It can be very hard to determine whether your ancestors are German. For example, Bowman might have started out as Baumann. Or Smith might have been Schmidt. My German ancestors tended to have fully adopted English-like names by the second generation (i.e. the son of the immigrant father) and tended to marry only within their group for three generations, at most. There are exceptions, of course. For example, religious groups (e.g., the Dunkers) would have tended to stay together longer. Or there might have been German towns which were founded by a group of Germans (like we have in Kansas). However, it seems that SWVA was largely settled by people who were of an adventurous nature and did not seem to show any inclination to be tied to a group, other than their immediate family. My Chrisman (formerly Christmann) ancestors and my wife's Harman (formerly Hermann) ancestors seemed to mingle freely, and eventually intermarried with, our Scots-Irish ancestors. One of Daniel Boone's companions, Michael Stoner (formerly Holsteiner), was the son of an immigrant and spoke with a heavy German accent. So, determining which of your ancestors were German can prove to be a real challenge, particularly in SWVA. Phil "A. Daniels" wrote: > > How do you tell whether your families are German and what part they might > have come from? I have Bise and Burkett/Burger that I suspect are German > but is there a way to tell from the surname where they came from? Also > what would Pritchett be? I don't know if I'll ever get out of the south. > I also think my Wilsons came from Maryland. Is there some way to find out > what county to start searching for them in. I'm not sure if they were > English or Scots-Irish. Are there clues I'm not seeing? What about the > surname Todd and Bishop? >