Were the Leyeses Alsatian? [Updated]

My 3xgreat-grandfather was Johann (or John) Leyes. He was born in the 1820s and immigrated to Ohio by 1853. Growing up, I heard the family story that the Leyeses were from the Alsace. Multiple branches of the family believe this to be true, so it should be taken seriously (1). That shared story, however, contradicts the primary documents we have about the family origins.

Location of Alsace

First, a bit of history. The Alsace is a region of France that borders Germany and Switzerland and has a unique Germanic cultural and linguistic identity. It's political history is complex. Prior to the 17th century, it was part of the Holy Roman Empire, which is a fancy way of saying it was part of a complex and shifting web of alliances that is too complicated to summarize in one blog post. By the end of the 17th century, however, the Alsace was was solidly part of France (with a few border changes and regional quirks). From 1871-1918, it was part of Germany, but after World War I it was returned to France. Except for its brief occupation by Nazi Germany, the Alsace has remained part of France since.

The Alsace is on the western bank of the upper Rhine, and Leyes is a Rhenish name (that is, a name characteristic of German communities along the Rhine) (2). But, of course, the Alsace isn't the only region along the upper Rhine and family legend isn't the only information we have about the origins of the Leyeses. Several times during his life, John Leyes or his children were asked about his place of birth and he always gave a location in Germany.

1860 U.S. Census, John "Lias" gave his birthplace as Bavaria, Germany (3)

1870 U.S. Census, John Leyes gave his birthplace as Bavaria (4)

1880 U.S. Census, John Leyes gave his birthplace as Rhine Bavaria. He gave the same answer when asked for the birthplaces of his parents. His children were also asked to give the location of their father's birth. Each one said Rhine Bavaria, including his grown son, Joseph, who was living in another household. (5)

Although this is less direct evidence, three of his children had John's place of birth listed on their death certificates. In each case, it was "Germany".

Location of the Palatinate

At his most specific, John Leyes gave his birthplace as Rhine Bavaria. Such a place does not, alas, exist, per se. It most likely refers to the Palatinate, also known as Rhineland-Palatinate or Rhineland-Pfalz. Rhineland-Palatinate is the German province immediately north of the Alsace. It was part of the Holy Roman Empire until the end of the 18th century, at which time it was briefly controlled by France. However, from 1814 until 1871, the time during which John was born and lived in Europe, most of what is today the Palatinate was under Bavarian rule. In other words, it was Rhenish (or Rhine) Bavaria, a term that occurs on many of maps from the time (6).

If it weren't for the family story about the Alsace, I would assume the Leyeses were simply from Rhineland-Palatinate, but since the two areas are so close together, it is possible that the shifting and complex political situation left a family with Alsatian ethnic identity inside the borders of Germany. Regardless of their identity as Alsatian (or not), it's pretty clear their original location was in Germany, not France.

If the Leyeses weren't from the Alsace, then why did that story pass down through the family? I think there are two plausible (and not mutually exclusive) hypotheses: 1) The Leyeses were ethnically Alsatian, although they did not live in the area that was considered the Alsace, at least within the generation before they emigrated to the United States; and/or 2) during the period of jingoistic nationalism around World War I, many German-Americans sought to distance themselves from their heritage. Anti-German sentiment was strong and dangerous; German-Americans were killed by mobs, they were banned from joining the Red Cross or holding prestigious public positions, German town and street names were changed, doctors began treating "liberty measles" for heaven's sake (7). Many German-Americans denied their heritage completely. For example, Friedrich Trump, best known to us as Donald Trump's grandfather, was born in Rhineland-Palatinate, but in the early 20th century his family claimed to be from Sweden (7). It would not be surprising if the Leyes had shifted their homeland a bit to the southwest in response to those same pressures.

[UPDATE - June 14, 2016]

The more I look into the name "Leyes", the more convinced I am that the Leyeses were ethnically Alsatian, although they did not live in the French province of the Alsace. I'm basing this entirely on the modern/recent historical distribution of the name. Here are two maps showing the distribution of the name in Germany and in France. The German map is based on modern phone book records, while the French map is based on historical census data.

The distribution of the surname "Leyes" in modern German
telephone books, from http://www.verwandt.de/karten/absolut/leyes.html
The region with the highest concentration of Leyeses is Saarpfalz-Kreis

The distribution of the surname "Leyes" in France, based on census
records, from http://www.geopatronyme.com/cgi-bin/carte/nomcarte.cgi?nom=Leyes&submit=Valider&client=cdip.
The region with the highest concentration is Bas Rhin.

Note that the name is rare and only really found in one area: the Alsace (in France) and the provinces adjoining the Alsace in Germany. My guess is, then, that it is an "Alsatian" name. Honesty compels me to add, though, that the data behind these maps is weak. The webpages don't give details because they want you to buy access to their database, so I can't vouch for their reliability.

References:
1) http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~schenot/hecht_leyes/leyes.html

2) http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=leyes

3) Year: 1860; Census Place: Mad River, Montgomery, Ohio; Roll: M653_1014; Page: 216; Image: 9; Family History Library Film: 805014

4) "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6LZ-CZR : accessed 16 May 2016), John Leyes, Ohio, United States; citing p. 46, family 326, NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 552,747.

5) "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M8SQ-G5S : accessed 15 May 2016), John Leyes, Mad River, Montgomery, Ohio, United States; citing enumeration district ED 170, sheet 640C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 1052; FHL microfilm 1,255,052.

6) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palatinate_(region)#Bavarian_rule

7) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-German_sentiment#United_States

8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Trump