Another Mission Family History Miracle–Discovering the Degen Family

Last night as I was going to bed, I got the most amazing message on FB Messenger from someone I don’t know:

Dear Ann – Through RootsTech I found today our common relative Elizabeth Degen Bushman. I was so moved to find a LDS pioneer from Switzerland. My parents are both converts, so finding Elizabeth’s records filled me with so much joy! My family lives next to Hölstein, where Elizabeth was born. So it feels so close.   I also notice how many common friends we have on Facebook. Katharina Odavic is a longtime friend as well as Peter Huber. We both attended the same ward (Pratteln) for a long time. I just wanted to send my love and appreciation to you for everything you recorded regarding Elizabeth Degen. Best regards, Sariah Wiesner Knabe

With Sariah thinking I was in America, I sent this response:
How timely to hear from you tonight. We stayed with the Hubers last night and will stay with them again tomorrow night. Monday we’ll be going to Holstein to see what we can see.
We completed an 18 month mission YESTERDAY in the Frankfurt Area Office and this week we are traveling to visit friends in Switzerland, including Katharina Odavic and Franz!
Maybe we could meet Monday??

So this morning, with Carla’s help, we had plans in place to go with the Hubers to Sariah’s home, just over the hill, 5 minutes away.  A miracle, really.  All day I’ve had a feeling that Elisabeth Degen Bushman is aware of our little family, and today Vivy in particular.

This is Sariah Knabe:

From my journal entry today:

So today was a pretty perfect day.  We went with the Hubers to Saraih’s home for Brunch.  They arranged it yesterday after I told Carla about Sariah’s message to me. It turns out that Saraih’s parents were in the Basel Ward, baptized shortly before John served there.  They were also invited and greeted us when we got there (they live in the next village over and are in the same ward).

Her parents are Franz and Yolanda Wiessner. They were so kind and really wonderful folks. Franz’s mother is a DEGEN. He was so excited to meet me too.  He came with copies of his family tree, copies of photos of his mother’s family and a copy of their last family gathering booklet.

It turns out that we are related in 2 different ways, in 2 of our family lines, but it goes back many generations. We suspect there is a closer relationship than what is showing, once we figure out how.

We had so much to talk about. There are about 10 LDS families now living in Höllstein (where Elisabeth Degen’s family lived–she emigrated with her father to America in 1816 when she was 14 years old), including the Bishop of their ward.  Höllstein is almost walking distance (up and over a hill) from Sariah’s newly built family home on the edge of the town of Lampenberg.  Sariah’s home is across the road from that little town’s cemetery.  There are also Degens in this little town and in this little cemetery, which we visited.

Franz’s mother’s Degen family:

The Heinrich Wiessner and Anna Maria Degen Family

This photo shows a miracle.  Two days ago I knew nothing about these cousins.  Today I am here with them in my ancestral homelands.  It’s beautifully astounding to me.

While I talked Family History with Sariah, John reminisced about his days in Basel when Franz and Jolanda were there as newlyweds.

Out came their missionary scrapbooks, with missionaries John served with here in Basel.

 

We had a really wonderful time with these new friends. Their home is beautiful, on the edge of town next to rolling fields of farmland that will never be developed. Over the hill is Höllstein, where Elisabeth Degen grew up.

After wonderful visiting, we set out on a fieldtrip to visit the places our ancestors lived.  Peter Huber worked for an agricultural company many years ago and he visited the farmers here.  He knew which farms still belong to Degen families.   Everything about today was miraculous.

These are some of the Degen farms and the countryside in Höllstein:

We could find all the Degens in town on a phone app that shows land line phones in town and where they are located (after searching for Degen). Most of the old farms still have old phones.

The red-roofed home is where the Bishop now lives.

This is another member home:

The main street in Höllstein:

This is the Degen home on the main street that we discovered when we visited last year:

Then we went to the church and cemetery we’d visited last year and wandered there.  There are more complete photos of this church and cemetery here.

Gysin is another family name.

Cherries and wheat were common themes on the headstones.

Then we walked through town to the big factory where they make watches. Peter Huber told us all about the watch industry in Höllstein, and how the people here invented the machines that make the small parts and pieces that go into watches. They did this work in their homes during the winters when there was no farming. Then factories grew from the simple technology (water powered at first). Now there are many watch factories in this little valley. Peter also used to be involved with that industry and he knew all about it. He wore a “President’s Watch,” the model made for all of the Presidents of the USA for many years.

Then we drove to the other small towns in that area and saw the churches and felt the places. The valley is long and narrow, the towns not far apart. One of the towns called Bennwil was where the church records were kept (births and christenings were recorded there for people living in the surrounding towns).

The Bennwil Church

We drove through Niederdof, Oberdorf and to Waldenburg. There are watch factories in all of these towns. Peter said they also made woven silk ribbon  used in ceremonial and traditional dress and in the churches.

This is a farming area, with homes in the little towns along the main roads, a church in each town, then the farms are on the hills behind and around the towns. Many look like dairies with cows. You can smell them. Everything is green and beautiful, lush with plenty of water year-round. The roads were small, narrow farm town roads. Old and new buildings were a mix. Some dating back to the 1600s.

This is the church in Oberdorf.

This old building from 1658 has murals showing the occupations of the people here.

Ribbon weaving:

This is Waldenburg:

It was wonderful to see these places and to feel these places in this small valley. I loved every minute and it was wonderful to be with the Hubers and Sariah who grew up right here in this area and knew the history and knew their way around.  I felt SO HAPPY today, and Grateful for my ancestors who watch over us and our little family now.  Yesterday was a day of Miracles for Adam and Heidi’s family in St. Louis (see previous post).  Today was a miracle for us, to be here in these places with friends.