Geiszler Genealogy

Our initial attempts at researching are not always productive. I think that is the case which searching for clues about witnesses on my 3-times great-grandfather Joseph Geißler's naturalization proceedings . On October 11, 1858, in the Franklin County Superior Court, Joseph completed the steps necessary to become a US Citizen, along with 75 other immigrants. Each new citizen had to bring with them a witness who could attest that they had lived in the county for a specified length of time and that they were of good character. Naturalization registration with the Franklin County Superior Court Autumn 1863 Term, date: October 11, 1858 Joseph is the second name listed on this document, even though his name is spelled as Keizler rather than Geißler or other name variations. His witness's name looks like Adam Nortlick, Nottick, or Novttichi. I initially put these names into Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org to see if a census record for 1850 - 1860 would have any results in Fra...

In Examining Naturalization Dockets for Joseph Geißler's , I featured the court docket when my three times great-grandfather officially became an American citizen. I noted that several individuals from Baden, Joseph's home country, also became citizens the same day. I had the ambitious goal of learning more about these men in hopes of finding a family or traveling companions to my ancestor. The initial results were difficult to obtain. Naturalization registration with the Franklin County Superior Court Autumn 1863 Term, date: October 11, 1858.  (1 of 2 pages) Here are the results of my attempts to find the following Baden now American citizens: First, I'll start with the witness for my ancestor: Joseph's witness is Adam Nortlick or Novttichi. I've searched the 1850 and 1860 US Census and the City Directories for such a person. I am having absolutely no luck, no matter what combination of characters and names I use. HELP!!!! Who is this person and why can't I fin...

As discussed in Joseph Geisszler: An American Father, Joseph was born in Baden and immigrated to Franklin County, Ohio prior to 1858. He received a naturalization certificate which was passed down through the family and is currently in my distant cousin's possession. Had he not had the original certificate hanging on the family wall in his home, I would not have considered that the last name Keizler as a variation for Geißler . Incidentally, this record leads me to the discovery of Joseph signing the 1863 Civil War Draft record in Prairie Township, Franklin County, Ohio, in June 1863, a month prior to his death . My previous post briefly mentioned when Joseph became a naturalized citizen and how that fits into his life story. This post will examine the naturalization process in more detail. The Order Book for the Autumn Term of 1858, lists men completing their naturalization process on October 11, 1858. The list misspells Joseph's name the same way on the certificate in the fa...

Growing up a Geiszler  meant that I had a somewhat unique name. There was no question of who someone was talking about when they referred to Devon Geiszler. No true if your name was Jennifer or Jennifer Smith. Additionally, there were few, if any, Geiszlers in Texas compared to Jones, Davis, or Martinez. The only other Geiszler's I knew of were in Columbus, Ohio. So, if you ran into an Ohio Geiszler and asked if they had relatives in Houston, Texas the answer would be yes. Not, "Well, there are a lot of folks with the last name Lee..." Now, there were others with the last name Geissler, Gusler, Gutszler, and so on in Texas and Ohio. Naively, I couldn't believe these folks were even remotely related to me. Additionally, I automatically assumed someone with the "z" in their name must be kin. Once I started doing genealogical research, I discovered that there were more Geiszler spelling variants. I could not rule out the possibility of a relationship ...