Samuel Höchstetter

Schmuel is the Hebrew name for Samuel. I have used the latter because it is what was shown in secular civil records.

Simson is likewise the secular version of Schimschon, which is also recorded with various spellings, since it is a transliteration from the Hebrew (and thus no exact and unequivocal equivalent is possible), and was not a surname per se, but a patronymic, in other words, the "son of Simon" or "son of Simson".

JewishGen tends to record only the Hebrew names in the burial registry, which is helpful for following family lines when surnames and patronymics were fluid and spellings varied, but not for tracking people through public records.

It was not until Samuel moved to Buttenhausen from Frankenwinheim in the 19th century because of conditions particularly favorable to the Jews there that he took an actual surname, which was at the direction of the nobleman head of the village (whose German title I can't think of at the moment), who was renowned for his tolerance and excellent treatment of the Jews.

(by Wendy Hoechstetter, March 19, 2013)

Herr Walter Ott in Buttenhausen, who has diligently guarded the history of the Jews in that town, told my father and likely other members of our family that our name was originally Samson. I believe this "Simson" is what he must have been referring to (or perhaps referring to Samuel's offspring as "Sam's son"?), but am unsure if it was ever actually used by the family. I have recorded it here because of this as well as the reasons mentioned above, in order to tie various stories that seem to be circulating together with my research into actual historical documents. (added March 23, 2014/wah)

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