Flag of the German Empire during the time the Zillmans, Tabberts, and Schellins came to the United States.
Oh friends, not these tones!
Rather let us sing more
cheerful and more joyful ones.
Joy! Joy!
Joy, thou glorious spark of heaven,
Daughter of Elysium,
We approach fire-drunk,
Heavenly One, your shrine.
Your magic reunites
What custom sternly divides;
All people become brothers
Where your gentle wing alights.
"Ode to Joy"
Friedrich Schiller
as adapted by Ludwig von Beethoven for Symphony No. 9, debuted May 7, 1824
Flag of Bavaria
Flag of Hesse
Geneology records indicate that "Schellin" originates from Bavaria and Hesse
[Germany]; the arms were granted April 3, 1562. In those days, Germany was not a united country. It was sometimes a confederation of principalities and kingdoms, but sometimes each of these states was independent, or under the control of monarchs far away, principally, the Hapsburgs. Many alliances between them produced nearly constant warfare. In 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the Castle Church at Wittenberg, inspiring the Reformation. By 1555, it was obvious that the Reformation was not going away, so a Conference was convened in Augsburg by the Emperor, Charles V. This resulted in the Peace of Augsburg the same year which settled the religious dispute for and between Lutherans and Catholics [but not other Reformers and Protestants like Calvinists and Anabaptists]. The treaty stated that the prince in charge of each territory determined the faith of the people living there. The people could either be of the same faith as the prince or move to a place where their religion was the same as the ruler. There were open cities that tolerated a multitude of religions, but the Schellins were rural farmers.
Due to the Peace of Augsburg, we can assume that the Schellins who stayed in Bavaria were Catholic, while the ancestors from whom I descend could have become Lutheran as far back as the 16th Century. Hesse was a Lutheran State as were others in the North, the part of Germany from where the family immigrated. The Catholic side of the family was raised to the Nobility of Bavaria on the 29th of October, 1815, about the time my Lutheran ancestors began to leave for America, where they settled in Upstate New York, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Flag of the Palatinate of the Rhineland
Originally from South Holland, the Netherlands, and also the Palatinate of the Rhineland [Germany], the Zillmans, my mother's father's side of the family, were established in Germany by 1560, and from there they immigrated to Wisconsin during the 19th Century.
