Categories: Genealogy, History, Slavery

As the story goes … we’re all related one way or another. But this can be misleading when it comes to people sharing the exact same surnames, even when those people are from the same region or even the same parish and city.

One example is the omnipresent Wiltz surname in south Louisiana. In fact, the carriers of this surname (spelled many different ways over time) do not all share a common Wiltz ancestor. And as always, I standardize spellings based on today’s prevailing patterns in French and German, but capture the original record’s spelling in citations or/and quotes.

For those of European stock, I’ve tracked 3 different Wiltz progenitors: 1 from Switzerland, 1 from Germany, and a third possibly also from Switzerland. Then there are many Wiltz of color who descend from slaves belonging to these families, some of the slaves being biological Wiltzes, others carrying the name after slavery but not biologically.

I won’t discuss all these different Wiltz families in this post, but instead will give a snapshot of one of the Swiss families, the one with the most numerous descendants in south Louisiana today. The Swiss were never especially numerous in Louisiana, so this family stands out as somewhat unique.

SWITZERLAND

In south Louisiana today, most Wiltzes/Viltzes hail from St. Martin Parish. Those who are multigenerational carriers of any European stock usually descend from Johann or Hans Wiltz and Margaretha Büttler or Bigler, who at one time lived Walkringen, a hamlet in Canton Bern in the central German-speaking part of Switzerland. Today, Walkringen has a population of about 1,700 people.

Johann “Jean” and Margaretha “Marguerite” made their way to New Orleans in 1720 with an unnamed child.¹ In 1725, Johann, under the name Jean Vice, sued Yves Guéret du Rivage, a master contractor in New Orleans, for 43 livres and 4 days of labor, which Guéret owed him. Johann’s son-in-law, Nicolas Christinas, signed for him on the record.²

Johann died not long after and was interred on 1 December 1727.³ His burial record states that he was from “Valerin, Canton de Berne,” which is almost surely Wahlern, today called Schwazenburg. He and Margaretha had at least two children, including Johann or Hans Niklaus “Jean Nicolas” Wiltz and Anna Katharina “Anne-Catherine” Wiltz. For now, we do not know exactly when Johann (the father), Margaretha, Niklaus, or Anna were born, and do not know where either of the women were born. Anne-Marie married Nicolas Christinas, a German-speaking carpenter, and died in 1766 at the Pointe-Coupée Post.⁴ Nicolas Wiltz is the ancestor to most Wiltzes and Viltzes of any European descent from St. Martin, Iberia, and Lafayette parishes.

For a while after Johann’s death in 1727, his family continued living in the New Orleans area. His son Nicolas married a fellow Swiss woman named Maria Magdalena “Marie-Magdeleine” Pinter in 1731, and their Catholic marriage appears in St. Louis Cathedral’s registers. Their marriage clarifies that Nicolas was born in Walkringen, and Marie-Magdeleine in Arenbach, and that the bride was a widow of Johann Hans Georg “Jean Georges Chutz” Schütz. Jean had died in Natchez and he must’ve married Marie-Magdeleine in about 1728, possibly in Natchez (see Image 2 below).⁵ Nicolas signed this record in a clear and heavy hand: Nicolas Wise. Elsewhere, he signed his name as Nicola Wisse. All of these Gallicized renderings of his name make phonetic sense in French, and probably were new to him, hence his own signature variation.⁶

I’ve read through the Evangelical Reformed Church registers in Walkringen for Nicolas’s baptism between 1698 and 1710 and also reviewed the marriage register covering those same years. I saw no Wiltz, Wise, Wisse, or similar spellings; however, there are Biglers present. But in neighboring Biglen and further southwest in Wahlern, there are “Wÿß” [Wyss] in both places, and some of them married Biglers. Wyss /vees/ sounds very close to the French spelling Vice or Vise /vees/. More research needed to zero in on this specific family. But they do not descend from the Eisenach, Germany Wiltzes who settled Mobile, Pensacola, and later New Orleans and St. Tammany Parish. This latter family I will discuss in part 2.

Marie-Magdeleine and her first husband, Jean Georges Schütz, arrived in Louisiana in 1720 already married.⁷ Schütz was garrisoned at the Natchez Post for some time after their arrival in 1720. He appears in a Natchez census in 1726 with his wife, and no children lived with them at the time.⁸ On 28 November 1729, a band of Native Americans attacked and killed many White soldiers and some of their families at the Natchez fort and environs. Marie-Magdeleine and their son Laurent survived.⁹

Jean and Marie-Magdeleine had at least one son, Laurent Schütz, born in 1728 or 1729 in Natchez, and he married into the prolific Bergeron family at New Roads in 1760.¹⁰ He is the progenitor of the Chüstz family still in Pointe Coupée and southwest Louisiana, including my cousins in Baton Rouge. But this line can prove very confusing to researchers. Laurent may have sometimes used Wiltz (or some other phonetic spelling) alongside Schütz. In St. Martin Parish, his children and grandchildren appear in records interchangeably with both surnames, but I have not seen the originals to know if Fr. Hébert’s team made that assumption or if the records really do show them using both surnames.¹¹

Shortly after marrying, Nicolas and Marie-Magdeleine had one daughter (Marie Catherine “Anne-Catherine/Anne-Marie”) in New Orleans in 1733.¹² By 1742, the couple had relocated to False River in Pointe Coupée Parish, where two more sons were born: Philippe in 1742, and Joseph in 1744.¹³ Nicolas died when the three children were minors in 1760 on False River.¹⁴ Marie Magdeleine died in March 1751 on False River and we see that both parents were deceased when their daughter Anne-Marie married Aide-Major Louis-Armand Ducrest in New Roads in 1756, Marie-Magdeleine was already dead.¹⁵

From 1770 to 1775, a mass migration occurred from Pointe Coupée Parish to Sts. Martin and Landry parishes when the Spanish administration issued land grants in those nascent military districts and trading posts. The Opelousas District was founded in 1771 (not in 1720*) as a direct result of this land grab, and for this reason, southwest Louisiana west of the Atchafalaya River became home to many Pointe Coupée families, like the Dausat/Dozat, (some) Bergerons, Chüstzes, Auzennes/Ozennes, Labbés, Barras, and Décuirs. A lot of these families homesteaded on land next to each other, especially in St Martin Parish.

Anne-Catherine, Philippe, and Joseph followed these families and established themselves in the area just north of St. Martinville. Joseph never married, but Philippe did (to Anne-Marie Rose Dausat) in 1769 before relocating, and left at least 7 children with Rose.¹⁶ Meanwhile, Anne-Marie Wiltz and Louis-Armand Ducrest produced a family of 8 children.¹⁷ Joseph fathered several children with his sister Anne-Catherine and brother-in-law Louis-Armand’s négresse slave Françoise Armand. Because this one nuclear family produced large families on sprawling arpentage of land in one specific area, the area became known as La Pointe des Wiltz (= Wiltz Point), today only known as La Pointe. Their Labbé, Décuir, Dozat, and Barras relatives were also in La Pointe and neighboring Cypress Island and many intermarried with the Wiltz and Ducrest branches. It is in St. Martin Parish that today’s most common spelling of the name — Wiltz — took root.

I’ve already written about Françoise Armand and her children in a different post here, so will not discuss further. But I wanted to briefly mention that Philippe and Rose, and Anne-Catherine and Louis-Armand, and their families, emerged as large slaveholders:

• Louis-Armand died in 1797 and his inventory includes 11 slaves, including Françoise Armand’s son Marcel Wiltz.¹⁸ Some of these slaves are enumerated in Louis-Armand and Anne-Catherine’s 1777 slave census.
• Philippe died in 1814 and his succession shows 6 slaves.¹⁹
• Philippe and Rose’s son Louis Armand Wiltz died in 1816, and his succession shows 6 slaves.²⁰
• Philippe and Rose’s son Alexandre Wiltz died in 1848, and his succession shows 18 slaves.²¹
• Philippe and Rose’s son Guillaume Wiltz died in 1824, and his succession shows 7 slaves.²²
• Philippe and Rose’s son-in-law Anaclet Broussard died in 1819, and his succession shows 12 slaves.²³
• Philippe and Rose’s daughter Marie Wiltz died in 1817, and her joint-succession with Hyppolite Barras shows 1 slave.²⁴

By the Civil War, the many tentacles of the Wiltz-Ducrest family produced many more slaves across St Martin Parish on the north side of St Martinville. Because of the proliferation of this family and the slaves they owned, the Wiltzes are still very present in La Pointe and other communities in St Martin Parish, as well as in neighboring parishes. If you’re a Wiltz or Viltz from St Martin, Iberia, or Lafayette parishes, regardless of how you racially identify, you probably are linked to or descended from this family. There is one St Martinville Wiltz family which is linked to the German Wiltzes from New Orleans instead of this one, but that’s for part 2.

– Christophe Landry

Postscript: corrections made here from an earlier post on my Facebook fanpage. This is the most accurate version of the content.

Further reading on the Natchez Massacre of 1729: https://64parishes.org/entry/natchez-revolt-of-1729

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SOURCES

1. Neil J. Toups, Mississippi Valley Pioneers (Lafayette, Louisiana: Neilson Publishing Co., 1970), 135p, Jean Vice, wife Marguerite, and child; “U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com), accessed January 2025. ↩︎
2. New Orleans (Louisiana) Conseil Supérieur, civil suits, 1725, #1725-05-23-06, Jean Vice vs Ives Gueret Durivage, dated 23 May 1725; digital image, “Begin Your Search Here,” documents, Louisiana Historical Center’s Louisiana Colonial Documents Digitization Project (https://www.lacolonialdocs.org/), accessed December 2024. ↩︎
3. Jean VISE, native of Valerin, Canton of Bern, interred 1 Dec 1727 (Archives nationales, Paris, France, 1727-28, 42). ↩︎
4. Anne Catherine WISS, widow of Nicolas CHRISTINA, interred 20 June 1766 (New Roads St Francis Ch v 3, p 209 – ibid., v 4, p 8). ↩︎
5. Nicolas VISE (Jean & Marguerite Butcler), b Wolkringen, Canton of Bern married 6 February 1731 Marie Magd. BINDER, widow Jean SCHUTZ killed at Natchez (Johan Adam PINTER & Marie Catherine). Witnesses were Nicolas CRISTINA, Conerad KILLIE, and Pierre CONTOIS (NO Cathedral M1 1720-1730 p 48); digital image, “St Louis Cathedral: Marriages, 1720-1730,” online records, Archdiocese of New Orleans (https://nolacatholic.org/), accessed July 2024. ↩︎
6. New Orleans (Louisiana) Conseil Supérieur, Depositions, 1758, #1758-03-30-01, declaration of Jean Baras, Vincent Porche, and Pierre Gustre, dated 30 March 1758; digital image, “Begin Your Search Here,” documents, Louisiana Historical Center’s Louisiana Colonial Documents Digitization Project (https://www.lacolonialdocs.org/), accessed December 2024. Nicolas appears as a witness and signed his name Nicola Wisse. ↩︎
7. Alice D. Forsyth and Earlene L. Zeringue, Pest Ships (New Orleans, Louisiana: Genealogical Research Society of New Orleans, 1969), 30p, Jean George Chuts and wife Marie; “U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s,” Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com), accessed January 2025. ↩︎
8. Charles R. Maduell, Census Tables for the French Colony of Louisiana from 1699 Through 1732 (Genealogical Publishing Company, 2012, originally published in 1972), p 57, Jean CHIT, German, and wife, my copy. ↩︎
9. Glenn R. Conrad, First Families of Louisiana (Baton Rouge: Claitor’s, 1970), Volume 1, p 141, my copy. ↩︎
10. Laurent SCHITZ (Jean Schitz & Magdeleine Pintler, both dead), native of Natchez married 19 February 1760 Marie Bergeron (Guillaume Bergeron dit Xaintonge & Agnes La Renaudiere). Wits: Patin, Delatte & Ducrest (New Roads St Francis Ch v 1 p 207; v 3 p 62). ↩︎
11. WILTZ, Agnes – native of Pointe Coupee (dec. Laurend CHITZ & Marie Therese BERGERON) m. contract dated: 13 May 1783 Guillaume LALONDE – native of the parish of Soulange, Province of Enscada(?) (maj. son of Louis & Louise PICARD) Wits: ROQUIGNY, DUCREST, Philippe WISSE, Joseph WISSE; Alexandre Chevalier DECLOUET. (SM Ct.Hse.: OA-vol.3, #148).
    
    WILTZ, Hyacinte – of Pointe Coupee Parish (maj. son of dec. Laurens CHITZ & dec. Marie BERGERON) m. contract dated: 20 June 1785 Perine CHARPENTIE – of Pointe Coupee (min. dgtr. of dec. Pierre & Jeanne MONTAI) Wits: Guillaume LALONDE, Joseph WISSE, Philippe WISSE, Martin SOUDERIC. (SM Ct.Hse.: OA-vol.4, #437). ↩︎
12. Marie Catherine WISS, baptized 21 July 1733 (Colas WISS & Magdelaine BINDER), sponsors: P[*]la [Nicolas?] CHRISTINA & Marie Catherine ARLUT (NO Cathedral B1, 41). ↩︎
13. Philippe VISE (Nicolas VISE & Magdeleine PENITRE), born 20 Mar 1742, baptized 24 Mar 1742. Sponsors: Philippe HAYNAUX & Marie – wife of Jean Baptiste BOUQUET (New Roads St Francis Ch v 1 p 37). Joseph WISS (Nicolas WISS from Wallris, Canton of Berne, Switzerland & Magdeleine PINTER), baptized 18 Dec 1744. No birthdate given. Sponsors: Joseph DECOUX & Marie Françoise POCK (New Roads St Francis Ch v 1 p 56; v 2 p 36). ↩︎
14. Nicolas WISSE, of False River, interred 1 Feb 1760, died yesterday (New Roads St Francis Ch v 3 p 61; v 1 p 206). ↩︎
15. Magdelaine PINTER, wife of Nicolas VIS, buried 20 March 1751, died yesterday (New Roads St Francis Ch v 1 p 107, v 2 p 64). Catherine VILS (Nicolas VILS & Magdeleine PINSE, both dead) married 2 March 1756 Armand Louis DUCRET (Jean Francois DUCRET & Magdeleine MOQUET), native of Gex, Diocese of Geneva, from Vesancy, sergeant of 36th company (New Roads St Francis Ch v 1 p 160; v 2 p 119). ↩︎
16. Philippe Wisse (Nicolas Wisse & Magdeleine Pinteler, both dead); Anne Marie Dozat (Antoine Dozat & Marie Lorain, both dead), native of Illinois, widow of Louis Gousserau. Wits: Antoine Gosseron, Ducrest & Baron (New Roads Ch v 4 p 42).
    
    Philippe and Rose’s children:
    
    1. WISSE, Louis Armond (Philippe & Marie Rose Dozat), born 16 Nov 1769, baptized 18 Mar 1770. Sponsors: Louis Armand Ducret & Jeanne Julie Ozenne (New Roads St Mary Ch v 2 pt 2 p 92; v 4 p 53).
    
    2. WILTZ, Marie Marguerite (Philippe WILSE & Marie Rose DOZAT) b. 22 Oct. 1774, bt. — 1774 Spons: Joseph WISLE [WILTZ] & Anne Catherine WISLE. Fr. Louis MARIE (SM Ch.: v.1, p.42).
    
    3. WILTZ, Filipe (Filipe VISSE & Marie DAUSA [DOZAT]) b. 5 Aug. 1776, bt. 25 Aug. 1777 in parish of St. Bernard at Attakapas Post. Spons: Lorans DUCRE & Marie DUCRE. (SM Ch.: Folio B-1).
    
    4. WILTZ, Alexandre [Alex] (Phillip WISSE & Marie DOSSAT) bt. 25 July 1779 Spons: Alexandre DECLOUET – Captain of the Infantry and Commandant of this Post & Catherine DUCREST. Fr. L.M. GRUMEAU (Opel. Ch.: v.1-A, p.31).
    
    5. WILTZ, Marie (Philippe WISSE & Marie DOZA – of Pointe Coupee) m. 13 June 1800 Hypolite BARA (Vincent & dec. Francoise LABBE – of Pointe Coupee on the Mississippi) Wits: Jean Baptiste PEYTAVIN Dubousquet, Antonio ROMERO, Philippe WISSE – bride’s father, Joseph ROMERO, Joseph de SIERRAS, Juan ROMERO. Fr. Michel Bernard BARRIERE (SM Ch.: v.4, #201).
    
    6. WILTZ, Guillaume (Philippe VILS & Marie DOZA) b. 30 Sept. 1785 [born last day of September], bt. 4 Feb. 1786 Spons: Guillaume LALONDE & Adelaide BERARD. Fr. GEFFROTIN (SM Ch.: v.3, #95).
    
    7. WILTZ, Marie Magdeleine (Philipe WISSE & Marie DOZAT) b. 17 Oct. 1788, bt. 2 Feb. 1789 Spons: Louis Armand WISSE & Marie SUDRIQUE. Fr. de DEVA (SM Ch.: v.4, #342)
    
    ↩︎
17. Anne-Marie WILTZ & Louis-Armand DUCREST’s children:
    
    1. DUCRET, Jean Laurent (Armand Louis Ducret & Catherine Wisse), born 28 Apr 1758, baptized 16 May 1758. Sponsors: Laurent Jean Schitzer & Jeanne Daublin (New Roads St Mary Ch v 1 p 187; v 3 p 28).
    
    2. DUCRET, Marie Philippe (Armand Louis Ducret & Catherine Wisse), born 1 Apr 1761, baptized May 1761. Sponsors: Philippe Wisse & Marie Bergeron (New Roads St Mary Ch v 1 p 221; v 3 p 89).
    
    3. DUCRET, Anne Catherine (Armant Louis Ducret & Catherine Wisse), born 19 Jan 1764, baptized 11 Mar 1764. Sponsors: Antoine Gosserant & Catherine Gueho (New Roads St. Mary Ch v 1 p 258; v 3 p 154).
    
    4. DUCRET, Marie Magdelene (Louis Armand Ducret & Anne Catherine Wisse), born 28 Jan 1767, baptized 8 Mar 1767. Sponsors: Joseph Wisse & Marie Rose Doza (New Roads St Mary Ch v 3 p 224; v 4 p 16).
    
    5. DUCRET, Marguerite Augustine (Louis Armond & Anne Catherine Wisse), born 19 Jan 1770, baptized 18 Mar 1770. Sponsors: Jean Labbe & Augustine Dubois (New Roads St Mary Ch v 2 pt 2 p 92; v 4 p 53).
    
    6. DUCREST, Julie (Louis Armand & Jeanne Catherine WILLE) b. 27 Feb. 1773, bt. 1 May 1773 Spons: Jean Baptiste DUCREST & Marie Philippe DUCREST. Fr. IRENEE (SM Ch.: v.1, p.38) also in PC registers.
    
    7. DUCREST, Louise (Louis & Catherine WISSE) b. 19 June 1777, bt. 25 Aug. 1777 Spons: Alexandre Chevalier DE LA HOUSSAYE & Marie Louise Hiacinthe DECLOUET. Fr. Louis MARIE (SM Ch.: v.1, p.54).
    
    8. DUCREST, Marguerite (Armand & Catherine WILS) b. 25 Aug. 1782, bt. 8 Nov. 1782 Spons: Laurent DUCREST & Catherine DUCREST. Fr. Joseph ARAZENA (SM Ch.: v.2, #84). ↩︎
18. DUCREST, Louis Armand – of Delphinado, France m. Anne Catherine WILSE – of Pointe Coupee in this colony, bur. 19 Dec. 1797 at age 75 yrs. Fr. Michel Bernard BARRIERE (SM Ch.: v.4, #131).
    
    The 1798 succession of Louis Armand DUCREST at St. Martinville listed the following 11 slaves: Jean-Louis (40, nègre), Thérèse (38, négresse), Manon (25, négresse), Émélissert [Mélisœur] (2), Ursule (20, mulâtresse), Suzanne (22, négresse), Prince (1), Pélagie (22, négresse), Hilaire (1, nègre), François (10, mulâtre), Brigite (5, mulâtresse), Marcel (20, mulâtre) (Midlo Hall Slave Database Lines 35968-78). ↩︎
19. WILTZ, Philippe – native of Pointe Coupee; died 26 August 1814 at age 74 years at his home on Bayou Teych; buried 27 August 1814 in the parish cemetery; signed: Ch. POTIER. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.4, #906).
    
    WILTZ, Philip – Heirs: Armand; Philip; Alexandre: Guillaume; Magdeleine m. Anaclet BROUSSARD; Marie m. Joseph COLLINS. Succ. dated 28 Sept. 1814 (SM Ct.Hse.: Succ.#165). Slaves: Agathe (negro) with her son Narcisse, Charles “Charlot” (negro), Alexandre (negro), Pauline (negro), Marcélite (negro). ↩︎
20. WILTZ, Armand [actually spelled VILSSE in the record] – inhabitant at la pointe; died 13 Feb. 1816 at age 49 years at Joseph COLLINS – his brother-in-law; buried 13 Feb. 1816 in the parish cemetery. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.4, #1023).
    
    WILTZ, Louis Armand m. Angelle MELANCON – Succ. dated 29 April 1817 (SM Ct.Hse.: Succ.#234). Slaves: Ned (nègre), Lindor (nègre), Félicité (négresse) with her 2 unnamed children under age 10, Marcélite (griffe). ↩︎
21. WILTZ, Alexandre d. 22 Sept. 1848 at age 69 yrs. (SM Ch.: v. 5, p. 178)
    WILTZ, Alexandre m. Suzette LEBLANC Succ. dated 16 Nov. 1848 (SM Ct. Hse.: Succ. #1196). Slaves: Élie (nègre), Charles (nègre), Zénon (nègre), Louis (nègre), Marie (négresse) with her 2 children Azéma and Agénor/Azénor, Sally (négresse), Azélie (négresse) with her 2 children Marie-Louise and Azélia, Eugénie (négresse) with her daughter Delphine, Céphalide (mulâtresse) with her daughter Arsène, Marcélite (négresse), Adélaïde (négresse), Marguerite (négresse). ↩︎
22. WILTZ, Guiaume [Guillaume or William] married with Marie COLINS; died 18 July 1824 at age about 40 yrs. at his home on Bayou Teche; buried 19 July 1824 in the parish cemetery. Fr. Marcel BORELLA (SM Ch.: v.4, #1653)
    
    WILTZ, Guillaume m. Marie COLLINS – Succ. dated 26 August 1826 (SM Ct.Hse.: Succ.#558). Slaves: Narcisse (nègre), Agathe (négresse) with her 2 children Alice and Lise, Louis (négrillon), Sham (nègre), Paul (nègre). ↩︎
23. BROUSSARD, Anaclet – native of this parish (dec. Silvain & dec. Felice GUILBAUD) died 21 Aug. 1819 at age about 47 yrs. at his home at La pointe; buried 22 Aug. 1819 in the parish cemetery. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.: v.4, #1269).
    
    WILTZ, Magdeleine m. Anaclet BROUSSARD In Succ. of Anaclet BROUSSARD dated 13 April 1820 (SM Ct.Hse.: Succ.#354). Slaves: Charlot, Charles, Jean, Narcisse, Fanny, Pauline and her 2 children, Marie and her 2 children, and Sally. ↩︎
24. WILTZ, Marie (dec. Philippe & dec. Marie Rose DOZAT) married second time to Joseph COLLINS; died 13 May 1817 at age 35 years in the morning at her home on Bayou Teych; buried 13 May 1817 in the parish cemetery. Fr. Gabriel ISABEY (SM Ch.:. v.4, #1111).
    
    BARRA, Hypolite m. Marie WISSE – wid. of Joseph COLLINS. In Succ. of Marie WISSE dated 24 May 1817 (SM Ct.Hse.: Succ.#266). Slaves: Adélaïde (négresse). ↩︎