I’ve since learned, however, that in fact at least 8 different groups of our extended family had arrived in the U.S. by the late 1800s. Here’s an overview of these different immigrations, when and where they initially settled, and the different permutations of how people spell the name. This page is a work in progress, so if you have any more information on any of these families, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Group One: Heinrich Zumbrun from Schwegenheim to Philadelphia

Heinrich Zumbrun (b. 1717) and family arrived in Philadelphia aboard the ship “Brothers” in 1754. This family had lived in Schwegenheim, Germany before immigration, though Heinrich was born in Crailsheim. His family initially settled in Berks County, Pa., before moving to Frederick County, Md. Over the course of the 1800s they mostly lived in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and Indiana.

Heinrich was born Zumbrunnen, his family shortened the spelling to Zumbrunn while living in Germany and he used Zumbrun in America. His children and grandchildren also spelled the name Zumbrun. Most of his living descendants use the spelling Zumbrun but one branch in Pennsylvania and one in Ohio adopted the spelling Zumbrum. Most, but not all, people who spell the name Zumbrun or Zumbrum are descended from Heinrich. One branch of Heinrich’s family also changed the spelling back to Zumbrunn (but most people named Zumbrunn are descended from one of the immigrants below). As far as I know, none of Heinrich’s descendants use the Zumbrunnen spelling.

Group Two: Jacob ZumBrunnen family from Zweisimmen to Wisconsin

Nearly 100 years after Heinrich arrived on the ship “Brothers”, Jacob ZumBrunnen (b. 1802-1869) of Zweisimmen, Switzerland (in the Bernese Highlands region) immigrated to the U.S. He arrived in New York on 4 Oct 1852 aboard the ship “Gallia” and his family almost immediately immigrated to Green County, Wisconsin.

He had 5 sons and nearly 30 grandsons. One of his sons, Gottlieb ZumBrunnen, served in the Civil War (I’m working on a post on the Zumbrun/Zumbrunnen family in the Civil War). There’s no evidence that Jacob had any ties to the Zumbrun family that had arrived nearly a century earlier. This ZumBrunnen family was, however, related to several of the groups that followed (including Groups 3, 5 and 6).

This branch largely used the spellings Zum Brunnen/ZumBrunnen or zumBrunnen/zum Brunnen.

Group Three: Several Zumbrunnen families to Ohio

This is the most complicated group and I haven’t figured out all their relationships.

In the 1860s and 1870s, a string of Zumbrunnens migrated from Switzerland to Ohio. The first seems to be a John Zumbrunnen (b. 1832-1907) who immigrated in 1862 and settled in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. His obituary says he was from Canton Bern and that he had a brother who lives in Indiana. The brother appears to be Rudolf Zumbrunnen (b. 1842-1922) who immigrated in 1874, and Census Records show settled in De Kalb, Indiana. (Immigration dates according to Census records, I don’t know at this point what ships they traveled on.)

The cemetery in which John is buried has an Elizabeth Bemunger Zumbrunnen (1804-1877) who is presumably his mother. Marriage records in Switzerland say an Elizabeth Baenninger, from the town of Embrach, near Zurich was married to a Johann Zumbrum of the town of Wimmis.

These two brothers appear to also be connected to Anton Zumbrunnen (1813-1890) of Zweisimmen who immigrated to the U.S. with sons Jacob (1844-1931) and Anton (1856-1917). I believe Anton was a second cousin of the Zumbrunnen family that immigrated to Wisconsin. Anton’s oldest son Jacob applied for his passport on the same day in 1869 as Christian Zumbrunnen (1849-1924), with both listing Aeschi bei Spiez as home town. (These towns of Wimmis, Aeschi and Zweisimmen are all just a few miles from each other in the Bernese Highlands).

Christian and Jacob appear to have immigrated together, suggesting that they too may have been relatives. Jacob Zumbrunnen is listed as a passenger on a ship named “City of Dublin” that arrived in New York on May 7, 1869. It’s likely he sailed with Christian and it’s possible that others of the group traveled on this ship, but I don’t have proof.

Finally, a John Zumbrunnen (1850-1917) arrived 15 Mar 1892 aboard the ship “La Normandie,” also settling in Alliance, Ohio, suggesting some sort of relation to the others.

Most descendants of this family use the spelling Zumbrunnen, but Jacob sometimes went as Jacob Brunner, and some of his descendants used the name Brunner, instead of Zumbrunnen.

Group 4: Johann Zumbrunn family from Ringgenberg to Nebraska

Johann Zumbrunn (1827-1903) immigrated from Ringgenberg, Switzerland to Platte County, Nebraska, with at least four sons: John, Peter, Christian and Mathias. They arrived 26 Mar 1874 in New York aboard the ship
“Westphalia.” Their genealogical connection to the rest of the family is unclear.

His family had already shortened the name to Zumbrunn in Switzerland and his descendants use that spelling.

Group 5: Albrecht Suter Zumbrunnen from Zweisimmen to Idaho
Albrecht Suter Zumbrunnen (1841-1919), the son of Albrecht Suter and Catherina Zumbrunnen, immigrated to Idaho in 1877. He and his wife Martha (or Magdalena) Kunz had 9 children, at least some of whom were born in Switzerland. I don’t know why he would have used his mother’s surname as his own, and only used his father’s surname as a middle name. This family settled near Bear Lake, Idaho. Albrecht was a distant cousin (I think a fourth cousin) of the Zumbrunnens who immigrated to Wisconsin and Ohio in Groups 2, 3 and 6.

Some of his descendants used the spelling Zumbrunnen but others use Zumbrennen.

Group 6: Gottfried and Christian Zumbrunn families from Zweisimmen to Kansas

Gottfried (1853-1916) and Christian Zumbrunn (1850-1944), apparently brothers and possibly the sons of Christian Zumbrunnen (1821-1904) of Zweisimmen, Switzerland arrived together in New York on 12 May 1880 aboard the ship “Labrador.” They almost immediately settled in Geary, Kansas. They are distant cousins of Groups 2, 3, and 5. (Fourth cousins to each.)

They appear to have shortened their name from Zumbrunnen to Zumbrunn upon arrival, and their descendants use that spelling.

Group 7: Gottfried Emanuel Zumbrunnen family from Erlenbach im Simmental to Utica, New York

Gottfried Emanuel Zumbrunnen (1837-99), married to Susanna Katharina Abbuehl, immigrated in the 1880s to Utica, New York, with children Gottfried “Fred” (b. 1867), Gottlieb (b. 1873-1954), Louise (b. 1870-1957) and Albert (b. 1875-1945). There were originally from the town Erlenbach im Simmental, also in the Bernese Highlands. A large group of 9 Zumbrunns arrived aboard the ship “Canada” in 1880, possibly this family.

They shortened the spelling to Zumbrun upon arrival and descendants of this family continue to use that spelling.

Group 8: Albert Zumbrunn family from Switzerland to Nebraska
Albert Zumbrunn (b. 1847-1916) arrived 4 Apr 1883 in New York on the ship “Canada” and quickly immigrated to Thurston, Nebraska. His genealogical connection to the rest of the family is unclear but he is possibly related to Group 8 as they both traveled on different voyages of the ship “Canada” and both have the name Albert in the family, but this is just circumstantial. It’s also possible that he’s connected to group 4 who also immigrated to Nebraska, although these parts of Nebraska are about 100 miles apart.

Albert changed his name to Zumbrum upon arrival, and his descendants spell the name Zumbrum.

Heinrich, the first Zumbrun in America, was married in a Rhine Valley town called Schwegenheim and although many genealogies say Heinrich was born in Switzerland[1], he was originally from near the town of Crailsheim, in Baden-Wurttemberg.

The Zumbrunnen family in Crailsheim was very small, however, and likely originated in Switzerland.
This is a quick overview of several branches of the Zumbrunnen family in Switzerland from which Heinrich could have descended, as well as a few minor ones that don’t seem to be likely candidates for our direct ancestry.

The Zumbrunnen of Uri

The Zumbrunnen of Uri are the main branch (I guess you’d say the trunk) of the entire Zumbrunnen family tree. The Zumbrunnen name was first adopted there in the 1200s, and for many generations they were a wealthy and prominent family in the Canton of Uri, particularly the towns of Altdorf and Attinghausen.

These Zumbrunnens are a fascinating group of individuals. They were long-time benefactors of the church. They were active in the civic life of Switzerland, holding many government offices for which records have been kept, and participated in the creation of the Old Swiss Confederacy (the early alliance of Swiss Cantons that directly developed into the modern nation of Switzerland). They were also active in the Swiss military, and fought in some of the key battles that helped establish the borders of Switzerland.

Records exist for this family for nearly 500 years, across 16 generations. The family became less prominent in the late-1600s, and they became “extinct” in Uri in 1743.

The Zumbrunnen of the Bernese Highlands

Beginning perhaps around the late 1500s, a growing family of Zumbrunnen lived in the Bernese Highlands, a remote high-altitude alpine region of Switzerland. These regions may look close on a map, but the Alps were very difficult to traverse and there are no direct routes between here and Uri. This family started out small in the 1500s and 1600s but eventually grew to be the biggest branch of the family. They were especially concentrated in the towns of Zweisimmen, Lenk im Simmental and Aeschi bei Speiz. The Zumbrunnen who live in Switzerland today all trace their ancestry to this line of the family (as far as I’ve been able to determine.)

The Bernese Zumbrunnen believe they are a branch of the Zumbrunnen of Uri. The documentation of this family is quite good, and because there are many living descendants a lot of genealogy work has been done on this family. Beginning in the 1850s, some members of this family also sailed to America, nearly a century after Heinrich arrived.

There’s no evidence that Heinrich descends from this branch of the family, but it’s nevertheless likely that we share a common ancestors in the 1500s or 1400s (a hypothesis that could potentially be proved with genetic testing.)

The Zumbrunnen of Baselland

A small family of Zumbrunnen shows up in the region of Basel beginning in the mid-1600s. In specific, they lived in a town called Sissach. The family is small, and because they show up so late, they’re likely a branch of the Uri or Bernese Zumbrunnen. They are worth looking at for two reasons:

First, they lived only about 5 or 10 miles from the Rhine River, and our ancestor Heinrich Zumbrun ultimately lived along the Rhine River network. It’s possible, for example, that Heinrich’s father/grandfather could have left Uri, settled in Sissach for some time, before continuing up the Rhine River.

Second, the Zumbrunnen family of Sissach contains proven records of the name being shortened from Zumbrunnen. In church records in the late 1600s, this branch of the family begins to shorten their name from Zumbrunnen/Zumbrunnin to simply Zumbrunn.

Some “minor” branches

This includes the small branches that are mentioned in the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.

Zumbrunnen of Lucerne

A small branch of the Zumbrunnen family lived in Lucerne from the 1300s to 1500s or so. They were likely just an outpost of the main branch of the family, as Lucerne and Uri were both on the shores of Lake Lucerne, and the two towns were closely linked culturally and politically. I know of two connections with the Zumbrunnen of Uri. Conrad Zumbrunnen was from the Zumbrunnen of Uri but became an Abbot of a monastery near Lucerne. In the 1400s, Walter Zumbrunnen married Idda von Bramberg, who was from a family of Lucerne.

Zumbrunnen of Fribourg

A small family of Zumbrunnen lived in Fribourg, Switzerland in the 1500s. The Zumbrunnen of Uri sent their children to a Jesuit college in Fribourg, so it’s possible these two branches of the family are somehow connected through the school.

Zumbrunnen of Geneva

By the late 1600s or early 1700s there were Zumbrunnen living in Geneva. Although this is chronologically early enough that they could have been our ancestors, these appear to be primarily French-speaking Zumbrunnen. For example, there is a Jean Henri Zumbrunnen here, but not any Johann Heinrichs! Although the Swiss were always multilingual (and so these Zumbrunnen in Geneva likely knew German too), the French-speaking regions of Switzerland aren’t thought to have pumped immigrants up the Rhine River and across to Pennsylvania in the 1700s.

1) I’ve never seen an original source of the claim, aside from the oral tradition. The oral tradition is likely garbled because the name is Swiss, and his father or grandfather were likely born in Switzerland, though Heinrich himself appears to have been born in (modern-day) German territory.