Elizabeth Bettschen

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-89316

Other Events:

• Interesting: politics, law, crime, murder, story
• Name: Jacob Bettschen
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-25194P
• Elected Office: 1850, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; councillor - Reeve/Mayor
• Occupation: 1851, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; farmer
• Occupation: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Farmer
• Residence: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Protestant (CE)
• Hall of Fame - Waterloo Region: Bef 2012, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada

Notes:

The first frame house in Wilmot Township was built by this native of Reuebruegg, Switzerland who arrived in 1830. He was a tax collector, a constable and a magistrate. He served for eight years as a Wilmot Township councillor in Wellington District and was the first reeve of Wilmot Township in 1850. He was a charter member of the Wilmot Agricultural Society in 1853 and he was appointed a captain in the Wilmot Township Militia. Bettschen is remembered as the promoter of library services for the Township in 1853. In 1859 this developed into a travelling library which placed 150 books in each of the five wards and the books were exchanged every four months.

Waterloo Region Hall of Fame

_________________

According to family lore, Jacob Bettschen was the first constable. He had the distinction of making the first arrest for the first murder in Wilmot Township. A man had murdered a child and concealed the body under a culvert. He was later arrested in Haysville and Bettschen delivered him on foot to Hamilton.

Baden Outlook 2014

Jacob — Elizabeth Klopfenstein. Elizabeth was born 1810, , , Switzerland; died 1888; was buried , Rosebank Community Cemetery, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Elizabeth Bettschen
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-25195
• Residence: 1861, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Protestant (CE)

Notes:

Pioneer Wedding

The wedding of Jacob Bettschen and Elizabeth Klopfenstein on May 29, 1830, is a typical wedding of pioneer times. They took the oven on the cart without springs, drove to Preston, twelve miles distant, and there were married by Squire Wm. Scollic, a magistrate. No minister was within twelve miles so it was legal for a magistrate to officiate. From Preston they drove all the way to Dundas with cart outfit. There they visited the parents and then returned home, driving over stony, newly-made roads, through swamps, over hills, passing between stumps, in some places driving through forests. Thus one hundred miles were travelled in going and coming The newly married couple then started in hope to clear the land and build better buildings in the vicinity of Vineyard Farm. Jacob Bettschen was the first tax collector appointed in this section because of his reputation for honesty. In these days institutions for the safe deposit of money were remote from the settlements and as a consequence when he returned late in the evening with the results from his collections during the day he would pull out the large wooden pins in logs of the cabin which were used for hanging up clothes, put the money in the holes and replace the pins. He was the first man appointed constable in this district and while acting in this capacity made the first arrest. It was also for the first murder committed among the white people in the district. The murderer was apprehended at Haysville and the charge of murdering a child and concealing its remains under a culvert. Jacob Bettschen arrested this man single-handed and on foot conveyed him to the Hamilton jail, a distance of about forty-five miles. The greater portion of the distance was through dense forest.

Thus was the life history of the pioneers of Rosebank Section.

Waterloo Chronicle 16 Apr 1943, p. 2

Other Events:

• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-89248
• Immigration: 1825, , Ontario, Canada
• Occupation: 1852, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; farmer

Notes:

David Bettschen settled on approximately 100 acres of the south half of Lot 5, Concession 3 in 1831 nearby the settlement of New Dundee. In 1832 Bettschen had built a log house, barn and blacksmith shop on the property. John Allchin purchased the farm in 1842, and the property was later purchased by Donald MacDonald.

An Archaeological Perspective of an Historic Overview of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Scarlett E. Janusas Aug 1988 pg 58

David — Elizabeth Bruegger. Elizabeth was born 7 Apr 1771, , Switzerland; died 24 Apr 1856; was buried , Rosebank Community Cemetery, Wilmot Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name: Elizabeth Bettschen
• Name: Elspeth Brugger
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-89253