the parish record would show the occupation of his father. In latin. W. David Samuelsen Angelia M Pfeifer wrote: > > Hi Everyone! > > I am looking for information on the occupation of my family members before > they left Germany. I just learned an interesting story about my 4x great > grandfather who was drafted into the Prussian army against his will in > 1848. According to the story, service in the Prussian army was so abhorrent > at that time that it was sarcastically referred to as "becoming a > Prussian." My grandfather, already unhappy to be in the army, was driven > too hard by an officer and threw his gun (bayonet attached) at the man. The > bayonet caused a huge gash in the officer's face. Unable to speak, the > commander was taken to the hospital. My grandfather managed to convince > authorities that the gun had been "fairly resulted from his grasp" but > believed court-martial was eminent as soon as the officer was able to speak > his side. So grandpa escaped into the German frontier, where he met a > "shrewd young woman" (whatever that means) who introduced him to a mounted > guard who in turn helped grandpa across the French border and then into > Italy with out a pass. Grandpa then fought for the Papal Guard before > immigrating to the US in 1856 where is finally settled down as a farmer in > Minnesota. > > I have read that conscription was not universal at that time in Prussia. I > know that most Junkers and their peasants were exempt from the draft. That > means grandpa's family must have been some sort of free peasantry or > members of some lower craft. Grandpa's name was John Pfeifer and he was > born in 1828. His father was Johannes Pfeifer born in 1787. Both were from > Rappweiler, Konfeld, Trier. John was christened at St. John the Baptist. > Can anyone guide me as to how to find their occupation? > > Thanks! > > Angie > APFEIFER@prodigy.net > > ==== TRIER-ROOTS Mailing List ==== > Support RootsWeb! Help provide FREE genealogical resources on the > Internet: http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html