Our European History

Ferdinand DeSombre told my father that the DeSombres left Germany for America because of religious persecution. He said they were well off financially and that the money came from providing lodging in Germany. Prior to Germany, the DeSombres were in France. Prior to that, the DeSombres began in Holland with the name Von De Sombre (or a variation of that).

I do not believe they left Germany due to religious persecution. Germany was hardly the place for Lutherans to be persecuted. The actual reason for their departure may never be known.

Michael and Augusta DeSombre Mueller were the first from the family tree to come to America. That makes Augusta the first DeSombre from our family tree to be here. One of her decendants told me that a family story states that the couple had seven children that passed away in a fire in Tantow, Germany. Since Mueller is a common name here in Sheboygan, could Michael have known someone here and they both decided to start a new life and leave behind their tramatic loss?

If that is the reason, then the others that followed shortly after with Augusta being the connection to Sheboygan. America could have offered them new and possibly better opportunities than if they stayed in Germany.

There are quite a number of DeSombres (spelled Desombre) living in France today. There may be even more DeSombres there than in America and definately more than in Germany. Since the surname is obviously French, I do believe that our ancestors were in France prior to Germany. They may well have been French Huguenots.

The Huguenots were French Protestants most of whom eventually came to follow the teachings of John Calvin, and who, due to religious persecution, were forced to flee France to other countries in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It's possible that this is where the religious persecution happened that Ferdinand mentioned in his story and not in Germany as was thought.

I have found nothing to suggest that our country of origin was Holland and that our surname began with 'Von'. I'm inclined to believe that that part of the story is not true but is something to remember being said when doing further research.