MARCH 1993 NEWSLETTER
We have been busy this month working on the Hampshire Co., West Virginia, BRILLs, their relatives across the state line in Frederick Co., Va, as well as working on the origins of Michael MAURER.
CHARLES GEISSINGER RESEARCH STATUS: We received a letter from Dr. Friedrich WOLLMERSHAEUSER from Germany. He declined our request to work for us on the Charles (Carl) GEISSINGER line, but he did state that the name GEISSINGER is a common name in certain areas and found in many Catholic records. I subsequently acquired a list of certified German researchers who are accredited with the Family History Library in Salt Lake. I chose 5 Germans on that list and wrote them asking for a quote on their fees and their expertise, etc. From that list I should be able to secure a helpful researcher.
I met Jim PETTY on my last trip to the FHL in Salt Lake and we visited on the GEISSINGER line. He assures me a report is coming soon. He is currently following an excellent clue which may lead us to more GEISSINGER descendants of Charles. When Charles GEISSINGER settled in Bedford Co., Pa he received a bounty land warrant for his service in the Revolutionary War. That record was filed in the National Archives. In 1919, a woman inquired regarding that file. Her name and address was written in the margin on the original document with a note saying she had inquired regarding the file. We are assuming that this woman who inquired was a descendant of Charles GEISSINGER. She lived in Pittsburg, Pa at the time. I suceeded in locating her on a census (1920) living at the exact address which was written on Charles GEISSINGER's file at the National Archives.
Jim PETTY is now tracing her ancestry back in time to link up with Charles. Hopefully this will lead to significant results, but as for now, that is the only real clue we have to work on for Charles' descendants. That fact that she is from Pittsburg, which is very near Bedford Co., Pa is encouraging that the family may not have moved far from Bedford. I wrote a letter last month to Annette BURGERT, who is an expert on the immigration of Germans to America. She has written a series of books on many hundreds of families who originated from Germany. Her specialty is in locating families in Germany who immigrated to America, identifying the ship on which they immigrated, and locating where they settled in America. Her last book, just published, is on Germans who immigrated from the Northern Alsace. This is a likely area from which Charles (Carl) GEISSINGER may have come.
When I ordered her book, I wrote a letter regarding Charles and asked for her advice. This is the letter she wrote me:
"Dear Mr. Mower, I have checked my records and files and do not find any clues to the origin of Carl GEISSINGER who came on the Cullodian in 1766. The ship came from Lisbon, Portugal and since other records indicate that he was a soldier in Lisbon, that would appear to be the place to start the search for him. I have never had the occasion to get into Portugese records, and do not know what might be available in either church or military records there.
There are no known origins for any of the other passengers on the Cullodian, so no clue there either. There were 2 other GEISSINGER immigrants in the Pennsylvania ship lists; checked both of them, and no origin known for either of them. Sorry, not much help. Regards, Annette"
This information was helpful in the fact it helps us know where to begin searching. Maybe a Portuguese expert can help some here? We'll work on it. By the way, Tedi Jeen was born in Portugal (when her parents were stationed there in the military), but she disclaims being a Portuguese expert--I think she is just being modest however.
HAMPSHIRE CO. W. VA AND FREDERICK CO., VA BRILL STATUS: Great progress on this line this last month! Two trips by us to the FHL in Salt Lake have produced literally dozens of new marriages, families, and connections of our BRILL cousins. I've found many! I have a lot of new information on the Civil War battles fought in and around Frederick Co., Va and Winchester in which BRILLs participated. I'll put them in a future newsletter. Thanks to all who have written this month.