The Vogler Family

Courtesy of Norma (Vogler) McGuire

With permission from Eddie Geoghegan. The arms were verified by reference to Rietstap's Armorial General

There are various versions of the Vogler Arms (geographic it seems). In Germany there is a register called the "Wappenrolle" which shows all existing and registered coat of arms. There is an entry for the surname of Vogler in Hamburg (see http://www.tcsn.net/mswihart/hamwap.htm) but to assume that my particular branch of the family was awarded a coat of arms is just a hope.

Heinrich Der Vogler

The oldest reference that I have found for the occupation or surname Vogler is Henry I, born c. 876, died July 2, 936, Memleben, Saxony (now in Germany). He was also called Henry The Fowler, (in German Heinrich Der Vogler). Heinrich was German king and founder of the Saxon dynasty (918-1024).

Johann Heinrich Vogler

Actual signature. "taken from a photostat held at NSARM, MG1, vol. 113, folder 3, nos. 112-193
obtained from the UK Public Records Office Colonial Office Original Correspondence Nova Scotia
(CO 217) Vol 12, Nos G 109, 120, 122, 125)"

During the years 1749 - 1752 the British Government along with the assistance of the Governor of Nova Scotia developed and executed a plan to settle the south shore of Nova Scotia. Most of the settlers were of German, Swiss or French origin and arrived in Halifax on one of nine ships. These pioneers became known as the "Foreign Protestants" and many of them moved to the Lunenburg County area. There is a great deal written about these families.

My ggggg-grandfather Johann Heinrich Vogler was one of those early pioneers (Founding Fathers) to first settle Lunenburg County. He sailed from Rotterdam around May 1752 and arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on or before September 1752 aboard the John Dick Shipping Agency Transport "Sally". He was listed as single, age 28, occupation Huntsman (Webster's Dictionary quotes: 1. Hunter, 2. A person who manages a hunt and looks after the hounds), and from Prussia. Although Prussia is the only place of origin shown for Heinrich, I personally believe he came from somewhere along the Rhine Valley region (where today the Vogler surname is still found). I read that Germans as a race have existed for centuries but before 1871 (the existence of Germany) most ancestors who emigrated from Northern Europe simply listed Prussia as the place of origin on the ship's list. The following link: http://www3.adnc.com/~lynnd/vupmap5.html is a great way of viewing the Prussian border changes using 4 maps dating 1415-1914.

Heinrich's first marriage was to Catherina/Catherine Keller on the 20th of Dec. 1752 at St. Paul's Church (Anglican) in Halifax. It is thought Catherina died giving birth (or shortly after) to their first son Johann Heinrich born on the10th of May 1753, Bapt. 22 Nov. 1772. The Keller family is found on various Vict. and ship lists.

His 2nd marriage was to Anna Elizabeth Walther (later Walter(s)) on the 18th of Sept. 1753 in Lunenburg. She was the widow of Andreas Walther. Anna and Andreas were from Erbach Germany where they had two children before coming to Nova Scotia aboard the Murdoch in 1751. One child (a daughter, Anna Barbara) is believed to have died some time before the voyage and the other child (a son, George) survived the trip. I am not sure who raised Anna's son Johann George since he does not show up as living with them (Anna & Heinrich) on the Victualling Lists. However George Walther does show up on land transaction records with Heinrich (his stepfather). George married Maria Magdalene Beck in 1772 and they had 8 children. Please see http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~downeast/Walters.html from Don Shankle's main site at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~downeast/ for further information on the Walters family.

Dr. Winthrop P. Bell (author of The "Foreign Protestants" and the Settlement of Nova Scotia) made notes on many of these families. I found a section of those notes at the Halifax Public Archives which covered Heinrich until the year 1785.One item I found interesting was Bell's comment about Heinrich's signature being very fine, almost elegant (suggesting he was to some degree educated). Heinrich was indebted for one piece of freight.

Dr. Bell mentions that Heinrich is on the Halifax Victualling List for Sept. - Oct. 1752 (list No. 9) as John Heinrich Fogeler and the Halifax Victualling List for Feb. - April 1753 as John Heinrick Fogler.

Ruth E. Vogler-Kaulback notes that (Vogler Genealogy, Complied by Ruth E. Vogler-Kaulback, Jan. 1987) Heinrich was on the 1752 Victualling List at Halifax and on the Lunenburg Lists of 1753 - 56.

The Halifax Victualling Records 1753, dated from the 19th of February to the 15th of April 1753 (recorded a few months before the 1st settlers were sent to Lunenburg) show Heinrich listed by himself and there is no sign of Catherine Keller living with him (it is assumed she died giving birth to Johann Heinrich Jr.). Anna Elizabeth Walter is listed with her 1st husband Andreas. Andreas must have died sometime between the 19th of Feb. and Sept. 18th 1753.

Dr. Bell mentions Heinrich, Anna and Johann are on the June 1755 Lunenburg Victualling List as Fogeler. Heinrich, Anna and Johann show up on the 1756 Lunenburg Victualling List as Vogler. Heinrich, Anna, Johann, and Wendel (Heinrich & Anna's 1st son together) show up on the 1757 Lunenburg Victualling List as Fogeler. Bell also mentions that Wendel Fogeler is found separately near the end of the list.

Return of Arms, Dec. 1753 - Johann Henry Fogeler, Rudolf's Division.

Return of Divisions, July 1754 - Henry Vogler - Rudolf's Division, F - 7, with "house & garden". This lot shows up in 1762 as the property of Andreas Whalter (Anna's 1st husband who died in 1753+-). Their son Johann George Walter seems to have ownership of this lot in 1762 (age 12 - 13?). It may have been held in trust by Heinrich Vogler, I am not sure. Ruth Kaulback mentions in the July 1754 Return Of Divisions (a military roll call more or less) Heinrich is given Lot #7 with "house & garden".

30 - Acre Farm Lots - 1753 - 1754 Allotment List has John Henry Vogeler - Rose Bay #14 (Bell's notes). Ruth Kaulback mentions this as well and goes on to say that Heinrich owns Lot #'s 5 & 9 there as well.

Live Stock Distribution - 1754 - Lot #152 - 6 sheep, 1 sow, and 1 goat. Apparently this was shared with a man by the name of John Michael Breyer. Ruth Kaulback has it as lot #52.

Registry of 30 - Acre Lots - In 1760 Henry Fogeler has Rose Bay Lot #10. Bell notes that in view of Heinrich's marriage to Anna Elizabeth Whalter, one may note that in the 1760 Registry George Walter has Lot #10, which was assigned to Heinrich in the Allotment List of 1753 - 1754. The Registry of 1760 shows George Walter owning Lot #14 Rose Bay (also Heinrich's from 1753 - 54). Perhaps they swapped land some where along the way.

300 - Acre Lots - Second Drawing, Nov. 7th 1763 - 2nd Division as Henry Vogler, A7. Doctor Bell notes that Vernie Rigulo was first entered for this lot. Heinrich was first entered for 2nd division E-7. Both entries were cancelled and the two men switched entries.

Later in the century Heinrich and Anna moved to Petite Riviere on 200 acres of land he purchased from Hubart Mason (1772+-). Johann Heinrich Vogler died in 1799 at Petite Riviere. His son Johann Frederick (my gggg-grandfather) is the line (and his family) Vogler's Cove is named after. For an excellent book detailing the life of the Vogler family (and many others) in Petite Riviere see "The Rising Village", Chapters in the History of Petite Riviere, Nova Scotia, by Malcolm G. Parks. I have a copy if you wish to know which families are mentioned, or you can contact me if you would like to obtain a copy.

The Vogler family has been documented in many well-researched books published by people who have roots in the Lunenburg area. Some of these references are listed here.

More Source Sites:

The links in the first paragraph, the Sally and the Murdoch are to Gail Facini Edward's main site.

The link to the Dr. W.P. Bell information is to Wallace & Frances Gray's main site.

The 1753, 1756 & 1757 Vict. Lists, 30 Acre, 300 Acre, return of Divisions, Live Stock Distribution of 1754, and the book reference links are to Chris Young's main site.

The Foreign Protestants link is to Nancy Shaver's main site.

The Founding Fathers link is to Don Shankle's main site.

The 1755 Vict. List is by Bryan Keddy.

The Prussia link is to the main site at http://www.kolpack.com/packnet/

The map links connect to the main site at http://www.ns.ec.gc.ca/epb/sfish/maps/ns/ns.html

The Rhine Valley and John Dick links are to the Canadian Heritage Migration site at http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Migrations/

The Lunenburg Militia of 1798. There was a Lieutenant Henry "Vogeler". I am not sure if this was Johann Heinrich (he died in 1799) or his son Johann Heinrich born 10th May 1753 or 1754. Site by Catherine Di Pietro.

Ruth Vogler Kaulback noted (witnessed as a child) that Heinrich (Sr.) had the rank of colonel on his headstone inscription. The cemetery was located near Sperry Beach and unfortunately was bulldozed.

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lunenburg

Dr. Bell mentions that Heinrick Vogler was elected as one of the Elders ("Vorsteher") in 1770 for the Lutheran Church. He gave a money donation towards the building of the church in 1770 - 1771. He appears in the church account book 1770 - 85 and signed the membership roll in 1775. By 1772 Heinrich had already bought the 200 acres in Petite Riviere, so I am not sure exactly when he moved out of Rose Bay.

I had trouble reading some of the handwritten words from Dr. Bell's notes. One word was "Vorsteher" (I thought it was spelled "Vorstcher"), which I could not make out the spelling for. I looked up a gentleman in the States through the Lutheran Church sites and the following is the explanation, "Stehen" means "stand," and "Vor" means "before" or "in front". One who stands before or in front of the congregation is a Vorsteher. A Vorsteher is one who is the head of something, a manager. In German Lutheran congregations a Vorsteher is an elder, or an officer of the congregation.

Thanks to John Lau, Prof. Em., Church History

Chris Young has the list of the members and contributors of the Lunenburg Zion Lutheran Church and School posted at: http://www.seawhy.com/zll.html , from Chris's main site at http://www.seawhy.com

Resolution No. 288, HALIFAX, TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 1996 Fifty-sixth General Assembly, Fourth Session 2:00 P.M., SPEAKER Hon. Paul MacEwan, DEPUTY SPEAKER Mrs. Francene Cosman. http://www.gov.ns.ca/legi/hansard/han56-4/h96apr23.htm#[Page%20902] . This is for an accepted motion to have the church proclaimed a Provincial Heritage Property on Sunday, April 28th

My Great-grandparents Thomas Richard Vogler & his wife Bertha Victoria (Croft) Vogler. Married 6 April 1903. Picture on left courtesy of Norma Vogler McGuire. Picture on right courtesy of Lena Vogler Campbell.

My Grandparents Thomas Douglas Vogler and Madeline Fern Anderson Vogler. Taken around 1946-1947. Picture courtesy of my Father, Douglas Eugene Vogler

Photo of Edwin L.Vogler & Mars Selig (approx. the 1920's). Edwin is seated and Mars standing. Photo courtesy of Edwin's son Alfred Vogler. via S. Nelson

Myrtle Vogler, Edwin L. Vogler's sister. (date unknown). Photo courtesy of Heather (Munsie) Jackson (Myrtle is Heather's great-aunt)

The search for the connection to the "Old Country"

European place names where Vogler's live or have lived in the past. This list is the result of some 300+- E-mails that I sent to people with the surname Vogler. The replies that I received helped give me a better idea of the areas the Vogler families originate from. As of today (July 8, 2000) there are 5200 Vogler'a listed in the German phone book. I looked for Zurich and found around twenty Vogler's listed. All this told me there are Vogler's all over Europe (mainly south western part) and that I still don't know where in 1752 Prussia my ancestor came from. :-).

Old Vogler Oar & Handle Mill, Crousetown, Nova Scotia. Picture courtesy of my father Douglas Eugene Vogler.

George Henry Vogler (son of George William) & his son Rupert Emmanuel owned the mill. At first it was a shingle mill. Later they manufactured their own machinery to make oars and canoe paddles. It was officially called Vogler Oar & Handle Mfgrs. The business was closed around the date of Rupert's death in 1933. At the time this picture was taken (late 1980's) it was back in operation. Unfortunately as of the summer of 1999 there was a " For Sale" sign on the door.

Picture courtesy of Marie Vogler, wife of William (Bill) Vogler.

The 1st car (Model T Ford) in Vogler's Cove was purchased by Mr. Edward Ryan. Edward bought the car for his son Herman, so that he could operate a taxi service in Vogler's Cove. The second car in Vogler's Cove was purchased in 1919 by James S. Vogler.