Genealogy

12/21/2015

This page contains pictures and family trees . I have eight great grandparents, of which there is a wealth of information on many of them and only their names are available on others. See a summary.

There was a relationship between the Sondergeld and Hagemann families in Germany. Also note the relationships between the Sondergeld, Louis, Knopp, and Kinsel families.

Sondergeld Family: Martin Sondergeld is the father of the Northern Ohio Sondergeld Family. Martin and his first wife Elizabeth arrived in New York Harbor on May 7, 1855 from Bremen on the "Coriolan". Extensive data on his descendents, his German roots, and the Hagemann Family is included below. Don's father is Walter, Don's grandfather is Jacob, and Don's great grandfather is Martin.

Martin Sondergeld (5/18/1823-11/26/1884) & Anna Barbara Hagemann (9/1/1834-11/26/1924)

Jacob Sondergeld (10/31/1867-1/28/1943) & Magdalena Lewis (4/15/1875-10/9/1951)

Walter Sondergeld (11/10/1901-5/29/1981) & Marie Kinsel (2/2/1901-2/20/1982)

Donald Sondergeld (11/13/1930- ) & Mary Towne (6/11/1934- )

Did any of Don's German Speaking relatives sing: Mein Hut Der Hat Drei Ecken?

My Grandmother Kinsel taught me a poem about a cat playing in the snow.

Hagemann Family: Don Sondergeld first published both a Sondergeld and a Hagemann genealogy in 1988. A Katherine Hageman had also done work on the Hagemann genealogy. The Sondergeld and Hagemann families came from Unterhaun near Bad Hersfeld in Hesse, Germany. Don is descended from his great grandfather Martin Sondergeld and great grandmother Anna Barbara Hagemann, Martin's third wife. Barbara arrived in New York Harbor on the "Elise Mathilda" on 6/9/1862 from Bremen.

Sondergeld Family in Australia: Martin Sondergeld's brother, John, emigrated to Crows Nest (near Toowoomba) in Queensland, Australia in the same year (1855) that Martin emigrated to Ohio. He sailed from Hamburg on 9/30/1855 on the "Johann Caeser" with his wife and two year old son and arrived at Moreton Bay, Queensland on 2/3/1856. Neville Sondergeld from Toowoomba, Queensland compiled a genealogy of Neville's great grandfather John, which is included below. When Don and Mary visited Neville in 1994 we went to Crows Nest which has Sondergeld farmhouses and a Sondergeld Road that are similar to the Sondergeld farmhouses on the Sondergeld Road in Ohio. Don knew what Charlton Heston felt like at the end of The Planet of the Apes.

Other Sondergeld Families in the US:

Maryland: Ambrose Sondergeld arrived in 1844.

Texas: (Descended from Martin Sondergeld's niece Anna, who probably arrived in Texas in 1869, although her husband arrived from Bremen on the "Magdalene" on 4/16/1869 in New York Harbor)

Kentucky: Arrived in New Orleans in 1856 This family is probably related to Don.

Central Ohio: Arrived in 1888.

New York: Arrived 11/8/1894 in New York Harbor on the "Havel"

California: Arrived in 1910.

Louis Family: Don's grandfather Jacob Sondergeld's wife was Magdalene Louis Sondergeld. Greg Knopp's great grandmother was Magdalene's sister Anna Louis Knopp. Their father, Johann Louis was born in Mecklenburg, Germany on 11/09/1834. Johann Louis and his father left Germany on 10/20/1852 and arrived in New York on 3/14/1853, a 19 week voyage. Greg has done both a Louis and a Knopp genealogy. Both genealogies are included below.

Sutter Family: Don's mother was Marie Kinsel. Marie Kinsel's mother was Amelia Sutter. Mildred Danklefsen Walmsley (whose mother was a Sutter) did a genealogy of the Sutter family. This has been updated by Jeanette Danklefsen Schwab. It is included below. Also there are six Sutter Lutheran Ministers shown.

Kinsel Family: A Kinsel genealogy is included below. Gottfried Kinsel was born in 1834 in Posen Prussia (now Poznan, Poland) We do not know if he came from somewhere in the province of Posen or from the city of Posen. He came to America on the ship Celestial Empire which arrived in New York from Bremen on July 13, 1872. He had 10 children. Don is a grandson of Henry, the fourth child. Gottfried's third child was Ottilie. One of her granddaughters married Arthur Sondergeld, a grandson of Martin Sondergeld Martin is Don Sondergeld's great grandfather.

Burton Family: Don's mother, Marie Kinsel had four brothers and three sisters. Her oldest sister, Agnes Kinsel, married Irven Burton. Material on the Burton family is included below.

Towne Family: A book has been written on the Towne genealogy. A summary has been included. Mary Towne Sondergeld wrote a letter 5/15/2001 to grandson Ryan Whitney quoting family background on witchcraft from Kenneth Robert's book: "Trending Into Maine". Three of Mary's ancestors were accused of being witches in Salem, Massachusetts and two were actually hanged.

The Pulitzer Prize winning book: "A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary 1785-1812" by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich is the diary of Mary Towne Sondergeld's great great great great grandmother. Patricia L Schmidt's book: Margaret Chase Smith, Beyond Convention contained a quote from Mary Towne Sondergeld's mother Loretta Dillon Towne.

Flagg Family: This family and the Towne family have an interesting connection. Read about it. Gersham Flagg is buried in the Old Granary Burying Ground on Tremont Street in Boston. Read about that.

EMAIL: <don@shoreham.net>

GENEALOGY & FAMILY PICTURES

Sondergeld Family b ackground from Hessen pdf version

German Sondergeld Family Tree

Sondergeld Family in Germany Pictures Peter in Kassel in 2011

Bridge over Haun River in Unterhaun, Germany

Sondergeld House in Unterhaun, Germany

Fall 2005 in Germany Hermann (Eimer) Herlinde and Alexander Sondergeld

Peter Sondergeld's children on January 17, 2014

In November 2014 Eugen sang a birthday serenade in Unterhaun to his brother Klaus Peter. See http://youtu.be/BPGvikiCQrI Eugen is also a member of a Shanty Choir in Unterhaun. See a video of its performance in February 2015 www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLVNfZuPDEQ which includes the Kirchberg graveyard and chapel ruins in Unterhaun shown below.

Also www.ardmediathek.de/tv/hessenschau/Dolles-Dorf-der-Woche-Unterhaun/hr-fernsehen/Video?documentId=26654482&bcastId=3301950

HAGEMANN Family in Germany and in US (Martin's third wife was a Hagemann)

Don Sondergeld is related to Barbara Hageman, who also graduated from Olney High School.

AUSTRALIA Sondergeld Family (Martin's brother emigrated to Australia)

Sondergeld Family Pictures: Visiting Australia in 1994 Addenda to Australian Genealogy

Sondergeld Families in the US

Northern Ohio MARTIN Sondergeld Family (Martin was Don's great grandfather)

John, Charles, Margaret, Fred, Jacob,

Henry, Elizabeth, Anna, Edward

Martin and Jacob Sondergeld Family: Pictures Jacob's Obit

Martin Sondergeld Family Pictures in 1920: Children Children with Spouses

I & II & III John Charles and Margaret Pictures in 1920

V Fred Sondergeld Family Pictures around 1920

V Fred Sondergeld Family around 1936

VI Jacob Sondergeld Family around 1921

Sondergeld Weddings: Walter and Marie; Lester and Esther

VII Henry Sondergeld Family around 1929

V-10 James Sondergeld Family around 1956

Sondergeld pictures of: different relatives.

Don Sondergeld at Indian Lake , Ohio in 1950

Don Sondergeld:

Family 1930- 1953 Family 1954 - 1984 Family 1985 -1994 Family 1995 -2010 Family 2011 -

Traveling thru 2007 Europe 1987 Mary is 70

Karen David Eric Amy Karla

1957 Wedding: Don and Mary Sondergeld With Parents

Don Sondergeld Family: At Lake Beebe At Disneyworld

Fall 2005 school pictures of our nine grandchildren:

Ryan Sara Caitlin Owen & Kyle Aleksey Zach & Erin Alexei

Don and Mary's 50th Wedding Anniversary in 2007:

Album 1 Album 2 Album 3 Album 4 Album 5

Mary is 80 in June 2014

List of sizeable Family Gatherings

Below: July 11, 2015 at John & Connie Towne's home on Muscongus Bay in Bremen, ME.

Karla Amy Eric David Karen

Texas Sondergeld Family (Anna Sondergeld is the niece of Martin Sondergeld)

Anna Sondergeld Greifenstein Family in Texas

Kentucky Sondergeld Family (possibly related to Don) More Detail.

California Sondergeld Family (probably not related to Don)

Central Ohio Sondergeld Family (probably not related to Don)

New York Sondergeld Family (probably not related to Don)

Maryland Sondergeld Family (probably not related to Don) Ambrose Mary Anna

LOUIS and KNOPP Family: Don's grandfather Jacob married a Louis

Louis and Knopp Family Pictures

SUTTER Family Don's maternal great grandmother married a Sutter

Don Sondergeld is the great grandson of the Reverend Godfrey Sutter

Read Biography of Godfrey Sutter and especially Autobiography of Mary Reiff Sutter

Sutter Six Lutheran Ministers and Reverend Richard Sutter and Don

Genealogy of Joggi Sutter, born 1696

Genealogy of Arthur Sutter, a nephew of Amelia Sutter Kinsel

Credits: Mildred Danklefson Walmsley & Jeanette Danklefsen Schwab

Sutter Family Pictures

Godfrey Sutter and Mary Reiff Sutter

Mary Reiff Sutter and Family in Oak Harbor, Ohio in 1936

Mary Reiff Sutter and Cousins in 1936

KINSEL Family Don's mother's mother was Amelia Sutter Kinsel

Kinsel Family (Henry) Kinsel Famiy (Ottilie) Marjorie Treter Sondergeld

Kinsel Family Pictures in Oak Harbor Ohio:

Front of House Sisters on a Bike Henry and his Chickens

Henry and Amelia Kinsel Family early

Henry and Amelia Kinsel Family later (same pose)

Henry and Amelia Kinsel Wedding

Amelia Sutter Kinsel and daughter Marie Kinsel Sondergeld each age 20

Great granddaughter Karen Sondergeld age 21

Anna Hetrick is 100 Anna and Otto Kinsel

Albert Kinsel Many other Kinsel Pictures

BURTON Family Don's mother's eldest sister was Agnes Kinsel Burton.

Many Burtons are buried in the White Oak Grove Cemetery in Green Township in Fayette County, OH.

Irven's cousin, Mable Burton, became a Cinderella by marrying John Ringling of circus fame. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mable_Burton_Ringling They had a home in Alpine, New Jersey in what is now the Palisades Park. Mable's funeral was at Gray Crag, their estate in Alpine, NJ. Mable designed their home, the Ca'd'Zan Mansion in Sarasota, Florida. There are pictures of Ca'd'Zan at http://reflectionsfromthefence.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-ringling-sarasota-florida-circus_8781.html and a great article at http://getrealexclusive.com/2010/12/secrets-ca-dzan-ron-mccarty/

Mable and John Ringling are buried near Mable's Rose Garden the Art Museum, and the Circus Museum on their Sarasota estate which are all open to the public. View a picture and read an article in 1970 about Mable and her siblings. John Ringling also developed Bird Key in Sarasota.