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"Müller" and "Miller" families pose for this photo taken September 15, 2018 in Thaleischweiler-Froschen, Germany. Left-to-right are Roland Kurz, Lydia Leis, Max Leis, Karen Miller, Andrei Krug, Eduard Leis, Nelli Leis, and Rosalia (Müller) Leis. You'll find a few more photos/information in our Miller Family Gallery of photographs.
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Most family researchers work long and hard to find family and get to know them. Usually, it's a search for ancestors – often family they never knew: a great-grandmother long since deceased or a great uncle whose life was shrouded in mystery. That process of finding and learning more about ancestral families is what excites genealogists, professional and amateur alike.
Sometimes, however, it's a search for living relatives with whom we've lost all contact, perhaps for decades. In some cases, we discover "cousins" we never knew we had – family far away, perhaps in a different culture, with a different language. Such is the case here.
First however, a short disclaimer. As yet, we have no evidence that absolutely confirms a close relationship between the Miller family from Whitney, Nebraska, USA and the Müller family from Karaganda, Kazakhstan, now living in Germany (Above photo). No matter, We've met these good people – and we consider them family. Perhaps DNA testing will help confirm our relationship.
But let us explain.
We've dabbled with family research for about half a century. Retirement 15 years ago allowed a bit more time to pursue this passion – and that's when we created a few family history websites, including this one. Then, one day in June of 2010, I received an e-mail from a young lady in Germany who wrote that she had visited my website about Unterdorf, Russia, ancestral village for our Miller family line.
"My great-grandfather Friedrich Miller was born in 1869 in Unterdorf..."
Still, it was a long shot. We exchanged a few e-mails, and she gave me permission to post a photograph and information about her great-grandfather, which I labeled Reaching Across the Sea -- Finding a Cousin? But we discovered no new information that might link our families. And then......nothing. It seems that both Lydia and I became caught up in life activities – immediate family, friends, jobs, activities. My web posting received little response from our "Whitney" Miller family, despite a gathering of our clan in Chadron the following summer (June 1911). While it was a splendid reunion, the excitement of a possible relationship with another "Müller" family from Unterdorf faded.
Fast forward seven years to October 21, 2017. An e-mail arrived from a name and address I did not recognize. Nonetheless, I opened it...
"Dear Larry, I am Nelli, sister of Lydia Leis from Germany..."
It revealed plans for visiting America, spurring visions of finally meeting other Miller family members whose ancestors also came from Unterdorf, Russia. This happy prospect spurred my enthusiasm for re-visiting Miller family research.
While Nelli and her husband were not able to make that trip to the United States last year, wife Karen and I began planning our own trip to Germany! While we had several objectives: visit Monet Gardens in France, the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach, do the "Sound of Music" tour in Salzburg, and re-visit Rothenburg (a favorite place of ours on the Tauber River), my primary motivation was to visit Lydia, Nelli, and their families in western Germany.
We did just that in September 2018, and – for me – it was the highlight of our nearly three-weeks in Europe. In the future, I'll be writing more about our visit with the Müller and Leis families who left Unterdorf, Russia, for Kazakhstan, where their families lived for generations before they "returned" to Germany whence their ancestors came centuries ago. This, while our Miller ancestors set sail for America in the early 20th century.
You'll find additional photographs and information in our online Miller Family Gallery.
