Due to the research of many people we have been able to locate much of our German ancestry. The information that I am including here is copied from the book published by Rudi Pontius of Germany.
Ancestral Line Four – Matthias Pontius – Pontzin
The ancestral line 4 originates in the region of Eifel, namely in Bettenfeld, county of
Bernkastel-Wittlich, respectively in the neighboring village of Bleckhausen, county of Daun. The marriage and baptismal records of the first family can be found in the church books of Bettenfeld. Here, a certain Matthias Pontzin is mentioned who was married to a woman by the name of Margaretha. Her maiden name is not known. It must be noted that the family name of Matthias is not given as Pontius, but in most of the records as Pontzin. Only at the baptism of daughter Anna on October 8, 1706, Matthias’ family name is recorded as Pontius. Son Joes (Johann), who was baptized on October 18, 1709, is recorded with the family name Pontzin. However, in the record of his marriage to Angela Songen of Bleckhausen on September 4, 1746, he is called Joes Ponsain. In the family book 1 of Landscheid, he later appears as Johann Pontius, “Hofmann” of the farm Altenhof. Johann Pontius is known to have died on April 7, 1783, at the farm Altenhof. There can hardly be any doubts that Joes Pontzin, Joes Ponsain, and Johann
Pontius are the same person since his wife Angela Songen is also recorded as an inhabitant of the Altenhof. It can be read in the family book 4 of Großlittgen, a neighboring village of Altenhof, that Angela Songen, wife of Johann Pontius of Altenhof, has been the godmother at the baptism of Joh. Peter Hoffmann on May 10, 1767. On April 9, 1779, her death at Altenhof has been recorded in the family book of Landscheid.
Eight children of Johann Pontius are known. Before his marriage to Angela Songen, Johann had been married in first marriage to Susanne Müllers of Bettenfeld. A son named Nicolaus came from this marriage. His birth as well as Susanne’s death must have taken place before 1746, since on September 4, 1746, Johann wed Angela Songen in second marriage. There is also a record about Nicolaus Pontius of Altenhof in the family book 4 of Großlittgen, according to which he has become the godfather of Nicolaus Ponse (also Pontius ?) of Großlittgen on April 4, 1770.
Seven children were born into the family of Johann and Angela. They, too, are registered with different family names in the Church’s Baptismal Register of Bettenfeld. The names Ponsain and Poncin can be found as well as the house names Cölers, Cölers alias Greten and Poncain alias Cölers. Some of the first names of the children can also be found in connection with the name Pontius in the family book of Landscheid. These are Susanne Pontius, who gave birth out of wedlock to a daughter named Elisabeth on June 24, 1783, and Peter Pontius, who married Catharina Styren (Stirren, Stirn) of Baden near Wittlich on November 12, 1783. Peter Pontius died on March 8, 1795, his wife Catharina on April 3, 1828.
The village of Altenhof, which at the time of Johann Pontius consisted of the farm and four more houses with about 40 inhabitants, is located in the area Landscheid – Grosslittgen – monastery Himmerod. Since the foundation of the monastery, the farm of Altenhof has for the most part belonged to its properties.
Peter Pontius (1750 – 3rd generation) and his wife Catharina had two sons and two daughters. Son Robert Pontius (1785) died as an infant, but their firstborn son Nicolaus Pontius (1784) continued the line 4.
Nicolaus Pontius (1784 – 4th generation) married in 1813 Anna Maria Weirich of Landscheid. After his wedding, he lived with his family in Landscheid, where he died in 1843. With Nicolaus Pontius, the name Pontius came to Landscheid. Today, the name can still be found there.
Ten children were born into the family of Nicolaus Pontius (1784 – 4th generation): seven boys and three girls. According to the available records, the sons Johannes, Bernad, Jacob, Nicolaus, and Cornelius emigrated to North America. They are said to have lived in Chicago, IL and Todd CO, MN.
Only Johannes Matthias Pontius (1813 – 5th generation), the oldest son of Nicolaus Pontius, is known to have continued the line 4 in Landscheid. On February 28th, 1848, he married Susanne Krischel. They had three children: Petrus Pontius (1849), Christina (1852) and Matthias (1856).
Like his father’s brothers, Matthias Pontius (1856) emigrated to America after having served in the military for 12 years. Petrus Pontius (1849) continued the Pontius family in Landscheid.
Petrus Pontius (1849 – 6th generation) was married to Katharina Kohlay of Landscheid on February 2nd, 1880. They had six children, three of them sons. Son Balthasar (1883) died at the age of six, son Johann Peter (1897) died as a soldier in 1918 in World War I, and only son Johann Matthias Pontius (1881) survived and continued the line.
Johann Matthias (1881 – 7th generation) had the following descendents known to the Pontius family:
Matthias Pontius (1919 – 8th generation)
Marianne Pontius-Marx (1950 – 9th generation)
Erika Pontius-Gansen (1955 – 9th generation)
Christine Pontius (1923- 8th generation), unmarried.
Agnes Pontius-Weisskopf (1928 – 8th generation)
Matthias Pontius (1856 – 5th generation), who had emigrated to America, founded a family there with Margaret Klein, also from Germany. They were wed on November 25, 1884, in Chicago and had the children Mary (1885), Elizabeth (1887), Anna Marie (1889), Bernard Augustus (1891), Theodore George (1893) and Matthias (ar.1895)
Descendants of Bernard Augustus Pontius (1891 – 7th generation), who married in 1920 Eulalia Marie Cremer, are Ronald Mathias Pontius (1932 – 8th generation) as well as two more sons and one daughter. Ronald Mathias is known as a member of the Pontius family.