THE STEHMANS IN EUROPE
Peter Stehman, a German, has said that "in Germany today we have about
150 Stehmanns, most of them live in the Ruhr area, east of the river
Rhine. The result of my Internet research was there were some families
with the name Stehmann living around 1560 near Basel, Switzerland, who were
Mennonites and moved to the Netherlands and then to America."(1) An Abram Stayman is shown as a Mennonite resident of Thun, Switzerland, in
1693.(2)
Whether these families had
a relationship with Joseph and Christian Stoneman/Stehman is problematic. However, Hans Steinman may be the grandfather of Joseph and Christian (“late of Germany”).(3)
The same source indicates that Hans Steinman had a daughter, Christina, born in
Oberdiessbach, Switzerland, in 1670 (although it also indicates Hans Steinman was probably exiled
about 1667). Further, Joseph and Christian Stoneman/Stehman may have had brothers (Johannes and Jacob) who did not emigrate to the New World. Johannes was listed as a Mennonite when he lived at Flomersheim, Germany, in 1738 and Jacob was also listed as a Mennonite when he lived in Kohlkof, Germany, in 1753. Flomersheim and Kohlkof are villages near Mannheim, Germany, with Flomersheim a suburb of Frankenthal.
It’s interesting to note that Melchoir Brenneman, “The Exile” (b. circa 1631),
was from Oberdiessbach. Melchoir Brenneman fled to Griesheim (Germany) in the year 1671, “unquestionably due to the severe
government mandate of 1670, which caused exiles to leave Switzerland for Germany in large numbers.”(4) Both the
hometown and year of flight lead one to wonder if they roughly coincided with the
flight and place of exile of Hans Steinman. Griesheim is located twenty miles NW
of Worms.
Brenneman’s son, Melchoir (“The Pioneer”), was a preacher in the Mennonite
Church, serving various communities of exiles in Rhein-Hessen and the Pfalz prior
to coming to the New World. Although the date of his arrival is open to question,
“the historian does not believe that they arrived until the summer of 1717, in the migration led from Rotterdam by Benedict Brechbuhl.”(5)
Quite possibly, Melchoir
and his brother, Christian, migrated to Pennsylvania at the same time as Joseph
and Christian Stoneman/Stehman.
_______________________
(1) July 18, 2001, E-mail (peter47_2001@yahoo.de(P.St)
(2) Eshleman, H. Frank. Swiss and German Pioneer Settlers, pg. 128.
(3) Davis, Richard Warren. Emigrants, Refugees, and Prisoners, Vol.II.
(4) Gerberich, Albert H. The Brenneman History, pg. 2.
(5) Ibid., pg. 4.