John, you wrote: >" I have recently organized a family heritage tour of southwestern Germany >for the Auxier family of East Kentucky. For generations we thought we were >French(a long story), but have discovered that our name was originally >"Axer" and our ancestors Christian and Johann Michael Axer lived in >Armsheim in Pfalz-Hessen in the early 1700's. However, "Axer" is not a >common name in that area and I was told that the family came to that town >after the Thirty Years War from "Neiderrhein." A check of the available >church records reveals that the "Axer" family was concentrated around the >tons of Kerpen and Blatzheim. However, from my limited knowledge, >Blatzheim and Kerpen were never in the Niedderrhein? Right? Help!" I will leave to others determining just what is and is not in the Niederrhein at any given time in history. However, Axer does not appear to be an uncommon name to me. A quick plug of "Christain Axer" into www.familysearch.org yields the following: International Genealogical Index - Germany 1. Christian AXER - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Marriage: 24 Jul 1742 Evangelisch, Kriegsfeld, Pfalz, Bayern 2. Christian Wilhelm AX - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Birth: 9 Mar 1862 Steeden, Hessen N., Preussen 3. Christian AX - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Birth: 16 Jun 1823 Steeden, Hessen N., Preussen 4. Christian AX - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Birth: 16 Jun 1823 Steeden, Hessen, Preussen 5. Christian Wilhelm AX - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Birth: 9 Mar 1862 Steeden, Hessen-Nassau, Preussen 6. Xtianus AXER - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Christening: 16 Apr 1681 Katholisch, Binsfeld Dueren, Rheinland, Preussen 7. Christian AXER - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Christening: 28 Dec 1713 Katholisch, Brenig, Rheinland, Preussen 8. Christianus AXER - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Christening: 6 Jan 1715 Katholisch, Binsfeld Dueren, Rheinland, Preussen 9. Christian AXER - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Christening: 5 Apr 1723 Katholisch, Binsfeld Dueren, Rheinland, Preussen 10. Christianus AXER - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Christening: 23 Jun 1750 Katholisch, Bergheim Erft, Rheinland, Preussen 11. Christian AXEN - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Christening: 14 Sep 1770 Sankt Peter Stadt, Schleswig-Holstein, Preussen 12. CHRISTIAN AXER - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Marriage: 1656 Evangelisch, Rheydt, Rheinland, Preussen 13. Christian AXER - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Marriage: 9 Jan 1832 Civil, Euskirchen, Rheinland, Preussen 14. Christian AX - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Marriage: 1847 Riesenkirch, Westpreussen, Preussen 15. Christian Iven AXEN - International Genealogical Index/GE Gender: M Marriage: 13 Dec 1868 Garding, Schleswig-Holstein, Preussen Have you followed any or all of these up? Rob Hausman ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Robert E. Hausman hausman@bu.edu www.familytreemaker.com/users/h/a/u/Robert-E-Hausman/index.html HAUSMANN, ROUSSELET, HEERE, LAUBER, LATUS