Mystery Monday: Is Joseph Geissler's death story true?

Family Legend Fact or Fiction


The death of my 3rd great grandfather, Joseph Geißler, could be a legend handed down through the generations or it could be true. How would you go about deciding what is fact and what is fiction?

Death story about Joseph Geisler in Margie Wasson's scrapbook in her handwriting.
The story reads:
Henry Geiszler
"Henry's father was on horseback and rode into Fort Hayes. Guard yelled Halt. He only spoke German and as the story went didn't understand. So the guard shot him and he died. His widow married a Billman and loved on a farm in Georgesville. As a boy, this is where my dad visited and remembered his grandmother driving her horse."
The first step would be to determine the names of all the people.

Henry Geiszler's father is indeed Joseph Geißler. Joseph's widow is Caroline (Mack) Geißler Billman. She married Michael Billman, and they did have a farm Georgesville, Franklin County, Ohio.

"My Dad" is Margie Wasson's father George Joseph Geiszler, son of Henry Geiszler (of this writing). "His Grandmother" once again is Caroline Billman.

So, the 2nd great-granddaughter of Joseph Geißler is writing the story down about his death, along with a brief mention of her father's trip to the 2nd great-grandmother's second husband's farm. Confused much?

There is a lot more to dissect, but I'd love to know what you would do with a story like this. How would you prove/disprove whether Joseph was killed outside Fort Hayes because he was German and told to halt but didn't understand?

Leave a comment below, share a thought on Facebook, or send me an email using the contact form in the side bar.

Comments

  1. Marian Burk WoodMay 2, 2016 at 5:28 AM

    Interesting fragment of family history. My husband's grandfather left scraps of paper with names and dates...90% of which turned out to be accurate. So it's very possible this family legend has basis in fact, even if the details aren't completely accurate. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Devon Noel LeeMay 2, 2016 at 9:24 AM

      Thanks for sharing your husband's family history tidbit. I bet you're so glad to have those scraps of paper. And the accuracy. Yee-haw! I think there may be truth in the legend, but what it is will need to be deciphered.

      Delete
  2. Linda StufflebeanMay 2, 2016 at 6:40 AM

    First thing is did was translate "Halt!" into German. It's "Halt!" so if that is what the guard actually said, he couldn't have been shot because he didn't understand. Something else must have been happening.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Devon Noel LeeMay 2, 2016 at 9:22 AM

      Linda, thanks for that observation. That's what I thought too.

      Delete
  3. Barbara FisherMay 3, 2016 at 12:16 AM

    The 'Halt' thing is interesting, it sounds as though there is more to this than meets the eye. Good luck with unravelling it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Devon Noel LeeMay 3, 2016 at 9:48 AM

      Thanks Barbara. I'd love to find a Time Machine that could help me see what really happened.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Mother's Day Lura Long

Image
When I think of mothers on my family tree, Lura Smith tops the list of those I look forward to meeting in the afterlife. She is the adopted mother of my Grannie,  Louise Eleanor Long .  Grannie adored Lura. Lura was married to Harry Howard Long (1883-1937). The couple married in Columbus, Ohio on Jun 19, 1907. They were unable to have children and finally adopted their first child in 1916. In May 1920, a baby girl was born in Columbus, Ohio to an unwed mother. The mother died of preeclampsia. This baby girl would become my grandmother. Upon her mother's death, Baby Anderson became a ward of the State of Ohio Welfare Department. She had a caseworker, Ethel Huffman Ackerman, who wanted to place Baby Anderson in the home of Harry Long. The caseworker was a friend and classmate (at Ohio State) of Harry's sister Elizabeth Long. As Elizabeth retells the story, Ethel received Baby Anderson's birth mother's history and felt that Harry and Lura were just the parent...
Read more

Mystery Monday: Which Karlsberger married Charles Stahl?

Image
Genealogy is kind of addicting. Sometimes, I get rather lost in the branches. As such, I run into mysteries that I can't seem to solve from the top down. I figured the genealogy community is awesome and may have ways to help me solve a mystery. Otherwise, perhaps a Karlsberger from Franklin County, Ohio might stumble upon my blog and help me solve this problem. My potential 3rd great-grand uncle George Paul Karlsberger was born on 10 August 1825 in Bavaria. Another researcher suggested his connection to my 3rd great-grandmother Anna Magaretha Karlsberger who married Christian or Christopher Hoppe. Margaretha was born 29 February 1824. There are no definitive records linking George and Margaretha. And Margaretha's parents were not recorded, though parents for George were suggested. As you can see, I am about to head down a twig on the tree that might be gnarled, or legitimate. George Karlsberger had six children born in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio to his wife Maria Elizabeth...
Read more

One Name Place Study: George Townsend of Columbus Ohio

Image
It's once again time to investigate the Townsends of Franklin County , Ohio in an effort to find relatives of William James Townsend who was born around 1842 in Franklin County, Ohio. The next individual listed 1880 US Census is George A Townsend. George indicates in this census that he was born around 1840 in New York. His parents are also listed as from New York and he says he was a merchant. Other household members are Louisa Townsend born around 1840 in New York (parents also from New York).  They have a son Charles W Townsend, who is about 11 in their home. Charles was apparently born in New York as well. At quick glance, this does not appear as close a relation as I would like to see. William was born in Ohio and several records place his parents from Maryland. George and William are around the same age so the different birth places would rule out the possibility of being brothers. Could they be distant relatives? I continued to research George and found him in the 7...
Read more