3rd great grandfather
My name is Kellie Stocker and I am in search for my third grade grandfather’s parents. His name is Alois stocker. He was born 1809 and died 1902. He died in Minnesota he was born I think in Germany. If anybody can help, I would greatly appreciate it. There are records that I already have such as census records a marriage record. I found an obituary. I found him on find a grave. I hope somebody can assist me in in the right direction. Thank you.
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Hello Kellie - Find a Grave and the obituary state that he was born in Switzerland. Is there nothing mentioned about where he came from in the records you have?
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Hi Kellie,
His familysearch ID (KD3H-189) also has records consistently saying he was born in Switzerland. His wife Helena was born in Germany so perhaps that is the confusion.
In order to learn more about him I suggest finding every possible record in the U.S. that potentially could list his birth date, parents names or location of birth. His civil marriage record in St Louis indicates he was married in the Evangelical church in St. Louis. If those church records exist they might contain valuable information. His death certificate or the church and cemetery burial records in Minnesota might have needed information. His newspaper obituary might have the information. See if you can find church records for his time in Minnesota. When he moved there the church might have recorded where he was from. Sometimes records for his children will include where the parents are from so check all their birth, marriage and death records (church and civil records).
He and his wife may well have been most comfortable reading and speaking German. If there was a German language newspaper serving the area (he lived very close to Minneapolis), the there might be an obituary for him in it with good information.
Make sure to get images of the actual records. Do not rely on indexes as they often miss valuable data.
Also, look for potential close relatives in the areas where he lived. It was very common for immigrants to settle in the same areas with other family members. I notice there is a John Stocker (KN1F-VGK) , born 1813 in Switzerland that lived in San Francisco Township, Carver County, Minnesota at the same time as Alois lived in Helena Township in Scott County (1865 Minnesota state census). Those two townships are only about 4 miles apart. In the 1870 census Alois is in Sand Creek Township which immediately adjoins San Francisco Township.
That John Stocker then moved to Milton Township in Dodge County where a "Bartholomew Stocker" (LTKX-RP6) born 1811 in Switzerland lived. In the 1875 Minnesota state census the families of both John and Bartholomew Stocker are listed as living next to each other. So maybe they are Alois' brothers or cousins? Or maybe just a coincidence?
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