Ann Catherine Keller was a native of Germany. This story comes from the author of Gore, Goare, Goar and Kindred. On page 23 under the heading of "Family Record of Henry Goar, Shenandoah County, Va," he wrote:

His second wife, Katherine Keller was a German girl and the court records in Woodstock, Va., show that she signed legal documents in German script.

I can understand why Joseph Elmer Goar came to the conclusion that Ann Catherine Keller was German based on her unique handwriting. However, the Germans who migrated to early America were rather clannish and kept to themselves even to the point of establishing German speaking settlements. This was particularly the case in Shenandoah County where there were several such families who had migrated there from Pennsylvania. These early settlers continued to speak their native tongue and retained many of their Old World customs. I am currently pursuing a theory that Ann Catherine was the daughter of Konrad Keller (born 1737 in Pennsylvania and/or the Granddaughter of Jacob Keller born 14 November 1706 at Basel, Switzerland). Basel is located on the Rhine River near a point where Switzerland, France and Germany come together. The predominant language spoken in this part of Switzerland is German.

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