Johann Heinrich Gorger (Goerger/Goerges) son of Arnold and
Maria/Gertrude Gorger, was born in Westphalia, Germany (probably
Beelen) on October 1, 1814. Stories of him relate how he worked on the
docks of Hamburg at twelve years of age. At this same time he decided
to go to America and devised several large barrels to hide in during
the trip. When he was ready, he hid in the barrels until into the
journey when he was found out by several sailors. He made an
arrangement with them to do their work for food and to keep his
presence a secret. Once they reached New York harbor, the sailors
smuggled him through customs onto the streets to find the way on his
own.
In approximately 1837, Henry joined other Germans settling in Clinton
County, IL near the newly formed village of Germantown. Here
he married a widow, Catherine Lors Kniepmann at St. Boniface Catholic
Church on February 1, 1842. Several children were born in
Germantown: Gertrude was born August 19, 1843, Edward was born December
18, 1844, Anna Margaretha was born August 24, 1850, and Mary was born
in 1852.
In 1842, Henry and a neighbor rode by horse to Chicago (a three day
trip one way) to help form the first Union Stockyards. Henry
raised cattle and oxen to two years of age for plow and
wagon. Around 1850, Henry joined Col. Wingate’s wagon train
and headed to California for gold. When they reached South
Pass, Henry and others parted from the company to follow rumors of gold
in the Columbia Gorge. Their party was hijacked, so they
walked the rest of the way to Oregon. Having found no gold,
they traveled to Seattle, obtained work on a freighter going to San
Francisco. They found no gold here either, so hooked up again
with Col. Wingate’s train and worked their way home as scouts for the
wagon train. On the way, they were caught in a snow blizzard
several days ahead of their train and would have perished had not the
Paiute Indians rescued and nursed them back to health. Henry
returned to the gold fields some years later and did find some
wealth. He had a broach made for Catherine out of gold
nuggets and she reportedly wore it on all occasions.
Early in 1855, Henry’s family traveled by steamship to Stearns County,
MN, homesteading near St. Cloud. He became a naturalized
citizen September 18, 1860 and purchased 160 acres of land July 1,
1861. By now other children had been born at St. Cloud:
Bernard (Barney) on June 19, 1855, Elizabeth, born 1858, Frederick,
born 1860, William F, born 1863, Anna born 1863, and George.
Five year old Anna Margaretha had been left with Anton and Christina
Dietz in Germantown, IL when the family migrated to
Minnesota. She married Henry Duepmann and their descendants
still live in the Germantown area. William migrated to Ione,
Oregon while Bernard and Edward established their lives near St. Cloud.
Many of their descendants still reside in those areas.
Catherine (or Rosa) and two daughters, Anna and Mary returned south to
live in St. Louis, MO while Henry and sons stayed near St.
Cloud. Rosa died in St. Louis about 1897. Henry
died of dropsy at eighty years of age on April 16, 1894. He
is buried at St. Mary Help of Christians Cemetery, St. Augusta, MN.