Hans Jakob Schurch (1550 - 1610)

Born 1 Nov 1550 in Sumiswald, Bern, Switzerland

Descendants

Died 1610 at about age 59 in Sumiswald, Bern, Switzerland

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Biography

Hans Schurch is of Swiss descent

Hans Schürch (this was the spelling used in Swiss records) was born about 1550 probably in Schürchtanne, Sumiswald, Switzerland.
(Sumiswald birth records didn't start until 1581.)
Sumiswald was an area in Bern, Switzerland that also had a town by that name.

The Schürch family can be found as early as 1360 in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. From Schurch Family: Association^[1]
"Upper Schürchtanne is the region’s oldest Schürch ancestral property, having been given to Hans Schürch after he was freed from serfdom in 1544 but dates at least from 1425. The homestead is associated with codes C, E, H and N, having been the birthplace of Caspar Schürch who married Margaret Trüssel."

This was possibly his father and uncle or some relative:
"1544 Hans and Peter Schurch were granted freedom from serfdom to the castle and lordship Grunenberg^[2] and, on that date, Hans was living in Sumiswald. The Sumiswald home bore the name Schurchstannen (Schurch's evergreens) until the 1900's. Adjacent to Sumisald is a region of hilly countryside named Schonegg. Great-grandson Ulrich Schurch emigrated to America and settled in a village named Schoenick in Lancaster, PA, likely named after this area near Sumiswald."^[3][4]

In about 1583, Hans married Verena (Freni) Schneider, in Walterswil where she was born. (Marriage records weren't kept in Sumiswald until 1637 and Walterswil until 1635.)
They had a few children in Walterswil before moving to the town of Sumiswald in the Sumiswald District of Bern.

They moved from Walterswil to Sumiswald where their son, Caspar's wedding took place in 1610.^[5]
Son, Ulrich was baptised Nov 8, 1610 probably soon after they moved to Sumiswald. (see picture at right.) His record notes that they were from Walterswyl. He is the first Schurch in the birth records of Sumiswald.^[6]
(Their son, Caspar-1585 also had a son named Hans born 1611 who died, then another Hans, 1618)

The Schürch Homestead in Sumiswald was called Tannhuser.

Hans died in 1610
Sumiswald, Bern, Switzerland (death records didn't start until 1728).

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.schurchfamilyassociation.net/heritage
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%BCnenberg_Castle
3. ↑ http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bobwolfe/gen/mn/m5783x5784.htm
4. ↑ https://www.geni.com/people/Hans-Sch%C3%BCrch/6000000007288330776
5. ↑ Sherk Genealogy, 1997, by John Adams Becker, p 4
6. ↑ Sumiswald Record book #1, Baptisms 1581-1616, p274 -- https://www.query.sta.be.ch/detail.aspx?ID=232481

• Schurch Family Tree chart -- http://rfmin.net/mjgen/leathers/schurch-shirk.html
• John Adams Becker, Sherk A Genealogy of One Line of the Sherk Family ... Including Hans Schurch of Sumiswald (Toronto, Canada: self-published, 1997).
• Thomas Albert Sherk, The Sherk Family (1982)
• Online Database; (Provo): Ancestry.com; Text: http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=4544036&pid=409
• U. S. & International Marriage Records 1560 - 1900.
• Schurch Family History -- https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/535134-sherk-a-genealogy-of-one-line-of-the-sherk-family-tracing-their-lives-in-switzerland-pennsylvania-humberstone-township-in-welland-co-upper-canada-and-south-dorchester-township-elgin-county-ontario-including-hans-schurch-of-sumiswald-switzerland-born-c-1560-mary-s-sherk-1845-1887-and-her-great-grandson-john-adams-becker-born-1932?viewer=1&offset=1#page=4&viewer=picture&o=info&n=0&q=

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile Schurch-13 created through the import of MY_Forry_Johnson_Zeyen Family Tree_.ged on Aug 7, 2011 by Christy Forry.

See Changes page for the details of edits.