Okay... Zona has her Pluto; I have my Leonhard... Leonhard Schmidt is my brick wall (as well as my gr-gr-grandfather). I'd like to hook up with other researchers who are researching early Schmidts of Buffalo. Specifically, I'm looking for those of you who are researching Schmidts who settled in Buffalo by 1848. I very much want to find a family to link my Leonhard to. I am hoping he is the brother of one of your ancestors/ancestresses. His first recorded appearance in Buffalo (that I've found so far) is his 21 Nov 1848 marriage to Elisabetha Betz at St. Paul/St. Marks German United Evangelical Church. (Elisabetha I have down pat...) According to his death record, he was born 1 Feb 1818 in "Baden". Clues that may shed light on his family include: * one Friederich Schmidt deeds land in Buffalo in the 1840s to Leonhard's father-in-law, (Joh.) Henry Betz, Sr. [ Index of Deeds, Erie County, NY, p. 703] * In 1851, Leonhard Schmidt names his first son "Philipp Leonhard Schmidt" quite possibly (based on naming conventions) after his father (although the godparent to Philipp Leonhard Schmidt is Philipp Diener or Doerner, Elisabetha's brother-in-law). * Maria Schmidt is godparent to his Leonhard's daughter Maria in 1859. Might she be a sister or sister-in-law? * Leonhard's children's names (born between 1849 and 1858) are: Catharina, Philipp Leonhard, Phillippine, Heinrich, Carl and Maria. All but Carl and Maria and Leonhard are also given names that appear in his wife's family. Schmidt researchers in Buffalo? What say you? Thanks! -- Jillaine http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~jillaine