Re: origin of surname shildneck
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In reply to:
origin of surname shildneck
5/23/01
A family myth goes as follows...
Two brothers (I will have to check which ones) owned a tannery in Hagerstown, MD.The sign maker was unable to fit Schildknecht and Schildknecht on the marquis so he took the liberty of shortening one of the names.The brothers played a game of chance (flipped a coin) to decide which one was to take on the new spelling.
This story came from my 91 year old grandfather who grew up and still lives a few miles from Hagerstown.