Toensing lists his first name as Mathias. The Minnesota Legislative Manual, 1897 and the Minnesota Journal of the House, 1897 list Matthias.
Toensing lists his birth year as 1854. The Minnesota Legislative Manual, 1897 lists 1853.
He was born near Coblenz on the Rhine.
He moved to Wisconsin around 1868, when he was 15 years old. He moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1877.