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Updated addition to this biography August 2020 at bottom of page.
KLOTZ ~ From Sally Price Sprice1207@aol.com
I am still looking for a will or estate settlement records for (Ludwig) Lewis KLOTZ of Macungie in the late 1700s or early 1800s, as of 12 July 2013.
LUDWIG or LEWIS KLOTZ
The first KLOTZ of our family lived in Pennsylvania, in Macungie -- Indian for “meadow where the bears feed” -- and Upper Milford Townships, Northampton County, PA. This Ludwig KLOTZ came to America in 1738 on “The Charming Nancy” with 200 Palatines, landing in Philadelphia on November 9th. He is listed as being at least eighteen years of age. Ludwig’s name was Anglicized to Lewis, and is found in both forms in records.
The birth of a son to Ludwig Klotz , Johannes Nicholaus, is recorded in 1742 at Reed’s Church in Berks County, PA. In the line above Albrecht Klotz (aka Glotz), who is a brother to Ludwig, is mentioned as a sponsor. There may have been a younger child, as one about age seven died 11 Aug 1746. Also, in 1746 Anna Maria KLOTZ, wife of Ludwig of Bethlehem, Northampton County was interred in the First Moravian Graveyard.
Lewis Klotz, Esq. is listed in the 1760 tax list for Macungie Township (Northampton, PA) in A History of Lower Macungie Township, second ed., 1996.
One reason we believe that Ludwig KLOTZ who came to America in 1738 is the father of Isaac, Nicholas and Abraham is the following record, among others:
1772 ~ Tax list, Macungie Twp., Northampton, PA
L. s. d Horses Cattle Sheep
Lewis KLOTZ, Esq. 10.14.0 3 3 4
Abraham KLOTZ 1.06.08 3 1 _
Nich’s KLOTZ smith 2.00.0 _ 3 _
Isaac KLOTZ lab’r 0.13.04 _ 2 _
This looks like the record of a father and three sons.* The child bearing years of Abraham, Nicholaus, and Isaac are recorded in the baptismal records, and confirm this. The tax amounts indicate to me that the most established person here is Lewis, who is listed as Esquire, as he was appointed by the Proprietory and Colonial Government first in 1752 and re-appointed until 1774 as a Justice of the Peace. Nicholaus the smith seems to be the most successful (son, born 1742), then Abraham (an uncle of our Abraham?), and finally Isaac (father of our Abraham), who may be younger and just starting out as a laborer.
Another supposed son of Ludwig, Philip, is in Allentown in 1782, a shoemaker, owning one of 59 dwellings there. In 1776, of the 54 houses in Allentown, 7 were taverns, one attributed to Philip, also listed as one of 3 shoemakers. In 1764 there were 16 families, 2 taverns, and a beer house, the author stating, “the supply was probably equal to the demand.”
Lewis Esq. built at least one house for a man near Easton, PA, and is quoted in a letter. Col. James Burd wrote to Mr. Allen, for whom Allentown is named, in June 1762, “Received a letter from Mr. Klotz -- he informs me that my house goes very well and that there is ten houses more building in Northampton.”
The German naming custom was to give the child a first name of a saint, the second name being the one that was used for every day purposes. Some records give only the second name, but often the saint’s name is given first and is followed by the second name. Usually, the saint’s name was the same for all boys in the family. Many times it is Johannes, as in Johannes Nicholas, and the same for all the girls in the family, i.e., Maria Magadalena, Maria Catharina, etc.
Land Records for Lewis Klotz:
1752 - 10 Jun: 40 acres in Upper Milford, Northampton, PA
1757 - 25 Nov: 127.34 acres in Northampton, PA
1762 - 28 Jan: 200 acres Northampton, PA
Again, this seems to show a progression from a modest beginning in 1752 to a wealthier status in 1762. However, there is mention in one of the histories of a “great grant” of land to Lewis Klotz -- the 200 acres?
Ludwig is listed in the muster rolls of the militia in 1744-1765, served as a J.P. from 1752, and was elected a county commissioner in 1754. In 1755 he pledged 10s toward the building of a combination school and church near Easton.
I quote from History of the Lehigh Valley, etc by Matthew Schropp Henry:
“A society had been formed in England and Germany in 1751, for the instruction of the poor Germans and their descendants settled in Pennsylvania. Rev. Schlatter, a German Reformed minister, exerted himself greatly in behalf of the Germans, and the formation of the society owed its origin to his exertions. A large number of the nobility in England contributed liberally. King George the Second subscribed one thousand pounds, the Princess of Wales one hundred pounds, &c. &c. The funds thus created were distributed by trustees appointed. William Smith, then President of the University of Pennsylvania, being one of the trustees, subscribed thirty pounds towards the building of the school-house at Easton.
“William Parsons was very active in the matter. The propriety of receiving the subscriptions of the citizens of Easton in aid of the project occasioned a correspondence between him and Mr. Peters, the Proprietary Secretary. In one of his letters Mr. Parsons remarks ‘that it would be to the interest of the school if the inhabitants of Easton were not asked to contribute to the fund,’ giving as a reason the quarrelsome disposition of the inhabitants, who were all Dutch [i.e., Deutsch or German], and so stubborn were they that they quarrelled for every trifle; and as the object of the school would be to educate their children, he added, ‘if we allow them to subscribe towards the building, every subscriber will think that the school must be conducted as he suggests, and as they will all have different notions, there will arise a general quarrel amongst them; then, to spite each other, they will not send their children to the school at all, and by that means frustrate the object of it.’” [!]
And in a history of Northampton County, PA: “Some of the subscribers to the school-house were not residents of Easton; for instance . . . . Lewis Klotz, Esq., an inhabitant of Macungy Township, now Lehigh County, where he held a farm of 230 acres of land; he was one of the justices appointed soon after the erection of the county. In 1754, he was elected a County Commissioner.”
Also: “He lived a short distance west of Emaus and was a prominent figure in Colonial times.” Ludwig is on the tax list of Macungie Twp., Northampton Co., PA as Lewis KLOTZ, Esq. in 1762. (History of Lehigh County, PA, and a genealogical and biographical record of its families, Vol. 1)
In 1760 Ludwig went on an expedition to Cushitunk on the upper Delaware River where settlers from Connecticut were encroaching on land claimed by Pennsylvania. Ludwig KLOTZ was chosen by Lewis Gordon, the leader of the expedition and the most prominent lawyer in the area. Gordon, Klotz, two other justices, servants, and horses made their way through fifty or sixty miles of dark, thick forests and swamps of laurel, cedar, and spruce in the guise of farmers looking for land on which to settle. Leaving on Wednesday, they arrived at Cushitunk on the following Saturday. They were given a friendly reception and secured a statement from the New Englanders who believed the land had been purchased from the Indians by those in Connecticut who sold it to them in turn. They refused to “remove” until the dispute was settled by the highest authority (the King of England). Lewis Gordon and his justices returned to Easton and filed a report to the Proprietory Government on 15 Oct 1760, which bears all their signatures, including that of Lewis KLOTZ.
As Justice of the Peace, Ludwig/Lewis KLOTZ is listed and has signed many wills of the area from 1753 to 1773 as a witness or executor, and also as inventory taker of estates. In 1753 and 1754 he signs as “Ludwig,” but thereafter as “Lewis.” In 1761 he is described as “loving friend” as co-executor of the will of Henry Kurr (Kerr) with Henry’s wife Eve Magdalena. From 1773, there is a nine year gap until 1782 when Lewis Klotz signed his translation of the will of Sebastian Knauss from German to English. Why the gap? Is this an omission of records that are online, or does it signify that this is a transition from the older Ludwig/Lewis to Junior? We do not know the birth date of Ludwig Klotz who came to America in 1738, but he had to be at least eighteen to be listed, which would make his birthdate about 1700 to 1720. We do not have a death record yet. He would have been perhaps 62 - 82 in 1782. His brother Albrecht was born in 1714 in Hohenlohe, sometimes given as Franconia.
* [As of June 2013, I now have a deed recorded in 1785 of the sale of land by Isaac KLOTZ which identifies both Isaac and Nicholas as sons of Lewis and Christina KLOTZ: Page 111, Northampton County
Deed Book F1: Deed 22 July 1785, for 1000 pounds (pages 575-576):
Grantors: Isaac KLOTZ, Macungie Township, yeoman, and wife Apolonah to George JACOBY]
Regarding Ludwig and His Brother Albrecht KLOTZ (GLOTZ)
Albrecht Klotz is a brother to Lewis. According to the Moravian Graveyard records, Albrecht was born in Franconia 27 Nov 1714. Albrecht was married twice. His first wife was Anna Margaretha Rieth for whose family Reed’s (Rieth’s) Church in Berks County (Tulpehocken) was named. This church was established by Lutherans (1727), but was taken over by the Moravians (1742). Reed’s Church has the earliest record I have found to date for Ludwig after his arrival in America. In March of 1742, Albrecht and his wife appear as sponsors of a baptism. The baptism of Johann Nickolaus KLOTZ is recorded on 4 May 1742, son of Ludwig KLOTZ (no wife listed -- Anna Maria?). Nickolaus grew up to be a blacksmith, as was his uncle Albrecht.
Count Nikolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf of the Austrian nobility visited Berks in 1742 during his two-year stay in Philadelphia. Exiled from Austria, he was in America to establish Moravian “missions.” Bethlehem was founded in 1741, the largest of all the missions. This may be why Albrecht and Ludwig moved to Bethlehem in Norhampton from Berks County. Also, why Ludwig named his son Nickolaus?
Albrecht was first married to Anna Margaretha Rieth of Tulpehocken, and they had three children who survived childhood. The main causes of childhood mortality at this time were smallpox, diphtheria, and scarlet fever. Albrecht’s second wife, whom he married in Lancaster in 1762, Catherine Born Kraemer, and two of his daughters died of consumption.
In 1746 Ludwig is “of Bethlehem” at the death of his wife, Anna Maria. She is buried in Bethlehem in the first Moravian Graveyard there.
Albrecht operated the linseed oil mill near Bethlehem from 1752 to 1757. He was concurrently the hotelier of the “Red Rose Inn” near Nazareth from 2 Aug 1755 to 5 Apr 1756. Albrecht’s first wife, Anna Margaretha, died in Nazareth in June 1758.
In 1762 Albrecht has returned to Lititz, married Catherine, and is the proprietor of a tobacco shop, which he built himself, attached to his residence, a log structure painted red with a mixture of vermillion and buttermilk. One of his daughters was named for Count Zinzendorf’s daughter Benigna. Albrecht died in Lititz on 9 Dec 1789, and is buried there in the Moravian Graveyard (God’s Acre).
Epilogue for Ludwig or Lewis KLOTZ
There were others named KLOTZ who arrived early in the same area of Pennsylvania. There were two Jacobs who founded families there. These may have been brothers or cousins to Ludwig and Albrecht.
Five children of Ludwig and his wife Christina KLOTZ (second wife) are listed as interred in the Old Moravian Cemetery:
1) Isaac born 11 Feb 1749, died 1757
2) Jacob born 15 Nov 1751, died 21 Apr 1755
3) Maria born 31 Mar 1754, died 28 Apr 1754
4) Jacob born 16 Aug 1755, died 27 Aug 1755
5) Ludwig born ?, died 3 Sep 1756
A sad record, indeed! When I first found an Isaac born in 1749, I was sure he was the father of our Abraham. Then I found that this Isaac died in 1757, about age eight. If our Isaac was born after this one died in 1757, he would have been very young at his marriage to Apilona and the birth of their daughter in 1772 (14 or 15). At this period of time, a boy was considered “of age” when he turned fourteen, but I doubt that he married at that age.
Ludwig was a Moravian for at least some time, as shown by the record of the burial of Anna Maria, his wife, in the Moravian Graveyard in 1746. Also, the “Proceedings and Papers of the Lehigh County Historical Society,” Vol. 1, Allentown, PA, 1908, states the following:
“As early as 1745 Lewis Klotz was ‘attached to’ the Moravians. His children were placed at Moravian schools. Jasper Payne, accountant for the ‘Bethlehem Economy,’ recorded the following items:
‘August 11, 1746; Lewis Klotz’s child died at Herzer’s last Tuesday was seven- night, being the 5th of August;’ and ‘May 24, 1747: Received of Lewis Klotz towards paying of his children’s board and schooling:
3 cows (9)
2 calves (1)
1 mare and a little colt (7)
with a bell on the mare
1 cow bell (5)
Total L16, s15, d.0'
End of quote.
From the book: “A Red Rose from the Olden Time,” page 47;
by William Cornelius Reichel: H. T. Clauder, 1883
The proposed sons of Ludwig all seem to be Lutheran, as the births of their children are recorded in the Jerusalem Lutheran Church records in Western Salisbury. As a witness of a will, Nicholas has parentheses indicating that he was a Presbyterian. After all, these settlers were out in the wilds, and sometimes attended a church because it was accessible. The Moravian communities offered mutual sustenance and protection from Indian raids and other disturbances.
The Bethlehem Economy was established in 1741 during the visit of Count Zinzendorf to America.
Bethlehem and the adjacent communities of Nazareth and the ‘upper places’ were organized into a single, communal unit known as the Oeconomy -- a Greek word for household. The Moravians lived dormitory-style, in ‘choir groups’ according to age, sex, and marital status. No one received wages for the work he or she did. Instead, they received hearty meals in the choir dining rooms, simple clothing, and shelter in the choir houses.
Bethlehem housed the Moravians’ craft houses, such as the blacksmith shop, the oil mill, and the tannery. Nazareth, where the land was better suited for farming, was the breadbasket for the settlers. Situated eight miles apart, these communities worked in harmony for the common purpose of supporting the Moravian evangelical and educational mission among the settlers and the Native Americans.
Many families were not comfortable with the separate living arrangements. After the death of Count Zinzendorf in 1760, the “Economy” was disbanded. In 1761 each of the families were allowed to rent lots for separate dwellings.
Note that Ludwig KLOTZ did not live within the “Economy” to its dissolution. As early as 1752 he had purchased land in Upper Milford Township. In a deed of 4 Oct 1756, Ludwig is the grantee, noted as “shopkeeper” of Upper Milford. In 1757, still prior to the dissolution of the Economy, he purchased 127.34 more acreage in Northampton, and just after the dissolution, in 1762, he made his largest purchase of 200 acres, also in Northampton. In 1762 he and wife Christina are said to be “of Macungie Township.”
However, Albrecht seems to have lived in the Moravian settlements from the time he went to Bethlehem to operate the oil mill, and perhaps was converted to the Moravian belief by the charismatic Zinzendorf. Albrecht named his last daughter Benigna after the daughter of Count Zinzendorf.
Some info from an article by Katherine Carte: “Bethlehem’s OEconomy, 1741 - 1762"
Found at: http://zinzendorf.com/pages/index.php?id=bethlehem-oeconomy
ISAAC KLOTZ
The first record found to date of Isaac is in 1770 when he and Nicholas are listed as Non-Associators in Macungie Township, Northampton, PA. This means that they refused to take up arms for some reason, such as religious beliefs, etc. They were both in trouble about this again in 1776, as they are mentioned at a meeting of the Standing Committee held at Easton on 22 June of that year as members of a group of seven men of “Maccongie” who refused to give up their arms as Non-Associators. On June 26 Nicholas and five others, but not Isaac, appeared before the committee:
“Peter Haas says that when Nicholas Klotz was called upon for his Arms, he said that his Gun was taken away from him without his knowledge; but that since he was summoned he had delivered up his Musket. Ordered that the said Klotz pay the said Haas & Moser 5s. for their exigencies, &c.” Either Isaac settled outside the committee, or he got off scot free!
Isaac and Apilona had a daughter, Maria Magdalena in 1772, per a record of baptism in the Jerusalem Church records. In 1773 their son Abraham, our 3x great grandfather was born on 30 December, and baptized in January of 1774. Isaac’s generation’s children’s births and baptisms are recorded in the Lutheran and Reformed Church records, so they were presumably not Moravians.
The children listed for Isaac are:
1) 1772 ~ Maria Magdalena, 30 Aug (mother - Apilona)
2) 1773 ~ Abraham, 30 Dec (mother Apalonie)
Another curious entry: 1776 ~ Maria C., 6 Oct (father is Jacob, mother is Apilona)
There were undoubtedly other children as the families of this period tended to be large. Is Jacob the same person as Isaac? Did brothers each marry an Apilona?
From the same source, the children listed for Thomas and Anna Maria FERMER are:
1) 1781 ~ Daniel, 9 Feb (a Daniel Farmer bought land in So. OH in 1805)
2) 1782 ~ Ludwig, 11 Apr - Sponsors are Jacob KLOTZ and wife Apilona
This Ludwig (Lewis) FARMER moved to Lawrence,OH, Greenup, KY then back to Lawrence County, OH, staying close on the heels of the KLOTZ family.
4) 1789 ~ Maria M. , 20 Aug
5) 1792 ~ Christina, 2 Mar, who married Abraham KLOTZ born in 1773
6) 1793 ~ Tammes (Thomas?), 24 Sep
3) (newly found, misspelled!) 1787 ~ Johannes W., 16 July, Sponsors:
Christian TUT and Magdalena KLOTZIN -- feminine form of KLOTZ
At least Isaac did join the Militia as recorded for 14 May 1778 for “Inactive Duty” in the Northampton 3rd Battalion, 8th Company, 4th Class. And in 1780 is found registered for “Inactive Duty” on 26 October in Northampton with Capt. Adam Diehl’s 8th Co. of the 6th Battalion, 4th Class. Also, in 1785, along with Nicholas and Abraham, he is listed in the Militia for “Mogungy” Twp., Northampton.
In 1781 on the tax list of Macungie Twp., 27 December we find:
Nicolas, Isaac, Abraham KLOTZ and Thomas FERMER
No Lewis or Ludwig (living with his sons? deceased?)
In 1785 Isaac Klotz sold 100 acres in Macungie Twp. and 50 acres in Upper Milford Twp. This location is now Lower Macungie, bordered on the southeast by Upper Milford, so this land may have been a contiguous holding. The record of this sale states clearly that Lewis and Christina Klotz are the parents of Isaac, and another deed confirms them as the parents of John Nicholas.
Also in 1785 Isaac Klotz and wife Apilona were sponsors for the baptism of Solomon, the son of Jacob and Anna M. Moor in the record of the Lutheran Church at Salisbury, Northampton County (now Lehigh County).
This is the last record we have of Isaac and Apilona to date (April 2012).
However, the genealogical sleuths search on (as of 26 March 2013) :
Isaac and Apppelona show up in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in 1795! Since this is the area to which several of the other Klotz and Farmer families “removed,” including Isaac’s son Abraham, it is logical to suppose this couple is our Isaac and Apilona of Macungie, Pennsylvania. After all, Isaac sold out in Pennsylvania in 1785, so the move may have occurred at about that time.
Here are the records in the Shenandoah Valley:
1) 1779 Christopher Mock (Mauck) purchased land from a Jacob KLOTZ in Frederick County, Virginia. A brother of Isaac?
2) 1794 Jacob KLOTZ married Eva Cryder 30 Sep
in Frederick County, Virginia. A son of Isaac?
3) 1795 Andreas is born to Jacob KLOTZ and wife Eva, baptized 9 Mar
sponsors are: Isaac KLOTZ and wife Appelona
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Strasburg, VA
4) Middletown, Frederick County, VA -- one of the town’s oldest properties probably built in 1797 by the first owner, Isaac KLOTZ
ABRAHAM KLOTZ
1773 - Before 1840
As stated above, I have found both the birth/ baptismal records for Abraham and his wife Christina Fermer from whom we are descended through Clara Clutts McDonald’s father, Charles B. Clutts (Clutz). The records are found in the annals of the Jerusalem Lutheran Church of Salisbury, Lehigh County, PA. I started from another researcher's info on Abraham, who was said to have lived in Virginia where his first five children were born. His birth date was not known at the time, but he was said to have been born in Virginia. Now we know that his father was Isaac, his mother Apilonia, and that he was born in 1773 in Pennsylvania.
Abraham can be found in the US Census for 1810 in Frederick, VA. His first son, John is said to have been born in VA about 1807. If Christina was his mother, she would have been about fifteen! Boys were considered “of age” when fourteen at this period of time! The last of the children born in VA was Katherine, born about 1814.*
In 1797 there is a Thomas Farmer in Frederick County, VA who gives surety for the marriage of Jane Farmer to marry Charles Folke. This was often done by a father for his daughter.
We are not sure when the family moved to Ohio, but it had to be after the birth of Katherine Klotz, as our ancestor, Robert Klotz/Clutz was born in Ohio about 1818, the sixth child of twelve.
“Abram Clotz” is listed in the US Census for 1820 in Green, Gallia, Ohio, enumeration date 7 August. Lewis Farmer is found on the same page, and is almost certainly Christina’s brother.
In the US Census for 1830 Abraham and Christina are in the same location, and again, on the same page is Lewis Farmer and family. This time the transcriber has given Abraham’s name as “Abm Woltz” -- sometimes it’s really hard to find these people! In 1830 Abraham was taxed by Gallia County, Ohio for 1 horse valued at $40, no cattle, state and school tax $17, community $20, and road $4. Seems rather steep for the time!
Abraham, who was nineteen years older than Christina, died before the US Census of 1840 between the ages of 57 and 67. Christina is found alone as head of the household in 1840, still in the same location, most likely, but now it is Elizabeth Twp., Lawrence County. Her son William, born about 1808 in VA is living next to her and her younger children remain at home with her.
Christina died sometime during the 1840s prior to 23 Nov 1848, as on that date the land owned by Abraham and Christina was sold and the proceeds divided among their heirs. One of the heirs is Robert born about 1818 in Ohio.
*The birth dates for Abraham and Christina’s children, with one exception, are all approximate, and may be off a bit, as I have found other records that are not in agreement.
Why move to Virginia?
By 1781 Pennsylvania was becoming rather heavily populated, the taxes were astronomically high, and some of the land was described as being “poor, moss and stones.” Also, there was some persecution of religious sects whose members refused to participate in the Revolutionary War.
The move to Virginia was down the Shenandoah Valley on the Great Wagon Road, usually in one of the large Conestoga wagons made in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The trip was about 400 miles. When the Germans entered Virginia, they came in contact for the first time with a virulent form of slavery. This was a great contrast to the freedom and political equality they had known in Pennsylvania. The German “dissenters” were tolerated only because they formed a buffer between the plantations of the wealthy tidewater tobacco growers and the Indians.
The Ohio Valley was also opening up, and Ohio entered statehood in 1803. It seemed a promising new area. The move on to Ohio would have been accomplished by following old Indian trails and boating on the rivers.
ROBERT CLUTS
1818 - 1873
In 1842 Robert married Mary Ann Couplebarger on 19 January in Lawrence County, Ohio. This couple had five children, the last one dying as a toddler. Abiline was born about 1842, and is listed in the Census of 1870 as a seamstress at the age of 26. She married in 1874 at about the age of 30.
In the Census of 1850, Robert, Mary Ann and family have moved across the Ohio River to Greenup County, KY, where Robert is listed as a merchant, and was probably living near one of the iron furnaces of the area. His personal worth is listed as $300. Mary Ann, his wife, died here 6 May 1853 at William’s Creek. Robert married to his second wife, Frances Riggs, on 18 Jan 1854 in Greenup County, Kentucky.
Robert had six more children with Frances, including our Charles B., perhaps named for Frances’ father, Charles Baptist Riggs. Mary Ann, born in 1856, died as a baby. Next came John C. born in 1858. Our Charles B. was born 26 May 1859 according to KY birth records. Charles had two younger sisters who loom large in our story: Martha Ann born 19 July 1860, and Matilda Ellen born 13 January 1863. There was also a younger brother, Edward, who was born in 1865.
In 1860 this family was living in East Little Sandy, Greenup County, Kentucky. Robert, a farmer now, has property worth $4000 and a personal worth of $1000, so they seem to be quite well off. Robert is 42, and Frances is 29, born in Virginia.
In 1870 they are still located in Greenup, KY, Robert is still farming, and his personal worth is listed as $1500. Frances is 41 and born in East Virginia, West Virginia having been established in 1863. Aboline, age 26, is still at home. Charles is 11, Martha A. 10, and Matilda E. is 8, Edward is 5. Thomas is married to Elizabeth Gee, and is living nearby. All of the children Robert had with Frances were born in Kentucky.
In 1880 Robert is absent, having died 31 Mar 1873 in Greenup County, Kentucky. Frances and her younger children are living with Robert and Mary Ann’s daughter Elizabeth who has married Theodore Gantz. Elizabeth and Theodore have a daughter Sidney who is 9 years old. Frances is 50 and listed as mother-in-law. Her children are Matilda 17, Martha 19, and Edward 15. Charles is not with them, and may already be in Ohio. Did he go to Ohio to work in the iron industry for another one of his relatives? J. C. (Joseph) Clutts, grandson of Charles’ uncle John ran an iron producing operation in Wellston, Ohio. Abraham, son of Uncle John, father of J. C. was the manager of the iron furnace at Elizabeth, Lawrence County, Ohio.
Robert Cluts married
1) Mary Ann Couplebarger
Children:
Aboline (1842, OH)
Lydia (1843, KY)
Thomas ((1847, KY)
Elizabeth (1848, KY)
2) Frances Riggs born abt 1828 VA, married 18 Jan 1855, Greenup, KY
Children, all born in KY:
Mary Ann (b. abt. 1854, died 25 Aug 1856)
Jonathan C. (1858)
Charles B. (1859)
Martha A. (1860)
Matilda E. (1863)
Edward (1865)
CHARLES B. CLUTTS
26 May 1859 - 30 October 1928
We have no record of Charles B. Clutts in Ohio until his marriage to Harriet (Hattie) Murray in Vinton County, Ohio on 16 October 1886. Clara Frances Clutts was born to this couple at Vales Mill in Vinton County on 27 June 1887. Why were they in Vales Mill? Did Charles find employment here? We know from Lucille McGhee Ward that Charles’ two sisters lived in McArthur at some point. My guess is that their mother was with them, as the three lived together or in close proximity for the rest of their lives.
Only three years after our grandmother Clara’s birth, Charles has gone to Texas (or Oklahoma Territory) and “Hattie Clutts” has married William McGhee on 20 January 1890 in Vinton County, Ohio. In this same year Frances and Tillie Cluts are located in Norman, Oklahoma (Territorial Census).
Now events take a strange turn, with “Hattie Murray” marrying William McGhee for a second time on 28 July, 1892! Lucille says that Hattie was definitely divorced from Charles Clutts, as she had shown the papers to Lucille with no embarrassment. But . . . was she married to William McGhee before she was divorced from Charles? Why were there two marriages to McGhee? Was one before the divorce, and one afterward? We have not been able to locate a record of the divorce, although I’m sure there is one in the county court house in McArthur, Ohio.
Charles, in the meantime, was married to Lura Leanora Sims (born 26 Aug 1873 - died 17 Dec 1955) in Paoli, Indian Territory, OK on 2 July 1891. According to a member of her family, her parents and grandparents lived in Dallas County, north Texas in the 1870s, then moved to Grayson County, Texas in the 1880s, and on to Indian Territory after that. Charles had six children with Lura in Oklahoma.
I am going to venture a guess that Charles B. Clutts went to Oklahoma for the Land Run in April 1889. It is said that he sent railroad tickets to Hattie, and wanted her to come to join him and bring both girls (i.e., Clara and her older sister Fronie).
Hattie’s refused to join Charles in "Texas," but evidently Charles’ mother and his sisters, Martha and Matilda, did join him in Oklahoma.
My brother somehow ferreted out a census record that lists Martha and her husband in Chicago in 1900 on the 9th of June. Martha married a soldier, Joseph Lodell in Oklahoma, and they had a daughter named Edna. Edna was born in September of 1892 in Oklahoma, proving that Martha was in residence there at that time. And, by the way, the name Lodell was spelled “Duddel” in the census!
In the 1890 Oklahoma Territorial Census I found “Francis” Clutz age 57 (head), born in VA living with daughter Tillie E. Clutz, age 24, born in Kentucky, in residence in the city of Norman. In 1894 on 20 September, “Tillie” Clutz married Michael Whalen, a U.S. Cavalryman in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Territory. Witnesses were Mr. Joseph Lodell and Mrs. M. A. Lodell.
Meanwhile, Charles and Lura were homesteading in Indian Territory, Chickasaw Nation, Twp. 5, District 134. I believe that this is where we first found them in the US Census of 1900. We have not been able to locate them in 1910, but in 1920 they are listed in Jefferson, Bourland, District 200, OK.
A 101 year old aunt of the Sims family in northern Oklahoma was interviewed by a family member in July 2011, hoping to get some information about Charles Clutz. She did not know any of Charles Cluts' history before he came to Oklahoma, but sent me the following information from a 100 page booklet she had written in the mid 1980s:
“Charles Clutz, Sr., worked for Crawford Feed Lot and farmed at Purcell. They moved to Waurika where he farmed. After his death, Lura and her sister, Mollie, had an ‘egg’ business, and later a dairy business. Beginning in the late 30's Lura took care of her parents until her health failed and she moved to Purcell to be close to her daughters. (Source: Family Bible records)”
Charles and Lura had a son, Charles, Jr. born in 1915.
That is all we know about our great-grandfather, Charles Clutts’ life in Oklahoma. I did manage to get his death certificate, but it took persistence. The Oklahoma state board of health couldn’t find it the first time I requested it, but I sent more information that I had found, and making a second search, they came up with it. The death certificate confirms that this Charles B. Clutz is the son of Robert Clutz and Frances (spelled “Francis”) Riggs, and that he was born in Greenup County, Kentucky.
Charles B. Clutz died on 29 October 1928 of carcinoma of the liver at Purcell, Oklahoma, and is buried in Hillside Cemetery in Purcell, Oklahoma with his second wife, Lura Sims.
Purcell is in McClain County, OK and is just south of Canadian County, where Michael Whalen lived, or was posted.
The sisters and Frances lived in Chicago in the household of Joseph Lodell, husband of Martha, where Frances died 1 July 1906 at the age of 75 and 9 months. She had lived in Chicago for six years, and died of pneumonia. She died at 657 W. Erie Street and was buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Chicago.
Frances Riggs’s death certificate states that she was born in VA, as were both her parents. She was born about 1826 - 1830. Through our research we have found that her father was Charles Baptist Riggs and her mother was Sarah, surname unknown.
This is an addition to the Biography of Ludwig/Lewis KLOTZ and his descendants:
We now have the letters of administration of the estate of Lewis KLOTZ dated early 1797
(from the Lehigh Historical Society Library). Presumably, Lewis KLOTZ, Esq. died in late
1796 or early 1797. There is a note by Lewis' son Nicholas recommending George Jacoby as the
administrator -- the very man to whom Isaac, son of Lewis, sold his share of the land in Macungie
and Upper Milford Townships, Northampton, PA (now Lehigh) in 1785. Nicholas mentions that his "step-mother" is deceased, so we know that Christina preceded Ludwig in death, but we do not
know the date of her death.
Since Nicholas mentions Christina KLOTZ as his step-mother, this indicates that his mother was
most probably the first wife of Ludwig KLOTZ, i.e., Anna Maria.
Through the generous research of Thomas J. McCullough of the Moravian Archives, we have also learned
the birthplace of both Ludwig and Albrecht. They were baptized in the Evangelische Kirche Dottingen
(Protestant Church Dottingen). Their names, Albrecht (b. 1714) and Ludwig (b. 1720), come from individuals
in the noble House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, who were sponsors at the respective baptisms. Their father,
Johann Andreas Glotz, was schoolmaster at Jungholzhausen, a nearby village.
Mr. McCullough also found a file regarding support of the ill Ludwig Glotz, son of the schoolmaster Johann Andreas
Glotz at Jungholzhausen; the abandonment of his apprenticeship to the hunters Johann Georg Crutina at Etzlinsweiler
and Schindwolf at Weinsberg; and his emigration to America. ("Note: this Glotz has his luck in Philadelphia, where he is
eventually successful as justice of the peace").
Sally Price
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