The Guemann Family That Stayed in Etobon

In 1953, Fannie Aeschliman returned from a Sunday morning worship service at West Clinton Mennonite Church to eat Sunday dinner at her son's house near Wauseon, Ohio. She is surrounded by descendants: left to right: Janice, Betty, Hyrthal, Judy, and one of her sons, Enos.  Fannie was 90 years old and destined to live for 2 1/2 more years. She immigrated to Ohio in 1874 when she was 11 years old with her mother Catherine Guemann Vonier, father, and siblings, from Etobon, France where her mother's family (Guemanns) had lived since the beginning of the 1800's.  Their Guemann ancestors had left Switzerland for France in the 1700's to escape persecution because they were Anabaptists/Mennonites (Wiedertäufer or rebaptized).

We visited Etobon on June 9, 2016. Approaching the small village, one can see the Lutheran church which was built in the 1850's to replace an older structure.  A 31-year-old stone mason, Andreas Vonier, came from Austria to work on the church.  He ended up marrying Catherine Guemann, a 28-year-old widow with three daughters.  (There is a traumatic story behind this marriage, for another blog.) The couple became the parents of Fannie and her 7 siblings.

Note the date 1854 and the Bible verse from Luke 11:28:  Happy/blessed are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice.

The side of the church is stuccoed, but notice the different stones used for pillars and for the foundation. Andreas (Andrew) Vonier may have laid these very stones.

There is evidence of recent re-pointing of the stones; the church is kept in good condition. I wonder if the front door handle is from 1854. Unfortunately, the sanctuary was locked, but we did get into the foyer.

There was a cemetery behind the church, but most of the tombstones have been moved and propped against the wall. The Lutherans generously allowed Anabaptists to be buried there. Catherine's first husband, Joseph Neuhauser, was buried there in 1852, as well as Catherine's mother in 1863 and likely more relatives. Being poor peasants, they probably did not have tombstones of any note. This one is for Pierre Goux, a teacher, who died in 1847.  In those days, teachers were highly-respected community leaders, and some signed birth records for their villagers.

From census records of the mid 1800's, I mistakenly assumed that the Guemann family lived at 11 Rue du Haut du Village. I knew from a Liechty descendant of Catherine's sister, Marie, that family descendants of one of their brothers continued to live there.

We walked up the road, following a man on a bicycle.

It turns out that he was biking to house, #11!  Here are photos of the front of the home with the dwelling on the left and the connected barn on the right.  We talked briefly to the man and a woman who showed up with a key to open the big door, and the man directed us to someone in the village who spoke English and who was able to verify that this was the Guemann family home. However, they were mistaken. I learned in June 2022 that is is not where Catherine was born in 1826 and where she lived during the time between her two marriages. Instead the house was #5, a much nicer looking house which is pictured near the end of this blog.

Behind the tractor shed, there is a smaller modern house that has been built on the property.

 

Across the road is an old well. This source of water may have been a reason to establish a home in this spot many years ago.

This is the view of the church down the hill from the Guemann home.  Imagine how they could watch the building being constructed.

Catherine, Marie, and another sister (Françoise) immigrated to Ohio, but their two brothers stayed in France.  When France became involved in war, even Mennonites, who may have retained a belief in nonviolence, had no choice but to take part in the military.  This had disastrous consequences for Catherine's nephew's family who continued to live in the house in Etobon.  The family consisted of 3 sons and 3 daughters.   The oldest son, Abel, was killed early in WW I at age 20, along with 6 other villagers.  (Of side interest--you can see that a couple of the surnames are common to people living in Stryker, Ohio.)

The two younger sons were massacred in 1944 near the end of WW II, along with many other men of the village, by the occupying Germans, perhaps in revenge for the killing of a German general (which they probably did not do) or for the killing of a German officer's mother by Allied bombing, and for helping prisoners of war (captured soldiers from India and England) escape to the Swiss border, dressed as French peasants.  In the village office, we were invited to visit a room displaying photos of these men.

ETOBON

to its martyrs,

victims of the Nazis,

on the 27th of September, 1944

REMEMBER

As part of the current village cemetery just outside the village, there is a special area for them. The men were taken to the nearby village of Chenebier and shot, one by one, against the church wall.

This last plaque is from Great Britain, acknowledging the help that the village provided to assist Commonwealth prisoners of war from India escape to safety in Switzerland.  The turbaned men were given peasant costumes to hide their identity.

The youngest of the three sisters in Catherine's nephew's family was Marthe, who remained on the Guemann farm and never married.  Because all her brothers had been killed, in 1953 she invited a newly-married niece and her husband to live at the farm and keep it going. The niece, also named Marthe with nickname Babatte, became a widow and died a few weeks ago at age 89.  Her freshly-dug grave was next to that of her grand-parents and her aunt Marthe (shown here) and other relatives.

***

Here are more scenes of Etobon, if you are interested.

This traditional house, on Rue du Haut du Village, has geraniums planted. It is the Guemann house #5. In June 2022 we met Guemann descendants who live in the house. 

I liked the rounded barn door.

This attractive house is across from the church on the "main street", with the village mayor's office (Mairie) to the right.

Next to the church there was a similar house/barn, but it was in bad shape and was recently torn down.  Only the well remains.

I was intrigued by this carved stone, obviously part of something bigger (possibly a mill stone) leaning against the well, perhaps discovered during the demolition.

There are several fountains and wells in Etobon. This one is quite elaborate and features the popular geraniums.

More information about Etobon can be found here in French.

Janice Aeschliman Kreider