First, let me say thanks to a blog follower named Tim who asked me some questions about the Naff family and, as a result, I ended up re-reading my mother‘s genealogy book entitled, A Genealogy of the Ancestors and Descendants of Jacob Naff Sr. and Marvin Edward Naff of Virginia by Betty Naff Mitchell,
It turns out that my great grandfather Adam Näf fought in the battle of Kappel with great distinction. Here’s the story, courtesy of the Janet and Robert Wolfe Genealogy page:
“The Forest troops were pressed back but about five in the evening the tide of battle turned…the standard bearer [John Schweizer] refused to give way. The battle became very fierce around the standard bearer but he would not yield ground…He was forced into the stream and the weight of his armor bore him down and he was drowned. Kleinsbaus Kambli rescued the banner. As he seized the banner he was rushed by a number of the enemy. He cried out, “Is there no honorable Zuricher here to save his army’s banner?” Adam Näf of Vollenweid responded to the cry. Adam was an axguard who under Hans Huber of Tufenbach had come to defend Zürich. His father and two brothers were also in the battle as well as two sons. Adam Näf attacked with his broad sword and cut off the head of the man who had seized the banner. Kambli was again able to hold the banner high and retreat in an orderly fashion. In the retreat there were 512 soldiers left behind including Adam’s father, Hans, and his two brothers… On November 15-16, ambassadors from both sides met to arrange terms of a peace and on the 20th the treaty was ratified.”
Betty Mitchell — August 2nd 1937 ~ January 13th 2016
Näfenhaus still stands, now the property of the the Naefenstiftung, a charitable organization that helps poor members of the Naff family and arranges holiday celebrations at the house.
Thanks Mom, for writing your incredible book book for me and the family. I’m so proud of you and of my heritage.
Robert Mitchell Jr. 
I am descendent of Benjamin Barnhardt Naff, my great grandfather,who came to Washington State by covered wagon in 1800’s who settled near, Colville WA and celebrated 50 years of marriage there; had several children, including my Grandfather, Otis Naff, killed in mail train accident in Spokane, WA, leaving his wife Ethyl Andrus Naff, and my Dad, Robert Burns Naff, Sr. Who married
Ferol G.Weber, my mom, who had 7 children… Robert B. Naff Jr., Margaret Ann Naff, Karen Kay Naff, Janet Ferol Naff, William Otis Naff, Pamela Gaye Naff, And Thomas Arnold Naff.. in order of birth… all born in Alaska, except the youngest, Tom, born in El Paso, Texas.
At this writing 2 of these siblings, Karen and Pam, have passed away. All three Naff sons of Robert B. Naff Sr. Have sons; Brian Naff, son of Robert B. Naff Jr. (aka “Bud”) William Joseph Naff, my son, and Brandon and Ian Naff, sons of Tom Naff. So we have a long history traceable back to 1356…Let the Naff’s continue to prosper!
Well howdy William, thanks for stopping by! I didn’t check — is Benjamin B. Naff related to the Naffs in my line? Are distant cousins?
I’m sure we are related.
Well then, good to meet you cousin Otis! Thanks for stopping by!
Yes! I’ve traced out family lineage back to Adam Naf! Some Naff decedents settled in Virginia, some moved to Tennessee. I have the book of Naf ancestry. Very. Oil to see where our ancestors came from!
Hi Robert,
I am a direct descendant of Rudolf Neff (great-great-great grandson of Adam, if I counted my greats correctly!). His side of the family is located up in Philly, as well as Ohio and Kentucky! I stumbled upon this post due to my research on Adam Naf for my school history essay! Thank you and your mother so much for this research!
You’re welcome Silas, take care and God Bless!
This is so awesome to be able to find people in my family history and find people I am related to and meet other people from out family history and just relate to them… if you find out we are related and want to connect you can look me up from my name in Facebook and my name since I’ve been married is Adriaunna Fineout and my email is a.c.fineout@gmail.com
Hey, I’m a direct relative of Adam, I’m his 12th Great-Grandson. Contact me at wrwdoge@gmail.com if you’re related to me!
Thanks for posting the info on Adam. I am related to Max Naf who was Adam’s brother. My family moved from Switzerland to S. Germany in the 1600’s due to the religious wars and in 1728 boarded a vessel named the James Goodwill and landed in Philly in the fall. There were about 8 or 10 Naf’s—–pronounced like Neff—-the a in Naf has 2 little dots over the A which means the a is pronounced like an E. In the early 1700’s they moved to what is now Hardy County W. Va. along with several other settlers and in approx 1820 they moved to what is now Pickaway County Ohio, which is just south of Columbus. If anyone knows how to get a copy of the book spoken about in the post, I would appreciate hearing about it.
I have a copy of a book titled Neff-Naf Family History. It is written by William Afred Neff who was from Cleveland. I used to subscribe to Neff Family News which was printed out of Pennslyvania somewhere but it stopped coming even tho I had paid the subscription price so I assume the health of the people printing it went south since I never got any word from anyone why it stopped.
If you have a chance to visit Nafenhaus in Kappel am Albis Switzerland, you should go. I was there a couple of times about 20 years ago. It is a very beautiful setting and the little museum they have on site is quite nice. Not everyone there speaks English so you may want to go with a local friend or work on your Swiss-German or German.
Hi Cousin Robert! I am a direct descendant of Hans Naf(1366-1406). Your Great(many times) Grandfather Adam Naf was an older brother to mine. Adam’s father Hans Hensli Naf was my Great(14 times) Grandfather. If you’d like the lineage to 1366 email me. If you have further ancestry data before 1366 I’d love to see it! As you may know, Adam’s mother was Katherine Huber, daughter of Uli and Adelheit Huber. I am seeking more ancestry information. Between 1583 until 1713 spelling became Naef. Then Naef begat Neff with Hans Conrad Neff in 1713 Switzerland and subsequently became Nave then Knave before permanently becoming Neff for my ancestors, beginning in Greenbrier, Virginia in 1800.
Sincerely and warmly yours, Margaret Neff Burke
Howdy cuz! Family is such a powerful thing, isn’t it? Look how many proud Neffs, Naefs, and Naffs have come on here to say hello — isn’t that something?! Alas, my sainted mother was the genealogist, not me, so my mother’s book is all I have (see link at the top of the post to view a scan of it). Good hearing from you, and God Bless!
I would be interested in this lineage! Could you email me? Readypipe@ gmail.com.
Otis Naff
Thank you!
I have a copy of this research but am happy to see you have made it available to others. My Ohio Neffs trace their line back to the Shenandoah and to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Kristine Ritter
Northville, Mi
Hello Robert and thank you for this post. I am a Nave (deriving from Neff, Naf) whose Family migrated eventually into Oklahoma Territory. There is a very good chance that there is a connection to Adam Naf through Henry Nave, Conrad Von Naf…I would love to learn more from what you’ve discovered to see if there is indeed a connection. Very interested to speak further…
Sorry Dawn, my mother was the genealogist, not me — I’m not going to be much help. But I will scan up mom’s research booklet as a pdf and put it here on the blog. Stay tuned!
I’m a proud Naff
My name is Cooper Neff, I have a little information on my ancestors and I was told many years ago that i was a descendant of Adam Naf. My grandfather had the house in Kappel as his home screen for this computer for many years. I want to find out everything. I haven’t been able to find a copy of the books I’ve heard about so much and very interested in finding out more. My email is cooperneff1@gmail.com. Anybody feel free to reach out if you have information. THANK YOU
Hello all: I am a direct descendent from Adam Naf through the lineage of Teter Nave who was the very first settler West of the Appalachian mountains in North America. There is a nice hardback lineage book which follows Teter Nave back to Adam Naf. I am very proud too of Adam Naf and Teter’s Revolutionary war fighting and him being part of Daniel Boones hunting parties. My email is randy@csaconstructors.com.