How to find out if my ancestor was a Palatine Migrant.

Question

Michael Scheurer could have been a Palatine member. I have no clue. Born approximately 1743 in Wuerttemberg, Germany, he traveled to London to catch a boat to Nova Scotia. Christian DeStumpel left 140 or so immigrants there to fend for themselves. The Londoners took up a collection to send the 140 or so to South Carolina around Charleston way. Michael and his brother ended up on land in Nine Mile. The problem is that I am unsure of the origination of Michael and his brother Paul.

Could he and his brother have been Palatinites?

How do I find out? Is there a list out there somewheres?

Answer 1

Michael's point of origin does not matter for his designation as a Palatine. All German-speaking persons who emigrated from Europe in the years from 1700 to the outbreak of the American Revolution are considered Palatines and were described as such by their contemporaries. They did not have to originate in the Palatinate specifically.

I have added Michael to our Palatine Migration Project. Thanks for bringing him to our attention.

Comments

When did the American Revolution break out?

---

American Revolution began when independence from England was declared 4 July 1776.

---

The first battles of the war were in April 1775, but 1776 is the date we use here for the ending date of certain projects. This is based in part on when certain British record sets came to an end.

Answer 2

I don't know for sure, but Columbus, Ohio has a lot of information about Palatine`s  and I seem to remember that they had list of Palatine Migrants. I belive their meeting place was on Weber Rd. but whether they still meet there I don't know.

Answer 3

If you upload your autosomal DNA on 23andme they claim to have isolated Rhineland-Palatinate DNA.

Answer 4

I am researching the Raub family. I found a book on people who took an oath of allegiance that were from Germany for Pennsylvania. https://archive.org/details/namesofforeigner00egle/page/n6?q=oath+of+allegiance

I don’t know if that would help. There are Scherers in my tree although I need to add family to the Raub profiles first. They lived in Bucks and Northampton Counties in Pennsylvania. 

Comments

That's one of several publications of the ship lists for Philadelphia. Those lists are an important source for the Palatine Migration project. I think the best version of the lists is the one by Strassburger. See the project's pages for these and other resources for research.

---

Lori,

My Scheurers ended up in Charleston, South Carolina. I will look around the Pennsylvania Scheurers to see if any of them might be related to my family. Thanks for the link. I'm having to look in unexpected places to find these folks.

---

Your welcome. I’m just learning about my Raub ancestors. I decided I need to learn German since there are more in my tree than I first thought.