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 32: Philippe Dielmann of Trier, Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany

Brothers Adam and Phillip Dielmann arrived in New York in July 1838 and settled in Indiana. Adam waited more than five decades to become a citizen, finally naturalizing in 1892 at age 74. The family group sheet also records the names of two earlier generations — the brothers’ parents, Charles F. Dielmann and Maria Charlotte Tresseler, married in Trier in 1811, and Charles Friedrich’s own parents, Philippe Dielmann and Marie Elisabeth Rischin — though no birth or death dates survive for either of those earlier couples, and no source is cited for the lineage beyond the sheet itself.

What’s Unresolved

The names recorded for the two earlier generations aren’t independently sourced, and this Trier line has never been tested genetically — so there’s no way yet to confirm whether the lineage as recorded is accurate, or whether this family connects to any of the DFA’s other Rhineland-Pfalz families.

What a Test Could Answer

A Y-DNA test from a descendant of Adam or Phillip Dielmann could connect this Trier line to other tested Rhineland-Pfalz families in the DFA’s records, and add independent genetic evidence to a paper trail that currently rests on the family group sheet alone.

Are You Connected?

If you’re a male-line descendant of Adam or Phillip Dielmann of Indiana, 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.