So when I started my genealogical research on my family, I really new very little about what countries my ancestors came from. I knew my father’s family came from Dresden, Germany. In addition, I knew my mother’s family came from England. As to where in England I had not a clue. After years of research here’s what I’ve discovered. I’ve divided it up by Maternal and Paternal Lines.
P.S. Now while I will be posting this for everybody, this post has been primarily for my children and grandchildren. But I hope others may find it interesting.
According to the latest information from Ancestry my DNA comes from 6 ancestral regions. My DNA composition is as follows:
Paternal Ancestry Regions
Germanic Europe – 27%
Sweden & DEnmark 22%
Baltics 1%
Maternal Ancestry Regions
England & Northwestern Europe 22%
Ireland 21%
Scotland 7%
Paternal Ancestry
My father’s parents were Edward Karn and Charlotte Meyer, Here’s a little about the Karn and Meyer Families
The Roots of the Karn and Meyer Families
Karn – Hechler
My grandfather’s parent were Henry Karn and Pauline Hechler. The Karn family came from Germany, while the Hechler family came from Switzerland. Based on my research Henry came to the US alone in 1882. While Pauline and her family arrived in 1882. They were married in New York City in April of 1887.
Pauline’s parents were Daniel Hechler and Susanna Siegrist. From Daniel’s death certificate I learned he was born in Oberkulm, Switzerland. Oberkulm is a municipality in the district of Kulm, in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. I am not sure where Susanna was from as I have not yet found her deathe certificate.
I learned from Henry and Pauline’s wedding certificate that Henry’s parents were Kasper Karn and Katerina Sohl. On Henry’s death certificate his father’s name is listed as Andrew. When I found records for Kasper and Katerina on Ancestry I discovered that they lived in “Oberaula, Germany. Based on DNA matches at Ancestry, I have several matches with people who have Sohl ancestors in Oberuala.
. Additionally, they had two children (and this is where it gets spooky) Andrew and Peter, The names of two of my sons are Andrew and Peter! Anyway I imagine that buy the time Henry died the only name they associated with Henry was Andrew his brother.
Meyer – Wendel
Family Names included in the Meyer line include Wendel, Ehnert. There are several other names but for this post I am only going back to my great-grandparents.
My Great-Grandparents Herman Meyer and Helene Ehnert were married in Dresden Germany and my grandmother Charlotte and her sister Irmagard were both born in Dresden. Prior to marrying Herman had been a member of the King of Saxony’s guard.
The family came to the Philadelphia in 1912. Herman was born in 1871 in Koningswalde, Germany. The Meyer line has been traced back to 1812 in Koningswalde.
Helene’s family came from Olbernhau. Olbernhau is a town in the district Erzgebirgskreis, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Ore Mountains, 35 km southeast of Chemnitz, and 23 km north of Chomutov, Czech Republic.
Helen’s parents Moritz Wendel and Wilhelmina Ehnert also came to the US a few years after Herman and Helene. Helene had one sister Else who also came to America a few years after her parents. Else married Curtis Schrier. Their family lived near Bethlehem Pennsylvania and I can remember going there as a child,
A brother Rheinhardt died in World War I in Poland.
Ok so this post has gone on a little longer than I expected so I will handle my maternal line in another post!
