OUR FIRST JENNY ANCESTOR IN AMERICA
By Janice Patoile MacDonald (2nd great granddaughter)
Copyright 2015
Jakob Jenni/Jenny was born April 19, 1818 in Sool. He married Anna Maria Hefti (of Adlenbach, Luchsingen, SW) on Sept. 5, 1844. Jakob Jenny: Swiss cheese maker in MN) Born in Sool, SW. Emigrated from Schwanden, Switzerland in 1861.
Jakob and Anna lived in Switzerland for 17 years before coming to Henderson, MN. (Switzerland's eventual privatization of communal grazing land drove many highlanders to emigrate to the European plains and overseas to the Americas). When they came to America, they brought their children with them: Sybilla was 16, Anna Maria was 15, Rosina was 12 and Fridolin was just 2. (Our ancestor, Jacob Michael, was born in Henderson, MN, 3 years after their arrival). Sometime after arriving in Henderson, Sybilla married a man named Henry Freeman; they probably lived close to their parents and her siblings. They left on June 13, 1861 from Schwanden, Switzerland.
On Jacob's passport in 1861, he is described as: 43 years old, 5 ft. 8" tall, brown hair, blonde eyebrows, green eyes, round chin and oval face.
When they arrived in Henderson, Minnesota, Jakob was said to have been a carpenter first and then a cheese maker. My guess is that he knew the dairy business, since they ended up owning a farm (and a house on Main Street). However, he may have had to resort to carpentry work in order to sustain the family while becoming established enough to buy the farm and start a dairy business?. The story below is from a book called: “Henderson, then and now” 1852-1994, by Crow River press (1995). On page 525 it tells about Jacob and Marie Jenny and their Cheese Factory in Henderson. Beware, this is a sad story:
Jenny Cheese Factory
Ann Jenny Simonson of Golden Valley, Minnesota, has provided the information that her great-great-grandparents Jacob and Anna Maria Hefti Jenny with their children emigrated to Henderson, MN, leaving in June 1861 from the economically depressed parish of Schwanden in Canton Glaris, Switzerland. (Jan’s notes: Not sure about Schwanden
Why the carpenter (1 year), turned cheese maker, chose Henderson is not known by his descendants. During their years here the Jennys bought several properties including a house on Main Street, a farm in Henderson Township and owned, “…a rough house of heavy timer on an elevation of Winkelmann’s Island later known as the Schwandt island,” Gus Buck in an article in the Independent of October 30, 1925 so described the cheese factory of Jenny’s Island well known to him from his childhood friendship with the Jenny children. He learned to swim with them in Winkelmann’s Lake, sometimes called Brewery Lake, a body of water much diminished over time by actions of the river. The factory was located east of the lake somewhere on Government Lots Two and Five of Section 12.
Between 1862 and 1868 Jenny was producing Swiss cheese which according to Buck, “..brought epicures here from the cities and the surrounding towns, creating a demand larger by far than the supply. The maker mastered the art of producing the excellent edible in his native land Switzerland, and, if reports are true, there never was manufactured before or after a better product.” Jenny was clearing timber near the factory on July 7, 1868 when he sheltered under a tree during a sudden storm. He was found there by his family, with his ax in his hand, killed by a bolt of lightning. His was the first funeral from the new St. Paul’s church with his burial in Brown Cemetery. Ann Simonson has said, “…with him was lost forever the secret of his famous Swiss cheese. No one else in the family knew the recipe and the techniques…He left a widow his wife of 24 years with several children still at home, the youngest being 3 years old (Jacob II). The family then sold the land and later moved to St. Paul, perhaps for better opportunities perhaps to escape bad memories.”
By Janice Patoile MacDonald (2nd great granddaughter)
Copyright 2015
Jakob Jenni/Jenny was born April 19, 1818 in Sool. He married Anna Maria Hefti (of Adlenbach, Luchsingen, SW) on Sept. 5, 1844. Jakob Jenny: Swiss cheese maker in MN) Born in Sool, SW. Emigrated from Schwanden, Switzerland in 1861.
Jakob and Anna lived in Switzerland for 17 years before coming to Henderson, MN. (Switzerland's eventual privatization of communal grazing land drove many highlanders to emigrate to the European plains and overseas to the Americas). When they came to America, they brought their children with them: Sybilla was 16, Anna Maria was 15, Rosina was 12 and Fridolin was just 2. (Our ancestor, Jacob Michael, was born in Henderson, MN, 3 years after their arrival). Sometime after arriving in Henderson, Sybilla married a man named Henry Freeman; they probably lived close to their parents and her siblings. They left on June 13, 1861 from Schwanden, Switzerland.
On Jacob's passport in 1861, he is described as: 43 years old, 5 ft. 8" tall, brown hair, blonde eyebrows, green eyes, round chin and oval face.
When they arrived in Henderson, Minnesota, Jakob was said to have been a carpenter first and then a cheese maker. My guess is that he knew the dairy business, since they ended up owning a farm (and a house on Main Street). However, he may have had to resort to carpentry work in order to sustain the family while becoming established enough to buy the farm and start a dairy business?. The story below is from a book called: “Henderson, then and now” 1852-1994, by Crow River press (1995). On page 525 it tells about Jacob and Marie Jenny and their Cheese Factory in Henderson. Beware, this is a sad story:
Jenny Cheese Factory
Ann Jenny Simonson of Golden Valley, Minnesota, has provided the information that her great-great-grandparents Jacob and Anna Maria Hefti Jenny with their children emigrated to Henderson, MN, leaving in June 1861 from the economically depressed parish of Schwanden in Canton Glaris, Switzerland. (Jan’s notes: Not sure about Schwanden
Why the carpenter (1 year), turned cheese maker, chose Henderson is not known by his descendants. During their years here the Jennys bought several properties including a house on Main Street, a farm in Henderson Township and owned, “…a rough house of heavy timer on an elevation of Winkelmann’s Island later known as the Schwandt island,” Gus Buck in an article in the Independent of October 30, 1925 so described the cheese factory of Jenny’s Island well known to him from his childhood friendship with the Jenny children. He learned to swim with them in Winkelmann’s Lake, sometimes called Brewery Lake, a body of water much diminished over time by actions of the river. The factory was located east of the lake somewhere on Government Lots Two and Five of Section 12.
Between 1862 and 1868 Jenny was producing Swiss cheese which according to Buck, “..brought epicures here from the cities and the surrounding towns, creating a demand larger by far than the supply. The maker mastered the art of producing the excellent edible in his native land Switzerland, and, if reports are true, there never was manufactured before or after a better product.” Jenny was clearing timber near the factory on July 7, 1868 when he sheltered under a tree during a sudden storm. He was found there by his family, with his ax in his hand, killed by a bolt of lightning. His was the first funeral from the new St. Paul’s church with his burial in Brown Cemetery. Ann Simonson has said, “…with him was lost forever the secret of his famous Swiss cheese. No one else in the family knew the recipe and the techniques…He left a widow his wife of 24 years with several children still at home, the youngest being 3 years old (Jacob II). The family then sold the land and later moved to St. Paul, perhaps for better opportunities perhaps to escape bad memories.”
OUR FIRST JENNY ANCESTOR IN AMERICA
By Janice Patoile MacDonald (2nd great granddaughter)
Copyright 2015
Jakob Jenni/Jenny was born April 19, 1818 in Sool. He married Anna Maria Hefti (of Adlenbach, Luchsingen, SW) on Sept. 5, 1844. Jakob Jenny: Swiss cheese maker in MN) Born in Sool, SW. Emigrated from Schwanden, Switzerland in 1861.
Jakob and Anna lived in Switzerland for 17 years before coming to Henderson, MN. (Switzerland's eventual privatization of communal grazing land drove many highlanders to emigrate to the European plains and overseas to the Americas). When they came to America, they brought their children with them: Sybilla was 16, Anna Maria was 15, Rosina was 12 and Fridolin was just 2. (Our ancestor, Jacob Michael, was born in Henderson, MN, 3 years after their arrival). Sometime after arriving in Henderson, Sybilla married a man named Henry Freeman; they probably lived close to their parents and her siblings. They left on June 13, 1861 from Schwanden, Switzerland.
On Jacob's passport in 1861, he is described as: 43 years old, 5 ft. 8" tall, brown hair, blonde eyebrows, green eyes, round chin and oval face.
When they arrived in Henderson, Minnesota, Jakob was said to have been a carpenter first and then a cheese maker. My guess is that he knew the dairy business, since they ended up owning a farm (and a house on Main Street). However, he may have had to resort to carpentry work in order to sustain the family while becoming established enough to buy the farm and start a dairy business?. The story below is from a book called: “Henderson, then and now” 1852-1994, by Crow River press (1995). On page 525 it tells about Jacob and Marie Jenny and their Cheese Factory in Henderson. Beware, this is a sad story:
Jenny Cheese Factory
Ann Jenny Simonson of Golden Valley, Minnesota, has provided the information that her great-great-grandparents Jacob and Anna Maria Hefti Jenny with their children emigrated to Henderson, MN, leaving in June 1861 from the economically depressed parish of Schwanden in Canton Glaris, Switzerland. (Jan’s notes: Not sure about Schwanden
Why the carpenter (1 year), turned cheese maker, chose Henderson is not known by his descendants. During their years here the Jennys bought several properties including a house on Main Street, a farm in Henderson Township and owned, “…a rough house of heavy timer on an elevation of Winkelmann’s Island later known as the Schwandt island,” Gus Buck in an article in the Independent of October 30, 1925 so described the cheese factory of Jenny’s Island well known to him from his childhood friendship with the Jenny children. He learned to swim with them in Winkelmann’s Lake, sometimes called Brewery Lake, a body of water much diminished over time by actions of the river. The factory was located east of the lake somewhere on Government Lots Two and Five of Section 12.
Between 1862 and 1868 Jenny was producing Swiss cheese which according to Buck, “..brought epicures here from the cities and the surrounding towns, creating a demand larger by far than the supply. The maker mastered the art of producing the excellent edible in his native land Switzerland, and, if reports are true, there never was manufactured before or after a better product.” Jenny was clearing timber near the factory on July 7, 1868 when he sheltered under a tree during a sudden storm. He was found there by his family, with his ax in his hand, killed by a bolt of lightning. His was the first funeral from the new St. Paul’s church with his burial in Brown Cemetery. Ann Simonson has said, “…with him was lost forever the secret of his famous Swiss cheese. No one else in the family knew the recipe and the techniques…He left a widow his wife of 24 years with several children still at home, the youngest being 3 years old (Jacob II). The family then sold the land and later moved to St. Paul, perhaps for better opportunities perhaps to escape bad memories.”
By Janice Patoile MacDonald (2nd great granddaughter)
Copyright 2015
Jakob Jenni/Jenny was born April 19, 1818 in Sool. He married Anna Maria Hefti (of Adlenbach, Luchsingen, SW) on Sept. 5, 1844. Jakob Jenny: Swiss cheese maker in MN) Born in Sool, SW. Emigrated from Schwanden, Switzerland in 1861.
Jakob and Anna lived in Switzerland for 17 years before coming to Henderson, MN. (Switzerland's eventual privatization of communal grazing land drove many highlanders to emigrate to the European plains and overseas to the Americas). When they came to America, they brought their children with them: Sybilla was 16, Anna Maria was 15, Rosina was 12 and Fridolin was just 2. (Our ancestor, Jacob Michael, was born in Henderson, MN, 3 years after their arrival). Sometime after arriving in Henderson, Sybilla married a man named Henry Freeman; they probably lived close to their parents and her siblings. They left on June 13, 1861 from Schwanden, Switzerland.
On Jacob's passport in 1861, he is described as: 43 years old, 5 ft. 8" tall, brown hair, blonde eyebrows, green eyes, round chin and oval face.
When they arrived in Henderson, Minnesota, Jakob was said to have been a carpenter first and then a cheese maker. My guess is that he knew the dairy business, since they ended up owning a farm (and a house on Main Street). However, he may have had to resort to carpentry work in order to sustain the family while becoming established enough to buy the farm and start a dairy business?. The story below is from a book called: “Henderson, then and now” 1852-1994, by Crow River press (1995). On page 525 it tells about Jacob and Marie Jenny and their Cheese Factory in Henderson. Beware, this is a sad story:
Jenny Cheese Factory
Ann Jenny Simonson of Golden Valley, Minnesota, has provided the information that her great-great-grandparents Jacob and Anna Maria Hefti Jenny with their children emigrated to Henderson, MN, leaving in June 1861 from the economically depressed parish of Schwanden in Canton Glaris, Switzerland. (Jan’s notes: Not sure about Schwanden
Why the carpenter (1 year), turned cheese maker, chose Henderson is not known by his descendants. During their years here the Jennys bought several properties including a house on Main Street, a farm in Henderson Township and owned, “…a rough house of heavy timer on an elevation of Winkelmann’s Island later known as the Schwandt island,” Gus Buck in an article in the Independent of October 30, 1925 so described the cheese factory of Jenny’s Island well known to him from his childhood friendship with the Jenny children. He learned to swim with them in Winkelmann’s Lake, sometimes called Brewery Lake, a body of water much diminished over time by actions of the river. The factory was located east of the lake somewhere on Government Lots Two and Five of Section 12.
Between 1862 and 1868 Jenny was producing Swiss cheese which according to Buck, “..brought epicures here from the cities and the surrounding towns, creating a demand larger by far than the supply. The maker mastered the art of producing the excellent edible in his native land Switzerland, and, if reports are true, there never was manufactured before or after a better product.” Jenny was clearing timber near the factory on July 7, 1868 when he sheltered under a tree during a sudden storm. He was found there by his family, with his ax in his hand, killed by a bolt of lightning. His was the first funeral from the new St. Paul’s church with his burial in Brown Cemetery. Ann Simonson has said, “…with him was lost forever the secret of his famous Swiss cheese. No one else in the family knew the recipe and the techniques…He left a widow his wife of 24 years with several children still at home, the youngest being 3 years old (Jacob II). The family then sold the land and later moved to St. Paul, perhaps for better opportunities perhaps to escape bad memories.”
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