One of the reasons I began blogging was to have “cousin bait” and make connections with distant cousins, hoping to add to my knowledge of the ancestors in the family tree.

The Stufflebean surname was originally Stoppelbein and originates with one man, Johannes Stoppelbein, born c1600, probably near Laubenheim, Germany, which is in the Palatinate region. Johannes married Elisabetha (MNU) by 1632 and had one known child, a son named Hans Valentine Stoppelbein. Hans was born about 12 January 1633/34 in Laubenheim and died about 1688, probably also in Laubenheim.

All known Stufflebeans/Stufflebeams and Stoppelbeins are likely descended from this one son since no record of any other children of Johannes and Elisabetha has been found.

Up until now, the only information I had for Hans Valentine’s family was with wife Anna Maria Mueller, who he married on 5 January 1666/67 in Laubenheim. This was the time period of the Black Plague.

I have evidence of probably six children – Hans Peter, a daughter who died young, Michael, Jacob, Christopher and Engel, with Hans Peter being my husband’s direct line.

Recently, I was contacted by a reader who is descended from Jacob George Korbman, a United Empire Loyalist, who settled in Ontario, Canada after the American Revolution. He was born in New York and it is believed that his parents were Daniel Korbman/Korpman/Korfman and ANNA CATHERINA STOPPELBEIN!

Anna Catherine Stoppelbein was a new name to me. She was reportedly born in 1715 in Laubenheim, so I went down the rabbit hole, hoping to learn more about her and her origins.

I am at somewhat of a disadvantage as I don’t have access to early German church records and, even if I did, I can’t read the old German script. However, the FamilySearch Family Tree has pointed the way.

Hans Valentine Stoppelbein, son of the earliest man, had a first wife, Magdalena, who reportedly died in 1666 during the Black Plague. Hans Valentine and Magdalena married c1656 and reportedly had four children, three of whom died of plague like their mother.

The sole surviving child from that first marriage was George Michael Stoppelbein, born c1657 and who was buried on 30 January 1723 in Laubenheim. He married Agnes Enders, 10 February 1680, also in Laubenheim and they became the parents of four children – Johannes, Anna Margaretha, Hans Wilhelm and Maria Elisabetha.

George Michael Stoppelbein’s son, Johannes, above, is the father of Anna Catharina Stoppelbein who emigrated, settled in New York, and likely is the Anna Catharina who married Daniel Korbman sometime in the 1740s in New York.

I need to work on the documentation of this line, but it appears that the baptismal records are extant, placing the children with their parents. I don’t know if marriage and early burial records exist, but this points the way to a new branch of the family who, like my husband’s Johannes Stoppelbein/Stufflebean, also emigrated and settled in New York in the first half of the 18th century.