Shawbell ~ Shaubell



Shawbell ~ Martz - Smith ~ Rice
Judi Assony
Shopbell ~ Schappell ~ Chappelle
Shopbell Genealogy : Russell Shopbell
Chappelle / Schappel : France
Thomas Genealogy: Richard Davis Thomas, Jr.

Very little on the early Shawbell family in Europe is known, and there are several variations in the surname not only in Germany but in America. One particular spelling in Germany is Chappelle, and according to one Herr Friedrich Wollmershauser, whose information I present below is of French origin. The spelling variation could have changed over years to Schappell / Shobbell / Shopbell / Shaubell by the family living in Germany 50 to 80 years and to the present day. There is a village named La Chappelle in the providence of Doub, which borders Haut Rhin, and is close to the Swiss /German border. I am more recently inclined to believe that another village La Chappelle in Haut Alps as the former home of the Chappelle family before escaping the French Piedmont Army with leader Henri Arnaud to Germany and settling in the area of Durrmez and Schmie, Kingdom of Wurttemburg.

The Waldenser's in France

The Chapelle Surname is found among surnames of Waldenser's. A religious group founded by a wealthy merchant in Lyons, France by the name of Valdes in 1170.

Re: Friedrich Wollmershauser, member of the genealogical and Heraldic Society of Wurttemberg and Baden, Inc. of Southwest Germany. Dated Nov. 27, 1977.

The name was originally Chapelle, and the families belonged to the group of the Waldenser, which was a religious sect founded in 1176 by a rich merchant of Lyon with the name of Walds (sic). The members of this sect were oppressed by the catholic church since 1184 and lived in the underground. In 1699, many members of this group have been driven out of France and came to Wurttemberg, where they had their own church until 1820. Some of them emigrated to America in the 1700s and 1800s. I have found the churchbook-entries for the Chapelle family as follows:

Charles Solomon CHAPELLE and Madeleine SIMON had the following children:

Re: Friedrich Wollmershauser, member of the genealogical and Heraldic Society of Wurttemberg and Baden, Inc. of Southwest Germany. Dated March 9,1979.

Paragraph Three: Marc Chapelle arrived in Durrmenz in 1699 with his wife and one child. In. 1702 he is mentioned in a list of Waldenser in Durrmenz, aged 32 with his wife Anthoinette, aged abt 30 and a daughter Marie aged 2. (Source: Haptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart A240 Buschel 46f.,189f.) In 1712 he was living in Schmie with his wife and four daughters and one son. In 1708 and 1719 he is also mentioned to have lived in Schmie

ciiisiii note: Notice Herr Wollmershauser then calls Marc Chapelle's wife Madeleine, which is her name on the baptisimal records of their children.(Baptismal Records of the Waldenser Church Durrmenz)

I believe family of Charles Salomon Chapelle's wife Madeleine Simon probably came from Arvieux en Queiras (Dep. Hautes-Alps, France) where several Simon families emigrated from.

We are exploring the possible connection of the Shawbell surname to this family because of the similarity of past location in France and Germany and 18th century America, and some of the family given names, and religious affiliations, and The Record of Clementine Shawbell complied from an interview with her father, John G. Shawbell in 1895.

Please refer to Russell Shopbell's lineage of the Chappelle / Schappell / Shopell family of Windor Castle, now Perry Township, Berks Co. PA for more information on his Chappelle lineage.

Jacob Shopbell House: Ohio 1832 Re: Russ Shopbell:
My great grandfather moved here, where I now live in Ohio, in the year 1832. His grave is about 7 miles from my home. Above photo: The house Jacob built when they came to Ohio in 1832. I took the picture in 1977, the house is all gone now.

Berks Co., Windsor, PA: These stone carvings are now in a stone wall around a cemetery, they once were in a church wall. I was to this cemetery last August. The top name Eberhardis my ggg grandfather, the bottom right is his brother's, even then they didn't spell their name the same way.

ciiisiii note: See the carving images and it will be clear why Russ and I are exploring the association of our surnames.

Huguenots in Pennsylvania

ciiisiii note: I am adding this for researcher's whose ancestor's were perhaps Huguenots who fled France. Our Seney ancestor's were follower's of the Huguenot and they fled to England in 1710. Huguenot and Waldenser were two distinctly different groups of followers.

Pennsylvania is a state where it is difficult to discover those who have a Huguenot ancestry because many who fled from France before and after the Revocation went to Germany where they germanized their names and emigrated to Pennsylvania along with Germans considering themselves to be Germans. Furthermore, as Pennsylvania had a large number of settlers who were German, the French emigres often changed their names to have a German form. Besides, they intermarried with the Germans and soon lost their French identity.

Source: The Trail of the Huguenots in Europe, the United States,South Africa, West Indies, and Canadaby G. Elmore Reaman, Baltitmore Genealogical Publishing Co. Inc. 1986.

The earliest written records of our Shaubell/Shawbell family lineage:
Handwritten Record by Clementine S. Shawbell-Delbridge, Feb 1895, Pasadena, CA:

Father's great-grandfather came from France, his name was Solomon. His grandfather came from Germany to Pennsa., his name was John. *Father's father was born in Pennsa. and his name was John. He had six children named, Daniel, Margaret, John, Catherine, Jacob, and Mary. All which are dead but Catherine, Margaret and John (my father).

*Clementine's Mystery* Was John G. Shawbell's father really born in PA or Germany?
Father's father was born in Pennsa. and his name was John.'

ciiisiii note: Ever since Russ Shopbell and I exchanged family info I began to search for John, possible Father to John Shobbell b. 1781 PA. My research has found several John's in Russ Shopbell's early lineage (but no details on them) associated with the decendents of the Schappel brothers who arrived in America: Jeremie in 1751 and Eberhard in 1753. Re: Russ Shopbell: Stones carved in 1774 on the wall of a cemetery (once on a church wall) is written different spellings of the brothers name: Eberhard Schappell and Jermias Schabell.


Roots:Pennsylvania 1807 ~ 1855 : Lancaster ~ Juniata Counties


1815: Lancaster Co. PA ~ 1835-1845: Juniata Co.PA

John SHAUBELL b. 31 Jan 1781 d. 9 Jul 1845 Juniata Co. PA. m.Elizabeth WEAVER b. 12 Aug 1792 Lancaster Co. d. 2 Feb 1844 Juniata Co. PA. m. 15 Apr 1815. John was a Blacksmith.

The earliest record of John Shawbell:

29 Jun 1997 Juniata County Historical Society Researcher.Robert L. Winder, Mifflintown, Juniata Co.,PA.

At long last, we have located records for grave stones removed from the Messiah Lutheran Church cemetery, formerly in Mifflintown, now paved over into a parking lot. Found:

These stones were, in 1978, stored either under the porch of the manse, or under the altar in the church. Can not vouch as to their present location. Now must see if there are some of the Martz folks with similar stones.
ciiisiii note: Their gravestones are spelled as SHOBBELL, however Juniata County Records spell surname as SHAWBELL in Mifflin/Juniata Co.PA. Family records correspond with birth and death dates.

Daniel Shobbell b.15 Nov 1815 Colombia,Lancaster Co., PA d. 19 Aug 1864 m. Elizabeth Mary 'Polly' RICE b.19 Dec 1822 Turbett Twp.,Juniata Co.PA. d. 25 Dec 1855 Rome,Richland Co., OH. m. 1841-42 Juniata Co.PA. Daniel, like his father John, was a Blacksmith and Wagonmaker by trade.

Children of Daniel Shobbell and Elizabeth Mary 'Polly' Rice:

Daniel was the administrator of his father's (John Shawbell d.1845) estate which finalized in 1850. After which Daniel and Elizabeth moved to Blooming Grove, Richland Co.,Ohio in 1850.(John G.,his brother and wife,Maria and daughter,Sarah left to settle in Indiana Co.,PA). Later they went to Rome, Richland Co.,OH where Elizabeth died in 1855. Seems that after Daniel enlisted in 1861 Margaret, the oldest, and her sister Sarah went back to Juniata Co.PA.as Margaret married William Rice Haines in Turbett Twp.Juniata Co.PA in 1867. Sarah married Isaac Milton Goshen who was born in Patterson, Juniata Co.,PA. She was living in Colorado Springs,El Paso Co,.CO in 1875. She died in Strong City, Chase Co., KS and is buried in Cottonwood Falls, Chase Co,.KS. John G. and family lived in ajoining Coffey Co,.KS at Ottumwa since 1857. Daniel Shobbell:Civil War from Union Co.OH 1861.

Margaret Shobbell (Shawbell) b.8 Dec 1817 in Lancaster Co.PA. d. aft 1898 Kansas City,MO. m. Soloman MARTZ b.13 Sep 1815 PA d.14 Sep 1862. Married by Rev ? Lilly on the 29 Sep 1840, Borough of Lewistown, Mifflin Co.,PA. m.2nd: Cornelius DEWEESE (no children) (Direct: Judi Assony)

The Solomon Martz family joined the John G. Shawbell family in the move to Kansas Territory in 1855. They all settled in Coffey Co.,KS in the new town of Ottumwa: Founded by John G. Shawbell, W.A.Bowen, Hamilton Smith, Gilbert Smith, and James Harris.
Soloman enlisted in the 12th Volunteer Infantry Co.F in 1861 and died of typhoid at Paloi,KS.

Roots:Pennsylvania 1807 ~ 1855 : Lancaster ~ Juniata Counties


Roots:Kansas Territory-Kansas, Coffey County
1855 ~ 1903

John G. SHAWBELL b. 6 May 1820 Columbia, Lancaster Co. PA d. 18 Dec 1903 Ottumwa,Coffey Co.KS. m.Maria Ann EVANS. b. 25 Dec 1820 Town of Mexico, Walker Township, Mifflin Co. PA d. 6 Jun 1900 Ottumwa, Coffey Co.KS. Married: 25 Oct 1842 in First Reformed Lutheran Chruch, Lewistown, Juniata Co.,PA. Like his father, John and brother, Daniel, John G. was a Blacksmith. Maria was a Hotel Operator / Cook.

Children of John G. Shawbell and Maria Ann Evans:

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