I have no idea what to make of this. All I can say is that the interconnectedness of people is
dazzling. Here’s a tiny, convoluted example.
Before I start, let me provide the absolute basic facts. In 1781, Michel BOURGEOIS and Joanna
FLURY had a son, Michael. Michael 1781 is my great great great grandfather. HIS grandparents
are Michel BOURGEOIS and Eva BECK. In 1866, Michael’s (1781) grandson, Francis Joseph
BUSHU married Agatha BURKEY who was the granddaughter of an absolute family icon, Anne
Marie HOFF. Francis BUSHU is my great grandfather. Anna Marie is my great great great
grandmother on the BURKEY side.
Michel Bourgeois 1761> Michael Bourgeois 1781> Morand Bourgeois > Francis Bushu >
Herbert Bushu > Pauline Bushu > me.
Michael BOURGEOIS and Joanna had a second son in 1785; Morand. Morand and his family
came to the US several years after his older brother. The descendants of both men have been
traced although Michael’s is much more accurate than Morand’s, thanks to a gifted researcher
named Lester BUSHUE.
But this piece isn’t just about the BUSHUS; it’s about the HOFFS. Ages ago when I started
genealogy, I traced the BUSHU family back to Mertzen, Haut Rhin, Alsace, France, where they
were BOURGEOIS. A few years later, dabbling about in the Alsace archives late one night, I
bumped into the HOFF name. Now that was interesting because the gifted man who traced
Anne Marie’s (remember her? Family icon) descendants had been stopped cold at the Atlantic
ocean. But late that night, doodling along, I found a promising HOFF reference and pursued it.
I’ve written a blog piece about finding her, so I won’t repeat the details of that search. But I will
mention that we were very surprised to learn that this woman who married a pretty prominent
man from Switzerland was from tiny Mertzen. But she was, and I chased her ancestry all the
way back to 1600 or so.
Shifting gears now. A while ago, a man I’ll call Steven (because that’s his name) contacted me.
He was interested in the Morand BOURGEOIS 1785 line. We corresponded, and eventually he
asked for, and I sent, the original contemporaneous, primary records for the family in France. He
is wonderful; he double-checked the presence of and accuracy for every source I had claimed,
finding some errors and then determining that I was missing five records. I ascertained I didn’t
have them, logged onto my favorite French website, CRHF, and ordered the missing
documents. Four of those arrived a few days ago, and I, looking for anything to do that would
distract me from some routine tree maintenance, sat down to see what was to be gleaned from
these jewels.
And there, lo and behold, I learned that the Godparents of Joanny, son of Michel BOURGEOIS
and Eva BECK were Joanis CONRAD and Anna Marie HOOFF. (HOOFF is one of the ways the
various priests and officials spell the HOFF name.) In Mertzen. Where my 3g grandmother,
Anne Marie, is from. Huh! They have to be related, right? Mertzen is awfully tiny; if there’s a Hoff
there, they are connected.
So today I spent some time trying to determine just how Godmother Anne Marie HOOFF was
connected to my great great great grandmother, Anna Marie HOFF BURKEY.
First, I tried to identify this new Anne Marie by finding her birth. I limited my search at CRHF to
Anne Maries born to a Hof/Hoof/Hooff/Hoff between 1700 and 1720. These dates would place
the godmother between 16 and 36. a reasonable age range for an unmarried woman to be
godmother. There were two possibles*: one was born to Jean Hoff and Catherine Beuret on 23-
Jan-1705. The other was born to Christian Hoff and Anne Marie Daner in 1712. From there, I
looked for the two women’s grandparents.
The Hoff/Kempf Anne Marie’s grandfather is Christian Hoff, b 25 Mar 1650, son of Jean Hoff and
Jacqueline Kempf.
The Hoff/ Daner Anne Marie’s grandfather is also Christian Hoff, b. 25-Mar-1650, son of Jean
Hoff and Jacqueline Kempf.
So the two Anne Maries are daughters of brothers, or first cousins.
I then identified all the male children the Hoff men produced, starting with Jean HOFF, born
about 1620. There were a lot, most of them named Jean. And I discovered that my Anne Marie’s
great great great grandfather, Christophe HOFF, born in 1654 to Jean HOFF and Jacqueline
KEMPF, had a brother, Christianus, born in 1650. And Christianus is grandfather to both
contenders for Godmother Anna Marie. Confused yet?
So Christianus, Godmother Anne Marie’s grandfather, is some sort of great-great-great-great
uncle to MY Anne Marie. I refuse to compute the exact relationship of the two Anne Maries.
But isn’t it amazing? These women, separated by 100 years, share not just ancestry, but a
BOURGEOIS connection, a really close one. People don't pick Godparents blithely; they are
close, trusted friends or family. It would appear that almost 300 years ago, the Hoffs and the
Bourgeois were important to one another. I realize no one’s probably very excited, but maybe
we should be. Did great grandmother BURKEY experience some subtle vibe with Frank
BUSHU, some recognition that they shared the unique experience of a tiny ville called Mertzen,
a close relationship in the mists of time, as in "Hmmm, there's something familiar about you . . .
Something, oh, je ne sais quoi . . ."
Okay, that's stretching it, but still . . . It’s pretty cool!
*There were two other Anne Maries born between 1700 and 1720, the likely period for a woman
to still be unmarried in 1736. One married in 1726; the other died at age two. Of course, it’s
possible Anne Marie was much older than 36 when she witnessed Joanny’s baptism. I’m not
exploring that. My brain is exhausted trying to keep all the Jeans, Michels, Christians, and Anne
Maries straight.
