My ancestors came to America before the American Revolution, and my father remembers family members speaking German. A 1940 article on one relative notes she didn't learn English until she was in her late teens. They were Mennonites, but even today, Amish still speak German, and most of their roots go back to the 1740's. German Baptist's held church services exclusively in German until the mid 1820's, almost 100 years after they came to America. Bill Thomas -----Original Message----- From: brethren-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:brethren-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of myerswd@juno.com Sent: Monday, March 17, 2008 3:46 PM To: brethren@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [BRE] Schneider Family Sarah, I don't think that you can assume too much based on Jacob Holmes' will being written in German. Oftentimes, people would be primarily German-speakers for two or three generations after they immigrated to America. David Myers On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 06:58:48 -0700 "Sarah Holmes" <slholmes@usa.com> writes: > I am looking for a Catherine Schneider, born about 1757 (birthplace > unknown), died 1827 in Wayne Co., Ohio. She married Jacob > Holms/Holmes. Most of their children (Daniel, Caty, Polly, John, > Jonas, Susannah) were born in MD. They moved to Westmoreland, Co., > PA and it is possible their two younger children (Elizabeth and > Joseph) were born there. Jacob died in 1815. His will was in > German and I have only seen translations of it. The spelling of his > name varies within the same document. Previous family members who > completed research a number of years ago, made the assumption he was > the original immigrant based on the German will, but I have come to > believe this may be an erroneous assumption. He first shows up on > tax records in Westmoreland about 1801. His children take on the > English spelling of Holmes. His first born, Daniel, marries a > Nancy and moves to Congress Township, Wayne County, Ohio. > Catherine Schneider Holmes is buried there. Is there any church > record that indicates a marriage between Catherine Schneider and > Jacob Holms? Or baptism of their children? Probably in MD. > > > > Thank you for any assistance you can provide. > > Sarah > > ------------------------ > Search the Archives at > http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/BRETHREN > ------------------------ > Support Our Sponsoring Agency > The Fellowship Of Brethren Genealogists (FOBG) > For further information contact Ron McAdams > mailto:McAdamsr@hotmail.com > ------------------------ > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > BRETHREN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >