I’ve written before (here) about my father’s maternal grandparents, Louis Brox and Caroline Randall. I have recently discovered, however, that Louis Brox’s parents, Jacob Zapf Brox and Catherine Foerster Ziegler, have a particularly interesting ancestry. I learned this when I was looking at the family tree of a third cousin who I found as a result of my DNA test. This cousin is a descendant of Louis’ sister Anna and her husband Jacob Foerster.
When I saw the name Foerster, I remembered that Louis’ (and Anna’s) maternal grandmother (Catherine Ziegler’s mother) was Eva Foerster. Of course, I had to look into the Foersters, and I discovered that Eva was a sister of Jacob’s grandfather Ludwig. This made Anna Brox and Jacob Foerster second cousins. It also means that Jacob is first cousin once removed to his mother-in-law Catherine (Foerster) Ziegler.
I then realized that Ludwig’s wife was named Anna Maria Ziegler, and Eva’s husband was Johann Jacob Ziegler. I discovered these two Zieglers were third cousins. Their great-grandfathers were brothers Johann Georg and Johann Peter, sons of Johann Georg Ziegler and Maria O Zapf (yes, almost every male in the Ziegler family seems to have the first name Johann).
Did I say “Zapf”? Jakob Brox’s mother was Katharina Zapf! What’s going on here? Following the Zapf lines back, I found the common ancestors: Johan Simon Zapf and Anna Schuetz were grandparents of Maria O (Zapf) Ziegler and 4xgreat-grandparents of Katharina Zapf. This makes Katharina a fifth cousin to Johann Jacob Ziegler and Anna Marie Ziegler and fifth cousin once removed to her daughter-in-law, Catherine Ziegler.
However, part way up the Zapf line from Katharina, I found another Ziegler. Georg F Zapf was married to Anna Ziegler, who was another descendant of Johann Peter and Anna Wolf Ziegler. So Katherina Zapf was also a fourth cousin to her daughter-in-law, Catherine Ziegler.
O course, Jacob Zapf Brox and his wife Catherine Foerster Ziegler were related to each other, as well—in two different ways: as descendants of J Georg Ziegler and Maria O Zapf, they were fourth cousins once removed, and as descendants of Johann S Zapf and Anna Schuetz, they are sixth cousins.
(Another of Jacob and Catherine’s daughters, Elizabeth Brox, married a Henry Ziegler. I can’t find the connection, but I am sure Henry is related to the rest of the Zieglers in some way.)
These four intertwined families—Brox, Zapf, Ziegler, and Foerster—all originated in the area around Heidelberg and Dilsberg in Germany, and most of the (inter)marriages took place back in the old country. Two couples immigrated to Canada:
- My ancestors Jacob Zapf Brox and Catherine Foerster Ziegler were married in Buffalo, New York, in 1849, en route from Germany to Upper Canada. They settled in Woolwich, northeast of Elmira.
- Catherine’s aunt and uncle (and her son-in-law Jacob’s grandparents), Ludwig and Anna Maria (Ziegler) Foerster were married in Germany and immigrated between 1833 and 1836, when Jacob’s father was about 5 years old. They settled in Wellesley Township, near Heidelberg.
Confused? I guess it isn’t just Mennonites who weave such tangled genealogical webs. Maybe the picture will help a bit (click to view a larger image in a separate tab):
500 Years of Migration 