Entry #10

This is one of those serendipitous stories where truth is stranger than fiction.  Allen Weirick and I met in the 10th grade through our mutual friend, Steve Tsou.  We became part of a small group of friends that spent a lot of time together.  This translates to having known one another for about 45 years.  We have stayed friends through the years, even though neither of us lives in the same locale where we grew up.

 A few years ago, Allen came to visit me in West Virginia, where my husband and I now reside.  Allen has taught German on both the high school and university level, so I showed him some postcards from my husband’s family.  I was hoping to get some help translating them.  We found one card from Beerfelden, Hesse, Germany, that was addressed to Anna Marie Lang, my husband’s great grandmother.   Anna Marie Lang was born in Germany in 1866 and came to Philadelphia around 1886.  She married Joseph Köhler from Steinfurt in Philadelphia in 1889.

Anna Marie Lang Kohler

Allen informed me that he had the same postcard in his family collection and that one of his ancestors was a Lang from that same German town.  I explained that Lang is a fairly common German surname, but Allen countered that he has visited Beerfelden, and that it is not a very large place.  He felt that the common ties between Philadelphia and Beerfelden indicated a possible relationship to my husband.

I didn’t think a lot about it, but when Allen came to visit again this past summer, he brought some of his postcards and other  memorabilia from Beerfelden.  Together we spent some time putting together his family tree and we learned that his great grandmother was Elisabeth Lang from Beerfelden.  She was born in May 1871 and emigrated to Philadelphia in 1890.  She married Joseph Grather there in 1897.  We were not able to determine the parents for Elisabeth or Anna Marie, so we still did not know the answer to the big question.  Could Allen and Gary be related?

Beerfelden, Hesse, Germany

Shortly after Christmas, Ancestry DNA was having an autosomal DNA sale.  I decided to give Allen a DNA test kit as a belated birthday gift.  Friday night, we finally learned the results of the test.  With a 98% level of confidence, my good friend, Allen, and my husband are 3rd or 4th cousins!  You really couldn’t make this stuff up!

I have not worked much on the Lang line.  I really wasn’t sure that Anna Marie was from Beerfelden, but Allen knows that Elisabeth was.  He has even visited the family ancestral home there.  The DNA points to Anna Marie and Elisabeth as being sisters.  There may also be a connection to Weidenthal, based on another postcard.  It looks like I have a path for my research now and a new favorite cousin!

Update:  The record shows that Allen and Gary are indeed third cousins.  Anna Marie Lang and Elisabeth Lang were sisters.  Their parents were Jacob Lang of Beerfelden and Barbara Ackermann of Weidenthal.