Oberwil BL - baptism - 1668 - Seiler - spelling of surname

ClaireKoltko

Hello,

I've been going through the online Swiss records for more than a year now trying to find some of my ancestors. One is Martinus Seiler (G3ZQ-BRP). I don't have a place of birth for him, but he was married in Oberwil in Basel-Landschaft in 1686. I have gone through all the records in Basel and haven't had any luck, but I just re-reviewed the Oberwil records and I'm wondering if maybe I"m just missing the last name due to misreading. I've pasted below links as well as screenshots for four possibilities. If anyone is willing, I would be so grateful for your thoughts on whether any of these might be him.

Thank you!

Claire

Possibility 1 (from 1665)

Possibility 2 (from 1667)

Possibility 3 (from 1668)

Possibility 4 (from 1671)

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WSeelentag

Only possibility 3 (from 1668) is for a Martinus Seiler. Father for the other 3 children is Hans (Johannes) Schweichhuser - today spelled Schweighauser - citizens of Binningen, Bottmingen, and Pratteln (all BL) since before 1800. You will be aware of the fact that Seiler is a widespread name in BL - including citizenship of Oberwil since before 1800

ClaireKoltko

Hi @WSeelentag ! Thank you very, very much for your response. I really appreciate the help. Do you happen to have any advice on what I could do to verify whether this is my Martinus Seiler or another, especially considering that, as you mentioned, it was a popular last name.

Thank you again!

Claire

WSeelentag

First a comment on the data you have online for his wife: "Anna Schmidlerin" … this would be the female form of Schmidler, which is likely not a Swiss name (one can never be sure about ancient spellings). So I checked the marriage record: Anna Schmidin ex TerWeiler. I am sure TerWeiler is the neighbouring village of (today) Therwil - and Anna's name would be Schmid. However, in her death note she is spelled Schmidlin - which is also a name of its own (not a female form). Both, Schmid and Schmidlin have existed in BL long before 1800. I haven't checked baptisms of their children - some "statistics" from them might indicate the most likely correct spelling.

Now for your question: if born 25.04.1668 Martin would not have been 18 yet on 10.02.1686 … not common but certainly possible.

Basel-Landschaft is not really my area of expertise. There are people on https://www.geneal-forum.com/ more familiar with the region. I would therefore invite you to register there (free and without any obligation), start a new discussion "Seiler von Oberwil BL", describe the situation and ask for ideas for further research (English is fine on the forum). It's a tricky question, so there is no guarantee that you will get a "real" answer - but at least you get a much larger audience of Swiss resident researchers.

ClaireKoltko

Thank you very much! I will try there. I really appreciate the help.