Kettman Family

Walter J. Huff's mother was Marie Kettman, who came to America in 1897 at the age of 7 with her family.

The star locates Osnabruck, the Kettmann home

The founder of this branch of the Kettman family was Theodor Kettmann (1851-1917), born in Germany on September 19, 1851. He came from Kettenkamp, Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany, today a town of about 10,000 located 25 miles east of the Netherlands border and southwest of Bremen. 'Theodor Kettmann' seems to have been the original spelling of the family name. He would later spell his first name as 'Theodore,' but retain the second 'n' in 'Kettmann,' while most of his children drop it in favor of just 'Kettman.'

Theodor married first Margaret Schulta, daughter of Theodore Shulta, about 1878 when he was 26. They had two sons - Henry in 1880 and Garry in 1883. Then Margaret died, perhaps giving birth to Garry. According to family stories Theodore then married Margaret's younger sister Whilhelmina Schulta ( -1942) about 1884. They had five more children, including Marie, before coming to America in 1897. There is some uncertainty about the relationship of the Schulta women.

The Stottmann Connection - The Stottmann, Kettmann and Schulta families are all from the Hanover section of Germany. They intermarried here and likely in Germany. More research needs to be done in Germany to determine if they were from the same town or church, the branches of the families, and how they are related.

Bernard Stottmann came to America in 1881 arriving in New York City aboard the Neckar out of Bremen, Germany. He was 29 at the time. With him were Heinr, 22, Lisette, 20, and Hermann, 15, Stottmann. They may have been his siblings. Also travelling with them was Lisette Schulte (Schulta), 29.

Bernard settled in Richfield working for John Messlage. Two years later he rented a 4-acre farm and began to bring his products into Paterson. He prospered and soon was able to buy two 4-acre farms. He and Lisette married 7 years after their arrival in 1888?? They had 5 children, including 4 daughters and were all members of Saint Boniface Roman Catholic Church. Bernard and Lisette helped the Kettman family and other Schulta women settle into the Richfield area.

As he prospered with his farm Bernard brought their products into the city for wholesale and retail sale in the early morning markets. He died relatively young at ??? in 1907. After his death Lisette became the head of the family and continued to run the farm. Age of children???

In 1921 their daughter Elizabeth Stottman (1897-1959) married John Joseph Fox (1894-1933), also of Richfield. He was a World War I veteran. In the 1920's John Fox, Garry and Henry Kettman, George Kesse and John Stottman were all very active in the Clifton Fire Department. The Fox's had 3 children, including Edward Fox (1928-2005) . John Fox also died young at 39 in 1933 leaving Elizabeth to raise the children. Eddie was a Korean War Army veteran and an art director at McGraw-Hill Publishing. He remained close to Marie Kettman Huff and her family.

Henry, the oldest Kettman son, came first to America in 1893 at the age of ?? establishing himself as a farm laborer for Henry Kesse in Passaic. In 1895 he lived with the Stottman family on their farm. He joined Saint Boniface and he and Bernard Stottman helped his family make arrangements to follow.

Theodor's family with six children and Wilhelmina's older sister, 53 year old Margaret Shulta (1844-1931), arrived in New York on Sept. 8, 1897 on the Konigin Luise out of Bremen. On the ship's manifest he indicated he would be joining Bernard Stottmann in Richfield, New Jersey. Through Henry he probably made arrangements for work and housing for his large family.

The Konigin Luise that brought the Kettman family to America

Theodore, now 45, and his sons farmed a large vegetable truck farm for the next 20 years. As he rented the house he was a tenant farmer on someone else's land, perhaps Bernard Stottmann's. He and Wilhelmina, known as 'Minnie,' have one more child, Elizabeth in 1901. All their children survived into adulthood and all but Garry marry and have children of their own.

At the time they arrived Richfield was a section of Acquackanonk Township. In 1917 the city of Clifton was incorporated and replaced the township. Farmers coming into this country from Holland and Germany found this area to have the richest soil anywhere. The water table was right and being east of Garrett Mountain the temperature was ten degrees warmer than many developing areas, giving farmers an added advantage of producing crops to the market sooner. Here, the work was hard and the hours were extensive, yet the land was fertile and productive allowing farmers to make a living. Crops such as lettuce, spinach, carrots, beets and broccoli were grown here at family farms. The vegetables were supplied to New York City customers via the Morris Canal. The location of the farms worked by the Kettmas is now a highway crossroads for the Garden State Parkway, Interstate 80 and Route 46.

This is thought to be the Kettman farmhouse

The 1900 census took place three years after their arrival and is a good snapshot of the family as it established itself. There were the six children (Henry still lived with Stottman and Elizabeth was not yet born) ages 4 to 16. All were listed as born in Germany and the parents were listed as aliens and apparently never formally naturalized. Theodore ran the farm and Garret and Clement were listed as farm laborers. The younger two children were in school. All could read, write and speak English. The house they lived in was on Bloomfield Road in Acquackanonk Township County. They would remain in this house throughout Theodore's life.

An important part of family life was Saint Boniface Roman Catholic Church in Paterson. The older family members spoke German and the German masses would have been a connection with home. MORE OR SEPARATE PAGE.

In 1910 the family was still together with the addition of Henry and Elizabeth. Now the children ranged from 9 to 30 and Theodore was said he was born in 1847, in 1900 he said 1851, which is on his gravestone. Both Theordore claim to have been married 32 years which covered Henry's age, but in 1900 said 11 years. The four older boys were probably doing most of the farm work. None of the children were yet married and only Henry was naturalized. The six youngest are listed in the census as having been born in New Jersey, probably in hopes of establishing citizenship. So on the 1910 census much of the information was incorect, including the children's country of birth.

Theodore Kettmann's grave

In the next decade the children began to marry, establish their own families and some moved away.

Theodore died in 1917 at age 66 and was the first to be buried in Holy Sepulchre Roman Catholic Cemetery in Totawa where there is a gravestone with his name and dates on it. Many of his children would be buried in Holy Sepulcre also and as we are unable to find other gravestones it is likely they are all buried in the same plot. Families of the time bought large plots and those who died first were buried there, often with their own families.

Wilhelmina's older sister, Margaret Schulta, died in 1931 at age 84. The family was very loose with names, dates and relationships - sometimes intentionally for benefits. This Margaret's name on the ship's manifest in 1897 was Maria, while family tradition is that Theodor's first wife and mother of Henry and Garry was Wilhelmina's younger sister Margaret. More research in German records is needed to clarify the relationships.

Margaret's home at the time of her death was 22 Court Street, the three story cold water flat on the corner of Court Street, now called Levine Street, and Sussex Street next to the home of Walter M. and Marie Huff. Many in the Kettmann family lived there at one time or another.

After Theodore died in 1917 his wife Wilhelmina, who was 10 years his junior, lived on until 1942 dying at age 82. She probably lived with family, but we haven't determined which ones. Her last years were spent at the home of her daughter Marie Huff in Paterson, who cared for many of her brothers also as they aged. CHECK 1920, 30 AND 40 CENSUS.

As Marie's brothers and sisters were an integral part of her family and that of her children and grandchildren a brief biography of each follows. For many in the family Saint Boniface played a central role. There they were educated, joined the church, met their spouses, were married and finally buried in the Holy Sepulchre Roman Catholic Cemetery in the family plot.

1- Henry 'Hen' Garret Kettmann (1877-1967) was born in Germany to Theodore's first wife Margaret. He came to America alone in 1893 when he was about 18, four years before his father and the rest of the family. He stayed with Henry Hesse working for him on his farm in Acquackanonk and continued there for some years after his father arrived. He may have been indentured in some way binding him to Hesse. While living there he became a naturalized citizen, the only one of the Kettman family to do so. In 1897 he was arrested and acquited for assault and battery. By 1910 he was living with and working on his father's farm. He married at age 40 Louisa Veilhauer Besmer (1894-1956) in 1917. After marriage he joined her St. John's Luthran Church. In 1920 an 8 year old niece, Catherine Vielhauer, lived with them. They had two sons - Henry (1921-1990) born in 1921 and Walter (1927-2014) born in 1927. Henry was in the Navy in WWII and became a fireman in the Paterson Fire Department, while Walter became a prominent artist living in California. During the War Henry worked for John Mitchell in Jersey City. They were on Van Houten Avenue in Passaic renting and he still worked on a farm, perhaps the same one his father farmed. WHEN? He also worked the farm in 1940. The Clifton Fire Department was also part of his life beginning prior to 1919. In 1956 he lived at 526 Broad Street in Clifton when Louisa died. He was 90 when he died and then living at 122 Turner St. He is buried in Holy Sepulchre Roman Catholic Cemetery, Louisa in Paterson's Cedar Lawn Cemetery. (Aug 19, 1967 obituary in Paterson's The News).

2- Garret (Girad) 'Garry' Kettman (1883-1958) was born in Germany to Theodore's first wife Margaret. He was 14 when the family came to America and joined his father in operating the farm on Broad Street in the Richfield section of Clifton. He never married and lived and worked the farm throughout his life. He was also a member of the Clifton Fire Company and Richfield Fire Company with his brother Henry. He had a bit of a drinking problem, and his sister Marie took him in during sicknesses and his final days. A 1908 newspaper clipping lists Garry Kettman and Benjamin P. Huff as competing in their church bowling tournament. (Aug 19, 1967 obituary in Paterson's The News)

3- Clement 'Clay' Kettman (1885-1950) was born in Germany to Theodore's second wife Wilhelmina. He was 7 when the family came to America. He married Josephine Osar in 1910. A newspaper clipping describes the wedding. His older brother Henry was the best man and they honeymooned at Niagara Falls. He had a daughter Josephine Gillen. 63 Broad Street in Clifton and his wife Josephine had predeceased him. (Aug. 16, 1950 obituary in Paterson's The News).

4- Mary 'Marie' Kettman Huff (1888-1974) was born in Germany to Theodore's second wife Wilhelmina. She was 7 when the family came to America. She married Walter Michael Huff in 19?? and had two sons Joseph and Walter John. It is through Marie that our family is descended. See separate bio for Marie.

5- Joseph Theodore Kettman (1892-1969) was born in Germany and 7 years old when the family came to America. In 1917 he was employed at Remington Arms Co. in Bridgeport, CT and single at the time. He married Grace Carlson (1902-1996) (WHEN?) and moved to Bridgeport, CT where he was a plumbing contractor and Grace was a teacher. They had a son James and daughter Sally Will. On his WWI and WWII draft cards he lists his place of birth as Passaic. By 1942 he is 220 pounds and 5'11". In Feb. 1968, at age 76, he was found uncounscious in a truck in his garage by shis son James in a suicide attempt. He had been out of work and became despondent. He died the next year in Dec. at age 77. (Dec. 14, 1969 obituary in The Bridgeport Post.

6- Catherine Kettman Schanz (Dec. 1892-1954) was born in Germany. She was 5 when the family came to America. She married William Joseph Schanz (1887-1937), a weaver in a silk mill and son of Willam Henry Schanz (1864-1936), who was son of the immigrant John Schanz (1832-1905). Although German William's mother was from Scotland. They had one son Francis Joseph Schanz (1923-2007) and lived at 22 Court Street. After her husband's death she and Francis lived in the cold water flat next to her older sister Marie. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Paterson. (Aug 19, 1967 obituary in Paterson's The News).

Francis Schanz, Marie's nephew, was an important part of the Huff family for his first 40 years and was particularly close to Walter J. and Noreen Huff and their children. He was in Walter & Noreen's wedding party in 1942 and Walter was in his wedding party in 1947 (best man?). Janet was Godmother to his first son Ronald in 1957 and when her father Walter died Francis gave Janet away at her wedding in 1962.

7- Bernard T. 'Ben' Kettman (1896-1958) was born in Germany. He was only 1 when the family came to America. His name at birth was Benjamin but by his teens was using Bernard, although the family usually called him Ben. He married Ann Whitmore (1898-1984) at St. Boniface in 1917 and for a time lived at 364 Getty Avenue in Paterson. They had four daughters. He later moved to 23 Oxford Street in Haldon where he was a mechanic for 23 years with the Garfield Express company. He also seems to have been the chauffeur of a jitney bus, perhaps for the same company. He was buried with the family in Totawa. (Jan. 8, 1958 obituary in Paterson's The Morning Call).

8- Elizabeth 'Betty' Kettman MacFadden (1900-1994) was the only member of Theodore's family born in America. She grew up in Clifton then at age 28 married James MacFadden (1900-1957) in 1929 in Greenwich, CT8 and they moved to Milford, CT. She had some college education. Betty worked as a secretary at an airplane factory, probably Sikorsky and later as a bookkeeper and they lived at 33 Golden Hill Street. In 1950 James was arrested for having 40 punchboards in his possession that he was attempting to sell to local stores. He was fined $100. They had one daughter, Marijane MacFadden Hill, who married in 1956. A year later James was killed in an automoble accident at age 57. Betty's sister Marie took the family to visit from time to time. Elizabeth lived on in Milford at 67 Golden Hill until 1994 dying at age 93 and outliving her siblings by 20 years.