I know that the tree that I am part of changed their name in the early 1900's I want to say around 1905. I am not sure what part of Germany they came from not if they were in New York. From what I can find it looks like the family came over in the late 1860's and split while in Chicago. It seems that part of the family headed to Wisconsin and the other half to Illinois, more specifically Edwardsville. I know for a fact that there are 6 generations of my family buried in Edwardsville, the oldest being August Kaatz and the most recent being Robert Kahtz (my paternal grandfather). What relation are you to the Kaatz group?