William Walser I

Updated Jan 2019. A biographical sketch of William Walser the 1st, his immediate family, his birthplace, and his surname: The baptism of William Walser 1st occurred Tuesday, April 29, 1834, in today’s most southwest German state of Baden-Württemberg, district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwalder, the village of Schelingen, which is outside the western edge of the Black Forest. He died May 25th, 1887 near the village of Layton Corners, in Maple Grove Township, Saginaw County, Michigan, USA. William Walser the 1st immigrated to America approximately 1852-1853 with his parents Joseph Jr. and Mary-Kleophea Holzer-Walser and his 3 younger siblings: his sister Mary-Anna Walser-Fisher and his two brothers, Max & Louis. The bloodlines of each of these four siblings that immigrated remain active in the United States today. Documents show that our Walser family that immigrated were very much Roman Catholic, were farmers, became naturalized, spoke German-likely Swiss-German-called Schweizerdeutsch, and later, most learned to speak American English and some became a bit entrepreneurial. Records also show that this family emigrated from The Grand Duchy of Baden, which at the time of their emigration had been its own sovereign country or "Duchy" since 1803, albeit a Duchy in turmoil. Leopold, who was considered a fair Grand Duke monarch, ruled Baden. Baden did not become a unified state within the greater German empire until 1871. Baden has since merged with the German state of Württemberg in 1952 to become today’s most southwestern German federal state called Baden-Württemberg, bordering Switzerland and France. Due to the ongoing and daunting worldwide initiative of digital indexing of old church books, civil records, old newspapers, and due to this family’s diligence to their faith of keeping to their Sacraments, the Baptismal, Marriage, and Death records for each of these family members have been uncovered. Roman Catholic Church Books showing sacrament records from the still active, St. Gangolf Catholic Church in Baden-Württemberg, within the tiny village of Schelingen, representing each of these 7 ancestral family members has been located and translated. Each of their names, christening dates and birth order within these early Baden church books align with all of their respective USA records. Interestingly, the last name was always quilled as Walliser and not Walser in the two Schweizerdeutsch church books for each family member.