This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Muller Franz Lutz Simon Dornhecker Doberenz Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/3Y2.2ACIB/393.1 Message Board Post: I have Muller's and Franz's dominant in the German side of my lineage --- no Lutz's --- both Muller's and Franz's hailing from small collection of villages known today as Freigericht- Neuses, Freigericht-Somborn, Freigericht-Altenmittlau, Freigericht-Horbach and Freigericht-Bernbach. My own people came to the States in 1870, and I suspect that various branches immigrated in the period 1850-1880; the ones I know about headed for Illinois; some of 'em likely to have permanently settled also in Wisconsin & Missouri. I also suspect that some of "my clan" ended-up in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York --- most of 'em seem to have come through the Port of Baltimore --- but I haven't done much with collateral lines yet --- still trying to lock-down more detail on my direct lines. The German home-towns mentioned above are in modern- day German state of Hessen --- not in Alsace-Lorraine --- but I've recently established contact with an amateur geneaolgist (and 3rd- or 4th-cousin) in Freigericht-Neuses, and he's been telling me in recent weeks that my branch of the Muller's (Mueller's) --- as well as some of the Franz family --- trace their local roots just across the Main River from this fringe-area of Hessen --- to the towns of Alzenau, Albstadt, Michaelbach, Niedersteinau and Ober- and Unter- Western --- a stone's throw across the river in the German state of Bavaria (Bayern). If you have Muller's and Franz's from Bavaria (disregarding, for the moment, the Alsace-Lorraine connection), we may (or may not) have some ancestors in common. You're welcome to drop me a quick line, when time permits, with your thoughts on whether there might be some kind of connection. Regards, John Muller Woodridge, IL