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Friedrich 'Frederick' Gaumer |
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Hannah's grave, Solomon's Church Courtesy Kenneth Schaeffer |
Friedrich was married twice. On Oct. 27, 1801, at the age of 23, he was joined in wedlock with his first wife, Salome "Sallie" Däsch ( ? - ? ), also spelled "Desch," daughter of German immigrants Adam and Gertrude Däsch.
Salome's father had emigrated from Württemberg and obtained land two miles south of Macungie Township, which he patented on Sept. 23, 1788. Later, in 1793, the father acquired an adjoining 179 acres from Conrad and Hannah Haas. During the American Revolutionary War, Salome's brother Philip is said to have been captured by Tories and died as a prisoner in Norristown, Montgomery County, PA.
The Gaumers went on to produce four children together -- Carl B. "Charles" Gaumer, Hannah Gaumer, Susanna Gaumer and Samuel Gaumer Sadly, the youngest three all died in infancy between the years 1804 and 1807.
Salome's fate may be lost to the mists of historical time.
Later, by 1810, he was united in holy matrimony with Hannah Bader (1790-1857), daughter of Peter and Hanna Bader. There was a 12-year difference in their ages.
Hannah had been baptized in the Zion Lehigh Evangelical Lutheran Church of Alburtis, Lehigh County on April 3, 1791, at the age of 4 months. Serving as the baby girl's sponsors were Philip Herman and Catharina Eisenhard.
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Hannah's grave, Solomon's Courtesy Kenneth Schaeffer |
Sadness cascaded over the young family when Friedrich passed away in 1811, at the age of 33. His death left left behind his wife and two young sons. The cause of his untimely demise is not yet known.
Hannah lived for another 46 years as his widow. She suffered through deep heartbreak in 1842 at the passing of her only son, Elias, leaving behind a widow and two children.
When the federal census enumeration was made in 1850, Hannah at age 60 lived under the roof of farmers Stephen and Levina (Trexler) Schmoyer in Lower Macungie. It's not known what her relationship to the Schmoyers might have been.
She joined her long-dead husband in death on Feb. 3, 1857, in her 67th year. Evidence suggests that she had prepared a last will.
Interment was made in the sacred soil of Solomons United Church of Christ Cemetery in Macungie. Although blackened with age, her grave marker is upright and legible today and inscribed in English. [Find-a-Grave]
This branch of the Gaumer clan is spelled out in Myrtle Knepper Weniger's work, The Gaumer Family and Allied Lines.
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Copyright © 2000, 2015, 2016, 2018-2020, 2026 Mark A. Miner |
| Kenneth Schaeffer and Myrtle (Knepper) Weniger's work, The Gaumer Family and Allied Lines, have contributed valuable content for this biography. |