Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Elisabeth Freÿ 1774-1816



Elisabeth Freÿ was born on the 13th of December 1774 in Birr, Aargau, Switzerland. Her parents were Rudolf Freÿ 1739 - 1785 and Anna Schoder 1734 - 1794. She had 8 brothers and sisters. Birr is 37 miles west of Ettenhausen. It was a long distance at the time when most people traveled by foot or horse. Ignoring distance Elisabeth married Rudolf Jenta  from Ettenhausen.

Rudolf Jenta married Elisabeth Freÿ 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). (FamilySearch)

 Birr
After the secularization of the monastery in 1528 those rights transferred to Bern. The chapel, which was a subsidiary of Windisch, became a parish church during the Reformation. This parish includes; Lupfig, Birrhard, Scherz, Schinznach-Bad and Brunegg. The current reformed church was built in 1662 by Abraham Dünz.

The community is known for a star citizen namely Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. In 1771, Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi bought a piece of waste land called Neuhof (New Farm), where he attempted the cultivation of madder. Pestalozzi knew nothing of business, and the plan failed. Before this he had opened his farm-house as a school, but that plan also met with failure. His later attempts at founding schools and education theory were more successful. However, following an 1815 rebellion among the teachers of his school, his last ten years were marred by weariness and sorrow. In 1825 he retired to Neuhof, the place of his youth, and after writing the adventures of his life, and his last work, the Swans Song, he died at Brugg. (Wikipedia)

Early Death
Elisabeth Freÿ gave birth to Anna Elisabeth Jenta on the 8th of April 1816. Ten days later she 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 Elisabeth. (see death record below)

The naming tradition in Switzerland used about 20 male and female given names. For males names like Heinrich, Johannes and Rudolf were extremely common. For women names like Elisabeth, Anna and Veronica were likewise common. So it is no surprise that Rudolf Jenta and Elisabeth Freÿ named their last child Anna Elisabetha.

Elisabeth Frey Jenta bore 12 children:

Documents relating to Elisabeth Frey:

Birr Parish records where the following entry was found, Source: Gemeinde.Birr



Translation by Kent Gardiner
Elisabeth Freÿ 13 November 1774
Parents: Rudolf Freÿ, Anna Schoder
Test (is the latin word for testatores = witnesses of the baptism = godfather and godmother)
Godparents: Friedrich Märki von Birr, Elisabeth Mattenberger von Birr (ibid. = latin ibidem = the same place or Birr) Elisabeth Freÿ name may have come from Elisabeth Mattenberger, her godparent.
1792 Oct 7 Rudolf Jenta marriage to Elisabeth Freÿ, Wetzikon
Translation by Wolf:
1792) Oct. 7. copuliert bei St.Peter (Oct 8 according to Zürich marriage records)
Rudolf Jenta von Etenhausen, N. 19. Maj 1771
Elisabeth Freÿ von Birr, Berngebiets [region of Bern]
Note that according tot he marriage register Zürich St.Peter, entry 284, the marriage took place Oct. 8 (not 7) … don't seriously ask me for an explanation 😉. When you look at the dates in Oct. 1792: 1 / 8 / 15 / 22 / 29 … all were Mondays, whilst in Wetzikon marriages took place on different days of the week … possibly they just assumed Sunday for St.Peter??
Regarding Birr: Birr today belongs to canton Aargau. The region of todays canton Aargau (founded in 1803) was ruled by different governing bodies prior to 1798 - e.g. Birr used then to belong to Bern.
Note: On https://ghgo.ch/ghgo-daten/DGT2016.pdf (you have to copy and past the URL - familysearch doesn't link to a pdf) you find a lecture of mine on basics for genealogy in Switzerland - in German and (being held in 2016) a bit outdated as far as resources available online are concerned. However, the "basic" information has not changed a lot - and on transparency 31 there is a historic map of the region of todays canton Aargau, prior to 1798.
Pfarrbücher der Stadt Zürich - Stadt Zürich
Note: There is not A book with marriages - Zürich is a large city and has several parishes. I believe I have mentioned  before 😉. Grossmünster records begin 1525. We already had a few marriages in St.Peter - where marriage registers begin 1554 - including Caspar Jenta's marriage on https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/epaper/PRD/SAR/Pfarrbuecher/VIII-C-24-a_output/web/html5/index.html?pn=295.

One important difference between this site (also applies to e.g. Appenzell Ausserrhoden or Basel-Landschaft) and familysearch is: there is only a single book in any database entry (or film). So fairly frequently there will be a few introductory pages, followed by the document itself. Consequently, unless two pages are on a single image, the image numbers will just be a few numbers higher than the actual page numbers.


Translation of the left paragraph: The
Lower Aargau is often also as the "Bernese Aargau". because it used to belong to belonged to Bern - not today any more.

Elisabeth Freÿ's death: 
1816 April 18 Elizabeth Fry burial/death, Wetzikon. CH

Translation by Wolf:
(1816) April 18
Lisabeth Freÿ - Gemeindraths Rudolf Jentas von Etenhausen Ehefrau [wife]
Aged 42 years 5 months 5 days
Cause of death: For her cause of death I guess it reads Apopl(exia) = Schlaganfall = stroke. To be on the safe side I have asked for confirmation on https://www.geneal-forum.com/phpbb/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=33897#p127111.
Note: Elisabeth Frei (in death record) aka Elisabetha Freÿ gave birth to Anna Elisabetha Jenta on the 8th of April 1816. Ten days later she died on the 18th of April 1816. Elisabeth Frey died from apoplexy. Apoplexy is a sudden and often fatal fit resulting from blood vessels bursting in the brain. The 19th century character Madame Bovary became a widow because of it. Today, we generally call it "a stroke," but apoplexy sounds way better.

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 from Jenta Temple Record by Julius Billeter pages 1 and 2.jpg



Rudolf Wetzikon E lll 139.21 p 1734

Translation by Wolf:
In most cases the sons-in-law are listed above in the right hand column: :
5) Anna, oo 25.03.1824 mit Joh. Wolfensberger von Ettenhausen
6) Susanna, oo __.12.1824 mit Joh. Sidler von Ottenbach
7) A. Barbara, oo 15.12.1828 mit ____ [Heinrich?] Salzmann von Maschwanden
9) Lisabeth, oo 06.11.1829 mit Ruedi Salzmann von Maschwanden
12) Lisabeth, oo 07.03.1842 mit Johs. Sidler von Ottenbach
13) A. Lisabeth, oo 18.03.1839 mit Johs. Rinderknecht von Hedingen
Other information:
8) Heinrich, oo 02.02.1829 ____ 1737 [refers tp page 1737 on Heinrich and Family]
I) Elisabeth Frey (1774-1816) von Birr Aargau
II) Marg. Huber (1792-1849) von Husen [likely Hausen am Albis]
On the Geneal-Forum there are already discussions on
Huber von Hausen am Albis ZH
Wolfensberger von Wetzikon ZH (Ettenhausen not being a place of citizenship for Wolfensberger).
Note: You are welcome to start new discussions on the other families - including Jenta: they are no longer listed in the Register of Swiss surnames - but Billeter has compiled information on Jenta of Wetzikon ZH: in the catalogue shown with the film roll symbol, so you may have to visit the FamilySearch Library in SLC to view this. Alternatively you could scroll through his handwritten notes - which are a bit difficult to read and interpret (lots of abbreviations). "Your" family is on https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSX4-PQ3L?i=2182&cat=193135.