In Trinity Luth Ch. Rec. Reading Friedrich GOTTSCHALL s/o Nicholas md. Maria Elisabeth WAGNER d/o George ROGATE 1774 The plot gradually thickens. I'm behind on my e-mail. So far, Nicholas Gottschall was baptized in Germany in 1740, was son of Christian, married Elizabeth Ness the daughter of Jacob in 1758, in Reading; and had a son, Friedrich, who, in 1774 (when he would have been at most 15) married in Reading Maria Elisabeth WAgner, d/o George ROGATE. Nicholas Gottschall died in 1770, and his widow Elisabeth was appointed executor of his estate on July 23, 1770. Elisabeth the widow of Johan Nicholas Gottschall married Henrich Wagner in Reading on April 2, 1771, and thus became my ancestor, mother of Barbara Wagner who married Philip Burkhart. Then Nicholas Gottschall remarried, to Margaret Nuss the sister of his first wife Elisabeth, they had begining in 1771, ten children, born in Berks County, most of them on specific dates, which I gather noone is finding in any Berks County church records, and then they moved to Jefferson County, Ohio, where Nicholas, of Washington Co, PA (?), left a will probated Apr 5, 1808; this is also the tale that Youngscamp Noname who can be reached only via Geocities form tells. My other source says that latter part is controversial - don't know where it came from yet. Especially I don't know how these people from Washington County, PA, got attributed to Berks County. This is getting go-o-o-od. My immediate question is what does Maria Elisabeth WAgner, d/o George ROGATE mean? I had seen reference to this marriage elsewhere, assumed above all else that Maria Elisabeth Wagner was a Wagner. This APPEARS to imply that WAgner was her married name and Rogate her maiden name, but I've never encountered the name Rogate before, and my source, who confirmed she spelled it right, says she has no idea what it means, either. Is Rogate a known Berks County surname? Or does it mean something else? Yours, Dora Smith __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail � Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/