Gometz is an unusual name which is borne by several unrelated families of differing national and ethnic backgrounds. This page is primarily about the Gometz family of Sweden, Denmark, and the United States, the descendants of Magnus Bengtsson alias Gometz (1819-1901). However, I'm including some background information on other occurences of the name for those interested.
Magnus Gometz was the first person in our family to bear the name "Gometz".
He was born on 20 September 1819 to Bengt Smitt and and Kjersti Bengtsdotter who were living at the time at #19 Höjatorp, Höja, a town in the lan [province] of Kristianstad in southern Sweden.
In 1837, at age 18, Magnus enrolled in the Royal Swedish Hussar Regiment and was given the "soldier name" Gomez according to a document still preserved by members of the family in Sweden who have sent me the transcription and English translation below:
Drängen Magnus Bengtsson född 1819 den 20:e September
The farm hand Magnus Bengtsson born 1819 the 20th of September
antages som Husar för No 39 vid Silfåckra Squadron af Kongl.
is engaged as Hussar for Number 39 at the Silfåckra Squadron of the Royal
Skånska Husarregementet och erhåller Namnet GOMEZ
Skånska Hussar Regiment and is given the Name GOMEZ
så framt densamme blifver antagen vid nä sta Rekryt(?) Möte.
provided the same is approved at the next Recruit (?) Meeting.
Silfåckra den 17. January 1837
S(?), v. (von) Platen
Squadrons Chef
[At this time, Swedish surnames had not yet taken on their modern form and fixity. For an explanation of Swedish naming practices see Some Notes on Swedish Names.]
Notice that the name given in the document is "Gomez". My correspondent writes, "According to my aunt Signe it was changed by the priest who did the parish registration. 'Otherwise nobody will pronounce it correctly,' he said."
Still unanswered? Why Gomez? Where did Magnus (or the squadron chief) get this name and why did he want to use it rather than any other possible name? His descendants would love to know. Perhaps more research into the details of his life and times will provide us with an answer.
Oddly enough, despite the fact that this surname is less than 200 years old, there are still spelling variations for family historians to contend with. In some of the earlier records in Sweden the name appears as Gomitz or Gomets. In most cases, I've chosen to use Gometz and I will mention other spellings. If I'm quoting an original record, the spelling will be that used on the record.
First names are a little more complicated since there are several spellings in my records for some names. Also the two members of the family who came to the United States used more "Americanized" versions of their first names. Ephraim became "Ed" and Emanuel became "Emil". To lessen confusion, I will usually chose one variant and use it consistently, just as I'm doing for the surname. Confusion also arises when Swedish names appear in English and the letters lose their diacritics, i.e. the little marks which appear over some letters in Swedish, but are not found in English. A computer which "speaks" English may not be able to reproduce Swedish correctly. Since I don't know Swedish, I hope that you will let me know if I have spelled a word incorrectly. Fortunately there are specific codes in HTML to reproduce non-English characters; non-English words on this site have no reason not to be correct.
A good family history requires the same sort of evidence and proofs that a historian uses when writing any other type of history. Therefore it is very important that statements about our ancestors be based on "primary sources" and that they are "cited" correctly so other researchers can find them. [If you'd like more information on research techniques, see this link, at Rootsweb.] To save repeating the same information many times on this site, I will probably create a numbered list of sources used and link to that list from the other pages. I'll also need copies of primary sources -- the actual records which document events in our ancestors' lives. You'll be hearing more about this.
The rest of this site contains a "Index Chart" which will outline the family and link individuals to "Family Group Sheets" containing the information which I have on each family.
There is also a section, the Gometz Miscellany, for information on other Gometz families, occurrences of the name, and trivia.
The welcome mat is out! Come in and meet our family. If you can add to or correct the information shown here, we'd love to hear from you. Just click on the email address below.
Send mail to agometz@rhus.com.
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