The following is an excerpt from a letter written by Niklaus Fankhauser March 19, 1852 to be sent to his friends in Switzerland. The letter gives good insight into the lives of the Fankhausers. The letter may also be valuable to researchers because it gives times, dates, places, and names. The letter was donated to the Monroe County Historical Society by Mr. Ernest Thode who translated it from the German language into the English language.

.................We are also especially happy that you asked about the whole F(r)ankhauser family, namely who was still around. There is nobody left but me. They have all went over to join their forefathers as good, believing Swiss. Johannes (John) died on 1 May 1847 of pneumonia; he was not sick for more than ten days. My daughter was at his place for a visit; he sat in front of his house short of breath,came into the parlor, gave her, as well as his children, his hand, and lay down on his bed with closed hands and died without their noticing immediately. Daniel died on 30 March 1850; he was sick with consumption for 11 months. His survivors had a beautiful gravestone made for him. The funeral party was so large that there was not room for everybody in the church. Samuel died of pulmonary edema in August 1851 after being sick for 3 months. He lived in Weinsberg (Winesburg), (Ohio), 109 miles from here. (It appears that this brother was not included in the history, The Fankhausers of Monroe County because he had settled in another county) We hadn't seen one another for 32 years, and since he perceived that his end was coming, he let me know with the desire that I visit him yet. Consequently, I paid him a visit and we discussed the one necessary thing, namely the work of salvation of Jesus Christ and the afterlife. The comforting statements that I was able to give him by the help of God moved him to think so much of me that I had to say to him: "Dear brother, your brother Claus (= Niklaus) is also a poor old sinner, but thank God, a sinner who must dip and absorb grace upon grace from the same well that he is showing to you." We broke out in many tears. Five minutes before his demise he still sang, "Jesus accepts the sinner." Like my other brother, he recommended his wife and children to me with regard to religion, for here one must know what he believes; otherwise one is susceptible to fanaticism, and there are diverse kinds of that here..................

As for churches and schools, we are quite properly set up here. So far we have had the good fortune that our children have been quite well schooled. They learn German and English but are instructed and confirmed in the German language. We used to have clergy that preached nice enough, but could not tell anybody how to be saved, so that they were unable to counsel the sick, the downtrodden, and the depressed, and so it frequently happened that I was called to them, which I was sincerely glad to do at any time, as far as time and circumstances allowed. Now it is different. The dear Lord was gracious to us and sent Jakob Baumberger (Note: of Koppigen, Canton Aargau, Switzerland) formerly an evangelist for the Evangelical Society in Bern. When I heard him for the first time and heard from him, "How do you get right with God?," and then heard the explanation of how to be justified, I had to break out in tears. Now the worship service is so well attended that we must build a new church. The people come from eight or nine miles away to attend services. The new church is to be built of bricks, which have been fired. This summer it should be opened and dedicated, if God wills it. ................

As for the F(r)ankhauser family here, there are so many of us tht people say there must an Abraham among us. I am the father of 21 children and 43 grandchildren; Daniel, of 14 children and 18 grandchildren; Johannes (John), of 14 children and 15 grandchildren. The children and grandchildren of us three brothers who are still alive come to 113 souls, and, thank God, are all healthy and well. There is nobody sickly among them or with physical handicaps. All grew up well and there are many tall men and women among us. It is a pleasure for me and my wife, when we visit our children and grandchildren, how friendly we are accepted, then surrounded by 6 or 8 grandchildren who know how to tell us a lot of news in order to receive the nice gift.

My property consists of 80 acres of land. But the acre (ca. 4,049 square meters) amounts to somewhat more than your Juchart (ca. 3,597 square meters). Of these 80 acres, 60 are arable, on which there is also an orchard laid out containing 100 fruit trees, which as a rule are very fruitful, and annually yield their various fruits. Since I have lived here, I know of only one time when the fruit failed. My cattle consist of 14 beef cattle, 2 horses, and 15 sheep. Last winter was a very cold one, such that the oldest settlers couldn't remember any like it. On the other hand, last summer was exceptionally dry, but there was a want of nothing except water. One can say there is no deficiency here; everything can be sold at a good price, and so I live here happily. My two young boys help me do the field work. Mother occupies herself with spinning and other household chores, and the daughters do what is in their line. When my day's work is ended and I get ready to go to bed, I first take up the Bible, which simultaneously reminds me both of a poor sinner and of Him who does not want man to be lost.

28 years ago, when I was still new in the country, I made a trip in the state of Ohio, where I made a walking tour of over 400 miles. I made this journey without cash. In this region there lived a man who was a turner and made me some small wooden pipes. I took these in my rucksack and started my journey on these ucleared paths. So I came from place to place and was able to pay my lodging with tobacco pipes, expecially in those days when women smoked tobacco and pipes were accepted as money. Because I was Swiss, I was welcome in many places and met people who were able to tell me many good new things about Switzerland. The places in those days had a good and fine name, but were quite small; the largest that I found were hardly as large as Aarberg (Canton Bern, Switzerland) and Nidau (Canton Bern, Switzerland). In most of the places there was a smithy, a general store , and an inn, and between the places were woods, so that I often had to travel three or four miles before coming to another cabin. They told me about the city of Berlin (Ohio); now I thought, there must be something good there, and when I thought I was getting close to it according to the reports, I met somebody and asked him how far it was to Berlin. To my astonishment he said that I had passed it two miles back.

When I visited my brother last summer, I came back through many of the same places where I had been on the first trip. But how different it looks now! Forests have been transformed into fields; the small places are metamorphosed into large cities; the log cabins are mostly razed and in their places two to three story houses made of brick. In many of the cities there are three or four and more streets that are paved with stone. If someone approaches one of these cities, he can already see the activity in various trades from afar through the pillars of coal smoke climbing skyward; there are all kinds of ironworks, glassworks, stone mills, stone sawmills, spinning machines, and all sorts of factories to make clothing goods, and in many of these cities there are three or four churches already, and although of different denominations, for the most part they honor Him who purchased us with His blood and reconciled us with God.

My dear friend! My dear friend! I have terrible pain for my dear old fatherland, since I see in my old days how deeply it has sunk. I left my dear home town (Bern) in '19 on Easter Monday (12 April 1819) with many handshakes and wishes of God's blessing from my old lords and the fathers of the land. I went past the Schuetzenmatte (shooting meadow in Bern) to Bueren (probably Bueren and der Aare, Canton Bern, where the TISHER emigration party could take a flatboat, rather than Bueren zum Hof, Canton, Bern, Jacob TISHER (Tuescher)'s previous residence). I had eight small children and the great ocean before me. It was as if somebody was hunting me; my fear was so great that I didn't want to eat or drink. In those days all was peace and celebration. Everybody lived in his cabin. ............

You are all still in my heart. May God grant you all much happiness and blessing temporally here and eternally there. We commend you all to the care of God. God be with you all!

Your old, gray, loyal servant

N(iklaus) F(ankhauser)

From Gutachten ueber die schweizerische Auswanderung an die Schweizerische gemeinnuetzige gesellschaft (Reports to the Swiss Mutual Aid Society concerning Swiss Emigration) by Johann Ludwig Spyry, published at Zurich in 1865, reprinted in Alles ist ganz anders hier (Everythilng is Quite Different Here) by Leo Schelbert and Hedwig Rappolt, published in Olten,Switzerland, in 1977, ISBN 3-530-73030-0. Translated by Ernest THODE.