Today’s post will give evidence of how German names often got transformed into ones that come closer to matching the more common English names found in America. You will see 4 different spellings for a surname that can be found in the records for the birthday boy and his wife within this post. You will even see the gravestones of the husband and wife having 2 very different spellings for their surname.

Johannes Heinrich Kaltschmidt was born on July 6, 1828, thus making today his 198th birthday. John, as he is almost always called, was born in Ferndorf, Germany to his parents, Johann George and Marie Elisabeth (Schweisfurth) Kaltschmidt. I am not able to display the actual baptism record for him, but I am able to show this transcription of it I found on Family Search.

According to Google Translate, kalt means “cold” in English. There is a J.H. Kaltschmidt found on the ship, S.S. Julius, which came to America in 1854. He and another passenger, J.H. Bube, were called miners from Ernsdorf. John was listed as being 25 years old.

Now, we will take a look at the woman who would become John’s bride. Her name was Wilhelmine Jamnitz, who was born on March 4, 1833 in Wiederau, Germany. Wilhelmine was the daughter of Johann Friedrich and Johanna Rosina (Lindner) Jamnitz. The surname, Jamnitz, is another name that went through a transformation in America, later taking on the spelling, Yamnitz. A “J” at the beginning of a name was pronounced as a “Y” by Germans. Wilhelmine’s family came to America aboard the ship, Emma Lincoln, in 1855. Wilhelmine was listed as being 20 years old on this list.

After quite a bit of searching, I failed to find a marriage record for John Kaltschmidt and Wilhelmine Yamnitz. Since their first child was born in the spring of 1858, their wedding probably took place in 1857. When the 1860 census was taken, we find the Kaltschmidt’s living in Fredericktown, Missouri. Already, we see that their surname is spelled in a similar fashion to Goldsmith. John was called a miner. There is plenty of mining going on around Fredericktown. Two young children were included in their household.

John was a soldier in the Union Army during the Civil War. His military record is found in the image below. He is given the name, Goldschmidt, on this form. He was said to be from Fredericktown when he enrolled.

John and Wilhelmine were no longer living in Fredericktown when the 1870 census was taken. We find this family living in the Union Township in Bollinger County. Not only was there a change in location, but John also had a change in occupation. In this entry, he is called a retail merchant. John also had a son, Louis, who was working on the farm. There were 5 children who were in the family that now was called the Goldschmidt’s.

The last census in which we find John and Wilhelmine is the one taken in 1880. Another son had been added to the family. This time, John was called a farmer, along with his son, Louis.

In a Yamnitz document that can be found on Family Search, we find this description of the Kaltschmidt/Jamnitz family. There is a note that says their marriage record probably burned in an 1866 courthouse fire. It also lists 7 total children born to this couple.

John Kaltschmidt, or Goldschmidt, or Goldsmith died in 1881 at the age of 53. I have read that John became a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim not long before his death. We find his death record in the books of that congregation. He is given the name, John Goldschmidt, in this document.

John is buried in the Yount Community Cemetery in Yount. His gravestone gives him the name, Koltschmidt. That is the only evidence I found for that spelling of his surname.

If we could view the 1890 census, we would find Wilhelmine as a widow. Wilhelmine died in 1899 at the age of 66. She does not have a death record in the Trinity, Friedheim books. She is also buried in the Yount Community Cemetery in Yount. The name she is given on her gravestone is Minnie, wife of John Goldsmith.

You can decide for yourself which surname is best to be used for today’s couple. I do know that the gravestones that I located for their children all used the spelling, Goldsmith. Somehow the name that began with “Kalt”, which means “cold”, got changed to “gold”. I also know of Schmidt’s who were later given the name, Smith. I guess you could put the changes exhibited in this post as being part of the Germans who came to America that got “Americanized”. I suppose in this case, you could also call a change from cold to gold to be a form of inflating your value. And in addition, we see the Americanization of Wilhelmine’s maiden name from Jamnitz to Yamnitz.

I suppose many of you will also recognize the name of a famous baseball player named, Paul Goldschmidt, who once played for the St. Louis Cardinals.