Appenzellerland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Located in the northeast corner of Switzerland lies the German-speaking canton of Appenzell.  Consisting of no large cities, the principal occupations are dairy farming and cheese making.  Germany lies to the north and Austria and Lichtenstein  to the east.  It was out of this stunningly beautiful area surrounded by the snowy peaks of the Alps that Swiss settlers came to the swamps and moss-draped  trees of South Carolina.  Enticed by generous land grants and papers touting the wonders of the "new world", a group of protestants arrived in the port of Charleston, SC in 1737.

List of Original Settlers to New Windsor (BIHS Archives)

 Among the first to make their way up the Savannah river and settle was a group of 200 Swiss headed by John Tobler.  In his group were the families of Jacob Sturzenneger, David Zubly, Jasper Nail and three Meyer brothers, Leonard, Ulrich and Michael.  They chose to settle in New Windsor Township which included the sites of the British Ft. Moore and the Indian village of Savanna Town.  The area today is known as Beech Island, SC adjacent the Georgia city of Augusta.  Though no marked graves of these original Swiss settlers can be found, their children and grandchildren are buried in Beech Island cemeteries such as the Nail Family Cemetery, Zubly Cemetery, Ardis Cemetery and other old cemeteries.  In addition to these markers, artifacts of these original settlers remain and many original records exist as reminders to the descendants of these early colonists.

 

John Tobler had been a man of much prominence back in Switzerland.  Known as a "Landshauptmann", he had been a governor-general in Appenzell until his political standing changed.  He was born in 1695 and was most noted, both in Switzerland  and later in America, as the writer of an almanac.  He was a self-taught mathematician, astronomer, musician and collector of many books.  It was he who organized the emigration to New Windsor and was the leader of the group.  He owned a store on the bluff overlooking the Savannah River near the present-day site of the Sand Bar Ferry Bridge.  Tobler's wife, Anna, died in New Windsor on March 23, 1768 but at least 8 of his children went on to establish a lineage in the area and several of his descendants remain.

Letter from Appenzel to the Beech Island Historical Society (BIHS Archives)

Jacob Sturzenegger received a land grant of 200 acres in New Windsor in 1737.  It has been suggested that his wife, Elizabeth, was the daughter of John Tobler but this has not been proven.  As a physician, he was undoubtedly a valuable asset to the struggling group of settlers.  Long time residents in the Beech Island area speak of a Sturzenegger Family Cemetery but the stones have been overgrown and it cannot now be located.  Descendants of the Sturzennegers say the cemetery was last seen by some area hunters several years ago near Storm Branch Road.

David Zubly, Sr., another of the original Swiss settlers, came across the Atlantic on the ship with the others.  Although he stopped and lived most of his life in Purysburg, a settlement lower on the Savannah River, his son David Jr. made a major mark on the community of New Windsor.  David Zubly, Jr. was born in South Carolina in December of 1738 and was very prominent in the growing community.  By 1774 he was a Justice of the Peace at New Windsor and by the 1780's had amassed an estate in excess of 5,000 acres.  Originally studying medicine, it appears he eventually settled on life as a planter.  David Jr. died January 11, 1790 and was probably the first burial in the Zubly Family Cemetery.  He left behind five wealthy daughters which, although they did not carry the Zubly name, comprise one of the largest groups of Swiss descendants in the Beech Island area.

Visit The Zubly Family Cemetery Page

Gate to the Zubly Family Cemetery

Inside View of the Zubly Family Cemetery

The Meyer brothers, Leonard, Ulric and Michael applied for and received a land grant of 100 acres on the Savannah River in 1737.  Although little is known about the whereabouts of Leonard and Ulric (they may have died soon after their arrival as many Swiss did), Michael's descendants are very numerous.  He successfully received three other land grants, one of which was his 390 acre plantation situated on the Savannah River.  Recent archaeological digs in Beech Island have yielded artifacts at one site which the South Carolina Department of Archaeology and Anthropology have identified as belonging to the Meyer brothers.  The book Excavations at New Windsor Township, published in 1997, details the dig site results and is available for sale by the Beech Island Historical Society.

H.B. Nail's Mercantile Store (drawing by Annette Bush)

 Jasper Nail received a land grant in 1737 along with his fellow Swiss.  He was the father of three sons, Daniel, Hans Conrad  and Casper, and two daughters.  Daniel Nail, the oldest,  inherited his father's estate and ran a very large scale farming and blacksmith operation in the New Windsor area.  He died in 1772  when his children were young and left a sizeable estate to his wife which included 750 acres, 22 slaves, 100 pigs, 62 sheep, 3150 bushels of Indian corn, 50 pounds of wool and more.  Casper lived the longest and was also a successful planter.   Casper's line is buried in the Nail Family Cemetery.  The last surviving Nail in the area, Henry Brantley Nail, died in 1945 and his mercantile store is still standing on Old Nail Road in Beech Island.
"The names Tobler, Zubly, Sturzenegger and Nail which once filled the census lists, the will books, deed books and court minute books of the little community of New Windsor have all died out there now.  Descendants of all these families still live in the area but they are hidden beneath other family names." 1  The settlers from the rugged beauty of Appenzell, Switzerland brought with them the rugged determination and spirit needed to survive in the South Carolina low country.

Flag of Appenzellerland

 

1- Strickland, Virginia B., Five Fortune Tellers of New Windsor, p. 30

The source of all information, facts and figures in this narrative come from Virginia Bowe Strickland's Five Fortune Tellers of New Windsor which can be purchased from the Beech Island Historical Society.     click here