Welcome To The Purfürst Genealogy of the World

This website represents genealogical research on my ancestral surname of PURFÜRST and its Anglicized variations of PURFURST, PURFUERST and PURFEERST.

The data base also reflects considerable research on maternal ancestral surnames of Keller, Weiss, Johnson and Bostwick plus my wife's maiden name of Tanguay.

Our eldest Purfürst ancestor is Johann Christoph Purfürst, born about 1565 in Germany. My research encompasses his every known worldwide descendant but concentrates on those who left the home land and took residence in other countries. Selecting the "Histories and Documents" link from the sidebar will take you each German city where the ancestral name was found as well as each foreign country and each homestead in America where initial residence was established. All persons having, or descending from someone with a Purfürst surname variation and mentioned in the various histories, is a descendant of Johann and his wife Elisabeth Gruber.

There are about 65,000 names in my data base and they all connect to one common family tree. You may locate a surname of interest by entering a name in the "Search" fields on the sidebar. However, using the "Surnames" link is suggested as it will allow you to select among spelling variations, especially those names with foreign diacritical markings.

If you have interest with birth and death record information in a specific foreign country or a specific American state, select the "Reports" link which will provide data, by surname, in geographical locations.

If you have an interest with all peoples in a specific location select the "Places" link or, if you wish to be even more specific, use the "Advanced Search" function.

My paternal grandmother's early ancestors extend to America's colonial period thus we connect with numerous American Presidents. Her English ancestors include those with knighthood and occupants of the English throne. By virtue of royal intermarriages between nations, our family therefore connects to many of the European Monarchs. This documentation, along with our tongue-in-cheek Biblical connection, will be found by selecting the "Reports" link.

Those of you with connection to Purfürst surname may find your picture in the "Photo" section. If I don't have your picture, send one to me via an e-mail attachment. Family gathering group photos are especially nice but also a close-up photo from which I can crop out an undistorted head-and-shoulders view for placement with your data makes everything more personal.

I am in the process of finalizing a two volume, 1800 page world wide history of the ancestral surname, it variations and the aforementioned allied names of interest. The histories of those families, as well as various other chapters to be contained in those volumes will be found by selecting the Histories and Documents link from the side bar. I encourage submission of your historical input and photographs for those chapters.

Please contact me if you make a connection with anyone listed. I am especially interested in being contacted by anyone wishing to update the information on their family. In exchange I'll be happy to share what I have on your direct line.

If I currently have very little information on your ancestors and you wish to know more, pass along to me what information you have and I'll be more than happy to attempt a research effort on your behalf.