"You have to know where you come from, if you want to know who you are. We are also our origin. The  wishes, the life images, the life expectancy of people who have lived before us are entered in our  presence. To track them, means to learn more about yourself."

My name is Patrick Wild, I am Swiss and a descendant of an old family from the Canton (district) of  Glarus. For many years, I run the family research on the Glarus families as my hobby. About five  years ago I have started an ambitious project which will show the family links between the about  200 original families from Glarus.

Visit my Glarus Families Worldwide Website with a multitude of information about Glarus genealogy: 

www.glarusfamilytree.com

Starting point of my family research is always the outstanding genealogical oeuvre of Johann Jakob  Kubly-Müller. In more than 30 years of work (1893-1923) Kubly-Müller created this unique reference  book. It comprises a total of 36 large and small volumes as well as the registry on the older  Glarus genealogy and an alphabetical index. Built on the entire stock of the parish books of the  Canton of Glarus and supplemented by historical directories, documents and material from public and  private archives, Kubly Müller's monumental book lists all Glarus families from the 15th century to  the present in their sequence and links in a clean and readable font. Whenever possible, I have included the Kubly-Müller reference (e.g. Fridolin Hämmerli from Engi, Matt 149 - that means in the book of Matt / Family Hämmerli / # 149).

In addition, I also use information which I find on relevant websites (e.g. Ancestry.com). Since  such information has to be accepted with some reservation, I try whenever possible to verify the  information gathered from the internet. I publish my results on two websites, one is Ancestry.com:   www.trees.ancestry.de/tree/68018520/family and the other one is my own site on Tribalpages:  www.wildglarus.tribalpages.com. Through these websites, I get access to interested genealogists  with whom I like to share further available information and so in return receive additional  information which will support my project.

Family history is not only to collect dates of birth, marriage and death. Family history is  interesting and accessible only by individual stories and photos. Therefore, whenever possible I  incorporate photographs and historical facts in the Pedigrees. I get most of these documents by the  ever-widening circle of interested hobby genealogists. Therefore, any additional information on  missing family members is always highly welcome.

So far, the following families are completely researched on sources such as the Kubly-Müller  genealogical family books (visible in the Landesarchiv of Glarus) [K], church books and civil  Registers [C] and the Julius Billeter Collection [B]:

AEBLI from Glarus (K)
 BECKER from Bilten (K)
 BEGLINGER from Mollis (in progress - Nr. 1-103) (K)
 BLESI from Sool/Schwanden (K)
 BRÄM from Engi (K)
 ELMER from Elm (K)
 FREITAG from Elm (K)
 GINSIG from Mitlödi (K)
 HÄMMERLI from Engi (Nr. 1-285) (K)
 KNOBEL from Haslen and Schwändi (in progress - Nr 1-100) (K) KUBLI from Matt and Elm (K)
 PARAVICINI-DE-CAPELLI from Glarus (K)
 RHYNER from Elm (K)
 RUCH from Mitlödi (K)
 SCHINDLER from Schwändi (K)
 SCHNEELI from Mühlehorn (K)
 SPAELTI from Netstal (Nr. 1-300) (K)
 STAEGER from Glarus and Mitlödi (K)
 WALLISER from Bilten (K)
 WILD from Mitlödi, Schwanden, Matt and Linthal (K)
 ZIMMERMANN from Schwändi (K)
 ZOPFI from Schwanden (K)

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ARE YOU A DESCENDANT OF CHARLEMAGNE ?

The amazing thing about genealogy is how closely related everyone is once you start looking. This isn't so amazing to population geneticists.

It's not so hard for North Americans to find European ancestors but many lineages terminate because parish records have not been preserved and because there are no other sources for the ancestors of average citizens. But every now and then you'll stumble upon lineages that have been well researched. Among my own ancestors for example there are several lineages that reach back to the 1400s and beyond. All I did was find the connections to those lineages.

The history of European nobility is well known. Chances are, you have at least one ancestor who connects to the various Dukes, barons, Counts, and Knights and their spouses in medieval times . A large percentage of the nobility of the European nobility can claim descent from Charlemagne. He had 20 children. With a little effort, almost everyone of European descent can find the path to  Charlemagne.