Johannes Schahl is listed as Citizen and Winegardener on Page 329b of the Family Book at Kirchberg. There is a notation : in the year 1839 the family went to Amerika. That would have been John, Katherine and their first 3 children.
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WFT Volumn 1 Tree 4725:
The original Spelling of the Schahl family in Germany was Schahl. However, John Schahl, Sr. used variations such as Shahl and Shall in his will and the two codicils. Schall was used by John's son Frederick, after they moved to Nebraska, and it is still spelled that way by his descendents.

John Schahl, Sr. was born in Wuerttemberg, Germany; this area is the Southwest portion and borders on France and Switzerland. After he married Catherine Mayer, they lived in Germany until 1840, when they migrated to Logan County, IL near Mt. Pulaski. It is said that John helped build the Illinois State Capitol Building; this would coincide with the time Abraham Lincoln was active in his law practice in Springfield and old Salem.

Some time afater Catherine died, John married a widow whose first name was Martha as her name appears on his last will and its codicils. She had two married daughters, Mrs. Eliza Loeffler and Mrs. Mary Reif.

On January 19, 1877, John wrote and declared his last will and testament. This was signed by both John and Martha, the last names as Shall and Shahl. On January 23, 1877, the first of two codicils was added, bequeathing $160.00 each to his stepdaughters, Eliza and Mary, should Martha precede him in death.

The second of the codicils concerns an act in which his son, Frederick, "wickedly and intentionally destroyed" a promissory note due John for $700 plus interest for three years. This codicil revoked the right of Frederick to any "gift, divines, and bequests" in the first will. This codicil was dated September 14, 1878.

John Sr. died March 20, 1883, and the Executors Report, approved April 23, 1884, lists debts to be paid; another report approved May 18, 1885 gives the lists of bequeaths, namely $1,475.00 each to Lizzie (Elizabeth) Eberle and Anna Drabling. Also, he bequeathed $210.71 each to Katie Burkhardt and Lizzie Burkhardt, and $1,053.58 to L. C. Schwardtfeger as guardians for minor children of Mary Schahl Burkhardt. This is a correct amount for five other children of Mary. This, then, shows that Mary had preceded her father in death.

It was also stated in John's will that Magdalina Danner, now Rothfuss, was bequeathed $100.00 only and no other part of the estate. No explanation was given for this bequest differential.

Of the daughters, Anna Schahl married Richard Drabing, Magdalina married Jacob Donner (Danner) and then later a Mr. Rothfuss. Elizabeth married Andrew Eberle and Mary married Christian Burkhardt.

Of the eight children, we have partial records of all except the families of Mary and Elizabeth. We do know that Mary had at least seven children all living at the time of John's death. I do not know where they went after John's death. Neither do we know what happened to the Eberle family.

However, in the collection of these records, I found that Lloyd Eberle (husband of my firstr cousin, Lela Schall Eberle) stated that his ancestors had lived in Illinois before they moved to Nebraska. It is interesting to speculate that his forebears may be related to or are the same family that Elizabeth Schahl and Andrew Eberle had.

This important information of John Schahl's will and executor's report, the descendents of John Sr., John Jr., William, George, Anna, Magdalina, Mary, and Elizabeth were all give to me by Clifford Schahl of Lincoln, Illinois who is the great grandson of George Schahl. I greatly appreciated his kind cooperation. Roy F. Schall
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Emigrated with his brother:
Württemberg Immigration index entries:
Application Date: May 1839 FHL # 838266.00

Kirchberg, Dist: Marbach, Germany
Johann Friedrich Schahl-21 Nov 1823
Johannes & F Schahl
Catharina - wife Schahl-no date
Regina Magdalena Schahl-27 Apr 1834
Johann Melchior Schahl-29 Sep 1836
Johann Friedrich Schahl-12 Aug 1838
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