Melchior' first wife Barbara Frey presented him with 8 children. Only one child married. Barbara died 10 days after delivering her last child. Barbara was from Zwillikon which is a mile and a half east of Ottenbach. Zwillikon (Swiss German: Zwilike) is a village in the municipality of Affoltern am Albis in the canton of Zurich in Switzerland.
Melchior then married Elsbeth Stierli 15 January 1715 or four years after the death of his first wife. Most men who lost wives during this time in Switzerland remarried within a year or two. They had jobs requiring them to be out of the home and they needed someone to take care of the home front. In this case all children but Verena had passed when Elsbeth came into the home so she was the stepmother to one child. The marriage lasted until Elsbeth's death in 1724 or 9 years. No death date or death record has been found for Melchior.
Melchior then married Elsbeth Stierli 15 January 1715 or four years after the death of his first wife. Most men who lost wives during this time in Switzerland remarried within a year or two. They had jobs requiring them to be out of the home and they needed someone to take care of the home front. In this case all children but Verena had passed when Elsbeth came into the home so she was the stepmother to one child. The marriage lasted until Elsbeth's death in 1724 or 9 years. No death date or death record has been found for Melchior.
Most people from early times until 1850 married someone within walking distance. This marriage was definitely within walking distance.
During Melchior's lifetime:
1689 - 1694 Hunger crisis leads to large population losses
1689 - 1694 Hunger crisis leads to large population losses
1600 - 1800 Switzerland is a loose confederacy of 13 cities and small valley communities dominating the rest of the country. A few families control state affairs. The country is proud of its tradition of democracy. (Ottenbach Municipality website)
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| Melchior birth 26 March 1670 film 8014328 page 206 |
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Sidler Hegetschweiler Temple Record by Julius Billeter page 26
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| Sidler Hegetschweiler Temple Record by Julius Billeter page 35 Verena, the only child of Melchior to marry. |
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Sidler and Hegetschweiler Temple Record Book by Julius Billeter
page 18
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