The Susanna Jenta and Her Family

Susanna Jenta

Kurrent is an old form of German-language handwriting based on late medieval cursive writing, also known as Kurrentschrift, German script or German cursive. Over the history of its use into the first part of the 20th century, many individual letters acquired variant forms. To read German language documents it is imperative one learn how to decipher Kurrent. (Wikipedia)

Generation 1: Susanna Jenta and Johannes Sidler

Generation 2: Rudolf Jenta and Elisabetha Frei 

Generation 3: Kaspar Jenta and Anna Wolfenberger

Generation 4: Caspar Jenta and Elisabeth Landis 

The Jenta Story

Johannes Sidler from Ottenbach married Susanna Jenta from Ettenhausen, Wetzikon Parish, Switzerland in 1824. Ettenhausen is 37 miles to the east of Ottenbach. You have to go all the way around Lake Zurich to get there. It is a long way. How Johannes and Susanna got together is anyone's guess. Maybe they met in Zurich when Johannes was there on business. (Archives Family Record E III 88.19, S. 434)

The Jenta's

Rudolf Jenta married Elisabeth Frei on October 7, 1792 in St. Peter's in Zurich. The first massive three-story tower for St. Peter's was built in early 13th century AD. The church clock of St. Peter has the largest tower clock face in Europe, the outer diameter of each of the four church clocks measures 8.64 meters (28.3 ft), the minute hand 5.73 meters (18.8 ft), the hour hand 5.07 meters (16.6 ft), and the minute crack of the large pointer measures 0.455 meters (1.5 ft). They traveled 17 miles to marry. However that pales to 36 miles Ettenhausen is from Birr, Elisabeth's village. It was rare for couples to wed outside their village or at least within walking distance of their community. This wasn't a problem for Rudolf and Elisabetha. (Wikipedia see photo below.)

Susanna's father Rudolf Jenta was a municipal councillor on the local council of Ettenhausen. Ettenhausen was politically a small separate community near Kempten that only in 1928 merged with Wetzikon. Therefore they needed a little Government Municipal council (some 4 or five representatives of the local families). Jenta family is not from here, they came from Germany. Susanna's great grandfather Conrad Jenta born 2 May 1698 came from Schmidmüllen, Oberpfalz, Bavaria. Schmiedmüllen  means a "mill for a black smith" and is located in the upper palatinate  which today is Bavaria. He was a Gerber or tanner of cowhides. Conrad married Elisabeth Landis 11 December 1732 who was from Wengi, near Aegust am Albis near Affoltern am Albis, Canton of Zurich in the Church of Aeugst in 1732. The church was built in 1667, after the Reformation and during the Renaissance and  is five miles from Ottenbach. Susanna would later go back to the same area and marry Johannes. Most people in the 18th and 19 centuries married people from their community. Not Conrad and Elisabeth. From Schmidmüllen to Aeugst am Albis is 321 miles which is a long way back then when people traveled by walking or riding horses. How they met is also mystery.

The Jenta family first lived in Untermedikon on the west of the river. Untermedikon and Robank are part of Wetzikon in the West of a little river called Aa-Bach. This area early attracted industrial activities along this river.  So it is easy to imagine the first Jenta's coming there to tan cowhides into leather. The couple had two children Kaspar, Susanna's grandfather, in 1741 and Anna 1748. In Germany the name is also spelled as Jentha. Susanna was definitely of German heritage.(Peter Bertschinger)

When Susanna's grandfather Kaspar was 10 years old  in 1751 the family became Swiss citizens in Ettenhausen. To do so they had to pay for it (buy-in). It normally takes some years after moving to a community that you can become citizen and you had to buy a house. The Jentas lived in one of the few houses west of the main cantonal street, probably a street today called Winkelstrasse. Susanna's grandfather Kaspar Jenta, became a Schulmeister or schoolmaster to teach the "dumb" farmer children in Ettenhausen. Ettenhausen is a village southeast above Wetzikon on the road from Kempten to Hinwil. The area south of the Pfäffikersee has been inhabited since pre-Roman times. In the village of Ettenhausen artifacts from the Middle Bronze Age and a middle age Cemetery were found. The village belonged in the middle ages high court to rule Kyburg and came with this in 1424 and 1452 to Zurich. Kaspar and his wife Anna Wolfensberger had 4 children in this hamlet. (ortsnamen.ch , and Peter Bertschinger)

Ettenhausen School

Kaspar taught from 1767 to 1790 or 23 years. When Kaspar died in 1790 his son Johannes took over and taught from 1790 to 1828 or 38 years. That means that Susanna's uncle taught Susanna from the time she entered school until she completed her education. The school was held in Johannes's parlour from 1790 until 1809, at which time the first school building was built. School was held in that structure until 1954.  When Johannes died in 1828 Susanna's uncle, Johannes' son, Heinrich took over and taught from 1828 until 1949 or 21 years.  (Jenta history researched by Peter Bertschinger, Full history, & photos of Ettenhausen by Peter Bertschinger, History of the municipality of Wetzikon)

What was school like for Susanna?

In 1799 schoolmaster Johannes Jenta reported on the conditions in the school which went into great detail on what school was like for his students. The agency over the school was the pastor of Wetzikon. This wasn't a school just for Ettenhausen but included six small surrounding hamlets all 10 to 12 minutes away. Ettenhausen had far and away the largest number of students totaling 76 everyday students and 26 repeater students. The other hamlets made up 10 students and 7 repeaters. There were 85 High School Students in the summer. School was 6 hours a day. Most of the year they met daily but in summer they met only 2 days a week.  School began with prayer, then songs from the Schmidlischen Choral Songs, the Psalms of David, and Songs of the Christian hymn book. Children were divided into the following five classes. 1. Nammenbuchli, 2. Teacher, 3. Test Book U. Psalter, 4. Psalm Book and 5. Testament. The schoolmaster is examined by the Convent of Zurich for the pastor's presence and standstill, after the rehearsal, reading, writing, singing. The schoolmaster has a wife and 2 children. Students paid a small tuition of 20ß  and Johannes received 10 fl a year. The schoolmaster kept the school in his own room (parlour), from which he receives interest above school fees, approximately from the church property for Sunday school 5 fl. .......Ettenhausen. in March. 1799, 

Greeting and brotherly love Schulmstr Jenta.,

(Source for paragraph above: Ettenhausen School report 1799) (Notes: Stillstand - church overseers, also called Ehegaumer. They had to stand still after the sermon on Sunday and discuss with the pastor all the scandals that happened at their place/ 1 fl. is one Florin = one Gulden, used to be a piece of money, coin, quite valuable/1 ß is one shilling, a part of a florin like a dime/ The wood of the big Ettenhausen forests was necessary to heat the oven in the school house during winter season. Often the pupils had to bring a log to the school to heat./Namenbüchli was full of names, often from the Bible - the kids used it to learn the letters, i.e. to spell./Scheuchzer was a famous (rich family) in the City of Zurich. They sponsored a fund, to make possible the school in Ettenhausen, i.e. to pay the teacher).

Civic Leader

In 1804 the civil community of Ettenhausen was formed with Rudolf on the council and Susanna was born, The same year the Municipality of Wetzikon asked some of the various village leaders to form a committee to provide services for local people in need. For the last few years services had not been provided. Included in the group of leaders from local village councils were Ulrich Kunz from Linkenberg, Jakob Grimm from Kempten and Rudolf Jenta, from Ettenhausen.  When Susanna was born her father Rudolf was 33 and her mother Elisabeth 30.  (History of Wetzikon,  Zurich Archives Wetzikon E lll 139.21 p 1734 and Wetzikon E lll 139.13 p 533)

The Jenta's go to Church
Susanna's parents Rudolf Jenta and Lisabeth Frei married in St. Peter's Church in Zurich. It is an unusual church. The church's steeple was and is owned by the city of Zürich, while the nave is owned by the St. Peter parish of the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Zürich. For many years the steeple was used as a fire lookout. The spot it is located on goes back to Roman times. It also has the largest clock face in Europe. It was out of the ordinary to be married 31 miles from home but that is what Rudolf and Lisabeth did. (Zuirch Archives E III 139.3, EDB 833, S. 479)

Because Ettenhausen was small they went to church in Wetzikon which is a mile and a half away. To get to the church Rudolf, Lisabeth and their children walked along a path today called Ettenhausweg or Kirchweg von Ettenhausen which means church path, south of the Lendenbach (Ländenbach). The Jenta's went to the Reformed Church of Wetzikon. 

When Susanna reached 18 she was confirmed into the Reformed Church.  That was the only church in 1822 in the Canton of Zurich. The parish priest entered information on her confirmation partly with Latin abbreviations. He wrote: Susanna Jenta, nata (born) 11. November 1804, ex. Weihe 1822, obit (died) 18. März 1858. Weihe means the confirmation procedure happened in the church with all members and parents, godparents present. This allowed Susanna to join the Abendmahl for the first time (symbol of the evening meal of Jesus Christ with his followers, or Last Supper), and  become full member of the church.

When she become 16 she probably went to Kinederlehre (Sunday lecture), which was after the normal sermon when the adults left the church. This was compulsory. She may have gone to Sonntagsschule (Sunday school) on Sunday mornings. In modern times there was a Konfirmationsessen (confirmation meal) in a nearby restaurant with your family and godfather and godmother. In Wetzikon that was normally the Löwen inn. From that point on the godparents are released from their function to support the child if they are orphaned. You would also receive a substantial gift at this event. For example I received my first wrist-watch from your god parents. Additionally, they would not give any more Christmas presents to you. We also had a Konfirmationslager (confirmation camp), in my case one week in the Canton of Ticino, a kind  of vacations with sports, walking, and touring and religious events. The pastor (reverend) came along as well - quite informal. (Peter Bertschinger)

Wetzikon belonged to the Canton of Zurcher Oberland. Zürcher Oberland ("Zurich highlands") in Switzerland, is the hilly south-eastern part of the canton of Zurich. In recent times Kempten, Ettenhausen and Wetzikon merged into Wetzikon. To become a city in Switzerland you need to have more than 10,000 inhabitants and Wetzikon has 25,000 today. This is the same canton Ottenbach is in. A new church building was built in 1897 which still stands today. Like most village churches in Switzerland the previous church had an entry, central hall, altar and clock tower and bells to give the time to the Jenta's as they went about their day. Today, as in years past, on the side of the church facing the entrance, is the Restaurant Löwen (lion) where the people go after the sermon, baptisms, marriages and when they bury their dead. Some things never change. (Peter Bertschinger, photo of the older Wetzikon church and Restaurant Löwen at end of this post

Garden

Each family had a little garden in front of the house for vegetables. It had a fence around it to protect it from cows, animals etc. They called it Krautgarten. They also had some trees, normally walnut, apples and pears which they often made into cider. They were planted in the Baumgarten, or Bungert. They also had fields for potatoes. In the region everybody had a vinyard called a Weingarten or Wingart; also the wine was not so great, so sugar and sulphur was added to make it stable so you didn’t get head aches. There were also wheat fields for bread and straw was used for the stables.

The farms were mostly small, a few cows for milk and cream and butter. They often included a pig stable, some chicken for egg and meat etc. The meadows needed grass cuts, the first was Heu (hay) and the second in late summer called Emd. The hay was needed to feed the cows through winter. As said there were only few horses in a village, often the owners made transportation services (e.g. coach, wagons, to pull logs from the forest) etc. The oxen were used to draw the wagons and the plow. In Ettenausen there was a swamp with frogs. The swamp material was used for the stables. They also cut Torf, or rotten earth, dried it, and used it to warm the oven. The forest provided the heating materials and building materials.

Just before and during Susanna's lifetime

During the French Revolutionary Wars, the French army invaded Switzerland and turned it into an ally known as the "Helvetic Republic" (1798–1803). It had a central government with little role for cantons. The interference with localism and traditional liberties was deeply resented, although some modernizing reforms took place. (Wikipedia.)

Napoleon and his enemies fought numerous campaigns in Switzerland that ruined many localities. It proclaimed the equality of citizens before the law, equality of languages, freedom of thought and faith; it created a Swiss citizenship, basis of our modern nationality, and the separation of powers, of which the old regime had no conception; it suppressed internal tariffs and other economic restraints; it unified weights and measures, reformed civil and penal law, authorized mixed marriages (between Catholics and Protestants), suppressed torture and improved justice; it developed education and public works (William Martin)

Ettenhausen Census

Two years after Susanna was born, in 1806, they took a census and found 434 inhabitants or 119 households in Ettenhausen.  At least they had a primary school where three Jenta's taught. Susanna was the sixth of 13 children. Her mother, Elisabeth Frei, died when Susanna was 12. About 9 months later her father married Margaretha Huber and together they added the 13th child. Susanna Jenta was born in 1804, 14 years after her schoolteacher grandfather Kaspar died. (Peter  Bertschinger and Zurich Archives Wetzikon E lll 139.21 p 1734 and Wetzikon E lll 139.13 p 533)

Susanna had a brother named Heinrich born 1808 who was a silk weaver. Before the Industrial Revolution, the creation of a patterned silk textile required a skilled weaver and a considerable investment in equipment and raw materials. The warp was threaded on the loom according to the design of the textile, after which two people were required to weave the textile—a weaver who inserted the wefts and a “drawboy” who controlled the pattern mechanism. (MET Museum Website)

In the 19th century silk factories sprang up in rural areas, particularly on the left bank of the Lake of Zurich. From 1840 to 1900 the trade was the most important processing industry in the Canton of Zurich. In the 1850s and 1860s Zurich grew into the second largest silk producer in the world, famous all over the globe for black taffeta and bolting cloths for sifting flour. (lebendige website)

Susanna was 27 years younger than Johannes. They married  23 December 1824 and had their first child, Barbara, 3 months 5 days later. Barbara was not considered illegitimate because  her parents were married when she was born. Susanna's father died two years previously and her mother 8 years before so they were not there to share the happy events. (Temple Record Sidler and Hegetschweiler by Julius Billeter, page 74 and Zurich Archives Family Record E III 88.19, S. 434)

Susanna’s younger sister Anna born 31 October1802 also married in 1824 and also married a Johannes. Anna and her husband Johannes Wolfensberger had 9 children. Wolfensberger is the most prolific name in Ettenhausen and is considered a founding family. Coincidently Kaspar Jenta, Susanne's grandfather, married an Anna Wolfensberger.

The district doctor in Ottenbach, at the time, was Dr. Jakob Hegetschweiler a relative of the Sidler family. He was born in Ottenbach 1792 and died in 1845 at 53 which was a common age to live at the time. Most likely he delivered Johannes' three girls namely: Barbara 1825, Anna 1827 and Susanna. Susanna was delivered in Maschwanden, which is 3.7 miles south of Ottenbach. Susanna’s mother's maiden name was Frei and many in the Frei family are found in Maschwanden so she most likely was visiting a relative when she gave birth. Dr. Hegetschweiler was later honored with a grave marker/plaque on the side of the Ottenbach Reformed Church for providing the community with a Retirement Home. The privilege of being remembered in this way is costly and only available for the noble and/or rich.  The marker has been preserved and can be seen today. (Translation of headstone on Ottenbach Kirche by Kent Gardiner, 2019)

What did the Jenta Family eat?

In Switzerland, breakfast typically includes bread, butter or margarine, marmalade or honey, maybe some cheese or cereals, plus milk, cold or hot chocolate, tea or coffee. Lunch may be as simple as a sandwich or  birchermüesli or the sandwich could be a complete meal.

Corn and beans were common, along with pork. In the north, cows provided milk, butter, and beef, while in the south, where cattle were less common, venison and other game provided meat. Preserving food in 1815, before the era of refrigeration, required smoking, drying, or salting meat. The Swiss have been big meat-eaters ever since the 19th century when consumption started to rise. Fondue and Raclette were only eaten in the Valais and French speaking part of Switzerland together with white wine. Our ancestors ate the cheese in the original form not melted.

Johannes the Tailor

When Johannes was 18, Ottenbach took the 1795 census. Beside his name it says "Schneider ist zu Affoltern is wieder zu hause" which translated says he was a tailor in Affoltern but is again (wieder...again) in the house (of Rudolf). (1795 Ottenbach Census)

In the 1700s most people made their own clothing using natural items such as wool, flax, or animal hides. They grew the flax plant to make the linen thread and raised sheep for the wool. A spinning wheel was used to make thread from the wool or flax which was then woven into fabric or knitted into socks, hats, scarves, or mittens.

Elias Howe didn't invent the sewing machine until 1846, and Isaac Singer's version didn't come about until 1850. So sewing was done by hand. In the early 19 century people made do with one outfit for every day, one for Sunday best, and perhaps one other, or parts of another, for seasonal change. With so many weaving looms in Ottenbach it is easy to see that fabric was plentiful. Early dye colors were made from plant parts-leaves, stems and blossoms of woods and meadow flowers; roots, barks, and nut hulls.  Making garments by hand took time.  In the countryside tailors made clothes by hand at affordable prices using cheap cloth, and even then purchasing clothes was relatively expensive compared to the average income of a poor person. From the middle ages to the 18th-century, tailors created their patterns with methods that were trade secrets. They were not shared with apprentices until a master tailor handed over his business to someone who had bought it. One can imagine Johannes sitting in a little shop with cloth, patterns and thread all around. He looks at his list of project for the day,  picks up a large scissors and begins cutting.  (https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/ )

The introduction of the sewing machine sped up garment production. The silhouette of men's fashion changed in similar ways: by the mid-1820s coats featured broad shoulders with puffed sleeves, a narrow waist, and full skirts. Trousers were worn for smart day wear, while breeches continued in use in the country. (Wikipedia)

Swiss men never ever had Lederhosen or shorts. They left that to the Germans and Austrians. Many cantons and regions of Switzerland had Trachten for festivities or church uniform and farmer clothes for men, and unmarried and married women. For festivals men wore black hats, coats, pants, shoes and black string ties, as well as white shirts and a low cut black vest with white stripes. Woman wore dirndl dresses with black shoes, caps, black bodice and white shirts, stockings and colorful straps to hold the dress in place. While appearing to be simple and plain, a properly made modern dirndl may be quite expensive as it is tailored, and sometimes cut from costly hand-printed or silk fabrics. Having been to Octoberfest I can say the 19th century dirndl dresses were much more modest in the 19th century. (Peter Bertschinger, see photos at the bottom of this post)

During their lifetime:

1830 Pastor Locher obtains the construction of the first poorhouse in Ottenbach. (Ottenbach Municipality Website)

Johannes died at 57 in 1834. At the time his son Jakob was 22, and the girls were Barbara, 14, Anna 9 and Susanna just 2. So that left Susanna at 30 to raise the children.  What did she do? The community had jobs in spinning, weaving or she may have followed her tailor husband and made clothes. Her daughter, Susanna, was a skilled seamstress and could have learned the trade of seamstress from her own mother. (Autobiography of Lebrecht Bar, Family Record, Zurich Archives)

Johannes's daughter, Anna Sidler, has a child out of wedlock in 1847 naming her Anna Hegetschweiler. Emma Bachman Scholl reports Anna's father first name as Jakob. A year or so before her birth the free-corps (citizens wanting freedom) are destroyed which shakes all liberal Switzerland like a thunderbolt. Everywhere the liberals are scoffing and cursing the free-corps. The ferment of a second insurrection was already at work in the free-bailiwicks of Aargau, but when the troops of Zurich, suddenly ordered out by the Diet, unexpectedly crossed the Reuss from Ottenbach, and the roll of their drums was heard near Muri, the reawakened desires were at once extinguished. ( Temple Record Sidler and Hegetschweiler, by Julius Billeter, page 89 and The History of Switzerland, for the Swiss People By Heinrich Zschokke, Emil Zschokke and)

In Lamstedt, Hannover, Germany the percentage of children born out of wedlock went from 13% from 1701 - 1770 to 44.7% from 1851 - 1900. When a child was born out of wedlock sometimes the pastor would enter their birth information upside down. It also became difficult for the child to find employment. (Research of Larry Jensen, 2019, genealogist)

During Susanna, her 3 daughters and 6 grandchildren's lifetime:

1847 Separation of Obfelden and Ottenbach: The five hamlets are merged into the political community Obfelden, the mill and Rickenbach (an area nearby) remains at Ottenbach.

1847 The Sonderbund War of November 1847 was a civil war in Switzerland, then still a relatively loose confederacy of cantons. It ensued after seven Catholic cantons formed the Sonderbund in 1845 to protect their interests against a centralization of power. The war concluded with the defeat of the Sonderbund. (Wikipedia)

1850, In the early 1850s some 60% of the population still worked in the agricultural sector. By 1888, the share had fallen to 36%.

1854 - 1864, the rail network grew from 38 to 1,300 km. (Switzerland in the 19th century - EDA)

A year after Anna Hegetschweiler was born, in 1848 public opinion, was ready for a new Federal Constitution combining elements of the U.S. constitution (Federal State with central and cantonal [state] governments and parliaments) and of French revolutionary tradition. The Principles of this constitution are still valid today. (A Timeline of Switzerland's History)

Four of Johannes' Family Join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Twenty-two years after Johannes died and two years before Susanna Jenta died four members of Johannes's family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. In the 19th century converts of the Church in Ottenbach were baptized in the River Reuss and this is the most likely place for their baptisms. In fact the Church membership records often states the name of a river as the place of baptism. Two of Johannes' daughters and two of his grandchildren joined:

First to join in Bachman and Sidler lines

1. Anna Sidler age 29 born 4 February 1827 in Ottenbach baptized 1 January 1856 in Ottenbach by D Bonnelli, confirmed H Bar. (Note: Anna was the first in our family line to join the church in both the Sidler and Bachman families. Anna and her child died from the impact of a canon ball at age 35 in the Morrisite War, UT.) (page 21 microfilm 128145, Emma Scholl, Anna's granddaughter.)

Three months later:

2. Verena Sidler age 19, born 5 March 1837, oldest daughter of Jakob Sidler born 1812 baptized 30 March 1856 by D Bonnelli, confirmed H Bar. (Note: Verena's father Jakob Sidler lived with Barbara, Anna and Susanna because he was their half brother. Verena is Johannes granddaughter.) (page 21 microfilm 128145)

Three months later:

3. Susanna Sidler age 23, born 15 December 1832, baptized 6 July 1856 in the Sihl River, by H. Hug, confromed by H. Bar,  (page 22 film 128145)

4. Anna Hegetschweiler age 8, born 29 September 1847, baptized 6 July 1856 in the Sihl River by H Hug and confirmed by H Hug. (Note: The Sihl is a  45 mile long Swiss river that rises near the Druesberg mountain in the canton of Schwyz, and eventually flows into the Limmat river in the centre of the city of Zürich. Heinrich Hug converted and was baptized with several of his family on 31 January 1853 by the pioneer missionary in that part of Switzerland, George Mayer.)

Susanna was a witness to the conversions of her two daughters and two grandchildren. Two years later Susanna Jenta Sidler, daughter, wife, and dedicated mother died in 1858 in Ottenbach. Most likely her 11 year old granddaughter Anna Hegetschweiler was present, as she lived in the home. Susanna was 53 and had lived without her husband Johannes for 24 years.

  

Susanna, most likely, was buried in the Ottenbach churchyard. Due to lack of space Swiss graves are now emptied after about 25 years and tombstones removed and destroyed or recycled. But one can still walk the churchyard and remember Susanna Jenta Sidler and how she and Johannes walked there with their children for services, baptisms, weddings and burials. It must have been a bright spring day on March 18th 1858 when her three girls, one stepson, his wife and her six grandchildren stood next to her grave to bid her a tearful farewell. She had been their rock.

Susanna Jenta and Johannes Sidler

Generation 1: 

Microfilm 008126955 page 307

     Dec,   3    Susanna Siedler, Joha. to Maschwanden

Maschwanden is 3.7 miles south of Ottenbach. Dr Hegetschweiler was the  district doctor and as such could have delivered her out of Ottenbach. Susanna’s mother’s maiden name was Frei and she was born in Birr, Aargau, AG. The founding families of Maschwanden include the Frei family. There must be a connection between the Frei’s of Burr and the Frei’s of Maschwanden.

Note: Susanna's silk weaving brother Heinrich's wife Margaretha Salzman was from Maschwanden. Could Susanna have stayed with her sister-in-law's parents or relatives? Unfortunately we don't have any information on her parents other than their names.

Zurich Archives, see reference number at edge of document

Rudolf Jenta and Elisabetha Frei 

Generation 2: 

Hans Rudolf Jenta born 19 May 1771 married 7 October 1792 died 5 June 1822
Rudolf Municipality Councilor Jenta, Elisabeth Frei, son of Kaspar
Eisabeth Frie  born 13 Nov 1774 died 18 April 1816 from Bir unknown parents

1. Barbara born 27 October 1793 unmarried and no death date
2. Johannes
3. Johannes  died young
4. Felix
5. Anna  born 31 Oct 1802 mar 24 March 1824 married Johannes Wolfensberger Ettenhausen
6. Susanna born 11 Nov 1804 marr Dec 1824 Johannes Sidler from Ottenbach
7.  A Barbara born 9 Jun 1806 m  15 Dec 1828 Johannes             Salzmann from Maschwanden
8. Heinrich born 16 October 1808 marr 2 Feb 1829  ? 1737 He was a silk weaver
9. Lisabeth b 27 Jan 1811 marr 16 Nov 1829 mar Rudolf Salzman Maschwanden
10. Regula born 31 May 1814 died 3 June 1814
11. Regula born 8 April 1816 died 7 June 1816
12. Lisabeth born 8 April 1816 married 7 March 1842 to Jofs Sidler Ottenbach

Mary Huber second wife born 2 June 1792 married 5 Jan 1817 died 19 Feb 1849  Husen?
Child Elisabeth born 19 Julne 1821 marr 18 March 1839 Johannes Rinderkecht (born 1816 FamilySearch ancestral file parents Johannes Rinderkecht 1785 - 1847 and mother Anna Aberli 1785 to 1826) from

Rudolf Jenta married Elisabetha Frei on October 7, 1792 in St. Peter's in Zurich. 

The church clock of St. Peter has the largest tower clock face in Europe, the outer diameter of each of the four church clocks measures 8.64 metres (28.3 ft),^[1] the minute hand 5.73 metres (18.8 ft), the hour hand 5.07 metres (16.6 ft), and the minute crack of the large pointer measures 0.455 metres (1.5 ft).

Rudolf Jenta Family
Microfilm 008191940 page 354

Rudolf in Government:

Above: The revolutionary time for the disengagement of the church weaving fine way. As a result of the state overthrow of 1798 not only the Ehgaum Institute was abolished forever, but also the standstill was dissolved.

The article says that the Municipality of Wetzikon is forming a committee to provide services. They list various people including:

Ulrich Kunz to Linkenberg, Hs. Jakob Grimm to Kempten and Rudolf Jenta to Ettenhausen. They began service in 1804. 

Kaspar Jenta and Anna Wolfenberger

Generation 3: 

Kaspar Jenta born 30 May 1741, School teacher
Anns Wolfenberger born 29 Nov 1744 in Ettenhausen

Kinder
1. Rudolf born 19 May 1771 married 7 October 1792 died 5 Nov 1822  page 1736
2. Johannes born 31 January 1773 married 19 June 1793 died 8 November 1828  page 1735
3 Hartman born 28 May 1778 married 18 March 1799 died 14 May 1819
4 Regula born June 1781 died 1 May 1811

Johannes Jenta, son of Kaspar
FamilySearch microfilm 008191940 page 355 - Version 2

Heinrich Jenta, son of Johannes

FamilySearch microfilm 008191940 page 355 - Version 3

Jakob Jenta son of Johannes

FamilySearch microfilm 008191940 page 355 

From: Geschichte der gemeinde Wetzikon:

Kaspar is a teacher from 1767 to 1790 6 years

Johannes Jenta is a teacher from 1790 - 1828  38 years

Heinrich Jenta is a teacher from 1828  1849  21 years
Kaspar's start date of teaching from another source.

More from this History of Wetzikon on the Jenta Family

Caspar Jenta and Elisabeth Landis

Generation 4:  

Left Side

83

(left side:)

(Title) Ettenhausen   

(page) 533

Alt Ge__ _ so fo. 535

† Heinrich Jenta, 1.)16.X.1808 2.)16 Oct 1808 2. death?  24.IV (April) 1863. (husband, son of Rudolf Jenta 19 April 1771 and Elisabeth Frei 13 Nov1774 - 18 April 1816

Par. (Latin abreviation for parents)

† Rudolf Jenta, Ge ?(possible occupation)

 †Elisabetha Fr____  13 November 1774  † 18  May 1816

Fr Margaretha Salzman   ______30 September 1804  † 13 April 1877 (wife)

Par: Heinrich Salzman  ____  
Anna Catherina Baumann
marriage 2 Nov 1829

Kinder (Children)
Elizsabetha 29 March 1829  confirmation  abt Feb 1845 marriage 20 May 1850  Conrad  Gassmann from Hochfelden   Maschwaden

Anna 14 April 1833 confirmation abt 1850 marriage 23 Oct 1860  or 23 November 1860 to Conrad ? Spinner from Zurich

(see names of Swiss people for his last name)

Right Side

1) (firstly) Den 9. Febr. 1751 ward (was) Mstr. = Meister means Master Gerwer, Gerber = Tanner)

Conrad Jenta, the Gerwer (tanner) von

Schmiedmüllen aus der Oberpfalz

zum Bürger (citizen) angenommen (accepted), weil (because) er (he)

die Gerwe (the tannery house) in Medikon gebaut (has built in Medikon the building, that was the part of the price he had to pay)

hatte (had). Der Grossvater (the grand father) war (was) dieser (this),

getauft 2.V.1698 (baptized 2. Mai 1698).

2) (secondly) ist (is) Seidenweber (silk weaver) & (and) war (was) sesshaft (was living, but not citizen) in Maschwanden. 1857.13 XII (on 13. Dezember 1857 einen (a) Familenschein (schein crossed) -auszug (family extract) gefertiget (was made out).

Johannes Jenta and Anna Hess

Johannes Son of Kaspar School Teacher Jenta, both were teachers.

Johannes Jenta b 31 Jan 1773  married 10 June 1793 died 8 Sept 1898
Ana Hess b 1 Feb 1774 died 11 Aug 1823 in ?

Kinder
1. Regula b 4 Sept 1794 died 1796
2. Elsbeth 31 July 1796 married 25 Sep 1820 to Marx Kaegi of Baeretswil
3. Heinrich22 Mar 1798 married 9 Feb 1829 died 24 Nov 1849 png 1738 (page?)
4. Regula1 May 1800 marr May 1827 marr Abraham Brunner. from Wattwil
5. Anna 9 June 1805  died 1806
6. Hams Jacob 15 May 1808 marr 16 Feb 1829

 A Katharinna Hess

Jakob Hess 1741
    ?  Hess 71 1784, a year after Katharina's birth?

Hartmann Jenta and Verena Anliker

Hartmann 1778 son of Kaspar School teacher Jenta
Hartmann Jenta 28 May 1778 married 18 March 1799  death 14 May 1819
Verena Anliker from  Birch Angrsr? divorced Hartmann in 1801 and in
   1811 married Sep Jakob Gratz

Kinder
Hironmus Jenta 4 Sept 1799 5 months 17 days. Hironmus? is only considered if her parents aren't married the day she is born.

 

Archives: Verena is of Bir in the Canton of Aargau"
married to Zurich at St. Peter's before 9 am
(in Holy Week)

Larry: they divorced August 1881, married in1872 with Jakob Gratz from Untermedikon

Hartman Jenta 1778 son of Kaspar 

FamilySearch microfilm 008191940 page 355 

Heinrich Jenta and Margaretha Salzmann

Heinrich 1808 son of Rudolf was a silk weaver.
Heinrich Jenta 16 October 1808 married 2 Feb 1829
Marg. Salzmann 27 September 1804 Maschwanden
names of parents of married couples (left side)
Roudolf Jenta 19 May 1771
Lisabeth 13 June 1774
Heinrich Salzmann
Anna Katharina Baumann

Parents: Heinrich Salzmann and Anna Katharina Baumann 
What is the name of Elisabeth's husband and place of birth?

Kinder
Elisabeth born 21 March 1829 married 20 May 1850 m L Konrad ? Gassman from   (Hochfelden?, Zurich, Switz. place from FS)
Anna 4 April 1833 (ancestry married Kaspar Spinner from Zurich.  23 November 1860)

Heinrich Jenta, professional silk weaver, and son of Rudolf:
Microfilm 008191940 page 354 

Research: 
This history of Wetzikon itself was compiled by a teacher. Its about the teacher dynasty Jenta:

Translation:

item 3:

Has Kaspar Jenta, Gerber (tanner), Hans Conrad's Sohn (son), from Untermedikon (a place near Ettenhausen in Wetzikon), born

1741, chosen by the Examinators (officials) on 8. Februar 1767 univocally as Schoolmaster to Ettenhausen. He died 1790.

item 4:

Johannes Jenta, citizen of Ettenhausen, Son of the previously mentioned (above), born

1773, chosen (as teacher) 1790, died 1828.

item 5:

Heinrich Jenta, from Ettenhausen, Son of the above, born 1798,

Schooholder (Schoolmaster) in Robank (part of Kempten, Wetzikon, towards the lake of Pfäffikon, 

teacher at the Orphan House in Zurich in 1823, was elected to (primary school) of Ettenhausen

in 1828, died 1849 ...

History of the municipality of Wetzikon

The Jenta family is not from here, they came from Germany, the dad of Rudolph Jenta came to Ettenhausen as a schoolmaster to teach the "dumb" farmer kids (my ancestors). At least they had a primary school.

Ettenhausen has belonged to the parish of Wetzikon. Therefore the Jentas possibly were the smartest people, as there was no pastor living there, there were only a couple of farms (of our hillbillys).

Ettenhausen was politically a small separate community near Kempten that only in 1928 merged with Wetzikon. Therefore they needed a little Gemeinderat (some 4 or five representatives of the local families) = Municipal council.

The population develped as follows:

Population development of the former 
"Civilgemeinde Ettenhausen" (incl. Emmetschloo, Neuwies, Bächelacher etc.)
1634 114 inhabitants 26 households
1638 20 Buildings
1699 159 inhabitants 32 households
1726 256 inhabitants
1785 331 inhabitants 28 buildings 53 households (fireplaces)
1806 434 inhabitants 119 households
1836 502 inhabitants
1860 530 inhabitants
1870 494 inhabitants
1880 411 inhabitants 101 households
1890 411 inhabitants
1990 185 inhabitants 67 buildings 80 apartments
2006 200 inhabitants 75 buildings 91 apartments

Inhabitants = people (the pastors called them souls)
Households = households
Building = buildings
Fireplaces = stove, oven = normally household
Apartments = appartments = same as households

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator

Johannes Jenta 1773 - 1828
Son of Kaspar Jenta 1741

Translation of document below:

Geschichte der gemeinde Wetzikon page 578

History of the municipality of Wetzikon page 575

this is the old German printing (Frakturschrift) used up to the end of World War II (1945) both in Germany and Switzerland.

A Jenta joins the church: