Dear Bob, Thank you so much for your help on the location of Gauersheim in 1750. The source for a Christian Heilman/Heylman was in a book published Heil Heilman Stand Proud, by Edith (Heilman) Medhurst in 1984. His son Peter b. circa 1749, from the book only stated born "Wuertemburg," many on the Rootweb World Connect have been using Alsace Lorraine, for this same Peter. Then a researcher has viewed the IGI film from Gauersheim and found the birth and marriage records of this family in the 1750 period with it stating Evangelisch Pfalz, Bayern. I also looked at the index of IGI. Knowing the location of a town here in the present is also so very important. I know of researchers searching all of present day Bavaria for their families, and the town is in the Pfalz area now. I was able to purchase 3 Familienbuch of 3 adjoining towns in the Pfalz area, that were resently transcribed. And shared the ancestor report with a friend who was "still looking" in Bavaria for his family. Thank you so much, Debbie Hoffman ----- Original Message ----- From: "bob gillis" <robertgillis@verizon.net> To: <pfalz@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 8:26 AM Subject: Re: [Pfalz] 1750 year location of Gauersheim, Kreis Donnersberg > > > Debbie Hoffman wrote: > >>Hi, >> >>I hope someone could tell me what was the state or ruling power in 1750, >>for Gauersheim which is in present day: Kreis Donnersberg, >>Rheinland-Pfalz. >> >>Conflicting data of the Heilman/Heylman surname from this area in 1750, >>some state the area was Alsace Lorraine and others Wurttemberg. I was >>thinking it was a part of Bavaria in that year. >> > > From my Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 the Edition, 1930: In 1750 The > Pfalz ws independent since 1742 under Charles Theodore, Count Palatine. > He became elector of Bavaria in 1777 so the Pfalz became part of > Bavaria then. > > The Pfalz around 1750 extended east into what is now Wuertemburg. > > What are the sources of your conflicting data: AF or submitted IGI? > > bob gillis > > > ********* > Information for list members: > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/DEU/PFALZ.html > ********* > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > PFALZ-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message >

Several people have been discussing the Pfalz, Alsace and Bavaria lately. For what it's worth, here is my two cents worth. I think it was in the 17th century that Louis XIV (L'etat c'est moi.) sent his French armies into the Pfalz region and other areas of what is now western Germany. I have read that during that time many churches and their records were burned. I am pretty sure that the records I am able to access from the town I have been researching begin in the early 18th century because they were restarted after the French left. After that the Pfalz was independent, but it also included part of what is now Würtemburg, which is why Heidelberg, the capital of the Pfalz is now in Würtemberg. As Bob wrote it then became part of Bavaria. But it wasn't straightforward. The ruler of Bavaria died without any heirs. The closest heir was the Elector Palatine, who then did inherit Bavaria. He had to move to Munich from Heidelberg (which made him personally unhappy because he liked it where he was). Bavaria was bigger and more powerful. Munich had a more powerful and glamorous court. So, even though the Pfalz inherited Bavaria, it became a part of Bavaria because of economics really. Then in the early 19th century Napoleon's army took the whole west side of the Rhein River and incorporated it into France for a few years. Armies have been marching back and forth across the Pfalz since the Romans arrived. It is in the middle of everything and very few European wars missed it. My great-grandfather's obit said he was born in Bavaria. I am one of those people who looked all over Bavaria for a sign of him or his family. Nothing. Finally I discovered the Pfalz, which was a part of Bavaria at the time of the records that are in the LDS IGI. After that, when I was talking to my family, my dad popped up and said, "Oh yes, Mom always said her father was from Elsass (German spelling for Alsace). I had looked all over Bavaria for Klingenmünster because I got that name out of the IGI. I finally found it in the Pfalz. That was when my uncle finally said "Oh yes, Mom always said her father was from Münster." This was after I had asked both my father and uncle several times for any little bits of information they could remember. It wasn't until I had some names and places that it jogged their memories. But I had the confirmation I needed. And I found out that my great-grandfather, who had been born there, was completely aware of the historical an social relationships among Bavaria, the Pfalz and Alsace. The history there is confusing, and I do not have it all straight in my mind. German history books don't say much about the Pfalz. It wasn't one of the major players in German history, though the ruler was an Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, and the Ottonia Emperors are buried in the cathedral in Speyer. I am thinking of trying a book about the Napoleanic wars and about Louis XIV to get a few more details. Most books about the area are written in German, which I, alas, do not read. I guess I have run out of steam. Marybeth Michaels Alaska, USA