and Brief History
Our ancestors came from Switzerland, canton of Zeis or it's modern name Schwyz, Switzerland. This city being one of the original three cantons forming what later became the country of Switzerland. This name was in honor of the very town that we are from. Our ancestors converted to the religious teaching of Martin Luther very early and because of this had to leave Switzerland due to influence of area being heavily concentrated population of catholic following. This area was still under the control of Holy Roman Empire. Our ancestors moved to an area near the Rhine River, which was more tolerant of their religious preference. They resided in Saltzbourg until France took control of area. This was one of the determining factors, which led to their immigration to colonial America. We have ancestors from Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Rheinland-Prussia (part of modern Germany), England, and Ireland.
The Sizelove family doesn't have any famous individual to boast about that I know of, but they have always been known as hard working, honorable folks. There has been a descendant of our family serve their country honorably in every war, beginning with the French & Indian War in 1755. Our ancestor, Georg Nicholas Zeisloft, wife Anna Catharina, several children and two brothers arrived at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the ship Harle, September 1, 1736. They were described as palatinates from Germany and they swore their oath to the King of England and became colonial subjects at the courthouse just weeks after arriving in the New World. There is strong evidence that they were not indentured, as two years after arriving, all three Zeisloft brothers made land grants each for 160 acres of land in western fringe of Philadelphia, known as Berks County. All but two sons of Georg Nicholas Zeisloff, this original immigrant family were killed during the French & Indian Wars. In the month of February and March of 1756 at Schrylkill, PA , Indians attacked and massacred two families, who were trying to leave the area, heading south towards North Carolina. Our ancestors except for two sons who escaped to the confines of a nearby Quaker stronghold were shot and most scalped by hostiles. An English captain who made this report to the authorities of Philadelphia on March 3rd of 1756 makes this accounting. Only recently found leads to descendants of one of the other two brothers. Gerhart Zeisloff, being the son of either Baltazar or Johann Georg Zeisloff.
We have several ancestors who fought on the side of the Patriots during the Rev. War. Both Ahrhart & Gerhart Zeislof served during the war under the command of Pa. Infantry. John Mann, another ancestor served under Jeremiah Putman, and two other captains representing the State of Vermont and New York. Many of our forefathers fought in the Civil War, on both sides of the cause. My third great-grandparents, Joseph & Mary Ellen Sizelove attended the political speech of Abraham Lincoln, near the Indiana-Illinois border. The story is handed down that they were close enough to talk to him. The story mentioned speaking to him, but probably being close enough to speak to him, being more accurate accounting.
Our original name was spelled Zeissloft. Zeiss, taken from the city (canton of same name in Switzerland) in which they had resided. The last part of our name is taken from a description, geographically from the high mountainous area that they lived. The German description of high mountain or "loft". The fact that our surname contains the name of a city "Zeiss" has always made us wonder if we might at one time been of noble blood. This giving us the surname Zeisloft, which has as many as 20 spelling forms, all related to the same original German speaking family of Switzerland. Perhaps back in the 1400's there was a castle with our crest and name above the entrance. We do know that a Zeisloft fought in the War, which concluded with the "Everlasting Alliance" which, was a very famous peace treaty that lasted into modern time, between Switzerland and it's neighboring countries.
Compilations by Robert M. Sizelove, Sr.
