HI Lederach's I'm trying to figure out how do I connect. Where did my Ledrich name come from. I have my Ggrandfathers Bible, it is a German Bible. There is a hand written message in it that spells my surname as LEDERACH/LEDERICH. I can't read old German, but a friend who took German deciphered it and that is what she came up with. I'm Locating my family first in Holmes/ Tuscarawas Counties, Ohio. The boundary lines for the Counties changed back and forth a couple of times. The earliest reference is for Frederick ( Gotfreid ) Ledrich born in Walnut Creek Holmes County, Ohio August 6, 1852, to John and Catherine (Gehring ) Ludrich. Land deeds from 1889 thru 1892 have the spelling as Frederick Lederich. On his wedding papers from the Holmes County Courthouse the name is spelled Mary Mullet to Frederick Letterich. His mother Catherine died near Trail, Ohio August 13,1897 from the Trail Swiss Reformed Church Surname spelled Laderich, with " above the a. In the 1920 Wayne County Ohio census I found My Grandfather Joseph, surname spelled Litrich. I guess my surname was Americanized as LEDRICH. What I can't understand is why do I find this spelling with the majority now living in France, with a few in Florida, and New Jersey. Did someone take the spelling back to France, or did it originate in France and we adopted the spelling? Then I think there must have been a religious split in Holmes County, and Tuscarawas County, because the Amish Sect have a spelling there as Ladrich/Ladrach. Now that I have you as confused as I am can anyone help? I feel like a man with no country. The only other early Ledrich in Holmes County, Ohio was Henry P. Ledrich, with family, found mentioned in Charm, Walnut Creek, Millersburg. Is Henry related to my John, or Frederick? John D. Ledrich