Johann Schill - Fredericka Kumph Family Group

What We Know About This Family

An Overview of Their Lives

From the dates of the records available, we know Johann and Fredericka Schill arrived in Philadelphia with their oldest child, Fredericka (known by her middle name "Rosina"), who is our direct ancestor and settled in Philadelphia at some time between Rosina's birth in Germany in 1831 and the birth of their second child, Caroline, known by her middle name Mathilda, in Philadelphia in 1834. Two sons, Gustav Adolph and Heinrich ("Henry") followed in 1836 and 1838. I have not been able to discover what Johann did for a living. Sadly, he died in 1845 leaving a widow and four children.

On the 1850 census, Fredericka Sr. was living with her children Mathilda and Henry. Her eldest, Rosina, had married Peter Schemm a month earlier. The census form gives no indication of what their dwelling was, but Fredericka, aged 40, was listed at the top of the household with her children and nine other German immigrants listing various trades. The mystery is what happened to son Gustav, who would have been only 14 in 1850. I could find no further records for him. He was baptized at the age of 8 (Matilda and Henry were both baptized as infants). The 1847 baptism date points to his death before the 1850 census. The bodies of father Johann and brother Heinrich, who died when he was 15, but not Gustav, were moved to the Schemm burial plot at Laurel Hill Cemetery to join Fredericka's body in 1891.

On the 1860 Census, Fredericka was living with her daughter and son-in-law, Peter Schemm, where she remained for the remainder of her life. She died in 1891 having outlived her husband and probably three of her children.

Proof of Relationship

The 1880 Census provided the first proof. Fredericka was residing in the Peter Schemm household and was identified as "wife's mother." This first proof led to research of Philadelphia records, where various documents gave us her husband's name and her maiden name (although no one could agree on the spelling of that name). The documents in the documents section will show several proofs of relationship.

About the Children

• First-born Fredericka Rosina is our direct descendant and is covered on her own family group page.


• Daughter Caroline Mathilda married Ernest Gross, an immigrant from Württemberg, Germany who made his living as a butcher. They apparently had no children. There can be no doubt that Ernst was intertwined with his wife's family. She died in Philadelphia at the age of 50 in 1888. In 1897 according to a Philadelphia newspaper article, he was elected to the office of President of the Geigel Club in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey. His wife Matilda's great-niece, Emma Schemm Kuehnle lived there with her husband Henry and their six children, and her sister, Emilie Schemm Baake and her family lived close by in Atlantic City. The 1990 Census indicates that Ernst Gross was a member of the Kuehnle household. Ernst Gross died there in 1907, having lived there as an active member of the community for several years. My grandmother would have been a teenager when he died, and I have no doubt that her Uncle Ernst participated in the family activities during her childhood. The Kuehnles often had Philadelphia family members visiting. The bond for the administration of Ernst's estate was assumed by Peter A. Schemm (the nephew of his wife) as executor of his will and Henry Kuehnle of Egg Harbor City and Charles Baake of Atlantic City, the latter two being residents of New Jersey as well as the husbands of two of his wife's great nieces.


• Gustav Adolph has a baptismal record and nothing else.


• Adolph Heinrich "Henry" died when he was 14.

What Else We Need to Learn

The goal of this project is to trace every line of ancestry to the arrival of its first immigrant to America. The basic information of each couple is considered complete when we know the dates of birth, marriage, and death for both spouses. their parents names (or whether they were the immigrant), and the child or children in our ancestry line.

The research on this family is basically complete. A record of the Schill's marriage in Germany may one day become available. I also assume that son Gustav either didn't exist (and records of his baptism are wrong), or that he died and the death record will one day come to light.