East German Ancestors - Schoenborn Family

My ancestors came from Mecklenburg, Pomerania, and Brandenburg Provinces in East Germany. They arrived in America from the 1850's to the 1870's, settling in the Town of Wausau, Marathon Co, Wisconsin and in the town of Dupont, Waupaca Co, Wisconsin.

William and Wilhelmina Schmidt were married in 1865 in Prussia, they immigrated with their family to America in 1871. By 1880, they resided in the town of Dupont, Waupaca County, Wisconsin. Their son, Herman W. Schmidt married Ida A. Ratzburg, the daughter of Wilhelm Ratzburg Sr. and Marie Dorothea Mallwitz, in 1896 in Dupont, and the couple resided in Dupont, working as farmers. My Great-Grandmother, Emma Schmidt, daughter of Herman and Ida, married Walter Brockhaus in 1934 in Marion, and made their home in Clintonville. Herman and Ida's other children, reside in the towns of Embarass, Clintonville, and Marion in Waupaca County, Wisconsin.

Martin Friedrich Zemke was born in 1794 in Kowalk, Pommerania to Franz Zemke and Sophie E. Brach. In 1817 he married Dorothea Charlotte Lübke in Zarnekow, Germany. Dorothea, the child of Martin Lübke and Henriette Krause, was born in 1800 in Grunewald, Germany. Martin and Dorothea Zemke and their nine children immigrated to America in 1858, and by 1870, they resided in the town of Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin.

Their son, Johann Gottlieb Zemke was born in 1836 in Steinburg, Germany. In 1864 he was married to Christiana Hensel in Dartford, Wisconsin. Christiana, the daughter of John Hensel and Anna Christine Steinke, was born in Rodwonke, Choguisen, Posen in 1841 and immigrated to America when she was 23 years of age. John and Christiana worked as farmers in the town of Wausau, Marathon County, Wisconsin, were they resided for the remainder of their years.

Ludwig Zemke, one of the ten children of John and Christiana, was born in 1875 in Wausau. He met Josephine Helen Emilie Prahl and fell in love (see above picture of their 50th wedding anniversary). They were married in Wausau in 1898. They owned a dairy farm in Wausau. My Great-Grandmother, Ella Zemke, was their eldest daughter born in 1903. She was married to Herbert Schoenborn at St. Stephen's Lutheran Church in the town of Easton.
(See the West Germany page for more information on the Schoenborn family.)

Josephine was the eldest daughter of Herman Prahl and Albertina Gross. Her father Herman was born in 1850 in Litzow, Pomerania, to Heinirch Friedrich August Prahl and Dorothea Wilhelmine Krueger, Heinirch's second wife. Heinirch and Dorothea Prahl's birth's took place as well in Litzow, Pomerania, in 1800 and 1820, respectively. They were married in 1943 in Pomerania. Dorothea's father was Johann Gotthilf Krueger.

Josephine's mother, Albertina Gross, was born in 1847 in Platte, Pomerania to Heinrich Gross and Friedricke Johanne Knop. She immigrated to America in 1872 from Pomerania. She married Herman Prahl in 1874 in the town of Wausau. Herman immigrated from Bremen, Germany in 1868.

My East-German ancestors established themselves in a Luthern churches throughout their travels, and were members of St. Stephen Lutheran Church in the town of Wausau, St. Peter Lutheran Church in the town of Schofield, St. John Lutheran Church in the town of Easton. Many of the family baptisms, marriages, and deaths are recorded in these churches.

Family History