Surname Saturday: Amstutz

Another Saturday, another surname.  This time we look at one where we know a little bit more again, starting with my wife's 3rd-great grandmother, Katherine Amstutz.  Although this line is well populated, we recorded the information on family group sheets before we were as well versed in saving source information as we are now.  The only outside source that we have listed for this information right now is dated 1997 from gendex.com, which used to be a site listing genealogy data.  This line can get a bit confusing as names were reused frequently throughout the generations that I know about.  Regardless, here's what we know so far...

Katherine Amstutz (sometimes spelled Catherine) was born on either 24 June 1795 or 18 January 1796 in Florimont, France.  She married twice, both times in France, and emigrated to the United States with her family in the first half of the 19th century, settling in Adams County, Indiana.  Katherine's first marriage was on 14 January 1813 to Pierre Kauffmann, and her second was to John Klopfenstein on either 20 January or 30 March 1820.  As far as we've seen, Katherine and Pierre did not have any children.  Katherine had 12 children with John: Michel Klopfenstein (M; b. 12 Feb 1821; d. 14 Nov 1822), Michel Klopfenstein (M, twin; b. 22 March 1824; m. 7 Feb 1850 Lydia Sauder; m2. Rebecca Conrad; d. 5 July 1908), Barbara Elisabeth Klopfenstein (F, twin; b. 22 March 1824; m. __ Putt; d. 1895), Catherine Klopfenstein (F; b. 18 Dec 1825; d. young), Mary Klopfenstein (F, twin; b. 17 Feb 1828; m. Abraham Meyer; d. before 1932), Catherine Klopfenstein (F, twin; b. 17 Feb 1828; m. 22 Oct 1846 Abraham Biberstine; d. 15 Oct 1893), Peter Klopfenstein (M; b. 20 Aug 1830; m. Barbara Roth; d. 4 July 1904), Anna Klopfenstein (F; b. 12 Feb 1834; m. 23 Nov 1856 Daniel Shanebeck; d. 4 Jan 1932), Jacob Klopfenstein (M; b. 3 dec 1836; m. 15 March 1857 Elizabeth Beyer; d. 10 Jan 1900), John Klopfenstein (M; d. before 1932), a son who died in France and one more child of whom we don't know a name or gender.  I have a copy of Anna Klopfenstein's obituary, so some of this information has a little more proof, but it all needs a fair bit more work to be proven.

Katherine Amstutz was the fourth child born to Hans Ulrich Amstutz and Barbe Wenger.  Hans was born in April 1763, married Barbe Wenger in 1788 and died on 7 May 1824 in Florimont.  Barbe was born in 1767 and died on 12 October 1847, also in Florimont.  Their children were: Jean Ulrich Amstutz (M; b. 17 Sep 1780; m. 14 June 1827 Anne Zimmerman), Jacques Amstutz (M; b. Sep 1788; m. 21 May 1819 Anne Steiner), Christ Amstutz (M; b. 1794; d. 1819), Katherine Amstutz (above), Pierre Amstutz (M; b. 12 Aug 1799; m. 22 April 1827 Barbe Stucky) and Elisabeth Amstutz (F; b. 28 Feb 1805; m. Jean Amstutz; d. 11 May 1879).  All records that we have for this family show them living in the area of Florimont.  Elisabeth's marriage to another of the Amstutz family was not wholly uncommon as we'll see in earlier generations.

Hans was the eighth and last child born to Hans Ulrich Amstutz and Marie Breschbuler.  The elder Hans was born 18 March 1715 in Masevaux, married Marie on 5 June 1741 in Mulhouse, and died on 8 August 1753 in Montbéliard.  I don't have any details for Marie yet other than her name and marriage.  Hans and Marie's children were: Francois Chretien Amstutz (M; b. 26 Feb 1747), Christian Amstutz (M; b. 1750; m. 25 June 1783 Marie Anne Amstutz), Maria Ursula Amstutz (F; b. 27 Feb 1750; d. 5 May 1752), Marie Amstutz (F, twin; b. 24 June 1752), Elisabeth Amstutz (F, twin; b. 24 June 1752; m. 12 May 1772 Jean Jacques Briguel; d. 13 Aug 1825), Michel Amstutz (M; b. 3 March 1755; m. 4 Feb 1777 Anne Prevot; d. 1840), Jean Jacques Amstutz (M; b. 16 Jan 1757; m. 25 June 1783 Vrena Amstutz) and Hans Ulrich Amstutz (above).  This family lived around Masevaux.

The elder Hans Ulrich's parents were Ulrich Hans Amstutz and Eva Mosimann.  Ulrich was born 19 April 1696 in Sigriswil, now in the canton of Bern, Switzerland, and died on 8 August 1753 in Montbéliard.  I know Eva's parents and siblings, but not much beyond that.  Ulrich and Eva had six chidren: Hans Ulrich Amstutz (above), Jean Michel Amstutz (M; m. 10 Feb 1756 Christina Hauter), Levie Amstutz (?; b. 1720; d. 1 Jan 1780), Andreas Amstutz (M; b. 9 Aug 1730; m. 9 Nov 1756 Catherine Hauter), Anne Marie Amstutz (F; m. 1 Dec 1750 Hans Theodore Moser) and Marguerite Amstutz (F; m. 10 Feb 1756 Hans Rodolphe Neracker; d. 14 July 1772).  Several of the children's vital events occurred in Masevaux.

Ulrich was the third child born to Ulrich Amstutz and Anna Racheter.  The elder Ulrich was born in December 1663 in Aeschlen, which is also now in Bern, Switzerland, then married twice.  On 11 May 1686, he married Anna Buetschi (of whom I know nothing more), and they had two children: Johannes Amstutz (M; b. 28 Oct 1688) and Ulrich Amstutz (M; b. 15 June 1692).  Ulrich's second marriage, to Anna Racheter (b. 1670; d. 1730), occurred on 6 October 1692, and they had nine children: Margreth Amstutz (F; b. 4 June 1693), Anna Amstutz (F; b. 2 Sep 1694), Ulrich Hans Amstutz (above), Chretien Amstutz (M; b. 7 Nov 1697; m. 16 Jan 1713 Veronica Mosimann; d. 16 Jan 1760), Johannes Amstutz (M; b. 21 Dec 1699; m. 11 Dec 1727 Catharina Fischer; d. 5 April 1758), Magdalena Amstutz (F; b. 10 July 1702; d. 30 July 1755), Maria Amstutz (F; b. 27 April 1704; m. Jacob Kauffmann; d. 22 Feb 1785), Heinrich Amstutz (M; b. 1 Nov 1705) and Verena Amstutz (F; b. 6 Feb 1707).

Ulrich's parents were Hans Amstutz and Barbara Boss.  Hans was born in 1628 in Sigriswil, married Barbara Boss circa 1650 and died in 1688.  Barbara was born in 1632 and died in 1680.  Both parents were born and died in Sigriswil, and all eight of their children were also born there: Jacob Amstutz (M; b. 1651), Ulrich Amstutz (M; b. 1654; d. young), Hans Amstutz (M; b. 3 Jan 1660), Ulrich Amstutz (above), Christen Amstutz (M; b. 1 Sep 1666), Magdalena Amstutz (F; b. 1669), Verena Amstutz (F; b. 1669) and Peter Amstutz (M; b. 4 May 1673).

Hans was the oldest of five children born to Hans Amstutz and an unknown wife.  This elder Hans was born in 1598 in Sigriswil and died there in 1660.  His children were: Hans Amstutz (above), Anna Amstutz (F; b. 1630), Christen Amstutz (M; b. 1639), Barbara Amstutz (F; b. 1640) and Ulrich Amstutz (M; b. 1640).

The last generation that I know of was Hans's father, also named Hans Amstutz.  Hans was born in 1568, also in Sigriswil, and had three children: Hans Amstutz (above), Ulrich Amstutz (M; b. 1609) and Christen Amstutz (M; b. 1613).

The first task on this line is to go back to the first subject, Katherine Amstutz (1795-1876) and work on finding additional references to verify as much information as possible.  Then I will slowly work back retracing and verifying as I go.  Next, I need to learn more about the history of the Alsace region and Switzerland.  I haven't studied this part of the world very much yet, so there is a lot to learn.