Kanton Basel, Switzerland
Pfalz
|
|
| Kanton Basel, Switzerland |
Pfalz |
If you are descended from any of these men, please
consider joining the Gysi genetic genealogy project.
For more information or to join the Gysi project at FamilyTree DNA, click
here.
For more information about the Gÿsi/Gysin
origins in Canton Basel, Switzerland, click here.
Although the connection is not definite, we are nearly certain that the first
three men below are closely related.
Jacob was born in Hölstein, Canton Basel, Switzerland in 1681 to Hans and Anna (Bleyer) Gyssi. The family migrated to Hassloch, Pfalz about 1700, where Jacob married Anna Barbara Michel, daughter of Ludwig Michel, on 11 June 1710. She was the widow of David Guellers. Jacob and his family immigrated to America on the Ship Snow Lowther, arriving on 14 October 1731. Along with Jacob the passenger list included his wife, Anna Barbara, and their children Johann Wendel, Johann David, Johann Conrad, Johann Ulrich, and Catharina. They settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They were members of the Muddy Creek congregation (presently the Peach United Church of Christ, Swartzville) where Jacob and Anna Barbara baptised several of their younger children in 1734 and 1736. Jacob died in 1749.
Johann Jacob Gysi was born in Hassloch on 3 June 1707 to Heinrich and Maria Magdalena (Burchardt) Gysi. Jacob married Anna Maria Erhard on 10 February 1728 in Iggelheim, Pfalz. She died two months later. Jacob then married Anna Barbara Biber on 28 June of the same year. He immigrated to America in 1736 on the ship Princess Augusta, arriving on 16 September. It was a difficult passage. An account of the voyage was written by a fellow passenger and has been posted. On the passenger list his name appeared as Jacob (x) Keese, Kissy, age 28. There were two unnamed others with him, presumably his wife, Anna Barbara, and daughter, Maria Elizabeth. Infant children were never listed on the passenger lists so his son, Philip, age 6 months, was not listed. They also settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and had at least 2 other children: sons John and Henry. Jacob died in 1757.
Conradt Giese is the brother of Johann Jacob Gysi. He was born in Hassloch, Pfalz on 27 March 1718. He married Anna Barbara Werles, the daughter of Ulrich Werle, on 15 April 1738 in Hassloch. They had two daughters in Hassloch before they emigrated to America, arriving on the ship St. Andrew, Charles Stedman, Master. Conrad took the Oath of Allegiance to King George II of England upon his arrival on 2 October 1741 (spelled Conradt Kiesie). Anna Barbara died soon after their arrival in America, possibly in the epidemics of yellow fever and small pox that struck Philadelphia in 1741. Conradt settled in York County, Pennsylvania where he married his second wife, Maria Agatha Baer, about 1745. They had six children.
Martin Giese was listed as a passenger on the ship Molley, Thomas Oliver, master, which arrived in America on 17 October 1741. Martin is rumored to have settled in York County. His origin, as well as his subsequent activity, is, as yet, unknown.
John Ulrich Giesy was born about 1754 in Canton Basel, Switzerland. He came to America in 1804 with his wife, Anna Maria, and their three sons, John Jacob Giesy, Sr. (born 1783), Henry Giesy (born 1785), and John Ulrich Giesy (born 1787). Unfortunately, Henry Giesy died in Philadelphia only weeks after their arrival. After a short time in York County, Pennsylvania, they settled near the town of Basil, Fairfield County, Ohio. John Ulrich died in 1834.
Andrew Giesy was born in Canton Basel, Switzerland on 17 November 1791. He married Barbara Gysi (sister of Martin - see next) and they had two children, Christian and Helena, before coming to America about 1817. They initially settled in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania where they lived until the mid-1840s. They had 15 children between 1813 and 1840. During the 1850 census they lived in the community of Bethel, Shelby County, Missouri with their children. The Bethel community had been founded by a charismatic and religious Prussian named Dr. William Keil. In the period between 1853 and 1856 Andrew and many of his children followed Dr. Keil to the Washington Territory where they founded a utopian society along the Willapa River in Pacific County, Washington. Dr. Keil subsequently removed to found Aurora Mills in Oregon, however, many of the Giesy family remained in Washington. Several other Swiss immigrants joined Andrew and his family in Willapa. Most noteably Sebastian "Bosh" Giesy, the eldest son of Martin George Giesy (see next). The history of the the Willapa and Aurora colonies can be found at the website for the Aurora Museum. Jane Kirkpatrick has written a trio of books from the perspective of Emma (Wagner) Giesy, Andrew's daughter-in-law, about their journey and life in the new colonies: A Clearing in the Wild, A Tendering in the Storm, and A Mending at the Edge.
Brother-in-law (and probably a cousin) of Andreas Giesy, Martin George Giesy was born in Switzerland (presumably Canton Basel) 16 February 1796 where he married and had 13 children (9 boys, 4 girls) before bringing his family to America in 1847 (as reported by a few of his sons in the 1900 Census). Martin Giesy appears in the 1850 Census of Indiana Township, Allegheny County with 11 of his 13 children. Of his 9 sons, 5 of them migrated with Andreas Giesy to Missouri and Washington in the 1850s. I have found no records for two of Martin's sons as adults, and the other two, Martin and Frederick, remained in Allegheny County where they raised their families. Martin George lived until at least 1870 when he is recorded living with his son, Frederick, in the Census for Indiana Township, Allegheny County, PA.
Wilhelm Gysi was born in Birr, Canton Aargau, Switzerland in 1846 or 1848. He married Elizabeth Baumgartner 28 October 1874 in Birr. They came to America with their eldest two daughters about 1883 and settled in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio. They had three more children, including a son named Paul James Gysie born 1 September 1885. Wilhelm died 23 November 1930.
Henrich Giese was born in Lichtenau, Hesse on 18 Apr 1757 (1755?) to Johann Henrich and Maria Elizabeth (Heydolph) Geisse. Like his younger brothers, Johann Friedrich and Johannes, he studied theology in Marburg, Hesse. After his successful examination in 1776 he went with the Hessian troops to America in 1776. Following the war he stayed in America, and was ordained as a Reformed Pastor in Virginia in 1783/4 where he served in Loudon County until 1795. Then he went to Berlin, Somerset County, Pennsylvania where he served for 38 years until his retirement in 1833. With his first wife, Anna Maria, he had 10 children. After her death 30 March 1801 he married Margaret Wise Young and they had one daughter, Margaret. Henrich died 24 March 1845. His descendants still reside in SW Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It is unlikely, however, that there is any relationship between Henrich Giese and our Swiss Gysi lineage.
Johann Gesse originated from Endorf, Saxony. Where he settled in America is unknown.
Nothing is known about where Johann Burkhard Geisse came from or his subsequent life in America.
Questions? 
Comments! 
Write
to Mark Geesey: geesey_fmly06(at)comcast.net
Back to the Geesey Genealogy Home Page 
Riverview
Retreat: Our vacation rental home