The Kauffman Family History

  Edith Belle Kauffman I started this blog about Edith Belle with no knowledge about her.  She died in 1933, long before I was born and before Dad and Mom even met.   I knew Edith's brother, Uncle Walt, my brother's namesake.  But I was young, barely 9, when he passed.  But he was a legend and I should have expected nothing less of his sister.  When I finished my first cut on this blog, I realized how little I knew about Edith.   I went back downstairs and looked in Uncle Walt's boxes for his old letters, Valentine's and birthday cards and I found an album with this label.   It contained a gold mine of letters, newspaper clippings, pictures, site plans, theatre brochures, sketches and more all about Edith Belle.  In the front of that album was a single page, a letter from an unknown person from  the Women of Youngstown Garden Club.   Uncle Walt put it on the first page of his album.   Read it and you wi...

Percival Coover Kauffman Percy Kauffman Percival Coover Kauffman was the son of Levi and Ann Elizabeth Coover Kauffman, born August 13, 1857 in Mechanicsburg, PA.  He was the oldest of three children.  His brother, Walter Lee Kauffman was born in 1860.   His sister Edith Belle Kauffman was born in 1863.   They lived in Mechanicsburg, PA on 70 West Main Street.   They were right next door to the Coover parents of Ann Elizabeth, on the left side at 74 West Main Street.  There was a door between the two homes. Levi Kauffman Home Ann Elizabeth's father was John Coover, a prominent member of the community who owned substantial land around the town.  Coover had five daughters.  Ann was in the middle.   Levi owned a drug store and hardware store and later started a local bank.  His father, Andrew Kauffman also lived in town, having grown up as a Mennonite on a farm outside of Lancaster. John Coover Home Percy was educated at...

How best to start this story as to include the memories of Mary Kauffman Gustis of Uncle Bart. Percival Coover Kauffman had migrated to Washington State in the late 1870s along with his cousin, Ralph Kauffman.  After establishing himself in the banking industry, he had returned to marry his wife, Katharine, whom he had met many years ago in Hazelton, PA.   They were married on September 11, 1889 and returned to Washington shortly thereafter and set up housekeeping in Vancouver.   Percy had been raised in Mechanicsburg, the son of Levi Kauffman and had two siblings, Walter Lee Kauffman and Edith Belle Kauffman. Percival Barton Kauffman was born on May 23, 1891. When Bart was 3, the Kauffman's moved to Tacoma and bought the Tower House on .   Bart's younger brother was born on June 21, 1895.  On the 4th of July, 1896, the Kauffman's celebrated the holiday at the Tower House.  In the picture are Bart and his baby brother Walter along with their ...