You did it! Week 52! 
Who do you want to find more about in 2023? Now would be a good time to write up what you know (or what you think you know!) and consider what your next steps are. (Of course, feel free to interpret the theme in other ways!)
I was very excited to recieve two, new to me, death certificates on Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas to me! They are for my husbands great grandparents, Emma and Theodor Abraham. The best part is now I have his great great grandparents names. Emma’s parents are very clear and easy to read and they confirm what I had found for her already. Emma’s dad was Albert Sommer born in Germany. Emma’s mom was Marie Kettner who was also born in Germany.
The death certificate for Theodor wasn’t quite as easy to read. I had trouble reading the names of his parents so I asked in the group “The Genealogy Squad” on Facebook. The people in this group were very helpful. Here is a close up of the parents names and it also says the birthplace of Theodor was Germany. Emma was the informant for this certificate so I think it is probably correct.
The majority decided Theodor’s fathers name was Martin Abraham. His mom wasn’t quite as easy to decipher but most were thinking Berta Serdo. They also thought both of them were born in Germany. Do you think it says Berta Serdo?
One person in the Facebook group loves to solve mysteries and she went on to find several documents related to the family of Martin and Berta Abraham. She found them living in Dodge County, Wisconsin. I have Emma’s birth place as Wisconsin so this fits with what I already knew. She also found Berta on Find A Grave. I have to prove that this is the correct family. There are a few contradictions, such as it says Berta was born in Poland. One of the Census records also says Poland but it has her name as Barbara. So I’m not positive this is the correct family yet but now I have names and a place to begin searching.
Who knows this may lead me to discover the connection between my husband’s family and my family. Our kids each have at least one DNA connection that is from both sides. So far we haven’t found any intersection between the two families but my Koch relatives were also living in this part of Wisconsin. We both have relatives from Germany so it may be it was even farther back but it’s fun to search for clues.
Learning all about Germany is my next goal for genealogy. I have a class to explore and many names of relatives from Germany. Koch, Siepmann, Lang, Beck, Ufers, Sommer, Kettner, Abraham, Hartje, Schutt, Lentz, Hochenlock, Hadler, and Blanck, are all names I have to find in Germany. I have some of the churches where they were married and/or their children were baptized so this gives me a starting point.
Wish me luck in my search efforts for both mine and my husband’s ancestry. It will be fun to see where this leads. Where will 2023 take you in your relative hunt?
My Tree in the Forest 