KELLER and HOYLE Families of Western
North Carolina
And the allied families of Boganski, Helfrich, Smith, Crawley, Parsons, Stamey, Crowder, Boyles, Whisnant, Carpenter, Willis, Watkins, Farrar
and others, some of whom are descendants of Charlemagne, Holy Roman Emperor.
As one can imagine, this project was an enormous undertaking.
Tracing both the Keller and Hoyle families from Germany, through each
subsequent generation, required great patience and fortitude to keep trudging
through the, literally, millions of records. After a few misleads and errors in
charting the branches of our family tree (as any amateur genealogist is
susceptible of doing), the project finally began to grow on its own. There were
many proverbial “brick walls” that required months (and in a couple cases,
years) to finally overcome, but the end product is something in which I am
incredibly proud to present.
This information is gathered using many resources, such as Plantagenet
Ancestry by Douglas Richardson,
Pedigrees of Some of the Emperor Charlemagne's Descendants, Volumes 1, 2 and 3,
Elizabeth Hoyle Rucker's The
Genealogy of Peter Heyl, The Heritage of Caldwell County, North Carolina, Volume 1, 1983 by E.
Carl Anderson, Jr., Ancestry.com's One World Tree and
other online databases, the family trees available at Rootsweb.com, Ancestral Family Files at Familysearch.org (a component of the
Latter Day Saints and the Family History Library), as well as family oral
history and contributed family GEDCOM files.
There are too many people to possible thank, but I will try to name a few.
First of all, I would like to thank my wife, Lynn, for her willing patience and
endurance as I spent nearly every available moment putting this together. I
would also like to thank Judy K. and Sharon Keller for their inputs and
training tips as I began my “baby steps” into the world of genealogy.
Elizabeth P. Keller has been one of the most important family
historians of our line of Kellers. Her efforts
preserved a great deal of the records that would have otherwise been lost to
the sands of time. Because of the Civil War, more precisely because of General
William Tecumseh Sherman’s March of Destruction through the South, many of the
records kept in the County Courthouses were burned and forever lost to
posterity. Her contribution to the Heritage of Caldwell County mapped the path from W.
Granville Keller to Martin Keller, a path I would have had enormous difficulty
in otherwise finding.
Norma Green provided very much needed help in finding the lost
branches of the tree. Where I thought a few branches were broken, she pointed
out that they were just hidden and, alas, she pointed me in the right direction
and there they were. I still hope to see the flute/fife she possesses that
George N. Keller carried to battle in the Petersburg Campaign of 1864.
R. Michael Murphy did the groundwork in uncovering many of the
early North Carolina land grants and court records. He also put a great deal of
effort in piecing together the early Keller pioneers into Wilkes, Burke and
Lincoln Counties. His contributions cannot be adequately thanked enough!
Lastly, Christopher Boyle's provided much needed information about
the Hoyle family and its connection to the Boyle's family. Thank You!
Invariably, there will be errors and omissions in a project of
this size. I apologize in advance for any of them. Please contact me with any
additions or corrections.
The Keller/Hoyle/Willis/Watkins/Farrar link to Charlemagne has, at
long last, been verified and validated by the fine folks at ProGenealogists,
located at http://www.progenealogists.com/If you are interested in the documentation, please let me
know.
Enjoy!
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KELLER
Origins of the Surname
According to the Dictionary of American Family Names (located
online at http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Keller-name-meaning.ashx),the
German source of the Keller surname originates from Middle High German kellaere
‘cellarman’, ‘cellar master’ (Latin cellarius,
denoting the keeper of the cella ‘store
chamber’, ‘pantry’). Hence an occupational name for
the overseer of the stores, accounts, or household in general in, for example,
a monastery or castle. Kellers were important as
trusted stewards in a great household, and in some
cases were promoted to ministerial rank. The surname is widespread throughout
central Europe.
From the Historical Names.com Website
Spelling variations of this family name include: Keller, Keler, Kelle, Kellaere,
Kellere, Kellner, Kaeller, Kaellner, Kelner, Celler, Cellner, Celer, Celner, Kellern, Cellern and many more.
First found in Swabia, where the family contributed greatly to the
development of an emerging nation and would later play a large role in the
political conflicts of the area.
Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its
variants were: Jacob Kelner, who came to Germantown,
Pennsylvania, in 1683. Johannes and Eva Maria Keler
arrived together in Philadelphia in 1737. Bernard Keller settled in Carolina or
Pennsylvania in 1743.
