Hi Stan, I too know very little. Here is what I do know. My grandfather Samuel Harts immigrated from Russia through the port of Hamburg as a young boy. His mother had remarried and it wasn't until my grandfather was older that he took the name Harts. I am suspecting that his real father may have been a Harts, and he took his original name back. His mother was Dina Marshak married Samuel Zoger(Zager) -2nd marriage. He had some 1/2 brothers and sisters, I think the one named Sarah was his real sister. Family says his father always lived in Reading, Pa but so far I have not found out his name. Very frustrating as the records in that part of Russia (now Belarus) are written in Russian. Sounds like your family history is most interesting. Does any of mine sound familiar? I think Reading (Berks Co) was a heavily populated German area so you never know, your theory about them originating in Germany could very well be. An old cousin said the name was Hart not Harts, but my grandfather used Harts as well as my maiden name is Harts. Wonder if we'll ever know. Keep in touch. Happy hunting. Allison Duke On Tue, 21 Jul 1998 20:19:58 +0200 "Stan Hart" <[email protected]> writes: >Hi Allison > >I am researching my HART family which I have been able to trace to >England >in the middle of the 19th century, and they were Jewish. > >My grandfather came to South Africa from London when he was 18 years >old to >work in his uncle's tailor's shop in Durban and then during the gold >rush >when Johannesburg was in its embryonic state, he moved with his uncle >to the >gold fields to sell their wares to the miners. >His history is most interesting and has been well documented, but >unfortunately very little is known about his brother or even his >parents. > >I have heard from cousins that they believe that the Hart roots of >this >family possibly originated in Germany, but there is no evidence to >substantiate this claim. > >I wish you great success in your research. > >If you ever wish to have a Hart to Hart talk......well I am here. > >Kind Regards > >Stan Hart > >P.O.Box 2296 >Durban, 4000 >South Africa > >Tel : (+27-31) 261-6659 >Fax : (+27-31) 261-6810 >Cell : (+27) 83-500-6659 > > > > _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]