Preface

Preface

In 1995 I published a book entitled "The Schembs in America." This book is a major revision to the 1995 work. The scope of the book has been expanded to include:

All the Schömbs family emigrants from Germany, regardless of the spelling of their surnames
All the Schömbs family emigrants, regardless of to which country they emigrated

It no longer is the Schembs, but includes the Schömbs, Schoembs, Schombs, Schembs, Schambs, Schemes, etc. It no longer is the United States, but rather to whichever country they emigrated. While most of the emigrants did go to Amerika, there are some interesting exceptions. The emphasis, however, remains on the earlier generations of emigrants. The 1995 book was published as the first edition with the German ancestry of most of the emigrants still unknown. While I had discovered hundreds of 18th and 19th Century records of Schembs in Germany, and had been able to form some family units, I knew I was just scratching the surface. I did not know how long it would take to identify the German ancestry of the Schembs immigrants to the America, and had just discovered a pesky spelling variation of an immigrant to Ohio (Mathias Schambs) which I did not have the time to pursue. These questions were left to a second edition. Later in 1995 I had the good fortune to make contact with, and soon thereafter meet, Reinhold Schembs in Mainz/Laubenheim, Germany. Reinhold had been researching his Schembs ancestry for the prior ten years, tracing it back to Zacharias Schömbs (1645-1707) of Undenheim in Rheinhessen. Over the next year Reinhold and I were able to collaborate on our efforts, including tying all the Schembs emigrants into the family tree of Zacharias Schömbs. The biggest challenge of Edition II was complete. Actually we might have completed this work more quickly except that I do not speak Deutsch and Reinhold does not speak English. In 1996 I made contact with Linda Schambs Hatch. Linda was similarly in the process of researching the Ohio Schambs, back to Mathias and George, his nephew who also immigrated in the mid-19th Century to Ohio. My suspicion that the Schambs were really Schembs in disguise had been correct. While the reason is not known, the Schambs emigrated from Germany as Schembs and soon thereafter changed the spelling of their family name. Reinhold and I again met in 1998 when I was in Germany. He and his good friend Harald Ruppe, who periodically helped us with translating, prodded me to establish a Schembs Website. While I had become a devotee of email, I had no idea of how to approach the larger task. Meanwhile I began pressuring Reinhold to expand his research to include the spelling variations which were rife in our records --- Schömbs, Schoembs and Schems among others. Different branches of Zacharias' descendants in Germany had adopted spelling variations. Slowly Reinhold responded, but I then began to feel guilty that I was pushing for this German research and not offered to do the same in the United States. In January, 1999, and largely with the benefit of the Internet White Pages, I commenced to search for Schömbs, Schoembs and Schems in the United States. In doing so I also came across the spelling of Schombs, a logical variation of Schömbs but one which did not exist in Germany. While this work continues, the results have been that our database of Schömbs family members has greatly expanded, not only in Germany and the United States, but also in France, Netherlands, Canada, Ireland, Brazil and Taiwan. The list of emigrants grew to include the following additions, to name only a few:

Thomas Schembs to Brazil in 1825
Joh. Adam Schömbs to France in the early 1840s
George "Frank" Schoembs to Illinois about 1848-1850
Henry Schombs to New York about 1850
George Schoembs to Buffalo, New York about 1883
Joh. Ferdinand "Freddie" Schoembs to New Jersey about 1900
Charles "Carlo" Schoembs to New Jersey about 1900
Hugo Karl Schömbs to The Netherlands about 1918
George Schoembs to Ohio in about 1930

The list continues to grow. Census and other information has been found of Schoembs families in the 19th Century in the United States, but then the families disappeared from sight. In some cases they only had daughters, and we have not been able to trace the descendants. In others, however, at least three of the families changed their surname from Schoembs to "James." This discovery has been very helpful in answering many mysteries. Almost all of the emigrants have been tied into the family tree of Zacharias Schömbs.

"Die Auswanderer Schömbs"

With the change in scope it was necessary to change the title of Edition II. The Schembs in America was no longer appropriate. Die Auswanderer Schömbs means "The Schömbs Emigrants." This second edition is the story of all the known Schömbs family members who departed Germany prior to World War II for opportunities elsewhere in the world. As others are identified they will be included in this story.

Johan Schembs emigrated on the steamship Hamburg, arriving in New York in late 1926. Johan is the young man standing above the life-ring of the Hamburg wearing a hat, with three women to the right of him. This is the only photograph we have of someone in the process of emigrating.

"Die Familie von Zacharias Schömbs"

As Reinhold Schembs was researching his heritage he also documented his findings in a book. He only printed a few copies for the interest of his immediate family. Reinhold has now broadened his work to all of the branches of the family we have been able to identify in the records or make contact with. Similarly, "Die Familie von Zacharias Schömbs" (The Family of Zacharias Schömbs) deals with our ancestors who lived during the 17th Century into the 21st Century. While the book includes information on some of the emigrant branches, most of Reinhold's work deals with those family members who stayed in Deutschland.