Her parents are fairly well-documented, but the traditional information about
their ages/ancestry would naturally lead to some discrepancies. Ann Elizabeth
Geiger Muller was buried in the Sandy Run (Lexington Co SC) church cemetery. Her
tombstone reads--or used to read--"Sacred to the memory of Ann Elizabeth Muller
who was born on the 18th of Sept 1794, was married to E.H.D. Muller, Jan. 23,
1812, and died May 5th, 1865." Her mother's tombstone, in the same cemetery,
reads "Sacred to the memory of Mary Ann Geiger. She died on P.M. of 10th of Aug.
1837, being about 83 years old."
Mary Ann Kaigler Kersh Geiger's son (and first child by first-husband Godfrey
Kersh) was buried in the Gates burial ground. His tombstone reads" "Sacred to
the memory of Godfrey Kersch, born 14th day of Feb. 1780, and died 10th Jan.
1827." Her other child by Godfrey Kersh, daughter Margaret (1782-21 Jan 1852)
married a William Geiger (1773-1855), son of John Geiger (1748-1817) and Ann
Murff (1742-1831)--NOT the William Geiger who was her younger half-brother!
Mary Ann Kaigler was the daughter of Andrew Kaigler (also spelled Kegler, Hegler,
Haigler, Hicker, Hycker, Hiker, and many other things in colonial SC records). A
wife of Andrew has a surname rendered Capplepound/Copplepound [identified as
Cappelpower] in legal documents filed in Lexington in 1808 and 1809 by Andrew
Kaigler's representatives Michael and William Kaigler, after Andrew and family
had moved to Williamson Co TN. Here are the data re the (presumed) origins of
Catherine/Katy, wife of Andrew Kaigler. In September 1752, George Oslerman and
his wife arrived in Charleston on the ship Cunliffe, Commander Joseph Cleater.
He petitioned for a 100-acre land grant on 17 Apr 1753, having completed his
term as an indentured servant. His plat for 100 acres on Cabin Branch in
Saxegotha (Lexington Co SC) was laid out on 17 Apr 1754 for George Oestman,
granted on 14 Nov 1754. A single woman named Magdalana Ostmannen/Ostmannin
arrived on the same ship, but was able to pay her passage so did not become an
indentured servant. She petitioned for her 50 acres of land on 7 Dec 1752, the
plat was laid out for Magdalena Osteamer [sic] in Orangeburgh on 9 Nov 1753,
granted to Magdalena Oestmanin on 3 Sep 1754. In 1808 (a long time later), legal
proceedings began, and they stated that Catherine/Katy (married to Andrew
Kaigler at an unspecified time) was the daughter of an unspecified man named
Capplepound/Copplepound [interpreted as Cappelpower] and Barbara, the sister and
sole legal heir of the George "Teskman" who had been granted that 100-acre
property on 17 Apr 1754. The immigration and land-petition records do not
identify a sister-and-heir named Barbara, just that single-woman Magdalena who
settled on land fairly distant from George Ostman. There are no colonial records
relating to a family named Cappelpower, Coppelpound, etc. Andrew Kaigler and
current-wife Katy are now living in Williamson Co TN, and their claim to the
Ostman/Assman land is being handled by relatives (sons? nephews?). I don't know
the outcome of the lawsuit, but am not yet convinced that Katy's mother was
Barbara Cappelpower (however spelled) or that Katy was a first-wife and the
mother of Andrew Kaigler's children--although all of the traditional info
reports it like that.
Lydia/Liddy Culpepper from VA acquired land for herself and 5 of her children (2
being males with known names) in Saxegotha/Lexington Co in 1771. Her son Joseph
was the third husband of Ann Theiler, who had previously married Jacob Geiger,
then William Geiger (both of known parentage). The local Geigers, Kershes, and
Kaiglers tended to marry one another. If a Kaigler wife has a name with
"c-l-p-r" consonants in it, however transcribed, one might look for an
unnamed-but-documented Culpepper daughter sooner than for an
otherwise-unattested Cappelpound family. But whatever. If one can't find any
records for sister-heiress Barbara Ostman anywhere, there's not much point in
trying to locate which Coppelpound she might have married prior to having
daughter Katy Kaigler. The Kersh family historians list the name of Godfrey
Kersh's wife as Catherine Culpepper. The bulk of the evidence says that they're
correct. And there weren't any Culpeppers around for Godfrey Kersh (or for
Andrew Kaigler) to have married back when the Kaigler children--including Mary
Ann--were being born. Katy was probably a later wife, as indicated by the
specifically-English nickname. A Catherine Culpepper might easily have been
called "Katy". A Kathrina Cappelpower would almost-certainly have answered to "Katri".
There were many William Geigers around in SC by the late 18th century, but the
"William Geiger of Chalk Hill" (husband of Mary Ann Kaigler Kersh and father of
Ann Elizabeth Geiger Muller) is a particular challenge. Nobody knows for sure
where he came from, just that he was a Big Deal. The Geigers who had emigrated
from St. Gall, Switzerland to SC in 1737 generally didn't use the name William,
nor did other Swiss families. Among the thousands of Swiss emigrants listed in
Faust & Brumbaugh, not one was named Wilhelm. It was a very common name among
English and German immigrants of the 17th and 18th centuries, and became common
among second-generation descendants of Swiss immigrants. But first-generation
Swiss immigrants in the 18th century were not called William (at least, I've
never found one--and I've looked). That William Geiger may be hard to track
down!