> Von: Troy Shaw [mailto:[email protected]] > Gesendet: Sonntag, 3. November 2002 05:36 > > Hi all > > Can someone do a search for me on the Smith/Shmidt family. > > Peter Smith was born in circa 1857 at St Gallen Switzerland, > his father is also presumed to be named Peter Smith, but no > known mother's name. > > Any information of the family would greatly be appreciateed. > > Thanking you > > Troy Dear Troy, I'm afraid to say that, without further information on the origin of your ancestor, there is little chance to find him in Switzerland. As original spellings you have to consider Schmid, Schmied, Schmidt, Schmit, Schmitt - which together make it one of the three most common surnames in Switzerland (the others being Mueller and Meier/Meyer/Maier/...) - see http://swiss.genealogy.net/surcom-m.htm The next problem is that St.Gallen is not just a city - it's also a canton (corresponding to a state) with a large number of communities - see http://swiss.genealogy.net/kant/sgorte-m.htm To find your ancestor, born 1857, there are two possibilities: 1. Find the parish where he was baptised: all SG church records have been filmed by LDS - see http://swiss.genealogy.net/kant/sgkibu-m.htm 2. Enquire at the Zivilstandsamt (civil registry office) of his Buergerort (home town) - see http://swiss.genealogy.net/CH-burger-e.html for a description of Swiss citizenship. To find potential Buergerorte one has to check Familiennamenbuch - see http://swiss.genealogy.net/famnam-m.htm which tells you (restricted to canton St.Gallen and citizenships older than mid-19th century): SCHMID: Bad Ragaz a Berneck a Bütschwil a Degersheim a Ennetbühl a Flawil a Ganterschwil a Grabs 1837 Kappel (Toggenburg) a Kirchberg SG a Krummenau a Mogelsberg a Nesslau a Oberhelfenschwil a Oberuzwil a Rheineck 1808 * Rorschacherberg a St.Gallen 1815 D and later St.Peterzell a Stein (Toggenburg) a Wildhaus a SCHMIED: St.Gallen 1834 (Stadel ZH) SCHMIDT: none SCHMIT: none SCHMITT: none So this tells us that you'll most likely have to look for the spelling SCHMID - and do that in 21 communities (or few more parishes, as the city of St.Gallen has several parishes). And before the question comes up: no - there is no central register you could check; also SG passport records have been lost. It would therefore be most helpful if any other information on the origin could be found. Good luck, and best regards - Wolf __________________ Wolf Seelentag, Ph.D. Reherstr. 19 CH - 9016 St.Gallen +41 (0) 71 - 288 51 21 [email protected]