I DO NOT KNOW, IF THIS WILL HELP. BUT MARY IS ENLISH, TRY MARIA, GERMAN! -----Original Message----- >From: David McCarley <Opv@knology.net> >Sent: Aug 31, 2008 4:53 PM >To: GERMANNA_COLONIES-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [GERMANNA] Desperately Seeking Mary > >I am seeking direction concerning one of my German ancestors for whom I am >presently at a dead end. I am in possession of a copy of a letter dated >1907 which suggests that my ancestor, Moses Tapp, married "Mary Bach, a >German girl." > >Here is my dilemma: The alleged Mary Bach (if that was indeed her name) >married said Tapp in Culpeper County circa 1784 based on the ages of their >oldest children in later census records. This would place Mary's birth >circa 1755/1765. I have contacted Dan Back, who is presently updating the >book, A Back Family History, and he advises that out of the more than 40,000 >descendants of the immigrant BACK/BACH family that settled in northern >Virginia (the part which eventually became Culpeper County), there is not a >single Mary Back/Bach of the right age to have been my Mary. One or two of >Hermann Back's sons apparently had daughters named Mary, but they were not >born until circa 1777, much too early to have been my Mary. > >So, I have the research of Dan Back and his colleagues ostensibly precludes >a Back/Bach connection. To further complicate matters, the name Back/Bach >does not appear to be closely associated with the Tapp in Culpeper County >land records. In fact, those records appear to place the Back family quite >a distance away from the Tapp family. These dead ends leave me with no >alternative but to seek fresh ideas to possibly help identify my alleged >Mary Bach. > >Consider the following speculation: > >There are land records which connect Frederick FISHBACK to the Tapp family. >(In fact, he appears to have had a daughter named Mary of the right age to >have married Moses Tapp.) The UTTERBACK family is also found living on an >adjacent plat to my Tapp ancestors. There are no doubt other families of >German origin residing in Culpeper County at the time with last names ending >in "back," "boch" or "bach." Were there any of these families known to have >shortened their names to Back or Bach? I have read where some immigrants >intentionally changed their names for a variety of reasons. > >I have even considered the possibility that one or more of the Bach males >could have fathered an illegitimate daughter whose name does not appear in >the Back family register? > >One other possibility, I suppose, is that Mary Bach could have been the >young widow of a Bach male rather than a Bach by birth. However, I presume >Dan Back would have advised of that possibility in his response to my >inquiry if. > >I know I am grasping for straws here, but such is my plight at this point. >I would appreciate any ideas the list can provide that might help me refine, >add to or eliminate the above possibilities. At this point, anything is >possible. > >David > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GERMANNA_COLONIES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ________________________________________ PeoplePC Online A better way to Internet http://www.peoplepc.com