| Notes |
- [schlotfeldt.FTW]
[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 6, Ed. 1, Tree #3710, Date of Import: Jan 30, 2001]
Little is known about Hans Henry's parents or siblings. We are quite
sure that both lived in Schleswig Holstein Province of Germany, and
Lippe Detmold is mentioned in notes. Fay Schlotfeldt has written to
two Detlef Schlotfeldts in Germany to inquire if there is any information
regarding parentage or siblings. One Detlef is in Detmold.
Fay Schotfeldt:
Klein Flintbek, Germany Farmhouse and Barn (139 KB)
BIRTHPLACE OF HANS HENRY SCHLOTFELDT in 1808 AND HIS FATHER IN 1774. These photos were taken by Jim Schlotfeldt in August of 1999. The current owner led Jim to a spot beside a machine building where he scraped away some soil and exposed a stone engraved with the name and birthdate of Hans Henry's father. We then knew for sure this was the homesite. Fay Schlotfeldt had earlier sent copies of church records to Otto Schlotfeldt of Bordesholm Germany and Hans-Hinrich Schlotfeldt of Flintbek. Those records enabled Hans-Hinrich and his family to lead Jim to this place as well as the family farm in Klein Barkau where Hans & Catherine lived before coming to the U.S. (1835, 40 & 45 census) They are all thatched roofed even today and are tapered inward to help shield the siding from rain.
Hans Henry Schlotfeldt and Catherine Margaret (Stoltenberg) Schlotfeldt came to Iowa from Germany with their son Detlaf Hans and his wife Anna Christina (Reese) in 1851. The latter were accompanied by their infant children Fredrick Jacob (18 months) and Anna Magdalena (6 months).
Other children of Hans Henry (Klaus and Margaret) came separately in 1856.
The home which they built (apparently in 1859 or 1860) was occupied by all three generations.
The second youngest child of Detlaf Hans was Alfred whose wife, Laura Annie (Jurgens) came as a bride to live in this same house. Four of their children were born in the house which they occupied until around the turn of the century. Celia Dooley, who provided all this information, was a daughter of Alfred and Laura.
The youngest child of Detlaf Hans was Hans Detlaf, my grandfather.
When the house was purchased by Martin Curtes some years ago, it was in very bad condition. As of 1985 a young carpenter and his wife were occupying the house, which he was restoring. He saved some stones from the barn and formed a flower bed around a tree as shown in the picture. A childhood home of Buffalo Bill Cody (now an historical site) is one mile to east and about a quarter mile north. Martin Curtes, the owner of the house, lives on a farm in the vicinity of the Cody place.
For the record, here are directions to the house and cemetery. From Davenport, proceed north on Highway 61 to Exit F61 (Long Grove and Parkview). Follow the signs to Scott County Park. Continue east past the Park for three miles to a "T" in the road. Turn left and go 0.7 mile to the house on the right.
To find the cemetery you would go east past the Park for 1.2 miles, the left for 1.5 miles.
From Richard D. Schlotfeldt Homepage:
A few miles east-northeast of Itzehoe there is a small farming village called Schlotfeld (without a trailing 't'). Here is a map of the village.
If you would like to see a map of the area, click here, select "Interactive Atlas", and specify city=Schlotfeld and country=Germany. Then zoom in as far as you like.
There is a single road which passes through the village. Approaching from the south, we noticed a sign announcing the name of the village and its tiny population. Then, as the road wound between farms, we noticed a small stream in the fields to the left, passing under the road and meandering through the fields to the right. The center of the village was occupied by a few farm buildings clustered together on both sides of the road. As we approached, we noticed a memorial next to the road on the right side. Just past the memorial and behind it we found the Burgermeister's farm. We noticed Herr Ahmling (who was probably in his 60's or so) doing something at the side of the dirt road or driveway leading from the main road to his house and barn. I approached and told him I was an American (at which point I saw an unpleasant look come over his face) and then immediately told him my name. Upon hearing my name his face lit up and he became very friendly. He invited Margaret and me into his house and talked with us for quite a while, entirely in German.
He told us about three important things in the village: the stream, the memorial and the Linden tree. The village is as old as the 800 year old Linden tree next to his driveway. The tree seems to be a matter of particular pride.
The memorial remembers the residents of the village who died in both World Wars. I did not inquire further about this subject.
The stream is the origin of the name Schlotfeld. The stream is quite small. Translating "schlot" into modern German, he chose the word "Graben".
Putting this on paper, he wrote:
Schlotfeld = (herkunft des Namens) = Schlot = graben
Feld = feld
According to Herr Ahmling the village name has always been spelled without the trailing 't'. I have doubts about that, however, because I believe that 'feld' is a more modern spelling of 'feldt', meaning 'field'. As for "Schlot", that is a Plattdeutsch word equivalent to the modern 'Graben', which means ditch. The ditch is the stream which passes through the field. Hence, our name means something like "Stream field" or "Ditch field" or "Creek field".
Herr Ahmling is not aware of any Schlotfeldts having lived in the village. This is not surprising because people adopted the name of their former village after moving to another place. A village name is simply not useful as a surname for people who still live in the village. Our association with this particular village is tentative and may be only a coincidence but since there is no other village by this name in Germany I believe it is a good hypothesis. Herr Ahmling suggested contacting the archivist or historian at Itzehoe for further information.
The address he gave us for the archivist is:
Kreishaus
Kreis Steinburg
2211 Itzehoe
Abt.: Chronik
z.Hd. von Herrn Neumann, Archivar
Herr Ahmling's address was:
Wilhelm Ahmling
Dorfstrasse 42a
2211 Schlotfeld
Bürgermeister
I should also mention that Herr Ahmling also told us with some pride
that "Wir haben hier auch ein Hof" and directed us to Breitenburg, residence of
the Graf zu Rantzau. This was located several miles southeast of Schlotfeld.
Upon our arrival we found a horse show in progress. We approached the table
where some folks were selling tickets. As soon as I introduced myself
they directed us toward the Hof. This is a rather large
residence, though less impressive than a traditonal castle. Unfortunately
no tours were scheduled for the day we visited.
If our name were spelled "Schlottfeldt" it would be High German
rather than Plattdeutsch and would mean "castle
field". Maybe we should change the spelling?
Our cousin, Ilene Schlotfeldt, received the following information from
Sven Mahmens, Inspector of Archives, Landesarchiv Schleswig-Holstein,
written on October 15, 1990:
"The village Schlotfeld in the county of Steinburg (Address
Gemeindeverwaltung, D 2214 Schlotfeld) was named 'slotvelt' for
the first time in 1303. The name means: 'Feld am Graben'; so
your family took the name most likely from the village, not the
other way around."
This makes me wonder when the spelling changed? And did the name
of the village have a final 't' at one time? If so, that would
provide a clue as to the date when our name first was used
as a family surname.
Notice, also, the similarity to the recent report from Gisele and
Walter Schlotfeldt that "We only know that it comes from the
Denmark of the
Thirty Years War and at first was Slotueld."
The Thirty Years War lasted from 1618 to 1648.
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1808 - 1890 (82 years)
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