- Barbara Schömbs Sickinger of Buffalo NY
CLICK to trace the ancestors of Barbara Schömbs - The Story of Barbara Schömbs (*1824 Undenheim, +1897 Niagara Falls NY)
- Barbara Schömbs was married 26.11.1851 in Marienborn to Jacob Sickinger (*1822, +~1868), son of Christian Sickinger and Anna Maria Kuhn. They emigrated soon after and settled in Niagara Falls, New york. See below in the box for further information about Jacob Sickinger.
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A Tale of Two Emigrants
Jacob Sickinger (*1822) and Johann Baptist Schömbs (*1826) were friends. Sickinger went on to marry Johann's older sister Barbara (*1824). But before either Jacob or Johann married they decided to experience Amerika.
In 1849 Johann Baptist Schömbs emigrated from Deutschland. His voyage on the Cotton Planter (extract) took him to New York, arriving 23 August. Johann Baptist is included on the passenger list. Jacob Sickinger is not shown in the list. Perhaps he had emigrated earlier. In 1850 the two were working as miners in Shullsburg, Lafayette County, Wisconsin. Shullsburg was the third community organized in Wisconsin and originally settled by miners. Various minerals had been discovered in Shullsburg, including lead. It is in the far southwest corner of Wisconsin about 20 miles from the Mississippi River. Wisconsin had become the 30th state in the United States in 1848.
Soon after the 1850 Census Jacob and Johann Baptist returned to Deutschland where they both married, Jacob in 1851 to Barbara Schömbs and Johann Baptist three months later to Maria Anna Finger. Then in 1852 Jacob and Johann emigrated again, this time with their wives. They sailed on the Isaac Bell (passenger list). The abstract for Jacob gives the ships details.
We know that Jacob Sickinger and his wife Barbara moved on to Niagara Falls, NY. Yet Johann Baptist and his wife Anna Maria returned to Germany. We have no idea why the change of decision. Johann Baptist and Anna Maria lived out their lives in Germany. Yet they set the precedent for their children, three of whom emigrated.
- From the 1855 State Census we know that Jacob and Barbara bought a home of brick construction with a declared value of $3000. They had two "servants" who were also German immigrants and a number of German boarders. Jacob's profession seems to be operating the boarding house.
Five years later they appear to have moved, as there are no longer multiple boarders or servants. Jacob is now a "saloon keeper". The value of the real estate is $800 and he has claimed personal property of $200. Jacob Sickinger died between 1865-1870.
Barbara remarried. Her second husband was Christian Barthan (*1826, +~1873). The family appears in the 1870 U.S. Census. Either her son Francis is deceased by this time or more likely he just is not living with his mother and her new husband. Francis would have been 17 years old. It is interesting to look at the 1860 Census for Christian Barthan's family. His wife is french, also named Barbara. They have six children, the oldest being eight years old and no multiple births. Ten years later in 1870 only two of Christian's children are living with Christian and his second wife Barbara Schömbs Sickinger.
In the 1875 New York Census, she is widowed again. One of Christian's sons Peter, age 17, is living with her.
In 1880 Barbara Schömbs Barthan is running the saloon which Christian Barthan had operated. It is worth noting that living with her is her niece Anna (Maria) Schömbs (*1855 Bretzenheim), the daughter of Johann Baptist Schömbs (*1826 Undenheim).
On 6.10.1885 Barbara was married for a third time, to Frank Engel in the Sacred Heart Church in Niagara Falls. She died twelve years later at the age of 71. - Descendants of Barbara Schömbs Sickinger
- Children: (2)
- 2.1.....Anna Maria Sickinger (*30.08.1852 Buffalo NY, +bef 1855)
- 2.2.....Francis Adam Rudolph Sickinger (*19.11.1853 Buffalo NY, +before 1897)
- Francis Adam Sickinger must have died before his mother, based upon her obituary -- she had no surviving children.
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