Near the Cliser farm, this home was originally owned by
Ambrose George Cliser in the 1860's. It was more recently owned by his granddaughter Ina Jane Shenk. Mathias and Barbara Kleiser are buried on the hill in the background, beyond the trees. Their tombstones are enscribed as KLIZER.
Ambrose George Cliser in the 1860's. It was more recently owned by his granddaughter Ina Jane Shenk. Mathias and Barbara Kleiser are buried on the hill in the background, beyond the trees. Their tombstones are enscribed as KLIZER.
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The address of this home is 1312 Kimball Rd., Luray, Virginia 22835
The address of this home is 1312 Kimball Rd., Luray, Virginia 22835
The Kleiser farm was established in 1794 along Pass Run, below Thornton Gap, Page County, Virginia. Today as you drive east on Route 211 heading up into Thornton Gap (Shenandoah National Park), you'll see a landmarker sign for Pass Run. It was there where Mathias Kleiser purchased 104 acres of land from his father-in-law William Nagel. The climate and geographical terrain along the Blue Ridge mountains are very similar to that of the Black Forest and attracted many German families to this region.As indicated in Mathias Clizer's Last Will, he divided the farm into three as he passed it down to his sons, Martin Clizer, John Clizer and David Clizer in 1825. Later on the farm must have been bought out by Martin Clizer, as both John & David Clizer and their families moved to Missouri.
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Martin remained in Virginia, where he purchased 1,166 acres of land which straddled the mountain top at Thornton Gap. In the 1890's, this farm was then divided into three parcels going to Martin Mathias Cliser, Barbara Cliser and Ambrose George Cliser, all brothers and sisters and children of Martin Clizer & Sarah Clizer.The following information refers to that portion of land that Martin Mathias Cliser inherited.
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The majority of the following information was provided by Oliver Jett Cliser on January 31, 1960 during an interview with his his eldest daughter Sarah Potter at Oliver Cliser's home in Silver Spring, MD.
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Martin remained in Virginia, where he purchased 1,166 acres of land which straddled the mountain top at Thornton Gap. In the 1890's, this farm was then divided into three parcels going to Martin Mathias Cliser, Barbara Cliser and Ambrose George Cliser, all brothers and sisters and children of Martin Clizer & Sarah Clizer.The following information refers to that portion of land that Martin Mathias Cliser inherited.
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The majority of the following information was provided by Oliver Jett Cliser on January 31, 1960 during an interview with his his eldest daughter Sarah Potter at Oliver Cliser's home in Silver Spring, MD.
Oliver Cliser's father, Martin Mathias Cliser, owned and lived on their farm, located about one mile northeast of what was once the Panorama Hotel on Virginia Route 211 in the Shenandoah National Park, between Luray and Sperryville on top of the mountain overlooking the Shenandoah Valley.
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The Cliser farm was located about one mile north along the mountaintop from the former Panorama Hotel at Thornton Gap. The family cemetery is located on this farm. Both the Hotel and the farm are north of Mary's Rock on Skyline Drive and Route 211. The town of Washington, Rappahannock County is where these records are kept. In fact the majority of all the Cliser / Clizer information is recorded in Rappahannock County. Oliver Jett Cliser passed away in 1970.
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| Oliver J. Cliser and daughter Elsie peer down the valley from Mary's Rock, once a part of the old Cliser property. |
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All of Oliver Cliser's brothers and sisters were born while living on the farm that his great grandfather Mathias Kleiser established in 1794. There is a burial plot on this farm in which Oliver's father and younger brothers and sisters are buried. There are native stone markers at the graves, but no engraved information is on them. After Oliver's father died, the farm was sold to to the Smith brothers, with the reservation that they retain the burial plot which they agreed and it was fenced in. All of the farm was later taken in as part of the Shenandoah National Park in 1935.
