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THE FLURIS OF MATZENDORF, SWITZERLAND |
| Probably the largest
concentration of Flory families in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries
was in the Canton (state) of Solothurn in Switzerland nestled near the
border with France. Here the name was spelled generally as
"Fluri" (occasionally "Flurin" for both men and
women), a spelling which later gave way to "Flori" in
Germany. Especially rich in Fluri families in and around the Canton
of Solothurn were the
areas in and around Haegendorf, Aedermannsdorf, Herbetswil, Matzendorf, and the town of
Solothurn. Even today, there is Fluri influence in the region as the
Stadtpresident of Solothurn is Kurt Fluri. Solothurn was probably
the geographical origin of many if not most of the Flory families in
Germany. While the region is close to France, it is not clear what
the relationship is between the French patronym of Fleury, which comes
from "flower," and the Swiss Fluri, which may come from a German
word meaning "of the land." There are records of Fluris
migrating from Solothurn to France, where their name was most certainly
spelled as "Fleury," but the Fluri bloodline of Switzerland may
ultimately be independent of the Fleury bloodline of France.
What further complicates the issue is that to the west of the Canton of Solothurn was an area that was part of "The Bishop's Territory," a segment of which now forms the Canton of Jura. Several Fluris are known to have either migrated or fled to this area from Solothurn. Moreover, there are several towns and villages in this "Bishop's Territory" that contained Fluri families at an early date. Whether they all migrated from Solothurn is not known. During the "Napoleon Phase" from 1793 to 1815, the Bishop's Territory was occupied by French troops, and the entire area was named "Departement du Mont Terrible ["Department of the Terrible Mountain"]. In peripheral parts of the region, some Swiss-German traditions gave way to French language and education. For instance, in the parishes of Vermes and Montservelier, both close to the Canton of Solothurn, the name of "Fluri" was modified to the more French sounding "Fleury." It appears, then, that many families from the Bishop's territory, whose name is now "Fleury," may have evolved from the Fluris of Solothurn. Most Flory families in America have assumed that they were descended from French Huguenots. However, it is apparent that most of the early Fluris of Solothurn were not Huguenots but were, instead, orthodox Catholic as was most of the region. Moreover, the Fluris of Solothurn seem to have been established in that Canton prior to the formation of the French Reformed Church (Huguenots) by John Calvin in 1550. The massacre of St. Bartholomew, which occurred in France on August 23/24th 1572, was the precipitating event that caused many French Protestants to flee the country. While church records in Solothurn generally go back only as early as 1626, they record the fact that a number of Fluri families were having children at this time indicating an earlier family presence in the region than 1572. In 1626, for example, the following Fluris had children: Johannes (Jacob), Niclaus (Jacob), Conrad (Melchior), Jacob (Anna), and another Johannes (Lauretig). The Kirchenbuch listings for the years of 1628 through 1632 refer to additional Fluri parents (Hans, Jacob, Heinrich, Ursus, and Arnold, among others). There are so many Fluri families in the region that, according to James Flory who has visited the area, local genealogists have difficulty sorting them out. Because of the difficulties involved in preparing a family tree of all of the Fluri families of Solothurn, what is presented below is a small sampling only, and it is restricted to the parish of Matzendorf. There are four lines, not necessarily unrelated. They represent but a small percentage of Fluri names from the Canton from that index for the period covered. Our intent here is not to provide at the moment anywhere near a comprehensive genealogy. We hope, rather, that the information presented here will encourage others to come forward with more complete information. In the fourth family presented below, there is a Joseph Fluri, born in 1682. He probably is not the Joseph Flory who came to America in 1733, but he is included as an illustration of the fact that three or four Fluri's were born in the area about the same time that the Rapho Township immigrant was. All genealogies below are taken from the Matzendorf Church records, which include the towns of Matzendorf, Aedermannsdorf, Herbetswil, and the Solterschwand (a region in the mountains belonging to Aedermannsdorf). There are other towns and villages in Solothurn that contain Fluri names. As soon as these are researched, this Solothurn section will be broken into towns. |
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FLURI FAMILY I Descendants of Hans Fluri Generation No. 1 1. HANS1 FLURI. He married MAGDALENA RUETTI Bef. 1626. Children of HANS FLURI and MAGDALENA RUETTI are:
Generation No. 2 2. PETER2 FLURI (HANS1) was born August 10, 1635 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. He married ANN CHRISTEN August 28, 1670 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. Children of PETER FLURI and ANN CHRISTEN are:
Generation No. 3 3. URSUS3 FLURI (PETER2, HANS1) was born January 06, 1673/74 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. He married ANNA FRANK May 14, 1696 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. Children of URSUS FLURI and ANNA FRANK are:
4. JOSEPH3 FLURI (PETER2, HANS1) was born February 07, 1677/78 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. He married ANNA STAEMPFLI October 02, 1704 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. Children of JOSEPH FLURI and ANNA STAEMPFLI are:
Generation No. 4 5. URSUS4 FLURI (URSUS3, PETER2, HANS1) was born February 01, 1696/97 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. He married ANN GREUTER September 07, 1722 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. Children of URSUS FLURI and ANN GREUTER are:
FLURI FAMILY 2 Descendants of Ursus Fluri Generation No. 1 1. URSUS1 FLURI. He married CATHARINA FUCHS. Children of URSUS FLURI and CATHARINA FUCHS are:
Generation No. 2 2. VICTOR2 FLURI (URSUS1) was born September 30, 1694 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. He married ANNA MEYER April 24, 1724 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. Children of VICTOR FLURI and ANNA MEYER are:
FLURI FAMILY 3 Descendants of Jacob Fluri Generation No. 1 1. JACOB1 FLURI. He married ANN ISSEN Bef. 1629. Children of JACOB FLURI and ANN ISSEN are:
Generation No. 2
2. JACOB2 FLURI (JACOB1) was born March 25, 1629 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. He married CATHARINA CHRIST October 17, 1656 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. Children of JACOB FLURI and CATHARINA CHRIST are:
Generation No. 3 3. URSUS3 FLURI (JACOB2, JACOB1) was born November 02, 1657 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. He married MARIA BLOCH July 09, 1685 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. Children of URSUS FLURI and MARIA BLOCH are:
Generation No. 4 4. JOHANN JAKOBUS4 FLURI (URSUS3, JACOB2, JACOB1) was born March 01, 1689/90. He married ANNA ROETELI January 28, 1708/09 in Matzendorf, Solothurn, Switzerland. Children of JOHANN FLURI and ANNA ROETELI are:
FLURI FAMILY 4 Descendants of Jacob Fluri Generation No. 1 1. JACOB1 FLURI. He married MARIA Bef. 1673. Children of JACOB FLURI and MARIA are:
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