Elizabeth, My mother experienced what you did in school. And...it was also my great grandfather who came over in 1886. Family lore has it that Ernst Kurtz left while still in service in the military but I know that he also followed five sisters who had preceded him as domestics. They were all girls in their teens and early 20s. They had lost their father in 1870. I suspect that life became very difficult and they came with the intention of helping the family. This family left very little specific written information for us, but had I questioned my own grandfather before he died, I would probably have learned quite a bit. I have found some truth in most family lore. Sometimes it doesn't immediately make sense, but usually I have ended up finding the elements that led to the story. Bev W -----Original Message----- From: Elizabeth Cunningham <drybones@netreach.net> To: mmongoose <mmongoose@tds.net>; hesse <hesse@rootsweb.com> Sent: Mon, Mar 28, 2011 9:40 pm Subject: Re: [HESSE] Jumping to conclusions On the other hand, as a fifth grader in 1944, I was given a lot of grief or being a Nazi, because I was the only one in the class who admitted o German ancestry. (The kid named Mueller sitting in front of me laimed she was Dutch). My mother's maiden name was Fuehrer, so I could ot very well get around it. I am also 3/4 German. My father's randfather came over about 1869, his mother in 1890 or so, and the uehrer relatives in 1885. None of the Fuehrers changed their names - y grandfather used to complain "That man stole my name!" Elizabeth C mmongoose wrote: As a person with 75% German ancestry, I totally agree that many of them had embraced their adopted country (perhaps Generations back ) and were embarrassed at what what was going on in the united Germany. German was dropped from the schools in Evansville Indiana where I was born and which had many German settlers. My father decided that we were now from Alsace - tho even as a young child I never accepted for a moment. We were from LOTS of places in what was called at one tine or another the Palatine, Rhenish Bavaria ... or a number of small states which frequently changed rulers through marriage or being otherwise attached to a more powerful neighbors. Many of my ancestors lived near Alzey in what looked like walking distance on the inadequate map I had -- but they were were lines who then officially lived in totally different governing districts - (Including KircheimBolandan) and some didnt meet until they reached Indiana. I am most proud of those Germans who came just before the civil war -- may to avoid military service in their homeland == adopted their new country and served their new country voluntarily. When Lincoln realized that it was going to be a long one, added to his calls for men to serve a few months to 3 years and many Germans insisted in those companies. When I heard that my Great Granddad had come home on furlough - gotten married = and interestedly, I was shocked that the honeymoon was over so soon. It was a long time before I got the timing straight. It was 1864 when Lincoln was running against McClellan who was promising to end the war - which was not going well in the east - He seemed unlikely to win - and worse, those 3 year soldiers were at the end of their enlistment time.... But, as someone put it -- those vets -- including my granddad who was with Sherman - Reenlisted - got their furlough voted for Lincoln (and got married like GrandPo -) and went back to finish the job. (By the way when they asked him how he survived the march through Georgia he said he hid behind a tree. Feigel Elzer Rimstidt Griess (Converted to Gryce by an uncle) Maier Schneider Decker Dietrich ..Bretz .. and a bunch more in Hesse Rhenish Bavaria and - including the soutn and all those families south west and NORTH of Alsey Pat McCoy wrote: > Just my perception (based on what I heard > my German-descended relatives speak about): > > If the fairy story was being told during the period(s) > in our history where anti-German sentiment was > extremely high, that story might have probably > been told out of fear of being attacked for "being > German" and self-preservation. Just my half-cent's > worth of opinion, (FWIW). > > Slow Down and Enjoy Your Garden! > ================================================= ------------------------------ o unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to HESSE-request@rootsweb.com ith the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of he message