BOTT Surname
Descendants of Gebhard Bott
Prepared and last modified by Jeff Lewis Bott on June 21, 2008
Contents
Introduction
Greetings,
My name is Jeff Lewis Bott. I have been researching my BOTT lineage
as a hobby since about 1985. My mother, Mattie Coulter Bott and my brother
Jerry F. Bott, both now deceased, and many other relatives too numerous to list have inspired me
to research and share the information with the many BOTT
descendants. The BOTT database contains only a small subset of my total database containing over 37,000 people.
I have another BOTT website on Rootsweb with the following URL:
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?db=bottbybott.
Currently, I also have the following additional websites operational:
"Descendants of Silas Baker": the website address is http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~jeffbott/BAKER/INDEX.HTML.
"Descendants of Alexander Coulter, Sr.": the website address is http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~jeffbott/COULTER/INDEX.HTML.
"Descendants of Abner Kirk": the website address is http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~jeffbott/KIRK/INDEX.HTML.
"Descendants of John McDougal": the website address is http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~jeffbott/McDOUGAL/INDEX.HTML.
"Descendants of James McMurry": the website address is http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~jeffbott/McMURRY/INDEX.HTML.
Another website that I currently have operational is for Sand Flat Cemetery near Tyler in Smith County, Texas. It is a rather unique genealogy study for everyone buried in that cemetery. The website address is http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jeffbott/INDEX.HTML.
BOTT FAMILIES
THE BOTT FAMILIES near IDSTEIN, GERMANY
Ancestors of Gustav Bott of Tyler, Texas
Prepared by Jerry F. Bott
745 Malcolm Ave.
Los Angeles, CA. 90024
May 17, 1988
THE DISCOVERY OF DISTANT RELATIVES
On one of my visits to my grandfather, Gustav Bott, in the 1960's, I pressed him for information on any relatives still in Germany. He told me about Frau Frohlich, possibly the daughter of a niece, who lived in Wiesbaden. He also mentioned an Emil Bott in Niederauroff but did not know whether he was still alive. I did not know how to write Emil Bott but got the address of Frau Frohlich and wrote her. It turned out that she was sick and confined to an iron lung machine, but her husband sent me a copy of the marriage certificate for Johann Bott and his wife.
In 1968 my friend, Rolf Gross, went to Germany to see his parents and stopped by Niederauroff and Idstein during his trip. He talked to the minister of the little church in the village and even took a look at the church records which had a number of Botts listed. The owner of an old mill named "Bott Muhle" was away in Texas taking flight training, but Rolf was told that he was adopted and not part of the Bott Family. On the basis of this success it was arranged that Rolf's father, Dr. Ulrich Gross would go back to the church and go through the records more systematically. Dr. Gross had done a lot of genealogical research and was experienced in reading the old German script. One set of church records led him to another so that he went to several churches around Niederauroff. He also located a woman with a manuscript about the Bott family which had been written by her husband many years earlier. Dr. Gross's research efforts are the source of Our present knowledge of the antecedents of Gustav Bott.
In 1975 I went to Germany for a scientific conference and went to Niederauroff on the way. I arrived in Idstein on Saturday night and drove the 1 or 2 kilometers to Niederauroff the next morning. No one was at the church which was a little surprising for a Sunday morning, but I did find the cemetery and walked around it. It was very interesting, but I did not find any relatives. Several years went by and my brother, Jeff, went to Europe with his wife and some friends. I had sent him a description of how to get there, but was surprised to get a long distance telephone call from him one Saturday night. He had found a woman named Hilde Bott Robscheit who might be a distant relaâtive. He was going back to see her the next day and wanted to confirm the relationship from my records. I did find her; she was the daughter of the same Emil Bott mentioned by my grandfather many years earlier. Jeff had a nice visit with her with the help of a translator. Hilde has a daughter, Eva, who does speak English, and he met her the next day. Hilde even lives in the same house built by my Great-grandfather Johann Georg Bott in 1849. This was the first visit of the American Botts with the German Botts.
The next visit came about a year later when Leanne, Jeff's daughter, went to Europe to ski in the Alps at Christmas of 1985. She went to Niederauroff and stayed with the Robscheits and met Eva. Again in 1987 my daughter, Sarah, spent the summer in Europe and went to see them for one day. That day turned out to be Hilde's birthday so that her two sisters were also there. They also live in Niederauroff. Hilde says that my grandfather, Gustav, corresponded with them (primarily with her father, Emil Bott) until the latter part of the 1960's. Gustav died in 1970 at the age of 92. He wrote them in German although he must have been a little rusty after all those years.
I am sure that my grandfather is happy that we found a few of his and our relatives in Niederauroff. There are probably more relatives living in some of the other small villages around Niederauroff or, more likely, in nearby cities such as Wiesbaden. Although Frau Frohlich is most likely dead, she did have children.
THE GERMAN ORIGINS OF THE BOTT FAMILY
The earliest Bott listed in the church records is Gebhard Bott who came to Niederems from Worsdorf around 1642. Bott is not a typical German name and may have originated elsewhere. Gustav Bott claimed that the Botts had not always lived in Germany but had come there sometime earlier. In Canterberry Cathedral in England a chapel in the basement is dedicated to the Huguenot refugees from France, and a list of the first one hundred or so refugees contains the name, Bott. Many Bott families in the United States claim decadency from an English ancestor. Perhaps, our ancestor chose to seek safety among the Protestants to the east of France instead of toward the west. During the first part of the seventeenth century the 30 Years War disrupted life all through that part of Europe, and many people migrated seeking safety from the fighting and destruction. In any case our Gerhard Bott arrived .in Niederems in 1642 and settled into the community. This area was spared during the 30 Years War, and many buildings in the nearby small town of Idstein date from the beginning of the 17th Century. I am sure that my grandfather is happy that we found a few of his and our relatives in Niederauroff. There are probably more relatives living in some of the other small villages around Niederauroff or, more likely, in nearby cities such as Wiesbaden. Although Frau Frohlich is most likely dead, she did have children.
The Bott families Jived in Niederems and, later, in Niederauroff until the late 19th century. Some of the related families (Robscheit) still Jive there. According to the church records, they farmed and worked as blacksmiths in the several small villages near Niederauroff. In the 1880's Carl August Bott and Carl Wilhelm Bott, two sons of Johann Georg Bott, emigrated to the United States. Their mother had died and their father had remarried. Their half-brother, Gustav, followed them in 1891 and went to Texas intending to join Carl Wilhelm. I am sure that my grandfather is happy that we found a few of his and our relatives in Niederauroff. There are probably more relatives living in some of the other small villages around Niederauroff or, more likely, in nearby cities such as Wiesbaden. Although Frau Frohlich is most likely dead, she did have children.
Johann Georg Bott was born Dec. 19, 1821 in Niederauroff; his parents were Johann Philip Bott and Maria Katharina Pfuhl Bott. He married Susanne Catharina Maria Christ in 1849. After her death on Jan. 13, 1857 he married Katharina Philippine Gruber on Jan. 3, 1858 in Ehrenbach. Katharina Philippine Gruber was born on Feb 20, 1831 in Ehrenbach, the daughter of Johann Peter Gruber and Maria Catharine Gerhard Gruber. Johann Georg built a house in Niederauroff in 1849 that is still in use in 1988. Hilde Robscheit, who Jives there with her husband, is a direct descendent of Johann Georg. Johann Georg was a blacksmith and also a Burgermeister of Niederauroff, although the duties of the latter must not have been too time consuming since the village was so small. Katharina, his second wife, died on May 27, 1887; he was 66 at this time. His Son Gustav was 13 and -another son was about 9. The local church records do not list another marriage, but much later Gustav would refer to a step-mother. Johann Georg advised his young son, Gustav, to go to America since he thought the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 would not be the last one. He died on Jan. 1, 1892 after Gustav had left. I am sure that my grandfather is happy that we found a few of his and our relatives in Niederauroff. There are probably more relatives living in some of the other small villages around Niederauroff or, more likely, in nearby cities such as Wiesbaden. Although Frau Frohlich is most likely dead, she did have children.
Carl August Bott, born in 1849, went to Dayton, Ohio, where he owned a company connected in some way to the steel business. He married Elise Streckfuss in 1873 in Laudenbach/Baden, but they had no children. I am sure that my grandfather is happy that we found a few of his and our relatives in Niederauroff. There are probably more relatives living in some of the other small villages around Niederauroff or, more likely, in nearby cities such as Wiesbaden. Although Frau Frohlich is most likely dead, she did have children.
Carl Wilhelm Bott was born Jan. 1, 1854 in Niederauroff. He married Josepha Strack in 1885 (where?). Upon arrival in this country he changed his name slightly to William C. Bott. He and his family were living in East Texas about the time that Gustav was planning his trip to this country. However, he developed TB and moved to Arizona be fore Gustav arrived. He had two boys, but only one, George Henry Bott, born in 1893, survived childhood. George Henry Bott had a family of 5 children.
Carl August and Carl Wilhelm came to the United States in the 1880's, but we don't know the exact year. Perhaps, Carl Wilhelm married Josepha in Germany and then came. Other relatives may also have come; Gustav mentioned having a cousin in Indianapolis. It is curious that the brothers did not choose to live in the same place.
CARL WILHELM BOTT FAMILY
I. Carl Wilhelm Bott was born Jan. 1, 1854 in Niederauroff and married Josepha Strack in 1885. He lived in Wilcox, Arizona for many years. His parents were Johann Georg Bott and Susanne Catharina Maria Christ.
A. George Henry Bott was born in 1893 (possibly in East Texas but probably in Arizona) and married Clara Ethyl Dickinson on Dec. 22, 1914. He taught school on an Indian reservation for many years, was a miner, prospected and had many mining claims. He was still living in Tucson, Arizona in 1985 at the age of 92. In the spring of that year he walked 8 miles for the March of Dimes Walkathon.
1. George Dickinson Bott married Katherine Dwyer on Jan. 12, 1949.
2. Evelyn Ethel Bott married William Vernon Tuck on Sept. 24, 1943. In 1985 she lived in Cedar Edge, Colorado.
3. Carl Harold Bott was born about 1920 and married Lauralea Haby in 1949.He died in 1980 age of 60.
4. Dale Rex Bott was born about 1930 and married Margo J. Merrill on Jan. 1, 1954. He lived in Medford, Oregon in 1985.
5. John Leonard Bott lived in Tucson in 1985 and was born about 1936.
DESCENDENTS OF HENRIETTE ELISABETH BOTT
II. Henriette Elisabeth Bott was born April 4, 1859 in Niederauroff and married on Oct.30, 1881 Phillip Heinrich Bott (born Dec 21, 1864 died Feb 12, 1948); she died Nov. 27, 1944 in Niederauroff. Her parents were Johann Georg Bott and Katharina Philippine Gruber. Phillip Heinrich Bott was Henrietta first cousin and the son of Philipp Carl Bott (1828-1888) and Johannette Philippne Kern.
A. Emil Bott born June 16, 1889 in Niederauroff and married Katharina Schmidt Feb. 25, 1922 in Niederauroff.
1. Lina Bott, born June 29, 1922 in Niederauroff, married Rudolf Bahr
2. Hilde Lotte Bott born, Aug 12, 1923 in Niederauroff, married Martin Robscheit
a. Eva Robscheit
3. Wilma Ilse Bott born, June 24, 1925 in Niederauroff, married Walter Fiebig
GUSTAV BOTT AND EMMA LUCILLE KIRK
Gustav Bott was born Sept. I, 1874 in Niederauroff, Germany and was the Son of Johann Georg Bott and Katharina Philippine Gruber Bott. Johann was 53 years old at the time and Katharina was 43. This was the second marriage for Johann; his first wife had died in 1857 and he had remarried in 1858. Gustav had several half-brothers and half-sisters as well as a brother and sister so it was not a small family.
In the early 1880's his two half-brothers emigrated to America. They may have come together, but did not stay together. Carl August went to Dayton, Ohio, and Carl Wilhelm settled in East Texas. Both states had fairly large German communities. Perhaps they had other relatives or friends who had already gone or perhaps they had just read about America.
About 1891, Gustav decided to join his two half-brothers in the United States. His father, Johann Georg, thought that there would be another war and that the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 would not be the last. Also, Gustav's mother had died in 1887. There is no third marriage listed in the church records for Johann Georg, but Gustav spoke many years later of a step-mother so we don't know exactly what the situation was. Gustav told his grandson that he went to Texas to join Carl Wilhelm Bott instead of Carl August because he had suffered frost-bitten ears one cold winter in Germany and wanted a warmer climate than Ohio. Before Gustav arrived, however, Carl Wilhelm developed TB and moved to Arizona. Gustav went to Texas anyway and lived in Palestine, Texas, where there were other German families. Perhaps his half-brother had left word that he was coming.
Gustav lived with a family near Palestine and worked on their farm for 50 cents/day. His son, Fred Bott, took him back to Palestine to see members of this family as long as 50 years after he had left. Palestine had railroad repair shops which bought timber from Gustav, and after some years he decided to go to work for the railroad. It involved some traveling and he went as far south as San Antonio. On one of his trips, he stopped in Tyler, Texas and met Emma Lucille Kirk whose mother and father operated a boarding house not too far from the train depot. He must have liked her Cooking for he stayed and went to work in the Tyler railroad shops.
Gustav and Emma Lucille were married on Dec. 29, 1904 and bought a house at 1210 Holmes Avenue. He was 30 and she was 26. Her parents were Abner Kirk and Rachel Aldridge Kirk. Emma Lucille was born on Aug. 31, 1878 in Jasper Co. Mississippi but came to Texas in 1880 with her parents when still a baby. Abner Kirk had been a farmer but was now 73 years old and not very active. Emma had probably done most of the work since she was the only child still at home; her oldest sister was 44 years old by then. After Gustav and Emma moved onto Holmes Avenue, the Kirks came to live with them. However, Rachel Kirk only lived a short time and died in 1906. Abner Kirk lived part of the time with them and part of the time with other sons and daughters until his death in 1913. Fred Bott would recall many years later that his father, Gustav, made him dig up the whole back yard looking for the gold coins which Abner had supposedly buried. They were never found and may have never existed.
Gustav worked in the railroad shops, repairing steam locomotives and refurbishing boxcars until the early 1920's when there was a long railroad strike that eventually failed. Gustav never Went back to work in the shops after the strike but worked for himself doing mechanical repairs for people. He specialized in repairing and selling wood stoves and also had a large garden, chickens, and a cow. The garden was always beautifully kept; it was more like a German garden than a Texas garden. He kept chickens until the middle 50's when he was close to 80 years old. Several large pecan trees produced enough pecans to "pay the property taxes". Their life on Holmes Ave. probably had more similarities to life in Niederauroff than to the life of their children and grandchildren.
In the early 1930's he started working for the Tyler Commercial College on College Street. He was in charge of the physical plant including the boiler and heating system. His sons, Fred and Edward, helped with the painting and the general maintenance. Both eventually attended the college, which had a two year Course in business.
He maintained contacts with his family in Germany until the last several years of his life writing letters to Frau Frohlich, a "niece" in Wiesbaden and to Emil Bott in Niederauroff. He used to tell us about the many fruit trees that he had planted for his father before he had left home. He was proud that the fruit trees had been so valuable to his relatives during the several periods of hard times; during WWI, the 1920's, the depression, and then again after WWII. In fact two of the apple trees were still standing in 1985 when his grandson, Jeff Bott, visited Niederauroff. He was proud of his heritage and more than once reminded me that Germany had a social security system even before he left. By a coincidence, he was the first person in Tyler, Texas to qualify for social security benefits after the passage of the Social Security Act.
Both Gustav and Emma were religious and helped form the Queen St. Baptist Church. They did not smoke or drink of course, and they did not permit it jn their house. Gustav liked to talk and had opinions about everything. It was always hard to get into the conversation or to change the topic under discussion. He was critical of people and rather stern in his judgments. He had a great memory even in his old age for the smallest detail concerning the house and village of his youth. He and Emma both valued education and encouraged it for their children and grandchildren.
Emma was a quiet, hard-working woman. She had long blond hair and was a beautiful woman in her younger years. In contrast to the stern nature of Gustav, she was loving and always had a nice smile and a funny little laugh. She lived to be 81 and died on May 22, 1960. Gustav lived to be 94 and died on Jan. 11, 1969. They are buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Tyler in the same plot with their two babies and her parents.
The children of Gustav and Emma Bott included:
1. Winnie Belle (b. Apr. 4, 1906) m. William A. Moore
2. Katherine Lucille (b. Jul 15, 1909) m. A. B. Williams
3. Fred Lewis (b. Sep 28, 1910 d. Dec. 10, 1976) m. Mattie Dock Coulter
4. Edward Emil (b. Jul 11, 1912)
5. Richard (b. Nov 1913) m. Helen Adams
6. Gussie (b. or d. May 11, 1916 age 3 or 4 mo.)
7. Virginia (b. 27 Oct 1919 d. 14 Dee 1974) m. Julian Hodge
If you are a descendant of Gebhard Bott and would like to exchange information, please send an
email to me at sandflatcemetery@gmail.com.
PRIVACY ISSUES
I have many individuals both alive and desceased in my genealogy
database. For privacy reasons, I do not post birth dates and marriage
dates for living individuals on the Internet. Privacy for living individuals is a concern for most of us in modern day society. Everyone born after the year 1907 with NO known death date by me is treated as a Confidential person. Therefore, this website does not post birth dates or places, marriage dates or places or any other type of data on these individuals except a persons full name and their relationship to their family members.
I am open to comments and suggestions about privacy issues. If you have a serious problem with your name being on a public forum such as this, please read the following OPT OUT PROVISION.
OPT OUT PROVISION
This website is intended to honor our deceased loved ones and offer a platform in which their descendants can research their ancestry.
However, some people may be sensitive about having their names appear on a public forum and if, for any reason, you want your name removed from this website, please contact me at sandflatcemetery@gmail.com or by mail at 12999 Murphy Road, Suite B-8, Stafford, TX 77477. Since I update this website every 30 to 60 days, please allow this time period for the deletion process to occur.
ERRORS AND OMISSIONS
I have used my best effort to minimize factual errors for the information contained herein. However, I have found from experience that in genealogy research, absolute perfection cannot be achieved! Therefore, please use your own sources to verify and check the data that is of interest to you. If errors of any kind are found, please contact me and I will correct them.
Please use this website as a useful guide and not something that is absolute in fact. Be very aware that even the information chiseled in stone on a cemetery marker may not be correct. For example, did the person tell the stone carver the correct dates? Did the stone carver misread the information given to him, etc., etc.? You get the idea!
Mission Statement
In order to remember and honor our BOTT ancestry, this website is
designed to identify both the deceased and living descendants of
Gebhard Bott and his wife, Anna Margaretha.
Articles, stories and obituaries of each individual shall be provided along with photographs whenever possible.
Background
Gebhard Bott was born about 1620. The focus of
this project is to track his descendants.
I am using a comprehensive computerized genealogical program that can output in HTML language for an Internet website. The program can display a wealth of information such as:
1. Every person's full name, maiden name for females, date of birth, date of marriage, date of death and date of burial
2. Name and location of the cemetery where person is buried
3. Photograph of the individual
4. Photograph of the grave marker
5. Public records that contain federal census records, birth, death, marriage and other dates
6. Obituaries for the individual
7. Stories, articles and biographical information for the individual
8. A list of each person's parents, siblings and descendants
The best way today to communicate with large numbers of people and to
share information is through an Internet website. With a website, the
BOTT descendants and all who have an interest, will have access to
more accurate records information can be shared more easily.
Helpful Hint: Be sure to click on the actual photo or the photo icons.
JUST CLICK ON EVERYTHING AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS!
I hope that you find this website useful and informative! However, it is still under construction and I am open to any and all suggestions for improvements.
The contents herein are for an individuals' personal use and MAY NOT be used for commercial gain in any form or fashion. If you have any questions, comments, additions, corrections or constructive criticism, please email me at sandflatcemetery@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Jeff L. Bott
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