Weerts... My own neglected Surname

It seems funny that after 20 years of genealogy research, my own surname is one I’ve researched the least. Weerts… it is not a common name… German is its origin, though my line comes from Ostfriesland, near the Dutch border.  And besides Weerts, I have Kanngiesser, Funk, Benson, & Kruse surnames that I'd like to pursue....

 

 

One of the other drawbacks is that my family only came to the United States in 1892. Making my Father only the second US born Weerts generation; his Grandfather being only 6 years old at the time of immigration.

 

So, in the beginning it was quite easy to document the family of my Great-Great Grandparents & their 10 children. But it didn’t take long before I was just maintaining births, marriages, divorces and death for the family… not very exciting… and certainly not pedigree expanding research!

 

Years ago,  I was in contact with a cousin who still lived in Germany—he provided some information and even visited here a few times.  As is often the case—we’ve lost touch.

 

The idea of German research can be daunting – I don’t speak the language – and online research is stymied because it appears the Lutheran records of my family are not as nicely indexed and shared as other records.

 

Another frustration – my Great-Great Grandmother was “adopted” – the circumstances of which are a complete mystery. Elizabeth Funk was born 17 September 1862 in Petkum, Ostfriesland, Germany -- I believe Funk to be her adopted name – and have seen her also referred to as Elizabeth Benson – which I take to be her birth name.  Her 1884 marriage to Herman “Harm” Ludolf Weerts is also undocumented.

 

My immigrant Grandfather was Herman “Harm” Ludolf Weerts born 29 November 1864 in Petkum, Ostfreisland, Germany, the son of Ludolf Weerts (1834-1897) & Helena Kruse. The children of Ludolf & Helena include: Foelke, Antje, Harm, Wiegert, Ludolf, and Wilke.

 

Ludolf Weerts was the son of Jann Jurgens Weerts & Antje Kanngiesser. Information on these older lines is floating around Ancestry, though the sources remain unclear to me.

 

And because I know so little about these people, my research is drab... heck, even this posting is dull! But I don't have anything interesting little tidbits to spruce this up.... so I apologize that it feels rather clinical...but I digress.

 

I wish I was a whiz at German research, but I'm not comfortable with it... and I'm still not even sure how to go about trying to find the records I could really use to further my research... like the 1884 marriage of my Great-Great Grandparents, for one.....

 

I’d love to connect with anyone else researching the Weerts name… or the female lines that married into the family. German cousins still residing in Germany would be an added treat!  And the mysterious "adopted" Grandma is another female ancestor whose pedigree I would enjoy furthering.