Lincoln County GaArchives Biographies.....Zellner, George Peter 1760 - 1822 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Allan Bentley abentley@bellsouth.net March 26, 2005, 2:44 pm Author: Shirley Gall Biography of George Peter Zellner, Sr. by Shirley Gall All information which has been examined supports the concept that George Peter Zellner Sr. came from Germany in the late 1700s and settled in North Carolina and finally Georgia. Records from the Johannes Schwalm Historical Association, Inc. in Lyndhurst, OH, state that he came to America in September 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. White Zellners are presumed to have descended directly from George Peter or to have acquired their Zellner name by marriage. Black Zellners are presumed to have acquired their family name because of their close relationship with white Zellner. Although there are many discrepancies, the broad premise that all Zellners who have lived in America since at least the 1780s are related in one way or another appears sound. However, no connection has been found with the Pennsylvania Zellner at this time. The exact birth date and birthplace of George Peter are unknown, but many researchers seem to indicate 1760 as his year of birth and Hannover, Germany as his birthplace. He is listed in the index of "Mercenaries From Ansbach/Bayreuth, Germany, Who Remained in America After the Revolution" (Westland Publishers: McNeal, AZ, 1979) and "Passengers & Immigration Index, Vol. #3 lists: George Peter Zellner, no age, America, 1783. A John Zoellner was also reported on the same muster rolls of the Ansbach/Bayreuth regiment. No relationship between the two men is known at this time and Johann may have returned to Germany after the Revolution, as many of the German mercenaries did. After the Revolutionary War, about 1783, George Peter Zellner went south to Bertie County, North Carolina, where he first married Elizabeth Nicholls and had at least one daughter, Barbara. (Note: one source indicates that they were married in King and Queen County, VA, instead of Bertie County, NC, and this may be a possibility since according to a letter from Jane Z. Gladney: "The Nicholls and Garretts came over to Kings and Queens Co., VA on the heels of Columbus- were soldiers in Armies of Oliver Cromwell. After he was beheaded, they fled England for the New Lands and have been in King & Queen Co., VA ever since.") Records show that George Peter was a land owner in Bertie County as early as 1788. His occupation during this time was thought to have been running tar kilns, blacksmithing, and making leather goods and saddlery which, according to one researcher, he would transport by wagon and mules to New Orleans to sell and then ride mules back to North Carolina. His first wife died before 1789 and on 17 March of that year, married Mary Capehart (a cousin to his first wife), daughter of Michael & Frances (Nicholls) Capehart. Mary Capehart was born 27 Jun 1761 in Bertie County, NC. By this wife, George Peter had another daughter, Sarah, & four sons: Arnold, John William, Andrew & George Peter Jr. Soon after her marriage, George Peter's second wife joined the Baptist Church. Her husbands religious Prejudices being very strong, and his mind thoroughly imbued with the mode of worship practiced in his own country (he was believed to be of the Lutheran faith), that he would not see his wife baptized into the faith and doctrine of the Baptist Church. But the circumstances put him to reading & studying the Scriptures, which he continued almost incessantly for four weeks, when at their next meeting, he himself joined & was baptized into the Baptist Church with his wife. From then until the day of their death, they were remarkable for their piety and strict obedience of Christian duties. (Sources: Taken from minutes of Sharon Primitive Baptist Church at Strouds, GA) In 1799, George Peter and his family moved from Bertie Co., NC, to Lincoln Co., GA. Records show on various tax and land records as well as land lottery lists. George Peter made his will on 2 Nov. 1821, and it was recorded in Lincoln Co. on 6 Jan. 1823, placing his date of death between these two years, possibly in late 1822. No grave site has ever been found. One researcher states "he was not a robust man, his constitution having been impaired in consequence of medicine having been carelessly administered in his youth, leading to his death at a comparatively early age." His widow, Mary, listed on the 1832 Harris Co., GA land lottery for Cherokee lands. She died in Monroe Co., GA on 1 Nov. 1847, at the age of 86 and is buried in the Zellner Cemetery, located one mile north of Smarr, Georgia in Monroe County. George Peter Zellner's motto through life was: "open and fair dealing, " never to deceive or take advantage of anyone's want of information. All this was handed down to those who were well acquainted with the parties and facts. His eldest son, Arnold, married Margaret Holmes in Wilkes Co., GA on 25 Aug. 1811. He later moved to Giles And Maury Counties, TN, was married 3 more times and had a total of 12 children. Sarah, his second daughter, married Elisha McCord on 1 Jul. 1813 and remained in Georgia. Andrew married Rebecca Holmes, a half-sister to Margaret, on 7 Jun 1819 & stayed in Monroe Co., GA. John William married Martha Moncrief on 7 Mar 1818 and lived in Harris Co., Ga. George Peter Jr., married at least twice (?) and died about the same time as his father. It is believed that he was killed by a runaway slave. Nothing further is known about Barbara, George Peter's first child by his first marriage, at this time. Oct. 1983 printing Zellner Ancestors Editor: Shirley Z. Gall. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/lincoln/bios/zellner769gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/gafiles/ File size: 6.1 Kb