Susanna Jenta 1804-1858

Short summary: When Susanna Jenta was born on 9 November 1804, in Wetzikon, Zürich, Switzerland, her father, Rudolf Jenta, was 33 and her mother, Lisabeth Freÿ, was 29. She married Johannes Sidler on 5 December 1824, in Maschwanden, Zürich, Switzerland. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 3 daughters. She died on 18 March 1858, at the age of 53.

Susanna Jenta was born on a cold Switzerland day, 11th November 1804 in a small hamlet called Ettenhausen, in Wetzikon, Zürich, Switzerland. Susanna is a feminine first name. It is often spelled Susannah, although Susanna is the original spelling. It is derived from Σουσάννα (Sousanna), the Greek form of the Hebrew שושנה Shoshannah, meaning lily. At the time of her birth her mother Lisbeth had given birth to 5 children. Three died in infancy so only Barbara age 11 and Anna age two welcomed their newborn sister. Her parents married 12 years before. 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 tower of the church has the largest clock in Europe. Interestingly enough the tower is owned by the city and the building by the church. The tower was used to spot fires when Susanna lived nearby.  (Wikipedia )

Susanna's Father

Susanna's father Rudolf Jenta was a municipal councilor 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). The 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 usually by walking or sometimes by riding horses. How they met is a 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)

Susanna's Grandfather

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 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 parlor 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.  (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. He 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 the year1804 the civil community of Ettenhausen was formed with Rudolf on the council and the same year Susanna was born. The Municipality of Wetzikon asked 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)

13 Year old Susanna Sings 
It must be recalled that in the days before world trade the danger of famine was always latent. Even partially failed harvests were enough to throw the affected regions into a state of emergency. Opportunities to import from neighboring regions were limited.  Local economies were very susceptible and prices reacted sensitively and suddenly. For instance in January 1770, a loaf of bread cost 5 Shilling 8 Heller, and it rose to 12 Shilling 6 Heller in January 1771, reaching 15 Shilling in April 1771 and dropping again to 6 Shilling in August 1772. Price rises and famines like these were part of the normal experiences of a lifetime, like natural catastrophes or epidemics, and they were remembered as admonishments and warnings.  People should not ask themselves, wrote Schmidlin of Wetzikon, “Why God subsequently [after good years] thins the misapplied surplus in anno 1770 and 1771 with shortages.  It became apparent that their daily bread came from the hand of the Lord: the official price of bread was announced from the pulpit after morning service.  During the years of rising prices the people would acknowledge this portentous message with humble resignation. In the starvation year 1817, whens the prices were red out in the church of Wetzikon on 6 June, the choir leader, schoolmaster Jenta of Ettenhausen, struck up a song by Schmidlin Ich sterbe nun  (I Die Now) and the parishioners sang it through to the end with tears in their eyes. The specter of famine was constantly knocking at the door, but poverty and distress cannot be explained by failed harvests and starvation years; they should be seen ‘not so much as absolute causes, but as catalysts.’  (Industrialization and  Everyday Life by Rudolf Braun page 162 – 163, Note Johannes Jenta 1773 – 1828 was the schoolteacher qwho led the song at the time. A reprinted book currently available called Excerpt from the hymn book of Johannes Schmidlin, Pastor Zu Wetzikon Und Seegräben, born 1722 and died 1772: Published by the parish of Wetzikon)

What was Ettenhausen like?

Ettenhausen is a small hamlet surrounded by grassy rolling hills with groves of trees and lots of wildlife. Like most of Switzerland it is green with lots of water. The nearest lake to Ettenhausen is Pfäffikersee where the Romans had a Castle in Irgenhausen. The Romans loved lakes and fish and that is why they invented Turicum which today is referred to as Zürich City.

In the distance are large snow-covered mountains in the winter. You see the mountains well if the Föhn is blowing (warm South wind, which gives one headaches). Behind Ettenhausen and Hinwil, the slopes  start to rise, towards the Bachtel, our house mountain, with a 200 foot radio tower. There you will find lots of forests but the steep hills were not suitable for agriculture.  The forest delivered wood for building and the remainder for warm ovens and stoves. The wildlife consists of eatable Rehe, Füchse, Dachse, Wildschweine, and Enten. (Deer, foxes, badgers, wild boars, and ducks). Bears, wolves, deer are rare. They are mostly in Alps.

Wetzikon

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 the 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.

Farms

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)

The silk weaver is a weaver specialized in the processing of silk and semi-silk. Weaving silk and especially silk brocade requires the weaver to have the highest degree of perfection, consistency and feel for the material. Silk threads tear very easily during weaving. Knots of torn threads are very difficult or impossible to hide in the smooth and very fine silk fabric and reduce their value considerably. (Patrick A. Wild)

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)

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.

Anna Jenta Marries

Susanna’s younger sister Anna born 31 October1802 married 25 March 1824 to 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.

Susanna Marries

Nine months later married Susanna Jenta married her Johannes on 23 December 1824. Ettenhausen is 37 miles to the southeast of Ottenbach. You have to go all the way around Lake Zurich to get there. It is a long way. How Johannes Sidler and Susanna got together is anyone's guess. Maybe they met in Zurich when they were both there on business or shopping. (Archives Family Record E III 88.19, S. 434, Both sisters married men with the same first name.)

Susanna was 27 years younger than Johannes. They had their first child, Barbara, 3 months 5 days later after the marriage. 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 in the happy event. (Temple Record Sidler and Hegetschweiler by Julius Billeter, page 74 and Zurich Archives Family Record E III 88.19, S. 434 )

The district doctor in Ottenbach, at the time, was 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 in 1832. 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 Susanna most likely was visiting a relative when she gave birth. Also Susanna's silk weaving brother Heinrich's wife Margaretha Salzman was from Maschwanden as well.  Susanna may have stayed with her sister-in-law's parents or another relative? 

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. (See headstone below, Translation of headstone on Ottenbach Kirche by Kent Gardiner, 2019, Susanna birth place found on microfilm 008126955 page 307)

(Notes for the paragraph above:) Maschwanden definition: Schwanden means the land was gained by pealing the trees so they would dry out and can be burned. Mano is a German first name, so it was an Allemanic guy that conquered that land (forest) in about 700 to 800 after Christ.) (Note: Jakob Hegetschweiler's father was Johannes Hegetschweiler 1710 -  1774. Billeter says he was a "Surgeon, Leutenant, Captain. Famous fracture and cut wound doctor." There were no war activities from 1710 to 1774 in Switzerland.  But there were cantonal militia troops, and he seemed to be a Sanitäts-Hauptmann (medical captain) likely assigned to Zurich troops. He lived almost his whole life during the famine of 1710 - 1772 when Zurich enforced potato cultivation in all rural communities.) (Temple Record Sidler and Hegetschweiler, by Julius Billeter, pages 167 and 158; Ottenbach Municipality Website)

Johannes died at 57 in 1834. At the time his son from his sister-in-law, 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)

Family after Johann's Death

Lizbeth Frei gave birth to Susanna’s youngest sibling and sister Anna Elisabetha Jenta on the 8th of April 1816. Ten days later Lisbeth Frei died on the 18th of April 1816. She had lived 41 years 5 months 5 days. Sad as it may seem, at the time of her death she had already lost her first four children. A year later Rudolf Jenta married Mary Hüber who raised Anna Elisabetha and 12 year old Susanna.

In 1824 when Susanna married Johannes her sister Anna Elisabetha was 12. I think it is safe to assume Susanna's husband Johannes Sidler knew his wife's siblings including Anna Elisabetha. They were 27 miles apart and in spite of the fact this would take some effort to make the journey it would seem that getting to know your wife's siblings would be important. When Johannes died in 1834 Anna was 18 years old and her sister Susanna was 30. Anna may have come to help with Susanna's children.

In any case eight years later in 1842 Anna was 26. Around this time Anna definitely came to visit Susanna because she met, fell in love and married Johannes Sidler from Ottenbach. Johannes is a cousin of Susanna's husband and of course they share the same name. From 1842 when Anna Elisabetha married until Susanna’s death in 1858 she had the company of her sister in Ottenbach. Susanna knew her nephew and niece because Johannes and Anna lived in Ottenbach and they had two children, Jakob Sidler born 22 Jan 1848 and Elisabetha born 8 September 1853.

Grandchildren

Johannes oldest son Jakob born 1812 married Anna Sidler born 1811 from Ottenbach on 17 January 1836. They had five children Verena born 5 March 1837 (joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on 30 March 1856), Barbara born 17 June 1842 (had an illegitimate son named Jakob), Anna 12 December 1844, Lizabeth 8 December 1846 and Johannes born 20 March 1854.  Jakob died in 1869 and Anna died at 85 on 19th January 1900 which is a record in the Sidler family. (Zurich Archives E III 88.19, S. 550)

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. (Emma Bachman History)

During Susanna's lifetime:

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

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)

1846 A year or so before Anna Hegetschweiler's 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)

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

1850, In the early 1850s some 60% of the population still worked in the agricultural sector. By 1888, the share had fallen to 36%. (Switzerland in the 19th century - EDA)

1848 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)

Susanna's Family Joins 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. Two of  Susanna's daughters and two of her grandchildren joined:

Susanna's middle daughter joins first

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 probably 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.)

Death

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 on her oldest daughter's birthday, 18 March 1858 in Ottenbach. Anna Sidler and Susanna Sidler and 11 year old granddaughter Anna Hegetschweiler were present, as they lived in the home. Susanna was 53 and had lived without her husband Johannes for 24 years.

Burial

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 March day 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.

Documents regarding Susanna Jenta:

1804 baptism Susanna Jenta 11  Nov  008480741 page 96

Translation by Wolf: 

Susanna, eod. (=11.11.1804)

Parents: Rudolf Jenta von Etenhausen / Elisabeth Frey von Birr

Godparents: Hans Jakob Huber, Gerwer von Medikon / Frau Susanna Hirzel, geb. Paur von Unterbach

Background on Jakob and Susanna:Minor correction first: it is Unterbach (not …back) … and there are many of them; I had suggested (check the map) the hamlet SE of Hinwil ZH (about 5 miles to Wetzikon) - not one in canton Bern 😉.

Note: Usually women should be listed with their maiden name - so if you look for Susanne Paur you'll find https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LTRP-N81. Unfortunately with some incorrect data (date of birth for a Susanna Pfister - not Paur) and useless "sources".

2nd Note: The EDB-entry I had linked to tells you the couple got married on 04.02.1798 in Zürich-Grossmünster: https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/epaper/PRD/SAR/Pfarrbuecher/VIII-C-8_output/web/html5/index.html?pn=111 (last entry bottom left).

1824 Susanna Jenta marriage announcement 5 Dec Maschwanden film #008125639
page 281 see FS for more on this source

Transcription by Wolf:
Johannes Siedler von Ottenbach und Susanna Jenta von Etenhausen der Pfarr Wetzikon wurden gesetzlich hier als an ihrem bisherigen Aufenthaltsorte promulgirt.
(Maschwanden) den 5. Dec. (1824)
Translation: 
Johannes Siedler (today Sidler) from Ottenbach and Susanna Jenta from Ettenhausen, parish of Wetzikon, were legally married here as their previous (including present) place of residence.
Note: The map on your page is somewhat misleading: Susanna Jenta didn't travel to Ottenbach (which was the groom's place of citizenship) from Ettenhausen/Wetzikon … they both lived already in Maschwanden before getting married. Why Susanna had originally moved to Maschwanden I cannot say.

Note: Their married life in Maschwanden was short. Their first child was born on the 18th of March in Ottenbach in 1825. That means their child was born 3 mo 13 days after they were married. As I understand it, that means the child was legitimate because they were married when the child was born.

They lived in Ottenbach until the end of their lives. Johannes was a Schneider. That was probably the reason he lived in Maschwanden. Why she lived there before marriage is anyones guess. They may have lived together before marriage or ? 

Wolf:

"Johannes Siedler (today Sidler) from Ottenbach and Susanna Jenta from Ettenhausen, parish of Wetzikon, were legally married here as their previous (including present) place of residence."

Unfortunately I have to correct myself: promulgiert means their marriage was announced - it will have taken place somewhere else (Ottenbach or Wetzikon??), likely a week or so later.

1824 Wetzikon Marriage announcement, Johannes Sidler,
Susanna Jenta film 008480741 page 275

Wolf:
Yes - this page is for marriages in 1824 - all with "pr. d." and a date without year (i.e. in 1824). I am fairly sure the "pr. d." stays for "promulgiert den", i.e. here we have announcements again. Note that im Maschwanden this marriage was also announced on 5 Dezbr (here just above the word Ottenbach. 11 Nov 1804 is the date of Susanne's birth or baptism.
Note: You may want to check Ottenbach for the actual marriage.

1824 Marriage announcement Johannes Sidler/Susanna Jenta 
12 December 1824 Ottenbach, Zürich film 008126955
 page 880

Wolf:
Just to avoid a misunderstanding: this is not the "actual" marriage entry - just another announcement - the marriage took actually place in Zürich-St.Peter - see Geneal-Forum.
5. Dec. (1824)
Johannes Siedler von Ottenbach (Schneider, zu Maschwanden) und
Susanna Jenta von Etenhausen, der Pfarr Wezikon.
13. Dec. b(ei) St.Peter.

1824 December 13 Zürich-St.Peter 13.12.1824 Johannes Sidler and
Susanna Jenta marriage, Page 474 Zürich marriages 1814-1830

1824 Johannes Sidler and Susanna Jenta were married at St Peter, Zürich, Switzerland on Dec 13.

13 miles from Ottenbach to Zürich, St Peter to wed

Johannes and Susanna's Family in the Zürich Archives EIII 88, 19, S., 72

Rudolf Jenta Family from Jenta Temple Record by Julius Billeter pages 1 and 2

Sidler and Hegetschweiler Temple Record by Julius Billeter, page 74

Zürich Archives Wetzikon E lll 139.21 p 1734

Barbara Sidler birth 18 Mar 1825 microfilm 2060954 page 295 can be found on Family Search 

 Anna Sidler birth 17 February, 2060954 page 298 can be found on Family Search

Susanna's child Susanna Sidler birth 3 Dec 1832 microfilm 2060954 page 307, can be found on Family Search

Death records Ottenbach E III 88 5 Jenta 1858

Death records Ottenbach E III 88 5 Jenta_1858

Translation Peter Bertschinger: 

death date, than burial date (similar to born date and bapitzed date) Susanna Jenna, hintl. = hinterlassene Wittwe (the remaining widow) von (of) the late Johannes Sidler (her before died husband)

Translation, Kent Gardiner

8th person to die in 1858 in Ottenbach

Died 18 March 1858 (my birthdate)

Funeral or burial date 21 March

Susanna Jenta

Hintl (there) Mitlme (with)

Johannes Siedler

Tnl. meaning selig the already died,

Lived 53 years 5 mo. 7 days

1858 Susanna Sidler burial 8 Feb 1857 53 years  4 mo 7 days
 Ottenbach film 008126955 page 772 

Postcards of Ettenhausen and Wetzikon:

Ettenhausen area 

Ottenbach Reformed Church - Most likely where Susanna was buried