, he married Mary Veit at St. Cecilia's RC Church in Sheldon.  Martin and Mary initially settled in Bennington, New York, but soon moved to Michigan, where they raised their children. 

The children of Martin and Mary are:

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Third Generation

i.	Angeline Zehler	Angeline was born in June 187235, and she died 1958.  Angeline married Harry L. Hand.
ii.	Anna Marie Zehler	Anna was born on October 2, 187536, and she died on April 3, 195036.  Anna married Herman Avink.
iii.	Martin Jacob Zehler	Martin was born on April 6, 187811, and he died on August 4, 194637.  Martin married Nora M. Keating.

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Martin's Baptismal Record

Mathias Zehler was born February 15, 1841⁵, in the tiny village of Nuhweiler, the sixth child of Peter Zehler and Anna Maria Klasen.  His birth was registered with the civil authorities at Wadern the following day⁵.  However, Martin's baptismal record⁴, shown at right, gives his date of birth as December 16^th, a discrepancy which is common for four of his siblings.  (see Peter for additional comments).

Martin's Birth Record

Martin grew up on the family farm in Nuhweiler.  Then, at until the age of 15, he came to America with his parents and eight siblings.  After arriving in America, Mathias, soon begin work as a farm laborer, following the example of his older brothers.  Thus in 1860, at the age of 19, he was residing on the farm of Benjamin Thatcher in the Town of Murray, Orleans Ccounty, New York, and working as a farm laborer¹⁶.  Then in 1865, he was working on the farm of Joseph Billings, again in Orleans County¹²⁵.  By this time, he was also going by the name Martin, a name he continued to use throughout his life.

On January 15, 1867, Martin married Mary Veit at St. Cecilia's in Sheldon.  Maria was born August 31, 1846¹²⁶, in Selbach, Principality of Birkenfeld, Oldenburg, the daughter of Peter Veit and Catharine Dewes.  The Veit family was another of the immigrant families from the Saar area who settled in Sheldon and Bennington.  They came from the village of Selbach, a few kilometers east of Mettnich.  Peter and Anna Maria, along with Mathias and his siblings, may have hidden in Selbach during the year prior to coming to America.  At the time Selbach was located in the Principality of Brikenfeld, a possession of Oldenburg, making it a likely place to avoid the Prussian authorities.  This period in the family's history remains a mystery.

After their marriage, Martin and Mary continued to live in Orleans county, where he worked as a farm laborer.  About 1871, Martin joined his oldest brother, John, and moved to Michigan, where he found work in the lumber industry.  In November 1871, they purchased a house in the city of Big Rapids ¹⁷.  However, they only lived in Big Rapids for a brief time, for in March of 1873, Martin and Mary sold their property to his younger brother, Frederick, and proceeded to move to Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Martin and Mary lived the remainder of their lives in Grand Rapids, raising a family of three children.  Martin continued to work in the lumber industry and his death certificate gives this occupation as Lumber Scaler¹¹.  Martin died there on July 31, 1911¹¹, and Mary lived on until 1919¹²⁷.  They are buried in Mt. Cavalry cemetery, Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Martin's head stone bears the name Mathias Zehler.

Dorothy Zehler

Dorothy Ruth Zehler was born September 13, 1908¹⁸, in San Francisco, California, the first child of Martin Zehler and Nora Keating.  She grew up in San Francisco and in August 1929⁴⁰, she married Charles Aloysius McClory, a San Francisco attorney.  Charles and Dorothy had one child.  In the 1930's⁴⁰, Charles and Dorothy divorced.  Charles died January 4, 1973¹⁸, in San Francisco.

On June 10, 1939⁴⁰, Dorothy married Frederick C. Cutchshaw in Reno, Nevada.  Frederick was born January 21, 1905¹⁸.  Frederick and Dorothy initially lived in San Francisco, where Frederick was an Accountant.  They later moved to San Diego, California.  Frederick died April 5, 1979¹⁸, in San Dieago and Dorothy died on September 4, 1997¹⁸, in Anaheim California.

Martin Zehler

Martin Jacob Zehler was born August 28, 1910,¹⁸, in San Francisco, California, the second child of Martin Zehler and Nora Keating.  He grew up in San Francisco, where he followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a bridge man⁴⁰.  On September 4, 1954, he married Wilma Black in Carmel, California.  Wilma was born July 1, 1917 ¹⁸, in Mason City, Iowa, the daughter of Henry Black and Louise Leonard.  Martin and Wilma lived in Los Altos, San Francisco and Sebastopol, California.

Martin worked as a pile driver for the Port of San Francisco⁴⁰.  His career included work on the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge⁴⁰.  Martin was a veteran of WWII and served as a Sergeant in the Army Engineer Corp⁴⁰.  Wilma was trained as a business sectretary and was employed as Secretary for the Binks Manufacturing Co. in San Francisco⁴⁰.  Before her marriage to Martin, she was Secretary and Expediter for Westinghouse electric in Minniapolis, Minnesota, for fifteen years⁴⁰.

Martin Zehler died in Sebastopol on May 11, 1991, and Wilma died there December 10, 2005.

These pages are our initial attempt to capture the history and genealogy of the Zehler family.  If you have comments or additional information which would add to this story, please contact us at the following address: