EMILY GEIGERS FAMILY
Article by W.T. Brooker, The Lexington (SC) Dispatch, Wed., January 16, 1901
"Emily Geiger, daughter of John Geiger of the Fork, niece of Major Jacob
Herman Geiger, married Llewellen Threewits in the summer of 1789. She died
in 1825 and was buried in the Threewitts Cemetery. Emily was the granddaughter
of Herman Hans Conrad Von Geiger [sic] who came to SC in 1745, and had two
sons, John Geiger who married Emily Murph and lived in the Fork in what is
now Newberry County, and Major Jacob Herman Geiger. Major Jacob Geiger, after
the death of his first wife, married Miss Dorothy Kinsler. After Jacob Geiger
died, she married Major Abram Geiger and lived until 1857."
Jan. 30, 1901: A. S. Salley wrote to say "that the records show that
Brookers history of the Geiger family is in error."
Feb. 6, 1901: Brooker replied that his (Brookers) version can all be
verified.
Commentary by Ms. Harriet Imrey:
Documentation related to Brooker article:
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Residence of John Geiger. John Geiger did not live in the Fork (Dutch Fork
region between the Broad and Saluda Rivers, including portions of modern
Newberry, Richland, and Lexington counties) at the time Emily Geiger delivered
a message for Gen. Greene. Following Greenes retreat north across Newberry
County from the siege of Ninety Six, his forces then marched south through
Fairfield and Richland counties, remaining on the east side of the Broad,
in order to intercept the British forces at Fridays Ferry (Granby).
Greenes dispatches describe this route; so do the memoirs of Rawdons
British troops. John Geigers home was on the east side of the Broad
River near Cedar Creek in Fairfield County, near its southern border with
Richland County. An early written account of Emily Geigers ride (Lossing,
1852) states that her family lived in Fairfield District. Since this is where
Greenes men were marching, it is the only place that they could have
met Emily Geiger (actually, "Emmali" among Swiss families). John Geiger was
a Grand Juror for this Old Camden County region called "Between the Broad
& Catawba Rivers" (located in Fairfield/Richland) in 1778-79. In 1788,
he signed the Articles of Incorporation for the Appii Forum Church of Cedar
Creek, a Swiss Reformed congregation that later affiliated with the Presbyterian
Church. In 1790, he (or a son of the same name) was listed on the Census
records for the Fairfield/Richland section of Camden District. While late
19th century Newberry county historians wished to locate the Geiger
household and its heroine in their own county, there were no Geiger families
living there, either in the Jury Lists of 1778-79 or in the 1790 census.
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Names of Emilys uncles. John Geigers brothers were named Hans
Jacob (born 1718) and Hans Ulrich (1729-1777), per parish records of Hasloch,
Berneck, St. Gall, Switzerland, and from Hans Ulrichs family Bible.
John Geiger was baptized in 1721. Herman Geiger (1707-1751) was Johns
first cousin.
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Date of Emilys marriage. In 1789, Llewellin Threewits and his wife
Eleanor Fitzpatrick had their first and only child (per court testimony of
their son Llewellin dated 3 Jan 1810). If Llewellin Threewits married Emily
Geigeras he may possibly have doneit was not while he and Eleanor
were expecting a child.
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Date of Emilys burial. The only tombstone in the Threewits Cemetery
dating to the early 19th century, and still legible in the late
19th century, was that of Josephine Love Threewits (1793-1813).
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Emilys grandfather. Her grandfather, Abraham Geiger, father of John,
arrived in South Carolina on 1 Feb 1737 on the ship Prince of Wales, Capt.
Dunbar, per notice in the Gazette dated 5 Feb 1737. He arrived with his wife,
three sons, and a daughter, and received a land-grant of 300 acres dated
1742. Her grandfathers older brother, Hans Jacob Geiger, was a former
governor of St. Gall canton in Switzerland. He arrived with his wife, his
married son Herman and family, his married daughter Elizabeth Schellig and
family, two unmarried sons, and three unmarried daughters. His land grant
of 350 acres was also dated 1742.
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John Geigers wife. A deed of sale dated 27 Mar 1759 identified Barbara
Zanger as the wife of John Geiger. A second John Geiger, Hermans youngest
son, was living in SC at the time that Barbara Zanger was definitely married
to one of the two of them. The second John had just celebrated his
11th birthday. Barbara was the daughter of Simon Zanger of Oberhasle,
Bern, Switzerland. He had arrived on the ship Samuel on 13 Jul 1735 with
his wife and child, then received a grant for 150 acres in Orangeburgh Township
on 17 Oct 1735. Simons unnamed wife died, and he married Barbara Strauman
(Stroman) from Waldenburg, Basel, Switzerland on 3 Nov 1737. After the death
of Simon Zangers second wife Barbara (now married to Melchior Ott)
on 21 Mar 1759, Barbara Zanger (now married to John Geiger) inherited her
fathers 150-acre land grant and sold it the following week to her Ott
step-brothers. There was nobody living in the area named Emily Murff. Of
the three Murff (Morff) brothers who arrived from Zurich in 1750, Hans Ulrich
died childless in the same year. Felix had no children as of 1750 (therefore
no grandchildren 13 years later). Eldest brother Jacob Murff listed the names
of his daughtersBarbara, Margaret, and Annin his will dated 10
Oct 1752. There were no other Murffs in SC at the time who might have had
a daughter named Emily. The younger John Geiger (1748-1817) later married
Jacob Murffs daughter Ann.
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Major Jacob Herman Geiger. John Geigers first cousin Herman Geiger
(1707-1751) was not a Major. As a licensed Indian agent of the Province,
he was exempt from militia duty. The adult Geiger males signed their names
to a 1742 petition to the government of Zurich asking for Bibles, hymnals
and prayerbooks. Their names were Herman, Henry, Abraham, Jacob, John, and
John Jacob. None of them (per any source) was ever named Jacob Herman.
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Dorothy Kinsler. Dorothy Kinsler (1771-1857) married Maj. Jacob Geiger
(1763-1801), son of Herman Geigers oldest son John Conrad and his wife
Barbara Murff. After his death, she married his first cousin Maj. Abraham
Geiger (1770-1841), son of Herman Geigers youngest son John and his
wife Ann Murff. Dorothy Kinsler Geiger Geiger died on 27 Aug 1857, per her
tombstone. [Note: the writers information about Miss Kinsler spoils
an otherwise-perfect record for mis-information.]
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