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All of my direct ancestors emigrated to the U.S. from Germany between 1853 and 1866.
Seven of the families came from the area between Hanover in the east and Minden to the west, Steinhuder Meer in the north and the Weser River to the south. That is more or less the present-day German county of Schaumburg, which is by the way where the western Chicagoland suburb of Schaumburg got its name.
Family names:
- Arkenberg/Giesecke (Kolenfeld near Wunstorf, Hagenburg)
- Seggebruch/Siegmann (Volksdorf, Meerbeck, Reinsdorf)
- Hasemann/Paul (Schöttlingen near Lindhorst, Lüdersfeld)
- Hartmann/Kruse (Algesdorf near Rodenberg)
- Schütte/Breimeier (Meerbeck, Hülshagen)
- Schumacher/Homeier (Feggendorf near Lauenau)
- Meyer/Mohme (Engern near Rinteln).
One family on my mother's side (Lange/Behncke) came from Mecklenburg, from the area east of Schwerin to be more exact. Some of the towns there are Warnow, Tarnow, Groß Raden, and Zernin.
I have been working on my family tree for quite some time now and have a fair amount of information. I would love to hear from anyone more or less related to me, working on the same area, having material I'm still missing, or needing some that I might have. Feel free to write or email me!
For those interested and curious: I grew up in Crete, Will County, Illinois, went to grade and high school there, after that to college at Michigan State and the University of Michigan. I landed here in Germany by marriage and have been living in this region (Black Forest, close to the French border) since the late 1970's. I usually get up to the Schaumburg/Mecklenburg area once a year to continue work on my family history.
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