It sounds like he was mixed up. People often are when it comes to the Pennsylvania Dutch. My family was so mixed up they decided to throw out all memory of being Pennsylvania Dutch; my father is half German and from that news you could have knocked him over with a feather. He must mean Lower German - which is the family of German dialects that the Pennsylvania Dutch spoke. Alot of people also confuse "Deutsch", which means "German", which is what the Pennsylvania Dutch actually called themselves, with "Dutch", which means from Holland. Yours, Dora Smith --- Paul Roth <Genzen1@webtv.net> wrote: > Hi, > > Here's one: I've heard that my gr-grandfather, > Jonas Spatch ROTH used to > say he was "lower Dutch" when asked his > nationality. Anyone know what > that means? > > His ROTH ancestors were from Berks Co. PA. and > he also had > Netherlander/Holland ancestors: GARRETSONs (as > well as English GRIESTs > from York Co). > > Thanks, > Paul > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com