The other half of the battle is the other half of tree. How profound. I’ve completed the second half of my ancestral scorecard representing my mother’s side of the family. For some reason I thought it might have been more complete than my father’s side. Au contraire, ma mere.

Thirty years likely won’t be enough time to figure out all of my missing ancestors. I am equally interested in my distant cousins and am easily distracted. Case in point, this weekend I discovered that my 2nd great grandfather, Rudolph Utlaut, grew up around his maternal 1st cousins. I can hear your eyes rolling about now. But here’s why this matters. Rudolph, who is my mother’s ancestor, came to this country in 1836 with his parents. Rudolph’s mother was born Anna Kraemer. She had a younger sister named Sophia (3rd great grand aunt) who I did not know existed until Saturday. Sophia and her husband, Hermann Fennewald, also came to America.

This last summer while searching in vain for the graves of my 3rd great grandparents in the cemetery next to Strack’s Church, I undoubtedly stepped all over Sophia and Hermann’s graves. I didn’t give it much thought at the time because a.) they are dead, and b.) they were strangers. Next time I’ll be more careful now that I know we are related. My 3rd great grandparents, the Duewels, who are my father’s ancestors, attended Strack’s Church at the same time as Sophia and Hermann. Their youngest son, Hermann Heinrich, was born in 1847 the same year as my 2nd great grandmother, Friedericke Duewel.

Small world, indeed.

Note: I added a color-coded legend to this chart and my father’s as well. If you would like to help me find my yellow ancestors, my missing Kenfolk, good. It looks like I’ll need an assistant.

Kenfolk: Utlauts
Relation: Ancestors
Common ancestors: 7th, 8th, 9th, etc