Loose Ends:

It is amazing how much information is out there in the world about people in past years and centuries. Periodically you stumble across a reference which appears to be a family member. It might be a record of a marriage, or of a death, or some other life event. But further research does not find additional records about the person. This webpage will list some of the more interesting examples. Perhaps over time we might be able to locate additional records about these people, and confirm that they are, in fact, really relatives, rather than misspellings of names in historical documents. And hopefully we will be successful in making the connection back to the family tree of Zacharias Schömbs (1645-1707).

Dorothea Schembs (*1828), New York, New York

We have a marriage record of a Dorothea Schembs marrying a John Wendland in Manhattan on 22 Feb 1850. She was 21 years old. We do not know who Dorothea was or her story after the marriage. Assuming that the spelling of the name is correct in the marriage record, it is possible and perhaps even likely that she was Dorothea Schömbs (*02.09.1828 Dorn-Dürkheim). This speculation is based upon the following facts: 1) Dorothea was a seldom used given name in the early 1800's. There are no other Dorothea Schömbs/Schembs in our database born within ten years of 1828. 2)We have no death record for Dorothea in Germany. 3) 1850 was still the beginning of emigration to Amerika. There were only about ten Schömbs/Schembs who had emigrated to Amerika of whom we are aware. 4) Dorothea's older brother Johann Adam had just emigrated to Paris. There was precedent in the immediate family for emigration. 5) Another brother Heinrich (*1813) would emigrate a few years later and settle in Baltimore MD.

To pursue this several obvious steps could be taken: 1) Look in Census records beginning in 1855 (NY State Census) and track the Wendland family, if possible, perhaps leading to making contact with present day Wendlands. 2) Look in passenger lists for Dorothea Schömbs/Schembs in the 1848/1849 period. And also for George and Elisabeth Zwicker (witnesses at her wedding). Perhaps Dorothea emigrated with the Zwickers. 3) Look in historical records for the Zwicker in Dorn-Dürkheim.

Further research has now given much additional information but an Emigrant chapter has not yet been written as of the beginning of 2020.

The marriage record of Dorothea Schembs (*1828) gives the residence of John Wendland as Staten Island (Richmond). In the 1880 Census there is a John Wendland family. This appears to be the correct family. The wife is Dora, age 52. Three daughters are living with their parents. Perhaps there are sons who have since moved out. Try to find the family in the 1860 and 1870 Census.

The 1900 Census and original page show John and Dora living on Montgomery Avenue. Her birthmonth and year are enumerated as September, 1928. They have been married fifty years. Their immigration year is shown as 1862 which is clearly in error. The Census also indicates that they had had seven children, four of whom were still living in 1900. Living with John and Dora in 1900 is a John Wildt, nephew.

Finding the marriage record for Amelia (*1866) to Henry Franzreb (*1866) makes it clear that this is the correct family. Amelia's mother is listed as Dorthia Schemps. Then the 1875 Census for Richmond yields two more daughters, Elizabeth and Ellen.

Amelia then lives with her son Henry Franzreb (*1891) as shown in the 1920 Census and 1930 Census. By 1940 both Amelia and Henry (*1891) are deceased. Henry's widow Alida is living with three of their children in the 1940 Census and original page.

In August 2013 Monica Schoembs discovered some postings on Mundia.com (an ancestry.com site) by a "charlenelabar". I sent her a message and am awaiting her reply. Her postings refer to "Dorothea Schambs", "Matilda Wendland", and Matilda's husband "Jacob Zahn".

Johannes Schömbs (*1853 Bretzenheim)

In the Hessian State Archives is an entry of the emigration Johann Schömbs, age 16, to Amerika in about 1869. This most probably is the son of Johann Baptist Schömbs (*1826 Undenheim) and his wife Maria Anna Finger (*1825 Bretzenheim). Find Johannes (*1853) in the 2_1_hermann chapter.

This is probably coincidental but we have Johann Schömbs/Schoembs (*1840) emigrating from Bermersheim and Johann Schömbs (*1853) emigrating from Bretzenheim. Both Johanns did exist as well as both towns. I don't think we are getting the two confused.

Margaret "Emma" Schoembs (*26.06.1866 Louisville KY, +after 1930)

Emma, a member of the Louisville Schoembs branch, married an Adolph Ludwig Michell and lived in New Orleans. In looking at the Elsheim branch of the family in Germany, there was a Michel family in Zornheim. The godmother of Anna Maria Eva Schömbs (*24.04.1749 Wahlheimer Hof) 2.3.6/10 was Maria Eva Michel. Might look in Louisville to see if there is a Michel family. Also in Zornheim to see if Adolph Ludwig emigrated from Zornheim and therefore the families probably knew each other in the old country.

Barbara Eid (*1871)

The emigration and entry into the United States is well documented. First there is the entry on Line 18 in the passenger list for the ship "Amerika", which arrived at Ellis Island NY on 14 September 1912. She is listed as 41 years old and coming from the town of Obermoschel in Germany, about 60 Km southwest of Undenheim. The second page of the ship's register then states her destination as her cousin Anna Schmidt, living in Bloom(?), Long Island NY. Click for the column headers for the first and second pages.

The Following Family Members are reported to have Emigrated to Amerika:

• Jacob Schömbs (*1842)

Other Schömbs Emigrants

We continue to learn of new emigrants. However, now more of them are descended from Schömbs females who married in Germany and the family names changed. Over time we will add these chapters to the book as information is learned. Periodically visit the website to see what is new!