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Elsbeth SPEICH (b 1819)

According to the work of Linda Schiesser, a New Glarus historian and genealogist, referenced in a Find-A-Grave memorial for Elsbeth Speich, Elsbeth was born on 14 Mar 1819 in the village of Matt, Canton Glarus, Switzerland. She married Jacob Stauffacher of the same town on 24 Sep 1838. Three children were born to the couple before they set off from Switzerland in 1845 to settle in Green County, Wisconsin.

The couple were listed in the 1850 US Census in the township of Sylvester in Green County. The three children who emigrated from Switzerland with them, Orpha, Jacob and Henry were members of the household, aged 12, 10, and 8, respectively. Elsbeth had already given birth to two more children in the five years since their arrival in Wisconsin, Dorothea, age 4, and John, age 2. By 1860, Elsbeth had added five more children to the household, Angelina, age 10, Peter, age 8, Levi, age 6, George, age 4, and Elizabeth, age 2. In 1870, there were only two new family members, William, age 10, and Samuel, age 8. Gravestones in the Dutch Hollow cemetery in Green County reveal that Elizabeth (Elsbeth per the gravestone) had died between 1860 and 1870, and Edward, the last of the couples' children, had both been born and died in the same decade.

According to the research of Linda Schiesser, by the time of her death on 17 Nov 1874, Elsbeth had given birth to fifteen children, four of whom died at birth or in infancy (Edward) or early childhood (Elsbeth). She was just 55 years old at the time of her death. I do not know the cause. She was buried in Dutch Hollow cemetery in the township of Sylvester where the couple had lived for twenty years. Her husband remarried soon after Elsbeth's death but lived only until March 1877.

Sources:

Find a Grave Memorial 13662378 for Elsbeth Speich Stauffacher (b 1819). Note: Elsbeth's date of birth and death are engraved on the stone marking the grave.

1850 US Census, Household of Jacob Stauffacher (b c1817): Citation: Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Year: 1850; Census Place: Mount Pleasant, Green, Wisconsin; Roll: 999; Page: 254a. Content: The 1850 US Census of Town of Sylvester (Green) Wisconsin on 24 Aug 1850 shows dwelling (98/102) with a household composed of (1) Jacob Slafwaker [sic], age 35, male, farmer, real estate valued at $400, born Switzerland, (2) Elizabeth Slafwaker, age 30, female, born Switzerland, (3) Offa Slafwaker, age 12, male [sic], born Switzerland, (4) Jacob Slafwaker, age 10, male, born Switzerland, (5) Henry Slafwaker, age 8, male, born Switzerland, (6) Dorotha [sic] Slafwaker, age 4, female, born Wisconsin, (7) John Slafwaker, age 2, male, born Wisconsin.

1860 US Census, Household of Jacob Stauffacher (b c1817): Citation: Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Year: 1860; Census Place: Sylvester, Green, Wisconsin; Page: 287; Family History Library Film: 805411. Content: The 1860 US Census of Sylvester (Green) WI, on 18 Aug 1860 shows dwelling (2061/72) with a household composed of (1) Jacob Stauffacher (b c1817), age 43, male, white, farmer, (4000/1000), born Switzerland, (2) Eliz Stauffacher, age 39, female, white, born Switzerland, attended school [sic], (3) Jacob Stauffacher, age 19, male, white, born Switzerland, attended school, (4) Henry Stauffacher, age 17, male, white, born Switzerland, attended school, (5) Dorothy Stauffacher, age 14, female, white, born WI, attended school, (6) John Stauffacher, age 12, male, white, born WI, attended school, (7) Angelisa Stauffacher, age 10, female, white, born WI, attended school, (8) Peter Stauffacher, age 8, male, white, born WI, attended school, (9) Levy Stauffacher, age 6, male, white, born WI, attended school, (10) Georg Stauffacher, age 4, male, white, born WI, (11) Elizabeth Stauffacher, age 2, female, white, born WI.

1870 US Census, HH of Jacob Stauffacher (b c1817): Citation: Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Year: 1870; Census Place: Sylvester, Green, Wisconsin; Roll: M593_1715; Page: 267A Content: The 1870 US Census of Sylvester (Green) Wisconsin on 29 Aug 1870 shows dwelling (26/26) with a household composed of (1) Jacob Stauffacher, age 53, male, farmer, (real: $11,000, pers:$8,000), born Switzerland, parents foreign born, citizen eligible to vote, (2) Elizabeth Stauffacher, age 52, female, keeping house, born Switzerland, parents foreign born, (3) Henry Stauffacher, age 24, male, farmer, born Switzerland, citizen eligible to vote, (4) Peter Stauffacher, age 18, male, born Wisconsin, attended school, (5) Levi Stauffacher, age 15, male, born, born Wisconsin, attended school, (6) George Stauffacher, age 12, male, born Wisconsin, attended school, (7) ?Wm? Stauffacher, age 10, male, born Wisconsin, attended school, (8) Samuel Stauffacher, age 8, male, born Wisconsin, attended school, (9) Celia Geiger, age 14, female, domestic servant, born Switzerland, attended school.