In 1845, a group of about 30 families left Glarus, Switzerland to seek a new life in the Wisconsin Territory. You can read all about their challenging journey in the book A Common Treasure: The Challenging First Decade of the Swiss Colony of New Glarus, 1845-1855 by Duane H. Freitag. Freitag notes that along the way, some members of the party died, and others chose to remain in various cities along the emigration route. Those who arrived at the colony site and remained in New Glarus included the families listed below. You can click on each name to download an excel spreadsheet of that family tree.
These family tree charts would not have been possible without the years of meticulous research conducted by Patrick Wild of Glarus, Switzerland.
- Babler, Fridolin & Dorothea Stauffacher of Matt
- Babler, Oswald & Ursula Stauffacher of Matt/Engi
- Becker, Jost & Barbara Hefti of Ennetbuhls
- Durst, Balthasar & Magdalena Durst of Diesbach
- Durst, Mathias & Verena Luchsinger of Diesbach
- Hefti, Fridolin & Christina Hosli of Ennetbuhls
- Hosli, Fridolin & Margareth Durst of Diesbach
- Hosli, Heinrich & Barbara Zwicki of Diesbach
- Hosli, Matheus & Barbara Hosli of Ennetbuhls
- Kundert, Paulus & Barbara Zopfi of Ruti
- Legler, Fridolin Sr. & Barbara Hefti of Diesbach
- Legler, Fridolin Jr. & Rosina Hammerli of Diesbach
- Legler, Georg & Anna Durst of Diesbach
- Legler, Johann Kaspar & Agatha Speich of Diesbach
- Schindler, Abraham & Anna Baumgartner of Schwandi
- Schmid, Mathias & Anna Katharina Schmid of Nidfurn
- Stauffacher, Johann Peter & Barbara Babler of Matt
- Stauffacher, Rudolf of Matt
- Wild, Hilarius & Anna Hefti of Schwanden
- Zwicki, Kaspar of Mollis
Are you looking for genealogy charts for a different immigrant family? Please email Erica [at] ngpl.org with inquiries.
*A note regarding spellings: As is common with many immigrants to our country, certain names became "Americanized" over the years. When looking at Glarner surnames, typically names ending in "i" were changed to end in "y," and umlauts were replaced with the letter "e." Hösli became Hoesly, Tschudi became Tschudy, Dürst became Duerst, etc. First names also underwent a transformation. Some Fridolins began going by Fred, Johanns went by John, and Heinrichs went by Henry. One single person might be listed in official records under several different spelling variations.