Life
Gottschalk was born around 1670 in Germany, in Goch, a town at the Dutch border. In 1701, he received a letter from the church in Goch, permitting him to migrate to Pennsylvania, where he arrived at Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1702. On August 10, 1702, he became a preacher to the Mennonite congregation there. He died in May 1763, and his grave is unmarked; however, there is a memorial stone at the Towamencin Meeting church yard atIn memory of Bishop Jacob Gottshall 1670-1763 Born in Goch Germany, ordained a bishop in the Germantown Mennonite Church in 1702 and also served the Skippack and Towamencin congregations. He performed the first baptism and conducted the first communion service in the American church in 1708. The Skippack alms audits were signed by him from 1745-1757. He owned a farm of which included this church site. Undoubtedly, he is buried here but no marker remains, therefore this marker is erected in memory of this energetic leader.
Ministry
Around 1690 the Germantown Mennonite congregation electedWe the hereunder written Servants of the Word of God, and Elders in the Congregation of the People, called Mennonists, in the Province of Pennsylvania, do acknowledge, and herewith make known, that we do own the foregoing Confession, Apendix, and Menno's Excusation, to be according to our Opinion; and also, have took the same to be wholly ours. In Testimony whereof, and that we believe that same to be good, we have here unto Subscribed our Names.In 1745, he arranged with the Ephrata Cloister to have them translate from Dutch into German and print Thieleman J. van Braght's 1660 The Bloody Theatre or Martyrs Mirror of Defenseless Christians, the work took 15 men three years to finish and in 1749, at 1512 pages, was the largest book printed in America before the Revolutionary War.
Family
Jacob Gottschalk was the son of Gottschalk Thonis (Theunissen) and Lehntgen Henrichs. His surname, Gottschalk, was a patronymic where he was born. Sometime after he moved to America he began to use versions of Gottschalk as his family name. Jacob's children, as listed in his will, were son Herman, deceased son Godshalk, deceased son John, deceased daughter Magadalene, and daughter Anna married to Peter Custard. Jacob Godshalk's will was written 26 December 1760 and proved 3 June 1763.Notes
References
* Bender, Harold S.; "The Founding of the Mennonite Church in America at Germantown, 1683-1708;" Mennonite Quarterly Review; Vol. 7; pp. 227–250. * Dyck, Cornelius J. (1993), Mennonite History 3rd Ed., Herald Press * White, Jean M. White (1991), The Descendants of Paulus and Gertrude Kusters of Kaldenkirchen, Germany and Germantown, Pennsylvania the first four generations, The Caster Association of AmericaExternal links