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Showing posts from April, 2016

Could There Be More Than The Draft?

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In the post   Another Land in Crisis , I share the story of how my German immigrant 3-times great-grandfather Joseph Geißler had come to America potentially to escape the turmoil in Baden following the 1848 German revolution only to have his new country descend into the Civil War. In June 1863, Joseph would sign the Union draft register show above. My curious nature wants to know if there is more information that can be found beyond this document. Joseph Keezler is the last name on this document, right under John Kinnear. These names are men from the small village of Prairie Township with the last name beginning with K. As stated before, I know that Joseph was in Prairie Township at this time of this documents' creation, even though he had sold his property back to James Kinnaird in December 1862. Thee is a John Kinnear listed listed above Joseph on this document who is also from Prairie. It's possible that this was Joseph's neighbor. This documented in

Joseph Geissler: Possible Migration Party

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For several months I have shared the story of my 3-times great-grandfather Joseph Geißler who immigrated from Baden to Franklin County, Ohio. I firmly believe we have to Stop Researching and Start Writing our ancestor's stories in order to a) make them more enjoyable for those who inherit our research and b) so we can really scrutinize our research and what we still don't know. Since completing Joseph's biography, that ended with Gone Too Soon, I've analyzed the value of researching surname origin and researching information from Joseph's naturalization records. Now, I'm mulling over the question of "Who did Joseph Travel with?" I'd love to hear your suggestions on this Brick Wall Ancestor of mine and the theories I present in this post. Do you have other tips or suggestions? Please share them in the comments section below. What I Know Joseph Geißler was born about 1836 in Baden. In 1848, the German Revolution stirred up emotions and

Joseph Geisler: Albert Noethlich is Likely Witness

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In the previous post, I asked the question is Adam really Albert on Joseph Geisler's naturalization documents ? Adam Notlick is what the name of the witness for Joseph Keizler (Joseph Geißler) appears to be, but in City Directories and the 1860 Census, the name Albert Noetlick can be readily found. Albert Noethlick is a German immigrant, which means he could speak the language of my ancestor and would do well to be a witness on his behalf. I also noticed that Albert's father-in-law's name is Adam, so it's possible that if Albert doesn't have a second name (Albert Adam or Adam Albert) then perhaps the Adam of his father-in-law was inadvertently recorded. Naturalization registration with the Franklin County Superior Court Autumn 1863 Term, date: October 11, 1858 Another possibility was that with Albert leaving Germany following the turbulent 1848 revolutions, it's entirely possible he was leery of giving all of his information to another government. However, this