Born in Bilten, Glarus Canton, Switzerland and immigrated to Knoxville in 1854, along with Peter Staub, who later became mayor of Knoxville.
From a paper in the possession of Helena Lawhon, dated 1894 and titled "An After Dinner Talk Given By Mr. Peter Staub":
The reason for this party in the cozy home of Mr Oswald and family is different from our many previous visits and happy hours spent in their home. We are here today to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our arrival in the United States and here to talk about our experiences of the past 40 years. It is not our wish to tire you young people with long tales, but it will be interesting to you all to know something about our goings in the past 40 years. We left on January 22 1854 the old country in company of several others, to find a new home in the land of the stars and stripes. We arrived here on March 1st. of the same year. I can assure you all that in the past 40 years we have had ups and downs and it was not a bed of roses and I hope you young people will never have to go through what we have suffered. Hard work we did not mind, but the farewell from father and motherland and our loved ones was hard and the uncertainty of our existence in the new land, as we left our home pennyless [sic], but the bitterest experience of all was the war of 1861 to 1865. Our little colony was hard hit in the loss of life and property. It was not a war but murder, fire and robbery. I do not care to go into detail about this cruel war, but would rather tell you all more about our emigration to the new land. We were twelve in number including 2 children, who left to seek a new home over here. Five of them are still living, six to our knowledge are dead, one disappeared in the year 1854-1855 and I don't think he is alive. Among the living is our host Mr Oswald. Here is a toast to him and his beloved family. We hope that we may meet many hundred times in his home. A cheer for the beloved family Oswald."
A handwritten note indicates that "Bilton, Switzerland was the home they left."
From a paper in the possession of Helena Lawhon, dated 1894 and titled "An After Dinner Talk Given By Mr. Peter Staub":
The reason for this party in the cozy home of Mr Oswald and family is different from our many previous visits and happy hours spent in their home. We are here today to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our arrival in the United States and here to talk about our experiences of the past 40 years. It is not our wish to tire you young people with long tales, but it will be interesting to you all to know something about our goings in the past 40 years. We left on January 22 1854 the old country in company of several others, to find a new home in the land of the stars and stripes. We arrived here on March 1st. of the same year. I can assure you all that in the past 40 years we have had ups and downs and it was not a bed of roses and I hope you young people will never have to go through what we have suffered. Hard work we did not mind, but the farewell from father and motherland and our loved ones was hard and the uncertainty of our existence in the new land, as we left our home pennyless [sic], but the bitterest experience of all was the war of 1861 to 1865. Our little colony was hard hit in the loss of life and property. It was not a war but murder, fire and robbery. I do not care to go into detail about this cruel war, but would rather tell you all more about our emigration to the new land. We were twelve in number including 2 children, who left to seek a new home over here. Five of them are still living, six to our knowledge are dead, one disappeared in the year 1854-1855 and I don't think he is alive. Among the living is our host Mr Oswald. Here is a toast to him and his beloved family. We hope that we may meet many hundred times in his home. A cheer for the beloved family Oswald."
A handwritten note indicates that "Bilton, Switzerland was the home they left."
Born in Bilten, Glarus Canton, Switzerland and immigrated to Knoxville in 1854, along with Peter Staub, who later became mayor of Knoxville.
From a paper in the possession of Helena Lawhon, dated 1894 and titled "An After Dinner Talk Given By Mr. Peter Staub":
The reason for this party in the cozy home of Mr Oswald and family is different from our many previous visits and happy hours spent in their home. We are here today to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our arrival in the United States and here to talk about our experiences of the past 40 years. It is not our wish to tire you young people with long tales, but it will be interesting to you all to know something about our goings in the past 40 years. We left on January 22 1854 the old country in company of several others, to find a new home in the land of the stars and stripes. We arrived here on March 1st. of the same year. I can assure you all that in the past 40 years we have had ups and downs and it was not a bed of roses and I hope you young people will never have to go through what we have suffered. Hard work we did not mind, but the farewell from father and motherland and our loved ones was hard and the uncertainty of our existence in the new land, as we left our home pennyless [sic], but the bitterest experience of all was the war of 1861 to 1865. Our little colony was hard hit in the loss of life and property. It was not a war but murder, fire and robbery. I do not care to go into detail about this cruel war, but would rather tell you all more about our emigration to the new land. We were twelve in number including 2 children, who left to seek a new home over here. Five of them are still living, six to our knowledge are dead, one disappeared in the year 1854-1855 and I don't think he is alive. Among the living is our host Mr Oswald. Here is a toast to him and his beloved family. We hope that we may meet many hundred times in his home. A cheer for the beloved family Oswald."
A handwritten note indicates that "Bilton, Switzerland was the home they left."
From a paper in the possession of Helena Lawhon, dated 1894 and titled "An After Dinner Talk Given By Mr. Peter Staub":
The reason for this party in the cozy home of Mr Oswald and family is different from our many previous visits and happy hours spent in their home. We are here today to celebrate the 40th anniversary of our arrival in the United States and here to talk about our experiences of the past 40 years. It is not our wish to tire you young people with long tales, but it will be interesting to you all to know something about our goings in the past 40 years. We left on January 22 1854 the old country in company of several others, to find a new home in the land of the stars and stripes. We arrived here on March 1st. of the same year. I can assure you all that in the past 40 years we have had ups and downs and it was not a bed of roses and I hope you young people will never have to go through what we have suffered. Hard work we did not mind, but the farewell from father and motherland and our loved ones was hard and the uncertainty of our existence in the new land, as we left our home pennyless [sic], but the bitterest experience of all was the war of 1861 to 1865. Our little colony was hard hit in the loss of life and property. It was not a war but murder, fire and robbery. I do not care to go into detail about this cruel war, but would rather tell you all more about our emigration to the new land. We were twelve in number including 2 children, who left to seek a new home over here. Five of them are still living, six to our knowledge are dead, one disappeared in the year 1854-1855 and I don't think he is alive. Among the living is our host Mr Oswald. Here is a toast to him and his beloved family. We hope that we may meet many hundred times in his home. A cheer for the beloved family Oswald."
A handwritten note indicates that "Bilton, Switzerland was the home they left."
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