Hi everyone, Yes, I know it's been a LONG time since any of you heard from those (rare) Berkheisers in Europe... (and only ones in Switzerland). Just too much else to do for me to spend any time on genealogy, I'm afraid... I did a funeral for a parishoner yesterday who comes from the Limburg area of Germany (northwest of Frankfurt). One of his close friends from the area who was present informed me that there is a small town near where she lives called "Berghaus" and a number of people who live there whose name is "Berghäuser" -- the most probable original spelling of our family name, according to my visits to various archives in Germany a few years back. This woman promised me to check out things in Berghaus sometime in the not-too-distant future (she's not yet retired, so has a few other things to do...) and get back to me by e-mail. Limburg is very close to the Rhine River, which would have been the logical route down to Rotterdam, from where our immigrant ancestor sailed in 1753. When you try to research a family name here in Europe, the archives people will most often ask you if you have some idea from what town or region your ancestors came from. The records are organized in that way, and cross-referencing from one parish or town to another is not always possible. So... if this woman comes up with some interesting possibilities, I would probably take a trip up there to look through the old archives and see what kind of links might exist. Since our ancestor's first name, Wilhelm, is very common, especially in the 1750's when he moved to America, finding out just which Wilhelm Berghäuser might be ours is not an easy task. What I've tried to look for is someone with this name who would have a baptismal record with the right approximate date, a wedding registry entry with the right first names (Wilhelm and Catharina) and no record of burial in Germany, since he would have died in America. The ship's passenger list for the journey Wilhelm made to America (arriving Sept. 27, 1753) did not include all the women and children, either, so we don't know if Wilhelm travelled alone or was already married to Catharina. Their children were apparently all born in Pennsylvania, so I'd also have to check that the baptismal registries list no baptisms for the children of the couple Wilhelm and Catharina which I hope to find in the wedding registers... As opposed to my previous trips to Germany, I'm now a bit better equipped to research our roots, since my new job here requires me to learn German, at least to be able to read and understand fairly well. Of course, you dont' learn a language quite as fast at 56 years old as when you're 30 years younger (which was our case when we learned French), and 1 1/2 hours of German class per week in an otherwise French-speaking environment won't work wonders, but I am making progress and hope that getting a better handle on the German language will be useful in pursuing our German roots... once I find the time! As is the case with many of us, such research goes in spurts, usually when a new possibility opens up via contact with someone who has some new info. Let's hope that'll be the case with this woman from Limburg! Best regards to all of you, with a special thanks to Rick for keeping the flame alive for Berkheiser genealogy research! Jeff Jeff Berkheiser, pasteur Grand-Rue 39 CH-1896 Vouvry (VS) tél. prof./répondeur 024 481 32 12 fax 024 481 35 34 mobile 079 634 20 35 tél. privé 024 481 49 18 e-mail: jeff.berkheiser@bluewin.ch ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard Berkheiser" <reberkheiser@earthlink.net> To: <berkheiser@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 2:02 PM Subject: [BERKHEISER] Berkheiser Name Origin > Hi everyone! > > Hey! Check out this new feature at Ancestry! Looks like our last name > has origins after all. :-) > > http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Berkheiser-family-history.ashx > > I'd be interested in hearing what all of you think. > > Rick B > ==== BERKHEISER Mailing List ==== > BERKHEISER@rootsweb.com > > To contact the List and Board Administrator: > Rick Berkheiser, BERKHEISER-admin@rootsweb.com > > This list was started on August 24, 2007. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > BERKHEISER-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message