Hinderk * 10-9-1838
Hinderk Zeemann received his Masters and Mates Certification from the British Navy in 1863. Family legend is that he could speak many languages well from his time on the sea. Although no record exists of his immigration to America, family legend is that he worked his passage and then "jumped ship", probably in the port of New Orleans, Louisiana. He then worked his way by river connections and joined his brother "Klaas Janssen", now using the name John Seeman, in that area.
Hinderk married Friedericka "Reeky" Clara Tholken Vortman, a widow with 4 children, in August of 1868. Their son, John Amos, was born in February of 1868, with "Reeky" dying within days or months of giving birth.
Henry married Anna Mommens, in St. Louis, Missouri in November of 1868. He was using the name "Henry Seemann" by that time. Then with Anna's widowed mother, her younger sister, and two younger brothers, the extended family set out for southeast Nebraska. Henry was very restless in America, always buying and selling real estate, near and far. In 1885, the Seemann family pulled up stakes and moved to western Kansas. They lived in several locations there over the years. He and Anna had eight children survive to adulthood, and they eventually scattered from the Chicago area to the west coast.
About 1915 Henry began selling off his various interests in Kansas and moved to Lincoln, Illinois. He was joined there by one daughter and her family. Henry Seemann died in Lincoln, Illinois on 14 June 1921. and is buried there.