This is the history of the Sharmer family, from the Scharmers and Peterses of Elmshorn in Holstein, whose church records go back to 1774, to Joseph Sharmer I’s great-great-granddaughters today.
It began with a bundle of letters: the ones Joseph “Joe” Sharmer wrote to Ruby E. Wilson of Planada, California, during a sales trip east in the winter of 1937–38. Around them the site gathers the family’s papers, photographs, home movies and recollections, and the church books, censuses and newspapers that trace the family back to Holstein. It is kept by Joe and Ruby’s grandson, Joseph Sharmer IV, with recollections from their daughter, Laurel.
Finding your way
- Our Story: the whole history in one read, from Elmshorn to the family today. Start here.
- People: a page for each member of the family, with life story, timeline, photos and records, and the relatives who appear in the letters.
- Family Tree: everyone on one page, generation by generation.
- Family Timeline: every dated event on the site, oldest first.
- Letters: Joe’s letters to Ruby, page by page with transcriptions, and who’s who in them.
- Records: church books, census pages, wills, notes, business papers and obituaries.
- Stories: home movies, Laurel’s recollections, keepsakes and family histories.
- Places: every town the family lived in, worked in or wrote from.
- Or use the search button at the top of every page to look for a name, a place or a word.
How to read the transcriptions
- Joe’s spelling is kept as he wrote it: cant, bot, cause.
- He used dashes where we would use full stops. They are shown as long dashes (—).
- A word with a question mark in brackets, like [word?], is an uncertain reading.
- Missing pages are marked where they fall in the letter.
- Click any page image to see it full size.
- The letters are transcribed exactly, including language of the 1930s that would not be used today.
Where the information comes from
The notes draw on the letters and envelopes themselves (postmarks settle most of the dates), the family’s own recollections, quoted under “From the family,” and public records: the Elmshorn church books, birth and marriage registers, U.S. censuses, county and court records, the Sidney Telegraph obituaries of 1898 and 1907, A. T. Andreas’ History of the State of Nebraska (1882), later obituaries and death notices, and cemetery records. Each page says where its information comes from. Where a record and a family memory disagree, both are given. Anything not yet certain is marked “probably” or “very likely.”
The Elmshorn church records (St. Nikolai) are shown courtesy of the Landeskirchliches Archiv der Nordkirche, used with permission.
Living family
Living members of the family are shown without dates of birth, and with only what they choose to share. If you appear on the site and would like something changed or taken down, please let us know.
Still unanswered
Each person’s page ends with a list of what is still being looked for, and the Records page gathers them together. A few questions about the letters remain too:
- Who was J.S.B., Joe’s boss, and which plant was Joe selling for?
- Who were “the Head” and Aunt Vi?
- What became of Aunt Lizzie and Jacob Heintz’s family in Chicago?
- Several letters are missing pages. If they turn up, they will be added.
If you can help with any of these, or have letters, photographs or memories to add, please share a memory.
