The Keipes Chronicles From the First to the Last, what is known as of April 2011.

It began with a love affair. The year was 1881 and the world seemed to be in chaos. Tsar Alexander II of Russia, after spending almost forty years had expanding his empire into Central Asia, was murdered by a terrorist bomb in a public square. For the second time in less than twenty years, an American president–first Lincoln, then Garfield–was assassinated. Tumultuous decades of German nationalization under Otto von Bismarck were waning, but there was strife in France between the last leftist remnants of the French Revolution and right-wing conservatives rooted in peasantry, the military and the Church. stood amidst it all torn by wars, revolving door governments, high taxes and poor harvests. Emigrants were leaving in thousands until eventually 20% of the population would be gone.

Weicherdange, , Luxe. 1

The 1881 Christmas season found Susanna Helzing, a 25 year old midwife from town of Weicherdange in the canton of Clervaux, on the verge of a new life. Just a short time into her career, she had already filled three pages in her births registry with entries from her own as well as neighboring villages. Although her mother had died two years too soon to see it, Susanna had completed her studies with honors (“d’une maniere tres satisfaisante”) in September of 1879 from Le Collège Médical, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, receiving the degree of “Sage-femme” and a great duty to mothers and children. It was a time of excitement and promise – and passion.

December in the northernmost reaches of Luxembourg could bring an icy chill, but Susanna found warmth that winter in the embrace of the farmhand Pierre Keipes.

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Pierre, one of ten children born to Pierre and Marguerite Bauler Keipes (see Appendix), was named for his father and hailed from nearby Goesdorf, , about ten miles to the south. With fluency in both French (generally the language used in official public speaking) and German (often the language at home) being custom in Luxembourg, Pierre was also called Peter. In 1881, he was working as a farmhand in Weicherdange.

We know Susanna’s father, the widower Mathias Helzing, was a farmer. Is this how the couple met? That fact may remain a mystery. But Susanna was expert in matters of procreation and she knew what the signs meant when she observed them in her own body. Month followed month and by the spring of 1882, it was undeniable. And so on Wednesday morning, May 17, 1882, in the presence of family and friends, Peter and Susanna stood before the civil authorities in Clervaux and recorded their marriage.

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Four months later on Monday, September 11, 1882, Peter and Susanna welcomed the arrival of their firstborn, a son they named Mathias.

Over the next several years more children followed, bringing the young couple both joy and sorrow. On April 28, 1884, there were twin boys named Pierre and Jean Pierre. Sadly, Pierre died on May 11. Jean Pierre would later be called James.

Two years later in 1886, again on April 28, came Marie, later known as Mary. On May 11 of 1889, Jean Henri (Johann Heinrich) was born. He lived fifteen months before dying on August 2, 1890. On May 18, 1891, they greeted the last child to be born on European soil. It was another girl, and they named her Sophie.

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Whether due to the deaths of the children or the declining quality of life in Luxembourg, a decision was made the following year. It was time for the family to leave the land of their birth and join so many thousands of others in the United States. In March of 1882, the Keipes family—Peter, Susanna, Mathias, Jean-Pierre, Marie and Sophie—along with Susanna’s father, Mathias Helzing, travelled to Antwerp in Belgium then set sail aboard the Red Star Line’s Westernland bound for New York. A new immigration station had opened three months previous on January 1, and they would be among the first of millions to arrive there. The port of entry was called Ellis Island.

Westernland, Red Star Line. In use since the 1850s, steamships like the Westernland shortened the overseas voyage from six weeks to two. In that sense, it was easier. But life at sea for the immigrants was likely far from pleasant. Those who could not afford private rooms slept dormitory-style in narrow bunks below deck. Food was often barely palatable. Daylight and fresh air could be scarce when the weather was poor. And there was the constant motion of the ship, worse if there storms, which made many passengers wretchedly ill. The smell of the chamber pots used for toileting and the vomit due to seasickness was inescapable.

There must have been time aplenty during that voyage for our ancestors to dream of the future as well as reflect upon memories of the past.

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The first Keipes traceable through Luxembourg birth records in direct lineage from father to son, was Michel who was born in 1555 at , Clervaux. At the time of Michel’s birth, the Native Americans still controlled the land in America which would become the home of his descendants. Queen Mary I assumed the throne of England left vacant by the death of her father, Henry the Eighth. Ivan the Terrible was Tsar in Russia. The writings of the upstart Martin Luther in Germany were swiftly circulating round Europe thanks to the new Gutenberg printing press. Luxembourg was part of Spanish Netherlands and had just seen a new king, Phillip II, succeed to the throne. After the fall of the royal House of Luxembourg in the previous century, the country had passed from one great European power to another – the Holy Roman Emperors, the House of Burgundy, the Habsburgs, the French and Spanish kings, and finally the Prussians – for centuries before regaining independence in 1815.

The marriage of Michel Keipes produced a son named Jean in 1590, who in turn married and sired Jean Michel Keipes. The birth records contain no information about the wives of Michel and Jean.

Jean Michel Keipes (1618-1683) was born two years before the Puritan pilgrims on the Mayflower landed at Cape Cod. He married a woman named Marie (1627-1696), and together they had a son also named Jean Michel.

Jean Michel Keipes Jr. (1650-1730) was married at the age of 23 to Marie deBeur from Lullange, Clervaux, the daughter of Michel deBeur and Anne Catherine Kingen. Over the following 21 years, she bore him twelve children:

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1 KEIPES, Barbe (1674- ) 7 KEIPES, Marie Elisabeth (1686- ) 2 KEIPES, Nicolas (1675-1730) 8 KEIPES, Jean (1688- ) 3 KEIPES, Engelbert (1678- ) 9 KEIPES, Susanne (1688- ) 4 KEIPES, Marguerite (1680- ) 10 KEIPES, Odile (1690- ) 5 KEIPES, Cathérine (1683- ) 11 KEIPES, Henry (1693- ) 6 KEIPES, Anne Marguerite (1685- ) 12 KEIPES, Susanne (1695- )

During Jean Michel’s lifetime, the world would see the Catholic Church murder thousands in the Inquisition; London first decimated by the Plague then burnt to cinders in the Great Fire of 1666; and the Salem Witch Trials conducted in Massachusetts. In 1685, Luxembourg was invaded by “the Sun King” Louis XIV of France who occupied the country until 1697 when a war-ending treaty returned Luxembourg to the Spanish Habsburgs. Jean Michel died on January 26, 1730 at Boevange, Clervaux.

Nicolas Keipes (27 Nov 1675 – 05 Feb 1730), the second-born son of Jean Michel and Marie, married Elisabeth Scholtes (c.1678 – 5 Nov 1741) on November 23, 1701. Together they had four children: Marie-Régine in 1703, Jean in 1705, Nicolas in 1708 and Jean Michel in 1711. In 1715, Luxembourg came under the control of the Austrian Habsburgs when the Spanish Habsburg line died out, and was then considered part of the Austrian Netherlands.

Jean Michel Keipes (13 Sep 1711 – ______), the youngest child of Nicolas and Elisabeth, married Anne Marie Plotes in 1735. Records show them childless for eight years until the arrival of Jean in 1743, Eligius seven years later in 1750, and Michel ten years after that in 1760. Jean married Marie Josephine DeBeure in 1701 and had two sons – Jean Hubert and Francois Xavier – through whose descendants other Keipes branches can be traced, some currently residing in America (see Appendix).

Eligius Keipes (c.1750 – 22 Apr 1801) was born in Luxembourg but eventually migrated to the German town of Lichtenborn. Revolution drove the spirit of 8 the times during the life of Eligius. He was 26 years old when America declared its independence from Britain. He married Margarethe Meyers on March 1, 1782, and their only child, Francois, was born one year later. The French Revolution was soon underway and in 1792, they invaded and occupied Luxembourg until the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815. Eligius died in Germany during French rule of his homeland.

Francois Keipes (25 Aug 1783 – 21 Apr 1860), born in Germany, returned to Clervaux where he married Anne Marguerite . Their children were Catherine (born 1819), Pierre (born 1821) and Marguerite (born 1824). Marguerite did not survive the first year of life, and her mother Anne also died in 1825 at the age of 26. Seven years later, Francois remarried and had a son named Nicolas with his wife Catherine Molitor.

Pierre Keipes (18 Mar 1821 – 29 Dec 1894), the only son of Francois and the late Anne, was born in Clervaux but moved south to Goesdorf, Wiltz where he married Marguerite Bauler on January 23, 1843. They would eventually have ten children over a span of about twenty years, the last of whom was born one year before Abraham Lincoln was murdered. Their youngest son Pierre, also called Peter, would grow up to be the man who with father-in-law Matthias Helzing, wife Susanna and four surviving children sailed west to America and a new life in March of 1892.

The Westernland safely crossed the Atlantic Ocean and came to port at Ellis Island on March 29, 1892. The passengers were surveyed and an updated list was presented to the Port Authority detailing the 1401 travellers including one baby born during the voyage.

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At Ellis Island, the Keipes family would ascend from their lower deck to be transported from the pier by ferry or barge to the Registry Room in the Great Hall for a medical and legal inspection. With papers in order and reasonably good health, the inspection process might last approximately three to five hours. Doctors would briefly scan them for obvious ailments via "six second physicals." By 1916, it was said that a doctor could identify numerous medical conditions (ranging from anemia to goiters to varicose veins) just by glancing at an immigrant. Two percent of arriving immigrants were turned away and immediately deported, if thought to carry a dangerous contagion or if they might need institutionalization instead of becoming productive citizens. It was due to this 2% that the name “Island of Tears” was conferred upon Ellis Island.

Note: the last known historical record for Susanna’s father Mathias Helzing as of this writing is the Westernland’s passenger list. It is unknown whether he was allowed entry to the United States or went back to Luxembourg and we know nothing of his fate. 10

Ellis Island Immigration Station, 1892.

From Ellis Island, the family made their way to Chicago and eventually settled in the Back of the Yards at 1415 West 49th Place (also known as Bronson Street) where they began blending into American life. Mathias, the eldest son, who was 9 years old when they arrived, and baby Sophie kept their original names. Jean-Pierre, age seven, was renamed James and 5-year-old Marie was called Mary. After settling in, Peter went on to find work as a bricklayer and Susanna resumed her career as a midwife. The couple continued to have children.

On July 12, 1897, they had a healthy baby girl named Josephine.

In August of 1898, another daughter named Kate was born but she died of pneumonia five months later.

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One year later, Sophie contracted whooping cough which led to pneumonia and she died on February 20, 1900. She was 7 years old.

Was there a third child born in this country who did not survive? Among the names on Keipes family tombstone at St. Mary’s Cemetery is engraved “children: Peter Jr., Sophia, Katharina”. The couple had children about every two years in Luxembourg. After arriving here in 1892, there is a five year gap before the births of Josephine in 1897 and Kate in 1898; other children may have come and gone or been miscarried. Records research continues for the child named Peter possibly born in Chicago.

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According to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Peter and Susanna, then both 43 years old, are living together with 16-year-old James (already at work in the stockyards), Mary 14, and the 2-year-old Josephine. Seventeen year old Mathias is not shown. Interestingly, the same census shows the Schweisthal family living a rented house near Archer and Canal with their six children, including a 20-year-old daughter named Mary. An entry for the family next door lists Mathias Keipes, born in September of 1882, living there while working as a “servant”.

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Susanna and Peter both died in 1929 within months of one another. First it was Susanna on January 21, 1929 at age of 73 from “chronic interstitial nephritis”, kidney failure brought on by infection or exposure to toxic chemicals/drugs. In today’s world, dialysis could have saved her. Peter died of pneumonia sixth months later on June 1.

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As for the descendants of Susanna and Peter Keipes:

James (1884-1956) married Jean Thomson (1887-1977), a Scottish immigrant, on June 28, 1910. They had a son Edwin (1914-1919) who died of diphtheria, and three daughters: Helen (1923-1941) who died of appendix rupture; Grace Marion (b. 17 Mar 1912) who married Joseph A. Hamilton in 1933 (possibly moved to California); and

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Lorraine Edith (b. 27 Mar 1921). James died in 1956 and is buried on the family plot at St. Mary’s. Jean’s burial place and details regarding surviving daughters are unknown.

Mary Keipes (1886-19710 married Arthur Thompson (1886-1965) on February 14, 1914. They had no children. Both buried on the Keipes family plot at St. Mary’s.

Josephine Keipes (1897-1984) married Zigmund Ostrowski (1890-1978) on June 30, 1920. They had a daughter named Dorothy (1920-2009).

Mathias Keipes (1882-1960) married Mary Schweisthal (1879-1964) on September 19, 1905, and had six children, all delivered by their grandmother Susanna: • Joseph (1907-1941), married Katherine (1908-1935) and Stella (1907-), no children • Marie, (1908-1960), married Andrew (1905-1979), a son who died, two daughters • Mathias, (1909-1982), married Justine (1911-1993), two daughters • Peter, (1911-1990), married Ann, two daughters and one son, Dennis Keipes • Catherine, (1914-2005), married John (1905-1966), no children • Thomas, (1916-1943), died in WWII unmarried and without children.

And thus concludes four hundred years of history – beginning with Michel born in Luxembourg in the 1550s and ending with Dennis born in Chicago in the 1950s – of one line of Keipes male descendants.

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APPENDICES Appendix A. Husband of Susanna: Pierre/Peter Keipes family of origin: parents and siblings per the records of Rob Deltgen (www.deltgen.com) who is translating Luxembourg records and uploading to the internet since 2001

Familienblatt für: Pierre KEIPES und Marguerite BAULER

Erstellt am 03.04.2011 von Herr Rob Deltgen mit Gen_Plus aus Mandant: C:\GEN_PLUSWIN\DELTGEN\

Father: Pierre KEIPES

Birth18.03.1821 in Clervaux G.D. de Luxembourg.

Profession: 1843 Day Laborer.

Death29.12.1894 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

His Parents:

François KEIPES Birth25.08.1783 in Lichtenborn Prüm Rheinland Pfalz Deutschland. Professions: 1817 Day Laborer. 1832 Farmer. Death21.04.1860 in Hosingen Clervaux G.D. de Luxembourg. Married14.10.1817 in Hosingen mit Anne Marguerite HOSCHEID Birth01.11.1798 in Hosingen Clervaux G.D. de Luxembourg. Death21.01.1825 in Hosingen Clervaux G.D. de Luxembourg.

Married23.01.1843 in Goesdorf Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg (Urk.-Nr.: 1843/3) .mit

Mother: Marguerite BAULER

Birth05.03.1823 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Death24.04.1890 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Her Parents:

Jean BAULER Birth21.02.1785 in Merkholtz Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg. Death20.10.1848 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg. Married16.05.1810 in Alscheid mit Cathérine BOEVER (Beres) Birth07.04.1784 in Erpeldange les Diekirch G.D. de Luxembourg. + Death 1854.

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Children:

1. François KEIPES Birth04.03.1843 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

2. Jean KEIPES Birth31.05.1845 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Profession: 1902 Manual Laborer.

Marriage: Married19.01.1874 in Wiltz Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg. Mit Cathérine OESTREICHER Birth13.03.1850 in Wiltz Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg. Death28.01.1897 in Wiltz Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Death 1902 in Wiltz Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

3. Anne KEIPES Birth22.08.1846 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Death 09.02.1849 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

4. Elisabeth KEIPES Birth16.12.1847 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

5. Mathieu KEIPES Birth01.11.1849 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Profession: 1895 Farmhand.

Marriages: Married 26.10.1880 in Goesdorf Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg (Urk.-Nr.: 1880/9) . Mit Cathérine LINGEN Birth16.06.1852 in Beiler Clervaux G.D. de Luxembourg. Death16.06.1893 in Heiderscheid- Dierbach Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Married 21.08.1895 in Wiltz Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg. Mit Cathérine SCHLOESSER Birth04.09.1856 in Wiltz Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

6. Dominique KEIPES Birth07.10.1852 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Profession: 1880 Farmhand.

Death17.08.1917 in Bourscheid Diekirch G.D. de Luxembourg.

Marriage: Married09.06.1880 in Bourscheid Diekirch G.D. de Luxembourg (Urk.-Nr.: 1880/11) . Mit Marie KABER Birth02.06.1853 in Bourscheid Diekirch G.D. de Luxembourg. Death18.11.1922 in Bourscheid Diekirch G.D. de Luxembourg.

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7. Mathieu KEIPES Birth29.03.1854 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Profession: 1882 Day Laborer.

Death17.07.1910 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Marriage: Married14.03.1882 in Goesdorf Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg. Quellen: Goesdorf RC; 1-1882. Mit Marie PINT Birth10.03.1859 in Dasburg Rheinland Pfalz Deutschland. Death 1925.

8. Pierre KEIPES Birth01.06.1856 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Profession: 17.05.1882 Farmhand in Weicherdange Clervaux G.D. de Luxembourg.

Marriage: Married17.05.1882 in Clervaux Clervaux G.D. de Luxembourg (Urk.-Nr.: 1882/4) Mit Susanne HELZING Birth25.01.1857 in Weicherdange Clervaux G.D. de Luxembourg.

9. Marguerite KEIPES Birth02.01.1858 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Death14.04.1883 in Brachtenbach Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Marriage: Married04.07.1882 in Clervaux G.D. de Luxembourg. Mit Jean LULLING Birth05.03.1850 in Brachtenbach Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg. Death21.07.1929 in Brachtenbach Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

10. Marguerite KEIPES Birth13.02.1864 in Dahl Wiltz G.D. de Luxembourg.

Marriage: Married17.02.1895 in Bourscheid Diekirch G.D. de Luxembourg. Quellen: Bourscheid RC; 3-1895. Mit Bernard SCHINTGEN Birth17.12.1858 in Oberfeulen Diekirch G.D. de Luxembourg. Profession: Farmhand.

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Appendix B. Just for fun: how we are related. Jean Keipes, born 1555, is the great great great great great great great great great great grandfather of Dennis. Engelbert Keipes, born June 8, 1678, is Andrea’s great great great great great great great uncle. Francois Xavier Keipes, born December 3, 1752, is the first cousin seven times removed of Lianne (eighth cousin). Marguerite Keipes Schintgen, born February 13, 1864, is Joe Estka’s great great great aunt.

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References: http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/nutshell.html http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/ellis_island_timeline.asp http://search.ancestry.com/Browse/View.aspx?dbid=7488&path=1892.03.29.Westernland.1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellis_Island#Immigration_station http://www.progenealogists.com/genealogysleuthb.htm

LUXEMBOURG CIVIL REGISTRATION RECORDS

Peter/Pierre birth record 1856 https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379146.004379146_00628

Susanna birth record 1856

1882 Marriage Records https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379143.004379143_01308 showing Pierre and Susanna marriage on May 17 https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379143.004379143_01303 Decennial tables showing marriage https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379018.004379018_01356

#1 child September 11, 1882 birth record of Mathias https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379369.004379369_01361

#2-3 child 1884 record of births for Weicherdange https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379369.004379369_01399 showing entries for Susanne and Pierre’s twins Peter and Peter born on April 28 Uncle Jim=Jean Pierre https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379369.004379369_01390

1884 record of deaths https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379256.004379256_00920 showing death of one child “Peter” on May 11 1884 https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379256.004379256_00915

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#4 child 1886 Aunt Mary’s birth record born on april 28 https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379369.004379369_01419

#5 child Jean Henri/Johann Heinrich 1888 record of births Weicherdange https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379369.004379369_01482 showing Entry for Jean “Johann” Keipes 11 May 1889 https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379369.004379369_01473

1890 death records Weicherdange (listed as Heinrich Keipes) https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379256.004379256_00997 Entry for death of Jean Keipes on 2 August of that year https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379256.004379256_00990

#6 child Sophie 1891 record of births Clervaux https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379271.004379271_00450 showing birth of Sophie on May 18 https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379271.004379271_00439

30 Nov 1877 death of Margarethe/Marguerite Bock, mother of Susanna Helzing Keipes https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379256.004379256_00824

Decennial Table showing birth of Keipes children https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379018.004379018_01373

Decennial Table showing deaths of Pierre 11May1884 and Henri on 2Aug1890 https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/pal%3A/MM9.1.i /dgs%3A004379018.004379018_01388

LUXEMBOURG CIVIL REGISTRATION RECORDS ON LDS WEBSITE https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/waypoint/53109 91 https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A//api.familysearch.org/records/waypoint/53109 92

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