STEPHAN GOß, a.k.a. STEPHEN GOSE, SR., was born about 1738 in the city of Strasbourg (which was at that time a part of Germany) and died shortly before August 10, 1799 in Cripple Creek, Wythe County, Virginia.

Apparently, Stephan was only about 14-15 years of age when he arrived at the Port of Philadelphia, September 22, 1752, on the ship 'Brothers'.

He may have been under the guardianship of Johann Wilhelm Litz and family. Johann Litz' name also appears on the 1752 ship passenger list for the ship 'Brothers', and the Litz and Spracher families apparently accompanied the Goß (Gose) family as they relocated over the years from eastern Pennsylvania to North Carolina and finally to the Virginia valley. One of Stephan and Catherine's sons, one of their daughters, and one of their grandchildren married Litzes in Virginia.

(See Stephan's signature on the passenger list for the 1752 voyage of the ship 'Brothers' in the Photo Gallery of the Family History section of this website.)

Was Stephan's true given name Johann Stephan Goß?  The full given name of Stephan's second born son, John Stephen, is documented in the baptismal records referenced below. Some have suggested that Stephen Sr.'s full given name was John Stephen as well. This is certainly a possibility, although we have never seen anything documenting this to be so. If so, then the name would likely have been spelled "Johann Stephan" by the family - or perhaps "Johan Stephan".

MARRIAGE

Stephan married (1) CATHERINE (Catharina?) SPRACHER (asa SPRECHER), the daughter of Johann Christopher Spracher and Maria Ernestine Beck, about 1759 in Lynn Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. They were members of the Lutheran church there and their first child, Christopher, born April 30, 1760, was baptized by the Lutheran Reverend David Schumacher in Linn, Lynn Township, on May 15, 1760. The baptismal record lists the name as "Christopher Goos, son of Stephen and Catherine Goos". The sponsors were Catherine's (youngest?) brother, Christopher Spracher, and their sister Elizabeth.

It appears there may be another daughter of Johann and Maria Spracher named Anna Catherine (Anna Catharina?), born about 1737 and who married a John Henry Shoaf in Rowan County, NC.  If this is correct, it could be a source of some confusion.

Stephan and Catherine were the parents of 13 children - a 14^th child, an un-named twin sister to their 2^nd born daughter Catherine, died at birth.

THEIR LIFE IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA

The first three of their children, Christopher, John Stephen (Stephen Jr.) and Elizabeth, were born in Lynn Township, Pennsylvania.

Many German immigrants arrived in the eastern Pennsylvania area from 1745-1755, and the English colonists became fearful that the Germans would take over the colonies from the English Crown. The French were also pushing in from the western frontier areas where they had developed good trade relations with the native Indians. The French recognized the potential political power of the Germans as well and sought to convert them to their cause against the English settlers. The English became very combative in their dealings with the immigrant Germans and sought to ban or curtail further immigrations and force the Germans living there to become anglicized. Thus, every attempt was made to force them to speak, act, and live as English. Naturally this included the use and recording of names.

For many german immigrants, the living conditions in the oldest establishments of the American Colonies became almost unbearable due to the negative political pressuring and social outcasting laid upon them by the predominantly english governing officials, business leaders, and the established social populace. Many of the germanic peoples who came to America had been talked into coming by those with personal, business, or financial interests in the Colonies. In many instances, the German immigrants had given up almost all of their possessions in the "Old World" to come to the new land. Many of these ended up in situations that were worse, not better, than those they had left behind.

It was during this period that Stephan and Catherine decided.. along with some of their other German immigrant friends and/or relatives… to move on to the newer frontier in the Carolinas.

RELOCATION TO THE CAROLINAS

The family moved to Rowan County, North Carolina around 1765, settling in an area where other German immigrants already were living. Catherine, who was born in 1766, was their first child born in North Carolina. It's likely that the stress of relocating may have contributed to the death of baby Catherine's twin, who it appears died at birth.

Little is known of the family's life in North Carolina, but we do know that seven children were born to Stephen and Catherine in the 12 or so years that they lived there. Barbara, their last child born in North Carolina and the last child born to Catherine, was born September 27, 1776. More research is needed on this period of the Stephan Goß family's life.

There was another "Gosse" immigrant family already living in Rowan County when the Stephan Goß family arrived there around 1765 -  They were the descendants of Frederick Goß (Goss) who was born in Switzerland in 1701. They settled in the Abbott's Creek area of Rowan County around 1759. There is no known direct relationship between the Stephan Goß family and the Frederick Gosses, but their family name is found on Rowan County census and other documents with the same handwritten germanic double 's' (ß) character as we see written for the Stephan Goß family. We have posted an article on the Frederick Goß (Goss) Family in this "Family History" section. Studying some of the history of the Frederick Goss family has given us some insight on what the Stephan Goß family may have faced during their years in Rowan County as well.

The Revolutionary War took its toll on the lives of many immigrant families in the "New World". We must keep in mind that the majority of those who settled in "The Colonies" was not anxious to take up arms against those who administered their land grant agreements. After all, many had come here to escape the continous conflict and persecution to which they had been continuously subjected in their homelands. But the war came, and those living in these parts of the "New World" were repeatedly subjected to the plunder, harassments, and violence of the war. We get a good idea about this by reading the following excerpt from the "History Of North Carolina" as quoted in a Goss family genealogical document titled "The Frederick Goss Family Of Rowan County, North Carolina":

(The Frederick Goss referred to in the following story is the son of the aforementioned Frederick Goß, born in 1701. This second Frederick, who was the eldest son of the 1701 Frederick, was commonly referred to as Frederick Goss, Sr. since he also had a son named Frederick.)

"During the period of the war, though the precise date is not recollected, a number of Tories came to the house of Frederick Goss, who lived in what is now Davidson County, about ten miles southeast of Lexington and plundered it of all the bed clothing, about seventy yards of homespun cloth, with whatever else they could find that was worth carrying away, and a young and valuable horse. Frederick Goss and his son Jacob, then only fifteen or sixteen years of age, with a bound boy by the name of Alexander Slader, were in a field some distance from the house, pulling flax; and when the Tories went to the field for the purpose of making them prisoners, Slader hid himself in the flax, so he escaped notice. Frederick Goss, being somewhat advance in life, was not made a prisoner; but they took his son Jacob and carried him away as a prisoner, and his young horse, with the plunder they had taken in and about the house. After night they took the road to a Tory camp, which was distant from any road and in a very secluded place, where they were about to tie Jacob; but one of their number, having some acquaintance with Jacob, persuaded them not to bind him. There came up during the night a hard rain, and they all got very wet. When it was over they made a large fire for the purpose of drying themselves, and on becoming dry, they all fell into a sound sleep, when Jacob went to his young horse, cut him loose, and then jumping on his back, he whipped off and got home safe..."

We find a "Frederick Goss" listed in the 1778 Rowan County Tax List as "Frederick Goss Col.". We are not certain if this is Frederick, Sr. or his son, but in any case one of them thus served as a Colonel in Capt. D. Smith's District in North Carolina during the Revolutionary War. All of this bears significant similarities to what one sees in the recent movie starring Mel Gibson, called "The Patriot".  If you have not seen this movie, we highly recommend it. It is available at video rental stores and on DVD.

We spent quite a lot of time searching in the genealogy section of the Salisbury Public Library a few years ago for documentation that might give us clues as to where the Stephan Goß family may have lived during their time in Rowan County. In all of our research, we have yet to find any possible references to the Stephan Goß family that would help document anything about where they may have lived during those years.

One of the places that would be worthwhile searching, would be in the records archives of the Beck Lutheran Church located in the Abbott's Creek area. This is one of the oldest churches in the area and was founded there as a Lutheran and Calvinist church in the mid-late 1700's. The Frederick Goss family attended this church and, according to Ms. Heuss, many records may be found there in reference to this family line. If the Stephan Goß family lived in this area, they may likely have attended this church as well. Thus we may find record of them in that church's archives as well. If not, then perhaps a search of other Lutheran churches' records in the circa 1775 Rowan County boundaries would yield some information on our ancestors.

So why did the Stephan Goß family move to the Virginia Frontier?   The effects of the war were likely one reason. A bigger reason was likely the problem that settlers in this area had in obtaining title to their land. In 1728 a half-century old land dispute between the colonies of Carolina and Virginia had been settled by the drawing of a new dividing line between them. In this same year, seven of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina sold their shares back to the King, then George I, and the area became a Crown or Royal Colony.

However, one of the Lords Proprietors -  "John Earl Granville, Viscount Carteret and Baron Carteret, of Hawes, County of Bedford, Kingdom of Great Britain, Lord President of his Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, and Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter" -  declined to sell.  Born in 1691, Granville, as a four-year-old, had inherited one-eighth of Carolina. His land was set off to him in 1744 by a deed, and it was roughly the upper half of North Carolina, a strip sixty miles in depth bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and on the west by the Pacific. The southern border of the Granville Proprietary was roughly the southern line of Rowan County.

Granville died in 1763, having never seen his North Carolina lands. His land office closed, and his heirs fully expected to resume business but never succeeded. Many of those settling on vacant land in this area during this time frame did so basically as "squatters" with the expectation that they would eventually be able to secure title to the land. Possessing no legal title to the land on which they lived, they remained virtually invisible in the records, not appearing on tax lists, in deed books, nor in will books, since they lacked official ownership of real property. Since the Stephan Goß family relocated to this area around 1765, they were of this group.

The newly formed State of North Carolina opened its land office in 1778. The Clerk of the Court often served as the entry-taker. The crush at the doors of the land office in counties within the Granville Proprietary was tight as men who may have been living on the land for as many as fifteen years sought to gain legal title to their places and stake a claim for other desireable "unoccupied" land. It is my guess that the Stephan Goß family encountered problems with this process that led them to seek elsewhere for land and a better place to settle the family "for good". Although the western Virginia Frontier was not totally untouched by the War for Indenpendence, it was certainly a little farther removed from the direct effects of its travesties. The land-form of the western Virginia territory was also likely more reminiscent of the area surrounding Strasbourg compared to the more gently rolling hills of Rowan County. The pioneering challenges presented by the western Virginia territory (not the least of which was the indian problem) may have seemed much better to them than the ones that they faced by remaining in Rowan County. With these things in mind, Stephan may have thought that the best opportunity for his family and their futures would be served by one final relocation. And if they indeed had problems obtaining title to land there in North Carolina, they may have had little choice. Of course we also know that the Sprachers, Spanglers, Litzes, and perhaps some other german families who were friends of theirs relocated along with them.

The family attended church at the nearby Zion Lutheran Church. The Reverend John Stanger founded the church, holding the first services outdoors. A pulpit was fashioned by mortising two poles, one above the other, between two trees. The "Pulpit Trees" are still visible there in part today. (A photo of them as they appear today and a painting of how they appeared with the "pulpit" back then is located in the Stephan Goß Family Photo Gallery of this Family History section of the website.)  John Stanger also raised crops to help feed his family and served somewhat as a general practice sort of doctor to the people living in the area. Some Gose descendants are related to the Stanger family by marriages between the two families.  (For more information on the founding of the Zion Church and John Stanger, go to the Zion Church Cemetery information in the Archives Section of this website.)

REVOLUTIONARY WAR TIMES IN THE VIRGINIA VALLEY

Stephan and his eldest son Christopher appear on the 1781 and 1782 Revolutionary War roll lists for Captain Newell's Militia Company, Montgomery County, Virginia: Company VA13. Not much is known of Stephan or Christopher's roles in the American Revolution, but descendants can officially claim DAR and SAR membership.

Stephan's name also appears on the 1782 Land Tax List for Montgomery County, Virginia, indicating his ownership and tax on a 150 acre parcel. The family did not move again after settling in the Cripple Creek area of the Virginia Valley. Although records also show that Stephan lived in Wythe County, Virginia, one must keep in mind that county boundaries changed as the population grew and larger county land areas were divided into other smaller counties. Wythe County was formed from part of Montgomery County in 1790. (See article on Virginia County Boundaries in the General Research Help section of this website)

MARRIAGE OF CHILDREN

The first of Stephan and Catherine's children to marry was their 3^rd born child, Elizabeth, who married Johann Jacob Kettenring in Wythe County in 1782. Their 2^nd born child, Stephen, Jr. was the second to marry - marrying Maria Barbara Kettenring, Johan's older sister, in ~1784. Their 1^st born child, Christopher, was actually the seventh to marry, waiting until he was 30 years old to marry Mary Elizabeth Litz.

Catherine and Elizabeth Spracher's brother, Christopher, was one of those who also relocated to the Cripple Creek area from Rowan County, North Carolina, and settled near the Stephan Goß family. Christopher (Stophel) Spracher (Spraker) was one of the appraisers for Stephan's estate when he died in 1799. Christopher Spracher died in 1830 and appears to be the first of many "Sprakers" to be buried in the Zion Cemetery at Cripple Creek.

(See tombstone survey for Zion Lutheran Church Cemetery compiled by Etthan Miller, located in the Archive section of this website.)

STEPHAN'S DEATH

Stephan (Stephen, Sr.) died without a will, but his estate was appraised by John Stanger (doctor, farmer, and pastor of the Zion Lutheran Church), David Buster, Adam "Kittering" (Kettering/Kettenring/Ketterling/Catron), and Stophel (Christopher) "Spraker" (Spracher) on August 10, 1799. At his death Stephan owned "adjoining tracts of land totaling 302 acres located on Sugar Run between Zion Church and Christopher Spraker's land to the east." He also owned "100 acres on Elk Creek, surveyed in 1789".  Elk Creek is about 12 miles south of Cripple Creek and in Grayson County which was formed in 1792 from a southern section of Wythe County. Stephan's two oldest sons, Christopher and Stephen also purchased land on Elk Creek and settled in that area for a short while after they married.

A list of the "chattels of Stephen Gose" may be viewed by clicking on this link.

Ownership shares of Stephan's land were divided among his children and their spouses as heirs. In 1803, Jacob, the first child born to Stephan and Lizzie in Virginia, purchased his older brothers' Stephen Jr.'s and John's undivided shares of their fathers land - a parcel totaling approximately 247 acres, for the price of $100. In 1809, Jacob purchased two additional tracts of their father's former land holdings from Christopher, Elizabeth, Peter, George, Barbara, Catherine, Philip, Mary, and Juliana and their families - one parcel of 247 acres and another of 55 acres. (Wythe County Deed Book 5, pages 327 & 172)

THE OLD CRIPPLE CREEK HOMESITE TODAY

We first visited the Cripple Creek area in 1993 and walked the grounds of the Zion Lutheran Church and the countryside to the east of the church where Stephan's family settled. We were unable to confirm the location of the family's homesite at that time. However, we did locate the homesite of George Gose, Jr. (which may also be the homesite of Stephan's third born son, George Gose, Sr.) and the nearby Mount Ephraim Methodist Church and cemetery where there are numerous Gose gravesites. The George Gose family home is still lived in and is located back up the road a little more than a mile from the general area where the Stephan Goß family settled.

Mrs. Irene P. Gose, widow of Robert Mitchell Gose, of Wytheville, Virginia served as our guide during this first visit to the area. Mrs. Gose is a retired schoolteacher for the Wytheville schools. She was a very gracious hostess and seemed to very much enjoy accompanying our family to the old homesite. She was quite correct when she later stated just before we left, "I made your day! …didn’t I?!!"  Yes Miss Irene, you certainly did!

The Zion Church still exists today.  Etthan has logged all of the names that could be read on the tombstones. There is a link to his Zion Cemetery Log in the Basic GOSE Research And Links section of this website and on our own Cemeteries page. A photo of the Zion Church as it exists today is located in the Stephan Goß Family Photo Gallery section as well.

Recently, through Etthan's efforts, we have filed a request for a replacement, military veteran style headstone for the grave of Stephen Gose, grandson of George Gose and great grandson of Stephan Goß, who died in 1863 during service in the Civil War.

DOCUMENTATION AND BOOKS

Several books have been published over the past years with reference to "the immigrant Stephen Gose who arrived at the port of Philadelphia September 22, 1752 from Rotterdam, on the ship 'Brothers'." Although some articles state that three other brothers immigrated to America, we find no record of their names. You may read more about this in another article contained in this section titled In Search Of Our Roots.

Several books that have been used as source data by various GOSE researchers over the years include, but are not limited to:

1. Annals of Tazewell County from 1800 to 1922, by John Newton Harman, Sr. (pub.1975)
2. Early Adventures on the Western Waters, Vol III, by Mary Kegley
3. The Gose Book, 1^st and 2nd editions, by Thelma Pearl Yost (1970)
   
4. Pioneers of the Virginia Bluegrass, by George B. Gose (1964)

DISCREPANCIES REQUIRING ATTENTION

While comparing the data listed above to other GOSE Family information observed by other GOSE Family Researchers, several discrepancies are noted. Without describing in detail the location of the various discrepancies, the following is offered as major areas that warrant further research and/or verification:

******************BIRTH DATE*******************

A review of the various data indicates Stephan was born in Germany in either 1719, 1738/1739, 1740 or 1745 and the following notes are offered:

From "The Gose Book - The Descendants of Stephen Mathus and Mary France Gerking Gose - Decatur, Wise County, TX" by Thelma Pearl Chitwood Yost:

"We had thought, based on research, and so had been told that he married Elizabeth Spracher (other spellings) the mother of our ancestor, of Philadelphia, now according to recent findings of Geo. B. Gose after publication of his book, Catherine, not Elizabeth is the mother of our ancestor, Christopher Gose. In examining the Baptismal Record, 1754-1774, kept by the Lutheran Minister, the Reverend David Schumacher for the counties of Lehigh and Northampton, PA. George B. Gose discovered that Christopher Goos (one comes across different spellings in the various records) was born April 30, 1760, the son of Stephen and Catherine Goos, and was baptized in Linn, Lynntownship, Lehigh, PA on May 15, 1760. The sponsers were Christopher Sprecher and his sister Elizabeth. Stephen was the father of fourteen children (the compiler has known this all of her life, seven boys and seven girls). It is now agreed that a previously unidentified girl died at birth and was the unamed twin to Stephen's daughter, Catherine. Catherine as Stephen's wife was upheld by Oka Litz Lower, in a letter to the writer's sister, Mary Helen Chitwood Hoover, she even gives the pages of these Baptismal Records (77-106) and she found in these same records one more name, a John Stephen the second child of Stephen Gose and wife Catherine. She and the descendants in her line have always given Catherine as the wife of Stephen, her grandfather and aunt also tried to fix accurate records and did research. She had the same thing for Christopher that George B. Gose had. Oka's father was Leonard Litz, and her line is through Philip, the 9th child of Stephen. So, according to this information, Catherine would be the mother of at least the first nine children. Oka also got the birth dates of Philip and his wife from the cemetery in Burkes Garden in the fall of 1967 and she has this to say about the North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia locations or residences: "There is a tradition passed down that Stephen Gose first lived in Pennsylvania, then Rowan County, North Carolina and later moved to Wythe County, Virginia, so if you check the information on your sheet" (I suppose she enclosed a sheet), you will see that it is correct. Moreover, the DAR lineage chart sent in by Merle Waggoner gives Catherine as the wife of the immigrant Stephen and the mother of Philip." This also fits with the tradition that this immigrant, Stephen came over to this country or left home at the age of 14, this estimated birth on the chart is about 1745, and is much more in line with the 14 years at or near immigration than the here-to-fore estimated birth of 1719. Moreover a letter from Harry Gose of June 8, 1969 to the compiler and another from Harry to T.J. Waggoner, September 18, 1966, furnishes further evidence that Stephen married Elizabeth as his second wife and this together with the chart can be brought in line with the family tradition that he married Elizabeth Spracher at the age of 40. 'Elizabeth Spracher married our ancestor, Stephen Gose after he moved to Virginia, about 1779 from Pennsylvania' Incidently, Harry's statement was based on remarks of the mother of the Recorder of Wytheville, a Mr. Crockett, whose grandmother was a Gose. . . We do know that Stephen Gose bought land there in 1782. Perhaps he did not marry Elizabeth until after that. The Lineage Chart gives Stephen's birth at about 1745, which might have been 1740 or 1742 or even 1743. Even if he had been born in 1745, forty added to that would be 1785, which could still be a possible wedding date for immigrant, Stephen. We only know that, or have been told, that he married Elizabeth after he moved to Virginia from Pennsylvania."

From page 10 of "Pioneers Of The Virginia Bluegrass", by George B. Gose, Commonwealth Press, Virginia, 1964:

..."Stephen died in 1799 and is probably buried in the cemetery at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church on Cripple Creek where many grave stones without inscriptions may be seen. The old church records are written in German and record the birth and baptismal dates of numerous pioneers living on Cripple Creek and other communities fifty miles or more distant. In these records, the name Gose was spelled Gooss, Goss and finally Gose. The first church services were held at Zion under the trees by John Stanger, a minister, doctor and farmer. A pulpit was made by two poles mortised one above the other into two trees."

This article was compiled and written by Ted Gose, 12/99 and last revised 1/2003

If you believe any of the above information is incorrect or have additional information to contribute, please contact us!


gosegen@gose.us

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