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The Riser Family

By Henry G. Riser

From the book, The American Lutheran Church by Dr. Hazelius, one learns that the original German settlers in upper South Carolina, and especially in what is now Newberry County, were generally from near the Rhine, Baden and Wurtenburg in Germany. Williamson, in his "History of North Carolina," speaks of the Palatines being from Heidelberg an its vicinity on the Rhine. Many of the German settlers, besides the Palatines, received grants of land, or bounty warrants, from the King -- 100 acres for the head of the house and 50 acres for each child.

The Dutch Fork Section of Newberry County, South Carolina, was settled by a Colony of Palatine Germans in the 1740s. These Palatine Germans were from the lower Rhine River area of Germany. They came to American to escape religions persecution in Germany. They were granted permission by England to establish a colony between the Saluda and Broad rivers in what is now South Carolina.

In the Library of Congress is a book, Die Deutschen Familiennamen, by Dr. Paul Gascorbi, in which one finds the spelling of the family as Rieser. Another writer gives Roiser as the original spelling. One must take into consideration the nationality of the official taking the name of the settlers. Quite likely, if they entered the country at Charleston, it was an Englishman, and not understanding the pronunciation, he spelled if phonetically. Genealogists trace families by the way they spell their name.

George Roiser (Riser) was a pioneer to America before the Revolutionary War. Coming in 1776 from the Rhineland of Germany, he never learned to write English (from the book, O'Neall's Annals of Newberry County, S.C. -- Page No. 651). He settled in the lower section of Newberry County. He had five sons: Adam, Martin, John, George Jr. and Jacob; and three daughters, one married a Sease and another a Copeland.

All the daughters, along with their brother, John, moved to Barnell County, S.C. Adam and Jacob moved to Mississippi -- and later Adam moved on to Louisiana locating in Winn Parish in the 1830s, out on the east side of Ward Three. He was the first pioneer settler in that area. Around his place developed an agricultural community that was called Goodwater, and a post office was established there Aug. 2, 1854, with Adam Riser as the postmaster. Goodwater was the first post office established in Winn Parish east of the Dugdemona Bayou.

All the sons of George Riser Sr. left Newberry County except Martin Riser Sr. He stayed, reared his family and died there, leaving a Will in 1844. He married three times.

He first married a Miss Sease, and they had the following children: John, Martin Jr., Christina, Eva and Elizabeth.

His second wife was Christena Rikard and they had the following children: Adam, George, Jacob, Harriet, Sallie and Susan. Adam moved to Louisiana, locating just south of Ruston in what is now known as the Riser community. He farmed for a while, then opened a store where he operated a $50,000 business per year, and later established a post office which was later known as Bonner, La.

In 1854, when the first preliminary survey for the Vicksburg, Shreveport and Pacific Railroad (now the Illinois Central) was made, one Henry Bonner (for whom Bonner, La., was named) came with the surveyors and proposed for the route of the new railroad to pass near Adam Riser's store. Had the survey materialized, into the railroad they expected, the town for this section would have been Bonner.

Fate, however, decreed that Ruston should be the town and that nothing should remain of Bonner but a fading memory and the Riser Cemetery.

Adam Riser was born Dec. 16, 1809, in Newberry County. At the age of 83, he wrote the following, in what is reported to have been a steady hand, to his nephew, Judge Jacob B. Fellows of Newberry County:

Ruston, April 23, 1892. I work my garden and Irish potates and keep my orchard trim and my grape vines.

He died Oct. 20, 1898 and was buried beside his wife in the Riser Cemetery.

Martin Riser Sr.'s third wife was a widow Summers and they had no children. According to records in Newberry County, he died there on Sept. 28, 1844, and was buried in the family cemetery.

From family data left in Newberry County by George Riser Sr., one finds that Adam Riser, who located at Goodwater Community in the vicinity of Winnfield, La., was the son of George Riser Sr., the first Riser to come to America, and that Adam Riser, who located just south of Ruston in what is now the Riser Community, was the son of Martin Riser Sr., and a nephew of Adam Riser of Winnfield.

John Riser, son of Martin Riser Sr., married Barbara Ann Zeigler and they had 10 children: William, John, Bartwell, George, Adam, James A., Elizabeth, Annie and Lavinia. His son married Elizabeth Rikard, and one of their nine children was the Rev. Sidney T. Riser, who died in Staunton, Va., while a young man, being minister of the Lutheran church. Another son, George, married a Miss Peaster and was killed in North Carolina in the last battle of the War Between the States. His daughter, Lavinia, married Belton Kibler, who was also killed in the same war.

George Riser Sr. made a Will which was located in Box 25, Package-896 in Edgefield, S.C., and this Will was recorded in Volume 1, A-book, Page 105, in the Department of Archives of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. This Will was dated March 21, 1821. From the date of this Will and the date of his Revolutionary War Claims paid (1783), it is evident that George Riser Sr. was a Revolutionary War patriot.

In Deed "H" Page 262, dated 1804, it was stated that "George Riser Sr., father of Martin Riser Sr.," had been the grantee of 350 acres of land to the Revolutionary War effort. The land was located between the Broad and Saluda Rivers in Newberry County, and was granted Dec. 26 and 27, 1763. This was 58 years before he made his will and 39 years after he signed as a patriot by furnishing supplies during the Revolutionary War.

Revolutionary War records in Newberry County show that George Riser Sr., rendered service to the American Army in 1781 and 1782 by furnishing supplies, "and said George Riser Sr.'s request to the Public Treasurer of the State of South Carolina to deliver my Indents to major Adam Summer and his Receipt shall be your Discharge for same Jan. 18, 1786." George Riser Sr. signed his name name in German script, "George Ruff J.P." From the above mentioned record of Revolutionary War service, it is assumed that George Riser Sr. was too old for active participation in the war as a soldier. In the State Archives in Columbia, S.C., one can find vouchers for pay for Revolutionary War service to George Riser Sr.

In 1804, George Riser Sr. sold 200 acres of land in the Newberry County District which he had acquired in March 22, 1788 -- and his wife, Francena Riser, signed her dower release to this said land. This deed "H" (Page No. 264 of Recorders Deed Book in the Newberry County Courthouse) was made when George Riser Sr. was a resident of Orangeburg District. (In 1788, Newberry County was part of the Orangeburg District.)

In 1806 (Deed "H" Page No. 264) Francena Riser was the wife of George Riser Sr., his first wife.

In 1821 ("Will" of George Riser Sr., Edgefield County, S.C.), Elizabeth Riser was the wife of George Riser Sr., his second wife.

George Riser Sr. owned lands in Newberry County in 1788 and in 1804 sold paid lands. In 1819, he acquired lands in Edgefield District, where he died in 1821. He was survived by his second wife, Elizabeth.

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