Elser Margarethe Elser - Open to German Research

 "Elser Margarethe Elser

Elser Margarethe Elser, nee Breininger, was born March 5, 1837 at Greilshausen, Wuertemberg, Germany.  She was baptised and confirmed in the German Lutheran faith and came to this country some 24 years of ago.  

She was united in marriage to Christ Elser, May 1, 1861 at Williams Center and settled on a farm in Washington township.  Later, she, with her family moved to another farm nearby in the same township where she resided until God called her home.

God blessed this union with ten children, six sons and four daughters, seven of whom are living.  Mrs. Elser suffered a stroke of paralysis, Saturday, March 5, it being her 73 birthday from which she passed away Monday, March 7th, at the age of 73 years and 2 days.

She leaves to mourn her loss, a husband, seven children, twenty-four grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, one brother, Fred Breininger Sr. of Mark Center; one sister, Mrs. Burkhart of Edgerton, who has passed her 97th birthday. 

The deceased was ever a kind and affectionate wife and mother and it could be said those who knew her best, loved her most and our loss is her eternal gain.  She has been a member of the Lutheran church since she came to Defiance County at which place her services were held Thursday, March 10, 1910 by her pastor, Rev. Henkleman, where a large concourse of relatives and friends gathered to pay their last tribute of respect and the remains were laid to rest in the cemetery near the church."

Although an obituary is not a primary source for a person's vital information, it can provide many clues for further research.  In genealogy, it would be considered a 'gold mine' to find out an ancestral home, for example.  In Margarethe Elser's obituary, her birthplace is mentioned as Greilshausen, Wuertemberg, Germany.  A little research found that that village is now known as Krailshausen, a "subcity" of Schrozberg.  Stuttgart is about 55 miles away and to the west is Rothenberg.

In that village is a Lutheran church whose parish has been there since the 1200s.  In 1813, the church started recorded baptisms, so possibly this is where the Breiningers went to church and records of Margarethe Breininger and the family are there.  A little more research might find an archive where the records are housed, as usually the oldest records are moved out of the church itself...but not always.  And so the hunt to trace this family back in time can begin. Something to consider in researching would be the multiple spellings of Breininger used - Brauninger, Braeuninger, Braneneger, for example.  Spelling didn't matter at all in those days.

We are given information that Margarethe came to America when she was 24, which would be 1861.  She also married in May of that year.  Did the families come over together - Elser and Breininger.  A search of immigration records online might give an answer.  One record found an Anna Margaretha Breininger, age 23, and a brother, Frederick as passengers on the ship, Oldenberg, with their father, heading for Ohio. No Elsers, unless it was spelled differently and just not found on the first look-through.

A perfect obituary might have all the children listed, but this one does not.  So the researcher will have to go to the first census available, 1870, to find the beginnings of that information.  With this obituary, a researcher would have plenty to begin a search for ancestors.