In my last post, “Christmas Came Early To My Genealogy Land,” I wrote about a new family connection provided by my wife’s 4th cousin, Fraser Laschinger. Fraser and I had connected after he had left a comment on a blog post about Canadian Senator Samuel Merner, an ancestor he shares with my wife. Following a series of emails and ‘snail mail’ exchanges, here is how the Laschinger family branch was uncovered.
The information that Fraser had, compiled several years ago by Laschinger family members, indicated that Mary Merner (or Muerner) married Joseph Laschinger, probably around 1845. Mary Merner was the younger sister of my wife’s great great grandmother, Anna Merner. Although I have yet to find a record of the marriage (it pre-dates civil registration in the Province of Ontario (or Canada West as it was known at the time), there are many records showing Joseph and Mary together as husband and wife along with their twelve known children. In fact, the 1851 Census of Canada West (the census was actually delayed and not actually taken until January 1852) records that Joseph and Mary Laschinger were living in Wilmot Township, Waterloo County, Canada West with their eldest three children. Their immediate neighbours were Jacob and Susanna Merner, Mary Laschinger’s parents.
Although Joseph’s occupation is listed as carpenter in the 1851 census records, the family eventually moved to New Hamburg in Waterloo County where subsequent census records and directories record that Joseph farmed his property as a living. Joseph passed away in 1881 at the age of 61 years and was buried in New Hamburg’s Riverside Cemetery. His wife, Mary (Merner) Laschinger died of pneumonia in 1899 in Elmira, Waterloo County.
Of their twelve known children, I have found evidence so far that at least seven married and I have found evidence of 84 descendants. I am certain there are many more to be found across all parts of Canada and the United States. The search continues …
Laschinger
Christmas Came Early To My Genealogy Land
Christmas in Hadden genealogy land came a bit early this year thanks to a new cousin connection and a two-year old blog post. The gift that I received was a whole new branch of Ellen’s family including approximately 200 new ancestors found so far.
The story of how this came about is quite simple and straight forward. In August 2010, I posted A Canadian Senator in the Family describing Ellen’s connection to the Hon. Samuel Merner who was appointed to the Canadian Senate in 1887 on the advice of Sir John A. MacDonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister. Samuel Merner served as a Senator until his death in 1908.
In October of this year, a comment was left on the blog post about Samuel Merner by Fraser Laschinger who indicated that he was also descended from the same Merner family line. Fraser is an historian and serves on his local historical society board and as turns out, he is Ellen’s fourth cousin. In emails subsequent to receiving his comment, he indicated that he had some genealogical information, compiled over the years by some family members, which he has graciously sent to me. One of his documents stated that Anna Merner (the name can also be found spelled Muerner, likely it’s original Swiss spelling) “married a Staebler” but offered no other reference to who the identity of the Staebler nor anything further about that family. 
Anna Merner is Ellen’s 2X great grandmother and she was one of Samuel’s younger sisters. Fraser 2X great grandmother, Mary, was another of Samuel’s younger sisters. All were the children of Jacob Emanuel Muerner and Susanna Schluchter. Anna (Muerner) Merner married Jacob Staebler around 1840. Jacob and Anna Staebler youngest daughter Mary is Ellen’s great grandmother.
The key to unlocking the new branch of Ellen’s family tree was the information that Fraser offered in his posted comment, “Mary [Merner] married Joseph Laschinger ….” I didn’t have that information and although I have yet to find a marriage record for Joseph and Mary, I have found many records listing them as living together and being the parents of a dozen children.
Exploring the Merner – Laschinger branch has added, as stated earlier, about 200 more individuals to my genealogy database, and all sources have been cited. The ‘new to me’ Laschinger family line has discovering connections with Edmund H. Laschinger, a prominent Canadian government figure in the early 20th century, along with Russell Howard Laschinger, a prominent newspaper publisher in Gilmer, Texas along with his daughter, Sarah Jane (Laschinger) Greene who, in 2010, was inducted into the Texas Newspaper Foundation Hall of Fame.
A great early Christmas gift for a genealogist. Now if Santa could only find a photo of my great grandfather John Foley!