Scism Family History & Genealogy

History

The Scism surname is native to the United States, dating back to the Dutch colonies in New  Amsterdam. The earliest found instance of the spelling is about 1700, although it is surmised that Scism, Scissom, and  Cism, are branches of the same family  ONLY in this time and location. It is surmised that  Scism developed from the frisian village called Chijs, and that people who left this village were referenced as  van der Chijs, or  "From Chijs" ~ Chijs  is also seen written as Sijs, and pronounced  "SIZZ." It is possible that  'van der Sijs' became 'Van Sise' in the colonies (of Sise), and  developed further into Sisson (Son of  Sise) 'Sissom' and 'Scism'.


It is important to note that in New England there are  Sisson and Sissom families which are of English origin, and  live  in proximity to those named alike from the Dutch colony period. Careful research is important to assure confusion does not happen.


Genealogical research indicates that  the Scism family were members in the Dutch Reformed Churches, and  several christening records in the  Hudson River Valley, of New York, name them. The surname is commonly mis-spelled.


In the 1800's a branch of Scism moved from Kinderhook, Columbia County, NY to Palo, Iowa. That patriarch, whose church records show he was born in 1802 and married in 1822, changed the spelling of his name to Sisam for unknown reasons.


In the late 1700s the surname appears in Tennessee in Carter County, and in the Carolinas. The sources of these Scisms can not as yet be connected to the Scism family in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. There are some indications that about the time of the US War Between the States, that  these families may have  lived near each other in the south.


The Carolinas branch migrated  south and then west  with descendants known in Louisiana and east Texas, some using the spelling "Schysm".


The Carter County Tennessee Branch, spread to Stoddard County, Missouri, Beckham County, Oklahoma, Central Texas, Oregon and California. There are Scism family members in India, which came from the Oregon  branch of the  Tennessee Scisms, they are noted evangelists.


Records have NOT been established which tie these three branches together into ONE family.


The surname is unusual, and the chances of three entirely separate occurances of it, is slim, but possible.

Name Origin

It is unknown precisely where the Name SCISM developed from, but it is a theory that the  New England area Scism family  came from the  Dutch tradition of naming by place of origin.


Some in the Scism families in the south claim  origins in the Scots name "Chisholm", and the variation "Chisum" or "Chisom" is common in the south, and may be the root name of the southern Scisms..

Spellings & Pronunciations

Phonetically there are many variations of the name, Often the name is written replacing the letter S with a C or a Z. Often the SCism is changed to SCHism. The final letter M is often preceded by a an added vowel, a O or U or E or I. Most family members pronounce the name as "Siz'um" or as Siss'om, the first syllable the same as the beginning of "scissors".

Nationality & Ethnicity

It is likely that Scism developed from  the area of southern Holland, or most likely, Belgium.


As "Scism" it is unique to the United States.

Famous People named Scism

Are there famous people from the Scism family? Share their story.

Early Scisms

These are the earliest records we have of the Scism family.