Welcome. This
website has been established to distribute information about the
Gaertner (or Gärtner), Zelik, Cipriani
and Colombo families who first settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
after emigrating from Europe.
The 'Gaertner / Gärtner' surname is a fairly
common one, in some German speaking parts of Europe. Our particular
Gaertner family proper last resided in Magdlos, Kreis Fulda,
Hesse, Germany, and nearby villages. When they arrived in old
Allegheny City, Pa., they became a part of a much larger settlement
of Hessians from the same villages. In this website and at the
accompanying links, you will find information on the families
and differing places of birth of all six of the emigrating ancestors
who fall within the Gaertner family grouping. This grouping includes
people from Arlesheim, Canton Basel, Switzerland, as well as Rittershofen,
Leutenheim and Bergbieten in Alsace, and additionally Garlieston,
Wigtownshire, Scotland. You will also find that some of these
families also migrated somewhat within Europe, before resettling
in America.
Before a short residency in Vienna, Austria, the Zelik
emigrating ancestors originated in the village of Pohorelice in
Moravia. The Zelik family includes ancestors from the village
of Deutsch Schutzen, in the Burgenland.
The Cipriani family came from Collarmele in L'Aquila, Italy,
and Oriolo in Calabria. Other emigrants from Collarmele established
a much larger settlement in Toronto, Canada, and the largest group
of emigrants from Oriolo established their own Little Italy in
Frankfort, New York. The branches in Pittsburgh were quite small
by comparison and probably were unfamiliar with the settlements
of their former townspeople elsewhere.
The Colombo ancestors made their homes for centuries in
villages near Como, Italy. These included the towns of Lucernate,
Turate and Fenegro. One of the Colombo ancestral lines
ends in an orphanage in Milan.
Not only the families, but many of the European towns of origin
have interesting histories. For example, the town of Rittershofen
sits on the Maginot Line, and was the site of a major eleven day
tank battle in January, 1945, in connection with the Battle of
the Bulge. The town of Pohorelice is located near the site of
the Napoleonic Battle of Austerlitz, and both Russian and French
troops marched at various times through the town while ancestors
lived there. Collarmele is located on the site of an ancient Roman
town, and has been the site of some tragic earthquakes. The histories
of various towns will be summarized in separate articles at this
web site. The town histories will also be touched upon, as events
occurred during the lives of specific ancestors. Photos are also
provided where available for these various towns.
This research began in 1975, when my brother Ken and I visited
Vienna, Magdlos and Flieden, and looked at some of the original
church records of our ancestors. My brother returned thereafter
to look at the records in Magdlos and Flieden, while I embarked
on a long study of the Pittsburgh civil and church records and
the microfilms available through the LDS Family History Library.
My work has also taken me back to Germany on three more occasions,
where I have been fortunate to develop the friendship of distant
relatives who are European natives
.
The second principal contributor to this study is Margaretha Gärtner-Schmidt,
a life-long resident of Magdlos and my third cousin, who has repeatedly
welcomed me to her home and demonstrated remarkable dedication
and skill in her genealogical research. Marga has worked both
on recent generations as well as the oldest possible records,
and her accurate work has been a tremendous inspiration. From
time to time, Marga has enlisted her entire extended family to
further the cause of Gaertner genealogy research. Marga
has truly become my little "big sister". And, of course,
Harald Auth's translation skills, analysis, ideas and friendship
have been a great treasure.
Many additional family members must be thanked, for taking the
time to inform me about events in their immediate families. Others
deserve special mention though, for work above and beyond their
immediate families. Don Cipriani's excellent work in Collarmele
and Sora in Italy has been extremely helpful, and he clearly has
been "infected with the genealogy virus". Jim Drummond,
a second cousin, has done excellent research in the family of
Henry C. Gaertner in America, as has Ed Renkey. Brigitte Oesterle
has been making very helpful contributions to the story of the
Rittershofen Oesterles in America. Thanks also to Anthony
Cipriani in Toronto. Ulrich and Regi Graf, and Olga Leuthardt,
in Arlesheim have been most helpful. My apologies to other contributors
who I have forgotten to mention. My wife, Christine Cipriani,
has also been a tremendous supporter and "webmaster",
despite being a "genealogy widow". Many thanks go to
everyone, but undoubtedly any mistakes in these materials are
mine.
Hopefully, the structure of this website is self-explanatory and
reasonably easy to navigate. Separate sections are created for
each of the four principal families. If you believe that you may
be related to one of the families exhibited herein, please remember
to sign our guest book. If you believe that you have found an
error, then I would like to hear that too. Thank you.
Gary Gaertner
