This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Stickley Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/gAC.2ACE/1560.1630.2 Message Board Post: Hey Paul, are you in Ohio? I am in MI now but am from Urbana, OH where I had a great uncle Paul. Regarding the Stickleys, from my research I determined that they were part of the Anabaptists called the Church of the Brethren or Dunkards that came from Guggisberg, Switzerland near Bern. They came along with the Amish and the Mennonites who were all pacifists that threatened the Swiss economy that was based on mercenary armies bring money back into the economy. Religion was the excuse for murder and mayhem against these people causing many to flee to the Netherlands which is where Johanne Stockli fled with his parents and later he came to the colonies and eventually settled in Strasburg, VA in 1719. The name was eventually changed to Stickley. The Shenandoah Valley in VA was originally settled by mostly Germans and Swiss as they came down from PA with a sprinkling of Irish to give flavor.