- The Schömbs Emigrants
- The objective of this book, "The Schömbs Auswanderer," is to tell the stories of all the descendants of Zacharias Schömbs who decided to leave their homeland and pursue their lives in other countries. As time goes on we gradually learn of more who emigrated. We believe we have learned of most of those emigrants who were descended down a male line of the family and, therefore, still carried the Schömbs family name. Increasingly our new information deals with descendants born through a female line, and therefore carry a different family name. Research is easier when dealing with a Schömbs (or Schembs). The name is more unusual than most in Germany (and in Amerika as well) and it is usually easier to research distinctive names.
Many of the Schömbs emigrants were male, single, and young. This was common in Germany in middle of the 19th Century, when the huge migration out of Germany began. Ultimately 7 million Germans emigrated to the United States alone. A few went west into Europe, others to Eastern Europe, and still others to Canada, Central and South America. But families emigrated as well, with children ranging from infants to others in their twenties. Initially many of the females stayed behind in Germany, but that began to change over time as well.
Prior to 1900 the great majority of the Schömbs family lived in what is today called Rheinland-Pfalz, the area to the west of the Rhein River. Over time the political system of the area went through continuous change. During the time of Napoleon, it was ruled by the French. At other times it was part of Hessen Darmstadt, a powerful state in the loosely organized german federation. Virtually all the Schömbs emigrants came from Rheinland-Pfalz, and more specifically the area between Mainz and Worms, both towns on the west bank of the Rhein River. To see the specific towns and villages from which they came, visit their Hometowns.
Historically in Germany the family went by the name Schömbs, dating back to the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). The first documentation of the name is in the late 1600s, when Zacharias Schömbs, with his wife and sons, lived in Undenheim. Two other spelling variations developed in Germany. The first, "Schembs", arose in the villages of Herrnsheim and Laubenheim during the middle 1700s. Two descendants of Zacharias had moved from Undenheim to Herrnsheim. One, during this same period, moved to Laubenheim. In both cases, as family names were still becoming established in Germany, the scribes of the local churches began recording the names as "Schembs" rather than "Schömbs." The reasons for this are not known, but the spelling has remained unchanged. Those descendants with the family name of "Schembs" come from either Herrnsheim or Laubenheim. Descendants of Zacharias who moved to other villages or towns retained the original spelling of "Schömbs." The natural variation of the name without the umlaut (the two dots) is Schoembs. Today in Germany there are the three spellings: Schömbs, Schoembs, and Schembs.
Other spelling variations occurred through emigration, or rather "immigration" into their new country. In Amerika (the United States), most of the immigrants kept their names of Schembs or Schoembs. Some changed the spelling or someone changed it for them. In the United States today we have the "Schambs" (from Schembs), the "Schombs" (from Schömbs), and the "James" (from Schömbs). In Brazil there is the "Schemes" family (from Schembs and/or Schömbs). In France and The Netherlands there are the Schömbs. These are all the variations that are currently known (2007).
Most of the emigrants are well known. Their family relationships in Germany are known. Their activities as immigrants to their new countries documented. There are, however, exceptions. Some of the emigrants disappeared from our view after arriving in their new country. Others appeared in their new country, but their past in the old country is still a mystery.
We are slowly beginning to identify descendants of Zacharias who emigrated under different surnames, in other words where female descendants married and they or their descendants emigrated under different surnames.
There are two different ways to proceed in learning about the descendants. The first is to Click on the Link below and proceed to the Brazil Schembs, the first emigrant known at this time.
The second is to return to the full list of emigrants in the Table of Contents (in the left margin), and Click on any of the chapters of the individual emigrants.