In July 2021, I reached out to Tony, a fellow genealogist on Ancestry, to explore the connection between Mathais Kaiser in his tree and my great-grandmother Margaretha (Margaret) Kaiser Heines. In 1847, Mathais was a witness for Margaret and Theodore Heines’ wedding in Cincinnati. Although Tony and I aren't related by DNA, I share a connection with one of his cousins.

I had no idea we'd spend the next four years digging through the German church records together, looking for our connection. We've only talked once but spent much time emailing back and forth over the years.

What is great about researching common ancestors, or what we suspect are our common ancestors, is that we find different information that might help the other one. He was recently looking for one of his Kaisers and found a will. He sent me the link, telling me I might be interested. I couldn't believe it! But before I jumped up and down, I had to calm down and do my research. If our assumptions are correct, he found one of Margaret's sisters – just one of her siblings I've been looking for.

This is the will of Marie A. Gluch (Gluck), a key figure in my family history and the missing link in my search for the Kaiser family lineage.

As I read a couple of paragraphs, I stumbled upon a revelation that sent a jolt of excitement through me.

This was a significant find, a piece of the puzzle that I had been searching for.

Now, to go back to Margaret's siblings. I found all of them except two boys and two girls: Gerhard Heinrich Kaiser, Bernard Dirk Kaiser, Maria Catherina Kaiser, and Anna Adelheid Kaiser.

On their mother's death record in 1851, two of her 10 children had died before that date. Her son Johann Heinrich died at five years old in 1829. So, one of the remaining three was deceased. Maria Catherina was living with her mother with her child when her mom died, so she's excluded. So now I need to find out which boy could be her brother.

After digging for Theodore Keiser in Vincennes, Indiana, I found his listing on Find A Grave. He was born in 1828, and the short bio said he came from Germany, but nothing was known about him before his living in the States. He had two children, Anna and Sophia. As noted above, Maria left her house to Theodore in her will, but if he died, it went to them.

That birth year matched my record for Bernard Dirk Kaiser. Dirk is a nickname for Theodore. I've found that German Catholics often go by their second name. His surname is spelled Keiser, but I've found the spelling of Kaiser and Keiser interchangable in this family.

Maria's will goes on.

That's my great-grandmother! That is Margaret!

There were no listings for Margaret Heines in Vincennes when the will was written. However, Margaret and Theodore Heines lived there in the 1870s, indicating they had contact before moving to Evansville, Indiana.

So, who was Maria? She went by Maria Adelheid, and my Kaiser family has no Maria Adelheid. However, Anna Adelheid Kaiser was born in the same year but not on the same date. I don't know why she changed her name to Maria Adelheid.

But what about all these others mentioned in her will, including Gluch? I found her marriage record to Julius Gluch in 1862. Her name was listed as Mary A Herring. A real estate transfer listed the property at lot no. 293 transferred to Julius and Mary Gluch. That was the property she was giving to her brother in her will.

But there was more information to be discovered about Maria Gulch. In her will, she gave money for Masses to be said for her deceased father, Bernard Herring, Julius Gluch, Henry, Busse, and Herman Herring. After her father, Bernard Herring, was listed. I didn’t at the time know anything about him but since three other Herrings were listed, my first thought was this was one of her husbands. I thought he might have been listed first because he was her first husband, but that was not the case. The Herring (Heuring) church marriage record in 1850 lists Maria's last name as Theders. I've yet to find their marriage record, but in John Bernard Theders' will, dated 1896, he lists that he has no immediate survivors, including his wife, Mary Herring, who died before him. His sister was appointed his executor of the will.

After Julius, three Herrings are listed. Two of them are her children, but I've not been able to find the other. I know by the will that they all died before she did.

From that will, I gained so much information and solved the mystery of where two of Margaret's siblings ended up. Since Maria Catherine was alive when their father died, Gehard Henrich Kaiser (1834 - ?) has to be the child who died early. More research is needed!

It really pays to look for wills and to have someone work with you to find common ancestors. I'm deeply thankful for Tony's dedication and his invaluable contribution to our research. I'm not sure I would have found this information without him.