Gentzkow: George Harry

In American Gentzkow family history, we divide ourselves into three clusters:

• The George Group: descendants of George Gentzkow (1854-1939) and his wife Christina Kohler (1856-1918)
• The Julius Group: descendants of J.C. Gentzkow (1856-1932) and his wife Matilda Dittrich (186x-1908)
• The William Group: descendants of Bill Gentzkow (1862-1934) and his wife Clara Schneider (1868-1961)

These three men were the children of Julius August Emil “George Edward” von Gentzkow (1826-1904) and his wife Sophia Schultz (1830-1897).  They were the only offspring to live to adulthood and have children. (Their sister, Kate had no children. Four other Gentzkow siblings did not survive childhood.)

For the next couple of weeks, we will examine the births, baptisms and beginnings of these three Gentzkow family heads.

Georg Julius Diederich Ludwig

When I wrote about American Gentzkow history in 2000,¹Blees, Karrie L.N. Descendants of George Edward von Gentzkow of Minneiska, Minnesota: a history of the Gentzkow family in America. North St. Paul MN: Sewing for the Harvest, 2000. I cited all the sources available to me at that time. With the explosion of genealogical information available on the Internet and with the assistance of cousins in Europe, we have much better sources and more complete information.

Baptism in Rostock

On June 5, 1854, Julius August Emil Gentzkow, a Rentier (lives off a pension), and his wife Magdalena Sophia Christina Schultz baptized their first son at St. Jakobi Church in Rostock.²“Deutschland, ausgewählte evangelische Kirchenbücher 1500-1971,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPVQ-ZLLX : 27 October 2021), Georg Julius Diederich Ludwig Gentznow, 5 Jun 1854; images digitized and records extracted by Ancestry; citing Baptism, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Deutschland, Rostock, German Lutheran Collection, various parishes, Germany. LDS film 69459, image 350. Georg Julius Diederich Ludwig Gentzkow was born a month before on May 5th. According to traditional German naming patterns, he was named after his Taufpaten (baptism sponsors):

1. Bleidecker (lead roofer) Georg Schultz of Hamburg
2. The child’s father for the child’s grandmother Julie von Gentzkow, nee’ von Gentzkow
3. Bleidecker Diederich Schultz the child’s grandfather
4. Bleidecker Conrad Schultz

Rostock Jakobikirche, circa 1920

The delighted father wasted no time in announcing the arrival of his first son.³Rostocker Zeitung. 6 May 1854. Birth announcement clipping found by Jürgen Gentscke.

Heute Nachmittag 3 Uhr wurde meine liebe Frau, geb. Schultz, von einem gesunden, prächtigen Knaben glücklich entbunden.
This afternoon at 3 o’clock my dear wife, née Schultz, happily delivered a healthy, splendid boy.

Name Change

When did Georg Julius Diederich Ludwig begin using a different second/middle name?

In December 1876, George H. Gentzkow (of Wabasha County) married Christina Kohler (of Winona County).⁴Winona County MN Marriage Book F, page 136. Gentzkow marriage December 26, 1876. This marriage record is the earliest instance that I’ve found him using the middle initial ‘H.’

After being married for a few years, George sells and buys back a piece of property in Minneiska. Interestingly, these land deals were executed between George and his mother. On this pair of legal documents, he also lists himself as George H. Gentzkow.⁵Wabasha County MN Deed Book 28, pages 111 and 432.

Does the ‘H’ stand for Harry?

Family tradition maintains that the middle initial H. stood for Harry.

In naming his sons, he used the name Harry; his first-born son was named Harry (1877-1893).{⁶Obituary for Harry Gentzkow. Wabasha County (MN) Herald, Thursday, April 27, 1893, page 4. The second son was named George H. (1881-1893);⁷Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 16 Aug 2022), memorial page 131676673, George H. Gentzkow (1881-1916), maintained by “J McL”; citing Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, USA. he was called George, Jr.

To date, I have not found a document produced during George’s lifetime that lists his middle name as Harry. So far, all documents give his name as George H. Gentzkow, sometimes George H. Gentzkow, Sr.

I’ve looked at:

• George’s two marriage records
• Marriage records of Stella and Sidney
• Census records
• Birth records for George’s children
• Death records for George and his two wives
• Death records for George’s children
• Wabasha County MN deed records
• Multnomah County OR deed records (1900-1921 are available online)
• Digitized newspapers

Where else should we look?

Do you have a document listing George Harry?

SOURCES

• 1
  Blees, Karrie L.N. Descendants of George Edward von Gentzkow of Minneiska, Minnesota: a history of the Gentzkow family in America. North St. Paul MN: Sewing for the Harvest, 2000.
• 2
  “Deutschland, ausgewählte evangelische Kirchenbücher 1500-1971,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPVQ-ZLLX : 27 October 2021), Georg Julius Diederich Ludwig Gentznow, 5 Jun 1854; images digitized and records extracted by Ancestry; citing Baptism, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Deutschland, Rostock, German Lutheran Collection, various parishes, Germany. LDS film 69459, image 350.
• 3
  Rostocker Zeitung. 6 May 1854. Birth announcement clipping found by Jürgen Gentscke.
• 4
  Winona County MN Marriage Book F, page 136. Gentzkow marriage December 26, 1876.
• 5
  Wabasha County MN Deed Book 28, pages 111 and 432.
• 6
  Obituary for Harry Gentzkow. Wabasha County (MN) Herald, Thursday, April 27, 1893, page 4.
• 7
  Find A Grave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 16 Aug 2022), memorial page 131676673, George H. Gentzkow (1881-1916), maintained by “J McL”; citing Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, USA.