GENEAL-FORUM

Hello

There is a page in the "Bürgerregister" in Laufenburg for Fidel Sommerhalder and his wife Sophia Meier/Meyer. A daughter Bertha Ursula is listed with the birth date of 17.11.1844. Unfortunately, there no information about Carl Dettwiler, the husband of Bertha Ursula. I attached this page because a forum member is looking for birth and marriage information about Carl Dettwiler.

The word "verehelicht (married)" is written below the name of only the oldest child Sophia Bertha.

At the bottom of the page there is a note that says (if I read it correctly), "Diese Familie ist am 13 April 1860, nach Santa Fee, in ? ." I can't read the last two words and would appreciate help with this. I think the translation is, "This family moved to Santa Fe on April 13, 1860 ... ." Is that correct? Of course, this page is a secondary source, so errors are possible; however, according to the information, it seems that Bertha Ursula was not married at the time she and the family emigrated to Santa Fe, Argentina in 1860. The fact that her date of birth is 17.11.1844 (which gives an age of about 15 1/2 years old in April of 1860), supports the assumption that she was not married.

See attached baptismal record below for Bertha Ursula.

I looked at the marriage register in Laufenburg and didn't see a marriage record, nor a marriage announcement for Carl Dettwiler and Bertha Ursula Sommerhalder.

Here's the page in the citizen register in Laufenburg for Franz Xaver Fendrich and his wife Sophia Bertha Sommerhalder, the daughter of Fidel and Sophia Meier. I think the note at the bottom of the page is exactly the same as the one in the page for her father Fidel.

See attached baptismal record below for Sophia Bertha.

The marriage record for Franz Xaver Fendrich and Sophia Bertha Sommerhalder in 1858 in Laufenburg.

Debra Palmer hat geschrieben: Mo 1. Sep 2025, 05:29 At the bottom of the page there is a note that says (if I read it correctly), "Diese Familie ist am 13 April 1860, nach Santa Fee, in ? ."

... nach Santa Fee, in Südamerika, ausgewandert

Thank you, Walter, for the help.

According to the citizen register page (above) for the Sommerhalder family, Fidel's wife Sophia Meier was born on 14.12.1817 in Laufenburg and died on 05.07.1855 in the same place. The calculated date of birth (using an age at death of 38 years, 6 months, 21 days) is 14.12.1816, which is the same as the date of birth in the baptismal record, except the year is off by one year. This doesn't bother me because the father's name is the same in both records - see attachments below. The marriage record for this couple in 1838 in Laufenburg is also attached below.

The marriage record for Fidel Sommerhalder and Sophia Meyer in 1838 in Laufenburg.

The death record for Josephine Sophia Myer, the wife of Fidel Sommerhalder, in 1855 in Laufenburg.

Thank you very much, Debra, for digging up all this information! Let me try to summarize:

Sommerhalder Fidel, * Laufenburg 01.05.1806, Sohn von Jakob Sommerhalder und Barbara Schmid, Gemeindts-Substitut, Gerichts-Aktuar, + Esperanza, Santa Fe 17.06.1887
ooI Laufenburg 19.02.1838
Meier Sophia Josepha, */≈ Laufenburg 14.12.1817, Tochter von Xaver Meier und Ursula Brogli, + Laufenburg 05.07.1855

Kinder:
20.01.1839 Sophia Bertha, oo 05.01.1858 Franz Xaver Fendrich
20.04.1841 Antonia, + 09.10.1841
13.08.1842 Hermann Eduard, + 26.08.1842
15.08.1843 Maria Theresia
17.11.1844 Bertha Ursula, heiratet (höchstwahrscheinlich in Argentinien) Karl (Carlos) Dettwiler
29.09.1846 Jodef Fidel, + 14.12.1846

Sommerhalder Fidel (1806-?)
ooII Laufenburg 24.07.1859
Senn Secunda, von Gansingen, * 27.05.1832, + Esperanza, Santa Fe 01.10.1869

Kinder:
04.02.1860 Karl Josef, + auf dem Meer auf der Reise nach Santa Fe

Diese Familie (einschl. Tochter Sophia Bertha mit ihrer Familie) ist am 13.04.1860 nach Santa Fe in Südamerika ausgewandert.

Quelle: Bürgerregister Laufenburg, Band I, Seite 229 mit Ergänzungen (verlinkt)

Svenja verdanke ich den Hinweis auf folgenden Zeitungsausschnitt: ----------------
Nachtrag: Translation.

I would like to know what the newspaper clipping says. I use DeepL for translations - would that work for translating an image?

Thank you for any suggestions or help.

Debra Palmer hat geschrieben: Di 2. Sep 2025, 23:27 I would like to know what the newspaper clipping says. I use DeepL for translations - would that work for translating an image?

No - DeepL wouldn't translate - you'd have to do an OCR first (and hope this does a good job) - but here it is:

Edict summons.
Fidel Sommerhalder, born in 1806, former deputy judge and district administrator of Laufenburg, accused of having sworn false oaths in his claim proceedings against Mr. Ludwig Heer in Laufenburg on May 21, 1861, at his current place of residence in the colony of Esperanza, province of Santa Fé; furthermore, that in 1855, as steward in the household of Johann Bürgi, "Nazihansen" of Hornussen, he committed the crime of fraud, thereby embezzling CHF 117.26 from the household funds in question; - is hereby summoned to appear before the Aargau Criminal Court, or its president in Aarau, within three months to answer for the crime with which he is charged, failing which he will be prosecuted as a disobedient person in accordance with the law and the judgment will be rendered in his absence.
Aarau, August 14, 1863.
The President of the Indictment Chamber: Müller.
The Clerk: Schneider.

I very much doubt he came back to Switzerland to defend himself .

Thank you, Wolf - the translation saved me some time from having to type the text in an online translator. Perhaps I'll try to do an OCR.

Wolf hat geschrieben: Di 2. Sep 2025, 16:44 ... Let me try to summarize:
Sommerhalder Fidel, * Laufenburg 01.05.1806, ....

There is a marriage record for Fidel Sommerhalder and Sekunda Senn, his second wife, in 1859 in Laufenburg, and a baptismal record for their son Karl Joseph born on 04.02.1860 in Laufenburg - see attachments. A brief note in the page from the citizen register about the young child's death is quoted in the summery of this family (above) and translates as: "died at sea on the journey to Santa Fe".

A page in the citizen register of Laufenburg (above) lists Fidel Sommerhalder and Sophia Meier's children. Baptismal records of their children named Sophia Bertha and Bertha Ursula are attached above, and the ones of Antonia, Hermann Eduard, Maria Theresia and Jos. Fidel are below.

Antonia Sommerhalder

Hermann Eduard Sommerhalder

Maria Theresia Sommerhalder

Jos. Fidel Sommerhalder

There is a page in the citizen register of Laufenburg for Jacob Sommerhalder born 1767 - see below. The marriage record of Jacob Sommerhalder and Barbara Schmid in 1802, and the baptismal record of their son Fidel in 1806 are also attached.

This page in the citizen register of Laufenburg is for Fidel Sommerhalder born 1733, the father of Jacob born 1767.

Here's the marriage record for Georg (is this his first name?) Fidel Sommerhalder and Apolonia Vogeli on 03.08.1762 in Laufenburg (4th entry) - see attachment.

Is Fidel Sommerhalder from Hornussen? Is there any important information in the record, besides the place he is from?

Debra Palmer hat geschrieben: Mo 20. Apr 2026, 04:33 Is Fidel Sommerhalder from Hornussen?

Richtig, aus Hornussen, der letzten katholischen Gemeinde vor der Grenze zum damals reformierten Berner Gebiet.

Debra Palmer hat geschrieben: Mo 20. Apr 2026, 04:33 Is there any important information in the record, besides the place he is from?

Seine Frau hatte zwar das Bürgerrecht des damals noch unter Oesterreich vereinten Laufenburg, wohnte aber gemäss Eintrag in Lauttingen, heute Luttingen, einer damaligen Nachbargemeinde von Laufenburg, heute Stadtteil von Laufenburg (Deutschland).

Peter