Some of my "Bavarian" or "Rhine Hessen" ancestors who came from what is today Pfalz also chose to go by way of Paris and sail from HAVRE. I too have wondered why they chose to cross national boundaries rather than going "down river". Can anyone explain? Was it cheaper? Were they "recruited" by those who then arranged their travel plans? Was it easier to "sneak" out of the country and avoid miliary service by going through France? Several members of the Feigel family appear to be on two separate passenger lists about a year apart from Havre to New Orleans. Does this mean anything? Barbara Rice FEIGEL ELZER ("Rhennish" Bavaria) Griess Decker Bretz ("Rhennish" Hessen - near Alzey) Biedenkopf (somewhere in Hessen Darmstadt)

Barbara, out of which country? And which national boundaries? That's what I've tried to explain earlier(obviously without success). I don't know when your ancestors left their home, but most likely there was no such thing like "Germany" at that time. And as Bavaria doesn't have any overseas port, they would have to cross a lot of borders anyway to get to such a port. So it really didn't make much of a difference whether to use Bremen, Le Havre or Antwerp. In many cases, people used the port which was easiest to reach, for example by boat. But you are right in assuming, that in most cases "somebody else" arranged their travel plans. There were sort of agencies doing that for them and these agencies also determined the port of emigration. Heinz