Martin1

Martin was born about 1574. Martin's marital data are not known. The name of Martin's wife is unknown.

The only record we have of this earliest identified Hefelfinger is that of his grandson Martin's baptism 1637 in Diegten. There the boy's father Martin is identified explicitly as "Martin's sohn", thus establishing three generations of our ancestry in one phrase. The Diegten baptismal records go back for another half century, so anyone who wants to master the handwriting and the sixteenth century Swiss German dialect might be able to extend this ancestral line for one or two more generations.

I'm estimating his birth year based on that of his son Martin.

The only child of Martin Hefelfinger was

i     Martin , son, born 14 May 1598.

Martin Hefelfinger & Catarina Hëgler

Martin1, Martin2

Martin was born 14 May 1598 in Diegten, Baselland, Switzerland, and died 1672 in Diegten. Martin and Catarina married 9 Sep 1622 in Diegten. Catarina was baptised 26 Mar 1600 in Diegten, the daughter of Hanß and Catharina (Moler) Hëgler, and was buried 26 Mar 1657 in Switzerland.

In two of the baptismal records of Martin's children, his occupation was given, but the handwriting is so poor that the word was not able to be deciphered by the genealogists in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

(This second Martin is reported in the FHL IGI as having been baptised 7 Jul 1594 in Diegten as the son of Mathys and Katharina (Heckendorn) Hefelfinger. There is, in fact, a baptismal record for this date in the Diegten Kirchenbücher, and the father's name is probably Hefelfinger. However, the handwriting of the record is so poor that it is only possible to state with certainty that the father's first name starts with B, not M, that the mother's surname bears no resemblance whatsoever to Heckendorn, and that it is only barely possible that the child's name was Martin. This record must clearly be rejected as recording the baptism of Martin, son of Martin, and the second in our Hefelfinger line.)

The children of this family are as recorded in the Kirchenbücher of Diegten.

The eight children of Martin and Catarina (Hëgler) Hefelfinger were Verena, Barbara, Hans, Veronica, Hans Jacob, Anna, Martin and Johannes.

i     Verena Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 16 Sep 1623 in Diegten and died 28 Sep 1623 in Diegten.

Verena's death at age less than two weeks has been added to her birth record in the Diegten KB with the word obijt, a local form of the Latin obitus, meaning deceased.

ii     Barbara Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 29 Aug 1624 in Diegten.

iii     Hans Hefelfinger, son, baptised 28 Aug 1625 in Diegten.

iv     Veronica Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 15 May 1630 in Diegten.

v     Hans Jacob Hefelfinger, son, baptised 10 Jun 1632 in Diegten.

vi     Anna Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 23 Mar 1634 in Diegten.

vii     Martin Hefelfinger, son, born 27 May 1637.

viii     Johannes Hefelfinger, son, baptised 3 Sep 1643 in Diegten.

Martin Hefelfinger & Elsbeth Egli

Martin1, Martin2, Martin3

Martin was born 27 May 1637 in Diegten, Baselland, Switzerland, and was baptised 28 May 1637 in Diegten. He died 10 Jan 1798 in Diegten. Martin and Elsbeth married 30 Jan 1666 in Dietgen, Baselland, Switzerland. Elsbeth was born 1641 in Känerkinden, Baselland, Switzerland, and was buried 25 Jul 1708 in Diegten.

In the baptismal records of of his children, Martin's name is nearly always elaborated, but the poor handwriting is frustrating. For the first and fourth child, it looks like they are describing him by referring to his father's occupation, and for the second and third as "Marßan sohn" or "Maißon sohn". For Elsbeth and Anna's births, however, he is more clearly described as "Martin's sohn", thus verifying this link in the Hefelfinger lineage. In each record, it should be pointed out, his wife's name as Elßbeth Egli is clearly written out in full. (His birth and baptismal month as given in the IGI needs to be verified by a re-examination of the original baptismal record. My tracing of the month name looks more like Brachmonat, June, than Blütemonat, May.)

The IGI has undocumented records of an Elisabeth Egli born about 1641, of Diegten, Baselland, but these aren't very helpful records.

Another IGI has an Elsbeth Egli baptised 1637, and says she was of Kamerkinden, Baselland. This is internally a very questionable record, as a christening with only a year isn't convincing, and the location was probably meant to be Känerkinden, a town about nine miles west of Rothenfluh.

The seven children of Martin and Elsbeth (Egli) Hefelfinger were Hans, Martin, Barbara, Verena, Elsbeth, Anna and Catharina.

i     Hans Hefelfinger, son, born 16 Apr 1666.

ii     Martin Hefelfinger, son, baptised 28 Jan 1668 in Diegten.

iii     Barbara Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 13 Nov 1670 in Diegten.

iv     Verena Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 7 Sep 1672 in Diegten.

v     Elsbeth Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 26 Sep 1674 in Diegten.

vi     Anna Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 16 Jun 1677 in Diegten.

vii     Catharina Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 9 May 1684.

Hans Hefelfinger & Elsbeth Fiechter

Martin1, Martin2, Martin3, Hans4

Hans was born 16 Apr 1666 in Diegten, Baselland, Switzerland, and was baptised 27 Nov 1666 in Diegten. He died 11 Jan 1737 in Diegten. Hans and Elsbeth married 16 Mar 1699 in Zunzgen, Baselland, Switzerland. Elsbeth was born 1678 in Zunzgen.

Hans was named as Johannes in his own baptismal record, but called "Hans, Martin's sohn", at the baptism of all five of his children.

Several unsourced IGI records of this marriage give "Elizabeth" Fiechter's birth year as 1677/78 in Zunzgen, which implies that she was 20 or 21 at the birth of her first child, which is quite reasonable. Zunzgen is about six miles due west of Rothenfluh.

Another IGI record gives Elsbeth's husband as Johannes Hefelfinger, born 16 Apr 1666, died 11 Jan 1737, both in Diegten, both dates of which I've accepted here.

All of the children in this family have been verified by examination of the Kirchenbucher of Diegten. The FHL IGI has three other children attributed to this family who either belonged to other Hefelfinger families, or whose identities were apparently created by serious misreading of the church baptismal records.

The five children of Hans and Elsbeth (Fiechter) Hefelfinger were Martin, Verena, Johannes, Elisabeth "Elßbeth" and Anna.

i     Martin Hefelfinger, son, baptised 26 Sep 1699 in Diegten.

Martin was married 5 Mar 1724 in Diegten to Anna Maria Gysin {born about 1700 and died in 1740}.

Martin's manumission record included a ten percent tax on property valued at £1100, £20 for himself and his wife, and £25 for their children. Martin, called Wissen Martin, or Wise Martin, immigrated on the Friendship to Philadelphia in 1740 at age 41, and settled in Lancaster and Cumberland counties. His family is described in some detail in [Heffelfinger, 1951] and also in an extensively documented genealogy given by Regina Fallace which traces his Heffelfinger descendants down to as many as seven generations.

Anna Maria and Martin had five children born 1725 through 1737. Anna Maria was lost at sea on the voyage over [Heffelfinger, 1951].

The five children of Martin and Anna Maria (Gysin) Hefelfinger:

1     Martin Hefelfinger, son, baptised 22 Nov 1733 in Diegten and died in Cumberland?, Pennsylvania.

Martin was married about 1756 in Pennsylvania to Anna Maria Wolfersberger {born about 1736, dtr of Johannes "John" and Anna Margaretha (Ensminger) Wolfersberger}.

Mary Catherine, the sister of Martin's wife, married Jacob Frey, and their daughter became the second wife of John Markley, firstborn of that line in this country.

2     Johannes Hefelfinger, son, born 8 Dec 1737 in Switzerland, and was buried in Old Tulp. Cem., Stouchsburg, Pennsylvania.

3     Elizabeth Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 14 Oct 1725 in Switzerland.

4     Verena Hefelfinger, dtr., born 3 Jul 1729 in Switzerland and baptised 14 Oct 1729.

Verena married Johannes Hummer.

5     Anna Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 29 Jul 1731 in Switzerland.

Anna married Johannes Zug.

ii     Verena Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 18 Mar 1703 in Diegten.

This may be the Verena Häfelfinger from Diegten who was married to George Schneider, an orphan baptized 24 Apr 1712, just before they emigrated 1740.

iii     Johannes Hefelfinger, son, baptised 17 May 1705 in Diegten.

iv     Elisabeth "Elßbeth" Hefelfinger, dtr., was born 25 Apr 1707.

v     Anna Hefelfinger, dtr., baptised 10 Nov 1710 in Diegten.

Elisabeth "Elßbeth" Hefelfinger & Hanß Jacob "Joggi" Märcklin

Martin1, Martin2, Martin3, Hans4, Elisabeth "Elßbeth"5

Elisabeth "Elßbeth" was baptised 25 Apr 1707 in Diegten, Baselland, Switzerland. Elisabeth "Elßbeth" and Hanß Jacob "Joggi" married 8 Jan 1726 in Dietgen, Baselland, Switzerland. Hanß Jacob "Joggi" was baptised 26 Nov 1702 in Rothenfluh, Baselland, Switzerland, the son of Johann Jakob and Verena (Soland) Märklin/Märcklin.

The eight children of Hanß Jacob "Joggi" and Elisabeth "Elßbeth" (Hefelfinger) Märcklin were Anna Maria, Hanß Jacob, Hanß Geörg, Hanß, Elsbeth, Anna, Magdalena and Ursula. See my Markley Chapter for the story of this family.

MÄRCKLY/MARKLEY, HANS GEÖRG   baptised 1731 Switzerland, died 1799 Pennsylvania   m  REGINA DORA BARBARA FRÖLICH     born 1740 Germany

MARKLEY, GEORGE   born 1764 Pennsylvania, died 1828 Pennsylvania   m  ELIZABETH LEIN

MARKLEY, GEORGE   born 1794 Pennsylvania, died 1848 Ohio   m  SARAH ____     born 1799 Pennsylvania, died 1850

MARKLEY, AARON   born 1828 Pennsylvania, died 1915 Kansas   m  MARY ALICE MITCHELL     born 1832 Pennsylvania, died 1910 Kansas

MARKLEY, MARGUERITE   born 1875 Indiana, died 1949 Kansas   m  JAMES ALBERT SWAN     born 1874 Wisconsin, died 1937 Kansas

SWAN, PAUL REESE   born 1903 Kansas, died 1953 Kansas   m  MILDRED LOUISE HARTZELL     born 1903 Oklahoma Terr., died 1989 Kansas

SWAN, PAUL REESE   born 1929 Kansas   m  MILDRED LOUISE HAMILTON     born 1930 Pennsylvania, died 1998 California