First, I will tell you that Schőettler has not always been spelled as it is. There were two little dots over the ö called ‘Umlaut’. After that and probably because of the little dots over the ö, the name was change to Schottler, Schuttler, Shettler and Shetler. My father, Willard E. Shetler had a cousin with the same name as his and it caused a lot of trouble for both, so my dad changed his name to the spelling based on the way it had always been pronounced, Schuttler. I have met several family members with all the spellings of Schuttler, except the old way of Schöettler, with the Umlaut. I believe that because typewriters and now computers could not easily duplicate the ö, it was changed, however that is speculation on my part. It should also be pointed out that most of our early relatives were Amish and some of our current relatives are still Amish and Mennonite.
I. The first Schőettler in our history was Michael Schőettler (Schettler/Schottler) emigrated from Switzerland on March 17, 1726 to Germany.
Michael likely had a son Peter, who was born about 1745 in Gifflitz, German; wifes name unknown. (One source says when he came to Gifflitz was unknown). In 1780 Peter was a burner under Conductor Jutzi. His wife died in Gifflitz ib 09/15/1784.
II. Peter and wife were parents of five know children:
(1) Christian, born 1770; (2) Johannes, born March 25, 1775; (3) Peter, born December 1, 1778; (4) Catharina, born 1778, died 01/09/1784; (5) Michael, born June 16, 1783, died 12/28/1783.
III. 1. Christian Schottler, born Gifflitz, 1770, died Wilhelmshohe 02/23/1832, married Katharine Werrey, child of Johannes Werrey, in Varnhagen. She died in Wilhelmshohe in 1812. They had one son:
Daniel Schottler, born October 10, 1810. Nothing more is known about this Daniel.
In 1812, Christian married Elisabeth Sommer, born in Dammersfeld 06/25/1785. She died 03/02/1870. Their children, all born in Wilhelmshohe, were:
Friederich, born 08/22/1814. He married Maria Schwartzentraub; Johanna, born October 18, 1816; Elisabeth, born 11/11/1818. She married Louis Schottler; Jacobine (Phoebe) born 04/30/1827. Married ?? Stevens; Christian born 12/22/18??; and Wilhelmine, born 03/07/1832. She married John I. Wittaker.
2. Johannes Schottler, born 1775 in Gifflitz, Germany died in the U.S. to which he migrated in 1831. He was married twice, to sisters: (1) Helena Yoder, daughter of Samuel and Mary Gingerich) Yoder. Helena 1774-1810. Their children were:
Christian, died at birth; Christian, born 07/17/1804. Married Fanny Nisley and had (one book said): (Mary, John, Moses, Christian, Jacob, Lewis and Abraham) and another said: (Jacob, Samuel & Sanford); Maria, born 05/14/1805. Married Jacob Otto; Helen, born 1807. Married Jacob Jutzi (Yutzi); and Daniel, born October 8, 1810. He married Helena Swartzendruber.
(2) Johannes then married Maria (Mary) Yoder, born 01/31/1780 – died 10/24/1868 in Somerset County, PA. Their children were:
John; Frederick; Elizabeth, born 04/20/1817 married Abraham S. Miller; Jacob; Christina; and Johanna.
3. Peter Schottler, born in Fifflitz in 1778 married Anna Werrey in 1803 in Varnhagen. She was the daughter of Johannes, who was the manager of estate Mittelhof at Melsagen. She died there. It is not know if there were any children from this first marriage. Later he was in Hartzburg. In Hartzburg is where Peter married Theodora ___?___. Peter died March 26, 1856 in Homburg. Child from second marriage was Louis, born 04/25/1819 in Harzburg (or Dammersfeld). He married Elisabeth Schottler.
The following information came from a small green book that Willard E. Schuttler passed on to his youngest son, Mike. Mike is also in possession of a paper that was passed on to him by a cousin in Kalona, IA many years ago that shows that a Jacob Schöttler (note that there is no ‘e’ after the ‘ö’ in the spelling) recorded a family crest in the 17th century in Lubek, St. Jacobi in northern Germany. For more information on this go to Schuttler Coat of Arms.
Daniel Schöettler Sr. was born in Germany, Oct. 8, 1819. He emigrated to America, May 10, 1833 on a sail ship that took 54 days, landing at Baltimore, MD. From there he traveled to Somerset Co., PA and made his abode with the Amish Mennonite Church, located at Castleman river. He was married to Helena Swartzendruber Dec. 30, 1833. She was born in Germany, March 5, 1833. They settled in Allegheny Co., MD and 1840 moved to Butler Co. Ohio, where they lived on a rented farm until the spring of 1850, when they emigrated with their family to Johnson County, IA. Their children were: Christian (1836), Mary (1837), and Joseph (1839) all born in Alleghany Co, MD; Catharine born in Butler Co. on Jan 21, 1841; Samuel (1842), Lydia (1844), Daniel Jr. (1847), and John D. (1849) were born in Fairfield; Amelia (1855) and Peter (1858) were born in Johnson Co, IA.
