Pierre Augustin

     Many of our ancestors who emigrated to Donauschwaben in the late 1700s came from Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle, departments of the former province of Lorraine in France. Moselle was populated by Germans in the East and French in the West. Meurthe-et-Moselle was a mostly French area. To understand why these people moved to Austro-Hungary, a little knowledge of history is necessary.

In 1736, Duke Francis III of Lorraine married Arch-Duchess Maria Theresa of Austria, who was the heiress of the Habsburgs. Lorraine became part of the Habsburg Empire, while at the same time being part of France. In 1737, Louis XV gave Lorraine and Alsace to his father-in-law, the former King of Poland Stanislas Leszczynski, who exploited the people and demanded high taxes. Many residents of the area decided life must be better in Hungary, and bought into the recruiters’ ads. Emigration increased exponentially from the mid to late 1700s. The French Revolution also contributed to emigration. Often the settlers had to leave in secrecy, because the local authorities refused to give them permission to emigrate.

Henridorff, home of Paul Bourgeois, born circa 1664, his wife Marie Noblet, and daughter Anne Marie Bourgeouis and her husband Martin Thiebau (Thiebault), a one-street town, fairly typical for the area.

The only surviving barn door with escutcheon and cross of Lorraine in Sarraltroff is the Bonnard farm, located in the Rue de la Fontaine.

A little-known fact is that there exists a cluster of once French-speaking towns in the border area of what is now northern Romania and Serbia. Our emigrant ancestors who undertook the long journey include Jean Pierre Augustin, who emigrated from Virming to Gottlob with his wife, Catharine Heydinger, and family, Jean Paul Thiebauld, who emigrated from Hommarting to Bogarosch in 1770 with his wife, Margueritte Veronique Conselin and family, Andreas Hubert Marx, who emigrated from from Buhl-Lorraine to Bogarosch in 1769, with his wife, Maria Elisabeth Gendret and family, Jean Claude Christophe, who emigrated from Parroy to Sankt Hubert with his wife, Françoise Gerardot, and family, Jean Bonn, who emigrated from Petit-Ebersviller to Lenauheim, who emigrated with his wife, Marie Catharina Martin, and family, and Dominique Hess, who emigrated from Sarraltroff to Gross Jetscha, with his wife, Marie Christine Bonard, and family.

Immigration to Lorraine also occurred in the late 1600s. Hans Unternehr, (ancestor of the above Marx family), from Schüpfheim, Switzerland emigrated to Garrebourg and Badonviller with his family. And Thomas Gros, (ancestor of the above Augustin family), emigrated from Tyrol, Austria to Virming. Pierre Augustin married Agnès Fohr.^2,3

Second, Pierre married Anne Mariche.¹