Caspar Schrag b. 13 Dec 1685 Leumberg, Wynigen, Bern, SW Somerset Co., PA: The Schrock-Birkey Connection

Caspar Schrag

Male 1685 -


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All

  • Name Caspar Schrag  [1, 2, 3, 4
    Birth 13 Dec 1685  Leumberg, Wynigen, Bern, SW Find all individuals with events at this location  [5
    • Leumberg farm
    Gender Male 
    Baptism 13 Dec 1685  Wynigen, Bern, SW Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Evangelisch-reformierte Kirche (Reformed Church)
    EMPL 1711  Jebsheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, FR Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Transient farm workers
    HIST "Schrag-Schrocks came to America at various times and by a number of routes--before 1800 via northern Alsace and the Palatinate, and after 1870 via Volhynia, Russia. The Schrags were one of only three prominent Amish names that originate in the Emmental (along with Troyer and Schwarzentruber)."

    (This couple may have had a daughter Elisabeth (b. 1722) who is now linked to Caspar Schrag who married Elisabeth Weiss. ()

    It is possible that the Johann Schrag family of “The Children’s Blizzard” was a descendant of Caspar and Elisabeth Leyenberger.  [6
    Religion Anabaptist 
    Residence 1712  Jebsheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, FR Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Residence Aft 1712  Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Ingweilerhof
    Residence 1713  Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 1714  Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Residence 1733  Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Ernstweiler
    Residence Aft 1733  Somerset Co., PA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Death Somerset Co., PA Find all individuals with events at this location  [8
    Person ID I1019  Schrock-Birkey Connection
    Last Modified 10 Jul 2020 

    Father Niklaus Schrag,   b. 30 Oct 1660, Leumberg, Wynigen, Bern, SW Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1673 (Age 12 years) 
    Mother Christina Schneider (Scheidegger),   b. 12 Feb 1655, Hauseren, Wynigen, Bern, SW Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Marriage 30 May 1684  Wynigen, Bern, SW Find all individuals with events at this location  [9, 10
    • The entry described them as parochiales – residents of the parish.
    Family ID F9621  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Elsbeth Leyenberger,   b. 1690, Jebsheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, FR Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Marriage 9 Aug 1711  Jebsheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, FR Find all individuals with events at this location  [8, 11
    • They were given a Catholic marriage ceremony, even though they were Anabaptists.
    Children 
     1. Caspar Schrag,   b. 1711, Leumberg, Wynigen, Bern, SW Find all individuals with events at this location
     2. Anna Schrag,   b. 22 Jun 1712, Jebsheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, FR Find all individuals with events at this location
     3. Ulrich Schrag,   b. 1714, Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR Find all individuals with events at this location
     4. Johannes Jacob Schrag,   b. 1715, Ingweilerhof, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR Find all individuals with events at this location
     5. Niclaus Schrag,   b. 1717   d. 1748 (Age 31 years)
     6. Elisabeth Schrag,   b. 1722
    Family ID F453  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 29 Jul 2022 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 13 Dec 1685 - Leumberg, Wynigen, Bern, SW Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBaptism - 13 Dec 1685 - Wynigen, Bern, SW Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsEMPL - 1711 - Jebsheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, FR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 9 Aug 1711 - Jebsheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, FR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 1712 - Jebsheim, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, FR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Aft 1712 - Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 1713 - Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 1714 - Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - 1733 - Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, GR Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsResidence - Aft 1733 - Somerset Co., PA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - - Somerset Co., PA Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Notes 
    • The Schrag surname is interpreted as a nickname for a carpenter or a cabinetmaker. "Schrage" in German means a holder or frame from crossed woods used for framework building. The spelling of the surname changed to Schrack, or Chraque in France--Schrock in America. "Schrag/Schrock comes from Schrage (an old name for a special wood combination.)"

      In Southern Alsace along the Rhine River, south and east of Colmar, refugees came directly to these towns from Switzerland. Among the refugees listed at Jebsheim after 1700 were: 1700-Ulrich Birky, Steffisburg, worker; 1712-Gaspard (Casper) Schrag and Elisabeth Leyenberger of Wynigen.

      !!This individual, Caspar b. 1685, who married Elsbeth Leyenberger, can be traced back to Switzerland, and through him all of the other Anabaptist Schrag branches. 

      Virgil Miller, in his book "Both Sides of the Ocean" lists the refugees at Jebsheim, Alsace after 1700 and includes the fact that Gaspard (Caspar) Schrag and Elisabeth Leyenberg of Wynigen were married in 1712 (evidently in Jebsheim). Virgil Miller's research is probably correct.  This means son Caspar was born no later than September/October of 1711 (in Wynigen?), since Anne was born in June of 1712. 

      Caspar, as well as other Schrag families moved into the Palatinate area around Zweibrücken. They lived in various places in the Palatinate, including Heckenaschbacherhof, Kaplaneyhof and Ingeweilerhof before leaving for America or going to Lorraine.


      Schrag-Schrocks came to America at various times and by a number of routes--before 1800 via northern Alsace and the Palatinate, and after 1870 via Volhynia, Russia. The Schrags were one of three prominent Amish names that originate in the Emmental (along with Troyer and Schwarzentruber).

      "In a list of Anabaptists in the Staatsarchiv in Bern, Switzerland, two brothers, Christian and Bendicht Schrag, sons of Ulrich Schrag, are named in 1765. They move from Wynigen-Leumberg in Switzerland to the Munstertal. About this time Schrags of Zweibrücken were already living here. Ulrich Schrag, who is leaseholder (Bestander) on the Ernstweilerhof in 1735, was a son of Caspar Schrag. A Casper Schrag is on the Ingeweilerhof in 1761. It is not clear whether these two individuals were father and son or brothers; the author assumes the latter. In that case, they would both be sons of Caspar Schrag, the father of Ulrich Schrag, who does not otherwise appear in the Palatinate. The following arrangement of descendants of the two brothers has not been proven and is based in part on assumptions." [3, 8, 12, 13, 14, 15]

  • Sources 
    1. [S159] J. Virgil Miller, Migrations of the Schrag/Schrock Family.

    2. [S313] J. Virgil Miller, Both Sides of the Ocean: Amish-Mennonites From Switzerland to America, (Masthof Press, Morgantown, PA).

    3. [S40] Hermann Guth, Amish Mennonites in Germany: Their Congregations, The Estates Where They Lived, Their Families (English edition), (Masthof Press, Morgantown, PA).

    4. [S1120] Migrations of the Schrag Family of Leumberg Switzerland from Adam to Adams County (Part 1-to the 20th Century).

    5. [S808] Schrag records (birth and marriage) {Twenty-six}.

    6. [S389] Research Report A3 2004, ).

    7. [S61] Wohnorte der Familien Schrag.

    8. [S805] GeneaNet Family Tree of Peter Schrag.

    9. [S398] Joseph Staker, Amish Mennonites in Tazewell Co.

    10. [S805] GeneaNet Family Tree of Peter Schrag, {Jan 4 1684?}.

    11. [S313] J. Virgil Miller, Both Sides of the Ocean: Amish-Mennonites From Switzerland to America, (Masthof Press, Morgantown, PA), Gives date as 1712.

    12. [S138] Swiss-German Family Names--their Origin and Meanings.

    13. [S313] J. Virgil Miller, Both Sides of the Ocean: Amish-Mennonites From Switzerland to America, (Masthof Press, Morgantown, PA), p. 105.

    14. [S63] Robert Baecher, The Alsatian Anabaptists of the Seventeenth Century: Baldenheim.

    15. [S389] Research Report A3 2004.


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