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Just when you think there could be no surname more uncommon than SCHONKEN, you open a can of beans. Tracing the family back to Venlo, Netherlands - and even as far as finding the original German originin SCHONKE, when the family originally landed in the Netherlands in the 1600's, and uncovering the family crest. After 7 years of research (which is nowhere near complete), I sit with so much disjointed and unconfirmed data, that it would take me another 7 years just to make it all come together.
The SCHONKEN family research was started for this very reason. Firstly I found that more people had the same data I had, and secondly, we could fill the gaps by collaborating on each other's trees.
If you are a former or current SCHONKEN or SCHONKE, and have information you can share, death notices, birth notices, photos, etc - please share them with us, and maybe we can connect the dots quicker.