Hi marilyn – thanks for asking -
My husband Dick Steinkamp (he passed away last year) and I did extensive research on his Steinkamp family - originally from the north of Germany - Oldenburg/Cloppenburg (near Habsburg)- we still have relatives in the area and the property/farm that belonged to them still exists - their name carved on the wood piece above the door - our nephew Steve Steinkamp (doctor in Cincinnati) just visited the relatives for the first time -
Joseph G. Steinkamp (my husband's grandfather) came as a young child with his parents to the US (Cincinnati) in 1835 via Hannover – from our research it seems that Hannover was the point of “clearance” at the time regardless of where they lived -
his brother Bernard F. Steinkamp was born in Cincinnati- the brothers established an architectural firm that impacted the growth of the city and responsible for numerous buildings many of which are in the National Register of Historic Places -
Dick (1929) and his brother Bob (1931 still living in Cinci) are the only descendants from Joseph B. son Eugene - bob only has one son (Steve) so no other Steinkamps on this "branch" of the family- that we know of -
However Joseph B. also had another son Albert (Dick & Bob's uncle )who had a son Thomas -- but don't know after that -
I do know of other Steinkamps that settled in Tennessee - but not related
And there is a Steinkamp family here in Fort Lauderdale – a teacher in our parish school - that we’ve met but not related -
Of course with marriage and property changes names get added or deleted and probably somewhere very early on everyone from the same region was related - I’m glad we connected –
If you ever want to escape Wisconsin weather try visiting florida – warm regards, Martha