Jakob Gochenauer

"In the 16th century, the Gochenour ancestors lived in Switzerland about ten miles from the city of Zurich. Their name appeared in Reformed church books as Gachnauwer as early as 1565. At that time, it was the custom that whoever ruled an area dictated its religion. In some Swiss cantons, Catholicism was the mandated religion, but in other cantons such as Zurich, the Reformed religion was the official faith, so baptisms, marriages and burials were mandated to be performed in the local Reformed parishes.

In the early 1500s, MENNO SIMON, a Roman Catholic priest, organized a group of Germans into a new religion with pacifist doctrines. Initially referred to as "Weidertaufer," they opposed war, participation in government, the taking of oaths, paid ministries, advanced education, infant baptism, and prepared sermons. Their displeasure with taxes spawned their belief there should be no money involvfed in building churches or paying personnel. Their experiences with growing persecution, which later became excessive, resulted in their keeping no written records with which the church or state could use as evidence against them.

For some time, people had become dissatisfied with the Reformed Church doctrines and well as with wars, unrest, oppression and taxes. When Simon's new religion promised relief from their burdens, and the Anabaptist religion began to spread adcross Europe, it soon reached Switzerland and was embrfaced by those eager for a change.

By the last quarter of the 16th century, the term Weidertaufer began appearing more frequently in Switzerland. As a precaution, in 1633 the authorities in Zurich compiled a census of all the Anabaptists then living in the canton. In one census, a description of the JORG PETER family noted that his daughter, Margaretha, was married to JACOB GACHNOUWER "from the hill," AND THEIR FIVE CHILDREN WERE LISTED AS Jacob (age 7), Jorg (age 5), Hans (age 3), Heinrich (age 2), and Barbara (age 1/2). Added to the Peters' record were notes about the resistance of Margaretha and Jacob to have their children baptized, and about the continued pressure that had been put upon them until they relented.

For many years, the Catholics, the Reformed brethern, and the Anabaptists lived in peacheful cooperation with one another until around 1630, when outside leaders began rebellions by refusing to pjay property tax increases to support the military. Because the Anabaptists vehemently opposed war, they became the scapegoats. Although not involved in the European Thirty Years War, Switzerland, feeling threatened, had built up its military, watched its citizens closely and became more strict with dissenters. Added to the problem was the fact that as more Swiss joined Menno's group, fewer were attending the mandated churches, resulting in a loss of members and more importantly, funds. Whereas the civil and church authorities in Zurich had previously viewed Anabaptists with suspicion because of their objections to the church rites, this latest rebellion caused them to become alarmed, and they began to react more openly....

The canton government leaders exacted substantial penalties through fines, punishment, persecutions and even executions of the more vocal members. The leaders of the Anabaptists were imprisoned and tortured and their children boarded out with others. At the very least, they were banished from the state. Their farms and other properties were confiscated and either sold or rented to others... By the middle of the 17th century, most of the leaders were either dead or imprisoned, and most of the remaining Anabaptists had fled the country.

The story of the tribulations of some of the of some of the early Swiss Anabaptists and their leaders appears in the Martyr's Mirror and in other publications, such as in the Amish song hymnal called the Ausbund. The text in the back of the Ausbund recounts the stories "... of the afflictions that came upon them, for the sake of the Gospel, from the 1635th to the 1645th year." A narrative of the events is followed by descriptive examples of the persecution of individuals, one of whom was Jacob Gochnauer, believed to be the ancestor of the Gochnours who emigrated to America ...

• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: Apr 23 2019, 1:05:02 UTC