A Latshaw Family Journal - Compiled by Gary D. Smith Copyright 2002 Gary D. Smith All rights reserved. I hereby grant permission to individuals to print and/or copy limited numbers (10 or fewer) of this book for personal use. Gary D. Smith, July 1, 2002 A Latshaw Family Journal Preface The book contains errors. We are trying to clean them up but: 1. The grave stone does not agree with the family bible. 2. The names and dates in the bible were written in well after the fact, and are the best recollection of who ever wrote them. We can't read their handwriting. 3. The ship's captain couldn't spell any better than ggggg…g grandpa 4. “Standard Spelling” is a relatively recent invention. 5. The census worker couldn't spell and had really bad handwriting that day. 6. The newspaper misprinted the names and dates in the 'obit. 7. The courthouse burned down and/or was flooded, so the original records are not available. 8. Translation from old high German to modern English is not an exact science. 9. The church records were destroyed in the same fire/flood. 10. We have the person's name on four different documents and it is spelled 4 different ways. 11. Some information appears to have been altered or excised by little old ladies who's sensibilities were offended. 12. Military records are maintained by staff clerks who can neither write nor spell. 13. The ink has faded, and you wouldn't believe the stains on these documents. 14. Not every girl knows who the father was, or tells. The fathers are even less certain. We are going by the official family story until the DNA tests come back. 15. Mandatory reporting of births, deaths, and marriages is a relatively recent invention. 16. The entire census for this county was lost. (It was probably legible.) 17. Rather than research which John or Abraham was their ancestor, someone guessed. 2 A Latshaw Family Journal Foreword The compiler of this work would like to acknowledge and thank all of the family researchers who have worked over the years to put together this puzzle. The puzzle is not complete. I have over 1,000 individuals listed in my data with a Latshaw/Latsha/Lotshaw/Letshaw etc. family name, but no clear link to the main family line. I hope that in publishing the information we have compiled to date, others may be able to piece in how their family belongs to this line. As note (with a smile) in the Preface, there are errors in this book. It is hard to read old records, people make mistakes, and even typewritten information can contain typos. Bad guesses get put into books (like this one) and people take it as fact from then on. If you find such an error in this book, let me know at: [email protected]. I plan to re-issue the book from time to time with corrections and additional information. The book currently contains only information from 1601 to about 1901. As so many have requested, I am not publishing information between 1901 and 2001 in order to protect the privacy of those who are still living. I never visited a graveyard, courthouse or even a family history center to collect this information. All of the hard work was done by others. I only type things into a computer. I have tried to acknowledge these "hard leg-work" sources in the Bibliography, but I am sure that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of others who have contributed to the research on the family. I do not know their names. I honestly want to thank all of you. And in return, I give this book; to remember your efforts to keep our family history alive. Gary D. Smith 13703 Cody St. Overland Park, KS 66221 July 1, 2001 3 Table of Contents Register Report of Family Name Lötscher............................................................................................................................5 Bibliography .........................................................................................................................................................................294 Index.......................................................................................................................................................................................298 4 A Latshaw Family Journal Descendants of Family Name Lötscher Generation No. 1 1. Family Name1 Lötscher Notes for Family Name Lötscher: (Latschar, Lachat, Lörsch, Lörtscher, Latschaw, Lotshaw, Leutscher, Lötscher) A Mennonite family name, derives from Lötscher from Latterbach near Erlenbach in the Simmental, canton of Bern, Switzerland. The first member of this family known to have been an Anabaptist was Hans Lötscher, who was born in Latterbach in 1601. He wrote a hymn of 41 stanzas entitled "Ein schön new geistlich Lied." In 1633 he married Anna Kammerer from Latterbach. The three oldest of their five children, Hans, Melchior, and Anna, were brought before the Täuferkommission in Bern because of their Anabaptist beliefs. They remained true to their faith and were imprisoned. The brothers Hans and Melchior escaped in 1667 but were soon returned to prison. After four years in prison at Bern they were sentenced to galley service with four other Anabaptists in 1671-73. They returned to claim their inheritance from their father, who had died while they were away, but were refused it. In 1667, while imprisoned at Bern, Hans Lötscher wrote a letter which is preserved in the Martyrs' Mirror (E 1129- 30), in which he lists some 40 persons who met death in Bern because of their Anabaptist faith. Abraham Lötscher, youngest brother of Hans and Melchior, immigrated to Holland in 1711, where the name soon became Leutscher. A number of his descendants have been Mennonite leaders in that country. The family name takes the form Latscha and Latschar in the Palatinate and in North America. About 1714 Hans Heinrich Lötscher emigrated from the Simmental to Alsace, and later to the Palatinate, Germany, where he settled on Kühbörncheshof near Katzweiler. His children settled in various Palatinate Mennonite communities. One son, Johannes Franz, immigrated to Pennsylvania. The chief homes of the family in North America have been Berks Co., Pa. and Waterloo Co., Ont. Source: http://www.mhsc.ca/encyclopedia/contents/L387ME.html (Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and Warterloo, Ontario, from Mennonite Encyuclopedia, Vol. 3, p. 297) Source: Adolf Fluri, "Die Lotscher von Latyterbach," in Beitrage zur Geschichte der bernischen T Taufer (Bern, 1912) Source: J. Latscha, Der Mann un sein Werk (Frankfurt, 1932) Source: Mennonitisches Lexikon, "Latscha," "Loetscher"; Source: Theileman J. van Braght, The Bloody Theatre or Martyrs Mirror (Scottdale, PA, 1951) Child of Family Name Lötscher is: 2. i. Hans2 Lotscher, b. 1601, near Erlenbach, Canton of Bern, Switzerland; d. Abt. 1673. Generation No. 2 2. Hans2 Lotscher (Family Name1 Lötscher) was born 1601 in near Erlenbach, Canton of Bern, Switzerland, and died Abt. 1673. He married Anna Kammer January 21, 1632/33 in Erlenbach, Switzerland, daughter of Marti Kammer and Margret Witwer. She was born in Latterbach, Bern, Switzerland. Notes for Hans Lotscher: Hans Loetschar was an Antibaptist and published a poem called "A new Spiritual Song" which is still kept in the state library in Bern, Switzerland. In 1667, three of the children of Hans and Anna Loetschar (Hans, Melchior and Anna) were imprisoned in Bern because of their Antibaptist beliefs. Hans and Melchior escaped but were recaptured. During his imprisonment, Hans got access to the tower book, a record of all of the Antibaptists who were martyred for their faith in Bern. This list in 1711 was carried by Christian Kroppf from Alsace to Holland. From Holland it was taken to Ephrata in Pennsylvania where the Martyrs Mirror was published containing the letter of Hans Loetschar. More About Hans Lotscher: Date born 2: 1601, Latterbach, SWitzerland 5 A Latshaw Family Journal More About Anna Kammer: Name 2: Anna Kammerer Date born 2: Abt. 1611, Latterbach, SWitzerland More About Hans Lotscher and Anna Kammer: Marriage 1: January 21, 1632/33, Erlenbach, Switzerland Marriage 2: 1633, Latterbach, SWitzerland Children of Hans Lotscher and Anna Kammer are: 3. i. Hans3 Lotscher, b. June 1634, Erlenbach, Switzerland; d. Bet. 1715 - 1734, Germany. ii. Melchior Lotscher, b. 1640, Erlenbach, Switzerland. Notes for Melchior Lotscher: Baptized February 16, 1640, Latterbach, Switzerland. iii. Anna Lotscher, b. 1643, Erlenbach, Switzerland. Notes for Anna Lotscher: Baptized May 7, 1643, Latterbach, Switzerland. iv. Margaretha Lotscher, b. 1646, Erlenbach, Switzerland. Notes for Margaretha Lotscher: Baptized May 31, 1646, Latterbach, Switzerland. v. Elsy Lotscher, b. October 1649, Erlenbach, Switzerland. More About Elsy Lotscher: Baptism: October 21, 1649 vi. Salome Lotscher, b. October 1653, Erlenbach, Switzerland. More About Salome Lotscher: Baptism: October 16, 1653 4. vii. Abraham Lotscher, b. August 1657, Erlenback, Switzerland; d. April 12, 1701, Erlenback, Switzerland. Generation No. 3 3. Hans3 Lotscher (Hans2, Family Name1 Lötscher) was born June 1634 in Erlenbach, Switzerland, and died Bet. 1715 - 1734 in Germany. Notes for Hans Lotscher: Baptized June 29, 1634, Latterbach, Switzerland. In 1671 Hans and Melchoir were sent to the gallies in Venice for two years. Normally, nobody did survice, but they did. At the end of 1873 they are back in Bern asking for their inheritance . They did not get it. Forced to leave Switzerland because of religious beliefs, in 1714. Went first to Upper Alsace to a town called Maasmunster. More About Hans Lotscher: Baptism: June