My paternal grandmother was >from a large family with the surname
KELMER >from Zychlin, Poland. The earliest record I have for my
KELMER ancestors is Moszek David KELMER, born 1831 in Zychlin. His
father, Jakob was born in Strykow, Poland. One of my KELMER
great-uncles once told me that the family was originally >from Chelm,
and that is how we got the name KELMER. I wish I had asked him if he
knew for sure it was Chelm, or could it have been Kelme. I have never
been able to sort out which town they really came from, and
whichever ancestor left Chelm or Kelme probably left before surnames
were adopted. I am still hoping to find a male KELMER descendant to
have his Y-DNA tested to see where the ancestors of his matches are
from; maybe that would direct my search to one shtetl or the other.
Any other suggestions?

Judy Simon
researching: KELMER, OLSZTAJN >from Zychlin, Poland; LEWKOWICZ from
Skierniewice, Poland; MEZELSJO >from Mszczonow, Poland; BROZGOL,
KAPELUSHNIK, BAILENSON, SKUTELSKY, MARANSK >from Rezekne, Latvia