Hi Wolf Many thanks for your help, much appreciated I shall enquire as you suggest, I do not have to much confidence in finding the registration if indeed it happened but worth a try. Many thanks again for your help. Best wishes Nivard Ovington Cornwall (UK) > ;-). I would therefore recommend you just enquire at the Geneva Civil > Registry Office whether any suitable records were kept in Geneva at the > time (and have survived). > mailto:etat-civil@ville-ge.ch > > Good luck and best regards - Wolf -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.10 - Release Date: 13/05/2005

> Von: Nivard Ovington [mailto:ovington1@btconnect.com] > Gesendet: Sonntag, 15. Mai 2005 22:18 > [...] > The question is, did foreigners register their births while > in Geneva? the answer I suspect to be a resounding no > but had to ask the question. All births are registered now - since the introduction of the modern Civil Registry System in 1876 - but you are looking for an event in 1838. In 1838 it would not have been registered in St.Gallen (where I live), and I doubt it would be registered in Geneva - but then almost everything in Switzerland is organised differently in different cantons ;-). I would therefore recommend you just enquire at the Geneva Civil Registry Office whether any suitable records were kept in Geneva at the time (and have survived). mailto:etat-civil@ville-ge.ch Good luck and best regards - Wolf __________________ Wolf Seelentag, Ph.D. Reherstr. 19 CH - 9016 St.Gallen +41 (0) 71 - 288 51 21 wolf.seelentag@swissonline.ch

Dear all Just subscribed to this list and looking for guidance please. My great grandmother was Ellen Georgiana ANDERSON b1838, daughter of George and Mary (nee HAYLOCK) George was a West India Merchant so its quite possible that he might have travelled to Switzerland for some reason. Ellen Georgiana was first Christened at St Lukes, Chelsea, London in 1838 and again in 1848 at St Marylebone, London, with her siblings shortly after her mother died. I have for some time had a copy of the 1891 census page for her in Scotland where it gives her birth place as Geneva Switzerland and had thought it was simply an error on the part of the enumerator, however I have just found her in the 1861 with the same birth place, once I can understand but twice surely not? To confuse matters more her birth place in 1871 is given as Genoa, 1881 as England as is the 1901. The question is, did foreigners register their births while in Geneva? the answer I suspect to be a resounding no but had to ask the question. Any help or guidance appreciated Best wishes Nivard Ovington Cornwall (UK) -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.10 - Release Date: 13/05/2005

This is for anyone who is a Ridenour/Reitenauer/Reidenauer/Ridenhour or sp. variation, and doing family research. Or if you know a Ridenour pass this on to them. Check out this Y-DNA Project for Ridenour's, it may be of interest to you.: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/RidenourY%3DDNASurnameProject/ The project is for the purpose of adding a new research tool to help family genealogists. You need to be a male with the surname of Ridenour, or variation of. If interested contact the Project Administrator, noted on the above web page or reply to this email. Hopefully with more participants we can then make another webpage that will be able to give more information on the ancestors of the participants families. Marjie

> Von: Paul Rands [mailto:paulrands@hotmail.com] > Gesendet: Mittwoch, 11. Mai 2005 04:54 > [...] > Can anyone see in which towns/villages this surname existed > in Switzerland in the Familiennahmenbuch? The only "W...knecht" spelling mentioned is "Weydknecht" of Kuesnacht (ZH) - but they were originally German and gained this citizenship as late as 19th century. Best regards - Wolf

Hi, I'm looking at the following family that "shows" up in Adelhofen, Baden-Wuerttemburg, Germany in the mid 1600's. This town is in the Kraichgau region north of the Black Forest area. My experience with this area and this time frame is that some of the people came from Switzerland. I have: Martin Weidknecht b. abt 1601 d. 24 Jun 1671 in Adelshofen, Baden, Germany m. abt 1633 of Adelshofen.Baden, Germany (no source given so this could have been earlier in Switz.) Wife: Barbara b. bet. 1607 - 1609 d. 1687/1689 in Adelshofen, Baden, Germany Children: Johann Martin Weidkecht b. about 1633 of Adelshofen (but probably someplace else.) Johann Andreas Weidknecht b. abt 1644 of Adelshopen (but probably someplace else.) Agnes Barbara Weidknecht b. 17 May 1655 in Adelshofen. (could have been someplace else.) Can anyone see in which towns/villages this surname existed in Switzerland in the Familiennahmenbuch? Thanks, Paul Rands

I would like to hear descendants of de Grussa. Most of de Grussa were from Olivine. My great great great grandfather Ambrogio were born in Olivine around 1829. He moved to London and “married” to Catherine Hopkins. Ambrogio’s parents were Carlo Antonio Luigi de Grussa and Lucia Bini. Please contact me about any of de Grussa ancestors in anywhere of Switzerland. Regards, Steven from Melbourne, Australia.

Hello Fellow-Listers - Yes, I am reading and reading all there is ever written to date re your beloved "homeland". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland Regards, --manaia __ == __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

Many gratitudes for your response Ken! To Ken and interested Listers, I am curious as to what is the native language of Switzerland -- Swiss? Switz? German? Why German? I am subscribed to various German boards and mailing lists but find I am as much an outsider as cold winds are on a sunny day. Old habits and/or cold feelings are hardly worth warming up to. Yes, I am new to everything dealing with Switzerland--is there a shorten form for the name of your beloved country? Samoa has been in existence 3,000 years--I wasn't there so you'd have to take the words of others who claim to be experts of what they know of the earth's history. I do know and feel because of familial history on the islands, the language and culture was a bit "cut"--shortened due to the confounding heat and humidity! My humour for today. <G> Though I dwell in the USA, my heart will always be with the South Seas, but I'm finding it easier to claim the World as my home as I get "wiser". Manuia le aso/Beautiful day, --manaia [Samoan word for "beautiful] PS--Ken, I am on the way to the library for this recommendation right now! Thanks! __ == --- kenneth stutzman <kstutz@adelphia.net> wrote: > Hello Manaia, > > A book that might be of help to you is RHINELAND > EMIGRANTS by Don Yoder. It > is mostly covering > ships from the Rhineland to the USA. For many > reasons the Swiss seemed to > stop over in the German Rhineland area also known > then as the Palitinates > before going to Amsterdam and on to the Colonies. > > Regards, > > Ken Stutzman ( my earliest Ancestor from records in > Erlenbach Church, > Switzerland going back to 1500's.) > > ----- Original Message ----- Yahoo! Mail Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour: http://tour.mail.yahoo.com/mailtour.html

Many thanks to all replies. It has been helpful. Sam

Hallo Fellow-Listers - Johann Martin STEHLIN and Caroline/Carolina SCHRANER both of Basel. Switzerland and both migrated to Upolu, Samoa c.1878. Interested in corresponding with others re Switzerland genealogy. Any and all info of ships leaving Switzerland and headed towards America and the South Pacific Islands. Any assistance on this journey is greatly appreciated. Regards, --manaia __ == Yahoo! Mail Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the tour: http://tour.mail.yahoo.com/mailtour.html

> Von: YumaMother@aol.com [mailto:YumaMother@aol.com] > Gesendet: Freitag, 6. Mai 2005 19:42 > > Hello Listers, > I have a many times great grandmother born in the town of > Zurich on 15 Jul 1626. My records show her name as Beatrix > Usterin. In looking thru the Family Search, she shows up as > Beatrix Usteri, father is Hans Heinrich Usteri. Can anyone > tell me which is the right spelling? I would appreciate any > help on this. > Alice Davison, Yuma, Az. Both are correct - depending on the circumstances. The Usteri family was originally from Erlenbach (canton Zuerich) and gained citizenship of the city of Zuerich in 1407(!). At the time the name was spelled Uster, though, likely from the town of Uster (canton Zuerich). Uster hold several citizenships, since before 1800 in cantons Zug and Zuerich - only the line of the city of Zuerich now uses the spelling Usteri. The "Usterin" is a different matter: to add "...in" to a surname of a female is still practice in many German speaking areas, though this will not be used in official documents any longer. "Usterin" therefore means that the family name is either Uster or Usteri, but the person in question is female. It is quite likely that Beatrix will be listed as "Beatrix Usterin" in e.g. the marriage register - but I still would recommend to record her as Betrix Uster in your genealogy program; anyone familiar with genealogy in German speaking areas in this time frame will know anyway that she was called Usterin. Best regards - Wolf __________________ Wolf Seelentag, Ph.D. Reherstr. 19 CH - 9016 St.Gallen +41 (0) 71 - 288 51 21 wolf.seelentag@swissonline.ch

It was quite common in those days that the last name of a female ended on -in. For example: father Hans Heinrich Usteri, son Johannes Usteri, daughter Beatrix Usterin. I have many of those cases in my database. Hope this helps Franz > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: YumaMother@aol.com > Gesendet am: Freitag, 6. Mai 2005 19:42 > An: SWITZERLAND-L@rootsweb.com > Betreff: [SWITZ] Re: Usterin/Usteri > > Hello Listers, > I have a many times great grandmother born in the town of Zurich on 15 Jul > 1626. My records show her name as Beatrix Usterin. In looking thru the Family > Search, she shows up as Beatrix Usteri, father is Hans Heinrich Usteri. Can > anyone tell me which is the right spelling? I would appreciate any help on > this. > Alice Davison, Yuma, Az. > > > ==== SWITZERLAND Mailing List ==== > Going on vacation? Gone longer than 4 days? Go to > http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/CHE/SWITZERLAND.html > to unsubscribe > nothing in message

Hello Listers, I have a many times great grandmother born in the town of Zurich on 15 Jul 1626. My records show her name as Beatrix Usterin. In looking thru the Family Search, she shows up as Beatrix Usteri, father is Hans Heinrich Usteri. Can anyone tell me which is the right spelling? I would appreciate any help on this. Alice Davison, Yuma, Az.

We have a new message board and mailing list for the name Scheiffer. Donna

The following names come to mind: Graessli of Grabs SG and Igis GR (ae = a-umlaut) Gressly of Burg im Leimental BL and Baerschwil and Solothurn (both SO) Gresly of Baerschwil SO Gresli of Mümliswil-Ramiswil SO Best regards - Wolf > -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- > Von: White, Janet [mailto:jwhite@nsaero.com] > Gesendet: Mittwoch, 4. Mai 2005 18:10 > > Looking for this surname in Switzerland and trying to follow its > migration into Alsace. Helpful suggestions are welcome... > > Janet > > ==== SWITZERLAND Mailing List ==== > Swiss Resource Site > http://swiss.genealogy.net

> Von: Guy Grenny [mailto:guyg@saber.net] > Gesendet: Mittwoch, 4. Mai 2005 17:24 > > Sam, > according to the SwissFamiliennamenbuch, SCHOTT families held > citizenship prior to 1799 in 3 Kanton Bern communities: > [...] > It seems to me that the SCHOTT name is much more prevalent in > Germany. How about it, Wolf? Schott would certainly be a possibility, and - yes - that name exists in Germany as well (and Austria and France and possibly others). I wouldn't know, however, where the name would be most common. In any case - with just the name (spelling not even sure) and the assumption it may come from Switzerland, it's going to be difficult to find a good starting point for any research over here. Best regards - Wolf

List, I am looking for a list of Swiss surnames. I had always assumed that my ancestors were Scotch-Irish but recent research suggests they may have been Swiss. I have traced my ancestor to New Bern NC where the Palantine-Swiss settled 1710. May I impose on you to check for the surname, "Scott/Scot/Skot", or a reasonable soundex from your list? I tried my local library & history center but cannot find the Swiss surname register book. Thanks in advance. Sam

Sam -- This doesn't cover all of Switzerland by any means, but there is no such surname in the 1798 Bürgerverzeichnisse of Canton Bern, published as "Men of Bern," with a full list of surnames on line at www.pictonpress.com/Swiss_Surnames.htm. This list of military-age men contains no surnames beginning with Sk and none beginning with Sco. The closest approximation seems to be Schortt. Harold Harold Henderson Researching surnames in CT, RI, MA, VT, ME, NY, NJ, PA, OH, WI, NC, England, Wales, Scotland, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, and Holland http://wc.rootsweb.com/~hendersonscholes

Looking for this surname in Switzerland and trying to follow its migration into Alsace. Helpful suggestions are welcome... Janet