A Productive Summer - Major Revelations

Thursday, July 15, Kathy decided to stay in Zurich so I took the 8:07 train from Zurich to Frauenfeld (this means Field of Women in German). It was a short 3 block walk to the Kanton Thurgau Staatsarchiv where I was greeted by Tienne and Bernadette Grob-Oertig who were already at work selecting microfilms to search for Staeheli family records.

It should be noted that genealogists worldwide are indebted to the Catholic Church and the many priests who over the centuries created and maintained records of births, baptisms, marriages and deaths for the residents in the communities of their churches. As well, the Mormon Church is to be credited for locating these records and making them accessible to the public by microfilming and digitizing them. The key to successful family research is having a professional who is skilled in reading the documents and who knows the culture and history of the region being researched.


Lorenz Staeheli in the Church Records - click to enlarge


Today was an exceptionally successful day with the result that we have evidence tracing the Staeheli’s to the village of Erdhausen near Egnach with a marriage record dated 1653 and a birth record dated 1657. There is a continuous line of Staeheli’s from the present day until then. It was the teamwork of Tienne and Bernadette that produced this result. I observed them in awe for five hours as they scanned the records, found critical documents, made copies and placed ancestors in context. The limiting factor to further research is there are no readily available church records prior to these dates.

This is not work to be done by amateurs. Hand written records from only a hundred years ago can be very difficult to read and interpret. Going back two, three or four centuries the style of writing differs, the writing style of a particular priest could be neat or not, spelling of family names was not standardized but based on how the pronunciation of the name sounded to the writer and the shapes of letters of the alphabet were not standard over time.  Some family names were Latinized by the priest recorder. Tienne commented that at a point in the study of documents she could no longer read the records and she speaks, reads and writes German. Bernadette possesses a unique set of skills enabling her to get to the heart of the work and ferret out the desired information.

Tienne and Bernadette engaged in research

Tienne now has hard copies of all documents leading back to 1653. She will organize this information and add it to her family tree. Eventually this tree will be available to all Staeheli’s. I am indebted to Tienne for her diligence with this project. Her energy and enthusiasm as well as her insights to know what must be done and her knowledge of Swiss history, culture, language and society have advanced our understanding of the Staeheli family enormously. Success could not have been possible without her.

Our work at the archive was done around 3:30 and by 4 we were enjoying a drink at a nearby restaurant where Bernadette loaded family tree software on Tienne’s computer and mine, too. She was then able to transfer Tienne’s family data to my computer with ease. Bernadette left and Tienne offered to drive me back to Zurich on her way home. We stopped at the Staehli Bakery on the way to her car then hit the road for Zurich.

Tienne at the Staehli Bakery

An hour later Tienne dropped me off at the Zurich train station and I walked to the hotel. Kathy and I shared the events of the day then had dinner. We took a stroll through the old town and returned to our room to get a good night’s sleep.

What I understand of our family is that for many generations we had been farmers in northeast Switzerland near the Bodensee. In the mid 1600’s we were in Erdhausen and the earliest record is of the marriage of Jakob Staheli to Maria on October 25, 1653.  A reasonable estimate is that Jakob was born around 1630. Over time the family moved south to Kuegeliswinden (now Winden) then further to the area near St. Gallen. Events provided our family with the means and motivation to emigrate to America. This big picture has substantially satisfied my desire to know my roots. Even though there are many details to add to the story for me this had been another great day in Switzerland.

A Productive Summer - continued

On Wednesday, July 14 Kathy and I left for St. Gallen on the 8:09 train. This is a fairly fast train which is very comfortable. There were several stops before St. Gallen and we arrived at 9:15. After getting a map from Tourist Information we walked to the Staatsarchiv. Tienne met us as we approached the door and we went in together.

This place is well secured and many doors are locked. To leave the document area you must exit through a door locked from the inside. We put our bags in a locker and met with Marcel Muller who helped me last summer. His colleague, Patric Schnitzer also greeted us and we discussed a plan for the day. Marcel led us to a room with a very long table with documents laid out. Most obvious was a map of Guebsensee which was about 4 feet long.

Patric, Tienne, Kathy and Marcel

Marcel had a hand written copy of the sales contract between Kubel Elektrik and Albert Staeheli with a typed copy easier to read. He went through each point of the contract explaining its significance. Attached to the contract were some amendments or points of clarification. We looked at the map dated 1898 prepared by Kubel with excellent detail of Guebsenmoos and the proposed Guebsensee illustrating where shorelines would be. Tienne identified the property lines and Marcel noted from the contract who the neighboring property owners were. The Staeheli house and barn were shown on the map. From the contract and map it was clear Albert Staeheli owned two parcels separated by the property of another farmer. A road or trail crossed the neighbor’s land allowing Albert access to both of his acreages. There was a bridge on the road that Albert and his neighbor maintained jointly. The map and contract are a goldmine of information. Again, Patric and Marcel have done extreme detective work with excellent results.

Marcel lead Tienne and me to meet Ueli Risch, a retired SAK executive who is reviewing historical records from the early days of Kubel Elektrik. Mr. Risch had found the contract of Albert Staeheli after conversation with Marcel about our family research. Marcel showed me the stacks in the document storage room where the Kubel files are kept while Mr. Risch does his work. There are hundreds of thousands of documents. Some have been processed but most have not. It was serendipity that he spotted the contract among the documents. Mr. Risch also had some photos from the construction of the powerplant.

Marcel and Ueli

It was time for lunch so we took a break and walked to a nearby restaurant serving typical Swiss dishes. It was a warm, sunny day suitable for outdoor dining. For just under two hours we enjoyed fine Swiss cuisine and talked about contemporary life, politics, religion, medicine, travel and salaries among other topics. We learned that both Marcel and Patric have been to the U.S. Marcel studied in Nebraska for 10 months and experienced the U.S. medical system when he broke his leg playing soccer. After military service Patric started in San Francisco and drove a rental car through the southwest to LA and north along the coast highway back to San Francisco.

Back at the archive Tienne researched Staeheli’s by accessing microfilm records. Marcel and I researched property records kept by fire insurance companies for mention of the Staeheli’s. Briefly we attempted to locate a photo of the Staeheli house in Guebsenmoos believed to exist in an encyclopedia or publication about St. Gallen. This was determined to be looking for the needle in the haystack. We resumed our study of fire insurance records. I use “we” even though it was Marcel doing the looking and me standing by. His detective skills in overdrive, Marcel had three or four large volumes open and was flipping pages like Superman. Suddenly he exclaimed it was time for a “high five”. Success! He confirmed with Patric and affirmed we had the story of the Staeheli house in Guebsenmoos. It is fascinating but you will have to wait for it to come out in book form. Just kidding… I will update the website soon.

Kathy and I needed to return to Zurich so I collected all the documents Marcel had prepared and we left the archive feeling it had been another eminently successful day of discovery. Back in Zurich we had dinner and showered. It had been the hottest day of the year in Switzerland and sure felt that way even though we had spent most of the day underground. I called Tienne to confirm our meeting in Frauenfeld tomorrow.

Tienne shared joy for her discovery of our great, great, great grandfather during her record search today. Wow! It just kept getting better.

Staeheli Property in Gubsenmoos before flooding Reservoir

Click on images to enlarge them.

A Productive Summer

Much has happened since my last posting.  My wife, Kathy and I traveled to Europe and spent more than a week in Switzerland.  Our first meeting with my cousin Tienne Staeheli was at Ballenberg Outdoor Historical Museum on Friday, July 9.  This is where I fell and broke out several teeth on August 1, 2009.  Tienne met us with a happy greeting when we arrived by train in Brienz and drove us to the ticket office at Ballenberg.  She informed us it was the hottest day of the year so we would need to pace ourselves. 

Tom and Hans

First we met Hans Uhle, the man who took me to the medical clinic in Briez after my accident.  Tienne translated and communicated my gratitude to Hans who was pleased that I had recovered and appreciated that we had returned to Ballenberg.  The remainder of the day we walked from village to village in the park while Tienne described details of the houses and barns and placed them in the context of their origins in the geography of Switzerland. We finished our Ballenberg visit looking at homes from the St. Gallen region where the Staeheli's lived. Tienne then drove us to Brienz to see traditional buildings in the center of town. 


Tienne and Kathy at Ballenberg

Ballenberg

At times during our visit Tienne and I discussed the progress of our family research and priorities for continued investigation. Also of interest to me was that Tienne owns two homes which she is renovating. The home she and her children occupy was originally built in the 1930’s and has undergone significant upgrading which she has had a hand in directing and managing. Her other home located in southern Switzerland was first built in 1610. This home will have upgrades as Tienne has time and resources to do the work. Certainly she knows traditional Swiss homes and has a clear vision of how proper restoration and remodeling should be done.

We agreed to meet the next Wednesday in St. Gallen at the Staatsarchiv.  It had been a thoroughly enjoyable day.

The Rock Where I Broke My Teeth in 2009

Staeheli Reunion

Tienne is considering visiting the United States next year (2011) and would like to be included in a Staeheli family reunion.  Likely this would take place in the Seattle/Tacoma area.  I am looking for comments on this blog either supporting this reunion, suggesting an alternative or perhaps offering to assist with planning.  And the first Staeheli to reply is...

A Meeting With Jack

Yesterday, Jack L. Staeheli from Tieton, Washington came to my home with documents about the Staeheli's in Switzerland.  Jack was on business he does in Kennewick routinely as an insurance adjuster.  He has been to Switzerland three times and in 1981 and 1986 had requested documents from the courthouse in St. Gallen.  Jack's research from 25 years ago provided some details of Caspar Albert's parents and siblings.  It also confirmed there were two Staeheli daughters who had died very young which affirms there had been 16 Staeheli children.

Since the primary goal of my research this coming July in Switzerland was to learn about Caspar Albert's parents and this has already been done, I will redirect my inquiries to go back still another generation.  Jack's documents take the Staeheli's back to the birth of Kaspar Staeheli in 1819 and Jack believes there is information going back to the 1700's.

Tienne is using Jack's documents to continue our search backwards.  From her home in Switzerland she is capable of effectively requesting access to documents which has been advancing our work rapidly.  Tienne has made progress with Staeheli's and the Riml's from Austria.

I am indebted to both Tienne and Jack for their interest and support for this project.  I enjoyed meeting Jack yesterday and we had a good conversation about the past and present.  Jack and his wife, Lynne, are world travellers who recently spent two weeks in Africa in five countries.  They saw many animals in the wild on Safari and were awed by the splendor of Victoria Falls.  Jack and Lynne are planning future trips to the Mediterranean and possibly Egypt and back to Switzerland.

Jack and I discussed the possibility of hosting a Staeheli family reunion next summer.  We agree this would be a worthwhile event.
    

More Staeheli Contacts

I called Jack E. Staeheli, age 91, in Ephrata, Washington because I had been given his name as a Staeheli who would know about the family.  I left a message and received a call back from Sharon Hansen who is married to Frank Hansen.  They just moved from Western Washington into Jack's home.  Jack suffered a heart attack and is now in a nursing facility and Sharon and Frank are directing his care.  Sharon is Jack's daughter and Jack is the son of Caspar Hermann (Cap) Staeheli, one of the immigrant's from 1899.  Sharon's mother is Thelma Marie Nail, now 89, who has been married to Jack for 63 years. 

Sharon has family information to share and recommended I also contact her cousin, Jack L. Staeheli who lives in Entiat, just west of Yakima.  Jack L. is reputed to have documents of the Staeheli's.  I emailed Jack L. and had a reply from him when I checked my computer this evening.  He has travelled to Switzerland and Austria collecting documents.  Jack has visited with descendants of the Riml's in Austria.  He has a picture of the Staeheli family home in Gubsenmoos which was published in an encyclopedia in Switzerland.  What a find!  Jack is willing to share his information to be published on the website which certainly will add to the story of the Staeheli's.

Through Facebook I made contact with Jerry Staeheli of Post Falls, Idaho.  Jerry also recommended I contact Jack L. Staeheli.  My circle of relatives is expanding.

Tienne's Research

Tienne sent a picture of the Staeheli family crest or signet (wappen in German) from a book she obtained telling the story of Staeheli's in St. Gallen.  The village, Almensberg, can be seen on Google earth maps and is not far from Egnach, the town of citizenship, and Kuegeliswinden, the village of residence of the parents of Caspar Abert Staeheli (Caspar and Waldburga).  There is no direct link yet confirmed between Jorg and our family but Tienne is reading the book and will report what she finds out.

I am unable to attach the picture to this blog so will send an email with the attachment.

This week has been good for new developments in Staeheli family history.  Tienne received the marriage certificate of Albert and Maria with the names of their parents.  Sharon and her mother will provide information about the descendants of Robert Hermann Staeheli including photos of the homestead and dairy. 

Tienne has received documents from Austria with information about Maria's mother and her mother's brother.  She has contacted a hobby archivist who knows the history of Egnach and who will give us access to his computer when Kathy and I are there to copy photos of Egnach and Kuegeliswinden.  She learned from a county clerk that a book which would help us to know more of Caspar and Waldburga Staeheli and their children (including Caspar Albert) is missing a page.  That page would have the information we are seeking.  She is waiting for more information from the town of Arbon, Switzerland and from Austria.  She is following numerous leads in pursuit of new information of the Staeheli's.  And I just learned from Tienne that the book she received with information about Staeheli's from Almensberg apparently does not pertain to our family.  There are some close relationships but no direct relationships.  Well, even when you don't get the answer you want you learn something useful. 

Tienne thinks that since we are not aligned with the Almensberg Staeheli's we must look in a new direction.  Her father spoke of Staeheli's from Bern.  Perhaps that will become the next line of research for our family.  Tienne is operating as a genealogy detective finding and verifying clues.  It looks like the Staeheli family is much more complicated than we had imagined.  Kathy and I had planned to spend a day at the archive in Frauenfeld with Tienne and a genealogist, however, access may be closed because records are being moved to a new location.  Tienne will confirm that.  We will be flexible about this project and go where we can.