Amrein im Kanton Luzern

[Phillip Amrine]

Hallo zusammen,

I am an American researcher trying to locate the specific Swiss origins of my direct paternal ancestor, who immigrated to the United States in the mid-18th century. I have hit a wall regarding his exact birthplace and his parents, as my data contains a conflicting mix of primary source documents and 20th-century family lore. I am hoping someone might recognize him as a "missing son" in an established Swiss Amrein/Amrhein tree, or offer advice on where to look next.

The Primary Evidence (Documented Facts):
Name: Johann Heinrich Amrein (often recorded in America as John Henry Amerine / Ammarine).
Immigration: He arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 22, 1754, on the ship Halifax (Thomas Coatam, Master) sailing from Rotterdam.
Origins noted on manifest: The passenger lists note the inhabitants were from "Wirtenberg, Hesse, Franconia and the Palatinate".
Signature: He signed the required oath of abjuration in Philadelphia with a mark, and the clerk recorded the name phonetically as "John Henry Amrein".

The Secondary Evidence (Lineage Books & Lore):
Birth Year: American lineage books state he was born in 1732.
Parents: These same secondary sources claim his parents were Henry Ammarine (b. ~1704) and a French woman named Florette Vattier, whom he allegedly married in 1731.
The Huguenot Claim: The 1732 son is frequently listed in these older books as a "French Huguenot refugee".
Family Legend: An old family story suggests his parents died simultaneously around 1733 (possibly in a Rhine flood or epidemic), leaving him an orphan.

My Research Dilemma:
The Familiennamenbuch der Schweiz shows a strong concentration of the "Amrein" spelling in Canton Lucerne prior to 1800. However, Lucerne's strictly Catholic history seems to severely conflict with the claim that his mother (Vattier) was a French Huguenot refugee.

My Questions for the Forum:
1) Does anyone have a Johann Heinrich Amrein (born around 1732) in their Canton LU (or other canton) trees who disappears from the parish records before 1754?
2) Are there any known instances of an Amrein marrying a French/Huguenot Vattier in the 1730s, perhaps in a Protestant canton like Bern or Basel?
3) Given the spelling "Amrein" by the Philadelphia port clerks, should I be focusing strictly on Lucerne, or was this spelling common in other regions along the Rhine during this era?

Any insights, corrections, or guidance toward specific Taufregister or Totenrodel would be deeply appreciated.
Thank you for your time and expertise!

-----------------------------
urspr. Titel: AMREIN von Lucerne

[Wolf]

First of all: welcome to the forum, Phillip.

Luzern is not my area of research - so I can only make some very general comments. You mention Familiennamenbuch der Schweiz yourself: Amrein/Amrhein indeed make canton Luzern a favourite starting point. On the other hand, spellings weren't fixed then, even in Switzerland - let alone what people abroad made of it.

You mention the Rhine - on what basis - because of the surname? If your ancestor actually lived in the region of (todays) canton Luzern - this would have been minimum about 100 km (as the crow flies) from the river. If the surname actually is derived from the Rhine river, this would have taken place several centuries earlier, and will not help you with your research.

I hope other forum members can give more explicit hints.
Best regards - Wolf

[hood]

Hallo

Die Namensherkunft für Amrhein / Amrein / Amrhyn wurde auf SRF erklärt, in schweizerdeutsch. https://www.srf.ch/radio-srf-1/auf-den- ... ein-amrhyn Der Name wurde auch oft in den Luzerner Kirchenbücher als Am Rein, Am Rhyn usw. geschrieben.. Rain ist ein Abhang oder schmaler unbebauter Acker, also eine Person wurde Am Rein / vom Rain wohnen. Das gleiche gilt für Ambühl, die Person vom Bühl /am Bühl.

Für Luzern gibt es eine Sammlung von Auswanderer zwischen 1640-1740 https://staatsarchiv.lu.ch/-/media/Staa ... 01c8bcac3e wie vollständig diese ist, ist mir nicht bekannt. Aber wahrscheinlich wird es Lücken drin haben.

die Luzerner Patrizier Familie Am Rhyn findet man einen Baum im Viridarium nobilitatis Lucernensis https://staatsarchiv.lu.ch/schaufenster ... ium/amrhin

ich selbst habe keine direkte Amrein Verwandte. Daher ist dieser Name bei mir nicht im Verzeichnis vorhanden.

gruss urs

[fridobw]

On FamilySearch, your Heinrich’s family can be found at: https://www.familysearch.org/de/tree/pe ... e/LCR3-4F4
Here, his mother is listed as Florette Valtiere.
The Amreins in the Lucerne region were Catholic, with the exception of Nikolaus Amrein and his daughter Verena von (Bero-) Münster, who stood trial as Anabaptists in 1531. It is not known whether this family may have moved to Alsace.
Zwingliana: Beiträge zur Geschichte Zwinglis/der Reformation und des Protestatintismus in der Schweiz 1944/Nr 2 Band VIII/Heft 2.

My family tree includes various Amreins from the Lucerne region. The Johann Heinrich you are looking for, or his possible father Heinrich (born 1704), are not among them.
Nor have I come across them in the genealogical compilations of the Beromünster families by Brandstetter and Dormann.
Die Bürgergeschlechter von Beromünster von Joseph Wallimann-Huber (1891-1973), 1931. Im Auftrag der Ortsbürger- und Korporationsgemeinde Münster, nach den genealogischen Registern von Dr. Jos. Leopold Brandstetter und Chorherr Ant. Dormann zusammengestellt und mit biographischen Beigaben versehen durch Jos. Wallimann-Huber.
I could not find them among the numerous Amreins in Neudorf described by Melchior Estermann.
ESTERMANN MELCHIOR 1875: Neudorf. Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Stift Beromünster und des St. Michaels-Amtes. Bd.3 der Heimaths-Kunde für den Kanton Luzern. Luzern.
Nor are they found in the Amrein of Ettiswil family tree
https://www.myheritage.ch/family-trees/ ... D=19000001
Nor are they found among the prominent Amreins of Lucerne, who, as mercenaries in the 18th century, had ties to France
https://am-rhyn.ch/index.php/stammbaum
https://www.calameo.com/books/00780725898fd221998a6
The Lucerne family tree contains indications that the Amreins from the Lucerne region originated from Aargau or even from Strasbourg.
For example, an Amrein from Baden in the canton of Aargau participated in the Zurich Freischiessen (zurich marksmen competition) in 1504.
There are also Amreins in Alsace, such as the family of Josef Amrein, born in 1686, as shown in the Ott-Masson family tree. However, none of his children match the Heirich you are looking for.
https://genealogie.ott.fr/genatoile/ix41n7.html#4863

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

fridobw