 I wish to thank everyone, especially Candi (SHIVES) Daugherty who did all the work gathering the data on the HOFFARD family and to thank those who have assisted in the search for material, as when I first sat down nothing was known outside of my own imediate family. If you run across any broken links or pictures that don't show, or any errors please click on the email button at the bottom of every page and let me know. THE HOFFARD FAMILYVery interesting but truly hard story to keep going as the records of Metz are available but hard to track birth records of Adam Hoffard. One of the problems being that Metz is such a large city with suburbs having different names. Also, the fact that Hoffard had so many different spellings that I have yet to complete all of them., ie., Hofert, Hoffert, Hofard, Hoffurd, Hofferd and many more. When researching the family names there were at least three Adam Hoffards listed; Adam I who brought the family to the United States probably in 1827 and settled in Lewis County, New York; Adam II who settled in Arcadia Town, Carroll, Iowa and died in 1887 and Adam III who settled in Charter Oak, Iowa and died in 1839. Come to learn, they were all related and names passed down the line. The citizenship papers on Adam I state that he was from the Department of Meurthe, France. In 1815 the region of Lorriane, France was divided into the departments of Moselle and Meurthe. The capital of Moselle was Metz and the capital of Meurthe was Nancy. On September 18, 1838 Adam Hoffart I signed their citizenship which stated he was from Meurthe. Records are yet to be obtained to see if Adam served in Napoleon's army. Most immigrants, regardless of their country of origin, left from either Bremen or Hamburg, Germany. While waiting to board their ship they usually stayed in an inn especially designed to house them and their families. If they wandered around the evil port cities they were most likely to be bilked of their money. This is why most immigrants arrived in America with less than $20.00. Steamship companies had to bring rejected immigrants back to Europe at their own expense so everyone had to have a medical inspection prior to entering America. If lice were found, both he and his bundles had to be fumigated. Ocean voyages weren't as advertised. Cabins might be only 6x6 feet with triple decker bunks and five other passengers who were sick all the way. Mothers were often too ill to care for their children or the fear of cholera and other epidemic diseases lasting weeks or months were feared. More than 200,000 Germans lived in New York and Pennsylvania which came from Germany. They were known as "plain people". After 1848 a time of destructive revolution, bad crops and greedy landlords in the Germany states, a new wave of 1.5 million immigrants came to America and settled in Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Iowa. We bear old and honorable names---who trace the history of our surnames back to sturdy emigrant ancestors may be rightfully proud of our heritage. Our surname became our badge of family honor, the GOOD NAME to be proud of, to protect, and to fight for if need be. It is an institution, a family cry and the most treasured possession of those who bear it. We began our history in Germany in a small town named Schwaigern near the city of Schwaibish Hall. Schwaigern is located about 25 miles below Heidelberg. There stands an old church which has a beautiful vaulted ceiling and three panel painting from the 1500's. Among these is a painting on which the Hoffart coat of arms was discovered on the south wall of the choir. It apparently represents the victorious Christ about the tomb and before the astonished Mary and Martha. In the foreground is a gentleman in a suit of armor with two women praying. The coat or arms identify them as Gunther Harttman von Neipperg and his two wives, the first of whom was evidently a Hoffart descendant. The Hoffart/Hoffert names are recorded for well over 100 years before they came to America back to the beginning of the Schwaigern parish register. The church now is a Lutheran Church but it started life as a Catholic church since it was built in 1207. It is still being used after all these years considering the devastating effect of the many wars over the years. Last updated 06 May 2005 Created by Bill Lyman 
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