Kissin' Kuzins

HILGENDORF/KRUMWIEDE/THEESFELD
Edward Wilhelm Georg Krumwiede to Anna Theesfeld: 21 Oct 1915
Edward's paternal grandparents are August Krumwiede and Louise Sternberg. Anna's maternal grandparents are Sophia Krumwiede and Frederick Hilgendorf; her maternal great-grandparents are August Krumwiede and Louise Sternberg. Ed and Annie are First Cousins Once Removed. Anna is also a descendant of Ulrich Eden Theesfeld and Woebke Hoeppen.

HILGENDORF/KRUMWIEDE/KRUMWIEDE
Verna Hilgendorf to Lee Johnson: 3 Dec 1939
Verna's paternal grandparents are Sophia Krumwiede and Frederick Hilgendorf. She is a descendant of August Krumwiede and Louise Sternberg. Lee's maternal great-grandparents are Henry Konrad Krumwiede and Dorothea Sternberg, brother and sister to August and Louise. Verna and Lee are Third Cousins

HILGENDORF/KRUMWIEDE/KRUMWIEDE/LUHRSEN
Glenn William Genzel to Alice Ann Krumwiede: 18 Dec 1959
Glenn's maternal great-grandparents are Sophia Krumwiede and Frederick Hilgendorf. He is a descendant of August Krumwiede and Louise Sternberg. Alice's paternal great-grandparents are Henry Konrad Krumwiede and Dorothea Sternberg, brother and sister to August and Louise. Her maternal great-great grandparents are Fredrick Luhrsen and Charlotte Luehrs. She is also a member of the Janssen family. Glenn and Alice are Third Cousins Once Removed. Their children are descended from BOTH Krumwiede lines, the Hilgendorfs and the Luhrsens, making them descendants of four major family lines in these files as well as descendants of the Janssens and Volberdings, two other major families of Artesia Township, Iroquois County.

HARTKE/KRUMWIEDE/KRUMWIEDE
Robert Garrelts to Helen Heimlich, 17 Jun 1960
Robert GARRELTS ' maternal great-great grandparents are Heinrich Konrad Krumwiede and Dorothea Sternberg and John Henry Hartke and Anna Bruns. Helen HEIMLICH's maternal great-grandparents are August Krumwiede and Louisa Sternberg, brother and sister to Heinrich and Dorothea. Bob and Helen are Third Cousins Once Removed, and Bob is therefore the Fourth Cousin of his step-children and the children of Bob and Helen are not only the half-siblings of the children of Helen and Carl KNUTH, they also are their Fourth Cousins Once Removed.

HILGENDORF/KRUMWIEDE
James Allen Balk to Donna I. Ronna: 2 Oct 1972
Jim's paternal great-great-grandparents are August Krumwiede and Louise Sternberg. Donna's paternal great-great-grandparents are August Krumwiede and Louise Sternberg and Daniel Hilgendorf and Maria Drews. Jim and Donna are Third Cousins.

HILGENDORF/THEESFELD/KRUMWIEDE
Jill Krumwiede to Steven DeAtley: 15 Jun 1985
Jill's paternal great-great-great grandparents are August Krumwiede and Louise Sternberg. Steve's mother is Joyce Theesfeld and his maternal great-great-great grandparents are August Krumwiede and Louise Sternberg, Daniel Hilgendorf and Maria Drews, and Ulrich Eden Theesfeld and Woebke Hoeppen. To further complicate things, Jill's paternal great-grandfather is the brother of Edward Krumwiede (above), and Steve is the grand-nephew of Anna Theesfeld. Jill and Steve are Fourth Cousins.

    HILGENDORF/THEESFELD/HILGENDORF/HARTKE
Richard DeAtley to Susan Winder: 17 Dec 2005   
    Richard's maternal great-great-great grandparents are Daniel Hilgendorf and Maria Drews and August Krumwiede and Louise Sternberg. Susan's maternal great-great-great grandparents are Daniel Hilgendorf and Maria Drews and John Henry Hartke and Anna Bruns. Richard is Steven's brother, so the rest of his ancestry is the same as Steve's. Susan's parents are Warren P. Winder and Jeannette Hartke; Jeannette's parents are Elmer Hartke and Clara Hecht (which also makes her the first cousin twice removed of Jill Krumwiede DeAtley, her husband's sister-in-law); Elmer's parents are Amiel Hartke and Lillie Blanck; Amiel's parents are John "Henry" Hartke Jr and Frederika Maria Hilgendorf. Richard and Susan are Fourth Cousins.

Some strange things happen when cousins are involved in a second marriage and one or the other has children from the first marriage -- the children from the second marriage are the cousins of their own half-siblings and, in fact, cousins to their parents. The best example of this is the marriage of Robert Garrelts and Helen Heimlich, as described above.

The same thing happens if one spouse in a second marriage marries a relative of the first spouse and there were children in the first marriage. The obvious example of this phenomenon in these files is the marriage of
Henry Charles Krumwiede to Minna Sprehe. Follow with me, and you will see what I mean.

1. Elizabeth Schoh, the wife of Friedrich Sprehe, is the sister of Karolina Schoh, the wife of Henry C. Krumwiede.

2. Minna Sprehe is the daughter of Elizabeth and Friedrich Sprehe, making her the niece of Karolina Krumwiede and the 1st Cousin of any children born to the marriage of Henry C. Krumwiede and Karolina Schoh.

3. NO MATTER WHO MINNA MARRIES, her children will be the 1st Cousins Once Removed of the children of Henry and Karolina Krumwiede. The fact that she marries Henry C. Krumwiede DOES NOT CHANGE THIS.

4. Therefore -- for example -- when Lydia Krumwiede was born, her relationships were:

To Friedrich and Elizabeth Sprehe: Granddaughter
To Alma Louise Krumwiede: Sister and 1st Cousin Once Removed

Things get even more complicated when one advances to the next generation. Let's calculate Lydia's relationships to Verna Krumwiede: Lydia is Verna's aunt, but she is also her second cousin.

5. THE MOST RECENT MARRIAGE in this category is the marriage of Jeff Teske to Amy Benjamin Genzel, widow of Robin Genzel. Even though Jeff and Amy are not related, Jeff is third cousin once removed and fourth cousin to Robin Genzel. Robin himself is the child of a cousin marriage between Glenn Genzel and Alice Krumwiede. Jeff has a cousin relationship to his step-children -- the children of Robin Genzel: third cousin twice removed and fourth cousin once removed. If Jeff and Amy have children ... well, it sets up just like Henry and Minna's children, with the half siblings having a cousin relationship.

I hope you've enjoyed this brief tutorial on cousin marriages. I also hope you have read the portion of the Index Page titled "No, I didn't know that!" If not, please read it now. If you are aware of other marriages between cousins or between relatives of former spouses, please, e-mail me with the details.