SCHILLING, Samuel

History of Northern Wisconsin. Chicago: Western Historical, 1881, p 164

Samuel SCHILLING, merchant, [Alma, Buffalo County, Wisconsin] junior member 
of the firm of Tester & Schilling, was born 09 October 1832* [1852?] in 
Buffalo* [La Crosse?] County, of German** [Swiss?] parents. In 1873 he 
engaged in business with Mr. [John W.] TESTER [see also the combined Buffalo 
County, Wisconsin, biographies of John A. and John W. TESTER, both merchants 
in Alma.] In 1874 Samuel SCHILLING married Annie SAXER, who was born 01 
March 1853 in Switzerland. They have one child, Edwin. [Submitter did not 
verify Annie SAXER's name, its spelling, or the birthday given for her. The 
biography does not specifically state that SAXER was Annie's maiden name, but 
it does indirectly say she was about twenty-one when she married Samuel, 
making it more likely SAXER was her maiden name. There were persons of Swiss 
origin with the SAXER surname residing in the U. S. (e. g., Kansas) in 1880, 
but submitter found no SAXER families in the 1880 census of Alma (the closest 
was SEXAUER). The SCHILLING surname appears several times in the 1880 Alma 
census, both as SCHILLING and SHILLING. Frederick SCHILLING, born in 1851, 
son of Daniel SCHILLING, is said to have been the first child (white child) 
born in Buffalo County, but Buffalo county did not take its first shape until 
January 1853, so he was probably born in what was still La Crosse County, 
that county being created the same year, 1851.]

[* In 1832 what later became Buffalo County, Wisconsin, was still unorganized 
land in Michigan Territory. The Territory of Wisconsin was created from part 
of Michigan Territory on 20 April 1836, and the State of Wisconsin on 29 May 
1848. Buffalo County did not take begin to take shape until January 1853, 
when it was set off for judicial purposes from LaCrosse County. Land from 
Chipppewa County was attached to Buffalo in January 1854, and on 24 March 
1854 the portion of LaCrosse County west of the Trempealeau River was also 
added. Finally a strip was severed from the east side of Buffalo and added 
to Trempealeau County when that county was created in 1854. Thus it would be 
impossible for Samuel SCHILLING to be born in Buffalo County in 1832. Either 
the author meant that Mr. SCHILLING was born in what later became Buffalo 
County, or more likely the year of birth is a typo in the original text. His 
1880 census enumeration (see next paragraph) indicates the year of his birth 
would more likely be 1852.]

[** This SCHILLING family is enumerated in the 1880 census of Alma, Buffalo 
County, Wisconsin: Samuel SCHILLING, age twenty-seven, hardware merchant, 
born in Wisconsin, about 1853 by his census age, to parents also born in 
Switzerland (not Germany as given in the biography; he was probably born in a 
German-speaking area of Switzerland); Anna SCHILLING, his wife, twenty-five, 
born in Switzerland, about 1855 (biography gives 1853 as her year of birth), 
to parents also born there; Edwin SCHILLING, his son, age three, born in 
Wisconsin to a father born in Wisconsin and mother born in Switzerland. John 
C. ELLER, unrelated to Mr. SCHILLING, twenty-four, a tinsmith, born in New 
Jersey to parents born in Prussia, completes the household. Submitter did 
not track this family in other census years.]

[Since Samuel SCHILLING was enumerated in the 1880 census earlier than 09 
October of that year (every census page carrying an exact enumeration date) 
and since his age is given as twenty-seven (he would have become twenty-eight 
09 October 1880), the 1880 census enumeration does not dispute the day and 
month of his birth given in the biography. The year of his birth is likely a 
typo in the original text, and should probably be 1852, not 1832, and if born 
in 1852, then the place of birth given in the original text does not appear 
entirely correct when placed in the framework of the county evolution. He 
would have been born in what was then still La Crosse County, Wisconsin. 
Bracketed material added by submitter (who is not researching these surnames) 
to support and clarify information given in the biography and to raise 
questions.]

Submitted by Cathy Kubly