Friedrich Gaukel, known as Frederick Gaukel, was a German-Canadian farmer, distiller, and innkeeper.
16 Facts About Friedrich Gaukel
1.
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Friedrich Gaukel was born in Wurttemberg in what is the Federal Republic of Germany.
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Friedrich Gaukel immigrated first to Pennsylvania in the United States and later to Waterloo Township in Upper Canada, now the Canadian province of Ontario.
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Friedrich Gaukel was instrumental in the early growth and establishment of Berlin, Ontario, of which he has been described as a "prominent founder".
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Friedrich Gaukel operated an early tavern and inn near the site of the later Walper Hotel at the corner of King Street and Queen Street in downtown Kitchener.
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Friedrich Gaukel had indentured himself and, upon arriving in Pennsylvania, was bonded to a Pennsylvania Dutch farmer for a period of three years.
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Friedrich Gaukel's parents had been bonded servants, and when they died, she was adopted by a family and given the Kaufman surname.
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In 1815, Friedrich Gaukel was living near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where another child, Emanuel, was born on 15 February.
9.
Around 1820, Friedrich Gaukel heard of the Mennonite migration from Pennsylvania to Upper Canada and decided to follow the migration.
10.
Friedrich Gaukel began working at a distillery, then bought a small farm near Bridgeport where he opened a distillery of his own.
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In 1831, Friedrich Gaukel held 50 acres of land, with 31 acres under cultivation.
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Friedrich Gaukel bought the Varnum tavern site shortly after Hailer's arrival, but his land purchases would not end there.
13.
Friedrich Gaukel began operating his newly acquired tavern, but he had more ambitious plans.
14.
Friedrich Gaukel invested in the property by building a large frame hotel which opened in 1835, which was named Gaukel's Inn or Gaukel's Tavern.
15.
Friedrich Gaukel was interested in civic affairs, and in the same year his hotel opened, he helped to fund the launch of Heinrich Wilhelm Peterson's, which was published out of Berlin and was the first German-language weekly newspaper in Upper Canada.
16.
Friedrich Gaukel was married to his third and final wife, Dorothea Weismiller, whom Stroh describes as Swabian and whom the Dictionary of Canadian Biography states was from Wurttemberg.