Person:Adam Ahlbach (1)

Excerpt from Maurice Neverman, [email protected]:

"The year is 1632. No one knows the reason. Perhaps it was fear from political changes in Tyrol. Perhaps it was to escape from something-who knows? A young couple-still nameless-drifts from Tyrol, Austria, across the mountain passes into Bavaria. For more unknown reasons they stop and settle in a dorfer near Flemmersfeld. Dorfers are very small communites where a couple of generations of one family, perhaps a couple of small families huddle together for a modicum of comfort and protection from raiding bands which plague the lawless countryside.

This particular dorfer is known informally as Ahlbach. It got its name from a stream which coursed through the area. The "Ahl" part is a Celtic word, left over from a time when the Celts controlled the area. The "bach" part is a German word meaning brook or stream. People of the area, known only by their given names were further identified as being "of Ahlbach".

On April 1, 1633, a son was born to our mystery couple. He was duly baptized with the name "Adam" in the Catholic Church in Flemmersfeld, and that particular record may still be seen. Later records were destroyed so official records of his marriage are missing.

A coin has supposedly been passed down from generation to generation to the youngest son in the family. It was last believed to be in the possession of an Albaugh family in Pennsylvania. One researcher is said to claim that the "contracted Aust." on the coin means "Ausstattung" denoting that Leopold had inherited rights to the Tyrol, Burgundy, etc. This could just as easily mean that the ancestors came from Burgundy, Carinthia or several other territories."