Anna Gygax Ancestors

Anna Gyax (Huber) History

In a small village of Schwarzhaüsen, in the most northern part of Bern Canton, Switzerland, Samuel and Anna Zurlinden Gygax began their family. As was tradition, announcements were made that young Samuel and Anna were to be married and on 5 July 1833 they were united in the Evangelist Reformed Church of Niederbipp, in Bern Canton.

The young couple returned to Schwarzhaüsen where they made their home, and it was not long before they began added children to their family. Anna Maria Gygax was born on 24 Jan 1834. Then Anna followed a couple of years later on 17 Mar 1838. Two sons were born - Johnn Gottfried, born 11 Apr 1838, and then Johann Rudolf on 18 Dec 1845. Elisa was born 9 February 1851, and their family was complete with the birth of Maria, born 15 Jun 1853.

Photo taken 2005
by Allyson Hunt Wood.
This is the same church
Anna attended.

The Samuel Gygax family was a religious family and each child was faithfully taken to church to be christened when they were about one month old. There was not a church in their little village so they traveled the short distance to Aarwangen, where each of their children were christened into the Evangelist Reformed Church. Young Anna was christened on 3 April 1836. It was witnessed by Peter Gounihan (spelling needs to be checked), Maria Fridli and Maria Gygax.

We know very little of Anna’s young life, but we know that she and her family remained close through the years. The children each grew to adulthood, which was a rare occurrence in this day and age. The oldest child Anna Maria passed away at the young age of 25, before any of the other children had married and left home. The family lived in Schwarzhaüsen most, if not all, of Anna’s early years.

While all of the children’s christenings are found in Aarwangen, some of Anna’s siblings are shown to be in Neiderbipp. Samuel, his wife Anna and their children remained close to their extended family as well. Schwarzhaüsern, although it is closer to Aarwangen, (about 1 ½ km), it is only about 5 ½ km from Neiderbipp.

Anna fell in love with a young man by the name of Johann Andreas Huber, of Biel.  He was born just one year before Anna on 23 Apr 1835 in Buch-Uesslingen, Thurgau and he later moved to Hüttwiler, Thurgau.   Eventually he moved to Biel, Bern Canton on the north eastern shores of Lake Biel.  Somehow their paths crossed, they dated and fell in love.  They were married in the Evangelical Church of Aarwangen on March 22, 1862 when Anna was 26 and Andreas was almost 27 years old.

This baptismal font, built in 1577 is
still in use in the Aarwangen Church today.
Most of Anna and Andreas children were
christened here, as I presume Anna was.

The Huber naming of children is a curiosity to me. It is easy to see where some of the children’s names come from, as Anna Maira, Maria and Elisa were Anna’s siblings names and she would have honored them by naming her children after them. Johann is also a family name, named for her husband, it is also the first name of her two brothers; Karl is the name of Andreas brother. To date, we have not found a family tie to the name Amalie. The confusing part of the way they named their children is that two of her children were named Maria Elisa. In the christening records it shows that both were named identically. The oldest Maria Elisa went by the name of Maria and the younger answered to Elise.

Inside the Aarwangen Church house in 2005.
The stain glass windows are all dated about 1577-1790.

Shortly after Elise was born in 1867, Andreas fell from a 5-story building. The lives of everyone in his family were changed forever. It was necessary for Andreas to remain in the hospital for the next two years trying to regain his health. His condition was very serious and the family hoped that he would be restored to full health and vigor.

Anna became the sole-support for her family when Andreas had his accident. Anna had a brand new baby, a two-year old, a four-year old, and a five-year old and it would have been all but impossible for her to work and still raise her family. With such an undaunting task before her, though we are sure she handled it the best way she could, she would have had to rely on her young children to help her. The older children would help care for the younger, and do some household chores but eventually she had to rely on her extended family for help because her children were just too small for such a big responsibility.

Eventually Andreas come home from the hospital and they tried to put their family back together. Shortly after Andreas returned from the hospital baby Amalie was born. After bravely facing the trials facing them for the past two years, they realized that they must face a new challenge, one they had hoped would be resolved with time. The trauma from the fall had caused Andreas personality to change and he became very irresponsible, and child-like. Instead of raising a family of five children alone, she now had the added responsibility of raising a child-like adult. The injury had taken her beloved husband from her, and she now faced the reality that the new Andreas was simply unable to help her with the family. One of the hardest things she would have had to face is the loss of a companion, and the love between a husband and a wife. Her children would age with each birthday, but her husband would never mentally age. This would have to be a very difficult time for Anna. She would have missed her Andreas greatly, even though he was still alive. The man she loved was gone, but this person that looked like him, was here in front of her, but he would never again act like her Andreas.

Anna asked the doctors if they thought he would ever regain his faculties and be able to be a helpmate again. The doctors were unable to give her any hope for a complete recovery, and suggested that if he were forced to support himself he would do so, but that he would never again be the supportive husband he had once been.

As hard as it would have been for Anna to decide to permanently divide her family, she would have realized that it was necessary for the survival of the rest of them. Anna packed up the children and moved out. We think that she tried to keep the family together in the beginning, but it was impossible to find work that would afford her the luxury of keeping them all under the same roof. Eventually, the children were taken in by Anna’s brothers families and she went to work with the goal of getting the children back as soon as possible.

Traditional Sunday Dress of a woman
 in the 1800's living in Bern Canton.

Anna went to work in a home keeping house. After a time, the man of the home allowed her to bring some of her children to live with her. Most of the children had adapted well to the hardship of being separated from their parents and each other, with the exception of the oldest. Anna Mary, although still a child, was expected to help more with housework and caring for the younger children in the home. When she failed to live up to their expectations, she would be passed on to another home. This had happened a few times before she was finally brought back to live with her mother. Two of the children, Amalie and Karl, were not allowed to move back with Anna, their mother. They had adapted well to their new life and their new family and their guardians felt they would be better off left where they were. Although it would have broken Anna’s heart, she would have also realized that they were probably correct. Also, if she were only allowed to bring some of her family to live with her, this would make choosing the children that returned a possible choice, as no mother would find it easy to choose between children.

Reunited with three of her children, Anna Mary, Maria and Elise, Anna continued working in the home she had employment. She worked hard keeping house and doing the chores that fell to her. We do not know for whom she worked. Was this a single man that needed help with his house, or was it a family that she helped. If it was a family, the wife must have died, because the time came when the man of the house asked Anna to marry him. She brought the proposition to her three girls, but they were adamant that their mother not marry him. We do not know their objections, but Anna was very aware of their objections and she refused.

A Family Group Record from Horben, Uesslingen, Thurgau.
They record shows the information that was sent back to
the Huber hometown through the years.

What a challenge she would have faced. Her children probably felt anger that their mother had divorced their father - hoping that he would soon be back to his old self. The guilt she felt within herself at not being able to do more could have driven her near the edge of sanity. The pain that she would have suffered each time she saw Andreas in person, and the longing for the life they had lived together would have been unbearable. People in this situation also suffer from survivors guilt, wishing their life could be different and wondering why it had not happened to themselves; often asking themselves why this had to happen to them. Guilt is the hardest part of seeing someone who really isn’t there - wishing things could be different, and regretting that you cannot do more to fix the problem.

The refusal of marriage would bring it’s own problems. No longer would she and her family feel comfortable working in the home, and Anna once again packed up her three girls and moved to a new location. We assume that this is the move which took her to Oftringen, Niederwyl but she may have already been here, or may have moved more times in between. We calculate that the move to the Oftringen area happened around the year of 1878.

Anna Maria, the oldest child, was now 16 years old. She was old enough to gain employment and help would with the family expenses. Anna again went to work helping in a home, this time working for a couple which appears to us to have been very good to her, and their was a close emotional connection between them. It is believed that the family’s name was Buhler, but is unknown at this time.

Through the years it is believed that they remained faithful to the Evangelical church. For many years, all of their ancestors had belonged to this church and had christened their children and been married in their church houses. The catholic church was very strong in Europe, but in German speaking Switzerland many had followed the religious revolution of Martin Luther and others.

It was while working in a cotton factory in Strenglebach that Anna Mary, the oldest daughter, first heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , or Mormons. Anna Mary was invited to attend the meetings with a friend and soon became interested in this new religion. Anna was very opposed to her daughter attending and did what she could to stop her from going. She even hide her nice clothing so that she would not be able to attend meetings with the Mormons. Eventually her heart was changed, as her daughter plead to be allowed to be baptized.

We do not know when Anna’s heart was changed towards the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but she eventually gave permission for her 20 year old daughter Anna Maria to be baptized. Whether before or after Anna Maria’s baptism we do not know, but different missionaries visited Anna’s home to teach her more about the religion her daughter had become converted to. Eventually Anna agreed to attend one of their meetings. One of the elders in the area, John Georg Hafen, asked Anna to attend a conference with him in Bern. She agreed to attend with him, and it was at this conference that Anna’s heart was converted to this new religion. She was baptized at the age of 46 on December 29, 1882 in Pfaffnau where the branch was headquartered, about 5 miles from Oftringen, and 3 miles from her hometown of Schwarzhaüsen. She was baptized by Elder T. Hofer, and confirmed by Elder John G. Hafen.

The leaders of the LDS Church were trying to gather all of the new converts to Utah where they would build up Zion in America. Money was still very hard to come by and Anna could not imagine a way to join with the saints. Also, her other two girls did not want to join this new religion, and her son and youngest were living with extended family. We do not know whether Anna had a desire to emigrate to America or not, but Anna Maria did. The elder that had confirmed Anna came to her with a proposal. Elder Hafen suggested that through the perpetual emigration fund of the Church, they would be able to arrange passage for young Anna Maria to come to America. At this time in the history of the Church, polygamy had been introduced into the Church. John had left two wives back in Utah to come to Switzerland and serve a mission for the Lord. He told Anna that he would be glad to help her go to America and when she arrived he would be willing to marry her and take her as his third wife. Anna Maria convinced her mother that this was her hearts desire and Anna thought deeply about what was being asked of her, both in behalf of herself, her other girls and also in behalf of Anna Maria.

This would be a hardship of those left in Switzerland, because Anna Maria had become a very vital part of the family income. But this was what young Anna desired, and the mother knew that. Permission was granted for Anna Maria to emigrate to Utah after Elder Hafen returned home and in August of 1884 Anna bid her eldest daughter farewell for the final time in the flesh.

The challenge of belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ in Switzerland and to remain there when most of the other members had emigrated would bring it’s own set of challenges. It was on 2 November 1884 that Anna’s membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was terminated. We do not know whether she asked to have her name removed from the records of the Church or whether she was excommunicated. Nor do we know if she went back to her previous religion immediately, but eventually she returned to worshiping in the Evangelical Church.

Karl and Amalie continued to live with Anna’s extended family until adulthood. They lost track of Karl but corresponded a little with Amalie. Both children however, never again had the closeness with Anna and her children that the Elise and Maria felt. Amalie married a soldier in the Salvation Army, Johann Jacob Schweizer, and moved to Zurich. Eventually they found Karl in Basel and he had married Lina Schmutz but they never had any children. Anna Maria married John Georg Hafen in America, and became his third wife. Maria married Oct 22, 1883 to Jakob Hunziker. Daughter Elise married Jakob Müller on 28 Jun 1888 in Aarwangen.

Anna moved back to Aarwangen, though we do not know when. Her contact with Anna Maria was limited but a letter was found that she wrote to her eldest daughter in America: ? Buhler -Was this the lady she lived with and worked for?

Aarwangen 11 Dec 1895

My dear ones,

It's been a long time since we heard from you. If is our fault. Since your letter, I have been sick a long time. I had so much pain in my back until the middle of the summer. I couldn't walk and had to stay in bed 'mid great pain. I couldn't move. The doctor came everyday. When I could get out in the sun it finally started to get better. Otherwise all are well.

The children grow and are happy. Little Anneli wants to boss everyone.

Dear Anna, five weeks ago they buried Mrs. Buhleu. Our Marie was there and took care of her while she was ill.

What are your children doing? Are they well? I hope so. Good health is the greatest wealth we can have.

Our only picture of Anna Gygax Huber.

It was sent to America in 1895 but the

date and age of Anna when it was taken

is unknown.

We had a meeting in Evangelist Ruggele (Roggwil, a nearby town?). I repented. Since then I have been reading the Bible and praying and I hope God will bless me with the Holy Ghost and strength to endure the time I have left to live. So I will remain here until we meet on the other side where it is beautiful and Heavenly - right dear Anna?

I am sending a picture, you can tell your children this is their Grandmother. How I would like to see them and give them a kiss and clasp them to my heart.

Outside of this, I have nothing new to write to you. My brothers and sisters as far as I know are well.

Lisele and Muller went to Schwarzhaüsen with Ammeli to visit and had a good time. The son of sister Lisele was here with us last summer.

We send you loving greetings., Lisele Muller and children and wish you a blessed New Year. Especially greetings and kisses to your children, you and your husband.

Your Mother,

Anna H.

Anna’s health continued to decline. She eventually moved in with Elise and Jakob Müller. She lived there and Elise and Jakob were happy to care for her and look after her. Anna continued to get worse, and her mind deteriated and by the early 1900's it took at least two people to care for her at all times. She needed full time care - 24 hours a day, seven days a week. She was termed “insane” and it was necessary to seek more help in caring for her.

PHOTO:

Built on the shore of the Bodensee,
in a Monastery dating back to the year 986, Anna was housed in this hospital by the name of Psychiatrische Klink Müsterlingen, which translated means Thurgau’s Mad or Mental Hospital. While Anna was there it was directed by Dr. Ludwig Franc who’s studies with the patients contributed greatly to the first addition of the Interpretations of Dreams by Sigmund Freud in the early 1900's.
Today the hospital is known as the Psychiatrische Dienste Thurgau. Anna lived here for 1½ years before she died.

Date of photo unknown.
The original hangs in the halls of the current hospital.  
Duplicated in 2005.

Built on the shore of the Bodensee, in a Monastery dating back to the year 986, Anna was housed in this hospital by the name of Psychiatrische Klink Müsterlingen, which translated means Thurgau’s Mad or Mental Hospital. While Anna was there it was directed by Dr. Ludwig Franc who’s studies with the patients contributed greatly to the first addition of the Interpretations of Dreams by Sigmund Freud in the early 1900's. Today the hospital is known as the Psychiatrische Dienste Thurgau. Anna lived here for 1½ years before she died. In Münsterlingen, Thurgau there was a hospital set up for the insane called the Psychiatrische Klinik Münsterlingen. This psychiatric hospital had been established back in 1838. They were in the process of expanding and adding four new pavilions and a new mansion. Anna was admitted and lived in the hospital in the middle of the year 1900.

We do not know what kind of care she received here, but in those days the patients in an insane asylum had a rough life. One patient that lived in this hospital a few years after Anna was eventually released and moved back to live with her family. She was not able to deal with the death of her husband, and had to spend a short time institutionalized. When she was allowed to return to her family she would never again step foot in a buggy or car because she was overcome with fear that they might take her back to the hospital in Münsterlingen. She would rather walk the two miles to the family farm where she helped, and then she also returned on foot. The memories of being institutionalized struck such fear in her heart she would not take any chance of going back.

Date of photo unknown.  Not taken when Anna was in the hospital there.

Anna lived in the hospital for over a year and a half, and then passed from this life on December 26, 1902 in Münsterlingen, Thurgau.

How grateful we are for the atoning sacrifice of the Lord, Jesus Christ, and the knowledge that all things will be made right in the next life.

Anna’s life was filled with challenges - some we can not even comprehend. She appears to have faced her trials in life with a brave face and did the best she could do in every situation. She loved her children and did all she could to help make their life better and easier. She died having faith in her Savior and trusted in His goodness. He was her strength in this life, and she looked forward to meeting him in the next.

Samuel Gygax [Jr]

Birth: 22 Nov 1809, Hometown: Schwartzhaeusern, Bern, Switzerland

Christened: 3 Dec 1809 in Schwartzhaeusern, Bern, Switzerland

Death: 10 Feb 1865 in Schwartzhaeusern, Bern, Switzerland

Marriage: 5 Jul 1833 in Niederbipp, Bern, Switzerland

To: Anna Zur Linden

SEPS: 1949-1950 SGEOR

Son of Samuel Gygax and Barbara Friedli

Children:

#1 - Anna Maria Gygax: 24 Jan 1834 - 1859

#2 - Anna Gygax: 17 Mar 1836 - 26 Dec 1902 ***

#3 - Johann Gottfried: 11 Apr 1838 - 22 Dec 1902

#4 - Johann Rudolf Gyax: 9 Dec 1845 -

#5 - Eliza Gygax: 9 Feb 1851 -

#6 - Maria Gygax: 15 Jun 1853

Anna Gygax [Huber]

Born: 17 Mar 1836, Hometown of Schwarzhaeusern, Bern Switzerland [Aarwangen 1836, page 157, entry 29]

Christened: 3 Apr 1836, Hometown of Schwarzhaeusern, Bern, Switzerland [Aarwangen 1836, page 157, entry 29]

Death: 26 Dec 1902, in Muensterlingen, Thurgau, Switzerland hospital. [Uesslingen FB #105, Letter from sister to Anna, her daughter]

Marriage: 2 Mar 1862 in Aarwangen, Bern, Switzerland [LDS #2005266, page 320, 1862]

To: Johann Andres Huber

LDS Baptism: 29 Dec 1882 in Pfaffnau, Aargau, Switzerland [LDS #128137_H #44]

Remained in Switzerland, did not go to Utah with the Saints

Children:

#1 - Anna Maria Elizabeth Huber: 17 April 1862- 15 May 1944

#2 - Maria Elise Huber: 1 Sep 1863 - 15 Oct 1945

#3 - Johann Karl Huber: 15 May 1865 - 30 May 1916

#4 - Anna Elise Huber: 2 Jun 1867 - 17 Jul 1965

#5 - Amalie Huber: 16 Mar 1869 - 1946