Kau(t)z (Kautz)

Jeorg Jacob Kauz [sometimes spelled Kauss, Kauz, Kauzen], son of Peter & Maria Elisabetha Kauss, was baptized in the parish church in Erpolzheim on 2 March 1730. According to records in Russia, he had been born in the village of Ungstein a few kilometers west of Erpolzheim.

The marriage of Georg Jacob Kauz & Maria Elisabetha Merteshimer (perhaps Marteschfer) is recorded in the parish register of Erpolzheim on 20 February 1757. The baptism of the following children are also recorded in the parish register of Erpolzheim: (1) Maria Elisabetha, baptized 19 November 1758; (2) Johannes, born 31 July 1760, baptized 3 August 1760; (3) unnamed daughter, died 25 September 1761; (4) Anna Elisabeth, born 24 February 1763, baptized 27 February 1763; (5) Georg Jakob, baptized 31 January 1765, died 4 May 1765.

Jakob Kauz, a vintner, his wife Maria, and daughters (Maria, age 10; Anna, age 4) arrived from Lübeck at the port of Oranienbaum on 18 July 1766 on a Russian packet-boat named Svyatoi Nikolai (St. Nicholas) under the command of Midshipman Thomas McKenzie.

They settled in the Volga German colony of Kautz on 20 May 1767. Georg Jakob Kautz, a vintner, his [new?] wife Maria Elisabeth, children (Anna Elisabeth, age 5; Johann Heinrich, age 3-weeks), and stepdaughter Wihelmina [surname & age not recorded] are recorded on the 1767 census of Kautz in Household No. 1.

Georg Jakob Kauz was the first mayor (Vorsteher) of the colony, and it was named after him. 

Before 1798, Georg Jakob Kauz and his family moved to the neighboring colony of Merkel where they are recorded on the 1798 census in Household Mr19.

Konrad Kautz from Merkel is recorded on the 1798 census of Dietel in Household No. Dt15.

The 1767 census records that the Kauz family came from the German village of Ungstein in Leiningen.