Why I believe George Adam Kellenberger was born in Lower Palatinate, Germany:

KILLENBERGER, George Adam, adult [born before 1748], admitted this day, 1 June 1766, to the sacraments (of penance and eucharist) born in Creutz-Steniach, in the Upper Palatinate, of a Catholic mother and a Calvinist father, instructed in Lutheranism by his step-father, but never professed this heresy, emigrated with his parents to Halifax seventeen years ago [c.1749], came to Pennsylvania last year [1765], and is now staying in Falkner's Swamp.

Special Thank You's to Bill Rowland, co-author of Kellenbergers and Shearers of Pennsylvania, Maryland and points west, to Robert Theiss and Andreas Winkler of the Ancestry.com message boards for their help with German geography and history, and to Robert Theiss, Sonja G., Manfred, Mihaela Fehlker, Juergen Kleinschroth, and Erdmuthe Farthofer for their translations.

There are two areas of Germany described as "Palatinates": the Upper and the Lower. The Upper is in eastern Bavaria and the Lower is on Germany's western border...they are not connected.

Upper Palatinate Lower Palatinate

For decades, the search for Creutz-Steinach in the Upper Palatinate has gone unsatisfied; The word Steinach is contained in dozens of cities across Germany and appears to mean "stone". Those knowledgable of old German tell me Creutz is a variation of Kreuz; meaning "Cross". In the Upper Palatinate, no cities have been found containing both words.

The more time I spent learning about the Palatinates and German immigration around 1750 (see list below), the more reasons there were to focus the search on the Lower Palatinate:

1) "The Palatinate" (Pfalz or Kurpfalz) is frequently referred to in Genealogy and nearly always means the Lower Palatinate (Rhine Palatinate).
2) "Upper Palatinate" is rarely referred to as a location in and of itself. Cities in this area are usually referred to as Bavaria.
3) the Lower Palatinate (or Rhine Palatinate) was where the influx of Germans came from between 1748 and 1752...Lunenberg, Nova Scotia being one of the main landing points.
4) The Rhine Palatinate was by far the source of the largest group of German immigrants in America at the time of George Adam Kellenberger.
5) Bavarian Germans were rare in America at this time.

In all of Germany, just one city is found with both Kreuz and Steinach in the name: the city of Heiligkreuzsteinach; currently in Baden-Wurttemberg but prior to 1803 a part of the Rhine Pfalz (the Lower Palatinate).

And in this city is where I found the death of Adam Kellenberger 6 Feb 1746 in the Reformed (Calvinist) Church Records...fitting in perfectly as George Adam's father; as described in the Confirmation Record.

More reading on the Palatinates:

The Palatine Project (Check this one out first)
Palatine Emigrants
Location of the Palatinate/s in the German Nations (by James W. Green III)
1568 Map Oberpfalz / Upper Palatinate
History and Description of Rhenish Palatinate
1923 Palatinate & Bavaria
Articles on 18th Century Palatine German Immigrants
Our German Palatine Heritage
Pennsylvania German Pioneers Passenger Lists
Palatine Ship Passenger Lists
Palatines to America
Other German cities with similar names
Palatines to America [II]
Palatine & Pennsylvania Dutch Genealogy

And just FYI, here are the cities found searching Multimap for names with Creutz, Creuz, Kreutz, Kreuz and Heilig - near the Palatinates...

Heiligkreuzsteinach 69253	Because of the evidence I've laid out about this city (back), this is the object of my focus at this time. This city would have been a part of the Lower Palatinate in the mid 1700s.
Kreuzholzen 85408	Southwestern edge of Upper Palatinate.
Oberkreuzberg 94518	Southeastern edge of Upper Palatinate. Near this city, in 94518, is a city named Steinach.
Kreuzberg & Kreuzbachklause 94078	Just south of the above location...not sure yet if it lies inside historic Upper Palatinate.
Kreuz 84149	Possibly near southern edge of Upper Palatinate.
Kreuzhauserhof 85551
Heiligkreuz 84489
Heiligkreuz 85646
Heiligkreuz 83308

Cities found searching Multimap for names with Creutz, Creuz, Kreutz, Kreuz and Heilig - that are outside of the Palatinates:

CREUNITZ, GRÄFENTHAL, 98743 50:31:11N (50.5196), 11:17:06E (11.2851)
KREUZ, GLONN, 85625 47:57:42N (47.9618), 11:54:50E (11.9139)
KREUZ, FLENSBURG, 24943 54:47:23N (54.7899), 9:28:38E (9.4772)
KREUZ, BAD OEYNHAUSEN, 32549 52:14:27N (52.2409), 8:47:32E (8.7923)
KREUZSTRAßE, VALLEY, 83626 47:53:11N (47.8863), 11:46:05E (11.7679)
KREUZ, GLONN, 85625 47:57:42N (47.9618), 11:54:50E (11.9139)
KREUZHUB, BAD FEILNBACH, 83075
KREUZ, VELDEN, 84149
HEILIGKREUZ, TROSTBERG, 83308
HEILIGKREUZ, BURGHAUSEN, 84489
HEILIGKREUZ, ANZING, 85646

There are dozens of cities named Steinach - and I will hope to never have to dig into them...but here's the Postal Codes of the ones I have found so far that are in or near the Palatinates:

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