The Hartmann Line

Jacob's sister, Anne-Marie Hartmann and her husband Frederick Judas married in Roppeviller and immigrated to the U.S. about 1872. They also settled near Medford, Wisconsin in 1882, after living in Plymouth, Massachusetts for about 10 years. Several other families of relatives and/or neighbors from the Moselle region of France settled near Medford - e.g., Leichtnam, Schaaf.

Jacob's father, also named Jacques (Jacob for the German speakers) made several trips back and forth between France and the U.S. before finally remaining in the U.S. after his wife's death (Anna Marguerite Miller) in Roppeviller in 1871.

Christine's brother, Pierre (Peter) Fey, remained in the New York City area and many of his descendents still live in New York state, and New Jersey.

Note 1: There is significance to the 1871 emigration date. Germany took over the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine in 1871. The residents were forced to either declare allegiance to Germany or to leave. About a half of million people left the area. My great grandparents were bilingual (French and German) when they emigrated, but the very fact that they left their homes rather than declare their allegiance to Germany suggests that they thought of themselves primarily as French. Medford, Wisconsin was primarily German speaking, so it is likely that they used their German more than their French after they settled there.

Note 2: there does not appear to be any relation between my Fey line of ancestors from Michelsrombach, Germany with those from Breidenbach, Moselle. In addition, the German 'Fey' seems to be pronounced to rhyme with 'eye', while the French 'Fey' rhymes with 'hay'.

Note 3: there are over 20 different towns named Breitenbach or Breidenbach in western Europe.