The surname Schwall is German in origin. Germans began to use surnames in the 1400s. Occupational names were the most common, but nicknames and location names were also used.
Every village had similar trades (or occupations) from which people took their surnames, so people from different German villages who had the same trade and therefore the same surname are not necessarily related.
Today, German surnames have undergone many spelling changes, especially as Germans have immigrated to the United States. In my own family's instance, my ancestor added an "S" to Schwall in order to differentiate himself from his cousin living in the next county over.
The word "schwall" means "flood" in German. Does this give me a hint as to where the name came from? Maybe. In the course of my research, I came across the origin of the name. It was based on location, perhaps a swamp or swamp-like land. Unfortunately, I did not copy the information I found, nor did I record the source, and now have no way of knowing exactly what it said. A lesson learned.
In my online research, I find this origin and meaning multiple times:
"South German: habitational name from places so named in Nassau and the Rhineland."
So what the heck does THAT mean? Well, it does provide clues...
Habitation is a place of residence or a colony or settlement. So the adjective habitational would describe the surname as a name from a place of residence or colony or settlement.
Nassau is a town located in the German State of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz in German). It is about 60 miles southwest of Bonn.
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Rhineland lies in West Germany along both banks of the middle Rhine River. It borders on the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France.
So this gives me a possible area that my Schwalls ancestor was from. However, that is a lot of ground to cover which would be oh so much easier if I had any idea what village or town or city where George Schwalls was born. I do believe it might be in the correct vicinity considering this: The state of Rhineland-Palantinate was established in 1946. It was formed from the northern part of the French Occupation Zone, which included parts of Bavaria... (italics added). This is significant because on one single document I have managed to locate during my research, George indicated he was from Bavaria. So even though this German state was formed almost 100 years after he left the country, it still gives me a clue as to the general location he may hail from.
Another clue is that Rhineland-Palantinate has supplied immigrants to many parts of the world. The Pennsylvania Dutch spoken by the Amish in the United States is derived from the German dialect spoken in the Rhineland-Palatinate, which many Palatine refugees brought to the colony in the early decades of the 18th century. Family lore insists that our Schwalls were "Dutch."
I have information about only 4 generations of my maternal Schwalls line:
- George W. Schwalls Sr.
My 2nd great-grandfather. He was born 01 Jan 1837 somewhere in Germany and died 21 Jan 1908 in Johnson County, Georgia. He married (1) in 1866 in Edgefield County, South Carolina, Lincelia E. Claxton, born 10 Apr 1839 in Edgefield County. She died 18 Jan 1882. They had seven children:
Susan M. Schwalls
Linnie Schwalls
Charlie Milton Schwalls
William Louis Schwalls
Mattie Schwalls
M. M. Schwalls
George W. Schwalls Jr
George married (2) 16 Jul 1883 in Johnson County, Georgia, Mary J. Williams, born 15 Mar 1851 Georgia. She died 14 Mar 1922. They had six children:
Hattie Barbara Schwalls
Dillie Schwalls
Samuel Thomas Schwalls
Rosa Schwalls
Rufus E. Lester Schwalls
Lizzie Lee Schwalls
- Mattie Schwalls
My great-grandmother. She was born 25 May 1877, presumably in Johnson County, Georgia. She married 18 Nov 1903 in Johnson County, Lusion Keman Tapley, born 31 Mar 1870 in Johnson County and died 3 Jul 1935 in Wadley, Jefferson County, Georgia. They had the following children:
James Tillman Tapley
Charles Morgan Tapley
Champ Lusion Tapley
Woodrow Tapley (died shortly after birth)
Mattie passed away 26 Apr 1912 after giving birth to Woodrow.
- Charles Morgan Tapley
My grandfather was born 27 Jun 1907 in Johnson County, Georgia and died 12 Nov 1973 in Swainsboro, Emanuel County, Georgia. He married (1) 27 Jun 1928 in California, Gladys Ruth Van Cleave, born 31 Jul 1909 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and died 01 Dec 1987 in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California. They had two children. Charles married (2) 03 Dec 1939 in Redlands, San Bernardino County, California, Ethel Irene Ranney, born 06 Jul 1913 in Elsie, Clinton County, Michigan and died 12 Nov 1973 in Dublin, Laurens County, Georgia. They had the following child:
- Linda Irene Tapley
My mother was born in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California. She and my father had the following children:
Michael Edward Tapley
- And ME.
Ancestor Search, Free Dictionary of Surname Origins & Last Name Meanings, German Surname Origins & Genealogy Resources, http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/germansurnames.html
British Surnames and Surname Profiles, Schwall, Classification and Origin of Schwall, http://www.britishsurnames.co.uk/surnames/SCHWALL/origin
Family Education, NameLab, Schwall, http://genealogy.familyeducation.com/surname-origin/schwall
Dictionary.com, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/habitational
Rhineland-Palatinate. (2013, May 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 9, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rhineland-Palatinate&oldid=554882307
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rhineland.jpg
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