Jim and Julie, there may be no connection, but your description of your Roth ancestors has a close similarity to mine, and I may be able to provide some clues or ideas for you. In 1854, my g-g-gfather John Roth and two brothers left Karbach, Bavaria (abt. 12 mi. west of Wurzburg) through the Port of Le Havre on the Ship Manchester. They arrived in New Orleans on May 1, 1854, then proceeded up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to Harrison Co., IN, very close to Louisville, KY. John's oldest daughter, b. Oct 15 1842, was named Anna Maria. Anna married Ferdinand Ott in Harrison Co. in 1860. They were my g-gparents. She died there in 1916. But by 1862, her parents, uncles, and the rest of her family had left Indiana and settled in the La Crosse, Wisconsin, area, immediately across the Mississippi from Minnesota. At least one of the Roth descendants was involved with a lumber mill in La Crescent, MN. I checked the passenger list for the Ship Manchester and did not find any Scharf's listed. But I have learned that there was a group of Bavarian immigrants living in Harrison Co., including others from the Karbach area. During my research, I have also come across a contingent of Roth's living in the town of Alzenau, Bavaria, located about 90 miles NW of Karbach. I hope some of this helps. Good luck in your search. Jack Ott researching OTT, ROTH, HOPPER, SUMMERS, UTZ, BAKER, NOOYEN, HERMANS <A HREF="http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~jackott/index.htm">http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~jackott/index.htm</A>