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Schultz/Shultz Family

 Although Schultz (also Shultz, especially in later years; they have never been very consistent about the spelling and it was probably originally Schulz) is one of my most important families, I have put off making a page for it because it starts with a mystery that I am always hoping to solve.  But I am not sure I ever will, so here goes.

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.

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