Messages

1

Servants, Friends and Retainers / Re: Family story about being in service to the Romanov family

« on: June 04, 2019, 07:20:00 PM »

Hello Estelle,
Do you know if Mary's name was possibly Mary Magdalene Miller instead of Mills, and if she was married and had three children? I made a posting on ancestry.com years ago regarding a family member of mine who appears in some sort of Russian military uniform asking questions about his background and any help with identifying his uniform. While I am not sure if I have the right person, I was informed by another user that the man's name might be Michael Kautzmann and his wife Mary Magdalene Miller due to the similarities that myself and this other individual had in our family stories. While I am not sure if Mary was a nurse, or how much contact she may or may not have had with the royal family, she was married to a Michael Kautzmann who served in the Russian military. After they left Russia in 1899 they settled on the West Coast of the US. Please let me know if you think this sounds plausible, if so I would love to research and see what we could find.

Best,
Sarah

P.S. I emailed you as well.

2

Russian Imperial Medals, Orders, Uniforms & Militaria / seeking help identifying family member in uniform

« on: June 04, 2019, 06:59:18 PM »

Hello all,
I am seeking help identifying a family member who was most likely a nephew of my great-great grandparents. It is possible that his name last name was Chlebowicz, Glabourtz or something similar. It is also possible that he changed his name to Michael Kautzmann after entering the United States, but again I cannot verify this. This is the information that I have to go along with the photo:

"There were 6 guards, all six-footers, all blond & blue-eyed, according to what Ma said. Perhaps you don't know of the colorful life he had as an army man - (cavalry). He had a white horse & was in charge of a division - fought in many wars - captured by Turks, etc. , was in all the wars of those times, Japanese, etc."

The few documents I have concerning this part of my family shows that my great-great grandparents at least were from the city of Grodno is what is now Belarus. DNA testing confirms Eastern Europe/Russia and Baltic States background in my family.

If anyone could help shed light on the time frame / meaning of this uniform, or possibly help identify the man in this picture I would be eternally grateful. I apologize for the poor quality - all I have is a photocopied picture. Thank you all in advance for your help!