What a great time you must have had in Alsace. Thanks for the update. I know this is an tough question, but can you remember any of the records or books you found referrring to a family named Kirch(h)off. I know they were from the Alsace Lorraine regions. I looked at today's phone directory and the concentration of Kirchhoff's seemed to be in the Haut-Rhin Department especially from Comar to Mulhouse. Mine immigrated to the US in about 1880 although the husband Joseph came a couple of years earlier to earn money for the families passage. I am looking through LDS records looking for them but haven't yet done any good. Also any pointers would be appreciated. Steve Claggett On Mon, May 5, 2008 at 10:05 PM, <RobtBehra@aol.com> wrote: > At the end of April I came back from a wonderful month-long trip to > northeastern France. The first part of the trip was spent in the company > of my > brother and our aunt and uncle. After visiting cousins who live in > Franch-Comté, > the region just south of Alsace, we set out in a rented car to see some of > the > areas in which our ancestors had lived. Using Saint-Avold as a base, we > explored the Moselle countryside around the communities of > Bérig-Vintrange, > Vallerange, Faulquemont, Créhange, Guessling-Hémering and Grostenquin. We > spent > part of one day in Nancy (fascinating potato trees just off the Place > Stanislas) > and another day, with German friends of my brother, in Saarland, visiting > the > cities of Sankt Wendel and Neunkirchen and the small town of Hasborn. > After > leaving Moselle we drove into Alsace and stopped to see the castle of > Haut-Koenigsbourg. Our base of operations in Alsace was the Auberge du > Mehrbachel, > very high on a mountainside above the community of Saint-Amarin. We > visited > many communities in the two adjacent valleys that were home to most of our > Alsatian ancestors. My aunt and uncle, who had not visited France > before, > enjoyed all the sights, sounds and tastes. My brother, who had joined me > on a > similar family pilgrimage several years ago, had made great progress > recently in > his study of the French language and I think that enabled him to get more > out > of the experience this time. One highlight of this part of the trip > (unfortunately the day after my brother had to leave) was a reception at > the town hall > in Fellering, where my great-grandfather (my uncle's grandfather) was > born. > The mayor and her four assistants were present and we were shown the > registers > with the birth records of my great-grandfather (1869), his mother (1838) > and > his grandmother (1803). We were served kouglof (a typical Alsatian cake > with > lots of variant spellings) and crémant d'Alsace (sparkling Alsatian wine) > and > we sat and visited for quite a while. Two local reporters were present, > so > we ended up getting our picture in the paper. > > After my uncle and aunt left I headed to Colmar and spent eight days doing > research at the Archives Départementales. Their hours are M-F 9-12:30, > 1:30-5, > and I endeavored to make the fullest use of the time -- I looked at, and > took > notes on, 601 documents. Even so, this was much less than I had hoped to > accomplish (I'll just have to keep going back, I guess). The focus of my > research was a series of notarial records known as "inventaires et > partages après > décès" (estate inventories and settlements) that can be a gold mine of > information, especially if the parish either has no extant records or if > the records > that do exist are not particularly informative (e.g., a marriage record > that > says Jean Schmitt married Marie Anne Meyer, without naming their parents). > I > went through every inventory for the town of Fellering (1598-1789) and > then > started in on those for Oderen (they start in 1625; I got through 1765 > before > running out of time). I also looked briefly at wills, but they were much > harder > to slog through and much less informative, so I gave up on them quickly. > (These notarial records are almost all written in German, in the typical > German > handwriting of the period; let me know privately if you're interested in > seeing a sample -- I took lots of digital photographs and would be happy > to send > you one to see what they look like.) In this process I made > breakthroughs on > four lines and added lots of new ancestors. The biggest breakthrough, > though > it only resulted in identifying one new ancestor, was to finally solve the > mystery surrounding the origins of Petrus Golly. His 1696 marriage > record calls > him the adoptive son of Ludovicus Schumacher, but none of the church > records > shed any light on that relationship. Schumacher was married three times, > but > there didn't appear to be any connection between his wives and Petrus > Golly. > One of the wills I looked at before giving up on them was that of > Schumacher's third wife (they were married in 1685), and in it she is said > to have an > illegitimate son and later in the will that son is named as Peter Kolli. > Her > 1685 marriage record says that she was from Canton Bern, Switzerland, and > was > married after embracing the Catholic faith, so she is my grandfather's > first > confirmed Calvinist ancestor. Now all I have to do is find a baptism > record > for an illegitimate son Peter born to a Catharina Rott somewhere in Canton > Bern > around 1672. > > A highlight of this second part of my trip was a visit to Strasbourg, > where I > climbed to the observation deck of the cathedral (216 feet straight up a > narrow spiral staircase, which I insisted on taking two steps at a time). > I got > to the top just before 10 a.m. on a Sunday and it sounded like all the > bells > in the city were ringing. I stayed up there quite a while just taking in > the > view and listening to the sounds. I was then met by a friend and fellow > genealogist who had invited me to join her for what turned out to be a > very > pleasant visit with her family over lunch. At her suggestion I visited > the Musée > de l'Oeuvre Notre Dame, the museum associated with the cathedral, and saw > a > very impressive exhibition of 15th-century artwork (I've recommended that > my > library purchase the catalog). Just before leaving Strasbourg I heard a > brief > organ concert at the cathedral. > > During the entire month I was in France I was warmly and graciously > welcomed > by family, friends and complete strangers. I hope at least some of them > will > give me the opportunity one day to return the favor. > > I bought lots of books. Listed below are some that might be of general > interest to those members of the list who read French: > > Les noms de famille du Haut-Rhin, by Anne de Bergh, Laurent Millet and > Marie-Odile Mergnac (Paris : Archives & Culture, (c)2007; ISBN > 9782350770628) > > This book lists the 1000 most common surnames in the département du > Haut-Rhin > (southern Alsace) and says something about each of them (origin, prominent > people who bore the name, variations, etc.). I bought it because it > includes > my name, but I can't really recommend it because I suspect the authors > don't > know what they're talking about when it comes to the origins of specific > names > (this is a common failing in such books -- they are full of > generalizations and > guesswork based on perceived meaning of the name rather than on actual > research). > > Quand la France pleurait l'Alsace-Lorraine : les "provinces perdues" aux > sources du patriotisme républicain 1870-1914, by Laurence Turetti > (Strasbourg : La > Nuée Bleue, (c)2008; ISBN 9782716507097) > > Terre d'Alsace, rêve d'Amérique : roman historique, by Elisabeth > Jaeger-Wolff > ([Strasbourg?] : Éditions du Bastberg, (c)2003; ISBN 9782848230207) > > Active, propre, honnête : jeunes filles alsaciennes en place à Paris > 1900-1960, by Jean Haubenestel (Strasbourg : [J. Haubenestel], 2002; ISBN > 2950976328) > > Protestants d'Alsace et de Moselle : lieux de mémoire et de vie, edited by > Antoine Pfeiffer (Ingersheim : Oberlin/SAEP, 2006; ISBN 2737208122) > > Robert Behra > > > ************** > Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists > on family favorites at AOL Food. > > (http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?NCID=aolfod00030000000001) > -- > 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 >

In a message sent Wednesday, May 07, 2008 4:50 AM stevecla@dishmail.net writes: << ................................................ can you remember any of the records or books you found referrring to a family named Kirch(h)off. I know they were from the Alsace Lorraine regions. I looked at today's phone directory and the concentration of Kirchhoff's seemed to be in the Haut-Rhin Department especially from Comar to Mulhouse. Mine immigrated to the US in about 1880 although the husband Joseph came a couple of years earlier to earn money for the families passage..... >> Steve, According to the book '' Liste nominative des Haut-Rhinois ayant émigré en Amérique (1800-1870): Albert KIRCHHOFF, manservant (valet de chambre), 31 years old on June 1868, born in Morschwiller-le Bas (Haut-Rhin), left Morschwiller-le Bas in 1868 for Montentez (near New York) Joseph KIRCHHOFF, blacksmith (maréchal ferrant), 21 years old on Aug 1848, born in Morschwiller-le Bas, left Morschwiller-le Bas in 1848 for New-York Jean Léon KIRCHOFF, (black)smith (forgeron), 23 years old on May 1854, born in Morschwiller-le Bas, left Bitschwiller-lès-Thann (Haut-Rhin) in 1854 for New-York, with his wife. Is there any conection? Ewald

Steve, A bit more information on one of the Kirchhoffs mentioned by Ewald: Jean Léon KIRCHHOFF (b. 13 May 1832, Morschwiller-le-Bas; son of Joseph KIRCHHOFF and Catherine BADER) and his wife Thérèse FLORENCE (b. 10 Feb 1831, Gunsbach; dau. of Michel FLORENCE and Marguerithe VOINSON) Jean Léon KIRCHHOFF, then living in Bitschwiller-lès-Thann, had a passport to leave France dated 1 May 1854 for himself and his wife, destination New York. They arrived at the port of New York from Le Havre 19 Jun 1854 on the ship "Juventa" (Germans to America, v. 7, p. 303; original passenger manifest on FHL film no. 0175497 [NARA M237, roll 141], list no. 717). Robert Behra -----Original Message----- From: EWALD <ewald.klein@gmail.com> To: alsace-lorraine@rootsweb.com Sent: Wed, 7 May 2008 4:55 am Subject: [A-L] Kirch(h)off In a message sent Wednesday, May 07, 2008 4:50 AM tevecla@dishmail.net writes: < ................................................ can you remember any of he records or ooks you found referrring to a family named Kirch(h)off. I know they were rom the Alsace Lorraine regions. I looked at today's phone directory and he concentration of Kirchhoff's seemed to be in the Haut-Rhin Department specially from Comar to Mulhouse. Mine immigrated to the US in about 1880 lthough the husband Joseph came a couple of years earlier to earn money for he families passage..... >> Steve, According to the book '' Liste nominative des Haut-Rhinois ayant émigré en mérique (1800-1870): Albert KIRCHHOFF, manservant (valet de chambre), 31 years old on June 868, born in Morschwiller-le Bas (Haut-Rhin), left Morschwiller-le Bas in 868 for Montentez (near New York) Joseph KIRCHHOFF, blacksmith (maréchal ferrant), 21 years old on Aug 848, born in Morschwiller-le Bas, left Morschwiller-le Bas in 1848 for ew-York Jean Léon KIRCHOFF, (black)smith (forgeron), 23 years old on May 1854, orn in Morschwiller-le Bas, left Bitschwiller-lès-Thann (Haut-Rhin) in 1854 or New-York, with his wife. Is there any conection? Ewald -- esources for Alsace-Lorraine list members: ttp://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~valorie/Alsace-Lorraine-L.htm ------------------------------ o unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ALSACE-LORRAINE-request@rootsweb.com ith the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of he message

-----Original Message----- From: STEVE CLAGGETT <stevecla@dishmail.net> To: alsace-lorraine@rootsweb.com Sent: Tue, 6 May 2008 8:50 pm Subject: Re: [A-L] Trip to Alsace, Lorraine and Saarland (long message) I looked at today's phone directory and the concentration of Kirchhoff's seemed to be in the Haut-Rhin Department especially from Comar to Mulhouse.  Mine immigrated to the US in about 1880 although the husband Joseph came a couple of years earlier to earn money for the families passage.  I am looking through LDS records looking for them but haven't yet done any good. Also any pointers would be appreciated. Steve, As you will have seen from consulting the online telephone directories and from Ewald's list of Kirchhoff emigrants from the département du Haut-Rhin, Morschwiller-le-Bas seems to be ground zero for the family.  You get the same impression from doing a search at www.geopatronyme.com (the earliest period covered by that database is 1891-1914). When you say you're looking at LDS records what do you mean?  The first thing I would recommend, if you haven't already done it, would be to order the civil records for Morschwiller-le-Bas, which cover the period 1792-1882.  Depending on what information you have on your Joseph and his family from American records, it shouldn't take you long to determine whether or not they were from that town.  Even if their children don't show up in the birth records, he could still be from there.  In that case you might be able to track him down by looking at the marriage banns ("publications de mariage"), because French law required the banns to be read in the town(s) in which the prospective bride and groom legally resided, even if they ended up getting married somewhere else (the bride's home town, for example).  Unfortunately, according the record in the Family History Library Catalog, the banns for Morschwiller-le-Bas are only available for 1821-1852 and 1870-1872.  Good luck with the hunt. Robert Behra