I have been researching the Stickle/Stickles family of NY for several years now. My particular line of Stickles is from "Holland", as told in my family tradition. I have been puzzled by the fact that I have found the SAME Stickles in different family genealogies as being "of German AND/OR of Dutch..." depending on who has done the genealogy. I have also seen where these same Stickles' families claim to be not of same family. Supposedly the "German" Stickles line is not connected to the "Dutch" Stickles line. I have written to an expert on the Palatine immigraton and would like to share what he told me.

Hi Melissa:

Thanks for your e-mail. Good hearing from you.

As I so often note in my books and when I lecture around the country, I would say that over 80% to 90% of those who firmly descend from the 847 German=Palatine families who arrived in colonial New York have a long-held, erroneous family tradition of Dutch and not German ancestry!! So you are not alone in your Stickle tradition. This error probably comes from a misunderstanding by earlier family members of the word "Deutsch" meaning "German" being confused with the "Dutch" of Holland Dutch over the years {e.g., "Pennsylvania Dutch" really means "Pennsylvania Deutsch" as they were German in origin).

Rest assured, your Stickle line, as you presented it in your e-mail, is absolutely a German Palatine one.

My two volume set The Palatine Families of New York - 1710 has a section on the Stickles, Bohnenstiehls, and all the other 847 families who intermarried with them. All my books are available via my website: www.hankjones.com

Good hunting!

Best wishes,

Hank Jones
{Henry Z Jones, Jr., Fellow, American Society of Genealogists}


I would like to hear from anyone interested in clearing this up!