Family Background

The Schoof family resided in the small village of Neuendorf, a row village presently located at B 431 between Elmshorn and Reihendorf. It borders Raa Besenbek on the east, Kruckau on the south, Kollmar on the west, and in the north on the municipality Gemeinde Altenmoor. The name Neuendorf (new village) is attributed to the emergence of a "new settlement". The estimation of the settlement is around 1400.

The first church was inaugurated 1504. It served as a source of shelter from the constantly returning storm tides of the time. In the year 1627, the houses and the church were burnt down during the Thirty Years War. The inhabitants, who had fled to Altona and Hamburg, rebuilt Neuendorf after the war. The economic structure of the town consists of agriculture and small industrial concerns. Neuendorf has a current population of around 900 residents. Neuendorf is 5 km. west of Elmshorn and 2 km. away from the estuary of the Elbe-River in the province of Holstein in far northern Germany, north of Hamburg.

The area used to be considered Denmark, but is now a part of north Germany. Herszhorn has a population of 1,000 and is a bit north and west of Neuendorf. Hainholz is east of Herszhorn. The land is all farm land.

Ancestor Hinrich Schoof from Neuendorf was the son of Hinrich Schoof of Neuendorf. Hinrich Schoof, the elder, was a cottage-based farmer (three generations and cattle all under one roof). His son Hinrich, a shipman, had a daughter with his unmarried companion Anna Koelln, the daughter of Hinrich Koelln of Hainholz (died prior to 1799) and Lucia Rieck (died prior to 1799).

In the presence of the midwife Engelbrecht, Anna indicated Hinrich Schoof was the father of the newborn daughter Magdalena Schoof. In those times, the midwife -- who often was connected to the church -- felt it was her traditional duty to blackmail the name of the illegitimate child from the mother. She would stand, arms crossed before her chest, and refuse to help the unmarried pregnant woman in her highest labor pains. The midwives often were hand-selected by the local church to have power over the community.

At the time of her impregnation, Anna was in employed by farmer Paul Schmidt in Hainholz.

Magdalena Schoof, the illegitimate daughter, grew up to marry twice, first to Hinrich Kelting of Elmshorn and second to Peter Thormoehlen of Raa. Read additional information about the Kelting family.

Peter Thormoehlen (not a direct ancestor) was born to Thomas Thormoehlen and Metta Lone in Tischler, Kiebitzreihe (near Elmshorn, Prussia) in 1804. He was a cabinet maker and his first wife was Metta Schuldt, who he married in Suederau on March 22, 1835. (This is according to user friend@network2.net.)

The following records have been transcribed related to this family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Register of Baptisms Elmshorn (89/1799)
* Nov. 15th, 1799
~ Nov. 17th, 1799
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magdalena, an illegitimate daughter of Anna Koelln, daughter of the late Hinrich Koelln in Hainholz and the late Lucia, nee Rieck. In the presence of the midwife Engelbrecht, she indicated as the father of this child a certain Hinrich Schoof, now traveling the seas, the son of Hinrich Schoof in Neuendorf. At the time of her impregnation she was in an employment with Paul Schmidt in Hainholz. Godparents:
1. Rebecca Muenster
2. Margaretha Harder
3. Elisabeth Duncker, all in Hainholz.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Register of Marriages Elmshorn
(44/1846) p. 198
Oct. 28th, 1846
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The farm-owner Peter Thormoehlen in Raa, widower, legitimate son of the late Hinrich Thormoehlen and Margaretha nee Magens, contracting his second marriage, 43 years old, with Magdalena nee Schoof, widow of the late "Haeuerling" Johann Hinrich Kelting on the so-called Herrenfeld near Herzhorn, contracting her second marriage, 46 years old.
See Register of Engagements the Nr. 42.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Register of Deaths Neuendorf
(3/1891) p. 121
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
† Febr. 14th, 1891
± Febr. 20th, 1891
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magdalena Thormaehlen, widow in Neuendorf, born 1799, the 15th November, [il]legitimate daughter of the late cottageman (cottage-based farmer) in Hainholz, parish Elmshorn, Hinrich Schoof, and the late Anna, nee Koelln. She was married in her first marriage with Johann Hinrich Kelting, laborer in the Buelow'sche Wildnis. She was married in her second marriage with the farm-owner in Raa, Peter Thormaehlen, who died in the year 1872. She leaves children of her first marriage:

1) Anna, in Wisconsin in America, widowed, about 70 years old.
2) Johann Hinrich, missing as a seaman since 1850.
3) Catharina Sophia, in Altona.
4) Ida, married with Michael Moeller [?] in Neuendorf.
Age: 91 years 3 months.

[Buried with a] funeral celebration.

Surname Origins

The surname Schoof is both German and Dutch and comes from Middle Low German schof and the Middle Dutch scoof or "sheaf"; it's likely a metonymic occupational name for a sheaf-binder (someone who would bind grain together).

Return to Family History