Susannah Gimer was my 4th Great Grandmother. She was born 14 January 1812 (as calculated from her tombstone) and died 29 March 1880 in Northampton Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania due to “Dropsy” (edema in modern vernacular), according to the 1880 Federal Mortality Schedule for Northampton, Somerset, PA. She married my 4th Great Grandfather, Joseph Lybarger Sr., 27 Nov 1827, in Berlin, Somerset, PA. While significant information is known about the ancestry of the Lybarger family, nearly nothing is noted in family history records about the GIMER family and  and the origin of the name. In the various marriage and death records of Susannah’s children, her maiden name is listed as GIMER and GEIMER.

The following information has been gathered in relation to the GIMER family line from Bedford and Somerset County, Pennsylvania.Which, if any, is directly tied to my Gimer line is still a question. If this information strikes a chord with anyone, I hope they’ll let me know:

1. Johann Adam Geimer, was a pioneer to Pennsylvania from Rotterdam on the ship “Two Brothers, from the Electorate Palatine & Triers, Hapsburg”, arriving in Philadelphia, 1749 (In what part of Pennsylvania did he settle?)
2. Adam Geimer is found in the Philadelphia, PA census of 1752
3. John Geimer Land Warrant, Brothers Valley Township, Bedford PA 1773 (what is John’s relation to Adam? Or are John and Adam the same person? Johann Adam.)
   Note: BROTHERS VALLEY was organized as a township of Bedford county, in 1771, and was the first township formed west of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania. It then included all of the present county of Somerset which is situated west of the Allegheny Mountain. The county of Somerset was created April 17, 1795 from the western part of Bedford County lying between the Allegheny Mountain range to the Laurel Hill range.
4. Philip Geimer is born in 1773 in Maryland, per a genealogy on Ancestry for the Matthews family. See Figure 2 below. The census records seem to indicate birth before 1755.
5. Widow Guimer Bedford PA Tax List 1781 (Is she widow to Adam? Or John? Or someone else?)
6. Widow Guimer Bedford PA Tax List 1782
7. Philip Geimer marries Maria Elizabeth Mathews Somerset PA (according to a Mathews family genealogy online – no sources noted)
8. Philip and Maria Mathews Geimer have the following children according to the Mathews genealogy online: Magdalena Geimer, born 09 Apr 1795, Somerset, PA; George Geimer, born January 1798, Somerset, PA; and Elizabeth Geimer, born 16 Jan 1800, Somerset, PA. Another genealogy on Ancestry.com suggests a daughter Catherine Geimer, born 1805 in Somerset, PA. Are there other children?
9. Philip Gimer Pennsylvania Septennial Census Brothers Valley Somerset PA 1800
10. Philip Gimer Pennsylvania Septennial Census Brothers Valley Somerset PA 1800 (this is a second version of the same record)
11. Philip Kymer Federal Census Brothers Valley Somerset PA 1800
12. Philip Geimer Bail Bond Brothers Valley Somerset PA 1802
13. Philip Keimer Federal Census Southampton Somerset PA 1810
14. Susannah Gimer (my 4th Great Grandmother) is born PA 1812; the date according to her tombstone and the place per the Federal Mortality Record in 1880. Who is her father? Is Philip possibly her father?
15. Sara Guimmer baptism Milford Somerset PA 1822 with parents noted as David & Elizabeth Guimmer (also baptized at this location is John Domer, sibling to Susannah Domer, daughter-in-law to Joseph Lybarger and Susannah Gimer)
16. George Gimer Tax Lists Allegheny Somerset PA 1827 (The Mathews genealogy indicates George was a son of Philip – is this that George?)
17. Joseph Lybarger and Susannah Gimer are noted in the 1840 Federal Census Southampton Somerset PA
18. George Gaimer is found in the Brook County, Virginia federal census 1850 born PA about 1797
19. George Geimer is also found in the Federal Census for Pickaway Ohio 1850 born PA about 1773 (according to the Mathews genealogy, this is George, son of Philip though the birth year is off. Is this instead a possible sibling to Philip?)
20. Lastly, there is a GEIMER burial record noted and referenced in the transcribed record of burials in the WH Bowman Farm Cemetery in Northampton Somerset PA cemetery. It states “Geimer Family, no names, no markers” and notes “froze to death” (per transcribed WPA records on the Somerset County website) Who are these Geimers? What happened to them? What a tragic historical note. I would hope to find out the story of these Geimers at some point. 

Online, the “Descendants of Johann Jacob Mathews” family genealogy notes 3 children for Philip Geimer and Elizabeth Mathews. An additional ancestry listed online at Ancestry.com (a submitted genealogy) notes 4 children. What do the Federal Census records indicate? They are summarized here:

The 1800 Brothers Valley, Somerset, PA census for Philip Kymer indicates that Philip’s household had more children than the two genealogies noted above recognize. To summarize, the household would have:
• a father (born before 1755)
• one son (born between 1790 and 1800)
• three daughters (born between 1790 and 1800)
• an older daughter or even sister perhaps (born between 1775 and 1784)
• and perhaps a wife (born between 1756 and 1774)

The 1810 Southampton, Somerset, PA census for Philip Keimer indicates that Philip’s household would have had:

• a father (born before 1765)
• one son (born between 1795 and 1800)
• three daughters (born between 1800 and 1810)
• two daughters (born between 1795 and 1800)
• a female (born between 1766 and 1784) – in this case is this the older daughter or sister and Philip’s wife, Elizabeth Matthews, has already passed away? Or is this Elizabeth? Based on ages it could be either.

There does not appear to be a Census record for Philip in 1820. Is it possible that Susannah Gimer, born around 1812, is also a child of his?

Is this the possible genealogy of the Gimer line in Somerset and Bedford County, Pennsylvania:

Adam Geimer arrives 1754 PA

Possible son of Adam Geimer:  son John,  land warrant 1773 Bedford
Possible wife of John:  Widow Geimer,  tax rolls 1781, 1782 Bedford

Possible son of John Geimer:  son George, born 1773 PA (later moved to Ohio?)
Possible son of John Geimer:  son Philip, born perhaps a range of 1755-1780 Somerset PA

Possible children of Philip Geimer (Keimer):
-daughter Magdalena
-son George born 1797 PA (later moved to Virginia?)
-daughter Elizabeth born 1795
-daughter Catherine born 1800
-son David born ?? (David Guimmer) Somerset PA
-daughter Susannah born 1812 Somerset PA

Who might have further insight into this Geimer, Gimer, Keimer genealogy?