My 5th greatgrandfather in this line
was Johann Theobald Schultz 1722-1796. He sort of appeared out of
the blue when in 1747 he married Maria Elizabeth Henckel (Henkel, Hinkle),
a daughter and granddaughter of Lutheran ministers. They eventually
settled in Newmanstown, in what is now Lebanon County, PA, where their descendants
lived for many generations. I have been to the cemetery there and seen
many of their graves.
From then on things are clear, but the
mystery is who Johann Theobald was and where he came from. He cannot
be found on the ships' lists, not under that name anyway. A problem
with looking there is that if he was really born in 1722 (a date that apparently
came from his tombstone when it was still readable), he may have been brought
to America as a child and children were usually not listed on the ships.
Complicating things a bit is that, contrary to the usual custom among Pennsylvania
Germans of the time, he was apparently never known by his second name, Theobald,
or its usual anglicisation, David, but always as John. There are
in fact a couple of Johann or Johannes Schultz on those lists. If he
realized very early that English speakers would not be able to cope with Theobald,
or if he just didn't care for it, he might have given his name as Johannes
from the beginning. But this is speculation, I have no evidence of
it.
It has also been speculated, by a usually-reliable
source, that he was a Schwenkfelder, a somewhat unusual Pennsylvania German
sect of the time. It is certainly true that there were several Schultz,
Scholtze among them. However the Schwenkfelders have been heavily
researched by their organization and they do not claim him, they have no
record of him. So I find this theory dubious; and also because his
wife's family were such staunch Lutherans, one may doubt that she would have
married, would have been permitted to marry, him if he had indeed been a
Schwenkfelder. So there it sits; I don't really know who he was or
where he came from. The name is said to be of Prussian origin but it
seems unlikely that he came from Prussia to Pennsylvania, that early, in
one fell swoop.
I descend through his son, John Theobald
Schultz, Jr 1761-1840, who also went by John and who married Sarah 'Sally'
Follweiler (Vollweiler originally) 1764-1839, my 4th greatgrandparents.
Their son David Schultz (finally it gets anglicised!) 1790-1853, and his wife
Maria Heffelfinger 1791-1871 were my 3rd greatgrandparents, and their son
William Schultz 1820-1848 and his wife Leah Keller born ca 1827 were my great
great grandparents.
There is much more about the Kellers on the Keller page.
Finally, William and Leah's daughter Mary Elizabeth
Schultz 1849-1913, married my greatgrandfather Penrose Frank, and there is
a page about him, too. So far I have not been able to locate a decent
photograph of Mary Elizabeth; when/if I do I will certainly put it here.
I actually know more about her brother,
Dr William Shultz 1846-1939, than I do about Mary Elizabeth herself. Dr Shultz,
known in the family as "Uncle Will" was a well-known physician in Lebanon
County; at his death, at 93, he was the oldest practicing physician in Pennsylvania.
My father remembered him well. But I don't have a picture of him, either.
