I received this email from Jim Orgel in December, 1999. -- Joe Orgill

     Hello, 
    My name is Jim Orgel.  I stumbled upon your genealogy page on the Internet, and boy, was I ever surprised!  I have been interested in family history for a long time, and I thought my name was quite unique.  Then I saw all the similar names you have listed and did I ever get an eye opener.
    I have traced my own family back from upstate New York, where I was born and where my ancestors settled in about the
1870s, having arrived from the Alsace-Lorraine region in France.  (By the way, we pronounce the name so as to rhyme with "cordial.")  The Orgel family had lived in the area between Strasbourg and Nancy, where they lived (and still reside) since the 1700s.     The earliest record of an ancestor that I have traced is an Adam Orsel, who was probably born about 1690 in the
Rhineland-Palatinate region of Germany.  His seven children usually had their name spelled as Orschel, and when, in about the 1720s, the family moved to France, the name changed to Orgel.

    I have done some research about the name origin as well.  In French, an "orgelet" is a place where sheep are kept.  In
German, an "orgel" is the musical organ instrument.  In heraldry, "or" and "gules" are the names for the colors gold and red, respectively.

    Presently, I live near Charleston, South Carolina, with my wife and two sons.  My brother and his son live in Rochester, NY.  I have a cousin in Virginia, who has a son there and one in MA. These are the only Orgels I know in this country I am related to.

    I have quite a bit of research material available, but I have not put it on-line as yet.  I am open to inquiries from others, and you can post my name on your web-site, if you wish, so that others may get in touch if they choose.     Thanks very much for taking the time and effort for putting your site together.

    Wishing you well,
    Jim Orgel
    Jrorgel@aol.com