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Below is a family biography included in the Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania published in 1904 by T. S. Benham & Company and The Lewis Publishing Company; Elwood Roberts, Editor.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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OWEN RAUDENBUSH, son of Enos and Catharine (Fulmer) Raudenbush, was born on the Raudenbush homestead in Rockhill township, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, on February 24, 1839. He attended the public and private schools of his county until he was twenty years of age, in the meantime assisting his father in the duties of the farm. The homestead of the family in Bucks county, had been in the Raudenbush name for two generations at that time. He remained at the home of his parents until his twenty-third year, when he entered the employ of Charles Yeakle, a farmer near Flourtown, in Springfield township, Montgomery county. There he remained for twelve years. He removed to Blue Bell, in Whitpain township, where he is at present a prominent and prosperous farmer.

Owen Raudenbush married December 28, 1885, Emilia Catharine, widow of Jacob Van Winkle, and daughter of Francis Swayne Sheetz and Louisa Ann (Daub) Sheetz, of Sandy Run, “Camp Hill,” Springfield township, Montgomery county. The Sheetz homestead at Camp Hill, where Mrs. Raudenbush was born, had been in the possession of the family prior to 1781.

Francis Swayne and Louisa Ann Sheetz had three children: James Albanus, born in 1832, married Amanda, daughter of Harmon Winder and Anna (Hoagland) Winder, of Camp Hill, and had children: John Hoagland; Francis Swayne; Emma Louisa; James Henry; Edmond Albanus, who was born January 14, 1865, and married, October 17, 1886, Mary Mansely, of Philadelphia, and had one child, Marion A., born August 13, 1890; Amanda; Kate Agnes; and Anna Lillian, born June 7, 1870, and married, June 5, 1900, John Anthony, son of Alexander and Rose Ross of Philadelphia. The second child of Mr. and Mrs. Sheetz was Emma Catharine, born November 14, 1842. She married, in 1867, Jacob Van Winkle, and afterwards Mr. Raudenbush, they removing to Blue Bell in 1887, where they still live. Edmond VanRoom, who died, in 1852, was the third child of Mr. and Mrs. Sheetz.

The Sheetz family, of Camp Hill, were prominently connected with the movement for the settlement of the community and were always strict adherents of the Democratic party. In religion they were attendants of the Lutheran and Reformed churches. Mr. and Mrs. Raudenbush both attend St. Paul’s church, at Whitemarsh.

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This family biography is one of more than 1,000 biographies included in the Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania published in 1904 by T. S. Benham & Company and The Lewis Publishing Company.  For the complete description, click here: Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

View additional Montgomery County, Pennsylvania family biographies here: Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Biographies

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