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ANDY'S FAMILY - WEGNER / ZENKE / ROMIG / SOMMERFELDT
This page contains brief family summaries for one of
Andy's
ancestral branches, the Wegner, Zenke,
and Romig families
from the Schivelbein area of Pomerania,
and the
Sommerfeldt, Fenske, and Kroll
families from the Kolmar
region of Posen (both now in Poland).
The Family Summaries pages, such as this one, do not
contain
complete listings of ancestors or their siblings or
descendants.
They are just intended to help you determine if you
want to search
the Detailed Genealogies or Ancestors
pages of this web site.
Contents of this Page:
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Surname List: Barth,
Baumgartner, Beilke, Bulgerin, Fenske,
Gess, Groehler, Hackbarth, Hanson, Holz, Kienbaum,
Klemp, Kroll, Lemke, Maas, Moede, Putzer, Riess, Romig,
Schemmel, Sommerfeldt, Venzke, Wegner, Wegener, Zenke
Links to Other Pages on this Web Site:
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Navigation Page (website
contents)
Family Summaries - Andy's:
Riess/Rausch/Jahn/Meichner
Eiting/Vos/Döink/Micke/Rolf
Kellerman/Welter/Butzen/Van Melis
Family Summaries - Mary's:
Mollon/Marshall
Lockery/Gardner
Gehrmann/Krechovek
Zarnoth/Prey
Haensgen/Koenigs/Mauer/Thelen
Detailed Genealogies: Andy's Mary's
(contains many photos)
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| Wegner / Zenke / Romig:
The WEGNER name (also spelled WEGENER) was fairly common and widespread, especially in the eastern provinces of Germany (Prussia). Our particular line emigrated from the Schivelbein area of County (Kreis) Belgard/Schivelbein of the Koslin District (Regierungsbezirk) of Pomerania (Pommern), Prussia. Schivelbein (now Swidwin, Poland) was about 50 miles (90 km) northeast of Pomerania’s capital city of Stettin (now Szczecin). Specifically they emigrated from the small crossroads village of Schlönwitz (now Slonowice) located midway between Schivelbein and Labes (now Lobez). As were most “Pommers”, our Wegner’s were Evangelisch (Lutheran). It is ironic that it is this, the namesake branch of our family, about which we know the least. The loss of records during and after WWII has made it extremely difficult to find more information (but we have not given up!). |
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The eldest known member of our WEGNER family is Wilhelm (his full name may have been Julius Friedrich Wilhelm). He was born, we know not where, around 1807; was married first to Hanna Marie ZENKE (who apparently died about 1845); and then to Caroline ROMIG (ROMICH). Children of the first marriage were Gustav born 1833 [PUTZER], Carl born 1835 [BULGERIN], Albert born 1844 [SCHEMMEL], and likely several unknown children. Born of the second marriage were Edward born 1846 [LEMKE], Bertha born 1848 [GROEHLER], my grandfather Herman born 1850 [1st wife: SOMMERFELDT, 2nd: Lena RIESS] (see separate pages of this website), August born 1852 [MOEDE], and Augusta born 1859 [HOLTZ].
NAMES in CAP’S in [SQUARE BRACKETS] are the surnames of the person’s spouse(s).
We believe the first son, Gustav, may have been born some distance to the north of Schivelbein in a small village near the Baltic Sea called Putzernin -- near Alt Marin, which is northwest of Körlin. This may give a clue as to earlier origins of our branch. The second child, Carl, is believed to have been born in Panzerin, a town just 4 miles south east of Schlönwitz. We do know that a (perhaps related) Wegner family remained in Panzerin until the end of WWII. We believe that the rest of Julius Friedrich Wilhelm’s first family and all of his second family were born either in Panzerin or in nearby Schlönwitz. It is known that at least some of the MOEDE family also came from the same small village of Schlönwitz.
Julius Friedrich Wilhelm’s second wife, Caroline ROMIG (born Jan 26, 1819 in or near Schivelbein -- perhaps in Prütznow a few miles to the southwest in Kreis Regenwalde), and all of the known children of both marriages emigrated to the U.S.A. during the years 1867-1869 and settled in the Jefferson/Walworth/Rock County area of southern Wisconsin. Edward and his family further migrated to Casey, Iowa (Adair and Guthrie County area) in 1879.
It should be noted that the two oldest sons, Gustave and Carl married in Germany before emigrating. Carl’s wife, Friedriche BULGERIN, was from Labenz (4 miles southeast of Panzerin). You can see that we know where in Pomerania the Wegner’s were from. The real challenge is to find surviving records from that region!
Ancestral Villages of Andy's in Kreis Schivelbein and Mary's in Kreis Regenwalde
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It has been speculated that a Martin WEGNER (born estimated 1838, place unknown, died 1891) is another child of Julius Friedrich Wilhelm's marriage to Hanna Marie ZENKE. Martin was married twice, emigrated to "Russia" in 1866, and later returned to "Germany". Reportedly, two sons of his first marriage went to Brazil. Ferdinand, the oldest child of Martin's second marriage, was born near Schneidemuhl, Kolmar, Posen, Prussia (a larger city about 50 miles southeast of Schlönwitz), came to the U.S. in 1891 with his mother and younger siblings (Gustave, Wilhelmina, & Matilda), and settled first near Reedsburg, Wisconsin, then near LaValle, Wisconsin. We have had ongoing contact with descendants of these “LaValle Wegner’s”, but have not been able to establish any connections. The distance between Schlönwitz and Schneidemuhl, in itself, makes a connection unlikely. I write about them here, mainly just because they have been such a part of our family lore -- and besides …. who knows?
Based upon recent research however, another piece of family lore is likely true!! Oscar Wegner (my dad) in his "Tribe of the Sevens" genealogy (Source 4-1), relates that his dad (Herman born 1850) told of one of his (Herman’s) half brothers who "had wife trouble and went to Russia", and that two other brothers went to South America. Please note the large gap in years between the birth in 1835 in Panzerin of the second know son, Carl, and the birth in 1844 of the third know son, Albert -- a gap that could well have yielded additional children.
In the year 2000, we learned from Brigitte, a Brazilian descendant of one of them, of two brothers, Wilhelm Albrecht Eduard WEGENER, born April 23, 1838 in Panzerin (!) [married BEILKE from Roggow], and August Friedrich Ferdinand WEGENER born July 1840, also in Panzerin [married a MAAS from Prütznow]. Both married in Pomerania, and with their families emigrated to the southern Brazilian province of Santa Catharina, arriving in the port of Sao Francisco do Sul (near Joinville) on the ship Electric on May 31, 1869. Perhaps just an amazing coincidence -- and perhaps more than that -- this is the very date that Caroline ROMIG WEGNER and her minor children arrived in the port of Baltimore, USA!!
Note that the birth dates of the two brothers fit nicely
into the above-noted gap in birthdates of the known children of Julius Friedrich
Wilhelm and Hanna Marie Zenke. Note also that both Panzerin and Schlönwitz
were (and still are) very small villages. Brigitte knows the wives
and descendants and emigration details of these brothers, but she has not
yet been able to confirm their parents. Next on our research priority
list is to scour surviving records from that area of Pomerania for the marriage
record of either brother.
Burning Questions:
- Who were the parents and siblings of Julius Friedrich Wilhelm WEGNER, born estimated 1807, and what was the place, date, and circumstances of his death?
- Who were the parents and siblings of Caroline ROMIG, born 1819 in the Schivelbein area?
- What is Caroline’s relationship to the other Romig’s that settled in Jefferson County, Wisconsin: Wilhelm ROMIG and Marie MAAS had six children born between 1838 and 1854. At least some of them were born in Prütznow, Kreis Regenwalde. The oldest, Johann, married Albertine BULGERIN, sister of Caroline’s step daughter-in-law, Friedriche.
- Does anyone know the whereabouts of pre-1869 church or civil records for Schlönwitz, Kreis Schivelbein? [We have searched available LDS records for Schivelbein and Labes, and also the additional Schivelbein records currently held by the Swidwin Catholic Church.]
- Who were the parents of the two WEGNER brothers (born 1838 & 1840) that went to Brazil?
- Who were the parents of the Martin WEGNER, born estimated 1838, whose descendants went to LaValle, Wisconsin?
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My grandfather, Herman Wegner born 1850 (see above section), emigrated to the USA in 1869, and in 1872 married first to Anna Wilhelmina SOMMERFELDT, born 1851, Rattay (2 miles E/NE of the city of Kolmar now Chodziez). The Sommerfeldt’s were from the Kolmar district of the Prussian province of Posen. Posen is southeast of Pomerania, and like most of Pomerania, is now a part of Poland. Anna Wilhelmina’s paternal grandparents were Johann Michael (the son of Michael) born 1791 in Neu Werder, two miles southeast of Kolmar, and Anna Christina KROLL born 1794. They were married in 1823 in Jankendorf, 12 miles south of Kolmar.
Anna Wilhelmina Sommerfeldt’s parents were Johann Gottlieb born 1827 in Kunkolewo Hauland, 8 miles south of Kolmar, and Anna Justina FENSKE (also spelled VENZKE) in Braknitz, 12 miles S/SE of Kolmar. Johann Gottlieb had seven siblings: Anna Louisa born 1824, Anna Wilhelmina (died as infant in 1825), Johann Michael (1829-1862) [married Anna Rosina KROLL], Johann Ludwig and August (both died as infants:1832 & 1835), Anna Christina born 1837 [GESS], and another Johann Ludwig, born 1840 [who married his brother’s widow Anna Rosina KROLL in 1862]. The first three of these listed siblings were born in Kunkolewo; August died in Neu Werder, and Anna Christina was born in Padanin, 7 kilometers south of Kolmar. At least the following emigrated to Jefferson County, Wisconsin, in 1868: Johann Gottlieb & his family, his sister Anna Christina [GESS] & her family, and their mother Anna Christina.
Anna Wilhelmina Sommerfeldt [WEGNER] had five siblings, Johann Wilhelm born 1850 in Rattay [married HACKBARTH], August born 1859 [BARTH], Julius born 1862 [KLEMP], Friedrich Gottliev born 1865 in Rattay, plus an unknown child. Even though Anna Wilhelmina died suddenly at the young age of 38 of inflammation of the lungs, she and Herman Wegner had six children: Lizzeta [RIESS] (also see RIESS entry in above WEGNER section), William [BAUMGARTNER], Hannah (died as child), Henry [HANSON], and Arthur [KIENBAUM].
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