Hi.. What great dialogues re: foods, traditions, dialect. I'm learning a lot. Thanks to each for adding different twists. My Deutsch ancestors left so early I have no tie of knowledge, other than what I read here .. What sets mine apart: 1) They're early; came in early 1720s to PA from NY. 2) I'm not sure they're all Deutsch. John Holder b. 1694 in London lived there for the first 15+ years of his life. He emigrated to N. Am. 1710, or earlier, with his mother, Sybilla Graeff (German?). John's dad, Reu Holder, "left the family early" according to John's memorial, Moravian archives. Was Reu Holder English even though they probably lived in an immigrant area near Tower of London? 3) They were known to be English speaking, but John, like his dad, married a German girl in NY, Barbara Volck. The Volcks senior were from the Palatinate arriving with Kocherthal's first party. Even though they were granted land along the Hudson R. ("Hochland" = bluffs?), they sold it and, along with John Holder, set out for PA. Volck's neighbor, named Fisher, sold and moved (somewhere) at the same time. Who knows what happened to John Holder's mother. 4) John Holder's sons became divided on the issue of the impending Revolution; my line remained loyal to Britain, in the 1770s-80s, and started over in Nova Scotia. 5) My 19 yr old 'Loyalist's parents, John Holder (Jr.) and Rebecca (Custer) Holder disappeared during the Revolution. No traces. My heart aches for the missing information. I'd love to know possible areas of origin for those with interesting names. Any words of wisdom, glimmer of recognition.. or educated conjecture (even uneducated).. is welcome. w