Saturday, February 16, 2013

Family History Writing Challenge - Surname Saturday - Sempsrott, Semscott, Semperoth and Other Variations


The Sempsrott/ Sempsroth family has been traced back as far as Hartman Samesroot born before 1630 in Samen in Northern Germany not far from Kampsheide, Hanover, Prussia, Germany.  Other areas of the Kingdom of Hanover associated with the Sempsroth/ Sempsrott family are  Asendorf, Brebber, Essen, Graue, Haendorf, Kampsheide, Kuhlenkamp. The family moved around Germany but basically stayed in the northern parts.  In 1842, brothers Frederich Albert and Johan Heinrich left Hanover to emigrate to the United States.  The accepted story within the family is that they were stowaways at their mother’s request to avoid conscription into the German army. This may be true as no immigration records have surfaced for the brothers.
According to the story, the brothers arrived in Cincinnatti, Ohio.  It may have been there that Frederich met and married Anna Margaret Steinforth about 1846 in Cincinnatti.  The couple and their children turned to farming to make a living.  They lived in Ripley, Adams, Indiana for a while where several of their children were born.  Charles was born in Indiana in 1857, Henry was born in Cincinnati, in 1860 and Carrie was born in 1861 in Indiana.  Lizzie’s birth in Jasper County, Illinois in 1863  along with the draft registration for Fily Sampsroth on 13 Sep 1863 helps to pinpoint when they made their way to Jasper County, Illinois.[i]
In 1880 Charles Sempsrott is shown to be farming 80 acres of tillable land and also having 80 acres of woodland. The value of the farm including land and buildings was $2500.00 and the value of the farm equipment was $50.00 including livery.  The livestock was valued at $130.00.  The estimated value of the farm products sold in 1879 was $200.00 and at the time the Sempsrotts owned two horses.  They also owned 4 pigs and six chickens.  It appears from the record that Charles was renting the land from James Johnson.  Crops being grown in 1880 include Indian corn, irish potatoes, and fifteen apple trees yielding fifteen bushels of apples worth $5.00.  Charles also sold fifteen cords of wood from his land which produced an income of $30.00.[ii]
In 1910 Charles was still farming in Hunt, Jasper, Illinois with his son Fred A Sempsrott but now Charles owned the farm and Fred was renting from him.[iii]
In 1920 Charles was still farming along with his sons Glenneth and Cleo.[iv]
Although, with time, some of the family moved on, the name Sempsrott can still be found in the Robinson Illinois city directory.  Robinson is in Crawford County, just next to Jasper County.

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[i] National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.Consolidated Lists of Civil War Draft Registration Records (Provost Marshal General's Bureau; Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865); Record Group: 110, Records of the Provost Marshal General's Bureau (Civil War); Collection Name: Consolidated Enrollment Lists, 1863-1865 (Civil War Union Draft Records); ARC Identifier: 4213514; Archive Volume Number: 1 of 4.
[ii]  Census Year: 1880; Census Place: Willow Hill,  Jasper,  Illinois; Archive Collection Number: T1133; Roll: 41; Page: 25; Line: 02; Schedule Type: Agriculture.
[iii] Census Year: 1910; Census Place: Hunt, Jasper, Illinois; Roll: T624_293; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 0082; ; FHL microfilm: 1374306.
[iv] Census Year: 1920; Census Place: Hunt, Jasper, Illinois; Roll: T625_372; Page: 7A; Enumeration District: 103; Image: 340.

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