"Gochnauer" was an early spelling of the name "Cokonougher". The earliest Gochnauers (sic Cokonougher) that have been traced so far to have come to Ameica were Jacob and Christian Gochenauer in 1732. The Gochnauer peoples were Swiss-German Mennonites who had been driven out of their native country and who had lived in Holland before immigrating to America.
In the
early 1700s, according to Robert Evans, "the large number of German-Swiss persons emigrating to
Pennsylvania aroused fears in the Governor and Council of that state that these
persons would make Pennsylvania a German state.
Consequently laws were passed requiring that the captain of each ship
make a list of aliens (persons other than Englishmen) that he was bringing to
America, that each person sign an oath acknowledging themselves to be subjects
of the King of England, and that the King was rightfully head of the English. These
lists are of interest to us because they show that two Jacob Gochenours arrived
in Philadelphia in different years, 1732 and 1736. Jacob Gochnauer, Christian Gochnauer and
Kathrina Gochnourin (the "in" on the end of a German name denotes a
feminine person) appear as passengers on the ship "Samuels", Hugh
Percy, Commander, which landed at Philadelphia on August 11, 1732. Their ages are given as 20, 17, and 18
respectively and the ship sailed from Rotterdam, Holland. Another Jacob
Kochenauer (obviously a variant of Gochenour) arrived in Philadelphia on the
ship "Harle", Ralph Harle,
master, from Rotterdam, Holland, on Sept. 1, 1736. It is not presently known which or if either
of these Jacob Gochenours are our ancestor who settled in Shenandoah County
before June 15, 1754. Many persons of the name Gochenour live in Pennsylvania today." (Extracted
from Appendix I of HISTORY OF THE DESCENDANTS OF JACOB GOCHENOUR, Robert Lee
Evans [3512 North Third Street; Arlington, VA 22201], 1977, Carr Publishing
Company, Inc., Boyce, VA 22620.)
