DFA Most Wanted is a weekly spotlight on one specific Dillman family group with no representation yet in the Dillman DNA Project — who they were, what’s still unknown, and what a single Y-DNA test could resolve. Know this family, or think you might be connected? Read on.

Family Group 22: The New Windsor, Maryland Dielmans

Ludwig Wilhelm (Louis William) Dielmann was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1822 and arrived in New York in June or July of 1845, following his brother Heinrich to Maryland. Heinrich had already made a name for himself as a music professor at Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg. Louis eventually settled in New Windsor, Maryland, where he purchased the property later known as the Dielman Inn — a building documented in Frank Batavick’s local history Time’s Crossroads: The History of New Windsor, MD. Louis lived until 1911.

What’s Unresolved

The two brothers’ path from Frankfurt to Maryland — and their connection, if any, to other German-origin Dillmann/Dielmann lines already documented elsewhere in the DFA’s database — has never been tested genetically. With a named local landmark and a published local history to draw on, this is one of the better-documented family groups in the entire collection. It’s also, so far, an entirely untested one.

What a Test Could Answer

A Y-DNA test from a direct male-line descendant of Louis or Heinrich Dielmann could confirm or rule out a genetic connection to other Frankfurt-area or Hessian Dillmann lines in the DFA’s records — and would add a well-documented nineteenth-century Maryland line to the project’s genetic record for the first time.

Are You Connected?

If you’re a male-line descendant of Louis William or Heinrich Dielmann of Maryland — or know someone who might be — the DFA would like to hear from you. Contact the DNA project administrator at dnaprojectadmin@dillmanfamilyassociation.org to get connected and learn about testing.

This spotlight is drawn from the Dillman Family Association’s Family Group Sheet Database and written with the assistance of Claude, an AI assistant developed by Anthropic.