My GGGrandfather is Jakob Hilfiker, born 1/22/1846, married Christina Larker 7/19/1868. Jakob immigrated from Kolliken, Switzerland;passport dated 3/6/1862. Jakob and Christina farmed 55 acres in Webster, New York and had 15 children.
My brother Douglas Reid wrote a paper for his American History class in 1991 when he was 16...great info...
I believe Earl Hilfiker deserves the credit for the original research. Moving back in time (birthdates in parentheses, all last names are Hilfiker): Jakob (1/22/1846)married Christina Larker-15 children. Jakob had 4 brothers. His father was Jakob (5/5/1822).
Fathers listed: Johannes (5/23/1788):
Samuel (2/17/1760): Georg (11/5/1724):
Hans (4/21/1689): Hans (4/28/1655):
Rudi (4/6/1628): Hans (12/4/1603). Hans had a father named Jakob who lived in Kolliken, Switzerland and married G. Fieni Ratzer on May 19, 1596. All siblings and spouses are lsted in this hand-written tree that I have a copy of.
I live in Naples, Florida and the life of my GGGfather Jakob (1/27/1846), as documented by my brother Doug, is quite interesting. Hey, we are related, lets connect... With love, Steve (3/27/1966).