Goyen, Gossen (1667-1737)

Gossen (Gosen, Goessen, Goswin) Goyen (Gogen, Gojen, Goi), (1667-1737), married Catharina Lamerts, widow of Herman op den Graeff, in 1696, was minister of the Mennonite Church at Krefeld, Germany, during a time when this congregation was affected by a pietistic revival movement. Among his friends were Johann Lobach and Luther Stetius, who had strong Dunkard leanings. Goyen himself must have been baptized by immersion in the Rhine in 1724, but continued to serve the Mennonite congregation at Krefeld, although his fellow ministers Leenaerdt Ewaldts and Jan Kroes (Crous), and the majority of the members did not practice baptism by immersion. He must also have been a friend of Ernst Christoph Hochmann von Hohenau, who preached in the Mennonite church at Krefeld (Nieper, 217). His son Arnold Goyen was a good friend of Gerhard Tersteegen. His daughter Maria, who was married to Jacob W. Naass, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1735. The petition which the Krefeld Mennonites addressed to the King of Prussia regarding religious freedom dated 13 April 1737, bears, among others, the signature of Gossen Goyen (Nieper, 380). Gossen Goyen intermediated in 1715 between the Dutch Mennonites at Amsterdam and the Swiss authorities who kept Swiss Mennonites on the galleys in Italy, In January 1715 he forwarded Dutch money to Torino, Italy, for the purpose of liberating the Mennonite prisoners; and a letter of 5 October 1715, of the French ambassador at Bern, Switzerland, written to Goyen, mentions the liberation of some Swiss Mennonites from the galleys. A letter of 20 November 1715 informs us that more Mennonites were liberated, while still others were to be ransomed. In 1726 (letter of 4 June) Goyen was still in correspondence with the board of the Amsterdam Lamist congregation. In this letter he calls himself preacher of the Mennonites at Krefeld.

Bibliography

Göbel, Max. Geschichte des christlichen Lebens in der rheinisch-westfälischen evangelischen Kirche. 3 volumes, 1849-1860.

Hege, Christian and Christian Neff. Mennonitisches Lexikon, 4 vols. Frankfurt & Weierhof: Hege; Karlsruhe: Schneider, 1913-1967: v. II, 151.

Hoop Scheffer, Jacob Gijsbert de. Inventaris der Archiefstukken berustende bij de Vereenigde Doopsgezinde Gemeente to Amsterdam. 2 v. Amsterdam: Uitgegeven en ten geschenke aangeboden door den Kerkeraad dier Gemeente, 1883-1884: I, Nos. 1372, 1376, 1378; II, Nos. 2616.

Nieper, Friedrich. Die ersten deutschen Auswanderer von Krefeld nach Pennsylvanien: ein Bild aus der religiösen Ideengeschichte des 17. und 18. Jahrhunderts. Neukirchen, Kreis Moers: Buchhandlung des Erziehungsvereins, 1940: 37, 209, 239-240, 273-274.

Author(s)	Cornelius Krahn
Date Published	1956

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MLA style

Krahn, Cornelius. "Goyen, Gossen (1667-1737)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. 1956. Web. 25 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Goyen,_Gossen_(1667-1737)&oldid=94902.

APA style

Krahn, Cornelius. (1956). Goyen, Gossen (1667-1737). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 25 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Goyen,_Gossen_(1667-1737)&oldid=94902.

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Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 2, p. 558. All rights reserved.

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