John A. Grabner, St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery, Liberty Twp, Mercer County, Ohio. (2023 photo by Karen)
This is the tombstone of John A. Grabner, located in row 4 of St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio. The marker is broken at the base, at the point where the age is inscribed. The readable inscription:
John A
Son of
John & M
Grabner
Died
Aug 20 1868
[broken stone, age unreadable]
John Anton Grabner was born in Liberty Township on 30 April 1866, the son of John and Magdalene “Lena” (Maurer) Grabner, according to the church records of St. Paul Lutheran, Liberty Township. John was baptized at St. Paul Lutheran in June 1866, the exact day is unreadable. According to St. Paul’s records, John Anton Grabner died 9 August 1868, aged 2 years, 3 months, and 23 days.
As is often the case, the dates and calculations on the tombstone inscription and church records disagree a by a few days. We know John was born in April 1852 and was a little over 2 years old when he died.
John’s parents were both born in Germany and his father immigrated to America in 1847. His parents, John Grabner and Magdalene Maurer, married in Mercer County, on 17 January 1852. [1]
Their surname is spelled several ways in the various records: Grabner, Graebner, and Grapner. The oldest spelling of the name in the church records is Graebner and is probably more of the German spelling.
The John Grabner (Sr) family lived in Section 11 of Liberty Township, about 1½ miles east of St. Paul Lutheran Church. The family attended church at St. Paul and the following family information is recorded in their church records: [2]
Johann Michael Graebner, son of Johann Michael and Maria Elisabetha Graebner, was born on 17 August 1822 in Schellert, County Court an der Eisch, District Mittelfranken, Kingdom of Bavaria, where he was also baptized and confirmed. He immigrated to America in 1847 and lived in Butler County, Ohio, for a few years. He married Magdalena Maurer in Mercer County in 1852. Magdalena was the daughter of Nickolaus and Margaretha Maurer, and was born on 28 February 1832 in Guedingen, District Saarbruecken, Prussia. She was baptized and confirmed in Bischnissheim. John and Magdalena (Maurer) Grabner lived in Mercer County since their marriage, where their following children were born and baptized:
George, born 9 January 1853
Paulina, born 18 December 1854
Luisa, born 8 December 1856
Maria, born 9 November 1858
Friedrich Wilhelm, born 1 March 1861, died 28 September 1864
John Anton, born 30 April 1866
That record ended at 1866, but the couple had at least one more child:
Henry Jacob, born 11 December 1870, died 19 April 1950. He never married and is also buried at St. Paul Liberty.
[1] Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, Mercer County Marriage Book C, p.161, John Grabner & Magdalena Moner [sic], 17 Jan 1852; Ancestry.com.
[2] Familienbuch, St. Paul Liberty Lutheran Church, Liberty Township, Mercer County, Ohio, p.33, previously translated from original records.
