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 34: Adam Dillmann of Kusel, Bavaria, Germany

Adam Dillmann, son of Adam Dillmann and Juliana Muller, and Gustav Dillmann, son of Jakob Dillman and Katherine Albert, are recorded as likely cousins who traveled together from Kusel, Bavaria, arriving in New York aboard the Southwark in March 1897. Their paths then diverged: Adam settled in Lowell, Massachusetts and later Hartford, Connecticut, while Gustav returned to Germany and served in the Bavarian army during World War I — a story told in more detail in Going Back: Return Migration in the Dillman Families.

What’s Unresolved

The family group sheet describes Adam and Gustav as likely cousins based on their shared surname and joint travel, but no DNA testing has confirmed the relationship, and no testing connects this Kusel-area family to any of the DFA’s other documented Bavarian lines.

What a Test Could Answer

A Y-DNA test from a descendant of Adam’s American branch could confirm whether the cousin relationship with Gustav’s line holds up genetically, and could connect this family to other tested Bavarian lines in the DFA’s records.

Are You Connected?

If you’re a male-line descendant of Adam Dillmann of Lowell, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut, 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.