NOVEMBER 1993 NEWSLETTER
Looks like we have made a solid connection on the GEISSINGER line, specifically the descendants of Charles Sr. I have been receiving phone calls from all over the country and packets of information from people and sources I never knew about just a few weeks ago. Mr. Nelson EDDY of Terre Haute, Indiana has sent me a lot of information, as he seems to be the individual who has had the most interest in the GUISINGER line. He wrote that his wife (who hates genealogy) has threatened to toss out all his files as soon as he passes on. He is hoping to locate someone who has an interest in the GUISINGERS so that his life's work of research can be preserved. I told him to photocopy everything and I would reimburse him and we would see that all of these relatives are entered on the computer and a copy of their genealogy is preserved in the Ancestral File of the L.D.S. Church. He has sent my name out to various people who have connected with him over the years who are searching for GUISINGERS. The results are astounding!
I received a call from Akron, Ohio from Rosemary M. LEYDEN, a descendant of Michael GEISSINGER--- she's a cousin to us. (Michael was a brother to Catherine [GEISSINGER] MOWER.) She has collected a huge genealogy of the descendants of Michael. She is a catholic lady and says that Michael's branch of the family remained Catholic. We struck up a warm friendship and she asked what she could do to contribute to our work. I asked for a photocopy of each of the family group sheets she has on Michael's descendants so that we could include them in the master file as descendants of Charles Sr. She agreed to do that and was most excited about it. The names are coming to us now in volumes.
Report from Jim PETTY on GEISSINGER/MOWER RESEARCH September 17, 1993: "Dear Brother Mower: I was excited to hear about the possible connection in the GEISSINGER family that may have been found with Paula GEISSINGER. I certainly agree that it sounds as though her husband's ancestor John GUISINGER is the same John who was a son of Charles and Catherine GEISSINGER of Frederick County, Maryland. I have proceeded in searching records in Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio, and I feel I have gathered a little more in the way of confirming evidence. I also have taken time to review over a variety of our past findings, and some of them fit together like a hand in glove. I am looking forward to discussing them with you this weekend. I will present some of those ideas in this report for your reference later, so that you can add notes on the report and add it to your record.
"During the time since my last report to you, I have been hoping to hear back from a researcher that I hired in Pittsburgh, to search for Ella G. EDMONDS. His name was James L. SHEENAN, and I had gotten his name and address from the public library in Pittsburgh as doing record searching. I spoke to him once prior to hiring him, and he agreed to search cemetery listing and deaths and obituaries for Ella EDMONDS. However, in July I wrote him and have received no reply, and in August I called and his number was disconnected. So I may have gotten a bum steer on that connections. I will call the various cemeteries myself and see if I can find a listing for Ella. I also have some other names of researchers in Pittsburgh now who may be more reliable.
"On the GEISSINGER family information that you sent me this week, there are a couple of things that you might have forgotten from our past research that tie in very nicely. In the tax lists of Bedford County, Pennsylvania, and in the 1810 census, we were able to identify John GEISSINGER (variant spellings) in Bedford Township up through 1810, but not later. In 1810 he had one son under 10 and three daughters under 10. We also found George GISINGER in Cumberland Valley Township, which borders on the south of Bedford township, and the west of Colerain Township. He was 16-26, his wife 16-26, and twoyounger girls under 10. George had appeared on the tax rolls as a single taxable male from 1806 to 1810, and was listed as a regular (married or adult) taxable male in 1811, and disappeared after that. This would indicate that he appeared when he turned 18, and therefore was born about 1787 or 1788. I have previously speculated that he was the George GYSINGER who married Barbara ROACH on 13 Aug. 1810 in Washington County, Maryland.
"We have Charles GEISSINGER disappearing from record in 1810; I believe he died, possibly a pauper or close to it. John and George disappear after the 1810 census or the 1811 tax lists. You noted from the information from Paula GUISINGER, and I have also seen the Fairfield County, Ohio deeds, that show that John GEISINGER/GUISINGER, blacksmith, first bought land in 1812, in Middleton, Ohio (which later became Somerset, and later yet, became Perry County, Ohio). What you may not know is that George GUISINGER (or KYSSINGER) was a private in Captain George SANDERSON's Company of Ohio Militia mustered for service in April 1813 from Fairfield County, Ohio.
"I searched the early tax lists of both Fairfield and Perry Counties (Perry was organized in 1818 out of Fairfield). I was disappointed to find that the lists began in 1816, and pertained to the property owners only. Many counties have double lists showing assessments for both property owners and pole taxes. I searched the records from 1816 to 1823 (the first volume), and then the Perry County Property Tax lists from 1819 to 1825. I didn't find John GUISINGER (under any spelling) listed in either county. The only person of interest found in Fairfield County, was David GARRINGER or GARSINGER. He appears in Fairfield County in a published tax list for 1806, and appeared in the lists that I searched up to 1819, after which he disappeared from the lists. I suspected that he was part of the county that went into Perry, but he didn't show up there either. However, Hocking County was formed at the same time that Perry was formed and the Township that David lived in borders Hocking in modern maps, so it might be that he became part of that county. I mention David because I thought at first that he might have been a GEISINGER (in fact the first listing in the taxes looked like GEISINGER), and also because I found him in the 1790 census listing for Frederick County, Maryland near Charles GEISSINGER. Interesting coincidence.
"In the Perry County tax lists I found George GUISINGER in 1819 with 20 acres of land. He wasn't listed in 1820, but was there in 1821 and again in 1825. That was as far as I search in the tax list. He appeared in the 1820 census (index). I didn't search that list, because I thought I already had it in my notes at home, but I didn't. He was not there however by the 1830 or later censuses. I quickly reviewed the early deeds of Fairfield County, as you can see from my notes. John and his wife Ann (or Nancy) GUISINGER purchased land in Middleton (Somerset), in Reading township in 1812 and sold all of it by 1814. They bought land again in New Market, Liberty Township in 1825, and sold it by 1826. John did not appear in the tax lists between those dates, which happened to be the time period that I searched. In 1828, John appears in the Common Pleas Court Minutes of Fairfield County as an insolvent debtor, and his remaining taxes were dropped from the rolls. He did not appear in the County in the 1820 or 1830 census rolls. I am not sure where he was at those times. Perhaps Paula's information can fill in that data.
"In the deed records I also found property transactions for a Michael KISSINGER, with his wife Catharine. He bought land from an Abraham DREISBACH and wife, and then he and his wife sold it back to DREISBACH in 1817. He also didn't show in the tax lists. I don't believe he is the Michael whom we speculate as a son of Charles and Catharine GEISSINGER. Michael KISSINGER's deed in 1813 was witnessed by Francis KISNER, and David KISSNER. When he sold his land to DREISBACH in 1817, Michael was also listed as KISNER, and Benjamin KISNER was a witness to the deed. I found Michael KESSNER in Frederick Co., Maryland in the 1790 census listed near David GARSINGER. I am wondering if Michael KISSINGER/KISNER and David GARSINGER/KISSNER might be related. Michael was not in Fairfield or Perry Counties in the 1820 census, but in reconsideration, he might have also been in Hocking Co.
"The Deeds of Fairfield County, show that a Charles GUISINGER and his wife, Eliza purchased land in Greencastle in 1832, and sold it again in that same year. They appear in the 1830 census in Clayton Township, Perry County. Charles was 20-30 years old, as was his wife, and they had a young son over 5. Also in the 1830 census of Perry County, was a Michael GUISINGER who was 30-40 years old with 5 sons under 20, and 2 daughters. His age fits with that of Michael GEISSEN who was born in 1794 in Conewago, Pa. (son of Charles and Catherine). This Charles GUISINGER, could be a son of John GUISINGER.
"At this point a new and interesting item came to light. George GUISINGER had disappeared from Perry and Fairfield County, and I was trying to find John GUISINGER, which your letter implied was living in Ohio in the 1850 census. [Indiana] I happened to notice that a George, Michael and John GUISINGER all appeared as entries in the 1850 census of Jackson Township, Crawford County, Ohio. This wasn't the John in question as it turned out, but the George GUISINGER here was born in 1788 in Pennsylvania (the very year I had estimated for our George from tax lists in Bedford County, Pa). His wife Sarah 60, was born in Maryland. With him was a son George L. 21, born in Ohio, and a daughter Sarah Jane 17, and next to him was Michael GUISINGER 30, born in Ohio (in 1820), with his wife Barbara 28. A couple of entries away was John GUISINGER, 38 born in Pennsylvania (in 1811 or 1812) with his wife Sarah 30, and their children Mary 12, Delilah 8, and Samuel GUISINGER 5. This seems to fit perfectly our George, even with a son born in Pennsylvania in the last year that our George was in Bedford County. And he had a son Michael.
"I began searching records of Crawford County, Ohio, and found some interesting items in the published histories. Before I cover those, let me mention that I found a listing for an estate (no will) for a George GRETSINGER after 1850, and later still an estate for a George L. GRESSINGER in Crawford County. These appear to be the George and his son that I was looking for, but I still need to study the records further to determine that. In the histories of Crawford County I found an account of a John GUISS. John was the son of Abraham GUISS, a native of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, who in turn was a son of Jacob GUISS and Eva SPAETH. The account states that the name was originally GUISSINGER, but that the "inger" was dropped from the name by the grandfather. The story is that Jacob GUISSINGER wandered from home when he was young, and that upon attending school somewhere, the teacher had dropped the latter part of the name and it stuck. Another history of Crawford, gives a more complete account of the family stating that Jacob GUISSINGER was born Mar. 1, 1787 or June 30, 1786 (two accounts give different dates). Both accounts state that he died Feb. 10, 1856. Jacob had nine children, namely: George, Anna, John, Abraham, Susannah, Christian, Henry, Magdalena, and Catherine.
"The information about Jacob fits well with the dates of the sons of Charles and Catherine GEISSINGER. Jacob also fits with the geography of the problem, having left home as a young man, and going to Westmoreland County, which was North and West of Bedford, and which was also the location of the Catholic Diocese at Latrobe, the parent church of the Chapel in Bedford. Charles had four sons born prior to 1790; they could have been: Charles Jr. ca. 1780, John 1784, Jacob 1786/7, and George 1788. He then had Michael in 1793, and one other son that was listed in the 1800 census who is yet to be identified. [Philip]
"While my information about both George and Jacob is still speculation, it does seem possible, and it is also interesting that George appears to have moved from an association with John in Fairfield/Perry Counties, to live near Jacob in Crawford County. I need to search the deeds and court minutes of both Perry and Crawford County further to learn more about these families. I also need to search Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania records further to find more about the GUISINGER family there.
I would assume that Paula's connection is a good one and gather all the information that she will allow you to have. I feel it is a great breakthrough. Seeing these possible developments with the GEISSINGERS in Ohio, leads me to think that we might also find the MOWERs showing up in Ohio as well. I looked for the family in Fairfield County, but found nothing to indicate that they went there, but other counties might produce some good possibilities. Sincerely, James W. PETTY.
Since this report, Mr. PETTY and I have met in Salt Lake and spent an afternoon pouring over the evidence and we have placed another GEISSINGER into the family: Philip GUISINGER. We have learned that he followed his brothers into Westmoreland Co., Pa and then on into Ohio to Perry Co. Philip appears to have been the last GEISSINGER child born to Charles.
Placing these children has also led us to another question--- Did Charles Sr. have more than one wife? If he was having children in about 1774 (Catherine) he would have been 34 years old at that time. He continued having children on into the 1790's. He would have been 57 at the birth of Philip, which tells us he was somewhat older than his wife. If she was in her mid-40's at the birth of Philip in 1797, then she would have been about 22 when Catherine was born, and as mentioned he would have been about 34. This is an interesting question. We know that Charles got a late start in life relating to marriage. He was 27, unmarried, and an indentured servant in 1767 when he ran away from service in New Jersey. If he had a typical marriage his wife would have been about 32 in 1774 and she would have been 55 in 1797 when Philip was born. Obviously this can not be the case. Either she was much younger in 1774, or she died and he remarried a younger woman in the 1790's. Charles may have had two wives. Absence of any kind of marriage record makes things frustrating.
Earlier Mower researchers have placed the name of Catherine RUSSELL as a wife to Charles Sr., but where they obtained that information is not known. Nelson EDDY of Terre Haute, Indiana states that Charles Sr.'s wife was a widow when they married. Again I have seen no sources regarding this. I believe Catherine was born about 1774-75 because of the records Tedi Jeen and I found in Washington Co., Maryland where Michael and Catherine MAURER had a son christened in 1794. (John George son of Michael MAURER and Catherine born 27 Feb 1794 FHL #975.291 K28w Washington County, Maryland Church Records of the 18th Century, page 107) We know that Michael MOWER, father of Henry MOWER Sr. was born in 1774. His first wife very likely was about his age.
Another clue about the marriage of Charles Sr. is that in 1842, Henry MOWER Sr. was baptized in the Mississippi River at Nauvoo for his grandmother, Catherine GUYSINGER. That means that the mother of Catherine who married Michael MOWER, was also named Catherine. If there was more than one wife, then the first wife was Catherine, and considering Charles' older age, he might have married a widow. Basically without verification, we are left to our speculations until we find records. You have to admit however, that it is interesting.
TRUDY SCHENK GOETZIS EXTRACTION RESEARCH REPORT 30 Sep 1993 "Dear Jerry, I do apologize for the long wait in getting the GISINGER project going. My summer has been hectic and tragic. With two deaths in the family and much company from Germany there was not much time for genealogy. Now I have a large packet for you and from now on I will continue on a monthly basis. You probably noticed that I'm picking up the female GISINGERs in the marriages and their children. The letter from the archive at Bregenz did not help any, but I don't agree with the archivist. He obviously does not know his area as well as he thinks. Once I'm ready to branch out in the area around Goetzis, I'm sure I will be able to place most of the passengers.Enclosed are two Meyer sheets that are possibilities to the John Meyer on the ship (Cullodian).
"I have spent time on Maria Walser and have eliminated two families. From my searching so far I have learned that the people in Goetzis parish do not marry at a young age. I am assuming (at this point) that Maria Walser born in 1703 to Johann Walser and Maria Gisinger or Maria Walser born in 1705 to Thomas Walser and Katharina Meier could be your ancestor. The given name Johann seems to go through the generations, so my first impression is the birth in 1703. The deaths are finished through 1766 at this point no ages were given and no death for Mathaeus GISINGER or his wife Maria Walser. Hope all is well with you and your family. Sincerely yours, Trudy SCHENK"
I will close this newsletter saying isn't it remarkable how in the space of 6 months many years of GEISSINGER research has come together? As I get this newsletter ready for publication, I received a packet in the mail from Nelson EDDY. He has just sent me a spiral bound book that is 199 typed pages long of documentation of all the GUISINGERs he has been studying during his lifetime. Included are literally hundreds of names, families and records of descendants of Charles GEISSINGER Sr., our grandpa. Goetzis extraction work continues to be funded by your efforts. Jim PETTY is helping us locate MOWERs who may have moved with the GEISSINGERs into Ohio. You will remember that Jacob MOWER, brother to Henry MOWER Sr. had a family and descendants to locate and they didn't appear to stay in Bedford Co., Pa. Maybe they followed the GEISSINGER clan to Ohio. Maybe the elusive Samuel MOWER went there? Remember him? He had about 12 children and lived in Colerain Twp., Bedford Co., Pa with Michael and Catherine (GEISSINGER) MOWER. He purchased items at the estate sale of Andrew MOWER'S estate in 1813. The chase continues...