Top of Page

Family History

Ancestral Lineage

Origins of

the Surname

Variations of

the Surname

Armorial Bearings, & Motto(es)

Researching

by Location

Source Documents

Gen-Resources

Family Images Gallery

About This Webpage

Family history

        I’ve traced my family line back to a Henry Phifer. Henry was born about 1805 somewhere in the German – France border area known as the Alsace region. Henry married a MaryAnn (possibly Council) about 1828 again probably in German.  They had two certainly and possibly three children the eldest of which may have been a female.  The other two were Henry Jacob b. 24 Apr 1830 and Elizabeth b. abt 1832 all three having been born in either Germany or Pennsylvania. I descend from this Henry Jacob Phifer or Peiffer as he spelled it in his adult years.  I believe they immigrated to the USA about 1840 as they appear on the 1840 Federal Census for 7th Ward, Philadelphia County, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They also appear on the 1850 Census for the same location but sometime before the 1860 Census they relocated across the Delaware River to Bordentown, Burlington County, New Jersey where Henry and MaryAnn are listed. It is assumed that the son Henry Jacob must have married in this same time frame. 

        Henry Jacob or simply Jacob as he was commonly referred to, married a Magdalina HUFF on 26 Dec 1852 in Philadelphia, PA. Nothing more is known of Magdalina’s family other than it is thought that her mother’s given name was Catherine and that Catherine may have remarried to a man whose surname was Gilbert.  Jacob is thought to have been married three times in life siring 11 children. Eight of these were with Magdalina until her death in 1870 and the other three were with his third wife Caroline. 

        One of Jacob’s sons was Elwood Stokes Peiffer Sr. b. 29 Dec 1864 in Bordentown Twp, Burlington Co., NJ.  He married Katherine S. Bozarth 9 Sep 1886 daughter of Leander Budd and Margaret W. Shinn Bozorth.  They in turn had two children – boys, Albert Jacob and Elwood Stokes Jr.  Albert Jacob had no offspring and Elwood Stokes Jr.  had but two.  Elwood Stokes Jr.  married Ethel Cecelia Quigley 20 Sep 1916 daughter of Thomas  & Martha Platt Rhubart Quigley.  Elwood Jr. and Ethel had two children, Elizabeth Cecilia and Thomas Quigley Peiffer.

Direct ancestors

Additional information about the persons in my database  as   well  as   a   complete

listing of individuals with this surname may be reviewed by clicking on this LINK.

Descendant Register

Generation 1

PEIFFER, Thomas Quigley

b: 17 Apr 1922 in Bordentown, Burlington Co., NJ.

m: June Eleanor Moreland 19 Jun 1954 in Collingswood, Camden Co., NJ.

d: 24 Sep 1967 in Cross Keys, Gloucester Co., NJ.

Generation 2

PEIFFER, Elwood Stokes Jr.

b: 16 Feb 1895 in Bordentown, Burlington Co., NJ.

m: Ethel Cecelia Quigley 20 Sep 1916 in Fieldsboro, Burlington Co., NJ.

d: 13 Feb 1933 in Bordentown, Burlington Co., NJ.

Generation 3

PEIFFER, Elwood Stokes Sr.

b: 29 Dec 1864 in Bordentown, Burlington Co., NJ.

m: Katherine S. Bozorth 9 Sep 1886 in Bordentown, Burlington Co., NJ.

d: 16 Sep 1932 in Bordentown, Burlington Co., NJ.

Generation 4

PEIFFER, Henry Jacob

b: 24 Apr 1830 in Pennsylvania or Germany

m: Magdalina Huff 26 Dec 1852 in Philadelphia, PA.

d: 15 Aug 1911 in Bordentown, Burlington Co., NJ.

Generation 5

PHIFER, Henry

b: Abt. 1803

m: Mary Ann (MNU) abt. 1828

d: Abt. 1876 in NJ

Generation 6

Generation 7

Generation 8

The world’s largest free genealogy search engine, Mocavo.com, provides genealogists access to the best free genealogy content on the web

including billions of names, dates and places worldwide. Mocavo.com seeks to index and make searchable all of the world’s free genealogy information.

Use this free genealogy site to help you get the best genealogy searches from Google™ by using your family tree, for your research. It will create a series of different searches using tips or "tricks"

that will likely improve your results. The different searches will give you many different ways of using Google and the Internet to find ancestry information about this or any other Surname. 

Origins of the surname

An Introduction

to the Surname

Source/Meaning

of the Surname

History of

the Surname

More About Surnames

An Introduction to the Surname

     The practice of inherited family surnames began in England and France during the late part of the 11^th century.   Surnames were first utilized in the Germanic region of central Europe during the second half of the 12th century.  The custom of taking on surnames began in the southern areas of Germany, and gradually spread northward during the Middle Ages.  It took about three hundred years for this tradition to apply to most families and become a constant part of one’s identity. 

     With the passing of generations and the movement of families from place to place many of the original identifying names were altered into some of the versions that we are familiar with today.  Over the centuries, most of our European ancestors accepted their surname as an unchangeable part of their lives.  Thus people rarely changed their surname.  Variations of most surnames were usually the result of an involuntary act such as when a government official wrote a name phonetically or made an error in transcription.  Research into the record of this Peiffer family line indicates that the variations, meanings and history of this surname are most likely linked to that area of Europe where German linguistic traditions are commonly found

Source(s) & Meaning(s) of the Surname

Most modern German family names are a means conveying lineage.  For the most part, German surnames were developed from four major sources: (1) Patronymic & Matronymic surnames most common in northern Germany are based on a parent’s first name, such as Niklas Albrecht (Niklas son of Albrecht);  (2) occupational surnames are last names based on the person’s job or trade for example Lukas Fischer (Lukas the Fisherman);  (3) descriptive surnames are based on a unique quality or physical feature of the individual like Karl Braun (Karl with brown hair); (4) geographical surnames are derived from the location of the homestead from which the first bearer and his family lived such as Leon Meer (Leon from by the sea), or derived from the state, region, or village of the first bearer's origin for example Paul Cullen (Paul from Koeln/Cologne).

History of the Surname

    Most German names have their roots in the Germanic Middle Ages. The process of forming family names in what is present day Germany began early in the 12^th Century and extended through the 16^th century.   Peiffer is a very old Germanic name and is one of the early names recorded in that region of Europe.   Due to its popularity and duration this name, and its variant spellings, have traveled widely in many forms throughout the continent.       This surname was first found in Austria, where the name could be considered to make a great early contribution to the feudal society that became the backbone of early development of Europe.  As such, the associated coat of arms for Peiffer and variant spellings are registered in Germany and recorded in Rietstap’s Armorial General.

     This Germanic surname appeared quite early into the former British colonies of North America, especially William Penn’s Province of Pennsylvania.  One reason for this was that after the prince of the Electorate of Hanover, in Germany also became king of England in 1715, as a result German emigration to America was greatly encouraged from that time on to about 1777.  A resulting factor of this great migration is that the Peiffer German name tends to be confused with the English versions due to the fact that the name from both countries is often in the same or similar spelling, which is perhaps not surprising as they share pre 7th century "Anglo-Saxon" roots.   Many of these German immigrants, particularly those with easy English equivalents, were encouraged and in some cases required to change to an English spelling.  Many persons with the Peiffer surname changed the spelling to the English Piper or Pepper which has the same sound when pronounced in English.  Also many German surnames were re-spelled in America because of the close relationship between the English and German languages.     This was the case with many sea captains or their agents who, when making up the ships passenger lists, found it easier to use a more familiar English spelling.   As the general level of education in America increased after the American Civil War many formerly illiterate immigrants and their descendents began to standardize the spelling of their surname.   Also after the start of World War One, Germans in the United States, in great numbers, Anglicized their names in an effort to remove all doubt as to their patriotism.  

     Notable persons having the Peiffer surname are: Arnd Peiffer (born March 18, 1987, in Wolfenbüttel) is a German biathlete.  Bernard Peiffer (1922 – 1976) noted jazz musician;  Max Peiffer Watenphuhl  a famous painter; and Carl David Peiffer, (1915–1942) for whom the USS Peiffer (DE–588) was named.

Variations of the surname

Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to unfold and expand often leading to an overwhelming number of variants.  As such one can encounter great variation in the spelling of surnames because in early times, spelling in general and thus the spelling of names was not yet standardized.  Later on spellings would change with the branching and movement of families.  With specific regard to German surnames the German "B" was often changed to "V", "I" was changed to "Y", "K" to "C", "KI" or "LICH" to "LEY", "SCH" to "SH" or "S" and "U" to "OO".    Spelling variations of this family name include:  Pfeiffer, Pfeifer, Pfeyffer, Pfeyfer and many others.

The complexity of researching records is compounded by the fact that in many cases an ancestors surname may also have been misspelled.  This is especially true when searching census documents.   The Soundex Indexing System was developed in an effort to assist with identifying spelling variations for a given surname.  Soundex is a method of indexing names in the 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 US Census, and can aid genealogists in their research.  The Soundex Code for Peiffer is P160.  Other surnames sharing this Soundex Code:  PEIFFER | PEPPER | PFEIFER | PFEIFFER | PHIFER | PIEPER | PIFER | PIPER | PUFFER | .

Searching for more Information about this and other surnames?

Click LINK button to view our Surname Locator and Resources page.

Coat of arms

In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armored warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe.  Heraldry spread to the German burgher class in the 13th century, and even some peasants used arms in the 14th century.  A German coat of arms is usually referred to by any of the following terms; Wappen, Familienwappen, Blasonierung, Heraldik, or Wappenschablonen.

Gallery of Images

Descriptions of Arms and Symbols

Motto(es) of

this Surname

More About Hearldic Bearings

Image gallery

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

ARMORIAL BEARINGS

The associated armorial bearings for this surname and close variant spellings are recorded in Burke’s General Armorie and / or Reitstap’s Armorial General.  The additional information, presented below, is offered with regard to the armorial bearings and symbols depicted above:

FIGURE 1: Pfeiffer of Cassel, a region located within the present German state of Hesse. The shield is best described as green with a gold anchor in bend.  The crest shows a gold rose between a pair of green wings.

FIGURE 2: This coat of arms was granted to a Pfeffer of Speyer (formerly known as Spires in English) is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.  The blue shield contains a gold chevron, two stars in chief, and a white rose in the base.

FIGURE 3: Attributed to Peiffer of Germany but not found in either Burke’s of Reitstap’s sources.

FIGURE 4: These arms were granted to a Pfeiffer of Germany, and are found in Reitstaps Armorial General.

FIGURE 5: These armorial bearings belong to a Pfeiffer from the city of Schaffhausen, located within the historic region known as the Tyrol.

FIGURE 6: The arms of a Pfeiffer of the Netherlands.

MOTTO(ES)  

     A motto is a word or sentence usually written upon a scroll and generally placed below the shield, but sometimes, especially in Scotland, above the crest.    Many ancient mottoes were war-cries such as the Douglas motto of “Forward.”    Many mottoes refer to the name of the bearer, for example “cole regem” for Coleridge.   In general most mottoes convey a sentiment, hope, or determination, such as the Cotter motto “Dum spiro spero” where the meaning is “While I have breath I hope“.     Mottoes are often used by several successive generations, but may be changed at any time by the grantee. The languages most in use are Latin, French, and English.  Exceptions are seen in Scotland where they are often in the old Lowland dialect, and in Wales, often in the language of the principality.    

     It is unusual to find a motto associated with the coat-of-arms of a noble German family.  As in this case no motto has been located that is associated with the Peiffer surname and its close variant spellings.  This does not necessarily mean that the Germanic culture is devoid of mottos.  For example, the national motto of Germany is “Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit”, meaning Unity and Justice and Freedom.  The German word for motto is “Wahlspruch.” 

     Some of the more well known German mottoes are as follows: Alte Wunden bluten leicht – Old wounds readily bleed anew;    Blut und Eisen – Blood and iron;  Das beste is gut genug – The best is good enough;  Ein’ feste Burg is unser Gott – Our God is a strong tower of defense;  Ewigkeit – Eternity;  Für Gott und Iht – All for God and her;  Gott is überall – God is over all;  Gott mit uns – God is with us;  Ich dien – I serve;  Krieg – War;  Mehr Licht! – More light!;  Nichts zoviel – Nothing in excess;  Prosit! – Good luck!;    Vaterland – Fatherland;  Vertrau’ auf Gott – Put your trust in God;  Vorwärts! – Forward!;   Zu dienen – At your service.

Heraldic bearings

The art of designing, displaying, describing, and recording arms is called heraldry. The use of coats of arms by countries, states, provinces, towns and villages is called civic heraldry.   A Coat of Arms is defined as a group of emblems and figures (heraldic bearings) usually arranged on and around a shield and serving as the special insignia of some person, family, or institution.  Except for a few cases, there is really no such thing as a standard "coat of arms" for a surname.  A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, is a design usually granted only to a single person not to an entire family or to a particular surname.  Coats of arms are inheritable property, and they generally descend to male lineal descendents of the original arms grantee.  The rules and traditions regarding Coats of Arms vary from country to country. Therefore a Coat of Arms for an English family would differ from that of a German family even when the surname is the same. 

Some of the more prominent elements incorporated into a  coat of arms are :

Crest - The word crest is often mistakenly applied to a coat of arms.  The crest was a later development arising from the love of pageantry.  Initially the crest consisted of charges painted onto a ridge on top of the helmet.

Wreath or Torse – The torse is a twist of cloth or wreath underneath and part of a crest. Always shown as six twists, the first tincture being the tincture of the field, the second the tincture of the metal, and so on.

Mantling – The mantling is a drapery tied to the helmet above the shield. It forms a backdrop for the shield.

Helm or Helmet - The helmet or helm is situated above the shield and bears the torse and crest. The style of helmet displayed varies according to rank and social status, and these styles developed over time, in step with the development of actual military helmets.

Shield or Arms - The basis of all coats of arms.  At their simplest, arms consist of a shield with a plain field on which appears a geometrical shape or object.  The items appearing on the shield are known as charges.

Motto - The motto was originally a war cry, but later mottoes often expressed some worthy sentiment. It may appear at the top or bottom of a family coat of arms.

Searching for more information about heraldry? Click on the button at the  right to take a look at our webpage featuring links to websites having images

of a wide variety of arms, crests, and badges.  They may also feature additional heraldry resources as noted in the accompanying descriptions.

Ancestral locations

Researching the locations where our ancestors lived has provided us with valuable evidence needed to fill-in the gaps in our family trees.  It has also led us to many interesting facts that enhance the overall picture of each family group.

Locations of

Direct Ancestors

Locational Distribution

of  this Surname

Where In the World

are my Ancestors?

Locatiof Direct Ancestors

The names of states and counties on the following list were derived from the known places where the Direct Ancestors in the “Ancestral Lineage” (see above) were born, married, and / or died.

COUNTRY

STATE

COUNTY / SUBDIVISION

USA

New Jersey

Burlington

USA

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia

Use this LINK to find out more

about the locations listed above.

Locational distributionstors

      Knowing the geographical areas where the surname you are researching is clustered and distributed is an indispensable tool in deciding where to focus your research.  We believe that the “Public Profiler” website will open up to you a wide range of solutions which implement current research in spatial analysis.  This site provides an array of local spatial information tools useful to the genealogist.

     The information presented below shows where the PEIFFER surname is distributed within the United States as well as in the Germany, the country of origin of this family.   Today about 15 persons per million in the United States have this surname.     In Germany about 16 persons per million have this surname.     Luxembourg is found to be the country in the world where this surname is the most highly clustered having almost 561 persons per million of population.  

United States of America

Key

European Country of Origin

Click on the LINK to the right to see more information about the World distribution of a surname.  You can

get greater detail for any of the following maps by clicking on the area, i.e state, county that you are interested in.

Wjere are my ancestors Ancestors

Resources which enhance our knowledge of the places inhabited by our ancestors are almost as important as their names. The LINK to the right will take you to Maps, Gazetteers,   and  other  helpful   resources 

that will assist in discovering Ancestral Locations.  These web sites comprise only a small portion of what is available for researchers interested in learning more about where their ancestors lived.

Source documents

The documents contained within this “Source Documents Archives” have been located during my research of this family, and used as evidence to prove many of the facts contained within the database of this family’s record.  

This Link will take you to our

archive of source documents.  

You are welcome to download any of the documents contained within this archive that does not cite a copyright.  Should you encounter a problem obtaining a copy you may get in touch with us via the contact information found at the end of this web-page.

     Most of these documents can be considered as primary or secondary evidence.  Primary evidence is usually defined as the best available to prove the fact in question, usually in an original document or record.  Secondary evidence is in essence all that evidence which is inferior in its origin to primary evidence. That does not mean secondary evidence is always in error, but there is a greater chance of error.  Examples of this type of evidence would be a copy of an original record, or oral testimony of a record’s contents.  Published genealogies and family histories are also secondary evidence.

     Classifying evidence as either primary or secondary does not tell anything about its accuracy or ultimate value.  This is especially true of secondary evidence.  Thus it is always a good idea to ask the following questions: (1) How far removed from the original is it, (when it is a copy)?; (2) What was the reason for the creation of the source which contains this evidence?; and (3) Who was responsible for creating this secondary evidence and what interest did they have in its accuracy?

SOURCE:  Greenwood, Val D., The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy, 2^nd edition, Genealogical Publishing  Co., Baltimore, MD 21202, 1990, pgs. 62-63

Web resources

This search engine may

provide you with additional

information to assist with

your research about this topic.

·             Our Surname Locator And Resources web page contains the following: (1) links that will take you to an updated listing of all surnames as posted in our three databases at the Rootsweb WorldConnect Project; (2) the Surname List Finder a tool that finds sound-alike matches for a given surname from among RootsWeb's thousands of surname lists; (3) the Soundex Converter that can be used to find the soundex code for a surname, plus other surnames/spellings sharing the same soundex code;  (4) Surname Message Boards the world's largest online genealogy community with over 17 Million posts on more than 161,000 boards; (5) Surname Mailing Lists of all surnames having mailing lists at RootsWeb, as well as topics that include (6) Surname Heraldy, and  (7) Mapping a Surname. 

·             Your genealogy research of this surname can be facilitated by use of Surname Web. This website links to the majority of the surname data on the web, as well as to individual family trees, origin and surname meaning if known, and many other related genealogy resources. 

·             Surname Finder provides easy access to free and commercial resources for 1,731,359 surnames. On each surname specific "finder" page, you can search a variety of online databases all pre-programmed with your surname.

·             Use All Surnames Genealogy to get access to find your surname resources .  There are almost 1300 links in this directory.

·             SurnameDB Free database of surname meanings - This site SurnameDB.Com contains a large FREE to access database (almost 50,000 surnames) on the history and meaning of family last names.

·             Public Profiler / World Names - Search for a Surname to view its Map and Statistics.

·             Linkpendium Surnames - Web sites, obituaries, biographies, and other material specific to a surname.

·             Cyndi's List - Surnames, Family Associations & Family Newsletters Index - Sites or resources dedicated to specific, individual family surnames.

Free Records & Databases

All of the records and databases we’ve collected are FREE and can be accessed and searched online without having to pay for a subscription.   We have divided our collected into 14 record types as follows: Biographical; Birth; Cemetery; Census & City Directories; Church; Court; Death; Immigration & Naturalization; Land; Marriage; Military; Newspapers; Occupational; and Tax Records.    We try not to list any sites that have only a few records for the purpose of getting you to a website that will charge a fee to actually see the record beyond just a name.  

This Link will take you to our

collections of FREE Records.  

The following Link will take you to our library of genealogy reference books.   Here you will find bibliographies, family histories and books about names.  In addition, there are texts that pertain to ethnic and religion groups, history, geography as well as other books that will assist you with your research.

This Link will take you to our

collections of reference books.  

Images gallery

During our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a particular family.  Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of our ancestors past lives.

This Link will take you to our

collection of family photographs.  

Use the power of Google™ to find more interesting images about this topic. This button will link you to the Google Images Search   page.   Enter   the   topic   you   are

searching in the box and click “Search Images”. At the “Images” display page you will see the image, as well as the website of which it is associated.

bout this webpage

CONTACT INFORMATION

-- Email us with your comments or questions. 

We do like to hear from others who are researching the same people and surnames.

We need your help to keep growing!  So please Email  us your

photos, stories, and other appropriate information about this topic.

RULES OF USE
You are welcome to download any information on this page that does not cite a copyright. 

We only ask that if you have a personal website please create a link to our Home Page.

-- This webpage was last updated on --

01 October 2011