Hello list - I have just joined because the ladies at Genealogus Hamburg informed me that my gr-gr-grandfather most probably came from Hesse-Nassau. His name was Christian VOELPEL. The only documents I had were his naturalization papers signed in 1851 and 1854. In them he renounced the "Grand Duke of Mapan". For years I wondered what Mapan was, and they have determined it to be Nassau. It is in cursive writing and the last letter I now see as a u and the first an n. So, being new to all this, I ask where I should go next? His surname, VOELPEL, I understand should be VÖLPEL. I don't believe that name is overly common. I see just this morning that Paul Miller has posted some e-mail addresses. Can I assume they will deal with posts in English? The first of the naturalization papers was completed in November of 1851. Do folks feel that therefore he arrived in the US prior to that year? I understand there was a one year waiting period. This is a critical time, as the Hamburg records begin in 1851. Thanks very much, Bart Hansen in Virginia