Tombstones dating back to the 19th century or earlier can be rich sources of information about our ancestors. They can be used as substitutes when there are no government-issued vital records. These older tombstones sometimes give additional details that may not be recorded on any other surviving records. In this example, a tombstone from 1885 included an important clue which helped to break down a brick wall involving my German ancestors.

My third great-grandmother Margaretha Weber Kasper was born in Germany in 1856. The 1880 census shows Margaretha and her husband, John Kasper, in the household of Margaretha’s widowed father Nicholas Weber. The family lived on a farm in Southport, Chemung County, New York. Nicholas died in 1885, Margaretha in 1899 and John in 1905. The three of them are buried next to each other in St. Peter and Paul’s Catholic Cemetery in Elmira, New York. Margaretha’s mother is conspicuously absent in both the census record and cemetery. Who was Margaretha’s mother? Did she immigrate with the family to the U.S. or did she die in Germany?

A record found offline provided a first name

With limited records available online, I requested the following records, which were available from the county clerk in Chemung County, New York:

1. Nicholas Weber’s naturalization record. The record only listed his date of naturalization and provided no clues about his date of immigration or other family members.
2. Nicholas Weber’s death certificate. I received a transcription of the record and the fields asking for parents’ names, birthplace and name of surviving spouse were all left blank.
3. Margaretha Weber Kasper’s death certificate. Margaretha’s mother was listed on this record as Margaretha Weber. The maiden name continued to be elusive. The record also states that Margaretha had been in the U.S. for 28 years. Considering her death occurred in 1899, this means the family immigrated about 1871.

Margaretha’s brother revealed more clues

Margaretha had a younger brother named Peter who was also born in Germany. Peter can be linked to Margaretha through her daughter Helen. Peter lived with Helen and her husband when the 1930 census was taken. Peter’s death certificate, which listed his niece’s husband as the informant, did not identify his parents. However, the 1900 federal census provides important information about immigrants. Peter was the only member of his family who survived long enough to be counted in this census. The record held the following details:

• Peter was born in Germany in December 1860.
• The family immigrated in 1871. This was consistent with the information found in Margaretha’s death certificate.

Once I had the mother’s first name and their year of immigration, I found the family on a ship’s passenger list on Ancestry. They had travelled steerage on the steampship Italy, and arrived in New York on 22 December 1871. Each of them had survived the voyage.

• Nicholas Weber, aged 47
• Margaretha Weber, wife, aged 45
• Margaretha Weber, child, aged 12
• Peter Weber, child, aged 11

Revisiting Nicholas’s tombstone inscription answered more questions

Since none of the other records I found revealed the hometown of my German ancestors, I took another look at Nicholas Weber’s tombstone. I photographed the grave when I visited the cemetery. I was able to zoom in on a picture of the faded inscription on my computer. The town was still difficult to read, but I started making guesses and entered them into Google. I eventually got a match that seemed to match the inscription: Hermeskeil.

Once I had the town name, I went to familysearch. I entered my ancestors’ names, dates and the town name of Hermeskeil, Germany and I found the following records:

1. Marriage Record. Nicolaus Weber-Weicherding and Margaretha Schuh married in Hermeskeil in 1856.
2. Christening Record. Margaretha Weber-Weicherding, the daughter of Nicolai Weber-Weicherding and Margarethae Schu was christened in Hermeskeil on 19 October 1856.
3. Christening Record. An unnamed child, the son of Nicolai Weber-Weicherdine and Margarethae Schu, was christened in Hermeskeil on 25 October 1858.
4. Christening Record. Petrus Weber-Weicherding, the son of Nicolai Weber-Weicherding and Margarethae Schu, was christened in Hermeskeil on 25 December 1859.
5. Christening Record. Joanna Weber, the daughter of Nicolai Weber and Margarethae Schuh was christened in Hermeskeil on 1 December 1861.
6. Burial Record. Joanna Weber, daughter of Nicolai Weber and Margaretha Schuh was buried in Hermeskeil on 6 December 1861.

The hyphenated last name of Weber-Weicherding seemed confusing initially. However, by the time that the youngest child Joanna was born in 1860, the surname was shortened to Weber. The 1856 christening of daughter Margaretha, matched my ancestor’s 1856 birthdate inscribed on her tombstone, and the December 1859 christening of son Petrus closely matched her brother Peter’s December 1860 birthdate recorded in the 1900 census. Daughter Joanna died in infancy, and the unnamed son may have died as well. This left only daughter Margaretha and son Petrus to immigrate with the couple in 1871, which matches the makeup of the Weber family found on the ship’s passenger list.

Conclusion

Margaretha Schu or Schuh of Hermeskeil, Germany was the mother of Margaretha Weber Kasper. She was born in Germany about 1826. Margaretha married Nicholas Weber in 1856, and they had four children together, two of whom died in infancy. Nicholas, Margaretha, and their two surviving children, Margaretha and Peter, immigrated to the U.S. in 1871. Margaretha Schu Weber died in the U.S. sometime after 22 December 1871, when the family arrived in New York, and before Nicholas Weber was identified as widowed in the 1880 census.

Key Takeaways

1. Finding your immigrant ancestor in their native country usually requires identifying their hometown.
2. If your ancestor has a surviving headstone, find it! If you’re having trouble reading any of the inscription, photograph the grave and zoom in on the inscription on your phone or computer.