In a message dated 3/17/01 3:24:36 PM Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: > Sometimes you may read 5. 9bris - that is 5. Novembris = 5th of November > leading me to think about our months' names. That goes back to the time when > > the year ended in March and started in April or something like that. Roland- This is important. Thanks for mentioning it as it is often misinterpreted. In the frequently-quoted book Pennsylvania German Pioneers by Strassburger and Hinke of ship arrival records for Philadelphia between 1727-1808 you will see 8ber for October and 9bris for November and you will often see researchers interpreting the dates incorrectly and occasionally jumping to incorrect conclusions as a result. Joan