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George Bottjen

Birth	:	10 Jul 1849 Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany
Death	:	17 Feb 1899 Woodbury County, Iowa, USA
Burial	:	Fontana Cemetery, Fontana, Miami County, USA
Coordinate	:	38.4312515, -94.8441925
Plot	:	1
Description	:	The Bottjen name is unique to our small family. We don't know how the name was spelled in Hannover, Germany, in the middle 1800's - we have yet to find our family in Germany...our brick wall. In this country the name was spelled many ways including: Bottjer, Bottyer, Bottyen, Burcher, Barcher, Buther, Butscher, Butcher, Batcher, Buttgen and Buttger. Our guess is that George could not read or write English and the census-takers and others just guessed. After George died, the family had a meeting to settle on a spelling (so the story goes) and all... Read More	The Bottjen name is unique to our small family. We don't know how the name was spelled in Hannover, Germany, in the middle 1800's - we have yet to find our family in Germany...our brick wall. In this country the name was spelled many ways including: Bottjer, Bottyer, Bottyen, Burcher, Barcher, Buther, Butscher, Butcher, Batcher, Buttgen and Buttger. Our guess is that George could not read or write English and the census-takers and others just guessed. After George died, the family had a meeting to settle on a spelling (so the story goes) and all but one son agreed on "Bottjen". The dissenting Chris wanted "Botcher", so he legally changed his name. We are told that "Böttcher" with an umlaut over the "o" is a common name in Northern Germany. A German genealogist, George Schweitzer, says that the "j" in Bottjen indicates the family may be closer to Dutch than German; perhaps Friesian. DNA testing may help us find distant cousins. George Bottjen was born July 10, 1847 (perhaps 1848 or 1849 - see note at end), in Hannover (the province?), Germany. He may have had a twin brother (family story). His father's name may have been Albert, as George named his first-born son Albert. The Bottjen family spoke Low German. He came to this country as a young man in the later 1860's - perhaps as a stowaway on a ship (another family story). In the 1870 census, he is listed as a hired man for Johann Christian Jensen in Liberty Township, Scott County, Iowa. He is 22 years old. It is unclear if he knew this family from Germany. The Davenport area was heavily settled by Germans. Before this, around 1865, the Jensen family had moved in a covered wagon to Grand Island, Nebraska, and lived there for about 18 months and then came right back to Scott County. We don't know if George was along. There were Indian uprisings in that part of the country and that could account for the quick move back to Iowa. Jacob Jensen was born in Nebraska. In 1874, he moved west with the Jensen family from Scott County to Crawford County, Iowa, (per his mother-in-law's obit). He was 27. On July 7, 1875, in Crawford County, he married the sixteen-year-old farmer's daughter, Rosena Jensen. This marriage record can be accessed in familysearch.org. Do a search for "Geo Butcher" in Crawford County, Iowa. The bride's name must have difficult to transcribe, as they have it, "Lena Gens..." Many times Rosena's named is shortened to "Sena" or "Cena". And her maiden name was Jensen, hence, "Gens....". The location of the marriage, according to the records, is "Crawford, Iowa, United States", so we don't know if it was a courthouse, church or home. George and Rosena had 10 children, all of whom lived to maturity except for Rose who died at a few months of age in 1880 and is buried in the Morgan Township Cemetery near Schleswig, Crawford, Iowa. . The family farmed in Crawford, Monona and Woodbury counties. In 1885 they were farming in the NW quarter of Section 26 of Morgan Township, Crawford County. George died when they were farming in Morgan Township of Woodbury County 14 years later. It's easy to mix up the two "Morgan Townships". George died too young - at age 51. The youngest child,Reinhold, was only 3 years old and Rosena was just 39. The death certificate says George died in Morgan Township of Woodbury County, Iowa on February 17, 1899, of "lung trouble". The story is that George died "out in the field (pasture?)" and that sons George, 15, and Chris, 20, had to load up their dead father in a wagon and take him to town - presumably to the undertaker. The nearest towns would be Cushing and Correctionville to the north, Anthon to the west, Danbury to the south and Battle Creek, Ida County, to the east. He was buried near his little daughter, Rose, in the Schleswig Cemetery. We don't have an obituary or any funeral records as yet. They are badly needed. The early Schleswig newspapers were burned. Five years later, the widow, Rosena, got remarried to Johannes "John" Peters February 11, 1904, at St. Paul Lutheran, in Holstein, Ida, Iowa. Conrad and Elizabeth (Bottjen) Schultz were the witnesses. One final note: George's death certificate in Feb 1899 says he was 51 years old, so he would have been born in 1847 since his 52nd birthday wouldn't have taken place until July. His gravestone says he was born in 1849. The 1880 U.S. Census indicates he was born in 1848. The 1870 census says he 22, and it was taken on July 19, AFTER his birthday, but all questions were to be answered according to the official date of June 1, 1870, so he would have been born in 1847. The 1880 census says he was 31, but it was taken on June 9 BEFORE his birthday. So, he was born in 1847, 1848 or 1849. An obituary would definitely help. Something to ponder about the names of the children. It may have been the custom for Low German parents to name their babies in a certain order. I will accept any corrections. 1. The first boy baby was likely named after the father's father. 2. The second boy baby was named after the mother's father. 3. The third boy baby was named after his father. 1. The first girl baby was named after the father's mother. 2. The second girl baby was named after the mother's mother 3. The third girl baby was named after her mother. So, George and Rosena named -- 1. their first son, Albert, perhaps after the father's father - Albert Bottjen 2. their second son, Christian, after the mother's father, Johann Christian Jensen. 3. their third son, George, after his father, George Bottjen 1. their first daughter, Rose, perhaps after her father's mother, Rose 2. their second daughter, Elizabeth, after the mother's mother, Elizabeth Petersen Jensen 3. their third daughter, Rosena, after her mother, Rosena Jensen Bottjen I know this is quite a stretch of the imagination, but we are grasping at straws to find George's parents in Germany. Perhaps they were named "Albert and Rose Bottjen".

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is George Bottjen's memorial?
George Bottjen's memorial is located at: Fontana Cemetery, Fontana, Miami County, USA.
When did George Bottjen death?
George Bottjen death on 17 Feb 1899 in Woodbury County, Iowa, USA
Where are the coordinates of the George Bottjen's memorial?
Latitude: 38.4312515
Longitude: -94.8441925

Family Members:

Spouse

Rosena Jensen Bottjen

(1859 - 1936)

Children

Albert William Bottjen

(1876 - 1954)

Rose Bottjen

(1880 - 1880)

Elizabeth Ann Bottjen Schultz

(1881 - 1955)

Rinahold Johannes Bottjen

(1895 - 1941)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Fontana Cemetery
Fontana, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.4312515, -94.8441925

2. Debrick Cemetery
Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.4757996, -94.8432999

3. Twin Springs Cemetery
Linn County, USA
Coordinate: 38.3876200, -94.8811300

4. Whiteford Cemetery
Osawatomie, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.4618988, -94.8992004

5. Mount Nebo Family Cemetery
Osawatomie Township, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.4540400, -94.9208400

6. Block Trinity Lutheran Cemetery
Block, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.4944400, -94.8086900

7. Elm Grove Cadmus Cemetery
Cadmus, Linn County, USA
Coordinate: 38.3697014, -94.9000015

8. Beagle Cemetery
Beagle, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.4178300, -94.9493400

9. New Lancaster Cemetery
New Lancaster, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.4627991, -94.7427979

10. Oaklawn Cemetery
La Cygne, Linn County, USA
Coordinate: 38.3497124, -94.7684784

11. Frank Cemetery
Block, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.5270400, -94.8033500

12. Crescent Hill Cemetery
Osawatomie, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.4513700, -94.9705800

13. Elmdale Cemetery
Osawatomie, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.5017014, -94.9381027

14. Osawatomie State Hospital Burial Ground
Osawatomie, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.5128600, -94.9326300

15. Mound Creek Cemetery
Beagle, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.3958015, -94.9760971

16. Oakwood Cemetery
Osawatomie, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.5024300, -94.9510300

17. Pryor Cemetery
Linn County, USA
Coordinate: 38.3690491, -94.7282410

18. Lockhart Cemetery
Beagle, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.4112400, -94.9828500

19. Brown Cemetery
Osawatomie, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.4980300, -94.9566500

20. Highland Cemetery
Somerset, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.5342000, -94.7688700

21. Miami Memorial Gardens
Paola, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.5337100, -94.9221400

22. Sidney Shields Gravesite
Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.5447700, -94.7922700

23. Chandler Family Cemetery
Beagle, Miami County, USA
Coordinate: 38.4057600, -94.9951200

24. Prairie Home Cemetery
La Cygne, Linn County, USA
Coordinate: 38.3097000, -94.8435974