It seems to me that the Banat of the 18th and early 19th century was the America of the late 19th and early 20th century - a great big area of opportunity for people looking for a better life or their own land. But because of the political landscape and the building of designated immigrant villages, it never quite became a true melting pot. There were always people defined "others" , just as there are now. Official language changes altered names and spellings. Many last names are only residual of earliest ancestors; others show direct lines of descent. Ethnicity became diluted; nationality changed; allegiance and identification shifted. Parallels? One may as well ask, "What is an American?" Diane