Charles Gailliot was a full-blooded brother of Henry Gailliot rather than his half-brother

Tombstone for Charles Gailliot, 1847-1895, and his second wife, Mary [Jund], 1860-1933, at St. Mary's cemetery, Lawrenceville, PA. However, not all things written in stone are true- particularly in genealogical research.

Recently, I discovered a reference which will substantially change our Gailliot Genealogy. Previously, I thought that Charles (or Karl) Gailliot was a half-brother of my great grandfather, Henry Caspar Gailliot, based on the former's estimated birth year. See picture of the early Gailliot family in previous blog entry. I have five sources for Charles Gailliot's birth year of which three indicated he was born in 1847; and two sources, in 1849. The difference in the two dates is significant, because the FIRST WIFE of Anton Gailliot, the father of Charles and Henry, died on 2 August 1848. So if Charles was born a year before his mother died, he would be a half-brother of Henry who was born in 1862 of Anton and his second wife, Helen Schlebusch. The evidence:

1. Charles Gailliot's tombstone inscription indicates his birth year was 1847.
2. The cemetery records of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Pittsburgh states Charles was fatally injured after being run over by a train in Mar, 1895, when he was 48 years old (estimated born about 1847).
3. From Charles Gailliot's Civil Death Registration at Pittsburgh courthouse his estimated birth year from his age, 48 years, when he died in Mar 1895 is 1847 (1895-48=1847). Also, it states his MOTHER was "Marie" who died in Aug 1848, suggesting that Charles must have been born before 1848.
4. Charles' parish marriage record states he was 25 years old when he married Barbara Weitmuller on 21 May 1874; estimated born 1849 (1874-25=1849).
5. From Pittsburgh Marriages Registration: Charles was 33 years old when he married his second wife, Mary Jund, in 1882; estimated born 1849 (1882-33=1849).

The most compelling evidence for Charles' birth year until now was the third source listed above- his Civil Death Registration. HOWEVER, I just discovered a pair of 1891 passport applications (at Ancestry.com) for both Charles Gailliot and his younger brother, Henry, which states Charles was born specifically on 10 June 1849. In other words, both Charles and Henry Gailliot could only be the sons of Anton's SECOND wife, who was Helen Schlebusch. Thus, Charles and Henry were full-blooded brothers rather than half-brothers.
Indeed, the parish death entry for Anton's FIRST wife stated she was survived by only one son, Laurenz Gailliot. Subsequently, I found a later parish record that stated Laurenz Gailliot died at 16 years and 6 months, on 7 Feb 1862- only 2 days before Henry Gailliot was born, on Feb 9th. What a mixture of grief and joy those days must have been for the Gailliot family.

Further evidence has been discovered by Rudolf Kerbitz, my genealogy collaborator in Germany, in a recent publication, "Marriage Transcriptions of St. Maria Himmelfahrt in Wesel". Anton Gailliot married secondly to Helen Schlebush on 22 Oct 1848- only 3 months after his first wife, Marie Dissel, passed away. And then, along came the birth of Charles Gailliot just 8 months later. It all seems to fit- ever so tightly!