The Kellers - PA to KY - Relatives and Relations
The Kellers - PA to KY - Relatives and Relations
Updated September 23, 2006Roland A Keller | This site relates to the family of Frederick and Maria (nee Kraemer) Keller of the township of Lititz, Lancaster Co, PA, their ascendants (currently traced to John and Maria (nee Blensinger) Keller of Frederick, MDand John and Katherine (nee Scheib) Kraemer of Lancaster Co); and the children of Frederick and Maria.John Keller (@1753 - 3/18/1831) was born in VA.He and his wife, Anna Maria (nee Blensinger) Keller (@1762 - 3/22/1848) were members of the Lutheran church in Frederick, MD., and are interned in the Frederick Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetery. Frederick Keller (1794-1852), son of John & Anna Maria, was born in Frederick, Md and later fought in the war of 1812 as a member of Cpt Jas Houston's company of Maryland Militia.After the war, he moved to Lancaster County, PA.,where he married Anna Maria Kraemer (1798-1884) of Lancaster.They resided in Lititz, Lancaster Co, PA, where Frederick was a Saddle maker and the family served as members of the Moravian Church. About October of 1841, John William Keller - 2d eldest child of Frederick and Maria, was partner to the pregnancy of Mary C. Stormfeltz who gave birth to a son and named him after his father. (I'll call the child: JWK-Jr.) JWK-Jr never saw or met his father because upon learning that "Mary was with Child", JWK-Sr left Lititz, never to return.He journeyed to KY where he joined the Army to serve in the War with Mexico.John is next heard from in October of 1847 where, as a member of the US Army's 16th Infantry, he is on board the USS Remittance in the port of New Orleans. JWK-Sr saw little action in the war. He was discharged in 1848 and returned to KY where he met and married Matilda Dean (whose father was Job Dean, an early settler on John's Creek, a tributary of the Big Sandy River.)John and Matilda had four children of whom only two survived to adulthood:William Worth Keller and Laura Ann Keller. (Laura Married Marion Tivis Bush and lived to a ripe age in Tuscola, Ky.)Worth's mother, Matilda, died at his birth and in 1858, his father married Elizabeth Casteel of Lawrence County, KY., with whom he remained married until his death in 1864. By Elizabeth, John Keller had two daughters, Emmaline and LouAnn.Emmaline married Wm Sylvester O'Bryan of Lawrence County and LouAnn Married Wm Harvey Church, Also of Lawrence County.Back to JWK-Jr. Mary C. Stormfeltz married James Weller and together, they raised JWK-Jr and had a daughter, Cecilia.Prior to the Civil War, the Weller's moved to MD where JWK-Jr was "drafted against his will" into the Confederacy.He deserted the South and went on to serve with distinction as a member of the 79th PA Volunteers.JWK-Jr was also a member of the Moravian Church.He married twice (Sara Vogel and Maude Sturgis) and, all told, had 8 children (by Sara: Howard J. Keller; Mary Ellen Keller (Married Jacob F Duing); Sarah R. Keller (Married Charles N. Hover); and Martha Louisa Keller;- by: Maude:Albert Keller; Margaret Keller; and William A. Keller (Married Anna M. Harding). JWK-Sr, died in 1864 and his son William (called "Worth") wrote to and later visited Lancaster where he met most if not all his relatives.Of John W Keller's brothers and sisters, Frederick Hiram Keller (Called Hiram) relocated to Williamsport where he was a carpenter and served two terms as mayor of Williamsport in the 1880's.Emeline married a C.W. Sturgis; there were and still are a whole pot full of Sturgis' in Lancaster. Another brother, George Edward Keller, lived his entire life in Lititz and was well known as a Sexton for the Moravian Church.Finally, there was Charles Oliver and of him I know very little.Like M.V.B., Charles was listed in the 1901 Directory but is absent from the 1903-4 edition. Readers, please feel free to contact me with any information you may have that ties to any of those mentioned above.Many thanks and God bless. |
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