| Notes |
- From "Geschichte der bernischen Täufer" by Ernst Müller, page 565:
On March 20, 1811, the small council thanks the announcement of these actions and adds that henceforth all children of the Anabaptists should be baptized as before the revolution. However, the execution of this arrangement encountered further difficulties. The pastor of Langnau reported to the church council that four older children of Michael Gerber on the Hinteren Bäregg refused to be baptized and, along with several others, also did not want to be instructed. The answer of the small council is that according to the directive of February 26, 1810, people who have not yet been baptized are to be encouraged to be baptized. They are also to be instructed and admitted so that they can be entered in the church register and their rights as citizens are not forfeited. However, if these legal requirements are satisfied, they are free to attend the table of the Lord or to stay away from it.
The pastor in Langnau then explains that the five quite adult children of Gerber on Bäregg would probably give offense when they were forced to be baptized and that the children would have to be fetched by the policeman every day, so that you teaching would be of no use. The church council now proposes that children under the age of ten should be brought to baptism by force, since no exceptions can be made in civil laws <383>. Parents of children who are not baptized by the age of 16 should lose land and civil rights.
According to a report by the prefect of Signau on April 26, 1813, the Anabaptists also refused to take the oath of homage. The Council of State declares that, pursuant to Article 7 of the Decree of August 25, 1806, they are consequently excluded from exercising all civil rights and from being able to vote for any position.
- This family appears to have lived in Muenster in the Jura mountains. That would indicate they fled from religious persecution. According to the "Geschichte der bernischen Täufer" by Ernst Müller, civil penalties, including loss of land, could have been the penalty if not all children were baptized by the age of 16. This would explain why the family is later living in the Jura mountains. It would also explain why the youngest male child, Ulrich, was baptized on 15 Mar 1811. He would have been the child to maintain rights to their farm, Hinter Baeregg. So, there was a pragmatic reason to have him baptized. [2]
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