52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #24 ~ Barbara Zaugg

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog) 

And now we come to the last child of Jacob Zaugg and Anna Stetler as listed in the Zaugg book.

First just the facts:

Name: (Anna) Barbara Zaugg

Born: 07 May 1843, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland

Married: 03 Jan 1867 to David Shifferly, Wayne County, Ohio

Died:22 Feb 1914, Wayne County, Ohio [Find A Grave memorial]











Barbara and David will have 10 children as listed in the Zaugg book.  I have been able to find 10 children thoughout the various census records and Wayne County birth records although I have to admit that they tend to have wildly varying names.  In the 1900 census Barbara is listed as having given birth to 10 children and having 10 now living.  The family is really fairly straight forward and I can easily find Barbara and her husband in every census that I should always living and farming in Wayne County, Ohio.  It's just that with 10 children this would be another black hole of research on a collateral line and I'm not going to go there. (and I really need to write that on the blackboard 100 times.)

At this point I'll just close with Barbara's death certificate.  And finally, here is a child who get the names of his mother's parents correct in spite of the fact that his grandfather died before he was born and his grandmother died when he was about four.  Much better than several of his older cousins were able to do for their Zaugg parents.

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #23 ~ Peter Zaugg

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog)


First just the facts:

Name: Peter Zaugg
Born: 22 Aug 1839, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Married: 15 Apr 1862 to Mary Catherine Sorgen, Wayne County, Ohio and then to Louise Wable (?) sometime after 1864 possibly in Adams County, Indiana
Died: 25 Apr 1926 Wayne County, Ohio



Here are the few things I know about Peter:

• He arrived with the rest of his family on 30 May 1853 at Castle Garden. 
• By 1860 he is living with his parents in Salt Creek Twp, Wayne County, Ohio. 
• A few years later he marries Mary Catherine Sorgen, also in Wayne County, Ohio.

Here is the theory I currently have about what happens after that:

Shortly after his marriage he moved to Indiana, most probably Adams County, where his oldest sister, Lizzie, and an older brother, Daniel, were already living. Their first child, Mary, is born there and his wife dies shortly thereafter. He then marries a widow (?) named Louise Kohler nee Wable who has three children. At some point prior to 1869, when Aldine/Aline is born, they have return to Ohio. As listed in the 1880 census their children are:  Aline 11, Peter 7, Ida 5, Alfred 3, Albert 1.  The Zaugg book lists another daughter, Louisa.  It's possible she was born between Aline and Peter.

 I believe that Mary, Peter’s first child would have come with them back to Ohio because by 1880 I find a couple that matches the information in the Zaugg book – a Mary and Robert Shanklin. Peter divorces Louise sometime prior to the 1900 census when Peter is living with his brother Frederick. Of interest are several other families listed on the same census pages living close by. They are mostly Zaugg relatives and include the Mary & Robert Shanklin that I believe to be Peter’s daughter and son-in-law. 

Louisa moves back to Indiana with her 3 children from her first marriage as well as the children from her marriage to Peter. In the 1900 census I find her in Adams County with the following Zaugg children: Peter, 22, Ida 20, Alfred 19 and "Alla" (son) 15.  (The ages seem out of whack, but the other children from her first marriage are there as well and line up better.)  I find Peter in the 1910 census living with his sister Barbara and her husband David Shifferly. And finally, I believe he died in 25 Apr 1926 as this death record fits with everything else I know about Peter.
 

Here are just a few of the problems and/or inconsistencies with this theory.

• In 1880 Mary’s birthplace is listed as Ohio. However in 1900, 1910 & 1920 it is listed as Indiana. It is possible that her husband provided the information in 1880 and just didn’t know. That would be especially true if Mary lived in Ohio for most of her life. 
• The census listings for this Mary & Robert Shanklin don’t match any of the children in the Zaugg book. This is not a deal breaker as there are other notable mistakes in the book. However I’ve yet to find a family that is totally wrong. 
• Mary’s parents are always listed as being from Germany rather than Switzerland. This seems an odd “mistake” to make living in a community that was so filled with Swiss immigrants. My only thought here is that, again, Robert gave the information and I don’t see that he was Swiss or German. Maybe all he knew was that his in-laws spoke German.

This brings me to my issue. Here is yet another black hole of research that is not in my direct line, Peter being my my 3rd great grand uncle. I KNOW I should just back away slowly and then turn and run. However when I look at the theory and the issues there are just so many things I could look for – and most probably find – that would clear up some of the weak parts of the theory.  But I really need to move on - at least for right now.

At this point I’m going to finish with the children in the original family – one more to go – and then go back to my direct ancestor, Jacob. My plan will be to circle back around and work on validating/sourcing/citing/generally cleaning up everything related my direct line from me back to Jacob. I think I will also put together at least a semblance of a research plan for the other children based on what holes I turned up in my blog posts. That way as I’m working on my direct line if I’m trawling through say Wayne County marriage records I can quickly see if there are others I need and grab them while I’m at it.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  (until I spot that first shiny object on Ancestry...)

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #22 ~ Magdalena Zaugg

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog) 

I've gotten a little out of order with my Zauggs.  Daniel, last week's post, is really younger than Magdalena however I had just had to post about my find at the Indianapolis library while it was more recent.  So, now going back I'll look at Madgelana this week.

First just the facts:

Name: Magdalena Zaugg
Born: Oct/Nov 1834, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Married: 30 Nov 1854 to Nicholas Wahley, Wayne County, Ohio
Died:04 Mar 1914, Wayne County, Ohio [Find A Grave memorial]



In the 1870 census, the family is shown with the following children: Mary 14, Louisa 13, Elizabeth 10, John 7, Emma 4, and  Henry 1.  In 1880, 5 of the 6 children are still at home: Louisa 23, Elizabeth 22, John 17, Emma 14, and Henry 11.  The oldest daughter, Mary, is now married to William Shifferly and they have a young son, Frederic.  

Some trees list another child for Magdalena and Nicholas - Christ born in 1860 and died in 1863.  On the 1910 census, it shows that Magdalena has 7 children, 5 now living (one of the 6 children above, Emma, having died in 1880) so there is certainly room for another child.  Also, the Zaugg book (above) lists Christ as one of the children. 

I haven't been able to locate the family on the 1860 census although I don't believe I'd find this child if the birth date given of Dec-1860 is correct. 

 I find it interesting that Henry Wahley remembers his grandfather's name but not his grandmother's.  Jacob Zaugg died a little over 8 years PRIOR to his wife.  Henry would have only been about 4 when his grandfather died and 12 when his grandmother died.


I wonder if they just talked about Jacob more?


 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #21 ~ Daniel Zaugg

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog) 

Recently on Facebook there was a conversation about someone ending up researching “ …the 2nd wife of the husband of my 1st cousin 4x removed.”   I replied that I had recently had an inquiry about someone in my tree and when I asked Ancestry to calculate the relationship it got - "grand nephew of wife of 2nd cousin 3x removed."  Someone else commented “Want to know who the brother in law of the grandfather of my uncle’s wife's first husband is?”  

In my search for Daniel Zaugg, I ended up going down a similar path and found something in a surprising place.

First just the facts:

Name: Daniel Zaugg
Born: 01 Dec 1836, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Married: Elizabeth Shifferly, 04 Apr 1864,Wayne County, Ohio
Died: Most probably in Adams County, Indiana sometime before his father's will was signed on 19 Oct 1870




Daniel has been rather elusive in terms of pinning him down in any particular place.  I do know that he married in Wayne Co, Ohio in 1864 as we see in this marriage record (Daniel & Elizabeth are shown on the bottom left):

In spite of that, I don't readily find him in the 1860 census in that area.  He is not living with his parent and his 2 younger siblings.  

While I still haven't pinned down his specific whereabouts, I did find something on my recent trip to Indianapolis that is in agreement with the page from the Zaugg book.  I only found it because I tend to look at those "barely connected" people. 

I was looking in the index of Standard History of Adams and Wells Counties Indiana vol II. I didn’t expect to find Daniel, but I did know that his wife had re-married and her second husband was a Civil War veteran.  I thought someone like that might be mentioned so looked for “Stepler.”  I didn’t find an entry for John but did find one for William so I took a quick look.  And there, in an entry for my 1^st cousin 4 times removed’s wife’s second husband’s son I found a mention of Daniel Zaugg.  In the part of the article about William’s father John we read, “He married Mrs. Elizabeth (Shifferley) Zaugg, who was born in Wayne County, Ohio.  She was the widow of Daniel Zaugg, who died in early life, leaving her with three children, Phillip, Lucy and Emma.”

 Certainly not earth-shattering, but it was a fun discovery at the end of my trip. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #20 ~ Frederich Zaugg

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog)

Getting back to my plan of going in order through Jacob Sr's children we are moving on to the 7th child.

First just the facts:
Name: Frederich Zaugg
Born: 25 Mar 1832, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Married: Mary Ann Graber in 1857,Wayne County, Ohio
Died: 11 Feb 1915, Wayne County, Ohio [Find-A-Grave memorial]

This will probably be a short entry as Frederich is pretty straight-forward in terms of where he lived and what he did.

He came with the family to the United States in 1853, when he was 21.  The family came to Wayne County, Ohio and that's where Frederich married, farmed and raised a family.

I've been able to easily identify him in each census after his arrival through 1910.  In 1860 he is listed as a shoemaker but after that he begins farming and stays in Sugar Creek Township for each census thereafter.  His son John lives near him and later his younger son Levi is also living near him.

The only anomaly I found was on his death certificate where his son lists his father's father as "Christ Zaugg" and not Jacob.  Jacob would have died when John was about 14 so this is not what I would have expected.  It's also interesting that he lists his father's mother as "Unknown".   Anna Stetler Zaugg lived until 1885 (John would have been in his mid-twenties at the time) so clearly this is someone that John should have know.  Anna was last living with her son Jacob's family in 1880.

Jacob's family was also living in Wayne County - in Salt Creek Township which is very near where Frederich, and also John lived.

I have searched Wayne County census records and don't find multiple Frederich Zauggs of a similar age.  I feel relatively confident that this is "my man" but I can't explain why John wouldn't have been able to correctly identify his grandparents.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #19 ~ John Wanner

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog)

Once again deviating from my plan of going in order through Jacob Zaugg Sr's children I am going backwards to post about Lizzie Zaugg's husband, John Wanner. [Lizzie is the oldest of the Zaugg children and I wrote about her previously.] However, I found a wonderful obituary/article about John when I was in Indianapolis this past weekend and it deserves to be showcased here.


 First just the facts:
Name: John Wanner
Born: 12-Aug-1820, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Married: Elizabeth "Lizzie" Zaugg, 25-Apr-1845, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Died: 28-Oct-1916, Adams Co, Indiana [Find-A-Grave memorial]




This article had so many wonderful leads to pursue as well as giving me an understanding of where others might have gotten some of their information.

First, I've seen several places that Lizzie and John had "seven children who died in infancy" but I had never known where that supposed "fact" had originated.

However it still doesn't clear up the mystery of those children.  I was able to find two children, born in Indiana, who disappeared after being recorded in the 1860 census  - Frederick, age 7 and Mary Ann, age 4.  In the 1870 census the only children listed are Emmanuel, age 6 (as show in the Zaugg book) and also Isaac, age 8.

The Zaugg book mysteriously shows three infants who did not live. What I don't know is if those three children had been born in Switzerland.  Lizzie and John had been married for 8 years at the time they came to the US and only two young children came with them.  It's certainly possibly that Lizzie had actually given birth to 5 children in those 8 years. 

Finally there are the two girls born in Switzerland who did accompany their parents here - Anna and Elizabeth.  Anna is accounted for in this obituary and it would appear that Elizabeth is as well.  However John and his second wife also had a child named Elizabeth.  The 1900 census shows the family as this:
         John Warner 79
         Mary Warner 47
         Elizabeth Warner 6
         Emma Roth 19
         Ida Roth 10

This household makes sense as clearly Mary brought children from her first marriage.  Both the Roth girls are listed as stepdaughters while Elizabeth is a daughter.

I'd noticed this second Elizabeth before and now this obituary, while I guess not actually clearing this up for me, has given me something else to pursue regarding his daughter "Elizabeth Ehrhart."

Also, the face that the son Isaac is listed as being in California makes me understand why he possibly wasn't listed in the Zaugg book.  It also makes me give more credence to an un-sourced death date listed as taking place in California.  I was skeptical before, but now I think I'll try to obtain that death cert. 

It also It's interesting to me that the article uses the term "died in infancy" when, if I've identified some of these children correctly, Frederick would have been at least 7.  If indeed the first Elizabeth also did not live to adulthood, she would have been at least 10.

 As with each post - I seem to have more questions than answers, but that's what makes this so interesting. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #14 ~ Jacob Zaugg, Sr

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog) 


First just the facts:
Name: Jacob Zaugg
Born: 21-Feb-1795* Bern, Switzerland
Married: Anna Stetler, 23-Jun-1820, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Died: 09-Dec-1873, Mount Eaton, Wayne County, Ohio
 *This is a calculated date based on the description in Wayne Co records of Jacob being 78yr 9mo 18days when he died on 09-Dec-1873



Relationship: Jacob is my 4th great-grandfather.
I am descended through:
 - his son, Jacob Zaugg, Jr (1824 - 1900)
 - his daughter, Emma (Zaugg) Graber (1860 – 1919)
 - her daughter, Ella Rosa (Graber) Saurer (1883 - 1963)
 - her daughter, Lela Mabel (Saurer) Ritchie (1913 - 1991)
 - her son, my father, Donald John Ritchie (living)

I have a copy of Jacob's will which he signed. Since I don't have a picture of Jacob, his signature is my "picture" of Jacob - or Jakob as he would have written it.







The will tells me several interesting things:

His son Daniel was already deceased by Oct, 1870.  I have not yet found an exact date of death for Daniel, but this certainly narrows it down.

The accounting by Samuel, the son who was the executor of the will, tells me that indeed Lizzie's oldest daughter's Anna married a man named Anton Kauffmann.  I had seen that in several Ancestry trees with census information from Kansas attached but I didn't really see anything to make the leap that Anna Wanner from Indiana had become Anna Kauffmann of Kansas. Now I have more confidence in that piece of information.

Along with the will are a number of letters that I have not had translated.  They appear to be letters from the children not in Wayne County acknowledging receipt of their share of the inheritance. One of the letters is from Anton Kauffmann.  (I would love to have these translated some day.) All of the children who lived locally signed a  note on April 1, 1875 indicating receipt of their respective share.

Looking at all the papers - it's not just the will, it's the probate packet - it just reminds me that I have found so many things that I have yet to take the time to really evaluate and pull out all the information they contain.  I'm embarrassed to say that I  have had these digital copies for years and just in the past few month transcribed the will and started to look at everything that I had downloaded the last time I visited the Wayne Co, Ohio library. 

I keep saying that I need to go back to Wayne County to do some more research, but what I really need to do is look at what I have first!!

I love this challenge - even as it points out more and more of my short comings with each week.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #13 ~ Elizabeth "Lizzie" Zaugg

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog) 


First just the facts:
Name: Elizabeth "Lizzie" Zaugg
Born: 1821/1822, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Married: John Wanner, 25-Apr-1845, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Died: 06-May-1888, Adams Co, Indiana [Find-A-Grave memorial]


Relationship: Lizzie is my 3rd great-grandaunt.  I am descended through her younger brother, Jacob:


 - his daughter, Emma (Zaugg) Graber (1860 – 1919)
 - her daughter, Ella Rosa (Graber) Saurer (1883 - 1963)
 - her daughter, Lela Mabel (Saurer) Ritchie (1913 - 1991)
 - her son, my father, Donald John Ritchie (living)

For many years, the above page from my grandmother's copy of the Record of the Jacob Zaugg Family was all I really knew about Lizzie.  Since then, I've learned just a little more.

Lizzie and John Wanner and their two young daughters, 7 year old Anne and 3 year old Elizabeth arrived  at Castle Garden, New York aboard the Cotton Planter on 10 Jun 1853. They were just days behind the rest of Lizzie’s family, her parents and all her siblings having arrived 30 May 1853 aboard the Roger Stewart.


















Immigrants at Castle Garden, New York City, 1866. Wood engraving in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper", 20 January 1866, vol. 21, p. 280-281.
By Unattributed [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

While the rest of the Zaugg family went to Wayne County, Ohio, the Wanners journeyed on to Adams County, Indiana settling near Berne.  As shown in the 1860 census, besides 15 year old Ann and 10 year old Elizabeth, they now have 2 more children, 7 year old Frederick and 4 year old Mary Ann.  Both of these last two children were born in Indiana so it appears that the Wanners were in Indiana by 1853  - or pretty much right after they got off the boat.

I wonder why there is no mention of these children in the Jacob Zaugg book?  By the time of the 1870 census, none of these children are at home, but now Emmanuel is there (6 yrs) but also Isaac (8 yrs)  Yet in Oct, 1870 the oldest girl, Ann, is specifically mentioned in her Grandfather, Jacob Zaugg's will. "Item 2nd I devise and bequethe to my grand daughter Ann Wanner daughter of John and Elizabeth Wanner four hundred dollars"  That seem like an unusually large amount since her mother was only left $100.00.

Of course this book was published in 1923 in Ohio and it's very possible that the Ohio part of the family had lost touch with the Indiana branch.  The most complete part of the family page revolves around Emanuel but even that has many errors and omissions.  I have a revised version that was completed by one of Emanuel's grandsons.

I plan to visit Berne, Indiana later this year.  They have a Swiss Days festival that should be fun. I will also be visiting the local library to see what else I can find out about this part of the family.  Unfortunately there wasn't room at the bed & breakfast where I first wanted to stay - because the house was BUILT BY EMANUEL WANNER!!  It was a sign - I had to go.  And besides, who wouldn't want to visit the rural mid-west in July??

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #5 ~ Rudolph Graber

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog)

First, just the facts:
Name: Rudolph Graber
Born: 13-Sep-1853, Switzerland
Married: Emma Zaugg, 15-Mar-1881, Apple Creek, Wayne Co, Ohio
Died: 05-Aug-1918, East Union Twp, Wayne Co, Ohio [Find-A-Grave memorial]
Relationship: Great-great-grandfather

 I am descended through:
- his daughter, Ella Rosa (Graber) Saurer (1883 - 1963)
- her daughter, Lela Mabel (Saurer) Ritchie (1913 - 1991)
- her son, my father, Donald John Ritchie (living)

One of my mystery pictures is one taken at a studio in Switzerland.  I believe that Rudy is the youngest man in this picture [so the one all the way to the right]  Based on a writeup in a local Wayne Co, Ohio history it would appear that only Rudy and one of his sisters came to this county.  Is this picture Rudy and his brothers before he left?  I know that none of these men is his father as I have a picture of Rudy's parents. This picture comes to me from my Grandmother, so there are many choices as far as Swiss relatives, but the young man looks like Rudy to me.

Rudy was a farmer and was one of the early swiss cheese makers in the county.  I just love this picture of Rudy with a cow!  [Unfortunately I don't know the cow's name.]  

I have a newspaper article that tells a little bit about Rudy's early cheese-maker days. I need to track down and see if I can find the origins of that picture.  It's so great that the name the people in the picture so I know that Rudy is the man standing there to the left.

Re-reading this article just brings back a question that occurred to me when I was writing about Rudy's wife, Emma.  The Graber farm was eventually farmed by Rudy's oldest daughter and her husband, Ella & John Saurer.  I wonder why one of the boys didn't get the farm?  Reading this article shows that the youngest son Raymond was a farmer.  He was 20 and married when his father died.  I MUST get to Wayne County and look at (1) Land records and (2) see if I can find Rudy's will.

This is the last picture I have of Rudy.  Based on the family picture taken at the same time I believe it was around 1908.

I am also fortunate to have the large, oval pictures of Rudy and Emma taken at this same time - the kind with the curved glass.  My Aunt Laura, their youngest child, had these pictures.  I remember visiting her once with my Grandmother.  I was a teenager at the time and just getting "into" genealogy.  Aunt Laura showed me the book that she had with older pictures and we talked about her father.  Then she showed me the big pictures [they were in a closet] and I said, "Oh I LOVE those."  She looked at me and said, "What would YOU do with them if you had them?"  I told her I would put them up on the wall in my bedroom - and she gave them to me!  And they on my bedroom wall right now.

Even his obituary highlights his cheese making.  This obituary also comes from my grandmother, neatly trimmed so I have no indication of the paper in which it appeared.  One more item for my research-in-Ohio list.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #4 ~ Anna Barbara Bartschi/Bartchey

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog)

First, just the facts:
Name: Anna Barbara Bartschi/Bartchey
Born: Sep-1832, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Married: Jacob Zaugg, Mar-1852, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Died: 20-Aug-1890, Wayne Co, Ohio [Find-A-Grave memorial]
Relationship to me: Great-great-great-grandmother

I am descended through:
- her daughter, Emma (Zaugg) Graber (1860 – 1919)
- her daughter, Ella Rosa (Graber) Saurer (1883 - 1963)
- her daughter, Lela Mabel (Saurer) Ritchie (1913 - 1991)
- her son, my father, Donald John Ritchie (living)

They did the best they could with the charcoal picture, but as you can see from the original they didn't have much to work with.  I guess having the larger, charcoal portraits done was a way of airbrushing.

I have very little information on Anna.  When she came to this country she had one young son, Jacob.  She would have 7 more children in this country, all born in Ohio.

Jacob Zaugg - b. 19-Aug-1852, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Frederic Zaugg - b. 11-Jul-1854, Wayne Co, Ohio
Elisabeth Zaugg - b. 1857, Wayne Co, Ohio
Mary A. Zaugg - b. 1859, Wayne Co, Ohio
Emma Zaugg - b. 13-Sep-1860, Wayne Co, Ohio [my great-great-grandmother]
Caroline Zaugg - b. 24-Oct-1862, Wayne Co, Ohio
William Zaugg - b. 17-Feb-1868, Wayne Co, Ohio
Rosa A. Zaugg - b. 15-Nov-1870, Wayne Co, Ohio

Besides the pictures I have of Emma, the only other one of the children that I have a picture for is Caroline.  At least that has always been my assumption as on the back of this picture is written, "Aunt Caroline".  She would have been my great-grandmother's aunt.


In the 1880 census, all 8 children are living at home and Anna's mother-in-law, also Anna is living with the family as well.


Before her death in 1890, several of the children would be married and therefore out of the house in the 1890 census - if we could see the 1890 census!

 As you can see, Anna's side of the stone was in somewhat better condition than her husband's at the time this picture was taken.  I've been back there fairly recently and the stone is much harder to read and is tilted even more.  I'm so glad we found the "old" cemetery when we did!

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks #3 ~ Jacob Zaugg

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's Challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. (click on the icon in the sidebar for details at Amy's blog)

First, just the facts: 
Name: Jacob Zaugg
Born: Mar/Apr-1824, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Married: Anna Barbara Bartchey, Mar-1852, Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland
Died: 01-Jan-1900, Wayne Co, Ohio [Find-A-Grave memorial]


Relationship to me: Great-great-great-grandfather
I am descended through:
 - his daughter, Emma (Zaugg) Graber (1860 – 1919)
 - her daughter, Ella Rosa (Graber) Saurer (1883 - 1963)
 - her daughter, Lela Mabel (Saurer) Ritchie (1913 - 1991)
 - her son, my father, Donald John Ritchie (living)

The picture I've posted above is the most flatter of Jacob.  I have the large charcoal drawing as well as the picture that I believe was the model.  As you can see, in the original he looks a little more care-worn.

I am also fortunate to have a picture of Jacob and his wife Barbara.  My Grandpa Ritchie always used to say, "Those Zauggs were some BIG women"  - which is ironic considering that Barbara was only a Zaugg by marriage.  I do certainly come from "sturdy" farmer stock.

 One of my early exciting finds in genealogy was discovering where Jacob was buried.  Sometime in the late 1980's/early 1990's my parents and I were visiting Ohio and my Dad was indulgently visiting courthouses and cemeteries with me.  I didn't know much about Jacob, but from his daughter's obituary I thought he might have lived in Mt Eaton.  We went over to prowl through the cemetery there, but weren't finding him.  There were certainly Zauggs buried in that cemetery but not Jacob.

As we were finally getting ready to leave an older man came over from the house across the street.  He and my Dad began talking and it turns out that as a boy, this man used to mow the cemetery.  We chatted about finding Jacob Zaugg for a few minutes and then he and Dad began to talk about ALL the people they knew in common in the whole of Wayne County.  OK, that might be a slight exaggeration, but I was getting impatient and mentally rolling my eyes. 

As they were finally wrapping up, the man said, "I wonder if your Jacob Zaugg was buried in the old cemetery."  WHAT OLD CEMETERY?!?!  Turns out that while the old German Reform Church was no longer standing, there was a cemetery still there.  We wouldn't have seen it from the roads we had been traveling, but once he told us where it was, it wasn't at all hard to find.  Always, always talk to the local people and more importantly, listen to them.  Thanks to that conversation, we found Jacob and his wife. 

As I write this, I realized just how little I've looked into Jacob's life since then although there are a number of documents that should be available to me. I haven't done much (OK, anything!) to really verify the facts of his life.  That is mostly because I have this wonderful book that I inherited from my Grandmother (Lela Saurer, above)

The Jacob Zaugg of the title is "my" Jacob's father.  So that gives me his parents as well as all his siblings and many of their spouses and children.  One thing that I need to work out is who all came to this country.  I know that my Jacob came as an adult with a wife and one child and that his parents and many (if not all) of his siblings also came.  All the information I've found shows them in and around Wayne County, Ohio so I think I need to work in a trip sometime soon. 

Inside the book, the page relating directly to my line has been updated by hand throughout the years.  I've found copies of this book in several libraries and there are always handwritten notations on different pages which I copy and file with my book.  I've used this information as my sole source for the collateral Zaugg relatives in my tree, as I don't always feel the need to document them as thoroughly as I do my direct line.  It's mostly "cousin bait."  

However, I've realized that there is a lot I need to do on Jacob so this post is my wake up call to start working on him.

I do have one new find.  While I was in Salt Lake City last week I did steal a few hours at the FHL and had a great time with Swiss records.  When I started looking I was admiring the gorgeous hand writing and how legible it was.  Then, I moved on to the year I was interested in, and there was obviously a totally different person who didn't seem to care about whether I would be able to read the record!  In spite of that I did manage to find a record of Jacob's marriage:

So that will be my starting point for working on Jacob and family.  Just as a word of warning, there will be many more Zaugg posts.  This is my family to work on for 2014!!

Weekly Events ~ January 24 - 30

January 24th ~ This day is marked by the death of Margaret BEVERSTOCK in 1858 in Durham, England. I believe that she is my 4x great-grandmother.

January 25th ~ On this day in 1921 my grandaunt, Cora Black RITCHIE is born in Cleveland, Ohio. I have no pictures of Cora when she was young. I guess as the youngest of a large family, there was no time for baby pictures! This day is also marked by the death, in 1985 of one of Cora's older brothers, my granduncle, Thomas Albert RITCHIE.

January 28th ~ This day is marked by the death of my great-grandfather, Thomas Leopold RITCHIE in 1953 in Ravenna, Ohio. He was born in St. Andrews, Scotland, came to Canada when he was around 9, ended up working in Massachusetts by 1900 where he met and married his wife and then moved to Ohio where he raised a family of 8 children and lived the rest of his life. I would loved to have talked to him!

January 29th ~ On this day in 1775 Margaret KIRK, my 4x great-grandaunt is baptized in St. Andrews Scotland.

January 30th ~ On this day in 1698 my potential 7x great-grandfather, Niklaus ZAUGG is born in Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland. Also on this day, in 1831 in St. Andrews, Scotland my 2x great-granduncle, Thomas SWINTON is born.

Also born on this day in 1914 is another Ritchie sibling, my granduncle George Foster RITCHIE. Uncle George was definitely a "character."  He was the story teller in the family and he always embellished those stories quite a bit.  He gave me some great information on the family history, but I've had to go over every piece to find the actual truth to the story.  I don't have many pictures of Uncle George - he was one of the younger children in the family of 8.  In the picture to the left I think he looks quite a bit like his older brother, my grandfather David Ritchie.

Finally this day is marked by the death, in 1985 of my granduncle Clair Raymond SAURER.  I always remember that Uncle Clair and Aunt Temp lived next door to my grandparents and they had a dog that was scary!  Uncle Clair loved that dog but we were always warned not to run up to it or even go near it unless Uncle Clair was around.



[this post was originally written in 2010 and has been slightly modified for 2011]