There was a Gottfried, who was from Sweden. He married an American girl and changed his name to "George", which we found in many obituaries of other relatives. But we tracked him back to his marriage and found his name was really "Gottfried". Trudy Nancy Helvey wrote: > Hi List, > > Thanks for the thoughts about Fred being a nickname for Gottfried. I > have an ancestor named Fred Frey who was born in 1820 in either > Switzerland or Germany. He married Magdalena Gerber Althaus in 1855 or > 56 in Wyandot Co. OH. I have wondered if he decided to "Americanize" > his first name from a name such as Gottfried. I have been searching for > Friedrich Frey and no luck so far. Of course, it is always possible > that his name could be Gottfried Friedrich Frey. I found a Gottfried > Frey as a passenger aboard the SS BORUSSIA that left Hamburg and arrived > in New York in 1856. Gottfried's occupation is listed as "smith" and > this certainly fits the description of Fred Frey whom I know to have > been a blacksmith. > > Thanks for the clue-- Fridolin. I haven't seen this so far in my > search, however. > > Nancy Helvey > > ==== SWITZERLAND Mailing List ==== > Swiss Resource Site > http://swiss.genealogy.net