I have been working on tracing these families back to their origins in Germany - also known as the Germanic States. They all lived in Baden-Wurtenberg, Germany and there are some good records, some poor records, and some non-existent records. But it is fun to try and sort out the Dieter’s, Anna’s, Maria’s, Andreas’, etc as they all loved to use the same names.

Found that Great-Great-Grandfather Curtis was a POW at Camp Chase during the Civil War - even with records to back this up! Guess his wife, Josinah Rinehart Curtis, was on her own while he was imprisoned.

Still can’t find marriage and birth records for Abraham Rinehart - Maryland is NOT a user-friendly website and I learned that many of the records were destroyed (of course) during the time he was there. I hope to get through those German Church records to help me with this family. And no records that see to tie to Josinah’s mother, Anna Rees, which has been disappointing.