More on Goris Liebenstein

At the Family History Center in Salt Lake City last week, I spent several hours searching the "Evangelisch-Reformierte" church records of Albisrieden, a neighborhood in Zurich, where one Livingston researcher [thanks Lucy!] had earlier found the marriage of Goris Liebenstein and Anna Meyer in 1597 and births of their children over the next 23 years.  What was surprising to me was that there are so many records for members of the extended family.  The name is written Lybenstein (with an umlaut over the "y").  

Christening records for this church begin in 1590 and almost immediately there are Lybenstein men and women witnessing the christenings of their friends' children.  The first names are Verena L*, Hans L* and Jacob L*.  Then a Nicklous Lybenstein's daughter Elsbeth is christened and Felix L* christened a daughter Anna.  This is in 1590-1596, when Goris is still single.  Always the witness has the same first name, so Elsbeth Wydler is a witness for Elsbeth L*.  My conclusion is that Goris L* had uncles and aunts in Albisrieden when he married in 1597.  I just checked and there are microfilms for four earlier Zurich reformed churches, the earliest one begins in 1525 and at that time Ulrich Zwingli, one of the Swiss Reformers is the pastor.   Hopefully we will find more family members in the years between 1525 and 1590.  

This adds to the theory that the L* family were among the early Protestants in Zurich and maybe came for religious freedom during the Reformation.