Family History
The first Suthoff family in America joined a wave of German Catholics settling across colonial America, so many that the Know Nothing nativist movement popped up to organize native-born Protestants. But the new colonialists pressed on and prospered. German (Plattdüütsch or Low German) remained commonly used and was still used in public schools until around World War I. Visitors to the Missouri Rhineland can stop by Hermann, MO, where you might still hear some of the older generation speaking German.
Stephan and Anna Catharina Sudhof emigrated from what was then Prussia around 1840. Starting with three children, one of whom was also born in Prussia, they have 413 direct descendants (as of 2008).
Suthoff from Druwe
Interestingly, they didn't start as the Suthoff family -- at least if you follow the patriarchal line.
Stephan's father was Jodocus Sudhof né Druwe. He was born in May 1775 in Westerloh, now part of Delbrück, Paderborn, Nordrhein-Westfalen. He was the son of Heinrich (Henricus) Druve and Anna Catharina. He was baptized as Johannes Jodocus (Johann Jodoc, also called Joseph) Stephanus. He died on 14 Apr 1825 in a drowning.
The change from Druwe to Suthoff happened when Joseph married Anna Maria (Angela) Margaretha Sudhof at St. Martinus Catholic Church, in Hörste, on 2 Sep 1797. Angela Margaretha Sudhoff was one of four daughters of farmer Johann Franz Sudhoff in Mettinghausen and of his wife Angela Maria Plogmeyer who married in 1761. By the time Angela's father died in 1804 and her mother died in 1812, she was the older of the two daughters still alive and inherited the family farm. It was typical in the Westfalen region for a man who married the heiress of a farm to take over the farm name as his new surname -- and that's how this patriarchal Suthoff line started.
Stephan Sudhof
(Johann) Stephan Sudhof was born in Mettinghausen and baptized in Hörste, in the former Bishopric of Paderborn, Westphalia (Westfalen) on 12 Dec 1802. The Catholic church records were written in Latin at that time, so his name was listed as "Jo[hann]es Steph[anus]." Stephan's parents were Joseph and Angela Margaretha Sudhof in Mettinghausen. He was named after his godfathers Stephan Hillner in Delbrück and Stephan Baumhögger in Mettinghausen.
Johann Stephen Sudhoff married Anna Catharina Foerman, a farmer's daughter of Westenholz, and the marriage took place in Westenholz, St. Joseph Catholic Church on 25 Sep 1828 (he was 26 and she was 21 years old). The records also say that Johann Stephen's father was already dead and that his mother agreed to the son's marriage.
Emigration from Germany to Missouri, USA
No official record of their emigration has been found, which was not unusual at the time. But based on birth records and US Census data, they emigrated between 1837 and 1844, probably closer to 1837. A journal called "Paderbornsches Intelligenzblatt" of 1847 lists farmer Stephan Sudhoff in Mettinghausen three times. In 1836, he received a loan of 250 Reichstaler/Dollars from Stephan Lautmeyer in Rebbeke for the Sudhoff farm in Mettinghausen. It's possible he sold the farm to repay his debt and emigrate to the US.
Stephan and Anna had three children. Their first child, Bernhard (1837) was also born in Prussia. Then, sometime between 1837 and 1844, the family emigrated to Missouri and had two more children, Stephen (1844) and Joseph (1851).
The US Federal Census of 1850 records a Suthoff family living in the Linn Township of Osage County in Missouri, USA. Stephen is listed as Francis (don't know why) with his wife Catherine and sons Bernhard (1837, listed on the prior page) and Joseph (1844).
By the 1860 Census, Stephan's third son, also named Stephen, was born, and Stephan became a landowner. The 120 acres were bought by Stephen in 1857 according to the provisions of the Act of Congress of the 24th of April, 1820 for the sale of public lands and recorded in a US land patent. The land is located about 3.4 miles east of St Thomas, MO, along Profits Creek Road (Lat: 38°21'59.44"N Long: 92°10'28.68"W). In 1860 the land was valued at $400 (about $9,800 adjusted to 2009 dollars).
The trunk that Stephan Suthoff / Sudhoff brought with him when emigrating from Germany is still in the family today!
Stephan (48 years old and listed as Francis for unknown reason), Catherine (37 years old), and Joseph (2 years old) are listed on Page 478a of the US Federal Census for Osage, Missouri, in 1850. Bernhard is recorded as being 12 years old on page 468b of the same census.
Bernhard Suthoff
By the 1870 Census, only Bernhard (1837-1912) and Stephen (1851-1908) were included in the census. Stephen, Anna Catharina and Joseph are presumed dead. The land from 1857 is also presumed sold or lost as the 1870 census mentions no real estate holdings.
It's not known how the family was impacted by the Civil War, but both Bernhard and John did serve in the Union forces. Bernhard is recorded as having served as a private in the Minor Civil Division of Jackson Township, Osage County, but the company and regiment are unknown.
The last record found referring to Joseph was a warrant for $100 issued to him on October 15, 1864, for his service for the Union in the Cole County Home Guards Regiment in the Civil War.
In 1877, Bernhard married Christina Adrian Hammelback. Christina was previously married to Theodore Adrian (see page 7 of the 1870 census) but was apparently widowed.
By the 1880 Census, Bernhard's family had grown and included five stepchildren: a daughter named Mary (1879), a son named John (1880), and his brother Stephen.
In the 1900 Census (we are still searching records from 1890), Bernhard, his children Mary (Maria) and John, and his brother Stephen are still together and living in Osage County. Bernhard's wife, Christina, is presumed to have died.
John Suthoff
There were many changes by the 1910 Census. John Suthoff married Agnes Wankum on May 12, 1903 and had their first two children, Mary Catherine and Anna Marie. At the age of 72, Bernhard is still living with the family, but John has become the head of the household.
The family also moved (probably) just a few miles, from somewhere in Osage County to the current Suthoff Osage River Farm in Cole County - a Missouri Century Farm.
John and Agnes eventually had 10 children, seven of whom survived long into adulthood. The Suthoffs and many Luebberings, Hoelschers, Bruemmers, Stropes, and others trace their ancestry to this third generation.
More to come... ?
There are 591 people on the Suthoff Family Chart (last updated 12 Dec 2008) - 413 direct descendants of Stephan and Anna Catharina Suthoff.
If you have more information or stories to share, please get in touch with me!