The American evidence for the brothers, Joseph’s florist business, and the conflicting Salisbury “John” reference.
More about Jacob Widmer
Jacob Widmer died in Salisbury Township on September 29, 1932. His death certificate gives his birthday as March 7, 1843, and says he and his father, Joseph Widmer, were born in Switzerland. It leaves his mother’s name unknown and gives no Swiss hometown.
In November 1915, Jacob Widmer made a trip from Salisbury, Missouri, to Highland to visit his brother. The Highland Leader reported that he arrived Saturday morning to see “Jos. Widmer, of this city.” The notice names them as brothers. A later report of Jacob’s funeral adds stronger evidence connecting Jos. with the Highland florist Joseph Widmer.
Source: Highland Leader, November 16, 1915, page 4, column 2, “Personal Affairs Briefly Mentioned.”
Joseph Widmer, Highland florist
Two Highland newspapers remembered florist Joseph Widmer after his death on March 8, 1926. Both gave his birthplace as Lucerne, Switzerland, and his birthday as March 6, 1844. They described the flower business he established in Highland in 1870 and his marriage that November to Josepha Rommerskirchen. A Highland News Leader notice of October 4, 1932 (page 8, column 2) explicitly calls Jacob of Salisbury a brother of the late Joseph Widmer. It names members of the Highland florist’s family among those who attended Jacob’s funeral, strengthening that connection. The 1926 obituary’s reference to “John” of Salisbury remains a conflicting detail, and the link to the proposed Swiss parents is still unproved.
The Journal named his sister as Mrs. Elizabeth Dabadon of St. Louis and listed two brothers, both called John: one in Salisbury and one in Seattle. The Salisbury name is a puzzle, not a reason to change John to Jacob. Neither obituary names Joseph’s parents, and the two accounts disagree about his immigration and retirement years.
Sources: Highland News Leader, March 9, 1926, page 1, column 4, “Venerable Joseph Widmer Passed Away Yesterday”; Highland Journal, March 11, 1926, page 1, column 2, “Octogenarian Passes On”.
Source notes: Jacob Widmer’s Missouri death certificate, September 29, 1932, certificate 28745 (official image filename 1932_00029366.PDF). E. J. Widmer supplied the information, but the form does not say how they were related. The birth and parent details were reported many years later. His mother’s birthplace, as well as her name, is recorded as unknown.
Joseph’s will names the family
Joseph Widmer’s will, dated February 18, 1888, survives in the Madison County court register in German with a certified English translation. It names sons Joseph, Moritz, Jacob and Johann, and daughters Anne (Anna) Rose, Elisabeth Debatin, Anna Zeiker and Mary Nagel. These are eight named child-beneficiaries, not necessarily every child ever born. Anne Rose and Anna Zeiker are separate people. The will does not name their mothers or supply Swiss birthdays.
Source: Madison County, Illinois, Will Record F, pages 100–102; associated proof record. FamilySearch may require sign-in.
John Widmer’s marriages and first family
The original St. Paul parish registers in Highland identify John’s parents as Joseph Widmer and Anna Bog twice: in his marriage to Anna Maria Schuler on May 12, 1874, and his marriage to Maria Buehlmann on January 15, 1885. The spelling Bog is preserved as written, rather than silently changed to the Swiss Boog.
The parish baptism register records their son John Joseph, born June 27, 1879, and baptized July 14, naming John Widmer and Anna Maria Schuler as his parents. A later burial entry records Maria Widmer, born Schuler, wife of John, dying on April 22, 1884 and being buried on April 23, in the thirty-second year of her age. It does not name a cemetery. This places her death before John’s 1885 marriage.
The civil 1885 form’s “1st” marriage entries and its license-date chronology remain anomalies; the new parish evidence does not explain them away. The American family connection is much stronger than before, while the Swiss identification and conflicting later birth details still require qualification. Read the Swiss comparison.
Sources: St. Paul, Highland parish registers, 1874 marriage, 1885 marriage, 1879 baptism, page 224, and 1884 burial, page 108. These original images are in Ancestry’s Diocese of Springfield collection and may require a subscription.
Charles Widmer: Helen and Ruth
Charles’s 1951 death certificate names Ruth as his wife and informant. Helen Depke was his earlier wife; her own death certificate records her death on March 14, 1934, naming Charles J. Widmer as husband and informant. No date for Charles and Ruth’s marriage has yet been established.
Sources: Missouri death certificates for Charles Widmer, November 6, 1951 (family-held original), and Helen Widmer, March 14, 1934, printed file 11467.