Checked the online phonebook for all of France and found no hits on Sherbenant/Sherbinant/Cherbinant/Cherbinent so likely this was a phonetic spelling of your ancestor's name by the port official. As for his Alsace-Lorraine heritage that is highly likely given the transitional nature of that part of France/Germany during the 1840-1880 timeframe. Part of my wife's family left Lorraine during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871. You might be able to localize the area your g-grandfather came from by noting from maps which areas changed nationality in those eras - his town was part of France in 1846 but part of Germany in 1871 - see the following for a map of the areas of German conquest: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alsace-Lorraine Rikard Hill -----Original Message----- From: alsace-lorraine-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:alsace-lorraine-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of ernie.olson@comcast.net Sent: Friday, July 04, 2008 10:10 AM To: alsace-lorraine@rootsweb.com Subject: [A-L] Your opinions please I would appreciate any comments any of you may have on the following: My great grandfather was born 4 April 1846 in France. He was a Weslyan Methodist. He migrated to Canada sometime before 1866. His name is listed in two lower Ontario census as Joseph SHERBINANT and Joseph SHERBENANT. Is that a common French name or do you think that this might be a compromise as a result of an English-speaking port offical from maybe CHARBONEAU/CHERBONNEAX/CHERBONEAUX or something like that? Secondly, in an 1871 Ontario census he lists himself as ethnic French but gives his birth place as Germany (his death certificate says he was born in France). Would this suggest that he might be from Alsace-Lorraine? I have been searching for over twenty years and am stuck here. Would really appreciate any comments on the above, suggestion where to search or any other thoughts any of you may have. Thank you so very much, Ernie -- 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 ALSACE-LORRAINE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message