THE ABBUEHL-OTT FAMILY

In Switzerland

The Abbuehl-Ott family came to America from Guttannen, Oberhasli, Canton Bern, Switzerland. Guttannen even today is a small village high in the Alps just before the highest peaks. Its remoteness led to intermarriages, even as close as brothers and sisters. Oberhasli means back-country. Evidently they lived out beyond this village.

Their home in Switzerland was made of stones and wood. The shingles were held in place by stones placed on top of them. They had a cow or two and eight or nine goats that were kept on the lower floor of the house.

They terraced a little plot for a garden and fruit trees. For summer grazing and haying they would go farther up the mountain. Hay and milk were brought back by back-pack. Whatever else they did for a livelihood is not known.

Heinrich Abbuehl was married to Katharena Nageli on May 13, 1838, in Switzerland, and he died, on March 3, 1843. They had three children: Katharina(in America Catherine )(Mrs. John Ratz), Kasper, and Margaret (Mrs. Frederick Reichart), After Mrs. Abbuehl’s death, the family lived with the grandparents. The mother worked away from home. It was from their grandparents that the children learned their first prayers.

In 1844 Katherena Abbuehl married again to Melchior Ott Sr., a cousin, who was 14 years younger than she. To this union were born three children Melchior Jr., John, and Anna (Mrs. Anton Reichart Jr.)

In 1849, daughter Catherine, married John Ratz. They too came to America with the other family members. Family tradition says that they started from Guttannen when Anna Ott was14 days old (Born September 12, 1851.) How many very young children were on the boat is not known. The Ratzes had a daughter, Margaret, just a little over a year old. In making the passage across the ocean, Katharena kept Anna under her cape or shawl at all times. This cloak which she was wearing kept Anna sheltered from the elements. She was the only infant that did not die coming across.

Many of the obituaries, but not all, say that they came to America in 1852. This is probably the date of their arrival in America; Since Guttannen was in such a remote place, it no doubt took considerable time to even reach a seacoast town. The modes of transportation used in those days must also be considered. They may have needed to wait passage after they reached the seaport and close to two months could have been used in making the ocean voyage. By the time they reached their destination, it could well have been 1852.

They landed in New York and by covered wagon came to Highland, Madison County, Illinois. Here they stayed for three years.

If one comes from both the Abhuehl and the Reichart lines, it is hard in memory to keep the stories to the correct family. Regena Abbuehl Volk (Mrs. John) told this story when she was an older lady and she could not remember which story belonged to her mother’s people and which to her father’s. One boat came the Northern Route and they were very cold in passage across the Atlantic. The Abbuehls came in the fall of the year, Anna Ott’s birth date was checked with Guttannen records, so late September would be the beginning month for the journey. The other family was just the opposite. Their trip became very hot so that the tar on the boat became very soft. Reicharts came in the spring of the year. They may have taken a more southerly route.