Compiled with the help of Bill Goodboy
Born in Rothbach, Alsace, France, Jacob Gutbub (1828-1912) came to America when he was about 20 years old. The 1850 census has Jacob living in Allegheny City (now the North Side), working as a baker for the Bohn Confectionary and boarding with the Bohn family. It was probably around this time that Jacob married Catherine Metz (1830-1896), of German descent. Catherine’s father was a butcher in the downtown area, and descendants say Jacob may have met his wife while getting supplies for the riverboat he worked on.
According to his obituary, Jacob served as a steward on river boats for almost 50 years and raised a family of 10 children. In 1862, Jacob purchased seven acres between Beverly and Bower Hill roads-the house was located at 52 North Meadowcroft Avenue, and his neighbors included Christian Abbott. Bill Goodboy, a great-great grandson of Jacob’s says, “The work on the riverboats kept him away from his family for long spells.up to two years which is why the children seemed to be born every two years. I can just imagine how awful it was to return and find that some of your children had died. Three of Jacob and Catherine’s children are buried in St. Clair Cemetery-George, 1; Anna, 2; and Matilda, 12.” Jacob Sr. died of pneumonia in February 1912.
Jacob and Catherine’s daughter Louisa married Albert S. Davis (they are buried near the Gutbubs, and Albert’s obituary in 1914 says: “he lived all his life in the house in which he died.”); daughter Magdalena (“Lena”) married Christian Meyers (their graves are unmarked); and daughter Emma married Albert Snider. All lived near their parents in the Bower Hill Road/Asbury Heights area. Jacob and Catherine’s son Jacob Goodboy Jr. was superintendent at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery, where he is buried.
St. Clair Cemetery 