To recap, I noticed that there is a Diefenbach about five miles south of Sulzfeld. I have also now noticed there is a Tiefenbach that is about six miles northwest of Sulzfeld. Since the Zimmerman Baptismal Record that referred to Ludwig Fischer actually said Tiefenbach, I have perhaps been in error in mentioning Diefenbach. This is one of the hazards of German research. Names do change and there are many similar names. The net result is that I will have to search in both of these villages. It could be either one.
In favor of Tiefenbach : It is not far from Neuenbürg where the Blankenbakers lived, and the Ludwig Fisher in Virginia did marry Anna Barbara Blankenbaker. Tiefenbach has a Catholic church, but then Neuenbürg had only a Catholic church and the Blankenbakers were definitely Protestant. The net result, though, is that the Fischers, if Protestant and residents of Tiefenbach, may have gone to church in some adjacent village that had a Protestant church, as the Blankenbakers did. Given the baptismal record and the nearness to Neuenbürg, I will have to order the microfilms (available through the LDS) and look. Then I may want to expand to nearby villages, especially ones with Protestant churches. (Whoever said the process was straightforward was wrong.)
In favor of Diefenbach : It has a Protestant church and is slightly closer to Sulzfeld. Against Diefenbach : The spelling in the Zimmerman Baptismal Record was actually Tiefenbach. Since last week when the LDS online catalog reported they had no microfilm for Diefenbach, they now report that there are three microfilms. I will have to order the microfilms through the LDS and look at them. The book, “ Diefenbach Ortssippenbuch ”, is available at the Library of Congress. I believe that a couple of years ago Eleanor and I did look at this without any positive results. I will probably want to look at it again.
At this point, I want to order the microfilms and study them.
Whenever one starts examining the villages around Sulzfeld or in that region in general, one is always impressed by the number of Germanna names that one encounters. It always looks as if it were Germanna country.
Off to the LDS Family History Center (FHC).
(24 Feb 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.