Martin Wintsch was born in Volketschwil, Zurich, Switzerland on 22 December 1776, the second child of nine children born to Johannes Wintsch and Elisabeth Stauber.
About the age of 26 Martin married Regula Sauermann, who was born on 21 November 1779. Regula was the daughter of Hans Jakob Sauermann and Elisabeth Frie. She was born and raised in Bisikon, Illnau, Zurich, Switzerland.
From this union were born three lovely children:
- Caspar Wintsch
- Verena Wintsch and
- Hans Ulrich Wintsch, who died when he was 15 months old.
When Martin and Regula had been married about 4 years Martin died, on 7 May 1806, at Volketschweil, Switzerland. Their youngest child, Hans Ulrich died 21 days later.
About a year later Regula married her second husband, Hans Jakob Vollenweider. Hans Jakob was born in April 1774 at Bisikon, Zurich, Switzerland. To this union was born 5 children:
- Hans Heinrich Vollenweider
- Barbara Vollenweider
- Magdalena Vollenweider
- Adalheid Vollenweider, and
- Heinrich Vollenweider.
On 10 August 1817, after five children and 10 years of marriage, her husband, Hans Jakob Vollenweider, died. Their youngest child, Heinrich was just one and a half months old. To compound the tragedy which faced this family, Heinrich died on 4 October 1817, at the age of three months. Regula was now 36 years old, widowed twice, and left with six young children to raise, all under the age of fourteen.
Two years later, Regula married for a third time, to a widower, Kaspar Wylimann, who was born on 26 February 1769 at Bisikon, Illnau, Zurich, Switzerland. Kaspar and Regula had two children:
- Barbara Wylimann, and
- Kaspar Wylimann.
Kaspar's first wife was Regula Mader. To this union was born nine children. His first wife, Regula, and four of their nine children died before his second marriage, to Regula Sauermann, so into this new family Kaspar brought 4 children [his oldest daughter was 26], to combine with Regula and Martin's 2, plus Regula and Hans Jakob's 4 living children, creating a family of 10 children. Kaspar Wylimann died at the age of 67, on 10 March 1837. Regula died 7 years later.
To add to the confusion created by this large, mingled family was the marriage of Regula's oldest son, Caspar Wintsch, and Kaspar Wylimann's youngest daughter with his 1st wife, Regula Mader, Dorethea Wylimann; and, after Dorethea's death, Kaspar's marriage to yet another daughter of Kaspar's, Anna Wylimann.
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