The earliest ancestor of the pioneer immigrant Andreas Kilian with a documented line of descent is his great-great-grandfather Sebastian Kilian. He lived in Kühnhard, then in Bavaria, but after a boundary change in 1810 it was in the state of Württemberg until 1952 when Baden and Württemberg merged into the state Baden-Württemberg .
Sebastian Kilian was recorded as the father of Georg Kilian in the record of Georg’s marriage to Anna Weldmann in Kühnhard on the 12th of February 1611. The date of this marriage shows Sebastian Kilian had to have been born no later than 1570, but probably much earlier and 1550 is a better estimate. Georg was not his only child, and may not have been the eldest. Also Sebastian may have had an earlier wife, in which case he would have been born well before 1570.
The land register of the barons of Wollmershausen in Castle Amlishagen (11 kilometers northwest of Kühnhard) recorded that Bastian Kilian had a farm in Kühnhard and after him Martin Kilian. Bastian is a nickname for Sebastian. Other evidence from church records and in the Wollmershausen records indicate Bastian and Sabastian were the same person. No other record has been found for Martin. He may, or may not have been Sebastian’s son. Farm leases were often hereditary, but Martin could have been some other relative.
Sebastian’s son Georg was born in Kühnhard, but moved a few kilometers away to Limbach, at least by the time he married Anna Weldmann in 1611. The land register of the barons of Wollmershausen dated 1612 says Georg Kilian had a farm in Limbach, years ago, Later owned by Georg Hörner, which he obtained from Michel Ehenner. This means Georg was farming in Limbach at least before 1600, which would move Sebastian’s birth date estimate to at least ten years earlier than Georg’s marriage date indicates.
Note: This information and much more can be found in the book 'The Forefathers of North Carolina Pioneer Andreas Killian' By William McCreight (2011) and published by AKDHA.