The DNA results came yesterday from one of the Gepfer family from Lancaster Co PA. The Gepfers are descended from Henry Goepfert (b 1759), grandson of Hans Goepfert, who came to America from Switzerland in 1739. We already had results from two Kepfords, one descended from David Kepford (b 1804) and the other from Jacob Kepford (b 1819). All three match almost exactly, with only one marker difference in each case, out of a total of 43 markers tested. It was already almost certain from the old records that Henry's older brother George (b 1751) was the grandfather of David and Jacob, and this latest DNA result confirms that.
The Gepfer DNA result is also significant because that family has the strongest historical ties to the original Goepfert family. Several are still members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Colebrook, PA, the same church where Frederick Kepford, the father of David and Jacob, was baptized in 1779. We still need to find someone to be tested from the Gepford family (descendants of Jacob Goepfert b 1760, brother of Henry and George), and from the Gibfords (believed to be descendants of the youngest brother, Abraham Goepfert b 1763), but it is now almost certain that all of these families are related.