By
Melinda Cohenour
The Cohenour Line
My husband is Rod Cohenour. He is descended from a long
line of Cohenours with an intriguing past, many interesting characters,
and so many stories! This is a new series, undertaken with the desire to
capture his family history (which is now, of course, MY family history
as well). This first installment will merely cover the bases: his
direct ancestral lineage and the earliest known patriarch of that line.
The Name – in all its variations: (It has
been said the Library of Congress recognizes at least 64 various
spellings of the surname COHENOUR attached to the same genetic family
line.)
The family originally spelled the surname
Gochenour according to my best research. In the Alsace-Lorraine region
of France, “Goch” meant hill. “Gochen” referred to people who lived on
the hill. “Gochenour” referred to people who formerly resided on the
Hill but had removed to another location. Thus, per this version, Rod’s
family became the Gochenour folks.
Other meanings ascribed to the name Cohenour include this reference to one of the original variant surnames: Gochenauer.
“Americanized
spelling of Swiss German Gauchenauer, a habitational name from a place
named Gauchenau, named with Alemannic gauch(e) 'cuckoo', 'fool' + au
'water meadow' (Middle High German ouwe). Similar surnames: Cochenour,
Ridenour, Gochanour, Gochenaur, Gochnour, Cohenour.”
Given this meaning, it would appear the family may
have been associated with the husbandry of water fowl (geese?) in a high
meadow pond or lake. Interesting.
With the extensive accepted spellings of this
family’s surname, the meanings ascribed thereto must be equally as
formidable. Here, for example are a few of the accepted spellings as
listed by William A. Gouchenour, Jr. in the family newsletter “The Trail
Seekers” he formerly published:
Cnowers,
Cocannouer, Cocanougher, Cocanour, Cocanower, Cochanauer, Cochenheim,
Cochenauer, Cochenaur, Cochenour, Cochnauer, Coconer, Coeghnower,
Coghanour, Coghenower, Coghrican, Cohener, Cohenhour, Cohenour, Cohnour,
Cohonoor, Cokenouer, Cokenour, Coconaugher, Cokonougher, Connour,
Conour, Couckenauer, Coughanour, Coughenour, Coukenhour, Gaachanuwer,
Gaachenauers, Gachenauwer, Gachennouwer, Gachenower, Gachnauwer,
Gachnouwer, Gachnower, Gacughenower, Gauchenauwer, Gauchnour, Gechnauer,
Gocehnauer, Gochanauwer, Gochaneur, Gochanour, Gochenauer, Gochenaur,
Gochenour, Gochenouwer, Gochnauer, Gochnour, Gockenaur, Gockenuer,
Gogghnour, Gognour, Gognouwer, Gognower, Gouchenour, Goughenour,
Goughnour, Kegechower, Kegenhower, Kerschner, Kochenauer, Kochenouer,
Kochmour, Kochnouer, Kockemohr, Kockemoor, Kockenouer, Kocknower,
Kognauwer, Kohenor, Kokanour, Konouar, Konour, and other variant
spellings.
The Heritage – The earliest ancestor your author has
been able to find was documented in a family history book compiled and
written by Debra Kay Cohenour entitled, simply, “Cohenour History.” She
indicates the earliest known ancestor was named Basthli Sebastian
Gachnouwer or Gachenower:
BASTHLI SEBASTIAN
GACHNOUWER I was born on 20 Jan 1543 in Goch, Germany . He married
ADELHEIT HEIDI HUBER before 1565. She was born in 1538. Basthli
Sebastian: Basthli Sebastian Gachnouwer I was also known as Basthli
Gachenower. Basthli Sebastian Gachnouwer I and Adelheit Heidi Huber had
the following children: i. GEORGE GACHNOUWER . He married MARIA WEBBER
in 1589. ii. ANNA GACHNOUWER was born on 1 Jul 1565 in Fischenthal,
Zürich, Switzerland. Notes for Anna Gachnouwer: The Parish of
Fischenthal is located in the southeast section of Canton Zürich. This
Parish has kept a register where the births, marriages and deaths of
many parishioners are listed. The record, as many ancient records, is
not complete nor perfect. They are said to date back to 1546 although
the earliest Gachnouwer record is the Baptism of Anna in 1565. iii.
SEBASTIAN GACHNOUWER II. He married ELIZABETH PFENNIGER in 1586 in
Fischenthal, Zürich, Switzerland.
The above-referenced George (Jorg) Gachnouwer (who wed
Maria Webber) is said to have fathered eleven children; however, no
complete record of those offspring has been found. The only documented
child of that union was Jacob Gachnouwer, born 1600 in Zurich,
Switzerland, where 28 May 1624 he wed Margaretha Peter, daughter of Jorg
Peter and (wife) Barbara Meyer Peter. This marriage was a critical
milestone in the history of the Cohenour family for her parents were
among the very first converts to the Anabaptist faith in Switzerland
back in 1522. Jacob converted to the Anabaptist faith thus sealing the
fate of himself and, later, his descendants. The story as told by Debra
Kay Cohenour reads as follows:
Jacob Gachnouwer
was born about 1600. Jacob is the first member of the family known to be
converted to the Anabaptist-Mennonite Faith. He became engaged to
Margaretha Peter on 07 May 1624 in Fischenthal, Zürich, Switzerland.
This fact is known because on that day a great argument was noted in the
Church records. Jacob and Margaretha wanted to be married but the
Catholic Church required that they wait two weeks. The Catholic Church
was the State Church. Apparently the Priest and Jacob had words. They
married on 28 May 1624 in Zürich, Switzerland. Margaretha's family had
been followers of Menno Simons since the beginning of the sect in 1522.
In the years that followed, the Catholic Church records have many
entries referring to Jacob as the "bad Anabaptist". Jacob would not
allow his babies to be baptized. They were taken from him and baptized
by the Priest with good Catholic sponsors from the community. Jacob was
well aware of the penalties for his beliefs as many fellow believers had
been hung, beheaded, drowned, or burned at the stake in Zürich. He was
put into prison between December 1638 and July 1641 at Othenbach Convent
Prison. His wife was exiled; his children became wards of the State,
and his farm seized. His wife relocated to Alsace, France with the
Anabaptist's Mission there. His eldest daughter, Elzbeth, had married a
Catholic, Hans Kagi. They purchased the farm from the State and took in
the three youngest Gachnouwer children. Other children were placed in
Catholic families as apprentices. Upon his release in 1641, he was
exiled. However, he returned to Zürich to gather his children and was
captured. He was again imprisoned in 1644. The guards mistakenly
released him after the Treaty of Westphalia was signed. They must have
thought he was a Protestant. He moved what members of the family he
could find to Ohnenheim, Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France in 1649.
Thus, the Cohenour family immigrated to Alsace,
France, seeking a safe and secure homeland in which to practice their
faith. This haven, however, would soon become the Hellhole that nearly
wiped out the entire line.
From Wikipedia, we find:
The Swiss Brethren are a branch of Anabaptism that started in Zürich,
spread to nearby cities and towns, and then was exported to neighboring
countries. Today's Swiss Mennonite Conference can be traced to the Swiss
Brethren.
In 1525, Felix Manz, Conrad Grebel, George Blaurock and other
radical evangelical reformers broke from Ulrich Zwingli and formed a new
group because they felt reforms were not moving fast enough.
Rejection of infant baptism was a distinguishing belief of the Swiss
Brethren. On the basis of Sola scriptura doctrine, the Swiss Brethren
declared that since the Bible does not mention infant baptism, it should
not be practiced by the church. This belief was subsequently rejected
by Ulrich Zwingli. Consequently, there was a public dispute, in which
the council affirmed Zwingli's position. This solidified the Swiss
Brethren and resulted in their persecution by all other reformers as
well as the Catholic Church.
Because of persecution by the authorities, many Swiss Brethren moved
from Switzerland to neighboring countries. The Swiss Brethren became
known as Mennonites after the division of 1693, a disagreement between
groups led by Jacob Amman and Hans Reist. Many of the Mennonites in
France, Southern Germany, the Netherlands and North America, as well as
most Amish descend from the Swiss Brethren.
The Cohenour History recites the following: “Heinrich
Gachnauwer is the only known family member to survive the slaughter of
Anabaptists in Alsace, France that occurred about 1670. He escaped to
Heidelberg, Germany where his son, Joseph Gochenour, was born in 1677.
Joseph married Frena Musselman in 1725. She passed away before 1732,
perhaps the victim of war.”
This is my husband’s line. The next chapter in
this series will trace Joseph’s descendants as they make their way to
America where they continued to adhere to their strong beliefs and
dedicate themselves to the pursuit of freedom, honor, integrity, and
family.
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