GatheringGardiners: Jakob Sidler 1665

Jakob Sidler was born 1665. When he was 25 he married Verena Häberling from Bickwil who was 5 years younger. Bickwil is about a mile south of Ottenbach. The little hamlet is now part of Obfelden which is in the Ottenbach Parish. They had seven children. Jakob was a Sekelmeister in Ottenbach. Verena lived to be 58, dying in 1728.(Temple Record Sidler and Hegetschweiler, by Julius Billeter, page 25)

Unusual Death Jakob died a most unusual way. According to his death record below he died "from a stab from a knife during a fall." Jakob died in 1741 at almost 76 years old. After his wife's death he lived alone for 13 years. (Translation from Marion at the FHL SLC)

What does a Seckelmeister do?

The titles of each tithe had to be measured first. Ktifer Heinrich Berli, Seckelmeister (cashier) Melchior Leutert and Hans Ulrich Hegetschweiler were entrusted with this task. Afterwards, a commission of one person was set up to calculate the payments of the individual farmers. It was not until 1835 that all the farmers had completely repaid their redemption debt. In 1822, the capitalization of the tithes took place at Martini. Thus, from the second quarter of the 19th century Ottenbach was largely free of tithes. (Ottenbach's population In the course of time by Bernhard Schneider)

A Seckelmeister for the church was the administrator of the confessional financial budgets and treasure. Both parties appointed a special Treasurer for a period of six years... (Patrick A. Wild)

All Children Lived
One of the most unusual aspects of the Sidler history is that Jakob Sidler and Verena Häberling had seven children and no stillbirths or infant deaths. Also all of their children married. Lastly Jakob and Verena never needed to remarry because of an early death. Verena died first and 13 years later Jakob passed.

What happened to their children?

Othmar Sidler 1691-1746 married Elsbeth Sidler, had 10 children, 4 married, he was a sekelmeister, adjudant in Ottenbach, he lived 54 years 1 month 28 days,

Anna Sidler 1693-1762 married Heinrich Sidler, 6 children 17 days, lived 68 years 11 months 18 days
David Sidler 1696-1720

married Elisabetha Funk on 8 May 1719, had one child, Elisabetha on 11 February 1720 in Ottenbach. 7 months 16 days later David died in Flandern which translated means Belgium, David lived 23 years 10 months 8 days

Katharina Sidler 1698- at least 1737, married Melchior Sidler, had 7 children, 3 married and large posterity
Anna Sidler 1702-1752 married Heinrich Sidler, had 7 children, lived 49 years 11 mo 7 days
Hans Kaspar Sidler 1705-1768

married Veronica Schneebeli who was four years younger and they had 5 children. She died in 1746 when she was just 37 years old and a year later, married Elisabeth Schneebeli of Affoltern, a relative but not a sister to his first wife. They had one child in 1751. Hans died 17 years later in 1768,. lived 62 years 10 months 2 days, large posterity
Melchior Sidler 1707-1765 married Anna Schneebeli, 8 children, lived 57 years 10 mo 4 days

During their lives:

1727 Ottenbach plans for the construction of a Reuss bridge which fails because of the resistance of Lucerne. Ottenbach can continue to ferry their goods and citizens beyond the Reuss. (Ottenbach Municipality website)

1700. In Muri Monastery, counseling takes place between Lucerne and Zurich MPs about tithing from Ottenbach.

1712. For the sake of the war, the following is determined: The tithe, who belongs to the church there on Merisch wander Boden from Ottenbacher goods, is readily available; Lucerne again receives a travel certificate for moving the tenth to Ottenbach. (Obfelden, Gedenkschrift zum 50-jährigen Bestand der Gemeinde, Oktober 1897)

1726 Reuss

On December 4, 1726, the Ottenbach priest Hans Konrad Rahn Land informed Johann Heinrich Fries von Knonau that "my wife Ottenbach had a heartfelt and ardent desire to build a bridge over the Reuss River, as which not only became necessary and useful to her, but which was also of no use to anyone at night and was Jewish to me. Driving is very dangerous, he said. People have been killed in accidents all the time. A new one had to be built every year, which required expensive imported wood. The Giiters on the other side of the Reuss are always being attacked by the "cheeky neighbors", "ill-treated, defiled and robbed" because the people of Ottenbach could not quickly get there by waiter a Briicke. Finally, Rahn understood that a bridge would enable them to cultivate the good land, which was not suitable for meadows, instead of using it as pasture. The people of Ottenbach are prepared to use the Briicke only for the egg. (Ottenbach's population In the course of time by Bernhard Schneider. Note: the bridge wasn't completed until 1845)

Pastors In Ottenbach during Jacob's lifetime

1677. Hans Kaspar Huber. Dean 1684. When he was employed in Kappel, he suffered a stroke, the consequences of which he soon died.

1696. Hans Heinrich Nötzli. Teacher at the Karolinum in Zurich. Died

1701. Johann Heinrich Zwingli.Died in 1707 from a stroke.

1707. Hans Konrad Rahn. Deposed in 1737 for offense. Died 1744.

1737. Balthasar Zwingli, son of Hans Heinrich Zwingli. The greatest, most handsome man among all his brothers in office. In 1753 almost all of Ottenbach burned down. The pastor fell ill, had epilepsy (apoplectic) coincidences, never went to the pulpit again, died in 1757.

1737 Pastor Rahn and Veronika Gut Adultery

Born in 1664 and ordained in 1688, Hans Konrad Rahn became vicar in Niederweningen in 1690 and parish priest in Wigoltingen TG in 1692. In 1707 he took over the parish office in Ottenbach; in 1737 he was dismissed for adultery at the age of 73. Afterwards he moved to Horgen, where he died in 1744.

1711 A wool theft.

In 1711 a trial for wool theft took place in Ottenbach, which gives various hints on the situation of the homeworkers in the early 18th century. The 60-year-old Helena Riggert von Gersau was caught on 21 March 1711 in Knonau with ten pounds of wool "and a little syden" and arrested "for dangerously woolen and silk tolerant". She had "become orphaned in her youth". Her husband was no longer alive. Two of her children had reached adulthood, but she did not know "where her two children might be currently". She herself moved throughout the German-speaking world! of Europe, "like the poor people clever thugs". Throughout her life she had lived on begging.

About four years ago a woman in Ottenbach asked her if she could use money. She answered that she had "vii vonnothen". The woman then told her to go to a "poor husli". There she had sold her six pounds of wool, the pound for 8 lbs. In Zug and Baar she, Helena Riggert, had sold the wool for 10 lbs. At the shop in the "Husli" in Ottenbach was attended by a second woman, who later sold her wool and silk for the same pound price, with which she was then caught by the bailiff. Helena Riggert was obviously punished by being bred and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The trial records show that the two women in the "husli" were only intermediaries. They bought wool from Ottenbach wool spinners in small quantities, which they had stolen from the raw wool supplied by their client and processed on their own account. According to the bailiff of Knonau, this was "to the greatest detriment of the masters fabricants". The spinners received four shillings (1.6 lbs.) per quarter of a pound of stolen wool. The middlemen beat a quarter on top of that and Helena Riggert as a saleswoman charged a margin of another quarter.

The profits of these women varied, but were in any case very small. Helena Riggert, who took the biggest risk from alien participants, for which she earned the most for every pound sold, explained that it was "done out of dead poverty and (she) felt sorry for hunt". There is no reason to doubt this statement. If she was not caught by the bailiff on 21 March 1711 where in the course of four years, she had just earned four pounds of the 16 pounds of wool in question. Since she was caught, she lost a total of 8½ pounds, was obviously humiliated in Zürich, and was given a life-long expulsion. Hardly anyone who had enough to eat took such a risk. (Ottenbach's population In the course of time by Bernhard Schneider)

Documents related to Jakob Sidler:

Jacob Sidler birth 18 June 1665 film 8014328 page 197

Jacob Sidler married 6 Dec 1690 Verena film 8014328 page 355

Above: Jacob Sidler and Verena Häberling 1708 Church Census film 7765851 page 656 These censuses were taken every few years. It was a way for the Parish Pastor to report what he is doing to the higher ups. Some of the censuses have great detail. This is not the case with this one.