John Randolph Geiger1,2

M, (15 February 1773 - 18 January 1836)
FatherHerman Geiger Jr. (c 1738 - c 1779)
MotherMargaret Theiler (1740 - )
Name Variation He was also known as Randall. 
Birth*15 February 1773 John was born at Orangeburg District, South Carolina, on 15 February 1773. 
Marriage*27 March 1796 He married Elizabeth Murff at Orangeburg District, South Carolina, on 27 March 1796 at age 23. 
1800 Census*4 August 1800 John was listed as the head of a family on the 1800 Census at Orangeburg District, South Carolina. 
1810 Census*6 August 1810 John was listed as the head of a family on the 1810 Census at Lexington District, South Carolina. 
1820 Census*7 August 1820 John was listed as the head of a family on the 1820 Census at Lexington District, South Carolina. 
1830 Census*1 June 1830 John was listed as the head of a family on the 1830 Census at Edgefield District, South Carolina. 
Death*18 January 1836 He died at Edgefield District, South Carolina, on 18 January 1836 at age 62. 
Probate*1836 Probate action was taken on John's estate, with Washington Whitfield Geiger as administrator in 1836 at Edgefield District, South Carolina,

Estate Recs, Box 16, Pkg. 561. 

Family

Elizabeth Murff (11 July 1778 - 10 September 1855)
Children
ChartsGeiger Ancestry
Last Edited9 June 2003

Citations

  1. Percy Lee Geiger, The Geigers of South Carolina, 1945, ReprintA Press, Brent Holcomb.
  2. Guy F. Spearman (1924-1989) of Atlanta, GA, research, 1977, Guy F. Spearman, Atlanta, GA, to Lew Griffin, 1977.

Elizabeth Murff1,2

F, (11 July 1778 - 10 September 1855)
FatherJohannes Morf (24 Jan 1734 - b 1790)
MotherElizabeth (?) (s 1737 - )
Birth*11 July 1778 Elizabeth was born at Orangeburg District, South Carolina, on 11 July 1778. 
Marriage*27 March 1796 She married John Randolph Geiger at Orangeburg District, South Carolina, on 27 March 1796 at age 17. 
Married Name27 March 1796  As of 27 March 1796, her married name was Geiger. 
1850 Census* Elizabeth was listed as a household member living with Harmon Horlbeck Geiger on the 1850 Census at Jasper Co., Georgia. 
Will* She made a will at Jasper Co., Georgia.3 
Death*10 September 1855 She died at Jasper Co., Georgia, on 10 September 1855 at age 77.
top of newspaper
Elizabeth Geiger obituary
Probate Probate action was taken on Elizabeth's estate at Jasper Co., Georgia,

Minute Bk B, 1845-59, p. 215,383. 
Burial* Her body was by some accounts interred at Edgefield District, South Carolina. 
Obituary*11 October 1855  (an unknown value.)
top of the newspaper page
Elizabeth (Murff) Geiger's obituary

Family

John Randolph Geiger (15 February 1773 - 18 January 1836)
Children
ChartsGeiger Ancestry
Last Edited9 December 2015

Citations

  1. Percy Lee Geiger, The Geigers of South Carolina, 1945, ReprintA Press, Brent Holcomb.
  2. Guy F. Spearman (1924-1989) of Atlanta, GA, research, 1977, Guy F. Spearman, Atlanta, GA, to Lew Griffin, 1977.
  3. Will Book 14, page 84.

Herman Geiger Jr.1,2

M, (circa 1738 - circa 1779)
FatherHerman Geiger (b 18 Dec 1707 - Nov 1751)
MotherElizabeth Habluetzel (25 Dec 1711 - a 1751)
Birth*circa 1738 Herman was born at South Carolina circa 1738. 
Marriage*circa 1770 He married Margaret Theiler at Orangeburg District, South Carolina, circa 1770.3 
American Revolution*between 1775 and 1783 He provided service in the American Revolutionary War between 1775 and 1783
(DAR Listing: Herman Geiger, Jr., born circa 1738 in South Carolina, died before 1790 in South Carolina, married Margaret ___, Civil Service, South Carolina.)4 
(Executor) Will10 March 1777 Herman and William named as executor(s) in the will of Hans Jacob Theiler at South Carolina on 10 March 1777.5 
Will*15 October 1778 He made a will at South Carolina on 15 October 1778, which.6 
Death*circa 1779 He died at Orangeburg District, South Carolina, circa 1779. 

Family

Margaret Theiler (1740 - )
Children
ChartsGeiger Ancestry
Last Edited30 April 2012

Citations

  1. Percy Lee Geiger, The Geigers of South Carolina, 1945, ReprintA Press, Brent Holcomb.
  2. Guy F. Spearman (1924-1989) of Atlanta, GA, research, 1977, Guy F. Spearman, Atlanta, GA, to Lew Griffin, 1977.
  3. The Geigers of SC, by Percy L. Geiger, incorrectly names Herman's wife as Lavinia Kaigler.
  4. DAR Patriot Index, Washington, DC: National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 2003.
  5. E-mail written 1983-2011 to Lew Griffin from Mary Genevieve Taylor Harris (#48715), Dallas, TX, e-mail address.
  6. Has not been located.

Johannes Morf1

M, (24 January 1734 - before 1790)
FatherHans Jakob Morf1 (s 1710 - 1762)
MotherElisabeth Bosshard1 (s 1713 - )
Name Variation He was also known as John Murph. 
Name Variation He was also known as John Murff.1 
Birth*24 January 1734 Johannes was born at Zurich, Switzerland, on 24 January 1734.1 
Marriage*before 1764 He married Susanna (?) at South Carolina before 1764.1 
Deed*10 April 1764 He granted a deed on 10 April 1764

.2 
Marriage*say 1770 He married Ann D. (?) at South Carolina say 1770.1 
Marriage*say 1777 He married Elizabeth (?) at South Carolina say 1777.3,1 
Biography* John Murff was living near Herman Geiger in 1775, as the following record from page 23 of South Carolina Memorials of Land Titles 1774-1776 shows: "John Allen, 28 Aug 1775, 121 acres on the South side of the Broad River. Bounded NW by Herman Geiger, NE by John Murff; SE on the Broad River (2-318:2). 
Death*before 1790 He died before 1790.1 
Research note*13 March 2011 Hi, Lew.
....
There were two different (Hans) Jacob Morfs who arrived on the ship Greenwich from parish Illnau, Zürich, in 1749. The Saxegotha-Jacob was the older one, his family on page 5 of the attached. Staatsarchiv Zürich has a firm policy of sending responses in German, although they accept questions in French or English as well. I do not read German, but genealogy reports are so standardized that I can usually interpret them. The natural order of events is birth, baptism, marriage and death, regardless of language...

At any rate, Johannes Morf was born in village Effretikon, parish Illnau, canton Zürich, on 24 Jan 1734 (Gregorian calendar used in Switzerland, so no need for double-dating). He did not live adjacent to Herman Geiger at any point in time, so that note should probably be deleted from your report. Herman Geiger had a grant on the Broad River (lower Dutch Fork), and it was adjacent to the 500-acre patent for Hans Jacob Morf on 20 Apr 1752--after Geiger's death in 1751, but Herman never lived on it anyway. The Broad River land was left to John Morf per his father's will. John (with no spouse) sold half of it on 10 & 11 Mar 1763 to Michael Moulbare (SC Deed Book E-3, p. 735). He sold the other half of it with first wife Susannah on 9 & 10 Apr 1764 to John Gottfrey (SC Deed Book E-3, p. 741). He married second wife Ann Elizabeth (maiden name unknown, widow of Rudolf Theiler) prior to ~1770, because Elizabeth's daughter Margaret Murff was born 1 Apr 1771. The Margaret (Murff) Sitler tombstone was erected by her son John Sitler (b. 1793) in 1856. John Sitler recalled the names of his maternal grandparents as John and Ann E. Murff. Percy Geiger inadvertently recorded the inscription on the tombstone as Ann D, but it is still legible as Ann E. The German name-usage was long extinct in 1856; John Sitler did not know that an Anna Elsbetha of the previous century was called "Elizabeth", not Anna or Ann E. The four known children of John Murff were John, Margaret, Frederick and Elizabeth. John Jr. "may have" been a child of Susannah, but no evidence suggests that. The others were children of second wife Elizabeth.

The death of John Murff/Murph was reportedly at the Battle of Cowpens, which took place on 17 Jan 1781. This was asserted on DAR applications from 3 Bell sisters resident in Edgefield Co SC, beginning ~1900. There is at least a reasonable question about the reliability of the report. The SC Accounts Audited and Stub Indent records (and all other Rev War sources) list a single John Murff with Revoluationary service. He was a member of the Orangeburgh/Amelia TWP branch of the Morf family, lived in Fairfield Co SC with wife Sophia Kinsler from their marriage in 1789. A descendant of his son Samuel (a Methodist minister) was admitted to DAR on John's service, Application #395859.

The DAR applications for descendants of John Murff of Saxegotha were submitted by Aileen Valentine Bell Malone (#50513), Rebecca Miles Bell Dennis (#50514), and Salome Bell Clotworthy (#50515). Their information, published in DAR Lineage Book 51 (1904), p. 233, was accurate for parents and grandparents. Their great-grandfather was accurately identified as "a" John Murff (with wife Elizabeth), but they apparently attached the service record of the John Murff of Fairfield Co. They used his birthdate (1750) and SC birthplace too. That Stub Indent entry listed service at Cowpens, but that John Murff (of Orangeburg and Fairfield Co) lost an arm, not his life.

Saxegotha-John lived near Savannah Hunt Creek of the Congarees, in a region that was predominantly Loyalist. He was not listed in the extant muster rolls of either side. He died before the 1790 census, when widow Elizabeth was enumerated with the two sons (John and Frederick) and two daughters (Margaret and Elizabeth) of John Murff. Her son John Tyler (byRudolf Theiler) lived next door. The 3 males aged 16+ in his household may have included his brothers Jacob and Herman Theiler/Tyler. I think that the best one can do re a death date for John Murff (b. 24 Jan 1734) is "reportedly killed at the Battle of Cowpens, per undocumented DAR application #50513" I don't know where the reference to Elizabeth's surname as Kaigler/Keigler may have originated, as used on the DAR application, but Kaigler was definitely not it! Andrew Keigler and his wife Anna Margaretha Leitner arrived in SC with no children in 1752. Elizabeth MNU was married to Rudolph Theiler by 1758. QED: she wasn't a Kaigler daughter--some colonial women may have married fairly early, but not prior to age 6.

Harriet.1 

Family 1

Susanna (?) (say 1742 - )

Family 2

Ann D. (?) (say 1742 - before 1776)
Children

Family 3

Elizabeth (?) (say 1737 - )
Child
ChartsGeiger Ancestry
Last Edited27 May 2011

Citations

  1. E-mail written Aug 2004 -- Apr 2011 to Lew Griffin from Harriet Imrey, Chicago, IL, e-mail address.
  2. Clara A. Langley, South Carolina Deed Abstracts 1719 - 1772 Vol. III, 1755-1768, 1983, Reprint, Greenville, SC: Southern Historical Press, 2001.
  3. DAR Patriot Index, Washington, DC: National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, 2003.
    has Elizabeth's surname as Keigler.

Herman Geiger1

M, (before 18 December 1707 - November 1751)
FatherHans Jacob Geiger (6 Jul 1679 - )
MotherMargareta Fehr (1684 - )
Birth*before 18 December 1707 Herman was born at Diepoldsau, Rheinthal, Switzerland, before 18 December 1707. 
Christening18 December 1707 He was christened at Diepoldsau, Rheinthal, Switzerland, on 18 December 1707. 
Marriage*26 February 1734 He married Elizabeth Habluetzel at Switzerland on 26 February 1734. 
Will*20 October 1751 He made a will at South Carolina on 20 October 1751.2 
Death*November 1751 He died at Saxe Gotha, Craven Co., South Carolina, in November 1751. 
Probate*6 December 1751 Probate action was taken on Herman's estate on 6 December 1751 at Saxe Gotha, Craven Co., South Carolina. 
Biography* Herman and his family left Switzerland in September 1736, and arrived in Charleston, SC, on February 1, 1737.
Herman Geiger became a trader with the Catawba Indians.
Herman Geiger's will was proved December 6, 1751. In the SC Gazette of June 18, 1753, John and Henry Gallman advertized for the creditors of Herman Geiger, dec'd.
John Gallman was one of the executors of Herman Geiger's estate. John Gallman, who had apparently married one of Herman's sisters, married second Herman Geiger's widow, Elizabeth, and took her children into his home.
Henry Gallman, brother of John, married Herman Geiger's daughter Elizabeth.3,1 
Note* Sources quoted by Guy F. Spearman include:
Population List from the Zurich Archives for 1738
Herman Geiger Memorial
The History of SC by Logan
The History of SC by Snowden
The History of Orangeburg, SC, by A. S. Salley
Newberry Co. SC Hist. & Genealogy, by Summers
List of Swiss Immigrants, Vol. One, Faust
John Gallman's will, Will Bk 1757-1760, p. 143
Henry Gallman's will, Will Bk RR 1767-1771, p. 180

Marriage Notices in the SC Gazette and Country Journal, by A. S. Salley: Mr. Jhn Horlbeck to Mrs. Elizabeth Gallman Relict of the late Major Henry Gallman (Tuesday, February 28, 1769)

Saint John's Lutheran Church Cemetery, Charleston, SC, Horlbeck monument.1 

Family

Elizabeth Habluetzel (25 December 1711 - after 1751)
Children
ChartsGeiger Ancestry
Last Edited21 May 2011

Citations

  1. Guy F. Spearman (1924-1989) of Atlanta, GA, research, 1977, Guy F. Spearman, Atlanta, GA, to Lew Griffin, 1977.
  2. Will Bk 1747 -- 1752, p. 450.
  3. E-mail written Aug 2004 -- Apr 2011 to Lew Griffin from Harriet Imrey, Chicago, IL, e-mail address.
    The following quote is from Guy F. Spearman, circa 1977:
    'About 1750, he rescued several friendly Indians from a band of hostile Canadian Indians who had captured them near Charleston, SC. The following summer, Herman, having set out for the Catawba Nation in company with a half-breed, was captured by several of the very party of Canadian Indians from whom he had rescued the friendly Indians a year before. They carried Herman Geiger toward the Great Lakes and finally killed him. "

    Harriet Imrey refutes this as follows:
    "Some sources--both online and in print--are still repeating the story that Indian agent Herman Geiger (1707-51) was kidnapped and killed by a tribe of northern Indians. Since that didn't happen, how did such a story get started? And why is it still around? Robert Meriwether explained it in "Expansion of South Carolina, 1729-1765" (published in 1940).

    In 1747, Indian agent George Haig of Saxegotha was kidnapped by a raiding party of the Nottaway band of Iroquois from New York. He was exhausted by the time they'd reached PA and refused to keep marching, so they killed him. This was reported in multiple sources: a letter from President Palmer of PA, the journal of Indian agent Conrad Weiser, the SC Council Journal, a letter from Haig's wife Elizabeth begging the government to intervene, and a notice of Haig's death in the SC Gazette on 14 Apr 1748.

    In 1775, James Adair published "History of the American Indians", in which he related the incident in detail. He used initials rather than names for the people he described, so the murdered trader was one "G.H." In 1859, John Logan included the Adair material in his "History of the Upper Country of South Carolina." In a moment of absent-mindedness (or dyslexia), he reversed the initials from G.H. to H.G., decided that the murdered trader must have been George Haig's successor Herman Geiger. Logan didn't bother to check his sources. In 1898, SC historian A.S. Salley Jr. published "The History of Orangeburg County". He borrowed the story from Logan (on pp. 233-4), but he didn't check his sources either. In fact, he included the real story--the death of trader George Haig--on pp. 231-2 in the same chapter, didn't notice that he'd assigned the same fate to two separate Saxegotha Indian traders at the same time."

Elizabeth Habluetzel

F, (25 December 1711 - after 1751)
FatherHans Rudolph Habluetzel (13 Feb 1681 - )
MotherAnna Ruthom (c 1683 - )
Birth*25 December 1711 Elizabeth was born at Truellikon, Zurich, Switzerland, on 25 December 1711. 
Marriage*26 February 1734 She married Herman Geiger at Switzerland on 26 February 1734 at age 22. 
Married Name26 February 1734  As of 26 February 1734, her married name was Geiger. 
Death*after 1751 She died at Saxe Gotha, Craven Co., South Carolina, after 1751. 

Family

Herman Geiger (before 18 December 1707 - November 1751)
Children
ChartsGeiger Ancestry
Last Edited20 October 2001