Welcome to the Schumpert/Jumper DNA Project.  This project was originally established by Sherman E. Jumper of Eads, Tennessee, on 2 October 2006.  He served for many years as the Group Project Administrator (GPA) for this project, and we will ever be grateful for his pioneering work in this area.

The original focus of the project was on identifying and connecting the numerous lines of Jumpers in North America, and early research was successful in identifying three main lines:
- New England Jumpers (descending from England)
- Pennsylvania Jumpers (descending from Germany)
- Southern Jumpers (descending from Germany)

Since traditional genealogical records suggest that the latter two lines possibly descend from the same Schumpert family in Beerfelden, Hessen, Germany, the project has expanded as of May 2012 to include those Schumpert descendants in North America whose surnames were kept largely the same upon arrival (Shumpert is one known variant, along with possibly Shempert and Shepherd).

Also, traditional genealogical records indicate that the Pennsylvania line actually has two branches due to different immigrant families, one that entered via Philadelphia and settled in Cumberland County, and another that also entered via Philadelphia but settled in Northampton County.

Lastly, traditional research reveals several Tschumpert/Tschumper families originating in the Midwest (Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota, and Kansas) with Swiss origins.  Since it is believed that the Beerfelden Schumperts originally migrated northwards from Switzerland, there very well might be a connection here, and the project has expanded to consider that possibility.

Accordingly, the project has been reorganized with the following subgroups, and a brief background for each of them is included below:
- New England Jumpers
- Cumberland Pennsylvania Jumpers
- Northampton Pennsylvania Jumpers
- Southern Jumpers
- Southern Schumperts
- Midwest Tschumperts/Tschumpers

New England Jumpers

Edward Jumper, the progenitor of the New England Jumpers, emigrated from Hampshire, England, and settled in Maine in 1702.  Many of his earliest descendants migrated to Massachusetts, New York, and beyond by 1800.  Today, small clusters of the New England Jumper families are found in scattered locations across the nation, including the Midwest, the upper plains, and the far West.

Pennsylvania Jumpers

Several discrete clusters of Jumpers situated in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois are mostly remnants of the Pennsylvania Jumpers, who are the descendants of German immigrants Johann Conrad Schumpert and Johann Jacob Schumpert.

Johann Conrad Schumpert was born 2 June 1757 to Johannes Schumpert and Elisabeth Christina Seiss in Gammelsbach, a community within Beerfelden, Erbach County, in the state of Hessen, Germany.  He emigrated from Germany with his mother and step-father Johann Adam Sand and arrived in Philadelphia on the ship Chance, captained by Charles Smith, from Rotterdam via Cowes on 23 September 1766.  He settled in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, and married Eva ___ and Magdalena ___ and had 7 children between them.  Like several of the lines, their name was anglicized to Jumper either due to pronunciation or a misreading of the old German script.

In Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, the Jumper line is known to descend from a Jacob Jumper and a Conrad Jumper.  They are believed to be the sons of Johann Jacob Schumpert, born 9 July 1718 in Gammelsbach, a community within Beerfelden, Erbach County, in the state of Hessen, Germany (note: he was a first cousin once removed of the Northampton County Johann Conrad Schumpert above).  The family apparently arrived in Philadelphia 14 September 1751 on the ship St Andrew under Capt. James Abercrombie, from Rotterdam, Holland, via Cowes, England.  Once again, their name was anglicized to Jumper when they settled in Cumberland County.

Southern Jumpers

The Southern Jumper Families descent stems from Johannes Conrad Schumbert/Schumpert, alias John Conrad Jumper. In the late spring of 1756, this German native emigrated from Holland to South Carolina aboard the vessel Friendship, piloted by Captain Sam Ball out of London. Arriving in CharlesTowne [Charleston], South Carolina on 21 June 1756, he petitioned the Council Journal for a land grant on 7 July 1756 and on 10 August, he was awarded 200 acres “for the petitioner, wife and child.”  His German surname was found anglicized to Jumper in British Colonial Records about 1760, but Schumbert did not adopt the anglicized surname until about 1769.  His descendents migrated to Alabama by 1830 and today are found all over the South, particularly in Mississippi.

Southern Schumperts/Shumperts

The Schumpert family of the Dutch Fork arrived in South Carolina on 5 October 1766, having traveled on the Brittania.  The family came from the community of Hebstahl in Beerfelden, Erbach County, in the state of Hessen, Germany.  Johann Jacob Schumpert was born 13 June 1721 in Unter Beerfelden, the son of Johann Nicel Schumpert and Catharina Braner.  He was married in Beerfelden on 9 December 1746 to Anna Christina Paulus, who was born 8 September 1717, the daughter of Georg Paulus and Margaretha Menges of Hebstahl.  When they immigrated to America, they brought with them their daughter Maria Elisabeth and sons Johann Jacob, George Adam, and Johann (John) Peter.  The latter son had a big family of his own, and all South Carolina Schumperts/Shumperts and Mississippi Shumperts (spelling changed once they migrated to take advantage of federal land grants) descend from him.

Midwest Tschumperts/Tschumpers

Not much is known about this line yet except that there seem to be two early clusters, both emigrating from Switzerland, in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  It is hoped that this project can shed some more light on these families.