Bernard Clemens Gude, 1871–1925, & Bernhardina Hoevelkamp, 1871–1938

Bernard Clemens Gude was born in a small village near Lengerich, Germany, on 1 July 1871, the son of Johann Heinrich Gude and Anna Maria Grove. Just a few miles away from Lengerich, in the village of Ankum in the state of Niedersachsen, Maria Elisabeth Bernhardina Hoevelkamp was born on 2 February 1871. She was the daughter of Franz Heinrich Hoevelkamp and Gertrud Elisabeth Heidemann, and she was simply known as “Dina.”

Dina Hoevelkamp became pregnant with her first child, who was born on 12 June 1890 in Ankum, and who was christened with the name Johanna Hoevelkamp. Maybe because of the stigma of unwed mothers at that time, Dina decided to emigrate to America, and she left the baby in the care of relatives until she could bring Johanna (called “Hanna”) to America at a later time. Dina’s younger brother, Heinrich Bernard Hoevelkamp, who was seventeen at the time, decided to accompany his sister to America and then return to Germany (according to family legend).

Heinrich Bernard came to be known as Charles Bernard but was also known to the family as “Benno.” He was training to be a barber in Ankum but was next in line to take over his father’s position as the local mail carrier. But Benno stayed in America, married Helen Sandmann, and they lived in St. Clair County, Illinois. Benno’s younger brother Josef Hoevelkamp thus took over as the local mail carrier in Ankum and later in Osnabrueck.

Less than a year after Hanna’s birth, Dina and brother Benno arrived in New York on 20 May 1891. About one year later, Bernard Gude, accompanied by Heinrich Gastreich, arrived on 15 July 1892. They all listed their ultimate destination as St. Louis but agreed to first meet in Cincinnati, Ohio, or Louisville, Kentucky, where Gude was to meet up with his brothers. The Gude brothers never showed up, and Bernard Gude never heard from his brothers again, and so the group ultimately went on to St. Louis, where Bernard Gude and Dina Hoevelkamp were married on 14 April 1896 at St. Mary of Victories Catholic Church. Bernard was known to co-workers as Ben or Barney but to family as “Uncle Joe.”

Children of Bernard and Dina:

• Daughter Hanna was eventually brought to America and she later married Oscar Herzog, who was from Canton Aargau, Switzerland. They had two daughters.
• The next child was Bernard Charles Gude, who first married Victoria Wenta, and after Victoria’s death, he married Catherine Palermo. They never had children.
• The next child, Bernhardina “Dina” Gude, married Elmer Louis Maurath, and they had seven children.
• The last child was Henry Frank “Hank” Gude, who married Florence Dillon, and they never had children.

Bernard C. Gude died in 1925 after being struck by a speeding ambulance at S. Broadway & Dakota. His lawsuit became “case law.” Dina died in 1938, sadly never responding to family letters from Germany.

Written by John L. Maurath, their great-grandson
August 2020

© 2021, St. Louis Genealogical Society