Dear Kathy, Thanks for your post on the early history of the Kornegay family. I am a newcomer to the KORNEGAY-L List and currently live in Lausanne, Switzerland. I was born and raised in Goldsboro, NC and my permanent home is in Swansboro, NC. While in Europe I have been investigated the origin of the Kornegay name and much of my research points to the Gndgi surname as a likely root. Gndgi is an old Swiss name and is pronounced "kuh-nay-gee", similar to the eastern NC pronunciation of Kornegay as "kuh-nee-gee". You have to get west of Raleigh to hear the more phonetic "Kor-nee-gay" redition. My inquiries in Germany have not be exhaustive, however, I have yet to find a similar root for Gndgi or Knagi in any early 1700 records from the Rhine region (or, frankly, from any other region of Germany). The Kornegay families currently in the Koln region of Germany result from relatively recent marriages to Eastern NC. Research into George I's past is particularly difficult due to the lost of George's parent's family records in either the privateer ship attack in 1709 or the Indian massacre of 1711. The family became so associated with the Palatine migration over the years that most of the research I have discovered appears to assume a German origin of the Kornegay name. In your historical narratives you referred to the Rhine valley/Black Forest regions as the place of origin of the parents of George I and to Germany as the birthplace of George I. I have come across a number of documents asserting the same conclusion, however, I have yet to discover the substantiating evidence to prove that assertion. I would appreciate any help you could give me on finding the "alpha" village of George's parents. As your documents described, there was a massive migration of German-speaking people from the Rhine/Black Forest region in the early 1700's. There was also a significant number of Alsacian and Swiss emigrants drifting down the Rhine River to Holland and beyond during that same period. Perhaps you have seen the same stories of how the Ritter Company, through their Swiss agents Michel and von Graffenreid, was active in promoting the land rush by circulating the "Golden Books of the Islands of the Carolinas", an innovative marketing tool proclaiming the rich bounty of the Carolina Colony. Amazing how some things never change... Thank you, Kathy, for your help on this piece of the puzzle... Robert -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert L. Kornegay | kornegar@mercyships.ch | Work: 41.21.654.32.10 V.P.-Director | rkornegay@compuserve.com | Home: 41.21.654.32.50 Mercy Ships-Suisse | http://www.mercyships.org | Fax: 41.21.654.32.20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------