In a message dated 97-06-01 02:28:53 EDT, SASSER-L@rootsweb.com writes: > Don't expect to find too many documents on our Sasser family dated > before the 1800's. And especially don't expect to find anything "saying > that they had moved from Maryland to North Carolina". > I was not thinking of personal papers that would describe the move. I was thinking more of official documents such as deeds. > As for speculation, what we DO know is that our Sasser family was in > Somerset County, Maryland in 1724. > This fact is from a 1724 tax list: this tax list included Benjamin, > Thomas and William. > > Sasser's remained there when our ancestors moved on south into the new > (and better) lands in North Carolina. They can still be found in > Somerset County on the first US census of 1790 and still later. Please allow me to nit-pick for a moment. Yes we know that there were Sassers in Somerset County, and these Sassers had names that show up in North Carolina. However, I don't see how we can say that these are *our* Sassers without supporting documentation. I see this more as a good working hypothesis, and study of the Somerset records would be a good place for research that might lead to the missing connections. Along similar lines, I have shared with the group that there are at least 4 William Sassers in NC between 1733 and 1820. We have to be careful when we run across the name William Sasser in a document to know which one we are dealing with. It is extremely easy to make a mistake, and it took me a good year of researching them all to sort these out. For all I know, there could be more. > The fact also remains that the Sasser family name can be found in > ENGLAND since the 1500's when "family" (or surnames) names came into > general use among commoners. They > can be found in several English counties but were concentrated in > southeastern England. > > There is also the fact that JOHN SASSER came to the colonies in 1742 > from ESSEX County, England aboard the English ship "Jubilee. I do not > know whether he had made a trip to England or whether he was a new > immigrant. In any event, Sasser's were already in North Carolina by > this time. The John Sasser who settled in NC was here by 1733, as evidenced by his signature on a petition to Gov. George Burrington not to move the seat of government to Edenton, NC. [The Colonial Records of North Carolina, Records of the Executive Council 1664-1734, Vol VII, 1984, Robert J. Cain, Ed., pp. 301-303] Was this John Sasser the one who died while aboard? I remember reading a book of immigrants from England to NC that listed a John Sasser who died on the ship. > > If we need documents for proof, then we SHOULD be concerned with about > the supposed German origin is that BEFORE we can accept this, there must > be a legimitate document showing they came from Germany. So far, I > don't know of any document showing our Sasser ancestors came from > Germany. If there is no public document showing a German origin, let's > forget it and get on with research on our REAL origins. > I would agree whole-heartedly. I have wondered if anyone has tried to research records from Heimersheim to see if such a connection could be made. However, lack of such documents does not prove that such a connection does not exist. How many researchers have found their family lines grind to a halt thanks to courthouse fires? I'm not trying to be a proponent of the Heimersheim story. As far as I'm concerned, both Heimersheim and MD are good places for further research. If I can't find concrete evidence to prove either one, however, then the most I can really say is that I can trace my Sasser line to NC. Period. At the same time, I enjoy learning oral traditions, and they add flavor and spice to genealogy. As much as I like going to archives and libraries to dig up the facts, I still place a high personal value on letters, wills, and the like, because they put flesh on my facts and figures and remind me I'm dealing with the lives of people who went before me. Genealogy can be pretty dry if all I collect are date of birth, date of marriage, and date of death. Please don't take this as any sort of attack, because that is not my intention. I really do agree with your main points, and I enjoy the discussion. Doug Sherman dougsherma@aol.com P.S. For what it's worth, I remember seeing a newspaper clipping in the Laurel County Historical Society two years ago that dated to WWII. There was a photo of a Sasser talking to a German official, whose name was Stasse or something similar. I think the caption said the German wondered if the two were related. ------------------------------