Charles Henry ZABELL (1832-1905) was born in Danzig, Pomorskie, Poland. He married Mary Jane FRANCIS in 1866 in Waihi, Coromandel. Mary Jane was base born to Sarah Ann Francis (1824-1906) who later married Stephen SWAN, in Lower Hutt in 1848, had about 12 children and later moved to the Wairarapa and had a further 1 or 2 children in Greytown

TIMELINE for Charles Henry Zabell
15 August 1881
... At the meeting of the Wairarapa West County Council on Saturday, the following tenders for the construction of the Waiohine Bridge were opened:-
A. Reece, Wellington - ?1444 (accepted)
Joseph Jay ?1590
O'Malley ?1653
Fred Chapman ?1650
W. Alexander ?1750
C. H. Zabell ?1978 (Aug 2012 equivalent of $318,000)
Wakelin & Hawkins ?2155 6s 2d
Samuel Brown ?2300

23 February 1882
... Messrs F. H. Wood and Co., held a sale at their rooms in Carterton on Wednesday afternoon of the unsold sections of the Belvedere estate.
? Section 16 and sub-sections 1 to 27, inclusive, and 43, containing nearly 48 acres, were knocked down to Mr W. H. W. Haines for ?773
? section 27, containing 18a 3r 4p, to Mr G. Penny at ?6 per acre
? and sub-sections 29 to 42 inclusive, containing 39a 2r 8p to Messrs C. H. Zabell and R. Hooker at ?8 per acre
? section 1 to 5, containing 50a 0r 19p, to Mr G. Dew at ?14 per acre.

26 January 1888
... The many friends of Mr Charles Zabell, settler, of Carterton, will be pleased to hear that since his right eye was so successfully taken out by Dr Kemp at the Wellington Hospital, he has made rapid strides towards recovery. His general health is much improved and his spirits are much lighter with the prospect that he may yet recover the sight of his other eye, and speedily be enabled to return home

24 November 1893
... Zabell v Taratahi-Carterton Road Board, claim ?300, damages to property and an injunction. Mr Travers for plaintiff, Mr Gully for defendants. The Judgment went for the defendant Board, with costs on the middle scale

24 June 1905
... I regret to hear that the health of Mr C. H. Zabell, a very old resident of this district, is causing his many friends anxiety

8 July 1905 Wairarapa Daily Times
... There is no improvement in the health of Mr C. H. Zabell, a very old settler of this district, which has been causing his friends anxiety for some weeks past

14 July 1905
... Still another old Carterton pioneer has passed away in the person of Mr Charles Henry Zabell, whose death occurred on Tuesday night. The late Mr Zabell, whose age was seventy-three years, was born at Dantzig in the year 1832, and from there went to Aberdeen and on to New Zealand. The vessel in which he sailed was the 'Princess of Fife' and touched at Port Chalmers in 1852.
He went to Auckland during the Maori War and also spent some time in the Waikato district and was in company with Sergeant Nolan when that officer was shot while carrying despatches.
He visited the Shotover and Gabriel Gully gold diggings and soon after was married at Waihi. From there he came on to the Wairarapa and engaged in the bridge-building trade, some of his work being still in evidence over the Waingawa, Taueru and Ruamahunga rivers and one at Castlepoint.
The late Mr Zabell purchased land on the banks of the Mangatarere river, Belvedere, and endured all the hardships of the early days.
He leaves a widow, four daughters and one son (all married) and a number of grand-children to mourn their loss

29 July 1905
... A typical pioneer of the right sort died the other day in the Wairarapa. His name was Zabell, and he enjoyed the distinction of having been twice in close contact with a personality who lives as a part of our national history - Major Gustavus Ferdinand von Tempsky - the first time in school and the second in the Waikato War. Both were Germans, natives of the old freeport of Dantzig. There they went to school and there they parted. Von Tempsky to go soldiering and Zabell to learn the useful art of building ships. Diverse as their callings were, it was these that served to bring the old schoolmates together again long years after. For Von Tempsky came to this part of the colony to fight the Maori and Zabell to repair the gunboats on the Waikato River. The latter had sailed from Aberdeen in the year 1853 for Port Chalmers and remained there for several years before he was engaged by the Government in connection with the military operations in the North.
After the close of the Waikato War, Zabell was sent to Waikaremoana to build pontoons there and it was there that he went through one of the most thrilling episodes of the East Coast campaign, so rich in events of a like character. He accompanied Sergeat Nolan, who was engaged to carry despatches from Wairoa. On the journey the two ran into a Maori ambuscade. Nolan and Mr Zabell's horse were shot dead, and Mr Zabell only escaped from his pursuers on the sergeant's horse after a hard struggle, during which the bullets came so close to him that they shot away portions of his clothes. He afterwards moved to the Wairarapa and engaged in bridge building and farming. For the last nineteen years of his life he was totally blind, but this calamity did not impair his activity or weaken his interest in public affairs. He was 73 when he died

26 January 1906
... Charles's estate of which probate duty was paid was certified by the Secretary of Stamps as worth ?1839 (January 2012 equivalent of $288,500)

NOTE
watch a 12 minute video on Gustavus von Tempsky
... Mike King presents the story of Gustavus Von Tempsky: swashbuckling colonial soldier of fortune, "flamboyant folk hero" and "our first pin up boy". The Prussian-born artist, self-promoter, romantic and adventurer, led an elite unit - the Forest Rangers - in the 1860s New Zealand Wars, garbed in trademark Garibaldi shirt, kilt and calvary sabre. His bush-fighting skill attracted respect from M?ori foes, who named him "manu rau" (many birds); but also controversy after an infamous raid. He met his demise fighting guerilla leader Titokowaru.

PHOTO
swashbuckling soldier, Gustavus Von Tempsky, school mate & fellow soldier of Charles Henry Zabell
from the site Gustavus Ferdinand von Tempsky