Our family originally comes from a little town in the Alsace (France) called Auenheim. In 1884, Michael Elchinger came to St. Louis, MO, where he set up a tailoring business, married Theresia Werz in 1885, and had 5 children, 4 of whom survived - Charles, Michael, Annie, and Katherine. Michael's widowed mother, Magdalena (nee Boos), as well as some of his brothers and sisters, also emigrated from the Alsace to St. Louis.
Civil records for the town of Auenheim exist for the years 1793-1882 and have been microfilmed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (http://www.familysearch.org) and can be ordered as follows (records are in French or German, depending on the year):
Although Auenheim has its own Catholic church, church records were kept together with those of a neighboring town, Rountzenheim, and information for the years 1763-1837 is recorded here in Latin:
If you're related to any of the St. Louis Elchingers, or would like more information about the Auenheim Elchingers, send email to sylvia@elchinger.com. We'd love to hear from you!