This is the Scheuermann family Bible on my maternal grandmother’s side, an object that tells the story of our immigration and identity across five generations.
In 1870, Wilhelm Scheuermann, his wife Sophia, and their infant son Henrich, my great-great-grandfather, immigrated from Germany to the U.S. aboard the Cimbria. Family lore says their love was disapproved of by family, so they left for America for a fresh start at ages 20 and 19. They landed in New York before Ellis Island and later settled in Norfolk, Virginia. Henrich grew up, married Hattie Bell of Currituck, NC, and had six children. My great-grandmother Nellie was the youngest. While Henrich kept the original spelling of Scheuermann, his eldest son, Otto, changed it to Sherman to avoid anti-German bias in his architecture career. The rest of the family followed, though it caused a rift between father and son. 
Today, no German language, food, or customs remain in our family. Henrich carefully recorded every birth, death, and marriage in this Bible, but assimilation was swift. One page in the Bible, meant for family members to sign a temperance pledge, remains completely blank. I like to think that was Henrich’s quiet rejection of that particular American trend.
I inherited this Bible when my grandmother passed away in 2022. It’s more than a religious artifact; it’s a record of love, hardship, and the complicated journey of becoming American. 

– Kristen Wood Crews

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more