Burkholder Ancestors

I took a little side trip to Switzerland this afternoon.---and was back in time for supper. We have been told that our Burkholder ancestors were from Ruderswil, Switzerland. The earliest one in the records is Joseph Burkhalter who married Elisabeth Widmer and had six children. Their youngest son, Benedict, was born December 1, 1661.

Benedict married Anna Kohler and had seven children. Their youngest child, Ulrich, was born February 11, 1699.

Ulrich moved to the Jura mountain area of Switzerland about 1728. He and his wife, Barbara, had six children. Their youngest child, Christian, was born June 1, 1746. He immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1754 with his widowed mother and five siblings.

I want to include images of the Burkholder birth records in the article I am writing on the Burkholders for the Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage magazine. I ordered the LDS microfilms of the Ruderswil church records and spent a couple hours this afternoon on a search and rescue mission.

This is the church record which says Benedict Burkholder was born December 1, 1661 to Joseph and Elisabeth (Widmer) Burkhalter.

This is the entry for the birth of Ulrich (Ully) Burkhalter, son of Benedict and Anna (Kohler) Burkhalter, on February 11, 1699. The last three names are the sponsors.

There you have it, right from the actual church books. I got copies of the pages recording the births all the children in both families but these are the most important ones because they confirm our Burkholder ancestors. What a lot of fun! And it sure was cheaper than going to Switzerland.