The Trumbold/Trombold Families
Introduction
Family genealogy is a cumulative process and is never really finished. In my case, the written record began with work my mother and father, Mary Belle and Donald Trumbold, initiated in the mid-1960s. Others who contributed information on branches of the family were
Robert Milne Trombold (George Trombold's line)
Charles D. Trombold, Jr. (Charles Trombold's line)
George Trombold (George Trombold's line)
Keith and Linda Meyer (Emma Trumbold Meyer's line).
I am investigating many branches of my family tree, but the Trumbold branch has always been especially intriguing. The name is rare and can not be traced back to Germany as a name existing today. There were few documents in our possession or collective memory in the family to identify the names of these immigrant ancestors (my great-great-grandparents). I did not learn the name of this man and the maiden name of his wife until the fall of 2000 when I discovered it in a marriage license application for Charles F. Trumbold in the old courthouse in Mt. Sterling, Brown County, Illinois.
We do not know the location(s) in Germany from which these ancestors originated. I have been able to piece together a reasonable guess that it was in the Zwickau region. I went to Dresden, Leipzig, and even Zwickau in 1996 and explored the resources at the Stadtarchivs. If you go there to continue the research, be sure you can speak and understand German genealogical research language - both old and new styles (I couldn't).
We do not know when Johann Georg and Johannah Hallbauer Trumbold came to the United States or where they lived for 6-8 years in New Jersey. From known birth dates and places, obituaries, and census records, we have narrowed the immigration date to between January 1848 and the fall of 1849. Indexes to passenger lists begin in 1850 so we perused microfilm for New York landings for hours and failed to find this family. By living in New Jersey for 6 years, the Trumbolds could have landed in Philadelphia as well as New York so we are currently researching the Philadelphia passenger lists.
Another mystery is the location of their home in New Jersey. Three of their children were born there, yet obituaries and census records merely say "New Jersey". The family should have been included in the 1850 New Jersey census but I can not find them under any possible spellings in that census. I did find a George Trumpet family with similar names and ages and am convincing myself that this may be the family. That family lived near Moorestown, New Jersey, across the river from Philadelphia. New Jersey Vital records seem to have been lost in fires. My next genealogy trip may be to New Jersey, to see if there are any land or tax records that may be helpful.
It is also unusual that brothers (Charles and Augustus) married sisters (Anna and Lucinda Ritter) giving our family two sets of common ancestors. The Ritters also came from Germany (Wolfhagen, Hesse Kassel) but we know much more about their ancestors. A marriage license for the parents of my Ritter great-grandmother survives and details another three generations of ancestry including occupations and locations.
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The following information represents all we know about the younger Trumbold children. Each of the five children for whom more extensive information is available is shown on a separate Web page.
Also below is a link so that you can download the PDF outline descendant tree for Johan and Johannah Trumbold.
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Hermann Trumbold
Hermann Trumbold was born in 1850 in New Jersey, presumably shortly after the Trumbolds arrived in America. He came with the family to Clayton County, Iowa, in the late 1850s and is listed in the 1860 and 1870 federal census records for Iowa1,2. With his brothers and sisters, he owned the farm of 160 acres in Highland Township. When the farm was sold in1880, he struck out for Nebraska. I can find no record of any marriage or children and the following notice of his death portrays a sad picture.
"Suicide
Of a Former Resident of Clayton County
On Monday Mrs. Coventry, of Cox Creek township, received a dispatch that her brother, Hermann Trumbold, had shot and killed himself. Mr. Trumbold was formerly a resident of Highland township, and last spring removed to Nebraska. He did not like the country, and had prepared to come home, and while at the depot waiting for the train shot himself. The cause is supposed to have been temporary insanity. He was well known and highly respected in this community, and his death will be mourned by many."3
1. 1860 Federal census for Iowa [Clayton County], page 100.
2. 1870 Federal census for Iowa, [Clayton County].
3. Suicide of a Former Resident of Clayton County, The Elkader Register, Thursday Morning, Oct. 7, 1880.
Elizabeth Trumbold
George Trumbold
The first and only mention we have of Elizabeth and George Trumbold is in the 1860 Federal census for Iowa taken July 7, 1870. Elizabeth is the fifth child listed and is shown as 9 years old, born in New Jersey. She must have married or died before 1870 as she is not listed with the other family members residing in Highland County. George is shown as 2 years old, born in Iowa. He must have died in infancy because he, too, is not listed in the 1870 Iowa census. Neither child is mentioned in other documents listing family members.
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