Our earliest known Schatz ancestor is Anton Jacob Schatz born about 1705. The place of birth and the origin of the family are unknown. Documents show that by 1730 the family was living in the Alsatian village of Seltz. In 1771 the grandson of Anton Jacob, Franziscus Ignatius was born in the village of Seltz. Franziscus Ignatius, was educated in the medical profession and in 1808 he and his family immigrated to the Kutschurgan village of Mannheim in Russia. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any documentation showing where and how Franziscus Ignatius received his medical training.
Upon arriving in Russia, Franziscus Ignatius (known as Ignatz Schatz) was the only medical Doctor in the Kutschurgan enclave. His merits and deeds are well documented in all of the material pertaining to the Black Sea Germans.
Fortunately, most of my direct connected Schatz relatives immigrated to the Untied States and Canada. However, many descendants of Ignatius Schatz remained in Russia.
A good number of this extended family were noted achievers in the community and some were able to establish Chutors (large estates/farms). After the Russian revolution of 1917, such achievers were classified as kulaks (a person who had accumulated some assets). These people were arrested, sentenced, stripped of all of their property, their rights and exiled from their village and never again allowed to return. If for any reason they were rearrested, they then were likely to be executed.
While living in Russia the extended Schatz family primarily resided in the Kutschurgan village of Mannheim and the various Chutors which they owned in the vicinity of Mannheim.
The name Schatz may stem from several meanings, describing a person with hoards of money, a tax collector, a term of endearment, or a lover.