Recently I was able to access DNA matches from  my Uncle Ivan Alve's DNA sample. At age 94 he is a generation back from me and his matching is throwing up some new insights. In particular he is providing information about a new line of research; that into his and my Spahr=Witting ancestors in Germany.
As below, Heinz-Georg Selbach is a DNA match with NZ Alves. In particular his 3xgreat grandfather Gerhard Heinrich Spahr is brother to the Catharina Elisabeth Spahr who married Bernard Möllers - the parents of Maria Theresia Alve (nee Möllers) who travelled to A-New Zealand in 1876. Gerhard's and Elisabeth's parents Heinrich Spahr=Adelheid Witting are the most recent common ancestors between the Selbachs and the Alves.  Adelheid was born in 1891 (place unknown) and she and Heinrich married in Beckum 1814. Adelheid died 1842 in Beckum.

While to date we know nothing more about Heinrich Spahr other than he fathered (with Adelheid) several children between 1816-1829, Catharina Elisabeth being my, and maybe your, ancestor. This diagram summarises what we know...

So I turned to consider Arnold Witting as the possible MRCA. Arnold (b.1723) had at least four other sons than Wilhelm Antonius:

• Wilhelm Herman Franziskus Christianus Witting (b.1752-)
• Johannes Josephus Witting (b.1754-)
• Wilhelm Anton Christian Witting (b.1756-)
• Joannes  Fridericus Antonius Witting (b.1764-)

There were at least two daughters Gesina and Helena whom I discount because Adelheid's given name was Witting, not the surname of a husband of one of these girls.

For the moment this is where my search pauses until another DNA match with the Wittings, or some other helpful information, is found. As in the above diagram I have Adelheid temporarily attached as a daughter to Joannes F.A. Witting (red). If he is not her father I am reasonably confidant that one of his brothers marked yellow, green or blue is. Once more is known we may also discover the reason for Adelheid marrying in Beckum aged 22-23. A preliminary hunch is that Heinrich Spahr her husband came from Munster, which is about 40 km away....

We're just over two weeks away from remembering our Tīpuna Theresia and Carl Alve's wedding 150 years ago. They were married in Gelsenkirchen in the Ruhr Valley, Deutschland Germany on 14 February 1874. An interesting fact about their wedding was that ten couples were married in the same marriage service. Pfarrer (Father) Schulte the Catholic Priest must have offered a Valentine's Day Special in the midst of St Augustinus Church which was in the process of being rebuilt. And, it seems, Carl had to return to work in the coalmine the next day! The Ruhr Valley at the time was experiencing a population explosion as coal had become 'black gold' and hordes of Germans, Poles, Scandanavians and others were flocking to the mines. The reason that ten young couples wanted to marry on that most romantic of days.
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To celebrate this significant event 66 descendants of Carl and Theresia are gathering at Masters Hall, Pahiatua on the weekend of 17-18 February. We chose this Pahiatua venue because it is near where the Alves settled at Alfredton Road, Eketāhuna in 1880 - four years after arriving in Aotearoa New Zealand as assisted immigrants. During those four years Carl worked for the railways building the Remutaka line and then the line from Featherston to Masterton while he discharged his debt to the Government under the Vogel immigration scheme. A fellow immigrant family the Schormanns who had travelled on the ship Gutenburg to Aotearoa jointly farmed the Eketahuna land in the early years. Part of the Reunion weekend will be a Sunday bus tour to Eketahuna to explore sites of interest, including the original farm block in Alfredton Road.

These, and many other matters relating to Theresia's and Carl's colourful life, are explored in a new book to be released on Valentine's Day. Entitled Valentine's Day 1874 and subtitled, A Ruhr Valley Romance Terry Alve writes of their German background and meeting in Gelsenkirchen. He asks why they emigrated and explores how their life together panned out in Aotearoa New Zealand until Carl's death in 1910. You will find a purchase link at www.alve.nz after Valentine's Day.

To mark the marriage sesqui we have scheduled a Zoom call at 7pm (NZDT) on Valentine's Day 14 February 2024 - an opportunity for brief dialogue (no more than 40 mins.) on the Sesquicentennial of Thersia & Carl’s wedding day.
Join us via this link:
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/4112201146?pwd=fRa0eYclcvqPfx8CnPgXnvTMBi4S80.1&omn=74267779934
There will be a surprise for those of us who tune in!

Many of you know that an Aussie joined the Alve family in New Zealand in 1917. Theresa Wagner was the 12th of 13 children born to Philipp and Caroline Wagner whose families arrived in Tasmania in 1855 from Germany. Transportation of English convicts ended in 1853 and labour was needed to develop what was then known as Van Diemen's Land so many Europeans began arriving. The following year (1856) the state's name was changed to Tasmania.

After a little OE in New Zealand, Theresa married Henry Alve in All Saints Church Palmerston North and they spent the next 40 years together on the family farm at Rangitane, on the banks of the Manawatu River near Opiki. They retired to Longburn around 1963 and died: Henry in 1968 shortly after their 50th wedding anniversary and Theresa in 1971. They are buried on a family plot at Kelvin Grove cemetery, Palmerston North.

Following a visit in October 2022 by Terry & Margaret Alve during which many Wagner cousins were contacted, Terry has produced a 10 minute video about Theresa's life both in Tasmania and New Zealand see: ​https://www.alve.nz/media.html

​A more detailed report of this visit is available in blog posts in our companion website here: ​https://milne-alve.weebly.com/news

​Terry

Phillip Alve's home at 52 Raroa Road, Kelburn, Wellington was sold by his estate on 8th February, 2012. This sale ends a long association by the Alve family with this turn of the (20th) Century villa.

This house had been home for Phil since the early 1950's. After living there as a boarder initially, Phil bought the house either in the late 1950's or early 1960's. He initially continued using the home as a boarding house. Later he lived there alone and spent most of his retirement there. It was an ideal repository for his very large collections of books, records, papers and other bric a brac.

At some stage he also purchased the neighbouring property at 54 Raroa Road, which has been tenanted and remains so, owned by Phil's estate. This property is currently on the market also.

Shortly after he turned 90 in December 2008 Phil moved to live at the family home in Longburn, Manawatu before spending his last days in the Aroha Rest Home in Palmerston North. He died on 20th July 2012 aged 93.

52 Raroa Road has been purchased by John Waterson of Kelburn and others who are already rennovating it.

With the deaths during 2012 of Phillip Alve (July 20) , Noeline King (July 4) and Marion Karipa (October 12), five of Carl and Maria Theresia Alve's thirty six grandchildren are living. We extend our condolences to the close family of these three esteemed relatives who have lived long and fruitful lives before their passing this year. And we prayerfully wish surviving grandchildren and their families health and happiness.

Those grandchildren living are:

• Thelma Avery (98) - Palmerston North
  
• Ivan Alve (81) - Palmerston North
  
• Hilton Alve (86) - Taupo 
  
• Billy Alve (57) - Manawatu
  
• Alve Purdom (87) - Ashhurst
  

We look forward with Thelma and her family to the celebration of her 99th birthday on the 20th January next. 

The Alve grandchildren were born from 1900 (Bill Busch) to 1955 (William Alve). 

With the launch of this website and news blog, it may be that you would like to provide information about descendants (or ancestors) of Carl and Maria Theresia. The kind of information we think will be relevant to the wider family includes: 

• news of births, marriages and deaths
  
• obituaries
  
• awards and achievements
  
• requests for family information
  
• notes of historical or genealogical interest
  
• etc. 
  

Written and photographic information is welcomed. When you provide information please ensure that you give us permission (electronic message is ok) to publish, if it is yours to give. Otherwise please indicate who "owns" the material so we may contact them. If your information is on the web please indicate where - again we will require your permission to copy it to this website. You may prefer that we just provide a web link to your material.

Finally, while Google will do its best to let relatives and others know that this website exists, we are somewhat dependent on word of mouth (so to speak). If you have a website or Facebook or Twitter accounts appropriate links are valued by us. In return we are open to linking to you.

Let's do what we can to keep in touch with one another.

Terry Alve