Cynthia Powers 1 2 3
- Born: 14 Oct 1834, Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 1 2
- Marriage (1): Daniel Free Pittenturf
- Died: 25 Apr 1864, Gettysburg, Adams, PA at age 29 1 2
- Buried: Gettysburg: Evergreen Cemetery, Adams, PA 1
FamilySearch ID: L615-C2D.
Noted events in her life were:
1. Census in 1850 in Gettysburg, Adams, PA. 4 The 1850 census recorded Solomon Powers, 46, born in New Hampshire, living with wife Catherine, 46, born in Maryland, and their children: Cynthia, 16, Maryland; Jane, 14, Maryland; and born in Pennsylvania: Mary, 12; Virginia, 10; Alice, 8; Catharine, 5. Also living in their home was Daniel Petenturff, 21, born in Pennsylvania.
2. Newspaper: Gettysburg Times, 23 Aug 1988, Gettysburg, Adams, PA. 2 Men and women of the Civil War...
Cynthia Pittenturf was the forgotten sister
By DIANE HOWELL Times Correspondent
Janet Jacobs Knorr of Fairfield has been the self-appointed family historian for about 20 years. The only child of Ruth Pittenturf and Donald Jacobs, Mrs. Knorr is one of those people who can rattle off family lineage as quickly as a good auctioneer.
Knorr, who has a keen interest in history, has traced her ancestors back as far as the 1600s. Imagine her surprise a few weeks ago when her mother, Ruth, told her about a recent column in The Times about the five daughters of Solomon Powers. What's so unusual about that? Janet and Ruth knew that Solomon Powers was related to them; in fact, he was Janet's great great great grandfather. The surprise was that she was related not through any of the lines from the five sisters, but through a sixth sister, Cynthia. This sister was not mentioned in the column because there was no information that indicated the existence of a sixth sister. Of greater interest was the fact that Janet and her mother knew nothing about their great great grandmother's five sisters.
When Janet Knorr's mother pointed out the article with the picture of the five sisters Janet said, "What's going on here?" She had never seen this particular picture. Any good historian needs to have a bit of the Angela Lansbury detective in her and Janet Knorr is no exception. With a great deal of her help here is the story of Cynthia Powers Pittenturf, the forgotten sister.
Solomon Powers, originally from New Hampshire, moved to Baltimore, Md. There he met and married Catherine Athinson. Their first child, Cynthia, was born in Baltimore on Oct. 14, 1834. When Cynthia was four, the family moved to Gettysburg.
Solomon, according to Janet, was a stone cutter. By the time of the Battle of Gettysburg Cynthia had married Daniel Free Pittenturf. Their first son, Frank Powers Pittenturf, was just over two years old in July 1863. Cynthia, who was six months pregnant with her second child, joined her five sisters and nursed the wounded in the basement of her parents' home on the northeast corner of High and Washington Streets.
Mrs. Knorr states that "Cynthia contracted a 'respiratory ailment' probably due to the hard work, the damp environment in her parents' basement and her physical condition." She gave birth to a second son in October of 1863. On April 25, 1864, at the age of 30, Cynthia Power s Pittenturf died as a result of the respiratory ailment she contracted while nursing the wounded soldiers.
Cynthia is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery next to her father, Solomon Powers', lot and only a few steps away from Jenny Wade's gravesite.
Cynthia's first son, Frank, went to live with his grandparents, Solomon and Catherine Powers. Daniel Free remarried in July 1866 and in October of that same year Cynthia's second son was accidentally scalded to death and died at the age of three.
Frank Powers Pittenturf grew up and married Mary Ann Beecher. Frank worked first with his father as a stone cutter and later for Mr. Meals, a well-known marble cutter in town. Frank died in 1929.
Frank and Mary Ann had nine children. One of these children was Free Cornelius Pittenturf, Janet's grandfather. Free Cornelius, who was a tailor, married Caroline Rupp and they had one daughter, Ruth Evelyn.
Janet believes that the reason she never knew about the other five Powers sisters was because her grandmother and Free Pittenturf divorced after five years of marriage when Ruth was only one year old. Free moved to Harrisburg. Grandma Pittenturf made it known that Free and his family were never to be mentioned again. Janet speculates that by the time the picture of the five sisters was taken Cynthia was already dead a number of years and was not mentioned in the story.
It's clear that the efforts of the six sisters were appreciated by the sick and dying beyond measure. Now, the record can be set straight 125 years later, and Cynthia Powers Pittenturf will be remembered for giving the greatest gift of all --- her life.
Cynthia married Daniel Free Pittenturf. (Daniel Free Pittenturf was born in Feb 1831 in Gettysburg, Adams, PA,5 died on 17 Mar 1900 in Baltimore, Baltimore, MD 5 and was buried in Washington: Glenwood Cemetery, District of Columbia, District of Columbia 5.)
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