Sebastian was a respected, influential and wealthy personality in the city of Chur. He owned several properties and a considerable fortune. He commissioned the well-known genealogist Anton Hercules Sprecher von Bernegg with research on his family. This research resulted in the publication "Sammlung Rätischer Geschlechter"[3] in 1847. The researcher came to the conclusion that Sebastian was the only and last legitimate descendant of the mayor Bernhard Köhls. The research of the archivist and the certification of the noble title by the canton of Grisons then allowed Sebastian to continue to use his noble title "von Köhl" officially. With him and his children, however, the Köhl noble line then died out.
Simeon Köhl belonged to the middle class of Chur, ran a blacksmith shop with 3 journeymen. His father was also descended from the line of the mayor Bernhard Köhl, but since he was an illegitimate child, he lost his Chur citizenship at birth and was not entitled to inherit. Relatives had hardly any rights in the town of Chur, mostly they were dependent on the burghers. Father and son Simeon were only able to become naturalized again in 1831. Simeon, now a citizen of Chur again, tried to build up a sawmill in the sand around 1840 and failed miserably. He lost everything in 1845 and left behind a mountain of debt. He fled to America, leaving his family penniless. His financial problems preoccupied the courts and thus also the councilman Sebastian von Köhl. Although poverty and misfortune haunted the children of Simeon Köhl for several generations, the descendants of Simeon are the only remaining citizens of Chur today.
Anton Köhl came from the family of the eldest son of the mayor Bernhard von Köhl, Peter Köhl. This branch of the family ran the Köhl tannery. His father Anton Köhl had to sell the Köhl tannery in 1781 due to health and financial difficulties. Anton continued to work as a tanner. His son Isaak Köhl, who had also learned the tanner's trade. But the profession of tanner made both father and son ill. This family also struggled to survive, Isaak's children ended up in an orphanage, the only son died early and childless. With Isaak Köhl, the last tanner in the Köhl tannery, his family line also died out.
Peter Köhl also came from the family of the eldest son of the mayor Bernhard von Köhl, Peter Köhl. However, this branch of the family was professionally active as a butcher. Since his grandfather, master butcher Peter Köhl, and his father, Anton Köhl, both died early, only Peter Köhl, illegitimate child and conditional citizen, lived with his mother Luzia Meier. But this Peter was later to emigrate to Indianapolis and produce numerous descendants there.
Sources:
3: Sammlung Rätischer Geschlechter, Sprecher von Bernegg, Anton Hercules, 1847