George, August 4th to August 8th is not a very long time for response from query, and especially if there is not very much information. Sometimes, the smallest bit of information will elicit a response. I spent 45 years looking for the birthplace of a grandfather, WEBER, who was born in the U.S. He was secretive, did not impart information about his early life to his children. The only thing any of them knew is that he grew up in a county a couple counties removed from his children's birthplace. I scoured censuses for years at FHCs, NARA, online, and even went to the city where my aunts, uncles, and mother thought he was born. I visited the RC church to find baptism record, visited the church's graveyard looking for grave markers that might impart some clue; all to no avail. Finally, after 35 years, a state university librarian, found a record of the family in 1870, which included great uncle, so I found the names of ggrands, but still no gramps; he was born in 1873. The census record indicated a name change from WEAVER to WEBER. This also gave me information of a specific place to begin tracking. After 10 more years of searching, I decided to try a different tack online. Using the 1870 census, I queried on that county's list, using ggramp's occupation; what the history of that particular occupation, in that place, was and why he might have left the area, and where he might have gone. I received three replies. One explaining the occupation, laying railroad track, and that as the track was laid, families moved from one town to the next. Another respondent found the family in the next town, but a different county, along the line in the 1880 census - which included grandfather. That information led to more research, and I finally found great grandmother's maiden name. Using this information, I searched under that name, and voila - found a great aunt, at age 19, living with her maternal grandmother KRAFT in 1910. This led to more research and finding at least five more generations in Germany; research that another had already done. My point is, when posting a query it often helps to include every tidbit of information you have, more than just a surname and wide span of years. Good luck. Jan **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. (http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017 )

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <RAVENIA@aol.com> Date: Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 9:25 AM Subject: Re: [BW] orbach To: baden-wurttemberg@rootsweb.com George, August 4th to August 8th is not a very long time for response from query, and especially if there is not very much information. Sometimes, the smallest bit of information will elicit a response. I spent 45 years looking for the birthplace of a grandfather, WEBER, who was born in the U.S. He was secretive, did not impart information about his early life to his children. The only thing any of them knew is that he grew up in a county a couple counties removed from his children's birthplace. I scoured censuses for years at FHCs, NARA, online, and even went to the city where my aunts, uncles, and mother thought he was born. I visited the RC church to find baptism record, visited the church's graveyard looking for grave markers that might impart some clue; all to no avail. Finally, after 35 years, a state university librarian, found a record of the family in 1870, which included great uncle, so I found the names of ggrands, but still no gramps; he was born in 1873. The census record indicated a name change from WEAVER to WEBER. This also gave me information of a specific place to begin tracking. After 10 more years of searching, I decided to try a different tack online. Using the 1870 census, I queried on that county's list, using ggramp's occupation; what the history of that particular occupation, in that place, was and why he might have left the area, and where he might have gone. I received three replies. One explaining the occupation, laying railroad track, and that as the track was laid, families moved from one town to the next. Another respondent found the family in the next town, but a different county, along the line in the 1880 census - which included grandfather. That information led to more research, and I finally found great grandmother's maiden name. Using this information, I searched under that name, and voila - found a great aunt, at age 19, living with her maternal grandmother KRAFT in 1910. This led to more research and finding at least five more generations in Germany; research that another had already done. My point is, when posting a query it often helps to include every tidbit of information you have, more than just a surname and wide span of years. Good luck. Jan **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your budget? Read reviews on AOL Autos. ( http://autos.aol.com/cars-BMW-128-2008/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00050000000017) ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to BADEN-WURTTEMBERG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Just out of curiosity, I thought I might ask the people who are knowledgeable why a person who has been listed as from Württemberg on several census firms (but Bavière on the ship passenger list) might at one point have a son say that his parents were from Switzerland? Was it a bad thing to be from Germany in 1930 (the census which lists this)? The son was born in NYS about 3 years after parents' arrival in 1854, and I found that in 1866/67 the father went back to Germany for some reason (another mystery), so it seems impossible that he would not know where they were from. Kathleen

In my opinion it was due to your suggestion that they would rather not have it known that they were from what was known as Germany in 1930. Case in point. My grandfather came from Wuerttemburg in 1885 and settled in, (and was naturalized in) Onondaga County, New York. I have his ships passenger info, and have tracked his family back a hundred plus years in the small village of Markelsheim near Bad Mergentheim. He was 21 years old when he came. He married in Syracuse a girl from Danzig and they had eleven kids. My dad said they never spoke German around the kids. They were Americans. When I collected gramps final little batch of personal items from my aunt, there was a pre-printed card in his wallet, issued in the 1930's by the Onondaga County Clerk's Office, and signed by the clerk, that said he was from Switzerland. He never was. I believe it was just a social stigma. I always wondered how he got the clerk to issue that card because they surely had his naturalization records in that office and it said he was born in Markelsheim. I have written several stories about gramp and his Wuerttemburg ancestors on my UNYG Blog. Dick Hillenbrand Upstate New York Genealogy www.unyg.com On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 2:18 PM, Kathleen March < Kathleen_March@umit.maine.edu> wrote: > Just out of curiosity, I thought I might ask the people who are > knowledgeable why a person who has been listed as from Württemberg on > several census firms (but Bavière on the ship passenger list) might at one > point have a son say that his parents > were from Switzerland? > > Was it a bad thing to be from Germany in 1930 (the census which lists > this)? The son was born in NYS about 3 years after parents' arrival in > 1854, and I found that in 1866/67 the father went back to Germany for some > reason (another mystery), so it > seems impossible that he would not know where they were from. > > Kathleen > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > BADEN-WURTTEMBERG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >