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WELCOME
This page is established in hopes of reaching not only other descendants of our Great Grandfather JOHN Michael KELZ, but also family links to any siblings of his Father, KASPAR KELZ, in Germany or elswhere, of whom we may be unaware.
Johann Michael KELZ was born June 10,1832,
in: Zwerchstrasse(Wolferstadt)Bavaria.
to: Kaspar Kelz (Tailor at Zwerchstrasse) and
Franziska WEBER d/o Simon and Marianne Weber [Wuerttemberg].
Kaspar died while Johann was very young. Some time prior to, or early in, 1844, Franziska re-married GEORG FETCH,who,in that same year,emigrated with his new family to Canada West, settling permanently in what is now Toronto,Ontario. At that time John Michael was about 12 years of age.
In January of 1860, in Canada West, John Michael married
Aloysia BANDEL (born 1834)who, with most of her siblings, had emigrated to Canada from Unterschneidheim,Württemburg some years earlier. Their parents were Johann Anton Bandel and Maria Theresia Dumlert.
John Michael & Aloysia Kelz had 10 children of whom 2 sons died in early childhood. Those who married were:
Joseph: born 1862;
John Sebastien: born 1860,who moved to Ohio;
George: (my Grandfather)born 1864;
Josephine: born 1866 who married John Holland;
Mary Teresa: who married William P.Fitzpatrick;
Leo Bernard: born 1878, who married Lucy Schorpe.
They had 2 daughters and 1 son.
According to Great Uncle Leo,one of John Michael's cousins, Heinrich Kelz, emigrated from Bavaria to Brazil. If anyone knows of Henry, or any other possible KELZ links, we would appreciate hearing from you.
Another Kelz,name unknown, married LAZILIA SIBIM, in Bavaria. To date, we have been unable to trace this cousin's family.
A sampling of the many variations in spelling of this surname: Kelz;Kėls;Kelts;Keltz;Kals;Cals;Gelz;Gelts;Kelsch;Keltsch;Koels.
Also the diminutive appended to denote sex of an offspring:
i.e: Kelzin; Kelson; Geltsen;Koelsen and so on.
This quest to discover just how wide the Branches of this great family have spread throughout the world continues to astonish those of us who are actively involved in Family Research.
If you think your roots may tie into ours, or if your Tree simply contains a KELZ name, we would love to hear from you.
Please don't hesitate to contact us at the address supplied, or by leaving a message on the Kelz message Board at Genealogy. com; Ancestry.com.or Rootsweb.
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