Maria Besse / Thomas Besse: The Mayor of Hornbach Stadtschultheiß Isaac Besse (1652-1725), Ancestors and Descendants. Translation of the book “Der Hornbacher Stadtschultheiß Isaac Besse (1652-1725), Vorfahren und Nachkommen“, Communiqué from the working group of the registered club for Saarland familial research, special edition 44,  2nd revised and widened edition in English, published by Thomas Besse, Saarbrücken 2005, 202 pages, hardcover, gaze binding, 72 photos and 28 figures, 6 maps, 22 colored pages, ISBN 3-937436-03-0 EURO 18.00.

 

The Besse family history is a typical migration story, which happened many times in Europe in the past: Since the 17th century, there have been emigrations from Switzerland to Belgium, Germany, England, Holland and France as well as from the Palatinate to the United States in the 19th century. After the Thirty Years’ War, the Swiss Isaac Besse immigrated into the German duchy Palatinate-Zweibrücken in 1682. However, it was not a workman who immigrated, but the son of a Swiss notary from the French-speaking canton Vaud. As the nobly appointed Mayor (Stadtschultheiß), Isaac Besse held a public office in the town of Hornbach near Zweibrücken (Two Bridges/Palatinate). This academic study includes numerous old documents from different archives which provide interesting insight into early modern times. The documents tell of the imposing inheritance from the Governor Francis Best (François Besse) from the Island of Jersey/England, the quarrel over a dowry, French lifestyle and more. On account of the good quality of the documentary material in the Swiss archives, the Besse/Paillard family tree can be traced back over 21 generations until 1397.  

At the period of the French Revolution Carl/Charles Besse went to Tholey as a forester; he is the ancestor of the numerous families named Besse who live in Saarland today. 

The book contains 13 chapters. 5 chapters inform about the areas where the family lived: Sainte-Croix, Hornbach, Zweibruecken, Tholey, Saarland and the emigration to America.  A register of names of people and names of places completes the book. 

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