Germanfest planned Oct. 3-4 in Roberts Cove community

It’s harvest time and that brings to mind the approaching 2015 Roberts Cove Germanfest planned for Oct. 3 and 4 on the St. Leo IV Catholic Church grounds in Roberts Cove.
One morning while Josie Thevis and Mary Ann Leonards were in the German Heritage Museum gathering information on the four families being honored at this year’s Germanfest — Heinrich Joseph Achten, Lambert and Peter Schlicher families and the Arnold Jacobs family — their attention was drawn to another pioneer settler of Roberts Cove, Johann Peter Gossen, born Aug. 13, 1815.
Tim Gossen, great-grandson of Johann Peter Gossen, reminded Josie that this original pioneer would have been 200 years old on Aug. 13, 2015. Records show that Gossen was the oldest head of the colonist families when he arrived in Roberts Cove.
Like all the immigrants who left their homeland to seek a better life for their family, Johann Peter Gossen and his children also left an interesting legacy for future generations.
Johann Peter Gossen of Gangelt, Germany, a small town located on the Netherlands border, and Maria Agnes Killen of Hastenrath, Germany married in 1852. They settled in Gangelt where they raised a family of five children. Due to the political climate and worsening economic conditions in Germany, Johann Peter, 66, accepted the invitation of the Reverend Peter Leonard Thevis to bring his family to Roberts Cove where there were glowing reports of vast, fertile land on the plains of Louisiana.
When they arrived here, there were no roads, but lots of razorback hogs and longhorn cattle. On Oct. 7, 1882, less than a year after their arrival, Johann Peter died on malaria. He became the first adult of the group of immigrants to die here. Since there was no cemetery in Roberts Cove, he is buried in the original St. Joseph Church cemetery in Rayne. He is listed in church records as being the second person to be interred there.
Only four of the Gossen children came to America. The second child, Anna Catherine Gossen, was already married and settled in the Netherlands. That in itself is another story. Can you imagine the loss that young woman felt when the rest of her family left for America?
The oldest son, John Henry Gossen was 27 years old when he arrived in New Orleans with the Gossen family aboard the ship, the S.S. Mississippi. He married Catherine Arimond in 1884, and they had three children.
The second son, Peter Joseph Gossen, married Theresa Zaunbrecher in 1890, and they had nine children. The couple returned to Germany to visit at the onset of World War I. It is interesting to note how a hat purchased from Mervine Kahn Company in Rayne, Louisiana helped the couple get out of Germany when the war began. Upon hearing the news of the war, the Gossens decided they had better leave quickly. They had valid passports and were American citizens at that time, yet they were apprehensive. The border inspectors questioned them as to whether or not they were really from America. After answering endless questions, it occurred to Mr. Gossen to show them the tag in the hat that read “Mervine Kahn Company, Rayne, Louisiana.” With that, the guard let them go.
The only daughter to cross the Atlantic was 16-year-old Maria Josepha Gossen, known as Josephine. In 1887 she married Joseph Peter Leonards, and they had 11 children, eight of whom lived to be adults.
The youngest Gossen member to come to Roberts Cove was 10-year-old William Joseph. William Joseph is Tim Gossen’s grandfather. In 1901, he married Anna Maria Zaunbrecher, and they had six children.
It is always so fascinating to learn the stories of those early settlers who have made an impact on not only the Roberts Cove community and Acadia Parish, but Louisiana and areas beyond as well.
Everyone is invited to visit the German Heritage Museum during the Roberts Cove Germanfest on Oct. 3 and 4 and learn more stories of triumph and determination.