I knew the families in Lee County, Iowa, formed a tight-knit community with members of the various families marrying members of the other families at many different points. This meant that seeing a Menke, Groene, Fedler or one of a few other surnames meant you knew they were related, at worst, within a marriage or two to my line. I found some new information on Find-A-Grave, (which, I know, is a clue and not a source but in my experience, tends to be pretty accurate), that shows that they are more closely related than we thought.

It ends up that Maria Adelheide Menke, who was the daughter of the sister of my great-great-grandfather, Johan Diederich Menke, married Kasper Herm Groene, who was born in the same small town in Germany that she was, Schwagstorf. They then moved to West Point, Iowa. They are the parents of most if not all the Groenes in the area. In addition, their daughter married a Fedler and they are the parents of most if not all of the Fedlers in the area. So, these Fedlers and Groenes my mother knew when she was a child, even though she didn't know it, were related to her. I also saw a couple of Menkes marrying Fedlers and Groenes from these lines so it appears there are some "kissing cousins" in the mix, although they are pretty distantly related.

Note about this post: For those who are observant, you see that Maria Adelheide is the daughter of the SISTER of my g-g-grandfather, so why does she have the last name of Menke? The Menkes were one of the richer families and estate owners. When Gerd Herm Tobe, of Schwagstorf, married Maria Adelheide's mother, Margaretha Maria Adelheid Menke, he took her last name so the Menke name was passed down to their children.