I've been following all the letters concerning the Bamberg Archives and have decided to try again asking for help in finding a solution to my "brickwall", I am descended from Elizabeth NIKOL who according to the 1900 census came from Germany in1892. A sister Barbara definitely came through Baltimore in 1888 and one of her children said the father John NIKOL brought both girls and their brother over in 1888. The story goes that he returned home, wanted to bring the rest of the family over but his wife would not come so they stayed in Germany. The hometown was Hofen (with an umlaut) in Oberfranken between Bamberg and Bayreuth. They were Catholic and I believe went to church in Hollfeld. The sister said she was born in Hollfeld. Someone told me there were only 14 houses now in Hoefen and 2 Nikol names still existed. I wrote them several years ago but never received an answer. Now I'd like to start my search again. I did check some Hollfeld church records from Mormon film but couldn't find the names I was searching for (my German script reading is not that good). According to records here, Elizabeth was born in 1872 and died in PA in 1906 I have searched immigration records and found only Barbara in 1888 and her name was spelled Nichol. Can someone help me with how best to proceed? I will be so grateful. Dorothy J. Gard [email protected] Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.