S is For Swiss Ancestors

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is S for Swiss Ancestors. My Swiss ancestors were Mennonites. I only have a few:

• Burkholder Mennonite Genealogy - Ancestry of Jacob Burkholder of Hamilton Ontario (Switzerland to Pennsylvania to Ontario)
• Gingrich Mennonite Genealogy - Gingrich Family, Switzerland to Pennsylvania to Ontario
• Hunsicker Mennonite Genealogy - Hunsicker, Hunsecker, Hunsiker, Hunziger, Huntzinger and Hunsucker families of Switzlerland 

I have not done in-depth research except on the Burkholder line but if you have these surnames in your tree, feel free to drop me an email or leave a comment below. 

Don't Forget Nearby Countries When Searching for a Genealogy Record

Beth sent the following question to Olive Tree Genealogy:

I’m looking for a marriage record John Staehli born in Switzerland 1865, father and mother unknown. Magdalena Gasho born 1863 Canada father Andrew Gascho and mother Lydia Ginerich,  married in 1891-1892 in Canada. (on Ancestry trees someone put Nov 1891, and I’m looking for confirmation) I’ve researched many places and haven’t come across this record. Magdalena was a mennonite.

Beth - first let me correct an error in your family tree information. Magdalena's mother was Lydia GINGERICH/GINGRICH, not GINERICH. I'm also a GINGRICH descendant. You can read about my Gingrich family here

Since this couple's first child, Anna Maria, was born in Michigan (see image) and they continued to reside in Michigan, i would not be so sure they married in Ontario. Have you checked Michigan marriage records?

Notice also that the surname Staehli was badly recorded and then corrected in 1940. Have you used wildcards when searching for this couple?

Their surnames are such that they can easily be incorrectly recorded or indexed on websites.

In summary, I'd check Michigan marriages and I would use wildcards to search for this couple online. See Wildcards are Your Friend! A Canadian Case Study Part 2  for help with using wildcards.

FInding a Mennonite or Amish Ancestor

Menno Simons

Do you have Mennonite ancestors? I have several, all of who came to Ontario Canada in the early 1800s.

Menno Simons (ca 1496-1561) was a Dutch religious reformer. In 1536 he left the Roman Catholic priesthood because of his disagreement of infant baptism and other Catholic teachings. He organized and led the less aggressive division of Anabaptists in Germany and Holland. The name Mennonites is derived from his name, although he did not actually found the sect. The Mennonites were a Protestant sect which arose from Swiss Anabaptists. They were also called Swiss Brethren.

During the sixteenth century, the Mennonites and other Anabaptists were relentlessly persecuted. By the seventeenth century, some of them joined the state church in Switzerland and persuaded the authorities to relent in their attacks. The Mennonites outside the state church were divided on whether to remain in communion with their brothers within the state church, and this led to a split. Those against remaining in communion with them became known as the Amish, after their founder Jacob Amman. Those who remained in communion with them retained the name Mennonite

A few Dutch Mennonites began the immigration to America in 1683, followed by a larger immigration of Swiss-German Mennonites beginning in 1707. In the 1870s Dutch Mennonites, who had settled in the German Kingdom of Prussia and then Russia, moved to the United States and Canada where they became known as Russian Mennonites.  Many Mennonites settled in Pennsylvania. Large numbers immigrated further into Ontario Canada especially Waterloo County

My Mennonite ancestors who came to Ontario Canada were Burkholder, Gingrich, and Hunsicker

• Burkholder Mennonite Genealogy - Ancestry of Jacob Burkholder of Hamilton Ontario (Switzerland to Pennsylvania to Ontario)
• Gingrich Mennonite Genealogy - Gingrich Family, Switzerland to Pennsylvania to Ontario
• Hunsicker Mennonite Genealogy - Hunsicker, Hunsecker, Hunsiker, Hunziger, Huntzinger and Hunsucker families of Switzlerland 

You may find the following links of help in your own research for your Mennonite ancestors

Mennonite Ships Passenger Lists
Mennonites to Canada
Mennonite Family Trees
Historical Mennonite Overview

Bodies of Swiss Couple Found on Glacier After 75 years

Marcelin and Francine Dumoulin went to milk their cows in a meadow above Chandolin in the Valais canton on August 15, 1942. They left their seven children back at home, expecting to return in a few hours. They never came back.

Their youngest child was 4 years old and it was the first time Francine had gone with her husband. In the past she'd either been pregnant or with a child too young to be left with older siblings.

Searches failed and eventually were called off. The children were farmed out to various relatives and never knew what had happened to their parents.

75 years later, a shrinking glacier revealed the bodies of a man and woman lying near each other, perfectly preserved in ice. Identity papers proved who they were - Marcelin and Francine Dumoulin. Authorities believe they fell into a crevasse and were hidden for decades until melting snow and ice revealed their bodies.

Read the full story at Bodies of Swiss couple found on glacier 75 years after they went missing

Meme: Immigrant Ancestor Hartman Hunsicker

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared over the President's Travel Ban, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.
You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

Today's immigrant ancestors is my 7th great-grandfather Hartman Hunsicker born circa 1692. Hartman was a Mennonite from Leistal, Bassel, Switzerland. 

Variations on the Hunsaker surname are: Hunsicker, Hunsecker, Hunsiker, Hunziger, Huntzinger and Hunsucker. Supposedly, the name derives from the origins of Valentine Hunsicker, in the centre of the Schwartzwald (the German Black Forest), about 70 miles north of Zurich where there is found a district which bears names from the time of Attila the Hun, in Hunstruck, Hunstruecker, Hunsbach, and in the center of the valley, Hunseck (Huns' Valley). It is believed that the name Hunsecker came from this valley and possibly this is the origin of the family.

Hartman and his wife Anna Stirtz had 5 children born to them in Switzerland. In 1726 Hartman fled Switzerland for Germany. Hartman and Anna relocated to Weisbaden Germany where two more children were born to the couple.

"Hartman Huntseker" fled Germany for Pennsylvania, arriving 10 September 1731 on the Pennsylvania Merchant, loaded with Palatine passengers from Rotterdam, John Stedman, Commander. Anna,  Frena and Eliz. Huntseker, all over age 16, were also on the ship, as were some under age 16: Anna, Ursul, Meyer and Hannes Huntseker. 

Hartman Hunsaker died 1733 in Frederick Township in what is now Montgomery County Pennsylvania.  Anna, his widow, married Jacob Cocghnower the widowed Preacher of the Skippack Mennonite Church in Perikomen Township in Montgomery Co Pennsylvania in 1734.
 
They moved to Manheim Twp Lancaster County Pennsylvania soon after the marriage. Anna died in 1737 and Jacob Cocghnower married for the 3rd time in 1738.

Our Immigrant Ancestors: Nicholas Bieri, Mennonite to Pennsylvania

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.

You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

My 7th great-grandfather Nicholas Bieri, presumed to be a Mennonite, was born circa 1687 in Berne Switzerland and probably fled to the Palatinate Germany with his parents before 1711. In 1727 he set sail on the ship Friendship from Rotterdam to the Netherlands. The Friendship carried 150 Swiss Mennonite families on its journey.

From the Netherlands this ship sailed to Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. On 20 June 1727 the ship left Cowes and set out across the Atlantic Ocean. The Friendship arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 16 Oct. 1727 after a grueling 4 month journey. Only 46 Palatine families arrived safely.

By the winter of 1727 Nicholas was at the Pequea Creek Settlement in Conestoga (now Lancaster Co.) Chester Co. Pennsylvania. He was part of the second largest group of Swiss Mennonites to settle there; the original group having gone in 1710. In 1728 he crossed the Susquehanna River in Springettsbury Manor, travelling with his family by covered wagon (conestogas) and settling on the north shore of Codorus Creek, one mile south of present day York, Manchester Tp. York Co. Pennsylvania. In 1729 Springettsbury Manor was included with Lancaster Co. when it was organized and separated from Chester Co.

Some of the Maryland settlers had been encroaching on the territory and in 1733 Samuel Blunston was commissioned by the Pennsylvania proprietors to issue temporary licences to citizens of Pennsylvania for land in Springettsbury Manor. Patents were to be granted on final purchase by the proprietors from the natives. In 1733 Nicholas obtained a Blunston licence for land in Springettsbury Manor. He was one of over 50 German-speaking settlers to do so. On 20 Oct. 1736 the Blunston licence was confirmed by Thomas Penn and a patent granted for 200 acres on Codorus Creek.

However Nicholas plantation along with others in the Springettsbury Manor, had become involved in the boundary dispute between PA and Maryland. The settlers agreed to allow Maryland to survey their land but found themselves deceived and discriminated against by Maryland authorities, so on 13 Aug. 1736 he and 55 other settlers at Springettsbury Manor petitioned to be re-instated as citizens of Pennsylania and not of Maryland. The settlers stated they had erred in allowing Maryland to assume their lots, and the Council in Philadelphia promptly declared them under the protection of Pennsylvania.

Nicholas and his neighbours (including the famous Michael Donner of the future ill-fated Donner Party) had written previously to the Governor of Maryland informing him of their intentions to acknowledge the jurisdiciton of Pennsylvania. Their actions were regarded as a revolt by Germans and on 21 Oct. 1736 the 56 signers were ordered arrested for sedition. 300 men from Maryland attacked the settlers - their property was stolen, homes were burned, crops were destroyed, and men and their sons were marched 100 miles on foot to prison.

Nicholas himself was arrested in 1737 on a writ issued from the Supreme Court of Maryland for refusing to hold his land under Lord Baltmore, and sent to Annapolis jail. He gave bail for release but was allowed to keep his land until the dispute was settled between PA and Maryland.

On 2 May 1737 172 acres of Nicholas' land was surveyed to Captain Charles Higginbotham of Maryland, and on May 5 the land was granted to Captain Higginbotham by Lord Baltimore. In 1748 Nicholas was taken to court in Philadelphia for refusing to give Higginbotham the land.

In 1761 he died in Manchester Tp. York Co. Pennsylvania. His wife, Barbara Ann Miller married Jacob Kagy about 5 or 6 years later.

Meme: Our Immigrant Ancestors - the Mennonite Jacob Burkholder

There is a lot of discussion about immigration in America right now. Tempers have flared, and different groups hold various strong opinions. There is also Brexit, where immigration was a large focus of the recent vote which resulted in the U.K. leaving the E.U.

I've been following this for several months and it occurs to me that those of us in Canada, America, and Australia have immigrant ancestors. Have you researched yours? Do you know who they were, why they came to your country and when? Do you know how they fared once settled in their new land? Were they welcomed? Were they shunned? Was their discrimination based on their religion or ethnic origin? These are all questions that are important, and interesting to discover. With that in mind, I'm the dedicating Saturdays (as many as needed) as the day to join me in discussing your immigrant ancestors.

You will be able to read any you are interested in by using the keyword Immigrant Ancestors. I'm going to share each week what I know of my immigrant ancestors to North America (whether that is USA or Canada)

Jacob and Sophia Burkholder, my 5th great-grandparents, were the first settlers in Hamilton Ontario Canada on land called the Burkholder Settlement. Jacob's land petition shows he arrived in Upper Canada July 1794 and applied for land 7 Aug. 1794. On this petition his name is recorded as Borghonder.

The Burkholder family came from the Ementhal valley outside Berne, Switzerland. Mennonites were opposed to war and many were imprisoned, exiled or burned at the stake. 

Jacob Burkholder, a weaver, and his two brothers, John and Christian sailed for America in 1765 on the ship Myrtilla. They landed at Philadelphia, 21 September 1765. John and Jacob Burkholder settled in Lampeter Twp., Lancaster Co.,  Pennsylvania, while Christian Burkholder settled near Newbury in Franklin Co., Pennsylvania. 



Several French Huguenot refugees were among the Myrtilla's 81 passengers, including Abraham and Sophia De Roche. Sophia was a French girl, supposedly of Huguenot descent. Jacob married Sophia De Roche in 1765 in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania. Their signatures may be seen in Pennsylvania, where they took the oath of allegiance to the British Crown in 1765. 


Following the American Revolution, Jacob Burkholder with wife Sophia and their adult family left Pennsylvania for Upper Canada (now the province of Ontario). With their son Christian as their guide, they came by Conestoga wagon drawn by oxen, crossing at Buffalo and arriving at Niagara in present day Ontario

You can read more about the Burkholder family and origins at The Burkholder Family of Switzerland

Orphan Album: Swiss Photo Album with Chimney Sweeps

Recently Alice H. wrote to me about an antique photo album  she purchased many years ago.

I have a very old photo album that I purchased at an antique store many years ago & have been looking for a place to send it. if you would like to have them just send me an address & they will be yours.. I hate to see them waste away.

 Alice went on to add that she bought the album many years ago in Glendale Arizona but that no one in the store knew anything about where they came from originally. The photos are from Switzerland with a few from Germany and none of the individuals are identified by name.

I plan to scan and publish the photos on Lost Faces in hopes someone might recognize an ancestor. All the photos are CDVs (Cartes de Visite) and appear to be from 1860s-1880s.

CDV Chimney Sweeps

Here is one that really interested me. It appears to be a photo of three Chimney Sweeps. Note their ladder and brooms and traditional Chimney Sweep top hats. All of them are wearing small shovels used to rake out ashes. I do not know if these shovels on their lapels are an insignia or actual working tools.

Chimney Sweeps Verso
J. ZURKIRCH RHEINECK und ALTSTAEDTEN
1885

52 Ancestors: Jacob Burkholder and the Haunted Family Cemetery

Amy Johnson Crow has a new challenge for geneabloggers called Challenge: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Amy challenges genealogists to write about one ancestor once a week. I'm having fun with this and I hope you are too!

Jacob Burkholder, my 5th great-grandfather, was born in Switzerland in 1747, but his father moved the family north to Mannheim, Germany on the lower Rhine River to escape persecution. Here, they joined other Palatines and Jacob learned weaving. 

Jacob and his two brothers John and Christian sailed for America in 1765 on the ship Myrtilla. They landed at Philadelphia, 21 September 1765.

Several French Huguenot refugees were among the Myrtilla's 81 passengers, including Abraham and Sophia De Roche. Sophia was a French girl, supposedly of Huguenot descent. Jacob married Sophia De Roche in 1765 in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania. Their signatures may be seen in Pennsylvania, where they took the oath of allegiance to the British Crown in 1765. 

Following the American Revolution, Jacob Burkholder wished to remain under British rule. After his eldest sons made an exploratory trip to the head of Lake Ontario, Jacob, Sophia and family left Pennsylvania for Upper Canada (now the province of Ontario). With their son Christian as their guide, they came by Conestoga wagon drawn by oxen, crossing at Buffalo and arriving at Niagara in present day Ontario province, in October 1794. They obtained 800 acres on the Hamilton mountain and were the first family to settle east of the Caledonia highway. 

A family cemetery was established by 1800, the earliest interment being Jacob Burkholder's son Joseph, who died of a broken back after falling from a shed roof. This cemetery is said to be haunted with a spectral light that appears every time someone nearby dies. No one has ever figured out what the light is or why it appears every so often on top of the church.

The family gave its name to a small community, the Burkholder settlement, which developed at the intersection of what is now Mohawk Road and Sherman Avenue in Hamilton, Ontario. 

 In 1839, a small log building was erected to serve as both church and school. It was replaced by the Mountain Chapel in 1850. This was renamed Burkholder Methodist Church in 1886 and after 1925, became known as Burkholder United Church.  In 1947 a monument was erected to honour Jacob and his wife Sophia.

I have found Jacob recorded under many spellings, including Borghonder. My Burkholder name daughters out with Jacob's granddaughter Elizabeth (born ca 1816 in Hamilton to David Burkholder and Elizabeth Gingrich) who married Richard Vollick. It is kind of interesting to note that Elizabeth was one of 16 children and that 4 of the Burkholder siblings married Vollick siblings.

Update: FamilySearch Adds More Than 2.7 Million Indexed Records and Images

FamilySearch Adds More Than 2.7 Million Indexed Records and Images to Collections from Brazil, England, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and Switzerland

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