England and Europe

Sheffield - Kent - Alsace - Bern

A Photographic Scrapbook Of Our Family History

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(Click on thumbnails for a larger image.)

(Page Last Updated:  2006-08-25 )

UK and European Maps

Index:

1. Alsace, 19th Century
2. Canton Bern, Switzerland - 1840
3. Pizien Well St. in Wateringbury where Stephen Jeffery was apprenticed.
4. Pizien Well St. 1872
5. Haut Rhin Before 1870

Alsace (German name “Elsaß”) is part of the area known as Alsace-Lorraine, bordering France, Germany and Switzerland.  The area has an interesting history, including periodically being claimed by both France and Germany; the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 being one of the most notable incidents. The Alsace portion is a north-south strip of land, lying between the Vosges Mountains on the west and the Rhine River on the east. Alsace is where August Erbland was born on 16-OCT-1838.  While his exact birthplace is uncertain, it is thought that he came from the southern part of Alsace, near the Swiss border. His wife, Anna Marie Gerber, was born in 1855, at Bern, Switzerland. Bern is located at coordinates N46° 56.983'  E007° 26.067' (WGS84) and is 55 KMs south of the Swiss-Alsace border. The image on the left is based upon an 1882 source map and the right image is based upon an 1842 map. The pinkish area is Alsace on both maps.

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Canton Bern as it existed in 1840 was somewhat larger than what it is on a current day map.  This image shows canton Bern from a portion of an old Atlas map of Switzerland by Jeremiah Greenleaf,  published by Brattleboro in 1840. Until 1979, canton Bern had a common border with Alsace.  On Jan 1, 1979, canton Jura was formed out of that portion of the old canton Bern that adjoined the Alsace border. Erbland family records indicate that, Anna Gerber was born in "Bern, Switzerland" of parents Samuel Gerber (b. 17-AUG-1825 in Switzerland, d. 12-OCT-1886 in Canton, Ohio, USA) and Anna Messer (b. 30-JUL-1830 in Switzerland, d. 11-MAR-1920) and that she married August Erbland of Alsace on 16-APR-1874. Our family records do not indicate the birth cities of either Anna Gerber or her parents, however, a Pedigree Resource File from the LDS indicates that Samuel Gerber was born in Thune (Thun District) and that Anna Messer was born in Fraubrunnen. Anna's birthdate also differs slightly from the Erbland records. Both of these places are indicated on this map. Information in IGI Records from the LDS says that Anna and Samuel Gerber were married in 1852 and that Samuel Gerber was born in Oberlangenegg.  Oberlangenegg is a Swiss governmental unit known as a "commune" within Thun "district" of "canton" Bern, so this does not conflict with the previous record that Samuel Gerber was born in Thun..

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This 2006 road map of Waterginbury, Kent, England, shows Pizien Well Street, where Stephen Jeffery was living while apprenticed to Richard Harrison. Stephen Jeffery is enumerated here in the 1851 census.

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Pizien Well St. on an 1872 map.  Stephen Jeffery was living here while apprenticed to Richard Harrison. Stephen Jeffery is enumerated here in the 1851 census.

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Map of Haut Rhin before 1870.

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In order to discourage misuse or abuse of the photographs presented herein, all of the photographs and original text on this web site are copyrighted by Mardon Erbland.  My sister and I will be pleased to share copies of these photos with interested parties upon request.  Please see our Copyright Page for a full explanation and for a statement of our commitment to avoiding infringement of copyrights held by others.

We wish to be respectful of individual's privacy.  We have not intentionally included pictures of any living persons unless they have given us permission to do so.  Please see our Privacy Statement for details.  © 1999-2003 by Mardon Erbland

Although the information presented on this web site is accurate to the best of our knowledge, we have made no attempt to meet the rigorous standards of proof required to document lineage for genealogical purposes.  That is why we describe our site as "A Photographic Scrapbook".  See the article, "Computerized Trolling" by Richard A. Pence, for some interesting comments on Web sites vis-à-vis genealogical standards.

Because this site contains lots of  images, the pages may be slow to load.  'Thumbnail' images are used to provide an initial view of each image.  Click on the thumbnail to see a larger image.  Because of the increasing availability of High Speed access (via ADSL or cable connections) this site has been designed for high speed connections.  If you are using a telephone modem please be patient. I hope that you can get a DSL or cable modem soon!  Thanks, Mardon)