Saturday, July 13, 2013

Hans Georg Hafen's birth/christening record 19 April 1803 in Scherzingen, CH

 Hans George, son of Johannes Hafen and Anna Elisabeth Mast, (because this is a church record and there are not two dates listed I will assume) christened 19 April 1803 in Scherzingen, Thurgau, Switzerland.

Hans Georg Hafen home in Santa Clara, Utah

http://wchsutah.org/homes/hans-george-hafen-home.php

Front of the home, located at
3003 Santa Clara Drive 
Santa Clara, UT 84765 

Lot 6 & west half of Lot A Block 15, Santa Clara Town & Field Survey 

37° 7' 57" North Latitude,   113° 39' 10" West Longitude

The Hafen house sits on property which was first deeded by a Probate Judge deed to John Hafen on January 9, 1883. This included lots 1, 6, and 7. The next entry in the abstract for the property is in March 1906, which lists John G. & Wife deeding the west one-half of lot 1, and all of lot 6 to John. The house almost appears that it could have been built as an entire cross wing in the c. 1880s, when John received title, but in a family history written about Hafens one sentence states: "The father John [a misprint, his actual name is 'Hans'] Hafen, Sr., first built a lumber shanty on his lot, later an adobe house which subsequently became the home of his grandson, John Hafen." It was first assumed that the "John Hafen" listed in the 1883 transaction was actually John George Hafen, but according to Hafen's descendants, John George Hafen owned property next to this and never lived in the house, although he had some interest in the property that was deeded to his son, John Hafen, in 1906. 

After arriving in Santa Clara, the Hafens drew lots for property and vineyard tracts. George received property next to his son, John George. Hans George's first home was, as mentioned, a wood shanty, which was a common practice because of the difficulty in obtaining building materials in the region during the early years. According to the family history, George built his second house on the property from adobe bricks made on the site. No other information is provided for Hans George after this, except that he died sometime in 1863, of unknown causes. This makes dating the original portion of the house as being constructed in c. 1862 fairly accurate. 

The back of the home
The Garage

John Georg Hafen documents from Scherzingen, Switzerland

(3rd Entry) 16.  Joh. Georg, son of Georg Hafen, [who is the son of] Johannes [and]  Maria Magdalena Hafen was born 17 Octob[er] and baptized [christened] 21 Octob[er] 1838  in the Scherzingen Evangelisch-Reformierte Church in Scherzingen, Thurgau, Switzerland.  
Confirmation of #5 Georg Hafen, [son of] Georg, born 17 October 1838 was confirmed in the Scherzingen Evangelisch-Reformierte Church in 1855 in Scherzingen, Thurgau, Switzerland.