Captivated by the Gohman Story

(Revisited)

Two itinerant men wander into two German towns in close proximity but some 50 years apart. From those men came two descendants, a man and a woman, that eventually meet. After traveling nearly a fourth of the way around the world, the couple wed in a new land and become the patriarch and matriarch of an amazing Gohman family and subject of the two volumes of "Our Gohman Story".

One author of the book was told, "Do not even try to write the history of the Gohman family. It is too large and too complicated. You will never be able to figure it out". The challenge was so great and the reward so meaningful that a small group of Gohman cousins and spouses decided it could be done, resulting in the two volumes.

It became necessary to adopt common terminology for organizing and explaining the data concerning this huge family:

The original individuals who immigrated to the United States, Johann Diedrich Gohmann and Marie Elisabeth Börger, are known as the first-generation or immigrant generation ancestors. They are also known as the patriarch and matriarch of this Gohman family. Their nine children are the second-generation and their grandchildren are the third-generation.

During the period this book covers, the general area the Gohman and Börger families originated from was in constant political upheaval. As a result, many names were used to identify it; Holy Roman Empire, Prussia, Hanover, Oldenburg, and others. The decision was made to simply call it by its current name, Germany, unless necessary to clarify a fact or event.

Given and Surname usage was also standardized and will be explained later in the book as individuals are introduced.

Many use the terms emigrant and immigrant interchangeably but it was decided to use the two terms according to their published definitions. Emigration is the act of leaving a country for another. Immigration is the act of arriving in a country from another.

Our Gohman Story started many centuries ago in a place still unknown. In the late 1700s the father of the family's patriarch, known as Diedrich Gohmann, migrated from an unknown location to Ankum, Germany. There, he and his family lived for two generations. The matriarch's family lived for many generations in the area of Damme, Germany, only a short distance from Ankum. In the mid-1840s the patriarch and matriarch of this Gohman family immigrated to Cincinnati, Ohio, where they married, had nine children, subsequently 65 grandchildren, and launched the large extended Gohman family that we know today.

The first published volume of Our Gohman Story was subtitled The Third Generation. In it, Gohman Cousins researched records, found living descendants if possible, and gradually discovered the unique story of each ancestor belonging to the third generation of the Gohman family. As the understanding of these ancestors grew, so did respect for each of them and for their special contribution to the Gohman history and story. The volume was published first at the urging of fourth-generation elders.

This volume of Our Gohman Story, the second, is subtitled "The First and Second Generations". It tells the earlier story of the Gohman origins plus that of the first, the immigrant generation, and second-generation ancestors. Hopefully others will take up the challenge in the future and tell the story of the fourth-generation ancestors.

Gohman Ancestors Called Into the Light

Like most pioneer people, the early Gohman family did not dwell on the past but put their efforts toward building a new life in a new land. They had little time to look back and ponder where they had come from. Johann Diedrich and Marie Elisabeth firmly instilled this culture in their children. It was adhered to, more or less, by the second, third and fourth generations of the Gohman family. Only the fifth-generation descendants were inclined to look back and ask who these ancestors were, what did they experience in life and what can we learn from them? Government and church record keeping was at an infancy throughout the immigrant and second generation era and related documents and records were often not available. Telling the Gohman family story became a difficult task.

Nonetheless, it was possible to write an interesting history of the family and two volumes of "Our Gohman Story" resulted. Even those family members who died at an early age were given their rightful place within the family and give a story of their own. A diligent effort was made to discover the unique contribution of each person. In writing the history and the story of each married second generation ancestor, the spouse was recognized as an important partner in the overall development of the Gohman family. Their family stories are included as sub chapters throughout this volume.

In the first volume of Our Gohman Story, the reader was encouraged to read, first of all, the story of their own third-generation ancestor. After absorbing that special story, they were encouraged to go on to study the other stories and appendices as well. In this volume, the reader is advised to read the entire family history leading up to the individual second generation stories. After that, read the story about the second generation ancestor of interest, and then complete the book by reading the remaining stories and appendices.

Legacy of the Gohman Family Name

This information was first presented in the first volume of "Our Gohman Story" but is repeated here for clarification of this volume.

In many old records the Gohmañ name was spelled with a tilde over the letter "n." The tilde is sometimes called a "squiggly," which in this case indicates a missing letter, namely a second "n." Thus Gohmañ is the same as Gohmann.

The last name of our patriarch, Johann Diedrich Gohmann, was spelled in various ways on records in Germany; Cincinnati, Ohio; and St. Augusta, Minnesota. It was spelled as Gohmañ, Gohmann, Gomañ, Gomann, and Gohman. However the predominant spelling of the original name used two "nn" or one "ñ" with the tilde.

Some family branches and family groups kept the spelling of Gohmann with two nn's; others decided to spell Gohman with one "n." Thus closely related cousins in the extended family have the same name but it is spelled differently. Other pioneer families have experienced similar name modifications. However this spelling change created a challenge in writing the history of these ancestors. It was decided to use the spelling that each family group chose for itself, knowing that some mistakes invariably would be made. Also it was decided to use the shorter form, Gohman, in the title of the volumes and for other uses of the name not directly related to one of the family groups. None of the stories about the family name could be verified, nor could any one of them explain the whole story about how the spelling of the family name changed. It is simply a fact of Gohman family history that some members of the family spelled their name with two "nn's" and some spelled it with one "n."

Gohman Love for the Mississippi

Some of this information was first presented in the first volume of "Our Gohman Story" but is, in part, repeated here, in an edited and condensed version.

The Mississippi River was a good friend to the Gohman family. Sometimes it could be a challenging friend, even a foe. Johann Diedrich Gohmann, the family patriarch, came to central Minnesota from Cincinnati, Ohio. Traveling on the river with his family, Diedrich discovered how challenging and unforgiving the river could be.

Diedrich settled on the western bank of the Mississippi on alluvial land, often called river bottomlands. Such land was exceptionally fertile and capable of bountiful harvests. As the Gohman family discovered, the fertility was the result of new soil deposited by large floods which occurred periodically. Diedrich's children followed in his footsteps when they began their own homes and farms by acquiring land as close to the Mississippi as possible. The mighty river was magnet that held the Gohmans together. The original homestead of the patriarch and matriarch was 0.13 miles (236.4 yards) from the river on the west bank. The homestead of John Bernard "Barney" Gohman and Katherine "Kate" Mund was 2.1 miles (3687.3 yards) west of the river. The homestead of Anna Maria Agnes Gohmann and Henry John Berger was immediately south of the patriarch's homestead and was 0.31 miles (540.9 yards) from the river on the west bank. George Henry Gohmann and Elizabeth Witschen homesteaded 1.1 miles (1938.3 yards) west of the river. John Diedrich Gohman and Mary Gahr first purchased the patriarch's homestead west of the river but then they purchased a much larger farm on the east bank with their home built about 100 feet from the river; this homestead was 9 miles south of St. Cloud and 3.5 north of Clear Lake. The homestead of Joseph Gohmann and Rose Marie Koenig was 4.35 miles (7652.7 yards) east of the river, east of Clear Lake. Anna Maria Elizabeth Gohmann and Anton Gambrino lived in the City of St. Cloud with their first home about 1.5 miles west of the river and later 0.88 miles (1546.3 yards) west of the river. Finally Stephen Gohmann and Catherine "Kate" Wamka started farming near Joseph Gohmann and the distance would also have been about 4.35 miles east of the river.

Life Span of First and Second Generation Gohmans

Some of this information was first presented in the first volume of "Our Gohman Story" but is repeated here, in a version edited and expanded to include information emphasizing the first and second generations.

The children and grandchildren of Johann Diedrich Gohmann and Marie Elisabeth Börger had a strong and healthy start in life. Seven of their nine children survived into maturity, married and had families, an important and promising family trait. These seven children of the second generation had a total of sixty-five children.

The lives of Johann Diedrich and Marie Elisabeth Gohmann and their children spanned the years 1814 to 1946, an amazing span of 132 Years. The second generation, alone, spanned the years 1847 to 1946, an equally amazing 99 years. During that era many historic and often dramatic events helped to shape their character, their family and their lives.

Many of the historically significant events during the lives of the first or immigrant and second generation are chronicled in their stories to follow. Some additional Minnesota historically significant events that occurred during their lives are summarized here.

The Gohman family was part of an 1853-1857 population explosion that occurred in the Minnesota Territory when it grew from 40,000 people to approximately 150,000 people. They first arrived in the new city of St. Paul which had incorporated as a city in 1854. It covered an area of about four square miles.

Diedrich may have joined the other residents of the Minnesota Territory in ratifying a proposed state constitution during 1857. That year, a financial panic sent prices skyrocketing; banks and businesses failed, and the resulting financial depression lasted until 1861.

During 1858, widespread newspaper promotion of the Minnesota Territory brought large numbers of new settlers and over one thousand steamboats arrived in St. Paul. May 11, 1858, Minnesota became the thirty-second state admitted to the union of the United States.

In 1861, a civil war broke out in the United States. Initially, Minnesota sent 1,000 volunteers for service in the Union Army. It eventually provided 24,000 men for fighting in the Civil War and, in 1862, an Indian conflict.

New markets for the Gohman farm crops and animals became available when a railroad was completed in 1862 that connected Minneapolis and St. Paul with eastern cities. By April 1866, the railroad connected St. Cloud with the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. By October of the same year, two trains a day were arriving and departing St. Cloud.

During the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, the First Minnesota Regiment made a heroic charge and lost 215 of its 262 men. April 13, 1865, news was spread throughout the St. Augusta area that General Lee's army had surrendered and the Civil War was over. The Gohman family and their neighbors were greatly relieved. A short time later, April 20, 1865, they were saddened to hear the report of President Lincoln's assassination. Nearby St. Cloud declared a time of mourning and suspended business the day of his funeral. Stearns County with only a population of 3,881 men provided 688 soldiers during the war.

January 1873, a three day long snow storm hit Minnesota and some seventy Minnesotans were killed. The Gohman family, then, had to fight a natural scourge. From 1873 to 1877 hordes of grasshoppers invaded Minnesota farms, devouring everything in their paths. The Gohman farms in central Minnesota were damaged less than those in southwestern regions of the state. Farm production and income was still reduced significantly. Many farmers abandoned their farms but the Gohman families persevered.

By 1880 wheat farming became the primary money maker for the Midwestern farmer and Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota was the flour-milling capital of the United States. Growing wheat quickly depleted the soil's nutrients. The Gohman farmer's river bottom soil lasted longer than most but the depletion was a problem nonetheless. Farmers had to learn to rotate their crops, switch to producing hogs and/or beef cows, or they had to move on to fresh soil. A look at the history of the Gohman families will show that the second-generation diversified their farming but some of the third-generation began to move around.

In 1889 the Russian Influenza pandemic circled the globe in just four months. It led to a summer of diarrhea and dysentery for children around the world, including central Minnesota. As a result the United States published the Infectious Disease Notification Act of 1889, the first law of its kind in the United States. Like their neighbors, the Gohman family experienced the pain and suffering resulting from the death of members of the second generation and some of the newly born grandchildren.

The Model T became commonly available in 1908. It was the harbinger of change from horse and buggy to the automobile. With the introduction of this motor vehicle, tractors also began to appear in the farmer's fields. The Sunday trip to the local Catholic Church became more feasible as the Gohman family slowly adopted this new means of transportation. The second-generation watched as the third-generation took the new mechanization and adapted it to other farm support uses such as saw mills and powering of a paddlewheel boat.

Another influenza pandemic brought havoc to the world from 1918 to 1920. It was commonly known as the "Spanish Flu." Again, it did not spare the people of central Minnesota. Most victims were healthy young adults in contrast to most previous influenza outbreaks that predominantly affected young children and the aged. The Gohman family was tried and tested as they endured the traumatic effects of the flu and loss of a number of their loved ones. Many families in central Minnesota were almost wiped out by this virulent disease. The strength of the Gohman family was apparent as they weathered this onslaught.

World War I, or the "Great War" as it was known, was a war that was centered in Europe but affected the entire world. The war started on July 28, 1914, and lasted until November 11, 1918. During the war there were three registrations for the draft; June 5, 1917, June 5, 1918, and September 12, 1918. Each of the draft registrations were periods of deep concern to the Gohman family as many of their men were in the designated age groups. As it turned out, their food production as farmers was considered more important to the nation than their ability to fight. A few also received medical deferments due to earlier injuries or medical problems.