Elisabeth Frey 1774 - 1816

Elisabeth Frei or Lisabeth Frey was born on the 13 of December 1774 in Birr, Aargau, Switzerland. Her parents were Rudolf Frey 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. Ignoring distance Elizabeth married Rudolf Jenta  from Ettenhausen, Zurich. 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).
(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

Lizbeth Frei gave birth to Anna Elisabetha 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 Elisabetha.

The naming tradition in Switzerland used about 20 male and female 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 Lisbeth Frei named their last child Anna Elisabetha.

Elisabeth Frey Jenta bore 12 children:

     Barbara Jenta 1793-1814
     Johannes Jenta 1795-Dec. young
     Johannes Jenta 1797-Dec. young
     Felix Jenta 1799-Dec. young
     Anna Jenta 1804-1860
     Susanna Jenta 1804-1858
     Anna Barbara Jenta 1806-Dec.
     Heinrich Jenta 1808-1863
     Lisabeth Jenta 1811-Dec. young
     Regula Jenta 1814-1814 Dec. young
     Regula Jenta 1816-1816 Dec. young
     Anna Elisabetha Jenta 1816-1881

Documents relating to Elisabeth Frey:

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

Elisabeth Frey birth record 13 Dec 1774 from Gemeinde Birr church records

Test. is the latin word for testatores = witnesses of the baptism = godfather and godmother

Friedrich Märki von Birr

Elisabeth Mattenberger von Birr (ibid. = latin ibidem = the same place)

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

Rudolf Wetzikon E lll 139.21 p 1734