Rev. Jacob Gaedschalk

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Husband Rev. Jacob Gaedschalk ¹

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            AKA: Rev. Jacob Gottshall 1
           Born: Abt 1670
     Christened: 
           Died: 1763 2
         Buried: 

       Marriage: 

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Wife

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           Born: 
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Children

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1 M Gottshall Gottshall ³

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           Born: 1693 3
     Christened: 
           Died: 1748 3
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Eva Custer (      -      ) 3

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2 M John Gottshall ³

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 1759 3
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Helen [Unk] (      -      ) 3

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3 M Herman Gottshall ³

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

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4 F Anna Gottshall ³

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           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Peter Custer (      -      ) 3

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5 F Magdalena Gottshall ³

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            AKA: M. Godshalk
           Born: 
     Christened: 
           Died: Bef 1763
         Buried: 

         Spouse: William Nash (Abt 1694-Abt 1768) 4 5

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General Notes: Husband - Rev. Jacob Gaedschalk

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Rev. Jacob Gaedschalk, the common ancestor of the numerous Gottshall families in America, was born about 1670. Came from Gog, in the community of Cleeves,* near the border of Holland and the Rhine country, came to America, some historians say in 1699, but it is more likely that he came and settled in Germantown, in 1702. Here he united with the Mennonite congregation and was soon elected a deacon of the church and later he was elected a minister. At the same time Hans Neus was also elected a minister, but he failed to accept the call and soon separated himself from the church on account of a difficulty he had with one of the members, feeling that injustice had been done to him, and never returned. In 1720 Neus purchased a tract of land, 750 acres, in Frederick Township and made that his home where he became the ancestor of the numerous Nice family.
In 1708 Gottshall wrote to Holland in which he gave the history of the origin of the Germantown Mennonite church, also stating the fact that Rev. William Rittenhouse had died in the month of March, 1708, to the great sorrow of the congregation; and that now he was the only surviving minister. On May 9, 1708 eleven persons were baptized and added to the church, and two weeks later, May 23, 1708, the communion of the Lord's Supper was administered. At these services Rev. Gottshall officiated. These two services were the first baptismal and communion services conducted by Mennonites in America.
On October 21, 1702, Gottshall purchased a tract of fifty acres of land from Isaac Shoemaker. On this tract he erected a quaint, low but substantial, house and lived there for twelve years, when he removed to Towamencin Township. The house fronted on Germantown Avenue. The exact spot was later given the address 5273 Germantown Avenue, a close neighbor to Dennis Conrad, one of the original settlers in Germantown, who came in 1683 to America on the good ship Concord.
A deed on record in Philadelphia recites the fact that Rev. Gottshall purchased 120 acres of land from James Shattuck in Towamencin Township. The consideration of this purchase being 36 pounds. The deed bears date of February 30, 1713-4 and was acknowledged April 20, 1714.
At the same time his son Gottshall Gottshall purchased from the same party 120 acres, adjoining his father's tract. The consideration was the same and the deed bears the same dates as that of his father's.
In 1708 Gottshall joined with four other brethren in a letter to Amsterdam, asking for some catechisms for the children and little testaments for the young, stating that only one Bible was among the membership of the church.
In 1728 the Mennonite confession of faith was translated into English and printed by Bradford, in Philadelphia, and Gottshall was one of the signers testifying to the correctness of the translation.
Again on October 19, 1745, he joined with five others asking for assistance to translate Martyr's Mirror from the Dutch into German. Altho no answer came from Holland the brethren in America arranged for the translation and had the book printed at Ephrata. Gottshall and Dielman Kolb carefully read and corrected the proofs. Rev. Gottshall was a literary man and capable in three languages, Dutch, German and English.
Rev. Gottshall made his will in 1760, indicating that he was a man of great age and as to occupation he says, "Formerly while I was able a turner." He died in 1763, aged about ninety-seven years. While it is not known where his mortal remains are buried, but it is only natural to suppose that he was buried in the grave yard adjoining the Towamencin Mennonite Church, near Kulpsville. His wife, whose name is not known, died prior to 1706.



* NOTE. The congregation whence Rev. Gottshall came was at Cleeves. This church was established in 1550. The membership of this church has dwindled according to the last report to about 30 members and services are conducted there by Pastor Kreamer of the Crefeld Church. At the instance of Miss Leendertz, of Cleeves, the surviving daughter of the last minister of this congregation, with the co-operation of Henry Miller, deacon of the Crefeld Church, the prop- erty of the congregation, including the church buildings, have been transferred to the custody of the Crefeld Church. The articles of agreement to this transfer have been concluded before the Notary, Dr. Lingdens, in Cleeves, bearing date of June 5, 1906.
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1 Rev. N. B. Grubb, A Genealogical History of the Gottshall Family (Gottshall Family Association, 1924), Pg 14.

2 Rev. N. B. Grubb, A Genealogical History of the Gottshall Family (Gottshall Family Association, 1924), Pg 15.

3 Rev. N. B. Grubb, A Genealogical History of the Gottshall Family (Gottshall Family Association, 1924), Pg 16.

4 John W. Jordan, History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Genealogical Memoirs, Vol. II (Chicago, IL: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906), Pg 340.

5 Rev. A. J. Fretz, A Genealogical Record of the Descendants of Martin Oberholtzer (Milton, NJ: The Evergreen News, 1903), Pg 1.