We were discussing John Kains/Kines in the last note and I presented some information suggesting that he might have originated in Eisern, just south of Siegen. I admitted that I did not know how the name was spelled in German. Elke Hall made a suggestion for the spelling that it could be Kainz. She added, "Lots of them there."
In my copy of Rupp, I find the name Kantz which is acceptably close, considering a couple of hundred of years have gone by. Hans Georg Kantz came in 1749 on a ship, which also brought Johannes Steinseiffer, Hermanus Battenburg, Engelbart Jung, and Herman Schneider. I won’t count the Müller and the Zimmerman names. These names are found in Nassau-Siegen area and in particular in Eisern. But this is not our man because he is too late.
Also, in 1749 another ship brought Jacob Kantz and Michael Kantz. The other passengers do not particularly suggest Eisern. In 1754 Johannes Kantz came, and again the passenger list does not suggest Eisern.
Our John Kains/Kines received a land patent in 1736. He could have been here for a while before this time, perhaps even before the immigration records were being kept at Philadelphia (1727). Or he might have fallen through the cracks in being reported. Or, he appears in the lists as having another name. But what I was attempting to suggest was that he probably did come from Eisern.
The George Kantz above does not appear in Virginia, that we know. Again, that does not mean much. Some people stayed in Pennsylvania, and some went on to Virginia. John Huffman came directly to Virginia and lived there. His younger brother, William, came to Pennsylvania and lived there. Their brother Henry went to Virginia.
I mentioned there was a man looking for his Kines ancestor. It does not appear to be the Virginia man but he might be a related person who lived in Pennsylvania.
The ship’s captain (for the ship bringing George Kantz) said his passengers were Palatines and people from the duchy of "Wirtemberg". I would not put any faith in what the captains gave for a place of origin. Very likely he had people from these places, but he could also have had people from the Alsace, Baden, Hesse, and Nassau-Siegen.
Going back to name changing in the Trupbach history, Battenberg has replaced Bottenberg, or is it vice versa? Not that it matters; it illustrates that changes do occur.
(18 Jul 00)
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