Johann Wilhelm Gorkum (1713 - 1783)

Born 27 Aug 1713 in Westhofen, Kurfürstentum Pfalz, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Ancestors

Husband of Maria Sophia Catharina (Spiess) Gorkum — married 27 Jan 1739 in Westhofen, Kurfürstentum Pfalz, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Descendants

Died 10 Apr 1783 at age 69 in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia

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Biography

Johann Wilhelm GORKUM was born on 27 Aug 1713 in Westhofen, Germany. He was baptized on 3 Sep 1713 in Reformed Church, Westhofen, Rhine Palatine, Germany.^[1] He married Maria Sophia Catharina Spiess in 1739.^[2] He died and was buried on 10 Apr 1783 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.^[3][4]

When his mother, a widow, died in 1735 Johann Wilhelm and his brother Johann Henrich inherited from his mother the half of the Schaben Mill their father had owned. Johann Henrich died two months later which left Johann Wilhelm sole owner of the half share of the mill. The other half was owned by Johann Wilhelm Fehlinger. The Gorkum's were unable to get along with the Fehlinger's as evidenced by a court case in 1744 where the judge ordered them to share the mill separately on alternate weeks. The difficulties may have continued as in 1746 Johann Wilhelm sold his half of the mill ending our family's 92 years in the Schaben Mill. He last appeared in the official documents of Westhofen as a citizen in 1750. The history of the mill is a chapter in a book published by Julius Grünewald.^[5] Presumably the Gorkum's and the Fehlinger's must have patched up their differences after no longer being partners as the Fehlinger's were the Godparents at the baptism of Johann Wilhelm Gorkum's son, Johann Hermann in the records of the Reformed Church of Westhofen in 1751.^[6]

Johann Wilhelm Gorkum was our emigrant ancestor to Canada. The circumstances which brought him and his family to Canada are not only interesting but an important part of Canadian history, and therefore we are lucky to be able to have such a good understanding of the events of which Johann Wilhelm was a part.

In 1749, an Englishman, Colonel Edward Cornwallis, became governor of Nova Scotia and in that same year founded the city of Halifax. Attempts to first colonize it with fellow Englishmen, mainly soldiers and sailors, weren't very successful, and so the next year Cornwallis requested the British Lords of Trade to send out more suitable settlers, preferably German farmers.

The government made a contract with a man named John Dick to transport them, which he did for the next three summers. Hundreds of people made the voyage, drawn by the alluring handbills that had been circulated around the country in the German tongue. The British government promised that all the Germans who came to Nova Scotia would be given 50 acres of land free from all rent and taxes for ten years, and would be given food and clothing for the first year they lived there. They were also promised guns and ammunition, tools for building houses and for farming and clearing the land, and for fishing.

Johann Wilhelm, at the time a 39-year-old from Westhofen and his wife Sophia Catherina, 30 and their six surviving children, ranging in age from one to 13. left Germany aboard one of these government-chartered ships, the "Pearl"^[7] which sailed from Rotterdam on June 6, 1752 bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia. The "Pearl" arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia on August 22* with 212 surviving passengers - 39 had died.^[8] (*Gregorian calendar which we use today. Britain still used the Julian calendar at that time.)

Also on the ship was his brother, Johann Hermann and his wife and six children, ranging in age from 13 to 23. As for the rest of the brothers' birth family, their parents had already died and all of their siblings except perhaps a sister, Elizabeth. Sadly, both Johann Herman and his wife died either on board the Pearl or shortly after.

The 1752 Halifax Victualling list, from August to October 1752 lists the following Gorkums: Wilhelm and Sophia (the parents), Wilhelm (2nd), Anna Maria, John George, Johannes, George, and Hermann^[9] and Anna Maria, Anna Barbara, John Henrich, Wilhelm, Elizabeth, and Maria Dorothea.^[10] The final six were the children of Wilhelm's brother Hermann.

The presence of about 2,500 of the German emigrants to Halifax soon proved to be not as desirable as they first had seemed, since none of the land that had been promised there had been cleared or even marked out for them because of the threat of the Micmac Indians, they were forced to inactivity. Settled on a pair of roughlanes, Brunswick and Gottingen, running north from the Citadel slope and huddled together in boarded barracks, they quickly became a burden and expense to the authorities, as well as becoming very discontent among themselves.

In 1753 an uneasy peace was made with the Indians, and the fact brought relief to "the Palatines" as they were generally known. Cornwallis had been anxious to make another strong settlement on the coast, and so took this opportunity to do so, moving almost all of the Germans to what is now called Lunenburg. Each man was given a town lot, a garden lot and a farm near the town, the lots being drawn using a pack of cards.

We see the family on the list of persons victualled at Halifax in 1752 and 1753 and at Lunenburg in 1755, 1756 and 1757. In 1756, Wilhelm took part in the Cattle Drive - Capt. John Steignfort with 50 armed men went from Lunenburg to Minas Basin to bring some cattle and horses, confiscated from the French Acadians, to Lunenburg. Wilhelm appears to have been possibly in charge of a small group of men on that drive. And in 1758, he was a Private in the Indian Patrol. In the early years of Lunenburg, the natives were hostile and attacked and killed some of the settlers, especially those on their 30 acre lots. The attacks became so serous that the Militia was convened in Lunenburg and went out looking for the natives. The patrol consisted of one Regular Officer and 23 of his regular troops, and 80 Militia men. Capt. Christopher Jessen commanding. It appears that natives were never encountered on these patrols.^[11]

In 1753 on arrival at Lunenburg, Wilhelm received town lot number F-7 in Zouberbuhler's Division.^[12] This lot was on the corner of Fox and Cornwallis Streets where the front door of Zion Lutheran Church is located today.^[13] The 40'x60' lots proved too small to grow enough crops for food so an additional garden lot (about ¼ acre) was provided just outside of town (in today's community of Garden Lots) and Wilhelm received Lot C-12 in the Second Division.^[14] He received a 30-acre farm lot E-1 in South Division^[15] located about at the end of the road in today's Feltzen South.^[16] Finally he received a 300-acre forest lot E-3 in First Division.^[17] located on today's Oak Hill Road near Bridgewater approximately opposite the former Bowater saw mill.^[18] In 1762, Wilhelm sold his town lot to Christian Kuhn and in 1770 he purchased ½ of a 30-acre farm lot from Frederick Heison.^[19] This was lot C-10 in Mahone Bay, about where the Bayview Cemetery is located today.^[20] We have no idea where the family lived after 1762. Possibly they may have built a home on the farm at Feltzen South but that is only speculation at this point. We also do not know why he purchased a smaller farm in Mahone Bay ... maybe he sold the one in Feltzen South ... again just speculation. One would have to investigate historical land deeds to find these answers.

Personal tragedy struck in 1753 as Johann Wilhelm and Sophia Catharina lost two of their children; their youngest, Johann Hermann, at the age of 2 and Johann Georg at the age of 10. They also outlived their son Johannes, who died in 1772 aged 26, leaving a widow and child. However, the couple had three more children after their arrival in Nova Scotia: Christopher Adam in 1754, Johann Gottlieb Edward in 1757 and Johann Peter in 1760. All married and had families.

The family appears in the Nova Scotia Census of 1770 in Lunenburg.^[21] William Gorkum's family consists of one man, one woman, and four boys, which matches for Wilhelm, Sophia, and the four youngest boys still at home. The older ones had married.

Johann Wilhelm himself died and was buried on April 10, 1783 in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia at the age of 69 years. His wife Sophia outlived him by about 10 years. They had at least 65 grandchildren, and there are innumerable descendants today.

Occupation

Occupation: Was a miller in Westhofen and a farmer in Lunenburg

Immigration

Immigration:

Date: 6 Jun 1752 departed Rotterdam, 11 August 1752 arrived Halifax

Place: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Note: Immigrant to NS on the 'Pearl' in 1752, arriving at Halifax. Family is from Gorinchem in the Netherlands, but had lived near Wesel for two generations, then near Westhofen for three generations, before emigrating to Canada.

Note

His name was von Gorckum at emigration to Canada, soon changed to Gorkum (and variants), and then to Corkum. Terrence Punch notes that the name in Gorinchem or Gorkum, Holland, was originally "Henrichs" ^[22]

Sources

1. ↑ Reformed Church book, Westhofen 1650-1723. Transcribed by Julius Grünewald in 1992. "Johann Wilhelm, born to Johann Heinrich von Gorckum, miller, and Maria Margaretha, married. Godparent, Master Henrich Keller, Miller of Mühlheim in the name of his little son Johann Wilhelm. Born 27th August, Baptized 3rd, September 1713. Page 192/18." (see picture attached)
2. ↑ Notes from Julius Grünewald, Westhofen Historian, to Vivian Corkum in 1992.
3. ↑ FamilySearch, Image 916 Burial records of the Dutch Reformed Church, Lunenburg
4. ↑ Lunenburg County Church Records (Stevens Collection) Lunenburg Zion Evangelical Lutheran Burials 1773-1825 (It is odd that the burial is recorded in both the records of the Zion Lutheran Church and in the records of the Dutch Reformed Church.)
5. ↑ Julius Grünewald. "Von Westhofener Häusern und Leuten", Westhofen, 1984, pp. 102-105.
6. ↑ Reformed Church book, Westhofen 1724-1783 Transcribed by Julius Grünewald in 1992. "Johann Hermann, born to Wilhelm Gorcum, parishioner, and Sophia Catherina, his wife. Godparents, Johann Hermann Fehlinger, citizen and master miller, with his wife Anna Maria. Born 27th June Baptized 2nd July, 1751. Page 70/19."
7. ↑ "Pearl" Passenger List
8. ↑ "Register of the Foreign Protestants of Nova Scotia (Ca. 1749-1770)", Winthrop Pickard Bell, and J. Christopher Young, 2003. p. 10.
9. ↑ Bell, p. 189
10. ↑ Bell, p. 191
11. ↑ Bell, p. 189
12. ↑ FamilySearch Nova Scotia Probate Records, Image 63
13. ↑ "Maps Associated With Lunenburg County Family History", J. Christopher Young (2003), p. 29
14. ↑ Young, p. 54
15. ↑ FamilySearch Nova Scotia Probate Records, Image 29
16. ↑ Young, p. 95
17. ↑ FamilySearch Nova Scotia Probate Records, Image 106
18. ↑ Young, p. 100 (incorrectly numbered E6, should be E3)
19. ↑ The Wizard's Cove Archived web site of the late J. Christopher Young
20. ↑ Young, p. 80
21. ↑ Nova Scotia Archives Census of 1770 (Line 10)
22. ↑ (NSG Vol. XV/2, p. 96.)

• Gorinchem to Lunenburg; "From Gorinchem [Gorkum] Holland, to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada", Location: Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada; Author: Arlene Bailey; Publication: n.d.

• Personal files of Virginia Basken; Groveland, Massachusetts 01834

• Germany, Select Births and Baptisms, 1558-1898 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.

• U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc, 2010.

• From the Web Site of Chris Young, quoting primarily from Bell's Notes: Grants to German Settlers at Lunenburg from 1753 forward. 30 Ac. Lots - Gorkum, Wilhelm 1753 dist (B.N.) = So. E-1 1760 Registry (B.N.) = So. E -1 1760 Registry = So. Div. E - 1 300 ac. lots Gorkum, Wilhelm, Sr. 1st div. e - 6

• From the Nova Scotia Genealogist, Volume XV/2 (1997), "Die Unsichtbaren Stammvater/ Our Invisible Ancestors, by Terrence Punch, "..their family name GORCKUM had only arisen when a family names (sic) HENRICHS fled from Gorinchem (alisa Gorkum) in South Holland in the late sixteenth century."

• See monument of Lunenburg Founders Memorial with the Gorkum name

• Burial: "Canada, Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current"
  Ancestry Record 60527 #172775656 (accessed 16 February 2022)
  Johann Wilhelm Gorkum burial (died in 1783) in Lunenburg, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia, Canada.

• CORKUM (GORKUM) (von GORKUM) (von GORINCHEM)

https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~downeast/genealogy/Corkum.html