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Family history

     The only ancestor presently known of this lineage is Maria Barbara Geisler.  Barbara was born circa 1695 at the village of Hoffenheim located in the present German state of Baden-Württemberg.  The name of her father may be either Peter or Andreas Geisler.  The name of her mother is unknown and most likely lost to history.  Barbara married Hans Georg Gobel, also a native of Hoffenheim, in 1716.  Of this marriage at least 6 known offspring and possible as many as 12 were born all at Hoffenheim except the youngest John Gobel who was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  In 1733 Barbara and Georg emigrated to America along with five of their children.  They arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, aboard a sailing ship named, “Hope” during the month of August.   Soon after their arrival the family moved west out of the city to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Later they moved into the area that became York County in 1749 and settled for a time at the town of Hanover.  Although the year Barbara’s death is unknown it is most probable that she passed away sometime around 1760 where upon her widowed husband Hans George and all of their married sons joined the throngs of Scots-Irish and German pioneers who traveled the “Great Wagon Road” south into Virginia and North Carolina.  Our line of descendancy continues through Barbara’s son the aforementioned John Gobel born 1734 in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.

Direct ancestors

Additional information about the persons in our database  as   well  as   a   complete

listing of individuals with this surname may be reviewed by clicking on this LINK.

MARIA BARBARA¹ GEISLER was born about 1695 in Hoffenheim, Rhein-Neckar, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. She died between 1734-1761 in York County, Pennsylvania. She married Hans Georg Gobel, son of Johann Georg Gobel and Eva Sonst on 13 May 1716 in Hoffenheim, Rhein-Neckar, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. He was born in 1693 in Hoffenheim, Rhein-Neckar, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. He died on 22 Feb 1765 in Orange, North Carolina, USA.

Hans Georg Gobel and Maria Barbara Geisler had the following children:

·            ANTONIOUS "ANTHONY"² GOBLE was born about 1720 in Hoffenheim, Rhein-Neckar, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. He died in Nov 1793 in Guilford County, North Carolina.

·            ANNA MARIA GOBEL was born about 1723 in Hoffenheim, Rhein-Neckar, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany.

·            MARIA MAGDALENA GOBEL was born on 01 Jun 1725 in Hoffenheim, Rhein-Neckar, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. She died after 1733.

·            GEORGE ADAM GOBLE was born on 13 Apr 1727 in Hoffenheim, Rhein-Neckar, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany.

·            HANS GEORGE GOBEL was born on 12 Sep 1728 in Hoffenheim, Rhein-Neckar, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. He died on 23 Nov 1794 in Orange County, North Carolina. He married Anna Margaretha Staley in 1750 in Hanover, York, Pennsylvania, USA. She was born in 1733 in Hoffenheim, Rhein-Neckar, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. She died on 23 Nov 1825 in Orange County, North Carolina.

·            JOHANNES “JOHN” GOBEL was born on 28 Aug 1734 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He died after 1767. He married Maria Barbara Stahlin on 17 Feb 1755 in Hanover, York, Pennsylvania, USA. She was born in 1736.  

The WorldConnect Project is a set of tools, which allow users to upload, modify, link, and display their family trees as a means to share their genealogy with other researchers.

The WorldConnect Project continues to grow, as it now contains several hundred million records thus it offers researchers the single largest collection of family trees on the Internet.

Use this free genealogy site to help you get the best genealogy searches from Google™ by using your family tree, for your research. It will create a series of different searches using tips or "tricks"

that will likely improve your results. The different searches will give you many different ways of using Google and the Internet to find ancestry information about this or any other Surname. 

Source documents

The documents contained within this “Source Documents Archives” have been located during our research of this family, and used as evidence to prove many of the facts contained within the database of this family’s record.   We have source documents related to the following persons within our database with this surname.

·       Barbara GEISLER Gobel -Passenger List, Ship Hope, 1733

This Link will take you to our

archive of source documents.  

You are welcome to download any of the documents contained within this archive that does not cite a copyright.  Should you encounter a problem obtaining a copy you may get in touch with us via the contact information found at the end of this web-page.

     Most of these documents can be considered as primary or secondary evidence.  Primary evidence is usually defined as the best available to prove the fact in question, usually in an original document or record.  Secondary evidence is in essence all that evidence which is inferior in its origin to primary evidence. That does not mean secondary evidence is always in error, but there is a greater chance of error.  Examples of this type of evidence would be a copy of an original record, or oral testimony of a record’s contents.  Published genealogies and family histories are also secondary evidence.

     Classifying evidence as either primary or secondary does not tell anything about its accuracy or ultimate value.  This is especially true of secondary evidence.  Thus it is always a good idea to ask the following questions: (1) How far removed from the original is it, (when it is a copy)?; (2) What was the reason for the creation of the source which contains this evidence?; and (3) Who was responsible for creating this secondary evidence and what interest did they have in its accuracy?

SOURCE: Greenwood, Val D., The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 2^nd edition, Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, MD 21202, 1990, pgs. 62-63

Migration routes

       Tracing our own family’s paths of migration can prove crucial in identifying previous generations and eventually, figuring out where and how they arrived in the “New World” as well as where they eventually settled.  Knowing the network of trails American pioneers traveled can help you guess where to start looking.  The trail map(s) provided below may assist you in understanding the routes that our direct ancestors of this family may have taken to find new homes and opportunities in the vast area now encompassed by the United States.

      During the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries hundreds of thousands of Europeans made the perilous ocean voyage to America.  For many it was an escape from economic hardship and religious persecution.  For most it was an opportunity to start over, own their own land, and make a better future for their descendents.

Immigration records show a number of people bearing the name of GEISLER, or one of its variants, as arriving in North America between the 17^th and 20^th centuries.  Some of these immigrants were: Anna Catharine Geisler arrived in America 1739; Johann Georg Geisler came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1751; Henry, Thomas Geisler arrived at Philadelphia in 1752; Johannes Geisler landed at Pennsylvania in 1754; Benedick Geisler who settled at Somerset County, Pennsylvania in 1833; and Justina Geisler of Switzerland arrived at New York in 1848.

Use the following links to find more early immigrants with this surname:

$ Search Ancestry.com Immigration Records; or Free Ship’s Passenger lists at OliveTreeGenealogy.com

In 1733 Barbara and Georg emigrated to America along with five of their children.  They arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, aboard a sailing ship named, “Hope” during the month of August.   Soon after their arrival the family moved west out of the city to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Later they moved into the area that became York County in 1749 and settled for a time at the town of Hanover.

Click on image to enlarge

The Development of an Historical Migration Route

It is understood that in many if not all cases we do not know exactly what routes our ancestors took as they migrated throughout the United States.   As such certain assumptions have been utilized to re-create the migration path presented above.  With regard to 18^th and 19^th century land routes we assume that they travelled along few trails and roads that were in existence at the time.  Research shows that a great many of these old paths and trails are today designated as U.S. Highway Routes.  For example, a major east-west route of migration known as the National Road is now U.S. Route 40, and a primary north-south migration route of the 18^th century followed the Great Indian War and Trading Path is now U.S. Route 11.  In some situations the re-created migration route may travel along state routes that connect or run through the seat of a county as that populated place is probably the oldest settlement in the area. The use of water as a migration route is also likely.  For example, during the late 18^th and early 19^th centuries many families travelled west on the Ohio River as they moved on the new lands in Missouri or the Old Northwest Territory.  As such when applicable water routes have been included as the possible migration route.   

Images gallery

During our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a particular family.  Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of our ancestors past lives.

This Link will take you to our

collection of family photographs.  

Use the power of Google™ to find more interesting images about this topic. This button will link you to the Google Images Search   page.   Enter   the   topic   you   are

searching in the box and click “Search Images”. At the “Images” display page you will see the image, as well as the website of which it is associated.

Ancestral locations

Researching the locations where our ancestors lived has provided us with valuable evidence needed to fill in the gaps in our family trees.  It has also led us to many interesting facts that enhance the overall picture of each family group.

Locations of

Direct Ancestors

Locational Distribution

of  this Surname

Where In the World

are my Ancestors?

Locatiof Direct Ancestors

The names of states and counties on the following list were derived from the known places where the Direct Ancestors in the “Ancestral Lineage” (see above) were born, married, and / or died.

Germany

Baden-Württemberg

Sinsheim-Hoffenheim

United States

Pennsylvania

York County

Use this LINK to find out more about this

ancestral family and the locations listed above.

Locational distributionstors

Knowing the geographical areas where the surname you are researching is clustered and distributed is an indispensable tool in deciding where to focus your research.  We believe that the “Public Profiler” website will open up to you a wide range of solutions which implement current research in spatial analysis.  This site provides an array of local spatial information tools useful to the genealogist. 

The information presented herein shows where the GEISLER surname is distributed within North America as well as in Germany, the probable country of origin of this family.      Statistics show that there are approximately 187 persons per million of population with this surname, within Germany, and 29 persons per million of population within the United States.  Austria is found to be the country in the world where this surname is the most highly clustered having approximately 245 persons per million of population.  The top region of the world where this surname is the most highly clustered is the

NORTH AMERICA

GERMANY

click on thumbnail for larger image

Landeck, Austria, with 1,840 persons per million, and Berlin, Germany is the top city where this surname is found.

Click on the LINK to the right to see more information about the World distribution of a surname.  You can get

greater detail for any of the following maps by clicking on the area, i.e state, county that you are interested in.

Wjere are my ancestors Ancestors

Resources which enhance our knowledge of the places inhabited by our ancestors are almost as important as their names. The LINK to the right will take you to Maps, Gazetteers,   and  other  helpful   resources 

that will assist in discovering Ancestral Locations.  These web sites comprise only a small portion of what is available for researchers interested in learning more about where their ancestors lived.

Origins of the surname

An Introduction

to the Surname

Source/Meaning

of the Surname

History of

the Surname

More About

Surnames

An Introduction to the Surname

Source(s) & Meaning(s) of the Surname

     Most modern German family names are a means conveying lineage.  For the most part, German surnames were developed from four major sources: (1) Patronymic & Matronymic surnames most common in northern Germany are based on a parent’s first name, such as Niklas Albrecht (Niklas son of Albrecht);  (2) occupational surnames are last names based on the person’s job or trade for example Lukas Fischer (Lukas the Fisherman);  (3) descriptive surnames are based on a unique quality or physical feature of the individual like Karl Braun (Karl with brown hair); (4) geographical surnames are derived from the location of the homestead from which the first bearer and his family lived such as Leon Meer (Leon from by the sea), or derived from the state, region, or   village of the first bearer's origin for example Paul Cullen (Paul from Koeln/Cologne).

History of the Surname

    Most German names have their roots in the Germanic Middle Ages. The process of forming family names in what is present day Germany began early in the 12^th Century and extended through the 16^th century.   

Variations of the surname

Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to unfold and expand often leading to an overwhelming number of variants.  As such one can encounter great variation in the spelling of surnames because in early times, spelling in general and thus the spelling of names was not yet standardized.  Later on spellings would change with the branching and movement of families. 

The complexity of researching records is compounded by the fact that in many cases an ancestors surname may also have been misspelled.  This is especially true when searching census documents.   The Soundex Indexing System was developed in an effort to assist with identifying spelling variations for a given surname.  Soundex is a method of indexing names in the 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 US Census, and can aid genealogists in their research. 

Searching for more Information about this and other surnames?

Use LINK button to view our Surname Locator & Resources page.

Amorial bearings, symcbols and mottoes

In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. The word heraldry is derived from the German word heer, meaning (a host, an army) and held, (champion). Heraldry originated in the devices used to distinguish the armored warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity.  The Germans transmitted the word to the French, and it reached England after the Norman Conquest of 1066.  As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe.  Heraldry spread to the German burgher class in the 13th century, and even some peasants used arms in the 14th century.  A German coat of arms is usually referred to by any of the following terms; Wappen, Familienwappen, Blasonierung, Heraldik, or Wappenschablonen.

Gallery of Images

Descriptions of the

Armorial Bearings

Motto(es) of

this Surname

More About Hearldic Bearings

Image gallery

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

ARMORIAL BEARINGS

The associated armorial bearings for this surname and close variant spellings are recorded in Burke’s General Armorie and Rietstap’s Armorial General.  The additional information, presented below, is offered with regard to the armorial bearings depicted above:

FIGURE 1:  This coat-of-arms was bestowed upon a Geissler of Nuremberg, Germany. The arms show a blue shield containing a golden unicorn protruding from a grey mound. The unicorn signifies, “Extreme courage; virtue and strength.”

FIGURE 2: These armorial bearings belonged to a Geisler of Silesia.  The arms are part white and black with a counter charged chevron in the middle. The crest (not shown) is a chevron between two proboscides (elephant trunks) cut alternately white and black. The chevron found in both the shield and crest signify, “either Protection or Builders or others who have accomplished some work of faithful service.”

FIGURE 3: These arms have been attributed to a Geisler of Belgium. The arms feature a silver shield with a red fesse and three torteaux. Literally tourteau means a little tart or cake, and the figure is said to have been intended to represent the sacred Host.

FIGURE 4: These armorial bearings were granted to Gieser of Tegernbach a community within Maitenbeth a municipality in Bavaria.  The red shield contains a right (dexter) hand open, showing the palm that holds a small red cross pattee (wide or spreading). The hand means, “Pledge of faith, sincerity, and justice.”

MOTTO(ES)  

     A motto is a word or sentence usually written upon a scroll and generally placed below the shield, but sometimes, especially in Scotland, above the crest.    Many ancient mottoes were war-cries such as the Douglas motto of “Forward.”    Many mottoes refer to the name of the bearer, for example “cole regem” for Coleridge.   In general most mottoes convey a sentiment, hope, or determination, such as the Cotter motto “Dum spiro spero” where the meaning is “While I have breath I hope“.     Mottoes are often used by several successive generations, but may be changed at any time by the grantee. The languages most in use are Latin, French, and English.  Exceptions are seen in Scotland where they are often in the old Lowland dialect, and in Wales, often in the language of the principality.   

It is unusual to find a motto associated with the coat-of-arms of a noble German family.  As in this case no motto has been located that is associated with the GEISLER surname and its close variant spellings.

 This does not necessarily mean that the Germanic culture is devoid of mottos.  For example, the national motto of Germany is “Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit”, meaning Unity and Justice and Freedom.  The German word for motto is “Wahlspruch.” 

     Some of the more well known German mottoes are as follows: Alte Wunden bluten leicht – Old wounds readily bleed anew;    Blut und Eisen – Blood and iron;  Das beste is gut genug – The best is good enough;  Ein’ feste Burg is unser Gott – Our God is a strong tower of defense;  Ewigkeit – Eternity;  Für Gott und Iht – All for God and her;  Gott is überall – God is over all;  Gott mit uns – God is with us;  Ich dien – I serve;  Krieg – War;  Mehr Licht! – More light!;  Nichts zoviel – Nothing in excess;  Prosit! – Good luck!;    Vaterland – Fatherland;  Vertrau’ auf Gott – Put your trust in God;  Vorwärts! – Forward!;   Zu dienen – At your service.

Heraldic bearings

The art of designing, displaying, describing, and recording arms is called heraldry. The use of coats of arms by countries, states, provinces, towns and villages is called civic heraldry.   A Coat of Arms is defined as a group of emblems and figures (heraldic bearings) usually arranged on and around a shield and serving as the special insignia of some person, family, or institution.  Except for a few cases, there is really no such thing as a standard "coat of arms" for a surname.  A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, is a design usually granted only to a single person not to an entire family or to a particular surname.  Coats of arms are inheritable property, and they generally descend to male lineal descendents of the original arms grantee.  The rules and traditions regarding Coats of Arms vary from country to country. Therefore a Coat of Arms for an English family would differ from that of a German family even when the surname is the same. 

Some of the more prominent elements incorporated into a  coat of arms are :

Crest - The word crest is often mistakenly applied to a coat of arms.  The crest was a later development arising from the love of pageantry.  Initially the crest consisted of charges painted onto a ridge on top of the helmet.

Wreath or Torse – The torse is a twist of cloth or wreath underneath and part of a crest. Always shown as six twists, the first tincture being the tincture of the field, the second the tincture of the metal, and so on.

Mantling – The mantling is a drapery tied to the helmet above the shield. It forms a backdrop for the shield.

Helm or Helmet - The helmet or helm is situated above the shield and bears the torse and crest. The style of helmet displayed varies according to rank and social status, and these styles developed over time, in step with the development of actual military helmets.

Shield or Arms - The basis of all coats of arms.  At their simplest, arms consist of a shield with a plain field on which appears a geometrical shape or object.  The items appearing on the shield are known as charges.

Motto - The motto was originally a war cry, but later mottoes often expressed some worthy sentiment. It may appear at the top or bottom of a family coat of arms.

Searching for more information about heraldry? Click on the button at the  right to look at our webpage featuring links   to   websites   having   images

of a wide variety of arms, crests, and badges.  They may also feature additional heraldry resources as noted in the accompanying descriptions.

Web resources

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·             Our Surname Locator And Resources web page contains the following: (1) links that will take you to an updated listing of all surnames as posted in our three databases at the Rootsweb WorldConnect Project; (2) the Surname List Finder a tool that finds sound-alike matches for a given surname from among RootsWeb's thousands of surname lists; (3) the Soundex Converter that can be used to find the soundex code for a surname, plus other surnames/spellings sharing the same soundex code;  (4) Surname Message Boards the world's largest online genealogy community with over 17 Million posts on more than 161,000 boards; (5) Surname Mailing Lists of all surnames having mailing lists at RootsWeb, as well as topics that include (6) Surname Heraldy, and  (7) Mapping a Surname. 

·              Your genealogy research of this surname can be facilitated by use of Surname Web. This website links to the majority of the surname data on the web, as well as to individual family trees, origin and surname meaning if known, and many other related genealogy resources. 

·              Surname Finder provides easy access to free and commercial resources for 1,731,359 surnames. On each surname specific "finder" page, you can search a variety of online databases all pre-programmed with your surname.

·             Use All Surnames Genealogy to get access to find your surname resources .  There are almost 1300 links in this directory.

·             SurnameDB Free database of surname meanings - This site SurnameDB.Com contains a large FREE to access database (almost 50,000 surnames) on the history and meaning of family last names.

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·             Linkpendium Surnames - Web sites, obituaries, biographies, and other material specific to a surname.

·              Cyndi's List - Surnames, Family Associations & Family Newsletters Index - Sites or resources dedicated to specific, individual family surnames.  

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-- This webpage was last updated on --

01 October 2012