William Afflerbach

As early as 1851, William Afflerbach was listed in the city directories as a gunsmith. The city directories of the 1850's through the 1880's listed him variously as a gunsmith, gunmaker, or pistol & rifle manufacturer. He is listed in 1851 as living at 621 N 2d Street, but that was before the address numbering changes in the late 1850's. By 1860 his new address was at 1141 North 2nd Street, but by 1870 he had moved to 1136 N 2d street, an address that he would keep until he died. His eldest son, William H. Afflerbach, was listed as working with him in the gun making business by 1870, and later on by 1875, his other son, John C. Afflerbach, would join his father and brother in the gun making business.

The 1870 directory has another William Afflerbach. This one is a hatter at 601 E. Girard Avenue and has the middle initial of "H." This one would appear to be the William Appelbaugh that is listed as joining First Presbyterian Church of Kensington in 1860. The name Afflerbach had several variant spellings like Appelbaugh and Applebach. It is unlikely that this William H. Applebaugh is the gunmaker's son, as his son was born in 1845 and most likely would not be listed in the directories at 15 years old working as a hatter and living at his own address.

In the city directory for 1880 there is only one William Afflerbach listed in Philadelphia. He is our Afflerbach, the gunsmith. He was still at 1136 North 2nd Street, which would have been just below Girard Avenue. William's two sons, William H. & John C., were also listed as being in the gunmaking business and they all shared the same home.

In the 1880 Federal Census, William Afflerbach was enumerated with his wife Elmira, his two daughters (Matilda F. & Martha W.) and two sons ( William H. and John C.). William Afflerbach was born in 1819 in Pennsylvania to parents who were immigrants from Germany. He married Elmira Bender at First Presbyterian Church of Kensington on February 25th, 1840. Elmira was a native of Pennsylvania, as were her parents. Elmira was born in 1822. Their oldest child was Matilda who was born in 1841. Next in line was William H. born in 1845, then John C. born in 1851, and last was Martha W. born in 1861. All of the children were born in Pennsylvania. In 1880, Afflerbach's wife was keeping house, his two sons were working with him in the gunmaking business, his daughter Martha was working as an operator of some sort and Matilda had no occupation listed.

Elmira Afflerbach died on Sept 19th, 1870. Her husband William would outlive her by 20 years dying in December of 1890. William and Elmira Afflerbach became members of First Presbyterian on March 22, 1841. William will best be remembered for his service as an elder to the church. Together William and Elmira had at least the four children previously mentioned who all joined the church at various dates:

1. Matilda F. Afflerbach, became a member of church on 3-22-1860.

2. William H. Afflerbach, became member of church on 3-22-1860 (later dismissed about 1899), he continued in the gunmaking business for at least 5 more years after his father's death, but had moved from the 2d Street address to N. 9th Street, near Lehigh Avenue.

3. John C. Afflerbach, married Katie Maurer (Mauser) on July 17, 1889. Katie joined the church in March 28th, 1875. John worked in the gunmaking business at least until his father died, but his whereabouts after his father's death are unclear.

4. Martha Washington Afflerbach, bapt. March 27, 1863, she married George W. Hunter on May 16th, 1888. Martha joined the church on March 28th, 1875.

There were listed in the City Directories of the 1870's & 1880's and later, a total of 14 other persons with the surname of Afflerbach, or its variants. All of these people had addresses in the general Kensington area, except for one, which was just outside of Kensington. Presumably, some or all of these individuals were relatives of William Afflerbach, as there were other Afflerbach families associated with First Presbyterian Church of Kensington.