Foreign Traditions May Alter the Way We Look At Our Biological Lines

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 After a post I copied from a genealogy Facebook page talking about "accidentally telling grandma she was adopted", it got me wanting to post about a very surprising and frustrating find while doing my research.

My great grandma's maiden name was Kuhlenschmidt. She loved being a Kuhlenschmidt! She loved our large family, how we seem to be related in one way or another to anybody (mostly because of the large German population of Evansville), and she loved our German ancestry. After my research (which I will explain), I had the hard task of informing grandma that we aren't even blood Kuhlenschmidt, and we are, in a sense, 'adopted' into the name. She took it surprisingly well, and seemed to be in as much shock as I was when I first found out!

It's easier to tell the story from the beginning of the genealogy line...

Hans Kuhlenschmidt was born March 10, 1771 in Langenholzhausen, Lippe, Germany. He first married Anna on April 22, 1792. Anna was born in 1765. After having 5 children, Anna passed away on April 27, 1815. Hans then remarried a woman named Christina Maria Liemensick on August 8, 1815. Unfortunately, Hans died on March 29, 1818 in Kalldorf, Germany. This left Christina with 5 Kuhlenschmidt children.

As per German customs at the time, the land, house, and money stayed as 'Kuhlenschmidt' property. However, it was hard for a woman to raise five children on her own and maintain the land without any income continuing to come in and without any physical help. Christina shortly after married Johannes Freidrich Conrad Heuer on October 2, 1818. In order for the land and house to remain theirs, it had to stay Kuhlenschmidt property. So how could they do this when Christina got remarried? Johannes Freidrich changed his last name to Kuhlenschmidt instead of Christina changing hers!

Johannes Freidrich and Christina had one child together, Friederich 'Fritz' Simon Kuhlenschmidt. Fritz has the last name of Kuhlenschmidt, but is biologically a Heuer and a Liemensick. Fritz is the great grandfather to my great grandmother mentioned above.

After the initial shock wore off, I decided to pursue the Heuer family since that is our biological roots. I found Johannes Freidrich's parents: Johann Henrich Schmidt Heuer and Anna Maria Elizabeth Simonsmeier. I did research to find Johann Henrich's parents, and they had done the same thing! So we aren't even biological Heuers either!

Whew. We may not be biological Kuhlenschmidts or biological Heuers, but I tell people we are adopted Kuhlenschmidts. We are still very much a proud German family, even though we don't really have any idea who we are! It makes me wonder though, how many families think they know their names but really down the line, it had changed at one point? That is why I continue to research, even when I think I know all the answers, I continue to learn about regional laws and traditions, and one day I will try to use my DNA profile to find more answers!

                                                 *Langenholzhausen, Lippe, Germany

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