The genealogical roots of the Bach/Back family are planted in the old Dutchy  of Westphalia Germany.  The ancestral home of the Bach's is in an area  Siegerland.  It is located in a very scenic area of rolling hills about 75  miles east of present day Bonn.  There are still towns, castles and churches  in this area that trace their history back to the Middle Ages.  One of these  towns is Freudenberg located near the city of Siegen in the central part of  Siegerland.  This is the hometown of the Bach's and the other families that  are part of the Bach/Back family.  The first Bach to immigrate to the United  States was Hermann Bach.  Hermann and his wife Margarethe sailed to the US on  the ship, Oliver, and settled in Virginia in 1738.  Their infant daughter,  Anna Ella, did not survive the voyage.  After settling in Virginia, they had  John, Joseph, Henry, and Harmon Bach.  Our line of Bach/Back's descend from  Henry Bach, born circa 1744, most likely in Orange County, now Culpeper  Virginia in the Little Fork Settlement of Germans.  The town of Jeffersonton  is now located there.  Henry married Elizabeth Hoffman.   Henry and Elizabeth  Back's children migrated to Kentucky, along with their mother (Henry is never  mentioned in Kentucky tax lists and it is assumed he died prior to his family  leaving Virginia).  They settled in Harlan County, Kentucky and Elizabeth is  mentioned in tax lists for Harlan County from 1821 through 1827.  Our  particular line comes through Henry and Elizabeth's oldest son John Back who  was born in 1774 in Virginia and married Catherine Robinson.  John Back  appears in the Knox County Kentucky tax list from 1811-1819 and then in the  Harlan County tax list from 1820-1836.  John and Catherine Back and family  moved from Poor Fork, Kentucky (Harlan County) to the area of Quicksand,  Kentucky (Breathitt County) in 1836 where the Bach's/Back's settled for a more  permanent nature and are still very prevalent today.  Some moved to Ohio and  Michigan for employment and some returned back to Breathitt County over the  years after retirement.  Those that did not move back to Breathitt County  still call Eastern Kentucky home, visit often, and many are returned to the  area after death for burial where they feel their roots are.  If you are new  to our family website and have information or pictures you would like to  share, please e-mail me at sandiandlarry85@aol.com.  We would love to hear  from you!