Hans ZAUGG(JOHANNES)

                   He and his wife Barbli lived on a farm called "Grat" = the meadow, nearthe village of Signau, 13 miles east of Bern, Canton of Bern,Switzerland. Johannes became a convert to eht Anabaptist religion andbegan preaching. Because of his preaching of the Anabaptist Mennonitereligion, on Jan 31, 1659 he was taken prisoner.  He was held in theorphanage building next door to the present day French Church in downtownBern,  by the Zwinglian Reformed Church-Sate Authorities. With him in the"house of correction" were at times eight other preachers and elders. Oneyear later on Jan 20th, 1660(Friday) the Committee on Examinationspresented these prisoners with an ultimatum: If they wished to remain inSwitzerland they must obey the laws and observe the church's standard ofpiety. Then they were questioned on 16 subjects concerning the governmentand religion. Hans and 10 others signed a paper submitting to their ownbanishment, rather than surrender their faith. They were fined 58 crowns.After thy had been in prison 19 months and 10 days, the authorities tookHans and 10 others on September 10, 1660, by ship to the Austrian borderto their banishment.

It is not known just what happened to Hans Zaugg, since no record of thetime has been found. That he returned hom to Signau, and fathered a childis shown by the baptism of Peter Zaugg, Dec. 20, 1661. Apparently Hanswas soon found and imprisoned again. After 10 years, there was relief.Thru the efforts of the Netherlands Government on behalf of theseprisoners, the Bern Authorities released them in Dec. 1671 on thecondition that they leave Switzerland, never to return without specialpermission. Hans was 41 then.

Fourteen years later, on Feb. 4, 1673 Mathys Zaugg of Signau was found tobe harboring his Baptist father and the officials placed him under arresttwice for 14 hours. However they did not molest his father. Just whenHans and his family(or at least part of it) fled to the north and foundrefuge in Germany is not known. Tradition has it that he settled nearDarmstadt, Hesse, but no records of them have been found there. Otherssay then found refuge in the small village of Dirmstein in the vicinityof Frankenthal, Palatinate. Tradition also says Hans and Barbli had 12children.
1. Barbli baptized July 30, 1654  2. Peter baptized Aug 2, 1657 (diedyoung)  3. Ureni baptized January 9, 1659  4. Peter baptized December 20,1661.  5. Mathys who sheltered his father.

It is not know which of Hans' sons(if any of them) was the father ofUlrich. Some family members have claimed that it was Peter. No proof hasbeen found.