Wayne Strasbaugh   wrote:

Dear Mr. Weebers,    I was delighted to find your  page on the  history of Salm on the web.  It is   a topic of which I have not found much coverage elsewhere.  I have recently traced my ancestry to a Strasbach family living in Saulxures at the beginning of the 18th century.  They and members  of  the Delon, Noel, Girard, Ory and Chretien families from Saulxures and adjacent  villages of Salm emigrated to North America in June 1736 and  appear to have settled in the same community in  Pennsylvania. It would perhaps be an overstatement to describe their settlement as a colony, but the pattern of their  emigration suggests a degree of planning and cohesion typical of a colonial settlement.

Their emigration seems to be unusual in that these families were French-speaking Catholics settling in a Protestant, English-speaking  part of North America.  American history books of course do not mention any
immigration from Salm at all.  It has occurred to me, however, that  their departure from Salm (or  the departure of other emigrants at the same time) may have been recorded somewhere in the annals of Salm.  It is possible  that
their departure may have been occasioned by political developments in the area . Because the emigrants  had enough funds to pay for their passage and buy land once they arrived in Pennsylvania, I have also wondered
whether their venture was in some way sponsored by the local authorities. In this regard, I noted in one of the sources on your page a reference to a member of the Noel family who was chancellor of  the principality of Salm.

If you have encountered any record of this emigration in your research  in the history of Salm, I would greatly appreciate your sharing it with me.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Wayne R. Strasbaugh
strasbaugh@ballardspahr.com

 From: Weebers@t-online.de [SMTP:Weebers@t-online.de]
 Sent: Thursday, December 09, 1999 3:45 AM
 To:   Strasbaugh, Wayne (Phila)
 Subject:      Re: 18th Century Immigration from Salm

 Dear Mr. Strasbaugh,

 I am invited by the present Price zu Salm-Salm to visit him and he told  me he will take care that I get some help from the keeper of the records  in Anholt (their seat) to learn more about the history of the Principality. I will ask him if there is information on this topic in his archive.

 Best,
 Hans A.M. Weebers
 http://home.t-online.de/home/weebers/start.htm