Eddie, That is so interesting about the links to Alsace. Tell me if you see any Myers/Moyers/Majors/Mayors in Alsace (any spelling will do). Refresh my memory. Which of the sects did they belong to? Katie -------------Original Message------------ >From : "Edgar A. Howard" <swvaroot@earthlink.net> To : SW_VA-L@rootsweb.com Subject : [SW_VA] Germans from Alsace to SW_VA Date : Mon, 19 Aug 2002 17:38:42 -0400 Volks, The following is an expert opinion on some records I found in Strassbourg, Germany/France. It was records of a protestant church, and the earliest dates are circa. 1560. There is mounting evidence that the Germans that came to SW VA came in groups, usually religious groups, that had lived together for generations. -eddie << There are two columns, and the first readible word in the left column is "Sontag". The first words in the second column are "Johaness Flinner". The names I reacted to were "Margaret Andes" and "Jobst Schwinfelder", which I take to be a corruption of Schwenkfelder. I note now that there is a Kegley on the list. The Andes were the inlaws of Kaspar Fleenor, and the Kegleys are thick around Lone Star north of Benhams. The Schwenkfelder reference is to that faith, and underlines that there were Schwenkfelders associated with the ancestors of the Rich Valley Germans. It is amazing how many rich valley names are on those Alsace lists. One of my best friends is a Fraley, and that name and Flinner are next to each other on those 1656 Strausburg church records. This underlines two facts: A) the people in Alsace were of mixed religious backgrounds B) The families of Rich Valley have been moving in lock step across the globe for at least 450 years.>> _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx