User talk:Skpowell

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Kellers [2 June 2012]

I'm glad you've found the information I put in useful. I'm descended from Albert Keller -> Florence Keller. I'm guessing, based on your Utah location (I'm in the Chicago area) that you're descended from Carl/Charley.

I've spent some time trying to get death records of as many of the children of Carl and Elisabeth who were born in Switzerland as I can to try and determine if anyone had information about specifically where in Switzerland they were from. So far they've all come up as dead ends. I haven't completely tracked down Emil Keller's death certificate (I've seen conflicting information indicating that he died in either Portland, Oregon or Seattle, Washington), but I suspect given the circumstances of what seemed to happen to Emil that good information from that quarter is unlikely. I've gathered some information on Emil (and other relatives) that I haven't entered into WeRelate, but none of it seems to be relevant to figuring out where this family came from. Emil was a photographer and seems to have been married twice, one or both marriages ending in divorce. He lived much of his life in Montana.

I've looked a bit into Swiss records, but most do not seem to be available in an electronic form, and as small of a country as it is, it's a pretty daunting task to try to find the right records if you don't even know where in the country the people came from. I think the Schaad name is the better to track, as it seems the more unusual. At one point I looked and it seemed that the name was common only in a few areas in the north. I've always assumed that the Keller's were Catholic as on my side they married into a devout Catholic family (Albert Keller and Florentine Henkenius) and I have documentation that Florence Keller was Catholic. However, based on what I know of the actions of some of the children, I'm not completely certain of that. I think I've seen in the census records that their first language was German (rather than French). Religion and language can be two clues in trying to narrow down where in Switzerland someone came from.

The family certainly had its tragic elements, from the death of Laura, her husband, and their daughters in the Memphis Yellow Fever epidemic to the suicide of Carl. I've been working on other non-genealogy projects in my free-time as of late, and the primary genealogy projects I have on the back-burner aren't related to the Kellers, but I'm interested in anything you might find and if there's any way I can help, let me know.--Herrmoody 12:23, 2 June 2012 (EDT)

More Keller Stuff [2 June 2012]

It seems that you have access to quite a bit of family documents, and I have nothing, really so I'm interested in seeing what you can add.

I'm guessing that you have documents indicating that he originated in Baden, Aargau?

I don't know if you'd noticed or had previously found it on your own, but I did locate their passenger record arriving from La Havre in New York on 10 JUL 1857. In Ancestry they are indexed under the last name "Meller" as the person who read the page couldn't figure out what it was. I had previously added that information to the pages for Elisabeth (daughter), Carl jr., Laura and Emil, but hadn't done it for Carl sr. or Elisabeth (mother), so I added that information to those today.

I really don't have much information about Emil (certainly a lot less than you do). It was my perception that things had been bumpy for him based on the smattering of facts I could find. As noted on his record I had discovered that he had married a Mary Hardman in Indiana in 1874. I could not find how that marriage ended, but found him marrying someone else (Blanche) with whom he had children and was then divorced and lived for a long time in what seemed to me a relatively isolated spot in Montana until moving very late in life to the west coast to live with his daughter. I'd seen that there was a death record for an Emil Keller in Oregon death records for Portland, but haven't been excited to pay the $10 fee to get a copy of the death record on the chance that it wasn't the right person, and if it was the right person that the odds that a specific place of birth (beyond 'Switzerland') would be mentioned. As I'd obtained death records for Carl, Laura, and Elisabeth, Emil was my last hope of finding a death record that listed a detailed birthplace, which barring the indexing of the right Swiss records, was the only way I'd figure out where they came from.

I'd be a little surprised to find a royalty connection, but you never know, I suppose. Kaiser Wilhelm was a member of the Prussian royal family, which was located at the opposite end of German territory. I don't know much about Swiss nobility and how they intermarried. Typically if someone was closely related to royalty they really had no reason to leave and come to the U.S.--Herrmoody 00:26, 3 June 2012 (EDT)

Re: Keller Breakthrough [16 August 2012]

Thanks for sharing. That's exciting information. I look forward to seeing everything that your contact is able to find.--Herrmoody 10:02, 16 August 2012 (EDT)

Fixing the Kellers [17 September 2012]

I've corrected Karl Keller in the way that seemed to be best and I've made some other improvements as best as I could interpret they should be made (capitalization, minor adjustments in names, etc.) Where I can see what the source is I've made some corrections to the source as well. There is a lot more that can be done here as far as making it organized and pretty, but I think it's improved.--Herrmoody 23:33, 17 September 2012 (EDT)