Sienknecht Family Reunion

The Henry & Frieda (Krambeck) Sienknecht Family
Front (L to R): Henry Sienknecht, Frieda (Sienknecht) Sabin, Frieda (Krambeck)
Sienknecht.Back: Henry Sienknecht Jr., Maggie (Sienknecht) Fink, Fred Sienknecht,
Lilly (Sienknecht) Staker, John C. Sienknecht.

Yesterday was the annual Sienknecht Family Reunion held in Lincoln, Iowa. The descendants of Henry and Frieda (Krambeck) Sienknecht have been gathering in Lincoln for decades, but it's only in the last four years I've been attending. In that time, I've become the unofficial official historian of the family, so everyone seems to look forward to seeing me - or specifically, what I've uncovered.

This year was a special milestone in the Sienknecht family, though I didn't realize it until after the reunion was coming to a close: It's the 130th anniversary of the Sienknecht family in America. Well, the 130th anniversary of our branch of the family, anyway. Henry, Frieda, and little Henry Jr. set sail from Germany in November 1883 and made their way to New York, then to Rock Island, Illinois, and in 1893 to Tama County, Iowa, were they set down roots that remain today.

Being that far removed from the family patriarch means most of those in attendance at the reunion are Henry's great-grandchildren. His children's generation is long gone and only a handful of the grandchildren's generation remain. On Sunday four from that generation were in attendance, one grandson and three granddaughters-in-law. It was good to see and talk to them and great to get their assistance in identifying the people in a photo from a Sienknecht family reunion in the 1940s.

The reunion is always a chance to visit with distant cousins, but also make new connections. I've found over the years of doing research that people don't always realize what they have. As usual, I created a handout with photos from the different branches of the family. Most of the photos came from people at the reunion, the result of hours spent at the kitchen tables of those present, combing through scrapbooks and scanning photos. As people looked through the pictures and shared stories, several came up to me to say thank you, but also say "You know, I have this photo at home I think you should include. I'll mail it to you." or "If you want to come over to my house, I have a box of photos that belonged to my late mother you could go through." Just from Sunday alone I had tentative plans to visit at least one relative and the promise from another to send me photos to scan.

At the end of the reunion the group discussed the future of the Sienknecht Family Reunion. What used to be a big event was dwindled over the years to a crowd of fewer than 30. Thankfully the consensus was to continue the tradition - only change the location. There are more families with the Sienknecht name in the Clutier area, so the 2014 reunion will be held there. Hopefully in the year between now and then I'll have visited more Sienknecht cousins, scanned more photos, unearthed more history, and have a new, improved history book to share.

Only 364 days until the next reunion. Time to get to work!