Merge of Hoffman-366 and Huffman-474

Question

The 2 Ferdinands, Hoffman-366 and Huffman-474, need to be merged. However, neither one of them has the right Last Name at Birth Hoffmann (2 n's not the Anglicized one). So if either one of the profile managers could change that LNAB one could propose that merge.

Once that is done we will then have 3 sons Frederich (Hoffman-518), Fredrick (Hoffman-368), and Frederich (Hoffman-4632), all born 18 years before their father and having a son Andreas. Problem is Ferdinand didn't have a son named Friedrich. He did have a brother Johann Friedrich who had a son Johann Ferdinand who had a son Johann Andreas. This brother was born either in 1530 or 1535, not in 1522 as claimed in the three profiles above. There is no documented Friedrich born in 1522 in this family. Ferdinand did have a son Andreas, though. None of these 2 Andreases do have the claimed descendants from their profiles.

My question is then, a) do we disconnect the three Frederichs from Ferdinand, merge them and then reconnect them as Ferdinand's brother, correct the Andreases and then disconnect their undocumented children, or b) disconnect the three Frederichs, merge them and then leave them as the beginning of a different, though undocumented, line?

https://books.google.com/books?id=y1U_AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA208&lpg=PA208&dq=gr%C3%BCnb%C3%BCchel+und+strechau&source=bl&ots=T-K244-54W&sig=JX-jd8e6RTdl4SC1egm3cnj09fU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjHjLi0kYTLAhUJSSYKHRK8BkkQ6AEIUTAI#v=onepage&q=gr%C3%BCnb%C3%BCchel%20und%20strechau&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=eo0BAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA172&lpg=RA2-PA172&dq=P%C3%BCchler+zu+Sch%C3%B6der&source=bl&ots=DWzQ7oiDm_&sig=rJDl9nIJibWGfc5-pKFbi5EluAo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiuhaDozpXLAhUBVSYKHZ11AygQ6AEIIDAA#v=onepage&q=P%C3%BCchler%20zu%20Sch%C3%B6der&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=AYBIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA732&lpg=PA732&dq=elisabeth+von+dohna+hoffmann&source=bl&ots=RAmMl_Y5ha&sig=xYgsimjekhULthh97e-7O1hq1Hs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxhI2U8bHLAhUBMSYKHa7YDUEQ6AEIHzAA#v=onepage&q=elisabeth%20von%20dohna%20hoffmann&f=false
 

 

Answer 1

Helmut, please clarify the correct LNAB (last name at birth).  You state it should be Hoffmann (two f's and two n's).  His father is Hofmann-619 (note only one 'f').  So is it one 'f' or two?

As to the three Frederichs, I would merge them. It says Frederich is an ancestor of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.  Research should be done to see if this is the case.  You could detach them from Ferdinand, with a note on the biography as to why he was detached.  Once research has been completed, we should know what else to do...

Comments

The last name changed around this generation, was originally Hofmann then subsequently in the literature as Hoffmann, unfortunately there is only secondary literature accessible. The therein referenced primary sources are not digitized.

The Roosevelt ancestry is a red herring. Roosevelt's ancestors descend from Hoffman-142, Martinus Hermanzen, followed by the New Netherlands Settlers project. Somehow the authors of a late 19th century Hoffman genealogy cobbled together their unsourced tree creating a Wilhelm Hermanzen Hoffman whom they make the father of a Martinus Hoffman(-510) who is a doppelgänger of the above mentioned Martinus Hermanzen. The New Netherlands Settlers project has not found any parents for their Martinus and the name Wilhelm does not appear anywhere in the family Hoffmann von Grünbühel und Strechau.

---

So do you think Ferdinand should be Hoffmann (two f's and two n's)?  If so, I can take care of it.

From what you've said about Roosevelt's ancestors, it sounds like that needs to be included in the bio of Frederich and any descendants of his.

---

Surveying 17th - 19th century secondary literature the family appears in both forms Hoffmann and Hofmann without a clear preference. No primary sources are available in digitized form. Hoffmann is more popular as a contemporary German last name (10th most common) whereas Hofmann is #23. The family died out in the male line in the 18th century. There is no documentation for any descendants who could have emigrated to the USA. I could live with either form of the name, just went with the more common one.