My Lenertz Cup Runneth Over

This past weekend I had TWO different people contact me about the Lenertz line. I still can't believe it. I've been emailing strangers for months, asking for Lenertz information while trying not to appear stalkerish. This effort had a zero percent success rate.

Then Saturday I wake up to an email from someone connected to Michael Lenertz. Woo hoo! That's John's brother. John is my great-great grandfather.

I still wasn't finished being giddy about the email when on Sunday another person contacted me. He says he has information on Alexander's eldest daughter, which--if it's who I think it is--is great because I have almost no information on her. She would be John's sister.

The Sunday email also provided a bit of a surprise: Alexander's wife Margaret may be two people. He married two women named Margaret. The first Margaret died and he took the second one pretty quickly. On census records, you can't even tell there was a wife change. The few documents I have tend to support this two-Margaret theory, but I didn't notice it until the possibility was pointed out by my new friend.

Now I have correspondence with two other people interested in the Lenertz name. This is so great.

AND...as if this wasn't enough...I received Alexander Lenertz's will in the mail yesterday. It is very easy to read. I will transcribe it here shortly. The information contained within also supports the two Margarets theory. I am also thrilled to have this document because it lists John as being a child of Alexander. Since John doesn't have a death certificate, the only other records I have are census page copies of John being in the family. Next stop, an attempt to locate church records for the Alexander Lenertz family.