Wife #1. Elizabeth Nicholls Zoellner
died about 1789
Wife #2. Mary Capehart Zoellner
1761-1847
(a cousin to his 1st wife)
married Mary - March 17, 1789
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
George and Elizabeth had one known daughter-
Barbara Zoellner Bentley
~~~~~~~~~~
George and Mary had five children-
1. Arnold Zoellner
1790-1852
2. Sarah Zellner McCord
1792-1855
3. John William Zellner
1794-1862
4. Andrew Zellner
1798-1892
5. George Peter Zellner, Jr.
1800-1823
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
George Peter Zoellner is not buried here in Monroe Co., Ga. He passed around 1822, and his grave and that of his son, George Peter Zoellner, Jr. have not been located. After the father and son's deaths - the children left the Lincoln Co., area, bringing their mother, Mary Capehart Zellner with them. Since his wife and these Zellners are his direct descendants; I am placing his bio. in this cemetery.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
George Zellner came to America as a Private in the Ansback Regiment as a Mercenary for the British in the American Revolutionary War. June 1783 - he is recorded on Muster Roll in
Philadelphia, Newport, Springfield & Yorktown.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deed Book O p. 291 Bertie Co: WILLIAM ASHBURN of Bertie County, North Carolina to GEORGE PETER ZELLNER . 18 Nov. 1788 50 pounds (no acres) (messuage) joining Spring Branch, Ryan, Wm Ashley.
Wit: JOHN NICHOLLS, REUBEN KNIGHT.
Nov Ct 1788.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From 1788-1800 George Zellner was a buyer at three vendues: the estates of the following: Hardy Hunter (1794), Wm Jordan(1790) and John Nicholls (1791)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
American Military: 1776, Revolutionary War; with British
Occupation 1: in Long Island made saddles, bridles, and shoes
Occupation 2: in North Carolina, making and running tar kilns Property: 1788, Owned land in Bertie County, North Carolina
Residence 1: 1873, Windsor, Bertie County, North Carolina
Residence 2: Forsyth, Monroe County, Georgia
Residence 3: Bef. 1773, Yorktown, Virginia
Residence 4: 1773, Windsor, Bertie County, North Carolina
Residence 5: Bet. 1790 - 1799, Bertie County, North Carolina
Residence 6: 1799, Lincoln County, Georgia
Residence 7: 1800, moved from Bertie County, North Carolina to Lincoln County, Georgia
Residence 8: 1820, Lincoln County, Georgia
Will: January 06, 1823,
Will recorded in Lincoln County, Georgia on 6 January 1823
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ZOELLNER, GEORGE PETER, Sr.
1760-1822
Biography of George Peter Zellner, Sr.
by Shirley Gall

GEORGE PETER ZELLNER SR.; Born circa 1760 in Hanover, Germany.
Died circa 1822 in Lincoln County, Georgia. About 1786 George
Peter Sr. married 1st Elizabeth Nicholls (Nichols). Elizabeth
was born circa 1758 and died circa 1786. George Peter Sr.
married 2nd, Mar-17-1789 in Bertie County, North Carolina to
Mary Capehart. Mary was born Jun-27-1761 in Bertie County, North
Carolina and died Nov-01-1847 in Forsythe, Monroe County,
Georgia. Mary was the daughter of Michael Capehart (from
Germany) and Frances Nicholls.

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.
Georg Peter Zoellner arrived in America in 1783.

The exact birth date and birthplace of George Peter are un-
known, 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, Vo1.#3
lists: Georg Peter Zoellner, no age, America, 1783. A Johann
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.

In the course of the Revolutionary War a total of 29,875 such
German officers and men were sent to America. The Ansbach/
Bayreuth regiment numbered 2,353. For the services of these
troops England paid 1,770,000 sterling in levy money and
subsidies to the princes alone, a small sum when one considers
that many of the officers had received excellent training in the
Seven Years' War, that the men were well-disciplined-for the
princes maintained relatively large standing armies, partly for
the purpose of hiring out troops - and that the Germans
constituted about one-third of all the land forces fighting for
the king in North America.

2nd Regiment Anspach-Beyreuth, 1777-1779: Regiment Seybothen,
1779-1782: 2nd Anspach Battalion, 1783. Regimental history and
strength same as 1st Regiment Anspach-Beyreuth. Uniform: Black
facings, white small clothes.

COMMANDERS: Col. F. A. V. Voit von Salsburg, to May 1778 Col.
F.J.H.W.C. von Seybothen, May 1778 to war's end.

At first they were generally feared by the Americans, but soon
they were respected as soldiers and treated kindly as prisoners.
Congress issued several proclamations urging them to desert. Of
the 1,170 of the Ansbach-Bayreuth troops who did not return to
Germany, many had either deserted or received permission to
remain in America after the war. Others had been bought out of
prisons by farmers, tradesmen, and even by prospective wives.

After the Revolutionary War, about 1783, George Peter Zoellner
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, Virginia instead of Bertie County, North
Carolina and this may be a possibility since according to a
letter from Jane Z. Gladney: "The Nicholls and Garretts came
over to King & Queen 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 Zoellner 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 re- searcher, he
would transport by wagon and mules to New Orleans to send and
then ride mules back to North Carolina.

His first wife died before 1789 and on 17 Mar of that year, he
married Mary Capehart ( a cousin to his first wife), daughter of
Michael and Frances (Nicholls) Capehart. Mary Capehart was born
27 Jun 1761 in Bertie County, North Carolina. By this wife
George Peter had another daughter, Sarah, and four sons: Arnold,
John William, Andrew and George Peter Jr.

Soon after her marriage, George Peter's second wife joined the
Baptist Church. Her husband's 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 and studying the Scriptures,
which he continued almost incessantly for four weeks, when at
their next meeting, he himself joined and was baptized into the
Baptist Church with his wife. From then until the day of their
deaths, they were remarkable for their piety and strict
obedience of Christian duties.
(Source: Taken from minutes of Sharon Primitive Baptist Church at Strouds, GA)

In 1799, George Peter and his family moved from Bertie Co., N.C.
to Lincoln Co., GA. Records show him 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 gravesite 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, was 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.

MONROE COUNTY, GA - BIOGRAPHY George Peter Zellner, Sr.
Copyright. All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm

This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb
Archives by: Michele Mills [email protected]

Table of Contents page:
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/monroe.htm
Georgia Table of Contents: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm
~~~~~~~~~~
1810 Tax Digest, Lincoln County, Ga.

The tax digests serve as census substitutes for the years prior to
1820. All landowners are listed and all males over the age of 21
who did not own land paid a pole tax. In the case of land a neighbor is listed and the water course the land drains into is listed.

SURNAME TAX DISTRICT
Zoellner George Capt. Jeremiah Gatrells District No.3 Little River
~~~~~~~~~~
1820 Lincoln County, GA Federal Census Alphabetical Index

Page # Line # Last Name First Name
153 11 Zellars Geo
155 1 Zelner John
154 14 Zeohner(Zelner) Andrew
~~~~~~~~~~
"History of Lincoln County, Georgia", By Clinton J. Perryman, page 32
Chapter X. Churches of Lincoln County.
Baptist Churches (White)

"GREENWOOD. In 1784 this church, the sixth Baptist Church in the state, and then known as Upton's Creek, was constituted in the southern part of Wilkes County. A few years later, it was moved several miles eastward and its name changed to "Greenwood." In 1811 it was incorporated, with JOHN HAMMOCK, GEORGE ZOELLNER (ZELLNER), LEVIN PARKINSON, WILLIAM MONCRIEF, and JOHN H. WALKER, as trustees. (Acts, 1811, pages 146-148). About 1820 it was moved two miles further east into Lincoln County, its present location...."

"History of the Georgia Baptist Association", by Jesse Mercer, page 19

"In the following year, 1784, Upton's Creek Church was constituted. This was situated in the lower part of Wilkes (County, Georgia), and went by the name of Upton's Creek for some time, but upon building a new and convienient Meeting-house some miles below, in a pine wood, thus surrounded by evergreens, it received the style of Greenwood, by which it is still known. By whom this Church was founded we do not know, but doubtless it was constituted of members from Kiokee Church, and formed under her auspicies."

"A Brief History of Greenwood Baptist Church" by Mrs. J. Robert Eubanks (Hazel Bentley), 1978, page 15

1788 - Pastor: Peter SMITH; Messengers: Hezekiah BUSSY, John BENTLEY, John CHANDLER
1792 - Pastor: Peter SMITH; Messengers: Balaam BENTLEY
1814 - Pastor Winder HILLMAN; Messengers: William MONCRIEF, Arnold ZEOLNOR (ZELLNER).

Additional Comments:
1788- This John Bentley is the older brother of Balaam Bentley. John Bentley was a Revolutionary War soldier.
1788- John Chandler witnessed the will of William Bentley (a Revolutionary War Soldier), father of Balaam Bentley.
1814- Arnold Zeolner (Zellner) son of George Zellnor and 1/2 brother of Barbary Zellner who married William W. T. Bentley a nephew of Balaam Bentley.
George Peter Zellner is listed in the index of "Mercenaries From
Ansbach/Bayreuth, Germany, Who Remained in America After the Revolution", (Westland Publishers: McNeal, AZ, 1979).
~~~~~~~~~~
George Peter Zellner's Will
Will Book C and D, p. 1489

I, George Zellner Sr., of the State of Georgia, and County of Lincoln, being weak in Body but of sound mind and memory, do make and ordain this my last Will and Testament, that is to say soul, I recommend to God who gives it find my body to be decently buried at the discretion of my executors.
1.
I give and bequeath to my daughter BARBARY BENTLEY fifty dollars to be paid out of my Estate after my decease given her before.
2.
I give and bequeath to my Beloved Wife Mary Zellner four hundred dollars, with one niger girl named Milly, one horse and saddle one cow and calf with such household and kitchen furniture as she thinks proper to use in during her natural life and after her demise to be Equally divided between my five youngest children that is to say Arnold Zellner, John Zellner, Sarah McCord, Andrew
Zellner and George Zellner, share and share alike.
3rd.
All the ballance of my property which I have not given is to be sold at my demise and Equally divided between my five youngest children.
4th.
I give my devoted wife Mary Zellner one feather bed and furniture as she may choose to be ..., and it has been disposed.
5th.
And lastly I made and ordain Elisha McCord and John Zellner my Executors to ... this my last will and Testament, into Effect. Revoking all other Wills or Testaments made in Witness whereof I have .. my hand and seal this second day of
November 1821.
George Zellner.
Georgia Lincoln County

Personally came in open court Silas Goldman and Travis McKinney and after being duly sworn according to law saith they saw George Zellner, deceased, sign, seal and heard him acknowledge the written testament of writing to be his last will and testament and at the time of his doing he was of a sound disposing mind and memory to the best of their knowledge.
Sworn to in open court this 6th day of January 1823.

William Harper, CCO
Travis McKinney
Silas Goldman

Recorded this 13th of January 1823
William Harper CCO (Clerk of the Court of Ordinary)

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ga/lincoln/wills/zellner262gwl.txt