Kurtz-Fichtel Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: MC 96

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This small collection mostly consists of correspondence between members of the Kurtz-Fichtel family as well as includes deeds and mortgages for land around Germantown. Most of the correspondence deals with the service and death of William Kurtz in the Civil War as well as later efforts by decedents to find his grave. A number of the letters from Germany highlight the immigration of the families to America. The collection also contains correspondence from decedents researching their family genealogical history.

Dates

Majority of material found within 1830 - 1888
1830 - 1950

Biographical / Historical

William Fichtel was a German Protestant immigrant who came to Philadelphia and married Rose Duddy an Irish Catholic at St. Peters in 1857. William would fight and die in the Civil War. They had two children Charles born 1858 and Catherine born 1860. John Peter Kurtz I emigrated from Germany and married a women named Bridget at a date unknown, they had two children and Amy L. born 1853 and John Peter born 1857. John Peter I served in the U.S. Marines in the 1840s and would become a citizen in 1862. Catherine Fichtel would marry John Peter Kurtz II in 1886. They had six children all baptized at St. Vincent de Paul Parish: John Peter III (1887), Mary (1892), James (1898), Charles (1890), Alice (1894), Albert (1901).

Extent

0.4 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

German

Additional Description

Abstract

The collection is comprised of material saved by the Kurtz-Fichtel Family for genealogy. The Kurtz family was Roman Catholic while the Fitchel family was originally Protestant but converted to Catholicism after coming to America. The bulk of the collection contains correspondence and property deeds for land in and around Germantown.