This past weekend my son-in-law, David Meek, a high school history teacher and history enthusiast, presented our family with some genealogy research which he had done at Ancestry.com. We were able to compare facts with some hand written notes contained in an old family Bible.
I LOVE learning family history, and hearing related stories. It creates a special connection in my heart.
At any rate, “Franzwa” is the Germanized spelling of the French name “Francois,” which was changed during the French Revolution. Our Francois ancestors were French nobility, and fled to Germany to escape having their heads cut off. Soon they found it necessary to change the name in order to fit in to their new German culture.
I was sad to learn from son-in-law David that it may not be possible to search back any further than about 1807, as it was common procedure during the French Revolution, and subsequently under Napoleon, to burn any nobility records found. I/we can only hope our ancestors might have carried some of these records with them… and that they are to be found.
I feel there’s more research ahead!
In addition to the genealogy this weekend, we also added a visual treat by watching the new movie Marie Antoinette, starring Kirsten Dunst. While I don’t take too much stock in Hollywood’s rendering of historical facts, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie sets and costumes. Wow!
Those Frenchie ancestors of ours were the most opulent, foo-foo frilly bunch to walk the planet!
