Looking at matches

 

Ancestry's Thrulines.

Using Ancestry's Thrulines tool and comparing DNA matches from Allison's and her mom's results, we can see matches in common descending from the children of Christoph Kuester (1834-1909). On Tuesday I shared a copy of the obituary for Charles H. Kuester from 1928. Christoph arrived in the US about 1850, and married A. Louisa Schwartz (or Schwarz) on 5 May 1854 in Vanderburgh County, Indiana.

Christoph and Louisa appear in the 1870 US Census in Scott Township, Vanderburgh County, Indiana with their growing family.

Ancestry. 1870 US Census. Vanderburgh County, Indiana.

They had at least the following children:

• Louisa Kuester
• John Kuester
• Maria Kuester
• Charles Henry Kuester
• Catherine/Kate Kuester
• Henry Kuester
• Christoph Kuester
• Matilda Kuester

By 1880, the family is listed at the end of the page for the village of Darmstadt in Vanderburgh County.

Ancestry. 1880 US Census.

In the 1900 US Census, some of the children had moved out of Christoph & Louisa's home, but son Henry is listed with his wife Sophia and children Harry and George.

Ancestry. 1900 US Census.

Christoph, listed as Christian in his obituary, died on 17 December 1909 (see also his entry on Findagrave).

Evansville Courier & Press. 19 Dec 1909.

Louisa died on 5 April 1916, and her obituary is below.

Evansville Journal. 6 Apr 1916.

Going back to the DNA matches, Allison's Mom has three matches to descendants from Louisa Kuester, two from John Kuester, and three from Maria. Stepping back a generation, there are 40 matches descending from Christoph's father, Johann Friedrich Christoph Kuester.