Stamms of the Hesse 1300 - 1700

The origin of the Stamm surname appears to be in the area of Germany known as Nassau-Hesse. Since this is a rather small area, it is likely that many of the families have common roots. My own family of “Johann Stamm” can only be traced to the general Nassau region, however the Stamm’s of the Hesse shed some light on the larger German Stamm family. The most complete work on the Stamms of the Hesse is the genealogy prepared by Moritz Stamm in 1913, The History of the Family Stamm in Hesse. A second source was from the correspondence of Henrietta (Grosskurth) Stamm of Chicago.

The Moritz Stamm work is a truly impressive volume. It is most fortunate that it is available at all given European history. The work is of limited availability through the major genealogical libraries. Even within Germany the work has become difficult to find. The State Archives of the Hessiches in Marburg no longer has a copy. Many libraries, like the Marburg Universitatsbibliothek, had their copy destroyed in the frequent wars which ravaged Germany. A copy was available through the Stadt-und Universitatsbibliothek of Frankfurt. The work traces the family of Veit Stamm (c. 1300). Beginning with the sixth generation of Gottschalt Stamm (born 1490 and died 1574) the family is traced directly to the descendants in 1912. A total of 257 descendants are listed. The detail and apparent accuracy are truly a marvel. Included are a number of photographs, documents and signatures of some of the earliest family members. One such photo shows the tombstone of Philipp Stamm. On the 1598 stone is a carving of Philipp’s countenance. The Moritz Stamm book is truly a spectacular work deserving of a full English translation.

The second source for the Hessen Stamms is from the correspondence of Henrietta (Grosskurth) Stamm. After World War II members of the Joseph Stamm Line corresponded with an Emil Stamm of Marburg, Germany. The Joe Stamm family of Chicago (Joseph Stamm being the youngest child of the Joahnn Stamm family) sent the Emil Stamms packages of food and other relief supplies. In return for the assistance, the German family is supposed to have copied information from the family Bible. This information is almost identical to that found in the Moritz Stamm book. Even the method of organization would suggest a common source. The information from Emil Stamm is not, however, as complete and it ends with the words “Und so Fort.” While it seems logical that at some point our family and the Marburg family were joined, there is no solid evidence of this connection. Although we can not make a direct connection to the Gottschalk Stamm family of the Hesse, the following translation is recorded here for general interest sake, and to be sure that copies of this material are preserved.