Maas Family
Roots & Branches

Dedication

This Web site is dedicated to our ancestors who had the ambition and courage to seek a new life in America. They left their family, friends, and homeland - knowing they may never return again - to experience the adventure and promise of a better life. We owe our freedom and the opportunities we cherish, indeed life itself, to their faith and pioneering spirit.

Purpose

The purpose of this website is twofold - first it is an excellent medium to record the known ancestral data of our family for generations to come. Unlike printed publications, it can be easily corrected, revised and updated at any time. Second it provides an efficient mechanism to reach other interested members of the family tree and genealogists worldwide who may be interested in, but unaware of, these data. Hopefully, contacts will be made that will lead to the discovery of additional new and interesting information about our ancestors, both known and unknown.

Introduction

This Maas Family site is concerned with the roots and branches of the Gene and Norma (Harrington) Maas family. Our intent is to record and document the genealogical data and history that we have accumulated since 1987 and which we hope to find in the future. Some branches are known back to the late 1500's, others only to the mid 1800's. Our Germanic ancestors emigrated from Pomerania, Prussia; Württemberg, Germany; and Kassel, southern Russia. The original homeland of some of Norma's ancestors is still unknown but include England, France and Germany. A list of known surnames is shown below. Information about some of the families and their known descendants can be viewed by clicking on the highlighted surnames. Clicking on either Gene or Norma will display a list of all of our known ancestors.

In addition to our own ancestral data, I have extracted and documented birth, marriage and death data on over 1100 other individuals, including over 750 Maasses, most of whom lived in the counties of Naugard and Regenwalde in Pomerania. A list of most of these Pomeranians has been compiled on this site. Fewer than 50 of these Maasses have been documented as members of our family tree.I am willing to share this information with anyone who is researching their Maass ancestors in this area.

Surnames of Gene's ancestors

Alt, Brandt, Burkhard, Frey, Gabel, Gramm, Hartwig, Just, Koehler (Köhler), Krüger, Kruske, Maas, Maass (Maaß), Maier, Meidinger, Mewes, Muller, Muth, Nestel, Noerenberg, Pätsch, Prahl, Rieck, Rudolph (Rudolf), Sarow, Schmid, Schnabel, Schulz, Trojan, Vogelman, Weins, Zigenhagel, Zimmerman.

Surnames of Norma's ancestors

Adamson, Bagsby or Bagsley, Bales, Beardsley, Best, Blackwelder, Blalock, Brooks, Clemmer (Klemmer), Cline, Curtis, Davis, Dixon, Galbraith, Gaston, Goodwin, Gordon, Gotz, Hall, Hankins, Harrington, Harvey, Hier, Hoffman, Kirkpatrick, Ladig, Leyendecker, Maushardt, Meisenhammer, Millard, Mog, Morgan, Navarre, Palmer, Panchor, Partlow (Partelow), Paugh, Perry, Phifer, Prudentia, Quilman, Reiter, Schwarzwalder, Sheets, Shetley, Simms, Todd, Vanderburg, Walker.

Search the Maas Family Website using Google:

Looking for someone or something in particular? Enter a name, place, keyword or a phrase in the box and click on the search button. (Exact phrases must be in quotes)

Disclaimer

Not all of the genealogical data on this site have been confirmed and documented. Some have been personally researched and verified in original church and civil records, other data have been extracted from data bases and family heritage books prepared by others. Hopefully, the data will aid others in assembling their own family trees, but everyone is urged to confirm and document the data on their own. I regret any errors or omissions and would appreciate hearing from anyone who finds mistakes or can add new family data. It is my intent to continually improve and update the information on this site.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to many individuals for their contributions to this site. They include those who have contributed genealogical data, family biographies and history, German translations, photographs, obituaries, and other documents. I am especially grateful to my father, Walter Maas, who invested considerable time and resources in collecting and compiling the Maas family data, and to my wife, Norma, whospent endless hours typing, editing, and composing our Maass Family Book.

My thanks to the many graphic artists who freely contribute their original work for inclusion on personal websites like this. Credits appear below and on subsequent pages. The search engine is courtesy of Google and the guestbook is generously provided by RootsWeb.com, Inc. If I failed to acknowledge anyone or inadvertently failed to abide by your terms of use, please let me know.