What I did not remember though until recently was who Joseph and Maria's witnesses to their marriage were... Gottfried Saenger and Anton Ittinger. Gottfried was the son of Gottfried Saenger and Margaretha Ittinger. Both from the village of Tolnaishof in Baden. Margaretha is definitely a relative but I am not yet able to pinpoint the exact connection even with positive DNA results from descendants of Gottfried and Margaretha. Anton Ittinger was an older brother to Maria. Joseph Albert and the Ittinger siblings were also from the village of Tolnaishof.
When we first started the cemetery rehab; we began at the overgrown section near the driveway closest to Route 85. This area had a lot of sumac trees that were growing into the cemetery and obscuring many gravestones. One gravestone in particular was severely leaning forward due to settling and root growth. Below is a photo of the gravestone after the area was cleared of the sumac trees.
Below is a photo of the gravestone which was rehabbed this past Summer. The photo taken in early December. Please notice the name. Gottfried Sanger. Yes, he is the same man who was a witnesses to the marriage of my great great great grandparents; and also a distant cousin. This was discovered about three weeks ago.
As my research continues, I found myself at the Albany Hall of Records going through the funeral books of the John M. Foll funeral home, which was located on South Pearl Street. The Foll funeral home waked numerous relatives of mine and also other German South Enders. As I was going through the books I came across the page below. The funeral expense record for Caroline Sanger. Gottfried's wife. Note, the record names Gottfried as Gottlieb.
It became very apparent while reading through the pages of the funeral books that I had rehabbed numerous gravestones of people who were buried by Foll and I was looking at their funeral expenses a hundred years plus later. Very interesting!
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