Could some kind soul with knowledge of Lancaster County and its resources
help me in the search for my ZIEGLER (also spelled Sigler, Zigler, Zeigler,
Siglar, these guys were orthographically challenged).
The one certain thing is that the first child of my g-g-grandfather Abram
Ziegler (born either in 1820 or 1821)and his wife Elizabeth Ross, Jane Brown
Ziegler, was born in Lancaster County on 27 Oct 1844 (or 1843). Their
second child, my g-grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Ziegler, was born on 4 July
1845, in Cumberland Co., probably Monroe Twp., which is where the family
turns up in 1850.
The family was not wealthy, and seem to have been laborers. A kind soul
(thank you Jerry!) looked at some census records and made the following
suggestion:
"Since the indication is that their eldest daughter was born in Lancaster
County,
I looked quickly at the 1830 and 1840 censuses for a similar name with a
male born 1820-1825. I found a couple, but one that is intriguing is George
Zeigler in Columbia, Lancaster, PA. Most of the ones found (a couple only)
were in areas that typically were farming areas; this George in Columbia is
found in a manufacturing city. Your comment about all being laborers could
be key; also, George was older, disappears for the 1850 and later census."
Sooo, is there maybe a death record for George Ziegler (with all spelling
variants) in Columbia? Would there be a will maybe (even if the family was
poor) a probate record of some kind? Since Abram Ziegler and his family
later (in non-German areas of Pennsylvania, i.e., Washington County, where
they settled around 1856) were devout Presbyterians, I assume that they were
Reformed Church members (Calvinists to the core, though). Abram Ziegler's
wife, Elizabeth Ross, may have come from Adams Co. (there is an IGI entry on
an Elizabeth Ross which sort of fits, but this is not hard documentation).
Of course, maybe even George Ziegler was already a Presbyterian -- I just
have assumed (and maybe falsely) that since the family name was German, they
would have been Reformed Church members.
I have no marriage date for them.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Jeff Richards
Muenster, Germany
(P.S. I can help with German records since I live and work in Germany and
German is my daily language).