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Ossinger is a German surname meaning 'a person from [the city of] Ossingen'.
These were settlers of German origin in the American colonies. They may have been farmers if they had been there for 2-3 generations at the time of the American Revolution (1776-1783). If they only arrived in the colonies to fight for the King of England against the American 'rebels', then they were soldiers who were paid by their lord (called Landgrave) from a fund estimated at £3 million (in 1776 this was like $3 BILLION) paid by King George of England to his German cousins to help him win the war.
Once the final outcome of the War was evident, all those who wanted to stay loyal to the King gathered in a few ports (Charleston, NC; Philadelphia; New York City) to board ships to take them to Canada, the West Indies, England, or sometimes other countries. Most came to Canada (Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, which was separated from NS in 1785 and given its own name).
The OSSINGER people sailed from NYC and arrived in the area of Digby County, NS, around Christmas Day of 1783. Others arrived in the spring of 1784. Many relocated later on (to Ontario, New Brusnwick, or even back to the new USA) because much of their land was too poor for good farming, and many found the northern climate too severe in the winter.
About 50% of the17 OSSINGER surnames in NS are still living in Digby County. Another small group are in Shelburne County, another Loyalist landing place facing the Atlantic Ocean. The 5 Ossinger surnames found next door in New Brunswick are all facing Nova Scotia across the Bay of Fundy, and are no doubt closely related.
Anyone wanting to trace the movements of Ossinger ancestors could start by checking:
Digby County NS - http://www.rootsweb.com/~canwgw/ns/digby/ - has mixture of early French and English settlements. District of Clare is Acadian French and "longest main street in the world" (40 miles/65 km), Université Sainte-Anne holds many archival records of French settlement back to early 1600's. New England Planters (1756 & 1760's) and United Empire Loyalists (1776-1784) brought in English-speaking settlers. Digby County was created out of Annapolis County in 1837.
The Isaac Wilson Library - digby@ns.library.ns.ca - in Digby (902-245-2163) has the index of the Digby Courier for important events with surnames indexed. Look-ups are free. The Digby Courier newspaper is at e-mail - digby.courier@tartannet.ns.ca - and tel: 902-245-4715 or FAX 902-245-6136.
The Admiral Digby Museum - admuseum@ns.sympatico.ca - (902-245-6322) contains "family binders" on the various Digby County families as well as individual genealogies on these families. In addition they have cemetery records, books, census, marriages, births and deaths available on microfilm. A very large index in alphabetical order covers 200 binder entries spanning 1877 to 1978. If there was a d/m/ or birth ever mentioned in the Digby Courier, it could be in those easy to locate binders. Each binder is done in alphabetical first names as well, to make a search easier, and often as well contains printed genealogies or certain family lines as submitted by family members. Many contain obituaries, marriage write-ups, birth announcements and pictures as submitted and found by research members. However they DO NOT contain all B/M /D as found in the Digby Courier, though they are being added to constantly by researchers.
The Isaac Wilson Library in Digby (902-245-2163) has the index of the Digby Courier for important events with surnames indexed. [NOTE: one local researcher is trying to charge people for each newspaper item, but look-ups are available FREE OF CHARGE].
The Digby Courier newspaper is at e-mail - digby.courier@tartannet.ns.ca/ - and tel: 902-245-4715 or fax 902-245-6136. The Admiral Digby Musuem also has a "Digby Courier" index; so does the O'Dell House Museum in Annapolis (902-532-2041).
NS Regional Libraries - http://www.library.ns.ca/regionals/ - (for your enquiries, try the ones marked *, or 1 (first choice), 2, 3, etc.:
* Annapolis Valley Regional Library
_ Cape Breton Regional Library
_ Colchester-East Hants Regional Library
_ Cumberland Regional Library
_ Eastern Counties Regional Library
_ Halifax Regional Library
_ Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library
_ South Shore Regional Library
* Western Counties Regional Library
And in New Brunswick, check out Loyalists at:
Until 1785, New Brunswick was part of Nova Scotia (it was all known as "Acadie" [Acadia] under the French between 1600 and 1750). New Brunswick's 8 original counties created in 1785 (when it was separated from Nova Scotia) were: Saint John, Charlotte, Kings, Queens, Sunbury, Westmorland, and also York and Northumberland which together occupied about 70% of the total land area of NB. By 1873, 88 years later, there were 15 counties in NB. Northumberland was sub-divided in 1826 into Kent and Gloucester, and Restigouche [REST-ah-goosh] was created out of Gloucester in 1837. York County was divided into Carleton (1832) and Victoria (1844). Albert County was created from Westmorland in 1845. In 1873 Madawaska [mad-ah-WAH-ska] was sub-divided from Victoria.
MAILING ADDRESS: New Brunswick Provincial Archives, PO Box 6000, Fredericton, NB, CANADA E3B 5H1
Ms. Alice Garner
Registrar General
Department of Health and Wellness
Centennial Building
435 King Street P.O. Box 6000
Fredericton, New Brunswick,
CANADA E3B 5H1
Tel: (506) 453-2385 Fax: (506) 444-4139
1999 Fees (in Canadian $; in 2002, 1ºº CAN$ = US 63¢):
Birth: Small - $20ºº; Large - $25ºº
Marriage: Small - $20ºº; Large - $25ºº
Death: $25ºº; Cheque or Money Order to "Minister of Finance"
New Brunswick Provincial Archives - http://www.gov.nb.ca/supply/archives/ENGLISH - go to the NB county you are researching, and you will have the records the archives have (and can lend) on this county, including birth, marriages, marriage bonds, deaths, probate records, wills, etc. Contact your local library and ask them if they can order the microfilms from the NB archives. This site also has LINKS to:
National Archives of Canada
Canadian Archival Resources on the Internet
The Genealogy Home Page
Canadian Heritage Gallery
The National Archives of Ireland
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
Public Record Office (UK)
City of Saint John, NB - http://www.sjnow.com - use LINK to NB Museum and site for United Empire Loyalists who came to NB in 1780's during/after the Revolution.
Address: Charlotte County Historical Society, P.O. Box 83, St. Andrews, NB, CANADA E0G 2X0. They would probably look up what you wanted to know. As they operate on a shoestring budget, a donation to cover copying and postage would definitely be welcome.
Charlotte County Archives in Saint Andrews, NB has copies of mostly all St. George cemeteries.
If you have roots in Campobello, Charlotte Co, NB, have a look at - http://www.rootsweb.com/~nbcampob/ - contains 1851-1901 Census records, Vital Statistics, church history, cemetery listings, family genealogies, etc. E-mail - hwaddingham@yahoo.com - Campobello of course is where the Franklin Delano ROOSEVELT summer home and museum are located.
"Loyalist at Passamaquoddy" shows a John Nason who was a Loyalist ca. 1794. The book is available at the Maine State Library. Whitney was another name in that book. The St. Andrews John Nason was given two land grants in St. Andrews in 1783. These land grants were for United Empire Loyalists only, and accordingly were not available to anyone who was already living in the colony.
Booklet "York County, New Brunswick, Marriage Records 1812-1837" by George H. Hayward. He sells it for about CAN$8ºº. His e-mail address is - hayward@nbnet.nb.ca -
It is always a good idea to check the original records. Microfilm of NB census returns, 1851-1901, can be ordered on interlibrary loan from the National Archives of Canada. See - http://www.rootsweb.com/~cannb/NB_Census.htm - for microfilm numbers. If you live in the United States, it might be easier to borrow microfilm through the LDS church.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) [CANADA] - Saint John NB Mission,
Family History Centre & Genealogical Library,
177 Manchester Avenue, Lancaster,
Saint John West, NB
CANADA E2M 5R6
Tel: (506) 672-1041 (506) 672-8526 (506) 672-0864 (506) 672-4304
**NOTE: The Mormons do not do a lot of verifying of the records they publish. Some people find they are about 50% accurate.
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