[CLIENT]

Treichler1504 R14206

19 May 2015

Research Highlights

GOALS

Search for all remaining children born to Johannes Rudolf Treichler and Anna Esther

Bränli in order to get a better idea of when the couple may have been married. This may

also provide much needed additional information about Johannes and Anna.

Continue to search for the marriage record of Johannes Rudolf Treichler and Anna

Esther Bränli.

Once the date of birth for Johannes and Anna’s first-born child is determined, it may be possible to estimate Johannes and Anna’s ages and conduct a generalized search for their birth records, assuming that they were born in Wädenswil, Zürich, Switzerland.

PROGRESS

Correctly identified the last name of Anna Esther as Sträuli rather than Bränli.

Found the birth records for two of Hans Heinrich Treichler’s younger siblings and ten older siblings.

Found the marriage record for Hans Rudolf Treichler and Anna Esther Sträuli.

Identified Hans Rudolf Treichler’s parents. Found the birth record for Hans Rudolf Treichler and several of his siblings.

Identified the parents of Anna Esther Sträuli.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Continue searching the baptism and marriage records for Wädenswil, Zürich,

Switzerland for additional information about the previous marriages of Kaspar

Treichler and Susanna Kleiner.

2. Search the baptism records of Wädenswil, Zürich, Switzerland for birth information of

Hans Jakob Sträuli.

3. Search the baptism records of Hombrechtikon, Zürich, Switzerland for the birth of Anna

Barbara Staub.

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Research Report

This session of research was begun with information from previous research sessions, the

most recent findings being the identification of Johannes Rudolf Treichler and Anna Esther

Bränli as the parents of Hans Heinrich Treichler. Previously, a search for the marriage of

the couple was conducted using the church records from 1853-1861, but no matches were

found. Also, only Emil, who was born in 1863, was identified as another child of the couple,

although searches had been performed using church records for years before and after Hans Heinrich’s birth in 86 .

Name corrections

During the course of this research session, after seeing several more examples of Anna Esther’s last name, it became clear that Bränli, which was determined to be her last name

in the previous research session, was not correct. Old German handwriting can have many interpretations, so it’s not unusual to update the spelling after seeing a variety of records

and comparing the way the name appears on them. In this case, it has been concluded that Anna’s surname was actually Sträuli.

Several items were used to conclude that Anna’s name was different. First, the style of

German handwriting in the birth document – sometimes called Gothic – uses what is known as a u loop to distinguish the letters u and n which would otherwise be

identical in the script. The dots, or umlaut, above the a in both last names creates the German letter ä. The distinguishing feature above the fourth letter in Anna Esther’s last name, indicated by the red arrow (below), is the u loop. Note that in the picture on the

right (not ancestral but included for example), the fourth letter in the last name has no loop

above it, which distinguishes it as an n rather than a u. It is interesting to note that the

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writer was not strict with sticking to one handwriting style, as is demonstrated by his use of the Latin letter A to begin writing in the picture on the left:

A. Esther Sträuli vs. Heinr. Gottlieb Brändli

Secondly, the next example demonstrates the difference between the initial letters in each

of the surnames pictured above. The first letter in the last name pictured above on the left corresponds with the first letter of the word Schneider pictured below. The second word Blattmann shows a clear example of a B in the old German Handwriting. This letter is seen again in the example above on the right with the last name Brändli. Based on these observations, it was determined that her last name was Sträuli rather than Bränli.

Schneider vs. Blattmann

Additionally, Johannes Rudolf Treichler’s name should be interpreted as Hans Rudolf

Treichler. A careful look at the baptismal record for Heinrich Treichler, shown below, lists the father’s first name, seen on the far left, as Hs. For example, the initial H is identical

with the first letter of the name of the witness, on the far right, whose name is Heinrich, the person for whom the child is named. The name Heinrich in the middle column is written

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using the Latin alphabet while the names in the columns on either side of it are written in

the Gothic alphabet:1

12 January 1851 birth of Heinrich Treichler. DOCUMENT 1.

Further confusion may be caused because the name Hans is sometimes interchanged with

the name Johann. In many cases, older records will use Hans and then switch to Johann as

time goes on. Although similar, the name Johannes is different than the name Johann.

Johannes is used alone, whereas the name Johann is usually seen accompanied by a middle

name. Therefore, Johannes Rudolf Treichler is an incorrect interpretation because of the presence of a middle name after the abbreviation Hs., which indicates that the abbreviation should be interpreted as Hans, a form of Johann.

Treichler Birth Records

Additional research was conducted to find the children of Hans Rudolph Treichler and

Anna Esther Sträuli in hopes of determining their marriage date. The search for children in

the records of the Wädenswil Evangelisch-Reformierte Church was continued from the

previous research session, which had left the records searched only through 1863. In this

session, the baptismal records of the church were searched from 1864 through 1874. In

addition to Hans Heinrich and Emil, found in previous research, two additional children -

Friedrich and Alfred - were identified for this couple during that ten-year span.

1 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Heinrich Treichler,

born 12 January 1851, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 1.

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The baptismal records for both boys list witnesses with the last name of Treichler. It is likely that the witnesses are related in some way to Friedrich and Alfred’s father, Hans

Rudolf Treichler:2

10 October 1864 birth of Friedrich Treichler—witnesses are: Eduard Treichler and Anna Bachmann.

DOCUMENT 2.

25 March 1866 birth of Alfred Treichler—witnesses are: Rudolf Treichler and Esther Pfister Treichler.

DOCUMENT 3.

These documents were found by searching page by page chronologically through the

church records, and the search was continued several years after the last child was found in

order to ensure that no other children were listed for the couple. Alfred only lived to be a

little over eight months old, and his 2 December 1866 death was verified using the church

death and burial records.3 He was buried four days later on the 6th.

The baptismal records were again searched page-by-page, this time going back in time

starting in 1860, the year before Hans Heinrich was found in the church records during the

previous session of research. This search was undertaken because of the unfruitful results

of the previous search through marriage records for the parish from 1853-1861. It was

2 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Friedrich Treichler,

born 10 October 1864, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 2; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Alfred Treichler, born

25 March 1866, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 3.

3 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Alfred Treichler, died

2 December 1866, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 4.

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theorized that perhaps there were older children (born before Hans), and if we could find

the earliest one, then the marriage search could resume prior to that time.

The search of the baptismal records starting in 1860 and going back through 1837 was a

success with ten additional children being identified (listed as they were found in reverse-

chronological order):

Seline (8 March 1859)

Albert (28 December 1856)

Kaspar (15 January 1855)

Hans Jakob (25 August 1853)

Heinrich (12 January 1851)

Anna Barbara (15 November 1849)

Anna Elisabetha (12 June 1848)

Eduard (7 November 1846)

Maria Regula (8 May 1845)

Kaspar Rudolf (21 July 1843).4

4 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Seline Treichler,

born 8 March 1859, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 5; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Albert Treichler, born

28 December 1856, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 6; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Kaspar Treichler, born

15 January 1855, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 7; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Hans Jakob Treichler,

born 25 August 1853, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 8; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Heinrich Treichler,

born 12 January 1851, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 1; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Anna Barbara

Treichler, born 15 November 1849, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 9; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Anna Elisabetha

Treichler, born 12 June 1848, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 10; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Eduard Treichler,

born 7 November 1846, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 11; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Maria Regula

Treichler, born 8 May 1845, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 12; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Kaspar Rudolf

Treichler, born 21 July 1843, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 13.

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Seline’s death, listed on her baptism record as 6 December 1869, was verified in the church

death records. Her burial date was also obtained from the record.5

It was interesting to note that of Hans Rudolf Treichler and Anna Esther Sträuli’s fourteen

children, more than half of them were given the name of one of the witnesses to their

baptism. Also, many of the witnesses had the last names Treichler or Sträuli, indicating

possible family connections. The following documents demonstrate these findings:

25 August 1853 birth of H[an]s Jakob Treichler—witnesses are: Hs. Jakob Treichler and Susanna Forster.

DOCUMENT 8.

15 November 1849 birth of Anna Barbara Treichler—witnesses are: Johannes Sträuli and A[nna] Barb[ara]

Badmer. DOCUMENT 9.

The baptism record for Kaspar Rudolf, the eldest child, differed slightly in the naming

pattern. He had two names: the first, Kaspar, was the name of the witness, but the second,

Rudolf, was his father’s middle name. In every other case where the child was named after

one of the witnesses, the exact full name of the witness was given to the child.

21 July 1843 birth of Kaspar Rudolf Treicher—witnesses are: Kaspar Treichler and Barbara Sträuli Staub.

DOCUMENT 13.

5 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Seline Treichler, died

6 April 1869, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT 14.

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With the additional information about these children, the time of the marriage was known to have occurred prior to Kaspar Rudolf’s birth on 21 July 1843, as the record does not

state that he was illegitimate, and no other children were found in earlier records.

Marriage of Hans Rudolf Treichler and Anna Esther Sträuli

Knowing the birthdate of the couple’s first child, the parish marriages were searched starting from the time of Kaspar Rudolf’s birth and continuing page-by-page backward

through the records until it was found. The church marriage record states that H[an]s

Rudolf Treichler and A[nna] Esther Sträuli were married 16 January 1843:

16 January 1843 marriage of H[an]s Rudolf Treichler and A. Esther Sträuli. DOCUMENT 15.

Although the names of the parents were not listed and no ages were given, this document

provided clues about how to proceed with further research. The numbers 706 and 678,

listed in the column directly after their names, suggest that both the bride and groom were

born to local families. It is likely that these numbers refer to family or marriage numbers

similar to the number 203 seen in the next column – the number the couple was given at

the time of their marriage. The preceding and following couples were given numbers 202

and 204 respectively.6

As far as the possible ages of the bride and groom, assuming this was the first marriage of

both parties, the bride would typically be 20 to 25 years of age, while the groom could be

anywhere from 20 to 30, usually being older than the bride. While not all couples followed

6 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, H[an]s Rudolf

Treichler and A. Esther Sträuli, married 16 January 1843, Family History Library film 995914. DOCUMENT

15.

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this pattern, it is generally a useful way to narrow down a typical timeframe to begin a

search for the birth records of the bride and groom.

Birth of Hans Rudolf Treichler

The baptism records were searched beginning in 1823, allowing 20 years before the marriage date. Along with looking for Hans Rudolf’s given names and surname, the number

706 was used while searching the baptism records. We discovered that the number 706

had several different couples attached to it, making it clear that it was not a marriage

number, but since it was still tied to a specific surname, it was still useful as a type of family

number.

Several couples with the last name Treichler were having children at the same time. At first

it was unclear who the parents of Hans Rudolf were, since his marriage gave no indication

of their names. However, the ability to rule out the other couples was simple once a sweep

of the baptism records had been performed covering several years and it was found that

only one Hans Rudolf Treichler had been born in the area during the correct time frame:

27 April 1822 birth of Hans Rudolf Treichler. DOCUMENT 16.

Hans Rudolf’s baptism record listed his parents as Kaspar Treichler and Susanna Kleiner.

(This explained why he named his own first son Kaspar – it was for his father.) His baptism

occurred 28 April 1822, the day following his birth, along with four of his peers.7 Once the correct parents were identified, Hans Rudolf’s siblings could be correctly identified in the records for the years on either side of his birth.

7 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Hans Rudolf

Treichler, born 27 April 1822, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 16.

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Hans Kaspar and Felix, two brothers, were identified while continuing the search of the

baptism records looking for older siblings for Hans Rudolf.8 After searching the records for

several years beyond 1817 when Felix was found, it was decided that there were no other

children born to Kaspar Treichler and Susanna Kleiner before 1817. The search was then

picked up again beginning in 1823 (the year after Hans Rudolf was born) and continuing through 84 looking for Hans Rudolf’s younger siblings. Five individuals were identified,

making the complete list of children:

Felix (23 May 1817)

Hans Kaspar (24 September 1820)

Hans Rudolf (28 April 1822)

Anna Ester (1 May 1825)

Jakob (5 September 1826)

Johannes (23 January 1828)

Eduard (29 July 1831)

Barbara (4 April 1833).9

Marriage of Kaspar Treichler and Susanna Kleiner

With the range of children known for the couple, a search could be conducted looking for a

marriage record. This search began in the records in May 1817, the month their first child

was born, and continued backward until the record was found. The church marriage record

8 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, H[an]s Kaspar

Treichler, born 24 September 1820, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 17;

and Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Felix Treichler,

born 23 May 1817, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 18.

9 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Anna Ester Treichler,

born 1 May 1825, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 19; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Jakob Treichler, born

5 September 1826, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 20; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Johannes Treichler,

born 23 January 1828, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 21; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Eduard Treichler,

born 29 July 1831, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 22; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Barbara Treichler,

born 4 April 1833, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 23.

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listed 20 August 1816 as the wedding day for Kaspar Treichler and Susanna Kleiner, and

indicated that both were previously married, but it did not specify to whom:10

20 August 1816 marriage of Kaspar Treichler and Susanna Kleiner. DOCUMENT 24.

One clue leading to whom Kaspar Treichler may have been married lay in the previous

search of the baptism records, as a Kasper Treichler was found with a woman named Anna

Maria on several records prior to 1816. This couple did not appear at the same time as

Kaspar Treichler and Susanna Kleiner, thus making it a real possibility. Further research

would be necessary to identify the children of that particular couple and to see if that Anna

Maria died before August 1816 when this Kaspar married Susanna Kleiner.

Birth of Anna Esther Sträuli

The method of searching baptismal records beginning in 1823 and going back in time,

which had resulted in the identification of Hans Rudolf Treichler’s parents, was fruitless in

finding Anna Esther Sträuli. Other Sträuli children were found, but because no Anna Esther

had yet been located, they could not confidently be identified as her siblings. Another

search was begun, this time going forward chronologically beginning in 1824. This time, we

were successful. Anna was born on 24 February 1824, and her parents were listed as

H[an]s Jak[ob] Sträuli and Anna Barb[ara] Staub:11

10 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Kaspar Treichler

and Susanna Kleiner, married 20 August 1816, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 24.

11 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Anna Ester Sträuli,

born 24 February 1824, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 25.

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24 February 1824 birth of Anna Esther Sträuli—named after witness Anna Ester Sträuli. DOCUMENT 25.

Again, because only one Anna Esther Sträuli was found, it is clear that this is the correct

girl. Also, note that Barbara Sträuli Staub was a witness for one of the births of Anna Esther’s children, shown earlier in this report. Four additional children of Hans Jakob

Sträuli and Anna Barbara Staub were then confidently identified in the records in years

surrounding Anna Esther’s birth. The other children were: Hans Jakob (8 December 1822),

Anna Barbara (31 March 1827), Anna Barbara (6 June 1829), and Johannes (1 March

1832).12 The presence of two daughters by the exact same name only two years apart

suggests that the first had died as a baby.

Marriage of Hans Jakob Sträuli and Anna Barbara Staub

Once the children for the couple were located, a search was conducted through the

marriage records beginning at the time of their first child’s birth and going backwards. The search, which began in the records for December 1822, ended with the records for

December 1820.

12 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Hans Jakob Sträuli,

born 8 December 1822, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 26; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, A. Barbara Sträuli,

born 31 March 1827, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 27; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, A. Barbara Sträuli,

born 6 June 1829, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 28; and

Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Johannes Sträuli, born

1 March 1832, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 29.

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10 December 1820 marriage of Jakob Sträuli and A. Barbara Staub. DOCUMENT 30.

The document itself gave very little information – no indication as to the identity of the

parents of the bride and groom, or their respective ages. However, it did list two other

interesting facts. First, it noted that the couple had gone through the process of having their

marriage banns read before being married. This meant that an announcement of their

impending marriage was read publicly for a period of several weeks, giving others in the

community the chance to object to the wedding if there were legitimate grounds. Since

Jakob and Barbara got married, it can be safely assumed that there was no opposition to

the union. Secondly, the document described Anna Barbara Staub as being from

Hombrechtikon.13 A quick look at a map revealed that this town is across Lake Zürich

(Zürichsee) from Wädenswil.

13 Evangelisch-Reformierte Kirche Wädenswil (Zürich), Kirchenbuch, 1552-1875, Jakob Sträuli and A.

Barbara Staub, married 10 December 1820, Family History Library film 995913. DOCUMENT 30.

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Hombrechtikon, Zürich, Switzerland. http;//google.com/maps.

Conclusion

This research session has been extremely successful in expanding the base of information

known about the Treichler and Sträuli families. The children of Hans Rudolf Treichler and

Anna Esther Sträuli were identified. These finds helped to establish a reasonable timeframe for Hans Rudolf and Anna Esther’s marriage, effecting a more specific search of the

marriage records and the eventual discovery of their marriage in 1843. From there, their

ages were able to be approximated and a search conducted through the Wädenswil church

baptism records for their births, as well as the siblings of each party. The success of those

searches then led to the discovery of the marriages of both Hans Rudolf Treichler’s parents and Anna Esther Sträuli’s parents.

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Further research can be conducted on all lines of this family. The Treichler, Kleiner, and

Sträuli lines can continue to be researched in the Wädenswil, Zürich, Switzerland church

records. The Staub line can be researched using the church records for Hombrechtikon,

Zürich, Switzerland.

We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in the discovery of these families, and

look forward to continuing to help in the process.

CEA/keb

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