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William Rittenhouse (1644 – 1708) was born in Germany with the name Wilhelm Rittenhausen. His name as "Willm Rittenhuysen" was on a petition for naturalization of residents of German Town, Pennsylvania dated 7th May 1691.
He is most known for being the first established person to make paper in North America.
He died in Pennsylvania in 1708. His legacy continued to his descendant David Rittenhouse, who had the Rittenhouse name immortalized in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
William was a papermaking apprentice in Germany where he worked at a mill in Broich near the city of Mülheim / Ruhr. Later he learned the Dutch ways of papermaking while living with his brother in Holland before emigrating to the Pennsylvania Colony in 1688. Two years later he founded the first paper mill to be established in the colonies. This Rittenhouse Mill became the family business for the next century.
Around 1690 the Germantown, Pennsylvania Mennonite congregation elected William Rittenhouse as its first preacher.
"William Rittenhouse." Historic Germantown. Independence Hall Association. 12 Dec 2007 <http://www.ushistory.org/germantown/people/rittenhouse.htm>. http://rittenhouse-genealogy.com/ "William Rittenhouse." Paper Industry Hall of Fame. Paper Industry Hall of Fame. 12 Dec 2007 <http://www.paperhall.org/inductees/bios/1996/william_rittenhouse.php>.
Bender, Harold S.; “The Founding of the Mennonite Church in America at Germantown, 1683-1708;” Mennonite Quarterly Review; Vol. 7; pp. 227-250.
White, Jean M. "The Descendants of Paulus and Gertrude Kusters of Kaldenkirchen, Germany and Germantown, Pennsylvania the first four generations"; The Caster Association of America; 1991
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