April Bell!
I try me best (reading English, I mean)
Well a first- I don´t think we are related, since I do have a reasonable
complete record from 1800 onward. (Going back to a certain Johann Gottlieb
Hoffmann, who on Feb19th , died in Jungferndorf near Arnau (Rural county
Koenigsberg) At that point, I am in a similar position than you are. I am
simply stuck
Hoffmann is a very common name: It´s about the eleventh most common name in
Germany (without the variation Hofmann) with about 141000 name-bearers . If
you add the 88000 Hofmann you have reached the fourth position, something to
be very proud of, but which isn´t really helpful if you are planning a
family reunion with all ancestors.
The name is a "trade-name" meaning "man on a farm", were the farm is likely
to be a "noble-estate" and the Hofman being in a responsible positio... i.e.
whatever goes wrong, the tennant is responsible. (there is a second trade,
pertaining to Eastern Prussia: The Hofmann was an independant tennant, who
had a contract to run the dairy department on an estate, while his wife was
responsible to feed the farm-laborers.. Well, by chance my ancestor was
exactly that on a milk farm, which originally belonged to the Koenigsberg
Great Hospital which developed out of a pre-reformation nunnery and thus the
farmstead got the name Maternhof.
The development of the family name however happened about 200 to 300 years
earlier (around 1400-1500) and the family might have earned their living
with all kind of other things.
What do I recommend in your case? Try and collect ALL available information
pertaining to the emigration.as might be available over there.
Passenger-Lists, Citizenship-application, profession.records and
orbituaries of the first generation. They may give a clue about his/her home
region (as might the group, with whom he arrived, since the emigration was
generally organized by "agents" . BTW it looks as if the proper maiden name
of your GGrandmother was Clara WILMS, since -for the benefit of data
protection, the Germans don´t use family names as a middle-initial <sm>. The
family name Wilms seem to have a preference in the area adjacent to the
Dutch German border, since it is derived from a Low-German conjecture of
"William´s son" (Wilhelms-Sohn) as the Germans call it.
One more hint: the christian denominations are not equally split throughout
Germany, thus information on the religious affiliation of the first
generation, will also provide you with some useful information
And don´t forget: Get a crash course in criminology and test your
interrogation skills on everybody in the family, who is older than 10.
Hearsay is not such a bad source and an old attic really needs a thorough
inspection once in a while...
Have a nice weekend
Ernst