Carl Sebastian Keÿser was the son of Andreas Keyser (d. bef. 1755) and his second wife Anna Catharina Schumacher (1697-1755). He was baptized in the Lutheran parish church of Möckmühl in the German duchy of Württemberg. His father was a butcher (metzger) in Möckmühl. [Note: in the parish records, Carl's last name is clearly spelled Keÿser, and he signed his name Kaÿser when he arrived in America. Later spellings include Kizer, Kiser, and the more prevalent Keyser.]
As a young man, Carl joined the increasing tide of German Protestants who left Europe in the wake of religious and dynastic wars and emigrated to British North America. He arrived in Philadelphia on the ship "Patience" on September 19, 1749. He soon moved west to the German settlements in Lancaster Co., PA, where he entered the service of Johan Jacob Eichholtz (1712-1760), an innkeeper and butcher. During this time Carl Anglicized his surname to Charles. The family name in the U.S. is variously spelled Keyser, Kayser, Kizer, and Kiser.
In Lancaster Co. Charles met and courted the woman who would be his wife. Unfortunately, there is an unsettled controversy over the identity of this woman. Family traditions, dating to at least the 1870s, name two candidates: Mary Shelly, daughter of Christian and Magdalena Shelly, who had immigrated from Germany in the early 1730s; and Elizabeth Grossgloss (or Grossclose), presumably of German birth but of unknown parentage. The balance of evidence tilts toward Mary Shelly as the wife. In any case, Charles married around 1751 and is known to have sired ten children: Charles Jr. (b. 1752), Anna (b. ca. 1756), Joseph (b. ca. 1756), Andrew (b. 1758), Mary (b. 1760), Elizabeth (b. ca. 1762), Esther (b. ca. 1764), John (b. ca. 1769), Catherine, and David. [NOTE: the birth dates of many of the children are approximate.]
By the mid-1760s Charles had moved his large family south into the wilds of Virginia's fertile Shenandoah River valley. His purchase of a 108 acres on the South Fork of the Shenandoah is recorded in Frederick Co., April 6, 1765. His farm lies near present-day Luray in Page Co.
This biographical sketch should be treated as a work-in-progress. There is much unsubstantiated and often contradictory information on the first generations of the Kayser/Keyser/Kiser family in America. Corrections and/or suggestions are welcome.
As a young man, Carl joined the increasing tide of German Protestants who left Europe in the wake of religious and dynastic wars and emigrated to British North America. He arrived in Philadelphia on the ship "Patience" on September 19, 1749. He soon moved west to the German settlements in Lancaster Co., PA, where he entered the service of Johan Jacob Eichholtz (1712-1760), an innkeeper and butcher. During this time Carl Anglicized his surname to Charles. The family name in the U.S. is variously spelled Keyser, Kayser, Kizer, and Kiser.
In Lancaster Co. Charles met and courted the woman who would be his wife. Unfortunately, there is an unsettled controversy over the identity of this woman. Family traditions, dating to at least the 1870s, name two candidates: Mary Shelly, daughter of Christian and Magdalena Shelly, who had immigrated from Germany in the early 1730s; and Elizabeth Grossgloss (or Grossclose), presumably of German birth but of unknown parentage. The balance of evidence tilts toward Mary Shelly as the wife. In any case, Charles married around 1751 and is known to have sired ten children: Charles Jr. (b. 1752), Anna (b. ca. 1756), Joseph (b. ca. 1756), Andrew (b. 1758), Mary (b. 1760), Elizabeth (b. ca. 1762), Esther (b. ca. 1764), John (b. ca. 1769), Catherine, and David. [NOTE: the birth dates of many of the children are approximate.]
By the mid-1760s Charles had moved his large family south into the wilds of Virginia's fertile Shenandoah River valley. His purchase of a 108 acres on the South Fork of the Shenandoah is recorded in Frederick Co., April 6, 1765. His farm lies near present-day Luray in Page Co.
This biographical sketch should be treated as a work-in-progress. There is much unsubstantiated and often contradictory information on the first generations of the Kayser/Keyser/Kiser family in America. Corrections and/or suggestions are welcome.
Carl Sebastian Keÿser was the son of Andreas Keyser (d. bef. 1755) and his second wife Anna Catharina Schumacher (1697-1755). He was baptized in the Lutheran parish church of Möckmühl in the German duchy of Württemberg. His father was a butcher (metzger) in Möckmühl. [Note: in the parish records, Carl's last name is clearly spelled Keÿser, and he signed his name Kaÿser when he arrived in America. Later spellings include Kizer, Kiser, and the more prevalent Keyser.]
As a young man, Carl joined the increasing tide of German Protestants who left Europe in the wake of religious and dynastic wars and emigrated to British North America. He arrived in Philadelphia on the ship "Patience" on September 19, 1749. He soon moved west to the German settlements in Lancaster Co., PA, where he entered the service of Johan Jacob Eichholtz (1712-1760), an innkeeper and butcher. During this time Carl Anglicized his surname to Charles. The family name in the U.S. is variously spelled Keyser, Kayser, Kizer, and Kiser.
In Lancaster Co. Charles met and courted the woman who would be his wife. Unfortunately, there is an unsettled controversy over the identity of this woman. Family traditions, dating to at least the 1870s, name two candidates: Mary Shelly, daughter of Christian and Magdalena Shelly, who had immigrated from Germany in the early 1730s; and Elizabeth Grossgloss (or Grossclose), presumably of German birth but of unknown parentage. The balance of evidence tilts toward Mary Shelly as the wife. In any case, Charles married around 1751 and is known to have sired ten children: Charles Jr. (b. 1752), Anna (b. ca. 1756), Joseph (b. ca. 1756), Andrew (b. 1758), Mary (b. 1760), Elizabeth (b. ca. 1762), Esther (b. ca. 1764), John (b. ca. 1769), Catherine, and David. [NOTE: the birth dates of many of the children are approximate.]
By the mid-1760s Charles had moved his large family south into the wilds of Virginia's fertile Shenandoah River valley. His purchase of a 108 acres on the South Fork of the Shenandoah is recorded in Frederick Co., April 6, 1765. His farm lies near present-day Luray in Page Co.
This biographical sketch should be treated as a work-in-progress. There is much unsubstantiated and often contradictory information on the first generations of the Kayser/Keyser/Kiser family in America. Corrections and/or suggestions are welcome.
As a young man, Carl joined the increasing tide of German Protestants who left Europe in the wake of religious and dynastic wars and emigrated to British North America. He arrived in Philadelphia on the ship "Patience" on September 19, 1749. He soon moved west to the German settlements in Lancaster Co., PA, where he entered the service of Johan Jacob Eichholtz (1712-1760), an innkeeper and butcher. During this time Carl Anglicized his surname to Charles. The family name in the U.S. is variously spelled Keyser, Kayser, Kizer, and Kiser.
In Lancaster Co. Charles met and courted the woman who would be his wife. Unfortunately, there is an unsettled controversy over the identity of this woman. Family traditions, dating to at least the 1870s, name two candidates: Mary Shelly, daughter of Christian and Magdalena Shelly, who had immigrated from Germany in the early 1730s; and Elizabeth Grossgloss (or Grossclose), presumably of German birth but of unknown parentage. The balance of evidence tilts toward Mary Shelly as the wife. In any case, Charles married around 1751 and is known to have sired ten children: Charles Jr. (b. 1752), Anna (b. ca. 1756), Joseph (b. ca. 1756), Andrew (b. 1758), Mary (b. 1760), Elizabeth (b. ca. 1762), Esther (b. ca. 1764), John (b. ca. 1769), Catherine, and David. [NOTE: the birth dates of many of the children are approximate.]
By the mid-1760s Charles had moved his large family south into the wilds of Virginia's fertile Shenandoah River valley. His purchase of a 108 acres on the South Fork of the Shenandoah is recorded in Frederick Co., April 6, 1765. His farm lies near present-day Luray in Page Co.
This biographical sketch should be treated as a work-in-progress. There is much unsubstantiated and often contradictory information on the first generations of the Kayser/Keyser/Kiser family in America. Corrections and/or suggestions are welcome.
Gravesite Details
The grave markers for both Charles and Elizabeth Keyser are much later than the burials, probably set in the late 19th / early 20th century, and thus cannot be treated as primary evidence of Elizabeth as his wife.
Family Members
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