By Teresa Martin
Klaiber 2020
I
remember my great grandmother, Nellie Clara Kautz Martin as short and plump
with an apron on working in the kitchen in their house in Ironton, Ohio to make
the perfect dinner just for me. How I
wish I had asked her to tell me about our family. I also had no idea I was getting an
appendicitis attack that would, at the age of 9, end up in surgery two days
later. My great grandfather got a bit
gruff, but humored me by cranking the Victrola with its huge horn. He thought I
was a bit spoiled when I could not eat her lovely meal. My memory of her will always be in that
kitchen, on that day, lovingly fixing that meal for just the three of us. Other
family members say she spent the majority of her time in the kitchen.
Nellie Clara Kautz
Martin wearing an apron & holding compiler’s father John Geer Martin. Taken in 1924
Nellie’s
own grandmother, known to us as Mary Ann Kautz had come over from Germany in
1848 after marriage to Johann “George” Kautz.
Mary Ann’s maiden name according to the “little black book” where my
grandfather wrote down the family history was written as “Ethel.” A great granddaughter, Lillian Rose Kautz
Holley said the family pronounced it more like “Etel.”. Mixed dialect and migrations
along with handed down oral history quickly skewed her maiden name.
George
and Mary Ann Kautz first settled in Sullivan County, New York where there was
plenty of lumber and stone. They sold
property in Sullivan County in 1876[i]
and migrated to Cameron County, Pennsylvania, another area with a large lumber
supply. In their 70’s they moved to
Scott Township, Marion County, Ohio. George died in 1888 and is said to be buried in
Miller Cemetery at Kirkpatrick in that county.
Mary Ann Kautz in her late years resided with daughter Mary Elizabeth
Kautz Lyon. Mary Ann, as the family
called her, died 20 February 1908. The Marion
county death register lists her as Mary Ann Kautz born in Germany, cause of
death “old age.” Her parents are listed
as “Ethal George” and “Johna.” While I
don’t like assumptions, at this point, I would say daughter Mary Elizabeth was
the informant.
Mary
Elizabeth, was the youngest of eight children, born 7 April 1858 in New York and we can assume
heard German in the household growing up.
I was so hopeful that I would glean further information on Mary Ann’s
life when I found her obituary in the Marion Weekly Star and also the Daily
Mirror. “An Aged Resident Dies at Kirkpatrick.
Mrs. Mary Ann Kautz Succumbs to old
age. Funeral service will be conducted from the home Saturday afternoon. Mrs.
Mary Ann Kautz, aged 90 years died at her home near Kirkpatrick at 10 o'clock
Thursday evening. Her demise was due to old age. She had scarcely ever known a
sick day in her long life and her death was apparently without suffering. She
simply slept away. The deceased was born near Hamburg Germany. She had been a
resident of Marion County for about 18 years. There are six children living.
They are Mrs. Elizabeth Lyons near Tobias, Mrs. Rose Bessmer of Kansas, Mrs.
Margaret Bliss of Los Angeles CA, Mssrs Richard, John and Fred of Florence, WV.
Funeral services will be conducted from the home at 1 o'clock Rev Mr. Cole of
Kirkpatrick to officiate. The remains will be interred in Miller Cemetery near
Kirkpatrick”.
I stumbled (yes not every research
step is scientific) upon others saying their family spelled their surname Etel,
Ertel and Ehrtel, in Low German dialect.
In High German Dialect Ertel becomes Ortel or Oertel. Pronounced in German the “r” is basically
undetectable.
Like a flower bud beginning to
blossom, slowly, with the generosity of many volunteers, German Lutheran
records are being transcribed and available at online genealogy sites.
Tintype Mary Ann Etel
Kautz aka Anna Maria Oertel Kautz
It
was an “ah hah,” “do a jig” discovery to find the marriage (heirat) of Georg
Kautz 11 May 1841 in the Kirchenbucher for Baden in the city of Kork, Muchenschopf
stating her parents as Johann Oertel and Margaretha. Her birth (24 April 1813) and baptism have
also been transcribed in Muchenschopf.
Further research shows that it was her grandfather who was a Georg
Oertel.
It
is the story and the journey, not just the dates that make up my ancestor’s
lives. Lillian Rose said “Great Grandmother Mary Ann Ethel settled in New York state
and was pregnant with my grandfather and was not sure he would not be born on
the boat but waited and was born in Freemont..." Lillian’s grandfather is this compiler’s 2nd
great grandfather (Johann) John Kautz.
He was born 14 October 1848 in or very near Freemont, Sullivan County.
He appears on the census in Sullivan County, New York in 1850 along with his
two older brothers George Johann (George) and Frederick George (Fred) who both
were born in Muchenschopf. Both of the
elder brothers baptism (taufe) is recorded in the Lutherische Kirchenbucher for
Muchenschopf.
John Kautz (son of Mary Ann and Georg
Kautz) worked both in lumber and in stone, building his own home after
migrating to Salt Lick, Bath County, Kentucky.
My husband, another couple, and myself took a wonderful drive to Fremont
Centre and Callicoon in Sullivan County, New York where John was born and lumber
still appears to be a mainstay. I felt
at home in Sullivan County, still full of timber and a bit of pioneer
adventure. John followed his parents to
Cameron County, Pennsylvania then migrated to Boyd County, Kentucky where he
worked at the Normal Planning Mill and eventually settled in Salt Lick, Bath
County.
Johann (John) George
Kautz s/o George and Anna Maria/Mary Ann Oertel Kautz
Lillian
Rose[ii]
was proud of the beautiful furniture our ancestor also made. The dresser is
made of tiger maple and totally pinioned.
Lillian was born six years after the death of Mary Ann. She was a warehouse of knowledge remembering
John and Elizabeth Grosholz[iii]
Kautz and full of memories of Salt Lick, Kentucky.
Kork
is now a suburb of Kehl in Baden-Wurttemberg. Mary Ann’s obituary states she
never had a sick day. Knowing that she
made the trip from Baden to America pregnant and then migrated from New York to
Pennsylvania to Ohio and having eight children says a lot about her
strength. Her picture portrays her as a
tiny, slim lady. I am glad I could visit all the places she lived in the United
States. I am sad that any tombstones marking her and her husband have
disappeared from Miller Cemetery. When I
visited Miller Cemetery in the 1990’s many stones had been pushed over a hill
and were buried in dirt and weeds. It
was a sad moment but I was there to honor their memory. I doubt, at 71 I will
ever visit their fatherland. From Etel
to Oertel, my genealogy journey has shown she was a strong woman.
[i]
NY, Sullivan, Dbk 75-552
[ii]
Lillian Rose Kautz m Thurman Hobert Holley. She was b. 26 Dec 1914 in Bath Co.,
kY d 4 Mar 2012 Roane Co., Tn. When I visited with her along with another
cousin Barbara Martin Strosnider she was living in Huntington, WVA.
[iii] Elizabeth
Groszholz was born 2 September 1848 Memprechtshofen, Kork, Baden, Germany
