Geiszler Genealogy

I've enjoyed following my great-grandfather Sherman Lewis Brown through the Columbus, Ohio City Directories that can be found using Ancestry.com . I had heard that after you use census records , that you should look into city directories to find out what happened between census entries. I didn't realize how much had happened to Sherman between those 10-year increments. Sherman Lewis Brown with his wife Emma Virginia Townsend and their two youngest sons Harry and Lew. Story Before City records: This is what I knew about Sherman Lewis Brown from Census records. First, until later in life, he could be found under the name Sherman or the name Lewis. 1890 US Census... he was 13 and living with his parents and siblings in Jefferson, Madison, Ohio. 1900 US Census... he was married to Emma and they had one child named Eugene. He worked as a day laborer and lived n Columbus, Ohio. In reviewing the record again, I realized something I missed before today. That Sherm...

Okay... it's 1910 and you are starting life over in a different part of the state. You're not with your husband and you have one child. The City Directory comes around and asks about your status (occupation, address, etc). As a woman in 1910, do you list yourself as a widow when you're divorced? Or do you just leave off the husband information? If you divorce, would you change your married name back to your maiden name? Or does your family have you confused and you kept your married name because you truly are a widow? I found this information FASCINATING. My mother's great-aunt Gertrude Long married a man named Edward T. Rang in Huron County, Ohio in April 1895. The marriage records in that particular year only had persons state they were at least of a certain age but no other information was recorded (i.e. parents). Edward and Gertrude Rang had a child in May 1895.The birth certificate of Edward and Gertrude's daughter identifies them by name only. By the 1...

I'll include religious documentation below, but I wanted to include some historical context as well for my history. I found this information on the book History of Franklin County (1858) found in Chapter 36 Churches of Columbus which has been lovingly placed on the internet by Leona Gustafson. "In 1844, the German Methodist Church, at the northwest corner of Third street and South Public Lane, was erected, and the German part of the congregation generally met there." The Pastor for the German Methodist, in 1857, was Rev. Paul Brodbeck and the total number of members was sixty. Henry and Maggie Geiszler attended was is said to be called Zion German Methodist & Episcopal. And were married in 1882. In 1886, the name was changed to First German Methodist & Episcopal church. Of all the Methodist Church photographs through the Columbus Metropolitan Library Index, I can not figure out which church was the Zion German or the First German church located on Thir...

Samuel Curtis Brown was born 3 Aug 1821 in Baltimore, Maryland. He supposedly died on 14 Jan 1900 in Columbus, Franklin, Ohio. He married Martha Gordon (b 1827 - d 1901). The couple is said to have had 9 children: Mary Catherine, Eliza Jane, Wilden Edgar, Ida L, Elias S, Levi, Sherman Lewis, Hattie Elizabeth, and Effie A Brown. (Jennie, Ida, Sherman, Hattie, and Effie have this couple stated on their death or birth records.) I can't prove who Samuel's parents are. I don't have any records of his birth. I only find him in the US Census records for 1860, 1870, and 1880. Numerous researchers are working on him, but few have provided more substantial proof of him and his parental relations. I have potential parents of James and Catherine. But it could easily be Samuel and Kate. Again, without any proof, I can't figure this man's life out prior to the 1860 US Census. It is proposed that Samuel and Martha were married in 15 Oct 1846 in Hockin...