Anna (Gunter) Goettelman was born 8 May 1887. She married Otto Olson. They had no children. She died 31 Aug 1951. She was buried at St. Benedict’s Cemetery.

Henry_ (Gunter) Goettelman was born 28 Nov 1889. He married Clara Brustad. She was born 4 Apr 1883. They had 2 sons: Richard (Mickey) and Raymond (Coli). Henry died 15 Jun 1973. Clara died 7 Jun 1964. They were buried at Phelps Cemetery.

Goettelman, Samuel and Emma (Noecker)

(Rosella Goettelman)

Charles and Mable (Bolger) Goettelman

Samuel Goettelman was born 2 Jan 1863 in Canoe Twp. to Philipp and Fransiske (Linzenmeyer) Goettelman. Emma Noecker was born 5 May 1867 in Ontario, Canada to Gustav and Elizabeth (Schmidt) Noecker. She came to Iowa with her parents in 1876. Samuel and Emma were married 28 Nov 1888. They farmed in Decorah Twp. Sam had a very good team of horses. In the winter he would take his horses to Lake Pepin, MN to work in the ice harvest. In 1929 he fell off a haystack and suffered a broken back. He lay flat on his back in the hospital for a long time. Eventually he got better and went back to farming. Samuel and Emma had one son Charles. Emma died 11 Apr 1938 and Sam died 26 Jun 1941. They were buried at Phelps Cemetery.

Charles Goettelman was born 4 Mar 1890 in Canoe Twp. He married Clara Mabel Bolger 4 Mar 1912. Clara was born 3 Nov 1891 to Adam and Nancy Jane (Brown) Bolger. Charlie and Mabel farmed in Canoe and Decorah Twps. Charlie lost his right hand in a silo-filling accident. Luckily he was left-handed. He was fitted with a hook and managed very well. Charles and Clara had 4 children: Floyd, Virgil, Robert and Emma Jane.

Charles died 5 Sep and Mabel died 6 Sep 1968 the result of a car accident. They were buried at Phelps Cemetery.

Flovd was born 11 Feb 1914. He was in the army in World War II. He farmed for a few years but his main occupation was carpentry. He married Vera Sterner 1 Jun 1935. Vera was born 26 Oct 1913 in Minneapolis, MN to

Godfred and Anna Sterner. Floyd and Vera lived in Iowa, Minnesota and California. They returned to Decorah in 1983. Vera died 3 Dec 1983. She was buried at Phelps Cemetery. Floyd and Vera had 3 children: Donald, Lynn and David. Donald married Jean Richie and lives in MN. Lynn was married twice-to Albert White and Frank Tamosunas. She died in 1979 in CA. David married Kathleen Lewis. After Kathleen died in 1984 in CA, David came back to Decorah in 1985. Floyd and David are now living in Madison Twp.

Virgil (b. 25 Jan 1917) was in the army in World War II. He worked in a rock quarry for 32 years. He married Rosella Ansten 6 Jun 1948. She was born 13 Feb 1927 in Madison Twp. to Henry and Inga Ansten. They have 2 daughters, Sharon and Eileen. Sharon married Curtis Buhr and lives in Des Moines, IA. Eileen married Byron Meyer and lives near Postville, IA. Virgil and Rosella live in Decorah.

Robert (b. 9 Feb 1919) married Frieda Huhe 15 Oct 1941. She was born in Cresco, IA to Fred and Eliza Huhe. Robert and Frieda farmed for a few years. However his main occupation was as a butcher. They had 3 sons: Wayne, Dale and Gary. Wayne was killed in an accident in 1965. Dale married Leanne Benda and lives in Spillville. Gary married Debra Howard and lives in MN. Robert and Frieda live in Calmar.

Emma Jane married Arnold Severeid 1 Mar 1938. He was born 20 Feb 1916 to Adolph and Bertha Severeid. Arnold was in the army in World War II. Arnold and Jane moved to Cedar Rapids where Jane worked in a meat packing plant and Arnold worked in a manufacturing plant. Arnold died 30 Dec 1991 and was buried at Cedar Memorial Cemetery. Arnold and Jane had 3 children: Nancy, Arlen and Roger. Nancy is married to Robert Harrington and lives in Cedar Rapids. Arlen is married to Althea Leonard and lives in Cedar Rapids. Roger and his wife Anita Banuelos live in CA. Emma Jane lives in Cedar Rapids.

The Gossman Family

(Elmer Gossman)

My great grandfather was Andrew Gossman who came from Ohio in 1864. He gave the land on which the second St. Agnes Catholic Church was built. The book printed at the 125th anniversary of the church has a lot of good information on the families who were the early settlers.

My father Robert and his brother Andrew had a 160 acre farm in the NW 1/4 of Sec. 29, Burr Oak Twp. where they farmed from 1922 to 1929. Robert then sold his interest to his brother Joseph and we moved to Minnesota. I attended the school which was moved to the SE 1/4 of Sec. 19 through the fifth grade (1923-1929).

Andrew Gossman (b. 1785) was in Napoleon’s army. It is believed he and his cousin, Fritz Weiner, were in the march to Moscow. Andrew arrived in Philadelphia in the summer of 1817. He initially settled in a Catholic settlement at Loretta, PA. In 1821 Andrew, his wife, Anne Heiser, and their children moved to Morgan Co., OH.

The Snider/Snyder branch of the family had come to