The Skill family is woven into Scottish history with its history in the proud Norman people. These people actually had Viking origins. They are first found in Yorkshire where they were granted lands by King William for assistance in the Battle of Hastings.

Some spellings of the name as: Gill or Gille, Gills or Gilles, or Gyle.

The history of the northern lands of Britain has been violent and often tragic. Numerous castles, ruins, songs and legends tell the tale. Although there was certainly contact between Scotland and Scandinavia in earlier times,the Vikings first came to settle in 794 attacking the monastery of Colmcille on Iona in 795, the first major migration came in 888 when King Harold defeated an unruly faction that had to search for a new place to live. Their chief was Earl Sigurd. They made their homes in the Orkney and Shetland Islands in return for a payment of 20,000 shillings.

The Skills then came to America . . . . . . . .

Samuel Skill and his wife Patience Bickman were married in September 1760 at Christ Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Generation One
1. Samuel #1 Skill married Patience Bickham, daughter of Thomas Bickham and Elizabeth Hopper, on 13 Sep 1760.
Known children of Samuel1 Skill and Patience Bickham were:

Generation Two
2. Samuel #2 Skill married Achsah. He and Achsah resided at Gloucester, NJ.
The known children of Samuel2 Skill and Achsah were:

* i. Maria B.3 Skill married John Redfield, son of Samuel Redfield and Ann Heritage, on 11 Nov 1823 at Gloucester Co., NJ; 2nd wife.
* 3. ii. Deborah Skill, born either 1799 or 1800 at Gloucester, NJ; married William Redfield.

Generation Three
3. Deborah3 Skill (Samuel2, Samuel1) was born either 1799 or 1800 at Gloucester, NJ. She married William Redfield, son of Samuel Redfield and Ann Heritage, on 14 Apr 1821. She died on 5 Jul 1877 at Philadelphia, PA.
William Redfield was born on 14 Nov 1799 at Gloucester, NJ. He died on 11 Dec 1865 at Philadelphia, PA, at age 66. He was a hotel keeper. He resided at Southwark, Philadelphia, PA. He was a paper hanger.

The following information is my (Linda Alaythia Skill's) line:

John Skill (1799-1856) the painter and his wife Hestor Jones (1804-1869) lived in Moyamensing, Pennsylvania. Ward 2 where they had six children:

Mary (1828), John (1829), William (1833), Charles, Joseph (1835), and Anna (1840). Charles was taken prisoner during the war and is buried in Arlington VA. William was a carpenter. It is this multiple line of Joseph's that we shall follow. Joseph #1 was a Carpenter, Builder and Magistrate who owned a store at 2501 East Norris Street, Philadelphia. He lived at lived at 2358 East Gordon Street and is listed in the Patriotic Sons of America organization. Here he is:

John and Hestor's son Joseph #1 married Selena Le Page (1838-1904) . This couple had five children: John (1857) Joseph #2 (1864), Ella Lousia (1868), Susan E (1869), and Frank Gody (1871).

Joseph #2 (1864) (above) married Margaret MACHNER

who bore him a daughter Marion and a son Joseph Wilmer (1893). That's Joseph #3 if you are counting!

Joseph Wilmer

Joseph #3 was married three times. His first wife Anna gave birth to two sons. His second son, John was born Auguest 11, 1920 in Phila.Pa and died in California January 1985

Recently his first son Presper Joseph passed away. Survived by his son Jim, P. J. (Presper) passed away Jan 20, 2007 in Calilfornia. As a close advisor and friend, he will truly be missed. Presper is shown below:

His Obituary follows:

P.J. Skill, one of Rancho Bernardo's earliest and most impactful community leaders has died. His legacy will live on in the successful self-governance of Rancho Bernardo, in the recreational opportunities here, in the quality of health care and in the safety services provided by volunteers and professionals.
Born in 1918, Skill was the son of Joseph and Anna Lee. He learned about the world and polished his negotiating skills while he served in the Merchant Marines and United States Army during World War II. He loved to tell the stories of his adventures in Asia during that period in his life.
He was a long-time member of both Shriners and Masons, and a prime supporter of the Shriner's Burn Center.
P.J. married Dorothy (Messenger) in 1945, and they moved to Rancho Bernardo in June, 1964. P.J. owned Sierra Redwood Company in the greater Los Angeles area. When they moved their wholesale lumber business to Rancho Bernardo in 1964 it expanded to include supplying roofing shakes to those homes being built here.
The Skills bought two of the first properties to be sold by Avco Community Developers in the master planned community of Rancho Bernardo. One property was in Seven Oaks, for Dorothy's mother, and the other was in Greens North, on Verano Court, where P.J. lived until his death.
Both P.J. and Dorothy were active in the homeowners association, and one of P.J.'s favorite mantras was that a developer could build houses, but people built communities. He worked tirelessly to monitor the quality of construction and infrastructure as Rancho Bernardo evolved in the late 1960's and early 1970's.
He fought for good television service before the community was served by a major cable television company. Even in the last year of his life, he was scheduling meetings and poring over documents to assure that cable customers in Rancho Bernardo were continuing to get the service that he was sure they deserve.
He worked with local doctors to provide medical care before there was a medical clinic or hospital. He was a member of the Citizens Advisory Council of the first medical clinic, insisting that doctors there make house calls in Rancho Bernardo, and he was instrumental in helping achieve the steps necessary to build Pomerado Hospital. He was a leader in the fight to place Pomerado Hospital on its current site.
He served Rancho Bernardo and the city of San Diego on the city's Park and Recreation board and he was an effective advocate for recreational facilities both in the neighborhood community centers and in the city's regional park north of Westwood.
He worked to improve library services from a weekly visit by a "book mobile,' he campaigned to have paramedics stationed in the community at the fire station, and he worked with the San Diego Police Department in the early days to lower the response time when a resident called for assistance. P.J. was one of the first inductees into the Rancho Bernardo Hall-of-Fame. He was an Honorary Deputy Sheriff, and served a term on a Federal Grand Jury.
He was one of the first volunteers with R.S.V.P. He encouraged the donation of cars for R.S.V.P. patrol members, and he championed a program to ticket people who parked in handicap parking spaces without authorization.

As we said, he will truly be missed!

Below we have brother Jack Skill

Joseph's second wife was Ethel Beans (1901). Note: Here the Beans and Skill families joined giving birth to yours truly, no1rosemom, Linda Alaythia.

His third wife was Helen Chekanski. This marriage produced still another son named . . . Joseph #4! (my half brother) Bless all the Joseph's!!!

Interested in the Machner line originally from England? This is what I have:

John MATCHNER (1766 - 5 May 1830) & Elizabeth STRICKLER ( - 1850) had six children:

1) Joseph MATCHNER (1791 - )

2) Elizabeth MATCHNER (1794 - )

3) Mary MATCHNER (1797 - )

4) John MATCHNER (1800 - 23 Sep 1861) & Susan WEBSTER

5) Jacob MATCHNER (11 Feb 1803 - 20 Jan 1873) & Sarah

6) Rebecca MATCHNER (1810 - )

- - -

John Matchner son of John Matchner and his wife Anne Mackie had three children:

1) Frank Streeter MATCHNER (24 Apr 1857 - )

2) George MATCHNER (20 Jan 1859 - )

3) Anna MATCHNER (24 Sep 1866 - )

The elder John had five children including the John who married Anne Mackie. The others were:

2) Matlida MATCHNER (1830 - )

3) Jesse MATCHNER (1832 - )

4) Rebecca MATCHNER (1839 - )

5) William MATCHNER

In my line Jacob married Sarah having Wilmer who then had Margaret Matchner. Margaret married Joseph Skill (see above). Their son Wilmer Married Hannah Spencer:

Jacob MATCHNER (11 Feb 1803 - 20 Jan 1873) & Sarah

Wilmer MATCHNER & Hannah SPENCER

Margaret MATCHNER (1865 - 12 Jan 1932) & Joseph SKILL (May 1864 - )