sea and others say she died between St. Louis and Hermann, Missouri.
The story also goes that the boat sank in the Missouri River and Charley and
another passenger swam to shore with the two children. I have never researched
a boat sinking at Hermann in 1855, but it might be interesting to check out
some day.
While at Hermann, Missouri he left his daughter (Augusta) with a family who
moved away and they left her with the family of John Adam Sengenberger who
adopted her. She married F. Louis Kielmann on October 7, 1872. Mr Kielmann was
one of the founders of Hermann.
Charley moved south of Hermann to Gasconade County where at one time he owned
land along the Burboise River. He met and married Mary Ann Reed . He later
owned a farm along Red Oak Creek and finally along Brush Creek in the very
northern part of Crawford County.
In 1979 the last farm was owned by Lewis F Rutz, a son of William. I met with
Lewis back in 1979 along with several other grandchildren of Charley's. They
told me that Charley never allowed a picture to be taken of him and he wouldn't
ever talk about his life in Germany or his first wife. To my knowledge, William
didn't know his mother's name. Charley only told them that he was from Berlin
and was in the Prussian Army as a personal guard to the Kaiser. He reportedly
feigned arthritis and was released from the army and he came to American.
Charley is said to have been Lutheran and his second wife was Catholic. Charley
along with William both served in the Union Army during the Civil War. William
served under the name of a man named "Rogers" who hired him to take
his place. He lied about his age as he was only 16. Charley's military record
shows he served as a private in Capt. Collier's Co. B Gasconade Co. Battalion
Missouri Home Guard and he served for 1 month and 23 days from July 12, 1861 to
Sept 4, 1861 for which he was paid $27.95.