My mother's sister was in town last weekend. Aunt Marian turned 90 in May and is the only daughter left in Mom's family. She lives in Denver and I'm in New York so we seldom see each other. Two of her brothers, My Uncles Bob and Leslie are thankfully still with us and were there also. It was a bittersweet reunion, I couldn't help wishing Mom had been there too. Her sister looks so much like her I found myself staring and wanting to hug her--so I did, several times.
Assorted cousins were in attendance and I found that some of them are interested in genealogy! As we discussed our research and conclusions I found myself growing more and more interested in my maternal line. I'm ashamed to admit I've neglected them badly. I did take a stab at it a few years ago but couldn't find much, and was so dismayed by the only two researchers of the Lash line I could find, that I abandoned the effort. They had no sources, lots of assumptions and just plain bad genealogy, like the assertion a ten year old was someone's father??? They had been trading "information" and their trees were identical and filled with errors like the ten year old prodigy. Then too, the Lash and Fiddler families are German and this is an Irish blog. But in honor of Matrilineal Monday I've decided to throw caution to the wind and blog about my Germanic roots.
I do have another motive for tracing my Mother's line, the birth of my new grand-baby. It occurred to me it would be nice to trace the female line for her. I'm back to 1730 and still looking. But back to the Lash family.
The surname Lash, like so many others, did not start out that way. Records of the German Reformed Church in Rhinebeck spelled the name Loesch. The family may have come to America very early on. The years 1708 and 1710 saw large influxes of Germans from the Palatinate in Germany. Indeed, a ship list of Palatines from 1710 includes the surname Loesch.
My first known Lash family member, Henry, was born in Dutchess County, New York, but I'm not sure about his parents. I believe them to be George Lash and Elizabeth Schuck who may or may not be from Germany. Henry married Sarah Fiedler, or Feidler, or Fiddler, take your pick. I know Sarah's father John or Johann, came from Germany and even when he came because I found his Revolutionary War pension application where he thoughtfully spelled it out,"born April 15, 1760 in Germany;came to America in 1775. Lived in Rhinebeck and Red Hook, then came to Victor, NY". Unfortunately there is no other family information contained in the paperwork. It does indicate however that it's likely his daughter Sarah was born here since he was so young when he immigrated.
The Lash family migrated to Atlas Township in Michigan between 1850 and 1860, with only my great great grandfather Morgan Lash remaining in New York. These lines are so early that census records are of little use and New York of course didn't keep records that early, that leaves church records, Lutheran church records. Does this mean I need to study German? Or learn to like German beer? Glancing through some German genealogy sites I can see I have alot to learn about the subject.
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