How the Amsler Island in Antarctica was named after the descendants of the poor shopkeeper and emigrant Heinrich Amsler from Densbüren.
Amsler Island
Probably all of us have typed our own name into Google or Bing at some point. Sometimes there are surprising finds. Some time ago, for example, I came upon Amsler Island in the Antarctic.
This island is located off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. According to Wikipedia, “for decades, the island was mapped as part of Anvers Island, as the Marr-Piedmont Glacier covered its eastern part. A rapid retreat of the glacier ice in 2005 exposed a waterway several hundred meters wide between Anvers Island and Amsler Island, now known as Amsler Passage, revealing the true nature of this feature”.
How Amsler Island was named
The American “Board of Geographic names” named the island after the Amsler couple in 2007 in recognition of their achievements in marine biology research.
Maggie Amsler, marine biologist, and Professor Charles Amsler both research and teach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. They are members of the UAB Antarctic Research Team and have been spending extended periods of time in West Antarctica since 1979.
Palmer Station is located on the Antarctic Peninsula in the West Antarctic region and is open all year round. The American research station on Anver Isand is around 1,300 km from the Argentinian mainland.
Exploration and Emigration
The Amsler Island stands for the appreciation of the scientific work of the Amsler couple. First and foremost, it is about the exploration of new territory. But I also saw a story of emigration behind it. Charles’ ancestors emigrated to America 200 years ago in search of a better future. With their journey across the Atlantic, they too were breaking new ground.
I took the opportunity to write to my namesake in America, pointing out that his ancestors most probably came from Switzerland. The reply came unexpectedly quickly, even though Charles (Chuck) Amsler was currently in Antarctica for a few months. He copied his siblings on his e-mail and expressed interest. With considerable effort, I was able to prove that his emigrant ancestors came from Densbüren.
It was only much later that I discovered that Rolf Hallauer, an expert on the genealogy of the Densbüren Amsler, had already documented the American part of this Amsler branch. The data came from Cory Amsler from Doylestown in Pennsylvania, who was in Switzerland a few years ago and had visited Rolf here. He is also a descendant of the grocer Heinrich Amsler from Densbüren. As a historian, he had documented the American part of his family history.
Recently I received an inquiry from Joshua Amsler from Florida, who turned out to be yet another cousin of the Densbüren Amsler mentioned above. He had grown up on the original Amsler farm in Marble, Pennsylvania. Rolf and I decided to document the matter.
Prequel
Long before the emigration took place, the parents of our emigrants made a name for themselves. Jacob Amsler (*1732) was an infamous innkeeper of the «Schwanen» tavern in Herznach and attracted attention with his questionable lifestyle. He was married twice, to Catharina Meyer and Susanna Neuenschwander, the marriage dates are unknown. Jacob Amsler fathered 14 children between 1760 and 1780.
Two of them, Heinrich, born in 1774, and his younger sister Susanna emigrated to America in 1816. Heinrich was married to Anna Kappeler, also from Densbüren. Their four children accompanied them, aged between four and eight. Little Heinrich and his sister died one year after their arrival in Pennsylvania. The day after the burial of Anna Sara, her mother gave birth to Henry. He was named after his recently deceased brother and given the middle name “Kappeler” to honor his mother’s maiden name.
Jakob Amsler, Innkeeper in Herznach
Rolf researched the background of our emigrant’s parents. He consulted the minutes of the Densbüren choir court (source: Densbüren parish archives, choir court manual 1783-1816). This court dealt with moral or marriage misdemeanors in the parish. Transcribed is an entry on page 16 dated April 14, 1786:
Tuesday, the 11th, Susanna Neuenschwander, the wife of Jacob Amsler, Schulödis, the current innkeeper of Oberherznach, came to me, the parish priest, at around 9 o’clock in the evening with her son Ulrich, lamenting and crying that her husband had returned home that evening completely drunk with a barrel of wine. When Jakob’s son had helped unload the wine, Ulrich had also been given a drink of good red wine. When Jacob joined them, he was so angry and cursed terribly in his gluttony that he threatened her and her son terribly and told them to go to hell.
She asked me for advice and help. She couldn’t stand it anymore and said there were incidents like this every day. I told her to bring her situation up to the choir court next Friday after the sermon. I will also summon her husband to appear before the honorable gentlemen on Thursday evening. The choir usher would kindly inform him of this request.
So the woman appeared and made the above complaint. When asked why her husband had not appeared, the answer was that he had said he would not come or that he should be summoned by the authorities from Rheinfelden. He had also given the same answer to the choirmaster according to his statement.
It was decided:
The matter is to wait for the return of our esteemed Lord Bailiff von Fischer from Bern and this complaint will be sent to him, the honorable one, and a request for assistance was to be made.
Jakob Amsler, the innkeeper in Herznach, was a bibacious man. He swore terribly and threatened his wife to such an extent that she sought refuge with the parish priest and asked for advice. The parish priest and the choir court did not want to decide the matter on their own and referred to Bailiff Fischer, and that his return should be awaited.
The complaints of Susanna Amsler-Neuenschwander
On November 23, 1788, a further entry appears on pages 89 and 90, referring to a complaint by Susanna Neuenschwander.
Jacob Amsler, Schuljacob, appeared as the respondent and Susanna Neuenschwander as the plaintiff. The plaintiff stated the following, as she had done eight days earlier in the presence of her husband:
(a) He is addicted to the vice of drunkenness and consequently to profligacy. He often came home late at midnight or even after midnight; for example, at the recent market in Frick, he even accused her of taking the money out of his bag during the night. But when she searched his clothes, she found everything in them.
b) He cursed so terribly that she didn’t dare repeat it.
c) He would always make unnecessary, even harmful purchases. For example, the purchase of a plot of land named Ofenbühl. She therefore asked the honorable man to help her, so that their household would not be ruined, and they would all be plunged into poverty.
The man replied and wanted to apologize as follows:
(a) He drank a measure of wine once; how could he be intoxicated?
b) When he was angry, he could certainly curse, but certainly not as terribly as his wife had described. He was very sorry; he wanted to be as careful as possible not to do it again.
c) On the contrary, he had made very advantageous and useful purchases up to then, as everyone knew, otherwise he would not have been able to maintain himself so well with so many children.
The court found the wife’s second complaint to be quite justified, especially as the testimonies of the choir judge Anthoni Hasler and the choir girl Frey confirm that they were summoned by the wife several times at midnight.
The couple were therefore admonished by the priest to maintain peace in the house, but the husband was especially advised to observe moderation and sobriety and to refrain from shameful and terrible swearing. He should refrain from these atrocious vices.
It is understandable that the wife was not happy with her husband’s behavior. He was complacent and did whatever he wanted. Susanna was without rights and power, she had no say.
The choir court did not respond to the wife’s accusation that her husband was buying property unnecessarily. As an innkeeper, Jacob probably belonged to the village upper class. He was able to finance the feudal interest he owed for the tavern in Herznach and appeared to have sufficient funds to buy property.
We don’t hear anything further from the choir court manual; perhaps Jacob Amsler improved his behavior, contrary to expectations.
The former mill in Herznach and the Schwanen Inn
Today, the former tavern in Oberherznach is purely a residential building, while a mill operated at the rear of the house at that time. However, this Amsler family is only documented as a landlord family and had been running the «Schwanen» inn since 1786.
In the 19th century, this house belonged to the Ursprung family, who are related to the current owners, the Leimgrubers. Arthur Leimgruber lived on the Roggersbühl farm in Oberherznach in 1998. The pitiful remains of the mill can still be seen at the back of the house.
The building inventory of the cantonal monument preservation office refers to the history of the building and its use (Source: INV-HEN910 Mühle Hauptstrasse 84, ca. 1800; Dossier Bauinventar, StAAG):
«There is evidence of a mill in Oberherznach as early as the 1670s, when Bailiff Melchior Fleckenstein took over the property as a fief from St. Martin’s Abbey in Rheinfelden. In the 18th century, the Acklin family is known to have run the mill, which had a rather small clientele and yielded little income. To increase his income, Sebastian Ackle asked the authorities for tavern rights in 1724 and set up the Gasthof zum Schwanen in the mill, which lasted until the second half of the 19th century.
The present appearance of the existing mill building probably dates from the early 19th century, but the interior may still contain older parts. In the 1850 land register, it is listed as a “residential building with a flour mill, two grinding gears and a roller mill”. The owner at the time was Fridolin Ursprung; in 1897 the property passed to Josef Leimgruber and in 1931 to Gottlieb Wernli. The mill was closed in 1956.
The mill had probably always been linked to a farm. The necessary infrastructure was provided by a stable barn on the opposite side of the road, which was shared by the owners of the adjoining properties at Hauptstrasse 82 and 84. The farm building burned down in 1973 and was not rebuilt.»
The emigration of the grocer Heinrich Amsler (1774 – 1853)
It is not known whether the insobriety of the innkeeper Jacob Amsler, Schuljacobs, brought the family to the brink of ruin or whether other factors led to their impoverishment. His son Heinrich was a farmer and ran an unsuccessful grocer’s store in Densbüren. At the age of 42, he and his wife Anna Kappeler decided to emigrate to America. It was the year of famine 1816, also known as the “year without a summer”.
Their situation must have been dramatic, as this is the only way to explain why the family ventured on this arduous, month-long journey. A debtor appeal appeared in the «Intelligenzblatt» (the publication is regarded as the first Aargau newspaper, since 1839 it has been called the «Official Gazette of the Canton of Aargau»). The debtor’s call was a voluntary public announcement, inviting all known creditors to submit their claims or demands.
Transcription:
Because Heinrich Amsler, a grocer from Densbüren, decided to travel with his family to America coming March, so at his own request, his creditors are now informed by the honorable Densbüren Municipal Council to submit their claims within 14 days of this announcement to Ulrich Senn, Mayor of Densbüren, to the attention of the said Heinrich Amsler without fail. Those failing to do so face the consequences. Given in Aarau with the authorization of my esteemed Mr Friedrich Frey, Oberamtmann (head bailiff) here, 31 January 1816.
The Densbüren church records state that the family left for America on April 8, 1816 and made their way to Amsterdam. There they boarded the Broderschap which arrived in Philadelphia on August 16, 1816, according to the Philadelphia Baggage Records in the National Archives.
Traces of Heinrich and Anna Amsler-Kappeler in America
The American Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. offers a rich selection of documents that describe every county in Pennsylvania in detail. These historical works were published towards the end of the 19th century; the extensive books have been digitized and can be viewed online.
The first traces of the immigrants from Densbüren can be found in «History of Venango County, Pennsylvania – Its past and present» from 1899. The chapter on Pinegrove Township on page 617 states:
«…The first permanent settler was H. G. Spofford, who bought a large tract from Shippen with the intention of selling out at a profit to smaller purchasers. He located here in 1817 and made some slight improvements on the farm now owned by George Powell, but never paid anything on his purchase and left in 1819. He afterward established Spofford’s Magazine in one of the eastern cities and seems to have been something of a literary character. A Swiss family, Amsler by name, moved into the house vacated by Spofford. They remained but a few years. Samuel Powell became a settler on July 19, 1818».
The «History of Clarion County Pennsylvania» from 1887 provides us with more clarity. In the chapter on Washington Township on page 627 we read:
«Henry Amsler, a native of Switzerland, wife and three children, moved to this township in 1830, from Big Meadow, having lived there seven years, and previously three years at Powel’s, in Venango county, and three in Lancaster city, Pa. Two of the boys, Henry and Rudolph, are still living on adjoining farms».
Soon upon the arrival in America, the young family came to Pennsylvania, stayed for three years in Lancaster, another three years in Venango County and seven years in Big Meadows which later became part of Washington Township, founded in 1843.
In the insightful book «Commemorative biographical record of central Pennsylvania» from 1898, we learn more about how the family developed on page 1547. The report describes the origins and living conditions of Benjamin F Amsler, one of the grandchildren of the emigrants.
Benjamin F Amsler (1855 – 1923)
«a worthy representative of the agricultural and industrial interests of Clarion County, is now carrying on operations as a farmer in Washington township, and also owns and operates a portable sawmill of twenty-three horsepower, with a capacity of 20,000 feet of lumber per day. In both occupations he is meeting with a well-deserved success and is justly ranked among the substantial and reliable businessmen of the community.
Mr. Amsler was born February 13, 1855, on the farm where he continues to make his home, a son of Rudolph Amsler, whose birth occurred August 5, 1813, in Canton Aargau, Switzerland. The grandfather, John Amsler, was born in the same locality, and in 1816 brought his family to America. He located near Fryburg in Clarion County, Pennsylvania, where he died at a ripe old age.
Upon that farm Rudolph grew to manhood, assisted in the labors of the fields: and when his services were not needed at home during the winter months, he attended the public schools of the locality. He married Miss Sarah Best, a native of Centre County, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Conrad Best, who was born in this State, of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock, and became a pioneer of Clarion County, where he spent his remaining days.
Five children were born to Rudolph Amsler and wife, namely:
- Solomon J., now a resident of Butler County, Pennsylvania
- Mrs. Mary Thompson, of Warren County
- Mrs. Dellah Rearden, of Bradford, Pennsylvania
- Benjamin F., of this review
- Mrs. Adaline C. Sheetz, of Clarion County.
In 1842 the parents located upon the present farm of our subject, which comprises ninety-seven acres of valuable and well-improved land. There is a fine large residence upon the place, a good barn, an orchard, and indeed all the accessories which make up a model farm of the nineteenth century.
Here the father died at the age of seventy-nine, honored and respected by all who knew him, but the mother is still living on the old homestead at the age of seventy-eight. He was originally a whig in politics, and later a Republican, and was called upon to serve on the school board and as tax-collector of his township. For over forty years he was officially connected with the Lutheran Church to which he belonged and has also served as superintendent of the Sabbath-school.
Benjamin F. Amsler was reared to habits of industry upon the home farm, and in the common schools of the neighborhood acquired his literary education. On August 28. 1875, he was joined in wedlock to Miss Lavina McKissick, who was reared and educated in Centreville, Pennsylvania, and is a daughter of Thompson McKissick, an honored citizen of this section of the State. They have become the parents of five sons, whose names and dates of birth are as follows:
- Ervin L., March 12, 1876
- James F., March 23, 1878
- Lawney M., December 19, 1880
- John W., June 22, 1883
- Benjamin T., Jr., September 22, 1887
The oldest son is now married, and lives on a farm in Washington township, Clarion County…».
Brian D. Hale published a detailed account of the early settlers and researched their land purchases in his account “Kapp‘s settlement”. He states:
«Henry and Anna Amsler bought 495 acres on April 23, 1835, located in Washington Township, Clarion County just a few miles south of Kapp’s Settlement. With the help of his three sons, they cleared the land to build their family farm. On December 11, 1843, Henry and Anna Amsler divided the land and deeded the parts to their sons. John Amsler bought 100 acres for $500. Rudolph Amsler bought 296 acres for $500. Henry K. Amsler bought 119 acres for $500. Henry and Anna Amsler bought another 164 acres on November 7, 1846 and deeded this land on April 24, 1849 to John Amsler, who bought 73 acres for $250 and Henry K. Amsler who bought 91 acres for $250».
Between 1835 and 1846, Heinrich (Henry) and Anna had been able to acquire a sizeable farm, the 614 acres equate to around 240 hectares. Twenty years had passed since their arrival in America. The hard work was bearing fruit, with the help of the three sons they had realized the American dream. The next generation was to have a better life. A few decades later, Benjamin F Amsler, a grandchild of Heinrich and Anna Amsler-Kappeler, owned a mobile sawmill to complement his farm of «ninety-seven acres of valuable and well-improved land…».
Descendants of Hans Rudolf Amsler (1813 – 1891)
As already mentioned, only three of the emigrant couple’s five children survived:
- Johannes (1808-1881), married to Elizabeth Swab (1800-1878)
- Henry K (1816-1910), married to Magdalena Kapp (1823-1902)
- Hans Rudolf (1813-1891), married to Sara Best (1820-1910)
The paternal lines of three people descending from Hans Rudolf are shown. They depict the common origin of Joshua, Chuck and Cory Amsler, referred to earlier. More extensive descendant charts related to each of them can be found on ancestry, but their presentation is beyond the scope of this article.
Parental Line of Josh Amsler
Rudolf Amsler (*31. Jul 1813, +5. Jul 1891) ⚭ Sarah Best (1830-1910)
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Benjamin F Amsler (*13. Feb 1855, +27. Mar 1923) ⚭ 1875 Lavina M McKissick (1857-1838)
Benjamin had 4 siblings
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Benjamin T Amsler (*22. Sep 1887 +26. Dec 1969) ⚭ Pearl M Mercer (*22 Nov 1891 +5 Mar 1967)
Benjamin had 4 siblings
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Clair «Ted» Amsler (*20. Nov 1909, +3 Oct 1999) ⚭ 1930 Vivian Merryman (1913-1990)
Clair had 3 siblings
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Ronald and his siblings Bonnie Jean and Donald (1937- 2006)
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Michael and his brothers Timothy and Mark
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Joshua, Justin, and Jason
Parental Line of Chuck Amsler
Rudolf Amsler (*31. Jul 1813, +5. Jul 1891) ⚭ Sarah Best (1830-1910)
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Solomon J. Amsler (*3. Nov 1843, +17. Jun 1927) ⚭ 1864 Ann Elisabeth Fox (1847-1872)
⚭ Rebecca Kapp (1850-1916) ⚭ Elizabeth Sutton
Solomon had 4 siblings
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Allen Burton Amsler (*30. Jun 1874, +29. Sep 1956) ⚭ Blanche Edith Dunkle (1879-1943).
Allen had 9 siblings from 2 different mothers
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Charles D. Amsler (*2. Nov 1914, +28. Feb 2000) ⚭ 1943 Alvin Frances Selby
Charles had 2 sisters, Mary Elizabeth and Sara Ann
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Charles, Susan and Allen
Parental Line of Cory Amsler
Rudolf Amsler (*31. Jul 1813, +5. Jul 1891) ⚭ Sarah Best (1830-1910)
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Solomon J. Amsler (*3. Nov 1843, +17. Jun 1927) ⚭ 1864 Ann Elisabeth Fox (1847-1872)
⚭ Rebecca Kapp (1850-1916) ⚭ Elizabeth Sutton
Solomon had 4 siblings
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Frank Presley Amsler (*20. Jan 1869, +26. Apr 1926) ⚭ 1891 Nellie Blanche Hunter (1872-1948)
Frank Presley had 9 siblings
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Harold Frank Amsler (*14. Jun 1902, +16. Sep 1985) ⚭ Joyce Helen Cushman
Harold had 6 siblings
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Cory, Terry Lee and Raymond (1934-1995)
The significance of a small island in the Antarctic
When we dream of paradisiacal islands, we might first think of the South Seas, Hawaii or at least the Mediterranean. The barren Amsler Island does not correspond to our ideas of a tropical island. But with the highly alarming greening of Antarctica, the current picture is likely to change dramatically in the coming decades.
Even though Amsler Island and Antarctica are far away from Europe and most of us have never set foot on this continent, it has a lasting impact on our lives and, above all, on the lives of our descendants. In the words of Maggie Amsler:
«What happens in Antarctica and the Arctic matters and affects what happens in your hometown, your backyard, your children’s lives and your grandchildren’s lives.»
In any case, the emigrant couple Heinrich and Anna Amsler-Kappeler could hardly have dreamed that one day an island would be named after one of their descendants and that it would become the subject of scientific research.
Finally, I would like to thank Joshua and Cory for their valuable support in writing this article.
