Adding Branches And Leaves to the Family Tree and The Stories That Go With Them: Name Day: Katherina

Katherina GOELLNER/GILLEN

A name day is a tradition in many countries in Europe and America that consists of celebrating the day of the year associated with one's given name.

Katherina was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany in September, 1828, according to information provided in US census records. Unfortunately, at this time I am unable to locate any records that indicate if she was born in the town of Darmstadt or in another town in the Hesse-Darmstadt German state. Also, I'm not able to locate a document which gives us Katherina's maiden name.

Hesse-Darmstadt was one of 38 states that made up the German Federation.
In the above map, Hesse-Darmstadt is the divided royal blue region in the circled area on the map. Image downloaded from: https://www.zum.de/whkmla/region/germany/gerfed181548.html

In 1813 Napoleon looses control of the German territories he had annexed. As a result of Napoleon's defeat, the Congress of Vienna was convened. The objective of the Congress was to provide a long-term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries, but to resize the main powers so they could balance each other and remain at peace. It was during this period that Katherina was born.

In 1848 there was a series of political upheavals throughout Europe. The Revolutions of 1848 were known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, People's Spring, Springtime of the Peoples, or the Year of Revolution. Germany was not spared from these revolutions. The German revolutions of 1848–49 were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation. The revolutions demonstrated popular discontent with the traditional, largely autocratic political structure of the thirty-nine independent states of the German Confederation.

Iconic picture of the 1848 revolution in Berlin.

This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain. Image downloaded 2019.11.21 from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maerz1848_berlin.jpg#filehistory

The middle-class elements in Germany were committed to liberal principles, while the working class sought radical improvements to their working and living conditions. As the middle class and working class components of the Revolution split, the conservative aristocracy defeated it. Disappointed at the failure of the revolution to bring about the reform of the system of government in Germany, they gave up their old lives to try again abroad. They became known as the Forty-Eighters. Many emigrated to the United States.

Was Katherina a Forty-Eighter? We don't know for sure. But in 1850 Katherina immigrated to the United States. Most likely she immigrated with her new husband, Jacob Goellner. Jacob was born in Hesse-Darmstadt in May 1831. The 1900 US Census included the information that both Katherina and Jacob immigrated to the US in 1850 and that they also had been married for 50 years. Unfortunately we don't know for sure that they married and then immigrated together or immigrated and then married in the US.

Our first document that we see Katherina and Jacob in is the 1860 US Census. At this time we see them using the family name Goellner and Katherina and Jacob have 3 young children at home. We also see her name spelled with as Catherine. In all the documents that we have where Katerina's name is listed her name appears as Katherina, Kate, Katie or Catherine.

The young family was living in the Williamsburg area of Brooklyn, New York.

Ward 16 from the Map of King County, NY. Dripps, M. & J. & R. Mclellan. (1868) Map of Kings County N.Y. [N.Y. New York: Published by M. Dripps, . N.Y.: Printed by J. & R. McLellan] [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2013593268/.

By the 1880 US Census the family had changed their family name from Goellner to Gillen. We don't have any documentation that indicates exactly when the name change takes place. Ancestry.com has the following name meaning from the Dictionary of American Family Names: German (Göllner): occupational name for someone who worked with gold (a refiner, jeweler, or gilder), from an agent derivative of Old High German gold ‘gold’. Another interesting Goellner fact from Ancestry.com is that in the US 1880 Census there were only 17 Goellner families living in New York.

Katherina and Jacob had 4 children that we have documentation for: George (approx. 1853), Catherina (approx. 1856), Frederick (1859) and Gustav (approx. 1862).

Katherina and Jacob lived in multiple locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. The blue line shows their movement through various apartment homes. The green line is when Jacob died and shows his place of burial. The pink line shows Katherina's movement to her son, George's apartment, and to her burial.

Jacob died July 22, 1903. Katherina died on March 13, 1910. Both are buried in Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery in unmarked graves in Queens, New York.

Lutheran All Faiths Cemetery, Queens, New York. Photo by: John T. Chiarella,
downloaded from Findagrave.com 2019.11.23.

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1848
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_revolutions_of_1848–1849
https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=goellner

3 comments:

AnonymousNovember 25, 2019 at 9:41 PM
It is so hard to find maiden names! I had no idea there was a name day. Good blog!
The Bigham FamilyNovember 30, 2019 at 11:17 PM
Great blog. My German ancestors are from Hesse, Kassel.
M. Diane RogersDecember 1, 2019 at 7:40 PM
Women's families can be so hard to trace. You've made a good start here. Hope you find some new clues soon. (Maybe deeper in her children's records?)

Adding Branches And Leaves to the Family Tree and The Stories That Go With Them

Monday, November 25, 2019

Name Day: Katherina - November 25

Katherina GOELLNER/GILLEN

3 comments: