Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Phillip Gatrost

Male 1811 - 1870  (59 years)


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  • Name Phillip Gatrost 
    Born 16 May 1811  Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 5 Nov 1870  of Garner Township, Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Graybill-Stoker Cemetery, Garner Township, Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I286  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Family Catherine Graybill,   b. 9 Jun 1814, , Ashe, North Carolina, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1 Dec 1886, Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 72 years) 
    Married Abt 1843  of, , Illinois, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F259  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. Reviewed 6 Jun 2002 Rootsweb.com Worldconnect.

      2. Censuses:
      1850 US: Dist. 21, Pottawattamie, Iowa, p. 134b, dwelling 1136, household 1136:
      Philip Gaytrost, 37, Ger.
      Catherine, 36, Ger.
      Elizabeth, 5, IL.
      Henry, 2, IA.
      Michael, 1, IA.

      1851 Iowa State: Pottawattamie County. FHL film 1022203. The entire state was counted but only Pottawattamie listed everyone by name in the household and their ages; other counties only listed the head of the household and a numerical count without names of the various ages by sex in the household. No date is given when the census was taken but it was certified in Dec. 1851; however, the other counties show a Sep 1851 date which also appears more likely for Pottawattamie as well in light of ages given some children with known birthdays in October. Census return:
      Gatrost: Phillip 39, Catherine 37, Elizabeth 6, Henry 3, Michael 1. [Note that the following related families are in this census and very close neighbors: Simeon P. Graybill, Michael/Polly Graybill with Polly's mother Catherine Eller Stoker, Eller/Margaret Stoker, Jacob/Catherine Stoker, Philip/Catherine Gatrost, David/Barbara Stoker, Edward/Sarah Davis, and William/Almira Stoker. Other relatives in same county but separated by several pages of census include the following families: Thomas/Hannah Pilling whose daughter Hannah, later marries William Lenore Graybill, Levi/Patience Graybill, John W./Sarah Stoker, Hannah Ford whose son Martin later marries Zibiah M. Stoker, and John/Sarah Smith.]

      1852 Iowa: the census has Philip "Gatrof" in Kanesville, Pottawattamie, IA, p. 27. This census is statistical and only lists heads of household with numbers of males, females, and voters. It is not very helpful for families or positively identifying a given individual. The following Stokers are shown as being in the same area: David, Eller, Jacob, John, and William as well as Michael Graybill, Martin Ford, Philip Gatrost, John Smith, George Graybill, and Levi Graybill.

      1854 Iowa: Kane, Pottawattamie, Iowa, listed as males, females, voters, militia (note that there are 8 pages of listings and only pages 5 and 6 list the following:
      Michael Grabill, 5-5-2-0.
      William L. Grabill, 1-2-1-1.
      Geo. Grabill, 5-3-1-1.
      Eller Stoker, 4-4-4-4.
      Philip Gatirop, 3-2-1-1.
      Simeon Grabill, 4-0-1-1.

      1860 US: Council Bluffs Post Office, Kane Township, Pottawattamie, Iowa, p. 363, dwelling 476, family 419, living in close proximity to the Simeon P. Graybill and George W. Graybill families:
      Phillip Gatrost, 49, farmer, $1300 real estate, $535 personal property, Hesse Damstadt Germany.
      Catharine, 46, housewife, OH.
      Elizabeth, 16, housework, IL
      Henry, 11, IA.
      Michael, 10, IA.
      Lizzie J., 5, IA.
      Henry Fisher, 22, carpenter, PA.

      1870 US: Council Bluffs Post Office, Kane Township, Pottawattamie, Iowa, p. 172b, dwelling 52, family 53; the following families were neighbors: Simeon Graybill, Margaret Stoker, George Graybill, William L. Graybill, Phillip Gatrost, Henry Gatrost:
      Phillip Gatrost, 59, farmer, $5000 real estate, $2000 personal property, Armstat, Germany.
      Catherin, 55, keeping house, NC.
      Elizabeth, 25, IL.
      Michael, 20, $300 personal property, IA.
      Elizabeth Aver, 14, IA.
      L. Peckenpaugh, 20, domestic servant, IL.

      3. His wife and son are known as "Katrost" in the 1880 Iowa census.

      4. 20 May 2002 Rootsweb.com Worldconnect database ":1254781" indicates four children born: Elizabeth Gatrost b. 1844, Henry Gatrost b. 31 Jul 1848 in IA, Michael [Elmer] Gatrost b. 1850 [31 May 1850 at Pottawattamie Co., Iowa per Ord. Ind.], and Lizzie J. b. 1855. Ord. Ind. adds Rebecca b. 25 Sep 1843 in Adams Co., Illinois.

      5. From Susan Easton Black's book of Members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of LDS: "Philip Gatrost. Birth: March 1811, Germany. Phillip Gatrost was baptized a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Geo. Sweet. He was confirmed by Sweet, A.J. Graybill, and Yokum. Source: Early Reorganization Minutes, 1852-1871, Book A, p. 309."

      6. Mentioned in son's biography from FHL book 977.771 H2 "History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa," 1883, O.L. Baskin and Co., Historical Publishers, Chicago, p. 201: "Henry Gatrost, farmer, P.O. Weston, was born in this county July 31, 1848; he is the son of Philip and Catherine (Graybill) Gatrost. His father was a native of Germany and came to Pennsylvania when he was a boy. From there he moved to Illinois and afterward to this county, locating in Garner Township in 1846. His mother was born in Ashe County, N.C., in 1814; was brought to Ohio when an infant, and is still living in this county. Our subject was educated in the common schools of this county, and was an unusually diligent and attentive student. He worked on his father's farm till he was twenty years of age, when he was married to Emily, daughter of Asa and Drusilla Downs, who settled in this county in 1852. Our subject then farmed his father's place for five years, since which he has been engaged in farming on lands which he rents. His mother became connected with the Latter-Day Saints Church, in Ohio, in 1833; came to Caldwell County, Mo., where she experienced all the hardships of that people. They were mobbed and driven out of Missouri, when they went to Adams County, Ill., near Quincy. She came with the colony that founded Kanesville, this county, in 1846. Our subject's father was connected with the same church, after coming to Iowa, and died in that faith, November 5, 1870. Mr. and Mrs. Gatrost have eight children - Alvin J., Michael E., Ira E., John W., Forest A., Ada A., Laura M. (deceased), Caroline I. and Eva J. Mr. Gatrost is a member of the Latter-Day Saints Church. In politics, he is a Republican."

      7. The book "The Howard Leytham Stoker Von Dollen Family Histories," FHL 929.273 H833a, by Doris Lewis, 2017 So. 80th Ave., Omaha, Nebraska, 68124, pp. 90-91: "Catherine Graybill, b. 9 Jun 1814, Ashe Co., NC, m. Philip Gatrost. [Children:] Henry Gatrost, b. 1848, m. Emily Downs; Michael Elmer Gatrost, b. 1850, m. Anna Carlisle."

      8. FHL book 929.273 P684pn: "Graybill/Stoker/Eller/Smith/Koons/Pitt Connections," by Norman E. 'Gene' Pitt, 1996, pp. 26-32, note that this book has a very detailed downline of the children of this couple: "Catherine Graybill, b. 9 Jun 1814, Ashe Co., NC; d. 1 Dec 1886, Council Bluffs, Potta. Co., IA; md. 18 Oct 1845, Wythe Twp., Hancock Co., IL, to Phillip Gatrost... Phillip was born 10 May 1811, Hesse, Darmstadt, Germany; d. 1870 Council Bluffs, Potta. Co., IA. Both are buried in Council Bluffs, IA. Their children were Rebecca, Anna Elizabeth, George, Henry, Henrietta, Michael Elmer, Leonard and Elizabeth Jane."

      BIRTH:
      1. RLDS citation above uses Mar 1811 and Pitt book quoted above uses 10 May 1811; however, I use calculated birthdate of 16 May 1870 from calculation of age given on tombstone.

      2. His nephew, Henry George Fisher, lived with him for a time per the following citation. It gives information on Phillip's sister's birthplace which may also apply to Phillip. From "History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa," 1883, O.L. Baskin and Co., Historical Publishers, Chicago, p. 200: "Henry G. Fisher, farmer, P.O. Neola, was born in York County, Penn., June 18, 1837; he is the son of Robert and Catharine (Gatrost) Fisher. His father was a native of New York, and his mother of Hazen, Germany, and she was born about 1812. Our subject's education was wholly acquired in that practical school which has experience for its teacher. While a boy, he lived with his grandfather, who taught him the butcher's trade. At the age of sixteen, he apprenticed to a carpenter for three years, named Charles Neff, of Dallastown, York Co., Penn. He came West in 1856, traveling by rail from Harrisburg to Iowa City; at the latter place, he paid out his last money for a passage by stage to Des Moines. At this place, he was compelled to part with a good watch, in order to secure a stage ticket to Council Bluffs. He arrived at the latter place on a very stormy winter day, December 19, 1856. The balance of that winter he spent with his uncle Philip Gatrost.

      MARRIAGE:
      1. Surmised only without any documentation. I use "abt. 1842" since this would be about a year before Rebecca, the eldest Child, was born in Sept. 1843 in Illinois as cited above from the LDS Ordinance Index. Rebecca must have died before the 1850 census; however, the age of five and the birth place of Illinois of Elizabeth, the eldest living child in the 1850 census, would also confirm an early 1840's marriage in Illinois. It is also noted in their son Henry's biography in 1883 that Phillip, his father, went from Pennsylvania to Illinois; since Catherine was not in Pennsylvania and Phillip was not in Ohio or Missouri where Catherine had been, this would leave Illinois as the logical choice. Note that the Pitt book quoted above uses 18 Oct 1845 at Wythe Twp., Hancock, IL; however, the book also notes the first child b. 25 Sep 1843 in Adams Co., IL.

      BURIAL:
      1. The following name is found on a new memorial stone with 33 other related family members at Graybill/Stoker Cemetery: "Phillip Gatrost 1811-1870." It is 3 miles east of Council Bluffs, Iowa in Garner Township on old Highway 6 (also known as McPherson Highway - not to be confused with the new Highway 6), then a right (south) on State Orchard Road for 9/10ths of a mile, then left (east) on Cedar Lane to the first driveway on the left (north). The address is 21090 Cedar Lane and the cemetery is in their backyard. Get permission from the homeowner first. These directions were corrected from previous directions after my visit May 8, 2007.

      2. Tombstone at Graybill Cemetery, Garner Township, Pottawattamie, Iowa: "Phillip Gatrost d. 5 Nov 1870, 59 y 5 m 20 d. Catherine wife of P. Gatrost d. 1 Dec 1886, 72 y 5 m 22 d."

      SOURCES_MISC:
      1. Per 20 May 2002 Ancestry.com database":1254781".

      2. FHL Book 929.273EL54h "George Michael Eller and Descendants of His in America," compiled by James W. Hook, 1957, also on FHL film 896571, item 2, p. 97.

      ACTION:
      1. Look for an 1845 marriage in Wythe Twp., Hancock, IL.