Gathering leaves from the Family Branches

 

Above are copies of tin type family photos found in the USA Joachim Family Bible.  It is unknown which family member is in the photos.

"A Group Project" Information used to produce this website was gathered from family and sources by many Joachim relatives.

In the mid 1970’s Cousin Elizabeth Joachim Murray had returned to college for her Associate Arts Degree.  She studied the German language.  She had always been proud of her German heritage and interested in the family tree.  She used her newly acquired knowledge to correspond in German to obtain vital records of the Joachim ancestors.

Not too long after her discovery a nephew of Bettie’s, Scot Britz, visited Bissingen and Unterbissingen.  People in this small town became aware that the USA Joachims were interested in learning more about their heritage, specifically a man named Herr Nikolas Keis.  Herr Keis made a hobby of researching local families and transcribing Bissingen Church records to produce family trees.

In 1983 another cousin, Robert Joachim Jr., visited Bissingen/Unterbissingen.  It was there that he met genealogist, Herr Nickolas Keis.   Herr Keis was excited to meet Rob.  "I've been waiting for someone to come back who might be interested in this”, Rob remembers him saying.  Then Herr Keis pulled out a scroll showing his research of the Joachim generations back to 1720. 

Rob and Herr Keis then worked together, looking up records in the Bissingen Parish Church attic, to obtain further information on the Joachim lineage and gather data on Maria Theresia Neurührer‘s family line.  The Neurührer family was from Buch, a small village just east of Unterbissingen.  Rob met many of the area residents, who he found were descendants of the Joachims, although without the Joachim last name.  In particular he met descendants of Crescentia Joachim Schäferling in Unterbissingen house #12.  Rob was told that the only known descendants of his lineage with the "Joachim" surname would be in the village of Lindau, Bavaria where Joseph Joachim b. 1851 had migrated.  Due to a shortage of time, Rob was not able to visit Lindau which is near the Austria-Switzerland border.  Rob discovered no remaining Neurührer descendants in Buch.  A few years later, Rob was able to return to Unterbissingen with his parents on a family vacation.

In 1991, my Father, Joseph Dean Joachim became interested in producing a family tree to pass on to his grandchildren.  Love of family and home gave him his motivation.  Although his Father, my Grandfather Joseph Lafayette Joachim, moved away from St. Clair before having children, summers spent as a young boy, my Father, would visit his Grandparents, Joseph b. 1873 and Grace Joachim, in St. Clair and his Aunt, Phyllis Joachim Holland, in Marine City.  Phyllis shared his interest in the family tree and was at the heart of many family reunions.  My Father collected USA Joachim information through letter writing, phone calling, interviewing, and obtaining family group sheets from family members.  As his research grew, he progressed to documenting it in The Master Genealogy Computer Program.  He enjoyed his hobby and openly shared his research, by printing off descendant narratives for family as he updated them.  In 2008, he decided to retire his position as the family genealogist.

In 2009 I made plans to visit Germany.  My daughter, Becca, and I have friends near Frankfurt, she speaks German and was staying for a month on a high school exchange program, so it seemed the perfect time.  Prior to my visit I met with Cousin Robert to go over his notes and photos, get his input and make my plans.  Our friends, the Buhls, offered their assistance when we arrived as we learned that many of the relatives might not speak English.  My goal was to gather more information on the Joachim branches that lived in Lindau, Bissingen and Unterbissingen as well as the Neurührer descendants from Buch.  My hope was that I could connect with living relatives of these branches, and possibly meet English speaking family to correspond with in the future.

We were able to meet with 5 families, two in Lindau, one in Bissingen, and two in Unterbissingen.  With everyone friendly and open to share information, we began to gather data on the current German Joachim descendants.  In Bissingen, we met with Rev. Gerhard Krammer at St. Peter and Paul's Church.  He shared transcribed church records on later Joachim descendants and  Neurührer descendants to update our database.  We visited the small church in Unterbissingen, as well as the Schäferling House #12.  We met younger relatives who speak English, and even some who don't, who are interested in corresponding, and willing to help with information in the future. 

I had accomplished my goals and contributed to the research.  I felt the next step was to update my Father's data base and post a website so all family, German and USA descendants can learn about the “Joachim Tree”. I hope this website will generate an interest to collect further data that can be passed to the next generations of “Joachim Branches”.    

In the process of making this website, I have been in contact with a Joachim branch that immigrated from Lindau to Wisconsin.  They have been very helpful in compiling photos and data on the Joachims in Lindau.

My Great Great Grandfather, Franz X. Joachim, immigrated from Unterbissingen, Germany.  My Great Great Grandmother, Maria Theresia Neurührer, immigrated from a nearby village of Buch, Germany.  They were married and settled in St. Clair, Michigan USA. 

This site focuses on Joachim branches in Bavaria, Germany (Bissingen, Unterbissingen, and Lindau) and Michigan, USA (St. Clair and Marine City).  Also included, is information on the Neurührer branches in Bavaria, Germany (Buch).  In an effort to protect privacy, information about family members who are living has been suppressed.

Here are a few directions to assist in navigating the site.

Surname Index-Click on a "surname" to view "given name". 

This icon indicates there is a primary photo of the person on their information page.

Personal Information pages have photo icons if there are additional personal photos or event photos of this person.

Click on the this icon to view photos.

Photo Pages- follow the directions on the individual photos. Click on the Photo menu button and click the appropriate section to view more photos

Links- This will take you away from the Joachim Tree site to view other websites.  Use the blue back button at the top left of your computer to return to this website.

Pop-up Pedigree-  Click on the box to view Parents and Grandparents of the primary person, click "closed" when done.

Words In Red- All words in red on this site will link you to another direction on the site.  Red words located for various events on a person's information page will link you to more information.

Have fun clicking!

Beth Joachim Mitchell