Talk:Mathia - Matthia Family Organization

Please see the FamilySearch Wiki guidelines on appropriate topics for the Wiki. This article is very well done, but we feel it doesn't fit the scope of the Wiki, because of its focus on one particular family.Lynda 16:49, 8 November 2011 (UTC)

I read the Purpose and Guidelines. Which guideline do you feel is being overstepped. The research is definitely not about a single family. This grouping of surnames covers, at the beginning of Western record keeping, several distinct genetic lines. The greatest numbers distributed throughout the world today come from the Polish (perhaps Kashubian) line and from the Bas Rhin (Alsace-Lorraine) line. There is no evidence that the two are connected, but we are trying to promote DNA testing among descendants. There is also another smaller group with origins in Slovakia. It is possible that the German tribe "the Matiaker," which settled by the Rhein and was mentioned by Tacitus in the listing of German tribes, was completely or partially conquered by the Romans under Caesar. With the vanquishing of the Romans by the Alemanni, the Matiaker came under their rule. In the end they were subsumed by the Franks. If this is the correct origin of the name, then the grouping in Poland may have resulted from a migration at the time of the Teutonic knights. The Mathia-Matthia family surname we are referring to is to be differentiated from those carrying a similar surname derived patronymically (e.g. Mathias or Matthias in Scandinavia). All in all, I think this is important material for the FamilySearch Wiki even though it affects perhaps a million descendants today. I'd appreciate your response to this. Thanks. MatthiaKA 18:09, 8 November 2011 (UTC)