It was thought the earliest immigrants of the surname Small / Schmahl were from Germany. However, a compilation by researcher Bruce Wiland (in 2001) may indicate an earlier arrival of two alleged brothers, Nicholas and John Adam. Whether these two remained in Pennsylvania is unknown, there have been no descendants traced, therefore, it is likely they moved elsewhere. Its possible they moved south down the Shanendoah Valley and settled in the Augusta / Albemarle Co. VA area, but no proof has been found. They could also have moved west into Ohio as other Schmahl descendants did, but once again, no proof has been found. It is also possible that these two were the original Schmahl immigrants, and not as the Lorentz Schmahl Genealogy suggests, arrived later. This will be left to other researchers to determine; but the records below offer a bit of insight into the puzzle.
Depending on which source you wish to use, the surname can be Small, Schmahl, Schmaltz, or Shmaal.
Source # 1: "A Collection of upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and other Immigrants
in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776 by Prof. I. Daniel Rupp, second revised and enlarged edition with German translation.
Page 136-137
[List 73]Palatines imported in the ship Loyal Judith, Edward painter, Commander, from Rotterdam, last from Deal.
- 315 passengers. Arrived Philadelphia Sept 3,1739
Nicklas Small
John Adam Small
[List C At the Court House of Philadelphia, September 3rd 1739 Edward Paynter, Commander, from Rotterdam, but last
from Deal in England, did this day take and subscribe the Oaths to the Government, viz
Nicklas (X) Small
John Adam (X) Small
Note: The names appeared on the ship list as Small, and sworn allegiance listed as Small. There is no basis for
a connection between these two individuals named Small and the Schmahl family who came two years later. Whether
the two individuals above are related is unknown. They were not listed together on the ship list.
Source # 2: "A Collection of upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and other Immigrants
in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776 by Prof. I. Daniel Rupp, second revised and enlarged edition with German translation.
Page 146-147
[List 83] Sept 26, 1741. Palatines imported in the ship St. Mark, - Wilson, Master, from Rotterdam, last from Cowes.
Johan Adam Schmahl
Johan Georg Schmaltz
Note: whether these two idividuals are related is unknown. They were not listed together on the ship list.
Source # 3: "A Collection of upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and other Immigrants
in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776 by Prof. I. Daniel Rupp, second revised and enlarged edition with German translation.
Page 159-160
[List 96] Sept 2, 1743. Foreigners imported in the ship Loyal Judith, James Cowie, Master, from Rotterdam, last
from Cowes.
Lorentz Schmahl*
Adam Shmaal
* Lorentz Schmahl, a native of the Middle Palatinate, settled as a farmer six miles from York PA, where he pursued
assiduously and successfully his calling to the close of his life, leaving four sons: Jacob, who, when young, moved
to Baltimore, whose son, Col. Jacob Small, was Mayor of the city; John Schmahl moved to and settled in Beaver
County; Kilian and Lawrence remained in York. From the former, the greeater part of the numerous Smalls in York
County descend. - Rupp's History of York County, p. 743
Source #4
Genealogy & Personal History of the Alleghany Valley by John W. Jordan:
Lorentz Schmahl of York, PA, who was born June 10 1708, in Essenheim
Germany(where his ancestors had lived for many generations), and
emigrated to America with his family in 1743. He died in 1749. Wife
Eva Ubert, dau. of Heinrich Ueber.
Emmigrants from the Palatinate to the Amer. Colonies, Penna German Society
by Friedrich Krebs
He left Germany 2 Jun 1743. He arrived on the ship Loyal Judith, 2 Sep
1743.(Ships list from Rupp's Thirty Thousand Immigrants, Sep. 2, 1743.
Foreigners imported in the ship Loyal Judith, James Cowie, Master,
from Rotterdam, last from Cowes).
Schmahl. Lorentz. Son of Lorentz Schmahl. Married at Essenheim,
Germany, 27 Jan 1728 (may be Mar), Eva dau. of Henrich Ueber. Lorentz
Schmahl came to Amer. with his wife and 5 children (1)Johann Adam,
Bapt. 13.II.1729, (2) Eva., Bapt. 16.Xii.1731 (3) Killian, Bapt.
7.X.1735, (4) Lorentz, Born 16.I.1739 (5)Magdalena, born 24.XI.1741.
Hi Jim,
I spent this morning in the Genealogy Library at the Texas State Archives. I
was suprised at how many books they have on Pennsylvania. Anyway, I am going
to quote information from several sources. You will see that some of the
information floating around from various secondary sources has been
misquoted, misread, or miscopied from the original source. You will also see
that there appears to be five different Adam Smalls that emigrated to
America. Sorting them out is the difficult part. I can't figure out where
the Smalls from Berkeley Co Virginia fit in unless their Adam is a son of
the Adam that immigrated in 1741. I have not seen any descendants for the
Adam/Nicholas Schmalls (#1 below) that arrived in 1739 and seem to have
settled in Montgomery Co PA. I also have not seen any descendants for the
Adam/Adam/Wentz Schmahls (#4 and #5 below) that seemed to have settled in
York County. The five Adam Smalls I have identified are as follows:
1. Johan Adam Schmall that immigrated in 1739 with Nicholas Schmall
(brother? or father?)
2. Johan Adam Schmahl that immigrated in 1741 alone
3. Adam Schmal (age 14) that immigrated in 1743 with father Lorentz, mother
Eva, and 4 siblings
4. Adam Schmahl (age 50) that immigrated in 1743 with wife Anna Maria and
sons Johan Adam (b.1718) and Wentz (b.1727)
5. Johan Adam Schmahl (b.1718) that immigrated in 1743 with father Adam,
mother Anna Maria, and brother Wentz
The information from the primary sources follows:
1. From "Pennsylvania German Pioneers" by Ralph Strassburger and William
Hinke,
Volume I of 2 volumes, 1934, reprinted 1966.
This book contains three kinds of ship lists: 1) the captains' list, marked
A, 2) the signers of the oath of allegiance, marked B, and 3) the signers of
the oath of abjuration, marked C. The captains' list was prepared by the
captain, and he spelled the names as he thought they were spelled. The
signers' list were spelled by the signer except where the signer could not
write. In these cases, a clerk spelled the names, and the signer made his
mark which is shown in parenthesis in the lists. The authors of this book
are critical of the sloppy work of Daniel Rupp who had prepared the "...
Thirty Thousand Names ..." book years earlier. They mention many mistakes
and omissions made by Rupp. I will show the info from Rupp's book later, but
I would say that the information in the Strassburger/Hinke book should take
precedent over that of Rupp. I will give the names as they are spelled in
the book for each list. Please keep in mind that each person will appear
three times, once in each list (A, B, C as defined above).
p. 265-300, A list of ye Pallatines names in ye Loyall Judith, Edwd Paynter,
Master. Qualified Sept. 3, 1739.
List A - Nicholas Schmall
List B - Nicholas (X) Small
List C - Nicklas (X) Shmell
List A - Johan Adam Schmall
List B - John Adam (X) Small
List C - John Adam ( ) Shmell
Note: Johan Adam immediately followed Nicholas on the list.
p. 296-300, Palatines imported in the ship St. Mark, Capt.Wilson, from
Rotterdam. Qualified Sept. 26, 1741.
List A - Adam Shmall
List B - Johan Adam Schmahl
List C - Johan Adam Schmahl
p. 334-339, Foreigners imported in the ship Loyal Judith, James Cowey,
Master from Rotterdam. Qualified Sept. 2, 1743.
List A - Lorentz Schmal, age 32
List B - Lorentz Schmahl
List C - Lorentz Schmahl
List A - Adam Schmal, age 14
List B - Adam (X) Schmahl
List C - Adam (X) Schmaal
List A - Adam Schmal, age 50
List B - Adam (X) Schmahl
List C - Adam (S) Schmahl
List A - Wentz Schmal, age 15
List B - Wentz Schmahl
List C - Wentz Schmahl
Note: Adam (age 14) immediately followed Lorentz on the list. Further down
the list, Wentz immediately followed Adam (age 50) on the list.
2. From "A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss,
Dutch, French, and Other Immigrants in Pennsylvania" by Prof. I. Daniel
Rupp.
This is the book that contains many errors. You can see how it compares to
the lists above. Rupp's book contains only one list for each ship, a
combination of lists A, B, and C above. He also rearranged the names on the
list so that you could not tell which name had followed which in the
original.
p.136-137, Sept 3, 1739, ship Loyal Judith
Nicklas Small
John Adam Small
p.146-147, Sept 26, 1741, ship St. Mark
Johan Adam Schmahl
p.158-161, Sept 2, 1743, ship Loyal Judith
Lorentz Schmahl
Adam Shmaal
Adam Schmahl
Wentz Schmahl
Note: Lorentz Schmahl is shown with a footnote as follows: "Lorentz Schmahl,
a native of the Middle Palatinate, settled as a farmer six miles from York,
Pa., where he pursued assiduously and successfully his calling to the close
of his life, leaving four sons: Jacob, who, when young, moved to Baltimore,
whose son, Col. Jacob Small was Mayor of the city; John Schmahl moved to and
settled in Beaver County; Kilian and Lawrence remained in York. From the
former, the greater part of the numerous Smalls in York County descend. -
Rupp's History of York County, p.743."
3. From "Emigrants from the Palatinate to the American Colonies in the 18th
Century" by Dr. Friedrich Krebs, 1953.
This is from research by the Archivist at Speyer, Germany into certain
church records in Germany. Other sources are also given. S-H refers to
Strassborg and Henke's book Pennsylvania German Pioneers. PHSL refers to the
Publications of the Huguenot Society of London, vol. XXIV, Naturalizations
of Foreign Protestants in the American Colonies Pursusant to Statute 13
George II. c.7, edited by M.S. Giuseppe, F.S.A. (1921). GSP refers to
Abstracts of wills, Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania.
On p.28, the following names are listed:
SCHMAHL, ______. The son of Johann Adam Schmahl, went to America from
Essenheim, 1741.
SCHMAHL, Henrich. Of Essenheim. The record states: "May have left again
for the American countries: Henrich Schmahl, street-player, with wife and 6
children (1746).
SCHMAHL, Johann Adam, Son of Michael Schmahl. Married at Essenheim,
28.IV.1716, Anna Maria, daughter of Cilian Schnorr. Issue (born at
Essenheim): (1) Johann Adam, bap. 22.V.1718; (2) Wentz, bap. 19.I.1727. To
America with wife and 2 sons, 3 June 1743. Adam Schmahl arrived on the ship
Loyal Judith, 2 Sept. 1743 (S-H I, 335,337,338). An Adam Schmaal, of Germany
Twp., York Co., took the sacrament, 19 Sept. 1762 (PHSL XXIV, 84).
SCHMAHL, Lorentz. Sone of Lorentz Schmahl. Married at Essenheim, 27.I.1728,
Evea, daughter of Henrich Ueber. Issue (born at Essenheim): (1) Johann Adam,
bap. 13.II.1729; (2) Eva, bap. 16.XII.1731; (3) Killian, bap. 7.X.1735; (4)
Lorentz, b. 16.I.1739; (5) Magdalena, b. 24.XI.1741. To America with his
wife and 5 children, 3 June 1743. Lorentz Schmal arrived on the Loyal
Judith, 2 Sept. 1743 (S-H I, 335, 337, 338). Killian Small, of York Twp.,
York Co., Pa., was naturalized in 1765 (PHSL XXIV, 141). Killian Small, of
York Borough, made his will 17 Sept. 1807 (proved 10 Oct. 1815); he named
his children Jacob, John, George, Michael, Joseph, Peter, and Henry (GSP
York, 531).
4. From "Tax Lists - Cumberland County Pennsylvania 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753,
1762, 1763, 1764" by Merri Lou Scribner Schaumann, Wellsville, PA, 1974.
p.28, 1762, Antrim Twp, Adam Small, 100ac warrant
p.56, 1764, Antrim Twp, Adam Small, 100ac unwarranted
5. From "Index to Will Book C - Franklin County PA
Small, Adam, p.371.
Small, John, p.72, 483, 511, 655
Small, Mary, p.655.
6. From "Genealogical Data Relating to the German Settlers of Pennsylvania"
by Edward W. Hocker
These are advertisements in various German newspapers in Pennsylvania that
may help in genealogical research. Info that had no genealogical importance
was omitted in the book. Therefore, if no info is given following the name,
it generally means that the ad concerned something like stray cattle.
June 16, 1750 - Anna Elisabeth, widow of Lorentz Loch, from Braunholder,
Zweibruerken, arrived in this country last autumn and lives at North Wales
(Gwynedd Twp, Mongomery Co) with Nicolaus Schmell. She seeks brother, John
Adam Schmell, from Cassell, who has been in America 14 years.
Nov 1, 1750 - Adam Schmell, Falckner Swamp (Montgomery Co) [Falckner Swamp
was located in the vicinity of New Hanover Twp]
7. From "Pennsylvania Archives Series 5", Volume 6
p.89, 16 Aug 1780, Adam Small, 2nd Class 5th Company 1st Battalion,
Cumberland County Militia
p.112, 23 Jul 1781, Adam Small, 2nd Class 5th Company 1st Battalion,
Cumberland County Militia
p.123, 01 Mar 1782, Adam Small, 2nd Class 5th Company 1st Battalion,
Cumberland County Militia
p.542, 1779, Adam Small, 2nd Class 8th Battalion, Cumberland County Militia
p.585, 1779, Adam Small, 2nd Class 8th Battalion under Capt. Samuel Royer
(Roger)