The Proeger Family · Generation 6 — Earl's 3rd-great-grandparents and their siblings

Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher

Mother of Pauline Augusta Betcher Schultz · 1838–1926

Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher

Probable

Mother of Pauline Augusta Betcher Schultz · 1838–1926

Born
in Germany
Sources
2

Research status

Research status: PROBABLE as the mother of Pauline Augusta Betcher Schultz. The evidence is strong that she was the wife of August Betcher: the index of her own Texas death record is filed under her husband’s name, and the indexes of two of their children’s death records name her beside him S1737. Pauline’s 1944 obituary, read as machine text, names her parents as Mr. and Mrs. August Boetcher and gives the mother no name of her own. It stays Probable because no record names her as Pauline’s mother by name, every record is an index or machine-read text, and no image has been read.

Evidence: The index of her own Texas death record, filed under her husband's name, gives her birth on 26 October 1838 in Germany, her death on 26 August 1926 at Abilene and her father as O. Kimski; the indexes of the death records of two of her children name their parents as August Betcher and Libby Kamiska or Lizzie Cominske (S1737, S1736); Pauline Schultz's 1944 obituary, read as machine text, names her parents as Mr. and Mrs. August Boetcher. The evidence is strong that she was his wife. Weak or missing: No record names her as Pauline's mother by name; the Find a Grave index gives her birth as 6 October 1839; one Social Security claim gives her maiden name as Engle; every record is an index or machine-read text and no image has been read. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →

Life in the order the records give it

Death1926
Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher died on 26 August 1926 at Abilene, Taylor County, Texas. She was born in Germany on 26 October 1838. Both dates are in the index of her own Texas death record, which names her father as O. Kimski S1737. The Find a Grave index gives her birth as 6 October 1839 and puts her grave at Denton, Callahan County, where her husband’s is also indexed; the death record is followed here for the birth.
Census2026
History of this card. 12 Oct 2026
card written when she was added to the family tree, from her own death index, the grave and census indexes and her children’s death indexes (S1737, S1736). 12 Oct 2026 — the children sentence rewritten when Emma, Otto, Henry and Albert were given cards; until then it said they had no cards.

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Names1900
Her maiden name is spelled several ways, and Kamiska is kept. The index of her son Henry’s death record names his mother as Libby Kamiska; the index of her daughter Mary Johnson’s names her as Lizzie Cominske; her own death index gives her father as Kimski; the Find a Grave index lists her as Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher. One record disagrees: the index of a Social Security claim by her daughter Emma Betcher Wristen names the mother as Libbie Engle S1737. The census indexes call her “E. B.” in 1900 and “Lebe” in 1910.

Open questions what is probable, weak or missing — confirm or correct it

Probable
Probable confirm or correct → Wife of August Betcher (1831–1919). No marriage record has been found; the link rests on the census households of 1900 and 1910 and on the children’s death indexes S1736S1737.
Probable
Probable confirm or correct → Mother of Pauline Augusta Betcher Schultz (1865–1944). Three more of her children have cards, each Probable: Henry Edward Betcher (1880–1974), whose death index names her; and Otto Betcher (1876–1974) and Emma Betcher Wristen (1871–1967), whose records do not name her as Kamiska and who are given to her as the wife of their father. Albert Betcher (1865–1954), a son of August Betcher, is not linked to her: no record names his mother, and his birth is indexed ten weeks before Pauline’s. Her daughter Mary (Mrs. Johnson, died 1925) is named in the indexes and has no card. Her own parents are not in this record beyond the surname on her death index.
Weak or missing
What is weak or missing: no record names her as Pauline’s mother by name; two dates are given for her birth; one record gives her maiden name as Engle; the index gives her son Albert’s birth as 9 June 1865, ten weeks before Pauline’s on 24 August 1865, so one of the two dates is wrong or they are not full brother and sister; no image has been read. Know more, or think this is wrong? Use “Add to this record”.
Cited on this card S1736 S1737 Card added 2026-10-12

Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher · Sources

Citations

Sources cited on this card

2 of the record's sources are cited here. The numbering is the record's own; the full list, with where else each is cited, is at Sources.

  1. S1736Indexes — August Betcher and his children, Callahan and Taylor Counties, Texas, 1900–1974. FamilySearch: Texas death records index (K388-HCD) and Texas Death Index (VZD3-ZVB); Find a Grave index (QVKH-7GJY); 1900 census index, Callahan County (M3LZ-TFR); 1910 census index, Justice Precinct 4, Callahan County (M29Z-1WV); Texas death records indexes for his children Henry (K38H-9HN), Otto (K3S1-QHN), Albert (K3QG-6BB), Emma Wristen (K3FW-Y8Y) and Mary Johnson (K3Q1-P55); for Henry, the Find a Grave index (QVKH-BPLQ) and the 1900 census index (M3LZ-TF1); for Otto, a second death index entry (JLNN-PZD), the Find a Grave index (QVKH-7GVC) and the 1900 census index (M3LZ-TFY); for Albert, the census indexes of 1910 (M298-MHQ) and 1930 (HKJ1-4W2). Indexes read on 5 and 6 October 2026; no image read. Probable Death index: born 10 December in Germany, died 27 Aug 1919 at Clyde, Callahan County. Find a Grave: born 10 Dec 1831, grave indexed at Denton, Callahan County. 1900: born Dec 1832 in Germany, immigrated 1871, with E. B., his wife, and four children at home. 1910: born 1833, immigrated 1872, with Lebe, his wife. The five children’s death indexes name the father as August Betcher (Henry’s: August Boettcher); Henry’s names the mother as Libby Kamiska and Mary Johnson’s as Lizzie Cominske. Henry: born 11 Nov 1880 in Texas, died 20 Mar 1974 at Abilene; grave indexed in the Denton Cemetery. Otto: born 1 Sep 1876 in Indiana, died 25 Jun 1974 at Abilene; in his father’s household in 1900. Albert: born 9 Jun 1865 in Prussia, died 15 Dec 1954 in Callahan County. Emma Wristen: born 15 Mar 1871 in Germany, died 21 Dec 1967 at Baird, Callahan County. ⚠ Index only: no image has been read. None of these entries names Pauline; she is tied to him by her 1944 obituary, read as machine text, which names the same brothers and sister. The Find a Grave index gives a day of death two days later than the death index, and the year of his birth differs by a year or two between the entries. Albert’s birth is indexed as 9 June 1865, ten weeks before Pauline’s, and no entry names his mother. Otto’s and Emma’s death indexes name the father alone. Other indexes give 4 November and 4 December 1880 for Henry’s birth, and the Find a Grave index gives 6 June 1974 for Otto’s death. Serves the cards of August Betcher, Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher, Pauline Augusta Betcher Schultz, Albert Betcher, Emma Betcher Wristen, Otto Betcher and Henry Edward Betcher.
  2. S1737Indexes — Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher, “Mrs. August Betcher”, Abilene, Texas, 1926. FamilySearch: Texas death records index (K37K-B7V) and Texas Death Index (VZD3-ZK5); Ancestry, Texas death certificates index, the same certificate; Find a Grave index (QVKH-7GVQ); Texas death records indexes for her children Henry (K38H-9HN) and Mary Johnson (K3Q1-P55); Social Security claim index for her daughter Emma Wristen (6K7V-D5LY). Indexes read on 5 and 6 October 2026; no image read. Probable Death index, filed under her husband’s name: born 26 Oct 1838 in Germany, died 26 Aug 1926 at Abilene, Taylor County, father O. Kimski. Find a Grave: Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher, born 6 Oct 1839, grave indexed at Denton, Callahan County. Henry’s death index: mother Libby Kamiska. Mary Johnson’s: mother Lizzie Cominske. Emma Wristen’s claim: mother Libbie Engle, birthplace South Bend, Indiana. ⚠ Index only: no image has been read. No entry names her as the mother of Pauline. Two dates are given for her birth, and one entry gives her maiden name as Engle. Serves the cards of Elisabeth Kamiska Betcher, August Betcher, Pauline Augusta Betcher Schultz, Henry Edward Betcher and Emma Betcher Wristen.

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Compiled for the Proeger family

Living adults appear by name and relationship, with the year only: no full date of birth and no home town on any page that search engines index, and a living person’s own page is kept out of search engines. Minors appear by name only — no date of birth, no birth year, no age, no school, no place, no address, no other identifying detail. A minor may be named and may appear in a family photograph; nothing further about them is published. Where it is not established whether someone is an adult or a minor, the minor rule applies.

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