 Surnames I am Researching Ashton Auxer/Auxier Balck Bower Bowman Breymann Brittain/Britton Carpenter Carrington Carvell/Carwell Christopher Cole Coville Crosse Dare/Doering Estenberg Frane Franz Fricke Gantt Goda Grantin Groff Grove Heinrich Hauenstine Hiatt Howenstein Jaggli Jonsdotter Kupp Lieder Lindgren Manke Merki/Merck/Mark Niess Nilsson Olafsson Persdotter Persson Rohl Romann Schulze/Schultz Sherman Staley/Stalie Stillwell Stroebel Svensson Throckmorton Traub/Troup Van Dyke von Breyman Westerkold Wettstein Wolf Zeigler 
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Long ago and far away, they dreamed of America! and they started to come! The
Groffs and the Merkis from Switzerland, the Carringtons from Ireland, the Ashtons, Brittains and Stillwells, the Throckmortons, Shermans and Carvells, all came from England, the Lindgrens came from Sweden, and the biggest group of them came from Germany! Among the Germans were the Auxers, the von Breymans, the Zeiglers, the Wolfs, and the Traubs.
Soon their descendants would marry and move on and their lives would intertwine.
In 1990 one of their descendants would decide to trace her roots and their lifes
would become real again! Their hopes, their dreams and their tears would once
again become known.
The British were the first to come! William Brittaine and his elder brother, Nathaniel emigrated from England about 1635. William settled at Mespat, also called Middleburg and Newton, in Queens Co. Long Island, in 1652; Nathaniel at Flatlands, also called Amersfoort, in Kings Co., Long Island in 1653. The family would intermarry with the Stillwells. Lt. Nicholas Stillwell immigrated to America with his two boys upon the death of his first wife in 1638. From one of these marriages would come Joseph Britton the father of Mary Britton who married
William Carvell. The Throckmortons and Ashtons were also settlers in the New York area during this period.
Then one of our Swiss ancestors followed.
Hans Groff was born in Switzerland in 1661. He came to America to escape religious persecution. Hans and Susanna (perhaps Kendig?) were to become the parents of John (Hans) Groff who married Elisabeth Carpenter. Their son
Jacob Grove and his wife Catharine Staley's first child was a daughter, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was born November 29, 1759 in Sharpsburg, Maryland. Her husband, Peter Wolf was born in York County, Pennsylvania, May 14, 1757. Peter and Elizabeth moved to the Perry County area, where they are both buried. Their daughter Mary and her first husband, Philip Troup became the parents of my g-g-g-grandmother, Ann Eliza, March 23, 1816. Ann's husband, Philip Zeigler, was born near Gettysburg in Adams County. Their marriage would produce 6 children, one of which was Mary Jane. Mary Jane and her second husband, Jeremiah Mark Carvell had only one child who survived childhood. Carrie Virginia was my great grandmother.
Following the Grafs to the new world would have been Christian Auxer. Christian came to America on the ship "Edinburgh". He arrived at the port of Philadelphia in September of 1749 from Rotterdam via Portsmouth, England. He settled in Lancaster County Pennsylvania.
Christian, who was born around 1710 came with his wife and children to America. He married Maria Barbara Wentz on July 24, 1742 in Armsheim, in what is now Germany.* Their grandson Michael would marry Catherine and they became the parents of my g-g-g-grandfather, Philip Kleis Auxer. Philip married Maria Lieder, October 5, 1837 in Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They became the parents of at least 10 children, among which was Catharine, my g-g-grandmother.
Catharine married Ephraim H. Niess who was born in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Ephraim and Catharine married in 1864 and moved to Harrisburg, where Ephraim worked at Bailey Iron Works until retirement. Catharine and Ephraim had 10 children, only four of which lived to adulthood. Thank goodness Edwin Alonzo was one of those four! Edwin married Carrie Virginia Carvell and one of the two children they had was my grandmother, Nellie Viola. Nellie married William Francis Sherman in September of 1914 and a short year later, my father was to be their first born. On September 4, 1915, William Francis Sherman, Jr. was born at Sibley Hospital in Washington, D.C. For more on my father's life, click on his name ~ I hope you'll enjoy his life as much as I did! In 1990, he traveled from California on a vacation and his life's journey ended where it had started ~ in the Washington D.C., area ~ 75 years and 2 weeks after it began. And interestingly enough it ended on the 100th anniversary of his grandparents wedding! (Carrie Carvell and Edwin Niess!) |
Be sure to read Susannah's Story for the reason I started this Genealogical Pursuit in the first place! And now please join me as I take you on a journey - one filled with my ancestor's joys, and their sorrows. I'd like to bring them to life again, and have you know them, as I feel I do now. It's an interesting journey . . . . . .
