This is my first posting, as I am very new to this list (I just subscribed this weekend.) It has been family tradition that the POPPERT'S were French Huguenot, but there is not much information in the family to support that statement. There is a story that they fled in their stagecoach in the middle of the night (from where to??) The family research that has been done shows that the POPPERT'S emigrated to the U.S. in 1851 from Hesse- Darmstadt. In looking over past H-W-E postings there does seem to be research done in Germany, but no one has mentioned Hesse-Darmstadt. I will be looking at microfilms of the church records at the LDS library soon. I am just curious, has anyone done research in that area? What kind of information was found? Will I find mention that they were from France, or that they were Huguenot? The earliest POPPERT we found is Johann Heinrich POPPERT, born 26 Nov 1761 and died 1 July 1833. He was married to Elfriede Anna C. HASENZELL, who was born 17 June 1761 and died 25 Oct 1836. Such German names! If the French Huguenots left their country in the 1690's, would their names be Germanized? Someone told me that the French Huguenots were very good at "blending in with the crowd." Is that what happened? I hope to hear from some of you soon! I have been learning a lot from reading the postings, and I am sure I will learn a lot more. Janice Hackbarth Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA