Hans Kaspar Sidler 1705 -1768

On the 16 November 1728, when Hans was 23, he married  Veronica Schneebeli, born in 1709 in Ottenbach. Veronica Schneebeli was four years younger and they had 5 children. She died in 1746 when she was just 37 years old and a year later, on 22 August 1747, Hans married Elisabeth Schneebeli of Affoltern, a relative but not a sister to his first wife. They had one child in 1751. Hans died 17 years later in 1768. Elizabeth died 5 August 1765 at age 53 years old. Hans was alone for 3 years. (Temple Record Sidler and Hegetschweiler, by Julius Billeter, page 37)

Seckelmeister
Hans Kaspar Sidler lived from 1705 - 1768. Hans's occupation is listed as a treasurer or a Seckelmeister, or cashier.  In Switzerland since the late Middle Ages it was a designation for "manager or managers of takings of public funds or goods", be it in the state administration or in an association or a political party. Julius Billeter says Hans is a former Sekelmeister, meaning he did well and retired.

Ehegaumer 

Gaumen is the Swiss German verb for watch, observe, take care of somebody (e.g. babies, small kids etc.).

The Ehegaumer was also called Stillständer or Kirchenpfleger. Every section or hamlet of a parish had such a senior man who watched the people (kind of espinonage) in order that they did not morally behave badly (mainly according to the Bible). This job in the community was not a paid position. (more on the role of Ehegaumer below)

What happened to their children?
Barbara Sidler 1729-1786 married Jakob Bär, 7 children,  lived 56 years 6 months 28 days

Dorothea Sidler 1732 died as an infant
Anna Sidler 1732-1770 married Mathias Meier, no known children, lived 35 years 10 months 0 days
Barbara Sidler 1736-1802 married Johannes Stehli of Maschwanden on 3 July 1756, died 24 June 1802 at 67, one child.

Rudolf Sidler 1742-1801 married Elisabetha Sidler, night watchman and Feldschreiber in Ottenbach, 15 children, lived 58 years 9 months 16 days
Elisabetha Schneebeli 1710-1765 second wife, born in Affoltern, had one son, Julius Billeter made a mistake and put this child with the first wife but Veronica Schneebeli passed away before Ulrich's birth

Ulrich Sidler 1751-1800 married Verena Häberling, had 2 children, one married, lived 48 years 9  months 28 days

Ehegaumer

After the sermon (church mess) in the church, the pastor held a meeting with these Ehegaumers in standing in the church (that is why they were also called still standers).

They reported all the bad things that happened in their local communities. Minutes were taken on such reporting which are called Stillständer-Protokolle. Many of them were archived and are transcribed now and publicly available on the internet. So you can find out what "misdeeds" your ancestors committed.

Only serious (legal cases) were brought up to the marital court in the City of Zurich (reported by the local pastor) e.g. illegitimate children etc. Often the decisions were pragmatic and ended up in a money fine. (Sources: Kaspar's death certificate, Peter Bertschinger)

There are some Stillstand Protokolle of Ottenbach parish preserved in the Staatsarchiv Zürich, but not yet transcribed and not on-line yet (this is done by volunteer work): However, neighboring Maschwanden has one transcribed to give you an idea what happened in the year 1670 there:

Stillstand Protokolle Example:

January:

saufen: too much alcohol drinking on Sundays

liecht stubeten: private (wild) parties of young people

ehrrüeriges reden: libel (one of the main subjects at local courts)

February:

kartind, büetzind, anckind, bachind: preaching against card playing, mending, butter making, baking on Sundays

Some people were imprisoned in the Ottenbach prison in the City of Zurich for major offenses ... this used to be a female monastery near Niederdorf South of the Limmat river, but 1525 made into a prison by the Zwingli protestant reformation, today the Zurich police station!

What does a Sackelmeister do?

The titles of each tithe had to be measured first. Ktifer Heinrich Berli, Sackelmeister (cashier) Melchior Leutert and Hans Ulrich Hegetschweiler were entrusted with this task. Afterwards, a commission of one person was set up to calculate the payments of the individual farmers. It was not until 1835 that all the farmers had completely repaid their redemption debt. In 1822, the capitalization of the tithes took place at Martini. Thus, from the second quarter of the 19th century Ottenbach was largely free of tithes. (Ottenbach's population In the course of time by Bernhard Schneider)

Seckelmeister or Treasurer for the administration of the confessional financial budgets and treasure, both parties appointed a special Treasurer for a period of six years.. (Patrick A. Wild)

Tithing

Kaspar may have been involved in Tithing and the collection of taxes.

“The payment of tithing always requires a parish church as the recipient. The land prescribed for a church had, as far as it was worked on, including the meadows to deliver the tenth part of the gross profit to it. Just as the Church was supposed to be unchangeable, the tithing, according to its original purpose, was not for sale. However, it was not uncommon for tithing-free goods to exist. "(Dr. Strickler.) Spiritual foundations (monasteries) often received their tithing income from a distance. Hofkirche) in Lucerne. How can we have such a relationshipto explain ? Noble gentlemen, who lived closer to the Lucerne Abbey, may have acquired goods from our area by marrying a local noble heiress and then turned to the abbey by exchange or gift. Or also: In Bickwil, a free farmer who was not burdened with tithing advertised his farm estate. A younger brother had entered the Lucerne canons' school. There he was brought up to a fellow monastery. The farm farmer in Bickwil remained childless. Before his death, he prescribed tithe from his property to the monastery in the courtyard in Lucerne. For this purpose, a soul mass was read every year on the day of the testator's death to increase his happiness. When the church in Ottenbach already existed in 1234, it fellher tithing in the community from the country not yet polluted. A distinction was made between big and small tithing. The latter concerned the grain, the winter crop in the field, this the hay in the meadow, summer crops, fruit, root crops, also hemp and flax from fields and punctures. In contrast to the aforementioned dry one, the wine tenth was also called the wet one. The Lucerne Abbey did not have its own tithe barn as a collection point in Ottenbach; therefore it had to be tithing in money Respectively. Every year before the harvest - the reference to an open increase was leased to a recipient. He paid the pen he had offered to the pen and collected the tithing for his own account. The pastor in Ottenbach received his share in kind; The barn and basement were at his disposal. The fact that tithing was subject to many difficulties proves a lot of decency that was noted in old writings.

Collecting Money

While the following is later in time, it may help to give perspective to what Hans Kaspar may have done in his job as Seckelmeister.

When a family sold their house and the justice of their "own benefit and good or similar causes", they lost their rights in Ottenbach. When she returned, she had to pay for her move in - like every accuser - and acquire house and justice again. Ausdriicklich was recorded that the sale of property to strangers was a burden to "a community Ottenbach farm".

In 1836 16 voile and four half of the fees were listed. Then in 1836 a collection fee of 15 gulden was paid. The ordinary petty cash amounted to 4 shillings, which brought in 4 shillings of petty cash 20 gulden. The highest revenue item was 273 gulden and 30 shillings of an extraordinary tax. Altogether the civil community of Ottenbach collected a good 350 Guldens in 1835 and 1836.

The highest item of expenditure of the civil community was the contribution to the schoolmasters' salary of 68 gulden. The village guard received a total of 40 Guldens for 1835 and 1836, the farmhand 25 Guldens for 1836. 43 Guldens interest had to be paid and a loss carried forward of 74 Guldens had to be compensated. Finally, all expenses for the fire brigade were also the responsibility of the civil community.  (Ottenbach's population In the course of time by Bernhard Schneider)

In 1525 Zwingli and the municipal council in Zürich established the marriage court, which quickly became a model for other cities in southern Germany and Switzerland. The Reformed marriage court became a new discursive site characterized by a specific combination of circumstances: the municipal Reformed marriage courts represented the practical application of the new teachings on matrimony, but in many respects, they also adopted traditions from canon law....In Zurich, as in Basel or Augsburg, the activities of the marriage courts at first centered on clarifying the validity of promises of marriage and questions off divorce. The prosecution of illicit sexual behavior was initially delegated to special morals courts, as in Zürich, or to the Unzüchter (the municipal office responsible for maintaining public order and morals. as in Basel or Augsburg which mainly issued warnings and reprimands.... In Zürich the two courts were practically synonymous....(Social Control in Europe, 1500-1800 vol 1)

Blasphemy as related to Ehegaumer

The church viewed swearing, cursing and blasphemy as ungodly acts which both spoiled the ground for true religion and would bring divine retribution. A critical plank in the campaign to make men and women better Christians was to root out foul language in all its forms, and Bullinger expected the magistrates to play their part. In 1563 a rural dean in Freiamt reported to the synod on the ubiquity of swearing, commenting: 'see how in the parishes swearing rapidly increases, so that young and old swear, and also that a disruptive, evil Anabaptist bumpkin called Andreas Guot from Ottenbach causes much trouble'. The Zurich council, however, seems at best to have paid only lip-service to the mandates governing blasphemy. Only occasionally were those found guilty fined. Much more serious in the eyes of the magistrates was offensive language directed against the council or its representatives in the rural areas. Most of the swearing was directed against the parish officials, such as the Vogt (bailiff) or Ehegaumer (church warden), though ministers frequently found themselves caught in the verbal crossfire. (The Protestant Clergy of Early Modern Europe, edited by C. Dixon, Luise Schorn-Schütte)

During their lives:

1742 In Ottenbach there are 543 people, 122 are adults and are 4.5 people per home meaning there were 120 homes in the community.  (Ottenbach Told by Bernard Schnider and Salomon Schneider and Erika Schmid)

1710 - 1772  On the occasion of the famine, Zurich enforces potato cultivation in all rural communities  

1600 - 1800 Switzerland is a loose confederacy of 13 cities and small valley communities dominating the rest of the country. A few families control state affairs. The country is proud of its tradition of democracy. (Ottenbach Municipality website)

1712. For the sake of the war, the following is determined: The tithe, who belongs to the church there on Merisch wander Boden from Otten bacher goods, is readily available; Lucerne again receives a travel certificate for moving the tenth to Ottenbach.

1769. (Dr. Strickler.) If tithing fields were converted into meadows, it was no longer the small or the hayned that had to be done, but the previous large, namely a quarter of the seeds, the Juchart; In 1769, however, the creation of such meadows was formally prohibited. To encourage the planting of potatoes, however from 1750 for each household per Vs Juchart arable land, provided that it was ordered with potatoes, tithing-free.

1770. (Ludwig Meier von Knonau.) From 1770-1780, the estate value of 140 to 160 (on average 150 guilders = 700 Fr.) capital values were posted on inheritance or sales of Mütt. Raffle buying was set considerably lower in the 1830s.

1761 - 1774. The authorities of Zug, on the one hand, and the church of St. Wolfgang in relation to Pastor Hamberger in Ottenbach, quarreled over tithing to Wolsen and Bickwil. In this case there was a brand adjustment. Zurich paid the costs, Zug thanked for the friendly neighborly settlement. (Obfelden, Gedenkschrift zum 50-jährigen Bestand der Gemeinde, Oktober 1897)

Pastors in Ottenbach Kasper knew

1701. Johann Heinrich Zwingli.Died in 1707 from a stroke.

1707. Hans Konrad Rahn. Deposed in 1737 for offense. Died 1744.

1737. Balthasar Zwingli, son of Hans Heinrich Zwingli. The greatest, most handsome man among all his brothers in office. In 1753 almost all of Ottenbach burned down. The pastor fell ill, had epilepsy (apoplectic) coincidences, never went to the pulpit again, died in 1757.

1639 Tithe The municipality of Ottenbach uses its influence with the authorities in Zurich to ensure that the tithe receipt for Lucerne Abbey is no longer awarded "out of country", i.e. to a tenant in Jonen and at an increase there.

1757. Rudolf Hamberger. He died in 1776. (Ottenbach's population In the course of time by Bernhard Schneider)

1737 Pastor Rahn and Veronika Gut Adultery

Born in 1664 and ordained in 1688, Hans Konrad Rahn became vicar in Niederweningen in 1690 and parish priest in Wigoltingen TG in 1692. In 1707 he took over the parish office in Ottenbach; in 1737 he was dismissed for adultery at the age of 73. Afterwards he moved to Horgen, where he died in 1744. 

Hans died in 1889. His cause of death is discussed below. 

Document related to Hans Kaspar Sidler

Hans Kaspar Sidler birth 1705 Film 2060954

Hans Rudolf Sidler marriage to Veronica Schneebeli 11 November
1728 film 8014328 page 364 item 16

Hans Kaspar Sidler b 1705 in the 1749 Church Census
film 8014124 page 91

Hans Kaspar Sidler  1749 Ottenbach Kirche Census. One of the clearest, easy to read documents I have found. A thing of beauty. Thank you Pastor Balthasar Zwingli.  Also all of Kaspar’s children lived to adulthood. We didn’t have a death date for Dorothea but from this document we know she at least lived to be at least 17. Unusual in the Sidler history. Film 8014124 page 91

Notes The purpose of these population registers was originally to record the Protestant Reformed Church membership in the parishes of the Synod of Zürich, Switzerland. Approximately every three years lists of the members of all family households and those in Church service were made and sent in to the rector (Antistes) in Zürich.  In addition to the names of each member of the household, ages, and often exact baptism dates are given, especially for the children, but often for the parents as well.

The column lists the Religious Knowledge of each member of the family: These Census reports (BV) of the local protestant pastors had to be sent to the Zurich central church (Grossmünster) from 1634 to about 1740 every May (or second or third year) to the head of the reformed church (Antistes) to be discussed at the Congregation of all pastors (see PDF). They served as control of how many souls (sheep) there were in the local parish and the knowledge of Christian literature. The kids had to learn by heart all kinds of things as already mentioned to you before according to age. Every year the pastor went to the family to check it out. Did they have a bible ? How religious were the parents ? The kids were asked test questions. This was a kind of school - because they learned at least spelling and a lot by heart .. Older than 15 years, these boys and girls were allowed to go and participate at the Abendmahl sermon. They also had to learn the 10 Gebote (Commandmends), Psalms, Katechisms etc.

Sidler and Hegetschweiler Temple Record
by Julius Billeter, page 37

Hans Kaspar Sidler marriage to Elisabetha Schneebeli 22
August 1747 film 8014328 page 579

Hans Kaspar Sidler death February 22, 1768 film 8014328 page 670 

Hans lived 62 years 10 months 24 days (online age calculator) . According to the this death record he was a widower who lived 62 years, 10 months less than 6 days. The bottom line says Bethliegerig (in bed) 20 wochen (weeks). Kaspar's cause of death was Hyrope or Hydrops which is a condition where too much fluid is collected in the inner ear. From other entries it appears to be a common cause of death. The Ottenbach Pastor who made this entry, and conducted the services was Pastor Rudolf Hamberger. Rudolf, himself, died 8 years later and must have been buried in the same Ottenbach church cemetery, seen below. 

Translation 1:

Alt Ehegaumer Hs. Caspar Sydler von Ottenbach, aet. 62. Jahr u. 10 monath weniger 6. Tag, bettlägerig gegen die 20 Wochen (Bethliegerig (in bed 20  weeks). Hydrope. 

Translation 2:

Old Ehegaumer Hs. Caspar Sydler (spouse) von Ottenbach, aet. 62. year and 10 months less 6. day, bedridden against 20 weeks. Hydrope.

Hans lived 62 years 10 months 24 days. Kaspar's cause of death was Hyrope or Hydrops which is a condition where too much fluid is collected in the inner ear. From other entries it appears to be a common cause of death. The Ottenbach Pastor who made this entry, and conducted the services was Rudolf Hamberger. Rudolf, himself, died 8 years later and must have been buried in the same Ottenbach church cemetery.

Endolymphatic hydrops may be either primary or secondary. Primary idiopathic endolymphatic hydrops (known as Ménière’s disease) occurs for no known reason. Secondary endolymphatic hydrops appears to occur in response to an event or underlying condition. For example, it can follow head trauma or ear surgery, and it can occur with other inner ear disorders, allergies, or systemic disorders (such as diabetes or autoimmune disorders).

Symptoms typical of hydrops include pressure or fullness in the ears (aural fullness), tinnitus (ringing or other noise in the ears), hearing loss, dizziness, and imbalance. (VEDA website)