1823 Andrew Gochenaur was born on August 23 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and was a farmer there. [1]
1832 The Gochenaur family moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio. [2]
1847 Andrew Gochenaur and Mary Ann Brenizer were married on October 14 in Wayne County, Ohio. [3] [4]
before 1849 Andrew Gochenaur moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin by wagon and boat. He soon moved to Richland, Green Co, Wisconsin and worked at a sawmill. [5]
1850 Andrew Gochenaur moved to Stephenson County, Illinois. [6]
1850 Andrew Gochenaur (age 28, born in Pennsylvania) lived in Rock Grove, Stephenson County, Illinois, in a household with Mary Gochenaur (age 25), and John Gochenaur (age 3?/12). [7]
1870 Andrew Gochnaur (age 46, born in Pennsylvania) lived in Dakota Twp, Stephenson County, Illinois, in a household with Mary Gochnaur (age 46), John Gochnaur (age 20), William Gochnaur (age 15), Catharine Gochnaur (age 11), Franklin Gochnaur (age 7), and Harrison Gochnaur (age 2). Andrew Gochnaur's occupation was farmer. [8]
1880 Mary A. Gochaneur (age 56, born in Pennsylvania, married), wife, lived in Dakota Twp, Stephenson County, Illinois, in a household with Andrew Gochaneur (age 56), Catharine A. Gochaneur (age 21), Franklin Gochaneur (age 16), Harrison Gochaneur (age 12), and Mary E. Gochaneur (age 9). Mary A. Gochaneur's parents were both born in Pennsylvania. [9]
1894 A plat book of Stephenson County, Illinois showed that Andrew Gochenaur owned land around Rock Grove. [10]
1900 Mary A Gochenour (born in Pennsylvania in Dec 1823, married for 52 years), wife, lived in Rock Grove, Stephenson County, Illinois, in a household with Andrew Gochenour (age 76), Mary Gochenour (age 29), and Anna Fena (age 27). Mary A Gochenour's parents were both born in Pennsylvania. Mary A Gochenour had had 6 children, 6 still living. [11]
1906 Mary Ann Gochnaur died on February 22 and was buried at Frankeburger Cemetery, Rock Grove, Stephenson County, Illinois. [12]
1906 An obituary for Mary Ann reported [13]:
Mrs. Mary A. Gochnaur, died this morning at her home in Rock Grove township at 8 o'clock after a long siege of illness. The immediate cause of Mrs. Gochnaur's death is old age, for she observed her eighty-second birthday Dec. 15, 1905. For a number of years she had been an invalid, having been a sufferer with a broken hip. She was unable to walk and was either compelled to lie in bed or sit in an invalid's chair.
Mrs. Gochnaur was a native of Pennsylvania where she was born in 1823. Her maiden name was Mary A. Brenizer and she was married to Mr. Gochnaur in 1847. The family came to Rock Run township in 1849. The following children survive: John B. of Nebraska; William H., of Los Angeles, Cal.; Mrs. John Candy, of Dakota township; Frank A., of Freeport; Harrison D., of Flagg, Ill., and Miss Mary Ellen, living at home.
1906 An obituary for Mary Ann reported [14]:
Mary Ann Gochnaur, wife of Andrew Gochnaur, died of old age at her home in Rock Grove, Ill., February 22, 1906 at the age of 82 years, 2 months and 8 days.
Mrs. Gochnaur was the daughter of John and Mary Brenizer, and was born at Mechanicsburg, Northumberland county, Penn. When the subject of this sketch was ten years old her parents moved to Wooster, Ohio. It was at this place that she was married to Andrew Gochnaur, on October 24, 1847. In the spring of 1850 they came to Stephenson county, Ill., and bought a farm in Dakota township, where they resided untill 1882, when they moved to the village of Rock Grove, where they have since resided.
Mrs. Gochnaur has been an invalid for about seven years owing to an accident resulting to a broken hip. She bore her misfortune with fortitude and patience and with consistant care of her husband and children managed to find life well worth living. She leaves to mourn her loss, her aged husband, four sons and two daughters: John B., of Bennett, Neb.; William H., of Los Angeles, Cal.; Franklin A., of Freeport, Ill.; Harrison B., of Flagg, Ill.; Mrs. J. A. Candy, of Dakota, Ill.; Mary E., at home; also eleven grandchildren and four great- grandchildren.
The funeral services were held in the U. E. church at Rock Grove, and burial at the Boehm Chapel cemetery. Rev. J. W. Michael officiated
1906 Andrew Gochenaur moved to Freeport, Illinois. [15]
1908 Andrew Gochenaur died on 10 June. [16] Andrew was buried at Frankeburger Cemetery, Rock Grove, Stephenson County, Illinois. [17] An obituary reported [18]:
Andrew Gochnaur dies at ripe age. Prominent retired farmer succumbs to general debility - Many years was prominent in affairs of Rock Grove Township,
Decedent Came to Stephenson County Fifty-eight Years Ago and Had Lived in Freeport During Past Two years.
Andrew Gochnaur, a retired farmer of Rock Grove township, and a resident of Freeport for the past two years, died at his home, 107 Walnut street, at 11 o'clock this morning, aged 84 years. Death was due to general debility incident to advancing years and came to the aged man while he was unconscious. He returned from a visit to his son at Flagg, Ill., last Friday and soon after he did some work in his garden. It is probably that he over-exerted himself in the labor and as a result he was taken ill the next morning. He was unconscious from that time until his death, the disability taking form of a sort of paralysis.
Mr. Gochnaur was one of the oldest residents of Stephenson county. He was born in Lancaster County, Pa., on August 23, 1823, being the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Gochnaur, who were descended from pioneer German settlers who came from Europe when the country was in its infancy. He remained at home with his parents till he was fifteen and then he was employed working on the farms in the vicinity.
In the winter of 1850 he left his native state and came to Stephenson county, where he worked during one season. The next spring he went to southern Wisconsin where he managed a sawmill in the vicinity of Brodhead for almost two years. Following his milling experience he returned to his farm in this county, upon which he remained for nearly thirty years, retiring in 1881 to take up his residence in Rock Grove. Mr. Gochnaur remained in that village until a year ago last December when he came to Freeport to live. He was married in 1847 to Miss Mary A. Brenizer, whose parents were also natives of Pennsylvania. She died two years ago, just before the couple intended to observe their golden wedding anniversary.
Mr. Gochnaur was a Republican in politics and had filled the positions of collector and school director in Dakota township with ability. Despite his advanced age he took an active interest in all that affected the welfare of the city and the nation. He retained possession of all his faculties and was accustomed to take railroad journeys unaccompanied during the latter years of his life.
The deceased is survived by six children: J.B. Gochnaur, of Bennett, Neb.; William H. Gochnaur of Los Angeles, Cal.; Mrs. J. Candy of Dakota; Frank A. Gochnaur and Miss Mary Gochnaur at home and H.B. Gochnaur of Flagg, Ill. One brother Henry residing in Ohio also survives. Arrangements for the funeral will not be made until it is know whether William H. Gachnaur a son, of Los Angeles, Cal., will be able to attend.
A biosketch of Andrew Gochenaur reports [19]:
The father of Mr. Gochnaur was born in Lancaster County, Pa., and lived with his parents until he was married to Miss Mary Staman, whose people were Pennsylvania farmers. In 1832 the father migrated from Pennsylvania to Ohio. and bought a farm in Linn County, on which he lived several years. Disposing of this farm he moved to Stark County and rented a farm for two years, but preferring Wayne County as a place of residence removed to that county and purchased another farm. Two years later he sold this farm and moved to Steuben County. Ind., where he purchased a farm on which he remained until he died, at the age of seventy-five or eighty years. The mother also died there, at the age of about seventy-two.
Mr. Gochnaur remained at home with his parents until he arrived at the age of fifteen, when he went out to work by the month, at which he continued until the spring of 1850. In the winter of that year he came to Stephenson County, where he located and worked that season. The next spring he went to Wisconsin and engaged in running a sawmill for eighteen months. He then returned to the farm in Stephenson County, which he had bought the first year he came to this county. He lived there until 1881, when he retired from active farm life and moved to the town of Rock Grove.
Mr. Gochnaur was married, in 1847, to Miss Mary A. Brenizer, daughter of John Brenizer, who was the son of David Brenizer, a native of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Gochnaur was born Dec. 14, 1823. Her father came to Stephenson County in 1849, and died at the age of eighty-one in Rock Grove Township. His wife died in the same township, aged seventy-six. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Gochnaur are as follows: John B., born the 6th of January, l850, married Miss Addie Barnes, and is now farming in Nebraska; William H., born Dec. 1, 1854. is working at the harness trade in Los Angeles, Cal.; Catherine E., born Feb. 5, 1859, is the wife of John Candy, a farmer of Rock Grove Township; Frank A., born Sept. 12, 1863, married Miss D. Emery, and is farming in Nebraska; Harrison D. was born March 25, 1868, and Mary E., Dec. 26, 1870. The father and mother of Mr. Goebnaur were members of the society of Dunkards, and the father and mother of Mrs. G. belonged to the River Brethren Church.
Mr. Gochnaur is a Republican in politics, and takes much interest in the drift of political affairs in the State and Nation, as well as in Stephenson County. He has been Collector in Dakota Township and a School Director. Being a man in whom confidence is universally reposed, it has fallen to him to settle the estates of a large number of decedents, and it may be said to his credit that those estates have been settled economically, promptly. and without the loss of a dollar. He owns 285 acres of valuable land in Dakota Township, and fifteen acres adjoining Rock Grove, also twenty acres of timber land and 320 acres in Nebraska.
A biosketch of son John B. Gochenaur reports [20]:
John B. Gochnaur, a highly esteemed retired farmer residing in Nemaha precinct, was born in Wooster, Ohio, on the 6th of January, 1850. His father, Andrew Gochnaur, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 23d of August, 1823, a son of Jacob Gochnaur, who was a descendant of pioneer German settlers in the Keystone state. Andrew Gochnaur engaged in farming in his native county until 1851, when he removed by wagon and boat to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He only remained there a very short time, however, and then went to Richland, Green county, Wisconsin, where he worked in a sawmill for six months. He removed to Stephenson county, Illinois, purchasing a farm of eighty acres, eighteen miles from Freeport. He later added eighty acres and in time brought his entire quarter section of raw land to a high state of development. After farming that tract for thirty-five years he retired and removed to Rock Grove, Illinois, where he resided for a long time, after which he removed to Freeport, Illinois, in 1906. He was married to Miss Mary Anne Brenizer, who was born on the 14th of December, 1823, in Ohio, and was a descendant of early German settlers in that state. He passed away on the 10th of June, 1907.
Research Notes:
See Mennonite records. [21]
[1] Andrew J. Sawyer, ed., Lincoln, the capital city, and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Vol. 2 (), 504, [HathiTrust].
[2] Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County Ill. (Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1888), 491, [HathiTrust].
[3] Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2016, [FamilySearchImage], [FamilySearchRecord].
[4] Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County Ill. (Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1888), 491, [HathiTrust].
[5] Andrew J. Sawyer, ed., Lincoln, the capital city, and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Vol. 2 (), 504, [HathiTrust].
[6] Andrew J. Sawyer, ed., Lincoln, the capital city, and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Vol. 2 (), 504, [HathiTrust].
[7] United States Federal Census, 1850, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[8] United States Federal Census, 1870, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[9] United States Federal Census, 1880, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[10] U.S., Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918, [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].
[11] United States Federal Census, 1900, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[12] Find A Grave Memorial 67684006, [FindAGrave].
[13] Newspaper, The Freeport Daily Journal, 22 Febuary 1906, Freeport, Illinois.
[14] Newspaper, The Daily Journal, Wednesday, 28 February 1906, Freeport, Illinois.
[15] Andrew J. Sawyer, ed., Lincoln, the capital city, and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Vol. 2 (), 504, [HathiTrust].
[16] Andrew J. Sawyer, ed., Lincoln, the capital city, and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Vol. 2 (), 504, [HathiTrust].
[17] Find A Grave Memorial 75975351, [FindAGrave].
[18] Newspaper, The Freeport Daily Journal,10 June 1908, Freeport, Illinois.
[19] Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County Ill. (Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1888), 491, [HathiTrust].
[20] Andrew J. Sawyer, ed., Lincoln, the capital city, and Lancaster County, Nebraska, Vol. 2 (), 504, [HathiTrust].
[21] Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society, Genealogical Card File (Lancaster, Pennsylvania), [AncestryRecord], [AncestryImage].