Rosshaupt in black and white

5/14/2010

Goß, Gosz or Goss, German Bohemians from the Egerland

My Goß ancestor were ethnic German Bohemians. They considered themselves to be Egerlanders, just as Germans from Bavaria consider themselves Bavarians. Their language (one of many German dialects) and culture were much closer to that of Bavaria than to the culture of the Czech Bohemians who lived further east. They were not farmers. From church records, it seems that many of the Gosz clan lived in the village of Roßhaupt (literally, horse's head) or tiny villages close by. For the most part, they were landless, and worked as laborers on one of the large estates, probably the "Maierhofen" estate which is so often mentioned in the Catholic Church records of Roßhaupt.

The following is the information which traces the birth of Johann Gosz and of his future wife, Margaretha Hummer; their marriage record; and the birth record of their first son, Paul, my great-great grandfather.










Picture of 2nd great grandfather Johann Goß/Gosz, from an old tintype







1. Baptismal Records of the Catholic Parish of Roßhaupt (today Rozvadov)

Name of Child: Johann Goß*
Catholic, male, legitimate
Date of Birth: 9 May 1825; Date of Baptism, 10 May 1825; Village Roßhaupt N. 76
Father: George Goß, cottager
Mother: Maria, daughter of Georg Adam Huttl, cottager in Rosshaupt N. 52, and Margareth born Putzlocher, cottager's daughter from Neuhausl N. 10
Godparents: Johann Keim, inhabitant in Roßhaupt and Elisabeth Keim, his wife Midwife: Marg. Filssner
Minister (Priest): Johann Rustler

2. Baptismal record of the Catholic Parish of Rozvadov

Name: Margaretha Hummer
Date of birth: 16 December 1827
Date of Baptism: 17 December 1827
Village: Turkenhaeusln N. 14
Catholic, female, legitimate
Father: Matthes Hummer, Cottager
Mother: Elisabeth, daughter of Johann Magerl, farmer from Katharina and Elisabeth born Freisleben, farmer's daughter from Katharina
Godparents: Margaretha Stich, farmer's daughter from Roßhaupt, Johann Stich, her father.
Midwife: Margaretha Kreuzer
Minister: Johann Rustler.

3. Marriage register of the Catholic parish Rozvadov

Date: 28 November 1848
Village: Rosshaupt N. 52
Marriage Service: Lamm, Georg, minister
Groom: Goss, Johann, Landless laborer's son in Roßhaupt N. 52, Maierhofen Estate, legitimate son of George Goss, Landless laborer in Roßhaupt N. 52, and the deceased Maria born Huttl, landless laborer's daughter of Roßhaupt N. 76, Maierhofen Estate.
Catholic, 23 years old, single
Bride: Hummer, Margaretha, legitimate daughter of the deceased Mathes Hummer, former landless laborer in Turkenhaeuseln N. 14, Maierhofen Estate, and of the deceased Elisabeth born Magerl, farmer's daughter from the village Katharina, Maierhofen Estate.
Catholic, 21 years old, single
Witnesses: Georg Mayer, Farmer and (?) of Roßhaupt; Joseph Huttl, Cottager and sieve maker in Roßhaupt.

4. Children of Johann Goß and Margaretha Hummer

a) 11 Nov. 1847 Paul
b) 27 Oct. 1849 Anna
c) 22 June 1853 Katharina
d) 14 Jan. 1855 Theresia
e) 10 Jan. 1858 Georg Adam
f) 13 Oct. 1860 Margaretha
g) 30 Mar. 1862 Wenzel
h) 25 Mar. 1865 Joseph




Picture of great grandfather Paul Gosz
















5. Baptismal Records of the Catholic Parish of Rozvadov

Name of Child: Paul Goß*
Catholic, male, illegitimate
Date of Birth: 11 Nov. 1847;
Date of Baptism: 11 Nov. 1847;
Village of Rosshaupt N. 76
Father: Johannes Goβ, Cottager in Roβhaupt No. 52, legitimate son of the deceased Georg Goß,
Note: The father, here present has declared himself to be the father and registered his truthfulness and signed the document.
Mother: Hummer Margarethe, legitimate daughter of the deceased Hummer, Johann, former cottager in Turkenhäusel No. 14 and the deceased Elisabeth, born Margerl, legitimate daughter of the deceased Mathes Hummer, formerly a cottager in Zirk N. 14, and the deceased Elisabeth Magerl, instructor's daughter from St. Katharina, N.1 (Herrschaft Maierhöfen, Roβhaupt No. 52 seems to have been the current residence of Margaretha Hummer)
Godparents: Paul Hüttl (apparently signed in his own hand), cottager and meat hewer in Turkenhäusl
Midwife: Hüttl Margarethe Ausnähmerin in Roβhaupt, Certified

Each birth record gives not only the names of the parents, but also of two more generations.  I am told this was required by the Austrian Government, since the Egerland was ruled by Austria until the end of the First World War.

*The surname was originally spelled Goß using the German sharp S. I saw a copy of both Johann's and Paul Gosz's signatures on their immigration document in the Milwaukee County Archives.  Father and son wrote that sharp S. In English, there would be two ways to deal with that, since there is no Sharp S in our alphabet, just as there are no umlauts (ä, ë, ö, and ü are written as ae, ee, oe, and ue in English). Thus the Goß men could either spell Goß as Goss or Gosz.  Johann, Paul, George, Joseph, and Adam chose Gosz; their brother Wenzel preferred the surname Goss.

At the present time, the Egerland of old is part of the Czech Republic, and Rosshaupt, a border village, is today called Rozvadov.  This is the flag of the city hall.  Since the village was originally named "Horse's Head", it seems that the Czech-governed village of today is still represented by a horse.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

Kathy
Thank you for the information on the Gosz family anad the Egerland.
I am going to Bohemia this summer with the UW alumni on a week long educational trip.
My name is Mary Moskoff from Madison Wis.
My mother is Mary Rohrer Gosz and her father was Peter from Cato.

Kathy, the Single-minded Offshoot said...

Mary,

Sorry I didn't reply. Usually I get blog post comments in my regular e-mail, but this one never came through. So I just saw your comment about the Gosz family from the Egerland. Since your grandfather was Peter Gosz from Cato, you must be a descendant of George Gosz? I'm glad to meet you, cousin Mary.

It's exciting that you are going to Bohemia this summer. I would really like to know your impressions of our Gosz ancestors' country if you are willing to share.

John G said...

Kathy,

Thank you for the update on Johann and Margaretha's parentage. Your hard work is appreciated. I used your research as part of a family tree I assembled for my nephew when he was born. I look forward to your future updates and hearing more about the book you are putting together. Are you planning on completing the book in time for the sesquicentennial (2015) of Johann bringing the family to America?

Sincerely,
L. John Gosz,
son of Lloyd,
son of Roman,
son of Paul,
son of George,
son of Johann

Kathy, the Single-minded Offshoot said...

John,

Thanks for sharing your ancestral line back to our connection at Johann Gosz. Makes us 4th cousins once removed, I think, but don't hold me to that analysis. What a nice idea - a family tree for a new member of the family. Kudos for thinking of it!

Kathy

Nelson Strobel said...

Hello Kathy,
You have a nice blog, congratulations.
I was glad to learn more about Egerland.
My great-grandfather, Johann Salfer, was born in Rosshaup and emigrated to southern Brazil in 1878.
Many Bohemian families emigrated to Brazil.
You got some data from your relatives from the Catholic Church of Roßhaupt. I also need to do a query to the books of this Church to get some data from my ancestors.
Could you tell me how to do it?
Thanks you in advance for any information.

B. Regards

Nelson Strobel,
From Brazil

Kathy, the Single-minded Offshoot said...

Nelson,

I didn't know that many of the families from Rosshaupt had emigrated to Brazil. I'm glad you commented and shared that. I found recently that many also went to Minnesota. I don't know what attracted my Gosz ancestor to Wisconsin - perhaps the quarries? Do you know why your ancestors chose Brazil?

Now to your question. At this point, the Archive in Pilsen has not been microfilmed by the LDS Church so I used a combination approach for my research, direct contact with the Archive and followed up with a genealogical researcher..

The LDS website: http://www.familysearch.org
may be willing to send you a copy of their form developed for a mail research request to the Pilsen Archive. To see if the form is available from them, Just log on to their website (see above) and go to "contact us" at the bottom of the page. If they send the form, fill it out and send it to the address on the form. You will be charged by the Archive whether they find your family or not - but since you know the village, this should not be a problem.

I also used a researcher but hesitate to recommend a specific person. I did find a Western Bohemia website which does give you experienced genealogists' names and addresses and their experience, etc. That site is http://www.cgsi.org/research/professionals

I wish I could give you an easier route but I don't know one. If anyone else does, I hope they will comment.

Good luck with your research.

Kathy

Kathy, the Single-minded Offshoot said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Hello nelson,
I find it very interesting that you've being searching for your german roots and past.

My name is Manuela Dürk, geb. Salfer and I came from germany. I live near hamburg. My fathers name was Bruno Salfer son of Franz Salfer. They both were born in Roßhaupt, bohemia. After the second worl war they hade to left Roßhaupt. first they went to bavaria and later they settled down near Fulda (Hessen). My father had 2 sisters and 3 brothers, named Margarethe, Franz, Josef, Helmut. one name I have forgotten. My parents went to Kassel where I and my 3 sisters grow up.
My 3 sisters still live in Kassel. My family and I are living near Hamburg. I have a daughter named Christina.
Best wishes and good luck for your search
Manuela

Unknown said...

I recently read your very interesting blog posts. I believe that our families may be connected through the wife of Johann Goss, Margaretha, born Huttl.
My great grandfather Michael Stich and great grandmother Katharina, maiden name Huttel came to the United States from “Austria” with some of their children in 1894. Michael was born around 1843 and Katharina was born in 1845 or 1846 The book “Czech Immigration Passenger Lists” by Leo Baca, and other sources indicate that my great grandparents and three of their children immigrated to the US from Bohemia, sailing on the ship ”Lahn”, departing Bremen on 17 May 1894. Other family members immigrated at different times. The family settled in a coal mining town (Fitz Henry) in western Pennsylvania. The men worked in the mines.

In US census records for 1920, my great grandmother (Katharina/Anna Huttl) and two of her children gave their birth place as “Richenthal”, Austria. Information I have gathered to date indicates that this is a village in the present day Czech Republic near the border with Germany, most likely Hranicky, which formerly had the German name of Reichenthal. I believe Hranicky is close to the Czech towns of Nove Domky/Neuhausl and Rozvadov/Rosshaupt. As you know these are locations near the city of Tachov in the state of Plzen in West Bohemia.

I have not yet been able to determine definitively the names of the parents of my great grandparents. On Micheal Stich’s birth certificate the name of his father appears to be Wenzel. From parish books for Nove Domky available on-line show a Michael Stich, born in 1843, father Wenzl and mother Barbara. These may possibly be my great-great grandfather and great-great grandmother, but this still needs to be confirmed.

My great grandmother Katharina Huttl’s mother’s name was Fanny Gullk (with umlauted “u”), born 1823. I do not know where she came from.

Any information you can share will be greatly appreciated. Along with a couple of relatives, I researching the Stich families of Egerland, but we have it some dead ends, so I thought perhaps you might have relevant information.

Thank you,

Jim Steck (family name changed from Stich after settling in the US).

Unknown said...

Hello again Kathy,

I wanted to post an addendum to my previous comment. One my relatives noted that in the entry for the baptism of Margaretha Hummer, it shows Margaretha and Johann Stich as Godparents to her. Do you have information about them? Also, I noted an error in my earlier comment. I meant to say Maria Huttl Goss was the mother of Johann Goss. Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks for any information you can provide.

Jim Steck

Kathy, the Single-minded Offshoot said...

Hi Jim,

Sorry to take so long in replying. Your comments did not arrive in my e-mail so it was quite awhile before I found them. I've been neglecting this blog in a scramble to finish a book about my Rhineland ancestors. I hope to do more with it soon. I will check and see if I have any more information in the documents that a researcher found for me in the Archive in Pilsen. With those baptismal sponsors, there must be a relationship between Margaretha and Johann Stich. I haven't posted some of the other family data I have so there is hope.
Kathy

ART&GOSS said...

Me chamo Ione Góss,li o teu blog,fiquei muito interessada.O bisavô de meu pai chamava-se Andre Góss,veio da Alemanha para o Brasil.Desembarcou no Porto de Santos,estado de São Paulo.Tu sabes alguma informação?

Kathy, the Single-minded Offshoot said...

I'm sorry - I don't have any information on
Andre or Andrew Goss. Did he come from
somewhere in the Egerland/Bohemia?