In 1794, William & Salome Nagel sold 104 acres of land to Mathias Kleiser for the sum of 15 pounds. The deed indicates that the property is located in Shenandoah County (now Page County) Virginia along Pass Run. Pass Run begins at the top of the Blue Ridge mountains near Thornton Gap and runs through the foothills down to the little hamlet called Kimball, near Luray, Virginia and on to the Shenandoah River.
Mathias worked in the blacksmith trade in relation to farming and so did his sons, Martin and John. In 1824, Mathias made up his last will and testament (see copy of his will on the Mathias Kleiser page) in which Martin & John were named to inherit the wagons and team as well as the blacksmith tools. The land was to be equally divided between Martin, John & David. His daughters, who are not mentioedn my name, was to receive 100 dollars each. His wife Barbara, was to receive all the personals.
Mathias died in 1825 and his wife Barbara died in 1828. They are buried side-by-side in a small family cemetery in Kimball, on top of a hill below Kibler Knob overlooking the valley. This little family cemetery has 10 tombstones; buried there are Kibler's, Shenks, Samuel Cliser and Mathias & Barbara Klizer.
Mathias could very well have had a brother or cousin living nearby in Romney, Virginia (now West Virginia). Only 2 years apart in age, Joseph Kleiser was born in 1763. The link to more information on this well documented Kleiser family is here: Joseph Kleiser.
In doing research it was clear that spelling variations were very common. Mathias Kleiser was also recorded as Gleiser, Clizer, Cliser & Klizer. On two documents, Mathias' marriage record as well as his last will & testament, Mathias signs his last name as GLEISER.Mathias & Barbara Kleiser had 9 children, all born in Virginia. They are also recorded in the Hawksbill Reformed Lutheran Church records and the 1820 Census, they are:
1. MARTIN CLIZER - born January 1, 1792. Married to Sarah Fletcher on December 26, 1826. Later Martin purchased 1,166 acres of land on top of the mountain bordering Rappahannock County & Page County in 1833. Martin died in 1849. See link below for this family line. Also this link includes a photograph of Sarah Fletcher Clizer, Martin Clizer's wife. MARTIN & SARAH CLISER
2. JOHN (JOHANN) CLIZER - born in January 1795. Married to Arisba Wood on August 12, 1828. They both lived in Page County and later moved to Missouri. John died in 1847. See link for this family line. JOHN and ARISBA CLIZER
3. MARY (MARIA) CLISER - born in 1797. Married to Robert Catlett Lampton in 1821. Mary's brother Martin was bondsman in their marriage. They moved to Licking County, Ohio. See link for family line info MARY "MARIA" CLISER - LAMPTON
4. EVE (EVA & EFFERINA) CLIZER - born in 1802, died April 5, 1876. Married to James Harvey Lehew in 1826. Link for this family line: EVE CLIZER - LEHEW
5. CATHERINE (CATARINA) CLIZER - born 1798. Married to Martin Frank (Fronk)
6. DAVID CLIZER - born 1799 in Shenandoah County, Virginia. Married to Philadelphia Fletcher, a widow with six children. They moved to Bates County, Missouri.
DAVID & PHILADELPHIA CLISER
7. MAGDELINA CLIZER - born 1800
8. NATHALINA CLIZER - born 1801
9. SAMUEL CLIZER - born 1803
PHOTOGRAPHS / VIDEO & ADDITIONAL LINKS BELOW