Hi Everybody,
I am looking for possible Mootz blood relatives whose parents and
grandparents were Catholic and who lived in the central Indiana region
after their ancestors came over from the Phalz area of German Bavaria.
Last week I spent considerable time searching for the Naturalization
papers of my Great Grandpa Henry Mootz, for his funeral/death notice and
a listing of his grave site in the Catholic cemeteries in Indianapolis. I
found none of these items. The closest I came was to find a record of the
Naturalization of his son Henry Mootz which was finalized in 1906 and
indicated he arrived in the USA in 1892. I searched Indianapolis
directories from 1890 and first found g Grandma listed therein as Rachel
H ( Huber ) Mootz, widow of Henry starting in the 1895 issue and
continuing thru 1918. I found g Grandma's death/funeral notice indicating
she died on April 13, 1919 at the home of a daughter Mrs. George Becker
on W. Morris St. near Ben Davis ( I believe the address would have been
5004 W. Morris St. where I lived from 1931 thru 1945 ). She was buried
from Assumption in St. Joseph Cemetery on 15 April 1919. Again her card
was not among the 12 cards given me by Catholic Cemetery personal as
representing all the people whose last name was Mootz that are buried
therein.
My Grandma was Katharina Mootz Konrad who was born in Annweiler, Phalz,
Bayern, Germany on 17 Dec 1873 and christened in the R. Catholic Church
in that town on 4 Jan. 1874. Katharina Mootz married John Robert Konrad
of Strengen, Tirol, Austria most probably in 1895 ( a missing record). I
believe she would have arrived in the USA in 1892 with her parents, her
brothers Henry & Frederic and her sister Mrs. George Becker.
I found 8 children of Katharina baptized at Assumption between 1896 and
1909. While searching for these I noted several children of Henry and
Frederic Mootz were being baptized as well. I recorded all these baptisms
thinking they could possibly be my uncles and aunts. I have since
established that they are. I was pleasantly surprised to learn I had an
Uncle Herman Christian Mootz who died a Monsignor in the Catholic Church
and is buried in the circle of priests in Calvary Cemetery. I have the
Monsignor as the child of Henry Mootz & Clara T. Rechel. I recorded
baptisms of 5 siblings of the Monsignor. I also recorded the baptism of 7
children of my g Uncle Frederic Mootz & Mary Keenaugh.
If you are related to any of these Mootz people I would love to hear from
you and exchange genealogy data with you.
Robert J. Konrad
rjkonrad(a)juno.com