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1880 US Census record for Joseph Brutsché.

In Denison, Grayson, Texas. Both of Joseph's parents are recorded as having been born in France, instead of Germany and Switzerland, their true places of birth. This could have been driven by antipathy towards Germans in Texas following the Civil War, during which many Germans refused to fight on behalf of the Confederacy. This was because Many Germans emigrated from Germany to escape conscription, and were opposed to slavery on religious grounds. According to his obituary, Joseph arrived in Texas in 1872, when Civil War memories were still very fresh. Another data point is the fact that Joseph's mother Jeanette Brutsché had advertised as early as 1828 in Philadelphia selling the finest in 'French Millinery,' so perhaps the desire for the family to appear French began with Joseph's mother.

This desire to be non-German could also explain the change from the German pronunciation 'BROOT-shee' to 'bru-SHAY,' as bru-SHAY might more easily have been seen as a French surname. Our grandmother, Jeanette Brutsché, led us to believe she was of French ancestry, perhaps she did not even know of her German heritage. This is not as strange as it might seem, we have found others in our tree who have misidentified their origins.


File nameJoseph Brutsche 1880 Census.jpg
File Size50.72k
Dimensions1064 x 122
Linked toJoseph BRUTSCHÉ

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