vom Saal family history

Links to new materials and to my old website

This section of the website will have its own main menu at the top of the page. Please use the links below and the menu at the top of the page to navigate until I am able to add more links on individual pages.

Materials are gradually being moved to this website. During the transition period, you also can find material on the original vom Saal family history website that I developed in 2009 but have not updated for several years.

Links are below.  Each of the links to the old family history website will open in a new tab.

Old Family History Website

Link to the earlier vom Saal Family History website that I developed over ten years ago and has not been significantly updated since 2009.  My hope is to gradually transfer that information here, and to update and add to it.

Also to be added is more information on whether the present day vom Saal family is really related to the von Heppenheim vom Saal family described in the 1707 book and depicted in the monument in the Worms cathedral.

People and Stories (old website)

Link to one section of the earlier vom Saal Family History website.  This section was never really developed and there is almost nothing there.

Family Crests and Coats of Arms (old website)

Link to one section of the earlier vom Saal Family History website.

Artifacts and Family Heirlooms (old website)

Link to one section of the earlier vom Saal Family History website.

Photograph Albums (old website)

Link to one section of the earlier vom Saal Family History website.  Includes scans of two very large old velvet covered photo albums with many family ancestors.  Also a couple of preliminary sets of photos of Meta and Fred (my grandparents) and a few old family photos.

Church record from Germany dated 1786

Historical Documents (old website)

Link to one section of the earlier vom Saal Family History website.  – A set of old documents including baptismal certificates, marriage certificates, and other church records from Germany.

Memorial book of Friedrich Heppenheimer (old website)

Link to one section of the earlier vom Saal Family History website.  This memorial booklet was published after the death of Friedrich Heppenheimer on April 20, 1878.  It includes testimonials in German and English. Friedrich Heppenheimer was my grandfather’s father’s father, born in Crumstadt Germany in 1826.

Also available is a translation of the biography of Friedrich Heppenheimer and a photo.  For more information and photos, see the Historical Documents section of the old website.

Genealogy Charts and Family Trees (old website)

Link to one section of the earlier vom Saal Family History website.  But note new copy of old family tree from 1707 book (see below)

Kneeling Knight (old website)

Link to one section of the earlier vom Saal Family History website.  BUT see below for a new set of photos.

Monument of Eberhard von Heppenheim vom Saal (died 1559) in Worms, Germany

Kneeling Knight – new photos

Photos and information about the “kneeling knight” monument in the Cathedral in Worms, Germany.  Link to my OneDrive folder with more recent photos of the “kneeling knight” who may or may not be our ancestor.  These are better photos than the ones on my old website – they were taken when Suzanne and I visited Worms Cathedral in Germany in 2010.We may or may not be descended from him. I need to add more about that.

Original Schaefer Brewing Company, 19th and Broadway, 1842

Schaefer Brewing Company

The Schaefer Brewing Company was founded in 1842 by Frederick and Maximilian Schaefer.  The company made Schaefer Beer and at one time was one of the largest brewing companies in the country.   Max Schaefer was my great-great-grandfather.  Information includes:

  • some photos of Max Schaefer.
  • a brief history of the Schaefer Brewing Company that includes a few main dates and events.
  • a description of the relationship between Max Schaefer and the vom Saal family.
  • a book about the history of the company that was published on its 100th anniversary in 1942.

Sharon Springs

This includes photos and information about the vom Saal property in Sharon Springs, NY, which was in the family for over 100 years. This property, called “The Park” at the northern end of the small village of Sharon Springs, formerly included bath houses, the main house, a bandstand, a tennis court, a barn converted to include a caretaker’s home, and the iconic “Magnesia Temple” which still stands today. I visited it often as a child.

Also see the video of the house in Sharon Springs made by my niece Jennifer Decker when she was young.

Also see the historic photos of Sharon Springs from my old website.

1707 book with old family trees

We have a copy of an old book published in 1707 that shows family trees of families in Germany.  It includes a family tree of the von Heppenheim vom Saal family with entries from years 1019 to 1684.  This link contains new photos with better images than the images on my old family history website.

Family gravestones

Photos of family gravestones from locations in Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, NY.  They may be useful in determining or confirming dates in our family history.  Also included are maps of the cemetery with information on locations of several family plots.