A picture of EJK Merkle and some other relatives in 1917
His birth record is the 114th entry from Kirchenarchiv CC 11.7, year 1865, from the records of the Church of St Theodor in Basel (now being kept at the Staatsarchiv in Basel). It shows that he was born at 11 pm, that he was christened on June 22 1865, that his father was a "Handelsmann" (craftsman), and that his mother was Rosina Hagist from Riehen (a village near Basel).
The next page of his birth record shows that his father was from Berlingen in Kanton Thurgau. There were two witnesses: Johannes Rudin from Zyfen (modern spelling: Ziefen), Leapt-Lund (in Baselstadt); and Elis Merkle Kirchofer (??) from Berlingen in Kanton Thurgau.
From other sources, we believe that his father was Johann Ulrich Merkle, born October 1, 1810, at Berlingen in Kanton Thurgau. His mother was Rosina Hagist, born May 24th 1831. Her birth record was also in the records of the Church of St. Theodor.
There is no record of his parent's marriage at the Church of St. Theodor from the years 1848 to 1864 (inclusive).
