In the current issue of Mennonite Family History (January 2004) , there is an article on the emigration from Steffisburg, Switzerland, to Ste. Marie-Aux-Mines in Alsace of many Anabaptist families late in the Seventeenth Century. At this time, about 1690, there was no distinction between the Mennonites and Amish.
Anabaptist thought and practices found many converts in the second half of the Seventeenth Century in the region of Steffisburg. This led to increase in persecution of the Anabaptists there. Jacob Ammann, who led the group which became known in our modern English as Amish, had moved to the Alsace already. Seeking new recruits to his beliefs, he visited Steffisburg, where he found an excellent reception. As a result, many families emigrated from Steffisburg to Alsace, especially in light of the persecution in Steffisburg..
One list of names of emigrants has been preserved. There are interesting names, especially for me, in this list. Two successive names in the list are Jacob Her (Herr) and Ulrich Kilchhoffer (Killheffer). Now, my son-in-law is Robert E. Killheffer and he descends from Hans Herr with only the change of name from Herr to Killheffer.
Some of the other names on the list of emigrating people are Danner (known today as Tanner), Gerber, Rupp, and several Zimmermans. The mention of Zimmermans sent me to the ancestry of Christopher Zimmerman, Germanna immigrant of 1717, where I found that he had ancestors from Steffisburg. Christopher Zimmerman's ancestors left Steffisburg before the Anabaptists had made major gains. Still he might be related to some of the Zimmermans on the Anabaptist list.
At the minimum, I throw this out for the recurrence of the names known in other contexts. At the best, it might give us more insight into our collective Germanna ancestry.
*****
Eleanor and I are going to Albuquerque to see a young lady and we will be gone about three weeks. I do not expect to be involved in the list here for that time. Some of you wanted to buy some things from me. If I have your email order by 8 A.M. Saturday (tomorrow) morning, I will attempt to have the items in Saturday's mail (I will bill you later). Monday is a holiday at the Post Office and we will be on the road by Tuesday.
(17 Jan 04)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.