Family historian Hilda (Lillian) recognized the name Hoss when she learned about marriage plans for me and Pete, and dug into our tree to find out more. "Edwin Ziegler married an Ernestina Hoss," she reported.
In 1871, Hans Ziegler and his wife Anna Habisreutinger traveled to the United States from Switzerland with two sons and settled in Malden, Massachusetts. Their sons had sons – Jacob begot Edwin, and Ulrich, my great-grandfather Albert.
c.1979
c.1900
Later Pete's mom verified the connection, "Of course," she said, "Aunt Ernestine." They knew each other well. Edwin, my 1st-cousin-3-times-removed married Peter's great-aunt. My husband and I are related.
Six degrees of separation, it turns out, exists in both current space and over time.
Ernestina will be the name of my next design – slowly coming into focus. More on that soon.
Update – Ernestina published 9/15/2015.