“Hans Bär (I) was an Anabaptist who died before 1614 at Albis in the parish of Hausen about nine miles southwest of the city of Zurich, Switzerland (Maps). The youngest of his ten children, Hans Jakob Bär (1591), died childless in 1668. His heirs were the children of his deceased brothers and sisters, and they provide for us, together with parish records, a roster of the children and grandchildren of Hans Bär (I) of Albis. Granddaughter Anna married Martin Meyli, who in 1658 wrote an account of the persecution of the Anabaptists which was included in the Martyrs’ Mirror. Three of his grandsons – Hans Jakob Bär (1595), Osli Bär, and Hans Bär (III) – can be linked to most of the early Bear immigrants to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, from 1717 to 1732 as well as to the Bärentag families now headed by Friedrich H. Baer of Nürnberg, West Germany.”
“When Cathrina Huber was buried at Hausen on April 22, 1622, the pastor called her in the church books “deceased Hans Bär’s (I) widow of the Bruder Albis.” This place name was used for the three Hofs (farms) called Unter Albis, Mittel Albis, and Ober Albis – each a cluster of several farmhouses then and now located along the road to the top of the mountain above Hausen called Ratlisberg. Two other Bärs were mentioned in the early Hausen records. Heinrich Bär was the father of Oswald, baptized July 19, 1578; of Mary, baptized February 10, 1581; and of Frantz, baptized February 14, 1582. Felix Bär was the father of Anna, baptized June 26, 1582; Jacob, baptized November 15, 1587; and Elsbeth, baptized July 27, 1589. Were Hans (I), Heinrich, and Felix the original brothers of Albis? Where did Heinrich and Felix go when they left Albis after 1589?”
The history of the Bär family in Albis is intimately tied up with the Anabaptist movement of the early 17th Century in Canton Zurich. The Anabaptists were one of many groups which arose during the Reformation in Central Europe and gave rise to modern groups including the Mennonites and Amish. Their beliefs included the rejection of infant baptism, pacifism, and conservative dress. Persecution of the Anabaptists by the majority Protestants of the Zurich area led to several members of the family being imprisoned during the 1630s and 40s for their beliefs.
“Lorenz Bär was thirty-seven years old in 1617, when he died before the birth of his fourth child. His wife died before 1634, and their children were reared by Hans Jakob Bär (1591) [Lorenz’s brother]. On November 13, 1649, Oswald Bär sold his dairy farm on Ober Albis to his uncle, Hans Jakob Bär (1591) (who lived in the lower house) and his cousins [the sons of Lorenz], Hans Bär (III) and Hans Jagli Bär (who lived in the upper house). The total price of two thousand florins was to be paid in installments on St. Martin’s Day (November 11) until 1662. It was the first of many complicated land transactions between Bear brothers and cousins that have delighted and frustrated family historians ever since.”
“This was the time of a tax revolt in the area, and in 1646 the Zurich government advanced by force of arms and occupied Wäldenswil, the town north of Richterswil on Lake Zurich. In February 1647 the Anabaptists left the Zurich area in the direction of the Rhine River (Map of the Kraichgau). This was near the end of the 30 Years' War (1618-1648) which had left much of Germany depopulated. A map of deaths due to war and desease has been created. Pfalz, in particular, had suffered population losses exceeding 50%. Because Oswald Bär sold his farm in Albis in 1649 and his family is not on the 1650 census of Richterswil, they probably joined the older children.”
“Felix Bär [the son of Hans Bär (III)], baptized on April 23, 1654, left Ober Albis by 1678. He is recorded in Dammhof near Eppingen in 1682, and in 1686 he moved to Ittlingen, where he was a Hofbauer (estate farmer with 95 morgens of land) (Map). He and his sister Elisabeth died in 1689 – he in early July in ‘Itingen’ and Elisabeth ‘in der Curfurstl. Pfalz.’ This was the year of the invasion of the Kraichgau by the armies of King Louis XIV of France. … The prodigious work of Annette Burgert showed that immigrant Ulrich Bär was the son of this Felix.”
“Johann Ulrich Bär arrived [in America] on September 30, 1732, and warranted a 113-acre tract called Springfield near Henry Steigle/Stiegel and Ulrich Statchley/Steadey in a part of Warwick Township that is now Clay Township [Lancaster Co.]. He died intestate in 1749. The Orphans’ Court on December 2, 1767, allotted the tract to his oldest son, Adam Bear. Frederick Stoner took the land to satisfy a debt of Adam Bear and on August 6, 1773, conveyed the land to Martin Bear [Adam’s youngest brother]. The settlement of the estate of Anna Elizabeth Bär [sister of Adam], childless widow of Samuel Wolf, provided records, including some from the Ittlingen church book, which show without any doubt that all of these people are from the same family. By 1771 Maria Agatha Bär [elder sister of Adam], who was married before 1750 to Johann Conradt Gysi/Geesey, lived in York County.”
Best, Jane Evans, A Bear Hunt in Europe. In Mennonite Family History, Jan 1983, pp 4-10.
Best, Jane Evans, A Bear Saga: Albis to America. In Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, vol. IX, no. 4, Oct 1986, pp 14-23.
Best, Jane Evans, A Bear Saga: Lancaster County and Beyond. In Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, vol. X, no. 1, Jan 1987, pp 21-37.
Best, Jane Evans, A Bear Saga: The Birmensdorf Connection. In Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, vol. XI, no. 2, Apr 1988, pp 31-45.
Best, Jane Evans, Bear Saga Update: Part One. In Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, July 1998, pp 11-26.
Best, Jane Evans, Bear Saga Update: Part Two. In Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, Oct. 1998, pp 15-28.
Best, Jane Evans, Bear Saga Update: Part Three. In Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage, Jan. 1999, pp 26-36.
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