Rev. Henry Giese of Somerset County, Pennsylvania (Index)
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This is an index to a few bits of information about Rev. Henry Giese of Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
A page 457 footnote to a paragraph about St. Paul’s Reformed Church of Somerset in the 1884 book "History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania" (61.5 MB pdf) states, "Mr. Giesey preached here for several years before an organization was effected or a house of worship was built. He had served as chaplain and surgeon in a Hessian regiment during the revolutionary war." Pages 579-580 of the 1884 book state, "Wellersburg Reformed and Lutheran church was organized by Rev. Henry Giesy, about the year 1803." You can search the PDF of the 1884 book for other Giese/Giesey/Giesy references.
Correspondent Jean Woods points out that it was not unusual for Hessian prisoners of war to remain in America after the Revolutionary War, including Rev. Henry Giese of Berlin, Pennsylvania. She wrote, "Many stayed from the pows in Frederick including Henry Giese, the Reformed minister in Berlin. He married a Frederick County woman. The Hessians had it relatively easy as they worked at regional farms and businesses and went to the Lutheran or Reformed churches on Sundays. Giese became very good friends with the two pastors." Click here to see Jean’s description of the relationship between the second wife of Henry Giese and the Berlin, Pennsylvania gunsmith Samuel Conrad.
Click here to see a pdf of the 1941 book “A History of Wills Creek Charge of the Evangelical and Reformed Church” (5,562 KB), which has various references to Henry Giese’s work in the churches of Somerset County. The text of the pdf file is searchable.
Click here to see a reference to a Southampton Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania baptism by the Rev. Heins Giese in an 1917 affidavit. The information about the baptism was written from memory, and the referenced Heins Giese was in all likelihood really Henry Giese, in my opinion.
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