Hello listers, I am new to this list and looking for any information at all on where to learn more about the origins of these families including on what ship(s) they came to the USA , where they came from in Germany,and any details on the families in the USA Conrad SCHÖN (bc1755)and Margretha LEISSINGER (b1767) were married in Hagerstown MD 17 August 1791 in the Lutheran Church (German Reformed Congregation) by Pastor Jacob Goering. Conrad SCHÖN was naturalized in MD in 1798 according to Court records. To qualify I understand he had to be in the US 5 years, 1 of those years in the state. Conrad's record in this reference states that he is a resident of Hagerstown, a whitesmith, and formerly a subject of the Emperor of Germany" which means the location of origin, possibly Freiburg (or Friedberg - spelled "Frieberg" in a family letter written by a gr-granddaughter about 1890). However, he is also on the list of naturalizations in Washington County in 1787, 11 years before the above finding ("ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/md/washington/census/wash87.txt"). I don't know which is correct.. With Margretha LEISSINGER and Conrad SCHÖN (also Schoen/Schon/Shain) came four children, Rebecca, William, Henry, and Amelia to Ontario about 1800. With them were Margretha's sister, Anna Maria, and husband Michael HAUCKS/HOUX I know of the Houx only that they had a daughter Mary in 1796 and twin daughters Julianna and Sarah also baptised in the German Reformed Congregation (Lutheran) 1798 in Hagerstown. In the 1800 census for Washington Co., MD there was also a possible relative, Henry Shane, with a wife and seven male children and four female children. In the "History of Western Maryland being a history of Frederick, Montgomery, Carroll, Washington, Allegany and Garrett Counties from the Earliest Period to the Present Day", v. II, Baltimore:Regional Publishing Co. 1968, Henry Shane is listed as a tavern keeper among 350 white inhabitants of Hagerstown before 1805. Henry Shane, 1816, is on a list of wills "Wills of Washington County, Maryland 1776-1890" by Dale Walton Morrow and Deborah Sue Jensen, 1977. I don't know if Conrad was related but I believe he may have been- also Conrad had a son Henry. With thanks for any information and/or clues on how to connect these families and their origins, Adel McKay