Our Family Gallery

  The Brandenburg Family

Brandenburg is an ancient family name, going back many centuries and generations.

Our family is descended from the marriage of John Shore and Mary Ann Brandenburg in 1838.

• Mary Ann (b. 1815, Frederick County, Maryland) was in the fourth generation of the family in America, her great-grandfather Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg having arrived in Philadelphia in 1752.

Below is a brief outline of the Brandenburg family history, followed by our direct heritage.

• Note that the Brandenburg surname applies to a broad cross-section of people.  It applies to a 'royal' family of that name, but it applies also to many other people who who do not have any connection to 'royalty'.  In our family, no 'royal' Brandenburg connection has ever been established.

Origins:

In its earliest recorded history, the Brandenburg family was closely linked to the ruling Hohenzollern clan in northern Europe, and can be traced through marriages at least to Burchard I of Zollern, born 1061, died 1090.

The earliest recorded person having the Brandenburg name is Prince Friedrich I of Brandenburg, born 21 Sep 1371, died 21 Sep 1440.  From that time onward the Brandenburg name was retained, reflecting the family's title to the emerging family lands and estates in the region.

The Brandenburg family's marriages included men and women from various parts of Europe.  The family name, however, describes the area in northern Europe known as Brandenburg, Prussia, where the central parts of the family estates were located.  The Brandenburg area incorporates what is now the capital, Berlin, Germany.

The Brandenburg name has applied to 'royal' families (of the Brandenburg-Hohenzollern heritage), and to families which were not related to that heritage.  It was usual for people who were not related to the 'royal' line to have the name "Brandenburger", meaning "one who hails from the Brandenburg area."  Upon arrival in America, at least two of our family members signed their oath of allegiance to their new country using the name Brandenburger.  Later generations shortened it to Brandenburg, and often they Anglicized names (for example, changing Wilhelm Heinrich to William Henry, and changing Johannes Martin to John Martin).

In the late 1880s, the Brandenburg family members in America worked together to establish a title to the estates in Germany.  They collected family heritage information, and they retained attorneys in America and Germany in a series of attempts to establish their relationships to the estates.

The family's attempts were unsuccessful.  No 'royal' link was found.

Those efforts, however, had one positive outcome.  They resulted in much information being collected about the Brandenburg family's rich heritage in America.

That information is available to us today.  Some of it has been passed down in our own family, and is shown on this page.

Note:

• Brandenburg items found in our family or research are shown below.



• Other memorabilia, not related to our family, are shown on the 'Odds and Ends' page.

Coming to America:

When the Brandenburg family came to America, they brought with them some of the memories of their origins.  Places like "King of Prussia" (Pennsylvania), "Fredericksburg" (Virginia), "Frederick" (Maryland), and "Frederick County" (Maryland) are some examples.

Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg (1752):

Our family's first Brandenburg ancestor to come to America, Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg, was born on 24 August 1722.  His birthplace is the town of Winkelbach, in the parish of Hochstenbach, Germany.

Wilhelm came to America with his wife Anna (maiden name unknown) on the ship "Two Brothers".  The ship was commanded by Thomas Arnot, ship's master.  She sailed from Rotterdam, Holland, stopped at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, and landed at Philadelphia on 15 September 1752.

A typical ocean voyage at that time took two months.  Ships were small, conditions were crowded, and food and water rations were limited.

When he arrived in America, Wilhelm (born 1722) was 30 years of age.

When they landed in Philadelphia, male passengers aged 16 and over were required to take the oath of allegiance to their new country.  The oath was taken in the Court House in Philadelphia.  It was witnessed by the Mayor of Philadelphia.

Here is the list of those who took the oath of allegiance.

Ship 'Two Brothers' Adult Male Passengers

From "Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808" by R. B. Strassburger and W. J. Hinke; (Pennsylvania German Society, Norristown, Pennsylvania, 1934)

Below are the signatures of the men who took the oath of allegiance on 15 September 1752.  There are two pages.  "Willem Henrich Brandenburger" is on page 2.  His signature is about halfway down, on the right side -- his is the longest signature on the page.

Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg Oath of Allegiance Page 1  2 Zoom

• Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg settled in Frederick County, Maryland, raising his family there.  He died on 24 March 1796 and is buried in the Old Lutheran Cemetery in Frederick, Maryland.



• Wilhelm is our direct ancestor -- our family is descended from him and his wife Anna (maiden name unknown).

Here is a summary of other Brandenburg pioneers who came to America.

Mathias Brandenburg (1752):

Mathias Brandenburg came to America possibly on the same ship with Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg, landing in Philadelphia on 15 Sep 1752.  He was about 14 years of age.

The date of Mathias Brandenburg's arrival in America, and his relationship to Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg, have not been firmly established.  Tradition holds that he came on the ship "Two Brothers" with Wilhelm on 15 Sep 1752, possibly as Wilhelm's brother or nephew.

• Mathias was born in 1738 in Brandenburg, Prussia.  He married Hester Wolgamot in 1764 in Frederick County, Maryland.  They settled into Kentucky and had fourteen children:  Elizabeth, Henry, Joseph, David, Nancy, Samuel, Jonathan, Solomon, John, Sarah, Catherine, Absolom, Hester, and Ruth.



• Mathias died 10 Nov 1807 in Crab Orchard, Clark County, Kentucky.

Alexander Heinrich Brandenburg (arrival date not known):

Alexander Heinrich Brandenburg, brother of Wilhelm Heinrich, was born about 1721.  He came to America with his wife Anna (maiden name unknown).  Their ship and sailing date are currently not known:  their first two children were born about 1741-1747 in Prussia; their third child was born about 1761 in America.

They founded the farm "Chance" near Kemptown, Frederick County, Maryland.  Their three children are:  Barbara (c1741), John Conrad (c1747), and Jacob (c1761).

• Barbara married Jacob Franks about 1764.  She died in 1839.



• John Conrad married Elizabeth Baughman about 1768.  He died in 1814.



• Jacob married Elizabeth Rine on 13 Feb 1789 in Frederick County, Maryland.  They had eight children:  John, Jacob, Jesse, William, Lemuel, Mary, Mahala, and Samuel.  Jacob died in 1829 in Frederick County, Maryland.

Alexander Heinrich died in July 1793, at New Market, Frederick County, Maryland.

Johannes Martin Brandenburg (arrival date not known):

Johannes Martin Brandenburg, another brother of Wilhelm Heinrich, also came to America.  His ship and sailing date are not currently known.

• Johannes was born about 1725 in Brandenburg, Prussia.  His wife's name is not currently known.  Three children are recorded:  James, Conrad, and Mary Magdalena.  Their birthdates (c. 1741-45) predate his trip to America, so he might have been a widower when coming to America (or brought them with him).



• Johannes died between 1790-1800 in Oaklands Plantation, South Carolina.

Johan Andonges Brandenburg (1740):

Johan Andonges Brandenburg, at 29 years of age came to America on the ship "Samuel and Elizabeth", commanded by William Chilton, ship's master.  The ship sailed from Rotterdam, Holland, stopped at Deal, England, and landed in Philadelphia on 30 September 1740.

• His name is shown on the list of male passengers, prepared by the ship's captain, as Anthony Brandeburger, age 29.  He signs his oath of allegiance as Johan Andonges Brandenburg.

Below are the signatures of the men from the "Samuel and Elizabeth" who took the oath of allegiance on 30 September 1740.  "Johan Andonges Brandenburg" is the fifth signature in the second column, at the right side of the page.  (His signature runs to two lines.)

Johan Andonges Brandenburg Oath of Allegiance Page Zoom

Jacob Brandenburg (1766):

Jacob Brandenburg at 26 years of age came to America on the ship "Sally", commanded by John Davidson, ship's master.  The ship sailed from Rotterdam, Holland, stopped at Portsmouth, England, and landed in Philadelphia on 4 November 1766.

Below are the signatures of the men from the "Sally" who took the oath of allegiance on 4 November 1766.  "Jacob Brandenburger" is the last signature on the page.

Jacob Brandenburg Oath of Allegiance Page Zoom

Our Branch:

Our family is descended from Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg and Anna (maiden name not known).

Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg and Anna had nine children -- six sons and three daughters:

• Elizabeth, born Bet. 1740 - 1749
• Anna Maria, born Bet. 1745 - 1755
• Samuel, born 1756
• William, born 1757 or 1758     (we are descended from him)
• Henry, born 1760
• Aaron, born 1761
• Eve Catherine, born Abt. 1762
• Mathias, born Abt. 1763
• John, born Bet. 1764 - 1770.

Our family is descended from their son, William.

Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg gave his name to his son.  In America, the name was Anglicized from "Wilhelm" to "William".

William Brandenburg (the son) was born in Frederick County, Maryland in 1757 (some records show 1758).  His birthdate, his life, and his two marriages are described on a separate page in our Family Gallery.

Planting Roots, Branching Out:

As the new United States of America grew, the Brandenburg family grew also and spread into the new territories and states.  Branches of the family settled into Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Virginia, Kentucky, and elsewhere.  (The town of Brandenburg, Kentucky is named for the early family there.)

Here is an 1822 map of the growing nation:   1822 USA Map

Records in our family show that William Brandenburg's son (another son called William -- here the grandson of Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg) took his family from Maryland to Ohio in 1835.  According to the family documents, they visited his brother Henry Brandenburg's farm in Montgomery County, Ohio before settling in Erie County, Ohio in 1836.

It was in Erie County, Ohio that our ancestor Mary Ann Brandenburg (born 17 April 1815 in Maryland, great-granddaughter of Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg), met John Shore.  They were married there on 14 February 1838 -- Valentine's Day.  Our family is descended from their marriage.

All of these family documents are shown below.

  Documents

From about 1875 through the late 1880s, efforts were taken by Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg's grandchildren, Paul, Enoch, and Joel Brandenburg and others to claim titles to the Brandenburg estates in Prussia.  According to documents and letters circulated in the family, King Wilhelm of Prussia had granted permission for Brandenburg heirs to claim its estates there.  A letter from Ebenezer Paul Brandenburg to his niece states (11 Jan 1889):

"... the old country fortune is in money in Berlin Prusia in the hands of the government   the property was confiscated a great many years ago    since that it is restored by King William to the heirs.  The heirs was given thirty years to redeem it and the time is all most up  we have only one or two years yet.  the Kentuckians have a lawyer that will work for ten per cent and he has one employed in Berlin, and I think we had better employ the same lawyer.  We will hear from Baltimore soon and if there is any thing that is important I will let you know."

The letter instructs Mary Ann to contact her cousin William Newton Byers in Denver, Colorado who is handling the claim.  The Byers family is related to the Brandenburg family, and they are shown on their own page in our Family Gallery.

Here are photographs:

Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore-Baker

Ebenezer Paul Brandenburg

William Newton Byers

The Brandenburg family worked with attorneys in Ohio, Kentucky, and Colorado, and in Berlin, Germany to claim the estates.  On 12 Feb 1889 they held a family meeting in Dayton, Ohio attended by 72 people, coordinating the effort and obtaining funds to pay the attorneys in America and Germany.  The effort, however, was not successful.

Naomi (Brandenburg) Shepard handled correspondence for the family's title effort.  A letter from her dated 14 Feb 1889 describes the family's efforts to claim ownership of the Brandenburg estates.  According to her letter, in addition to the matter of the Prussian estates Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg had given a 99-year lease on Baltimore, Maryland properties owned by him, and that lease was due to expire.  The letter describes the property as:

"... not built upon to any great extent at the time it was leased, but is now in the heart of the city and is valued at millions of dollars."

The effort to claim the land in Baltimore, like the one to claim the estates in Prussia, did not prove successful.

Here are documents found in our family describing the Brandenburg family's efforts to claim the land titles in Prussia and Baltimore.

Prussia:   The claim to the Prussian estates is based on lineage to Solomon Brandenburg (according to the family documents).  The documents assert that Solomon's estates were confiscated by the Prussian Crown (about 1700) as the result of a religious dispute.  They assert that the current German government (in the 1880s) was willing to restore the estates providing the heirs could be identified.  They identify three Brandenburg brothers who came to America as the rightful heirs.  The claim for the estates was pursued by the heirs of Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg and Mathias Brandenburg, working together.  The claim might have also been pursued by other Brandenburg heirs, but they are not identified in these family documents.  The Brandenburg family retained attorneys in America and in Germany to pursue the claim to the estates.  The effort was not successful.

Baltimore:   The claim to the Baltimore property was based on a 99-year lease given by Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg about 1790.  It was not related to Mathias or to the Prussian efforts.  The effort was not successful.

The documents below show the Brandenburg family's correspondence with Mary Ann (Brandenburg) Shore-Baker.

Mary Ann (b. 1815 in Frederick County, Maryland) is the great-granddaughter of Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg.  At the time of these communications she is living in La Fayette, Stark County, Illinois.

She is asked by attorneys in 1888 to provide a "pedigree" showing her relationship in the family.  Her documents and those written by other family members during that period of time provide valuable information about the Brandenburg family heritage.

She wrote her family history as requested, giving names, dates, marriages, occupations, and places of residence for her grandfather and father.  She also mentions her brother and sisters.  She describes the family's move in 1835 from Frederick County, Maryland to Montgomery County, Ohio -- visiting her uncle and aunt Henry Brandenburg and Elizabeth (Gorner) Brandenburg, before settling in 1836 in Erie County, Ohio, "three mildes west of Sandusky citty."

Her information is in several documents.  Part of it is in a letter to attorney C.D. Bell on 18 Dec 1888 (he was also a Brandenburg descendant).  Another part is a family chronicle, which she probably prepared at about the same time.

All of these documents are shown below.

All of these documents are shown below.

Courtesy of Pat Bristley

Our family has been fortunate to communicate with Patricia Bristley, a dedicated researcher of the Brandenburg heritage.

Pat is a descendant of Alexander Heinrich Brandenburg (Abt. 1721-1793), older brother of our direct ancestor Wilhelm Heinrich Brandenburg (1722-1796).

Alexander Heinrich and Anna Brandenburg had three children.  Their first child, a daughter Barbara Brandenburg (1741-1839) married Jacob Franks about 1764.  Pat is descended from their marriage.

Pat has kindly furnished records and early photos of the Brandenburg and Frank families, their lives, their descendants, and where they lived.  She also has written descriptive and interesting accounts of her travels and discoveries during her research.

Items provided by Pat for this part of our heritage are shown below.

A letter is written by William Brandenburg to his cousin Louisa Cedelia Shore, who is the daughter of Mary Ann Brandenburg and her first husband John Shore.  Louisa Cedelia Shore was born 7 Feb 1844.  The letter is written on 15 Jan 1855.

All of these documents are shown below.

Brandenburg Title Effort Here are our family's items related to the Brandenburg title effort.
1889 Family Heritage Document Document Zoom	Abt. 1900 Family Heritage Document Front  Back Combined	17 Dec 1888 Margarett Smith to Mary A. Baker Envelope Pages  1,2  3,4 Text	18 Dec 1888 Mary A. Baker to C.D. Bell Pages  1  2 Text	26 Dec 1888 C.D. Bell to Mary A. Baker Letter Text
Abt. 1889 Mary A. Baker Family Chronicle Page  1  2,3 Text	5 Jan 1889 Mary A. Baker to E.P. Brandenburg Page  1  2 Text	11 Jan 1889 E.P. Brandenburg to Mary A. Baker Envelope Pages  4,1  2,3 Text	14 Jan 1889 Mary A. Baker to William N. Byers Letter Text	19 Jan 1889 Envelope to Mrs Richard C. Baker from Denver Front
12 Feb 1889 Brandenburg Family Meeting Dayton, Ohio Page  1  2	14 Feb 1889 Naomi Shepard to Mary A. Baker Envelope Front  Back Pages  1  2 Text	21 Feb 1889 Kate Betow to R.C and Mary A. Baker Envelope Pages  4,1  2,3 Text	6 Mar 1889 Naomi Shepard to Mary A. Baker Envelope Page  1  2 Page 1 Rotated Text Mary A. Baker's Receipt	13 Jun 1889 Naomi Shepard to Kate Betow, Margrett Smith, and Mary A. Baker Letter Text
More Brandenburg Items Here are more Brandenburg items found in our family or in research with others in our family.
15 Jan 1855 William Brandenburg to Louisa Cedelia Shore Page  1  2 Text	23 Oct 1889 Naomi Shepard to Henry T. Brandenburg Text	Space available	Elizabeth (Gorner) Brandenburg 1771-1869 1   2   3   4	Hopewell Church Lagro Indiana 1   2   3
Brandenburg Family Chronicles by Pat Bristley Here are Brandenburg items sent to our heritage by Patricia Bristley.
David Christopher Franks	Poem about Clarence P. Franks (D.C. Franks' Son) Page  1  2  3	Hester (Wolgamot) Brandenburg	Visit to Quick Run Church, Kentucky Page  1  2  3	Doe's Run Inn
Alexander H. and Jacob Brandenburg "Chance" Farm Family Burial Site 1  2	Life Sketch Solomon O. Brandenburg Page  1  2  3 4  5  6  7	Life Sketch John Brandenburg Page  1  2  3 4  5  6	John and Sarah (Christopher) Franks	Sons of John and Sarah Franks
David C. Franks Wedding	David C. Franks Family	Children of David C. and Mary Ellen Franks	Sarah (Franks) Wells	Space available
Barbara (Brandenburg) Franks Headstone	St. Jacob Church	St. Jacob Glebe Grounds	St. Jacob Memorial Plaque	John and Sarah Franks Grave
George Franks' Home	George and Abigail Franks	Dee and Orrin Franks	David R. and Clarence P. Franks	Clarence P. Franks Obituary Remembering ...
More Brandenburg Family Chronicles by Pat Bristley To view the pages below, you need the free Adobe Reader. If you don't have the Adobe Reader, you can download it from the Adobe site. It's a free download.
Pat Bristley's Bibliography	Beginning the Research	Brandenburg Family Origins	Our Ancestor Solomon Brandenburgh	The Brandenburg Estate
The Baseball Brandenburgs	Absalom "Choctaw" Brandenburg	Alexander Heinrich Brandenburg	Anthony Brandenburg Sr, Pamela Curtis	Jacob Grow, Violetta Brandenburg
John Bender, Margaret Brandenburg	Moses Byers, Mary Ann Brandenburg	William Henry Brandenburg Sr	William Henry Brandenburg Jr	William Henry Brandenburg III
Leah Spade's Brandenburg Line	Hill Farm in Kentucky	Sarah Golda Sitz in Memoriam 1904-2006	Available	Available