JOHN & MARY GARNER

The parents of Charles Jacob GARNER (1863 - 1943) have been a really tough case to work on.  

There are so many John and Mary GARNERS in and around York and Lancaster Counties in Pennsylvania that I really needed a large block of time to look for them.  There were tons of documents to go through and a lot of conflicting information.

So after several days of concentrating only on John and Mary, I think I have at least the basic information that I am comfortable sharing and feel that I am working on the right couple. 

For many years, the only "for sure" document I had was the 1880 census in York Co., PA. Charles GARNER was on it, and all his info was close enough to consider a match.  

I grew up being told that he was the only one of his family that settled in Lancaster County, but after considerable searching have found at least one other sibling that lived, died and is buried in Lancaster County.

Let's start with Charles as we are on firm ground here:

Charles Jacob GARNER was born in York County, PA in 1863 to John and Mary (GREENAWALT) GARNER.  There is no clear evidence as to how or exactly when he moved to the neighboring county of Lancaster.  

I have seen lists and "family trees" saying that he was the oldest with anywhere from 9 - 16 siblings.  Based on his parents marriage date of July 1862 (a suggested date on one of the trees, I found no proof so far), Charles being born in March of 1863 would make him the oldest.

Charles married Elizabeth MUSSELMAN and they had 9 (known) children who lived to adulthood - this photo was taken in 1923 at a family reunion.  

The reunion was held in Mechanic Grove (which is in Lancaster Co) which made no sense to me unless either his family traveled a long way for the reunion from York County, or as I now know, he actually had at least one other sibling in Lancaster County. 

The below photo is of Charles, Elizabeth, and their 9 adult children:

This photo below hung in my grandparents bedroom for the many years I was growing up - it was said to be the only photo of Charles as a young man. It currently hangs proudly in my cousin Lori's home. Besides his parents, I have no idea who is who in the photo.  I hope someone out there can help with this:

Here is Charles Jacob GARNER's death certificate:

Here is John GARNER's (Charles father) death certificate:

His death certificate confirms a family story that John's father was Jacob GARNER and that he was born in Germany. There is a Mary GARNER in the same cemetery as John & Mary GARNER whose dates could be reasonable to be the mother of John, but I have nothing yet to back up this thought, other than another family story was that John's mom was a Mary or Maria.  Right now, I do not know Jacob's birth or death date, and do not have a burial place for him.

Here are the gravestones of John and Mary GARNER (source: Find A Grave).  I still have not found her death certificate or a marriage license.

Here John and Mary are in the 1910 census.  They are lines 62 and 63.

8/14/2017: My aunt Gloria gave me the below photo when I was in Lancaster last week. It is, I am guessing, circa 1910. I labeled the 3 people I was sure of in the photo, but the photo caption is my aunt's.

PLEASE NOTE: 
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.