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Rosina WINTELER (b c1823)

I know very little about Rosina Winteler. She is clearly named on the gravestone marking her husband Fridolin's grave and in an 1893 marriage registration of her son Rudolph Zwickey which names his mother as Rosina Winterer (a very modest variation of spelling). Family Trees on Ancestry.com generally give Rosina's date and place of birth as 14 Jan 1822 in Mollis (Canton Glarus) Switzerland. There is no reason to question that Rosina was born in Switzerland since it is attested in US Census records. Also, a date of birth in 1822 is certainly plausible. She reported her age as 27 in August 1850 and 37 in June 1860. I have, however, seen nothing to substantiate the specific date or place of birth recorded in these family trees.

Family Trees on Ancestry.com also typically give the date and place of her marriage to Fridolin Zwickey as 23 Jun 1840 in Mollis (Canton Glarus) Switzerland. Again, this date is plausible. The couple's eldest child is reported to be 10 years old in August of 1850. Since all of the children in the couple's household in 1850 were reported to have been born in Switzerland, there is little reason to doubt that the marriage occured in Switzerland.

It seems likely that Fridolin and Rosina and their four children came to the United States from Switzerland in 1847 and settled in the area of Washington Township in Green County, Wisconsin in that year.

In August 1850, the US Census showed Frederick (Fridolin) and Rosa living in Washington Township in Green County, Wisconsin. Fridolin was farming on land valued at only $100. There were five children in the household, Barbara (age 10), Rosina (age 8), Susannah (age 6), Jacob (age 4) and Randolph [Rudolf] (age 3), all born in Switzerland.

In Jun 1860, the family was still in Washington Township and the household had added four children, Frederick (age 9), Henry (age 7), Margaret (age 6), and Eli (age 3), all born in Wisconsin. Barbara (20) and Rosina(18) had already married and left home. Jacob had died before the census. The children named in these two censuses seems to account for all of Rosina's children who lived beyond infancy.

Rosina died before the 1870 census, but I do not know when during the decade 1860-1870 she died. I also do not know where she was buried. She is named on her husband Fridolin's gravestone, and it is possible that she, too, was buried in the Swiss United Church of Christ Cemetery where the stone stands, but there is little to support such a theory.

Sources:

1893 Wisconsin Marriage Registration for Rudolph Zwickey and Rosina Zimmerman.: Citation: FamilySearch , Wisconsin Marriages, 1836-1930, database, (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XRG6-CNH : 30 January 2020), Fridolin Zwicky in entry for Rudolf Zwicky, 1893. Content: An 1893 Wisconsin marriage registration shows that Rudolph Zwicky, male, born Wash[ington] (Green) Wisconsin, married Rosina Zimmerman, female, born Jefferson (Green) Wisconsin, on 04 May 1893 in Monticello (Green) Wisconsin. Groom's father: Fridolin Zwicky. Groom's mother: Rosina Winterer. Bride's father: Peter Zimmerman. Bride's mother: Anna Hefty.

1850 US Census, Household of Frederick Chwika [Zwickey] (b c1820): 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: Washington, Green, Wisconsin; Roll: 999; Page: 292b. Content: The 1850 US Census of the town of Washington (Green) Wiscsonsin on 21 Aug 1850 shows dwelling 33 with a household composed of (1) Frederick Chwika [Zwikey], age 30, male, farmer, real estate valued at $100, born Switzerland, (2) Rosa Chwika, age 27, female, born Switzerland, (3) Barbara Chwika, age 10, female, born Switzerland, (4) Rosina Chwika, age 8, female, born Switzerland, (5) Susannah Chwika, age 6, female, born Switzerland, (6) Jacob Chwika, age 4, male, born Switzerland, and (7) Randolph Chwika, age 3, male, born Switzerland.

1856 Naturalization Index Record for Fridolin Zwickey (b 1820): Citation: Ancestry.com. U.S., Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992 (Indexed in World Archives Project) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Soundex Index to Naturalization Petitions for the United States District and Circuit Courts, Northern District of Illinois and Immigration and Naturalization Service District 9, 1840-1950 (M1285); Microfilm Serial: M1285; Microfilm Roll: 181. Content: A naturalization index record from Monroe (Green County) Wisconsin circuit court shows that Fridolin Zwickey was naturalized on 03 Mar 1856. A note on the back of the index record states that he was born in 1820 and landed at the Port of New York, NY in the month of August 1847.

1860 US Census, Household of Frederick Zwickey (b c1821): 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: Washington, Green, Wisconsin; Page: 489; Family History Library Film: 805411. Content: The 1860 US Census of Town of Washington [Monticello Post Office] (Green) Wisconsin on 25 Jun 1860 shows dwelling (434/424) with a household composed of (1) Frederick Sweckey, age 39, male, white, farmer, (1100/500), born Switzerland, attended school within the year, (2) Rosanna Sweckey, age 37, female, white, born Switzerland, (3) Susanna Sweckey, age 16, female, white, born Switzerland, (4) Randolf Sweckey, age 13, male, white, born Switzerland, (5) Frederick Sweckey, age 9, male, white, born WI, (6) Heny Sweckey, age 7, born WI, (7) Margaret Sweckey, age 6, female, white, born WI, (8) Eli Sweckey, age 3, male, born WI. [Note: The numbering of families on the census page suggests that the Heftys and the Sweckeys were one family, but I presume this was nothing more than an enumerator error.]

Find a Grave Memorial 148737822 for Friedolin Zwicki (b 1820) . Note: The gravestone pictured in this memoral is very difficult to read, but I believe it does state that he was the husband of Rosina Winteler.