Karen (and all), I don't suppose you happen to know where the burial records for Immanuel Lutheran (or any other Palatine Lutheran churches) might be? I have looked in the Family History Library catalog and there aren't any there, and I will check the Schaumburg library catalog. If they are actually at the church I could certainly get there. I will also look into the Civil War records. I have done work with Civil War pension records, but there's no evidence his widow sought a pension, probably because she remarried. One correction on the children: It was Caroline who married John George Vehe, not Maria. I suppose I should also try to find probate records for Conrad Thies/Hanne Schermer. That might determine whether the Conrad Thies family in Iowa is the son of this family... Christie