“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” ~ Alexander Graham Bell
Susanne KIEFFER was born on 25 March 1754 in Mamer to Nicolaus KEIFFER (1734-1796) and Susanna SCHILTZ (1737-1807). Earlier variations of the KEIFFER surname were KIEFER and KÜFFER. Susanne was the oldest of eight known children. The only reference available online is an alphabetical family group register of births/baptisms and marriages for the town of Mamer. Actual parish records for baptisms, marriages, and burials in Mamer are only available on FamilySearch for the years 1779-1793.
Küffer-Schiltz family group from the Mamer parish book. “Luxembourg registres paroissiaux, 1601-1948,” images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-32402-77-6?cc=2037955 : accessed 28 November 2015), Mamer > Baptêmes 1718-1940, familles alphabétique > image 135 of 375; paroisses, Luxembourg (parishes, Luxembourg).
Susanne was my fourth great-grandmother. She married Michel KOLBACH on 17 February 1783. Michel was born about 1748 in Kehlen to Francisci KOLBACH and Maria KAYSER. His parents were deceased at the time of his marriage. Michel and his parents were not my ancestors.
Luxembourg, registres paroissiaux, 1601-1948 (images), FamilySearch (original records at Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit, Luxembourg), Mamer > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1779-1793 > image 46 of 168. 1783 Marriage Record (top of left page). (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-32401-17711-69?cc=2037955 : accessed 29 November 2015).
Susanne and Michel were the parents of five children.
Margaretha born on 4 January 1784
Michel born on 31 March 1785
Catherine born on 29 November 1786
Peter born on 9 January 1789
Anna Maria born on 14 May 1791
These children are documented as they were born during the period in which actual parish records are available on FamilySearch for baptisms, marriages, and burials during the years 1779-1793.
Following the birth of Susanne and Michel’s fourth child, her sister Elisabeth married Nicolas CHRISTOPHORY (1743-1803) on 11 May 1789. Elisabeth was the only known sibling of Susanne to also marry.
When their youngest child had just turned two years old, Susanne was widowed when Michel KOLBACH died on 30 May 1793. He had been a linen weaver or linitextor and was about 45 years old.
1793 Death Entry for Michel KOLBACH. 1. Luxembourg, registres paroissiaux, 1601-1948 (images), FamilySearch (original records at Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit, Luxembourg), Mamer > Baptêmes, mariages, sépultures 1779-1793 > image 167 of 168. 1793 Death and Burial Record. (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-32402-335-60?cc=2037955 : accessed 29 November 2015).
A little over seven months later Susanne remarried. On 7 January 1794, she married Paulus FRANTZ. Paulus was the son of Nicolaus FRANTZ and Angela BARTEL of Senningen.
1794 Marriage Index Card. 2. Luxembourg, registres paroissiaux, 1601-1948 (images), FamilySearch (original records at Luxembourg National Archives, Plateau du Saint-Esprit, Luxembourg), Mamer > Tables des mariages 1779-1804 (index organisée par l’époux) > image 41 of 238. 1794 Marriage Index Card. (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9WS-431Q?cc=2037955&wc=STHD-2NY%3A1500941501%2C1501133556 : accessed 20 December 2017).
No marriage record has been found for Susanne and Paulus. Their marriage is recorded on a marriage index card. The information on the card points to Paulus being from Bergem in the parish of Schifflingen. Per the 1843 census, Paulus was born on 10 August 1763 in Senningen. On the 1846 census, the day and month were the same but the year was 1764. The place of birth on the 1846 census was blank. Although their names are known, his parents and siblings are at this time a brick wall.
Paulus was my fourth great-grandfather. When he married Susanne he took on a family of five children between the ages of 3 and 10 years. Like Susanne’s first husband Michel, Paulus was a linen weaver.
Susanne was soon expecting twins. Nicolas and Johannes were born on 21 November 1794. As no birth records are available for the twins it is not known who was the oldest. Nicolas or my third great-grandfather Johannes.
When the twins were seventeen months old their grandfather, Susanne’s father, Nicolaus KEIFFER died on 1 May 1796.
Susanne gave birth to another son on 10 January 1797. He was named Henri. Less than two months later Susanne’s youngest daughter from her first marriage, Anna Maria, died at the age of five years on 6 March 1797. The family may have been battling some kind of disease or the baby was not strong enough to survive as little Henri died on 6 June 1797 at the age of five months.
The children grew and by 1802 the Susanne’s oldest daughter was courting and the results were soon to be seen. Margaretha was 17 years old when she married Leonardus RÖELINGER on 18 November 1802. Three and a half months later, on 9 March 1803, she gave birth to a boy she named after her father Michel.
Susanne’s brother-in-law Nicolas CHRISTOPHORY died on 16 December 1803. His widow Elisabeth was 46 years old when she married Theodore HELLESCH on 7 May 1806. It was on this marriage record that the 1796 date of death for Nicolaus KIEFFER, the bride’s father, was found.
Susanne’s mother Susanna SCHILTZ died on 4 August 1807. Her son-in-law Paulus FRANTZ was the informant on her death record. A little over a year later, on 9 October 1808, he was once again at the city hall reporting a death. This time it was his wife Susanne KIEFFER who died at the age of 54 years. She left 4 KOLBACH children and the FRANTZ twins.
My 4th great-grandfather was now alone to care for his 13-year-old twin boys and three unmarried step-children who were in their twenties. Only his step-daughter Marguerite was married with two little boys but likely also living in the household as was her right as the oldest.
Five years after the death of Susanne her daughter Catherine KOLBACH married Jacques HENTGES in Mondercange on 29 December 1813. This marriage was only found in the last few days.
Her brothers Michel and Peter KOLBACH would add some very interesting branches to my family tree.
Michel KOLBACH married Susanne HAMES (1786-1855) on 11 January 1815 in Mamer. Susanne was the sister of my 4th great-grandmother Catherine HAMES (1789-1864), my direct matrilineal line.
Petrus KOLBACH married Susanna FRISCH on 14 January 1818 in Mamer. Susanna FRISCH, daughter of Jacob FRISCH and Regina HUBERTY. Jacob and Regina are also my fourth great-grandparents.
Confused? I hope this will help.
Less than three weeks later Nicolas FRANTZ, one of the twins, married Anna KÜNSCH (1795-1875) on 3 February 1818 in Mamer.
It would be another nine years before the other twin, my fourth great-grandfather, would marry Elisabeta FRISCH (1800-1880), daughter of the above mentioned Jacob FRISCH and Regina HUBERTY. They were married on 18 January 1827 in Holzem.
All of Paulus FRANTZ’s children, biological and step, were now married. I believe Paulus was living in the home he had shared with his wife Susanne with her oldest daughter Margaretha and her family. This is supported by the census taken in 1843 and 1846. But before the census was enumerated there were several deaths in the family.
Petrus KOLBACH, a father of three sons, died on 23 April 1837 in Mamer at the age of 48. His widow Susan FRISCH would live to the age of 93 dying on 20 October 1885.
The oldest of the bunch, Margaretha KOLBACH had given birth to ten children. She died on 16 December 1838 in Mamer. She left a widower and six children. During the years the family had changed the spelling of RÖELINGER to RELINGER and finally REDLINGER, the version seen when Margaretha’s widower Leonardus die on 20 March 1843.
In 1843 when the census was taken, Paulus FRANTZ was the head of a household in Mamer. Living with him was his step-grandson Peter REDLINGER, his wife Susana WAGNER and their four children. Both of Peter’s parents were deceased and he was likely the oldest of the REDLINGER children. The family home may have been passed on to him. In 1846 Peter REDLINGER was the head of household and Paulus FRANTZ, as well as three of Peter’s single brothers, was living with the family.
Paulus died at 8 in the morning on 27 July 1847 in Mamer at the age of 83. His death was reported by his step-grandson Peter REDLINGER.
Michel KOLBACH died on 18 April 1855 in Mamer at the age of 70. He had fathered six children, two of whom died at a young age. His widow Susanna HAMES died exactly a month later on 18 May 1855 at the age of 68.
The only living KOLBACH child, Catherine died on 30 October 1869 in Bergem. Until a few days ago I thought she may have died as a child. However, after finding her marriage record, I learned she was the mother of at least six children. Her husband Jacques died on the oldest son’s 15th birthday in 1830 leaving her widowed with children between the ages of 2 and 15.
Susanne KIEFFER’s KOLBACH children were now all deceased. Her twins, the sons she bore Paulus FRANTZ, lived into their eighties. Nicolas FRANTZ, father of seven children (at least two died young), died on 8 August 1879 at the age of 84 and my fourth great-grandfather Johannes FRANTZ, father of five children (one died young) died on 24 January 1880 at the age of 85.
One final note of interest and the reason for the peculiar title for this article. My 4th great-grandparents Paulus FRANTZ and Susanne KIEFFER were the 2nd great-grandparents of the famous Nicolas “Nic” FRANTZ, winner of the 1927 and 1928 Tour de France. He was not the first Luxembourger to win the Tour but he was the only one to win it twice and twice in a row.
P.S. Things are always busy this time of the year and I have not had the time to include the sources at the end of my last few articles. I relied on being able to point my readers to my online GEDCOM file, however, Rootsweb is currently unavailable and it is not known how long the downtime will last. Three more sets of 4th great-grandparents to go and then I will come back and add the sources later in January 2018.
Week 48 (November 26-December 2) – Thankful. November 26 is Thanksgiving in the U.S. Interpret the “thankful” theme however you’d like.
The FRANTZ-FRISCH Family of Mamer
I found a neat family register book dated 1718-1940 and notebooks with lists of all baptisms, marriages, and deaths for 1790-1804 in Mamer which I can use as a guide. Church records are available for baptisms, marriages, and death for 1779-1793 but not from 1794-1804 – the time period I need for my Jean and Elise.
I discovered these the day before Thanksgiving while plowing FamilySearch in search of baptismal records of the mother and father of my FRANTZ-FRISCH family. I have the civil records for most of my Mamer family groups however things get complicated for the era before civil records were recorded. For FRANTZ-FRISCH both the mother and father of this family came from parents who had two marriages and children from all four marriages. Sound complicated? The register puts it all in perspective.
How to Start?
My third great-grandparents were Johannes “Jean” FRANTZ (1794-1880) and Elisabeta “Elise” FRISCH (1800-1880). Jean’s mother Susanne was previously married and widowed before marrying Jean’s father Paulus. Elise’s father Jacob died before her birth and her mother remarried.
17 Feb 1783 ~ Susanne KIEFER md. Peter KOLBACH
The Kolbach-Kiefer family group on bottom of page (part 1) [1]The Kolbach-Kiefer family group on top of page (part 2) [1]My fourth great-grandmother Susanne KIEFER was first married to Peter KOLBACH.[2] They were the parents of five children.[3], [4],[5],[6], [7] Peter died 30 May 1793.[8]
3 March 1789 ~ Jacob FRISCH md. Regina HUBERTY
The Frisch-Huberty family with the names of Regina Huberty’s children from her second marriage [9]My fourth great-grandfather Jacobus “Jacob” FRISCH (1764-1800) married my fourth great-grandmother Regina HUBERTY (1764-1840) on 3 March 1789 in Mamer.[10] Jacob was from Huncherange and Regina was from Capellen. Jacob died on 11 March 1800 in Capellen.[11] His wife Regina was eight months pregnant with my third great-grandmother, the fifth of five children:
Susanna born 6 Jun 1792 in Capellen.[12] She married Petrus KOLBACH (1789-1837) on 14 January 1818 in Mamer.[13] Susanna died 20 October 1885 in Capellen.[14] Note: Her husband Peter KOLBACH was the half-brother of her sister Elise’s husband Jean FRANTZ.
Margaretha born 24 Apr 1794 in Capellen.[15] She never married and died 2 Aug 1828 at the age of 34 years.[16]
Franciscus “Franz” born 30 Aug 1796 in Capellen.[17] He married Magdalena MORRETTE (also seen as MORRET) (1796- ) on 22 January 1823 in Mamer.[18]
Elisabeta “Elise” born 5 April 1800 in Capellen and baptized on 6 April 1800 in Mamer.[20] On her marriage record[21] her date of birth was given as 13 prairial year VIII which calculates to 2 June 1800. Which should I trust? The date of birth on the marriage record had to have come from the church or civil records in Mamer or the dates of birth and baptism found in the list in the notebook of events which took place in 1779-1804?
7 January 1794 ~ Paulus FRANTZ md. Susanne KIEFER
The Frantz-Kiefer family followed by the Frantz-Künsch family [22]My fourth great-grandfather Paulus FRANTZ (1763-1847) married my fourth great-grandmother Susanne KIEFER (1754-1808) on 7 January 1794 in Mamer.[23] Susanne was 40 years old and widowed the previous year. She was the mother of five KOLBACH children between the ages of 3 and 10. Paulus was 30 years old, 10 years her junior.
Susanne gave Paulus twin sons, Nicolas and Jean, who continued the FRANTZ line in Mamer. The twins were born on 21 November 1794 in Mamer.[24] The next and last child, a son named Henri, born to her three days after her third wedding anniversary survived only five months.[25], [26]
Susanne KIEFER died on 9 October 1808 in Mamer when her FRANTZ twins were 13 years old.[27] At the time of her death her maiden name was spelled KEIFFER. The maiden name was seen as KÜFFER, KIEFER, and KEIFFER over the years.
21 December 1801 ~ Regina HUBERTY md. Peter KALMES
The Kalmes-Huberty family with information on Regina Huberty’s children from her first marriage. [28]The year after Jacob FRISCH died his widow Regina HUBERTY married Peter KALMES on 21 December 1801 in Mamer.[29] Regina and Peter had three sons, two died soon after birth, leaving only son Peter KALMES (1805-1863). Note: I found the birth and death records for the three sons. The dates of birth on the image above for the first two sons do not match the conversion of the French Republican dates found on the records. This should be considered when searching for records with dates seen in this register. The marriage record of son Peter KALMES has the date of birth of his brother of the same name who was born and died before Peter was born.
Jean FRANTZ marries Elise FRISCH
Nicolas FRANTZ was the first of the FRANTZ twins to marry at the age of 23 years. He married Anna “Jeanne” “Johanna” KÜNSCH (1795-1875) on 3 February 1818 in Mamer.[30] Their children are listed above in the FRANTZ image. His twin brother Jean waited until he was 32 years old to marry. Johannes “Jean” FRANTZ married Elisabeta “Elise” FRISCH on 18 January 1827 in Holzem.[21]
The Frantz-Frisch family [31]Jean and Elise FRANTZ-FRISCH were my third great-grandparents. They had five children in Mamer in a ten year period. Jean was a farmer (cultivateur) and a weaver (tisserand).
They named their first child Regina born on 9 June 1827[32] after Elise’s mother and their second child Susanna born on 8 September 1829[33] after Jean’s mother. Susanna’s godparents were Michel Kolbach, her father’s half-brother) and A. Frisch (I suspect the initial may be incorrect and this could have been Elise’s sister Susanna). Their third child François lived less than three months, born on 25 August 1832[34] and died 15 November 1832.[35] His godparents were François Frisch, Elise’s brother, and Susanne Keunsch (This may have been Jean’s brother Nicolas’ wife).
Elise’s step-father Peter KALMES died 12 Nov 1833 in Capellen.[36] This was a little over a month before the birth of her fourth child Peter born on 24 December 1833.[37] Was he named after her step-father? His godparents were Peter Kalmes, Elise’s half-brother, and Margaretha Reif.
Elise and Jean’s fifth and youngest child was my second great-grandfather Jean born on 3 December 1837.[38] His godparents were his cousins, Johann Redlinger and Catharina Kolbach.
Little Jean was only two years old when his maternal grandmother Regina HUBERTY died 19 January 1840 in Capellen.[39] I wonder what stories his paternal grandfather Paulus FRANTZ told him before he died on 27 July 1847 in Mamer[40] when little Jean was 9 1/2 years old.
Jean and Elise’s children marry
The oldest of Jean and Elise’s children, Regina FRANTZ married Peter MÜLLER (1830-1863) on 13 December 1855 in Mamer.[41]
The Frantz-Majerus family [44]Their son Pierre married a young lady from Hagen in the commune of Steinfort and his family groups are not included in the Mamer register. Pierre FRANTZ married Maria BIREN (1835-1873) on 20 February 1860 in Steinfort.[45] She died in 1873[46] after giving him eight children and he married her sister Marianna BIREN (1835-1900) on 22 April 1874 in Steinfort.[47] He raised the family he had with his first wife in Hagen. His second wife did not give him any children. His wives must have been twins, Maria born on 28 August 1835 and Marianna on 29 August 1835. The records of Hagen and Steinfort for the time period were kept in Autelbas in the Province of Luxembourg in Belgium. Although the Autelbas records for 1835 are online at FamilySearch they do not include the births in Hagen which would help me prove the BIREN sisters were twins.
The end of a generation
Jean’s twin brother Nicolas FRANTZ died on 8 Aug 1879 at the age of 84 years in Mamer.[48] Five months later Johannes “Jean” FRANTZ died on 24 Jan 1880 in Mamer.[49] He was 85 years old. His wife Elisabeta “Elise” FRISCH followed him ten months later on 15 November 1880 in Mamer.[50] She was 80 years old. They left three known living children: Pierre, Regina and Jean.
Pierre FRANTZ died 22 December 1907[51] in Hagen in the commune of Steinfort, Regina FRANTZ died 9 January 1909[52] in Mamer, and Jean “Johann” FRANTZ died 23 February 1929[53] in Mamer.
This is my weekly entry for Amy Johnson Crow’s challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2015 Edition. It was so successful in 2014 that genealogists wanted to continue or join in on the fun in 2015. Be sure to check out the other great posts by visiting Amy’s blog No Story Too Small where she’ll be posting the weekly recap on Thurdays and allowing all participants to leave a link to their post(s) in the comments.
