Family:Christoph Seegers and Dorothea Koelling (1)

Chris and Dora Seegers

Brothers Christoph and Conrad Seegers came to Indiana from the village of Mesmerode in the Hannover region of Germany. Christoph (also known as Chris or Christ) was married to Caroline Schreck, and they had seven children. Conrad was married to Dorothea Kölling (known as Dora), and they had six children. But in January 1865 Conrad died, and later that year in June Caroline died.

So in September 1865 (anticipating "The Brady Bunch" by more than a century), Chris and Dora married and combined their families. They then proceeded to have eight more children. The resulting brood is hard to keep track of, especially since many of the children died young, and a few apparently changed names to avoid confusion with new siblings.

Of the children they had as a couple, only the three oldest girls (Anna, Mary, and Sophia) survived infancy. They can be seen in the photo below, which was taken around 1877.