This article explores the origins of the Heuberger in Maisprach
The Heuberger family has been recorded as citizens of Maisprach since the second half of the 18th century. The church registers and civil status registers are published online in the Basel-Landschaft State Archives (birth registers kept before January 1, 1900 and marriage and death registers up to 1911). This makes genealogical research fairly easy; hence many families are documented on online platforms, including the Heuberger data.
The attentive researcher cannot fail to notice that the Heuberger family came from Bözen. But here the search becomes more difficult, there is no online family data for the canton of Aargau. A visit to the Aargau State Archives and viewing the Bözen church records on microfilm is unavoidable.
The Heuberger family came from Bözen
On December 2, 1783, Hans Heinrich Heuberger married the “maiden” Ursula Meyer in Maisprach. The priest casually mentioned that the bridegroom had recently become a citizen of Maisprach and came from Bözen.
Transcription:
Hs Heinrich Heüberger von bötzen neu angenohmner
burger zu Maysprach Jgfr [Jungfrau] Ursula Meyer von dar.
According to the online church records, the couple had eight children baptized. The two sons Heinrich (*1787) and Jakob (*1791) carried on the family name. Descendants of these Maisprach Heubergers can be found all over the world today.
The Bözen church registers
Thanks to the marriage entry from 1783, we know that Heuberger came from Bözen. But which family did he come from? The Heuberger in Bözen are extremely numerous and the first name Hans or Hans Heinrich was widespread at the time. It is therefore difficult to clearly identify the wanted person in the Bözen birth register.
Hans Heinrich Heuberger died in Maisprach in 1841 at the advanced age of 87. Thanks to the age given in the death register, we know Hans Heinrich’s year of birth. His wife Ursula had already died in 1829. Once again, the house visitation register (HBR) in the Bözen parish archives helps us in our search. This list of the inhabitants of Bözen, Effingen and Elfingen is a census carried out by the parish priest. There were many Heuberger families living in Bözen around 1770, but thanks to the detailed description in the HBR we find the person we are looking for on page 216 in the Heuberger-Amsler family. The eldest son Hans Heinrich was 17 years old at the time and was staying in Maisprach; his date of birth matches the death entry of 1841 in Maisprach.
The parents Hans Heuberger, known as “Rudelihans”, and Verena Amsler lived in Bözen in house number 6, the 9th household in the village. Of the seven children, the two eldest were “in service” as farmhand and maid.
Transcription: der ehlichen Persohnen. und
ledigen Communicanten und Schulkinder in Hauß VI, Haußhaltung 9:
Hans Heuberger, der Rudelihanß – – – 1731, 13. Sept.
Verena Amßler – – – 1730, 14 Sept.
Heinrich in servitiio zu Maisperg, im Baselgebiet – – – 1753, 9. Dez.
Verena dienet zu Lenzburg bey dess Maurer Schellers – – – 1755, 19. Okt.
The young Hans Heinrich Heuberger had not only found a job as a farmhand in Maisprach, but also a wife and a new home. After all, it took 13 years until the marriage and until the people of Maisprach were prepared to accept the “foreigner” as a citizen. This was associated with high costs, Hans Heinrich must have been a capable man with a good reputation and the necessary means to buy his way into his new home community.
His grandfather Rudi had been a miller, and his mother Verena Amsler also came from a miller’s family. Johannes Amsler, a cousin of his mother Verena, had already naturalized in Buus in 1763, and with good reason – he had married the daughter of miller Handschin and later took over his mill in Buus. Johannes is the progenitor of the Buus Amsler family. Two of the miller’s siblings from Bözen also found employment in Liestal and Maisprach. Other residents from the parish of Bözen were to follow, including Hans Heinrich Heuberger.
The Bözen ancestors of Hans Heinrich Heuberger
The grandparents and great-grandparents of our protagonist belonged to the village upper class. The Heubergers were millers, Hans Amsler, also known as “Bäldi Hans“, was the grandson of the bailiff. However, the following generations became impoverished and some had to earn their living away from home from an early age.
The ancestors of the Amsler family from Bözen and the family of Abraham Heuberger have been researched and documented. The latter belongs to the “Sebastian” line of the Heuberger. This line of the Heuberger of Bözen is described in detail in my book “Zwei Mühlen – eine Geschichte”.
