One of my gg grandfathers came over from Hesse in 1848 probably to avoid the civil war in germany. He was a shoemaker and settled with family in Ohio. During the Civil War he fought with the 8th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry in Virginia and was captured and released in a prisoner exchange. He later moved to San Francisco and raised his family. I remember my mother telling me that during WWI, as a little girl, her parents would send her to the store and she was told not to use the German name for different food items. My grandfather died in 1943 in San Francisco and I don't remember any problems with being of German descent. I think the Japanese immigrants had lots of problems. In fact they cleared the coast of California where many Japanese had farms. I don't know if they ever got their land back after the war. Another gg grandfather was a sailor out of Bremen and jumped ship in New York in 1848 and headed for California. He may have also been avoiding conscription. Another ggg grandfather came over to New York from Germany in 1848 with a wife and a brother. They headed for California in 1852 and settled in the Mother Lode. California was probably so far from the civil war in Germany that not too many people cared where they were from. In California at the time they discriminated against the Chinese. My other grandfather was English and he came over in 1909 following his father to Chicago. In 1917, just before WWI , he moved his family to San Francisco. If he had stayed in England he would have been involved in WWI. The British nearly lost an entire generation in that war. I for one am glad he came to America. John Best

Hello to John BEST, I have BEST family from Hesse. I live in Cincinnati. Care to trade imfo? Jim Rettig ******* One of my gg grandfathers came over from Hesse in 1848 probably to avoid the ivil war in germany. He was a shoemaker and settled with family in Ohio. uring the Civil War he fought with the 8th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry in irginia and was captured and released in a prisoner exchange. John Best