Jacob Gochenour, Jr.

Jacob Gochenour's birth is written in German in his father's bible as: "September 10, 1747 to me Jacob Gochenauer a son was born and his name is Jacob Gochnauer and his sign is Gemini." Floyd and Bessie (Coffman) Shillingburg of Suitland, Md possess a Bible which they inherited from her parents, Edward and Anna Rebecca (Gochenour)Coffman, and they must have received it from her parents, Levi and Mary Gochenour. The Bible was printed in 1816 and includes the books of the Apocrypha which are omitted from present day Bibles. The first entry under "Deaths" in the ShillingburgBible is: "Jacob Gochenauer, Senr. Departed this Life the 27th Day of October 1809 aged 62 and six weeks. This agrees with the writing in Jacob Jrs. fathers Bible that is in the possession of David Gochenour of Grinnell, Iowa.

Jacob Jr was born in Shenandoah County, Va near Woodstock. He married Elizabeth Roads or Rhodes, whose family lived near Luray, and in which half was massacred by indians. The Roads and the Gochenours were menonites in faith. Jacob and Elizabeth settled on land which she had obtained a deed from her brother Joseph Roads on the east side of the Shenandoah River adjacent to where Toms Brook flows into it. Jacob bought other land on the opposite side of the River where he operated a flour mill until the time of his death in 1809. This is not far from the present town of Luray, Va.

In the 1785 census published in Wayland's Shenandoah county history, Jacob Gochenour (Coughener) is listed as living in the area from North Mountain to the Massanutten including Mt. Olive, Toms Brook and the adjacent portions of the river. His home was in this area. The printed book "First Census of the United States" under "Heads of Families-Virginia 1783" lists Jacob Gochoenour as Jacob Caughenhour and as having eleven white persons in his house and no black (slaves). This is a state census. The first federal census of 1790 of Shenandoah County was destroyed when the British burned the Capitol building in Washington in 1814. Jacob Jr. left a considerable estate, personal property of $2200 and real estate of $8000. His will is lengthy. He left a life estate in two tracts of land to his wife Elizabeth which was land where "my son Daniel Gochenour now lives"; directed that the land on the east side of the river be sold including the mill; gave his "granddaughter Mary Fisher (that I raised and now lives with me)" personal property; that the rest be equally divided among his children; his grand-children Mary and Rebecca Fisher "children of my late daughter Mary a share, my daughter Elizabeth the wife of George Howbert one share, my daughter Barbara the wife of Philip Bare one share, my daughter Ann the wife of Jacob Fisher one share, my daughter Esther the wife of David Stover one share, my son John one share, my daughter Catherine wife of John Crabill one share, my son Jacob one share, Magdalene the wife of John Stover one share, my son Daniel one share, my daughter Rebecca the wife of Henry Jordan one share, my son Joseph one share and my son Shen one share". The will was made October 13, 1809 and probated November 13, 1809. Jacob Gochenour died October 27, 1809.

http://www.angelfire.com/my/sallingerfamily/GrGrandparentsFrank.htm