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Note: In David L. Sheeks's biographical sketch in the "History of Lawrence, Orange, and Washington Counties" on pp. 300-301, published in 1884 by Goodspeed Brothers
and Co. of Chicago, while David was still living, and to which he probably
contributed, it was said that his parents were of German ancestry.
Wayne Gard who wrote the definitive book "Sam Bass" published in 1936 had
his brother visit the Sheeks in Lawrence County, Indiana to gather information
about Sam's life as a youth there, in preparation for his book. Wayn
e stated
in the book, p. 5, that Sam's mother, Elizabeth, David's younger sist
er, came
from Dutch and German ancestry.
Paul P. Sheeks in his Sheeks's family newsletter of Jan 30, 1951 incl
uded on
the first page a contribution by Mabel (Sheeks) Gilbert who wrote: "
My father
(George Canotte Sheeks, son of David L. and Susan (Horsey) Sheeks) sa
id that
anyone by the name of Sheeks was a member of this one family as ther
e was only
this one family in the United States." In another contribution to th
e same
newsletter, Mabel wrote: "Tradition - The Sheeks brothers came to th
is country
from Holland and settled in Pennsylvania. They were Pennsylvania Dut
ch.
Given names unknown. Fought in Revolutionary War under George Washin
gton
at the battle of Brandy Wine."
For the same newsletter, Mertie (Sheeks) DeYoung wrote: "First Sheek
s family
lived at Little York, Pennsylvania. Moved to Georgetown, Ohio, the
n to Indiana
as they moved west. Their German name was "Schiek."
For the same newsletter on June 27, 1949, Albert J. Fields contributed
information he received from Ralph Waldo Sheek, whom he thought was t
hen
Superintendent of Schools at Franklin, Indiana. This information wa
s about
Adam Sheek [Sr.], his wife and children, particulary the George Shee
k who
married Peggy Call, with the comment from Ralph Waldo Sheek that "Ada
m Sheek is
reported coming from Ireland during Revolutionary War with two other
brothers -- all fought with the Colonies. Other brothers thought t
o have
been lost."
Albert responded: "You will observe that they spell the name "Sheek"
, and that
was probably the way it was first spelled by those who came to this
country. You will observe in this short record that Adam Sheek was
reported coming from Ireland. The Sheeks family is Holland-Dutch, and
came directly as I have it from Holland to the United States. Our ea
rly
ancestors settled in North Carolina."
Apparently Albert had not seen the biographical or autobiographical s
ketch
about his grandfather, David L. Sheeks, cited above, which said tha
t David's
parents "both descended from German ancestry."
Albert and the others had probably heard that their ancestors came fr
om
Holland, but actually they went to Holland from Germany, and sailed f
rom
Holland, according to Ann Ellis Sheek.
The following timeline as to Schicks immigrating into Philadelphia i
s from
Ann Ellis Sheek's 1973 book "The History of the Sheek Family 1753 t
o 1973,"
pp. 11-12 based upon Richard Strassburger's "Pennsylvania German Pio
neers,"
published in 1934. Only 16 and over male mmigrants were listed by the
shipmasters.
Sep 27 1746 Johannes Schick and Johannes Schick Jun.[Jr.]
Sep 14 1749 Johann Jullus Schick
Sep 14 1751 Johann Adam Schick
Sep 10 1753 Christian Schick, Erhard Schick, and Ludwick Schick arr
ive
in Philadephia on the Ship Beulah which sailed from Rot terdam,
Holland. They along with 85 other men were listed by C aptain
Richey as "qualified to land on the above date. All th ese men
were German Lutherans except for eight Catholics...." Nov 5 1764 Peter Schick Oct 5 1802 John Fred Schick Sheek goes on to say: "Early records of the Pennsylvania Schick fami
ly show
that they settled in Berks and Northampton Counties. They were on th
e tax
lists and militia muster rolls." p. 12.
1767 and 1768 "Christian Schick is listed in the tax lists of PA Berk
s County,
Richmond Township. He owned 100 acres of land, two hor ses, two
cows, and four sheep. Berks County is northwest of Philadephia..the county seat is Reading. Note: He does not appear on the next available tax lis t of 1779.
[The Revolutionary War has been taking place.] p. 12 In the 1760's Christian "evidently came to Rowan County [North Caroli
na] with
the Heidelberg Settlement.. [His] name was on some of t he original
minutes from the old Heidelberg Evangelical Lutheran Ch urch. p.12
"This was a log church and was called the 'Old Dutch Mee ting
House.' The word Dutch ia an erroneous usage of the wo rd Deutsch
meaning German. p. 15 "The Heidelberg Settlement was founded on Dutchman's Cre ek in
southeastern Davie County in the 1760's. This settleme nt was
made up of German Protestants, who had fled war-torn Ge rmany and
first settled in Pennsylvania before coming to North Ca rolina.
They were God-fearing, hard-working farmers." pp. 12-1 3.
1778 "First mention of Christian Schick in Rowan County is th e tax
list in 1778 of Rowan County residents. Listed in Capt ain
Berger's District is Christian Shiek. p. 14, [one of th e many
variations of spelling the surname she came across. [Sh e found
none of the other Schicks listed above who arrived in P ennsylvania
recorded in Rowan County, North Carolina.] Nov 9 1784 "Early deeds in Rowan County first showed Christian Shea ks buying
a grant of land of 150 acres on Sugar Creed for 50 shil lings per
one hundred acres. [Date recorded] This land was betwe en Smith
Grove and Farmington. In studying old deeds I found th at some
deeds were not recorded for several years after the pur chase of
of land. This was probably the case of Christian's lan d grant.
Aug 6 1787 "Christian Sheek bought 349 acres of land from Fredrick a nd
Dolly Keepher for 140 pounds current money. This land w as located
on Buffello (Buffalo) Creek. This is just northwest o f the
Heidelberg Settlement cemetery in the present Smith Grove section. 1790 "In the first census of the United States, taken in 1790 , Christian
Shecks was listed in the Rowan County area. He listed t wo free
white males 16 years and up in age, one white male unde r 16 years
two free white females, and no slaves. There were no ot her Schicks
listed. 1790 "A deed in 1790 names Christian Schick [Jr. or Sr.?] of B erks
County, Pennsylvania (a German, no wife signs.) He le t Peter
Hudson, Sr. of Rowan County have 100 acres on Reddy Ru n for 50
pounds of North Carolina money. This was witnessed by D avid
Schick in 1797. pp. 14-15. Jan 9 1792 Christian and his wife Rosina sponsored the baptism of Be
njamin
Schick, born Nov 1, 1791, son of David and Elizabeth Schi ck.
Nov 3 1792 "A deed dated November 3, 1792 reads that Christian Schick
, Jr.
lets Christian Schick Sr. (both of Berks County, Pennsylv ania)
have 100 acres on Reedy Run for 40 pounds." p. 15. Nov 18 1792 Johannes Schick, born Sep 6, 1792, son of Adam and Susann
a Schick
is baptized. His parents sponsor. May 4 1794 Rosina Schick only sponsored the baptism of George Schick
, born
Mar 14, 1794, son of David and Elizabeth Schick. Ann Ell is Sheek
believes that Christian Sr. has died, because he did no t join
Rosina sponsoring this baptism, and is probably buried a t the
Heidelberg Church Cemetery, as well as Rosina when she di ed.
Jul 26 1795 Jacob Schick, born June 4, 1795, son of Adam and Susann
a Schick,
is baptized. Adam and Susanna sponsor. In 1984 came the excellent book by Clarence Ray Shirey, presently o
f Mayport,
Pa, a descendant of the Christian Schick who married Mrs. Mary Shaffe
r,
entitled "Our Shaffer, Schick, Fuchs (Fox), Reimel, Farringer Forefat
hers and
Foremothers" and containing a chapter entitled "The Schicks of Buck
s County and
Northampton County, Pennsylvania. Also Armstrong County," pp. 429-46
5. It is
based upon his extensive research and is well documented. It confirm
s that the
Schicks came from Germany, and includes a great deal more information
about them and other earlier Schick arrivals than does Ann Ellis Shee
k.
Shirey offers a theory that Christian Schick Sr., the father of our f
amily line, may have been the son of Valentine Schick, the immigrant
. Valentine sailed with other Palatines to Philadelphia from Rotterd
am on the Ship Friendship and qualified to disembark on 12 Oct 1741
. On the ship papers his name was spelled Valtin and Veltin Schick a
nd Valentine Sheik. Valentine's will made 29 April 1763 named a Christi
an as his eldest son. This will was probated 20 August 1763 in Easton
, Northampton County PA.
I believe Shirey's book is only available on microfilm at LDS.
The family data here comes from Fredrick T. Saunders's research, publ
ished in
the Rowan County Register, V. 3, #3, Aug, 1888, based upon "Letters 1
820-1839 in
the Jacob Sheek and Jonathan Smith Papers," Manuscript Department, P
erkins
Library, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, pp. 647ff. (Saunde
rs was a
resident of Boulder, Colorado when he wrote this article.) He "gradua
ted in 1976
from the University of Colorado,...has been researching his family fo
r 16
years, and has given workshops on North Carolina and Maryland researc
h..."
Saunders said that the births of Christian and Rosina's first six chi
ldren were
recorded at Zion's Moselem Church, Richmond Twp, Berks Co., Pa and li
sted
them. (See Shirey's earlier book for further details.) Saunders goe
s on to
establish that there were two more children born to this family afte
r they
moved to North Carolina: George, 1 June 1774, and Catherine, born pe
rhaps two
years later, and reveals the history and lives of various members o
f the family
through their correspondence.
On 6 Feb 1800 George Sheeks, son of Christian Sr. and Rosina, marrie
d Elizabeth
Canote in Madison County, Ky. On the tax lists that year, George own
ed 1000
acres. In their son David L. Sheeks's aforementioned biographical sk
etch, it
is written that George and Elizabeth married where their parents ha
d settled.
Did Christian Sr. and Rosina go with their sons David and George to K
entucky?
From Saunder's article, we learn that Rosina was still alive, thoug
h not well,
living in Kentucky with her son David and his wife, as late as June 1
, 1824.
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