Christianus Walz was born in 1742 in the village of Riedseltz, in the Bas-Rhin area of Alsace, France.  Sometime prior to 1788, he married Barbara Maurer, who was born in 1757.  Christianus was a farmer, which was a bit of a surprise to me, given the family tendency to be carpenters.

Here's a little church history:

During the 30 Years War (1618 - 1648), both the village and the church were constantly threatened and pillaged.  In 1755, a new priest finds the church very damaged - parts are in ruins.  The church is finally demolished and a new church is constructed and blessed in 1760.  The cross also dates to this time.  The altars are dedicated in 1761 - the high altar to St. Jacques le Majeur; the lateral altars to St. Sebastien and Our Lady of Pains.  An organ is installed in 1762, which was later replaced in 1870.

Riedseltz was also a very small village--in the early 1700s, there were less than 500 inhabitants.  By the end of that century, there were about 1,000 inhabitants.  War, bad economic times and emigration kept the population low, and in 1995 (the last figures that I have available), there were still only about 1,000 inhabitants.

Please click here to view all the information that I have collected on the village of Riedseltz to date.

Christianus and Barbara had five known children:

Christianus died on January 30, 1835, quite a few years after his wife, Barbara, who died on August 9, 1801.  To my knowledge, there is only one cemetery in Riedseltz, but I doubt that we would be able to find their tombstones if we were able to search in Riedseltz.  I have learned something about cemeteries in France and Germany that is quite different from the practices in the Untied States.  Due to the number of deaths over many generations and the lack of space, graves are usually rented for a period of time (I've heard of various time spans ranging from 10 to 50 years), and once that time is up, the family decides if they want to continue renting the spot.  If not, the remains are usually exhumed and cremated.  The walls of the cemetery are sometimes lined with old tombstones that are no longer in use.  Sometimes the headstones and cover stones (many graves are completely covered by polished stones) are returned to the family, and many others are also recycled by removing the inscription.  This is why you seldom find headstones older than 75 years in the cemeteries.  Another interesting, although somewhat gruesome, custom that I have heard about in the Bas-Rhin areas is the existence of an "ossuary," which is like a big cage filled with all the skulls of the deceased individuals who were formerly buried in the cemetery but had "given up their lease"!!

Just a note about the Riedseltz records--these were abstracted from the LDS microfilm of the church and civil records in the village.  However, the church record book covering the time period prior to the mid 1700s has been missing for quite a long time, so I am unable to locate information from these records prior to the mid-1700s--unless, of course, I would hire a private researcher to work in the archives at Strasbourg--but I don't think that I'm ready for that step!