Family Genealogy - Gertner Family Genealogy
The information on the GERTNER family is a combined effort. A large portion of the information was provided by my cousin CLARK GERTNER along with various photos. His generosity in sharing this information is what has made this page possible.
John GERTNER was born on 31 May 1826 in the Bavarian Province of Germany.
In the year 1848 he left his home and sailed for America, arriving in the
Port of New York. He settled in what was known as Indian country at
that time in a small town called Fremont Center in Sullivan County, New
York. This meant that he spent considerable time clearing the land
and building his own home. The land in this area had been left as the Indians
had left it.After he cleared the land, he began farming his land. Most probably it was a general farm. Make no mistake, this was a hard life, nothing like living in a city or in the outskirts of one.
In 1853 he married Maria Anna KENZIER in Fremont Center and it was there that they made their first home. Maria and John became the parents of nine children, seven of whom are currently known. They were Anna, Jacob, John, Joseph, Charles, Henry and Cecilia.
They Lived in Fremont Center for 15 years , during which time all of the children were born. In 1868 they packed up and moved west to Ohio, first settling in Miamisburg, Montgomery County, Ohio where John continued farming.
The 1870 Federal Census shows that John was a widower by then, indicating that wife Maria had died sometime after November 1867, when their last known child, Cecilia, was born, and prior to 1870. At this time it is not known if Maria died in New York or in Ohio. The search is still on!
In 1874, John and his family moved from Miamisburg to Piqua City located in Miami County, Ohio, to farmland located on North Covington Pike, where he continued working in farming. John lived in Piqua until his death on 24 November 1900 which occurred in the home of his son, John A. Gertner, located on South Adams Street in Piqua.
Son Jacob Andrew GERTNER married Mary Frances RAKE on 23 December 1880 in Indiana and they had three known children, Mary, Elizabeth and Edward.
Son John married Barbara ECKERT in Piqua. They had three children who it seems died at birth or shortly after.
Son Joseph married Florence M. KIRKPATRICK in Scotland County, Missouri on 30 March 1889. They had five children, four of which the names are currently known: Frank, Paul, Albert and John.
Daughter Anna appears to have died sometime between 1880 and 1900, prior to her father's death. It is unknown at this time if she ever married and had children of her own.
Daughter Cecilia, the youngest known child of John and Maria, married Anthony BOGA in 1889. They moved to Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio where Anthony was employed by the city of Dayton. They had six children, Albin, Irma, Clara, Beatrice, Mary, and Edward.
Son Henry, born on the first of February in the year 1865, married Catherine ECKERT, sister of brother John's wife, Barbara, on 29 September 1891. They had one child, a son named Leo John who was born on the 18th of June in 1892. Sadly, Henry became a widower at the young age of 29 when Catherine died on 10 June 1894 of consumption.
Sometime after Catherine's death, Henry met Anna Katherine SCHNELL, the daughter of Margaretha KÖHLER and Mathias SCHNELL, a boat builder born in Fridingen, in the Baden province of Germany. Mathias and Margaretha were highly respected members of St. Boniface Church and the community at large. There is a stained glass window in their memory in St. Boniface church in Piqua. Most likely Henry and Anna met through their church.
On 4 May 1898, Henry married Anna in St. Boniface church. They resided with her mother, who was at that time widowed, her husband having died in 1895, at 803 South Main Street in Piqua. In December 1908, Margaretha KÖHLER SCHNELL died and just over one year later, in 1910, Henry and family moved to Rochester, Monroe County, New York.
They came to Rochester by train, Leo and daughter Margaret, the oldest child of Henry and Anna, going ahead with their father to help set things up at the hotel Henry was to manage on West Avenue in Rochester. The 1910 census supports this information as the family is enumerated in both Piqua and Rochester only days apart.
In approximately 1913, Henry moved his family to Kirkland Road in Rochester where he built their home with his own hands. He continued to manage the hotel on West Avenue and also a saloon on Front Street. In later years he worked in the trucking business.
Anna SCHNELL GERTNER died on the 29th of November in the year 1938 in the hospital due to complications arising after surgery for a broken hip. Daughter Margaret was with her when she died. Her death was caused by a blood clot that had formed while she was recuperating in her hospital bed. The day of her death was the first day she had been permitted to leave her bed. The movement caused the blood clot to move and ultimately cause her death.
Henry lived another 10 years until the age of 83. He died on 19 June 1948 of a heart attack. Henry and Anna are buried beside one another in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rochester.
Henry's son, Leo John, from his first marriage, died on the 14th of December in 1956. He rests beside his wife, Sophia HOMAN, in the Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester. They had no children.
Daughter Margaret Ann, so named for her grandmother, Margaretha KÖHLER SCHNELL, married Carl Francis WATTEL in 1923 in Rochester, Monroe County, New York.
Son Charles Henry GERTNER married Marion HARVEY in 1925 in Rochester. Daughters Mary and Isabel became nurses and never married.
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