The complete opening and continuation of the undated family recollection, with its attribution and original qualifications.
Widmer family account
This family account is attributed to Florence Widmer. The newly scanned continuation ends with her name and appears to follow the earlier page. Its date is unknown. We’re sharing it as family recollection; names, dates and relationships still need checking. References to present owners describe the time it was written.
Transcription note: Original wording and spellings are retained. Lines have been reflowed and words split at line ends joined. The page labels are editorial.
Opening page (editorial label)
The Johann Joseph Franz Widmer Family lived in Eschenbach, Canton Luzern, Switzerland; a small village north of Luzern. Much as they loved their homeland, the stories of Swiss settlements in America appealed to them.
The third son, Joseph, attended the Benedictine school. This Order was famous for training the St. Bernard Rescue Dogs which aided travelers in the Alps. They were also an agricultural Order. With this background, Joseph decided to study horticulture and did apprentice work in Alsans Lorrain, then under French rule. When he was twenty-one he came to America (this was in 1867). He landscaped estates in St. Louis, Missouri, specifically along South Broadway. Meanwhile, in Illinois the settlement of Helvetia, founded 1837 and later renamed Highland, was growing. In the fall of 1870 Joseph purchased four acres of land near Sharpshooters Park in Highland, where he started a Nursery and Florist Business.
Johann Widmer was a wood cutter in St. Louis, Missouri in 1868. He later became a cooper, making barrels and tubs. He later moved to Seattle, Washington.
Jacob Widmer was listed in St. Louis, as a bartender. He later moved to Highland, Illinois, and in 1881 to Chariton County, Missouri, where he became a successful farmer. Many of his descendants live in Salisbury, Missouri.
In 1870 Joseph married Maria Josepha Rommerskirchen. They later settled in Highland, Illinois.
The Patriarch of the family brought the family to Highland, Illinois, except Maurice who was to come over later. The mother sewed their money and a few valuables in her pettycoats, before leaving Switzerland. When the family boarded ship Anna cried as her lover, Jost Roos stood on the dock imploring her to marry him. Her father gave her a choice, and she returned to shore and Mr. Roos.
The Widmers missed being listed as pioneers in the settling of Highland by three years. The family bought a farm south of Highland on the Arkansas Road. It was called “Jura”. It was the highest ground in the area. The combination of rich soil and sound farming methods gave them a good life in their adopted country.
Apparent continuation (editorial label; Widmer1.pdf, PDF page 1)
After his wife died Johann Joseph Franz Widmer spent his remaining years with Joseph and Josepha. He and Great Grandmother are buried in the Highland City Cemetary. St. Joseph Cemetary did not exist at that time.
In 1922, while remodeling my Grandfather Joseph Widmer’s home near the greenhouse, we found Great Grandfather’s United States Citizenship papers.
Joseph and Josepha were staunch members of St.Paul’s Parish. Joseph served as a Trustee for fifty years. In his old age his son Maurice carried out his duties, but did not replace his father. Joseph was a member of the Third Order of St. Francis.
Joseph, the oldest son of Joseph and Josepha, was known as “Big Joe”. He was over six feet tall. He studied greenhouse propogation of roses at Pohlmann Brothers in Peoria, Illinois. He and Maurice planned to take over the greenhouses. It was not to be. On his 29th birthday he died of a heart attack. Maurice later took over the greenhouses and Frank Grimmer, a brother-in-law became his partner. They entered the St. Louis, Missouri National Flower Show and took blue ribbons on carnations and sweet peas. Maurice’s sons Joe and Cletus Widmer are the present owners of the business. Completing a hundred and ten years at the same pad.
Although American born, Ben Widmer of St., Louis, Missouri, carried on a Swiss tradition all of his adult life. He learned the art of Swiss embroidery, at the Swiss Embroidery Works in Highland. He later established his own business in St. Louis, Missouri.
America Has been good to the Widmers and they in turn are proud and happy to share the blessings of the greatest nation on earth, the United States of America, where they have increased and multiplied.
Submitted with love to all,
Florence Widmer
Source note: Unnumbered opening-page photograph from the Widmer family binder; apparent continuation in Widmer1.pdf, PDF page 1.