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Dillman Family Settlement Concentrations and Migration Patterns

The Dillman surname and its variants spread across North America in four distinct waves over roughly 250 years. This page maps those settlement patterns using data compiled from the DFA’s Family Group Sheets. The map reflects documented family groups rather than individual population counts — states with more groups had more distinct, unrelated Dillman lines present. Family Group Sheets 1–16 are confirmed through Y-DNA testing; all subsequent groups are documented from migration and historical records.

🔎 How to use this map: Drag the From/To sliders (or click a preset) to filter the map to a specific date range. US states shade blue, Canadian provinces shade green — darker means more documented groups. Hover any state or province to see its name. Scroll down for detailed notes on key settlement concentrations.

199
Family groups
27
States represented
New York
Most documented
Settlement locations by date range (199 groups)
Drag the sliders to filter by immigration year. State/province shading shows group count in the selected range.
1637
1954
106 of 106 dated groups shown — range 1637–1954
AB BC CA CO CT FL IL KY LA MA MB MD ME MI MN MO MS ND NE NJ NM NS NY OH ON OR PA QC SD SK TX VA VT WA WI
Real state and province boundaries (simplemaps.com, free SVG library, used under their license). State/province colors and labels reflect groups in the selected date range; grey areas have no data in this dataset. © Dillman Family Association 2026.

This map now uses real per-group settlement data with genuine year-range filtering for both US states and Canadian provinces — not approximated shading. Family Group 18 and Group 2a (Nova Scotia) are the earliest documented Canadian arrivals, both from 1776.

Origin regions

  • Hesse, Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany)
  • Alsace (France/Germany border region)
  • Volga River colonies (Norka, Frank — Russia)
  • Netherlands, Belgium
  • England, Scandinavia

Migration waves

Colonial (1730s–1800): Earliest arrivals settling primarily in Pennsylvania and Nova Scotia, predating the United States itself.
1840–1880: The major 19th-century wave from Hesse, Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Alsace, settling New York, the Midwest, and Pennsylvania.
1880–1920: Volga German colonists settling the Great Plains and Canadian Prairie provinces, and later the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia.
1920–Present: Later 20th-century arrivals and continued internal migration across both the US and Canada, including postwar refugee families.

Notable Settlement Concentrations

New York (58 groups)
By far the largest concentration in the dataset. Most arrived between 1840 and 1880 from Hesse, Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Alsace, settling in New York City and surrounding counties — the primary port of entry for the 19th-century wave.

Pennsylvania (19 groups)
The earliest and most historically significant concentration. Adams County is particularly associated with the Andrew Dillman line (Family Group 1), documented there from at least the 1780s.

Wisconsin (10 groups)
A mix of direct German immigrants (1840s–1880s) and Volga German settlers. Milwaukee was a major destination for Dillmann families from Rhineland-Palatinate.

Ohio (9 groups)
A significant Midwest concentration, consistent with the broader pattern of German immigrant settlement through Ohio’s 19th-century industrial centers.

California (9 groups)
A mix of direct arrivals and later internal migration, reflecting the broader westward movement of Dillman families through the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Missouri (8 groups)
Part of the same westward Midwest settlement pattern as neighboring Illinois and Ohio.

Data sourced from the Dillman Family Association Family Group Sheets (199 groups). US state figures are drawn directly from that dataset; Canadian province shading reflects groups already documented in this page’s text rather than a full per-province count. Settlement dates are approximate. This map covers North American family groups only; Dillman families are also documented in Germany, Netherlands, France, Australia, Brazil, Chile, and South Africa. Last updated August 2026.

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