GENEAL-FORUM

The Wild family from the Canton of Glarus originates from Toggenburg in the Canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The family name derives from the former residence of the ancestor: Wildhaus in Toggenburg.

The ancestor Claus Wilhelm married around 1539 Anna Zwingli, the niece of the Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli. Claus Wilhelm, subsequently called Wild , emigrated around 1544 from Toggenburg into Glarus and settled down in the hamlet Loew (Nesselau) in Haslen. He received 1555 after presenting the redemption letter from serfdom for himself and his five sons, Hanns Heinrich, Claus, Peter and Bartholomäus for 340 guilders the citizenship of the commune of Haslen and the Canton of Glarus.

Family branch from Schwanden

1586 most of the now 7 sons of Claus Wilhelm Wild were still living in Haslen, some were living in the commune of Schwanden, where Bartholomäus and his son Hilarius and the youngest son of Claus Wilhelm, David, became naturalized and founded the local family branch of Schwanden. Most of the American Wild’s are descended from this branch.

At the end of the 19th century Wild from Schwanden naturalised in Basel, 1931 in Glarus and 1946 in Zurich.