Johann Wilhelm Fischer

Background

My ancestors all emigrated to Australia in a 35-year period between 1848 and 1883. My goal for my family history work is to confirm my ancestors genetically back to the family that they were born into prior to emigrating.

Claire Hinton researched the family of Johan Jakob Steinhauser extensively, even visiting Butzbach in Germany. Claire had been supported by a number of family members including Helen, who shared some of Claire’s earlier work with the researcher. Following the leads in this material with the help of a Steinhauser cousin living in France, allowed much of the documentation to be validated. DNA matches would be small to validate a great-great-great-grandparent in Germany, so a surname search was conducted: search for “Steinhauser” as a “surname in matches’ tree” in the researcher’s match list. This approach yielded a DNA connection for the Steinhauser family in the USA which led to Jakob Steinhauser’s nephew, Johan Wilhelm Fischer who was known as William Fischer in the US.

This research identifies the German ancestors for Jakob Steinhauser by proving the connection between the descendants of William Fischer and the descendants of Johan Jakob Steinhauser who emigrated to Australia.

Research Question

Conclusion

Evidence

1. Baptism Record

   The original image of the Baptism Record for Johan Wilhelm Fischer was accessed via FamilySearch¹ and transcribed using the original image¹ and Transkribus. The text was then translated using Google Translate to provide the following text. Note that this text has not been independently verified by a professional German translator, but is consistent with the details supplied by both the FamilySearch transcription³ and the Ancestry index record.⁴ The independent transcription and translation provides additional details such as Johann Wilhelm Fischer’s birth date of 11 Aug 1864, his father’s occupation as a master tanner and that he was named after his father’s brother, who signed the baptism record.

   1864.

   Johann Wilhelm Fischer, 28th, in the year of Christ eighteen hundred and sixty-four, on the 11th of August in the evening around twelve o’clock, according to the credible report of Johann Conrad Fischer, local citizen and master tanner, his second child, their first son, was born to his wife Elisabeth Apollonie, née Steinhäußer, of this place. He was baptized on the 11th of September and named Johann Wilhelm.

   The witness was Johann Wilhelm Fischer, unmarried brother of the child’s father, who signed this document along with the child’s father and only the baptizing priest.

   Joh. Conrad Fischer.
   Joh. Wilhelm Fischer

   

   Fig. 1. Baptism record for Johan Wilhelm Fischer, Butzbach, 11 September 1864.¹

2. John William Fischer’s Marriage Return

   

   Fig. 2. Return of Marriage for William Fischer and Catharine Hearty, 21 May 1887. New York City Municipal Archives, associated with Marriage Certificate no. 70186. Digital image, FamilySearch film 007589582, image 445 of 975. Personally examined 31 Mar 2026 at Toowoomba Family History Centre.²

   Table 1: Record Consistency for William Fischer

   Record	Record Date	Birth Year	Name	Address	Wife’s Name / Naturalised
   Marriage Return2	1887	1863	William Fischer	New York	Catherine Hearty from Ireland. Occupation: Pastry Chef
   1900 United States Census5	1900	Aug. 1864	William Fischer	Theriot Avenue, Bronx, New York	Catherine from Ireland. Naturalised 1888. Occupation: Baker
   New York State Census, 19056	1905	Abt 1863	William Fischer	The Bronx, New York	Catherine from Ireland. Occupation: Cook
   1910 United States Census7	1910	1865	John W Fischer	Bronx Assembly District 32, New York	Catherine from Ireland. Occupation: Chef at Restaurant
   New York State Census, 19258	1925	Abt 1864	John W Fischer	New York, Bronx	Catherine from Ireland. Naturalised 1888. Occupation: Watchman
   Applications for Seaman’s Protection Certificates, 1916–19409	—	7 Aug 1864	William Fischer	1237 Beach Ave, Bronx, New York	Naturalised 20 Oct 1888
   Index to Petitions for Naturalisations10	1888	—	William Fischer	339 E 81st St	Naturalised 25 Oct 1888

   John William Fischer’s Marriage Return² dated 21 May 1887 said that he was 24, implying a birth year of 1863. John William Fischer’s birth year varies between 1863 and 1865 for the records (Table 1). These records were self-reported. The reported dates centre around the birth date reported in the baptism for Johan Wilhelm Fischer of 11 August 1864. The baptism record is an original source with primary information recorded at or near the event; the Marriage Return and other records in Table 1 are derivative information provided by John William Fischer years later.

   His wife being Catherine from Ireland as well as various addresses in The Bronx, New York and associated cook/chef type occupations until 1925 when he is listed as a watchman, provides consistency for the records.

   John William Fischer’s place of birth is given as Germany. US vital records often have only a country recorded. On the Marriage Return, William Fischer’s father’s name is recorded as Johan C Fischer and his mother’s name as Eliza Steinhauser. Eliza being used as a diminutive is consistent with the use of Elise for Elizabeth Apollonie confirmed by letters included in Claire Hinton’s self-published family history.¹¹ The parent names are near identical to the baptism record for Johann Wilhelm Fischer.

3. Claire Hinton’s Research — Growing Up in the Thirties and Forties¹¹

   Claire Hinton, a descendant of Johannes Steinhauser (1808) in Australia, self-published a book about her ancestors.¹¹ Johannes Steinhauser and wife Klara Susanna Grunninger had two children who survived childhood: Johann Jakob, known as Jakob, who emigrated to Australia in 1854 and Elisabetha Apolonia Steinhauser¹² or Elise as she would be known, who was “named in honour of Johanne’s sister Elisabeth Appollonia” (p. 15).

   Addendum VI¹³ of Claire’s book includes the translations of seven letters and how they were found in 1993 in Butzbach in an old storehouse behind “Haus Vogt” that was to be demolished. The letters were a correspondence between Jakob Steinhauser in Clunes, Australia and his uncle Christof Vogt.

   The following extracts from the letters¹³ confirm that Jakob Steinhauser’s sister Elise married Konrad Fischer and that her name was known as Elise within the family rather than Elisabetha Apolonia Steinhauser as she was baptised.¹² In addition, the letters also suggest that emigration to the US was being considered by the family prior to William Fischer’s emigration.

   On the 14 Apr 1872 (p.30) “Uncle E. C. Vogt” wrote to Jakob: “You wrote to your sister and brother-in-law […] Your brother-in-law, Konrad Fischer, is very ill. […] Instead of letting him go to Australia, I would persuade him to go to San Francisco.”

   On the 19 Aug 1872 (p.31) “Your loving Uncle, E. Chr. Vogt” wrote to Jakob, referring to the death of Konrad Fischer: “Your dear sister Elise has great problems with the running of the house and the farm after this sad event”.

   Jakob Steinhauser wrote to his Uncle 10 Jul 1876 (p.31): “I want information about my sister Elise and her family. I have heard nothing from her for 3 years and cannot understand why. I always send her letters.”

   Claire Hinton refers to Jakob’s uncle as Christof Vogt. Jacob Vogt’s 1878 marriage record¹⁴ names his parents as Ernst Christoph Vogt and Elise Apollonie née Steinhäußer, confirming both the full formal name of Christof Vogt and that his wife Elise Apollonie was born a Steinhäußer — Jakob Steinhauser’s aunt. Claire Hinton’s book notes that Jakob’s sister Elise was named in her honour (p. 15). The use of a middle name or shortened form for everyday use is consistent with naming practices seen throughout this family, including Elisabetha Apollonie being known as Elise or Eliza.

   Claire Hinton’s research describes that Johannes Steinhauser (1808) had a daughter baptised Elisabeth Appollonie. She was known as Elise to the family and she married Konrad Fischer. This information matches the mother named on John William Fischer’s Marriage Return² as Eliza Steinhauser married to Johan C Fischer. Four name variants are used for Elizabeth Apollonie, as shown in Table 2. They are consistent given time and geography differences.

   Table 2. Name variants for Elizabeth Apollonie.

   Name	Source
   Elizabeth Apollonie Fischer née Steinhäußer	Johan Wilhelm Fischer’s Baptism Record1
   Eliza Steinhauser	John Fischer’s Marriage Return2
   Elise Fischer née Steinhauser	Growing Up in the Thirties and Forties11, 13
   Elisabetha Apolonia Steinhauser	Elisabetha Apolonia Steinhauser’s Baptism Record12

4. Autosomal DNA Evidence

   A DNA connection for the Steinhauser family was identified by searching for “Steinhauser” as a “surname in matches’ tree” in the researcher’s match list. A DNA match was identified, and their shared matches identified.¹⁵ The matches that could be placed in a tree (Appendix 1) are documented in Table 3. The documentary chains for the US testers vary in completeness, and the structure for the US family is based on their match data to each other.

   An autosomal DNA cluster confirms descent from Johannes Steinhauser and his wife Klara, as per the tree in Appendix 1. Note that one tester’s parents were both descended from Jakob Steinhauser’s children and were second cousins.

   At the relationship distances involved in this analysis — 4C1R and 5C1R — DNA sharing is not guaranteed. The identification of multiple consistent DNA connections between descendants of the two Steinhauser sibling lines, despite Johannes and Klara having only two surviving children with tested descendants, is therefore a meaningful finding rather than an expected outcome.

   BanyanDNA is not recommended for theories that rely mostly on 4C relationships or beyond and/or matches less than 20cM. The theory tested in this research is all based on 4C relationships and beyond although match sizes are generally greater than 20cM.¹⁶ The matches therefore demonstrate a family connection rather than a specific relationship.

5. Negative Evidence

   All of William Fischer’s records specify his birthplace as ‘Germany’. No region or town is ever identified. Because of this, negative evidence required a search across all available German marriage records. A search of Ancestry’s German marriage records 1845–1865 using ‘Eli*’ Steinhauser returned 142 entries across all German states. A review of the women with Steinhauser or variants as their surname, approximately 25 women, found that no woman married a man with the surname Fischer in the record set. FamilySearch was searched using Records (name: Steinhauser, marriage: 1845–1865, in Europe, spouse surname: Fischer) and Full Text (name: Steinhauser, marriage: 1845–1865, in Europe) searches which found no relevant records. This search may still be incomplete as Hamburg has not been searched.^{17, 18}

Evidence Evaluation / Evaluation of Competing Hypotheses

Closing Statement

The combination of information in records and multiple DNA matches between the Australian and U.S.A. families and consistent autosomal cM values across descendant lines establishes Johann Conrad Fischer and Elizabeth Apollonie Fischer of Butzbach, Germany as the parents of Johann Wilhelm Fischer, known in the United States as John William Fischer. The limitation of chromosome-level triangulation being unavailable due to the use of AncestryDNA is noted.

Acknowledgements

The research in this report was conducted in March and April 2026.

AI tools were also used to create citations using the Elizabeth Shown Mills Evidence Explained citation standard.¹⁹ All citations were reviewed by the researcher.

Claude using Steve Little’s Genealogical Research Assistant v8.5.1c, a research assistant designed to follow GPS methodology for genealogists at every level, was used to critique and help the author improve their GPS arguments.

Claire Hinton’s work has been invaluable for constructing the family tree.

All sources have been personally found and verified by the researcher. No research or sources were supplied by AI tools.

BanyanDNA and the associated FaceBook weekly meeting team have been very supportive by providing information as to how the software analyses tree and match data.

The researcher’s thanks go to a Steinhauser cousin in France, and Helen, who shared research that led to Claire Hinton’s book. Thanks also to Claire’s children for allowing the sharing of material from Claire’s book.

Appendix 1: The Family Tree Structure

Red lines show DNA connections between descendants of Johannes Steinhauser and descendants of William Fischer. cM values show the size of shared DNA between connected individuals where visible to the researcher. Matches of matches below 20cM are not visible on AncestryDNA to the Researcher. “Private” denotes a living individual whose identity is withheld for privacy reasons. All testers names have been replaced with anonymised Tester #.

Endnotes

1. “Butzbach, Kreis Friedberg, Hesse, Germany records,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSWW-YS62?view=explore : Mar 17, 2026), image 15 of 21; Image Group Number: 102053174. Baptism record for Johann Wilhelm Fischer, baptised 11 Sep 1864.
2. New York City Municipal Archives, New York City Marriage Records, Certificate of Marriage no. 70186 and Return of Marriage, William Fischer and Catharine Hearty, 21 May 1887; digital images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:243M-43W : accessed 31 March 2026), film no. 007589582, images 444–445 of 975; personally examined at Toowoomba Family History Centre, 31 March 2026. Index entry also available at same URL. Note: FamilySearch film 007589582 images the register in a format where certificates and returns are not always paired on the same image. Certificate of Marriage no. 70186 for William Fischer and Catharine Hearty appears on image 444 of 975. The corresponding Return of Marriage appears on image 445 of 975, which also shows Certificate no. 70187 for a different couple. Researchers should not confuse the two records.
3. Claire Hinton (descendant of Johannes Steinhauser), Growing Up in the Thirties and Forties, self-published, 2004, Addendum VI, pp. 27–33. See footnote 13 for full citation.
4. Evangelische Kirche Butzbach (Kr. Friedberg), “Deutschland, ausgewählte evangelische Kirchenbücher 1500–1971”, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPFX-8LSM : 20 Mar 2026), Index / transcription entry for Johann Wilhelm Fischer and Johann Conrad Fischer, 11 Sep 1864.
5. Evangelisches Zentralarchiv in Berlin, “Hesse, Hesse-Kassel, Hess Darmstadt, Hess-Marburg, Hess-Reinfels, Rhineland, and Waldeck, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1661–1957”, Index / transcription entry for Baptism for Johann Wilhelm Fischer 11 Sep 1864, (https://www.ancestry.com : 21 Mar 2026). Ancestry holds the index entry only.
6. 1900 U.S. Census, The Bronx, County New York, New York, Population Schedule, enumeration district: 1050, p. 10, William Fischer household; “1900 United States Federal Census”, database with images, image 19 of 50, Ancestry, (https://www.ancestry.com : 17 Mar 2026).
7. 1905 New York State Census, New York, Population Schedules, enumeration district: 50, p. 35, William Fischer household; “New York, U.S., State Census, 1905”, database with images, image 18 of 28, (https://www.ancestry.com : 17 Mar 2026).
8. 1910 U.S. Census, Bronx Assembly District 32, New York, New York; Population Schedule, enumeration district: 1459, p. 20a, John W Fischer household; “1910 United States Federal Census”, database with images, image 39 of 51, (https://www.ancestry.com : 17 Mar 2026).
9. New York State Census 1925, Bronx, New York, State Population Census Schedules, enumeration district 20, p. 21, John W Fischer household; “New York, U.S., State Census, 1925”, database with images, image 8 of 34, (https://www.ancestry.com : 17 Mar 2026).
10. National Archives and Records Administration, New York, U.S., Index to Petitions for Naturalization filed in New York City, 1792–1989, William Fischer 25 Oct 1888; digital image, image 501 of 2798, (https://www.ancestry.com : 20 Mar 2026).
11. Claire Hinton (descendant of Johannes Steinhauser), Growing Up in the Thirties and Forties, self-published, 2004 (publication date from funeral livestream, (https://www.norwoodpark.com.au/service-streaming/client/?nid=e518b619-51ff-4622-b050-7dd1bc19535a : 10 Mar 2026)). Chapters 3 and 4, pp. 15–31, Located with Clunes Museum, Clunes, Victoria, Australia. Digital copy supplied by French Steinhauser cousin. Stored electronically by Sharon Richards.
12. Evangelisches Zentralarchiv in Berlin, “Hesse, Hesse-Kassel, Hess Darmstadt, Hess-Marburg, Hess-Reinfels, Rhineland, and Waldeck, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1661–1957”; pp. 4–5, Index for “Elisabetha Apolonia Steinhauser” baptised 27 Jan 1839; (https://www.ancestry.com : 20 Mar 2026).
13. Claire Hinton (descendant of Johannes Steinhauser), Growing Up in the Thirties and Forties, self-published, 2004 (publication date from funeral livestream, (https://www.norwoodpark.com.au/service-streaming/client/?nid=e518b619-51ff-4622-b050-7dd1bc19535a : 10 Mar 2026)), Addendum VI, pp. 27–33, translated from German in 1993 by an unknown translator. Located with Clunes Museum, Clunes, Victoria, Australia. Digital copy supplied by Clunes Museum. Stored electronically by Sharon Richards. Note that the letters were also published in “Ancestor: Journal of the Genealogical Society of Victoria”, Vol 23, No. 2 (Winter), 1996.
14. Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Wiesbaden, Bestand 924, Laufende Nummer 321, civil marriage record no. 15, Butzbach, December 1878, Jacob Vogt and Anna Clara Marie Küchel; parents of groom recorded as Ernst Christoph Vogt and Elise Apollonie née Steinhäußer; digital image, “Hesse, Germany, Marriages, 1849–1930”, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Mar 2026), image 124 of 454. Note: “Steinhäußer” appears as “Neinhäuser” in the Transkribus/Google Translate transcription, likely a misreading of the “St” in the script.
15. AncestryDNA match list for Sharon Richards managed by the researcher, 3 Dec 2025, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 31 March 2026).
16. John Motzi, “160-Year-Old Mystery Solved: The Parents of Mary & Sam Revealed Using BanyanDNA,” presentation to the North San Diego County Genealogical Society, 18 April 2026.
17. Nicholas Redmon, AncestryBlog, “Understanding Church Records in Germany”, 31 Mar 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/family-history/understanding-german-church-records : accessed 17 Apr 2026.
18. Joe Beine, GermanRoots, “Places to Find German Genealogy Records and Databases Online”, 2026, https://www.germanroots.com/germandata.html : accessed 17 Apr 2026.
19. Elizabeth Shown Mills, Stripped Bare Guide: Citing and Using History Sources (Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., Baltimore Maryland, Kindle edition, 2026) and Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained, (https://www.evidenceexplained.com : March 2026), Forums.