Otilla (Mueller) Meyer (1598 - aft. 1639)

Born 5 Dec 1598 in Sachsae, Meiningen Canton, Thurgau, Switzerland

Descendants

Died after 1639 after age 40 in Ettiswil, Luzern, Switzerland

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Edward Nelson [send private message], Ryan Myers [send private message], Margaret Cook [send private message], and Michael Goldman [send private message]

Biography

Tylli Muller was listed as the wife of Baschi Meyer in the 1634, 1637, and 1640 census lists of Stallikon, Zurich, Switzerland. She is generally assumed to be the Ottila Mulerin imprisoned in Oethenbach in Zurich in 1639 with Barbara and Elizabeth Meylin, sisters of the Anabaptist minister, and Barbara Kolb. ^[1]. Their account is described in the Martyrs Mirror ^[2]

Baschi and Ottila's son Hans Meyer, seventeen years old in 1637, may be the one recorded in 1685 as an Anabaptist at Rudelsheim (now Ludwigshohe) Germany, with his wife Anna Bauman and nine children, two of whom were married. ^[1] A Transcription of the entry from the 1685 census of Rudelsheim lists "Hans Mayer, Hausfrau Anna Baumannin, 9 kinder, 2 sind in der Ehe, 7 hat er noch bei sich. " ^[3]

Baschi and Ottila's other children are Hans Meyer b. ca. 1621; Anna Meyer bap. Jan. 22, 1632; Samuel Meyer b. ca. 1634; Jacob Meyer b. ca. 1636; Caspar Meyer b. ca. 1639 ^[4] Michael is not mentioned by Best, who cites census lists for the children she does mention.

Death date 1639 cannot be correct, as she was in the 1640 census of Stallikon. We also have no sources for Thurgau as a birthplace, or Ettiswil as a death place.

Other References

From the Ausbund (the original hymn book of the Mennonites), cited by Prof. Oscar Kuhns in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. ^[5]

"The same treatment was given to Haus Meyli and his two sons Hans and Marty and their wives, all thrown into prison. Similar treatment was likewise given to the following persons: Hans Muller, of Uetikon, Rudolph Hagi, Hans Ringer, Heinrich Frick of Klonau, who before his conversion was an Ensign in the Army, and possessed "grosses zeitliches Gut”, Stephen Zander of Klonau, Dorothea Grob of Klonau, Catharina Muller of Klonau, Heinrich Gut of Klonau, Ottilly Muller of Klonau, Barbara Mylin, Barbara Kolb, Elizabeth Meylin.

Most of the above were from the Klonau District. "

Martyrs Mirror

FOUR SISTERS, A. D. 1639, NAMELY,

BARBARA MEYLIN, OTTILA MULERIN, BARBARA KOLBIN, AND ELIZABETH MEYLIN

The persecution did not cease with the foregoing; but they continued and laid their hands also upon four pious sisters, Barbara Meylin, Ottila Mulerin, Barbara Kolbin, and Elizabeth Meylin, who also had to drink out of the bitter cup of the dreadful Zurich prison; however, the Lord preserved them, so that they, unharmed in their faith, unknown to the authorities, unexpectedly also escaped from imprisonment and bonds. See the last mentioned tract, fol. 10, A.

Note. - We made mention, for the year 1635, of one Hans Muller, who, being imprisoned in the council house at Zurich, with two of his fellow brethren, was released for a month upon condition and then again imprisoned, and released the second time upon the same condition.

He was subsequently (about the year 1639, as the circumstances show) again cruelly persecuted; insomuch that even his neighbors and their houses were not spared, through which the thief catchers ran like ravening wolves on the track of a sheep; but when they came into his house, from which he had already escaped, they, with pincers and other instruments, broke open chests and drawers, in the hope that they might there find the property of the church or the poor.

These thief catchers, that night, threatened his little children, with bare swords, that they would kill them, if they did not show them where their father was.

When they could not get him, they took along his wife, whom they bound and imprisoned in Othenbach. Thereupon, it was proclaimed in church, that no one was allowed to lodge, or give food or drink to Hans Muller from the Groeningen bailiwick, on pain of severe penalty and the disfavor of the authorities.

Now when his life was made exceedingly hard to him, the bailiff in the convent of Ruti, in the name of the burgomasters and councilors of Zurich, sent to him a letter of this import, namely, that he should have a safe conduct for three weeks, to go and remain wherever he would; also that he might freely come to him in the convent, and, after they should have finished their conference, leave free and unmolested.

Thereupon he voluntarily, with sure confidence in the aforesaid promise, went into the convent; but when he could not consent to the bailiff's demand about his having to go to church, he was confined there, guarded day and night, and then taken to Zurich, imprisoned for a time in the council house, and then in Othenbach (that being the place where also his wife was imprisoned), where he was stripped, and kept a prisoner about sixty weeks; in which time he was in irons sixteen weeks, till he with the other prisoners finally, one Friday before Easter, unexpectedly made his escape.

Afterwards he was again hunted with mad fury, even as before, and driven from one place to another, so that he did not dare to live in his house with his wife.

In the meantime it happened, that his wife, having been delivered of twins, and lain in but eleven days, was surprised by ten thief catchers, who, having surrounded the house by night, entered it with this threat: that if she would not indicate her husband's hiding place, she should not leave the house for six weeks, or else she would have to go to church herself. But when she would not comply with this, two of the ten remained, and guarded her day and night.

This filled the woman with such terror that, seeing their design, she, on a certain very cold night, broke away with her two infants, and went a long unbeaten way, over hill and dale, and thus escaped the enemies' hands, forsaking all that she had, which the authorities rented to strangers, realizing thereby a thousand guilders annually. See ler. Mang. Tract, fol. 13, A.

Martyrs Mirror Notes

The other three "sisters" Ottila was imprisoned with:

• Anna Barbara (Bar) Meili (1618-1668) (second wife of Martin Chroniclar Meili (1607-abt.1658))^[6]
• Barbara Kolbin not found in Wikitree
• Elsbeth (Hochstrasser) Meili (1585-1650) (wife of Hans Meyli (1583-1651) / Hans Ulrich Meili (abt.1572-1652) who need to be merged)

Hans Meili the elder was a minister, and was imprisoned with his 2 sons Hans Jr and Martin. In the story above, Elizabeth Meylin is the minister's wife, and Barbara Meylin is their daughter-in-law. The relationship to Barbara Kolbin and Ottila is unclear. The Meilins and Ottila were living in Stallikon in 1639 based on census information, but Barbara Kolbin is not listed there among the Anabaptists.

The Woman Who Had a Baby in Jail

(This story is not about Ottila, but about one of the women she was imprisoned with. It is included here to help understand conditions and possible timelines.)^[7]

In 1637 they caught the minister, Hans Meyli, of the Horgerberg, in the snowcrowned Alps south of Lake Zürich in Switzerland. They tried him and threw him into the Oetenbach castle dungeon, but after forty-three weeks he escaped. The Protestant authorities (of Zwingli's reformed church) were furious. They did continual house searches and harrassed the believers. Thirty Täuferjäger (Anabaptist hunters) found out where the Meylis lived and with bare swords and firearms stormed the house, hacking through doors and throwing things around to find the escaped minister. They cursed and swore and blasphemed God. When they realized that he was not there, they took his two sons, Hans Jr. and Martin Meyli captive.

Martin was already married. They grabbed his young wife and tied her up tightly. Her name was Anna. She had a fourteen-week-old baby, which they took from her and gave to people from the state church to keep. They took the captives to Zürich, tried them and locked them up in the Oetenbach castle dungeons. They took off the men's clothes and chained them to the stone floor for twenty weeks. They tortured them with spiders and caterpillars. They gave them just enough food and water to keep them alive. But the prisoners would not recant. After one year the two men escaped "with undamaged consciences" and after two years, on Good Friday, 1641, Anna escaped as well. They fled from place to place, but the people betrayed them. Anna fell into the hands of the Täuferjäger again and was imprisoned, first at the Oetenbach, then in the Spital jail. This time she was expecting a baby. They left her shackled until the pains of labour came upon her. Then they loosened her to have the baby, and "with the help and grace of God" she escaped. After her husband found her they fled across the mountains and through the Black Forest to Germany.

Baby in Jail Notes

The minister Hans Meili was imprisoned in 1637 and escaped later that year or in 1638. In 1638 his 2 sons and daughter-in-law were imprisoned. (Best gives us the 1638 date. ^[8]) This entry does not say when Han Meili's wife was arrested. The baby born in jail was probably Jacob Meili (1639-1665). These two stories taken together imply that the four sisters from the Martyr's Mirror were in prison at the same time, but not necessarily arrested at the same time.

Mennonite Ausbund, 1751

In a 1751 version of the Mennonite Ausbund hymnbook, there is a list of people from the towns and villages around Lake Zurich who were imprisoned in Cloister Oetenbach from 1635 to 1645. A large number of people are from Knonau, including Tylli.^[9]

Ausbund Notes

This source contradicts a source given in the Old Notes and Sources section of this profile for Tylli being born in Thurgau Canton. Knonau is in Zurich Canton, about 16km from Stallikon, While Thurgau is about 80km away, on the other side of Lake Zurich.

Baschi Meyer Project

If Baschi and Ottila are in your family tree, please consider joining the The Baschi Meyer Project: Descendants, Documentation, and DNA.

Research Goals

• Additional sources regarding Ottila's parents, siblings, and other family members
• Marriage source for Baschi and Ottila
• More details connecting Baschi and Ottila to their children in later references
• What happened to the family after the last census in Stallikon?

Old Notes and Sources

20 March 2021: Additional information was sourced in a manner I am not able to follow up on, but am leaving here in case someone can properly source and document it.  : ID Number: MH:N245: MH:I1913. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Birth

5 DEC 1598 Sachsae, Meiningen Canton, Thurgau Switzerland

Death

1639 Ettiswil, Canton, Zurich, Switzerland/

Christening

5 DEC 1598 Rossdorf, Sachsae-Meiningen, Thuringen, Switzerland

Burial

1639 Ettiswil, Bern, Switzerland

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Best, Jane Evans. "Meyer Families Update", Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, April 1998.
2. ↑ van Braght, Thieleman J., "The Bloody Theater or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians who baptized only upon confession of faith, and who suffered and died for the testimony of Jesus, their Saviour, from the time of Christ to the year A.D. 1660", Netherlands,1660. Available on line at https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65855/ and https://archive.org/details/MartyrsMirror.
3. ↑ Adams, Dorothy. "Myers History: Some Descendants of Hans Meier of Pequea, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania", D.M.K. Adams, 1987.
4. ↑ Best, Jane Evans. "Swiss Emigrants from Albis, Part I: Stallikon", Mennonite Family History 8, Jan. 1989.
5. ↑ National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volumes 7-8, Issue 29 of Special publications of the National Genealogical Society, 1922, pp. 36-38.
6. ↑ "Bear Saga Update: Part 1", p. 20, Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, July 1998"
7. ↑ Hoover, Peter. "The Secret of the Strength; What Would the Anabaptists Tell This Generation?" (Columbus, Ohio, 2006) p. 3.
8. ↑ Best, Jane Evans. "A Bear Saga: Albis to America" in Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, Oct 1986. p. 20.
9. ↑ National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Volumes 7-8, Issue 29 of Special publications of the National Genealogical Society, 1922. p36-38, Available on line at "https://books.google.com/books?id=DD7fsZbolmkC&pg=RA2-PA37&lpg=RA2-PA37&dq=Hans+M%C3%BCller+(Hans+von+Utikon)&source=bl&ots=1fhCgk4a-c&sig=ACfU3U3Y4pF5d9BKMGmE7HheVhu_jignXA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiu18OQ6tr3AhXlITQIHbviDg0Q6AF6BAgbEAM#v=onepage&q=Hans%20M%C3%BCller%20(Hans%20von%20Utikon)&f=false"
10. ↑ http://www.gencircles.com/users/rhockman/1/data/5969IGI
11. ↑ http://www.gencircles.com/users/paysonite/3/data/1943IGI
12. ↑ http://www.gencircles.com/users/paysonite/3/data/1943

• Best, Jane Evans. Author states in later works that they "supersede all my previous accounts of this family."
  • "Swiss Emigrants from Albis, Part I: Stallikon", Mennonite Family History 8, Jan. 1989.
  • "Anabaptist Families from Canton Zurich to Lancaster County, 1633 to 1729: A Tour", Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, Oct. 1994.
  • "The Groff Book, Vol. 2, A Continuing Saga", Groff History Associates, 1997.
  • "Meyer Families Update", Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, April 1998.

Acknowledgments

• Thank you to Eric Myers for his research on this profile.