♂Ulrich Schenk

Ulrich Schenk (living in 1590) was a man of the parish of Signau, in the canton of Bern, Switzerland, whose son Michael was christened there in 1590. He was the ninth great-grandfather of Ora Emogene Walrath (1925–2014) by two separate lines of descent, both through his son Michael Schenk (christened 1590).

Signau

He was married to Anni Rytz. Their son Michael was christened at Signau on 22 June 1590; the register writes the parents Ulj Schenck and Anni Rÿtz. Among the godparents were Ulj Nüwenschwander and Barbli Stouffer. The family probably lived at Eggiwil, which then belonged to the parish of Signau. When Ulrich and Anni married, what other children they had and when they died are not known.

Lines of descent

Both lines run through his son Michael Schenk (christened 1590), Michael’s son Michael Schenk (born 1639), and his son Christian Shank (died before April 1737), who was probably the Christen christened at Eggiwil in 1662. From Christian they come down to Cattarina Gingerich (1793–1861), and divide between Cattarina’s sons Samuel Kunz (1825–1904) and Jacob John Kunz (1814–1866). They meet again when Samuel’s son Thomas Koons (1855–1938) married Jacob’s daughter Magdalena M. Koons (1852–1923) on 24 December 1876 in Henry County, Indiana. Their daughter Mary Magdalene Koons (1885–1977) was the mother of Ora Emogene Walrath.

Notes

What rests on the register

The christening of his son Michael at Signau on 22 June 1590 rests on the Signau register itself, which names the parents Ulj Schenck and Anni Rÿtz. Richard W. Davis, “Four Generations of the Descendants of Michael Schenk and Anna Stauffer”, Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage (January 1994), gives them as Ulrich Schenk and Annali Rytz, and states that they lived at Eggiwil, then part of the parish of Signau, although the child was christened at Signau.