Since finding the Konzens in Lellig, Luxembourg, the three of us have only come up with more questions about the Konzens. Such as are Catherine and Angela Susanna the children of Peter’s brother Wilhelm (born 1797)? If so, where were they born and who was their mother and when did they come to the US? We haven’t been able to find any records of their immigration (other than estimates that they gave census makers).
I’ll explain more about the Angela Susanna and Catherine mystery in my next posts, but I wrote a letter to the Catholic churches in Lellig and Herborn, Luxembourg, asking for more information about the Konzens and their descendants and ancestors. I haven’t received a response from either of them, yet, but I’m still hopeful. I’ve also ordered in a bunch more microfilms of records (civil and parish) in Lellig and Herborn in hopes of finding Angela Susanna and Catherine or Wilhelm and his family. So far (and I have a bunch of films to still look through) we’ve only found some random Konzens and Kons – and they could be related, but since the records we’ve found them in don’t give any details about them except their name and the date of the event (birth, marriage, or death).
However, we have found some more information on Elisabeth Konzen (daughter of Theodore Konzen & Catherine Scholer and sister of Peter Konzen). Paula – who is the queen of web searches – found a link for Elisabeth on a German genealogy site http://gedbas.genealogy.net/datenblatt.jsp?nr=1029977294. There’s a family tree entered for Elisabeth on the site and it says that she married Matthias Michels, had eight kids, and then died in Trierweiler, Germany. The site continues to list descendants of most of Elisabeth’s children. I’ll be adding this to the blog’s family tree (once I finish with our Konzens) and hopefully we’ll make contact with Elisabeth’s descendants one day.
I’ve ordered microfilms of parish records for Trierweiler in hopes of finding more information on the Konzens – even if it’s just records for Elisabeth’s kids and their families.
Konzen Genealogy 
Hi! I can prove that Katharina Kontzem, the wife of Jacob Gales the gendarme, was the daughter of your Wilhelm Kontzem and his wife, Catharina Hoffman. It’s all in her and her father’s marriage certificates, which were both witnessed and filed in Betzdorf, LUX, 4.4 miles ( or 7.1 km ) southwest of Lellig. According to Katharina’s record, dated 27 February 1845, she was born on 30 November 1820 in Olingen, LUX. Olingen is 6 miles ( or 10 km ) southwest of Lellig and 1.7 miles ( 2.8 km ) southwest of Betzdorf. Yes, Olingen was where Wilhelm had been living since he got married. It was his wife Catharina Hoffman’s birthplace and hometown. His own marriage certificate, dated 11 February 1820, named him as the son of Theodore Kontzem and Catharina Scholer and his bride as the daughter of Johann Hoffman and Maria Stemper. Obviously, Katharina Kontzem Gales was their firstborn. I don’t have the death certificates for her and her parents but I do know that she was still living in 1879, when her husband, the retired gendarme, died in Olingen. Their son, Mathias Gales II ( 1846 – 1920 ), went to America in October 1881, followed by his wife, Elisabetha Apel of Matchum ( 1874 – 1931 ), and their five children in March 1882. They all settled in Barton and Edwards Counties, Kansas. Kontzem is not my direct line; it belonged to my grandmother’s favorite cousin, the daughter of Mathias Gales III, the youngest son. You’ve been doing a good job with your research of the Kontzem ancestry. I’m impressed! As they say in Luxembourg, Schéi Feierdeeg an e glécklecht neit Joer!
Wilbur, thank you so much for solving the mystery of Wilhelm and Olingen. I found Wilhelm and Katharina’s marriage records in the Betzdorf civil registers after I read your comment and they are exactly as you say. I owe you for all your information and help and I’m grateful that you read my post. I love doing genealogy, but – as I’m sure you know – sometimes it can drive you crazy with all the dead ends you run it. Information like this is what makes it all worth it. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, too! And thank you again for your help!