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  Re: Pierre "Peter" Kieffer and Elizabeth Christoffel Family:

1. John, b. abt 1866, Luxembourg. Immigrated to U.S. abt. 1890. Married Mary Puetzner at Menominee, Menominee, Michigan, USA. Died 18 Dec 1931, Menominee, Menominee, Michigan.
2. Louise, b. 1867, Luxembourg. Remained in Europe. Married Nicolas Wendel (b. 1865, , Germany). Died 27 Feb 1932, Betzdorf, , Germany.
3. Mathias, b. 30 May 1868, Schieren, , Luxembourg. Immigrated to U.S. abt. 1889/90. Married Susanna Toussaint at Menominee, Menominee, Michigan, USA. Died 13 Aug 1949, Menominee, Menominee, Michigan.
Buried: Riverside, Menominee, MI
4. Therese, b. abt 1868, Luxembourg or Germany. Remained in Europe. Married Nicolas Weiler, b. abt 1868.
5. Nicolaus, b. 1875, Luxembourg. Immigrated to U.S. 6 May 1896, to New York. Married Marie Miller at Menominee, Menominee, Michigan, USA. Died 15 Jan 1957, Menominee, Menominee, Michigan.
Also in Menominee, Menominee, Michigan shows on 1900 census:
6. John F. Kiefer, b. Feb 1867, in Wisconsin. Married Katherine F. Stanber on 16 Nov 1885, at Menominee, Menominee, Michigan.
Mathias was my g-grandfather, so I have information on his descendants. I also have information on the families of John (b. 1866) and on Nicolaus.

I am interested in more on Pierre "Peter", wife Elizabeth Christoffel and the other children who remained in Europe. Judy {bichon@centurytel.net}

• Jacob Keifer b 1797 in PA and his wife Catharine b 1800 in PA d 1853 Ashland Co, OH 1850 are my great, great grandparents.
  Jacob and Catharine were living in Montgomery Twp, Ashland Co, OH in 1850. They are listed in the census with their children: Daniel, 26, Levina 18, Maria, 16, William, 14, Caroline, 12, and Josiah, 10. Their daughter Catharine died at age 19 in 1850 in Perry Twp, Ashland Co.
  I have found the marriages of the children in two counties in OH: Maria, William, and Levina and Daniel in the 1850's in Wayne Co, OH and Caroline and Josiah in the 1860's in Delaware Co, OH.
  My great-grandmother, Maria Keifer, married Samuel Andrew Morr. I found Maria’s mother, Catharine Keifer, buried in the Trinity Cemetery in Ashland Co, OH next to Samuel Morr’s parents’ tombstone. Then I found Jacob and Catharine Keifer listed in the 1850 census in Ashland Co., OH. But that is all I know. Does anyone know anything else about this Jacob Keifer born 1797 in PA?
  Thanks, Landy Gobes, West Hartford, CT
• Landy, Please write us with more about those marriage you found.
  We will want to add them to our database and annotate the census entry with the information.
  I suspect this family descends from Johann Ludwick Kieffer and Anna Margaret Sprengle. I know their son, Ludwick, died in Wayne Co, Ohio. BUT, there are also descendants of John Michael Kieffer and Anna Margaret Müller in Wayne County, where some of those marriages occurred.
  Jim Keffer

• My great grandmother was Minnie E. S. KEEFER. Minnie was born 26 Sept 1868 in Adams County, Pennsylvania and died 19 April 1915 in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. Minnie is buried in Paxtang Cemetery, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She married Stephen Reno MEHAFFIE in 1890. Stephen Reno MEHAFFIE was born 28 Jan 1862 in Pennsylvania and died Jun 1927 while working as a conductor for the Pennsylvania Rail Road in New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey.

  Nancy Mehaffie

• Looking for Information on my family. After doing some research I can trace my family history as follows starting with myself. The spelling of Kieffer seems to have changed to Kieffer between Fred and Darwin Sr
  My kieffer line goes like this starting with me
  Darwin Kieffer IV born 1982 Trenton, nj
  Darwin Kieffer III born 1956 trenton, nj
  Darwin Kieffer Jr born 1923 trenton, nj
  Darwin Kieffer born about 1902
  Fred Keiffer born Lock haven pa 1876
  It is rumored that Fred was in the Spanish American War I have found the Census from the Woodward Township area and this is what it shows:

  1910 PA, Clinton Co., Woodward Twp. Note: Hard to read this page. Series T624, Roll 1332, page 177

  185/192 Fred M. Keiffer, 34y, PA, FPOB-Switz/German (?), MPOB-PA
  Nellie R.(?), 27, PA-PA-PA
  Darwin W. 8, PA-PA-PA
  Oneida 5,
  Arthur 2,

  From the 1900 Census i found this person
  1900 PA, Clinton Co., Woodward Twp. Note: POB is Place Of birth page 313(B) 174/175 Samuel Keiffer (DOB-Feb 1837) 63y, Switz, FPOB-Switz., MPOB-Switz., Farm Laborer
  Sarah-wife (DOB-Jan 1837) 63y, Pa, Pa, Pa
  I think Samuel may be the Father of Fred but I am not sure yet. There is a mention of this Samuel along with other Keiffers that I saw with him on that 1900 census here: http://www.kieffernews.org/k160/d58b.htm#P6563

  Please help
  Bill Kieffer

• Bill, In the 1880 census, Woodward Twp, Clinton Co, PA:
  Samuel Keefer and Sarah have another son, Frederick, age 4, and an 11 mo old Sallie (Sarah Ellen), who married William Mayer Probst
  That Switz-German (?) means his primary language is German- Jim Keffer

• Am searching for any descendants of HENRY KIEFER, born September 1846, lived in Philadelphia, married CLEMENTINE FRANCISCO KLEIN about 1894. They had at least one son, Henry P. Kiefer, born January 30, 1895, died February 1972. I have also seen mention of a later Henry P. Kiefer, born July 3, 1930, died August 21, 2003 - was he a grandson? He lived at 4517 Cottman Avenue, and had a sister, Jean G. Kiefer

  Thank you,
  Ernie Mabrey

• Ernie, the 1900 census gives a middle initial "G". and says that Henry immigrated in 1871. Armed with the year, you should be able to find the ship's list. Also, there is a Henry listed in the 1880 census of Philadelphia, age 23, as a son of Margaret Kiefer - Jim Keffer

• On Jul 19, 1851 in Ross County, Ohio, Sarah (Biehl) Kieffer, wife of Joseph Kieffer, died. Anyone know who they were?
  Jim Keffer
• More... Joseph and Sarah came from Dauphin Co, PA. They are enumerated in 1840 at Perry, Fairfield Co, Ohio and in 1850, Perry, Hocking Co, Ohio.

• My name is Edith Cooper Shaver. I belong to the Cooper DNA group and out of 138 members, do not have a near match. My brother provided the DNA sample for my genealogy research. I noticed that my 12 marker DNA was similar to some of the Kieffer/Keffer test results and need more information to verify a link.
  Issue: John J. Cooper born 1813 VA. (County unknown)
  Said to be Scots-Irish, ancestors came from England?
  Married: Mary Hinkins 2 Dec 1833 in Shenandoah Co., VA
  John J. Cooper is listed in the Shenandoah Co., VA Personal Property Tax Lists from 1834-1846. John’s family is listed in the 1850 37th Western District of Monongalia Co., VA (WV) Census

  Mary Hinkin’s ancestors were from Nordrhein-Westphalen, Germany. Henry Hinkins, Mary’s grandfather, lived in East Vincent Township, Chester County, PA about 1767. The Shenandoah Co. VA Hinkin’s descend through George Hinkins and Mary Supinger, Mary Hinkin’s parents. The Hinkin’s family lived close to Strasburg, VA and is well documented

  John J. Cooper’s DNA results are kit #6019. Would like for a researcher from #34033 or 34088 to please contact me at ecshaver@westco.net. Any suggestions appreciated.

• Keffer/ Keefer Francis Joseph 1769-1844 and Christina Rohrbach. 1773-1847 My line is their son Daniel b 1803-1866 and Margaret 1807-1897. I am still seeking burial location for Joseph, Christina and Daniel. Northumberland, Lycoming and Union Counties. Many spelling variations amongst proven family members. I have collected quite a few missing links and uncertain ties. Hoping to find others that are working on these same lines.
  12 Jun 2005 sparrow@dejazzd.com

• I matched 24 for 25 markers (D.N.A. ed.) with a descendant of the Valentine Cooper family of Hardy County, West Virginia. who says they are of the Valentine Keefer/Keiffer/Kuffer who was a passenger on the Bilander Townsend that dropped anchor at Philadelphia on October 5, 1737. This ship had sailed from Amsterdam. Also on this ship was Vincent Kaffer (another twist in the surname spelling). The descendants of Valentine Cooper (born 1735 - probably in Germany whose's father is the Valentine Keifer(?) listed on the ship's manifest---this valentine is listed as 3 years old on the manifest). The manifest also says they are from Blankenloch, Baden, which may or may not be true. Anyway, in looking at the 12 marker test, I again matched 12 for 12 on Pete Keefer. This doesn't mean we are real close kin, but close enough to rule out a whole lot of other people. The one thing that keeps all of this together is that there were 4 or 5 brothers and Valentine (elder on the ship) is believed to be one of these brothers---who fought in the French Indian War in western Pennsylvania and some of the brothers then moved on to Hardy County, West Virginia. There is an area (National Park) that has a mountain called Cooper's Mountain. My thinking is and it could very well be wrong is that we all have a common ancestor. I believe the father of the Valentine Keiffer on the Bilander Townsend is the common ancestor to all of us. My line is proved back to John Adam Cooper, who died May 1778 in Berkeley County, W.VA.. He married Elizabeth Stroop (various spellings) who was the daughter of William Stroop from Germany also. We suspect that John Adam had a brother named Valentine, who could be the Hardy County Valentine and also a George and a Thomas. There is a possibility that this is where Frederick Is also a brother, but there are so many Fredericks that which one is the question. DNA has eliminated the Frederick in the Abraham Keiffer line, but there are still others. If you look at the listings of Rev. Stover and his Baptisms and Marriages, then you get a feel that we are all of the same family, but these church records are so sporadic that it is only speculation. I wish there was a general index of all people associated with the German Reform Churches in the colonies, but lots of material still remains to even be translated.
  Roger Cooper - edited with permission from a letter to some members

• K160 is a census Soundex Code for all the surnames in our Association. The name was intended to clue those familiar with census research that the primary source of the material was the U.S. census. Jim Keffer
• New additions 1840 census, both in index and soundex forms

• Over the years several attempts have been made to tie Parkerson Keffer to ancestors, with generally poor results.
  The census records indicate he was born in Virginia around 1816. One of the tantalizing clues is that a Mary Anne Keffer, from a neighboring county, was also from Virginia and named a son Parkerson. However, Mary Anne's father, Nicholas Keffer, died in 1809, only one year after she was born.
  Another possibility has recently occurred to me and I hope someone will someday be able to test this theory. The only other family with a similar name in Switzerland County is Jacob Benard Keefer and Mrs. Sarah Smith Waldo. Jacob was a son of Dewald Kieffer and Mary Bossert and was born in Pennyslvania. What I recently realized is that all of Jacob's siblings were born in Virginia, and most moved west. So, there is a possibility that these two men were brothers.
  A theory ripe for DNA testing. Jim Keffer

• One branch of the descendants of Frederick and Barbara have claimed that he was a son of John Peter Kieffer and Susanna Butts, grandson of Abraham Kieffer and Anna Barbara Gerhard.
  Recent DNA analysis has shown that his line does not match with that of Abraham. Philip Keiffer has believed that Frederick might be from the Valentine Kueffer line. I now show Frederick as likely the same person as Johann Freiderich/Frederick, the son of Johann Martin Kueffer, and grandson of Valentine, in my K160 Research file.

  A few years ago, I tentatively connected Daniel Keefer of West Virginia to the Frederick Keefer family and the recent DNA analysis shows a match between those lines.
  Now we have yet another match with Valentine's line. Lyndon Keefer descends from a George Keefer and Polly Hough who lived in Berkeley Springs, Morgan, WV. I am told there was common knowledge among the researchers of Frederick's line, that he was married before his marriage to Barbara, and that from this marriage there was a son named George. In addition to the DNA match between the lines, there are a few other reasons to believe that this George may be the same as the George married to Polly Hough. First, The George that married Polly was born just before the first of Frederick and Barbara's children. Second, if one looks at a map, one sees that Little Cove and Berkeley Springs are not far apart. Lastly, George's son, Charles Benjamin, married a girl from Pennsylvania, in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, before moving to Michigan.
  I'm hoping we can use this forum to gather the various clues that might tie these families together. First, we should know where the information comes from that Frederick had that son named George. Anyone know?

• Here are my observations/suggestions/etc.

  1. Frederick never used the KIEFFER spelling. Have never seen it used in the Federal Census and it was not used in his Will (1852). It was KEEFER.

  2. To my knowledge, the Johan Peter connection was not asserted by a Keefer branch. That assertion (and it is the only one I know about) was made by a local historian in a book about the Little Cove. The existence of this book is well known and is often cited as a source for information on other families. I personally contacted (telephone and letter) the author of this book and questioned the source for this assertion. He had none.

  3. I was inclined to see Johan Martin as a likely father for Frederick for the following reasons. Even before the objective data from the DNA testing, I never really bought into the Johan Peter connection (wrote an article for the Newsletter on that subject). Could not find any evidence whatsoever to support it. Johan Martin had a son, Frederick, born in 1762. Johan Martin lived in the Hagerstown MD area (Washington County) which is not that far from the Little Cove. I never could find any other data on this Frederick and, for that part, I have never discovered anything on Martin's other sons. Where did they go? Coopers maybe??

  4. That DNA testing showed a connection between Roger Keefer's Daniel and the Frederick line is no surprise to me. In attempting to identify the whereabouts of Frederick's offspring, I had the following information about Daniel. A paper read at the 1935 Keefer Reunion in Hagerstown MD said that Daniel went to Virginia. It appears that Frederick's Daniel left the area during the late 1840s. At that time West Virginia was still a part of Virginia (WV achieved statehood in 1862). Another factor which lead me in this direction (and it may not have been that important) was the fact that Daniel's mother was a Wetzel. The Wetzels moved generally to the same WV area. Lewis Wetzel, the Indian fighter and namesake of a WV County, was a relative. When Roger Keefer's sister went on-line looking for information on Keefers born in Bedford County (Fulton County, formed in 1850, was once part of Bedford County), I became more convinced. The DNA results iced it for me.

  5. Source for a George Keefer, son of Frederick Keefer? I know of only one source for this assertion. The same 1935 Paper mentioned above and I quote "Frederick Keefer had one son, George, by his first wife." For some unknown reason, George did not accompany his father when he migrated elsewhere. This one assertion from a 1935 speech has become "common knowledge." I never knew the author of this paper. My copy came from a great aunt and I also have found the same material printed in a McConnellsburg (PA) newspaper. They both had the same content. I have always worked on the assumption that a George Keefer did exist. I assumed that the author had some basis for this remark.

  6. Whether George married to Polly Hough is the son of Frederick. The estimated birth year for George does appear to occur before the birth of Frederick's other children. You are correct that Berkeley Springs is not that far from the Little Cove. I just don't know if that is important. It is suggested Frederick's George was raised by someone other than his father. It would be useful if we knew that story, but we don't. The DNA results does suggest that George married to Polly Hough MAY be the son of Frederick (Little Cove).

  7. The fact that C. B. Keefer married a girl form Mercer County does not appear to me to be significant. I wished I knew why people moved from Berkeley Springs (Morgan Co., WV) to Mercer Co., PA. I don't know enough history on this one. I do know that Mercer Co. is getting pretty close to Lake Erie, which makes it quite a trek from WV. Maybe it was no big deal in those days. I just don't know.

  Philip Keiffer, 9/22/05

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edited Sep 2008