And time passed. . . . . . .

I thought I would have had word now regarding the translation of the German book pages but nothing so far to write about.  Patience is key in genealogy.

My hope was that some Smitley genealogists would respond to my posts so we could begin to piece the puzzle of the family together in the early days.  Is anyone interested in such a project?

Jakob Schmidli - CONFIRMED!

Greetings to my fellow Smitley relatives and researchers!

I have news. The story as written below is true. I have heard from a Professor at the University of Luzern in Switzerland who is an expert on the life and story of Jakob Schmidli/Schmidlin. (born 1699, died 1747). The sketch of Jakob is very old and to the best of my knowledge is a likeness of him from the day in which he lived.
Anton Schwingruber confirmed that my ancestor Matthias was indeed one of Jacob’s seven children from his first marriage. His birth date is listed as 1732.
When the family was banished after Jakob’s death they scattered. Some went to Germany, others to areas of Switzerland and some to the U.S. The person many of us know as “Lunzy Shmitly who arrived on the ship the “Sandwich” in 1750 is I believe the brother of Jakob, Loenz Schmidli. On board that ship are other names that are the same as other citizens of Luzern that were banished as well. All settled immediately in Philadelphia and can be found on the Philadelphia census in 1750. Leonz is listed as “Lorentz Schmiedle”. He may also be Lorentz Schmidt that can be found there in 1751 and 1767 but on this I’m not very sure.
I do not know when Matthias came to the US. For many years I thought he was a soldier solely in the Virginia Militia but I recently came across information that says he also served in the Maryland army as a Sergeant in 1775-1776. I cannot locate pension records, land grants, or his name listed in any rosters. That is still a work in progress.
There is much work left to be done as all of the documents have arrived in German. I plan to have them transcribed so that I can relay the facts more clearly. But for now it’s important to note that the details I provided below are all true.
I am hoping that we can put together family groups now that we have a place to work from. Please leave comments on this blog beneath any of the entries. If you leave an email address I can write back to you and perhaps we can begin to gather some family groups.

You can click on the family group sheet and it will enlarge in another window.

Diane Smitley Williams

No New Updates

I have heard from a handful of people since revealing the fruits of my research.  No one has refuted my research nor has anyone found a line of thinking that would send it crashing down.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that I haven't found any new links to help connect the dots completely.  Still looking. . . . . . . .

Smitley History Unlocked??

Hello fellow Smitley Genealogists!  I have had the opportunity over the years to exchange letters and emails with so many of you.  I humbly submit the following for you to read, analyze, and comment on.  If I'm right, then a huge mystery is solved.  If I'm wrong, please show me the error of my thinking. 

I will say this. . . . . . that when I first uncovered what I believed was the key to the Smitley puzzle. . . . . my heart either stopped briefly or skipped a beat.  I've waited nearly a year before publishing this paper because I wanted to continue to explore more avenues but no new information came to light.

The Smitley Family from Switzerland to the United States

By Diane Smitley Williams, Copyright 2008

In the Beginning

My grandfather, Wayne Smitley always told me that the Smitley family was Swiss but had nothing much else to offer in the way of history. It wasn’t until 1993 that I first came upon a snippet of information that would help me in my fifteen year quest to locate my ancestors. The tid-bit was provided in a newsletter called the “Younkin Family News Bulletin”. I had written to the editor of the newsletter because the wife of my direct ancestor, Jacob Smitley, was married to Catherine Younkin.

The newsletter contained an interesting article title “Who is Catherine Younkin born 1787-88?” The editor, knowing this pertained to me, forwarded a copy to examine. The paragraph beneath the inquiry stated the following:

“Now it turns out that Roseanna Smitley had a brother, Jacob, who married Catherine Yunkin. The Smitleys named here were children of Matthias Schmitli, a refugee from Switzerland”.

I immediately contacted the person who had sent the inquiry. Her name was Virginia Poling, a descendant of Roseanna Smitley (who married Jacob Crumbaker), sister of Jacob. We began months of letter writing and sharing of the family history and data that had been compiled between the two of us. The greatest gift of all that she shared with me was a manuscript that contained details of the Smitley Family History as told by Enos Smitley, son of Jacob before the year 1900. The manuscript was compiled by Della McHenry McBride in 1951 and revised in 1984 by her daughter. It read as follows:

“Our ancestors on father’s side came from Switzerland at some remote period. The family tradition is that one of the members of the family in Switzerland was a teamster, hauling goods and produce from city to city, often taking long journeys. During one of those journeys he got possession of a bible, which was then a prohibited book in the Catholic Church. He and his brothers and others held meetings in a cellar secretly to study the bible. After a time they were discovered. Two of them fled to America, leaving behind valuable property (the papers proving this were still held in Virginia a few years ago). One of these was our ancestor. Some of the others, refusing to renounce their new belief, suffered the usual penalty of the times, being burned at the stake as a heretic. I do not know how many generations in this country preceded by grandfather Matthias Smitley, who had a brother Jacob, for whom my father was named.”

The narrative was the last of the family traditions to be preserved in writing and the only one known by me to exist to this day by a “Smitley” ancestor.

Another narrative preserved by a member of the Crumbaker family (date unknown) has been preserved as well and reveals the following:

“Very little is known to us concerning the ancestry of the Smitley and Crumbaker families. Both came to this country from one of the German Cantons of Switzerland. In the possession of a member of the family is a medal given to an ancestor by the Swiss government. The members of the Smitley family in Switzerland, of which we have some tradition, seem to have been wagoners, and were people of considerable wealth. They lost everything, however, during one of the religious persecutions and fled from the country after several of their members had suffered death at the stake. The tradition is that these martyrs brought to their native canton the first German translation of the bible to be seen there.”

Lastly, amid the vast web of descendants of the earliest immigrants, there is preserved a fragile silk shawl, square with long fringe. The shawl was brought with the family from Switzerland as they fled for their lives.

Matthias Smitley

The facts surrounding Matthias Smitley are few. He was born in 1740 (probably Switzerland) and died in 1825 in Loudoun County, Virginia. Matthias served in the Revolutionary War as a First Lieutenant. Tradition states he saw General George Washington fording a creek on a trip to haul flour from Loudoun to Alexandria. Neither of his parent’s names have been uncovered but we do know he had a brother named Jacob (per Enos).

Matthias wrote letters to his daughter Roseanna in German. A letter dated 1824 which was translated to English, is known to contain language that spoke of a very good education.

He was married to a woman named Elizabeth whom we know nothing about except she was the mother of children Adam, George, John, Eve, Margaret, Roseanna and Jacob.

They lived in Loudoun County, Virginia and are found on the personal property tax list in 1787 and 1789. In the last census of his life, 1820, it appears two children still live at home and his wife remains as well.

The Search Begins

It has been apparent from the first that the surname “Smitley” is not in it’s original spelling. In the two letters that Matthias wrote to his daughter he uses first the spelling Schmitli and second, Schmittli. We use neither today.

Considering the fact that Matthias wrote in German and tradition says his family members were refugees of Switzerland, I attempted to locate a surname that would be similar in sound if not in spelling. Using records that are available to the public for the different cantons in Switzerland, it soon became apparent that the most likely original spelling was Schmidli. Those with this surname during the 18th century were from the cantons of Zurich, Luzern and Bern. However no record of Matthias could be found. The matter was put to rest.

Recently Discovered Information (October, 2008)

A genealogist, amateur or otherwise, will not let records lay dormant forever. After working extensively on Swiss records for my son-in-law’s family, I became somewhat braver delving into German records. With the advent of online translators it has made the reading of documents much easier. This is precisely what has led to what I believe to be a major discovery for our family.

Naming patterns in families long past can sometimes provide clues to family groups. What is know of Matthias is that he has a brother named Jacob and names a son Jacob. This is a significant fact. We also know Matthias was probably born in Switzerland due to his “Swiss refugee” status within the family legend and that his letters were written in German.

On a chance that perhaps the father of Matthias could have been named Jacob, a search was done to locate records of birth or marriage that could pre-date the birth of Matthias. One was found. A man by the name of Jakob Schmidli (also spelled Schmidlin) not only fit the time and place but also the description of our immigrant ancestor as well.

Jakob Schmidli, His Story

Jacob Schmidli was born in 1699 as the son of poor Catholic countryman. He had never attended school but taught himself to read but write only very little. He earned his first living as a cooper and later as a farmhand/wagoner for the monastery. In 1732 he bought a small Sulzig farm but stayed on with the monastery and worked as needed.

His journeys took him to Basel, Bern and Zurich where he became familiar with the Protestant Doctrine. He purchased many writings and devoured them with enthusiasm. Not long afterward he visited a Pietist group in Emmental, Canton of Bern and began meeting with a group of like-minded followers. They prayed together and read the bible, both of which were serious legal violations of the church. Simply having Lutheran writings was strictly prohibited.

In 1739, a Franciscan of the cloister of Werthenstein preached before the gathered church people against a local heretic. This prompted the arrest of Jacob Schmidli. The arrest was only temporary as Jacob was soon let go. He found his way back to his studies and meetings and perhaps became too careless. Jacob continued to travel to the neighboring villages. As his followers grew the meetings began to rival regular church services. An extensive network of followers formed in the countryside around Lucerne.

At some point in his life, Jacob befriended both Sebastian, of Ruswil and Jacob Weber of Basel. They were brothers who shared the same ideals as Jacob Schmidli. Writings state that they home produced a quantity of booklets in Jacob’s barn. The title read something like “For People who are under the sole Good Shepherd Jesus Christ”. A language barrier prohibits me from giving a complete translation at this time.

According to the history books, all was well in the countryside until a former like-minded friend, Wundarzt Fridolin Disler betrayed Jacob in the year 1746.

After his arrest, the first interrogation confirmed their suspicions. Then in February a Jesuit, a Franciscan, a Capuchin and Priest Gallus Anton Frenes arrived at the same conclusion as the original accusers, that this was a serious case of heresy. He was interrogated a total of five times and was severely tortured until he confessed. He was found neither Lutheran nor Calvin in ideology.

His offenses were as follows:

Possession of religious writings
Disseminating harmful teachings
Holding illegal meeting
Corresponding with other believers who attend reformed religious services
Endangering the soul salvation of Catholics
Seduction of people to riot and rebel

A total of ninety individuals were brought before the council to meet their punishment along with Jacob Schmidli between April and July of 1747 Seventy-three were eternally banished from the Confederation and were promised “the sword” if they should ever return. Among those punished were David Grutter and Franz Schmidli who were sent to the galley for twelve years.

It was decided that Jacob Schmidli, the main ringleader of them all would be made an example of by the church. They would cleanse the land of such very dangerous people who they felt not only attacked the church but challenged the order of the state as well. His wife Elizabeth and seven children (one whose name we know is Balthasar) were banished forever. The children ranged in age from one to 22 years. Jacob was denied banishment as the church had declared a blood verdict: of death by strangulation and the corpse to be burned. Such a verdict had not been handed down in Lucerne since 1608. There were seventy-one others banished at the same time.

A broken man, Jacob personally wrote a revocation of his beliefs.

The public execution took place on 27 May 1747. A festival mood prevailed as a huge number of spectators gathered. During the lunch hour the verdict was announced. Jacob was too weakened by the torture to read his own revocation. In his place, the Priest Frenes assists him with the reading.

Jacob steadfastly kissed the crucifix presented to him and repented of his sins, praying one last time. His last words were the following: “Let me my faith. I leave you to yours”. The executioner then bound him to the pole and strangled him. His body was then set upon the pyre along with his banned books and his body burned while onlookers watched from the nearby trees. The ashes were scattered nearby along a creek, “where no traces of the heretic would be remembered”.

The house and farm of Jacob Schmidli were burned to the ground by the executioner. A marker bearing an inscription was placed in the ground there which said, “Because of forbidden meetings and heretical teachings”.

The youngest son, Balthasar Schmidli returned to Switzerland in 1799. At that time his civil rights were restored and the marker on the old family property was destroyed. The Swiss government lifted all previous criminal convictions and allowed the exiles from 1747 to return to the homeland. For most it was too late.

I do not have the exact location of this farm, only that it sits south a bit from Werthenstein in the Canton of Lucerne. It is said in published writings that the execution took place in Emmenbrucke which was just north of Lucerne.

My Conclusion

Without absolute proof, no one can say for certain if Jacob Schmidli and our Smitley’s are in any way related. However there is an enormous amount of circumstantial evidence that supports the idea.

Matthias Smitley would have been a child about the age of seven meaning he fits the age span of Jacob Schmidli’s children.

• He names a son Jacob and has a brother Jacob (naming pattern).

• He wrote in German.

• The family history says the ancestor was teamster. Jacob Schmidli was a wagoner or carter. It’s one in the same.

• Family history says our ancestors fled for their lives. Jacob’s family was banished under threat of death if they returned.

• Only possession known to survive from our family is a shawl. Jacob’s family were forced to leave with nothing.

• Family tradition says the ancestor was burned at the stake for heretical teachings as was Jacob.

• No other known executions of heretics named Schmidli (or like-sounding) occurred in Switzerland.

• The name “Mathias Schmidli”, a person of Ruswil has been found in Lucerne in 1770. While not “our” Mathias, it does suggest family naming pattern and reinforce geographical evidence as to area of residence.

Until new evidence surfaces, we are left with the question as to whether or not Jacob Schmidli is our direct ancestor, indirect ancestor, or neither.


Diane C. Williams
October 25, 2008