Can anyone help with Lenhart Schilling b 1703?

Question

Please have a look at Leonard Schilling - 3specially his magnificent, informative tombstone, which to date provides all the information there is about him. His is perhaps the earliest tombstone in his York County graveyard. Schilling is a fairly common surname and I've made no progress with him. Is he findable in Germany? Is he findable in York County? Or northern Baltimore/Frederick county where I believe some of his descendants lived? Thanks for any pointers.

Comments

That is a nice tombstone, yes. I have two questions:

• What evidence do you have that he was a Palatine migrant? Do you have immigration documents?
• For his daughter, you list "Württemberg, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials" as a source. What exactly is that source for?

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Hi. I'm traveling so can't access my documents but as for Palatine migration, what else could he be? He was a German born 1703 buried in the oldest section of St Davids in York county Pennsylvania.

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Well, he could be from Baden, for example.

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Not every German who went to Pennsylvania in the 18th century was a Palatinate. There was a considerable movement from Baden-Durlach, for example, as well as other parts of Baden. Those were not part of the Palatine migration. Mark Häberlein's "German Migrants in Colonial Pennsylvania: Resources, Opportunities, and Experience" gives an overview (if you want to read it but can't get access, DM me, I'll send it to you).

I am asking because if you have evidence that he was from the Palatinate then that narrows down the search area.

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Fair point! It hadn't occurred to me because my dad, who was Pennsylvania Dutch, didn't have any ancestors who weren't Palatine (at least as far as I've determined so far). I don't know how to determine any more about Leonard Schilling and though there are plentiful Schillings in the area (southern York county Pennsylvania and northern Baltimore/Frederick/Carroll county Maryland) nobody seems to have made much progress with their ancestors.

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Thanks for clarifying.

I have started an answer. If I'm finding anything concrete, I'll put it there.

You mention other Schillings in the area. Were any of them potential emigrants as well, or could they all have been born in America? Are there WikiTree profiles for them, or some other online tree that's available?

Maybe we're looking for more than one Schilling, which could be helpful! If we track down one of them, we may have found all.

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As to just guessing on where from, and if Palatinate.  My Kester line, came from Germany, area of the Rhine River and they were being dumped on for being Mennonite (sp?) which was wrong religion for the ruler at the time.  William Penn went over in around 1630-1640, and picked up a bunch of families that were needing to flee Germany at the time, the "Kusters" being some.  Several of the Kusters/Kester's did become Dutch Quakers under William Penn.  This for genealogy research is a very good thing, because they have kept some great records.

Answer 1

Okay. So, we're looking at an origin somewhere in Germany; most likely the Palatinate, possibly something like Baden-Durlach. This will be difficult (but I guess you knew that).

Did you check the available lists of emigrants, like Rupp?

Comments

Today, the name Schilling is mostly found in Baden-Wurttemberg and southern Hesse: https://www.namenskarte.com/nachname/Schilling
Similar for the variant Schelling:
https://www.namenskarte.com/nachname/Schelling

An origin from Hesse is unlikely for your ancestor (there just wasn't a lot of emigration from that part of Germany, although it's not strictly ruled out). The northern parts of Baden-Wurttemberg look interesting to me (like the region around Karlsruhe).

I wouldn't rule out the variant Schillinger, either, which would strongly point to Baden-Durlach: https://www.namenskarte.com/nachname/Schillinger

None of this rules out an origin from the Palatinate (the name did exist in that region, too).

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Hi Daniel, many of my ancestors in this area were said to hail from Hesse Darmstadt

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I guess I'm lazy, but if he were in Rupp wouldn't ancestry have pulled up that record?

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Most of the oldest slate monuments in this cemetery are very well preserved. It turns out slate lasts much better than most of the stone used later.

Answer 2

Maybe look at: Records of Sherman’s (St. David’s) Union Church, West Manheim Township, York County, Pennsylvania, 1751-1800, by William J. Hinke.  It is available at

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9P2-S3QK?mode=g&cat=265734

assuming you have access to familysearch (free membership).  This doc (some of it in German) has Schillings in its first few pages recording baptisms, and these might be relatives.  And according to ancestry.com description, Leonhard Schilling appears in the doc as a sponsor to a baptism, although I couldn't find that entry and it may be a different Leonhard.  Another thought is to consider others in the church record and/or graveyard circa 1750 and see if you can find out where they came from in Germany.  Odd that no other Schillings are in the graveyard associated with that church.

A better source turns out to be:

https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/4941/?name=_schilling&count=50

Access to this requires an ancestry.com account.  But to summarize:

Leonard Schilling appears as sponsor at baptism of Jacob Schilling's daughter, which took place 30 Nov 1755.  Jacob and Georg Schilling appears as fathers and/or sponsors of children baptized in early 1780s, with Jacob's last name being spelled both Schilling and Shilling.  So Jacob probably Leonard's son, and Jacob probably related to Georg somehow.  Look for these two and maybe that will lead you back to Leonard's birthplace.

Comments

A couple of other thoughts ...

(1) The gravestone is probably not original, based on how free from wear it is and the fact that it marks the grave of a person who died in 1787.  If it is a replacement marker with original inscription copied over, then it might be worth checking on who paid for the replacement ... might be a descendant.

(2) A more interesting speculation: the church I mentioned above is in West Manheim Township.  If the area was originally settled by Germans, and they named a town or township Manheim, then wouldn't that suggest that they came from the region around Mannheim, Germany? That would make them Palatines, possibly including Lenhart Schilling.

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Thanks for all your ideas! This church is also the final resting place for many who lived in northern Maryland, where I believe the family lived. I have been doing a one place study of the Bachman Valley and very many of the families are known to me. I have also tried following up these other Schilling/Shilling folks and they are also lacking in records.