> said he was born in Alsace. He was French and his native tongue was > French. Many Alsatians native tongue up until post WWII was Alsatian. Which is a Germanic dialect. Alsatians certainly spoke French and German, but Alsatian would have been the language of everyday use. > In later census records he said he was born in Bavaria or Prussia. I know Don't believe everything you read in census records. The information may not have come directly from the subject in question, but from a: wife, child, neighbor, friend, or the census taker. You have to use your own judgment on whether a particular "fact" fits with what you already know. So don't let conflicting "facts" confuse you. Just record them and give them a believability factor. Baden (especially the Black Forest) borders on both the Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin departments. Loraine borders partly on Hesse-Darmstadt. Haut-Rhin also borders on Switzerland. No part of France borders on Bavaria. Of course depending on the date, Prussia controlled most all of modern day Germany, and then some. Alsace and Lorraine were a part of Prussia for a period of time. I can see an Alsatian claiming to be a citizen of Prussia, or a censor taker indicating such. Bavaria is just so far out there, it is highly improbable an Alsatian would claim to be Bavarian. Your best bet is to take some time and learn something about Alsace-Lorraine during the period of time your ancestors lived there. You would gain a much better understanding and be much less confused. Get some old maps, too. Brian

Brian wrote: >Bavaria is just so far out there, it is highly improbable an Alsatian would claim to be Bavarian. >Alsace and Lorraine were a part of Prussia for a period of time. Brian, The Rheinland Pfalz, also known as the Palatinate, was for a long time part of Bavaria, so there was in fact a part of Bavaria that was near to Alsace. Alsace and Lorraine were a part of the German Empire 1871-1914, but were known as Elsass & Lothringen. Linda in Costa Rica Monroe County, NY Records and Family Genealogy http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~monroenys/ Monroe County, NY History http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~monroenys/