APRIL 1993 NEWSLETTER
Thank you all for the cards, letters and contributions which have been received. I have several items of interest to report. First, we have hired (for a short period of research) a genealogist, Karl Michael SALA, who at the writing of this newsletter is in Germany. We have purchased about $400 of his time to look at various sources while he is in Germany in regards to Charles GEISSINGER. He will report to us upon his return to the states. He is an accredited genealogist with the FHL in SLC.
Secondly, we have hired Trudy SCHENK, on a long-term basis. She is also an accredited genealogist, who specializes in German research. She charges $25 per hour for her research, which is much better than other figures we have been quoted. I have hired her for 20 hours of research, after which I would like a report from her. I provided her with a copy of my files, documentation, and a research summary of my work to date on Charles GEISSINGER. She feels it is possible to locate Charles' origin in Germany, but admits it won't be easy. Heck, we already knew it wouldn't be easy or I would have found it by now myself.
We are making progress on the Michael MAURER line also. I am in correspondence with Susan KOELBLE of Montgomery Co., Pa. She is an expert on Bucks Co., and Montgomery Co., Pa. She lives right in the area where our Michael MAURER resided. I have asked her to evaluate the possibility of locating a copy of Michael MAURER's signature.
As you know, Tedi Jeen and I have located on the immigration records, two Michael MAURERs who immigrated to America in 1738. I have copies of the signatures of both of these men. They signed the ship lists upon arrival. If I can locate a copy of our Michael MAURER's signature on a land deed, etc. we can then identify which ship our ancestor arrived on. With that knowledge, we can start searching for the places of origin for other people who sailed on that same ship. The likelihood is great that our Michael came from the same area as other shipmates, since groups often travelled together from Germany to America. It is my hope Susan KOELBLE can find such a signature or other vital information for us on Michael MAURER.
Research Report from Jim PETTY on Charles GEISSINGER
20 February 1993: "Dear Brother Mower: My research for Ella G. EDMONDS of Pittsburgh, has been frustrating. [In 1804 Charles KISSINGER (GEISSINGER) received 204 acres of land for his service in the Revolutionary War. In 1920 Ella G. EDMONDS wrote the National Archives and inquired about this land warrant. Her name and address in Pittsburgh was written on the National Archives' Copy of the bounty land warrant. Our speculation is that she is a relative, possibly a descendant of Charles.] I thought I had the lead that I needed to identify her parentage but it turned out to be a red herring, and I am back at square one. I was not able to identify her maiden name.
"Ella G. EDMONDS was married to Richard Earl EDMONDS in 1892 or 1895 according to the 1900 and 1910 censuses, and was divorced from him by 1920. She was born either in Pennsylvania in Sept. 1869 (1900 Census) or in New York in 1873/4. She had two children from her marriage, i.e., Margaret who was born May 1896 in New York, and James EDMONDS who was born in Dec. 1897 in New York. They moved to Pittsburgh by 1899 (city directories). Her daughter Margaret either died or married by 1920, and wasn't in the home. No indication of what happened to her. A Margaret EDMUNDS married David LEWIS in 1914, and another married a John B. BELL in 1915. A Margaret EDMONDS married Claude JENSEN in 1921. James EDMONDS married Pinkey JACKSON in 1924. The library here has none of the marriage records after 1909.
"In the 1910 Census I found living in the home of Richard and Ella EDMONDS, a widow, Annie FRAZER (the Soundex said GRAYER), who was age 30, with her two daughters Dorothy (age 8) and Mary (age 6). Annie was born in New York, but her daughters were born in Pennsylvania. The census shows that the two daughters were all of the children that she had had. Her relationship to Richard E. EDMONDS is given as sister-in-law. Since her married name is FRAZER or FRASER, we know she thus had to be Ella's sister. In 1900, like Ella, she states New York as her birthplace, and also that of her parents. In 1900 Ella stated that she was born in Pennsylvania, but that her father was born in Ireland, and her mother in Pennsylvania. In the 1920 Census, Ella stated that she was born in Pennsylvania, and that her parents were both born in Pennsylvania.
"I searched marriage records of both Pittsburgh and Alleghany County, Pennsylvania for the marriage of Richard E. EDMONDS to Ella G. _______ about 1892-1896. Nothing. Nor did I find birth records for either of their children, which seems to indicate that they did come from New York. I also searched for the marriage of Annie to Charles FRASER. (I found her as the widow of Charles in the 1920 city directory). I found the marriage of a Charles FRASER to an Annie B. MCRAE in Pittsburgh in 1899, and I got all excited and tried to find her and Ella as MCRAE, but got no where. Later I found that the Annie B. MCRAE FRASER, was born in Scotland in 1872, and was the wrong person. I found no other possible marriage to fit for Charles FRASER to Annie ________. I thought about Ella G. being a GEISINGER, but her reference in the 1900 census that her father was from Ireland threw me on that.
I also searched for the births of Annie's daughters Dorothy and Mary, who were born in Pennsylvania in 1902 and 1904, but did not find them in the Pittsburgh area. I couldn't search for the death of Charles FRASER, because the death records don't go late enough. I also looked for Charles and Annie in the 1900 census but found only the Charles and Annie FRASER that were from Scotland. The funny thing about that family was that they also named their first daughter, Dorothea (born about 1899 or 1900), and they lived on Harriet, where Annie was living with the EDMONDS in 1910.
"Now, I find that virtually every record about her has given different information, and I figure it is still possible that her father was a GEISINGER or some spelling like that. In a future search I need to search the 1880 Soundex for a GEISINGER family in Pennsylvania or in New York that might have a daughter Ella and a daughter Annie in the right age groups.
"I searched for James in the Social Security Death Index but found nothing that seemed to fit. I found a James EDMONDS who was born Dec. 14, 1897, registered in Pennsylvania, who died in August 1986 in Philadelphia. He might be the son of Richard and Ella. We need to send for his death certificate to find out. We could also send for his marriage record which might give his parents names including Ella's maiden name. I also searched probate indexes to see if I could identify when Ella died. She was young enough that she could have lived up into the 1950's. Ella owned the boarding house that she lived in in 1920, so it is possible that she left an estate that was handled by probate. This might have been the means of identifying when she died to send for a death certificate that could tell us her parents names. That is all we need really is something to identify her parents. I found no record of her though in the estate index. I did find a file for her former husband, R. E. EDMONDS, who died April 16, 1930 in Pittsburgh, and also a file for a James EDMONDS who died June 6, 1959 in Sharon Township, Allegheny Co., Pa. This is another possibility for her son. I just need to find some record that identifies her maiden name or that of her sister Annie. If her father was a GEISINGER, and moved to New York, that will explain why we have lost track of the family.
"I scanned the 1850 census index of New York and found perhaps only ten GISSENGER, KISSINGER, and variations, families in the whole state, NYC included. I will extract these in my next period of research. I feel that tracing Eleanor EDMONDS is still one of our best possibilities and this New York concept is something I hadn't even considered before, because I always tend to think of migrations in a southerly or westward direction. However, considering that Western New York, was as much a wilderness in 1811, as Ohio or anywhere else in the West, a search in that direction would be a good idea. Alot of Pennsylvanian Germans also moved up into the southern portion of Ontario, Canada that was opening up as well.
"I have to admit that I have felt discouraged on the GEISINGER line, because after all that we have done, and that has been found, most of the information about his descendants hangs on a hope and a prayer. The Charles GEISSINGER who went to Jefferson County, Ohio, and was a brother to John of Frederick Co., Maryland and Berkeley County, West Virginia seems like he ought to be Charles Jr. But his brother John was married apparently in 1796, and we have documentation that he was born in 1784. Unless he was big for his age, and married very young, he seems to be the wrong man. The GEISSEN family from York County also seem to be the right people at the right time, but there just is no supporting evidence to confirm them. What in the world happened to their children? Where did they go? Did they die off? That is why this New York clue is so intriguing. Maybe we need to look beyond the normal sphere to find our clues.
"I don't feel that there is much hope of finding the origin of Carl GEISSINGER by searching for the people he came to America with. It appears to me that he may have been transported to America as a prisoner of the English. He had served in the military for the Portuguese government just before being transported to America, and was under bondage to several people following his arrival. The fact that he ran away several times indicates that his bondage was tantamount to slavery, rather than voluntary as many bonded servants were then. He may have been involved with piracy. Although searching for the other men who arrived with GEISSINGER may not accomplish much, I wonder if there were records kept by the Mayor of Philadelphia that might shed light on this arrival. Unlike other arrivals, these men were presented at the home of the Mayor, John LAWRENCE. That also seems unusual.
"Finding Charles in German records will probably require tracing the origins of other GEISINGER families that settled in Pennsylvania and Maryland. There were several, but it still was an uncommon name. Is it just coincidence that Charles settled finally in an area where other GEISSINGER families were, as opposed to nearly any other county in either state? I am inclined to believe that where the others were, we will find Charles.
"We might also try searching for the family of Catherine RUSSELL. I realize that her name is uncertain, and may be incorrect, but we need to see if we can find any possibilities that might fit in the event that it is correct, and might lead us to records that relate to her and her children.
"Could you send me an updated summary of what is known of the family and children of Michael MAURER and Catherine GEISINGER? Surely their children would have been in contact with first cousins on the GEISINGER line, and we might be able to find clues to other descendants of Charles through them.
"I also would appreciate it if you would ask your researcher in Bedford Co., Pa to search some of the court records there. We have very few of the court minutes for that county, and we might pick up clues pertaining to the family from them. We especially need a search of the Court of Common Pleas Dockets and Minutes (1800-1820 or later), with special emphasis on Equity papers. If Charles left any estate after he died, it might have been mentioned in equity. We also need the records of the Court of Quarter Sessions searched. These deal more with civil and criminal matters, but since we know so little about these people every possibility can help. I believe there are indexes to most of these records, at least to the dockets and then minute entries can be located by date. If he finds any records or cases pertaining to GEISINGER or other variations of the name, have him search the original papers of the file, as more information might be found there.
"Do you have any other suggestions to follow on the GEISSINGER lines? I will send away for the probate files and vital records right away in hopes that we can get them soon. And I will begin searching New York census and other records this week. Sincerely, James W. PETTY, Genealogist.
Note from Jerry: I will follow the suggestions of Mr. PETTY. We need to follow out these EDMONDS clues. Why else would a person inquire into the bounty land warrant file of a total stranger who had been deceased over 100 years, unless that person were a relative? If we can locate definite relatives (descendants) of Charles GEISSINGER, we just might find the clues we need to pursue this line. Never before has anyone been this close to discovering what happened to this family and we need to play these clues to their conclusion. I am going to suggest to Jim that perhaps Ella G. EDMONDS was related to the GEISSINGERs through her mother's line. Her middle name could be GEISSINGER because her mother was a GEISSINGER. I feel optimistic as I conclude this newsletter that we are on the way to significant progress on the GEISSINGERs.