Biographical Sketch of Hon. Gert Goebel, Franklin County, Missouri >From "History of Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Crawford and Gasconade Counties", Biographical Appendix, Goodspeed Publishing Company, 1888. ********************************************************************** Hon. Gert Goebel, one of the early German settlers of Franklin County, is a native of Coburg, Germany, born April 1, 1816 the eldest child of David W. and Henrietta (Kessel) Goebel. David W. Goebel was born in 1787, came to the United States in 1834 and settled in the wilder- ness in Boeuf Township, where he made his home for many years, but, being a man of extra ordinary intelligence and ability, he was not contented to be a frontiersman; he spent some years in St. Louis as a teacher of the sciences in public and private schools, and assisted in the office of the surveyor general. In 1849 he was appointed sur- veyor of Franklin County, with our subject as deputy, and served until 1851; he then devoted his attention to private teaching in the neigh- borhood for some years. After the death of his wife, in 1860, he made several journeys to his native country, the last time in 1868, where he died in 1872. Hon. Gert Goebel received a fine scientific educa- tion, being a French, German and Latin scholar. His English education was obtained after his removal to the United States, which was with his parents. He was married in St. Charles County, in March, 1842, to Miss Caroline, daughter of Henry Becker, a native of Germany. They have seven children: August, Julia (widow of August Spinner), Emilia (wife of Benton Osterwald), Cecilie, Adolph, Charles (married Bertha Frick, of this neighborhood) and Edward, of Louisville, Ky. Adolph is corresponding secretary of one of the largest mining companies in Colorado. Mr. Goebel devoted his attention to farming until 1849, when he was appointed his father's deputy surveyor, and in 1851 was elected to the office of county surveyor, of which office he held four years. He was a stanch Union man during the war and an outspoken emancipationist, which views elected him to the Legislature in 1862. In 1864 he was elected to the Senate, representing Franklin, Gasconade and Osage Counties; he was re-elected in 1866, and served in that cap- acity four years, being one of the ablest members of that body. In 1870 he was appointed chief clerk of the State register office, served about eighteen months, and has since been engaged in literary work of various kinds. For some years he has been a regular correspondent of the St. Louis "Westliche Post" and contributes occasionally to various other newspapers. In 1877 he published a work entitled "Longer than a Man's Life in Missouri" a work that has met with creditable commenda- tion from some of the ablest writers in the country. A ready writer, fluent speaker, and good conversationalist, Mr. Goebel is a man who has long been recognized as a leader not only of the German element, but of his party in general, and one who could always command its full support. Prior to the war he was a Benton Democrat, but since the opening of the Rebellion he has been a Republican. Mrs. Goebel died March 23, 1864; she was born in 1824. In early life Mr. Goebel spent a large part of his time in hunting, and many are the deer that have fallen at the crack of his trusty rifle. In his house are yet to be found some of the relics of the chase. ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Joe Miller Penny Harrell ====================================================================