A Theory in Progress

             I’m trying to determine who the parents are of my paternal 2x great grandparents that were from Bavaria.  I am trying to use DNA matches to see if any of the family members have determined the information.

       Roadblock:  Church records, especially Lutheran Evangelical, have not been digitized in Bavaria; unable to determine if there was a church in Wisconsin the family attended.

       Known information:  Location in Bavaria, immigration date, a couple of siblings that also immigrated.

       Currently, I’m working on Henry Reisner (Reissner/Risner).  I’ve written about this in the past – See March 2025 – Brick Walls in Family Research and January 2025 - Challenge.

Henry was born on the 19^th of Sept 1814 in Poppengrun (there’s an umlaut over the u).  He died the 19^th of Dec 1891 in West Union, Fayette Co, Iowa.  According to obituaries, he married Maria Margaret Haueisen circa 1847 in Poppengrun.  He then immigrated to the United States in 1848, arriving in New York.  He rented a place in Stoughton, Dane Co, Wisconsin before moving to Fayette Co, Iowa in 1859.

       Known timeline here in the United States based on Census records found.

·      1855 living in Dunkirk, Dane Co, Wisconsin (State Census)

·      1860 – West Union Twp, Fayette Co, Iowa (Fed Census)

·      1870 – same location

·      1880 – same location

·      1885 – West Union, Fayette Co, Iowa (State Census)

DNA analysis has been focusing on Henry’s known siblings – Christian & Adam.  So, I’ve been doing research and documenting their lives and their descendants here in the US. 

It appears I need to find some more immigration documentation like passenger lists and naturalization papers (except I thought I had that) for all three siblings.