Tracing My Roots: Reconnecting with lost Familybranches
For the past nine years, I have been passionately researching my Hauptmann and Van Semmern family history. Starting uncovering stories and connections that span the globe. Genealogy is more than just names and dates—it’s about understanding where we come from and honoring the journeys of those who came before us.
A New Beginning: Seeking Hope and a Future in America
During my research, I discovered something incredible: In my wife’s family tree “van Semmern”, three branches suddenly ended. After digging deeper, I found that between 1850 and 1893, these ancestors emigrated to America. But their stories didn’t end there – I believe their descendants are still out there today.
They changed their Names
One of the biggest challenges in my research was tracing the names across different records. It took me a long time to realize that my ancestors‘ names had changed after they arrived in America. Heinrich became Henry, Karl turned into Charles, and Louise changed in to Louisa, also the spelling sometimes varied. Additionally, the van in van Semmern (or Semmern became Semern) was often dropped over time. Only by carefully matching birthdates and other historical details was I able to confirm that these were indeed the same people. E.c. such as spouse – in the case of Heinrich, he was now married to another woman. This discovery was a major breakthrough in reconnecting the missing branches of my family tree.
How an obituary of Donald Wayne Semmern helped me
One of the most exciting moments in my research came when I simply googled the family name Semmern (because the surname is quite rare). I stumbled upon an obituary for Donald Wayne Semmern (in Richland, Benton, Washington). From this single document, I was able to piece together numerous family connections and create a small family tree. However, this new branch had no direct link to my main family tree – yet.
Through the “FamilySearch” website, maintained by the Latter-day-Saints, and a “Find A Grave”, I was able to trace even more ancestors. But the trail ended still with a Henry van Semmern. The breakthrough came when I turned to Ancestry.com. There I was finally able to match Henry van Semmern to my Heinrich van Semmern using his birthdate. This discovery was the missing link that confirmed the connection between my family in Europe and their descendants in America.
I would like to introduce myself: My name is Henryk Hauptmann, 55 and a single father of 4 wonderful children. I come from Schönbach in the Lausitz (Germany), am a trained locksmith and now work with 3 colleagues as an IT supervisor for around 240 employees in a large facility. In my spare time I’m in martial arts, blogging (https://www.lerne-kaempfen.de/blog/), writing and reading…
… and genealogy research 🙂
How I come to ancestry research (you will be leaded to the english version of the site):
All you (Van) Semmern out there – where are you?
Now, I am on a heartfelt mission to reconnect with my long-lost relatives. Who were they? Where did they settle? What legacy did they leave behind? If you have any connection to these family lines or if you recognize something familiar in my story, I would love to hear from you.
Let’s rediscover our shared history, reconnect our families, and celebrate the bond that time and distance could not erase.
Get in touch:
🤙 call mow
📃 send an SMS
💬 or a WhatsApp-Message
Also u can write a Message via Facebook:
facebook.com/henryk.hauptmann
or Instagram
instagram.com/henryksfamilysearch/
