Hi Pat, Years ago (1978) I bought one of those books that have the addresses of people all over the country with the Bieber surname and sent out a form letter ... I didn't have any luck with it except for a letter from a man in Illinois who was descended from a George Bieber. George had immigrated in 1740 via the Dutch Ship "Friendship" to New York ... He gave me some interesting tidbits about the Biebers - including the fact that a Colonel George Bieber was an aide-de-camp and personal confidant of General George Washington, had fought at Brandywine, and had led the local calvary militia in a charge which won the day for the colonials .... Gerald Bieber also wrote that Bieber derives from the Anglicanization/Germanization of the french name de Beauvoir - meaning one who is from the town of Beauvoir ... "Following the Richelieu massacre of Huguenots (trapped in their church during services and methodically hacked to pieces by a company of Richelieu's men) a few escaped and warned others in town with some escaping to: Germany - Alsace/Lorraine and N. Central Area - Biebers Boer Africa - de Bevors England - Beavers Russia - have been unable to trace - possibly de Borscht!!!" (I thought that was funny and couldn't resist leaving that in!) He also told me about a book titled "The Bieber-Beaver Family," written by Rev. James Beaver of Reading, PA, published in 1947 ... I found a copy in the Harrisburg Library and copied a few pages ... Since our Jacob Bieber immigrated in 1850, the Biebers in the book were way to early, but we found it interesting .... Chapter 1 was titled "The Original Family Name" and the first page gave a lot of detail about the Huguenot origin of the name which Gerald Bieber had summarized nicely ... This doesn't really relate to your comment about whether Bieber is a common name over there, but I thought I'd pass it on - for what it's worth ... I know there is Bieber Distillery in Alsace and a Bieber still lives in the house in Schoenbourg where our Jacob Bieber was born over 170 years ago ... Darlene John Kantzer wrote: > Darlene: Thanks for the information. I wonder if Bieber/Biber/Beaver is a > common name over there? > Pat > > ---------- > From: darkar bieb <bieb@netrax.net> > To: John Kantzer <mkdoc@nemr.net>; BIEBER-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: Elizabeth BIEBER-John B Kantzer OHIO > Date: Monday, June 28, 1999 2:19 AM > > My husband's family originated in Alsace (France) ... Jacques/Jacob Bieber > arrived in New Orleans in 1850, went up the Mississippi, and settled in > Monroe > Co., Illinois .... I've searched my data base ... There are only two > Elizabeths > - one (b. 1868) married a Fredrich Kannewurf, the other (b. 1887) married > Fred > Laub ... As far as we know, none of Jacob's family in Alsace immigrated to > America ... Sorry I couldn't help you ... > I have translations of letters from Jacob Bieber to his family in Alsace on > my > homepage you might find interesting .... He was very happy he came to > America > and begged his family to follow him .... > > http://members.wbs.net/homepages/m/a/s/masondixie/Jacobsletter.htm > > Good luck with your search! > Darlene Bieber > > John Kantzer wrote: > > > John Breckenridge Kantzer, bn 3 May 1858, McZena, Ashland Co OH died 20 > mar > > 1919 Bucyrus, Crawford Co OH married on 4 Jan 1883 Crawford Co OH to > > Elizabeth Bieber/Biber bn 10 Dec 1860 New Washington, Crawford Co OH died > > 14 Jul 1953 South Bend, IN > > Their children were: > > 1. Edith Lorena bn 19 Jan 1884, Wayne Co OH died 29 Nov 1967 South Bend > IN > > married to William Unger > > 2. Clarence LeRoy bn 22 May 1885 Wayne Co Oh died 17 Nov 1965 Bucyrus, > > Crawford Oh married on 8 May 1912 Crawford Co OH to Augusta Pearl > > Petersilge. > > 3. Martha Matilda bn 23 Apr 1892, McZena, Ashland Co OH died 1976 South > > Bend IN married to Nevin Bretz. > > 4. Barbara Christina Kantzer bn 2 Mar 1899, McZena, Ashland Co OH died > 1992 > > Phoenix AZ married to Donald C. Gaa. > > > > Is anyone researching the Kantzer or Bieber families of Crawford Co or > > Ashland Co OH? or anywhere else? > > Patricia Kantzer > > mkdoc@nemr.net > > > > ==== BIEBER Mailing List ==== > > Just seven per cent of RootsWeb's users help support the site. Join > them! > > http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html