Dear Adams County Listers, First, many, many thanks for the many responses to my original Ziegler query. The reason I drew a connection between my Thomas Jefferson Ziegler, born in Monroe Twp., Cumberland Co. on the Fourth of July, 1845, and the Zieglers in Adams County is the following affidavit in his Civil War Pension File. Here is the text of the affidavit from Adams County which I found in my great-grandfather's Pension File, and it confuses me just as much as not more as it confuses you: "Personally came before me an acting Justice of the Peace in and for said County Joseph Zeigler and David Zeigler, both reliable men who being duly sworn, according to law, depose and say they are well acquainted with Thomas Zeigler who was a Private in Company D, 1st Regiment, U.S. Cavalry and further we do know that he was wounded at the Wilderness, Virginia, May 7, 1864 and that he is the identical person he represents himself to be. And the we were in the service of the U.S. at the time said Zeigler was wounded. And that he is still disabled by cause of gun shot wound on right elbow. Signed: Joseph Zeigler David Zeigler sworn and subscribed before me this seventh day of December AD. 1872." By the way, the Pension File for my great-grandfather is 130 pages long. It is a gold-mine of information about my family which I have slowly been able to straighten out after over 18 months of reading and re-reading it. There was a famous David Zeigler in Gettysburg associated with the Underground Railroad. What surprises me is that these two Zeiglers (Zieglers) knew so much about my great-grandfather's fate. (Slight pause to gnash teeth and tear out hair. Genealogy is supposed to be fun...why is this such a torture?) Anyway, I checked at ancestry.com for service records of the various Joseph and David Ziegler(s), and none of the units of the various Zieglers there match with the unit for my great-grandfather (1st US Cavalry, Company D), whence I suspect that the Joseph and David were family members rather than comrades-in-arms in the same unit (maybe not a valid assumption). But I also hasten to add: I am a real beginner with this sort of material. I realize that this is a very hard nut to crack -- which is why I am appealing to the kind souls of the Adams County list again for their kind help. It goes without saying that Joseph and David Ziegler/Zeigler are not, well, uncommon names. (Why couldn't they have had names like Obadiah?) Thanks again for all the help and encouragement. Jeff Richards Muenster, Germany

By the way, the Pension File for my great-grandfather is 130 pages long. Did you see anything about the MILLERs in the above file? Remember the following item I sent you earlier? Tks. > Eli F. MILLER and Joseph ZEIGLER were childhood friends in Adams County, > > PA. Were in Civil War together, and Eli F. MILLER returned to > > McKnightstown, Franklin Twp, Adams Co, PA in 1890, then settled in > > Mt. Holly Springs, Cumberland Co, PA. til his death in 1909. Also there is > > Henry H. MILLER (d:1914) and Joseph ZEIGLER (age 68 in 1910.02.19). > > (^_._^) > wOw > On Fri, 14 Mar 2003, E. J. Richards wrote: > Dear Adams County Listers, > > First, many, many thanks for the many responses to my original Ziegler > query. > > The reason I drew a connection between my Thomas Jefferson Ziegler, born in > Monroe Twp., Cumberland Co. on the Fourth of July, 1845, and the Zieglers in > Adams County is the following affidavit in his Civil War Pension File. Here > is the text of the affidavit from Adams County which I found in my > great-grandfather's Pension File, and it confuses me just as much as not > more as it confuses you: > > "Personally came before me an acting Justice of the Peace in and for said > County Joseph Zeigler and David Zeigler, both reliable men who being duly > sworn, according to law, depose and say they are well acquainted with Thomas > Zeigler who was a Private in Company D, 1st Regiment, U.S. Cavalry and > further we do know that he was wounded at the Wilderness, Virginia, May 7, > 1864 and that he is the identical person he represents himself to be. And -> the we were in the service of the U.S. at the time said Zeigler was wounded. > And that he is still disabled by cause of gun shot wound on right elbow. > > Signed: Joseph Zeigler > David Zeigler > > sworn and subscribed before me this seventh day of December AD. 1872." > > By the way, the Pension File for my great-grandfather is 130 pages long. It > is a gold-mine of information about my family which I have slowly been able > to straighten out after over 18 months of reading and re-reading it. There > was a famous David Zeigler in Gettysburg associated with the Underground > Railroad. What surprises me is that these two Zeiglers (Zieglers) knew so > much about my great-grandfather's fate. > > (Slight pause to gnash teeth and tear out hair. Genealogy is supposed to be > fun...why is this such a torture?) > > Anyway, I checked at ancestry.com for service records of the various Joseph > and David Ziegler(s), and none of the units of the various Zieglers there > match with the unit for my great-grandfather (1st US Cavalry, Company D), > whence I suspect that the Joseph and David were family members rather than > comrades-in-arms in the same unit (maybe not a valid assumption). But I > also hasten to add: I am a real beginner with this sort of material. > > I realize that this is a very hard nut to crack -- which is why I am > appealing to the kind souls of the Adams County list again for their kind > help. > > It goes without saying that Joseph and David Ziegler/Zeigler are not, well, > uncommon names. (Why couldn't they have had names like Obadiah?) > > Thanks again for all the help and encouragement. > > Jeff Richards > Muenster, Germany > > > > ==== PAADAMS Mailing List ==== > Adams Co. PA GenWeb URL: http://www.rootsweb.com/~paadams/adams.htm > > ============================== > 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 > >

Jeff, you're obsessed! <grin> But I understand ;) I am VERY familiar with pension files. If those two witnesses said they were in military service, they probably were. I can tell you that the Civil War pensioners index at ancestry.com is NOT complete. It is identical to the microfilm I look at down at the National Archives EXCEPT that the images that were not very legible on the Archives microfilm (lots of them), do not appear at all at ancestry because the quality of the image was not good enough to transfer. Also, that name spelling variation comes into play. It could be Ziegler or Zeigler, but it could also be Sigler, Siglar, Zickler, etc, etc... It could be under any of those in the pension index. The National Archives has a pensioners index that goes by regiment (I don't think ancestry does). I'll check that regiment for you and see if those two witnesses are there. For future reference, you should check the Civil War soldiers and sailors website which is: www.itd.nps.gov/cwss The search engine lets you search by regiment. It's helpful when you have a name spelled a bunch of different ways, because you can put in the regiment and just scroll down the list of names to see who served. It won't tell you who was pensioned. If you know the name of an ancestor and the regiment they served in, you should scroll the rest of that regiment and look for familiar names--often you will find other family members. Take a deep breath and stop tearing your hair! This one shouldn't be so hard to figure out. Peggy Reeves Burtonsville, MD ----- Original Message ----- From: "E. J. Richards" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, March 14, 2003 3:24 PM Subject: [PAADAMS] more Zieglers > Dear Adams County Listers, > > First, many, many thanks for the many responses to my original Ziegler > query. > > The reason I drew a connection between my Thomas Jefferson Ziegler, born in > Monroe Twp., Cumberland Co. on the Fourth of July, 1845, and the Zieglers in > Adams County is the following affidavit in his Civil War Pension File. Here > is the text of the affidavit from Adams County which I found in my > great-grandfather's Pension File, and it confuses me just as much as not > more as it confuses you: > > "Personally came before me an acting Justice of the Peace in and for said > County Joseph Zeigler and David Zeigler, both reliable men who being duly > sworn, according to law, depose and say they are well acquainted with Thomas > Zeigler who was a Private in Company D, 1st Regiment, U.S. Cavalry and > further we do know that he was wounded at the Wilderness, Virginia, May 7, > 1864 and that he is the identical person he represents himself to be. And > the we were in the service of the U.S. at the time said Zeigler was wounded. > And that he is still disabled by cause of gun shot wound on right elbow. > > Signed: Joseph Zeigler > David Zeigler > > sworn and subscribed before me this seventh day of December AD. 1872." > > By the way, the Pension File for my great-grandfather is 130 pages long. It > is a gold-mine of information about my family which I have slowly been able > to straighten out after over 18 months of reading and re-reading it. There > was a famous David Zeigler in Gettysburg associated with the Underground > Railroad. What surprises me is that these two Zeiglers (Zieglers) knew so > much about my great-grandfather's fate. > > (Slight pause to gnash teeth and tear out hair. Genealogy is supposed to be > fun...why is this such a torture?) > > Anyway, I checked at ancestry.com for service records of the various Joseph > and David Ziegler(s), and none of the units of the various Zieglers there > match with the unit for my great-grandfather (1st US Cavalry, Company D), > whence I suspect that the Joseph and David were family members rather than > comrades-in-arms in the same unit (maybe not a valid assumption). But I > also hasten to add: I am a real beginner with this sort of material. > > I realize that this is a very hard nut to crack -- which is why I am > appealing to the kind souls of the Adams County list again for their kind > help. > > It goes without saying that Joseph and David Ziegler/Zeigler are not, well, > uncommon names. (Why couldn't they have had names like Obadiah?) > > Thanks again for all the help and encouragement. > > Jeff Richards > Muenster, Germany > > ______________________________