Hans Henry Hoffman

Hans Henry Hoffman

1815-1888

How we Relate:

Hans is the father of

Elizabeth Hoffman who is the mother of

Archie Leo McKinnon who is the father of

Byron Eugene McKinnon who is the father of

Don McKinnon.

He is Anna's husband

This is a biography written by Hans' granddaughter Phebe. I thought about editing and adding little things, but then realized that this was the best source of her life there was. Phebe is Selina's daughter who is Elizabeth's older sister.

BIOGRAPHY OF HANS HEINRICH (Henry) HOFFMAN

By a granddaughter, Phebe N. Smith , written in 1940

Hans Heinrich Hoffman was born December 26, 1815 at Maur, Zurich, Switzerland. His parents were Hans Jacob Hoffman and Anna Fahrner. He was the fourth child in a family of five children, two girls and three boys. They were: Anna and Emerentina and his brothers were Johannes and Rudolf.

We know very little of his early life. He had a fairly good education and learned a trade, that of stonecutter and mason. He was an expert workman and built for himself a house that is still in use and in good condition. He was a member of the Lutheran Church. He married Anna Katherine Gut, June 9, 1845, at St. Peter, Zurich, Switzerland. To this union, three children were born---Kasper, Rudolf, and Johannes.

His wife died at Pfaffhausen, Zurich, Switzerland, on November 28, 1850 leaving him with three small children, one of them only six months old. How he managed, we will never know, but he got along somehow until the 14 September 1857, when he married Anna Barbara Baumberger. She was a good, kind mother and loved his children. John (Johannes), the baby, received an injury to his head and was retarded the rest of his life. They made a home in Fallenden, Zurich, Switzerland, and to this union four children were born: Selina, Elizabeth, Harry and Jacob. Little Jacob died at the age of four months.



Children: Harry, Elizabeth and Selina



 Hans Heinrich was a kind and loving father, but like most old country fathers, was very strict with his family. He loved to work at his trade. The children, as they grew older, took care of the small farm and garden. They also raised fruit, had chickens and a cow. They would cut the lucern with a scythe, rake it with a hand rake, pitch it on the wagon with a fork and hook the cow to the wagon and haul it to the barn. They also raised a little wheat and would cut it with a scythe, rake it by hand, beat it out with a flail and as they needed bread or flour, the children would carry it to the mill and exchange it.

Hans never had his picture taken because he read in the Bible, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any likeness of anything that is in the earth." When the family was in Switzerland, they lived in a stone house which is still in use. The home was occupied by two families. The half of the house that they lived in consisted of a kitchen, dining room, and weaving room, three bedrooms, and a hall upstairs. In the dining room, Hans built a fireplace of stone. In the hall upstairs was a chest where they kept dried fruit.

When the L.D.S. missionaries came to their door, Anna Barbara soon became interested, but Hans Heinrich would not listen to them. Whenever they called he would go upstairs. When Barbara was baptized in 1862, she tried to convert him, but he was satisfied with his own church. Her two sisters were living in Utah and no doubt wrote glowing letters about the opportunities to be had in Utah.

Finally in 1877, he surprised his wife one morning, after they had engaged in family prayer, by telling her that if she still wanted to go to Utah, he was willing to go. We have no record of him being baptized in Switzerland.

They were a very thrifty family and had saved enough money to pay the fares and expenses of the family. Kasper, Selina and Harry had been baptized. They left Fallenden June 11, 1977. It was a sad day for the family, Rudolf was staying behind, and they were leaving a host of friends, and relatives. Those making the trip were Hans Heinrich, Anna Barbara, his wife, Kasper and his wife, Ida Durich, Selina, Elizabeth, Harry and John; also a friend, Karl Kramer. They traveled by boat and ship to New York and boarded a train for Utah. Mother often told us how her father enjoyed the soup in the restaurant and asked for a second dish, and then when it came time to order the meal, he didn’t want anything else, the soup was a full meal. When they arrived in Evanston, Wyoming, a brother-in-law, Henry Bluemel, and a nephew, John Benzley, met them. They rode in a wagon until they came to the old river bridge north of Almy, here they turned out their horses and camped for the night. The next morning they had a long search for their horses as there were no fences at that time. After cooking breakfast on a campfire, they had a long tiresome ride to Randolph. About the first thing grandpa did was sit down on the wagon tongue and have a good cry. He didn’t see how he could make living for his family in this barren land all covered with sagebrush.



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It was not long until they were established in a home of their own. They bought a house and four city lots from Orson J. Spencer. Kasper was a very good carpenter and it was not long and he had made most of their furniture.

It was not long before Kasper and his wife moved to Logan, Utah. Hans Heinrich, or Henry, as he was now called here in America, was called to work on the Logan Temple. He was baptized July 11, 1877. No doubt he stayed with Kasper while working on the temple. At one time he got so homesick to see his family that he walked home, carrying his food and his bedding on his back, and camping out at night as it took him several days to make the trip.

He also worked on the Paris, Idaho Tabernacle, and it is still in use. He was ordained an Elder, and he and his wife journeyed to Logan, to the temple where they received their endowments September 19, 1888.

He died December 5, 1888 of pneumonia, after a short illness. A few days before his death, he went to Laketown and back for a load of flour. It was a cold, wet trip by wagon and team and he contacted a bad cold from it. He was buried in Randolph, Utah.

His children were all married and settled in homes of their own, except John, who never married. His family and a host of friends sadly missed him. He has a large posterity now, who honor and respect his name. He was sealed to Anna Kathrina Gut, July 9, 1891 in the Logan Temple.