Every genealogist looks for a story that jumps off a page. Sometimes it can be found in the margins, maybe it’s a family Bible, maybe it’s an old handwritten note passed down.

For me, I found something remarkable in the Catholic archives of Würzburg, Bavaria, specifically for the parish of Gänheim.

It wasn’t just a list of names and dates. It was a frantic chronicle of a small village dealing with a sudden, unexpected mass-casualty event.

The Tragedy of 1695

On May 27, 1695, the parish priest recorded a double heartbreak: an honorable local man named Andreas ZIEGLER had departed this life morbo venefico — from a poisonous disease. Merely an hour later, his wife, Martha, succumbed to the exact same illness.

But the priest didn’t stop there. He added this chilling note:

“NOTE: There had been a wedding on the same [day/estate]; 24 persons were present, out of these, 18 took to their beds, and seven are dead, who perished by poison, as the doctors concluded.” [Source | Translated with Google Gemini]

Turning to the very next page, the horror deepened. On May 28, just one day after the Zieglers perished, the priest recorded the death of Jodocus (Jost) WITTSTATT. His title? Sponsus. The bridegroom.

A time of ultimate celebration had transformed into an acute nightmare. Out of 24 wedding guests, 18 had fallen violently ill. Within days, eight in all were dead, including the groom. The historical culprit was likely acute ergotism — a toxic fungus that grows on damp rye grain. When ground into flour for the wedding feast’s bread or beer, a single contaminated batch could weaponize a celebration into a death trap.

The young bride, Margaretha KOENIG, survived the feast but was left a fatherless, childless widow within weeks of her wedding. She most likely fled back to her home parish of Zeuzleben to heal and rebuild her life. (Zeuzleben records are not yet online.)

A Thread of Ultimate Resilience

As heartbreaking as this story is, it holds a deeply profound personal meaning for me. Andreas and Martha ZIEGLER, the couple who died within an hour of each other on May 27, are my direct ancestors.

When the poison swept through Gänheim, the ZIEGLERs left behind an 11-year-old daughter named Elisabeth. Orphaned in an instant, Elisabeth’s future could have been grim. But the beauty of old parish communities lies in their built-in safety nets. Elisabeth’s godmother was a local woman named Elisabeth SPAHN.

True to her sacred vow, her godmother’s family wrapped their arms around the young orphan. Elisabeth ZIEGLER grew up in the care of the SPAHN family network, eventually falling in love with her godmother’s brother, Andreas SPAHN. They were married in January 1700, when Elisabeth was just 16 years old.

A Final Tribute, Centuries Later

Elisabeth and Andreas SPAHN went on to build a beautiful, defiant life out of the ashes of 1695. They welcomed child after child into the world.

In 1724, at the age of 40, Elisabeth gave birth to her tenth child. Decades had passed since the terrifying week that stole her parents, but she had never forgotten. She named that final baby boy Jost (Jodocus) — a direct tribute to the tragic young groom who had died thirty years prior.

I happen to descend directly from young Jost.

To look at a 1690s burial register and realize that your entire existence hinges on an 11-year-old girl surviving a mass poisoning, being raised by a dedicated godmother, and choosing to honor a fallen groom with her tenth child three decades later is the ultimate magic of genealogy. The poison took seven lives that week, but it couldn’t stop Elisabeth’s legacy from traveling all the way to the present day.

(Note: Werner Heisenberg also descends of this couple.)

Here’s my line of descent from Andreas ZIEGLER and Martha HOFFMANN:

Andreas ZIEGLER born c1655 🇩🇪 – Martha HOFFMANN

Elisabeth ZIEGLER born in 1684 🇩🇪 – Andreas SPAHN

Jost SPAHN born in 1724 🇩🇪 – Anna Barbara SCHNEIDER

Johann Georg SPAHN born in 1747 🇩🇪 – Anna Catharina BAUER

Johann Michael SPAHN born in 1778 🇩🇪 – Maria Barbara HEURUNG

Magdalena SPAHN born in 1807 🇩🇪 (immigrated to North America) – Nicolaus BECKER

Joseph BAKER born in 1839 🇺🇸 – Margaretha MANDL

Mary BAKER born in 1864 🇺🇸 – Johannes GRUNDTISCH

Howard GRUNDTISCH born in 1899 🇺🇸 – Frances BEASER

Lois Ann Grundtisch (1937-2002) (my grandmother)