This was written by Genealogical Society volunteer, Beth Mitchell for the Wilmington News Journal
As Paul Harvey might have said – and now the rest of the story.
Matthew Rombach, father-in-law of General Denver, has an interesting history. It seems much more adventuresome than that of his wife, Catharine Kautz. The Kautz family was reputed to be “well-to-do” when they came to America and settled in Hamilton County and later many of the family lived in Brown County, Ohio.
According to information in the records of Clinton County History Center we find in the Ohio Biographical Sketches of Ohio information that Matthew was the youngest of four children born to Charles and Francesca Rombach in the Black Forest, Baden, Germany. The family owned a large amount of land which signaled wealth. At age sixteen Matthew was placed in a clock factory to learn the trade. In 1830 he and three other young men decided to venture to the “new world” of America. The parents learned of the plan and moved to discourage it.
I am sure none of us have ever dealt with a very determined teenager who knew exactly what he wanted out of life. Ha!!! Ha!!!!
The next part of the story is that the parents would not fund Matthew’s adventure. Matthew decided to “go-it-alone” and proceeded to hike from Baden across France on his way to London. From London it seems he served as part of the ship’s crew and after landing in New York proceeded to Philadelphia where he contacted a clock-maker and worked there for a period of time. He then moved on to Lancaster, Ohio. In 1831 he moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. This may seem a rather irresponsible jump but when checking the 1830 census records I found there were many Romback, Rombuch, Rombough, and Rombach families with other Germanic spellings located in Cincinnati. He found his cousins!!!!
It is not known how he met Catharine Kautz but we know that Catharine’s family was also from Baden. It appears Matthew and Catharine were married in Hamilton County in 1832. THE QUESTION!!! What happened next? If George Kautz was writing to General Denver, could there be a connection to the Brown County Kautz family?
In Brown County deed records I found Matthew Rombach purchased land from George Kautz – the deed dated 07 January 1833. In November of 1836 Matthew purchased a second piece of land from Ludwick Weber. In June of 1842 Matthew sold both parcels of land to Willliam K. Wood. In this deed it is shown Matthew was a resident of Clinton County, Ohio. Louisa/Louise, the daughter of Matthew and Catharine had been born in Brown County in 1836.
And now the rest of the story! Marie Elizabeth Bohl, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth Bohl, was born in 1876 in Brown County, Ohio. On October 3, 1900 she married William Adam Kautz. Marie Elizabeth is the sister of my maternal grandmother. When the lineage is proven, the common ancestor for my family and the Rombach family is Johann Martin Kautz and Eva Salome Loeser who lived in the area of Baden, Germany. Johann lived 1754 – 1816 and Eva Salome lived 1754 – 1829. The world of genealogy is smaller than you think.