Gottlieb and Marianne Hirschi: Life History

Gottlieb and Marianne Hirschi

Gottlieb Theophile Hirschi was born January 16, 1837, to Ulrich Hirschi and Anna Amacher in Villiers, Neuchatel, Switzerland. He was the seventh child of 10 children born to Ulrich and Anna, 5 boys and five boys. Their birthdates were Ulrich, 13 February 1825; Katharina, 16 April 1826; Samuel, 28 September 1828; Anna, 26 March 1830; Johannes, (John), 4 October 1832; Henriette Margaretha, 1 March 1835; Gottlieb, 16 January 1837; Christian, 20 Januaryn1839; Judith, 20 August 1841; and Rosina, 5 July 1843.Two of the girls died in infancy, Katarina and Henriette Margaretha. An unmarried son, Samuel died when he was twenty three. Father Ulrich was a shoe maker and school teacher so the family moved to different locations where ever he could find teaching jobs. They lived in Schangnau, Bern; Hirschhorn, Bern; Dromdresson, Neuchatel; Geneva, Geneva; and finally Muenster, Bern. Gottlieb was christened at Drombesson, Neuchatel, Switzerland. He first came in contact with the Mormon missionaries in 1858. Responding to their message he was baptized in the La Suze River on 22 September, 1858 by a local elder named George Bonelli and was confirmed the same day by the same Bonelli when he was twenty one years of age. He belonged to the Saint-Imier branch of the church which was in the canton (state) of Bern, Switzerland. Gottlieb was living in Schangnau, Bern, Switzerland and left from there to immigrate to America and join in the building up of Zion.

Gottlieb Theophile Hirschi Grave Stone

Gottlieb Theophile Hirschi - Swiss German Missionary Conference 1884

Gottlieb Theophile Hirschi top left

This portrait was taken in the photograph studio of Moritz Emil Vollenweider (d. 1899) and his son, Emil Vollenweider (1849-1921), at Postgasse 68 in the city of Bern on 24 December 1884. A conference of the missionaries serving in the Swiss-German Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) convened in the Hotel Emmentalerhof in Bern on 20 December 1884 under the leadership of European Mision President John Henry Smith (1848-1911), a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (since 1880). On that same day, David Kunz wrote in his diary: “[… on the morning of December 20th,] walked [from Niederstocken] to Thun. Got on the train to Bern. My brother, John, joined me at the station at Thun. As we arrived in Bern [at the mission office at] 36 Postgasse, we found Apostle John Henry Smith and several of the Elders there. At 5 P.M. a Priesthood meeting was appointed where all the elders that were present were called upon to speak their feelings. Afterwards Apostle Smith spoke to us for about two hours and gave us some extra good council and told us how to go on and fulfill our duties. It was really a time of rejoicing for the elders to meet again and hear words spoken by one of the Twelve Apostles. I and three more of the Elders went to Brother [John] Teuscher’s to sleep. John Kunz III’s account of that day is somewhat similar: “[…] took train to Bern and there the first Thing we knew met President John Henry Smith one of the twelve Apostels, being then President over the European Mission. And we all had a good blessed time for in the same evning Dec. 20 we had a Priesthood Meeting in the English Languge and all spocke in turns and President Smith give us most exellent Instructions so that we thought we should never forget them it lasted until 11 p.m.” Three sessions were held on Sunday, December 21, 1884, at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. On Monday, the 22nd, general sessions were held at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.; a conference of the Relief Society was held at 7:30 p.m. that same evening. John Kunz commented that “The whole of the Conference was a decided Success, we received lots of good Teachings and the Spirit of God was there, we all felt to rejoice and to thank God for his Mercy and Blessings.” In his diary entry on Tuesday, John Kunz wrote: “Dec. 23 was spent in having a Jolly time counseled all the Time by John Henry. In the Evning we gathered in the Capacity of a Sonday School Meeting around a nice Christmus tree full of nice Gifts for the little ones. They done so remarkably well that President Smith give each of the Boys who Prayed by opening and dismissing a franc, or twenty cents in U.S. Moneys worth.” On Wednesday, Christmas Eve day, David Kunz commented: “Had our breakfast there [in the Hotel Emmentalerhof] in the morning and went down to [the mission office at] 36 Postgasse. About 11 A.M. all the elders, 14 in number, and Apostle John H. Smith went to Vollenweider’s Gallery to have our likeness’ taken all in one picture. As all 15 of us were placed, we were taken once and Mr. Vollenweider told us to remain in our places. We did so for to be taken again, but before it could be taken again I fainted and fell to the floor. The brethren lifted me up and after a few minutes I came to my senses again and was placed on a chair among the others and our picture was taken. I spent the rest of that day in the office, also that night I stayed there.” John’s account of the experience is similar: “Dec. 24 was resolved by all of the Elders from Zion 15 to have each a Group Picture of all of the 15. We contracted and as we where about to be taken David my Brother fainted a dead faint, we doubted whether he would come again, but finely he got so we could take them, but later Experience learned us they where a failure. David I transported to the Officce and got Sister [Bertha Kunz] Pluess to care for him and went according to apointment in the Emmenthaler Hof to a Christmus Dinner where 14 of us had a good Time with an American Plum Pudding, allthough I missed my Brother very much and returned sooner and found him a great deal improoved. On Christmas day, December 25th, John Kunz III wrote: “a good many of the Brethren left to their diferent fields of Labor and here I must state that my Brother David was appointed President of Central Swiss Conference and myself as such of the Bern conference.” He continued: “Dec. 26, 1884 left Bern and also took leave of my Brother who was told to stay untill more improoved in his health, this Occasion was a new trial and a hard one to me, but as I had resolved to Labor and do whatever the Servants of God placed over me, would advise and apoint me to do, I left all though cryeing and praying, changing untill my head and eyes requested some stop about it.” This photograph is the second shot. Front row, left to right: David Kunz (1855-1916), Assistant Mission Secretary Louis Frederick Moench Sr. (1846-1916), European Mission President John Henry Smith (1848-1911), Swiss-German Mission President Frederick William Schoenfeld II (1831-1918), Mission Secretary Joseph Albert Smith (1844-1926), Thomas Biesinger (1844-1931) and Conrad Vaterlaus III (1835-1917); back row, left to right: Gottlieb Hirschi (1837-1900), Gottfried Fuhriman (1859-1920), George Conrad Naegle (1860-1935), John Kunz III (1844-1918), Jacob Hafen (1836-1917), Jacob Arnold Bigler (1849-1916), Francis (Fred) Marion Lyman Jr. (1863-1957) and John Rudolf Boshard (1856-1928).

Gottlieb Hirschi Early Church Information File

Gottlieb Theophile Hirschi 1837 Baptism

Gottlieb Theophile Hirschi

Gottlieb Hirschi Life Experiences in the Gospel:

 Gottlieb Theophile Hirschi Birth: January 16, 1837. In Villers, Newchatel, Switzerland
 Baptism: September 22, 1858
Arrived: August 30, 1860. In Salt Lake City Jesse Murphy Company
Married: Marianna Rupp (Mary Ann) Marianna Rupp
 Birth: January 12, 1838
Baptism: May 22, 1858
Arrived: October 5, 1860. In Salt Lake City. William Budge Company.

Gottlieb Journey to America: On a beautiful day at 1:30 pm, August 9, 1859 in Zürich Switzerland Gottlieb got on the train to Basel. In Basel he met emigrant church members from St. Imier and they stayed in the White Cross Hotel. August 10th was another nice day, when they took the train from Basel to Mannheim Germany. August 11th they took the train from Mannheim to Cologne. August 12th they took a train to Rotterdam. On August 13th they took a steamboat from Rotterdam to Hull, England and picked up 18 more emigrant members. August 14th they continued to: Liverpool; lodged in the Paradise Hotel and got ready for the voyage. August 16th they boarded the ship Emerald Island for America. That ship carried a total of 1280 Mormons in three voyages across the Atlantic Ocean. On August 20,1859, the Emerald Isle, was skippered by Captain Cornish, they sailed out of Liverpool with fifty-four Saints aboard-fifty from Switzerland and Italy and four from England. President Elder Henry Hug was in charge of the mormon company. After a forty-two-day passage, of which there are no details, the vessel arrived on October 1, 1859 at Long Island, New York. October 2, 1859 Attended Church in New York. They were advised to stay in New York for the winter before continuing their journey to Salt Lake City. It appears that Gottlieb Hirschi stayed in New York for the winter. Gottlieb began his journey to the Salt Lake Valley when he was 23 years old from the outfitting post at Florence, Nebraska (now Omaha) with the Jesse Murphy Company. Gottlieb departed June 19, 1860 Arrived: In Salt Lake City August 30, 1860. Mariana Rupp: Journey to America is recorded with Ulrich Hirschi's journey. Mariana Rupp (Mary Ann) came to Utah when she was 22 years of age, as a single woman from Switzerland with her sister Susanna Reiser, and her husband Heinrich"Henry" Reiser, Father (Ulrich) Hirschi, Johann Hirschi and Judith Hirschi Larsen. They were a part of the William Buge Company, which departed from the outfitting post at Florence, Nebraska (now Omaha). They left on July 20, 1860. Arrived: In Salt Lake October 5, 1860. Marriage: Gottlieb Hirschi and Mary Ann Rupp were married September 14, 1861. They received their endowment and sealing in the Endowment House a month later on October 18th . Missions: Gottlieb and his wife, Mary Ann was called by Brigham Young at the October General Conference in 1861 with 309 heads of families to establish the Cotton Mission in Washington County. Gottlieb and his wife settled in Santa Clara in 1861. Near the end of that year the whole town of Santa Clara was flooded. In 1863 Gottlieb, Mary Ann and their small son Albert, moved to Rockville. Gottlieb gave his coat and vest for ten acres of land covered with sagebrush. They cleared the ground and build a dugout to live in. Gottlieb received a call to return to his native Switzerland to serve a mission, in 1883 (age 46) leaving his wife to care for their six children. Gottlieb farewell address: “The time is fast coming when my labors in this land shall come to an end and with a happy countenance I turn my face toward my home. Dear Brothers and Sisters, should I never see you again. I solemnly testify to you once more that we the Elders of Zion have brought the kingdom of God to your doors and that Mormonism is Godly and Eternal Truth, therefore, dear bros and sisters remain true to the covenants, which you have made to God. For it will bring you peace and contentment I also tender you my heartfelt thanks for all the kindness which you have shown me. The Lord bless you for it. May you all be prospered both in body and spirit is my prayer to my Heavenly Father with a hearty farewell. I bid you all adieu.” Bishop: Gottlieb (age 54) was set apart as the third bishop of Rockville in 1891. He served faithfully until death released him in 1900. He served for nine years.
Death: January 24, 1900 (age 63) Gottlieb passed away in St. George, Utah. He was taken home to Rockville for burial. To show respect for Gottlieb the people covered both sides of the street with pine boughs, from his home near the end of town to the chapel. His wife Mary Ann died February 15, 1924 (age 86) 24 years after his death.

Gottlieb Theophile Hirschi

Gottlieb Theophile Hirschi top left
Swiss German Missionary Conference 1884, Bern, Switzerland.

The Rockville, Utah home of Gottlieb and Marianne Rupp Hirschi. in the very bottom of the photo you will see the home and the barn. The property extended back to the hill.