chramm and hrum

Deepest Root

The most distant Schramm/Shrum ancestor identified in Doris's ancestry is Veit Schramm.  Church records for Murrhardt, Germany show that Veit's son Andreas lived and raised a family in nearby Fautsbach, Germany, in the early to mid-eighteenth century.  Murrhardt church records are available back into the sixteenth century, but we have, so far, been unable to find earlier records mentioning the Schramm.  This could mean that the Schramms were relatively recent inhabitants in the Murrhardt/Fautsbach area.

Immigrant Ancestor

The immigrant ancestor of Doris's Schramm/Shrum family is Jacob Frederick Schramm, great-grandson of Andreas, who emigrated from Betschdorf, Alsace, France, to America in 1830 and settled in Beaver County, Pennsylvania shortly afterwards.  He appears in the 1835 tax records for North Sewickley Township.

Other Schramm family members and relatives  came to Beaver County from Betschdorf.

• Theobald Schramm, Jacob Frederick's brother, and his family arrived in 1835
• Maria Salome Schramm (nee Holtzman), who was Frederick's mother, came in 1835.  Frederick's father died before they emigrated.
• Anna Eva Goehring (nee Stiller), widow of Friederick's brother, Christian, also came.  She married a second time to Jacob Goehring.

Family Origins and History

The oldest known records are those of the church in Murrhardt, Germany, which show the family living in Fautsbach.  Murrhardt is in Baden-Württemburg about 30 kilometers northeast of Stuttgart.

Johann Christian Schramm, grandson of Andreas, moved to Betschdorf in the Alsace region of France, probably sometime in the first half of the 1780's.  At that time, Betschdorf consisted of the two separate communities of Oberbetschdorf and Niederbetschdorf.  The first record of the Schramm family in Betschdorf is the marriage record of Joh. Christian Schramm on October 16, 1786, at the Evangelical Church in Oberbetschdorf to Maria Salomea Holtzmännin.  The record states that the Schramm family came from Fautspach in Württemburg, and that both Christian, and his father Friederich, were carpenters.

Based on the obituary of one of his daughters, Theobold Schramm, the son of Johann Christian and brother of Jacob Frederick who also emigrated to the United States, served in Napleon's army.  He was a member of the "Grand Army" when Napoleon entered Moscow in 1812, and was one of the fortunate 50,000 men under Marshall Ney who returned to France.

In the 1830's, members of the Schramm family began leaving Betschdorf for America.  We do not know their motives for emigrating, but we believe that economic reasons were the main incentive, and that it was difficult to make a living and raise a family in Betschdorf.

Meaning and Origin Name

The meaning and origin of the Schramm name are unknown.  The German verb schrammen means "to scratch" or "skin", and a Schramme is a scratch or a scar.  (In German, the final e is not silent, and the final syllable of Schramme is "-meh".)

There is a village of Schrammberg down near the Swiss border of Germany.  Near the town is a castle, Burg Hohenschramberg, built in 1457 to 1459.  The castle was built by Hans von Rechberg, the forefather of the Schramberg family.  It is possible that Doris's Schramm family came to Fautsbach from Schrammberg or the vicinity of the castle.  This does not mean that there is a direct connection to the castle or the Schrammberg family, as it was quit common for families to be bestowed with new surnames when they moved into new locales, and quite often the new surnames were based on their place of origin.

In America, the name quickly became Shrum, which is phonetically closer to the German pronunciation of Schramm than the English pronunciation is.
 

References

Communication with Melody Black.
Schrum-Shrum Family Site websie.

Records of Individuals

Marriage of Christian Schramm and Maria Salomea Holtzmann  - 58k
Fredrick Shumm (Jacob Friedrich Schramm) Declaration of Intent filed in Beaver County, Pennsylvania 1836 - 153k
Theobald Shramm (Theobald Schramm) Declaration of Intent filed in Beaver County, Pennsylvania 1836 - 149k
 

Pictures

Phillip & Sarah (Schramm) Martsolf
Jacob Frederick & Sarah Hohnadel Schramm
 

Other Topics Related to the Schramm Family on this Site

Betschdorf, Alsace, France - Church records, pictures
Beaver County, Pennsylvania - Burry's Church records, Declarations of Intent
 

Off-Site Links

Cemetery List for St. John (Burry's) Church, Beaver County - Burial records for some Schramms and many related famlies.

 

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 This page was last updated on: Friday, April 3, 2015.

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