William's immediate relatives including parents, siblings, partnerships and children in the Geisse family tree.

William's Family

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Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during William's lifetime.

In 1835, in the year that William F Geisse was born, on June 2nd, P. T. Barnum and his "circus" began their first tour of the U.S. He had paid $1,000 for an elderly slave named Joice Heth, who he claimed was 161 years old and a former nurse for George Washington. Touring the northeast of the U.S., he made more than $1,000 per week. Joice died the next year - at about 80 years old.

In 1848, at the age of only 13 years old, William was alive when on January 24th, James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in California. On August 19th, the New York Herald published news of the Gold Rush in California - alerting the east coast. The Gold Rush brought over 300,000 people to northern California from the rest of the US and overseas.

In 1872, by the time he was 37 years old, on May 22nd, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Amnesty Act of 1872. The Act restored full civil rights to secessionists, including about 150,000 former slaves who had fought in the Confederate Army. About 500 former Confederate sympathizers were not allowed their full civil rights.

In 1886, at the age of 51 years old, William was alive when on May 4th, a general strike began in Chicago. Workers were striking for an 8 hour workday and in protest of the killing - by police - of several workers the day before. When an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb, the strike became violent. Seven policemen were killed as well as 4 civilians. It became known as the Haymarket Riot and eventually resulted in an 8 hourwork day as well as commemorations on May 1st for worker's rights.

In 1891, in the year of William F Geisse's passing, from March 9th through the 12th, a blizzard hit the south and west of England. Called the Great Blizzard of 1891, it led to snow drifts of up to 15 feet and killed 200 people and 6,000 animals. Fourteen ships sank.