Lehman, Layman, Lemon Genealogy,

DNA Enhanced

It is widely known that the name "Lehman" in German had its origin in feudal times and is generally considered to have meant "vassal", or one who works the land. It was a term applied to one who became bound to a section of real estate as a "fief" with no ownership. Moreover, he could not quit and go to work for another landowner but was attached for life to a particular parcel of real property and its owner.

In German-speaking Switzerland, the name is reputed to have an entirely different origin. Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 313 tells us that Lehman is a Mennonite family name originating in the Emmental, meaning the valley of the Emme River in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland. There, families often derived their surname from the location where they lived. The name, according to Mennonite Encyclopedia, means “a person living on a gentle slope”. Near Langnau, said to be the original home of some of the Mennonite Lehman families, there is a farm named Lehn, because of its topography. The most common spellings of the surname in German-speaking Europe were “Lehman”, “Leeman”and “Lehmann”

It may be said that the influx of German-speaking immigrants to the Colonies in general and through the port of Philadelphia in particular, in the first half of the 18th Century, resulted either directly or indirectly, from two causes. Underlying the entire scenario was the effects of religious armed conflicts in Europe, primarily the Thirty Years War. The second, and probably the most direct cause was religious persecution in several European countries including persecution of Anabaptists in Switzerland.

Generally, at the time of immigration in the first half of the 18th Century the German-speaking immigrants were referred to as Palatinians. This is not entirely accurate, but neither is their having been referred to since as “Pennsylvania Dutch” accurate either. The misnomer came about as a result of many refugees from religious persecution in Switzerland and France having sought temporary refuge in the Palatinate. It was located primarily on the west side of the middle Rhine River and is known today as the Rhineland Pfalz or simply as the Pfalz.

The exodus from Canton Bern probably reached its peak in the years between 1660-1675. Gratz, at p. 36, cites several sources for the fact that about 700 Anabaptists departed Canton Bern for the Palatinate and Alsace in 1671. Names of families that participated in this mass flight included Lehman, Shenk, Bachman, Stauffer, Whitmer and others. Almost invariably, these names appear in Chester, later to be Lancaster, Co., PA on tax lists in 1718. Simple arithmetic tells us that the 1717 immigrants would have been the second generation of the 1671 refugees

In 1691 another wave of persecution commenced when it was decreed that all those who did not swear allegiance nor carry arms should no longer be tolerated. The exodus began anew and continued through the first two decades of the Eighteenth Century. Queen Ann took advantage of this opportunity to recruit people to send to the frontiers of England's North American Colonies. Books and papers were dispersed in the Palatinate in 1708 and 1709, with Queen Ann's picture on the front. The letters on the title page were gold so the books became known as The Golden Book. It’s purpose was to encourage the Palatines to come to England in order to be sent to settle in America. As a result of all this, there are identical and similar DNA test scores of ostensibly English, Alsatian (French) and Germanic families which constitute Families A. 2 through A. 7.

DNA testing for genealogical purposes is not always easy to understand. At times it can be confusing and the matter has been complicated by the change from a ten-marker test to more meaningful and comprehensive tests of a greater number of markers, more fully explained on the "About DNA Testing" page. The researcher is urged to click on the link at the heels of this page entitled “About DNA Testing” and read that page through before then proceeding to ascertain what knowledge DNA tests have brought forth about his or her individual family. It may be quite revealing.

The data which follows is extracted, in large part, from Lehman, Layman Genealogy Handbook which was made available for distribution in 2006. It is a comprehensive summary of all known early Lehman families by all spellings. Included are known European origins with descendants enumerated to at or about the advent of the 20th Century. The book is six by nine inches, hard bound in dark red cloth with gold lettering. It is 280 pages including indexes. Families are grouped with help from the results of 70 y-chromosome DNA tests completed as of the date that this book went to the publisher. Index contains more than 1,200 people named Lehman by numerous spellings, mostly born before 1850 with, to avoid confusion, the actual or an estimated birth date of each. A total of more than 2,000 names and 400 locations are indexed.

That book was a labor of love and not an enterprise for profit. To obtain your copy by return mail, send $20.00 and your U. S. mail address to the compiler at the address below. This covers the book and postage.

If your name is Lehman, by any one of a plethora of spellings, not all of which appear with the coat of arms adjoining this text, and your immigrant ancestor arrived no later than the mid 1700s, this book probably contains data relating to your ancestors. Some effort may be required, however, in order to make the connection and this book is designed to help the Lehman researcher do just that. It is not particularly recommended for him or her whose sole purpose is to immediately read something that he already knows.

On the other hand, however, if you have reached a “sticking place,” having traced your family to the late 1700s or early 1800s and can make no further progress, this book will probably help you get unstuck. You have, from the onset, been working backward in time from the present. In the beginning, that was all that you could do. This book starts with the pre-1760 immigrant and outlines his known descendants to the fourth or fifth generation. That generally comes down to folks born up to about the mid 19th Century. You may know from DNA tests which early families match your DNA. If you have not found a Lehman male relative to do a test, however, that is not essential. You will, with the aid provided by this book, be working foreword in time as well as backward. The object, of course, is to connect the two. Some study on the part of the researcher may be required to make the connection but if you have traced your Lehman ancestors to one born about 1820 or before, he will probably connect with contemporary Lehmans in this book.

Information was compiled and edited by Earl R. Layman, laymanearl@yahoo.com, 2525 Lakefront Ln., Knoxville, TN 37922. Revised 26 Nov. 2009. Dave Koester is Technical Advisor.