Mary Catherine is the daughter
of William Amerman (spelled with
two "m's", per his cemetery records
and Eliza's headstone), and his wife
Eliza Ann Schenck, of Somerville,
Somerset Co. New Jersey, and (later),
of South Bend (Warren Twp.), St. Joseph
County, Indiana, and then, of Hamilton,
in St. Joseph County Indiana.
Mary Catherine was the fourth of
six children.
----------------------------------
Note: PLEASE, do NOT transfer this
memorial to other web sites.
Thanks, Nancy (Letcher) Heib.
-----------------------------------
Mary Catherine was married to
James Kizer [Sr.], the son
of Peter Kizer Sr. and his wife
Catherine Force,
on Dec. 23, 1852 in Terre Coupee
Pairie, later known as Hamilton,
St. Joseph County Indiana,
by Alonson H. Pidge,
Minister of the Gospel
(a Methodist minister).
(He was 24 and she was age 18).
(Per: Their marriage license in
St. Joseph County Indiana, and also,
"Marriage Records Volumes 1-3
1830-1855 St. Joseph County,
South Bend, IN", compiled by
Schuyler Colfax Chapter D.A.R. 1957).
-------------------------------------
1860 census: Warren township, St.
Joseph Co. IN - South Bend post office,
(with Mary's parents).
1870 census: Olive township, St. Joseph
Co. IN - New Carlisle post office.
1880 census: Clay township, St. Joseph
Co. IN - South Bend post office.
Nov. 1, 1894: (When James died),
East Second Street, in Mishawaka,
St. Joseph County Indiana.
--------------------------------
The ten children of James Kizer Sr. and
his wife Mary Catherine Ammerman are:
--------------------------------
1. Josephine Kizer.
b. March 9, 1854 in Indiana.
m. Jan. 1, 1874 to
William C. Rogers (1850-1918).
d. Feb. 2, 1919.
Buried: Osceola Cemetery.
Children: Mary C., Florence E.,
Oliver J., and Emma Mae Rogers.
They lived in Penn Twp. Osceola, IN
in 1894 and 1913.
----------------------------------
2. Isadora N. Kizer.
b. Dec. 14, 1855 in Mishawaka, IN.
m. # 1. Nov. 8, 1874 in Buchanan, MI
to Theodore Albert Upham (1855-1903),
the son of Albert T. Upham and his
wife Elizabeth Wells.
Children: Clarence, Clara U., Edna,
Edgar and Clifford H. Upham.
m. # 2. July 22, 1918 (He 58, she 51)
to George Washington McBain
(1849-1922)
(the former husband of Isadora's cousin
Harriet Ammerman. George and Harriet
are buried in the Hamilton Church Cemetery)
d. Feb. 28, 1926, in Buchanan, Michigan.
Buried: Oak Grove Cemetery,
West of Berrien Springs,
Berrien County Michigan
(with her first husband Theodore).
----------------------------------
3. Emma Kizer.
b. 1858 (died young).
(She was two years of age in the
1860 census. Not listed in 1870).
---------------------------------
4. Mary Ellen Kizer.
b. April 26, 1861.
m. April 27, 1880 to
John Rogers (1848-1925), in
St. Joseph County Indiana.
d. Jan. 6, 1924. Children:
Carrie Elsie, Bertha May, George Clem,
and Mattie Josephine Rogers.
They lived S.-E. of Mishawaka, IN.
Buried: Mishawaka City Cemetery,
Mishawaka, St. Joseph Co. Indiana.
---------------------------------
5. William Arthur Kizer.
b. Dec. 2, 1862 in Indiana.
m. April 17, 1887 to
Jesse Alvina Ghrist (1869-1919),
in St. Joseph County Indiana.
d. May 1, 1940.
Children: Authur Leroy ("Roy"),
Earl, Frank, Albert Virgil,
and Grace Ethel Kizer.
Lived S. of Mishawaka, IN in 1894
and Allegan, Michigan in 1913.
Buried: Lindsley Cemetery, Cheshire
Center, Allegan County, Michigan.
----------------------------------
6. Abraham Force ("A. F.") Kizer.
b. April 16, 1865 in St. Joseph Co. IN.
m. Feb. 21, 1889, to
Cora May Shreiner (1866-1903).
d. Oct. 14, 1910, Mishawaka, IN age 45.
Children: Infant, Bessie L.,
Marcia Mary, Arthur Eugene, Jovin,
Infant, and Ethel Kizer.
Lived in (N.-W. Section 28, of Penn
township), in Osceola, Indiana
in 1894 and 1895.
Buried: California Road Church Cemetery,
Elkhart, Elkhart County Indiana.
-----------------------------------
7. James Henry Kizer Jr.
b. Aug. 18, 1867.
m. Nov. 9, 1895, to
Teletha A. Vert Stewart (1867-1952)
d. May 31, 1946.
Buried: Mishawaka City Cemetery.
Children: Infant son (Dec. 8, 1901)
and Madge Bernice Kizer.
Lived in South Bend, IN in 1894,
and in Mishawaka, IN in 1926.
----------------------------------
8. Elizabeth Kizer. b. 1868.
----------------------------------
9. Lorenzo Dee Kizer Sr.
b. July 10, 1871.
m. # 1. Jan. 22, 1893, to
Amy Bryant, in Galien, Berrien Co. MI.
Any was the daughter of Tanis Bryant
and his wife Margaret Gaueb.
Child: Hazel Omego (Kizer) Barnes.
Any died in 1896.
---
m. # 2. Grace May Williams,
on Oct. 15, 1898, in Buchanan,
Berrien County Michigan.
Grace was the daughter of Albert Williams,
and his wife Caroline Ingleright.
---
m. # 3. Dec. 24, 1901, to
(Mrs.) Hattie M. (Gowell) Ettinger
(1874-1958).
[Hattie had a child by her first
husband: Bessie Beth Ettinger].
Lorenzo and Hattie were married in
Cassopolis, Cass County Michigan.
Hattie is the daughter of
George Gowell and his
wife Nellie Frame.
Children: Mary Catherine Kizer,
and Lorenzo Dee Kizer Jr.
---
d. Lorenzo Sr. died July 27, 1931.
Buried: Mountain View Cemetery,
Oakland, Alameda County California.
He shares a headstone with wife
Hattie M. (1874-1958), and daughter
Mary Catherine (Kizer) Seymour
(1906-1971)
(in Plot # 58, Grave # 407).
He is listed as
"Grandfather Lorenzo D. Kizer"
on the headstone.
He had lived in Galien, MI in 1894,
in St. Joseph Co. Indiana in 1910,
in Montana in 1913, in Fergus, Montana
in 1920, in Oakland, California in 1926,
and in Richmond, Contra Costa County
California in 1930.
----------------------------------
10. Frank Albertus Kizer.
b. April 24, 1874.
m. April 30, 1906, to
Mabel C. Bishop (1884-1978).
d. Oct. 2, 1946.
Buried: Osceola Cemetery
(near his wife, his parents,
and his son Orley A. Kizer).
Children: Orley Albertus Kizer,
and Robert Bishop Kizer.
Lived in South Bend, IN in 1894,
824 E. Fourth St. Mishawaka, IN in
1913, and Coldwater, MI in 1926.
In 1940 Frank and Mable are living
with son Orley, in Penn township,
Mishawaka, St. Joseph County Indiana.
___________________________________

The death certificate for
Mary Kizer states that
she died on Dec. 22, 1913,
of organic heart disease,
at the age of 79 years.
----------------------------------
Mary's obituary was published
in the following newspapers:
---------------
The South Bend Weekly Tribune,
South Bend, Indiana
Dec. 22, 1913. Page 12.
------------------------
The South Bend Tribune,
Dec. 23, 1913, page 12 (short one).
-----------------------
The South Bend Tribune
Dec. 24, 1913, page 12 (short one).
-----------------------
"The Mishawaka Enterprise",
in Mishawaka, Indiana,
on Friday, Dec. 26, 1913
Page 1 (front page), Column 5.
---------------------------
This last one reads as follows:
-------------------
Mrs. Mary Kizer, Old and Respected
Citizen, Dies of Apoplexy.

Mrs. Mary C. Kizer, a resident of
this community for 65 years, died
on Sunday evening at 8:30 o'clock
at the home of her son, Frank A.
Kizer, 824 East Fourth street.
Death was due to a stroke of
apoplexy [organic heart disease].
The deceased, whose maiden name was
Ammerman, was born in Summitville
[should say "Somerville"], N. J.,
March 28, 1824 [should say "1834"],
being in the 80th year of her age.
About 61 years ago she was
united in marriage to James Kizer [Sr.]
who died about 20 years ago. There
survive her the following children:
William A. Kizer, Allegan, Mich.:
James H., Penn township: Lorenzo D.,
Montana: Frank A., Mishawaka: Mrs.
William [Josephine] Rogers, Osceola
[IN]: Mrs. George [Isadora] McBain,
New Carlisle, [IN]: Mrs. John
[Mary Ellen] Rogers, of south of
the city. She also leaves a brother,
John Ammerman [Sr.], of Missouri.
__________________________________

Note: After a funeral sercice at
the home where she died, a 10:30
funeral service was held at the
Methodist church in Osceola, IN,
with the Rev. Dr. Loren M. Edwards
officiating.
The Finch and Sprague funeral
home handeled the arrangements.
--------------------------------
Note: Mary also had a brother named
Abraham W. Ammerman, born in 1830,
who lived in Hamilton, Indiana
(and died in New Carlisle, IN),
and is buried with his wife Mary Jane
(Vorhes) and some of their children
in the cemetery of the (historic)
Hamilton Church in Hamilton, IN.
--------------------
Mary's mother Eliza Ann Amerman
(spelled with two "m's"),
(born 1806 in N.J. and died
Dec. 8, 1875 near Hamilton, IN),
is also buried there with her son
Abraham W. Ammerman
(spelled with three "m's").
Mary's father William Amerman
(spelled with two "m's"),
is buried in the Witter Cemetery
on Cleveland Road,
in South Bend (German Township),
St. Joseph County, Indiana
(East of the Hamilton Cemetery).
-------------------------------
Note: The surname on the headstone
for Abraham and his wife is spelled
"Ammerman", but the headstones for
their three young children are
spelled "Amerman".
---------------------------------
Mary also had a sister named Ellen
Ann Ammerman, born in 1846 in Ohio.
---------------------------------
Mary and her husband James Kizer Sr.
and their children Isadora and Mary
(possibly others), were also once
members of the (Old) Hamilton Church,
as well as Mary's brother Abraham W.
Ammerman and his wife Mary Jane.
(Per: "Old Hamilton Church
Membership Roll 1874-1878", located
in the Indiana State Library).
--------------------------------
Cemetery records show that Mary Kizer
purchased Lot # 87, in the Osceola Cemetery.
Those buried in Lot # 87 are:
Space 1. James Kizer Sr.
Space 2. Mrs. James Kizer (Mary Catherine).
Space 3. Mable C. (Bishop) Kizer.
Space 4. Frank Albertus Kizer.
Space 5. Dennis Burk Kizer (son of
Robert Bishop Kizer and Corinne Burk).
Space 6. Bertha Luella (Hight) Updike.
Space 6. Cremains of Ellis Updike.
Space 7. Viola May (Updike) Kizer.
Space 8. Orley Albertus Kizer.
---------------------------------
James and Mary's large headstone reads:

KIZER
JAMES
1828-1894
MARY C. HIS WIFE
1834-1913
--------------------------------
Mary and her husband are buried
in the Osceola Cemetery, located
East of Mishawaka and Osceola, IN,
on the corner of State Road 933 and
West County Line Road
(also called Ash Road),
next to the railroad tracks.
-------------------------------
Buried next to James and Mary
in Lot # 87, are their son
Frank Albertus Kizer and his
wife Mabel C. (Bishop) Kizer,
and Frank and Mabel's son
Orley Albertus Kizer and his
wife Viola Mae (Updike) Kizer.
------------------------------
Also buried in this cemetery are James
and Mary's daughter Josephine and her
husband William C. Rogers.
------------------------------
Note: See the memorials for one line
of Mary's family, on this web site:

Father,
William Amerman, of Indiana
(spelled with two "m's").
Mother,
Eliza Ann (Schenck) Amerman, of IN
(spelled with two "m's").
Brother, Abraham W. Ammerman, of IN
(spelled with three "m's").
Brother, John Arthur Ammerman Sr.,
of Missouri (spelled with three m's).
Husband, James Kizer Sr., of Indiana.
Daughter,
Isadora N. (Kizer) Upham, of Michigan.
Grandson, Clarence Upham, of Michigan.
Great, granddaughter,
Cecile Gay (Upham) Bliss, of Michigan.
Great, Great, granddaughter,
Thelma (Bliss) Letcher, of Michigan.
----
Note: James Sr. and Mary Kizer are
my Gt., Gt., Great, Grandparents.
Nancy (Letcher) Heib.
---------------------------------
Click on photos for enlargements,
captions, and additional photos.
---------------------------------