+LOCKHART NEWS
NEWSLETTER # 4 (The image on the right should be near the end of this letter...my computer skill did not, however allow it.)
This letter will deal with the Shull family from arrival in America to Martha Jane Shull who was born January 19, 1876, probably in Washington Township, Washington County, Indiana and died on December 28, 1948 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Recent DNA tests among known Shull descendants seem to prove the following relationship.
The first of our line to arrive in America was Frederick Scholl who sailed from Rotterdam, Holland on May 24, 1728 aboard the ship James Goodwill and landed in Deal, England. Ships from the continent bound for England's North American colonies at this time were required to visit an English port to register their cargo before crossing the Atlantic. Scholl then sailed on June 15, aboard the same ship, bound for America. Scholl arrived in Philadelphia in September 1728. Along with Scholl there were 90 some Palatine immigrants, 42 were men above the age of 16 making up 37 families. The Palatinate is in the southwestern part of Germany adjoining the upper Rhine River.
Upon arrival in Philadelphia, they declared their intent to settle peacefully in America before the Provincial Council and signed a declaration of allegiance to King George II of England. From the Minutes of the Provincial Council, printed Colonial Records, Vol. III, p. 331.
"At a Council held in the Courthouse of Philadelphia, September 11th, 1728..... A List was presented of the Names of Forty two Palatines, who with their Families, making in all about Ninety persons, were imported here in the Ship James Goodwill, David Crockat, Master from Rotterdam, but last from Deal, as by Clearance from the officers of the Customs there, bearing Date the Fifteenth day of June, 1728."
Frederick and his wife, Maria Barbara (Hertzel), settled first in Franconia Township, Philadelphia County where, in 1730, he signed a protest concerning church activities and he is on the tax list for 1734 for that township. On June 11, 1734, he received a land warrant (he purchased the property) from Thomas and Richard Penn. (Thomas and Richard were the sons of William Penn of Quaker fame.) The 300 acres tract was located in Lower Saucon Township in what was then Bucks County but is now Northampton County. The property is located in an area that is today called Hellertown, east of Allentown and south of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
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The Scholls built their home in the Saucon Creek area and called their plantation "Athens". Do not associate the term plantation with the vision of large houses and women in hoop skirts, this is just a term used during the time to designate a farm. The home was probably a log cabin, perhaps a few rooms. During Frederick’s lifetime, this was, at best, a very remote area. Frederick purchased three separated plots of land, over 150 acres from 1747 to 1749 making a total of over 450 acres.
Frederick and Maria Barbara were the parents of nine children with at least the last four children being born at Athens. By 1740 Frederick was an Elder of Saucon Church, located on the Saucon Creek in Lower Saucon Township when he signed a congregational pledge of support for the ministry. (I will digress here to discuss his religion. I find this church and this religion totally confusing. And yes, you might say that I am totally confused by most religions, but follow this. Frederick is of German origin, the church seems to have been part of a Reformed Dutch Church with headquarters in Holland but they sometimes seemed to do what they wanted without having the approval of the Reformed Dutch Church. It seems to have been close to Lutheran ideas, at times, but not Lutheran…..Oh well!) The family appears in the records of the Tohickon Reformed Church, which, I think, was part of the church on Saucon Creek. Now that I have totally confused you on this matter, we will move on.
Frederick died at Athens some time between March 7, 1754 when he wrote his will and March 21, 1754 when he is mentioned in a court record as deceased; His will was proved on April 15, 1754. On April 5, his wife and one of his sons, Philip Henry and George Michael Schortz, mason of Easton posted an estate bond for 1200 pounds and the inventory was listed as 595 pounds, 2 shillings and included 394 acres of improved lands and 100 acres of unimproved lands and several old books. His will was written in old German and mentioned his sons Frederick, Nicholas and Tobias and his wife, "Meine Frau Maria Barbara, sie soll frei uber den ganzen Platz, so lange die Kinder folgen". The will is now lost or misplaced. Of interest: Dr. Matthias Otto of Bethlehem attended him during his illness, Daniel Heller made his coffin and the parson received 1 pound 10 shillings for the burial. Maria Barbara died sometime after 1767.
The next of our honored ancestors is John Frederick Scholl, son of the above Frederick and Maria Barbara Hertzel Scholl. Some family historians say that Frederick was probably born in Europe and came with his family to America. To me, this seems unlikely as he was married to Gertrude Merckel at Tohickon Church on April 10, 1759 by Rev. Egidius Hecker. If he had been born in Europe prior to his family’s arrival in America in 1728 he would have been at least 32 at the time of his first marriage, this would have been considered as an advanced age.
I am not sure exactly when Frederick and Gertrude (Fred and Gertie) moved to North Carolina, but it was after their daughter, Elizabeth, was baptized in Pennsylvania in 1764. They appear on the 1790 census in the Morgantown District of Burke County, North Carolina as Fred Shell.
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Now, another digression…..The Shulls lived in an area that was called the Watauga Settlement which is today in parts of Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina and was a very remote area. It seems that the Shulls liked being remote. If you have an interest in this period of family history, Google WATAUGA SETTLEMENT to learn the history of this area.
Sometime before 1793, John Frederick Shull, his wife Gertrude, and their son Simon and his wife Mary came and settled upriver from the Joseph Mast property in what is now Watauga, County, North Carolina. (If you Google WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA - MAST, then go to images, you can see the area in which they lived….probably.) Death dates are not known but there is a memorial stone in Simon/Frederick Cemetery on Broadstone Road in Watauga County, North Carolina with inscription "Frederick Shull and Wife Charity Shull 1765". The 1765 date may refer to the date of there arrival in the area. I will not go into a long-winded explanation of why Frederick’s wife is named Charity on the stone, but this is Gertrude. This cemetery is located between Valle Crucis and Shull’s Mill, North Carolina.
Fred and Gertie had at least four children, John, Frederick, Elizabeth and Simon. It appears that we descend from Frederick. Neither Frederick’s birth date nor his death date are known. On top of that, his wife’s name and children’s names are unknown and this (our descent) seems to be a toss up and there is a remote chance that the son John may be our direct relative or even a son of Fred and Gertie that we do not now know anything about at this time.
Well, moving on! Our next in line is Philip Shull who was born between 1770 and 1785 in either North Carolina or Virginia and his wife Susanna who was born between 1775 and 1785 in Virginia (probably). These dates and place of birth come from the 1810 and 1820 census and later census information for one of their sons, Leonard Shull.
The first official sighting of Philip is the 1809 and 1810 tax lists for Knox County, Kentucky and the 1810 census that also lists a wife and four children. Philip next appears in the Probate Court records of Washington County, Indiana in 1812 when he is paid $15 for clearing the public square in Salem, Indiana.
Philip was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1817. Philip died sometime late in the year 1819 or early 1820. On April 2, 1820, John Sapp was appointed guardian of the Shull children. I have a copy of that record but it is of such poor quality that I will not
-3-
use it here. The children were completely orphaned in 1823 when Philip’s wife Susan
na died..
The memorial stone for Philip and Susanna Shull shows how difficult tracing family members can be. If you take the information on the stone as gospel, Philip came from France in 1800. No records of this exist and DNA evidence disproves the France fantasy.
Recent DNA tests among known Shull descendants seem to prove the following relationship.
The first of our line to arrive in America was Frederick Scholl who sailed from Rotterdam, Holland on May 24, 1728 aboard the ship James Goodwill and landed in Deal, England. Ships from the continent bound for England's North American colonies at this time were required to visit an English port to register their cargo before crossing the Atlantic. Scholl then sailed on June 15, aboard the same ship, bound for America. Scholl arrived in Philadelphia in September 1728. Along with Scholl there were 90 some Palatine immigrants, 42 were men above the age of 16 making up 37 families. The Palatinate is in the southwestern part of Germany adjoining the upper Rhine River.
Upon arrival in Philadelphia, they declared their intent to settle peacefully in America before the Provincial Council and signed a declaration of allegiance to King George II of England. From the Minutes of the Provincial Council, printed Colonial Records, Vol. III, p. 331.
"At a Council held in the Courthouse of Philadelphia, September 11th, 1728..... A List was presented of the Names of Forty two Palatines, who with their Families, making in all about Ninety persons, were imported here in the Ship James Goodwill, David Crockat, Master from Rotterdam, but last from Deal, as by Clearance from the officers of the Customs there, bearing Date the Fifteenth day of June, 1728."
Frederick and his wife, Maria Barbara (Hertzel), settled first in Franconia Township, Philadelphia County where, in 1730, he signed a protest concerning church activities and he is on the tax list for 1734 for that township. On June 11, 1734, he received a land warrant (he purchased the property) from Thomas and Richard Penn. (Thomas and Richard were the sons of William Penn of Quaker fame.) The 300 acres tract was located in Lower Saucon Township in what was then Bucks County but is now Northampton County. The property is located in an area that is today called Hellertown, east of Allentown and south of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
-1-
The Scholls built their home in the Saucon Creek area and called their plantation "Athens". Do not associate the term plantation with the vision of large houses and women in hoop skirts, this is just a term used during the time to designate a farm. The home was probably a log cabin, perhaps a few rooms. During Frederick’s lifetime, this was, at best, a very remote area. Frederick purchased three separated plots of land, over 150 acres from 1747 to 1749 making a total of over 450 acres.
Frederick and Maria Barbara were the parents of nine children with at least the last four children being born at Athens. By 1740 Frederick was an Elder of Saucon Church, located on the Saucon Creek in Lower Saucon Township when he signed a congregational pledge of support for the ministry. (I will digress here to discuss his religion. I find this church and this religion totally confusing. And yes, you might say that I am totally confused by most religions, but follow this. Frederick is of German origin, the church seems to have been part of a Reformed Dutch Church with headquarters in Holland but they sometimes seemed to do what they wanted without having the approval of the Reformed Dutch Church. It seems to have been close to Lutheran ideas, at times, but not Lutheran…..Oh well!) The family appears in the records of the Tohickon Reformed Church, which, I think, was part of the church on Saucon Creek. Now that I have totally confused you on this matter, we will move on.
Frederick died at Athens some time between March 7, 1754 when he wrote his will and March 21, 1754 when he is mentioned in a court record as deceased; His will was proved on April 15, 1754. On April 5, his wife and one of his sons, Philip Henry and George Michael Schortz, mason of Easton posted an estate bond for 1200 pounds and the inventory was listed as 595 pounds, 2 shillings and included 394 acres of improved lands and 100 acres of unimproved lands and several old books. His will was written in old German and mentioned his sons Frederick, Nicholas and Tobias and his wife, "Meine Frau Maria Barbara, sie soll frei uber den ganzen Platz, so lange die Kinder folgen". The will is now lost or misplaced. Of interest: Dr. Matthias Otto of Bethlehem attended him during his illness, Daniel Heller made his coffin and the parson received 1 pound 10 shillings for the burial. Maria Barbara died sometime after 1767.
The next of our honored ancestors is John Frederick Scholl, son of the above Frederick and Maria Barbara Hertzel Scholl. Some family historians say that Frederick was probably born in Europe and came with his family to America. To me, this seems unlikely as he was married to Gertrude Merckel at Tohickon Church on April 10, 1759 by Rev. Egidius Hecker. If he had been born in Europe prior to his family’s arrival in America in 1728 he would have been at least 32 at the time of his first marriage, this would have been considered as an advanced age.
I am not sure exactly when Frederick and Gertrude (Fred and Gertie) moved to North Carolina, but it was after their daughter, Elizabeth, was baptized in Pennsylvania in 1764. They appear on the 1790 census in the Morgantown District of Burke County, North Carolina as Fred Shell.
-2-
Now, another digression…..The Shulls lived in an area that was called the Watauga Settlement which is today in parts of Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina and was a very remote area. It seems that the Shulls liked being remote. If you have an interest in this period of family history, Google WATAUGA SETTLEMENT to learn the history of this area.
Sometime before 1793, John Frederick Shull, his wife Gertrude, and their son Simon and his wife Mary came and settled upriver from the Joseph Mast property in what is now Watauga, County, North Carolina. (If you Google WATAUGA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA - MAST, then go to images, you can see the area in which they lived….probably.) Death dates are not known but there is a memorial stone in Simon/Frederick Cemetery on Broadstone Road in Watauga County, North Carolina with inscription "Frederick Shull and Wife Charity Shull 1765". The 1765 date may refer to the date of there arrival in the area. I will not go into a long-winded explanation of why Frederick’s wife is named Charity on the stone, but this is Gertrude. This cemetery is located between Valle Crucis and Shull’s Mill, North Carolina.
Fred and Gertie had at least four children, John, Frederick, Elizabeth and Simon. It appears that we descend from Frederick. Neither Frederick’s birth date nor his death date are known. On top of that, his wife’s name and children’s names are unknown and this (our descent) seems to be a toss up and there is a remote chance that the son John may be our direct relative or even a son of Fred and Gertie that we do not now know anything about at this time.
Well, moving on! Our next in line is Philip Shull who was born between 1770 and 1785 in either North Carolina or Virginia and his wife Susanna who was born between 1775 and 1785 in Virginia (probably). These dates and place of birth come from the 1810 and 1820 census and later census information for one of their sons, Leonard Shull.
The first official sighting of Philip is the 1809 and 1810 tax lists for Knox County, Kentucky and the 1810 census that also lists a wife and four children. Philip next appears in the Probate Court records of Washington County, Indiana in 1812 when he is paid $15 for clearing the public square in Salem, Indiana.
Philip was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1817. Philip died sometime late in the year 1819 or early 1820. On April 2, 1820, John Sapp was appointed guardian of the Shull children. I have a copy of that record but it is of such poor quality that I will not
-3-
use it here. The children were completely orphaned in 1823 when Philip’s wife Susan
na died..The memorial stone for Philip and Susanna Shull shows how difficult tracing family members can be. If you take the information on the stone as gospel, Philip came from France in 1800. No records of this exist and DNA evidence disproves the France fantasy.
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Philip and Susanna had at least seven children and one of their sons, Leonard is our next in line. Leonard was born in Kentucky on February 28, 1808 and, of course, arrived in Washington County, Indiana with his parents around 1812. Okay, I put the obits in an odd place but they did not fit elsewhere.
The four obits for Leonard are split on the subject of his birthplace. The obit does show some of the life of Leonard however. I put in the obit of his wife to show family unity…Heee Hee! The Shull family seems to have had a thing for squabbles.
Philip and Susanna had at least seven children and one of their sons, Leonard is our next in line. Leonard was born in Kentucky on February 28, 1808 and, of course, arrived in Washington County, Indiana with his parents around 1812. Okay, I put the obits in an odd place but they did not fit elsewhere.
The four obits for Leonard are split on the subject of his birthplace. The obit does show some of the life of Leonard however. I put in the obit of his wife to show family unity…Heee Hee! The Shull family seems to have had a thing for squabbles.
Leonard and Emily Jane Aton were married in Washington County on October 21, 1832 by Jeremiah Rowland, Judge, Probate Court, Washington County.
Leonard and Emily had at least five children one of which, William Dawson is our next of line. William Dawson Shull was born in Salem on March 21, 1837, also trained as a blacksmith and married Amanda Adeline Rogers on September 24, 1859.
Dawson’s Civil War record, there are also a soldier’s pension record and a widow’s pension record which I did not show. On the blurb above, Dawson’s time with the unit starts at the red dot. He was mustered out of service on July 20, 1865 in Indianapolis. On the 1860 and 1870 census, Dawson is listed as a farmer but on his war record, he is listed as a blacksmith. Dawson does not appear on the 1880 census and there is no 1890 census.
Some time after 1870, Dawson moved to New Market, Indiana in Montgomery County.
At least one of his sons lived there, George, and Amanda’s brother, John lived in Montgomery County.
Dawson’s obituary on the right states that he died while bathing in Sugar Creek. I have no idea where on Sugar Creek that he died, but I have included a photo (bottom right) taken along the creek showing a bridge that was in place when Dawson lived in the area.
Our next in line is Martha Jane Shull born in Washington County on January 19, 1876. Little is known about Martha’s childhood but the family seemed to have moved around several times before her father died and she, with her family, moved back to the Salem vicinity prior to 1898.
Our next in line is Martha Jane Shull born in Washington County on January 19, 1876. Little is known about Martha’s childhood but the family seemed to have moved around several times before her father died and she, with her family, moved back to the Salem vicinity prior to 1898.
We know that she was living in Washington County at this time because on her marriage application she lists her place of residence as Salem. In addition, on the 1900 census, her mother and two siblings were living in the area.
I included the marriage return for Jesse and Martha to show several things.
This clearly shows that Jesse was a farmer living near Salem. It also confirms the names of his parents.
And SURPRISE!! Jesse’s 2nd marriage.
Martha Jane used the name, ‘Mattie A.’. Her nickname was Mattie but the use of nicknames on official documents makes it difficult to track a person.
It also confirms the name of her parents.
This clearly shows that Jesse was a farmer living near Salem. It also confirms the names of his parents.
And SURPRISE!! Jesse’s 2nd marriage.
Martha Jane used the name, ‘Mattie A.’. Her nickname was Mattie but the use of nicknames on official documents makes it difficult to track a person.
It also confirms the name of her parents.
One other thing to note here. They were married by E. H. Wood, a minister in the M. E. Church. Few members of this family were actually married by a minister. I am not sure if they were married in a church, but Mt. Zion M. E. Church was located close to some family property in the area and Martha Jane’s father, Dawson, is buried in Mt. Zion Cemetery.
The church is no longer in operation.
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The 1900 census shows that Jesse and Martha Jane were living in Washington Township, Washington County. Jesse a farmer and Martha Jane (Mattie) as wife and Ralph, their first born, as six months old.
Martha Jane was left a widow when Jesse died on May 15, 1909 (or ‘08 depending on the record). I have assumed that the family was living in Brown Township, Washington County when Jesse died and he is buried in Saltillo Cemetery. Martha Jane appears on the 1910 census as living in Bono, Lawrence County, Indiana with three children, Ralph, Mary and Maude, her profession is dressmaker. Several of Jesse’s brothers and sisters also lived in Bono at this time and the children attended school at Ft. Ritner.
I assume that Martha Jane and the children lived in Bono until Martha Jane’s second marriage. She married John Little on October 7, 1916 in Washington County. On the 1920 census, Martha Jane and John Little were living in Brazil, Clay County, Indiana with the three Lockhart children. On the 1930 census, John and Martha Jane were living in Beech Grove, Indiana where John is listed as owner of some type of furniture store.
I lived with them for a short time in the early 1940’s. I cannot say when, I was too young to remember the dates but I do remember that it was wartime and I remember them glaring at each other a lot and arguing. After moving back with my family, I do not remember seeing her again.
Martha Jane died on December 28, 1948 in Beech Grove at the age of 72 years, 11 months and 9 days. I am approaching that age now…. funny, I remember her as being much older than me!!! Of course, on certain days I feel much older than she was.
I would have liked to put in some more recent photographs of her but I cannot find any. I would have thought that some would be around, but I guess not.
This newsletter composed (almost entirely) by Jon C. Lockhart, CVI.
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