Hello,
I am searching for information concerning my great-grandfather Friedrich H.
GATHO, b. 14 Oct 1866, emigrated to the US, Wheeling, WV in 1881. Was
thought to be avoiding military service or military schooling. Family lore
that his father was burgermeister of a small town.
Name GATHO may also be GATOW, JATHO, YATHO, or other variations.
Danke,
Rebecca Hurst
Hi Rebecca
Here's a link to FamilySearch with some information on your great
grandfather. The US census records state that he was naturalized. I don't
know if you've already looked for his naturalization papers, but they might
have the name of the town he was from.
Was he Catholic or Protestant? If Catholic (I ask this because my family
was Catholic so I'm used to looking through those records. I just did it
today in Covington, Kentucky and found some great information), try to find
the baptismal records for their children (and their sacramental marriage
record). Many times, these sacramental records include the exact place of
birth of both mother and father.
Also, if you haven't already, check the cemetery records and obituaries for
him. Many times, the name of the town he was born in will be included.
For example, Haselünne was listed as the place of birth in the cemetery
records for both my great, great grandfather and great, great grandmother.
However, it wasn't included in either of their obituaries. I would also
look for obituaries for the Gatho children. Sometimes it includes the
place of birth of his/her parents.
Your great grandfather died in Benwood, West Virginia in 1923. There may
be a local paper that would have an obituary for him, and I would also
check the larger papers in Wheeling. Also, I would call or e-mail the
local funeral homes in Benwood. They may have information, too. And don't
forget to check the local library. Many of them have great genealogy
departments.
Good luck with your search.
Marti Kerkhoff Wallace
Der Name Jatho kommt in S�dniedersachsen vor.
KK
Marti,
Thank you very much for your information-filled reply to my query in early
May regarding my grandfather Friedrich Gatho. I do appreciate your
response.
I have researched several of the sources you suggest. I have
not investigated church records yet. He was Lutheran and his father-in-law
August Schad was a founding member of St. Matthew's German Lutheran Church
in Benwood, WV.
So far I haven't been able to locate naturalization records for Fredrick
Gatho. Most of the birth, census and other records I have of family
members only state that he was born in Germany. Because of the theory that
he ran away from home at a relatively young age, I'm guessing that he
didn't talk a lot about where he was born. Some theories suggest the Uslar
area of Neidersachsen and there appear to be Jathos in that area. The
similarity of G, J, and Y in old German script make many variations of the
name possible.
My apologies for not responding to your helpful message sooner. I
definitely am following up on your suggestions.
Many thanks,
Rebecca Gatho Hurst