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,...