Migration of Abraham GEIGER and Cathrina SCHELLIG

1. Abraham GEIGER was born 4 Mar 1687 in Haslach, parish Berneck, in the Unterrheintal [later canton St. Gallen], Switzerland, christened on 9 Mar 1687 in Berneck. He died 7 May 1766 in Saxegotha Township, South Carolina. On 25 Feb 1716, he married Cathrina SCHELLIG, born Jan 1687 in Langmoos, parish Berneck, christened 29 Jan 1687 in Berneck. The extended Geiger/Schellig family arrived in Charlestown on 1 Feb 1736/7 (Julian calendar) on the ship Prince of Wales, Capt. George Dunbar.

Notes for Abraham GEIGER: A tract of 300 acres was surveyed for Abraham Gyger on 12 Sep 1737, as was Saxegotha Town Lot #63. The plantation was on the southwest side of the Congaree River, with the land of John Shillig/Schellig (Abraham's brother-in-law) to its southeast and the land of Herman Gyger (Abraham's nephew) to its northwest. In ~1752, Abraham Geiger sold his 300 acres to merchant Robert Stiell/Steel, who petitioned unsuccessfully for a license to run a public ferry across the Congaree River at the site. Abraham Geiger purchased no other Saxegotha property, and was apparently in residence with his children on the lower Saluda River between 1752 and his death in 1766. During the Cherokee Wars, frontier settlers took shelter at the nearest house-fort. The fort of John Rawls was two miles to the west of the Saluda River Geiger households. Ulrich Geiger was reimbursed by the province in 1762 for a steer he'd provided for the refugees at Rawl's Fort.

Children of Abraham GEIGER and Cathrina SCHELLIG were:

a. Hans Jacob Geiger, born 1717 in Haslach, christened 20 Mar 1717 in Berneck, died 6 Jul 1718 in Haslach.

b. Hans Jacob GEIGER, born 1718 in Haslach, christened 27 Nov 1718 in Berneck, St. Gall, died in Saxegotha, South Carolina by ~1760. He married Anna Maria FRIDIG, christened 25 Oct 1721 in Koniz, canton Bern; she emigrated to Saxegotha Township, South Carolina with parents Martin FRIDIG and Maria Magdalena DYSSLI in 1735 on the ship William.

Notes for Hans Jacobh GEIGER: Children of Hans Jacob GEIGER and Anna Maria FRIDIG were: Mary Magdalena, Anna Cathrina, and Anna Maria Geiger.

Notes for Anna Maria FRIDIG: Abt. 1760 Hans Jacob's widow, Anna Maria Fridig Geiger, married neighbor Jacob WEBER (1725-1761).

c. Johannes GEIGER, born in Haslach, christened 21 Jan 1721 in Berneck, St. Gall, died in Saxegotha, South Carolina before 1790. He married Barbara ZÄNGER, born Oberhasle, Bern, Switzerland; she emigrated to Orangeburgh Township, South Carolina with parents Simon Zänger and his unnamed wife in 1735 on the ship Samuel.

Notes for Johannes GEIGER: Children of Johannes GEIGER and Barbara ZÄNGER included Abraham, John II, Tobias, and unnamed daughters. John Geiger was one of the four people convicted on 31 Mar 1761 of the two Weberite murders, and sentenced to hang. Leader Jacob Weber was hanged on 17 Apr 1761. John Geiger, his sister-in-law Anna Maria Fridig Geiger Weber, and neighbor Jacob Burckhardt/Bourghart were pardoned, and returned to the Saluda River.

d. Hans Georg GEIGER, born in Hardt, St. Gall, christened 3 Dec 1722 in Berneck, died 20 Mar 1724 in Hardt, St. Gall.

e. Elsbetha GEIGER, born in Hardt, St. Gall, christened 7 Sep 1724 in Berneck, died 8 Jul 1726 in Hardt, St. Gall.

f. Elsbetha GEIGER, born in Hardt, St. Gall, christened 21 Dec 1726 in Berneck.

Notes for Elsbetha GEIGER: Her marriage, if any, in South Carolina is undocumented. Some family traditions and circumstantial evidence suggest that she may have been the first wife of John Jacob Fridig/Friday (christened 18 Aug 1719 in Muri Bei Frutigen, Bern, died ~1779 in Saxegotha), who lived adjacent to John Jacob Geiger and wife Anna Maria Fridig/Friday on Geiger's Creek [currently Kinley Creek] of the Saluda River.

g. Hans Ulrich GEIGER, born in Hardt, St. Gall, christened 18 Jun 1730 in Berneck, died 12 Jun 1777 in Effingham/Bulloch County, Georgia. He married and had four children in South Carolina before moving to the Ogeechee River region of St. Philip's Parish Georgia in 1766. The four oldest children were Abraham, Felix, John and Mary. In Georgia, he and wife Apollonia (maiden name unknown) christened two more children at the Jerusalem (Lutheran) Church at Ebenezer in St. Matthew's Parish Georgia. They were Rachel, born Feb 1769 and christened 13 Jun 1769, and Cornelius, born 1 Feb 1774 and christened 18 Jul 1774. Daughter Rachel did not survive to maturity.

Notes for Hans Ulrich GEIGER: Colonial Georgia Council Journal at Savannah on July 1, 1766 "Read a Petition of Ulric Kegar setting forth that he was at present an Inhabitant of South Carolina but proposed immediately to remove into this Province with his family being a Wife, four children and one Negro in order to settle and cultivate Land..." The 300 acres was granted on 2 Jun 1767; he filed a Memorial on 18 Jul 1767. Bulloch County, Georgia deeds (Deed Book AA, p. 288): Jan. 16, 1815: Felix Geiger, Abraham Geiger, Mary Hofman and Cornelius Geiger, legal heirs of Ulrick Kegar dec'd. sold to their brother John Geiger, also a legal heir of Ulrick Kegar, for the sole intention that strict justice may be obtained and done to their brother and to prevent dispute and lawsuit, that parcel of land being one-fifth or 60 acres, originally granted 2nd June 1767 to Ulrick Kegar. Wit.: Jacob Geiger, Philip Geiger, and Stephen Denmark, J.P. Ulrich Geiger's children lived in Wayne and Bryan County, Georgia, as well as in Effingham/Bulloch. Grandchildren settled to the south and west, including Florida (Clay, Nassau and Duval Co) and Mississippi (Covington, Greene and Perry Co).

Information provided by Gene Jeffries 16 Mar 2000, major update by Harriet Imrey 5 Jan 2009.

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DISCLAIMER: The family information included in Orangeburgh Family Migrations was complied from a variety of sources, many of which are not documented. These pages have not been checked for accuracy and should not be treated as authoritative documentation on these families. They are provided as a hopefully helpful source of leads to further research into these families.

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