I have German a ancestor from Mörsdorf, Rhineland names Johann Vogt Heser whose daughter Maria married Johan Hermes daughter of Jakob Synodale Hermes. There descendants include the Kaster (Castor) families of Depere, Wisconsin. In the 17th century, Peter Castor was a Gerichtscheffen and Johann Wendling was a Sendschöffe, both from these ancestors, indicating some kind of civil court office. The name Synodale is apparently from the Greek word "synod" which is a meeting or council. My assumption is that this name descends from an ancestors who was a member of a Frankish town counsel or assembly. Vogt is from Latin "advocatus" pertaining to an overseer such as a sheriff or bailiff. The Vogtland was created by the Holy Roman Emperor in the 11th century which includes parts of Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, and the Egerland in north-western Bohemia which areas were ruled by ecclesiastical and administrative vogts from the 11th to the 16th centuries. Michael O'Hearn Visit my Blog! http://www.westernperspective.blogspot.com