Maria "Elizabeth"
(Meinert) Gaumer
(1730-1802)
Maria "Elizabeth" (Meinert) Gaumer was born on June 10, 1730, possibly in Germany or in Upstate New York, the daughter of our immigrant ancestors, Friedrich and Eva Maria (Weber) Meinert Sr.
On Oct. 5, 1748, at the age of 18, Elizabeth married widower Johannes Dietrich Gaumer Sr. (1722-1794). He was born on Jan. 12, 1722 at Bingenon the Rhine, Germany, perhaps the son of John Adam Gaumer. It is not known when Johannes Dietrich came to America.
Johannes Dietrich’s first wife was Catherine Eigner (1723-1747), of Longswamp Twp., Berks County, PA, daughter of John Mathias and Anna Elizabeth Egner. They had one son, Matthias Gaumer. Just six months after his first wife died, on July 10, 1747, Johannes Dietrich married Elizabeth Meinert.
In 1750, Elizabeth gave birth to twins – Johann "John" Gaumer and Johann Frederick Gaumer -- the first of their 11 children. Their other children were Johann Heinrich Gaumer, Johann Jacob Gaumer, Johann George Gaumer, Mary Catharine Gaumer, Johann Dietrich Gaumer Jr., Maria Gertrude Meitzler, Johann Adam Gaumer, Elisabetha Schanckweiler, Peter Gaumer and Jacob Gaumer.
Johannes
Dietrich and Elizabeth resided in Macungie Twp., Northampton County, PA.
He may have founded a Lutheran church with his father – the Zion Union Church
– near Allentown, PA.
Johannes Dietrich passed away in 1794, and is buried at the Zion Union Cemetery. Elizabeth outlived him by about eight years, and died on Jan. 17, 1802 in Macungie Twp. She also rests for eternity at Zion Union.
Demonstrating that German language and customs were passed down several generations in this branch, the grave marker of their grandson Heinrich Gaumer (1780-1846) is written in German, in the old gothic script. The well-preserved gravestone, seen here, is at the cemetery of the Zion Lutheran Church in Alburtis, PA.
The sense of the German culture of our ancestors was once strong. In other branches of our family, the German language also continued to be spoken fluently until the time of the Civil War, and on into the 20th century.
Many thanks to the late Marguerite (Lepley) Cockley of Meyersdale, Somerset County, PA, who provided Gaumer family manuscripts which provide the facts for the Gaumer biographies on this website. These papers may be based on Myrtle Knepper Weniger's work, The Gaumer Family and Allied Lines.
Copyright © 2000-2001, 2007 Mark A. Miner