Matthias Castler was known as Gessler in Enzweihingen, Württemberg, where three children were baptized. Only one of these three lived and that was Anna Magdalena, who became the wife of Conrad Delph in Virginia. Another child was probably born in Virginia, Susanna, who married Rev. Samuel Klug. It is possible Susanna might have been born en route, especially because the trip for them might have been longer than usual.
The information in this note comes from Gary Zimmerman and Johni Cerny in their Before Germanna Booklet Number 7. The last child of Matthias Gessler mentioned in the German Church Records, Anna Magdalena, was born in the year 1716. The Matthias Gessler name does not appear in the Church Records after this date. This led Zimmerman and Cerny to postulate that Gessler came with the Second Colony. We now know that several people did leave in 1717, but did not pass London until a later year. Since Matthias Gessler has his original Land Patent in 1728, two years later than the majority of the Second Colony Patents, this tends to confirm that the family was delayed in coming.
The wife of Matthias, whom he married in 1711, was Susanna Christina Schnell, the daughter of deceased school teacher Joh. Michael Schnell. Matthias' father was also deceased. His name was Ulrich Gessler, and he had been a weaver. The marriage of Matthias and Susanna took place at Berg bei Stuttgart in Württemberg. Because this is the only time that the wife of Matthias Gessler is mentioned, we assume that she was the mother of Susanna Gessler/Castler.
The parents of Susanna Christina Schnell were Hanns Michael Schnell and Anna Susanna Pictorius. Johann [Hanns] Michael Schnell entered the University of Tübingen where he graduated. He then earned a Master's Degree. He entered on a career of teaching, and was last at the ducal Gymnasium at Stuttgart. The parents of Hanns Michael Schnell were Michael Schnell, butcher, and Sophia Keller. The father of Anna Susanna Pictorius was Johannes Pictorius, an Under Bailiff.
Sophia Keller, above, was the daughter of Georg Keller and his wife Barbara Haslacker. This latter Georg Keller was the son of another Georg Keller, who was a tent maker.
None of the immediate ancestors of Matthias and Susanna Gessler were involved with earning a living from the land. The name Pictorius suggests that the German name Fischer had been converted to a Latin form, a practice which appealed to teachers, doctors, and other educated persons.
(19 Aug 05)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.