By: David Rommel Douglas

Heartland Genealogy

Where Did They Come From?

An eventual goal of every genealogist is discover their immigrant ancestors. Let's face it, we all are here because our ancestors decided to make the journey to the "new world." Where did they come from? Family researchers have asked that question a million times. Immigrant letters can often hold the key to family origin. The following relates my own experience.

At the beginning of my genealogy research, some 12 years ago, I became interested in our family name, Rommel. It is my middle name. It is also my grandfather's middle name. The name came from my maternal great grandmother, Jessie Helena Rommel. Her father's name was William Christian Rommel. Her grandfather was Christian Rommel, our original immigrant ancestor.

The place of burial for Christian Rommel and his wife Catharine is the I.O.O.F cemetery in Mcleansboro, Illinois. At the beginning, all I knew about Christian Rommel, was the information I copied from his tombstone. Records at Mcleansboro said that he came from Columbus Ohio. Records in Columbus Ohio verified that point, but there was nothing to tell the family's place of origin. When I speak of origin, I do not mean just the country. I am talking about the local geographic region, the village, whose street my ancestor walked. The only way to further my Rommel research was to know exactly where in Germany my family had lived.

Census records list Christian as being born in Saxony. Saxony as a German state no longer exists. Most of Saxony was in what used to be East Germany. Still, not enough information.

In conversation with my grandfather I asked about the Rommels. He told me about a cousin who had lived in Cape Girardeau, by the name of Casper Rommel. Casper had a son, Barney Rommel. Now comes some obvious simplicity. I looked in the Cape phone directory and found a listing Barney Rommel.

What I had gathered, up to this point was just bits and pieces. They were small clues, but important non-the-less. Now comes the key to the success of my whole research project. A week after writing my letter to Barney Rommel, I received a packet of material from Barney's widow, Bertha Rommel. In that packet was an old letter from a German cousin. There was no envelope, return address or date of the letter's writing. The letter reads as follows:

"My dear Relatives,

The death of my father, cousin Regina's uncle, Karl Rommel gave me a chance to find your address in Muhlfelt.

I am the oldest son, of course now already grandfather, as much as I found out in Muhlfeld then the correspondence with our American relatives is of seldom occurrence, or in other words has gone to sleep. I do not find this to be just the correct thing, especially in these times where the world is getting so small. How long will it be that we can make a week-end trip to America or you to Europe.

Two years ago I almost got a chance for a trip across.

As much as I know, Uncle Adolph had four children. Therefore it would interest me very much to know something about them. I do not know if my address is correct and doubt whether you will get this letter. Perhaps you do not care to keep up correspondence with your home folk, If you do please then (let) me hear from you.

Emil Rommel and family."

Do you see genealogy clues in Emil's letter? It is packed with them! First, he shows his relationship with the family by identifying cousin Regina and his own father, Karl Rommel. In the first sentence he names the village Muhlfelt, later in the letter the spelling is Muhlfeld.

Apparently the American relatives did not keep in touch after coming to America. It would seem that several years had passed since the "American cousins" made the trip across the Atlantic. That is why Emil says "As much as I know, Uncle Adolph had four Children." Adolph is likely a brother to Karl Rommel, Emil's father.

Emil speaks of cousin Regina in a way that tells us that the American cousins would know her. We can therefore surmise that cousin Regina is part of the family who came to America. We also know that Adolph and his entire family must have come over. Regina would certainly be one of his children. Otherwise, Emil would have had first hand information about the family and not what others would have told him.

Now to determine a time frame. Emil speaks of making a "week-end trip to America." Emil knows that Adolph had four children and he wants to "know something about them." A logical question is, Who is Adolph, and where does he fit into my own Rommel line? Bertha Rommel informed me that Adolph was her husband's grandfather. Casper Rommel was a brother of Regina. The family came to White County Illinois, circa 1873. Incidentally, White County, by this time, was the home of William Christian Rommel and family. In time I learned that my ancestor, Christian Rommel, was an Uncle to Adolph. That makes William Christian and Adolph first cousins.

I originally thought Emil's letter to be written in the late 1920's or early 1930's. Since that time, I have learned the date to be 1936. I do not know if the American cousins ever answered Emil's letter. I am sure the war put up a serious wall to open communication.

Since receiving Emil's letter, I have been to Germany two times. I spent a lot of time with my German cousins and researched local church records. I know that Muhlfeld is the village of origin for Christian Rommel. I have seen the house where he was born and the church where he was christened.

Interestingly enough, I received Emil's letter thirty five years after its writing. I like to think he wrote it me, it just took a while to get here.

Family letters are full of genealogy data. They are out there. You may not find a letter dealing with your direct line, as in my own case, but the letters of others may still give important clues. Ask relatives about family letters. Check with historical and genealogy societies in the home area of your immigrant ancestor. Ethnic communities were settlings place for many new comers. Language, family, friends, and religion were all natural attractions.

It was fortuitous circumstance that I found my family letter, perhaps it will happen for you.