PETER GUMMELT
Peter Gummelt, b February 7, 1840 in Eigellno, Posen Province, Prussia, d
August 1, 1927 at Cottonwood in Falls County, Texas - was christened in the
Prussian State Church (Lutheran). In May 1863, Peter was married in the Posen
Province to Wilhelmina Huff, and both were converted to the Baptist faith and
were baptized in 1864. Wilhelmina was called "Mina".
In 1866 or 1867, several members of the Gummelt family decided to leave
Germany and settle in the U.S.A. With American land companies recruiting
settlers, and facing the seven-year military conscription service in Germany,
the family sailed. They landed in Galveston, Texas in 1867, accompanied by
Peter's two brothers, Edward and Gottlieb, and a widowed sister- in-law, Sophia,
with her two children (Erich and a daughter), and Peter's sister, Pauline
Gummelt.
With Texas under federal control after the Civil War, the Gummelts found
Galveston very confusing - and, at the suggestion of another German, they moved
on to Brenham and Greenvine in Washington County, Texas by wagon. In 1868, Peter
and Mina joined the Ebenezer Baptist Church at Greenvine.
Edward Gummelt settled in Washington County; Gottlieb Gummelt moved to
Star, Texas near Goldthwaite; and Sophia - their sister-in-law - remarried and
moved to Hallettsville, Texas. Pauline Gummelt came to Falls County, Texas from
Washington County, Texas with her husband, Anton Wittner.
In 1871, Peter and Mina Gummelt, with two children, moved to a farm near
Lorena, Texas, where Peter farmed "on the halves" - later renting land to farm.
On December 29, 1882, Peter purchased 146 1/2 acres of land on Cow Bayou in
Falls County - paying ten dollars an acre.
On March 4, 1884, a group of German Christians met in the of Anton
and Pauline (Gummelt) Wittner and organized the German Baptist Church of
Cottonwood. Peter and Mina Gummelt were charter members, where he served as
treasurer, Deacon, and Bible teacher in the first Sunday school.
Peter and Mina had nine children before her death:
Richard Gummelt, b 1864 in Germany, died there. Alvina Gummelt, b 1869 in
Washington County, Texas – married Charles Schwank.
Grimm Gummelt, b 1871, d 1875.
Ada Gummelt, b 1873 - married August Kroll. Gus Gummelt, b 1876 - married
Lena Purczinsky. Paul Gummelt, b 1878 - married Lydia Wedemeyer.
Evald Gummelt, b 1880 - married Anna Sims. Elmen Gummelt, b 1882, d 1904.
Herbert Gummelt, b 1885 - married Hattie Henkel. On May 28, 1890, Peter
Gummelt (then age 50) married second to Minna Elizabeth Eschstruth (then age
18), born near Kassell, Germany - a daughter of Oswald and Dorothea (Immcke)
Eschstruth.
In 1884, George Eschstruth (brother of Minna Elizabeth) and his wife, A.
R. (Marstaller) Eschstruth, had emigrated to Bell County, Texas - and three
years later, his parents brought three daughters, Minna Elizabeth, Katherine,
and Bertha, to Texas. In June 1880, Minna Elizabeth joined the Cottonwood
Baptist Church, where she met and married Peter Gummelt. Her sister, Katherine
Eschstruth married Bernhard Lampert, and her sister, Bertha Eschstruth, married
Otto Purczinsky.
On May 27, 1892 in the District Court in Waco, Texas, Peter Gummelt
became a U.S. Citizen. His farming prospered, and he purchased about 200
additional acres of land. Peter's family were always active in the church. He
and his second wife, Minna Elizabeth (Eschstruth), had twelve children:
Hulda Gummelt, b February 17, 1891 - married Christian
Hansen.
Fulbert Gummelt, b October 25, 1892 - married Lydia Krause.
Richard Gummelt, b March 28, 1894, d April 1, 1894.
Ernest Gummelt, b March 24, 1895 - married Armentie Bates.
Bertha Gummelt, b September 1, 1896 - married W. B. Marstaller.
Alma Gummelt, b November 7, 1898 - married Claud Kincannon.
Edwin Gummelt, b January 24,1901- married first to Olga Polley, and
married second to Lillie (Neutzler) Wittner.
Walter Gummelt, b February 28, 1902 - married Erna Heineman.
Agnes Gummelt, b August 9, 1904 - married Perry W. Curry.
Henry Gummelt, b January 28,1907 - married Ruth Inez Brandon.
Hilda Gummelt, b April 15, 1909 - married Theodore
Nehring.
Louis Gummelt, b December 30, 1913 - married Lillie Marstaller.
Three years after Peter Gummelt's death, on November 11, 1930,
Minna Elizabeth (Eschstruth) Gummelt married second to her widowed
brother-in-law, Bernhard Lampert. She died February 13, 1959, at the age of 87
years.
Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing the biographies of
these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical
Commission, page 204 column 2 and page 205 column 1.
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.