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Descendants of Paulus Kuster

Generation No. 1

1. PAULUS⁴ KUSTER (ARNOLD³, JOHANNES², REINER¹) was born Abt. 1644 in Kaldenkirchen, Germany, and died Aft. 28 Jan 1707/08 in German Town, Philiadelphia County, Pennsylvania. He married GERTRUDE DOORS 16 Oct 1668 in Kaldenkirchen, Germany, daughter of THEIS DOORS and AGNES. She was born Abt. 1645 in Kaldenkirchen, Germany, and died Aft. 28 Jan 1707/08 in German Town, Philiadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

Notes for PAULUS KUSTER:
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. ALL CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION APPRECIATED
      The basis for identifying Arnold as the father of Paulus seems to be taken from "The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine" Volume XXXI 1980 Number 3 in the article "The Ancestry of the Thirteen Krefeld Emigrants of 1683" by Wilhelm Niepoth, translated by John Brockie Lukens page 505:
      "Going by the first name of the eldest son, the father of Paulus Kuesters, must have been the Catholic, Arret Kuesters, who lived in Kaldenkirchen."

      From "Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage" Volume IX, Number 3 July 1986
p.28 in an article titled "The Kusters and Doors of Kaldenkirchen,
Germany and Germantown, Pennsylvania" by Chester E. Custer:
"Within the civil records in the archives at Düsseldorf the Kuster
family can be traced to Reiner Kuster, who was born about 1542 and died
on July 3, 1616. The name of Reiner's wife in unknown. Reiner was the
father of Johannes Kuster, born in 1576. Johannes married ____
Walburgis in 1598 and died April 8, 1650. They were the parents of
Arnold, born about 1606. Arnold married Catherine von Haeren on October
13, 1629, and died November 24, 1679. Arnold and Catharine were
mentioned earlier in connection with the baptism of Margarita Doors.
Each of Arnold's sons named his first-born son after him. Emigrant
Paulus Kuster was the son of Arnold and Catharine. The birth date for
Paulus cannot be determined because the baptismal records of the
Catholic church at Kaldenkirchen between 1640 and 1646 are missing.
...Paulus Kuster, reared as a Roman Catholic, married Gertrude Doors on
October 16, 1668, in the Reformed church at Kaldenkirchen......
Paulus apparently left the Catholic church prior to or at the time of
his marriage. Gertrude and her parents had been in the Reformed church
since 1655."

      From "The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine" Volume XXXI Number 3 1980 in an article
titled "The Ancestry of the Thirteen Krefeld Emigrants of 1683" by Wilhelm Niepoth, translated by John Brockie Lukens page 505:
      "...in the church records of the Reformed congregation of Kaldenkirchen. On 16 October 1668 were married there Paulus Kusters, bachelor of Kaldenkirchen and Gertrud Doors, spinster of Kaldenkirchen. Children of theirs baptized there were: 1. Arnold, baptized 9 June 1669; 2. Johannes, baptized 12 December 1670; 3. Matthys, baptized 6 December 1671; 4. Reiner, baptized 2 December 1674. Later other children were born, but not baptized at Kaldenkirchen; Elizabeth and Hermann"
This is a direct quote from the above source.
      From "Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage" Vol IX, Number 3 July 1986 in the article "The Kusters and Doors of Kaldenkirchen, Germany and Germantown, Pennsylvania" by Chester E. Custer on page 28 this account of the children is given:
"Paulus and Gertrude had seven known children, all of whom were baptized in the Reformed church at Kaldenkirchen." (cites baptismal information from the Kaldenkirchen Reformed Church Records).
      Arnold was baptized on June 9, 1669.
      Johannes was baptized on October 12, 1670. (Month differs from Niepoth's account)
      Matthys was baptized on December 6, 1671.
      Reiner was baptized on December 2, 1674.
      Anna was baptized on December 26, 1677. (Anna is not included in Niepoth's account)
      Hermanus was baptized on October 19, 1681 or on March 15, 1682 (Niepoth did not find a record for Hermanus whereas the archivist and linguist Leo Peters who translated the confusing combination of German and Dutch language in the records found two). Both were sons of a Gertrude and both had witnesses from the Doors family.
      Catrin was baptized March 9, 1687. (Also not included in Niepoth's account)
      Elizabeth also not found in the records by Leo Peters working with Chester Custer.
Since Chester Custer's research examined the original records in the Reformed Church at Kaldenkirchen (written in a combination German/Dutch language), the Catholic Church at Kaldenkirchen (written in Latin and housed in the archives of Kempen), the archives in Duesseldorf, and the Mennonite library in the Weierhof and had the help of the archivist and linguist, Leo Peters, I have used this research as the source for the children of Paulus and Gertrude Doors.

Notes for GERTRUDE DOORS:
      From "The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine" Volume XXXI 1980 Number 3 in an article
titled "The Ancestry of the Thirteen Krefeld Emigrants of 1683" by Wilhelm Niepoth, translated by John Brockie Lukens page 506:
      Niepoth relates a story about Gertrude's parents' experiences with religious persecution which is taken from the "Julich-Berg Historical Journal". A few days before the birth of Gertrude's sister, the bailiff had struck her mother in the face. The father was fined 100 gold Guilders and his goods taken. However the government intervened and declared that Gertrude's father should stay and not be persecuted.




Children of PAULUS KUSTER and GERTRUDE DOORS are:

2.	i.	ARNOLD⁵ CUSTER, b. Abt. 1669, Kaldenkirchen, Germany; d. 1739, Hanover Township, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.
	ii.	JOHANNES CUSTER, b. Abt. 1670, Germany (Source: Chester E. Custer, "Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage Volume IX, Number 3 July 1986 "The Kusters and Doors of Kaldenkirchen, Germany, and Germantown, Pennsylvania," page 28, Johannes was baptized on October 12, 1670. Jyn Huylkins and Agnes Doors, Gertrude's mother, were the witnesses. Both Arnold and Johannes would have been baptized by Jakob Flodrop.); d. Abt. 1708; m. ELIZABETH CASSEL, 31 Aug 1692, Abington Meeting Of Friends, Pennsylvania; d. Unknown.
	iii.	MATTHIAS CUSTER, b. Abt. 1671, Germany (Source: Chester E. Custer, "Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage Volume IX, Number 3 July 1986 "The Kusters and Doors of Kaldenkirchen, Germany, and Germantorwn, Pennsylvania," page 28, Matthys was baptized on December 6, 1671, by Johann Melchoir with Matthys Doors and Lisbet Doors (Gertrude's father and sister) as witnesses.); d. Unknown.
	iv.	REINER CUSTER, b. Abt. 1674 (Source: Chester E. Custer, "Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage Volume IX, Number 3 July 1986 "The Kusters and Doors of Kaldenkirchen, Germany, and Germantorwn, Pennsylvania," page 28, Reiner was baptized by Johann Melchior on December 2, 1674. The baptismal record states that Reiner's father was Roman Catholic, that his mother had been a member of the Reformed Church, and that she "for a period of time was unable to use her mental faculties." Gertrude's parents, Theiss and Agnes Doors, promised to assume responsibility for the child in her behalf. The witnesses to Reiner's baptism were Wys Doors (Gertrude's father, Matthys), Jochim Huiskens, and Elisabeth Doors (Gertrude's sister).); d. Unknown.
	v.	ANNA CUSTER, b. Abt. 1677 (Source: Chester E. Custer, "Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage Volume IX, Number 3 July 1986 "The Kusters and Doors of Kaldenkirchen, Germany, and Germantorwn, Pennsylvania," page 28, Anna was baptized on December 26, 1677. Peter Keurlings (Gertrude's brother-in-law, the husband of Elizabeth), Wilhelm Betten, Agness Doors (Gertrude's mother), and Jenneken Scremkens were witnesses. Arnold Theodor Scriba was the pastor at the time.); d. Unknown.
3.	vi.	HERMANUS CUSTER, b. Abt. 1681, Germany; d. 1760, Pennsylvania.
	vii.	CATRIN CUSTER, b. Abt. 1687 (Source: Chester E. Custer, "Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage Volume IX, Number 3 July 1986 "The Kusters and Doors of Kaldenkirchen, Germany, and Germantorwn, Pennsylvania," page 28, Catrin was baptized on March 9, 1687. The witnesses at her baptism were Nelis Hueben and Frin (?) Hueskens. This is the only baptism for which a member of Gertrude's immediate family is not listed as a witness. By this date most of the family had migrated to America. Arnold Hamboch was pastor of the church when Catrin was baptized and when Paulus and Gertrude left Kaldenkirchen for Germantown.); d. Unknown.
	viii.	EVA CUSTER, b. Aft. 1687; d. Unknown; m. GODSCHALK GODSCHALK; d. Unknown.

Notes for EVA CUSTER:
Milo Custer in "Custer Genealogies" lists the children of Paulus and
then in parentheses has: (Possibly also MARGARET (KOSTER) DEWEES, wife of
Cornelius Dewees, and EVA (KUSTER) GODSCHALK, wife of Godschalk
Godschalk.?) "The Descendants of Paulus and Gertrude Kusters", published by the Castor Association of America refers to the Agnes W. Storer book, "Eleanor C. Custer, Her Family and Connections" as citing "The Perkiomen Region" Whole Number 37, page 65 as a
reference to Eva Kuster who married Godschalk Godschalk as a daughter of Paulus and
Gertrude.
Would appreciate a copy of "The Perkiomen Region" should anyone find it and would quote that reference for other researchers.
July 09, 2003 Dick Sell sent the following in an e-mail:
"Hi, Grace:

I looked at your Paulus Kuster page on your FTM Genealogy Site, and see you requested at the bottom of the list a copy of the page in "The Perkiomen Region" noting that Eve Kuster married Godschalk Godschalk.

I just wrote to the Mennonite Historians of Eastern PA librarian at <www.mhep.org> , Joel Alderfer, and he sent me a fax with that page 65. Would you like me to send it to you? Or I can try to scan it, or U.S. Mail it."
Attached to the e-mail was page 65 with the information that Eve Kuster married Godschalk Godschalk.
July 09, 2003 Dick sent the full citation:
"The Perkiomen Region, Vol.X, No.2, April 1932, Whole No.37, page 65."

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