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Revised Feb 27, 2010

Descendants of

BALTHASAR


SPEYRER


The Doerrenbach Connection

Welcome to the Home Page of the SPEYRER FAMILY ASSOCIATION, a point of reference for members in the United States and abroad. This Page is the continuation in another form of a printed Newsletter which served in planning the first international Speyrer family reunion of October 12, 1996 in Louisiana (USA). The choice of year was no accident; 1996 had special significance, coming exactly 450 years after the birth of Balthasar Speyrer, the family's earliest-known ancestor.

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Go To Speyrer Family In Germany_ | _Go To Speyrer Family In America

Membership in this Association is open to his descendants and their friends who wish to stay in touch with one another by means of the World Wide Web. It is the Editor's intention to make available material from the printed Newsletter, of which sixteen issues appeared altogether from 1993 to 1996.


The Speyrer Family in Germany

Dörrenbach [click for map], a hamlet in Rheinland Germany is the place of origin of this branch of the Speyrer family. There, in this village of the Pfalz, Balthasar Speyrer, became the town's school-teacher and part-time Evangelisch (i.e., Protestant) minister.

Born in 1546 (the year of Martin Luther's death), Balthasar Speyrer came from Wertheim am Main. After a brief stay in Annweiler (Pfalz), he settled in near-by Dörrenbach. He is the progenitor of all Speyrers from this village.

The word SPEYRER is an adjective and simply means 'someone or something from the city of Speyer'. For more information about this city in English click here. Speyer is also an ancient church See. For more on the Diocese of Speyer (in German), follow this link .For another interesting site, go to The German Corner.



The Speyrer Family In The United States

In the 1840's, CONRAD SPEYRER, like many others from his area emigrated for political and economic reasons. He sailed from LeHavre de Grâce (France) for New Orleans. Arriving there, he went by steamboat to the Ports of Washington and Port Barre in Saint Landry Parish where he bought property in Leonville, settled and married Josefina Quevedo. Together they raised five children. For a short story of their lives see The Five Immediate Descendants of Conrad Speyrer below. Records show that other villagers followed after him. See Descendants of Georg Ludwig Speyrer Who Emigrated to America. There is evidence that even a sister of Conrad Speyrer is recorded as having signed a legal document in the Opelousas Court House records, although little more than this about her is known!

  • A Tribute to Marie Speyrer Mayne
  • Remembering Dad - Camille Joseph Speyrer
  • Hildevert Henry Deshotel, husband of Zelina Speyrer
  • Excerpts from The Origins of the Speyrer Family in America
  • Letters from Norbert Speyrer and Ernst Lammering ( in English ) ( auf Deutsch )
  • Highlights in the Early History of St. Leo the Great Church
  • SPEYRER Family NEWS
  • From the Reunion Issue of the Speyrer Family Newsletter
  • Two Photos - Opelousas: Then and Now

  • Photographs of the Speyrer Family Reunion

  • Photographs of the Direct Descendants of Conrad Speyrer

  • Les Vieux Temps - Photographs of Earlier Days in Leonville, La, and Environs
  • French Postcards (1919)
  • Fish Fry in Leonville (1910)
  • Chestnut Trees from Doerrenbach
  • Summer Swamp Adventures in Louisiana
  • The Black Baptist Church Next Door and Leonville's First and Last Movie Theatre

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