I am trying to solve the problem of my Ziemer origins.
My gr grandfather Heinrich Johann Ziemer took the ship Saxonia to New
York in May, 1865 from Hamburg -- that seems fairly certain. But...
* he seems to have claimed Georg and Catharine Ziemer of Wiebelsbach,
ages about 44 and 45 as his parents. Georg and Catharine and their
daughters Cath. and Marg. are never heard from again;
* he seems to have lied about his age -- all later records give his
birth as Dec, 1843, but he is listed as 16 both in Hamburg and in the
ship list presented in New York
* Georg and Catharine give Wiebelsbach Darmstadt as their home town in
the Hamburg lists -- but no further reference is ever made to western
German origins for Heinrich -- once in the US, he goes to Milwaukee
County and joins a church mainly of folks from Pommern, marrying a woman
from Woedtke / Gumtow in 1870
* he lists Carl and Wilhelmine as his parents when marrying Bertha
Hintz in 1870. I see Carl and Wilhelmine, ages 59 and 69, in the
Lebanon Wisconsin census of 1870
* Woedtke records show a lot of Ziemers about 1810, with many fewer
twenty to 40 years later
Carl and Wilhelmine lived with another Heinrich Ziemer (later census
records show they were not his parents) in 1870. There is also record
of a Ludwig and a Johann and a Louise standing as godparents for
Heinrich and Bertha's children in the 1880's.
Any Ziemer researchers with helpful links or hints for me?
Thanks,
Penny Ziemer Ford