Wittwer

 

The Wittwers of this line come from Schangnau, a small village in Switzerland. It's called the "place of origin". Contrary to most other countries, official forms in Switzerland will not ask for the "place of birth" but rather for the "place of origin". That is were the family books are kept and where you will depose you paper if you emigrate from Switzerland. Your place of origin even has an obligation of taking care of you in case of need, though this anachronistic concept has been replaced by a rather well working social welfare. Still, Schangnau could be a nice place to retire. It is deep in the valley of Emmental, where the famous Swiss cheese with the big holes comes from. Here two pictures from Schangnau.

In this town, a certain Peter Wittwer married an Elisabeth Jost in 1809. And that is as far back as things are know about the wittwers. Except that some sources say that the father of Peter Wittwer had the same name. In the death books deposited at the mayor's office in Schangnau you may find the death record of Peter Wittwer.

The first column is just numbering. The second column is the month of death (November), the third is the day of death (21st).  The year of the death is not visible on this picture, but is indicated on the top of the page, and it is the year 1850. The text then reads (middle column): "Peter Wittwer, der Elisabeth Jost Ehemann, von Schangnau, wohnhaft gewesen auf dem Berg". In English: "Peter Wittwer, husband of Elisabeth Jost, from Schangnau, and who lived on the mountain". We were not yet able to identify the place called "Berg". The next two columns give the date of the burial: November 24. And the last two columns indicate the age at the death: 69 years and 1 month.

Here now the family tree as it is known:

Peter Wittwer.

I. Peter Wittwer, b. 1781, baptized 28.10.1781 in Schangnau. He married Elisabeth Jost, married 25.8.1809, b. 1789 in Langnau, d. 27.10.1876 in Schangnau. Peter died 21.11.1850 in Schangnau.

Elisabeth, b. 1789 or 1790 in Langnau, was baptized on February 7, 1790. She died on October 27, 1876 in Schangnau at the age of 86.

Peter and Elisabeth had 12 children.

A. Elisabeth Wittwer, b. 18.2.1810. Elisabeth died on January 29, 1832
Most probably Elisabeth was not married when she had her only child at the age of 22, Friedrich. She carried her maiden name, and Friedrich also was named Wittwer. Only two weeks after giving birth she died. We can only guess, how difficult life must have been for her son. The identity of the father of Friedrich is not known. By the way, Friedrich was also the first and only Wittwer of his generation (except for Christian who later followed his son to the US) to leave the Province of Bern and to build a new life and marry in the French part of Switzerland. Has his decision been influenced by the fact of being an illegitimate orphan child?

1. Friedrich Wittwer, b. 13.1.1832 in Schangnau. He married Sophie Adeline Bourquin, married 28.6.1856, b. 29.7.1835 in St. Imier, (daughter of Lucien Bourquin and Henriette Blanchard). Friedrich died 24.9.1876 in St. Imier.

a. Elisa Adeline Wittwer, b. 11.7.1857 in St. Imier, d. 8.4.1858.

b. Friedrich Albrecht Wittwer, b. 16.6.1858 in St. Imier, d. 13.11.1906.

c. Emma Elise Wittwer, b. 14.8.1859 in St. Imier, d. 10.5.1930.

d. Friedrich Oskar Wittwer, b. 5.1.1861 in St. Imier, d. 3.3.1919.

e. Elise Adeline Wittwer, b. 27.5.1862 in St. Imier.

f. Gustav Wittwer, b. 17.11.1865 in Courtelary. He married Rosette Schneider, married 19.2.1898, b. in Trub (?). Gustav died 13.11.1944.

(1) Gustav Wittwer, b. 10.12.1911. He married Bertha Niederhauser, b. 27.1.1910, (daughter of Johannes Niederhauser and Martha Wyniger) d. 29.7.1996. Gustav died 14.10.1992.

(a) Fritz Wittwer, (details excluded).

[1] Roland Wittwer.

[2] Silvia Wittwer.

(b) Hans Rudolf Wittwer, (details excluded). He married Margrit Hanna Hochstrasser, (details excluded).

[1] Agnes Wittwer, (details excluded). She married Wolfram Wiebe, (details excluded).

[2] Jürg Wittwer, (details excluded). He married Cornelia Ruth Brodmann, (details excluded).

[3] Daniela Wittwer, (details excluded).

g. Juliette Adeline Wittwer, b. 5.6.1868 in Courtelary, d. 5.5.1871.

B. Magdalena Wittwer, b. 20.1.1811. She married Ulrich Wittwer, b. in Schangnau.

C. Anna Wittwer, b. 2.10.1812. She married Samuel Haldimann, married 19.5.1843 in Schangnau, b. in Unterlangeness.

1. Albrecht Haldimann, b. 20.4.1839, d. 19.12.1893 in Frienisberg.

D. Mathyas Wittwer, b. 23.8.1814 in Schangnau. He married Elisabeth Habegger, married 27.4.1838 in Schangnau, b. 7.8.1803 in Trub, (daughter of Ulrich Habegger) d. 1865. Mathyas died 18.6.1858.

1. Anna Elisabeth Wittwer, b. 6.5.1839 in Schangnau. She married Johann Ulrich, married 28.3.1862, b. in Wynigen.

2. Ulrich Wittwer, b. 31.5.1841 in Schangnau, d. 18.9.1855 in Signau.

3. Christian Wittwer, b. 6.6.1844 in Eggiwil. He married Barbara Kehrli, married 9.5.1867 in Meiringen, b. 4.4.1841 in Meiringen, d. 5.5.1883. Christian died 19.3.1921. Barbara was born and also died in Meiringen.

Christian Wittwer – following his third son, Hermann Widmer – emigrated to the United States around 1885 after the death of Barbara. According to information provided by a granddaughter of Emil Wittwer, Christian's passport was dated 21.12.1884. Christian may have arrived in Pennsylvania or New York. It is believed Christian was burried in Scranton, Pennsilvania.

a. Lina Wittwer, b. 24.9.1867 in Meiringen.

b. Emil Wittwer, b. 29.6.1870 in Meiringen, d. 3.7.1875 in Meiringen.

c. Hermann Wittwer, b. 11.2.1873 in Meiringen. He married Annie C. Kohler, on 27.12.1898 at St. Johannes Lutheran Church in New Bern, Williamson County, Texas. As her husband, Annie was born in Meiringen. Hermann died 15.8.1940.

Charles Remmert Jr., one of the descendants of Peter Wittwer, has resumed story of Hermann's emmigration as follows:

No one knows exactly hot the name changed from Wittwer to Widmer, but no doubt it was the way he pronounced it as he came off the boat. Perhaps he even saw it written down wrong by the immigration officer. Hermann may have decided to keep the incorrect spelling because the immigration lines were so long. His father, Christian Wittwer, later searched for his son for quite some time. He asked everyone who travelled if they knew a Hermann Wittwer. Finally, an insurance salesman said he knew of a Hermann Widmer who lived in Texas. Christian visited Hermann in Texas, but returned to Pennsylvania.

Hermann may have gone to Scranton, Pennsylvania and worked in a coal mine for a while and later returned to Texas. They settled in Texas on a portion of the old Hoxie Ranch. There were nine children born to Herman and his wife Anne C. Kohler.  They shared the tough job of raising a family on 97 acres of farm land.

Hermann was a farmer and carpenter. He died at his home in Taylor, Williamson County, TX and is buried in the New Bern Cementry near Thrall, TX.

Anna was a housewife. She died in 1966 and is burried in Taylor Memorial Park in Taylor, TX.

d. Johannes Wittwer, b. 16.1.1875 in Meiringen.

e. Christian Adolf Wittwer, b. 10.12.1877 in Meiringen.

f. Emil Wittwer, b. 23.5.1879 in Meiringen.

4. Marianna Wittwer, b. 3.6.1847, d. 30.6.1859 in Signau.

E. Verena Wittwer, b. 5.6.1816 in Schangnau. She married Johannes Krähenbühl, married 5.6.1841 in Hochstetten, b. in Zazwil.

F. Peter Wittwer, b. 23.11.1818 in Schangnau. Peter died 13.3.1819 in Schangnau.

G. Peter Wittwer, b. 13.11.1819 in Schangnau. He married Elisabeth Siegenthaler, married 3.12.1858 in Schangnau, b. 5.6.1820 in Schangnau, d. 14.12.1896 in Schangnau. Peter died 5.3.1875 in Schangnau.

H. Samuel Wittwer, b. 21.1.1822 in Schangau. He married Anna Barbara Stucki, married 18.10.1847 in Muri, d. 6.4.1899. Samuel died 23.12.1878.

1. Christian Wittwer, b. 31.1.1848 in Münsingen. He married Anna Elisabeth Hirschi, married 16.3.1872 in Bern.

2. Gottfried Wittwer, b. 18.6.1850 in Schangnau. He married Elisabeth Zürcher, married 24.4.1875 in Bern.

3. Gottlieb Wittwer, b. 5.2.1852 in Schangnau. He married Elise Mathilde Burkhard, married 12.12.1874 in Bern.

4. Johannes Wittwer, b. 24.1.1854 in Schangnau. He married Elisabeth Gerber, married 28.10.1879 in Langnau.

5. Jakob Wittwer, b. 1.6.1856 in Schangnau. He married Anna Fankhauser, married 11.8.1883 in Solothurn.

6. Anna Barbara Wittwer, b. 7.8.1857 in Schangnau. She married Christian Reber, married 17.3.1877 in Bern, b. in Schangnau.

7. Karl Wittwer, b. 31.8.1859 in Schangnau. He married Sophie Grimm, married 14.12.1880 in Langnau.

8. Elisabeth Wittwer, b. 22.3.1862 in Schangnau. She married Friedrich Abbuhl, married 17.2.1882 in Burgdorf, b. in Lauterbrunnen.

a. Johann Wittwer, b. 29.1.1880 in Schangnau.

9. Samuel Wittwer, b. 2.4.1864 in Schangnau. He married Katharina Bieri, married 2.1.1897 in Schangnau.

10. Daniel Wittwer, b. 17.5.1866 in Schangnau. He married Elisabeth Habegger, married 5.11.1890 in Langnau.

11. Rosette Wittwer, b. 14.5.1866 in Schangnau. She married Johann Kilchenmann, married 20.4.1889 in Kirchberg, b. in Ersingen.

I. Maria Wittwer, b. 30.9.1823 in Schangnau. She married Samuel Siegenthaler, married 17.2.1843 in Schangnau, b. in Schangnau.

J. Friedrich Wittwer, b. 1.1.1826 in Schangnau, d. 1827.

K. Rosina Wittwer, b. 2.11.1828 in Schangnau. She married Ulrich Stettler, married 24.11.1848, b. in Eggiwil.

L. Christian Wittwer, b. 26.1.1834 in Schangnau, d. 5.7.1849.
 

 

 

 

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