The Geigers/Gygers of the Rheinthal were members of the mainstream (established) Evangelical Reformed Church, so were not subject to religious persecution. It was primarily the Anabaptists/Mennonites who were evicted from various parts of Swiss territory. The Geiger emigration probably had a political component. Hans Jacob Gyger (1679-1752) had served as regional bailiff (Landvogtsammann), but was voted out of office in a democratic (small-d!) takeover of the municipal power-structure. The local records suggest that he left office under a bit of a cloud: "people didn't speak very well of him." Most of the massive Swiss emigration of the 1730's was the result of widespread advertising of the New World--Carolina in particular--as a land of great economic opportunity. Switzerland had a lot of people, and not nearly enough land to go around. The ads about Carolina were excessive, because the businessmen who recruited immigrants were paid off for volume--by both shipowners and the Carolina provincial government. Swiss men had a long-term and continent-wide reputation for being excellent soldiers, so that's who SC wanted to bring over to defend the frontier regions. Offering free land and a year's worth of provisions to new settlers was much cheaper than hiring a company of Swiss mercenaries. One member of the clan (Ulrich Geiger) moved with his family to the newly-opened interior of GA in 1766. His home on the west side of the Ogeechee River was too far from the Jerusalem Lutheran Church at Ebenezer to permit regular attendance (or membership), but he baptized two of his children there, in 1769 and 1774. There was no other German-speaking church in GA. The Swiss Reformed church at Purrysburgh SC was only a little further away, but its current minister spoke only French. Membership of the Reformed congregations in SC dwindled, and no new ministers arrived from Switzerland to replace the former ones. By 1800, the Geigers in Lexington Co SC were members of Lutheran churches, where services were conducted in German. The descendants of Ulrich Geiger in GA were Baptists by then. They lived in a predominantly English-speaking region and used the language themselves, so no longer had the same incentive to go over to Ebenezer to get their children christened--which Baptists didn't do anyway. ----- Original Message ----- From: "James Ford" <jlfchat@earthlink.net> To: <GEIGER-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, December 18, 2004 7:46 AM Subject: RE: [GEIGER] Re: Lucinda "Lucy" BENNETT Geiger and David Geiger Harriet, It is interesting that you write that the Geigers were not religious refugees. I, perhaps mistakenly, have always thought that was the reason they left Switzerland to brave the hardships of the new world. I know that they were not Salzburgers, as I once thought, but one of them did live at Ebenezer, or so the story goes, as we are considered "related families" to the Salzburgers. Do you have info on that? Also, I guess I was also mistaken in thinking that part of the Geigers were Lutherans and probably attended Jerusalem Lutheran Church at Ebenezer, GA. Please straighten me out on this. Your research is so much more extensive than mine. Nancy Geiger Ford > > > [Original Message] > > From: <himrey@ntelos.net> > > To: <GEIGER-L@rootsweb.com> > > Date: 12/17/2004 6:22:33 PM > > Subject: [GEIGER] Re: Lucinda "Lucy" BENNETT Geiger and David Geiger > > > > Message Board URL: > > > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/JOY.2ACEB/914.1 > > > > Message Board Post: > > The Geigers you're seeking were not Salzburgers, other Austrians, Lutherans, or religious refugees. David Geiger (b. 15 Mar 1795 in Bulloch/Bryan Co GA; d. 5 May 1870 in Bryan Co GA) was the son of Abraham Geiger (b. 11 Jun 1761 in SC) and Mercy Martin, daughter of the Rev. John A. Martin of Bulloch Co GA. Abraham Geiger was the son of Ulrich Geiger (b. 14 May 1729 in Berneck, Switzerland, currently in canton St. Gall; d. 12 Jun 1777 in Bulloch Co GA) and wife Apollonia (maiden name and dates unknown). Ulrich Geiger was the son of Abraham Geiger (b. 4 Mar 1690 in Berneck, Switzerland; d. 7 May 1766 in/near Saxegotha SC) and Cathrina Schellig/Schelling, b. ~1688 in Switzerland. The extended family (including cousins and in-laws) left the Rheinthal region of NE Switzerland in the fall of 1736, and sailed on the ship Prince of Wales, Capt. Dunbar, which left Falmouth (England) on 5 Dec 1736 and arrived in Charles Town SC on 1 Feb 1737. Three of the passengers happened to write letters describing the voyage, including mention of the Geiger and Schelling families. Like most Swiss, they were members of the Swiss Reformed Church.