The Early Life of Rev. Frederick Waage 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

I’ve written before about my three times great grandfather Reverend Frederick Waage. However, I recently came across an article written about him by his son Reverend Oswin Frederick Waage (1845-1919). It was published in The Penn Germania in August 1912 and includes details regarding his early life.

Frederick, son of Claus Heinrich and Catharine Dorothea (Hoffmeister) Waage, was born on 17 August 1797 in Itzehoe in the Dukedom of Holstein, then part of Denmark and now Germany. He was baptized on 20 August 1797. According to his son, three of this sponsors were nobility: “General and Baron Cay von Ahlefeldt; Ernestine von Brokdorf, wife of the Private Counsellor; and the nobel lady Anna Sophia von Ranzau auf Güldenstein.”¹ His baptismal name as “Cay Frederic Sophus Waage.”

He started school early, attending a “Klipp Schule” when still a boy and learning to read. He greatly enjoyed reading and later in life accrued a large library that included not only theological literature, but also many of the great works of both fiction and non-fiction of his time in the original German or German translation.

From age eight, he went to the town school and was tutored “by the ‘Schreib und Rechnenmeister Nagel,’ who wore awhite powdered wig, and who was ever ready with the rod to punish misbehavior.” His next school was the Latin school in town where ear-boxing was the preferred punishment. While he applied himself eagerly to his lessons in class, he also learned from those around him in daily life. He became fluent in French due to interactions with those of Napoleon’s soldiers who were quartered in the town.

The eldest of three boys, he was the only one to survive to adulthood. By the age of fourteen, he had born the loss of his brothers and parents. An orphan, he became the ward of an uncle in Flensburg, in the north in Schleswig, in 1811. He was sent to a school there in town and boarded at an old monastery with the other students.

On 7 April 1813, he was confirmed in the Lutheran faith at the Marienkirche (St. Mary’s Church) after receiving instruction from the Lutheran pastor Huesmann. This church is one of the main churches in Flensburg and was first mentioned in historical documents in 1284.² Today it is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

That August, at age sixteen, he went to study at the University of Kiel. The university was founded in 1665 by the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp as the Academia Holsatorum Chiloniensis.³ It was (and is) one of the oldest and most prestigious in Schleswig-Holstein.

Frederick was enrolled there for six years. “Here he applied himself strenuously to his studies, often working until two o’clock in the night. His close association with the professors of the university, and especially the influence of his pastor, the noble Claus Harms, greatly assisted him in acquiring a first class classical education, under these benign surroundings. The desire became strong to be active in some calling in which he might be a blessing to his day and generation.”⁴

A desire to see the world and avoid military service spurred him emigrate to America. In June 1819, he took leave of his homeland, booking passage on the ship Milo from Hamburg to Philadelphia. After his arrival in September, he met Rev. Jacob W. Dechant who introduced him to Rev. F.W. Geisenhainer. For two years, he studied with Geisenhainer until he could be admitted to the Lutheran Synod.

Frederick became a licentiate of the Lutheran Ministerium on 27 August 1822 and he was ordained 10 June 1828 at Reading. Between 1822 and 1829, he served in parishes in Bucks County, then Northumberland, Lycoming, and Columbia counties. In May 1829, he served the Lutheran parish that included New Goshenhoppen. Over the following years, he added churches and congregations, including a congregation at Charlestown, Scheetz’s church, Huber’s church in Montgomery County, and established at church at Ridge Valley.

He married Angelina Garber, daughter of Benjamin and Hannah (Reiner) Garber, in 1823 at Trappe Lutheran Church. They raised a family of ten children: Johanna, Charles Theodore, Angelina, Emma, Andora S., Theodora Rosalie, Franciska S., Oswin Frederick, Atha “Addie,” and Edwin Eugene, who died young.

He retired in 1868, but continued assisting his successor, son Rev. O.F. Waage, for several years. Frederick died 23 August 1884 and was buried four days later at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Red Hill. His wife, Angelina (Garber) Waage, died 11 April 1897 and was buried with her husband. Both gravesites are marked by significant and unique gravestones.

“His independence of thought involved him in brisk controversies with leaders in his own denomination and with clergymen of other faiths, but he was held in high esteem by his congregations.“⁵

---

This post is part of a blogging challenge entitled 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, created by Amy Crow of No Story Too Small in 2014. Participants were to write about one ancestor every week. I’m revisiting this challenge for 2017. This is my second 52 Ancestors post, part of week one.

• Category: Research
• Tag: 52 Ancestors, Maternal Line