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Family history
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The only known ancestor of
this family line is my 8th great-grandmother Barbara Schmid. Barbara was born 1658 in that area of
present day Germany that lies with the
Baden-Wurttemberg district
of Esslingen. Sometime before 1683 she married Hans Schall a native of
Bonlanden,
a village in Baden-Wurttemberg. This
union produced only one known off-spring, a daughter named Anna Schall born in
about 1683. Barbara (Schmid) Schall died at Bonlanden in 1727. |
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Direct ancestors
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Additional information about the
persons in our database as
well as a
complete |
listing of individuals with this surname may be
reviewed by clicking on this LINK. |
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Descendant Register Generation 1 |
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BARBARA1 SCHMID was born in 1658 in
Esslingen, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. She died in 1727 in Bonlanden, Esslingen, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. She married Hans Schall, son of Blasius Schall II and Anna Laux before
1683 in Germany. He was born in 1651 in Bonlanden,
Esslingen, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. He died in 1716 in Bonlanden,
Esslingen, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. Hans
Schall and Barbara Schmid
had the following child: · ANNA2
SCHALL was born about 1683 in Bonlanden, Esslingen,
Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. She died after 1719 in Bonlanden,
Esslingen, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. She married
JOSEPH SCHUSTER.
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The world’s largest free genealogy search engine, Mocavo.com,
provides genealogists access to the best free genealogy content on the web |
including billions of names, dates and places worldwide. Mocavo.com
seeks to index and make searchable all of the world’s free genealogy
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Use this free genealogy site to help you get the best genealogy
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tree, for your research. It will create a series of
different searches using tips or "tricks" |
that will likely improve your results. The different searches will
give you many different ways of using Google and the Internet to find
ancestry information about this or any other Surname. |
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Origins of the surname
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An Introduction to the Surname
The practice of inherited family surnames began in England and France during the late part of the 11th century. Surnames were first utilized in the Germanic region of central Europe during the second half of the 12th century.
The custom of taking on surnames began in the southern areas of Germany, and gradually spread northward during
the Middle Ages. It took about three hundred years for this
tradition to apply to most families and become a constant part of one’s
identity. With the passing of generations and the
movement of families from place to place many of the original identifying
names were altered into some of the versions that we are familiar with
today. Over the centuries, most of our
European ancestors accepted their surname as an unchangeable part of their
lives. Thus people rarely changed
their surname. Variations of most
surnames were usually the result of an involuntary act such as when a
government official wrote a name phonetically or made an error in
transcription.
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Source(s) & Meaning(s) of the Surname
Most
modern German family names are a means conveying lineage. For the most part, German surnames were developed from
four major sources: (1) Patronymic
& Matronymic
surnames
most common in northern Germany are based on a parent’s first name, such as Niklas Albrecht (Niklas son of
Albrecht); (2) occupational surnames are last names based on the
person’s job or trade for example Lukas Fischer (Lukas the Fisherman); (3) descriptive surnames are based on a unique quality or
physical feature of the individual like Karl Braun (Karl with brown hair); (4) geographical surnames are derived from the location of the homestead from which the
first bearer and his family lived such as Leon Meer (Leon from by the sea), or derived from the state, region, or
village of the first bearer's origin for example Paul Cullen (Paul from Koeln/Cologne).
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History of the
Surname
Most German names have their roots in the Germanic Middle Ages. The process of forming family
names in what is present day Germany began early in the 12th Century and extended through
the 16th century.
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Use this LINK to find the ethnic origin and meaning of last names. Surname
dictionary and |
genealogy helps include names of Irish, German, English, French,
Italian, and Jewish descent. |
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Throughout
the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to unfold and expand often
leading to an overwhelming number of variants. As such one can
encounter great variation in the spelling of surnames because in early times,
spelling in general and thus the spelling of names was not yet
standardized. Later on spellings would
change with the branching and movement of families.
Spelling variations of this family
name include: Schmidt (northern Germany), Schmid
(southern Germany), Schmitz (Rhineland), Schmied, Schmitt, Smith
(English) and many more. |
The
complexity of researching records is compounded by the fact that in many cases an ancestors surname may also have been
misspelled. This is especially true
when searching census documents. The
Soundex Indexing System was developed in
an effort to assist with identifying spelling variations for a given
surname. Soundex
is a method of indexing names in the 1880,
1900, 1910,
and 1920 US Census, and can aid
genealogists in their research.
The Soundex
Code for Schmid
is S530.
Other surnames sharing this Soundex Code are: SAINT | SAND | SANDY | SANTEE | SANTI | SCHMID | SCHMIDT | SCHMIT | SCHMITT | SHAND | SHUMATE | SINNOTT | SMITH | SMITHEY | SMOOT | SMOOTHY | SMYTH | SMYTHE | SNAITH | SNEAD | SNEATH | SNEED | SNODDY | SOUNDY | SUNDAY | . |
Searching for
more Information about this and other surnames?
Click LINK button to view our
Surname Locator and Resources page.
In the Middle Ages heraldry came
into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to
distinguish the armored warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on
seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the
middle of the 12th
century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of
Western Europe. Heraldry spread to the German burgher class
in the 13th
century, and even some peasants used arms in the 14th century. A German coat of arms is usually referred to
by any of the following terms; Wappen, Familienwappen, Blasonierung, Heraldik,
or Wappenschablonen.
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
The associated armorial bearings for this surname and close
variant spellings are recorded in Burke’s
General Armorie and Reitstap’s
Armorial General. The
additional information, presented below, is offered with regard to the
armorial bearings depicted above:
FIGURE
1: This coat-of-arms were
bestowed upon a Schmid from the German state of Bavaria. They feature a golden lion holding a hammer.
The crest is a demi-lion holding a hammer.
FIGURE 2: These
armorial bearings were granted to a Schmid from the
city of Nuremberg. The shield shows an ostrich holding a
horse-shoe in its beak. The crest (not
shown) exhibits an ostrich. The ostrich
indicates willing obedience and serenity.
FIGURE 3:
These arms were bestowed upon a Schmid of
Nuremberg. The red shield contains a
silver griffon holding a horse-shoe. The horse-shoe means good luck and safeguard against evil spirits. The crest (not shown)
is of a griffon.
FIGURE
4: These arms belong to a
Schmid from Nuremberg. They show a demi-man,
black and gold per pale, holding a hammer.
FIGURE 5: This
unique coat of arms was granted to a Schmid of Saxony.
FIGURE 6: These
arms feature a red shield containing a tower.
The tower signifies safety
and grandeur. They
are attributed to a Schmid from an un-specified
place in Germany.
FIGURE 7: These
armorial bearings belong to a Schmid of Basel, Switzerland. The blue shield contains a golden lion
holding a hammer. The hammer
signifies honour; and is the emblem of the smith's trade. The crest is a demi-lion holding a hammer.
A motto is a word or
sentence usually written upon a scroll and generally placed below the shield,
but sometimes, especially in Scotland, above the
crest. Many ancient mottoes were war-cries such as the Douglas motto of “Forward.” Many mottoes refer to the name
of the bearer, for example “cole regem”
for Coleridge. In general
most mottoes convey a sentiment, hope, or determination, such as the
Cotter motto “Dum spiro spero”
where the meaning is “While I have breath I hope“.
Mottoes are often used by several successive
generations, but may be changed at any time by the grantee. The languages most
in use are Latin, French, and English.
Exceptions are seen in Scotland where they are often in the old Lowland
dialect, and in Wales, often in the language of the principality.
It
is unusual to find a motto associated with the coat-of-arms of a noble German
family. As in this case no motto has
been located that is associated with the Schmid surname and its close
variant spellings. This does not
necessarily mean that the Germanic culture is devoid of mottos. For example, the national motto of Germany
is “Einigkeit und Recht
und Freiheit”, meaning Unity and Justice and Freedom.
The German word for motto is “Wahlspruch.”
Some of the more well known German
mottoes are as follows: Alte Wunden bluten leicht –
Old wounds readily bleed anew; Blut und Eisen – Blood
and iron; Das beste is gut genug
– The best is good enough; Ein’ feste Burg is unser Gott – Our
God is a strong tower of defense; Ewigkeit – Eternity; Für Gott und Iht – All for
God and her; Gott is überall – God is over all; Gott mit uns – God is
with us; Ich dien – I serve; Krieg – War; Mehr Licht! – More light!;
Nichts zoviel – Nothing in excess; Prosit! – Good luck!; Vaterland –
Fatherland; Vertrau’ auf Gott – Put
your trust in God; Vorwärts! – Forward!; Zu dienen – At
your service.
The art of designing, displaying, describing, and recording arms is called
heraldry. The
use of coats of arms by countries, states, provinces, towns and villages is
called civic heraldry. A Coat of Arms is
defined as a group of emblems and figures (heraldic
bearings) usually arranged on and around a shield and serving as the special
insignia of some person, family, or institution. Except for a few cases, there is really no
such thing as a standard "coat of arms" for a surname. A coat of arms, more
properly called an armorial
achievement, armorial bearings
or often just arms for short,
is a design usually granted only to a single
person not to an entire family or to a particular surname. Coats of arms are inheritable property, and
they generally descend to male lineal descendents of the original arms
grantee. The rules and traditions
regarding Coats of Arms vary from country to country. Therefore a Coat of Arms
for an English family would differ from that of a German family even when the
surname is the same.
Some of the more
prominent elements incorporated into a
coat of arms are :
Crest - The word crest
is often mistakenly applied to a coat of arms.
The
crest was a later development arising from the love of pageantry. Initially the crest consisted of charges
painted onto a ridge on top of the helmet.
Wreath or Torse – The torse
is a twist of cloth or wreath underneath and part of a
crest. Always shown as six twists, the first tincture
being the tincture of the field, the second the tincture of the metal, and so on.
Mantling – The mantling is a drapery tied to the
helmet above the shield. It forms a backdrop for the shield.
Helm or Helmet - The helmet or helm is situated above the shield and
bears the torse and crest. The style of helmet
displayed varies according to rank and social status, and these styles
developed over time, in step with the development of actual military helmets.
Shield or Arms - The basis of all coats of arms. At their simplest, arms consist of a shield with a plain field on which appears a geometrical shape or object. The items appearing on the shield are known as charges.
Motto - The motto was originally a war cry,
but later mottoes often expressed some worthy sentiment.
It may appear at the top or bottom of a family coat of arms.
Searching for
more information about heraldry? Click on the button at the right to take a look at our webpage
featuring links to websites
having images
of
a wide variety of arms, crests, and badges.
They may also feature additional heraldry resources as noted in the
accompanying descriptions.
Researching
the locations where our ancestors lived has provided us
with valuable evidence needed to fill-in the gaps in our family trees. It has also led us to many interesting facts
that enhance the overall picture of each family group.
The names of
states and counties on the following list were derived from the known places
where the Direct Ancestors in the “Ancestral Lineage” (see
above) were born, married, and / or died.
COUNTRY
STATE
COUNTY /
SUBDIVISION
GERMANY
BADEN-WURTTEMBERG
Esslingen
Use this LINK to find out more
about the locations listed
above.
Knowing the geographical areas where the surname
you are researching is clustered and distributed is an indispensable tool in deciding
where to focus your research. We
believe that the “Public Profiler” and “verwandt.de” websites will open you up
to a wide range of solutions which implement current research in spatial
analysis. These sites provide an array
of local spatial information tools useful to the genealogist, see links below.
The
information presented below shows where this surname is distributed within the United States as well as in Germany, the
country of origin of this family. Statistics
show that there are approximately 1,227 persons per million of population with this
surname, within Germany, and 59 persons per million within the U.S.A. Switzerland is found to be the country in the world where
this surname is also highly clustered having about 1,947 persons per million of population. The top region of the world where this
surname is the most highly clustered is the Baden-Württemberg, Germany,
and Munich,
Germany is the top
city where this surname is found.
United States of America
Key
European Country of Origin
Click
on the LINK to the right to see
more information about the World
distribution of a surname. You can get
greater
detail for any of the following maps by clicking on the area, i.e state, county that you are interested in.
Use the “verwandt.de“ LINK to find specific information about the
distribution of over one million names in Germany.
A color-coded map showing all of the districts (kries) in Germany will
display the absolute distribution of names in a county, as well as the relative
distribution of that name indicating how many persons there are in proportion
to the population of a county.
Resources which enhance our knowledge of the
places inhabited by our ancestors are almost as important as their names. The LINK to the right will take you to Maps, Gazetteers,
and other helpful
resources
that will assist in discovering
Ancestral Locations. These web sites
comprise only a small portion of what
is available for researchers interested in learning more about where their
ancestors lived.
Tracing our own family’s paths of migration can prove crucial in identifying previous generations and eventually,
figuring out where and how they arrived in the “New World” as well as
where they eventually settled. Knowing the network of trails American
pioneers traveled can help you guess where to start looking. The trail map(s) provided below may assist
you in understanding the routes that our direct ancestors of this family may
have taken to find new homes and opportunities in the vast area now
encompassed by the United States.
During the 17th, 18th
and 19th centuries
hundreds of thousands of Europeans made the perilous
ocean voyage to America. For many it was an escape from economic
hardship and religious persecution. For
most it was an opportunity to start over, own their own land, and make a
better future for their descendents.
Immigration
records show a number of people bearing the name of Schmid, or one of its variants, as arriving
in North America between the
17th and 20th centuries. Most of these immigrants came from Germany, where many of them originated in the
southwestern part of the country. Some
of the first settlers of this family name who came to America were: Anna
Maria Schmidt, who came to New York State in 1710; and Johannes Schmidt came
to Germantown, Pennsylvania between 1683 and 1709. Arnd
Schmidt emigrated with his family and with many other Schmidts
to England or America in 1709. |
Use
the following links to find more early
immigrants with this surname:
$ Search Ancestry.com Immigration
Records; or Free Ship’s Passenger lists at OliveTreeGenealogy.com
The Development of an
Historical Migration Route
It is understood that in many if not all cases we do not know exactly what routes our ancestors took as they migrated throughout the United States. As such certain assumptions have been utilized to re-create the migration path presented above. With regard to 18th and 19th century land routes we assume that they travelled along few trails and roads that were in existence at the time. Research shows that a great many of these old paths and trails are today designated as U.S. Highway Routes. For example, a major east-west route of migration known as the National Road is now U.S. Route 40, and a primary north-south migration route of the 18th century followed the Great Indian War and Trading Path is now U.S. Route 11. In some situations the re-created migration route may travel along state routes that connect or run through the seat of a county as that populated place is probably the oldest settlement in the area. The use of water as a migration route is also likely. For example, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries many families travelled west on the Ohio River as they moved on the new lands in Missouri or the Old Northwest Territory. As such when applicable water routes have been included as the possible migration route.
The documents
contained within this “Source Documents Archives” have been located during our
research of this family, and used as evidence to prove many of the facts contained within the
database of this family’s record. We
have source documents related to the following persons within our database
with this surname.
None |
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This Link will take
you to our
archive of source documents.
You are welcome to download any of the documents
contained within this archive that does not cite a copyright. Should you encounter a problem obtaining a
copy you may get in touch with us via the contact information found at the end
of this web-page.
Most of these documents can be considered as primary or secondary
evidence. 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:
During our research we have
collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a particular
family. Some of them are presented on
this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional
information which may aid in the understanding of our ancestors past lives.
This Link will take
you to our
collection of family photographs.
Use the power of Google™ to find more interesting images about
this topic. This button will link you to the Google Images Search page.
Enter the topic
you are
searching in the box and click
“Search Images”. At the “Images” display page you will see the image,
as well as the website of which it is associated.
This
search engine may
provide
you with additional
information
to assist with
your research about this
topic.
·
Our Surname
Locator And Resources
web page contains the following: (1) links that will take you to an updated listing of
all surnames as posted in our three databases at the Rootsweb
WorldConnect Project; (2) the Surname List
Finder a tool that finds sound-alike matches for a given surname
from among RootsWeb's thousands of surname lists;
(3) the Soundex Converter that can be
used to find the soundex
code for a surname, plus other surnames/spellings sharing the same soundex code; (4) Surname
Message Boards the world's largest
online genealogy community with over 17 Million posts on more than 161,000
boards; (5) Surname Mailing Lists
of all surnames having mailing lists at RootsWeb, as
well as topics that include (6) Surname Heraldy,
and (7) Mapping a Surname.
·
Your genealogy research of this surname can be facilitated by
use of Surname
Web. This
website links to the majority of the surname data on the web, as well as to
individual family trees, origin and surname meaning if known, and many other related
genealogy resources.
·
Surname
Finder provides
easy access to free and commercial resources for 1,731,359 surnames. On each
surname specific "finder" page, you can search a variety of online databases
all pre-programmed with your surname.
·
Use All
Surnames Genealogy
to get access to find your surname resources . There are almost 1300 links in this
directory.
·
SurnameDB Free database of surname meanings - This site SurnameDB.Com contains a large FREE to access
database (almost 50,000 surnames) on the history and meaning of family last
names.
·
Public Profiler / World Names - Search
for a Surname to view its Map and Statistics.
·
Linkpendium Surnames - Web sites,
obituaries, biographies, and other material specific to a surname.
·
Cyndi's List - Surnames,
Family Associations & Family Newsletters Index - Sites or resources
dedicated to specific, individual family surnames.
All of the
records and databases we’ve collected are FREE and can be accessed and searched online without having to pay for a
subscription. We have divided our
collected into 14 record types as follows: Biographical; Birth; Cemetery; Census & City Directories;
Church; Court; Death; Immigration & Naturalization; Land; Marriage;
Military; Newspapers; Occupational; and Tax Records. We try not to list any sites that have only
a few records for the purpose of getting you to a website that will charge a
fee to actually see the record beyond just a name.
This Link will take
you to our
collections of FREE Records.
The
following Link
will take you to our library of genealogy reference books. Here you will find bibliographies, family
histories
and books about names. In
addition, there are texts that pertain to ethnic
and religion groups, history, geography as well as other
books that will assist you with your research.
This Link will take you to our
collections of reference books.
CONTACT INFORMATION
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This webpage was last
updated on --
01
April 2012