We know that Switzerland was the birthplace of the Mennonite faith and we can locate where particular families originated, but not all. Mennonites originated coincident with the Protestant Reformation but because of persecution, they moved (or were forced to move) to Alsace and to the German Palatinate. Finding the facts of our ancestors is time consuming in that it involves copious amounts of reading and synthesizing information. Our Metz family has not been documented, except in passing in the family histories of other well known Mennonite families. These histories not only tell us some of the people who our ancestors married, but they also provide us with links to known persons and locations. 

MAP of Switzerland: Rossi, Giovanni Giacomo de, Cantelli da Vignola, Giacomo and Donia, Francesco. 1686. Abobe map: L’Helvetia o’paese de Svizzeri con li stati, che sono a medesimi collegati. David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.  https://www.davidrumsey.com/rumsey/download.pl?image=/168/11438043.jp2

Anabaptism in the 17th century in Bern. (2016, January 19). Peace Mennonite Dallas. https://peacemennonitedallas.org/2016/01/19/anabaptism-in-the-17th-century-in-bern-october-25-2015/

Basic information for Swiss Research. (n.d.). http://files.lib.byu.edu/family-history-library/research-outlines/Europe/Switzerland.pdf

Baughman, J. R. (Ed.). (1997). Apart from the World: An account of the Origins and Destinies of Various Swiss Mennonites. Shenandoah History publishers. https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/148167-apart-from-the-world-an-account-of-the-origins-and-destinies-of-various-swiss-mennonites-who-fled-from-their-homelands-in-remote-parts-of-the-catons-zurich-aargau-and-bern-as-well-as-alsace-the-kurpflaz-sic-and-later-along-the-edges-of

Bernese Anabaptist History: A short chronological outline. (n.d.). [History]. The Swiss Mennonite Cultural & Historical Association Seal The Swiss Mennonite Cultural & Historical Association. Retrieved July 5, 2023, from https://swissmennonite.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Bernese-Anabaptist-History-A-Chronological-Outline-1.pdf

Blaeu, W.J.n & Blaeu, J’. (1645, 1647). Canton ZURICH 1645. Old Maps Online; Old Maps Online. https://www.oldmapsonline.org/en/maps/e6e54e05-3839-4ae5-9e6e-5fbc9b2748a0?gid=fe6bbd1f-3e62-4433-a76a-3caf725de4a5#position=8.8674/47.475/8.3/-11.13&year=1645

Burgert, A. K. (1994). Are Your Pennsylvania German Ancestors Really Swiss? 12(6).

Crumbacker, R. (n.d.). The Grumbackers and Related Families.

Dipple, G. (2018). Anabaptists and Seventeenth-Century Arguments for Religious Toleration in Switzerland and the Netherlands. In M. E. Plummer & V. Christman (Eds.), Topographies of Tolerance and Intolerance (pp. 55–175). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004371309_009

Eshleman, H. F. (1917). Historical Background and Annals of the Swiss and German Pioneer Settlers of South Eastern Pennsylvania, and of Their Remote Ancestors, from the Middle of the Dark Ages, down to the Time of the Revolutionary War. https://archive.org/details/historicbackgrou01eshl/page/8/mode/2up

Estes, R. (2018, September 15). Heinsmann (Heinrich) Muller (<1635 – <1684) of Schwarzenmatt, Switzerland – 52 Ancestors #208. DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy. https://dna-explained.com/2018/09/15/heinsmann-heinrich-muller-1635-1684-of-schwarzenmatt-switzerland-52-ancestors-208/

Familienforschung. (n.d.). [Government]. Kanton Zürich. Retrieved October 22, 2024, from https://www.zh.ch/de/familie/familienforschung.html

Genealogical Research Sources in Switzerland. (1993). World Conference on Records and Genealogical Seminar. http://files.lib.byu.edu/family-history-library/research-outlines/Europe/Switzerland.pdf

Gratz, D. (2010). Bernese Anabaptists and Their American Descendants. Literary Licensing, LLC. https://www.masthof.com/products/bernese-anabaptists-and-their-american-descendants

Grueningen, J. P. V. (n.d.). The Swiss in the United States.

Grueningen, J. P. V. (1940). The Swiss in the United States: A Compilation Prepared for the Swiss—American Historical Society as the Second Volume of its Publications (Vol. 2). Swiss American HIstorical Society. https://www.scribd.com/document/541922459/The-Swiss-in-the-United-States-a-compilation-prepared-for-the-Swiss-American-Historical-Society-as-the-second-volume-of-its-publications

Guth, H., Guth, G., Mast, J. L., & Mast, L. A. (1987). Palatine Mennonite Census Lists, 1664-1793. Mennonite Family History. https://www.masthof.com/products/palatine-mennonite-census-lists-1664-1793

Hasse, A., & Seiler, G. (2023). 4 Social factors in mixed language emergence: Solving the puzzle of Amish Shwitzer. In S. Ballarè & G. Inglese (Eds.), Sociolinguistic and Typological Perspectives on Language Variation (pp. 85–120). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110781168-004

Hess Siegrist, J. (2007). Switzerland: Early Anabaptist Family Sites. Mennonite Family History, XXVI(1). https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/55577?availability=Family%20History%20Library

Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. (n.d.). Retrieved August 15, 2024, from https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/famn/index.php

Huber, K. (2013). Schweizer Kraichgau nach dem Dreissigjährigen Krieg: Projektbeschreibung – Quellen – erste Ergebnisse [Text/html,application/pdf,text/html]. Familienforschung SchweizL Jahrbuch. https://doi.org/10.5169/SEALS-697357

Jecker, H., Bühler, P., Loosli-Amstutz, D., & Lavater-Briner, H. R. (n.d.). INHALTSVERZEICHNIS / TABLE DES MATIÈRES.

Landis, I. D. (1963). Bishop Isacc Eby, Revered Churchman. Mennonite Research Journal, IV(3). https://mennonitelife.org/document/1963-07/

Macco, H. (1954a). Swiss emigrants to the Palatinate in Germany and to America, 1650-1800 and Huguenots the Palatinate and Germany: Vol. I, II, III, IV, V. The Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter Day Saints. https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/

Macco, H. (1954b). Swiss emigrants to the Palatinate in Germany and to America, 1650-1800 and Huguenots the Palatinate and Germany: Vol. VI: Index. https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/319914/

Rediger, M., & Rothlisberger, E. (n.d.). Discover Anabaptism in Switzerland. Masthof.

Research in Switzerland: An Introduction to Swiss Records. (n.d.). Family Search. https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/lessons/introduction-to-swiss-research

Riedweil, H.R.. (n.d.). Ein Beitrag zum Taeuferjahr. Röthenbach in alter Zeit. https://riedwyl.net/Muninn

Schelbert, L., Faust, A. B., & Brumbaugh, G. M. (1972). Lists of Swiss Emigrants in the Eighteenth Century to the American Colonies. International Migration Review, 6(1), 90. https://doi.org/10.2307/3002295

Schelbert, L., Luebking, S., Hulan, R. H., Zemenszky, E. V., & Rausch, D. A. (n.d.). Swiss Mennonite Family Names: An Annotated Checklist. Pennsylvania Folklife, 53. https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1073&context=pafolklifemag

Huber, K. (2013). Schweizer Kraichgau nach dem Dreissigjährigen Krieg: Projektbeschreibung – Quellen – erste Ergebnisse . Familienforschung Schweiz: Jahrbuch. https://doi.org/10.5169/SEALS-697357

Stoll, J. (Ed.). (2010). History of the Bernese Anabaptists According to Documentation Presented by Ernst Müller (Gingerich, John A., Trans.). Pathway Pub. https://www.masthof.com/products/history-of-the-bernese-anabaptists-according-to-documentation-presented-by-ernst-muller-minister-in-langnau

Stuckey Levine, N. A. (2007). Toward a Catalogue of Likely Anabaptists in France With Known Places of Residence in Switzerland. Mennonite Family History, XXVI(1). https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/55577?availability=Family%20History%20Library

Swiss History. (n.d.). Swiss Genealogy on the Internet. https://kunden.eye.ch/swissgen/history.html#bib

Thematische Suche im Staatsarchiv des Kantons Zürich. (n.d.). Staatsarchiv Des Kantons Zürich. https://archives-quickaccess.ch/stazh

Wagner, R. M. (n.d.). The story of the Landis/Landeis Family From their origins in Switzerland, their Exodus to Alsace, the Palatinate, the Ukraine, and to the U.S.A.

Zürcher, I., & Aleman, H. M. (1988). Anabaptist-Mennonite names in Switzerland: Vol. LXII. https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/1060602?availability=Family%20History%20Library