Peter Schell (1762 - 1849)

Born 1762 in Tulpehocken Township, Berks, Pennsylvania,

Descendants

Died 2 Feb 1849 at about age 87 in Markleysburg, Fayette, Pennsylvania, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Michael Schell [send private message]

Biography

NOTE: this person may be the same as Peter Shell. Will merge if/when common sources emerge. Alternatively, the two profiles might be cousins.

Peter Schell is said to have been born in the Tulpehocken region of Pennsylvania. At that time, this region included parts of Berks and Lancaster counties, and it also included "Tulpehocken Town" [today: Myerstown]. No source for the birth year of 1760.

He is said to have served in the concluding stages of the Revolutionary War.^[1]A Peter Shell of Lebanon Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania took the Oath of Allegiance to the State of Pennsylvania on 26 May 1778. ^[2]. It is uncertain whether this is the Peter Schell/Shell of this profile.

• He married Eleanore, who was of Scots-Irish descent.
• Moved to Franklin Co, Pennsylvania (early pioneer)

1790 Census shows a Peter Shell living in Franklin County Pennsylvania. The family consisted of 5 people--Peter, his wife, 2 sons, and a daughter.

At age 54, Peter enlisted to fight in the War of 1812. In 1814, he served as a Private under Captain Samuel Dunn. This followed a draft order by Governor Snyder for 1000 men from Franklin, Cumberland, York, and Adams Counties. Dunn's company was in service for 7 months and participated in the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane. The Company guarded prisoners captured on the frontier to Albany, NY. They were mustered out of Albany. Peter's possible brother John Shell (see census info) also served in the same company as a private.^[3]

• Moved to Springfield Furnace (then, located in Huntington Co. Today, Blair Co.)
• had a son James (1799-1854).

1800 census shows Peter Shell living in Metal Township, Franklin, Pennsylvania, probably with his wife and 4 children. Two males (0-10), two males (10-16), one male (26-45). One female (0-10), one female (26-45).

1800 census also shows living nearby in Metal Township is John Shell, probably living with his wife, 2 sons (0-10y), and 4 daughters (2 under 10; two (10-16). It seems likely that John is a brother of Peter.

Excerpts from the biosketch of Oliver Jay Schieber, a descendant, died 23 Jun 1944.^[4]

Peter Schell as a youngster pioneered in what was then a remote part of Pennsylvania--Franklin County--where he was married to a Scotch-Irish lass, Eleanore. They settled in Springfield Furnace, then in Huntingdon County. Peter served in the concluding stages of the Revolutionary War, and in 1814, at the age of 54, enlisted in the War of 1812. He died in Markleysburg, PA in 1849.

A son of Peter and Eleanore, James Schell (14 Jan 1799-6 Dec 1854) and his wife Ellen Benton, moved from Pennsylvania to Crawford County Ohio in 1846, where they occupied a farm near Bucyrus.

Ellen Benton's father, Jonathan Benton, a member of the six-foot and more tall King's Guards, came to America in 1781 from England with his bride to escape military proseceution because of his unauthorized marriage, and settled near Reading, PA. There he enrolled in the Pennsylvania Militia, and so it was that he served in both the English and Colonial armies during the Revolutionary War.

Buried: Old Stone Church Cemetery, Marklesburg, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, USA^[5]. The headstone is quite readable.

Research Notes

Original Information

Is the "six-foot or more tall King's guards" the same or similar to the (in)famous Potsdam Giants?

It is possible that Peter is a son of Peter Schell of Tulpehocken, Pennsylvania. His grandfather may also have been Peter.^[6]According to this secondary source, the Schell patriarch/immigrants were Jacob Schell and his wife, who were among the 1710 Palatines to arrive in New York. Jacob is claimed to have a son Peter, who was among the early settlers who migrated to Tulpehocken around 1730. In this scenario, it would have been Peter's son Peter who married Catherine Walborn in 1730 in Tulpehocken. Peter Sr died in 1750 and his son Peter died in 1757.

The problem with this suggested lineage is that the Palatine migrant to New York was Jacob Schnell/Snell. Lutheran church records in Schoharie do not record a Peter Schell as a son (or brother, or father) of Jacob Schnell/Snell. Another inconsistency is that the Peter represented by this profile was born in 1760, so his father could not have died in 1757.

Metal Township is located west of Harrisburg, and about 20 miles east of what is today Breezwood.

Speculation on the origin of his wife Eleanore, who was of "Scots-Irish descent." The region of Tulpehocken, Pennsylvania was mainly composed of people of German heritage until the time that it was decided to build the "Union Canal," which would bridge the Tulpehocken Creek waterways that fed into the Schuylkill with Swarta creek, which feed into the Susquehanna, south of Harrisburg. Much of the hard labor for digging this canal was performed by Irish immigrants, brought into the region for this purpose (see, for example, the 1793 Myerstown Riot). Perhaps the young Peter Schell met and married his Scots Irish wife around that time, before heading westward.

Here are three partial citations for a Peter Schell grave, buried with his wife Eleanor. The dates are different from this profile. Unfortunately the actual records are not available in electronic form:

• Pennsylvania Cemetery Records, ca. 1700-ca. 1950", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:8TFV-NBT2 : 21 August 2020), Peter Schell, .
• "Pennsylvania Cemetery Records, ca. 1700-ca. 1950", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:8TFV-N1W2 : 21 August 2020), Peter Schell in entry for Ellen or Eleanor Schell,
• Pennsylvania Cemetery Records, ca. 1700-ca. 1950", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:8TFV-NB6Z : 21 August 2020), Peter Schell in entry for Maria G Schell Bramwell, .

Sources

1. ↑ Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol 112, (1947), , p. 1512.
2. ↑ Pennsylvania Archives, Second series, Vol XIII. Linn and Engle Eds. Harrisburg:1896.
3. ↑ History of Franklin County, 1887: Chicago, Warner and Beers & Co. Link to Archive
4. ↑ Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol 112, (1947), , p. 1512.
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/91172649/peter-schell: accessed ), memorial page for Peter Schell (1762–2 Feb 1849), Find A Grave: Memorial #91172649, citing Old Stone Church Cemetery, Marklesburg, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, USA; Maintained by Mary (contributor 46536583).
6. ↑ Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Vol 112, (1947), p. 1512.

• "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKR-417 : accessed 13 May 2019), Peter Shell, Fannet, Hamilton, Letterkenney, Montgomery, and Peters, Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States; citing p. 293, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 9; FHL microfilm 568,149.

• "United States Census, 1800," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHR6-WGL : accessed 6 May 2019), Peter Shell, Metal, Franklin, Pennsylvania, United States; citing p. 948, NARA microfilm publication M32, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 38; FHL microfilm 363,341.
• FamilySearch