This sentence, "1784 bin ich zu einem Vorspräch wehählt worden," was attributed to my great-great-great-great grandfather, Franz Carli Betschart, who was a judge in Kanton Schwyz. As a result, his descendants were known as Vorsprächig. What does that sentence mean, and what's a Vorspräch? Also -- I know this is a long shot -- but does anyone know of a way I could find out which newspapers were operating in Zürich in 1884? Apparently one of my Vorsprächig cousins became a newspaper editor in Zürich in 1884, but the name of the newspaper was omitted... Joann Betschart (Lunzä Schützenhaus) | http://www.c-zone.net/merlaan "Amman Hans, as he was known, was a crude, immodest, dictatorial, sarcastic man who had no respect for either clergy or the laity. Nevertheless, he was a judge." -- Brief biography of Hans Betschart (ca. 1580-1650)