INTRODUCTION:
It would be difficult to understand or even imagine our ancestors way of life in a country many of us have not visited, in a period of time two hundred years before our birth. Even if we were excellent students of European history and could recite the dates of all conflicts or wars affecting the peoples of the area we now know as Germany, we still could not know what drove our Catron ancestors to leave their homes and travel to Rotterdam to board a ship which would transport them to America. Did they journey from Germany to Rotterdam on the Rhine River? Or did they travel overland, by wagon and/or on horseback? What became of the people they left behind? What possessions did they carry with them to Rotterdam, only to learn there were so very few things they could take aboard ship? Just what were they able to bring to America; surely they brought their family Bible.
Can you even imagine how powerful their hopes and dreams must have been, for them to leave the only life they had known and embark on a sea-voyage fraught with unimaginable dangers, to come to the land called America? Was it because they felt their life in Germany was so hopeless......or because the dream of land and freedom in America was so powerful?
Hermersberg, currently a small village of fewer than 2000 inhabitants, is located between Saarbrucken and Mannheim, near the first r in Saarbrucken. It is located in a beautiful, fertile area, near mountains similar to those seen in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
# 1: Was this picture made in Germany............
# 2: Or was this one made in Germany..........
It would be difficult to understand or even imagine our ancestors way of life in a country many of us have not visited, in a period of time two hundred years before our birth. Even if we were excellent students of European history and could recite the dates of all conflicts or wars affecting the peoples of the area we now know as Germany, we still could not know what drove our Catron ancestors to leave their homes and travel to Rotterdam to board a ship which would transport them to America. Did they journey from Germany to Rotterdam on the Rhine River? Or did they travel overland, by wagon and/or on horseback? What became of the people they left behind? What possessions did they carry with them to Rotterdam, only to learn there were so very few things they could take aboard ship? Just what were they able to bring to America; surely they brought their family Bible.
Can you even imagine how powerful their hopes and dreams must have been, for them to leave the only life they had known and embark on a sea-voyage fraught with unimaginable dangers, to come to the land called America? Was it because they felt their life in Germany was so hopeless......or because the dream of land and freedom in America was so powerful?
Hermersberg, currently a small village of fewer than 2000 inhabitants, is located between Saarbrucken and Mannheim, near the first r in Saarbrucken. It is located in a beautiful, fertile area, near mountains similar to those seen in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
# 2: Or was this one made in Germany..........
THE IMPORTANCE OF HENRY CATRON'S RESEARCH:
Henry Hardy Catron’s research on the Kettenring Family, including the various spellings of the surname, served as the framework for information posted here. We owe him a tremendous debt of gratitude, for he traveled to Germany more than twenty times to record information on the descendants of a man named Hans Jacob Kettenring, Sr., the man from whom we all descend. ‘Cousin Henry’ as he liked to be called, published three books on the Kettenring Family; the first in about 1958; the second and larger one in about 1968; and in 1978, his last book, which contained 1537 pages and thousands upon thousands of names. In a letter to Guy M. Catron, written not long after the last book was published, Henry acknowledged that he had at least five thousand more names to add to the records, which would necessitate his fourth book being a two-volume set, simply because of the number of pages it would contain. Sadly, that last book was never published.
I have depended upon Henry Catron’s book for most of the information regarding family who lived in Germany, and for information regarding ‘distant cousins.’ I have found his work to be remarkably accurate, considering that he worked, not with a computer, but with thousands of 3" x 5" index cards. Henry was a carpenter, and he constructed wooden trays to hold his index cards, which he carried in the trunk of his car as he traveled around the United States. We do know that Henry’s initial research led him to contact descendants of the early immigrants to America, and that he asked them to provide information about their families. There were errors in spelling, errors with regard to dates of birth and death, and on occasion, the omission of a family member. They, and he, were only human.
The original spelling of the surname many of us now call ‘Catron’, has changed a number of times over the years. In Germany it appears to have begun as ‘Kettenring’, but the spelling ‘Kettering’ was also used. Once our ancestors arrived in America, the name was undoubtedly not pronounced, (by those already here), as it was in Germany, so the spelling evolved as the pronunciation changed. There are ten or more variations of the spelling of our surname, with a corresponding number of pronunciations. We must remember that a person’s name was spelled like someone understood them to say it, which is merely phonetic spelling. And it’s doubtful anyone asked, “How do you spell your name?” when a deed was recorded or when the census was taken. We cannot say a person is not ‘of our family’ simply because the surname is spelled differently!
I have a collection of phonetic spellings, taken primarily from census records. Some may seem to be a bit difficult to imagine, but try pronouncing them by their phonetic spelling and it will all begin to make sense!
Eun for Ian Losson for Lawson Lewce for Lucy
Inis for Inez Julian for Julie Ann Swinnie for Swaney
Alles for Alice Wallise for Wallace Kalub for Caleb
Warn for Warren Bulla for Beulah Louritter for Loretta
Tailer for Taylor Kirklin for Kirkland Linzey for Lindsay
Coty for Cody Otes for Otis Mirdeath for Meredith
Sayre for Sarah Saitye for Sadie Sars for Cyrus
Of all the variations of our surname, I did not find it preceded by ‘Von’ (Von Kettenring or Von Kettering) as was rumored in the early 1960's. I have no idea where that rumor originated; 'Von' does not appear in Henry Catron’s book, and I find no reference to it in my (admittedly limited) German research.
To the many members of the greater Kettenring/Kettering/Ketron/Cattron and Catron families who have viewed this site and think it is "not for them" because it's focus is on only one branch of the family.......please consider the information contained within the first section of the site. This one blog could not possibly include all of the many branches of our great family tree, but there is basic, background information for anyone of our surname whose ancestor immigrated to America in 1764 and 1765.
With that said, I simply ask that when you begin reading through this blog, you consider the "big picture." Yes, the focus is obvious and was intentional, because so many people descend from our immigrating ancestor, Christopher Kettering and his wife, Anna Maria Susannah Gose, who came to American in 1765. An older son, Johann Franz "Frank", who was perhaps their eldest son according to now-known birth year information, did immigrate to America in 1764 aboard the ship "SARAH." And while it is true they embarked on their journey from the port at Rotterdam, (Holland, now the Netherlands) they did travel there from their homeland, Germany. And their desire to emigrate to America was life-changing.
________________________________________________________
And So Begins The Telling of The Early History of Our Family
________________________________________________________HANS JACOB KETTENRING
From Henry Hardy Catron's records, it would appear that Hans Jacob Kettenring is our oldest recorded ancestor. He first married Margaretha Metzel, daughter of Mayor Metzel. Henry does not specifically state Mr. Metzel was the mayor of a town; his given name may simply have been Mayor; that point is not clear. Hans Jacob and Margaretha married before 1590; she was born and died in Landstuhl, Germany, her year of death listed as 1600, and no children are named. On February 12, 1601 he married Anna Eve whose surname is not listed. No children are named. His year of death is listed as "before 1680."
The next entry is for Hans Jacob Kettenring, given the designation "Jr." to differentiate between him and "old" Hans Jacob. Whether he was the son or the grandson of old Hans Jacob Kettenring is unclear; perhaps Henry was also unclear regarding this, and left it as a mystery for someone else to attempt to solve. Logic (see dates) seems to dictate that Hans Jacob, Jr. was the grandson rather than the son of Hans Jacob, Sr.
Hans Jacob Kettenring (Jr., or, the younger) married Anna Maria whose surname is not listed. The birth years for their 7 known children range from 1658 to 1675. This Hans Jacob is listed as mayor of Landstuhl, Germany in 1682. No date of birth or death is listed for him or his wife. Their children are listed as follows:
1 - Johann Adam Kettenring, 1658 - Aug 5 1702
2 - Anna Eva Kettenring
3 - Anna Catharina Kettenring
4 - Johann Valentin Kettenring, Sept 29, 1661 - Dec 4, 1730
5* - Christian Kettenring, 1660 - April 17, 1750
6 - Johannes Kettenring, July 15, 1672 - Jan 17, 1743
7 - Juliana Margaretha Kettenring, May 2, 1675
From any one of these 7 children, many thousands of people can trace their Kettenring ancestry! Our focus begins to narrow as we look at Christian Kettenring, born 1660/1668. Click on his name in the column on the right to learn something about him.
_______________________________________________________________
#3 - Is this farm land in SW Virginia? What
makes you think so?
Key: Germany on the left; SW Virginia on the right.
52 comments:
Thank you for making this available.
It helped with several pieces that I had missing.
Appreciated very much.
Thanks for keeping the memory of our forefathers alive, it seems to me that the younger generations are not too interested in History specifically, family History.
Your blog is very helpful to the general community, but there is much more information available. I met Cousin Henry in 1968 and spoke as well as corresponded with him numerous times over 25 years, have all three Kettenring books, have visited all of the towns and villages in Rheinland-Pfalz where our family originated, and have a deep-seated interest in our family genealogy.
Two quick notes: The first Kettenring to come to America was Johann Adam in 1740 with his wife and children. The three cousins who followed in 1764-1765 went to his very prosperous farm in what is now the westernmost township of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, then a part of the frontier Lancaster County. Those families of Cristoff Kettering (father of Frantz, or "Fans"), and bachelors Johann Michael Kettenring and Johann Jacob Kettenring (both of whom married within a year of their arrival in Pennsylvania) began their migration through Maryland and on into the upper reaches of the Shenandoah River Valley by 1770, settling for a full generation in Wythe and Smythe Counties before spreading on to the far reaches of Southwestern Virginia and to what became Sullivan County, TN and Eastern Kentucky.
The primary reason for the changes in spelling occurred early on when the Virginia Militia was raised in 1772-73 on the frontier for General Dunmore's campaign to subdue the Native Americans.... and the semi-literate English enrollees had little patience nor inclination to spell long German names.... these same men formed the core of Washington's Army of Virginia when the Revolution came a few years later. And when those same veterans of the War of Independence finally received land grants twenty+ years later, the deeds had to be recorded with the spellings in the official record files, most common for the time as "Cattron" as the German "K" was changed to the hard English "C" and the three syllables slurred to only two.
The change of the eastern Tennessee back to "K" would not take place until Professor Joseph Ketron came along nearly a century later to try and rectify the spelling, but only a minority of the family accepted the "K".
Further notes:
This blog is entirely correct in tracing our origins back to southwestern Deutschland, the major towns of Landstuhl and Pirmasens as well as a dozen other villages, most notably Salzvoog, Lemberg, Schaarhof..... The great migration of 1765 most probably was by land from Schaarhof to Bingen and thence through the Rhein River gorge and on downstream to Rotterdam by boat, since that gorge was all but impassable by land, the distance to long and the river the only easy means of travel to the sea at Ostend.
The Oxford Dictionary is totally erroneous in assuming that our family name originates from the English city of Kettering. WRONG! Our family originated in the interior valleys of Schwyz and Uri in what is nw Switzerland and followed Duke Rupert to Heidelberg in the last decade of the 14th century.
Margaretha Metzel was the daughter of the burgermeister, or "mayor" of Landstuhl. This is consistent with the tradition of guildsmen holding that honorific post, as Johan "Hans" Jacob Kettenring (the Elder) was a traveling butcher and member of one of the recognized guilds of that era. That he would have married into a family of means and achievement would have been expected.
Also, the family had been accorded noble status in 1400 as supporters of the e Holy Roman Emperor Duke Rupert, and would have taken the noble title "von" in front of their surname. But they clearly were on the losing side in the Knights War of 1523, when combined Catholic and Lutheran forces crushed the rebellious nobles. The final crushing defeat was at Schloss Nanstein on the Hohengrin Heights overlooking Landstuhl. I is here that our forebears lost their noble status and were reduced to being land oner and overseers and skilled guildsmen. "Schloss" means "castle" in Deutsch.
Your blog is very helpful to the general community, but there is much more information available. I met Cousin Henry in 1968 and spoke as well as corresponded with him numerous times over 25 years, have all three Kettenring books, have visited all of the towns and villages in Rheinland-Pfalz where our family originated, and have a deep-seated interest in our family genealogy.
Two quick notes: The first Kettenring to come to America was Johann Adam in 1740 with his wife and children. The three cousins who followed in 1764-1765 went to his very prosperous farm in what is now the westernmost township of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, then a part of the frontier Lancaster County. Those families of Cristoff Kettering (father of Frantz, or "Fans"), and bachelors Johann Michael Kettenring and Johann Jacob Kettenring (both of whom married within a year of their arrival in Pennsylvania) began their migration through Maryland and on into the upper reaches of the Shenandoah River Valley by 1770, settling for a full generation in Wythe and Smythe Counties before spreading on to the far reaches of Southwestern Virginia and to what became Sullivan County, TN and Eastern Kentucky.
The primary reason for the changes in spelling occurred early on when the Virginia Militia was raised in 1772-73 on the frontier for General Dunmore's campaign to subdue the Native Americans.... and the semi-literate English enrollees had little patience nor inclination to spell long German names.... these same men formed the core of Washington's Army of Virginia when the Revolution came a few years later. And when those same veterans of the War of Independence finally received land grants twenty+ years later, the deeds had to be recorded with the spellings in the official record files, most common for the time as "Cattron" as the German "K" was changed to the hard English "C" and the three syllables slurred to only two.
The change of the eastern Tennessee back to "K" would not take place until Professor Joseph Ketron came along nearly a century later to try and rectify the spelling, but only a minority of the family accepted the "K".
Further notes:
This blog is entirely correct in tracing our origins back to southwestern Deutschland, the major towns of Landstuhl and Pirmasens as well as a dozen other villages, most notably Salzvoog, Lemberg, Schaarhof..... The great migration of 1765 most probably was by land from Schaarhof to Bingen and thence through the Rhein River gorge and on downstream to Rotterdam by boat, since that gorge was all but impassable by land, the distance to long and the river the only easy means of travel to the sea at Ostend.
The Oxford Dictionary is totally erroneous in assuming that our family name originates from the English city of Kettering. WRONG! Our family originated in the interior valleys of Schwyz and Uri in what is nw Switzerland and followed Duke Rupert to Heidelberg in the last decade of the 14th century.
Margaretha Metzel was the daughter of the burgermeister, or "mayor" of Landstuhl. This is consistent with the tradition of guildsmen holding that honorific post, as Johan "Hans" Jacob Kettenring (the Elder) was a traveling butcher and member of one of the recognized guilds of that era. That he would have married into a family of means and achievement would have been expected.
Also, the family had been accorded noble status in 1400 as supporters of the e Holy Roman Emperor Duke Rupert, and would have taken the noble title "von" in front of their surname. But they clearly were on the losing side in the Knights War of 1523, when combined Catholic and Lutheran forces crushed the rebellious nobles. The final crushing defeat was at Schloss Nanstein on the Hohengrin Heights overlooking Landstuhl. I is here that our forebears lost their noble status and were reduced to being land oner and overseers and skilled guildsmen. "Schloss" means "castle" in Deutsch.
Your blog is very helpful to the general community, but there is much more information available. I met Cousin Henry in 1968 and spoke as well as corresponded with him numerous times over 25 years, have all three Kettenring books, have visited all of the towns and villages in Rheinland-Pfalz where our family originated, and have a deep-seated interest in our family genealogy.
Two quick notes: The first Kettenring to come to America was Johann Adam in 1740 with his wife and children. The three cousins who followed in 1764-1765 went to his very prosperous farm in what is now the westernmost township of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, then a part of the frontier Lancaster County. Those families of Cristoff Kettering (father of Frantz, or "Fans"), and bachelors Johann Michael Kettenring and Johann Jacob Kettenring (both of whom married within a year of their arrival in Pennsylvania) began their migration through Maryland and on into the upper reaches of the Shenandoah River Valley by 1770, settling for a full generation in Wythe and Smythe Counties before spreading on to the far reaches of Southwestern Virginia and to what became Sullivan County, TN and Eastern Kentucky.
The primary reason for the changes in spelling occurred early on when the Virginia Militia was raised in 1772-73 on the frontier for General Dunmore's campaign to subdue the Native Americans.... and the semi-literate English enrollees had little patience nor inclination to spell long German names.... these same men formed the core of Washington's Army of Virginia when the Revolution came a few years later. And when those same veterans of the War of Independence finally received land grants twenty+ years later, the deeds had to be recorded with the spellings in the official record files, most common for the time as "Cattron" as the German "K" was changed to the hard English "C" and the three syllables slurred to only two.
The change of the eastern Tennessee back to "K" would not take place until Professor Joseph Ketron came along nearly a century later to try and rectify the spelling, but only a minority of the family accepted the "K".
Further notes:
This blog is entirely correct in tracing our origins back to southwestern Deutschland, the major towns of Landstuhl and Pirmasens as well as a dozen other villages, most notably Salzvoog, Lemberg, Schaarhof..... The great migration of 1765 most probably was by land from Schaarhof to Bingen and thence through the Rhein River gorge and on downstream to Rotterdam by boat, since that gorge was all but impassable by land, the distance to long and the river the only easy means of travel to the sea at Ostend.
The Oxford Dictionary is totally erroneous in assuming that our family name originates from the English city of Kettering. WRONG! Our family originated in the interior valleys of Schwyz and Uri in what is nw Switzerland and followed Duke Rupert to Heidelberg in the last decade of the 14th century.
Margaretha Metzel was the daughter of the burgermeister, or "mayor" of Landstuhl. This is consistent with the tradition of guildsmen holding that honorific post, as Johan "Hans" Jacob Kettenring (the Elder) was a traveling butcher and member of one of the recognized guilds of that era. That he would have married into a family of means and achievement would have been expected.
Also, the family had been accorded noble status in 1400 as supporters of the e Holy Roman Emperor Duke Rupert, and would have taken the noble title "von" in front of their surname. But they clearly were on the losing side in the Knights War of 1523, when combined Catholic and Lutheran forces crushed the rebellious nobles. The final crushing defeat was at Schloss Nanstein on the Hohengrin Heights overlooking Landstuhl. I is here that our forebears lost their noble status and were reduced to being land oner and overseers and skilled guildsmen. "Schloss" means "castle" in Deutsch.
Cousin Henry seldom missed our family picnic in Wytheville, VA southwest. In July of 1973 I ask him to include my new husband in his information. He loving informed me he was already in the book. We are both born and grow up in the same county and didn't know we were related. After that time Cousin Henry and I worked getting new information for his third and last book. My 4th child was born in 1978 and was included in the book. I sent him the information while I was still in the hospital. There was a small mistake in her birthday. I so wish someone would put his work into a computer program so it could be shared. He would have like that because his love was sharing the information. I also know of several family members that would like a book copy. Jackie Davis Umberger
I am a descendant of Michael Kettenring and am researching my genealogy. My grandmother Ethel Catron had a copy of the book Kettenrings of America, is there anyway to get a copy. I also would love any information on this branch if anyone would like to share.
Julie Pistorius
Martin Catron, born 1798, is my Great, Great Grandfather. He and my family branch begin on page 136 of the book:
"KETTENRING FAMILY IN AMERICA" by Henry Hardy Catron
I did find an online copy of this book at the link:
https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE97867
The title page is visible immediately and then after a few minutes of downloading,
all the 364 pages are visible and ready to be scrolled through.
I hope it works for you. C Collins
Hello this is a very nice blog....I am from Johann Michael Kettenring line and we sort of got lost after my great great grandfather Allen Byrd Cattron married and moved over to then Washington Co now Scott County Virginia in the 1840's and seem to have lost touch with the core family down in Sullivan county Tenn...his sons moved my great grandfather Enoch keep moving west marrying along the way till he crossed the Cumberland Gap and never came back ...My family stayed in the southeast corner of Kentucky till the 1960s when we finely moved out...I started my researching 30 yrs ago but only in the last ten years have I been able to really dig deep as my coal miner daddy would say.....but I am also a historian and that helped me with realizing how hard it is to get solid records before 1650's because the wars and fighting back and forth in that area of Germany , they burned down the church's and any standing government building were records were keep...so unless you are lucky and come across private records you hit dead ends.. My findings back up follow commenter Rob Catrons findings . That the line was Swiss and they ended up in Germany in a deal between the Swiss and German princes in power to repopulate a area that had been depleted of people by the fighting...and who better for the Swiss but to sent all the then troublesome followers of Martin Luther to do it with...I have two lines in my family tree was where moved in the deal the Siler's and the Kettenrings....Love to link history and genealogy...
My family is dependent from Basha Catron. Does anyone have info for her?
I am a descendant of Johann Kettenring. My maternal grandfather was Keener Ketron and most of his family, cousins, etc., live in the Bloomingdale community in Kingsport, Tennessee. my husband and I are traveling to Germany during the summer of 2019 to visit our son, who lives in Amberg and is married to a German girl. I would love to have any landmarks that we could find while we are there if anyone knows of any homes or castles associated with us. I also have a Ketron/Catron family tree that goes back to the 1500's and I would be happy to share that information with anyone.
Hi Marla. I would love to know if you find what was labeled as Johann Balthasar Kettenring's original home in Landstuhl. Supposedly, it is still standing and lived in. I suppose I would like to know how the home was identified as Kettenring's, and perhaps there is some provenance available in Landstuhl? If you haven't seen a picture of it, you might check out this link. It has a relatively recent picture.
https://drbrop.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/faces-from-the-past-part-two-the-ketron-heritage/
I hope you enjoy your trip! I envy you....
Sorry, Marla, my name didn't post in my previous comment. I would be your cousin Jama Mason
This is very helpful I'm so glad that you did all this research about our family. My grandma was Basha Tate who was also a Katron. Do you have any information of us having any Indian in US. My name is Melodie Bostic and my mother was Charlotte Tate.
I haven't found any Indian in my line, but there are Tates in Southwest VA that do have Indian ancestors. Hope you enjoy your trip!
I am also a descendant of Johann "Michael" Kettenring (my 5th great grandfather) through his descendants that went to TN/KY with many of my Catrons marrying the Buck and Burtram families. My DNA and research don't show any Native American markers, nor does any of my cousins. My DNA markers show mostly England, Northwest Europe with small percentages of Scandinavian and French (from a different line).
Respectfully,
Julie Pistorius
Thank you all for responding! I will update you if I find anything related to our family when we visit Germany.
Henry Catron interviewed my grandmother and gave her a copy of his book, when it was published. She remembers him fondly to this day. She is the daughter of Perry and the granddaughter of Tilman Monroe Catron, who was a lawman gunned down at an early age in Wise County, VA. Great-grandpa Catron (Perry) had a fishing camp on the Licking River in Falmouth, Kentucky. Mom would take me fishing there as a boy. Perry was originally from Eastern Tennessee. I believe he sought his fortune in KY after his mother was remarried.
I’m a descendent of the Catrons of Knox County Kentucky. As I understand my line of the family descends from Christopher Kettering changed to Catron who came to America as I understand it with his brother. Is he possibly brother of Johan Kettering.
I have just started doing research. My great grandmother was Mary Lou Carton. She was married to George Guy. I've found a lot of the relatives from Hermersberg. Any information would be appreciated.
Can anyone tell me how to get the Kettenring book?
That's supposed to be Catron. Autocorrect!
You can view pages here:
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Search/Home?lookfor=%22Catron,%20Henry%20Hardy,%201907-%22&type=author&inst=
If you are a member they allow you to download the entire book.
There is one on Amazon right now. If you hurry, you can buy the hardcover edition:
https://www.amazon.com/Kettenring-family-Henry-Hardy-Catron/dp/B00072GEBU
Bob Elfers < Sandra Lucas < Perry Catron < Tilman Monroe Catron
https://www.facebook.com/CatronFamilyHistory/
I would like a copy too. My grandfather Ralph Leonard catron married June colene Sexton, my mother Helen colene catron Banks
My name is Juanita catron.My father was George Robert Catrons.He and his relatives live and lived in the Yakima Washington area.The only other Catrons that I met were Stuart and Anna.They useb to have the family tree on their wall.Im just wondering if I'm a part of this clan.I do know the tree went way back to Germany
Charlotte cannie catron (orr) was my great grandma but i understand her mom was also a catron. . .
My great grandmother was Mary Lou Carton. She was from Sullivan County Tennessee. I would love to get a copy of Henry Carson's book on the geneology of the Kettenring's. I have done the family tree back to the 1600's. But I want to know my cousins.
Catron!!
If you have any information on Henry's book, contact me at trinitytaz2002@yahoo.com. Thanks!
You can find online copies like the one at Hathi Trust: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89061950507&view=1up&seq=1
The hard copy is harder to find. Just keep checking places like ebay and one will eventually show up (usually quite expensive, too)
So fun to read all these posts. Henry Catron was my grandfather.
I am searching for any information on Henry Hardy Catron's family, as I am searching for his original backup for his book. I cannot find definitive documentation that proves Sarah Ann Ketron (1824- aft 1893) was the daughter of Henry Kettenring Ketron (1775-1894) and Susannah Sluss (1779-1892). I believe Mr Catron was 100% correct in this genealogy, but I can find no sources, only his book used as reference. If anyone knows how inherited his records, I would like to contact them. Any assistance is greatly appreciated
Just noticed the comment immediately prior to mine, posted by "Henry's Granddaughter" If you know how I could find your grandfather's source for the info on Henry and his daughter Julia, I would be indebted! Henry was born in Wythe Co VA and his daughter Sarah Ann in Sullivan Co TN
Thanks so much
Search Connie Hampton James on Facebook
Search Connie Hampton James on Facebook
@Henry's Granddaughter
Your grandpa visited my grandma. She says very nice things about him.
What he did is a labor of love.
God bless him.
Hi, I am new to this blog. Can anyone help me to purchase the book 'Kettenring Family in America'?
Please respond on my email:
skweiner@rochester.rr.com
To skweiner: The books are hard to find. I found mine on Abebooks, but occasionally they appear on eBay or similar sites. You can always view the book electronically at Hathi Trust and can download individual pages, but not the entire book:
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89061950507&view=1up&seq=1
Hope this helps
thank you. My great grandfather was the brother to Charles Kettering.
So i have started the quest to find out more!
My name is Brian Warner Kettenring (born 1971), I'm a descendant of Johann Heinrich Kettenring (Henry in the US), who emigrated around 1825. I'm doing genealogical work for a graduate school class. I just re-read Henry Hardy Catron's preface to the 1956 edition of Kettenring in America where he indicates that he's making arrangements to place his genealogical work in a library or like setting. Does anyone know what came of this?
Also, I tried to look into the Swiss connection (very briefly) and didn't get very far. Does anyone have any leads on that or know who (who's still among the living) has tried? I can be emailed directly at kettenring@gmail.com.
thanks, Brian Kettenring
From what I've found, Johann came from Germany...Bavaria to be exact. My great grandmother was Mary Lou Catron or Ketron. We don't know which one. She died when my grandmother was 12. If you do research on this site, you should be able to find quite a bit of information.
Good luck!!
Brian, Earlier this year one of Henry Catron's granddaughters posted a comment. I did try to contact her through this site to see if she knew where Henry's original documents were, but got no reply. If you ever solve this mystery, the location of Henry's research, would you please post to this site and let us know? Seeing his research would be worth a long road trip!
@Unknown, will do if I find anything...May I ask who this is? yours, Brian Kettenring
I'm sorry! My name is Juni.
I've found out quite a bit on here. I don't know if it was this site or another one, but what I found went back to the late 1500's. Half the fun is the journey so I wish you much luck! If there is anything I can help with... There is a book called Catron's Corner - no idea how to get it! But if you do find it, please let me know.
Brian...I've found Johann on Jewishgen .org. It will give you a little more info
Hi Brian, I'm Jama Mason, a descendent of Henry Kettenring through one line and Jacob Kettenring through another. I can tell you that I have been searching for Henry's children or grandchildren for a year or so, trying to track down his research notes.....but to no avail! But I will keep searching and let you know if I should find anything.
Hello Brian, et al of the Kettenring / Kettering / Catron / Ketron clans. My name is Terry A. Ketron. I am writing to let anyone that would like to have a photograph of Simon P. Catron and his wife Lucinda Jones, and their daughter, I will be happy to email a copy to you just for the asking. It is an excellent photo done by a professional of the day, and later "oil colored" by a very talented artist. Simon was my Great Great Grandfather. I also have a photograph of L. Terry Ketron and his wife Orlene Hale Ketron. He was my Great Grandfather and my namesake. His son was Jasper Ketron and Jasper's son was Karl Ketron, my father. You may also have photographs of them for the asking if you like. Just send me a note to terryketron@gmail.com
I am the son of Philip Ketron, he was the son of Lonnie Ketron from Bloomingdale. I would love to get pictures of my great grandfather Terry Ketron, I think that is who it was. Any info would be great. I Remember when I was small a man came to my grandfathers house and he was asking about my information because he was writing a book about the Ketron family and my sister and I was going to be in the book. I would love to find the book he was writing. Love our history. My daughter did a ancestry search and it said we were Belgium. I told her we are German, so I’d like to get all the info to support that.
Hi Stuart. I have little doubt that it was Henry Hardy Catron that came to Bloomingdale to update his book. I only have one of the older editions, so your name isn't there. But your father, grandfather, ggrand, etc are all in the book. You descend from Johann Michael Kettenring and Maria Magdalena Marquardt, like several of the people that have commented on this site. And they did not come from Belgium.... You were right.
There is a nice picture of Larkin Terry Ketron on Ancestry, as well as a nice picture of his parents, Simon Peter Ketron/ Catron and his wife Lucinda Jones. I'm afraid we don't have the ability to post pictures here, but if you don't have access to Ancestry, you can give me an email address and I will send them to you.
A note to any of you that were searching for Henry Hardy Catron's backup documentation. I believe I have found it in Springfield, IL, at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Mr. Christopher Schnell is the curator of manuscripts and he has told me there is a three reel series of microfilm labeled “Correspondence, 1950-1955, re the Kettenring-Catron Family” , a 14 reel series of microfilm labeled “Kettenring-Catron,” that he believes to be the book documentation, and 3 photocopied documents: Diary of Arthur Catron (1865); “Family Record of Arthur S. Catron” 1920; and “Valentine Kettenring,” n.d. (MS Accno 1968-73). This is going to be a rather long trip for me, so it will be a while before I can arrange to view these documents. But if any of you are near Springfield and have any interest, it appears the info is available.
I am just starting my family Tree. I know very little about my fathers side of the family but it looks like I am related to this family. I stumbled upon this blog. I will be traveling to Munich in March 2024 and would love to help contribute to any photo's while there if needed. I will only have about 1/2 day before our cruise, so if anyone knows where I need to go to find photo's to help, please let me know .
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