Previous research into the immigration of Johann Jacob Gossart and
Maria Louise Saar led to potential ship manifests based largely on an analysis that
the ages were erroneously indexed due to handwriting (see
Johann Jacob Gossart and Maria Louise Saar: Evidence and Handwriting
Lead to Immigration and Potential Parents
)
1
. In addition, without evidence of exact date of birth
for Jacob, the evidence led to the identification of two potential families as the
parents of Jacob Gossart. The conclusion based on the evidence to date was that
Jacob's parents were Jacob Gossert and Louisa Ruppenthal.
A recent post in the German Genealogy Group on Facebook asked about
the GEDBAS section, ancestry lists and pedigrees, of
COMPGEN.DE
and the accuracy of the
trees given the ability to trace her line to the mid-1600s. Intrigued about
another potential area to search led to a reinvestigation of the site for any
additional data to prove/disprove the prior conclusion for Jacob's
parents.
Of particular interest among the group discussing the site on
Facebook poster, was the ability to try to email various contacts for their
trees. The site itself is in German, and having no ability to speak German or any other ancestral languages, I utilized an
extension on Safari to automatically bounce between a translation of the page and the
original.
|
| COMPGEN.DE with translation on Safari |
This proved helpful while searching the site for the Gossart line
(ensuring to use the various spellings Gossart/Gossert/Gosart). A search for
Jacob Gossart did not yield any with the birth date around 1830/1 but did result in a
few from the 1700s. One contact was identified for many of the Gosert’s
listed, so crafting an email in English and using online translation to German, an
email was sent in the hopes of a reply. Within hours, I was contacted by the
person who was more than kind and willing to help.
Almost immediately, the original hypothesis regarding Jacob’s
parents based on a FamilySearch database was disproven as the contact indicated that
according to the Familienbuch Achtelsbach (Family Book Achtelsbach), this Jacob died
in Achtelsbach on 17 June 1855. However, the contact was interested in trying to
figure out the connection of my Jacob to the Gosert line around Achtelsbach. We
continued to exchange information built around the emigration of Maria Louise Saar
and Jacob Gosert.
Together, with the compiled information a new hypothesis was
generated on Jacob Gosart’s parent following the information on
immigration/emigration. Two Jacob’s of interest were identified by my
contact in Germany. Quickly from his data, the first emigrated much earlier,
1841 and did not fit the potential age of Jacob who was born around 1830/1. The
second Jacob, from Oberbrombach, fit the age, and from this he compiled a potential
Gedcom file from Jacob of Oberbrombach back through the 1500s in Saanen,
Switzerland. He also sent several sources providing a host of new lines to
search.
Of particular note was a source indicating that Jakob Gosert went to
America as did his sister, Luise Gosert.
2
They were from Oberbrombach, and according to the
reference provides details to the family and why some may have emigrated.
3
In addition, it lists out the father and
many siblings.
|
| Gosert record from Amtsblatt für das Fürstentum Birkenfeld 1849 |
“The fate of the Gosert family is another example of how often such real estate changed owners in the age of hydropower. At the same time, however, it is also an example of emigration in order to seek happiness overseas.
After Joh.Jacob Gosert had died, auctioned off in 1849 his heirs, the wife and children, namely: Phil Carl Gosert in Rotsweiler, Elisabetha Katharina Gosert, and the still underage Joh.Jacob Gosert, Joh.Peter Gosert, Johannes Gosert the entire possession , Muhle with dwelling house, Scheuer and Bering in "Hinzhausen", the so-called "Schellenmuhle" with Muhlenteich, Weiher and Muhlenbitze, in addition to various extensive agricultural Landereien on the wards of Oberbrombach and Rotsweiler. (Phil.) Carl Gosert and wife Katharina Karolina b. Schuler sold their house in Rotsweiler in 1850 with a barn, stables and blacksmiths to the married couple John Mohr. 1010 .
Joh.Jacob Gosert (jr) and his sister Luise Gosert emigrated to America in 1849. 1011”
From this description we know that potentially the father is named
Johan Jacob Gosert and that he has died around or before 1849. His family was
forced to sell off land and perhaps the mill and related works. Johan Jacob the
father had the following children:
- Philip Carl (Rotsweiler) married to Katharina Karolina Schuler
- Elisabeth Katharina Gosert
- Johann Jacob Gosert
- Johann Peter Gosert
- Johannes Gosert
Carl and Elisabeth Katharina were “of-age” according to
record. It was noted that Johann Jacob the junior and his sister Luise
emigrated to America in 1849.
A real estate transaction in 1849 further confirms the family
information for Jacob Gosert, Sr. as noted by the names of his children, Philipp
Carl, Luisa, Elisabeth Katharine, Johann Jacob, Johann Peter and Johannes:
4
|
| Real estate record for Jacob Gossert identifying family |
Within the sources from the email contact, was an additional record
that further highlights the potential family and the financial difficulties
5
which forced them to sell in 1849.
In this excerpt, Johan Jacob Gosert’s wife is identified as Marie Margarethe
Schell, daughter of Johannes Schell. The record ties this Joh. Jacob as a
miller in Schellenmuhle to the Schellenmuhle from the prior cited reference.
|
|
Description of Gossert family hardship from
Alte familien Oberbrombach und Umgebung
|
Online translation:
“Joh.Jacob Gosert (* 1792 in Meckenbach), Son-in-law of Johannes Schell Joh.Jacob Gosert, from Meckenbach (near Achtelsbach / Birkenfeld), was the husband of Marie Margarethe Schell from Oberbrombach, daughter of Johannes Schell. He was Muller in the "Schellenmuhle" on the Siesbach, district of Oberbrombach, which was later rebuilt into an agate loop. 1007 . As far as can be seen, however, there were no residents involved here after the conversion.
It seems that Jacob Gosert was already in financial difficulties in 1843. On Oberbrombacher and Rotsweiler Bann he had auctioned his family's auctions of land, a total of 49 parcels, which lost the economic backbone of the family, especially since the mill with a mill pond and the barn with Bering were included. 1008 The following year, another 26 parcels were put up for auction, some of which were previously offered, but probably no lover had found, including the Muhle with Scheuer and Bering. 1009. There was extreme economic hardship around this time, which is why many families”
Region of Rhineland-Palatinate within Germany showing
Achtelsbach, Birkenfeld and Oberbrombach (Made with google my maps)
The excerpt notes Joh. Jacob as being born in 1792 in Meckenbach and having died around 1849. The evidence now links a Johann Jacob Gosert who emigrated from Germany in 1849, which brings the research back to the record of 1852, where Jacob arrives aboard the John T. Boyert to New York in 1852 and if this is the same, settles first in Philadelphia before locating to Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
A search for any information related to Luise Gosert and her
immigration to North America was started to look for potential connection to Jacob
who was found in Philadelphia in the 1850s. A baptismal record was found for
Emma Marie Martin, whose parents were Johann Martin and Luise Gossart.
6
The record was from Saint Michael’s and
Zion Church, the same church that Jacob baptized his first three children. In this
instance, clearly identified as sponsor to Emma Marie was a Jacob Gossart,
potentially linking this Luise (Gossart) Martin to Jacob, the brother identified as
having left Germany in 1849.
|
| Baptismal record identifying sponsors for Emma Maria Martin in 1853 |
Continuing searches of the collateral lines, resulted in the
marriage record for Luisa Gossart and Johann Martin in 1851
7
, suggesting Luisa made it to America prior to Jacob in
1852. The marriage record appears to list the area of Germany Luisa Gossert is
from, indicating Oldenburg of which Oberbrombach is located within. The current
conclusion is that this is the Luise represented in the German records referenced
above, and is the sister to Jacob Gossart.
|
| Marriage record for Luisa Gosart and Johann Martin in 1851 |
|
|
The first reference indicated that Louise (Luise) was married to Jakob Gosert around 1858, and Luise was the daughter of Peter and Philippina. 8
|
| Source from Auswanderungen aus dem Fürstentum Birkenfeld |
A real estate transaction record from April 1858 9 provided further information regarding the Saar family:
|
| Real Estate record 1858 - Peter Saar |
Translated:
“30. (Real Estate Auction)The widow of the late Peter Saar, Philippine. born Alt, of Meckenbach, both in her own name and as agent for her American resident daughters, as: a. Elisabeth, born Saar, wife of Karl Brack, b. Katharine, born Saar, wife of Peter Geiß, and c. Luise, born Saar, wife of Jacob Gosert, as well as the wife of Karl Knapp to Rinzenberg, Philippine born Saar, there, are Willens, theirs in the fields of Meckenbach, Achtelsbach, Traunen, Sötern und Brücken occupied, registered in the cadastre real estate in the cadastre of the late Peter Saar, namely: “
Which links Philippina Alt to Peter Saar and highlights that several
daughters are in America. It also reveals more of the family and which
remained in Germany. The last reference then provides an entire list of the
family and identifies the parents of Peter Saar and his wife as well.
10
|
| Familienbuch Achtelsbach - Saar Family |
A review of records discovered that the sponsor for Edward Gosart on
his baptism was Katharina Geiss
11
, presumably Louisa’s sister as identified
above. The second sponsor is Philip Sahr or Saar, possibly her brother
identified in the image as Johann Philipp who also left Germany in 1855. This
information and a recent Gedcom from Germany provided ancestors back to the early
1600s in Germany on the Saar lines, creating more areas to search and confirm.
|
| Baptismal record for Edward and Albert Gosart in 1862 |
Learning about a new potential source for searching, and willing to
use online tools for translating (including that detail in the translation since it
is not perfect) and sending an email resulted in a disproven hypothesis, a new cousin
and family lines back to the 1500-1600s. Revising the current conclusion is critical to ensure other researchers are using the most up to date information. Researching possible collateral lines,
adds further evidence to support the current conclusion (for now) and also could
serve as ways to use DNA matches or others online trees to further support the
research. The GEDCOM files have been imported into the SVG Family-Tree Generator with the lines tracing Jacob Gossart and Maria Louise Saar highlighted.
Jacob Gossart Gedcom.
Maria Louisa Saar Gedcom.
1 Barrett, William. "Johann Jacob Gossart and Maria Louise
Saar: Evidence and Handwriting Lead to Immigration and Potential Parents." The Times of
Their Lives (blog). Entry posted July 6, 2017. Accessed March 3, 2019.
https://thetimesoftheirlives.blogspot.com/2017/07/johann-jacob-gossart-and-maria-louise.html.
↩
2 Auswanderungen Aus Dem Furstentum Birkenfeld Teil 2
1817-1937
↩
3 Amtsblatt für das Fürstentum Birkenfeld 1849,
Seite 152/53 vom 03. März 1849
↩
4 Amtsblatt für das Fürstentum Birkenfeld 1849,
Seite 152/53 vom 03. März 1849
↩
5 Alte Familien Oberbrombach und Umgebung 1550-1900
↩
6 Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and
Town Records, 1669-2013 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations,
Inc., 2011.
↩
7 Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and
Town Records, 1669-2013 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations,
Inc., 2011.
↩
8 Auswanderungen Aus Dem Furstentum Birkenfeld Teil 2
1817-1937
↩
9 Amtsblatt für das Fürstentum Birkenfeld 1858,
Seite 141/45 vom 03. April 1858
↩
10 Familienbuch Achtelsbach ab 1799 von Manfred Haas, 2011
↩
11 Ancestry.com, Pennsylvania, Church and Town Records,
1708-1985 (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2011;),
Database online.
↩
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