Letters from Home

Hauenstein Genealogy Breakthrough!

History and cousins!

My grandmother, Elizabeth Hauenstein, was only 17 when her parents died at ages 50 and 53. Among the four children, she was the only one to have a child - my dad - with children of his own. There were no cousins. Pretty much all we knew about Dad's Hauenstein grandparents was that they came from Switzerland, a couple stories and that they were poor.

Modern technology created breakthroughs.

First occured with a DNA test which matched me with a Hauenstein cousin in Switzerland. Her mom knew about us, and gave the name of the home town

The second thing was a hunch. I matched up the Hauenstein family name with the Swiss town name along with the words "Indiana" and "Ohio. " That's when I learned that other Hauensteins from that town had settled in this area.

The third thing I found was that the historic 1864 "Hauenstein Cider press" is located in Berne Indiana. It's the largest in the world, and only a 90-minute drive from Dayton.

I drove over to see it and experience Berne's Swiss Heritage Festival.

This was unexpected:

1) the 1864 Hauenstein apple cider press in operation for that day only! It was making cider for the festival.

2) Hauenstein family operating the press!

===> After decades of searching, I met my Hauenstein cousins, with an invitation to next year's family re-union!

Photos

1. The crest/symbol of the Aargau, the Swiss Canton (State) ancestral home of the Hauenstein family