Hi Jerry,

Thank you very much for your helpful reply.

I should have mentioned this in my initial post, but I actually just learned that my grandfather was born in Bessarabia this past weekend (for years my grandmother would say "he was born in Romania", but as I've recently begun to delve into my family's genealogy, I asked her if she knew whereabouts in Romania and was meet with the reply "Bessarabia" - though she does not know a more specific location than that).

The ship's log does not specific an exact location, sadly, it just listed the Schill family's nationality as being Romanian. (Too bad, it would have been great if there was a more concrete location name given.)

Over the past four days I've been pouring over many websites that deal with topics pertaining to Bessarabia and Germans from Russia (prior to discovering a connection to Bessarabia, I knew very little about it, so I'm definitely in the process of learning as I go).

I'd discovered the GRHS site, but the second link you provided is entirely new to me. Thank you so much for both of them!

Right now the "big hurdle" is finding any information prior to 1930 (when the family came to Canada). I know that my grandfather (Arnold Schill) was born in 1923 and have "circa" dates for the births of several of his siblings (and his parents), but do not know of a single Schill relative dating further back than his parents.

I'm dearly hoping to find names of my Schill g-g-grandparents (the next generation back after Johannes and Maria) so that I can possibly start to find other ancestors of mine on sites such as the ones you discussed.

You brought up a great place to look for further information: my grandparent's marriage record (and if I could obtain copies of them, marriage records for his siblings). I will ask my grandmother if she has a copy (and if so, what information is provided on it for my grandfather). Likewise I'm going to inquire as to if she has a copy of my grandfather's birth and death certificates.

It's really interesting to know that there are Schills recorded in Bessarabia dating back to the 1830s, hopefully one day I'll be able to conclusively determine if some of those names have a place in my family tree.


Sincere thanks again for your informative reply, Jerry, it is very much appreciated.

Kindest regards,
Jessica