The Brick Wall

Well, why I haven't added much to this blog as of late, I have been hot on the trail of researching the Muller Heritage, specifically, the families of Ludwig and Brigitte.  For years this has been a brick wall.  Finally I have found a crack in it's facade.  Recently I came across a large resource from the Haut-Rhin region of Alsace.  This resource has proven invaluable in looking closer at the Muller and Flesch ancestry.  Their database contains birth, marriage and death records dating back as far as 1792 to 1892.

For more information go to
http://www.archives.cg68.fr/Services_Archives_Anciennes.aspx

The hardest part so far, is trying to decipher and read the script ... sometimes in German, but mostly in FRENCH!  I often wonder what my late Uncle Bob would be thinking about now?

So, I'll start with Ludwig and Brigitte Muller.  First, while I have always thought of Louis Joseph Muller as being named so in the Germanic language as Ludwig Josef Müller, the document below shows the spelling of his name as Luis Joseph Muller.  I suspect that given the history of Alsace, that his name lost it's 'french' spelling when the region came under German occupation as I have known it to be for years.

Birth Record of Luis Joseph Muller; s/o Martin Muller and Anne Marie nee Staub

Further research also shows that Luis' parents, as suspected through existing documents, were Martin Muller and Anne (or Anna) Marie Staub.  A note here about Staub.  In some documents it looks like Flaub. This is something that I have gone back and forth about for some years.  But finding her name first in a marriage index, it becomes clear that it is Staub, not Flaub.  If it were Flaub her name would have shown up in the beginning of the alphabetical listing.  Instead, it's near the end.  I also believe that Anne Marie's father, Luis' grandfather was Leonard Flaub.

The record also indicates that Luis had a brother named Joseph and also provides evidence that their father's name may well have been Luis Martin Muller.  This would indicate that my g-grandfather Luis (Ludwig), was named after his father.

On Brigitte's side of the family we find confirmation that her parents were Robert Flesch and Marie Anne Demange.  Further research also shows that Brigitte had some siblings.  First was Marie Eugenia Flesch.  She married William Henry Meyer and immigrated to the US before Ludwig and Brigitte.  The Meyer family is mentioned in Ludwig's (Luis) paperwork as Elizabeth, New Jersey.  It was here that the family was heading to when they arrived in the United States

I've known for a while that Brigitte also had a brother Camille.  He was the conductor of a couple of community bands in Alsace, for which I have postcard images of.  To date, I have yet to find his birth record ... however, I have also found another sibling.  There is a record for a R. Flesch.  This would be either a reference for a 4th child born to Robert and Marie or it might be the record for 'Camille' ... research continues.

As I continue to research these leads, the hardest part is now reading and translating the script.  Unfortunately this will take time as the images were not scanned at a super high quality resolution.  Thus, it makes it harder to read even if enlarged.  Time will tell, but finally the brick wall has started to crack!