My Paternal Ancestors

Dillenger; Knecht; Pfeffer; Silar; and allied families

Pfeffer Family, Philadelphia, PA, c.1902

Dellinger, Knecht, Pfeffer, Silar and allied Families

INTRODUCTION

      My paternal line of ancestors who stem from the DELLINGER-SILAR families are, for the most part, German in origin.  Most came from the southwest region of Germany, the areas known as the Rhineland, Palatinate, Wurtemberg, and Baden.  They were among the approximately 65,000 German immigrants who landed in Philadelphia between 1727 and 1775.  There are many reasons why they left their homeland to make the treacherous journey across the Atlantic to America.  Many made the voyage primarily because of the economic devastation of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) and the subsequent wars between the German principalities and France. They tended to come in family units many were not only farmers but also tradesmen or artisans.  They eventually settled in York county, Pennsylvania and most remain there to this day.  On the whole my ancestors were typical of the Germans who settled in rural Pennsylvania.  They were orderly, industrious, carefully frugal, and affiliated with the Lutheran or Reformed church.  If any interested themselves at all in politics, it was usually at the local level.

      My KNECHT-PFEFFER ancestors were among the 5 million Germans who came to the United States during the 19^th century.  This secular transatlantic mass exodus from Germany was instigated mainly by socio-economic problems created because of a tremendous growth in population and a corresponding lack of employment opportunities during the crisis of the transition in Europe from an agrarian to an industrial economy.  Frederick Pfeffer was the last of this line to immigrate to America.  He and his wife Catharine Clement were among the 800,000 Germans who arrived, in America, between 1866 to 1873 to escape the particularly difficult hardships caused by Bismarck’s unification of the modern German imperial state and economy.   In the United States my Knecht, Pfeffer, and Mildenburg ancestors lived within a distinctively German-American culture which flourished between 1870 and 1914. They resided in a part of Philadelphia almost exclusively German that maintained German-language publications, as well as churches, fraternal organizations, singing groups, saloons and orchestras.  They made their living working in the many factories found at that time in the city.

Many of my paternal ancestors, ordinary as they were, witnessed or played an integral part in some great and extraordinary events that shaped the development of the United States during the last 250 years.     The Daughter’s of the American Revolutionary War have recognized my 6^th great-grandfathers Jacob Dellinger, and Anthony Keller, Jr., as patriots of the Revolution.  Other sources indicate that Johan George Abel, Johan Georg Ellis(Ilgis), Andrew Gilbert, and Johann Friedrich Lieberknecht, all of whom are my great-grandfathers were in military units during this War.  My 2^nd

great-grandfather Jonathan Dellinger served in the Union Army during the Civil War and was involved in the siege of Petersburg,Virginia during the summer of 1864.  In April 1865, when the funeral obsequies of President Lincoln arrived in Philadelphia the 187th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, which included Jonathan as a member, led the procession from the railway station to Independence Hall and guarded the remains while they lay in state where a double line of mourners stretched three miles deep while waiting to view their fallen leader. Together with the 1st City Troop the Regiment was then detailed to escort the remains back to the railroad.  My grandfather Sherman R. Silar served with the American Expeditionary Force in France during World War I where he was twice wounded in battle.  A Colorado Blue Spruce tree grown by the family my grand-aunt Helen (Silar) Myers was the National Christmas Tree in 1978.  Since then the same living tree has been used as the National Christmas Tree. The 30-foot tree was planted in the Ellipse in October of that year and is tended by National Park Service horticulturalists and decorated every year during the National Tree Lighting Ceremony.

Some of my grandfathers and grandmothers are excellent examples of those individuals and families that participated in the great German migration to Pennsylvania between 1727 and 1775.     Johann "Jacob" Dellinger wife Maria Barbara Gossner and family arrived in Philadelphia 27 August 1733 on the ship "Elizabeth" that sailed from Rotterdam.   By 1755 he and his family had moved west of the Susquehanna River into in York County.  Jacob settled in Windsor Township on land purchased from the sons of William Penn who were the proprietors on the Colony of Pennsylvania.   Anthony Keller, Sr. his wife Anna Maria Barbara Chateau and three children arrived in America at the port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 25 November 1740.  They came over on the ship "Loyal Judith".  The ship sailed from Rotterdam and made a stop in Deal.  Paulus Schaffer, Sr. his wife Anna Maria Elizabeth Bracher and son Paul Schaffer, Jr. came on the ship "Thistle", which arrived in Philadelphia on 19 Sept 1738.  Like most of these immigrant ships the brigantine “Thistle” left Rotterdam with a stop in England before crossing the Atlantic Ocean to North America.  Johann Paul Ilges, his wife Maria Catharina Blau and family emigrated from Thaleischweiler, Bayern-Pfalz, Germany.  They arrived in Philadelphia aboard the “St. Andrew” on August 18, 1750.  Valentin Kuffer left his home in Karlsruhe, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, and arrived at Philadelphia aboard the “Billender Townsend” in October 1737.  He then moved west and settled in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania.

DELLINGER, KNECHT, PFEFFER,

 SILAR and allied families

SURNAME INDEX

The following are the surnames of direct ancestral lines found in my paternal family tree.  Web pages have or will be constructed for each name.  For more information about a specific family you are invited to click on the appropriate surname link listed below.

ABEL;   ARNOLD;   ATTIG;   BARD;   BECK;   BEISSEL;   BLAU;   BORN;   BOYER;   BRACHER;   CAMMERER;   CHATEAU(Schatto);   CLEMENT;   DELLINGER;   FORSTER;   GAMER;   GARDNER;   GILBERT;   GOSSNER;   HAUER;   HAUG;   HAYES;   HEIDECKER;   ILGES(ELLIS);   JACOBS;   KATTERMAN;   KELLER;   KNECHT;   KOHLER;   KUEFFER(Kuffer);   LEYONBERGER;   LEIBERKNECHT;   MILDENBERG;   MULLER;   NAGEL;   PFEFFER;   PRECHT;   REINHARDT;   RUPPERT;    SCHAFFER;   SCHALL/Shaul;     SCHIECK;   SCHMID;   SCHUSTER;    SEILER(SILAR);   ULRICH;   WAGNER;   ZIEGLER

The following LINK will take you to a database that contains all of the above surnames.

Dellinger; Knecht; Pfeffer; Silar; and allied families

DELLINGER, KNECHT, PFEFFER, SILAR and allied families

NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES

I have archived copies of my family newsletter.  The Newsletter is published quarterly, and focuses upon interesting aspects in the lives of our ancestors included in the family tree of my paternal ancestors. Inquiries concerning this publication should be directed to me via the contact information found at the end of this page.

Use the following LINK to view the past newsletters pertaining to our maternal family.

NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES

Castle Garden, America’s first immigration center 1830-1892

DELLINGER, KNECHT, PFEFFER, SILAR, and allied families

IMMIGRANT ANCESTORS

Ellis Island, immigration reception center 1892-1921

Almost everyone has had a desire to know from where his or her ancestors emigrated.  Once this discovery is made you will most likely begin to track your ancestors back in time and place. Finding an immigrant ancestor's place of origin is the key to finding earlier generations of the family. It provides access to many family history resources in that home area. Once you know a former place of residence or a birthplace, you may be able to add more generations to your pedigree. Learning about your family's history and experiences can be a source of enjoyment and education for you and your family.

IMMIGRANT ANCESTORS – Dellinger; Knecht; Pfeffer; Silar; and allied families

Your LINK to more information about the ancestors within our DKPS database identified as progenitors of

their family lines in America.

IMMIGRANT ANCESTORS:  RESEARCH & RESOURCES

Your LINK to resources and research strategies designed to assist with your research to learn more

 about Ancestors  who immigrated to the New World.

DELLINGER, KNECHT, PFEFFER, SILAR

and allied families

 WAR VETERANS

The discovery that an ancestor was involved in one of our national wars or conflicts is usually an exciting and fulfilling experience.  The information we glean from records regarding military units and battles fought tends to provide researchers and their families with a heightened feeling not only of our ancestors’ sacrifices but also our own sense of having roots back to those important events that made our country what it is today. Information about the war veteran’s of one’s family is also an excellent means of gaining the attention of children as well as indifferent relatives.

LINKS to more information about the ancestor, within my database, identified as veterans of America’s wars.

WAR VETERANS - Dellinger: Knecht; Pfeffer; Silar; and allied families

Military Veteran & Unit Image Archives

6^th Special Seabee Battalion, USN

110^th Infantry Regiment, 28^th Division, USA

Your LINK to descriptions of America’s major wars as well as supplemental information designed to

 assist with your research to learn more about ancestors who served in the United States military.

Researching our War Veterans

DELLINGER, KNECHT, PFEFFER, SILAR and allied families

SOURCE DOCUMENTS

The documents contained herein have been located during my research of this family, and used as evidence to prove many of the facts contained within the database of this family’s record.

    Most of these documents can be considered as primary or secondary.  Primary evidence is usually defined as the best available to prove the fact in question, usually in an original document or record.  Secondary evidence is in essence all that evidence which is inferior in its origin to primary evidence. That does not mean secondary evidence is always in error, but there is a greater chance of error.  Examples of this type of evidence would be a copy of an original record, or oral testimony of a record’s contents.  Published genealogies and family histories are also secondary evidence.

     Classifying evidence as either primary or secondary does not tell anything about its accuracy or ultimate value.  This is especially true of secondary evidence.  Thus it is always a good idea to ask the following questions: (1) How far removed from the original is it, (when it is a copy)?;  (2) What was the reason for the creation of the source which contains this evidence?; and (3) Who was responsible for creating this secondary evidence and what interest did they have in its accuracy?

SOURCE:  Greenwood, Val D., The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 2^nd edition, Genealogical Publishing  Co., Baltimore, MD 21202, 1990, pgs. 62-63

You are welcome to download any of the documents contained within this archive.  Should you encounter a problem obtaining a copy you may get in touch with me via the contact information found at the end of this page.

Use the following LINK to view the source

 documents pertaining to my maternal family.

SOURCE DOCUMENTS

DELLINGER: KNECHT; PFEFFER;

 SILAR; and allied families

PHOTOGRAPHS & IMAGES ARCHIVE

During my research I have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a particular family.  Some of them are presented on this website because I believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of our ancestors past lives.

If you have any photographs or other images relating to any of the families named in our

SURNAME INDEX  we would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Use the following LINKS to ascertain whether I have any images that pertain to this family.

FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS and IMAGES

TOMBSTONE IMAGES ARCHIVE

CONTACT INFORMATION

Email

Fred

Snail mail:
889 Dante Ct.
Mantua, NJ 08051 USA