This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

We have his original paper where he swore his allegiance back to the United States on August 7, 1865. He clearly signs as ?John Zengerling.? With this, we know he served the Confederacy, but we have been unable to find a record of his service. In all probability, he served with the Gainesville Volunteers (Company G) or the Shieldsborough (now Bay St. Louis) Rifles (Company F), both companies raised in Hancock County. They were part of the famous 3rd Mississippi Infantry. The original enlistees are well documented, but toward the end of the war records of soldiers being drafted are scarce.
We have various records for John Zengerling to include his ?cattle brand? as recorded in the ?county record of Marks and Brands? p. 18. The brand was ?JZ? and the ear was ?crop and upper sawset in each ear? dated December 6, 1865. From family stories and records, we know he had a large number of cattle. He also farmed various crops and sold timber.
John Zengerling died on March 28, 1896 in Bayou La Croix, Hanock County, MS. He is buried in that comnmnunity?s only cemetery with a large headstone. This cemetery contains many of his descendants.
His home was first located on the west side of Bayou La Croix Bayou, on a 40 acre tract described as the N/E, of the N/E quarter, Section 28, Township 9S, Range 15W, Hancock County, MS. We well remember the large wooden home that was occupied last by Aunt Theresa Zengarling. It was moved around 1900 to a place approximately one-half mile southwest of the original location on the west bank of the Bayou La Croix Bayou. The home was moved due to the frequent flooding of the bayou. The old timers said the house was moved by several teams of oxen pulling it over rolling logs. It was again moved in 1966 to Ansley, MS where it was destroyed by Hurricane Camille in 1969. We have several photos of the old home with our relatives in the photos. We also have a good photograph copy of our Johannes ?John? Zengerling. It was taken when he was in his prime, and it was ?posed? for, making it somewhat formal for the time. The original is in the possession of Jerry?s first cousin, Joyce Zengarling Moran, residing on Firetower Rd. in Hancock County.
Johannes ?John? Zengerling?s parents were Joseph Zengerling and Maria Franzisca Weber. The first clue to the identity of Johannes? father was found in some old papers at the Joseph A. Zengarling home in Bayou La Croix. On a small piece of paper approximately 4? x 8? was written in old German script:
?Joseph Zengerling paid this date.......(illegible) to Welling in rent money, sixty-six thaler
(marks/dollars) and fifteen silver groschens for which this.....(illegible) receipt.
Brakel......(illegible) November 3, 1830
(Signed by) Lucker?
This receipt was obviously important for Johannes to bring it from Germany. Once we learned who his parents were, it became clear that the above Joseph Zengerling was no doubt his father. This scrap of paper is what led us to the ancestry birthplace of our John Zengerling.
We wrote a letter to the ?Parish Priest, Brakel, Germany? and several months later received a treasure trove of family history. At the St. Peter and St. Paul Catholic Church in Gehrden, Germany, we found the baptismal record of our ?Johannes Zengerling? born on September 15, 1815 in Gehrden to ?Joseph Zengerling and Franziska Weber.? Joseph Zengerling (Singerling on some records) was born in Gehrden on October 23, 1766 based on his death record at the church that said he died on April 26, 1834 in Gehrden, Germany.
3