Hi Felton,  I appreciate your email on this topic.  I have questioned Thomas' religion for some time now as I try to locate him before LA.  With all my findings on Marie Charlotte, I have felt that perhaps Thomas converted to Catholicism basically for marriage reasons and your information illustrates many reasons why he may have done this. As in modern times,  he would have had to convert to marry her and the baptisms of their children would follow Catholic procedures.   Do we show the children of Thomas Jr., Francois and Amelia baptised as Catholic or is this where we see the Methodist church coming in?  I know we have many very early Hoffpauer ministers.  I have information on one who was a woman. Thanks, Linda ---- Begin Original Message ---- From: FelMor@aol.com Sent: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 23:21:17 EST To: HOFFPAUIR-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: Catholic to Methodist Linda It is not established that Thomas Hoffpauer was catholic.  Their children were baptized catholic because it was the law & required for inheritance purposes.  Most protestant emigrants to Louisiana & other catholic countries baptized their children to avoid the hassle and persecution.  One can tell if they were truly catholic if the next generation baptized their children catholic which very few Hoffpauirs did.  Of course after Louisiana was purchased by The United States there was no longer a state religion.  This also occured in Spanish Florida & Natchez prior to the British takeover.   Reading some of the old letters & papers paints a interesting picture of what the protestants faced when trying to have their own services.  Some fort commandants were more restrictive than others.  Often people were arrested or forced to leave the country.  Of course in the New England area the same worked in reverse with persecution of catholics. Felton Felton ==== HOFFPAUIR Mailing List ==== If you're into genealogy, consider joining RootsWeb...... RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative       http://www.rootsweb.com/ ---- End Original Message ---- Get your Free E-mail at http://alsace.zzn.com ___________________________________________________________ Get your own Web-based E-mail Service at http://www.zzn.com