Here is a bit of info that pertains to the Early emigrants... "Gyger/Giger/Gieger/Geiger Genealogy Abraham Gyger, Gov. Hans Jacob Gyger, and Herman Gyger emigrated from Switzerland to Charleston SC, arriving on February 1, 1737 aboard the British vessel, Prince of Wales, captained by George Dunbar. They were accompanied by their spouses and about 10-12 children. Herman was the son of Hans Jacob who had been Governor of the Canton of St. Galen. All three families settled at Saxe-Gotha, SC. They spoke a Swiss dialect of German called Switzerdeutsche which was moderately different from High Deutsche, albeit they could understand and be somewhat understood by those who spoke both High and Low Deutsche, but the British scribes had difficulty with the hard guttural sounds and anglicized the name as Giger, Gieger, and Geiger, plus instances of Kegar/Egar have been found. Beside which, it is likely that they wanted to blend with their neighbors, and made limited protest to the actual spelling and pronunciation. Documentation has not surfaced to prove that any of these three heads-of-families ever migrated to GA, but the emigrant child of Abraham, Hans Ulrich, made application for a GA Land Grant in 1766, proposing to immediately move to GA. He stated that he had a wife, four children, and one Negro. The Grant was issued June 2, 1767. 1. Abraham Gyger was b. Mar. 4, 1690 Haslock, Bernegg, Switz, d. May 7, 1766 SC; wife Cathrina Schellig, b. ca 1688 Switz., d. unproven, but presumed to be in SC, before 1766. 2. Hans Ulrich Gyger(Geiger/Gieger/Giger/Kegar) b. May 14, 1729 Switz; d. Jun 12, 1777; wife Apollonia (surname unknown). “Pioneers of the Wiregrass” asserts that Ulrich was an American Revolutionary Soldier (Vol II, pg 115) who died from “battle wounds.” Family Lore supports this assertation. Their Children 3rd Generation 3. Abraham Geiger (Giger/Gieger) [II] b. Jun 11, 1761 SC; wife Mercy Martin 3. Felix Geiger (Giger) b. Sep 30, 1763 SC; wife Mary Martin 3. Mary Geiger (Giger) b. ca.1764 SC; m. Jacob Hoofman(Hofman/Hoffman) and possibly William Stafford 3. John Geiger (Giger) b. 1767 SC; wife Mrs. Sarah Sheffield (2nd??) 3. Rachel Geiger (Giger) b. Feb 1769 GA 3. Cornelius Geiger (Giger) b. Feb 4, 1774 GA; wife Rebecca (surname unproven)" I would also suggest that you look in your local Library or use inter-Library loan for "THE GEIGERS of SOUTH CAROLINA" by Percy Geiger...first published in 1945, and currently available from Higginson Books, Salem, MA...It deals mostly with descendants of Herman, married son of Gov. Hans Jacob Gyger who settled and died in SC...They are your friend's progenitors on this side of the Atlantic... >From: JYoung6180@aol.com >Reply-To: GEIGER-L@rootsweb.com >To: GEIGER-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: Re: [GEIGER] Geiger in SC >Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2003 10:39:19 EST > >In a message dated 12/28/2003 9:08:35 AM Eastern Standard Time, >phillylorri@earthlink.net writes: >I am posting this to the list for a friend, who is searching for info on >his >Geigers in SC, can anyone connect with him. >----- >Lorri- > >You might want to suggest that the friend search the archives of the GEIGER >list. There has been a lot of discussion of the SC Geigers over the past >years >on this list. If your friend doesn't find what he or she is looking for in >the list archives (or on the GEIGER) message board (already posted) then he >can >post a message on the board or sub to the list and post a query here. It >sounds as if he has plenty of cousins on this list. :) > >Joan > > >==== GEIGER Mailing List ==== >Check out our GEIGER homepage at: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~geiger/ > >============================== >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, >go to: >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > _________________________________________________________________ Take advantage of our limited-time introductory offer for dial-up Internet access. http://join.msn.com/?page=dept/dialup