Three generations of John Wagners Detailed

Three generations of John Wagners: What do we know and how?

This post will be devoted to getting straight the various generations of John Wagners out there who are a direct line to August. There are three of them (plus his brother J Harry). Here is what we know and can surmise:

In 1801, a John (probably Johann) Wagner was born in Baden, Germany. A year later, his future wife Caroline was born, also in Baden. There are many Johann Wagners documented in Karlsruhe, Baden. I can't separate them at this point. We do have the 1860 census:

Here we see that John was a stone mason, that he lived in the 20th ward of Philadelphia and was 59 years old.  Son John was 38.

We pick up the story in the 1870 census: 

Son John is now 49; original John and Caroline have probably passed on. Their death certificates have not yet been located, but certainly they exist. Their son John (father of August and the 3rd John) is 24 (putting his birth at 1846).

Now on to the 1880 census. 

Parents John and Louisa are empty nesters now, living at 3548 Germantown Road, in the back. They are 58.

Son John has married Elizabeth; they are each 35, and have two children, John Harry, and Louis. These are August's older brothers.  August came along in 1881. The family lived on N. 29th Street.

Almost all records of the 1890 census were destroyed in a fire. City records may remain, but are not yet digitized. They will be forthcoming.

We have a record of John's death certificate, dated 1899. He is buried at Ivy Hill Cemetery along with Louisa. Louisa died in 1884.

Now to 1900, a year where the census started asking more detailed questions: 

John and Elizabeth (ages 54 and 55) are shown with their four children, Harry, Louis, August and Amelia. They live at 2462 N 31st Street and own their own home. John reports that he has lived in the US for 52 years, which is close to the 1850 date of immigration we assume. Parents were born in Baden, children all in the US. John calls himself a wagon builder, Harry is a lawyer, Louis a painter and August a salesman. From her on in, we enter the modern era and data comes easier.

We have census data for each decade up to 1940.

John died in 1925; Elizabeth in 1927.

And here is a photo of the 4th John (Harry) Wagner, a lawyer and August's brother (thanks to Aunt Mildred for the ID):

Apparently this Harry's son (also Harry) was the law partner of Uncle Richard. And I think there is yet another John Harry in the next generation.

I think this is enough data to digest in one sitting. There are certainly gaps: I have a record of a 5 year old John Wagner emigrating from Havre aboard the Duchess d'Orleans but that is sketchy. Could be another John Wagner. And I cannot prove that all of these three generations arrived together. But I worked back from John, father of August. If indeed John came in 1850, he had to come with his parents, John and Louisa. And if John and Caroline are the grandparents, it is logical that they came at the same time. So far, the links to John and Caroline are only through the census. We will need a ship's manifest or German data to prove this. All of these people were born in Baden, a very popular birthplace for German-American immigrants.

Last, I must admit that Louisa's maiden name of Steiner is second hand information. Many people have these Wagners as a part of their tree, and when they cite information that looks genuine, I take it. That's how I got Steiner. It could change.