| Charles Kayser was a Palatine Migrant. Join: Palatine Migration Project Discuss: palatine_migration |
This profile is the product of a careful and lengthy review of all available sources.
The date of birth for this person and the identity of his wife have both been disputed by members of the WikiTree community.
In particular, there is a long-standing and widely held tradition among many Kayser descendants that identifies his wife as Elizabeth Grossgloss (abt.1730-1773). Unfortunately there have been no reliable sources presented to support this tradition.
There are claims that two grandsons both stated that their grandmother was Elizabeth Grossgloss, but no evidence for their claim is provided. There is also a website for "First Settlers of Shenadoah Valley" that specifically names his wife as Elizabeth Grossgloss but this is a 20th century document and has no source beyond the family tradition.
This profile remains a work in progress and any additional sources are welcome.
Contents |
Carl Sebastian Keyser was the son of Andreas Kayser (d. bef. 1755) and his wife Anna Catharina Schumacher (1697-1755). His father was a butcher in the the village of Möckmühl in the German Duchy of Württemberg. Karl's birth was registered in the parish church of the village on January 16, 1726/27.[1] [2] As a young man he joined the increasing waves of German Protestants who left in the wake of religious and dynastic wars and emigrated to British North America. On September 19, 1749 Carl arrived in Philadelphia on the ship "Patience." [3] Carl signed his own name on the passenger list. [4] He soon moved west to the German settlements in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where he entered the service of Johan Jacob Eichholtz (1712-1760), an innkeeper and butcher. During this time Carl anglicized his name to Charles Keyser.
In Lancaster County Charles met and courted the woman who would be his wife. Unfortunately, there is an unsettled controversy over the identity of this woman. Family traditions, both dating to at least the 1870s, name two candidates: Mary Elizabeth Shelly daughter of Christian and Magdalena Shelly, who had immigrated from Germany in the early 1730s; and Elizabeth Grossgloss (or Grossclose), also of German birth. In any case, Charles married around 1751 and is known to have sired ten children: Charles Jr. (b. 1752), John (b. ca. 1754), Anna (b. ca. 1756), Joseph (b. ca. 1756), Andrew (b. 1758), Mary (b. 1760), Elizabeth (b. ca. 1762), Esther (b. ca. 1764), Catherine and David. [NOTE: the dates of birth of many of the children are approximate.]
In the late 1750s Charles moved his growing family south into the wilds of Virginia's fertile Shenandoah River Valley. There he purchased a 108-acre farm along the river near present-day Luray in Page County. He died here in the Spring of 1778 and is buried in the Keyser Family Cemetery in Page County, Virginia. He did not leave a will but there is an inventory filed intestate which lists ten children and indicates that the estate was divided between them equally on 28 August 1778 in Shenandoah county, Virginia.
The following are believed to be his children:
The Charles Keyser home was built about 1765. It was a style of house known in the Shenandoah Valley as a Flürkuchenhaus or hall-kitchen house. It was built over a large arched cellar which served as a fort to protect the family. A description of the Charles and Andrew Keyser homes can be found in Chappell, Edward A. “Acculturation in the Shenandoah Valley: Rhenish Houses of the Massanutten Settlement.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 124, no. 1 (1980): p.73-76. http://www.jstor.org/stable/986659.
"All these old homesteads or forts have fortified cellars and are built in much the same manner, constructed of stone with arched ceilings. Some have an outer cellar also strongly constructed through which one must pass before entering the vault. Several of them have running water. These old homes are all built on the Massanutten patent and a number of them are still occupied as dwellings. They were all substantially built and together form the most interesting group of old homes in Northern Virginia, and in fact, in all Virginia. The homes were built, probably from 1750 to 1790." [5]
Until fairly recently, it was generally thought that Charles was born in 1702, and there are some who still think so. A discussion of the conflicting accounts regarding Charles up to the then-present date was written by Paul Buchanan, a 4th-great grandson of Charles, and published in the The Virginia Genealogist in 1987.[6] He recites the facts as presented in several different family histories dating from 1876 to 1982, and they are in general agreement that Charles was a butcher, born in Württemberg in 1702. But no primary sources for these facts are named, and it is unlikely that these accounts are independent of one another.
Supporters of the 1702 birth date also point to Charles’ grave marker as evidence. However, his grave was opened in 1876,[7] and it appears that the current grave marker likely dates to this time or later when, as noted above, it was thought that he was born in 1702.
On the strength of the church records showing Charles’ full name to be Carl Sebastian Kayser and the discovery of the German birth record of a son with that name to a butcher in Württemberg, it seems likely (although not proven) that the 1702 date was an error by an early researcher that was propagated through subsequent retellings.
Buchanan also considered the uncertainties regarding Charles' wife (or wives?).[6] His conclusion that Charles was married to Mary Shelly is based principally on the evidence of a 1761 deed in which they were identified as husband and wife,[8] but is also consistent with his readings of an account by Isaac Dovel compiled in 1876,[9] an 1892 letter by Adam Strickler,[10] and an account compiled by Ralph T. Kiser.[11]
Buchanan notes that a later account by Dovel names Elizabeth Groseclose as Charles' wife[9], as does a 1982 account by the Kiser Family Historical Committee.[12] He concludes that the best hypothesis is that Charles married Elizabeth in Germany, and that she died before 1750.
Given the contemporary documented evidence that Charles had married Mary Shelley, if he had also married Elizabeth Groseclose as so many believe it would have been either before his marriage to Mary Shelley, as suggested by Buchanan, or afterward. If Elizabeth is buried next to Charles, the latter alternative seems much more likely. Although Buchanan does not mention the possibility, he does identify an Elizabeth Groseclose who could have been Charles' second wife. He cites the marriage of John Groseclose and Elizabeth Riddling on 8 Oct 1755 in Lancaster County.[13] If Mary predeceased Charles and Elizabeth's husband predeceased her, then Charles and Elizabeth may have married thereafter.
An extensive history of the Groseclose family provides support for the idea that John Groseclose may have died soon after his marriage. The auther indicates that all the Grosecloses in America descended from one man, Peter Groseclose (or Grosscloss), born in Miesau, Rheinland-Pfalz, Bayern in 1730, who came to America probably in 1750.[14] The author of the Groseclose family history discounted family lore that three Groseclose brothers had come to America together. Having traced the ancestry of all the family to Peter, and having seen no evidence of any other early immigrants of that name, he believed that Peter Groseclose had come to America alone. The author apparently was unaware of the marriage record of John Groseclose and Elizabeth Ridding, which indicates that at least one other Groseclose of the same generation as Peter was in America in the 1750's. In spite of this oversight by the author, it appears that John Groseclose left little, if any, evidence of his existence other than the marriage record, making it plausible to believe he died soon afterwards.
The Groseclose family history also makes clear that Groseclose was an unusual name in America, and that Peter had no known sisters named Elizabeth. As a consequence, it's likely that John Groseclose's wife (and supposed widow), Elizabeth Groseclose, was the only woman with that name in colonial America at the time.
Mary (Shelley) Keyser died sometime after executing the 1761 deed, but the date of her death is otherwise unknown. Given the evidence and belief that Charles married Elizabeth Groseclose, it seems likely that Mary predeceased Charles and that Charles subsequently married John Grosecloses's widow, Elizabeth. Had this happened early enough, some of Charles' later children may have born of Elizabeth rather than Mary, which might explain some of the statements later made by Charles' descendants. This sequence of events would also explain the otherwise conflicting accounts provided by Isaac Dovel; he may have seen evidence of both marriages.
As a side note, the issue regarding Charles' wife (or wives) was further confused by at least one author that mistook certain records pertaining to Charles as referring to another man with that name of Dutch descent. Charles S. Keyser has written that Charles Keyser, son of Johannes Keyser and Barbara Funk (who married about 1744), married a Miss Shelly, daughter of Dr. Shelly of Philadelphia, and moved from Germantown to Page County, Virginia, prior to the Revolution.[15] However, it’s well established that the Charles Keyser who moved to the Shenandoah Valley had children in the 1750’s, with the oldest having been born about 1752; this would have been impossible for a man whose parents married around 1744. It is also not credible that the 1761 deed that supports Charles' marriage to Mary Shelley refers to the Dutch Charles Keyser, who would have been at most still in his teens at that time.
A much more complete discussion of Charles' history and the debates surrounding it can be found at the Kayser-Counts Family History web site.[16]
PAGE: 66. THE MENNONITE FAMILY HISTORY, VOLUME 4, NUMBER 2, DATED APRIL 1985, ARTICLE TITLED: THE CONSPIRACY ON SHELLY'S ISLAND, BY E. ELAYNE ALEXANDER, PAGES 64-68.
MARY SHELLY, CA 1730-1771, MARRIED CHARLES KEYSER, SHE DIED IN SHENANDOAH CO., VIRGINIA. THE FOLLOWING WERE THE CHILDREN OF THE MARRIAGE:
First Generation ------------------------- 1. CHARLES1 KEYSER (#1) was born in Wurttemberg, Germany 1702. near Stuttgart Charles died 1778 in Shenandoah Co, Va, at 76 years of age. His body was interred 1778 in Shenandoah Co, Va. on his farm, now (1997) Lynn Strickler's, Route 648, Luray, VA He married ELIZABETH GROSSGLOSS in Wurttemberg, Germany. (Elizabeth Grossgloss is #2.) Elizabeth was born in Germany. Charles arrived on Sunday, 19 Sep 1749, aboard the ship PATIENCE in the Port of Philadelphia, Pa. He took the Oath of Allegiance to Pennsylvania on the same day.[3]
He bought property in Frederick Co, Va, 6 Apr 1765. By deed of 6 Apr 1765, recorded in Frederick County, Va., Deed Book No. 10, page 248, Lewis Rhinehart and Mathias Rhinehart of Frederick County, Va., conveyed unto Charles Keyser, of the same place, a parcel of land on the South Fork of the Shenandoah, being the lower end of two tracts of land granted to Mathias Rhinehart by deed of 8 Feb 1764, from the Proprietor's Office of the Northern neck of Virginia. (Mead Relations by A. M. Pritchard, 1933) Charles's will was probated in Shenandoah Co, Va, Will Book A-179, 28 Aug 1778. inventory (509 lbs 15 shillings) 10 children, 50 lbs 19 sh 6 pence each
In Mead Relations by Prichard, published in 1933, he states on page 178: Isaac C. Dovel, son of No. 11, a great grandson of Charles Keyser, compiled some records of the family in 1876 from which the following is copied: "Charles Keyser, father of Andrew Keyser, Sr., and John Keyser, was born in Germany in the year 1702, came to America while under the British Government. He was a butcher by trade; had no relations in this country; married a lady in Philadelphia by the name of Shelly. He died in 1774 at the age of 72 years.
On the 9th of October 1876, the grave was opened by Peter and Henry Keyser, sons of Andrew Keyser, Jr., in the presence of Charles Keyser, one of the grandsons, and I. C. Dovel, Capt. Joseph Keyser, son of Noah Keyser, Joseph W. Keyser, son of Peter Keyser, and Uphemia Richardson, daughter of Andrew Keyser, Jr. The skull, teeth and hair were found to be in a wonderful state of preservation after having been buried 102 years." (Note: The paragraph above makes reference to Thomas and Eli Kiser of Clark County, Ohio. These would be the grandchildren of Charles Keyser, Jr. whose surviving children and his Widow later moved to Ohio. It is not known at this time to which of Charles, Jr. s sons these children belong.) "Peter J. Keyser, who is now (1932) probably the oldest surviving member of the family, recollects when the grave was opened, as above related, and said that it was done purely through curiosity."
"The following also is copied from the notes of Isaac C. Dovell: "The grandfather of Joseph and David Kiser, and great grandfather of Thomas and Eli Kiser of Clark County, Ohio, was named Charles Kaiser. He was a native of Wurtemburg, near Stuttgart, Germany. His wife' name was Elizabeth Grossgloss, also a native of Germany. He was a soldier in Braddock's unfortunate campaign in 1755, but returned unharmed."
Isaac Dovel makes reference (above) to two wives. Either he made a mistake, or he was quoting from the 1889 Kiser book that has been in dispute by Kiser genealogists for years and years. So far we have not been able to find any documentation to substantiate a second marriage, and seem to have enough proof the marriage of Charles Keyser and Miss Shelly is another line entirely. We have received e-mail from
Edward Barnes, (5 Jul 1998), a descendant of the Dutch Keyser / Kiser line, says: "I do have a reference to Charles Keyser who married a Miss Shelly. My information is that she was the daughter of a Dr. Shelly of Philadelphia. "The information says that after they married, they moved to Page County, Virginia. I don't have specific dates, except that I show that Charles was the son of Johannes Keyser (who was born July 25, 1721 in German-town) and Barbara (Funk) Keyser. I don t have a birth or marriage date for Charles."
"HOWEVER -- although the family line from Johannes (showing Charles and __ Shelly) is documented in the 1889 Keyser Family History, more recent research by William Hires of Penn Valley, PA, casts considerable doubt on the whole line beginning with Johannes children. As I recall, there were two different lines that some folks claim descended from Johannes. He says that the 1889 history is incorrect based on data that he has found in Pennsylvania. He was, by the way, the official genealogist for the most recent Keyser Family Reunion (300th anniversary) in Philadelphia in 1988." SO, IN SUMMATION, we do seem to have enough information to determine that the Charles Keyser who married a Miss Shelly is NOT in our line. That Charles father, Johannes, was born 1721. Our Charles was born in 1702.
Several books have been written on "Kisers",
"Charles Keyser purchased a tract, 198 acres, from Lewis and Mathias Rinehart of Frederick County, Virginia, near the mouth of Hawksbill in Frederick County, VA by deed dated 6 Apr 1765 where he lived until his death (Charles Keyser, Jr., Shenandoah County Deed Book 1-265 where they conveyed unto Andrew Keyser a parcel of 57 acres of land, etc.). On 28 May 1778, the Shenandoah County Court appointed Bryant Breeding, Martin Comer, Matthew Mattocks, and Peter Ruffner to appraise the estate of 'Charles Kizer, Dec'd,' and Charles Kizer was granted administration of this estate, and posted a bond of 1,000 pounds (Kizer and Comer signed the bond in German) (Shenandoah County Will Book A-179). On 28 August 1778, Martin Comer, Matthew Mattocks and Peter Ruffner returned the appraisement to the court, large inventory, his estate being valued at 509 pounds 15 shilling 0 pence. Attached to this appraisement is the statement: 'There is Ten Children, 50 pounds 19 shillings 6 pence Each share.' [17]
Extract from a letter dated 5 February 1988 from Vivian Bales: "Long ago in the Pennsylvania archives I found the Keysers whom I descend from, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (which also you descend from). I read the deposition ANDREW made about an Indian who came to their house and asked for food, etc., and about JOSEPH being accused of stealing a sheep. The Keyser - Kiser's were German Deutsche. My grandmother told me this. They clung to their language right down to my grandmother."
Kercheval (1833) relates an incident in which "Major Andrew Keyser also informed the author that an Indian once called at his father's in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, appeared to be much agitated, and asked for something to eat. After refreshing himself he was asked what disturbed him. He replied, 'The Southern Indians have killed my whole nation.'"[18] (per A.M. Pritchard in his Mead Relations "This indicates clearly that Charles Keyser lived in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, before he settled in what is now Page County, Virginia. )
Charles had an old German Bible, which went to his son Charles upon his death. When his son, Charles, Jr. died his sons took the bible with them when they moved to Ohio.[17] Unfortunately, no trace of the Bible has been found.
In Esther Kiser's Sandy Ridge Kiser-Powers Kin, she states: "It is believed that Charles had two brothers who also came to America. Jacob Keyser arrived in Philadelphia on 16 September 1751 aboard the Edinburgh from Rotterdam, Holland. Andreas Keyser arrived in Philadelphia on 29 September 1753 aboard the British ship Brothers."[19]
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K > Kayser > Charles Sebastian Kayser
Categories: Virginia, Immigrants from Germany | Patience, Arrived 19 September 1749 | Palatine Migrants
Long, I'll admit, but essential to understanding the complexities of the ultimate decision to exclude Elizabeth as wife of this Charles Keyser.
edited by Kie (Entrikin) Zelms
I was in agreement with the decision to exclude Elizabeth as Charles' wife at the time it was made, but it did leave some people very upset, as it seemingly discounts (or ignores, they argue) the evidence in her favor.
On a recent vacation to the Gulf coast, I stopped by the Tennessee State Library in Nashville and finally got a look at the book on the Groseclose family history. It didn't provide the clarity that I had hoped it would regarding John Groseclose (Elizabeth's first husband), but the fact that such a carefully researched work doubted John's existence is itself evidence that John may have died not long after his marriage to Elizabeth (of which there is a record).
As I tried to make clear in my recent edits to the Research Notes, it's at least plausible that Charles Keyser married the widow Elizabeth Groseclose after his first wife Mary Shelley died. Obviously, there's no proof now known, but it seems to be the only set of circumstances that is consistent with all the evidence, including the grave markers and written accounts by people who may have seen proof (such as a family bible) that still existed in the 19th century. I understand why others might not agree, but that seems to me sufficient reason to add Elizabeth as the second wife of Charles Keyser.
The profile has plenty of content related to the identification of Elisabeth as his wife, so if new evidence emerges, there will be a basis for reconsidering....
edited by Ellen Smith
There is a book by B. Clark Groseclose, "Grosecloses and Descendants in America," (Brentwood, Calif. : The Author, 1999) that may have useful information, especially about John Groseclose, who married Elizabeth Riddling in Lancaster Co. in 1755. It seems that Peter Groseclose (Groseclose-16, although a more complete profile is at https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHJB-CRR) who immigrated to America in 1750 and also married about 1755 is the progenitor of the family in this country, which may mean that John died without any male heirs, perhaps not long after his marriage.
I would check the book myself, but the nearest library copy is over 500 miles away. The WorldCat listing of copy locations is at: https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41629769
Is there anyone with a copy near them who can take a look at this?
Notice in the all capitals section I italicized the sources in an effort to keep track of them and to convert them to inline sources later.
I feel the lengthy details cut and pasted for the article about the house are unnecessary. A link to the article would be sufficient.
Also the long cut and paste regarding the Massanutten Settlement is distracting and can also be handled with a source link and brief description.
Overall, I am trying to extract the sources and at least make this profile information readable.
This is going to take awhile, but is necessary. Advice and suggestions are appreciated
edited by Ellen Smith
edited by Kie (Entrikin) Zelms
Instead, I question the German origins presented in this profile. My understanding of German naming conventions of the time is that for a person named Carl Sebastian Kayser, "Carl" would have been the saint's name, rarely if ever used; and "Sebastian" the call name by which he would generally be known, including on legal documents. Someone known as Carl Kayser would have instead been named Johann Carl or Friederich Carl or the like at birth. Am I mistaken?
A quick Google search led me to this snippet... here: https://germanculture.com.ua/german_names/german_names_boys_c.htm
"CHARLES is a beautiful male first name with Old German roots. It has a positive meaning: "free man". It came from Karl, familiar to Old English "churl", which means "man, serf". It is a saint's name. Charles and its variants are favoured by the royal persons of many countries."
So, there we have it; Charles/Karl/Carl is a saint's name!!! Who knew??? St. Charles Borromeo is the Catholic saint..
But... Sebastian is also a saint's name, so Sebastian could have been the saint's name and Karl/Charles the call name.
A baptismal record would be nice. I will take a look using Sebastian Charles/Karl.
I hope that the reasons why this birth record was thought to belong to Carl can be uncovered.
edited by Kie (Entrikin) Zelms
I appreciate that there are differences of opinion on this man's birth date and the identity of his wife and these need to be addressed fully in a Research Notes section on the merged profile which will be placed there to explain the disagreement.
The marriage of Charles and Mary Shelley is well attested. They are mentioned in her father's probate papers and an article on the Shelly's in THE MENNONITE FAMILY HISTORY, VOLUME 4, NUMBER 2, DATED APRIL 1985, ARTICLE TITLED: THE CONSPIRACY ON SHELLY'S ISLAND, BY E. ELAYNE ALEXANDER, PAGES 64-68 also reports that she and Charles moved to Virginia.
There is no equivalent evidence for Elizabeth.
The oft-cited reference to the widow Elizabeth in the WPA record is very clearly for Charles' daughter in law. It mentions her son Joseph and his wife Caty. The Joseph who married Catherine (Caty) was the son of Charles Jr. and his wife Elizabeth Baker.
The placement of the inscriptions in the graveyard are not conclusive. Nowhere is she named as Charles' wife. And the problem with the tombstones is that the bodies were re-interred in 1876 almost a hundred years after the original burial. The stones are not original and just reflect the family's thinking a century later. They are in no way a primary source of anything.
Importantly, having one wife at death does not necessarily mean having one wife throughout life.
Similarly, two or more individuals having the same name as someone else during similar migration periods 300 years ago with closely proximate birth and death dates does not mean the individuals are the same.
It seems there is agreement on Keyser-99 and Keyser-337. From a level of evidence perspective, I agree with @Hardcastle and @Stahl that Kayser-154 should not be merged.
German church records do not always include birth records arranged by family. The references to families emigrating to America are rare, mentioned only if the family had to pay a tax and receive permission to leave the state or to be released from servitude.
Unfortunately, tombstones are only as good as the person who makes them and the person who submits the information. Dates are misread and family lore twisted like a game of telephone... it certainly happened in my family!
In saying this I claim no expertise over the Kaysers. I do claim an understanding of evaluating the level of evidence presented.
A modern pdf is particularly at risk of being misread and twisted like a game of telephone. The game of telephone has more misreadings and misreportings with each passing of the information. In this case the older gravestone has a lower chance of being misinterpreted or misreported because it has gone through fewer passes of information or generations of reinterpretation.
None of this is to discredit the hard work of each person in this discussion and the authors from 1985/2003. We do not, however, have positive or affirmative evidence against the other wife or a distinct Kayser-154. We do have a lack of evidence within Keyser-99 regarding Kayer-154.
We should not confuse this lack of evidence in one person's history as evidence against another person's existence.
No evidence has been found to support the 1702 birth date other than a tombstone erected a century after his death.
There is also no evidence for a wife named Elisabeth Grosscloss. The only source cited for her is an entry for "a partial settlement of Charles Keyser estate, Elizabeth Keyser widow and relict" which comes immediately after the entry for "September 12, 1796, appraisement of Charles Keyser, Junior's estate." It appears that "Elizabeth widow and relict" is Elizabeth Baker widow of Charles Keyser Jr
Unless someone is aware of some other issue that creates an impediment to these merges, the project intends to complete these merges in one week's time.
No evidence has been found to support the 1702 birth date other than a tombstone erected a century after his death.
There is also no evidence for a wife named Elisabeth Grosscloss. The only source cited for her is an entry for "a partial settlement of Charles Keyser estate, Elizabeth Keyser widow and relict" which comes immediately after the entry for "September 12, 1796, appraisement of Charles Keyser, Junior's estate." It appears that "Elizabeth widow and relict" is Elizabeth Baker widow of Charles Keyser Jr
Unless someone is aware of some other issue that creates an impediment to these merges, the project intends to complete these merges in one week's time.
Also it is not disputed that Charles Sr died in 1778 and Charles Jr died in 1796 since there were estate records. So it seems the tombstones are meant to reflect Charles Kiser Sr and his wife since they were placed there at the same time. Not sure that they stones being place there years later is indisputable proof of the dates being incorrect. Lots of stones are replaced years later and noone questions them.
http://kayser-counts.org/charleskeyserhomewpareport.pdf
No evidence has been found to support the 1702 birth date other than a tombstone erected a century after his death.
There is also no evidence for a wife named Elisabeth Grosscloss. The only source cited for her is an entry for "a partial settlement of Charles Keyser estate, Elizabeth Keyser widow and relict" which comes immediately after the entry for "September 12, 1796, appraisement of Charles Keyser, Junior's estate." It appears that "Elizabeth widow and relict" is Elizabeth Baker widow of Charles Keyser Jr
Unless someone is aware of some other issue that creates an impediment to these merges, the project intends to complete these merges in one week's time.
After a very light read through the history here and in the profiles -- including the various research notes added since this discussion started, I think I can see a path to resolving the long-standing merge conflict here.
It appears to me that this man is the Carl Sebastian Kayser, son of Andreas Kayser and his wife Anna Catharina Raffnacher, who was baptized or registered in Möckmühl in 1726. (Not 1727 -- Germany was using New Style dates at that time.) He immigrated in 1749 and married Mary Shelly (not Elisabeth Grosscloss -- apparently there is no evidence for her).
If others do not object, I think this gives us a basis for merging profiles Keyser-99 and Keyser-337 into Kayser-154 and discarding the 1702 birthdate and the claim that this man's parents were Johannes Keyser and Barbara Funk. A major effort would still be needed to revise the final profile (remove invalid information, duplication/repetition, etc., put the information in logical order, and provide a "Disputed Origins" or "Research Notes" to document what is being discarded and why), as well as to deal with the lore and claims (such as the Rev. War connection to Braddock) that do not directly affect a merge decision.
edited by Ellen Smith
I'm through Esther, married to George Austin. For years I thought his name was "Astin" and was really glad to have had a breakthrough. They moved to Ohio. Their descendant, Col. I.N. Gilruth, was an officer in the Union army but married a Mississippi girl. Their daughter was my grandmother. All the migrations are Interesting.
Kay
I descend from Andrew and his wife Sarah Rhinehart, and I need to fill in this line.
See the G2G discussion on this, particularly Ellen Smith's answer with comments. https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/756738/need-information-on-charles-keyser?show=758804#c758804
Although Skip states: "Just for the record, the entry in the Keyser book was a mistake. There was no child of Johannes and Barbara Funk Keyser who married a Mary Shelly..." he added the part of the bio that states he was, and the source back into this profile, after it had been removed.
This is causing additional confusion here and in the G2G message that is ongoing.
indicate different generations I would PPP them, make a statement about the things that are an issue and if anyone finds some information please share on G2G or put on side bar
Problems that need discussion before merging these profiles:
1/ What is correct LNAB - Kayser or Keyser?
2/ What is to be done about the disagreement about his wife/wives?
3/ What is the correct information on his birth?