Imles Under the Skin

Lines of Christoph Frederick

and Johannes Saul

In the United States all (or nearly all) individuals with the surname “Imle” appear to be descended from Christoph Frederick and Anna Maria (Reichert) Imle, who arrived in the U.S. from Gundelbach, Germany, 15 Apr 1881.

But there are believed to be other U.S. “Imles” with a different surname spelling (see blog of 16 Dec 2015, “What's in a name?”). One family tree shows that on 17 Dec 1812 in Gundelbach was born Johannes Saul Imle, shown by another tree to be the third cousin once removed of our Christoph Frederick. Sometime in the early 1800s Johannes immigrated to the United States (beating Christoph’s arrival by several decades), was married 20 Sep 1835 in Ohio, and settled in Indiana, where he died on 14 Mar 1896. Johannes anglicized his name to “John” with, at various times, surnames  of “Emly,” “Emley,” and “Emily.” (Similar to the German pronunciation of "Imle.") Most of his descendants settled on the name “Emily” though the name “Emly” is also seen.

Gundelbach, birthplace of Christoph
 Frederick Imle & Johannes Saul Imle.

We now have additional evidence supporting this history. Two GG grandsons of Johannes Saul Imle have been in contact with me. The two U.S. first cousins, an “Emily” and an “Emly,” are calculated from still questionable family trees to be my 7^th cousins. Autosomal DNA testing now predicts that my Emly cousin and I are 5^th to 8^th cousins. Thus DNA results give credence to our family trees and show that at least some U.S. Emilys and Emlys are really Imles under the skin.

DNA testing is poor at determining that one's grandfather was a blue-eyed fisherman from Ireland, as suggested in some advertisements, or that one should exchange lederhosen for kilts, as claimed in others. But it can be excellent for confirming relationships and boosting the reliability of family trees. Welcome aboard Emilys and Emlys.