Once again I feel drawn to search for my French ancestors who were from the Alsace- Loraine region. This is the region that had heavy German influences and near the German and Swiss boarders.
New dates and better places have been found using the French online archives.
Marriage record for Jacques (Jacob) Wagner and Barbe Eicher (2 pg document)
Marriage for Jacques Wagner and Barbe Eicher- Huningue, Haut-Rhin, Grand Est, France July 18, 1841 marriage certificate of Jacques WAGNER farmer residing at Saint Jacques farm near Basel, Switzerland, born in Belfort, Territoire de Belfort April 6, 1811; son of late Chrétien WAGNER farmer, deceased in Reppe, Territoire de Belfort February 17, 1827 & barbe SCHLEGEL residing in Reppe and consenting to the marriage. And Barbe EICHER born in Saint Louis, Haut Rhin January 28, 1814; birth certified by an affidavit (missing in the archives), daughter of Jacques EICHER residing in Heiteren, Haut rhin and consenting to the marriage & late Catherine KLOPFESTEIN deceased October 22, 1834 in Gatfingen (couldn’t find the town)
Thoughts about the marriage document:
Jacques Wager, farmer was residing at Saint Jacques farm near Basel, Switzerland. This is important because Jacques and Barbe's children were born in Switzerland.
Jacques was born in Belfort, Territoire de Belfort, France on 6 April 1811 and was the son of the late Chrétien Wagner who was also a farmer. He died in Reppe, Territoire de Belfort, France on 17 February 1827. Jacques' mother was Barbe Schlegel and she was residing in Reppe at the time of the marriage and consented to the marriage.
Barbe Eicher was born in Saint Louis, Haut Rhin, France on 28 January 1814--these are new dates and place! Her birth was certified by an affidavit, meaning it was missing in the archives. (Archives in Saint Louis were checked and no record was found). She was the daughter of Jacques Eicher who was residing in Heiteren, Haut Rhin, France and consented to the marriage. Her mother was listed as deceased- Catherine Klopfestein, died 22 October 1834 in Gatfingen. (Have not been able to locate this place)
Prior to this new information, Barbe Eicher's birth date was calculated (by me and recorded on FamilySearch) from the information obtained in her obituary. Her obituary puts her birthday as 10 March 1814. It stated that she died on Saturday (according to a 1904 calendar that would be November 19) and the obituary was published on 25 November 1904 with the Orrville Courier Crescent p. 6 col 3. It states that she was 90 years, 8 months, and 9 days old and being born in France. Prior birth place was listed as Aspach-le-Haut, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France, which could have come from previous family trees. I'm confident with the new information found since the record was created many years prior to her obituary.
This now leads me to researching Jacque and Barbe's children.
1- Michael Wagner born 29 September 1838 in Belfort, Franche-Comte, France. FamilySearch has his birth place as Near Belfort, Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France. I believe Belfort to be in Franche-Comte and not Haut-Rhin. He was born 2 1/2 years before his parent's marriage. Died 28 December 1912 in Chester Township, Wayne, Ohio (from Ohio Death Index). He married Mary Hawk on 15 February 1866 in Wayne, Ohio (Ohio County Marriages- FamilySearch)
Sources: Find a Grave has a copy of Michael's death certificate. Lists his mother and states his birth place as Alsace-Lorraine, France. 1860, 1870, 1880 Census lists birth place as France. 1900 & 1910 lists birth place as Germany, as well as parents' birth places. Link under obituary to order copy on FamilySearch.
My initial thoughts- Michael was likely born in France. Will search Belfort archives for birth information. He did not immigrate with his mother and 4 siblings to America. When did he immigrate? His death record did not list Jacque Wagner as his father but rather an unknown Wagner. Could he have had a different father? Could his mother have been married before she married Jacques?
2-Jakob Wagner born 23 August 1841 in Belfort, Haut-Rhin, France. Died 14 November 1912 Cleveland, Bradley, Tennessee. Same as Michael above, Belfort is in Franche-Comte and not Haut-Rhin.
Sources: 1870, 1880, 1900 census lists birth place as Switzerland. 1910 Census lists birth place as France. Three records say that he was born in Switzerland and I believe this is correct. His parents were married in France one month before his birth but on their marriage record it said his father was living outside of Basil, Switzerland. It makes sense the family moved there to be together. He is also not listed on the same immigration record as his mother and 4 younger siblings.
3- Joseph Wagner was born about 1843. FamilySearch says near Belfort, Haut-Rhin, France only because I added this information. I found him listed on a ship manifest in 1864. The age was an estimate as well as his death sometime after 1864. He is not found on any records after the ship record.
4- John Wagner was born 1845 near Belfort, Haut-Rhin, France. Death was 1846 in Belfort, Belfort, France. So many discrepancies on place names! There are no sources listed for him except for mention on an Ancestry family tree, which may or may not be correct.
5- John Wagner was born 9 March 1847 in Belfort, Haut-Rhin, France and died 20 October 1916 in East Union, Wayne, Ohio.
Sources: His 1916 Ohio Death Index states he was born in Switzerland. 1870, 1900 census states he was born in France. 1880 Census states he (and parents) were born in Germany). Thoughts- he may have been born in Switzerland because the next child was born there. This means children 3 and 4 may also have been born in Switzerland.
6- Christian Wagner-- my direct ancestor with previous research.
7- Barbara Wagner- was born about 1851 in Belfort, Alsace, France. Died about 1853 in Belfort, Belfort, France. Burial listed as Bourogne, Belfort, France. May have also been named Elisabeth. No sources listed.
8- Emma Catherine Wagner- born 11 July 1853 in Bourogne, Belfort, Franche-Comte, France. Died 24 April 1883 in Altamont, Deuel, South Dakota.
Sources: 1880 census lists her birth place as France.
Emma does not seem to be a French, Swiss, or German name.
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Passport (recorded in Colmar, Haut-Rhin, France 20 February 1864) lists Barbe Wagner widow of Jacques, née EICHER aged 50. Her children Joseph aged 19, Jean aged 17, Chrétien aged 14, Catherine aged 7. All born in Binningen, Switzerland.
Jacques Wagner died 4 October 1855 in Bourogne, Delle, Belfort. I had a record (I'm ashamed to say that I can't find it. I remember finding it while taking my German genealogy classes but my focus was on my school work at the time. I will locate it again!) that had this information on it. From the passport and knowing that Jacques died in France means the family moved between 1853 and 1855 back to France. They immigrated in 1864.
From a previous history written on Christian Wagner (needs to be corrected & finalized):
Christian Wagner was born 28 October 1849 in Binnegen, Basel, Switzerland1 to the parents of Jacques or Jacob Wagner and Barbara (Barbe) Eicher. He was one 8 children.
He immigrated to the United States in 1864. Barbe Wagner, along with four of her children are found on the French Immigration lists in March 18642. Christian was 14 years old and living in Mulhouse, France at the time. They arrived in New York City on 13 April 18643 on the ship ‘Virginia’. Their arrival was right during the Civil War. It is unclear how it impacted the family as they traveled from New York City to Ohio. Although, Christian’s brother, Michael, did fight in the Civil War. Ohio was an important state during the Civil War. It was politically important with the state divided. Even though Ohio was a Union State, the southern part openly opposed President Lincoln. Ohio was also important in its role in the Underground Railroad.4
Christian had two older brothers, Michael and Jacob, living in Ohio when they arrived in America. It is presumed that Christian went with his mother and three siblings to Wayne County, Ohio. Christian has not been found on any records in Ohio at this time. The impact of the Civil War may be a cause why records are not found.
On 31 May 18795, Christian married Anna August Scheef in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota. By 18806 they are living in Goodwin, Deuel, Dakota Territory. He is living next door to his sister Catherine, her husband, children, and mother Barbara. On the other side of Catherine is Christian’s brother Jacob. Deuel County and Yellow Medicine are neighboring counties. It is interesting that they moved but not far. There was a great rush of people heading to the Dakotas for land and perhaps this is why the Wagners went. They may have additional records in Yellow Medicine County as well as Deuel.
The family lived happily in the Dakota Territories until the Blizzard of ’88 struck on 12 January 18887. This is also known as the Schoolhouse Blizzard killing 235 people across the Midwest.8 There had been unusually warm temperatures the previous day when in the afternoon sudden arctic air from Canada pushed a storm into the area. Most of the victims were either children heading home from school or farm workers. Christian’s brother-in-law, Hugo Scheef, was living with the Wagners. He went out to take the cattle down to the lake for water. The sky was clear but within minutes the weather changed. The wind started to blow and snow started to fall so fast that they couldn’t see anything. Christian put on a fur coat, cap, and gloves and tried to go after Hugo. He was unsuccessful. After the storm passed, Hugo was found along with eight cattle frozen to death standing.
In the Spring of 1888, the family moved to the warmer climates of Tennessee. Christian was an overseer on a large mountaintop farm. On 12 November 1902 the Wagner family joins The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They were happy and the farm did well until the crops started to fail.
A newspaper article announcing their departure for Utah said one of the main reasons why they left Tennessee was because "The continued unfavorable seasons for fruit and vegetable raising in this section is largely responsible for their move. They depended on the production of fruits and vegetables to make a living on their mountain place six miles west [?], but for the past three years the crops have been cut off by frost or drought nearly one-half. This year the majority of the fruit was winter-killed, hence the prospects were very discouraging, and they resolved on a move." (Article is dated August 24 1905.)
As the First Great War (WWI) loomed, many people around Christian would have been either filling out Draft Registration Cards or enlisting to fight in the war. Christian did neither of these things. Only those who were between 18 and 45 had to fill out the cards9. Christian would have been 59 at the start of war. He did have 5 sons fill out draft registration cards.
Once in Salt Lake City, Christian works as a carpenter and Anna as a dressmaker.10 After retirement Christian was a dedicated Temple Worker. He died in the family home on 4 March 1933 in Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.11
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