geneology

by Laura Worley
(Virignia Beach, VA USA)

Hi.

Researching my genealogy and I got as far as Alsace, France but they also put Germany in the same line...not sure of the reason for that.

Researching the last name of Musser and the records indicate that the name was most likely Moser with the umlaut over the o.

I have also seen it spelled Mosser. We now go by Musser. The full name is Michael Moser.

Some places have Hans before the name Michael.

Dates are 1710-1789 with emigration to the US in 1749. Married to Eva Maria Elsasser 1717-1807.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Laura Musser

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Mosser Musser Moeser Möser
by: Suzele

Hi Laura,

Hopefully you have some clues about which part of Alsace your ancestor lived in.

Records are usually organized by village or town.

They're all digitized now - if they still exist - but they're still organized by town + village.

In your case, you need church records. Before 1789, there were no official state records in France.

In the 1700s, Alsace was part of France.

Someone may have added Germany because sometimes it was part of Germany too.

But in your case, it wasn't.

One way you might be able to narrow down the village or town is what your Alsace ancestors' religious beliefs were.

What's your best guess?

Protestant or Catholic?

There are a few other options, but most people were one of these two.

Some towns and villages in the 1700s were definitely one or the other.

They didn't mix well at the time.

Neither one tolerated the other very well.

Möser - you can also spell it Moeser nowadays without the umlaut.

That's a lot of variation! I'm guessing those are all from the US?

In my research, I didn't see any Moesers listed in Alsace.

But I did find more than a few Mossers and Mosers. They're not concentrated in a specific area unfortunately. That would be a good clue if they were.

And no Mussers at all.

It's not an extremely common name, but some still living in Alsace.

So it seems the Musser change happened in the US.

It makes a lot of sense. It's probably what it sounded like to Americans.

Hope it helps and good luck with your research,
Suzele

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