Nancy, Le Gifted One has the right idea. You probably should do more "local" research before you look to Germany -- especially if no one can find the Grafsolms/Grafsorms you mention. Always best to get an actual place name and find that place on a map. Even then, that might not be the right answer. Try to also find the name of a province/region or kreis associated with your family. That you know "Prussia" is a plus, at least, (if in fact that is true) but Prussia was a big place by 1853. Check naturalization, census records and passenger lists to get more clues if you haven't already done so. Don't forget to check all this information for all of the children as well. Lots of places to look. If you feel strongly about Solms, there are actually two places called "Solms" in Germany and perhaps neither one can be ruled out. A quick check suggests both of them were once in Kreis Hersfeld, province of Hesse-Nassau. This might also be a plus, as Hesse-Nassau was in Prussia. You're right that "Graf" means count. You might like to know that a "grafschaft" was the territory governed by a count. For speculation purposes, perhaps "Grafschaft Solms" might be Graf. Solms. There was a Solms family of princes and counts who inhabited the area of the Lahn River region in Hessen, so perhaps they form the background for the town of Solms that you've mentioned. As this was probably in the 1700s, however, it seems like it would be a fairly big stretch that your family in 1853 would refer to this grafschaft. More research into this can be like opening a bag of kittens, however, and you might be wasting your time trying to track down more information on what might not even be the right place. Another possibility might be that the first part of that name should be "Gross" or even "Gras" such as in Gras-Ellenbach. Often what a family is left with is a story with a place name that just doesn't check out and it may help to track down where/how the "family history" originated. Even place names found in obituaries, etc. may not be correct, but if there are enough other pieces to the puzzle, sometimes a name can be figured out. Karen B. Whitmer ************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.