From notes for:
The Tschudi - Judy Family
by Richard P. Judy
5601 College Road
Lisle, Illinois 60532
© Richard P. Judy, 1990
FRANZ JOSEPH TSCHUDI
1785-1849
SWITZERLAND AND AMERICAOur earliest immigrant to America was Franz Joseph Tschudi. He arrived in America on the ship BRODERCHAP on the 14th of August, 1816 with his wife Frances (Bruleng) Tschudi. With them were at least two offspring: Victor, born in Gempen, Solothurn, Switzerland on Feb. 17, 1813 and his sister, Margaret who was born between 1815 and 1820. We do not know the place of her birth. Their third born, Catherine, was also probably with them as the ship's log mentions three children. She was also born between 1815 and 1820 but we do not know where. These dates of birth for Margaret and Catherine come from the U.S. census tracts of 1830-40.
The port of entry was probably Philadelphia. By 1822-23 Franz Joseph had settled in what is now Lucinda, Pennsylvania He was either the first or second pioneer family in Lucinda which at that time was Venango County, Pennsylvania, but is now Clarion County. Between the time of his arrival in America in 1816 and 1823, Franz and his family apparently located briefly in one or more places in Pennsylvania the farm that he established on what is now the outskirts of Lucinda, Pennsylvania became his final home in Pennsylvania until he left there in 1836-40 to migrate to Hocking Co., (Logan) Ohio.
After settling in Pennsylvania, Francis and his wife, Frances, enlarged their family with seven more children. Mary was born in 1821 before the family reached Clarion Co. apparently. She was followed in 1822 by Frank and then John in 1823. Three girls followed: Susanna in 1826, Magdalene ("Lena") in 1827 and Elizabeth in 1832. finally was born the last child, Joseph on the 4th of July, 1834. Of these ten children of Frances, we have only been able to document the birth records of the first, Victor, and the last, Joseph. Victor as mentioned was born in Gempen, Solothurn, Switzerland, and Joseph in Clarion Co., Pennsylvania All the other children were born in Pennsylvania with the exception of Margaret who was born somewhere in Europe and Margaret who could have been born either in Europe or America (PA).
Soon after their arrival in America, Franz Tschudi, found that his name was more often than not spelled "Judy". Tradition indicates that a school teacher simply took it upon himself to make the spelling simpler and phonetic by changing the TSCH to "J' and the "i" to a "y". Some of the children retained the original spelling of Tschudi throughout their lives and others accepted the "Judy" spelling.
It would appear that the children were unschooled and could read and write little if any German or English. In fact, their mark ("X") on the part of some of the children on Probate Court records of Hocking Co., Ohio at the time of the probate action of Francis Judy's will, indicates that some of the children could not write their own name! Franz Joseph Tschudi was soon known as Francis Judy and as Frank Judy.
When Frank and his wife Frances brought their children to Hocking Co., Logan, Ohio between 1834 and 1840 (probably 1837), they left behind one child, Victor. He remained on the farm as he was by now a young man of some 24 years of age and obviously willing and able to farm the land that was settled by his father and family in 1822-23. He married and his descendants are still living on the original farm and in that part of Pennsylvania. Victor was killed in a farm accident on the 1st of Jan., 1861.
A history of Clarion Co. and the Roman Catholic Church of Lucinda, Pennsylvania is presently being written by one of his descendants, along with others, to be published in 1986-87. The Tschudi/Judy family will play a large part in this history since the family was large, one of the first if not the first pioneer family to settle that part of the country when wild animals and Indians were still threats and, of course, very true to their Roman Catholic faith. There are now some five or six generations of Frank Judy and his son, Victor Judy, living in Pennsylvania, and others, of course, leaving for many other states and yet calling Lucinda and Clarion Co. "HOME".
As mentioned, Frank and his wife, Frances, brought their family of some nine children to Hocking Co., Ohio about 1837. They joined a community of German immigrants consisting eventually of some 26 families who began the settlement in 1837. These people were Catholic families from Germany, Alsace-Lorrane, Switzerland and other German speaking countries. They built a log church which was used until the families moved it to the city of Logan only a few miles away. The descendants of these German families are still living on the farms established beginning in 1837 and in the city of Logan and many are to be found in what is known as the "Old Catholic Cemetery". Located in this cemetery is the wife of Franz Joseph Tschudi, Frances (Bruleng) Judy. Her grave marker is still quite legible indicating that she was born on the 28th of June 1786. She died on the 4th of Sept., 1843. Francis Judy may or may not be buried next to her as records are not available nor is there any marker or tombstone. The only other member of this pioneer family to Logan, Ohio, buried here is Susanna who married a Miller and died in Hocking Co. in 1848. Frank Judy remarried after the death of his first wife to a Mary Gailer. He died in 1849. His last will and testament is on record in the Hocking Co. courthouse and the writer has a copy of it showing the disposition to his wife, Mary, and children of less than three hundred dollars.
As mentioned, Victor Tschudi (he kept the original spelling according to his witnessed mark ("X") on the Probate Court records, stayed in Clarion Co., Pennsylvania on the family farm where he had many descendants. Frank and John Judy ( born in Pennsylvania in 1822 and 1823 respectively) moved on from Hocking Co., Ohio to the area of Ferdinand, Ind. along with other members of this mentioned German Colony (Ucker, Weiland, Fox, Rectenwald, Till, Schorr, Miller, Kunkler, etc.). They married sisters (Temple) and established farms in that area where many of their descendants still live. Frank Judy died soon after his move to Ind. He died a young man of 29. John had many children and died there in 1898.
Franz Joseph Tschudi (B. July 24, 1885 in Gempen, Solothurn, Switzerland) was the son of Joseph Tschudi and Maria Gaugler. Franz was the fourth child of this marriage which eventually numbered twelve children: In fact, Joseph Tschudi married a 2nd time to an Anna Maria Ehrsam on the 22nd of July, 1805 in Gempen and produced four more children. since Franz (eventually known as Frank Judy in America) was born in Gempen, Switzerland, he was of course a citizen of that town by virtue of his birth there. Franz's father, Joseph Tschudi, however, came to gempen apparently from Basel-Land and was made a citizen of Gempen by what was called "accepted" in the records on the 26th of Jan., 1775.
We can state here then, that our ancestral home in Switzerland has been in the village of Gempen, Solothurn, Switzerland from at least the year 1775. Joseph Tschudi married a Maria Gaugler of Gempen in Gempen just two years after his "acceptance" as a citizen of Gempen on the 21st of April, 1777.
However, here we must introduce Franz's grandfather, Xavier Tschudi, who was born in 1723 in Basel-Land area or in the district of Rheinfelden. He also was in the Gempen area and even prior to the 1775 time of his son's Joseph's being accepted as a citizen of Gempen. Xaver married in Solothurn twice; to Elizabeth Vögtli on the 13th of Oct., 1753 in Seewen (which is a village just a few miles from Gempen) and then married a second time in Gempen to a Catherine Gaugler (born Wyss) on the 23rd of July, 1783. Records from the Archives of Solothurn do not give a date as to when this Xaver Tschudi (the writer's great, great, great, great grandfather) came to the Gempen/Seewen-Hochwald area from Basel territory or the territory of Rheinfelden.
We have only sketchy information at this time on the mentioned, Xaver Tschudi who at the time of this writing is our earliest known ancestor of our branch of the TSCHUDI family of Switzerland. We know only that he was born in either the Basel area or the Rheinfelden area which is very close to Basel. Our information comes from two sources: the Archives of Solothurn which contains civil records and from the Roman Catholic Church in Solothurn which shows an entry at the time of his death. Xaver was born in 1723 in the Basel/Rheinfelden area. As mentioned, he married a woman in Seewen ( a village in Solothurn just a few miles from Gempen) who was from the village of Hochwald , in 1753. The records indicate that they had only one child, Joseph Tschudi. Joseph's date of birth is not given but his date of death is given as the 23rd of Nov., 1823. We know this date of death with certainty because it is mentioned in both the state and church records. "Xaver Tschudi was hanged in Solothurn on the 5th of Feb., 1786 for ." This date is given in both civil and church documents, also. In the civil account, he was "condemned to death and hanged for severely punishable deeds and executed on the 5th of Feb., 1786." An entry in the Church Journal indicates that the priest counselled with Xaver and got him to receive the sacraments and have a pious death. The church record indicates that Xaver Tschudi had been incorrigible 20 of his past 63 years. This is the manner in which we established his date of birth as 1723. the civil records indicate his time of birth as between 1723-29 and the place of his birth as unknown but probably Zuzgen/Basel-Land or Meiseln in the district of Rheinfelden. (The writer has research currently in process in these areas by Dr. John Dahl, A.G., of Salt Lake City, UT at the library of Latter Day saints). The civil entry regarding Xaver's death for some reason mentions that "Xaver is five foot, three and a half inches tall and a Roman Catholic." It also gives his occupation as that of a locksmith then a "snuff-box maker".
It is of interest to note that Joseph Tschudi and his father, Xaver Tschudi (b. 1723) both married twice and both married women whose last name was GAUGLER and both women were from Gempen. Joseph Tschudi had twelve children by his first marriage (including the fourth born who was the writer's great, great, grandfather, Franz Joseph Tschudi (Frank Judy) who was born in Gempen, Solothurn, Switzerland, on the 24th of July, 1785). Joseph Tschudi had four children by his second marriage . . . a total of 16 children! As far as we know, his father, Xaver had only one offspring, Joseph Tschudi and we do not know the place nor date of this Joseph Tschudi but it must have been in the 1750's around Basel. Xaver's second marriage occurred in 1782 to a Catherine Gaugler (born Wyss) in Gempen when he was about 60 year of age and just three years before he was hanged.
We have no information that any descendants of Xaver or his son, Joseph, came to America other than Francis Tschudi (later Francis of Frank Judy) who as mentioned immigrated to America in 1816 with his wife, Frances, and two (perhaps three) children, Victor and Margaret (and possibly Catherine).
We might raise a question here and even speculate as to why Joseph Tschudi did not follow the then German/Swiss custom of naming his first born son after his paternal grandfather, in this case, Xaver? Would it be because the grandfather had been hanged? Joseph instead named his son Franz or in Latin (baptismal record at St. Blasius in Gempen, Switzerland which the writer has seen and visited) Franciscus. *[This is not quite true...both Xaver and Franz are shown in church records to have the same first name of "Franciscus".] Francis or Franz in turn named his first born son, Victor. It might be of interest to point out that we do not find the name Victor in the Tschudi family records in Switzerland but interestingly the God-father of Victor Tschudi ( born in Gempen on the 17th of Feb., 1813) was a Victor Vögtlin of Hochwald which is the same village and last name (with the addition of an "n") of the maternal grandmother!
From all of this we can assume that our ancestral home in Switzerland is in the Canton of Solothurn and the village of Gempen from the time that Xaver Tschudi (born 1723) lived there following his marriage to Catherine Gaugler (born Wyss) in Gempen in 1783 and also from the date of his son's "acceptance" as a citizen of that village of the 26th of Jan., 1775. Again, both Xaver Tschudi and his only child, Joseph Tschudi are recorded as having come from around Basel, Switzerland. There are no TSCHUDI's living in Gempen today. This information comes from the mayor of Gempen and the priest of the Catholic church there, St. Blase, who is Father Otto Spaar. (The writer visited Gempen and talked with these men this past summer (June, 1985) and visited the area as well as doing research in the church records. Along with me was Fred Goettler of Canton, Ohio who is also a four generation descendant of Franz Joseph Tschudi, our great, great, grandfather, who immigrated to America in 1816). There are undoubtedly descendants of Joseph Tschudi living in Switzerland. We say this primarily because we know that he had 16 children during his two marriages but apparently only two males other than our Franz Joseph Tschudi (Frank Judy b. 1785). These two males were Joseph Tschudi born on the 18th of May, 1797 and who died at the age of 33 (April 17, 1830) at Grenoble, France in the service of the French military. Did he marry and have children? The other male descendant was Ursus Tschudi born on the 27th of July, 1806 of the 2nd marriage. Date of death nor place of death not given. It is not possible for us to trace the female descendants.
Again we should mention that efforts are currently underway to locate the place of birth and parents of our earliest known Swiss ancestor, Xaver Tschudi. We know that he was born in 1723 near Basel. His siblings could easily have stayed in Basel and be traced to any descendants living there today, hopefully.
We would like to add a personal note or two.
This information comes from some twelve years of interest in researching the Judy/TSCHUDI families of America and Switzerland. The information reported has come from interviews with living relatives, church records in Ohio. Pennsylvania and Switzerland, court records from many states, death, marriage and baptismal records form many states and Switzerland, U.S. census tracts of 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1880, graveyards especially in Logan, Ohio and other states including Switzerland, last wills and testaments, old newspapers etc.
A great deal of information has come to me form oldest living relatives and from written "histories and stories" that some of them have written and left behind. These have come from Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York etc. It would be difficult to exaggerate the great amount of mis-information that has come to my attention. Names, places, birth dates, names of countries even have missed their mark by wide margins in many, many cases. Places and nation of origin have been found to be incorrect and birth dates off many years. Special recognition should be given to the 576 page book History and genealogy of the JUDY, JUDAH, TSCHUDY, TSCHUDIN, TSCHUDI, SCHUDI FAMILY OF AMERICA AND SWITZERLAND 870-1954 written by Marion Pomeroy Carlock and published in 1954. It was printed by the Bookman Press of California. His book gives a history of the family going back to the progenitor of all Tschudi's/Judy's (Carlock Claims), Jonathon *[born 870 A.D.] who las in later generations given the surname SCHUDI (The "T" was added later) by an Abbess to whom he had given his liege. It tells of noblemen, castles, historians, warriors, mayors, abbots, world travellers, scientists etc. I have had the opportunity to travel to many of the sites, villages, castle, homes etc. that he has mentioned in his book...especially in Basel, Gempen, Flums (Tschudi castle), Glarus (our ancestral home for centuries before moving to the Basel area in the 1200's) etc.
Our immigrant ancestor was Franz Joseph Tschudi (Frank Judy ) who was born in Gempen, Solothurn, Switzerland 7/24/1785 where he married Francis Bruleng (born 5/28/1786) on the 24th of May, 1807. They came to America on the ship BRODERCHAP arriving on the 14th of Aug., 1816. They settled in Pennsylvania and migrated then to Hocking Co., (Logan) Ohio about 1837 where they joined a colony of German immigrants. They had a total of ten children, Victor, Margaret, Catherine, Mary, Frank, John, Susanna, Magdalene and Joseph (my great, grandfather). Francis and Frances died in Hocking Co. as is the last born son, Joseph. Frank and John went on to Indiana (Ferdinand area) where their descendants are living today. Joseph's descendants (he and his wife Margaret Kunkler had nine children) are living in Hocking Co. with some having left of course to different counties and states.
The preceding [six] pages have ben set down by the writer in a first effort to reduce to writing in a summary form the many documents, records, census tracts, interviews, trips, research, travels, birth-records, tax records, marriage and death records, reams and reams of correspondence, visits with relatives, churches, cemeteries, court houses, written and oral traditions passed on, newspaper accounts etc. that I have done or have come to my attention. These efforts span some 12 years of interest. A great deal of our information has come from the efforts of Dr. John A. Dahl as mentioned (Mormon Library, Salt Lake city, UT) who has put us in contact with researchers and genealogists, civil authorities and clergy in Switzerland. These years of genealogical endeavors has put the writer in touch with many relatives literally from the east coast (Pennsylvania) to the west coast (California). these contacts have in many cases moved from ones of correspondence to noes of personal contact and then developing into real family ties and friendships. I think that a few lines here must and should be devoted to briefly mentioning some of these co-workers, amateur genealogists, family members who have "surfaces" and who have shared the common interest of the TSCHUDI-JUDY family of America and Switzerland going back (so far) to the early 1700's.
Special mention should be made of Fred Goettler of Canton, Ohio who is a retired German-French High School teacher who has spent nearly every summer in Europe since he was there in WWII. Fred is a descendant of Victor Tschudi (b. 1813) and we share the same great, great-grandfather, Frank Judy (b. 17?? Gempen, Switz.). Fred kindly escorted me through Germany and Switzerland this past summer (May-June 1985) to especially places in Switzerland that were known to the TSCHUDI family in the Solothurn, Basel-Land, St. Gallen, Glarus and Zurich Cantons. the writer came back with hundreds of pictures, many church records as well as civil records and documents as well as a great deal of literature from museums (especially Nëfels where there is essentially a TSCHUDI museum as most of the credit goes to the Swiss historian, Aegidius TSCHUDI 1505-1572), historical sites, churches etc. We were happiest of all with the memories we brought back form our visit to the village of Gempen and the parish priest and mayor who rolled out the red carpet for us. We were able to visit the sit of the TSCHUDI farm just a mile or so outside of Gempen ( the house is no longer standing but the land is still being farmed). To visit the town, walk the streets and to pray in the church where Joseph Tschudi and his son Franz Tschudi (b. 1875) and his son, Victor Tschudi prayed and attended liturgies, are indeed memories to cherish. It is a quaint village going back to Roman times of about 500 population in the foothills of the Jura mountains (Gempen is German for the Latin word "campus" which is the name given to the town when occupied by the Romans). Fred and I too found the "Tschudi Castle" (Schloss Graepplang) or better what is left of it in Flums (first mentioned in history in the 13th century and associated with the Tschudi family since 1249...Henrik von Tschudi from Bishopric of Char). Fred continues to live in Canton, Winter in Florida and spend his summers in Europe, especially Germany and Switzerland.
Special mention must also be given to father Paul Kunkler of the Cistercian (Trappist ) Order of Strict Observance of the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina, California. Fr. Paul is currently living the life of a hermit at New Clairvaux, California, but during a leave of absence in '84 and '85 was able to visit in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois enabling him to search for our roots...both Kunkler and Judy as Fr. Paul also shares Franz Tschudi/Judy as immigrant ancestor. Fr. Paul has also collected a wealth of data and information on the 26 German families who came to the colony of families beginning in 1837 just north of Logan (a few miles up N. Walnut St.). John Schorr had made a trip to America earlier in the 1830's to find a homestead for German families who wanted to come to America. He settled on this particular plot north of Logan as the terrain and nature of the land reminded him of the homeland. Many came from Bavaria, Alsace-Lorraine area, Germany, Switzerland looking for political and religious freedom. Fr. Paul has given some thought to writing an article on these 26 families that he has come to know from his research (he has already published a book on prayer and spirituality).
Special mention must also be made of Charles "Roger" Judy of Barberton (Akron), Ohio who is currently computerizing all the data and information gathered and sent to him by the many members of the family with whom he has corresponded. "Roger" shares Franz Joseph Tschudi/Judy (b. 1785) as a great, great, grandfather with Fred, myself and others including Fr. Paul. Fred has a beautiful home in Barberton, a wonderful family and is self-employed with a hardware consulting business. I have met, visited and travelled with these men only by having met them originally thru correspondence that we were mutually engaged in while pursuing the Judy lines.
I want ot mention Mary Alice (Judy) Schmader of Lucinda, Pennsylvania, who with others of St. Joseph parish in Lucinda (Clarion Co.) is writing a history of that county and all of the past and present parishioners of the church. Her parents are still living on the farm that has come down thru the generations from Franz and victor Tschudi/Judy who as mentioned settled in what is now Lucinda about 1822 or 1823. The house has recently been torn down that was the original Tschudi/Judy farmhouse. The land farmed was and is rolling end even hilly and had to be cleared for farming. It is not unlike the TSCHUDI farm of Gempen in Switzerland which was also composed of rolling hills and deep woods. This description fits very well for the farm land in Hocking Co. (Ohio) farmed by Franz (Frank Judy) and his son, Joseph (b. 1834 on the farm in Clarion Co., Pennsylvania). The land in Hocking Co., if anything is much more "mountainous" and rugged than the others. It must have been very difficult to clear and farm. The scenery and views from this German Colony in Hocking Co. must have been chosen more because it reminded the settlers of their homeland in Germany and Switzerland than for farming. Our ancestors may have been more successful with their endeavors of milling grain, orcharding and even carpentry than with their farming. later when oil was discovered on these farms, I can remember my grandmother saying that she knew the land was good for something. Back to Mary Alice - her sister, Sister Margoretta Judy is a member of the Order of St. Benedict and at the time of my visit in Clarion (July 1985) she was teaching in the parish school in Lucinda.
I will mention Ann Judy and her mother Helen and their cousin-nephew respectively, Edward R. "Bill" Judy of Chatham, New Jersey. Helen and Ann Judy are living in Lancaster, Ohio. Here again, Franz Tschudi/Judy our immigrant forefather is shared a fifth generation descendants. Ann and Helen have family heirlooms and furniture that have come down from Frank Judy (b. 1785) and Joseph Judy (b. 1834). Ann and Helen have a small wooden, sewing box, that he "Brought from Germany - 1816)" inscribed on it. They also have a beautiful dining room set consisting of unmarked table and four chairs with a matching six-foot high cabinet that was in the home of Joseph Judy and his wife Margaret (Kunkler) when they were on the farm north of Logan where they went into housekeeping just before the Civil War. They later retired and moved into a home in Logan, Ohio. I have pictures of that home with Joseph and Margaret surrounded by their children and grandchildren on the occasion of what must have been their 50th wedding anniversary (1909)... and great, grandchildren. Ann teaches school in Fairfield Co. "Bill" Judy is an attorney who recently left the Chicago area and now works in New York City. I hope that " Bill" still has that rifle that was purchased in Pennsylvania in the 1820's by Franz Joseph Tschudi/Judy who passed it on to his son, who passed it to his son, who passed it to his son and who may no have passed it to his son.
Marian Carlock's book contains many pages devoted to the descendants of Frank (b. 1822) and John (b. 1823) JUDY who moved from Clarion Co. to Hocking Co. in Ohio with their parents and then moved on to Indiana. They married sisters by the name of Temple. Frank died early in life but John had a large family and there are many of his descendants living in Indiana today. I have not had as much contact with these members of our family nor pursued them so much as the Pennsylvania and Ohio branches. The information regarding Frank and John was submitted to Carlock by a distant cousin, Rose Anna (Merkley) Stewart who was living in Morenci, Arizona at the time. We have had a great deal of correspondence over the years. In fact, I remember a letter that she had written to my father, Frank Judy (b. 1893) back in 1953 at which time she had also written to Joseph Judy who was my Dad's first cousin and also living in Logan. I am not sure if my cousin Rose is still living as we have been out of touch recently but I have had a good bit of correspondence with a cousin, Mildred Troesch of St. Meinrad, Indiana, who has a great deal of Judy family history as a genealogist for the different branches of her family. Mildred has a wealth of information on these early German settlers to the area of Indiana (Jasper, Ferdinand, St. Meinrad) where Frank and John Judy settled.
Let me close with a personal note. I am presently living in Lisle, Illinois, a Chicago suburb (Apt. 1J, 1833 Four Lakes Ave., Lisle, IL 60532). I am 58 and have been retired since 1980 after 30 years in Juvenile Corrections employed as a civil servant with the State of Ohio. Following my retirement in 1980, I lived with the monks (Order of St. Benedict) of St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle as a cloistered oblate until this month. I am still associated with the monks and the monastery by my 24 hours of weekly voluntary service to them at the Reception-Information area. I attend daily liturgies with the monks and usually partake of lunch and/or the evening meal since I am less than a mile from the Abbey.
signed
Richard P. Judy
January 24, 1986
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