Viktor Ritz (1876 - 1961)

Born 1 Sep 1876 in Bitsch, Canton of Valais, Switzerland

Ancestors

Husband of Paulina Nellen — married about 1908 in Canton of Valais, Switzerland

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Biography

Viktor was born in 1876 or 1877 probably in Bitsch in Canton Valais/Wallis, Switzerland, the son of Anton Ritz and Anna Maria Salzmann.

He died reportedly in 1961.

Viktor married Paulina Nellen around 1908.

Research Notes

The birth and death data come from private data of two forms:

1. a family tree uploaded to the FamilySearch global tree, seemingly by an nth-great-grandnephew of Viktor. The sources used are unknown, but seemingly include a combination of private family records, which would provide the recent data, and parish records, which probably provide a lot of the information for the earlier data.^[1]
2. a partial family tree constructed in 1986 and once in the possession of Marion Alexander Duncan, who was first cousin once removed to Viktor's wife Paulina. He corresponded with her through the mail while she resided in Switzerland and he in California, and it is assumed that either Paulina or Marion drew up the chart.^[2] (The chart clearly erred when it gives Viktor's birth date as 1 September 1887.)

Otherwise, the birth date and parents are corroborated by an 1880 census of Bitsch, which shows Viktor living with parents Anton Ritz and Anna Maria Ritz nee Salzman, with birth date 1 Herbst 1876.^[3]. This corroborates the 1 September given in the partial tree from Marion Alexander Duncan, so it seems maybe only the year was misrepresented.

Sources

1. ↑ Profile uploaded to FamilySearch in 2014:

   https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KCC6-CDZ

2. ↑ Genealogical files of Marion Alexander Duncan -- [The Nellen/Ritz/Schallbatten chart] compiled by Marion Alexander Duncan in 1986
3. ↑ Recensement Valaisan, images of various censuses conducted in Canton Valais. Select 1880 -> Raron -> Bitsch and view page 34