Forebear Friday – Dr. Fred Seemann

Frederick August Seemann, son of Hans and Maria Seemann of Clinton county, Iowa, was born 01 Apr 1866.  He left the farm to pursue his dream of becoming a physician.  He spent a number of years practicing in Dubuque, Iowa, and later Sioux City.  He married Alta Shepherd, a Kansas native, in Wisconsin, and they were the parents of four children: Ember, Frederick, Howard and Helen.

During his years of professional practice, he worked with brothers Carl, Henry and Will as they also became physicians.

The following advertisement, from The Dubuque Herald issue of Saturday, September 22, 1900, refers to him as “The Renowned German Doctor.”  The advertisement also mentions that he “has had years of training in the great hospitals of the east.”


Between 1903 and 1906, he moved his family and his practice from Dubuque to Sioux City, Iowa, specializing in diseases of the eyes, ears, nose and throat.  His wife, Alta, died in 1908, at the age of 37, probably from consumption; he married Ruth Trumhauer, a nurse, about 1910.  By 1930, they had moved to National City, California, where Ruth died in 1937.  She was buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in San Diego.  Dr. Fred died in California in 1939 from cancer of the esophagus.  His body was returned to Sioux City for burial at Logan Park Cemetery, with his first wife, Alta.

Forebear Friday – Hans Seemann

Hans Seemann, along with his brother Detleff, were the first of their family to leave Germany bound for the United States.  Hans was the son of John Henry and Maria Seemann, and born 23 Jan 1825 in Schleswig-Holstein. 
The brothers settled in Clinton county, Iowa, sending for their parents, siblings, and fiancées, who were sisters, the following year.  They all lived together for several years, until each of the brothers obtained his own farm and set out on their own. 

Hans and Maria raised a family of nine, seven of whom lived to adulthood: John, Anna Maria, Andrew, Henry, Fred, Carl, and Will.  Four of their sons became physicians, and practiced medicine throughout the upper midwest.


In 1884, Hans and Maria sold their farm in Clinton county, and purchased another in Union county, South Dakota.  On 05 Sep 1893, while visiting his son Fred in Dubuque, Iowa, Hans became ill, and died at Finley Hospital of pleurisy, complicated by lung cancer.  After his death, Maria made her home among her children, passing away while at the home of her son Carl in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  Both Hans and Maria are buried at Riverside Cemetery, rural Akron, Plymouth co., Iowa, which was just across the state line from their South Dakota farm.

Above: The family of Hans and Maria Seemann, taken at the farm in South Dakota, when all of the kids came home for their father’s funeral. 

Forebear Friday – Marx Seemann

Marx Christian Seemann was born 15 Nov 1868 in Jackson county, Iowa, the son of Detlef and Elizabeth (Petersen) Seemann, and among the first generation of the family born in the United States. 
Marx operated a tourist bus on the route between Seattle and Vancouver, but had the misfortune to drop a tire jack on his foot, an accident that eventually resulted in gangrene and amputation of his leg in 1923.  He then moved back to Jackson county, Iowa, to the home of his brother Henry.  Henry died five years later, and Marx then went to Green Island, also in Jackson county, where he purchased a small farm.  After his retirement, he moved to Bellevue, Iowa.  He had “arteriosclerosis of the brain”, and became violent to the point of having to be sent to the State Hospital for the Insane at Independence, Iowa.  He died there, just a few weeks after his arrival.
His obituary, from the Sabula (Iowa) Gazette of Thursday, May 31, 1951:
FUNERAL SERVICES HELD FOR GREEN ISLAND MAN
Funeral services were held at a Bellevue funeral home Monday afternoon for Marx C. Seeman, 81, who passed away at 6:15 p.m. Friday at Independence.  The Rev. Laurence Nelson officiated and burial took place in the Reeseville cemetery.
Mr. Seeman was a son of the late Detlef and Elizabeth Petersen Seeman and was born in Jackson county Nov. 15, 1869.  He had lived in the Green Island community for many years.  He is survived by one sister.  Preceding him in death were his parents; a brother, Carl, and a sister, Mrs. William Roe.

Forebear Friday – Detlef Seemann

Detlef Seemann and his brother Hans left their native Germany in 1853, looking for a place to relocate their family.  The brothers settled in Clinton county, Iowa, and the following year, their parents and siblings followed, as well as Detlef and Hans’ fiancees, sisters Maria and Elizabeth Petersen.  The extended family lived together for a few years, with Detlef and Elizabeth eventually buying land in Jackson county, just to the north, in Washington township.

Detlef died of “heart trouble” in 1899, and Elizabeth lived another 9 years, passing away in 1908 in Haileyville, Oklahoma.   She was initially buried there, but was moved to Reeseville cemetery in Jackson county, Iowa to be buried with her husband and other family members.  I do not know, at this time, why she was in Oklahoma.  Thomas B. Schultz, a descendant, wrote an excellent history of this family in 1990, entitled, “The American Descendants of Gottfried and Maria Schultz of Schleswig-Holstein Germany”.
Detlef and Elizabeth were the parents of nine children: John Henry, Anna Maria, Mary “Lena”, Peter, Louisa, Marx, Carl G. “Charlie”, Sarah Elizabeth, and Roseltha.

On a trip to Jackson and Clinton counties of Iowa, we located Reeseville cemetery, which sits on top of a hill, with a beautiful view of the surrounding country.  Except for the occasional sound of a passing vehicle on the road below, it’s an exceptionally peaceful and serene location.  Detlef and Elizabeth’s son Marx is also buried here, as well as other Seemanns whose connection is not yet certain.

Forebear Friday - John Henry Seemann

John Henry Seemann was born in 1800 in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, the son of Hans Seemann and Christina Petersen Moldt.  He married Maria, and they were the parents of 8 children. 
In 1853, sons Hans and Detlef left Germany for the United States, in particular, eastern Iowa.  The following year, John and Mary boarded with Germania, traveling from Bremen to New York, with sons Johan and Henry.  Most, if not all, of their children ended up coming to Iowa.  John and Maria purchased land in Jackson county, Iowa later that year, but by 1856 had moved in with their son Hans in Clinton county, just to the south.  By 1870, they were back in Jackson county, this time with their son Henry and his family. 
John died on 09 April 1873, and Maria went back to Clinton county to son Hans’ home; however, in 1884, Hans’ family sold the farm and moved to South Dakota, and Maria apparently went back to Jackson County, where she died on 26 Sep 1889.
On a trip to this area a few years back, we decided to visit Evergreen cemetery in Jackson County.  It’s a beautiful cemetery located next to the backwaters of the Mississippi River, and true to its name, lots of fragrant evergreens dot the landscape.  We located the graves of John and Maria, in a family section which included the graves of their son Henry, Henry’s wife Catharina; their daughter Mary Blossfeld and her husband William and daughter Lotta.  In another part of the cemetery, John and Maria’s son Peter is buried.

Four Generations

From upper left, clockwise: Hans Seemann, our immigrant ancestor, 1825 – 1893.  He initially settled on a farm in Clinton co., Iowa, and later in Union County, South Dakota.  He was the husband of Maria Petersen, and father of nine children, including  -

Henry Seeman,  1864 – 1929.  Henry met and married Eva Adams of Stephenson co., Illinois, and put himself through medical school, beginning his practice about 1900 in Iowa, and southeastern South Dakota, before settling in Rockham, South Dakota, where he would spend the remainder of his life.  He was father of five children, the youngest of whom was -

Earl Seeman, 1897 – 1927.  He married Mary Joyce, and farmed in Hand co., South Dakota.  He died just short of his 30th birthday.  They had three sons, the middle one being -

Robert Seeman, 1922 – 1966.  He spent his life in Hand co., South Dakota, and worked at a variety of occupations.  He married Louise Kluthe in 1951.