The Grant for 300 Acres in St. Phillips Parish on the far side
of the Great Ogeechee River was approved and issued by
Royal Governor James Wright on 2 June 1767. Said land was to begin
at the Flat Ford and go up river.
A more accurate survey in 1814 revealed the land actually to be
380 acres, much of which is now inside the Ft. Stewart Military
Reservation.
Hans Ulrich and his wife Apollonia (surname unproven) set out to
make a new life in this area,
far from the comforts of Saxe-Gotha South Carolina civilization.
Their children were:
- Abraham Geiger (Gieger/Giger) [II] b.11 Jun 1761 SC; m.Mercy
Martin b.24 Apr 1771
- Felix Geiger (Giger) b.30 Sep 1763 SC; m.Mary Martin
- Mary Geiger (Giger) b.ca.1764 SC; m.Jacob
Hoofman(Hofman/Hoffman) and possibly William Stafford
- John Geiger (Giger) b.1767 SC; m2. Mrs. Sarah Sheffield; m1.
(unknown)
- Rachel Geiger (Giger) b.Feb 1769 GA
- Cornelius Geiger (Giger) b.4 Feb 1774 GA; m. Rebecca (surname
unproven)
Hans Ulrich was associated with the Salzburgers in Ebenezer, and
the births of his two younger children,
Rachel and Cornelius, are recorded in the Ebenezer Record
Book, 1754-1787. The area being wilderness,
it is not clear how close this alliance was, except to say that
his daughter Mary was
married to Jacob Hoffman, a Hatter in New Ebenezer. It is thought
that she is the Mary (surname unlisted) who was
formerly married to William Stafford. These two instances would
seem to indicate more than a casual relationship.
Pioneers of the Wiregrass Vol 1 asserts that Hans Ulrich
was a Revolutionary Soldier, who died from Battle wounds.
His date-of-death is recorded in the Felix Geiger Jr. Bible as 12
June 1777, after which Apollonia also drops out of
sight, unless she is the Anna Maria Magdalene Geiger who received
a gift of cattle from her daughter, Mary Stafford as discussed
later.
Hans Ulrich's father, Abraham Gyger, his uncle, (Gov.) Hans
Jacob Gyger, and first-cousin, Herman Gyger,
emigrated aboard the British vessel, Prince of Wales, captained by
George Dunbar. They were accompanied by their
spouses and about 12-15 children. Herman was the married son of
Hans Jacob who had been Governor of the Canton
of St. Galen prior to immigration. All three families settled at
Saxe Gotha, SC. Documentation has not surfaced
to prove that any of these three heads-of-families ever migrated
to Georgia.
The family of Herman Gyger is featured in the novel, BY
WONDERS AND BY WAR by Carole Williams (1999),
and primarily documented in The Geiger's of South Carolina
by Percy L. Geiger (1945)
It might be good at this point to say that the Scribes of the
British Colonies recorded this family's surname in several
different ways, sometimes differently in the same documents. The
Switzer dialect of Deutsche pronounced the "y"
in Gyger similarly to the short "i" in the English pronoun "it" so
many early documents spell the name "Giger" or "Gigger",
albeit the original Royal Land Grant records it as "Kegar". The
Scribes saw it as the same as the Geigers from Germany,
so they soon began recording it as "Geiger". When Ulrich's heirs
sold his land in 1814, they attempted to correct the
spelling and entered a parenthetical or "Geiger" after the "Kegar"
spelling. About 1815, the elder grandson of
Ulrich and Apollonia, Jessie, Gieger, migrated to Mississippi
Territory where he made an issue of spelling it Gieger
and pronouncing it with a soft "h" as "Gigher". The children of
Felix mostly settled on Geiger when they migrated
to Florida. Beside which, it is likely that they wanted to blend
with their neighbors in their new homeland, and made
limited protest to the actual spelling and pronunciation. The name
is now spelled in various ways, but mostly
Geiger or Gieger.
All the sons of Ulrich and Apollonia served in the GA Militia
during and after the Revolution. Abraham, Felix, John,
and Cornelius all received land grants in the 1790s, after the
Revolutionary War. At that time, St. Phillips Parish
was by and large, old Effingham County, but they seemed to settle
near the convergence of Bulloch, Bryan, and present
day Effingham Counties. Abraham remained in that area and died in
Bryan County about 1828, approximately 67 years of age.
At that time he owned more than 1000 acres between Pembroke and
Groveland, very near the present-day boundary of
Ft. Stewart. Felix determined to go toward FL, but died in Wayne
County. John settled in Bulloch/Bryan County on his
portion of their homeplace. Cornelius also migrated toward Wayne
County. Mary is identified in the aforementioned 1814
deeds as the widow, Mary Hoofman (Hoffman) of Bryan County. Rachel
is not heard from after her birth-record in the ERB.
About 1792, in some yet unidentified location, Abraham
Geiger/Gieger married Mercy Martin, daughter of John A. Martin,
a Dunker (German Baptist Brethren) minister of
Bulloch/Bryan/Effingham Counties. They had 15 surviving children:
Jessie (b1793); Jeremiah (b1794); David (b1795); Samuel (b1796);
Ephriam (b1797); Cornelius (b1797); Simon (b1799);
Abraham Jr (b1801); Mercy P.(b1802); Elizabeth (b1803); John Adam
(b1806); James W. (b1808); Joshua A. (b1811);
Nathan (b1815); and Rachel (b-unknown).
The burial site of Abraham and Mercy has not been located,
albeit some believe that it is in the same location as his
third son, David, since David was the Administrator of Abraham's
estate in Bryan County in 1832, and acquired the
land holdings of Abraham after his death. This site is a
"non-cemetery" as recorded on the land plats of Bryan County,
but it is evident that there are many graves, all laid out, facing
East. It is on private land, off Otter Hole Branch Road
between Pembroke and Groveland, just north of the Ft. Stewart
Reservation boundary. The grave marker for David is
broken and on the ground, but no other markers remain visable.
This 20 +/- Acre tract of land was once a part of the
1000 acres in Abraham's estate. Mercy is listed as a widow
(misnamed "Mary") on the 1830 US Census for Bryan County,
and as head-of-the-household next to her widowed sister-in-law,
Mary Martin. In 1840, she is not found, but believed
by some to be the older woman in the household of David. Another
claim is that after Abraham's death, she went to Florida
to be near her younger sons, John and Abraham, Jr. More research
is necessary to substantiate either of these theories.
The second son of Hans Ulric and Apollonia, Felix Geiger,
married Mary Martin, daughter of John A. Martin, and is the sister
of his brother Abraham's wife. Their children were: Philip
(b1788); Jacob S (b1797); John Martin (b ca1798);
Joshua Daine (b1799); Rachel (b1800); Allen Bethel (b1802); Felix
Jr. (b1804); Mary (ii) (b1806); James (b1807);
Margaret (b1808). Felix served in the Militia of old Effingham
County following the Revolutionary War and was a Sergeant in 1794
(Capt. John Rawls Company).
He was also a Sergeant in the 2nd Regiment (Pray's Regiment) of
the Georgia Militia Infantry during the War of 1812.
All of the children of Felix and Mary were born in the part of
'Old' Effingham County that became Bulloch County in 1796,
and he is listed among the residents who signed the petition to
create Bulloch County. Felix applied for and received a Soldier's
lot in the
333rd District, 9th District, 2nd Section of Indian Lands (now,
Wayne County). Felix died 17 February 1827 and he is
buried in Wayne County. By the date for the 1830 US Census, Mary
was living as Head-of-Household in Nassau County, FL.
with 2 males, and no slaves.
Speculation abounds in regard to Mary (Mary Anne/Anne Mary??)
Geiger. It is known that she was married
in 1800(Annals of Georgia pg 160) to Jacob
Hoofman(Hoffman/Huffman) who was a Hatter in Ebenezer
because she is listed as his widow in the 1814 Deeds for Ulrich's
land. Smallwood family researchers
feel that she is the Mary who married William Stafford in old
Effingham County in 1773 (ERB pg 100) and bore
him three children: Mary(ii)(b1774) who married Francis Smallwood;
Abraham(b1776); and Dinah(b1778).
Backing their claim is the 1788 record of Mary Stafford's Gift of
Cattle to her mother, Anna Maria Magdalene Geiger
in Effingham County Deed Book A-B pg 168. Of interest is
the fact that one of the witnesses to that Deed was
Jacob Hoffman. This Anna Maria Magdalene has not been identified
unless she is one and the same as Apollonia, wife
of Hans Ulric. Mary's birth year is also a mystery. In Ulrich's
application for a Land grant, he stated that he
had four children. Since John was born ca1766, it is assumed that
he is the fourth. In order for Mary Anne to have
married and borne William Stafford's children, she would need to
have been born ca1760 or before, else she would have
been 10-11 years old when their daughter Mary(ii) Stafford is
recorded to have been born (ERB, pg 70). This being the
case, she would be older than Abraham (b1761). William Stafford
died in Effingham County before May 3, 1799
(Effingham County Book B-Miscellaneous Records of Ordinary's
Office, pg 95).
John Geiger (Giger) was born ca1766 in SC; He is thought to be
the fourth child claimed in Ulric's Land Grant Application.
In the 1814 Deeds for the Lands of Ulric and Apollonia, he
retained his one-fifth (1/5th) share, and is called
a "Planter" in Bulloch County Deed Book AAA, pg 408 when
he quits any claims to certain tracts of land in favor
of his step-children. John's only recorded marriage took place 16
April 1816 in Bulloch County, to widowed Sarah Sheffield.
She had children Simeon, William, Mary, and Louisa from her former
marriage to Austin Sheffield. Herein lies the dilemma.
John's Last Will and Testament which was filed for Probate on 6
March 1826, divides his holdings between his
wife, Sarah, and daughter, Mary Denmark. It is not known if this
Mary is actually the step-daughter of John,
or if she is his own blood child by some former marriage with
undiscovered recording. Allen Denmark is
recorded in Bulloch County to have married Mary Rawls in 1813,
Sarah (?) Sheffiel in 1823, and Mary Kirkland
in 1836. If this Sarah Sheffiel is actually Mary Sheffield, and
the blood daughter of Sarah, then the dilemma
is resolved, except that Sarah's other children are omitted.
Perhaps they were deceased, or John chose to exclude
them for some other reason. In 1820, both John Geiger and Sarah
Sheffield are listed separately as members
of Upper Black Creek Church near Brooklet in Bulloch County, Ga.
The Ebenezer Record Book, 1754-1784 translated by Dr.
George Jones & Sheryl Exley notes the birth in 1774
of Cornelius Geiger, youngest child Hans Ulric and Apollonia. He
married a Rebecca (surname unproven) who has been
claimed to be of Bennett descent. They married about 1794 and had
the following children: Martin (b1795);Jacob (b1797);
Asa (b1799); daughter (b ca1803); John W (b1805); Temperance
(b1810);Abraham Harrell (b1815); Dicey (b ca1817);
Cornelius (Jr) (b1821); Lewis Ulrich (b1826). Cornelius died in
Marion County FL.