Geiszler Family History: Zion German M & E Church of Columbus

Last week, I shared about the church participation of my 3rd great-grandfather Joseph Geissler and his wife Caroline Mack. Their son Henry Geiszler is my 2nd great-grandfather. Henry married Margertia Magdalena Hoppe 3 Jul 1882 at Zion German Methodist Episcopal Church.


The trouble with them marrying in this church is that the church no longer exists under this name or as a physical property. Four years after their marriage, the church became the First German ME Church. It is believed that the name German was dropped around 1917 because of the anti-German sentiments in the US during World War I. Regardless of exact reasons, the First German ME Church became Zion Methodist Episcoal Church.

During the 1960s, the Zion Methodist Episcoal Church was demolished to make room for the interstate in the Columbus area. Custody of the records of the Zion ME Church were taken over by the Livingston Methodist Church. According to their website, the Livingston Church was founded by German immigrants in 1843. The church is located just south of the I-70 Interstate north of German Village.

Two other records were found in the Livingston church collection for the Zion Methodist church, they are the baptismal entries for my great-grand uncle and my great grand father.


Later in life, George's family joined the Hansberger Church while William, who married a Catholic woman, attended a Catholic church.

I'm very thankful for the research my cousin did in locating these records. I wouldn't have known where to look. I have more relatives in the Columbus, Ohio area. I wonder how I would go about researching their religious affiliation and participation without the clues in a census (like in Canada).

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