Jacquie: Never say never!  If there are male direct line descendants, you can have a yDNA test done and possibly discpver matches with the European ancestors. Bob Epp Epp Surname Researcher DNA Project: www.ftdna.com 703-475-6233 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred and Jacquie Schattner" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 12:26:06 AM Subject: Re: [A-L] Illegitimate births? Sometimes the couple just had to wait until they had enough money to marry. I think there was a marriage tax of some sort.  I don't think this was so unusual. There is a woman in our family who had 5 children, no father ever mentioned, all who have their mother's maiden name.  Each time the father of this woman goes to the village to record their births.  I can just imagine the shame of saying AGAIN, my unmarried daughter had another child.  When she came to the united states she declared herself a widow.  The children do not give father's names on the marriage certificates.  I'll never know who the father(s) are. Is it one father, and they never married, or 5 different fathers?  I'm trying to find photos to see if the children look anything alike. Jacquie

A good idea! Jacquie -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bob Epp Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 12:26 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [A-L] Illegitimate births? Jacquie: Never say never! If there are male direct line descendants, you can have a yDNA test done and possibly discpver matches with the European ancestors. Bob Epp Epp Surname Researcher DNA Project: www.ftdna.com 703-475-6233 ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fred and Jacquie Schattner" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 12:26:06 AM Subject: Re: [A-L] Illegitimate births? Sometimes the couple just had to wait until they had enough money to marry. I think there was a marriage tax of some sort. I don't think this was so unusual. There is a woman in our family who had 5 children, no father ever mentioned, all who have their mother's maiden name. Each time the father of this woman goes to the village to record their births. I can just imagine the shame of saying AGAIN, my unmarried daughter had another child. When she came to the united states she declared herself a widow. The children do not give father's names on the marriage certificates. I'll never know who the father(s) are. Is it one father, and they never married, or 5 different fathers? I'm trying to find photos to see if the children look anything alike. Jacquie -- Resources for Alsace-Lorraine list members: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~valorie/Alsace-Lorraine-L.htm ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message