Gottschalk Family

Karl Gottschalk, born 1818, died 1870 married Caroline Neuman, born 1822, died 1890. They were married in 1841 in East Prussia, Province of Pomerania, Germany. This is now the Polish Corridor, part of Poland.

They had nine children, all born in Germany, at Tausin in Province of Pommern.

Friedericka was born in 1843 and died in 1911. She married in 1867 Albert Hickstead in Germany. They migrated from Germany in 1881 with 3 children — Emma, Anna and Minnie.

Their son, Herman, died in Germany. The family migrated in 1881 to Napoleon, Ohio, and soon moved to a farm along the Bryan Pike. Friedericka died there in 1911.

Emma Hickstead married Ernst Aderman and had 6 children: Libby, Esther, Olga, Ida, Walter and Rudolf.

Anna Hickstead married Charles Bonnough and had 2 sons.

Minnie Hickstead married Charles Tilse and had 2 sons: Clarence and Raymond.

Herman Hickstead died in Germany. He drowned in the village pool. His uncle, August, also a child, was saved from drowning.

Frank married Tillie Davis and had four children.

Charles married Anne Dunbar and had no children.

Louis married Blanche Baughman.

Robert Hickstead never married.

Friedericka Gottschalk Hickstead was of the Lutheran faith. She died at the home farm; Albert Hickstead died at the age of 80 years in the Aderman home.

The second child of Karl and Caroline Neuman Gottschalk was Hannah, born in 1845. She died in 1921 at the age of 76 years. She migrated in 1871 and married Louis Dietrich in 1872 at Napoleon, Ohio. Hannah was the first of the Gottschalk children to come to America. She came with the intention of going to her mother's brother, Karl Neuman, at Chicago, Illinois. However, she fell in love with Louis Dietrich on the ocean crossing. He was on his way to Liberty Center, Ohio. Louis Dietrich helped build the Wabash Railroad that went from Toledo to St. Louis. He loaded wood and sand trains to pack the track rails and ties. The Dietrich family lived in Liberty Center. Their children were Mary and Albert.

Mary Dietrich married Louis Rhode. Louis was killed by a horse run-a-way accident. Mary later married Louis's brother, William Rhode.

Albert Dietrich married Martha Geist and had one daughter.

The third child of Karl Gottschalk was Carolina. She was born in 1849 and married Wilhelm Awe in 1868 in Germany. The Awe family migrated in 1882 with children, Augusta, Martha and Rudolph. The family first stayed with the Dietrichs. The two families moved into a double house west of Napoleon. Later the Awe family moved to their farm south of Napoleon.

Augusta Awe married Albert Wagler. Their children were Lima, Lawrence, and Loretta who died at the age of 10 years.

Martha Awe married Bernhardt Kutzli and had Hilda, Alfred, Rose and Clarence.

Rudolf died in a wagon runaway.

Meta, Frank and Henry died from diptheria within three weeks of each other. Charles died in infancy.

William Awe married Elizabeth Gruetman.

Esther Awe married Albert Crawford and had five children. Four sons were in service.

Ben Awe married Eunice Shelt and had three daughters and two sons.

Wilhelmina Gottschalk was the fourth child of Karl and Caroline. She was born in January 1853, and died in 1926. She married Frederick Saneholtz (Soehnholtz) in 1876 at Defiance, Ohio. He owned a brickyard there and they lived there for some years. They then moved to their farm in Liberty Township, northeast of Napoleon. Minnie was considered the beauty of the family. Fred Saneholtz and his family were active in the Olive Chapel Church located diagonally across from their home. Frederick died while they lived on the farm. His widow moved to Napoleon, where she died in 1926. Fred and Minnie Saneholtz had 10 children.

William married Eva King and they had 4 children.

Ida married Dan Yarnell and had 5 children.

Lydia married Elmer Nieble and had 2 children.

John married Carrie Yarnell and had 4 children.

James married Florence Greutman and had 2 children.

Fred married Velma Swartzlander and had 2 children.

Henry married Lillie Greutman and they had 6 children.

Edna married Martin Nelson and had 5 children.

Laura married Clyde Brillhart and they had 4 children.

Naomi married Hugo Saneholtz and had 8 children.

Wilhelm Gottschalk, fifth child of Karl and Caroline Gottschalk, was born in 1857 and died in 1920. He married Elizabeth Meuller in 1880 at Whitehouse, Ohio. Elizabeth was born in Germany. William arrived from Germany in 1874. He came on a nonstop train to Defiance, but jumped off the moving train at Napoleon. He had 5 cents in his pocket. He walked to his Aunt Hannah Dietrich's home. He worked on the Wabash Railroad. After their marriage, they moved to a rented farm, and later bought 40 acres near the Dietrich farm. In 1888, they moved to Hebron, Nebraska and had a shoe store. They returned later to Napoleon and had a shoe store business. Wilhelm and Elizabeth had 9 children.

Two children died in infancy. Mary married Henry Reinke and had 3 daughters. Albert married Margaret Calhoun and they had one daughter. Matilda married Mr. Wiggins and lived in Toledo, Ohio. Clara B. died at the age of 17-years in 1906. Lena married Mr. Recksteiner of Toledo. Grace married Ed Bokerman of Napoleon, and had one son, Bill Bokerman. Grace died in 1966 and Ed in 1967. They were in the shoe business and in insurance since 1912. Lawrence married and had one son.

Karl, or Uncle Charlie, was the sixth child. He was born in 1858 and died in 1936. He came to America in 1876. He married, in 1883, Julia Maris at Napoleon. Julia was born in America and was raised by the Benskin family. They went to housekeeping on a farm west of Napoleon. They moved to Hebron, Nebraska in 1888 to enter the shoe store business. They returned to Napoleon a few years later. Charles and Will had a shoe store across from the courthouse in Napoleon. After five years, Charles and his family moved back to Hebron, Nebraska. Julia died there in 1924, and Charles in 1936. They had four children.

Minnie married Carl Manning and had 3 sons. Minnie died in 1946.

Laura never married. She died at the age of 20 years.

Anna married Earl Noel, and had 1 son. She died in 1941.

Edward married Alice and had 5 children. He died in 1935.

The seventh child of Karl and Caroline Gottschalk was Frederick who was born in 1860. He died in 1926. He came to America in' 1882. His wife, Barbara Stamm was born in Switzerland. They were married in 1883 at Wauseon, Ohio. Fred was the last child to come to America. He served his time in the German army. He landed in America with 75 cents in his pocket. No one met him when he arrived at Napoleon. He stopped at Deutsch's Gast Haus to ask the way to his mother's home west of Napoleon. He walked out the Bryan Pike and surprised his mother. They sat up late visiting. When he saw his brother, Louis, he asked, "Do you have a job for me?" He, too, did farm work before he married. His wife was a sister to his brother Lou's wife. They moved to a rented farm southeast of Napoleon and lived there about 10 years. Then bought a farm in Liberty township. Fred and Barbara retired to a home in Napoleon. They had -10 children.

Rosa married John Seelig and had 4 children.

Anna married Erwin Schumaker and had 6 children.

Lillian married Leonard Burkey and they had 4 children.

Frank married Leila Miller and had 5 children.

Dora married Mickey O'Brien and had no children.

Sylvia married John Zook and had 2 children.

Martha married Leon GOodwin and had 2 daughters.

Fred married Leona Sampson and had 2 children.

Benjamin married Armina Provost and had 5 children.

Harry married Hazel Dietrich and had 2 children.

Ludwig, or Louis, was the eighth child of Karl and Caroline Gottschalk. He was born in December, 1862 and died in 1935. He came to America in 1876. In 1882, he married Salome Stamm at Wauseon, Ohio. Salome was born in Switzerland. He met his wife through the United Brethren church at Wauseon. After marriage, they lived on a farm near Wauseon until Louis retired to a home in Wauseon. Salome lived to be 80 years old. They had 8 children.

Lydia married Charles Sauer and they had 5 children.

Robert married Cora Nieschwander and had 6 children.

Hulda married Joseph Sernrau and had 2 sons.

Ezra married Blanche Foster and had 3 children.

Louise married William Klotz and had 1 daughter.

Hattie married Mancy Montgomery and had 1 son.

Walter married Anna Berthold Shilperute and had no children.

Arnold never married. He was killed in an automobile accident in 1943.

The youngest child of Karl and Caroline Gottschalk was August who was born June 10, 1867. He died in 1946. He came to America in 1876 with his mother. He attended Napoleon school until he was 16 years old. In 1888, he was married to Katherine Seelig and set up housekeeping on his brother, Will's, farm. In 1890, they rented the Eberly farm south of Napoleon. In 1895, they moved to the Henry King farm in Liberty Township. In 1899, they purchased the farm west of Liberty Center. They retired to Napoleon. August was the youngest child and lived to be the oldest. He died in 1946 at the age of 79 years. His wife, Katherine, died in 1925. In 1926, he married Sophia Damann. August and Katherine had 6 children.

Clara married Frank Hoon, had no children.

Esther married Lawrence Spiess and had 2 children.

Alfred married Marie Gebhart and had 3 children.

Eyda married Walter Segrist and had 1 daughter.

Louella married Lewis Lemley and had 2 children.

Herbert married Luetta Meineke and had no children.

Family reunions were held at Napoleon fairgrounds, and at larger country homes, from 1913 when all nine children were alive. These gatherings were discontinued in 1924. Attendance was between 100 and 150 persons. Since about 1945, cousins have gathered at various places in the northwestern Ohio area.

Grandmother Caroline Neuman Gottschalk migrated from Germany in 1876. Her husband had died, in Germany, in 1870. She arrived at Napoleon, Ohio with 4 children: Minnie, age 23 years; Charles, age 18 years; Louis, age 14 years; and August, age 9 years old. They stayed in Hamburg, Germany one night. Caroline's brother, Karl, had come on a sailboat to Chicago, Illinois years before. This was the expected destination for Caroline and her family. The family was 19 days crossing the ocean on the Steamship Gellert. After landing at New York, they came by train to Napoleon, arriving on Good Friday evening. Then they walked to Hannah's house. Will had met the train several times, but not the time they arrived. The next day they picked up their baggage at the station. Caroline had $30.00, a stove, bedstead and strawtick and bedding that she brought with her.

The family lived one year in a log house along the railroad west of Napoelon. The next year Caroline and sons, Charles and August, rented the Marlowe farm. Will and Louis worked on farms near there. The family first attended Lutheran Church in Napoleon. Later, a United Brethren Church was founded as a mission church by Wauseon U.B. church. Caroline became converted at the Dietrich's home prayer meeting. She could not stand the crying and praying. She remarked, "Neh Ich kann dit nicht aus huldenIch geh nach hous." Later, she asked God to give her a praying heart as the others had. She always prayed for children, especially for Fred who was still doing military service in Germany.

The Hickstead family, with 3 children, and the Awe family, with 3 children came on the same ship, Gellert, in 1882. They arrived at Napoleon and were met by Will in the farm wagon.

They stayed at Dietrich's and Caroline's.

Compiled by: Clara Gottschalk Hoon
Submitted by: Jeanne Bokerman