JACOB TOBLER: PORTRAIT OF A SAINT by Douglas F. Tobler
There are some wonderful words in our language, words that are inseparably associated: home, mother, father, family—and in our thoughts they are linked in the fondest and most meaningful remembrance.
Where the normal pattern prevails, father is more away and less closely acquainted with the daily problems and program. But fathers are people in whose footsteps sons are apt to follow, and with whose hearts daughters are likely to have their way.
Fathers are people by whose name the family is known. Fathers are people whom sons and daughters should feel free to approach with their problems. There are hazards in going it alone in life, and fathers are to talk to— even if they seem to be too busy; even if they are doing so much for the family in other ways that they are not enough at home. —Richard L. Evans
What a father says to his Aldren is not heard by the world, but it will be heard by posterity. —Jean Paul
Not a day passes ever the earth but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words and suffer noble sorrow, of these obscure herons, the greater part will never be known till that hour when many that were great shall be small, and the small great. —Charles Reads
Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the Prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord…And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming. —Joseph Smith 2:38–39
The hearts of this generation have been turned to an “obscure hero” whom most of us have not yet met, but whose life has had a powerful effect on our own”…down into the fourth and fifth generation.” Our grandfather, John Jacob Tobler, was born the sixth child of fifteen to Christian Tobler and Anna Buehler on February 15, 1333, in the home village of Schoenengrund, Canton Appenzell Ausser—Rhoden. (This was the Protestant half-canton, to distinguish it from the Catholic one, Appenzell Inner-Rhoden.) In the Northeastern part of Switzerland, not far from Lake Constance or from the Austrian border. The Appenzell cantons are small both in xize and population (Ausser-Rhoden, 95 square miles and 44,756(1940); Inner-Rhoden, 67 square miles and 13,383 population) having joined the Swiss Confederation at the time of Martin Luther’s Reformation movement in the 16th Century. At the time when Grandfather Jacob lived in Appenzell, that canton was an example of direct democracy, although women had no right to vote. Every man over sixteen who had been born in any Appenzell community was a citizen and had both the right and the obligation to vote. On the last Sunday in April each year all citizens carrying their swords as proof of citizenship, met alternately in Trogen or Hundwyl to enact legislation and elect the contonal officials for the coming year. If a citizen failed to vote, he was fined ten francs, a sizable amount of money in those days. Prom age sixteen each citizen was also a soldier. In tine of war Appenzell-Ausser-Rhoden was to furnish 771 men and 7720 Swiss Francs for their share of the war effort. Appenzellers were traditionally very proud of their democratic traditions and guarded them with a vengeance.
The village of Schoenengrand is located on the edge of the canton. Lutz’ Handlexikon for 1827 describes it as a village with thirty-six houses and ——a mechanical spinning factory.” Here cotton towels, smooth muslins and other textiles had been produced for generations, but the wealth from this industry has caused a severe neglect of farming and cattle raising in the area. At the time of Jacob’s birth, one cotton manufacturer in the town was even experimenting with a new kind of muslin from colored thread which would improve the kings and detail work. Undoubtedly, it was from this background that Jacob received his training as a weaver.
We know little or nother about Grandfather Jacob’s family, education, first marriage, etc., only that he came in contact with Mormon missionaries, probably Heinrlch Hug from the Zurich area, sometime during the summer of 1856. Jacob had earlier married a woman five years older than himself. Anna Katherina Preisig, from the neighboring village of Schwellbrunn, less that three miles away, and they were baptized and confirmed, according to the Church records and Broth Hug’s diary, August 10, 1856 in the Village of Schwanden, eight miles west of Schoenengrund. So zealous a missionary was Elder Hug that they were numbers 167 and 168 of the 201 persons he baptized prior to emigrating to the U.S. in 1359. Jacob and Katherina are recorded as the nineteenth and twentieth members of the flourishing Herisau branch, some five miles from where they lived, and were active for over four and a half years prior to their own departure to the States. This steadfastness was the result of the testimony and the “joyous heart”
Jacob received at the time of his baptism, as he later recalled it in 1897. The missionary work in Appenzell in those days was difficult by fruitful. The Church’s Manuscript History records for Wednesday August 26, 1857, a year after Jacob’s baptism, records that “the authorities in the canton of Appenzell have commenced persecuting the Saints, and sending some of the Brethren out of their native towns to stop then preaching “Mormonism”. The Elders driven from the cantons of Zurich and Appenzell have taken refuge in the Bern Conference.” Although neither Jacob nor Katherina had any luck interesting their own families in the Gospel (at a Fast Meeting on 6 February 1898 it was recorded that “Counselor Jacob Tobler said he was the only one of eleven children of his father’s house who excepted the Gospel”. Jacob was recorded as having baptized 17 persons and confirming another sixteen prior to their departure. In any case, he had received the Melchizedek Priesthood before December 30, 1859, the first recorded confirmation he performed.
Like most of the European Saints, Jacob and Kathine Tobler were under constant pressure to emigrate to Zion to build the kingdom here. They seemed reluctant to leave, but the reocrd shows the date of departure as May 3, 1861. By May 16, they were in Liverpool, England, and had joined the throng of 947 other Saints, mostly from Scandinavia, aboard the ship Monarch of the Sea, one of the last emigrant ships of the season. Prior to departure, they had attended a conference for the whole group conducted by Apostles Anasa Lyman, Charles C. Rich and George 0. Cannon. Afterwards, the group was divided into wards with the Swiss in the llth Ward under Bishop Ignaz Willie, later Barbara Hafen Willie Tobler’s first husband. Besides having a bishop appointed, the group elected a marshal for the thirty-four day trip who was to organize the guards for the hatchways….”see that no lights are left burning at nights, and, in fine, preserve order and cleanliness throughout the ship.” He was also to serve as a Lost and Found office and enforce the agreed-upon rule that “.. no smoking be allowed between decks.”
The report of the company’s clerk, Brother E.L.T. Harrison, to President Cannon, at the conclusion of the voyage was quite favorable: The generality of oar company are enjoying good health. All seem rejoiced at the termination of our sea voyage and grateful to God for his mercies that have manifestly been over us. I do not think any company that ever crossed the ocean could have felt, on the whole, a happier or more united spirit, especially considering the diversity of nations represented, there being ten languages spoken on board. …We sailed with a fair breeze, and had a most successful passage through the the channel. Since then we had little of anything but contrary or indirect winds; but the Monarch has behaved splendidly under all kinds of weather.
The good ship Monarch arrived faithfull in New York on June 19, 1861 with a portion of the company already reaching Florence, Nebraska (winter quarters) by July 1. Here, tragedy befell the couple as Katherina, with hundreds of others, contracted cholera and died. Jacob was left to pursue their dream alone.
Soon after burying his wife, Jacob joined the company of fifty or sixty wagons, including Pres. Jabaz Woodard, former President of the Swiss Mission, and also Anna Barbara Staheli, under the leadership of Captain Sextus E. Johnson. By Friday, September 27, they have arrived in the Salt Lake Valley. At the General Conference of the Church held less that two weeks later, Jacob heard his name read, along with other Swiss Brethren, to go to Santa Clara and help re-settle the area. Aunt Cacilia Ence Tobler had recorded how Jacob went ot Hill Creek, found and married Barbara, because Pres. Young would not premit them to go so far away unmarried. (Barbara Staheli had joined the Church on August 25, 1860 in the Landschlacht branch in Canton Thurgau. She was two years to the day younger that Jacob.) The name roster of the Swiss Saints who arrived at Fort Santa Clara on November 23, 1861 under the leadership of Daniel Bonelli reads like a Who’s Who of historic Santa Clara* Besides Jacob and Barbara Tobler the following family heads were listed: Solomon Bliggenstorfer; John Enz (Ence); Feldtman; Rudolf Frei; Casper Gubler; John Gubler; Conrad Hafen; John Hafen; John G. Hafen; Gottlieb Herschi; Henry (Heinrich) Hug; John Hug; John Rudolf Itten; John Keller; Henry Xuhn; Christian Moosman; Henry Miller; Conrad Naegeli; John Reber; Samuel Reber; John Riedel; Friedrich Roulet; George Staheli, Sr.; George Staheli; Niklaus Stauper; John Stucki; Samuel Stucki; Christian Wittwer; Jacob Graff and Ignatz Willie. According to the arrangements worked out with the old settlers by Elders Erastus Snow and George A. Smith, they (the old settlers) were to relinguish their claims on the large bend or bottom below the fort to the newcomers, and receive compensation according to a valuation of a committee of their own number. The Manuscript History then records: “The bench part of this bend was accordingly surveyed during the month of December 1861 for a town and a vineyard, and the Swiss brethern built a dam in the creek and the ditches (completed) for the town on the 25th. The labor of their construction was valued at $1030. On the 22nd December the brethren and sisters assembled on the site of the new city, the present location of Santa Clara, and Daniel Bonellie offered a prayer of dedication, and the lots were apportioned.
The mood of optimisim among the group was severely chastened less that a month later when flood swept through the little community on the 17, 18, and 19th of January 1862. The destruction included the fort, most of the homes and much valuable land. Moreover, it”…changed the appearance of the whole valley and also the prospects and chances of the settlers to a great extent. In fact, it reduced the first settlers to almost new beginners.” The families were thus forced to live in dugouts until more substantial housing could be built. By March 16, work on a new ditch had been completed at a total cost of $4,000 with each man’s labor computed at $2.00 per day.
But all did not go well between the “old” settlers, more involved in stock-raising, and the “new”, whose crops were easy prey for the foraging animals. Thus when the new bishop, Edward Bunker, called in October 1861 from his position as bishop of Ogden City 2nd Ward to go South, arrived in Santa Clara”…he found division existing between the early settlers and those who had been there but a year… He endeavored to get the stock owners to take the cattle, goats and sheep out of the fields. He also advised (them) to fince the land under cultivation. This latter was promptly done. An adobe meeting house 40′ by 29′ has been commenced and is being busily worked upon during the winter.” Notwithstanding the efforts of Bishop Bunker, squabbles with the Saints in St. George over the insufficient water reaching Santa Clara caused half of the population to pull up stakes and resettle in the greener pastures of Clover and Meadow Valley.
By the end of December 1866, life for everyone in Santa Clara had acquired a slightly rosier hus. A local historian waxed philosophical: The greater portion of the people had come from the heart of Europe’s continent where the civilization for ages had framed institutions and laws regulating a dense population with rigid exactness. Another one, a considerable one, was accustomed to the life of the frontier with the habits of the Western Fanners on the great public domain of the American states, and the first mentioned portion being principally without, means and unable to speak the English language suffered considerable privation in gathering the knowledge and experience they know (sic)(now) possess. But time, the common destiny of all, and above all the Spirit of. the Gospel have assimilated to a great extent unequal elements and paved the way for a greater progress than the year of the past had accomplished in the days of the coming future.
These were busy days and years both in establishing a livelihood and, more importantly for Jacob, a family. By 1866 the two oldest children, Bertha, and Barbara, had been born, and with the spread of plural marriage Jacob had married the widow of Elder Ignatz Willie, Barbara Hafen. By the time Pres. Brigham Young reported to Bishop Edward Bunker on the conditions of the “Clara Settlement” during one of his winter visits in January, 1873, Grandfather had produced a substnatial family of five girls and one boy, John Jacob (three girls, Selina, Wilhelmina Ida, and Wilhelmina died in infancy) by barbara Staheli and two boys (William and Albert) and tow girls (the girl, Barbara Ena died in infancy as did her unnamed sister a little over a year later) by Barbara Hafen who also died shortly after in 1873. Pres. Young took considerable pride in nothing”: The Calar settlement, consisting of 20 families, twelve of whom are Swiss and were sent there by the Perpetual Emigration Fund without a dollar have all got houses, land, vineyards, horses, wagons, and cattle, and are sending one hundred children to school, besides having a number too small to go. The donations they handed into Bishop Bunker he sent sent to the poor in St. George, they having no poor. I learn that they all pid their tithing and feel united and blessed of the lord.
These were the years of the United Order and Jacob and Barbara Staheli Tobler were baptized for the third time (the second was after arrival in Santa Clara) on August 6, 1875 by James Niven and Erastus Snow to show their willingness to live according to the order. In 1877 United Order appraiser Ell Whipple reported in the Santa Clara settlement field: “26 acres of Lucern; 5 acres of barley; 73 acres of wheat, and 96 acres to be put into cane, cotton and corn.
The United Order did not function as well as many in Santa Clara, including Bishop Bunker and his family, had hoped. Consequently, in 1877, they found Bunkerville in the faith that the higher law could be more fully lived. In the reconstructed Santa Clara ward bishopric, Grandfather Jacob was ordained a High Priest by Henry Eyring and set apart along with Samuel Knight as counselors to Bishop Marius Ensign, for whom his son, George E., born in 1876, was named. Two years earlier because of his dependability, he had been called to serve as ward clerk, a position he was to hold for over thirty years. His service as first, second counselor, then first counselor ran concurrently under two bishops, Ensign and John G. Hafen, until his release from that calling in 1901. His own report for July, 1877 show “…26 members in the YLMIA, 16 members in the YMMIA, a Sunday School in Santa Clara proper and a Branch Sunday school in Gunlock; 368 Acres of land under cultivation and the settlement owned twenty-nine teams, 73 milk cows, 4 cane mills, 4 mowers, 1 cotton gin, etc., etc.,.” The minutes of a business meeting held in the schoolhouse on June 7, 1882 tell a great deal about the community and about Jacob Tobler, just as he recorded it. We can note his reputation for dependabiltiy as well as reasonably good command of English he had acquired.
Bp. M. ensign said to the Brotherin, (sic) that it is necessary to have a good man for a Diacon to take care of the schoolhouse, and to keep everything in good order, and ring the bell 15 minuted (sic) before meeting, asking the brotherin who they want, a motion was made that Bro. Jacob Tobler should take this. Also do the clerking for Santa Clara ward for $75.00 a year which was unanimously sustained by a vote of the people.
As early as 1879 the Church records showed that Grandfather paid $7.00 to the Perpetual Emigration Fund, $1.00 to the Missionary Fund and $6.00 and 7 bushels of grapes for the construction of the Manti Temple. The following year his contributions included another dollar to the PEP (some Santa Clara saints paid as much as $5.00) $2.75 to the “Sanpete” Temple, $5.00 for the “poor in Zion”. In 1884 he donated: $.50 for the BY Academy (Heaven knows it needed it!), $1.00 to the Swiss-German Mission, $1.00 for a Missionary, $.50 extra for the Manti Temple. The year before Grandfather had made an additional donation of one load of wood for the Manti Temple.
When Bp. Ensign passed away in 1884, Grandfather was a speaker at the funeral and also assumed new responsibilities as first as first counselor to Bishop Hafen, especially since the new bishop’s work required him to be away often* In reading the minutes of Church meetings during those years I was struck by how often Grandfather conducted meetings, spoke or blessed the sacraments, or, on occasion, did all three. These were also the years of increased family responsibilities. On October 8, 1881 Grandfather married Roaina Reber Staheli by whom he was to raise a wonderful family of six children; 3 boys, Alfred, Edward and Wernon, and 3 girls, Josephine, Lillie, and Rhoda. He was particularly concerned as he got older that he would live long enough to raise the last family properly. With the addition of Hermina Christian Harmon, John Henry and Ernest, the later when he was fifty-three and Grandmother Barbara was fifty-one his family was complete. On April 30, 1899 he reported with some considerable pride that he had “…. 21 children and 21 grandchildren.” Nevertheless, he had had his share of the trials and tribulations which he recognized as integral to life. His second son, John Jacob, died of appendicitis in 1887, and there was always the struggle to provide financially for the growing family. Grandfather was apparently not very aggressive on this regard; his great strength was in his spiritual endowment and power.
On March 28, 1894 some thirty years after the Swiss first came to Santa Clara, the Deseret News carried an article entitled “Fair Clara” by C. Page: Perhaps you have never heard of the pretty and industrious town, Santa Clara. It is situated about five miles a little southwest from the city of St. George, Washington County, Utah. Its residents are naturally proud of their town, and one of them tells me he believes it is one of the prettiest places in Utah. He also gives me the following; Spring has come and makes everything look pleasing and beautiful. Most all the fruit trees, except pears and apple, are in bloom; fall grain is about five to six inches, spring grain two or three inches, and lucern about three inches high. All these give the place a very pretty appearance. Leaves are beginning to come forth from our shade trees, such as cottonwood, poplar and mulberry. There is but one weeping willow in the place, which John Graf owns.
The people of Clara suffered many hardships from want of food, clothing, etc., when they first came to settle the country. My parents lived in a cellar dug in the ground, with a willow and mud roof, which they thought was very nice at that time. They have suffered from a flood which washed away the whole settlement, save one house, standing at present about one mile above the present location.
The population of Clara is small, numbering about 225 souls, yet it has a very good showing, There are five missionareies laboringin the Swiss and German missions, namely Theodor Graf, Harmon, Hafen, William Tobler, Edward Frei and Henry Gubler. They are all young and inexperienced men, still they are meeting with good success. Clara has a good record in regard to missionaries and tithing. The people fulfill their duties and try to live up to their callings and requirements. We have an aged brother, Samuel Stucki, who came with the handcart company. He is blind now of old age.
I have been informed that a very sudden accident occurred to Susetta Hafen, a paralytic stroke striking the left side of her body. She recovering. The people of Clara was talking of building a new meeting house, which they need, because the old one will not hold the people much longer, their increase is so rapid.
By 1895 the new meetinghouse had been started. With dimensions of 54′ X 36′ it was better suited to handle the attendance that undoubtedly in excess of one hundred. Records report attendance at 147 in late October 1916 and 184 by January 1919.
Most of the reports of Grandfather’s sermons that have been preserved come from the 1890′s and 1900. I will present here a few excerpts which, I trust, will give a cross-section of his spiritual thought and interests during his mature active years. At a ward meeting held March 22, 1396 where he was conducting. “Counselor Jacob Tobler was the next speaker who made remarks upon the laying on of hands for the sick.. He felt to thank God that none of our children have been called away through the present illness in our midst Spoke of the regulations at dances, that it is not proper to get up too close while waltzing. We should behave everywhere to natter wherever we are…” In the ward meeting held June 21, 1896: Brother Jacob Tobler next addressed the congregation, stated many of us emigrated to this country, forsook friends and homes for the Gospel’s sake, spoke of the importance of good singing, felt greatly encouraged in the cause he expoused, spoke some upon the subject of the gathering of Israel, and the first principles of the Gospel. Stated what a grand privilege it was for us that the lord retained our spirits in the spirit world, and permitted up to come forth in this last dispensations of the fullness of times, said something on rearing children in the proper way, stated there was a slack of attendance in meeting and exhorted us to be faithfull at all times in the great cause.
Grandfather often spoke on the law of tithing (he handled it all as clerk); it was to him a “standing law to the Church,” and on supporting the leaders of the Church. When but a youth in Switzerland, he has always had a desire to see apostles or prophets, a factor, no doubt, in his conversion, and in his continued devotion to the Brethren. He was also very grateful to live in a Latter-day Saint community among fine people.
Again while conducting the Sabbath meeting of October 18, 1896: Elder Jacob Tobler…referred to the time when he was baptized, said the evil one tried to make it appear that he was being led astray, bat after he was confirmed a member of the Church, this spirit left him. Said parents should be strict in keeping a record of the birth, baptism, blessing and confirmation of their children One of the most poignant glimpses came in an expression in the Sabbath Meeting on February 17, 19O1:
First Counselor Jacob Tobler was the next speaker. Said that forty years had passed since they first came here and a very few of the first company were still living here. Said that many had left all that were dear to them and came to Zion not knowing what kind of people or what kind of land they were coming to. He felt to thank God that he has remained firm, through all the struggles that the people have passed through. We as parents should be examples for good unto our children and teach them the principles of the Gospel. Spoke of the great posterity that we as parents have here for they are jewels in the crown of eternal life. Bro. Tobler’s feelings at this point were very much affected. Grandfather was an early earnest advocate of full compliance with the Word of Wisdom, when many wave having trouble or causing trouble, at the ward meeting on March 27, 1898, “Brother Jacob Tobler, first counselor, spoke same closing remarks, said we do not have to keep the Word of Wisdom for nobody but ourselves….” On February 18, 1900 he “spoke concerning those who sold wine to their brethren…. The speaker said that the Lord could see in the dark and we should not sin in the dark. The tine would soon come when the people would be called to build Jackson County, but such that do not keep the Word of Wisdom will not be called up to go back and help build it up:
Finally, one of his last preserved sermone was recorded by his son, Harmon, on July 29, 1900. It seems a fitting summary for what he believed and thought important: Counselor Jacob Tobler said be felt he was not able to speak to us without the Spirit of God, and felt thankful to the Lord that he had been privileged to live in this day and age of the world. Said that the Lord did not always punish us by way of chastisements for our neglectfulness, but he sometimes chastens us to prove our faith in God. Said that each one of us would receive the reward of which he has worked out for himself. Related the difference in the two spirits; the good one and the bad one. When the Spirit of God is with us we feel good and (it) helps us to live good lives. That when we have sick in our midst, if we have a good spirit with us through faith the sick will he heald Related incidents where the sick was healed by the administration of the Elders. Said that he hoped that the testimony of which he had would always remain with him. Grandfather Jacob Tobler died on November 1918 at age 85 of “old age or senile disability.” His wife, Barbara Staheli, who had helped raise all the children after Rosina Raber Staheli passed away in 1900, lived until 1920. Some of his grandchildred, now the family’s elder statesmen, remember him in his old age as a kindly man who made them feel welcome at his home. He permitted them to help him with the chores, to water the cows and pigs and work in the garden. He had fairly good health until his late years when his legs went bed and had to walk with a cane. When he passed away, he had truly filled the purpose for coming into morality. As we, his descendants learn more about him, we feel a profound gratitude to bear his name.
Source:Brent Bunker