This email was written by Bronson Hilliard on March 9, 1998 to Vonda Heverly, and is used with permission. Some editing by Vonda Heverly.

"... Anyway, it looks more and more to me as if the Hilyards are really the HILGERTS; that changes their ethnic makeup from one of English descent to one of German descent. Think about it; Fayette County, PA has a "German Township"; the early baptismal record from Lancaster County (Chocked FULL of German immigrants from the 1660's on, especially Mennonites and Amish) is for the Lutheran church; Pennsylvania in general is a common entrance point for German immigrants in colonial America; all the supporting witnesses and sponsors for church membership for later Hilgert children appear to be of German descent. The later Hilyard migration pattern -- Penn. to Ohio -- follows the Mennonite migration pattern almost to a T.**

I think the sum total of this evidence leans heavily toward a German origin of the family name rather than just a simple mispelling by census takers. At the dates and times you've uncovered, America was still VERY HEAVILY ethnic; ethnic enclaves of Germans, especially in Pennsylvania, tended to stick together, attending German-language churches, intermarrying with other ethnic Germans as much as possible, etc. I don't think it likely that an English surname -- Hilyard -- would be found amongst GERMAN church records in PA, although it certainly is possible. I think the next step in the research would be to look up this FRANZ HILGERT (or "Francis Hilyard, as I believe it is sometimes spelled) and see if we can't go back even further.

**Though the Hilyards apparently aren't Mennonites until much later (and then only some of them), as ethnic Germans, they would have found in common with them a language and recognizable culture: one that they might have stayed close to for other reasons, since Mennonite immigrants were often VERY PROSPEROUS farmers who had a reputation for finding quality farmland. Non-Mennonites would follow Mennonite farmers in their migrations just to obtain better lands, or often to work on their large farms. As you may or may not know, there are large Mennonite settlements in Fayette County, PA (from the late 1700's); Fairfield County, Ohio (from about 1810 to 1860); and Allen County, Ohio (from the 1830's to the present). The dates match our family's moves across the country."


This email is from 6 Jul 1999.  After researching the practices of the German Reformed Church, Bronson shared the following:

"I went to the source on baptismal records that you have previously cited regarding the baptism of Thomas Hilyard in 1723 at the German Reformed Church in Lancaster, PA.

Let me just say with all confidence that this, in my mind, confirms that the ethnic origins of the Hilyards are German, and NOT English. To wit: the German reformed church in America WAS A GERMAN-SPEAKING CHURCH until well into the 1840s; the liturgy was in German, the bibles were in German, prayer was in German, and ministers came largely from Germany until after 1800. The church often shared ministers with the Lutheran church and there was much cross-marriage and shared community responsibilities among Lutheran and Reformed churchgoers.

Secondly, the baptismal record for 1773 is for THOMAS HILGERT, not HILYARD. This is significant; taken with the baptism of Thomas's daughter Susanna (along with the German surnamed witnesses listed) Hilgert, we can BE VIRTUALLY ASSURED of German heritage for the Hilyard-Hilgerts, rather than a simple census error on the spelling of the name. The baptism in the German reformed church in Lancaster -- a county in Pennsylvania that might well be called the Plymouth Rock of German settlement in America -- is one clue, but the church itself is the other clue: no Englishman or Irishman, unless married into a German family and fluent in German, would voluntarily elect for baptism in a church whose services were conducted entirely in German (as they were in 1773, WITHOUT QUESTION). Thirdly, Reformed and Lutheran ministers kept VERY KEAN, PRECISE, ORDERLY church records (in that finicky German way). It is noted, for example, that Thomas Hilgert was 23 years old at the time of his baptism. Were he a member of another church -- a catholic, an Anglican or Presbyterian -- it would likely be noted in the baptismal record, as these early deacons nearly always noted when one of their parishoners was a convert from another faith. Were Thomas Hilyard English, this would likely be reflected in the religion of his birth, and
very likely to be noted by the church record keepers. Again, this is strong -- more than just circumstantial -- evidence of Thomas Hilyard's name being Thomas Hilgert and thus, German.

Therefore, whether we are kin to the other Hilgert-Hilyards notwithstanding, I suggest we expand our searches of Pennsylvania history to include the name HILGERT alongside HILYARD. If we are relatively certain that the Thomas Hilgert listed in the German Reformed Church Record of 1773 is our ancestor, then we can also be almost certain that our original family name is Hilgert. My guess would be that the name is southern German -- from the Alsace or Lorraine area -- or possibly Hugenot, pronounced HEEL-GARE, from the same region (where people have German sounding names but speak French and visa versa). This was a strong area of conversion of protestants ranging from Mennonites to Hugenots."