Aeppli

Letter:

Hi Jane,

I came across your blog as I was looking for Aeppli documents. I noticed that you have the Aeppli coat of arms from Fällanden, Switzerland and that you have done some research using the Church of the Latter Day Saints records.

I don’t know if you are aware of how some of the records for LDS were gathered. The LDS have copied early church records from various churches around the world. However they make no genetic connections beyond the town/ church where they got their records. In Switzerland, you need to know the home community where your ancestors originated in order to find the correct records from LDS. This is due to the three tiered Swiss citizenship laws. A native Swiss adult is a citizen of an ancestral home community, a citizen of the Canton and a citizen of Switzerland. This adult and his immediate family can live anywhere in the country, but all of his records (his/her birth, death, marriage, children’s birth records, etc.) are sent to his/her ancestral home community. This type of record keeping was kept probably until about 1850. Then more modern methods of record keeping were established and refined up to the present day.

The Aeppli Coat of Arms is the coat of arms for Heinrich Aeppli (born between 1385 and 1390) who was appointed to govern the municipality of Fällanden and Maur (governmental offices established in 1421). So Fällanden and Maur are the home communities where all the records for his family were kept. Heinrich was married to Anna Sigrist. They had nine children. I have the lineage for two of the nine, two sons: Oswald and Heini. Oswald’s line was researched and documented by F. Aeppli in Zurich, Switzerland. His web site http://aeppli.ch/Stammb/NameAeppli.htm has much of this lineage.

Heini’s lineage can be found on Ancestry.com. Look for the tree called Heinrich Aeppli Descendants. My family is part of Heini’s line.

http://aeppli.ch/Stammb/AeppliHeinrich.pdf

Another problem that I have come across while researching the family tree: the surname Aeppli was used by more than one family. Aeppli means “little apple” in German. The families who took this surname lived near an apple orchard or they grew apples for themselves or to sell at the markets. So there can be several unrelated groups with the surname Aeppli from various areas in Switzerland and Germany. Which is another reason why you need to know their home community. Heinrich Aeppli the progenitor of my Aeppli group are known as the Fällanden Aeppli.

Today there are a little over 400 Aepplis in Switzerland, of those about 20 are related to F’s and my families.

I hope this helps you locate your genealogy records. Who knows we may be related through one of Heinrich’s other children. Let me know if you find any connections. I researched as far back as I could the Aeppli family living in the USA first then used the LDS records after I found out the home community that my ancestors came from.

Also, don’t look for old burial sites in Switzerland. The land is so scarce that burial sites are reused after 20 – 25 years.

Happy researching,

S. Aeppli

Heinrich Aeppli (1385-1390) 

Aeppli, Heinrich

1. Gen II  Oswald Aeppli b: 1501 (doesn't descend as Aeppli)
2. Gen III
3. Gen IV
4. Gen V
5. Gen VI (Hans, Bartli and Martin, born 1570-1582)

300 years

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1.  Aeppli, Heinrich d: 1895 in Ada Ghana , Marriage 1 Jeanette Pluss
2. son Willi Aeppli
3. daughter Eva Aeppli
4. son Felix Leu
5. me Jane Leu (Rekas)