Dear Amazing Banat Community, I have already received a number of helpful responses to my recent query for a Grabatz look-up. After years of brick walls in the 1880s, I found that my TILLERs started out in Hatzfeld about 1800, moved for a short time to Grabatz (as DILLER), then back to Hatzfeld (as TILLER), before settling in D-Zerne in the mid-1800s. Thanks go to those who shared your information and intuition. I do have a follow-up inquiry for those more experienced in Banat genealogy. My earliest TILLER in Hatzfeld was born about 1775 with no birth location listed. Does that "always" mean that there is no data on birth location, or is it common for an undesignated birth location to reflect the first immigrant to the region or village? On an alternative track, I noticed that Hatzfeld also has numerous TILLs/DILLs from the early 1700s well into the 1800s. In the past, I have been dissuaded when I suggested that perhaps TILLER is a variant that evolved from and then alongside TILL/DILL. Can anyone explain why that would or would not be a realistic possibility (linguistically, culturally, historically)? Besides finding a "bridge" person listed with both surnames, how might I set about establishing such a tie? Thank you all for your help, Charlie Tiller St. Paul, MN _________________________________________________________________ Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469228/direct/01/