Hi y’all, Some of you might descend from the (non-Acadian) Exnicios family of SE Louisiana. The origins of the family have been sought for a long time, and a cousin may have found them. The earliest Exnicios, Louis, was a doctor, from “Oprichain,” Germany, and married Marie Louise Pontiff in 1798 in Edgard. We had decided some time ago that “Oprichain” was probably Obrigheim, a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, Germany. A cousin of mine Jim Exnicios, found records in two places of a Ludwig Schnitzius, a Hessian solder who was a hired mercenary fighting for the English in the Revolutionary War. Ludwig was made a prisoner of war in 1779 and defected in 1780 to the Spanish army in New Orleans. So we have the name similarity (Schnitzius is a pretty uncommon name), and the right-place-at-the-right-time thing… … but best of all, Ludwig’s birthplace is listed as Obrigheim. I think we have a pretty good case that Exnicios was originally Schnitzius, and Ludwig and Louis were one and the same. In the baptismal record of Louis’s son, Jean Louis, the baby’s parents (i.e. Louis’s parents) are listed as “George Exnicios” and “Catherine Barbara Staaelman.” I think we should start looking for a George Schnitzius and Catherine Barbara Stallman, Stahlman, etc. — from Hesse. Hope this is useful to someone! cheers, Gordon p.s. Here are the websites where you can check out the information on Ludwig. http://www.lagis-hessen.de/en/subjects/xsearch/pageSize/50/page/2/sn/hetrina?q=YToxOntzOjM6Im9reiI7czo1OiJENjcxOSI7fQ== <http://www.lagis-hessen.de/en/subjects/xsearch/pageSize/50/page/2/sn/hetrina?q=YToxOntzOjM6Im9reiI7czo1OiJENjcxOSI7fQ==> http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~amrevhessians/wd.htm <http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~amrevhessians/wd.htm>