Geiszler Genealogy

I am so excited I could reach through the computer and kiss the woman's cheek who found and photographed a gravestone that I could not find at the Green Lawn Cemetery in May 2012. I visited Green Lawn Cemetery Section 30 and searched for Leslie Cushman Akison . Leslie is the son of my great grand-aunt Ida Loa Brown Akison. I wrote last year: " I had hoped that perhaps he was buried near additional family members and I would get more clues into this aunt's family. I did my best to read the map, but I wasn't confident I knew which plot to look at. I searched and searched the section and decided I now had two sections to ask about in the office. " I did visit the office and ask about the plot and went one more time to search. Alas, I could not find Leslie's stone. Bummer. In June, a genealogical miracle happened. Anonymous , a volunteer for FindAGrave.com , found my photo request (that included the plot information) and she went out to try.  She found it. S...

Whew! This summer has been a wild ride for my family. In actuality, it started in October 2013 when his company announced plans to reorganize his engineering group. It ended at the end of July with us moving back to my home state of Texas. Furthermore, I'm 1 hour away from my hometown of Sugar Land, TX. For those who know anything about Houston, we're in the Northeast side now. So, I'm truly back home, just on the other side of town. The moving truck arrives and a neighbor welcomes my daughter to our new home. Hello Texas! In addition to the relocation, I have exciting news. My church leaders have requested that I serve our congregation as a Family History Consultant . How cool is that? I have even more of an excuse to teach and inspire others to do their own family history. So far, this new responsibility has allowed me to take a peek at another person's tree using the FamilySearch.org helper feature. It's pretty cool. I'm so tempted to 'fix...

Woo-hoo! I love when a receive an email that says " Find A Grave Photo Request: Success!" I'm going to share a few that I've recently received: Patty did a GREAT job photographing the gravemarkers for Michael Carrington Geisler and his second wife Sarah Jane Drew . Gravemarker for  Michael Geisler  and his wife  Jane  by  Patty Obetz Cemetery, Franklin County, Ohio Michael Geisler was born Nov. 20, 1830, in Bavaria and died Oct. 1, 1920, in Franklin County, Ohio. His wife Jane (interestingly both were on their second marriage when they wed). Jane was born May 12, 1841, in Ireland and died Mar. 5, 1928 in Franklin County, Ohio. Patty took a second picture showing the top of the stone. Kudos to you for photographing multiple angles! I wonder if the little white stones that say father and mother behind the large monument belong to this plot or another. Hmmm... Rev. M I Comfort  buried in the Bear Creek Cemetery ...

Hooray! Someone found Ida's gravestone. Ida Jane Townsend is the daughter of William Townsend and Mary Claybaugh (or Clabaugh) of Franklin County, Ohio. William is the focus of my One Name Place study and I wrote about Ida not being in the family home in the 1880 US census. She was in the home of Edward and his wife Louisa who I believe to be her father's brother and sister-in-law. Ida married Lawrence (or Loren) Sandborn in 1885 and she lived in Columbus, Ohio for the remainder of her life. She had 5 children with Lawrence Sanborn before he is believed to have died around 1907 (if not earlier, a date is unknown at this time). She lived until 1941. All of this information I have known, but when I visited the Obetz Cemetery in 2012, I could not find the stone. At that time, the cemetery stone location process was very disorganized. A volunteer at FindAGrave did photograph the stone. The only thing I would wish is for more angles of this upright stone. That's just me. I...

Lewis and his older brother Harry Brown about 1920 Lewis Sherman Brown, my maternal grandfather, was born on 18 Sep 1918 in Columbus, Franklin, Ohio to Sherman Lewis Brown and Emma Virginia Townsend. His birth certificate says that he was the ninth child born to Sherman, 51, and Emma, 38. To date, the names and dates of only 5 of the 9 children are known. Scan of Original Birth Certificate for No Name Brown Actually, he didn't receive a name when he was born. Once a name was determined, the couple had to add an addendum to his birth certificate so he would stop being 'No Name' Brown. A scan of an original document, for Lewis Sherman Brown, name update for a birth certificate In 1920, the family with four boys were living at 1888 Parsons Avenue. Lewis is 1 1/2, and his brothers are Eugene - 21, Samuel - 17, and Harry – 3. The family has lived in this home for about 3 years. Sherman is the proprietor of S L BROWN & SON garage for the same a...

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...

Previously, I shared in a post " How Many Ways Can You Spell Pusecker? " twelve ways this name has been spelled and now I have another variation. Let's add  Boesecker to the list. The Pusecker family traveled with my 2nd great-grandmother Caroline Mack Geis ßler Billmann to America together from Gillersheim, Hannover, Niedersachsen (Germany). Caroline's brother married a Pusecker daughter and joined the families by marriage.   So, this record for Charles Boesecker, is believed to be Karl Pusecker (1808-1886), the elder Pusecker in the immigrant family. Declaration of Intention. Court of Common Pleas, Franklin County Ohio. The State of Ohio, Franklin County, SS Be it remembered that on the  9th day of August  of the year eighteen hundred and  fifty-six , PERSONALLY APPEARED before me ALBERT B BUTTLES, Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, within and for said County and State,   Charles Boesecker  an Alien, a native of  Han...

Have you revisited the research trips you took and the things you left undone? Four years ago, I took a trip to Columbus, Ohio to visit cemeteries, especially Green Lawn Cemetery. Green Lawn Cemetery is massive and is said to be the fifth-largest in Ohio. At the time, was on the hunt for a collateral relative in Selection L. At the time, I couldn't find him. Green Lawn Cemetery, Columbus, Ohio Section L My mission was to find the gravesite of my great grandfather Andrew Nelson SMITH's second wife Marietta  Webb  SMITH's father. English immigrant William WEBB (1816-1905) is buried in Section L, while Andrew and Marietta Smith are buried in his ancestral plot in Section 35.  When I visited Green Lawn, I was visiting 50+ sites and photographing additional stones in hopes In the past, I would have had to pay  $3 per name for the information about individuals in buried in the cemetery. Regularly, I receive more informatio...

When growing up, I was insistent that you spelled my German last name with an S-Z. Any other variation was wrong and I believed that anyone who spelled it differently would not be my relative. I was alone in thinking spellings for last names was fixed. I only correct people when they pronounce my first and middle name incorrectly. Having learned from a variety of sources about the need to generate a list of name variations, I have attempted to create such a list for the Pueseckers who are members of my Maeck FAN Club. The individuals I'm researching settled in Franklin County, Ohio beginning in 1845. Few Pueseckers have left that area, which makes my research location narrow. Buckeser Busacker Buseker Pasenger Persaker Puesecker Pusaker Pusecke Pusecoier Puseker Pusicker Puesecker Having a running list of how the names appear in different validated records makes finding them a little easier in subsequent research. I entered the last name into the  1890 Vetera...

Going from an index to an original source often takes a little detective work and a lot of patience. And sometimes, it takes learning the right combination of search terms for the record to finally float to the surface. That's the case for Ludwig Puescker son of Karl Puesecker who was a traveling companion to my 3rd great-grandmother Caroline Mack Geiszler Billman. I had tracked Ludwig, who became Louis in many records in Franklin County, Ohio, until the 1880 US Census. Then, I discovered a death date of 14 May 1905  in the  Ohio Deaths and Burials, 1854-1997 death index collection on FamilySearch.  The index was derived from many sources, but I needed something more than a small clue to determine where his record was hiding. I turned once again to the  Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001 index image collection.  Searching for Puesecker and the death year and death county returned no results. Searching for Louis who died in 1905 in Franklin County, Oh...

While searching the  Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001  with the search terms "Martha" "Brown", "Franklin County, Ohio" for the death place and "1901" for the death year, I got a hit. I wanted to start doing a genealogy happy dance saying I finally found her death record. But did I? Can I really prove it? How did I know to search for Martha Brown in Franklin County, Ohio for a death in 1901 and a possible maiden name of Gordon? Well, much of the information comes from these two Bible entries kept by her daughter-in-law Emma Virginia Townsend. Emma Townsend Brown Bible, recording her in-law's births Emma Townsend Brown Bible, recording the deaths of her in-laws These bits of information led me to census records, a marriage record, records for children, and records for who I believe are Martha's parents "Charles Gordon and Jane Fickle". So, with that information I went looking for Martha's elusive death r...

Researching collateral lines is important. My great+ aunt Lizzie Greener is the daughter of my grandfather Joseph Geißler whom I have written about many times. Her husband was Conrad Greener b 1853 d 1905. I had hoped to find a death record for him online to support the grave markers that I have found for him. So far, using Ancestry and FamilySearch, I haven't found a death record for Conrad, Mary Elizabeth's husband, but rather for her father-in-law Conrad the senior. Ohio, County Death Records, 1840-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F6JL-NPL : accessed 30 March 2016), Conrad Grener, 04 Sep 1899; citing Death, Prairie, Franklin, Ohio, United States, source ID v 4 p 198, County courthouses, Ohio; FHL microfilm 285,207. The death record for Conrad with Mary Elizabeth Geißler shares a tombstone is still elusive. I have tried various name combinations for Conrad and I keep coming up empty. The collection implies...

Mystery Monday Solved (at least I think so) I have someone in the family album that belonged to Maggie Geiszler (1861-1921, Columbus, Ohio) that I've been blessed to be the guardian of. Many of the photos have been identified, but several have not. Above is a photo of Bertha Schenk. However, I'm not certain when that photo was taken. It is a very thick, heavy print so that should help me discover the date. However, I do have a photograph that helps me determine a few more details with which to do some research. This picture is part of a wedding party collection associated with the marriage of Henry Joseph Geiszler to Magdalena Hoppe on 3 Jul 1882 in Columbus, Franklin, Ohio. That explains why Bertha was in Maggie's photo album, she was her Maid of Honor. So, Maggie and Bertha are likely about the same age. And, they're living in Ohio in the 1880s. So, I added these items to Ancestry.com as I hoped to discover a City Directory about the 1880s or a census record...

N The mystery of my 3rd great-grandfather has many parts to investigate. Here's another installment of that investigation. In 2011, my distant Geiszler cousin theorized that perhaps there is no evidence to corroborate the story that Cousin Margie Geiszler Wasson told William Joseph Geiszler. Henry's father* was on horse back and rode into Ft. 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 lived on a farm in Georgesville. As a boy this is where my dad* visited and remembered his grandmother driving her horse. * Henry is Henry Joseph Geiszler b. 1859 in Columbus, Ohio. His father  is Joseph Geiszler b. abt 1836 in Germany and emigrated to America prior to his marriage in Franklin County, Ohio in 1856. *'My Dad' is George Joseph Geiszler (b. 1885 in Columbus, Ohio) and 'his grandmother' is Caroline (Mack) Geiszler Billman (b. 1838 in Gille...

Mystery Man in Maggie Hoppe Geiszler's photo album Who is this man? That's the question I want to have answered.  This photo resides in a photo collection that once belonged to Magdalena Marguerita Geiszler (nee Hoppe). Maggie Geiszler was born in 1861 in Columbus, Ohio to Christoph Hoppe and Anna Margaretha Karlsberger. She married Henry Joseph Geiszler in 1882, who was the son of Joseph Geißler and Caroline Mack, in the Zion German Methodist Episcopal church. Maggie died in 1921 in Columbus. Many of the photos have been associated with Geiszler, Hoppe, and Karlsberger family members and friends, but this one is a complete mystery. The first question is, what is written below the photo? I thought his name was Sam Basler. But that might because I have had a neighbor with that name. But in looking once again at the writing below the name, The last word looks like something scribbled on the capital letter B and then the word Basler.   The first word could be 'love...

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 Ge...

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 docume...

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...

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 ...

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...