Dear Deb, I don't know whether our two families could be related. The similarities are almost eery, though. I'm going on the theory for now, at least, that the progenitor of our family in America, Conrad, also came from the same general area in Germany as your family. They also had to have come at about the same time. The first evidence I have of his presence here is when his eldest child, Frederick, was born in Clinton, OH. They moved to southern Illinois, in the St. Louis area (Bellville) just two or three years later. My g-grandfather's name was also Henry (Henry Conrad), and while he was not born in Germany, one of his brothers was named John. What makes it even more eery to me though, is the fact that one of my grandfather's sisters married a Schaefer, from Missouri. The similarities between our two lines appear intriguing to me, and would enjoy hearing more from you. In the meantime, I would like to invite you to visit my web-site at: http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/k/u/n/Ronald-E- Kunkel. Best of luck in your search for your roots. Sincerely, Ron Kunkel